Wheat and tares

Open 626

RR Matt 13:24-30  Insert   NKJV

"Terrible Tares"

Close 604



Matthew 13:24  Another parable He put forth to them, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his
field;



25  "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat and went his way.



26  "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then
the tares also appeared.



27  "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir,
did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
tares?'



28  "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants
said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'



29  "But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you
also uproot the wheat with them.



30  'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time
of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the
tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the
wheat into my barn."' "



Recently talked about the  sowing and the types of soil.  I hope
that you would  be able to have that parable in the back of your
mind as we go through our study today. 

Today we focus on the fruitful field.  This parable is one in a
series of four parables or illustrations that have to do with
fields of different types.

These parables are complimentary  in nature, one rather
naturally flowing from the other.

The first deals with the results of planting good seed on
different types of soil.

The one that we are looking at today deals with the results of
planting good and bad seed on good soil.

The next has to do with the planting of a mustard seed,
illustrating the growth of the kingdom.

We will  look at that parable on the second Sabbath of December,
so I better not preach it today.

Then last there is the very short parable of the treasure hidden
in the field.

There are many people today that have lost an understanding of
the importance of the soil and agriculture.  However, it was a
day to day fact of life for the people who listened to Jesus'
parable that day.  They lived close to the ground.  They worked
the ground.  They harvested their crops themselves. They
prepared the food themselves.  They stored and preserved the
produce themselves.  And if there were no crop they did not eat.
 Food, other than grains and wine, could not be imported,
because of the length of time it took to move from one place to
another.

Let me put it another way.  Have you ever had to totally depend
on your garden to eat?  We may be close to that again, but that
is another topic.

As we read on in scripture, Jesus gives the meaning of the
parable:

Matthew 13:37  He answered and said to them: "He who sows the
good seed is the Son of Man.

38  "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the
kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

39  "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the
end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

40  "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire,
so it will be at the end of this age.

41  "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will
gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who
practice lawlessness,

42  "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43  "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

This is pretty clear to me, but I want to remark on a couple of
points.  

In the same field Jesus has sown good seed, and the enemy has
sown weeds.

The enemy is the devil.

The sorting of the wheat from the tares is done by whom?

Note the wheat does not kick the tares out.

The characteristics of the good seed are not stated other than
that they are good.  And what makes good seed?  (fruit bearing)

What are the characteristics of the tares?  They offend.  Did
you hear that brothers and sisters.  They offend. And they are
practicing lawlessness.  Not just an occasional slip-up, but a
regular participating in the character of their father the Devil.

The destruction of the tares, or the faithless within the church
takes place when?  How is it done?

At the end of the age.  All at the same time.

Now that is the short version of the sermon.

So lest you think you didn't get your money's worth today, I
want for us to take a look at what makes a difference and
perhaps similarities, between the wheat an the tares.

Compassion / charity

In  1 Corinthians 13 the apostle Paul gives us what he considers
to be the most important quality of the wheat.  (love chapter)

Jesus, as he is concluding his discourse on the end of all
things said:

Matthew 25:34  "Then the King will say to those on His right
hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35  'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and
you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36  'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited
Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

37  "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did
we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

38  'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked
and clothe You?

An intellectual assent a concern for others will not save us. 
It is a practice of the caring for people's needs that concerns
God.



Doubt:

Matthew 28:17  When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some
doubted.

18  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has
been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit,

20  "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Amen.

After everything that happened, the trial, the cross, the
resurrection, the healings, and the teaching, there were still
some who doubted.  And this was among the "believers."

Could it be so today?



Deception:

Matthew 24:4  And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed
that no one deceives you.

5  "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,'
and will deceive many.

11  "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

Do you believe that Satan wants to keep people from knowing and
practicing truth?

Can you think of a better way than to have them firmly believe a
lie?  may I be so bold as to suggest that you continually
examine your beliefs to determine that they stay in line with
the Word of God.  And lest you be feeling smug about your
beliefs, once you begin to depend on them for your salvation
rather than the Lord, you are deceived and have become a tare in
the house of God.



Decisiveness

Matthew 24:15  "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of
desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),

16  "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

17  "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything
out of his house.

18  "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his
clothes.

We could mention several Biblical examples here.  Lot and his
family being dragged out of Sodom.  Those who almost entered the
ark before the flood.  Kings Festus and Agrippa who almost
accepted Jesus.



