Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1904-05-11

OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Parable OF Barren Fig Tree. Luke 1915
Healing lniirm Woman. Luke lSl0-2l
Teaching About the Kingdom. Luke lS:22-So
Warned Against Herod ....... Luke l3:3l-S5
Discourse at Pharisee's Table Luke l4:l-2i
Discourse on Counting the Cost.......
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. Luke H.e5-SS
PARALLELS. Lost Sheep and Lost Coin.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. Luke l5:l-lo
Parable. Lost Son...............Luke l5:ll-3.
TlME.-January. a. ID. 80
PLACE.-Peraea. the same as the las;
lesson.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Jesus has so far Tvs. lid illustrated
from things lost; now ii is a person.
son, and il is a fathers heart that bleeds
for him In this. the greatest of all
parallels. Jesus comes back TO His own
illustration of the relation between God
and man. and pictures it in the simplest
and most beautiful and most winning
way possible. Most of us are not and
need not be theologians in the ordinary
sense. but we may all master the theol-
ogy of the parable of the Prodigal Son.
and with that We have the essence OF
erdl varieties of theology to be found
in the &C books that we call the Bible
but whether they took shape before the
birth of Jesus, or after His death. they
must square with His own teaching with
regard to God and man and salvation or
we cannot accept them for ourselves.
"A certain man had two sons" The
whole point of the parable is in the re-
lationship; father and son. The young
er of them" He was inexperienced and
headstrong. 1t is the old story of boy
with hankering. in itself natural and
right. to see the world and broader
life than that OF the home of his child
hood; he supposed he knew the world
had probably Dragged of It; distance
had lent enchantment and he was wild
to enter its varied and fascinating life.
The portion of thy substance that fall
eth to me-" One-third of the property
would be the portion" OF the younger
son; two-thirds that of the elder. A
boys desire to realize the freedom and
activities of manhood becomes wrong
the moment 1t forgets to have considera-
| ton for the rights and feeling of others,
and the restraints existing because of
his relationship TO home or society or
God. He divided unto them his liv-
ing" Not because he had to: not be-
cause he was convinced that his boy
would use the money wisely: but per
haps because he saw that a time had
come in the boys life when he must be
thrown on his own responsibility Men
are creatures OF free will. and this boy
was become a man. Took his Journey
into a far country" He wanted to get
away from all who had ever seen or
known him. from the restraint that
their presence would be to him. Riot
Gus living" Perhaps he had meant
only to see IT; perhaps seeing life" TO
him meant seeing low, immoral. alb
normal life, as II does to so many; per-
haps he thought he could play with fire
and not be burned. or perhaps IL was a
case Of the candle and the moth-the
life Of gay revelry had an almost ire
sistible attraction for him, and he few
to II the moment he was free
when he had spent ALL" That he
spent all indicates the sheer madness
Of his course. He ignored almost every
consideration that should influence a
young man beginning life. There arose
mighty famine" The famine"
usually comes to the one who has
thrown away his opportunities II is
neither good economy nor good morals
10 learn wisdom only from the bitter
experiences OF foolishness and sin
This young man had not sense enough
to learn it in any other way. He did not
-
want" Then, when the terribleness Of
his mistake came to him what did he
do? Did he say: IL will arise and go to
my father" Did he admit that he had
been wrong and go back? Not yet. II
Is hard to do that He became a swine
herd. "Husks:" The nutritious pods
of the carob tree; somewhat like locust
pods The last resort Of starving Syrians
even to-day.
when he came TO himself" one of
the most significant sentences in the
whole parable; Jesus did not assume
that man is naturally depraved-a child
OF wrath, but the reverse. The far coun-
try, with its drunkenness and misery.
he is in. to be sure but IT is not his
home and that life is not his life. II
is unnatural. abnormal and insane
When the prodigal came to his senses.
10 himself his real self. he realized fl
too-that though he was with the swine
he was not one Of them-that he was the
child OF his noble father. that his better
self' was his true self and that in leav-
ing that nightmare land he was return
ing home. In calling men to follow Him
Jesus is not calling them to leave their
own life TO live one that is not their
own, but from an abnormal and unsat-
isfactory life OF wrong and unrest back
TO the wholesome. natural life Of chill
dren Of God. He only wants us to come
to ourselves. for that will mean coming