5 DECEMBER (UNDATED SERMON)
A great bargain
‘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
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 4:1–6
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, skill and the advantage which superior acquaintance with the article in which he deals 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 does the Scripture say? ‘By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many’, that is, through their knowing Christ they become justified.
This is, indeed, another way of putting the system of salvation which is stated thus: ‘how shall they 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 and understands Christ, 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’. In this parable we have a fit emblem of many who lay hold on Christ and find him to be their all in all.
FOR MEDITATION: Knowledge plays a vital role in the salvation of the sinner. First must come ‘the knowledge of sin’ (Romans 3:20); then we are well prepared to receive ‘knowledge of salvation’ (Luke 1:77) and ‘the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). Sadly many go in for the wrong kind of learning and never reach this goal (2 Timothy 3:7). How much do you know of these things?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 350.
A great bargain
‘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
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 4:1–6
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, skill and the advantage which superior acquaintance with the article in which he deals 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 does the Scripture say? ‘By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many’, that is, through their knowing Christ they become justified.
This is, indeed, another way of putting the system of salvation which is stated thus: ‘how shall they 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 and understands Christ, 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’. In this parable we have a fit emblem of many who lay hold on Christ and find him to be their all in all.
FOR MEDITATION: Knowledge plays a vital role in the salvation of the sinner. First must come ‘the knowledge of sin’ (Romans 3:20); then we are well prepared to receive ‘knowledge of salvation’ (Luke 1:77) and ‘the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). Sadly many go in for the wrong kind of learning and never reach this goal (2 Timothy 3:7). How much do you know of these things?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 350.
5 DECEMBER (UNDATED SERMON)
A great bargain
‘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
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 4:1–6
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, skill and the advantage which superior acquaintance with the article in which he deals 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 does the Scripture say? ‘By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many’, that is, through their knowing Christ they become justified.
This is, indeed, another way of putting the system of salvation which is stated thus: ‘how shall they 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 and understands Christ, 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’. In this parable we have a fit emblem of many who lay hold on Christ and find him to be their all in all.
FOR MEDITATION: Knowledge plays a vital role in the salvation of the sinner. First must come ‘the knowledge of sin’ (Romans 3:20); then we are well prepared to receive ‘knowledge of salvation’ (Luke 1:77) and ‘the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). Sadly many go in for the wrong kind of learning and never reach this goal (2 Timothy 3:7). How much do you know of these things?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 350.
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