The tare, or cheat, in appearance resembles the wheat; it grows exactly the same height, and viewed casually, or at a distance, cannot be detected from the genuine. Only the threshing and sifting bring out the difference. These tares are the propaganda of the Devil, but a perfect imitation of the children of the kingdom. They make a profession, adhere to the same rules and regulations, profess and maintain, outwardly, a standard of morality, wear all the regalia--even particular about details. We observe another striking resemblance: strange as it may seem, these tares--children of the Devil--seek as their guide no books of heathen philosophy, or twentieth century atheism; they make great capital of the Bible; the ceremonies and ordinances are carried out to the letter. On a day of dress parade and review they meekly grade A 1. Such an inconsistency is so glaring as to be almost unthinkable; but the parable teaches it beyond a doubt. The Devil sows into the Church his children: _a corrupt profession of Jesus Christ_. In a former chapter we studied the Devil as a _destroyer_; and it will be remembered that in a preceding parable he came as a vulture devouring the seed; now he seeks to further weaken and hinder by adulteration. While continuing the battering-ram process from without, a reversed method is used; he scales the ramparts and places his cohorts on the inside, and, wherever possible, assumes leadership in a campaign of self-destruction. We are amazed at such audacity, but the Master, who is a rival in the field, has illuminated the parable for us. There is a note of optimism ringing out in the land to the effect that the day of triumph is at hand; doors are opening, walls are crumbling, conservative nations are studying our religion, municipalities are being renovated, higher standards in public life are demanded, the Church is lifting the race out of superstition and prejudice--we are about to see a "nation born in a day." What does it mean? It means that Satan is being chained--defeated, etc. This sounds good and plausible; but a closer inspection will reveal, not a retreat, not an armistice, not a victory, but a _change of base_. Twenty years ago a leading teacher said: "Unless the signs of the times fail, the true Church of Christ is about to enter upon the most serious struggle of her history. She is no longer called merely to fight an open foe without, but as Dr. Green, of Princeton, says, 'the battle rages around the citadel,' and she is forced to fight the traitors within. The real enemy is to be found on the inside." If such a condition were true then, what is it to-day, since the last two decades have been the most revolutionary in the history of the Church on the line of skepticism and advanced thought?