In John 8:31, Jesus said "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
It has been said that "If you tell a lie long enough, people will eventually believe it." There is much that can be said about that. I believe we can all agree that today, many of our political leaders continue to keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous. No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it remains a lie. Lies, regardless of how pleasing they are to the hearer, are the weapons of evil and corruption. In John 8:44, Jesus tells us Satan is "a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." In James 4, James wrote, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin." Lying is a sin, a sin that keeps people out of the kingdom of God.
Truth, which is a both a shield and a mighty sword is the greatest weapon against the enemy. Herbert Agar, American journalist, announcer and editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, Pulitzer Prize Winner for his 1933 book The People's Choice wrote; "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." The harder a person’s heart becomes, the more they will reject the truth.
According to the dictionary, truth is "conformity to fact or actuality; a statement proven to be or accepted as true." Today, some people would say that there is no absolute truth, no true reality, that truth is relative to something else, and therefore, is a matter of perception and opinion. To claim there is no absolute truth, no absolute standard of right and wrong, is not only illogical. Having a finite mind and limited knowledge, man is incapable of accurately making such a claim. It is not uncommon today for people to believe that two diametrically opposed "truths" could both be equally "true." In this world of deception and lies, everyone from our elected officials, leaders who profess Christ, living worse than those of the world, those whom we've entrusted to care for our children causing them harm, is it any wonder why people do not believe in anything or anyone?
In a world without absolute truth, no moral standards of right and wrong, people would then be free to live as they deem acceptable, doing whatever they please, whatever they perceive to be right, which is what has lead our nation to the chaos and confusion we now see. In the last year and a half, our nation has spiraled out of control, criminals are regarded as heroes, heroes criminalized, rioters and looters among those trying to help the weak and helpless. Self righteous hypocrites among the authentic followers of Christ, it's becoming harder to tell the difference. Not to mention record breaking inflation, supply chain shortages, the moral decline of our society never before seen in our lifetime. God only has one standard for His children: holiness.
Gender dysphoria and sexual orientation being taught to our children in the public school system at an inappropriate age, encouraging them to "choose" their gender is a dangerous assault on the mental and emotional stability of our children. Because sin has tainted our world, we must co-exist with all kinds of
evil. Satan has sown tares among the wheat. Sometimes we just wish we could get rid of them, and all the religious hypocrites while we are at it. In the name of tolerance and acceptance, we have allowed ungodly behavior to exist within the church. We've kept silent as government leaders continue to set aside the ordinances of God. The time has come we have to speak out against it, we can no longer afford to passively sit back and watch this occur, especially in regards to our children! We have an obligation, we have a responsibility to protect them against the clear assault taking place against them such as rejecting gender binary.
There has never been period of time in the history of mankind, when the kingdom of God has not in effect. Today, we affirm that when heaven and earth are merged with the eternal kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will rule as the King, the Lord of lords, and the Ruler of this earth. But until His return, we the people of God, must mediate His rule over the earth.
Let us pray
Heaven Father,
Today's Message: Tares among the Wheat
When I was a kid, weeding was one of my least favorite activities. Because I did not enjoy it, I probably didn't pay as close attention as I should have. It was often hot, my back hurt from bending over, I just wanted to be done with it. It always felt like some kind of punishment, I find the same to be true for my own sons today.
Since everyone of us has sinned, we all deserve to be uprooted and thrown into the fire, that puts a whole new slant on our perspective doesn't it? But in God's grace He allows us to live, growing together until the harvest, allowing plenty of time before He judges the world. At which time, those who don't know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior will be uprooted, judged, condemned and punished. You need to understand, that God is being patient for your sake, because He does not want anyone to be destroyed, He wants them to repent.
John 3:16 tells us that "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
In our text, Jesus tells us what it will be like using an earthly story to explain the period of time known as the mystery form of the kingdom, when God is mediating His rule through the church, believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit. A period the prophets prophesied about and fully anticipated. The disciples were concerned about, understandably so, after all, that's all He really talked about. I imagine this was very hard for the disciples understand, they didn't see. Today, we're living in that time, which hasn't ended yet, while we still await His glorious return.
Open your Bibles with me to the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 13:24-30. I invite you to follow along with me as I read verses 24 through 30. Let us open our hearts for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us.
"Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."
