The Pearl of Great Price (04/16/2000)

Praise for Godly Music and a Warning Against Worldly Church Music

I want to thank Brother Otis and my mom and Paul for the way they minister to us, music, and I'm thankful too that I know some of you know what goes on in the country in a lot of churches music wise, and it's my personal opinion that a lot of it is very, I guess I'll just say it like it is, it's bringing the world into the church, and that doesn't happen here and I'm thankful for that, and I'm thankful that we have people involved with the music that are walking with the Lord, that's very important, it's the only way to have it.

The Treasure Hid in the Field and the Pearl of Great Price

Matthew 13, well let's start with verse 44 and read verses 44 through 46, having a difficult time getting out of verse 44 and beyond it because there's so much in it, but I do believe today we will finish it and get on into the next verses.

Verses 45 and 46 talk about the pearl of great price, and so I think we'll finally get there today. Let's read, follow along with me if you would, again the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, of which when a man hath found he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. So we have two stories, I believe the first story talks about the Lord and his relationship with the Old Testament saints, and I believe that the next parable, the parable about the pearl, deals with the Lord's relationship with the church.

Now let's take a quick review of what we've studied on verse 44 because there's a great, a little bit of a contrast here, but a beautiful contrast in the difference between the two, and you've heard it said many times before probably that salvation is the same in the Old Testament and the New, and there is a sense in which that's true because both are saved by Jesus Christ, but there's a sense in which it's not true because there are some differences, and the cross changed a lot of things, there's no way that people before the cross were saved through the same mechanism as they are after the cross, and so you see some of the differences as you study, in fact next Sunday on Easter Sunday I want to preach a message that deals with those subtle but beautiful differences, but this deals with it a little bit.

Now first thing we saw in verse 44 is that where it talks about a treasure hid, we see some passages in the Old Testament that give us some teaching on what treasure means in Exodus 19 in verse 5, and then again in Psalm 135 in verse 4, Exodus 19 verse 5 says,.

Now therefore if you will obey my voice and deed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, all people, for all the earth is mine. So that peculiar treasure was the nation of Israel, Psalm 135 verse 4,.

For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. So we see a couple of places in the Bible where it relates the fact that this treasure is the children, the nation of Israel, and more specifically the redeemed, the one who are gods, the ones who were circumcised of heart.

And so we see then that this treasure is hid in a field, it's interesting that the word for treasure is the same as our English word thesaurus, which means a treasure chest of words, but in the Greek it just means the treasure chest.

So when this treasure was hid and this man comes and finds it, specifically what it's speaking of is he finds the chest that the treasure's in. Well the treasure was the nation of Israel, and the chest is this world, and you're going to see specifically which part of the world it is as you get down towards the end of verse 44.

It is interesting, if you really study in the Bible, as we talked about last Sunday, there are at least three different worlds spoken of in the word of God, and you have to know by the context which one it is, because sometimes the word is the same word.

So this treasure was hid in the field, and another thing that we pointed out is that when you look at the word hid, the grammar of it, it's in the past perfect tense, which means that this took place in what we call the eternity past.

It took place before anything that is made was made, and there was a time, if you call it time, before time even started when God hid this treasure. And so it is a completed act, completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to ever be repeated again.

And so when this treasure was hid in the field, it was hid in the eternity past, and when this man comes looking for it, this is the son of God, Jesus Christ, who comes and looks for it, and he finds this treasure that has been always there.

And so we noticed in John chapter 17 last time that there was a place where Jesus, in fact the entire chapter is a prayer, and the Lord Jesus is praying for his people, and he specifically says that he does not pray for the world.

And so that is one of the types of worlds the Bible talks about, that's the world of the lost, the world of the ones who are not his children. But those who are, he says, I have kept, and he prays a prayer for them and says, I've kept them while I was here, and he says, dear father, please keep them from the evil one when I'm gone.

And that's the prayer that he prayed for his own, and he specifically did not pray for the others. Now that's a doctrine that's hard for some people to understand, especially in this day of modern preaching when this is not taught anymore.

But it's very clear in John 17 that Jesus said, the father has given us to him out of the world. Now in Jeremiah 31 .10, it speaks of the lost tribes of Israel. It speaks of the fact that he scattered Israel, but it also says he shall gather them.

