Matthew 13:24-45

I think the question that I can ask more than anything other, any other question that troubles both people who would describe themselves as Christians and people who would not describe themselves as Christians.

! Really is this problem of evil and this problem of suffering and trouble in the world.

So questions like, why did God allow this to happen to me?

And why did God allow this to happen to that person?

I was at Express of Cabance at the Sunday of the hour on Thursday nights with Presbytery Men and this front man when he found out we were ministers he said, well why is God allowing all the stabbings to happen?

Why doesn't God do something?

Why doesn't God do something about the situation that's in your life?

Why does God allow what's happening to you to continue?

And does God not care?

And is God just not interested?

Does God have the resources and the strength to do what needs to be done?

Does God not have the wisdom to understand what seems to be really simple solutions?

How does it all tie in?

How does it tie in with the concept of a God who is universally loved?

And it's an issue which the Lord Jesus spoke about again and again.

And from many different angles.

But I've come to see that this week I don't think he addresses it in any other place with such clarity and more poignantly than from Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

The story is next of a man who goes out into a good field.

He sows good seed and then during the middle of the night an enemy comes and sows weeds, lettuce, thorns.

And his field has kind of been invaded.

It's been polluted.

And his servants suddenly see this when the crops begin to pop on the ground.

And it's endangered his purposes.

Along with the parable of the sower, this is probably the most well known.

It's one of the most significant.

And it's one of the most important parables.

It's full of divine, really great divine truths.

It's only the second parable of the sower that's explained by the Lord Jesus.

And there's a really detailed explanation there in verse 36.

The disciples come to him and they ask him,

what do you want about with the parable of the sower?

And he tells them.

And I want to give you four lessons and the small note from it.

I want to say first of all, what Jesus is highlighting is

Jesus concentrating our attention this morning

on the ultimate origin of evil.

That's my first point, the ultimate origin of evil.

Look at verse 27 and 28.

The servants of the master of the house came in and they said to him,

Master, did you not sow good seeds in your fields?

Do you see that?

In other words, the servants, they recognize that the master is good

and what he's done is exclusively good.

You have sown what is good, so why then doesn't have weeds?

They're asking the basic question, where has the opposition, everything that you have done, come from?

How is it that there's weeds in your fields?

Where do they come from?

And Jesus puts it into the master's lips, doesn't he?

He says, an enemy has done this.

And so Jesus has absolutely no hesitation in identifying the origin of evil.

Now let me say to you, this is not a complete and total picture of all that the Bible says to us.

About the origin of evil.

But Jesus is saying to you and I, that there is a sinister, personal, supernatural power.

He calls him the devil and Satan.

He identifies him in verse 39.

The weeds that are sown, the one who sown them, the enemy who sown them, is the devil.

That's verse 39.

And both in the parable of the sower, significantly, and in the parable of the tares and the wheat,

the devil appears as the one who in both church and in the world

is constantly and feverishly opposing all that God is doing in the church and the world.

The devil is engaged in trying to snatch away the good seed of the word.

The devil comes, says Jesus, and snatches the good seed away.

He is kind of engaged in sowing thorns and thistles and weeds.

He is opposing that seed which God has sown.

I want to say to you that that is absolutely vital in all our thinking.

But if you dismiss this dimension of the devil, of evil, from your thinking,

if you refuse to recognize and believe that there is a personal, supernatural, spiritual power of Satan,

who as well is solely motivated by hatred towards God,

will that be a disaster for you.

I think that's one of the reasons why we find it so difficult to think and to speak as a preacher about the devil.

Now as we think, it's difficult to think of a God who is motivated only by righteousness and holiness.

We find it difficult to think about personal devil who is motivated only by opposition to everything that God is and God does.

But I say to you that if you dismiss, if you refuse this dimension from your thinking about the devil,

then you'll not only be able to understand the Bible,

you'll not only be able to understand yourself,

and you will certainly not be able to understand the world or the culture that we live in.

Let me read you words by Ronnie Wallace.

Ronnie Wallace wrote this,

The disciples of Jesus are not the only people who have seeds to sow or a gospel to tell.

