Teaching in Parables

Notes

To Adam and Eve in their Eden home nature was full of the knowledge of God, teeming with divine instruction. Wisdom spoke to the eye, and was received into the heart, for they communed with God in His created works. As soon as the holy pair transgressed the law of the Most High, the brightness from the face of God departed from the face of nature. The earth is now marred and defiled by sin. Yet, even in its blighted state, much that is beautiful remains. God's object-lessons are not obliterated; rightly understood, nature speaks of her Creator.

In the days of Christ these lessons had been lost sight of. Men had well-nigh ceased to discern God in His works. The sinfulness of humanity had cast a pall over the fair face of creation; and, instead of manifesting God, His works became a barrier that concealed Him. . . . Not only the things of nature, but the sacrificial service and the Scriptures themselves,—all given to reveal God,—were so perverted that they became the means of concealing Him.

Jesus sought an avenue to every heart. By using a variety of illustrations, He not only presented truth in its different phases, but appealed to the different hearers. Their interest was aroused by figures, drawn from the surroundings of their daily life.

In the Saviour's parable teaching is an indication of what constitutes the ⟦title?⟧ "higher education."

Too often the minds of students are occupied with men's theories and speculations, falsely called science and philosophy. They need to be brought into close contact with nature. Let them learn that creation and Christianity have one God.

Christ's purpose in parable teaching was in direct line with the purpose of the Sabbath. . . . The Sabbath bids us behold in His created works the glory of the Creator. . . . On the holy rest day, above all other days, we should study the messages that God has written for us in nature. We should study the Saviour's parables where He spoke them in the fields and groves, under the open sky, among the grass and flowers. As we come close to the heart of nature, Christ makes His presence real to us, and speaks to our hearts of His peace and love.