Let us open our Bibles this evening
to the book of Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13, reading
verses 45 and 46. 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. Tonight we are, with the Holy
Spirit's help, looking at one of the many parables that the
Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the multitude on this particular
day. If you notice in verses 34 and
35, we are told that he spoke to them in parables to fulfill
an Old Testament prophecy. All these things spake Jesus
unto the multitude in parables, and without a parable spake he
not unto them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables. I
will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation
of the world. The parable that we are looking
at tonight of the pearl of great price, the precious pearl. There
are at least three different ways this parable has been interpreted. And I'm going to give us all
three ways, but we will concentrate on the last way, which I believe
is the right way. First, some understand the merchant
man in this parable to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. He seeks,
he finds, he buys his elect at the great price of his own precious
blood. Now all those things are true.
And no doubt we may be blessed in thinking, meditating upon
each of those particulars. He seeks, the Son of Man has
come to seek and to save that which is lost. He seeks and he
finds and he buys. He purchased his church with
his own blood. Considering the parable in that
way, we no doubt receive many blessings, but there are some
disadvantages in considering the parable in that way. And
one of the disadvantages is that it makes it to appear that the
elect have some intrinsic value in themselves. that He seeks
and finds a goodly pearl, a great pearl, as though the elect in
themselves, that we, those of us who know Him, that we have
some value in ourselves. The Lord's jewels and God's children
are referred to as His jewels. And we know that jewels are valuable. But God's jewels, God's people,
we are valuable by His grace. and only by His grace. A second
interpretation is some understand the pearl of great price to represent
the gospel message, the message of the gospel. There are those,
we are told, who are seeking after knowledge. Men in this
world are seeking after knowledge, goodly pearls, the wisdom of
this world. And then in their search they
find the gospel. They find the gospel and they
choose it above everything else. And no doubt the gospel is the
wisdom of God. The greatest wisdom of God, the
greatest knowledge that anyone can obtain concerns the gospel
of Jesus Christ. For by the wisdom of the world,
the world knew not God. And yet it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. A third way,
and this is the way we will look at it, this is the way I understand
it, the Pearl of Grace price represents the Lord Jesus Christ. It represents the Lord Jesus
Christ, and this is the way we will think this evening, meditate,
consider this parable. Now I look to find What is the
most expensive pearl? What is the greatest price, the
most expensive pearl that has ever been sold? And I found that
strands of pearls, which is more than one pearl, of course, have
sold for billions of dollars. One particular necklace sold
for almost $30 million. It had several strands of pearls. But the price for one single
pearl, the greatest price that I found, was just under $40,000
for one pearl. That being said, there's no way
that any monetary amount could ever be placed on the Lord Jesus
Christ, the value of Christ. Because after all, what should
it profit a man if he should gain the whole world? and lose
his own soul. And the only way that's not going
to happen is through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The only
way a man is not going to lose his own soul. So if he had all
the world, it still would not be worth God's unspeakable gift
if we were to try to put a monetary value upon Christ. But here, tonight, I have two
divisions to the message. First, to those who believe in
Him, He is precious. He is the pearl of great price. We saw that, didn't we, in 1
Peter 2. To you who believe, He is precious. And I was amazed that you chose
and led that hymn just a few minutes ago. He is so precious
to me. And as we were singing that,
I thought, I know he's precious. I know he is. I know that from
the word of God. But is he really precious to
me? Is he really precious to me?
I want to give us four reasons
tonight why he is precious, the pearl of great price. First of
all, he is precious. He is the pearl of great price
because He is the believer's life. To the believers in the
church at Colossae, the apostle Paul wrote, when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear. Why is He precious to believers?
Because He is our life. In John chapter 14 and verse
19, He told his disciples, because
I live, you shall live also. Verse 19 of chapter 14, he said,
yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but you see
me, because I live, you shall live also. There is no spiritual
life, there is no eternal life apart from Jesus Christ. He is precious. He's the pearl
of great price because He is the believer's life. I want you
to look in 1 John chapter 5 with me just a moment. 1 John chapter 5. In verse 7, we're told, for there
are three that bear record in heaven. Now, this is God's record. This is God's record. There are
three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. What
is their record? Well, look down to verse 11.
