Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-12-09
THINGS OF INTEREST WITHIN TIL CIRCLE OF THE HONE
SABBATH
SCHOOL LESSON
. Dec a71lbar 12---Watt. 13: 44-53
DIR. MRETCE M'E. HULL

Golden Text: "The Kingdom of
God is not eating and drinking; but
righteousness and peace ard joy in
the Holy pirit."--Eo1n. 14:17.
After Jesus had spoken the four
parallels to the multitude on the sea-
shore, he went into the house, and
after explaining the parable of the
tares, spoke three more of them-the
parallels of the treasure, the pearl of
great price, recorded by Matthew as
setting forth the mystery of the
Kingdom of the heavens-the things
" hich had been kept secret from the
foundation of the world, but which
were now to be revealed. This mys-
terry concerned the form the King
dom should take while the King is
absent and until He returns to es-
ttablish the Kingdom as it had been cen
foretold. Another mystery is the
mystery of Christ, God manifest in
the flesh Another is the mystery
of the Christ-the heading up of all
things in Him. Another is the mys-
terry of the blindness of Israel and
composed of both Gentiles and Jews
to be the church. the bride of Christ.
Another is the mystery of the change
of living saints and the resurrection
of dead ones. to be caught up when
the Lord comes back. Another is
out in the Antechrist. Another is the
mystery of Christ in us, the indwell-
| ing Christ as our life. And finally
the mystery of Babylon.
All of these things are part of
the Kingdom during it's present stage
until the King returns; and although
| in the thought of God, had been kept
secret from the foundation of TIE
world until Jesus began to reveal
them in these parallels of the King
dom. We studied four of these last
week; let us now study the other
| three.
The Treasure and the Pearl
This treasure was hidden in field.
A man found it and hid it again; and
| then went and sold all that he had
and bought the field SO as to possess
| the treasure. Jesus compared the
present condition Of the Kingdom of
the heavens to be like this. Again
| He likened it to pearl merchant
seeking goodly pearls, and when he
| found one of great price, he sold all
| that he had and bought that one.
| These two parallels are usually in
terpreted to mean that salvation or
| Christ is the treasure and the pearl
| and that the sinner must give up
everything to get salvation or
explainable question. The field is
the world" Jesus had just told His
disciples. No sinner buys the world
to get Christ; On the contrary, he
forsakes it. He has nothing to sell
with which to purchase Christ. When
not hide Him in the world again. So
this Interpretation breaks down at
every point.
Now is Christ the goodly pearl
which is bought. This Interpretation
would make the two parallels teach
is not guilty of Pathology.
What is the meaning, then? Just
the opposite. Christ is the man
who buys. He had purchased with
his own precious blood. He gave up
all that was His that He might re-
fers to Israel and the goodly pearl to
the church composed of both Israel
ties and Gentiles. In several places
in the old Testament Israel is spoken
of as Gods treasure eek. 10: As, Ps.
1875, 4, Malachi 3:17. When Jesus
ton was hidden: 1.-THE lost sheep of
the house of Israel" Ten tribes had
been in captivity and had not re-
turned, and Of the tribes of Judah
and Benjamin only a small remnant
lsome 100000 had returned from
nucleus of the nation when He came
He found Israel therefore hidden III
, the world; so He hid the treasure
in it again, and bought the world at
a costly price in order that He might
possess the treasure-and this He
will do when He comes again and
digs it up. The parable teaches the
truth as we know it about Israel
during this present dispensation.
Of the pearl there is a different
story. Here the merchantmen is
seeking pearls, and finding one of
great price, he sells all he had in
order to buy that one. Now pearl
is the result of an injury. A grain
of sand gets into the shell of an
oyster and wounds the oyster. 1t
begins to throw over it a shell, and
as layer after layer is added to it,
the pearl grows until it becomes the
thing of beauty we see. This pearl
Of great price is the church COM
posed Of Jews and Gentiles, that
came about because of the wounds
of the enemies of Jesus the Christ.
AS God took wife for Adam out of
his side, so out of the wound in
the side of the second Adam He
forms for him Gentle bride. The
| church, which started because of the
wounds of Christ, is growing, as
does the pearl, by additions, the
Lord adding to the church daily such
as are being saved, until the day
shall come when the Heavenly BRIDE
groom shall return for the bride. the
.Neu Method i