7/21/19 Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43 “The Weeds of Life”

19 Jul 7/21/19 Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43 “The Weeds of Life”

7/21/19  Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43       “The Weeds of Life”

I have talked about this before.  There are many things in the world that we don’t like or we don’t like to do.  I know that I don’t like to get my taxes done even though I have someone do them for me.  I’m not sure but I think this is almost a universal feeling for all of us.  Also we are now in the middle of a nice summer.  We don’t like to talk about or hear about what it’s going to be like next winter.  Some of us may even shudder to think about this.  And there is nothing wrong with this.  It’s just part of our human nature to like certain aspects of life better than others.  Today we are going to talk a little bit about weeds.  As long as we are talking about weeds in our gardens or fields, we don’t mind talking about them.  However, we sure don’t want to talk about the weeds that have infiltrated our lives.  Let’s see if we can find some practical ways to deal with the weeds of life.

I would like to begin today with a true story from Wade Hughes.  Years ago, while traveling down Highway 23 in eastern Kentucky, Hughes and his family would pass by a beautiful brick church. It was in an ideal location.  You know the old saying, “Build it and they will come.”  However, the church was closed and the windows were broken out, there had not been services there for many years.

One day Wade was sitting around pondering about that church — wondering what happened to that church? Why was it closed, and the windows broken out and the weeds all growing around?  Another time he was driving with his family and he pondered this aloud? The oldest son, then 9 or 10, said, “I know Dad, I know why it is vacant.”

Wade said, “well OK, tell me?”  He replied, “LOOK, THE GRAVE YARD IS FULL ALL AROUND THE CHURCH.  ALL THEIR MEMBERS DIED!” They never reached out to the next generation.  I look out at our churches today and I’m saddened by all the churches I see like this one.  Here we are with the most wonderful, powerful and loving message in the whole world, in the universe and we are hiding it like we are ashamed.  I don’t understand!

As we begin today we have to understand that the tares that Matthew is referring to are actually weeds.  Surprise!  Surprise!  They had weeds in their fields then like we do today.  Also in the Old Testament we read about King Ahab who had someone killed so he could take over his orchard.  It wasn’t common but it did happen that people with more power would try to steal land and crops from the poorer people.  This is also like our world today where we have less than honest businessmen and politicians who try to steal our way of making a living.  Now let’s see if we can make sense of this parable.

A man plants his field with his crop.  The man in this case is God.  Then someone comes in the night and plants weed seeds among the wheat seeds.  If this isn’t about a most rotten way to do things I don’t know what is.  Therefore the only person who could do such a thing would be the devil because he is the most rotten, vile, terrible entity that lives.  I hope that you pick up that I don’t have a lot of use for the devil and you shouldn’t either.

Anyway, he comes at night to do this.  This isn’t even the Gospel of John and we are talking about doing bad things at night.  Now I respect the night as much as the next fellow.  After all, we usually don’t have to work at night, we get to rest at night and we may even have some major events at night because this is our leisure time.  I’m not going to stand up here and say that night time is a bad time.

But I will say that night time can be a bad time so you should be careful.  If you watch the local news at all you will see that most bad things happen at night.  That is when the drunk drivers are out to kill us.  It’s when marital disputes erupt into violence and usually there is alcohol or drugs involved again.  The ancients knew this also and when the sun went down they usually locked their doors for the night.  Just think how many lives we would save if we just learned to stay home at night.

Anyway, the devil comes to the field at night as he is very deceptive.  He doesn’t want to be seen sowing these bad seeds.  He not only is deceptive by coming at night but he also uses a seed that will look just like wheat until it’s time for harvest.  And that is just what the devil does to us today.

Look at our churches.  They are a mess to put it mildly.  I was in seminary not too long ago because I’m what you call a second career pastor.  I needed some schooling.  They tried to throw me out my first year there because I had the audacity to cite a source that was from a very conservative seminary.  We were not taught to pray.  Rather we were taught to sit around a candle in a room and chant to a bell.  We were also taught that parts of Genesis weren’t true and that Jesus didn’t really mean all the things He said.  A lot of this was pure blasphemy and it’s no wonder we have such poor pastors coming out of seminary.  I would also say that we had some instructors that taught us the importance of the Scriptures and Jesus.  They would tell us that the Word of God was always true no matter what these other crackpots said.

The point I’m trying to make here is that the devil is alive and very deceptive today also.  He owns the airwaves of TV, radio, the internet and even our seminaries.  He is everywhere you look in this society and we seem to think that nothing is wrong.  Well just to make the point clear, just about everything is wrong in our society.  Satan is so deceptive that he is in total control and we don’t even realize it.  And the worst part is that many of our churches have actually become sanctuaries for the devil.  It’s going to be a long hard battle to win this back but I know who wins in the end and that is the team that I want to be on.  Jesus Christ is our winner and Savior.  If you don’t know Him yet, then confess your sins to Him and ask Him to live in your heart.  You will never regret this decision.  He will also help you a lot in the weeks, months and years ahead.

