Humble Beginnings

Good morning, everyone.

It is a joy and a privilege for me to gather with you,

to worship with you, and to preach God's word to you this morning.

! Please open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And if you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

And we'd love to give you a copy that you can use while you're here

and you can take home with you.

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

We're looking at verses 24 to 43 this morning.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Father, you do work in mysterious ways.

How can it be that the seed of the precious, eternal kingdom of heaven

is deposited into us?

Lord, that is your wisdom, your love.

Father, that you would open up our eyes to see

the wondrous spiritual realities

about the kingdom of heaven,

about the church of Christ,

that we may see as you see.

that we might walk by faith,

not by sight,

the sight of our eyes.

So Lord, give us ears to hear,

open the eyes of our hearts to understand

and to believe,

to cherish

your word this morning.

in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please stand if you are able

to honor God

as I read from his word

and then we hear from him.

Matthew chapter 13,

Matthew 13:24–43

verses 24 to 43.

He put another parable before them,

saying,

the kingdom of heaven

may be compared to a man

who sowed good seed in his field.

But while his men were sleeping,

his enemy came

and sowed weeds among the wheat

and went away.

So when the plants came up

and bore grain,

then the weeds appeared also.

And the servants of the master of the house

came and said to him,

Master,

did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have weeds?

He said to them,

an enemy has done this.

So the servants said to him,

then do you want us to go and gather them?

But he said,

no,

lest in gathering the weeds

you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest.

And at harvest time,

I will tell the reapers,

gather the weeds first

and bind them in bundles to be burned,

but gather the wheat into my barn.

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.

It is 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.

He told them another parable,

the kingdom of heaven

is like leaven

that a woman took

and hid in three measures of flour

till it was all leavened.

All these things,

Jesus said to the crowds in parables.

Indeed,

he said nothing to them without a parable.

This was to fulfill

what was spoken by the prophet.

I will open my mouth in parables.

I will utter what has been hidden

since the foundation of the world.

Then he left the crowds

and went into the house

and his disciples came to him saying,

explain to us the parable

of the weeds of the field.

He answered,

the one who sows the good seed

is the son of man.

The field is the world

and the good seed

is the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one

and the enemy who sowed them

is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age

and the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered

and burned with fire,

so will it be at the end of the age.

The son of man will send his angels

and they will gather out of his kingdom

all causes of sin

and all lawbreakers

and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place,

there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the kingdom of their father.

He who has ears,

let him hear.

Scott's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

Daniel 7, 13 to 14,

prophesied that a one like the son of man

will receive an everlasting dominion

and authority and a kingdom

from God the father,

the ancient of days,

a kingdom that will never be destroyed

and that he would rule over

all peoples and nations and languages.

This was a very important prophecy

in the Old Testament.

So when Jesus comes on the scene

and then he starts calling himself

the son of man,

alluding to that majestic title

in Daniel 7,

you can imagine the growing anticipation.

He is here.

The Messiah,

the son of man

who will bring about

the everlasting kingdom of God.

Similarly,

in Zechariah chapter 14,

Zechariah 14 · chapter mention

or in Zechariah prophesied of a day

when the Lord God,

Yahweh himself,

will come down to earth

and stand on Mount of Olives

that lies before Jerusalem on the east

and fight against the nations

who rebel against God

and suppress his people.

He prophesied that on that day,

the Lord will be king

over all the earth.

On that day,

the Lord will be one

and his name one.

Meaning,

God's rule will be consummated

over all the earth

so that he will be the only king

and he will be the only Lord,

the only God who is worshipped.

For those who knew this prophecy

of God coming down himself

and standing upon the Mount of Olives,

when Jesus stands atop Mount of Olives

in Matthew 21,

before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem,

when people are hailing him,

Hosanna, son of David,

that excitement would have been palpable.

He's here.

God himself

has come down

to be king

over all the earth

so that the Lord will be one

and his name one.

