Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-07-17
{ (Original.]
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

"The kingdom OF heaven IS like unto lea
ven, which woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leaven.
ed" Matt. 13 33.
In this, and the preceding parable, by
"kingdom of heaven" we are to understand
the effects of divine grace in the soul. In
the parable of the mustard seed, we are taught
the wonderful growth of piety in the soul !;
in the parable Of the leaven, we are taught the
manner of the development Of that piety. In
the former, we are informed that thing, at
first small, becomes, in the end, exceedingly
great in the latter, we have an illustration Of
the mode or manner in which that thing which
was small in its incipiency, ultimately be.
comes great. The grace of God acts upon
the soul as leaven acts upon meal. 1t is Be-
cret. No one can certainly tell the precise
moment when the leaven or yeast commences
to exercise its influence upon the meal just
50 with the grace of God in the soul. No one
knows the precise moment when he was born
again. When Gods Spirit enters the soul
and quickens it into life, few, if any, certainly
know. AS none of us are conscious of the
day and hour of our natural birth, so likewise
none of US are conscious of the day when we
became the sons and daughters of the Lord
Almighty by the regeneration of the Holy
Spirit. The record of our natural birth is
kept by our earthly parents, and the record
of our spiritual birth is kept in the archives
of heaven by our heavenly Father.
Again, the operation Of divine grace in the
soul is secret, in the sense that it is without
noise or confusion. Powerful as may be the
effects of leaven upon meal, they are produc-
ed without noise. So it is of every one that
is born of the Spirit. Gods regenerating
spirit is "still small voice" Although it
rends the mountain and breaks the rock, it
is noiseless. No one hears, as no one sees, the
Holy Spirit quickening soul dead in tress-
passes and sins, and making it alive in Christ
Jesus.
Again, piety is like leaven, in that it works
from within outward. The leaven, that it
may do its work efectually, is put in the
meal, not on it or around it. So it is with
Gods Spirit. 1t is put in the soul, not on or
around it. In its work Of sancti6cation, it
works from within outward. Its operation is
from the centre toward the surface, not from
the surface toward the centre. The inside
is cleansed before the outside. The thoughts
and feelings are purified first, afterwards the
words and acts.
When leaven is put into meal, the nature of
the meal undergoes complete change. 1t
becomes new thing. A chemical change
takes place which thoroughly changes the
meal. 1t is no longer what it once was. So
it is when the spirit of God is put within the
SOUL A most thorough change takes place.
The thoughts, feelings and desires Of the soul
become new. The man becomes new crea-
ture. He sees and understands things as he
never saw and never understood them before.
The inclinations of his heart are changed,
and he loves what he once hated, and hates
what he once loved. His once stubborn and
rebellious will is subdued, and he becomes
voluntarily obedient to God as his maker,
prescrvcr and rcdeemer. The change extends
not only to his thoughts, but also to all his
acts. He commences to live a life which ter
inmates in freedom from sin in this world
and in glory in the next. No change can be
greater, and none is more desirable. With
out this change, produced by the leaven Of
grace, there will be no heaven to the SOUL