Middletown transcript., 1920-12-04
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4. LESSON
LESSON FOR DECEMBER S
THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM
By REV. P. B. FITZWATER, D. D..
Teacher Of English Bible in the Moody
Bible Institute Of Chicago.)
"a, 1920. Western Newspaper Union-)

LESSON TEXT-Matt 13:24-3s.
GOLDEN TEXT-Fret not thyself be
| cause Of evil-doers.-Ps. 81.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL-Gal. 6:6-l0
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus' Story Abou
Good Seed and Bad Seed.
JUNIOR TOPIC-The Story Of the Whea
1NTERMED1ArE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Wheat and Tares.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
How the Kingdom Of Heaven Grows
The parallels of this chapter SCI
forth in a graphic way the condltlon
of affairs in the interval between
Christ's going away and His coming
again.
!. The Parable Of the Wheat and
Tares wv. 24-3O, cf. 3843.
1. The Sewers. ~ The Son OF
Man ". 37). He Is the One who sows
the good seed. The field in which they
are sown is the world. (2) The Devil
". 39). He is in a peculiar sense
Christ's enemy. He intensely mates
Him, and with relentless energy Is
striving to defeat His purpose In saw
Ing men. While men slumber. he sowe
tares among the wheat.
2. The growing crops. They are
not easily distinguished while growing
but the effects produced when eaten
are quite different. The wheat Is
wholesome, but the tares produce Ill
ness. The chief danger In the tarea
lies In their resemblance to wheat. The
chief danger of the devil is that he
strives to initiate God.
8. The harvests. There comes a
time when the fruitage Of the growing
crops shall be gathered. For the tares
there is a furnace Of fire where there
shall be wailing and gnashing Of teeth.
The righteous shall be gathered into
the Lords garner and shall shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of the
Father.
u. The Parable Of the Mustard
Seed wv. 81, 32).
1. Its important beginning. It be-
gins as the least Of all seeds and grows
to be the greatest among herbs. The
parentage and humble circumstances
Of the King greatly perplexed the peo-
pie. That twelve unlettered fishermen
should be selected as His royal ad-
visers is still more amazing. The propE-
ct said concerning Him that He
should be despised, rejected, forsaken.
2. Its vigorous growth. From very
small beginnings the influence of the
Christ has gone forth SO that there Is
no power or influence SO great as that
Of Christianity.
8. Its lodging capacity. The birds
which find lodgment in the tree do not
represent the children Of men which
find safety and salvation in the church.
Birds constitute no part Of the tree.
The bird is something foreign to and
Independent Of the tree. The branches
increase the growth Of the tree, but
birds are injurious and burdensome to
it. They are predatory-waiting to
pluck the tender buds or to prey upon
the ripened fruit. The effect Of such
lodging is evil, blighting and spelling
to the tree. In Christ's Interpretation
Of the parable Of the sower He said
that the fowls represent the wicked
one ". 19). The same Greek word is
used in both cases, and the circum-
stances are the same; therefore, he
who would make the dodgers here any
thing else makes Christ's interpreta-
ti0n farce.
III. The Parable Of the Leavened
Meal ". 33).
Three things should mainly occupy
our attention in this parable: the meal,
the woman, and the leaven. When
the scriptural significance Of these ele-
ments is known, the Interpretation is
easy.
/. The meal. Meal has wholesome
and nutritious effect. It was used in
one Of the sweet-savor offerings, which
typified Christ (Lev. 2 :1-3, r. w; it
was food for the priests (Lev. 6:15-17,
r. w; Abraham had Sarah knead
cake out of three measures Of meal
for the angelic messengers (Gen.
1870; Solomon's royal table was pro-
vided with meal Il Kings :22) Elijah
was fed upon cake made of meal
III Kings 4:41); Elisha used meal as
an antidote for the poison Of death In
the pot III Kings 4:38-41).
2. The woman. The woman is not
the head Of the home, but its admins
traitor. Her responsibility is to take
the bread provided by the head, pre-
pare and distribute It to the children.
In Scripture we find false doctrine be-
ing taught by woman (Rev. 2:2O).
Dealing with doctrine is forbidden to
woman II Tim. 2:12). In Tim. 4 :1-S:
II Tim. 2:17. 10; 4:s. 4; II Pet. 2:1-s,
we find that apostasy will be brought
in through false teachings within
the ranks Of Gods people. The
meaning, then, Of the parable is that
the true doctrine, the meal given for
the nourishment Of the children of the
kingdom III Pet. %; Tim. 4:6).
would officially be corrupted by false
doctrine. The children's food is cor
rupted by the mother.
8. The leaven. In Scripture. leaven
is invariably type Of evil. Let the
following examples suffice as proof:
~ All through the Old Testament
leaven is a continual and unyaryin9
type Of evil (Ex. 12:15; Lev. 2:11l.
(2> Jesus himself makes leaven to
denote sin (Matt. 16 g. 12; Mark 8 :15).
(O Paul uses leaven in its usual bihli.
cal sense Il Cor. 8 5:68; Gal. 5:8. o..
The Church.
The church is the representative of
Christ on earth. but what sert Of an
impression does It make on the world