The Treasure Worth Everything: Jesus on the Kingdom Hidden in a Field

Hey, today we're going to get into a book unlike any others. If you brought your Bible today, would you get it out? I want you to hold it in the air like you care. I want all of us, even if you didn't bring your Bible today, you can participate by shouting word when I count to three. Here we go. Ready? 1 2 3 Word. We're getting into God's word. So God's word gets into us today. You There's a a man in the Old Testament who's uh an absolute legend of a man. He's talked about in the New Testament. In fact, many Jewish people in Israel today still celebrate this man. It's not uncommon around the dinner table to leave an empty chair expecting this man to still show up even though he died long ago. This man's name is Elijah.

Elijah is an incredible man who has an incredible story. And there's a place in the scriptures in First Kings chapter 18 where he comes before God's people as a prophet of God. And he's speaking and and this is what he says to the people in First Kings 18:21. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him." and the people did not answer him a word. So you got these people of God that say Yahweh is the one and only true God. He is the one that created the world. But

yet there are these other gods here in this world that have infiltrated themselves into the culture. And although these gods may not be called Baal or Asher today, these gods still exist today. They're false gods. There's really only two kingdoms in this world. There's the kingdom of heaven and there's the kingdom of earth. There's the kingdom of God and there's the kingdom of the devil. And the kingdom of this earth is really distracting. In fact, the the kingdom of the devil actually is is so deceptive that somehow for some people who know the one true God, he wants you to think that somehow you could have one foot in this world and one foot in heaven. And as the prophet Elijah says, how long will you go limping between these two different opinions? It doesn't work.

You see, if you claim to know God and you don't go allin for God, you actually don't experience kingdom. You you miss the greater experience of all that God has for you. The kingdom of this world disguises itself in religion, disguises itself in spirituality, disguises itself in satisfaction, disguises itself in sex and success. Maybe more would make you more happy. But the reality is it would never be enough. But the kingdom of heaven, oh my friends, it will give you beyond what you could ever dream or imagine. See, the kingdom of heaven is actually what you're made for. It's

what you long for. It's not a better life. It is life. Jesus once said, "My kingdom is not of this world." So his kingdom is not what this world has to sell. It's not what we see in other people. Jesus himself said, "My kingdom is not of this world." So what is his kingdom? Can you actually experience his kingdom here in this world even though it's not of this world? 1 Corinthians 4:20 tells us, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power." Therefore, I can't convince you today about the kingdom. I cannot convince you with words today

that the kingdom is a greater way of life. I cannot convince you with academia or intelligence or or or or philosophy. I I cannot even convince you with theology that the kingdom is worth giving your life to. Yet, the Bible says the kingdom is not a matter of talk, but it's a matter of power. What does it mean it's a matter of power? Well, I'll tell you what kind of power this is. This is the kind of power that takes the worst of sinners and converts them to a saint. This is the kind of power that takes an addict and sets them free from addiction and gives him the true liberty of life. Th this is the kind of freedom that that takes demonic strongholds and sets people free. Yeah.

This is the kind of power that replaces rage with love. This is the kind of power that humbles the proud. You see, words can't do that. But the power of the kingdom can. And if you've been a journey for any period of time, you've seen that power. This is the power that calls someone forward to get baptized and go public with their faith with water baptism. This is the kind of power that motivates someone to come forward with prayer and all of a sudden cancer disappears. And I will tell you, it's not the the hands that are the power. It's when the Holy Spirit comes upon those hands. This is kingdom.

If you stick around Journey very long, you you'll hear people say things like, "Man, when I showed up, I I didn't know I could feel this way. On the outside, it just looks like the rest of the strip mall around here. There's a Goodwill. There's an Ashley's lottery. There's a Harbor Freight. It's not the building that brings the power. It's the kingdom. And the kingdom is not someday. It's not one day. Jesus preached his first message in Matthew 4:17. He said, "From that time," Matthew's telling us Jesus began to preach. Here's what he preached. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew says, "From that time." Meaning, we're not going back. The kingdom is here.

