Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1944-01-21


Lssssa subjects and Scripture texts y:
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JESUS TEACHES m PARALLELS
LESSON TExr-Mark els. 36-s1.
GOLDEN TExr-N any man hath ears
= hear. Ut him hsar.-Mark A:aa.
PARALLELS were often used by our
Lord. particularly when He had
truth 10 reveal which was not for
unbelieving hearts that had hard.
ened themselves against 1t tsee
Matt. l3:lo-l6).
The method Is that Of telling an
earthly story. true to life thence. not
. fable). which Is placed alongside
Of the spiritual truth II Is designed
to teach. 1t thus differs from an
allegory. which gives the meaning
with the story (see John 1910.
Jesus used parallels In our lesson
10 teach the truth that the good seed
Of the Word Of God will be received
In various ways and will bring forth
widely differing results. He-the
Lord--was the Sewer. and the field
was the world Matt. 1887, $50.
We note hrst that In that field
there were and are
!. Four Kinds u Soil mark
El-N.
The reception Of the seed II de-
termined BY the condition Of the soil.
The great neld was essentially Of ono
kind Of soil. but II had become wide
y different In NJ ability to take In
the seed and bear fruit.
The Interpretation Of this parable
u given by our Lord In the verses
Immediately following wv. 500. II
has striking application to our day.
! A road. or beaten pathway. was .
common thing In the fields Of Pales-
time. On such hard soil = seed found
no place to grow. and the birds car
ried It away. Such II the condition
u Z man who permits the heavy
and sinful trafhc Of this world to
harden his heart against spiritual
truth. II our heart has reached that
stage We should ask God to break
II UP. The birds always 4 symbol
ef evil In the Bible) are Satan and
bic emissaries. They are always
busy about carrying away the Word
q God when Il d truly preached.
The.rocky soil was thin layer Of
good soil on . rocky ledge. At nrst
this caused rapid growth. but with
out deep roots II could not survive
the heat Of summer. This Is the one
Who Enthusiastically responds to the
gospel appeal. but being without real
conviction and repentance. he has
- stability when persecution comes.
/ 1he thorny ground-where the
growing grain was choked by weeds
-typines the protested believer whe
lives h. worldliness. The friend Of
~ world ID Gods enemy Games
80. Note the things which destroy
spiritual LIE ". 10. and shun them.
y he good ground-open to receive
anl ready 70 yield itself for the
growth q The seed--there Il abun-
dant harvest Even here there Il .
difference In the amount Of fruit.
Why not b 4 'hundredfold' be-
ueverf
Changing the picture 4 little our
Lord now speaks Of
II. Normal Growth and Good
Harvest A:26-29).
This parable. found only In Mark,
has . lesson for the sower. He is
not to expect the harvest immedi-
ately after the time Of sowing. There
Is period Of patient waiting while
God is producing the growth tand
only He can do it!)--then the JOY Of
harvest.
There are many lessons to learn
here. We who serve the Lord In
teaching or preaching the Word are
too impatient, too eager to be able
to announce results. God Is always
willing that things should mature
naturally and In due season. Let
US wait for Him and be at rest in
our spirits ". 30.
Then let us be glad as the seed
begins to show signs of maturing,
but let US not be slow to gather
the harvest when it is ready. Some
forget to gather the spiritual fruit
OF their labors, possibly having long
since lost patience and interest.
We should also be encoura ged by
this parable to continue sowing the
seed, knowing that 1t will find place
In the hearts Of some and bring forth
fruit unto eternal life.
Next we are warned to be on our
guard against accepting or APPROX.
ing
III. Abnormal Growth and an Evil
Harvest N:3o-32).
Inc mustard is an herb, not q
tree; hence this parable gave warn.
Ing that there would be an over.
grown religious system calling itself
Christian. The birds are Gas In the
parable OF the kinds Of SOLD evil
men, or "isns," or organizations
eager to take shelter in a religious
system without spiritual power.
The church had such an abnorma,
growth when Constantine espoused
Christianity as a political move
mixed It with paganism, and ele.
waited It to . position Of worldly
vrxyn~ AS