2819 Church - WISDOM AND WONDER | A Tale of Treasure & Torture | Matthew 13:44-52 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In SZN 2, EP 5 of "WISDOM & WONDER," Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell walks us through the powerful parables of Jesus found in Matthew 13:44-52. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

Before we jump into the proclamation of God's Word, I just want to share something that I feel that I can't keep to myself. There is a digital disciple who, for the sake of her anonymity, I won't call her name, she lives in the nation of the Bahamas, just off the coast of Florida, watches this broadcast from the Bahamas just off the coast of Florida watches this broadcast from the Bahamas who put a letter in my wife's hand because she was in the room

last Sunday and I don't have time to read her whole letter but let me just give you the gist she had traveled to the United States And I don't have time to read her whole letter, but let me just give you the gist. She had traveled to the United States in January of this year to see a specialist because she had a brain tumor. And on the Monday before she went to see the specialist, she had come to a gathering in 2019. And on that Sunday morning, I was declaring about Christ, the healer. We was declaring healing over the room

and declaring faith over the room. And in her chair, she grabbed hold of that moment. She would go in to see the specialist the next morning on Monday and upon an MRI and a CAT scan. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ the healer. Christ the healer. Christ the healer.

The tumor in her brain was creatively removed from her brain. Let's go! And in a response of gratitude, she gave me three $100 bills just as a seed of gratitude that I quickly prayed and asked God to multiply back into her life it was it was in this same week I learned about a woman I don't know if she's a part of our church but was in the room who had a damaged left air she could not hear like I have a damaged left ear, she could not hear. Like, I have a damaged left eardrum. I suffer from tinnitus. So silence is painful for me.

That noise always ringing in my ear from a gunshot blast that God hasn't healed me from yet. So I have to push through silence to pray or to read or to study. But this other sister who had a damaged eardrum like mine was sitting in this room. And Ryan's baby was sitting on her lap

rubbing her left ear during access. And a little baby during access rubbing her left ear. How Christ hijacked the hand of a child and was rubbing her left ear. Woo! Woo!

Woo! Rubbing her ear. Woo! Woo! Rubbing her ear. And she said after it was over, she can hear in her ear healed during access. Healed during access. Healed during an hour of prayer that you think is not important. That you won't rearrange your schedule to get in the room. During Holy Week, she was healed in access. And although mine has not come, I celebrate hers.

He's Christ the healer. He's the God of impossible. Nothing is impossible for God. And we look at her ear. And we think about that tumor. And we say, look at what the Lord has done somebody just give God like the praise that's like look at what the Lord has done This nine o'clock desk, almost full, that we just added,

look at what the Lord has done. Somebody give the God of the impossible, the God of miracles, praise. He's done it again. He's done it again. He's done it again. Over and over and over. Over and over and over. Over and over and over. Over and over and over. I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed go begging for bread. I've never seen… He's done it over. It's over, it's over. If he did it for this house, he'll do it for your house. Over and over and over. Over and over and over. Look at what the Lord has done. So whether we are healed in this life, or we got to carry some of these things to the next life,

he is still Christ the healer. For we all shall be healed. In Jesus name. Somebody say amen. Say amen. Come on say amen. If you are a guest. Welcome to 2819 church. Where we are serious about the spread of the gospel.

And the multiplying of disciples. If you are a digital disciple watching me live right now, anywhere across the country, around the world, we welcome you, all of our digital disciples. And if you're in the room and you are not a follower of Jesus, you are an unbeliever, you do not ascribe to the faith that we ascribe to. We know you're in the room. We know you're watching.

We're thankful that you are here. You can belong before you believe, and we're just glad that you're here to eavesdrop on what God is saying to us. We are in a series called Wisdom and Wonder. We are walking through Matthew chapter 12 through 20 together. Matthew was an outcast Jew who lived in the first century A.D. He was brought into the faith of Christianity by the will of Jesus Christ himself.

He went on to be a follower of Christ, a martyr of Christ, and before that he will write the book that bears his name. We are walking through this book together. It will take us some two and a half years to finish it. We are in no rush. We approach this book and we open it. It is the gospel that the church used for 1,700 years to ground people in discipleship, and we are in season two of this series. This is episode five. And today, for all my note-takers, we'll be unpacking together Matthew 13, 44 through 52. and we're going to title this message A Tale of Treasure and Torture. Holy Father, Holy Father,

I pray for strength in my weakness, that you would help me to communicate these massive, spiritual, eternal truths. I pray for an awakening in the hearts and minds of all of your sons and daughters. I pray, God, that the unbeliever would be gripped in their soul that maybe something supernatural would happen in this moment. I pray, Spirit of the living God, you would breathe on the proclamation of God's word.

