The Weeds and the Wheat

All right, we are talking about stories of the kingdom. As you just saw from the intro video, we are starting a brand new series this morning.

! So if you weren't here last week, that's all right. You are in for the beginning of a brand new series. Would you take your Bibles with me?

If you don't have one with you, there should be one in the seat back in front of you. There's the Bible app that you can download on your phone.

But everybody looking at a copy of the Word of God this morning, let's go to Matthew chapter 13. We're starting this series on the parables of Jesus.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

These parables were stories that Jesus would use to tell an illustration of a point, a greater point and truth that he was trying to teach.

So, we're starting out this morning with the very first parable that we'll be covering in this series, and that is the weeds and the wheat.

The weeds and the wheat. Matthew chapter 13, we'll read from verse 24 down through verse 30.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

For sake of time, I'm going to go ahead and read while you are finding your place.

Matthew 24, I'm sorry, Matthew 13, verse 24.

Matthew 13:24

Jesus presented another parable to them.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Now, let me stop right there before we go any further and draw your attention to those words.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared.

Throughout the scriptures, throughout the gospels especially, you'll see Jesus telling these parables,

and oftentimes he'll say the kingdom of heaven is like this.

And then he gives us this parable, this story which would illustrate the truth or the point he was trying to make.

So, that's why we're calling this series Stories of the Kingdom.

If you asked somebody in this room to define the kingdom of God, we might struggle a little bit to do it.

I was in a room full of pastors, Texas Baptist pastors across our state, gathered in Waco,

and the speaker said, would you all be able to define the kingdom of God for me?

There was dead silence.

And then a couple of guys ventured an explanation of what the kingdom of God is,

and we all had a little bit different idea of what the kingdom of God is talking about.

Well, let's try to wrap our head around it because apparently Jesus thought it was pretty important.

So much so that he gave these parables to illustrate what the kingdom of God is.

So, let's pick it up back in verse 25 as he says,

The kingdom of God can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

but while people were sleeping, his enemy came,

sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.

When the plant sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.

The landowner's servants came to him and said,

Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field?

Where did the weeds come from?

An enemy did this, he told them.

So, do you want us to go and pull them up?

The servants asked him.

No, he said.

When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest.

At harvest time, I'll tell the reapers,

Gather the weeds first,

and tie them in bundles to burn them.

But collect the wheat in my barn.

So, the title of our sermon this morning,

our message from the scriptures is this,

The Weeds and the Wheat.

Did you know that this morning,

you could be either a weed or a wheat?

Hopefully, we'll understand what he's talking about

as we dive a little further into this passage.

Can we pray together and ask God to bless our time?

Lord, I pray that right now you would give illumination by your spirit

to the words that you've given us.

You taught this lesson to your followers so many, many, many years ago,

and yet still today, as your followers,

it's a lesson that we need to hear.

I pray that you would impact us and change us from the inside out

to better reflect you.

And it's in Jesus' name we ask it.

Amen.

All right, so let's look again at this passage.

Jesus says the kingdom of God is like this.

The kingdom of heaven is like this.

The man goes and sows good seed in the field.

So the first truth that we uncover here

is there's nothing wrong with the seed.

The seed is not the problem.

The seed is not the problem.

Would you look back up in that passage just a little bit earlier,

verse 3.

Matthew 13, but back up to verse 3.

Jesus tells them many things in parables, it says.

And the first one he shared here in this instance is,

consider the sower.

You know, we're talking about one who goes out and sows seed,

trying to get something to grow.

So the sower went out to sow.

As he sowed, some seed fell along the path.

The birds came and devoured it.

Other seed fell on rocky ground.

It didn't have much soil.

And it grew up quickly since the soil wasn't deep.

But when the sun came up, it was scorched.

It had no root.

And it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns.

And the thorns came up and choked it.

Other seed fell on good ground and then produced fruit.

Some hundred, sixty, thirty times what was sown.

Do you understand the constant thing in that passage?

The problem with the results of the seed was never with the seed itself.

