"Until the Harvest'
"Let both grow together until the harvest... " MATTHEW 13:30
A man had a field and that man was industrious /and
production conscious.//He sowed good seed in his field./When
sowing time was ended /he took leave from his field to wait
for the harvest.//But one night while men slept, the good field
sown in good seed /was visited by the man's enemy.The
enemy sowed tares among the wheat. The good seed
germinated and then blossomed./The tares acted in like
manner.//The man's servants went out to the field one day and
a marvel met their eyes. They beheld a scene of great
abundance. There was more growth than the good seed alone
could have possibly produced./They knew that something
other than wheat was alive in the field. They knew that tares
were present with the wheat. Puzzled by this development,
they went, after the manner of good servants, to the owner!
and said, "Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? Why
then does it have tares?' The owner answered -"An enemy hath
done this." Simple logic caused the servants to ask -"Do you
want us to go and gather up the tares?' The owner answered,
":'No, lest you gather up the tares you root up the wheat also,
Let both grow together until the harvest "/The owner had
reaped not only what he had sown; //He had reaped also that
which had been, sown by another, by his enemy.. He was the
victim of the malicious scheming of another. Under the cover
of darkness,! an enemy had slipped into his field and sown
tares. And Jesus said that that's what the kingdom of heaven is
like in its earthly expression. It's analogous to a good field
sown in good seed in which the enemy has also sown his
seed./The kingdom of heaven in its earthly expression is like a
field of wheat mixed with tares! Both the wheat and the tares
are alive and active. The Church is always under assault by
persons without and within.//In her case, it's always open
season." She's fair game for all kinds of sowers and all kinds
of vultures //Probably the, most regular charge/ leveled at the
Church is the charge that some church members are
hypocritical, professing one thing and practicing another.//I've
had non-believers say to me, "All churches are full of devils"
"I'd join the church if there weren't so many hypocrites.':;To
that remark I offer a standard response.."you should come on
in; there s always room for one more." they don't understand
that perfection within history is impossible/ They don't know
that being bom again/does not mean instant perfection, they
don't realize that believers have to grow in grace and in
knowledge. They're not aware/of the fact that we are in the
process of working out our soul's salvation. AndyQt, when
they claim that there are devils within the church, they are
correct. Jesus affirmed it;//we have to acknowledge it. The
enemy has sown his seed in God's field; and, while men sleep,
he keeps on sowing The field/the Church , the kingdom/in its
earthly expression/Js a mixture of good and evil. There are
both wheat and tares in the field. How some of us wish that
the situation were otherwise//We sometimes wonder why it is
that God allows such an arrangement/ Surely He could keep
the enemy and the enemy's agents out of His field/But He
doesn't and I believe I know why were not present,/we'd be
come complacent/and apethetic. We would cease to pray/We
would not experience the growth that comes only through
struggle We would no longer sing, "My soul be on thy guard;
ten thousand foes arise.' Yes, there are tares among the wheat,
but our real problem is not the presence of tares. Our problem
is the presence of those who zealously desire to root out the
tares. Across the ages (there have been those in the Church
who deemed it their God-appointed duty to clean up the
Church/ And very often because of zeal devoid of knowledge
they didj more tearing up than cleaning up. They put on the
self-righteous garb of crusaders and went forth as enforcers
And in their passion for purity, discipline often resulted in
destruction. Now, discipline is always in order,} but destruc
tion is totally out of order/Discipline is an expression of love
and the purpose of discipline is to' restore and reconcile) But
often, in the name of discipline, lives have been destroyed. In
my own lifetime I've seen Church situations where Deacon
Boards operated as law enforcement agents tracking down
member who allegedly had done wrong, behaving like
bloodhounds trying to pick up the scent of terrible gossip nif a
d if the trail did lead to some guilty person//that person,\ like
the poor adulterous woman brought before Jesus would
summoned before the congregation in a Church meeting and
publicly shamed and disgraced all in the name the Lord. And
there were always some who derived great pleasure from such
episodes forgetting that the Master declared-"He that is
without sin let him cast the first stone. These servants in the
parable did have wisdom enough to ask the owner -"Do you
want us to go and gather up the tares? They didn't take off for
the field with implements in hands They didn't act and then
explained/They didn't operate on the basis of assumption.
Rather, they inquired of Him whose right it was to say "yea or
'nay.'And the owner said "Nay." And his nay was predicated
on the sure knowledge He knew at least three things that all
effective sower and servant had better know.
He Knew, First of AH That WHEAT AND TARES
LOOK ALIKE*/ The tares of text were a poisonous weed
called darnel. But darnel was almost impossible to distinguish
from wheat. To put it plainly/wheat looked like tares and
tares looked like wheat. And that's a parable of the kingdom.
You can't run the risk of judging others/for the simple reason
that you're subject to misjudge., There are people in prison
today because 'of mistaken identification. Some have died at
the gallows, before firing squads and in electric chairs due to
mistaken identification. Human vision and human appraisal
are too faulty//for judgment//that's always accurate. To be
sure, God does want His people to "try the spirits." He does
help us distinguish between the true and the false. But
judgment belongs to Him/There's no way under Heaven that.
