SEARCHING FOR TREASURE
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 12:13-21, LUKE 12:32-34
1977
Throughout history, individuals have been engaged in a search for treasure. Hernán Cortés sought the treasure of the Aztecs in Mexico. He so greatly sought that treasure that he was willing to kill Montezuma even after Montezuma had offered him gold and pearls as a token of friendship. Francisco Pizarro sought the treasure of the Incas in Peru. Perhaps the most exciting of all those treasure seekers, if not the most intelligent, was Coronado.
In 1540, Coronado set forth to find the seven lost cities of gold. These seven lost cities of gold were famed in Native American legend. Coronado set forth with 300 men wearing steel helmets and fully clothed in armor and soldiers’ gear in the dead of summer. They marched north from Mexico into the southern deserts of North America. They, however, did not find seven cities, let alone seven cities of gold. They did come across a few Native American pueblos. Eventually, they came upon the Grand Canyon, which I suppose is something of a scenic treasure in its own right, but it meant very little to Coronado. When they saw the great walls of the Grand Canyon, the scribe of Coronado merely referred to them as riverbanks in his account. He wrote, “Then we came upon some riverbanks.” I suppose the scribe of Coronado was a master of the understatement, and we can probably excuse him because by this time his brain was baking under his steel helmet. Coronado continued on. They did not reach the point of total frustration, total futility, until they reached the geographical area now known as Kansas. While I am sure that many of you hold Kansas to be a very near and dear spot, in any event, it was when he got to that point that he realized his quest was useless. He returned to Mexico to report to the governor that his search for treasure had failed.
In 1848, gold was discovered in California at Sutter’s Mill. Men and women in a great frantic frenzy began their quest for gold. Many of them gave their lives as all kinds of abominable things happened in that great search for gold. You can go to Disneyland today, and you can take a ride called Pirates of the Caribbean. That ride depicts a time in our history when pirates roamed the coastlines of the world in search of treasure. I suppose even today we have treasure seekers. I just read where a man in Dayton, Ohio, has a metal detector and has accumulated 158 class rings and 149 wedding rings. If you have lost your wedding ring, you might want to talk to this man in Dayton, Ohio.
Driving home from church last Sunday night, I was listening to the news on the radio. The newscaster said that a 65-year- old woman had just been subject to an attempted robbery downtown. Apparently, this man was in searching gold. He went to such an extreme that he had the woman open her mouth, and he began to search her mouth for gold fillings. He even asked for her false teeth. But he eventually gave them back to her, let her go; and in futility, he went away.
Even as Coronado had more than 400 years before, if we are honest, every one of us would have to admit as we sit where we are right now that we are in search of some treasure. There are some treasures that I seek, and biblically it is not wrong for us to seek treasure. As we study the scriptures, we see that there are treasures that are worthy of being sought, and there are other supposed treasures that are not worthy for the seeking. Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
Almost 2000 years ago a rich man came up to Jesus, and he said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:16-21). I honestly believe that Jesus never would have told this man to sell his possessions if it had been for the fact that this man had made his possessions his treasure. There is nothing that we possess in this world that is worthy of being considered our treasure. The Greek word for treasure is thisavros. It refers to the idea of making something secure, and that is what we do with a treasure. We try to make it secure, but really there is nothing in this world that we can make secure. That is why nothing in this world is worthy of being considered our treasure.
Jesus made that very clear. Once a younger brother confronted him. The younger brother said, “Master, bid my older brother to share the inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). Now, of course, under Judaic law, the older brother received two thirds of the inheritance, and the remaining brothers had to fight over what was left. I understand how that younger brother would have felt. I was the youngest of three boys. I remember sitting around the kitchen table having cake and my older brothers getting bigger pieces of cake. I remember saying, “Hey, they got a bigger piece than I got.” I remember my dad saying, “Well, they’re bigger than you are.” And I remember thinking, well, that is not likely to change if they continue to get bigger pieces of cakes.
So, I understand how that younger brother felt. But then the Lord Jesus said to him, “Who made me a judge or divider over you?” (Luke 12:14). Now, of course, all judgment has been given into the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ; but His kingdom is not of this world, and His judgment is not of this age. He went on to say to this man, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
Then Jesus told him this parable saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).
