fore, the Lord would, and did give all (Gal. 2:20, " m e ! ") 2. The P e a r l. (1) This was one, not many, and we t a k e it to be the redeemed collectively, t h e " o ne body" ( Ep h. 4 : 4 ). (2) It was not only like t he treasure, a t h i ng of value, but of loveliness and beauty. II. THE TREASURE AND PEARL, WHAT? We suggest, t a k i ng it literally, " t h e K i n g d om" itself. It would then include the totality: Israel, the,Church, t he saved nations, the renewed " f i e l d ;" (as with individuals) each is a precious and purchased t r e a s u re and pearl, b ut t he Kingdom of Glory, " t he eternal pur- pose which He purposed In Christ Jesus o u r L o r d" (Eph. 3 : 1 1) is THAT for which He paid t he price. In this little planet was " h id f r om t he beginning" (Eph. 3 : 9) t he t r e a s u re trove of crea- tion. It is the P e a rl of t he constella- tions, to glow on the brow of t he KING, for whose crown jewel t he me r c h a n t- man bought it (Eph. 3 : 1 0; 2 : 7 ). Wh en H e "ma k es u p His jewels" (Mai. 3 : 1 7) Israel shall be His "delight," a "royal d i a d em" (Isa. 62:3, 4 ) ; t he spotless and transfigured Church " t he praise of His glory" (Eph. 1 : 1 4 ); " t he whole e a r th f u ll of His g l o r y ;" the nations " g l ad and sing f or j o y" (Isa. 6 : 3) then with " t he b e a u ty of t he Lo rd o ur God upon u s " (Psa. 9 0 : 1 7 ), in t he luster of "The Sun of Righteousness," wh at a gem. the " p u r- chased possession" shall be, justifying the wisdom, sacrifice, and joy of the Merchantman. Shall you shine f o r th in t h is Kingdom of t he Father?. (Mat. 1 3 : 4 3 ). 2. Application. . . ( 1 ) .. ..Beheld ..the grace of t he Lord who set such a price upon us; who loved us before we loved Him (I Jno. 4 : 1 9 ); who became poor t h at we mi g ht be rich (2 Cor. 8 : 9 ) ; who dug us out of the pit. (Isa. 5 1 : 1 ); who h as in us exceeding joy ( J u de 24). <2) Let us prove of value to Him, a treas- ure e a r n i ng full interest on His invest- me nt (Lk. 1 9 : 1 6 ); a nd shine f o r th in the beauty of holiness (Psa. 9 6 : 9 ). (3) We may ma ke also the popular applica- tion to illustrate t he way of salvation. Men (a) stumble upon it as on a treas- ure in a field. Saul found' it u n s o u g ht (Ac. 9 : 3 - 6 ), for He is found of t h em who sought Him not (Isa. 6 5 : 1 ). We, (6) t h o u gh we cannot buy (Psa. 49:7, 8), should p a rt with the whole world r a t h er than fail to have it (Mk. 8 : 3 6 ). Men (c) seek "goodly pearls," give time, strength, life, soul to gain them, t he P e a rl of great price they do not seek though wo r th all besides, (a) To let
go the world—all its treasures, pleas ures, p u r s u i t s—to t a ke Christ, would bt to get "all t h i n g s" (I Cop. 3 : 2 1) at th< loss of nothing (Ecc. 1:2, 3; Phil. 3 :7 8). III. THE PARABLE OP THE DRAG NET. 1. I n t e r p r e t a t i o n. (1) The parabli of the sower notes the varying soils t h at of the tares t he diverse sowers and seeds; t h at of the mu s t a rd tree the out- ward, worldly, development; t h at of the eaven t he inward progressive corrupt- ing of t he Kingdom; t h at of the drag- net teaches t h at incidental to t he vast sweep of the Church t h r o u gh t he sea oi nations (Rev. 17:1, 1 5 ), t h e re mu st un- avoidably be gathered out (Ac. 1 5 : 1 4' and gathered in fish good and bad; to be' sorted only a f t er t he fishing is done, and the catch brought to the shore. As fishermen cast away the dead and use- less fish, "So shall it be a t t he e nd oi t he world ( a g e ): the angels (now un- seen) shall come f o r t h, a nd sever the wicked f r om amo ng t h e j u st (justified ones), a n d shall cast t h em into t he fur- n a ce of fire; t h e re shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 2. Application. (1) Cast t he net; ma ke a clean sweep (Mk. 1 6 : 1 5 ); "go out into t he streets a nd lanes of t he city," into " t he by ways a n d h e d g e s" of t he c o u n t r y and bring in all whomsoever •we may find. (2) Do not be surprised or discouraged because the fish are not all good, but some very poor specimens; this is to be expected. (3) Let every fisherman see to it t h at he himself is a good fish. IV. THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSE- HOLDER. 1. The Lo r d 's question, "Ha ve ye un- derstood these t h i n g s ?" No t r ue teach- ei- is content until his pupils u n d e r s t a n d. L i ke Ezra's faculty (Neh. 8 : 8) " t h ey cause theiu t o u n d e r s t a n d ." 2. The disciples answer, "Yea Lo r d ." we t r u st t h at we can say the same. But this obligates each of us to teach others. "Every scribe i n s t r u c t e d" * * * * b r i n g e th f o r th o ut of his t r e a s u ry things n ew a n d old." Knowledge is a " t r e a s- u r e " of g r e at price; t h at of the Kingdom is beyond price (Pro. 8:18-21; Psa. 1 0 : 1 0 ). 3. Thé old a nd new. J e s us had t a u g ht t h em t he old t r u t hs in a new way. The teaching was old, the setting was new. One well instructed in Scrip- t u r e will easily find parables in n a t u re the best use of which Is to lead to the Supernature.
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