I could accurately separate the wheat from the tares in any
church//If I made such an attempt, I would make an awful
mess of things. What would be the criteria? I couldn't use
length of conversion as the norm/ For I've seen some of the
young exemplify greater faith and spiritual maturity than
some of their elders//1 couldn't make church attendance the
norm,/for the simple reason that Satan always gets a seat at
the Service. I couldn't use giving as the standard //for the
widow's mite in the eyes of God is more than that given by
many of the big givers// Why, if I attempted to put the tares
on one side and the wheat on the other side,- I'd end up with
two sides almost identical III I'd have wheat and tares
together on each side, and I would have rooted up some
wheat with AS the tares. As wheat And I have learned the
peril of misjudging.//When I was assigned to congregations
there were some people who welcomed me warmly (with
million dollar smiles, and they've given little support to my
ministry/On the other hand there were some who sort of stood
back quietly in the shadows, but when the call for true
commitment has been sounded they've stood ten feet tall
Wheat and tares look so much alike. And sometimes what
seems to be a tare is in reality what that is weak/weak wheat.
When Moses rose up in anger and slew the Egyptian,/ it
looked like Moses was a tare//But God knew that Moses was
weak wheat//and when God got through cultivating Moses,
he represented wheat at its best. It appeared for a while that
David was a tare,//- but God //knew he was weak wheat// and
when God finished working on him David was a man after
God's own heart." "Let both grow together for wheat and
tares look alike.
SECONDLY, The owner also knew that TARES, NO
MATTER HOW STRONG, CANNOT DESTROY GOOD
WHEAT. I wouldn't want a religion that couldn't stand
serious testing. I wouldn't want a faith that couldn't survive
the crucible of affliction-//Any religion that has to be
safeguarded, protected and quarantined from the ungodly is a
religion not worth having. This does not mean that the
Christian should run with the hare and the hound. It does
mean that if the Christian runs into the hare and the hound/or
if they run into the Christian there's no Reason to retreat//!'ve
been accused at times of not being a "good Joe,'of trying to
live up to certain standards.' And I appreciate the accusation.
I don't want the world to use me as a reason for rejecting
Christ. But at the same time, I've found myself in situations
not of my own choosing, - and I've been blessed// by God's
grace, to say a word for the Lord //And like the Hebrew boys,
I've come out of the, fire unharmed.//Tares can't destroy good
wheat. Wheat doesn t have to be afraid of tares. I know some
Pastors who have a dreadful fear of certain self-asserting
members.// And they're always fearful and uneasy, always
trying to please certain folks, taking their cues from the pews
'"instead of from God. But wheat doesn't have to be afraid of
tares. If I'm wrongly opposed, that's all right// if I'm
misinterpreted,/ If I'm unfairly criticized,/that's allright//1 can
take it!//If I'm wheat, I can take it!// I don't have to fight back;
I don't have to whip anybody in lined I don't have to blast any
body from the pulpit/For I know that tares, no matter how
strong can't destroy good wheat / Good wheat can stand the
test of tares.
Finally" the owner of that field knew HOW TO LIVE
WITH "UNTIL," He said to his servants, "Let both grow
together UNTIL the harvest, "Don't rush out to my field and try
to root out the tares. I appreciate your interest and your
dedication to my crop//I'm glad that you're attentive and dutiful
servants.//But you leave the field alone. Let both grow together
- until// Admittedly, that's difficult to abide by//The hardest
thing to do when things are out of sorts//is to do nothing.//When
the enemy has sown his seed in your fleld//It's hard to maintain
your composure//When tares ares are growing up looking like
wheat,//its hard to remain calm.// When you're trying your best
to be what God wants you to be and snares and stumblingblocks
are all around you,//it's difficult to do nothing.//The
temptation is strong to root out the tares. But a true servant
obeys his Lord.// A true disciple listens to his Teacher.//A true
follower heeds the words of the Leader.// "Let both grow
together until the harvest.// "My servants there is something of
which you are not aware.//YOU are not the only persons in my
employ.//! have another echelon of employees.//1 have some
reapers in my employ,//and in-the time of harvest" will say to
the reapers, gather first the tares and bind them for burning// but
gather the wheat into my barn." Our tasks to live with UNTIL//
Our duty is to wait for the reapers?// Our responsibility is to
accept God's UNTIL//that may be the test of our faith //the
strength to live with UNTIL.
Live with tares-UNTIL
Stand in the midst of trails-UNTIL
Rejoice in tribulation-UNTIL
Endure affliction-UNTIL
Turn the other cheek-UNTIL
Love your enemies-UNTIL
Pray for them that mistreat you-UNTIL
Be kind to unkindness-UNTIL
Do God's will- UNTIL
Reconciliation Christian Center, Inc
Keep the £aith - UNTIL!
Trust his word-UNTIL!
Hold out - UNTIL
Hold on UNTIL
UNTIL.. .UNTIL.. .UNTIL..
Until the time of harvest! Harvest- time will come.//
The morning will break! The day of reckoning will- dawn!
The moment of truth will arrive!
The trumpet of the Lord shall sound!
The shout of Victory will be heard!
The sons and daughters of the most high God will shout!
Hallelujah,Hallelujah,Hallelujah!
The battle is fought, the victory is won. Hallelujah, Hallelujah
And this my friends is "the victory that overcometh the world."
It may be a New day A Dawning but Wait on-the Lord-Until!
ONE QUESTION REMAINS
ARE YOU A CANDIDATE FOR THE BARN OR
ARE YOU A CANDIDATE TO BE BUNDLED TO BE
BURNED?
