Pearl Of Great Price

05 Jul “The Pearl of Great Price” – Neville Goddard

By Neville Goddard

April 16, 1963

Tonight’s subject is the “Pearl of Great Price.” This is taken from the 13th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, 45th and 46th verses. It’s all about the kingdom of heaven. First of all, let us say that the kingdom of heaven is simply that state into which man rises, where everything is completely subject to his imaginative power. He is destined to be an heir, one with his Father who is God, where everything is put under his power. Now, here is the quote from this 13th of Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” It is my hope that I can bring you to that pearl tonight. You may not value it to the point where you’re willing to sell all that you have to buy it, but I will tell you of this pearl. Very few are willing to sell all and buy the pearl.

But let me now quote from another passage of the gospel, the 11th chapter of the Book of Luke, the 21st through the 23rd: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes from him the armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.” The very next line, as though it’s an afterthought, throws all the light in the world upon that statement, “He who is not with me is against me.” There is no benevolent neutrality, none whatsoever. He who is not with me is my enemy; he is against me.

So we find the one who is completely in control of this kingdom of heaven, and I tell you that being is called in scripture, Christ. But Christ is defined as “the power and the wisdom of God.” In the first chapter of the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, “Christ is the power and the wisdom of God” (verse 24). Don’t look for a man. A man is only the instrument through which this power and this wisdom is exercised, but Christ himself is the power and the wisdom of God. You and I are the instruments through which this power and this wisdom is exercised.

So Paul makes the statement, “From now on we’ll regard no one from the human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from the human point of view, we regard him so no longer.” You who are taking notes, that’s his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, the 5th chapter, the 16th verse. “From now on we regard no one from the human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from the human point of view, we regard him thus no longer.” And then he, the author of that statement, defines Christ for us, “Christ is the power and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Now we are told, “By him all things were made and without him was not anything made that was made,” but nothing (John 1:3). And so we invite you now to test Christ in you. Again from the letters of Paul, the 13th chapter, 5th verse—in fact, read it through to the 7th verse—but I’ll quote you the 5th: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in thee?—unless of course you fail to meet the test. I hope you will discover that we have not failed” (2 Corinthians 13:5). And then he gives us a warning, for now he’s speaking only of power, power and wisdom personified in the form of one called Christ Jesus. And now he warns us, “I hope and I pray to God that you do not use it in the wrong way” (verse 7). Even if you think—he’s implying now that I have not used it to the full of my knowledge—I’d rather that you hear and feel that I have made a mistake or I have failed than that you use it evilly, implying, stating quite openly, that you can misuse power.