All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Matthew 13. Matthew 13, I'd like to look
at those verses that we considered and read just a few moments ago. Our Lord sets forth now a parable. This is how he taught, taught
in parables. And it's concerning the kingdom
of heaven." And he likens, he said, this is the way that the
kingdom of heaven is revealed, revealed to us. He said in those
first two verses, 24-25, another parable put he forth unto them
saying, 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." Now,
the kingdom of heaven is referring not to the final state of glory
that all God's people will find themselves in. The kingdom of
heaven that he's talking about right here is not that final
state of glory. There won't be any tears there.
But what he's speaking of is actually the church as we behold
it in this world as we see it openly. The church itself. One church. There's many assemblies. We have one here, there, one
in different places, but the church is one church. It's the
bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in this kingdom, they're
actually revealed to be found mingling together two kinds of
seeds. One of them is referred to as
the good seed. Now that's what he said. The
kingdom of heaven, verse 24, is likened to a man which sowed
good seed. Good seed. In his field. So there's the good seed, that
is, the children of the kingdom. Verse 38, if you look over, just
turn over the page, the Lord gave the explanation of this
parable. Verse 38 of Matthew 13, He said,
the field is the world, The good seed are the children of the
kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked ones.
So that's what we know. We know that there's two kinds
of seed found within the local church, the body church. The good seed are the elect of
God. They're the wheat. They're the
children of the kingdom. And the one who sows the seed,
It said in verse 24, it's likened, the kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed. Now in verse 37 of this book,
just turn over, you'll see. He answered and said to them,
he said, he that soweth the good seed is the son of man. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the one that sows the seed. The ministers,
preachers of the gospel, they are but the means. of which the
gospel is preached, the one that sows the seed is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so you've got the good seed,
the children of the kingdom. You've got the one that sows
the seed, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And then also, we looked
at that verse 38, again, the tares are the children of the
wicked one. They're the tares. The ones that are found among
the wheat. So here we have the good seed,
the tares, and the one sowing. And it's found within the body. Now, these tares that are found,
they're said to be sown by the enemy. And they're sown in this
world. among the wheat. Now all over
this world are scattered God's elect. Out of every nation and
kindred and tribe and tongue, God has a people. And they've been elect before
the foundation of the world. They've always been God's people.
But as the Lord is pleased, in time, they're born into this
world. They're born into this world
at a particular time, in a particular place. God puts them exactly
where He's going to put them. I've told you before. It always
amazes me. The Lord may be pleased to raise
up an assembly in a certain place. And look, here's a group of people
that the Lord has called out of darkness and He providentially
put all of our families and families and families and back and back
and back and put them in this area that we would be born in
this area and he was going to draw us together in an assembly. He may have to get some out of
Louisiana. and get them up here. But the
Lord does that. But He gets us all together.
And here we are, we're family. And you may go to another, you
know, drive through dozens and dozens and dozens of cities,
and there won't be anybody. But the Lord has them, they're
everywhere. But it was the Lord that planted
them. And He planted them in the world according to His good
pleasure and will and purpose. But then also, it's said that
the that the devil, the enemy, he plants also his people. And he plants them in the midst
of. The wheat. So the Lord sets forth that the
good seed of the kingdom, the chosen, the elect of God, are
not going to be the only ones found within the church. It's going to be always, they're
always going to be found within the midst of the church tares.
They're always there. Not that the tares become wheat.
