A Messiah's Battle Plan
Text: Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43
Introduction
1. Illustration: They tell a story of Napoleon, that, on the eve of a great battle, he would summon his generals into his presence. One by one they would pass from an ante-room into the chamber where Napoleon waited. Each man as he came would find Napoleon standing to greet him, Napoleon's hand outstretched towards him, and Napoleon's eyes looking into his own. And each man would go to his battle station with the strength of ten, feeling that there was no exploit that lay beyond his powers that day (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times).
2. We are in a battle everyday; a battle for our souls. Jesus gives us confidence to face every...
a. Situation
b. Conspiracy
c. Battle Plan
3. Read Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43
Proposition: We can face our daily battle because our Commander and Chief, King Jesus, gives us confidence.
Transition: He allows us to face every...
I. The Situation (24, 37-38a).
A. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like...
1. This is the second parable that Matthew tells us about in this chapter.
a. Each of the following three parables begins with the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven is like…"
b. The theme of the kingdom of heaven pervades Jesus’ ministry, but this introduction implies that he will compare the activity of the kingdom with everyday experiences (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 482).
2. Matthew sets the stage for this parable by telling us, "Here is another story Jesus told..."
a. The Greek word translated "told" usually refers to setting food before someone at the table, but here it is figurative.
b. It means that he was giving them something to chew on.
c. Jesus wanted his disciples to realize that they were in a battle, and therefore, set this parable before them to digest spiritually (Horton, 271).
3. Jesus begins the story by saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field."
a. Although the color is local, the central character of the story is not a peasant like many of Jesus' hearers; he is a wealthy landowner (v. 27), whereas the farmer in the parable of the sower could easily have been a tenant farmer, a peasant like many of Jesus' hearers (Keener, IVPNT Commentary: Matthew, 242).
b. Like the previous parable, this parable also uses the figure of a farmer sowing seed in his field; but here the emphasis is not on what happens to the good seed (as in the first parable) but rather on what happens to the bad seed that his enemy came and sowed alongside the good seed.
c. This good seed is assumed to fall on fertile ground, take root, and grow into healthy and productive grain, identified here as wheat (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
4. So what is the significance of this situation? Jesus explains it to us in vv. 37-38, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed..."
a. The disciples knew that by the Son of Man Jesus referred to Himself. In fact, it was his favorite way to talk about himself.
b. It beautifully identified Him as He fully participated in human life as the perfect Man, the second Adam, and the sinless representative of the human race (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
c. He is the one who does the planting, and He only plants the best - good seed.
d. If you are one of His this morning, you are not junk or an afterthought.
e. You are good seed, not because of what you have done, but because the blood of Jesus has washed you clean and made you holy.
5. Jesus then further clarifies the story by saying, "The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom..."
a. The world refers to the entire world or human society in which we live.
b. Jesus makes it very clear that he is not referring to the church here but the entire race of humanity (Horton, 281).
c. In this story the seed represents people of the kingdom, whom the Lord scatters throughout the world.
d. The Lord plants His people in the world as His witnesses, to grow and become fruitful plants of righteousness.
e. The people of the kingdom are faithful to the King and reflect His will and His standards before a wicked, corrupt, unbelieving world.
f. Christians are not left in the world by accident but are placed there on divine assignment from their Lord (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
B. Spiritual Battle
1. Illustration: Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this about our spiritual battle: A man who does not understand the nature of the problem he is confronting is a man who is already doomed to failure. Christian people are like first-year college students—they think at first that every subject is quite simple, there is no difficulty. Well, we know what is likely to happen to such when they face an examination! The first thing you have to do is to understand the nature and character of your problem. So we have to realize that we are called, in the Christian life, to a battle, not to a life of ease; to a battle, to a warfare, to a wrestle, to a struggle.
2. We are the good seed of God.
a. Hosea 2:23 (NLT)
At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”
b. We are His people and He is our God.
c. He has called us.
d. He has saved us.
e. He has sanctified us.
f. He has empowered us.
g. He has chosen us.
h. And if He didn't want us He would have chosen somebody else!
