For those who are visiting us today by way of the internet or the mobile ministry, we certainly want to welcome you to the services of Grace Missionary Baptist Church of Cerrito as well. And we're certainly glad that you chose to join in, spend a little time with us this day. Now this morning we are going to continue on in our study of the parables of Jesus. The parables of Jesus and again today we're going to find ourselves in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 13. There are seven parables here. We've looked at four so far. Today we're going to look at two. We're going to look at two as they go hand in hand. Now I want to remind you A little bit again about what we've studied so far. And again, I'm doing that because, as I've told you several times, that these parables, they build on one another. They don't stand alone at all. Instead, as you look at these parables, there's something you can't really start in the middle and have a good understanding with. It's like trying to get across the river on stepping stones. You gotta start on one and then go to the next and then to the next and to the next. And you build on one another that way. You can't start in the middle. It's not like looking at a parable of the prodigal son or something like that that stands on its own. These depend on one another. So with that said, again, as a way of review, our first parable, of course, was the parable of the sower. which showed us the picture of Christ, and certainly all those after him who would spread the seed, of course, of the gospel message. And it is the sower's job to sow the seed, not to sow the seed with bias as to what soil that we believe that it falls upon, but just to sow the seed. And this parable taught us, of course, that there's many who's going to receive that word, who are going to, some reject it, some who will make a false profession, but of course, in the end, it did promise that there would be a harvest. There is a harvest, and that is the wonderful thing. The second parable is much like the first in the fact that we have Christ as the sower of the seed, and He sows forth the good seed, and it produces that crop, that crop of wheat, but we saw immediately That Satan, the enemy, came in and he sowed tares among the wheat. Those tares represent unconverted Christians. That is, counterfeit Christians, as I like to call them. They look like Christians at first, but there's a bug up here flying around. If you see him, they're swatting them. I'm not getting in the spirit up here, folks. That's just... There you go. But anyway, those in their lives, they eventually will show themselves for who they are because the lack of fruit in their lives. Folks, we judge Christians, and yes, we are to be fruit inspectors. We are to look for fruit in someone's life, and when you look at a counterfeit Christian, you will not see that. You will not see the kind of fruit that should be there. But Christ promised us that there would be these people among His saints until the end times come. The third parable really kind of grew out of the second as well. It's called the parable of the mustard seed. The mustard seed is that which was sown, again by Christ. Something that was sown in faith. At first it formed into a bush. It formed into what it should, an herb of the field. But then we saw that that began to grow up and to grow out into something that it was not intended to be. That is, a great tree in which we see the birds. They sought rest in that tree. And those birds, of course, represent for us workers of evil and iniquity. And I told you at that point in time that I believe that that is a good representation of the Catholic Church and how it took off and became what the Church was not supposed to be. Now, last time we were together we looked at, which was two weeks ago for me, we looked at the Parable of the Leaven. And many, if not most, commentators believe this parable represents the success of the gospel permeating into the world. I told you though last week that I believe that this parable should be looked at, as Levin has looked at it, as anywhere in Scripture, everywhere else in the Scripture, and that is of sin. That is sin working its way into the teaching of God that is coming up with false doctrine. There we didn't have the leaven put in there by the man, we had it put in there by the woman of course, and again this was representing something that was corrupt in nature. And that brings us now again to the parables we're going to look at today, parable number 5 and parable number 6. They are very short. and they are intrinsically woven together. Now, indeed, at first glance, you might read the parables and you might think, well, they're saying the same thing. And many commentators will actually say that. They'll say, well, this is just one parable. They both represent the same thing. Last week, when we were in Alabama, we were assigned parables. As I told you, we were assigned parables to look at And I was assigned three parables I'd never preached on before. Just my luck, right? But it was a good experience for me. But one of the men that was there was assigned this parable in particular. Well, he was assigned the parable of the pearl and he covered it with the other one because he believed that they are one parable. And he did a great job at preaching his interpretation, but I do not believe that these are one and the same, though. I believe that even though they may look very similar, though they may look like twins, as you might say it, and they're certainly related through the blood, which we're going to see later on, I believe that if you start to pull apart these parables, you can see There is a difference between them. There is a difference between them. Just like twins, once you start to know them, you can spot them across the room who's who. Any mama can do that, right? She knows her kids and certainly we can as well. Now, before we read on, I do want to