The seed was never the problem.

The problem was always what happened after.

So, the truth we must understand,

that I believe Jesus is trying to teach this morning,

is the gospel is the seed.

What do we mean by the gospel?

Well, that word literally means good news.

The good news about Jesus.

That is the seed.

And there's nothing wrong with the seed.

So, as we are going out into this world,

whether it be in our homes,

or our neighborhoods,

or our workplace,

or our friend group,

or even just strangers that we encounter throughout our day,

as we are in our circle of life,

we are meant to be like this sower and sow seed.

Go out and sow good seed.

Now, you might be sowing bad seed,

and then you'll get bad fruit.

But if you sow good seed,

then you have an opportunity then

to see the fruit of the good news of Jesus

pop up in your life.

So, there's nothing actually wrong with the seed itself.

There might be something wrong with the sower,

and where he's sowing the seed.

There might be something wrong with other weeds or thorns

that pop up alongside it,

and we're going to look more in detail at that part of it.

But the gospel, the good news of Jesus,

there's nothing wrong with that.

And so, don't let the message change.

Unfortunately, do you understand

that in churches across our world,

sometimes the message has changed.

There is a truth,

and then everything else is not truth.

Do you understand that?

There is truth,

and if it's not that,

then it's a lie.

The truth is,

you and I are sinners.

We each have our own sins,

but we are sinners,

every one of us.

We share that in common.

Goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden,

when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God,

and from then on,

the Bible teaches us,

sin passed upon everyone,

all of us.

We have all sinned.

We've all broken God's laws.

We've all broken God's commandments.

So, we were in need of someone to help us.

You can't go back and rewrite what you've done.

You can't even start from now and never mess up again.

None of us are capable.

We're all gonna mess up.

We're all going to willfully break God's laws.

That's who we are.

So, we need somebody to help us.

Well, there was only one,

both willing and able,

to do that,

and his name is

Jesus.

That's right.

And if you didn't know that,

then I hope that good news

just brightened your day today.

Because Jesus is the one,

the only one,

willing and able

to do something about this sin problem.

And he did.

That was God's plan from the beginning.

And so, Jesus

left his throne in heaven,

came down,

humbled himself,

took on human flesh,

became one of us,

lived this life,

suffered all the same struggles

that we suffer,

dealt with the temptations

that we deal with,

but he did it without ever sinning.

He became our example

of how to live this life.

And he walked among us.

He healed us.

He served us.

He met our needs.

He taught us.

He came to seek

and to save

the lost.

And he's still doing it today.

He's still seeking.

He's still saving.

Every time we see somebody

hop up in those baptism waters

and give that public expression

of their faith,

they're showing that Jesus

saved them.

He sought them.

He found them.

And he saved them.

So the seed is not the problem.

The seed is that message.

That still changes lives today.

That still is the good news.

A lot of news out there.

Y'all know what I'm talking about.

Whether you turn on Fox

or CNN

or something else,

you'll find news

and most of it

probably doesn't make

your day brighter.

But

there is good news.

And that's from Jesus

and that's what we promote.

That's what we

sow

and then let God

bring fruit.

So the seed is not the problem.

But then the second part

of this passage

that we see,

I'm going to get back to it

on the screen for you here.

Verse 24.

He sowed good seed

in his field

but while the people

were sleeping,

what happened?

The enemy came.

Well, if you're a follower

of Jesus,

who's the enemy?

That's right.

It's not your neighbor.

It's not that guy

who cuts you off in traffic.

Okay?

It's not the person

who's going at you

on social media.

That's not your enemy.

The enemy is Satan.

There is an enemy

and he is trying

to undermine and destroy

what God does

in this world.

Now, he's always going to fail

but he's going to give it

his best effort.

And so the enemy came

and he sowed weeds

among the wheat

and then he left.

Did his work

and took off.

And when the plants

sprouted and produced grain,

the weeds also appeared.

So the work of the enemy

was there.

And I can promise you,

the enemy

will always sabotage.

