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A Parable for the Bargain Hunter By Peter Law

Parables Jesus Told

If I asked you to make a list of the things you treasured most in life
and to place them in descending order upon a list,
which one would come at the very top for you?
What means the very most to you of all other things in life?
You personally, your car, your home, your bank account,
your physical condition, your clothes, your children, your spouse,
your fiancé, your plans, your opinion, your degree, your reputation,
your success, your intellectual prowess, your own world, yourself.
What about Christ?
What does Christ mean to you?
My question is not, what should Christ mean to you?
My question is, what does Christ really mean to you?
Is he the absolute delight of your life?
Is he life itself to you, or is he simply an addendum to life?
Is he the joy of your life, or simply a pleasant aspect of your life?
Is Christ the hub and center of your life, or just the spoke in the wheel of your life?
Is he everything to you, or is he simply something to you?
How are you going to answer the question?
You may have come today out of curiosity or interest.
You may be accompanying a friend who brought you along.
Or you may be here because it's been your custom to go to church
ever since you were little, and so you're continuing that custom.
Or it may be for you that you're saying,
well now to be very honest with you, Christ means little to me.
Well I pray that before you leave here today,
you will see just why he ought to mean absolutely everything to you.
On the other hand, you may be saying, well Jesus Christ is my life.
He is my everything. He is the top on my list of treasures.
And I pray that before you leave here today,
you will understand the cost involved for all those who seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
The demands that are made upon every individual Christian
by virtue of the fact that Christ is indeed first in your life.
And that having seen the cost involved, that there is such a cost involved,
that you will be prepared and ready to embrace that cost wholeheartedly
for the very purpose of possessing the precious pearl.
The pearl of great price. Now in the New Testament,
there is indication that the disciples of the Lord Jesus
spoke of him as their master, and that they encompassed
his teaching of the kingdom with their hearts.
And yet those same disciples had a very worldly view of the kingdom.
They quarreled about who would be the greatest in the realm over which Christ would rule.
They seemed to have very little or no concern about the demands of the kingdom
upon their lives, and their interest seemed to be in the benefits which might
be derived by them, because they were so closely associated with the future ruler.
But eventually, those disciples would be asked to lay down their lives.
According to traditional statements contained in extra biblical material,
Peter is said to have been crucified in Rome upside down,
Luke to have been hanged in Greece, Matthew to have been martyred by the sword,
James beheaded, Thomas speared, Jude shot with arrows, and so on.
Now we can't be absolutely certain about these things,
but the writer of Hebrews gives us an indication
that such sacrifices are characteristically required of the children of God,
of those children of the kingdom of God. And when he speaks of those
who experience those things, he mentions in Hebrews
mockings and scourging, chain and imprisonment,
the fact that some were stoned, and some were tempted,
some were sawn in two,
and some put to death by the sword.
But those were early days, and when Jesus begins to teach and continues his
instruction, much of what we read at this point in
our study at least, are early days. The disciples had not yet
been fully instructed in the true character of the kingdom of heaven.
They had not yet come to grips with the demands of the kingdom's spiritual work.
They wanted profit without price. They wanted comfort without cost.
And the very same error is often made by modern-day disciples, by myself,
and by yourselves. We want the benefits of the kingdom of God as long as that
means profit without price, comfort without cost.
But Jesus has to teach us just as he had to teach the disciples. And when he does,
he tells us exactly what he told the early disciples, that to obtain the
treasures of the kingdom it will necessitate a
sacrifice. Not a token sacrifice, not a partial one,
but a total sacrifice. And in order to teach the preciousness
of the kingdom of heaven and the demands of that kingdom upon
every individual believer, Jesus told his disciples a double-sided
parable here in Matthew chapter 13. A parable
concerning the kingdom, which we've just seen dramatized before
a parable which revealed the kingdom of God to be the greatest bargain
ever available to a man or a woman or a young person.
Let's consider it together. He taught them firstly
the worth of the kingdom. Would you look at verse 44?
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field
which a man found and hid, and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he
has and buys that field. Now notice firstly
that this bargain hunter recognized the value of the treasure.
It was a well-known ancient fact, ancient law, that the finder of a treasure was
its legitimate owner regardless of where he found it.
So that if you took your gold and you buried it in my field
and I found it, it became mine. And the man in the parable has found the
treasure. Now all he needs is to own the land and
the treasure will be his. And he was so excited at his find that
he quickly covered it over and he determined
I must have that field. And will you notice that in Jesus' parable
here he condones the action of the man as
being something positive. And he uses the action of this man in
verse 44 to illustrate the right attitude toward
the kingdom of God. And later we'll see that Jesus
condemns that same attitude when it's expressed toward the world.
But this is different you see. This man whom we saw,
this man who has found the treasure and acts in that way has an attitude of
saying I need and I must have that field. This is the zeal for the right reason.
This is affection for the right treasure. This is aspiration for the noblest kind
says Jesus when it's applied to the kingdom of God.
And this is the man whose heart has been made alive in Christ.
A man who can recognize the true treasure when he sees it
because his affections are activated by the Holy Spirit of God
and he absolutely delights in the treasure that he has found
in the gospel. Do you delight in that? Have you found it to be delightful? This
is the man in whom the soil of the gospel has been planted with the
seed and is beginning to bear fruit. He had stood with others on many
occasions and heard the gospel of the kingdom preached
and he had watched as many of them had turned away and he on occasion had
probably turned away himself but no longer. Now his eyes have been
opened up. Now he has recognized the beauty of the
treasure. He can discern the glory of the gospel.
Now he can say with the psalmist in reference to the standards
and the qualities of the gospel they are more
desirable than God, than much fine God.
Sweeter also than the honey, the drippings of the honeycomb.
There was a time when he couldn't say that but now it's easy
because he has recognized the value of the treasure
and he delights in it because he delights himself in God.
And then the bargain hunter resolved to to own the treasure. There's a mistake in
your bulletin that's not earned it. He cannot earn it.
He resolved to own the treasure. Now will you notice the man's fixed focus?
He knew the treasure when he saw it and he determined that he would have it.
Now Jesus was not referring to gold and silver or precious stones in his
parable. The treasure of which he spoke was the
kingdom of heaven. To have Christ and to have Christ's kingdom is absolutely
everything. Don't believe what the world tells you.
The psalmist wrote, the loving kindness of my God
is more than life to me.
Others may not consider this treasure to be of any value at all
but mine is a fixed focus, says the psalmist,
just as the man in the parable. And others may turn away from the treasure
as if it simply fools gold, says the psalmist, but I see
that it's treasure.
Well you notice also he's committed allegiance to the one single treasure.
It was because he saw the worth of the treasure that he resolved to own it.
It was because his heart was fixed upon that one single treasure
that all others were displaced in his thinking.
When I was a small boy I was something of a loner. My father was a minister. We
moved from place to place. It was difficult to break into new towns
so I found myself alone with my close friend. I often described my friend
as highly strung and stiff-knit but together we tried to make sweet music. It
was a ukulele.
One day I set my eyes upon a guitar, a beautiful guitar.
It was a step up from the ukulele, you see, and I put my heart upon it
and I put together everything I owned so that I might buy the guitar
because that was what I treasured the most now.
Everything else faded. The one displaced the other
when I set my heart upon it. Jesus told his disciples,
your focus is in the wrong place, your allegiance is
misplaced if in fact you're laying up treasures on earth. He said,
do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal
for where your treasure is there shall your heart
be also. Where is yours?
The man in the parable illustrates the heart of the matter.
He had an immediate sensitivity to the value of the kingdom.
Jesus was saying, recognize the value of the kingdom
and then set your heart upon it. Have you?
The man in the parable demonstrates also the heart of the matter.
His love for his former possessions was absolutely toppled
by the estimated value that he placed upon the hidden treasure
and Jesus was saying, determine the value of that which you treasure
before you set your heart upon it because once the treasure is selected
your heart latches on like a magnet on metal.
I heard this last week of a pastor in another state who when asked by married
couples to counsel them through rough times
always tells them to bring their bank books to the counseling session.
They think he's going to ask them to pay for the tasks that he performs
but when asked why he simply says well I want to see where your treasure is
because where your treasure is there will your heart be also
and when we know where your heart is we may be able to determine how to deal
with your problems.
The man in the parable identified what the treasure was
and he resolved to possess it and the man or the woman who is spiritually
quickened made alive in Christ whose focus has been defogged as to now
have a clear vision so as to be sensitive to the rock to the
to the work and to the worth of the gospel
that person is encouraged to set his heart upon the treasure
and to resolve to possess it. Why? Well that's simple because of its value
the most valuable thing that a man or a woman or a young person could ever
possess. Then secondly will you notice the cost
of the kingdom verses 45 and 46.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls
and upon finding one pearl of great value he went and sold all that he had
and bought it. In the days of early history
pearls were considered of much greater value than they are today
and yet even now a natural pearl is highly valued.
