The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON xl, FIRST QUARTER. INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH IS.

L
"a. Another parable put He forth unto
them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
likened unto man which sowed good seed
In his field" AS this parable is only one
Of a series of seven recorded In this chap
ter, and probably spoken on one day, four
by the seaside and three, with the inter
probation Of this one, privately In the
house, we must consider briefly the seven
that we may better understand this one
We must also notice why He now began to
speak in parallels. 1t was not that they
\ might better see and understand, but just
the contrary (verse 49,. They had rejected
their King (chapter xiii 14), and now He
will not tell them plainly what would
happen in consequence. 1t was no mys-
terry, but something very plainly revealed
in the prophets, that there should be a
kingdom on this earth, with righteous
King on David's throne, bringing blessing
to all nations, but 1t was n mystery still
hidden as to what would take place on
this earth If this kingdom should for any
cause be postponed. These seven parallels
| set forth the mysteries of the kingdom of
| heaven-that Is, the course of this age till
| the harvest. Only portion of the seed
sown will bring fruit to perfection, and
much of that will be hindered by tares
true believers will become great worldly
thing full of birds in the branches, the fol-
lowers of the devil joining the church for
their own ends The church herself 1.-THE
woman with the meaD will so corrupt her
food that there will be but little sound
doctrine, the preachers preaching to please
the people and not the Lord But there is
another side to this dark story and that is
told to the disciples in the house privately
(verse 36) Because there is real treasure
of true believers In this field, the world,
One has bought it who has the right of re-
demption, and He did so by giving up all
that He had. The treasure may be the
true Israel. See Elk. xix, 8, g.; Nal. Iii, IL,
margin. The one pearl from the depths of
the sea is very suggestive of the church
gathered out of all nations. The One buy
ing 1t must be, as in the former case, the
Lord Himself, for He gives up all He has.
Then when the elect church has been pre-
sented faultless, the one pearl and elect
Israel made "a righteous nation, the treas
ure for the time being hidden in the field,
there shall be a great multitude from all
nations who shall form the saved nations,
who shall walk in the light of the New
Jerusalem and bring their glory and honor
into il REV. xxi, "a, 26). God has great
plan which He has revealed to us and those
who walk with Him will never be discour-
aged lisa. Kill 4; lii, ~. AS to the first
verse of our lesson His own explanation is
that He Himself is the sower, true believ-
ers are the seed, and the field is the world
25. But while men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat
and went his way" His explanation in
verses 3S, 80, is that the tares are the chill
dren of the wicked and the sower of suck
is the enemy, the devil If men were wide
awake-that is, Gods men-the enemy
might not get in as many tares as he does
but too many are asleep like Jonah, turn
ing their backs on what God wants them
to do, or, like Samson, given up To living
unto themselves. Let us all give heed to
Rom. xiii, IL Eph. V, IA Many preach
or out of employment might find light on
his path very quickly if he had no touch of
either Jonahs or Samson's trouble.
26. but when the blade was sprung up
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the
tares also" One cannot always tell which
are tares and which are wheat but the
Lord knoweth them that are His, and He
will make no mistake. Each one can be !
sure for himself whether he is tares or
wheat, child of the wicked one or child
of God. l John v, ~ with John /, 12, and
iii, 10, will tell any one who wants really
10 know.
"a. $50 the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst not
thou SOW good seed in thy field? From
whence, then, hath it tares?" At the mar
riage in Cana the servants knew whence
came the wine, but this is more difficult
case, and servants do not know every
thing; not by good deal. We know in
part and if any man thinketh that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing
yet as he ought to know Q Cor xiii, 8, 12
viii, p.
2S. "He said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servants said unto |
him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up?'' Some servants seem to enjoy
gathering out, or attempting to gather out,
the tares, or at least in letting the tares
know what desperate tares they are in the
estimation of the wheat.
30. but He said, Nay; lest while we
gather up the tarcs, ye root up also the
wheat with them" The roofing up or
gathering up process can have no reference |
to salvation, for in harvest time all are
gathercd-the tares for the fire and the
wheat for the barn. In chapter XIV, ID, He
says Every plant which My Heavenly |
Father hath not planted shall be rooted |
up"
80. "Let both grow together until the |
harvest, and in the time of harvest ] will |
say to the reapers, Gather We together first |
the tares and bind them i'm bundles to |
burn them, but gather the wheat into my |
barn. This verse is fully explained 10y |
verses 80 to 43. The harvest is the end OF !
the age as the expression lend of the |
world always signifies. / do not know |
where we are told that this planet shall |
ever be destroyed. Even Peter, in speak
ing of wonderful changes which shall oc-
cur, says with great emphasis, "Neverthe- |
less, we, according TO His promise, look |
for new heavens and a new earth where |
in dwells Righteousness" (II Pet iii, 13). |
There have been ages, and there are |
ages to come; the present one, of which |
our Lord spake, already draweth to q |
close, but the beginnings and closings |
Of the ages seem always to be of an over |
tapping nature rather than a decided and |
marked division between the one and the |
other The second coming of our Lord |
JeSus at the end of this aUa will Iila HE