The mystery of God is a treasure, waiting to be revealed: It is the discovery that changes people’s lives. The treasure is the gold, the silver, and the precious stones that are hidden beneath the surface: It is the taste of the fruit spawn from the tree of life: It is the internal promise of eternal life inside creation that lies dormant-until the power of faith in the Son of God breaks its seal.

Matthew 13:44-46

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking  fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

How is the kingdom of heaven like this, like a treasure hidden in a field which a man finds and sells everything for it? Sounds like Jesus. In a broad interpretation, the field is the earth and the treasure is us. Jesus gave everything He had to buy the field that contained the treasure. Simotaneously, in Him finding us, we find Him. He is our treasure. We must give all that we have to know Him.

How is the kingdom like this? We are not the only ones. We are still in the field. We are on a journey searching for a new treasure; a treasure that is inside everyone around us, waiting for its discovery.

Not very long ago, we were at a conference and Kris Vallatton was the speaker. Part of his message was on the passage from:

1 Corinthians 14:24-25

But if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

An interesting point that Kris brought to light was that the word “secret,” is more correctly translated “treasure.” Now this changes the whole perspective from which the modern application of the passage is concurred. Usually the thought is that prophesy will reveal the secret sin or “read the person’s mail” and now that he is busted, he will repent and turn to God. This may be the case sometimes, but this passage more accurately dictates that the prophecy unearths the treasure in the person’s heart, revealing to them that Jesus knows who they are and cares about they’re dreams. He longs to see them fulfilled, just as they do.

Sin is sin. I am an advocate for holiness and the preaching against it at all times. I am all about seeing people set free from sin. According to this passage, however, my goal is not going to be to go and evangelize by revealing every-one’s sin to them and demanding repentance. According to this passage I am on a treasure hunt. I am searching for the treasures hidden in their hearts, and hopefully, that is what I will cause to surface in the Spirit. If I can prophesy to them the things that they have longed for and dreamed for, and show them that Jesus is the One who fulfills their dreams, they will realize just how real and awesome He is. By crying out to the call and relationship with God that lies dormant inside of them, their true calling in life will surface. And when that comes to light, it will ignite a process that burns out the sin.

Prophecy is revealing to someone just how awesome God is and just how awesome they are to God! I recently ran into an old friend at dinner and he was a little discouraged about sharing his faith because after all these years of doing so, he usually received a negative reaction. He method was typical; “Jesus loves you, wants to save you, to repent of your sins, will you pray this prayer with me…” I am not negating this entirely, but the approach does need a shift, especially in a society where they gave their guts full of this mentality. So, I began to share with him some of these things. I encouraged him to look past their sins and find the treasure that is hidden beneath, and when that is drawn to the surface, the sin will disappear.

Natural Evangelism

Evangelism should be natural, not a strenuous task. There will be growing pains when we are first stepping out, but maturity will come. Evangelism is sharing what is in your heart with someone else. It should be as natural as taking a breath or drinking water. You are being real with the person sharing the reality of your relationship with the one who surfaced the treasure in your heart. In essence you are showing them the treasure within you, and causing them to realize that they have a treasure of their own that is waiting to be excavated.

Each person has a key that will unlock their heart. The Lord reveals to us that secret and gives us a word of prophecy to unlock the door.The more time we spend with Him, the treasure of our lives, the more we will begin to see the treasures inside of people and have the wisdom to cause their eyes to open up to it. We have the keys to the kingdom. We can open up doors that no one else can. A miracle could be a key that opens up the door to an entire city, the key to every treasure box in the city. Our heart is a treasure chest. The treasure in our chest is light that in itself becomes the key to someone Else’s treasure.

Conclusion

I am just beginning to express thoughts on this subject, so to say this is incomplete is justifiable. I do hope you to read 1 Corinthians 2-3 in the NASB for further context.  Also read The Stewardship of the Mystery, by T. Austin Sparks. Hopefully more to come concerning theses matters. And on that note of sounding professorish, I will leave you to your treasure hunt.

Jesus is Lord

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