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The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

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from ' <strong>the</strong> ship' to <strong>the</strong> multitude that crowded <strong>the</strong><br />

shore. He addressed to <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong>se four Parables :<br />

concerning Him Who sowed,' concerning <strong>the</strong><br />

Wheat <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tares, concerning <strong>the</strong> Mustard-<br />

Seed, <strong>and</strong> concerning <strong>the</strong> Leaven. <strong>The</strong> first, or<br />

perhaps <strong>the</strong> two first <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se, must be<br />

supplemented by what may be designated as a<br />

JifVi Pa/raile^ that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Seed growing<br />

unobservedly. This is <strong>the</strong> only Parable <strong>of</strong> which St.<br />

•stibBk Mark alone has preserved <strong>the</strong> record.®<br />

All <strong>the</strong>se Parables refer, as is expressly stated, to<br />

<strong>the</strong> Kingdom <strong>of</strong> Gk>d ; that is, not to any special<br />

phase or characteristic <strong>of</strong> it, but to <strong>the</strong> Kingdom<br />

itself, or, in o<strong>the</strong>r words, to its history. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />

all such as befit an open-air address at that season<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year, in that locality, <strong>and</strong> to those hearers.<br />

And yet <strong>the</strong>re is such gradation <strong>and</strong> development in<br />

<strong>the</strong>m as might well point upwards <strong>and</strong> onwards.<br />

<strong>The</strong> first Parable is that <strong>of</strong> Him Who sowed. We<br />

can almost picture to ourselves <strong>the</strong> Saviour seated<br />

in <strong>the</strong> prow <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> boat, as He points His hearers to

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