The Parable of The Hidden Treasure

[bcbsr]

The Parable of The Hidden Treasure

Matt 13:44

Matt 13:44  "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field." (web)

 

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Discussion Questions

What is the treasure? 
What evidences are there that this man considered his discovery a rich treasure? 
If a person considers God's treasure as valuable, what evidences would you expect from their life? If we say that we believe God's treasure to be very valuable, but then don't treat it as such, would this indicate that we really believe it to be such? 
What price must we pay to get God's treasure?

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Comments

Proverbs 25:2 indicates that it is

• the glory of God to conceal a matter, but
• the glory of man to reveal a matter

God conceals the gift of eternal life, not in order that it may not be found, but that it may be found only by the seeking, as Jesus says:

Mt 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Then again there are many who come across this treasure, but not recognizing its value do not reap its benefits. There are those who say they consider it valuable, but are unwilling to pay the price to get it. The price to obtain this treasure is not equal to the value of the treasure itself, but rather so small in proportion as to be considered free. For the man, in selling one field and buying another, lost no money in the transaction. He simply changed allegiances. He transferred his account from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. And the benefit he reaped was the treasure in the kingdom of light. This was not something he did reluctantly, but with joy. Joy cannot be something forced or artificial, but rather a sincere expression of our faith that we have received the treasure of eternal life.

Yes, though it be hidden, the treasure of eternal life is obtainable in this lifetime, as Jesus says,

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24

Once there was a man who found a treasure  Hidden in a field, and he took pleasure  In selling all he had to buy that field  To gain the treasure it would yield  God has a treasure, it's hidden away  But seek and you shall find some day  That treasure he offers which is life through the Son  A life which will last after your life here is done

 

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The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources

[unworthyservant]

1 hour ago, bcbsr said:

Matt 13:44  "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field."

I just wanted to make an entirely different point in the Scripture that you use as the basis for your discourse. It's the last line where it says "In his joy, he goes and SELLS ALL THAT HE HAS, and buys that field. Now the point is that just as the man had to sell "ALL THAT HE HAS" to buy that  hypothetical field, if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must give up "ALL THAT WE HAVE" on this earth in order to have that treasure in God's Kingdom. I'm always baffled by those who quote Scripture to make a point and skim right over another just as valid point as the one they focus on. It might be the old "Heathen Witch Doctor" syndrome, where they make no mention of the points that might hit closer to home.

[missmuffet]

And the Pearl of Great Price? The parables go together. 

[bcbsr]

26 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

I just wanted to make an entirely different point in the Scripture that you use as the basis for your discourse. It's the last line where it says "In his joy, he goes and SELLS ALL THAT HE HAS, and buys that field. Now the point is that just as the man had to sell "ALL THAT HE HAS" to buy that  hypothetical field, if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must give up "ALL THAT WE HAVE" on this earth in order to have that treasure in God's Kingdom. I'm always baffled by those who quote Scripture to make a point and skim right over another just as valid point as the one they focus on. It might be the old "Heathen Witch Doctor" syndrome, where they make no mention of the points that might hit closer to home.

Mentioned that in the post. But let me ask you, what have you sold?

You're claiming I'm a "Heathen Witch Doctor"? Really?

[missmuffet]

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure is telling us that spiritual truth is missed by many and can't be found by intelligence or power or worldly wisdom. That disobedience reaps natural consequences for their unbelief-spiritual blindness. Christ fills our greatest needs.

[unworthyservant]

8 minutes ago, bcbsr said:

Mentioned that in the post. But let me ask you, what have you sold?

You're claiming I'm a "Heathen Witch Doctor"? Really?

First I'm not claiming that you are a "Heathen Witch Doctor". That's a reference to a story that I've posted a couple of times already. I guess I shouldn't arrogantly assume that anyone has read those posts and thus understands the term so, I'll post it once again here for context. As to what I've sold, I've now sold most of the trappings of my old life. Still have a few that I can't find a buyer for so, if you know any antique collectors (I'm old enough that some of my treasures are considered antique) I've got a few left and the proceeds would benefit those in need.

 

8 minutes ago, maryjayne said:

what is that? I havent heard that one before.

Ditto, not to be cliche but what follows is the story I referenced.

The story is of a preacher from up north who had the opportunity to serve a one month trial period for a job with a church in KY. The deal was that he'd preach 4 sermons (one per week for a month) and then the deacons would decide if he got the job as full time pastor. Being an old fashioned prohibitionist teetotaler kind of fellow, he preached his first sermon on the evils of strong drink. After the service he was approached by the deacons who advised him that it was unwise to preach abstinence there as many of the congregation worked at the local distillery and some were farmers who sold their corn there. So, the next week he came back with renewed determination and preached on being good stewards of your money and mentioned the evils of gambling it. Again the deacons approached him and advised him to stay away from denouncing gambling because many of the congregation worked at the local racetrack and some were breeders whose horses raced there. SO, discouraged but still determined he came back the third time and this time he preached about how our body is the temple of the Lord and we shouldn't defile it with such nasty habits as tobacco. Guess what? Again the deacons protested because many of the congregation were tobacco farmers. The preacher was at a loss and asked "since you have objected to all three of my sermons, have you any suggestions? After a little thought they replied, "Why don't you preach on heathen witch doctors? We don't have any of those for miles around."

42 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

And the Pearl of Great Price? The parables go together. 

It's amazing how ALL of Christ's teachings go together and are just as relevant today as they were some 2000 years ago.

[unworthyservant]

26 minutes ago, maryjayne said:

as an aside to this topic, may i ask if you feel you have a particular calling to this message as you focus repeatedly on it in many threads? No discourtesy intended, I genuinely would like to know.

If so, how little should we keep for our needs, and should we accept others hard earned money or taxes in order to keep us or do we need to earn it ourselves? We have people round here who live by faith - which is the donations of fellow Christians. Is that what you mean?

Perhaps this needs a thread of its own.

That's exactly what I mean. And there are millions more who don't have access to enough money from Christian donations to even have the necessities of life. They are dying for lack of Christian donations (either time or money), while Western Christians live a life of relative luxury and preachers accumulate small fortunes of personal wealth.

As for my calling, it is ever evolving as God reveals it one day at a time. Presently, it is indeed primarily focused on addressing what I believe to be two of the biggest sins prevalent if not rampant today's modern Christian churches(MONEY AND SEX) and calling out those who ignore these things in favor of preaching on "Heathen Witch Doctors" in the context of the story.

As for how little we should keep for our NEEDS, the number will vary depending on geographical differences as well as individual needs. So, someone in NYC who has a lot of medical bills would need more than a healthy person living in a rural southern area. That said, the widow in the Bible had hardship yet she gave her last two mites and that is the sacrifice that God delighted God. It's not about the amount but the fact that she sacrificed all that she had. I believe that God wants us to have a stable and happy life so we will be better able to do His work.

As to whether or not a Christian should accept the charity of others or work for what they have, I can only say that if able one should either work to earn a living and use any increase beyond what is necessary to live a stable life for God's work or should devote their talents to doing God's work on a full time basis and live by faith which by necessity relies on the generosity of those in the first category. And if unable to earn a living for whatever reason, then those are the ones that Christ indeed told us to help and there's no disgrace in receiving that help as long as the Glory for it is to God. I hope that helps clarify my ramblings.

Edited August 23, 2019 by unworthyservant
grammer

[unworthyservant]

Just now, unworthyservant said:

Perhaps this needs a thread of its own.

BTW, I have posted several threads on different angles of the same discussion

[unworthyservant]

43 minutes ago, maryjayne said:

Is that what you mean?

To further clarify what I mean I sometimes refer to the core point as one of Preaching or teaching a "Convenient Gospel" instead of the "Full Gospel". The convenient Gospel consists of lots of condemnation for the sins that don't really hit home and comparatively little about those that do. It's all about preaching hot and heavy on those "Heathen Witch Doctors" to somehow assuage themselves that those sins are greater than their own and then glossing over their own by creative interpretation of the Scriptures to convince themselves of their own righteousness.  I believe that aside from the Parables Christ's teachings are to be taken literally (and He even gave a literal interpretation of several Parables) and that they apply equally to everyone of us all the time.

[angels4u]

The parables teaches us that their is good and evil in this world, righteous and unrighteous. Jesus compares the kingdom to treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it , covers it up, then gladly sells everything he has and buys that field. A sinner giving up all in order to find Christ, the greatest Treasury! The finder is the sinner and the Pearl is the Savior. Nothing should be more important to us then to live for Jesus and with gladness to tell other people how they could find that Treasurer(Jesus)