But Jesus does not go

from the Mount of Olives

into Jerusalem

to overthrow the Roman Empire.

He goes into Jerusalem

to be crucified

by the Romans.

Yes,

he rises from the dead

on the third day

and at that point,

this messianic expectation

of this kingdom,

the consummation of the kingdom

is at a fever pitch

among his disciples

post-resurrection

and then Jesus ascends to heaven,

leaving the disciples to wonder,

what about the kingdom?

What about the kingdom of God

you spoke of so frequently?

Where is this kingdom of heaven?

And that same question

would warm its way

into the minds of Christians

throughout the ages

when they feel like

foreigners and aliens

amidst a swirl of confused

and sinful values

of our world,

when they are ridiculed

and marginalized

for their faith

in different parts of the world,

when they are persecuted

and even martyred

for their faith,

where is the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus answers that burning question

in this passage

and he counsels patience,

perseverance.

And the main point

of this passage is this,

as resident aliens

in the kingdom of earth

endure patiently

until the consummation

of the kingdom of heaven.

As I mentioned to you last week,

this is the third

of five major teaching discourses

by Jesus

in the Gospel of Matthew

and this third discourse

is around the theme

of the kingdom of heaven

or as the other gospel writers

put it,

the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God,

the kingdom of heaven

refers to the rulership of God,

his dominion.

The kingdom of God

is closely related

to the church of God,

the church of Christ,

but they are not identical.

The kingdom of God

refers to the sovereign rule of God.

The church is the subject

of that rule.

The church is,

in this sense,

the instrument

and the visible expression

of the kingdom of God.

So what does the kingdom

of heaven look like

as it breaks in

upon the kingdom of earth?

What does it look like

for the rule of God

in heaven

to assert itself,

to start to assert itself

on earth?

Jesus answers this question

in four ways

in our passage.

First,

the kingdom of heaven

is contested,

but it endures.

Second,

the kingdom of heaven

starts small,

but ends big.

Third,

the kingdom of heaven

is hidden,

but it's nonetheless present.

Fourth,

the kingdom of heaven

is new,

but old.

The first thing

that Jesus teaches us

about the kingdom of heaven

is that it is contested,

but it nonetheless endures.

He teaches this

using the parable

of the weeds.

This is one of the parables

that are unique

to the gospel of Matthew,

so you won't find it

in the other gospels.

Jesus compares

the kingdom of heaven

to a man

who sowed good seed

in his field.

But by the time

the good seed

bears fruit

and the wheat comes up

and starts to bear grain,

the weeds also

rear their ugly head.

The servants of the master

confusedly wonder,

where did all these weeds

come from

when you only sowed

good seed?

And the master

of the house

reveals to them

that it's a case

of agricultural sabotage.

An enemy

has sown

the weeds

among the wheat.

If you're using

the English standard

version of the Bible,

which is the one

I'm using now,

you most likely

have a footnote

next to the word weed

in verse 25.

And if you follow

that down to the footnote,

it will tell you

that the word weed

is probably a reference

to darnel.

A darnel

is a grass-like weed

that looks nearly

identical to wheat

in its early stages.

You can only tell

darnel apart

from the wheat

when the ears

begin to form.

The ears are the tips,

the heads of the cereal grains

like wheat.

It's the part that,

it's the fruit,

the part that produces

the edible grain,

the seeds.

The wheat grains

are heavier,

so mature wheat ears

will droop humbly

like this

when they're fully mature.

Whereas darnel

is lighter,

darnel ears are lighter

and therefore will stand

proudly erect.

even after it's fully mature.

So when they're fully mature,

they're easy to tell apart.

The wheat kernels

are also golden brown,

but the darnel kernels

are black and poisonous.

They're actually poisonous,

cause food poisoning.

But all of these differences

are only apparent

in the late stages of growth

when the ears are forming.

That's why it says

in verse 26,

so when the plants

came up and bore grain,

then the weeds

appeared also.

