Matthew 13

Before we begin to Matthew chapter number 13, consider a passage here. Am I on back there, Micaiah? Alright. In Matthew chapter 13, we're not going to be preaching through the book of John here today.

For those of you who are visiting, we are normally going through verse by verse the gospel of John. And I was in John chapter 15. But I'd like to take a break here and go back and consider a subject matter that I believe there is a little bit of confusion about this passage.

I mentioned this passage in a sermon about a year ago. And it was just a portion of the entire message. But I think there are some who felt like that I did not give an accurate interpretation or I was an error in the interpretation of that passage.

And so, just to make some clarification, I'd like to go over the entire parable and spend our time this morning talking about this amazing little parable that Jesus gives here in Matthew chapter 13. And I'm going to start reading in verse number 24. And maybe the message today would be a challenge to some of you.

Well, the Bible is often a challenge to me. And it will be a challenge for some. But I want to clarify what I see from the Scriptures here so that you can have a clear direction.

So let's look here in Matthew chapter number 13. And you can follow along, study along, and let God speak to your heart as we go down through this parable. Verse number 24 is where we're going to start.

I'm going to read the parable. Then we'll look at the interpretation some a little later on here. Verse 24.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven... Now, there's a number of parables here in chapter 13 about the kingdom of heaven. And the Lord is teaching principles of the kingdom of heaven, New Testament principles. He says, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 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 blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servant of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.

But gather the wheat into my barn. So this is the parable of the wheat and the tares. Maybe some of you are familiar with this parable.

And praise God we don't have to do the interpretation of the parable. The Lord himself does the interpretation of the parable. And so we're going to jump into the interpretation here.

I'm going to do something a little different that I've not done here hardly at all. Just for the sake of supporting what I'm going to share, I was able to go up, and I sometimes do this to the Nazarene College, and I think it's open to all of us. The Nazarene College has a wonderful library up there, a lot of religious material, and they have many, many commentaries.

I think they have 20 to 25 volumes of different commentaries throughout the years of men who have written commentaries. And so I went just to support and back up what I'm sharing. And the vast majority of the commentaries support what I'm going to share with you.

I think I only found one that did not support it. But what I'm going to share with you is supported by many throughout history and church history. And I think you'll agree with it also as we go down through here.

So let's have a word of prayer and acknowledge the Lord. And then I'd like to walk down through this parable with you and teach you here this morning. Heavenly Father, the Scripture tells us again to acknowledge You in all of our way, that it would include preaching of Your Word and gathering here together this morning.

We do acknowledge You. We acknowledge that You're the truth, that You're the author of this wonderful book that we have, and that You have a heart and desire for us to discern truth from error. And so, Lord, we invite You to work amongst us and to teach us and to instruct us the principles of Your Kingdom, how Your Kingdom functions and what we should expect from Your Kingdom.

And so, Lord, I ask You to help us and give me words and fill my mind and my heart with the things that You would have me to say. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Alright, I'd like to... Can someone get me a glass of water? Maybe one of the young ones here can get a glass of water. I've got a little frog in my throat. I want to look here at this parable, and the Lord gives us the interpretation of the parable.

So starting in verse number 24, let's read again, and we'll walk down through this passage. Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. The Lord takes a simple story that everyone would understand.

A man sowing seed in his field. By the way, the word parable means to throw down alongside. A parable is something that is natural that is thrown down alongside a spiritual reality.

So the Lord often used natural illustrations, and He would throw them down alongside of the spiritual truth. And He would explain spiritual truth. So here, you have a man who sows good seed in his field.

So let's get the interpretation here. Who is this man? We'll jump over to verse number 37. He gives the answer to this parable.

In verse 37, He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. So, the Son of Man is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who is sowing seed.

Now let's look at the next word in verse number 24. The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed. Now, who are these good seed? Well, back to verse number 38.

And Jesus says this, The field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And so you and I, whether you know it or not, you're one of those good seed. And so the Lord Jesus here is sowing His children.

He is sowing good seed. And He does that through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is out proclaiming the Gospel through you and I, and sowing His children throughout the world.

And if you keep reading here, in verse 24 it says, The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. Now, what is the field? If you look over to verse 38 again, Jesus says the field is the world. The field is the world.