Now, I am sure that every one of you would like to be rich towards God. I am sure that every one of you would like to lay up treasures in heaven, but perhaps you do not know how. I suppose there is a sense in which none of us can really lay up treasure in heaven because we are not worthy of any heavenly treasure. But Jesus Christ is worthy. He, of course, is the greatest treasure of all, and He is the source of all heavenly treasure.
Jesus said to the rich man, “Come and follow me, and you will have treasures in heaven.” Jesus is the source of heavenly treasure. We read in the scriptures that the Lord gives riches to those who love Him and that He fills their lives with treasure. Moses, through prophetic inspiration looking to the future seeing the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, prophesied that to even be able to suffer for the coming Christ would result in greater treasure than all the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:26). Jesus is the source of treasure.
One of the great treasures that Jesus offers to each and every one of us is the treasure of His kingdom. Perhaps you do not think of the kingdom of heaven as a treasure, but it is. Jesus himself referred to the kingdom of heaven as a treasure. He said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a treasure hidden in a field which a man found. And in his joy, he covered it up. And in his joy, he went and sold all that he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44). So great is the treasure of the kingdom of heaven, that it is worth everything. We have everything, and that really should not be hard for us to understand. There are kingdoms of this earth, and we judge them to be good or evil in accordance with their capacity to care for their people. But no kingdom can care for its people as can the kingdom of heaven for our King is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He promises to take care of us both in this life and in the life to come.
No kingdom can promise that each of us who has been born anew through Jesus Christ, who has received the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior and received His Spirit within, become citizens in a heavenly kingdom. That is a treasure. I suppose that as we begin to live as citizens in this heavenly kingdom we begin to see treasures that the world could never understand. One of those treasures is the fact that we soon realize that we are not the only citizen in the kingdom of heaven. There are other citizens, too. We have brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. I am honestly convinced that every brother and sister that we have in Jesus Christ is a treasure. Every time I make a new friendship with a brother or a sister in Jesus Christ, I have laid up a treasure in heaven where moth or rust cannot consume and no thief can break into steal. I have established a relationship that is permanent with another person, a treasure in heaven. Sometimes we do not think of it like that.
The apostle John wrote a letter, and he said in that letter, “I am writing this so that you might have fellowship with us.” The Greek word is koinonia. “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And I am writing this that your joy might be complete” (I John 1:3-4). The fellowship that we share as citizens of the kingdom of heaven is the source of joy. It is a great treasure. If you are not part of a fellowship, if you are not part of a koinonia group, we sure would encourage you to become part of one because there is treasure there, heavenly treasure. It is interesting that John says that this koinonia, this fellowship, is part of the kingdom of heaven results in joy. That is one of the great treasures of all, happiness; and that can only be found in Christ. If we were to examine the motives of most of the people of this earth and their quest for treasure, they would say that they want to accumulate earthly treasure in order to find happiness. But the strange thing is that earthly treasures do not bring happiness.
Howard Hughes lived much of his life in seclusion. It was only at the point of his death that we began to understand some of the nature of his life, and it was a very sad thing to read about his life as I read about it in Time magazine. Apparently, there was a time in Howard Hughes’s life when he very much sought to lay up treasures on earth. He sought beautiful women. He sought great accomplishments in the world of aviation. He sought money in a vast financial empire. In the world’s terms, he received some measure of treasure in each of those areas, but they did not give him happiness. Howard Hughes must have reached a point in his life where he could see that those earthly treasures were not providing him happiness. When he reached that point, he reached a level of wisdom that is far beyond what most people reach. But he did not know the solution. He did not know where to turn. He thought to escape. He went into seclusion, and he began to escape, apparently, into a world of drugs and old movies and Baskin Robbins ice cream. There is nothing wrong with old movies and ice cream. I am sure the Lord would have us enjoy them, but the satisfaction that comes from them is only a temporary thing. There is no treasure there.
In 1916, a woman died. She had lived her life, particularly the latter years of her life, eating cold oatmeal. She wanted to save fuel so she would not heat the oatmeal. She died in the midst of an argument regarding the merits of skim milk. Her son had his leg amputated because she was not willing to give him medical attention until she could find a free clinic. Yet when she died, they discovered that she was worth more than 95 million treasures on earth, but they were not a source of happiness.
