Matthew 13:44-46
The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Lord, we thank You. It is by Your mercy and grace that we are again at Your feet. Lord, we would like, like Mary, to listen to Your word. How much it is our desire that You will disclose Your word, that You will reveal Your word to us.
Lord, You know that we are blind to Your value, to spiritual value. So we need You tonight to open our eyes that we may see. Dear Lord, this is our desire. This is our prayer: Lord, open our eyes that we may see. In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
As you know, the theme of this conference is spiritual value. On my part, I would like to share on this matter of spiritual value as kingdom value. We would like to continue with the twin parables in Matthew 13: the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl.
Yesterday, I tried to share with brothers and sisters concerning the parable of the hidden treasure. I did not finish it, so I would like to do that very quickly before we proceed to the parable of the pearl.
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field. Because the kingdom is God’s, He hid it. According to Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.”
According to the word of God, especially in Matthew 13 and Matthew 25, it seems that from the foundation of the world God already had this secret in His heart. When God hides, He digs very, very deep. That is why, when we study Romans 11, we read:
Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out!
When He hides something, He has hidden much wealth there. That is why we read in Ephesians 2:7 that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace.
What is the original mystery? Yesterday I mentioned it very quickly. If I may borrow a statement from G. H. Pember, he said that the original mystery was God’s concealed design to make earth the seat of His universal government.
In other words, our planet is the spaceship of our God, with a very important mission: that the will of God will be done on this earth as it is in heaven. This is indeed a mystery.
Unfortunately, when Jewish people studied the prophecies, they saw only one aspect. Immediately they thought of something political, something earthly. But according to our Lord’s definition, the kingdom of heaven is not heaven in heaven; the kingdom of heaven is heaven on earth.
According to God’s desire, He wants to use this planet as the seat of His universal government. Let us remember: the Messianic kingdom is global, but the kingdom of heaven is universal.
This secret was always in God’s heart. When our Lord came to this earth, that mystery was revealed. When we study the Epistles, it becomes very clear: the mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church.
Today, the kingdom of heaven is realized in the church of God, which is the body of Christ. When we gather into His name—only His name, and no other name—and when the Holy Spirit is in charge and governs the whole meeting, then we gather as a church.
Brothers and sisters, when we gather in such a way, this is heaven on earth. This is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is to be realized on earth today.
This secret was hidden from the foundation of the world and, in many respects, hidden even from the Old Testament prophets. They saw something, but they saw it very vaguely. For that reason, Jewish people developed certain wrong concepts. But thank the Lord, it pleased the Father to reveal His Son in us, and it pleased our Lord to reveal His church to us.
Today, when we look back, we know that this is a revealed mystery.
Then we read the phrase, “A man found, and hid.” I like this phrase: “found, and hid.” It was God who did the first hiding. It was the Son of God who did the second hiding.
Before our Lord carried out His second hiding, He first found the treasure. What does that mean? It means that the secret, or mystery, was revealed on this earth.
Almost two thousand years ago, when our Lord walked on this planet, He preached the gospel of the kingdom, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” His disciples proclaimed the same message. The teaching of the kingdom of heaven was being manifested.
More than that, our Lord healed people and performed many miracles. This was the demonstration of the power of the kingdom of heaven. Because the King of the kingdom had come, the kingdom of heaven was present.
Then He began to call His disciples. In this kingdom, there is not only a King; there are also people. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit baptized the one hundred and twenty individuals in Jerusalem into one body of one hundred and twenty members.
Then heaven on earth began. The reality of the kingdom of heaven was there. The kingdom of heaven is that section of the kingdom of God from the first coming of our Lord to the second coming of our Lord.
The kingdom of heaven was revealed on earth, but afterward our Lord encountered much opposition. He was rejected by His own people, and today He is rejected by the whole world. Because of this unfavorable environment, the Bible says that He “found, and hid.”
That is why our Lord began to speak in parables. The kingdom of heaven became a paradox. On the one hand, it was being revealed; on the other hand, it was hidden.