There is an Antichrist, something with Antichrist.

And he has seed to sow and a plan to execute,

that seeks to displace the true Lord and Creator from his throne.

Jesus, in his explanation of the parable of the tares from wheat,

declares quite bluntly that the enemy is the devil.

And no one can deny that to Jesus the enemy was a most sinister and concrete personal reality.

Jesus did not speak of himself as one who was fighting against fate.

He did not describe himself as one who was fighting against human beings.

He did not come to fight against bad social conditions.

Jesus did not come to fight wrong ideas,

but as the one who came to fight against a single person.

A single personal will which has defied God in a sphere far greater than this earth.

To Jesus, the power of evil was directed by one evil personality.

One great mind.

Having at his disposal a host of agents and emissaries of evil,

all moving as part of a strategy to thwart the purpose of God.

Headquarters of this power, this evil, is beyond this earth.

That this earth is the battleground on which he throws out his challenge to God.

And so in many ways, the Apostle Paul, he summarised it,

the teaching of Jesus and the life of Jesus,

when he said to the Ephesians,

we wrestle not against flesh and blood,

but against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world.

Against spiritual wickedness in high places.

That is the ultimate root and origin and seat of every such phenomenon.

And Jesus is referring to that when he speaks of the weeds of this world.

In other words, more simply, this world that you live in

is not the world as God made it.

It is this world that has been spoiled.

And it is absolutely vital for you to recognise that.

Because we are intertwined in the whole fabric of a world

in which sin and all its crop of disease and death

and tragedy and cruelty

and violence and sickness and stabbings

and natural disasters so occur.

And that means that if you are willing to think of it in this way,

you will look at the world in a very different way.

And you will read the news on the internet in a different way.

Because you will see what is the ultimate explanation.

The ultimate explanation in the words of Jesus is,

an enemy has done this.

When you see death

in the midst of life

and you discover the

anguish and the agony

that death brings.

That is what brought

Jesus indignation

as he came to Lazarus' tomb.

It was an enemy that had done this.

And that's right as well.

I'm often asked to take funerals

and people are often saying

we want this funeral

to be a type of celebration

of the person's life.

And I know what they mean.

We want to give thanks, don't we?

And yet in every single funeral

there must be an element

of an enemy has done this.

It is not right.

What's the real explanation of terrorism?

What's the explanation of a senseless destruction?

Of stabbings that seem to be

utterly and totally random

and meaningless.

It is.

An enemy has done this.

When we see families

destroyed by adultery

or one partner

walking away,

what is the ultimate answer?

That an enemy has done this.

When we read of victims

of abuse

and broken hearts

and families

and the nameless heartache

that is all around our society

and is in this room,

an enemy has done this.

Amen.

Well,

my friend Johnny Gibson

and Jackie

they had a daughter,

Leila,

you remember,

she was stillborn.

And

it's the most remarkable funeral

I've ever been in.

I've never felt sadder.

I've never believed the gospel more.

Johnny

got up to give a tribute

to his

stillborn daughter.

It was a remarkable thing.

The most memorable thing

of that day

was he pointed at the coffin

and he said,

an enemy has done this.

That's right, isn't it?

And in the church

we have to face

exactly the same thing.

Do you see,

the devil does not

stand outside the church

on a Sunday morning.

The evil one

does not stand outside

the gates passively.

But when you begin

to see something eroding,

someone's dedication

or love

or devotion

to the Lord Jesus,

we might say

they're cooling off

in their Christian war.

Or when you see

division

coming into church life

and little things

becoming really

big things.

and when you see

someone intent

on damaging

the church

by grumbling

and groaning

and throwing

your own accusations,

Jesus Christ

tells you the origin

and he says,

an enemy

has done this.

So the next question

is this,

what will this

be done about?

Where does it come from?

Well,

the answer to that

was the first point,

the ultimate origin

of evil

and the second question

is,

well,

what's going to be

done about it?

And perhaps

it's the most

perplexing thing

of all

this next year,

it's the apparent

indifference of God.

The apparent

indifference of God.

