Let the Tares Grow Together with the Wheat

As we begin to think about, to pass over this year, I believe it might be helpful to discuss a topic I have not personally ever discussed before. I've rarely heard it spoken of in the church. Maybe in 50 years I may have never heard this topic.

Jesus brought it up only once in a parable in Matthew 13. Now, most things that Jesus does are shared by the other gospels, the synoptic gospels. You'll find Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and oftentimes you'll find three parallel versions of something that Jesus says. But not this one! It's only in one place. It's in Matthew 13.

It's not in the book of John, either. This sermon is not intended to make us judgmental. It's for self-reflection. As we begin to think about ourselves and our own examples and how others may perceive us, we heard a very good split sermon about our world view. And the thing to always realize about your world view is you really don't see the world as it truly is.

You see the world as you are. You see, that's our world view. So, I'd like to talk about a topic today that is not intended to be judgmental. It most certainly is not intended for any of us to say, that's one. Over there, there's one! That person was one. That's not what this sermon is about at all. So, let's go to Matthew 13 and see the statement that Jesus made that is not repeated in any other Gospel.

Chapter 13, verse 24. Jesus is giving a parable, another parable he put forth, to them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while he slept, his enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have tares? He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, No. Lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.

But gather the wheat into my barn. Indeed, a very unique parable. The word tare here is from the Greek word zenion, and it means darnel, or false grain. Something that appears to be real wheat, it has a head on it, and it appears, it grows for a while, and it's hard to tell the difference between it and the real wheat, but in time you can tell that it is a false grain, false wheat. It's a term again for grassy weeds that resemble wheat, generally identified as darnel, also genus loleum. If you're into botanical names, here's what Wikipedia says about this particular plant. This is from Wikipedia describing loleum temulentum. quote, darnel usually grows in the same production zones as wheat, and was a serious weed of cultivation until modern sorting machinery enabled darnel seeds to be separated efficiently from seed wheat.

Continuing, the similarity between these tote plants is so great that in some regions, darnel is referred to as false wheat. It bears a close resemblance to wheat until the ear appears. The spikes of l-temulenium, or temulentum, are more slender than those of wheat. Wheat will appear brown when ripe, whereas darnel is black. So that gives us a little background agriculturally of the difference between the two. This parable from Jesus is a warning to the faithful throughout time, throughout history, where he's going to explain it in a few minutes, and we'll get there.

But this is a warning to the faithful that among believers throughout history would be those who want to appear on the outside to be disciples, want to appear to be with it on the outside, and seem to want to fit in, at least a little bit.

But over time, their fruits are showing that they are not part of the faithful flock. I want you to notice the explanation in Wikipedia that false grain does have seeds, but they're different from the beneficial fruiting heads that grain has when it's ripe. When you grind up grain, it tastes really good. It makes bread, and it makes lots of things that we enjoy. The same is not true of attempting to eat darnell. Let's now go to verse 34.

It says, All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes and parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, and this comes from Psalm, chapter 78 and verse 2, by the way, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.

And he answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. It's Jesus Christ Himself. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. Those are the disciples throughout history, that God would call from the time of Jesus until the time that Jesus Christ returns. But the tares are the sons of the wicked one, the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is at the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness. That word lawlessness is from a Greek word anomia, and it means someone who's unrighteous, someone who violates the law. Jesus was a moral teacher. He emphasized a way of life that we are supposed to live, a way that we are supposed to think about God and think about our purpose in life.

And when we are contrary to that, through our conduct, through our attitude, and through our thinking, then we are practicing lawlessness. We are not with the program. Verse 42, "...and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." So, tares are very carnal individuals who are led into the church by Satan. And, again, they may look authentic on the outside, at least for a while, and they usually want to associate with the church.

They might even attend regularly. They might want to be involved in some church activities, I don't believe that a tear is going to be a part of it to a degree, but inside they are unconverted, they're carnal, they're selfish, and often downright evil because of Satan's influence.

