All right, amen. The first thing I want to say is I am sorry because of the fact
that I know you're expecting Pastor Anderson and so I wanted to hear Pastor
Anderson. I'll be honest with you but please pray for him. Obviously he injured his back and
I know he's in a lot of pain and I feel for him because last week, man, I was
so sick last week and it got to a point where I literally went on Facebook and I
just asked everyone to just pray for me because I was so sick and my throat was
in so much pain and I do believe in the power of prayer for sure and so I'm not
just saying pray for Pastor Anderson, you know, because it's the Christian thing to
do. It's pray for him because, you know, prayer works and so I pray that his back
is able to heal and that he would be able to make it to my church tomorrow
but, you know, it's probably not gonna happen, you know. He's supposed to preach
at my church tomorrow but it's probably not gonna happen and that's all right. I'm
sure he's gonna preach at both of our churches sometime in the near future
Pastor Anderson. That one's for you and so but I'm thankful to be here and I'm
thankful for Pastor Pazarski and Hold Fast Baptist Church and we need more
churches like Hold Fast Baptist Church because of the fact that it's in
California and we need more churches in California and I really believe that
this church here is doing a great work here by Winning Souls to Christ and
preaching God's Word, raising godly families and serving the Lord and I
think it's making a great impact in the city and I want to talk to you a little
bit today about a parable in Matthew chapter 13 that has a little bit to do
with that. Look down at your Bibles at verse 44. It says here, again the kingdom
of heaven is likened to treasure hid in a field though which when a man hath
found he hideth it and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and
buyeth that field and the time of my sermon this evening is buy the field buy
the field purchase the field I'm explaining what this parable is
referring to here and just a bit and we're gonna give some application to
this particular story it's actually one of my favorite parables because of the
fact that when you read some of these parables what Jesus is doing here is
that he's giving some carnal temporal illustrations and examples in order to
help us to really understand and grasp the importance of making an eternal
investment and that's really what I want to do tonight I want to explain this
parable and Lord willing at the end of the sermon you'll have a greater respect
or value for the eternal rather than the temporal and really if you think about
it you know a lot of Christians what the reason it's hard for Christians to serve
God the reason it's hard for Christians to win souls to just be a good Christian
to serve the Lord is because of the fact that they're too temporal minded but if
they just realize how much how many rewards are set before us when we
sacrifice really when we invest our lives into the eternal you know we would
realize that obedience to God will not only benefit the kingdom of God but it
actually benefits us in the temporal and in the long run as well so my goal
tonight is to help you to be a little less temporal minded and more eternally
minded and so here in Matthew chapter 13 read this great story and it's only one
verse but there's so much packed into this one verse basically what's
happening here of course Jesus Christ is trying to help people to grasp what the
kingdom of heaven is like the kingdom of God the kingdom of heaven and he
explains that the kingdom of heaven is as if there is a treasure in a
particular field and I'm gonna extrapolate some things here that's not
necessarily stated but you know we can we can theorize that this is what's
taking place a man is walking by this field apparently and he probably sees a
little something shining out of the ground maybe a pearl silver gold some
sort of treasure kind of catches his attention he goes to it he finds this
hidden treasure in this particular field and obviously this treasure is of great
price it's of great value it's worth a lot of money okay it's worth it's very
valuable and how do we know that well when he finds this treasure he's like
finders keepers you know he really wants to keep this treasure but the the
problem is is that the field doesn't belong to him okay the real estate
doesn't belong to him and he's thinking to himself I can't just take this
treasure because obviously the field belongs to someone else therefore what
he does the logical thing that he does is that he takes all of his possessions
everything he owns he goes and he sells everything that he has okay and you know
you can think about maybe his home his possessions all the money that he saved
all the valuable things that we would esteem as being something that's
important this side of eternity he just takes it all and he just uses it to buy
that real estate goes to the guy and he says I'll purchase this field and I'll
purchase it with all this money you think of the guy who probably owns the
field he's probably thinking it's not for sale but man this is a lot of money
you're willing to pay for this take it right and so you think of the man who
owns the field in his mind he's probably thinking this guy's making a bad deal
it's a bad investment he's purchasing this field here and he's paying for it
way more than it actually costs but in the mind of the man who found the
treasure he knows this is not a sacrifice this is an investment knowing
full well that if you purchase the field he's gonna gain the treasure and
ultimately have more in the long term than he does sacrificing in the short
term it's a wonderful story here and what this parable is trying to get
across here is the fact that the kingdom of heaven the eternal whether that is
the rewards that we receive from Christ the honor and the glory that we'll get
from Jesus in the millennial reign and the new heaven and the new earth all the
things that we will possess one day in the eternal it's worth down our
sacrifice it's worth our investment this side of eternity and it doesn't mean
that you have to have a crazy amount of money in the bank or you have to be a
rich person to invest you just have to invest whatever you have temporarily in
this life to gain that much the more in the eternal by the field is what the
Bible's Thomas here and when he's trying to get across here is this you know
don't be so caught up in the temporal and the finances of this world the
riches of this world the fame of this world the possessions in the house the
vehicles of this world that you're not willing to invest some of those things
into the eternal so you can get the treasure the hidden treasure that's
