The Wheat and the Tares, Part 2a

Tonight, as we study once again the parables of our Lord, help us to understand our responsibility before you in a lost world. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We've been looking at the kingdom parables in Matthew chapter 13, where Christ explains to his disciples what the kingdom of heaven is going to be like. They understood the kingdom of heaven by realizing that God himself would rule on the throne of David for the city of Jerusalem. But what Christ was explaining in Matthew chapter 13 was the age between the rejection of Christ and the return of Christ.

It's called the mystery. And he details for them what that mystery is going to be like. So they will have a better understanding of the kingdom of God, that is a spiritual kingdom. They understood the literal kingdom, God with us. They did not understand the spiritual kingdom God in us. And so Christ was going to slowly but surely explain to them to what the Bible calls the kingdom parables, Matthew chapter 13. He began by telling them a parable concerning a certain sower who went out to sow in his field, and he threw that seed on four kinds of soil.

Some of that soil was cold. Others were crowded, others careless, and some, some were clean and became converted. And he would explain to the disciples what exactly was going to happen during the kingdom age as they would begin to sow the seed of the gospel and what would happen to people as they listen to the Word of God. Some would respond and some would not. The reason they can bear fruit is because Paul would say in Philippians 2, verse number 13, that God is at work in them both to do and to will of his good pleasure.

That's an assurance the believer has that God's at work in us. So the fruit that is produced in the life of the believer is a fruit that's produced because of the power of God working in the life of that individual. In the meantime, the true believer would coexist, would co-mingle with the false believer. There would be the wheat and the tears. And Christ would give another parable. He would tell them about how people would receive the gospel, and then he would tell them about what would happen throughout that kingdom mage, as some would be rejectors and some would be receivers, that they would live together.

They would commingle together. They would be a part of the same field together. Of course, until the harvest, and at the end of the age, which is the harvest, the reapers, who are the angels, would come, and they would gather up the tears, and they'd be burned. They'd gather up the wheat, and they, of course, would go into their father's kingdom. And the disciples would then ask a question. They would want to know about this parable of the tears. Lord, if these people are going to reject you and they're not going to give their life to you anyway, why wait until the end of the harvest?

Why wait until the end of the age to rid the world of them? Just get rid of them now. Why wait? But there's an important lesson that all of us need to learn. And that is that the children of the kingdom are to influence the children of the devil. they are to plead with them to come to Christ. They are to persuade them to be a part of God's glorious kingdom. They are to proclaim to the children of the devil, the truth of God's glorious kingdom. But the point that Jesus wants his men to understand is that during the church age, the cold hearts and the counterfeit hearts, symbolized by the tears, would exist along with the wheat between the rejection of Christ and his return.

To illustrate that, I would like you to turn with me in your Bible to 2 Timothy chapter 2 for a moment.

In 2nd Timothy chapter 2 I was discussing with our leadership on Monday night this particular passage, and it kind of helps us understand the wheat and the tears. Paul tells Timothy that he needs to be the kind of man that is to study to show himself approved in the God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. He's not to get up, get involved in idle chatter, meaning that he's the man of the scripture. People of the world have worldly wisdom. And to get involved in a conversation about worldly wisdom brings ruin to your hearers.

That's what Paul would tell Timothy in verse number 14. He would say, do not wrangle about with words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Paul was concerned that Timothy would be a man of the word, a man of the scriptures. And that that, that if he battles with other people concerning their views of the world and what they believe is true, then he's going to waste his time and it will cost those in his flock greatly. So Paul goes on to tell him that he needs to study to show himself to prove to the God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handing outly the word of truth.

And then he says in verse number 16, but avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene among them are hymenius and phaedis, men who have gone astray from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they have upset the faith of some. Paul tells Timothy that he needs to have a focus. He needs to have a certain ministry, and that is to make sure that he knows the Word of God, so he approves himself or proves himself a solid workman, a true man to the Word, so that those who follow him will know what the truth is.

