Let's turn in our Bibles this
evening to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. And I'm going
to begin our reading in verse 24, reading through verse 30,
and then we'll skip down to verse 43. But first of all, Matthew
13, verse 24. 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.
But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed
in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto
him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said,
Nay, lest while you gather up the tares you root up also the
wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I
will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into
my barn. Now look down, if you will, to
verse 36. Then Jesus sent the multitude
away and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him
saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He
answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed
is the son of man. The field is the world, the good
seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the
children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers
are the angels. As 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, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them
into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Last week we looked at the Lord's
parable of the sower, and I mentioned to us that that parable, the
parable of the sower, is also recorded in the Gospels of Luke
and Mark. Now tonight we are looking at
the parable of the wheat and the tares, and only Mark mentions
this parable besides Matthew. And I'll mention in my message
tonight what Mark tells us in his record of this parable. And we're going to look at the
parable somewhat like we did the one last week. First, and
I have four points. The author of the parable was
the Lord Jesus Christ. We go back to verse 1 and we
find this to be so. The same day when Jesus out of
the house and set by the seaside. Then in verse 35 we read that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying
I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world." The author of
the parable is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Matthew quotes this
prophecy, this which was prophesied of the Lord Jesus speaking in
parables. It is a fulfillment of a prophecy
concerning Christ, and this prophecy which is fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus speaking these parables is found in Psalm 78 verses 2
and 3. And it goes like this, I will
open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of
old, which we have not heard and known and our fathers have
told us. So the Lord speaking in parables,
Matthew tells us was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy
concerning Him. And I would just remind us tonight
that all of the Scriptures speak of Christ. And I want us to say
that again if you will. Turn with me to Luke chapter
24. It was prophesied of Him that
He would open His mouth in parables. All of the Scripture speak of
Christ. And I read this account here
of these two disciples, Cleopas and the other disciple, as they
were walking to Emmaus on the day of our Lord's resurrection. And there's much, much instruction
to us in this account. But beginning with verse 23 of
Luke 24, And behold, two of them went
that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem,
about three score furlongs. And they talked together of all
these things which had happened, and it came to pass that while
they communed together in reason, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. But their eyes were holden that
they should not know him. And he said unto them, what manner
of communications are these that you have one to another as you
walk and are sad? And the one of them whose name
was Cleopas answering said unto him, art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem and hast not known the things which are come to
pass there in these days? And he said unto them, what things?
And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was
a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people,
and how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be
condemned to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had
been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea,
and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which
were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body,
they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels,
which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women
had said, but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into
His glory? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. What must it have been? Have
you ever wondered what must it have been for Cleopas and this
other disciple to hear the Lord Jesus Christ expound all through
the Old Testament the things concerning Him. No wonder when
they realized at the end who He was that they both said, did
not our hearts burn within us when He walked with us in the
way. I thought about what He might
have spoken of. He may have began, it says Moses
and the prophets. Maybe He began with the seed
of the woman. reminded them the seed of the
woman and how that he is born of a virgin, the seed of a woman. The brazen serpent, how the serpent
was lifted up that the Israelites who were bitten by those poisonous
snakes might be healed just by looking, just by looking. Isn't that a wonderful type,
a wonderful picture of faith? Our Lord used it, didn't He,
when He was speaking to Nicodemus? As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal
life. No doubt He spoke of the Passover
lamb, the scapegoat, What a beautiful picture that is of the Lord Jesus
Christ taking our sins and bearing them away, carrying them away.
Removing them from us as far as the East is from the West. My, what it would have been to
hear the Lord Jesus Christ just go through the Scriptures. Did
he come to the Psalms and remind them that the Psalmist cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Those very words,
didn't you hear? Didn't you hear three days ago?
That one on the cross, cry out those very words. They part my garments among them
and cast lots upon my vesture. Didn't you notice the soldiers
at the foot of the cross? casting their lots, their dice,
to see who would get this part of his robe and who would get
that part. The reproach hath broken my heart. I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none, completely
deserted. The Lord Jesus Christ. I looked
for comforters, but found none. Forsaken, wasn't he? All of his
disciples left him. And then the Father turned his
back. They gave me also gall for my
meat. I wonder if they maybe saw that,
that they lifted up on that pole to the mouth of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that gall and that vinegar for him to drink. Did He go to
Isaiah 53, what we call Isaiah 53? He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we are healed. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shears is dumbed, so we open
not His mouth. What I am saying, first of all,
that the author of this parable that we are looking at tonight
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that all of scripture speaks
of. It all speaks of Christ. And
later in that 24th chapter of Luke, he meets with his disciples
and shows them how that in the prophets, in the Psalms, and
in the law, they all spoke of him. The author of this parable,
let's go back to our text now, to the parable. The author of
this parable is He of whom all the Scriptures speak, the Lord
of glory. Second, the hearers of the parable
was a multitude, but only the disciples heard the explanation. The hearers, the hearers of this
parable was a great multitude, but only His disciples heard
the explanation of the parable. You look at that in verse 34. We see... All these things spake Jesus
unto the multitude in parables. The multitude, the multitude,
they heard the parable of the tares and the wheat. And without a parable spake he
not unto them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I
will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation
of the world. Then, now notice, then Jesus
sent the multitude away. They heard, the multitude heard
the parable, but then the Lord dismissed them, sent them away,
and he returned into the house from which we saw last week.
He came and went to the sea and entered into that ship and spoke
to the people, the multitude from the ship. Now he goes back
into the house and his disciples came unto him saying, declare
unto us the parable of the tares of the field. Now pointed out
to us last week that the hearers of the parable of the sower was
the multitude. But those who heard the explanation
of that parable was also a limited number of people. And we see
the same thing is true with this parable. It was after the Lord
left the boat after he left the boat from which he had been speaking
to the multitudes, that he enters into the house and his disciples
come to him and they ask him to explain unto them this parable
of the tares and the wheat. So the hearers, the author of
the parable, the Lord Jesus Christ, the hearers of the parable, The
multitude heard the parable, but only his disciples heard
him explain the meaning of the parable. Now, the third point
is I want us to identify the persons and the terms which are
used in the parable. The persons and the terms. And the first is a term, the
kingdom of heaven. Notice how the parable begins
in verse 24. Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened. It's like
this. The kingdom of heaven is like
this. Last week, some of you will remember,
last week I pointed out from verse number 11, He answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." Two different things. The mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, now the kingdom of heaven itself. The mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, I said, was is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven is the word of God according to the same parable
as it's given in Luke's gospel. When we think of the gospel as
the mysteries of the kingdom of God, remember that Paul in
1 Timothy said, great is the mystery of godliness. God was
manifest in the flesh. And what's the fundamental, fundamental
truth concerning the gospel? Who Jesus Christ is. Thou art the Son of God. This is a mystery of the kingdom,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God was manifest
in the flesh. But now, it's not the mysteries. It's not the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. That's the gospel. That's the
word of God. But now, in this parable, it
is the kingdom of heaven. It's like the following. So what
does the kingdom of heaven, what does that stand for? It stands
for this dispensation. This dispensation which you and
I are living in, the church has been in for the last 2,000 years.
The Lord Jesus Christ brought an end to that old dispensation. We have two parts of our Bible,
don't we? An Old Testament, a New Testament. The word testament means covenant,
doesn't it? We have an old covenant, an old
dispensation. When the gospel was administered
under those types and those ceremonies and all of those rites, all of
those pictures of Christ. But the Lord Jesus Christ wants,
the writer of Hebrews tells us, wants in the end of the world,
actually the end of the age, that old age, that old dispensation,
wants in the end of the world, Christ hath appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9, I believe that's 24
or 26. So the kingdom of heaven, what
are we talking about? We're talking about this dispensation. This dispensation, because Christ,
remember in Romans 10, it tells us Christ is the end of the law. That word end is the goal, G-O-A-L. The goal of the law is Christ. To present Christ before in pictures
and types and ceremonies, but now He has come. And in this
dispensation, the Kingdom of Heaven, it is, as our Lord says,
and we will see this as we go through this parable. So the
first thing I point out, the term, the Kingdom of Heaven,
what does that mean? It means this dispensation in
which you and I live. When Christ is the King, He's
God's King, set upon His holy hill of Zion. And when Christ
saves a person, He becomes the King of our life. He sets up
His throne in our heart. Remember, He is a mediator. We
receive Him as the one mediator between God and man, as our prophet,
as our priest, and yes, as our King. Alright, the second thing that
we would see in this parable is the man that sowed good seed
in his field. Verse 24. Let's look at verse
24. The kingdom of heaven, that is,
this dispensation, is likened unto a man which sowed good seed
in his field. Who is this man who sowed good
seed in his field? This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of Man. He tells us that in His explanation
in verse 37. He answered and said unto them,
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. He uses workmen. He uses men
to preach the gospel. There's no question about that.
