A Resume.

It is only natural that you should want to pause now, and review some of the teachings that have been considered in these pages. Jesus came to the earth to attend to His Father's business. That business consisted of learning, Himself, to know God the Father, of teaching all other men to know Him, and of bringing about the salvation of the children of God. To accomplish His wonderful mission, Jesus taught clearly what men should know about the Father and about Himself and about the Holy Ghost; what men should know about the pre-existent life, and why they are now upon the earth; and how they should worship God, cultivate childlike faith in Him, and do the things that success in worship requires. All these teachings, as we have seen, and all the requirements, too, are in perfect harmony with natural law. To succeed in any kind of endeavor one must follow just such steps as are outlined by Jesus for attaining success in the struggle for exaltation. And, certainly, we cannot rightfully hope to drift into the success of eternal life, any more than we can hope to drift into the presidency of the United States of America. Successful achievement is the crown of persistent effort.

A few questions.

Now, as it is natural that you should want to pause at this point and review these teachings, so it is natural that you should ask yourselves such questions as these: Did Jesus intend that His disciples should associate themselves in an organized community? Did He have in mind the {146} organizing of a Church? Did He organize a Church? How did He expect those who accepted His teachings to retain their devotion, and to grow in their knowledge of God and His requirements of the faithful? If He did establish a Church, how shall we recognize it? In this lesson we shall discover what Jesus taught in answer to these questions.

Parables by the sea.

One day Jesus went "out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered unto Him, so that He went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore."

Teaching the multitude in parables, Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him. Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

"Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

{147} "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man: the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

The meaning of the parables.

Thus clearly did Jesus Himself see the condition of the world, and thus plainly did He teach it to His disciples. Now, for the purpose of this study, certain points appear. First, it is very evident that Je............