Matt Hagee - Parallel Truths
Recently, in the united sates, television networks covered the story of a buried treasure found by a farmer in a Kentucky cornfield. This story is about the treasure they call the Kentucky hoard. Here's how it goes:
One day, a farmer is walking through a field that he and his family have farmed for decades. And while he's walking and checking the condition of his crops and the soil, he looks down in the dirt and he sees the ridge of what he suspects to be a gold coin. He takes a little time to investigate further, and he digs up the ridge of that one particular coin. And when he cleans it off, he recognizes it to be an 1863 gold double eagle coin. Now, in 1863 a gold double eagle was worth $20. In 2023, it was worth quite a bit more. Thinking there might be more, this is actual footage of this Kentucky farmer. He continued to dig a little here and a little there, and in a radius of about 30 feet, he soon dug up a little bit more than 800 coins. Seven hundred of those coins happened to be the 1863 double eagles. And recently, this Kentucky farmer took that coin collection to public auction and sold it for more than 3 million United States dollars.
That's a pretty good day corn farming, wouldn't you say? But centuries before this modern-day story of a treasure in Kentucky, Jesus Christ opened his mouth to share a parable with those who were listening about what the kingdom of heaven was like. And that's what we find in Matthew 13:44. If you've found it, say, "Amen". Read with me. "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 he buys that field".
Heavenly Father, help us today to see and to know how much you dearly love us. Help us to recognize what a joy it is to be sought after by the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And let us be willing to do as you have done, give all that we have to possess the treasure of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray and ask. All of God's children said, "Amen".
You may be seated. In Matthew 13:44, Jesus is sharing a parallel truth. When Jesus begins his parable talking about a man walking in a field looking for treasure, he's describing himself and he's looking for you. Jesus Christ came looking in the field of the world that God had created, and what he was searching for were those who needed to be redeemed and saved. As astounding as that thought is, even more unbelievable is the idea that God, in his sovereignty knew what was going to happen when he created man. He knew that we would need to be redeemed before we knew we needed a redeemer. Knowing that it would cost Jesus his life, he still said, "Let us make man in our own image".
He knew we would fall. He knew that the seed of the woman would have to come and crush the head of the serpent. He knew that the wages of sin would be death, and that we wouldn't have the ability to pay the debt. It didn't take Adam very long to bury us. God treasured us, sin buried us. Buried in a death sentence. Buried under a yoke and a burden that's too heavy to carry. Buried in chains of bondage that were too thick to break. Buried under mountains of guilt and oceans of shame. And there we were, buried, until Galatians 4:4 says, "In the fullness of time", say that with me. "In the fullness of time".
God always has perfect timing. You might think you've been waiting a little too long, but God says, "I'm right on time". He says, "In the fullness of time, he sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, born to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons". When the time was right, God sent exactly who we needed, like we needed him, to do exactly what only he could do. And now you and i, who were outside, have been grafted into a covenant relationship we had no business being a part of. We've been written into a contract, signed in the blood of the precious Lamb of God that calls you a son, and you a daughter. That where sin did abound, his grace did that much more abound.
And we are now able to go into heavenly places in the mighty name of Jesus and boldly enter the throne room of grace and find mercy in our hour of need. Oh, praise the mighty name of Jesus for what he has done in making us sons and daughters of the Most High God. God sent Jesus on a treasure hunt. Jesus said, "I've come to seek and to save that which was lost". God knew you'd be lost. God knew where you would be buried, and he sent his son to come and find you. And he's willing to do whatever it takes to dig you out of what you're buried in. He came from heaven to earth looking for you, looking for you. He came to dig you up, and dust you off, and show you just how priceless and how valuable you are.
Others might see what they consider to be just a pile of muck and dirt, but he came to dig you out of the miry clay. He came to show you what it means to be a child of the Most High God. He's the God that calls those things that are not as though they were. The world might look at you and see you broken and useless, God looks at you and sees beautiful and priceless. The world might look at you and see bound, but he looks at you and says, "Whom my son sets free is free indeed". The world may look at you and see sickness and sorrow, but Jesus looks at you and says, "The joy of the Lord can be your strength".
The world might look at you and see desperate and full of despair. The Lord looks at you and says, "I'm gonna give you hope and a future and courage to know that you're more than a conqueror through Christ". The world might look at you and say, "There's nothing there worth finding". Jesus looks at you and says, "I'll give everything I have if I could just spend my life with you". You were the treasure he came looking for. So, what is this parallel truth? Christ is asking us in this parable if we would do for him what he did for us. He said, "I saw a treasure and I gave everything I had to own it".
