ed the owner what it meant, as they sowed only good
seed. He answered that an enemy had sown the tares. But he said that
they should let both grow till the harvest, and that then the tares
would be gathered and burned, but the wheat gathered into the barn.

[Illustration]

Jesus explained this: The field, he said, means the world; the owner
means Jesus himself; the wheat means the persons who become
Christians; the tares are sowed by Satan; and the weeds are wicked
men.

The wicked men and Christians are together here in this world, but at
the judgment-day the righteous will go to heaven and the wicked will
be punished.

[Illustration]

The King's Marriage-Feast

Another parable was of a king's marriage-feast.

The king invited certain ones to the feast, but they would not come;
so he made an open invitation and sent his servants into the highways
to invite as many as they could find, and these people came.

God sent Jesus to the world, and he invited the Jews to accept the
kingdom of God, but they would not. Though some Jews accepted Jesus,
yet as a nation they did not, and God was displeased with them for it.
When the Jews would not accept Jesus, God extended the invitation to
the Gentiles, or all other people.

God now has the feast prepared. He invites people to come to Jesus and
have their hearts made pure and enjoy the rich blessings of the
kingdom--righteousness, joy, and peace. He extends the invitation to
all.

If we will not give heed to his invitation to accept Jesus, we shall
be left out of the kingdom, and others will take our place.

[Illustration]

A Lesson on Forgiveness

[Illustration]

The man kneeling in the picture owed the king hundreds and hundreds of
dollars. He had no money to pay the king. The king said that this man
and his wife and children must be sold and the money used to pay the
debt. The man begged the king to wait a while, promising that by and
by he would give him the money. The king then felt sorry for the poor
man and said the man would not need to pay him any money. The man
arose and walked away.

Soon he met a friend who owed him a little money. He spoke harshly to
the friend and told him to pay the money. The friend did not have any
money. He kneeled down before the man and said, "Wait a while, and by
and by I will give you the money." But the man seemed to have
forgotten that the king had been kind to him. He had the friend put in
jail. When t