Our Lord said to His disciples, “Blessed are your eyes and your ears.” Why? Because now they saw and heard. The kingdom of heaven was revealed to babes, but hidden from those who were prudent and wise.
When our Lord was alone with His disciples, He explained everything and made it crystal clear to them. He let them see that He was the King of the kingdom and that they were the sons of the kingdom.
On one hand, the kingdom was found; on the other hand, it was hidden. It was hidden from the prudent and wise, but revealed to babes. Brothers and sisters, are you willing to follow the Lord? If you are willing, this kingdom is revealed to you.
Our Lord said, “While seeing they see not, and while hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” That is why He spoke to them in parables. The kingdom itself became a kingdom in mystery.
One day, however, the kingdom will be manifested. After our Lord’s return, in the millennium, the kingdom will be the kingdom in manifestation. The Messianic kingdom is the kingdom manifested. But today, it is a paradox.
I understand the phrase, “While seeing they see not, and while hearing they hear not,” very clearly. Before I was fifty, I already had a cataract. If you really have a cataract, you begin to understand that phrase clearly.
If I hold up two fingers and you say that you see only one, then I know you have a cataract. The people of Israel had this kind of spiritual cataract. They were waiting for the Messiah, but when our Lord came two thousand years ago, they rejected Him.
Why did they reject Him? Because they saw only the coming of Messiah in glory. In their concept, when Messiah came, He had to come in glory. He had to show an iron fist greater than the Roman Empire and deliver His people from oppression.
But our Lord died for us on the cross. They thought Messiah was supposed to put the Roman Empire on the cross, but instead the Roman Empire put our Lord on the cross. Therefore, they said, “This cannot be.”
They knew from the Old Testament that Messiah would come in glory. They knew that He would come with His feet upon the Mount of Olives and would deliver His people. But they did not understand that before He became the glorious Messiah, He had to be the suffering Messiah.
They saw only one coming of Messiah. They did not know there are two comings. In His first coming, our Lord came as the Lamb of God. In His second coming, He will come as the Lion of Judah and rule the nations with a rod of iron.
They were looking only for the ruling Messiah over the nations. They did not know that first our Lord would come as the Lamb of God. They saw one, but could not see two.
The people of Israel understood that one day Messiah would establish His kingdom on earth. That is clear from the word of God. But they saw only the kingdom in manifestation. They did not see that there was a process before that manifestation—a life process.
When our Lord’s feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, it will indeed be sudden and dramatic. There will be an earthquake. The whole world will know that our Lord has come. He will come with might and glory.
The King of glory will come. The gates will lift up their heads, and the Golden Gate will open, because the King of glory is coming. We believe the same thing. One day, when our Lord comes again, He will be in glory.
But the people of Israel could not see that there is no crown without the cross. For them, the kingdom was only a goal. For the church today, the kingdom is both a goal and a process.
Our Lord said, “I am the way.” The people of Israel have a wonderful goal, but they do not know the way to reach it. They crucified the One who is the way.
What is the way? The way is the path to glory. No cross, no crown. The people of Israel saw only the final aspect. They did not know that before the kingdom is manifested, it is a mystery.
When our Lord was on earth, He took three disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration. There He was transfigured before them, and they saw the glory of the kingdom. But this was only a partial glimpse, a hurried flash of the kingdom’s glory.
Afterward, our Lord said to His disciples, “Tell the vision to no man.” He found, and He hid.
The exaltation and glory of Messiah are inseparably united with the coming of the kingdom of God. In the same way, the humiliation of Messiah and the kingdom in mystery are united. The cross and the way of the cross are the mystery of the kingdom.
People do not want this. They want to go to heaven without bearing any cross. But Christ is the way, and the first coming of our Lord as the Lamb of God must come before His second coming as the Lion of Judah.
Today, we have the kingdom in mystery; in the future, we will have the kingdom in manifestation. Today our way is the way of the cross. The cross is the way to the harvest, the crown, and the glory.
