In this message I have the burden to give an additional word concerning the treasure and the pearl (Matt. 13:44-46). Throughout the centuries, these two parables have not been properly and thoroughly understood, nor have they been correctly applied. I want to approach these parables not in a doctrinal way, but in the way of application.
Firstly, we need to be reminded that Matt. 13 is a chapter on the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. The mysteries unveiled in these parables cover the entire span of Christian history. In other words, the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens encompass the main points of Christian history between the Lord’s first coming and His second coming. To interpret these parables properly, we need to take care of the facts of history. Otherwise, what we say about them will be imaginary and not practical. For example, in order to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream recorded in Dan. 2, we cannot afford to neglect the facts of history. We need to know what historical facts correspond to the golden head, the silver chest and arms, and the other parts of the great image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. Rev. 6 also illustrates the need to know the facts of history in order to interpret the Scripture. In this chapter we have the four horses: the white horse, the red horse, the pale horse, and the black horse. Many interpretations of the four horses have been offered. However, none of them has satisfied us because those interpretations did not correspond to the facts of history. According to the historical facts, from the time of the ascension of Christ there has been the preaching of the gospel, the spreading of the glad tidings, represented by the white horse. Following that, there has been war signified by the red horse, famine signified by the black horse, and death signified by the pale horse.
With this principle in mind, we come to Matthew 13. As we have pointed out, the first four parables reveal the general situation of Christianity. The wheat signifies the real believers; the tares symbolize the false believers; the big tree represents Christendom with its huge organization; and the leaven added to the meal by the woman stands for the evil doctrines and heathen practices of the apostate church. We have seen that in the Bible the fine flour signifies Christ as the food to both God and His people. When all these items are put together, we have a complete picture of Christendom.
The parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl out of the sea are puzzling. What facts of history fit in with these parables? The true believers are the fulfillment of the wheat; the false believers, of the tares; Christendom, of the big tree; the apostate church, of the woman; the evil things of heathenism and various heretical teachings, of the leaven; and Christ as food for God and man, of the meal. But what is there in history that can be regarded as the fulfillment of the treasure and the pearl? As I was considering this matter before the Lord, He showed me that in history besides the real believers, the false believers, Christendom, the apostate church, the heresies and heathen practices, and Christ as food, there have been the overcomers, who are more solid, genuine, precious, and valuable in the eyes of God than the wheat. In God’s eyes these overcomers are likened to the treasure hidden in the field and to the pearl out of the sea. From the first century until the present, among the many real Christians represented by the wheat, there have been a small number of more solid ones like the transformed precious stones hidden in the field. This is especially true today. In the Lord’s recovery there are a good number of saints who love the Lord, who have given up the world, and who do not live by their natural life. Although they have had some failures, they still like to live in the spirit, spend time in the presence of the Lord, stay in the Lord’s will, and be one with Him in a practical way. Those who are like this are not just the wheat, bulky in size and abundant in quantity; they are the transformed precious stones, smaller in quantity and hidden under the earth. Not many people can see them, but the Lord sees them.
Many saints in the Lord’s recovery can testify that they are not merely wheat, but something more solid, valuable, and precious. Before certain brothers and sisters came to the Lord’s recovery, they were wheat. Outwardly, they were rather bulky and showy. But during the years they have been in the recovery, they have been constricted and reduced. They have become smaller year by year. When you were bulky, you were soft and light like cotton, easily ruined by a little water. But after you are reduced, constricted, and transformed, you have the assurance that you are more precious to the Lord. Many of us can testify of this. We in the Lord’s recovery are not as bulky as we used to be. Instead, we are constantly being reduced, transformed, and made more solid. After you have become as solid as a precious stone, not even a flood can damage you. Instead of damaging a precious stone, water only makes it more clean and valuable.
