The Wheat and the Tares
The Gospel Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Matthew 13:24–30, 37–43
In the parable of the tares we have a revelation of the kingdom of Heaven in the field of the world.
Christ’s own interpretation of it is beautifully clear and simple.
The Kingdom of God came with Christ Jesus, and continues till the end of the age.
I. The One Who Sows is the Son of Man (v. 37).
I. The One Who Sows is the Son of Man (v. 37).
All the affairs of this kingdom are in the hands of Jesus Christ.
As precious seed it was brought forth as a burden in His bosom.
It is not of this world, but from Heaven.
It is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
II. The Field is the World (v. 38).
II. The Field is the World (v. 38).
The world is called “His field” (v. 24).
The field is great, but He has seed enough for every corner of it.
His large, compassionate heart and eye take in the whole (John 3:16).
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Much of the field is still in waste.
III. The Seed are the Children of the Kingdom (v. 38).
III. The Seed are the Children of the Kingdom (v. 38).
The seed with which He sows the field has cost Him much—redeemed with His own precious blood.
Every seed is a living one, and as closely connected with the Sower as children are to a parent.
Each seed is sent forth into the soil of the world to grow and manifest His own hidden life and beauty.
To this end it must die.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
We must die unto sin before we can live unto God.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
IV. The Tares are the Children of the Wicked (v. 38).
IV. The Tares are the Children of the Wicked (v. 38).
Where did the tares come from? “An enemy hath done this” (v. 28).
There is everlasting enmity between the tares and good seed (Gen. 3:15).
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The title “children” reveals their very close connection with the devil (Eph. 2:2).
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
While growing together in the field there may be a seeming likeness, but their origin and character are entirely different.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
Regeneration is the only remedy for the tares (John 3:5).
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
V. The Enemy is the Devil (v. 39).
V. The Enemy is the Devil (v. 39).
It was while men slept he sowed the tares.
He loved the darkness rather than the light, because his deeds were evil.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
It is when Christians cease to watch that the devil comes, and his awful work is silently and quickly done.
When the tares spring up many an enemy has done this.
Every seed sown by the Son of Man is good.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
VI. The Harvest is the End of the Age (v. 39).
VI. The Harvest is the End of the Age (v. 39).
“Let both grow together until the harvest” (v. 30).
So the grace of the Master spares the tares for a time; but sparing grace is not saving grace.
While abiding among the wheat their privileges are the same, but the nature of the tares unfits them for the heavenly reaping.
The end will come as sure as the seed-time, when all that offend shall be gathered out.
40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
VII. The Reapers are the Angels (v. 39).
VII. The Reapers are the Angels (v. 39).
They said, “Wilt Thou that we gather them up?” He said, “Nay! the reapers are the angels.”
These impartial servants will in no wise be hindered in their mission.
Their first work is to put away all scandals and them which do iniquity.
1. THEY ARE GATHERED.
1. THEY ARE GATHERED.
The offensive and the worthless are brought together.
No comfort, no hope, because they are many.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
2. THEY ARE BOUND INTO BUNDLES.
2. THEY ARE BOUND INTO BUNDLES.
As straw binds straw, so both doth evil and evil-doer.
No more liberty or fellowship with the wheat.
3. THEY ARE CAST INTO THE FIRE.
3. THEY ARE CAST INTO THE FIRE.
A fearful plunge: eternal separation; awful doom!
The tares are not made for the fire, but the fire for the tares.
The Lord knows the ones that are His.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Two Sowers Jesus and the Devil
Two Seeds Wheat and the Tares
Tares - Darnel Wheat is an imitation wheat
Strong roots and looks like wheat
it is interesting to note the darnel wheat stands up straight at harvest time and the real wheat bows down
Po-ten-til-la indica, known as mock strawberry
Two Families
Children of God
Children of Satan
Two Harvests
In the Barn
In the Furnace
The importance of your place in the field
Bloom where you are planted
Some are in the business world, professional world, insurance world
Some of you are surrounded by darnel wheat where you work or worked
God did not call us to change the world
God did not call me clean up the pond, he called me to fish out of it J. Vernon McGee
We are not to change the world we are to call them out of the world into the Kingdom of God
An invitation for the Tares to become Wheat
Wherever Christ “plants” true believers to bear fruit for His glory, Satan plants false Christians who oppose the work and hinder the harvest. Christians are seeds, and the kingdom of heaven is a mixture of the true seed (Christians) and the counterfeit (children of the devil).
Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary C. Other Parables (13:24–52)
Many Jews expected Messiah to immediately destroy evildoers and vindicate the righteous. Thus they were puzzled as to why Jesus didn’t do this if He truly were the Son of Man (see
James Smith and Robert Lee, Handfuls on Purpose for Christian Workers and Bible Students, Series I–XIII, five-volume edition, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971), 146–148.
