Banks, William: Parable Of The Wheat And Tares

Spol by Matthew and chapter 13, and we're reading from verse twenty four. Matthew thirteen, please, and verse twenty four. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened, and that little word likened is used in each of the succeeding six parables after the one we've been considering together. The first parable is not the similitude of the kingdom, but the manner of its progression through the present age. But each of the other six are likened, are like, are similitudes in each case. 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, that means appeared for what they really were, 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, Will there then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest when you gather up the tares, you 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. Now, as you know, we have an explanation of this parable as well from the lips of the Savior, from verse thirty six to the end of the chapter, to the verse forty three. 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 sought them is the devil. 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 appears to hear? Let him hear. Now, we do trust that God will continue to bless us this evening as we consider this most interesting parable together. You will know that there are contrasts in the parables we're looking at this evening. There are, of course, some very interesting comparisons. We have sores, and we have soil, and we have seed, and we have a harvest. But in all of these aspects, these parables, the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and the tares, have contrasts. We've just seen in the parable of the sower that the sower is our Lord Jesus himself, but then followed by the sons of the kingdom. He said himself, behold, a sower went forth to sow. We're left in no doubt as to who the sowers are in our parable. It's the Lord and the devil. We've just seen that in the parable of the sower, we have four different kinds of soil. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, we have just one. It's one field. We've already seen that the seed in the parable of the sword is the word of the kingdom in Matthew's gospel. We've seen that it's just the word elsewhere, but it's the word of the kingdom in Matthew's gospel. The seed, however, in our parable is the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the wicked one. The harvest in the parable of the sower, we have four different harvests and some different stages in that harvest. In our case, both are going to grow until the end, and there's only going to be one harvest, and that is at the consummation of the age. If we were to summarize them in one word, in the parable of the sower, the main idea is that of opposition, as we've seen, opposition to the work. We're going to see that the main idea in our parable is that of imitation. I want to look at this parable in three different ways. Number one, we're going to look at the sowing, and then we're going to look secondly at the growing, and if you'll permit me, we'll look thirdly at the mowing or the reaping. In each of the cases, we're going to see two sets of double things and one singular. In the sowing, we are going to see two soils, two seeds, but 1 sign. In the growing, we're going to see two questions, two answers, and one conclusion. In the reaping or the mowing, we're going to see two gatherings, two ends, and one agent. So let's look together firstly at the sowing. And as I've indicated, we have two sowers brought before us. In this case, these sowers are specifically identified for us. We're told in verse twenty four that a man sowed good seed. While men slept, his enemy came. The man we called in verse thirty seven, is the son of man, and it is very helpful, isn't it, when our Lord Jesus gives the example and details of the parable himself, when he outlines for us the interpretation, we're left in no doubt at all, he that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. Absolutely no doubt. And the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. So we have two souls, the Son of Man and his enemy, the wicked one, the devil. The son of man is sowing in his sovereignty and complete control. He decides where and how and when he's going to sow. Everything is under his control. He simply sows as he desires. You remember, he says, for example, in Acts chapter one, ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And he strategically plants his seed where he will. He determines in his sovereignty where the seed are going to be planted. He superintends the spread of the seed. The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. But then there's a second sower, his enemy, called the wicked one in verse thirty eight, called the devil in verse thirty nine. And uh there we are given immediately to know three features that mark the second sore. He's an enemy, he's wicked, and he is the devil. He is a person, and I do trust that we all understand that the devil is a personage. He is a distinct person with tremendous power in our old world, and as the devil, he's the accuser, the slanderer, the tempter, and we shouldn't be surprised, therefore, if the kind of seed that he plants are going to be the same as him himself, an enemy, a wicked one, the devil. The two souls. What