Breathe on the proclamation of this moment. I pray, God, Lord, that we would go beyond the seat we are in, beyond this moment, beyond the voice of some black dude, beyond a sermon, that God, that eyes would be open and ears would be open, hearts would be burned and stirred. Would you pour out, God,

revelation from heaven upon us now? Yes, Lord. With what time I have left by the constraints of American programming, help me, Lord, to preach this truth in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you agree with me, just say amen. Say amen. Amen. was grappling with the weight and the truth in this text this week.

I was kind of forced to reflect on the season of my life in which I was not a son of the kingdom or a son of righteousness, but I was an object of God's wrath. I had to reflect on the season of my life when I was alienated from the kingdom of God and from the promises of God, trapped in the darkness of my own soul, trapped in the hopelessness of my own soul, speeding towards a damnation as I was gripped by the penalty and the outgrowth of sin. I had to grapple and reflect over the life I lived prior to me coming into the kingdom, how I was born into a home of two immigrant parents who loved God and who was faithful to God. And I would hear them praying and I would see them reading and they did all they can to worship God faithfully

in ministry. And they would go on to do all they can to expose me to God Almighty, but for all of their exposure, the allure of the tough urban environment that I lived in between Hollis and Jamaica, Queens, New York was too strong for me to completely latch hold of what they was teaching me, for the grip of the world outside my home was greater upon my soul than the grip of what my parents was trying to teach me. And I had to reflect on the life that I lived in Queens, far away from God, racking up body count and being involved in gang activity and selling dope at the age of 12 and running the streets and coming home with no sense of feeling remorse for the things I was doing, breaking in homes and robbing people at gunpoint. Man, I had to reflect on the two times I sat in a jail cell in the span of six months, turning 18

in Rikers Island prison. My mother and my father just doing anything they can to save me from the road of perdition, man. Packed up all my stuff and drove me to North Carolina. I knew one female there at a black college and left me in front of that black college with $50 and a black and white TV. I said, son, you got to do your best on your own. We've carried you as far as we can. They would mortgage their house to put me in college for one year. And I would run into a group of dudes from New York, far more worthless and far more ruthless than I was. They were older than me and they dragged me into a life of deeper darkness than I knew in Queens. Man, drug trafficking between Miami and North Carolina, between Georgia and North Carolina, between all

these places, trafficking drugs, gunfights in the middle of the streets. I had to reflect on the time a bullet grazed my ear and could have clipped me in the back of my head. I had to reflect on the time a bullet grazed my ear and could have clipped me in the back of my head. I had to reflect on all the times I could have died driving home from the club drunk and making it to my apartment some way, somehow. I had to reflect on all the times, man, I could have been in a box before the Lord rescued me. I had to reflect on all of this as I grappled with the text. I had to reflect, man, on the season, man, when my life was blowing up, and I'm popular in this small town of Durham, North Carolina, running with these goons from New York, terrorizing every place we go. I had to

reflect on the girlfriend I had in my time, who was this beautiful Blasian chick, the apartment we had living together. I had to reflect on all of this and how she got into a car crash and came home. And because she was alive, she turns on gospel music and starts praising God. And for the first time, I hear gospel music. For the first time, I see somebody praising God in the circle. And I said, whatever that is, I want it. And I had to reflect on how that season, man, I was suicidal with one botched attempt and depressed on my soul. Luxury car and empty. Beautiful girlfriend and empty. Apartment

completely furnished and empty. Popular in the city and empty. A tribe that nobody wants to fight with in the streets and empty. And I had to reflect on how I crawled into a bathroom on my hands and knees and cried out to a God I did not know existed and how tears of sorrow in that bathroom turned into tears of joy as God revealed himself to me in that bathroom. I had to reflect on how when I came out of that bathroom, man, for the first time, I knew something had happened in my heart, although I could not describe it. I had no framework and no language for what I felt. I had to remember how I crept back into my bedroom that night to lay down with my girlfriend and how the first time I felt guilty

for sexual activity outside of marriage. I had to reflect on how I told her, man, we can't live this way. She gets pregnant that night. I had to reflect on all of this, that my first child is conceived outside of wedlock. I had to reflect on how the very next day after I'm saved, man, I lose my job at the TSA. They drag me out of the airport in handcuffs and say, oh, you got a felony on your record, and because you lied on your application, you can't keep that government clearance. And I have to reflect how I'm sitting in a jail cell for the third time, but this time with peace.

That although there are bars in front of me there is a freedom i feel in my heart that for the first time i know what it is to have peace in the midst of circumstances that was not favorable to me and i had to reflect on the season when we lived in north carolina and now i'm saved and now she's saved and I remember walking my dog around the apartment I hated that dog but I remember walking that dog around the apartment his name was Isaac I hated him right he and I remember walking my dog around the apartment and be looking out into the sky and thinking man one day I'm gonna be up there I remember feeling watch this word joy for the very first time in my life

I remember what it felt like man to start reading the bible like voraciously and studying the scriptures and say I'm seeing God in the scriptures and I'm feeling Jesus in the scriptures I remember what it was like to go back to that bathroom and kneel down in that bathroom with my little scented candle, not sage, my scented candle from Walmart, not sage. And pray in that bathroom with no music. iPhone didn't exist yet. And I remember what it was to sit in that bathroom

and pray and talk to this God and see him answer my prayers in my life. I remember what it was to sit in that bathroom and pray and talk to this God and see him answer my prayers in my life. I remember what I felt like for the first time. I think that this being who I'm reading about in this book is actually listening to me in that place and responding to things in my life and saying, oh snap, this being that I read about in this book, he exists. No longer was he just a name on a page. He was a person that was moving in my life. And I would ask him things in the bathroom and I would see them manifest in my life. And well, God is real. Christ is his son. And I remember this feeling like, Lord, man,

you found me in nothing. You found me when I was dirt. You found me when I was far away, when I was hopeless and had no help in the world. And all I wanted to do was love him and be with him and sing to him and serve him. And I remember falling in love with the church and falling in love with the scriptures and falling in love with the church and fallen in love with the scriptures and fallen in love with brothers and sisters. And for the first time, man, I felt what it felt like to love human beings because I knew not love before that. I had a heart of hatred. I hated women. It's why I used them. And I trust no male. And I had this heart that was darkened. And for the first time, I felt love

for brothers and love for sisters. And for the first time, I felt love for brothers and love for sisters. And for the first time, I felt what it was like, man, to just love. Man, I was in love with Jesus. I was like, oh, snap. Watch, watch, watch. I'm in the kingdom. Oh, snap. I'm in the kingdom of God.

I have access to these promises like, man, I'm a son of righteousness. My name is recorded in heaven. Right? And this is my story of having this, watch, awakening of the awareness of the power of the kingdom. And now I'm inside the kingdom. And I see the beauty of the kingdom. And the value of the kingdom. I have Christ in the kingdom. And the Father of the kingdom. I have Christ in the kingdom and the father in the kingdom and the spirit in the kingdom and the word in the kingdom

and spiritual family in the kingdom and meaning in the kingdom and purpose in the kingdom and strength in the kingdom and redemption in the kingdom. I feel life in the kingdom. I have joy in the kingdom. I have direction in the kingdom. I've been transformed by the kingdom. I have joy in the kingdom. I have direction in the kingdom. I've been transformed by the kingdom. I'm like, man, this thing is the best thing I've ever had. And I reflected on that story. This text, this mirror of the word forced me to reflect on that season. Reflect on what God did. Reflect on my awakening, my salvation, my awareness of the value of the kingdom.

This is my story. And some of you, you have similar stories or different stories but you have some of you the story of coming out of darkness whether in church into the kingdom or in the world into the kingdom and realizing oh snap i'm in i'm in the kingdom and you begin to see the value of the things in the kingdom. You begin to fall in love with it. Your appetite change and your desire change. And you have new love affairs. And you start abandoning all lovers for the Lord Jesus Christ. You love him now.

And he takes your nature and he uses it for his glory. No? Nobody has that testimony? And this is some of our testimony family it is this powerful reality that's sitting just underneath the surface of this text that forced me to reflect on this season right so i have I have to remind you, you recall that I told you just like there's war right now in the Middle East, we are in the middle of a spiritual war. You remember that? It is a war between two kingdoms. You remember that? The kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. You remember that? A kingdom powered by the devil and a kingdom powered by God. You

remember that? You remember that they are in competition for the hearts and souls of men. You remember that. And you remember Jesus came to inaugurate, to bring into the earth the first iteration of that kingdom, spiritual, not physical, in the hearts of men, expanded in every direction from the first century until now. You remember I taught you that one day the kingdom of light will overthrow. The kingdom of darkness and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God. And all of that is in the book of Revelation. And you remember I told you how Jesus came preaching the gospel, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and because he was rejected by the religious elite of the day the pastors of the day the Pharisees of the day and

the heart and hearts of men in a form of judgment he will stop preaching publicly clearly and he will leave for us a archive of encrypted teachings we call parables. And you remember I taught you about the parables, and I taught you about having a biblical worldview, creation, the fall, which explains all of our suffering, redemption, the period we're in right now, God redeeming a tribe of people unto himself, consummation, the end of all things and new creation the end of the book of revelation nobody's gonna stop that

and i remember i told you that jesus began teaching these parables he starts off with the parable of the sower and then the parable of the weeds and then the parable of the weeds, and then the parable of the leaven, and the mustard seed. Watch. And then Jesus would wrap up, finish this periscope, this section of parabolic teachings with these three last short powerful parables this is how he finishes this periscope of teaching Matthew chapter 13 and beginning in verse 44 he says to them the kingdom of heaven is like and I just want to say something about the words kingdom of heaven.

