Alright, well good morning everyone. Great to see you and welcome again. I'm going to share with you today some of the teachings of Jesus Christ from the book of Matthew in chapter 13. I think we'll just go ahead and read in Matthew chapter 13 to start with.
So Matthew 13 we're going to read at verse 1. The same day Jesus went out of the house and he sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered unto him so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach and he told them many things in parables. He told them many things in parables.
Now if you drop down to verse 34 it says, all these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables. Indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fill what was spoken of the prophet. In Isaiah I will open my mouth in parables.
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Jesus spoke a lot of parables. And before we read any further I just want to share with you a little bit about what a parable is. It's estimated that almost one third of the entire teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ was taught to the multitudes in parables.
So parables are stories that we can all relate to. They resonate in our human hearts because Jesus told stories that relate it to everyday human life. But there's a great meaning to a parable. And really what a parable is the word means parallel or the actual Greek word means to lay alongside.
So Jesus is taking a story and he is laying alongside of it some profound spiritual truth. Parables are three things. Number one, parables are a window into God's heart. How many times did Jesus say the kingdom of God is like unto?
Like unto? In other words, none of us can really relate to what the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is like. But Jesus paints a picture and he opens a window for us to see into God's heart. That's one thing that a parable is.
Secondly, a parable is a mirror. It actually has great relation to me as an individual. And a mirror is to see reflection of ourselves in. And so as we look at parables I would encourage each one of you to look for teaching or a reflection that you can see yourself in these parables.
And thirdly, a parable is an invitation. It is an invitation to come to God to experience a relationship with him. That's why Jesus spoke in parables. He invited the multitudes to learn these deep spiritual truths and to come to God.
Let me give you a little bit of context. Who are these people that Jesus spoke to? The crowds that gathered multitudes. Likely thousands of people heard the words of Jesus Christ.
Who were they? I think it's important to understand context. These were peasant families of Galilee. These were farmers.
These were villagers. The common people. Most of them didn't even have an opportunity to get an education. And for the most part, they were outcasts.
They saw themselves as having no hope living under the bondage of Rome and eking out a living. These people felt very little self-worth. And they had no hope for a better life. And what Jesus did was he changed everything.
He gave them hope. He gave them insight into their value. And what I'm hoping today is the words of Jesus Christ and his parables will live for each one of us as we go through it. Let's carry on our reading and let's read at verse 44.
Matthew 13 and verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found and covered up, then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant in search of fine pearls.
Who on finding one pearl of great value, it says he went and sold all that he had and he bought it. I'd like to speak to you today about treasure that is hidden in the field. And I'd like to speak to you about the pearl of great price. This parable kind of resonated with me a little bit this week.
Because I feel that there's so many people in this world that have lost their value. There's so many people in this world that feel worthless and feel like there's no hope. I was in Montreal this weekend on Thursday night about 930. We left a restaurant and we're walking down St.
Catherine's Street and crowds were just passing and there was this woman. And she was standing on the corner and tears were running down her face and she had her hand out. And she said, please, someone stop. Everybody ignored her.
Everybody just kept on walking as if she wasn't even there. And I stopped and she said, sir, I need $16 for a bed at the shelter. Can you help me? And I gave her what I had and she was thrilled.
But I saw this woman who was broken, empty, and feeling likely that she was worthless and there was no hope. And immediately I thought of the heart of God. And I want to share with you some examples today about people that God values. I'd like to ask each one of us today.
How much are you worth to God? How much are you worth to God? We live in a very broken world. And I don't think this is any surprise to anyone.
Here's a picture of Jason. Jason is sitting on Spring Garden Road outside of what was Starbucks. He's a drug addict. He's attempted suicide three times.
He's living homeless and he has no hope. This is Russell and Lisa. They're heroin addicts on East Hastings in Vancouver. One day I sat down and I read to them, John chapter three.
They're broken. Their life is a mess. And they really feel like they have no hope. On the right is a girl called Jeanette.
She called herself a child of Satan. She's living a life of prostitution and she feels that she sold her soul to the devil and there's no hope for her. Here's a couple of snapshots of some of the back alleys of the cities in our world. This is real life.
Here's two homeless men. This is Tony. Tony's an alcoholic, but he knows the scriptures. And it's amazing to sit down and talk to Tony.
