Go ahead and turn with me to John chapter three. I want to look at verse 14. When you get there, just hold your place. I want to say a few words in way of introduction. John chapter three, verse 14 is where we'll start.

Week after week, I strive to bring you encouragement and comfort from the word of God. And I love gospel preaching that gives me hope and comfort and confidence and assurance that God has done something for me in Christ, the wretched sinner that I am. I need that. You need that. We need that.

The Lord said in Isaiah chapter 40, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Say, if you're God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. That's talking about God's people. And cry unto her, preach unto her that her warfare's accomplished. Our warfare's accomplished. The Lord Jesus said it's finished. Tell her that her iniquity is pardoned. Boy, that's good news. Iniquity is what I am. And it's been pardoned. God's pardoned it. Tell her she's received of the Lord's hand. That's the only hand that matters. If I don't get it from the Lord, then I don't have anything. But tell her she's received the church, God's people, that they've received of the Lord's hand double for all their sins.

But Paul, by divine inspiration, also told Timothy in his first letter, chapter four, he said, now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, we're in the latter times, have been for many, many years now. He said, in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. And then Paul addresses Timothy as a preacher, and he says, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, about folks departing, falling away, apostasy. This is real. He said, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ.

So a true and faithful pastor, that's what I want to be, reminds the church of the danger of falling away. And this message is not, I didn't put this message together for a personal, it's for all of us, it's for me. These warnings from the scripture are not given to deliberately arouse fear or alarm in you, but given as a sign of love and concern for God's people as they are, and also a mark of a good minister, according to the Apostle Paul. I want to be faithful to what God's called me to do.

Hebrews 3, verses 12 and 13 tells us, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

So with that said, The title of my message is Sheep, Goats, Wheat, and Tares. God's, you know this, I know this, God's sovereign and effectual grace cannot fail. That's one of the things that we find the greatest comfort in. If God saves me, I'm saved. If I'm once saved, saved by God, I'm always saved. It's God that saved me.

The Lord Jesus said in John 6, verse 37, He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's eternal security. You can't find any more confidence, assurance, and hope than in that statement by the Savior himself. Who is the all that the Lord speaks of? Everyone in the world? You know better than that. Does God love everyone? Did Christ die for everyone? Or did God the Father love all that the Father gave to Christ? That's it, isn't it? All that God chose from the foundation of the world. And you and I, before the foundation of the world, before we did any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, that God who calls us saved us by His grace. We've got good hope that we're saved.

In John chapter 10, verse 27, the Lord Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. I like that. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. You see, friends, the Lord, as the great shepherd, speaks of those to whom he has given eternal life. He speaks of those who will never perish, those who cannot be plucked from his hand, those who will be forever saved. Who are they? What does he call them? Calls them his sheep. My sheep, he says. I want to be one of his sheep.

In the verse before, the Lord Jesus said, but you believe not, because you're not of my sheep, as I said unto you. So then, who are Christ's sheep? Is everyone a sheep? This religious world claims everyone to be a sheep. Or they'll say things like, well, I was a goat, but God made me a sheep. Well, God didn't do that. If you're a sheep, you were always a sheep. You were maybe an ignorant sheep, a blind sheep, but you were a sheep. And they say that everybody's a sheep and that John chapter three proves so. You're there, look at it with me. You know, actually it proves just the opposite. We've said that so many times. Let me show you that once again.

Look at, let's start in verse 14, John three. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Listen, Christ has to be lifted up in order for His sheep to be saved. He's got to hang on that cross and put away the sin of His people in our room instead. That's what we deserve.

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting, have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that the whole world might be saved. No, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him, the world here, speaking of His sheep, His sheep in the world, Those who believe in this world, that they might be saved.

And he that believeth on him, there it is again. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is what? Condemned already. Because, this is why, he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation. Why are men and women condemned? that light is coming to the world. And men loved darkness rather than light. And the reason for that is because their deeds were evil.

