The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-19
THE sUNDAY-sCHOOL LESSON.


With consummate strategy Jesus went to and
for the masses" The feast-tines found him in
Jerusalem, where the widely-scattered Jews
were wont to gather. The intervals between the
feasts found Him the shores of Galilee, the
center OF population. The manner Of His life at
tracted. He was no mendicant. His humble
tinue had common purse. meager. no doubt.
but sufficient. with what the holy women min
istered who followed in His train. Yet there
no ostentation, though the wife Of Herod's
major-domo was with Him. BY deeds of kindly
helpfulness He identified himself with the people
He had come to seek and save. We have clew
ia the size Of Jesus audiences in the fact that
On one occasion there were five thousand men.
not including and children. II
It was at this epoch that Jesus preaching suf-
fered change of style so marked to excite
the wonder of His disciples. and put question
on their lips An emergency made the change
necessary In the heterogeneous before
Him there were some from whom Ii was neces-
sary to hide for a time the essential nature OF
His kingdom. Had He proclaimed himself ex-
plictly as only king Of hearts He would have
rrecipitated His fate before He could have sown
His seed and trained His apostolic college.
The parable was his shhield. At the same time
that it confused the worldly minded and hostile.
II stimulated the docile TO an inquiry which was
always rewarded. Like Gods lantern in the
sky which led Israers wilderness march. the
parable was light to Jesus friends. dark to His
foes. The Parable of the Sewer. con-
nected, as II is, with an ever-recurring process
of nature, can never become effete And as that
process is which the very sustenance of
human life depends an unwonted dignity at
taches to the parable. And as Jesus. own in
depreciation is attached. 1t is impossible to go
astray In the search for its meaning In
imagination hold in my hand grain Of wheat,
just like that which the sower went forth TO
sow. What is that seed? Perhaps you say: 1T Is
brown But did not ask the colors. "Oblong?"
No. did not ask the shape These are but ''ac-
cidents of the seed. At the center Of that grain
there Is an essence-an Undesirable. invisible
something. The Latins called 1T substantial. the
inner principle of the seed. 1t is this which
gives the accidents of color. size and shape
Extract that principle. and there IS nothing
left. The gospel Is seed. 1t may be
written or spoken. 1t may be Scripture. hymn
sermon, prayer. tract. Sunday-school teaching,
exhortation. The accidents of form multiple.
But at the heart OF IL there must be divine
principle OF life. There must be Jesus words of
spirit and life. The gospel seed requires
a sower There are some seeds which nature
has provided with the means Of sowing them
selves. These are, however, the exceptions which
prove the rule. They usually, too the seeds
of worthless weeds. About in the ratio of their
value is skill and care required in the planting
| of good seed AS multplex a the forms OF the
seed, so are the sewers. Whoever presents Cos
pei truth In such manner that its power ac-
companies it is a sower of seed. The seed i'm
plies soil. And the soils are as multiplex as the
sewers and the seeds. Across the Orien-
| tai fields footpaths may still be seen. Though
allowed, they partake of the nature of trespass.
| Farmers-not accidentally. but purposely-sow
| upon them for a witness that the claim to them
| is not abandoned. The unawakened human
heart is a path trodden hard by sin and evil
habits. Yet IL belongs to God. He still claims IT,.
| His truth is upon 1t for a testimony But
ir such instances the soul of the gospel does not
| touch the soul of the man. There is outward
| hearing. indeed; but outward comprehending.
| And the seed is quickly taken away by the
| wicked one, who sends irrelevant thoughts.
pleasures. business, etc, as flock OF birds to
| devour the seed. Some seed fall upon a
| film OF soil which covers a ledge OF rock. The
rock holding the heat acts like forcing house.
| and causes the seed to terminate all the more
| quickly. But there is chance TO draw moisture
/ from the depths OF the soil. Tor a permanent
ard healthful growth. the seed Of the gospel
| must grow as deep IL grows high. There
must be much interior life there is ex-
| terror expression, as much belief with the
heart confession with the tongue. But the IN
broken rocky covering OF the heart renders an
| interior growth impossible. The life of the seed
IL beautiful, but brief. The same sun that caused
/ II to germinate withers IL. - There is
| still another soil which. though untrodden and
free from rock. yet has secreted In 1t roots of
| poisonous thorn bushes. The thorns and the
wheat grow together; but the thorns faster and
| more luxuriantly. They rob the wheat OF the
| nourishment OF the soil which belongs to IT, its
| portion of sunshine. dew and rain: they poison
| it with noxious breath, they wound IL with
| their sharp briers they choke IT, Two condi-
| tions of human life seem here referred to- The
/ poor. in whom often the extreme anxiety about
| temporal affairs and absorbing attention to the
making of a living chokes the spiritual life. and
| the rich. who. in their abundance. are prone 70
| forget God and indulge themselves to such an
| extent as to stife all spirituality. The
| good ground may now be defined by contrast. II
| is not the wayside. II is not stony. II is not
| thorny. II Is a soil that has been piowed and
| narrowed: stirred to It's depths. soil that has
| caught the sunlight and rain. and holds them.
| A soil that win receive the seed and hide IL.
/ and warm IL In its bosom Such soil will pro-
| cuce a hundred-foid. Moral earnestness-an hon.
| est and good hearts, a good SOIL
THE TEACHERS LANTERN.
| Jesus incompatible legacy 10 His church Is
| his thirty-three parallels. II all the rest OF the
Bible were lost. there is enough in these word
| pictures TO show what the Kingdom OF heaven
| is. and how 20 get into IL. a little mind
seeks to magnify itself by the Of the recon
| dite and obscure. IL is the mark OF great
| teacher that he can make the commonest OBJ
4 jects and processes OF nature art the vehicle
OF instruction. Such was Jesus method.
He spake OF lilies vines and corn.
The sparrow and the raven.
And words natural, 30 wise.
Were on mems hearts engrayeus