Real Life Selkirk
**May 31** Treasure & Trade (Matthew 13:31-35, 44-46)
  • Finished Work Of Christ
  • It Really Is Amazing Grace
  • Let The Redeemed
  • We Will Remember

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 13:31–35 NIV
    He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
    Matthew 13:44–46 NIV
    “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

    Vision/Mission/Process

    Vision:
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    Our target as a church is to reach this world for Jesus.
    Last week we talked about hell and I hope it was eye-opening as to the stakes of this life we are living.
    Hell is real, hell is awful, and hell is eternal. If you missed that last week, I encourage you to go watch it online.
    But today, we are talking about the other side of that coin.
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus.
    The consequence of not following Jesus is hell.
    But following Jesus is something different altogether.
    In my mind, i go immediately to “heaven”
    But there is a different word that I want to use today.

    Treasure

    The question I would like to explore today is this: “What is the value of the Kingdom of Heaven?”
    I know we are all sitting in church and we all know the answer we are supposed to give.
    But I believe our text today does two things:
    It will reveal the true value of the Kingdom.
    It will reveal if we value the Kingdom in line with its true value.
    I want to open by talking about the word “treasure”.
    It is a word used in this text and it is a word that we are all familiar with.
    Treasure
    In my mind, the word treasure drums up a sense of adventure.
    As a kid, there was a field across the street from my house and we loved to go over there with shovels and dig holes.
    Do you know why we were digging holes? We were looking for treasure!
    We would even draw out treasure maps and follow the maps
    You might think it was dumb, because I drew the map. I hadn’t buried any treasure there. So we would just dig another hole in our neighbors field.
    The owner of the field may not have been too happy about all of the holes, but we were.
    When I got a few years older, that field became our wiffle ball field.
    Kids from all over the neighborhood would come to that field and play wiffle ball.
    When we were done playing wiffle ball, we would get our baseball cards out and trade baseball cards
    Our baseball card collections became the economy and currency of our group of friends.
    Some cards were worth more because the baseball player was a “future star” or “all-star”. Others were worth very little because they were “common cards”.
    Once in a while someone would buy a magazine called a “beckett” and it would have the actual dollar value of every card that had been printed.
    We could see the values of the treasures we had.
    I remember card #200 in the 1987 Topps base set was Pete Rose
    Before he was found gambling
    He was a living breathing Hall of Famer. A legend
    His card was an amazing value to me. I even had a Pete Rose/Wheaties poster on my wall.
    But then a few years after Pete Rose cards started to diminish, a new card came onto the horizon.
    Ken Griffey Jr.
    I traded a couple of Pete Rose cards for one Ken Griffey Jr. cards
    The Rose cards were really neat and of high value.
    But the Griffey card, was even more valuable.
    We would work, trade, save our money, buy more cards, and trade some more.
    Everyone negotiating for the best deal and the best collection of cards.
    Thinking back to those days is so much fun. In fact, those “baseball card” years taught me something really important for life.
    If you find something valuable, it’s worth giving up what you have for something better.
    I want to drive home an important point for our sermon today: Everyone is trading their life for something.
    “Your treasure is not what you say you value. Your treasure is what you trade your life for.”
    “You can always determine your treasure by what you are trading”
    When I was a kid, baseball cards were really tangible.
    As I have gotten older, adulthood hides this simple point behind a lot of junk.
    But the point still remains the same.
    I was reading a book this week and a statements stood out to me:
    “How we spend our time is how we spend our lives”
    We are all trading our time for what we treasure in life. And what we treasure in life becomes our life.
    Did you know you are making a trade right now? Every person in this room is making a trade for their treasure.
    The concepts in our passage today reveal this.
    It isn’t that some of us are trading for something in our lives.
    Every person in this room has been blessed with “Currency for life”
    We have been blessed with 24 hours in a day.
    When it comes to time, there is no wealth. We all have the same amount in our wallets.
    We have all been blessed with breath in our lungs.
    Let’s just start there.
    We have been blessed with life and time.
    No one is more or less wealthy. We all have the same starting point.
    Where we go from there determines what we treasure.
    We will trade our breath and trade our time on what we treasure.
    Who we are in creation:
    I want you to think about this. We were created to understand treasure and trade
    In Genesis 2, we see the account of how God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and took his rib and formed a woman.
    Adam said,
    Genesis 2:23–24 NIV
    The man said, “This is now bonfe of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
    Do you see the treasure and trade principle here?
    The woman has such a high value, that the man will trade his father and mother and exchange it for a wife.
    The wife doesn’t become a possession. The wife becomes a part of his identity.
    The trade is not a trade of people—it is a trade of priorities
    What we treasure isn’t just stuff. It is who we become.
    The Struggle
    In church, we are taught the theory and principle of treasure and trade, but in practicality I think we often miss the point.
    Satan is a deceiver and a liar. His deceptions are connected to our very core. This is called our sinful nature.
    When he can bring deception to theology, he has done his greatest work.
    Satan presents us with “false treasures”
    We will get into this more later.
    If Satan can cause us to trade the value we have for treasure that isn’t treasure at all, what happens?
    Our lives are spent chasing things that are worthless
    What God created for His glory and our good end up being a wasted life
    Remember, HOW YOU SPEND YOUR TIME IS HOW YOU SPEND YOUR LIFE.
    A life that is created in the image of God, that is wasted is truly a tragedy.
    The world doesn’t see Jesus
    We are intended to be a light of truth and hope and for the glory of God to the world around us.
    If we pursue the wrong treasure, the world around us does not see the grace and mercy of God.
    We lose our families
    Our families see our treasure
    You hand your kids and grandkids a manual of how to live life.
    The closest and greatest discipleship we are called to miss out on the glory of God
    God is not glorified in our lives
    This topic is as real as it gets
    We can talk about the Kingdom of Heaven in church until the cows come home.
    But if we can’t see it, live it and articulate it in our lives, it truly means nothing to us.
    Jesus painted these pictures for us today so we could see that the Kingdom of Heaven is as real for us as we wake up in the morning as it is on a Sunday morning at church.
    As you will see, we are going to talk through a handful of parables today.
    Single simple meaning
    All of these parables together are brush strokes that each highlight different pieces of the same Kingdom.
    Context
    Our context is going to paint a very similar picture to the stories around it that we have covered the last two weeks.
    Hopefully what we hear today drives us to a decision about the value of the kingdom of Heaven and how we ought to respond.
    3 Keys to Interpret Parables
    Singular simple meaning
    Context, Context, Context
    Drive the hearer to a decision
    We are going to cover two of our verses right up front
    Matthew 13:34–35 NIV
    Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
    Jesus spoke in parables:
    To reveal the truth
    To conceal the truth
    Those who wanted to see, would see
    Those who wanted to hear, would hear
    The Pharisees were looking for reason to kill Jesus
    By speaking in parables, the truth of Jesus’ words were concealed.
    But some would still understand.
    As we go through this, we get to see the stories Jesus told
    It is my prayer that we have ears to hear and eyes to see what Jesus is showing us about the kingdom of Heaven.
    What is the value of the Kingdom of Heaven?

