This evening we're turning to Matthew chapter 13, Matthew's gospel chapter 13. We're going to read from the verse number 36. This chapter brings us to the parables of the kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ in quick succession gives a number of parables and they are with regard to the kingdom of God and The initial part of the chapter, it's taken up with that most familiar parable, the parable of the sower, or the parable of the grounds, whichever way you want to look at it, the four different grounds. We're now coming to read from the verse number 36. Also in this portion, verse 24 speaks about the parable of the wheat and tares. Verse 31 speaks about the parable of the mustard seed, and then also about the leaven. But now we're reading from the verse number 36 and so let's hear god's word when jesus sent the multitudes away and went into the house And his disciples came on to him saying declare on to us the parable of the tares of the field And he answered and said unto them he that soweth the good seed is the son of man The field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom But the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, in 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 hath found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and set down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world, the angel shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. It came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed sense. Amen, and we'll end our reading at the verse number 53, and we'll briefly just have a little word of prayer together before we bring the Word of God tonight. Loving Father, we're glad, Lord, for the opportunity to read the Word of God. We've got the mental ability, capability of doing that. We thank Thee, Lord, that we're able to discern words on a page. We're able to form them into sentences. We're able to verbalize that which we read. What a mercy this is. Father, we think of those, Lord, even associated with our congregation that cannot do that. And Lord, here we are so often murmuring and complaining. Lord, Thou has been good and gracious to us. We pray, Lord, that Thou will now come and open these hearts of ours Lord, give us understanding. May we come to understand that which we are being taught, even from thy word tonight. Lord, help this preacher, fill him with power, and grant, Lord, clarity of thought and speech. And may, Lord, thy spirit be here, doing his own blessed work. Come and answer now, prayer. We offer these our prayers in and through the Savior's precious, worthy, and holy name. Amen and amen. I'm not so sure if they are just as much in fashion today as they once were. Ladies usually inherit them on the death of their mother or going further back, maybe inherit them from their grandmother. I'm told that there are two me and kinds natural and cultured the objects that i refer to are are peril pearls and when you think of what a pearl is and how it is formed it really doesn't endear you to them A C. mollusc, irritated by an intruder, forms a pearl sac of external mantle tissue and cells and secretes calcium carbonate and a complex protein to cover that particular irritant. That secretion process is repeated many, many, many times. until the pearl is produced. A little bit of research with regard to this message and he was interested in that research to find out what the most expensive pearl is in the world. I didn't do that in order that I would buy it for my wife. just in case she's thinking that would be the case, but just really to satisfy my curiosity. I find in my research that in 1996, a Filipino fisherman, he made an amazing discovery off the coast of the Philippines whenever he was out fishing. He found a two foot long, 26 inches to be exact, pearl inside a large clam. The estimated worth of that particular pearl is $100 million American dollars. He thought it was a good luck charm, and therefore he took it into his home and he kept it in his home. I smiled at whenever I read his story was that his home burned down and his pearl was certainly not a good luck charm for him as he thought the pearl did survive the fire but as valuable as that particular pearl is there is another pearl that I want to speak about in this meeting the pearl that the Lord Jesus Christ comes to speak about in his parabolic teaching ministry. In Matthew chapter 13, the verses 45 and 46, the Savior told his gathered congregation that the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he hath found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and he bought it. I want us to look at this very short parable tonight, As we consider it under the heading, the pearl of great price. the pearl of great price. I suppose what I need to do initially is to explain to you what the pearl in the parable actually represents. Now, that is not as easy as you maybe think it is. Preachers and Bible commentators over the years have held varying and different views when it comes to what the pearl of great price actually represents and what it actually pictures. And really, there are three main schools of thought as what the Pearl of Great Price represents. And these thoughts, they arise from the mention of pearls in Scripture. Whenever you come to read the Word of God, the Scriptures, you find that the pearl is used in a number of ways. It is used, first of all, to indicate the precious truths of the gospel. You'll know that the Lord Jesus Christ, on the Sermon on the Mount, He uses this word, pearls, when He comes to sound out a warning to His disciples. He says in Matthew chapter 7, in the verse number 6, Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. According to the Son of God, we are not to communicate the Word of God