Now, Christ's sheep have a specific characteristic. What is that? They believe in and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's sheep in this world are those who believe in and on Him. How do I know if I'm one of God's sheep? Do you believe in and on Christ? Are you trusting Him to put all your sin away? Has it been revealed to you that no one else can?

Turn with me now to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. Be looking at verse 31. Matthew 25, verse 31. Is everyone a sheep? Well, then why does the Lord say here in verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. He's talking to sheep.

Now what's the difference between sheep and goats? Their love for the shepherd. To the sheep, Christ said, I was hungry, and you gave me meat, and I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, and I was a stranger, and you took me in. But to the goats, he said the exact opposite. He said, you didn't do any of these things. You didn't do them to me or for me. To the sheep, Christ said, I was a stranger, and you took me in naked, and you clothed me, not, you clothed me, sick and in prison, and you visited Excuse me. He said, I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink, and I was a stranger and you took me in. But to the goats, just the opposite. I was a stranger, you took me not in, naked, and you clothed me not, sick and in prison, and you visited me not. Just the opposite. You see, you didn't do any of these things to me. The goats go away, we're told, into everlasting punishment, the sheep, the righteous, into eternal life. Verse 46.

So those who believe that Christ died for them will never perish and cannot be plucked from His omnipotent hand. I want to be one of His sheep. So why do others who profess Christ still fall away? Why do they stop coming to worship Christ? Why do they cease from hearing the gospel Why do they fall away into what is called apostasy?

You know, apostasy, kind of like the word sovereignty, is another one of those words that is not found in the scriptures, yet evidence that it exists is all through the Bible. From Genesis 1, in the beginning God created, to the end of Revelation, we see that God is sovereign. And yet, though the word apostasy is not in the scriptures, it exists all through the scriptures. You see, not all who profess faith, possess faith. And that's so alarming to me. I don't want to just profess faith, I want to possess it.

Now, look back a few pages to Matthew chapter 13. I won't turn you anywhere else. Matthew chapter 13. And let's begin in verse 24. It's here we have the parable of the wheat and the tares. And in verse 24, the Lord Jesus teaching here, says, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. And we see here immediately spiritual negligence. It says, but while men slept, And this is what happens in a spiritual sense. When those responsible for watching and guarding and carrying the field, when they were asleep, that means they were careless, inattentive, and unaware. The enemy took advantage. A pastor, which is often called an under-shepherd, a sower of the seed in God's field, has a serious and a God-given responsibility to care for the flock and the crop of God. Now, I don't take that responsibility lightly. A pastor is to guide and protect and feed God's people according to His Word in the harvesting of souls that are entrusted to him. Numbers 27, verse 16 and 17 say, let the Lord set a man over the congregation, that the congregation of the Lord be not a sheep which have no shepherd.

Friends, this is not just an administrative role. God calls pastors for this purpose, they're to watch the flock. as a shepherd there to watch the field of God's planning. We feed God's sheep with his word. We strive to protect them from false doctrine and teaching. We strive to warn the sheep of impending danger. That's what I'm endeavoring to do this morning.

You know, believers who think, professing believers, maybe that'd be the way to say it, who think that they're too solid in the faith to fall into error or apostasy have yet to see the degree of their desperate wickedness, the wickedness of their heart, which Jeremiah 17, nine says, is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. That's talking about our hearts, your heart, my heart, all hearts.

Peter didn't expect to deny the Lord Jesus even after the Lord told him that he would. Peter confidently said to the Lord, though all men should be offended because of thee, yet I will never be offended. And yet that night, very night, he denied the Lord three times. That's so alarming to me. When Judas betrayed the Lord at the Last Supper, as we call it, every single one of the disciples said, he said, there's one that's gonna betray me. And every single one of them said, Lord, is it me? Is it me? And finally, the Lord looked at Judas and said, go do what you gotta do. But there are all the other apostles were still sitting there going, is it me? Do you think it's me?

