Transcript

Different Plants, Different Destinations

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pastor Randy Smith

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Ultimate questions - the ones that really matter! If you haven't had these particular questions, there will come a time in your Christian life that you will. "How do we treat people who refuse to accept Christ?" "Where will people spend eternity when they die?" "Why is it so important that we share our faith?" "What will heaven be like?" "Is hell really that bad?" "How should we respond to unbelievers in the church?" The next parable that Jesus presents answers all of these questions.

We find ourselves immersed in the heart of Matthew chapter 13 - "the parable chapter." We have already taken an extended look at "The Parable of the Sower." This morning we will examine another well-know parable, "The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares." This parable like our former one also comes with an explanation. And this parable like our former one also uses earthly matters of farming to convey a powerful spiritual meaning. Yet this parable is unique in one sense as it is found only in the Gospel in Matthew.

I have broken my outline down into three parts. First we will look at the earthly aspects of this story. Then we will transfer that earthly meaning to a spiritual lesson. And then third, we will bring forth some rich application from this well-known story that I trust will bless all of you in your walk with Christ.

1. WHAT THE PARABLE SAYS

Let's being with the first point: "What the Parable Says." As we did with the previous parable, let's provide the earthly explanation. We may not be as well-acquainted with agriculture as was Jesus' original audience.

Verse 24, "Jesus presented another parable to them." We have looked at one; this is "another" in His rapid succession of parables. Jesus, in speaking to the crowd, starts off saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field."

Remember the sowers back then would sling a bag of seed over their shoulder and walking through their field would broadcast the seed by hand in a deliberate pattern over the soil. Verse 29 tells us that we are talking specifically about wheat seeds. In this parable all of the seed is good seed. And unlike the previous parable, the assumption is that all of the seed falls on good soil. We, like the farmer at this point, have every reason to believe that a promising crop is just over the horizon.

Unfortunately, we need to deal with verse 25. "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away."

The word "sleeping" is to be taken literally. While everybody on the farm was down for the night, an intruder creeps onto the premises. He surveys the well-manicured field with the freshly sown seeds of wheat and has a plan of his own. Using seeds that produced tares, specifically darnel wheat - a plant that produces a useless product rather than wheat, he spreads them over the top of the soil. These seeds were virtually indistinguishable from wheat seeds. At this time his presence and his seeds are impossible to detect. Then as the verse says, he leaves.

Why would somebody do this? Why would somebody overseed another man's crop? Simple answer: malice. His goal was to come in under the cover of darkness, sabotage the field of his enemy and then depart without ever being noticed.

Time goes by and soon the grain begins to mature and bear fruit. It then becomes obvious to the laborers that there are two types of plants growing in the field. The good wheat was now distinguished from the bad. Verse 26, "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also." Their concern was evident. Their conclusion was warranted.

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?'" In other words, "We were there when the seeds were sown. And up until this point the crop looked very promising. We are accustomed to a few tares among the wheat, but sir, your field is full of them! We have never seen anything like this before! What happened?"

The landowner responds in verse 28, "An enemy has done this!" So the slaves ask the logical question based on their immediate reaction: "Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?" Meaning, "Should we pull out the tares? Should we remove these garbage plants from your field?" Verse 29, "But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.'" You see all of these plants were growing very close together. Therefore pulling out the tares would subsequently cause the wheat to be removed as well because their roots would be intertwined. The harvest would be premature and result in a total loss of his crop.

His wise conclusion is stated in verse 30: "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.'"

Both plants will remain until the time of harvest. Both plants will at that decisive moment be reaped. And both plants will be assigned to a different outcome of great contrast. The wheat will go to the landowner's barn. The tares will be burned.

What is Jesus talking about? How does this apply to us spiritually? He who has ears let him hear.

2. WHAT THE PARABLE MEANS

Let's go to the second point: "What the Parable Means." Once again, a few verses later, we have Jesus revealing the explanation. And once again, it comes only to His disciples. Verse 36, "Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.'" It is interesting to note that their focus is on the tares and not the wheat.

