The Heart of the Lesson T. C. Horton
the soil will be submitted to the l a r g e st fruitage. We are God's field, (1 Cor. 3 : 9 ) . Shall we not allow Him a h u n - dred fold? LESSON III. Golden Text, Matt. 6 : 1 0. The Golden Text seems unwisely chos- en for this lesson. Acts 1 :3 would have been more appropriate. "Speaking of things concerning t he Kingdom of God." To the n a t u r al man these parables a re a puzzle but to the disciples h e said, " It is given unto you to know t he mysteries of t he kingdom, b ut to t h em it is not given." Lu ke 13:11. The key to t he interpretation of t h e Scripture is the Scripture itself. T h e s u p e r n a t u r al element in the Word of God can only be fathomed by the super- naturally instructed. The Kingdom of God is seen first in its self-propagating power. Secondly in its wo n d e r f ul outward growth f r om a small beginning, and thirdly its i nwa rd state and tendencies are manifested. Christ sowed the seed of the Wo rd in t he h e a r ts of men. The purpose of seed sowing is a harvest and t h at harvest is assured for the Wo rd is spirit and life. The good seed are also the children of the kingdom in whose lives t he Word dwells. Outwardly the little has pro- duced a great tree and to t h e eye of man it is marvelous. In t he Scripture t h e t r ee is t h e symbol of a world power. W e mu st not conclude t h at this picture rep- resents the Church overcoming t h e World. The birds in the branches a re to be interpreted by the Lord Himself as the emissaries of the Wicked One. It is not for t hé good of the tree t h at these foul birds of the air are r e s t i ng there. The devil is the Prince of t h e air and his followers will foul the rest. The Lord h as also interpreted the leaven for us. Beware of t he leaven of t h e Pharisees, formalism, of t he Sadduces, ritualism, of t he Herodians, rationalism. We know t he Woman also and see h e r secretly inserting the evil principles in t he Meal. We know t h at the meal rep- resents t he Word as food and t h us t h e t r u e doctrine of Christ is p e rme a t ed with evil. Outwardly great, but inward- ly corrupt, t h e re is no occasion for over mu ch boasting of t he progress of t h e Kingdom, b ut cause for confession a nd humiliation.
LESSON 11. Golden Texts, J a s. 1 : 2 1. The seed is t he Wo r d, t he soil is t he soul of ma n, and the sower is the serv- a n t of God. The seed is good—always good—it h as life-giving properties. It has ca- pacity for producing a harvest. The Wo rd is living and powerful. Th e re is not and never can be any failure in the seed. The lesson hinges upon t he condition of t he soil. The sower reached in his sowing, four kinds of soil. F o ur is t he world number and suggests t he world- wide distribution of the seed. Opportu- nity came to* all of the four kinds of soil, but alas, only one kind improved t he opportunity. The sowing of t he good seed will not result in world-wide success. Some h e a r ts are hard. The gospel is hidden. ' ' The God of this world h a th blinded their minds." Satan has trampled upon t he ground. The Word falls upon t he h e a r ts b ut t h e re is no receptivity t h e re —n o lodgment. Felix trembles at the t r u th b ut will not consent to accept it. Other h e a r ts seem receptive to t he t r u th and give good promise of f r u it b ut t h e re is no conviction of sin, no repentance of heart, no opportunity for the seed to die and bring f o r th fruit. And still others by reason of their worldliness allow t he greed of gain and love of pleasure to crowd out t he seed so t h at all t h r ee classes are u n f r u i t f u l. Th e re is Satan's soil, h a rd as flint. There is t he shallow soil, with no depth f or rooting, t h e re is t h e secular soil, preempted by love of t he world. Man has to contend with t he Devil who ma k es a t h o r o u g h f a re of his h e a r t, with t he flesh which opposes the Wo rd and with t he world's treacherous calls a nd enticements. Satan opposes t h e Son of God. The world is against the F a t h e r, and the flesh fights against t he Spirit. It is not strange t h en t h at so much of the ground yields no fruit. The seed, however, is f r u i t f ul and t h e re is some select soil, some honest h e a r ts and t h e re the Wo rd finds lodgment. The harvest is not equal, however in these h e a r t s. Th o u gh t h e re is opportunity, t h e re is not t he same heartiness in im- provement and so we have some thirty, some sixty and some h u n d r ed fold. The lesson is a solemn one. We should ear- nestly seek to yield our h e a r ts so t h at
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