"...Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles
to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn." Matthew 13:30
Let us read, in the 13th chapter of Matthew, the parable of the tares
as given by the Lord Jesus.
"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven
is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. 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? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto
him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay: lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 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." Matthew
13:24-30
Now, for an interpretation of that parable turn to verse 36 of this
chapter and you will find the parable explained...
"Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his
disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares
of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children
of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy
that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world (end
of the age); and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of
his kingdom all things that offend, and them also which do iniquity; And
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." -- Matthew 13:36-43
I have been thinking much lately about the parable of the tares, so
I started reading it to find out who the tares really represent. I have
come to this conclusion: I have been wrong to an extent. I had always thought
the tares represent all of the drunkards, harlots, gamblers, etc., who
belong to churches. But I have come to this conclusion: if I were the Devil,
I would not want that kind of church member. I would want the best. So,
I believe that many of the lost church members appear to be the best church
members we have.
I used to long for a big church. I used to say if I could ever have
a church with a thousand members I would be the happiest man in the world.
Then, when I got a thousand, I wanted two thousand. Now that I have two
thousand, I want three thousand. But I have a new goal: I would love to
pastor a church some day that is completely regenerated. Wouldn't it be
wonderful to have a church in which every member is born again? Many of
you have, some time, somewhere, belonged to a church as an unregenerate
church member. Sometimes I wonder if we who preach on this often, who preach
and teach that you must be born again, who magnify the plan of salvation
-- if we have people who are tares. Think about the churches who never
hear any preaching about it -- who many of them must be unsaved?
I only want people in my church who have been born again. I would not
spend fifteen minutes of my time going up and down the city begging folks
to join my church who have not personally trusted Christ for salvation.
What we most need today to solve our problems is a re-emphasis on the new
birth. We don't need primarily more training, or more study courses, more
seals, more diplomas; brother, we badly need to get some folks saved in
our churches.
Now, in the beginning of this message I want to make this statement:
THE GREATEST FIFTH COLUMN IN THE WORLD IS IN THE CHURCH.
If I were the Devil, I would get my members in the best churches in
the land, and I would make my members appear the best members in the land.
A drunkard in the gutter is not a good advertisement for the Devil. An
advertisement for the Devil is a good looking lady sipping cocktails or
drinking eggnog at the Christmas party, not a lady with sunken eyes, a
wrinkled face, and discolored hair. A man who goes to church on Sunday,
and goes out to the job as "a man of distinction" is a good advertisement
for the Devil.
THE SOWING
Now, look at the sowing in verses 24 and 25 of Matthew 13. You recall
that the good man spoken of in verse 38 is the Son of man. He is the one
who sows seed in the fields. Now, WE are the seed, and the field is the
world. It says that "while men slept" the enemy came. The enemy is the
Devil.
While men slept the Devil came and sowed his own seed among the wheat.
A tare looks like the wheat -- a tare can be mistaken for the wheat. In
many churches there is no mistake -- they are all of the Devil. But the
Devil comes among God's people, among born-again people, and sows seed
among them that grows up WITH THE WHEAT. The tare grows side by side with
the wheat.
You cannot tell them from the wheat. No one but God and the angels can
tell them from the wheat. Satan's greatest work is not the drunkard, not
the prostitute, not the prison system; but his greatest work is the tare!
One morning I started out to feed my dog. My hair was a fright! Now,
I put my hat on to cover up my hair, and put my overcoat on over my pajamas.
My little boy David said, "Bye-bye, Daddy". He thought I was going to church.
I had my hat and coat on. I was a tare. On the outside I looked like a
fellow going to church. I looked exactly like I looked thirty minutes later
when I was ready to get into the car. I had the same hat and the same overcoat.
David thought I was going to church, but when I took my overcoat and hat
off it was a different sight.
A tare cannot be recognized by those who look only on the outside. A
tare can only be determined by those who look on the inside. The only ones
who can look on the inside of your heart today are you and God and, the
Bible says, the angels.
A TARE IS THE GREATEST WORK OF THE DEVIL.
When did the tares get sown in the fields? Look at verse 25, "While
men slept". Why do you think we preachers go around all the time trying
to wake people up? We are trying to keep the Devil from sowing tares in
the church. A fellow said to me recently, "Brother Jack, you holler too
loud. You need to be a little softer".
I said, "Now, you listen, friend; your church here has, by a standing
vote, only three people who have won any one to Jesus in the last twelve
months. I always make my hollering to a man who is asleep in direct proportion
as to how long he has been sleeping, and how sleepy he is".
