Well, hello. Clay took a big
pause there. I thought he'd forgotten my name.
I was going to yell out, it's Kevin. And the top of my notes,
she says that hieroglyphics. It says, our pastor has stars
around him. I'm thankful for our pastor.
Ain't nothing changed. He didn't used to be my pastor.
He's my pastor. Just as Marvin's your pastor still, you're my
pastor. The Lord's knit our hearts together,
and I'm thankful to God for you, and I'm thankful for you all,
the way you take care of him, and I appreciate you. And these
men here that's gonna be preaching, I hope not be here. I know a man that used to play
drums in some of them surf bands back in the 50s and 60s, and
he knows all his famous people. I said, you know that I know
John Chapman? I did. I know Vicki, she sized my paychecks,
used to, years ago. I know David Edmondson. He didn't
think that was fancy. I did. Lord let me know these
men. I'm thankful. Well, if you will
turn to Matthew 13. I want to look at just two verses
here in Matthew 13, and they're very common verses, and even
to this day, many people in this society would know something
about these two verses. the pearl of great price. They
would know it's got to involve a pearl and somebody giving anything
it takes to get that pearl. And that's important. Most people
see that as diligence. If you want to have a successful
business or have a successful family, you just got to work
hard and keep after it. I titled this message, The Precious
Pearl Buyer. I'll tell you right up front,
bottom line up front, we ain't the one buying pearls. were the
pearls being bought. That's it. I want to get the
context of those verses. It's good to know. I think that's
proof Clay's still my pastor. Most of y'all have grown up,
maybe will once or twice already. You ever done something you think,
man, I look back in life and I'm going to call my mom or dad
and apologize to them. I used to call mom once a week
and I'd say, I'm sorry. I see now what I did. I'm sorry. I call my pastor and I say, I'm
sorry. I remember that time I did this.
Ah boy, I should have just kept my mouth shut. I'm going to give
you context. The Lord's this one. We're the
pearls that he bought. And we need to know the context
of that. And here in Matthew 13, the Lord
gives a parable of the sowers and those four types of ground.
And he says in verse 9, Matthew 13, 9, who hath ears to hear,
let him hear. And the disciples came, look
at this grace and compassion. The disciples came unto him,
I speakest thou to them in parables? And he answered and said, they
asked him a question and he answered. Simple things like that I can't
get over. The Lord answered his people's questions. Because it
is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
But to them, it's not given. I'm speaking this in parables
because for you, you're going to understand the kingdom of
heaven out of this. Then in verse 16, blessed are your eyes for
they see, your ears for they hear. Then our master explains
the parable of the sowers. Like when them disciples said,
we don't, he said, if you have ears to hear, let them hear.
And I said, I don't know what you're talking about. And he
said, sit down, I'll tell you. I'll explain it to you. How patient. And verse 24 says, the kingdom
of heaven is like good seeds sown in the field, but then weeds
are sown too by his enemy. And he said, you let them grow
up together. Verse 31, Matthew 13, 31. Another parable he put
forth unto them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of
mustard seed. The Lord keeps talking about
this kingdom of heaven. Kingdom of heaven. Each one of
these parables. I'm interested to know about
the kingdom of heaven. Are you? He said, your eyes have
seen and your ears hear. Do you want to see that? Do you
want to hear about His kingdom? I want to hear what He has to
say about it. I don't want to read a book on it of what man's
opinions are. I want to know what God has to
say about it. I do. And in verse 33, He said, another
parable is spake unto them. The king of heaven is like unto
leaven. He's talking about the king of
heaven. He goes on to explain the parable of the seeds and
the wheats and the tares. Matthew 13, 44. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto the treasure hid in a field, which when a
man hath found, he hideth. And for the joy thereof go, and
sell all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Look here at this
parable. Who's speaking there? The Master's
speaking. Christ is speaking. What's been the subject in all
these parables throughout this scripture, throughout this chapter?
The kingdom of God. He's talking about His work,
the Father purposing this work, the Son purchasing this work,
the Holy Spirit coming, proclaiming this in the hearts of His people,
preaching the gospel. This unmeasurable treasure. It's
what He's talking about, this kingdom. The kingdom's got a
lot to it, doesn't it? There's a whole lot of things
in a kingdom. He's going over and over with this. Paul said,
thanks be to God for this unspeakable gift. And if the Lord reveals
this to you, you just groan, don't you? And also unspeakable
is to write it down. Write down the blessings. If
I was to number my blessings, it's impossible. All these things,
it's amazing what the Lord's done for us in this kingdom,
for this kingdom. Paul also said, we have this treasure, this kingdom
and earthen vessel, that, the excellency, and it is excellent.
