THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
1158
(1) THE PEOPLE OF PROPHECY, v. 44. There are various ways of interpret ing this and the following parable. We shall treat .it in what seems to us to be the natural and logical order. The Bible has to do with two elect people,—Israel and The Church. The promise to Abraham was that his seed was to be as the. stars of the heaven, and as the sand of the seashore (Gen. 22:17). All of God’s purposes have been and are being worked out with ref erence to .these two seeds,—a heavenly and an earthly people. He loves them both. He has a definite purpose for both, and the Bible would seem to be an unexplainable Book without this fact,in mind. Israel is the treasure hid in the field. They are His people. He calls them “My people.” He said to Pharaoh “Let my people go.” He says in Isaiah 63: 7-9 “Surely they are my people.” A thousand times they are called “His people” as distinguished from all the nations of the earth. They are a re jected people. They are hidden in the world, scattered among the nations. Remember the field is the world, and possession of it was placed in Adam’s hand, but the enemy, the devil, came in to possession of it through deceit, and he is now its prince. Jesus has, how ever, purchased it with His sacred blood but has not yet taken possession of it. (John 11:51). “And this he spake not of himself; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.” Israel is a covenant people. They were recognized by the nations as God’s people, and they are called a “peculiar people,” a “peculiar treasure” (Ex. 19: 5). “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall,be a peculiar treasure un to me above sill people; for all the earth is mine.”
Theme: A Picture of the Kingdom. Outline: (1) The People of Prophecy: Israel, v. 44. (2) The Pearl of, Great Price: The Church, vs. 45, 46. (3) The Partitioning of the Two ’ Parties: the Drag-net and Division, vs. 47-52. (4) The Prophet and His People: Jesus at Home, vs. 53-58. Introduction: In our study of .the previous lesson we covered four parables,—The Sower and Seed, The Wheat and Tares, The Mus tard Seed, and The Leaven. Today we have the other three,— LESSON T h e '-Treasure, T h e T. C. Horton Pearl, and The Drag- NOIXISOHXH net We £o1u1nd, th^ the key parable to all of the seven was to be found in the first, -—The Sower and Seed (Mark 4:13). '■‘And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” Bearing in mind that there were two classes,—.those who rejected and those who received the Word, those with closed eyes and closed ears, and; those with open eyes arid open ears (Chs. 13, 14, 17); the wicked ones snatching away the seed (vs. 18, 19); the weak ness of the flesh (vs. 20, 21); the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches (vs. 22, 23),-—we are better pre pared to study the lesson today. Eyes open to the truth are essential to the knowing of the truth. The fail ure to use eyes and ears results in in ability to see or hear the truth. We must believe something,—it will be either'the truth or error (2 Thess. 2:10, 12). We are all sowing and all must reap what they sow. Our attitude of heart and life will determine the kind of soil and will determine, also, the fruit age. Satan is on the alert all the time snatching away the good seed and sow ing tares. .
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