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The Pearl of Great Price 2005 By Pastor Tony Cirigliano Preached at Boone, NC on Sabbath, 12,3/05.
Matthew 13:45: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
The blessings of redeeming love The Master compared to a precious pearl.
He illustrated His lesson by the parable of the merchantman seeking goodly pearls "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
Christ Himself is the pearl of great price.
In Him is gathered all the glory of the Father, the fullness of the Godhead.
He is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person.
The glory of the attributes of God is expressed in His character.
Every page of the Holy Scriptures shines with His light.
The righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain.
No work of man can improve the great and precious gift of God.
It is without a flaw.
The Holy Bible says that in Christ are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 2:3
He is "made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1:30.
All that can satisfy the needs and longings of the human soul, for this world and for the world to come, is found in Christ.
Our Redeemer is the pearl so precious that in comparison all things else may be accounted loss.
Christ "came unto His own, and His own received Him not." John 1:11.
The light of God shone into the darkness of the world, and "the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:5.
But not all were found indifferent to the gift of heaven.
The merchantman in the parable represents a class who were sincerely desiring truth.
In different nations there were in the Lord’s day, and in our day earnest and thoughtful men and women and boys and girls who are seeking something missing from their soul.
Today, many are looking in literature and science and the religions of the heathen world for that which they could receive as the soul's treasure.
Men and women and boys and girls are looking into New Age philosophy, Eastern religions, even into witchcraft, and Sorcery from the Middle ages depicted in books, video games and popular movies.
Harry Potter books – Warn!
Hollywood actors and actresses are embracing heresies like Scientology of Kaballa seeking for that which they do not have.
Dissatisfied with a formal religion, many are looking for that which is spiritual and uplifting.
In Jesus’ day some of his chosen disciples belonged to that class of seekers.
Cornelius, and the Ethiopian eunuch, and Zaccheus, and Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea were ones who were looking for precious pearls of truth and they found the Pearl of Great Price and gave Him their heart!
They had been longing and praying for light from heaven; and when Christ was revealed to them, they received Him with gladness.
Notice that in the parable the pearl is not represented as a gift.
The merchantman bought it at the price of all that he had.
Many question the meaning of this, since Christ is represented in the Scriptures as a gift. He is a gift, but only to those who give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to Him without reserve.
You see it says in Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
We are to give ourselves to Christ, to live a life of willing obedience to Him and His Word. All that we are, all the talents and capabilities we possess, are the Lord's, to be consecrated to His service.
“When we thus give ourselves wholly to Him, Christ, with all the treasures of heaven, gives Himself to us. We obtain the pearl of great price.” DA, p. 116.
Salvation is a free gift, and yet it is to be bought and sold.
The merchant man searching for some goodly pearls sold everything he had, and then he bought the Pearl of Great Price!
In Yahweh’s market, the precious Pearl is represented as being bought without money and without price.
The merchant man saw the value and he was sold-out for the Pearl of great price!
Here's a little poem Yahweh gave to me while I was in the shower one day of the week I was preparing this message.
The merchant was looking for a pearl that was nice,
And then he found the Pearl of Great Price.
He knew that none other would suffice,
So he sold all he had for the Pearl of Great Price.
There are many today with hearts cold as ice,
That will thrill when they find the Pearl of Great Price.
No trinkets of Satan will ever entice,
The one who has found the Pearl of Great Price.
No riches gained by labor or roll of dice,
Can ever compare to the Pearl of Great Price.
In all this world of men and mice,
There is nothing like the Pearl of Great Price!
Jesus – Yahshua – the Son of Yahweh the only true God is that precious pearl.
Our heavenly Father wants us to sell what may be useless and taking valuable room in our heart so that we might buy the Pearl of Great Price!
You don’t need money to buy the Pearl, just a seeking heart and one hungering and thirsting for righteousness!
Isaiah 55:1
The Pearl of Great Price is for sale – and you buy it by faith without money and without price.
You can buy and eat the bread of Life!
You can drink the new wine!
You can come to the living waters.
It’s all FREE! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Proverbs 23:23
You can own the Pearl of Great Price!
In this market all may obtain the goods of heaven.
The treasury of the jewels of truth is open to all. "Behold, I have set before thee an open door," the Lord declares, "and no man can shut it."
No sword guards the way through this door.
Voices from within and at the door say, Come.
The Saviour's voice earnestly and lovingly invites us: "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich." Rev. 3:8, 18.
The gospel of Christ is a blessing that all may possess.
The poorest are as well able as the richest to purchase salvation; for no amount of worldly wealth can secure it.
It is obtained by willing obedience, by giving ourselves to Christ as His own purchased possession.
Education, even of the highest class, cannot of itself bring a man nearer to God.
Ellen White wrote, “The Pharisees were favored with every temporal and every spiritual advantage, and they said with boastful pride, We are ‘rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing"; yet they were "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’” Rev. 3:17. – Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 117.
Christ offered them the pearl of great price; but they did not accept it, and He said to them, "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." Matt. 21:31.
We cannot earn salvation, but we are to seek for it with as much interest and perseverance as though we would abandon everything in the world for it.
Several times I have misplaced my wallet and thought I had lost it.
