| Kingdom Sight 8/14/06 George Poulo 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. Mt13:44 There are at least four parables that deal with spiritual sight. Finding a treasure hid in a field, finding a lost coin (Lk15), finding a lost sheep (Lk15), and finding a pearl of great price (Mt13). Two of these parables deal with the salvation of others: (the lost sheep and the lost coin) and two deal with complete abandonment to the kingdom of God: (the treasure hid in the field and the pearl of great price). How is it that some see into the kingdom and others do not? What must we do to gain spiritual sight? The answer lies in the cross. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (14:6). We can not see into the kingdom unless we are born again. To see Jesus and the kingdom we must be free from our past. Anger, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness and other kinds of sin lessens spiritual sight. To free us Jesus shed his blood. The blood of Christ completely blots out our sin and wipes away our conscience of dead works. To hear the salvation message puts us in the present and in the presence of God. When our mind is cluttered with the past, when we harbor resentment and fear, we lose sight of the kingdom. When we live in legalism and the law, condemnation and inferiority, the freedom that Christ offers us is hidden. The evil one blinds us to the blessing of God. But to hear the salvation message bypasses our soul, our intellect, will, and emotions, and goes right to the heart, to the spirit man. It is the spiritual man which must make an ascent to truth by faith to enter the kingdom. Not only is our past a hindrance to spiritual sight, the fear of the future can also be a blinder to the kingdom. Through the cross of Christ, Jesus experienced death for every man so that we would not live in fear but in faith. To sell all one has to buy the treasure or the pearl means that the fear of the future, the fear of death, has been overcome by the death of Christ on the cross. Fear blinds us to the kingdom. Faith opens up for us the window to heaven. By experiencing death for every man Jesus provided the means for anyone to experience life and spiritual sight. To preach the cross means that any man can enter into the freedom of the present, the freedom of the kingdom and experience new life. The death of Christ is our gateway into that life. What man lost through sin, Christ restored through obedience. To hear the gospel message has the power to remove the sin of our past and the fear of our future. It is to put us in a place to gain spiritual sight and enter a new kingdom of peace, love, freedom, joy, and faith. Jesus through preaching, teaching, and healing recovers for us what we lost through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is the work of the devil to blind our minds to the things of God. It is the work of Jesus to regain for us spiritual sight. The preaching of the cross is the means to accomplish this goal. So to find the treasure hidden in the field and to buy that field is to hear the gospel message and to make a complete assent to it. It is to be free of the past and free of the future. It is to be in the presence of God. Amen. |
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