And so this principle of the kingdom is explained to us this way, that the Son of Man is raising up His children throughout the field or throughout this world. Jesus raising up His children throughout the world. That's why the Lord says in the last chapter of the book of Matthew, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.

Go into the field and preach the Gospel. And if you go out and you preach the Gospel, I'm going to raise up my children all over the world. And my children are going to be raised up and they're going to be planted in churches throughout the world.

And so, the Son of Man is the Lord Jesus Christ and He is planting good seed. He is planting His children in the field and that field is the world. And you see this in other places.

John chapter 4, Jesus said, Lift up your eyes and look on the field. Well, He wasn't talking about those cornfields out there. He was talking about humanity.

Lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already unto harvest. So in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the New Testament, in the Kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus is going to be raising up His children all over the world through the preaching of the Gospel. And you get to the book of Revelation and you find every tribe, every nation, every kindred glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ, glorifying God for His salvation.

And so, this is the basis here for this parable. We had Nathan and Candace here two weeks ago. And they have a desire to raise up children in the remote places of Brazil, in the jungles of Brazil, where there are tribes that have not heard the Gospel yet.

And so, in every tribe, in every kindred, and in every nation, it is the will of God for there to be His children raised up throughout the entire world. So the Lord is sowing His children. July 15, 1978, He sowed me as a seed.

And He raised me up. And I was living in Belleville, up north of here, Ohio. And I became a child of God.

So all over the world, God is raising up His children. And if you start in the book of Acts, there at the day of Pentecost, 3,000 wheat plants were raised up in His field. And that spread to Antioch.

And it spread as the Apostle Paul took the Gospel. It spread all over the known world. Into Rome, into Asia, all over the place.

The Gospel was being spread and the Lord Jesus was raising up His children all over the world, all over the field. And so I think that's pretty basic here as we start out and lay a foundation. But here's where things get a little bit more difficult.

And I think here's where many people make a mistake in their interpretation of this parable. And let's go to verse number 25. But while men slept, His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

Now, His enemy is told who it is in verse number 39, and that's the devil. Of course, the Lord's enemy is the devil. And so as the Lord is sowing His children all over the world, His enemy is coming, it says, and His enemy is sowing tares.

Tares. And who are the tares? Well, if you go back here to verse 38, we read again who the tares are. The field is the world.

The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. So the devil is sowing tares. The children of the devil.

The children of the wicked one. So you see the Lord? He is sowing His children throughout this world. And the devil is coming, and He is also sowing His children.

Now, something I think is very important to understand and interpret this passage properly, if you notice what it says in verse 25, but while men slept, His enemy came and sowed tares. What's the next three words? Among the wheat. Now notice it doesn't say that He sowed tares in the field, or He sowed tares all over the world, but it says here that He sowed tares among the wheat.

And so as the Lord is out sowing His children all over the world, the Bible says that the enemy is coming and He is trying to sow His children among the wheat. And so as the Lord is raising up His wheat and sowing His wheat all over the world, the devil is coming behind and trying to sow His children amongst the wheat. Notice it does not say the devil sows His tares in the field, but He sows His tares amongst the wheat.

So this is a different sowing. So what's happening is this, as the Lord is going out and He is raising up His children throughout the world, the devil is coming behind Him and trying to sow His tares amongst the wheat. Sow His children amongst the wheat.

And that's obvious if you look at this parable, because His children are called tares. Tares. And they're called tares because tares are very similar to wheat.

Tares grow up amongst the wheat and they're indistinguishable from wheat until the time of the harvest and then the tares show themselves for who they really are and that they have no real fruit value or no real fruit in them. And so that's why the Lord here uses this idea of a tare, because a tare is an imposter. That's what a tare is.

It looks like wheat, but it's not actually wheat. And so the devil is sowing that which looks like wheat amongst the wheat. He is sowing tares amongst the wheat.

Listen, these are not atheists. These are not agnostics. These are not God-haters.

These are not open sinners. These are not Muslims and these are not Hindus. These are people who profess to be Christian.

These are those who look like wheat. And yet they're not wheat. They are tares.

