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Do you want to hold up yours so people can see what it looks like now? We may have some up in the bookstore. This is the definitive book on parables. There's all kinds of people and different ways to interpret it, and Simon Kistemacher does an excellent job.
Simon Kistemacher is finishing, or has finished, the William Hendrickson series of commentaries and he's just an excellent writer. I went to an Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Danvers three years ago and all these big scholars, it was a who's who, a veritable who's who of people, teaching the Bible with very clear, precise meaning, and I've never been around scholars like that.
One thing I noticed about Simon Kistemacher, he was the only person before his talk or his lecture who said, let's open in prayer. I like that guy. He does a great job with this book. And I can't think of one parable that he misses the meaning of.
The parables of Jesus, Simon Kistemacher, so I commend that to you tonight. The final fixing of the foolish fugitive, feeling footloose, fancy-free, and frisky, this feather-brained fellow finagled his fond father into forking over his fortune.
Forthwith, he fled from foreign fields and frittered his farthings, feasting fabulously with fair-weathered friends. Finally, facing famine and fleeced by his fellows in folly, he found himself a feed flinger in a filthy farm lot.
He fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from the fodder fragments. Phooey, my father's flunkies fare far fancier, the frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing fact. Frustrated from failure and filled with forebodings, he fled for his family.
Falling at his father's feet, he floundered forlornly. Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited further family favors. But the faithful father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged his flunkies to fetch forth the finest fatling and fix of beasts.
But the fugitive's fault-finding fratter, faithfully farming his father's fields for free, frowned at this fickle forgiveness of former falderal. His fury flashed, but fussing was futile. His foresighted father figured, such filial fidelity is fine, but what forebodes festive festivities?
The fugitive is found, unfurl the flags. With fanfare flaring, let fun, frolic, and frivolity flow freely, former failures forgotten and folly forsaken. Forgiveness forms a firm foundation for future fortitude.
Oh yeah, hello. That was written by 91-year-old William Taylor, the oldest man attending the Southern Baptist Convention quite a while ago. And that just really gives you an idea of the parable of the lost son, our lost sons are the forgiving father that we learned last Sunday.
And so instead of picking an Old Testament book to go through, I thought we in the next several months we'll look at parables. And in one sense they are Old Testament because they were pre-cross, they're Old Covenant.
Not Old Testament, but Old Covenant. And Jesus is a master storyteller, they are rich in meaning, and at the very end you just go, I get that point. I get it. I understand. So we'll be looking at parables.
By the way, if you have any favorite parables or super hard parables that you'd like to have the meaning explained to you on a Sunday night, why don't you hand those in to me and we'll just do parables until I can't do any more.
The other book I'm leaning towards preaching on Sunday night is the book of Ruth. So right now we'll just be in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John looking at these parables. Who can tell me something about parables?
What is a parable? Can anyone give me, any of the kids around here, Luke, do you know what a parable is? Yeah? Can somebody give me a kid's version of what a parable is? Yes, Josh? A story? Okay, good.
What kind of story? Sorry? An earthly story with a heavenly meaning. That's exactly right. That's one of the best ways to look at it. A wonderful Sunday school definition. Did you know about one third of our Lord's teachings were in the form of parables?
That's a lot. And there's something about parables that just makes your imagination captivated by what he's saying. You're kind of directly involved. Remember in Matthew chapter 20 where there is the vineyard owner and he's paying people at different rates and you kind of feel like you're there.
That's one of the reasons why I wanted to do parables. Why don't you turn just for a moment to Luke chapter 15 before we get to our parable tonight. I want to talk a little bit about interpretation. We know what a parable is.
It's an earthly story with a spiritual meaning or a heavenly meaning. But I want to make sure we understand from the get-go how do we interpret parables. As you know, we interpret the Bible here naturally, normally, plainly.
I don't like to use the word literally because that almost pushes it too far to wooden. Here's what I mean. When you read the newspaper, you interpret it naturally, normally, and plainly. And if it's using figure of speech, you understand that metaphor similarly.
When you read the Bible and it's a narrative, you read it like a narrative. If you read poetry, you read it like a poem. If you read end times literature that's got all kinds of symbols and apocalyptic things, that's how you read it.
