The Parable of the Hidden Leaven
The Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven
PART
FOUR
By Pastor F. M. Riley
November 19, 2013
“Another parable spake He unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures
of meal, till the whole was leavened,” Matthew 13:33.
Introduction
I have now posted Bible study
expositions of the first three Kingdom of
Heaven parables; The Parable of the
Sower, The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, and The Parable of the Mustard Seed.
This morning [November 18th]
I posted an article, Binding the Bundles
for Burning, which I hope sets forth the connection between these first three
parables. Any reader who has not
received these Bible studies need only request them.
There is yet one more parable necessary to complete the subject being
set forth in the first four parables given by the Lord in Matthew 13. Thus far we have pointed out…..
[1] The sowing of the “seed”
of the gospel of Christ in The
Parable of the Sower.
[2] The crop that the “seed”
of the gospel produced; “wheat,” in The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. But this second parable also reveals Satan’s
attempt to dilute and destroy the effects of the gospel of Christ by sowing “tares”
in the “field” among the “wheat.”
[3] The Parable of the Mustard Seed sets forth
the history of how the “seed” of Satan’s false religion [the tares] was moved from ancient
Babylon to the city of Pergamos, and then from Pergamos to Rome, Italy, where
it was “sown” in the Roman Empire in the religious Hierarchy
established by Emperor Constantine.
[4] Now let’s turn our attention to the fourth parable
which completes the prophetic picture Christ was setting forth in the first
four Kingdom of Heaven parables…..
The
Parable of the Hidden Leaven
This is the fourth parable in the Kingdom
of Heaven parables given by the Lord in Matthew 13. This parable completes the account of
Satan’s infiltration of Christianity with the “tares” of the ancient
Babylonian religious system.
The Symbols…..
The “leaven”
in this parable, and throughout the Scriptures, is symbolic of SIN. It is a ridiculous, silly, false teaching
that attempts to make leaven represent the gospel of Christ. No place in the Scriptures does leaven ever
represent anything other than SIN. Read 1
Corinthians 5:6-9.
The “woman” in this parable symbolizes
wicked old “Jezebel,” the whore Queen of ancient Babylon. Compare the Lord’s statement to His church in
Thyatira in Revelation 2:20-23.
The “three measures” are symbolic of the
the third century of the Christian era.
The “meal” is symbolic of true Bible believing Christians and Christianity,
who at the beginning of the third century had been crushed and ground by the
persecutions heaped upon them by the Roman Empire during the previous three
centuries.
The Exposition…..
Most Christian
believers today never give any serious thought to the fact that Satan began to
sow “tares”
among the “wheat” just as soon as the “weakness of the flesh” among
true believers made it
possible, Revelation 2:4-5. Before the New Testament had been written,
several “professing” Christians had already turned away from their “profession”
and gone back into the world. Those
specifically mentioned by name in the New Testament are Demas, [2 Timothy 4:10], Hymenaeus and
1
Alexander [1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:14-15], Philetus [2 Timothy 2:17-18], and Diotrephes [3 John 9-10].
Also, before the New Testament had been written, there had
already been at least two serious “splits” or divisions in the ranks of the
Christian movement.
Paul records in Acts 15:1-2 how that certain men in
the church at Jerusalem had come down to Antioch and began teaching the
disciples that they had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses in order to
be saved. Paul adds that him and Barnabas
“had
no small dissension and disputation” with these “false brethren,” Galatians
2:4. This resulted in the first
genuine church council being convened as recorded in Acts 15. Our readers should notice that during
the course of this council, there was “a sect of the Pharisees which believed,” yet
insisted “That it was needful to circumcise them [Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and the church at
Antioch], and command them to keep the law of Moses,” Acts 15:6. This resulted in “much disputing” at that
council. Nevertheless, the Apostles
settled the matter by commending the work and teachings of Paul and Barnabas
and writing a letter to the church at Antioch verifying the truth of the gospel. Every reader should study the account of this
church council carefully. It is a sad
truth that after that church council, this “sect of the Pharisees” who insisted
that salvation was by being circumcised and keeping the law, is never mentioned
again anywhere in the New Testament. It appears that they separated themselves
from the Lord’s churches.
That there was such a division or split in the ranks of Christianity before
the New Testament was completed is made glaringly clear in 1 John 2:18-19, “Little children,
it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist [singular] shall come, even now are
there many antichrists [plural];
whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us [separated themselves; split off], but they were not of us: for if
they had been of us, they would no
doubt have continued with us: but they
went out, that they might be made
manifest that they were not all of us.” Don’t
fail to notice that by Divine Inspiration, John refers to those early
“professors” who split off from Bible believing Christianity as “antichrists.”
These inspired Scriptures plainly establish that
there were two or more “splits” in the ranks of Christianity before the
New Testament had even been completed.
But this split is not the point I want to make! Rather, the important
point is that those religious “antichrists” who apostatized, and
left Bible believing Christianity continued to refer to themselves and
represent themselves as “Christians.”