They resemble wheat, but they are imposters. Now John Wesley said this regarding this passage. He said this, Open sinners are not so properly called tares as thistles or brambles.

These ought to be rooted up without delay and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas should fallible men attempt to gather up the tares, they would often root up the wheat with them. Now a tare is someone who appears to be wheat.

And so you can be confused about tares. You're not sure whether they're wheat or not. However, we're not talking here about bramble and thistles and briars that are obviously not wheat.

No, the devil is sowing those who look like wheat, tares, amongst the wheat as imposters. And so these are not atheists. These are not God-haters.

These are not Hindus. And if we would have any of those unbelievers in the church, what should we do with them? The Bible says have no fellowship, right? With the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Have no fellowship with unbelievers.

So if these were unbelievers, we should have no fellowship and we should cast them out. But these are tares. And the Lord uses the word tare because a tare looks very much like a wheat.

And so the devil is trying to deceive. He is trying to plant those within the Christian community who look like Christians. So this is not a parable about wheat and thistles, but a parable about wheat and tares.

This is not the children of God and atheists, not the children of God and open sinners, but this is the children of God and those who are imposters. And so as the Lord is raising up his wheat all over the world, the devil is coming behind him, and we'll see this in a minute, in secret, and trying to plant tares, those that look just like the wheat, among the wheat. And there's a purpose in that.

Adam Clark. Some of you are familiar with some of these names. Adam Clark has a very familiar commentary throughout the last hundred or so years.

He said this regarding this passage. He said, The righteous and the wicked are often mingled in the Christian church. Every Christian society, how pure soever its principles may be, has its bastard wheat, those who bear resemblance to good, but whose hearts are not right with God.

I mean, there's no way we can purify everybody from the church. And so the devil is at work, and you're going to see this in just a minute. He is at work whenever a Christian community of wheat is formed.

He is there to come in and try to plant tares amongst that wheat. Look at Matthew 13, verse 25. It says here, But while men slept, while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares amongst the wheat and went his way.

Now when do men sleep? Unless you're in the third shift. Most men sleep at night. And so at night, while men slept, the enemy came in secretly, undercover, privily, to try to sow tares, which look very much like wheat, amongst the wheat.

I have no doubt in my mind that there's a tare or two or three here. I have no doubt in my mind that the enemy has, for the last 30 years the church has been here, sought to plant tares amongst the wheat. And you say, well, can't we see who they are? Well, tares and wheat grow up together, and you cannot distinguish between the two until later on when the tare shows its fruit.

By the way, Judas finally did show his fruit, didn't he? And he exposed who he really was in the end. So it says here in verse 25, while men slept. And so the devil here is at work in this parable in the darkness, in secret, while men are sleeping to try to plant tares amongst the wheat.

These tares are being placed undercover. They're being placed, and I'll use this word because it's used in the Bible a lot, privily or privately or secretly and with a purpose to deceive. And so that's what the devil is doing, and that's what this parable is trying to teach us.

That as God's children are raised up, the devil is there to try to plant a tare or two amongst the wheat. And so you find this principle throughout the Bible. I'm not just sharing this with you as a doctrine without examples.

There are many examples of this in the Scripture. The Bible talks about false brethren. Galatians 2, verse 4, and that because of false brethren, and listen to this, false brethren, unawares, brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.

Who do you think doing that work? False brethren sent in privily to spy out the work that is going on for the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I believe when God raises up wheat, the devil is right there to try to plant tares amongst the wheat. If you're involved in the military, you know that this is what you do when you have two enemies.

One military in the U.S. is always trying to plant spies in the enemy's camp. And the enemy is always trying to plant spies in our camp. So this is just natural.

Two enemies at war with one another. And the devil having no power to overcome the Lord Jesus has to plant spies or has to plant false brethren. So you have false brethren in the Bible.

You have false teachers. You have false prophets. Listen to 2 Peter 2, verse 1. But there were false prophets also among the people.

That's us. Even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily... There's that word again. ...who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.

So there's a lot of false. And the devil is the one who is planting the false. How about this one? False apostles.

Let me read to you. You don't have to turn there, but in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about false apostles. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13.

