Find Any Treasure
November 8, 2000
Text: Matt. 13:44
Mel Fisher recently died. This was a man who took treasure hunting to new heights of science. He was a man who used satellite image, photographs, sonar, and under water photography. He had a team of men and many times they would research old ship’s logs and study the current and the reefs under the sea years before they ever went on location. He filled museums with rich treasures. He’s taken photo’s with him in gold chains around his neck, all manner of artifacts, idols and gold bullion and bars; the value of it is beyond description.
Yet, the truth tonight is that all of this wealth in comparison to the treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven, as Paul said, is but dung. I don’t know if this man was saved or not, but if he wasn’t, I’m sure he’d trade it all in for the peace of God.
“Find any treasure, lately”
Matt 13:44
44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
1. Firstly, let’s examine the hidden treasures of life, since every man and woman present
tonight is engaged in this search
A. This quest is built into human nature
a. The treasure they seek may be a place, a person, a purchase, or a dream
b. It may be an experience, a position for power, or an achievement
c. It is a hunt for treasure that they believe will make life worth living
Remember getting my first bicycle…it was everything to me. It was valuable.
Reading about a farmer that bought a bigger farm. This was his treasure. His first year was an ok year. He had made a note in his ledger…it read, “I must do better next year.”
In the ledger, it was recorded that the years harvest was horrible. He made just enough money to pay for shipping. His dreams died from there. He became a bartender and an alcoholic.
d. There are many searching even now for the treasure of life.
e. I know a pastor’s dream, “If I had a larger church.”
f. To others, more resources, more this or that
g. Beloved, in our mind…if I can just discover the treasure…this is the nature of the human heart
Eccl 1:13
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Eccl 1:17
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Eccl 2:1
1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
Eccl 2:3
3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
Eccl 2:7-10
7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
B. Can’t Get No Satisfaction
a. Solomon was a rich man…billionare…but listen to his words in the end
Eccl 2:11
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
b. In other words…this man searched and labored and built and accomplished
c. He had experience…he experienced it
d. And in the end, He hated life…it was vanity and vexation of spirit
e. And tonight, we all have our search
f. For the nature of the human heart is to search for the treasure
Dione Saunders said these words: “Power came, when, as a kid, I realized I was gifted at something. I discovered I could do things other kids my age could not do. Suddenly I began to realize this gave me power. That power gave me the ability to lead others.
2B. Saunders story
a. He said that power bred money, and those who have money and power could have sex
b. And it is no accident this evening that these three things are what most people desire most in life
c. He said that money JUST ALLOWED YOU TO BECOME WHO YOU REALLY ARE
d. The more money you have the freer you are to be who you are inside
e. Listen, if you are a giving person by nature, with money you will be more generous
f. If you are a stingy person, then you would be even worse if you have control of a lot of money
g. MONEY MAGNIFIES YOUR PERSONALITY
h. If you were to give someone a lot of money it’s like pushing fast forward on the VCR
i. You are going to find out who that person really is very quickly
Dion continued and said, “When I give my testimony, I tell people what I discovered in my life. All the wealth, all the prime time, all the fame and I ended up driving my Mercedes off a cliff trying to take my own life.
j. Without God, all the treasure of this world will leave you nothing but empty.
k. You will not find it in the material affairs of this world
C. Salvation is the Gift
a. First of all we know that treasure is in salvation by Jesus Christ
b. But, tonight it is revelation that all this treasure can be found in God’s kingdom
c. You find Jesus … you find the treasure
d. But, the problem comes when you try to make happiness your goal in life
e. Because when you do that, happiness vanishes
f. I hear people constantly say, “I just want to be happy.”
g. Well, you never will be
h. It is when we aim for something higher in life, higher than happiness, then happiness will slip in and join us on the road
i. Jesus said, “lose your life for my sake and the Gospel” Then you find life
2. In our text we have the hidden treasure of God
A. Hid in the Field
a. Again it says, the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field
b. Now, most scholars and commentators feel this man was plowing the field
c. He was laboring, he was planning, he was preparing, he was looking to the harvest
d. He wasn’t just passing through, it wasn’t Jed Clampet, the Beverly Hillbillies
e. He wasn’t out there shootin’ at some food…this man just didn’t get lucky
f. Our view many times, when we seethose around us who have discovered God’s treasure, we think they are just favored or better liked by God
g. But, I want to declare to you THIS MAN WAS PLOWING IN GOD’S FIELD AND THE HIDDEN TREASURES ARE THERE FOR THOSE WHO PLOW
h. Listen, it says it was HIDDEN
i. That means, it was purposely put there for safekeeping…it was concealed
It happened in those days…men would divide there wealth into 3 parts. One part they would keep for business or needs. The second they would turn into jewels or gems that were easily carried…in case they needed to run for their lives. The third, they went out and buried it in their field. Most of the time, these people died some died on foreign fields. The treasure would lie their for years.
Could you imagine…a man plowing a field and finds the treasure. The newspapers get wind of this…Mr.______ found a substantial wealth buried in his field. He would become the talk of the town. “Man, I wish I could have found it.”
B. The Excitement of the Kingdom
a. Jesus captures this and says, “Listen. The Kingdom of God is like a man who is laboring in a field and there he discovers this treasure.”
b. And I want to tell you tonight, Beloved, Disciple, if your going to find God’s treasure
c. You are going to find them as you labor in His harvest fields
d. This man wasn’t even looking for buried treasure…he wasn’t studying the treasure maps like Mel Fisher
e. This man is laboring…he is plowing…he is harvesting
f. His vision is not hidden treasure…but THE HARVEST FIELDS OF GOD
g. In his sweat, in his toil, in his backbreaking labor from sun up to sun down
h. He stumbles on the treasure
The Samaritan Woman: Jesus gave her time…the disciples come back
John 4:32
32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
i. “God has given me treasure in this woman. You don’t see it…But I was laboring, this is the treasure I found.”
j. The woman went back to the city and brought out listeners
k. Treasures are for those who give themselves to the harvest field
D. The Unfulfilled Christian
a. And it is right here that I believe is the reason why so many Christians are never happy
b. They’re always unfulfilled, never finding any treasure, they lose heart
c. You meet them all the time…been in church all their lives and are unhappy
d. Beloved, are you simply looking for happiness or blessing or security or material gain
e. Or personal success and then blame God when you’re not fulfilled
f. This is why men lose heart after being saved for some time
g. They become intrigued by the treasures of the world, because they ARE NO LONGER FINDING ANY IN GOD
h. Hearts are no longer in the harvest field
i. And I want to ask you tonight, are you laboring in the harvest field?
j. Are you preparing as a disciple, as a man or a woman…is your heart into souls
k. Couples…are you preparing for the harvest field, “well, I don’t feel called.”
l. Listen to our text, “For joy thereof, he goeth and selleth all that he had.
E. Selling out for God
a. No one is forcing him
b. This is a high level commitment…it came from the heart
c. What’s he selling and why? This man is selling all of his previous treasures
d. All of his valuables, all of his plans are yielded, his dreams vanish
e. His past desires and as well as some old friends…he’s leaving the familiar
f. He is liquidating every asset for…he has found the treasure and it brings him joy
g. Beloved, are you prepared to sell out to posses it?
Subpoint – someone else sold the field…we so often sell our fields with hidden treasure and we sell it cheap because we didn’t know what was ours when we had it
