← Back to sermon library

Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 13. Continue our exposition of the 
gospel. According to Matthew, we find ourselves in the third 
discourse in this particular Gospel record, the third discourse 
in chapter 13, verses 1 to 53, where the Lord Jesus Christ teaches 
a series or gives a series of parables to instruct multitudes, 
to instruct specifically His disciples. We're looking at the 
parable of the wheat and tares this morning, verses 24 to 30, 
but I do want to begin reading in verse 10 to set the larger 
context. And the disciples came and said 
to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and 
said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the 
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it has not been given. 
For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have 
abundance. But whoever does not have, even 
what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to 
them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing 
they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy 
of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing you will hear and 
shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive. 
For the hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are 
hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should 
see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should 
understand with their hearts in turn, so that I should heal 
them. But blessed are your eyes for 
they see, and your ears for they hear. For assuredly I say to 
you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see 
and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear 
it. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears 
the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked 
one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is 
he who receives seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed 
on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately 
receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, 
but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution 
arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received 
seed among the thorns is he who hears the Word. And the cares 
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and 
he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the 
good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who 
indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, 
some thirty. Another parable he put forth 
to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed 
good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy 
came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when 
the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 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? He said to them, An enemy 
has done this. The servant said to him, Do you 
want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, No, lest, 
while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with 
them. 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word, and we pray now for 
the ministry of the Spirit of God. We know that sin darkens 
our hearts and our understanding, and we pray that You would forgive 
us of our sin, that You would cleanse us in the blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Spirit would shine the light, 
would illumine us and cause us to receive with glad hearts the 
Word of the Living God. For those outside of Christ, 
we pray that today would be the day of salvation. We pray that 
as Your Gospel is preached here, and other churches here in Chilliwack 
and throughout the earth, we pray that your word would run 
swiftly and be glorified. We pray that many would turn 
from their idols to the true and living God and would know 
the joy of being found in Christ Jesus. And it's in his most blessed 
name that we pray. Amen. Well, as I said, we're 
looking at the parable of the wheat and the tares this morning. And the first two parables sort 
of give us a big picture view. The parable of the sower with 
reference to the seed sown and the various responses to that 
seed. And then here, the parable of 
the wheat and tares show us specifically that within the field there are 
two types or two crops that are yielded as a result of this sowing. 
The next two parables tend to deal with the growth of the kingdom. The fifth and the sixth parables 
deal with the value of the kingdom, and then that parable at the 
end with reference to the dragnet does seem to have an emphasis 
on warning. And then if verse 52 is parabolic 
in nature, it highlights again the reality that the disciples 
of Christ are given to see the mysteries of the kingdom, those 
things that have not been revealed to those outside the kingdom. 
So that's sort of an overview of this particular discourse. 
As we look at the parable of the wheat and the terrors, we'll 
look at two particulars. First, the sowing of the field 
in verses 24 to 26, and then secondly, the instructions to 
the servants in verses 27 to 30. So the primary element, or 
the larger part, is this conversation between the householder himself 
and the servants who work for him. But let's look first at 
the sowing of the field, and I want to consider this in three 
particulars. First, the sower who sows, the 
enemy who attacks, and the field that produces. Notice the sower 
who sows. There's a lot of similarity, 
as I've already mentioned, with that first parable. Therefore, 
hear the parable of the sower in verse 18. He goes, he casts 
out his seed, and that seed meets with varying responses. Three 
are negative, three reject the Word of God, but the one receives 
it and produces a crop and is beneficial in terms of Christ's 
kingdom. So what we find here with reference 
to the sower again, or with reference to this field, is that there 
is a man who sowed good seed in his field. The emphasis in 
the previous was on the types of soil. Here it is on the field 
itself and the crop which is produced. The focus is the same. Notice what Jesus says in verse 
24. The kingdom of heaven is like 
a man who sowed good seed in his field. I take the audience 
here as referring specifically to the multitudes, or the crowds. 
