and t he devil; thoughts, desires, aims alien to God; centered in time, sense, self. It does " n ot u n d e r s t a nd t he Wo r d ," sees no meaning, feels no rela- tion to it; is to it as a deaf man to music; wonders t h at others are affected by it. " T he fowls of t he a i r " ( " t he wicked o n e ") catch away the seed, it makes no impression, is soon forgotten, 'trodden u n d er f o o t" by pursuit of pleas- ure, business, unbelief. Solemn warning to prolonged indifference to conscience and gospel (1 Tim. 4 : 2 ) ! 2. The stony places. The shallow soil "receives t he Wo rd w i th joy-" Th e re is reason; it is "good news." Such h e a r ts are like Bunyan's Pliable. " En o u gh to ravish one's h e a r t ," he said; "come on, let us mend our pace." The t r ue "Ch r i s t i a n" went slowly because of his burden. But,» alas, in this case the joy thus suddenly conceived is not, as t he sequel shows, a joy springing up f r om a contemplation of the greatness of the benefit, even a f t er all t he counter bal- ancing costs, hazards, and sacrifices have been taken into account. It is this which fatally differences the joy of this class of hearers f r om t h at of t he finder of the t r e a s u re (Mat. 1 3 : 4 4) who " f or joy thereof we nt a nd sold all t h at he h ad to buy t he field." We all know such enthusiastic but evanescent converts. " He t h a t will "live godly shall suffer per- secution" (2 Tim. 3 : 1 2 ), and mu st have " r o ot in himself." May you " be s t r e n g t h e n ed w i th m i g ht by His Spirit —r o o t ed a nd grounded' in love" (Eph. 3:16, 17). (3) The thorny ground. In this case it is not adversity t h at checks t he growth b ut prosperity; not the persecu- tion of t he world, but the prosecution of worldliness. The self-imposed bur- dens of t h e world's business; the pursuit of deceitful riches—deceitful because they do not fulfill their promise;- " t he lusts of o t h er t h i n g s" ("of t he flesh a nd of t he m i n d ," Eph. 2 ; 3 ). The effort to serve two masters (Lk. 1 6 : 1 3) ends in saddling t he world, an "Old Man of the Sea," on one's shoulders to choke the life out. If one would grow in grace he MUST "seek F I RST t he Kingdom of God" (Mat. 6 : 3 3 ), and so displace the fatal thorns. (4) The good ground: Hears, grasps, bears thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. It lives; it grows; it bears. (See J o hn 1 5 : 1 - 8 ). We wonder on wh at sort of ground t he seed of this lesson is sown! 2. The soil a n d t he sower. In gos- pel sowing t he sower should not heed t h ^ n a t u re of the ground. He does not know "which shall prosper, this or
t h a t ." He should sow at all hours, mo r n i ng or evening, and in all weath- ers, cloud or wind (Ecc. 11:4, 6 ) ; and in all seasons (2 Tim. 4 : 2 ). P a ul plants, God takes care about the in- crease ( 1 Cor. 3 : 6 ). " T he Lo rd multi- ply your seed s own" (2 Cor. 9 : 1 0 ). MYSTER I ES OF THE KINGDOM. LESSON m . Ma rk 4 : 2 6 - 3 2; Ma t t. 1 3 : 3 3. J u ly 21st. I. DEFINITION. 1. " T he Kingdom of God." Identical with " k i n g d om of h e a v e n" (Matt. 13: 11). "God," notes its headship; "heav- en," its quality . 2. " T he K i n g d om of God." The f u- t u re reign of Christ (1) on t he t h r o ne of David (Lk. 1 : 3 2 ), (2) over restored Israel (Ecc. 3 7 : 2 1 - 2 8 ), and (3) all t he nations (Acts 15:15-17), at t he second coming (Matt. 2 5 : 3 1 ). Prophecy blends, in perspective, foreshadowing events with t he final event. P e t er properly saw Pentecost to come (Joel 2:28-32) f u l- filled in Pentecost past (Ac. 2 : 1 6 - 2 1 ), Wh e re t he qualities and characteristics of t he fill-full-ment are, t h e re is a ful- fillment. Hence, (4) " T he K i n g d om of God is righteousness, a nd peace, and 1 joy in t he Holy Ghost" (Rom. 1 4 : 1 7 ), wh e re these are t he Kingdom is, its principles, its subject, and its King. So my soul is God's kingdom, and the Church the ag- gregate of such souls; the progress of its principles is t he progress of the kingdom. But no blunder is more mis- leading t h an to confound these e a r n e s ts and foreshadowings with the glorious kingdom to come when Jesus r e t u r ns to set up His t h r o ne visibly amo ng men. (Ac. 15:15-17; Rev. 5:10.) 3. " The Mysteries" (Mk. 4 : 1 1 ). A scripture mystery is a purpose or doc- trine formerly concealed but now re- vealed: e. g., t he fact t h at Gentiles should be "fellow h e i r s" with regener- ate Israel, "of t he same body," "citizen- ship," "building," "household," as " p a r- t a k e rs of the same promise (Eph. 3 : 3 - 6; 2:15, 19-22, etc.). II. THE SEED GROWING SECRETLY. 1. " S o" equals "is like," or "likened to," as elsewhere. It means t h at cer- tain phases, or accompaniments, or pre- cedents of t he kingdom may be illus- t r a t ed by such and such things, events, or transactions. Sowing seed is l i ke (preaching) t he Kingdom; growing seed is like (increase o f) t he Kingdom. 2. We s aw: Th at (1) t he sower is the Lord, (2) t he seed the Word, (3) the soil the h e a r t; here (4) it is added
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