He says this, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. They look like apostles. As a matter of fact, Judas was one of those false apostles, wasn't he? He looked like an apostle of Christ.

And I've shared this with you before when it came time to question whether or not Judas was this one who would betray them. Every one of the disciples said, is it I? They were deceived by Judas. So we have here false apostles.

And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Isn't that amazing? Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works.

And so you see this throughout the Scriptures. False brethren, false teachers, false prophets, false apostles. And the devil is always trying to bring in the false.

Now let me just comment on these who are maybe sitting in pews and these who are false teachers and false prophets that many of them know what they're doing. Yet some of them don't. The Bible says that many of them are deceiving and being deceived.

I don't know what you think, but I think that Judas didn't know he was who he was. I think Judas was at least deceived. It may have been that Judas was those three years with Jesus and he knew who he was.

He knew that he was a false apostle. He knew he was going to be the betrayer. But I just don't see that Judas was that.

But I believe Judas was himself deceived by the devil. And there are people who are planted in churches who know they're there and what purpose they're there for to deceive and to bring division and to lead people astray. But there are some who sit in the pews who don't even know they're being deceived.

They are deceived. And I'll get to this verse a little later on, but in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, many, many will come to Me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied? Didn't we stand behind the pulpit? Have we done many mighty works? All these things. And He'll say to them, I never knew you.

And so there will be many tares according to Jesus, who were deceived. And I guess this is a theological study here today, but I do want to just caution you. Search your own heart and make sure you're not a tare.

Make sure you're not being used by the enemy. Make sure you truly, as we sung that song this morning, I surrender all. Amen.

That you have a surrendered and a broken heart. Because it's very possible for us to be deceived. And so while men slept, the enemy comes and he sows tares among the wheat.

Not in the world, not in the field, but he sows tares amongst the wheat. Now I could be here a long time sharing verses on this subject, but I just want to share a few with you. Some of them are very familiar.

Here in Acts 20, you don't have to turn there, but in verse 28, Paul is talking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, and he says this, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood. Now this is this, For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. It's like, hey, I know this, Paul says.

Already, as soon as I leave here, the devil is going to come rushing in. And grievous wolves, also of your own selves, shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. And so Paul expected that.

As soon as I leave from here, I know what's going to happen. The enemy is going to come and try to sow tares amongst the wheat. And I think, you know, this is a whole other subject, but I think Paul understood that as long as he spoke the truth, taught the truth, and there was light in the congregation, the darkness had no opportunity.

But as soon as he leaves, then they're going to try to press in and bring false doctrine. You see this over and over in the Bible. For example, earlier in chapter 13 of Matthew, you see the first parable the Lord mentions here is about the sowing of seed.

And you see when the sower went forth to sow that the sun fell on the hard ground, and immediately the devil comes to try to snatch that seed out of that heart. Immediately. And so the devil is following the sower around.

And as the sower is sowing, any seed that doesn't get into the heart, the devil is immediately trying to pick it up. He's also following around. If any seed takes root and children of God are birthed and born, he's trying to plant false brethren in their midst or tares amongst the wheat.

So you have many examples of this. Throughout the Bible, Adam Clark, his commentary says this about this verse, it is in the interest of Satan to introduce hypocrites and wicked persons into religious societies in order to discredit a work of grace and to favor his own designs. And I believe Judas was a tare amongst the wheat.

There's no doubt about that. And it's the work of the devil. It's something that the church has to deal with.

This is a kingdom of heaven principle. Let's keep reading here in Matthew chapter 13 and go a little further here. Verse number 26.

It says, But when the blade was sprung up, or when it matured and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. Now it says when the wheat sprung up and it began to mature close to the end of the harvest, then appears the tares also. And so what it means is this.

The tares begin to manifest who they are. You know, when they're young, when the wheat is growing, the tares come up right alongside. You can't tell the difference.

You know, you can't tell the difference between a young Christian and a tare. As they mature, the mature wheat brings forth fruit, but the tare has nothing. And as these two mature, you begin to see who is the true wheat and who is the tare.

And those things oftentimes are not discernible when the tare and the wheat are young. Let me read to you what the Vines Expository Dictionary has to say about a tare. Here's what it says.