let you know something kind of noteworthy that has taken place. between the fourth and the fifth parable that we start to read here today. In verse 36 of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13, we see that the first four parables were spoken to the masses. They were spoken to those who were outside There was lots of people listening. And Jesus, by the way, when He told those parables, He said that He was telling those parables so that they might not understand. There was many there that were not going to understand. It was purposely hidden, the meaning of them from them. But now He's removed Himself from their company. He's moved Himself now into the home of some dear saint here who's not named. but they come into the house here and this is where Jesus gives the explanation of the first two parables, which is nice because then it helps us to discern the meaning of the others, right? Because they build on one another, the imagery that we see in those. And it is here that Christ relates to them the last of the three parables. Now, think about this. The first four parables They seem like they're a little bit discouraging, aren't they, when you look at them? After all, the first four predict trouble, they predict strife, they predict people who are not Christians who pretend to be. As we look at these, you might say, well, it seems like doom and gloom. Where's the positive? Where does it turn positive? Well, here it comes. It's right here. And, you know, what is so great about this is as the disciples have listened to that doom and gloom, so to say, and, you know, what Christ does then is He pulls them apart. He pulls them aside and He begins to give them words of understanding and words of encouragement. He's encouraging their hearts so that they be not troubled. So that is what we see here in the last of these three parables, is the work of God continuing and the work of God having success. Encouragement that even though the kingdom of heaven might be filled full of those who might be deceivers, certainly it is also full of those who are believers. And Christ knows his own. Christ knows his own. Now, without further delay, let's look in verse 44. Verse 44. It says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto the treasure hid in a field. The witch, when the man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he hath found one pearl, of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." Now, I've broken already from many traditional commentators in the last two parables, as we said earlier, and I will break as well with some today, but not nearly as many. This is a pretty divided parable as to the way that we interpret, but I want to consider the first interpretation, the popular interpretation, And then I'll tell you why I don't believe that that's the case. The popular view of this parable and again the next is that they are identical. That they look at exactly the same thing. The idea is that we have the treasure or the pearl And both of those, they believe the treasure itself and the pearl represent Christ. And the one who finds the treasure is the one who is coming to salvation. Now, that's a nice message. Certainly it is. And if you believe that that is the message, then the underlying theme of these parables would be, what are you willing to give up for Christ? and that preaches well. That's a good message, right? There's nothing wrong with that message, certainly, but I don't believe that that is the message here. I believe there's another parable that will show us that, but I don't believe that that's necessarily the message here. Now, what are the reasons? Well, first remember Christ has told them in the symbolism here in the first two parables that we have a field, and that field is the world. The field is the world. Again, the kingdom parables, we must be consistent in our interpretation of the symbols. Now, As we look into the field as it represents to us the world, in the other view, they believe that the field represents the word of God, and it represents the Bible, with Christ being the end goal there. Now, I don't believe that that's necessarily true. Again, I believe the field represents the world, and I'll explain here in just a little bit why. Secondly, and especially in the purple of the great price, we have a merchant man who is out there scouring, looking, for salvation till he finds it. Now that I have a little bit of problem with because my Bible tells me in Romans chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Man does not come to God because he's searching for him. Man comes to God because God draws him to him. It's not the parable of a hook and bait. This is the parable of a great pearl. Now, thirdly, though, and most significant of the two, if indeed this interpretation means that a sinner is coming to repentance, then we have really, seemingly to me, one of the greatest misunderstandings or interpretations, I should say. I don't know how to phrase this. We have a sinner who's coming to repentance, but what does he do for it? He sells all that he has and he buys it. He buys the salvation. Now, we know that money can't buy our way into heaven. Now we know that for a fact. Matthew 19 verses 23 and 24 it says, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. We understand the kingdom of God cannot be bought. with the price of any kind of money. Now, some will say, well, that's not talking about literal money, of course. That's talking about works. That's talking about representing everything that we are willing to give up for God. Well, folks, you know, I could, again, sell everything that I have. And I could go out and I could give it to the poor. And I could do all kinds of works. But again, it would not earn my salvation, would it? It's not by works that I can be saved. It's not by money that I can be saved. It's not by anything in me that I can offer Christ to buy this treasure. So, for at least those three