What about the remainder of the Gentile world? When the Lord Jesus comes back many of them still will not be Christians. The Lord knows how to take care of them. He will send His angels to gather them all to Him and He will exercise judgment over them. This is the significance of the parable of the net and this will complete the Lord's dealing with the human race. After this judgment, God will be able to rest.
These parables of the mysteries of the kingdom show us that the Lord Jesus came as a Sower to sow the seed and that eventually He gained a pearl. The pearl comes out of the seed. Christ is the seed, and the church is the pearl. No wonder the Lord Jesus sold all that He had to buy the pearl! We should not think that we are the seller or the buyer. We are poor and cannot pay; neither do we have anything to sell. The pearl is too precious and the price is too great. The Lord Jesus paid the price, selling all that He had to buy the church. Acts 20:28 reveals that the Lord Jesus purchased the church with His own blood. He bought the church by paying such high price. The Lord Jesus sowed Himself as the seed, and eventually He will receive a pearl. What a joy this will be to the Lord!
If we examine Matthew 13, we will notice two things. First is growth; the seed needs to grow. As we pointed out previously, Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God made to grow (1 Cor. 3:6, Gk.). The second thing is transformation. The pearl is not an item of God's original creation; it is a transformed piece of sand. In itself the sand is not precious, but it is covered and transformed by the secretion of a precious element. Transformation is not self-correction or a mere outward change. It is a metabolic change which results from a new element being added into us. At one time, we were all little rocks. Then the resurrection life of Christ was added to us. Again and again the resurrection element was secreted over us, producing a change in life. This is transformation. In this one chapter of Matthew, we see both growth and transformation. We need to experience growth and transformation day by day. In the next chapter we will see that growth and transformation are always accompanied by the building. Eventually, there are not many pearls, but one great pearl. This signifies one entity comprised of many who have been built together into oneness. This is the building. Thus, we have growth, transformation, and building.
With the seed, the wheat, and the meal there is the possibility for the evil one to damage by bringing in something negative and corrupting. But with the pearl and the treasure, Satan can do nothing. In the parables of the treasure and pearl, Satan is not mentioned. Whenever there is transformation in a church, Satan is finished. Satan can do nothing against the New Jerusalem. At that time, he will be in the lake of fire. The principle is the same today. If the church is transformed, Satan will be jobless. If our growth remains at the stage of the seed, the wheat, or the meal, Satan will have many opportunities to damage and frustrate. However, when we are transformed, Satan will be finished. He will be unable to inject any more leaven. We need growth, and even more, we need transformation.
We are not only wheat and meal; eventually we become the pearls. First, we are the vegetables; by growth and transformation we become the minerals. According to the revelation of the Bible, the precious stones and pearls are for God's building. The building comes from growth and transformation. For the building, the vegetable life is insufficient—we need the minerals. We need the treasure and the pearl.