The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-21
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Luke B :1S-3O-March '22.

Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Mat them 7:21.
 Two illustrations of the kingdom occur in this lesson In one the Lord likens
 the kingdom to a grain of mustard seed, which fro ma small beginning became quite a large bush, and the birds of the l air lodged in it's branches. This evidently was intended as a picture of the outward appearance of the church-so prosperous
 as to invite the birds. Elsewhere Jesus declared that the birds represented the wicked one and his agents. ever ready to take away the seed of truth and to work adversely as respects the gospel pro- gramme.. (Matt. 1894. 19) In Revelation also the Great Teacher speaks of the
 church as becoming Babylon, confusion, and as being "a cage of every unclean ! and hateful bird.'-Revelati 1S:2. Again the Master illustrated the experi- ence of His church as an embryonic
 kingdom. His second parable tells of . woman who hid some leaven in three
 measures of meal. until the whole was leavened., This, Bible students are com ing to understand, signifies a corruptng of the divine meSsage-the spiritual food
 which God had prepared for the church. A woman. in symbolic language, repre- sents a church system; and the Master tells us that such a church system will
 mix leaven. or ferment, in the food of Gods family until the whole mass will be corrupted. For be 1t noted that in the I;ible leaven is always used as a symbol Of corruption, of sin. This parable shows that the faith once delivered to the saints
 will be vitiated, mixed with error. until 1 it will no longer bo nourishing to the fam | fly. et Paul pictures the same matter, saying that in the latter days ''some shall
 depart from the faith. giving heed to se- ducing spirits and doctrines of demons."- Timothy Al.
 Viewed From Wrong Angle
 These false doctrines are what are
 troubling the people of God today. Our hearts are better than our heads; for the hearts of the eonsecrated are in tune with the Infinite One, while the creeds of the dark ages are quite out of tune. The blessings that are lately coming to Bible students result from breaking loose from the creeds formulated in the dark ages, and getting back to the teachings of JesuA the apostles and the prophets the only inspired authorities. The word of God is sufficient. that the man of God
 may be thoroughly furnished-2 Timothy 3:16. n.
 Few apparently have noticed that nearly
 all of Jesus teachings relate to the king
 dom-the divine remedy promised for
 mankInd's release from the curse of sin and death.
 Some dear Christian people, looking at
 matters evidently from a wrong angle,
 are still deceived into thinking 1t possible
 for the church as the Kingdom of God in an smbryotic condition to do the work which God assisns to that church in, her future giorified. perfected condition. Such shut their eyes to the fact that the num-
 ber of heather in proportion to the num- Der of Christians doubles every century. Such try to count up Christians by the hundreds of millions, entirely ignoring the fact that Jesus has declared that the gospel church, the elect who are walk ine In His steps. will be altogether but . little flock.
 The blessing of the heathen Is not merely for those now living. but for all who have every lived. Messiah's king dom will triumph gioriously In the Lords due time. In order that all may como to the knowledge of the truth God hax prom ised that There shall be . resurrection of the dead. both of the just and Of the unjust" that "all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of tho Bon of Man