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When our Lord spoke this parable to the people, all scribes and Pharisees, and all of the devout Jews all roundabout
were horrified. This offended the Jews to no end, because the pearl comes from the oyster and the oyster under the
Jewish law was regarded as an unclean animal. Who was this man who was telling them that out of an unclean
living being could come a great treasure? Our Lord of course was testifying to them that while they were unclean
in their own being, and the same applies to us today, we can never become a treasure. We have to go through a
cleansing process. He was telling them that the Kingdom of God would be like that great pearl, and He was
testifying that He would bring into the world the teachings, the way He would be the head, but there would have to
be also in this life a living being or a living organism that could bring about the way and show the door to this
Kingdom of God. Revelation Chapter 21 verses 19-22, the city that will become the Kingdom of God: “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, 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. 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. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it”. If we follow that description and we relate it back to our Lord’s teachings, all those
treasures and all those valuable stones, none of them are living. They are all metals that have been created down
through the years through the acts of God. There was only one living treasure described there and that was the
pearl, the gate or the entry into this city where the light of God will shine at all times. Therein we see that our Lord
was testifying of a way, a living way that we could go and become part of this. He was testifying of the Church that
He would establish on this earth and it could be the means of showing the way, providing access to those doors to
allow us in.
We then have to contemplate on how the pearl is created. Firstly it needs the oyster which we have already heard
under the Jewish law was regarded as an unclean animal. We are all in that situation. We are unclean until we are
redeemed through the Grace of Christ. The oyster is not an animal that moves from place to place seeking and
looking and trying to find a better place. It sets itself firmly on a rock. We the Church must set ourselves firmly on
the rock of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We must not move to other places thinking that they will be more
prosperous, that they will be better for us, that we will receive more from following this around. The rock of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be the only thing that will hold firm no matter what happens. The oyster does
not travel around looking for its food. It sits and waits patiently, opening its doors so that God can provide it with
its sustenance. That sustenance comes through the water being distributed through it back and forth, and it is the
same with the Church. The water of the Holy Spirit has been given unto us to feed us with the proper things in life.
This water will always come. Every now and then a grain of sand will come which is an obstacle, which is
something that gives us pain we might say. That is not the kind of thing that we would look for, and so it is within
the Church. Many things come within the Church that we think are objectionable; but does the oyster throw it out –
No. Through the Grace of Christ it takes that objectionable thing and it works on it, and it coats it in a coating, a
white coating, a coating of righteousness, and this then becomes a shining precious pearl that others can look upon
and wish that they also could be partakers of this. That is why our Lord said – We must never judge in this life.
‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.’ We must show mercy, we must show compassion, we must show love, we
must follow His example. We must treat everyone as having God within them and we must never reject. We must
always try and encase them, lead them to the Grace of Christ so that they too can become another pearl, another
door, showing the way into this great kingdom that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has prepared for us. We are
blessed. We have received the Word of God over many years. We understand the blessings, but there are many out
there in the oceans as grains of sand that are flowing here and flowing there, and they have not yet lodged within
this home or within this living creature that can bring about a peace and contentment and beauty that they cannot
find within the world. We must constantly be aware of the obligation to tell others of this wonderful way into this
Kingdom of God.