We're not above these things. We're dust. The Lord knows our frame. The Lord knows that we're dust. We're capable of doing anything. We're capable of leaving the God that we love. Our sin makes us capable of doing anything and denying such as to still be ignorant of our own depravity.

I don't want to be one of these men that slept while Satan sows air. Scripture warns pastors and believers alike to be vigilant because Satan works while the church slumbers.

So the first thing we see is that the reality of good, there's a reality of good and evil coexisting. It's always been that way. We see the sower of the good seed and who the good seed represents. The good seed represents the children of the kingdom, the sheep of the shepherd, those who hear and believe the word of God in faith. The sovereign sower is Christ himself. He plants his truth in his chosen people's hearts, calling them to repentance and faith.

And then we see the enemy who sows the tares and who the tares represent, the enemy Satan. He's the deceiver. He's the one who seeks to spoil the work of God in the heart of God's chosen. And listen, evil is not a mistake. It's the deliberate, cunning, patient planting of Satan growing quietly alongside the children of God.

I don't want you to be a tear. The tears are false professors. Weeds look like the wheat in the early growing stages. You can't tell the difference. And these represent false converts, mere professors of faith, who in the end proved to be hypocrites and evil workers among God's people. Lord, don't let me be one of them.

They may, in the beginning, appear similar to true believers for a time, but their true nature is revealed when fruit bearing begins. It's important, so important, to understand that not everyone who appears godly truly belongs to Christ. Only the gospel can distinguish between the wheat and the tares.

I lied to you, didn't mean to. Turn back a few pages to Matthew chapter 7. I was going to just read this. I want you to see it. Not that far to turn. Look at verse 15. Matthew chapter 7. Verse 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them how by their fruits. Do men gather grapes or thorns or figs or thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, and neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is honed down, hewn down, cut down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them.

Just as a tree is known by a kind of fruit, you can look and say, hey, that's a pecan tree. Well, how do you know that? There's pecans on the ground. Pear tree, same way, apple tree. You know them by their fruit.

Sheep hear Christ's voice and they follow Him. They depend on the shepherd for guidance. They need the shepherd for protection and sustenance. They're meek, they're obedient and humble. They trust not in themselves. There's a difference between the characteristics of sheep and goats. Goats don't listen. They're independent. They always bud. I heard someone say that one time and that really struck me. They're always budding. But this, but that, but the other, but, but, but. They go their own way rather than the shepherd's.

I believe it was Clay Curtis told me one time, I told you this, what a great illustration. He said that he and his son went to a livestock auction and that said that they were first auctioning off sheep and said that they opened the gate where the sheep were and they didn't move. and said that the shepherd walked out into the arena and the sheep followed him out there. And then a little later in the auction, they auctioned off the goats and they opened the gate and here they come running. They're just everywhere bucking and butting each other.

That's a good illustration. Goats often mingle with sheep, but they remain unchanged. Goats don't become sheep. Goats remain goats.

Good trees, preachers and believers alike produce good fruit. Lord, help me to produce good fruit. Someone told me one time, said, I'm not judging, I'm just a fruit inspector, but don't look too close to me then. I wish there was more fruit. Lord, help me to produce good fruit. That being sound doctrine, humility, love, forgiveness. Lord, help me to forgive. Mercy, grace, corrupt trees, false prophets, unbelievers bring forth bad fruit. Error, pride, greed, division.

And the judgment is seen here in verse 19 and 20. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruits hung down, cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. And look at verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

Here we see a false profession. Many profess allegiance to Christ. They call Him Lord, but they never submit to His Lordship. You can call somebody Lord and rebel against them. Your words were just empty words. The true evidence of belonging to Christ is doing the will of God. Being faithful to His gospel. We cannot do it perfectly, I'm not saying that. But true believers will do it sincerely and habitually by faith and love toward Christ their master. They'll be the first to tell you, I love the Lord, not as I ought, not as I should, but I do love Him. It's not just religious talk, it's not just emotional enthusiasm, it's not just a verbal confession. It's not salvation.

Verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? We all have friends that are in religion, and that's what we hear when we talk to them. Oh, let me tell you about what we're doing at our church. We're doing this, and we're doing that. But they never say anything about what the Lord's done for sinners. This is self-deception. A false professor's not an atheist. In most instances, they're religious workers. They claim spiritual authority. They boast success in the ministry. We do this. We do that. Haven't we? Haven't we? And they do what they do in the name of Christ. And it sounds good. Lord, Lord, haven't we done this in Your name? And haven't we done that in Your name? And what did the Lord say? I never knew you. That's alarming. Paul said, I don't want woman to me if I preach not the gospel, and I don't want to preach unto you and myself be a castaway, neither do I.

Verse 23, and then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. To do these things and to trust these things and to brag on these wonderful works, in God's eyes is iniquity. And here we see the final rejection, the most tragic sentence that a soul could ever hear. The Lord does not say, I knew you and lost you. He says, I never knew you. You never were one of mine. Despite their religious works, they were never truly His. Their lives were marked by iniquity, not righteousness. You know, the word to know in Scripture, for example, Mary knew not a man, implies an intimate covenant relationship between two parties. These false professors never had that relationship with Christ. Oh, they liked the tares in the beginning. They looked just like the wheat. But as time went on and as the harvest came about, they proved not to be at all. Salvation is not earned by what we do for Christ, it's received by what Christ does for us. And true salvation is evidenced by a changed heart. By their fruit, you shall know that.

Now, back to Matthew chapter 13. Look at verse 26. It says, but when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also." The separation here becomes visible. As the wheat and the tares grow, the difference becomes evident. Wheat bears fruit, righteousness and obedience, and tares remain barren, outwardly religious, inwardly corrupt. The Lord allows both to grow together until the harvest. That's talking about the judgment. When the final separation's gonna occur. Verse 27, so the servants of the household came and said unto him, sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tears? The field here represents the world. The world is where wheat and tares grow together and coexist. But Christ sows truth and righteousness. Satan sows deceit and hypocrisy among it.

In verse 28, he said unto them, an enemy hath done this. And the servant said unto him, without then that we go and gather them up, shall we tear up the tares? They're shocked to see the tears among the weak. Just as many today are surprised that corruption and falsehood can exist in the church today. How can this be? An enemy has done this. An enemy has done it. Satan is able to disguise himself as an angel of light. Angel means messenger. The light, light means gospel. Satan disguises himself as an angel of the gospel, a messenger of the gospel. And as a messenger of the gospel, he works actively to counterfeit the work of God.

That's why Paul said, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. I don't want to let these truths slip. How shall we escape, he said, if we neglect so great salvation?

Satan plants false converts and deceptive doctrines even among the people of God. And look what the master said in verse 29. But he said, nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.

Our Lord here is warning against hasty judgment. He warns against any separation of true believers. We cannot discern weak from tears. We can't. I remember Brother Fortner told me a long time ago, he said, I've seen over the years the one that you are convinced don't know the Lord to be the one that winds up being the most faithful servant. And the one you were convinced knew the Lord will wind up leaving and hurting you to work.

He's warning us here against any separation of true believer. We can't discern weak and tares. We can't do it. Only God knows who is which. For us to try to remove the false, the tares, there's a great probability that we might harm the true, the weak. We can't distinguish between true and false, not unless God divinely intervenes and gives us

And the words of Christ, the husband, the master of the harvest are found in verse 30. He said, let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn.

Our Lord forbids hasty separation. Here we see God's patience and His long-suffering and His wisdom and judgment. Man cannot perfectly discern who's truly born of God. Only God can. God allows evil to exist for a time, not because He approves of it, but because he works through the presence of evil to accomplish his purpose. And friends, here's the alarming thing. Harvest time's coming. Every day we get a day closer. Christ will send his angels to separate the genuine from the false, the weak from the tares, the sheep from the goats. I'm certain that's why Paul wrote that we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We ought to strive to make sure that we're in the faith.

