Mother Stories from the New Testament | Page 6

fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father."
"For the Lord our God shall come, And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day All offences purge away;
"Give His angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast, But the
fruitful grain to store In His garner evermore."
[Illustration: THE ENEMY SOWING TARES.]

THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN.

Christ said that the kingdom of heaven could be likened unto leaven (or
yeast), which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till the
whole was leavened.
Now, this leaven, or yeast, is composed of tiny little plants, each one so
small that it cannot possibly be seen by the sharpest eye except through
a very powerful microscope. So small are they that it would require
three thousand of them, placed close together, side by side, to make up
the length of one inch. Like all other plants they require food, and they
find this in the dough they are placed in. You know that all things are
made up of atoms of chemical substances so wonderfully blended
together that only the chemist can separate them, and when he has
separated them they appear very different. Well, in flour there are
certain things so blended, and the yeast-plant takes one kind of
substance as food, and in doing so sets free another substance called
carbonic acid gas. This gas bubbles up and makes the heavy dough
spongy and light. If it were not for these tiny bubbles of gas your bread
would be as heavy and close as suet pudding. This is the reason why
yeast is put into dough for making bread or cake. One of the most
remarkable things about this yeast is, that when it gets into any
substance that contains its food, it at once begins to give off buds,
which, in a few moments, become full-sized and break away. So rapid
is this increase, that if a single yeast-plant were to be put into a great
mass of dough it would very quickly leaven the whole mass.
And so it is with the love of God. When once it gets into our hearts it
will keep on growing until all our life is filled with it, and we try in all
things to please Him.
[Illustration: THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN.]

SEEKING FOR HIDDEN TREASURE.
The people of Canaan, both in ancient and modern days, have made a
practice of hiding their treasures. This they have done to secure them in
times of danger. When invaders flocked into the land, the people buried

their gold and jewels, and fled. And often they died, or were overtaken
by their enemies and killed, so that they were unable to return and
regain their buried riches. Earthquakes also have taken place,
destroying towns and villages, and burying all the riches in them
beneath their ruins. Thus there is much hidden treasure in Canaan, and
numbers of the inhabitants spend their time seeking diligently and
anxiously for it.
Our artist shows us a man who is thus seeking. He has heard that in old
times a great treasure was hidden in a particular field. So he digs away
patiently in various places until, at last, he finds out that what he heard
is quite true. He is sure the treasure is _there_; and his desire is to
become possessed of the field, so that he may obtain the buried riches.
He is willing to sell all that he has if by so doing he may buy that field.
So he hastens home, and gathers together the whole of his property and
sells it. Then he takes his money to the man who has the land for sale,
and buys the field of him. Thus he becomes possessed of the treasure
he has sought after. Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like that
treasure. It is so precious, that when a man finds out its value, and
knows how it can be obtained, he will be willing to give up everything
he has for it--all his companions, pleasures, sins, riches--indeed
everything he possesses, in order to gain this great treasure.
[Illustration: THE TREASURE HID IN A FIELD.]

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
Very similar to the parable of the Hidden Treasure is this one of the
merchant seeking goodly pearls.
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly
pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all that he had, and bought it."
In the picture we see the merchant on the sea-shore, where he has
waited for the landing of these sailors from