In other books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, other gospels, you will see kingdom of God. Kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are the same. They are synonymous. The only reason Matthew uses kingdom of heaven because he's writing to a Jewish audience. And because God was so holy, they would not just say his name flippantly. So instead of saying kingdom of God, Yahweh without the vowels, he changes the kingdom of heaven so his Jewish audience would not be offended. That's the genius author. He said the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.

Which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, watch, so powerful, he goes and sells all that he has and he buys the field. Now family, to understand the words of Jesus, we need to understand context. Notice he gives us no definition, no application, no exegesis of the parable. So in order to understand the parable, we got to understand context. Like I told you, I've kept a journal for 20 years. If you read something I wrote 20 years ago, you would have to understand the context in which I live to understand what I wrote, right? So in the first century, he's talking in an era where there are no banks. There are no financial institutions. There is no Bank of America. There is no BBNT, if that still exists, right? There is no bank. There is no locked boxes. So he's talking to them

in a context in which anytime people had valuables, if they didn't want their valuables or their possessions to be, watch, stolen, they would hide it in their house so it would not be stolen. You remember the Sermon on the Mount. Don't store up treasures for yourself where people break in and steal, right? So he's talking to people in a war-torn nation, a rugged nation. They would hide things in their homes. But watch, for any reason, because of war, they had to leave their homes. Pay attention. They would take their treasures, some earrings, a bracelet, something valuable, watch, and they would dig a hole in the ground and bury it in the ground. They would cover it up, and then they would leave their homes with

the hopes that one day, whether they return from exile, they would come back to their treasure, dig it back up and have it so the ground was like a bank. Do you understand that? Pay attention. So the ground was like a bank. Now, if a person working in a field, you stub your toe, you see a box in a field, you see something glistening, man, and you dug that up and you found treasure in a field, you could then take that treasure if nobody came back to claim it. Watch. Watch. But if you worked for someone else who owned the field and took up that treasure, because you are an employee and not an employer, the treasure would belong to the owner of the field. So Jesus says a man was in a field and finds treasure. Watch.

And then he realizes the treasure he found is so valuable, while nobody's looking, he covers it back up. Watch. Forget about his ethics. Like Rahab lying, forget about his ethics. Sometimes you got to be unethical to get to God, right? Forget about his ethics. Sometimes you got to be unethical to get to God, right? Forget about his ethics. He covers up his treasure, watch this, and then he leaves. And then the scripture says, Jesus, he went and sells everything that he has,

which means he was a poor man. So this man goes out from the treasure. This is so powerful to me. He thinks about what he found was so valuable. He goes back to his poverty. He goes back to his house and he goes digging in his couch, digging in his jars. He liquidates everything that he has. He takes the scraps of what he takes, the shirt off his back. He takes the little of what he has. He's a poor man, but takes everything he owns as a poor man.

Comes back to the owner and buys the field. He's a poor man. Watch who takes everything he owns and comes back to the owner who says this raggedy field you've been working in. I want to buy this field. And he buys this field so that he can go back later and dig up the treasure so that when he dug up the treasure, it would belong to him. He pushed through his poverty. This is so powerful. He got rid of all of his possessions. He took everything he had. Watch this. Watch this. And he did it with, watch this word, joy. Watch. Something in him was so happy

about what he found. He thought it was absolutely necessary to give up everything. Watch. To have it. Now watch. Verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. Who on finding one pearl of great value, not Mormonism. Not the pearl of great price. not false books and false religion. Finds a pearl of great value, of great price, went and saw all that he had and bought it. So now here is not a poor man, but a rich man, who in this context, pay attention,

there were merchants who would travel all around. They was on ships in search of jewelry and gold and pearls and nice treasures. Watch. They would find treasures and sell treasures and find treasure and sell treasure and they would build up a fortune from finding and selling treasure.

Then watch. It was always in the pursuit of the next best thing. Pay attention. So they would find the treasure, and on this one treasure hunt, this merchant finds a pearl. Watch, this is so powerful. A pearl that comes out of an oyster that gets agitated by a piece of dirt and coats that dirt with a gel that becomes a pearl. So something that is agitated creates something that is beautiful. I'm going to come back to all of this. Don't worry. I'm going to come back to all of that. He finds this one pearl and he says to him, oh my son, this pearl

is so valuable. Watch. Now a rich man, not a poor man, goes back to everything he has, his businesses, his assets, his portfolio, his stocks. He liquidates all of it. Watch. For this one pearl. It was so valuable, he thought nothing else he had was more valuable than that pearl. Now, everybody pay attention. These two parables speak to us about two human conditions. Look at me. The first man stumbled onto a treasure that he was not looking for. So powerful. He has no knowledge it exists. He is not looking for it.

