38
January 1928'
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
cause at first glance it seems like some other parable. But there is a vital dif ference, and it supplies an important link in truth. It is a needful companion to that of the tares and wheat (Mt. 13:24- 30). It lays stress on the other side. Will the tares outdo everything? Will the Gospel be a flat failure? Jesus pic tures here the growth and ripening of the true wheat under the spontaneous action of the earth and sun, in spite of the ene mies. The seed will not run out. “The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself’ (v. 28). We may become discouraged in our seed-sowing, but let us be reminded that there are unseen agencies whose un hindered actions determine the maturing of Hi's crop from beginning to end. Our part is to sow. God also takes a hand— do not forget that! The seed grows; the “sower knoweth not how” (v. 27). The farmer’s occupation is one, above all others, that calls for trust in divine providence. He cannot sit and watch his seed. He must go about his work trust ing. He has done his best to prepare the soil. He has used the right kind of seed. God must do the rest. So it is with spir itual sowing. The Spirit carries on con viction through the Word, while the preacher sleeps. “God giveth the in crease” (1 Cor. 3:6-7). “Sow in the morn thy seed, At eve hold not thine hand; To doubt and fear, give thou no heed, Broadcast it o’er the land. Thou canst not toil in vain; Cold, heat, and moist and dry, Shall foster and mature the grain, For garners in the sky.” Again God’s kingdom is compared to a grain .of- mustard seed in its beginnings (vs. 30-34). An abnormal growth is here depicted, for “it becometh greater than herbs and shooteth out great branches so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” This parable cannot be interpreted in contradiction to any of the others. This does not picture world conversion in this age. Believers are not birds lodging in branches but “branches in the vine” (Jn. 15). Their life is in the tree itself. Per haps Mt. 13:4, 19 or Rev. 18:2 may give us a hint as to these lodgers'in the last days. When the winds of judgment be gin to blow, these birds will fly away. Are you a branch or just a bird? The parable of the leaven shows us that the great outward growth of the church is to be followed by a sad inward cor ruption (Mt. 13:31-34). Days of wide spread apostasy are upon us. Let us ex amine ourselves whether we are in the Faith. — o — P ith and P oint Some of the seed sown from modern pulpits is “bastard wheat” and will never make bread. The devil doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet (v. 15). Turn new truth into practice at once, or it will not long be with you (v. 15). God’s seed is safe only when it is buried. A puff of wind sets shallow waters in a turmoil. The easily offended ones are the shallow ones (v. 17). “All the troubles of a true Christian do but wash him nearer the shores of heaven.”—Spurgeon. A Christian can live in the world,' but not in worldliness. A fish can live in water, but not in a water-main (v. 19).
F ebruary 12, 1928
Jesus P ictures th e K ingdom of God Text: Mark 1:14-15; 4:1-34
J OHN the Baptist heralded far and near the truth that “the kingdom of heaven was at hand” (Mt. 3:2). Now that John was in prison, Jesus Himself came with t h e announcement: ■ - “Th e kingdom of /T *s a* hand: re- jf
ploited, but choked. The good ground surely suggests the kingdom age, to fol low, when, there shall be great fruitful ness. There is also a direct application, for in this present age we can find the four classes of soil here mentioned: Trampled soil (v. 4) ; stony soil (v. 5) ; preoccupied soil (v.' 7) ; and prepared soil (v. 8). Jesus clearly interprets His parable in vs. 14-20. Here we have the main points: The seed —the Word. We need not ex pect spiritual growth from any other kind of seed. “Satan comes immediately and taketh it away” (v. 15). Unless we turn gospel facts into factors in our lives immediately, we will lose out. Satan’s best energies are centered upon keeping truth from finding lodgment. Stony ground hearers are those who mistake feelings for faith. They have no depth and cannot stand a scorching sun (v. 6). A little affliction or persecution, and they discover that their emotional spasms were only the result of a tempo rary admiration, not a real attachment. Some soil is too far preoccupied to produce a crop (v. 7). The word is “ choked” by “the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things” (v, 19). Some seem to think they can be Chris tians and revel.in the things of the world. The worldly weeds are fast growers and need no cultivation. Just permit them to exist and, ere long, you’ll find nothing else-. . Notice that there are different degrees of fertility even in good ground (cf. Jn. 15:3,-5, 8). How limited is the soil in these days that brings forth sixty or a hundred fold (v. 20). The parable of the candle follows (vs. 21-25). We are candles—movable lights (not stationary chandeliers). It may pro duce a small light; it may be of short duration; it may easily flicker; but it is to be kept burning and kept moving. Some would hide their light under the “bushel” of commercial life and the cares of ma terial things. Others hide their light un der-the “bed” of ease and comfort. Verse 22 throws great light upon the difficult statement of vs.' 11-12. His truth was hidden in parables, but it was so hidden that it might be clearly brought to light at last. “There is. nothing hid which shall not be manifested.” The mys teries of the kingdom were not per manent mysteries, but secrets that “should come abroad” shortly. Let us not lightly pass over the warn ing: “He that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” (v. 25). It is the old principle: “Nothing succeeds like success.” Use or lose. We are told that the fished in Mammoth Cave have lost the use of their eyes, not having any use for them. The intellectual and moral eyes, like the physical, become useless. Those who do not care to see the truth, lose the power to see it. Trifle not with truth. Act upon it. This is the honest thing to do, and the only safe thing. The parable of the unconscious growth (vs. 26-29) is one often neglected, be
pent ye and believe t x s y Pel’’ ( Mk . 1: tinguish between the ‘‘kingdom of heaven”
and the “kingdom of God” only bring confusion. Some would have it that the “kingdom of heaven” means the Mes sianic earth rule of Christ as the Son of David, but they find themselves in dif ficulties with the parables of “the king dom of heaven,” all of which clearly de scribe results of the presence of the Gos pel in the world during this present church age. There is, we believe, as lit tle difference between “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven” as there is be tween the “kingdom of King George” and the “kingdom of Great Britain.” The proclamation of the kingdom of heaven (or “of God,” as Mark calls it,) was nothing short of the declaration of God’s purpose, as determined from the foundation of the world, to introduce into this world a kingdom of heavenly char acter and spiritual power among men. In connection with this proclamation, we discover no hint of political independence for the Jews, and our Lord’s every word is absolutely inconsistent with the idea that He came for earthly conquest or dominion. He came as the Lamb, not the “Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The kingdom Jesus proclaimed just at hand, in the days preceding His atoning sacrifice was, we believe, the rule of God through His risen Son, present wherever wills bow to Him, but future as to its' complete realization in the heavens, from whence it comes, and to which, like its King, it belongs even while on earth. The parables of the kingdom in chap ter 4 reveal the nature of the kingdom and the manner of its growth. With His hard-shelled disciples on one side of Him, and a powerful band of religious leaders opposing Him, on the other, our Lord altered His method of teaching and “taught them many things by parables” (4:2). He begins with the word “hearken” (v. 3) and repeatedly says: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (v. 9). Here, then, is something worth thinking upon seriously. “A sower went out to sow.” Some of his seed falls by the wayside, some upon stony ground, some among thorns and some on good ground. Perhaps we may find a dispensational application here. Does not the wayside sowing suggest the patriarchial age, when the world was hardened and results were scarce? The stony ground sowing seems suggestive of the age of law, when Israel quickly re ceived, but lacked soil (Ex. 24:7). The thorny ground sowing reminds us of the Gospel age, when the Bible is widely ex
Made with FlippingBook Annual report