(Matthew 13:24-43)…..Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” 31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” 33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” 36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Why did He do this? That seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand (Luke 8:10). I hope this morning the Lord has given each of us understanding of His word. Realizing we are all at different areas of growth, this allows for long suffering with one another. Remember, parables are spiritual truths that are laid alongside a natural event which we know to be trueHere Jesus uses again the parable of sowing to illustrate a spiritual truth. Remember the four soils? The wayside – rocky – thorny – and good soil (Matthew 13:1-9), And of course Seed is the word of God – (Luke 8:11). Notice, Jesus is the one which sowed the good seed into the field, or the world (13:37). The good seed (God’s gospel) ]that is sown into the world is because of the hand of Christ. But in this parable the focus is not so much on the seed, but what the see produced. The good seed which Jesus casts, produces the children of the kingdom, the true saints
Read: (1 Peter 1:22-25) (James 1:18)
Although it is Jesus who ultimately does this, Jesus Christ has commissioned you and I as preachers for this task today. We all will give an account yet there are so many today who have no desire to win souls – to get involved in ministry – no fire in their bones for the preaching of the gospel. But the Lord uses His saints to perpetuate His planting, then producing wheat for His harvest. As the church was scattered abroad it took the seed of the kingdom and sowed it in the world. The result of such sowing is the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, the Church (Acts 1:6-9) (Acts 8:1-4) (Acts 11:19-26) (Romans 10:16-18) (Colossians 1:23). Our role in Jesus’ great commission is to go into the entire world, to preach the seed of the kingdom, and then making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). His kingdom (church) of which the believer is a part – has been …….
- Purchased with His blood – (Acts 20:28) (Revelation 5:9-10)
- Made up of saints – (1 Corinthians 1:1-2) (Colossians 1:9-14)
- Made to have fellowship with Christ and one another – (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)