MATTHEW, CHAP. XIII.-VERSES 24-30.

Parable of the Darnel in the Field.

(24) He laid before them another parable, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man sowing good seed in his field. (25) And while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the corn, and went away. (26) And when the corn grew up, and bore seed, then appeared the darnel also. (27) And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field; whence then has it darnel? (28) And he said to them, An unfriendly man has done this. And the servants said to him, Then do you wish us to go and gather them? (29) And he said, No, lest in gathering the darnel you root out the corn with it. (30) Let both grow together till the harvest, and at harvest-time I will say to the reapers, Gather first the darnel, and bind it in bundles to burn it, but gather the corn into my granary.

§ 165. Spirits are not all at the same stage of development. Some among you are pupils, while others are at the commencement of their moral experiences. Would it then be necessary, in order to effect the renovation of your spiritual generation, to overwhelm the whole material generation by a new deluge like that described by the ancients? Not so; the darnel grows side by side with the good corn, but at each harvest, the darnel is sent to be purified in the fire of expiation, and the good corn is gathered into the granaries of the Lord. Do not misunderstand us when we spoke of the deluge as it has been described. We only intended to present the idea of a universal catastrophe to your minds; for if there had ever been such a deluge as that recorded by tradition, we should not have said "as the ancients have described it." There was no universal deluge, for there has never been a universal cataclysm, but often partial renovations. The successive transformations which have happened from the time that your planet arose from incandescent vapours till your own days were successively designed for the preparation and progress of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, and subsequently of the human kingdom, in order to prepare for the future purification and transformation of the planetary, mineral, vegetable, animal and human fluids, by progressive, gradual, and continuous steps. At every stage in the progress of humanity, the ele

ments must change their nature; matter must become purified, and must progress under the action of spirit; and the earth must provide for the necessities of the generations of men who live upon it.

The enemy of the master of the house," who sowed the darnel was an expression adapted to the comprehension of those who listened to the parable. Was it not necessary that they should be able to understand it?

In speaking thus, Jesus alluded to the evil intelligences, whether incarnate or not, who seek to destroy the good seed which the good spirits have sown in the heart of man. Thus the darnel grows up beside the good corn, for the good corn (that is, the pure heart) rejects the bad seed, and its contact cannot injure it.

When the servants inquired, "Do you wish us to go and weed out the darnel ?" the master answered, "No, lest in gathering the darnel you root out the corn with it.” In this part of the parable Jesus desired to restrain the zeal of the Apostles, who might have been urged on too far by the desire of advancing humanity, and in the endeavour to repress abuses, might have alarmed well-meaning but simple men, and have turned them aside.*

This is a lesson both for the present and the future. The great secret in teaching eternal truths is to appropriate them to the intelligence of those who are to receive them; otherwise those who would have accepted the principle if it had been presented to them in a form in accordance with their own point of view, may be repelled from it, either because they are dazzled by its splendour, or because it appears to be surrounded by too great difficulties.

(V. 30.)—The harvest is the period when spirits quit their fleshly envelope, and return to the world of spirits. If they are in the condition of darnel to be burned, they first suffer expiation in the errant state, and are purified in the fire of moral sufferings and tortures, and are then sent to

* As missionaries discourage the taste for flowers, and other harmless, if not elevating tendencies, among the natives of the South Sea Islands and elsewhere.-TRANSL.

redeem and expiate the past, and to progress by means of new experiences, and are reincarnated either in worlds inferior to yours, or on your own, according to their tendencies, and their guilt. But those who are in the condition of the good corn which is to be gathered into the granary, are sent to higher worlds than yours, to perfect themselves, and to advance further by means of fresh experiences.

From this double point of view, the harvest is constantly taking place, both in the past, the present, and the future. Again, the definite period of the harvest as regards your planet will be the time when the darnel will no longer be permitted to grow on your earth beside the good corn, but will be uprooted and cast out by the expulsion of all the guilty spirits who have remained rebellious, who will be removed from your planet, and cast down to the inferior planets, when your earth will no longer produce anything but good corn, having become part of the kingdom of God, reserved exclusively for the residence of good spirits. In this passage, the reapers are the superior spirits who are charged with watching over the expiations of guilty spirits in the errant state, and with the classifying of those who have passed through their experiences well, and have deserved admission into worlds higher than your earth.

MATTHEW, CHAP. XIII.-VERSES 31-35. MARK, CHAP. IV.-VERSES 26-34. LUKE, CHAP. XIII.VERSES 18-22.

The Grain of Mustard-Seed--The Leaven and the Meal.— Seed sown in the Ground.

Matth. xiii. (31) He laid before them another parable, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, (32) Which is indeed the least of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and rest in its branches. (33) He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. (34) All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable spoke he not unto them. (35) That the word spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been concealed from the foundation of the world.

Mark iv. (26) And he said, Thus is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, (27) And should lie down and rise up by night and day, and the seed should grow and increase when he is not looking; (28) For the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. (29) And when the grain is ripe, immediately he sends the sickle, for the harvest has come. (30) And he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? or by what parable shall I symbol it? (31) As a mustard-seed, which when it is sown in the earth, is the least of all the seeds on the earth, (32) And when it is sown, it springs up and becomes larger than all the herbs, and shoots out great branches, so that the birds of heaven can rest under its shadow. (33) And he spoke the word to them in many such parables, as they were able to listen. (34) And without a parable spake he not to them, and when he was alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

Luke xiii. (18) And he said, To what is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? (19) It is like a mustard-seed which a man took and cast into his garden, and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of heaven rested in its branches. (20) And he said again, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? (21) It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. (22) And he went through towns and villages, preaching, and making his way towards Jerusalem.

§ 166. By the parable in which he compared the kingdom of the heavens to a mustard-seed, Jesus showed the multitude that however small might be the starting-point towards the heavens, it might nevertheless develop itself, and lead to great results.

Such was the end and object of this parable, so far as it referred to the period at which Jesus spoke; but his thought had reference both to the present and to the future. From a spiritual point of view, the kingdom of the heavens is compared to a mustard-seed which became a great tree, on which the birds rested, as a metaphor. By the mustardseed you must understand the original starting-point of your planet and its humanity, in their rudimentary condition. The secret development of the mustard-seed is the formation of the earth, and its appearance, growth, and transformation into a great tree typify the laws of nature acting through spiritual agency according to the immutable will of the Omnipotent Ruler, and the phases of the formation of your planet in its latent state, and of the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms; their appearance, development, and progress, the phases of physical purification and transforma

tion of your planet, and the physical, moral, and intellectual purification and transformation of your humanity.

The branches of the tree on which the birds rest signify the degree of development to which your planet must attain to become a dwelling-place of peace and happiness to which purified spirits will come to advance with it on a new and ascending path towards the progress which they must make to arrive at perfection, with the help and assistance of the spirits of the Lord, under the direction and guidance of the Master.

By the parable in which Jesus compared the kingdom of the heavens, or the kingdom of God, to leaven hidden in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened, he designed to make men comprehend the secret, but continued, action of the seed which he sowed in their hearts. Centuries have developed it; but for the most part it has scarcely risen above the ground. How far you still are from the period when this seed shall become a tree, like the mustard-seed, and its leafy branches shall shelter the faithful!

Jesus only spoke of three measures of meal to accommodate his language to the customs of the age; for this was the quantity of meal that it was usual to leaven at one time. From a spiritual point of view, the kingdom of God, as compared with the leaven in the parable, typifies the regenerative influence which Jesus cast into the hearts of men by his moral doctrine, words, acts, teaching and example. This it is which by its secret and continuous action in the past, which we shall hasten in the present and in the future by the New Revelation, leads the spirit to the elevation and purity which enable it to rejoice in divine felicity, wherever it may be. The leavening of the whole is the attainment of the object, when this elevation and purity have been acquired. You have all this leaven in your hearts, which the Lord has placed there, and we are waiting till the fermentation (which we urge on so far as we are permitted) shall have leavened the meal to the needful extent. We tell you like Jesus that our words will not pass