Notes on the International Lesson.
By William N. Glenn
- AND one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
- And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
- And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
- And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully;
- And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
- And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
- And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
- But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
- So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
THE man who appealed to Jesus to settle a business controversy between himself and his brother had a mistaken idea of the mission of the Messiah. The common opinion among the Jews was that the Messiah would assume control of the government, and at once alleviate all their real or fancied wrongs. Many who heard his superior wisdom, and saw his wonderful miracles, were inclined to accept him as the One who should redeem Israel; but when they discovered that there was no temporal advantage to be gained by following him, they cared no more for his teaching. THE man here referred to evidently thought that if the "Master" was the Messiah, he would be a proper referee in all matters. And from the standpoint of the current theory, the applicant's judgment was correct. Had Christ's kingdom been of this world, it would have been proper for him to have decided the case in point; but he peremptorily announced that he did not intend to interfere with the established customs of civil government. He promptly replied, "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" THE inference is that no one had made him such an officer. This is not a contradiction of his declaration (John 5:22) that the Father "hath committed all judgment unto the Son." He there referred to matters pertaining to his own kingdom, which is not of this world (see John 18:36): "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence." For the judgment which has been committed to him, God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." Acts 17:31. THERE is a class of Christians who would fain take Christ by force and make him a king, notwithstanding his plain declarations against such design on his part. One of the most popular societies in our country is the W. C. T. U. In an annual address the president uttered this sentiment: "The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, local, State, national, and world-wide, has one vital, organic thought, one all-absorbing purpose, one undying enthusiasm, and that is that Christ shall be this world's king. Yea, verily, this world's king in its realm of cause and effect; king of its courts, its camps, its commerce; king of its colleges and cloisters; king of its customs and its constitutions." And not only this, but the address further declares that "the kingdom of Christ must enter the realm of law through the gateway of politics." THERE is also the National Reform Association,346with which the W. C. T. U. is working in conjunction, whose object is the furtherance of a like principle through a religious amendment to the national Constitution. The direct aim of this association is expressed in the following language: "To secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ, and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land." THAT is just what was done in the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine,—the nation was declared by law to be a Christian nation, and consequently all the people were nominally Christians. The utter rottenness of such a Christianity was fully illustrated when the church, under such control, developed into a most cruel persecuting power, whose tyranny was broken only (after hundreds of years of unparalleled cruelty) by the interference of the Reformation. "TAKE heed, and beware of covetousness." This advice is especially applicable at the present time, when the pressure of avarice and overreaching in the pursuit of wealth and station is perhaps more general than at any former period of the world's history. The declaration (Col. 3:5) that covetousness is idolatry, shows how every violation of one commandment involves the violation of others also. THE Lord took advantage of the circumstance to teach the multitude a lesson, which he did by means of the parable which follows. The parable teaches the folly of spending all one's energies in accumulating possessions which are only available in this short and uncertain life, while no effort is made to secure an eternal life, with all the happiness that Heaven can bestow. A similar lesson is taught in the sermon on the mount: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matt 6:19-21.