And so I believe what's happening in this parable is this man is coming and he is gathering the hidden treasure. Why does he do it? He says, for the joy thereof he goeth. In Jeremiah 31, it talks about this joy.

Jeremiah 31, and I think we should start with verse 12. Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord for wheat and for wine and for oil and for the young of the flock and of the herd and their soul shall be as a watered garden and they shall not sorrow anymore at all.

They then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both men and old together, young and old together, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

And that speaks of the nation of Israel. And then in Hebrews 12, verse 2 in the New Testament, it says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

And so because of the joy, this man, when he had found the treasure, he goeth and he sells everything that he has. This phrase, he goeth, is amazingly deep because when you go into Proverbs chapter 8, there's a whole passage there that starts with verse 22, but I just want to read you one verse to review from last time.

Then I was by him as one brought up with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. And yet the Bible says Jesus goeth from that place. You have to think about what Jesus left when he came down here to live his life on this earth for 33 years.

We focus on the life here, but we don't think a lot about what he left to be here. He was daily his delight, rejoicing always before the Father. Do you realize that that's exactly what went away at that moment on the cross when he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Psalm 8 speaks of eternity. It speaks of a thing we can hardly understand. It speaks of a time before God made anything that is. There were no stars, no planets, no earth, no people, no angels. And yet God is love and love demands an object.

And so God has always existed as a trinity. And the father loved the son and the son rejoiced and was daily his delight before him for all of eternity, except for one point in time, the focal point of all history, the cross.

And at that time, that fellowship was broken. At that time, Jesus Christ was totally separated from the father, which is the best description of what hell really will be. And he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

So when it says he will go, it pictures his leaving heaven. It pictures what he left behind. It pictures the fact that he laid aside even part of his own attributes, for instance, his omniscience, because I remember a verse where Jesus said he didn't know the day and hour he would return.

So he left part of his omniscience behind. He left part of his omnipresence behind because he was here at one place at one time on the earth. And he left an awful lot to come here. Would you have left that place to come here?

We don't know because we've not seen that place, but I think we understand from the little that we do know, we probably would not have wanted to leave, but he did. And why did he leave that place? Well, he said, because he would sell all and buy that field.

I think it's interesting at the end of verse 44 that it says he buyeth that field. And also at the beginning of the verse, it says he found a treasure hid in a field. The words a and that imply that there are more than one field.

And since we know the field represents the world, it plainly teaches there's more than one world. We know of at least three that we talked about last Sunday. But he came and he sold all that he had. That means he gave up everything to come here.

And he purchased that field, that field which contained the treasure that he had come to purchase. This word purchase in the Greek language literally means to redeem, and it's a slave market term. It means that Jesus left the place where he was and he came down into this slave market called the world where it's full of slaves, slaves to the devil, servants of sin, totally oppressed and controlled by the evil one.

That's what people are in this slave market. And Jesus came down into this slave market and he paid the price and he ransomed and purchased his own, both the nation of Israel, the saved Hebrews and the church.

But specifically this is talking about the Hebrews. In Leviticus chapter 25, I'd like you to turn there with me in verse 25, Leviticus 25, 25. I want you to see a little bit about how the ransom works because it works the same way with the Lord's ransom.

In fact, everything that happens in the Old Testament is a type and a shadow of the real spiritual world, only it's in the physical in the Old Testament. So this represents the spiritual accomplishment that Jesus did when on the cross he cried out, it is finished.

Leviticus 25, 25, if thy brother be waxen poor and hath sold away some of his possession. And you have to understand that the children of Israel were given the land, the promised land, and it was divided up into each family.

They were given the land and this held true from generation to generation. It's not like it is here in the United States where you just go buy the land that you want and then you can sell it and go buy some more and live somewhere else.

They had the land that had been given to their family by God as they came into the promised land. And so if one of them became so poor that they couldn't eat, couldn't take care of their family, they would then sell part of that land which was really theirs, which really belonged to their whole family so that they could have the money to live on and so forth.

What's interesting is that that land never really ceased to be theirs. The person that bought it really only leased it because every 50 years it returned to the original owner. But look what happens here in this case where this poor brother has to sell his own possession.

But it says, and if any of his kin, now here we get the idea of the kinsman redeemer, any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold, which really was already the brother's.