We are blessed because we see. We are blessed because we hear. The kingdom of heaven has been revealed to babes.
Today we know that our Lord is King of kings and Lord of lords, though the world does not know it. We worship Him. We know that He is our Lord, and we live in that reality in the church.
We dare not suggest anything or do anything according to our own opinion, because heaven should rule in the church. It is not your opinion, and it is not my ability, that has any contribution there. When anyone comes to the church, the cross is always at the door.
The kingdom of heaven is realized in the church. If you ask me, “Where is the kingdom of heaven today?” I would say, “Look at the church.”
That is why the testimony everywhere is so important. When we truly gather as a church, into His name, and when the Holy Spirit governs the whole gathering, then it is indeed heaven on earth.
The people around us may not understand why we spend time worshiping. They may ask why we waste our weekends in such a way. But we know what we are doing, because we know that He is our King. He conquered us by His infinite love on the cross.
Not only has our Lord become a riddle to this world; we have become a riddle to this world. The world tries to figure out what has happened to us. Why? Because today the kingdom of heaven is a mystery.
May the Lord be merciful to us in these days. Let us see what we should see. If we are babes, we ought to see. But if we consider ourselves prudent and wise, and try to bring worldly methods into the church, we cannot understand this matter.
You cannot use the world’s methods in the matter of the church or in the matter of the kingdom of heaven. Only heaven has the final word. This is the kingdom of heaven. This is the hidden treasure.
The man found and hid. That is indeed a paradox. Then the Bible continues by saying that he sold all that he had and bought that field.
Our Lord paid the price because He saw the value of the kingdom of heaven. This was exactly what God desired. He was waiting for the moment when His Son would come down to earth.
What a wonderful moment! The kingdom of heaven was revealed to the people through His power, miracles, wonders, teaching, and healing. Wherever our Lord was, there was heaven. The disciples were under heaven all the time.
Today we are the same. Every time we gather together, heaven is here. Wherever we go, we bring heaven to this earth. This world is a bitter world, and the only way is that wherever we go, we bring heaven with us.
In order to secure the treasure, our Lord died for us on the cross. We read that there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all. We also read of “the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.”
We further read of those who “deny even the Master that bought them.” Peter was speaking of heretical teachers in the last days. Even though they do not believe, the Bible says that they deny the Lord who bought them.
Our Lord indeed bought the whole field. Remember the story of Judas. After he denied his Lord, he regretted it and hanged himself. He cast the thirty pieces of silver into the temple, and the chief priests used that money to buy the potter’s field, which was called the field of blood.
That field of blood reminds us of another field of blood. Our Lord, by His blood, bought the whole field. Judas’s story is a reflection, a reminder that in order to secure the treasure in the field, our Lord bought everything.
Today the Finder of the treasure is in heaven. Sometimes we may think that He has forgotten this lower earth and forgotten this planet. But His own words assure us that this is not so.
He is waiting for the Father’s signal to begin His reentry. Just as a rocket or spaceship is sent out and later returns, our Lord will have His reentry. He could return at any time, but He is waiting for the signal of the Father.
How can we be sure? From His own word: “Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.” He will definitely return because He has a treasure on this earth. He will return to secure that treasure.
We not only pray that He will come back; we stand on His promise that He definitely will come back. If He were not going to come back, He would not have needed to pay that price on the cross.
He paid the price because He knew that this is the most valuable thing, something that touches the heart of the Father and satisfies the Father. Our Lord sold all that He had, not only for poor sinners.
Because of our sins, iniquities, and failures, our Lord had to come and become our Savior. Thank the Lord for that. But more than that, He bought the field in order to secure the treasure. One day He will return to claim that treasure.
When He comes, He will come to collect and claim the treasure. He will not come to collect garbage. He will come as a thief, but He will come for His treasure.
This is the wonderful story of the hidden treasure.
Now we come to the parable of the pearl. This is another very wonderful parable. Let us read it again.
