Matthew: The Church and Satan's Work

I Just Want to Be Where You Are, Don Moen

Psalm 97 NIV

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory. 7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods! 8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, Lord. 9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

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Isaiah 6:8–10 NIV

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

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2 Corinthians 11:1–6 NIV

1 I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

2 Corinthians 11:12–15 NIV

12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

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The Church and Satan’s Work

The Tortoise and The Hare

There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."

Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.

Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.

After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!"

We all like a story. They are easy to listen to and they keep our attention. For this reason, they have been used from the beginning of time to entertain and to teach. Even among Jewish Rabbis, parables were a common teaching tool. Many of the parables Jesus used were taken from older Jewish parables, but Jesus would use them differently or change something significant that held their attention.

Stories such as the Tortoise and the Hare, have meanings that are easy to understand. Sometimes stories with more allegorical symbolism are not so easy and take thought to produce understanding.

Many years ago, I read the book Hinds’ Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It was an allegorical dramatizing of the journey of adventure in following Christ. I read it after I had sold my home and headed to Colorado Springs with no home or job ahead of me to attend the Nazarene Bible College. I loved the book and related to the story even though it was written in allegorical symbolism. It felt like the story of my life.

A Christian friend read it and didn’t like. She said she couldn’t understand it. It made no sense to her. The difference was that she had never had an adventure like mine that was a total step out on faith. Where I related and was able to understand it, it was like reading Greek for her.

In such times, even she could have taken time to investigate it further to try to understand but she did not have the desire to do so. It was working for something she viewed as unimportant compared with other things in her life. She was probably right. It was not for her, at least, not at that time in her life and it was not scripture. There was nothing saying she had to understand it.

Jesus spoke mostly in parables fulling the scriptures found in Isaiah 6 (read earlier) and Psalm 78:2. For those who were determined not to accept his story, these were non-sense and they did not take time to try to understand. For those who were just there for the sensational miracles, they also did not take time to understand them. They just felt perplexed and walked away. However, those with a hunger and thirst for God, listened and sought to understand them. They were willing to take time to investigate these stories further because they had a desire to know God and they really hoped Jesus was the Messiah.

Today, we are going to look at a few of these parables found in Matthew 13. Some of these I believe are often misinterpreted as they are not interpreted within the context that they are written. If you are at all familiar with them, you will probably quickly notice the difference. I would challenge you to not just brush off the interpretation that is new to you but to take a look at these this week in the context that they are written as well as looking around at what we see in the church today before you make a final conclusion of what you believe Jesus is saying.

With this said, let us look at Matthew 13:24-43.

Matthew 13:24–43 NIV

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ” 31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” 34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

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I. The Church and Satan’s Work, Matthew 13:24-43

In chapters 8-12, there are various miracles taking place and Jesus sends out His disciples to preach. We find that there are people that eagerly accept what Jesus says, while others are not sure as it is different from what they had expected. Even John the Baptist has a moment of doubt and asks if Jesus is the one that is to come. And all the while, the religious establishment is not accepting Jesus and they are quickly found plotting to kill Him. Not only is He not what they expected, but they have no desire to accept Him even if He is the one. They only want their way.

When we come to chapter 13, Jesus is with a large crowd. He shares the parable of the sower, which is probably one of his better known parables. I have preached on it before but today will just touch lightly on it as it is the following parables, not as well known, that I wish to address today.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus likens Himself to a sower casting seed, the seed being the Word of God. The seed falls on various grounds. The hard ground where birds snatch up the seed represents the Pharisees and others who really have no interest in hearing. The rocky ground represents those who hear and quickly believe, but when things get tough, they abandon the way. They have no real spiritual root to hold them in the storms of life. The thorny ground represents those who are too focused on the things of this world to really give time to think on the things that come after. And the good soil represents those who believe and submit themselves to God. In such cases, they produce a crop yield of 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown. In that culture, 10% was felt to be good so a yield of 100, 60, or 30 is really outstanding.