Lord. Continue to reveal to me your mercy and your grace. Show me my need of you. Our Lord forbids hasty separation. The weak will be gathered safely into God's barn. I love that. This speaks of eternal life. The tares are gonna be bound and burned, but this is God's business. This speaks of eternal judgment. So how does the parable, this parable, apply to you and me? The tares look like wheat for a time, outward religion, in good appearance, cannot hide the lack of true spiritual life. When judgment comes, the difference is gonna be evident to the Lord and to all men at that time. And let me say it again, I don't wanna be a tare. I don't want you to be a tare. I don't wanna be a goat. We had some friends, some friends of mine and Derek that came by Halloween night on the golf cart, and they had a little pet goat with them. Cutest little thing. But I thought to myself, I wish they'd had a sheep. I don't want to be a goat. As cute as it was. I want to be a sheep. I want to be fruitful wheat. I want you to be sheep. I want all of you here to be wheat. I want us to bring forth fruit.

But let's don't be overconfident in our faith and our works and our self-imagined righteousness that we deceive ourselves like those who cried, Lord, Lord. May we not stand before Christ and declare all the wonderful works that we ourselves have done so that we forget that our salvation is 100% due to what Christ has done for us. Friends, many in these last days will fall away, but only those who endure to the end are going to be saved. I want to endure to the end, don't you? Sure you do. In Luke 8, verse 13, in the parable of the sower, some hear the word but fall away due to trials and temptations. In 1 John 2, verse 19, John gives warning to those who leave the faith, saying that they never were truly part of the church. This should be very alarming to us. He said they went out from us because they were not of us. For if they'd been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us at all.

The Israelites in the wilderness witnessed God's divine and sovereign miracles and deliverance from Egypt, but refused to believe God's promises and they became rebellious. They complained at every turn. I'm tired of this light bread. And you know, we're thirsty. Where's some water? If you brought us out here in the wilderness to let us die. They entered not into the promised land. Why? Because of unbelief. Apostasy is rooted in unbelief. Turning from trusting Christ and His word to trusting in self.

King Saul, we've been studying that, and first Samuel, he fell into apostasy. Samuel told him, he said, because thou has rejected the word of the Lord, he hath rejected thee from being king. Judas fell into apostasy. He followed Christ outwardly, but his heart was never truly converted. I don't want that to be me. And Judas's epitaph will forever read, Judas, which betrayed him, also became a guide to them that took Jesus and crucified him, Acts 116.

Demas, he was a fellow worker with the Apostle Paul, and he abandoned the faith because it says he loved this present evil world. Worldly affection often, often pulls the heart away from Christ and his word. Lord, don't protect us from that. Love not this world nor the things in it. Set our affection on things above.

Hymenaeus and Alexander made shipwreck of the faith, rejecting sound doctrine, the word of Christ and Christ the word. And they were delivered unto Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme. Many of the Galatians turned from the gospel of grace to a gospel of works. And Paul wrote them saying, I marvel, I can't believe that you are so soon removed from Him that called you to the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another gospel. There's not another gospel.

Warning after warning after warnings given in the scriptures concerning apostasy. And I've seen it time and time again. And so have many of you. Some come for a short time and then leave. And some others come for a long time and then leave. But others come and stay. And they say, where else would we go? I want that to be me. Where else would I go? He has the words to eternal life.

The Lord Jesus, having loved His own, His sheep, His wheat, which were in the world. We're in this world, but we're not of this world. But having loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And that's the only reason Any of us who profess to believe endure to the end because He loved us and He keeps us to the end.

My desire and constant prayer is that the Lord will not allow us to neglect so great salvation. And that's what this is. That's what we preach. The great salvation that God has provided for undeserving wretches who deserved hell and eternal condemnation. Sheep? Yes. Lord, I want to be a sheep. Goat? No. Wheat? Yes, Lord. Make me wheat. Tares? No. No, I don't want to be a... May God be pleased to make it so. For His glory, our good, in Christ's name.