All right, let's take our Bibles
once again and turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 13.
Matthew chapter 13. We're continuing to go through
this blessed chapter that houses many of our Lord's parables. And today He's going to give
us another parable setting forth for our understanding a parable
being an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, he's going to set forth
the comparison of what the kingdom of heaven is like. The Lord said in verse 45 and
46, again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking
goodly pearls. Who when he had found one pearl
of great price. He went and sold all that he
had and bought it. Now, in our previous parable,
one we looked at last time, verse 44, the Lord revealed this about
the kingdom of heaven. He says, again, the kingdom of
heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth
all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Now that treasure
that we looked at was actually the church. It's a treasure to
the Lord Jesus Christ. His church is elect, hid in the
field of this world. And the man who has found the
treasure of his church is the Lord Jesus Christ. Himself, the
man Christ Jesus, the one who found His church in God's everlasting
covenant of grace. He found her. in the Father's
electing grace, and for the joy that was set before Him to redeem
and save her from her sins, the Lord Jesus sold all that He had.
He made Himself of no reputation, humbled Himself as a servant,
gave Himself into the hands of God that He might suffer on the
behalf of His people Her just penalty and the justice and judgment
in her stead. He gave all he had. So in our
parable today, there is somewhat of a resemblance that we might
see in the continuation of the truth that we had just looked
at. The Lord Jesus Christ, if we
looked at Him in verse 45 and 46, the Lord being the merchant
man seeking goodly pearls, seeking those that the Father had given
Him and electing grace, those that He spoke of in Malachi 3.17,
and they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day
when I make up My jewels. And I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. So the Lord shall in His
great day, in that day of justice and judgment. That day when the
sheep and goats are separated and that day when the world is
burned up, the Lord shall gather out His chosen ones, His elect,
His jewels out of the flames of His wrath upon the unjust,
upon this world that's going to be burned up. He's going to
save them out of it as a man would save the most prized and
valuable possession that he's got. If your house was on fire,
What would you get out first? Hopefully yourself. But if you
had the opportunity, what would you get? You'd try to get that
which was most precious to you. That's what the Lord will do.
But then he says he found also one pearl of great price, his
church, his beloved, the one who's ravished his heart with
one look, of her eyes. So as in the previous parable,
having found the one pearl worthy of the great price, he sold all
he had. He disposed of all that he had
for her. He died. He died in her stead. He laid down his life for the
church and purchased her with his own blood. Now that could
very possibly be the meaning of verse 45 and 46. But there's
another truth that is set forth in this passage, a truth that
is just as true, just as precious, and just as revealing. And I
want us to consider this for just a few moments. And to see
how the Lord is setting forth, truly, what He does for His elect
in regenerating and revealing and preserving and keeping grace. I'd like for us to look at this
passage of Scripture and let's look at the merchant man that
is seeking these goodly pearls. I'd like to look at that merchant
man as being one of God's elect. Now here is a merchant man. He's
a vessel of God's mercy. Now he's one of God's elect.
That means that the Lord has everlastingly known and loved
him. That means that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed him by
his precious blood. But this merchant man right here
is one that is still in a state of spiritual darkness and unbelief. He's an unregenerate. He's one
of God's elect. He's one that the Lord loves. But God hadn't called him out
of darkness yet. And what's he doing? Well, the
scripture says, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant
man seeking goodly pearls. One might say, but I thought
that there were none that understood. And that there was none that
did seek God. That's exactly right. Romans
3.11 states that. There's none good that understandeth.
I mean, there's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. True. But this merchant right here
is doing something. He's seeking, but what is he
seeking? It says he's seeking goodly pearls. Now remember, this merchant man
is one of God's elect before he's regenerated. And he's going about doing the
same thing that all men by nature are doing. Seeking goodly pearls. What are these goodly pearls?
Well, they're the pearls of this world's different denominations. He's seeking those things which
men by nature think are genuine and approved of God. Spiritually. He's dead in trespasses and sins,
but naturally alive to the realization that there is a God and that
he's going to have to meet that God in eternity and he needs
to do something to prepare himself. For many here at this assembly,
you grew up hearing the gospel of God's free grace. I didn't. I grew up in this world's religions. I tried numerous ones. And you know the funny thing
about them is that these goodly pearls, pearls of this world's
religions, they're all about the same. I mean, they're goodly
pearls in the fact that They're religious and they talk about
God. They talk about salvation. They
talk about heaven. They talk about grace. And all
of the goodly pearls that I was ever associated with all had
basically the same foundation of being right with God. I had
to do something. I had to do something. I had
to exercise my free will, I had to ask the Lord into my heart,
or I had to be baptized, or I had to speak in tongues, or I had
to prove, you know, I had to do something. I had to just join
the church, just turn over a new leaf, quit cussing. I did that for a while. And this
merchant man right here, one of God's elect, And what's he
doing? He's doing just exactly what
everybody by nature does. I'm going to find me a place. One's just as good as the other.