A tare is a kind of a darnel. Some of you who are farmers know what that word means. The commonest of four species being the bearded, growing in grain fields is as tall as wheat and barley and resembling wheat in appearance.

It was credited among the Jews with being degenerate wheat. The rabbis called it bastard. The seeds are poisonous to man and herbivorous animals.

The plants can be separated out, but the custom as in the parable is to leave the cleaning out till near the time of the harvest. And we're going to see that here in just a minute. Let's look at verse 27.

Let's keep reading. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? Now, who are these servants? I'm trying to interpret this passage. The servants of the householder.

Well, the servants, some people think maybe they're the angels. Well, they're not the angels. If you look down to verse number 30, the angels are the reapers.

And Jesus tells us that in His interpretation. Verse 30 says, Let both grow together. He's talking to the servants here.

Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, that's the angels, bind them in bundles and burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn. The only problem here with this parable is the Lord doesn't tell us who these servants are.

He tells us who the reapers are, but He doesn't tell us who the servants are. Now I'm going to take a guess, and you can take a guess, but I believe the servants are maybe those who are under shepherds or pastors of these churches where the wheat is. And of course, in their hearts, shouldn't we take these tares out from among the wheat? So the servants of the householder, the servants of the Lord, are asking, Lord, didn't You sow good seed in Your field? How has it gotten these tares? Lord, didn't You raise up? Didn't You raise up wheat? How did the tares get amongst the wheat? Well, let's keep reading here.

The Lord answers here in verse 28. He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. That's the devil, of course.

The servants said unto Him, Wilt Thou then that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay, lest while You gather up the tares, You root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn.

Now certainly if you're a shepherd or an under-shepherd, your first initial reaction is, Lord, there are tares amongst the wheat. Lord, there are people who are not truly converted in the assembly. Lord, I feel, brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so, they don't have any fruit.

They seem to be immature. They don't have any real spiritual life. I perceive, Lord, that they are tares amongst the wheat.

Shouldn't I go and root them up? And so the servant wants to do that. And I think it's a natural reaction. You know, we want purity.

We want the bad out from the good. So that's what the servants say to the Lord. Lord, didn't You so good see, where do we get all these tares amongst the wheat? But notice the answer that the Lord gives.

And this is an answer I know many people struggle with. In verse number 29, but He said nay or no. His answer is very straightforward.

No. I don't want you to do that. And probably because me or you are not infallible.

And sometimes we make mistakes. Now, I don't know about you, but if I would have looked at Judas and probably walked with the disciples, I'd have probably said Judas was in and a man like Lot was out. Here's Lot living in Sodom doing some crazy things, offering his daughters up to these men for immorality.

Lot's definitely out. Judas, you're definitely in. I'd have been mistaken, wouldn't I? Totally mistaken.

Judas was out and Lot was in. And I know sometimes it's difficult to discern who is in and who is out. But there is coming a day when that discernment will take place.

But the Lord said to the servant after the servant said, Lord, do you want me to go and get these tares out of here? The Lord says no. And here's why the Lord says no. And I think this is at the very heart of what the Lord is trying to teach here in verse 29.

But he said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Now, the Lord is more concerned with the wheat than He is the tares. And unfortunately, many people are more concerned about the tares than the wheat.

You know, most people, in their mind, we've got to get the tares out. We've got to get the tares out. We've got to get the tares out.

And they're consumed with the tares when the Lord says, no, don't get consumed with the tares. I want you to make sure that none of my wheat get hot. And that perspective, I think, is one that gets confused in people's minds.

We get this idea we've got to get everything out that's bad and we start picking and picking and picking and picking and pretty soon, we're starting to throw people out that are His children. And so the Lord says, focus on my wheat. That none of my wheat get uprooted.

Instead of focusing your effort on the tares. Now, you know, I've said this many times, but if I have to ask Jesus a question, you know, like, Lord, hey, why do you let Judas three years? Why do you let Judas there? I mean, it says He knew from the beginning that Judas was an unbeliever. Why allow Judas in the midst of the wheat? Why allow a tare here? That's an interesting question, isn't it? For the Lord.

Well, Judas had a purpose for those twelve. And God has purpose for the tare. And there are many purposes that we could talk about.