It's excellent. the excellency of the power of
God, maybe of the power of God, and not of us. He said, in my
kingdom, I didn't elect this kingdom, I didn't help build
this kingdom, it's His kingdom, and He's telling us about it.
He said in Matthew 11, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes. This is hid
in the earth. Who hid this treasure? The man,
the God-man did. He did. And at the end of verse
44 it says, and for joy, this is why I did it, for joy saith
all he has and he buys a field. Hebrews 12 says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him. This isn't talking about us. He's telling us of him. And we
see these as, there's things we want to do, we want to emulate,
we do. But the Lord's telling us what
he did. what He's done for us. We see the theme there. Verse
47, again, the kingdom of heaven is locked into a net. He just
goes on. But there's one that stuck out to me. One that just
touched me deeply out of this, and it was the pearl. Here's
our text, just two verses. Matthew 13, 45. And again, again,
if the Lord keeps repeating this, I'm okay repeating it. You know,
man, I think we're on safe ground. 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. Now who's speaking? The Lord
Jesus Christ is speaking. Who's he speaking to? Those that
have ears to hear and those that have eyes to see. What's the
subject? What the kingdom of God is like,
what the kingdom of heaven's like. And what are these parables
pointing to? All the work of God in and for
sinners and his son receiving all the glory. That's it. Who's
this merchant man? It says again, the kingdom of
heaven is like to a merchant man. The merchant man, that word
means a traveling man that does business. Now that's us. I'm a travel man that does business.
I'm sojourning, as people say, through this world. Some people
say that and they sure don't mean it. I'm just passing through,
but I'm holding on to everything I get my hands on. It's hard
to let go, isn't it? But we are. I got from Brother
Scott Richardson, he's in a motel, there's a painting that was eschewed.
And somebody said, isn't that driving you crazy? He said, buddy,
I'm here for one night. In my office, there was some
holes already drilled, and I got a picture frame that's cockeyed.
And somebody said, you gonna fix that? I said, I'll never
fix it. Somebody might ask me why that's crooked. I get to
tell them, I'm just passing through. Passing through. But this one,
this merchant man, this is our Lord. He traveled a great distance
on business. He went from glory, where he
was, to this sin-cursed earth on purpose. On purpose. Again, the King of Heaven's like
to a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. He's looking for the
good pearls. Well, that ain't me. Is it you?
Do you know that's what he calls them? He calls him there. Hopefully,
we may be looking at Jonah tomorrow. But he said, Lord, you're speaking
to Nineveh. He told Jonah. He said, you rise up and go down
to Nineveh, that great city, that great city, and cry against
it because his wickedness come up against me. Does that mean
it's big? He said, no, it's wonderful.
It's mine. They sinned against me. Now go talk to him. Go tell
him. Do you see the compassion in
that? The grace it is of God just to
tell people, just to warn them. We look at them plagues there
in Genesis, and every third plague, there's no warning. The third
plague, the sixth plague, ninth plague, no warning. And I thought,
what a warning it is that God didn't give a warning. To us,
that's a warning. He don't owe us a warning. We've been warned. Give their pearls. Well, scripture
says, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there's any that understand, see if there's any that seek
God. They've all gone astray. We read in Genesis 6, 5, God
saw the wickedness of man who was great on the earth and every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. I know something of that. I know,
the Lord revealed that to me. and he was gonna burn it all
up, flood it then. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Grace was to be found in the
eyes of the Lord. Verse 46 says, who when he found
one pearl? One pearl. Salvation is one on
one. It is. We cast a gospel net,
we sow the seed, broadcast it, but if the Lord don't meet us
one on one, get us one on one. It's not a group effort. He's
got to speak to the heart of His people. He has to. He found
one pearl. Who did the seeking and the finding?
The Lord sought the hearts in Psalm 53, as David was telling
us, and He said, there was none that sought God. He was seeing
if anybody sought Him. He said, nobody's seeking Me.
So He came down for one pearl. This Redeemer is seeking His
own. He's seeking His own. Turn over to Luke 15. Luke 15, verse 3. Luke 15, 3, and he spake this
parable unto them, saying, the Lord always used a lot of parables,
didn't he? He did. I'm thankful for that. He gave us plain illustrations,
not complex words. He told children can understand.
He said, I'm a door. You come through a door. You
know what a door is. He said, I'm a door. I'm light. You can't
see nothing. It's simple. He told us a pair
of illustrations, things we could relate to. To farmers, he spoke
about farming. To fishermen, he talked about
fishing. Vineyard owners, he talked about raising grapes.
I'm thankful for that. And he spake this parable unto
them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he
lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost? That one pearl, it's lost. It's
lost. It's a pearl. It can't go nowhere.
It ain't got arms and legs. Go after that one which is lost
until he find it. Verse five. And when he hath
found it, he lay it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying,
then rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons
which need no repentance. When this precious pearl buyer
goes down and buys that one pearl, they'll be rejoicing in heaven.
They will be, one on one. There in our text in Matthew
13. There's joy. That's what for
the joy set before Him. He endured the cross. Verse 45
again. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had
found one pearl of great price. This is an expensive pearl. Same
cheap pearl. This is an expensive pearl. He
went and sold all that he had and bought it. This is how much
this pearl cost. He'd go to it, first of all,
and he sold all that he had. And in doing so, he bought it. For us pearls, the Lord looked
down and said, that's my precious pearl. That's a good pearl, and
it's mine, and I want it. I'm going to buy it. He sent
His Son. John told us in 1 John 4. In
this was manifested the love of God toward us. Because God
sent His only begotten Son. Well, that's all of Him. He didn't
have ten. I've got 250 sons and I'll give
one. Oh, He had one son. And He gave
all of Him. All of Him. His only begotten
Son of the world that we might live through Him. We can be his
precious possession, herein his love. Not that we love God, but
that he love us and send his son to be the propitiation, the
mercy seat, the accepted bloody sacrifice, the payment. All of
it, all the payment. Not most of the payment, we'll
get you 95% there. All, all the payment for our
sins. Paul said, he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay the
charge to lay anything to the charge of God's will? It's God
that justifies. It's His pearls, don't you talk
bad about them pearls. Don't judge them, don't weigh them,
don't see how, if they got any streaks through them, you leave
them alone, it's His pearls, He bought them. In my Bible, I'm borrowing a
Bible today. It's hard to preach out somebody else's Bible. Words
are in different places, I don't know. In my Bible, it said nobody
can lay charge to God. Who's gonna lay charge to it?
I said, not even me. That's why I got wrote down next to it.
Not even me. This is true if we're on a deserted
island, you know that? It's so. Paul said, what? No, you know
what's your body? That's the temple of the Holy Ghost, which
is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own.
You're bought with a price. You're bought with a price. That
same word, price, is translated honor. Honor. You count those
with double honor. The labor and the word over you.
That's right. You've been bought with honor. It ain't just, you
get that, it ain't that there was, well, we understand buying
things with money, and if you pay with cash instead of a credit
card, something hurts up here in your brain, that's what scientists
say. But we understand laying down coins. He gave all, and
it was honor that bought you. Honor that bought you. When we
find out we're unhonorable and unprofitable servants, boy, that
gets to the heart, doesn't it? It melts you. The Lord said,
I'll send my word forth, it'll melt them. There's no indifference.
Well, I guess I'll go think about it. He said he's gonna melt them.
And he will, I believe it. We're bought with honor. Peter
said, for as much as you know, you're not redeemed with corruptible
things of silver and gold from the vain conversations received
of the traditions of your fathers. That's a needed warning too.
But with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Verse 45 again. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like 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 he bought it Lord said If there's contention
it only comes by pride Now when God says only what's he mean?
That's it And when it says that he gave all when God says I gave
all what's he mean? He gave all All that was needed,
all that was required. Any way you cut it, he gave all.
That merchant sold all that he had, for though he was rich,
yet for our sakes he became poor. And he bought us. He bought us. Now this is concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, who he is, what he did for his people, what's
done, what's completely finished, and we're pearls. He's bought
us. He saw his people. He found his
people. They didn't get away from him.
He gave all of himself by laying down his life for his people,
willingly, for joy, for joy. This isn't begrudging. It's like,
well, this is a transaction that must take place. We have now
completed the transaction. No, it was cause of love. Buying
his own, the ugly ones, the ugly ones that he found lovely. I
don't want to get any of you men in trouble, but I got to
tell this. I got my wife some pearls and they said, do you
want real ones or do you want fake ones? I said, I don't know
the difference. He said, well, if you get them. He said, do
you rub it on your tooth like that? A fake one's real smooth,
but if you got a real pearl, it's gritty. and you feel it
scratching you too. And I thought, if I was going
to wear something, I'd prefer to have something smooth. I wouldn't
want something scratching and itching me all day. But I thought,
a week after that I read this. And I thought, I'm just a gritty
old ugly pearl. And for whatever reason, because
he would, it pleased him to magnify his namesake for the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, I'll give you the heathen. for
your inheritance. I've set you on your mountain
and sign, you're my king, and here's your people, the worst
constituency you could ever find, and you're gonna rule them well.
They're gonna be just like you. That's who this is about. But
it's to us too. How about me and you? How about
it? Come on now, that's Henry's,
come on, that's about us too, isn't it? Isn't it? Peter said
unto you therefore which thinks he is precious, The Lord looked
down and he found this gritty old ugly pearl. It's sand accumulated
inside of an old nasty clam or whatever in the ocean. You can't
even see it. We didn't even know it was down
there. And he said, I'm going to give everything for that one.
That's mine. I'm going to buy it. He found it precious. If
he finds you precious, you're going to find him precious. That's
it. That's so, that'll happen. If
the Lord's found his child precious and he reveals himself to you,
he's all in all. He's a great pearl. We didn't even know we was looking
for a pearl and this is precious. He's precious. That rich young
ruler asked, he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And Lord said, you know the commandments. Don't commit adultery, don't
kill, don't steal, do not bear false witness, defraud, not honor
your mother and father. And he answered, he said, Master,
for my youth I've kept all these. I've done all that. And he beholding
him loved him. This was loving, loving. You
know, it says only gracious words come out of his lips. No man
ever spake like this man. And what was his accusations?
He's austere, he has hard sayings. No, it wasn't, it was love. He
said so, and I believe it. Jesus beholding him in love said,
one thing thou lackest. There's one pearl that our Lord
came to save. He saved us one on one. And for
us, once he saved us, one thing we lack. You go sell whatever
you have and give it to the poor. And you shall have treasures
in heaven. Come, take your cross and follow me. And he was sad
at that saying. and went away grieved for he
had great possessions. Does that mean we got to sell
our cars and our shoes and get down to a hair suit and don't
own a home or nothing like that? No, you get rid of your experiences
and your knowledge and your pride, your longevity, anything you
put stock in, mother, father, son, daughter, and you grab a
hold of this pearl at a great price. That's it. What do we sell off for Christ?
That one pearl of great price. He said, he that loveth father
and mother more than me is not worthy of me. This is a cost
of discipleship. And he that loveth son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross
and falleth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life
shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it. He said, in this life, in this lifetime, you'll have a
hundredfold, whatever you give up, mother, father, son, daughter,
houses, farmland, whatever, you'll have a hundredfold in this life.
And the Lord proved to me that that's so. He has. He asked him,
I love sailboats. I do. I don't know why I'm addicted
to it. I'd love to have a sailboat,
and I've never been to Hawaii. I thought I'd love it, and I was right,
I did. If you want to know if you like it, let me save you
a bunch of money and time, you won't like it. It's a nice place.
You know, I've got to go to Hawaii, and I've got to sail a sailboat
for free. And I didn't have to pay insurance
on that thing. I didn't have to worry about
a dock fee. And I was just happy. And I thought, the Lord said,
have you lacked anything? I've lacked nothing. Nothing. Not
even an experience that I thought would be nice. Hey, maybe he
did that just so I'd thank him. Hundredfold in this life. This
is an old illustration. Many of you may know it. Some
of you may not. I love it. It's just wonderful. There was
a man that went to buy pearls. He was looking for a pearl and
he found the perfect one. And he fell in love with that
pearl. And he said, I gotta have it.
This is the only pearl that's on earth. Everything else is
a fraud. This is the pearl. I gotta have it. And he asked
that store owner, he said, how much does this pearl cost? He
says, it costs all that you have. All that you have. He said, well,
I got $200 in my wallet. He said, that'll work. He said,
well, I'll give you $195. Well, that ain't all. Why are
you going to give me $195? He said, well, I've got to have
$5 to put in my car to get home. He said, oh, you've got a car?
It's going to cost you all. You give me that car. I'll take
that, too. He said, well, if you take my
car, how am I going to get back and forth to my business? Oh,
you've got a business? This pearl is going to cost you
that business, too. He said, well, if I've got a business
and you take that, how am I going to keep a roof over my head?
You've got a home? Give me a home. Well, if you
take my home, where are my children? Where are they going to stay?
You have children. You have to give me the children. This pearl is going to cost you
all that you have. The man turned it over for that
pearl. He said, you take it all, George.