about the two seeds? Well, we're told that the first seed, verse twenty four, is the good seed, and these good seed are described in verse thirty eight as the sons of the kingdom. We saw that what was used to sow in the parable of the sower was the word of the kingdom, and the word of the kingdom received produces sons of the kingdom, and the word of the kingdom implanted in the life of the believer makes him a son of the kingdom. So the word of the kingdom in the believer makes him the son of the kingdom. Of course, we must understand that we are not only members of the kingdom, but we are members of the church as well. And the church, of course, is part of the kingdom. The kingdom is much broader than the church, but the church is part of the kingdom, and we who are believers of the present dispensation are not only sons of the kingdom, but we are members of the church, which is the body of Christ. As the sons of the kingdom, we should show the dignity and the character of the king. We should show the dignity and character of the one who has brought us into his kingdom and who has sown us in the world for his pleasure. The good seed are the sons of the kingdom. But then there's a second seed, and they're called the tares. And we've given an explanation of the tares in verse thirty eight. They're called the sons of the wicked one. And just as the sons of the kingdom take their character and dignity from the king himself, so these sons of the wicked one take their features from the wicked one himself. And we're not going to be surprised to find, in a moment or two, that these sons of the Wicked One are enemies. They're slanderers. They're worthless. They're degenerate. They're poisonous. They are taking all their features from the Wicked One himself. And so we have the two sowers, and we have the two seeds. The son of man, the devil, the sons of the kingdom, and the sons of the wicked one. Now, where are the seeds planted by the sower? Well, again, we're left in no doubt, says verse twenty four. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. Verse twenty seven, Sir, wist not thou sow good seed in thy field. And then our Lord gives the explanation, verse thirty: the field is the world, and so the sowing takes place in the world. And I do want you to observe that the world belongs to our Lord Jesus. It is his field. This whole world in which we live belongs to him, every bit. You say, why so? Well, it belongs to him for two reasons. Number one, it belongs to him creatorially. You remember the words of John chapter one? The world was made by him, and because it was made by him, it belongs to him. He made it. He created it. He brought it into being by the spoken word of his power, and by creation, the world belongs to him. But not only does it belong to him by creation, it belongs to him by purchase. And in Ephesians one and verse fourteen, we read of a time that's going to come, the redemption of the purchased possession, and that purchased possession is the world in which we live. Of course, it's not yet redeemed. One day it's going to be redeemed, but at the moment it's a groaning creation, and it's still laboring under the problem of the fall and the effects of sin, but it has been purchased by him. He has bought it. Some of the later parables make that abundantly clear. He sold all that he had and buyeth that field. Verse forty four, for example. It's his by buying, it's his by purchase. The world belongs to him. One day he's going to redeem it as well. And so, two reasons why it's his, and that's the very place where he sows his seed in the world. But then, what lessons can we learn from this sowing? Well, the parable is really a story, as one has said, of two seeds. You remember that takes us right back to the book of Genesis chapter three. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed, that's Satan's seed, and her seed, that's the seed of the woman. Satan's seed and the seed of the woman. And of course, he's talking about persons in both cases, isn't he? He's speaking about people who are going to be the seed of Satan, and people who are going to come from the seed of the woman. Primarily, of course, it's Christ himself in the singular, but from him there are going to come others as well. And I want you to know from this parable some of the details about the seed of Satan, about the tears themselves. I want to observe firstly, when they are sown, says verse twenty five, while men slept. I want you to remember that Satan does his work under the cover of darkness. Our Lord Jesus never sleeps, neither do the angels. They're always there in ready service, waiting to move at the Lord's command. But while men slept, the enemy came and he sowed his tears among the wheat. That's what the false cults do, while men slept. While the world is fast asleep to the reality of what is happening around, then the seed of the wicked one is sl- is sown. Believers, of course, shouldn't sleep either. Of course, they have to sleep naturally, but they shouldn't sleep spiritually. You remember the language of Ephesians five? Let me quote it to you. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise. And what's the context? Listen to this. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. While men slept, the period of darkness, says the apostle, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Wherefore he saith, awake, thou that sleepest, and arise. And isn't it possible that we're asleep when we should be awake to the realities of what is happening around us, to the unfruitful works of darkness, to what is done in the dark. Listen again to the words of the apostle in First Thessalonians chapter two— chapter five. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Let us not sleep. While men sleep, Satan does his diabolic work. Believers ought to be aware of what is happening around them. When they are sown, while men slept. I want to observe where they are sown. Says verse twenty five, the enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat. Tears in the midst of the wheat. That word among is the same word that we're familiar with in Matthew eighteen and twenty. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That's exactly where these tares are sown. The sons of the wicked one are sown among the sons of the kingdom, in the midst of the sons of the kingdom. And why would they be sown there? Well, clearly, it's not for a harvest. They're no good for that. It's not to produce. These seeds only spoil, and therefore they're sown to be antagonistic, to undo what God has done. And thus, in the kingdom of heaven, there is both the good and the bad, the wheat and the tares, the real and the unreal, or to use the other language of our parables, the meal and the leaven, or the good seed or the good ground and other kind of ground. You remember too that there were unclean and clean animals in the ark. There were goats in the same pastures as the sheep in Matthew twenty five. There was chaff in the same barn as the grain in Matthew three. There were vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor in the same great house of second Timothy chapter two. And what are we saying? And what are we learning? In the midst of the good, there is the bad. In the midst of the real, there is the unreal. And you say to me, does that mean it's possible that in the assembly of the Lord's people, this could be true? Well, I want to suggest that it could be. Listen to this. Says John, many deceivers are entered into the world, and these deceivers are antichrist. Listen to the words of Job. Certain men are crept in unawares. Listen to the words of second Peter chapter two: There shall be false teachers among you. Listen to the language of Acts chapter twenty: Of your own selves shall men arise. And we say, of whom is Jude and Peter and Paul speaking? Who are they addressing? Well, Jude, as you know, is addressing believers, and he's telling them that certain men have crept in unawares. And I would simply ask you to read the catalog of evil that is associated with these men in the epistle to the, in the epistle to Jude, and you will have no doubt in your mind that the kind of licentiousness and lasciviousness that marked them indicated that they were unreal, but they were among the people of God. Says Peter, there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. You mean there's a possibility of false teachers among the people of God? And they're going to bring in damnable heresies? That's what they're saying. And are we closing our eyes today to the reality of the situation that is all around us? Men crept in, false teachers among you, and says Peter, and says Paul rather, in Acts chapter twenty. and almost more severe now, because he's addressing the Ephesian elders, and he's telling them not only will folks come in among them, wolves in sheep's clothing, but of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Tell me, are there tears among the wheat? I tell you, there are tears among the wheat. And not only in the world around us, and I know that the field is the world, and there are tears among the wheat in the world. But I want to tell you, my dear fellow believer, that there are tears among the wheat in the very midst of the people of God. You say, might I be sitting beside one this evening? Might I be standing or sitting beside one this evening? My dear fellow believer, the reality of the situation is that we may. And it's a very solemn lesson that we're learning here. These tears are in the midst of the wheat, right in the very midst of them. Not outside. Right in their very midst. Where they are sown. But I want to observe how they were sown. It says in verse twenty five that while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. He went with total disregard for the malicious effects of the seed which he had sown. They were not going to appear at once, but when they did appear, the malicious damage that they would cause would become apparent to all. And so we ask ourselves the question, why are they sown at all? Why would anybody do anything like this? Well, clearly, it's not now opposition that's in view, but it's imitation. You see, Satan, as has been said, is not an innovator. He's an imitator. Not an innovator, but an imitator. In early stages of the tears growth, or it's sometimes called darnos, it is indistinguishable from the wheat. If you see the two of them growing, you wouldn't know the difference. To begin with, you couldn't tell whether one was wheat, the real, or darndal, the unreal. And as the two grow to begin with, you cannot tell the difference. They're indistinguishable. It's only when the fruit bearing