Tares don't become wheat. Wheat's always been wheat. Goats
have always been goats. Sheep's always been sheep. The
elect have always been the elect. There's no crossover. But they're
always found in the midst, and they're always there by the permissive
will of Almighty God. So here's the tares. Now that
word, tar, right there, it's actually the darnel. Look it up. It's a poisonous
weed that closely resembles young wheat before it grows to maturity. And to eat that darnel plant,
it causes vomiting. and often results in death. So
found in the midst of the wheat, the enemy has planted tares. He's got his people. So we know
that surely that those that have been everlastingly loved of God,
those that have been cleansed with the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, without spot, without blemish. They're scattered throughout
the world. But found within that group,
there's those that have really no heart for the Lord Jesus Christ. They're called the children of
the devil. And they've been sown, the scripture says, and they're
secretly under stealth. What does that mean? We don't
know who they are. We don't know who they are. It
says in verse 25, while men slept, His enemy came and sowed tares
among the wheat and went his way. Jude says in Jude 1, 4,
it's certain men crept in unawares. Second Peter 2, 1, it says, but
there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
should be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies, false professors that bring in heresies of destruction,
and they do so secretly, without being known, without being obvious
at first. So even with their evil tactics,
that being planted in amongst the
weak, it actually you know, turns for the good of God's people. You know, Romans 8.28, Romans 8.28 becomes more and
more precious to me as I think of things that happen to me,
to others. Now, I often say this, Romans
8.28 is always Romans 8.28. All things. All things. You mean even sickness? As I've
said before, if it happens to fall under the category of all
things, yeah, yeah, all things. You mean tares among the wheat?
All things, all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. So there's the
tares among the wheat. Listen to what 1 Corinthians
11, 19 says. For there must be also heresies among you. Now, realize what the Lord is
saying in this parable. I'm not talking about, he's not
talking about places where the gospel is not being preached.
He's not talking about that at all. He's talking about tares
in the midst of where the gospel is preached. That's what this
parable is all about. Not false religion. He's not
talking about false religion per se. He's talking about where
the gospel is preached. There's always tares among the
wheat. There must be heresies among
you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. So, the tares are among the wheat. They're sitting under the gospel.
They're listening to the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. So the Lord, according to His
infinite wisdom, providentially allows. He said that the enemy
had done this, and he did. The enemy, Satan, has done this.
But the Lord has providentially allowed these tares to be placed
among the wheat, to expose the tares and to make manifest the
wheat. That's what he said. He said
that there must be heresies among you that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. So What the tares are doing is
they're revealing, they're revealing something. So according to the
word of the Lord, as long as time continues, as long as As
the true church is found within this world, there's going to
be hypocrites among the wheat. They're always going to be there.
Tares growing alongside the wheat. The enemy came, sowed tares among
the wheat, and it says, and went his way. That's what the last
part of verse 25 says. He went his way. You know, tares really need no cultivating. How
many people here fertilize weeds? I don't think so. Wheat must be cultivated. Wheat
has to sit under the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. But a tare left to itself, it's
always going to act and it's always going to maintain the
characteristic of a tare. So it says, when the wild men
slept, the enemy came, sowed the tares among the wheat and
went his way. Just leave them alone. They'll act like a tare.
They will. But the wheat, they need care. They need cultivating. They need
watering. They need feeding. It amazes
me how weeds grow. They do a good job of it. That's what the Lord has set
forth here. They need no cultivating, these
tares. A tare. What is a tare? It's one that
professes the name of Christ and makes his claim to believe
the gospel, but he has no heart for it. He's a tare. He's the devil. He's not been
regenerated. He has no heart for the gospel. He sits and he may make a profession
of it, you know, I've said before, we can read passages of scripture
where demons, they acknowledge the sovereignty of God. You remember
that demoniac of the Gadarenes? That man that was possessed with
legion? That man fell down and the devil,
the legion himself spoke, the demon himself spoke. I know who
you are, son of God. Lord, God of the most high. Have
you come to, you know, torment us before our time? What do you
think he knew? Time's coming. Time's coming.
He knew who the Lord was. He knew, and God, you know, and
whenever the Lord's going to cast him out, that demon asked
him permission. He said, would you give us permission
to go into the swine? He knew. He knew who he was.
