The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-10-01
SABBATH SCHOOL,
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
OCTOBER s.
Lesson Text: parable Of che Vine
yard" Luke xx., 8, 19-Golden
Text: Isaiah liii., 3-Com-
mentary.

SO. ''Then began he to speak to the people
this parable: A certain man planted q
vineyard, and let 1t forth to husband
men, and went into far country for long
time" He is now about to tell them OF
their history as nation and Of their treat
ment of their God and His servants from
the days of their coming out Of Egypt even
unto His death at their hands. We are not
left in any doubt as to who or what Is sig.
aifed by the vineyard, for 1t is written,
THE vineyard Of the Lord Of Hosts Is the
house of Israel, and the men Of Judah His
who it was that planted the vineyard-ths
Lord Of Hosts. The husbandman would mean
the kings, prophets and priests who ruled
over the people as Gods Representatives. His
going away probably signifies the with
drawd Of His manifested presence In the
lays Of Samuel, when they desired king,
like other nations, thus, as he said to Sam
lel, rejecting Him and not Samuel Sam.
viii, q. Grit may refer to earlier days
when they relied on the ark rather than on
God, who dwelt between the cherubim; or
yet earlier, to the days of the judges when
they forsook Him and He allowed their
enemies to oppress them The contrast to
all this Is the vineyard Of which BE Is the
True Vine and His Father the hushandman,
and all the faithful are living branches. To
such he says, Il am with you alway;" II
will never leave thee"
10. "And at the season He sent servant
to the husbandmen, that they should give
him Of the fruit Of the vineyard; but the
husbandmen beat him and sent him away
empty" We are very plainly told what
fruit He expected; He looked for judg-
nent, but behold, oppression; for righteous
I,.k 1o1 ar~a2
.ebeilious, and Companions Of thieves; every.
one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. ).
they Judge not the fatnerless, neither dothl
the cause Of the widow come before them,n
lisa. v, z; L., 23) These things were the
Wild grapes which His vineyard produced,
instead Of the good grapes which He had q
dsht to expect lisa. v, A.
II. "And again He sent another servant;
and they beat him also, and entreated him
shamefully, and sent him away empty"
u. "And again He sent third; and theY
wounded him also and cast him out" These
three sendings probably cover all the prophets
from Samuel to John the Baptist. They
might be divided into those before the cap
the immediate forerunner Of Christ.
13. "Then said the Lord Of the vineyard,
What shall dof" Not what shall do to
punish these guilty rebek how shall most
quickly sweep them from the earth3 That
would need no planning. A moments with
drawal Of His mercy and they are gone But
He Is considering what else He may do that
BE may win them to Him.
II will send My beloved Son. It may be
they will reverence Him when they see Him."
Here Is glimpse Of the love Of God as seen
God knew beforehand just how they would
treat His servants and also His Son, but
sometimes He speaks as man as If looking
at things from human standpoint
IA. "But when the husbandmen saw him
they reasoned among themselves, saying,
This Is the heir; come let US kin him, that
the Inheritance may I've ours" Like Joseph's
brethren, who hated him and said: Come
now and let us slay him, and let us see what
will become Of his dreams" (Gen. xx1vi., 8,
20. If we did not know it to be q true story
that is contained in this parable, We could
hardly believe such ingratitude possible.
believe that the greatest fact in the Bible,
and In all history. and the least one under
stood, Is the love OF God. Who among US be-
gins to appreciate the greatness Of that
which Is contained in John Ill, 16? Who can
fathom the height and depth or measure the
length and breadth of the love of God, which
passeth knowledge tEph. ill.,, Is, 19? God
gives Himself to you, Gear reader, in the
person Of His Son, ard how do you treat
Hin? y
Is. $50 they cast him out Of the vineyard
and killed him. What therefore shall the
Lord of the vineyard do unto them" Again
he foretells His death. Its ever before Him.
Xii. q. BE is thinking more of these poor
blinded, self-destroying people than Of
Himself. He shall rise again from the deed.
BE shall live forever. The kingdom shall
vet be His. But those who die in rebellion
against Him must perish. The What shall
Idof' of VS.. Is was loves last effort. He
can dono more.
1e. ''He shall come and destroy these hus.
bandmen, and shall give the vineyard to
others, and when they heard it they said God
forbid" Matthew says that it was the
people who gave the verdict Matt. XXI, AZ;
It may have been the disciples who said God
verdict and the people have said God for
bid.n These husbandmen are the enemies of
chap. XIX. q, who refuse to submit to Him
and must perish The vineyard given to
others He explains in Matt. xxi, 43, by say
ing: ''The Kingdom of God shall be taken
from YOU and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof"
IA. land He beheld them and said, What
Is this then that Is written, The stone which
the builders rejected, the same Is become the
head Of the corner" This is from Ps. lis,
the latter part Of which, like 1sa. xii, refers
to the Day of the Lord when He shall have
His rejection and approaching death, he
constantly points forward to His ultimate
triumph. His title, 1.-The Shepherd, the
Stone Of Israel," found in Gen. xxx, "a, Is
in the blessing upon Joseph; and as Joseph,
hated and sold by his brethren, was next
seen by them as great ruler to whom tney
had to bow down for bread, thus literally
fulfilling his dreams which they vatnly
sought to put g stop to-their very malice
only helping the fulfillment; 90 Jesns the re.
jected stone, hated, sold, cruciied, shall
again be seen by Israel, but it viii be as
great Ruler, the head corner stone, their SAL
Tation and their King.
Is, .Whosoever shall fall upon that stone
shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder" This Is
from Isa. viii, Il, IS, and Dan. H., 45, refer
ring to the present and future result OF re,
fnsinp to receive Him. Jesus crucihed and
risen from the dead is the foundation and the
onIy foundation on which to build for eter-
nifty (Acts iv., 1919; and He tells us that the
way to build Is to hear and do His words
Matt. vii, "a, 25.
10. .And the chief priests and the scrioes
the same hour sought to lay hands on Him,
and they feared the people, for they per
ceiyed that He had spoken this parable
against them" What blinded fools they
were, for in the next verse we see them send
inc out men who were to feign themselves
righteous so as to catch Him in His words.
After all His reading their hearts and telling
their thoughts they still think to deceive
Him. and this parable, which they see Is
snoxen against them, instead of working re-
Ter, How fully given over to Satan they
must.be. Let US never be the least offended
by ANYTHING our dear Lord says or does or
permits, but may all things draw US nearer