From this point forward, you can know the kingdom is yours if you want it. But Jesus said, "You got to repent, which means change your mind. Change your thinking. It's not like the ways of this world." So, what is the kingdom? Maybe we should say, "What is the kingdom?" Not. Romans 14:17 tells us, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking." See, we've got to understand in the the ancient Jewish world, those who were with Jesus, when they expected a messiah to come, they expected him to be a greater ruler than the ruler of the Roman Empire. So, if Caesar was a great king, then Messiah must be an even greater king.

You see, at this Greco Roman time of of life, you you've got you got the wisdom of of of logos, which is logic and knowledge, but then you also have the ways of the Roman Empire, which is power and money. And so, clearly, the kingdom of God must be a combination of those things, and we're going to eat really well, and there's going to be a Messiah that takes over the Roman Empire, and it's going to be really good. But the writer of Romans says, "No, no, no, no, no, no. The kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking. It's not about power. It's not about academia. It's not about the the ways of this world. Here's here's what the kingdom is. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating, drinking, but here's what the kingdom is. But of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This is kingdom. It may not be what you expect. It's far superior. So, we're looking at these teachings of Jesus called parables. Parables are these short stories that compare the things of earth to the kingdom of God. And Jesus teaches us in a practical way so that we'll we'll not just know about it intellectually, but it will go from our head to our heart and experience kingdom. Do you want some kingdom today? Because if you want kingdom, your identity is righteousness. If you want kingdom today, joy is yours when you leave here today. If you want kingdom, you've got a piece that will protect your heart and your head in Jesus. It's yours. And Jesus says through the parables, he he teaches us. And today we look at two tiny little stories with

profound powerful truths. I'm telling you, they're tiny, but be not mistaken, sometimes the greatest gifts come in the smallest packages. So, we turn today to Matthew chapter 13. We're going to look at two parables packed into only three verses. two parables Jesus is teaching. Matthew chapter 13 if you want to go there or you could follow along on the screen if you would stand for the reading of God's word. It won't take long. Matthew 13 44- 46. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went on and sold all that he had and bought it. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. There are some parables of Jesus that need explanation. We started off with the first parable of Jesus often called the parable of the sewer. And Jesus had to explain that the seed in this particular parable or story is the word of the kingdom. He went on to explain that the soil is the

condition of the man's heart. Then we learned another parable of Jesus. Same teacher, same lesson, different illustration. In the second parable, we see that the soil represents the world and there were two types of seeds in the second parable. There were the good seeds which were the wheat. Jesus said those are the sons of the kingdom. And then there were the weeds which Jesus said were planted by an enemy none other than the devil. So he likens in this world there's only two types of people because there's only two kingdoms. There's the kingdom of God and there's the kingdom of the devil. And while you're here on earth, we will be living life with weeds. So, how do you live faithfully as a good seed with the weeds?

Today, we have no explanation of this story. Jesus is going to leave us up for our own imagination and interpretation. And really, if you go to a theological studies and uh pastoral sermons regarding this particular text, there's really only two frames of mind here, two thoughts. And I'm going to give you both, but I'm going to really teach the proper one. Okay? Um, if you asked a hundred pastors, you might get 50 that give one interpretation and 50 the other. But today, you're going to hear the correct one. Uh, I just make sure that you uh have that. The the first first interpretation, I'm just going to keep this brief and short, is the interpretation that you are the treasure. You are the great pearl, the great value of great price. And Jesus in

this particular story, as some would interpret the story, is the one that sold it all to purchase you. And we can see through the scriptures an understanding of this because even Paul when he's writing to the Philippians, he tells us, "Hey, you should have the same mind as Jesus." What was Jesus willing to do? Well, this is what the writer of Philippians 2 says in chapter 2 5-8. Having this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So he says, you should think more like Jesus. You should live more like Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. So fully God but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. Fully man, fully

God, fully man. And being found in human form, this is Jesus. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So some see the interpretation of the treasure and the pearl that one is willing to give up everything to go after that as Jesus who is God who left heaven and came to this earth. He left everything to go get you. As the writer of Hebrews says it was with joy set before him that he endured the cross. Now although this is uh a wonderful way of of understanding this story, I would say it's an inverted interpretation of the story.

