Sermons on Our Lord's Parables

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINfiTON.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodlypearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” — Matthew xiii. 45, 46.

A MERCHANTMAN endeavours to trade so as to make a profit. Whether he deals in pearls or in grain, he does not hope to obtain riches by labour. He leaves that to those who eat their bread in the sweat of their face. He tries to get his by the sweat of his brain. He is dependent not so much upon labour as upon knowledge, upon skill, upon the advantage which superior acquaintance with the article which he deals in gives to him. Now, this merchantman is, at the very commencement, in some measure a picture of the seeker after Christ. Christ and his salvation are not to be earned; they are not to be procured as the result of labour. But Christ is to be had by knowledge. What saith the Scripture? “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;” that is, through their knowing Christ they be come justified. This is, indeed, another way of putting the system of salvation which is stated thus: “How shall I hear without a preacher?” The work begins with hearing the preacher; then it goes on to believing what they hear, and through believing they are saved. This is virtually knowledge — the knowledge communicated by God’s messenger or by God’s word — the knowledge heard, the knowledge believed. So men come to the knowledge of him whom to know “is life eternal, for when a man knows Christ and understands him, so that he gives his heart to him, then is he saved. Inasmuch, then, as the merchantman seeks his advantage by superior knowledge, he becomes a type of the man who gets saved through obtaining the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I shall not, however, enlarge upon this analogy, but proceed at once

to speak of the merchantman in this parable; for here we have a fit

emblem of many who lay hold on Christ and find him to be their all in

all. Let us watch this merchantman while he is doing four things;

No. 1,424 j first, seeking; then, finding hen selling out; and, fourthly, Intyiny again.

I. First, then, we shall WATCH HIM WHILE HE is SEEKING. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls.” It is different from the man we read of just now who, by accident, discovered a treasure while he was in the field. He was looking for something else, and came upon the treasure. That is the man whom God, in infinite sovereignty, saves, ‘though he was heretofore indifferent and careless. This is a person of a nobler sort. He is of a higher grade of mind — of altogether different mental constitution. He is seeking goodly pearls — something good, not exactly seeking th’e one pearl of great price, for at first he docs not know about it; but, still, he is seeking pearls, and he conies upon one pearl in consequence of his seeking.

Now, notice about him, as a seeker, that he has his mind aroused and engaged. He is thinking about something — thinking about pearls. His heart is occupied with his business. His energies are thrown into it. All his thoughts are in the direction of precious stones. Oh that we could wake men up to exercise the faculty of thinking, and then to direct, to regulate, and to control their thoughts! But thinking is an occupation that a great many persons altogether dislike. They are frivolous. We cannot get them to think about anything. Why is it that people are so passionately fond of reading novels, and so seldom read the true histories which are quite as interesting, and far more capable of affording pleasure and pastime? It is because the minds of men are frivolous. An idle tale — a silly story of a love-sick maid — will engross them by the hour together; but anything that is solid and worth the knowing seems to have small charm for their shallow brains. Many minds never get on the wing at all. Not a few men work so hard with their hands, and suffer such fatigue from, bodily labour, that they are scarcely able to think much; while there are others who dissipate their time and consume their lives in idleness, till they are utterly disqualified for any vigorous thought. They are lazy and sluggish. They have the dry rot in their very souls, Their brains do not work. They seem to live in one everlasting lethargy and day-dream. Oh that men were wise, that they were thoughtful! Happy were the preacher who knew that he was addressing himself to a thoroughly intelligent, thoughtful congregation. We should expect, then, that the handfuls of good seed would drop into the furrows readily, and bring forth an abundant harvest. This merchantman’s mind was aroused. He had something before him.

Equally evident is it that he had a fixed definite object. He had given himself to pearl-hunting, and pearl-hunting was to be the one object of his life. If you had met him, and said, “What are you seeking?” he would have answered in a moment, “I am seeking good pearls: have you any to sell me?” He would have been sure to have the answer ready to hand. But ask many a man whom you meet with, “Sir, what are you living for?” he would, perhaps, tell you what his trade or what his profession might be; but if you pressed him with the question, “What is the main object of life?” he would not like to say that he was living only to enjoy himself — seeking his own pleasure. He would hardly like to say that he was living to grasp and grab and get a fortune. He would hardly know how to answer you. Many young men are in this condition: they have not a definite object. Now, you will not make a good captain if you do not know the port you are sailing for. You will make a poor life of it, young man, if you go out as an apprentice, and then afterwards out as a master, with no definite aim and end. Say to yourself, “I can omj live for two things. I can live for God, or I can live for the devil; which now am I going to do?” Get your mind well fixed and firmly resolved as to which it shall be. I will put it to you as boldly and baldly as even Elijah did when he said, “If Baal be God, serve him; and if Jehovah be God, serve him.” If the world, if the flesh, if the devil be worth serving, go follow out the career of a sensualist and say so. Let yourself know what you are at: but if God be worth serving, and your soul worth the saving, go in for that; but do not sneak through this world really seeking yourself, and yet not having the courage to say to yourself, “Self, you are living for yourself.” Do have a definite and distinct object or else your vital energies will be wasted and your most industrious days will be recklessly squandered.

Keep reading