Matthew 13:45-46
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
When we come to the understanding of this parable, we must be careful. We have already mentioned one danger: we easily follow popular opinion.
Many Bible scholars say that a particular interpretation must be correct, and we simply follow it. But Campbell Morgan warned us, and I like his statement: “The acceptance of popular interpretation of Scripture led to the crucifixion of Jesus.”
We should not simply follow popular opinion. We have to bring everything under the light of the Word, and ask the Lord, “Is this the correct interpretation?” We may learn much from an interpretation, but we want to know what our Lord meant when He spoke these words.
The popular interpretation of this parable is that the pearl is Christ and the man is the believer. This view has existed from the early church until the present age. But there are problems with it.
How can Christ be bought? How can He be only one pearl of great price among many pearls? Can true Christians be said to be seeking goodly saviors or fine saviors?
We have a beautiful hymn that seems to support this interpretation:
I have found the pearl of peerless price,
And my heart doth sing for joy;
And sing, I must, for Christ I have;
Oh, what a Christ have I!
This is one of my favorite hymns. But, as Campbell Morgan put it, it is quite untrue to the teaching of this parable. Therefore, we must go back to the word of God.
The rules for interpreting parables are very simple: unity and simplicity. We should follow these rules. Our Lord uses figures of speech uniformly. If a figure has another meaning, He will tell us; otherwise, He would leave us in total darkness.
If our Lord is consistent in His teaching and in His use of figures of speech, then we can ask: Who is this man? In the parables, a man consistently refers to the Son of Man.
If we read all seven parables, it becomes clear. Apart from the woman in the fourth parable, the man always refers to the Son of Man. Therefore, the merchant seeking fine pearls must be our Lord. He must be the Son of Man.
The parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl are twin parables. When we put them together and insist on the consistency of our Lord’s teaching, it is very clear that this man must be the Son of Man.
The remaining question is this: How do we explain the pearl?
Our Lord did not explain the pearl directly in Matthew 13. But while He was on earth, He did mention pearls, and whenever He spoke of pearls, He connected them with the kingdom of heaven.
The pearl must be something connected with, or related to, the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord was teaching the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Where did our Lord mention pearls? In Matthew 7:6, He said:
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast your pearls before the swine,
lest haply they trample them under their feet,
and turn and rend you.
Why did our Lord make this statement in Matthew 7? If you read the Sermon on the Mount and truly live according to that life, you become a person without protection. You are exposed to danger.
Therefore, our Lord teaches us two important lessons. First, we should pray every day, “Deliver us from evil.” We need to pray that the Lord will deliver us from the one who would slap our face.
When our face is slapped, according to the life within us, we are supposed to turn the other cheek. This is a heavenly secret. We are not supposed to cast it before unbelievers, because it is holy.
The pearl is holy. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine.” The pearl is something holy because it works only for the disciples.
This word reveals what kind of life we have—an extraordinary life within us. Then we know how to respond and how to react. On one hand, we pray to be delivered from evil; on the other hand, we should be wise and not cast this life before the world.
The pearl simply means the description of our life in the Sermon on the Mount. Our Lord tells us to love our enemies and to have a perfect love, as perfect as our heavenly Father.
It is impossible for us to be as perfect as our heavenly Father in holiness. But there is one thing that is possible: in the matter of love.
Love is always a circle; it is not a semicircle. If you love only your friends, that is only half a circle. If God sent rain only upon the righteous, that would be only half a circle. But God also sends rain upon the evil, and that completes the circle.
This is perfect love. Therefore, we ought to love our enemies. Thank the Lord, this is kingdom life.
There is a life called kingdom life. Our Lord said that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
What does that mean? It means that this life is an extraordinary life. To pray for and love our enemies is an extraordinary life.
This love belongs to the kingdom of heaven. The Jews thought that the Pharisee and the scribe were the most qualified people to enter the kingdom. But our Lord said that our righteousness must surpass their righteousness.
