The Kingdom of God

"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" (Mat. 13:44). In the parables that Jesus told, where he said, "the kingdom of heaven [or kingdom of God] is like;" he was referring to believers having the Spirit of God in their lives. One scripture can confirm that for us quickly, defining what the "kingdom of God" actually is: "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy IN THE HOLY GHOST" (Rom. 14:17). To impart the holy Ghost to those who would believe on him was indeed the entire reason that Jesus came to this world, as his forerunner candidly and simplistically stated: "And [John] preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mk. 1:7,8). And Jesus confirmed that this was what it is all about just before he ascended to heaven: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5). And for good measure let's quote what Jesus said right after that, so that we can come full circle back to this point about the kingdom of God: "But ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). And the apostle Paul finishes that circle for us: "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in POWER" (I Cor. 4:20). Okay, since we've established what Jesus was talking about when he said "the kingdom of heaven [or God] is like unto," let's go on with the parable. It's really simple, there's nothing tricky in this parable; Jesus is straightly saying that the holiness, the love, the peace, and the goodness of God's holy Spirit is going to mean more than anything to those who are true believers. Those who would follow Jesus do have to sell out to God in their hearts to even receive the holy Ghost, or at least to really receive it. The reason I say "really receive it" is simply because man has invented all kinds of ways for someone to receive the Spirit, but none of them are valid. There is still only one way to be baptized by Jesus with the holy Ghost, and that way is to have the experience confirmed by the Spirit itself, when it comes in and compels the utterance of new tongues in the recipient thereof (Mk. 16:17). That's the way this gospel experience began, and God has never changed it (Acts 2:4).

But the real test is KEEPING the holiness that God's Spirit imparts to us, as the top priority in our lives. And for those who get past the initial persecution of being seen as a radical and a religious fanatic and such, the biggest factor in that test is staying free from "the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches" (Mat. 13:20-22). This is where it can get tricky, not on God's part, but on our part. God has laid it down very straight for us: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Mat. 22:37,38). So again we see the concept of selling all that WE have in order to buy that field with the treasure in it. It's an all the way, top priority deal with God, if we truly expect to be saved in the end. But the truth is, if we are not willing to remain totally honest with ourselves and with God, we can leave off "purifying [ourselves] even as he is pure," anywhere along the journey that we choose; and in so doing our priorities can very subtly shift from the kingdom of God to the things of this life (I Jn. 3:3). Oh yeah, and we can stay right there in the journey too, and be partakers of the holy Ghost along the way, and be failing at the same time. But my friend, if we begin to call things what they are not, and justify wrong in our lives, and still tell ourselves that God's holiness is our top priority; we are heading for as big as trouble as exists. The apostle Paul warned us to not follow the example of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, reminding us that they "did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (I Cor. 10:4,5). Those who were overthrown did NOT reach the promised land, and were left as an example for us to be warned by, lest we should also fail in disobedience, and not get to the promised land that we have been called to (I Cor. 1:11,12; Heb. 4:1,11). So what we must be wary of is not substituting "seeking first the things that pertain to this life, and letting the kingdom of God and his righteousness be added to that;" for "seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and [letting] all these things [food and raiment] be added unto us" (Mat. 6::33). And since I have borrowed from the parable of the sower and the seed to explain this parable, I will borrow from that parable for the conclusion of this matter as well: "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Lk. 8:15). So again, keeping that "good and honest heart" is the key to keeping ourselves sold out to God, and keeping him truly first in our lives; so that we might hold onto and inherit forever the treasure in that field (Mat. 19:29; Mat. 25:34; I Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:21; Heb. 6:12; Rev. 21:7,8).