Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:50 — 12.7MB)

10-31-2021 Weekly Messages

Meditation of the Week: Psalm 91:1-16

Text: Matthew 13:44-46

Word Title: Mystery of Kingdom of Heaven (Treasure hidden in the field, Pearl of Great Price)

         Before Jesus began his first ministry on earth, through John the Baptist he had him first proclaim to the world what he was going to do. After John was put in jail, he preached saying,, ”  Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17).

         When Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven, he was saying that the kingdom of heaven was near to the land of the Jews, because he came to the land of Israel as the king of the Jews, but it was not the kingdom in heaven. .

      In other words, the kingdom of heaven would be established in the land of Israel as long as the Jews accepted him as their king. However, they did not accept Jesus and killed him so that the kingdom of heaven that will come to the land of Israel will come in the distant future, when Jesus returns and judges all the nations that do not want him to rule as king, and then the millennial kingdom he will establish on all the earth will come. It had to be postponed until his millennial kingdom come.

         God has chosen the people of Israel and gave them the law to make them a beautiful nation as a treasure:

” 3Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

4For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.” (Psalm 135: 3-4)

         God spoke of the conditions for making them a treasure:

“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:” (Exodus 19:5).

        God also told Moses about the punishment they would receive if they not obey God’s voice:

 “ Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

18And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.“(Deuteronomy 31:16-18).

          Just as God gave Moses a warning message, they entering the Promised Land, worshiped all kinds of foreign gods, and did not stop worshiping idols. From then on, God hid his face. When God hid his face, they became as food for all the Gentile nations such as Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Even though they were chosen as unique treasures by God, but as if they were buried in the ground invisible and trampled under foot by the Gentiles.

       However, God, who is rich in mercy, appeared as the King of the Jews and told them to repent and enter the kingdom of heaven that  he would set up for them, but they still did not understand and stood on the side of Rome  which was trampling on them, rather than the kingdom that God would establish.

         However, God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for the sinful world, so that not only Jews but also all Gentiles might repent and enter the kingdom of God. He paid for the sins, death and curses brought by the devil with the blood of Jesus Christ. He took away the sin of the world and bought with his own blood all who believe in him.

         Although Jesus knew that the Jews would not accept Him, but rather have Him crucified unto death, He died to take away the sins of the world and when He resurrected, He bought the whole world with His blood to restore the earth that He  created. He spoke of the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, unknown to men, knowing that He would find them returning at the end of  the Great Tribulation and turn them into pure treasures hidden in the fields when they repent:

“  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.” (Matthew 13:44).

        Jesus compared Himself to a certain man and compared the people of Israel  that had been hid in a field for a long time and suffered. He was talking about himself to be joyful upon seeing them repent looking upon him they pierced. He spoke of himself to shed blood and waters to buy back the earth to save them hidden in a field to be a peculiar treasure again. 

        Prophet Zechariah foretold and testified that the Israelites repent when they see Jesus whom they pierced unto death when Jesus returns:

” And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zech 12:10).

         Prophet Zechariah also prophesied of a day when the Lord would finally wash away the sins of the  people of Israel to  purify them and make them a peculiar treasure:

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech 13:1).

       Apostle Paul testified of the coming day when the Lord Jesus Christ come as the Savior to save the nation of Israel. He testified to this fact as a mystery:

” For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:25-29). )

           God has chosen the people of Israel as a nation, and He also deals with salvation for them as a nation. But, Jews and Gentiles,  whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and  born again of the Holy Spirit, become children of God as well as  the church of God individually. When speaking of another   mystery of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus spoke of  another parables about the church of God:

“45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46).

        Pearl is a unique one compared to other gemstones. Other gems can be cut and remade if damaged, but pearl loses it’s value even with a slightest blemish. Because pearl is a kind of organisms. Jesus says that he bought a pearl of great value with all that he has . Apostle Paul testified of the body belong to the church of God paid by the blood of  Jesus Christ:

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. “(1Cor. 6:20)

        The only pearl of great price that Jesus buys with his own blood, which is all his possessions, is the only one that exists in this world that is his own body, his church.

Members of the Church of God, washed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and made the pure bride of Christ are constantly being persecuted while living godly life in the world. Just as pearls that have crystallized over the years appearing as pearls that have crystallized over the years, succumbing to pain each time they are pierced by the sharp things that constantly enter the shell, faithful Christians too, living in the world, endure all kinds of ridicule and persecution, but with love, long-suffering. It bears the fruit of the Spirit as a beautiful pearl and is seen in the eyes of the Lord as a pearl of great price. Apostle Paul testified of them:

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”” (2 Timothy 3:12).

        Therefore, the church of God is a living stone and an organic connected with Jesus Christ, the head, as living stones. If even one person has a flaw, it cannot become a pearl of great price as the church of God. Even if there are only two or three in the church, they must be pearls of great price in the sight of God:

“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

         That’s right! Although there are many local churches, there is only one church that appears to be a pearl of great price in God’s eyes. The church as an organization can no longer be a pearl-like church in God’s eyes. For this reason, it is necessary to meditate deeply on the words of the Lord Jesus,

 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

Amen! Hallelujah!