The King & His Kingdom: #68 - Bring Out The Treasure | Matthew 13:51-52

[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hi, my name is Kyla Bomstead and I'm a member here with Restored Church. If you're new, we want to say welcome and thank you for tuning in. We believe the church is not an event, but a family that you belong to. So we would love the opportunity to. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Be able to connect with you. [00:00:31] Speaker A: If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please visit our website at RestoredTemecula Church and click on Contact. We also have a mobile app with resources including our Sunday messages, information about upcoming events, and other ways to connect. You can download our app on the Apple or Android app stores. With all that said, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:58] Speaker B: Okay, this morning we're going to be continuing on in our series, the King and His Kingdom. We are really trying to learn as much as we can about what the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven. Those two phrases are used interchangeably in the Bible, but we're trying to learn as much as we can about the king of the universe, Jesus, and what his kingdom is like, what his rule and reign looks like. In other words, what does it look like when God gets his way? We. We've been in Matthew for a really long time. Guys. Guess what number message this is in the series? 300. Well, that's. That would be too much. This is number 68 and we're only in Matthew chapter 13. It's pretty remarkable. So you've heard me give this same intro 68 times. All right. We want to learn as much as we can about the kingdom of God. Listen to me. You are going to thrive as a human being to the degree that you are living within the kingdom of God, not just after you die. It's more than just the place you go after you die. You have access because of the blood of Jesus, the sacrifice of Jesus, to live in the kingdom of God right now partially in the present, fully in the future. But we want to learn as much as we can about what does it look like for us to be men and women, boys and girls, young people who. Who yield to God's rule and reign in our lives. As we do that, we get to experience the abundant life. There is so many people in the world. Check YouTube, check social media that will try to sell you on what the good life actually is and how to get it. I'm here to tell you the abundant life is only found in the rule and reign of Jesus. In your life, in your mind, in your heart, in your body, and everything that you are. He made you he knows what's best. We wanna learn as much as we can about that. That's what we're giving ourselves over to. So that being said, go ahead and grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Matthew, chapter 13. At the very end of Matthew, chapter 13. If you've been journeying with us, you know, in this chapter, we've been going through several parables. Jesus, he's. He's teaching these parables here. And if you're not familiar with parables, what parables are, is they're like stories. They're. They're a narrative. But they're more than just a story. That's a narrative. They're an illustration. And Jesus, he uses these parables, these stories, these illustrations to. To both teach and confront his listeners. Now listen, some of you, this is gonna sound intense, but I'm gonna say it. Some of you people don't love you enough to confront you. So oftentimes we live with, like, this fear of man, of like, what's someone gonna think? Are they gonna hear me? Okay, When I say confront, I don't mean being a jerk. I don't mean, like, yeah, you've been confronted by someone who's just trying to, like, criticize you and be rude and be mean. Like, that's not what I'm talking about. I mean someone who loves you enough to tell you that your fly's down. Cause you don't see it. Or you got a booger in your nose cause you don't see it. Or there's something stuck in your teeth. You can laugh at that. It's okay. That's totally fine. I'm talking about that kind of confrontation. One of the things I love about Jesus is that he loves me enough to confront me. He loves you enough to confront you. Okay, these parables, Jesus does some of that confronting. And he's not doing it to be just for the sake of being rude or whatever. No, he's doing it because it's love. It's manifesting love. Okay? These parables, they serve. We've been talking about this. They serve as both a mirror and a window. He uses parables as a mirror and like a window. So think of it that way. The mirror shows you your accurate reflection. Not what you think you look like, but what's really going on. Right? He wants to confront you with reality. And it also gives us a window into the beauty of the kingdom, that we might step into that and live in light of that. Okay? So today, chapter 13, we're gonna go through the final parable here in chapter 13. It's not the final parable in the Bible, but it is the final parable in this block of parables. And so before I read the scripture, as we do every week, I wanna pray. Cause apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. And apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, you and I are gonna have a hard time being enlightened to the divine truth that's here in the passages of Scripture. And so I want to invite the Spirit to teach us, to guide us, to help us. And so let's pray together. Oh, Father, we engage with you. Now, that's what prayer is. I want to engage with you. I feel compelled to pray that this would be less of a, I don't know, less of a oration and more of us engaging with you as we engage with your word. I pray for every heart and mind in the room. I pray you'd minimize distractions. I pray that we'd be able to grow in our understanding and that we'd experience deeper levels of salvation here and now as a result. Deeper levels of freedom, deeper levels of deliverance. I want to be your disciples, Jesus. So teach us. We pray. Holy Spirit, help me. Help me to honor you and honor these precious people. I love you, Jesus. In your name that I pray. Amen. Okay, so really quickly, context. This will be review for most of you, but I want you to. You gotta