"Dissatisfied With Satisfaction"

“Dissatisfied With Satisfaction”

Matthew 13:45-46

INTRODUCTION: This morning we are going to take a look at the parable that Jesus gives on “The Pearl Of Great Price”. Jesus doesn’t explain the parable. I want us to look at it in 2 ways … the INTERPRETATION … AND … the APPLICATION.

Matthew 13:45-46 – Read

INTERPRETATION – There are many interpretations as to who the “merchant” is, and who the “pearl” is. To get a better understanding, let’s take a look at the “pearl”. The “pearl” represents the Church.

The PEARL was considered a valuable gem in Bible times. It’s the only gem that can’t be improved by man. You can cut and polish a diamond, ruby and other stones. BUT … if you begin to mess with a pearl, you ruin it. It’s perfect when it’s formed.

How is a pearl made? When an irritant, like a piece of sand, enters the oyster, the oyster secrets a substance called “nacre” (na-ker), or “Mother-of-Pearl”, around the sand, to heal the irritation.

The oyster lives in about 40 feet of water, in the mud and mire of the ocean. In Bible times, it was very dangerous to gather oysters. They would tie a rock around their waists, hold their breath, and dive down to the ocean floor to gather the pearls. Maybe only 1 in a thousand oysters contained a pearl. The pearl was a product of a living creature … a product of suffering, after a grain of sand pierced it’s side. The CHURCH is a product of suffering … the suffering of Christ.

Pearls were considered a valuable gem in Bible times. Listen to what Jesus said about pearls in Matthew 7:6 – “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet …” Revelation 21:21 describes the New Jerusalem, where we will live for all eternity – “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every each one of the gates was of one pearl:”

The MERCHANT represents Christ. Christ is the head of the Church, and He seeks out the Church. You are His treasure. He sold all that He had … He gave His very life … for YOU. Your sin was an intrusion on Him .. a foreign substance that was placed on Him on the cross. He put around us His own righteousness, to protect us from the wrath of God. As Christians, we are the pearl of great price. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 (last week’s sermon) – “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” YOU are the pearl of great price!

APPLICATION – NOW, let’s take a look at this parable and see how it applies to you and me.

This “merchant” was a buyer and seller of pearls. He already had lots of other pearls, but he wasn’t satisfied with them, because he hadn’t found the “perfect” pearl. He would make his money off of buying and selling pearls, but keep the best ones for himself. He wasn’t satisfied with the everyday, run-of-the mill pearls, so he sold them. He was looking for the BEST pearl … to keep for his own … to look at … to admire … to show off. You can’t eat it … keep warm with it … live in it. It was for the personal enjoyment of owning it.

The BEST pearls weren’t an investment …they were for personal satisfaction. I’ve known some people who bought big diamonds for an engagement ring to give to their fiancé. They would try to justify the big price by saying, “It’s an investment.” I didn’t believe it for a minute! What do you think would happen, 10 years down the road, if he took it off his wife’s finger, and tried to sell it for a profit!

1.- He Was Dissatisfied With What He Had – 13:45

Dissatisfaction isn’t necessarily a bad or negative thing. Why are new discoveries made? Why do people invent things? They are invented because the inventor is DISSATISFIED with the status-quo.

o The Wright Brothers invented the flying machine, because they were dissatisfied with ground travel.

o Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, because he was dissatisfied with reading by lamp-light. (it took him 13 months, and over 14,000 failures … only he didn’t consider them failures, only a discovery of something that didn’t work!)

o Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, because he was dissatisfied with the telegraph.

o The can opener was invented because someone was dissatisfied with opening a can with a knife.

o Jon Gruden was dissatisfied with the history of the Tampa Bay Bucs, so he took them to the SuperBowl.

o Martin Luther was dissatisfied with the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Reformation was born.