Finding the Pearl of Great Price

Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

How do we find the “pearl of great price” in the Scriptures? It is interesting that Jesus did not say that merchantmen were seeking goodly pearls but “a merchantman” (singular) was seeking goodly pearls. All merchants do not seek the goodly pearls. What is a “goodly pearl”? We notice in Matthew 19:17 that Jesus gave the word “good” a different definition than we usually do. He said, “Only God is good.” And Paul, speaking of man in Romans 3:12 said, There is none that do good, no, not one. Thus, the word “good” in the Scriptures is given a new meaning. Since the Lord Himself gave it this new definition, we have to accept it. Only God is good! Therefore, “goodly pearls” are “godly pearls.” They have the presence and nature of God in them. When the merchantman found one, it was a pearl of great price. The man had to sell all that he had to buy that one goodly pearl. Now we know why there was only one merchantman seeking goodly pearls – the price was too great for the other merchants.

The question was how do we find the pearl of great price in the Scriptures? Many have found pearls in the Scriptures, but very few have found the pearl of great price and among those who do, all are not willing to sell all they have to buy it. There is a “godly” pearl in the Scriptures – a pearl that enhouses the divine nature of God (II Peter 1:4). The merchant who buys that pearl will find the presence of the Lord coming forth within himself.

Back to the question – how do we find the pearl of great price? As an example, we will use a few verses from the second psalm.

Psalm 2:1-3 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

These verses can be interpreted in different ways. How we interpret them determines the value of the pearl we receive. David is regarded as the writer of this psalm, so first we will look at it in the context of David’s day. David, as the king of Israel, was the Lord’s anointed. He was a warring king, for there were many “kings of the earth and rulers that took counsel against the Lord and His anointed.” This is a historical fact, an accurate interpretation, and a pearl – but it is not a goodly pearl. It is not the pearl of great price.

Next, let’s look at these verses as prophetic of the Gospel Day of Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus Christ was God’s anointed. And there is no doubt about the fact that “the heathen raged and the people imagined a vain thing” about Him. The Pharisees sought to kill Him many times, and at the end of His ministry He was captured by the Jews and turned over to the Romans to be crucified. These verses accurately prophesy of the Gospel Day of Jesus Christ. This interpretation is a pearl and it is of more value than the pearl of David’s day, but it is not the pearl of great price.

After that, let’s view this second psalm as prophetic of the day of the early church. Can we accurately say that the first three verses describe the circumstances of the early church? Yes, we can. In fact, the early church referred to this psalm as their experience in the fourth chapter of Acts. After Peter and John were threatened by the Jewish counsel, they returned to their company of believers and reported what the chief priests and elders had done. Then the saints lifted up their voices to God. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which has made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: who by the mouth of Your servant David has said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Acts 4:24-26. This is surely a fulfillment of Psalm 2:1-3. It is a pearl – a pearl of more value than the others, but it is not the pearl of great price.

Now, let’s view Psalm 2:1-3 as prophetic of a future day. In the days to come - the days of the end time – will the kings and rulers of the earth set themselves against the Lord and His end-time anointed church? Yes, the Scriptures bear this out. This interpretation is a pearl and it has value, but it is not the pearl of great price. A futuristic concept such as this requires more of us than the historical interpretation we have discussed, but the pearl of great price will be even more costly.

The majority of Christians today view the Scriptures in one of the veins of interpretation that we have discussed. The Scriptures are most often interpreted in a historical or futuristic manner. The Pharisees taught the Scriptures in that way. They spoke of what God did in the past and of what the Messiah would do in the future at His coming. And because of that, Jesus called them hypocrites. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13.

How did the Pharisees shut up the Kingdom of heaven? When Jesus began His ministry He proclaimed, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). This meant the Kingdom of heaven was a present reality and could be entered at that time. The Pharisees, though, did not teach the Kingdom of God as accessible to people in their day. They only presented the Scriptures as historical and futuristic. The pearls of the past and future have very little value. It is only when the Scriptures are brought into the present so they can be experienced that they become goodly pearls.

Peter tells us what the pearl of great price really is.

II Peter 1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the (true) knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The divine nature, the life of the Lord Himself, is the pearl of great price. The information given in the Scriptures is very important, but receiving the information without the transference of His life to your spirit is a pearl of lesser value. As Peter said, the Scriptures are given to us that we might partake of the divine nature of the Lord. As we do, we come into a true knowledge of Him, a knowledge that only comes through experiencing His life.

Partaking of the divine nature is how the presence of the Lord invades our lives. This is the coming of the Lord Paul spoke of in II Thessalonians 1:10. When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. You see, the coming of the Lord within our lives is at our initiative. It happens because we are partaking of His life.

His coming forth within us is not an instantaneous event. It is a process that takes place as we partake of His life. The question arises, how can we know that we are partaking of His life? How can we know that the presence of the Lord is coming forth within us? How can we know He is establishing His Lordship in us to rule and reign in and through us? The evidence is seen in Psalm 2:1-3.

We are earthen vessels made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). When the Lord begins coming forth in our lives we are His anointed. The kings of the earth and the rulers that take counsel against the Lord and His anointed are the various aspects of our adamic nature that have ruled over us. So when the Lord begins coming forth within us to establish His Lordship, the kings and rulers of our flesh-nature rise up in rebellion against the Lord and say, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. The soul-flesh of man does not want to submit to the Lordship of Christ. But His presence is like a two-edged sword that divides between soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12), and He begins bringing down the kingdoms within us. Nation rises up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places take place within us. This is the pearl of great price. Are you willing to sell all to buy this pearl? Most Christians settle for the lesser pearls. But the pearl of great price is only found when we learn how to partake of the divine life in the Scriptures.

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