Then Jesus seems to zero in on this good seed and tells another revealing parable of what they will contend with. This brings us to today’s subject.

A. Satan’s Work Against the Church Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:24–25 NIV

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

In this parable, Jesus is using a local problem to grab their attention and to make His point There was a issue with people creating problems by casting darnel (or tares is another name), among a farmers wheat. Darnel was a type of weed that looked like wheat in the early stages of growth. By the time it was apparent it was not wheat, the roots were entangled with the true wheat so it was impossible to pull up without pulling up the wheat. It is hard to believe someone would do this but in their culture it happened at times. Sometimes it was a competitor farmer or sometimes someone would do it as pay back for something they blamed on the farmer. It was a very wicked thing to do to a farmer.

The Darnel was not only a problem for the wheat, but it was even a problem if eaten. It was a noxious narcotic that was bitter to the taste and caused people to feel sick and dizzy.

Once it bore fruit, it would become evident that it was not wheat as it would have a slate grey color instead of the yellow/gold color of wheat. The farmers would usually harvest their crop and thresh, then the women had the difficult job of picking out the Darnel from the crop.

In this parable, Jesus is describing the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Keep in mind, that the Jews thought that when the Messiah came to bring the kingdom of heaven, they expected a throne on earth where all would obey and be governed by the Messiah and the Jews. In this parable, Jesus is showing that this kingdom of heaven at this time will be a kingdom of struggles.

Jesus as the sower will have a produce of good crop (which in time will become the Church, big C not little c). His enemy (i.e. Satan), will show a bad crop among the good crop. In other words, false Christians and teachers. This bad crop will not always be easily recognizable and will not be completely cleared until after the Millennial reign when the final judgment will separate them out. (The rapture will separate the first crop but there will be a later crop of each).

So, as Jesus is growing His church, there will be a crop sown among them that comes from the enemy. Now, do not put on your binoculars and start looking around you to determine who the bad seeds are. They typically become obvious at times as they are the ones that cause division and dissension in the church. There are times when we need to address them and we talked about that some last week. They sometimes give us a black eye when they are seen as one of us but then go out and are living a sinful life. For this reason, Jesus gives us guidelines for addressing such situations, but we must be very careful when we do so and we see why in this parable.

Matthew 13:28–29 NIV

28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

There are often tender seeds among us. They do not always have the maturity to see what we see. If we are not careful, we cause them harm by not acting wisely.

Let me give you an example. I knew of a pastor who was an awesome orator. People loved his sermons and felt they were growing through his teaching. I am sure they were. Remember the scripture in Isaiah 55:11.

Isaiah 55:11 NIV

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God can use evil men to accomplish his work. In this case, this pastor had an issue in his marriage and a power control issue that was causing many issues with the staff. There were staff members and board members aware of the problem but there were many in the pews who were completely unaware and thought he was wonderful. In such cases, if you push the man out in an improper way, you can cause a church division and harm young believers. Sometimes it is better to let things carry on until God opens the door for them to leave.

There is a great book on this by Gene Edwards who uses the case of King David and King Saul. David had been anointed king by God, but David never removed Saul from office. He waited on God to do so.

In the church, we sometimes need to keep our mouth shut and allow God to work in order to not harm those with weaker faith.

Now, here is where I believe we often misinterpret parables. Keep in mind that Jesus is talking about the work of Satan in the church and then Jesus continues with two more parables.

B. The Work of Sin in the Church Matthew 13:31-33

Now these parables are where we see scholars divided. We most often hear of these parables as examples of the expansion of the church, but others say they are a continuation of this idea of Satan’s work within the church and I believe there is a valid point to be made with this argument. So, let us look at these separately. I will explain both views but it is for you to take time to pray, read, meditate and seek your own understanding.