The enemy

will always sabotage

what God is trying to do

in this world

and in your life.

The enemy's not just

going to sit by quietly

and let God

turn your life around

and make everything

how it ought to be.

The enemy's going to fight back.

I'm sorry to tell you that.

That's how sweet heaven

is going to be someday.

When our race

on this earth is run

and our time is complete

and God brings us

home to heaven,

we get to live

this perfect,

wonderful,

forever,

eternity with Jesus.

And there's no enemy

to fight against.

But until that day comes,

the enemy is trying

to hold on

to the darkness.

He's trying to not let

any more

turn to the light.

So he's going to sabotage.

And what does he do?

He doesn't just go

pull up

the good seed

that was sown.

Number one,

I don't think God would,

God definitely would not

let him do that.

What he does

is he tries to make it

hard to tell

what came from good seed

and what came from bad seed.

So he goes

and sabotages.

He's sneaky.

He's a trickster.

So,

let's look back at the text.

Verse 25.

He sowed weeds

among the wheat

and left.

When the plants

sprouted

and appeared,

the weeds

also appeared.

Now,

understand a principle

about this.

In your copy

of the word of God,

it might say

tares

instead of wheat.

T-A-R-E-S.

Anybody have a Bible

that says tares?

I figured there'd be

a number of you.

And it basically

means the same thing.

Let me share

a little truth here.

The weeds

can look like wheat.

This was a common problem.

Honestly,

it still is a common problem.

We have any wheat farmers

in here?

I didn't think so.

We were,

if we were in the Midwest,

you know,

we might get some more of that.

But the weeds

can look like wheat.

I want to show you

a picture.

On the left,

the words are probably

hard to see,

but on the left,

you've got Darnell.

Or Darnal.

Anybody know how

to pronounce that?

We'll go with Darnell.

It works for me.

And then on the right,

you have wheat.

To the casual observer,

if you're walking

through a field,

would you easily

be able to identify

the weeds,

tares,

Darnell

from the wheat?

Yes?

That's good.

Most of us can't.

It's a very,

very common problem

in agriculture

when it comes to wheat

is it's hard

to identify.

Now,

as it grows

come harvest time,

it's easier

to identify.

The weeds

will get these,

the Darnell,

the tares

will get these

dark seeds,

and then the wheat

will have the nice

white seeds.

But early

in its stages,

it's very,

very hard

to distinguish

the tares

or the weeds

from the wheat.

Do you know

what's interesting?

Is that the enemy

was not just

trying to get rid

of the good man's crops.

He was trying

to make it hard

for him

to pull up

the good crops

and not pull up

the bad crops

with it.

Not be able

to identify

which is which.

Do you realize

that Darnell

over here,

these tares,

are poisonous

both to humans

and animals?

They can ruin

a field.

They can take over.

They can absolutely

ruin what he's

trying to do.

Do you understand

the point

that Jesus

is making here?

The enemy

is tricky

in how he

sabotages

God's work

on this world.

He doesn't

always just

try to

stop

the message

of God.

Sometimes

he tries

to sabotage

it

by putting

a different

message in

with it.

He tries

to put people

who are not

truly followers

of Jesus

and put them

into a church

of Jesus

followers.

He tries

to make

something that

kind of looks

like Jesus

and kind of

looks like

Christianity

but it's got

a very different

purpose

and it's

poisonous.

There's all

kinds of

illustrations

of that.

Sometimes

the tares

don't even

know

or realize

when it

comes to

spiritual

tares

and weeds

they don't

understand

that they're

being used

in this

way.

They're just

trying to

live their

life.

Just trying

to get

what's best

for them.

And sure

why wouldn't

I join

this church

bunch of

moral upstanding

citizens.

Yeah that's

me too.

But they

have their

agenda

and it

does not

mimic

God's

agenda.

They have

their priorities

that don't

align with

God's

priorities.

And all

of a sudden

when those

people have

been in a

church for

a while

and they

start raising

their family

in that

church

they are

promoting

a different

kind of

Christianity

than Jesus

left us

with.

And all

of a sudden

churches can

start to

get sidetracked

and they

can start

to get

overrun

with

tares

with

weeds.

This is

the principle

that Jesus

is teaching

his followers

saying be

careful

the enemy

is going

to bring

up those

among

you

who will

try to

get you

off track.

Try to

change

the priorities

that I

gave you.

The weeds

can look

like wheat

but when

it's harvest

time

God will

know the

difference.

He will

separate the

wheat from

the tares.

He will

separate the

wheat from

the weeds.

So

the enemy

will sabotage

and the

hard part

is

the tares

or the

weeds

can look

like

the wheat.

Another

thing

the weeds

roots

go deep.

They go

deep.

The weeds

roots

go much

deeper

than the

wheat's

roots

do.

I don't

know if I

said that

very well

but you

know what

I'm trying

to say.

The tares

have these

long roots

that go

in deep

and then

they spread

out and

they can

start to

choke

the roots

of the

wheat,

the good

crop that

the sower

was trying

to produce.

The weeds

roots

can go

so deep

in a

church

or in a

community

of Jesus

followers

that it

can start

to choke

out what

God is

actually trying

to do

through those

followers of

Jesus in

this world.

Unfortunately,

you see it

all the

time.

That's often

why churches

end up

dying.

That's why

churches end

up closing,

shutting down

because the

devil got

in there

and sabotaged

them.

His roots

went so

deep that

it choked

out everything

else.

We must

recognize

when there

are certain

values or

priorities

within

certain

people

that

don't

align

with

God's

values

and

priorities.

You know

what the

crazy thing

is?

We have

to check

our own

heart

and see

if our

own

values

and

priorities

align

with God's

with our

lives,

with our

families,

but especially

when it

comes to

our church.

There is

nothing that

Satan wants

more than

to just

make our

church

ineffective.

He doesn't

even necessarily

want to close

us down

if he can

just make

us ineffective

for God's

kingdom.

So when

you're looking

at God's

kingdom,

by the way,

God's

kingdom was,

is,

and always

will be,

but if you're

looking at

advancing God's

kingdom on

this earth

right now,

which is what

God told us

to do,

then how

would we go

about it?

Well,

we would go

about it

by sharing

the good

news of

Jesus with

other people.

What if

the devil

got in

and said,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

that's not

the most

important

thing.

The most

important

thing is

not sharing

the good

news of

Jesus,

the most

important

thing is

having a

nice group

of like-minded

people that

you can enjoy

your life

with.

Well,

that sounds

good,

right?

I want a

nice group

of like-minded

people that

I can enjoy

my life

with.

I think

we all

do.

Funny thing

is,

God told us

to do

that.

He said

you should,

one of the

functions of

the church

should be

to have a

nice group

of followers

of Jesus

that you

can do

life with

together.

But if

that becomes

the priority,

then what

happens?

We become

this us

for and no

more kind

of group

of people.

This click,

this private

club of people

that it's

like,

hey,

this is

who we

are,

this is

what we're

about,

and if you

don't fit

in,

you can't

sit with

us.

You can't

come in

these doors

and we'll

look at you

sideways and

somebody's wearing

their hat in

this building.

Unbelievable.

Weren't they

raised better

than that?

There's all

kinds of

examples of

how that could

play out.

it's not

about our

little group

all looking

alike,

thinking alike,

acting alike

all the time.

It's about

all of us

together trying

to be like

Jesus.

He's going

to take us

different places

in different

ways,

but he's

going to do

it together.

And we

need to

take him

to the people

outside these

walls.

Truth is,

sometimes we

need to take

him to the

people inside

these walls

too.

But the

weeds roots

can go so

deep that

over time

a church

can begin

to prioritize

different things

other than

taking Jesus

to everyone

who needs

to hear.

And that's

when a church

can start

to get so

steeped,

so cemented

in their

own traditions,

their own

values,

what they

feel is

most important

that they

are resistant

to anything

else.

and if

Jesus

himself

walked in

and said,

I want

you to

stop doing

this and

start doing

this,

they'd say,

well,

we're not

sure about

that.

Committee's

going to

have to

recommend it,

we're going

to have to

put it

to a

vote,

Jesus.

We have

our way

of doing

things here.

Now look,

I'm not

attacking

committees

or votes,

but we

have to

ensure

that what

the committees

value,

what the votes

reflect,

is what

Jesus

values.

And if

we have

adopted

traditions

or practices

within our

own church

over nearly

150 years

that don't

reflect the

values of

Jesus Christ

himself and

what he left

for this

church to

accomplish,

then we've

got to look

at that and

say,

have we

let some

weeds in?

Have we

let some

tares go up?

Have those

roots started

to spread

and choke

out what

God wanted

to do

here?

There's a

very practical

application for

this lesson

that Jesus

was trying

to teach.

And so

what does

he say

happens to

the roots

of the

weeds,

of the

tares?

What does

he say

happen?

You pull

them up.

You pull

up the

weeds and

you pull

up the

roots,

you pull

up the

wheat,

all at the

same time

when harvest

time comes.

You don't

do it early.

Don't worry,

we're not

going to go

through this

church right

after the

service ends

and say,

you're a

wheat,

you're a

tare,

you get

out,

you can

stay.

Somebody might

do that to

me too,

so we'll

pass on that

idea.

He says,

no,

you don't

know,

you can't

know who's a

weed and

who's wheat.

God knows,

he keeps the

account.

When the

time comes,

they'll expose

themselves.

It'll be easy

to tell.

And then

we'll send

the tears

off to be

burned.

So,

the next

part on

your bulletin

here,

produce for

the barn

or poison

to be burned.

We've been

talking a lot

about fruit

lately.

We've been

talking a lot

about bearing

fruit for

Jesus.

We've talked

about this

Who's Your

One campaign.

If you haven't

been a part

of that and

you walked

in and you

saw signs

everywhere that

said,

Who's Your

One,

you're probably

wondering what

that's all

about.

Well,

that means

that we

are supposed

to share

the good

news of

Jesus with

people.

So,

let's start

with one.

Let's start

with one

person in

each of

our lives

that you

say,

I need

to share

Jesus with

that person.

So,

I'm going

to pray

for them.

I'm going

to ask

God to

give me

opportunities

to share

Jesus with

them.

And then

I'm going

to pray

for boldness

that when

those opportunities

come,

I won't

be too

scared.

I won't

be too

nervous.

Or I

won't be

too shy.

I will

have the

words to

say to

share

Jesus with

somebody in

that moment.

This is my

one person

that I'm

going to

focus on.

Maybe God

will send

me somebody

else along

the way.

But I'm

praying for

this one

and I'm

going to

work toward

seeing this

one hear

the good

news of

Jesus and

become a

follower of

his.

So,

we've been

talking about

this and

that's called

bearing fruit.

Jesus gives

us this picture.

He says,

I am the

vine.

You are the

branches.

If you

abide in

me,

then you

will bear

the fruit

that comes

from me.

Now,

you might

be abiding

in yourself

and you

bear the

fruit that

comes from

yourself.

You might

be abiding

on the

internet and

you bear

the fruit

that abides

from that.

You might

be abiding

and spending

your time

in focusing

on having

your heart

attached to

all kinds

of different

pursuits in

this world and

you will have

the fruit that

comes from

that.

But if you

abide in

Jesus,

then you'll

have the fruit

that comes

from Jesus.

That's what's

called produce

in the barn.

He wanted

to grow

wheat.

So when

it's time

for harvest,

he collects

the wheat and

he puts it

in the barn.

The tares

don't go

in the barn.

They're

poisonous.

They get

burned.

They get

bundled up

and they

get burned.

And I think

it's interesting

that he said

they get

burned because

there is a

real punishment

for those

without Jesus.

and I

wish it

wasn't this

way.

