WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.559 We've been working our way through the gospel according to Matthew. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:31.359 We find ourselves this morning in chapter 13, verse 24. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:36.320 This is a section that's often referred to as the parables of the kingdom. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:57.759 So we looked at the first section the last couple of weeks, and this morning we will pick up in verse 24, where Matthew writes of Jesus that he put another parable before the crowds, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:05.280 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:12.319 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:21.040 And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.280 How then does it have weeds? 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:27.760 And he said to them, An enemy has done this. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:31.840 So the slaves said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:36.959 He said, No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:47.760 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. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:58.400 He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:08.080 It's the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:10.719 He told them another parable. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:16.960 The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hidden three measures of flour till it was all leavened. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:19.919 All these things Jesus said to crowds in parables. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:25.439 Indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable, and that was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:31.120 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.520 Then he left the crowds and went into a house. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:42.159 And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.800 He answered, The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:51.280 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:55.840 The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:01.039 The harvest is the close of this age, and the reapers are angels. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:06.800 Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:16.080 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:19.759 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.319 And then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:28.560 He who has ears, let him hear. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:29.680 Amen. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.000 I love this time of year. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:39.199 I love when it when it's crisp and almost cold in the morning. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:40.960 Do you know why I love it? 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:42.240 I like the cold. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.479 I'm one of those weird ones that likes the cold. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.639 But I like it for another reason. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.120 The weed growth slows down. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.280 Because I detest weeds. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:56.479 Does anyone else share that feeling? 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:57.280 Thank you. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:58.560 I'm not alone. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.639 Curse of sin is awful, I tell you. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.919 I detest weeds because they take over. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:16.000 We have a small strawberry bed in our backyard, and I cannot rid our strawberry bed of a particular kind of thistle. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:20.959 In fact, it it the problem seems to worsen every single year. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.560 I detest weeds because they're difficult to uproot. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:34.639 So often you try to uproot them, even if the ground is soft and and moist, they break off, right, at ground level. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:39.120 And you're tempted to lose your every bit of sanctification in that moment. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:40.480 Right? 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:47.519 And then before you know it, from that broken off stem, two more weeds have sprouted out of that leftover root. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.560 You can sense my frustration. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:57.279 I detest weeds because when pulling them up, something else is bound to come up with them. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:01.040 I detest weeds. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.680 Because they're endless work with no reward. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.000 Did I mention I detest weeds? 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.040 You know what I detest more than weeds? 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:16.800 Pulling weeds. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.120 This section I'm thankful for because it mentions not pulling the weeds. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:26.639 Why? 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:35.600 Well, this section explains much of the frustration and the worry and the general concern that we have as Christians who live in a corrupt world. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.759 All of the things that we deal with in a world that is riddled with sin. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.160 Sometimes sin that has roots that go very, very deeply. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:54.560 But it not only explains these concerns, it also gives us hope, a hope that really energizes us for perseverance. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.120 Now, Jesus told three parables here, and they're fairly simple to understand. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.000 Each of them has the same intention. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:08.480 These three parables tell us something about Christ's kingdom. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:20.240 But as we compare each of these statements with the explanation that's found at the end, we can add another detail, another level of understanding about Jesus' intention. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:30.560 And that is that these parables tell us about the development, the progress, the ongoing growth in Christ's kingdom. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:37.040 That's important to remember when we think about the context of Matthew's biography of Jesus. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:47.519 We're at a significant point here in Jesus' life and ministry where the intensity of rejection is ratcheting up. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:57.279 The Jewish leaders are seeking out ways to not just push Jesus aside, but to be rid of him, to destroy him. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.079 They're actively working against him. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.839 And not only that, but the curious onlookers are dwindling. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:14.639 There are fewer and fewer people seemingly following Jesus, and the genuine followers, the disciples, are even fewer. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.439 So what does that say about Jesus? 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:23.279 What does that imply about Jesus being God's Messiah? 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.879 What does that say about his kingship and his rule and reign? 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:31.279 What about fulfilling all of God's promises? 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:40.000 If things are going so slowly for Jesus and the weeds are increasing, what are we to take away from that? 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.480 It's all important questions. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:52.160 So we saw in the parable of the sower at the beginning of this chapter that Jesus himself is doing the work of building his church. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:08:04.560 He's gathering in his people, he's sowing the seed of the gospel, he's granting new life to people, and he's bringing them into his kingdom in spite of whatever significant opposition there might be. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.000 He's doing that. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.959 There's significant opposition. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:11.759 But his kingdom is still growing. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.480 He's causing it to spread. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:24.000 From a human perspective, we might say that the growth of God's kingdom is slow, maybe agonizingly slow. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:33.759 But the seed of the gospel of Christ, when it lands in the right soil, it produces magnificently. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:40.639 But it doesn't appear as though Jesus' kingdom is taking over the world. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.559 In fact, Matthew's biography here begins to take a turn for the worse. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.559 From here on out, Jesus is headed to Jerusalem. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:57.279 Well, he will be tortured and killed. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:08:59.039 Why? 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.559 If his kingdom is so powerful, why? 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:11.919 If Jesus is the great king and great God, why are there things like this where he is sought out to be destroyed? 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.159 Where the weeds are taking root and flourishing? 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.320 We can ask related questions today. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.039 Why are God's people persecuted today? 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:29.360 Why are there places in our world where people are fearful of letting it be known that they're Christians? 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.879 Why doesn't his church have a greater impact on society? 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:38.480 Why does it seem as though the wrong seems oft so strong? 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.000 And how should we face that reality? 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:51.440 Well, Matthew gives us Jesus' perspective on these questions through story-based images, parables that illustrate spiritual realities. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:58.879 And this one is fairly simple, especially when we put the beginning of the section side by side with the end of the section. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.960 Let me demonstrate here what I mean. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:06.399 When we look at these together, we see that the owner that is being referenced here of the field is Jesus, right? 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.840 His enemy is the devil. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.279 Jesus plants good seed. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:22.240 That good seed results in new believers, reborn according to John's gospel, born from above. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:24.799 They are regenerated, they have new life. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:31.840 The enemy plants weeds, and those weeds are unregenerated people. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:34.240 Where do those exist? 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.600 They exist in a field that is the world. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.919 That's the same. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.399 We have two different individuals functioning together in the same place. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:51.440 At the end of the age, there's a harvest, there's a separation of the weeds and the wheat. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:53.919 Jesus calls that the harvest. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.399 Then he tells us that that means the end of the age. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:10.720 He says that the sons of the kingdom, the regenerated people, the good seed, are righteous. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.120 And at the harvest they will shine like the sun. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:22.320 Everybody else he refers to as causes of sin and lawbreakers. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:23.840 That is the law of God. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:29.840 All of those, the weeds, will be gathered together and cast, he says, into a fiery furnace. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:34.080 Reminiscent of Daniel and his friends, right? 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.840 Hananiah, Meshael, and Azariah being thrown into the fiery furnace. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:39.759 I know, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:41.440 That's their pagan names. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.360 Learn their Hebrew names. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:45.679 They're thrown into a fiery furnace, right? 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:46.960 And God protects them. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.799 Sends his angel. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.440 Not so in this case. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.799 The righteous will experience the presence of their father forever. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.720 And the weeds will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:19.440 If Jesus is, as Matthew says, God's Son and the King of the universe, why is it that Jesus is not immediately stepping into this world victorious with a powerful kingdom? 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:25.519 Why is Satan seeming to have the upper hand in our world today? 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.679 Why did God, the Son, come to his own people and his own people not receive him? 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:43.279 That shows us that what we experience in life today and what Jesus shows us here in the first century in his ministry is a description of reality. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.200 The reality is that Christ owns the world. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:48.159 It's his. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.600 Colossians tells us that he upholds it. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.799 He made it, he upholds it, he keeps everything going. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:55.600 It's his. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:49.519 How does he do that? 