The Bible is a beautiful Pearl that is of great price and we must understand it so we can be a walking Bible. Learning verse by verse the written Word of God will better bring us to the knowledge of God and the importance of what it means to be sons and daughters of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is a precious pearl of a great price and is the brightness of the Father’s glory.
I know it was for me in my life through all my searching and suffering I went through before finding that Pearl, Christ, in the desert night. Once I found it, I sold my old life and was blessed by the riches of that wonderful Pearl. How many years I prayed to find that Pearl of Truth, that redeeming love, that saving love that will set the captives free as it did for me, and as it has done for you, and as it will for the rest who are searching. Those who are searching, and when they do find, I pray that this parable of the Pearl will bless them greatly.
Matthew 13:45-46 -Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Breakdown:
1. Kingdom of Heaven -1 Chronicles 29:11-12 -Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour [come] of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand [is] power and might; and in thine hand [it is] to make great, and to give strength unto all.
2. Merchant man -A person engaged in the purchase and sale of commodities for profit. (The one seeking for a goodly pearl.)
When we look at this verse, we have a nice message within this hidden treasure. The kingdom of God is of great price and of great value because of the One who dwells therein. All are invited to find this great Pearl and to enter therein, but it is of great price and all must be a great merchant and seek out for it.
Matthew 22:2-3 -The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Matthew 7:7 -Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
The King of the universe has invited us to come, and through coming out of old wretched self and getting cleaned up to meet His Son, the Christ, the precious Pearl, that Redeeming Saviour, the Bridegroom, we must seek Him out and we shall find. If we do not do the work in preparing, if we do not do the work of searching, then what reward shall we have? Our reward will be nothing. That Pearl will be lost. If we lose that Pearl that is of great value, we cannot be saved. We will die in our poverty.
Proverbs 10:15 -The rich man's wealth [is] his strong city: the destruction of the poor [is] their poverty.
The only way we can become rich is to find that Pearl and it should be of great value to all. The man who seeks to be rich, he shall be blessed, but the sluggard, lazy man will be destroyed in his poverty. What kind of merchant are we today, brethren? Are we too busy doing too less for His kingdom? If we have found that Pearl, it will reflect the works of Christ in our life, therefore finding that Pearl will result in rich fruits working in our life that will show to the world just how rich you are becoming with good works. They will know what merchant has truly found that pearl many cannot find because they will not seek as like the one who already found it. How did any of us find the Pearl today, the untainted truth as we know it? Did we just sit around and stumble upon it? Yes, Christ makes it easy to find Him because He calls all, but many cannot because they are too busy with the pearl of life that will pass away, not realizing that there is a better and more precious Pearl to be found that is of greater value than the pearl that Satan has provided for them that will only rust and be destroyed.
The price of this Pearl requires all that we have to be sold, which most are not willing to do because of their love for the world and the pearl that it offers, which nothing but a pure whole-hearted surrender to the will of God, obedience to God is required to obtain the pure pearl, and we will do this if we are true merchants who are seeking that precious Pearl who is found in Christ, that redeeming loving Saviour.
Romans 12:1-2 -I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
That Pearl, when found will transform lives. There will be no more in poverty, but rich merchants because in Christ is gathered all the glory of the Father, the fullness of the Godhead family. The Saviour is the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person.
The glory of the Father is expressed in His character of His Son who left His Words for us to read, to know, to understand, and to apply it in our everyday lives so that they may see the Son and the Father through our good works. We have to become a helper to the merchants by showing them the Pearl and the kingdom to come that only HAVING that Pearl will we be able to afford to enter therein.
John 10:9 -I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Every Word of God shines with His light and is the reason why I am looking forward to going verse by verse starting from Genesis to Revelation. Amen. If we want to become rich from that Pearl, obtaining the righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain, then we will search the Scriptures.
John 5:39 -Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
No work of man can improve the great and precious gift of God, because the Son of God is without a flaw; He is flawless and if we have found Him, we will become flawless because that Pearl changes lives.
Colossians 2:3 -In Christ are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
He is…
1 Corinthians 1:30 -made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Christ is all that can satisfy the needs and longings of the human soul, which the things of this world cannot. For this world and for the world to come, is found in our heavenly King.
It is so sad to know how Christ…
John 1:11 -He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Furthermore, it is written…
John 1:5 -And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
But not all fell under this class as in darkness. The reason why this class chose to remain in darkness is recorded in…
John 3:19 -And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
However, the merchantman in the parable represents a class who are truly desiring for truth.
Take a look at an example for a moment that we can find in Cornelius who had been longing for that Pearl of truth. He had been longing and praying for light from heaven; and when Christ was revealed to him, he received Him with great gladness. The Bible says…
Acts 10:1-3 -There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian [band], [A] devout [man], and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Looking into who Cornelius was, he was a centurion, which is not a Jew, but a centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army. Most centurions commanded groups of around 80 men. It is obvious how God sees all things and knows the hearts of those seeking after the Pearl. Cornelius found that great Pearl and was blessed by the Redeemer.
In the parable of the pearl, it is not represented as a gift. The merchantman bought it at the price of all that he had. He had to give up what this world had given to him, which again, most in this world cannot do. Many question the meaning of this, since Christ is represented in the Scriptures as a gift. He is a gift, but only to those who give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to Him without reserve can purchase this Pearl. We are to give ourselves to Christ, to live a life of willing obedience to all that we are required of. All that we are, all the talents and capabilities that we possess in our lives, it all belongs to the Lord to serve His purpose when called upon it. It is like the foolish rich man who would not let go of his riches by offering it to the Lord. What we have belongs to the Lord and when we are called to render it up for His service and we do not, there will be no reward for the foolish and selfish who can’t let go of this world because they claim it as theirs. It is like a stubborn goat who just can’t let go and do what He is asked of him. When we give ourselves wholly to Him, Christ, with all the treasures of heaven that are His, He gives Himself to us so that we may obtain those heavenly riches that will not pass away. And we can only obtain Heaven through Christ.
The gospel of Christ is a blessing to all that want to possess it by reading it and applying it. Those who do not, they will not be blessed. They will remain a slave forever in this world by the merchant Satan who has sought out the weak souls to ensnare them in their greed for their lusts of this world. But of course, the poorest slave is as well able as the richest to purchase freedom from this world and finding salvation in Christ.
cts 4:12 -Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
This salvation, which is through Christ, it is obtained by willing rendering obedience to Him, by giving ourselves to Christ as His own purchased possession, we will be heavenly blessed in this world and the world to come. If we do not render obedience to Christ, then that means we are deceived in our labors to overcome and be partakers of His coming and have chosen the ways of Satan that most of this world have chosen the easy way. Working hard and seeking out for this Pearl through much praying and much tears requires effort. Again, I walked through the valley of death in search of this Pearl and when I was lost, I became found. I got on my knees and took the Pearl and carefully treasured it and I let the world see it. But as for all of us who have done this, we cannot be slothful in our efforts to help others who were in our shoes before.
We cannot earn salvation, but we are to seek for it with as much interest, with much endurance, and with much perseverance as though we would abandon everything in the world for it. If we lack this, we will lack it in testing time that will test us and see if we have truly found that Pearl or not. Many believe like Judas who acted like he found the Pearl, but he was all about the money and greed of this world which in the end proved to be his ruin.
It is true that there are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl, but they do not make that entire surrender to God, which will prove to be their downfall in the end. Many will not die from this world in order to purchase heaven. Therefore, they do not find the precious pearl that will permit them to enter heaven. They have not overcome their love for the world and like the foolish rich man who can’t let go of his possessions. They do not take up the cross and follow Christ in the path of self-denial and sacrifice. They are almost Christians but not fully Christians; they seem near to the kingdom of heaven, but they cannot enter there, almost will not make the cut for heaven. A divided service, a divided man will not endure through the hour that stands before us. This is why I have said time and time again to look into the mirror and see if you find the image of God working in your life, by examining yourselves as I have to do every day of my life. We need to make sure that we are not deceiving ourselves and having just the form of godliness. Being in the church like Judas, being the 12th man that made up the 12 disciples means nothing as it was for Judas, but it is the constant holding onto that Pearl and loving it so much above all things that will prove our victory in the end. But each time we are tested with the things of the world and we keep putting down that precious Pearl; we are surely going to do it when the hour of painful persecution comes knocking on our doors.
And what is so nice about this merchant seeking for this Pearl that is found in this precious parable, it has another significant side: brethren, not only does it apply to us seeking out the kingdom of heaven, but to our Shepherd as seeking out His lost inheritance, which was bought with a heavy price.
Luke 15:4-6 -What man of you, having an 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, until he find it? And when he hath found [it], he layeth [it] on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together [his] friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
John 10:15 -As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
The price that our Heavenly merchant sacrificed for us was very costly and risky as He came to this world and walked in the flesh, but partook not of the flesh and rendered to His Father the perfect love that we need to have as He had for His Father. Christ gave up everything for us.
2 Corinthians 8:9 -For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
He stepped off His Kingly throne, gave up all that He had, all His riches, His entire kingdom, everything that He had, everything that He had made, and He left it at the altar of Sacrifice and purchased us all. Know this, if Christ would had fallen into temptation and desired to almost sin, as some seem to think, He would have lost His Kingdom forever and all that He had and the Saviour would have been lost. He became a man and understands our sufferings and temptations, yet where our love fails for Him, His love never failed for His Father and us. He could have yielded to that temptation if He wanted to, but His love is greater than self. His love for us was greater than a time of feeling good and gaining the world for a season. He chose to become that perfect and spotless sacrifice for us, which He purchased through His matchless sacrifice and love for each of us at the cross and now we should pick up the cross and die for Him by letting go of the sins and stop yielding to the world’s pleasures that are presented to us through Satan and his agents.
1 Corinthians 6:20 -For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
The heart is the battle ground, which Christ looks at the heart.
Jeremiah 17:10 -I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings.
Our heart is where the war between Christ and Satan meets. That is where the conflict is at. The heart is the control panel to the processor, which is the brain. If Christ controls our heart where He desires to write His law of love, then we will be victorious, and the light will shine forth from our lives. The rich blessings of heaven will be seen. But if we allow the temptations to overrule our lives and download Satan’s hellish works, then great will be that darkness and the temple will be lost and turn over to the powers of darkness.
We have to treasure that Pearl we found, brethren. We have to keep it in the heart and put a sign there that says, strangers may not enter this land. We want no thieves and robbers stealing what has been given to us. We must be on guard at all times. We must be faithful watchmen.
Jeremiah 52:8 -Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
And as we are to be a watchman unto ourselves, we have a Helper who is also a Watchman over the temple, which is the temple of our body.
Jeremiah 6:17 -Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet…
That watchman is the Holy Spirit who will abide within, who will warn and who will sound the trumpet when the stranger AKA “Satan” comes.
John 14:26 -But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
We have to allow Elohim to circumcise our hearts. If we do not allow the Spirit of Truth to stand as a guard and teacher of our hearts, than we will become uncircumcised in the heart by resisting the Holy Ghost, which will be proof in our life that we allowed Satan to infiltrate and place his hellish banner there, the banner of darkness.
Acts 7:51 -Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye.
Remember brethren, Christ has looked upon us all as of great worth. He looked into our hearts and saw what it might become through His strength.
Christ says…
John 15:5 -I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Just so we don’t get discouraged when Satan comes to destroy us, just remember, again, how Christ the Merchant, collected all His riches in the universe and He laid them down in order to purchase us. He let it all go and bought us with a heavy price. And as the Shepherd finds us, He purifies us and shines us, where we are glowing and sparkling bright.
Zechariah 9:16 -For they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land.
AND…
Malachi 3:17-They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels.
What Christ has done for us and the reward that comes to those for seeking that Great Pearl, is where our attention needs to remain, or the cares of this world will choke it out.