appears that the difference is seen, and that's why it said, when we come down a little, when the blade was sprung forth and brought forth fruit, then appeared, then appeared the tares also. Of course, the tares and the wheat had been growing for some time, but only when the fruit became apparent was the falseness and the awfulness of the Darnel scene. To whom then does the darnel apply? To professors who hold to their profession. Do those who openly show themselves not to be of Christ, and not in this parable. We're not speaking about the drunkard, nor the drug addict, nor the murderer, nor the violent, but we're speaking of those who, if you saw them, you would think they were real. You could hardly tell the difference. It looks as if, on the outward, that all is the same, the wheat and the darno. It's been said, however, that if the darno had been used to bake a loaf instead of the wheat, then there would be at least a twofold effect if you ate the bread that was thus baked. Number one, you would be like a drunk man. You would be unable to walk straight. Number two, it would affect your eyesight, and it was Mr. Gooding I heard saying these two things, and your vision would be affected. And if you are associated with the Darnel, then the effect is to cause a crooked walk and to affect your spiritual vision. Do remember that there are always elements of truth in heresy. You take the heresy in relation to what is taught about the impeccability of Christ. We believe that our Lord Jesus could not sin. There are others who say that our Lord Jesus could sin, but wouldn't. You see, there are elements of truth. But it's a heresy. And it looks to be the same. To begin with. But it's vitally different. Well, we're not surprised that when these two were growing, it led to some questions. And in the growing process, in verses twenty six to twenty nine, there are answered. And the concern of these servants is seen in the questions they ask. It's always good for people to ask questions, but do be careful, please, the attitude in which they're asked. I want to observe that these people who ask questions here, they ask the questions reverently. Sir, they say, verse twenty seven. Then, verse twenty eight, wilt thou? So they ask the questions reverently and humbly. If we're going to ask questions, let's do it like that. Question number one. Whence hath it tears? Verse twenty seven: Dest not thou sow good seed? From whence then hath it tares? The fruit had displayed the difference, and here are people now who were not ignorant of the reality of the situation, nor willing to close their eyes to the truth that was before them at that time. Do you know what? We live in a day when we're closing our eyes to the reality of the situation. Do you know what Mr. W. K. Morrison from Falkirk said at our conference some years ago, maybe about eight years ago? He says we're living in a day when no one says anything to anybody about anything. No one says anything to anybody about anything. And you know, and I know that's the case. Listen to what Augustine said. None appear evil in the church except to him who is good. Isn't it the case that we tolerate and we permit, and we say that what we want is harmony among God's people? Let's beware of harmony at the expense of righteousness. I want to say that if we simply permit what we see to be wrong, it is but a temporary expedient that will have explosive consequences. Let me ask you a question. Has there ever been anything wrong in your assembly in the last few years? Has anything been done to right it? You say we haven't had any problems. Well, it's likely you're not a New Testament assembly. None of the New Testament assemblies went along very long without problems. But I'll tell you this, when the problem was faced up to and dealt with and rectified, the blessing flowed. You read the early Acts. And here were questioners who couldn't understand why the tears were there. Are there people like that in our meeting? And you can't understand why people would behave the way they do in the assembly of the lost people. You can't understand why they hold the views that they do. I remember my mother telling me she was saved from a non-assembly background. She said, when I came into the meeting, I thought every believer was an angel. What a surprise she got very soon, she said, when she found that believers didn't behave the way they ought to behave. And here are people, they're asking, whence then hath it tears? Is there someone in our meeting, and you're asking that kind of question? Why do we have tears among the wheat? Well, they then ask a second question, will we go and gather them up? And what a lovely exercise this indicates. They were ready to move in willing service, but only at the direction of their master. You see, we must be careful. A false zeal could only injure while professing to father the wheat. If we are going to move in service like this, only at the behest of the master. The two questions, the two answers. Answer to question number one, whence are the tears? Says our Lord Jesus, an enemy have done this. The Lord knows the reality of the situation. There's nothing hidden to him. He never sleeps. We might be unprepared to look behind the reality. We might be prepared to close our eyes to the truth of the situation or brush it under the