So it's, they're sitting under the gospel. It says in verse
26, but when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. When did there start to be the
noticing of a difference? When? when the blade was sprung
up. I began to think on that. When
the wheat sprouted and fruit was noticed. Now you know, as
I said a moment ago, wheat has always been wheat. The elect
have always been elect. But when it pleases the Lord,
to call one of his own out of darkness and regenerate them. And the Spirit of God, the fruit
of God's Spirit then becomes evident in something. That's
when you know, you get some evidence that they were the elect of God. Until then, you didn't know. They looked just, I mean, tare
and wheat, alike. They look just alike. But when
the wheat and the grain was formed, when the fruit of God's Spirit
began to be evidenced, when the Lord was pleased to bless the
preaching of the gospel, and His work of grace was then beheld,
you watch someone sit under the gospel. They may sit there for
a long time, years and years and years. And they got it up
here. They understand it. They understand
what you're saying. They know the five points. They
know the gospel of the declaration of the Lord Jesus. People come
to save them and He's the substitute. They got it all up here. But
when God is pleased to give them a heart for it, And they hear
it, and it's like their whole demeanor changes. It's like a
light came on, and they understand. And all of a sudden there's a
difference, there's a sorrow for sin that wasn't there before. Now there's a reverence and it's
more than just a head knowledge. They enter into what you're saying
and they believe it. Now I believe that. Now there's
a spirit of humility and a love for the preaching of the gospel
and it's joined with a strong desire and affection for God's
people. Good fruit is there that wasn't before. And when that happens, Tears are then noticed. There's something that they begin
to see. I got to thinking about this.
I shared this with a few of you before. I was thinking just a
few minutes ago. The difference in a wheat and a tear. A wheat
and a tear. A wheat, now this is a wheat. that's regenerated by the grace
of God. This is the evidence of wheat.
They're ones that see nothing in themselves that has any merit
to it. This is the wheat. They see nothing. They see no fervent faithfulness. You that believe. Now let me
ask you something. How do you see yourself? They
see no true consistency in their walk. That's the wheat. A tare sees
himself as totally consistent. He sees himself totally faithful. He sees himself absolutely meritorious
before God. That's a tare. Now I can prove
it. Turn to Luke 18. Let's just read something we've
read many, many times concerning the difference between the wheat
and the tare. Luke 18, verse 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other
a Republican. Now here's a tear. Now I know he's a tear because
the Lord said so before we got through. He said this man right
here went to his house unjustified, unjustified. The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee I am not as
other men are. extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this Republican, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes
of all that I possess, and there's the tear. I am a good man. I am consistent. I am faithful. I'm faithful. Here's a wheat. The publican,
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto
heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me. You know why he said, be merciful
to me, a sinner? Because he saw himself guilty,
guilty, guilty. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. So what's the difference in a
wheat and a tare? The wheat will not exalt himself. That's what
the Lord said. That's what the Lord said. A
wheat will not exalt himself. He sees himself in need He continually,
in his heart, crying, God, be merciful to me. Lord, forgive
me. Lord, please don't deal with me after my iniquity. Lord, have
mercy on me. I am a sinner. Lord, save me. I'm going to perish. A tare sees
himself as worthy. I'm consistent. I'm a good man. That's the difference right there.
Well, in verse 27, back in Matthew 13, it said, well, verse 26,
when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, when
it brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. Whenever
God began to bless His Word, and there began to be some evidence
of that spirit of need, need of mercy, be merciful to me. Then the tares began to be evident.
There was an evidence, a difference. In verse 27 it said, So the servants
of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou
sow good seed in thy field? Now you know what? God's people
know God only sows good seed. That's the only kind of seed
He sows, is good seed. from which then hath it tares."
