Sermon Tone Analysis

“I was years and years upon the brink of hell—I mean in my own feeling.

I was unhappy, I was desponding, I was despairing.

I dreamed of hell.

My life was full of sorrow and wretchedness, believing that I was lost.”

Charles Spurgeon used these strong words to describe his adolescent years.

Despite his Christian upbringing (he was christened as an infant, and raised in the Congregational church), and his own efforts (he read the Bible and prayed daily), Spurgeon woke one January Sunday in 1850 with a deep sense of his need for deliverance.

Because of a snowstorm, the 15-year-old’s path to church was diverted down a side street.

For shelter, he ducked into the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street.

An unknown substitute lay preacher stepped into the pulpit and read his text——

“He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate except his text.

Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, ‘That young man there looks very miserable’ … and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Look!

Look, young man!

Look now!’ … Then I had this vision—not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart.

I saw what a Savior Christ was.…

Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment.”

“And as the snow fell on my road home from the little house of prayer I thought every snowflake talked with me and told of the pardon I had found, for I was white as the driven snow through the grace of God.”

Upon his return home, his appearance caused his mother to exclaim, “Something wonderful has happened to you.”

For the next months young Spurgeon searched the Scriptures “to know more fully the value of the jewel which God had given me.…

I found that believers ought to be baptized.”

And so he was baptized, by immersion, four months later in the River Lark, after which he joined a Baptist Church.

You may be asking yourself why I am telling you about Charles Spurgeon’s conversion?

The reason why is that it fits in with our text for this morning.

Please take your Bible and turn with me to and following as we continue on in our series titled: Kingdom Parables.

Some of you will probably laugh when you hear me say this, but this week I plan to cover the last four parables that are found in .

How many of you actually think that I will be able to finish this in one message?

The first four parables in this chapter were told in a public format to the crowds who were on the sea shore, and Jesus was sitting in a boat as He addressed them.

These last four parables were told in private to presumably the apostles and perhaps a few other close associates.

Some scholars point out what is called a chiastic structure among the parables of this chapter.

Chiastic structure is frequently employed in biblical texts.

Let’s read our text together this morning.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS A TREASURE

I’d like for us to note first of all that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure.

I’m sure you’ve all heard stories of pirates searching for hidden treasure.

Of course their searching for treasure is motivated by greed.

In the first of our parables for this morning a man stumbled upon a treasure that was hidden in a field.

Then he sold everything that he had so that he could purchase this field and own that treasure.

There are many today who see greed being the motivation for this man’s purchasing of this field.

They wonder why the dude didn’t inform the landowner of the treasure that was found in his field.

In our society that would have been the proper thing to do.

But that is not how things worked back in Bible times.

“Finders keepers” was somewhat the rule of the land in those days.

It wasn’t quite that simple, but it was close.

Rabbinic law stated that if an object was found outside of a house then the finder could be the keeper.

If an object was found in the wall of a dwelling, if it was found closer to the outer side of the wall it was the finders to keep.

If, however, it was found closer to the inner side of the wall it belonged to the homeowner.

This reminds me of something Gail found on Facebook that her cousin had related.

Her cousin said:

“I headed into the grocery store earlier for a few groceries.

As I was standing in the self checkout line, I dropped my $20 bill on the floor.

The woman in front of me picked it up, & as I was thanking her for picking my $20 up for me she looked me dead in my eye & said: ‘The things found on earth are kept by the collector.’

I said ‘excuse me!!! That’s my $20!!!’ This lady had the nerve to ignore me, as though I hadn’t said a word, and pocketed the money and walked out of the store.

I ended up following her out of the store.

When the woman got to her car s, when put her grocery bags on the ground while she opened her car.

I walked up behind her & grabbed her bags of groceries and walked off.

The woman then asked to give her back her things.

I replied in the sweetest voice I could manage, as I walked away to my care and said to her: ;the things found on earth are kept by the collector!’

After I got home and open her groceries I found that I got a nice return for my $20!”

This was not an actual true story, by the way.

It was one of those things people use to see if others are reading their full posts on Facebook.

But when Gail read it to me it reminded me of what I had read this week regarding the cultural background to the parable of the hidden treasure.

As I have stated before, when studying a parable the student of Scripture must ascertain what the main point of the parable is.

The morality of the finder of this hidden treasure is not the main point of this parable.

The main point is that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure.

It is such a treasure that is worth giving up everything that you possess for the sake of the kingdom.

How do we define the kingdom of heaven?

I will define it as the realm of Jesus’ rule and authority.

Though all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, for the present time His rule is in the hearts of His loyal subjects (to borrow from monarchial language).

There is coming a day in which Jesus will reign as King on earth.

His future reign will be over a worldwide kingdom.

His reign will be righteous, and firm.

There is coming a day when even His enemies will bow the knee to Him as the Sovereign Lord.

As Paul wrote:

Let’s turn our attention now to the parable of the pearl of great price.

After looking at this next parable we will draw some truths out of these two very similar parables.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS EXQUISITE

Look with me at as we consider the parable of the pearl of great price.

When I was working at a factory in Rochester, MI I became friends with a group of men who all liked to hunt deer.

Many of these men bagged multiple deer every year, where as I bagged a deer every decade or two.

I would hear some of the guys talk about passing over a buck in hopes of finding a bigger trophy buck.

They wanted to have something they could mount on their wall.

They were selective.

They were hunting for their own pearl of great price.

In this parable we find a merchant who is selective.

He was seeking fine pearls.

In the ancient world pearls where kind of like diamonds are now.

They were considered to be the most valuable of all gems.

Perhaps that had to due with the danger involved in “harvesting a pearl.”

Without the aid of modern technology people would have to dive into to deep waters, holding their breath as they did so, and search under water for a clam in which pearls were found.

It was dangerous work and many divers lost their life as they tried to find these precious gems.

Since banks were not so easily accessible as they are today, many wealthy people used traded their wealth for pearls because they were easier to store and keep safe.

The kingdom of heaven is like a rare gem, it is exquisite in its beauty.

Is our treasure here on earth or is it to be found in the kingdom of heaven?

Some have tried to take this parable (and probably the last as well) and say that the kingdom of heaven can be bought.

Perhaps the Roman Catholic idea of indulgences comes from a misunderstanding of these parables.

We cannot purchase salvation by any means.

Not by money nor by good deeds.

But salvation does purchase us!

Commenting on this D.A. Carson wrote:

Jesus is not interested in religious efforts or in affirming that one can “buy” the kingdom; on the contrary, he is saying that the person whose whole life has been bound up with “pearls”—the entire religious heritage of the Jews?—will, on comprehending the true value of the kingdom as Jesus presents it, gladly exchange all else to follow him.

Let’s try to pull out some truths from these two very similar parables.