Meaning when you read the Bible, you want to be careful that you insert yourself as the hero of the story. When you read about David and Goliath and you say, "I'm David going against Goliath." We want to be careful when we we immerse ourselves in these stories because the great hero of the Bible is God. And the great mystery of the Bible is that God invites you into his story. And so I I see the interpretation of this as one that Jesus prefaces both stories saying, "Here's what the kingdom of heaven is like." And if you're new to these parables and you wonder what's the difference between kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God, they're the same thing, interchangeable. Matthew is a Jew and he's writing to primarily Jewish people. And the Jewish people have such a reverence for God's name, they often won't even say it.

Even today, if you travel to Israel, instead of referring to the Lord with that that verbiage, they'll call him Hashem, which is Hebrew for the name. I can't even say the name the Lord. And so Matthew interpreting the kingdom is not going to use the word God. He's going to refer to the kingdom of heaven, but it's really the same. So let's dive back in and understand how does this change our lives. How can you have the kingdom? Jesus said Matthew 13:44, "The kingdom of heaven is like so you can understand this." Jesus said, "You can understand the kingdom. It's like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found." Everyone shout found. Found and covered up. Then in his joy, he sells all that he has and buys that field.

Let's start with the fact the man wasn't even looking for the treasure, but he found it. I don't think Jesus lost you and then all of a sudden said, "Oh, there you are. I think I'll get you." But what Jesus says is there are some people that will stumble upon the kingdom, not even looking for it, that find it, that realize such a great value, they give their whole lives to this very thing they found. And Jesus says the kingdom is like a man who's going through a field. He doesn't own the field. It wasn't uncommon that you'd have to go through someone else's field. And while he's going through this field, he finds a treasure. Now, what I love about Jesus is he leaves much up to the imagination. We don't know what kind of a treasure it is. But because many of us have watched movies in Hollywood, we liken a treasure to a treasure chest. Am I right?

How many of you imagined a treasure chest? He stubs his toe and he says, "What's that?" He dusts it off a little bit and realizes as he digs up, "This is a treasure chest full of gold." And Jesus says, "This man does not take some of these coins and put some in his pocket to come back later. He actually puts the treasure right back where it belongs." In in the ancient Middle East, there was a rabbitical law that if you found a treasure on someone else's property, you could not claim it because since it was on their property, it goes to the owner of the property. It was not uncommon back in this day when there were no banks to take your treasures to that you would actually bury the things the assets that you have. You would bury

them in the ground so that if your house was raided or a thief came in to steal they wouldn't take your greatest assets but they would be buried. They would be hidden. True story. There was a person at Journey Church years ago who owed the government so much money that if he put any money in the bank, the government would seize it because of his back taxes. So what he did is anytime he got money, he would cash the check, take that cash, and bury it on his land here in Bend. True story. He had done this so many times that he came many months later and he was asking for prayer because he could not remember where he had buried that cash.

Do you remember that pastor here? I don't even know the ending of that story. I don't know if he found it, but I do know that they were renting that property. So, who knows? somebody someday could purchase that property and find a treasure. This particular m man just found this treasure and it was worth so much that he was willing to sacrifice what he had to get something greater. And Jesus adds to the story and says he says then in his joy verse 44 in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. There are moments when you realize you found something so much greater than what you've had in your past. That what's in front of you is

greater than what's behind you. Jesus said in Matthew 10:39, listen carefully because Jesus speaks in a way that you got to lean in and hear what he has to say. Whoever finds his life will lose it. So if you think this world is about you at the end of your life, you actually lost it. You're not made for you. But Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will actually find it." You're made for more. You are made to experience the kingdom of God. If this man found this treasure and said, "Well, isn't that lovely that this treasure is in a field? I think I'll just keep moving on with my life." No, this man had such great joy.