This made it glaringly easy, after Constantine convened his council, for
a Hierarchy to be set up which called itself “Christian,” even though it
obviously was filled with unscriptural pagan practices and teachings.
What an opportunity this presented for the old Babylonian whore religious
system to infiltrate the ranks of Christianity.
In the third century of Christianity, after Constantine had established
his religious Hierarchy, the old Babylonian whore religious system joined the
Hierarchy, hiding their idolatry, false teachings, and wicked practices
by disguising them as “Christianity.” Now some 2,000 years later, the old
Babylonian-Roman whore religion is still claiming to be ”Christian.” Sic!
If our readers will obtain a copy of the book written by Charles
Chiniquy entitled Fifty Years in the
“Church” of Rome,” and carefully read it, they will gain insight into the inner workings of the Roman whore
religious system far beyond anything even imagined by the average
Christian. Charles Chiniquy was a
Catholic priest for fifty years before receiving Christ as his
Savior. He held a number of high
positions in the Roman Hierarchy, and shared his intimate knowledge of the
whole wicked system in his book. I do
not sell the book, but it can be obtained at any good Christian bookstore,
or by contacting Chick Publications, P. O. Box 3500, Ontario, California
91761-1019.
Through the so-called “Christian” Hierarchy
system established by Constantine in 313 A.D., thereby the “counterfeit” church
was brought into existence. This
counterfeit church grew in power and wealth until it literally controlled the
whole religious world for a thousand years.
313 A.D. to the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s. The Lord sternly rebuked His church at
Thyatira for allowing “that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a
prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat
things sacrificed unto idols,” Revelation 2:20.
During that 1,000 year period, the old whore of Babylon bitterly
persecuted the Lord’s true churches, torturing, raping, murdering, burning, and crucifying millions of true believers.
2
Remember that the Lord told His “servants” to allow the “tares”
to continue to grow with the “wheat” in the Kingdom of Heaven
until “the end of the world [age]. Notice that in this parable the “leaven” keeps right on working “till the whole was leavened,”
13:33. Dear readers, we have
reached that point in human history. The
entire world society today has been contaminated with the “leaven” of the old
Babylonian whore religion, which for the past 1,700 years has been flowing
forth out of the putrid fountain of paganism established in Rome, Italy by
Constantine in 313 A.D. When one
carefully looks today, they can see how the “leaven” hidden by the “woman”
has spread into every strata of human society. We can see it in the ranks of Christianity,
but also in commerce and business, in politics, in education, in medicine, in
the military, in morals, in gangsterism, and especially in the so-called
“entertainment” industry, etc. Why is it
that Catholicism is always portrayed in movies and on TV as “holy, pure, and
good,” while all other religious systems and characters are portrayed as evil idiots, and as sources of foolishness,
greed, crime, and perversion?
Well…??? The Lord Jesus said that
the “leaven”
hidden by the “woman” in or among the “meal”
would ultimately leaven the whole kingdom, and it has! Exactly as the Lord predicted that it
would! Hello!
Conclusion
This spreading of the “leaven” through every strata of
human society today, should again impress upon true believers that we are living right at the very end of
this present age, and the coming of our Lord Jesus to resurrect and rapture His
true New Covenant believers to glory is at the door. The Lord’s “wheat” is ready to be
gathered into the Lord’s “barn,” Matthew 13:30; 13:43. If our readers will carefully study The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
again, it is obvious that the gathering of the “tares” for the burning
and the gathering of the “wheat” into the Lord’s barn takes
place in very close proximity.
Hallelujah! Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I write the “tares” are being
gathered together into “bundles” in preparation for their “burning.” Therefore, we who are true New Covenant believers should be expecting our “gathering
into the Lord’s barn” to occur at any minute now. O praise the Lord!
If you know and have assurance that you are a true believer, then lift up your heart and voice and give
the Lord praise! If you have any doubts
about your salvation, then seek the Lord in earnest and sincere prayer right
now for salvation or assurance. If
any reader needs spiritual help, contact me at once. By the grace of God, I do know the way,
John
14:6. I will study with you,
pray with you, and help you in any way I can to find salvation in Christ, or
the assurance of salvation and peace in Christ.
Read Galatians 5:22-25 and 1 John 5:13.
I would like to meet every reader in Heaven when our Lord comes
to take us home to glory. Please don’t
disappoint me!
TO BE CONTINUED…..
<<<<<<< O
>>>>>>>
Permission is granted to any true
believer or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this study
to share with others, or to quote from it in
context as written.
Thank you again dear readers for the love you have shown towards this
old preacher man in sharing
your blessing with me. May your rewards be great in glory.
Please address all comments, questions, and correspondence to: Pastor
F. M. Riley, Last Call Gospel Ministry, 184 County Road 108, Harrisburg,
Missouri 65256, or I can be contacted by sending an email to: fmr7sngn@centurylink.net.
<<<<<<< O
>>>>>>>
Comments
Post a Comment