It isn't the disciples yet. In verse 34, the disciples come 
to Him. We see this statement, rather, 
that He speaks these things in parables. He spoke to the multitude 
in parables, and without a parable, He did not speak to them. Dropping 
down to verse 36, His disciples came to Him saying, explained 
to us the parable of the tears of the field, and it's there 
that he then gives the explanation. So I think it's safe to assume 
in verses 24 to 30, the primary target audience is the crowds, 
the multitudes, those outside of the kingdom Jesus is teaching 
or instructing or giving warning specifically to them. One commentator, 
a pair of commentators, introduced the parable this way. He says, 
or they say, in several respects, the parable of the tares carries 
forward themes already treated in chapter 13, verses 1 to 23. It is not just that certain motifs, 
sowing, seed, soil, kingdom, obstacles to growth, the devil 
or evil one are repeated. Rather and beyond this both parables 
make it plain that while the victory of God's kingdom is sure 
the way from here to there is hampered by unbelief and its 
effects. In other words, what Jesus is 
doing here is helping to explain the situation facing him in the 
first century context. He is preaching the gospel, he 
inaugurates the kingdom, he announces the coming of God's kingdom, 
or the arrival of it rather, and he is opposed every step 
of the way. The religious leaders rage against 
him. They plot together how they might 
destroy him and so Jesus undertakes to explain that though the kingdom 
has come and it has not fully been consummated there will be 
difficulties and trials along the way. These men continue more 
precisely in taking into account the broader context. The first 
two parables in Matthew 13 help explain unbelief in Jesus and 
the dilemma of a rejected Messiah. Just as seed may fall upon different 
types of soil, and just as weeds may be sown among wheat, so too 
is it with Jesus' ministry. The good comes with the evil. Now this is crucial. I'm taking 
a bit more time to introduce this because we need to understand 
the point. Jesus is going to talk about 
His kingdom. He's going to talk about increase. He's going to talk about advancement, 
but He wants to hamper in the disciples an unrealistic expectation. It's not the case that there'll 
never be any trials facing the Kingdom of Heaven. It's not to 
be the case that wherever you go in this world, announcing 
the truth of the Gospel, that everybody's just going to say, 
wow, I love that thought of Jesus saving me from my sins. Where 
do I sign up? You and I know that's not the 
case, and these parables of the kingdom help to explain that 
from a theological point of view. God's purpose was not to drop 
the kingdom onto this world and immediately expel all wickedness 
and evil. No, that day is coming, to be 
sure, and this parable holds out the certainty of that, but 
between now and then, there's going to be difficulty. There's 
going to be opposition. There's going to be challenge. 
There's going to be a hardship that we face in this lower world. When we profess the faith in 
Christ, when we advance or seek to advance His kingdom, it's 
not going to meet with ready reception. It's going to meet, 
very often, like it did with the Savior. When He announces 
the reality that He's the Lord of the Sabbath, In Matthew chapter 
12, He heals that man with a withered hand. Certainly you would think 
that everybody would bow in His presence, confess Him as King 
of kings and Lord of lords, and want to follow Him wherever He 
bids. But in 12.14 it says the Pharisees 
raged in their hearts against Him. They plotted against Him 
how they might destroy Him. Now certainly if you were one 
of the initial disciples, you'd be scratching your melon and 
wondering, why is it the case that this one is healing withered 
hands is being opposed by such people as the religious leaders. 
Enter the parables. He wants to explain that. He 
wants to gird us up. He wants to encourage our hearts. 
He wants to dismiss this unrealistic expectation that oftentimes goes 
with the church. We more often than not are like 
the sons of Zebedee. We want the crown before the 
cross. We want glory before we want 
difficulty. We want victory and triumph before 
we want defeat. And Jesus says that this is not 
the way that he has purposed it. The owner of this particular 
field is Christ. He's identified this way. Usually 
when I work through a particular passage of scripture, I have 
a stack of commentaries on my desk after I do my initial work. 
I do consult those brothers because Jesus Christ gives gifts to his 
church. Jesus Christ gives gifts to his 
church. Commentators are not to be relied 
on solely, but they're not to be neglected either. Well, this 
was an instance where the best commentary was only a page flip 
away. Jesus interprets this parable 
for us, or specifically for his disciples, in the latter part 
of this chapter. He tells us that the sower here, 
the man casting out his seed, is the Son of Man. Verse 37. That's the primary application. 
Now when faithful gospel preachers come and testify concerning the 
kingdom, certainly it applies secondarily to them as well. 
And then note the identity of the field. The kingdom of heaven 
is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. In verse 38, 
the Lord Jesus says that the field is the world. He interprets that statement 
for us. Now reading the commentators, 
and I want you to think with me here for a moment, there's 
a bit of division. Some say it means the world. 
Others say it means the church. Representative of the ones who 
say it primarily speaks to the world is D. A. Carson. He says, 
the parable does not address the church situation at all, 
that's my emphasis, but explains how the kingdom can be present 
in the world while not yet wiping out all opposition. That must 
await the harvest. The parable deals with eschatological 
expectation not ecclesiological deterioration. Now, just take 
that to mean he doesn't think it refers to the church. You see, while I appreciate and 
understand what Christ is saying in verse 38, that the field is 
the world, I understand that in the parable 
of the sower, These three types of soil that do not receive the 
Word nevertheless come into contact with the Word. And they probably 
more than likely do that in the church. I believe that Carson's 
statement is extreme. I think he overstates it. I think 
the primary emphasis in this particular parable is with reference 
to the Church. I believe that the Kingdom of 
Heaven transcends and is larger than the Church, but I think 
that the Kingdom of Heaven's primary manifestation in this 
age is in the Church. They're not coextensive, but 
when we think Kingdom, it is primarily vehicled through the 
life and ministry of Christ's Church. To say that this does 
not reflect the Church at all is to say way too much. I think 
this does reflect and accurately depict what's going on in the 
lives of churches. The field is the world. Now Benjamin 
Keech defines that as the church with such text like John 1 29. Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of what? Of the world, the church. Paul 
tells us in 2 Corinthians 5.19 that God was in Christ reconciling 
the world to Himself. He says the world which is the 
church. We find that also in John 3.16. 
We considered that last week. God so loved what? He loved the 
world that He gave His only begotten Son that all the believing ones 
should not perish but have everlasting life. So on the one hand, to 
say that this only takes place out there, it is wrong. That's 
an overstatement. I believe the man is wrong in 
that instance, and I think that what we need to appreciate, like 
the parable of the sower, when the seed goes out, it meets with 
varying responses. But in the context and life of 
Christ's church, not all that glitters is gold. Our own confession 
speaks of the visible church and highlights that it is the 
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, that's the Westminster. 
When dealing with the mixed nature of churches, in our confession, 
it says Christ ever shall have a kingdom in this world. Now, 
I don't know a lot about the historical context, but I doubt 
the divines there were making a distinction between the kingdom 
of heaven or God and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. So 
while Jesus says the kingdom is, or the field is the world, 
we see it played out in the life and context of the church. Note the enemy who attacks, verse 
25. But while men slept, his enemy 
came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. A lot 
of the commentators make a lot about these men sleeping. If 
these men hadn't fallen asleep on their particular task, then 
the enemy couldn't have entered in. The best of men need to sleep, 
brethren. Jesus isn't teaching us here 
that no pastor can ever sleep. You must always be alert. Pastors 
must sleep. Elders in churches must sleep. 
I don't think the emphasis here, and again, good brothers disagree. I'm going to quote Spurgeon favorably 
in this position in just a moment. But I don't think the emphasis 
is upon the men who slept. I think it's upon the deceitfulness 
and the stealthiness of the enemy himself. See, even a good man 
has to go to sleep at a particular time, and that's when the devil 
weasels his way in. He doesn't have the guts or the 
courage to come marching through the front door and throw down 
in the midst of a context like this. Rather, he'll navigate 
in through the internet, or he'll navigate in through your television, 
or he'll navigate in through some other means where you hear 
bad theology, where you hear bad doctrine. where you begin 
to have seeds sown of disbelief or unbelief or things that are 
not consistent with the truth of Holy Scripture. The emphasis 
does not lie specifically on the sleeping man, but on the 
deceptive devil who works stealthily and who seeks to advance his 
own cause. He is the wicked one according 
to verse 19. He is defined for us as the devil in verse 39. 
and the tares that he actively sows in this particular field 
is probably darnel. Darnel looks like wheat to a 
certain degree, at least in the initial phases. When it begins 
to grow, it does look like wheat. So initially it's hard to be 
able to tell, but the servants then do see that there is darnel 
in the particular field. Also interesting is that Roman 
law had a law in place prohibiting people from sowing Darnell into 
someone else's field. You say, why would anybody do 
that? For revenge. Because people are mean. Why 
do people key your cars? Why do they break your window 
and take your $40 stereo? It's a sinful world, my dear 
brothers and sisters. Right? Look at the active aggression 
and opposition of the devil himself. While these men sleep, he weasels 
his way in and he actually sows tares among this particular field. He is seeking whom he may devour. There is a real devil and there 
is real opposition to the advancement of Christ's Kingdom. We cannot 
underestimate that. Again, I will beg you and implore 
you and beseech you to pray on the Sabbath morning that God 
the Spirit will come so that we will be able to take heed 
to the Word and resist the devil so that he may flee from us. 
It's an amazing thing how much our attention is focused during 
the week on things that we want to do. And then we come into 
a service like this, and it's either too cold, or it's too 
hot, or it's too long, or it's too short, or it's too whatever, 
and our minds are going from Dan to Beersheba. Isn't that the case? You think 
that's accidental? Remember in the parable of the 
sower, the birds come and they snatch up the seed. Last, the 
man hears, the man believes, and the man is saved. There is 
an active opposition engaged against you, ultimately, by the 
devil himself. And this is what Jesus identifies 
for us. And then notice the produce in 
the field, verse 26. But when the grain had sprouted 
and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. The wheat 
is the good crop, of verse 23. The wheat are the sons of the 
kingdom, verse 38. They are the ones who hear the 
Word of God, they understand the Word of God, or believe that 
Word, and then they bear fruit consistent with it. Of course, 
the terrors are the sons of the devil, sons of the wicked one. They are those described in those 
first three soils. Either they're hardened, or they're 
shallow, or they're stony. They want nothing to do with 
the truth of God's Word. They may make an appearance for 
a time. They may make a profession of faith for a time. They may 
raise their hand at a meeting. They may close their eyes when 
every head is bowed, and raise up their hand. But when trial 
comes, or when persecution comes, or when carnal anxiety starts 
to choke them out, or when there's prosperity, they want nothing 
to do with Jesus. Now last week, a couple of brothers 
pointed out something very accurate to the sermon Sunday morning. 
There's four soils there. One of the brothers says, you 
know, I believe the fourth type of soil is active in my heart, 
but I do see traces of two and three. Yeah, that's true. We all have traces of two and 
three. There's a difference between remaining sin and reigning sin. The unbeliever does not continue 
in times of trial and persecution. The believer does. Even if he's 
dragging himself in a way that doesn't even look like progress 
to an onlooker. If he's just grabbing the shag 
carpet in front of him and pulling forward a little bit, that's 
what a believer does. Believers struggle with carnal anxiety. Believers struggle with the cares 
of this world, but they cry to God, Lord help me to dispossess 
this from my heart. Increase my faith in your goodness 
and in your kindness. Believers may actually do well 
in work. Believers may be prosperous. 