Jesus' story describes the period of time when not everybody in the kingdom believes, not everybody’s genuine, and not everybody is bearing the fruit of righteousness. The disciples saw a kingdom of righteousness being brought to existence, where unbelievers, the enemies of God would be judged and destroyed. Previously, He told them there were four kinds of soils; the hardened soil which the seed was never able penetrate. The rocky soil where the seed began to grow but quickly died because there was no depth to the soil. The thorny soil where the seed began to grow, but was choked by the thorns. And the good soil where the seed grew and produced a fruitful crop. We can imagine they wouldn't have understood a kingdom where both good and bad would be tolerated.
They saw the kingdom which Isaiah describes in chapter 2, "Now it will come about that in the last days
the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths."
In Jeremiah 31, he effectively says the same thing, "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
For many of us, even on this side of the cross, having the New Testament teachings, I believe it's still difficult to understand why God allows such heinous evil to exist. Like me, I'm sure you find yourself asking, "How much longer Lord can this go on?"
Let's look at verses 24 through 26, where Jesus begins His parable to help them understand this period in which we find ourselves, where good and evil are so inextricably intermingled. "Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also."
The parable is synonymous with the kingdom ruled by God from heaven. Like sower who sows good seed in his field, as Christ's followers, we have the responsibility to proclaim the Good News, the message of the kingdom, the Gospel, to the world. The phrase "But while his men were sleeping," indicates that he had workers to help him with the sowing. We, who are the church, the believers who remain on the earth are then, the workers helping to sow the good seed. So at night while they sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares, or "zizania," a worthless plant that grows in Palestine which closely resembles wheat, which represents the fruitless false Christian, among the true believers. "His enemy came," represents Satan enmity against God, "and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away." The way to ruin a man’s crop is to sow his field full of weeds, right?
The same is true of the church, good and bad are mingled together, however, no human skill can make an exact separation. Because Satan sown false Christians all throughout the church among the authentic followers of Christ, it's often hard to tell them apart. They attend the same worship services at the same church, they sing the same hymns, attend the same Bible study groups, volunteer for the same church programs, join in the same fellowship. He's sown false teachers in the pulpits, quoting a Bible verse, naming the name of Christ, then proceed to teach a message that is contradictory to God's Word, affirming sin, false religions, thanking Him for the acceptance of God's Word calls an abomination.
It's the same thing in the world, evil, wicked people among the king, compassionate and caring. White supremacists, mass shooters and terrorists hidden among the crowds of unsuspecting people. They just seem to fit right in, that is until something tragic happens. Then it becomes obvious.
The word "among" or "ἀνά μέσον" is in a very strong Greek expression, meaning he sowed them throughout. The problem until the head fully matures it looks exactly the same, so you can’t tell it's not wheat.
Verse 27, "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’" Obviously the workers were shocked. Where then did the tares come from? Because they were common to the area and grows wherever it wants it wouldn't have likely have been as shocking if it were just a few but the whole field was full of them. In verse 28, "And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’" The landowner knew exactly how such a thing could happen, an enemy did it! Who else would take taken the time necessary to destroy his crop? Obviously it was an enemy! Then, the workers asked him "Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’" By this time, the heads had matured, they could easily tell them apart. They wanted to defend the crop, their own livelihood and their master. They were ready to go through the fields and uproot the tares! It reminds me of James and John, the Sons of Thunder and their reaction to the people of Samaria when they said "We'll call down fire from heaven and just burn ‘em up. If we're being honest with ourselves, I'm sure we've probably all felt that way about those who are committing heinous acts, pedophilia, crimes against the elderly, murderers, rapists, human traffickers, "Just wipe ‘em out Lord. Get rid of 'em!"
In verse 29, the landowner answers them; "But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them." Though they were now easy to tell apart, they had grown too closely together, in tearing out the darnel, they may have also uprooted the wheat. So don’t do anything, just leave them alone for now. In verse 30, he explains further, "Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn." Now, all this would have been easy for the disciples to understand, having lived in the area and were familiar with the agriculture. It was fairly common for an enemy of the landowner to attempt to his crop. In fact, common enough the Roman government had a law against it. But what exactly does it mean?
Most people figure out pretty quickly that Christ is the Sower, He’s the One sowing the seed. And that Satan is the enemy, the one who sowed the tares. That's pretty easy to figure out. However, most people want to interpret the field to mean the church, and while that's certainly true, that Christ sows the good seed in the church where the wheat and the tares grow together. That’s been the common interpretation. But if you make it the church, you going to run into trouble trying to interpret the parable. Because when He says not to uproot the tares, we have no right to expose a false teacher, we have no right to confront sin or to enact church discipline.