Luke 8:14 -And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But of course, those that fell on the good…
Luke 8:15 -But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience.
And we are they that have found the goodly ground, our works will shine forth and we will help others just as the Holy Spirit has helped us find the Pearl our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 8:16 -No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth [it] under a bed; but setteth [it] on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
When you look into the day of Pentecost where the Spirit was given, the Spirit showed the precious Pearl. They found Christ as they moved with one accord and were filled with the Holy Ghost where Christ's witnesses proclaimed the power of the risen Saviour. The light that proceedeth from the Pearl, it penetrated the darkened minds of those who had been deceived by the enemies of Christ. Christ entered the hearts and won the battle that was taken place in the hearts of all that were there that day.
Acts 5:31 -Him hath God exalted with his right hand [to be] a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
These faithful believers saw the Pearl as the One who had borne humiliation, suffering, and death that they might not perish, but have everlasting life. The revelation of Christ that was made by the Spirit of God that day, it brought to all sense of His power and majesty, and they all stretched forth their hands to Him by faith, saying, "I believe."
The goodly ground in the hearts of these people carried forth in good works the message of Christ and many were converted. We can find in the history of the church how the Word of God, the Revelation of Jesus Christ proclaims how powerful the work was and went forth conquering.
Revelation 6:2 -And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
People were coming from everywhere and believing on Christ. Even believers were reconverted who had fallen away. Sinners had united with Christians in seeking the pearl of great price as we have seen in our own lives happen when we share the truth with such power. Truly the prophecy was fulfilled, how the weak shall be "as David," and the house of David "as the angel of the Lord." Zechariah 12:8.
Zechariah 12:8 -In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David [shall be] as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
These scenes are to be repeated, and with greater power throughout this entire world and you and I are called and ordained to do this. Harken unto the Pearls voice and press forward and let your light shine forth gloriously. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is falling upon all who desire it and the fruits of their labor and reflecting it. If you have no labor for self and others going on in your life, cry out to God and ask for deliverance. Ask and we shall receive.
Let us not be doubleminded or walk the grey broad road as the world is. Sound the trumpets and show where the Pearl is at so we can go home. Christ is waiting for us all to get up and do something for His kingdom as we are all in this work together as one Big United Pearl for truth. If we are a part of this Merchant’s kingdom to come, enter in the straight gates and be sanctified through His truths and help others get sanctified to by the Light that you have within. The greater Light you have within the brighter you will shine forth in works. The closer you are to the Light; the Pearl will stand out more as it is set on the hill for all to see the beauty of that Pearl.
In closing dear family, please let not Satan overcome you with temptations. I know how hard it can be to die sometimes, but if we render our life to God, if we stay busy in the things of God, the cares of this world and the flesh that it draws away from God, it will be crucified and left for dead and we will not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.
The Lord requires all of us to submit to His will and to turn away from Satan, which will happen if we permit the Spirit of God to subdue us, and sanctify us for His service. Selfishness has got to be put away, and we must overcome all defects in our characters as Christ overcame. If we all cannot do this, we are a divided person and the temple of the body will be polluted with idols. We have to break those idols and cast them out of the temple and perform this service as fast as possible. Stop looking at others and clean out your own sanctuary the Lord has provided for you. What? You’ve got to clean out everyone else’s temple and yet be a hypocrite and not have your own temple cleaned out. Look to your life with the way you look at others and you will probably find that you have more work to do in your own temple than the ones your trying to clean. And in order to accomplish this work, we must die daily to self. We must die daily as Paul has said…
1 Corinthians 15:31 -I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
I die daily. Dying to self and rendering to God is truly being born again. Rendering old works of the flesh for the world to see is not dying daily and is proof that the cross has no weight in our life. Being born again is proof that the Pearl has been found where we become that new creature in Christ Jesus, bearing the fruits of righteousness.
So until next time, be blessed, be happy, and overcome the world by thinking upon the Pearl this Sabbath day and all the days of your life. It is the best treasure this world will never understand, but we are not of the world so let us act like it in all that we do. Peace is unto you all this day. God bless.