    Preaching

    Mustard Seed & Yeast

    Matthew 13:31–32 NIV
    He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
    Jesus tolad the people another parable:
    To this point, Jesus had told two parables.
    The first was how the Kingdom of Heaven was like a sower planting seeds in his field
    Some landed on good soil and some didn’t
    The Kingdom of Heaven is intended to be fruitful and there are things in all of our lives that will fight to make the kingdom unfruitful.
    These must be addressed in our heart so the Kingdom of Heaven can flourish
    Second, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower who plants his field and an enemy comes and plants weeds among the good seed
    We looked at this last week.
    There is the Kingdom of Heaven, and there is the reality that apart from the Kingdom of Heaven is eternal judgment in hell.
    These are not theoretical theological concepts
    The Kingdom of Heaven deals with the destination of the eternal souls of mankind.
    Today, we see the value of the Kingdom
    Last week, was the gravity of being outside of the Kingdom
    Today, we see the opposite of last week.
    The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed
    It is a very small seed, but it produces a big plant
    I love that we are leading off with this parable today.
    Image of Mustard Seed
    Let’s say you are a farmer and you are looking at a bunch of seeds to put in your garden.
    If you saw this guy, you’d probably laugh and say, “let me get something that looks a little better.”
    Matthew 13:33 NIV
    He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
    Jesus is painting another profound, but simple picture here.
    In interpreting this passage, we need to remember that there is a purpose and a context to this passage.
    Jesus tells another parable about how yeast is bad and how yeast is like sin and it impacts your whole life.
    It is an accurate description of yeast.
    But that doesn’t mean that yeast is evil. Also, it doesn’t mean that Jesus cannot use yeast in a different parable to make a different point that is positive.
    Jesus talks about how a woman who is making bread.
    She gets 60 lbs of flour and begins to make bread.
    She puts the correct amount of yeast in the bread and kneads the bread so it is well mixed.
    I allowed AI to give me an answer to this question:
    How much yeast is needed to make bread that has 60 lbs of flour?
    Answer: .6 lbs.
    Just over 1/2 pound of yeast.
    That seems like nothing
    1/2 pound of yeast seems insignificant!
    But is it insignificant? No.
    Bread without yeast and bread with yeast are two different kinds of bread.
    The Mustard Seed and the Yeast
    I want to tie the mustard seed and the yeast together.
    Both of them point to something small, humble and seemingly insignificant.
    But both of them result in something far greater than could be expected from them.
    Do you want evidence that something small and seemingly insignificant can make a significant difference?
    “Let’s eat grandma!”
    “Let’s eat, grandma!”
    What is the difference?
    ,
    Remember our question to answer today is: “What is the value of the Kingdom of Heaven”
    Here is the truth, the value of the Kingdom doesn’t look all that valuable at the start.
    The Kingdom of Heaven was brought through a helpless infant
    I want you to think of the moment you surrendered your life to Jesus.
    Did the heavens open up and trumpets from Heaven begin playing?
    The Bible says the angels in Heaven celebrate
    But we don’t hear that celebration.
    If you are like me, your salvation story is a humble, simple and quiet moment in your life.
    And the Gospel is not a complex teaching that requires deep theological understanding or new discovery that is shocking
    the Gospel does not let off fireworks or have strobe lights attached to it.
    It is simple.
    We are sinners
    Jesus paid the penalty for our sin
    We must surrender to His authority and find our salvation.
    It brings no glory to us.
    But it is profound in implication
    What is the value of the Kingdom?
    On its surface, it seems quite small and humble.
    But like the yeast working through the whole dough, it produces an impact that changes absolutely every part of our lives.