But ultimately, now think about it. Who is this Man who sows
good seed, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. He uses men to preach
the gospel. But yet, ultimately, as Paul
said, Paul planted a pollished water, God gave the increase. You are God's husbandry. So, the man that sowed the good
seed in his field, And notice it says it's His field.
It's His. This world is His. I'm getting
ahead of myself. But let's look at the third thing.
The field in which the Lord Jesus sowed good seed is the world.
He tells us that in verse 38. The field is the world. He sowed
good seed in His field. The field is the world. This
world is His. We used to sing that chorus,
He hath the whole world in His hand. This world is His. It's His by creation. Without
Him was not anything made that was made. He created this. It's His world. I love the way
in Matthew it talks about God causing His Son to shine upon
the just and on the unjust. causing His reign to fall upon
the just and the unjust. It's His reign. It's His Son. It's His field. He owns it, lock,
stock, and barrel. It's His by creation, and it's
His by donation. He's been given it of the Father,
the God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, the good seed. Number
four, the good seed. What does this mean? Now usually
when we think of seed, we think of the Word of God. And that's
the reason it's so important we look at this parable closely.
Because we see now the good seed is the wheat. Notice that. Verse 38. The field is the world,
the good seed are the children of the kingdom. They are also
in this parable, both in the parable and in the explanation,
the good seed are the children of the kingdom. They are also
called the wheat. In verse 25, But while men slept,
his enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat. And they are
also not only called the wheat, but the righteous, in verse 43. Then shall the righteous shine
forth. So the good seed are the children
of the kingdom, the wheat, the righteous. Now John Gill, he
gives seven ways, and it was a blessing to me, and I'm going
to give it to us tonight. But seven ways that God's children
may be compared to wheat. That's what we're called. The
children are called the wheat in this parable. The good seed. The children of the kingdom.
He gives these reasons. First of all, because of the
choiceness of it. That being the choicest grain. Wheat being the choicest grain. So they are chosen of God and
precious and the excellent of the earth. Another way, because
wheat dies before it rises and springs up. So the saints do
and will do, both in a spiritual sense and in a corporal sense.
In a spiritual sense, you remember our Lord said, if any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me. In a spiritual sense, a man must die. Like the wheat, our
Lord said it falls into the ground and dies. Spiritually, a man,
like the wheat, must die and then rise. And corporally, we
know that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. One
day, this body in which we live, it will fall into the earth and
decompose. It will die. But one day it's
going to be raised incorruptible. Another way, because he said
the purity and the whiteness of it. So they are pure and white,
washed by the blood of Christ and justified by His righteousness. Another thing, because of its
substance, fullness, weight, and permanence. So they are filled
with Christ's fullness, and the fullness of God, and fruits of
righteousness, and remain, and cannot be driven away with the
chaff, but continue to live because Christ their head lives. Another way, because of its gradual
increase And that's where I mentioned what Mark tells us in this same
parable. He says that it appears first
in the blade. You know you've planted seed.
I'm sure almost everyone here has at one time or the other.
And it's always amazing, isn't it, when you go out there and
just a little, just a little blade, about a half an inch,
peeks up through the dirt. But it doesn't stay a little,
does it? And the grace of God in our hearts, it begins. It's
just like a seed planted, but it doesn't stay there. Once a
person is born again, we have all of the members we'll ever
have, just like a baby, when a baby is born. Maybe it weighs
about seven pounds, but it's got all of its fingers, all of
its toes, it's got its tongue, its eyes, its ears. It's never
going to grow any more members, but they're going to grow larger,
aren't they? And the same is true of the wheat
versus the blade. The same is true of a child of
God. First the blade, then the ear,
and then the full ear. Believers, we increase in spiritual
light, spiritual grace, and spiritual experience. And then he gives
another way that the wheat are like believers, because of the
chaff that adheres to it. So sin and corruption cleave
to the saints. You know, when they harvest that
wheat, The pod, the actual grain, is
inside, isn't it? Of that outside covering. And Mr. Gill said that's just
like the chaff, that's what it's called, that outside, the chaff.
The way they winnowed their wheat was they would beat the wheat
and then they would throw it up into the air and the wind
would blow the chaff away. But the chaff adheres to the
wheat. And so believers, sin and corruption
cleave to us in this life. And then he went on to say, because
it needs both the flail and the fan, so believers need chastisement,
afflictions, and corrections. None of us like affliction. None
of us like chastisements. And yet, if we be without them,
the apostle says, we're illegitimate. Because God chastens every son
that he receives. Just like a father who loves
his children, he will correct his children. So God, he loves
his children, and yes, he corrects us. And it's necessary, just
like that wheat needs that instrument to beat up, beat it, beat it.
What is it doing? It's doing it good. Because it's
separating that chaff. And then when it's pitched up
into the air, that chaff is blown away. Well notice another term in this
parable. We've looked at the kingdom of
heaven. The man that sowed good seed
in his field. The field in which the Lord Jesus
sowed good seed. The good seed. Now the tares. Who does this represent? The tares. Well, in verse 38,
our Lord tells us they are the children of the wicked. They are the children of the
wicked one who is the devil who plants them. Remember our Lord
told some men, this is recorded in John chapter eight, he said,
you are of your father, the devil. You remember that? the tares,
their father is the devil. He's the one who has planted
them. And I thought about the fact that when we think about
him planting the tares, he is the one who came in the very
beginning in Genesis chapter three and tempted first Eve and
then Adam to disobey God and bring sin into God's creation. And then there's one other term
here, the harvest. What does a harvest represent?
The end of the world. The end of the world. There's
going to be a harvest. This world is not going to continue
as it is now forever. It's going to have an end as
we know it. Now here's the last thing I want
to mention. Here are three lessons for us
to take from this parable. Number one, we will not find
a perfect church in this world. Now, our Lord is not teaching
here that there's never a time when it may be necessary to remove
a member of a local church, either because of his doctrine or his
practice. But what we do see here is If
we make an attempt, fallible as we are, to judge and decide
who is the wheat and who are the tares, and to put the tares
out, then we are sure to go against what our Lord said. He said, let the tares and the
wheat grow together. And in every local church, I'm
sure there are some who are wheat and some who are tares. You'll
never find, if you're looking for the perfect church, you'll
never find it in this world. No wonder we have so many admonitions. We read one just a little while
ago at the beginning of the service. forgiving one another, even as
God hath forgiven you. We need forgiveness, don't we?
Because we all offend. James said, if any man offend
not in word, the same as a perfect mature man. But who is that man? Who is that man that never says
something that offends someone? Another lesson, keeping with
the symbols of plants, wheat, keeping with the symbols of plants,
there will be a harvest. There's going to be a harvest.
The Lord Jesus speaks of the harvest in this parable as the
end of the world. Remember the Lord Jesus spoke
of the last day. Just as there was a first day
in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There
was a first day, so we know there will be a last day. There will
be a time coming when time shall be no more. When our friends,
our loved ones who know Christ when they leave this world, it's
hard to imagine, isn't it, how that they now are in a place
where it's always now. There's no past and there's no
future. They're with the Lord. It's always
now. There's going to be a last day. There's going to be a harvest.
There's going to be a time when time shall come to an end. And
the Lord will send his reapers, the angels. And that brings us
to the third lesson. The wheat and the tares shall
be gathered all. The wheat will be gathered, the
tares will be gathered, but to different places. The tares shall
be cast into what our Lord here calls a furnace of fire, where
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. A place of suffering,
a place of punishment, a place where God is going to put rebels,
those who do not trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. There is a place of punishment,
separation from God. But the wheat, the scripture
says, will be gathered into his barn. His barn. His barn, we know, is heaven. And in that place, he says, they
shall shine forth as the sun. They shall shine forth as the
sun. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless us as we think about this parable. and give us understanding. It's easy to read through these
parables and not pay close attention and the same word in one parable
may mean one thing and in a parable that follows may mean something
else. And that's the reason we have
to study them and look at the words and the terms that are
used. Well, I trust the Lord