All Things Depend on Christ

[00:00:00] Did you hear that? Jesus, out of every nation has redeemed us by his blood. [00:00:08] Amen. [00:00:10] Amen. [00:00:15] Well, Radical Islamists believe it, and it's the reason why they would fly airplanes into buildings or blow themselves up. [00:00:35] Mormons believe it, which is why they are willing to give up years of their life to become missionaries and go knocking on doors, at least for a portion of their lives. [00:00:49] Buddhists believe it, which is why they are willing to sell all their possessions and don orange robes and join monasteries. [00:01:02] Many people believe it, even Christians. Some Christians believe it. [00:01:15] Well, you're asking what is it, right? [00:01:20] What is it? [00:01:24] It's that the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price teach that the kingdom of Heaven should be of such great value to us that we should be willing to sell everything that we have to go and obtain it. [00:01:51] As I said, many people believe it through all kinds of philosophies and all kinds of religions. [00:02:01] The thought is that if they give up everything, even their very lives, they will receive the greatest of all treasures that somehow they can purchase the kingdom of Heaven. [00:02:24] And here comes the biggest but in the Bible. [00:02:31] But it is not true. [00:02:39] It never has been true. [00:02:41] And it's not what Jesus is teaching, and it's not what he would have us learn today. [00:02:48] Not only because the kingdom of Heaven is not for sale, but because even if it was, no matter what we do or what we give up, we always fall short. [00:03:00] Our dedication, our sincerity, our commitment always falls short. [00:03:11] Now, just to illustrate this a little bit, how often do we put things and relationships and desires of this world ahead of God and His kingdom? [00:03:23] And even if we manage to do good things, our priorities get them straight for a while. How long does it last in the end? [00:03:36] We always say always. [00:03:39] We always fall short. [00:03:41] No matter what we do on the outside of our lives, our inside, our human nature is still sinful. We cannot escape it. [00:03:52] And so we know the kingdom of Heaven well. [00:03:57] It should be so valuable to us that we put everything aside to attain it. [00:04:07] We know it. [00:04:10] Knowing is not the problem. [00:04:13] Doing, doing it is the problem. And it's not just that we won't do it. It's that no matter how hard we try, we can't do it. [00:04:27] An illustration comes From Matthew, chapter 19, where Jesus is speaking to. [00:04:35] Well, we're told that he's a rich young ruler. [00:04:41] This rich young ruler found out one day when he came up to Jesus and asked Jesus, what must I do to have eternal life? And so Jesus springs upon him the very issue that we're talking about today. He says to him, go sell all your possessions and give it to the poor if you really want to buy the kingdom of heaven. Let's see how that works. Jesus is saying to him, sell everything. [00:05:09] If the kingdom of heaven is of such great value to you, then you should be willing to give up everything, everything that you have to attain it. [00:05:24] Of course, we know the rest of the story, don't we? [00:05:28] Because it says, then when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful. [00:05:36] And a further postscript in the lesson adds that he had lots of stuff. [00:05:46] And I would suggest to you that that young man is just like us. [00:05:53] And Jesus had to show him that he couldn't do it. And after this, the disciples were astonished. They'd been listening to this interchange back and forth there in Matthew 19. And the disciples, they asked Jesus, they say, well, then, who can be saved? [00:06:16] Who can be saved? [00:06:20] Jesus answer is wonderful. [00:06:23] And in his answer, we have the key to understanding these parables in front of us today. Jesus answered. He said, with man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. [00:06:38] And so the man in the parables who goes and sells all that he has because of that treasure that's in that field, to buy that field, or to go and search out and attain that pearl of great price, that man who sells everything to buy that treasure is not us. [00:07:05] And Jesus is not saying that it should be us. [00:07:08] No, Jesus tells these parables to reveal to us that the man who goes and sells all is himself. [00:07:23] It's Jesus, for it's the Son of God who gave up everything. [00:07:30] It's the Son of God who is coming down from his throne in heaven to live for us as one of us. [00:07:40] It's Jesus who puts himself under