Parabolic Preaching — Part 2 — The Wheat & The Tares

Introduction

Have any of you ever experienced a time in your life where you found yourself wondering, as Elijah wondered, that you were the only one who was trying to do right?

Or maybe you found yourself in a situation and you said, “Lord where are you? How long are you going to allow this wickedness continue?”

It’s very easy to look out amongst the world and often wonder, “why God why, isn’t it?

Why God do you allow this evil to continue?”

“How long O God will you stand by while babies are being slaughtered, while homosexuality rages, while evil abounds and spiritual wickedness in high places seems to exalt itself?”

“How long will you stand by while the innocent are beaten and murdered, while families are torn apart, while wars rage and famine flourishes? How long O God until your righteousness reigns supreme and you take back full control of this evil world?”

It’s easy to sit at home and watch the evening news and ask yourself these questions.

Well today, I want to take just a few minutes and cover the next parable we come to here in Matthew’s gospel where we might find the answer to a few of these questions.

The parable before us today is often referred to as the wheat and the tares. And as I began to read through these parables this last week, I couldn’t help but to feel like each one kind of builds in some way on the one before it.

A couple weeks ago, we talked about the sower, the seed, and the soil but the parable itself was more about the soil than anything.

In this parable, Jesus focuses more on the sower and the seed.

And then next week, as we continue on, we’re going to see a deeper focus on just the seed.

A couple weeks ago, we discussed the importance of making sure the soil of our heart is fertile, desiring and ready for the seed of the word of God.

This week, we’re going to see how the devil will infiltrate the fields we may be sowing in and will place people there who’s intentions are no good.

A very simple parable meant to reveal a very devious plan enacted by Satan to keep as many people out of heaven as he can and to also reveal the eternal consequences, those who are pawns in his diabolic plan, shall face!

So, if you have your Bibles turned to Matthew 13:24 would you say, Amen.

The Parsing of the Parable

I want to begin by sharing John G Butler’s breakdown of the parable and it’s similarities to the parable we studied a couple weeks ago.

John G Butler — Like the parable about the soils, this parable is also reported in two parts with other parables and statements between the parts.

The first part of the parable (Matthew 13:24–30) was given in public; the second part of the parable (Matthew 13:36–43) was given privately in a house to Christ’s disciples.

The first part gives the facts, the second part the interpretation. The first part gives the story, the second part the application. The first part is informational, the second part instructional.

The first part was given to a multitude; the second part was given to the few chosen disciples of Christ. Considering the particulars of the parts as noted above, it is typical that only a few ever gain insight into the teaching of the Word of God. Only those who are devoted to Christ and walk close to Him will learn much of the Word.

It was the inquiry of the disciples which prompted the second part of the parable account. It certainly was commendable of the disciples to ask Christ for an explanation of His teaching.

Would that more people were desirous of understanding the Word of God better and would seek the Lord for help for a better understanding of the Word.

Now that we have a little bit better understanding of the parable itself, let’s get into the particulars of the parable.

The Particulars of the Parable

The Sower — The Son of Man — Jesus — (Vs. 24,37)

The Sphere — The field that He sows in is the world — (Vs. 24,38)

The Seed — The good seed are the children of the kingdom, Jesus says, while the tares are the children of the wicked one! — (Vs. 24, 38)

The good seed are the Saints, the born again children of God.

I love John Phillips description of the good seed.

John Phillips — The good seed and the “wheat” (13:25) symbolize the same thing in the parable of the tares. Wheat seems to have been designed by the Creator to illustrate the people of God in the world in this age. Israel’s symbol is a tree—a fig tree for instance or an olive tree or a vine. Since a tree strikes its roots deep into the earth, it is a fitting symbol for God’s earthly people Israel. Israel’s promises and hopes are often earthly.

By deliberate contrast, the church’s symbol is wheat. Wheat is a hardy annual with shallow roots that do not go deeply into the soil. Wheat is not deeply anchored to this world. Its destiny is to pass rapidly from this scene in successive harvests.

