The Treasure Is In A Field

Matthew 13:36-44, “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”

One of my favorite sermons by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) is titled: “THE TREASURE IS IN A FIELD.” The sermon was preached in 1997, just four years before Brother Hyles graduated to Heaven. Dr. Hyles uses Matthew 13:44 as his text Scripture passage. A man discovers a great treasure hidden in a field, so he purchases the field to acquire the treasure.

Now, what if the man saw several rats, spiders and wasps, and a few skunks, so that he refused to buy the field due to the negatives. 

All friends have fields with some weeds, garbage and mice. We all have fields with negatives. If you've been friends for a length of amount of time, you're going to see some warts. We all have a Skelton Closet, because we are all dirty guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23; 1st John 1:10). Don't judge others because they sin differently than you do.

Every church has a field with some mice, weeds, garbage and an old junk car. So what many people do is refuse to take the treasure in a field because of the negatives. I have a field too, and so do you. We all have some garbage in our life. We all have some mice and weeds that we don't want people to see. The church is comprised, of all things, of imperfect human beings.

All it takes is one disagreement and two friends will part ways and never talk to each other again. So, we'll leave the whole hidden treasure because we found one mouse, lizard or a snake. But the wise man decides to put up with the mice and spiders to get the treasure. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a treasure in the field. But if you want to obtain the great treasure then you'll need to tolerate the weeds, mice, steep grade, rocks, skunks and flooding zone.

Matthew 13:44, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” You'll never find a perfect church because churches are comprised of sinful people. God only has redeemed sinners to work with in the churches.

Every Marriage Has A Field With Weeds And Mice

No matter who you choose to marry, they have a field with some mice, lizards and garbage. Millions of people divorce their spouse because they saw a few mice, weeds. A man married a pretty young woman, but then he finds some weeds and mice in her field. So, he divorces his wife to run off with a prettier gal who has a special sparkle in her eye for him. But after a short time he finds not mice, but rats. He doesn't find lizards, he finds rattlesnakes. Instead of his former wife's garbage, now he has a junk yard. Instead of weeds he finds poison ivy.

I don't care who you are, if you have any sense at all you're going to put up with the imperfect field to get the hidden treasure. Regardless of who you marry, you're going to have to tolerate the field to get the treasure. Most men are stubborn but they get the job done. Many men have tempers but they are good men. We all want to find a treasure in marriage, but with every treasure comes a field with imperfections. No one is without flaw.

The Holy Bible is full of imperfect saints who had a treasure in a troubled field. The Apostle Peter was impetuous, but God used him to preach to several thousand people on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 people were saved in one day. Peter was a treasure, but he had a field. Noah got drunk, but he had the tenacity to build an ark for 120 years. Moses had a hot temper, but was the meekest man in the whole world. Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”

Samson had a field chasing unholy skirts all his life, but Samson was a treasure to God's people. Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) was a treasure, but he had a field. Pastor Jack Hyles was a treasure to several thousand people, but he had a field. No preacher is perfect, he has a field. So many people foolishly refuse to listen to Pastor Hyles'

Foolish people trot from friend to another looking for a treasure without a field, but they cannot find one. Foolish woman trot from one husband to the next, trying to find a treasure without a field but they cannot find him. Dear reader, there is no treasure with a field. If the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence, then plant some grass seeds in your own yard.

Every Family Has A Field With Thorns And Garbage

Every parent has a field. There are no perfect Moms and Dads, but there is a treasure inside that mother and father. No Dad is perfect. he may have a temper. You might see some mice and weeds from time to time, but there is a treasure in the field.

We live in a sad and ungodly spoiled rotten generation today in America, who want to find a treasure without a field. That is why there are so many divorces today. That is why so many friendships are strained. Some husbands point out every fault, mistake and blunder that their wife makes, so that she is a nervous wreck. GET RIGHT WITH GOD MEN!

Instead of scolding your wife, help her. Help her clean the house. Help her with the children. I don't care of you are the only one working outside the home, she needs your help, patience and understanding, not your criticism. Regularly do the dishes without being asked. You make dinner for her sometimes. Help alleviate her heavy load as a mother and your wife. The old adage is very true: Man's job is from dusk to dawn, but a mother's job is never done. Don't neglect the treasure because you see a field, cherish the field because of the hidden treasure!