Why is this such a high standard? Because this is exactly the life of Christ dwelling in us. When we obey, we live out that life, and we call that kingdom life.
Kingdom life means that we not only receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and know that His life is within us; through obedience, we allow that life to live itself out through us.
What is the pearl? The pearl is nothing less than kingdom life. If you want to know kingdom life, read the Sermon on the Mount.
The merchant was seeking fine pearls—many fine pearls, goodly pearls, or beautiful pearls. But there was one pearl of great price.
That life coincides with the life of Christ. When Christ loved His enemies, we also love our enemies. The life of Christ causes us to turn the other cheek and go the second mile.
When that life is realized, it is the pearl of great price. Here we have a comparison: the best and the second best. There are fine pearls, goodly pearls, and beautiful pearls, but there is one pearl of great price.
I remember a true story from Taiwan. During Chinese Valentine’s Day, the wife of a city mayor introduced her husband on television as her “best life companion.”
Immediately, her husband corrected her: “Not my best life companion—my only life companion.” If you say, “my best life companion,” it implies that you have many life companions, and she is simply the best one. But you can say, “my only life companion.”
For that reason, we cannot interpret the pearl here as Christ. We have only one Savior and no other Savior. Neither can we interpret the pearl as the church, because there is only one body of Christ.
We must return to the word of Christ and ask what He said and in what context He spoke of the pearl. This pearl differs from all others. Our Lord said that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
Our Lord also said, “If ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?” Kingdom life always asks one question: Do you do more than others?
All these things speak of kingdom life.
We all know something about the formation of a pearl. First, the pearl is the direct product of a living organism. It is unique among precious stones. A diamond, gold, and other precious materials come from inorganic sources, but the pearl is derived from life.
This is very important. Kingdom life is derived from the life of Christ.
Within the shell of an oyster, a pearl is formed when a grain of sand intrudes. The creature is irritated. But instead of rejecting the irritant, it reacts in another way. It covers it, layer after layer, until a rare and beautiful jewel is formed.
A pearl is the answer of an injured life to that which injures it. A grain of sand intruding is the root principle of the pearl. The pearl is the answer of injury to the injury done.
This helps us understand why our Lord said to Peter:
Matthew 18:21-22
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.
Instead of forgiving seven times, it is seventy times seven—layer after layer. After four hundred and ninety layers, a pearl is formed.
According to Jewish tradition, people learned to forgive three times: once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening. Peter wanted to impress our Lord with seven times. But our Lord said, “No, seventy times seven.”
If someone offended you four hundred and ninety times a day, that would mean that every two minutes he was bothering you, and every two minutes you had to forgive him. This is the life of the pearl.
To forgive and to forget—this is the order of our Master. We can do it, not by ourselves, but by the life that dwells within us. Why not let the life of Christ live through you?
Sometimes someone strikes one cheek, and we cannot turn the other cheek. We grit our teeth and say that we forgive him. Sometimes we even say, “I love him,” but inwardly we suffer greatly.
We try to be patient because we think Christ must be patient. Yet the more we try to be patient in ourselves, the more unhappy we become. Some sisters may be patient to the point of getting ulcers.
Many good Christians become nervous because they try to use their own way to produce the pearl. But the pearl is the answer of an injured life to the injury done.
If you grit your teeth and learn patience, that is still a pearl in one sense, because somehow you do not strike back. That itself is a miracle. But only when you turn the other cheek in obedience to the Lord do you have peace.
Your enemy does not want your second cheek. Who wants you to turn the other cheek? The Lord does. If you refuse to obey, you may not offend your enemy, but you disobey our Lord.
That is why you are not happy. You did not turn the other cheek, and you did not go the second mile.
There are different pearls. If you truly let the life of Christ live through you, then you can forgive seventy times seven and turn the other cheek. That is the pearl of great price. That is kingdom life.
If we merely try to be patient by ourselves, perhaps our righteousness is better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, because they strike back. But the Lord seeks something better.
There are many beautiful pearls. Thank the Lord for them. But what the Lord is seeking is the pearl of great price.
