Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-15

ROMANS, XVIII.
Our lesson calls for us to assemble
once more upon the shore of the most
sacred body Of water in the world and
learn from Jesus Christ, preaching
from the floating pulpit what Christi
anity means to the world" The seven
parallels that Matthew groups in the
chapter from which our lesson for last
week an dtoday have been chosen
possess literary unity. Each parable
teaches its own lesson, but in studying
these prophetic pictorial predictions we
see now the Lord Jesus sought to cor
rect His disciples ideas concerning the
kingdom, teaching them the gradual
development and final triumph of the
Kingdom Of God in the world.
Christ established His church for the
purpose OF assisting Him in the de-
velopment Of the kingdom. He planned
to make Christianity an irresistible
world power. Ever since Pentecost the
Christian forces have felt the urge Of
the Holy Spirit to evangelize the world,
enlist newly won disciples into Christ'S
church and seek to educate them to
observe all things that He has COM
manded. The greatest barrier in win
ming the world for our Lord has been
counterfeit Christianity. When we re-
call the parable Of the tares and the
Masters Interpretation of 1t, we are
not surprised at the presence of this
counterfeit Christianity that Satan has
planted with the good seed. The i'm
itation will continue until the end of
this age, but its presence will not hinder
the final triumph of the kingdom in the
social, economic and spiritual life Of
man.
The Kingdoms Progress.
Two parallels emphasize the progress
Of the kingdom. The parable of the
encourage His disciples, who might be
by the fact that men
could retard the development of the
kingdom by the use Of force, as they
are doing today In Russia. In it Jesus
pointed out that although Christianity
may appear in its beginnings to be as
insignificant as the mustard seed, yet
it was destined to fill the world with
its power. 1.-THE Roman world was I'M
disturbed by Christ'S life, yet the story
of His life unhinged the Roman empire,
turned the world upside down and
changed the course and character OF
According to the parable Of the
leaven, the progress of Christianity was
to be secret. silent, slow, but certain. 1t
would be difficult to see the small piece
Of leaven hidden in the meal, but the
little growing life of the yeast trans
forms the meal. It's germs are so small
that 1t requires the use of a high-pow-
cred microscope to detect the secret
silent process Of "gemmation" that
teaches us how through the use of So
cial forces in the lives Of men and wom-
en- the process of the worlds social
is being carried on. The
gospel was passed on from lip to ear,
and life to life, until the Roman empire
was conquered. Europe evangelical, and
America Christianized. These two par
ables Of the progress of the kingdom
should inspire us to push forward" at
home and abroad the forts to win every
creature and nation for Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
Kingdoms Priceless Value.
The last three parallels of the lesson
were delivered secretly to His disciples
after the congregation by the seaside
had been dismissed and they had re-
turned to their headquarters. In His
endeavor to impress upon His disciples
the priceless value of the kingdom,
Jesus turned for illustrations to the
practical business life and activities
of His day. The wide difference In
methods and manners between the
Lords time and our day, as well as
country, makes it somewhat difiicult for
modern man to grasp the parallels
message.
The one great lesson needed in our
materialistic age is the supremacy of
the spiritual over the secular affairs of
life. This Jesus taught in two parallels
the hidden treasure and the pearl
without price. In both Of these para
bleS the lesson is. the same the king
dom of God is so valuable that a man
may well AFFORD to dispose of every
thing else that he may preserve his
spiritual possessions. The parable of
the hidden treasure presents the king
dom in the light of being a priceless
possession, which must be personally
acquired. The parable caught the i'm
mediate attention Of His hearers, for
property in that land and age was
usually hidden by being buried. 1t
belonged, according to their laws and
customs, to the person in whose ground
1t was buried for protection. If one
accidentally located q hidden treasure
in some persons property, they parted
with all their possessions so that they
could legally come into possession of
the hidden treasure. If one has OBJ
tanned the joys Of salvation, the bless
ings of spiritual life, he will sacrifice
everything else to preserve his religion.
The supremacy of the spiritual over
the secular Is emphasized in a different
way in the parable of the pearl of great
price. In the hidden treasure, the
wealth was accidentally or providen-
TALLY found, but in this parable the mer-
chant was seeking for the most valuable
pearls. He recognized at once the value
of the pearl and sacrificed everything
to obtain it. The most valuable pos
session in the world is the salvation
provided for us through the grace of
God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and
Savior This parable should teach us
that Christianity is the most valuable
of all mems possessions and we should
consider no sacrifice too great for us
to secure its personal possessions.
Christianity's Future Triumph.
In the last parable, that we are to
consider this week, we find a lesson
taught in part in the parable of the
tares. The fishermen of Galilee I'M
derstood the significance of this para
BILE. They had pulled the dragnet
through the waters of that sea and
from the fishing boat that Jesus had
used as His floating pulpit. They did