found in this world okay this is what the parable is referring to investing
all that you have for the long-term reward now what's one of the reasons why
people don't do this because the parable is pretty self-explanatory it's pretty
Jesus is saying hey don't value money don't value possessions obviously these
are things that we need these are things that we need to live and to feed our
families and to live in a house and to do all those things but don't exalt them
to a position where that's all you think about that's what your focus is
and you're no longer investing in the eternal and what he's trying to get
across here is the fact that we need to be more eternally minded set our
affections on things above not on the things of this earth seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you now
let me just say this is what this is not teaching is that you just go broke for
Christ right you just sell everything you have because you know Jesus is
coming back tomorrow something there's a lot of people have done that you know
I remember back in 2013 someone by the name of Harold Camping had said that
Jesus Christ was kind of come back I think it was like March 23rd 2013 and so
there's a bunch of people that are selling their yachts their houses all
their possessions he had all these billboards all over Los Angeles I don't
know if there's any billboards here at that time but in Los Angeles ton of
billboards that he was coming back on this day and I'm just thinking to myself
this guy's making us look so bad right he's saying Jesus coming back on March
23rd and of course March 23rd came March 24th came and nothing happened but you
know what did happen to those people who invested they didn't invest in in
sacrifice they just spent their possessions foolishly into a false
profit and a false prophecy of Jesus Christ and they pay the consequences for
that that's not what Jesus Christ is asking of us okay because obviously if
you don't provide for your own you're worse than an infidel right God wants
us to give what we can give and invest what we can invest whether that's our
resources our time our talents for the eternal so we see here he takes this
treasure he hides it in field he goes back home he sells all that he has to
buy that field and of course it doesn't specifically say what happens but we
know what happens he buys the field as soon as he buys it you know the papers
are given over he goes he could care less about the rest of the field he can
probably buy a bunch of fields with that with the treasure that he finds he goes
and he digs up the treasure and he cashes in the check right now what's one
of the reasons why people don't really really or don't really understand this
particular principle that we see here in the Bible well if I if I were to guess
as to why based upon this parable I would say because they haven't found
treasure because what motivated this guy to sell all that he had the fact that he
found treasure and a lot of the times it's not that treasure for the
Christians doesn't exist it's good they're not looking for it or they're
looking for treasure in all the wrong places right they're looking for fame
and fortune and the temporal wealth of this world rather than looking for that
the hidden treasures of God and the eternal you see if you really spend time
meditating and thinking upon how valuable the rewards are the
recompense of Jesus Christ in the eternal investing in the eternal would
make a lot of sense right so a lot of Christians don't do this because of the
fact they haven't found treasure they're not looking in the word of God for
treasure they're not looking for souls and treasure they're not looking into
the eternal for that which is valuable and will bless them in the long term let
me say this is that anything worth having requires a substantial amount of
trade-offs right anything worth having requires a substantial amount of
trade-offs and you know obviously there's good trade-offs and there's bad
trade-offs and in order for us to be successful in the Christian life we need
to make calculated decisions to be successful this side of eternity for
eternity in other words invest in the spiritual invest in the eternal invest
in the things of God the service of God in order to receive that great
recompense one day now go with if you would to act chapter 10 act chapter I'm
gonna go over a couple points tonight regarding this particular subject now
number one let me say this is that this doesn't apply to you or me but when you
think about it you know the the world the unsaved even they have to pay a
price to a certain extent right now obviously we know that salvation has
been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ it's been paid for by the blood
of Jesus Christ and anyone who believes on Jesus Christ will receive salvation
the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be
saved right for what the hard man believeth unto righteousness and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation the Bible says that whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved the Bible says for my
grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves it is the gift of
God not of works that any man should boast so over and over again the Bible
emphasizes the fact that salvation is not something you have to pay for it's
already been paid for by the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
all we have to do is believe on Jesus Christ receive that free gift and it's
ours forever but let me say this is that the world does have to pay the price to
find salvation though you so what do you mean by that well you know the war the
Bible teaches us that every individual in this world has to respond to the
light that God gives them right and even then obviously they can't be saved
but what the Bible is teaching us here is the fact that when a person is
unsaved you know they're given a measure of light in their heart referring to the
laws of God written in their hearts that God wants them to respond to in order to
situate them into a position where a soul winner sent to them give them the
gospel and they could get saved now you're in Acts chapter 10 I'm gonna
read to you from John chapter 3 and verse 17 it says for God sent not
ascended to the world to condemn the world but that the world through him
might be saved he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth
not as condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the
world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for
everyone that doeth evil hated the light neither cometh to the light lest his
deed should be reproved but he that do it the truth listen to this cometh to
the light that as these may be made manifest that they are wrought in God
you know every single one of you in here someone gave you the gospel you heard