But unfortunately

the Bible

is pretty

clear that

those who

die without

Christ are

condemned to

an eternal

punishment in

a lake of

fire called

hell.

It's a

terrible place.

God didn't

create it for

you.

He created

it for Satan

and all of

his angels.

But those

of us who

broke God's

laws and

rejected his

payment for

our sin.

Rejected his

son's sacrifice

to redeem

us.

Remember that

song we all

messed up on

the words

earlier?

Redeemed.

What does that

word even mean?

Why are we

even singing

that song?

Redeemed

means you

bought something

back.

We were

God's.

We were his

creation.

As we said

earlier, Adam

and Eve's sin.

Sin passed

upon all of

us.

We were all

born now with

this sin

nature.

God could

have just made

us robots.

Right?

Could have just

made us

automatically do

whatever he

wanted us to

do.

But he gave

us this

will.

He gave

us this

choice.

He gave

us the

ability to

choose to

obey him or

not to

obey him.

Well man,

that's certainly

a more

meaningful

relationship.

If I have

the choice to

love you or

not love you

and I choose

to love you,

that's meaningful,

right?

If I had no

choice, there's

nothing special

about that.

But when we

had the will,

the opportunity

to accept or

reject Christ and

we reject him,

then we end

up in the

same punishment

that was

reserved for

Satan and

his demons.

Poison to

be burned.

There are

people who

sit in church

every Sunday,

year after year

after year,

and they're

going to be

bundled away as

poison to be

burned.

Why?

Because they're

not wheat.

They're weeds.

They're tares.

I cannot

imagine,

seriously, I

can't even begin

to guess who

it would be in

this church,

but statistics

would say

there are

people in

our church

who are

weeds,

who are

tares.

And my

prayer is that

they would not

suffer the

punishment

of poison to

be burned.

verses 47

through 50.

Back in

Matthew 13,

we'll be done

in just a

moment.

Verses 47

through 50.

Again, the

kingdom of

heaven is

like a

large net

thrown into

the sea.

It collected

every kind

of fish,

and when it

was full,

they dragged

it ashore,

sat down,

gathered the

good fish

into containers,

but threw

out the

worthless

ones.

So it

will be at

the end of

the age.

The angels

will go out,

separate the

evil people

from the

righteous,

and throw

them into

the blazing

furnace where

there will be

weeping and

gnashing of

teeth.

Now, if you

just read this

passage in a

vacuum, you

would say,

well, I don't

want to be

evil, I want

to be righteous

so I don't

get thrown

out.

So I

better be

good, I

better mind

my manners,

I better eat

all my

vegetables,

I better be

as good as

I can be,

right?

But if you

read that

context, not

all by itself,

but in the

passage, that

passage in the

whole context of

scripture, then

you understand

what it means to

be righteous or

evil.

Evil means

God has not

imputed or

like stamped

his righteousness

onto you.

evil means you

are still just

like everybody

else without

Jesus.

Guess what?

Before you

got saved,

before you

consciously made

the choice to

place all your

faith in Jesus

for the forgiveness

of your sins,

you were evil

too.

And then God

made you

righteous.

righteous.

Now if that

hasn't happened

for you,

then I pray that

you would become

righteous, not by

your righteousness,

but by his

righteousness today

before you leave

this place.

You'll have an

opportunity to in

just a moment.

But he says he's

going to separate

the evil from the

righteous.

That doesn't mean

he's going to

separate the people

that act the best

on the outward

appearance,

on the surface.

It means he's

going to separate

those who have

been stamped by

Jesus'

righteousness,

by his blood,

been washed

clean.

That sacrifice

that he made

on the cross.

Easter's coming

up.

We're going to

talk.

The whole world

is going to

pause for a

minute and think

about bunnies,

carrots, and

Jesus'

resurrection.

I don't know

how those things

came together.

And the bunnies

and carrots are

fine.

But Jesus'

resurrection,

after his death,

his sacrificial

death, is what

makes all the

difference for you

and for me.