This is the record. Now this is God's record. This is the record of the thrice
holy God. This is the record that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. It's
not found anywhere else. This life, this eternal life,
this spiritual life, this knowing God, is in Christ. This life is in His Son, and
notice, he that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. What does it mean, eternal life? It means to know God. It means
to enjoy Him forever. Remember in his high priestly
prayer, recorded in John chapter 17, he said, this is life eternal. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. There's
only one way to know God, and that is through Christ. He is
precious. He is the believer's life. Second, he is precious, the pearl
of great price, for he is the believer's clothing, clothing. How could I explain this to us
tonight? I thought about the fact in our
Lord's parable concerning the prodigal son. When he came home,
the father had a number of things to give to his son. But the very
first thing, the very first thing was the robe. Bring forth the
best robe and put it upon my son. The best robe is Christ. The best robe of every believer
in Jesus Christ is Christ. It is his righteousness. In one
of the parables of our Lord, he told about a king who made
a marriage supper. And we've got to understand when
he made a marriage supper, he prepared everything. You were
not to bring anything. Those he invited to the marriage
supper of his son. He was going to honor his son.
Everything was prepared. All things are ready. And so
one of the things that was prepared was a marriage garment. That's
foreign to us. We're not accustomed to anything
like this, but you must understand this, that the marriage garment
was there prepared for all of the guests, and yet one man dared
to come in and not put on the marriage garment. I assume he
thought his clothing was fine. He may have spent a great deal
of money for that suit of clothes he had on and thought he was
dressed to the lines. He did not have on the garment
that the Lord had prepared. He was naked as far as the king
was concerned. He had affronted the king by
coming in and not having the clothing that he had prepared. We know the clothing for every
believer is the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness
of Christ is our clothing. Listen to these words of the
hymn by Robert McShaney. One stanza goes like this. When I stand before the throne,
dressed in beauty not my own, when I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. Christ is our clothing. He is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The scripture in Revelation speaks
of those who have on white linen, and it is the righteousness of
the saints. It is Christ's righteousness.
his righteousness. Number three, he is precious,
the pearl of great price, for he is the believer's food. First
of all, the believer's life, the believer's clothing, and
yes, he is our food. He said this in John chapter
6 and verse 56, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
dwelleth in me and I in him. We know that there is an initial
eating his flesh and drinking his blood. That is, there is
a time when we believe, those of us who are saved by the grace
of God, we trust in him, we look to him, we eat his flesh, we
drink his blood, and When we do so, our sins, as far as our
conscience is concerned, our sins are taken away. But we don't
just eat that one time. That's a great mistake. Believe
sometimes we as believers make this mistake. It's not just that
initial eating his flesh and drinking his blood. It is day
by day. I ate physical food yesterday
but I ate again today and God willing I'll eat tomorrow. And
our bodies are made to need food, need nourishment. And spiritually
we are made to need spiritual nourishment and we are to feast
We are to eat His flesh and drink His blood every day. And that's
what it means to abide in Christ. To abide in Christ is to continually,
continually, not just in the past, but today, tomorrow, every
day, look to Christ and trust in Christ for all our salvation. The Apostle Paul again wrote,
Christ in you, the hope of eternity. When you eat bread, you ingest
it and it becomes a part of you. It's no longer now bread and
you. You're now one. You're now one
when you eat bread. And when we trust in Christ,
we are one with him. We're in union with him. And
number four, He is precious, the pearl of great price, for
He is the believer's hiding place. I want you to look back to Isaiah
32 with me. He is precious, the pearl of
great price, because He is the believer's hiding place. Every
believer needs a hiding place. Every believer needs a safe place,
a hiding place. In Isaiah chapter 32, verses
1 and 2. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall
be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, at the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land. This is a prophecy, of course,
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, a man, the God-man, the God-man. And he is spoken of here as a
hiding place, a covert water, rivers of water, and the shadow
of a great rock. A believer, a child of God in
this world will experience what is represented here by the wind,
by the wind, by a dry place, by weary land, the tempest, the
wind, the tempest, the dry place, and a weary land. Sermon on the
Mount, you remember the two men who built their houses, one upon
the sand, one upon the rock, the winds came. The tribulation,
the afflictions, the trials, the difficulties, they're going
to come. You're not going to escape them.
And also the fact that we're in a tempest and in a dry place. A weary land. Many times it is
a weary land to the child of God. What do these things represent? Well, they represent trials and
afflictions, misunderstandings, loneliness, seemingly forsaken
of God. You say, does a believer sometimes
experience that? Yes, he does. Yes, she does.
Never, never forsaken. I understand that. He said, Lo,
I'm with you always. He will never forsake one of
his children, but sometimes seemingly he forsakes us. Yes, we experience
all of these things, many of these things as we go through
this world. A number of these things, the
Psalmist David, do you know what he called these things? He called
them calamities. Psalm 57, verse 1. He said, Be merciful unto me,
O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge, hiding place, refuge, until, now listen,
until these calamities be overpassed. Every believer needs a hiding
place. need somewhere to run, a refuge
in times of storm. And he is precious. He is the
pearl of great price because he is the believers hiding place
where we hide until these calamities be overpassed. So that's the
pearl of great price. He's precious because he is our
life. He's the believer's life. There
is no life apart from Christ. He's the believer's clothing.
