(4)
In this message we shall continue to see the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. As the parable of the tares reveals, the constituents of the kingdom are the sons of the kingdom, who have the divine life within them. However, the tares, the sons of the Devil, have come in. Because of these false ones among the constituents, the kingdom in its outward appearance has become Christendom. Formerly it was purely the kingdom of God, but now it has become Christendom with both real believers and false ones. When many people talk about Christianity, they are actually talking about Christendom. The kingdom of the heavens is not as large as Christendom, for the kingdom is smaller than Christendom and seems to be within it. The kingdom is real, composed of the genuine constituents who are the sons of the kingdom, the sons of God. But the tares sown by Satan have caused a mixture among the so-called Christians in the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, which is Christendom.
The Lord arranged the parables in Matt. 13 in a very good sequence. First we have the parable of the sower, who sows the seed to bring forth the constituents of the kingdom of the heavens. Then we have the parable of the tares sown by the enemy, the false ones among the constituents that cause the kingdom of the heavens to become Christendom. Following the parable of the tares, we have the parable of the mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32).
Verse 31 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed.” The fruit, both of the wheat in the first two parables and the mustard here in the third parable, is for food. This indicates that the kingdom people, the constituents of the kingdom and the church, should be like a crop to produce food that satisfies God and man. Both wheat and mustard are good for food. In fact, it is very healthy and nourishing to eat wheat bread with mustard on it. However, in both the second and third parables we see the thought of the evil one, the subtlety of Satan. The evil one came in to sow tares among the wheat. As any farmer can tell you, tares greatly frustrate the growth of the wheat because they exhaust the fertility of the soil which is meant to nourish the growing wheat. Because the soil has been exhausted, wasted, by the tares, the wheat cannot grow properly. We may apply this to our present situation. Many false Christians have frustrated the growth of the genuine Christians. Wherever there are many false believers, it is difficult for the real believers to grow in life. This is the subtlety of the enemy. As we shall see, the subtlety of the enemy with respect to the mustard seed is to cause it to grow into a huge tree that is no longer good for food.
On the one hand, what the Lord has sown is the grain of wheat. But on the other hand, it is a grain of mustard seed. Both the grain of wheat and the grain of mustard seed signify Christ as food to us in different aspects. He is both the wheat and the mustard for our nourishment.
Verse 32 says that after the mustard seed has grown, “It is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree.” The church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb to produce food, but it became a tree, a lodging place for birds, having its nature and function changed. (This is against the law of God’s creation, that every plant must be after its kind — Gen. 1:11-12.) This happened when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world in the first part of the fourth century. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Hence, this third parable corresponds to the third of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Pergamos (2:12-17). The mustard is an annual herb, whereas the tree is a perennial plant. The church, according to its heavenly and spiritual nature, should be like the mustard, sojourning on the earth. But with its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled in the earth as a tree, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches to lodge many evil persons and things. This has formed the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
For a mustard seed to become a tree is a violation of the principle ordained by God in His creation for living matter — that every plant must be according to its kind. This is what is referred to in Genesis 1, where we are told that every life grows according to its kind. A peach grows after the peach kind and an apple after the apple kind. This principle applies not only to plant life, but also to animal life and even to human life. Every type of life must develop according to its kind. A cow must be a cow, a donkey must be a donkey, and a horse must be a horse. A mule is an example of an animal not according to its kind. A mule is neither a horse nor a donkey; it is a hybrid between a horse and donkey. If a certain form of vegetable or plant life is not according to its kind, it will be abnormal and against the principle ordained by God in His creation. In keeping with this principle, a mustard must be according to a mustard, and a tree must be according to a tree. It is abnormal for a mustard to break God’s principle and become a tree. But by growing into a tree, the mustard herb breaks this principle. This kind of growth is abnormal, a violation of God’s regulation. Suppose human life developed without any regulation, and some Chinese grew into oxen, some Japanese grew into horses, and some Americans grew into elephants. How grotesque this would be! Thank God that in His creation He has put a governing principle into every type of life! However, when the Lord sowed the seed of a mustard herb, this herb grew into a tree. How abnormal is such a development!
When I was young, I read some books which said that this big tree was something positive. But this tree, although very large, is not positive at all. Suppose a man grew into an elephant. Would this be positive or negative? We all would be terrified of such an abnormal development. Today’s Christendom is huge and devilishly abnormal. It is not only a tree, but a great tree. By this we see that not only the nature of the constituent of the kingdom has been changed, but that the size of the kingdom has become abnormal. If an herb is to be good for food, it should not grow too large. When an herb grows abnormally large, it is no longer tender, delicious, or good for food. In His economy God intends that His children be like wheat or mustard, the smaller and the more tender, the better. Furthermore, we should be annuals like wheat and mustard, neither of which remains more than a year. The church people must be annuals, not perennials. We should not be rooted deeply into the earth for a long period of time, for the Lord’s intention is that we be sojourners on earth. As long as we are annuals like wheat and herbs, we shall produce the best foodstuff, grain to make loaves of bread and mustard to match the bread. This will afford others excellent food for their nourishment and satisfaction. However, the enemy has made the mustard a perennial tree that does not produce any foodstuff.
