PERFECT VISION
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine
pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he
had, and bought it.” Matt. 13:45-46
Christ has seen perfectly the definite and specific "mystery" of the Church. He
knows the outcome of the threefold sanctification process He is engaged in with
the Pearl of great price.
In this parable Jesus shows that the
chief, though not the final value of this kingdom age is that during it there
is to be gathered out and presented to God that which will be the finest,
fairest, and most stunning jewel that will ever flash upon His bosom in all the
ages of eternity. I know full well how imperfect these words are, and yet I
have no other method in which to clothe the thoughts. Out of the mystery of sin,
and out of the mystery of evil, and out of the mystery of this age in which the
Kingdom values seem to be so fluctuating and uncertain, there is yet to be
found and gathered the chief jewel of the Father's house, the most glorious
thing for His possession which shall reveal to the ages to come, and to unfallen
intelligences the grace and glory of God. Among the treasures of this age the
Church of Jesus Christ is ultimate. The finding of the Church, in this as in
the previous parables, is not accidental. Its discovery includes discernment of
it, the indication of it to others, to fallen eyesight, and the obtaining of
it. The merchant came, not seeking promiscuously, but bent on finding this
very pearl. Remember, no figure can ever convey all the infinite fact, and
looking at it in its infiniteness we see the limitations of the picture, and
its inability to represent the whole truth. We see Christ discovering this
precious pearl, the light and then mark very carefully the words made use of
here concerning Him here "having
found of one pearl of great price”, sold "all" that He had, and bought it. May I change that, and
read, very literally, "Having gone
away, has sold all that He had, and bought it.“ This does not for a moment
mean that He went away from the earth to buy it, but that He went away from
Heaven to buy it. We are looking at the Kingdom from Heaven's standpoint, not
from earths. Earth has never seen the precious pearl, has no conception of it.
The pearl has not yet found itself. The Church never been seen by the eye of
mortal man. We catch glimpses but the Church itself has never been truly seen. But
Christ has seen the Church and with the ability to see it in its perfected
state, at rest with the Father Who is ever aware of the completed work of the
Godhead with sinful man who has yet to see as He sees (1 John 3:2). "
No comments:
Post a Comment