Lesson 998

(Lesson 998)(06-07-14) Luke 13:18-21

"Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 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."

In today's lesson, Jesus explained how His Church, beginning with that tiny group of disciples,would grow to become active worldwide.

Even though today there are many different "religious" organizations all of which claim to be the one true Church while teaching wildly differing and erroneous doctrines, most of which are in total contrast to the pure gospel of Christ, there are, all over the earth, still small groups who truly represent the pure purpose of Jesus Christ and His divine gospel.

It is the sole responsibility of each individual child of God, just as it was in Jesus' day, to make sure that the organization ("Church") to which they associate themselves is representative of the ultimate will of God. His will being, as stated by Jesus, to preach the pure undistorted gospel of Jesus Christ to every lost soul who is willing to listen, and to maintain the purity of the gospel straight from the pages of His divine word so that those who are spiritually weak can easily understand it.

We are to teach the gospel that has NOT been "interpreted" for the convenience of those who don't want to keep it in the form in which it was originally delivered by Jesus Himself.

In order to do that, we must rely on the power and presence of the Holy Spirit for understanding and guidance. Beyond that, we are to apply common sense as we carefully maintain the context of each individual bible lesson.

The Church Jesus Christ founded over two thousand years ago is still alive and thriving, just as He said it would. The charge is ours to see to it that the rest of the world can truly identify it.~