He is not trying to out there. He's not treasure hunting. Watch. He's not treasure hunting. He just stumbles into this treasure, realizes this value, and gets rid of everything he has to get it. Family, this is akin to those of us like me, Philip Anthony Mitchell, who had no knowledge the kingdom existed. No knowledge God was real. No knowledge that Jesus was more than a man in a book. This is akin to every single

one of us who have the story that when you was not looking for God, I can't, nobody wants to be honest. When he was not on your radar, when the kingdom was not on your radar, when we was in the club and not thinking about him at all, his eyes was upon us anyway. And how in our, watch this word, ignorance of the kingdom, we stumble into it by the grace of God. We are saved and rescued and redeemed and brought into the kingdom. And now we have this joy like oh snap i wasn't even looking for god he wasn't even on my radar but i was on his radar are there any people in this room watching me right now who stumbled into the kingdom you wasn't looking for God, but he was looking for you.

Do I got anybody that knows what it is? That you was ignorant of the kingdom and you stumbled into the kingdom and you look back over your shoulder and say, God, I'm so thankful that you kept me when I was out there. Look at me. John 4, this is like the woman at the well

who ain't looking for God. She ends up at a well trying to be by herself, trying to avoid community and bumps into the Messiah. And she's brought into the kingdom. She finds a treasure in a field that she was not looking for. But then the merchant, watch, who knew about treasure.

I'm going somewhere with this. Who was always in the search for the next pearl. He is akin to those of us who have the counterfeit pearls of house and the counterfeit pearls of car and the counterfeit pearls of car and the counterfeit pearls of business and the counterfeit pearls of entrepreneurial ventures and the counterfeit pearls of men and the counterfeit pearls of women. All these things we think are going to satisfy the human soul. So we're constantly in pursuit of all of these counterfeit pearls.

Counterfeit pearl of religion. Trying to search for truth. You've been around church your whole life, but not really saved. And then in a moment, in a season of searching, man, by the power of regeneration, you're brought into the kingdom. and then you realize all these other pearls that I've been trying to

use to satisfy my soul they are nothing they are nothing compared to the treasure of the kingdom of God man I was in church and was away from God I was on the choir and far from God I was hearing sermons and far from God I was in church and was away from God. I was on the choir and far from God. I was hearing sermons and far from God. I was building my business and far from God. I was building my status and far from God. I'm blowing up on social media and far from God. Man, all these counterfeit pearls until you are regenerated and realize nothing compares to the Lord Jesus Christ. So you're constantly searching, searching, searching. Anybody who's been like this, searching, searching.

Is the Bible real? And can we believe what it says? And does God exist? And was Jesus more than a prophet? Searching, searching, searching. Some of you, your testimonies you were searching and God brought you into the kingdom your search led you to the Lord Jesus Christ anybody like that searching searching searching you knew God existed you knew who Jesus was you heard about the kingdom, but in your heart, searching, searching, searching,

hopping in and out of beds, searching in and out of jobs, searching in and out of businesses, searching in and out of books, reading articles, reading other religious texts, searching, searching, searching. And then god saves you

this is like look at me nicodemus john 3 who came to jesus at night searching asking questions asking him questions that's the conversation where we get for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life that wasn't a sermon that was a conversation between Christ and one man who was searching searching searching who would eventually get saved saved saved how do we know because when Christ is crucified, everyone is gone, gone, gone. And who takes his body down from the cross? Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, two rich men. At the tomb, he was buried and belonged to a rich man. So we know that Nicodemus in his searching,

searching, searching, eventually finds the kingdom. That's some of your story. And what he's trying to communicate, Jesus says, man, the kingdom is so valuable. The kingdom, salvation, being rescued from eternal damnation, having your name written in the book of life, having the promises of the scriptures, knowing jesus is your lord and your savior god is your father the holy spirit lives on the inside of you he's saying man the kingdom is so valuable is there anything you possess in this life that's more valuable than the kingdom is there a a house, a car, a business opportunity, your children, your marriage? Is there anything you possess in this life

that's more valuable than salvation, more valuable than the kingdom, more valuable than the promises of God. No. No. And that's why we really don't make no sacrifices for Jesus. We worship him with joy and labor with joy. And we want to put our hearts on the altar. We want to serve him. We want to love him, man, because when we consider the treasure of the kingdom, it's like, man, there is nothing I can put my hands on that's

more valuable than the kingdom. Does anyone in this room, anybody watching me live right now, look at me. Is there any of you watching me live right now or anyone in this room can tell me anything more valuable than salvation, than Christ, than God the Father, the Holy Spirit, than the Word of God, than my name being in the book of life, than knowing I have eternal life now and I will die and live with Jesus forever? Is there anything you have or I have that's more valuable than the kingdom? Can anybody tell me anything more valuable? A husband? No. A wife? No. A job? No. A car? No. A business? No. Your dreams? No. Your visions? No. There is nothing you have more valuable than the kingdom, man. We will be willing to give it away. Watch. All for the kingdom, man. If I had to choose between my family and the kingdom, I'm alone.