Why does God allow tares amongst the wheat? But notice here that the Lord's concern is about uprooting the wheat. You know, the servant said, Lord, what about the tares? Let's not worry about the tares. I'm more concerned that none of my wheat get uprooted.

You know, I'm going to make an observation here for you. I've been doing this for 30 years. And I joined some of the charity groups back in the early 1990's.

And I've observed. I've preached in almost every church. I've been in almost every state over these last 30 years.

I've been in these churches. I've heard their problems. And my observation is this.

You know, people are still trying to find a church where there are no tares. You know, they're trying to find this perfect environment. And you know, I look back and I look at all these churches that have come and gone and all the struggles they've faced.

And I still haven't figured out, I still haven't found that perfect church or no one has come to that place where they have got everybody out that's tares and only there's wheat there and there's this perfect environment. But you know one thing I have found? Is this disruption and ripping of people and trying to tear tares and the frustration and the confusion has caused strife and division and bitterness. And I'll tell you, I've noticed a lot of young people, a lot of young people in the faith have just given up.

Given up because they've seen all of this strife and bitterness and unforgiveness and you're not doing it the way you ought to do it and you need to do it our way and back and forth. And after 30 years of watching that, I've come to the realization that if we're going to just try to tear out the tares and find the tares and get rid of the tares, we're ultimately going to devour each other and destroy each other. So I'm still looking for that perfect church to be formed sometime.

You know I thought one of the best opportunities to form that perfect church was where Brother Mike came out of. Harmony Christian Fellowship. I thought what a great church that must be.

All these mature brothers and families have come to find out that's not the perfect church. And by the way, we aren't either. We're not the perfect church.

I'm sorry to tell you that, Brother Will. We're not the perfect church. And so over the years, I've seen all this back and forth and fighting and division.

And you know, I personally believe that that's one of the greatest concerns the Lord has. Because this kind of stuff will uproot a young Christian and cause a young Christian to say, I'm done with it. And be gone.

And the Lord is very concerned about the young ones. Remember He said, woe unto you if you offend one of these little ones. It wasn't a little child.

It was a young believer. It would have been better for you to have a millstone about your neck and cast it into the sea than if you offend one of my little ones. So we need to be very careful.

And as a congregation, I would encourage you to not go around and try to find out who the tares are and try to deal with the tares. I would encourage you to make sure that you're encouraging all the wheat. And making sure the wheat don't get discouraged and depart.

Let me give you some thoughts from commentaries. This is the biblical illustrator. One I like to use.

Page 273. It says this, The rash attempt to separate the good from the bad in the church may result in a state of things that is worse than that which is sought to be amended. That's been my observation.

Matthew Henry. Some of you are familiar with his commentary. Page 153.

He says this, The servants were very forward to have these tares rooted up. Note the over-hasty and inconsiderate zeal of Christ's servants before they have consulted with their Master. It is not possible for any man infallibly to distinguish between tares and wheat, but he may be mistaken and therefore such is the wisdom and grace of Christ that he will rather permit the tares than anyway endanger the wheat.

Great caution and moderation must be used in inflicting and continuing church discipline lest the wheat be trodden down if not plucked up. I've always continued to believe to this day that the preaching of the Word will cause the tares to depart in many cases. Preach the Word.

Reprove, rebuke, exhort. This light here drives many away. 1 John says, They went out from us because they were not of us.

If they would have been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that it might be made manifest they were not all of us. And my philosophy has always been let people hear and know the truth. Make it hot for the tares.

If you're a tare here this morning, I hope you feel it's getting pretty hot in here. Because God uses His Word. Sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy Word is truth. I also believe in church discipline for those who are willful and open sinners. And we'll comment on that here in just a minute.

But Jesus, the example of His life, He said all that come to Me I will in no ways cast out. But many departed from Him and they departed from Him because He spoke the truth and it offended them and their offense caused them to depart. Judas hung in there even though he was a tare.

This is speaking of church discipline. This is from the Biblical Illustrator, page 273. I use these to support what I'm sharing.

This parable does not forbid church discipline. Because church discipline is enjoined by many plain passages in the New Testament and that no interpretation of any parable may be put against that. Discipline rightly understood is for the saving of a man to the church.