see what's going on here, right? Jesus, he's been teaching these parables to the crowds, okay? All these people, Jesus is really impressive. He's doing all these miracles. He has these brilliant teachings. All, all these people are gathering around. I wanna hear from Jesus. So Jesus is on the boat, right? He's on the boat just off of shore. They're on the shoreline. He's teaching to all of them. He teaches them some parables, right? He teaches them the parable of the sower we covered that. He teaches us the parable of the wheat and the weeds. You remember that one? He teaches the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven or the yeast. And then he leaves the crowds. Do you remember who he leaves the crowds with? His disciples, right? So he takes his closer disciples and they go inside to sit around the table, right? And the disciples, they're asking for help in understanding the parables. Cause if you've ever read some of the teachings of Jesus, at first glance, you're like, what does this mean? You could tell that there's deep symbolism, right? But like, what does this mean? That's what happens with his disciples. They're like, Jesus like, help us understand this. So they're sitting around the table. Jesus is helping them understand. He's teaching them. And he's teaching them partially with explanation, yes, but also with more parables. He goes into the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the priceless pearl. Last Sunday, I covered the parable of the Net, right? So Jesus teaching with these parables. So I want you to get the scene of Jesus sitting around the table with his disciples. All right? And those disciples, what are they after? They want to grow in their understanding. So Jesus is teaching them. That's where we pick up here in verse 51 of Matthew, chapter 13. Okay, let's read it together. Verse 51. This is Jesus speaking after He's. They're in the house. Get the picture? They're in the house. They're sitting around the table. He's been teaching them these parables, instructing all this. And yet he asks them a question. He says, have you understood all these things? He's referencing all the parables we've been covering the last several weeks. Have you understood all these things? They answered him, yes. Therefore, he said to them, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old. Okay, just two verses today. That's it. That's the parable. Okay, now, like I said, this is the final parable that Jesus teaches here in chapter 13. This parable is a standout. I don't know if you caught it, but this parable stands out for an important reason. The prior parables start like this. The kingdom of heaven is like. He's teaching them what the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is like. This parable starts out differently. This parable says, essentially, the disciple of the kingdom is like. You see how it stands out a little different? The disciple is like, so what's he teaching them then? He's teaching them about discipleship. Right now, I want to cover really quickly the elements of this parable. But again, understand Jesus is teaching them about discipleship. If you're a follower of Jesus, if you're a Christian in the room, there's so much gold here, I'm actually not going to be able to cover it all. But I have a handful of points for you. But before we do that, I want to make sure we're all on the same page about the various elements that are in this parable and what they Mean, okay, the first one, teacher of the law. The first element that we see in the parable, teacher of the law. The translation literally says scribe. Okay? So this would have been people who were. They were familiar. Familiar enough with the scripture at the time. Now, again, this is pre New Testament. This is Old Testament scriptures. So these are people familiar enough with the Old Testament scriptures to help other people understand. All right. To help other people understand. These are people. They would have had some familiarity with divine truth revealed through the Scriptures. Okay, you got it. Two people. Great. I'm gonna keep moving. All right, the next one, disciple of the kingdom. It's the next element in the parable. That's a Christian, that's a follower of Jesus. We define a disciple here. I believe it's biblical. But our working definition for a disciple of Jesus is someone who's learning to obey Jesus, enjoy Jesus, and operate like Jesus in every single area of life. Enjoy, obey, and operate. That's someone who's learning. It's a process, right? Learning implies that you're being taught. So it's not just like an overnight thing. No, it's this ongoing engagement with a rabbi, a teacher, Jesus, an ongoing engagement with them relationally about learning how to follow him. That's what we're giving ourselves to. Okay, so that's the disciple of the kingdom, the next element. Owner of a house. Owner of a house. Owner of a house. So this would be like baby boomers. This would be like some Gen Xers. For whatever reason, most millennials are excluded from owning a house. You can't tell I'm bitter at all about this. For real, though, I'm being silly. The owner of a house, think head of a household. All right, now, there's some differences 2000 years ago from today, but there's some carryover, some crossover, too. Head of a household, okay? At the time, a head of a household. Owner of a house. Head of a household, they had certain responsibilities, okay? And one of the responsibilities that they had was to manage the wealth. Let me read you a quote. I don't know if you guys got this, but one Bible scholar says this quote, the head of the household was responsible for the entire welfare of the family. And a major part of his duty was to maintain ample supplies of food, clothing, and all of the things the members of the household might need. He kept these supplies in a storehouse from which he would dispense items as they were needed. End quote. So I want you to get the picture. The owner of the home, they have this storeroom of essentially wealth of valuables, of things that the family might need. And they manage that. And they would intentionally dispense those valuable things as each person was in need. If this person needed food, boom. If