Believers might find themselves liking running water and tasty 
bread and those sorts of things. But a believer is going to say, 
Lord God, keep me in that disposition of Edgar in Proverbs 30. Give 
me neither poverty nor riches. Cause me to be content with what 
you've granted to me. Let me not forget you in times 
of prosperity. Let me not deny you when there 
is plenty. But God help me to realize the 
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and you have granted 
to me stewardship of these gifts. May I receive them with thanksgiving 
and with a glad heart but may I make sure that I don't hold 
them with a death grip. You see there's a bit of two 
and three in all of us. but hopefully 4 overrules that. The devil comes and he sows these 
tears. Now notice 27 to 30. The servants 
ask two questions. The servants of the householder 
ask two questions. The first is, how did this happen? And second, what should we do 
about it? Notice, Sir, did you not sow 
good seed in your field? How then does it have tears?" 
The question itself implies a bit of surprise. Again, I'm not a 
farmer, but I suspect that any farmer worth his weight realizes 
that it is statistically impossible to never have a tear. In other 
words, when a farmer goes out and he plants his seed, he expects 
to see some weeds, doesn't he? That's part of his job. He has 
to go out and weed. He has to go pick them up. Whether 
it's a massive, big, huge acre farm or it's your backyard, you 
realize that you need to block weeds. Now the surprise seems 
to stem from the presence, not only the presence of the weeds, 
but the number of them. They're puzzled. Sir, didn't 
you plant wheat? How did it happen that there's 
so much tears? How did it happen that we have 
this particular situation? As we navigate through this parable, 
though, you need to remember, the Bible doesn't quantify how 
many people are going to be in heaven. The initial statement 
in the book of Genesis, in terms of all the nations of the earth 
shall be blessed, in Abraham, in the final statements in the 
book of Revelation, that teaches us there's a great multitude 
seem to indicate that God the Lord is purposing to save a great 
multitude which no man can number. But as we move through this parable, 
never forget it's a wheat field with tares in it. It's not a 
tare field with wheat in it. We need to keep that in our mind 
when it comes to the church. It's very easy for us to get 
down on the church. The church this, and the church 
that, and the church this, and the church that. Well, praise 
God that Jesus has his church in this world. Praise God that 
the Lord Christ has promised to build his church and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it. We're very quick to be negative 
Nellies and critique and criticize the church, but do we ever stop 
and think, praise God, there are actually good things happening. 
Do you realize that you can go to sermonaudio.com and find any 
number of excellent expositors and listen to whole books of 
the Bible being expounded very accurately and very well? Do 
you ever thank God, the Lord, that Jesus has given gifts to 
his church in terms of writing men, in terms of preaching men, 
in terms of teaching men? There are lots of things to be 
encouraged about. It is a wheat field with tares 
in it. It's not a tare field with wheat. 
Elijah needed to be reminded of this. Elijah, I have 7,000 
men that have not bowed the knee to Baal. Very often we can be 
Elijah sitting under our broom tree saying, we're the only ones 
that's right. We're it. We're those confessional 
people. We got it all straight. God says, 
no, there's plenty more out there. You see this much. You understand 
this much. You've got one piece of a 500-piece 
puzzle, and you're trying to interpret reality according to 
that? You need to just pay attention and do what you're told. We want 
to analyze. Everybody's good at cultural 
analysis and church analysis. Do what you're supposed to do. 
I think that's one of the take-home messages of this passage that 
we'll deal with at the end. You're supposed to grow. Leave them alone. Let them grow 
until the harvest. Isn't that your task as wheat? Isn't that your job as a son 
of the kingdom? Isn't that your calling in this 
world? It's to grow. It's to mature. It's to run. It's to be bold 
for the Lord Christ. It's to exercise a manly faith. It is to step out trusting God, 
dispossessing the land of the Canaanites, not literally, but 
spiritually and metaphorically. The servants asked the question, 
how did this happen? Chamberlain says, the slaves 
would not be surprised to find some wheat, or I'm sorry, some 
tares among the good seed. Their question, where did the 
weeds come from, therefore implies a large number due to deliberate 
sowing. That's the emphasis in their 
question. The master confirms this is indeed 
what happened. 1328 A. An enemy did this. There was another force at work. There was tears sown in this 
particular field. Notice their second question 
in verse 27. I'm sorry, at the end of verse 
27. The servant said to him, do you 
want us then to go and gather them up? Do you want us then 
to go and gather them up? We're going to deal with this 
in just a moment, but I want to quote Spurgeon for you. He 
says, the householder had not slept. He knew who had done the 
cruel wrong, and enemies done this, right? You see, Jesus tells 
us what this world looks like. Jesus tells us what life and 
experience in the church is going to look like. Notice that the 
biblical authors and the disciples themselves don't say to Jesus, 
well, if you're sovereign Lord of the Sabbath, why don't you 
just get rid of this evil? I mean, that in a sense is what 
they're emphasizing. Jesus doesn't just snap his fingers 
and it's all done. Christians, we need to understand 
this. I think there's a theodicy in this particular passage. Theodicy 
is a big word, it's not that big, but it's a word we don't 
use often that means the justification of God. And it usually has to 
refer to things like God and evil. If God is good and all-powerful, 
why is there evil in the world? What does this passage teach 
us? God is good. God is all-powerful. There is 
evil in this world, but it doesn't shake Him. We learn in other 
portions of Scripture that He has a morally sufficient reason 
for the evil that exists. What was Joseph's testimony to 
his brothers? You meant this to me for evil, 
but God overruled it for good. Take the most evil and heinous 
act in the history of the world. the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. What does God do with that moral 
atrocity? He saves His people from their 
sins. You see, Christian, our heart's 
desire is to say with these servants, what shall we do? Shall we gather 
up these tares? Shall we throw them out in the 
field and torch them? The householder had not slept. 