This gentleman here on the right is a homeless man in the city of Jerusalem, sitting close to the steps of the temple, begging for bread. Here's multitudes in Bombay, the streets of India. So my question to you is this, what do all these people have in common? All these people that we've just looked at.
What do they have in common? They actually feel worthless and they feel that they're without hope. Do you know what I read from this parable? Nothing can be further from the truth.
Absolutely nothing can be further from the truth of the fact that these people are not worthless. These people are not without hope because God has demonstrated his love to us and coming down into this world and reaching out to us to save us by his grace. And this really throws my heart that I'm able to share this with you. I have another example.
Let's say that I should have brought this, but I didn't. I was a little rushed. Let's say that I had a crisp, clean, $100 bill right here in my hand. How much is that worth?
$100. But let's say I had a crumpled up, dirty, wrinkled, frayed $100 bill over here. It's dirty, it's disgusting, it's broken and ruined, but it's a $100 bill. How much is that $100 bill worth?
$100. Why? Because it was issued by the Bank of Canada and it has authentic value. Now I want to draw the teaching of Jesus Christ to that exact example.
Folks, don't miss this. How much you are worth to God. Don't miss this. The value of your soul and the purpose that God has for your life.
Your soul is of infinite value because you were made in the image of God. You know, the world makes a dreadful mistake when they equate the value of human life with plant and animal life. Because God breathed into man's nostrils a breath of life and man became a living soul. And mankind was made in the image of God.
You know what I can draw from that? You have incredible infinite value to God because you were made in God's image. And you were made for a purpose. And you are not worthless.
And there is a message of hope from God. And that is why Jesus told this parable. You know what he wants us to realize? We are the treasure that is hid in a field covered in dirt, buried and lost.
Humanity is the treasure that God himself focused on when we were buried in dirt, covered and lost. Let me bring you back to the very beginning. God said in Matthew chapter 13 that when he is come, he will unveil secrets that have been hid from the foundation of the earth. He was going to reveal to us teaching and truth from creation.
You know when God made mankind in his own image, God said he looked upon all that he had made and it was good. When God made man on the sick day, he said it is very good. Do you know what that word good means in Hebrew? It means precious and of great value.
I was amazed to see that. When God said when he looked at mankind and he said it is very good. It is precious and of great value. What happened?
Man syndicates God. We went astray. We went our own way. We were deceived.
And we disobeyed. And the whole human race was plunged into separation from God. What happened to God's treasure? It was buried in a field.
It was covered in dirt. And it was lost. And you know the rest of the story. Folks, we live in a broken world that has been affected by sin.
We have all been affected by a malignant disease called sin. And it will destroy our lives. It makes us corrupt. It causes us to go astray.
It brings horrific damage in our life. Sin. We hurt. We cover up.
We lose hope. We become despondent. And God. God reaches out to us.
When we were lost sinners. When we were without hope. When we were without God in the world. God who is rich in mercy with his great love were with he loved us.
Even when we were dead in sins and in trespasses. God himself came down into this world to buy treasure. Hidden and covered in dirt. You know what he did it for?
To make us a pearl of great value. That is the story of the Bible. How much are you worth to God? I want to share with you four points from this parable.
And I'd like us all to really think deeply about this. Reflect on your own life. Think about who you are, where you came from, what your past is. And think about this.
Number one, the heart of God. Number two, I want to share with you the exchange of possession. What God gave up and what God became. And then I want to share with you today the cost.
How much did it cost God to redeem you? And I'd like to wrap it up by sharing with you the value. The value of one soul. The heart of God.
It says in our parable that the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure, hidden a field. That a man when he found it says for his own joy. He went and he sold all that he has and he bought the field. The field is the world.
The treasure is you. We were lost to God. And the story doesn't end there. Here's what Jesus said.
For God. So loved the world. The treasure. The field that he gave his only begotten son.
That whoever believes in him will never perish but have everlasting life. I want to tell you today that God is a searching God. In the Old Testament it says, I the Lord God searches the hearts of all mankind. God is a searching God.
And he never allows any one of his creation. Any one of his creatures to be lost without hope. He's searching. He is searching.
