I invite you to turn this morning to the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew, found on page 1040 to chapter 13. We're pausing our studies for a short time here. Typically, we're going through Acts in the morning. I started a parable last week and thought a few parables would be good. I'll be going on vacation later in July and getting ready to speak for RYS. and I have the privilege of installing one of my former students, John Bushnell, at the Sioux Center United Reformed Church, so I'm grateful to do that. I have never been to Iowa, or Dort, so some of you think I've missed the promised land, I'm sure, but I promise you that I haven't. But when I get to Iowa and I stand in front of the sign, I'm going to take a picture. So, there you go. Matthew chapter 13 this morning. Matthew chapter 13, we're going to begin at verse 24, verse 24. He put another parable before them saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him master did you not sow good seed in your field how then does it have weeds he said to them an enemy has done this so the servant said to him then do you want us to go and gather them but he said no lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them let both grow together until the harvest and at harvest time I will tell the reapers gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn he put another parable before them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field it is smallest of all seeds but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened. All these, all these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables. Indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. I will open my mouth and parables. I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are angels just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire so it will be at the end of the age the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and law breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace in that place 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. And there is the reading of God's word. I had someone say to me this week, Pastor, what is going on in the world? What is happening? We have never seen this stuff before and the intensity and the conflict is so is so difficult to process what what what in the world is going on and i said to him things are are certainly moving at least in my short life faster than than um than i've ever seen at the these last 10 years the warfare uh between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light has really come to a painful head at least at our particular time and in our country darcy and i talk about these things and and it just seems like everybody is going through something what is normal anymore what is normal life anymore all the conflicts all the problems what do you consider stable anymore whatever was it i think it's easy in the midst of all of this all the confusion the cultural confusion to forget the teaching of our lord on this struggle it's so good to be reminded of these things that he answered this and he explained this for us in the kingdom of why we face so much conflict and why things are moving and at times it really does rise up and rear its ugly head in ways that we never thought and i thought this morning it would be a good moment to spend reflecting on the parable of the wheat and the tares for it's one of those parables probably one of the most clearest for understanding kingdom life christian life in the kingdom and i believe that jesus gives us this fascinating parable to explain life in the kingdom as Jesus is reigning over all. Why the conflict is so fierce. Why things are the way that they are. It is in this regard a very practical parable to help us understand these things when there's so much confusion and so much heartache and so much anger at times and so much frustration which I know is real and you all face how many times are you just sick of listening to the next news report and what people are saying and the most ridiculous of causes they are pursuing you're tired of it and the lord is giving us something to help us understand how the kingdom comes how the kingdom comes so it's intended then to be a great encouragement to you as it explains for us the nature of the conflict and the struggle. And its basic message then is don't lose heart in the midst of all this. It is going somewhere. It's rapidly coming to an end. But there are certain things along the way where you are right now you need to consider. And that's what this parable is helping you. You need to consider for if you don't consider these things, you will have wrong expectations. And your wrong expectations easily lead you astray that's what we're going to look at with this particular parable there is a time coming when all injustice notice there he said when all lawlessness is finally put away there's a time coming when the righteous will shine like the sun in glory but until then you need to consider a few things jesus had just got just finished giving uh the parable by which he said every other parable needs to be understood through the lens of this parable and that parable was the parable of the sower the parable of the sower i used to um and that parable is helpful because it describes four kinds of hearers in the kingdom when i used to look at these parables especially the parable of the sower i i had a limited view of um of their application in other words i i tended to as i look back in my past and applying these i tended to be a little more narrow in looking at its scope to looking more so only at the visible church and i think that that is one application of it but these are looking much more broadly than that jesus is describing his kingdom rule shown in the church breaking into the present kingdoms of this world and what are the consequences of that what's happening because of that what is really going on in the rule of jesus and what is the consequence of it breaking into this whole world i believe that's the the important thing to think about when it comes to the parables of the kingdom you have to look at the full picture that he's giving us and in the sower he began by talking about the first thing was, this is why it's so important, it was response to his word. The word of the king. The word of the kingdom. There are those who he said first, hear the word. Remember the four applications to this. There are those who hear the word and it was like a farmer going out and throwing his seed and it lands on the path. Those hearts are so incredibly hard that they cannot receive that word. They will not receive that word. It makes no effect in their lives, no impact on their lives. They immediately hear the word and they are away from it. The devil comes and snatches away what was heard. This is a vast population of the world who wants nothing to do with the word of Jesus. And I have seen as a pastor, I don't know how many times preaching, how many people have hardened their hearts in face at the word of God. It's tragic. Then he said, there's another kind of hearer who's like a soil that is full of stones in the soil. And the word is cast upon it. The word is the seed. The seed is cast upon it. And it immediately receives it with joy. It's excited about the word. But there's no root. And once persecution, once hardship comes because of that word, they're gone. Well, we've seen a lot of that. We've seen a lot of people who spring up quickly in the church, spring up quickly who hear the Word, and all of a sudden, this is the greatest thing ever. They're in, they're in, they're in. Give it three months. Give it three months. I've seen this too many times in the ministry. They're gone. It just, when it got hard, they couldn't take it. That's the second kind of hearer that he talks about. And there's the seed that's going to be a little important for us this morning, a little bit. The seed that lands among the thorny places where we read that the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, they're all about the present and living and money and all the cares of the world, all of that. They're not growing in the Word. They can sit under the Word, but it chokes them so that they never really produce any fruit. They're just warm bodies, warm bodies with the Word. Then there's the soil that bears fruit. They hear the Word. Jesus says they understand the Word, and their life is full of fruit. Beautiful. Now, this could bring some distress to the true believer, couldn't it? What kind of hearer am I? The disciples are thinking a lot about these kingdom parables and they're confused because why then, if it's supposed to be something that people should hear and understand, why are you speaking in parables? And they ask that question to Jesus. And Jesus says openly something very powerful in verse 10, doesn't he? Because you see, to you, it has been given to know the kingdom of heaven, but to them it's not been given. wow did you hear him it is not anyone who has any ability to hear the word of god and understand the word of god you you can't do that on your own it's a gift he gives that to you he gave that to you so implication then is to be a good hearer is a gift of grace to be a good hearer is to hear the word understand the word and bear fruit is all grace it's the implication of that but that's not given to everyone jesus is clearly speaking of sovereignty of god election in salvation something we don't talk about much anymore It's all over the Bible. He says in verse 16, Blessed are your eyes for they see. See that? And your ears for they hear. I blessed you to hear. I blessed you to hear. The mysteries of the kingdom of God have been given to you. Being the good soil is the fruit of God's election. Because I've chosen to reveal these things to you is the reason that you're able to hear and be a good soil and bear fruit. So that is where he has explained at this point why he's speaking in parables and what he's doing with parables and why he's answering in this way. So now what happens is he tells another parable of, you'll notice there, the weeds, and then he sends the multitudes away. They don't get the explanation. To them, it's not been given. Jesus sends a multitude away. He goes into the house. The disciples come to him. Explain to us, if we're blessed, the parable of the tares in the field. We want to know about the tares. We don't understand this. We don't get this. What are you saying to us? Now remember, blessed are your ears for they hear. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore again, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy's done this. So the servant said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Let them both grow up together is clearly the effect there and something you can't miss. As with parables, we begin to think of the situation. A good man built a beautiful field. It was a garden. Everything was beautiful in that garden. There was nothing wrong in that garden. it was lush it was beautiful his servants um said to the man there's something terrible i see in that garden i see all the beautiful plants but in the midst of it all are tares growing up what is that and he said an enemy came in he slithered right on in there he planted tares he's um explaining a dynamic that we have to understand and realize that is happening in this man's vineyard in his kingdom in his kingdom life under his rule now jesus is about to be as open and as plain as i have ever read them illustrating the principle demonstrating the principle blessed are your ears for they hear he is as clear here as i've ever read him listen to the language here in um in verse 37 the one who sows the good seed is the son of man that's me the filled is the world the good seed is the sons of the kingdom the weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age the reapers are the angels just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire so it will be at the end of the age that is so clear isn't it why why is jesus so plain here and it seems uh so simple in fact i started thinking can i really get a sermon out of this you're saying you didn't say that but i did say that it's so easy jesus is telling us that all throughout history there has been a development in his world all things were made through him in his creation in his rule within the great sphere of his kingdom rule the devil has taken his seed and sown it and he has intermingled among the good seed his seeds now jesus was talking about like this all the time when he dealt with the pharisees you are of your father the devil not everyone is under the fatherhood of God. Jesus spoke this way a lot. And here he is telling us so clearly, describing this phenomenon that an enemy, a cowardly enemy, waited until everyone was asleep and he went into the good field of the good man and he went in and he dispersed terrors there. Imagine somebody doing that to your beautiful garden. The word for terror here means an obnoxious weed. Fungus is on that weed. If any man or the word that he's using here, if anyone ate this particular weed with its fruit on it, they die. So it's really pretty plain. The Lord took his seed, his sheep, and he loved them. And he planted them. He had always planned to give them the kingdom. Nothing will stop that. All of their days, he nurtured them. He cared for them. Defended them. Sheltered them. Gave his best for them. But the enemy came in and did an obnoxious thing in his kingdom. Corrupted the whole thing. All the way back in Genesis chapter 3, we remember that Satan slithered right on into the garden, boys and girls. And since that time, the Lord declared after the fall when we all plunged ourselves into sin that there are two seeds in the earth. There are the seeds of the king, the one who would come, who'd crush the head of the serpent, and the seed of the serpent. Right there were the two seeds and history has shown us that everywhere. And that is how the devil has worked in the field. You think about all the things that are happening right now, how the devil has ripped up everything good. How do we get to a point in the world that a believer is simply assaulted for holding to the moral stances of God's Word? You don't see these two seeds in opposition everywhere? Of course you do. Now, why is he telling us this? It's not too hard to understand. It's hard to accept. It's not hard to understand. It's hard to accept. And the first reason that it's hard to accept, I've got two major reasons that it's hard to accept. The first reason that it's hard to accept is because of the great danger that people will live in this world, the good seed will live in this world, thinking that this is all normal to life under the sun. And if you think this is normal, you become indifferent to the development of the kingdom, to anticipating the coming of the king, to make this right. And you think this is an acceptable course of things in life, right? That all the problems that we see, all the evil that we see, we go forward and we begin to think little about it. All the injustice. We begin to think little about it and we slowly become desensitized to it all. It no longer affects us. We get up in our days, it's just normal. This is all normal. All the stuff we see that has now become ingrained into the new morality of society, whatever that might be, what they call it that. It's just normal. This is life. This is how it's supposed to be. And the first message here is, It is wrong to accept that this is right in the kingdom. This is not right. This is not right. All of this mess that we're in, all that we see, we are just so used to political discourse, some of the most vile speech now and things that I've ever heard, no one thinks any more of it. It's just, it's all normal to us. And at some point, people should stop and say, something's not right. You see how important this distinction is for your children, don't you? For if they don't understand this, they grow up thinking this is okay and right and normal. They accept life this way and thinking that this is normal. That this is what God has for us, really. And that all of the confusing things that are happening to them, they need to hear it's not true. It's not true. It's the lie of the devil. What has happened to this world is bad. Something went terribly wrong. And here, the Bible is constantly telling us you don't have an enduring city. It's coming to a quick, swift end. you have a home promised to you in heaven and think of the beautiful phrase in 2 Peter where I promise you righteousness shall dwell forever and this becomes so important for us then for at the heart of our prayers has to be what we were told to pray Lord Jesus come quickly make this right make it right because of the awful damage that the tares are doing to the wheat think of all the theft violence what we consider normal today it's not god's way it's not god's way jesus doesn't want us to accept this that way as normal we are to have righteous anger righteous anger over the enemy not only of death it's it's one of the few things that a few reasons i really like a funeral because i get to at that moment defy death because jesus beat it the rebellions of the enemy and of the terrors who've trashed this beautiful field there's a second great reason there's a second great reason did you notice verse 26 look at it so when the plants came up again and bore grain then the weeds appeared also and the servants of the master of the house came and said master did you not sow good seed in your field how then does it have weeds and he said the enemy's done this so the servant said then then do you want us to go and gather them and he said no lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them i think this is a fascinating moment in the parable to ponder something that jesus is emphasizing that in other words jesus is saying with this obnoxious weed that is growing in the kingdom there are certain stages of growth with the weed and with the wheat that you can't tell a difference. From the early stage, they're still a blade. They have no fruit, no buds, no heads. It's not until the grain begins to grow out and fill out that a major difference begins to appear. On the blades, their own kind of bad head. and on the wheat their own kind of good head what is being described for you there's a for a time you can't tell tears grow up and for a moment you can't tell and they have a moment of glory but at some point the kind of fruit appropriate to what kind of sun they are shows itself and when jesus said you're going to know them by the fruit that they bear that's how you're going to know they bear certain kinds of fruit and that's how you can tell but but notice jesus says it doesn't show until they bud so the question of the angels is really important do you want us to go and fix this right now we're ready you tell us we'll put a stop to this right now no no lest you uproot the wheat with the tares i think there's such a beautiful message there beautiful message as buds are starting to show they obviously are seeing that the ratio of tares must be pretty large few tares wouldn't be all that concerning but they need to be bundled here's the second reason for telling the parable what is it we have to be patient all the antagonism all the discouragement all the hardships make us want to give up i know i know you get weary of all this it just keeps hitting you and all the pain of what the devil is doing and working and all of his terrors in the world that he has planted among the righteous. But God has his children planted. You see, that's why the Lord doesn't put a stop to this. Why? It's not yet manifested who the sons of God shall be. So in other words, the Lord has his wheat in the earth. And many of them have what? Not yet budded. They've not yet budded. That's why we're here. Remember Peter said in 2 Peter 3, the Lord is not slow in giving you the promise. He's not slow in giving you heaven. That's coming. That's coming real fast. But He is what? Long-suffering toward us. Not willing that any of the wheat should perish. But that all of them come to repentance. He is long-suffering toward His wheat. He's patient in letting them fill out. there are still um and there are still a lot of blades out there that are indistinguishable um from the tears that have not yet budded and that's what what makes the the prayer uh lord jesus come quickly somewhat bittersweet when he comes salvation's over it's over it's done so how much knowing that how much more are you willing to go through this and be patient knowing that the patience of the Lord means salvation i think i've used this before but i'll use it again because i think it so illustrates everything that this that this parable is saying to us my father you know grew up with parents in the church and um He attended the Reformed church all those years. But he would tell you later on in life, he just did it out of routine. It wasn't in the heart. It was just a social thing to do. He had friends. What kind of hearer was he? You couldn't tell. You could not tell. Until later in life, he became an elder of the church, and I saw my own father, Bud, at 50. I could not have told you. I was not sure if he was a true believer before that. But I saw it. I saw it. And do you realize this is what's happening right now? Right here? You've been sitting here a long time. Have you believed? Where's the fruit? It's not always numerical growth that the church is always blessed with. One of the things that makes me so humbled to be your pastor is, I've seen in six years being here, this is one of the great benefits all pastors get to see under ministry, is blades that begin to show, wheat that begin to show budding in fruit. You know what a joy it is for us when a young person says, Pastor, I want to profess my faith. That didn't just come quickly and easily, did it? There's a lot of training and nurture and care that went into that. And patience that goes into that. I have to be patient with my kids, don't I? It's hard sometimes. Some of you may be dormant for years. And the Spirit all of a sudden takes that word and plant it in the heart makes you born again and there it comes there it comes justified by faith believing the gospel and it's over you're saved here's the point what happens when we are impatient and frustrated with how kingdom life is going what do we do we begin to say it's not working or something's got to change or it's all going to die or listen none of what we've said in the past seems to be working we are in perilous times time to adjust time to change this is what we do so what what happens at that moment here's the danger we start to become seduced to find fixes for the state of things because the assumption is that the kingdom of god should not have these kinds of problems and this kind of opposition in it especially not the church so we have ministries that just beat on the church incessantly for all of its failures the church yes fails we get sideways in our mission but the calling of the church is not political the calling of the church is not social the calling of the church is not economic but because of the state of the world right now because of the tears are in panic right now mode can't you see it they're all searching to fix the world and they're all talking we got talking heads everywhere. Terrors can't reform themselves into being wheat. You understand that? So what are their discussions right now? Well, whatever the popular solution is of the day, whatever the hot button topic is of the day, what is it right now? Social policy, racial reconciliation, on and on and on. This is their, the tares problem right now. all day long we hear it all day long we hear it and the church isn't quite where it should be right now is it right we're patient we're supposed to be because the fullness will come when the kingdom comes in fullness so whatever the tares are all worried about well now we're worried about because we have to be relevant to the tares you see we really want the tares to listen to us it's kind of shocking in this language isn't it so we're seduced into their discussion into their answers and reform all of our mission around theirs Alistair Begg was recently commenting on this and he said something I thought was so helpful because we have lived through in the U.S. a period of time whereby the social political and economic concerns have increasingly encouraged, I'm sorry, encroached on the minds of those who should know better and have begun to take on virtually a life of their own, we have begun to be seduced by the idea that these really are the issues. That if we could fix this and fix this and fix this, we would be fine. But we were never invited to fix this and fix this and fix this. The calling of the church is to proclaim the gospel and whenever that which is central, namely the gospel, becomes peripheral, then that which is peripheral inevitably becomes central. Use whatever issue you want to use, right? And I would add that at these moments we get sideways on our mission and mandate and we begin to judge the church not on the basis of what we're called to do, but upon the tares concern of results. Do the means of grace work? Well, not really good enough because look at the state of things. Isn't this just what Jesus said not to do? That the cares of this life choke the word so that it becomes unfruitful and we're no longer hearing the cares of this life? So we forget this basic principle is what I'm trying to say this morning. The kingdom of heaven does not come in ways that you expect it to come or as the world will think it come. I listened to the experts today and they forget this basic principle of the kingdom of God. It is like a mustard seed. What is a mustard seed? When it grows, you can't, it's slow. Who watches a plant grow? When you look at the seed, you're probably going to say as it comes up, something's wrong with it. It's not filling out right, you know? It's lopsided. That's how mine are. But in the end, the Lord assures you, it will be a beautiful big tree. Did you see that there? That's right in the middle of this for a reason. But we are impatient and we are restless. And I would suggest it all has to do with our children. I would suggest it all has to do with our children. Where's the response? Many of us have an over-realized eschatology. Jesus is saying, on the whole, don't accept the state of things. Yes, he's saying that. Be faithful to the mission and mandate I've given. But remember, the kingdom of God does not come with observation in the ways that you think it should look or right now in our impatience that we expect it to happen. On that day, we're going to see something that we all looked for and longed for. A full kingdom of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. And we will stand back and say, wow, I had no idea. It was really being accomplished. Like I said, when a young person professes their faith, there you see it. Jesus is saying, be patient. The fields are white for the harvest, yes. some have not yet budded his elect are coming in but remember in the midst of this why it's so hard is because satan has planted tares everywhere and you know wherever the godlier planted next door the ungodlier planted that's kingdom life the tares can never ultimately listen to this message we're going to close harm you they can't you are a victor in jesus he purchased and loved you he cared for you he promised that he has reserved a place for his people in heaven and all of them will be there nothing can snatch you from his hand these are all the promises that are all over the scripture and the parable this morning assures you to press forward why because it's not going to be much longer that's the closing take from this isn't it it's not going to be much longer notice how jesus explains the end of the parable the harvest is the end of the age the reapers are the angels therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so it will be at the end of the age a 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 there's when justice and all the injustice will be finally dealt with and will cast them into furnace of fire into the furnace of fire there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father he who has ears let him hear well this is what jesus said in revelation 14 then i look and behold a cloud and one sat on that cloud was like the son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle and another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud thrust your sickle and reap for the time has come for you to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe and he is going to separate the wheat from the tares and that's his whole point in this parable but he makes this promise to you the righteous his people who believe in Jesus will shine forth like the sun that's coming but that's not now together we'll be doing that you will shine like the sun never to no separation hardship pain tears crying sorrow all former things will have passed away and you will dwell in a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells forever let this then be a great encouragement to you that no matter what happens here he'll keep you it's a short time he'll keep you be patient recognize he's giving you and the people next to you in the pew today time to to mature for some to believe, then all of us together on that day will fully comprehend what it is with all the saints to know the wit, length, depth, and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your wonderful Word. And if we have heard this word today and not fought against your word well you have done a great work in our lives blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear you said give us to be patient keep us in grace let us not be restless let the world not control our speech let us remember why we're here and we fully trust that the results and the consequences of tending to the preaching of your gospel will accomplish as you are the builder. You are the king. You will fill your house as we looked at last week. Not one will be lacking. Thank you, O Lord, for parables of the kingdom and for giving us understanding. Forgive our sins for being restless, narcissistic, and wanting things now when you've promised us that this glory comes in the new heavens and the new earth. So we say, come, Lord Jesus, quickly. And until then, save all your people. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.