If we examine Christian history, we shall find those who belong in the categories of the treasure and the pearl. The parables of the treasure and the pearl refer to the overcomers throughout the centuries. As an illustration of the genuine believers, the Lord uses the example of wheat grown from seed sown in the field. This, however, is a general illustration of the genuine believers. The Lord uses other illustrations to describe the overcoming members of the church. They used to be lifeless grains of sand. But they wounded Christ, the oyster living in the death water, and stayed at Christ’s wound, where they participated in the secretion of Christ’s life. This not only enabled them to be regenerated, but also caused them to become pearls. This is more than a seed sown in a field to produce wheat; it is something that has become precious through the secretion of the life of Christ.
We have pointed out that the treasure no doubt refers to precious stones. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the church life and the kingdom life, for in this city the church life is combined with the kingdom. The building of New Jerusalem is mainly of the pearl gates and the precious stones which form the wall and its foundations. All this is set upon a golden base that upholds the entire building. In this message we are focusing on the pearl gate and the treasure wall. The pearl refers to the church, and the treasure, to the kingdom.
The church and the kingdom are spoken of in Matthew 13 in a mysterious way in parables. But in chapter sixteen the Lord speaks a clear word to His disciples regarding the church and the kingdom. In 16:18 He says, “On this rock I will build My church,” and in the following verse, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” In these verses we see the church and the kingdom. In order to understand the treasure and the pearl in Matthew 13, we must consider the church and the kingdom in Matthew 16. If you pray over these two chapters, you will spontaneously see that the treasure is the kingdom and that the pearl is the church. Both the treasure and the pearl are in the New Jerusalem.
According to Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus sold whatever He had and bought the pearl. Acts 20:28 says that the Lord purchased the church with His blood. This means that on the cross He sold all He had and bought the church. This verse is a strong proof that the pearl in Matthew 13 is the church, for the pearl was purchased by the merchant. No doubt the merchant is the Lord.
We enter the realm of the kingdom by being regenerated, by being born again (John 3:5). Regeneration is related to the pearl, for the pearl is produced by the principle of regeneration. By being reborn we enter into the sphere of God, into the realm of the kingdom. After we were regenerated, we began to live by Him. Because we loved Him, we wanted to stay under His control and be restricted by Him. Many of us have experienced being restricted on every side. We are not limited by man, but by something inward that is invisible — by the life under the heavenly ruling. We may try to do certain things, but we are restricted from doing them by a mysterious, invisible, inward control. Our relatives or schoolmates are free to do those things, but we cannot do them. Something invisible exercises an inward control over us, and we live under this control. This is the treasure, the kingdom life.
Before we became Christians, we were sand. But we have been regenerated. This means that something living has entered into us. As more life juice is secreted over us, we become precious and begin to live under a mysterious control. This is the experience of the pearl and the treasure.
The local church in the Lord’s recovery is a pearl. But in the eyes of the Lord, this church must also be a treasure hidden from the world. Neither the worldly people nor those in Christianity know what we are doing. But deep within we know that we are living a pearl life and a life under an invisible control. We are the pearl and the treasure.
The first four parables of chapter thirteen do not fully cover us. We are not just the wheat or the fine flour. We are more precious, solid, and genuine than this. We are the pearl and the treasure. This is the church life with the kingdom life in the Lord’s recovery. If we did not have the second group of parables, we would not know where we should be. I am happy to say that I am no longer in the first group — I am in the second. Can you say this? Are you simply a believer who has a little of Christ? If this is your situation, then you must be a genuine Christian in Christendom. We thank the Lord that we are not in Christendom. Praise Him that many of us are the pearl and the treasure in the Lord’s recovery!
