We are continuing to look how the Church and the Kingdom of God are synonymous. Remember, Jesus used it in a more narrow sense as He was referring to the rule and reign of God in the lives of His followers.  In that light, the Kingdom of God is synonymous with the Church.
 
Also, since my position is that the Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are referring to the same thing (see yesterday’s thoughts) I am simply using, “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom” while referring to both phrases.
 
Yesterday, we saw that the Kingdom of God was Jesus’ primary message and it was the message He trained His disciples to preach as well.
 
Jesus’s primary way of teaching was through parables. Parables are short, metaphorical narratives 
designed to teach truths about spiritual realities in ways that reveal insights to those open to Jesus’ claims about Himself, but that further alienate those who are not so receptive. 
 
Today, we begin to look as some of the parables Jesus taught to better understand the Kingdom of God and the Church.
 
1. The VALUE of the Kingdom of God.
 
Jesus told some parable to reflect the great value of belonging to the worldwide kingdom of God. Nothing is worth having that would rob us of that place.
 
1.) The Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 (ESV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
 
When we are dealing with any parable, the details are never meant to be stressed; the parable has one main point and to that point everything else is subservient. In this parable, the great point is the joy of the discovery that made the man willing to give up everything to make the treasure unquestionably his own. 
 
The treasure is his entry to the kingdom. He is not buying the treasure. He is buying the field that holds the treasure. He is giving up everything in order to have Christ.
 
Though nothing can be given as a price for this salvation, yet much must be given up for the sake of it.
 
Matthew 10:38–39 (ESV)
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
 
2.) The Pearl of Great Value
Matthew 13:45–46 (ESV)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
 
This parable is a companion parable to the one before it. Again, a man sells everything he has to buy a treasure he has found. No doubt there were many pearls on offer to this merchant, but he found one far superior to all of them. The merchant could not resist this pearl and he spent himself broke to get it.
 
In the companion parable, the man stumbles upon the kingdom of God. Here, the man is searching for the kingdom of God. Now, he would not put it that way. He would say he was searching for what gave him meaning in life.  There are many churches who label themselves as “seeker churches.” If the premise is that people are seeking God and we just need to show them who God is, then our premise is wrong.
 
Romans 3:10–11 (ESV)
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
 
So, what do people seek?  They seek meaning in life and in that search, by God’s grace, they discover God as He is revealed in Jesus Christ. And, what they find is more meaningful and valuable that all they have.