He knew who had done the cruel wrong. He who is the enemy of 
God and man, and he only had perpetrated this piece of malice. 
It may have seemed to be a learned doctor, or a clever poet, or 
a treacherous orator, who scattered doubt among the people, and introduced 
skeptics into the church. But the worker behind the scenes, 
the real author of the mischief, is always the devil himself. 
I love what Spurgeon highlights there. When you flip on one of 
these TV stations with the weird preachers, you don't see a man 
in a devil suit. You don't see horns. You don't 
see him put his pitchfork there. When you see a blurb for a church 
on the internet, it doesn't say, well, the enemy has employed 
us to sow seeds of discord and to try to grow tares in the Church 
of Christ. They don't do this. But it doesn't 
mean it's not being done. There are malevolent forces at 
work. Interestingly enough, 1 Timothy 
4, 1-5, the very passage we're looking at tonight, deals with 
this in an epistolary fashion, in a more analytical or theological 
fashion. This is a story, not to say it's 
devoid of theology, but Jesus is teaching theology through 
a parable. Paul just takes away the curtain and shows us there 
are demons and devils at work behind heretics. I mean, if these guys did show 
up in capes and had pitchforks, it'd be easier to spot them. 
They show up in nice cars, or they show up in... It doesn't 
mean every guy that has a nice car. That's why I always drive 
my Toyota, to communicate that I'm preaching the truth. Now, 
if I stumble out of the Jetta, stumble out of the Jetta, we 
could still preach truth having a Jetta. That's not the point. 
Some would say we preach better truth. No, I'm kidding. You know, 
these men look good. These men look polished. These 
men look right. There's an enemy at work behind 
them. So that's what always amazes me. We don't see the stakes as 
high as they are in Christianity. We unwittingly adopt this mindset 
that Christianity is one thought process or one system among many. It's the only system that's true. 
It's the only system that's consistent. It's the only God-wrought system, 
and it's the only one orchestrated to get sinful men out of the 
depths of depravity and make them acceptable to God. It's 
because of Galatians chapter 2. It's because of the Apostle 
Paul's epistle to the Romans. It's because of Jesus' parables 
of the kingdom. It's because of the Old Testament 
documents, and it highlights for us the nature of the battle. 
When a man stands up there and he's as polished as a jewel, 
but he speaks falsehood, the devil's behind that. There are 
forces at work. Paul says, we do not wrestle 
against flesh and blood, but against principalities. We need to understand there's 
a supernatural sphere. We're conditioned into materialism. We're conditioned to think the 
only thing that exists are those things we can see. We're functional 
Bill Nyes. Unless I can touch it, unless 
I can feel it, unless I can see it, I just won't believe it. 
Well, the Bible doesn't hold forth that reality of knowledge 
or that approach to knowledge. The Bible tells us there are 
things we don't see. The Bible tells us there are 
forces behind the scenes. The Bible tells us that they 
are enemies of the Lord Christ himself and they are seeking 
to destroy. We need to understand the battle. 
We need to understand the battle with reference to abortion. It's 
not a political issue. It is a theological issue. Whoever sheds man's blood, by 
man his blood will be shed, for in the image of God he made man. It's not political, it's theological. Every baby that is murdered is 
an assault upon the image of God Most High. We Christians 
just keep navigating ourselves along like we're Bill Nye the 
Science Guy. Well, if I can't see it, touch it, feel it, or 
taste it, it doesn't exist. I don't see demonic oppression. 
Some of you young people and children, you hear stuff like 
this and you say, if my friends heard this, they'd think I was 
whacked. They'd think I was nuts. A devil. You know what one of 
the devil's biggest victories has been? Getting people to disbelieve 
that he is. Getting people to disbelieve 
that He is. You really believe in a devil? 