this person needed a specific tool, boom. This person needed clothes. They'd go into their storehouse, the things of value, and they would distribute those things as the needs of their household members presented themselves. Okay, so that's the owner of the home. Now there's the storeroom. That's the next element here, the storeroom. This is where the valuables were stored. Okay? So think like a treasure chest. You put valuables inside. Now remember all of these parables. Jesus is using these stories, these illustrations to teach and to confront. And they're symbolic, right? What do you think the storeroom symbolizes? Any ideas? Talk to me. Absolutely. Our heart. Well done, Kathleen. Our heart. DA Carson, brilliant Bible scholar, says this quote, the storeroom in the Bible so regularly stands for a man's or a woman's heart. We must understand the discipled scribe here to be bringing out things out of his heart, out of his understanding, his personality and his very being. So I want you to get this picture. The storeroom is a person's heart. Okay? Do you remember. Do you remember kind of the Christmas story with Mary, the mother of Jesus? You remember the shepherds, right? The angels show up to the shepherds and they're like, the Messiah's born right in the city of David. Like, you're gonna know it's him. He's gonna be wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. You guys know this story. If you've spent any time in the church. And what do the shepherds do? They're like, oh, my gosh, we had this crazy encounter with these angels. Let's go check it out. So they go investigate. Sure enough, they find baby Jesus there, there with Mary. They're with Joseph, and they report everything to Mary. And do you remember what it says in Luke 29, verse? I'm sorry? In Luke 2, verse 19, it says that Mary treasured these things in her heart. That storeroom where the really valuable things are stored. So the storeroom, it's a disciple's heart, right? But I think it's important for us to understand something really quickly. I'm gonna get into my points in just a second, but I need to set the stage for us. We gotta understand that the Jewish concept of the heart is different from than most kind of modern Americans concept of the heart. I think most of us just our upbringing and Disney and whatever Stuff. And it's not necessarily bad. It's just a different. It's a different culture, is we tend to view the heart as sort of just kind of limited to emotions. Right? Kind of limited to emotions. But here's the thing. The Jewish concept of the heart was more comprehensive. The Jewish concept of the heart was, yes, it involved emotions and desires, but it also involved a person's thoughts and their will. Okay? So the heart was like a combination of your mind and your emotions. So think like the control center of your life, okay? Not just how you feel, but what you think and what your will is and what your desires are. And then the final element in this parable is the treasure. The treasure. Simply put, the treasure is the teaching. The treasure is the teaching, right? It's this revelation of divine truth. It says both old and new. So Jesus, he didn't come to abolish the law, right? He came to fulfill the law. So it's this beautiful. The new is the depth. There's this congruence that happens between old divine truth revelation and new through Jesus. Divine truth revelation and those things working together, right? That's the treasure, right? The Lord's teachings in the Old Testament scriptures and the teachings of Jesus. Do you guys know what that's called? We call that the Bible. It's the Bible, the Lord's teachings, both Old Testament and New Testament. So I want to give you really quickly, this is my simplified summary of the parable. This is the Tom translation. It would be this. Every disciple of Jesus is like a person who stores the treasure of divine truth in their heart and dispenses it to others as they need it. I'm gonna say that one more time. Track with me. Okay? This is my summary of the parable. Every disciple of Jesus is like a person who stores the treasure of divine truth in their heart and dispenses it to others as they need it. Okay? So what I want to do for the rest of my time, I don't know, 20ish, 25 minutes. I want to break this down a bit, and I want to help us so that we can apply this to our lives. Because I think there's power here. Okay? Now, again, this parable is teaching us about discipleship. It's teaching us about what it looks like to follow Jesus, right? Not the kingdom of heaven is like. But no, a disciple in the kingdom is like, that's what we're going through. Okay? So if you're taking notes, my first point for us this morning is this. Disciples seek to understand Jesus Teachings. Disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings. Now remember the setting. Where are they? If you're watching the movie, where are they located? Jesus and the disciples? Nope. Close. I appreciate you saying it. Inside, they came out, they left the crowds. They're inside. The disciples are inside sitting around the table talking about this stuff. Okay? That's where they are. Now, these disciples, they're with Jesus and they're asking him the context, what's happening right here? Before he says this, they're asking him, right, about his teachings. They're having trouble understanding his teachings. That means they want to grow in their understanding, doesn't it? Right. So they want to grow in their understanding. They're seeking Jesus to grow in that understanding of his teachings. And then in verse 51, he basically flat out asks them, he goes, do you understand? And what was their response? Yeah, they said yes. So they had understanding. Okay? Now you read the rest of the Bible and you realize these guys, their understanding was so far from perfect, wasn't it? They blew it. They misunderstood. But what I love here is that there's this seeking that they're still seeking to grow in their understanding. Okay, we know that their understanding was far from perfect, but we also know that they wanted to grow in their understanding. Now get this. Jesus wanted them to grow as well. Jesus wanted them to grow as well. Disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings. When I was in college, I worked, I worked my way through school, and my parents supported me a ton. Like, they let me live at home rent free. The fridge was always full. They were very, very supportive. But working through school, as those of you who did it, you know, there's challenges involved with that. But one of the things that I did in order to kind of like be able to juggle both of those things was I stacked my classes. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Yes. So instead of, like, I have this class on Monday and these classes on Tuesday, and then these classes on Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday, instead of spreading them out as normal people do, I stack them all on like, two days. So, like, mostly it was Monday and Wednesday. So there'd be semesters where I would literally, my first class would be 8am in the morning on Monday, and I wouldn't get out of my last class until like 10pm so it was just a full day. I'd have breaks for lunch or whatever, and I'd go in the library and knock out my stuff and just knock it out so that I could work the rest of the week. Right. I remember there, I don't I'm going to confess something. Young people, I do not advocate when I'm about to confess to you. Okay? This was not wise. You'll see that in a second. But there was one 8am class that. To be candid with you, I don't even remember what it was. It's been a long time. But there's one 8am class that I just. I skipped it all the time. Like, I only really came when I felt like it. And so, as a result, as you can imagine, I didn't really understand what was being taught. Guess what kind of grade I got in that class? I got an A. No, I'm kidding. I did not get an A plus. That was a lie. Okay? No, I didn't understand what was going on because I was skipping that class all the time. I only came when I felt like it. I got a terrible grade in that class, okay? Like a really bad grade. Hear me. It's harder to learn when you skip class. It's harder to learn when you skip class. It's harder to grow in understanding when you opt out. Can I talk to just the Christians in the room for a second? No condemnation, just love. How dusty is your Bible? How often do you miss the Sunday sermon? I just don't want any of us to be surprised when we find ourselves in a space where we lack understanding. Like, what is going. You ever find yourself in your life? What is going on? God, what are you doing? Maybe just me. It's harder to learn when you skip class. Jesus says disciples seek to understand his teachings. Do you know what that requires, though? It requires something that I think most of us avoid. It requires humility. Doesn't requires humility. It means taking on the posture of a learner. That means I don't know it all. That means there's things that I still need to learn. It means taking on the posture of humility. As someone who still has room to grow in their understanding, I think one of the things that would be helpful for all of us in the room to really, like, come to grips with is. Discipleship's a lifelong process, man. A lifelong process. Jesus has a desire for you. Literally, if you allow him to. If you yield to his leadership in your life, he will literally mold you into a specific person. And it doesn't happen overnight. Get this. It doesn't happen in a decade. It's like the entirety of your life. It's this lifelong process. And I'm just here to tell you, like, he has so much to teach us. Friends, I do not think it's like a thing. We arrive. I don't think, like. I don't think discipleship is like, okay, well, I've arrived now. I've reached this place of understanding to where, like, I don't have any more room to grow. And so therefore, I got it. So I can. I don't know if it works that way, but it requires that we humble ourselves. Do you ever read stuff in the Bible and you're like, what does that mean? Like, to be honest with you, that happens to me most days. Okay? My mornings, I'm with Jesus, and the vast majority of my mornings with Jesus and his Word, I find myself asking that question, what does that mean? All the time. And listen, I'm not the world's leading Bible scholar, but I've been vocationally studying the Bible for multiple decades at this point. And every day, I'm still like, what does this mean? It's deeper than I thought it was. If you get where I'm going, right? Have you ever been reading stuff in the Bible and you're like, what does that mean? That's the point. Jesus wants to teach you. Think about what I just said. God himself wants to teach you. That's awesome. That's incredible. Do you realize how personal discipleship is? I think so often, I don't know what it is. I don't have a. I don't have a. I can't put my finger on why, but I see it in my own life, too, is we get into this, like, discipleship becomes more like rituals instead of fostering relationship with Jesus. And I think we miss so much of what he wants to teach us when we drift into the ritual and when we, like, miss out on the relating with him in it. When you read the Bible, you're like, what does that mean? That's the point. Jesus wants to teach you. Discipleship's personal. The invitation. I mean, think about this, guys. Jesus goes, come follow me. To you, to me, to the people sitting around you, to the people in your city, to the people in this valley. Come follow me. He's like, I just think of his. I think of his intentionality, guys. And if you meditate on it enough, I think it's really comforting. Come follow me. It's like, there's things in your life that you don't know yet that I want to teach you. I want to develop you. I want you to grow in your understanding. He's the author of life. I think he knows a little thing or two about life. You know, Check this out. He made you, the Bible says there's a thing or two that he knows about you that might radically benefit you in the season that you're in. And you might be following Jesus for decades at this point, or you might be brand new at following Jesus, or you might be raised in a house of your parents. Follow Jesus. There are things that you don't know that he wants to teach you. Listen, I was feeling this big time as I was praying for us this morning. I feel like. I feel pretty