When I was in the service let us suppose the sergeant came through at
6:00 each morning, and he came to my bunk with a little engraved invitation
which said: "The First Sergeant desires your presence at the Mess Hall
at 7:00 for the observance of the morning meal". Then let us suppose he
said, "Jackie Boy, if it is all right with you (I do not want to disturb
you because you have been giving some money to the company pot lately,
and you are one of the most influential people in this outfit) -- if you
are so disposed, and if you do not mind, and if you are not too cold, and
if it will not hurt your feelings, would you mind opening brown eyes and
trickling on down to the Mess Hall for breakfast?"
And let us suppose I said, "Sergeant, my Aunt Lucy is coming today,
and I have not seen her in six or eight years".
And, do you suppose he says, "That's all right -- just come when you
can"? Oh, no!
He came in and shouted, "You lazy bunch of buzzards, get up!! It's five
minutes after six -- get on your feet! Get up!!! And he used some more
words that I cannot repeat here. I felt impressed to get up, and I got
up.
The average preacher should do the same. We should wake them up! The
tares are sown in the church while we are asleep. If we will stay awake
in the church the Devil will not sow as many tares.
While we are asleep the tares are coming in. If we do not wake our churches
up, we are going to be full of tares. I can tell many churches are run
by tares, and are full of tares. It happens while we are asleep.
THE GROWING
Now, let's look again at verses 26-28:
"But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. 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? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this".
Do you know what we should say? "Now, let's be ethical about this thing.
They mean well; they are just not dispositioned like we are. Let's not
be critical." But the householder said, "An ENEMY hath done this thing".
"The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them
up?"
The Lord is preaching to me here; I would like to go gather them up.
But it goes on to say, "Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root
up also the wheat with them." We are not to put lost sinners to death.
Wait till the harvest! We cannot send them to Hell. Wait till God sends
His angels to do that.
"Let both grow together until the harvest."
Dear friend, it would do you well to examine your own conversion experience.
The Bible says, "Let both grow together". Anybody can tell a weed from
wheat, but it takes a pretty good person to tell a tare. If you are a weed,
you know it. If you are a tare, the Devil will tell you that you are wheat.
THEY GROW TOGETHER. They go to Sunday School together, they go to Training
Union together, they do church work together. The Devil puts tares in good
churches. he often makes them pray in public, he sometimes makes Sunday
school teachers of them. This may sound a little peculiar, but I am persuaded
to believe that this chapter teaches that the tares look just about like
the wheat. They grow together. They go to church together, may be apparently
some of the best members we have, yet the Bible says that they are tares.
The Lord said to just let them grow together.
ONLY THE ANGELS KNOW THEM. Many times a tare looks as much like a Christian
as a Christian does. Often the Devil makes his tares look so much like
wheat that often they make better looking wheat than the wheat. But they
just do not make very good bread. Only the angels know.
THE KNOWING
We have seen the sowing, the growing, then there comes the knowing.
Look at verse 30 of chapter 13. The Lord is speaking now. "Let both grow
together until the harvest", and it says over in the explanation in verses
36 to 43 that the harvest is the end of the age. Dear friend, the KNOWING
is this: the end is coming! Look out, tares, when the end comes! You can
fool those who plant, you can fool those who water, you can fool all of
those who chop the weeds -- they will never chop you. You can fool all
of those who irrigate, and all of those who fertilize, but you will NEVER
fool those who reap.
You looked like wheat, you acted like wheat, you prayed like wheat,
but you are a tare. Dear friend, the end is going to come! But you say,
"I do not feel bad about this thing". You won't friend, until the end comes.
I do not think that you will feel very bad, because as long as you are
looking like wheat, as long as folks think you are wheat, there is no reason
to feel bad.
You know when you'll feel bad? When you are afraid that you are not
looking to people like wheat. If the Bible is true, then there are going
to be tares sown among the wheat, and when the harvest time comes, the
end of the age, you will be found out!
The second thing about the knowing is that the showdown is coming. The
angels know.
The third thing, I want you to look at verse 30 again: "Gather ye together
first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them". The tares won't
be any good at the harvest, because they are no good to anybody. All the
tares are going to end in being burned.
I do not care how good you lived in the harvest field, if you are a
tare, you are going to be burned.
HE KNOWS HIS OWN. May I ask you a question? Are YOU wheat, or are you
a tare? How do I know that I am wheat? Listen to me, dear friend; the Bible
says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Salvation is not crying, salvation is not a sorrow for sin, salvation
is not a sorrow for getting caught, salvation is not a turning from sin
alone, salvation is receiving Christ by faith completely, realizing that
we are sinners condemned by our sin, realizing that Jesus on the cross
died for sinners and that if we will receive Him as our substitute we can
be saved. This is a transaction between the sinner and the Saviour. Examine
your heart, as I have examined mine, and BE SURE YOU ARE WHEAT.
