The Detroit times., 1912-07-27
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

BY WILLIAM r. ELLIS.
The memory OF a Hindu guru. or
| teacher. sitting under bo tree at
Jaipur. in India. surrounded by CIR,
| Gle OF eager listeners. men. women ana
| children, recurs to me as l take up
! this story OF the great QUITO doors
Teacher. The eaRerness OF these Indian
! listeners must have been akin TO that
| OF the crowd who gathered on the
shore of the northern border or the
Lake OF Galilee and listened TO the
| Teacher who sat in boat and tau6ht
them, not as the scribes and the Phari'
| sees. their conventional teachers, but as
! one having authority.
II was the rule for religious teachers
| to draw their lessons from the accepted
| books, but this unconventional raDpl,
| who was derlded by His enemies as
| only Journeyman carpenter told
stories about the common HE whlch
had been familiar TO all His hearers
from earliest childhood He clothed
His loftiest teaching Ia the ilgures OF
every day. The profoundest wisdom
may be expressed In the plalEest
speech. new sanctity TO the things
OF the ordinary days was Impaired by
Jesus. II was In His spirit that one or
His modern disciples wrote.
"One stone the more swings 10 ts
place
In that dread temple OF Thy worth.
II is enough that by Thy grace
saw naught common in Thy earth.
The Inexpressible Kingdom.
Four OF the stories or parallels told
that day to the music OF the soft lap
ping OF Galilee's waves against the
sides of the boat and the pebbly beach:
make up the present Sunday Schooi
Lesson.
These are the parallels of the treas
ure hidden In the field OF the pearl OF
great price. OF the net and the house
holder. All have to do with the one
major theme OF the Master at this time,
the Kingdom OF Heaven-a truth so 80
many figures and forms for Its express
sion. AS "a lover liltens his sweetheart
to a star, TO a flower, TO jewel so
Jesus seemed TO search His knowledge
to ind parallels and parallels for the
, Incompatible and ineNpressible King
dom OF Heaven.
As we enter upon the study OF the
parallels themselves, let IL be by q
contemplation OF the greatness ana
glory OF this kingdom which engrossed
the thought OF Jesus. The search TOT
1t has been the greatest quest or the
ages We read its meaning to the hrst
centuries in the catacombs at Rome. IN
the magnificent ruins at Ephesus. In
the ancient manuscripts from the Nile.
All through the centuries the King
dom passion has burned more or less
brightly in the hearts OF the best men
and women. Never did IL glow so bril-
liantly as today The supreme passion
OF this twentieth century, whether men
realize II as such OF not. is the en-
deavor to bring to pass the Kingdom
OF Heaven on earth.
Orientnls and "Antikas."
More than once in the villages OF
Mesopotamia have wandered about
without an interpreter, pronounclnP
only the magic word. "antlka nor hg
TO find some treasure OF archeoloSy--n
coin a seal, or q cunieform inscription.
To this in good part ! owe collection
OF antiquities for the ancient passion
OF the oriental TO seek for hid treasure
still abides In unabated ardor lndeca,
q. iVn
which civilization has placed upon an
tiquities The dweller in the Levant
is allured by the consciousness that he
may be walking over priceless treasure
"a sarcophaGus like that or Alexander
which was dug up at Sldon. or pot
OF gold, or precious inscription.
secured scores OF coins, none later than
the Crusades. from the villagers or
Syria and Mcsopotamia
SO this parable of the husbandman
who found treasure hidden In us
field and then sold all that he had that
he might buy the field. seems very
natural 10 one who possess even
superficial knowledge OF the Orient
Mother Earth has been the great
banker OF Asia. Even 70 this day some
OF the native Indian princes bury their
treasure.
The point of the parable is that the
Kingdom OF Heaven Is treasure be-
yond measure. and that It may be come
upon Unexpectedly. The farmer thought
only to get grain. when he suddenly
found gold The treasure was more
than he had ever dreamed or. For
tunately, he had the wisdom 20 see its
value and TO secure II. IL is always
n good investment to find the Kingdom
at any price II is treasure that
grows richer with possession. Ego
hath entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared
for them that love Him."
The Gem That Needs No Art
Alone among precious stones. the
pearl needs no aid from the art OF mar.
IL has always been synonym for
beauty and pricelessness Even the
polished diamond has not the soft and
Jesus cited the parble OF the pearl
merchant who found that there was
10 be had one pearl OF great price. SUI
passing all others that he had known:
Therefore he sold all that he had and
bought It.
This is picture OF the man seeking
the Kingdom who goes diligently on.
in pursuit OF the very best. Other re-
iipions may be like lesser pearls. but
the Kingdom which Christ preached
was the great pearl for which all othors
should be sold There Is much twaddle
talked in our time about comparative
religions and the equality OF ethnic
faiths: and about any religion being
good enough IL a man only believes ".
In this parable we have the mind OF
Christ upon this subject. The King
price. The teaching OF the Ma5ter was.
seek We first the Kingdom" No other
interest In life, material, social or
spiritual. should be allowed TO stand In
the way OF the search for that treasure
which once Rlimpsed makes the soul
thenceforth dissatisfied with lesser
pearls.
sorting the Catch.
Somewhat like unto the lesson
studied I'm the parable OF the tares, was
the third one told by Jesus In which
TTe iikened the Kingdom unyO a net
which was cast into the sea and gath
cred In Of every kind OF fish. when
II was drawn TO shore the tsherrna n
sat down and gathered the edible ahd
marketable nsh into their toa,. and
thrsw tho others overheard again.
This II somewhat n missionary par
able. for In Its beginnings the Church
does gather I'm all sorts OF people.
There must be testing. here as woll
as hereafter. Thus In Korea at the