You really believe in somebody behind the scenes? How do you 
explain this world without that bit of information? How do you 
explain that in the midst of a place where the people of God 
should be serving the Lord, and fearing the Lord, and doing the 
things of the Lord, they engage in all the same sort of wickedness? 
professing weed, acting like tares. That's because more than 
likely they are tares, sown by the devil himself. The second question that they 
pose is simply, what should we do? Notice the specific instructions 
in verses 29 to 30. The servant said to him, verse 
28, Do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, 
No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the 
wheat with them. 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. He gives 
them three bits of information. First, do not gather the tares 
because the wheat might be uprooted too. What happens below the surface 
of the ground? There's a wheat growing next 
to a tare. We had this in a house in California. Our neighbors had a big willow 
tree. I had to replace the sprinkler 
system. Yeah, I, Jim, actually had to 
replace the sprinkler system. I've done at least one man thing 
in my life in terms of DIY. You can't revoke my man card 
wholly. Do you know when I started going 
into the ground and looking at this, we had PVC pipe that had 
roots in it, and we didn't have a tree in our front yard. It 
was from the neighbors. I dare say that if wheat and 
darnel are right next to each other, the roots underneath the 
surface might get a bit entwined. You see, Jesus loves his wheat 
so much, he doesn't want it uprooted. Jesus wants the field to be protected 
even from within. Do not gather the tares because 
the wheat might be uprooted too. I think there are at least three 
thoughts suggested here. First, the instruction does not 
prohibit church discipline. Because in Matthew 18, Jesus 
commands it. We cannot take the parable of 
the wheat and tares and say, well, you can't ever discipline 
anybody in the life and the context of the church. They should be 
able to get to do whatever they want. You don't uproot a tare 
because you might affect the wheat also. Calvin spoke to this. He said magistrates and churches 
may remove the openly wicked from their society. Not only 
may they, they must! Romans 13 and Matthew 18. But he says, the outwardly good 
who are inwardly worthless, they must leave, for the judging of 
hearts is beyond their sphere. That's important. The outwardly 
good who are inwardly worthless. The outwardly good looks like 
a neighbor who does everything the magistrate commands. He kisses 
his wife before he goes to work. He plays ball in the front yard 
with his kids. As far as anybody can tell, he's 
an upright, good-standing citizen in the society. But he's inwardly 
worthless because he doesn't believe the gospel. He doesn't 
believe the truth. Calvin says, we can't judge the 
heart. Secondly, the instruction here 
cautions believers against an unrealistic expectation. He says, 
no, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the 
wheat with them. There's a caution here against 
unrealistic expectation. The servants see the tares. The 
servants view the tares. The servants are willing and 
committed to take the tares, bind them up and throw them out 
and burn them. As I mentioned, unrealistic expectations. Ryle says, the parable is eminently 
calculated to correct the extravagant expectations in which many Christians 
indulge as to the effect of missions abroad and of preaching the gospel 
at home. You know, that's been the move 
in church growth over the last hundred years to have a formulaic 
approach. Like an algorithm. You put this 
in, and you do that, and out comes 100 people. You pass out this many tracts, 
and you go to this many houses, and law of average estate, you'll 
get 30% return. It's an algorithm. You know what 
we're supposed to do instead of having unrealistic expectations? Yes, we're to be faithful. We're 
to preach the word. When everybody around us stops 
doing that, or everybody around us says, no, we're going to pull 
down the lever and try to get more results, we just do what 
we're supposed to. That's the point. Don't have 
unrealistic expectations. As well, this instruction that 
Jesus gives us in this first element of instruction, do not 
gather tares because the wheat might be uprooted too. The instruction 
cautions believers against an overly zealous spirit when dealing 
with people or leaving the church altogether. Now this is a bit 
of a difficult one to press and to explore because we all ought 
to be zealous for purity in the church. We all ought to be desirous 
for a healthy, robust, godly church. There ought to be a bit 
of displeasure when we see what appears to be tear-like behavior 
going on among the professing wheat. But there is a censorious 
spirit that we can adopt, an overly zealous spirit. wherein 
we can condemn every terror-like attitude in anybody out there, 
and oftentimes we fail to see that terror-like disposition 
in our own hearts. Chris Austin says, Jesus does 
not therefore forbid our checking heretics, but he forbids our 
killing and slaying them. Luther says the church cannot 
be without evil people. Again, somebody's openly profligate. Matthew 18 says you deal with 
them. It's not the point. We can't 
judge the heart with those outwardly good people. He goes on to say 
those fanatics who don't want to tolerate any weeds end up 
with no weed either. And then Calvin, I think, makes 
this very perceptive statement when he says, "...very many, 
under the pretense of zeal, are excessively displeased when everything 
is not conducted to their wish, and because absolute purity is 
nowhere to be found, withdraw from the church in a disorderly 
manner, or subvert and destroy it by unreasonable severity." 
Again, I affirm discipline. Matthew 18 is in our Bibles, 
but so is Matthew 13. Do you want us to get them, Lord? 
Do you want us to weed them out, Lord? Do you want us to tend 
to them? You see, the danger herein lies. Our standard for judging pair-like 
behavior does not always consistently represent God's holy law. Unfortunately, at time, maybe 
it never has happened to you, but I'm sure it's settled into 
my heart at one time or another, is to judge them based on a preference, 
based on a whim, based on a desire, based on an interpretation that 
I think to be infallible. We've got to be careful. This 
requires wisdom. This requires the Holy Spirit. 
This requires great grace. On the one hand, to affirm Matthew 
18 and church discipline. On the other hand, to make sure 
that we don't uproot wheat when we're getting rid of the tares. 