reasons, I cannot see the parable representing man coming to Christ, although I will readily admit and agree that my Christ is certainly a treasure. That I will agree to. So then, where does that leave us? Well, let's consider the words again. Let's break down the first parable. In verse 44, once again, it says, Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field, that which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Now, If the field is defined for us in the other parables as the world, it should be the world here. So here we have a treasure hid in a field, a treasure hid in the world. So if the treasure hid in the field isn't Christ, well, what is it then? What is it? Well, to me, I don't think you have to look very hard in Scripture to find it. And certainly, I believe those Jews there knew what Christ was alluding to as well. Hold your place here in Matthew, and I want you to look over with me in Exodus in chapter 19. Exodus in chapter 19. If you've been around me long enough, you know that I love these first five books of the Bible. You find so many truths established right here. Exodus 19, verse number 3 says, And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bear you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself. Now pay attention here. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. Now, notice here who God was speaking to. He was speaking to the seed of Abraham, right? He was speaking to those who had become the nation of Israel. God chose Abraham out of all the people on this earth and told him that through his loins and through Sarah that he was going to raise up a nation for himself. And he calls them what? His peculiar Treasure. His peculiar treasure. Not peculiar in the fact that they are odd in the way that they look. That's not the word peculiar we're looking at here. But his special treasure. His special treasure. In many translations, that's exactly how it is listed. The word special. And it's spot on there. Look again over in now in Deuteronomy, and keep holding your place in Matthew, but look over in Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7, we're going to read a couple verses here, but I want you to consider this is the very first time that God relates for us the love that he has for the nation of Israel. Deuteronomy chapter 7, I'll eventually get there. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 6 through 7, we'll read there. It says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people. For ye were the fewest of all people. Now, I want you to notice that phrase in verse number 6 that says, special people, special people, because that is the exact same Hebrew word that we saw in Exodus 19. The word is segula. Here, translators translated special people. In Exodus 19, they translated as peculiar treasure. But that's what it is. They are his peculiar. They are his special treasure. Isaiah describes Israel as if it was a royal diadem held in the hand of God. His crown jewels, if you would. And certainly there's more scriptures that would relate to that as well found in the Psalms. So think about what the Lord said back there in Exodus 19. He said the whole earth was his. Isn't that what we say in the parables? The whole world is His, right? The world, the field, it is all His. It all belongs to Him. And out of the field, out of that field, there is a special treasure that is there. That special treasure, I believe, is Israel. I believe is Israel. Consider with me from the very beginning of time when He called Abraham. Think about it. You know, Abraham wasn't a great nation. Abraham was one man. He was one man who dwelt in a land that was controlled by many different people. As time went on, the Lord blessed Abraham and his descendants through Isaac, through Jacob, and then we see about 70 of them traveling from what the Lord had promised them in the promised land down in the land of Egypt. And there they grew, and they grew, and they came out by God's strong and mighty hand, as we just read there in Exodus. They came out of that land, not in the hundreds, but in the millions. They came out of that land in the millions. And God brought them back into the promised land, and God gave them that land. And we see, of course, how they went off and what they do. They followed after other gods. His treasure followed after other gods. God allowed their enemies to come up and subdue them. Then God sent them judges in order to deliver them. Time went on and God turned that treasure into a great nation under the leadership of David and certainly under Solomon. But then only for a little while. Then again, we see the nation split. We see disobedience as they followed after other gods. They were taken and they were scattered. Scattered in Babylon, scattered to other parts of the Assyrian Empire. But you know what? They were still his treasure. They never stopped being his treasure. Not ever. You know what? I can't think of a nationality who has been scattered so much, taken away from their land so much, and yet have remained. They've remained, keeping their customs and following after the way of the past. I can't think of any other people that have been scattered as much as them. But the parable here tells us that the man who is the same man who is in parables one and parable two, and that is Jesus Christ. He came into the field and He found a treasure. Certainly this reminds us of how Christ left the glory, the splendor of heaven to come to this world. He didn't come first for the whole world. He came for right here, the treasure. He came for it, the treasure of Israel. Jesus came to this earth, it says, He came and He found it and the treasure was hid away again. Seems peculiar, right? Seems kind of strange. But I want you to remember the response to Jesus Christ when they came. Because it was a response of rejection, wasn't it? It was a response of crucify him. Crucify him. Because of that rejection, we find once again