In some ways,

that's the crux

of the passage,

that's the really

sticking point.

The servants

say to their masters,

look at verse 26,

and they say,

when the plants

come up

and bear grain,

then the weeds

appeared also.

And the servants

of the master

of the house

came and said to him,

Master,

did you not sell

good seed to your feet?

How then is it?

Weeds,

and then an enemy

has done this.

So the servants

say then,

well,

do you want us

to go and gather them up?

But he said to them,

no,

less than gathering

the weeds,

he root up the wheat

along with them.

Now let both

grow together

into the harvest

and the harvest

will tell the weeds,

gather the weeds

first and buy

them bundles

to be burned.

And what they say

to him,

they come to the farmer

and they say,

this is what we would do.

And the servants

of the household,

and they said,

Pharaoh,

didn't you sow

good seed

into your field

and nectar

as weeds?

if I was you,

let's go and gather

them up right now.

Let's go into the weeds

right now.

And he goes on

to say,

doesn't he,

in verse 30,

let them both grow

together

until the harvest.

So let's say,

it's the beginning

of the summer time,

the plants

are beginning to grow,

the wheat is beginning

to grow,

but also the weeds

are beginning to grow.

And you walk past

that field

and you look

at the field

and in the field

are loads of weeds

and loads of wheat.

What do you think

about the farmer?

You think,

he can't be bothered,

can he?

He's not taking

very good care

of his field.

You think,

that farmer,

look,

it's indifferent.

He's indifferent.

He's letting these

weeds grow.

He's careless.

What is he doing?

It's such a serious

problem, isn't it?

The weeds growing

in this field.

It obviously

doesn't matter to him

that he's got

this field.

And many people

say that about God.

There's a parent

difference.

Maybe you're saying

that this morning.

Maybe you say,

what is God doing

about this situation?

And like these servants,

we may go to God

and we might say to him,

well,

if I was you,

God,

and this is what

I would do.

If I were God.

And there's an account

of the blitz in London

where there's suddenly

the tragic ashes

of a bomb site.

Hundreds of people

have been killed.

The bombs are still

falling.

And one man

says to the person

next to him,

I can only be God

for ten minutes.

If I could only be God

for ten minutes.

And his neighbour

said to him,

if you were to be God

for ten minutes,

I wouldn't want to

live in your universe

for ten seconds.

But you know

what the first man meant,

don't you?

You know that.

He thought he knew

what he would do

about it.

And that God

apparently didn't know

what he was doing

about it.

But you see,

the simple fact

is not that

God's care

is inferior

to ours,

but his wisdom

is superior

to ours.

Have you got that?

Have you grasped that?

It's not that God's care

is inferior

to ours,

it's that his wisdom

is superior to ours.

for us.

For us,

the heavens are higher

than the earth,

shall I buy

ways higher

than your ways,

says the Lord.

And the vital issue

in facing life

and the world

and thinking about

issues of this kind

is that God's ways

and God's wisdom

and God's thoughts

are not like ours,

are they?

That means

to be my third

question.

And that is

the dangerous

fallibility

of human judgment.

The dangerous

fallibility

of human judgment,

which isn't actually

a question.

So we don't know

the whole story.

The ultimate origin

of the first thing,

the apparent indifference

of God is the second thing.

And they say to him,

Master,

do you not want us

to lift the weeds?

And he says,

no,

let them grow together.

But the third thing

is this dangerous

fallibility

of human judgment.

Because in verse 29,

look what he says,

no,

lest in gathering

the weeds

you root up

the weeds

along with them.

Let them grow together

until the harvest.

And the harvest

have all.

I'll tell the reapers,

gather the weeds first,

find them,

but they'll see burnt.

But gather the weeds

into my garden.

Now do you notice

what the owner

of the field

is saying?

He is saying to them

he has a plan

for the whole

of his field.

And the owner

of the field

will not allow

the enemy

who would come

into the field

to dictate

the timetable

or afford

his purpose.

The enemy

will not wait.

The master

here

is saying

that the time

for now

and the word

for now

is wait.

That's the word.