Not that the weeds

weren't there beforehand

and then all of a sudden

they sprang up overnight.

The weeds were there,

but before they looked

like wheat.

We thought we only had wheat.

But then as the grains form,

as the year begins to form,

now you see,

oh wait,

where did all these

weeds come from?

That's when it becomes apparent.

But by the time

the darnel is identified,

it is too late

to try to go around

and uproot them

and gather them up

because as the master says

in verse 29,

no,

lest in gathering the weeds

you root up the wheat

along with the wheat.

By this stage of growth,

the roots are all entangled

underneath,

they're intertwined,

it makes it impossible

to eradicate the weed

without prematurely

killing the wheat.

This is why

the only solution

is verse 30,

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.

It's at harvest time

that the reapers

will have to go through

the painstaking task

of separating out

the wheat from the wheat.

Because bread

was the most basic staple

in their diet

in Israel,

ancient Israel,

wheat was the most

critical crop.

And because darnel

is a poisonous grain

that looks so much

like wheat,

sowing darnel

among the wheat

rendered the field

commercially useless.

This made darnel

the perfect candidate

for agricultural sabotage

and people actually did this.

So there was a Roman law

that specifically

and explicitly forbade

sowing darnel

in a neighbor's wheat field.

But this is precisely

what the devil does.

He is a spiteful saboteur.

He is bitter

that he doesn't have

what God has.

And he tries to sabotage

and spoil God's good work

of building up

the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus begins to explain

this parable in verse 36.

Then Jesus left the crowds

and went into the house

and his disciples

came to him saying,

explain to us

the parable of the weeds

of the field.

Once again,

Jesus starts to make

that distinction

between the crowds

and his disciples

that we saw earlier

in verses 10 to 13.

He speaks to crowds

in parables,

but he speaks plainly

to his disciples

and explains the parables

to them because,

as he said earlier,

to the disciples

it has been given

to know the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven,

but to the crowds

it has not been given.

Jesus explains

in verse 37

that the master

who sows the good seed,

the wheat,

is the son of man,

Jesus himself.

Then he says

in verses 38 to 39,

the field is the world

and the good seed

is the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds

are the sons

of the evil one

and the enemy

who sow them

is the devil.

The harvest

is the end of the age

and the weepers

are angels.

It's really nice

and helpful

to have a glossary

of terms

after a parable.

You don't get this

with every parable,

but you can't get this wrong

because Jesus told us

exactly what it means.

The resemblance

between wheat and darnel

and the fact

that they can only

be distinguished

once they start

to bear fruit

I think is meant

to teach us something

about how to tell

true Christians

apart from false ones.

Matthew makes this point

in numerous places

throughout the gospel.

Earlier in chapter 7

verse 15 to 20

Jesus warned us

about false prophets

who come to us

in sheep's clothing

meaning they look

like believers

but inwardly

they are ravenous wolves.

He counseled us

you will recognize them

by what?

By their fruits.

Our grapes gather

from thorn bushes

or figs from thistles

so every healthy tree

bears good fruit

but the diseased tree

bears bad fruit.

A healthy tree

cannot bear bad fruit

nor can a diseased tree

bear good fruit.

Every tree

that does not

bear good fruit

is cut down

and thrown into the fire

thus you will recognize them

by their fruit.

Like the wheat and darnel

the only surefire way

to distinguish

true Christians

from false ones

is their fruit.

Are they bearing

the fruit

of the Holy Spirit?

Galatians 5

22

33

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self-control.

Every true Christian

will bear

in some measure

the fruit

of the Holy Spirit

but we also need

to be patient

the young

and immature wheat

that hasn't

borne much fruit

yet is very difficult

to distinguish

from the darnel.

However it's only

a matter of time.

Every good tree

bears good fruit.

Every good seed

will bear good grains

and every true Christian

will evidence

love

and good deeds.

