In Matthew 13:45,46 we find Jesus speaking to His disciples about the present life’s “walk” of those who wish to spend eternity with Him in paradise. In this instance He was explaining how specific God will be when it comes time to welcome those whom He has chosen to join Him in that earthly kingdom which was at that time in heaven, but would one day be on earth. We learn this Biblical Truth by examining Christ’s prayer to His Father as recorded in Matthew 6:9: “Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Note that God’s kingdom was then and still is in heaven where His will was then and still is being fulfilled. Note that His kingdom would later come to earth and His will would then be done on earth as it was then and is now being done in heaven. Read The Kingdom of God. Key word–Kingdom.

Looking forward to the time when His kingdom will be on earth, doesn’t it stand to reason that those who will join God and Christ in that earthly kingdom will of necessity be a special type of people? Will they not of necessity have to have proven their worthiness to join the two members of the Godhead by obeying Them now in this life? Just obeying church doctrine is not enough proof of one’s fitness to spend eternity with them. Of course. Bear with me while I use a sports analogy. I can tell the coach how great I can throw a baseball, but until I prove it by throwing a baseball many times, and doing so with accuracy and smoke, my words are just that–words. Until I prove myself I am all blow and no go, all talk and no walk, all mouth and no muscle, or as we say in Texas, all hat and no cattle.

The Words of Jesus reveal that He and the Father have a “show me” attitude toward professing Christians as His Words found in Matthew 7:21-23; 12:46-49; 15:8,9/ Luke 6:46/ John 15:13,14 attest. Read those passages carefully and note how demanding and specific the Lord is in determining who is a real saint and who is a counterfeit. Read First Peter 1:15,16; 2:5,9 for another description of those who will join the Godhead in paradise. Just as the man Jesus of Nazareth had to obey the Father in order to fulfill His earthly commission then return to heaven following His death, we must obey Father and Son in order to fulfill our earthly commission then join them in the Kingdom of God following Christ’s return to earth. Those who obey Them will rise to meet Him in the clouds and descend with Him to Jerusalem where He will establish the Kingdom of God. Read Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man? and The Three Resurrections. Key words–God-man and Three respectively. Now we will return to Matthew 13:45,46

Here we find Jesus using a parable to explain to His disciples how they must conduct themselves –their words, thoughts and deeds–in this life in order to live with Him in the next life. He uses a pearl to define what He and the Father are looking for relative to their future kingdom mates. In verse 45 Jesus makes it clear that They are looking AT many “pearls.” As He tells us in Matthew 22:16, by the time of the first resurrection they will have called many to be their “pearls,” but few will be chosen for having answered Their call. In 7:13,14 He explains that few would embrace them because the gate to Their pearl safe (church) is very “strait”–difficult to enter. EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT OF GOD MUST BE REMOVED AND LEFT BEHIND TO BE BURNED. One cannot simply walk into the church as is, get saved and live happily ever after. Read The Process of Salvation. Key word–Process. As Jesus told the prostitute and the man at the pool of Bethesda, once forgiven of all past sins (justification), no more sin is allowed. Note that Jesus commands that they “SIN NO MORE”–PERIOD (Jn. 5:14; 8:11). Read 2 Chronicles 7:13-15. Note that sinners must “humble themselves, pray, seek My face and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS.” THEN, AND ONLY THEN WILL HE HEAR THEIR PRAYERS, FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND FIX WHAT SIN HAS CAUSED TO HAPPEN.

Those who qualify to enter THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE CHURCH must then walk a narrow path in which one’s life-style is strictly governed by God’s written Law. It is His way or the highway. No exceptions, no variations, no alternatives, no options. Recall that He told Adam and Eve that they must not even “touch” the forbidden fruit. In Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1 The Lord, through the Apostle Paul, commands those of who would join Him in paradise to “Come out of her (the false church) and be separate. They are to “touch not” that “unclean thing.” Then and only then will He be their God and they will be His children. Back to Matthew 13:45,46 where Jesus is symbolizing Himself as a “merchantman.”

It is important to notice in verse 45 that the Lord is seeking, not just pearls, but “goodly” pearls. That narrows the selection process down considerably. The church’s method is to accept every “pearl” that walks through the door and says the religiously correct words. They are then invited to come forward and “get saved” on the spot. Professing Christendom’s “come as you are, stay as you are, God loves you just the way you are. Just take Jesus as your Savior and the fix is in” theology is not of the Lord who is looking for “Goodly pearls”, meaning those who agree that they must undergo a complete and permanent change in their life’s “walk” before they can begin THE PROCESS OF SALVATION. Read the series by that name. Key word–Process.

That the change in one’s life must be total in order to qualify for salvation upon Christ’s Second Advent is found in Mark 10:17-22. Here we find Jesus telling a rich man who was seeking salvation that “ONE THING” would prevent him from receiving eternal life. Though he had obeyed all ten commandments of the Law since childhood, making him a pearl, ONE THING kept him from being a “goodly pearl.” Note that when Jesus learned that he was a Law-keeper, He “loved him.” But the fact that he kept the Law, sought salvation, recognized Jesus as the One who could award it, called Him “Master,” knelt down before Him and was loved by Him did not make him eligible for salvation–HE WAS MERELY A PEARL. ONE SIN WOULD KEEP HIM FROM BEING A “GOODLY PEARL” AND RECEIVING ETERNAL LIFE. What does this say about so-called Sinners Saved By Grace? God says there is no such thing.

In Matthew 13:46 Jesus tells us why all of the “pearl’s” positive points were not enough to qualify him for salvation. The “merchant man” of verse 45 was not merely looking for pearls (as does the church); he was looking for “goodly pearls” which, through being made perfect, could become a “pearls of great price.” Notice that of all of the pearls the merchant had examined, ONLY ONE WAS FOUND FIT TO BE “BOUGHT WITH A PRICE”–CHRIST’S DEATH. THE MERCHANT SOLD EVERYTHING HE HAD TO MAKE THE PERCHASE. JESUS GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD TO BUY EACH “PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.” Being a pearl merchant, the man undoubtedly had examined hundreds, even thousands of pearls. However, only one was good enough to be selected. That Truth gives us an idea of how few “pearls of great price” will be found among the billions of pearls who believe that they have already been purchased.

The lesson is this: the Institutional Church contains billions of pearls. Like the merchantman, the Lord will call to Him the few PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE UPON HIS RETURN. The other pearls will be left behind. He knows the hearts of men. He knows THOSE WHO ARE HIS GREAT PEARLS AND THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DECEIVED INTO BELIEVING THAT THEY ARE HIS GREAT PEARLS.

The Lord is looking for a “pearl” who will not be satisfied until he/she has “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This status is achieved only by obeying His Ten Commandment Law (Jn. 15:10). Such is THE ONE IN A MILLION–THE “PEARL OF GREAT PRICE”–FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED. As Jesus told His hand-picked disciples, they were His friends IF THEY DID EVERYTHING HE COMMANDED THEM TO DO. Just because they preached the Gospel, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers and spent several years in Christ’s presence, THIS MEANT NOTHING WITHOUT STRICT OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW. Obedience is the quality that must be present in the lives of His disciples in order to join Him in the clouds upon His return.

In this posting we highlighted the cost that Jesus paid for the souls of those who would prove to be pearls of great price. In the following segment we will examine the cost that must be paid by the pearl.