Tares and Wheat
Matthew chapter 13:24-13:30 36-43
Introduction-
We continue to study in Matthew the words of Jesus giving us life application lessons.
Text- Matthew 13:24-30
How many at times believe that life for an unbeliever seems to be better than the life of a believer?
How many feel like as believers we don’t get the breaks when breaks are needed?
How many struggle at times that it would be better to give into the world’s standards so you can get your head above water?
How many feel isolated and alone but the world pushes forward at breakneck speed?
You are not alone in any of these areas…at times.
It appears you are alone, but you are not. The world seems to be doing better but it does not come without a cost.
Jesus throws this parable at us, and then lets us think about it a minute and then explains it a few verses later.
You do not have to look very hard to discover that this world is filled with conflict.
This country is divided almost right in half on the direction that it should go.
Political parties continue to fight with almost nothing getting accomplished.
The world is not at rest, a world war could start at any moment. Conflict is everywhere!
Even among Christians, and even in the church.
This should not surprise you, but actually sadden you because you would think that is the one place that should be able to work out their differences among God’s people.
We see from God’s word why conflict is happening and what we will do about it.
All the parables in Matthew chapter 13 except the parable of the sower begin their passages “The kingdom of heaven is like…”
The text this morning is about weeds growing in the field where our seed is planted.
The chapter begins with a farmer throwing seed unto four different soils and what happens to the seed as it falls. Out text is about weeds, unwanted weeds that grow in our fields.
I don’t have a green thumb, but some are really good at growing things. I killed a cactus plant when I lived in Texas because I did not take care of it properly. That tells you something of my skills as a planter.
Farmer throws good seed into his field.
While he slept, his enemy sowed weeds among his wheat field.
Weeds and wheat grow together.
As the wheat sprouted, so did the weeds. They began to look alike so you could not tell the wheat from the weeds.
They wanted to rip and tear and would have destroyed the wheat.
“Let both grow until the harvest” at that time the weeds would be gathered and bundled and the wheat would be brought to the barn. (Talking about Gods judgment day)
To the people of that day, it was not uncommon for their enemies to pollute and destroy their fields by throwing weeds into the mix. They had to be careful of such things.
The weed as we know it was Bearded Darnel. Which is very hard to kill and hard to get rid of. It looked like wheat but destroyed the wheat, and hard to separate until it bloomed fully.
The Sower- Jesus Christ
The seed- Word of God
Enemy- Satan
I want you to understand something this morning-
If you are serving God, and desiring to do the right thing, there is an enemy of your soul that is doing whatever God will allow to destroy or mess up your life, and will try to cause you to stumble. (repeat)
Some of you know exactly what I am talking about. You take two steps forward and 4 backwards. You wonder some time where God is because you just don’t get a break.
“Do you want us to pull the weeds?” no, he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.
We are told to let them go until the harvest. Then it will be easy to see which is which, and treat them accordingly.
I want you to think about that for a moment-
God’s seeds and the devils weeds are growing together, where it is hard to tell them apart. The parable isn’t about deciding who is a Christian and who is not. It is about that one day God will separate the wheat from the weeds.
The church is accused of having hypocrites in it.
Those that don’t want to have anything to do with God or his church, pointing out the faults of the church.
They are correct; the church universal has hypocrites that walk through that door every Sunday.
That is the way that it is suppose to be! People that need Jesus come into God’s house and He will change them if they let him.
By definition, a hypocrite is someone wearing a mask and pretending to be something they are not.
God brings hypocrites in and changes them by His Spirit and has them prayerfully lay down their masks and let God do something amazing in their life.
That is what we hope happens every Sunday.
Said often, the church is not perfect, or else you and I could not come here.
There is room for one more- God loves, changes, and saves hypocrites. They are not kept out but encouraged to come in.
Jesus says that there will be good and evil people in the world, and they live side by side. The church is not immune to that.
We live in a fallen world, we live among sinners and we live with people that don’t care a thing about God. We live with people that come to church with wrong motives, that’s why we have safety measures built in, just like the world, we have to protect ourselves because evil and good are standing side by side. God will one day separate them and the weeds will be exposed! Amen.
Here is the first thing to write down-
I. Know you have an enemy
Ephesians 6:18b
“Be alert and always keep praying for all saints.”
1 Peter 5:8-
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Like I said before, I don’t see a devil behind every bush, but you need to realize that if you are doing things for God that he is not happy and he will try to pollute and contaminate your field. He will try to discourage you and he will allow unbelievers around you to have what you desire and are seeking to cause you to stumble and to give in or give up.
Don’t you wonder why God doesn’t just yank the weeds as soon as they come up?
He doesn’t because he is a patient God and a loving God. Truth be told, we were all weeds at one time that he could have pulled out.
If you are aware that you have an enemy and you are focusing on the things of God, and heed the warnings he gives us, He will help you endure anything that you come up against.
II. Know that you have to be patient
We see unbelievers get ahead.
We see them have things that we would like and enjoy.
We see them mock God and seem like they have no consequences.
One day they will answer to God. He is not mocked and His promises are true.
The wheat will be preserved and the weeds will be bundled up and burned in the lake of fire.
Anything that is gained now outside of the blessings of God is temporary. Compared to eternity, it is a fraction of a minute.
Aren’t you glad that you do not have to judge between who is a Christian and who is not. Our human judgment has faults, that is why we patiently wait for God to deal with that.
The patience of God is best demonstrated by the withholding of His wrath toward those that deserve it. He is patient and so must we.
Matthew 13:36-40 Read from Bible
Closing,
One day God will take and make right all the wrongs of this world.
Everyone of us will stand before God and He will separate the wheat from the weeds. One to eternal bless and one to eternal damnation.
We do not know all that God sees but we know that God will not be mocked and those that have pretended to serve God will be exposed. On that day it will not matter compared to this little life and time period.
In this world right now there is evil and good mixed together. Evil hurts those that are serving God.
People are doing bad things to good people.
There seems to be no justice and it seems that wrong doers are getting ahead.
One day it will be made right. Be patient and ready. God sees what is going on!
Our responsibility is to keep the weeds out of our life and let God deal with the rest. Pull the weeds that you know are bad for your life. Amen.