How can we have a pearl of great price? The secret is very interesting. Scientists tell us that the roundness of a pearl depends on the tenderness of the small sea creature. The more tender and sensitive the creature, the rounder the pearl.
The life of Christ is tender and soft. We derive our life from the life of Christ. That is how the pearl is formed.
Some shellfish are remarkable for the beauty of their shape or color, but the oyster has a very ugly exterior. This reminds us of our Lord, concerning Whom the Scripture says:
He hath no form nor comeliness;
and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
We are also reminded that He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb dumb before His shearer, He opened not His mouth. The life within us is such a life. We ought to derive our life from that life and live it out.
There is another interesting fact. When oysters are caught, they may be conveyed to land and left to die a lingering death in a pit, with sand heaped over them.
This reminds us of how our Lord died a lingering death on the cross and was buried. According to observation, the manner of the creature’s death helps to produce the beauty of the pearl. The lingering death adds to its beauty.
This is life out of death. Therefore, we read:
Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
That is what happens to the pearl. The pearl derives its life from the life of the oyster.
After death, the oyster is taken from the pit, and the shell readily opens. There is no need for force and no difficulty. This reminds us of death and resurrection.
We do not need force to obtain the beauty of Christ. It is already formed there. But the pearl remains concealed in the shell until after the creature’s death. We must wait.
If we attempt to open the shell too early, we may injure the pearl. If we want a pearl of great value, we must wait for that lingering death. We should not shorten the process. We must wait patiently until the creature dies thoroughly.
This immediately reminds us of that wonderful verse:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
becoming conformed unto His death.
The roundness of the pearl is decided by life. Whether it is beautiful depends upon that lingering death, that thorough death. Today, death may be working in us, but life in others.
The pearl is a perfect illustration. Only our Lord knew why He used it. It is fully in line with His teaching, with the Sermon on the Mount, and with the life of Christ within us.
Who can live out the life described in the Sermon on the Mount apart from Christ, apart from the Son of God? No one can. That is exactly the answer.
But in order to buy that pearl, He went and sold all that He had. Even if, by the mercy of the Lord, we live out the life described in the Sermon on the Mount for one day, it is because He has already paid a high price.
He paid high tuition for us. He knew that it was impossible for us, but He paid the price. We need not strive in ourselves. We simply let that life live out through us.
Trust and obey. Obedience is the first important element in the kingdom of heaven. We must obey and cooperate with that life, allowing it to live out through us. In this way, the beautiful pearl, the costly pearl, is brought forth.
We have considered these two parables separately. Now we should put them together, because they are twin parables. We must place them side by side.
We already know the teaching. Now we want to make applications from these parables. We will begin with Genesis and go to Revelation. Do not worry; I will not take the whole night to do it.
First, we must know that this is the King’s field. The treasure is in the King’s field, and the Son of Man is the Master of the universe.
Our minds must be broadened. We cannot limit our eyes to a small field in Palestine. That was the original background, but when we derive the teaching, we must think of the King and of the Master of the universe.
The Master of the universe has His own field. When we think of His field, we return to the Bible.
In Deuteronomy 33, the tribe of Joseph received this blessing:
Blessed of the Lord be his land,
for the precious things of heaven, for the dew,
and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
and for the chief things of the ancient mountains,
and for the precious things of the everlasting hills.
This is our Father’s field. This is the world of the Master of the universe. If you look at this planet, the ancient mountains, and the everlasting hills, the best things are hidden there. Precious things are there.
In the field of God, on this planet, God has hidden treasure somewhere.
Consider a diamond. Precious stones are normally hidden deep within the earth, perhaps two hundred and forty miles beneath the surface—deep, dark, and hidden.
There is much pressure and much heat there. In 1955, General Electric produced the first artificial diamond. It was only one carat, but it required enormous pressure.
The pressure necessary to form a diamond is many thousands of times greater than the atmospheric pressure we experience today. The temperature is more than five thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Yet ugly carbon is transformed through pressure and heat.