Watchfulness

Matthew 24:38  "For as in the days before the flood, they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered the ark,

39  "and did not know until the flood came and took them all
away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

40  "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and
the other left.

41  "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken
and the other left.

42  "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is
coming.

The wheat faithfully observes the times and is waiting with
expectancy for the return of their Master.



Devotion

We do not hear much about devotion.  When we hear the word we
tend to think of candles and long prayers and strange religions
and fanatics.

Quite similar to the church of Laodicea that we read of in
Revelation.  A church who had many things, but was totally
devoted to herself.  

The parable of the talents which we looked at a few weeks ago
was less about money and more about a relationship to the master
that they served.



Holy Spirit

The parable of the 10 Virgins deals with the issue of whether or
not the professed followers of God are allowing the Holy Spirit
to work in their lives.  They all start out with a measure of
the Spirit, but they all do not allow the Spirit to take control
of their lives and mold them into the person that God knows that
they are capable of being.



Denial

Matthew 26:69  Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a
servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of
Galilee."

70  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know
what you are saying."

71  And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw
him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with
Jesus of Nazareth."

72  But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"

73  And a little later those who stood by came up and said to
Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays
you."

74  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the
Man!" Immediately a rooster crowed.

75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him,
"Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he
went out and wept bitterly.

We're talking Peter here.  A leader of the disciples.

How do we understand denial?  Denying the ability of the power
to God to change us.  Denying the promises of God by unbelief. 
Fear of standing for what you know is right because of perceived
consequences.  Fear of rejection by friends or family if we
follow God.  We could go on.  

And we will to the next point.  



Pride

Do you remember the story of King Hezekiah showing vessels to
Babylonians?  God had healed him from a deadly disease.  As a
sign God, because no one else can do it, caused the sundial to
go back 10 degrees.

The Babylonians just happen to be watching their sundials when
this happened, and sent a delegation to Hezekiah to learn more. 
So Hezekiah, instead of using the opportunity to bring glory to
God, shows his riches to the Babylonians. Pride.

Proverbs 11:2  When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the
humble is wisdom.

.....Pride goeth before destruction.

 Amos 6:8  "The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of
hosts says: "I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.""

Jesus said:

Mark 7:20-23  "And He said, "What comes out of a man, that
defiles a man. 

21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 

23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man.""

Notice the good company that pride keeps in Jesus' mind.

Hab 2:4  ""Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But
the just shall live by his faith."

Which leads us to:



Faith

Deuteronomy 32:20.  And He said: 'I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse
generation, Children in whom is no faith.



 Hebrews 11:6  "But without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."



Romans 1:17  "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by
faith.""





Mat 8:5-10  "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion
came to Him, pleading with Him, 

6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed,
dreadfully tormented." 

7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 

8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that
You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my
servant will be healed. 

9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under
me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another,
'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does
it."

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who
followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great
faith, not even in Israel!"

Matthew 8 is a faith chapter.  Check it out.



Acts 6:8  "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great
wonders and signs among the people."  



Acts 11:22  "Then news of these things came to the ears of the
church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as
Antioch."

Acts 11:23  "When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was
glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they
should continue with the Lord."

Acts 11:24  "For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and
of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord."



Well, you may say, how can we move from being tares to being
wheat?

You cannot.   Not from your own strength.  But there is a way.

Look at these compassionate words from Jesus to Peter just
before Peter's denial of Christ.

Luke 22:31  "And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has
asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat."

Luke 22:32  ""But I have prayed for you, that your faith should
not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your
brethren.""



Brothers and sisters, Jesus is praying for us right not that we
not be tares.  He is sending his Holy Spirit to us to transform
us into productive wheat.  He desires nothing more than our
salvation and deliverance.  He wants to empower us to follow his
word, and point sinners to the cross where we find our salvation.

He wants to give us tact and spiritual wisdom.  He wants to give
us determination and strength of purpose to serve him
regardless.  He wants to give us a heart of compassion.  He
wants to take away our doubt, depression, and pride and replace
it with faith in him.

He will call us, but He will not force us.   He will extend an
invitation, but will not bend our will.  We must voluntarily
rejoice to follow him.  

Does this sound like a Savior that you would like to follow?

If so, please stand for Jesus right where you are, right now. 
Make the statement that you want to be the good wheat, not the
tares that will be burned at the end of the world.

Prayer......