Similarly Jesus taught us

in Matthew 7

Matthew 7:21

verse 21

not everyone who says

to me

Lord Lord

will enter the kingdom

of heaven

but the one who

does the will

of the Father

who is in heaven.

There are people

who claim Jesus

as Lord

and pay lip service

to him

and yet their lives

do not bear testimony

to the Lordship of Christ.

They are not wheat

but darnel

and you can tell them

apart by the grain

in the ear.

Even the church

of Christ

and I'm speaking here

of the visible church

is a mixed community

of believers

and unbelievers.

Paul warns about this

in Acts 20

but that wolves

in sheep's clothing

will rise up

from among the church

from within the church

to draw away

disciples after them.

we do our best

to vet new members

and we conduct

membership interviews

and we'll be inducting

new members later on

today

but even then

we can't always ensure

that only true Christians

are admitted into the church

which is why

church discipline exists.

This mixed nature

of the visible church

troubles us

because we like things

to be neat

and clean

but even in local churches

with the highest

and most rigorous

standards of membership

inevitably

there will be some

darnel found

among the wheat

until the final judgment.

The fifth verse

of the hymn

church is one foundation

that we sang this morning

says this

though with a scornful wonder

men see her

the church

sore oppressed

!

By schisms

rent asunder

by heresies

distressed

yet saints

their watch

are keeping

their cry

goes up

how long

and soon

the night

of weeping

shall be

the morn

of song.

Every branch

and denomination

of Christianity

throughout history

has been

by schisms

rent asunder

and by heresies

distressed.

This makes us

weep

and cry out

how long

oh Lord

but this parable

counsels

patience

and endurance

not yet

soon

but not yet

brothers and sisters

when divisions

and doctrinal errors

mar the church

of Christ

mourn

and pray

and proclaim

and contend

for the truth

but do so

patiently

perseveringly

we are not

to be the final

judge

of these matters

in this life

but when our

Lord Jesus

returns for the harvest

he will separate

out the weed

from the darnel.

The mixed nature

of the church

I do think

is one of the

implications

of this parable

however I do not

think it is the

main point

of this parable.

Why do I say that?

Because in verse 38

Jesus tells us

that the field

is the world

and the good seed

is the sons

of the kingdom

the weeds

are the sons

of the evil one.

the field

is not restricted

to the church

he's not talking

about just the church

the people of God

the visible community

the gathered people

no the field

encompasses

the entire world

so then the good seed

the wheat

is the people of God

scattered throughout

the world

and the weeds

the darnel

represent all

unbelievers

throughout the world

not just the false

Christians

who have infiltrated

the church.

Notice also

that in this parable

the word good seed

is consistently

and even awkwardly

at times singular

whereas the word weeds

is consistently plural.

It's as if Jesus

wants to communicate

to us

the wonderful

spiritual realities

that the true church

only has

one foundation

and one cornerstone

and that is

Jesus Christ

our Lord.

There is one gospel

on which we stand

for all eternity.

there is one body

and one spirit

just as you were

called to the one hope

that belongs

to your call

one Lord

and one faith

and one baptism

one God and Father

of all

who is over all

and through all

and in all

there is

an invisible

spiritual unity

that undergirds

the entire people

of God.

no matter how weak

and frail

and divided

we may seem

there is

that underlying

undergirding

unity of the spirit.

In contrast

the weeds

are variegated

and many

their misbeliefs

and heresies

are numerous.

Within this world

the believers

and unbelievers

coexist

until the day

of final judgment.

this I think

is a helpful

corrective

to some Christians

who predict

a thorough

and worldwide

Christianization

of the world

leading up to

the return of Christ.

I do believe

that the gospel

will grow

the kingdom of heaven

will grow

as this passage

teaches us

but Jesus also

teaches us here

that the wheat

and the weeds

grow side by side

in the field

of this world.

world.

But shouldn't there

be a new

world order

now that the

kingdom of heaven

has broken up

in upon this earth?

