Buy the Field

12.4.2022

In a day, where many people feel stuck and are waiting for the next “bad” thing to happen. I want to encourage you to go all in for Jesus.

Matthew 13:44-46 (AMPC)

44 The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.

45 Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls,

46 Who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.

2 Perspectives:

1. To Jesus, we are the pearl of great price
2. To the Church, Jesus is the Pearl of Great Price

The proper response from either perspective is to joyfully sell all or give all to buy what is precious. Salvation can not be earned; it is a gift. I am talking about how we choose to live our lives.

Ex. Selling or Buying a House

When buying or selling a house you have to make choices and adjustments. How much to offer, what items will you get rid of or keep, etc. are all choices to be made. Because we are so joyful/happy about our new purchase (which is regarded as precious) our actions begin to match our joy. We talk about it over and over, we drive past it a few times, we constantly check to see if Zillow has updated the information on their website, etc.

Buying/Selling is a process.

Spiritually, there is a process to buy the field. It’s a slow process called death.

Matthew 16:24 is the slow and repetitious process of dying.

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

Philippians 2:5-8 (KJV)

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Deny Yourself

To deny oneself, is to decline the gratification of appetites or desires; to refrain from; to abstain.

https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/deny

Choosing ourselves is denying Him. Yes to myself is a No to Him.

• Yes to a relationship that takes precedence over Him is denying the Lord
• Dealing with loss, and not allowing the Comforter to comfort us is denying the Lord
• Choosing what I want over His will is denying the Lord
• Having sickness and not believing that the Healer can/will heal is denying the Lord
• Disobedience to the Word is denying the Lord

Ex: Losing our boy

2 Timothy 2:12

12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us.

Fear causes Peter to deny Jesus. (John 18:27)

Previous hurts may cause us to deny Jesus entry into areas of our lives.

It’s basic human instinct to protect ourselves. Typically, this behavior spills into every area of our lives and we begin to bring meaning and satisfaction to our own selves instead of getting these things from God.

Psalm 62:5-6

5 My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. 6 He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.

Psalm 40:8-10 (AMPC)

8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; yes, Your law is within my heart. 9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly [tidings of uprightness and right standing with God]. Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O Lord. 10 I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart; I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I have not hid away Your steadfast love and Your truth from the great assembly.

Psalm 42:1-2 (AMPC)

1 As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

Psalm 63:1-8 (AMPC)

1 O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is. 2 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. 4 So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips 6 When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches. 7 For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. 8 My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.

“At our first entrance into the school of waiting upon God, the heart is mainly set on the blessings which we wait for. God graciously uses our needs and desires for help to educate us for something higher than we were thinking of. We were seeking gifts; He the Giver, longs to give Himself and to satisfy the soul with His goodness.”

Murray, A. (1981). To Know His Goodness. In Andrew Murray on Prayer (p. 290). essay, Whitaker House.

Psalm 119:57

You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to keep Your words.

“Satisfaction with God causes satisfaction with other things to decrease.” -Eric Gilmour

If Jesus isn’t your portion, then something else is.

What are you finding enjoyment in besides Jesus?

The child of God will obey willingly and joyfully. The person in love will gladly deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Jesus.

Philippians 3:8 (AMPC)

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Him

No child of God is exempt from the privilege of dying. This is the example set by Jesus Himself.

Matthew 16:21-23

21 From that time forth Jesus began [clearly] to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised from death. 22 Then Peter took Him aside to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You! 23 But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.

Death and suffering make us uncomfortable. We try to avoid them if at all possible. But there is glory in the hard places.

Picking up your cross means that I choose God’s way over my own, regardless of how it looks and feels.

Jesus left the comfort of Heaven to come to earth. Sweating drops of blood He put His own will aside, to accomplish the Father’s will. He couldn’t bear to be without the Father’s presence. Carrying the literal weight of our sins on his back, He was forsaken by the Father.

Picking up your cross means laying aside your will for the Father’s will, neglecting your feelings and desires.

John 12:24

24 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.

2 Corinthians 4:17

17 For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!]

Luke 4- Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the spirit.

Daniel 3- Hebrew boys in the furnace

Genesis 32-Jacob wrestles with God in the midst of a challenge and prevails!

Acts of the Apostles – many of them were killed for the sake of the gospel so that the Kingdom of God would spread.

Glory only comes on the other side of adversity!

The good news is that God won’t leave you alone in the midst of the challenge!

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

I’m blown away at those that have loved the Lord more than their own happiness and comforts!

The Apostle Peter

When persuaded to flee from martyrdom, Peter saw the Lord Jesus. He asked Jesus where He was going. The Lord replied, “to be crucified again”. This time Peter followed Jesus to the cross.

Foxe, J. (2008). Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Volume I. BiblioLife.

The Apostle Paul

Acts 20:18-24 (NKJV)

18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; 20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Acts 21:11-13 (NKJV)

11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Moravian Missionaries

Two young missionaries from Germany sold themselves into slavery to preach the gospel to slaves on an island. They were in their 20’s. They were never seen again by family and friends. Linking arms with each other as their boat sailed off, one of them shouted “May the Lamb that was slain, receive the reward of His suffering!”

Brother Yun

A Chinese preacher who would not stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in China. Beaten mercilessly, imprisoned, and missed seeing his children grow up! He joyfully suffered for the name of the Lord!

What about you?

Your physical life may not be required, but are you willing to go all in for the Lord? You are called by God to be in the spheres of influence that He has placed you in. What are you doing with it? Are you choosing yourself, your comfort and happiness, or His?

Have you stopped the transaction process of buying the field? The field has no value if Jesus and the Kingdom of God aren’t precious to you. Sell it all and buy the field.

Action Points:

1. Ask yourself, Do I love Jesus enough to “sell all”?
2. Ask the Lord what He wants from you?
3. Ask yourself, “Am I willing to give it up?”