I have to have the pearl. And he turned around and walked
out. And as he got to the door, the store owner calls out and
says, hey, you take that pearl. But you keep everything that
you have. You keep it all. But you remember, everything
you have is mine. My friend comes to town, he wants
to borrow that car, you give him that car. Somebody wants
to sleep underneath your roof, you let them sleep underneath
the roof, that's my roof. That's my friends, they're gonna stay
there. Someone needs a job in that business of yours, you pay
them top dollar. And you take good care of them,
as I took good care of you and paid you top dollar. That's my
business, not your business. If one of my people come to your
house, you put them up, you feed them the best food that you got.
You go kill the fatted calf, not the weak little sick calf
you got, because that's mine too. It's all mine. If I take
one of my children back to myself, or I take that home, or I take
that chicken coop back to myself, you say it's right. You say it's
right. That sacrifice of our lips when
we give thanks, the marginal reference there in Hebrews 13
says we witness. People say, well, I'm witnessing
for Jesus. Here's where something you do, thanking. It's raining. Thank you, Lord. Well, how you
thank the Lord for rain? He sent it. He does anything
he wants. And I wouldn't have it any other
way. Wouldn't you? People don't like that kind of
witnessing. Lord sent the flood, he sent the fire, he sent the
good things. We had a child, got a new child
coming. Thank you, thank you Lord, that's
good. He takes a child, thank you Lord, that's good. Job arose
and he went through pain, he wasn't a stoic man. When these
things happened, when these lords took things back, he rent his
mantle, he tore his clothes off. And he shaved his head, and he
fell down on the ground. The Lord put him prostrate before
him, and he worshiped. How did he worship? Out of his
mouth. He said, naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
naked I'll return thither. The Lord gave, the Lord takes
away, blessed be his name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And in all this Job said not, nor did he charge God with folly.
That wasn't foolish, that was the right thing to do. That was
right. He's gave us that pearl. He paid
for it. And everything else is his, too.
Look at all this wonderful thing. And I'm partial to it. We got
air conditioning right now, too. So it's easy to see with all
these lights in. We can do this at night and evening. We don't
have to get up early and do it. Lord's gracious. 1 Thessalonians 1, it says, no
one better than beloved your election of God. For our gospel
came not to you in word only. This ain't something you just
memorized. but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were among you
for your sakes. And ye became followers of us,
and of the Lord, because that's who we're following. Having received
the word in much affliction, it come with pain, with joy of
the Holy Ghost, and so much that you were examples to all that
believed in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you sounded the word.
You said this, the Lord did this. Salvation's of the Lord's, all
y'all understand. Went through a whole lot to learn
that, didn't he? Lord, you save, you kill, you make alive. For
they themselves show what manner of entering in we had unto you,
how that ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God. And you wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come. That's who we're waiting for. Eve looked to the Lord's
coming. The Lord said, I'm going to come
back. And she came. She had a child. And she said,
I got the man child. Here he is, Lord said. He's going to
send a man. She was wrong. She was mistaken. But that's
who she was looking for. And I don't think, there ain't
never been a believer that's ever lived in any generations.
Surely the Lord's coming. This great purchaser of pearls.
It's got to be soon, isn't it? I think it'll be my lifetime.
People say, you're crazy. Well, Scripture says we'll look
for it. We'll look for it. This one that bought me and gave
all that he had, I want to see him face to face. Recently I
preached on predestination. What's that mean? It means you're
going to be conformed to the image of Christ. Don't you want to
be made like Christ? I want to be made like him. I
do. I want to be just like him. Just
like a small child wants to be like his father. I want to talk
like him. I want to walk like him. I want to do things how
he does. I want to think the way he thinks. I want to smell
like him. I do. It takes commitment though, doesn't
it? Another old illustration. Chicken
and I'll quit. Chicken and the pig were walking
along and they went to go eat. And they say, there's a place
and they had ham and eggs for sale. And they said, let's go in there
and eat, the chicken said. And the pig said, hold on now. He said, for
you, it's a contribution. For me, it's total commitment. I want to be totally committed.
I want to be ho-hog, just like that hog. I want to be ho-hog.
I want to be totally committed to that one that was totally
committed to me. I do. I don't. I'm in this body of
death. And there's a war going on inside of me. Anytime I want
to do something right, I do it wrong. And anything that's wrong
I don't want to do, that's exactly what I do. And I want to see
him. I want to be made like him. I
beseech you, therefore, brethren. By the mercies of God that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. That's how unreasonable
it is. If we know what he's done for us, it ain't unreasonable
for us to sell off everything we got or do whatever it takes
to hear him, to get to him, get a word from him. I hope that
was precious to you, that he's precious to you, and thank you
for having me. I look forward to tomorrow. I
look forward to hearing these men speak too. Thank you.