Later in Matthew 18, Jesus tell us "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed."
And, in Romans 16, Paul tells us "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting."
What is it then that He means here? God sows His children of His kingdom throughout the whole world, not just in the church but the church in the world. The Lord wants us in the world, He plants us where He wants us. We’re called to be separate in our ways but we're not called to isolate ourselves. As Jesus says in Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
1 Peter 5 says "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."
So the trouble that the world gives us helps to confirm, strengthen and establish us so we can grow, develop and mature to have an influence on the world of unmitigated darkness for good. If you're not functioning under the control of the Lordship of Christ then you're functioning under the control of Satan. Those are the only two kind of people in the world. The field is the world, the wheat is the sons of the kingdom, the tares are the sons of the evil one, Satan who over-sows in the good field. While some are worse than others, under the influence of Satan, they're all bad. God, not wanting anyone to be destroyed, allows plenty of time. We are called to have an influence on unbelievers, that's why we're mingled together in the world because Satan has his people everywhere. It's important to understand, that he sows them as closely to the wheat as he can, that's why they're in the church.
While in the world, we breathe the same air, live in the same neighborhoods, attend the same schools, work at the same businesses. Matthew 5:45 says "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Yet, there are some professing Christ, living as the world. That's why He says "Allow both to grow together until the harvest," if you’re going around trying to judge everyone, trying to clean out all the ungodly without divine insight, you're going to wind up condemning the Christians. Keep in mind Satan loves imitation, so it’s not for us to go ripping the tares out. This is not the age of judgement, this is the age of grace.
That's brings us the last part of verse 30, "and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn." Only God knows who needs time to become wheat, He knows those who belong in His kingdom, our job is to pray for the lost asking Him to redeem them, asking Him to grant us greater grace toward them. Jesus, knowing Judas would betray Him, continued to be patient until His time has come. If we are to follow Christ, we must be loving patient, graciously tolerant, just as our Lord was. We are to deal with them by demonstrating godly behavior, to influence the world for good, not to be influenced by it. Calling them to Christ, so their sinful nature can be changed. Just as He has called us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Light. Eventually, the righteous and the wicked will be separated.
The inevitable day of judgement is coming, when Christ returns taking vengeance on the unbelievers, those who have rejected Him, those who name the name of Christ yet did not obey His commands, those who work iniquity and lawlessness, at which time He will gather them together and cast them into the lake of fire for everlasting punishment. It will be the most horrible death that man has ever experienced.
Matthew 7 tells us "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
In Closing..
The issue then is not whether or not you know Christ, but whether He knows you. Over the years, I have spoken with many people who think going to Hell is going to be just fine, it'll be one big party with all their friends. That's not the imagery of the Bible, it will be unimaginable, inescapable torment forever.
Mark 9:48 says "Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." This is when Jesus will apply this to the everlasting misery and torment of impenitent sinners. Gehenna was originally a place used for child sacrifices. A practice which Josiah stopped by defiling it with refuse. At which time it became a place for the sewage and refuse of the city. The fires burned continuously in order to destroy the garbage and impurities. Throughout Scripture, Jesus often used the symbolism of Gehenna to describe the place of everlasting punishment, the final place of judgment for the wicked.
In Matthew 23, Jesus condemned the Pharisees saying "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." Some believe the body and the soul will be destroyed in Hell which would eliminate eternal punishment. However, to be clear, Gehenna is not Hades. Many translations foster confusion by translating both terms as "Hell." This is not the case. Hades is a temporary place of the dead where only their souls exist. In Gehenna, Satan and the wicked dead, those who oppose God exist in both body and soul. The suffering in Gehenna or Hell is eternal, while the suffering of Hades is not.
If you don't know Jesus Christ, if you've not received Him as your personal Lord and Savior, you're inevitability moving into deeper darkness, and ultimately closer to the final judgment of God as described in this message. Today, His invitation is still open to anyone who will call upon Him. Rest assured, He is the only hope to escape the eternal torment of Hell.
If you claim Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to look at your own life, ask yourself if you are totally submitting your life to His Lordship? Are you by the example of your life, influencing the world for good or are you being influenced by the world? Is your attitude toward the lost one of love rather than condemnation? Are you being used by God to reach to reach the lost, to influence them in the ways of God. If not, He can help you make that transformation. And He will, if you willingly submit to His Lordship.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen