The Raymer enterprise., 1919-09-04
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER 7
PARALLELS OF THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN.

LESSON TExT-Matt. I3:3l-33, A-5o.
GOLDEN TEXT-Seek ye first the
Kingdom OF God and his righteouyness.-
Matt 6:33.
PRIMARY TOPIc-obeying our king.
JUNIOR TOPIC-A message Of the
king.
INTERMEDIATES ToPIc-rh. growth
Of the kingdom.
SENIOR AND ADULT ToPIc-The
extent Of the kingdom.
y. The Parable Of the Mustard Seed
". 81. 32).
Three things mainly occupy our at
tention In this parable:
l. Its unimportant beginning. It
begins as the least Of all seeds and
grows to be the greatest among herbs.
The king was Of ordinary parentage
and humble circumstances. He select
ed unlettered fishermen as his royal
advisers. The prophet had said con-
corning him that he would be de
splsed." rejected" "forsaken," "cut
or and as Having nothing"
2. Its vigorous growth. From these
small beginnings Christ's influence has
gone forth so that there Is no power
or influence equal In greatness to that
Of Christendom.
3. Its lodging capacity.
The birds which find Judgment in
the tree do not represent the children
Of men who find safety and salvation
In the church. The birds constitute
no part of the tree, while the believer
becomes part Of the tree, adding to
Its strength and fruitfulness. The birds
are something foreign to the tree, and
are burdensome and injurious to It.
They come to find shelter and walt to
pluck OF the tender buds, or to prey
upon the ripened fruit. The effect Of
their lodging in the tree Is evil and
blighting. In Christ's Interpretation
". 19) he said that the fowls repre-
sent the wicked ones. He who would
make the dodgers here anything else
makes Christ's Interpretation a farce.
The same Greek word Is used In both
cases. and the circumstances are the
same.
n. The Parable Of the Lsavensd
Meal ". 33).
Three things mainly occupy our at
tention here: the meal, the woman.
and the leayen.
l. The meal. Meal has a whole
some and nutritious effect. II was
used In one Of the sweet-sayour offer
lngs which was typical Of Christ Q.ev.
2:1-3 X. W; 1t was food for the
priests (Lev. 6:15-17 R. W; Abraham
had Sarah to knead a cake out Of
three measures of meal for the angelic
messengers Of the Lord (Gen. IS :6) ;
Solomon's royal table was provided
with meal II Kings 4:2); Elijah was
fed upon cake made Of meal III
Kings 4:41); Elisha used meal as an
antidote for the poison Of death from
the pot I'll Kings 4:38-41).
2. The woman. In scripture we
find false doctrine being taught by
woman (Rev. 2:20). Dealing with
doctrine Is forbidden to women Il
Tim. 2:12). In l Tim. Alb; II Tim.
2:l7, 18; II Peter 2:1-3. we ind that
the apostasy will be brought In
through false teaching within the
ranks Of Gods people. The meaning,
then. Of the parable Is that the true
doctrine. the meal given for the nour-
ishment of the children Of the king
dom I'll Peter 90. l Tim. 4:6), will be
officially corrupted by false doctrine.
Woman is a type Of the church In
some sense. The church Is hiding
away false doctrine. and Its corrupt.
Ing effects are seen on every hand.
3. The leaven. In scripture leaven
is Invariably type Of evil. ~ All
through the Old Testament leaven Is
a continual and unvarying type Of
evil lex. 12:15; Lev. 2:1D. 1t is In.
conceivable that Jesus should arbi.
trarily change. without due notice
and explanation. a word from an
evil to a good sense. which the Spirit
of God had 40 unchangIngly used for
two thousand years. (2) Jesus him.
self makes leaven to denote sin Matt.
1915. IL; Mark 8:15). (0 Paul uses
leaven In Its usual biblical sense II
Cor. 5 :8-8; Gal. 5:S. 81. Further, this
is the only Interpretation that will
harmonic with Christ's interpreta-
ton OF the first two parallels. Facts
patent to all prove that the professed
church today is feeding upon the
leaven of Journalism and legallsm In.
stead of the unleavened bread Of sin
certify and truth-the Word Of God.
~. The Parable Of the Hid Trsas-
ure ". AZ.
~. The Parable Of the Merchant.
man Seeking Pearls ". As. 48).
v. The Parable Of the Drag Net.
". 47-5O).
(For a detailed study Of the last
three parallels see the Review for Sep.
TENDER 2S.)