Parable 4: THE HID TREASURE AND THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

The Man and the Hid Treasure:

    What is a treasure?  A treasure is anything that is precious to that person. 
It may not have any value, but to those that cherish it, it is a treasure. 

    What is the treasure that this parable speaks of? 
Some say it is the nation of Israel.  Others say it is the Church. 

     Both Israel and the Church are precious and are treasures, 
but these are not the treasures that this parable is speaking of. 
In this parable and other parts of the Scripture,
the treasures refers to the Word of God, the Gospel of God. 

    Contained in this treasure is the knowledge of Christ, the gospel, the mysteries, etc. 
This is the wealth of God and it is the Word of God. 
Israel is precious, but Israel is not the treasure. 
The Church is precious, but the Church is not the treasure. 
Faith, and love, and hope and power, and gifts and joy and everything  and anything that is good,
is precious, but they are not THE TREASURE, BUT, are parts of the treasure,
they are the pearls of the treasure.

But what is revealed to me is my treasure. 
They are the revelation of the Word of God which is the treasure. 
In this parable, it is the Word of God and in particular, it is the Gospel of God,
that opens the door to the wealth of God. 
 

    The wealth of God is the knowledge of Christ Jesus being revealed to us by His Holy Spirit. 
Christ is the treasure and Christ is the Pearl of Great Price. 
Christ in his death is my treasure and when I enter into this treasure, 
into this wealth of deposit, I find the Pearl of Great Price, Christ in Resurrection. 
Christ is the revelation of God. 
God is revealing Himself to us by His Son, Jesus Christ. 
Christ is called the Word of God.
Everything is in the Word of God, everything is in His Son, Christ Jesus. 
 

    Keeping your eyes on Jesus means to keep your mind and your heart on the Word of God,
and letting the Word of God rule in your mind and in your heart. 
Trusting in God means to trust in Jesus Christ,
and trusting in Jesus Christ means to trust in the Word of God. 
Spending time with God means to spend time with Jesus Christ,
and to spend time with Jesus Christ means to spend  time in His Word, the Scriptures, the Bible. 
I cannot know God except through His Son Jesus Christ,
and I cannot know Christ,
except someone preaches the Word of God to me or I spend time in His Word. 

2Cor. 4:3: But if our gospel be hid, it is hidden to them that are lost, 

Col. 2:2-3:  "...to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ," 
                    "In whom are hidden all the treasures (thesauros, wealth) of wisdom and knowledge." 

     The word treasure in the New Testament comes from the Greek word
(thesauros, a deposit, i.e. wealth). 
A treasure is a deposit. 
It contains things precious and valuable. 
In the Bible, the treasure refers to the Word of God. 
The revelations of what it contains and becomes vaulable to the one revealed. 

     It refers to the Word of God, the mysteries, the gospel, the knowledge. 
The knowledge that God has revealed to us becomes a treasure to us. 
The wealth that is the revelation of the Kingdom of Heavens, 
and now in us by the Word of God and by the revelation that the Holy Spirit gives to us. 
It is the glorious Gospel of God,
the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ that the life of our Lord may shine forth to others. 
 

    The treasure is all the preciousness,
contained in the Word of God and revealed Jesus Chist as the Pearl of Great Price. 
The Cross of Christ is the key that opened the door to the Wealth of God,
and the Pearl of Great Price is Christ in resurrection, revealed in Glory: 

    To the Christian,
the treasure is the Word of God which is hidden in God,
(Eph. 3:9; Col. 2:2-3). 
The treasure that was given to the unbelievers,
in the Parable of the Hid Treasure is the Gospel of God, the good news, 
Christ died for our sins. 
But this is a parable of the unbeliever. 
The treasure in this parable, is a treasure hidden in the world. 
 
 

    Before I became a Christian, I was a buddhist by birth. 
I believed there was a God, but I did not know Him. 
I was introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and accepted Him as the way of salvation. 
The Gospel was always there among the religions of the world, hidden to me but in due time,
I found it or I should say, God found me.

