Remember in Matthew chapter 11,
going back to that special music that we just sung, Come unto
me all ye that labor heavy laden, I'll give you rest. See, everything
in that song, that songwriter knew something about the Word
of God, about resting, resting in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Matthew chapter 13, At
verse 24, we have what is known as the parable of the tares and
the wheat. If you have the Cambridge Bible
that I have, you can look up to the very top of the page,
and there you see where it says the parable of the tares. Then
across the page, you see over here the parable of a sower. So we had that last week. Now
today, we're going to see about this parable known as the parable
of the wheat and the tares, and that will be the title of the
message, the parable of the wheat and the tares. Now in verse 24
down through verse 30, the Lord gives the parable, the story,
remember a parable is an earthly story that illustrates to us
a spiritual and eternal truth. So in verse 24 down through verse
30, the Lord gives the parable of the tares and the wheat. And then in verse 37 down through
verse 43, He gives the meaning, like He did with the parable
of the sower. He gave the parable, and then
the disciples came to the Lord and said to Him, Lord, teach
us that parable. And He did. And He does the same
thing with this parable of the wheat and the tares. Now, I want
this morning for the Lord to prepare our hearts to receive
the Word of the Lord into our heart. And this thing of preparing
our heart to receive the Word, it has to begin before we even
come here. When we get up in the morning,
let us be conscious and aware to ask the Lord to prepare our
heart. that we might receive the word
of the Lord. Don't just come in rushing and
come in and sit down and prepare your heart. Prepare your heart
to worship the Lord and to hear word from Him. That is something
that we need to be aware of. It's something we need to work
on. I do. But to ask the Lord to prepare
our heart that we might receive His word, that we might worship
Him, that He may be glorified, and that we would worship Him
in spirit and in truth, and also that we might grow in grace,
that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I want that for you, I want that
for me, to grow in grace and in knowledge of our blessed Savior. Now, let's begin by turning to
verse 34 and verse 35, and the Lord tells us why He taught the
gospel of the kingdom of heaven, in parables. Verse 34, Matthew
13, all these things beg Jesus unto the multitude in parables. Now there were thousands of people
as he set in that ship and went out a little from the shore and
the people all on the shore were standing there listening to the
Lord and without a parable he spake he not unto them, that
it might be fulfilled." Everything our Lord, everywhere he went,
everything he said, everything he did was the fulfillment of
scripture, that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken by the prophet
David or another prophet. I will open my mouth in parables.
This is from Psalm 78. Other things which have been
kept secret since from the foundation of the world. Now, the Lord tells
us why he taught the gospel in parables, the glorious kingdom
of heaven in parables, that he might fulfill the very word of
God. that he might fulfill the very
word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ used simple
earthly stories, illustration, to declare the eternal mysteries
and secrets of God revealed in the gospel concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now hold your place there in
Matthew 13, and let's turn over here and read another scripture.
The last chapter of the book of Romans, the last chapter of
the book of Romans, The Lord said, I will utter things which
have been kept secret since the foundation of the world. In Romans
chapter 16 verse 25. Romans 16, 25, to him that is
a power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching
of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret since the foundation of the world but now
is made manifest. Now it's revealed by the scripture
of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting
God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith To
God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. He has to make known this mystery
of the gospel unto our heart. This mystery that's called here
the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. It is
somewhat unique and special to the book of Matthew. Matthew,
in his gospel writing, is the only one that uses that phrase,
the kingdom of heaven. the kingdom of heaven is like.
