Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13, in this chapter, our Lord Jesus Christ tells a few parables, and we're going to consider one of them, verses 24 through 30, and then jumping over to verses 36 to 43, where he gives the explanation to his disciples. The parable of the weeds. Matthew 13, beginning at verse 24, as we give our attention to the Word of God. 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 enemies came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The servants, 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. Jumping over 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 it will 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. 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. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's not uncommon to hear members of the older generations talk about the trouble that this world is in. It seems that every generation of believers has lamented. You've heard them, I've heard them. They have lamented over the conditions that their children and their grandchildren will have to face and their conclusion is, I'm glad that I don't have to grow up in this day. And of course, we all know that this is not without reason. With each passing generation, especially in the last hundred years or so, we have seen the advancement of technology with space exploration and with medical breakthroughs and with the computer superhighway. Now you might say, well, what's wrong with that? These things are to our benefit as well. Yet the believer recognizes that with the incline and advancement in these things, there continues to be a much more deadly decline elsewhere. It seems that the closer that we get to the heavens with our space exploration, our space technology, the emptier the church pews are. The more we advance in knowledge, the less we think we need God. It's no secret that we live in a godless society. We live in the midst of that antithesis between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. And the Bible clearly teaches us that judgment is coming. Yet we can't help but to wonder, how long, O Lord, how much patience do You have before You will cast all evil away forever? We consider things like the oppression throughout the world or the fight for power among the nations. We consider the immoral pit that many live in. We consider the countless murders, for example, of unborn children by consciences that are numb to the truth. We consider the decline in the truth being preached by many churches. And again, we have to wonder, Lord, how long are you going to put up with all of this? As Christians, we can feel the heat of the battle as we rub elbows with the world. But in humility, we must praise God for His wisdom. And we must thank Him for His patience as our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in this parable that His timing has His people in mind. We know that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And even though many have tried to read the signs of the times and pinpoint His return, even down to the date. We don't know when that will be. But we must take comfort that Christ delays judgment against the sons of evil for the sake of the sons of the kingdom. A long title, yes. But consider with me these three things. The earthly mingling, the divine separation, and the eternal consummation. Well, we know this parable is talking about judgment. Jesus makes that clear in His explanation of it to His disciples. The harvest points to that day when judgment will take place on the earth. But until that time, there is an earthly mingling. Like the parable of the sower, the seed in the four different soil conditions that you are familiar with. This parable is one of a few that Jesus explains. He told the parable to the multitudes. But He gave the explanation of it only to His disciples. Yet the earthly story here was very understandable. This kind of a situation of the enemy secretly sowing weeds among his neighbor's good wheat seed actually happened on occasion. In fact, I read that at one point in history, a Roman law was put into effect to make this a punishable crime. And there are a couple of details of the story itself that we want to take note of. First of all, the enemy. It goes without saying. The enemy is mean. cruel but also cowardly and vicious he comes at night secretly when all are asleep so he will not get caught he's a coward and that he is afraid to take responsibility for his actions he doesn't care about the time and the expense that has been put into this field he is simply out to destroy this farmer. But then this enemy doesn't sow just any old kind of weed. When we think of weeds, I think most often we think of those that look much different than the crop. We look in our flower gardens. We see the thistles. We see the dandelions. They look a whole lot different than the flowers that are supposed to be there. In my younger days of walking the bean fields in northwest Iowa, our job was to get rid of the milkweeds and the buttonweeds and the cockleburs and the other weeds which were easy to distinguish from the bean plants. But this weed is what is called darnel. And the trouble with it is that while it is growing, it looks like wheat. You cannot tell the two apart until it's too late. It's not until the fruit, the grain of the wheat, appears as verse 26 says, but then the darnel produces nothing but a black seed only then you know you have a problem. But by this time on the one hand the weed seed has produced the seed but also especially because of the broadcast method of sowing just taking a handful of seeds boys and girls and not the nice straight lines but just scattering out over the field it's very probable that the roots of the weeds have gotten twisted and intertwined with the roots of the wheat. And therefore to pull the weeds out would mean that the wheat would also get pulled out and destroy. The farmer knew this. And that's why he wouldn't allow his servants to try to eliminate the weeds too early. Now the servants, to their credit, they were zealous for their master. They had his best interest in mind and they wanted him to prosper. But in his wisdom, the farmer had the best interest of the wheat in mind. He knew that when the wheat was fully ripe, when it was ready to be harvested, then the reapers could separate the weeds from the wheat without losing any of the wheat. Now, beloved Jesus makes the interpretation of this parable plain in verses 37 to 39. 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. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like today in history past and in history future until Jesus comes again and His kingdom will be all in all. When He came to this earth, Jesus ushered in His kingdom rule. He inaugurated it in the hearts of His people. And His kingdom is manifested wherever His word rules the hearts of men. And that is all over this world because God's people are scattered all over the world. The sons of the kingdom are those in whom the seed of the word of God has taken firm root. Those who have been redeemed by the Holy Spirit unto newness of life. Those who have been saved by the foolishness of the message preached, as Paul says. But Jesus makes it clear here that wherever God's people are and wherever God's Word is preached, there is opposition. There is resistance by the devil. Satan sees to it that in this life we rub elbows with his sons. Those whose hearts are held captive to the lie. Those who suppress that truth in unrighteousness. And of course, we know this to be true in our experience, don't we? We know this to be true in our daily life, at work, at the grocery store, at the park, in school. There is an earthly mingling of the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one. But I believe that Jesus in this parable has even a more limited focus in view. He says the kingdom of heaven is like. He's talking about that realm where He governs by His Word and Spirit and where there is obedience to His rule. And where is the kingdom manifested the most visibly? The church. Now, the church is not identical to the kingdom, but is within the kingdom. The kingdom is much broader. However, Christ's church is a manifestation of the kingdom throughout that field called the world. Now, to be sure, outside of the church, there is an earthly mingling of believers and unbelievers. This has been the case since the fall. That's no mystery. But from Matthew 13, verse 11, we read that the parables were spoken by Jesus to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to those who had been given true faith to understand. And the mystery here is that the church which Christ bought with His own precious blood must or is allowed to mingle with unbelievers while on this earth. Romans 9 says, For they are not all Israel who are of Israel. This morning we quoted Paul's words to Timothy regarding in the same house our vessels of gold and silver as well as wood and ash, some for honor, some for dishonor, but under the same roof. These unbelievers are in the form of hypocrites. Again, boys and girls, what is a hypocrite? We said it this morning. One who is one thing in reality on the inside, but gives the appearance on the outside of being something or someone else. Someone has said the hypocrites are to be found in the church, but they are not of the church. They do not belong to it like gallstones in the human body. Since we cannot know them, we cannot separate them by church discipline. when their appearance is made clear, they must be made objects of warning, discipline, and even excommunication. Now consider the parable. The weeds are sown among or in with the wheat. The weeds were not sown next door in another field, but right on top of the wheat. And for a time, the weeds looked identical to the wheat. The stalk or stem, the leaf, the color, are the same. You cannot tell the two apart. Now, in the world, we know that the distinction between the believer and the unbeliever is supposed to be crystal clear. If it's not, we are to blame. We are to be ashamed. But in the church, the visible church, that distinction, that difference cannot be detected so easily. It's not, as Jesus says in the parable, until the wheat and the weeds ripen. The grain fruit compared to the seed of the weed, until they ripen, only then can you tell the two apart. But until Christ sends forth His reapers, we cannot easily distinguish false Christians. At that time, as verse 41 says, 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. It doesn't say they will be gathered out of the world, but those who looked like they were in the kingdom of heaven, as it is manifested on earth, but who really didn't belong, will be taken out of it. Now, beloved, Jesus makes it clear that throughout history, the visible church, the church militant, is polluted with many stains. And that includes the continual sin of the believer, of me, of you. But that's not the focus here of this parable. Throughout history, the true believers and false believers exist side by side and often they cannot be perfectly separated in this life. Remember, Jesus also gave the warning to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. The devil sows his seed wherever the good are found. Where the truth of Christ is preached, The Antichrist raises his voice with a lie. He works subtly in the life of the church. He certainly doesn't blow a loud trumpet blast announcing his arrival. But he implements small changes that add up to big compromise. For example, focusing on man-centered worship and religion instead of God-centered. Removing the focus of the church from her true calling to preach the gospel and to become more engaged in social activities. When I think about compromising the church, one of the things that really strikes me as one of the biggest compromises happens on Super Bowl Sunday. And that is when churches have these Super Bowl parties. On the one hand, I can understand the premise behind that, but it just doesn't fit. It just doesn't go together. Satan works as well to whittle away at the church's one foundation, Jesus Christ, her Lord. As we said this morning, so many deny the cardinal truths of Scripture that we confessed earlier tonight. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He died for our sins. That He's the only way of salvation. That He rose again and so forth. Young people, Satan is there for you. Satan's message to you is, why worry about those religious regulations and those commandments? You don't need to try to be something you're not. Just come over to the world. The world will accept you as you are. But God says, no, you must strive to be something that you are not in and of yourself. You are called to be holy, even as I am holy. The devil sees to it that his sons mingle with the sons of the kingdom and the church too. He is that great enemy who is trying to destroy the field of God. Yet Jesus comforts his people with the message that there will be a divine separation. Judgment is coming. But he also makes it clear that we must wait patiently for his judgment and not try to do it ourselves. The servants wanted to pull out the weeds before they could do more damage than they had already possibly done. But by doing that, they would uproot the wheat as well. The believer's comfort is that the final judgment is the work of Jesus Christ, which means it will be perfect. Because only God can truly read the heart of man on the day of judgment and not one day before. The kingdom will be purged and cleansed from all impurities. But think about it. If this task were left to the church on this earth, we would be in big trouble because we cannot truly read the heart of man. We would throw out some who truly are sons of the kingdom and we would include some who really are sons of the evil one. We are not to take the matter of God's final judgment into our own hands because if we try, the wheat will suffer. But we must let the Word of God do its work. Beloved, that's our task, isn't it? To present the Gospel message. We don't know whom God has elected. And that's really not our business. Our business is to spread the Gospel, to preach the Gospel to every nation. We cannot create the perfect or the sinless church and society. But Jesus Christ can, He will, and in fact, He is. But He is delaying His harvest for the sake of His people, for the sake of you and me who believe. Why? Because we are not ripe yet. The parable makes that clear. The church is not yet ready. The very fact that we are here, here tonight, gathered together, And he has not yet returned means that the wheat of the kingdom is not yet ripe. He won't completely clean up this world and his earthly church until his church is ripe. You know that could be tonight. Are you ready? It could be a thousand years from now. The question is the same. Are you ready? But then what does it say about church discipline? You see, some who have said that this is talking about the church, as I am putting forth, have also gone a bit further and used this parable as a reason against church discipline, including excommunication, saying that the church has no right to cut off anybody from her fellowship. But this simply isn't true. And it doesn't fit either with the marks of the true church as we considered this morning. The Bible is clear that the unrepentant, offending brother or sister must be removed from the fellowship of God's people. But you see, in many respects, these don't look like the wheat. But they are clearly known by their fruit. And although believers cannot create the perfect church, we are responsible, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to seek the purity of the church. We must not neglect this. We are called to be the salt and the light of the world. Yet we know that even our earthly church discipline and the visible church is not final, is it? Its goal is to reclaim and restore the erring brother or sister. Its goal is repentance and faith. But we can't and we don't make the final judgment decision. When will the harvest take place? When will the end of the age be here? Very simply, when all things are ready. When the wicked have filled the cup of iniquity which has made them ripe for judgment, and when Christ's church is full and ripe, then He will send His angels to carry out the divine separation. And this will be perfect. It will be unquestionable as Christ points out when He speaks of the sheep and the goats. The sheep will be on His right hand and the goats at His left. The angels will weed out of His kingdom from everything that causes sin and all who do evil. See, the Greek word translated causes sin. The other version has it stumbling block. The Greek word is skandala, from which we get our word scandal. We've all heard of scandals. But what it means is it's talking about a trap. And more specifically, the part of the trap that the bait is put on so that when it is touched, the victim is trapped. The evils and temptations that the wicked put in the way of God's people in an effort to cause them to stumble and fall into sin will be completely removed from God's people along with all the sons of the evil one. And again, the Bible is clear that indeed this is talking about the wicked men of the world, the world as a whole. But this parable also teaches that this includes hypocrites in the church. Those who try to look converted but are not, they will no longer be a threat to uproot the sons of the kingdom. But we must realize, beloved, that in reality, Christ has already begun that separation. How? Through the preaching of His Word. The faithful preaching of the pure Gospel. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, Paul, speaking of the Old Testament examples, says, Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The end of the age began when Christ came the first time, and it will be complete when He comes again. And through His representatives, the divine Christ preaches His word of separation to the world. The preaching of the Word of God judges people. Because if you're stealing, and you hear, Thou shalt not steal, then you have been judged. Preaching, we know, is a means of grace. A means that God has given to His true church by which He pours out His grace upon His people. Preaching is also, as we said this morning, a mark of the true church. But preaching, thirdly, is a key of the kingdom given to the church by Jesus Christ, which, as Lord's Day 31 says, opens the kingdom to those who repent and believe, but shuts the kingdom to those who will not repent and believe. The harvest has already begun. Through the faithful preaching of the Word of God, ministers announce separation, but Jesus Christ Himself will perfectly define that separation. He is the dividing line. And He delays that final separation for the benefit of His people, for you and me, because we are not yet right. We are not yet ready. And praise God, beloved, that He and He alone knows the time and He knows it perfectly. He has our best interest in mind. But then when that divine separation takes place, there will also be the eternal consummation. Now what does eternity hold for the sons of the evil one? Verse 42 says, They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now for those who don't believe that the wicked will be punished forever, and who don't believe there is a hell. What a horrifying surprise this will be. The description that verse 42 gives is that of incomprehensible punishment. Burning in the furnace of fire points to the most dreadful and painful form of death where one will always be dying, but will never die. Boys and girls, those who will suffer in hell will always be suffering. The most terrible torment that one could ever imagine, but they will never die in the sense of being released from that torment. It will always be there. One commentator describes the weeping and gnashing of teeth in this way, not a weeping in the sense of shedding tears of true sorrow for sins one has committed or for transgressions by means of which others have dishonored God, not a sorrow for impending separation from dear ones or for being the object of unjust treatment by others. These tears are those of inconsolable, never-ending wretchedness and utter, everlasting hopelessness. In other words, no relief, no comfort. This will take place with excruciating pain and frenzied anger. But then what about the sons of the kingdom of God? Verse 43, Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The righteous, those who are considered as nothing in the eyes of the world, yet are the recipients of God's grace here below. They will be the recipients of God's shining glory above. And just as not one stalk of grain will be burned in the fire, and not one weed will be gathered into the barn. Not one of God's elect will be cast into the eternal furnace of fire, and not one reprobate son of the evil one will shine with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. People of God, until Jesus Christ comes again in all of His glory to judge the living and the dead, He has made it plain that the kingdom of heaven as it is manifested on this earth will include both believers and unbelievers. And even though the presence of the sons of Satan is a source of distress and suffering for God's people, this parable of Jesus contains a message of comfort for believers. And that comfort is that the weeds, those who seek to be in the presence of and look like wheat, they cannot harm the real and the true wheat. Now, history, as we think of the martyrs, and maybe even some of our own experience, may seem to contradict this. But the message of Jesus is that He will not allow the weeds to uproot His wheat. His people will remain firmly rooted in Christ. Not one will be lost. Indeed, at times it seems that the wicked overcome and triumph and defeat the cause of God. There are many in the church that may seem to compromise with the world. Many a denomination may forsake the true preaching of the Word of God and adopt alternative ways of salvation. But Jesus Christ assures His true church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against her. And He assures her that as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2.19, the Lord knows those who are His. Romans 8.28 says, as we know, that all things work together for good to those who love God. All things. And believe it or not, this includes the weeds. God uses the weeds to keep His people on guard. He uses the weeds to strengthen and ripen the faith of His people. God's people are called to always be ready, to not become lazy or sleepy in the faith. And the wicked also inspire the church to search out the riches of the Word of God. Church history has proven this. Our completely biblical creeds and confessions were the fruit of heresy, the fruit of controversy within the church where the church was forced to study God's Word and define its truths, its teachings. Christ's message is also that the presence of both allows time for both to ripen. The wheat seed ripens into the man of God who is thoroughly equipped for every good work. He is ripened through struggle and suffering and watchfulness. But the weed seed also increases in wickedness until he is ripe for judgment. And as verse 26 makes clear, the fruit or the grain of the wheat exposes the fruitlessness and the truth of the weeds. Christ delays judgment against the sons of evil for the sake of the sons of the kingdom. And as He waits for that day to approach, that ripening process exposes those who are trespassers in His kingdom and at the very same time prepares the citizens of the kingdom to be harvested into the king's palace. Yet until the harvest is ready, it is still the day of God's grace. And beloved, the inevitable question is what kind of seed are you? What kind of seed are you? If you don't believe in Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ, but are simply going through the motions, then you have no fruit. And apart from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, you are only good for fuel for the eternal furnace of fire. Jesus Christ is the dividing line. Only in Him is there hope, and that hope, beloved, is guaranteed. If you believe in Jesus Christ by grace through faith, then you will experience growth by the power of the Spirit and your fruit will be more visible day by day. And your comfort is that you will be gathered up one day to the Father's heavenly storehouse. And therefore, take comfort, beloved, because our Lord is seeing to it that the seed which has been sown is growing and will ripen, and in His time, the harvest will come. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we pray, O Lord, that You would make us ready for that day. Even as young children, that You would make Yourself real to them. That they might know You, come to know You by the power of Your Spirit. To confess their sins and to look to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. And be able to have that confident assurance, oh Lord, that for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no more condemnation. But we are safe forever. And whatever Satan tries to do, whatever he attempts, no matter what kind of hurt he can give to us in this life, yet he will never be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Father, what a blessed comfort that is and may You help us to remember that comfort in times of distress and times of difficulty to know that we are safe in the haven of rest in Jesus Christ our Lord. In His name alone we pray. Amen.