THE PEARL OF GREATEST PRICE
Matt. 13:44-46
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Too Many Kids -- Katlyn Yoder
1. Desperate for a child, a couple asked their priest to pray for them. "I'm going on sabbatical to Rome," he replied. "I'll light a candle in St. Peter's for you."
2. When the priest returned three years later, he found the wife pregnant, tending two sets of twins. Elated, the priest asked to speak to her husband and congratulate him.
3. "He's gone to Rome," came the wife’s response, "to blow out that candle."
B. TEXT
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
C. THE VALUE OF A PEARL
1. Pearls in the first century were viewed much like diamonds are today. They were the most valuable gem in the world at that time. If you owned a pearl, you owned a fortune.
2. And there was a good reason for it. The fine quality pearls are obtained from the pearl oyster, which thrives at an average depth of 40 feet. Many people died while pearl hunting.
3. A first century pearl diver would tie a large rock to his body and jump over the side of a little boat, allowing the weight of the rock to carry him down to the oyster beds. He risked danger from sharks, moray eels and other predators to scour the mud below for oysters.
4. An average of only one oyster in a thousand contain a pearl. All the while, he had to hold his breath and hope he wouldn’t drown. You can see why pearls were so precious. The Jewish Talmud said, "pearls are beyond price."
D. THE WISDOM OF THIS MERCHANT
1. The job of pearl merchants was to make a profit. They didn’t plan to gain their wealth by the sweat of their brow, but by the sweat of their brains. They depended on knowledge, skill, and beating their competition to the untapped markets.
2. The pearl merchant in this parable presents many parallels to a person who is seeking after Christ. Christ and salvation are not earned as a result of labor; instead, Christ is gained by knowledge, discovery.
3. To know Christ and surrender to him is to know eternal life. Just as this merchant found something that was of immense value, so the finding of Christ is the discovery of that which is of ultimate value.
E. THESIS
This pearl merchant did four things; first, he sought; next, he found; third, he sold his accumulated wealth; and lastly, he obtained his goal by buying.
I. HIS SEEKING
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls."
A. SEEKING ON PURPOSE
1. This merchant is very different from the man in the previous verses who, by accident, discovered a treasure while he was in a field. This merchant is of a nobler sort. He is searching for quality pearls when he happens to find the pearl of infinite price.
2. Notice, his mind is engaged in thinking about pearls. All his energies are thrown into the pursuit of pearls. He is not wasting time, playing video games, sleeping his life away, or turning his brain into mush watching television.
3. Instead, he has a definite mission in his life. If you were to ask him, "What are you doing with your life?" he would answer, "I am searching for quality pearls." At least half of the human race has no purpose in life and if you asked them the same question, they would probably say their purpose was to make themselves happy. We either have a definite aim or we don't.
B. SEEKING FOR THAT OF REAL VALUE
1. This merchant was not seeking something common things like bricks, stone, grain, or timber. Nor was he seeking common sea pearls or cultivated pearls, but natural pearls of the highest quality. His aim was for something very valuable and he wanted to expend his life for a worthy purpose.
2. Also, he was diligent in his searching. He didn't just open up a shop on the Galveston seawall and hang up a sign saying, "Will purchase Pearls here." No, he went out in search of them.
3. The parable doesn't say how far he traveled, but it's normal for Pearl traders to travel all over the world to the areas where the prime Pearl beds are located in order to find prize pearls. Their search might take them to places far off the tourist treks to places that are dangerous, but they are determined to brave whatever conditions to get the best.
4. He was also careful in his purchases; he knew a quality pearl when he saw one. He knew the different types of pearls, their sizes and locations where they might be found, the value of the sheen, soft radiance, color, or cloudy appearance. He could tell a genuine pearl from an imitation.
5. He also was realistic in his expectations. He expected to find pearls of a typical size and quality, and probably purchased many of normal good quality.
6. But suddenly he encountered a pearl he had never expected or hoped to come across; one of such size and brilliance that it would be worth millions of dollars! Although he had never intentionally sought for this pearl, the reason he found it was because he was already seeking items of great value.
7. There is a class of persons, like this merchant, who are seeking the most excellent and noble things of life.
II. THE MERCHANT FINDS THIS PEARL
A. THE VALUE OF THIS PEARL
1. His search had taken him down back streets and into the slums of Asian backwater cities – asking about pearls. It was ‘pearls in the morning,’ ‘pearls at noon’ time, and ‘pearls at night.’ He constantly cried out, "I'm looking for pearls!" During his diligent search, he came upon this one pearl that far exceeded all other pearls he'd ever seen; It’s like finding Jesus!
2. This one pearl was worth more than the accumulated total of all the pearls he had ever seen in his life. The numeric worth of the pearl is never stated, but we know it was worth more than all the property and belongings of this merchant. He evidently calculated up what all that his belongings were worth and offered the pearl owner that extravagance sum. His selling off his entire fortune for this pearl meant that he would abandon his search for all lesser pearls, since he had no more capital left.
3. Undoubtedly he felt that this pearl was worth a great deal more than all he possessed – maybe 10 times the price he was offering – and that if he were to gain it, he would be a rich beyond his wildest dreams! When a person finds Christ, they will discover something they didn’t think existed and all their worldly wealth will seems as nothing next to Christ!