the gospel online someone got you saved but you know at the end of the day you
situated yourself by responding to the light that God gave you which is why God
gave you more light which is why God sent a soul winner or allowed you to
hear gospel presentation and gave you understanding of that message you pay
the price to look for the truth in other words okay and this is why you don't
when people bring up the subject of so are you trying to tell me that you know
the African guy in the Congo and the jungles if they've never heard the name
of Christ they're gonna die and go to hell yes if they don't believe anybody
there's no exception to that rule if a person dies without Christ they're going
to hell there's no exception to that rule look well how is that fair I'll
tell you how it's fair the Bible tells us that the laws of God are written in
a person's heart and even the African dude and the jungles of the Congo where
there's all types of witchcraft and paganism if that person seeks the Lord
seeks the God of the Bible whichever human being has the capacity to do so
seeks the God of the Bible God will make himself found you say are you trying to
tell me that God would just like send like a missionary to him just to win
that person to Christ absolutely absolutely God would send one
missionary for one person if that one person is responding to the light that
God gives them so there's no exception to that rule it's like well what if they
just believe in God don't they just go to don't they go to heaven no they have
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but if this person is paying the price by
seeking after God and looking for the Lord and trying to get understanding of
the God of the universe God will recompense that person by sending
someone with the truth and the message so they can be saved so every person
that has died and gone to hell yeah obviously there's certain individuals
that have had a clearer presentation of the gospel than others but at the end of
the day every person who has gone to hell has gone there by their own choice
my friends because they have rejected the measure of light that was given to
them at some point or another in their life now let me give you an example
this look at Acts chapter 10 and verse number 30 talking about Cornelius here
Cornelius was not a safe person but he he was a god-fearing man the Bible
specifically says he was a god-fearing man and you know you do all these works
to have acceptance with God but you know what he wasn't saved because doing works
doesn't save you but obviously he's doing this with the intention of wanting
to please God or get God's attention and of course the result of that is that
Peter came to him to give him the gospel and he eventually got saved. Look at verse 30
and Cornelius said four days ago I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth
hour I prayed in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing
and said Cornelius thy prayer is heard and thine alms are had in remembrance in
the sight of God so he's fasting he's doing these alms he's feeding the poor
and he's doing it because he's a god-fearing man and so God sends an
angel to tell him and confirm that he's hearing this he's seeing this right
Verse 32 send therefore to Joppa and call hither Simon whose surname is Peter
he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the seaside who when he
cometh shall speak unto thee immediately therefore I sent to thee and thou has
well done that thou art come now therefore are we all here present before
God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God then Peter opened
his mouth instead of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons now
the reason Peter is saying this is because Peter's a little bit he's being
a little bit of a racist here okay you know he's not necessarily reaching the
Gentiles because he only wants to reach Jews and so he had to have this vision
from God where these unclean animals came down in a sheet and God told them
rise kill and eat and he's like no unclean animal has ever entered into my
mouth and he had to do it three times in order to convey the message to Peter
what God has consecrated called not that holy in other words like I've
commissioned you to go preach the gospel to these Gentiles and so go get the
so-called unclean animal and give them the gospel and obviously the unclean
animal in the story is Cornelius because Cornelius is not a Jew he is essentially
a Gentile okay and that's why he says God is no respecter of persons well of
course not Peter you're respect for persons okay God has never been a
respecter of persons you're the one who has refused but of course Peter now is
obeying and he says in verse 35 keep key verse here but in every nation he
that feareth him and worketh righteousness is saved no is accepted
with him what does that mean you know a person who's in the Congo a person who's
in the Amazon a person who is in an area where there's no Bible believing Church
if they fear God and they seek to work righteousness because they're responding
to the light that God gives them God accepts that and will send a soul winner
to go preach the gospel to them to get them saved because God is not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and he's
willing to sacrifice resources and people and churches to get the gospel
message to that person if they're responding to the light that God gives
them and so what we see here is that even the unsaved have to pay a price to
find salvation right they have to respond to the light that God gives them
and seek the truth out and come to the light that their deeds might be reproved
right that they're wrought in God the Bible tells us you don't have to turn
there it tells us in Hebrew chapter 4 and verse 11 let us therefore labor let
us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief of course conveying that same principle that the unsaved
have to labor to find the truth okay and seek the truth now that in and of itself
cannot get them saved and I think a great example of this aside from
Cornelius is the Ethiopian eunuch right if you open you Ethiopian eunuch came to
Jerusalem and he even got himself a copy of the book of Isaiah he came there he
bought that copy and he's even trying to read the Bible and he's trying to he's
trying to understand what's going on there but obviously that's not gonna get
him saved because reading the Bible for the unsaved person can't get a person
saved okay that person requires a regenerated believer to explain the
gospel into them as noted by Acts chapter 8 where Philip enjoins himself
to the chariot explains the gospel and the Ethiopian eunuch gets saved but what
we see is the Ethiopian eunuch was willing to go to Jerusalem was willing