If I had to choose between ministry and the kingdom, I'm alone. If I had to choose between anything and the kingdom, there is nothing in this life more valuable than the kingdom. Don't we know a man who was rich and famous and educated and noble and powerful and all of that, who said something about this? His name was Paul. He wrote to the church in Philippians, Philippians 7, verse 7 through 8, chapter 3. He said, but whatever I have gained, I counted it as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count how many things? Everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Jesus, my Lord, for his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things

and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. How's that for your American Christianity? How is that for everything American preaching making your heart salivate for above Christ? it's like he is not enough you need Christ and your vision you need Christ and your husband you need Christ and your wife you need Christ and this money you need Christ and this wealth you need Christ and all these other things like all this preaching that make us feel like he is not enough to satisfy the soul. That all these other things are just gravy on the steak and mashed potatoes of my savior.

But because of the corruption of our preaching, you don't see the kingdom as that valuable. So your heart is always sick and depressed about what you don't have because you don't value the intangible things that you do have. And so even if I don't have something tangible, I can still have joy in my heart. Because if I can't pay the bill, but I'm in the kingdom. I may be single, but I'm in the kingdom. I may have tinnitus in my left ear, but I'm in the kingdom. My ministry may not be where I want it to be, but I'm in the kingdom. I may have enemies, but I'm in the kingdom. I may have suffered betrayals, but I'm in the kingdom. I may have sick relatives, but I'm in the kingdom. My problem, fill in the blank, the other sentence, but I'm in the kingdom though. My fill in the blank but I'm in the kingdom though. Thank you, Lord.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Every time the enemy makes your heart sick over some unanswered prayer or something you don't have or some area of your life you think is broken, every time you shed a tear over something you think is not right, just ask yourself where's your name recorded? Ask yourself who is your father? Ask yourself who is your Lord? Ask yourself what promises belong to you? Ask yourself what tribe you belong to? Ask yourself about where you have been positioned in eternity. Ain't nothing in this life, not hell, not principalities, not troubles, not anything,

not any answer prayer is going to rob me of my praise. And what are we talking about? Not even the transition of a wife can rob me of my praise of what I owe my Lord because I will see her again because we are in the kingdom. The kingdom. Too many American Christians, y'all only get happy about these trinkets and toys. You keep listening to me preach this book, you're going to be happy about the things that nobody can't take away from you. The devil can't take your name out that book. He can't take you away from

the kingdom. I want you to have joy about the things he can't steal from you. He can take my house, but can't take the kingdom. He can take my car, but can't take the kingdom. He can take my wife, but can't take the kingdom. He can take my house, but can't take the kingdom. Somebody give Jesus praise. Let's pray. Let's pray. You stripped me of everything. You can't take away from me. The kingdom.

So we've learned to be content. You stripped me of everything. But you can't take away from me. The kingdom. The kingdom. Oh, how I love the kingdom. Oh, how I'm so thankful to be in the kingdom. Oh how I cherish the kingdom. Oh Jesus. Watch how he finishes.

He says, and again, verse 47 of chapter 13, and the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered the fish of every kind. Pay attention, please. And when it was full, men drew it to shore and sat down and sorted out the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. Stop. He said, the kingdom is like a dragnet. I'm almost done. Everybody pay attention. Pay attention. I'm almost finished. He said, watch kingdom is like a dragnet. I'm almost done. Everybody pay attention. Pay attention. I'm almost finished. He said, watch, look at me.

The kingdom is like a dragnet. A dragnet was a large square net. Have weights on the bottom that would sink down to the bottom of a lake. And it would have floats on the top. It would be attached to two boats. And as the boats were sailing from the middle of the lake towards the shore and the weight was being dragged on the bottom, you have this massive wall like a net.

And as they dragged the net to the shore, it would just capture everything inside the net. Every fish, every eel, every snake, all of it would get gathered inside the net. And as they got to the shore, they would take the net onto the shore. They would pick through the net. And because they were Jews and they had to do kosher,

there were certain fish they couldn't eat. So they would take out the bad fish and throw it away. They would take the good fish and they would keep it in a safe place. Watch. And as they pass through the water, nothing will escape the path of the net.

You understand that? Watch. Watch. Verse 49. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous.

Dang. And throw them into the fiery furnace. And in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So you see in the parable,

the net is the gospel and the plan of God. It's sweeping through the earth. Every human being is going to get caught in the net. No one will escape the net. And the sea is the world. And as the net is passing through the sea, every human being is going to get swept up in the plan of God. And in that net are those who put their faith in Christ and those who reject Christ and travel to the seashore until the net is full, full is the time we have to get right with God

before that net reaches the seashore. Because once the net reaches the seashore, once the end of the age has come, there is no more second chance. There is no more God forgive me. Once that net arrives on the shore, once we get to consummation, at the end of this era of redemption,

God is going to send his angels out from heaven. And like the parable of the weeds, there will be a great separation at the end. But God will separate out. Notice the focus of this parable is not on the righteous the focus on this parable is the judgment of the unbeliever the judgment of the atheist the judgment of the false christian and he said the only time you have is while that net is traveling to the shore. Because once that net hit the shore, once the end comes, there will be no second chance. There will be no more, God, let me in. There is coming a separation, a judgment.