But where do you find a diamond? It is hidden deep beneath the surface. If one day you obtain a diamond, it is not your work. It is what God has done.
God uses volcanoes and movements within the planet to transport diamonds from the depths to the surface. Violent force pushes and pushes the diamond upward.
Then the diamond may be found in mountains. But are you going to tear down an entire mountain to obtain one carat or half a carat of diamond? That is impossible. Again, it is God Who has done all the work.
Thousands of layers of rock must be removed before the final exposure. God uses rain, frost, ice, changes in temperature, wind, waves, plants, weathering, and running water.
Gold and diamonds are heavier, so eventually they sink into a riverbed while mud is carried away to the lake or sea. Then there can be a final exposure.
The ancient Hindus of India believed that diamonds were rock crystals transformed by thunderbolts because, after heavy rains, they found diamonds everywhere. But the rain had simply washed away the covering soil and rock, leaving the diamonds exposed.
This teaches us the lesson of the cross. First, there is the formation of the treasure. Then the Lord arranges all kinds of environments. All things work together for one purpose: one day, the treasure will be revealed and found.
If we follow the river, we find something. Let us return to the Garden of Eden. Eden is always described in the word of God as the garden of God.
It was not the garden of Adam and Eve. It was the garden of God, given to Adam and Eve for their use. It still belonged to the Lord.
There were four rivers in the Garden of Eden. The name of the first was Pishon. It encompassed the whole land of Havilah, where there was gold.
And the gold of that land is good:
bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
One translation renders bdellium as pearl. The onyx stone is a kind of precious stone. Thus, when we come to the Garden of Eden, we find treasure revealed.
If we follow the river of life, we find gold, precious stones, and pearl. The same applies to us today. If we follow the life of our River, we will find the gold, precious stones, and pearl.
That is how treasure is hidden and found.
When we come to the last book of the Bible, to Revelation 21, we read:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high,
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God:
her light was like unto a stone most precious,
as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
This is the description of the New Jerusalem. Jerusalem becomes transparent. The whole city is like a diamond, clear as crystal.
A diamond is like any other stone when the light is off. But when the light is turned on, a diamond captures the light. The light moves around within the diamond until rainbow-like colors are formed.
Some people call this the fire of the diamond. It is the glory of the diamond. God is light, and in that vessel, in that city, the glory of God is contained. There we see the rainbow and the glory of God. Everything becomes transparent.
Not only do we find precious stones; we find that the street is of gold, and every gate is a pearl. Through those gates, people may reach the throne of God.
There is only one street, and it is of gold. No matter through which gate people enter, it leads them to the Father.
Why do we need pearl today? Because through this pearl we are able to usher people in to the throne of God.
When we come to the New Jerusalem, we see the ultimate manifestation of the King’s treasure. The whole city is like a treasure that was in the gospel from the foundation of the world. This is what God wants.
In the beginning, there was the Garden of Eden, two-dimensional. At the end, there is a garden-city, three-dimensional. In the beginning, there was material; but through the time between the two eternities, God is doing a work in us.
Through the work of our Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are being built up. Not merely as individual precious stones or pearls, but corporately. A pearl becomes one of the gates. It does not live by itself; it is coordinated with others.
This is a garden-city in which God can dwell. This is the ultimate manifestation of the kingdom.
Today we live in the time between the Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem. Our Lord died for us on the cross. Because Christ died for us on a tree, and that tree was in a garden, He is our tree of life.
We see paradise regained. But what God wants is more than a restored two-dimensional garden with gold, pearls, and precious stones scattered here and there. He wants something organic, collective, corporate, and three-dimensional.
The whole city is like a precious stone, fully transparent, displaying the glory of God.
The parable of the hidden treasure tells us of kingdom glory. For that glory, our Lord sold everything to buy the field.
The parable of the pearl tells us of kingdom life. The glory is hidden deep within the process. People want to see only the goal, the final manifestation. But believers must learn how to pass through this process.
