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Christ’s Object Lessons
husband says, “I cannot obey my convictions of duty while my wife is
opposed to it. Her influence would make it exceedingly hard for me
to do so.” The wife hears the gracious call, “Come; for all things are
now ready,” and she says, “‘I pray thee have me excused.’ My husband
refuses the invitation of mercy. He says that his business stands in the
way. I must go with my husband, and therefore I cannot come.” The
children’s hearts are impressed. They desire to come. But they love
their father and mother, and since these do not heed the gospel call,
the children think that they cannot be expected to come. They too say,
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“Have me excused.”
All these refuse the Saviour’s call because they fear division in
the family circle. They suppose that in refusing to obey God they are
insuring the peace and prosperity of the home; but this is a delusion.
Those who sow selfishness will reap selfishness. In rejecting the love of
Christ they reject that which alone can impart purity and steadfastness
to human love. They will not only lose heaven, but will fail of the true
enjoyment of that for which heaven was sacrificed.
In the parable, the giver of the feast learned how his invitation had
been treated, and “being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into
the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the
maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”
The host turned from those who despised his bounty, and invited
a class who were not full, who were not in possession of houses and
lands. He invited those who were
“They said therefore unto Him, ... Our fathers did eat
manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread
from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread
from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh
down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. ... I
am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”
John 6:30-35
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poor and hungry, and who would appreciate the bounties provided.
“The publicans and the harlots,” Christ said, “go into the kingdom