the law. [00:07:44] He didn't have to. [00:07:46] He didn't have to even try to keep it. It's Jesus who comes and lives a life of perfection for us in our place, doing what we cannot do, and then in the end, laying down his own perfect life for us on the cross in order to redeem us. I mean, there's six gives that Jesus has there. [00:08:11] And that word redeem that he redeemed us. [00:08:16] That's a buying word. [00:08:19] That's a commerce word, a purchase word, which means, oh, we learned this in our small catechism. [00:08:27] To purchase us from all sin is what Jesus did from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with something far more valuable. [00:08:42] His holy, innocent, precious blood. [00:08:48] And with his innocent suffering and death, then the catechism adds this, that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve Him. [00:09:03] Serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. [00:09:10] And so, with that understanding of Jesus and His work, we begin to see what it is that makes these parables so uniquely Christian. That the doer in these parables today is not us, it's God. It's God Himself. And that we are not the finder, but we are the found. [00:09:28] And that we are the treasure. Yes, hidden in this world, but known by God and considered so precious that he would not even withhold his only begotten Son to have us for his own, to have us as his treasured possession. [00:09:49] Look, we live in a world that in the midst of, well, all sorts of trials and troubles, a world that dumps on us, a world that buries under its cares and problems and sin. [00:10:06] Jesus wants you and me to know today what the kingdom of heaven is really like. It's a kingdom of grace. It's a kingdom of being found. It's a kingdom of him finding and buying you. It's a kingdom of him taking you to be his own. [00:10:30] So, well, let's just do a little mind experiment this morning, shall we? Maybe even close your eyes if it helps you. But I want you to put yourself in a treasure chest, a jewelry box, if you will, some kind of a. Some kind of a casing. [00:10:53] And now imagine you're in that. And it's buried. [00:11:00] It's buried in the earth. It's completely hidden. [00:11:07] It has to be dug up. [00:11:10] Now, I want you to look really carefully at the shape of that box that you're in. [00:11:20] It's a casket. [00:11:24] It's a casket because that's us spiritually. [00:11:32] We are lost, dead in trespasses and sins. [00:11:39] We are born dead, spiritually speaking. [00:11:44] That's Ephesians 2. [00:11:47] Spend some time in your quiet time later today looking at Ephesians 2, because in there you will see that we have nothing, That we don't have anything to do with our salvation. [00:12:06] We don't even have anything to be able to do, or we don't even have anything to give up to God. [00:12:15] Because, you see, while we were still dead in trespasses and sins and unable to find Christ in His kingdom, that's when Christ found us. And finding us was. [00:12:27] Well, he was not content to leave us there in that coffin, dead. [00:12:36] No. He purchased us with all that he had by the payment of his death. [00:12:43] And in that payment he joins. [00:12:46] Well, he joins us in our grave, but he joins us in that grave. So that when he rises from the dead that we would be raised with him. Did you ever see it that way before? [00:12:58] That we would be a treasure. No longer dead and buried in the ground, but a treasure now alive and born. [00:13:08] Born from above, born again. [00:13:11] That's what we heard in Romans today, that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. And this happened for you? And for me. In our baptism. We were raised from the dead and in those waters of baptism and given the spirit of life, that we might live a new life. A new life. [00:13:29] No longer for sin, but now for Him. [00:13:34] See, that's the calling that Mr. Larry spoke to us out of that Old Testament lesson, that calling. To live that new life now in him and in a world that is sold out to selfishness and to death. [00:13:53] So that, well, we know what the kingdom of heaven is like. [00:13:58] It's a kingdom of resurrection. It's a kingdom of life, not death. [00:14:05] It's a kingdom wherein we who were dead might now live. [00:14:14] Now, a lot of people in the world have trouble believing this interpretation of these parables. [00:14:21] It's upside down from our way of thinking, isn't it? [00:14:26] Because they don't consider themselves worth that much. [00:14:35] Who would even think to sell all that they have for you or for me? [00:14:44] That's part of our sin nature. We know what we're like, and we