Then you are made

righteous in God's

eyes, not because

you're a good guy

or a good girl,

but because Jesus

made you righteous.

And then he can

help you be

righteous after

that.

So are you

produce for the

barn or are you

poison to be

burned?

Are you fish that

will be put into

containers and

used for a good

purpose or will

you be thrown

out?

Here's the

difference between

ripened wheat and

tares.

See wheat over

here?

It bows over

when it's ready

to be harvested.

It's got these

white seeds.

The darn

ale, the tares

remains erect

and it has

these dark

poisonous seeds.

Are you

produce or are

you poison?

Are you used

for a good

purpose?

Or are you

going to be

thrown out?

It's a hard

question we have

to ask ourselves.

We've got to

look back at our

own salvation

experience.

are we a

genuine follower

of Jesus or

have we just

been trying to

be a good

person?

Have we just

felt like oh

I've always been

a Christian.

No you

haven't.

You were born

without him.

You must receive

him.

You must receive

him.

Ezekiel 36 and

we'll be done.

I have good

news for you.

Would you turn

back in the Old

Testament to

Ezekiel right

before the book

of Daniel?

Kind of turn to

the middle of your

Bible and then look

around until you

find Ezekiel chapter

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

36.

I have good news

for you.

God can turn the

weeds into wheat.

God can change

you from a

weed into

wheat.

Right now you

might be sitting

here and even

though you have

felt like you're a

good person you

belong here.

This has been your

church for many

years.

You might actually

be a weed.

And Satan is

hoping that you

stay that way

and you keep

sowing your own

agenda and you

never become wheat

for God's purpose.

but God can

change you.

2 Corinthians 5

17 says if any

of us are in

Christ he is a

new creature.

Old things are

passed away.

All things are

become new.

Now look at

Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36

Ezekiel 36:25

verse 25.

I will also

sprinkle clean

water on you

and you will be

clean.

He will make you

clean.

I will cleanse

you from all your

impurities.

All your idols.

Verse 26.

I will give you

a new heart.

a new heart.

A new heart.

And put a new

spirit within you.

His Holy Spirit.

I will remove

your heart of stone

and give you a

heart of flesh.

I will place my

spirit within you

and cause you to

follow my statutes

and carefully observe

my ordinances.

God can change you

from a weed

into wheat.

But not if you

resist him.

only if you

embrace him.

Only if you

say yes.

God will not

change everyone.

Some,

I don't know why,

I can't understand

him,

I can't understand

his mindset,

his ways are much

higher than my

ways.

But some were

created with God

having the foreknowledge

that they will not

come to me.

They will not turn.

They will not

accept.

They will stay

evil and wicked.

I will never be

able to impute

or stamp my

righteousness onto

them.

But some of you

will.

Some of you will.

And I pray that

before my time

on this earth

is done,

God uses me

to turn many

to righteousness.

Many who he

calls,

many who he

draws,

can hear the good

news from my lips.

And I hope that's

your prayer too.

I hope that's

your prayer too.

Because it's going

to take all of us

to grow his

kingdom.

It's going to take

all of us for his

children to come in.

So,

our takeaway this

morning is simple.

Are you living

like weeds

or wheat?

What's your

function?

In your home,

in the community,

in this church,

what is your

function?

Are you living

like weeds

or wheat?

I know on the

surface you'd

probably say wheat.

But go below

the surface.

Look at what

your priorities

are.

Are your priorities

God's priorities?

Or are you

holding on to

different priorities,

different values

that lead us to

different places

than what God

called us for?

What did he come

for?

He came to seek

and save the

lost.

Is that our

purpose?

May God give us

the same purpose

that he did

and may he make

us wheat

for his good

pleasure,

for his good

purposes.

We'll give him

all the glory for it.

Would you bow your

heads with me right

now?

God,

I pray that in

this moment you

would reveal to us

by your spirit

whether we are

in you or not.

So many people

in this world

think they're

Christians.

They're convinced

they're Christians

because they grew