3. We are in the world, but we are not of the world.
a. John 17:15-16 (NLT)
15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.
16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
b. We are to be different.
c. We are to be set apart.
d. We are to be lights that shine in the darkness.
e. But we must not hide from the world, but rather let our lights shine for all the world to see.
4. We are in a daily spiritual battle.
a. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NLT)
3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
b. We are in a daily battle for our souls.
c. We are in a daily battle for the souls of others.
d. We are in a daily spiritual battle.
e. We cannot run.
f. We cannot retreat.
g. We must stand and fight.
h. With King Jesus as our General and Commander we will win!
Transition: King Jesus helps us overcome every...
II. The Conspiracy (25-26, 38b-39).
A. His Enemy Came and Planted Weeds
1. Just to show that there are two sides to every coin, Jesus continues his parable with the "other" side of the coin.
2. He said, "But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away."
a. The phrase while the workers slept does not imply neglect or laziness but simply refers to the nighttime, when the farmer and his men were home sleeping and were therefore oblivious to what was happening in the newly-planted field.
b. While they slept, the farmer's enemy came and sowed weeds also among the wheat, and went away.
c. The weeds are traditionally known as tares.
d. This is a weedy rye grass with poisonous seeds, which in early stages of growth looks like wheat but can be distinguished easily at harvest time (Wilkins, 482).
e. Since its grains are poisonous to have it mixed with the wheat renders the entire crop useless (France, 526).
f. The Greek indicates that the field was literally covered with the seeds of this poisonous weed. It was an organized and malicious plot by the enemy (Horton, 273).
3. Jesus explains this development in vv. 38-39. He said, "The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one."
a. Jesus explains that the weeds in this story are the sons of the evil one, who is Satan.
b. All human beings are either spiritual children of God and sons of the kingdom through faith in His Son or they are spiritual sons of the evil one, simply by virtue of their sinful nature and unbelief (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
c. Jesus was very clear in his teaching. You are either one or the other, and there is no middle ground.
d. You are either his or the devil's.
e. John 1:12 (NLT)
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
4. If they the weeds are those who belong to the devil than the enemy can only be one person. Jesus said, "The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil..."
a. The enemy who sowed the tares is the devil, the evil one. As is evident from the wording of the parable itself, sowed here carries the idea of thoroughness.
b. Throughout history the tares have outnumbered the wheat by enormous percentages; and some parts of the world seem to be totally sown with the seed of the enemy (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
c. However, although Satan is temporarily the ruler of this world, it still belongs to God, who created it and will one day redeem and restore it.
B. We Are Overcomers
1. Illustration: The attack [of Pearl Harbor] took place [December 7, 1941] on a sunny Sunday morning. A minimal contingent of soldiers was on duty at the time. Most offices on the base were closed and many servicemen were on leave for the weekend. New technology, including the new radar mounted on Opana Point, were in place, manned and functioning at the time of the attack. The incoming Japanese attack planes were detected by the radar and reported, but were mistaken for an incoming group of American planes due from the mainland that morning. While on practice maneuvers outside the harbor that morning, an American destroyer spotted a Japanese submarine attempting to sneak into the harbor. The submarine was fired upon, immediately reported — and ignored. Despite these and many other warnings, Pearl Harbor faced great loss that day. The losses and ill preparedness came from one major cause…no one believed it could really happen. We are in spiritual warfare. Sometimes we call it a bad day or blame it on mean people, but many times we are under heavy assault from the devil.
2. We have an enemy!
a. 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
b. He doesn't sleep.
c. He doesn't take a vacation.
d. He never stops attacking.
e. He is powerful, cunning, and unrelenting.
3. However, we are a part of a great army.
a. Revelation 19:14 (NLT)
The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses.
b. We have an enemy, but we are not alone.
c. We have a powerful enemy, but he is not all-powerful.
d. We are a part of the armies of the Living God, and we shall not be defeated.
4. We have an all-powerful Messiah.
a. 1 John 4:4 (NLT)
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
b. Our enemy is powerful, but our God is ALL-POWERFUL!
c. Our enemy is unrelenting, but our God never sleeps or slumbers.
d. Our comes at us from all sides, but our God has never lost a fight!