Wheat dies downward as it ripens upward; the stalk and root are dead when the grain is ripe. Just so, the Christian believer is to die to this world as he ripens for Heaven. There are other similarities: A ripened field of wheat is a field of bowed heads. The grain ripens into sweetness as the sun shines down day after day, and by some mysterious process the wheat absorbs the light.

God has His wheat in the world today. Ever since Pentecost the Lord has been sowing generation after generation of His saints into the world. They are scattered everywhere. They take root, flourish, and bear golden witness to the fact that God is at work. They ripen and are garnered home to glory. God buries His workers and carries on with His work.

Even when the kingdom’s prospects seem unpromising, even when days are dark and storm clouds gather, even when the atmosphere of the world is polluted by sin, God sees to it that His work goes on.

And then, he goes on to give an example here of how God’s work goes on and on and will continue to go on and on until the time of harvest!

Here is how God’s work goes on: Martin Luther for example read the Epistle to the Romans and his life was changed. John Wesley read the preface Luther wrote to his commentary on Romans, and Wesley’s life was changed. C. H. Spurgeon attended a chapel of the Primitive Methodists, a group founded by Wesley, and Spurgeon was converted. Spurgeon in turn touched the life of a young man named Henry Morehouse. Morehouse came to America and transformed the preaching of D. L. Moody. C. T. Studd attended one of Moody’s meetings in Britain and was transformed. Studd in turn made an impact on a group of college men known as “the Cambridge seven” and their influence on college campuses in Britain and on the missionfield can never be measured. And so it goes on. The good seed is sown as the Lord scatters His people to all parts of the world where they live for Him, reproduce, and touch other lives.

Isn’t it just amazing when you can see the plan of God unfold?

And listen, you may think this morning that you are insignificant in God’s plan of furthering His kingdom but dear friend know this…God has placed you right where you are, at this very point in eternity, for His purpose, for His honor, and for His glory!

Explain

Now that we’ve talked about the good seed for a few minutes, let’s take a minute to talk about the bad seed.

Don’t get the idea that the tares are simply those who aren’t saved. No, these are pawns who help enact Satan’s evil plan.

Do you see any tares here becoming wheat? No! Listen, the seeds do not change from bad to good. No, these seeds, the tares, they have always been and will always be of their Father the devil!

In John Chapter 8, Jesus disputed with a group of Pharisees and listen to what He said to them.

John 8:44–47 KJV 1900

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

In Acts 13, there was a man by the name of Bar-Jesus, who was what the Bible called a false prophet and a sorcerer. And the Bible tells us that when Paul and Barnabas went to speak with the deputy of a certain city this false prophet tried to keep them from doing so and listen to what Paul called him.

Acts 13:8–11 KJV 1900

8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

God had sowed His seed…Paul and Barnabas…and Satan had sowed his…Bar-Jesus!

Those of us who are born again are the good seed and we each have been planted in different areas, with different crowds, but for the same purpose!

To bring honor and glory to God!

But don’t be surprised when, as you’re bearing fruit, as your sowing the seeds of the gospel, you run into a tare who is trying to tear down the witness you are trying to build up!

That’s what they’re there for!

To infiltrate, to contaminate, and to destroy the work that God is doing through you!

What does the Bible say of the devil?

He came to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus came to give life and to give it more abundantly!

When you are out there sowing the seeds of the gospel, when you are sharing the light and life of the gospel, don’t be surprised if Satan comes in right behind you, sowing tares, trying to tear that witness down!

Have you got a friend or a family member or a co-worker you’ve been trying to witness to?

And one minute, it seems as if they’re believing the gospel news you’re sharing but then you see or hear of them back hanging out with that wrong crowd or doing that same old thing you’ve been trying to draw them away from?

Guess what, that thing or that person that’s drawing them away is a tare, sown by the evil one to keep them from accepting the light and life of the gospel!

That’s how Satan works!

So, what do you do?