Augustine made the perceptive statement that tares today may 
become wheat tomorrow. I think there's a lot in this 
passage that demands careful reflection, that demands balance, 
that demands responsibility. We don't allow openly profligate 
wickedness, but an outwardly good person who's inwardly worthless, 
we need to make sure that we're absolutely sure before we brand 
him as a terror and cut off his head, throw him out and destroy 
him. That's the point here. Jesus 
says, allow both to grow until harvest. Notice in verse 30, 
let both grow until the harvest. There's your mandate, wheat. 
There's your mandate, Christian. There's what you're called to 
do, believer. When you ask the Bible, what am I supposed to 
do? Be wheat. Abound. Get sunshine, get water, 
be under the means and grow. Grow like the dickens. Grow like 
the wheat God's planted you to be. Grow, grow, grow. There's no inhibitor here. There's 
no restriction here. You grow. That's your point. That's your purpose. What is 
your task is the wheat of God, but to grow in the grace and 
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the mandate. And then he says, reapers will 
take care of both at the harvest. First, gather together the tares 
and bind them in bundles and burn them. And then, gather the 
wheat into, I love this, my barn. My barn. This is Jesus' barn. Do you realize that the eschaton 
is going to be you stowed away in Jesus' barn. I'd rather live 
in Jesus' barn than dwell in the house of the wicked. That's 
what he's saying here. The disposition of the tares 
is to bind them up, bundle them, and burn them. But the disposition 
of the wheat is to store them away in my barn, in the new heavens, 
in the new earth, in the new Jerusalem, in the consummate 
glory, after that day when the angels shall come, or when Jesus 
will come, in the glory of his Father, with all of his holy 
angels, taking vengeance on those who know not God, the tares. 
but gathering that wheat and storing them into his barn for 
eternal communion with the living and true God. Thus, the parable 
of the wheat and the tares. We learn, first, it explains 
the situation during Christ's ministry. It explains the varying 
types of response. We cannot miss this. I will continue 
to press this. We don't just yank portions out 
of the Bible and say, well, all this means is for me. It certainly 
has application for you, which we'll pursue in just a moment. 
But in the context, Christ is being opposed, and he's explaining 
the nature of that opposition via these parables of the kingdom 
of heaven. Secondly, the parable explains 
the situation facing the church today. The devil still actively 
opposes the growth of Christ's kingdom, and the devil still 
works through stealth and deception. Stealth means he's sneaky. Perhaps 
you kids have seen pictures of the stealth bomber. It's this 
great big plane that looks like a big wing. Well, it's stealthy. That means it can fly into enemy 
territory undetected. It is amazing that this great 
big thing has such stealth capabilities. But it means that it can sneak 
in to enemy territory and then engage in its destructive tendencies. That's what the devil does. The 
devil doesn't march through churches and say, I'm the devil, I'm going 
to preach the next sermon. He navigates his way, as Spurgeon 
said, through poets. He navigates his way through 
songs. He navigates his way through books. He navigates his way through 
seminaries. He navigates his way through 
preachers and teachers and professors. He educates a new group of men 
that go out and espouse heresy, doctrinal infidelity. speaking 
lies, having their own consciences seared as with a hot iron. The field we need to understand 
is, as Calvin said, a confused mixture of the good along with 
the bad. And we need to keep in the forefront 
of our minds This, in fact, is a depiction, yes, of the world 
in terms of the larger extent of the Kingdom of Heaven, but 
its primary manifestation, its primary evidence, its primary 
outflow is in the Church. Thirdly, the parable should help 
us as individual believers. First, to understand the nature 
of the enemy's opposition. Jesus is educating his disciples. 
Jesus wants them to know. Jesus wants His servants to know 
the disposition they are to undertake with reference to the terrors. 
Jesus, should we go buy guns? Jesus, should we go shoot the 
terrors? Jesus, should we set them on fire? Jesus, should we 
marshal them all up and throw them into a prison cell? No, 
leave them alone, because while you're uprooting them, you may 
uproot the wheat. Secondly, it helps us to understand 
And this is crucial that the master has everything under control. See, we have theoretical Calvinism 
down, if we subscribe to that confession of faith. We have 
doctrinal Calvinism in our pockets. We need practical Calvinism. 
Men who affirm the absolute sovereignty of God ought not to whine and 
snivel and cry at the rise of Islam. Men who affirm the absolute sovereignty 
of God ought not to run like little girls. If you're a little 
girl, I'm not picking on you. If you're a man acting like a 
little girl, I'm picking on you. Bold faith, manly faith, the 
faith of a Joshua and a Caleb. Remember those 10 spies? Well, there's giants in the land. There's big people in the land. What's Caleb say? Let's go at 
once and take this land. See, we don't have to undertake 
every specific detail. We'd be faithful in what God 
has called us to do. Trusting Him and realizing that 
He has everything under His control. Thirdly, we need to understand 
the problem of evil ultimately exists under the Master's control 
and will ultimately be eliminated. Every tear that has wronged you, 
every tear that has opposed you, every tear that is done ill to 
the Kingdom of Jesus Christ will be bundled up and burned in the 
fire. You say, well, you shouldn't 
preach that, Pastor Butler. It sounds like vindictive justice. 