5. We are Overcomers.
a. Romans 8:37 (NLT)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
b. Jesus already won our victory on the cross.
c. Jesus has given us authority over the enemy.
d. Jesus has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
e. We are the church of Jesus Christ, and the gates of hell cannot stand against us!
Transition: We can overcome every situation and every conspiracy because King Jesus has...
III. The Battle Plan (27-30, 40-43).
A. Let Them Both Grow Together
1. Every good story ought to have a happy ending, and this one does.
2. Once the farmers workers discovered the malicious plot they came to their boss and said, "‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’"
a. Since they knew that the seeds and soil were good, they did not understand where all of these weeds came from (Horton, 273).
b. They were very upset, and understandably so, but they knew that their master had a plan.
3. The farmer told them, “‘An enemy has done this!’ So they said, “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’"
a. It was not uncommon, of course, for a few weeds, including some tares, to grow up among the good plants; but the great quantity of tares in this field made it obvious that their crop was intentionally sabotaged.
b. The landowner explained the obvious: An enemy has done this (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15)!
c. Given the occasional feuding of rival farmers, it is not surprising that Roman law would specifically forbid sowing such poisonous plants in another's field or that one who found an abundance of such weeds would suspect an enemy's hand.
d. Despite the workers' willingness to try-workers regularly uprooted weeds before their roots were entangled with those of the wheat-it would be difficult for them to root out the many tares at this stage (Keener, 242).
4. The landowner was wise and experienced and so he told them, “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
a. The weeds had grown enough that their roots were already intertwined with those of the wheat but not far enough that it would be easy to distinguish them from the wheat; uprooting thus might endanger the wheat (Keener, 242).
b. The great men and women of faith that God has used throughout history did not have their faith built up by living easy care-free lives.
c. God permitted them to suffer from evil men and women. However, it is in these trials that their spiritual roots go down deep and develop great faith (Horton, 275).
5. Jesus explains this part of the parable in vv. 39-40, where he says, "The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world."
a. The phrase "the end of the world," is typical of this Gospel.
b. This text deals with the end of our present age.
c. The Greek word for "end" means completion or summation.
d. God is going to bring everything to its logical conclusion with the return of Jesus at the Second Coming (Horton, 283).
e. The harvest represents God's judgment at the end of the age, when the reapers, who are angels, will execute judgment on unbelievers, just as the human reapers in the parable separated out the tares, which were then gathered up and burned with fire (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
f. So shall it be at the end of the age, Jesus explains.
g. The disciples were doubtlessly ready to put the sickle to the unbelieving tares right away, just as the landowner's slaves were prepared to do (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
B. Part of the Plan
1. Illustration: Dr. J.B. Gambrel tells an amusing story from General Stonewall Jackson’s famous valley campaign. Jackson’s army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other side. After telling his engineers to plan and build a bridge so the army could cross, he called his wagon master in to tell him that it was urgent the wagon train cross the river as soon as possible. The wagon master started gathering all the logs, rocks and fence rails he could find and built a bridge. Long before day light General Jackson was told by his wagon master all the wagons and artillery had crossed the river. General Jackson asked where are the engineers and what are they doing? The wagon master’s only reply was that they were in their tent drawing up plans for a bridge.
2. We have a Messiah who has a plan, and we are a part of the plan.
a. Revelation 12:11 (NLT)
And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
b. The Messiah's plan is a two-pronged attack.
c. The battle will be won by the blood of the lamb.
d. However, it will also be won by the word of our testimony.
e. It is God's plan to use us, His church, to win the war.
3. We are His representatives until He returns.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
b. God has kept us in the world to influence it.
c. God has kept us in the world to preach His message.
d. God has kept us in the world to demonstrate His love.
Conclusion
1. Jesus helps us to:
a. Overcome every situation
b. Overcome every conspiracy
c. We are a part of His plan
2. What about you?
a. Are you fighting the good fight of faith?
b. Are you standing your ground against the enemy?
c. Are you being a good ambassador for Christ?
d. We He returns will He say, "Well done, good and faithful servant?"
