January 1931
37
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
V. 9. Why did not the disciples at once understand the parable? Were they will fully blind, or merely ignorant? V. 10. What is a “mystery” in the Scriptural sense? Why did Jesus speak a parable ? Did He know that some would fail to understand its meaning? V. 11. Why is the Word likened to a seed (cf. Col. 1 :5, 6) ? V. 12. Who are represented by the “wayside”hearers (cf. Matt. 13:19) ? Who takes away the seed sown in such hearts? How do people become “wayside” hearers ? Can their hearts be changed? V. 13. Who. are represented by the “stony ground” hearers? Do these hearers seem to begin well (cf. Mk. 4:16)? What causes them to “fall away” ? V. 14. What happened to the seed in the third case? What do thorns represent (cf. Matt. 13:22; Mk. 4:18)? Could the thorns have been removed? "What New Testament examples of this kind of hear er can you recall (cf. Lk. 10:41, 42; 14: 18-20) ? Did Jesus give similar warnings on other occasions (cf. Lk. 21:34,35) ? V. 15. What made the ground good? Are there different degrees of fruitfulness in good ground (cf. Matt. 13:23) ? Is fruitfulness the real test of the Christian life? What does it mean to “bring forth fruit with patience” ? * * * P ractical P oints 1. Christianity has done much to ele vate womanhood. In the orient, woman is still despised and degraded except where the gospel of Christ has transformed so ciety. 2. There is nothing in the Gospels which indicates that Mary Magdalene was a woman of abandoned character. She was a victim of demons, and, when delivered by the power of the Lord Jesus, she loved Him with intensity and served Him with unselfish devotion. 3. The gospel shows its adaptability to all classes. It reached a member of the official family of Herod and others, like the outcast in the house of Simon, who wept her way to forgiveness and peace. 4. The Word of God is living. It grows when it is implanted in the heart and conscience (cf. Heb. 4:12). 5. Hardness of heart does not come in a day. It is due to long-continued re sistance to truth. Today one may be an impressionable child in the Sunday-school class; after a while—unless the gospel is received—a rebellious, hardened sinner. 6. Some enthusiasts “run well” for a season (cf. Gal. 1:6, 7; 4:15; 5:7; 6:12). They do not count the cost (cf. Matt. 8: 19). 7. If good grain is to be grown, one must root up every other kind of crop— good or bad. Some .things that seem harmless are dangerous if they crowd the best things out of the life. Forsake the good and the better in order to gain the best. 8. To those who are rooted deep, trials are stepping-stones, not stumbling-stones. 9. The sower may be faithful, yet have little evidence of immediate results. Ste phen’s sermon gained no converts, appar ently, but drew a shower of stones. Yet, if his death meant later the gaining of a Saul of Tarsus, the sowing of the seed at such cost was worth while. It is the sower’s privilege to go forth weeping, “bearing precious seed” (cf. Psa. 126:6). If there were more weeping over the lost, there would be more fruit.
We don’t need to do any of these three ways, but instead we can have good and honest hearts like the good ground in the story, and when we hear the Word of God, “hold fast” to it and “bring forth fruit.” —o— These Troublesome R ights Many years ago a girl found herself suddenly denied a pleasure to which she had been looking forward for many weeks. The very morning of the excur sion an unexpected relative “dropped in.” The carriage, even by crowding, would not hold more than six, and some reason of necessity or courtesy made it impos sible for any one to stay at home except the girl. The situation was evident from the first moment. The girl looked round the group gath ered for hasty and secret conference, with stormy eyes. “It isn’t fair!” she cried. “Every sin gle one has been before except me. Be cause I’m the youngest, haven’t I any * right ?” A guest entered the room just in time to catch the angry outburst. Clearly he had stumbled upon a “scene,” but it was too late to retreat. With the charm that never failed him, he turned to the girl. “Ah, Miss Peggy, these ‘rights’1” he exclaimed. “They are troublesome things, aren’t they? How they do dog us all our lives! Really, the best thing I know about them is that, since they are our rights, we have the privilege of surrendering them for others.” And then, after taking a book from the table, he left the room. The girl stood still; she could not un derstand, but dimly she seemed to catch a glimpse of a wide country of beauty. When she came to herself her mother was speaking: “If only I could give you my place, dear! But I can’t stay when Cousin Betty has come. You —=--- ” The girl spoke briefly. “I’ll stay,” she said. The guest went his way a day or two later, and the girl never saw him again. But all her life after, the giving up of her right came to her as a privilege and not a burden.— Selected. Nellie’s Prayer Nellie, who had just recovered from a serious illness, said, “Mamma, I prayed last night.” “Did you, dear ? Don’t you always pray?” “Oh, yes, but I prayed a real prayer last night. I don’t think I ever prayed a real prayer before. I lay awake a long time. 1 thought what a naughty girl I had been so often. I tried to reckon up all the bad things I had done; there seemed to be lots of them. I tried to remember what I did one week, but there seemed to be such a heap; then I knew I had not re membered them all. I thought, ‘What if Jesus had come to me when I was ill ?’ Then I thought about Jesus coming to die for bad people, and how He delights to forgive them. “So I got out of bed and kneeled down, and tried to tell Jesus how bad I was. I asked Him to think of the sins I could not remember and to forgive them. And I am sure He did, Mamma, because He said He would. Then I felt so happy, and I got into bed and did not feel a bit afraid of God any more.”— Selected.
A D ilemma I feel as if I can hardily afford to get T he K ing ’ s B usiness , but I also fpel that I cannot afford to be without it! -—From Windsor, Ont., Canada.
10. Some sinners look like Christians until they fail to show “fruit.” 11. The second hearer was better than the first; the third was better than the second; but all three failed. What ad vantage have you if you are not as bad as other men if, after all, you are lost? 12. Temptations to live merely for the present age come to all Christians. Only those are “choked” who definitely choose this present world. * * * G olden T ext I llustration Master Six-Years-Old tiptoed softly to the low crib where one of this world’s very latest hopes was lying, wrapped in the coverlets that love had made. Big brother’s face was gravely intent, his eyes bright and shining. He stooped far over and gazed down at that wrinkled, peevish bit of a face. “Now, baby brother,” he whispered into one tiny red ear half hid den by the clustering black hair, “tell me about God before you forget.” If only we grown-ups could remember! There is One who did. * * * Jesus Teaching About God Luke 8:1-15 Memory Verse .—“Even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak” (John 12: 50). Approach. —We all like to hear stories, don’t we? Grown-up people like to hear stories as well as children do. Jesus knew
this; so, when He was talking to peo ple, He would often tell them stories. L e sson S to r y .— One day a great crowd o f people came out to the roadside t o hear what Jesus had to say. Jesus thought, "I’ll tell them a story—one that they
S è i s s i
win n.muuo,.i , s < j He told them this story about a man going out to plant seed. (Read Lk. 8 :5-8.) Now Jesus’ disciples knew that Jesus had a meaning in this story for them, so they asked Him about it. He told them what it meant. (Read Lk. 8:11-15.) Although Jesus told that story to His disciples many, many years ago, He is telling it to us today as. well. Sometimes, after we have been listening to God’s Word, we go away from Sunday- school and let the devil take the truth right out of our hearts. Sometimes we act as if we were very glad to hear what God has to say to us in His Word, but when someone comes along and wants us to do something wrong, we go and do it. Sometimes we get so interested or so busy having a good time that we even forget to come to Sunday-school or to read God’s Word.
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