and the truths of the gospel comparable to pearls to persons who are antagonistic, hostile to the gospel. Such would be a waste of one's time. And so the pearl is pictured in the Savior's Word as the precious truths of the gospel. Second of all, the pearl in the scripture speaks about the perfections and the glories of heaven. Concerning the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, we're told that in the book of the Revelation that each gate into the city, into that holy city, is composed of a single pearl. Revelation 21, in the verse 21 we read, and the twelve gates wear twelve pearls. Every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was of pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And so it can represent, it can be a picture of heaven itself. Not only that, but the third school of thought is that the pearl of great price pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how many preachers come to view the pearl of great price in the parable of Matthew chapter 13. To them, the incomparable Christ is the pearl of great price. However, there is another way. There is a fourth way in which we can come to look at the pearl of great price. And it is that way that I want us to think about it this evening. Because I believe the pearl of great price in this parable is a picture of the church And more specifically, to those who comprise or those who make up the church of Jesus Christ, the invisible church, the true church of Jesus Christ. And I trust that that will become apparent as we consider this passage in Matthew chapter 13 under the title, The Pearl of Great Price. Now you may disagree with me tonight, and you have your right to do so. But I want us to look at the pearl of great price in this light, as we consider the pearl of great price as a picture of all those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Now, to begin with, I want to say a number of things. And to begin with, I want us to think together about the one who seeks the pearl of great price. the one who seeks the pearl of great price. Now there are a number of things to consider regarding the person who in the parable is seeking goodly pearls. Notice in the first place the role that he assumed, the role that this one assumed. You see, the one who came seeking goodly pearls is called by the Savior here as a merchant. Behold, Or again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant seeking goodly pearls. A merchant was simply a traveler. Fire in his commentary or his dictionary of terms, biblical terms, he defines a merchant as one on a journey, whether by land or by sea. especially for trade. You see merchants would have been individuals who would have traveled great distances over land and over sea in order to secure that which they were looking for. They traveled tremendous distances in order to secure that which they were looking for. No one ever traveled as far to secure what he was searching for. And our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he leaves eternity behind and he steps into time. He abandons heaven to take up residency on earth in order that he might seek and see of that which was lost. What a track, what a journey, What a distance he traveled as he searched for goodly pearls among the fallen ranks of fallen humanity. From the splendor and from the praise of glory, down into this old, sinful, cursed world, the Savior came. He left the bosom of his father to be exposed to the hatred and the scorn of sinful men. Hymn writer Samuel Stone put it like this, from heaven he came and sought her. to be his holy bride. With his blood he bought her, and for her life he died. But better than a hymn writer's words, the inspired pen man, he wrote about the journey that the Son of God embarked upon in Philippians chapter 2, so that he, as heaven's merchant man, would search and find and purchase for himself the pearl of great price. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2, Being in the form of God, speaking of Jesus Christ, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and he took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The journey the Savior took as heaven's merchant man. as the God-man brought the Savior into what could only be described as enemy territory. Read the gospels, the words, The world was no friend to the Son of God when he came. John tells us that he came on to his own and his own received him not. From the get-go he was misunderstood. His motives were questioned. His mission was maligned. His ministry was rejected. And eventually he was taken to a cross and there he was kneeled to the tree. And all this he knew before he even embarked upon that journey. You think of that now. If you knew, if you knew that a journey that you intended to take this evening would end in certain death, you would never take that journey. If I told you at the door tonight that on your way home that you would crash your car and you would be taken out into God's eternity, you would not take that journey. Knowing what is before you, you would save yourself from taking such a journey. The Lord Jesus Christ, He knew exactly where His journey would end. It would be to a cross. Yes, He would die and be buried and rise again, but the journey would take Him to the cross. He would die on Calvary Street, and yet He was willing to make that journey in order that He might find a pearl of great price. he would find his church, he would find his people. No sinner do not see the great love that the God man then has for sinners and that he was willing to make that great journey. This one that traveled, he didn't travel over land or sea, he traveled out of eternity and into time. He, as it were, took the stars as stepping stones and stepped into this world from heaven's