Verse 32 also says that the birds of heaven come and roost in the branches of this tree. Instead of producing foodstuff, this tree is a roost for birds. Because the birds in the first parable signify the evil one, Satan (vv. 4, 19), the birds of heaven in verse 32 must refer to Satan’s evil spirits with the evil persons and things motivated by them. They lodge in the branches of the great tree, that is, in the enterprises of Christendom. The birds refer to the evil one and to evil persons, evil matters, and evil things — in short to all evil pertaining to the evil one. In today’s Christendom, there are many evil persons, evil things, and evil matters. Christendom has become a big tree producing no fruit, but having become a lodging place for so many evil things.
When this parable was spoken by the Lord, it was prophecy; but today it has become history. In the Vatican we see the fulfillment of this parable. The Vatican is even an independent country, formed by an agreement between Mussolini and the pope. From that time onward, the Vatican and various nations of the world have exchanged ambassadors. This is a further indication that the Christian religion has become a big tree. Today there are approximately eight hundred million Catholics in the world, perhaps one fourth of the world’s population, under the authority of the pope. Such a large number of people is under the papal system. Although Christianity has become a big tree, in Luke 12 the Lord Jesus called His church the “little flock.” We should not be in the big tree, but remain in the little flock.
If you visit the Vatican, you will see that it is a huge tree, a lodging place filled with so many birds. The same thing is found in the Catholic churches in the United States and in the large denominations. In the Catholic Church and in the denominations it is difficult to find a grain of wheat or a mustard seed. Instead of food, there is lodging for the birds. This is today’s situation, the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
With the appearance of the kingdom, there are three items: the changed nature, the tares; the changed outward appearance, the façade, the big tree; and the inward rottenness and corruption, the leaven. This brings us to the parable of the leaven.
Verse 33 says, “Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.” Leaven in the Scriptures signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12).
Verse 33 says that a woman took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal. The church, as the practical kingdom of the heavens, with Christ — the unleavened fine flour — as its content, must be the unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). However, the Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century and which is signified by the woman here, took many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ to leaven the whole content of Christianity. This fourth parable corresponds to the fourth of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Thyatira (2:18-29). This became the inward content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
Meal, for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food to both God and man. Three measures is the quantity needed to make a full meal (Gen. 18:6). Hence, to hide the leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. This is the actual situation in the Roman Catholic Church. This is absolutely against the Scripture, which strongly forbids putting any leaven into the meal offering (Lev. 2:4-5, 11).
The parable of the leaven reveals the matter of mixture. The three measures of meal refer to fine flour made of wheat grain. This fine flour was always used in the meal offering, the food for God’s priests. Those who served God as priests fed on the fine flour of the meal offering. The meal offering was not only for the satisfaction of God’s priests, but also for the satisfaction of God Himself. Thus, the meal offering was food both for the priests and for God. The meal offering is a full type of Christ in His humanity, with the fine flour signifying Christ. When the Lord appeared to Abraham, Abraham told Sarah, his wife, to prepare a full meal with three measures of fine flour. Hence, in the Bible, three measures denotes a full meal. The fact that three measures of meal have been leavened by the woman indicates that everything related to Christ has been leavened by this evil woman.
The woman of Matthew 13 is the Jezebel of Revelation 2. According to history, Thyatira signifies the apostate Roman Church. The apostate Roman Church is the woman of Matthew 13 and the Jezebel of Revelation 2. Eventually this evil woman will become the great prostitute, called Babylon the Great, seen in Revelation 17. Thus, the woman in Matthew 13, Revelation 2, and Revelation 17 is the apostate Catholic Church. After the papal system had been established, the many pagan practices which had been brought in were confirmed by that system. This is documented in Alexander Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons.
According to 13:33, “the whole was leavened.” The whole lump, indicating Christianity, has been leavened and corrupted. The author of The Two Babylons, a book written to expose the leaven of Roman Catholicism, himself used the term reverend, indicating that he himself was not completely purged of the leaven. If you read the history of Christianity, you will see that everything in it has been leavened. For example, in the Vatican there is a painting supposedly of the Trinity. Between the picture of an old man, who represents the Father, and a young man, who represents the Son, there is a young lady, called the mother of God. Above these three there is a dove, denoting the Holy Spirit. According to this picture, Mary is ranked in the deity, and the Trinity has become a quaternity. What leaven is this!
