890 T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S when, above all else, fruit is demanded. It will fare ill with the nation if fruit is not found. The servants were maltreated at the hands of Israel (Matt. 23:34-35). Two remarkable facts are Israel’s uniform hostility to their own prophets and Jehovah’s forbearance in sending them so many witnesses to be abused. Finally the Householder sends His own Son to demand His fruits. Here is Christ’s claim as to His own Person. The prophets before Him were.but bond-servants. He Himself is the Only Begotten Son, the sole Heir of God (Heb. 2:1). His advent was not only God’s ultimatum to Israel, but His final appeal to all men. The husbandmen caught Him; cast Him out; slew Him. The Jews would not accept of Christ in His Deity or atoning work. They thought by His murder to gain the spiritual supremacy for themselves. In the death of Christ upon the cross, we see evil come to its consummation. In closing the above parable, Jesus turned to the Pharisees and said, “ What should the Householder do to such husbandmen?” and they could but reply, “ He should miserably destroy them and let out his vineyard to men who will render the fruits.” Out of their own mouths the verdict had proceeded. They unconsciously uttered the prophecy of Jerusalem’s de struction, and the passing over of the vineyard to a new lot of servants who should “ render fru it” . But is this a lesson for Israel only? I f the Jews lost the vineyard by failing to honor the Son and yield up fruits unto God, may not other nations lose out in the same way? What of Asia Minor, Africa and Syria, where once the Gospel was preached, and then the Son dishonored? Is America holding the Kingdom on any other terms? Suppose enough of our religious leaders repudiate the Deity of Christ/ His atoning sacrifice, His regenerating work in the individual! Will not the blessing of God be withdrawn from this land as it has been from others? Will His testimony be set over in China or elsewhere? Here is something for us to think about. If our nation is in the same old drift of materialism that wrecked Israel and other nations, in God’s name, let every true Chris tian raise his voice in protest against the religious leadership that would hasten destruction upon this fair land. —K. L. B. $ 1 WHAT DID JESUS THINK OF HIS OWN DEATH? “ Jesus took bread, and blessed It, and brake It, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it: for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott, in his magazine, The Outlook, tells his thousands of readers that Jesus never taught the doctrine of a vicarious atonement. A Los Angeles minister, a type of many others who stand behind the communion table breaking the bread and pouring out the wine while abhoring the doctrine of the blood atonement, tells his people that it would have been all the same if Christ had been drowned instead of being nailed to the cross.
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter