在四十六节我们看见，主在十字架上变卖了祂一切所有的，买了那珠子。珠子也是建造新耶路撒冷的材料，乃是活蚌（活的基督）在死水（满了死亡的世界）里为小石子（罪人）所伤，分泌出生命的汁液，包住那叫它受伤的石子（信徒）而产生的。珠子既出于那象征撒但所败坏之世界的海，就必是指教会，这教会主要的是由外邦世界中重生的信徒所构成，乃是“珍贵的”。
主不仅寻找国度；祂也渴望一个美丽的教会，就是珠子。我们已经指出，照着启示录二十一章，新耶路撒冷乃是用宝石和珍珠建造的。换句话说，新耶路撒冷是宝贝和珠子的结合。在马太十三章，田地里的宝贝和出自海的珠子是两样东西。但在启示录二十一章，这两样东西结合在一个实体里。新耶路撒冷是国度，又是教会。在马太十六章，教会和国度二辞交互使用。首先主说，“我要把我的教会建造…”然后祂说，“我要把诸天之国的钥匙给你。”这两个辞交互使用的事实，意即教会等于国度，国度等于教会。最后在新耶路撒冷里，国度和教会成为一个实体。
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The Church Produced Out of the Satan-Corrupted World (1) – Matt. 13:45-46
In verse 46 we see that the Lord sold all, whatever he had on the cross, and bought that pearl. The pearl, produced in the death waters (the world filled with death) by the living oyster (the living Christ), wounded by a little rock (the sinner) and secreting its life-juice around the wounding rock (the believer), is also the material for the building of the New Jerusalem. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan, it must refer to the church, which is mainly constituted with regenerated believers from the Gentile world, and which is of great value.
The Lord is not only seeking the kingdom; he also desires a beautiful church, the pearl. According to Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones and pearls. In other words, the New Jerusalem is a combination of the treasure and the pearl. In Matthew 13 these are two, the treasure in the field and the pearl out of the sea. But in Revelation 21 they are combined in one entity. The New Jerusalem is both the kingdom and the church. In Matthew 16 the terms church and kingdom are used interchangeably. Firstly the Lord said, “I will build my church”; then he said, “I give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens”. The fact that these terms are used interchangeably means that the church is equal to the kingdom and the kingdom to the church. Ultimately, in the New Jerusalem the kingdom and the church become one entity.