What kind of

mighty kingdom

of heaven

allows

rivals

and opponents

to continue

unchecked?

Shouldn't we

as Christians

be the ones

who hold

authority

and power

in this world?

Why does God

not do away

with the wicked

right now?

The parable

of the weeds

answers

those questions.

God allows

the wheat

and the weeds

to grow

side by side

until

the appointed

time of final

judgment.

So then

don't be

disheartened

that Christendom

is not

the dominant

authority

and power

that you wish

it were

in the world.

Don't doubt

the reality

of the kingdom

of heaven

just because

there's much

resistance

and rebellion

against God

in the world.

The kingdom

of heaven

is real

no matter

how powerful

the kingdoms

of this world

might appear.

So don't

be discouraged

that the world's

great powers

today are

sometimes

antagonistic

toward the church.

These things

should not

surprise us.

2 Timothy 3.12

says all who

desire to live

a godly life

will be

persecuted.

1 Peter 4.12

says beloved

do not be

surprised at

the fiery

trial when

it comes

upon you

to test

you as

though

something

strange

were

happening

to you.

Opposition

persecution

these are

the norm.

These are

normal.

They're not

strange.

Jesus said

in Matthew

5.10

blessed are

those who

are persecuted

for righteousness

sake for

theirs is

the kingdom

of heaven.

If you

belong to

the kingdom

of heaven

you will

face these

things.

if you

are of

the good

seed

you will

be

persecuted.

The weeds

around you

will try

to deprive

you of

the nutrients

in the soil

and the water.

They will

distract you

from seeking

the kingdom

of God

and seeking

the righteousness

of God

first.

They will

try to

choke the

spiritual

life out

of us

and sometimes

as a result

following

Christ

and pursuing

the kingdom

will get

hard

but we

must patiently

endure.

Remember

that this

is the most

precious thing.

We must

pursue

seek.

The kingdom

of heaven

is contested

but it

endures.

Jesus

tells us

that the

wheat

and the

weeds

will coexist

until the

harvest time

and he

tells us

in verses

39 to 42

that the

harvest

is the

end

of the

age

and the

reapers

are angels.

Just as

the weeds

are gathered

and burned

with fire

so will

it be

at the

end

of the

age.

The

son of

man

will

send

his

angels

and they

will

gather

out

of

his

kingdom

all

causes

of

sin

and

all

law

breakers

and

throw

them

into

the

fiery

furnace.

in

that

place

there

will

be

weeping

and

gnashing

of

teeth.

Jesus

is speaking

here of

the

final

judgment.

Many

passages

of

scripture

employ

the

language

of

harvest

to

speak

of

the

final

judgment

and

the

ingathering

of

God's

elect.

The

fiery

furnace

continues

the

metaphor

the

farming

metaphor

where

it's

the

oven

where

the

unwanted

vegetation

is

thrown

into

to be

consumed.

And here

it functions

as a

metaphor

for

hell.

Hell

is

frequently

associated

with

fire.

Jesus

calls

it

the

hell

of

fire

in

Matthew

5

22

and

18

9.

He

calls

it

the

eternal

fire

in

Matthew

18

8

and

25

41.

Matthew

3

10

to

12

spoke

of

how

God

will

cut

down

any

tree

that

does

not

bear

good

fruit

and

throw

it

into

the

fire.

And

he

said

that

Jesus

has

a

winnowing

fork

in

his

hand

and

he

will

clear

his

threshing

floor

and

gather

his

weed

into

the

barn

but

the

chaff

he

will

burn

with

unquenchable

fire.

This

is the

place

of

eternal

torment

reserved

for the

devil

and

his

angels

as it

says

in

Matthew

25

41.

And

as our

passage

this morning

tells us

it is

also

reserved

for

the

sons

of

the

evil

one.

Those

who

follow

the

devil

because

they

have

rejected

Christ.

