THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
July 7, 2002
Pastor Steve Dow
INTRODUCTION:
You don’t have to look to hard these days to discover that we are living in a world that is filled with conflict. There is conflict between nations. There is conflict in the Middle East. There is conflict in Afghanistan. There is conflicts between political parties. There is conflict between spouses. There is conflict between parents and children. And there is conflict in the church.
Conflict in the world can be understood, but conflict in the church is another story. We understand conflict between political leaders of rival parties, but why should there be conflict between church leaders? We understand sibling rivalry, but why should there be conflict between God’s children?
Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds to explain why there is conflict in his kingdom in this present age. According to Jesus there are three reasons for conflict in the church. First, there is an enemy. Satan is the enemy of God, His children, and His church. He will stop at nothing to stir up conflict in these areas. Second, there are false Christians in the congregations. Jesus said that not every one who said, “Lord, Lord” would enter the kingdom. These wolves in sheep’s clothing operate as Satan’s undercover agents in the church. Third, these two cannot be separated until the end of the age. Jesus is telling us this is the way things are going to be until he returns to establish is physical kingdom on this earth.
A Dutch professor took time to calculate the cost of an enemy soldier’s death at different epochs in history. He estimated that during the reign of Julius Caesar, to kill an enemy soldier cost less than one dollar. At the time of Napoleon, it had considerably inflated to more than $2,000. At the end of World War I, it had multiplied several times to reach the figure of some $17,000. During World War II, it was about $40,000. And in Vietnam, in 1970, to kill an enemy soldier cost the United States $200,000. (Plain Truth, April, 1988, p.15) The point is, conflict is costly. Abigail Van Buren once said, “People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.” Therefore, it is vitally important that we learn how to deal with this tenuous situation.
How To Deal With Conflict In The Church:
1. Be Perceptive. (13:25,39)
The text tells us that the enemy, Satan, came and sowed the weeds while everyone was sound asleep. It was a common practice in ancient warfare to destroy your enemies crops. If you could destroy his agricultural base, then his military power would soon follow suit. Soldiers who can’t eat can’t fight. So step number one is to be perceptive. We must be aware of what Satan is up to. We can ill afford to fall asleep on the job. That is why the scriptures are filled with admonitions to be alert. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” And 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
A small bottle containing urine sat on the desk of Sir William Osler. He was then the eminent professor of medicine at Oxford University. Sitting before him was a classroom full of young wide-eyed medical students listening to his lecture on the importance of observing details. To emphasize his point, he reached down and picked up the bottle. Holding it high, he announced: “This bottle contains a urine sample for analysis. It’s often possible by testing it to determine the disease from which the patient suffers.”
Suiting action to words, he dipped a finger into the urine and then into his mouth as he continued: “Now I am going to pass this bottle around. Each of you please do exactly as I did. Perhaps we can learn the importance of this technique and diagnose the case.”
The bottle made its way from row to row as each student gingerly poked his finger in and bravely sampled the contents with a frown. Dr. Osler then retrieved the bottle and startled his students with these words: “Gentlemen, now you will understand what I mean when I speak about details. Had you been observant, you would have seen that I put my index finger into the bottle but my middle finger into my mouth” (1001 Great Stories, P. 305)! Just as this professor was able to get his students to taste urine because they weren’t paying attention, so Satan gets the church embroiled in conflict because the Christians aren’t paying close enough attention to his actions.
Nothing will blind our spiritual perception faster than tolerated sin. We must be aware of what is going on in the culture around us. What Satan calls a woman’s right to choose, God calls murder. What Satan calls an alternate lifestyle, God calls immoral and says that such people will never enter His heaven (Mt. 6:9,10). It is not the place of the church to go militant and by force make people go to church and stop doing this, that, and the other thing like the Puritans who put people in the stocks for missing the Sunday service. But it is our place to call sin sin and to call sinners to repentance and holy living. And it is our place as citizens in our democratic government to be salt and light as we cast our votes.
We must also be aware of what is going on in our own churches. To do that you must be involved in the activities of the church and you must be involved with the people of the church. You must also be aware of what is going on in your own life. Never is our perception so warped as when we look at ourselves. It is always easier to see the sin in someone else’s life. It is always easy for us to know what the other guy needs to do. The truth is most of us do not know ourselves as well as we should or as well as we think we do. For this reason it is beneficial for everyone to have an accountability partner. You need someone you can trust to tell you the truth about you. Satan’s greatest plans to bring conflict into your life and into our church can be thwarted if we will simply pay attention to what is going on in our culture, our church, and our personal lives.
2. Be Patient. (13:28b-30a)
The weeds the enemy had sown were know as bearded darnel. If this plant was consumed it could cause dizziness or nausea. Darnel looks very much like wheat until it is ripe. That is why no one realized that anything was wrong until “the wheat sprouted and formed heads”. As soon as the servants realized what had happened they wanted to pull up the weeds immediately, but the owner told them that they must wait until the harvest. You see, the owner knew that his servants could not infallibly distinguish between the wheat and the weeds yet and so they were told to wait in order to insure the safety of the true wheat. So his servants had to exercise patience. Likewise, we cannot infallibly judge between a true Christian and someone who merely professes to be a Christian. Our human judgment is faulty and so we must wait patiently for God to judge.
One day a pastor had two new neighbors move in and both of them were truck drivers. One morning the pastor spoke to one of his new neighbors, but the man simply ignored him. The pastor decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and tried again on another occasion. However, the man still refused to speak to him. After several times of trying to communicate, the pastor decided that he would not waste his time speaking again. Then one morning the pastor saw his neighbor, but there was something different. He had not noticed it before, but his neighbor was wearing a hearing aid. Humbled, the pastor spoke to him again, but louder this time and the man responded (Charles Osborne). Because our judgment is fallible things are not always as they appear to be. This is why the Bible says, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Romans 14:4). We are not to pass judgment on others because they are not our servants, but God’s. If more Christians would follow this simple Bible advice we would see the level of conflict in our churches greatly reduced.
