The "matchless charms of Jesus" were described by Jesus in an unusual parable: "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." Matthew 13:45, 46.
The Spirit of Prophecy has two definitions for the pearl of great price:
... Christ Himself is the pearl of great price. ... The righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain.[1]
Christ is the pearl of great price and the righteousness of Christ is as a pure, white pearl. These are not in conflict for Thoughts From the Mount of Blessings explains "The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him." Thoughts From the Mount of Blessings, p. 18. So the righteousness of Christ, embodied in Christ is as a pure white pearl. But the key thought in Matthew 13:45, 46 is how the merchant man obtains the pearl. "He sold all that he had and bought it." This is what Jesus himself taught. But it doesn't seem to be in harmony with other teachings in the Bible. Buying the pearl (righteousness) sounds so worldly, so materialistic. How can such a teaching fit into the rest of the Bible?
In the book of Revelation, Jesus again speaks of buying righteousness. Revelation 1:5 describes Jesus as the faithful witness and He speaks to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:14. His counsel to them to correct their nakedness is to buy from Him "white raiment," which is the righteousness of Christ. Revelation 3:18. [2] Several times on that page Ellen White gives this explanation. Thus Jesus again tells us that we buy His righteousness.
Revelation 3:20 describes Jesus as knocking at doors offering to sell these precious treasures described in verse 18, one of which is righteousness. Notice these quotations:
The great Vendor of spiritual riches is inviting your recognition. [Revelation. 3:18 quoted.] ... The Saviour comes with jewels of truth of the richest value in distinction from all counterfeits, all that is spurious. He comes to every house, to every door: He is knocking, presenting His priceless treasure, urging, "Buy of me." [3]
Jesus is going from door to door, standing in front of every soul temple, proclaiming, "I stand at the door, and knock." As a heavenly merchantman, He opens His treasures and cries, "Buy of me..."[4]
"Open your doors," says the great Merchantman, the possessor of spiritual riches, "and transact your business with Me. It is I, your Redeemer, who counsels you to buy of Me." [5]
Jesus here presents Himself as a door to door Salesman, the great Vendor, a heavenly Merchantman. He is selling. He seems to urge Laodiceans to buy these precious treasures from Him, one of which is righteousness--the white raiment.
He urges, "Transact your business with me." Do you recall the description of faith found in Desire of Ages quoted in our previous chapter? Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God.[6]
This transaction concept is much easier to understand when we realize that the "buying" in the Bible is much different from our modern methods of buying. Isaiah 55:1--"Buy without money and without price".
How can you buy without money? The same way much of the world conducts its business today. It is called the "BARTER SYSTEM." You simply trade what you have for that which you need and do not possess. No money is involved. Even the poor are able to trade what they have for what they do not have. So what do we trade in order to buy righteousness from Christ?
In the parable the pearl is not represented as a gift. The merchantman bought it at the price of all that he had. Many question the meaning of this, since Christ is represented in the Scriptures as a gift. He is a gift, but only to those who give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to Him without reserve. We are to give ourselves to Christ, to live a life of willing obedience to all His requirements. All that we are, all the talents and capabilities we possess, are the Lord's, to be consecrated to His service. When we thus give ourselves wholly to Him, Christ, with all the treasures of heaven, gives Himself to us. We obtain the pearl of great price.[7]
The giving of ourselves to Christ is what we have to trade with Jesus. This is how we buy His righteousness. How much of self do we give to Christ? The quotation says we must give all without reserve. Jesus taught the same thing in Matthew 13:46. The merchantman sold all that he had in order to buy the pearl.
The Spirit of Prophecy describes this giving of all in the most explicit terms. Unfortunately many misunderstand these quotations. As you read them, please do not take the obvious meaning because there is an underlying meaning that changes the entire thought.
... It is obtained by willing obedience, by giving ourselves to Christ as His own purchased possession. ...The price we are required to pay is not gold or silver. ... God calls for your willing obedience. He asks you to give up your sins.[8]
There are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl. But they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore they do not find the precious pearl. They have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions. They do not take up the cross and follow Christ in the path of self-denial and sacrifice.[9]
Many who read these thoughts say "I am going to obey if it kills me." They hope by a strong resolve and extreme effort that they will surrender all and truly obey. Others read it and state, "I give up. I might as well quit. I have tried and tried and all I do is fail." Both groups have missed the theme of the whole chapter and have not discovered why the merchantman sells all to buy the precious pearl. The writer once spent a few months in a place where they have pink pearls. It was Bangladesh. From all over the world come the connoisseurs of pearls. Never have you seen addicts like pearl buyers. They would come to the little jewelry shop early in the morning and stay there all day carefully examining each pearl. Let us suppose that one buyer planned to make a beautiful necklace for his lover. He begins by looking for tiny seed pearls of the same size, and then gradually enlarges the size of each pearl, in pairs of course, until he comes to the center pearl which is to be the very largest that he can find. It is "the pearl of great price." Perhaps he searches for it for years and at long last he discovers it. He dare not shout for joy because someone would buy it before he could. So he races home and proceeds to sell all that he possesses in order to buy this special pearl.