Let us treasure every moment we have today on earth. Do not despise the time while we are on earth, because God’s desire and purpose are on earth. Every space and every moment related to this planet is precious.
One day we will be with our Lord, and it will be wonderful. But then there will be no more cross to bear and no more opportunity to have fellowship with the sufferings of Christ.
While our feet are still upon this planet, let us remember that God will claim every inch for His purpose. God desires His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is why the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven.
This is the secret. This is the mystery of the kingdom of God. It is precious in the eyes of our Lord. For this reason, He died for us on the cross.
He paid our tuition in advance for one purpose: that we might pass through the process of life, the process of maturing, and the working of the cross.
All things work together for one purpose: that we may be transformed into the image of Christ. When that happens, people ought to see the treasure, the diamond, in some way.
But this is not merely individual. Our Lord has called us corporately. In every locality, in every place, we are to live out that life and bring heaven to earth. When we gather as a church, it should be heaven on earth.
Something may still be hidden. The Lord may be working with high pressure and high heat. Do not ask, “Why me?” If you receive a hundred thousand dollars, you do not ask, “Why me?” But when you experience pressure, heat, death, and irritation, you may ask, “Why me?”
Brothers and sisters, treasure every moment. You will not remain here long. Very soon, we will all be gone from this planet.
While we are still on earth, we must ask the Lord: “May the kingdom life live out through us.” Then one day people may see kingdom glory, and in seeing the glory, they may see the King.
We see the King today, but the world ought to see the King in us—not only individually, but corporately. That is why the church is so important. The testimony of the church is so important, because it is related to the kingdom of heaven today.
After much suffering, if we suffer with Him today, we will be glorified with Him in that day. If we suffer the loss of the soul today, we will gain the soul in that day. He will wipe away all our tears.
Yes, when you turn the other cheek, it hurts. But thank the Lord, though you lose your soul today, in that day you will gain it.
Without speaking of the kingdom, we do not really know what spiritual value is. Christ’s cross brings us to that value. The Holy Spirit works all things together for one purpose.
Our time is running out.
It will be wonderful to meet the Lord there. There will be no more tears and no more pain. If there are tears and pain, they must happen today.
If you know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, you will receive much comfort from the Lord. Everything that happens to us is not by accident; everything is incident.
May the Lord truly speak to our hearts. In this King’s field, He forms precious stones and gold. We see them in the Garden of Eden, and later we see that wonderful structure in the universe that represents the ultimate intention of God.
Even though the enemy tries to frustrate God’s plan, and Babylon stands against Jerusalem, Babylon will fall. Babylon will fall. The final victory belongs to our Lord.
Today not many people know that He is Lord, the King of kings. In the age to come, in the millennial kingdom, many will recognize it. But when we come to the New Jerusalem, that will be the final and ultimate manifestation of the kingdom’s treasure.
When we walk in the street of the New Jerusalem and see the pearl, we will think of the parable of the pearl. When we see the gold and the precious stones, we will know that they belong to the treasure.
But do not forget: that treasure was buried and hidden on this planet. The will of God will be realized through this planet. We were born not by accident, and we were saved not by accident.
We are here for one purpose: to be in line with God’s purpose and to take His value as our value. We are all value-blind, but when we take His value as our value, then we know how to live.
May the Lord speak to our hearts. I pray that, if it pleases Him, He will use these two parables to speak to our hearts in a very solid way.
Dear Lord, we commit this word into Your hands. If it is Your will, if You see fit, use this word to touch every one of us.
Lord, transform our lives. We are tired of our present condition and situation. You know our situation, Lord. Even when we know Your value, we often live according to a different value. Forgive us.
Now we come to You once again. We pray that You will reveal Your value to us. Show us these two parables, because this is Your word. Show us that we may know Your eternal will.
Lord, we pray that You will keep this word and use it to speak to every one of us. Do Your deeper work. Make all things work together for the purpose that we may all be transformed into the image of Christ.
In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray.