The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-05-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson IA the Intern n tional series Zee
MAY ~. lOOo-Parablss 81
the ktngdom.
Prepared by II. &. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TEXT.

THE LESSON TEXT
(Ma.thew i3:24-33J
a. Another parable put He forth unto
them. saying: The Kingdom OF Heaven
Is likened unto a man which sowed good
seed In his field.
Is But while men slept. his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat. and
went his way.
%. But when the blade was sprung up.
and brought forth fruit. then appeared the
tares also.
q. SO the servants OF the householder
came and said unto him: Sir. didst not
thou SOW good seed In thy field? From
whence then hath II taresl
%. He said unto them: An enemy hath
done this The servants said unto him:
Wit thou then that we go and gather
them up7
%. But he said: Nay: hest while ye
gather up the tares. We root up also the
wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the
harvest: and In the time OF harvest will
say To the rcapers: Gather we together
first the tarcs. and bind them In bundles
TO burn them: but gather the wheat Into
my bars.
81 Another parable put he forth unto
them. saying: The Kingdom OF HeaveS
Is like TO a grain OF mustard seed. which
4 man took and sowed In his field
81 Which indeed IL the least of all
seeds: but when IL Is grown. II Is the
greatest among herbs. and becometh
tree 50 that the birds OF the air come ano
lodge In the branches thereof
80 Another parable spake lie unto
them: The Kingdom OF Heaven Is like
unto heaven. which woman took, and Mo
In three measures OF meal. TIL the whole
was lcavened :.
GOLDEN TEXT-The field is the world
Matt 1928
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
This lesson properly includes the
seven parallels spoken at the same time
as the parable Of the sowcr which was
considered last week. The seven
parab.es TO be studied are recorded in
Matthew l3:24-52 and Mark 4:26-3S
These parallels are the following:
OF the Tare-.
or the Mustard Seed
OF the I.eaven.
OF the Hid Treasure.
OF the Pearl OF Great Price.
OF the Fishing Net.
OF the Fruitful Field.
The Parable of the Tares.-ln the
earlier stages of its growth the tares
cannot be distinguished from the
wheat. 1t is not until nearly harvest
time when the ear is developed that it
can be safely weeded out. This Is an
accurate picture of the church. With
in its folds ore good and bad alike. Not
all who have taken upon themselves
the vows of service to Christ are His
disciples. On the other hand il may be
that outside the church there are true
disciples of our Lord. Church fellow
Il = a.+ snr a.
helpful associations and the greater
incentive To do Christian work: but
| Within the church who is to say which
are the wheat and which the tares?
Jesus says th,. "by their fruits ye shall
know them" therefore in His own time
| the great Lord of the Harvest will sep
arate the good from the bad.
1t is well 70 note that there is moth
ing in the parable counter TO the teach
| ing of the last lesson concerning in
| dustrious cultivation of the soil.
Thorns and known weeds must not be
| allowed to flourish. but should be
| p,uckcd at once. The parallels of the
sower and of the tares should be dis
tngu.shed. The seed in the latter
/
rather the children of the Kingdom"
| The field is the world rather than the
heart. SO in other regards the para les
are very unlike. The parable of the
sowtr gave us one aspect of the King
don. of God. the parab's of the tares
gives us another and entirely different
| aspect.
Parable Of the Mustard Seed.-Th.s
| parable indicates the growth in ex-
tent OF the kingdom. From the small
est beginnings the greatest things
often come. The Christian faith has
spread abroad in n marvellous degree
since this parable was spoken. But
besides this broad application the
parable has an individual application.
\ little faith may grow 10 be strong
| stalwart faith. More than this the i'm
portance Of all little things is shown.
| No one knows what may result from a
single thought or word. Vast good or
harm may eventually come about.
| Parable OF the Leaven. - Another
great truth is inculcated here. 1t Is
concerning the manner in which the
kingdom is TO grow. In another place
luke 1920 Jesus says: "Thc king
dom of God cometh not with obserya-
tion." The growth Of the Kingdom is
quiet and transformations. bu, none the
less powerful and effective.
Parable of the Hid Treasure. We
Wilt upon one other Of these para
bles. Jesus ,kens the Kingdom OF
Heaven to treasure that has been
lost in field. 4 stranger happens
along and finds 1t. lie hides II in an
other place in the same field for fear
that another knows of its whereabouts.
Then he goes to the owner of the field
and buys it. It is needless to say that
this does not teach that we are TO hide
our light under bushcl. but IL does
show how very valuable thing can i'm
part value to q comparatively worth
less thing. Any number of fields were
as valuable, in themselves considered,
MS this. but they contained no extraor-