to pay the price to look for the truth even paid the price to purchase the Word
of God the book of Isaiah I mean the man traveled far and wide to find the truth
right and how did God respond to that he sent them Philip the evangelist even
to the point where it's almost like he miraculously just transported him there
in the presence of the Ethiopian eunuch so he can preach the gospel to him and
get him saved you know I also think of for example the the Queen of Sheba who
the Bible talks about she came from from far and wide to hear the wisdom of
Solomon and how she was willing to pay the price with a great train of spices
and all these gifts for Solomon and Jesus said a greater than Solomon is
here right now thankfully you know even when people respond to the light that
God gives them the word is 90 even in my mouth even the word of faith the Bible
says you know you don't have to go to Jerusalem to find Jesus in fact you will
not find Jesus in Jerusalem right you know where we find them you know when
someone opens their mouth boldly and makes known the mysteries of the gospel
okay now turn with me if you would to Luke chapter 2 Luke chapter 2 if you
would so let's talk about Christians now we're talking about buying the field and
now let's apply this to believers pay the price by the field to live by dying
itself pay the price to live by dying to self by the field of living a
Christian life now obviously if living the Christian life was easy everyone
would be doing it and when we talk about the Christian life we're talking about
all the basic principles and disciplines that are attached to the Christian life
we're talking about church attendance we're talking about Bible reading we're
talking about sowing we're talking about holy living we're talking about living a
Christian life that's pleasing unto the Lord fulfilling your god-given role in
this life you know that's a lot of stuff to do but you know the Bible tells us
buy that field that's such a big field there's so much to have to pay and you
know it's all grown over with thorns and thistles and it's like I don't know if
I'm willing to invest that much to purchase this barren field I mean it
just doesn't look as nice as the well water plains of Sodom it just doesn't
look as nice as the well water plains of Egypt it just doesn't look as nice as
the world looks unto me you know I don't know if it's worth buying that field
what if I told you there's a million dollars in that field what if I told you
there were treasures beyond measure found in the field of living the
Christian life you'd purchase that wouldn't you if you knew the eternal
recompense that you receive is far greater than the so-called sacrifice
that you would make to live the Christian life you'd purchase that field
and the goal for us as Christians is to look beyond the field look beyond the
thistles look beyond the bushes look beyond the deadness and the bareness of
that field and look for that treasure and recognize purchasing this ugly field
of living the Christian life being in submission to my husband serve loving my
wife as Christ loved the church winning souls spending all day Sunday here at
church reading the Word of God every single day cleaning up my life out from
all the sin that I've accumulated in this world you know if you understand
that purchasing that field will give you a great treasure oh you'd make that
investment living the Christian life would no longer be a sacrifice you'd
recognize this is an investment because he's able to give abundantly above
all that we can ask or think you see this is Christianity is not Buddhism
Buddhism you live like a good life and then you become a butterfly in the next
life or something obviously we don't believe that but as I believe you know
you live a decent life or whatever and you get to become like a caterpillar or
something it's like they motivate people I'm just saying hey you get to be a
roach that sucks so you live all this you just live this life of sacrifice
being like a vegan and just being you know vegetarian and not even enjoying
rich the things that God has given to us richly to enjoy and then you die and
then you go to hell now according to their theology it's you know
reincarnation right you just become whatever you know an animal or something
a tiger a dog or something you know or in India where you just become a cow
what a great life what a great investment to just live a more life a
life of sacrifice just so I can become a cow in my next life and no one eats me
because everyone's a vegan in India it's a total loss and obviously that doesn't
happen and it you know if you don't believe that just ask all the billions
of Buddhists who are in hell today and Hindus who are in hell today who thought
that and now they realize you know I'm not a cow they would actually prefer to
be a cow than what they're actually getting now pay the price to live for
Christ purchase that field and you know a lot of Christians I've noticed is that
they look at the field of the Christian life and everything it has to offer and
they're just not satisfied with it because it lacks the luster of this
world it lacks the prestige and all the glitz and the glamour it lacks all the
temporal gratifications that they're looking for but they're all they're
looking for it in the wrong places my friends the field is there purchase the
field because there's treasures in that field look at Luke 9 21 it says he
straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing saying
the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and the
chief priests and scribes and be slain to be raised the third day and he said
to them all if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his
cross daily and follow me now obviously they knew what that meant when he says
take up your cross because he hadn't gone to the cross yet but they're
obviously living under Roman rule where criminals are put to death via the
crucifix right so when he's telling them deny yourself take up your cross is
basically some you need to die and you know what the greatest way to help you
the greatest way to help me to really view how valuable that field is is you
just got to die sometimes and I don't mean physically don't go out there and
do something bad to yourself I'm saying die to self like yeah but I want the
possessions of this world and died to that desire I just want the fame and
fortune and all the cars and the glitz and the glamour of this world then why
don't you die to self and not desire those things he says there for whose
service shall save his life verse 24 shall lose it but whosoever will lose
his life for my sake the same shall save it you know if you really want to live
gotta die but if you choose to live this side of eternity for self then