And, of course, they're a tear. Just like I don't believe that a false prophet wakes up every morning and says, I'm a false prophet. No, I believe they have convinced themselves that they're enlightened, that they're just smarter than the churches or other people are. And they've conned themselves into thinking that they are a prophet of God, or they are who they think they are. As I said, we don't see the world as it really is. We see the world as we are. So we have to change our worldview and see the world as Jesus Christ sees the world, not any longer see the world as we are. So, again, I don't believe a tear wakes up in the morning and says, I'm going to create havoc in the Church of God. I think it's the natural byproduct of what's going on inside their hearts and minds that makes them gossip, that makes them negative, that makes them condemning of other brethren, makes them condemning of the Church, makes them critical. It's what's going on in their heads that fosters the bad fruit.

Now, some may stay short-term, years, a few years. Some may stay for decades. And personally, I have seen both examples in my Church career.

Now, one thing I want to emphasize, as you can begin to go to Matthew 7, I'd like to emphasize, is we should never confuse brethren who simply lack motivation or education with being a tear. That's an unjust accusation.

Having no fruits, or few fruits, is different than having evil fruits. So we have to be very careful again not to do finger-pointing and not to judge other people. The reality is, the one who will judge is Jesus Christ on Judgment Day. He said, let them alone. Let them in the field.

And then the angels themselves will come and gather them after Christ's return, and there will be an accounting for everyone, including ourselves. So we should never confuse brethren who simply lack motivation in life or lack education of how to be different and the steps to change their lives and call those individuals a tear. Those are two totally different experiences.

The way to discern the faithful believer from a tear is the kind of fruits that are produced in their lives. Tears can be members. I'm here to tell you they can also be ministers. And I've known a few in my church career. Matthew 7, verse 15.

In this case, Jesus is going to bring out an example of a type of tear. In this case, it is someone with a religious title. It's a false prophet. It is someone in the ministry. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. Again, this is a type of tear. And I notice how, again, how they want on the outside. They want to appear to be part of the church. See, I'm a little lamb. Just like all of you are part of the flock of God, I'm one of the flock! See, so they are in sheep's clothing. But inwardly, what's going on inside here? Their attitudes, their thoughts, which are going to produce their actions. They are ravenous wolves. They are destructive. They are disruptors. And they're harmful. Let's continue. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Well, no. When you grab a thorn bush, you go, ouch! That's not a positive experience. You don't get grapes from a thorn bush. You don't get figs from thistles. And you grab a thistle, and it can be very painful. It will get your attention. Figs come from fig trees. They don't come from thistles. Verse 17, even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Verse 19, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's a direct allusion to what we read in Matthew 13. A direct analogy there with that parable that Jesus mentioned. Let's continue. Verse 20. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them, either positive, productive, spirit-filled fruits, or fruits that are the result of a selfish, carnal, critical, gossipy mind. One of those two. You shall know them by their fruits. Verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Jesus and God the Father, they're not interested in lip service. They're not interested in magical sayings like, I believe in Jesus. Therefore, the great cosmic forces are changed, and you went from being condemned to salvation. If you just said those few magical words, as unfortunately many teach and believe today. But it says, he who does the will of my Father in heaven. And what is God's will? God's will is that we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as we repent our sins. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we continue to live the rest of our life, growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, developing the mind of Jesus Christ within us. And that means we are learning to remove the carnality, remove the selfishness, remove the me from our lives.

And we are transforming our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit into becoming more spiritual, thinking spiritually. And the end result of that is going to be having a positive mindset, realizing we're the most blessed people on earth, because we've been called to the greatest mission and purpose that any human beings could possibly be called to in this lifetime. And that should change everything. And if we're sitting at home and we're whining and crying about the church and saying that God's people are cold or whatever we're saying to ourselves, we're not part of the program. The problem isn't them. The problem is us. So I think it's important that that be said. Let's continue. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? I was a prophet. I said things that came true. And I said, in the name of Jesus, these things are going to happen.

Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out demons in your name. And it's natural to assume the demons left when they did that. And done many wonders in your name, in the name of Jesus, and some wonder occurs, some miracle happens. And I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness, anomia. I know what was in your heart. Aside from the facade show you were putting on to gain attention to yourself, and a lap in the glory of people's praises, I know what you were thinking. I know what was going on up here with your attitude, with your thoughts.