So we read things naturally, normally, and plainly. Literal is fine, but I like to use those other words. Now, one of the key things with parables is we have to interpret them like we would a what? A story or a parable, right?
We want to interpret parables with the lens of how is this story being told. And one of the main things you need to ask yourself is this, why did Jesus give this parable? That will open up the meaning.
What was the occasion? What was the situation? Was Jesus responding to someone? Was he rebuking someone? Was he giving further clarification? And if you just open your Bible up to a parable and read it, you may or may not get it.
You need to open your Bible up to the parable and then go which direction to find the answer? Backwards. I guess for you it's backwards, this is for me backwards. You need to make sure you understand the setting or the occasion.
Now, this was a wonderful alliteration for this prodigal son, but look at Luke 15 .1. You missed the whole point of this parable unless you do what Steve did last week. Luke 15 .1, now all the tax gatherers and sinners were coming near him to listen to him.
The Pharisees, by the way, couldn't stand that, could they? You think of the worst kind of people in society and Jesus was having dinner with them and hanging out with them. The very worst. You go down to death row in prisons today and those are the kinds of people Jesus was hanging out with.
The absolute scum. And if I said something like this, you might get the idea. Now all the pedophiles and the rapists were coming near Jesus to listen to him. And you just think, the Pharisees couldn't get over it and they hated that.
Sinners. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners, and as Steve told us last week, and eats with them. It's like he's condoning them or something. So then Jesus gives the parables, the three parables.
This is the context, this is the occasion. Why did Jesus give the parables? To answer the Pharisees and to tell his disciples what he was doing. And he said, as you know, the three parables, basically the sequence goes like this.
Something was lost, there was a search, something was found, and there was rejoicing. Parable number two, something was lost, there was a search, there was a seeking, there was a finding, and there was what?
Rejoicing. Something was lost, there was some searching, something was found, and there was rejoicing on one hand, but then he digs the Pharisees at the very end with that foolish son and there was anger.
Anger. And Jesus was basically saying, you are that son. But the context, you see, makes it all happen because otherwise, we just turn it into, this is a story about how God saves sinners. And if you're a Christian and you're really carnal, God still loves you and brings you back.
That may in fact be true, but that's not what the parable's talking about. So always ask yourself the question, when you see in the liner notes in your Bible, a parable of a sower. You say to yourself, why did Jesus give this parable?
And that will help you more than anything else. You've got to answer that question. Are you going to be off in, are you going to be in the Mars rovers where you're going to be? Not knowing what's happening.
It's all going to be orange dust, nine billion dollars later. I could have told you would have found dust up there. When I first got to the church, someone told me that they believe when Jesus said, I came for my sheep and I have others who aren't of this fold, they said they thought that was maybe some people on a different planet.
And I wanted to say, you're on a different planet, but I didn't. I said, oh, that's very interesting. You know how you do. By the way, if there are people on other planets, they'll still need Jesus' sacrificial death because every planet in the universe has been tainted by sin and they have been tainted by sin.
And there's only one way to get rid of sin. And that is believing in the God-man who came to planet earth and planet earth alone. So I don't think there are any people outside this earth, but that's for another subject.
I'm on a time schedule tonight. Why don't you turn to Mark chapter four and while you're turning there, I've got this question for you and please answer out loud if you'd like. Why did Jesus use parables?
Besides the answer, he's a great storyteller and he answered people. What's another reason why Jesus spoke in parables? There's a couple more. Bruce. Okay. To hide things from people. Right? Let's take a look at this passage.
To hide things. He wanted to explain to his disciples while simultaneously hiding things from other people. Mark chapter four, verse nine. And he was saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Listen up.
He's saying, pay attention. This is more than an Aesop's fable. This is more than a Grimm's fairy tale. This is something very important and you need to make sure you're listening. As soon as he was alone, his followers, excuse me, along with the 12 began asking him about the parables.
And you can just say, hear them and see them. We've got ears to hear. We want to know. Jesus, I want to know what you're saying. That's what I do. Give me the inside scoop. Verse 11, and he was saying to them, to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God.
Now, many times when you read that word mystery, it's not something that's mysterious and kind of floating around. It means information that has not been revealed up to this point. So you know, as time goes on, we have the whole Bible and we can study it.
But God was giving people information in little bits at a time progressively. And so now Jesus is saying, this is mysterious stuff. Why? Because you didn't know before and now you know it. And I'm revealing to you this information.
I'm revealing to you, you men, but those who are outside get everything in parables. I'm not telling them it's, this is judicial blindness. Verse 12, in order that while seeing, this is right from Isaiah chapter six, they may see and not perceive.
And while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven. Matthew 13, the parallel passage says, therefore I speak to them in parables because while they, while seeing, they do not see.
And while hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. And we call this judicial blindness. God giving them more of what they really want. Blinding them. In John 12, 40, Jesus said, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and perceive from their heart and be converted and I will heal them.
And no sinner, true or false, can ever blame God for giving them more of what they want. Blindness. They don't want to worship God and God just gives them more. It's like the, you know, you've got an amp and it's on 10 and people wanted 10 and God just turns it up all the more.
Why does Jesus say this here? I think it's this reason. Jesus is saying, I know what you, I know what you three are saying. I know, but I didn't want to say it. But I know what you're thinking. Why did Jesus say this?
That's one of the first times I've ever called down people in a sermon. Sometimes I've called down my own kids. Why would Jesus say this? He is trying to tell the people that if they don't respond to the message, it's not the message's fault.
Did you get that? There's nothing wrong with the message. It's something wrong with the people. Now let's go to Matthew chapter 13 for tonight and we'll learn more about parables and how to interpret them in the weeks to come.
But as you're turning there, there's one last thing I want to tell you about interpretation of parables besides the situation, besides the context. And it's this. Don't make the parables walk on all fours.
In other words, look for the main point or sometimes there are two or three points in a parable, but usually just one. Look for the main point. In the Old Testament, they had a kind of parabolic sayings.
They were called mashals and there was just one point. Here's the point I want to get across. Look for that. If you try to make the father represent something in the parable of the lost sons and then the sons and then the pigs represent this and all that, you're going to just be running all around.
And you're going to be back in the old school days in the first century and the second century where everything turned allegorical. Matter of fact, I have some of those allegorical things and you just say to yourself, I can't believe if I go away from interpreting a parable as a parable should be interpreted, I'm dust.
180 AD was when allegorical methodology first came along and Clement said the two fish Jesus used to feed the 5 ,000 represent Greek philosophy origin. One man said he did this so much. He had a fantasy unlimited.
He said, Noah represents Christ. Noah's Ark represents the church. The two donkeys used in Christ's triumphal entry represent the Old and New Testaments. I found some others. Job's seven sons are the 12 apostles.
Now don't you think you at least keep the numbers right? The seven sons of the 12 apostles, Job's 7 ,000 sheep are innocent thoughts. Who could come up with such a thing? Let's see if there's anything else.
By the way, that was almost all pre-reformation and when Luther and Calvin came along, they pretty much put a stop to that. Luther called those kind of allegorical interpretations as Luther would. He called them dirt, scum, and obsolete loose rags.
Calvin said it is the first business of an interpreter to let his author say what he does say instead of attributing to him what we think he ought to say. Go for the one sense, the literal sense, as he would say.
Let's see if there's anything else that I found that were strange. No, that's probably enough strange things for right now. But what we want to do is two, there are more interpreting parables that we'll get in weeks to come, but the real, the two keys are what is the situation and what is the main point?
In other words, why did Jesus say it and what is he trying to drive home? So let's go to, we're at Matthew chapter 13 and we're going to look at two parables today in Matthew chapter 13 and these are the parables of what?
You remember the names of them? You don't know what passage I'm on yet. So it's chapter 13 verses 44, 45, and 46. The hidden treasure and the costly pearl. Now using our own rules for Bible interpretation, we need to figure out what first?
The context and then we need to figure out what the main point is. Well you start backing up and you just see a bunch of parables, don't you? This is in, you know, there's like five parables before, so just keep backing up and keep backing up and pretty soon you hit Matthew chapter 13 verse 1, on that day Jesus went out of the house, was sitting by the sea, verse 2 of Matthew 13, great multitudes gathered to him so that he got into a boat and sat down.