Every church and congregation has a field. Every family has a field. Every pastor and pastor's wife has a field. Every husband and wife has a field. Every son and daughter has a field. There's no way to get the treasure unless you purchase the field. With every asset in life comes a corresponding liability. How sad it is that countless people never get the great treasure which is hidden, because they foolishly only look at the field and see some imperfections. This is a beautiful passage of Scripture in Matthew 13:44. If you want the treasure, then you must also take the field that it is hidden in.

There are no perfect families. When I see a pastor's adult children slandering and attacking their parents on social media it saddens me. Those adult kids refuse to see the treasure in their Mom and Dad because they are only looking at the field with mice, weeds and possums.

Even Getting Saved Has A Field

And although Jesus is sinless and perfect in every way (Hebrews 4:15), there is a field in which the treasure of eternal life is hidden. In this field your family may reject you for receiving Jesus as your personal Savior, going against generations of your family's tradition (Matthew 10:32-37). If you want the treasure of eternal life, then you must take the indwelling Holy Spirit who will convict you concerning sinful bad habits (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6-8). God is not an absent parent to His children.

I once shared the Gospel with a Chamorro coworker on Guam, but he refused to get saved. His name is Maurice and he is a good man. When I invited Maurice to believe the Gospel to be saved, he told me that there were some sins in his life that he wasn't ready to forsake. I kindly explained that eternal life is a free gift from God, paid for by Jesus' precious blood, so that he wouldn't be required to give up any sin to be saved. But Maurice said he fully understood that if he became a born again Christian, God's indwelling Holy Spirit would convict him to stop his sinful bad habits, and he simply didn't want that conviction in his life. I've never met a more honest man. Yet, I feel so sorry for Maurice, because he rejected the treasure of eternal life, because he only saw the field. This is what the inspired Holy Bible means in John 3:20, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

So sad. Jesus said in John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Carefully notice that Jesus didn't say “ye cannot come”; but rather, “ye will not come.” No one ever went to Hell except those who chose to go there by consciously rejecting Jesus as their personal Savior (John 1:12-13). That is, they refused to put their trust in Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection as their only hope for Heaven.

Dear reader, please do not think that this matter of being born again is mere religious talk. This is a LEGAL MATTER! You have sinned against a holy God, your Creator. Thus, you are guilty according to Romans 3:10-20. As such, there is a penalty for your wickedness, which is to burn in the fires and torments of the Lake of Fire (Hell) forever and ever without hope or rest day nor night (Revelation 14:11, 20:11-15, 21:8). John 3:18 declares that if you are not saved, you are ALREADY CONDEMNED, which means when you die you'll go straight to Hell.

God the Father loves all humanity. God loves YOU dear friend and He has made a way of escape (Romans 5:9). God is holy and His holiness absolutely demands justice! The wages of sin is death, not good works (Romans 6:23). Billions of foolish hellbound religious people think their good works can satisfy the wrath of God against sinners, but it cannot. God required a perfect sacrifice, which perfect sacrifice Jesus became on Calvary's cross, as a Lamb without spot nor blemish (John 1:29; 1st Peter 1:18-19). JESUS PAID IT ALL!!!

To settle this legal matter out of court, so to speak, God the Father is offering you dear friend (and every human being) an incredible offer, simply because God loves you (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). God sent His only begotten (biological) Son into the world to die a criminal's death on a lonely cruel cross, as full payment for YOUR SINS and MINE (John 3:16). Literally, Jesus who knew no sin became as sin, so that we who knew no righteousness could be made the righteous of God in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). What a great Savior!!!

If you will simply by faith (taking God at His recorded Word), accept Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that Jesus was buried but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later, then you will be instantly, irrevocably and permanently saved (i.e., born again, redeemed). This is 'THE GOSPEL' (1st Corinthians 15:1-6), by which all who BELIEVE IT are saved (1st Thessalonians 4:14; Romans 1:16). You have God's PROMISE of eternal life, IF you believe (Titus 1:2). God promises to “SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE” (1st Corinthians 1:21b). What an awesome God, Creator and Savior!!!