The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-07-24
Parables He Taught.

ParapIe2 nc
II the servants had sought to up
root the tares they would In all likely
hood have done more damage than
good, though this does not imply any
conflict with Jesus words as found n
Matthew 5:29, 80. The seed had the
same environment and in Gods good
time the separation should lake place.
20 "let both grow together" until both
be fully developed. Then he will say
to the reapers, gather first the tares
and burn them, but gather the wheat
into my barn. Notice the tares did
not evolve into wheat Like begets
like. Gather into bundles Is the
command. If we sin together, we must
expect to suffer together. The wheat
was ripe for full salvation, blessing
and q further usefulness, while the
tares were ripe only for destruction.
After teaching these parallels, OF
which this is but one, Jesus sem the
multitude away and more fully n
completely taught his disciples the
inner meaning Of this parable. The
field Is the world, and If we ask we
shall have the heather for our Inherit
ance and the uttermost part Of the
world as a possession Cps 2:8). The
good seed are the SONS Of the king
dom, but the tares are the sons (cn1l-
dren) of the evil one. Both the sons
Of the good and the SONS OF the bad
grow from, and develop out OF seed,
the sons Of the kingdom from the
good seed. James (1:18) tells us that
our essential nature is good; that he
brings us forth by the word Of truth;
and that we are a kind Of first fruit
of his creation. Not so, however,
with the sons of the evil n John
8: 44). He'll vas not prepared for
man, but for the devil and his angels
Matt. 25:41). Hence the tares, chill
dren or sons of the evil one, are cast
into the furnace and burned ". 42).
Is the fire here mentioned, literal fire?
It certainly is in this parable, but the
Master Is dealing in particular with
the question Of future punishment.
We do not, therefore, read annihila-
ton into this lesson.
We must remember the three les
sons we have been studying. The
first concerned the nature Of the seed
and the soil; the second deals with
the mystery Of the growth and devel-
opment of the kingdom, whereas this
lesson has to do with the mixed char
acter of the kingdom due to the ad-
mixture of other seed. This is a les
sons of the subtlety and righteousness
of our enemy, rather than any teach
ing upon the nature OF future punish
ment. The fact, however, is patent
that a separation time Is coming, a
time when all things that offend,
things that cause stumbling, things
that are a block or a hindrance, things
that do iniquity in the kingdom, shall
be put away. This is an encouraging
thought for the honest hearted Chris
tian worker to remember.
World the Field.
AS the Psalmist puts 1t (1:5), "The
ungodly shall not stand in the judg-
ment, e. g., has no standing, nor sim
ners (abide) in the congregation OF
the righteous" 1t is not our place
to gather the tares into bundles. God
will send forth reapers ". 3O) an: his
reapers are the angels ". 39). The
fact Is we are here warned against
useless or proitless activity. Ours Is
to SOW the right seed and then stand
back and let God work. We are not
even responsible for any process Of
separation, for God will take care Of
his own and in his W time will
send forth his reapers who will do
what we would make sorry work
of attempting to do. How often
we see men ~zealously attempting the
separation process during the propa-
eating and developing period, only to
uproot the wheat with the darnel.