Watts - The treasure in the field : digging to discover the kingdom of God

The Treasure in the Field

Digging to discover the Kingdom of God

Brian Watts

IMOGEN

The Treasure in the Field

Published by
IMOGEN RESOURCES
PO Box 28, Langley, BC, Canada, V0X 1T0

Copyright 1995 by Brian Watts
Langley BC Canada

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Short extracts may be used for review purposes.

ISBN: 0 9699836 0 3

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Printed in Canada by Kromar Printing Ltd . Winnipeg.
Designed in Canada by Peter Mitchell, Langley.

About the Author

Brian Watts lives in Langley, B.C., Canada with his wife, Rosalind. He has two married daughters, Rachel and Caroline, and four grandchildren. He is the pastor of The Kings Community Church. He has also written What do you Learn in School? (published by Destiny Image). Many of the themes pursued in The Treasure in the Field are developed further in the other resources made available on the churchs web site: www.tkc.com.

The author can be contacted by email to:

Acknowledgements

It has been said that every author must have a good imagination he must be able to imagine that people will want to read what he has written! In the case of The Treasure in the Field, this fertile imagination has been encouraged by some who have heard the material being taught. It is in response to their promptings that the author has worked the material into this present form.

Thanks are due to the elders of Basingstoke Community Church who released me to prepare a series of teachings on the Kingdom of God in 1984.The Treasure in the Field grew out of that study. Then I am grateful to the Langley Covenant Community Church for their input and support as together for the last ten years we have been trying to understand the implications of Jesus command to Seek first the Kingdom of God. I also appreciate the encouragement and insight I have received from Barney Coombs, both in the writing process and in the wider responsibilities of ministry.

This book would not have been so readable without the invaluable contributions of my wife, Rosalind. She covered the pages of my rough drafts with red ink. These hieroglyphics were far more than the corrections of a cursory proof read; they were the marks of a true help-meet.

Finally, I acknowledge with gratitude the skill and enthusiasm with which Peter and Liz Mitchell prepared the book for printing. They exemplify the thesis of the book as they seek to apply the Kingdom of God to the realities of life both in the church and in the workplace.

Brian Watts

Langley, B.C.

Summer 2011

Foreword

The Treasure in the Field is written for those who have a desire to understand the teaching of the Bible concerning the Kingdom of God and a willingness to apply the Bible to present practical realities.

In Part I, the claims of the king are presented in such a way as to call for a response of obedience. In Part II, the promises of the kingdom are presented so as to encourage faith.

On a foundation of faith and obedience, Part III attempts to show that the message of the kingdom has practical relevance for every area of life. The chapters are not exhaustive, but merely illustrate specific applications.

The book concludes in Part IV with a call to relate the message of the kingdom to everyday life, and to bring all things into submission to the King.

Muriel Light is caught in the middle of a legal battle. Her late husband paid $800 in 1967 for a rusty pile of junk, and she does not want anybody else getting their hands on it. Why would she go to the huge expense of legal costs to protect such a dilapidated heap? Because the junk is the ill-fated Cunard liner, the Lusitania, lying on its side on the ocean bed just off the coast of southern Ireland. The 32,000-ton vessel has lain there since it was sunk by a German torpedo in 1915. Muriel Lights husband bought it from the ships insurers because there were reports of a trove of treasure on board. What seems to some to be no more than a pile of junk, becomes a matter of great urgency to others who get a whiff of the scent of treasure.

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field (Mt 13:44). The discovery of that treasure totally changed the life of the man who found it. He was more than happy to sell all he had to buy that field. Such a man must have wondered why nobody had stumbled across the treasure before. People had walked through the field, farmers had ploughed the field, and yet for years the treasure remained undiscovered. Somebody must have deliberately hidden it, and there it had lain, buried.

The Kingdom of God is hidden in such a way that men may spend their lives walking all over it, but never knowing it is there. So, in spite of the fact that the kingdom was one of the central themes of Jesus teaching, two thousand years later the church remains divided about what he meant. She certainly does not seem to have discovered the kingdom with the excitement which characterizes the man in the parable.

What is the Kingdom?

So what is the Kingdom of God? Defined simply, it is Gods government. The word kingdom has two aspects: realm and rule. Our understanding of the Kingdom of God must be broad enough to embrace both meanings.

Firstly, the Kingdom of God is the realm, or the domain, over which Gods government is exercised. It is similar to the designation of the United Kingdom as being the territory ruled by Queen Elizabeth.

Secondly, kingdom refers to rule, or dominion. It is not only a territorial definition, for it also describes Gods activity in governing. It includes the concept of rule as well as realm; of dominion as well as domain. Kingdom is an active word as well as a passive one, for it portrays what God does as well as depicting the areas over which he does it.

So when Jesus arrived on the earth proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, he was declaring new revelation about Gods activity in the lives of men and women. When he said that the Kingdom of God was at hand, he was telling people that the government of God was being exercised, intervening in the affairs of men in a new way.

If men wanted proof that such government was real, Jesus pointed to the demons being cast out wherever he went. He said, If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you (Lk 11:20). The demons departure demonstrated the breaking in of a new sovereignty. Jesus stressed that the kingdom was at hand. Its nearness was clear for all to see. It is a rule which is being revealed on earth. The essence of the dominion may be heavenly, but the nature of the domain is certainly earthly.

When Jesus taught his disciples what we have called the Lords Prayer, he declared an important truth about the kingdom. The desire of his heart, and one which the Father would fulfil, was that Gods Kingdom would come. His next request showed how he saw that desire coming true. He prayed, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10). The coming of the kingdom entails the rule of heaven being seen in the realm of earth.