Along with this we need to recognize that there are gray areas. Did you know that the Bible actually forbids us to pass judgment on these gray areas. Romans 14:1 says, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Christian harmony should not depend on one hundred percent agreement on all matters pertaining to the Christian life. Instead our motto should be, “In essentials -- unity, in non-essentials -- liberty, and in all things -- charity”.
In 1897 a man by the name of Pearl Wait came up with the idea of mixing flavoring with gelatin. His wife called his concoction Jell-O. After trying to sell this product for a few years Mr. Wait became impatient with slow sales and so he sold the rights to his invention to a man for $450. One hundred and five years later not one of Pearl Wait’s descendants receive royalties from the 1.1 million boxes of Jell-O sold each day because Wait couldn’t wait. You know the old saying -- “Good things come to those who wait.” We must wait patiently for the judgment of all things which will take place exactly when it is supposed to -- when God decides. This is why Paul wrote, “And we urge you, brothers, ... be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14).
In order to deal with conflict appropriately we must be perceptive as to the true nature or source of the conflict. We also must wait patiently for God’s judgment in God’s timing because when we get impatient and rush things we make a mess of things.
3. Be Prepared. (13:30,39b-42)
The darnel were able to pretend to be wheat for only so long before there true identity was revealed. So it is with men and women who can only conceal their true nature for so long because eventually their sin always finds them out (Num. 32:23). In this parable Jesus clearly teaches that there will be a day of judgment in which the wheat will be separated from the chaff, the righteous from the wicked. In that day there will be weeping (emotional suffering) and gnashing of teeth (physical suffering), therefore, we must be prepared to stand before our God.
There was an article in the Atlanta Journal of June 5, 1997 about Clarence Jackson. “The clock struck midnight and Clarence Jackson didn’t turn into a millionaire.” Jackson, who is 29, works in a small cleaning business in Hartford, Connecticut to help support his elderly parents. he won the Connecticut Lotto jackpot in October 1995. It was worth 5.8 million dollars. He submitted the ticket three days after the one year deadline.
He had given the ticket to his ailing father and didn’t realize it was a winner until fifteen minutes before the deadline. He didn’t know he could verify the ticket at his local lotto dealer. Instead, he waited until Monday to redeem the ticket at lotto headquarters. It was too late. What’s it like to be too late and lose 5.8 million dollars you could have had? I can only imagine. But try and imagine what it would be like being too late in getting ready to meet God.
The Bible says, “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42). In other words, we are to be prepared at all times for Christ’s return because He could come at any time. The only guarantee we have from scripture about the timing of the Lord’s return is that it will happen when you aren’t expecting it.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, let me ask you some very important questions. For you these are the most important questions in all of history. Are you ready to meet God? If Christ should return or you should die, are you prepared to stand before your God and be judged? Have you trusted Christ to save you from your sins? If not, let me tell you how you can be saved.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Wages are some that you earn and therefore deserve. That means that because you have sinned you deserve to die and be cut off from God’s presence forever. That is the bad new. The good news is the rest of the verse. The gift of God is eternal life. How much does a gift cost you? Nothing. It’s free. That means that eternal life can not be earned, but only received. This gift can only be found in Christ Jesus because He died on the cross and rose again from the dead in order to pay the penalty for your sins so you wouldn’t have to. This also means that Jesus Christ must become your Lord. That means that from now on He is in charge of every area of your life. It means you switch from your way of living to God’s way of living. There is a hell to be shunned and a heaven to be gained. All of eternity hangs in the balance and the choice is yours.
In the TV show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”, if a contestant doesn’t know the answer to a question they can use one of three lifelines. They can call a friend, 50/50, or ask the audience. In this case there are only two possible answers -- God’s way or your way -- , but I’ll give you a 50/50 anyway. Your way is the wrong way. There is a way that seems right to a man but the end is death -- that’s your way. Do you want to ask the audience? Would all those who have committed their lives to Christ and found from personal experience that God’s way is infinitely better than their way please raise your hands. The audience has spoken. Now it’s time to call a friend. Call on Jesus in prayer. If you want to turn away from your sins and commit your life to Christ, then pray this simple prayer with me.
Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner and that as such I deserve to go to hell. But I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I believe that He rose from the dead three days later and so I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I realize now that my way of living was wrong and I ask you to help me live according to your word from now on. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Our text for today says that after the judgment all those who have accepted Christ “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”. Many children today want to grow up to be movie stars or star athletes. The problem is, as they will discover, the light from our society’s stars doesn’t shine very bright for very long. Do you recognize any of these names: Owen D. Young, Pierre Laval, Hugh S. Johnson, James F. Byrnes, Harlow Curtis? According to Time magazine, these are all people who have been designated as “Man of the Year” by Time, indicating they had the greatest impact in that year of all persons living on Earth. Our societies stars are nothing more than falling stars. But the scripture says that the Christian’s star will shine like the sun in God’s kingdom forever.
Steven Dow
Heritage Wesleyan Church
www.forministry.com/80909hwc
heritagewesleyan@hotmail.com
Please email me if you use this sermon or a revised version of it in your church.
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STUDY GUIDE:
THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
July 7, 2002
How To Deal With Conflict In The Church:
1. Be ______________________________. (13:25,29)
“Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:18
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
2. Be ______________________________. (13:28b-30a)
“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” Romans 14:4
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Romans 14:1
“And we urge you , brothers, ... be patient with everyone.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14
3. Be ______________________________. (13:30, 39b-42)
“Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
