Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-07-26
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SUND6YSC[l()(a
LESSON
LESSON FOR JULY 28
THE WHEAT AND THE TAREs.
(By e. o. SELLERS, Director Of Eve
ming Department, The Moody Bible
Institute of Chicago.)

THE WHEAT AND THE TARES.
LESSON TExT-Matthew 13:M-3o; S6-4s.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Gather up first the
tares. and bind them in bundles to burn
them; but gather the wheat into my
barn" Matt. 1920
The thirteenth chapter of Mat
thew's gospel is the great kingdom
chapter of the Bible. Seven parallels
in this chapter give us each of seven
aspects or applications of the princi-
pies of the kingdom. In this lesson
we are taught the mixed character of
the kingdom and also Of the ultimate
separation of two classes of which it
is composed. "a man." v. "a, goes
out to SOW good seed in his field. This
man we are told in V. 81, is the Son
of Man, and elsewhere that the field
is the world, the hearts of men. Then
followed the propagating stage, that
period over which man has no con-
troll. During this period while men
ate and slept awaiting the time for
cultivation and of harvest, the enemy
of mems souls came and sowed tares,
the common darnel which so closely
resembles wheat in its earliest stages.
After this propagating period had
passed the man and his servants went
out one day to find in their field evil
dence that another had also sown
seed. The test of every life is the
fruit produced. During these earlier
stages the tares had looked so nearly
like the wheat as not to be readily
distinguished, but now that the har-
vest time approaches the difference is
all too evident 1t is significant from
this parable that no blame is laid
upon the servants that they should
have allowed the two to grow up dur
ing this first stage. Surprise, anger
and disappointment stirred the hearts
of the servants when they discovered
the mixed character of the approach
ing harvest. The master, however,
clears them of all blame, for, said he,
Our enemy hath done this" Not an
enemy, as the King James version has
it. Satan is ubiquitous, but the Son
of God is greater thaG he, see l. Peter
1922.
PARALLELS He Taught.
IL 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
onF4iict with JeanA words as found in
e 8tfhew 2a. The seed had the
came environment and in Gods good
time the separation should take place.
So slet both grow tcgether'' until both
be fully developed. Then he will say
to the reapers, gather first the tares
and burn them, but gather the wheas
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 a further usefulness, while the
tares were ripe only for destruction.
After teaching these parallels, OF
which this is but one, Jesus sent the
multitude away and more fully and
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:S). The
good seed are the sons of the king
dom. but the tares are the sons (chll
dren) of the evil one. Both the sons
of the good and the sons of the bad
grow from, and develop out of seed
tbe sons of the kingdom from the
good seed.
| 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 TIE mixed.
World the Field.
AS the PsMmisl puts 1t (1:5), "The
ungodly shall not stand in the judg
ment. e. e., has no standing, nor sin
i nerS taDlueJ III lh0 Con5i o51eion -
the righteous" 1t is not our place
to gather the tares into bundles. GOD
will send forth reapers ". SOD and his
reapers are the angels ". 39). The
i fact is we are here warned against
useless or p-ofitless activity. Ours Ii
to SOW the right seed and then stand
back and let God work. We are moi
even responsible for any process OF
separation, for God will take care Of
his own and in his own time vii
send forth his reapers who will dc
what we would make sorry worl
of attempting to do. How Otter
we see men zealously attempting the
separation process during the propa
eating and developing period. only t.
uproot the wheat with the darnel
Evil, we are clearly shown, will mo-
1--.11- frov,, tho urnr1d