Although we know not that it was a treasure box or what the treasure was. Who knows? It could have been a gold mine and there was more gold than he ever could have imagined. Who knows? Maybe it was an oil field and it would give for generations to come. We know not what the treasure is, but we do know this that it was greater than what he had. And Jesus is making a point clear that the the kingdom is far superior than anything we could experience here on earth. This is why the writer of Philippians, Paul, he said so clearly, this is what he said in Philippians 3:8. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

He would go on to say the same thing that everything is just rubbish. It's just garbage compared to the surpassing understanding of knowing God himself. Is there anything of greater value than you? There's there's no uh value that you could put to the kingdom. Yeah. And notice what this man does when he finds this treasure in a field. He doesn't hesitate. He doesn't say, "Maybe there will be a better day to buy this field. Maybe maybe there'll be another field someday that I'll find another treasure." He doesn't complain. How come other people get treasures in the field, but I don't get it? He's not having a pity party. He sells everything with joy. My friends, joy is a byproduct of the kingdom.

As the writer said in Romans 14, it is kingdom. So if you find someone with true joy, it's kingdom. You ever met a grumpy Christian? They might call themselves Christian, but it's not kingdom. Anybody can call themselves Christians, but not everybody can experience the kingdom. We know the kingdom is righteousness. I know who my identity is. We know the kingdom is full as joy and peace. You you gain these things with Jesus. You gain an identity. I'm no longer a sinner. I am a saint. It's not based on my feelings. It's based on the reality that Jesus died for my sins. He defeated the grave. He overcame it by the power of the Holy Spirit. That makes me a saint. I'm set apart for his purpose. I am now holy. I am his workmanship. I am called to do

good works that he prepared for me in advance for me to do. This is kingdom. I've got purpose. God has a plan for me. It's a future. It's prosperity. This is kingdom. You receive the greatest gift of all. Some of us walk around like we we don't have grace. Do you know what a gift grace is? You're forgiven of every sin. Every sin. We should be walking around shouting to the world, "I'm forgiven. I am forgiven." Someone says, "You're crazy. What are you doing?" I've got the gift of grace and it's free. And one of our core values at Journey Church is to be gracegivers. What I have, I just want to give to you. You're not just forgiven of your sins. You're set free from strongholds. You're delivered of demonic generational curses that have been coming upon your life.

You're delivered from your past. See, joy is not this temporary experience like, boy, things are good right now. I've got money to pay the bills. My relationships are great. It's a sunny, beautiful day in central Oregon. 80 degrees, no cold wind, everything's just every I've got joy. No, we just sang about joy. I've got joy despite my circumstances. I've got joy even if I don't see how it's going to happen because I don't walk by sight. I walk by faith. This is kingdom. John 15:11, Jesus said, "These things I've spoken to you." This is Jesus. He says, "I've said this to you that my joy may be in you." That's kingdom. The treasure might be in you and that your joy may be full.

Because when you find the treasure, this is not painful. This is not surrender like, "Oh great, now I have to follow Jesus. I have to give up hangovers. I have to I have to give up cursing. I'm so sad that I have to surrender my angness, my bitterness, my fits of rage on the Parkway. I'm so upset that I have to surrender my flesh to get the power of the Holy Spirit. When you got the kingdom, you get the presence of God. Psalm 16:11, in your presence, there's the fullness of joy. My friends, the kingdom is not losing anything. It's gaining everything.

That's why Jesus says, "I can't stop with one story about the kingdom and treasure." Again, he says, verse 45, Matthew 13:45, he says again. Everyone shout again. Again, this ties in the previous story to this story. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. This is a man that knows what he's looking for. This time he didn't find the pearl. He's in the search of the greatest pearl in the world. In studying the scripture, I found that there's actually have been wars to get physical kingdoms because of the pearls in that particular place that there was there was such valuables.

