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Matthew 13:47-50

Judge Not

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 27, 2025

The Church is supposed to be a mystery form of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. I think the parable of the fishing net is specifically referring to this. Jesus instructed the disciples to follow Him, and he would make them great executives of large corporations! No, wait, that’s not right. He told them He would make them fishermen. He wanted them to fish for men. Fishing in Jesus day was done with nets. We saw a sample of that when we were at the Sea of Galilee in Israel a couple of years ago. Jesus uses the illustration of fishing to teach us about the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 13:47-50, He says “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away. It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There are (at least!) two lessons that we glean from this parable. First, when you cast a net into the sea you never know what you’re going to get. In the mystery form of the kingdom today, we have many who say “Lord, Lord,” but are really not part of the family of God. But we’ll never be able to tell who they are. It’s not even our place to judge others. Jesus frequently charges us to judge ourselves, but we’re not to judge others with reference to the sincerity of their profession. Thus, in the church today, God’s Mystery Form of His Kingdom, there are both good and bad fish. There are both evil and righteous residents. In another parable about the kingdom we read there are both wheat and tares and they should be allowed to grow together. We’re not to attempt to root them out, but rather coexist with them until “the end of the age.”

We are not to judge because there is no way we would ever be able to know a person’s heart. How could we determine the degree of a person’s guilt or innocence when Jesus made secret sins and hidden habits just as sinful as overt acts? We could never and should never presume to judge a person’s relationship with God unless we have lived sinless lives ourselves. It is also impossible for us to be completely impartial. We all have been infected with the sinfulness of self-interest and we often cannot help but spin things from our perspective. Only God can judge. Barclay concludes his discussion on this subject by saying, “But it was Jesus who stated the supreme reason why we should not judge others. No man is good enough to judge any other man. Jesus drew a vivid picture of a man with a plank in his own eye trying to extract a speck of dust from someone else’s eye.” No one on earth knows the true condition of another.

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Matthew 6:19, Luke 12:16-21

Earthly Treasures

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 26, 2025

When Jesus teaches us about laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, He first teaches us that we are not to lay up our treasures on earth. In Matthew 6:19, He tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.” The next phrase explains why a focus on earthly treasures is to be avoided. Why should we not lay-up treasures on earth? Because it is “where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal . . .” When I was 10 years old, I had a great little bike. It went absolutely everywhere with me! I loved jumping the greens at Miller Park Golf Course until the caretaker made me stop. I delivered my newspapers on my bike. I had a transistor radio strapped to the handlebars so I could listen to “Willie and the Hand Jive,” and “Angel on my Shoulder,” and “Ally Oopp” and other great hits of the day while I delivered the papers all over north Omaha and Florence. That bike was stolen while I was swimming at Miller Park pool one Saturday! It broke my heart. I got other bikes, but that’s the one I remember! My 1970 Nova went to Hawaii with us in 1974. In the summer of 1977, we returned to the states and the Nova was shipped back also. That summer I noticed rust all over the fenders and bumpers. It was pretty much eaten away! I hated that because I loved that car.

I will never forget the smell of the moth balls my mother would put in one of her closets to protect her winter clothing when she put them away for the year. In Jesus day the symbols of earthly wealth weren’t unlike those of today. To possess many fine garments was a sign of great wealth. Most people had very few changes of clothes, but the wealthy had many and those that they had were the finest available. Fashions of course didn’t change as rapidly as they do today, so it would be easy to build a huge wardrobe of expensive clothing from which to choose from daily. You could “store up” many different pieces of clothing and expect them to remain in style indefinitely. But anyone who has stored up clothes in attics or closets knows the danger they face of being spoiled by moths. It was even more of problem in Jesus’ day.

The same is true for absolutely every earthly object we might own. It will rust, rot, be eaten, or stolen! You can never truly preserve earthly treasures for the future. Rust, moths and thieves have a way of getting to everything sooner or later. Further, even if it’s all insured and guaranteed by the government, none of it will go with you when you die. The man in the Gospel of Luke who built barns to hold all his wealth and thought he had it made was called a fool by Jesus. Jesus said, “This night your soul will be required of you; then who’s will those things be which you have provided?” The man died and left it all for someone else to squander away. Moths didn’t eat his wealth. Thieves didn’t steal it and rot didn’t spoil it. But still, it was all lost. When Jesus finishes talking about the parable of the “fool” who stored up so much wealth, he concludes, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).