They're all working for the same thing to get to heaven. And if
you're sincere, anyone will really do. It doesn't really matter. This is like a big spoke, like
a big wagon wheel. All the spokes go to the same
center. We're coming from different directions. But these all are goodly pearls. If you're sincere, and you do
the best you can, and love your neighbor as yourself, and love
God, and pay your taxes and stuff, goodly pearls. They're OK. But
our Lord's parable is given to teach us something of God's sovereign
grace and His good pleasure to effectually call His own out
of the darkness of sin and unbelief and giving them a new heart made
willing in the day of God's power to trust Him alone for salvation. It's said, verse 45, again, the
kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly
pearls. Who? Verse 46, when he had found the
one pearl of great price, he went and he sold all that he
had and he bought it. When this merchant man, like that prodigal son that had
taken his inheritance and he'd gone and wasted it all and riotous
living, reduced to nothing, Scripture says, He came to Himself. This is what happens when Almighty
God comes by His Holy Spirit to a vessel of God's mercy and
He arrests him like He did Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Like He did Matthew at the seat
of customs. He said, follow me. Matthew got up and followed Him.
He called Peter, James, He said, you follow me, I'll make you
fish as a man. They followed, left their nets, left their daddy.
They left. What happened? Oh, something
happened in this merchant man's life while he was seeking all
of these goodly pearls. God Almighty, in a resting and
regenerating grace, stopped him and taught him something of himself. He revealed to that man something
about who he was. I'm an impotent sinner against
God. I have offended Almighty God. And he's heard through the preaching
of the gospel, God crossed his path. That's the only way. that
this man could find by faith the one pearl. He'd been seeking
these goodly pearls. They're all about the same. Oh,
when I found this one pearl of great price, immeasurable price, uncalculating
worthiness of Him. When Christ was seen to be God's
Lamb, who has everlastingly stood as the surety of God's sheep,
their Savior. This man hears now that there's
one who, according to God's everlasting covenant of grace, has everlastingly
stood to be my representative before God. He is the one that
has agreed in covenant mercy. I will answer. I will bear all
of your guilt. You'll possess no debt. And I'll
give you my righteousness. I'll give you my righteousness.
And I'll answer before God for you. I'll intercede for you. and you're accepted of God in
me." That merchant man said, you know what, now that's a pearl
of great price. That's a pearl worthy of worship. And now that regenerate knows
that formerly he'd been running blindly on a religious wild goose
chase seeking after that which was only feeding his flesh and
would never declare the truth concerning a man's acceptance
with God. And now, the Lord Jesus who lived for him and died for
him, buried for him, raised for him, He is that pearl of great
price. He's the one who has enlightened
this sinner. He's the one that this sinner
can trust. That sinner, that merchant man
seeking formerly those goodly pearls, he said, this man is
the way. This is the right way. This is
the one that's consistent with these scriptures. This is the
one that God has set forth to be the propitiation, the satisfaction
before God. For me, He's the pearl. I know this no man comes to the
Father but by Him. This is my wisdom before God. He is the illuminator of my natural
ignorance. He told me what I am. He's the
revealer of himself to be God in human flesh. He's my wisdom. He is my righteousness. What
has a man been regenerated to say concerning righteousness?
He said, I don't have any of myself. All of my righteousness
is filthy rags. But my pearl of great price has
robed me In His righteousness and in Him, I'm accepted. He's
my sanctification. What does that mean? In Him,
I am pure. Without spot. No blemish. I'm holy. I'm unblameable. He's my redemption. He's my wisdom. righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. What does that mean? He's my
redemption. He is the ransom. He's the ransom by which I've
been delivered. He is the one in whom the Father
has blessed His people with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. This is the judge. He is the
judge of the world. who has everlastingly loved me. Who's the judge? He's my husband. Who is the judge? He's my friend. He's my savior. He's my redeemer. He's my priest before God. He
is my redemption. And He's the one that's coming
back for me. He's coming back to receive me unto Himself and
where He is, there I may be also. And all who, by God's grace,
by a new heart imparted in regenerating grace, has found this one pearl
of great price, what did they do? He went and sold all that
he had and bought it. Sold all he had. What does that
mean? Everything that he ever trusted
in, everything that he ever thought was his possession, everything
that he thought had any worthiness to it, what did he do? He counted it as dumb. Paul said in Philippians 3, for
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. We all had confidence in the
flesh. We thought we had found us a goodly pearl, latched on
to it, had it in our back pocket whenever we needed it. Paul said,
though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. Circumcised the eighth day, the
stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching
the law as a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
touching righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. I sold them all. I sold
them all. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ. and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. This merchant man He found that
one pearl of great price. And he sold all he had. Gave
it all up. This is all garbage. And he bought
it. He bought it. And in closing,
how does a man buy the pearl of great price? Well, Isaiah
55.1 says, Everyone that thirsteth. Everyone,
Jew, Gentile, bond-free, male, female. Come ye to the waters. Come ye to the overflowing springs
of God's blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one that's
bidden to come is that he that has no money. Everybody that's spiritually
poor, that can't afford it, can't pay, no money, you're the only
ones that are bitten. Beggars. Come ye. Come ye, ye come in a way that
this world knows nothing of. He that hath no money, and by
wine and milk without money and without price, come by faith
and by the milk of his word, the wine of his precious blood,
come to him who is the water of life. The Lord said, him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Tell me again what
the kingdom of heaven is like. It's like a merchant man seeking
goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price,
he went and sold all that he had and bought it. I pray that through these precious,
precious parables, that the Lord by His Holy Spirit might give
us some understanding into the dealings that God has with His
people. calling them out of darkness,
teaching them of themselves and their need of the pearl of great
price. We preach these things for God's
glory in Christ and for our good. Amen.