The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-08-02
LESSON FOR AUGUST a.
THE WORTH OF THE KINGDOM.

THE WORTH OF THE KINGDOM.
LESSON TENT Matthew 10. 4463.
Coz pEN TEXT Seek ye first his
Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all
lh"~" things shaIl be added into you"
Matthew 50.
We have studied some Of the prIn-
ctpIes that are to obtain in the es-
tohItshing and the working out of this
nc" kingdom Jesus came to found,
ana the question naturally arises, Is
1t Of sufficient value for me to con-
slider or seek 10 enter It, or to possess
it?' In our lesson today there is set
before US four parallels (Jesus' fayorlte
way OF tcachlug) which he gave priv
Rtciy To his disciples and not to the
multitude, that ought to answer any
such questioning in our hearta.
The FIRST two have to do with the
great value Of the kingdom, the sec
aud It's MIXED character and final sepa.
ration, and the last, the great rcspon-
sihiItty Of those who possess its
truths. In this entire group Of par
abies found in the thirteenth chapter
or Matthew are four that are for men
who are careful to observe the out
ward development, and four others
that are for those mon Of faith who
see beneath the surface the hidden
things Of the kingdom. Those men
who view the kingdom In each par
tlcuIar age as God sees rather than
as man observes.
Today's lesson sets forth the pur.
chase of things Of great value, the nc
QUESTION and disposition Of things OF
n mixed value, and lastly, the use OF
these values after coming into the pos
session Of them.
!. The hidden treasure, v. a.. Per-
haps more properly this should be
termed the parable Of the bought field.
We need to remember that in all Of
these parallels the Master himself IL
tho important parsonage. He is the
ono who s0ws the seed, etc. Hence
We understand that he Is the one
who discovers this great treasure hid"
den In the field. He has already told
US that the feel. Is the world" Matt.
1889.
Symbolism Of Pearls.
II. The pearl of great price, VS.. As,
40, This parable is very much the
same as the foregoing, yet 1t adds great
strength and force to this study In
values. We ought to be very clear In
our study and application. The pearl
of great price may perhaps be taken
as a symbol Of our salvation, but II
80 for us 10 interpret the merchant.
man as the commonality of man would
be for the sinner to purchase his own
salvation, a thing az far as possible
for the New Testament teaching.
Why does Jesus speak of pearls to
the Hebrews who did not esteem them
at all? What Is the symbolism Of a.
pearl? The pearl Is the one precious
stone that Is the result Of a living
organism; It, Is the result Of an injury
done to the life Of the oyster. 1t has
always stood for purity and for In
noCence, Is It then illogical for US to
assume that Christ Is the merchant
who gave all to redeem 70, g.,
buy back the lost souls Of mankind7
Let us turn to Paul's words, remem-
bering the washing process, che pain
full process Of developing pearls and
the ultimate beauty and value Of this
the pearl Of great price, Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself
for It; that he might s~anctify 1t, hay
ing Cleansed Il by the washing OF
water with the Word, that he might
present the church to himself a glo-
rious church. Not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing; but that
should be holy and without blem-
(Eph. 5:25.27)
III. The drag net, VA. 47-50. This
Is another that deals with the
mixed character Of the kingdom here
ton incident thereto. 1t Is noticeable
this Is collective, not individual,
There will be many move
that will ~Ostensibly be for the
gathering OF men into this kingdom,
but the principle here laid down is
that one considered in the lesson Of
the wheat and the tares, viz, that Ill
there shall be cast out all
things that do offend. In the finality 4
Of all things the kingdom shall be
without spot or blemish. Hence We
do not read into this parable empha-
SIS upon any phase Of evangelism.
Search the Scriptures.
". The householder, va. 5t-63. In
The first Of these parallels we had the
Word as the seed Of this new kingdom,
N this the eighth Of the kingdom par
lbles we revert as 1t were to the mat
Ter of the Word. Jesus asks his
disciples II they understand the Word
he has spoken to them. Their re-
;ponse Is, Yes, we do" Then Jesus
shows them what a burden Of respon-
jlbility due to possession rests upon
Jesus refers to the Scribes
whose work under the Jewish econ.
my was 10 transcribe and to interpret
md tells the disciples that they In q
Ike manner are to interpret the king
ION to all men. They are to bring
hidden treasures, We must rer
member that Jesus taught In parallels
hat hearing they might not hear"
ETC, hence we are to search tho
Scriptures and bring forth these hid