Parable of the Weeds

Intro

Group Intro

- What we do

Scripture

Hear God speak, not self help or opinions

Scripture transforms us

It is the foundation for the other two

Prayer

Us speaking back to God

Acknowledging the truth of scripture

Community

The context that scripture and prayer are effective

Not just socializing - ministering the gospel to each other

- Goal

Jesus tells His disciples that Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his storeroom what is new and what is old

We are not here for a simple uplifting thought or even a message to deal with your individual problems.

God is calling us to more, to be trained and equipped for the kingdom

So that like a well prepared host, we can bring out the riches of God’s word to those God puts in our life.

Series Intro

We will be focusing on parables that introduce the Kingdom of God - The kingdom of heaven may be compared

How do you become a part of it

Once you become part of the Kingdom, what does it look like to be a servant

Introductory questions

What gets in the way of seeing our place in the kingdom? - envy, greed, arrogance,

How do we joyfully accept our call as a bondservant of Christ? - see that he served first

Introductory questions

What is the general trend of the church - is it getting better or worse?

What do people mean when they say America is or was a christian nation? It that something God is calling us to?

Why has God fixed evil yet?

Read ,

The Story

A farmer plants a field

Sows seed - emphasis on good seed

A second planting occurs

An enemy comes at night and sows weeds among the good crop

Sows weeds among the good crop

This weed is not a generic plant, but a relative of wheat that is not easily distinguished from wheat

This problem would not have been noticed until the plants were grown up

The servants bring up the problem to the master

They ask if they should fix it by pulling them up

But the master is not perturbed

Instead marked by patience and wisdom

He does not over react, but carries out His plan

He knows that if he were to weed the field then, the tender good crop might be pulled up as well

The Meaning

Jesus explains it to his disciples after retreating to privacy

The second of two parables where he explains it to his disciples

Gives the spiritual meaning to different aspects of the story - The enemy is the devil, etc

Elaborates on the differences between the two destinies

Note the focus - The harvest

The judgement and destiny is explained in detail

The earlier portions - the planting, the growth of the two plants - are not fully explained

The crescendo is the final judgment - that is what should be our focus as we interpret and apply this parable. We will see errors of those who lose track of this goal

The main dynamic - the cosmic battle between God and Satan

All history is permeated with this ongoing war

We are all involved, everyone is on one side or the other

We see it throughout the NT

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. - 1 John 3:10

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Here we see Jesus building, Satan distorting, but ultimately Jesus using Satan’s efforts to win

The location is on God’s turf

The field (world) belongs to the farmer (God)

While this does apply on a worldwide scale, it does have special application to the kingdom of God, which we understand to be the church

Visible/invisible church

Visible church is the outward members of the covenant community of the people of God

Israel in OT/Church in the NT

Includes Christians plus cultural Christians, false Christians, etc

The invisible church are the members of the visible church, who are actually in relationship with Jesus

Should be most of the visible church (unless there is a serious problem)

Impossible for humans to know for certain

Here we see the dynamic of the visible/invisible church

Jesus plants his people in the church

Satan comes in and plants imitations in the church

These groups are mixed - impossible to tell who exactly is a weed - they look like wheat at first

At first, it may be that there is no apparent difference between all these plants on the field of the visible church. The good and bad seed grow up together. People come into your church, and everything seems well. But perhaps the devil has brought them in under the cover of night. Others grow up in the church, and everything seems to be going well with them. But again, perhaps the devil has brought them in under the cover of night... The point is this: within the visible church this mixture will always exist, and it is humanly impossible to accurately sort the two groups out from each other. - Bilkes, G. M.

Bilkes, G. M.

The destiny

Everyone has an eternal destiny (parable of net, parable of the 10 virgins, most other parables illustrate this)

The doctrine of hell

Jesus is the most frequent teacher of hell

The bible is clear that sinful man is a child of the devil, in rebellion against God, and the object of wrath

Hell is both a place of active punishment (fire) and passive punishment (separation from God and left to their sin)

The glory of heaven

The goal of the planting was for growth and being gathered to the master

Heaven can be over-sentimentalized, but the truth should be on our minds every day

The Application

(key questions we should always ask) So why is the bible telling us this?

Dealing with evil

We all on some level deal with the apparent injustice of life on this earth

Why do bad things happen to good people?

First, we are not as good as we make ourselves out to be

But the question still stands, as there are justified, holy men and women who have had to deal with tragic situations

Why would Jim Elliott lose his life for preaching the gospel? Why would Elizabeth Elliott lose her husband and father of their children for obeying God’s call?

Maybe you have had an untimely death in your family. Maybe your children rebel and leave the church. Sometimes it feels like your obedience leads to punishment

How is God just to allow that to happen?

Why do evil people thrive?

Why do men like Stalin or third world dictators go unpunished? America cannot be the world’s police force, but surely God should be punishing them. Where is divine judgment?

Maybe you see people, coworkers, etc living immoral lives and seemingly thriving

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. - ,

my steps had nearly slipped.

3  For I was envious of the arrogant / when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Behold, these are the wicked;

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Behold, these are the wicked;

Both inside and outside the church, one of the most fundamental struggles is not seeing God enact justice. So what is God’s purpose?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13  All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

14  For all the day long I have been stricken

and rebuked every morning.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

God’s purpose - This is why he tells us the parable

Here we see that God’s priority is the wellbeing of His people

He knows that rooting out evil now would sweep away some of his people before they were ready to be harvested

Look at the heart of your God - His concern that not a single one of his tender plants in the whole field be uprooted.

Here we see that God’s priority is the growth of His people

Besides not uprooting his people, he wants us to become mature

God desires our sanctification over our comfort

He will leave us in the weeds, so that we may become mature and complete

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

We are called to patience

In our lives

In the history of the church

This is why glorification is not instant

The kingdom does not come right away

We live in the already/not yet

So based on these purposes, we should not be surprised when we see and experience evil. It is simply what is to be expected at present - Gleason

Christ here reveals that it’s precisely because the church is God’s work that the devil comes alongside and sows his evil seed as well. - Bilkes

Bilkes, G. M. (2012). Glory Veiled and Unveiled: A Heart-Searching Look at Christ’s Parables (p. 49). Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books.

Dealing with evil on our own terms

There is implied here a warning to us who are over eager to deal with evil on our own terms

The servants ask if they should go right away and uproot the evil

But the master holds them back

Similarly, we can be trigger happy to attack evil in the church, or in the world

James warns against self-appointed judges

You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Bill Gleason warns us to be careful of those who try grandiose attempts to purge churches , or whole societies, of all evil.

They will often cause more damage than they help

Some glory in saving the church

Some glorify the divisions, yet those who went through split were much less triumphant

This attitude, almost by definition, turns you into a pharisee

We often carry God’s work into our own hands on our own timeline, rather that having the attitude of waiting which the NT is calling us to have.

We are certainly called to discipline, to address sin, to root out false teaching

But this is done to win back, and crucially, with wisdom

The master of the field knew his ultimate goal, and was not going to be baited into a foolish reaction by the enemy

So we should imitate the Lord of the Church as we shepherd our churches and families

Evil consequences do not equal sin

Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither, but so that God’s glory may be displayed

We should not rush to judgment, but with patient wisdom discern what we can

This wisdom comes from the Word, not our crusades

The final destiny

It is a separation between good and evil

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

We should be sobered by the prospect of punishment

It is a separation between good and evil

it is a separation between good and evil

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. - ,

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Justice will come, both the removal of evil and the blessing of the righteous

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Judgment

Why the evil are not always immediately punished - to increase the sin leading to a full punishment

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

We should be sobered by the prospect of this wrath. While not walking around in fear, it should not be brushed aside or trivialized.

Not just punishment of individuals, but also a removal of evil itself

But note that evil isnt just an impersonal force. It comes from satan and the sons of the evil

Yet judgment is not only condemnation, it is making all thing right.

We can have a hope that all sad things will be made untrue

God will right the wrongs

We should put our hope for the good life in heaven, not here in the weeds

But note that evil isnt just an impersonal force. It comes from satan and the sons of the evil

We should put our hope for the good life in heaven

Conclusion

We have seen God call us into his kingdom. He works by the spreading of his word.

As we join his kingdom, we are called into service of building that kingdom.

Now we see what the completion of that kingdom looks like. This is the goal. This is the hope. This is why we press on. This is why we lay down our lives in service of the kingdom.

This is my hope - that the God who began a good work will complete it and bring us to the new Jerusalem. It is daunting, but God has promised to accomplish it.

We will feast in the house of Zion

My hope is not in this life. My goal is not friendships that last forever here, but ones that last forever in the eternal Jerusalem. - We will feast in the house of Zion

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. - :23-24

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.