The Heart of the Lesson By T . C. HORTON
Lesson XII—June 21, 1914. Golden Text—Lube 16:13. "Y e cannot serve God and mammon.” Life itself is one great choice.' You must serve some o.ne or something. Here is the picture of a rude! awakening. The young ruler thought he was willing to pay the price, but the words of the Master staggered him, “ Sell' all.” He expected some commandments to keep. He was un prepared for such a practical application of a real test of his desire for .eternal life. He is-'in a great strait. Destiny hangs upon his decision; he must choose between Christ and his possessions, between his house on earth and his home in heaven', fie would willingly have lifted his hand for prayer or joined a church, but to surrender all, to lay everything at the Master’s feet—this was too much. His heart is laid bare and upon its walls in unmistakable letters is written, love of wealth . What a contrast is here! The young man came running; he went away reluc tantly. He came hopefully, but went away hopeless. He came seeking and went away sorrowing. His desire for eternal life was secondary to his desire for earthly things. Where did he g o t Do you think that his possessions ever satisfied him? Would he not always remember that they were bought at the price of his soul? There is no evad ing the awful, solemn warnings concerning the snare of riches all through the New Testament. , The red light of warning is lifted up. “ Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee.” “ Then whose shall these things be?” “And when he lifted up his eyes being in torment.” “ Go to, ye rich men, weep and howl.” “ Not to trust in uncertain riches.” “ They that will be rich fall into temptation.” “And the rich he sent empty away.” "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye o f a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of God.” “ So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.” The pre ^
sumed morality of the young man counted not with Christ and only Served to make his eternal unrest the greater. Lessons of the Third Quarter Lesson I—July 5, 1914. Golden Text—Matthew 5:45. “H e maketh His sun to rise upon the evil and the good and sehdeth rain upon the just and unjust.’' There are four things that stand out clearly in the lesson—The Call to Service, the Character of Service, the Conditions of Service, the Compensation for Service. To understand the parable look at the context. Christ had dealt with the rich young man and His words concerning the difficulty in entering the kingdom of God impel Peter to put his selfish question as to “ what shall we have who haye forsaken all?” In our language it would be, “What is there in it for trie?” The parable teaches that God is sovereign and He exercises His holy will concerning His servants. He calls whom He will, when He will and pays what He will. He can be relied upon to deal justly with all. There must be no haggling as to terms in His service. “Whatever is right that shall ye receive.” This parable must not be used to show that God be stows the same rewards upon all, for the Scripture teaches the contrary. Its purpose is to show the righteous dealing of God with all. To those to whom He promised a penny (a day’s wages) He gave as prom ised, to the last who worked an hour, He gave what He pleased arid He pleased to given a penny. There must be no dick ering with God. Work and trust. There is work for all under the guidance of the Overseer. H e assigns the work. “ He di- videth to every man severally as He will” (1 Cor. 12:11). “There are diversities of gifts.” The character of service differs. “ Some are apostles, some prophets, some teachers.” “ Having then gifts differing ac cording to the grace that is given.”—Romans
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