know what we're like because of what we think or what we say or what we do. And I'm one of those people. And maybe you think you are too. But what I want you to know is that God does consider you to be worth that much. So valuable that he would trade the life of His Son for you. [00:15:15] And I would dare say that his opinion matters more than yours or mine. [00:15:20] Would you agree with that? [00:15:25] And so you really are not what you might think of yourself. [00:15:32] You are what he says you are. [00:15:36] Yes, a sinner, but also one who is in Christ. [00:15:45] And even more, you are his child. [00:15:49] You are his treasure. [00:15:53] If you were baptized as an infant, you may not recall, but when we have baptisms here in our church and in Christian congregations, we mark the one to be baptized with the sign of the cross both upon the forehead and upon the heart, marking them as one redeemed by Christ, the crucified, marking them as God's most treasured possession. [00:16:27] And we might want to just hasten to add that you might not think you look like a treasure right now, That you look like all those other funny looking fish in the sea Jesus reminds us of. [00:16:44] But Jesus knows His own. Jesus knows the good fish and the bad fish. As that parable exposes to us, what separates the good fish and the bad fish is not who does good and who does bad, but who has faith and who doesn't have faith. The good fish believe that Jesus gave up everything for them, that he forgives their sins and that he has purchased us and that we are his own. [00:17:16] The bad fish, well, those are the ones who just won't believe in God, who just won't believe his word, but who go about their lives in various ways trying to purchase him and his kingdom all on their own. [00:17:36] All the fish are caught. Did you notice that? Because Jesus, his blood shed on the cross atoned for all people. But only those who receive that forgiveness, who receive that gift, have life by faith. It's a gift from God. [00:17:56] And only those whose faith is in him will enter this kingdom of heaven. [00:18:04] Those who try to earn it or to purchase it by their own works, they simply will not. [00:18:16] As Jesus said, with man, it's impossible. [00:18:21] With God. [00:18:23] With God, all things are possible. [00:18:29] So for you and I, everything depends on Christ. [00:18:36] His coming, his life, his work, his finding, his purchasing, his forgiving, his love, his death, his resurrection, his body and blood that he will feed us upon today. With all these, we have everything. With these we are safe. With these we have His Word and that we can rely upon his promises that he has purchased us, that he has made us his own, and that he will see us through to the end and take us to his kingdom. [00:19:12] That's what's so great about the promise there in Romans 8. [00:19:18] If everything depends upon him, we can be sure. [00:19:24] If it were to depend upon us. [00:19:27] Well, so just to kind of close this off, Jesus did it too. [00:19:35] He got all done with all of this. [00:19:38] And he looked at his disciples and he said, have you understood all these things? [00:19:44] And I have to laugh. [00:19:48] You can just see them going, right? And they answer, yes, but I think inside they're going. [00:19:57] I mean, we have ample evidence about the disciples in various places in the Gospels that, well, it took. Jesus took him. [00:20:09] I don't know. I see a lot of humor in that little exchange. They say, yes, well, I think Jesus prayer and my prayer, I think all of our prayer is that we would understand exactly what it is Jesus has done for us, that we would pray along with Solomon. Not for wealth and riches of this world, but for a right understanding of the true wealth and the true riches that we have already been given. [00:20:42] We're inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. And it's a joy that just cannot be taken away. [00:20:50] You belong not to this world, but to the one who purchased you, who bled for you, who rose from the dead for you, and who cares for you. [00:21:01] This takes me back to the beginning of our worship this morning. Jesus loves me. This I know. [00:21:11] If you've been saved by your Savior, if you've been born again, if you're forgiven, if you're set free from the burdens of the law, you can live free, not for yourself, but for others. [00:21:26] The kingdom of heaven is yours. What more could you possibly want or need? And yes, you are worth that much to him. [00:21:38] Not because I said so, and not just because God's word points it out to us today, but because the cross says so. [00:21:54] Amen. [00:21:56] Amen.