I mean it was so busy he had to go out and sit on that boat. Great acoustical area there. The whole multitude was standing on the beach and he spoke many things to them in parables and this may in fact would have been his largest crowd in Galilee and he was teaching them over and over and over.
He taught them the parable of the soils, that's the first one, the parable of the wheat and tares, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parable of the wheat and tares, and now he comes to the hidden treasure and the great price of the pearl.
Let me read you what one writer said about why Jesus gave these parables. This one's not as obvious as Luke 15, so I'll read this. Jesus has been dealing with the kingdom throughout all of this section in Matthew.
He has been speaking of the features of the new progression in his kingdom schedule. Jesus shows how the kingdom is spread and diffused in the parable of the soils, how the kingdom is removed in the parable of the wheat and tares, amplified in the parable of the mustard seed, pervaded in the parable of the leaven, and listen, how the kingdom is ultimately considered and assessed in the parable of the treasure and of the pearl.
In other words, how are we supposed to look at the kingdom? This is just general parables about the kingdom. Now he's going to tell us how valuable this is. Verse 44, let's go to the hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Now remember, I said don't make this walk on all fours. The first thing you're going to do if you're not careful is we can buy our salvation. He's not talking about that. You're trying to find the one main point, and here's this hidden treasure.
When I say the word treasure or buried treasure, what do you think of? What kind of comes to your mind? I think of Jacques Cousteau, our pirates, and they've got half of the map and you've got to get the other half.
It's buried at the Al Capone's grave and Geraldo's going to dig it up and you're going to see what it's like in front of national TV audience. They're down there scuba diving figuring out what's in the Titanic and can they find things.
Some kind of boy throwing a rock by the Dead Sea area in Qumran and he hears the shatter and all of a sudden he finds the Dead Sea Scrolls. Here it's a treasure. This parable is going to teach us that you should be willing to give it all to sacrifice everything for the kingdom of God and its entrance, which is salvation.
Gladly, everything that I am, everything that I own, it's worth it. Now, I told you I was only going to give you two. I'll give you another one. I guess this will help. When you interpret parables, thirdly, not only occasion or situation and one main point.
Number three, this is for all Bible interpretation. Think like a 2 ,000 year old Jew. If you come to this with your Western mindset, your analytical kind of deal, you're going to miss it. But think like a Jew 2 ,000 years ago would have thought.
So what should you do? Next week, I'll probably have to show you a manners and customs book, one of the best things you can buy to understand the culture. How did they eat? What did they wear? How did they wash their clothes?
What did they do? Manners and customs, and so you start thinking like a Jew, because that's going to help you with Bible study, isn't it? Because you're trying to figure out what the author intended, and it's going to make it much easier.
This is almost like getting that lottery ticket to win the $5 billion. What's he doing? This is a once in a lifetime find. This is something only dreams are made of. To give everything up for it. Look at the passage again.
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid. What's that all about? Did they have fleet banks back then? Think like a Jew. Where would you put your money? Well, if you were a robber, where do you think people would put their money?
In their house. First place you're going to go. In their what? In the mattress. Think like a Jew. They had mattresses. They were just kind of small hay mattresses. Back in those days, they divided their possessions into three bundles.
One was invested, one was kept on them like their jewels, and a third was buried someplace. Now you can just imagine. There's some huge fortune someone has. He buries it in a field, and he dies. Nobody's going to find him.
Here's this guy out digging for whatever reason, and all of a sudden, that spade digs in and just doesn't go any farther, and it is Eureka. Now don't get bogged down with, well, it's not even his. It's a treasure hidden in the field, and he doesn't even own it, and he's digging, and why is he in that field digging, and why did the end go by the field, and why didn't he then say to the person, I found a treasure in your field, so I should offer you more money, and it goes on and on and on.
That's called making this parable walk on all fours. We don't need to do that. The rabbi said, there's only one safe place for valuables, in the ground. Bury their valuables, money, and jewelry in the earth.