And Jesus says, again, in that place, there's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Man, I don't care about any of your false theologians that say hell doesn't exist. Do we believe Christ or do we believe men? You've heard people say there's no way God could have created a place so horrific. And the words of the scriptures doesn't even do it justice. Out of darkness, being totally alone, you receive a body that's fit for destruction. The worst part of hell is not even the fire and the torments and the harvest of hell. The worst part of it is that God is not there. And the worst part of it is that there is no getting out like I want you

to wrap your mind around this family listen man there are people dying every day going there listen to me they money can't save them their morality can't save them their church attendance can't save them you know what it is to wake up in a place separated from the presence of God you get a brand new body fit for destruction you're being tormented in flames and darkness and agony the scripture says there is weeping that is sorrow there is gnashing of teeth that is pain and the mentality to know I am never getting out of this some of you you have suffered with something for 10 years 20 years 30 years we complaining about things we gotta if the

Lord don't never heal my ear if I die at 80 with a damaged airdrome that's nothing compared to being separated from God for all eternity. And why don't you care about this? Why doesn't this bother you? Why are you not praying for your lost family members? Why are you not praying for people in the gym or wherever you go and you see the unbeliever? Why don't you support gospel ministry? Why don't you support ministries or missionaries? Why do you harbor everything to yourself?

Why do you not care about the advancement of gospel? Why do you think Christianity is only about this gathering? No biblical worldview. You want proof? This is what Jesus wants you to be thinking about? All I've been doing was walking you through the scriptures and just listen to what Jesus keeps bringing you back to over and over and over.

Not wealth. Not happiness. Not your vision board. Listen, just listen. Just take all my sermons and throw them away. And just read the Bible. See what the Lord keeps bringing you. You know what he keeps bringing you back to?

A biblical worldview. Time is running out. Serve me while you're in the kingdom. Make the gospel known. Pray my will be done in the earth. Serve me well. Keep your mind fixed on eternity, fixed on heaven. He keeps focusing your attention up. He keeps trying to detach you from being so overly attached to the things of this life. This ain't Philip Anthony Mitchell. This is Jesus the Lord. I'm just reading to you what he taught.

And look where he keeps bringing your mind back to. And for you, you think this preaching is boring, so you're going to leave next week and go sit down somewhere where they make you feel cushy and awesome and they overdo Jesus' love and all that nonsense. So you keep hearing sermons that make you think Christianity is about your comfort and your happiness and your wants and your desires, and it's not a response to the cross and the life of sacrifice that I watch like the two parables give away all. Even my own dreams for the sake of, Lord, what do you want me to do? That's understanding

the value of your rescue. The only response to rescue is surrender. How do I know Jesus wants you to think about this? Ask me, how do I know? Ask me. Ask me louder. Look at the last two verses. Verse 51. He says to his disciples, after they heard everything you've heard since the start of this section of teaching, have you understood all these things? He asked them, what things? The parable of the sower? The parable of the weeds? The parable of the sower? The parable of the weeds?

The parable of the leaven? The parable of the mustard seed? Heaven and hell? The end times? What you need to be doing right now? Have you understood all these things? He said to them. He wants his people to understand.

It's not enough for you to have intellectual knowledge if it doesn't reach the heart. He wants his followers to understand, to sit in gatherings like this and hear the proclamation and your heart be burned like, Lord, I need to be praying. I need to be giving. I need to be serving you. I need to be looking out for those who are unsaved. Man, I need to be sharing the gospel on my social media. Like he wants you to be salt and light. You forgot that? We're just walking through Matthew. Can't you hear the Spirit of God saying to some of you right now, my son, my daughter, what do I have to do? Do you not understand? What voices are you listening to? Do you understand all these things?

He's asking for understanding. Why? Because understanding brings transformation in the heart. They said to him, yes. And he said to them, therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasures, treasures, treasures what is new and what is old. I said, preacher, I don't understand. He said, every scribe, look at me, I'm done. Every scribe who is trained in the kingdom of heaven. What was a scribe?

A person who handled the scriptures. He says, every one of you who have listened to my teaching. Have you been listening to his teaching? Yes. If you've been at 2019, you've been listening to his teaching. He said, so every one of you that has been, watch this. Watch. Trained in my teaching.

Pay attention. You're like a scribe, the master of a house. And what does a master of a house do? He brings out of his house the treasures that are new, watch, and the treasures that are old. There's a preacher, I don't get it. What are old treasures? If he's talking about the scriptures, what treasures is he talking about? The Old Testament. The knowledge we have of the Old Testament. The foundation of where the faith came from. The origin of all things.

