The seven Mystery Parables, as taught by Christ and recorded by Matthew, trace the growth of Christendom through the course of its history, and mark the change and movement of the Church from one age to another. What Jesus is revealing in the Mystery Parables is not a picture of the true Church of Christ per se, but a glimpse of professing Christianity during the interval of time between His first and second comings to earth. In time the lowly upper room was forsaken, Biblical truths were corrupted with leaven, and the little body of faithful believers became lost in a great multitude of unbelievers, as birds of every variety found accommodation in the branches of the mushrooming tree of Christendom.
We are living in the last days, and the time is fast approaching when “the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:49-50).
Mr. Pember noted, “If we cannot accurately compute the times of the Church, we are by no means without intimation of the present nearness of Christ's coming. For we see Christendom beginning to assume its last form, and the Mystery of Lawlessness daily gaining strength; while the Jewish prophecies seem to be on the point of fulfilment. Since, therefore, the Church must be taken away before any of these things is consummated, we may be well assured that the Lord is at hand, and should exhort one another so much the more as we see the Day approaching.”