The parables of the pearl and the treasure match the verses which say, “Enter in through the narrow gate...for the gate is narrow and the way is constricted which leads to life, and few are those who find it” (7:13-14). The wide gate and broad way lead to destruction. At this point we need to refer to 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul admonishes us to take heed how we build upon the foundation of Christ. Are we building with gold, silver, and precious stones, or with wood, hay, and stubble? Gold, silver, and precious stones are materials that can withstand the test of fire. But the wood, hay, and stubble will be consumed. In today’s Christianity there is a great deal of wood and dry grass, but there is very little gold. Among today’s Christians it is difficult to find the gold, pearl, and precious stones. These materials are not bulky, but small. Look at Christianity: wood, hay, and stubble are everywhere; but where is the gold, and where is the precious stone? The way of Christianity is the broad way, but the way of the Lord’s recovery is the constricted way. At times the enemy will attempt to lure us away from this constricted way into something that is outwardly big and bulky, something made of wood, hay, and stubble. However, in the New Jerusalem there will be nothing wooden, nothing that can be burned or consumed. Everything in the New Jerusalem will remain for eternity. Nothing can damage the gold, pearl, and precious stone. Our work and testimony must be like this.
I am burdened that we would all see that we are neither in Christendom nor on the broad way. We are in the Lord’s recovery. We are not in the first four parables, but in the fifth and sixth parables. In the Lord’s recovery the quantity is small, but the quality is higher and more solid, because here we have the treasure and the pearl.
Although a great many works have been performed in Christianity, will all this work be approved by the Lord? Toward the end of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord said, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many works of power?” (7:22). But the Lord Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness” (7:23). The Lord may say, “I never approved you; I never allowed you to do these things. In My eyes everything you did was lawless.” I do not believe that the works of Christianity will meet with the Lord’s approval. But what about us? We need to be strengthened to remain in the constricted way. None of us should want to stay in the first group of parables, but we should go on to be in the second group. Let others gain a huge number and carry out a great work. We prefer to stay in the pearl and in the treasure where we are constricted.
Because many Christians have been leavened, they have become large and bulky. But from the day we turned to the Lord’s recovery, we began to be constricted. We all can testify of this, especially those who were somewhat well-known in Christianity. Nothing in the Lord’s recovery has made us greater. Instead, many things have taken place to reduce us. Christ will constrict us to the point that we shall be small enough to be put in a little bottle. But in this bottle there will be a treasure. Because our way is the constricted way, the Lord’s recovery is His testimony. In today’s Christendom the Lord can find a great deal of wheat and a small amount of meal, even in the Catholic Church. But He cannot find much of the pearl and the treasure in Christendom.
Although we are not proud, we realize that we in the Lord’s recovery are different. I am a sinful human being, worse in my nature than you are. But I can testify, and the Lord can also testify for me, that there are many things that I simply cannot do because I have a constricting life within me. Day by day this life says “no” to certain things I want to do. This is the kingdom life mentioned in Romans 14:17. Because we are in the kingdom and under the reigning, we cannot do many of the things that other Christians are free to do. This is the treasure which is precious, valuable, and lovely in the eyes of the Lord. On the cross He sacrificed everything to buy both the pearl and the field in which the treasure is hidden. His buying the field and the pearl reveals that He is for the kingdom and the church. That we are in the Lord’s recovery is not the result of our doing. We are here because the Lord has brought us together to be His living testimony. I have no doubt that, in the eyes of the Lord, the treasure and the pearl are here in the recovery.
In the first four parables the Lord covers Christendom in a general way, and in the next two parables He covers His overcomers in a particular way. The seventh parable, the parable of the net, covers the nations. At the time of the Lord’s coming back there will be three peoples on earth: those in Christendom, those in the Lord’s recovery, and those among the nations. In the parable of the net the nations are likened to fish in the sea. These “fish” are brought to the presence of the Lord, and the Lord exercises His judgment upon them. This will mark the completion of the age at the Lord’s coming back. All this is covered by the seven parables concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. We are neither in the first four parables nor in the seventh, but in the fifth and sixth. We are the treasure and the pearl. These parables of the treasure and the pearl are most precious. What a privilege it is to be the fulfillment of these parables!
