Cleveland County herald., 1919-09-04
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDMS0lO()L
 LESSON (By REV. F. B. FITZWATER, D. D., Teacher of English Bible in the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago) Copyright. 1919. Western Newspaper Union)
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER '
PARALLELS OF THE KINGDOM OF
 HEAVEN

LESSON TEXT-Matt. 13:S1-3S, A-5O. GOLDEN TEXT-Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Matt 6:33.
 PRIMARY TOPIC-Obeying our king JUNIOR TOPIC-A message of the king.
 INTERMEDIATE ToPIC-The growth l of the kingdom
 SENIOR AND ADULT TOPIC-The extent of the kingdom.
 (v. 31, 32).
 Three things mainly occupy our at tention in this parable:
 l. Its unimportant beginning. It 1 begins as the least of all seeds and grows to be the greatest among herbs. The king was of ordinary percentage and humble circumstances. He select ed unlettered fishermen as his royal advisers. The prophet had said con- cerning him that he would be "de- spised," rejected" "forsaken," "eut off" 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.
 g. Its lodging capacity.
 The birds which find lodgment 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 a 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 wait to pluck off 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 (v. 19) he said that the fowls repre- sent the wicked ones. He who would make the Iodgers here anything else makes Christ's interpretation a farce. The same Greek word is used in both cases, and the circumstances are the same.
 II. The Parable of the Leavened Meal (v. 33).
 Three things mainly occupy our at tention here: the meal, the woman, and the leaven.
 some and nutritious effect. It was used in one of the sweet-savour offer ings which was typical of Christ Uev. 2:1-3 R. VI; 1t was food for the priests Uev. 6:15-17 R. VI; Abraham had Sarah to knead a cake out of three measures of meal for the angelic messengers of the Lord (Gen. 18:6); Solomon's royal table was provided with meal q Kings 4:2); Elijah was fed upon cake made of meal GIT Kings 4:4D; Elisha used meal as an antidote for the poison of death from the pot (II Kings 4:3S41.
 2. The woman. In scripture we find false doctrine being taught by woman (Rev. 2:20). Dealing with doctrine is forbidden to women q Tim. 2:12). In I Tim. :13; II Tim. 2:17, IS; II Peter 2:1-3, we find 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 II Peter 2 2, 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 it's corrupt ing effects are seen on every hand.
 3. The leaven. In scripture leaven is invariably type of evil. CD All through the Old Testament leaven Is a continual and unvarying type of evil (Ex. 12: :15; Lev. 2:1D. It is in- conceivable that Jesus should arbi- and explanation, a word from an evil to a good sense, which the Spirit of God had so unchangingly used for two thousand years. CD Jesus him. self makes leaven to denote sin (Matt. 16:6, 12; Mark 8:15). (3) Paul uses leaven in its usual biblical sense q Cor 5 :6-S; Gal. 5 8, 9. Further, this is the only Interpretation that will harmonize with Christ's interpreta- tion of the first two parables. Facts patent to all prove that the professed church today is feeding upon the leaven of Journalism and legalism in- stead of the unleavened bread of sin cerity and truth-the Word of God.
 III. Tho Parable of the Hid Treas ure (v. Al.
 w. The Parable of the Merchant man Seeking Pearls (v. 45, A6).
 V. The Parable of the Drag Net. (v. E-50).
 Cor a detailed study of the last