Brother Gary Sunday Morning 3/22/15

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 3/22/15

Mat 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

The kingdom of God is not as a pot of gold in a field.  It is as a mine.  When you find it and begin mining, it is as veins of gold that go every direction in the Word of God. 

The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God and God’s church.  Romans 14:17 it is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  We are thankful that we know what the kingdom of God is. 

It is a great treasure.  Greater than we can tell you.  God is awesome and His kingdom is a wonderful kingdom, a marvelous life and instruction. 

The kingdom of God is as a treasure hid in a field.  Not a literal kingdom visible to the eye, not a throne set up with a king sitting upon it with subjects. It is a spiritual kingdom.  It is sad that most people are willing to live with it hid from them.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Righteousness is a part of the kingdom.  The thought of decisions without the thought of consequence has been mentioned by many.  The children in this audience may or may not have reached the age of accountability.  But even without a decision, “I am just getting through life, school, the job…”  That will have its consequence.  Don’t allow the kingdom of God to be hid from you.

Blessed are they that hunger.

You can have the kingdom of God.  You can have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost today.  It will never be easier at a later day.  We have millions of examples of people that delayed getting saved.  “We’ll just lay God aside for a while.  At a more convenient time we will pick Him up.” 

King Agrippa said the same thing.  “At a more convenient time.”  One thing I know and you know if you stop to think about it.  The world blinds people from seeing the kingdom of God.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

It is a command to love not the world.  “I am just going to play around this for a little while.”  John Miller let someone have $50,000 and they said they would bring back $100,000 or a million if they could just have the $50,000…  You cannot play with the world without losing.

It is not possible to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love the world, something tangible.  You have to love God. 

We live in a world that is full of disappointments.  Millions even today are saying, “I thought things would turn out better.”  There is only one way for things to turn out better.  It is when we serve God and determine, “I am going to find this treasure.  I am going to work this mine of the kingdom of God.  I am going to work this motherlode.” 

There are all the veins of precious stones and gold in the Word of God.  It is designed to satisfy the soul of children, young people, single individuals, married couples, widows, and widowers. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The world and the lusts of the flesh make an appeal to every age.  Sometimes we think, “That little bit of worldliness won’t damn the soul of the child.”  It may set the pattern for life for them.  

Whatever position we are in, the parents are in a wonderful position because those children are yours.

You can say, “I have a conviction.”  It doesn’t matter what the conviction is.  Some may say it is fanatical, you have a heart, a soul, and a spirit.  As you are convicted; one thing we need to remember is how the world disappointed us.  Don’t think for a minute that the world won’t do the same to all your children, your grandchildren, great grandchildren.

The world ruins lives, marriages.  We have this mine full of veins of gold.  We must work the mine; we must work the vein. 

You husbands, we are glad that you are here.  We challenge you to work, pray, and be heads of the home.  If you have an unsaved husband, then dig around in that mine.  Pray.  Fast and pray.  Go to Isaiah and hold onto that vein of gold with one hand and the vein of silver with the other hand and pray.

We are created to love God and to be loved of God.  There was a Jewish lady that wrote a song, “There is nothing sadder in all creation than a soul in isolation away from God …”

The world takes people’s love but it cannot give love back.  Love is holy.  The world, the lusts of the flesh, it will take our love but it cannot give love back. 

The lusts of the eyes will cause us to look to whatever it might be.  There is a way for a dream, a hope, or a visual of “How beautiful that looks.”  Hold on.  Those things cannot give love back.  The crocuses and daffodils are beautiful.  The forsythia are beautiful.  I would like to get you all in front of it and take your picture.  You may love the picture but the picture will not love you back.  It will leave you empty. 

I am not against pictures and photographs.  They are on our wall.  I appreciate how my wife decorates.  I like seeing the pictures.  But loving those pictures will not give me any love back.  

