Mat 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Have you ever sold something so you could buy something else? Reflecting on it now, do you ever regret it, or think that it was a silly decision? I know I have.
Let me paint a picture for you of what Heaven will be like, just imagine with me as you read:
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
I can’t even begin to imagine this, a place where there is no death, no pain, no crying. I can’t wait to be there!
Rev 21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Sounds like a great place to spend eternity doesn’t it? A place where there is no more pain or death; a place where you walk on streets of gold.
Now, Jesus often spoke in parables using the physical to draw a similarity to the spiritual.
And even though, Jesus was talking about a merchant man seeking to buy pearls, and selling all of it for one pearl of great price, what He was really talking about was Heaven.
We are that merchant man seeking continually to “buy” something of worth. We constantly seek, buying things to try and fulfill that emptiness inside of us. But when we find that one pearl which of great price, which is Heaven, we must sell everything we have. Now Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean here that we should take everything we have and actually sell it though.
We may have lots of things of value, cars, houses, instruments. The list can go on and on. But money doesn’t matter to God, we can’t buy our way into Heaven no matter how much money we have. So what else then do we have of value you might ask? Our time, our effort, and our will.
Some of you might be asking, how do we give our will? Well Jesus said
Luk 9:23 “...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Think about what Jesus is saying here. We don’t just have to deny ourselves on Sunday at the altar and think that we’re good for the week, or month. But we must deny ourselves every day. Paul describes it best in Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
That is so awesome! That Jesus came to Earth, the same God, who spoke everything into existence, came and died for us! He was beat and tortured and crucified for our sin. He who knew no sin became sin!
[Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.]
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
We crucify ourselves in repentance and denying ourselves, like Jesus actually died on the cross for us.
We bury our old man through full immersion baptism in Jesus name, just like Jesus was buried after his Death.
Then we rise in newness of life through the infilling of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues, which is the spirit of Jesus Christ living within us. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead.
You too can walk in newness of life! You too can one day walk on streets of gold! You too can one day spend eternity with our Lord and Saviour Jesus!
Be like that merchant man, and sell all you have, your time, your effort, and your will. Denying yourself daily, and following the plan of salvation in
Acts 2:38 “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Jesus said except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit He CAN NOT enter into the Kingdom of God.
So won’t you give your all today, so you can have that one pearl of great price?