From verses 37 to 39 the players of the parable are introduced. Please follow along. Jesus said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man." In the present time we are the slaves in Christ's field. Jesus is sowing these good seeds through us every time we share the Gospel. "And the field is the world." Although the physical world in the Bible is attributed to the domain of Satan (cf. Mt. 4:8-9; Jn. 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4), I believe we know that everything ultimately belongs to God and is completely under His sovereign control.

Coexisting within this world are only two classes of people. Jesus now makes the sharp distinction. "And as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom." Christians. "And the tares are the sons of the evil one." Unbelievers. People are either a child of God or a child of Satan (Jn. 8:44; 1 Jn. 3:10; 5:19). "And the enemy who sowed them is the devil." Satan sows his tares as close to the wheat as possible. They outnumber the wheat. They are identified as following his voice and not the Word of God. They are distinguished from God's children by the type of fruit that they bear.

Sadly some professing Christians are almost just like the world. Fortunately, it is not our job to make the ultimate distinction. "And the harvest is the end of the age." We may live as we wish for a certain time, but the harvest for all of us is just right around the corner. "And the reapers are angels." At that time ("the end of the age") God will send forth His angels (Mt. 24:31; 25:31) and the two groups will be divided no different than the wheat and the tares (or as in another parable, the sheep and the goats - Mt. 25:32-33). At that time there will be no further opportunities to trust Christ. The time of evangelism has ended. The time of eternal judgment and eternal blessing now begins.

Let's move on and ask the question, what does this eternal state look like for those with Christ and those without Christ? Well, let's see what the Scriptures teach. Jesus commits four verses to this subject so obviously it carries some weight in His economy. The interpretation is fairly straightforward.

I am beginning in verse 40. "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age." Simply put, the way the tares were treated by the landowner will be God's same response to those who reject Him and fail to produce spiritual fruit. The process directly parallels the earlier story for the earthly perspective.

Verses 41 and 42, "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Physically we learned that the landowner sent forth the reapers. Physically, we learned the tares were singled out because of their absence of fruit. Physically, we learned that they were extracted by the reapers. Physically, we learned that these tares were consumed in the fire. Spiritually, we now learn that the Lord sends out the reapers. Spiritually, we now learn that angels are those reapers. Spiritually, we now learn that those angels extract unbelievers without spiritual fruit - specifically those who "commit lawlessness," willfully disregarding the law of God. Spiritually, we now learn those without spiritual fruit are cast into the "furnace of fire."

By way of sharp contrast we now see that the outcome of the wheat or God's children is seen in verse 43. "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father.

It is interesting to note that God's children here are referred to as "the righteous." The children of Satan are the lawless ones (verse 41) and God's children are the righteous ones (verse 43). Does this then mean that we need to attain a certain level of righteousness to get to heaven? The answer is yes, but not a yes that most people think!

We must understand that there is nothing we can do to be righteous enough to be found acceptable in God's sight; the standard for righteousness is Him! All the righteous deeds in the world are not enough. Moreover there is nothing we can do to remove our sin. God's standard is perfect righteousness and both logic and the Scriptures (Ecc. 7:20; Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:22; 1 Jn. 1:8) declare that we fall short. Therefore we need a righteousness from outside of us. We need a righteousness accredited to our account. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ and that is what we receive as a free gift when we trust Christ alone by faith alone. Second Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Philippians 3:9, "And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith" (Isa. 45:24; 53:11; Jer. 33:16; Dan. 9:24; Rom. 1:17; 3:21-26; 5:18; 10:3-4; 1 Cor. 1:30). This is what grace is all about!

Yet once we come to Christ and are given this (forensic or declared) righteousness that makes us acceptable in His sight, God by the power of the Holy Spirit begins to make us grow into that holy declaration, that holy standing. As time goes on we become more righteous in a practical sense. We become more like Jesus. We begin to bear more and more fruit for God. We begin to further distinguish ourselves from the tares.

So who goes to heaven? Answer: The righteous! The people who have been declared as righteous as Christ in their position with God and the same people who are progressively being conformed to the image of Christ in their practice with God evidenced by their spiritual fruit..

As verse 43 concludes, "He who has ears, let him hear."

3. HOW THE PARABLE APPLIES

So we have explained the earthy meaning of the parable and have examined the spiritual interpretation as well. Let's conclude with five brief points of application. What can we learn from what we have studied today?

Number one - We are not called to separate the wheat from the tares

This parable makes it clear that the church is not to rid the world of unbelievers. Though it seems like today the world would like to rid itself of the church, there have been many periods throughout human history (namely the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc.) where the church sought to make the spiritual separation here and now. This parable gives no sanction for such action. Such a separation is only to be conducted by God and is to occur at the "end of the age" (verse 40). When this principle is not applied, it seems that the true church is the one who suffers the most.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to coexist in peace with unbelievers (cf. Lk. 9:54). We are to be compassionate to them and pray for their conversion and not their condemnation (Jn. 3:16f). Our job is to sow the Gospel seeds. That means "tolerance" (a big word today) means we respectfully disagree with their unbiblical concepts, but do not kill them because of their unbiblical concepts as do some religious fanatics around the world.

Number two - The tares are the unsaved in the "world," not carnal believers in the church

The biggest misunderstanding regarding this parable throughout church history has been to conclude that the field is the church, contrary to the clear teaching in verse 38 which indicates that "the field is the world." This parable is about the church in the world. It is not a parable to permit the world in the church. This false teaching has arisen because of our desire to allow unrepentant professing believers to remain unchecked in the church. We are to leave them alone in the world. We are not permitted to leave them alone in the church. If you don't believe that, you will struggle when we get to chapter 18.

But for now listen to Paul's comments to the Corinthians: "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES" (1 Cor. 5:9-13).

Number three - The church must live like wheat and not tares

If we claim to be God's children, we should live like God's children. As the wheat is different from the tares, we should be noticeably different from the children of Satan (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Holiness and repentance and submission to Christ are not optional! We are to be holy! We are to influence the world more than we allow the world to influence us!

Number four - Yes, hell is really that awful

We have already covered a lot about hell so far in our study of Matthew. We have learned about the "fiery hell" (5:22). We have learned that people are "thrown into hell" (5:29). We have learned that God "is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (10:28). And here (in 13:42) we learn that hell is called a "furnace of fire" and a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." The imagery implies torment, agony, suffering and misery. It is a real place, not where those who reject God go to party and continue to reject God. It is an eternal place of the most severe consequences. It is the ultimate destiny of unbelievers. The world denies the concept of hell, but Jesus spoke about hell more than anybody else, always referring to it as a literal place.

May such a reference warn us about the seriousness of following Jesus, and may such a reference motivate us to sow the Gospel seeds!

Number five - Remember the blessedness of heaven

We have already learned about hell throughout our study of Matthew, but this is our first full reference that speaks about heaven. The tares are cast into hell, but the wheat are gathered for the Father's barn (verse 30) to enjoy eternal blessings. These are those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. These are the children of God. These are the ones "saved" from hell.

Verse 43 says, "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father." The comparison to the sun (s-u-n) is significant. First John 1:5, "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Jesus referred to Himself as the "Light of the world" (Jn. 8:12). When Jesus transfigured before the disciples, "His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light" (Mt. 17:2).

We are called to be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1). Therefore, righteous living is often called walking in the light (Jn. 12:35; Eph. 5:8; 1 Jn. 1:7). We are to presently shine "as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15; cf. Dan 12:3). Heaven is a holy place and the only ones that will be there are those who long for holiness now (Heb. 12:14b).

Yet all of us struggle to live as effectively as we should. All of us still struggle with indwelling sin. Yet the Bible promises that a day will come for those who long for holiness. What begins now will one day be perfected. God will make us like Himself. We too will shine in dazzling light. One day we will be given in addition to our positional righteousness, the practical righteousness that we all desire. We call it the doctrine of glorification when we are finally done with sin. And it happens when we go to heaven. First John 3:2, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."

What do we extract from this parable? A definition of hell that is terrifying. A need to love others by sharing with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A passion to be holy as God is holy. A need to bear spiritual fruit. An eternal gratitude for our salvation if we are in Christ Jesus. And a confidence of a brighter future.