Treasure and the Pearl
Clarence E. Lunden
Table of Contents
The Treasure
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matt. 13:44).
Most persons have had their hearts set upon a treasure of some kind. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34).
In the Scripture before us, Matt. 13:44, the Person is the Son of man, and the treasure is the church, which is hid in a field. It could not be Israel, for they were not hidden. A Man, having found the treasure, hid it, as we read in Col. 3:3, "—your life is hid with Christ in God."
His eye had caught sight of something that filled His heart. It satisfied a desire and need in His soul that nothing else could, and for the joy thereof He sold all that He had and bought the field (the world) in which the treasure (the church) was found.
"Thine eyes did see my substance, being yet unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them" (Psa. 139:16).
Material things were not His object, but souls, who form the church, valuable to Him above all else. The Father is preparing each soul in the lower part of the earth to be the means of display of glory, and for eternal companionship with Jesus.
"My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Psa. 139:15).
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
"And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Mal. 3:16,17).
Malachi speaks of the time when the Lord will make up His jewels. Preparation is made now in view of that day.
"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and sheaved me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates,...
"And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst" (Rev. 21:10-12,18-20).
Stones exemplify beauty, rarity, durability, and fixed color and are named because of color, not from their source. Each of the twelve stones of Revelation bears a different color or hue, and all speak of the glory of God, for color typifies glory shining through a variety of prisms. Each precious stone will display through a prism, in varying shades as a spectrum of color, the glory of God, before hidden, to all created intelligence.
Ephesians 3:10 speaks of the "manifold wisdom of God." This could be translated, "the multi-colored wisdom of God."
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:21).
This verse seems to take us farther into eternity than any other. What an effect this should have on us now, to cause us to walk carefully that we might adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
We marvel as the counsels of God are opened to us, revealing coming things and the preparation being made now in each believer during the allotted span of life, a lasting work that only the Father of spirits can produce in our spirits.
"All the history of the saints is an exhibition of the hidden eternal counsels of the divine bosom to be revealed later." "The art of educating man's spirit to the finest temper lies only with the Father of spirits."
Who but God can read the motives of the heart? Who but God can prepare man, yea, the heart of man, for an environment that is wholly of God? We shall be at home there as natives in our own country.
The treasure may be composed of many pieces, usually gold, silver, or precious stones, each having its own history. There were times when kings or noblemen, when visiting one another, would bring forth their treasures for display. Days may have been spent telling the history of each gem. Some were gained in battle, some purchased, others found in the lower parts of the earth in mines.
When jewels are displayed, they have already been prepared. Besides the shaping and chiseling required, the color is the most important consideration, especially in precious stones. Some, such as the sardius, excel in depth of color.
To arrive at the proper color in each stone, infinite skill is required, accomplished by God Himself, through affliction under His government. Some cringe when the term "government of God" is used, but every believer is under the government of God, even as a child is under a governor. To miss this is to miss the very center of all God's ways with us.
"O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live" (Isa. 38:16).
In Isa. 54:11 we see the government of God in operation for our blessing. "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires."
It is through suffering that each color is formed and will transmit the light of the glory of God. Color is produced under a combination of pressure and heat in the lower parts of the earth. We feel the suffering—the pressure—the heat—but God tells us how it all takes place and provides the answer to the question, "Why?"
As we pass through deep trials, sometimes without comfort, let us, as believers in the Lord Jesus, remember the One Who experienced many more times the suffering we have, and, besides, He was left alone, forsaken of God, as He made atonement for us.
How our spirits are cheered to know that each pain we feel He has felt, and He knows and sympathizes with us. One who has faith in Christ is comforted by this.
Little do we realize as the hours of suffering slowly pass, that skillfully, with the Master hand, the stone is being formed to its proper hue, just right for its eternal purpose. Not a needless tear will ever fall, not a groan will be uttered, only that which is necessary in order that the color in the prism might be perfect.
"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path," said David in Psa. 142:3.
Everything in the creation of God yet to come will perfectly harmonize. The groans here, in the meantime, are by the earnest of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. How the knowledge of all this gives light to our souls and strength on the bed of languishing so that we can suffer cheerfully just a little longer that the true color might fully form.
Should there be a blemish in the stone, iron oxide or whatever, the lapidary places the stone in the fire, heated at the proper temperature to erase the iron oxide stain and leave a clear color. This is chastening. "By these things men live." How the thought of chastening is so much better understood when we realize that it is a necessary part of the eternal purpose.
However, a stone cannot be placed in the fire without a covering. It would break in pieces. Christ is our covering, for His work covers our whole history. It was Christ Who bore the wrath of a sin-hating God and as a result has brought us to God in all the perfection of His finished work.
The lapidary makes a solution of boric acid powder and water, completely enclosing the stone which is to pass through the fire. It is the same fire that Jesus went through without a covering. When dry, the stone, with covering, is placed in the fire and as it reaches the exact temperature the stone will come forth free of all defilement and with its proper color, being itself unaffected by the fire.
Such is the operation of God in the lower parts of the earth, preparing each believer and removing morally all that which would spoil the color and the stone.
But it is said, "I will lay... thy foundations with sapphires." Each stone in Rev. 21 has a sapphire origin. Sapphire stones of several tons apiece have been mined. They have no color and are practically worthless as gems, but the process of heat and pressure in the deep places of the earth prepare the pieces of sapphire (aluminum oxide), which in themselves are worthless, into comely gems to shine in a coming day and forever. These will be the foundations of the heavenly city.
clear with a golden glow setting forth divine righteousness and the then transparent glory of God, for the mystery of God will then have been finished.
When we behold the spectrum with its varied hues, our spirits are awed at the excellence in exhibition. So it will be to earth and to all creation when the glory of God will finally be seen in the church by Christ Jesus.
"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires."
So it is to be "comforted of God".
"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor. 1:4).
All that has been before us in connection with the treasure will be of no value to a person who is not a believer. If you have not confessed Christ, do so now by confessing with your mouth and by believing on Him in your heart.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgment); but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).
The Pearl
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:45,46).
"Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, 0 God! how great is the sum of them" (Psa. 139:16,17)1
Although the kingdom of heaven is likened to both the treasure and the pearl, the important lessons differ.
A treasure may be composed of many pieces, as gold, silver, precious stones. We see both the color and the permanent character of the church typified by them. The pearl is one, not composed of many pieces.
As the stones pass through the fire, different colors are formed, each its own color as designed by the Father of spirits. By contrast, the pearl is formed in living tissue inside an oyster.
Because of constant irritation from foreign matter deposited in the flesh of the oyster, either naturally or by a culturer, the pearl begins to develop. "Nacre," the secretion which accumulates upon the foreign matter, the "seed," forms evenly throughout, and the original shape of the "seed" remains. The moment the irritation begins, the secretion begins to make the pearl.
The inside of the oyster shell is sometimes referred to as pearl, used in making ornate items and is composed of the same nacre as the pearl. If there is no irritation the oyster will spend its life for present advantage garnishing its shell inside, only to rot at the close. If man's conscience is not awakened he never begins to know or to prepare for the future.
"The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot" (Prov. 10:7).
He closes his life as he starts it—worthless, dying as he lived. Pearl means worth—no pearl, no worth.
Only sovereignty fashions pearls; only sovereignty fashions the church. When the life of the oyster that has formed a pearl is over, it leaves something of worth. It is sad indeed to see souls pass on their way before our very eyes who will leave nothing but a vessel of clay when they die.
In a natural setting pearls have been found in the bottom of the Sea of Japan and the Indian Ocean.
For our purpose we would rather speak of the cultured pearls than the natural, because they are produced under an orderly procedure.
Pearls are formed only in the sea. A small sea shell, round in shape, having the same specific gravity as the material in the pearl, is mined in the lower Mississippi River Valley. It is minutely small but perfectly round. What a lesson for parents. The beginning of life has much to do with its end. The small shell or seed is shipped to the Sea of Japan where most if not all pearls are cultured.
One seed is placed in each new-born oyster but never until the oyster opens its shell of its own accord. Is this not so in the work of God with each individual soul, as to salvation?
Each oyster with seed implanted has a hole drilled in the shell through which a small dacron line is secured and hung free from a rope let down into the sea to a depth of proper temperature where there is food, plankton, for the oyster. This food is a compound of calcium and protein. If too much of either nutrient is given, an undesirable shade is produced.
Discipline is a necessary part of the culture as we have noticed with the implantation of the irritating seed.
In the book of Proverbs, the second verse begins with the words "To know." "To know" is the experience of a wise man corrected and disciplined. To apply this to the pearl, a picture of the individuals who form the church, unless there is correction and discipline one will never know spiritual things. Repentance is the starting point.
Regularly each oyster is scrubbed, washed, and kept clean. If the poisonous living substance called "red tide" floats past, the oysters are removed from the sea until the danger is over. All of this speaks of the Lord's constant care for the church and its discipline while here on the earth. It takes years of patient handwork, and only sovereignty can produce pearls.
An oyster may live as long as five years. Most pearls are harvested before that time because they may be expelled from the oyster if not removed. They are harvested in different sizes. In a pearl necklace there is a gradation from a large middle front pearl to small ones at the back. How comforting for one who loses a young child to know that that little one is safe in Christ. The material of which the large one is made is the same as the small, Christ formed in each believer. As for God, His way is perfect.
When pearls are nearly ready for gathering, the oysters are moved to the deep cold waters to bring out the luster with the hue.
The lustrous pastel shades of the pearl represent the beauties of Christ formed in us by the Spirit down here, but for heaven. The pearl is a symbol of feminine graciousness. The church has that character, being the bride of Christ. (See Phil. 2.)
The pearl is an emblem of worth, elegance, effulgence, delicacy, intrinsic value, and depth of beauty. These delicate feminine graces are formed within the oyster in the pearl through suffering. There will never be a pearl where there has been no suffering, a necessary element of the Christian life.
Oh, precious pearl,
The fruit of sorrow,
toil, and wasting,
The constant sore,
The bitter grief of emptiness
here tasting;
I cannot close the shell
To pain and nacre's
flowing,
Lest, haply, in the harvest,
Naught but the shell
be showing.
It is rather interesting to observe that pearls are much like persons. Each has its own character and attraction even as each individual. There are no two alike. One may be acquainted with many but there comes a time when one person catches the eye, and that is the one who is really beyond all others, the one desired.
A pearl merchant, during the entire time that he had worked with pearls, never saw the pearl he was seeking. One day, while transacting business, he saw in the display case the pearl that he wanted. There had never been another quite like it in the thousands of pearls that had passed through his hands. There is no price set on pearls until the transaction is made. He paid plenty for his pearl.
Just so with the Lord Jesus. What a transaction for the church. It cost Him all that he had, but He bought it. Never throughout eternity will we know how much we cost Him and how much He loves us. There should be a response in our hearts in keeping with such love.
What a price was set at Gethsemane and paid at Calvary.
The pearl now being formed will be just fitted for His eternal joy and satisfaction. It will be the beauty of the one pearl which will satisfy His heart.
After the pearl is purchased it must be worn or it loses its beauty and luster; it should be washed with soap and water regularly to keep the lustrous beauty intact. All this speaks of exercise of soul and the consciousness that we represent Christ here in this world.
Each of the twelve gates of the heavenly Jerusalem will be fashioned of one pearl. What a display of glory meets the eye of anyone approaching the heavenly city in the millennial day. That heavenly city will come down over the earth in administrative excellence, an exhibition of the unveiled glory of God seen in the church by Christ Jesus. So will the glory be seen throughout eternity.
The beauty is Christ reflected in the church. But what a cost to Him!
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:45,46).
We have been bought by His precious blood shed at Calvary.
We have been saved by believing in His finished work.
There are mysteries, many. The mystery of the pearl of great price is the mystery that has been opened up by revelation to Paul the Apostle. It is the mystery of Christ and the church. It is this mystery that the angels desire to look into.
How our hearts and voices will swell with praise and worship as the shout opens heaven to receive the church ushering her into the presence of God, into the Father's house.
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"
(1 Thess. 4:16).
One pearl, there never
was another
Thy heart to satisfy,
Eternal woes to cover.
Oh, gracious Lord,
Thy Father's wisdom,
Boundless,
Has through Thy cross
Now wrought a work
So groundless
Except for love,
That would not spare
His darling
To open wide the
heart of God
And fill the heavens
with children,
Precious stones, formed
As His companions ever,
In felicity, Thy bride,
One pearl, the church,
Thy radiant display,
Forever,
Of God's eternal glory.
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