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Matthew 13:44, Psalm 119:62, 1 John 5:13

The Joy of Discovery!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 25, 2025

As a kid, I used to dream of finding a treasure map that would lead me to untold riches. I must have read “Treasure Island” a dozen times as a kid. You can just see the map, drawn out in scribbled lines, with mountains that looked like an “M” or an upside-down “V.” It has Old English as its font. Frayed at the edges, a picture of the Jolly Roger on it, and crossed muskets and smelling of gun powder and English Rum with names like Davey Jones or Long John Silver. It would mark the spot where pirates had cut their way through jungles with machetes to the spot marked by a red “X.” There you’d find a massive oak chest filled with diamonds, rubies, jewels of all kinds, but most of all gold doubloons. It would be worth millions! Just imagine what it would be like to find something like that.

In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus told a series of parables that are often called the “kingdom parables.” They all begin with the same phrase; the kingdom of heaven is like. The parable of the kingdom in verse 44 says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.” One of the most famous Greek words in the English language is “eureka.” It’s usually followed by an exclamation point and it means, “I found it!” It was the cry of the 49ers back in the Gold Rush days of 1849. There would be a rush to stake a claim on that property and sometimes even fights would break out to see who could get there first with the legal claim on the mother lode. The thrill of that kind of discovery can only be imagined for most of us. I always think of the little dance that Walter Brennan did in the movie “Treasure of the Sierra Madres.” He was so excited and joyful he couldn’t contain himself. He had been looking for this all his life. And now, “Eureka!” He had found it!

David, one of the wealthiest men in the Old Testament, once wrote a very long song. It’s in our Bible as Psalm 119. All 176 verses are about the beauty and wonder of God’s Word. Every verse celebrates the joys of discovery as the reader discovers marvelous truths in his search for meaning and purpose and fulfillment in a world that reeks with death. In verse 162 David shouts “Eureka!” He writes, “I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure.” In God’s Word you will find “eternal life.” John tells us, “I have written these things to you who believe in Jesus Christ, so that you will know you have everlasting life.” (See 1 John 5:13) Colin Smith writes, “What we have now is only a foretaste of what is to come. Like a man who has come into possession of buried treasure, we are truly rich in Christ, but only when Christ returns will we discover the full value of our treasure.”

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Matthew 13:44, Romans 9:30-33

A Buried Treasure

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 24, 2025

We used to do a lot of metal detecting. It was fun and we have the memories of some pretty remarkable finds. We found an 1880 Indian Head penny, a 1922 Mercury dime, a 1921 flying eagle quarter and a 1953 Benjamin Franklin half dollar. We also found many buffalo nickels and too many wheatback pennies to count. We were also always excited when we found any silver coins minted before 1963 when they changed to a cheap alloy. But the best find we’ve ever made was when Kathy took our grandson, TJ, metal detecting in the sand under the swing sets in a neighborhood park. They found an 1891 silver dollar in fairly good condition. The excitement of that find made the experience for TJ. Of course, he got to keep the treasure, and it’s been something special for him ever since.

Among metal detectors there are numerous stories of old people in past generations who did not trust banks and felt the safest place to put their money was in the ground. It’s the dream of every metal detector to find that tin coffee can filled with cash and coins of the days of yore. They say that during the Civil War, because of national confusion, many people would bury their money to keep from having it stolen. Those who grew up the era of the great stock-market crash and the depression had distrust for banks and would bury their money also. The tendency goes all the way back to the Bible. Jesus told the parable of the talents where the man who was given one talent was so afraid of losing it that he buried it in the ground. Further, one of the Dead Sea scrolls found in Cave 3 near Qumran was a copper scroll and it contains a list of buried treasures that were hidden in and around the temple before it was destroyed by Antiochus in 167 BC. Burying valuables was a common practice. Experts say there are many buried treasures yet to be discovered. But there’s one that’s more important than them all.

Jesus taught us that “the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field” (See Matthew 13:44). One commentator (Luther Besser) boldly asserts that the field represents the law. The Jews had it. They studied it. They quoted it, and more importantly they attempted to find righteousness before God by keeping it. Frequently in his ministry Jesus was confronted by legalists expecting to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven by keeping the law. Jesus consistently said “good luck with that.” The treasure that is hidden in the field, is Christ Himself. That which the Jews searched hardest for, they could not find because Jesus was a stumbling stone. It was the stone that was rejected. On the other hand, the Gentiles found the great prize in the field of the law and they found a righteousness not based on their own merit. This is exactly what Paul said in Romans 9:30-33. He says that the “Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

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Matthew 13:45-46

The Pearl

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 23, 2025

Jesus uses another parable to teach us something about the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 13:45-46 he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it.” A popular interpretation of this parable suggests that the pearl of great value represents heaven and the only way we can obtain it is by selling everything we own. Others get a similar interpretation but suggest that Jesus is the Pearl of Great price, and we can’t have him and his salvation unless we sell all we own or give everything we have to obtain it. One commentator says that the Pearl is our salvation, which is similar to saying the Pearl is heaven. He writes, “The complete surrender of all possessions is the essence of salvation. It is, ‘I give up everything. I deny myself. I offer my life, both in terms of death, if need be, and in terms of obedience in life.’” He goes on to say that we can claim this great prize as our own “…by denying ourselves, picking up our cross daily, and following Him.” In my humble opinion, this puts Christianity in the same camp as every other religion in which salvation is matter of our own efforts and our own works. I have no good news (Gospel) to share if I have to share that message.

But, according to J. Vernon McGee, you and I are the Pearl! He writes, “The correct interpretation of this parable reveals Christ as the merchantman. He left His heavenly home and came to this earth to find a pearl of great price. He found lost sinners and died for them by shedding His precious blood. He sold all that He had to buy us and redeem us to God.” McGee quotes 2 Corinthians 8:9 here about how Jesus was “…rich, yet for your sakes became poor…” to explain Paul’s view of the Gospel as presented to the Corinthians. I think of Jesus’ own words about his mission to “seek and to save the lost.” He is the “seeker” of the souls of men who are precious in His sight. McGee then looks at the development of the pearl itself inside the sea creature. It’s a speck of dirt or sand. But the host accretes a substance that surrounds the speck over and over until it’s of great value. Jesus saw our sinful lives, an intrusion into his perfection, took them to the cross of Calvary where he accretes us with His love and coats us with His righteousness. See: McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 34: Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 1-13) (electronic ed.) (194–196). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

McGee looks then at the gates of heaven as described in the book of Revelation and says, “Notice the emblem on the outside of the city—the gates are made of pearls! That is no accident, friend; it is planned that way by Christ’s design. He is the merchantman “Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Thankfully, Jesus did not see us as the speck of sinful sand that we were, but as the precious pearl we would become. This is good news that can be shared and received with great joy! This great truth transforms believers through a lifelong process of spiritual growth into the perfect character of Jesus which will one day be fully realized in the Kingdom of Heaven where we will finally see Him and become like Him.

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1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, Matthew 6:19-20

A Crown of Rejoicing

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 22, 2025

The Persian King Cyrus, who conquered Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon and set the Jewish prisoners free, spent much energy beautifying Persia. According to the famous Baptist preacher of the 19th Century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a visitor once commented on the beauty of his gardens. He said that just visiting Cyrus and seeing his wonderful garden gave him much pleasure. Cyrus is said to have responded, “Ah, but you haven’t near the pleasure in this garden that I have, sir. You see, I’ve planted every tree in it myself. I’ve cared for it. I’ve invested much effort and work in this garden and it’s a true joy for me to glory in the results.”

As he was well known to do, Spurgeon then commented, “One reason some saints will have a greater fullness of heaven than others will be that they did more for heaven than others. By God’s grace they were enabled to bring more souls there.” Commenting on this quote, R.W. DeHaan, said, “Those words should cause all of us who know the Lord to do some serious thinking. How many people will be in heaven because of us? Our desire should be that when we reach our eternal home, some will say to us, “I’m so thankful for you. It was your testimony, your life, your invitation to accept Christ that accounts for my being here today.”

When Paul talked of the rewards he expected to receive when the Lord returned, he expressly addressed a “crown of rejoicing.” He writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” As Cyrus found greater pleasure in the garden because of what was there because of his own efforts, so too did Paul expect to find greater Joy at the Lord’s return simply because the Thessalonians were going to be there because of his missionary work in that city. R.W. DeHaan concludes his comments by saying, “Yes, heaven’s joys will be the fullest for those who have helped lead others to Christ.” When you’ve planted, watered, fertilized or nurtured others in their spiritual development, coming to Christ or growing in Christ, you’ve invested in heaven. Jesus once said, (Matthew 6:19-20) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Investing in the spiritual lives of others is truly the best way to lay up treasures in heaven and will result in the “crown of rejoicing.”

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Psalm 16:11

Heavenly Pleasures!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 21, 2025

There have been many discussions regarding the nature of the joys that await us in heaven. Both the Old Testament (Isaiah) and the New Testament (1 Corinthians) tell us that “…no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” According to the Jewish Publication Society’s Guide to Jewish Traditions, “Maimonides wisely stated that we mortals can have no real knowledge about its nature. Even if we did have some information concerning the afterlife, we would be incapable of comprehending it since the world to come would have a different dimension of existence beyond time or space, and thus, it would be beyond our ability to describe it or even conceive of it.” But the JPS Guide doesn’t totally agree with Maimonides. It goes on to say, “Nevertheless, the Jewish tradition assures us that, even in this life, one can experience a sample of the world to come. As the Talmud states, “three things give us a foretaste of the world to come—the Sabbath, a sunny day, and sexual intercourse” (Ber. 57b). If you do a search on “heavenly pleasures,” you’ll get some very graphic images (I don’t recommend it!). There are two things that are prominent in the search: chocolates and sex!

Looking at the quote from the Talmud, as far as the Sabbath is concerned, I think we can see some aspect of the heavenly sphere when we share in the communion elements. Jesus speaks of the wonderful nature of true communion with true believers and tells his apostles that he will not eat this feast again until he eats and drinks it with them in heaven (See Matthew 26:29). The pleasures of eating and drinking seem to be part of the heavenly agenda. Further, worship is a significant part of a heavenly experience. In the book of Revelation, we see the glories of God being praised by every living thing (Revelation 5:13) along with “many people” or “great multitudes.” Robert Webber, the Guru of Christian Music, says, “People enter a different dimension as they worship together. It is to be hoped that music may lift us to a new realm where we are better able to apprehend God’s presence with us.” The idea of “sunny days” being a foretaste of heaven seems plausible also because God’s natural revelation explodes with the Glory of God (Romans 1) and calls for worship and praise.

The use of sexual intercourse as a “foretaste of the world to come” seems foreign to Christians, although prominent in the lives of many other religions. Yet, Jesus uses the marriage imagery to speak of his intimate relationship with us, His Bride. I like what Philip Ryken wrote about our joys in heaven. He says that when we receive our pleasures in heaven, “we will realize that we first experienced them here on earth. Every earthly joy is the foretaste of a better life to come, in the Paradise where God has promised us pleasures forevermore.” He was referring to Psalm 16:11, which reads, “…in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

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Hebrews 12:1

Great Cloud of Witnesses

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 20, 2025

Hebrews 12:1 has been interpreted in two ways. It says that we have a “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us as encouragements to finish our race of the Christian life. Some argue that the encouragement is the example they set for us as recorded in the Old Testament. Others argue that they are invisible spectators of our race, cheering us on to victory. The Greek word, as well as the English translation, for “witness” could refer to either one. The writers of the United Bible Societies Handbook for Bible Translators seem to take the latter position. They write, “The thought is that the Old Testament heroes are watching how the writer of Hebrews and his readers “run their race” in the Christian life.” The writers (Ellingworth & Nida) look back at Hebrews 11:40 for support. It tells us that we, too, are intimately linked with the lives of the Old Testament saints in so far as that, as this passage says, “…apart from us they should not be made perfect.” They conclude their discussion, “We have this large crowd of witnesses around us may be expressed as ‘this large crowd of those who have witnessed to their faith are around us’ or ‘… are, as it were, close by around us.’”

This interpretation best fits the image of the Olympic races that all were familiar with in the New Testament days. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, which takes this position, says, “Having described the great examples of faith in Hebrews 11, the author now depicts them as an amphitheater crowd of witnesses observing a later generation of faithful ones.” The witnesses, however, are not mere spectators. They are those who ran the race before us and won! They are not armchair quarterbacks telling you how to do something they could not do or have not done. They ran the race even though the odds were stacked against them, and they had great obstacles to hurtle on their way. According to this interpretation, they are cheering us on.

Jim Wilson also takes this view of Hebrews 12:1. He ends his discussion with serious words of encouragement for us runners. He writes, “When you think you are giving up too much to follow God and that it isn’t worth the sacrifice. Other men and women of faith will rise from the great cloud of witnesses and tell you that they died for their faith, and it was worth it. They’ll tell you how God shut the mouths of the lions in some cases, others will tell you that they lost everything to follow Him and gave everything, even their own lives, but that it was worth it. Listen, my friends, listen, and open your spiritual ears. You think you are alone, you’re not. There is a great crowd of witnesses surrounding us, and they are telling you that you can make it. Keep your eyes on the finish line, and listen for encouragement as you run the race.”

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