That's the word

the farmer says.

The farmer says

wait

because

human

interference

at this point

would be

directly

against

the general

purpose

of God

and the world.

For the farmer

to go out

and to

dig up the field

to separate

the wheat

and the weeds

at this point

would be

against the purpose

of God.

And the people

who were working

for the farmer

they might have said

we don't understand

we don't understand

this

we don't get

this

why?

But the master

said of course

you don't understand

you just need

to accept

my counsel.

You live by

my wisdom

and you

wait.

They were saying

judgment

now.

That was their

word.

Their word

was now.

God's word

was wait.

Is that what

people say?

Why doesn't

God judge

now?

Why doesn't

God act

now?

Why doesn't

he do

something about

it now?

But actually

if I'm

honest I don't

think I want

judgment now.

Do you?

And the

reason God

is saying

wait is

because God

is a God

of infinite

patience

and infinite

grace and

he is not

careless and

he is not

complacent

and he has

a greater

and bigger

purpose than

what the

servants

grasped

and he

says wait

because this

day is a

day of

grace

and it's a

day of

God's

kindness

but there

is a day

of judgment

to come.

The amazing

truth of

God's

delay is

precisely

that.

It's about

how 2 Peter

3 says

he says

you must

understand

he says

know this

there will

come people

that will

mock and

they'll

scoff in

the last

days

and they'll

just do what

they want

they'll live

for their

own sinful

desires

and they will

say where is

the promise

of his

coming?

Why hasn't

Jesus come

back yet?

For

ever since the

fathers have

seen all

things are

continuing as

they were

from creation

nothing's

changed

it just

goes on

and on

and on

so let's

just live

for ourselves

in other

words they

say God

is not

interfering

with his

world

but then

Peter says

but do not

overlook this

fact

because with

the Lord

one day is

a thousand

years and

a thousand

years is

one day

but the

Lord is

not slow

the Lord

is not slow

to fulfill

his promise

and some

count slowness

but he's

patient towards

him

not wishing

!