    Pearl & Treasure

    Next we will move to the next two parables Jesus told about the kingdom
    Matthew 13:44 NIV
    “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
    This is a parable where we need to remember, there is a simple, singular point to interpret, because my ADHD brain goes haywire on this one.
    So, let’s say that I am the kid that I was just talking about
    I make my treasure map into the vacant lot next to my house.
    I wander over there to where the X is on my hand drawn map and start to dig a hole.
    As I am digging, my shovel hits something solid.
    It looks like a treasure chest...full of baseball cards!!!
    Really good ones!
    I run home and tell my parents and they say, “Well, we are going to sell the house and go buy the field”
    Here is where my brain goes:
    First, what are you doing in that guys field? That trespassing, brother!
    Second, it seems dishonest to find that valuable thing and then hide it and pretend you didn’t know it was there, then go and buy the field.
    Jesus is not promoting trespassing
    Jesus is not giving real estate ethics advice
    These are not the simple and singular point of the parable.
    What is the point of this parable?
    If you find something of tremendous value, what would you give for it?
    Notice that the guy didn’t begrudgingly sell everything he had.
    He did it with joy.
    I’m going to sell all of my baseball cards, because the ones in that treasure chest are worth way more!
    Matthew 13:45–46 NIV
    “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
    Jesus makes a similar point in this passage to conclude the parables in this chapter
    A guy is looking for fine pearls.
    He finds one that is the Babe Ruth of pearls. I’ve got baseball on the brain now.
    He sells everything he has to get that pearl.
    Treasure and Pearls
    I want to tie this together
    The Kingdom of Heaven seems small and is insignificant
    But is it? No.
    It has tremendous value.
    It is a treasure of infinite worth.
    What is the value of this treasure, according to these passages?
    We don’t know, but it is greater than anything these people owned.
    I want you to think about this.
    Did it say, “A certain poor man found a treasure.”?
    No.
    Regardless of the financial situation of the guy who finds the treasure, the treasure is worth significantly more.
    Do you know what stands out to me about the trade? The joy of the guy giving up everything for the treasure.
    How much does something need to be worth in order to HAPPILY give everything up?
    This is the picture of the Kingdom that Jesus paints for us.