That's what I understand. Verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, the sayings of Jesus, the moral teachings of Jesus, aren't so that we can just philosophically say, Oh, that's really wonderful. That's enlightening. I think I'll spend an hour meditating on that profound statement of Jesus Christ. That's not the purpose. It's to do them. That's the purpose. I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat in the house, and it did not fall.

For it was founded on the rock. Who is the rock? It's Jesus Christ is the rock. There is no other foundation. If you want to withstand the storms of life, it's not prophecy. It's not idolizing men. It's not living in the past. There's only one rock, and that rock is Jesus Christ himself knowing and having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Verse 26, And the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. Why? Because they didn't see the world as it truly is. They saw the world as they are.

They lived in a self-delusion. That everything is alright. That I'm okay. I don't pray, study, meditate, or go to church very often, but I'm okay. They lived in a form of self-delusion. Verse 28, So we can see from this scripture that everyone bears some kinds of fruits in their lives as a result of their character, as a result of what's going on here between their two ears.

They're either primarily good or primarily bad, depending on individual choices. But again, as a word of caution, I must say something more about this topic, because I know human nature, and I know we may have a tendency to judge one another, and that is not, again, the purpose of this sermon. I have to say something more about this topic.

We should not be in the habit of judging others, or accusing them of being tares. I want you to notice the parable, that Jesus and the angels were the ones who could recognize in advance who the tares were, but they said, let them continue to grow. Let them continue to be in the flock. They might not be growing in a positive way, but they're going to bear fruit.

Leave them alone. It's their responsibility. It's not our responsibility to judge. It's not our responsibility simply to do finger-pointing. The judgment upon them doesn't happen until the return of Christ. And again, I want to emphasize a terror can be a member or a minister, and I also want you to notice closely what stage of growth Jesus makes in his judgment. What stage of growth is it in? It's in the fruiting stage after a full season has occurred, and it's time for fruits.

Jesus does not say, you shall know them by their leaves. No, that's too early. The leaves are the first thing to come out. Maybe the weather pattern is delayed. Maybe it's still too cold, and the leaves aren't ready to come out in their lives. That's too early to judge someone. Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them. Jesus does not say, you shall know them by their blossoms. No! That's too early. Some people are late to bloomers, so you shouldn't judge them by their blossoms.

We must be careful not to judge too early in how we judge others. That's very important. And again, I want to emphasize the purpose of this sermon is not to judge other people. It's just to explain the parable so we all understand what Jesus meant, and when we are introduced to terrors, that we understand there is a reason they are here, there is a reason that Jesus said, leave them alone, and let them be until the time of the harvest.

I'm going to make one extension from that. If any person is so evil that they are negatively influencing the Church of God, then it's time for the pastor to step in and tell them to stay home. I mean, the pastor does have that authority if someone is so evil and so negative that the evil has gone beyond themselves and is beginning to influence the congregation. Let's now go to John 13, verse 16. Did Jesus have any tears among his disciples?

Have you ever thought about that? Did he have any tears among his disciples? John 13, verse 16, this is the Passover. Let's see what he says. He doesn't use the word, tear, but I think we can easily make connections with the parable in Matthew 13. Most assuredly I say unto you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you. If you hear them, think nice thoughts about them. No. If you do them, those are our fruits.

I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. And again, Jesus is quoting from the book of Psalm that happens to be chapter 41 and verse 9. Verse 19. Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.

So in the future, when you see that indeed I was betrayed and it leads to my death, you will know that in advance I told you there was a betrayer among us. Verse 20. Most assuredly I say unto you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit, the thought of being betrayed. No one likes to think of being betrayed by someone whom they loved and trusted. Remember, Jesus washed Judas' feet as well.

So the thought of betrayal, which is where he's getting to in here, it troubles his spirit. And testified and said, most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Now this happens to be John. John is not egocentric. This is from his book, the book of John, and he's not the kind of person who said, well, Jesus said this to me, and Jesus said that to me, and I was Jesus' favorite.

And it's me, and it's all about Jesus and me, and that's not the personality that John had. One of the disciples whom Jesus loved, he's referring to himself. That's how he knows this whole conversation between Jesus and a couple of other people happened. Simon Peter, therefore, motioned to him to ask who it was whom he spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is he to whom I give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to the Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him.

Do you remember Matthew chapter 13, where it said the enemy was Satan? Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. Verse 28. For no one at the table knew what reason he said this to him, so he gets up and leaves. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, he was kind of the treasurer of the group, that Jesus said to him, buy those things we need for the feast, upcoming days of unleavened bread, or that he should give something to the poor, which again shows that part of Jesus' lifestyle was to give something to the poor.

That's why they had that thought that maybe that's what Judas was sent to do. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately, and it was night. So in this case, the evil spirit of Satan literally entered Judas. However, we shouldn't think that it was only from this point on that Judas demonstrated the evil fruits of a tear. This wasn't the start of it. Let's go back a chapter to John chapter 12, six days before the Passover.

And John himself makes a commentary about the character of Judas Iscariot, six days before that event that Jesus dipped a piece of bread in it and gave it to Judas. John chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus, who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead, there they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenhard.

This is an amber-covered essential oil that's very powerful, very desirable. Still expensive today, by the way. And she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not given or not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? Now three hundred denarii happened to be what an average agricultural worker would earn in one year at that time. So it was a lot of money. So on the outside, the tear wants to appear to be righteous. Why?

We could have used this to help the poor. We could have used this to help people. And here's being wasted on the Lord. That's what he's implying. Verse 6. This he said, this is John's commentary, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box and used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, let her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial, for the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always.

So Judas Iscariot wanted that sold for three hundred denarii so that he could steal some of that out of the treasury box. He could care less about the poor personally. So we see that Judas was a false disciple, perhaps going back years, perhaps in the day that Jesus invited him to be part of the group.

I don't know that. But obviously, his intentions and his character were corrupted before the literal Passover when Satan literally entered him as Jesus was fulfilling that prophecy from the book of Psalms. So Judas was a false disciple and the other disciples like John knew it. So did the other disciples say, and this highlights why God leaves, tears into the faith. Did the other disciples say, well, let's see, Jesus knows everything. He's the Son of God. He's the Son of Man.

Well, how could he allow, I mean, if he is the Son of Man, if he is the Messiah, how could he allow this scoundrel to be part of us?

How could he let that happen if he's God? How could he?

Because the tear was meant to be a trial and a test for the other eleven.

Were they going to put their focus and their lives on Jesus Christ, or were they going to put it under the disfunctions of a man?

That's the question. Jesus Christ or men, focusing on men and their faults and their sins and their errors, which, if you focus on, can crush your faith, can be a faith buster, and can cause you to lose faith and cause you to disassociate yourself from the true believers because you're focusing on the wrong thing.

Let's go to Titus chapter 1 and verse 10 and see if Paul recognized the presence of tears in the church.

Again, he doesn't use that word. The only place that word is used is in Matthew 13.

Now, again, the context here happens to be ministers in Titus chapter 1 verses 10 through 11. Paul is writing here, for there are many insubordinate, or many who are rebellious. They have their own agenda.

Both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, especially those who had previously been Jews and were called into the faith, they probably weren't happy with some of the things that Paul was teaching.

Whose mouths must be stopped to subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain, Paul says to Titus. Dropping down now to verse 15.

To the pure, all things are pure. What's your worldview? Do you have a can-do attitude? Do you have the faith in which you believe life is enjoyable, life is meant to be fulfilling, life is meant to be productive, that you have an incredible purpose in this life?

Or is it focusing on something else?

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Then it's time to gossip, and it's time to make judgments about the ministry, or judgments about the church, or whine and complain about things.

Again, to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, though they want to appear to be part of the faith. But even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God.

Yep, I'm one of the flock. I'm in the Church of God. I'm in this particular congregation. They profess to know God.

But in works, deceit, lying, gossip, lack of consistency, not being part of the program, but in their works, they deny Him. The fruits are wrong.

Being abominable, another word for that is detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

So Paul himself also recognized those who wanted to look Christian on the outside, but their fruits told a different story.

So again, why didn't Jesus do anything about Judas?

Why did Jesus teach, through the parable in Matthew 13, that the tares should be allowed to remain with the wheat until the harvest or until the judgment?

The tares are there, always have been, and according to the parable, always will be until the return of Jesus Christ, are there to challenge the faith of the true believers.

The tares can be very discouraging, and from my own personal experience, I can tell you they are very, very discouraging. They are a test of your faith.

It's important to know why they are allowed to be mixed in with the good harvest. God knows they are there, and He allows them to remain until the judgment for a reason.

And that reason is this, as we encounter tares in our Christian walk, do we place our trust and faith in God, or are we disillusioned by flawed human beings?

Are we discouraged by the humanness of other people who are in the church?

Their evil works, the things that they say, their actions that contradict our doctrines.

Are we going to focus on that and say, God, where are you? How come Mr. Thomas doesn't do something about this?

How come this is allowed to happen in God's church? Or are we going to focus on the rock?

Not on men, not on their flaws, their foibles, their weaknesses, their humanity, but focus on Jesus Christ Himself.

And also, this is just a little bit of speculation in my part, God is a loving and merciful and patient God, and He may want to give them time to come to a point of repentance and change what and who they are before judgment.

I can't turn to a scripture and prove that will happen, but again, I'm just speculating and I'm openly speculating that maybe God is hoping that some terrors throughout time come to wake up, get out of their self-delusion, realize they've been manipulated by the evil one, and come to a point of repentance, and do more than just want to appear to be part of the crop. But literally, through change and repentance, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, indeed become part of the growing crop of Jesus Christ.

Our final scripture today, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 18. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 18, our final scripture. John writes, little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come by which we know it is the last hour. Now, what is an Antichrist? Some people try to make this out to be more than it is. To some people, they want to make the Antichrist to be this super wicked prophet who, at the end times, does so many things. He says the Antichrist is already among them. 2,000 years ago, an Antichrist, this isn't rocket science, is someone whose lifestyle, attitude, and works are against Christ.

They're in the church. They want to appear to be part of the flock. They want to appear to be part of the crop of God, as long as they don't have to get too committed, as long as they can have one foot in and one foot out. But their attitude and their work show they are against Christ, his moral philosophy, his teachings regarding forgiveness and overcoming and changing who and what we are from carnality and selfishness and gossip to being someone who is positive and someone who is promoting the Church of God and someone who is encouraging others rather than trying to put people in the church.

They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. Now, in this situation, they didn't last for decades and decades. They came into the church for a while. They were tares. And because they got resistance or people didn't listen to them or whatever the case, they left the church. And John says here they obviously were never part of us to begin with because they would have continued with us if they were part of the flock of Jesus Christ. Continuing verse 20, but you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. Let's cling to that anointing that we have because we are part of the true flock of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of this sermon today is for self-reflection. It's to help us to prepare for the Passover. It has not been given so we can judge one another, but we can ask ourselves what our fruits show about us. What do our fruits, what do our lives tell other people about us? Tares have been in the church of God since the time of Jesus Christ.

They will continue to be in the church of God until Jesus Christ returns. Sometimes they are members, sometimes they are ministers, sometimes they stay for a few years and then leave because they realize they're not welcome. And sometimes they stay for decades.

That's something that we have to acknowledge and realize is part of what Jesus Christ teaches us through that parable.

Their presence and conduct are often a test for the faithful. Let's make sure that we're producing the right kinds of fruits that glorify God.

And let's make sure that we don't allow ourselves, because of something that we see, because of something that someone else does in the church, to discourage us, to break our faith, to begin to question, if this is God's church, how could he allow this to happen?

Why doesn't Mr. Thomas do something about this person?

Hopefully you know the answer to that now.

But let's make sure that instead of looking at the negative and focusing on the weaknesses, the dysfunctions, and the humanity of people who are struggling, and in some cases are just downright evil.

And let's make sure that we're focusing on the rock on Jesus Christ.

I wish all of you a wonderful Sabbath day.