People are willing to go fight and give their lives for a treasure here on earth. And Jesus says, 'The kingdom of heaven is like someone who's searching. He's got all these pearls that have value, but when he finds one of greater value, he realized it doesn't compare to all of the others. You see, there are so many people in this world searching for truth. They're searching and so they go to false religion that's not truth of the kingdom of this world. Universalism, Bahigh, unity. They go to false religion, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism. They're searching new age. If I use sage, it's going to get

rid of the the bad vibes. That somehow karma is if I do good, then the universe is going to give me good. And they're searching. They're searching. They're searching. They're searching. They're searching. They're searching. They're searching. But when you really get the one that's of the greatest value more than any other on the planet, you realize what you've been searching for. This is it. And you say, "I've got to give up everything else to get it. I I want the tr I want the the whole I want the the better. I'm not going to keep some of these little ones for the great one. I want the pearl of great price. I I know what I'm searching for." And some people, they just stumble upon the kingdom. Other people, they search for the for the truth and they find the kingdom. For me, I stumbled upon the kingdom. I wasn't even looking. I was 15 years old. I never grew up in church.

Had no clue who Jesus was. Had no clue what the kingdom meant. I had never read my Bible a day in my life. In fact, when I started going to church, I thought they were talking about aliens and stuff. There's books of the Bible like Philippians and Colossians. Like, what is this? It it was foreign. At 15 years old, someone invited me youth group, not because I was seeking. I was a 15-year-old hormonal, pimple-faced boy that was into girls. And I knew there was cute girls at this thing that they called youth group. And so, I got invited to youth group. And I only went for the girls. You know what I stumbled upon? The greatest treasure that changed my life. I've got Jesus at 15 years old. I didn't have it figured out. I didn't have to be smart

enough. I didn't have to go pass a class or take a test. I didn't have to be born into the right family. I just stumbled upon the kingdom at 15 years old. You are never too young to receive the kingdom of heaven. Never. Now, my wife, she was searching for the truth. She was in her 20s and she knew that at a very young age, just as a young child who was put in Christian school at one point in her life, she received Jesus. It never left her. Even though she didn't go to church, even though she wasn't reading her Bible in her 20s, she was seeking the truth. She was asking for the truth. And wouldn't you just know it? When you seek, Jesus says, "You will find." And she found the kingdom. I'm I'm so glad that although our stories are different, Jesus says some of you here today are going to stumble upon the

truth. You came to this church today and you didn't realize that you came in one way, but you can leave another way saved. Going to church will never save you. Being a good person isn't going to save you. But Jesus is a great savior. He could save the worst of sinners at any time. Some of you have been seeking for a long time. And the very thing you're seeking for, I came to tell you today, his name is Jesus. And when we talk about kingdom, what we're simply saying is he is the king and he has a way to life and that way to life is the kingdom. He he put it one way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. That's kingdom. So when we refer to kingdom, we're saying Jesus is the king of this kingdom, and

he has a way of living the life. That is kingdom. Jesus warned us in Mark 8:36, "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" Listen, if you collected every little pearl in the world and you missed the great pearl, what good is that? Jesus says there's something so much greater, but it requires everything. No half-heartedness. You can't keep some of your little pearls and still buy the big pearl. You can't keep some of your past and still buy the big field. You sacrifice it all. Jesus said something that could sound really difficult until you have the revelation that he's actually teaching you the truth at all times. Luke 14 26 and 27.

He says in verse 26, "If anyone," someone shout, "Anyone, anyone comes to me." So you want to be a disciple of Jesus. If you want to come to Jesus, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Jesus didn't say might not be my disciple. He didn't say I won't let them be my disciple. You just can't be a disciple of Jesus. Now, let let me make sure you understand the cultural context because often we read this through a western lens. We've got to understand in the Hebrew and Jewish culture that word hate means to love less. So what Jesus is saying is