And what he wants to know is, will we value him as much as he values us? Will we give for him what he gave for us? He looked at us underneath a pile of sin and shame and he saw gold. What do you see when you think about serving Jesus? The world that we're living in is trying to bury the kingdom. They wanna bury it in modernism. "Oh, the Word of God is not relevant". That's not true. It's more relevant today than it's ever been before. They wanna bury it in humanism. "Well, we have to make sure that we understand that the world we're living in is very different than the one that Jesus lived in".
Tell that to him when you see him. They wanna bury us in arrogance and pride. They wanna bury us in legislation. They wanna bury us with intimidation. The thing about the Kingdom of God is you can't bury it. It's pure as gold. It doesn't matter what you stack on top of it, you can't corrupt it. Why is it that heaven is considered a city of pure gold? Because it's incorruptible. Revelation 21:18 said of the new Jerusalem, "It is a city of pure gold". The streets are what? Pure gold. The Word of God is pure gold. Why? It endures forever.
In Exodus, whenever God was telling Moses how to build the tabernacle that he could come and live with his people, he said, "Every stick of furniture, cover it with pure gold. Every altar, cover it with pure gold. Every lamp stand, cover it with pure gold. The chains on the curtain, make sure they're made out of pure gold. The thread in the priest's garment, make sure it's pure gold". Solomon's Temple, where God gave Solomon permission to build a house for the Lord, he said, "Cover it in pure gold". Why? Because gold cannot be corrupted. The Kingdom of God cannot be contaminated. You can bury it and legislate against it, it will shine like gold. You can try to intimidate those who believe in him, and it'll shine like gold. You can take God's word and try to twist it and pervert it, but the grass may wither, and the flower may fade, but the word of the Lord, it endures forever.
Now, the thing that I appreciate about Jesus everywhere you find him in the Bible is that he never asks us to do what he hasn't already done. One of the things that causes tremendous frustration in the world that we live in is that we live in a time where leaders want to tell us but not show us. They wanna pass laws, but not live under them. But that's not Jesus. Jesus said, "If you'll do what I do, you'll have what I have". This is why Hebrews 12:2 says, "Looking to Jesus", say that with me, "Looking to Jesus". He's saying, "Do what I did. I found the treasure. I gave everything I had with joy. You want the treasure of my kingdom? Give everything you have with joy".
What is it that Jesus asks us to do? He's asked us to pray. Matthew 6:7, he said, "When you pray". This was not a request, this was a command. Throughout the Bible, you read about Jesus praying. Peter, he told Peter the night that he was arrested, he said, "Peter, satan has asked for you that he might shake you and sift you, but I have prayed for you". What is Jesus doing right now? 1 John 2:1 says you and I have an advocate with the father. Who is it? It's Jesus Christ. He's sitting right next to God and he's talking to God about you. He's praying for you like he was praying for Peter. Jesus doesn't ask you to pray without first showing you how to pray. Then he said, "When you give". He expects you to give. Why? Because he was a giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8, it says, "Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly". You ought to see how some of God's kids look when it's time to give. Some of them give grudgingly. And God says, "When you give, don't give like that". Why? Because that's not how Jesus gave. He gave what he gave for you with joy. And in this verse we read, "The Lord loves a cheerful giver". And then, in the verse that follows, it says, "God is able to make all grace..."
Now, I don't know about you, but I thank God for grace because grace gives you what you did not deserve and what you did not earn. Anybody else thank God for grace? He said, "I'll make all grace abound towards you so that you will have all sufficiency in all things and have abundance for every good work". If God gave that to you, how would you be willing to give to him? Christ joyfully and cheerfully denied himself so that you would have access to the kingdom. And what he's asking you to do is joyfully and cheerfully give yourself so that you can unlock the treasure that he's already purchased on your behalf. He never asks us to do what he hasn't first done himself. He wants us to be kind to one another.
"Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another". Oh, if God's kids could forgive each other. Not you. Kids you know about. And how do you know that he wanted us to do that like he did it? Because that verse says, "Be kind to another, forgive one another even as God forgave you in Christ Jesus". God gives us an example in his son Jesus, and it's a parallel in this parable. Notice first the pattern. Where was Jesus when he found the treasure? In the field. Where will you be when you find what you're looking for? In the field, working, moving, doing something. God sent his son to find the treasure, and he went to work looking for the treasure.
