New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-12-03
IMPROVED UKIFoRM INTERNATIONAL
NNDNSQ1OOL
LESSON
(By REV. p. b. FITZWATER. ID. D..
Teacher Ct English Bible in the Moody
Bible Institute Of Chicago)
(@ 1920. Western Newspaper Union)
LESSON FOR DECEMBER 5
THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM.

TEXT-Fret not myself be
cause Of evil-doers.-Ps. S:l.
ADDITIONAL MATHEMATICAL. 6:6-l'
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus' story Abou
food Seed and Bad Seed.
JUNIOR TOPIC-The Story Of the Whea
and the Tares.
INTERMEDIATES AND SENIOR TOPI'
Wheat and Tares.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPl'
How the Kingdom of Heaven Grows.
The parallels of this chapter Sc
forth in n graphic way the condition
of affairs In the interval between
Christ's going away and His comm;
again.
I. The Parable Of the Wheat an
Tares wv. 24-30, CT. 38-43).
1. The Sewers. "a The Son o.
Man ". 80. He is the One who sow'
the good seed. The field in which the!
are sOwn is the world. (2) The Devi
". 39). He is In a peculiar senst
Christ's enemy. He intensely hates
Him, and with relentless energy II
striving to defeat His purpose in sav
Ing men. While men slumber, he sows
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 tares
lies. In their resemblance to wheat. Tn
chief danger of the devil is that he
strives TO initiate God.
8. The harvests. There comes q
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.
n. The Parable Of the Mustard
Seed wv. 81. 32).
!. Its important beginning. 1t 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.
3. 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 nre Injurious and ~burdensome TO
II. They are predatOry-waitlng 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-
ton n farce.
~. 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 a wholesome
and nutritious effect. II wa used in
one Of the sweet-savor offerings, which
typifed Christ (Lev. 2:1-3. r. W; II
was food for the priests Uev. 0:15-17,
Il. W; Abraham had Sarah knead
a cake out of three measures of meal
for the angelic messengers (Gen.
Is :6) SOlomon's royal table was pro-
vided with meal Il Kings 4 :22) /; Elijah
was fed upon n cake made Of meal
(H Kings 4:41) /; Elisha used meal as
an antidote for the poison Of death in
the pot (II Kings 4 :3S-i1).
2. Tho 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 Il to the children.
In Scripture we find false doctrine be-
Ing taught by a woman fRev. 2:2O).
Dealing with doctrine IL forbidden 10
woman Il Tim. 2:12). In I Tim. Alb:
II Tim. 2:17. IS; 4:3. 4; III Pet. 2:1-3,
we find that apostssy viii he brought
In through false teachings within
the ranks of Gods people. The
meaning, then. OF the parable is that !
true doctrine. the meal given for
nourishment Of the children of the
Gil Pet. %; I Tim. 4,e,.
would officially be corrupted by false
doctrine. The children's food Is cor.
by the mother.
3. The leaven. In Scripture. leayen
IL invariably n type Of evil. Let the
following examples suffice as proof:
I'D All through the Old Testamen,
Ieaven Is a continual and unvarying
Iype Of evil tEx. 12:15; Lev. Pm.
~ Jesus himself makes Ieeyen 20
1enote sin Matt. 10 q. II; Marx s:15,.
|3) Paul uses leaven in its usua, b,bll-
al sense Il Cor. SOS; Gal. SIS. %.