essentially you're gonna become a castaway because it goes on to say in
verse 25 for what is a man advantage if he gained the whole world and lose
himself or be a castaway now that applies to both believers and
unbelievers you know you look at the rich men of this world right who have
gained the whole world but then they lose themselves they're not even saved
they go to hell you think about those billionaires who went into that
submarine a month ago or whatever it was billions of dollars going just to go
into a submarine and literally go down to the depths of hell in a split second
you know I'm sure every single one of those people who are were in that
submarine who died they would they would invest any amount of money from their
bank accounts to just live one day outside of hell but you know this also
applies to Christians because it says or be a castaway because you know obviously
Christians can't lose their salvation they can't lose the eternal gift that
they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but they can become a castaway that's
why the Apostle Paul said that I keep under my body and bring it into
subjection let's find it means when I preach to others I myself should be a
castaway see the goal of a Christian is not to just obviously we want we want to
get saved and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but even thereafter we want to
stay the course and not be a castaway keep serving God not backslide not go
back to the world and keep an eternal perspective on life not allow the
temporal affections of this world to choke the word where you become
unfruitful because of the deceitfulness of riches the lust of other things
entering in choke the word and you become unfruitful you know thank God for
salvation but folks let's move beyond that let us go on into perfection the
Bible says and live a life of eternal significance so that we don't become
castaways purchase the field of living the Christian life don't allow the
deadness or the barrenness of that field to cause you to think it's not worth the
investment to live the Christian life like oh man but you know all my friends
are having all this fun and my friend has a buddy and you know or my friend
has a girlfriend and they're fornicating he seems to be having so
much fun out in the world and nothing bad is happening to him yeah but his
time will come my friends you know the the field of virginity made seem a
little barren but I guarantee you there's treasures in there amen there's a
godly marriage found in there there's godly children found in there there's
there's so much found in that field don't allow the world to skew your
perception of that field of marriage of that field of being a virgin amen
Bible says I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I have a
Christ loveth in me and the life which I now live in in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me yeah you know what
purchasing that field of living a godly life it's gonna cost you something for
sure it's gonna require you cleaning up your life what shall we say then shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid how shall we that are
dead to sin live any longer therein the Bible says reckon yourselves also to be
dead indeed into sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord let not
sin therefore reign and your mortal bodies need should obey and the luster
of neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin
but yield yourselves unto God and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God is he saying by that field it's worth it that way sin doesn't have
dominion over your life clean up your life oh man but that field it's gonna
require for me to stop smoking cigarettes it's gonna require me stop
drinking and stop for indicating and stop coming and as it requires a lot of
cleanup yeah that field requires a lot of clear but let me say this there's a
treasure in that field and if you could just find that treasure and see the
value of that treasure in that field of living a holy life you know your
attitude is gonna be all this is worth the payment this is worth the investment
this is worth cleaning up my life this is worth repenting of my sin to please
the Lord this is worth living a holy life that's pleasing unto God because of
this treasure that I will receive when the payment is made by that field why
not by the field we are told that Moses chose to suffer the afflictions with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season that he
esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches and that's what we need to do we
need to esteem the reproach of the greater riches that are found in that
field and stop looking at the bareness and how ugly that field is folks we're
not necessarily doing this just for the field we're doing it because we know
there's a treasure that's within that field once we pay the price okay go with
me to it to Luke 14 Luke chapter 14 if you would Luke chapter 14 now
with that being said if you find that field and you know the treasure in that
field and you start making that investment don't be double-minded do not
be a double-minded Christian what is that a person who just tossed to and
fro you're in church at one time then you're not in church the other like I'm
gonna I'm gonna forgot at one time and then you're just back in the world the
next week you tell pastor Brzezinski I'm gonna be your Sunday night you know
Wednesday night I'm gonna be faithful and then you're not you know it's if
you're gonna buy the field just buy it look at the Bible says in Luke 14 verse
27 it says in whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple so apparently in order for you to be a follower of Jesus Christ you
have to take up your cross for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth
not down first and listen to this and counted the cost whether he have
sufficient to finish it he's like the logical thing to do is that when you are
intending to build something you need to make sure you make a line item and see
that you even have enough to finish says less happily after you have laid the
foundation and it's not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him
do you know why your family doesn't take you serious sometimes in the
Christian life because you're so in and out of the Christian life sometimes well
what the family of believers need is consistency not you preaching to them
not you condemning them and being a bad testimony to them and just ripping their
face and getting on your mom and getting on your dad and getting on your brothers
and sisters you know what sometimes they actually need believe it or not I hate
to say it was just like lifestyle evangelism sometimes in your household