and he should

perish

but the Lord

should reach

repentance

one day

the Lord

will come

but in the

meantime

until that

time he

has a

purpose

to preserve

his wheat

the older

commentators

as you read

them on this

passage

the Puritans

and others

they say

what Jesus

is saying

here is

don't touch

the wheat

don't endanger

the wheat

my heart

is set

upon cultivating

the wheat

Jesus

saying I

I'm

building

my church

the gates

of hell

will not

prevail against

it

don't touch

my wheat

and the

point of that

wheat

growing is

that it's

going to

confront

the world

it will

confront

the world

and the

weeds

with

all that

God is

going to

do in

the world

with the

holiness

of God

and God's

great concern

is with

the growth

and the

prosperity

of his

courts

and he

will not

let the

devil

win

he will

not let

the devil

dictate the

timetable

or the

pattern of

his works

you see

these

servants

they thought

the master

will suddenly

go to the

field

and he'll

get frightened

by what

he sees

and he'll

be alarmed

and he'll

scurry about

and he'll

change his

plan

and he'll

say we've

all got to

get out

there and

get the

weeds up

but he

says wait

God is

not

panicked

God is

not

surprised

his

purposes

will

ripen

fast

but there

is a

danger

in men

and women

interfering

that person

was really

right to

us

the second

man

of the

place

that if

you were

God

for ten

minutes

I

wouldn't

want to

be in

your

universe

for ten

seconds

here's the

last thing

the inevitability

of divine

judgment

the dangerous

dangerous

fallibility

of human

judgment

we don't

know the

whole story

but the

inevitability

of divine

judgment

and it's

paralleled

isn't

there

these

inevitability

and perfection

look at

verse 30

let both

grow together

until the

harvest

and at

harvest time

will tell

the weepers

separate

gather the

weeds first

bind them

into bundles

to be

burned

gather the

weeds

into my

bath

and then

look at

verse 40

just as the

weeds are

gathered and

burned with

fire so

it will be

at the

end of

the age

the son

of man

will send

his angels

they'll gather

out of his

kingdom all

causes of sin

all lawbreakers

throw them into

the fiery

furnace

in that place

there will be

weeping and

gnashing of

teeth

then the

righteous

will shine

out the

sun

in the

kingdom

of the

father

he who has

ears to hear

let him hear

what Jesus

is saying is

there are times

when the world

looks like it's in

the hands of the

evil

but the very

reverse is the

case

it is God's

world

and it is God

who is determining

his purpose

and it is God

who is clearly

guiding his

timetable to the

day that he is

determined

not the devil

but on the day

when he comes

again

on the day he is

determined

at that moment

there will be

infallible and

inevitable judgment

God will make

his arm bare

of course the

godless forces

and the evil

men and women

they are unaware

of it

they think it's

all in their

hands

but Jesus

is saying

there will

come a time

when my

word will

change

do you remember

what his

word is

his word

is wait

but there

is a time

coming

when his

word will

be reap

and gather

out my

kingdom

you see

here's the

answer

why is

God not

doing something

about this

or that

or the other

well God

is not

coming yet

he's not

yet coming

in judgment

upon a

sin sick

world

to sort

the evil

from the

good

but a

day is

coming

when he

will do

that

and he's

given to

you a

day of

grace

let me

summarise

and then I

conclude

number one

we live in a

fallen world

a world

where there

is sin

and disease

and death

and tragedy

of a

thousand

different

forms

and it

is all

part of

the evidence

that this

is not

the world

as God

made it

it is

his world

that has

been spoiled

and the

promise of

God is

no more

death

no more

sorrow

no more

tears

no more

sin

and that

relates

to the

new heavens

the new

earth

and it's

at the

end of

that age

of the

age

that we

enter

into that

glory

not now

and we

need to

come face

to face

with these

issues

when so

many people

say why

why has

this happened

why am I

going through

this

why is so

much of it

frustrating

it's because

we live in a

world's

spoiled

boy

sin

and we

have the

evidence

all around

us

and being a

Christian

doesn't

insulate

you

that's

position

that's the

first

lesson

the second

lesson

is every

move made

by God

in the

world

and especially

in the

church

will be

resisted

it will be

resisted by

the opposition

and the

cunning of

Satan

constantly

and we

need to

expect that

and not be

surprised by it

I'm not saying

why has this

happened

it is part of

the course

opposition

is normal

and thirdly

we need to be

very cautious

lest we

kind of employ

a human

wisdom

a worldly

thinking

where we

think

well we

can combat

Satan

by this

and the

key note

for the

time that

we live

in

is

patience

and prayer

and a

life of

holiness

and

weight

here's the

last thing

we need

to live

with an

absolute

assurance

of the

triumph of

God

that's the

ultimate

note of

power

Jesus

says

to you

and I

do not

imagine

that life

is going

to go

on like

this

forever

don't

imagine

that God

has lifted

his hand

off the

wheel

or that

it's out

of control

no he

says the

day is

coming

and the

moment

is in

the

mind

of

God

and it

will be

dictated

by the

hand

of God

and when

he says

now

and when

he

will

say

to

a

world

that

has

gone

madly

towards

hell

enough

that's

what

Jesus

means

doesn't he

when he

says I'll

build my

church

and the

gates of

hell

will not

prevail

and God

is saying

I have

exalted

my son

to a

place of

unique

glory

and one

day

every

knee

will

bow

and every

tongue

will

confess

that he

is

Lord

to the

glory

of

God

the

Father

and one

day

that day

is

coming

and we

have to

fix our

eyes

on that

day

and know

that in

heaven

or earth

or hell

no one

or nothing

will ultimately

thwart

God's

purpose

and it's

only a

matter of

time

it is

only a

matter of

time

until God

will display

his triumph

and the

parable

speaks

personally

to you

and I

doesn't it

that it

will only

be a

matter of

time

until God

will exercise

his judgment

upon every

area of

evil and

offence

let's not

imagine

that he is

careless about

it

but listen

to his

voice in

the light

of that

day

that's

the wind

not the

judgment

of the

Lord

but one

day that

will come

that's

fine