It is. God's vindictive justice for 
His church. We sang, in 270, a portion of 
Revelation chapter 6. What do those souls that were 
beheaded, who are under the altar, what do they do while they're 
chilling there? They say, how long, O Lord? Will you not avenge 
our blood? Christ is going to avenge. 2 
Thessalonians chapter 1, the Apostle says to the people of 
God that it is right with God to afflict those who have afflicted 
you. And it's from that vantage point 
that he then, actually that was 1 Thessalonians, where he says 
that Jesus will come again in glory, or in the glory of his 
Father with all of his holy angels. That is 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, 
a particular connection, it is right with God to afflict those 
who afflict you. And then tracing down, the Apostle 
then highlights the reality of the Lord Christ. Since it is 
a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those 
who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with 
us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 
in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God 
and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 
when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and 
to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony 
among you was believed. Now, I say this because this 
is a real systemic problem in the life of the church. There's 
evil out there. It ought to be enough for the 
believer in Christ to realize that God's going to deal with 
that evil. God will deal with that evil. He might not deal 
with it in our time frame, but when did we become the judge 
and jury? God is going to deal with those 
who oppose his kingdom. Someone says to you, what about 
this? Or what about this? Or what about 
that? You say to them, well, I think 
the state should function more responsibly and consistently 
and punish evildoers. I think the church should operate 
in such a way as the openly profligate should be put out from her midst. 
She ought to be cautious, though, in terms of judging tares, because 
we don't want to uproot the wheat. But that evil exists, I grant 
you. That God is good, I maintain. And this will certainly be the 
case on that day, when Christ comes in the glory of His Father, 
with all of His holy angels, taking vengeance. You see, Paul 
tells us, do not avenge yourselves, beloved. Doesn't he? give place 
to wrath. How do we do that? By considering 
the parable of the wheat and the tares. God is going to bundle 
it all up through the reapers and torch it. There's your problem 
of evil solved. We need to as well guard against 
those things we've highlighted along the way in terms of an 
unrealistic expectation or an overly zealous spirit in purifying 
the church. Again, I always feel like I should 
qualify that because we should want a purified church. We should 
want a godly church. We should want to pursue those 
things which are pleasing to the Lord. But we want to guard 
against an overly zealous and arbitrary or capricious application 
of principles. And then, as I said, to emphasize 
our specific calling in this age. Let both grow together. Gill says, the wheat, or true 
believers, grow in the exercise of grace, as of faith, hope, 
love, humility, and etc., and in spiritual knowledge of the 
will of God. of the doctrines of grace and of Christ, which 
growth is owing to the dues of divine grace, the sun of righteousness 
shining upon them, to the gracious influences of the blessed Spirit, 
and to the word and ordinances as means." Grow, persevere, go 
forward. And if you're an unbeliever here 
this morning, you need to understand what this text holds forth. The 
portion of the tear at the end of the age is to be bundled up 
and burned. In fact, as we trace through 
the rest of these parables, that becomes an overarching emphasis 
by our Lord. Some have said, and I haven't 
done the data, the requisite search on concordances and all 
this, I take their word for it, that Jesus spoke more about hell 
than he did heaven. Again, I haven't done that research 
firsthand. I've heard people say that. I 
don't have any reason to doubt what they've said. It's not a 
bunch of bigoted prejudicial Christians that made up the doctrine 
of hell just to torment their opposers. It's Christ the Lord 
speaking as God-man, speaking as the One who calls these things 
His own. My barn, my reapers, my this. He says that they will be bundled 
up and they will be burned. That's what you have to look 
forward to if you're not a Christian. I realize you don't want to think 
about that on Sunday morning, February 9th. Hey, this is what 
I've got to look forward to. Most of us look forward to a 
nice time with our family, a nice time with our friends, another 
week at work, and another healthy existence in this lower world. 
I'm talking about ultimately. This is the portion and lot of 
unbelievers. This is what terrors get. You 
make a false profession, or you make no profession. You do not 
live in light of God's holy word, and this is the end of all men. 
burning. Jesus holds out this blessed 
statement, the disposition of the believer at the time of the 
harvest, gather the wheat into my barn. Gather the wheat into 
my barn. The only way, by God's grace, 
we become wheat is through faith in Jesus Christ. What Pastor 
Cam read in Galatians 2, we're justified not by works, not by 
deeds, not by merit, not by what we do. We're justified freely 
by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ so that we now 
go out and pursue those things which are pleasing to Him. So 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ according to scripture and you 
shall be saved. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for this parable. We thank you for all of these 
parables and what it teaches us or what they teach us concerning 
the kingdom of heaven. I pray that you would just help 
us to internalize these truths. May your spirit apply them in 
our hearts and lives. And God, may you open hearts 
and may you give ears to hear and eyes to see and perception 
to receive the mysteries of the kingdom of God. We pray that 
you would go with us now and watch over us in the remainder 
of this Sabbath day. Bring us together tonight that 
we may worship you in spirit and truth. And we ask through 
Christ our Lord. Amen.