“And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”-Luke 13:20, 21; Matthew 13:33.

Again the Master illustrated the experiences of his church as an embryotic kingdom. His second parable tells of a woman who hid some leaven in three measures of meal until the whole batch was leavened. This, Bible students are coming to understand, signifies a corrupting of the divine message-the spiritual food which God had prepared for the church. A wo man in symbolic language represents a church system; and the Master tells us that such a church system will mix leaven, or ferment, in the food of the family of God until the whole mass will be corrupted. For be it noted that leaven in the Bible is always used as a symbol of corruption, of sin. This parable shows that the faith once delivered to the saints would be lost, vitiated, mixed with error, until it would be no longer nourishing to the family. St. Paul pictures the same matter, saying that in the latter days “some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.”-1 Timothy 4:1.

These false doctrines are what are troubling the people of God today. Our hearts are better than our heads; for the hearts of the consecrated are in tune with the Infinite One, while the creeds of the Dark Ages are quite out of tune. The blessings that are lately coming to Bible students are largely the result of breaking loose from the creeds formulated in the Dark Ages; and getting back to the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets-the only inspired authorities. Their words alone constitute the proper food whereby we are to be nourished. The Word of God is sufficient, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. -2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

Some dear Christian people, looking at matters evidently from a wrong angle, are still deceived into thinking that it is possible for the church, as the Kingdom of God in an embryotic condition, to do the work which God assigns to that church in her future glorified, perfected condition. Such shut their eyes to the fact that the number of heathens in proportion to the number of Christians doubles every century. Such try to count up Christians by the hundreds of millions, entirely ignoring the fact that Jesus has declared that the Gospel church, the elect, who are walking in his steps, will be altogether but a little flock. -Luke 12:32. R5406 (1914)