Because there are some people like Hymenius and Phyletis who are in the church, who were once in the church, and they denied the resurrection and destroyed the faith of some. That is, there were some that were on the verge of coming to faith in Jesus Christ, but never did because they were led away, they were led astray by these two men who denied a very important doctrine concerning the resurrection. Paul goes on to saying, nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having the seal. The Lord knows those who are his.

Timothy, the Lord knows those who are his. You don't know necessarily those who are gods. And let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness. Now, verse 20. Now, in a large house, there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Paul tells Timothy these words. Timothy, listen.

In a large house, let me give you an example. In a large house, you have, you have good utensils, you have okay utensils, earth and where, gold, in contrast one to another, some for honor, some for dishonor. The context of Secondivity two deals with false teaching. And in God's house, you have two kinds of vessels, vessels that are honorable and vessels that are dishonorable. People like Hymenius and Philetus, people like Timothy. People who are true to the word, those who are not true to the word.

And Timothy, what you need to do, verse number 21 is if a man cleanses himself from these things he will be a vessel for honor sanctified useful to the master prepared for every good work Timothy you you've got to cleanse yourself you got to purify yourself you don't separate yourself from these people you don't rid yourself from the world you don't exclude yourself from the world but you purify yourself from their evil thoughts from their wayward traditions from their heresy you purify your country conscience, you purify your life, and you remain a man of integrity.

In doing so, you flee you for lusts. And you pursue love, he goes on a saying, you pursue faith, peace, and righteousness, and all those who call upon the Lord with a pure heart. He says in verse number 23, but refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. And the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach patient when wrong with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, meaning those people like Hymenius and Philetus. If perhaps, perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil having been held captive by him to do his will.

In summation, Paul says Timothy, in a large house, there's all kinds of vessels, some for honor, some for dishonor. And Timothy, you've got to be a man who cleanses yourself. You've got to be a man who purifies yourself so you can be a man able to teach, gentle, patient when wrong, so that you can be able to present the truth of people so that if God, grants them repentance, they will be able to be led out of Satan's captivity into God's glorious kingdom. Paul is explaining to Timothy the parable of the wheat and the tears, how they will coexist together throughout the church age, in helping Timothy understand his responsibility, not to separate himself from those people, not to isolate himself from those people, but to be a kind of man who is firm on the truth, stands strong in the truth, because if he preaches truth, some of those people might receive repentance, the gift of repentance, and be taken out of Satan's captivity into God's glorious kingdom.

You see, in the large house, God uses both instruments, the earthenware, the wood, as well as the gold and the silver. He uses the earthenware as object lessons of the power of evil. He uses the deceit them as obdict lessons of the deceitfulness of sin and the awful treachery of man's heart. People like the Judases, the Ananiasis, the Simon Maguses, all throughout the scripture, the Demases, people that are in the church, that look like everybody else in the church. But you've got to remain true to the word because you don't know who the true believers are, who the false believers are.

But Timothy, you've got to remain true. So that God will use you in their lives. lives because God might grant them repentance. And that's why the wheat and the tears will co-mingle and coexist together throughout the church ain't, so that some of them who are taken captive by Satan to do his will will will be transformed into the kingdom of God's dear son. But the disciples wanted to ask a question back to Matthew chapter 13. As to what we do with these people and Christ says they're going to live together until the end of the age.

That's the harvest. We pick up our parable, where we ended off in verse number 39, when it says this. We'll pick up the narrative in verse number 37. The one who sowed a good seed is the son of man. That's the Messiah. And the field is the world. And it's for the good seed. These are the sons of the kingdom. And the tears are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age. And the reapers are angels. The harvest is the end of the age. You see, the disciples are a lot like you and me.

Why do we have to live with these people? Let's just get rid of these people. I remember the story of James and John when there were a Samaritan village that they went through and they weren't willing to accept Christ and to receive him into the city. And they wanted to know if God was going to call down fire from heaven right then and devour them and consume them and destroy them. How dare they reject the Messiah? Sometimes we think, you know, Lord, you know, how long is this going to happen? How long is this evil going to continue?