The promise of the Messiah. The words of God in the Old Testament. That is the old treasures. And what are the new treasures? things jesus was teaching them now the new testament that was being formed that he says if you understand my teaching from the old to the new man watch bring out those treasures you know what he's saying man stop being so quiet you learn proclaim you learn proclaim, proclaim. Make my treasures known. How will they hear if my people don't speak? Or do you only think it's my responsibility?

You learn something in your devotional time from the Old Testament. Make it known. You learn something in your devotional time from the Old Testament. Make it known. You learn something from a message on Sunday morning. Make it known. I want you to bring out of the old and the new. The treasures of the word of God. And make it known. Be hearers of the word.

Doers of the word. Proclaimers of the word doers of the word proclaimers of the word that if you have a biblical worldview if you understand we're living in the hour of redemption if you understand that a judgment is coming why are you not praying speaking serving giving why are you not busy about getting the message to as many people as possible what are you doing with your time is your life even gonna matter when it's over are you gonna be a salt with no saltiness that he can't use. I mean, come on, Christians. What good are you if you're not involved in the work of the kingdom? You become like worthless to him. This life is not about him making you comfortable. This life is about you serving him for the spread of the gospel. See, and because you sit in American churches, you got Christianity all wrong. The utopia you trying to build is your next life.

And you sit there with those dead eyes and you look at me like I'm confused, but you're not reading the scriptures. You didn't hear nothing in here about your comfort. You didn't hear nothing in here about your comfort you will hear nothing in here about all of your desires you didn't hear nothing in here about everything you want all you keep hearing from Jesus is I bought you I own you live for me I'm gonna hook you up when you die. And this life, be fruitful for me. And whatever lane I put you in, and whatever state I put you in, be fruitful for me. Y'all think I was like this when I got a church, man? Nah, I was acting like this when I was first saved,

preaching the gospel in parks, in the streets, sharing Jesus everywhere before there was social media that made it easy, and y'all won't even use that. All your Christianity is about is your begging for what you want next. And in the absence of prayer, you stay depressed instead of pivoting to say, let me be fruitful while I'm waiting. So what do I do with this message? Have you seen? Have you heard?

Do you understand? Then do something with it. My prayer for you, man, come on, is that you would stop crawling in here, running to and fro to all these churches. Like, my prayer for you is that something on the inside of you would, like, you would hear the voice of your Savior crying out to you. Who can I send? Who can I send? And something in you, like, I wish something would just click in you right now in this moment. Say, you know what? Enough is enough.

Lord, I put my life on the altar. I'm going to live for you. I'm going to pray your will. I'm going to read your word. I'm going to serve you in some capacity. I'm going to live for you. I'm going to pray your will. I'm going to read your word. I'm going to serve you in some capacity. I'm going to be generous my whole life in response to what you have done. I will serve you until I die, and my reward will be my crown. Is that you?

Is that what you want? I want to pray for only those who have seen and heard and understand. That is the best life you can live right now. Total devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Like everything you're trying to build outside of him is going to burn up. And then do you even have the courage to come back next week to hear what I got to say? Or you're going to go find some place where you're going to be comfortable in sin and they keep you comfortable in lies. Like, come on, man. Man, you built for more than that.

God wired you for purpose. He wired you for meaning. He wired you to care. He wired you to cry. He wired you to pray. He wired you to be a proclaimer of the gospel. He wired you, man, to push the kingdom forward. That's what he wired you for. All of your flaws and your failures, your strengths and your weaknesses. Father Father Awaken Your sons and daughters

Breathe on them right now I know I know the culture we live in is so materialistic and we're so inundated with so much junk but God someway somehow I pray that in this moment sons and daughters would be awakened. That they would see through a biblical worldview that time is running out, consummation is coming. That they would be awakened to surrender, to service, to love. They would see the value of the kingdom. They would want to live a life totally surrendered to you.

Deliver them from idolatry, from the worship of themselves and idols. God, please show them how good you have been to them in salvation. That you'll give them everything they need for life and godliness. That there is nothing you can give greater than your son. And we won't even appreciate you for that, God. We want all these trinkets and toys. God, please, awaken sons and daughters wherever this message is heard.

Awaken them, God. Burn them right now in their hearts. Fill them with the joy of the kingdom, God. Burn them right now in their hearts. Fill them with the joy of the kingdom, Lord, please. And send them out of this place, out of this moment with a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning. Let their hearts be fixed on you and fixed on the kingdom.

Let them go outside of this building and be like, it's warfare, it's joy, it's your work. Like, God, all of me for all of you. I pray that over them and I pray over the unbeliever under the sound of my voice that you would rescue them right now. Draw them into the kingdom. Open their blinded eyes.

Save them even as I'm proclaiming the word. Let them be saved. Fill them with your spirit. Transform them even right now. Make them brothers and sisters. I pray this over all of them in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ. I wish I had anybody to just say amen and amen and amen. Put your hands together.