Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-09-04
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER 7
PARALLELS OF THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN.

1EftN EN.
LESSON TEXT-Matt 1878, A-50.
GOLDEN TEXT-Seek ye first the
Matt. 6:33.
PRIMARY ToPIC-obeying our king.
JUNIOR TOPIC-A message of the
king.
INTERMEDIATE ToPIC-The growth
of the kingdom.
SENIOR AND ADULT ToPIc-The
extent of the kingdom.
I. The Parable of the Mustard Seed
". 81, 32).
Three things mainly occupy our at
tention in this parable:
/. Its unimportant beginning. 1t
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
! spised, rejected" "forsaken," "cuts
orr 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
It's 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
w. 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.
II. The Parable of the Leavened
Meal ". 33).
Three things mainly occupy our at
tention here: the meal, the woman,
and the leaven.
/. The meal. Meal has a whole
some and nutritious effect. 1t was
used in one of the sweet-savour offer
ings which was typical of Christ Nev.
2:1-3 r. w; 1t was food for the
priests Uev. 6:15-17 r. w: Abraham
had Sarah to knead cake out of
three measures of meal for the angelic
messengers of the Lord (Gen. 1850 ;
Solomon's royal table was provided
with meal Il Kings 4:2); Elijah was
fed upon cake made of meal (Ii
Kings :4D Elisha used meal as an
antidote for the poison of death from
the pot Gil Kings 4:3S-4D.
2. The woman. In scripture we
find false doctrine being taught by
woman (Rev. 2:2o). Dealing with
doctrine is forbidden to women q
Tim 2:12). In I Tim. Alb; 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 III Refer 2, / Tim. 4 :6), will be
! officially corrupted by false doctrine
Woman is a type of the church il
some sense The church is hiding
away false doctrine, and its corrupt
ing effects are seen on every hand.
!, g. The leaven. In scripture leaver
is invariably type of evil. % Al
: through the Old Testament leaven Il
continual and unvarying type o
evil (Ex 12:15; Lev. gid. 1t is in
: conceivable that Jesus should arbi
: trarily change without due notice
: and explanation, word from al
: evil to a good sense, which the Spiri
n of God had SO unchangingly used TO
, two thousand years. (2) Jesus him
:, self makes leaven to denote sin (Mat.
1876, ~; Mark S:1D (3) Paul use
heaven in its usual biblical sense.
Cor. 5 :6-S; Gal. IS o. Further, thi
$ is. the only Interpretation that vii
e harmonic with Christ's interprets
n ton of the first two parallels. Fact
= patent to all prove that the professe
) church today is feeding upon tn
Q leaven of Journalism and legalism in
: stead of the unleavened bread Of sir
cerity and truth--tf.a Word of Goo
). III. The Parable of the Hid Treas
ure ". AZ.
w. The Parable OF the Merchant
} man Seeking Pearls ". As, 46).
IT " The Parable of the Drag Ne
IS ". 1850.
IS (For a detailed study of the las
v three parallels see the Review for Ser
= 4