Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

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A Contaminated Field

 

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have weeds?’

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

…Then he left the crowds and went into the house.

And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

He who has ears, let him hear.”[1]

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he thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel presents a series of Jesus’ parables, each of which reveals an aspect of the Kingdom of God.

These Kingdom Parables, as they have become known, are among some of the most disturbing parables Jesus ever employed.

They confront the casual believer, demanding that each individual carefully examine his own heart.

They hold out the distinct possibility that a religious individual, even a pious individual, may be self-deceived.

Ultimately, each soul will be exposed as either true or false when our Lord calls His own home.

Without apology, I am preaching to disturb good people today.

I am not addressing wicked sinners who clearly deserve judgement, but rather I am addressing people who are church members, people who are baptised, people who are active in the labours of the church.

The Word of God makes it quite clear that there are many church members who will be condemned to hell.

As a preacher of the Word and a servant of Jesus Christ, I cannot permit this to occur without pleading with you to ensure the verity of your condition and to ensure your standing before Holy God.

Reviewing the Kingdom parables, we today consider the one that is known as the Parable of the Weeds.

Perhaps you read older translations of the Bible and thus know this parable as the Parable of the Tares.

The title of the parable is not so terribly important, but the impact of the parable on your life may be the difference between being eternally condemned and being eternally saved.

What is evident as I read the parable is that Baptist church members will be sent to hell if this parable means anything at all.

A Review of a Well Known Parable — Listen to the parable Jesus told.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have weeds?”

He said to them, “An enemy has done this.”

So the servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?”

But he said, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

As Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, He is speaking of the situation existing throughout the Church Age within the churches.

Seed is sown in the landowner’s field.

Jesus will explain that He Himself—the Son of Man—is the land owner [*v.

37*].

The field into which the seed is sown is the world and the good seed represent the redeemed—children of the Kingdom [*v.

38*].

An enemy comes in and sows weeds among the wheat, and the weeds and the wheat are indistinguishable.

The enemy is the devil [*v.

39*] and the weeds are the lost—children of the evil one [*v.

38*].

The harvest, at which time the two plants are at last distinguishable, is at the close of the age [*v.

39*], and the reapers are angels whom God appoints to gather in the harvest.

It is not the duty of any pastor to uproot every non-productive plant.

Rather, the servant of God must depend upon the preaching of the Word and the convicting power of the Spirit of God to work in the lives of those who have either grown senescent or who are spurious.

In the process of uprooting the false plants, the man of God may uproot some of the children of the Kingdom and hinder their productivity.

This does not mean that the man of God must tolerate error, but it does mean that he is not specifically to cast out of the church those who are specious in their claim to possess new life in Christ.

Focus on this concept of the mixture of good and wicked within the Kingdom.

Baptist believe the doctrine of a regenerate church membership.

This is the reason we do not baptise our babies.

This is the reason we require a confession of personal faith before we allow administration of the ordinance of baptism.

This is the reason that only those who have so professed Christ and been obedient to His command are to partake of the Communion Meal.

Nevertheless, I am not so naïve as to believe that all that are members of a particular Baptist congregation are saved.

Whenever I go to church, I know on the authority of Christ’s Word that there will be, mixed in among the good seed, individuals that have deceived themselves and who also deceive others as well.

Sometimes, their duplicity seems obvious.

More often, it is impossible to distinguish the true seed from the false.

There are individuals who are divisive and argumentative, no matter what the situation may be.

They are against everything and anything that didn’t originate with them.

They demand that the church accommodate them and meet their needs, but they make scant contribution to the spiritual welfare of the congregation.

Such people reveal that they know nothing of the unity and peace desired by the Master’s heart.

One such man was chair of a church board in a former church.

He left that congregation under threat of church discipline and allied himself with yet another congregation in that town.

I have received repeated phone calls from members of that church complaining about his conduct in their congregation.

He is divisive, no matter where he is.

Nevertheless, it is possible that unruly and combative members are actually Christians, but somehow they are lacking spiritual maturation.

Perhaps they are infantile.

The best one can do with such people is to confront them lovingly, holding them accountable for their self-centred attitude, dismissing them if they refuse to grow up and continue to insist upon their own way.

We are under obligation to warn them and in needed, dismiss them.

Paul, writing in *Titus 3:10, 11* teaches us how to handle such an individual.

As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Others don’t want to see the church grow.

They want a small, cozy group that makes them feel comfortable.

They fail to see that they do not have the heart of the Saviour, who looking upon the multitudes was moved with compassion and taught His disciples to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest [*Matthew 9:38*].

Perhaps such people are lazy or incompetent, but it is equally possible that they haven’t the mind of the Master because they have yet to be born from above.

Perhaps people such as those just identified are obvious, but there are those who sit quietly, they do not cause a disturbance nor do them make great demands upon the church.

They are, however, lost.

That this is possible is evident even from reading the Word of God.

Was not Judas one of the twelve?

Did not the other disciples think highly enough of him to make him the treasurer?

Of all the disciples, only Judas was a Judean.

His credentials were impeccable, especially compared to the others.

Yet, of Judas, Jesus plainly said, Did I not choose you, the Twelve?

And yet one of you is a devil [*John 6:70*].

Lynda and I became fast friends with a gracious lady in the church where we each came to faith.

Her husband was a pastor when she married him.

One night during the invitation, Jackie came forward to confess Christ.

She had never been saved.

For years she had played the part of a pastor’s wife and a church pianist and a member of the assembly.

However, it was play-acting, because she was unsaved.

When I taught at Criswell College, one of my preacher boys became a Christian as he preached and left the pulpit to kneel at the altar to receive Christ.