Our scripture reading this morning is found in the first gospel of the New Testament, the gospel according to Matthew. Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13, we'll read verses 24 through 30, Let's skip down and read verses 36 to 43. Matthew 13, beginning at verse 24. Brothers and sisters, this is God's Word. Jesus told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this, he replied. the servants asked him do you want us to go and pull them up no he answered because while you are pulling the weeds you may root up the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest at that time i will tell the harvesters first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn skipping down to verse 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field. He answered, The one who sowed the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Then they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Thanks be to God for his word. The preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes states, For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which was planted. Now, even for us living in San Diego County who don't see a lot of agriculture anymore, we do know that there are these seasons, don't we? There are times to plant a crop. There are times where the crop needs to grow. There's also a season and a time of harvest. If we go to a farmer's market or even the grocery store, we know that there are certain times of the year where we can get our produce when it's in season. And there are some times where we have to be patient because the good quality ingredients that we want aren't yet into season. In our parable that we heard in our text, Jesus speaks of these various seasons of the agricultural year from sowing all the way to harvesting. And Jesus only speaks of these in a matter of a few verses. But in these few verses, we hear about these three times, these three seasons of kingdom agriculture. So think with me this morning as we think about these times and the seasons. First, there is the season to sow your crop. Second, there is a season of growing the crop. And finally, the season to harvest the good fruit. May we, brothers and sisters, hear these words of our Lord. and be encouraged that he is in control of all things as a master gardener. But before we look at the first point, let me briefly give to you a little explanation of where this text is in its context. If you look at all the first sentences of most of the parables that are contained in Matthew 13, you will find that most of them talk about the kingdom of heaven. And just prior to our text, Jesus gives that famous parable of the sower. And Jesus explains that parable to say, the seed is the gospel going out. And the fields and the places where it lands are the hearers of that gospel. But once that gospel seed falls on good soil, the plants immediately spring up and bring forth a harvest, thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold, that which was planted. before that the seed wasn't able to take root wasn't able to produce that crop so it's immediately after that explanation that we hear our text this morning the parable of these weeds in a way it's a parable that's very similar to the parable of the sower seeds are thrown and there is a crop that grows to maturity but in our parable this morning Jesus' point is a little bit different. So we're going to be looking at what this parable means and especially all the various parts and what they point to. Now you also may be wondering what does Jesus mean by the kingdom of heaven? He uses it in our parable and he uses it in the other parables in Matthew 13 as well. Well briefly what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom of heaven has already broken into this world. When Jesus came, he brought with him the kingdom of heaven. It has already been inaugurated. It has already been started. So all these parables that Jesus gives to us tell us a little bit about that kingdom of heaven. How it has grown. How does it spread. And how its citizens are gathered in at the close of the age. That's what Jesus means by the kingdom of heaven. So it comes to our first point, the season of sowing the seed. Well, since the kingdom of heaven is here, how has it grown? How does it spread? Well, Jesus tells us, the Son of Man is like a sower sowing his seed in the field. And do you notice who is doing the sowing? It isn't a hired hand. It isn't a mere servant that the owner sends to cast out the seed. It's the owner of the seed. It's the owner of the field who goes out and does the sowing. Earlier in Matthew 13 in the parable of the sower, all we're told is that it's a sower. Just somebody going out to sow this seed. But in our text, the one who owns that seed is the one that is sowing. He paid for that seed. He is going to make sure that every single one of those seeds lands in that good soil. Verse 37, Jesus says, it's the Son of Man who sows that seed. Jesus identifies himself as that sower. He paid for that seed. In fact, he paid for that seed with his own blood, with his own life. With a price like that, he's going to make sure that every single seed is planted in his field. No seeds are lost. No seed lands on the rocky soil. No seed lands on the path where the birds are going to come and scoop it up. All of it lands in the owner's good field. There's also a very important adjective that Jesus says about this seed. It's good seed. Good seed. All of it. If you go to a home improvement store and you buy a bag of grass seed, it might say on the bag, 99% weed free. Now, would you buy a bag of grass seed that said, mostly weed free? Or, we think we got all the weeds out? You have no idea what your grass is going to look like in a couple of months. You want to be assured that they got all the weeds they could out of that bag. But the Son of Man, when he sows his seed, all of it is good. One hundred percent is good seed. And with whom does Jesus identify this seed? In verse 38, the children of the kingdom. This isn't ordinary seed. These are God's children being planted in God's kingdom. Every single Christian has been chosen, has been paid for, and has been planted. And we have good confidence of where we land. We land in that good field. The seeds of the children or the sons of the kingdom aren't just scattered into the world to wherever they are going to land. They're landing in good soil where they are going to produce good fruit. Brothers and sisters, we are that good seed. That good seed scattered by the Son of Man Himself. We are counted as God's children. God's children of the kingdom. And we are regarded good because of the sower. That good sower, the Son of Man. Jesus Christ Himself. So where is this good seed sown? In the parable of the sower, you might remember there are four different types of soil. In our parable, there's only one. The good seed of the sower's own field. Did you notice that in verse 24? The sower sowed the seed in his field. Not only do the seeds belong to the Son of Man, but the field itself belongs to him. What happens to seed that lands in good soil? According to the parable just before, it produces fruit. It's 30, 60, even 100 fold. It grows to maturity. So how does Jesus explain this field? What does this field represent in this parable? Verse 38. The field is the world. What does that mean? Well, right off the bat, we have to wrestle with the fact that the text says the field is the world. In fact, the cosmos. It doesn't say that the field is the church. Jesus uses the word church elsewhere in Matthew, but he doesn't use it here in this parable. So what are some of the implications that this field is identified with the world? First of all, this is Christ's world. All of it. Christ is ruling over this world right now. Not just the church. Secondly, the Gospel needs to be proclaimed to that whole world. God's children of the Kingdom are out there. They have been planted in that world. They need to have the Gospel brought to them. They need to hear the good news. But there are implications for the church as well. I think it is safe to say that we can still learn about the nature of the church from this parable. the nature of the church in this present evil age as it is in the world. You can learn something about the world and the church. Think about it this way. Right now, where are the sons of the kingdom? They're in the church and in the world. Where are the sons of the evil one? They are in the church and the world. Where is Christ ruling and reigning, both in the church and the world? Where is that seed scattered? Primarily, that seed is scattered in the church, but it's also scattered by missionaries and workers in the world as well. So there are truths that not only apply to the world, but also to the church as it is in this world. Brothers and sisters, there will be and there are hypocrites in the church here on the world. The devil has his seeds growing in our midst. But we can also learn that the visible church here on earth, it's going to look different than that church in heaven. The church that we see in glory. But now that we're thinking about this season of sowing the seed, the parable tells us that there's somebody else sowing seed. Not only is the Son of Man sowing the good seed in his field, the parable tells us there's somebody else. The enemy. The enemy of the sower. In the middle of the night, while everybody is sleeping, the enemy comes in and sows his seeds, His seeds that are weeds over the good seed that the sower has planted. Now it's interesting that in Jesus' explanation of the parable, he doesn't say anything about the fact that everybody was sleeping. That the workers of the sower were taking a rest for the night. So we can't go and try to explain who those people were or maybe they were being lazy and sleeping. Jesus doesn't explain to us what those people point to. Jesus doesn't give us that information. But he does tell us about the enemy. He does identify who that enemy is in verse 39. That enemy is the devil. So what Jesus has explained here in this parable is a battle. A battle over this world, a battle over the cosmos. The Son of Man sowed his seed, but the devil came that merry night and sowed his seed on top of it. But these aren't just any weeds. These aren't just any weeds, and there's a reason why. Listen to Revelation 12, verse 9. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil, And Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. Satan is a deceiver and a liar. That's what his name means. And Jesus uses those characteristics of the devil here in this parable. Sometimes if you go out into your yard, it's fairly easy to see what a weed is. It looks different from the other grass in your yard. Maybe it grows faster or grows higher. You can usually tell what a weed is. But remember that Satan is a deceiver. He likes to play tricks. So if he were to scatter seed, do you think it would be easy to identify? No, it wouldn't. In fact, that seed would look very much like the good seed the sower planted before. If you could tell that it was a weed right away, you would pluck it out before it got too big. But if you can't tell what it is, you're going to let it grow. Many scholars think that this weed that Jesus uses is called the Darnell weed. A weed that looks very much like wheat. And you really can't even tell it's wheat until it sprouts its fruit. And even then, that fruit looks really similar to wheat. If you have to have a trained eye, the good reapers would be able to identify between the two. But the fruit of that weed was poisonous. And if it was mixed in with the whole harvest, it would make that whole crop useless. It would be worthless. In fact, it might be harmful and deadly to those who ate that fruit. So Jesus' hearers would have understood what that meant. This is a cruel prank played on this sower. It could bankrupt a farmer if he didn't realize this weed was amongst his wheat. So Jesus characterizes the devil in a very specific way. He's a deceiver. He's a liar. He's the enemy of the Son of Man and he will stop at nothing to thwart God's plans and to try to stop this crop from growing. Well, finally, with whom does Jesus identify this seed of the enemy? They are sons of the evil one. They are exactly the opposite of the children of the kingdom that we heard about earlier. Now, remember that that weed that Jesus used looked very similar to the wheat that the sower planted. It's hard to tell the two apart. Well, children, what do you think this means about the sons of the evil one? Will they be mean and scary? Will they be people that you want to run away from and flee? Will they be wolves walking around the sheep, easy to identify? No, this probably will not be the case. Remember what Satan's name means? It means deceiver. These children of the evil one, they're going to look a lot like us. They will look a lot like Christians and they might even act like very good Christians. But they will be wolves in sheep's clothing. They will be weeds looking very much like the wheat. Well, Jesus makes another connection in verse 41. These weeds will be the cause of sin. Causes of sin. The word that Matthew uses here means stumbling block. It's a word that's used elsewhere later in the New Testament. And we're to be warned about these stumbling blocks. These people that will cause us to fall away. These people that will cause us to stumble and sin. We're to be on guard for these people. Why? Because they are sons of the devil. Sons of the evil one himself. and we are to be on guard for them because they are the weeds growing right next to us they might be our friends and our neighbors which brings us to our next point the season of growing the crop now we all know that it takes a long time for a seed to sprout into the good plant with good fruit maybe even takes months for that to happen And once that fruit, once that grain appears, the plant is almost fully grown. Listen to verse 26. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. So in the time frame of planting a crop, it's probably been months since that seed was sown and those weeds and those wheat were growing together and the workers had no idea. It wasn't until the fruit sprouted that the workers noticed there was something wrong. Now, it would be understandable for a field to have some weeds. It wouldn't be completely pure with seeds and sprouts floating around. But it seems as if from our text the workers were astonished. The field looked like it was full of weeds. It wasn't just a few scattered here and there. There were many weeds in that field. They even went to the master and asked him, Sir, are you sure you planted the right seed? Maybe your bags got mixed up somehow. They were astonished at what they saw in this field. But the master knew what happened. He knew that he only sowed good seed. An enemy had done this. His enemy had sowed these weeds in his field. We heard in verse 37 that the Son of Man only sows good seed. Jesus doesn't scatter his seed into his kingdom just hoping that the seed will prove themselves at the end to be wheat. He doesn't scatter his seeds wondering whether or not he's scattering wheat or weeds and allowing the plant itself to figure it out. No, Christ only planted good seed. The children of the kingdom are planted. Children of the kingdom, good seed and a good field allowed to grow to produce a good crop. If there were any weeds in that field, it's because they were planted there by somebody else. The devil. The enemy. Now the workers are so appalled at what happened and they realize that this could bankrupt their owner and they'd be out of work. So they ask the master, do you want us to go and sow up all these weeds to get them out of the crop? We'll work hard for this to help you with your crop. how does a master respond? No. Because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. At this point in the growing season, it's been a few months since these plants have been planted and all their roots are growing together. If you were to pull out one weed, you could pull out the wheat right next to it. And that good fruit of the wheat would not be able to ripen. It would be destroyed. It wouldn't produce a crop. So the master tells his servants to wait. Let them grow together. Be patient. Now as Christians living in the 21st century, we're probably really disappointed that Jesus doesn't tell us how the children of the kingdom are to live amongst the sons of the evil one. All we're told is to be patient, to wait, to wait for the harvest. Now is not the time for us to separate. Here's where it's important that we see this field not only as the church, but also as the world. In both of these realms, the weeds grow up with the wheat. In the world, we as Christians do have a relationship with this world. We're even told in Scripture to pray for our leaders, to obey them, to respect them. Jeremiah 29, verse 7, Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. We are to live in this world as Christians. Christ in this parable doesn't tell the children of the kingdom to separate from the children of the evil one. To separate from the weeds. And in the church, too, we are to separate from those whom we think are true believers and from those who we think aren't. We can't always tell. The weeds and the wheat are going to look very similar. All we can go off of is a profession of faith, as we heard this morning, and the way somebody lives their lives. So if the field is either the world or the church, the conclusion is still the same. We are living amongst the sons of the evil one. And we are to be patient until the time of the harvest. I know it's hard for us. But the Master tells us to wait. Wait for the harvest. But I think there's also a promise here. It isn't really stated, but we're told earlier that the plants that fall in the good soil are going to produce fruit. They're going to produce 30, 60, 100 fold. And so too, those plants that are sown in God's field in our parable, they grow to maturity. They produce a crop. Those weeds planted next to them don't accomplish their purpose. They don't wipe out the crop. They don't cause it to die. Christ's crop does grow to maturity. God will wait until all of His children have come into His kingdom. All those seeds that Christ paid for, God will make sure they come up and grow to maturity. Sure, the sons of the evil one are going to be allowed to grow next to us, but not for long. There will be a harvest. That brings us to our final point. The season of harvesting the fruit. So the Master tells his servants to wait. To wait for the harvest. Wait for the wheat to be ripe. Then it will be picked. Jesus says the reapers will come into the field, pick up all the weeds, bundle them together, and burn it. That's all the weeds are good for. You can't eat that fruit. All it can be done is burned for fuel in a fire. But the wheat, the wheat will be collected. And it will be brought into the barn of the Master. Into the barn of the Heavenly Father. I don't know about you, but it's when we get to a point like this in this parable when our interest is peaked. The end of the world, what is that going to look like? Those are the types of things we're interested in. Well, Jesus makes some identifications for us about this end of the age. First of all, the harvest is the end of this age. That is what all of history is moving towards. The consummation, the new heavens and the new earth brought in all their glory. When Matthew records Jesus saying the end of this age, he uses that phrase elsewhere in his Gospel. A very significant place. Matthew 28. The very last words of Jesus. I will be with you till the end of the age. We are called to be patient. Living amongst these weeds in this world. And we have that promise. that Christ will never leave us, never leave us or forsake us. He will be with us until the very end. And until that time, we are to proclaim the gospel to all the world. To proclaim the gospel even to the weeds growing right next to us. Well, who are the reapers? Jesus doesn't really explain too much who these are, except that they are angels. Angels that are going to come and do this separating, do this harvesting. We're also told this in verse 49, the parable of the net. The angels are going to separate the good fish from the bad fish. In the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus says, And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. The angels are going to come and do this. Revelation 14, John tells us that the angels are going to gather the grapes and put them into the winepress of God's wrath. Angels, we're told, are going to be the ones who are going to do this separating, to do this harvesting. Where are the weeds to be thrown? In verse 42, a fiery furnace. A place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, fire is used throughout the Bible to signify God's judgment. And the furnace is a place where that happens. Another place in Revelation 9. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit. And from the shaft rose great smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. A furnace is a place where God's wrath is poured out. So it's a very appropriate image that Jesus uses here in this parable. A place of torment. A place of suffering for all of eternity. A place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth doesn't sound like a country club. It doesn't sound like a place that you want to go on vacation. No, it's a place where God's unmediated wrath is poured out on the wicked. Poured out for all of eternity. There's one quick point that I want to mention briefly. When Jesus talks about this harvest, He's talking about a single period of time. He doesn't say to His angels, Go out, gather the wheat. Bring the wheat into my barn. And we'll let these weeds grow for another thousand years. Then we'll come and grab the weeds. That's not what He says. It's going to be one time when Jesus is going to send his angels to separate the righteous from the wicked. One separation of the church and the wicked in the world. That will happen on the close of this age. But there's also good news here as well. Jesus closes his explanation by explaining to us what this wheat is. The grain from the good seed are the righteous brought into the barns which is the kingdom of the Father. Earlier I read from a passage of Matthew 24 where Jesus speaks about the angels going out and gathering who? The elect. Gathered the elect from the kingdom of heaven. And at that final harvest, those are the people to whom the angels are going to come and harvest. The righteous elect. Those who have been chosen before the foundation of the world. Those for whom Christ paid for. Those who have grown and produced the fruit. Brothers and sisters, we are those righteous if we believe in Jesus Christ. We will be the ones that are going to be gathered into the barns of our Heavenly Father, not thrown into the fiery furnace to be burned in eternal fire. Again, Jesus tells us what happens to those righteous. They will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. That's our blessed hope, brothers and sisters. We are going to shine like the sun. That's the glory that is promised to us. How can we be so sure? Well, what Jesus tells us here in this parable in the Gospel of Matthew, Paul tells this beautifully as well in his epistle to the Corinthians. But each his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ, then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Matthew a few chapters later in chapter 17 recounts the story of the Mount of Transfiguration. Remember how Jesus is described? His face shone like the sun and his garments were as white as light. The disciples saw a glimpse of what that glory is. Christ as the first fruit shining like the sun. The glory that we too will shine with at the end of the age. Paul says at the end that Christ will come and deliver his kingdom when all the enemies have been destroyed. It's the same thing that happens in our parable, isn't it? All causes of sin, all sons of the evil one are going to be destroyed, thrown into the fire. and the righteous are going to be brought in to the kingdom of the Father. Listen to more of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. But someone will ask, How were the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, then there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is a man of heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have been born the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. We are dusty and dirty right now living amongst the weeds in this world. But when Christ comes and sends his angels, we are going to be separated. Separated out, based solely on God's electing purposes. Based solely on Christ's perfect righteousness. And we will be given glorified bodies. Bodies that will shine like the sun. Will be gathered into the kingdom, into the barns of our Heavenly Father. And the new heavens and the new earth will come and be consummated here on earth. But we will no longer be dusty and dirty. Bearing the image of the man of dust. We will be bearing the image of the man of heaven. Shining in the glory of the Father. Brothers and sisters, that is our glorious hope. As we wait patiently for that end of the age. As we wait patiently for that harvest. And we say with all the saints of the ages, Maranatha, Lord, come quickly. Amen. Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank You once again for allowing us to look into Your Word and see these wonderful truths about You as a Master Gardener. The Son of Man sowing the seed that He paid for. Allowing us to grow to produce good fruit. And Lord, we look forward to that day when You will come and harvest your sons of the kingdom and we will be transformed and we will be given glorious bodies shining like the sun Lord as we live in this present evil age may we be patient and wait for that day the day when all things will be made new there will no longer be any sin no longer any death no longer any pain no longer any tears Lord help us to be patient for that day we wait for that day Lord to come quickly. In your Son's most holy and precious name, Amen.