Loving the world only leaves us full of disappointments.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

This is not of the father.  All of us that had good fathers, and godly fathers that loved us, they drew lines.  I can still remember my dad drawing lines.  You parents don’t be afraid to draw lines.  Don’t be afraid to be misunderstood.  Don’t worry about what the town says.  If you are convicted then draw a good line.

My dad drew lines because he knew that if that door were opened, I would be opened to something that could destroy my life.  You children are given parents to draw those lines.

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The whole world, those things that promise individuals happiness, success, joy, life pleasure.  The bible says they will pass away.  Go visit the rest home.  You will see people whose world has passed away.  What motivated them and controlled their lives is gone. 

Have you ever wondered why those that were successful quit?  Their love passed, their world passed.  Why do people drink?  Why do people take drugs?  Why do men father children and then not be dads to those children?  Why do girls get in trouble?  They are seeking for something and so soon it passes away.

The desires fade away.  The world is gone.  You all know the hymn story of “Just as I Am.”  Charlotte Elliot had been an entertainer, but it lost its appeal.  She lived in isolation a lonely life. 

I want to tell you, we are so blessed.  The kingdom of heaven is as a treasure that is as a mine.  It is unending resources for the soul.  It wasn’t so real to me that the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy as it as a leaven that has been growing.  It is as leaven designed to grow in our soul.  It becomes bigger and more real to us daily as we travel through the day, “I want righteousness, peace, and I want joy.” 

As my body tires, I get extremely weary.  I have been convicted to go back and pray, “Thy kingdom come.”  It is just as real when we are exhausted as when we are rested. 

It is as a mine, a marvelous mine.  Supposing the mineral rights on the Snead’s property have not been sold.  Suppose Brother Jim is out there digging around, and as one of the brothers helps, they scrape the ground and there is mineral.  “This is a gold mine!”  They start using hammers and chisels and take the ore in and it is a lot of money. 

“I can buy more cattle.”  They then need more land.  One thing leads to another and to another and soon there is quite a hole dug there.  It turns out it is the motherlode.  They cannot even estimate its value.  They hear of someone with a need and they take the hammer and chisel and send some money to the saints in Cuba.  And send Brother Figueroa $10,000 for their next convention. 

It would take care of the financial needs, but it would not take care of the spiritual needs.  The motherlode of the kingdom is designed to take care of more than our financial needs.  It takes care of the sin business.  Gold can cause people to wander away.  The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, we know where it puts people.  There is something about this treasure hid in the field.  It has unending resources for the soul. 

This mother lode is designed to provide for the emotional needs of those that have lost the one that cared for them.  You that have had unfaithful companions; I will not try to describe your pain or what you felt.  There is one thing that I know.  There is the motherlode and veins that supply all emotional and spiritual needs.

The emotional needs of us parents: for every parent with a son or daughter in spiritual trouble this morning.  The saints will give everything they have, but there is a resource that will give you strength, support, and hope. 

There will be a lot of worldly counselors for the precious young people.  “You will really do good in this world and go a long ways.”  I am not against education.  These days you need education to get a good job.  Listen to that mom and dad that are saved.  Before you buy into that same story that the song, “Pick me up on your way down,” tells; they had an excellent picture of the world. 

The world inoculates young people and children with pride, “I’m going to be able to conquer.  I can partake of things that are questionable without it hurting me.”  No.  That is the inoculation of children and young people with pride.

They think, “I am going to be able to go that way and I am going to be the exception.”  They begin in their mind to live a fantasy.  The inoculation makes them deaf and numb.  The presence of God and conviction gets less and less.  Then one day it is as whoever wrote the song said, the crash comes. 

Stars of man’s making have short duration.  Very talented people: the world stands in applause for a moment and then crash, they are gone. 

The kingdom of God is as a treasure, unending resources for the soul, the mind, and the body.  The treasure is hid.  The proud, the self-righteous, the worldly ambitious, the undisciplined, the religious, or good without God will never see the kingdom. 

The treasure can be found.