Mark, Luke, and John, they do not use that phrase. It's actually
found 32 times, 32 times in the book of Matthew about the kingdom,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto this, like unto this. Now, notice verse 36, Matthew
13 verse 36. Then Jesus sent the multitude
away, and went into the house, and
the disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable
of the tares of the field. Now, something interesting here
in verse 36. The Lord did not reveal the meaning
of the parable unto the entire multitude, but rather to those
he had chosen to be his elect apostles. Remember, we've seen
something of that before. You remember back in this same
chapter, Matthew 13, look at verse nine. Who hath ears to
hear, let him hear. And the disciples came And said
unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered
and said, because it's given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it's not given. So it's
a sovereign revelation. He will have mercy on whom he
will. He's hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babe. But notice this here, the Lord
sent the multitude away. Now how do you tell a thousand
people, or I think probably four or five thousand people, to leave? He spoke with all authority and
power. When he said, leave, they left. Christ, by the mere power of
his word, sent a multitude away, while he made known to his own
disciples the things kept secret, the mysteries of the gospel,
the kingdom of heaven, he made those things known unto them.
And it's true again yet today, the Lord makes known his mysteries
of the gospel to whom he will. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy, so then it's not of him that willeth, or of
him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. God who shows
mercy. Now let's ask the Lord to be
our teacher that we might sit at his feet and learn of him. Remember he said take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. I want to like Mary sit at his
feet and to be taught of the Lord. So let's look at this parable
and we see in this parable at least seven seven vital lessons
the Lord Jesus Christ is revealing to us about salvation. And I'm
interested in salvation. I think every sinner is really
interested in how God saves sinners. Now, the first thing we see is
this. In verse 24, look at verse 24. Matthew 13, 24. Another parable
put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
to a man which sowed good seed in his field." Now, look at verse
37, Matthew 13, verse 37. He answered and said unto them,
he that sowed the good seed, who's this man? He's a son of
man. He's a son of man. Notice that's
capital S-O-N, Son of Man. The Lord Jesus Christ, born of
a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law. He's called many times in the book of Matthew, the Son
of God. And he's also called the Son of Man. How can He be
both? How can He be the Son of Man
and how can He be the Son of God? Well, He's both. He is eternally
God the Son and He is also the God-Man who was made flesh and
dwelt among us. He's fully and totally God Almighty
and fully totally a real man apart from sin. How can that
be? Explain that to me. God, who
inhabits eternity, inhabited the body of a man. Remember what
Paul said? Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness, how God was manifest in the flesh. It's a great mystery that must
be revealed. I can't understand those things. But I believe those things because
he says so in his word. God was manifest in the flesh. Our Lord said many times, when
you've seen me, you've seen my father, I and the father, we
are one. We are one. The one who came
to accomplish our salvation is none other than God. God bought
the church with his own blood. And yet, as the God-man mediator,
he laid down his life. God could not suffer, man could
not satisfy, but the God-man did both, suffered and satisfied. He is called the Lord of the
harvest. One old writer said, he remained
what he was, the eternal holy God, and became what he was not,
flesh and blood among us. He's called the Lord of the harvest,
that gives the harvest in Matthew 9. He's called the Lord of the
field, You remember the disciple, he told the disciples in John
13, you call me Lord and Master or so I am? And he is. He's the Lord of the harvest
and he's the Lord of the field. He created all things by the
word of His power. The word of His power. In the
bulletin today, I put an article from a psalm that we recently
considered, Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. He's
the owner of all things. He's the creator of all things.
He's the Lord of the harvest. He's the Lord of the field. He's
the Lord of all things. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
Lord over all. God bless forever. Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? He's God our Savior. God our
surety. He's Lord in creation, created
all things. He spoke them into existence.