Fire

is

an

appropriate

metaphor

for

this

eternal

punishment

because

God

is

described

in

scripture

as

the

consuming

fire.

Hell

is a

place

reserved

for

those

who

rebel

against

God

and

seek

to

usurp

his

throne.

The

one

who

dwells

in

unapproachable

light.

The

consuming

fire.

And

when

you

seek

to

usurp

his

throne

you're

consumed

by the

holy

just

wrath

of

the

consuming

fire.

In

that

place

Jesus

says

there

will

be

weeping

and

gnashing

of

teeth

symbolizing

regret

and

bitter

resentment

when

people

grind

their

teeth

gnash

their

teeth.

But

in

contrast

verse

43

describes

the

final

vindication

of the

sons

of the

kingdom

of

heaven.

It

says

then

the

righteous

will

shine

like

the

sun

in

the

kingdom

of

their

father.

This

is an

allusion

to

Daniel

Daniel 12:3

chapter

12

verse

3

which

prophesied

that

those

who

are

resurrected

to

everlasting

life

will

shine

like

the

brightness

of

the

sky

above.

They

shine

like

the

sun

because

they

are

united

with

Jesus

Christ.

Later

in

Matthew

Matthew 17:2

17

verse

2

at

the

transfiguration

when

Jesus

is

transfigured

into

his

heavenly

glory

for a

brief

time

it

says

that

his

face

the

fact

that

the

righteous

will

shine

like

the

sun

it

identifies

the

righteous

the

people

of

God

with

Christ

because

they

are

united

with

him

they

are

one

with

him

because

of

their

faith

in

him

and

those

who

are

united

to

Christ

then

become

children

of

God

we

become

as

God's

people

collectively

God's

son

because

we

are

in

his

only

son

Jesus

Christ

so

that

we

can

rightly

be

called

it

can

be

said

of

us

in

the

kingdom

of

their

father

as

Jesus

says

in

order

to

enter

the

kingdom

of

heaven

we

must

receive

the

son

of

heaven

in

describing

his

death

and

resurrection

Jesus

said

in

John

12

24

truly

truly

I

say

to

you

unless

a grain

of

wheat

falls

into

the

earth

and

dies

it

remains

alone

but

if

it

dies

it

bears

much

fruit

where

did

the

singular

good

seed

come

from

that

produces

this

weed

harvest

it's

Jesus

Christ

himself

his

life

death

and

resurrection

he

died

in

our

place

to

take

our

sins

and

he

rose

from

the

dead

so

that

sinners

might

be

declared

righteous

so

that

orphans

can

be

adopted

as

children

of

God

that

is

the

good

news

that

we

proclaim

and

that

is

the

good

seed

that

we

sow

and

scatter

all

over

the

field

of

this

world

Jesus

is

the

good

seed

that

bears

fruit

within

us

so

have

you

received

the

son

of

heaven

into

your

life

only

those

who

have

done

that

will

be

declared

righteous

and

only

the

righteous

will

one

day

shine

like

the

sun

in

the

kingdom

of

their

father

seeds

in

this

world

the

kingdom

of

heaven

is

contested

it

starts

small

and

in

many

ways

it's

hidden

but

on

that

day

there

will

be

nothing

to

hold

back

the

glory

of

the

kingdom

of

heaven

Jesus

tells

another

parable

likening

the

kingdom

of

heaven

in

verses

31

to

32

he

says

the

kingdom

of

heaven

is

like

a

grain

of

mustard

seed

that

a

man

took

and

sowed

in

his

field

it

is

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

a

mustard

seed

is

a

proverbially

small

seed

it's

about

one

millimeter

in

diameter

it's

the

smallest

of

all

seeds

among

the

commonly

cultivated

seeds

in

that

part

of

the

world

and

yet

when

it

is

planted

in

your

garden

the

mustard

seed

grows

into

a

tree

that's

larger

than

all

the

garden

plants

so

that

the

birds

of

the

air

come