Israel was scattered among the nations in 70 A.D. Israel was completely destroyed. Listen, it was with joy that Christ came and gave himself for the peculiar treasure. And you know what's remarkable? Is even though they were scattered and hidden away in this world, once again that treasure is being brought right back. Brought right back. As Israel was founded there in the 1940s after World War II, and certainly more and more Jews are coming into Israel, and God is gathering His people, and listen folks, He's not done with them. They're still His treasure. In Romans chapter 11, beginning in verse 25, it says, For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery. lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, the blindness in part that has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. Folks, right now we're living in the time of the Gentiles. That great parenthesis as we look at, or people call it as we look at the Kingdom of Heaven. But listen, someday the time of the Gentiles is going to end. And once again, God's attention is going to be on His treasure of Israel. So again, In this kingdom parable, from God's perspective, He speaks of this treasure, which indeed, I believe, is His people from Abraham's seed that are hidden away in the world. And with great joy, Christ came to save the sheep, the lost sheep of Israel. And He's not done yet. He's not done saving those sheep. Someday, I do believe, all Israel will be saved, just as Paul wrote in Romans. Now that brings us, and we're going to talk a little bit more about this parable in just a minute, we're going to talk about the similarities, but that brings us now to the next parable. Which again, many people read and teach just as if it's saying the same thing. But back in Matthew chapter 13, verses 45 and 46, what do we read again? It says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, seems a lot like the first, but to whom is the parable speaking about? Well, let's consider what we know. It should be obvious in these parables so far that the man is always Christ. Whether you're talking about the one who sows the seed in the beginning, or in the last parable we look at, the man who goes into the field, that all of these, no matter who it is, the man always represents Christ. But here, the man, Christ, is seeking out goodly pearls. Now, the last parable took us to a field, which is representative of the world, of course. But I want you to remember that when Christ speaks of the nation of Israel, He always speaks of the nation of Israel on land. We see that throughout the Word of God, that the nation of Israel is spoken always about dry land, dry ground. Those old bones that rise up, they come from dry land. We also know in Scripture that Israel, again, is spoken of in terms of land, but the Gentiles are spoken of from the sea. They're spoken of from the sea. We find that in prophecy. Now, pearls don't come from land, do they? They don't come from land. Pearls come from oysters. Oysters come from the sea. They come from the ocean. They come from water. Christ, in this parable, did not use a ruby. He did not use any kind of thing that could be dug from the earth, but indeed he chose the most precious possession that could be found from the ocean, and that was a pearl. Pearls, of course, were of great value in that day. Some would say that they were as valuable as what a diamond is in today's world. But, men would risk their lives diving to the bottom of the ocean floor in order to harvest these pearls. So, I believe the pearls represent the Gentiles. And how glorious of a truth it is for us this morning as we consider that all of us here that are gathered are not of the seed of Abraham, but we're of Gentiles. We're Gentiles. You see, when Christ came to this earth, He came first for the nation of Israel. But He was also providing a way of salvation, not just for them. but all nations, all tongues, and all people. Christ in the Great Commission did not send forth his church only to the Jews. You know the words well of Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even even until the end of the world. Christ said he had other lost sheep, not in this flock. That flock must hear the gospel message too. Consider the last thing that he told his church before he left the earth in Acts 1.8. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. So again, we have for us two parables. much alike in many respects, but I'm glad they're different as well. The man in the field and the merchant man are the same. They are Jesus Christ. The treasure in the field, I believe, represents the nation of Israel, his special treasure, his Segula. The pearls, the Gentiles, of whom Jesus found So to say that special one, His elect, His elect, those chosen unto salvation. The price in both of these is the same. The price is what Jesus Christ did on the cross that cost Him everything that He had. You see in both parables, the man sells everything that he has. gives up everything that he has to buy the treasure. That's what Christ did. He gave up the glory and splendor of heaven. He came to this earth and gave up everything that he could give up, even to his death, to pay the ransom for us on the cross. That's what it was. He paid a ransom. It didn't come free. It came with a great price. This morning I want you to know that no matter who you are, no matter how old you are, if you're saved, you are a treasure in the eyes of God. You are a pearl of great price. Don't ever think of yourself as being at the bottom of the ladder. Don't ever think to yourself, well, I'm not as good a Christian as somebody else in the eyes of God, that I'm way down here and they're way up there. No, you're just as much a treasure, you're just as much that great pearl because it took the same price to buy you as it did them. Next week we're going to close out these kingdom parables as we look into the parable of the dragnet. So y'all be in prayer.