And then, when he found the treasure, he bought the field with joy. How you view work will determine how you do work. One of the reasons why this generation doesn't like to work is because all they get to do is listen to their parents complain about work. And then, you want them to go to work? How you view it is how you'll do it. And what you need to do when it comes to serving the Lord is serve the Lord with joy. How many of you know that sometimes people do the right thing, but they do it with the wrong attitude? "Mom, are we going to church today"? "Yes, we're going to church. Get in the car". There's just snarling, and biting, and foaming, and frothing at the mouth, and then they pull in the parking lot and go, "Hi, praise Jesus. You are great, you do miracles, so great".
Don't act like I'm the only one. I know how it goes. How you view it is how you'll do it. And sometimes, perspectives change. Sometimes, something happens and it causes you to see it a different way and you no longer enjoy what you're doing. Oftentimes, people start out serving the Lord with joy in their heart, and then over time, service becomes a grudge, a burden that they've got to bear. But that's not what God said. He said, "Serve with gladness". Psalms 100:2, it says, "Serve the Lord," how? "With gladness". Glad people smile. And sometimes, God's servants must be smiling on their heart because their face doesn't show it. But how you view it is how you do it.
Some people say, "Well, I don't know that that's true". Let me give you an example. I've been a pastor for over two decades now. I've done several hundred weddings. And on the wedding day, I've stood next to the groom, the bells ring, the back doors open, and the one that he is going to spend the rest of his life with starts down the aisle and he goes, "Oh God, here she comes". And there's nothing but love and joy and all of this emotion pouring out. And the mothers are wiping tears. "Oh, look. Look how he's looking at her. Oh". That's day one. Somewhere along the way, maybe it's day 100, maybe it's day 1,000.
Maybe it's day 100,005. I don't know what happened, but sooner or later the doors open up and he goes, "Oh God, here she comes"! Same two people, same language, same relationship, different perspective. How do you serve the Lord? Do you look at it like, "What a privilege". Or is it a chore? Do you celebrate it as an honor, or is it a task that you have to endure? You see, when you serve the Lord with gladness, you get to experience what the Bible calls the joy of the Lord that is your strength.
When you understand where you were, how buried and how deep your life is lost and in confusion and chaos without him, you'll do nothing but take time to thank him for digging you up and cleaning you off and making you the treasured son and the treasured daughter that you are. You'll wake up like David did when he said, "Oh God, who is man that you are mindful of him? And who am I that you should think of me? I'm just a little lower than the angels, but you've given me power in heavenly places. How could you forgive me? How could you bless me? How could you show me mercy? How could you be patient with me? How could you give your angels charge over me? How could you provide for me? How could you crown me with lovingkindness that's better than life? God, how could I ever ask for more"?
What I'm telling you, church, is when you think about where you were and where you are, there should be some joy whenever you think of how good God has been for you. There should be some joy when you think about the peace that surpasses all understanding. There should be joy when you think about mercy that is renewed every morning. There should be joy that you think whenever you go into heavenly places, what you bind on earth, it's bound in heaven. There should be some joy that he's promised, "My God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory".
That means houses you didn't build, wells you didn't dig, vineyards you didn't plant. There's joy when you think about how sick you were, and yet he healed you. There's joy when you think about how guilty you were, and yet he forgave you. There's joy when you think about how lost you were, and yet he came and found you. Is there anybody in this house today that says, "The joy of the Lord is my strength and I'll rejoice in the joy of my salvation"? Would you take just a moment and give the Lord the praise that he is worthy of? Would you lift your hands and raise your voice and declare that this is the day that the Lord has made and we shall rejoice and be made glad in it? Our God is great and greatly to be praised.
Remain standing. I want you to bow your head in the presence of the Lord as we close this service. Some of you in this place today say, "The reason I don't have that treasure in my life is because I've never done anything to receive it. I've never asked Jesus Christ into my heart. I've wished that things would get better, but I've never done what was required to make them better. I wish the broken places in my life would get fixed and healed, but I've never surrendered to the one who came to heal me.
And today, I want to begin that relationship. Today I wanna begin doing the work. Today, I wanna begin walking with joy as I follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior". If that's you in this place today, would you simply just raise your hand right where you are? Hands all over this floor and hands all over the balcony. Some of you watching this morning, wherever you're watching from, you know you need to do the same work asking Christ into your heart. In just a moment, we're gonna pray here in this sanctuary, and the same joy that he's going to bring to those who are receiving him, he'll bring to you no matter where you're watching today. Church, I want us to all raise our hands and pray this prayer together:
Lord, Jesus Christ thank you for giving all that you gave to come and find me today, I give myself so that I may receive you. I do it with joy because in your presence is the fullness of joy. I do it, Heavenly Father, so that I can receive the treasure of your kingdom that's in my life. It's treasure today and for eternity it's pardon for my sins and it is freedom forever. Thank you for that gift in my life in Jesus' name amen.