I searched diligently for it, looking in every possible place a wallet could fit.
Then I found it – great relief.
The merchant man or woman or boy or girl searching for something valuable for the heart will look and look here and there!
But when He or she finally finds the Pearl of Great Price, he will rejoice and sell everything and by faith buy Jesus – the Pearl of Great Price!
We are to seek for the pearl of great price, but not in worldly markets or in worldly ways.
The price we are required to pay is not gold or silver, for all the gold and silver already belongs to God.
The currency our heavenly Father deals with is hearts and minds!
He calls for your love and a heart of willing obedience.
He asks you to give up your sins. "To him that overcometh," Christ declares, "will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Rev. 3:21. 0
There are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl.
But they don’t want to make a surrender of their wrong habits and sins.
There are things in their life they refuse to sell to buy the Pearl of Great Price!
They do not die to self that Christ may live in them.
Therefore they do not find the precious pearl.
The apostle Paul wrote in
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
Paul said compared to the Pearl of Great Price everything else is dung!
Paul was sold out for Jesus – the Pearl of Great Price!
Too many they have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions.
They do not take up the cross and follow Christ in the path of self-denial and sacrifice.
Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of heaven, but they can’t enter there.
Almost but not wholly saved, means to be not almost but wholly lost.
The parable of the merchantman seeking goodly pearls has a double significance: it applies not only to men as seeking the kingdom of heaven, but to Christ as seeking His lost inheritance. COL, p. 118.
Our heavenly Father yearns for us to see the value of His Son that He gave for us.
Diogenes was a Greek Philosopher who lived in the third century.
Alexander the Great saw Diogenes sunning himself on a beach, and went over to him and asked Diogenes what he wanted.
Diogenes answered, “I want you to get out of my light.”
Yet Alexander respected him and said, “If I could not be Alexander, I would want to be Diogenes.”
Diogenes was much of a cynic.
He carried a lantern with him day and night.
When asked why he did that, he said, “I am searching the earth for an honest man.”
Friends, our heavenly Father is the true seeker of those honest in heart who are looking for the Pearl of Great Price!
The Messiah, the heavenly merchantman seeking goodly pearls, saw in lost humanity the pearl of price.
In man, defiled and ruined by sin, He saw the possibilities of redemption.
“Hearts that have been the battleground of the conflict with Satan, and that have been rescued by the power of love, are more precious to the Redeemer than are those who have never fallen.” – COL, p.118.
God looked upon humanity, not as vile and worthless; He looked upon it in Christ, and saw it as it might become through redeeming love.
He collected all the riches of the universe, and laid them down in order to buy the pearl.
To your Father in heaven – you are the pearl of great price!
Worth so much to Him that He gave His only begotten Son to save you!
And when Jesus finds you, and you receive Him He says the words found in Malachi 3:17, “They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels."
But on the Son of God - the precious Pearl of Great Price we should always concentrate on!
It is the Holy Spirit that reveals to men the preciousness of the goodly pearl.
In Christ's day many heard the gospel, but their minds were darkened by false teaching, and they did not recognize in the humble Teacher of Galilee the Pearl of Great Price.
But after Christ's ascension His enthronement as our Mediator in the heavenly sanctuary was signalized by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost the Spirit was given.
Christ's witnesses proclaimed the power of the risen Saviour.
The light of heaven penetrated the darkened minds of those who had been deceived by the enemies of Christ.
They now saw Him exalted to be "a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts 5:31.
They saw Him encircled with the glory of heaven, with infinite treasures in His hands to bestow upon all who would turn from their rebellion.
As the apostles set forth the glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father, three thousand souls were convicted.
They were made to see themselves as they were, sinful and polluted, and Christ as their friend and Redeemer.
Yahshua Jesus was lifted up, Christ was glorified, through the power of the Holy Spirit resting upon men.
By faith these believers saw Him as the One who had borne humiliation, suffering, and death that they might not perish but have everlasting life.
The revelation of Christ by the Spirit brought to them a realizing sense of His power and majesty, and they stretched forth their hands to Him by faith, saying, "I believe."
Then the glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost bounds of the inhabited world.
The church beheld converts flocking to her from all directions.
Believers were reconverted.
Sinners united with Christians in seeking the Pearl of great price.
Every Christian saw in his brother the divine similitude of benevolence and love.
One interest prevailed.
One object swallowed up all others.
All hearts beat in harmony.
The only ambition of the believers was to reveal the likeness of Christ's character, and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.
"The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. . . . With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all." Acts 4:32, 33.
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47.
The Spirit of Christ animated the whole congregation; for they had found the Pearl of Great Price.
“These scenes are to be repeated, and with greater power. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the former rain, but the latter rain will be more abundant. The Spirit awaits our demand and reception. Christ is again to be revealed in His fullness by the Holy Spirit's power. Men will discern the value of the precious pearl.”
With the apostle Paul they will say, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Phil. 3:7, 8.
The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle.
It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter.
The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself.
The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell.
This eventually forms a pearl.
The irritant is inside the pearl and it is covered.
Jesus wants to cover our sin with His robe of Pearl White righteousness!
He wants to live in you and turn you into one of His jewels – a precious pearl
Malachi 3:17
Call!
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