How long is this treachery going to continue? I'm reminded of Revelation chapter 6, the fifth seal. Verse number nine when it says, he broke the fifth seal and I saw underneath the altar. The souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And there was given to each of them a white robe.

And they were told that they should rest for a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also. The fifth seal speaks of the prayers of the saints at the altar of God in heaven, asking God, pleading with God, How long, O Lord, will this continue to go on? How long, O Lord, until you avenge these people for what they have done? It comes back and says, well, it'll be a little while longer. There's more of you that have to die.

And when you are all finished dying and the number is completed, then, then we'll become, then will come the end of the age, then will come the harvest time. And then the Lord Jesus Christ will reap upon them his wrath. The Lord is saying, to his men, don't be impatient. You're going to want to be. You're not going to want to be around the world. You're not going to want to be associated with the world because of its evil and wickedness, but be patient. To the end of the age. That's the harvest time.

It's the ultimate consummation of judgment. Christ would speak of it later on in Matthew chapter 13. When he says these words, verse number 40, therefore, just as the tears are gathered up and burn with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. down in verse number 49. So it will be the end of the age. The ages will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the furnace of fire and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew chapter 24, verse number 23, the disciples ask Christ the question, give us the signs of the end of the age.

What is it going to look like at the end? And of course, Christ gives what is called the all-event discourse and begins. to explain to us men what's going to happen during the tribulational period. As you recall in Matthew chapter 28, Christ says that, lo, I will be with you.

Until the end of the age, until the consummation of the age, until the harvest time, I will be with you. Go into all the world, make disciples, go into all the world, and baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Coexist with the tears. Share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. And lo, I am with you always. even to the end of the age. In verse number 28, as you recall, in the parable, the servants asked the householder, wilt thou then that we should gather them together?

Should we pull up the weeds along with the weed? And Christ says, or the landlord says, no. Literally, Christ says, no, don't do that.

Because you can't always tell the wheat from the tears until the end. It's not to the end when they show their heads that you can really tell the difference between the wheat and the tears. And if you go around pulling up all the tears, you might pull some wheat up with them and you might hurt some people who are true believers, so don't do that. Wait to the end of the harvest, the end of the age. We as believers are not called to be executioners. We're not called to attack the unbeliever. We're called to attract the unbeliever.

Not attack, the unbeliever. God didn't tell the church of Jesus Christ to judge the world. He himself is going to be. to judge the world along with, of course, his angels. And that leads us to the reapers. The reapers are the angels. The angels are intricately involved in the judgment of God. And God uses the angels as such. The Bible says that God is going to judge men at the end of the age, and the angels are going to be the reapers over in Matthew chapter 16.

You recall the scenario with Christ and his men, And when Peter gives that great confession, when Christ says, I like to know what the popular opinion is of me.

Who do men say that I am? And of course, he said, well, some say you're Jeremiah. Some say John the Baptist. Some say your great prophet. He says, but who do you say that I am? Forget about the popular opinion. What's your personal opinion? Who do you say that I am? Peter pipes up and says, hey, you're the Christ. It's the son of the living God. Christ comes back and says, flesh and blood is not revealed that unto you, but my father who is in heaven, Peter. And then he goes on and tells his men, but he says, but don't tell anybody about who I am.

Don't tell him what you just said, Peter. And he says, why not? Because the son of man is designed to die, to suffer, to be crucified. And Peter says, oh no, that's not the way it's going to be. You're wrong about that, Lord. And Christ has to rebuke him, get thee behind me, me Satan. And then Christ gives that discourse when he says this. Verse number 24, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever wishes to save his life. shall lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for a soul? For the son of man is going to come in the glory of his father with his angels and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. This is what you tell people. This is what you need to tell them. If you want to follow the Christ, here's what is important. because one day the son of man is going to return. He's going to return with his angels.

