The Difference Between Wheat and Tares
December 13, 2006
Pastor Matt Black
Midweek Service
Matthew 13:24-30
Open your Bible to Matthew 13:24-30. We are also going to be looking at a couple other passages tonight. I want to make a contrast between how false Christians see their sins and how the true child of God view sin. The title of tonight’s message is “The Difference Between the Wheat and the Tares”.
Look at Matthew 13:24-30, “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Introduction: Tonight as we look at this passage we come to a burning question. Are there false converts among us? Are there lost people in our churches? If so, what do we do about them? How do we identify them? Do they know that they are lost? How can we alert these people to turn to Christ?
Let us look at this Matthew passage and glean several truths. Now let’s look at the first principle.
We need to realize that there are in every church, both the saved and the lost. There are genuine believers, and others who are totally deceived. We get several truths from this passage we just read. We see that there was “a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.” So here’s the first principle: Where ever there are true believers, there are going to be sown among them false converts. The Bible calls them tares.
THE SITUATION IN THE CHURCH
I. How do false converts get in the church?
A. The devil puts them there. Verse 25, “while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat,”
B. Further we see, in verse 26 that “An enemy hath done this”.
C. Dear friends, as you preach the Gospel, remember Satan is always busy—seeing who he can bring into this church without actually converting their soul!
II. How does Satan bring false converts into the church?
There are many answers to this.
A. First, a false gospel is sown. Look at verse 25, “his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat,”
1. The Gospel that lacks repentance. The Gospel is not clear in our day. Christ said it is an all or nothing Gospel. We have to “forsake all and follow Christ.” If we don’t get repentance straight, we have the seeds of a false Gospel. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” Repentance comes right down to the motives of our heart. Are we grieved about our sin because of what it means in the presence of a just and holy and righteous and good God, or are we looking at it in ourselves and just feeling guilty. True repentance sees a HOLY vision of God as He is in His BURNING holiness!! Think about David’s sins of adultery and murder. David had a burning vision of God! That’s why David could say—you know what the real tragedy of my sin is? I’ve offended God!! “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (Psalm 51:4).
It does us no good to baptize and bring people into this church who have not actually repented of their sins. It is a total death to self and a living unto God. Anything less than total and absolute repentance is a false Gospel.
2. Another aspect of the false gospel is that is subtly pushes human righteousness. “I’ll make up for my sins by [fill in the blank]”. I know I’m messing up my life really, really bad, but hey, at least I’m going to church.
Do you understand that learning the Bible does not justify us? It only makes us more responsible to live it! We are “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). We are called to live out every word we receive. We are to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only! A false convert does not do that, but comforts himself.
3. Many other false gospels could be named. The Prosperity gospel teaches that is a debtor. If I give to God, then God is bound to bless me. If I go to church, and give, and am baptized, He’s going to bless my life and give me eternal life!
The true Gospel is that of repentance and faith! “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling!” It is one of abandonment and great sorrow and joy and one of great conviction about your sin, your only hope being Christ’s righteousness, and Christ taking your place and saving you from the judgment to come!
False converts are really bored with the Gospel. It seems repetitive to them.
Let’s come to another question.
III. Can we get rid of them?
The answer? It’s humanly impossible.
A. Answer: Only God can get rid of them. Look at verse 28, “28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.”
B. Only at Judgment Day will false converts be identified and done away with. Vs 30, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
So we’ve seen the situation of the church. Where ever there are true converts, there are most certainly also false converts. Satan is sowing them with the seeds of false gospels and false motives.
But we come to another place. We come to see now the false convert in the church.
THE FALSE CONVERT IN THE CHURCH
What does the false convert look like? Look over at Jeremiah 2:20-23 says, “For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways”.
I. First, notice that the false convert has had a genuine false conversion experience. Look at verse 20, ““For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress”. He’s sincere. He’s not physically in Egypt anymore.
II. Second, notice, the false convert plays church, but loves the world. Look again at verse 20, “I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.”
A. The false convert on the outside knows all about the Bible. He says, “I will not transgress”. He makes lots of decisions. He constantly says he’s going to do better. He believes because he is sincere, that he must be saved. He is one of the many on the day of judgment that will call Jesus “Lord!”
B. Yet, the false convert, even thought he looks like a sheep on the outside, cannot help himself when it comes to loving his sin and loving the world. Again verse 20, the false convert says, “I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.”