Interesting, Job chapter 3, verse 21 says, and dig for it more than hidden treasures. Proverbs 2, 4 says, and search for her as hidden treasures. The owner's dead, the owner got killed, who knows, there's this man digging, working in the field, and all of a sudden, he finds it, and what does he do?
He says, I'm going to give up everything, I'm going to sell all for this great treasure. Well, he had to buy it, it's buying salvation. No, we're going for the main point. What's the main point? The main point is, he finds something that's so valuable, he gives up his entire group of assets.
It's worth it all. Now, if you're a good teacher, you can explain things two different ways, and that's what Jesus does. Look at verse 45, same kind of deal. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls.
This time, someone's seeking after them. The first time, the guy really wasn't looking, as far as we know, he's just digging. Maybe he's burying somebody, we don't know. But this time, someone's looking.
The kingdom of heaven, and its entrance into it, is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all his pearls and bought it. What's the text say? He didn't just sell his pearl inventory, he sold what?
Everything. This great exchange. The entrance into the kingdom is worth so much, I'm willing to just renounce myself, and my evaluation of everything just completely is turned upside down. He sells all that he has, and he buys it.
If it costs him his livelihood, he must have that. Now, think about pearls back in those days. Great value. They would have to go, according to my research, to the Red Sea, those are kind of the worst pearls.
The Persian Gulf were the best pearls, and sometimes they had to go even to India to find good ones. And they wanted bigger ones, and they wanted better ones. Cleopatra's two famous pearls in the 1800s were valued at $400 ,000.
Status symbol, where are these kind of pearls? This is the one. This is it. There's no second. There's no other. Not just his pearl inventory is gone, but everything. He says, this is an incalculable value.
My abacus beads don't go high enough for this thing. My collagen 1980 TI -30 won't calculate that high. Remember those? You could turn them on without pushing the on button if you know the special code.
Once man stumbles unexpectedly, and the other one is specifically searching and finding. So what's the point? The kingdom of God and its entrance into it is so precious that you're willing to give up everything that you are and that you have.
Full surrender. Every sacrifice. And you can even read this with your name in there. Let's all do it with my name. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which Mike found and hid again, and from joy over it, Mike went and sold all that Mike had and bought that field.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like Mike seeking fine pearls, and Mike upon finding one pearl of great value, Mike went and sold all that he had and bought it. It's just worth everything. Now if you had to go to a New Testament passage that taught this exact thing, where would you go?
Philippians chapter 3. Excellent. Let's go there. This is it. This is a commentary almost to what Jesus says. Salvation, forgiveness, being a child of the king is worth everything. You know the passage here, and this is just one of the most amazing passages of all times.
And here Paul is saying to the Philippian church, first thing you have to do is you have to be willing to give everything up. All that you are and all that you have, it's worth the exchange. The parables, the exchange was worth it.
Here it's worth it too. Look at verse 7. But whatever things were gained to me, this is CPA language, this is Pete Marwick and Main kind of language, accounting. What things were gained to me, things that were profit, things that were put on this side of the ledger with the plus column there.
Those things I have counted as loss for the great exchange. I'll give up everything for what? For the sake of Christ. He says, I've counted those things. I've made a decision in the past and I'm still making that decision.
I thought about it and it was with not progression, but it was a sudden thing. It was like Paul on the Damascus Road. Paul's not like, well, I think I'll think about it for a while. Here's Christ and here's me.
And it's worth the exchange. And he says what? But whatever things plural were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss. Now, it's interesting. The word gain is plural, but the word loss is singular.
I took all my big bundle of gains, all my big heaped up things of gains, everything that was good about me and everything that I had, all the plus side stuff. And I took it from this side of the ledger and I put it in one big pile of loss, bound them all up in one big parcel.
All my achievements, I've counted them loss and I still count them loss. I thought of a Bible illustration of something that was a loss, a gain, and then it's a loss. You don't have to turn, but I'll just read it.
Acts 27, 10 and said to the men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be attended with damage and great loss, not only for the cargo in the ship, but also our lives. We've got precious cargo. It's gain.