How did the tares get there? Lord, didn't you sow only that
which was right and good, you know? So the servants, and probably,
I'm going to say that probably these servants of the household
are probably referring to the ministers of the gospel, but
all believers will think this also. God's people, you know,
The scripture sets forth concerning this care. Here was the servant. The reason I said the preachers,
you know, they verbalize something. Didn't you sow good seed in your
field? From whence then hath it tears? I thought about this
scripture, Acts 20, 28. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves
and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers to feed the church of God, which he's purchased
with his own blood. There's a concern. Every God
called preacher is concerned. A pastor is concerned. I'm concerned
about what you hear. I'm concerned about you. I want you to hear the truth. I need to hear it and you need
to hear it. We need to hear it. So take heed over the flock. So these servants ask the householder. Didn't you plant good seed? How did the tares get here? That question expresses the amazement
of the faithful at the discovery. of false brethren being found
among the wheat. They knew that the Lord plants
good seed and all that is good, nothing but good, can come from
Him. And His planting is always unto
life. How did the tares get here? Well, He says in verse 28, He
said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto
him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? What kind
and instructive words from the mouth of the Lord to those that
love the Lord, love his people, love his kingdom, words from
God himself that were given to assure the hearts of his people
that all is under control. Everything is under complete
control of Him who has all power in heaven and earth. So hearing
the Lord's explanation concerning how those tares got there, He
said, an enemy put them there. But remember, they were put there
by God's permission. The means was the devil. But
they're there according because He worketh all things. after the counsel of His own
will. They're there, as we saw a minute ago, to make those that
are approved manifest. They serve a purpose. They're
going to serve the purpose of God. In His justice, they're
going to serve the purpose of God. In the sheep, it's going
to serve the purpose of His mercy, His good pleasure, to show compassion
to whomsoever He will. But they're there by the Lord's approval, permission. Satan put
them there. An enemy put them there. So he
said unto them in 28, an enemy has done this. And then they
asked, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? Now, these well-meaning, and
I want, I need to learn. I need to learn something here.
We all do. about what the Lord has said. They've asked, you
know, they're zealous. They're zealous for the kingdom
of the Lord. They're zealous servants and
they ask the Lord if he would have them, do you want us to
go get those tares out of there? How about we go jerk them out
and get rid of them? And you consider that request.
Now, tares and wheat, they're growing together, intermingled. in the visible church found within
the world, in the Lord's field, in His church, and their desire,
without a doubt, was honorable. I don't doubt it was honorable
whatsoever, but their zealousness exposed their lack of knowledge
concerning the Lord's will and the Lord's purpose. Their question
was like that of James and John in Luke 9, 54. Lord, wilt thou
that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume
them, that is the Samaritans, like Elias did. Lord, you want
us to call down fire from heaven, burn them up, get rid of them?
Would you like for us to have that? That kind of zealousness
is, well, usually found with a lot of ignorance. James 1.20
says, The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
But I want all of us to listen to the words of our Lord, and
we definitely need to learn something right here. Verse 29, But he
said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also
the wheat with them. We all need to learn something
here. None of us know who are wheat
and who are tares. None of us know that. You say,
well, I don't know about that. Now, I'm a pretty good judge
of character, you know. I think I see myself, I've been
around a long time. I've been under the gospel for
years and years and years, grounded. You know, pride comes before
a fall. Let's be careful. Let's be careful. He said, well, I can tell you
this. I'm able to pretty well discern a goat from a sheep. But they failed to remember that
no one but the Lord knows who his sheep are. He said, I know
my sheep. I know my sheep. I know them. We don't know who the sheep are.
We don't know wheat from tares. And there's one thing that we're
not capable of doing. We're not capable of knowing
the right way to remove a tare and leave a wheat alone. There's something that I can
tell you that a tare is really, really capable of doing. A tare. A tare will deny Christ. Peter did that. A tare will commit adultery,
murder. David did that. A tare will be one that will
forsake the assembling with God's people. The prodigal did that. You and I don't have the capability
of knowing a sheep from a tare. dear, precious, precious friend
who went through some really, really tough, tough times. Tough times. I've known for years
and years. I'm talking about 35 years. And
there was a point in his life when I can tell you that people
would have looked at him and said, I tell you what, if I've
ever seen a tear, there's one right there. And that man is as faithful as
anybody I've ever seen in my life now. The Lord was pleased
to draw him back. You and I don't have the capability
of discerning wheat from tares. We think we do, and we don't. We don't. You want us to go out
there and jerk up the tares? He said, no. No. lest while you gather up the
tares you think are tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Is there any believer in here
this morning or tonight that's not glad that the Lord permitted
them, was long-suffering with them, and kept them in the midst
of trials and tribulations when someone may have looked at us
and say, I tell you what, I think he's worthy to be kicked out.