And at that time, he will pass judgment upon all man. Over in Matthew 24 in the Olivet discourse, verse number 31, it says this. Verse number 29, we'll start there. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. And the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heaven will be shaken. And then the sign of the sun of man will appear in the sky. and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the sun of men coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

The angels are the reapers. They're involved in it. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Revelation, the 14th chapter.

Revelation chapter 14. Here we see the angels once again involved in the judgment of God. When you come to the 14th chapter of the book of Revelation, you'll notice that on Sunday mornings and on Wednesday nights, I give a lot of illustrations for the book of Revelation.

That's because we just studied it not too long ago for over two and a half, three years, and it's my favorite book in the New Testament. But it helps explain that the fact that the Son of Men is going to return and that the angels will be with him, and the angels are involved in this judgment at the end of the age. And we need to understand that. But when you come to Revelation chapter 14, we're talking about the end. We're at the end now in Revelation chapter 14. So, wait a minute. I thought there were 22 chapters in Revelation.

Yes, there are. But if you understand the chronology of the book of Revelation, John is now seeing what's going to happen at the end. And it's illustrated by a grain harvest, and it's illustrated by a grape harvest. The great harvest at the end of the age, because Christ says it's at harvest time.

at the end of the age is when I will separate the wheat from the tears. And my angels will be involved in that because they are the reapers. It says this. Verse number 14. And I looked and behold, a white cloud. And sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Now, this is the last time. Remember we talked about the phrase, the son of man, and how the Jewish people knew that the phrase of son of man. of man was a phrase designed specifically for the Messiah because they had read about it in Daniel chapter 7 verse number 13 they knew what the Bible said and Christ called himself the son of man this is the last time the phrase the son of man is used in the Bible do you know when the first time it was used by Christ you say no I don't when was the first time that was used by Christ Matthew chapter 8 verse number 20 he said these words foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man has no place to lay his head.

The first time it's used, the son of man explains he has nothing. The last time it's used, it explains the son of man is going to take everything. Because it's all his anyway, see? He's coming back to claim this world as his own. And so when you look at the grain harvest, and you see the son of man with a crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand, and another angel came out of the temple crying out with a loud voice to him who sat in the cloud, put in your sickle and reap because the hour to reap has come because the harvest of the earth is ripe.

That word ripe is a very significant word because it means literally overripe. It means almost rotten, meaning that the earth is now at a point where it is absolutely useless. This is the end of the age. Now it's time to come. Now it's time to put in your sickle. Now it's time to reap the harvest. And so the son of man, says in verse number 16, he who sat on the cloud swung a sickle over the earth and the earth was reaped. Now, if you were with us on our study of Revelation, you'll know that what is happening right here is a depiction of the bold judgments in Revelation chapter 16.

And in the verses that follow, verse number 17, is a depiction of the literal return of Christ to the earth at the end of those bold judgments. And it's depicted in two kinds of harvest, the grain harvest and the great harvest. It says in verse number 17, and another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. And another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to him who had a sharp sickle saying, put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.

And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God, and the wine press was trodden outside the city, and the blood came out from the wine press up to the horse's bridles for a distance of 200 miles. This is the return of Christ, and this is when he comes back, and the picture is that of the making of wine, and they had these big troughs that you could literally get up and stand in, and from that trough would come this long, tube that would go into a smaller trough that would collect the juices and they would get up and they would begin to walk on these grapes and as they walked on them and they were ripe they would splatter and spurred all over the place and juice would fly everywhere all over the garments of those who would stamp on these grapes and the juice would then of course flow down this trough and be gathered together in another bin great picture of the return of christ because when he comes he with blood-stained garments.

And as he comes, he comes to destroy those who have rejected him. He has come to put in a sickle. And as he does, the blood, as he tramples out the great wine press of his father, the blood begins to flow, just as it does in the making of wine. And the blood flows for 200 miles, or as the King James Version says, 1600 stadiae, which, by the way, is the distance from Esdralon, which is the valley of McGito to Edom in the south, 200 miles. Just imagine the eternity of the tears. Let's pray. Thank you.