Verse 38, when they'd eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the weed into the sea. They had cargo that was gain, and now that cargo is going to cost them. And so now they throw it overboard as what loss for the sake of Christ, for the sake of kingdom.
We could say if we were reading Matthew chapter 13 back into it. What were some of his gains? Look at verse four, if you will. Although I myself might have some confidence in the flesh, if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.
And here's what he's got. He's got four by birth. We're Bethlehem Bible Church. Preach the Bible verse by verse. Leave message at the tone. God bless you. That's what it says. What's going to happen over there?
What for? It's hard when I'm in this building by myself and that machines on, I'm kind of like listening. So somebody is over there taking care of it. Hang up. I think somebody was calling to tell us the score of the game.
No, just kidding. All right. Four advantages of birth. It's tied, by the way. Four advantages of birth. What were some of his gains? Well, heredity says he was circumcised the eighth day. When was it you supposed to be circumcised?
The eighth day, Leviticus 12, the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And Paul was gain. And he was what of the nation of Israel, you could be a descendant of Abraham and be an Ishmaelite.
You could be a descendant of Isaac and be an Edomite. And he said, I'm from Israel. My mom was an Israeli, my dad was an Israeli, I'm not of mixed stock, I am not grafted into the covenant people, I'm a Jew through and through and more so, number three, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.
This is one of those special tribes, the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the only one born in the promised land. Benjamin's tribe came the first lawful king. The holy city of Jerusalem and the temples were inside the borders of the temple.
And territory assigned to Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin remained loyal to the house of David at the time of the time of the breakup of the monarchy. The tribe of Benjamin always held the post of honor in the army, and they gave the battle cry behind you all, Benjamin.
And that gave rise to that battle cry. Look at number four, he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, his language, his customs, his traditions. He was a Hebrew. My dad was a Hebrew. My mom was a Hebrew. I've got it all so far, so good.
Then he gives three things that are of his own choice and training. A Pharisee. Ninety nine times in the Bible, the word Pharisees is used. This is the only time outside the Gospels. I'm a Pharisee. Paul said in Acts, Chapter 26, I lived as a Pharisee, according to the strictest sect of our religion.
I wasn't just a Jew. I was a fundamentalist Jew. I was an obedient Jew. I was no liberal Jew, reformed Jew. I was a Jew, and you know what else I did? Look at that. As to zeal, a persecutor of the church.
Number six, a persecutor of the church. Persecute means to make somebody run. Ever meet one of those kind of kids when you're in school? Always chased you. He said, I made the Christians run because I was going to go try to kill him.
Acts 8, 3, Paul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off women and he would put them in prison. Acts 9, 1, now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest.
Acts 26, 10, and this is just what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many saints in prison, having received authority from my chief priests, but also when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.
Die, Christian. I got a pretty good background, pretty good pedigree. I'm a purebred. And then he says, you know what? And I obeyed the law. Verse number seven, the righteousness which is in the law, at least externally, blameless.
My mom and dad are Christians. I got baptized when I was a kid, went to confirmation, I walked the aisle. I go to church on Sunday night, even when the Patriots game is on, and then I did it all. And he says all that religious baggage that's stacked up, those seven things, he says, I just put it in a big pile over here.
Loss. And he says, I'll one up you. Look at verse eight. More than that, I count all things to be loss. He goes up a notch, a step further. More than that, it is an untranslatable set of words, five little particles in the Greek.
And here's a little literal way to translate it. Yes, indeed, therefore, at least even he just stacking things up. And my check says more than that. That's not the Greek. Here's the Greek. Yes, indeed.
Therefore, at least even he's almost stuttering. He can't get it out. I'm not only taking all my hereditary things, the things that I've worked for, I've taken everything else. And yes, everything is just gone.
He broadens the thought and he says, you know, everything that might rival Christ, it is just worthless to me. Family, money, everything. Why? In view, verse eight of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, not even worshiping, but knowing him for I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.
He says Jesus to me is beautiful. He's adorable. He's wonderful. He's desirable. He's like a pearl that you say, I got to have that one pearl. He's like a treasure, I'll do anything to get that treasure and I count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.
