February, 1942
53
•THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
how things grow is still beyond the scope of human knowledge. The Biblical explanation is still thé best: “He [God] causeth the grass to grow” (Psa. 104:14). And the ar gument of Christ is this: If we cannot explain the mystery of growth in na ture, still less are we able to explain the spiritual growth of the kingdom of God. Yet the curious thing is that men who accept the facts of nature, although admitting that they cannot be explained, will reject the facts of the spiritual world just because they cannot completely understand them. Golden Text Illustration J ohn 7 :46 We have been told to love God with all the mind as well as with all the heart and soul. What is unreasonable, God would never ask you to believe, and the fact that some of God’s thoughts transcend human reason is no reasonable ground for doubt. Py thagoras was a philosopher of some 500 years B. C. To the disciples of this teacher, thè “Ipse dixit” of Pythagoras, “He said so,” settled all questions that might be in the mind, and when' Py thagoras had spoken, it was enough without any proof. This must be the ul timate attitude of every sincere Chris tian toward the Word of God. Past history ought to . prove to us that of all attitudes, this is the wisest. In 1860 eighty scientific theories, each one opposed to the Bible, were on record in the French Institute, but there is not a Scientist today who will lend his name to a single one of them. What a great testimony!— Adapted from W. E. Biederwolf in Illustrations from Mythology. By the Side of the Sea M atthew 13:1, 2 ; M ark 4:1, 2, 26-34; L uke 8:1-4 MEMORY VERSE: “ As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Lk. 6:31). APPROACH: Almost every one likes stories. Does your mother tell you bed time stories? Are they true stories or fairy stories? Does she ever tell you
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Points ond Problems 1. "The kingdom ol God" (Mk. 4:26). "The kingdom of heayen" (Matt. 13:44). Some have been disturbed be cause the Gospel writers report the parables in slightly different words, form, and order. For example, Mark . speaks of the “ kingdom of God” while Matthew makes it the “ kingdom of heaven.” In explanation of these dif ferences, we should remember, first, that pur Lord doubtless taught these same parables many times and upon various occasions; and He evidently varied the words and form to suit the audience and occasion. In the second place, while the terms “kipgdom of heaven” and “ kingdom of God” are not exactly synonymous, they do refer here to the same thing. The “kingdom of God” is the larger term, and refers to the rule of God wherever found: “His k i n g d o m ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). The other term, “the kingdom of heaven,” refers to the same kingdom but in a limited sense, that is, the rule of God on earth. It is literally “the kingdom of the heavens,” that is, the kingdom which originates and comes down from heaven. Thus it has an. especial reference to the earth, as our Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6 : 10 ). Therefore, we may say that the “ kingdom of heaven” means simply the rule or kingdom of God manifested on the earth. Matthew and Mark were speaking taf the same thing, just as it would be correct for one man to say Chicago is in Illinois, and another to say that it is in the United States, because Illinois is within and a part of the United States. 2. "He knoweth not how" (v. 27). The mystery of growth in the natural world has never been explained. After all the research and progress of mod ern science, we know no more; about why a blade of grass grows than men did in the days when our Lord spoke this parable. It is true (and worth while) that we know more about the »various stages of growth, the changes that take place, the chemical proc esses, and the connections between the factors which induce growth; but
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Bible stories? Did she ever tell you a story to teach you a lesson? LESSON STORY: The Lord Jesus did that, when He ^as u p o n e a r t h . He w a n t e d to show His followers the w a y o f 1i f e; H e
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wanted to teach them about the king dom of God, and about how they should treat one another. So He told them stories that ) would show them what He meant, Some people draw pictures to illustrate what they are talking about. Jesus drew pictures
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