The devil is not only deceptive but he is damaging.  He and his evil helpers come in the night when no one can see them and they plant seeds that look just like the real wheat.  Then the seeds begin to grow and the good helpers want to go into the field and pull up these weeds because they are competing for the water and nutrients of the soil that the real wheat needs.  The wheat will be damaged.  However, by going into the field and pulling the weeds, the workers will be trampling down the wheat seed to get to the weeds.  They will be doing more damage than is they are just left to grow.  This is a dilemma.

We face this dilemma today also.  Satan has put so many seeds in our midst that we cannot keep track of them.  One of the problems we have that Satan knows very well, is that we are supposed to help people when they are in need.  However, I think that there is a huge difference in helping people and going into their midst, staying there and telling them everything is ok.  Our society is full of various addictions and you can just fill in the blank.  I just learned a new one a couple of weeks ago and it’s called video game disorder.  Being hooked on video games can now be called a mental illness for who knows what reason.  That is what it is and I’m not going to criticize this too much except that this is not right.  The trouble with many of these various so-called mental disorders is that in the process of making them disorders we are saying to these victims of Satan that it’s really not their fault.  The family is at fault.  Our society is at fault or the makers of the games or alcohol or drugs.  Everyone is at fault except for the person who has done this.  This is just like King Saul, who we just studied.  He didn’t consider anything he did was his fault. I said this a couple of weeks ago.  People, when you do something wrong, whether it’s drugs or games or stealing or murder, you did it.  There is no one else who is at fault.  You did it and you must face the consequences.  I have previously mentioned the number of 16 year olds I have met who have made terrible decisions that will lead to a lifetime of problems.  They just about always feel that it’s not their fault but they are wrong.  It is their fault.  Our help comes when we acknowledge this and then help them out accordingly.  We damage the field when we walk on the good wheat to get at the weeds.

I could go on and on here about all the things that the devil has ruined or is trying to ruin.  Every time I have the honor and privilege of doing a wedding I think of how marriage was instituted by God and we are trying our best to ruin it.  Look at the family situation in our world.  Instead of thinking that anything goes we should be thinking that the way of Jesus is the one and only way to go.  Think about that!  Even our government has turned into some sort of Satanistic joke!  I can’t even begin there.

But the worst place we have allowed Satan into is our churches.  He comes in with a new program that looks good.  Before long we have thrown out the Bible and replaced it with things that feel good.  Every time I hear of a new program by our so-called bishop I cringe because I know that it’s only Satan being deceptive.  It won’t be long before we will be serving drinks and cocktails during our worship services because we have become nothing more than some sort of sick country club.  There isn’t an institution in our country that doesn’t feel the ill effects of this diabolical monster.

So what happens next?  This is the part where we really don’t like to read.  It’s bad enough all the things I have mentioned and I haven’t even gone into the various ways that Satan has gotten into your personal life.  We will save that one for later but know that you are convicted of whatever sin you have.  The tough part here is that Jesus tells the angels to leave those tares, weeds, people until the harvest.  Then He will separate the good from the bad.  And the bad will be condemned to the eternal fire.

I don’t know if we have any people hearing this today who don’t believe that Jesus would ever condemn anyone to hell but here it is in black and white.  Maybe all the new age churches in this country, like the Methodists, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, that don’t believe in the Scriptures will have these passages deleted.  But just because you choose to ignore God doesn’t make Him go away.  He is always there and He is always watching you.

He does this because unlike the weeds in the story, you have a chance to come back to Jesus.  That is why He left them in the field until harvest.  He wants to give everyone a chance to come to Him.  As a matter of fact He will give you 500 chances if that is what you need.  However, there will come a time when you run out of time.  If you should die and not have Jesus living in your heart, then you will be thrown into the fire.  There is just no way to sugar coat this because it is so serious.  Jesus would never, never send anyone to hell.  We send ourselves by not knowing Him.  This fire place is terrible far, far beyond our imagination.

So if you are watching or hearing this today and you aren’t sure as to how you stand with Jesus or you only think you might be going to heaven, then invite Jesus into your life.  Then you can look forward with assurance that you will be in heaven.  And heaven is great far, far beyond our imagination.  Do I hear an Amen!

This is the place I want all of you to be.  It is a place where there is no more pain.  I’m getting to the age where just standing here is sometimes very painful but that will be gone in heaven.  There will be no more sorrow.  For some people, they live their lives in sorrow of one kind or another.  Well, guess what?  There will be no sorrow in heaven.  There will be no death so once we get there we will always be there.

The Bible tells us that there will be lots to do in heaven.  There will be many jobs and you won’t have to worry about liking your job as it will be so good and meaningful that you will love it.  And besides, there will be no worrying in heaven.  I could just go on and on with this but you cannot even imagine how good it is.  And God will keep it good by never allowing sin or bad people to enter.  He will keep it pure just for you, just for you.

If you are not a believer, this is a very hard passage.  It tells us that God is in control which non-believers don’t like.  However, we should praise the Lord for that because when we try to be in control, we always make a mess of things.  But Jesus only wants what is the very best for you and that best is to trust Him in all things.  He has never been wrong and never shall be into the future.  A passage like this should spur us onward to helping more people to get to know Jesus.  Their eternity may rest in what you do.  There is a lot riding on all of this and I want you all, each and every one of you, to be on the leading edge, the leading edge of Jesus Christ.  You can look far and wide and you will never, never find a better life than one in Jesus.  He loves you that much.  Thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.