B. HIS RESOLVE TO PURCHASE THE PEARL
1. The merchant resolved he must have that pearl. If we ever see the inestimable value of Christ and realize He is within our grasp, we’d determine to own Him, whatever the cost might be.
2. If you want Christ, the real Pearl of great price, there is no reason why He cannot be yours tonight, if you’ll meet the terms God has laid out.
III. SELLING OUT TO BUY THE PEARL
A. IT WILL COST US OUR DESIRES
1. The merchant sold all that he had. It had taken him a long time to accumulate his fortune, but he was happy to sell it! His farm, his house, all his furniture, his business and its offices, all his cash, and his extensive collection of lesser pearls.
2. Everything must go for that pearl. If Jesus Christ is to be gained, every last possession will have to be sold. What kind of things will have to go if we are to buy Him?
3. Our old ideas of salvation; our efforts at being good; any righteousness we think we have; our claim to be knowledgeable, our reputation; sinful pleasures; the direction of our future and who our friends are.
B. IT WILL COST US OUR PRIDE
1. Another area which must go: our reputation/esteem in the eyes of our peers. Someone might say, "If I become a Christian, they will ridicule me." You must put all of the people you value on the scale and weigh them against Christ; if Christ is worth more, then say, "I sell it all off that I may have Him."
2. No man or woman is worthy of Christ who’s ashamed to stand beside Him in His rejection, prison, and death. We must, like Moses, love him so much that we count shame for the sake of Christ as greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt!
C. IT IS NOT A PARTIAL SALE
1. This pearl hunter sold all that he had. Have you sold all or do you have a little left? Are you holding on to some prospect in the future? We should say, "If I must be poor to have Christ, then I accept poverty that I may win Him!" The goal of success in this life must be secondary to gaining Jesus.
2. Christ has bought us with a price, but is it possible we should withhold one part of our ourselves from Him -- a hand, an eye, or half of a heart?
3. Our possessions don’t belong to us, but to our Master, and we should be prepared to give them up as our Master sees fit. The pearl merchant sold all that he had.
D. IT IS A SALE OF NO HESITATION
1. Somebody might say, "This is too hard a position." "All right, if you don't want to buy the pearl, then don't!" If you do not want Him there are plenty who do. Jesus did not come to beg you to accept Him.
2. If you're not willing to meet the conditions, then just come out and say it, "I don't want anything to do with Him!" But this merchant sold all that he had and was happy to do it! He was getting such a good deal that he never gave any of his possessions a second thought.
IV. LAST, THE BUYING
A. THIS IS YOUR ONE OPPORTUNITY
1. At last, he turned everything over to the pearl seller. He didn't say, "I'll need to go home and think about this decision."
2. Instead, he said "If I let this slip through my fingers I will never find another pearl to compare with this one. If anyone else buys it before me, I will have lost the one opportunity of my life!" So he hurried to sell everything he had.
3. Dear friends, if you want to purchase eternal life through Christ, do it immediately, while your spiritual vision of Him is clear. Your sins will be forgiven, you’ll have peace with God, be a child of God and an heir of heaven! What could be more valuable than that?
B. THE JOY OF POSSESSION
1. Imagine the joy of the pearl merchant as he paid his money over to the seller. Imagine his face as the transaction progressed; the twinkle in his eye, his suppressed excitement, the exhilarating rush when the pearl was at last placed in his hand!
2. Similarly, no one can tell the joy that is experienced when a penitent sinner who’s surrendered his/her whole being is filled with the joy of the Lord’s salvation and the favor of God!
C. THE BEST DEAL IN HISTORY
1. You will be a winner if you choose Jesus! There is no losing when you make a deal with Him. Whatever your exchange for Him, you'll make 500% over! "No man," said Jesus, "shall lose houses or lands for My sake that shall not receive in this world a 100 fold, and in the world to come, everlasting life."
2. This was the merchant’s final purchase. He, according to the parable, never went buying pearls again. He said, "Now that I have bought the pearl of greatest price, I will go out of the business." And when a man gains Christ, he seeks nothing more. The fullness of Christ satisfies all the longings of his heart.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Take care, friends, that you get Christ and not a substitute. Many years ago one of the largest pearls ever found was purchased by a Russian. It was a pearl as large as an egg and was of immense value.
2. The Emperor of Russia bid an enormous price for it but the owner would not sell it. Years passed and the owner was required to make a trip to Paris. He, of course, took the pearl with him. In Paris, the British Duke of Brunswick, who possessed pearls of almost as great a value, asked the Russian if he could see the pearl.
3. After opening an elaborately designed protective case, the Russian man turned pale and looked as if he would faint. His pearl had suddenly become clouded, as pearls sometimes do.
4. It had become infected with some corrosive disease and would disintegrate into powder within a short time. The Russian had turned from a millionaire into a pauper!
5. There is only One Pearl of greatest price that will never become clouded, even to eternity: Jesus the Son of God! If you get Him, you’ll have an eternal hope; any other on whom you place your trust will end in the bitterest disappointment.
B. ALTAR CALL
[I originally wrote this message many years ago and do not know if I borrowed any material for other sources. If I used some of your work, please notify me and I will give you credit.]
