24. The Kingdom Parables – The Sixth – The Pearl Of Greatest Price – Part 4 Of 4 Series

24. The Kingdom Parables – The Sixth – The Pearl of Greatest Price – Part 4 of 4

In this final Part we look especially at the place the Parable of the pearl of greatest price has in Church History as we have done with each of the parables. Before that though, there is a bit to finish off from Part 3.

The Pearl is the Church. The Merchant is Jesus who gave up the very best to purchase His Church. The church that matches this parable is Philadelphia from Revelation 3. We have been looking at the letter to this church learning of its quality. We continue the last bit of that.

[F]. VERSE 12. MULTIPLE BENEFITS FOR THE OVERCOMER

{{Revelation 3:12-13 “He who OVERCOMES, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”}}

The Lord wants overcomers. These live by faith and rely in the Lord for His strength and wisdom. There are many promises given here to the Philadelphians –

** He will be a pillar in the temple of God.

** He will not leave the temple.

** The name of God will be written on him.

** The name of the city, the New Jerusalem, will be written on him.

** God’s new name will be written on Him.

It is not easy to define these promises, but they are eternal and glorious. Regarding the “pillar in the temple, Ellicott makes this observation – [[ “But whilst the general notion is that of stability and permanence, do not let us forget that it is permanence and stability in a certain direction, for the pillar is ‘in the temple of My God.’ Now I would recall to you the fact that in other parts of Scripture we find the present relation of Christian men to God set forth under a similar metaphor: ‘Ye are the temple of the living God’; or again, ‘In whom ye are built for a habitation of God through the Spirit’; or again, in that great word which is the foundation of all such symbols, ‘We will come and make our abode with Him.’ So that the individual believer and the community of all such are, even here and now, the dwelling-place of God. And whilst there are ideas of dignity and grace attaching to the metaphor of the pillar, the underlying meaning of it is substantially that the individual souls of redeemed men shall be themselves parts of, and collectively shall constitute, the temple of God in the heavens.” ]]

I will not pursue the rest of the verses as it is getting beyond the scope. However when we look into the Church History period we will be the move of God’s Spirit and the strength and stability of His saints.

[5]. WHERE DOES PHILADELPHIA FIT INTO CHURCH HISTORY?

The big question is, “Where does Philadelphia fit into Church History?” This is a big can of worms and has created considerable confusion. Also you have the naysayers who say all of this is nonsense, but have not bothered to study these parables, or the 7 Asiatic churches or the periods of Church History.

This period of Church History is a good one because of the nature of the Philadelphian church (with no condemnation), (and also the beauty of the Pearl parable) so a number of groups and denominations claim to be Philadelphia. Not only is this arrogant, but it is so wrong.

In the earlier days of the Open Brethren, I remember the odd person claiming that the Open Brethren movement from its start in 1825, was Philadelphia, as it was believed that the church was returning to more of a New Testament practice. There was only the odd one claiming that. It was not widespread. Some in lesser known churches in the world speak of “the Philadelphian spirit”.

Once when I was in England I was asked to speak to a bible study group at a particular church and I decided to speak on The Pearl of Great Price. Well, what a surprise it was when I found out that the normal leader of that group reported me to the authorities for promoting Mormon doctrine. It appears that the Mormons are quite big on the matter of the Pearl. Nothing came of it; sadly the normal leader of that group had his nose out of joint because I was asked to speak. I am still amazed at that, 10 years ago.