Man has never created one single thing. Now they built some things,
they built some buildings, but they didn't create the material
in which the building was made. God spoke all things into existence. You think of all the different
minerals that God has given in the earth, copper and zinc and
lead and and gold and all these different things. He created
coal. The coal that God has given us to burn that we might keep
ourselves warm. God created all that by the word
of His power. He's Lord of all things. He's
Lord in creation. He's Lord in providence. The
providence means those things that happen in time. What unfolds
in time is what God has decreed from all eternity. That's what
He brings to pass in time. And then He's Lord certainly
in salvation, right? The Father had given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father hath given to Him. So the Son of Man, He's the Lord
of all things. The second lesson is this, verse
38. The field, He that soweth the
good seed, that the good seeds do wheat, The wheat there is
the elect of God, the chosen of God. And then the field here,
we know he says it's the world. It is the world. The world. The world in which we live and
the world that's inhabited by how many billions and billions
of people? The field is this world and all
the inhabitants of this world. And the field of this world and
the people who live in this world, in this world there are tares
and there are wheat in this world. In this world there are those
who are saved and those who are lost. In this world, there are
those who are sheep, the elect of God, called the jewels, called
the bride of Christ, and there also are goats. There are believers
who believe the Lord Jesus Christ for all of their salvation, and
there are those who are tares, unbelievers. This world, this
field of the world is made up of these different kinds of folks. Our Lord said, under his church,
upon his resurrection glory, he said, go into this world,
into all the world, and preach the gospel just to the wheat. He didn't say that, did he? He
said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
tares and wheat. I don't know who the tares are.
I don't know who the wheat are. Someone told Charles Spurgeon
one day, you preach election, why don't you just preach to
the elect? The wise old preacher said, if you'll go around and
put an X on everyone that's God's elect, I'll just preach to them.
But we don't know who the elect are. God does. But he told us
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone,
everyone that were here. Go preach to them. And that's
what he sent us to do. We go into this field, into this
field. Some people call it the mission
field. I guess it is a mission, isn't it? We're on his mission
seeking out his sheep. The third thing we see, the good
seed here, the good seed, Look at verse 38 again. The field
is the world, Matthew 13, 38. The good seed, the wheat, are
the children of the kingdom. Now, none of us are good by nature. We are children of wrath, even
as other. It's only by his sovereign choice
and by his sovereign righteousness given to us that he makes any
seed good. We have no goodness in ourselves.
In other words, I mean by that, we don't merit God's favor. If
you're a good little boy and do right, God will smile and
God will have favor on you. That's not true. Salvation is
by God's strict mercy alone and mercy cannot be merited. Grace
cannot be merited. The seed are only good because
we have a good shepherd. the Lord Jesus Christ. You see
that? You know that? The good seed here are the children
of the kingdom of God. They're true sons of God. They
are the true spiritual seed of Abraham. The true spiritual seed
of Abraham. They're called the trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord. Now if you want to jot this reference
down, you can. But in Galatians chapter 3, When
Paul writes about this, he said, Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. That's the
good seed, that's the wheat. The scripture foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee, that is in Christ, shall
all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. You're all children of God by
faith in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free, neither male nor female. You're
all one in Christ. And if you be Christ, then you're
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. He's made us
good seed. He's made us sons of God by his
choice. His choice. We're called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. We are made sons
of God by His sovereign electing love. Behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. God has blessed us according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy without blame before him and love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of
his grace. So, the weak here are the good seed made good by
God's grace through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We say with the Apostle Paul, I am what I am by the grace of
God, made heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those that are blessed to hear and believe the gospel reveal
that they are chosen of God. They are the elect of God. Let's
turn to this one and see that. Find 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. How do I know if I'm one of those
wheat seed or one of those tar seeds? How do I know? Well, it's
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. You
remember the sheep hear his voice and they follow him. Knowing
brethren verse 4 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 4 knowing brethren
beloved your election of God Now, how do you know anything
about? Being chosen as a good wheat seed where our gospel came
not in human word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost
and And in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we
were among you for your sake, and you became followers, the
sheep hear his voice and they follow him, of us and of the
Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy in
the Holy Spirit. So the good seed, the wheat,
the sons of God, are made known, it's made known to them that
they are the children of the Lord Jesus Christ, the children
of the kingdom by faith in Christ, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now here's the fourth thing. The tares are described, so we
have the wheat, the good seed, the elect of God, and then we
have they are the children of the kingdom of God, and then
we have the tares are the children of the wicked one. So there's
that comparison there, the tares, the tares. Now, the commentators
that you read and this word tare in the original, it refers to
a little plant, something similar that looks like a wheat plant
called a Darnell, D-A-R-N-E-L. Now, I don't know anything about
them, but in that country, There were those darnells that grew
up among the wheat and you couldn't just by looking distinguish which
was which. That's why the Lord said, when
the servant said, let's go tear it, let's pull up all the tares.
Don't do that because you pull up the wheat too. Just leave
them alone, let them grow, I'll take care of my business when
the time comes. So the tares here are the children
of the devil. The devil, he is the wicked one,
seeking to devour the sheep. That's why we're told to be sober,
be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, has a roaring line
walking about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfast
in the faith. Remember, our Lord, and I think
this is referring back to those religious Pharisees, and those
scribes, and those Sadducees. He's calling them terrors. Weeds. Phonies. Hypocrites. Self-righteous. Remember our
Lord said to those Pharisees and scribes, when they said,
Abraham is our father. Remember what the Lord said to
them in John chapter 8. He said, you are of your father
the devil. He's calling them terrorists. He said, you're not
part of the kingdom of God. You're not one of the sons of
God. You are of your father the devil. And the lust of the devil,
the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, a bode not in the truth, because there's no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. I thought
about this this morning. I wrote this note down at the
bottom of my page. The terrors never become wheat,
and the wheat never become terrors. These who are the elect of God
are chosen unto salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
rest are just left to their own wicked devices. These children
of the wicked one, and here's what's subtle, the children of
the wicked one, like these Pharisees and scribes, they parade around
in religious circles as angels and messengers of light. when
in reality there's no life in their message, but only death
upon death. They only promote the lies of
Satan about sinners doing the best you can and everything will
be okay. Just be moral enough, straight
enough, upright enough, and everything will be okay. You'll earn salvation
by what you do. That's the lie of Satan. And
he parades, he parade, parades around as an angel and messenger
of light. Let me read this to you. You
can turn if you want to. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11,
he calls these people false apostles, verse 13. He calls them deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
No marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore it's no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their deeds." Now let me just
put it to you in every shirt, sleeve, plane, language, I'm
a simple man. Those who preach salvation depends
upon you are false prophets. Those who preach salvation depending
upon Christ are those who are sin of God. They are sin of God. Now, here's the fifth thing. Verse
25. Look at verse 25. Verse 25. But while the men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his
way. Now, look at verse 39. The Lord tells us who this enemy
is. Matthew 13 verse 39. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil. It's Satan. The enemy that sowed
them is the devil. The enemy of the gospel that
sowed the evil seed is the devil. Satan is a sworn enemy. to the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's elect. He is accuser of
the brethren. He's an adversary to the brethren. Satan is always about his business
making false converts. He's making terrors and convincing
them that they are saved by what they have done, by believing
his lies. There has always been and always
will be terrors among the weak. Our Lord chose 10, 12 men, right? 12 apostles. One of them was
a terror, Judas. Remember, he betrayed the Lord. There will always be terrors
among the weak. We as believers, now the Lord
said, when the servant said back over there in verse 29 and 30,
he said, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather out the tares? And he said, verse 29, nay, he
said, don't do that. While you gather up the tares
and root up also the wheat, let them both grow together until
the harvest. And in the time of the harvest,
I'll say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them. Gather my wheat into the
barn. Let's consider this for just
a minute. We as believers, there will always
be tares among the wheat. We as believers are not to decide
who the wheat are or who the tare, who the wheat are or the
tares are. That's not our business to say
who was saved and who was lost. Now a lot of church organizations,
they make a big deal about about voting them in and voting them
out. It's not our business to say who was saved and lost. That
belongs to God alone. He will make that distinction
in due time. The servants of the Lord don't
have the skill, wisdom to know, or the ability to look upon the
heart. That belongs to Christ alone. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having a seal, the Lord knows them that are His. The Lord knows. It's not my business
to try to determine who's the wheat and who's the tare. I'm
instructed to preach to all men everywhere. All men everywhere.
Now what is this harvest here? The harvest here in verse 30
and verse 39, The enemy that sowed them is the devil, the
harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels."
So, what is this harvest time? The harvest is the end of the
world. Remember, the Lord described
Himself as the Lord of the harvest? This world, as we know it, will
have an end. When the Lord returns, he will
destroy this earth and make a new heaven and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. A lot of people ask me, do I
believe in global warming? I don't. I believe in global
burning. He's going to burn this place
up and make a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. There will also be a righteous
and just judgment of God to sever the just from the unjust, the
wheat from the tares, and the sheep from the goats. That's
His doing. That's His business. We're going
to see that again. Turn over here to Matthew chapter
25. Remember in Matthew chapter 25,
when the Son of Man shall come, verse 31, Matthew 25, when the
Son of Man shall come in his glory and all his holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. It's
the throne, sovereign throne, and before him shall be gathered
all nations, wheat and tares. And he shall separate them one
from another as the shepherd divides his sheep from his goats.
Remember, he knows his sheep by name and leads them out. He
shall set the sheep, the wheat on his right hand, the goats,
the tares on the left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed to my father and inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The kingdom was prepared before
you were ever born. God does everything he does wisely
and eternally. The reapers are the angels of
God, as it says in verse 49. Verse 49 of our text, verse 39
down through verse 43. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil, the harvest is the end of the world. Verse 39, the
reapers are the angels. Therefore the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
The son of man shall send forth his angels. and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend, all things that
are scandals, all them which do iniquity, and cast them in
the furnace of fire, and there shall be a wailing and a gnashing
of teeth." The reapers here are those sent of God. They will
be sent of God. They will be sent of God to gather
up the terrors, the children of the wicked one. These elect
angels will execute the eternal purpose of God with the holy
justice of God and will condemn them. It's appointed and the
man wants to die after that judgment. These angels are sent by the
Lord Jesus Christ to gather out all things contrary to the gospel,
all things that do offend the holy law of God. Our Lord called
them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. Remember, they said,
Lord, we preached in your name. Lord, we've done many wonderful
works in your name. We've done all these things.
And he will say to them, I never knew you. I never loved you.
Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. And they will be righteously
judged and condemned. Find 2 Thessalonians chapter
1. I stay here in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 because I'm going to go back to chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians
in just a moment. This is 2 Thessalonians chapter
1. Look at verse seven, and to you who are troubled, rest with
us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, that obey not the Lord Jesus Christ, obey
not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
from the glory of his power, when he shall become to be, come
to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them
that believe, because our testimony among you would believe in that
day." So the Lord will make an end. There will be a separation,
a great separation. Those not found in Christ will
be eternally cast out and condemned and judged. But, now stay right
there, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, But it says, then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father,
who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, the wicked will be
put out, the righteous shall shine forever with Christ, who's
called the Son of Righteousness. Now, let's read across the page
there, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. But I will not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. This is
1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Verse 13, that ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died, rose again, even so them also which sleep in the
Lord Jesus Christ will God bring with Him. Talking about those
who have passed on to be with the Lord. Blessed are those who
die in the Lord. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Him
will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which
are asleep. The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds. To meet the Lord in the air,
so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one
another with these words. Then shall the righteous shine
forth, verse 43, Matthew 13. Now, we're not righteous in ourselves,
we're righteous in Christ. The Lord is our righteousness.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom
of their father." You see what's true of the sons, true of the
sons in him. What's true of the head, true
of the body. Now, who hath ears to hear? Let him hear. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. What? Him. Let us be careful
to hear believe the precious promises of God, lest we despair
of God's mercy and grace, but let us also be careful to hear
the warnings of God's word, lest we presume. I don't want to go
about to establish a righteousness of my own, by my own doing, and
then hear him say on that day of judgment, depart from me,
I never knew you, I never loved you. So that's the parable of
the wheat and the tares. And that is a teaching of God's
word that there will be a separation. And the Lord is the only one
who has the ability, the wisdom, the power to rightly divide between
the wicked and the just, the lost and the saved.