February, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
63
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The monstrosity becomes attractive to the birds which the Lord has already de scribed as the agents o f Satan. The birds find lodgment in the tree, but the tree does not and cannot change their character. They defile the tree and take its fruit, but they remain unaffected by it. We should remember that bigness is not greatness. The church, striving for big ness, has lost its greatness. It is big in numbers, in wealth, in brains, but weak in spiritual power. II. T he L eaven (33). Leaven is mentioned over ninety times in Scripture, and in each place, with the exception of the passage before us, it is acknowledged to have a bad meaning. It is difficult to suppose that the Holy Spirit, after adopting a symbol of evil, should suddenly take it up and make it a symbol o f good. But since the professing church adopted the idea that it is to convert the world, it has insisted that leaven in this parable means good, that is, the gospel. The church in general believes that the gospel must spread and grow until all the world is brought under its influence, and then the Lord will come to find a Christ- honoring, Bible-loving, and God-worship ing world. The truth is that while the mustard seed represents the outward growth of what is called Christendom, the parable of the leaven represents its inner corruption. Leaven is yeast, a souring and corrupt ing principle, placed in dough to take away its insipidity and make it palatable. In the parable, the meal represents good, and the leaven, like modernism, is placed in it to make it palatable to the natural man. But God’s truth is never acceptable to carnal nature (1 Cor. 2:14). The action o f the leaven is hidden, subtle, constantly increasing, until arrested by the action o f fire. Nothing will check the spread o f modernism until the Lord’s judg ment of fire falls upon it from heaven. To make the leaven mean anything but evil confuses the kingdom with the church, beclouds all the other parables and robs them o f their purpose, sets aside the scrip tural use of leaven, excludes the need of any explanation o f the parables, and de stroys the teaching o f the types. If the leaven represents good, then the meal must represent evil, and that, in view o f the great Meal Offering, from which leaven was rigidly excluded, comes close to blasphemy. III. T he H id T reasure (44). The treasure hidden in the field repre sents Israel hidden among the nations of the earth (cf. Ex. 19:5; Psa. 135 :4; Deut. 7:6-8; 14:2; 26:18). A man found this treasure, sold all that he had, and bought the field. Who is the man? Certainly not a sinner seeking salvation, because a sinner has nothing to sell, and salvation is a gift which cannot be bought (cf. John 3:16; Rom. 6:23). The “man” is none other than the Lord Jesus. He found Israel and loved her, and for her sake sold all that He had and bought the field. He is the One who gave His life a ransom, who thus purchased all men, for the sake of securing the treasure He found hidden. All the world belongs to Christ by right of purchase, the price paid being His own precious blood. IV. T he P earl of G reat P rice (45, 46). The pearl represents the true church brought out from the sea, a symbol o f the nations. The church members are drawn from all nations, and in the church there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian,
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