Anybody here have the King James Version? What's the King James Version say? He says it's manure, it's garbage, it's droppings. All those things, all those good things. I just think about my own life, I went on a missions trip to Mexico, I went on a Christian backpacking trip in Colorado.
I even have my old Bible when I was a kid, I have things in Ephesians chapter two underlined, verses eight, nine, and ten. I didn't know Jesus Christ, though, just one big heap of all these accomplishments as gain, more than more than I mean, as loss, more than loss, as rubbish.
Martin said, quote, a more complete indictment of religion with its attempt to appear before God on the ground of its merit and privileges can hardly be imagined. One spiritual, I'm religious. I think you should be nicer to people than this, but in your heart, you could be saying, you know, that's dumb, that doesn't count at all.
Paul says it's not just loss, it's garbage. And this is just a great picture of what? Repentance. And Jesus said, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. So what are you going to put in your plus column, verse nine, and may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law that I thought I had as a Pharisee, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, I'm as righteous as God is because God has given me that through the gift of faith, the basis of faith.
And then verse 30, and oh, I sure wish this ended halfway through that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. It was all worth it. Paul said that I could just know God and have his power in my life just to know him face to face, know him intimately, to be able to call him Abba Father.
It was all worth it my whole life. For me, I was twenty nine years old. The great exchange takes place. My whole life counts not just for zero, but it counts as negative. It counts as dumb. It counts as rubbish.
And I say I gladly have the righteousness of Christ for this pile. And I want God's power in my life, power to say no to sin and yes to righteousness and power to evangelize and power to just worship God.
And I so wish the Bible would end right there. But it doesn't. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. And Paul still thought it was worth it, Paul says, for that field, for that treasure in that field, for that beautiful Christ and that precious one, it's still worth it, even though I'm going to have his power, but also have his sufferings being conformed to his death.
And so Jesus is trying to tell these men in Matthew, chapter 13, the kingdom of God is worth it. It's worth everything that you are. Salvation, I could say to you, it's worth it. You have to give up everything.
Yes. But what did he call it? Game. Even he said in Philippians, chapter one, for me to live as Christ and to die as what game it's worth it. I do tell people sometimes you come and you want salvation, but I want you to know your entire life that you've lived.
You're 50 years old for 50 years, you've lived a life for yourself and your whole life is worthless. It counts for nothing, everything you've done, all those good deeds, all the cookies you bake for those grandparents and all these things, it counts as nothing.
And I want you, by God's grace, to see that it counts for nothing, because then when you see that, then you see the view of how great Christ is, because Christ has already told us we can't come to him and say, here's what I'm bringing you, God.
He says, the only thing that you can bring is faith in me because I've done it for you. You can't do it. Thomas Brooks said Christ is a most precious commodity. He's better than rubies, our most costly pearls.
And we must part with our gold, with our shining gold, with our old sins, our most shining sins, or we must perish forever. Christ is to be sought and bought with any pains at any price. We cannot buy this gold too dear.
He is a jewel more worth than a thousand worlds. As all know who have him, get him and get all, miss him and miss all. That's the parable of those costly pearl and hidden treasure. And Paul knew it and I knew it.
You know, Father, thank you for this night. Thank you for just coming out. And until the phone rang, I wasn't even thinking about anything about the Super Bowl or anything else. I was just thinking it's worth it to be a Christian.
It's hard. There's suffering, there are trials, there's pain, there's death, there's cancer, there's all kinds of things, but it's worth it. It's worth it so much so that we're willing to give up everything, give up our own kids, give up everything about our lives.
And yet, Father, you're so gracious because most of the time we don't have to even give them up. You give us our families, too, and you because you're so generous and good. We pray tonight that you help these dear people.
I can't imagine there's people here who aren't saved, maybe some of the kids. But, Father, would you make this true in people's lives if it's not? And, Father, would you remind us as Christians that it's all worth it, that the surpassing value of knowing Christ is worth it all.
Every bit of sweat, every bit of ministry, every teardrop, every pain, it's worth it. And so, Father, we come to you with empty hands today and we come to you knowing that it is our faith in your son, Jesus Christ.
And that's all. That's all we can bring because your son has done it and he's even given us faith. And so we're thankful for that. In Jesus name, Amen.