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Mt 13:44 “The kingdom of
heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again;
and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46
and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and
bought it.
Do you ever wish you
had bought in on the ground floor of a small start-up company that then took off
and made a fortune? If you had only known!
You know the “My Pillow”
guy. With every $$$ pillow you buy, he gets a better night’s sleep! He
bought into the company 100%. He’s giving it all he has. He lives it, he
breathes it, he talks it, and yes, he sleeps it! He may not ever have time to
sleep on his pillow, because he’s always on TV talking about it! Actually, he’s
passionate about his pillow. He grips that pillow so tightly that I would hate
to try to take it from him.
By the way, he’s an
excellent role model of evangelism. He is so excited about his good news that
he shares it constantly. He’s infected his whole company, and he’s reached the
entire nation with his message.
Would you invest in
a start-up company that could not possibly fail? Of course! We give our time,
money, and effort to that which we think will bring the greatest benefit. The
more we “buy in” at the beginning, the greater the payoff, and the less likely
we are to “bail out” as circumstances change. Say, have you fully bought into
the Kingdom of God?
Why do you suppose
people drop out of, or pull back from, following Jesus and serving actively in
the local church? Many reasons could be given, but here’s one that has occurred
to me more and more. Sometimes a person may
bail out because he never fully bought in.
So the more “buy-in”
one has when coming to Christ or to this church, the less “bail-out” there will
be.
If you put all you
had into a house, or a business, or a move, think how unlikely it is that you
would ever let it go.
On the other hand,
if you simply give a token of your resources, your investment is not that
great. You won’t lose all that much if you walk away.
The extent to which
you buy in determines the length to which you will go to stay in.
The more you think
it through, the more you will see it through.
The more / sooner the buy-in,
The more precious the pay-out,
The less likely the bail-out.
Our Nation’s
Founders
“What we obtain too
cheap, we esteem too lightly…”
-- Thomas Paine, The
American Crisis, 1776-1783
“We mutually pledge
to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
-- Signers, Declaration
of Independence
Our founders were
devoted to the ideals of freedom and equality, and what made them so
extraordinary was that what they were doing was unheard of before. The founders
wrote in the Declaration of Independence that they were going to ignore the
“ties of our common kindred.” They ignored and severed the natural familial
ties they held with Britain, and they replaced them with a devotion to a few
self-evident truths that they believed were applicable to all people and all
times. These were truths that the world had never realized before, and if their
bold experiment were to succeed they would be truths that the world could never
forget.
Prosperous men who
could have lived out their lives happily signed their names to a document in
which they pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” Many of them
would be called to sacrifice what they pledged to each other that day. This new
idea of a country tied together in their loyalty to a set of principles helped
to create a new nation. But after many losing battles it seemed that many
Americans were ready to give up and reconcile with Great Britain. It was at
about this time, when Americans were questioning their patriotism that Thomas
Paine wrote The American Crisis, which reminded all Americans that
patriotism should always remain a necessary part of this new regime. Paine wrote, “what we obtain too cheap, we
esteem too lightly: tis’ dearness only that gives everything its value… the
heart that feels not now is dead: the blood of his children will curse his
cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole,
and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble,
that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection.”
Jesus
invited people to buy into the Kingdom of God.
The Treasure and the
Pearl
Matt 13:44-46
Mt 13:44 “The kingdom of
heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again;
and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46
and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and
bought it.
To buy in, these two
first had to sell off.
Why would they do
it?
How did they do it?
What payoff would
they receive?
How likely would
they be to lose, forsake, waste, or mismanage their new-found treasure or
pearl?
Since they gave
all they had to get it,
they would do
all they could to keep it!
Guaranteed Security
Matt 6:19-21
Matt 6:19 “Do not store up
for yourselves (buy into) treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves (buy
into) treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where
thieves do not break in or steal;
21 for where your
treasure is (what you buy into), there your heart (interest, focus, passion)
will be also.”
Mt 6:19 “Do not store up
for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in
or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body
will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will
be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is
the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth.
The Tax Collector’s
Choice
Luke 5:27-29
What had Levi bought
into before Jesus came?
What was Jesus
offering him?
What was his
response?
What changed as a
result?
What did he become?
What did he do?
Why? All because he
bought in.
Lk 5:27 After that He went
out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He
said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he left everything behind, and got up
and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his
house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were
reclining at the table with them.
Rich or Poor?
Mark 10:17-22
Mk 10:17 As He was setting
out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him,
“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus
said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19
“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not
steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and
mother.’ ” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these
things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him
and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to
the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22
But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one
who owned much property.
What did Jesus offer
the man who “had it all?”
What would it cost
the man to buy in?
What would it cost
him not to buy in?
Mark 10:28-31
Mk 10:28 Peter began to say
to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus
said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or
sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the
gospel’s sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now
in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children
and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 31
“But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”
Lk 22:28 “You are those who
have stood by Me in My trials; 29 and just as My Father has granted Me a
kingdom, I grant you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My
kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Peter: “We bought
in! What’s the payoff?”
The ruler was rich
yet poor.
Peter was poor yet
rich.
Which would you
rather be? You must choose.
Where’d Everybody
Go?
John 6:66-69
Jn 6:66 As a result of this
many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67
So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal
life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy
One of God.”
After Jesus fed the 5,000 …
The multitude left.
The disciples remained.
What made the difference?
Bought In – or Sold
Out?
2 Tim 1:8-18
12 Paul: “I know … He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him (my
deposit) until that day.”
14 To Timothy: “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the
treasure (good deposit) which has been entrusted to you.”
15 All in Asia, such as Phygelus and Hermogenes, “turned away.”
16 Onesiphorus “often refreshed me; not ashamed of my chains; eagerly
searched for me …”
2 Ti 1:8 Therefore do not be
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in
suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all
eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior
Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an
apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things,
but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that
He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 13
Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith
and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit
who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. 15 You
are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom
are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of
Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17
but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18 the
Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very
well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
“Cheap Grace”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“Cheap grace” is
“the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without
church discipline, communion without confession.”
“Cheap grace” is
“grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus
Christ.”
The Cost of Discipleship
Your relationship to
Jesus Christ is worth exactly what it cost you to get it and exactly what you
would sacrifice to keep it.
I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord – Timothy Dwight (1752-1817)
I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The Church our blest Redeemer bought
With His own precious blood.
I love Thy Church, O
God!
Her walls before
Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of
Thine eye
And graven on Thy
hand.
For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend;
To her my cares and toils be given
Till toils and cares shall end.
Beyond my highest
joy
I prize her heavenly
ways,
Her sweet communion,
solemn vows,
Her hymns of love
and praise.
Sure as Thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
The brightest glories earth can yield,
And brighter bliss of heaven.
Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my
sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body,
which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
Count the Cost First
and You Will Last.
Luke 14:28-30
Lk 14:28 “For which one of
you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the
cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has
laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to
ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to
finish.’
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