I think that's interesting. It's for the saving of a man to the church and not for the casting of him out of it. What the parable here recommends is not so much the following of a certain course as the cultivation of a certain spirit.

And I like that. You remember those two disciples when Jesus was rejected? What town was that? And these two disciples said, let's call fire down from heaven and devour them, right? What did Jesus say to them? You know not what manner of spirit you are of. That's not the spirit.

And He goes on to say I did not come to destroy men's lives, I came to save them. And so the spirit of the church ought to be not to destroy, but to save. Adam Clark said this, A zeal for the removal of heretics and wicked men like Judas, not regulated by these words of our blessed Savior, allows no time for the one to grow strong in goodness or for the other to forsake their evil course.

They are of a spirit very opposite to Christ who care not if they root up the wheat, provided they can but gather up the tares. And that's something we need to be careful of. I'm all for holiness.

I'm all for examining yourselves, whether you be in the faith. But it does say examine yourselves. I'm not to examine you and discern your faith.

I can observe your fruits. The Bible says the Lord knows them, they're His. I can't walk through here today.

I'd be petrified to walk through here today and look at you and say, you're a Christian, you're not a Christian. You're a Christian, you're not a Christian. Make a discernment.

Who am I? Verse 28 says, He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Welt thou then that we go and gather them up. But he said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.

Can you imagine going out in the field and we've got about 20 of us. Let's just get that tare. Get that tare.

And after you're all done, you look at the field. It's like, man, we made a mess of the place. Many of these little wheat plants have been uprooted.

But the Lord's greatest concern here is with the wheat, not the tares. Verse 30 says, Let both grow together. The Lord allowed Judas to grow up together with the disciples.

Let both grow together. Judas was not an open sinner. Judas was not known by anyone to be a sinner.

For that matter, Judas was in his heart an imposter. And yet the Lord never called him out as an unbeliever. I don't know who's here that's truly born of the Spirit of God.

I'm sure there are people here today who don't have the Spirit. The Bible says, if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he's what? He's none of His. But it's not up to me to make that judgment.

Neither is it up for you to make that judgment. So let both grow together. Here's another commentary, the preacher's homiletical commentary, page 341.

One reason why the tares are tolerated now is because they are to be so completely obliterated in the future. They are like the mist in the morning which only show that the sun has not yet come up to its full strength. Who that thinks over it can really suppose that the present mingled condition of things in the kingdom of God should continue.

What can it be but something born with and that with much difficulty for a time in the very nature of things in such a field, the time of harvest must come. When it does come, what can it lead to but discrimination and separation? I know there's a frustration sometimes as an elder, a pastor of a church, I feel people are frustrated. There are tares in the midst.

And I agree. The question is how to deal with them. The tare.

Those who profess to know Jesus. Those who want to participate. Those who want to take communion.

Let both grow together. Verse 30, until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, the angels, gather you together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn.

So the Lord here is teaching a time. And I want you to consider this. It's a very sober concept here, but there is coming a time when the Lord is going to take the tares from among the wheat.

If you look down to verse 40, the Lord gives the interpretation here of the passage. It says in verse 40, as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and here's something important, this next phrase, and they shall gather out of His kingdom.

Not out of the world. Not out of the field. He shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Lord is coming to gather out of His kingdom. Who is His kingdom? His kingdom always refers to His people.

A Muslim, a God-hater, an atheist is not a part of His kingdom. But the kingdom is referring to the visible church. The Lord is coming to gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity.

This is the purging of the visible church. And I have many verses here that teach what is going to happen when the Lord comes. And I've already shared with you Matthew 7, it's a very familiar one, but Jesus said, Not everyone that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, and many say, Lord, Lord, today, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father, many shall come to Me in that day.

Picture the Day of Judgment. Many are coming to Me and saying, Lord, Lord, I prophesied, I cast out devils, I did many wonderful works. And the Lord's going to say, I never knew you, you were a tare amongst the wheat.

Depart from Me. Maybe you can turn ahead here to Matthew 22. I'm almost done.