And if the man have none to redeem it, he himself shall be able to redeem it if he can. Then if he can, let him count the years of the sale thereof and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession.

But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee, in which time it would return to the original owner. But this speaks of this redemption process.

If a person lost his land because he became poor, which kind of pictures us, doesn't it? When we were in sin, we were poor, we had absolutely nothing. We had absolutely no ability to purchase our salvation.

There was nothing in us that could have accomplished our salvation. We had lost our possession. A lot of people don't even understand that it was our possession to begin with, the way the doctrines of salvation are taught nowadays.

We think that, well, I won't go into that, I don't have time, but it's not understood that we belong to him for all eternity. It's not commonly understood today that God set his love upon us before he made anything.

And in his heart and mind, you were always his. And that when we came into this world, just as Adam did, we lost that possession, we became poor, and then all of a sudden, guess what happened? We had a kinsman redeemer who stood on our behalf, who left that place, came down to this marketplace, and stood up and said, I'll pay the price, I want to purchase the possession back for my brothers and sisters.

Galatians 4, 5 says, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, and because you are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

He came to redeem them. He came down into this marketplace. And in Isaiah 35, 10, it speaks of the ransomed of the Lord, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And the Bible says that Jesus, because he had his sight on that joy, he could look into the future and see the joy of the ransomed coming back into the land.

Because of that joy, it says he left and came down here and sold everything he had so that he could then have the price to pay to redeem his own. And that's what we know happened. It's interesting though, I was talking to you about this word, that, at the end of verse 44.

In the Greek, it literally comes from a little Greek word, eke, which means there. So it's pretty much like Texan, Texan language, it says he bought that there land, that there field, a specific field.

And it was the field that had this beautiful treasure in it. Now last time, we talked a little bit about the fact of the different worlds, and we talked about how in Matthew 7, he talks about those who, and we talked about it at Sunday school this morning as well, those who said, Lord, Lord, have I not done many wonderful things in your name?

And he said, depart from me, I never knew you. And those were the goats on the left hand, and then he had his sheep on the right hand, and he said to them, come and inherit the kingdom. So we have these two seeds going all through human history, starting from the Garden of Eden, going down through the previous parable that we studied a few Sundays ago about the wheat and the tares, where Jesus came, the Son of Man came and sowed the good seed by day, and the enemy came by night and sowed the seeds of the tares.

And all of this is going on here, and Jesus comes and he buys this place, this part of the world that the Old Testament saints were in. Now with that in mind, let's go into this next parable. There's going to be a difference here because in the parable of the pearl, it doesn't say that he bought the whole field, it says he bought the pearl.

The Pearl as the Church and the Unity of the Body of Christ

And the pearl represents the church, all of those who would be saved during the church age and be placed into the body of Jesus Christ. And so let's read this in verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

And there is a difference there because it says the price that's paid here is paid for the specific pearl. Now, what's interesting in the Old Testament times when we deal with the merchant man or the man coming and buying the whole field and for the treasure, and it speaks of ransom.

If you go into the Levitical passages and you study how the ransom worked, there was a specific price that was paid for the exact land that was going to be purchased or ransom or for a human being that maybe they got so poor that they sold themselves into slavery.

But a brother or a cousin or a nephew or an uncle could come and if they had the price to pay, they could pay the specific price to redeem the person and to free them. But what always happens in the Old Testament is the exact price for the exact thing that's going to be redeemed is paid, and then that thing and that thing only is purchased.

And so the same thing is happening when Jesus comes to this world. He says he came to seek and save that which was lost, but he says he came to take away the sins of his own. And that's exactly what he did.

And that's who the price was paid for. Now, we look here at the parable of the pearl. First of all, let's ask this question, who is doing the seeking? Who is the merchant man? Because if you go back a couple of hundred years ago and you read a lot of the commentators, they will say that Jesus is the pearl in this parable.

And so if that's true, that would make us the merchant man going and seeking after Jesus. And really, there are a lot of commentaries that have it that way. I don't know about you, but I have some problem with that interpretation because I don't think it fits a lot of other scriptures.

For example, let's look at Romans chapter three for a moment. Turn to Romans three and verse 11. And the question we're asking is, who is the merchant man who's doing this seeking? Is it us looking for Jesus or is it Jesus looking for us?