Early this past week knowing that I was going to be preaching upon the pearl
of great price I went downtown and began to visit the merchants
to talk to them about pearls to try and find out some answers
and I was directed by the other merchants in town to the man who they
consider to be the authority on pearls.
Finally in coming in to speak with him I discovered that he was Chinese.
He answered all my questions regarding cultured pearls
and that seems to be most fitting because the former
task of culturing pearls the initial stages of that is attributed to the
Chinese in the 12th century and he explained again to me the process
by which a cultured pearl is produced. The mother of pearl bead or some other
foreign object is placed inside the shell
inserted within the pearl within the oyster rather
and the oyster secretes a substance called nakra
which coats the object that thing which is annoying it inside as someone said
the oyster begins as a pain the pearl begins as a pain in the
oyster's stomach so this pain that's there he begins to coat to
make it more attractive and the size of the cultured pearl
depends upon the seed that's placed in so an eight millimeter pearl grows over
two or three years from a seven millimeter seed
and he explained all these to me
that is why they get such uniform size but natural pearls are not like that
the pearl's value is judged upon its luster
the more mirror like the surface the greater the price
and merchants pick over the pearl searching for the strands of most beauty
but these are all cultured pearls and while pearls are not treasured
as much as they are as much as they were they are at least treasured today
when they are natural pearls now i asked
qi wu cheng i said suppose that you had one single
natural pearl approximately eight millimeters in size
size not a cultured pearl but a natural pearl
what do you think it would be valued at today
well taking into account the variations in luster and so on and
and shape he gave me his estimation he said an eight millimeter pearl which is
probably the size of your fingernail and the smallest finger of
your hand he said i think you would have to begin at around 2500
for that one single pearl you see the bargain hunter in the passage
before us realized the price of the pearl
the pearl is in jesus power but was not cultured
it was natural and it was beauty and the merchant knew immediately that he
saw it that it was so beautiful and so genuine
and so valuable he only traded in fine pearls
but this was the finest he'd ever seen
he was a connoisseur of pearls he could make the keenest discrimination
between pearls of similar quality but this particular pearl was not to be
compared with anything that he'd ever seen
and like the famous pearl of asia which was buried with chine long
manchu emperor of china in the year 1799 a natural pearl the largest ever known
to be in existence shaped like a drop and measuring three
inches long and almost two inches thick so the pearl in jesus parable was
distinctively precious
and the merchant wanted it so badly in fact that he was prepared to sell
everything we saw it dramatized in order to possess it without
considering the price to be too high he sold everything when the value of the
pearl dawned upon him
that evelyn monnier's place last night and she told me that in the philippines
they have the most beautiful sunset she said i wasn't sure where the sun
went and so i stayed up all night to see where it went and it finally dawned on
you
i have a question for you has the value of the kingdom of god
dawned on you yet has it have you recognized
what you have received in christ
jesus was not talking simply about a pearl he was speaking about the kingdom
of heaven to have been introduced to the father
and into his family by grace is to possess
a treasure don't you treasure it to have the deepest fellowship and
personal communion with the most high living god
through the lord jesus christ his son is to possess the incomparably rich
and glorious paul of great thrice have you seen its value yet
to have the promise of eternal life in the company of all who have been
purchased by the shed blood of christ is to
possess the greatest blessing a person can ever have in his possession have you
seen it yet and to have that pearl is to be rich in
truth but to lack it is to be a pauper in truth
to be a stranger to the family of god to be driven from god's presence until you
perish eternally
the apostle john said and this is the promise which he himself made to us
eternal life he who has the son of life son has life he who does not have the
son of god does not have life you see we're usually
a part of this whole process before we begin to
realize the value of its treasures we're usually surrounded by the
preciousness of the gospel of jesus christ
before we put the eyeglass into place and begin to examine its luster
well i want you to put the eyeglass into place right now
and i want you to peer into the beautiful luster and to see the gorgeous
colors for yourself and to be reminded again of its worth
i want you to pray that god will open your eyes to perceive beauty
where formerly you may not have thought it to be beautiful at all
now look and let's see the beauty together
knowing god whom to know is life eternal that is beautiful
forgiveness of sin and adoption as the sons of god
that is precious
removal of guilt and the peace that passes all understanding
that is glorious abiding in the presence of the heavenly
father at my side in life by his holy spirit
that is priceless
the blessings which come in serving christ and witnessing to the world
the communion and fellowship of the lord's people the strength and the
courage given to face trial and suffering and temptation
those are radiant
and they're all able to be found in the pearl of great price
because it's mirror-like and reflects the beauty of god
now if you can stand to be distracted from that beautiful pearl
take off the eyeglass for a moment and begin to compare its luster