if you love anyone in your life more than him, you're not a disciple. I've got to make sure that you understand this. If I give you a car and it has no engine, you can say all you want that you're going to drive somewhere, but simply put, you cannot drive somewhere because you have no engine. You have a car, but you have no engine. Are you tracking with me? You just cannot drive. Are you even if you will it? Even if you say, "No, no, I'm going to drive to church today." No, no, you can't. There's no engine. You cannot drive. It's not that you I'm stopping you. I'm not telling you that you can't drive it. I'm not saying I won't let you drive it. I'm simply telling you you cannot drive it. Jesus is saying this. When you prioritize in your life and you think somehow that your parents are your hope or your

spouse will love you the way that you're created to be loved, if you think your kids will bring you fulfillment, if you think somehow your siblings are there to satisfy you, he says you're not getting kingdom. So [snorts] the priority of the kingdom is Jesus overall. Amen. We have a way in this world and I don't mean to condemn anyone. I love America because we're consumers and we're we're capitalistic culture. I I love that because anyone can make it in this country. Isn't this a great country? God bless America. Uh but sometimes we take the principles of our country and bring them to the kingdom. They don't work the same at all. So we think we say things like this. God, spouse, kids, church. Have you ever seen something

like this? Priority. God first, my wife second, my kids third. That and country fourth. You know, this is how we do it. You know, we we we prioritize. Jesus says, "No, no, no, no, no. That's not kingdom. It's not a pie chart where you give God 50%. You give your spouse 15%. You give your kids 10% in the church 5%. That's not the kingdom. Many of us do that. I hear it at the church all the time. Pastor, sorry I can't serve. I'm too busy. Pastor, sorry I didn't make it to that. I'm too busy. Pastor, I'm sorry. I I don't have time to read the Bible every day. I'm too busy. Too tired. Jesus lets us know you then you can't be a disciple.

He's not saying I won't let you be a disciple. So he's like, "Come be my disciple." But don't you think that somehow you're going to get this world and you're also going to get the kingdom? How long are you going to go limping between these two opinions? It doesn't work. He says in verse 27 of Luke 14, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Jesus isn't calling you to a miserable life. He's calling you to die to your old life, to get eternal life, to get abundant life, to get the life that he called and created for you. This is the way he put it in Matthew 6:33. Here's what blows your your world about these order of priorities. He says, "But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." So, you put Jesus first in your life. Let me just tell you, you're not even going to have to

try to love your spouse. It's what you do because it's kingdom. You don't have to try to be a better parent than your parent to your kids. He heals you of your past. It's not about merit and effort anymore. I'll try to put God first. I'll try to put my wife second. I'll try to put my kids third. I'll try to put the church forth. No, no, no, no, no. Kingdom is just kingdom. [snorts] It's about King Jesus. And he aligns everything. It's not about trying harder, being better. That's why Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it." You actually get what you've been looking for the whole time. It's a kingdom life. If I offered you land for $5,000, let's even just say it's a bad piece of

land. There's no water attached to it, no power. It's yours for $5,000. But you knew there was a treasure on that land for $5 million. Would you do it? Of course you would. You would find a way to buy that land. Have you ever watched somebody trick a child? The child has a dollar bill and you go to the child and you say, "Hey, would you like three shiny nickels for that dollar bill?" And the kid says, "Three nickels for that dollar bill?" Of course. Here's my dollar. Give me the three nickels. I've got three and you've only got one. Do you know many of us are living like that right now? The treasure can be yours. It's your you have it. It's yours if you want it. It's yours.

Peter realized the great worth of Jesus when he said in 1 Peter 1:8, "Though you have not seen him, you love him and you rejoice with joy that is inexpressable." Say inexpressable. Inexpressable and filled with glory. That's the joy of the kingdom. When you've got that Jesus, you know it. I I'm not here to condemn or to call anyone out. But some of you don't have it yet because you're digging in the wrong places. You're coming expecting a preacher to preach a certain way, a song to be sung a certain way. You're coming with the expectation that you prayed this way. God's going to answer the prayer exactly the way you thought he would answer the prayer. But let me just tell you, you're not God. He is. And when you give into the kingdom, you realize he's a father that loves you so much. He's patient with you. He He's going to discipline you. He's going to give you an abundance

because he's a God of abundance, but not in the way you think. He's not a a vending machine that you put in your prayer and it pops out and he's he's not the way he's not a Santa Claus that you just ask for a good gift and he gives it to you. He's a giver of good gifts, but he's a father that loves you. And so, here's the kingdom. Jesus said in John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. It's yours in Jesus." But he does tell us, you can do a self-evaluation what you're investing in. He says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Do you care about all the tiny pearls? Are you frustrated that someone else has the treasure, but you don't?