Romans 311 says there is none that understand it. There is none that seek it after God. I think that's very plain and it answers our question. You see, when men and women are born into this world, we're born in sin.

We are dead in trespasses and sins. We're blind to the things of God. We're deaf. We can't hear him until that perfect time when he calls us to himself. And we walk in deadness, and that's why he has to quicken us.

And so there is not anyone who ever seeks the Lord in a lost state. It just doesn't happen that way. On the other hand, Luke chapter 19, verse eight, turn over to that. We're going to take a look at this man named Zacchaeus, who, if I remember right, was a tax collector.

And of course, the Jewish people, to them, that was the worst sinner you could have. I think still the same today, don't you? Especially this time of year. The boogeyman. Luke 19, eight says, and Zacchaeus, the IRS man, stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore it to him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation. Come to this house for so much as he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.

So tell me, my friends, who is the one seeking whom? Are we seeking the pearl, the Lord Jesus Christ, or is Jesus seeking the pearl which is the church? Which do you think? So who is the merchant man in this parable?

Jesus, who's the pearl? The church, and that's the only way we can interpret this. Now, second thing we want to look at is this. It says he found one pearl of great price. This speaks of unity, doesn't it?

Romans 12, five says,. So we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. Isn't that an important thing to remember when we have some disagreements in the church? It's not wrong to have disagreements because we're human.

We're going to have them. But we have to always go back to the fact that we're one body and it brings us back to unity. We're just one pearl, a pearl of great price. And remembering that we're one body, we're of the body of Jesus Christ brings us back to a place of unity.

Now, think about a pearl for a moment. When you talk about the treasure, like in verse 44, you're thinking of perhaps something like gold or maybe something like diamonds. In fact, most treasures in the world are completely different than a pearl because a pearl is organic.

A pearl is a thing that had to be formed. It's not like the treasure that was there already hidden in the field. It's a thing that had to be formed. Well, treasure is found, but pearls are formed. First Corinthians 130 says this,.

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. First Corinthians 121 says,.

I mean, second Corinthians 121 says,. Now he which establishes us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God. And I want you to focus in on the phrase in Christ and verse 22 says, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts.

In second Corinthians 517 says,. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. And the literal Greek word is creation, not creature. He is a creation. He is a thing that is being formed. Old things are passed away and behold, all things are become new.

And when it says he is a new creature, it's the word thesis, which means original formation. So the church is a thing that's being formed. By the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's interesting when you start talking about how a pearl is made.

It's made by a living organism, the oyster. But in order for a pearl to come about, you have to have an intrusion. You have to have an intruder. And it's either usually a grain of sand or a parasite of some kind that intrudes the body of this oyster.

And irritates the tender parts of the oyster, and only by this irritation of this particle of sand. Would the oyster ever produce a pearl? When you think about the fact that we're made of dirt, we're made of the sand of this world, it's a pretty good picture of us being the thing that created this irritation.

Let me give you a couple of verses to look at here. I'm going to give you 2 Corinthians 5, 21 and 2 Peter 2, 24. Mark those two verses, if you would, and at each place put the other reference, so if you find either one of them, find both of them.

And I want you to think about how a pearl is formed. It starts with a grain of sand. 2 Peter 2, 24. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 and 2 Peter 2, 24. It starts with a grain of sand that creates an irritation. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

Who's that talking about? Jesus, and who is it? Who is it that made him to be sin? The father. It says he knew no sin, but why did the father do this? That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Now we're going to see all this pictured as the as the pearl is formed. But now when it says he has made him to be sin. If you didn't have 2 Peter 2, 24, you might be a little confused about that, so let's look at 2 Peter 2, 24.

No, well, is it? I may have it wrong. You're absolutely right. 1 Peter 2, 24. Now, in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, where it says he has made him to be sin, does that mean that God made Jesus a sinner or made Jesus to sin?

Absolutely not. 1 Peter 2, 24 gives us the answer. Who who his own self now, if you look up into the verses prior to that, you'll see this is talking about Christ. Christ, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree.

Do you realize that this is literal? This is not symbolic. Like. This is not some picture that's being painted, this literally happened that God, the father who is not bound by time, who is outside of time.