highest throne down to a world of loss and of sin. And he did it in order that he would then go and die on a cross, the role that he assumed. Not only that, but I want you to notice the activity that he engaged in. Not only the role that this man assumed, but the activity that he engaged in. Look again at the verse number 45. It says that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking. And we'll stop there. Seeking. Seeking. You know, the goodly pearls in the parable, they did not seek the merchant. No, no, they couldn't seek the merchant. No, rather it was the merchant who was seeking the pearls. The merchant was seeking the pearls. We know from our own experience and we know from scripture that the sinner will not and the sinner cannot seek after God. We read of that in Psalm 10 in the verse 4, the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. That's the scripture. Psalm 14 verses 2 and 3, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men. to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no not one. And Paul takes that verse and presents it in Romans 3 verse 11 and says, There is none that understandeth, there is none, none that seeketh after God. That's the scripture. The sinner's non-seeking of God, as we have so often presented, and said to you, so it clearly presented in the behavior of our first parents after they ate the forbidden fruit, rather than run to God, confess their sins. We're told that Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst the trees of the garden. And from this day until, or that day until this day, every descendant of the human race has taken the exact same road. Rather than seeking after God, we see that the sinner does not seek after God. The sinner runs away from God. We did it ourselves until the day that God intervened into our lives. The dead and spiritual state into which we are born, into this world sees to it that we cannot and that we will not seek after God. But thank God, He comes seeking us. The merchant man came seeking goodly pearls. This good man is none other than the God-man. He came seeking the goodly pearls. He came seeking the pearl of great price. Let me read to you a verse from Ezekiel chapter 34. It speaks about the shepherd seeking after the sheep. It pictures our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because in Ezekiel chapter 34, we read in the verse number 11, I have down here, I don't think it is that verse, but let me read the verse to you, Ezekiel chapter 34. For thus saith the Lord, behold, I, even I, will both search out my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in a cloudy and in a dark day. I wonder, do you know that there's someone seeking you? Friend, tonight in this house I'm saying, There's someone seeking you. Seeking you in the gospel. In fact, he's been seeking you for years. The tense of the verb seeking in Matthew chapter number 13, the tense of the verb informs us that this search is presently ongoing. In other words, he's continuing to search. He's continuing to look. for goodly pearls among the fallen ranks of fallen humanity. This search is ongoing. Oh, I wonder tonight, is he seeking you? Is he searching out for you? Is he looking for you in this meeting? May he come to find you and may you find him, but may he find you first. Where did this merchant man find this goodly pearl? Well, could I suggest to you that this man found this pearl in the dark depths of the sea? But that's where pearls are found. They're found in the dark depths of the sea. And could I say to you that this man, he found it in the dark depths of the sea. And we find in Scripture that the sea is often a picture of humanity. The seas are pictured as a representation, they're set forth as a representation of the human race, of the ranks of humanity. And so it was from the ranks of humanity, from the deep darkness of sin, that the Savior reached down and he lifted the pearl to make that pearl his own. Out of darkness, the darkness of the depths of the sea, We were lifted out and brought to light. Oh, I wonder tonight, are you in the darkness of your sin? Thank God the Savior can reach down and lift you out of that darkness and bring you into the gospel light. I want you to notice a third thing about the man who came seeking this goodly pearl. I want you to think about the loneliness that he suffered. It was a single merchant man who came seeking for these goodly pearls. The word man is in the singular form. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man. Not like merchant man, but like a merchant man. This man has no friends who accompany him. This man has no companions to assist him. This man has no co-workers to help him. No, this search for the goodly pearls was undertaken by one solitary man. One man. seeking goodly perils. The eternal Son of God stepped out of heaven alone as he embarked upon the great mission entrusted to him by his Father. The archangels Gabriel and Michael did not accompany him on that journey. The Seraphim and the Cherubim did not enter into some kind of divine, angelic partnership when it came to the Son of God's appointed work. No human being cooperated with the Savior when it came to the fulfillment of redemption's plan. Into Gethsemane's garden, he went alone. To Gilbeth's scourging, he went alone. To Gilbeth's cross, He went alone into the grave. He descended alone. And out of that grave, He came forth alone. You see, the gospel is all about one solitary man. The man, Christ Jesus. The man came seeking the pearls. One solitary man. You miss Christ and you'll miss salvation. It's as simple as that. Sola Christos. Christ alone is the gospel's watchword. Sola Christos. Christ alone. It is to him we point you to tonight. For it is in Him and Him alone that