Hidden Treasure

sermon 2008-11-23
bob sproul. hershey evangelical free.

be careful when interpreting parables
- look for the meaning, but dont make one up
parables - communicates spiritual truth through an earthly story
- not an allegory where everything means something
- must understand the audience
- must hold true to the rest of all Scripture

mt13:44-46

2 meanings:
- we are worth everything to jesus
-- god gave up all in order to bringus to himself
1 ptr 1:18-19
- redeemed by god; bought w a price
why?
- he loves us so much

kingdom of god is worth everything from us
- cannot buy k.o.g.
- enter only through faith
-- gal 2:16
-1 cor 1:18, 23-24
-- perishing only see empty field; redeemed see great treasure beneath surface
- trying to teach us the supreme value of the kingdom
-- not how to get in
-- worth giving up everything
-- must surrender all
-- phlp3:4-9
---everything is crap compared to knowing christ

bonhoeffer
"To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us."

watchman nee
"Presenting myself to God implies a recognition that I am altogether his. This giving of myself is a definite thing, just as definite as (receiving Christ). There must be a day when I pass out of my own hands into his, and from that day forward I belong to him and no longer to myself...If we give ourselves unreservedly to God, many adjustments may have to be made: in family, or business, or relationships, or in the matter of our personal views...His finger will touch, point by point, everything that is not of him, and he will say 'That must go.' Are you willing?...It is always foolish to resist his will, but it is a blessed thing to just hand ourselves over to him and let him have his way with us...My giving of myself to him must be an initial fundamental act. Then, day by day, I must go on giving (myself) to him, not finding fault with his use of me, but accepting with praise even what the flesh finds hard. That way lies true enrichment."

it's a process