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Chapter 16 - Pearl
Pearl
Matt. 13:45-46
45 Again [palin] , the kingdom [basileia] of heaven [ouranos] is [esti] like [homoios] unto a merchant [emporos] man [anthropos] , seeking [zeteo] goodly [kalos] pearls [margarites] :
46 Who [hos] , when he had found [heurisko] one [heis] pearl [margarites] of great price [polutimos] , went [aperchomai] and sold [piprasko] all [pas] that [hosos] he had [echo] , and [kai] bought [agorazo] it [autos] . KJV-Interlinear
45 'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. NASB
The previous parable is of a person who stumbles onto treasure, a treasure so tremendously valuable that he is willing to give up all that he has to obtain it. This second treasure, the pearl of great value, is a treasure that is sought after. This person searches for the treasure and when he finds it, is willing again to give up all that he has to obtain it.
There are but two treasures in this universe. There are but two treasures of value which is intrinsic and which will continue forever and ever.
The treasures are salvation, which is met for anyone who stumbles onto it. That is to say, this treasure is hidden. Just as spiritual phenomena is hidden from all unbelievers, 1 Cor. 2:14 , because it is discerned via spiritual means, so too this treasure is hidden, even buried, but it is there to be discovered.
Positive volition in the unbeliever is the means of discovery, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit who stands in the gap, is the agent for making that discovery. The unbeliever is positive and therefore is alert to the information being presented (the gospel). The Holy Spirit, as part of His ministry, makes the information of the gospel clear and therefore the unbeliever is able to make the decision for salvation or for rejection of it if that is the case, but the treasure is now in front of his eyes and he either takes hold of it, or he refuses to see its value and turns away from it. The former life which lacks salvation is discarded when the person believes in Christ.
That is salvation. That treasure comes with a price, giving up ones past life of eternal condemnation. To obtain salvation one must give up eternal destruction. Prior to salvation that is the only possession (of no value) which anyone living really has. It has no value and therefore walking away from nothing in order to gain eternal salvation and a life in heaven should be an easy decision. You would think, anyway!
All the wealth of this life, all the property, securities, assets whether tangible or intangible, jewelry, cash, whatever, comes to zero when it is eventually added up and compared to the value of the spiritual life. A person can own the world, but if he rejects Christ and then goes into the lake of fire at the end of his life, for all of eternity (billions of trillions of years), then of what value is that wealth in this short life of maybe 80 years give or take? Assuming that you live that long and don't die earlier and have an even shorter life!
The first real treasure is salvation. The second real treasure in this universe is spiritual growth to maturity. That is accomplished through learning Bible doctrine, therefore the second real treasure is Bible doctrine. It too is worth giving up all that one has in order to obtain it. That price? The life pattern of the sin nature. You must give up living under the control of the sin nature and place your life inside the fellowship sphere and in that sphere come under the control of the Holy Spirit who is in control of your soul when you are in fellowship. When you are out of fellowship the sin nature is in control of your soul.
What? No price to pay in the form of money? No. Isa. 55:1, all of the spiritual life is free, a gift from God. The price is a spiritual price, a price of volition. As Isaiah invites all to come and 'buy' spiritual assets though they have no money with which to make a purchase. Their currency is their decision to make their spiritual life their priority.
This is the second real treasure in the universe. Just as the first treasure (salvation) has value infinitely beyond that of what one has or had prior to salvation, so too, spiritual maturity is the second treasure and its value is infinitely beyond that which one has prior to spiritual growth (an immature status). This is the pearl. This is the treasure that we actually know exists and we commit our life to searching for it (Bible study), finding it (learning it) and acquiring it (applying it to our daily life).
For this treasure we let nothing stand in our way. We use whatever means to bring it into our life. We ignore the personalities of others. We ignore the opinions of others who would distract us away from our Bible study. We ignore little things that might cause us to drift away (perhaps a misspelled word as we read these studies or the obnoxious personality of some preacher in a church).
We ignore the big things that would cause us to lose our spiritual perspective and desire. We look beyond all things that might cause us to stumble and we move forward in our spiritual life. By getting up and moving on each time we fall, by becoming less and less affected over small things in life, we advance toward a mature state. And as we grow up, we acquire treasure (spiritual treasure) beyond measure.
When do we realize this treasure? At the Judgment Seat of Christ when all stand before Him and receive their evaluation. The spiritual treasure within your soul is gold, silver, and precious stones. All else is wood, hay. and stubble. When Christ cleanses us for the last and final time in our life, with a cleansing fire, all the spiritual treasure remains and all the worldly treasure (wood, hay, etc.) is destroyed.
There will be a lot of folks with empty souls after the fire does its work. And there will be those few with loaded souls, loaded with their spiritual treasure, and that treasure becomes the basis for many rewards, blessings, crowns and so forth as depicted in the first three chapters of Revelation.
Again, the price for this? Positive volition toward a daily Bible study. Giving up ones past life under the control of the sin nature, and advancing toward spiritual maturity.
Note that giving up a life under the sin nature is not the same as giving up a life of sin. The sin nature has two areas of power. Human good is its source of strength and sin is its source of weakness. Both exist outside of the fellowship sphere and therefore both are rejected in Gods plan. Just being a good person does not place you in fellowship nor does it advance you in the spiritual life. You will always fail or commit a sin from time to time, but your chosen pattern of life, your consistency in fellowship, or out as the case may be, will determine what direction you are headed in, in your spiritual life.
By believing in Christ, the believer has discovered and acquired the hidden treasure which everyone can see but many simply walk past it not recognizing its value. Once you have been saved, then you learn of even greater treasure, the priceless pearl, the one of a kind which is intended only for you. The nice thing about this pearl is that there is a pearl out there for everyone. But again, many now know of it, but many just don't go after it even though it is easy enough to obtain.
Having the treasure buried on your property is good, but taking some of it and converting it into ones enjoyment is even better. And even better yet, is investing it so that it will bring you even greater prosperity and wealth. That is the spiritual life.
In this life the mature believer receives greater blessings in time, and when he stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ, then blessings beyond imagination are presented to Him.
End of Lesson
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