But, why would anyone sell all he possesses to buy one pearl? Is he a fool, or is he wise? He certainly appears foolish. The people of Jesus' time understood why. They had seen the pearl buyers and knew their thinking. There is only one reason that he would sell all to buy the pearl of great price. It is his tremendous esteem, his great appreciation and valuation of the pearl. It is of the highest priority in his life. It supersedes all that he has ever possessed or desired and he gladly trades all his possessions in order to possess it. Perhaps we will grasp the meaning of this as we recall Jesus' other counsel concerning pearls: "... neither cast ye your pearls before swine." Matthew 7:6. Why not? Pigs just cannot appreciate pretty rocks. They have no appeal to them. They may like garbage etc., but pearls are of no value to them.
So the question is "What do we appreciate?" Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." Matthew 5:6. We must not forget that the pearl of great price is but a symbol of the great luster and beauty and glory of Christ and His righteousness. What kind of longing and appreciation do we have for Him and His righteousness?
If you will recall when you read pages 117 and 118 of Christ's Object Lessons that the name and theme of the chapter is "The Pearl." How different these quotations appear. Obedience, surrender, giving up all sin and worldly desires are not then something one is forced to do or must do. The motivation for sacrificing all is the high esteem for the pearl. The pearl is so valuable that they gladly give up all to possess it. It is not torture and affliction, but happiness and joy.
When you read the parable preceding the story of the pearl buyers, you will catch the motivation. "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." Matthew 13:44.
When he discovers the treasure, he again hides it, and with joy (for joy thereof) goes to sell all he has in order to buy it. Why is he so happy? Because the treasure is so valuable to him; it is of greater importance than all he owns. The selling of all he owns, a symbol of giving all of ourselves to Christ without reserve, is the happiest experience of his entire life. He is having fun, great joy. He has now found the one thing that gives him everlasting satisfaction, eternal joy.
The treasure in the field, the pearl of great price are but feeble symbols of the great glory, the exalted value of Christ's righteousness. It is only when we find this great treasure in Christ and become so captivated by it that it becomes the greatest, most precious possession in all of life; that obedience, self-denial, sacrifice and the complete consecration of our all to Christ becomes a pleasure instead of a very difficult, painful task. Jesus is the joy of living. Only then does "duty become a delight and sacrifice a pleasure."
Lead them to behold the One "altogether lovely." When once the gaze is fixed upon Him, the life finds its center. The enthusiasm, the generous devotion, the passionate ardor of the youth find here their true object. Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. To honor Christ, to become like Him, to work for Him is the life's highest ambition and its greatest joy.[10]
The Bible attempts to describe the beauty and glory and attractiveness of Christ in such terms as: "the lily of the valley," the "bright and morning star," the "fairest of ten thousand," "the desire of all the ages and nations." Oh, how wonderful is Jesus! How glorious is His righteousness. This is what Ellen White meant when she spoke of "the matchless charms of Jesus." Here is the great attraction, the magnetism, the One great hope of the Father to lure and attract us from this appeal of sin and selfishness to draw us out of the mire and hopelessness of sin.
What a trade! My filthy rags for His spotless robe of beauty and perfection. Yes! You can buy it, the greatest bargain ever offered to anyone and it will make you truly rich; for all the treasures of Christ are for all eternity.
This exaltation of the glory and beauty of Christ as the pearl of great price produced the Pentecostal success.
... As the apostles set forth the glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father, three thousand souls were convicted. They were made to see themselves as they were, sinful and polluted, and Christ as their friend and Redeemer. Christ was lifted up, Christ was glorified. ...[11]
When Christ was exalted and glorified by the apostles, when they presented the glory of Jesus like the splendor of a great pearl shining in all its beauty, then thousands were converted. But let us remember that this glory is the righteousness of Christ--His perfect, gracious, loving character.
The latter rain and the finishing of God's work will come when again the glory of Christ is presented in the Spirit's power.
... The Spirit awaits our demand and reception. Christ is again to be revealed in His fullness by the Holy Spirit's power. Men will discern the value of the precious pearl, and with the apostle Paul they will say, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Philippians 3:7, 8.[12]
"Men will discern the value of the precious pearl." Then it is a joy to forsake all in order to have Jesus. Then our song will be, "Take the world but give me Jesus." For over 100 years God has been waiting for us to discover the heart of the message of 1888. We have been content with something far less than the pearl of great price and the matchless charms of Jesus. In hundreds of ways the Father and the Holy Spirit have attempted to lead us to Jesus and His righteousness. At the same time, Satan has done his utmost to detract and lead us away from the attractive loveliness of Christ, for he knows how great an effect it will have upon us and the church. At this very moment, the Spirit is appealing to us and drawing us to this beauty of Jesus. Oh, how much we need Him! Now is the time to transact our business with Jesus and possess the heavenly treasure!
Oh friend,
DO YOU LOVE JESUS?
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