salvation is to be found. You'll not find salvation in this church. You'll not find salvation in the sacraments of baptism, or in the Lord's Supper, or in some other rite or ritual that finds no basis whatsoever in Holy Scripture. Whether that be first confession, whether that be Holy Communion, you'll find salvation in none of those things, and you'll not find salvation in yourself. Salvation is found alone in Jesus Christ. Do you know him? Do you know him? One solitary man came seeking goodly pearls. Let me make a quick comment on what the merchant man was seeking. what the merchant man was seeking. In this parable, we find that there was a specific piece of merchandise that the merchant man was looking for. Verse 45, it speaks to us. It says that he was seeking goodly, goodly pearls. The word goodly might suggest to your mind that these pearls were good with regard to their essence, or regard to their nature, or regard to their character. These were good pearls, and yet that's not what the word goodly means. You know what that word goodly means? It means valuable, valuable. There was something of value. There was something of worth in these very pearls. You know, tonight you may be in this meeting house and you may think, there's not much value to me. You may not have a very high opinion about yourself. There might be others and they have a very low estimation as to their worth because of how others have treated them, maybe as a child or maybe even as an adult or as a teenager. But let me assure you that God places a high value on those that he seeks in the gospel. Such is the value that he places on such people that he was willing to die for you. He was willing to shed his blood. He was willing to die on a cross. What greater price could be paid for your purchase than that? And so if you want to know your worth tonight, sinner, if you want to know what value God places on an individual like you, then go to the cross and consider all that the Son of God did and all that He went through in order that He might provide salvation for sinners like you and me. And if you continue to struggle to understand the worth that God places on your soul, maybe you could take the words of the hymn writer Lucy A. Bennett, who wrote in her lovely hymn, O Teach Me What It Meaneth, that cross uplifted high. With one a man of sorrows condemned to bleed and die, O teach me what it costs thee to make a sinner whole. And teach me, Savior, teach me the value of a soul. Who here tonight can truly estimate? Who here tonight could accurately put a value on a man's soul? We do not need to do that, because Jesus Christ did it. He put a value on man's soul. Because in Mark's gospel, chapter 8, in the verses 36 and 37, Jesus Christ one day stood and said, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This merchant man was seeking a goodly pearl, a goodly pearl, a valuable, a valuable piece of merchandise. Your soul is a valuable thing. Your soul. Make sure you don't lose it because of sin. In the final place, I want you to consider what the merchant did in order to secure the pearl of great price. Having made the search for goodly pearls, we're told that he found one pearl of great price. Whenever he found that pearl, the Savior goes on to say that this man, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Now, this is where those who claim that the merchant in the parable is the sinner who purchases Christ and that Christ is the pearl, this is where they come up against a problem. And here's the problem. What can we give to purchase Christ? What can we give to secure Christ? What can we give in order to buy, as it were, or make Christ our own? We cannot buy anything. Not only that, how is a pearl formed? A pearl is formed by an impurity entering a shell. And that impurity remains inside the very center of that pearl. Oh yes, it's covered. It's covered with a different covering. Think of it now. Spiritualize it. Is there an impurity in Christ? Is there impurity in Jesus Christ? There's none. Right through him, there is nothing but sinlessness, impeccability. All know this is us covered with a robe of righteousness, covered in the robes of Christ's righteousness. And so there is nothing that we can bring in order to, as it were, purchase Christ, this pearl of great price. There's nothing. Because if there was something that we could bring in order to make Christ ours, salvation would no longer be of grace. It would be of merit. It would be of merit. What can I give in order to make Christ mine? Oh no, it's all of grace. Now we're not told where the merchant man went to in order that he might have the capital to purchase the pearl of great price, but we do know where the Lord Jesus Christ went to in order that he might purchase his people. He went to the cross. Those who trust in Christ, they're said to be bought with a price. We're a purchased people. Both Paul and Peter, they tell us that in their letters and their epistles. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20, What a price, what a price. What a price was paid that sinners like you and I might become Christ's purchased possession, the price being his own precious blood. Notice that the merchant is said to have sold all that he had in order that what he had sought for and found, in order that that what he had found now became his personal possession. In material terms, think of it. In material terms, here was a man who was rich. He was rich, and yet for the sake of purchasing the pearl of great price, he became poor. Does that not remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul? Over there in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9, the words concerning Jesus Christ, he says, for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for our sakes he became poor that we, through his poverty, might be made rich. He who was rich, infinitely rich, became poor so that we, through his poverty, might be made rich. This little word, bought, do you see it there in the end of the verse 46, the word bought? It's a very interesting word. The original word is the word ego razio. You can see it's translated here, bought. But turn with me to the book of the Revelation, to chapter number 5, and the exact same Greek word is translated a different way in the verse number 9. Revelation 5 in the verse number 9. Now what word is it? What word is it? It's the word redeemed. The exact same Greek word. It's here translated redeemed. That's how it's translated also in Revelation 14 in the verses 3 and 4. It's translated in that occasion on both verses, it's translated with the word redeemed. And therefore, we could justly say concerning the pearl of great price that the merchant man, what did he do? He bought it or what? He redeemed it. Now, who does the redeeming? It's the Redeemer. It's the Redeemer. He does the redeeming. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. who had been purchased by Christ or Christ's personal possession. What did Jacob, or what was said about Jacob over there in Isaiah 43, verse 1, This pearl became this man's position. How? Through redemption. Redemption. made this pearl, this merchant man's possession. And tonight, through redemption, Christ can make you his possession tonight. And you can leave. You can leave this place saying that I have been redeemed. I have been called by my name. and that I am his, and that he is mine. You know, the wonderful thing about this merchant man, when he had bought and when he had redeemed the pearl, he kept it. He kept the pearl. There's no mention of him selling the pearl of great price to another. No, it was his, forever his. Isn't it wonderful that whenever Jesus Christ redeems a sinner, that they are His, forever His? And not only that, but they're kept by Him. They're kept by Him. Jude 1, 24, unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, purchased and kept. That's what the child of God is. Child of God, that's what you are. Purchased and preserved. And it's all because another came from a far place to redeem you. To redeem you. One last verse to close out the message. Time has gone. We appreciate you being here. It's found in the book of Malachi, the chapter number three and the verse number 17. In Malachi chapter three, verse 17, we read there that God, he says the following about those who fear him. He's really speaking about those who are saved by his grace. This is what he says about them. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I make up my jewels. You know, God is going to make up His jewels someday. He's going, as it were, to gather together. He's going to gather together His goodly pearls that He redeemed, that He bought from among the nations of the world. My question to you is this. Will you be gathered on to Him on that day? Will you be found, as it were, in God's treasure trove? Will you be found among his jewels on that day? Will you come to make up his jewels? That's why we sang the little hymn. When he cometh, when he cometh to make up his jewels, precious jewels, precious jewels, his loved and his own. Only those redeemed by blood will be found among his jewels. Oh, may this night you leave this place as one who has been redeemed, one who has been found by the heavenly merchant man, that he would reach into the darkness of sin and lift you out, purchase you, make you his own, and he'll keep you. He'll keep you until that day that he comes to make up his jewels. And then we're gathered safely beyond the pearly gates. And we behold him, the one who made the purchase, the one who bought us with his own precious blood. Oh, may tonight you come to the Savior. And may God speak into your soul, even now for Christ's sake. Amen and amen. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer together. Oh, our loving Father and our gracious God in heaven, we come to thee. We're so glad, Lord, that there was one who came, that great journey, traveled so far, in order that He might live and die and rise again for us. We thank Thee, O God, that He gave us all in order to purchase us. We thank Thee for the great price that He paid in order to redeem us. And Lord, now we are Thy possession. We're part of Thy treasure. O God, we're precious to Thee, and we thank Thee for that. And Lord, we bless thee that we're not only purchased, but we're preserved and kept by thee. And Lord, therefore, Lord, we believe that just as a woman, Lord, we'll keep her pearls and make sure that they're kept safe. So God himself will keep us until that day when we see him face to face. We pray for those who find themselves in their sin. Oh God, we pray that thou will be pleased to open their hearts And Lord, we pray that tonight that thou will pass by and reach in, Lord, even into this meeting, and reach, Lord, into the depths and the darkness of sin. And Lord, bring out, O God, bring out a goodly pearl. Thou art the one who brings the precious from out of the vial. O God, thou art the one who covers us with the robe of Christ's righteousness, that our sin is now covered It's now gone, and we're glad of that, dear Father. And Lord, we praise Thee that now we are looked upon, and we are beheld, and we are treated as Thy dear Son. What a marvelous thing the grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ is. Oh, help us now, Lord, as we leave this place. May we leave with hearts thrilled as we've heard the gospel truth, and grant, dear Father, Salvation to visit the hearts and souls of those who know they not. We offer now these, our prayers, in and through the Savior.