to be a good testimony why because of the fact that a bad testimony is when
you're in and out of church and in and out of the will of God and what happens
you're basically showing that you're not able to build you know what people do
they begin to mock you know how a lot of people say oh this is just a phase
they're going through this is just a phase he's going through he's all about
Jesus and I just the phase but you know and by the way people I remember a
family my family used to say that at me when I first got saved and you know it
obviously wasn't a face you know here I am today preaching God's Word but that's
not to say there wasn't instances when I didn't want to quit because obviously I
didn't want to quit but I always thought about this passage it's like I don't
want my family to mock me or Christianity or the Lord Jesus Christ
because I'm not able to finish and obviously I'm not done yet I still have
more decades until either the Lord returns or I go home to be with the Lord
but the point that the passage is making here is that when you purchase that
field follow through follow through or purchasing the field don't get there's
no refunds I think you purchase the field like I changed my mind I need my
money back or something like that it says they're saying verse 30 saying this
man began to build it was not able to finish I'm gonna skip the other verses
here go with me if you would to a mark chapter 10 mark chapter 10 hey by the
field the message this evening is by the field it's not a sacrifice it's an
investment to live the Christian life let me say this is that by the field
regarding the the field that is white already that's all white already into
harvest the sowing field purchase the field of preaching the gospel especially
in Fresno because you guys go sowing in this heat God bless you guys in Southern
California you know we I don't think we'll even hit a hundred we might and if
we hit a hundred we'll go sowning whining a little bit but you guys do
this on a weekly basis and I can see you know it may be hard for some people it's
just like I don't know if it's worth going on the heat you know to just go
preach the gospel and get rejected or get people who just don't want to listen
hey I'm telling you there's a valuable treasure in that field referring to that
field of lost souls that need the gospel there's one person out there that wants
to listen there's one person out there that wants the gospel in that field yeah
when you go and purchase that field you buy that field you go sowing on that
Saturday you go to that sowing marathon there's gonna be that one person and you
know what the Bible describes converts as the crowns of rejoicing my friends
look at 1st Thessalonians 2 I did I have your turn to mark 10 okay go to 1st
Thessalonians 2 instead I'm trying to see if you guys know your way around the
Bible I'm just kidding go to 1st Thessalonians 2 I'll read to you from
mark 10 28 says then Peter began to say unto him lo we have left all and follow
thee and Jesus answered and said verily I say unto you there is no man that have
left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or
lands for my sake in the Gospels but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this
time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with
persecutions keyword there and in the world to come eternal life what is he
saying hey if you purchase that field of lost souls not only are you gonna be
recompensed in the eternal you'll even get a recompense this side of eternity
that tells me God's a great boss he's not a cheapskate amen he pays his
servants and his employees well not only in the eternal but even in this life
1st Thessalonians 2 18 says wherefore we would have come unto you even I Paul
once and again but Satan hindered us for what is our hope or joy or crown of
rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his
coming for ye are our glory and joy I truly believe that at the judgment seat
of Christ part of the reward that we receive from Jesus Christ aside from the
actual distribution of authority that we get in the millennial reign is believers
that we get to essentially either rule over or rule with this is what's
referred to as the crowns of rejoicing and if there is a field of lost souls
and if we told you there's ten crowns waiting for you at this field that you
will see in the resurrection why not work that field purchase that field put
in the work purchase and buy that field why to find those ten crowns even if
there's one crown amen it's still worth it now obviously we don't know whatever
neighborhood we go to we don't know how many crowns are awaiting us but we go
and we sow and hope in faith knowing that the gospel has power knowing that
the Word of God has power and it doesn't return back void and we go looking for
that treasure we go looking for that crown of rejoicing that lost soul who
will come to Christ and we will know for all of eternity by that field by
that field look at the time here
go to Acts chapter 20 if you would actually up to 20 acts chapter 20 the
sermon tonight is by the field I'm trying to exhort you and encourage you
to no longer view your service for God as a sacrifice but rather as an
investment so when you wake up in the morning on Sunday morning and you just
get that feeling like I don't want to go to church just realize go not because
you're sacrificing your time but because you're investing your time when you
don't feel like going soloing just view it as a field that has a crown that
you're not sacrificing you're actually investing in let me breeze over this
point but you you know by the field of learning the Bible pay the price to
learn the Word of God what I mean by that you know the Bible tells us in
Proverbs 23 verse 23 you don't have to turn there by the truth and sell it not
also wisdom and instruction and understanding you know a you can either
will do one of two things when it comes to learning the Bible you could either
read the Word of God for yourself and learn it through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit or you can learn it from some con artists out there through some
devotional through some commentary with cubic zirconius some fake gold out there
that rubs off as soon as you put it on your neck you know I mean this is such
a great truth and then you put on that necklace and then it's you know you're
in this weather and then your your your neck starts turning green because the
the gold is wearing off because it's fake it's better to just pay the price
to read the Word of God yourself now it costs a lot more learning the Word of
God for yourself cost way more that's because it's it's it's it the treasure
is valuable to study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth the Bible tells us over
