Title: The Terrible Tares That Are Among Us
Bible Book: Matthew 13 : 24-30
Author: Jack Woodard
Subject: Tares Among Wheat; Troublemakers; Difficult People; Church Problems
Objective:
Matthew 13:24-30
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Tares represent the lost that Satan has placed right along side of those that are true believers in Jesus. They have been sowed there in order to undermine and destroy the work and influence of the true believers in this world.
1. THEIR APPEARANCE:
They look so much alike that they are indistinguishable from one another. That’s what makes them so dangerous and successful in accomplishing their intended evil.
2. THEIR ARRIVAL:
The tares have usually been among us for a long period of time. many times they have grown up with us. They started out as just a small seed sowed among us. That is one of the reasons that people fail to see them as evil.
3. THEIR ACTIVITY:
Their activity, like a tare is to destroy the harvest. Eventually a tare will attempt to destroy efforts of the Church to reach the lost for Christ.
They hinder the harvest by sowing hypocrisy and false doctrine that will eventually sap the vitality of a Church and leave it with an unregenerate membership. These are the liberal Churches among us today. Controlled by the lost and tolerant of every form of evil imaginable.
They hinder the harvest by sowing division among the believers. Any time a Church begins reaching the lost you can be sure that it won’t be long before some troublemaker will rear their ugly head and begin to make accusations against the pastor, or someone else in they Church. They will politic to slander their target and to divide as many as possible to their side and to themselves. They are not always easy to spot because they always use some other gullible soul to do their dirty work for them. They are cowards at heart and when the destruction is over they want to look innocent and separate from having anything to do with the evil that has taken place.
4. THEIR ABERRATION: (v. 26)
As much as they attempt to counterfeit the true Christian, to fit in and go unnoticed, their fruit finally exposes them to be a tare. Their attempts to divide the Church and hinder the work of the Lord, (without any concern for how their actions will hinder souls from getting saved) is an aberration from the norm that we see in true, born again saints. True Christians are peace makers and not trouble makers. True Christian will attempt to build up their Church and not tear it down. True Christians sow righteousness, they don’t go out of their way to do evil and to join hands with Satan to destroy the work of God. True Christians are servants, not power hungry to be a little Church god.
These traits and deeds are an aberration from the norm. You don’t see a real Christian behaving like this. The saddest thing is they have so much success because most of the “good” people in the Church either lack the spiritual discernment to recognize them for their evil, or else they lack the courage and commitment to Jesus to stand up to these bullies and counterfeits.
5. THEIR ANGELS: (v.39)
In Matthew 18:10 that Christians have “Their Angels”, they take interest in what others are doing to us and they are no doubt assigned to us by God to be our protector. The Holy Spirit resides over the affairs of the inner man, while angels reside over the outward welfare of the child of God.
We are told that God has assigned certain Angels with the task of removing these tares from the midst of His true believers. Their separation will finally expose them and put an end to their evil work in the earth. These tares may have gone unnoticed by the saints, but they certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the Savior. Their day of eternal judgment is quickly approaching. They will be a payday someday. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” [1 Corinthians 3:17]
6. THEIR ANGUISH: (v.42)
Once separated from the saints they will be cast into the burning lake of fire where their anguish and agony will not only be horrific, but it will be eternal as well. What a price they will pay for their evil, just as their master will also experience. God’s perfect justice will make sure that the punishment will always fit the crime. With that being so, we then can see what a great evil God considers it to be for one to go about doing the work of a tare among the wheat.
7. THEIR ABANDONMENT:
Tares are destined to be abandoned to judgment by a Holy God. It is important to recognize that a Tare can NEVER become Wheat, just as a goat could never become a sheep, or a counterfeit can never become the real thing. 1 Peter 2:8 tells us that God has already planned their fate.
That explains why you never see a troublemaker repent. Anytime there is trouble within the Church it will always be the same people who instigate it. I’ve pastored for over 40 years and I have seen true Christian’s do almost every evil in the Book, but many of them came to a time a repentance and were many times restored to great usefulness for the Lord, but there is one person whom I have NEVER seen repent in all my 40 plus years in the ministry, and that is the troublemaker, once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker. I don’t know how many times when there has been trouble I have heard people make the comment that it is the same old people at it again.
What a frightening thought that some among us are already abandoned by God, whose fate it is to spend eternity in the hottest parts of hell.
Shun every person who would attempt to use you to divide your Church. Calm every passion that would encourage you to do harm to the cause of Christ. Only then can you be assured that you are not part of the doomed and damned that hide among us.
Make sure that you have truly repented and looked to Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation. Make very sure that it is only the shed blood of Jesus that you are trusting as the payment for your life of sin and unbelief against a Holy God.