with the world now what do you see do you see the same luster
oh no there's none is sin to be compared
with the beauty of holiness and godliness
is self-centeredness to be measured as valuable
against the self-giving of the cross
paul said that even the suffering which he bore
was fading into insignificance by comparison with the delights of the
kingdom of heaven he said for i consider i reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us
kingdom of heaven is greater than all of life's treasures
which are temporary and will all fade away
and the merchant in jesus parable the one we've called the bargain hunter
had his eyeglass in place and as a result he renounced all else
for the sake of the pearl now don't you think that was radical
that was rather radical but when he compared the pearl
with what he had already received everything else which had once seemed so
colorful and bright to him faded to a dull gray
no luster many others had passed over the precious pearl because they'd failed
to recognize its beauty and its value other merchants had not
been prepared to give up all that they had for the sake of that one pearl
because they had not recognized the value of that which they were rejecting
if you are rejecting the gospel of jesus christ if you are rejecting all that
which jesus taught you haven't yet recognized the value
because if you could see the value you would never reject it ever
when the young boys discovered the kumran scrolls
in those caves they could easily have just thrown rocks at them and destroyed
them but someone someone had a more trained eye
someone recognized the potential worth and now we have the greatest
archaeological discoveries available to biblical scholars
safely under the care of museum curators they would have been rejected they could
have been rejected if no one had known the value the
gospel of the kingdom the good news concerning jesus christ is so often
rejected because blind eyes do not recognize its value
i read a story this week of an extremely wealthy man who had one son
the man possessed a vast treasury of art
he was broken hearted however and finally died because in adolescence his
son had passed away the father's will
provided that everything would be sold by auction
but that the first thing that would go underneath the auctions
auctioneer's hammer was a portrait of the son
so the day came and the auctioneer stood in place and held up the portrait of the
son and no one was interested finally the
servant of the home who loved the son so much
offered a 75 cent bid which was all he could afford
immediately the sale was stopped the auctioneer said we need to go no
further because the father's will had also
provided that anyone who loved the son enough to buy his portrait should
receive every treasure in the father's house
my friend you would not reject the gospel of the kingdom
you would not reject the son of god you would not refuse the christian message
if only you recognized the valuer
everyone who believes in the son of god and receives him
his word his life his death his instruction his resurrection
everyone who loves the son of god enough to accept his saving work upon the cross
of calvary everyone who takes the son of god at
his word and receives forgiveness of sins
and lives under his lordship as a true disciple receives all the traces of the
father's kingdom
but to do so you must be like the pearl merchant
you must renounce everything else and that's a great cost nothing must
stand in the way between you and the treasure if anything does you must
discard it now if you want the bargain of all
eternity you must announce allegiance to the
kingdom of this world to the prince of the power of the air
whom the scriptures call Satan
you must renounce your righteousness and accept christ's righteousness
and you must renounce your sinful practices and you must live for the
glory of god and you must put aside yourself and put
christ in your place and you must put away your idols and
serve the living god
dear christian friend
this is the bargain of all eternity the pearl of great christ but what did
you bargain for what did you bargain on when you stepped
into the kingdom of god through faith in christ jesus
what did you expect profit or price comfort
or cost had you gauged the worth of the treasure without considering the
sacrifice involved had you looked adoringly upon the
the prestigious benefits without thought of the demands
and like the fallacious disciples of john chapter 6 do you now want to turn
away because the demands of the kingdom the
requirements of discipleship are too exacting
the lord jesus made it very clear in his double-sided parable he made no bones
about it he said it's all or it's nothing
what is it for you allow me to retell the parable with all
the embellishments of its implications for a child of god
the citizen of the kingdom a dealer in pearl set out on a business trip in
search of precious pearls which might be used in trading with other pearl
merchants and his journey took him a long way from
home many distances away and he spoke with many dealers and
examined a sea of merchandise bought and sold many pearls
until he had what he considered to be a very valuable stock of pearls indeed in
his collection finally he returned to his own home and
city and continued to search out the stock in the local
merchant store and one day as he ran his eye across the
particular display of pearls which another merchant had shown him
his eyes lighted upon the most beautiful the most reflective
the most colorful pearl that he'd ever seen all his life
there was no mistaking it it was the largest
natural pearl ever shown to him its luster was rich and beautiful such that
he could almost see his face in it there was no question in his mind his
expert eye could see its worth and with the light born of unbelief at his find
this pearl dealer said to the owner i'll take it
the owner looked at him and he replied are you sure are you certain