I accepted the Gospel of Christ as the only true way to salvation. 
I did not hide it again among the religions of the world,
and buy the world with the gospel hidden in it all mixed up together. 
No I took it out from the world and from other religion and hid it in my heart and made it mine. 
 

    I knew this gospel was different, and made it my own and the gospel became my treasure. 
Now the gospel is the key that opens the door to God's treasure,
and there I see lots of precious things (pearls). 
But when I see the Pearl of Great Price, I realize everything is in Him and He is most precious. 
Now the treasure, or the gospel that was hid in my heart,
will shine forth that others may see the resurrected Christ in my life, or should shine forth as 
The Pearl of Great Price. 
 

    Had I rejected the gospel and said it is the same as buddhism, 
I have hid the gospel again in the world,
and bought the world with the gospel and all the other religion in it together. 
By doing this, 
I am bought by the world's gospel which is based on Works, what I must do. 

    The MAN that found the hidden treasure and hid it again,
is like the man in the Parable of the Talents,
who was given a talent, and he dug in the earth and hid the talent,
and he was labeled wicked and he was cast into outer darkness,
awaiting the final judgment 
(Mat. 25:25-26, 30).
 

    This MAN when he found the treasure, after he hideth, 
and for joy goeth... is also like to the man in the Parable of the Sower,
who when he heard the Word, immediately with joy received it,
but he had no root and withered away
(Mat. 13:20). 

The Similarity of the man who hid the Treasure,
with other parables. 

If this man who found the treasure (The Gospel of God) accepted the death of the Cross,
and made it his own, he would have be saved. 
 

 Hiding it in the world and buying the field (world) means he mixed together with other religions of the world by adding works to the Gospel of God. 

    The word selling comes from the Greek word poleo, which means to trade, barter. 
This is what the world's religion does.

The religions of this world negotiate salvation by works of doing certain rituals.
Had this man not hid the Gospel of God, he would have become the merchant man in the next parable and seek for fine pearls in the beginning which are the wonderful things of God. 
When one finds the Pearl of Great Price, the Christian realizes that all the wonderful things of God,
are all in Christ Himself. 
As young Christians we seek for gifts such as power, holiness, grace, wisdom, mercy, love, etc.
 
 

    The Christians at Corinth did not know these truth and they were seeking worldly wisdom. 
The Apostle wrote to them that wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption is in Christ 
(1Co. 1:30). 

    You are a merchant man when you become a Christian for not only did you buy, 
(go to the agorazo, the market place to be bought by Christ), 
but now can sell (priprasko, to dispose of all and be bond- slave of Christ)to obtain 
the Pearl of Great Price. 

    The word sell in the Parable of the Hid Treasure is POLEO, 
which means to barter, negotiate. 
The word sold in the Parable of the Merchant Man is PRIPRASKO, 
which means to dispose into slavery. 
This is why it is important to look up the original Greek word to get the true meaning. 
The unbelievers negotiate salvation by adding works because they think that must do their part.
 The Merchant Man sold or gave everything,
to know more of the deeper things of the treasure,
and found that it is all in Christ, 
who is the Pearl of Great Price. 

    When we find Christ in resurrection, the Pearl of Great Price
(Polutimos; extremely valuable), 
then you will be a master of his own household,
who is able to bring forth out of his treasure both new and old. 

    This man in this Parable of the Treasure, 
accepted all the religion and the Gospel as the same. 
That is why he is an unbeliever. 
The Merchant Man who sought and found the Pearl,
not only believes that Christ died on the Cross,
but that He rose from the dead,
and is the Pearl of Great Price in Resurrection and seeking Him
and not things (goodly pearls). 

    Salvation by the Gospel of God, 
is based on what Jesus did on the Cross for us,

and He rose from the dead in resurrection. 
When you add works to what Christ had done on the Cross,
and it is grace + works,
then this is what many churches preaches today. 
Other religions of the world have their own way of salvation and it is base on what one must do.
 