The Roman Catholic Church has leavened everything related to Christ. They do have Christ, the meal, but they have put leaven into the meal. They also have the golden cup, but it is filled with abominations (Rev. 17:4). There is no doubt that the Catholic Church has some amount of the divine things, signified by the golden cup, but they are mixed with abominations and all manner of devilish matters. This is today’s Christendom. Without exception, everything in Christendom is a mixture. Consider the charismatic movement which has been brought into Catholicism and even mixed with the worship of Mary. Many Catholic charismatics think they are spiritual, yet they still worship Mary. The Roman Catholic Church also has what is called charismatic masses.
Whatever is not of the Spirit or of Christ is leaven. Leaven is something added to make things easy to eat. Without leaven, bread would be hard, and it would be difficult to eat and digest. The Catholic Church uses this as an excuse for the use of leaven. They say they must make it easy for people to receive Christ. The Catholic Church says that Christ is mysterious, spiritual, and abstract and that people need pictures of Him in order to apprehend Him. Our natural being likes to use certain methods to make spiritual things easier to assimilate. This is what the Bible calls leaven, and we must be careful of it. We must be purged of all leaven.
Not only the Catholic Church has taken in leaven, but the Protestant denominations and groups have also. Rock music and drama are types of leaven used to make spiritual things easier for people to accept. When I was in China, I knew of some young men in a certain organization who mixed basketball with the preaching of the gospel. Using basketball for gospel preaching is also leaven. I doubt that very many were saved through this. The whole principle of the Y.M.C.A. is leaven, for the goal of the Y.M.C.A. is to bring the heavenly standard down to the earthly level, to bring the gospel to secular society in a worldly way. So many things in Christianity are leaven. These include Christmas, Easter, idols, pictures, images, rock music, drama, and the entire Y.M.C.A. system. We must be careful not to take anything other than Christ for God’s purpose, because anything other than He is leaven. Oh, the subtle one is crouching nearby waiting for his prey! We can easily become his prey because in our human nature is the desire to make it easy for people to experience spiritual things. But whatever you use to help people to touch spiritual things is a type of leaven. The pure and sanctified way to preach the gospel and to bring people to Christ is prayer and the ministry of the Word. Do not take any other way. If after praying and ministering the Word, people will still not receive the gospel, that is up to the Lord. Whether or not people receive our word is a matter of the Father’s will. We do not want to use any gimmicks to help in our preaching. Every gimmick is leaven. We are not for a work or for a movement — we are for the testimony of Jesus.
With the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens there are three matters: the tares, the changed nature of the constituents of the kingdom; the big tree, the false façade; and the leaven, the inward corruption and rottenness. We can apply this picture to today’s Christianity. Throughout Christianity we can see tares, abnormal growth, and the corruption caused by leaven. In nearly every part of today’s Christianity there is corruption. Although there is a certain amount of truth, it is mixed with leaven. Instead of purity, there is mixture. Those who oppose and criticize us, claiming to defend the truth, must deal with all these things. Praise the Lord that we have been called out of the façade and kept from the leaven! Nevertheless, we must be on the alert not to allow another kind of leaven to come in. Be careful not to take anything other than Christ. In building up the church and spreading the Lord’s testimony, the only way is to pray and to minister the pure Word. In the eyes of God, any gimmick — anything other than Christ, the Word, prayer, and the Spirit — is leaven. We must pray until our preaching is in the power of the Spirit, and we must pray until our testimony is filled with the riches of Christ. This is the pure meal as food for God and man. This is what the Lord wants today.
I believe the reason the Lord gave all these parables showing the mysteries of the kingdom was to help the apostles and the early disciples to realize that this is the kingdom of the heavens. We must see the difference between the reality of the kingdom and the appearance of the kingdom. The reality is precious to God, but the appearance is abominable to Him. Therefore, we must treasure the reality and reject the appearance. We do not like the tares, the big tree, or the rottenness. We care for the pure wheat flour and the little mustard herb which are good for food. This is the church’s testimony, which is food to God and man. Not until the hungry and seeking ones come into the Lord’s recovery can they find the pure food for their spiritual satisfaction. Many of us can testify that we were hungry for years, but that once we came into the church, we were satisfied. Our spirit told us that here in the church there is food. Here there are no gimmicks or leaven, but fine flour with the mustard herb. This is the Lord’s recovery, and this is the dining table. This is the Lord’s testimony without the tares, the big tree, or the leaven.
Verse 34 says, “All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and apart from a parable He spoke nothing to them.” Because of the people’s rejection, the heavenly King spoke to them not in clear words, but in parables, in order to keep the kingdom secret from them. The unveiling of the kingdom became a mystery to them.
What the heavenly King did was a fulfillment of the prophecy which said, “I will open my mouth in a parable” (Psa. 78:2). By doing so, He uttered things hidden from the foundation of the world. The kingdom people were chosen by God before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), but the mysteries of the kingdom were hidden from the foundation of the world. The hidden things are the things concerning the kingdom. They are uttered by the heavenly King, but uttered in a mysterious way in order to make them still a secret from the people.