Don’t give up! Keep nurturing, keep tending to that seed, give it all you got to ensure that it doesn’t get choked out by the tare and know deep down inside that God will take care of the tares in the end!

We’ve seen the Sower, the Sphere, & the seed. Next, we see the Saboteur.

The Saboteur — The Enemy — The Devil — (Vs. 25,39)

Warren Wiersbe said — Satan cannot uproot the plants (true Christians), so he plants counterfeit Christians in their midst.

Aren’t you glad friends when you commit yourself unto the Lord that you can rest in His saving power this morning?

You ain’t got to worry about the devil being able to steal your salvation and as we talked a couple weeks ago, you aint got to worry about losing it!

No, dear friend, when you get it, you got it for all eternity!

The key is to simply make sure you got it, amen!

Jesus said in...

John 10:29 KJV 1900

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

In the Book of Hebrews, the Bible says...

Hebrews 7:25 KJV 1900

25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Jude said in Verse 24...

Jude 24 KJV 1900

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

And then, Paul told Timothy in...

2 Timothy 1:12 KJV 1900

12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Our enemy is not an unfamiliar foe, rather he is well known. He’s been at these same schemes for thousands of years. We know his tricks, his plan of action, how he works, who he uses, his ultimate goal and therefore we must be on guard at all times for an act of sabotage from the evil one!

The next thing I want you to see is...

The Similarities and Spotting of the Seeds — (Vs. 26)

Before moving on, I want to share just a few very interesting facts real quickly about the similarities of the Seeds.

Notice that the tares were not found out immediately.

It wasn’t until they began to bear fruit that the difference was noticed.

Look at Verse 26.

They looked the same in the ground. They looked the same as they grew and matured. They even resembled as they were full grown. But there did come a time that you could tell the difference and it was when the fruit was bore.

(John L. Leedy, “Plants,” in New International Dictionary of the Bible, 805) — One author describes the tare as a plant called the “bearded darnel” and notes, “It is difficult to distinguish domesticated grains from the wild darnel until their heads mature. At harvesttime the grain is fanned and put through a sieve. The smaller darnel seeds left after fanning pass through the sieve, leaving behind the desired fruit.” — Swindoll Commentary

William Barclay writes — In their early stages, the tares so closely resembled the wheat that it was impossible to distinguish the one from the other. When both had produced seed heads it was easy to distinguish them; but by that time their roots were so intertwined that the tares could not be weeded out without tearing the wheat out with them.

(France, Matthew, 225) — “The greatest problem with the tares mixing with the wheat isn’t the extra work it takes to separate them at harvesttime. The problem is that the bearded darnel hosts a kind of fungus—poisonous to humans—that could contaminate the good wheat and utterly ruin a farmer’s crop. This is why “to sow darnel among wheat as an act of revenge was punishable in Roman law.” — Swindoll Commentary

Although it can be very difficult to tell a tare from the actual wheat, one defining attribute is the fruit it bears.

Listen, someone can look the part, they can play the part but if the fruit they’re bearing isn’t indicative of the testimony they’re declaring, then dear friend they need to be saved!

Jesus said, “by their fruits you shall know them,” and that’s how you can tell the difference between the wheat and the tares!

The Solution & Separating — (Vs. 27-30, 39b-43)

Seeing as the tares are so entwined with the wheat and the chance of hurting the wheat is higher if you were to try and remove it than to simply leave it, Jesus says to leave it and in the end a divine separation would take place.

This is what Jesus refers to here as the harvest.

He says that the angels will be sent forth to reap and remove anything that offends and it shall be cast into the fire!

All those evil tares, those children of Satan, even Satan himself will be rounded up on that divine judgment day and be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone!

This is what the Bible speaks of as the second death.

We all will taste of the first death unless we’re fortunate enough to be here when the rapture happens but only those who have not trusted in Jesus, along with Satan and his hellish host will taste of the second death.

And when this great separation takes place, look at what Jesus says about those who will be left in verse 43.

