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January 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
last days when men turn away from God and apostatize from the faith (2 Thess. 2), it may seem that the development of the kingdom is arrested and is not having the gradual development set forth in the words under consideration, the contradic tion is only a seeming one, for the apostasy of the end time is Tut one stage of the development of the kingdom which is to precede the glorious manifestation of the King and His kingdom at the Second Ad vent, at which time the kingdom will be in that stage expressed by the word “the full grain in the ear.” That time will be when the will of God :will be done* on earth as it is done in heaven. Likewise that is a time when the ripened fruit— the faithful people of God—is gathered “at the harvest home of God.” Vs. 30-32. “And he said, How shall we liken the kingdom of God,? or in what parable shall we set it forth? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and be- cometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds o f the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof.” This parable, viewed only in the light of the context in Mark, is capable of the following interpretations: It may be made to refer to the very small beginning of the rule of God upon the earth, beginning with the ministry of John and Jesus and developing through the centuries and finally reaching its climax in the millennial reign of Christ; but, when viewed in the light of the context in Matthew 13, it seems to have a dif ferent signification. In the series of seven parables presented there, the first om:;^-namely, that of the sower,'- deals with the beginnings of Christianity, and the last one,—namely, the dragnet, deals with the separation of the evil from the good at the Second Coming of Christ; and the intermediate ones seem to set forth in outline the history of the church during the centuries as it appears in Church his tory. If this generalization of the facts of Matthew 13 be correct, then the par able in all probability teaches that, though the kingdom of heaven had a very small beginning, it would take on an abnormal growth and would become a shelter for “the birds of the heaven.” The mustard plant, as is known, springs from a very small seed and does not develop into a large plant; but the one which Jesus used in this illustration did grow abnormally into an unusually large plant; hence, it appears that Jesus is making a prophecy of the church when under abnormal con ditions it would have a phenomenal growth. A glance at church history shows that such was the case when Constantine, the Roman emperor, became a Christian (at least a nominal one), and through his influence, doubtless, myriads of people unregenerated flocked into the church; hence the church took on this phenomenal growth. Vs. 33, 34. “And with many such par ables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it; and without a parable spake he not unto them; but priv ately to his own disciples he expounded all things.” Jesus gave the truth to the people only as they were able to bear it (cf. Jno. 16:12). It is unwise to attempt to speak the deep things of God to' peo ple who have not spiritual discernment. Again when people give evidence that
they have.no .appreciation for spiritual things one is not to “cast his pearls be fore swine.” Jesus used parables with a double ob ject in view. First, to illustrate the les sons which He was teaching for the bene fit of those who had “eyes to see,” which form of teaching stimulated their appetite for spiritual things and caused them to come to Him for a fuller explanation of the same. In the,f$econd place, He spoke in parables: in' order that those who did not have a spiritual appetite and who were not sufficiently interested to come to Him for further explanation, might not have the truth lest they, being dogs and swine, trample the same under their unhallowed feet. How God’s Kingdom Grows. Mark 4 :26-34. Memory Verse: “Thy kingdom come.” Matt. 6 :10a. Approach : What is this I hold in my hand? A rose. Now back in the cold country where they have lots of snow and ice they can not have flowers blooming
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE Kingdom Grows By G iving R equired O bedience To God
W orship S ervice
Thy will be done.—Matt. 6 :10 our doing our part to fulfil the loving expectations of our Lord.) We read in God’s precious Word, how He made the world so beautiful and perfect and placed Adam and Eve in the lovely garden, but they disobeyed God, and sin came into the world and spoiled the beautiful. world, and ever since the day sin entered the world there have been sorrow and suffering everywhere. God so loved the world that He sent his only Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world, to die and save us from our sins, and He is in heaven today getting a place ready for all who will take Him as their Lord and Savior. You know, boys and girls, you have a big share in getting this new kingdom ready, for you can be good listeners and readers, in church and school and home. The power of attention is one of the most important things boys and girls can learn. Because we are so young, we sometimes think there is not very much we can do, but as the tiny mustard seed in our story,, when placed in the ground grew and grew until it was a plant large enough for the birds to rest on its branches, sg ?| we can do our part faith fully day by day, letting the Lord Jesus have His way in our lives, and we can help to make our memory verse come true. Even though sin came into the world and into people’s hearts, when we take Jesus as our Savior, He forgives our sins, and then we love and serve Him, and His love in our hearts helps us to grow more and more like Him each day, so we will not only grow into noble men and women ourselves but we will help others to know our Savior too, and help His kingdom to come. (Prayer.) follows, we might judge that they under stood Him to say: “Let us go out to the middle and sink.” Do we really believe His promise? When He says. “Let us PASS OVER,” we are in an. unsinkable ship. If He leads us into a bad fix, we may trust Him to get us out of it. We may boldly put to sea with Him, though we can foresee a storm. “There were also other little ships " (v. 36). Oh, the hapless little ships with no Christ aboard! If the storm comes, and they are saved, it is only because they were near the ship that Jesus was in, and He wrought for His own. How many there are today who will not travel in the boat with Christ and His disciples, yet are careful to paddle their own canoes as near as possible to His boat! They may berate
outdoors in the win ter as we do here ,in California?; Could you or I make this flower or ' o t h e r flowers | grow ?- No, we can put the seeds in the ground that has been gotten ready, and then God’s sunshine and rain do the rest.; '
After a time a little green shoot comes peeping out of the ground, and it grows and grows ; then a little bud and later the beautiful flower. Thé same way with the lovely fruits and vegetables we have to eat. The plant grows so quietly day by day we do not notice that it is growing as. we stand and watch, but finally, it brings forth the fruit or flower. Let us bow our heads and thank' God for His great love for us to give us the lovely flowers and fruits, and ask Him to help ,us to grow more and more like Him each day. Lesson Story : (Review last week’s story, emphasizing the importance of
F ebruary 19, 1928 Two Miracles of Power Mark 4 :35—5 :20
CAUR lesson sets before us illustrations N ' of the power, of the Son of God. His. power over nature is seen in vs. 35-41; and His authority over the unseen power
of the spirit world is seen in* Chap. 5:15- The story of the stilling of the storm is one full of helpful suggestions. His dis ciples had put in a long day of theory— 19
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now for a little practice. They had lis tened to His marvelous parables about faith—now we shall see how much they had really learned. We may listen to many sermons, but we retain only those blessings that stand the fire of testing. “Let us pass over unto the other side,” said the Master (v. 35), But from what
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