In this appendix to the section on Thyatira, we bring up a subject which we call the heresy of confusion. Every reader of prophesy knows that Roman Catholicism will become more and more powerful, while Protestantism will become weaker and weaker. Revelation 17 says that the great harlot, which typifies Roman Catholicism, will ride on the beast and then be killed by it. Therefore, all genuine children of God must fully prepare themselves for this crisis in the last days. We do not know when Roman Catholicism will become a problem to us. It may be five, ten, or twenty years from now. Perhaps we will still be here; perhaps we will have passed away. We must be clear about this heresy and educate the brothers and sisters. It will be too late to deal with it when it becomes a problem to us. We who are the watchmen of the church must pay attention to this matter and deal with it before it becomes a problem.
The Lord Jesus spoke seven parables in Matthew 13. These seven parables show the history of the kingdom of the heavens on earth. They reveal the different stages that the kingdom of the heavens passes through on earth, beginning from the time when the Lord Jesus sowed the seed until His coming again. These seven parables cover the entire period from the time of His first coming, the time when the Son of Man came to the earth to sow the seed, up to His second coming, when He will come to judge and to gather the wheat into the barn. Many things happen between these two comings. The Lord uses these seven parables to explain them and to prophesy concerning them.
Two of these parables tell us that the kingdom of the heavens on earth will be corrupted. In Matthew 13:31-32 the first parable says that the kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed: “Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.” We have to pay particular attention to the phrase the kingdom of the heavens is like. This phrase refers to the entire parable, not to the words immediately following the phrase. In verse 33 the second parable says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.” This whole verse describes what “the kingdom of the heavens is like.” In other words, the phrase the kingdom of the heavens is like does not refer to the words immediately after the phrase, but to the entire parable.
The Lord Jesus said, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed.” The mustard seed is His word, just as the seed in the previous section is His word. It is something that comes absolutely from God. The life of this seed and everything about this seed are of God. Concerning the seed verse 31 says, “Which a man took and sowed in his field.” The preceding verses indicate that the field is the world. They also show us that the man is the Lord Himself. This means that the Lord sows the word of God into the world.
According to God’s intention, this seed “is smaller than all the seeds” (v. 32). The mustard seed is very small; it is smaller than all the seeds. When God sowed His word into the world, His intention was for such a mustard seed to remain an herb when it grew up. God’s ordained law from the beginning of His creation is for the mustard seed to grow according to its kind—into an herb. Everything must grow after its kind. It is right for the tiny mustard seed to grow into a mustard herb. This is God’s original intention. God sent His own Son into the world to sow His word into the world. The result is the church which grows out of this earth. God expects the church on earth to be full of life, to bring forth fruit, and to be good for food. It must remain an herb, something temporal, small, unnoticed, and not big enough to shelter others.
God’s intention is to sow, grow, and reap again and again. It is like a wheat crop, which is sown and harvested over and over again. Once the seed grows into a herb, it is taken away, and the ground is cleared for the next sowing. The ground must be cleared for others to come in to believe, to be begotten, to grow, and to be reaped. Others have to believe, grow, and be harvested by God. On the one hand, the church is always continuing on the earth. On the other hand, God’s intention is to reap men group by group unto Himself. The church can be food to men, and it can feed men, but it must be reaped bundle by bundle, again and again, like crops of herbs.
Herbs are not meant for display; they are not supposed to be great. They are meant to be food for man. After man sinned in Genesis, God first gave him herbs for food. God gave herbs to man for food. The herb is not a flower, which is good for show, and it is not a tree, which is great in size. As an herb, it should remain weak, powerless, and fragile in the eyes of man.