    This is what the woman in the Parable of the Leaven did. 
She mixed leaven (works) with the flour, the basic ingredients of bread. 
He is our Bread of life through the Gospel. 
It is hidden in the religion of the world and the unbeliever cannot be saved. 
She is teaching the doctrines of the Pharisees. 

    The man after he found the treasure that was hidden in the world because he hid it again. 
He left it there among the religion of the world, and buys the field or the world's religion,
or is redeemed by the religion of the world. 
He is not a believer. 

    Like many of the other parables the main theme is salvation. 
Many of the things spoken of is referred to the 
GOSPEL, the WORD OF GOD, THE WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS. 

    Understanding the Word of God and its meaning is precious to me and becomes a treasure to me.  The more I understand by the revelation of God is added to my household of wealth. 
All the Word of God is a treasure, a deposit of wealth,
but to me only those things that I understand is precious, and is added to my treasure. 
If I misunderstand the meaning of the Word of God, 
I may have lots of knowledge of facts of the Word of God,
but I cannot bring out both new and old from the treasure, from the Word of God. 
I cannot share with others the precious things from the Word of God to add to their treasure. 

Parable 5: THE PARABLE OF THE NEW AND OLD 

Mat. 13:51-52: 

    After Jesus spoke all the 7 parables in this chapter, 
he turned to His disciples, and asked them if they understood the meaning of the parables,
and they answered, Yes Lord! 
He then said every scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven
(the realm of the spiritual)
is like a man of his household who can bring out of his treasure, 
the riches and wealth of knowledge, things new and old in the right perspective. 
 
 

The things of the old are things from the Old Testaments (old covenant, law) 
and the things of the new are things from the New Testament (new covenant, grace). 

    This Parable of the new and the Old, in this chapter, is related to the Parable of the New Cloth on the Old Garment;
 the New Wine in the Old Bottle, and of the Parable of the Bridegroom and the Bridechamber. 
 

    The Parable of the Bridegroom and the Bridechamber is about fasting, 
In Mat. 9:14-17, the people did not understand about fasting,
and they asked Jesus, and he spoke of the Parable of the Bridegroom and the Bridechamber,
which is about fasting and of the Parable of putting the new cloth on the old garment,
and the of the Parable of putting new wine into the old bottle. 
The people did not understand about the purpose of fasting,
as they were taught only from the Scripture that they had at that time which is the Old Testament. 
 

    The New Testament were not written as yet,
and they did not understand the true meaning of fasting. 
Jesus uttered the Parable of not putting new cloth on an old garment,
and not to put new wine into an old bottle, to teach them that the Old Testament and the New Testament cannot be mixed together. 

The disciples of John and the pharisees were doing fasting,
according to the Old Testament,
and Jesus was teaching the meaning of the New Testament fasting. 
Although there are many similarities in fasting,
there is a deeper meaning of fasting that we should understand. 
 

    When interpreting the O.T. Scriptures, 
you must be sure that there is no contradiction from the N.T. 
especially from the Letters (epistles) to the Churches and individual Christians). 
The N.T. is the fulfilment of the O.T.
(Heb. 8:7-13). 

    Trying to do literally the things of the O.T. 
will destroy the spiritual meaning of the N.T.

and like the old wine will cause the new Bottle to burst. 
We can learn from their experiences but we learn spiritual lessons. 
The O.T. is to warn, comfort and teach us 
(Rom. 15:4; 1 Co. 10:11). 

    Those who emphasizes works will take the O. T. and the N.T. literally,
and will not be able to rightly divide the Word of Truth. 
They are not head of the household and cannot bring out from the Old and from the New,
deeper spiritual truth which is the TREASURES OF GOD. 
When I understand these truth, which are revealed by the Holy Spirit, 
they become to me the rich treasures of God. 
 
 

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