and over again the Word of God is liken unto rubies and jewels and gold and
silver and we as God's people are to just dig and dig into that field of the
Bible and just keep digging and you're like oh man but this field is so dry I'm
reading through like numbers and is or I'm reading the first and second
Chronicles it just seems so dry just reading all these names and all these
stories I don't get it yeah but here's the thing though the longer you dig the
longer you dig the more likely it is you will find treasures and I'm gonna tell
you right now one of the most satisfying things for me as a Christian
is when you find those nuggets of gold in the Word of God when you're under the
ministry of the Holy Spirit you read the Word of God you're like I just learned
this right now this is amazing and you're just like I've been digging I
mean folks I've been saved I just I July 22nd it was when I basically I got saved
July 22nd 2007 I've been saved for 16 years and I've been reading the Word of
God since then over and over and over again and you know what I find when I
read God's Word over the last 16 years there's still more treasures to find
even 16 years later as I'm reading Genesis to Revelation as I'm reading
through the historical books as I'm reading through the Psalms through the
political books through the major and minor prophets through the gospels I'm
still finding more treasure even to this day because there's enough treasure to
go around my friends but you know what I've been in churches where they rather
just go to the commentary go to the devotional books go to the unsaved of
this world the natural man that receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God to learn the Word of God because they're not willing to put into the work
themselves to buy that field by the field by the field I'm almost done by
the field let me say this by the field of just getting into church this church
right here is a valuable field it's very valuable field and you know it
breaks my heart when people don't value church you know thank God for the
internet we thank God for YouTube although I don't really thank God for
it anymore because I can't seem to keep a channel there's just constantly
being deleted over and over again and you know I hate YouTube sometimes I'll
just be honest put all this work at the YouTube I'm like trying to purchase that
field and then it's just like you know the Jews take it over and then they
robbed me of my field basically you know but thank God for social media thank God
for social media YouTube or you know rumble and all these social media
platforms I thank God for them because of the fact that we've had a lot of
people come to our church because of that a lot of people say because of that
we've had visitors in our church because of that who found us through social
media people who have gone to our friends churches because of our social
media platform so thank God for that but let me say this is that nothing will
ever replace being in church nothing will ever replace being in church I mean
thank God for the preaching of God's Word in the internet but folks that's
only one aspect and one factor of being in the local New Testament Church
nothing beats being in a local New Testament Church in that field there's
so much treasure in that preaching is obviously one of the greatest treasures
in church but you know what fellowship is a great treasure to be had you know
what singing to hymns with God's people is a great treasure to be had going
sowing and getting trained and having that fellowship exhorting one another
daily is a great treasure to be had and you know how many Christians are out
there on internet land not willing to pay that price oh it's too far it's like
30 minutes away or something oh but the church is so far it's like an hour away
oh man but it's an hour and a half away what if I told you that there is a
treasure chest filled with 1 billion dollars worth of treasure an hour and a
half away oh you'd be there in a second you'd be like let me scrounge up as much
cash to get into this car and head right off what if I told you that there's a
treasure chest filled with millions of dollars that you can find and it's there
every single week every Sunday and then when you find that treasure Sunday
morning you know the the the man the man of God says hey if you come back tonight
there's more treasure and then you come back Sunday night and you're like by the
way there's some rubies and pearls of great price on Wednesday night oh you'd
be there every service you would invest all types of gas you would get yourself
an electric car you would bike there if you had to you get a skateboard you get
a moped you would get yourself to church just like that why because now you know
it's worth it one of the greatest challenges for a pastor let me say this
one of the greatest challenges I'm sure for Pastor Brzezinski is helping to
communicate the value of being in church helping our people to realize it's not a
sacrifice you coming here and sitting here while I scream at you for one hour
it's actually an investment it's not a sacrifice for you to be here and listen
to God's Word it's an investment you're accumulating treasure when you come here
I'm trying to shift your mind and your perspective on church attendance look at
the Bible says in Acts 20 verse 28 take heed therefore unto yourselves and to
all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers verse 28
to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood the Bible
says luckily this church this this treasure is free amen all you have to do
is just come and get it get in your vehicle and come and get it come here
Sunday morning you're already here so stay for Sunday night you already made
the drive to come all the way here on Sunday morning just why don't you just
stay a couple more hours and accumulate more treasure you like well it's not
that easy though you know we have to what do we got to do you know we have a
barbecue to go to we have a birthday party we have I have to do something
that I can't really think of what it is right now but it's something really
important is it more important than gaining eternal treasures because I can
guarantee you it's probably not and what I've learned is the more church you have
the better Christian you'll be and the better life gets the more eternally
minded you become the more you're in church go to Revelation chapter 3 if you
would Revelation chapter 3 hey by the field of having a good marriage by the
field of raising godly children and of course pay the price necessary to truly
fellowship with the Lord now what I mean by that a lot of Christians out there
they want to live the Christian life but there's one aspect of the Christian life