One day we're gonna stand before God, all of us, and to appear
there in rags, how awful that would be. Oh, but to appear there
dressed in Christ, He is our clothing, His righteousness.
And he's our food. Every day we feast upon him. And he is our hiding place. He
is a culvert. He is rivers of water in a dry
land. Now, the second part of my message
to those who believe in him, those who part with all for the
pearl of great price. Look here back in our text tonight. This is what he said. Kingdom
of Heaven. 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. Knowing tonight, as I know you
know, and I know, that Christ is God's gift and that eternal
life is the gift of God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. Then preacher, how do you deal
with that? How do you explain that about
buying the pearl of great price? Well, before we consider that,
let's consider this part here that he parts with all. for the
pearl of great price. He parts with all for the pearl
of great price. Look with me up just a few chapters
to chapter 16 in verse 34. Uh-oh, I see I've got the wrong,
verse 24. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, Let him deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow me, any man who will come after me. He parts with all. Deny himself,
part with all. What does that mean? It means,
of course, to repent and deny sinful self. Deny ungodliness
and worldly lust. He shall save his people from
their sins. We part with all. Repent and
deny righteous self. And really, it seems to be more
of an issue with people to deny righteous self than it is to
deny wicked self. Most people know to come to Christ
that they must, they must turn from their sin. They would have
Christ, they must look to Him and Him alone, turning away from
ungodliness and worldly lusts. God's people are a holy people.
The gospel is a holy-making gospel. We know that. But the difficulty for many people
is denying righteous self. That's like that Pharisee, Lord.
I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess
and on and on and on. All of those things were good
things. Wasn't anything wrong with any
of those things. The problem was he trusted in
those things. That was his righteousness. That
was his hope of salvation. No, we must deny righteous self. Confess that all of our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. We have nothing with which to
commend ourselves unto God. We must be saved by pure, sovereign
grace alone, or we're not going to be saved. Our Lord told that
parable to that Pharisee about the two debtors, you remember.
And he said when they both had nothing to pay. Neither one. One owed 50 pence, the other
owed 500. Didn't matter. Neither one of
them had anything to pay with. Some people are maybe considered
greater sinners than others. But it matters not if a person
guilty of one sin He must deny righteous self. He cannot come
to Christ and trust in any works of righteousness of his own. Part with all. It's what our
Lord said here. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. This
man in the parable, he was looking for goodly pearls and he came
across pearl of great price. And he saw the value, he recognized
the value, and in coming to Christ and God dealing with us, surely
we recognize that Christ is worth everything. He's worth more than
everything. That we must have Christ. We must have Him. And so we part from everything,
part with all, must have him. If we would be his disciple,
those are his words. So that's the first thing, we
part with all. We deny sinful self, we deny
righteous self, we have no confidence in our good works or anything
else to justify ourselves in his presence. What about the
matter of buying? He bought the pearl of great
price. Well, listen, you know this is so, but listen to how
the Lord God Almighty sells to sinners. How does he sell to sinners?
Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Anyone here thirsty? You say,
I'm not thirsty. Well, I'm not talking to you.
If anyone's thirsty, O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. I remember Brother Ralph Garner
quoting this passage one time, and he was talking about that
man going across the desert, and he's just making all kinds
of noise as he was going, you know? I mean, water cans banging
up against the wagon, against the horses and water cans, making
all kinds of noises. And he's going across the desert
and he cries out, ho! Any man thirst! And someone cries
back, I'm not thirsty. I'm not talking to you. I'm not
talking to you. But if there's anyone thirsty,
anyone thirsty, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money
has No money, doesn't have two cents in his pocket. Come ye,
buy. How you gonna buy? You don't
have any money. He said, come, buy and eat. Ye come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. How does a person buy without
money and without price? He simply comes. comes to Christ
by this pearl of great price without money and without price. Look to him and receive freely
the gift of eternal life. Our Lord said, if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me. And he told that woman of Samaria,
she had her pitcher, didn't she? And she knew the well was deep.
And yet he told her that he would give her water, living water. And then he said, if you knew
the gift of God and who it is that speaketh unto thee, you
would have asked him and he would have given you living water. If you ever ask the Lord, if
you ever ask him, His word is, ask, and you shall
receive. Knock, and it shall be opened.
Seek, and you shall find. I pray the Lord would bless this
message to all of us here tonight, and truly, truly, that Christ
might be precious to us.