He He says, "What you're investing in is going to tell you what you believe in. [snorts] It's yours. It's yours if you want it. The greatest treasure in all the world, this, you got to remember this is just a story. Is not buried somewhere. You don't have to travel to another country to get this pearl. It's yours in Jesus. He did it." See, the way Peter writes it, he says, "You were ransomed." Jesus knew that we were stuck in our sin. We had no way to earn eternal life on our own. So here's what God did is is he ransomed you not with gold or silver but with the precious blood of Christ. See see Jesus made a way where there was no way. Jesus did it. He who was without sin died for our sin.

He who did not deserve death willingly gave his life and died for you. He was buried and on the third day rose from the grave so that you can have this life not at church but in you. You could be in Christ that you have the Holy Spirit sealed. Jesus promised in this kingdom he's never going to leave you nor forsake you. It's not like well you made a mistake. Well come back and I'll give you more kingdom later. That's not how the kingdom works. He's rich in grace. This is the fullness of God offered to you today. Remember how we began our time? I told you about this incredible man named Elijah

who proposed the question, "How long will you go on limping between two opinions?" And the people were silent. They had no conviction of, "You know what, Elijah? You're right. Today I'm going to repent and I'm g seek after the one true God. Instead, they sat in silence. I believe the church is a lot like that today. And I'm I'm generalizing the church. I'm not calling everyone this, but I think there are a lot of people limping between two opinions. And we get more excited about politics than we do about kingdom. More excited about gas prices than we do about kingdom. You know, we get excited about these things we can see in this world. Elijah did not just leave the people. He called them up to Mount Carmel and he says, "You go get the priests of Baal and we're gonna see which God is God." I

feel like every Sunday we lay a stake in the ground in Central Oregon and we say, "Let's just see whose God is God. Let let's just see how the false gods of Central Oregon are doing." And so Elijah calls them up to the mountain and he says, "Okay, we're going to offer a sacrifice and we're going to see whose god shows up. priest of Baal, you go first. And they they laid out an oxen on the altar and they began to pray to Baal and they began to weep and whail and ask Baal to take the sacrifice and nothing was happening. And so Elijah spurred them on. And I love that the Bible's filled with humor. He calls them out and he says, "So where's your God? Maybe he's on the toilet.

Maybe that's why he's not coming. Listen, the religions of this world do not have the power that we have in Jesus. And after much time of them even beating themselves, wounding themselves, there are many people who are burdening themselves with religion today and they're not experiencing kingdom just like in the days of old because there's only two kingdoms. So Elijah, it's his turn. The god Baal did nothing. He says, "Put that ox in there and I want you to put water." And this was a time of famine, which would have been unheard of for him to offer water as a sacrifice on top of this offering. And then he calls upon God and he asks for fire. See, here's how you know you have kingdom. You have bold prayers. You call fire down from heaven.

See, it's bold because you don't even know if it's going to happen. But you ask the God that can make it happen. He calls down fire from heaven. And God not only took that sacrifice, he took every drip of water. And here's what happens next. And I tell you, here's what happens when you go all in for the kingdom. All of the people that were there that day said, "The Lord, he is God." They went from going limping on one opinion to saying, "There's revival. There's fire. This God is powerful. This God is alive. This God is far superior than all the other gods of this world because there's only one true God. And so the people declared over and over, the Lord, he is God.

