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Intro
In 1607, the Spanish ship San Jose set sail from Columbia on its way to Spain
It was a massive ship with a crew of 600 men and 60 cannons
On it as well was a massive amount of Gold and silver destined to help Spain in its battle against England and France
Shortly after departing it ran into 3 British ships
The San Jose wasn’t going to out run them so it engaged them in battle
Legend has it that the decks on both ships became slick with blood, so sand was put down
In the midst of the Battle, the San Jose exploded and sunk
Archaeologists haven’t determined whether it was from the cannon fire or from the hull giving way from rot
Needless to say the boat sunk along with 600 men and the booty on board
It wasn’t until 2015 that the treasure was discovered, or so that is what is being reported
Experts estimate that the treasure is valued somewhere between 4-17 BILLION!!!
As you can imagine a war erupted over who going to get the gold
An American Salvage company says it is due 1/2 of the treasure because it discovered the ship in 1981
Columbia and the Salvage company have been battling for years in court, but there is a third party that has entered in…Spain
They say the bounty was originally theirs and they want it back
Today we are going to look at hidden treasure that is acquired at a great price.
Read Matthew 13:44-46
I. Pearl of Great Price vs. 44-46
There are two parables in these three verses
vs. 44 looks at a hidden treasure
vs. 45-46 looks at a pearl of great price
Stories of finding lost treasures naturally circulated among the poor;
Treasures were often buried for safekeeping.
The most likely circumstance envisioned here is that of a peasant who, while working the field of a wealthy landowner, found the treasure but covered it again lest the landowner claim it for himself.
The peasant then invested all his own resources into that field to procure the treasure.
The common interpretation of this parable is that the sinner finds Christ and gives up all that he possesses to gain Him and be saved.
But this interpretation presents several problems.
To begin with, Jesus Christ is not a hidden treasure.
He is perhaps the best-known Person of history.
In the second place, the sinner cannot “find Christ” for he is blind and stubborn
It is the Saviour who finds the lost sinner
And no sinner could ever purchase salvation!
Please note that the man in the parable did not purchase the treasure; he purchased the whole field.
“The field is the world”
Must the lost sinner purchase the world to gain Christ?
Does he hide Him again?
Picture of Jesus seeking men and redeeming the world
Parable of the lost sheep (See
The treasure is Israel
Jesus came as a poor servant and purchased the whole world with his death on the cross
He did that to save Israel
vs. 45-46 The next parable is about finding a pearl of great value
Divers sought pearls in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, and some pearls could be worth the equivalent of millions of dollars.
Every one knows how Pearls are formed
Product of an organism formed by irritant
Dirt irritates the oyster
The oyster produces a saliva like substance to cover the grain of sand
Left long enough you will discover a large pearl
The pearl represents the church.
Jesus the merchant who sold all that he had, his life, to purchase
Unlike most other gems, the pearl is a unity—it cannot be carved like a diamond or emerald.
The church is a unity
Like a pearl, the church is the product of suffering.
Christ died for the church and His suffering on the cross made possible her birth.
A pearl grows gradually, and the church grows gradually as the Spirit convicts and converts sinners.
No one can see the making of the pearl, for it is hidden in the shell of the oyster under the waters.
No one can see the growth of His church in the world.
So, in spite of Satan’s subtle working in this world, Christ is forming His church.
He sold all that He had to purchase His church, and nothing Satan can do will cause Him to fail.
There is but one church, a pearl of great price, though there are many local churches.
Not everyone who is a member of a local church belongs to the one church, the body of Christ.
It is only through repentance and faith in Christ that we become a part of His church.
Christ suffered greatly to bring it about, but he values you greatly
II.
Separating Good and Evil vs. 47-50
The last parable that we see is of a dragnet, a type of fishing that involves a net
Fishing: familiar imagery for disciples
Types of fishing
Line and hook: one fish at a time
Personal net
Dragnet
Team of two boats
It is thought that floats and sinkers were attached to keep one part of the wide end of the net at the surface while the other part dragged below.
Fish are later sorted
This is a Parable of coming judgment
Jesus speaks more of judgment and hell than any other subject
147,000 people die daily and face God
The preaching of the Gospel in the world does not convert the world.
It is like a huge dragnet that gathers all kinds of fish, some good and some bad.
The professing church today has in it both true and false believers (the Parable of the Tares) and good and bad.
At the end of the age, God will separate the true believers from the false and the good from the bad
The saved will enter into the kingdom, but the unsaved will be cast into the furnace of fire.
III.
Become a Disciple vs. 51-52
When Jesus had completed this series of parables, He asked His disciples if they understood them, and they confidently replied, “Yes, Lord.”
Understanding involves responsibility.
To explain this, the Lord added a final parable to remind them of their responsibilities.
vs. 51 The law and wisdom were often compared with treasure (and sometimes with a pearl);
scribes, who were specially conversant with the law, naturally had the “old” treasure, and the message of the kingdom gave them something new.
The scribes began as a noble group under the leadership of Ezra.
Their purpose was to preserve the Law, study it, and apply its truths to daily life.
Over the years, their noble cause degenerated into a routine task of preserving traditions and man-made interpretations, and adding burdens to the lives of the people
As believers, we do not search after truth, because we have truth in God’s Son and God’s Word
We are taught by the Spirit of Truth who is truth
We search into truth that we might discover more truth.
We are scribes—students—who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words.
One joy of the Christian life is the privilege of learning God’s truth from God’s Word.
But we must not stop there.
vs. 52 “Therefore every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven”
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