24 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.
(Matt 13:24-30)
The
Collect
Ember
Days
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O
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ALMIGHTY God,
who hast committed to the hands of men the ministry of reconciliation; We
humbly beseech thee, by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, to put it into the
hearts of many to offer themselves for this ministry; that thereby mankind may
be drawn to thy blessed kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pentecost
(Whitsunday)
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O
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GOD, who as at this time didst teach
the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy
Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and
evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our
Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.
I mistakenly mention seven parables in the 13th
chapter of Matthew. On recount, I found that there are eight! So a word to the
wise, do not presume upon our memories – COUNT!
Though most of these parables relate directly to the Kingdom of Heaven, this
parable is a mix of the Kingdom and of the World. Around the end of the 19th
century, there began to be propagated a great lie by politicians and their
cohorts in religion that there existed a great brotherhood which embraced all
men upon the earth. The Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God –
was the popular slogan behind this insidiously false claim. We are not
"all God's chillun'"! There are two, only, families upon the earth –
the Children of God, or the Children of the Devil. We all belong to one or the
other of these two families. While it is true that God created all living, He
does not force His privileged parentage on any. The results of this lie
has been a justification for every excess in governments to collectivize their
economies and societies, and to enforce the mediocrity of Communistically inclined
policies upon their populations. The concept forces all – good and evil – into
the lowest common denominator of value as human beings.
Perhaps our susceptibility to deception is a result of a failure to fortify our
souls with the wisdom and knowledge that comes directly from God's Word. In the
reading of many letters home from soldiers of the American Revolutionary War
and War Between the States, I have observed that there is often greater faith
and mastery in the Holy Scriptures evidenced in those letters than that
demonstrated by most modern theologians and ministers of mainline churches.
Have we forgotten what one thing will assure the destruction of God's people?
Allow me to rekindle your fires of remembrance: My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,
that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy
God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6) Another factor may be that
our ears have grown dull of hearing the Word of God through selective
filtration of things Godly. Jesus concludes the previous parable with this
mysterious command: Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matt 13:9)
There
is an auditory disability called auditory verbal agnosia, also known as
Pure Word Deafness, that is caused by bilateral damage to the posterior
superior temporal
lobes. Well, there is a corresponding disability of the inner ear of
the heart which has disregarded God's full counsel with such frequency that the
Voice of God can no longer be heard by that heart. That heart, calloused by
repetitive sin and rejection of righteousness, has grown dull: Now
the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a
hot iron. (1 Tim 4:1-2)
So, the setting that Jesus confronts is a multitude of hearts that have been
subject to fables and endless genealogies of the Pharisees and Sadducees that
have stunted their understanding and removed any reference point for grasping
these marvelous truths of Christ that are so completely extrinsic to their
primitive minds.
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of
heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
We see a slightly different venue and application in this parable of a Sower
and that of the prior Sower and four different soils. The Sower is still the
Lord Jesus Christ, the field represent the world, and the good seed here
represents the children of the kingdom. 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; (Matt 13:37-38)
25 But while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. It is perfectly normal for men to rest
and sleep after their labors. Such rest does not make them remiss of their
duties before God or man. The point seems that, despite the best efforts of
righteous people, evil is bound to come from that same source it came in the
Garden at Eden – the Devil himself. He works best during the hours of darkness
and his seed are seeds of ruin and death. These seed sowed by the Devil are the
children of the devil. "…..but the tares
are the children of the wicked one. (Matt 13:38b) The one who
sows these bad seed is the Devil: "The
enemy that sowed them is the devil….". (Matthew 13:39a)
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? What do men expect of the seeds they plant? I suggest that
they expect the same nature of plant to grow therefrom as the seed planted. The
good seed produced good fruit. The bad seed produced bad fruit (tares). The
tares are the children of the wicked one, who are filled with his spirit, live
according to his principles, and are under his control. They are not a
degenerate form of virtue, but as distinct as virtue and vice. They often
resemble the good till the fruit begins to appear, but they are as different as
wheat and tares, as thistles and roses. We are the Lord's servants (not simply
the ordained ministry, but all believers). Do we sometimes wonder why our best
efforts and Godly projects are mixed with emotions of greed, jealousy, and
vanity in church? The devil does not restrict his children to the gaming
tables, bars, prisons, and bordellos of the city – he also sends them to church
as purveyors of every indecency. Though all men bear the seeds of wickedness in
their hearts, the mastermind of all wickedness is Satan. He coordinates his
plans and activities with a brilliance that is beyond the mind of man to
understand.
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. Who did Jesus say did this evil? "An enemy!"
Satan is the enemy of your soul. He seeks no other joy than to ruin your hope
and destroy your soul through every means of deception available in his arsenal
of dirty tricks. It is discomforting to know that he NEVER takes vacation! We
would like to clean house of the traitors, but Christ reserves that duty to Himself
lest we ere in our judgment. 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. Good and evil will exist side by side
until the end of the world, then comes the harvest. The reapers will be sent
into the four quarters of the earth to gather, first, the tares. These shall be
shackled and cast into the fires. Then comes the gathering of the wheat (good
seed) which is gathered into His barn (Kingdom).
"… the harvest is the end of the world; 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 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. (Matt 13:39c-43)
Have you heard and understood? The only proof that learning has occurred is by
way of a change in behavior. Is your hearing keen to God's Word, and does your
living stand the earnest of your hearing?