What did Jesus say in Luke chapter 19? The Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost. God is a searching God and he's seeking hidden treasure. God is a knowing God.
You know God is not only omnipresent but he is all knowing. God knows your heart, your thoughts, your past, everything that you have done, where you are and what you're doing. God the Lord. He searches for human hearts and he is full of knowledge.
He knows our condition. You know when God looked at that treasure that was hidden in a field and covered in dirt. He never gave up on it. And God will never give up on any human soul.
It doesn't matter how far you've been or what you've done. You will never be given up on by God. He saw that treasure hidden in dirt and he went and sold all that he had and he bought it. Why?
Why would God do this? We heard this morning at the Lord's Supper. You know David was talking about how wretched we are and how foolish and how disobedient we once were and why would God ever love us? David said, you know I know myself and I know that what I am.
Why would God love me? And then he said, and I know some of you and I know what you are. And I think why would God love you? And then we are the treasure that was of infinite value to God even though we were covered in dirt lost and buried and God himself is seeking that treasure.
Why? For his own joy. Let me paint to you a picture that is so critical to get ahold of. You know because we are so finite.
We are a moment. God is forever. And all we see is the context of our own life. Our 60, 70, 80 years that we're here and the things that we do that just seem to be of no value.
And we see life in our own context. One day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. God is eternal. And so before you were even born, God knew you.
He knew every sin that you would ever commit. He knew every mistake that you would make. And he never gave up on you. He loves you.
And you are of infinite value to God. And God himself came down into the world to die on a cross to redeem humanity. Why? For the joy that was set before him.
He endured the cross. Let me paint you a picture of what it will be like 10 million years from today. We can't even measure time into eternity. But just let your little human mind think as far as you can go into the future.
You know what God is going to see? He's going to see millions and millions of people. A crowd that cannot be numbered. All in perfect unity.
Sitting in the kingdom of heaven. Singing unto him that loved us. Washed us from our sins. And every person who accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior will be there.
Forever and ever singing the praises of God. So let me paint a picture to you. Before the whole world had plunged into sin. Before you might feel that you have messed up in your life.
I might feel like I've messed up in my life. Before all that happened. God foreknew. And he looked into the ages of eternity.
And he saw a human race that was broken. Wounded. Crippled. Like these people that I just showed you.
Lives that just feel so empty and so seemingly worthless. And you know what God said? That's my treasure. That is my treasure.
We sing it don't we. How deep the fathers love. How vast beyond all measure. That he would give his only son.
To make a wretch his treasure. You my friend are God's treasure. And Jesus came to reveal hidden secrets. From before the foundation of the world.
To a crowd of peasants. That couldn't even read or write. Had no hope for the future. Under the bondage of Rome.
And he said. A man. Seeking. Goodly pearls.
And he had one pearl of great price. He went and sold all that he had. And he bought it. Do you think those people got it?
Do you think those people listening? One heard. Wow. Am I really that valuable to God?
I'm going to tell you this. If you miss everything that I say today. Don't miss this. Your soul is of infinite value to God.
You are created in God's image. And even though you have sinned. An infinite price has been paid for your soul to redeem you to God. You are God's treasure.
And so what happened? God himself became a man. The exchange of possession. It says he went and he sold all that he had.
And bought it. In 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. This verse summarizes exactly what I'm saying. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus.
Though he was rich. Infinitely rich. He became poor. That you through his poverty might be made rich.
Could I ask everyone here today. Have you experienced the grace of God in your life? I have. You know what grace says?
Undeserved kindness. Something we couldn't pay for. Something we couldn't earn. Something that none of us deserve.
Were that treasure. Buried in dirt. And God himself went and sold all that he had to purchase it. Philippians 2 and verse 6 comes to mind when I think of the exchange of possession.
Okay Jesus Christ is verily God. Who became truly human. Could I say this reverently? I want to say this reverently.
In our language it's like this. God looks down on a messy world. Broken. People that have indulged in immorality.
Have marred their own bodies. Have stooped into the privacy of sin. Are addicted to lust and addictions that are destroying their life. Ruined.
And God looks on them and he says okay let's do it. We're going to go save this individual. You're worth it. That's what God is saying.