Matthew 13:43 KJV 1900

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

John G Butler — This last verse of the parable goes from grief to glory, from pain to pleasure, from hell to heaven.

And then, Jesus finishes it up with another challenge for those with ears to hear, to hear!

I feel like this is almost a call to salvation. “If you want to be saved, listen to the words that I speak. They are truth and they are life!”

“Listen to the call of the Spirit upon your heart!”

“Heed the call today to come! Come and be ye saved!”

Isaiah 45:22 KJV 1900

22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.

He that hath and ear to hear let him hear!

The Practicality of the Parable

As we come to a close, I want to leave you with three principles of application that we can take from this parable and we’re going to enlist the help of Pastor Chuck Swindoll as we look at each of these.

In his commentary on the book of Matthew, Swindoll writes...

Chuck Swindoll — First, it’s hard to distinguish the good from the bad — the wheat from the weeds. False teaching isn’t just something we might encounter “out there” beyond the walls of the church or the barriers of our Christian safe zone. It sometimes arises in our midst, within the church itself.

The apostle Paul warned the elders of the church in Ephesus,

Acts 20:29 KJV 1900

29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

And then in....

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 KJV 1900

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

This is what happened to the Galatians we studied about not too long ago on Wednesday nights. Paul said to them in...

Galatians 1:6–9 KJV 1900

6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

We must keep our eyes peeled, our ears open, and our minds stayed on the word of God so that when these false prophets, these counterfeit Christians do arise, we will know them for what they are and will be able to distinguish that what they are teaching is not of God but of Satan and will also understand that it’s goal is not to edify the saints and exalt the Father but to destroy the fellowship of the true believers and drive a wedge between the gospel saving seed and the yearning hearts of those in need of it’s saving grace!

Think back to the message a couple weeks ago, to those seeds that fell by the wayside. Who was it that devoured them up?

Satan right?

Satan will use anything and everything at his disposal to keep the gospel seed of the word from impregnating the hardened heart so that it might be saved!

Every time a lost soul comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving grace, Satan knows it’s one soul closer to the end of his reign!

So, his main goal to keep those that are lost, lost and to cause those who are saved to stumble in such a way that it also keeps the lost, lost.

Warren Wiersbe had a very sobering thought I wanted to share with you...

Warren Wiersbe — It is when God’s people go to sleep that Satan works.

Listen Church, the Bible tells us in...

Romans 13:11–14 KJV 1900

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

1 Peter 5:8 KJV 1900

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1 John 4:1–6 KJV 1900

1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

We must be on guard for the foes of Satan at all times…in every place, and in every situation for you never know when it could be a tare sent to trip you up in your walk with God or your work for God.

Chuck Swindoll — Second, Chuck writes, our tendency will be to rush to extremes when dealing with wrong. In Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the farmer restrains his workers from rushing to judgment and pulling up weeds too hastily.

We need patience and perseverance to live in this evil, mixed-up world. At times, direct confrontation is needed, but we have to make sure we don’t jump to wrong conclusions based on limited or false information.

Such hasty action will bring worse problems than it solves. When we think we see the attitudes and actions of weeds among the wheat, we must proceed carefully and tread lightly.

If the case is clear and unquestionable, that’s one thing. But in my experience of ministry, those instances are few and far between. Most of the time we are dealing with issues for which great wisdom is needed to determine when to act and how to respond.

How do we get wisdom?

James 1:5 KJV 1900

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Chuck Swindoll — Then third, God is just. He knows that evil is on the rise, that charlatans are working behind the scenes to damage our churches, and that Satan has his minions making their debilitating marks on the body of Christ.

Evil workers tend to gain a following, and the number of weeds thus multiplies. This is inevitable during the present evil age. However, this age isn’t the last.

The King is coming, and with Him the judgment. He will sort out the wheat from the weeds—perfectly, precisely, and swiftly. We need to trust Him to provide for and protect His people until the day of Christ’s appearing.