Preached in Markham Baptist Church, October 12, 2003.

Matthew 13:45-46

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM - PART 4:
WORTH OF THE KINGDOM

The Kingdom of God is like a pearl of great price. This is one way to interpret this passage and having been guided by the thoughts of Juan Carlos Ortiz it is the way I will interpret it this morning. The Kingdom of God can be likened to a pearl of great price.

And certainly, I hope you have discovered this to be true, as we have thought these past few weeks about God’s Kingdom. It is so magnificent in its scope. So out of this world that to describe it with the terms of our world would be to cheapen it but it is the only way we can think of it.

The Kingdom of God is one sense all of God’s creation. And so it is without boundaries. Certainly not limited to this little planet called earth. The kingdom of God encapsulates all he has created – stars, moons, galaxies, and universes. The Kingdom of God. It defies all geographical boundaries.

The Kingdom of God can be described as a Kingdom in which God is at the center. He is the ruler. It is the government of God. It is the dynamic rule or reign of God. It is present here on earth as people bow to God as master, boss, owner, king of their lives.

What is its character? Paul writes to the Romans, “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17).

That means that the Kingdom of God is not about forms and ceremonies (the hot issue of Paul’s day centered on meat and drink offered to idols. People were asking, was it right to eat the meat and drink the drink that was offered to idols. Some Christians said you cannot do that and be a Christian and others had no trouble with it at all).

And Paul says the Christian faith is not about that at all. It is not about externals, it is not about forms and regulations. It is about a vital, vibrant relationship with the king. It is not claiming any good thing (that is righteousness) in our selves but claiming the good character of God. Given to us through faith in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is setting us right in His sight.

It is peace. Ahh, finally.

It is joy. A celebration sparked off by the love of God and the compassion of God as He seeks us and considers us valuable. It is a celebration focused on God, centered on God that praises and celebrates the character of God.

And we could add so much more to that. It is the joy of knowing that we belong to a King who is a winner. You know that don’t you? Our God is no loser. He has defeated Satan. He has overcome the world. He has done away with sin in our lives. We do not worship a God who has been stumped by Satan and doesn’t know what to do.

We serve a risen Lord, a conquering king. That’s the truth that sparked the early Christians to carry the message to the ends of the earth. It is the truth that is given to John and he records it in the book of Revelation. He is the one who wins the battle and who sits on the throne.

We could easily take the ancient song of Miriam, Moses' sister, as she sang on that day that Pharaoh and all his armies had been defeated. “I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea."

The kingdom of God is a pearl of great price. Massive in its scope, eternal and filled with righteousness, peace and joy. A vital relationship with God through Christ.

The merchant is you and me. The merchant you will notice is seeking. He is looking for fine pearls. And so are you. You, we all are seeking for purpose, for meaning, for security, peace, forgiveness, life everlasting. Everyone is seeking. Some people seek in the wrong places and that is a great tragedy because they will not find what they are looking for outside the Kingdom of God. There are many counterfeit kingdoms in the world But the pearl of great price is the Kingdom of God.

Suddenly we are confronted with this pearl. We are told of this kingdom and we see at its center Jesus Christ with open arms forgiving us and accepting us and receiving us and willing to give us the Kingdom we think, “My goodness this is what I have been seeking for all my life. What a pearl!”

He says, “Do you like it?”

“Oh my goodness, this is, you know I am a seeker of pearls, I am a collector so I know about pearls. But I have never seen such a thing like this. This is wonderful.”

“Well if you are a seeker of pearls why don’t you buy this one?”

“Buy this one? Who can buy this pearl? This is the Kingdom of God, the whole universe, eternity, righteousness, peace joy, how can I buy anything like this?”

“O yes. This is very, very costly, this is very, very dear. This is very, very precious. But everyone can buy it.”

“Come on, I don’t understand it. You say it is very, very dear, it is very, very costly and then you say that everyone can buy it. How can that be?”

“O yes. It cost everything you have. If you have a million it cost a million provided that is all you have. If you have a trillion it cost a trillion provided that is all you have. And if you have a penny, if that is all you have, it cost a penny. It cost all you have.”

“This is a bargain. What do I have? A Dodge Caravan, old. A bicycle. I’ll buy the pearl.”

“Wonderful! Good decision. Now give me all you have.”

“Well I have two thousand dollars in my savings account.”

“You need to give that to me.”

“Here it is.”

“What else do you have? Is that all?”

“Well I have some change in my wallet. But let me see,”

“No, no, no, Give me the wallet too.”

“What else have you?”

“Well, I think that is all.”

“But where do you live? Do you have a house?”

“O yes, I have a house."

“The house also becomes mine."

“What else have you?"

“That’s all, you’ve got my house now I will have to move to my weekend cottage.”

“You have a weekend cottage? That also becomes mine.”

“What else do you have?”

“That’s all you have got to believe me. I have a van but now we will have to sleep in the van.”

“Your van too becomes mine. What else have you?"

“Believe me that’s all I have.”

“Are you all alone?”

“Oh no - I have a wife”

“Your wife also becomes mine.”

“My wife?"

“Yes sir, all you have. Do you have children?"

“Yes”

“Your children also become mine. Now what else have you?"

“Believe me, that’s all I have I am left alone.”

“O no, no, you also become mine. "

“Well, now you and everything you are and have is mine. Now the Kingdom belongs to you. Enjoy it."

“Well, darlings sorry but this is not so bad, children …"

Wait a minute I haven’t finished yet. "

“But I have nothing else.”

“No, no, I haven’t finished yet. Now comes the most important part. You know you belong to me, your wife, your house, your money. Is that so?"

“Yes sir?”

“Well I can do whatever I want with my property? Is that so?"

“Yes sir.”

“Well I want you to live with that woman as husband and wife. "

“You mean I can live and sleep with my wife? That’s wonderful. But what’s the difference?”

“O very big. When you lived there as husband and wife you lived in your own terms. Now you are going to live as husband and wife in my terms. “Husbands love your wife. Do not be rough with them. Treat them as the weaker vessel that your prayers may not be hindered."

"And you, wife - respect your husband and love each other as Jesus loves the Church. Those are my terms.”

“That’s not too bad,” she says.

“Now I will also let you have these children.”

“we can have the children?"

“Yes but not as you once had them according to your terms. But by my terms. Parents do not provoke your children to anger lest they get discouraged. But rear them in the discipline of the Lord. And you children obey your father and your mother. Do you understand?"

"Yes. That’s not too bad either."

“Also I will let you live in this house.”

“We can go back to our house?"

“Whose house?"

“Your house."

“Yes. Now you may live in this house but do not forget that this house is mine. I need a little place in case I need hospitality to some of my servants or a person who is in great need. Please don’t forget that. Also I want the house clean, neat, a nice garden, It’s my house I don’t want to be ashamed of my house. So please take care of the house and always leave the house open for hospitality."

"Also I will let you have the weekend cottage."

"Our…er. .. your weekend cottage."

"Yes but If I need the weekend cottage for a retreat for the board of the church, or a person who has got sick and needs recovering, when ever you don’t use it you can lend it to other people less privileged than you. Because the house is mine."

"That makes sense."

"Also you can have the van."

"The car?"

"Yes, but I don’t want tickets on my car. So obey the rules of traffic and also, I want my car to be clean and nice. But if I need a ride for one disabled person, who needs a ride to worship, or some person who needs to go the hospital, or just be out, don’t forget that the car is mine and you are my chauffeur. "

"Yes sir. "

“I will also let you have this money."

“The money!"

“Yes of course. You know with the ten percent of this I can make it. I asked the accountant of heaven and he told me that the church could do very well if everyone tithes. So you just bring your tithe and the rest is also mine, the 90 percent. I will let you use as you like. But before you spend it check with me first. "

"Now enjoy the Kingdom… did you understand?"

"Yes sir."

Do YOUunderstand?

Juan Carlos Ortiz said that he once gave that illustration in Scotland and a BBC reporter came up to him after and asked, “Don’t’ you think Jesus asks too much?” He replied,"No, that’s not what I said, Jesus doesn’t ask too much, he asks all."

Now the difficulty in interpreting this passage this way is that we could get to thinking that we can buy the Kingdom of God. But you know and I know that we can’t to that. You know and I know that the Kingdom of God is a free gift, the rule of God, the forgiveness of God, the mercy of God, the love of God is a free gift.

We learned this last Wednesday night at Alpha. Nicky Gumbel was saying that so often in this world we are told that things are free. But in reality it’s not free, there’s a hitch, there’s a catch, there’s something we have to buy in order to get the “free” Ginsu knives. But not with Jesus Christ. Not with forgiveness of sin, not with the kingdom of God. It is absolutely free, there are no strings attached. There is nothing that you can do to buy it.

But that illustration does help us to understand that while the Kingdom of God is a free gift there is something demanded of us when we give ourselves to him. And too often, for those of us who have grown up in the faith think that we can have the kingdom of God and the also have the kingdom of the world. And we think we can have both. But that’s not it. We have the kingdom of God as the fine pearl of great value. And that is all.

That is conversion – you turn your face to God and your back to the world. That is discipleship, That’s living for Jesus Christ. And when we understand that a lot of other words of Jesus come to light, we begin to understand what he means.

For instance in Matthew 10 we read that “whoever loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

What he means by that is that if you do not love him more than the things or relationships of this world than you do not understand the worth of the Kingdom of God. You do not understand the value of the pearl that you have in your hand.

In another place, in Luke 14 Jesus uses harsher language he says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14:26)

He really doesn’t mean “hate”, like we would think of anger, but what he is saying is that compared to the kingdom, of all the relationships of this world are like hatred compared to the love that the kingdom deserves.

My friends, the Kingdom of God is like a pearl of great price. And for those of you have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus Christ you need to understand that there is this pearl, the kingdom of God, and it is of more value than anything you could or wish to possess in this world. It is of such great value that it is worth giving up everything that you have in order to possess it. And if there is something that hinders you in receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord then get over it, get under it, get around it, because there is nothing of more value than the kingdom of God and having a living vibrant relationship with God Himself.

And for those of you who have lived in the faith for a long time, then hear the parable of the pearl of great price, and think about what your faith is costing you and if you are still trying to live with one foot in this world and one foot in the kingdom, trying to have all the things of this world and noting seeking first the kingdom of God. Then allow the Word of God to penetrate your heart this morning and understand that you no longer need to live for this world but seek first the Kingdom of God. The pearl of great price. Turn your back on this world and live for His will, his rule, and his government in your hearts.

And we all say, “Where the whole realm of nature of mine. That were a gift far to small. Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - October 2003