The Lord said, you leave him alone. You leave him alone. We're not called, brethren, to
make distinction between wheat and tares. We're not called to
do that. How do you know, Marvin? Because
the Lord said, nay, you want us to jerk them up? No. Let them
both grow together. until the harvest, and in the
time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, I'll say to the
angel, turn over, turn over, look here, verse 41, 42, it said,
verse 40, therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire, it shall be in the end of the world, the Son of Man
shall send forth his angels, they shall gather out of the
kingdom all things that are thin, them which do iniquity cast them
into the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth." You know who these angels are? They're the ministering spirits
that have been sent forth to minister unto those that are
heirs of the kingdom. They've been given instruction
from the Lord. These are my wheat. You gather
the tares first. What do we do? What are we called
to do? To make distinction and pick
out the tares and kick them out and throw them out? The Lord
said, you may be throwing out wheat. You leave them alone.
Leave them alone. That's what you do. You leave
them alone. And don't be trying to go out
and root up what you think. or tares. You may be taking out
God's elect. You're harming God's elect. Leave them alone. Pray for them. We're not called here to start
deciding who's who. I got more to be concerned about
about me. I need to hear the gospel. This is what I need to be doing. I want to hear the word of the
Lord preached. I want to ask the Lord to deal
with me. I'm going to ask the Lord to
teach me. I'm going to ask the Lord to
keep me and help me. I need to hear from the Lord. The Lord said, don't you be trying
to kick out somebody else. Leave them alone. Leave them
alone. You pray for them. You take a
man and a woman at their profession. I have people, many, many people
that I get emails from all over, all over. And very, very kind. Sometimes, sometimes they get
on to me. But that, you know, that's okay.
But I mean, most of the time they're very kind, Neil. They're
kind people. And they're, you know, I'm reading
their email And they're expressing things that are consistent. Speaking
consistently. Now you know what I'm to do?
I'm to take them at their profession. I take them at their profession.
If they tell me, I believe the gospel. I believe you believe you. I
believe you. I believe you. And if they refer to me Brother
Marvin, you know, I believe that message. I thank the Lord for
you and I believe God has called me out of darkness and I will
thank Him. Brother so and so. Take them at their profession.
Don't be, you know, well, I don't know. He hasn't proved himself
to me. Who am I? Who am I? You want to kick them
out? No, you leave them alone. You
leave them, let them grow together until the harvest. And in the
time of the harvest, the Lord says, I'll say to the reapers,
gather you together first the tares, you bind them in bundles,
you burn them, gather the wheat into my barn. Now, you know,
that parable, this parable right here, it was truly convicting
to me. Truly, I'm thanking myself, Lord, you're saying that there's people
sitting under the gospel that hear the same gospel that I'm
hearing and that are making confession just like I do. And they're ones that one day
will be exposed. But I'm thankful. I wanted to
make sure I brought that out about the difference in a wheat
and a tare. A wheat and a tare is that two men went into the
temple to pray. A tare sees himself as worthy.
And I pray, Lord, help me. Lord, keep me. Keep me from myself. I mean, this parable right here
was so arresting to me. I'm thinking, Lord, I'm like
the disciples. When the Lord told them that
night, there was 12 men sitting there, 12 men sitting around
that night. They were gonna have the Lord's
Supper. They were eating the Passover, and they were getting
ready to have the Lord's Supper. And the Lord said, one of you
is going to betray me. There ain't but twelve of us
sitting here. And those that sat in that place,
they all began to say, one after the other, Lord, is it I? Is it me? Am I the one that will betray
you? But Peter said he never would. And he did. Lord, keep
me from myself. Lord, don't let me stray. Lord, keep me from setting my
eye on others and passing judgment on them. Lord, save me. Lord, I'm a sinner. I pray that
God bless this to our heart and bring us to that realization. We constantly need to cast ourselves
upon him afresh. He that cometh to me. How do
we come the first time? Needy sinners. How do we come
every time? Needy sinners. I pray the Lord
bless this to our heart. Revive us, refresh us for His
glory and our eternal good. Amen.