that you want this particular pearl oh yes said the man there is no doubt in my
mind how much is it the man said how much do you have
well he said i have this stock of pearls you could have those oh
said the dealer i'll need those but i'll need much more
oh with the reply well then i could go down to the bank and draw out of the
account he said do you have an account too
well he said i'll need that well he said i'll have to go home and get the car and
oh you have a car i'll need that did you mention a home i'll need that too
but where would my wife and children go oh said the dealer
you have a wife and you have children i'll need those too oh said the man but
all my energies are given into all these other things you're going to take
everything from me all my time has been wasted oh said the man you have time
you have energies i'll need those too are you sure you want this particular
pearl oh yes said the man i like it more than
any other pearl
the most beautiful thing that i've ever seen
so precious i'm not sure what my friends will say though because i'm
giving all for this pearl you have friends
said the dealer i'll need your friends too
you still want this pearl yes no one else will do no other pearl this is the
one i want and so the man gave everything for the pearl including
the very suit of his back it was a very great price to pay but just
as he was turning to leave with the pearl in his pocket the merchant
did a very unusual thing he called out to him he said wait
don't go yet we haven't finished the transaction the man thought i've given
everything what else is there he said i want to have i want you to
have all these pearls back here they are now they're mine you
understand but i want you to be able to carry out your trading with them
well thank you very much said the other and he turned to leave conscious of his
great gain but overwhelmed by the enormity of the cost
wait said the merchant here is your bank account too it's still mine you
understand but i want you to make use of it you may draw
from it as freely as you like at any time but
remember it's mine and i may need to use it
and here's your wife and your family and your home and here are the keys to your
car and here are your clothes and here are
your friends and here is your time and your energies and your abilities you may
have them all back you may keep them all with you at your
places i'd like you to look after them i'd like
you to enjoy them but i want you to remember that they're
all mine and you won't mind if sometimes i need
to come back down and draw out of that account
and you won't mind you'll understand if sometimes i need the car to use it
and maybe to enjoy some of your wife's cooking and to have the friendship of
your children because you'll understand that they're
really mine and i'm simply allowing you to use them
the lord jesus has left us this parable and the holy spirit of god wants to
teach us a lesson this morning listen he is saying the kingdom of heaven is
the richest of all treasures it is the most precious of pearls but it
has the highest of costs
will cost you everything you have you cannot make the treasure you cannot
make the pearl it cannot be cultured the gospel is a supernatural treasure
a supernatural pearl you cannot produce it but you may possess it
it'll cost you everything that's all it's a paradox
you cannot buy it because jesus has already paid for it
but it will cost you everything nonetheless
and christ jesus comes to us by the holy spirit this morning
where you're sitting and he says this he says everything you have is mine
nothing you have is yours not your car not your home not your bank account
not your physical condition not your clothes not your children
not your spouse not your fiance not your plans not your opinion
not your degree or your reputation or your success or your intellectual
prowess not even yourself because you've been
purchased with a price
oh they're not your own why is that because
the demanded price for the treasure of the kingdom is total
absolute the lord says i want you to have and to enjoy all those things as a
good steward of them but just remember they're all mine or
there may be a missionary in town i'll need to use your car you won't mind that
there may be an unmarried mother in a desperate plight
i will want you to go and take care of her you won't mind that
there may be a financial need for a family or a lonely person to visit
and i'll need your your money and your time and your energy you won't mind that
because you know that they're mine anyway
you won't find that too terrible because you'll be delighting in the precious
pearl which is in your possession and every time you're tempted to complain
at my using those things that i've entrusted to you you will take
it out on your peer again this gorgeous luster
and you'll say i praise god for the truth
and i praise god for the delight of the pearl
and out of gratitude he will use all that is mine
because it's here
and on seeing again the beauty of the savior's face who shed his blood for you
on the cross of calvary you'll receive my request says god with
gratitude and you'll rejoice at the privilege
of being able to express your love and appreciation in a practical way
and on seeing the countless blessings which come from knowing god
whom to know is life eternal and experiencing the happiness
of god's favor and the love and goodness and mercy and grace
for living which he gives you will run to me with your arms outstretched to
give me all that you have
and like the man who found the treasure in the field and the other who
discovered the pearl you will not consider the price too high
to pay because in turn you have discovered the joyous mystery of
the kingdom namely that total sacrifice
brings immeasurable incomparable riches to every child of the kingdom and having
covered the cost neither man in jesus parable considered
it too high to pay here is the question for this morning
how about you
that's fine prayer