The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1912-07-26
INTERNATIONAL
SUND1ISC|lOOL
LESSON
tBy n. O. SELLERS, Director of Eve.
ming Department, The Moody Bible
Institute Of Chicago.)
LESSON FOR JULY 20
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES.

TIE WHEAT AND The TARES.
LESSON TEXT-Matthew 13:24-3o: 36-43
! 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
,thews 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
Us 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 it's earliest stages.
After this propagating period had
passed the man and his servants went
out one day to find in their field evil
Idence 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 than he, see l. Peter
1922.
Parallels He Taught.
If 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 In
Matthew 5:29, 80. The seed had the
same environment and in Gods good
time the separation should take place.
So 'Iet 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 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. 2:8). The
good seed are the sons of the king
dom, but the tares are the sons (chil-
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.
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.
World the Field.
AS the Psalmist puts 1t Q:5), "The
ungodly shall not stand In the judy
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 ". 800 and his
reapers are the angels ". 39). The
fact Is we are here warned against
useless or prof1tless 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 own 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