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.360 How does the devil work against Christ? 00:13:51.519 --> 00:14:06.240 Well, in the first parable of the chapter, we saw that the devil steals the seed of the word of God, and he brings about persecution and difficulty in the lives of people where they demonstrate, yeah, they don't really have a solid root in Christ and they fall away. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:11.200 Here we see that Satan also works by counter offenses. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:20.399 Where Christ is working to raise up God's children, Satan comes along and plants his own children in a covert enemy action. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.080 Now God knows that, right? 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.639 Jesus tells us, so he obviously knows it. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:31.279 He knows exactly what's going on. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:39.600 He knows exactly what Satan is doing, and he knows where he's doing it, and he knows how he's doing it, but we don't know, do we? 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:46.080 We don't have that divine insight into what is happening in the spiritual realm. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:54.639 We don't have divine perception of the spiritual battlefield, but we now know it exists and it surrounds us. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.279 We live in it. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.399 We live amongst the weeds. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.279 The weeds here are sometimes translated tares. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:20.639 It's a plant sometimes called Darnell, coming from the Greek name zezania, or if you prefer the Latin, Lolium temulentum. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:21.919 L. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.600 It's a plant that has very unique characteristics. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:26.559 Quite fascinating. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.759 It's actually been a massive paper written on one plant. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:38.480 It has unique characteristics, and one of them is that the root system doesn't go down deep into the soil. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:39.840 It doesn't have a taproot. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:46.159 Instead, it has a root system that spreads out very thinly underneath the surface of the ground. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:49.600 Spreads out all around, just underneath the surface. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.399 And it intertwines itself with the roots of other plants all around it. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:04.559 That means if it is identified after stalks of grain have already grown up, the weed will already have intertwined its roots with the roots of the wheat or the barley. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:10.639 So if you pull it up, you're pulling up the stock of grain with it. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:16.559 Makes sense then why the landowner in the parable says, no, wait until the harvest. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.919 If you pull it up now, you're going to pull up the grain with it. 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.840 But there's something else unique about Zizania, and that is it's poisonous. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:27.600 It's poisonous. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.039 It has an effect, something like the effect that alcohol has on people. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:36.639 Here's an interesting element. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:43.759 It has the same effect in animals and in people, and in the right proportions, it will kill animals and people. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.840 There were tests done in ancient times on how much zeania it took to kill a horse. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:58.559 That's why the Romans made a law criminalizing the sowing of this seed in someone else's field. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.679 You could destroy livelihoods and destroy people with it. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:11.599 There are ancient records of its regulation because, as a weed, it was almost expected to be mixed in amongst the grain. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.240 You're not going to rid a field of the weeds, right? 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.599 They're always going to be there. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:26.079 But only certain percentages of this toxic seed were allowed to be mixed in with grain because of its effect on the consumer. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.440 Yes, the FDA has long existed. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:38.880 There are even indications that the prices of wheat varied based on how much of this weed was mixed into the grain. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:43.839 The more zazania there was in the wheat, the lower the grade of grain, and thus the lower the cost. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:18:08.240 So it doesn't take too much thinking then to see how having an enemy coming along and sowing this tear, this poison into your field of grain that looks just like wheat could ruin a person's income, could destroy a family business, could destroy a life, and even bring death. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:15.119 Makes sense why it would be gathered up first and carried away to be burned, doesn't it? 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:25.839 Now there are two additional parables that Matthew places here before giving the meaning and the intention of this first parable. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.319 First is a story of a mustard seed, and then one about leaven or yeast. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.920 Both images would have been very familiar to Jesus' listeners. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:37.519 Standard operating procedure for the first century. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.640 There are smaller seeds than mustard seed. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:49.200 Okay? 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.720 There are smaller seeds that exist than mustard seed. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:59.359 But what we need to understand here is that mustard seed was proverbially referred to as the smallest seed. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.200 It was just a proverb that was used. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:05.759 Much like we would say it's raining cats and dogs to refer to a really hard rain. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:12.319 People of that time would refer to a mustard seed to refer to a really small mustard or a really small seed. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:21.119 In much the same way, we have yeast for bread. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:26.720 The amount of flour here is about 50 pounds of flour. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:28.799 That'd be a lot of work, wouldn't it? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.599 Mixing some yeast into 50 pounds of flour to produce some bread. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:43.680 It's going to take a while for that yeast to spread through the bread, but it's a slow process, but eventually that small amount of yeast leavens the entire amount of dough. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:49.200 So the pictures between the mustard seed and the yeast are the same. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:53.759 It's about the growth, the progress, the development. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:06.160 The mustard seed is a very small seed that, when planted, will grow into a bush or a small tree, probably about six or seven feet tall, and enough for birds to come in and nest in. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:14.400 It's about the growth, what something small that develops into something much larger that you really don't expect from that small of a seed. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.920 And a little bit of yeast leavens 50 pounds of flour. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.279 You don't really expect something small to do something that great. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:26.720 So we have these common pictures that amount to great work over time. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.960 Why would we then think it would be any different with God's kingdom? 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:43.359 Just because it starts small and encounters great opposition does not mean that it's not going to grow large enough to encompass the entire world. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.200 Notice how things fit together. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.079 Jesus has been opposed by his own people. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.720 We've looked at this all the way through chapter 12. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.960 Some seek to destroy him, some to discredit him. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.200 People get dissuaded and stop following him. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:02.000 Even one of his own disciples he calls a devil. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.920 Jesus, the divine king, sows the word of the kingdom. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:13.039 That glorious and hopeful good news that we've sung about this morning. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:17.440 But the seed doesn't all fall on good soil, does it? 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.960 But that's not all. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:35.039 That would be normal in the world of agriculture, but Jesus has an enemy who comes in and purposely sows false seeds that grow to be false wheat, that is dangerous, poisonous, and can kill. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.519 But none of that, Jesus says, will stop the growth of his kingdom. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:54.319 He says, just as a mustard seed grows, and just as yeast spreads, so too the Lord's kingdom is going to continue growing, continue spreading until he returns for the final harvest. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:58.319 And at that point, he will send out his harvesters, holy angels. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:12.400 All the people and the beings that have sowed sin and evil against God's purposes and God's word, rebelliously violating his character, will be pulled up and tossed into a fiery judgment for being sons of the devil. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.480 But the sons of the kingdom will be called righteous. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:25.519 They're going to display the glory of their Father in His presence forever. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:32.960 When, like a mustard seed or a bit of leaven, his glory fills the earth. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:40.880 May we have ears that draw us further towards Jesus, the King. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.640 In faith and obedience as he does his work. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:52.079 But if we don't, if we don't have ears to hear, we're going to be drawn to another Father. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:57.759 Do you realize that this is the storyline of the entire Bible? 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:06.640 The storyline of the entire Bible shows this conflict between the children of God and the children of the devil. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:23.039 The Bible shows God's work in his world as a farmer sowing his seed, but God's enemy, that serpent, the devil, comes along seeking to undo all that God does. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.680 But the enemy will not succeed, will he? 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.880 Even though it may feel as though he is always succeeding. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:33.359 You know this. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.839 God started, right, with his first son, Adam. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.720 Adam and Eve had two sons, right? 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:46.400 Thank you. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.680 Cain and Abel. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:48.559 You're awake. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:48.960 Great. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:49.359 Thank you. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:50.799 Cain and Abel. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.599 Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to God. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.400 One was accepted by God and one was not accepted by God. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:12.000 We often think that Abel was accepted by God because he brought a blood sacrifice, and that Cain was not accepted because he brought the fruits of his ground, because he was a farmer, he was a gardener. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.920 That's not true, because the book of Hebrews tells us that Cain was not accepted because he did not have faith. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.720 Abel was a son of God. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:26.240 And Cain was a weed. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.160 He was a son of the devil. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:29.920 And what happened? 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:37.279 Cain killed the son of God. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:41.839 Abel's death seemed to be a victory for God's enemy. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:44.079 But what did God do? 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:52.640 He promised that one day someone would come from the line of promise, one of God's sons, would crush that serpent. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:59.359 So God gave Cain or Adam and Eve another son, Seth, right? 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:10.000 Who would begin anew that line of promise of the sons of God, those who by faith belonged to him, identifying those who were genuinely God's children. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:22.960 And then just a few chapters later in Genesis chapter 6, it was so bad that demons are interbreeding with humans, and evil was so rampant that only eight people on the entire planet are righteous. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:26.880 Eight. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:36.720 Do you sometimes feel alone as a child of God today? 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.720 Well, look in this room. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:47.359 There are 40 to 50 times the number of God's children in this building today than there were in the days of Noah. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.599 But do you see the enemy's plan? 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:06.880 Sow the fields with so many weeds that sometimes are indistinguishable from the real children of God, so that we feel outnumbered, discouraged, and deflated, much like Job with his so-called friends. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:18.160 Sometime after the Tower of Babel, it appears as though there may have only been Abraham amongst a world of weeds. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:27.920 But he endures so long and so much that we are left to wonder: is God's line of promise? 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:30.640 Is his line of sons going to continue? 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:36.160 And finally, at the end of hope, Isaac is born. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:45.200 And God's sons continue, outnumbered by the weeds. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:49.680 Oh, there's hope when all Israel leaves Egypt, right? 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:54.799 How fascinating and how wonderful a redemption of God's people. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:27:07.839 There's hope when all Israel left Egypt, hundreds of thousands of what appears to be children of God, but then all but a few die in the desert without faith. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:24.000 Remember when Elijah conquered in God's power the 400 prophets of Baal on top of Mount Elijah, and then he he runs out depressed, thinking that he's the last one. 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.119 God says, Yeah, don't worry, Elijah. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:35.119 I got 7,000 more of you. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:43.039 This is the battle between God and his enemy. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.799 The field is the world and Christ owns it. 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:54.240 He is sowing, he is working, he is granting faith to the children of the devil in order that they might become children of God. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:59.599 Released from slavery to sin to become slaves of God, it's slow but effective work. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:06.079 Sometimes it feels fruitless, but still the work continues. 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.960 And still the weeds continue to proliferate. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.920 The work continues while the weeds thrive and grow. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:20.799 The devil's work continues, but it cannot stop what God is doing. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:25.440 The Gospel of John records something that is helpful and insightful here, I think. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:30.640 John chapter 8, beginning in verse 43, Jesus says, Why don't you understand what I say? 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:40.079 He says to the Pharisees and to the scribes and to the Sadducees, the unbelieving rebels, he says, You cannot bear to hear my word. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:40.640 Why? 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:43.519 Because you are of your father, the devil. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.640 That would have gotten him killed right there without the sovereignty of God. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.200 You belong to Satan. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.759 Literally, you are Satan's seed. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:06.240 He was a murderer from the beginning, and he has nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him. 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:12.079 A couple of verses later, Jesus said, But whoever is of God hears the words of God. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:17.920 The reason why you do not hear them is because you are not of God. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:20.319 This is a good reminder for us. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:26.960 Jesus is preparing his first disciples for what is coming when he leaves. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:32.160 He prepared them for when one of them would prove to be a weed, a son of the devil. 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:39.680 He prepared them for the obstacles they would face, when all hope seems lost, when the wrong seems oft so strong. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:43.359 He reminded them that God is still the ruler. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.519 His work continues. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:48.960 And this is the way it will be until the end. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:54.079 You will be surrounded by sons of the devil. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:59.200 Perhaps more surprisingly, they will even be in your midst. 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:06.160 Sometimes looking and sounding like children of the true Father, but in reality poisonous and full of lies. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:11.839 But Jesus says that later in Matthew 25, that one day everyone will stand before him, separated. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:21.680 The children of God's promise on one side, and those who heard his word by faith, believed in his son, and enjoying the blessings of his eternal kingdom, and on the other side the children of the devil. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:29.920 Children of God will return, as it were, to the Garden of Eden in the presence of the one who gave them life. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:40.319 The children of the devil, the weeds, the tares, the zezaniah, whom the devil planted, will be commanded to leave the presence of Christ the King into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:42.880 Revelation chapter 20 describes that. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:48.960 That's life in our world, friends. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:51.440 But cheer up. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:57.039 God's work will not be undone. 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:02.160 It may feel like you're constantly battling the weeds. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:09.039 But like a mustard seed that grows just a little bit at a time, God's work will be done. 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:13.279 Like yeast spreading through the dough. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.079 God's work will be done. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:22.880 Jesus is telling his disciples, be ready to be faithful. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:30.160 Because the work is slow, but it has the power of God behind it. 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:32.640 And it will keep making progress. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:37.359 So let's consider a few ways in which this set of parables speaks to our circumstances today. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:39.119 There's all kinds of ways. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:40.640 We could spend a whole bunch of time here. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:42.559 Let's just run through a handful of them. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:50.160 First, what does this mean when we think about our worldview, how we think and process our world? 00:31:54.079 --> 00:32:12.400 Well, it means that every person, every person without exception, is either a son or daughter of God the Father or a child of the devil who is a murderer, a deceiver, and a liar. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:15.039 That's the reality. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:19.599 Now that doesn't mean that every unbeliever is out to get you. 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:25.119 Don't make that assumption because then you won't be kind and gentle, displaying the fruit of the Spirit. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.720 You'll be defensive. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.559 Doesn't mean that every unbeliever is out to get you. 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:34.559 It would probably get there if God did not restrain evil in our world. 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:38.079 But it does mean that truth is outnumbered. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:41.920 Lies spread faster than truth. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:47.279 God's purposes are a minority as God's word is discounted and dismissed. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.680 This is the world in which you live. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:33:03.279 Do you live then and act with a mindset that most of what you're going to encounter in your world comes from the father of lies who would have you eat the fruit and kill God's son? 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:08.640 That is what you will encounter. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.880 That is the vast majority of what you encounter. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:14.240 That ought to motivate us to know God's word more. 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:19.599 To be ever more diligent of how we think in our father's world. 00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:24.720 So our worldview then needs to be infused with God's word. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:30.880 Our minds need to be infused with God's word so that we have a filter of sorts. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:36.240 A filter that screens out all of the devil's lies. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:46.880 All of those seeds of the devil that he would have us think about and process and plant into our minds that dispel God's truth. 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:51.680 What about our evangelism? 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:59.039 What tells us that there is no place where evangelism is not needed. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:09.679 If this world is Christ's, then the world is the field, and there are weeds sprouting all over, being planted by the devil all over Christ's field. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:12.639 That tells us there's no place that evangelism is not needed. 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:16.159 Poisonous weeds are sown even in Christ's church. 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:19.599 That gives us a process for dealing with that. 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:20.639 We're thankful for that. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:22.639 But we don't have to go looking for them. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:28.559 Sowing the seed is the Lord's way of granting faith and bringing life to people. 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:32.800 So are we intent on sowing the seed of the gospel? 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:40.559 And understand that in evangelism, it's not our duty to make the seed happen. 00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:50.239 We plant the seed, it's not our responsibility to make sure that it sprouts and grows roots and develops a stalk that produces fruit. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:51.599 That's God's work. 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:56.719 We plant the seed and we water the seed. 00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:58.320 That's our duty. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:00.079 The rest is left to God. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:04.800 What about our ecclesiology? 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.760 That's just a big word that means the doctrine of the church. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:14.079 What do these parables have to say significantly towards the doctrine of the church? 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:27.920 Well, I think it tells us that by God's grace, our gathering together as his children is sort of like a freshly weeded section of the field. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:31.840 It may be smaller or larger. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:35.599 It may be at various stages of growth. 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:38.480 But it's only a part, it's only a part of his field. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:53.440 And while we gather together to be watered and to be nourished, to be encouraged and to be taught, we fulfill our calling by making disciples as we then go out, encouraged, strengthened, built up, and we go out and make disciples from the world of weeds. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:55.519 It's slow work. 00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:00.320 But because it is the Lord's work, it will be done. 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:02.960 He is still the ruler. 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:12.639 But even a freshly weeded garden may have a weed that looks like a real plant. 00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:16.239 We shouldn't be surprised by that. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:19.119 We're going to get to that when we get to chapter 18. 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:23.280 The Lord says, listen, if there are sinful people in your midst, here's how you deal with that. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:24.880 You don't go looking for them. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:29.920 You just wait until the Lord makes them aware and then you deal with it. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.320 But we should not be surprised by that. 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:33.920 Why? 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:36.000 Because we have an enemy too. 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:40.880 If Christ has an enemy, then he is our enemy. 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:44.480 And he's going to be working even in our midst. 00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:48.320 He's going to be working to dissuade our growth. 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:53.199 He's going to be working to intertwine our roots with his roots. 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:57.679 He's going to be working to make us think wrong things. 00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:01.280 Speaking of thinking wrong things, what about our parenting? 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:03.519 Or your grandparenting? 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:09.119 Beloved, I have a terrible statement to make. 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:13.920 Our children are born into this world as poisonous weeds. 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:18.320 That's the reality. 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:21.679 We are born as children of the devil. 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:23.679 Full of sin. 00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:25.920 Let that sink in for a moment. 00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:29.199