strongly. There's some of us in the room, maybe one or two of us, where you feel like, man, oh man, like your relationship to God feels stale. It doesn't have the same taste that it once did. It doesn't have the same vibrance that it once did. It doesn't have the same emotional connection that it once did. You don't feel the same way. It just feels kind of stale. I'm here to tell you Jesus wants to teach you that discipleship thing. It's personal, it's relational. He desires you. Disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings. And Jesus wants to teach his disciples. That's a pretty good recipe for connection, I think. It's all about fostering relationship. Old and new, old and new. There's a really cool story in Luke chapter 24. It's the famous road to Emmaus story. You know, there's these two disciples. So Jesus has already been crucified, he's already raised to life. He starts appearing to people. Okay, we're gonna talk a bit about this next week at Easter, the resurrected Jesus. But these two disciples, they're on this road to Emmaus, and they have this encounter with Jesus and Jesus starts walking them through the Bible. Imagine having a Bible study with the resurrected Jesus. That sounds incredible. That sounds like bucket list. Way cooler than any tropical location you could go to climbing Mount Everest. Yeah, whatever. I had a Bible. I had a Bible study with a resurrected Jesus. So these guys, they. They have this Bible study with the resurrected Jesus. And then In Luke chapter 24, verse 27, check this out. You've heard this before, but I wanna put it on your radar again. It says then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, the Old Testament, right? That's the scriptures they had at the time. This is before the New Testament's written. Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He, Jesus interpreted for those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the things concerning himself in all of the scriptures, right? So Jesus disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings. That includes all of scripture, all of it. Check this out. Jesus is trying to teach you stuff in Genesis. Jesus wants to teach you more about him and his kingdom in Exodus. Get this. Jesus wants to teach you in Deuteronomy, in Leviticus. Numbers is underrated. We've talked about numbers. Numbers is underrated. And all of the Old Testament, all the prophets. Jesus wants to teach you stuff, friends. Includes all of Scripture treasures, both old and new. Okay, so really quickly, some application points for you two. Just pastoral recommendations. If I'm your pastor. I just want to recommend some stuff to you if you're guest with us. Just so glad you're here. My first recommendation for you is this. If you don't already have an Eat and Speak journal, get yourself an Eat and Speak Journal. And don't just like, put it on your shelf. Actually use it, actually engage it. Eat and Speak journal. It's just a tool. It's a helpful tool to encounter God through his Word. You just do what it says. I mean, anybody can do it. It's super simple. Okay. Why? To foster that relationship. Right? To foster that relationship. Disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings. And Jesus himself wants to teach his disciples. The second thing. This might sound weird because it's coming from me, but listen to the Sunday sermons. Like, listen to them, all of them. Discuss them with your household. Discuss them with your gospel community. Right. There's a reason that we do this every single week. Disciples seek to understand Jesus teachings and Jesus wants to teach his disciples. Go ahead and look back at verse 52. Therefore, he said, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures. What do you think of when you think of treasure? Talk to me. Gold. Yep. Diamonds. What else? Contentment. I like that. What else? There's no wrong answers. Oh, absolutely. Sentimental items. It's like if, you know, if, like, you know, God forbid, something terrible were to happen to your house, your house burns down. Like you're going after those photos, that photo book, you know, of your kids when they're in their diapers, that kind of thing. Absolutely. What else? What do you think of comfort? Comfort. Okay, here's my next point for you. If you're taking notes, disciples again. We're learning about what discipleship is like. Right. Disciples treasure Jesus teachings. Disciples treasure Jesus teachings. According to this parable, how do you treat stuff you treasure? You can talk. How do you treat it? With care. Totally. What else? Protect it. Totally, Kyla. 100%. Like, think about it. Think about things that you treasure. How do you treat treasure. In 2008, I made at the time, the largest purchase that I'd ever made in my life. The prior largest purchase was I put a down payment on a car. But in 2008, I bought my wife, my then girlfriend, an engagement ring. Guys, those of you that have done this, it's intense. There's a lot at stake. You know, you want to get the right one. But here's the thing about most engagement rings. When you walk into the store, there's a lot more numbers on the price tag than you think there's going to be. But I remember I went to a jeweler here in Temecula and I saw it. I found the one. I was like, this is what she's gonna want. I know it. This is her. I found it, asked him the price, and he told me. I was like, oh, that can't be the one. But then I thought about it some more, and I was like, I gotta make this happen. So, guys, I saved. Like, I saved and I saved and I saved. Listen to me. I was doing music vocationally at the time. Musicians in the room. You'll know what I'm about to say is heartbreaking. I sold music gear for this ring. There's only a couple giggles because some of you don't know what I'm saying. Musicians, the way that God's wired our brains is we have this thing called gas. And I'm not talking about when your stomach feels weird. GAS is an acronym for gear acquisition syndrome. And fly fishermen, same thing. They're like toys. They're toys and they're tools is what they are for the musician. And so the more tools you have in your tool belt, the more effective you can be as a musician. And so musicians have this tendency to acquire as much gear as possible, not sell off gear. Okay. And so it was like, oh, man. Okay, I'm gonna do it. I'm saving and I'm sacrificing. Why? Because I treasure her. Cause I treasure her, right? I sacrificed a ton to buy that ring. We sacrifice for the things that we treasure, don't we? And the parable says that disciples, they treasure Jesus teachings. What else did we do for treasure? I think we work really hard for. For the things that we treasure. Do you guys remember that show? I think it was on the Discovery Channel back in the day called Deadliest Catch. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Raise your hand. Okay. Yes. So it was this intense show where these insane people would go out into the middle of the ocean with, like, insane Waves, like big, huge waves, super cold, on the brink of freezing. And they would go, do you call it fishing for crab? Crabbing? Is that what it's called? So essentially, they'd go to catch crab, these king crabs out in the middle of nowhere. Super dangerous job, okay? Like, gnarly, dangerous job. They're out in the middle of the ocean and you're like, why would anybody do this? And then you realize that just the simple deckhands on the crew, just the deckhands make 50 to 60 thousand dollars in a few weeks. Like, oh, that's why they do it, okay? And there'd be all these crazy show, all these stories of these guys. Like, people would die. It was really, really dangerous, right? They would work 18 hours a day. Why? Treasure. Treasure. We work hard for the things that we treasure. For you, it's certainly not catching crap. Unless. Has anybody here done that? That'd be really wild. I had a buddy in high school who ended up doing something similar to that. But so for you, it's not catching king crab in the middle of the ocean, but some of you, you work 60 hours a week, you are grinding. Because we work hard for the things that we treasure, right? Disciples treasure Jesus teachings. You mama bears in the room, you treasure your children. If anybody steps to your kid, they're getting kicked in the face. Like, there's this reality. I've watched so many moms and dads too. But there's this unique thing that moms have when their children are threatened. It's like they call it mama bear thing for a reason. It's real, right? We guard and protect the things that we treasure. Like Kylo said, disciples treasure Jesus teachings. Why? Because they treasure him. Because they treasure the one who expressed him, treasuring them in such profound ways. They treasure his teachings because they treasure him. They treasure the one who willingly took on the cross, the one who never tapped out. The one who, despite how much you resist him or I resist him, he never ever leaves us or forsakes us. Can we just sit with that one for a little bit? We talk about this stuff all the time. But can we, like, give it a moment for it to migrate from our head to our heart? And not just our emotional heart, but our Jewish concept of heart? They treasure Jesus teachings. Disciples treasure Jesus teachings because he treasures them and they treasure him. Honest question, don't answer out loud. Are you bored with the Bible? Are you bored with the Gospel? Here's an intense one. Are you bored with God? Listen. Not throwing shade at you, but no one Gets bored with treasure. You will never, ever in your life get bored with treasure. Here's what I think. I think that far too often we allow our hearts to be captivated by lesser things. We call lesser things treasure. While the most precious thing is dusty unaccess, unaccessed, not engaged with. Can I just tell you, there's nothing on the face of the earth more spectacular than Jesus. There's nothing more valuable than Jesus. Like, I'm serious, and I know that every single one of us would mark that on, like, the quiz. We would say that. But I'm telling you, I'm telling you, take an inventory of your life, friend. Nothing is more spectacular than Jesus. Nothing that you treasure in your life can even come close. Disciples treasure Jesus teachings because they treasure him. Now, look back one more time at verse 52. I'm almost done. I'll read it again. Therefore, Jesus said to them, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old. Now, according to the parable, what do disciples do with the treasure? Bring it out, baby. They bring it out. That's my final point for you. If you're taking notes. Disciples bring out the treasure. Disciples bring out the treasure. I'm gonna pull a Herrick burger right now. In the early 90s, there was this movie with Sean Connery called Medicine Man. Did anybody ever see that movie? Yes, those of us with gray hair in the room, we've seen it. Sean Connery. I wish I could do the accent as good as my brother, but I'm not even gonna try. So he's in this movie. I'm not gonna ruin it for you. Don't worry. He's in this movie called Medicine Man. And in the movie, they essentially discover the cure for cancer, like, out in the Amazon or something. So they discover the cure for cancer, and it's just all this drama goes down. I just want you to imagine with me for a second. Imagine if you had the cure for cancer. What an absolute treasure that would be. I mean, like, think of it with me for just a second. How many lives could be saved? Like, you have it. I mean, literally, you would be arguably the most famous person on the Earth. Like, they would erect statues for you in, like, every major city on the planet. You would be celebrated and honored. Oh, my goodness. Right? You'd be one of the most beloved people in history. Now, imagine you have the cure for cancer, but imagine if you never shared it with anybody. Some of you know where I'm going with this. But I want to ask you the same question that Jesus asks his disciples in the first verse of our passage today. Do you understand what Jesus is teaching friends? The Gospel of the Kingdom. The treasure is the cure for the human condition. Like, first and foremost, sin. It's the cure for sin. Like it can literally wash you completely clean of every sin you've ever committed. Every sin that you can't say no to now. And every sin in your future. The cure for sin. It's the cure for death. That death is not final. That you'll be