Reached into the earth history. From the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, all the way to the last man that will be born in the in this age, and he took all of those sins, the literal sins. Of all of us and place them within the body of Jesus Christ.

Now, the way that I know that Jesus did not die for the non-elect is because if their sins had been in his body, they would have been paid for. But they're not in the way we know they're not is because they're going to spend eternity in hell.

But yours were. If the Lord knew you before the foundation of the world and he loved you and he set his love upon you and there came a point in time when he called you out, called him to himself and he called your name and you heard it, you knew you were his.

Then your sins. We're part of the irritation. Your sins were in Christ when he was on that tree. And the the oyster and the pearl picture this so vividly because that little grain of sand actually comes inside the oyster and it is irritating.

That's kind of an understatement for what Jesus meant when he said, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Can you imagine the father literally turning his head, turning his face, turning the fellowship away from his son that had delighted before him and for all eternity, the sky grew dark and the earth began to shake.

Irritation is the wrong word, but the little sand pictures. Now, the next thing that happens, though, in the oyster, when the sand is there, is if the oyster itself begins to secrete something. Around this sand and he continues to do this until the pearl is actually formed, isn't it interesting that second Corinthians 521 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and this secretion that comes around this sand and turns it into this beautiful pearl that becomes truly a treasure, pictures the robes of righteousness that God places upon his children.

You see, we don't have our own righteousness. A lot of people believe you build a stairway to heaven through doing good deeds. In fact, all of the religions of the world, except biblical Christianity, believe that.

And yet God teaches us very clearly that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before the Lord, we have no righteousness. What God does is he takes us as a bit of sand that he had made from this world and it begins to cover us with the beautiful righteousness of himself.

And it's pictured by the secretion that goes around this sand and creates the pearl. Does anybody know about how long it takes to make a pearl? About three years. Isn't that fascinating? What a coincidence.

Jesus ministry was three years on this earth. Next thing I want to point out is this, the body in which the pearl is formed. Deposits this secretion around the grain of sand, transforming it into something that's beautiful.

Let me give you a couple of verses about that. Revelation 6, 11 and Revelation 7, 14. Revelation 6, 11 says, and white robes were given unto every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.

That's picturing the tribulation period. And these are given beautiful robes of righteousness. Now, let's look at Revelation 7, 14. We'll see what these robes picture. They picture the same thing that the secretion that the orster puts around the sand pictures as he turns the sand into a beautiful pearl, a treasure.

Revelation 7, 14 says, and I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.

So it's the blood of the lamb that turns us into a pearl and it pictures the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. And it's kind of like the old black saint said, someone asked him, how do you know you're saved?

She said, I know I'm saved because when Jesus looks down at me, when the father looks down at me, he sees me all dressed up in Jesus. And that's exactly what happens to us. Another interesting thing about pearls is they come in all shapes and colors.

Revelation 5, 9 says, and they sung a new song, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by the blood, by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.

And so there are people from every family in the world that God calls him to himself and dresses up in his perfect righteousness. Another thing about pearls that we find is that pearls reflect and refract light.

Matthew 5, 14 says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick that it give light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. And as we see a beautiful pearl and you put it under bright light and see the different shades of colors that come off of it, that's the way we're supposed to be.

And I mentioned earlier, the pearl takes about an average of three years to form. And so we see in the pearl. Many, many pictures of the formation of the church down through the church age as the Lord Jesus Christ brings each one into the church.

Now, let's look at verse 46 back in Matthew 13. It says, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had. And bought it. This word had where it says he sold all that he had, it speaks of possessions and abilities.

In Hebrews 2 9, it says, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.

For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons into glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. So we see that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels.

And when we see this phrase in our parable where it says that he sold all that he had, it's a reference to this. Again, in Philippians chapter two and verse six, it says, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow things in heaven, things in the earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father.

When he gave everything that he had, he left the heavenlies and he laid aside some of the actual attributes of deity that he had. And then it says, and he bought it. Remember, the word bought is the same word as it was up in verse forty four, where it talks about the treasure.

It is this slave market term. It literally means to go to market. And so he left the place where he was, he gave all that he had. And he bought this pearl, Matthew, twenty, twenty eight says, for even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom.

For many, his life was given as a ransom, all that he had was given as a ransom. Ephesians two fourteen says, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession and to the grace praise of his glory.