Wheat or Tare?
January 2016
"Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." Matthew 13:24-30
"Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Matthew 13:36-43
Growing up in church I've always heard about the wheat and the tare, but recently the Lord gripped my heart with this message. It seems as though the parable is pretty straight forward. The wheat are the children of God, the tares are those who don't know God and have not asked Him to be their Savior. The rapture will come, the tares will spend eternity separated from God and the wheat will shine and spend eternity with Jesus. Pretty straight forward right? Yes, but there is so much more to this parable if you look a little closer.
1. Jesus sows GOOD SEED. Those of us that are SAVED are GOOD SEED.
2. While men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.
Friend, we are most definitely in the last days. Jesus is coming back for HIS church....HIS Bride. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom He may devour." 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8-9 says, "Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (Calm, collected, and circumspect)....and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to (Incur His) wrath (He did not select us to condemn us), but (that we might) obtain (His) salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." As children of God, we cannot afford to let our guard down and sleep on the enemy.
3. While the wheat began to grow and bear fruit, the tares also grew.
Notice, that as the wheat bore fruit the tare just appeared....with no fruit.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, gentleness, self control, against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." John 15:8
In these last days, what's going to separate the wheat from the tare is FRUIT. Yes, I believe fruit can be ministering to others/leading people to the Lord, doing whatever it is that God has called you to do....etc., but the FRUIT that most glorifies our FATHER and separates the wheat from the tare is the fruit of the Spirit. As you grow in the Lord, the fruit of the Spirit should become more and more apparent on your life. You should have joy in the midst of sadness. You should be loving to the unlovable. You should have peace that goes beyond understanding. You should walk in patience, trusting in the Lord's perfect timing. You should be faithful to the things that God has given you......whether big or small in the eyes of man. You should be gentle and good in hard and bad situations. You should walk in self control....being led by your Spirit and not your flesh or emotions. And last, but certainly not least....YOU should be kind in an at times unkind world. It makes no sense to be saved, know Jesus, be anointed, speak in tongues, etc., and just be plain mean!
4. Did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did all these tares come from?
The Enemy. He's a liar and a deceiver. Jesus sows GOOD SEED. Anything the Lord does, the enemy attempts to counterfeit. Although the wheat bore fruit, the tare was right there in the midst growing and "appearing." Friend, Matthew 7:22 says, "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." If you do not know the Lord, if you are not saved, if you have not repented and asked the Lord to come into your heart and be your Savior, you are a tare and will spend eternity in hell separated from Jesus. I can't and I won't sugarcoat it. I love you too much to do so. I'm glad you go to church and serve on 3 ministries, and post about the Lord on social media, but if you do not have a REAL relationship with the LORD you are a TARE. If you're lukewarm....meaning you're saved depending on your environment.....YOU are a tare. The Word says that He will spit the lukewarm out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). Friend, don't just "grow" and "appear" like the TARE! Give your life to the Lord if you haven't already, come up out of apathy and compromise, and stop being lukewarm. GROW. BEAR FRUIT. Be WHEAT.
5. Can we go and gather them? No, while gathering the tares, you may root up the wheat along with them.
Say what?!?! You might just confuse the two?!? Tares can look a lot like wheat to the NATURAL eye. That's why we that are wheat must continue to pursue God and cultivate intimacy with HIM. We must continue to grow spiritually and bear fruit. WE must be about our Father's business and do whatever it is that HE is leading us to do. This is a crucial time. We can't afford to be asleep. We can't afford to be in compromise. We can't afford to be apathetic, lazy, fearful, and disobedient. People need to know JESUS. Be WHEAT!!!
"God is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:27
6. What do we do until Christ returns?
Friend, He's coming back for a glorious, victorious church, one that's sanctified, cleansed by the washing of the water with the Word (Eph. 5:25), bearing much fruit!!!! It's time we consecrate ourselves, get in the WORD and allow the word to sanctify and wash us and grow us up spiritually. We can't afford to be wheat with tare like tendencies. We must bear much fruit!! How?
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered , thrown into the fire and burned." John 15: 4-6
So let's abide in Him. Let's abide in His Word. Let's continue to grow spiritually. Let's bear much fruit. Let's be WHEAT.
"Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Matthew 13:36-43
Growing up in church I've always heard about the wheat and the tare, but recently the Lord gripped my heart with this message. It seems as though the parable is pretty straight forward. The wheat are the children of God, the tares are those who don't know God and have not asked Him to be their Savior. The rapture will come, the tares will spend eternity separated from God and the wheat will shine and spend eternity with Jesus. Pretty straight forward right? Yes, but there is so much more to this parable if you look a little closer.
1. Jesus sows GOOD SEED. Those of us that are SAVED are GOOD SEED.
2. While men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.
Friend, we are most definitely in the last days. Jesus is coming back for HIS church....HIS Bride. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom He may devour." 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8-9 says, "Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (Calm, collected, and circumspect)....and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to (Incur His) wrath (He did not select us to condemn us), but (that we might) obtain (His) salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." As children of God, we cannot afford to let our guard down and sleep on the enemy.
3. While the wheat began to grow and bear fruit, the tares also grew.
Notice, that as the wheat bore fruit the tare just appeared....with no fruit.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, gentleness, self control, against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." John 15:8
In these last days, what's going to separate the wheat from the tare is FRUIT. Yes, I believe fruit can be ministering to others/leading people to the Lord, doing whatever it is that God has called you to do....etc., but the FRUIT that most glorifies our FATHER and separates the wheat from the tare is the fruit of the Spirit. As you grow in the Lord, the fruit of the Spirit should become more and more apparent on your life. You should have joy in the midst of sadness. You should be loving to the unlovable. You should have peace that goes beyond understanding. You should walk in patience, trusting in the Lord's perfect timing. You should be faithful to the things that God has given you......whether big or small in the eyes of man. You should be gentle and good in hard and bad situations. You should walk in self control....being led by your Spirit and not your flesh or emotions. And last, but certainly not least....YOU should be kind in an at times unkind world. It makes no sense to be saved, know Jesus, be anointed, speak in tongues, etc., and just be plain mean!
4. Did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did all these tares come from?
The Enemy. He's a liar and a deceiver. Jesus sows GOOD SEED. Anything the Lord does, the enemy attempts to counterfeit. Although the wheat bore fruit, the tare was right there in the midst growing and "appearing." Friend, Matthew 7:22 says, "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." If you do not know the Lord, if you are not saved, if you have not repented and asked the Lord to come into your heart and be your Savior, you are a tare and will spend eternity in hell separated from Jesus. I can't and I won't sugarcoat it. I love you too much to do so. I'm glad you go to church and serve on 3 ministries, and post about the Lord on social media, but if you do not have a REAL relationship with the LORD you are a TARE. If you're lukewarm....meaning you're saved depending on your environment.....YOU are a tare. The Word says that He will spit the lukewarm out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). Friend, don't just "grow" and "appear" like the TARE! Give your life to the Lord if you haven't already, come up out of apathy and compromise, and stop being lukewarm. GROW. BEAR FRUIT. Be WHEAT.
5. Can we go and gather them? No, while gathering the tares, you may root up the wheat along with them.
Say what?!?! You might just confuse the two?!? Tares can look a lot like wheat to the NATURAL eye. That's why we that are wheat must continue to pursue God and cultivate intimacy with HIM. We must continue to grow spiritually and bear fruit. WE must be about our Father's business and do whatever it is that HE is leading us to do. This is a crucial time. We can't afford to be asleep. We can't afford to be in compromise. We can't afford to be apathetic, lazy, fearful, and disobedient. People need to know JESUS. Be WHEAT!!!
"God is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:27
6. What do we do until Christ returns?
Friend, He's coming back for a glorious, victorious church, one that's sanctified, cleansed by the washing of the water with the Word (Eph. 5:25), bearing much fruit!!!! It's time we consecrate ourselves, get in the WORD and allow the word to sanctify and wash us and grow us up spiritually. We can't afford to be wheat with tare like tendencies. We must bear much fruit!! How?
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered , thrown into the fire and burned." John 15: 4-6
So let's abide in Him. Let's abide in His Word. Let's continue to grow spiritually. Let's bear much fruit. Let's be WHEAT.