raised with Christ on the last day into eternal life where there's no more death. It's the cure for death. Listen to me. It's the cure for despair. Listen, I've been in despair in my life. Many, if not most of you have tasted how awful that feeling is of despair. Do you know what the cure for despair is? The radical, unmatched love of God for you. To the degree that you can actually attach truth to it. Not just mentally, but experience it and taste it. You can't be in despair. That's why, like, the saints of old could be, like, lit on fire while they're singing hymns of gratitude and praise to God. Instead of being in despair that people that they love are murdering them like it's wild. It's the cure for sin. It's the cure for death. It's the cure for despair. Hear me. It's the cure for anxiety. The treasure. The treasure of the Gospel of the Kingdom is the cure for pride. It's the cure for fear. Any and all ungodly fear that is in your life. Listen, you might know all about the treasure. But hear me. If it stays locked away in the storeroom of your heart. I'm not sure you really understand it. Disciples, bring out the treasure. Now, I've noticed something about people. I've noticed something about people in general, even in me. People are quick to bring out advice. People are quick to bring out opinion. And hear me like advice and opinion. They have their place, okay? But do you know what is way more valuable than advice or opinion? Treasure. Disciples, bring out the treasure. Friends, allow me to provide one more summary for you of this parable. True disciples are those who wisely and generously distribute the truth of God's kingdom to others where they need it. One more time. True disciples are those who wisely and generously distribute the truth of God's kingdom to others where they need it. Can I just honor our church for a second I love witnessing you guys do this. I love hearing stories about you gathering together for your Lord's suppers. And it's not advice time. It's not opinion time. Again, advice and opinions have their place. It's let me bring out the treasure. You feeling depressed? Let me bring out the treasure for you. You feeling afraid? Let me bring out the treasure for you. You scared? Let me bring out the treasure for you. You doubting? Let me bring out the treasure for you. You just beat up by life. Let me bring out the treasure for you. I love watching you guys do this. It's incredible. I'm gonna one that stands out to me. I told you I was gonna talk about you. So I've watched something go down the last couple months with Paul. I know for a fact that he's been in his eat and speak journal most if not every day the last two months. Don't ask me how I know, but I know, okay? And here's what's cool. I've also witnessed moments where he has an opportunity to just care for and minister to somebody. Now, listen, I'm talking about Paul. He's not the hero. Jesus is the hero. But it's worth honoring, okay? And I've watched him engage and try to care for somebody and minister to them. And he doesn't bring out advice and he doesn't bring out opinion. No, no, no. He brings out the treasure that Jesus has given him. That morning when he's with Jesus and his Word, he brought out the treasure. And I watched how things changed for that person. Because you know what's way more valuable than advice or opinion starts with a T. Treasure. And I know he's not the only one. That's just fresh on my mind because I've seen it go down like a few times last couple months. And I know, I know that he's in his eat and Speak journal. I know he's not the only one. But what about you? What about you? Are you living as a disciple? Living as a disciple and being labeled as a disciple are two different things. I'm not talking about your label. I'm talking about your life. Do you know Jesus doesn't really care that much about the labels we give ourselves? Are you living in a disciple? Are you bringing out the treasure? Are you bringing out the treasure with parents? Are you bringing out the treasure with your kids? Are you bringing out the treasure as much or more than just giving them directions? Are you bringing out the treasure with your family? Are you bringing out the treasure with your neighbors? Here's the scary one. Are you bringing out the treasure with your co workers? Tom? I don't have that kind of job. Take that up with Jesus. Are you bringing out the treasure? I'm not anti youth sports. Just gonna put that caveat out there. Are you bringing out the treasure with the other families on your kid's team? Cause you're spending time with them, you're engaging with them. Are you bringing out the treasure? Or does most of the time, does it stay locked away? If you're a Christian, please hear my heart, Please. You know the cure. If you're not yet a Christian, if you're just investigating, I totally get it. That's why Jesus asked them the question, guys. He goes, do you understand all these things? Because if they said no, he'd go, okay, let me teach you some more. But. But if you're a follower of Jesus, if you're a Christian, that means that you have a certain level of understanding. And if you're a Christian, that means you know the cure. I want to read you a quote from a Bible scholar that wrecked me this week. Buckle up. One scholar says, this quote, jesus, charge to the 12 around the table in this passage is given to every believer. It is an awesome responsibility to warn the unsaved about hell and to offer them the way of escape through our precious Lord. The Christian's heart is cold indeed, who is not deeply concerned and exercised about those around him who are destined for the eternity of hell. To have the gift of eternal. Sorry. To have the gift of eternal life, but not to share it with those who now have only the prospect of eternal death is the epitome of selfishness and lovelessness. Sure. That shook me. Do you understand Jesus teachings? Disciples, bring out the treasure. Disciples, bring out the treasure. Listen to me. Do you know what next Sunday is? Easter. Do you know what that means? That means there are people who, if you invite them, might come who wouldn't normally else come to a gathering. That's pretty incredible. It's a pretty incredible opportunity. Okay? So hear my heart. If you're in a season where you're like, if you're honest, you're like, I'm too afraid to bring out the treasure right now I get it. I've been in those seasons. Listen, will you at least invite people to Easter so I can bring out the treasure? That's not like I'm better than you. That's not like, get on board, get out of here. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying be honest with yourself. What's your level of fear? Do you actually understand Jesus teachings, or are you, like, okay, I don't know if I'm a disciple yet. Like, that's okay. This is a safe place for everybody to grow and become disciples of Jesus. But if you're too afraid to invite people, if you're too afraid to bring out the treasure yourself, let alone too afraid to invite them here, I'm just asking you, invite them here so I can bring it out. I'll do it. I'm gonna preach the gospel very clearly, and God willing, people will be set free. Romans 1:16. I'll end with this band. You can come up. Romans 1:16. Paul For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the treasure. Why? Because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. If you're a Christian, that's your story. God delivering you. How? The treasure of the Gospel of the kingdom. Somebody loved you enough to confront you with it. And God, in his grace, removed the veil, your spiritual veil, and allowed you to see clearly enough. Not a perfect understanding. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Even just a simple understanding that can set the human free from sin, Satan, death, destruction. All right. Will you stand with me if. Can we all just take a moment? Stretch if you need to breathe, if you need to. Some of you need to pee, I get it. Can we just allow, for just a moment. Can we just allow this parable to be a mirror for us? Just for a moment? Can you allow Jesus to hold up the mirror for you so that you can just have an accurate view of self? You don't need to be afraid of doing that because he's so trustworthy, isn't he? And as you look in the mirror, I just want you to ask yourself the question, how's my discipleship doing? How's my discipleship doing? Are you seeking to grow in your understanding of Jesus teachings or are you skipping class? Do you treasure the teachings of the one who treasures you? Or are lesser things becoming more valuable to your heart? Do you. Do you regularly bring out the treasure for others where they need it, like the owner of the store or the store owner of the house with the storm of the treasure? Some of you, God's given you eyes to. I look around this room right now, and I'm getting overwhelmed. Some of you, God's given you eyes to see people in their need and beautiful ways. And you know it. It's awesome. Praise Jesus. Like many of you, do you bring out the treasure for others where they need it. If so, if you're. If you're in a spot where like all three of those things, I feel like, yeah, that's great. If so, praise God. Let's pray for more. Let's pray for more power in your life. Let's pray for God to use you in more profound ways, to deepen your faith and to strengthen you, fill you with power in your inner man, your inner woman. God, do that now. I pray. But if not, if your answer to any of those questions is, nah, not really. Why? Why not? Why? We just sit with that for a minute. Father, we invite you to Father us, Jesus. We invite you to be our shepherd, our Lord, our leader, our master. Because we miss out on the kingdom if you're not our master. We miss out on your kingdom if you're not our master. And so right now, all around the room, God, we invite you to touch us. We invite you to touch our hearts and our minds. Everything that we are, we want to reorient our life around. You are our master. You are our Lord. You are our Father. You are trustworthy. Teach us about treasure, about true treasure. Teach us about what it looks like to really live as a disciple, not just be labeled as a disciple. But either way, no matter where we find ourselves this morning, I just want to. I just want to speak truth over us in the name of Jesus. Jesus, your gracious invitation to discipleship still stands. You say, come, follow me. No matter how far we drift, you still say come. You invite, come, follow me. Come, follow me. Come, follow me. Let me teach you pray that you'd fill us with the humility that we need to be taught by you. Jesus, we love you. We bless you. We thank you for treasuring us. The cross is proof. I pray for anybody in the room right now who hasn't yielded to your lordship who's not yet a Christian. I pray that today they would hand the keys of their life to you. The keys of their heart, the keys of their mind. I pray that they would see you clearly for the loving Lord that you are and that you desire to be in their life and in faith. I pray for the gift of faith in this room right now that they would relinquish control of their life and step into who you've saved them to be. I pray all these things in your name, Jesus. Amen. If you're on the prayer team, would you make your way forward? There's gonna be trusted and trained men and women who would love to pray for you this morning. If you're wrestling with anything that I've said. If you're. If you're feeling like God's highlighting things in you, like, if he wants to come receive prayer for any reason, these people would love to minister to you. God wants to touch you. He wants to guide you. He wants to lead you. Come forward, receive prayer anytime. The rest of the gathering, and we're gonna fill this room with gratitude. We're gonna fill this room with praise. Can I just ask you something? What would it look like for the next 15:15 minutes for you to minister to God, for you to bless God? Sometimes it's totally appropriate for a posture like this. I need to receive God. I'm in need. Beautiful. Awesome. It takes faith to do that. It takes devotion to do this. What if you filled this room with devotion and gratitude for God's patience in your heart and in your life, for his faithful love to you? Let's fill this room with praise. Let's minister to the Lord. Let's receive prayer, and then we'll close here in just a bit, okay? I love you guys very much. Enjoy him.