He saw this treasure buried in dirt lost to God in a field that was really owned and controlled by our enemy Satan. And God said let's do it. Let's go. Let's put together the greatest rescue mission of all time.
Let's save humanity. And he who is God on equality with God made himself of no reputation. The one who created all things became a man. A baby.
Incarnation. Born of a virgin. Walked upon the planet that his hands had made and his words had spoken into existence. Not only that.
He who was on equality with God made himself of no reputation took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in likeness to men. And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself. And became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross.
How much are you worth to God? God paid an infinite price for your soul. He gave his one and only son to die for you. To take the punishment for your sin to shed his blood.
The cost. What did this cost God? You know that the Bible speaks of a ransom. You know what a ransom is.
People that are kidnapped and somebody says I need six million dollars and I'll release this person. We were all held captive to our ark enemy Satan in a bondage of sin and the ransom had to be paid. And one mediator between God and man the man Jesus Christ who gave himself the ransom for all mankind. Jesus Christ gave himself.
God gave himself. That's what it cost him. It cost him a great deal of humiliation. He was rejected by his own family.
He was blasphemed and ridiculed by the religious leaders of the day. He was contradicted by sinners. The Bible says. He walked in this world his hands had made and he had to say show me a person.
He had to say show me a penny. He had no place to lay his head. Many nights he spent in the Mount of Olives. He had no home.
Jesus Christ. God's one and only son walked in this world in humiliation. But I can't begin to tell you what he suffered. He suffered so much that your sins in mind would be forgiven.
You know how a pearl is formed. You know that right? A pearl is formed by excruciating pain and suffering to that little clam. You know that what happens to a clam is a single grain of sand gets inside the clam and it irritates and it irritates and it irritates and that little clam is in excruciating pain and through its suffering it eventually releases fluid and that fluid forms around that grain of sand and it hardens and it becomes a beautiful pearl.
That pearl cannot be formed apart from suffering. And so Jesus for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame. God gave his son to shed his own blood to pay the dead of our sin. The cost of the cross, he was made a curse.
He was rejected. He was forsaken. He was falsely accused. He was imprisoned.
He endured physical torture, scourging. And then finally rejected by the people taking his cross out which is now called the Via del Rosa, the way to the cross. While all these people are lining the streets and mocking him with a whipped back he's carrying that cross. Only prisoners carry a cross and he's being crucified and his disciples one denies him.
Another betrays him and the rest forsook and fled. And then he's forsaken by God and alone on that cross he bore the punishment, the chastisement, for your sin and for mine so that a world may be set free from the guilt and dead of their sin. I want to share with you a couple of pictures of my trip to Israel that remind me of some of this truth. This is the Garden of Gethsemane.
I think all of you would probably know that Gethsemane means all of press. And I think probably most of you would know that when they take that all of down off that tree, first it is beaten with a stick. And they bring it down off the tree, they gather these all of them and then they press them. And then they squeeze them even more.
And then after that's all done, they go through another press and eventually that pure olive oil comes out. It is no mistake that the night that Jesus was in excruciating pain and anxiety thinking about the cross, he spent the night in Gethsemane. We sang today, Gethsemane, can I forget? Or they're like, conflict, see, thy agony, blood like sweat and not remember thee?
Lest I forget Gethsemane. You know that Jesus Christ, God's Son, before you were ever born centuries before you were ever born, he knew you and he knew me. And in agony in Gethsemane, he thought about your sin and mine and how much it would cost him to go to the cross. You know, when I walked through this garden in April, I just thought of some of these trees are like 15, 18, 18 hundred years old.
Some of these trees have been there a very long time. And I think about what it must have been like the night that Jesus left that upper room. Disciples didn't understand out through the pool of Silom, gate and down through the valley and over the Brook Kidron into the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was heavy that night because he knew that on his shoulders was the weight of the entire world's sin.
And for hours in this garden, he prayed that God would find a way if it were possible that he wouldn't have to go through this. But he was willing to be obedient unto death so that you and I could be saved by the grace of God. This treasure, this pearl that God saw, you for all eternity in heaven, he was willing to pay the price. This is Caiaphas' house.