carpet. Our Lord Jesus knows where it comes from. An enemy have done this. Answer to question number two: Will we go and gather them up? Ah, he says, nay. Nay? But surely if there are tares among the wheat, we're going to gather them up. Well, sometimes zeal has to be tempered. But an explanation is given. The root of the tares would be entangled with the wheat, and what they were asking was not possible for them to do. They could not uproot the tares without uprooting the wheat, and they had to grow together until the harvest. Patience has to be exercised with professors. Of course, if there is the false teaching and the folks crept in unawares that we were seeing earlier, they must be dealt. First Corinthians five and other passages make that clear. And so the conclusion to the questions and answers is this: let both grow together until the harvest. There will always be the false among the true in the world. It belongs to him. The day is coming when he's going to write it all. By the way, the believer must not get involved in trying to change the world. That's why we don't get in politics, or demonstrations, or walks, or anything like that. The believer has never any mandate to change the world. Our Lord will do that of his own world in his own time. We have to go into the world and preach the gospel and make disciples, but we've never told to change the world. There's going to be the false and the true. Finally, the reaping. Well, when we come to the time of reaping, there's going to be only one agent. And says our Lord Jesus, the reapers are the angels. Angels play a large part in end times, as you know. Our Lord Jesus is going to come with his angels. He's going to send his angels, Ma- Matthew twenty four, to gather his elect. So the angels are the agent at the end times. And then there's going to be two gatherings. First, the tares, then the wheat. Of course, at the rapture, that order is reversed. The wheat are taken away, and the unreal are left. But at the end of the age, then the tares are going to be taken first. And we're told in verse forty one, rather interestingly, two things that mark them. They shall gather out of his kingdom, verse forty one, all things that offend and them which do iniquity. That's two features that mark the tears. Them which offend and them which do iniquity. If you look up that word, it's rather interesting. Them which offend is just one word, and you know what it means? A scandal. It denotes the conduct that's going to bring others into ruin. It's used for the trigger of a trap, not the trap itself, but the trigger of a trap that's put off by the mouse taking the cheese, and then the trigger is released and traps its victim. That's what the tears do, and they're in the midst of the truth. How sad. Fancy if there are people among you who want to be involved in scandal and bringing other people down and trapping them in their movements. That's what these people are like in the midst of the week. But not only are they scandals, but they are they which do iniquity. They violate the law. And you put these two together. In the fact that they're scandals, that's what they believe. That's their heresy. Them which do iniquity, that's their movements. And so we have doctrine and doing, and wrong doctrine leading to wrong practice. And so first, the tares are gathered. Then the wheat. The wheat is gathered in as well. And where are they going to end? Well, the tares are going to end in the burning. They're bundled for burning. Bind them in bundles to burn them. What an awful end. And you know what we read? There, in that furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. This is not people crying out of pity. This is people crying out of rage and impenitence. And I tell you, these tears are not going to change their colors or the stripes, even in eternity. They are going to still rage with impenitence, and they're going to wail and gnash their teeth. But what of the wheat? What about the real? Well, it says, then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. What a lovely conclusion. Then, that's the millennial kingdom. The character of the righteous will come forth. The righteous shall shine forth as the sun. The radiance and splendor of the true will be manifest in that coming day of millennial glory. And then shall the heavens glow with splendor, but brighter far than they, the saints shall shine in glory as Christ Gothemory, the beauty of the Savior shall dazzle every eye in the crowning day that's coming by and by. And how beautiful. The millennial kingdom is called the kingdom of their father. Isn't that nice? You see, these are sons of the kingdom. They have the features of the father, and they are going to shine in that coming kingdom as the sons of the Father. And how does it all conclude? Listen to this. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. It would do none of us any harm if we went all home from this meeting, speaker and hearer alike, and examined our lives afresh in the presence of God, and asked ourselves this simple, personal, pertinent, and pointed question. Am I real? Am I a son of the kingdom? Or is it possible? A son of the wicked in the midst of the weak. What a solemn lesson we have, but what a lovely future for the sons of the kingdom to shine in all their glory in the kingdom of the Father.