C. Then we see that the false convert takes great comfort in his righteous surroundings yet does not look inward. Look at verse 21, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” A false convert looks at the noble vine of Christ’s church and all the good people here and all the good works that are done. He is busy in the life of the church, but never has time to examine his own heart. If he would examine it, he would see what God sees, “how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” Oh, that the false convert would ask that question! “How did I get so degenerate? I do not belong in Christ’s church. I am a strange vine. I love my sin.” So the false convert takes great comfort in his surroundings, but rarely, or only superficially examines his own heart.
So, he plays church and loves the world, but truly believes he is saved, because he only looks on the “good things” in his life, and refuses to deal with the great love for sin he secretly has. He refuses to look inward and do whatever it takes to get right with God. His conscience pierces him, but he pushes it away, and comforts himself with the wonderful church he is a part of, or that he really is not that bad of a person.
III. Thirdly, the false convert does himself no good by being associated with Christ’s church and with the people of God.
A. Why? Because no matter how he comforts himself, the fact still remains, human goodness does not take away one sin. Look at verse 22, “22 For though thou wash thee with nitre [LYE], and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.”
B. Good works, a sincere heart attitude, and a genuine desire to “do the right thing” never saved a soul! In order to be saved friend, you must exchange your love for sin for a love for God.
C. ***Further, we must understand, that sin leaves an eternal stain on the soul. No human being can take it away. Human effort cannot take it away. Perhaps you found yourself committing sin today. Maybe it was such a little sin. Perhaps it was a look or a lie. Perhaps your heart turned with angry aggression. You said nothing, but you found your pleasure in that which God hates. No outward action was done. It was a little sin. It is not even possible to spot it on the human radar screen. Yet, this sin is such a sin dear friend, that it has eternally stained your soul. All the genuine good spiritedness you can must will not remove it! It is there forever! As verse 22 says, “For though thou wash thee with nitre [LYE], and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.”
You can cover your sin with all the sorrow in the world. Human tears do not remove sin. You could shed as many tears as there is water in the ocean. It will not remove one sin! “Many people think to wash away their sins with their sorrow; But they must know, there is something beyond sorrow, it is only the blood of Jesus Christ, can cleanse and take away this stain.”[1]
IV. Fourthly, the false convert refuses to admit there is anything really wrong in his life. Look at verse 23, “23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways”. Why can’t they see?
A. Because they think they already see, even though they are blind. God says in verse 23, “see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done”. God commands them to see, but they don’t want to see. They are just fine thinking about God in their own terms. Please hear me well. Blind false converts really do think they see, so when God tells them to open their eyes, they feel they have already obeyed His command, but it is obvious this is not the case. He truly believes he sees!! But God again says, “Look at your life!”
B. Because of they believe this is normal for a Christian to live in carnality. God says “thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways”. A dromedary is a young female camel. This phrase is speaks of the about the way in nature a young female camel will run here and there after the male, burning with lust.
The false convert is the same as that female camel—“burning with lust” for the things of the world. Oh, they would never out and out follow after the world. Perhaps in private, they will go to an internet site that is “racy” or “provocative” not because they want to see it, but just because they are curious.
False converts have all kinds of names for their sins:
Ø Curiosities—it’s not sin, I just have to see what’s going on in the world.
Ø It’s Christian! I’ve heard so many sins covered with the name of Christ! So much of entertainment is billed as moral entertainment when it is nothing but godlessness. I’ve seen lascivious music plastered with the name of Christ. I’ve seen churches do nothing but bring in the world. So many false converts have their own industries. They are making a fortune off of advertising the world’s entertainment and the world’s music with a Christian twist. Just this week the seventh or eighth (who knows, who cares) Rocky film came out. It is being marketed to Christians because Rocky is now supposed to have always been some kind of a Christian. And you know what? The false convert still loves the world, but he tries to hide that fact by covering it up and calling his idols “Christian”.
FINALLY WE WANT TO LOOK AT THE MARKS OF A TRUE CONVERT
We will not take much time, but I want us to look at Isaiah 6:1-7, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Just a few things:
1. A true Christian first sees God in all His awesome holiness
2. Second, a true Christian sees himself as God sees him. He looks within. He freely confesses it. This is why true Christians are not the murmerers and complainers in the church. They are not there for what they can get out of it, they are just amazed that they can be any where but hell!!!
3. Then, he basically says one thing for the rest of his life, “for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” He NEVER gets over his salvation.
4. Finally, he has true inward assurance of sins forgiven and acceptance with God. Verse 6-7, “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”
Conclusion: A true Christian is one who sees God and never gets over that vision. It defines him. The false convert just tries to get by. “Examine yourself and see if you be in the faith”!
Closing Hymn: 635 I Have Decided to Follow Jesus