Jesus Christ is the source of happiness. In His presence there is fulness of joy. In His right hand are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11). In Hebrews it says that He has been anointed with the oil of gladness beyond His comrades. The Greek word for gladness means exuberant joy. It means extreme happiness. Jesus has more happiness than humankind. He has more happiness than the angels. He has the very happiness of God, and He wants to share that happiness with you. What a great treasure and how many treasures that we could discuss, but we do not have the time. There are treasures that can be laid up on this earth in Christ, and there are treasures that can be laid up for all eternity.
One final treasure that I want to share with you is the treasure of His word. The word of God is a treasure. I did not always see that, but I know it to be true. Now, every time I memorize a passage and a scripture, I am convinced that I have laid up a treasure in the heavens where moth or rust cannot consume and where no thief can break into and steal. I hope that you are in the scriptures and that you are finding treasure there. The apostle Paul said that in Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Every time I go to the scriptures, Christ shows me more truth, and that is exciting.
One passage that has been very difficult for many to interpret is the passage where Jesus said that every scribe or student of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who takes out of his treasure that which is old and that which is new. Many have taken that to mean that the treasures of the Old Testament and now the New Testament are in Christ. I think that is true, but there is even a greater truth there. In Christ we are constantly receiving new treasures, new treasures of truth, to go with the old treasures of truth that He has given us in the past and that will be true for all eternity. There will always be more truth to discover. I am not sure exactly how I want to say it, but I have to say that in studying the scriptures, I probably get as much happiness as in anything else that I do. There is joy there and truth, and that is exciting. I suppose there are many things that you could search for that pass away, but the word of God will not pass away. The scriptures say that we “have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever'” (1 Peter 1:23-25).
Isn’t that neat? The word of God abides forever. I would like to encourage you to participate in memorization of scripture, not as a legalistic thing, but as a source of joy. Many of you have sat out there for many months, and you have seen Dean stand up here and quote scripture time and time again. You have been impressed. Your hearts have been touched. You have probably thought, “Well, that’s fine for the pastor. Isn’t that neat?”
But I know the Lord would have you memorize, too, because He can give you great joy and happiness and fulfillment through that. The scriptures promise you two things if you will memorize His word. One is that you will be given inner beauty because the scriptures say, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). The more and more we hide His word in our heart, the more and more we become like the one who knew no sin, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is promised if you will hide His word in your heart. The scriptures also promise you will have fruitful ministry if you hide His word in your heart. The scriptures say that if you let His words abide in you, you will bear much fruit.
I would venture to say that probably nobody sitting in this room would not enjoy inner beauty and outer fruitfulness. Everybody would like that inner beauty and outer fruitfulness and that can be acquired through the word of God. I share that with you, and I hope that you will want to take the opportunity to study and to even memorize the word of God. I heard many times as I grew up in my life that a person ought to memorize. I used to memorize verses in order to get stars on a chart when I was in Sunday school. It did not really mean anything to me. In fact, I hated it. Then as I grew up, I was told I ought to memorize. But it was very mechanical and very legalistic, and I do not think there was any joy in it. Then I came here to Faith Church, and I met Dean. I saw a man’s life who had been changed by the power of the word of God and his immersion in it. That is what made me hunger to memorize His word because I could see what wonderful things it was doing in Dean’s life.
My prayer for you today is that you will have that hunger to memorize His word. What a treasure you can lay up in heaven through a study of the word of God. I suppose the greatest truth that I want you to see today is that all treasure has its source in Jesus Christ. There are many things in this world you can give your time and energy to, but there is nothing so worthy as Jesus Christ. “Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
Shall we pray? As we close in prayer, Father, I thank You for Your presence with us. Lord, there are so many cares that we have in this world, so many treasures that we would lay up, Father. Perhaps our greatest treasurer is our wife or our husband or our children or our home or our bank account. But Lord, You know that none of these things are really worthy of being our treasure. Only You, Lord Jesus. So every day we give ourselves to You anew, and we thank You for the many blessings You send our way for, Lord, apart from You, we are nothing. We thank You for Your goodness to us. We pray it all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.