These steps are authentic, historically proven that these steps were there in 80-30 when Jesus was arrested in that garden, brought back through the valley of Kidron, and up to the city of David to Caiaphas' house. It's very, very, very likely that Jesus walked up these steps. And at the very top of these steps, there's a plateau that's right here, there's a monument there, and this is just outside of what was Caiaphas' house. And that night, Peter, one of the disciples, warmed himself out of fire.
And a little maid girl said, aren't you one of his disciples? He denied it three times with both and cursing. And Jesus turned and looked at him, and he went out, and he wept bitterly. I just want you to think for a moment of what that was like.
For Jesus in Caiaphas' house, the Sanhedrin, the religious authority of the day, mocking him, slapping him in the face, denying who he is. And he went through all that for you and for me. You know, in Caiaphas' house, there's a pit. Those of you that have been there know exactly what I'm saying.
There's a pit where they held prisoners and they threw them down into it. It's likely that Jesus was in that pit. And for hours, he sat there and waited until morning was come, when he was taken over to Pilate. I don't have that on there.
When Jesus was taken to Pilate, there was a place called the pavement. And that was where the Roman governor sat in judgment over criminals. And there's a place that I visited and those stones are still there. I thought I had the picture, but I don't.
And in that very place, Jesus was condemned to death. And he was taken out and he was scourged. And then he took his cross and he moved forward to this place right here. You have the skull hill and you may not be able to see the shape of the skull in these pictures, but when you're there and you look at pictures of history, you can very vividly see the shape of the skull.
Why was it called that? Because that's where they put criminals to death. Could I tell you something? Right here at this spot on planet Earth, the Son of God died for your sins.
And he died for mine. And his blood was shed and he made atonement to purchase you and to purchase me. There are three places in the New Testament that says you and I were purchased. Let me remind them of you.
1 Corinthians 6, you are bought with a price. 1 Peter chapter 1, it says that we are not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ we have been bought back to God because of Calvary, where Jesus shed his blood to purchase us, to redeem us, to make us his treasure. In Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, Paul reminds the elders of Ephesus that the church of God was bought by the very blood of Christ. Could I tell you today that is thrilling to my soul because I'm a sinner and I know that I'm guilty, but I also know that I've been made free from my sin because Jesus loved me and on that cross Jesus died from my sins.
And he came to give his life a ransom for many so that we could be redeemed. In Ephesians chapter 5 it says this, he loved the church and he gave himself for the church. In Galatians chapter 1 it says, he gave himself for our sins that he might redeem us from this present evil age. Folks, I want to tell you that there has been an infinite price that has been paid for your soul.
You are God's treasure. And I know you might say, well, wait a minute, John, what about my sin? What about my addiction? What about the secrets of my life that no one knows?
You know what's so awesome? God can take you and he can lift you out of the mire of sin and he can clean you up and he can wash you. Washed. We read that this morning in Titus 3.
Washed. Renewed by the Holy Spirit. Clean. Justified.
Free of all guilt. What do you have to do? Just come as a sinner to Jesus and believe in Jesus Christ. Put your personal faith in him as your Savior and believe that he died right there on that cross to take away your sin.
Don't miss one thing as I wrap this up. The value of your soul. Jesus said in Mark chapter 8 verse 36, what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
You know that there are millions of people today and they don't want God. They don't want the forgiveness of their sins. They're on a broad road and they're heading to destruction and they don't want to be redeemed. How foolish.
They are going to bear the wrath of God for their own sin eternally in hell and God paid an infinite price for all humanity. And he offers today whosoever will may come. This is a free gift from God for you. Your God's treasure.
You are of infinite worth, infinite value because you were made in the image of God and you were bought with a price. And Jesus seen that treasure hidden in a field, that pearl of great price. He went and he sold all that he had to purchase you, to purchase me. And the Bible says very simply and very clearly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you today for the word of God. Thank you Lord for the parables of Jesus Christ, this rich ministry that he gave when God sent his only begotten son into the world to reveal God to us. And we thank you especially for the cross.
The place that was paid for our redemption and the fact that we have the forgiveness of our sins by believing in him. Lord, I just pray that every one of us today would go away from this place feeling valued infinitely by God. And the fact that Jesus shed his precious blood to buy us. Help us Lord to love you, to follow you, to believe in you and to enjoy the blessing of eternal life.
We thank you for this time together and we just ask your blessing upon us as we part in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.