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.
We can forget about the aberrations of those who claim to be Philadelphia, and try to establish what is, or could be the period of Church History represented by Philadelphia. Unlike the other previous periods we have studied, I believe this one not to be a specific religious movement in a “religious period” but rather a combination of three moves by the Holy Spirit.
Three great movements operated in the 1800s and 1900s throughout evangelical Christendom and I think those represent the Philadelphian period. Underlying all this is a seeking to return to first principles of the New Testament and the sincerity found in the bible. Everything is bound up by brotherly love. (that was important in Philadelphia)
{{1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 “Now as to THE LOVE OF THE BRETHREN, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to LOVE ONE ANOTHER, for indeed you do practise it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,”}}
{{1 Peter 1:22-23 “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for A SINCERE LOVE OF THE BRETHREN, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.”}}
Here are the three -
[A]. WORLDWIDE EVANGELISM
God raised up men who would evangelise the world through personal appearances and through literature. In the late 1700s the Wesleys and others paved the way for wide evangelism. I know there were many but the immediate ones who come to mind are Charles Finney, Dwight L Moody, R A Torrey, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham. There were revivals and more beside. Millions came to Christ through the preaching of these men. Up until around A.D. 2 000, it was an open door.
Now in the 2000s there is a great decline in mass world evangelism because the world is becoming hostile to the preaching of the gospel and people themselves in these last days are as 2 Timothy 3:1-4 describes them. They refuse to listen. Another avenue is being used and we look at that in the next one.
[B]. THE GREAT MISSIONARY MOVEMENTS
The 1800s saw the greatest missionary movement in the history of the Church (it was good in the Apostolic times also). Missionaries took the gospel into Africa, China, and the South Pacific, India and so many other areas. I don’t intend mentioning too many others because it was worldwide. I know I will miss some of the missionary organisations, but these are given so that you can see the rise of the movement.
The Church Missionary Society (CMS), the Baptist Missionary Society, and the London Missionary Society were giants in the Missionary movement. Great missionary organisations arose that supported the missionaries who went. Among them are/were the following:-
William Carey’s call to mission launched a movement. More than any other individual, he moved European and North American churches to focus on the world beyond. For this reason he deserves to be called the Father of Protestant Missions.
In 1792, Carey sparked the creation of the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen. There soon followed an explosion of mission agencies: London Missionary Society (1795), Scottish and Glasgow Missionary Societies (1796), Church Missionary Society (1799), Religious Tract Society (1799), and the British and Foreign Bible Society (1804).
Similar groups formed in continental Europe and America, including the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1810) and, among Baptists, the General Convention for Foreign Missions (1814). That will be enough for those societies. They were great movements the Holy Spirit raised up.
One more missionary aspect must be mentioned and that is the power and outreach of radio. We have great stations such as HCJB Voice of the Andes, FEBC, Trans world Radio, Reach Beyond, and many others including national stations. All these came into being in the 1900s.
I know I have been “hit and miss” with the listing of good Mission Societies, as there are and have been, many of them. The Lord knows who they are. However, please understand that the ones I have given are representative of the great movement near the end of the Church age that is represented by Philadelphia.
[C]. THE RETURN TO BIBLICAL PROPHECY AND ESCHATOLOGY
The whole study of prophecy (relating to the last days of the Church age) is called Eschatology (last things). Although there were a few voices in the 1700s raising the subject, it was not until the 1800s that interest in prophetic subjects took off. John Darby and the Brethren movement were instrumental in this in the early 1800s but it soon spread throughout evangelical churches, especially among the Baptists in the United States. It also saw Institutions such as Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary that had a good focus on eschatology as well as biblical studies.
The church started to hear terms like Pre-millennial, Tribulation, Rapture, Israel, rise of world powers, Millennium, and a lot more. With the formation of Israel as a nation in 1947, eschatology took on a whole new meaning.
I don’t want to explore the prophetic topics as I have done that in a series on Eschatology on SermonCentral, but this important observation must be made - The world is getting just so close to the Rapture (some dismiss this and move to the second Coming), that the Holy Spirit is making the Church aware of the imminence/imminency of the Lord’s coming as we fast near the end of the Church age. It is also a wakeup call to the Church to clean itself up.
SUMMING UP:- The identification of Philadelphia sits not with a group or a Denomination, but the final great movement of the Holy Spirit in the three items spoken on – Evangelism, Missionary Movements, and the revived interest in Eschatology that was dead for more than 1700 years when the Church went through very bad times. It is now alive because the time is so close and the Lord comes again to claim His Bride, the Church.
As the “good church”, Philadelphia sat among a mixed bag of churches in Asia Minor, so too do the last days represent the good sitting among the bad condition and spurious profession in the world (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and sitting among all the expressions going under the name “Christian”.
One last Parable of the Kingdom remains and that is The Dragnet.
God bless you if you read all these things. His word is marvellous and contains so much we can find.