    Make the point

    The treasure seems insignificant
    As we said, there is a treasure that is the Kingdom of Heaven.
    It seems small and insignificant
    The treasure is great value
    Regardless of what you have, the value of your life, the value of this treasure is greater
    The treasure is available to you
    In these parables, the treasure can be acquired.
    Now I want to bring this home in a practical way.
    I feel we are still talking about the Kingdom of Heaven in theory.
    It’s like we always do.
    You are trading everything in your life for your treasure right now.
    We can be deceived, but our trades will not lie.
    We may need to discover our own hearts and repent.
    Here is a struggle within the church.
    We are all told what our treasure ought to be.
    We are told that our treasure is God, church, living a life of discipleship. We find our treasure in reading the Bible and praying and living the Christian life.
    We are taught the right answers.
    We even give advice of what the answers ought to be.
    We counsel and direct others in the direction of the Kingdom.
    But here is the problem.
    They are just words.
    We can be deceived because we have the right answers.
    You can take the test and pass it, but it doesn’t translate to our lives.
    Jesus makes this point in a number of ways:
    Matthew 16:24–26 NIV
    Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
    Do you see the Treasure and the Trade?
    Matthew 6:19–21 NIV
    “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
    Treasure and Trade— Treasure on earth for treasure in Heaven. Not both.
    Romans 12:1 NIV
    Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
    Treasure and trade— Body for worship
    Mark 10:21 NIV
    Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
    To the rich young ruler— Treasure and trade
    I want to be clear about something.
    You will often hear people talk about, “Salvation is God’s free gift.”
    It is free in the sense that you cannot buy it, nor can you earn it.
    But God’s gift of salvation will cost us everything.
    A surrender to Jesus as Lord means that our entire lives are under new management. Not a part. Not the religious side. The whole thing.
    This is the journey of discipleship
    It is only worth while if you see the treasure in the Kingdom.
    If you hold onto the treasure of this world, you
    False Treasures (comfort, approval, control, success, etc.)
    We often live our lives as if the treasures of this world are the treasures that own our hearts
    Am I trading my life for comfort?
    As Americans, we all have something of an addiction to comfort.
    Am I trading my life for approval?
    So much energy is exerted trying to gain the approval of people we don’t even know.
    My appearances, my reputation, all of it serves me as the treasure
    Control
    Success
    All of these are false treasures that quietly sit in our lives, owning our hearts and we constantly trade our lives for their rewards.
    Joy not duty
    When we see what the Kingdom of Heaven is, when we understand the Gospel and begin to grasp God’s love for use, we gladly give the treasures in this world for something that is eternal.
    This is a big reason why we talked about hell last week and treasure this week.
    The end of all of the treasure in this world will be destroyed and a life spent pursuing the treasure in this world will end in hell.
    Missionary Jim Elliot said,
    “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”— Jim Elliot
    Take an inventory of your life. Where are you spending the rest of the minutes of your day? Where are you spending the rest of your paycheck?
    In 2004/2005 a couple of families began to pray for a community and for a church that would impact their community. Those prayers turned into a small group, which then turned into another small group. The two small groups met weekly, praying for God to move in their community.
    A year later we launched our first service in Newport.
    I look at the Kingdom impact, the salvations, the baptisms, the heart changes, the life changes.
    Everyone says, “Yeah! Let’s build that!”
    I want you to know, we never set out to build what you see today.
    We set out to pray for God to do what He wants to do in our community and we prayed for Him to use us as He would see fit.
    Allowing God to use us was the trade.
    It took time, comfort, stability, pain, money, and sacrifice.

    🌾 CONCLUSION: “What Are You Trading Your Life For?”

    “Every one of us is trading our life for something. We trade our time, our money, our attention, our energy — every single day. And whatever gets the trade… that’s the treasure.
    The kingdom doesn’t always look like treasure at first. It looks like a mustard seed — small, quiet, unimpressive. But if you plant it… if you nurture it… if you give it room… it grows into something that transforms everything.
    So here’s the question I want you to wrestle with today: What are you trading your life for?
    Not what you say you value. Not what you wish you valued. Not what you tell others you value.
    What does your trade reveal?”

    🌱 A Practical, Pastoral Assessment Tool (3 Questions)

    1. Where is my time going?

    Your calendar is a window into your treasure.

    2. Where is my money going?

    Your bank statement is a spiritual document.

    3. Where is my attention going?

    Your focus reveals your desires.
    “Your trades don’t lie.”

    🌿 A Mustard-Seed Path Forward (3 Small Steps)

    These are small, doable, mustard-seed-sized steps that lead to transformation.

    1. Plant one small seed of obedience this week.

    Pray for 2 minutes
    Read one chapter
    Serve one person
    Confess one sin
    Forgive one offense
    Small seeds grow.

    2. Invite the kingdom into one hidden part of your life.

    A habit
    A relationship
    A fear
    A wound
    A priority
    Let the yeast work through the dough.

    3. Trade one lesser treasure for a greater one.

    Trade 10 minutes of scrolling for 10 minutes of Scripture
    Trade one complaint for one prayer
    Trade one purchase for one act of generosity
    Trade one distraction for one moment of worship
    Small trades reshape a life.

    🌳 Final Call

    “The kingdom may start small, but it never stays small.
    Plant the seed. Welcome the yeast. See the treasure. Pursue the pearl.
    And watch what God grows in you.”

      • Matthew 13:31–35NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:44–46NIV2011

      • Genesis 2:23–24NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:34–35NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:31–32NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:33NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:44NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:45–46NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:24–26NIV2011

      • Matthew 6:19–21NIV2011

      • Romans 12:1NIV2011

      • Mark 10:21NIV2011

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