So when we come here today and we come and we sing to the Lord and say, our God reigns. This is not a song. It's an anthem chant of old. It's declaring he is, he was, and he will forever be the Lord our God. This is kingdom. [applause] Oh, but friend, how many of you have found the treasure? I'd hate for you to come find the treasure and go back to your old life [snorts] to know that there's something greater. And it does require everything. I don't want to trick you into this. I don't want to be a car salesman and manipulate you into the kingdom of of God. This is not a better life.

It's a surrendered born again new life in Jesus. And sometimes it comes with his trials, but he meets you in the trials. Sometimes it comes with storms, but he can calm the storms. Oh, sometimes it divides families instead of uniting families. And it the word hate that Jesus used earlier was not the word we use in our English vocabulary of emotional rage. That's not what Jesus is saying. He said a new commandment I give to you. Love one another as I have loved you. He said pray for your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Love your enemies. So when he says hate, we've got to get the right idea that he says you cannot put someone on this earth as a priority above the very God that created you. And

when you put the priority of God above all, not in order where I just try to work harder at this, but you say, "You are my all in all, then you have kingdom." So, I want to invite you to this today. As I invite the worship team up now, I'm going to ask you to take this serious. Would you just close your eyes? You know, you don't have to close your eyes to to pray. You don't have to close your eyes to experience the kingdom. But but right now in this moment, I'm asking you to close your eyes to examine in your heart. Do you have this treasure? Do you have this pearl? Have you received the kingdom in your heart? And what I'm really asking is, have you believed in Jesus?

And my friends, in this moment of the sobriety of your thought, if you want this life of kingdom, righteousness, joy, and peace, I want to encourage you right now, it's yours. But you've got to take the step to believe. Romans 10:9 says, "If you would confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that he died on the cross for your sins, you will be saved." not might be saved, not need to earn your salvation. [music] You'll be saved by putting your hope and trust and faith in Jesus. If that's you today and you would like to receive salvation in Jesus, joy in Jesus, hope in Jesus. If you would like the peace of Jesus in your life, would you just slip your hand up nice and high? This is the most important decision you [music] can ever make. Praise God. You're never too young

to make this decision. It is the best decision you could ever make. Anyone else today, just raise your hand nice and high. You might have been going to church your whole life, but today [music] forward, you say, "I just want kingdom. I want the real kingdom." Praise God. Yes. It's the best decision you've ever made. It's more important than who you will marry, more important than what school you'll go to, more important than your career. I tell you, it will change your whole family. Your past is your past now. Now, he gives you a future and a hope. Praise God. You know, God loves you more than you know. I pray the rest of [music] your life, you keep finding that treasure. It just keeps growing. He's He's never not loved you, but once you know it, you just want more of it.

Anyone else today, [music] right where you are, just raise your hand nice and say, "Yes, I want this today." Praise God. Yes. Yes. You see, when when you believe in Jesus, the Bible says you become a child of God. Now you're a child of the kingdom. You're never too young to be a part of this kingdom. So for the the kids today that said yes to the Lord, you are a child of God. For those adults that just raised their hands today, the Bible says you are a child of God. I want you just to repeat this [music] prayer with me. It's not a prayer that's going to save you, but it's Jesus. Prayer is talking to God. It's listening to God. You can pray anywhere at any time, my friends. And if you just said yes to Jesus, from this point forward, you be a praying person. Don't stop praying. Let's pray

together. And everyone who believes in Jesus already, let's join those doing it for the first time out loud. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I believe you are the son of God. You are my king. You are my savior. I believe you died for my sins. Forgive me, Lord. I turn from my old life. I surrender my new life. Be my [music] treasure from this day forward. You have everything in Jesus name. Now everybody shout, "Amen." Amen. That means so be it. It's done. God did it. Would you stand to your feet? I want us to finish and I I want the the awe

and reverence of the glory of God to be on our minds as we prepare to leave here today. I want us to remember the goodness of God in the land of the living. You're born again. [music] You're a child of God. You have the great God on your side. It's insurpassable, invaluable. You have the treasure inside of you. Now you get to live like it.