1. Parable of the Mustard Seed Matthew 13:31-32

Matthew 13:31–32 NIV

31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

One of the things one must determine when interpreting a parable, is whether or not the symbolism has been used before and if it still stands for the same thing. In this case, I am addressing the mustard seed. In another place, the mustard seed is equated with faith. Is that what it represents here? Sometimes in parables, Jesus uses some same items in different context. Some symbols are always used with the same understanding. It is difficult for us to know which is which since we do not understand the culture for which Jesus was speaking into, that being the Jewish context of A.D. 30ish.

Just prior to this, Jesus is talking about His good seed in His field. I believe He is addressing the same here. Now, if you have ever seen a mustard plant, it is a shrub not a tree, though even as a shrub, it is strong enough for birds to set in it.

However, even though this mustard shrub is referred to as a tree, it is not a very mighty tree. If Jesus intended to give the idea of a mighty tree, He would have used a mighty cedar or some other such tree. Instead, He is comparing His field, (His followers of that day and today’s church if you will), to something bigger than normal but not awe inspiring like a mighty cedar.

Think of it in this context. The church has grown and spread across this earth. However, it is not all dominating. It is out numbered by non-believers by a large spread. The Christian faith has held fast, but it is not a mighty conqueror across our lands.

Now, think of the birds in this parable. In the first parable in this chapter, that of the sower, the birds are Satan’s crew eating up the Word as fast as they can before it can sprout.

So, is this parable talking about the growth of the church as some declare, or is it showing us that the church as had strength enough to stand but it has never gotten as large as other kingdoms of man after all these years and it is still contending with Satan’s influence within it?

What is the kingdom of heaven here on earth that we see now? Which of these interpretations best fit our understanding of things today?

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2. The Parable of the Yeast Matthew 13:33

Matthew 13:33 NIV

33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Once again we need to look for familiar symbolism and we spot it in the word “yeast.” Yeast very nearly always stands for sin in the Jewish culture then and today. To my knowledge, Jesus always used it in this context. It would be strange for Him to change it suddenly here.

If yeast is a symbolism for sin, this implies that as the church grows so will the work of Satan within it.

Now, there are many people and many churches doing wonderful things that I believe are of God. I do not want to take us away from that. But at the same time, think back over the many tele-evangelists that have been proven to be fakes. They have tarnished the name of the church. I have shared before of the Christian conference that I went to in Georgia and as I was leaving I had taxi drivers confessing to me that they liked me but that the other people from the conference were very rude and unfriendly. This report broke my heart. Not to mention how disappointed I was in the emphasis of that curriculum which was on good virtues but was weak on the subject of God, Jesus, and the use of scripture. I was also disappointed to find that they would not allow other vendors to sell their resources, it was only what they produced they promoted.

When we look at the church today, the many that are closing their doors, the many that have caved on moral issues directly addressed in the Bible, we can see evidence for the more negative interpretation. But keep in mind that Jesus is fighting against a crowd that expects something completely different. He is trying to prepare them for the fact that the kingdom of heaven on earth will come through hardship. It will be a battle against the enemy and it will look like the enemy is winning at times. However, He also gives us hope. The day will come when the kingdom is finally established for ever.

It is not until after all three of the above parables are told that Jesus gives the interpretation to the Parable of the Weeds and here is where we see that in the end, we win.

Matthew 13:37–43 NIV

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The church will prevail when Jesus returns. Then there will be a millennial reign after which, the final judgments will be pronounced. The people of God and the people of Satan will be divided. The people of the kingdom of heaven will remain, but those who are not of this kingdom will be cast into hell.

I am thankful for this church body of believers. You are a great group! I cannot guarantee there are not some birds here. There usually are and sooner or later they may squawk, but let me tell you that even they can sometimes come to know the Lord for real, through a loving body of Christ. We need never fear them, for if we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, not the pastor, not the general church, not the church board, but on Jesus Christ alone, and we will make it through.

I am thankful for the work of Jesus that has placed me here with you. Let us take a moment to remember the sacrifices Jesus made to bring us here as we close in communion.

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