01/30/11 - Buried Treasure - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "Buried Treasure" in this Sunday service.

Buried Treasure

Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, January 30, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

Buried Treasure

Matt 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 25:14- 14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
 16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
 21 “The master was full of praise. 1‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
 22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
 24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘2Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 3To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”

Many of us, maybe most of us, have areas of our soul—our innermost being—which we have buried.  Like the 3rd servant in the parable, we have buried our treasure.  Instead of guarding our heart, we have buried it.  By doing so we have set ourselves up to experience “Less than” life instead of the “Rich and Satisfying Life.”  Listen to Solomon in Proverbs 4:3 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”  Above all else are strong words.  Are you guarding your heart or have you buried parts of your soul?  Do you have buried treasure?

(video of dog and bone)

Buried Treasure--If we cannot connect to our innermost being--our heart and soul--because of the various reasons life has given us to block it off, then how will we ever love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?  Each of us has areas that we may not even recognize have become numb or dead. We have areas we are not willing to address with ourselves, much less with anyone else.  Those areas are stopping us from being able to fully accomplish the 1st thing Jesus said must happen for us to have Rich and Satisfying life--love God with your whole being.  

1.   Like the servant who buried his treasure, we must dig up those things so we can be fruitful and enjoy even more of what God has for us. “Let’s celebrate together”.  Note Luke 10:26-28 “…Do this and you will live!”
2.   The result of “buried treasure”: evil thoughts toward the master
3.   If we keep it buried, it is not inactive.  Just because it is hidden doesn't mean it is dormant.  Jesus said it will eat away at what we do have until it is gone.


Signs of Buried Treasure—a locked soul:

•   Numbness in areas where there should be feeling
•   Exaggerated response to circumstances (investing $1 emotion in a nickel event)
•   Inappropriate fantasies
•   Inability to dream big dreams
•   Irrational fears
•   Control freak
•   Inability to commit, limited ability to trust


Unlocking the soul:

The story of Abraham in the book of Genesis is the story of a man with buried treasure and how God teaches him to unlock his soul, to live freely.

•   God identifies himself to Abraham as El Shaddai—the breasted one.  Abraham never talks about his mother.  He know nothing about her.  But God first identifies himself by name as the one who will be a mother to him.
•   Abraham’s father has died.  God reveals himself as the Heavenly Father.
•   Abraham lives in fear of being killed for his stuff, including his wife—God continually intervenes and teaches Abraham the “1st things 1st” principle with Melchisidek.
•   Abraham fears dying without an heir.  God’s promise to him is not only an heir, but the father of many nations.

The result of Abraham digging up his treasure—of opening his innermost being to God—is displayed when he takes Isaac to the top of a mountain to sacrifice him.  He has learned to trust God.  His language is no longer a language of fear but of confidence.  “We will return.”  He knows that his greatest treasure in his eyes—a son, an heir, Isaac—was given to him by God and God will raise Isaac from the dead if need be.  He trusts God.  He is able to believe.  Real freedom.  Real life.