The Worth of Christ And His Kingdom

The Worth Of Christ And His Kingdom I. worth: The relative value of a thing in respect of its qualities or of the estimation in which it is held. II. Some thoughts on worth: A. It is subjective, according to the individual’s value system. B. The subjective nature of high worth is a “tell” of one’s heart. MAT 6:21. C. Something may have universal high worth, like life or health. JOB 2:4. D. Whatever one trades for is to him of greater worth than what he spends to get it. E. If one deems something of greatest value, he may deem other things of great value disposible in order to acquire it. SONG 8:7. F. We even assign relative worth to men. 2SAM 18:3. G. How much do you value Jesus Christ and all He represents? What’s He worth to you? Are you an Agrippa or a Paul? ACT 26:28 c/w PHIL 3:8. III. The parable of the treasure hid in a field and the parable of the pearl of great price have a common theme: the forsaking of all for the supreme worth of the kingdom of heaven. MAT 13:44-46. A. Some affirm that these parables are not depicting the sinner finding and forsaking all, but Christ finding and forsaking all according to the following explanation. 1. The field must be the world as in MAT 13:38. 2. Christ is the buyer at the cost of His blood. 1PE 1:18-19; 2CO 8:9. 3. The treasure or pearl is Israel or the church. PSA 135:4; MAL 3:17. 4. Christ buys the world with His blood for the sake of the treasure/pearl in it. 5. BUT... a. This scheme assumes universal atonement (ct/w JOH 10:11, 26) and if Christ purchased the whole world with His blood, the sin debt of the entire world must be paid off and all are redeemed unto God. b. If Christ’s love is for His church (EPH 5:25) and He is here represented by the merchantman seeking goodly pearls, this implies that Christ was in a shopping contest that considered various nations or religions. c. The parables show that the treasure or pearl had great inherent value BEFORE it was purchased and that this value was what motivated the purchase. ct/w EZE 16:1-14; EPH 5:25-27. d. Israel was God's peculiar treasure conditionally (EXO 19:5), which here would imply a law-works eternal salvation without eternal security. ct/w ROM 3:20; 2TI 1:9. B. In coming to Christ, the penitent sinner is built up a spiritual house which is the kingdom of God, His church (1PE 2:4-9; 1TI 3:15; LUK 22:29-30); therefore truly finding Christ is also finding His kingdom and vice-versa. ACT 28:30-31; COL 2:3. C. Both men in these parables find something of great value but it is only specified that the merchant man was seeking. 1. God would be found of some that sought Him not. ISA 65:1. 2. God will be found of those that diligently seek Him. HEB 11:6; JER 29:13. D. Both men in these parables sell all that they had to gain the thing of value. Christ and His kingdom require personal cost because of their worth. LUK 14:33. E. Consider the parable of the treasure hid in a field. v. 44. 1. God's kingdom is hidden and must be found. a. It cannot be seen nor can it be entered into without the new birth. The Worth of Christ and His Kingdom 5-26-24 Page 1  LUK 17:20; JOH 3:3-5. b. God's kingdom is in the Holy Ghost and can only be discerned by the Holy Ghost. ROM 14:17; JOH 14:17; 1CO 2:9-11. c. The mysteries of the kingdom are hid from the unregenerate and the worldly-wise. 1CO 2:14; LUK 10:21-24. d. God's kingdom in this world is indeed a treasure walked over and not seen by most. MAT 7:14. e. Many who walk over the treasure of Christ and His kingdom unawares will also not see the Pharisee religion they walk over as the defiling grave that it is. LUK 11:44. 2. The man who found the treasure carefully secured it for himself by hiding it and selling all that he had for it. a. Mind that he buys the field in order to get the treasure. He recognizes the entire property with all its unknowns and extra care should be secured for the sake of the treasure. b. He recognizes that the treasure is a “package deal” worth giving up much for. c/w HEB 11:24-27. 3. It is by the key of knowledge that we enter into the kingdom. LUK 11:52 c/w MAT 23:13. 4. We are taught to hide the truth. PRO 2:1 c/w PSA 119:11. 5. We are taught to buy the truth and value it more than all riches. PRO 23:23; 3:13-15. 6. It is with joy, not regret, that this man forsakes all for the kingdom of heaven. 1TH 1:6; HEB 10:34. 7. By contrast, those who value their earthly treasures too much will not enter into the kingdom. MAT 19:21-24. F. Consider the parable of the pearl of great price. vs. 45-46. 1. It is a fitting emblem of entry into the kingdom. c/w REV 21:21. 2. The pearl of great price was found by a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. a. He is not looking for artificial cultured pearls; he is seeking the real things. b. This seeker is likely to reject “seeker-friendly” pearls. c. Consider the Ethiopian eunuch who was seeking the good until he found the best. ACT 8:30-39. 3. God's kingdom should be sought. MAT 6:33. 4. This merchant sold everything for one thing. a. He recognized that anything less than the best was not worth acquiring. b. This is one case where diversified investment is not recommended! c. The kingdom of heaven must be the ONE thing that we value above everything else. 5. “Those merchants who compass sea and land for temporal gain, condemn the slothfulness of the majority of those called Christians, who, though they confess that this salvation is the most certain and the most excellent of all treasures, yet seek worldly possessions in preference to it! Alas, for him who expects to find any thing more amiable than God, more worthy to fill his heart, and more capable of making him happy!” (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible) G. Christ and His kingdom should be thought first, sought first, bought first. The Worth of Christ and His Kingdom 5-26-24 Page 2