Matthew chapter 22. Here's another example. There's a number of examples of this in the Scriptures of the Day of Judgment when the Lord is going to remove the tares from among the wheat.

Matthew 22. And I'm going to start here. I'm not going to read the whole parable.

You're probably familiar with it. In Matthew 22, verse 1, And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. And so they go out and they get all these people to come to this marriage.

Verse 10, So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. All these guests came in. They're children of God.

Wheat. Verse 11, And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. Here's a man that's in the midst of the wedding without a garment.

He's an imposter. He never truly was born of the Spirit of God and he never had a robe of righteousness given unto him and yet he was in the midst. Verse 12, He said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? How did you get here? He was speechless.

Then said the king unto the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How about this one? Matthew 25.

Maybe you've not thought about it in this way. Ten virgins. You know, all ten of those virgins it says were going forth to meet the bridegroom.

They had a hope, brother Chris. They had a hope when Jesus comes that they would be a part of this wedding. All ten virgins.

Five of them were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones had no what? Oil. No oil.

Oil represents the Spirit of God. They were not born of the Spirit. Five of them were wheat.

Five of them were tares. And in the day of judgment, when the Lord comes, those five were taken out from the kingdom. They were in the visible kingdom and now they're being removed.

And so here in Matthew, if you want to turn back, I will finish in Matthew 13. It says in verse number 41, The Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.

I never knew you. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall the righteous... You want the perfect church? Here you go. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their fathers. You know, some of you, you really would like to see a church where everybody is truly converted and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, when that day happens, you're going to get it. Amen? Then shall the righteous shine forth. He shall take all those that offend out of His kingdom.

Then shall the righteous shine forth. I realize this morning that, and I've shared this in the past, that there's no doubt the enemy is sowing tares here or desires to sow tares. Would you agree with me on that? Amen? We can say amen here.

I know the mass may get hard too. He has a desire to sow tares amongst the wheat. Anytime God raises up His wheat, the enemy comes at night to try to sow tares that look just like wheat amongst the wheat.

I just want to encourage you through the preaching of the Word of God to examine your own heart first of all and just see, am I real? Brother David mentioned this morning, he feels like he's truly washed in the blood of Jesus. Is your Christianity real? Are you in a relationship with God in a very real way? Or did you just come to church? Do you have a walk with God? Do you have a relationship with God? Are you being deceived? Now there are some who would believe that this parable is just teaching that the Lord is sowing His seed in the world and the devil is sowing his seed in the world and someday there's going to be a division and that's all the parable teaches. If you want a parable that teaches that, look down here at the end of Matthew 13 and here's the parable that teaches that very principle.

Verse 47, Again the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. That's the final judgment. Which when it was full, they drew it to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels but cast the bad away.

So shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is your general separation of the wheat and the tares.

But you see in the parable of the wheat and tares that we talked about today, the devil is coming to sow his children among the wheat secretly and privately for a purpose. To try to disrupt the church. And yes I agree with you that I would love to be a part of the perfect church.

But you know what? I'm not seeking the perfect church. I've come to the realization that reality is we're going to have struggles. But those struggles, like Judas, those struggles have purpose.

I told someone recently this week, how do you learn to be long-suffering and patient with people when none of the people in your church ever push you to be long-suffering and patient? How do you learn to love and to suffer long with your brother and sister when your brother and sister is so spiritually mature that you never have to suffer long with them? And so God has made the church a beautiful thing that we have to endure. We have to go through things. We have to struggle.

We have to have our faults. And there must be heresies among you. And many scriptures that teach we're going to have issues.

But I just want to caution anybody who wants to go around and try to cast out the tares that you be very careful. God is more concerned about his wheat that they not be uprooted than the tares. So let's close.

And then we'll open it up for anyone who'd like to share. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word again. And Lord, I pray that we could understand your heart.

I could understand your heart and understand what the truth is. And as we labor together here in the gospel as a church, that we could better understand how you want us to deal with one another and to love one another and to help one another in these times, even as things get more difficult. Lord, that we could truly be patient and love one another.

Standing for sin, standing up for sin, against sin, Lord. Wanting, desiring to live above it, but dealing with sin and the struggles in our midst. Lord, bless the teaching of your word to each one of our hearts.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.