date they just don't really like you know what that is suffering and they
don't really view the they don't see the value and suffering for the name of
Christ sometimes whether it be through persecution whether it be through just
trials and tribulations that happen to us the difficulties of this world and
they don't realize that suffering in such a manner yields great treasures in
this life and in the life to come look at Revelation 3 and verse 14 it says
unto the angel of the church of the lay of the sea in this Revelation 3 14 these
things say to amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of
God I know thy works that are neither cold nor hot I would that that were
cold or hot so then because our lukewarm neither cold or hot I will spew thee out
of my mouth because I'll sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have
need of nothing and knowest not that thou are wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked what's the solution verse 18 I counseled thee to buy of me
gold tried in the fire why that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that
thou mayest be clothed and the shame of thy nakedness did not appear and anoint
thine eyes with eyes south that thou mayest see is basically saying you know you're so
lukewarm you feel like you're increased with goods that you're rich you don't
need anything you haven't really gone through anything hard you don't really
realize the value in suffering and no one likes to suffer my friends we don't
like suffering wouldn't like pain wouldn't like going through difficult
times but it's so necessary in the Christian life and God says there in
order for you to get out of this this lukewarm mentality that you're in this
lukewarm condition spirit condition that you're in buy of me gold tried in the
fire go through some fire in your life suffer persecution for righteousness sake
don't quit when you're going through a hard time when you're going through
health problems your family's against you you're going through a difficult
time don't clock out of the Christian life stick with it purchase that gold
tried in the fire and he says there in verse 19 as many as I love I rebuke and
chase and be zealous therefore and repent listen to this behold I stand at
the door knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him
and will sup with him and he with me this is referring to fellowship he's
saying I go to every church and I knock on that door to see if the congregation
of that church is willing to suffer for the name of Christ is willing to go
through trials and difficulties and fire and tribulation why well I guess the
Apostle Paul said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable unto his death what's
the message tonight by the field by the field I'm gonna finish with this
illustration here years ago there's a man by the name of Mel Fisher and Mel
Fisher was actually a treasure hunter and there is a ship a Spanish ship
called Nuestra Senora de Antocha I hope I pronounced that correctly and this is
a ship a vessel of a fleet of ships that sank in a hurricane in 1622 so it
sank and it was on its way to Spain but it was filled with just an
insurmountable amount of just treasures and gold a lot of money okay and he ran
into a hurricane most of the people on that ship died and the treasure sank to
the bottom of the ocean well this man by the name of Mel Fisher he was born in
like 1920s I believe it was found out about this treasure and this is a man
who had a business in California a scuba diving business teaching people how to
go scuba diving and he was very wealthy very successful businessman had a very
lucrative business with that and he heard about this and he was so inspired
by the potential findings of this treasure that he actually ended up
selling his business he sold his business that he invested so much into
he sold his business sold his house and he moved his family to Florida and
eventually to this area of the Keys in order to invest his life into looking
for this particular treasure now when he researched it he looked at all the
historical facts and he basically thought to himself well I basically have
a good understanding of where this treasure is and he thought to himself
it'll take about six weeks to find this treasure well six weeks turn into 16
years 16 years of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars getting a ship
accumulating all these employees to go and look for this treasure of this
vessel that had sank in a hurricane in 1622 let me say this this cost them a
lot it actually cost them three members of his of his of his of his ship
including his eldest son who died scuba diving looking for this treasure sold
his business moved his family invested hundreds of thousands of dollars lost
close friends and family his own son seeking for this treasure and then
finally in 1985 he found it he found what they called the great pile that was
worth four to five hundred million dollars and he ended up becoming very
famous and popular and even if you look it up it's a pretty amazing story from
from just like a carnal perspective because of the fact that the government
once they found out that he had gotten this treasure they're just like oh we
that's actually ours you know this is theft okay so we need to take all of it
and and you know because you know the government there's just that's what they
do and they're like oh you found it well that's actually ours you're stealing
that from us even though they didn't do anything to look for the treasure it's
like it's in our borders so it's ours and he went to court with it and finally
ended up going to the Supreme Court and he actually end up winning and so not
only was all the treasure the four to five hundred million dollars worth the
treasure which it was it was estimated to be four to five hundred million
dollars back then way more now obviously I mean tens of thousands of gold coins
but not only was the treasure his but so was the ship so he ended up owning all
of those things and you know he had museums and everything became very
successful man of course he passed away he was not saved but I you know I
thought to myself this is a great picture of what we as Christians should
do this man was willing to sell everything was willing to lose lives
even the life of his son was willing to invest not only resources and time but
even 16 years worth of not finding anything and every day he would say this
today's the day today's the day folks of Mel Fisher who's obviously burning in
hell today because he did not take any of that treasure with him is willing to
invest that much time energy manpower resources for a corruptible crown how
much should we be willing to invest to buy the field for an incorruptible crown
that shall never perish think about that let's pray