I’m to Focused to Fail Pt.3: Beware of the Sabotage

The Wheat and the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Introduction

Jesus’ parables are both works of art and the weapons he used in the conflict with his opponents. They were the teaching method he chose most frequently to explain the kingdom of God and to show the character of God and the expectations God has for people. One of Jesus’ most well-known parables is the parable about the Sower. Jesus describes God as a farmer who liberally sows seeds. He casts seeds where other farmers wouldn’t waste their time and seed … pathways, rocky places, weed patches. But God is not the only one sowing seeds. In Matthew’s gospel, the parable of the Sower is immediately followed by Jesus’ parable of weeds or tares among the wheat: Christians have the external world, the internal flesh, and the infernal Devil to deal with every day. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, then the Tempter is no stranger to you, but Jesus doesn’t want you to get down in the competition.

Matthew 24:10-12 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Today I want to invite you to examine your own heart to see the value of you being a grain of wheat and the sabotage of the tares the enemy has sown. In a day when the enemy wants to wear out the saints. I desire to push you so that you go out and overcome the enemy with the freshness of God’s Spirit. What Kind of Seed are You (seed is a baby plant)

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF WHEAT
2. 1. WHEAT is a valuable plant that can survive hard seasons, like winters, and still produce. The fruit of wheat is good and nutritious for eating; it’s profitable for something.
   2. Wheat needs constant “weeding” or it will be overrun by weeds. Likewise, believers need to weed-out ungodly ideas & temptations or they will have the life of God choked out (Mt. 13:7) of them and spoil their fruitfulness. It takes time for the wheat (& Christians) to grow to maturity.
   3. We are with Him and formed from Him. He knows us, called us, ordained us to fulfill His Purpose. We are His elect. More than flesh and blood.
   4. Psalms 92:13-14 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing
   5. Matthew 13:8 But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold. Bares Fruit

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF TARES/WEEDS

1. 1. Tares or weeds, Gr. “Zizanion,” are a noxious plant of the grass family – the “darnel.” It grows among the wheat everywhere in Palestine and looks like wheat. The seeds are poisonous to humans and animals, causing sleepiness, nausea, convulsions, and even death.
   2. Unlike wheat, which takes cultivating to grow, tares spring up by themselves. Tares mimic and grow alongside wheat. The Lord uses this to point out that’s it’s difficult to detect whether a person is a genuine child of God. Tares represent the cares of life that can become a principality and a power in your life.

3. What don’t belong will always show its head. IDENTITY REVEALED. “But when the wheat [had fully] sprouted…then the weeds also appeared” (26). Jesus said, “Every tree is known by its fruit.” It’s the same with people. What we are inside ultimately manifests itself as “fruit” – the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the flesh.

a. Weeds are Deceiving:

b. Weeds are Damaging: The difference between a believer and a “make-believer” isn’t something you can see. It’s something that happens in the heart. People look at the outward appearance, but Jesus looks at the heart. The heart reveals what you’re really made of.

c. Weeds have very invasive root systems that quickly take over the surrounding earth, stealing vital nutrients and water from the other plants.

Beware of the Sabotage:

1. With Your Praise
2. Your Stand
3. Your Conduct
4. Your Voice
5. Your Flesh
   1. Temptation is a legitimate need fulfilled with an illegitimate way

The same thing happens in our spiritual lives if we’re always surrounded by weedy people. The apostle Paul put it this way: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals” (1Corinthians 15:33). 

d. Weeds are Destructive:

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:40-42 NIV). These verses escort us to the most somber spiritual reality: hell.

4. A DAY OF SEPARATION IS COMING

1. Jesus said, “Let both grow together UNTIL THE HARVEST.” A Day of Separation is coming: the genuine from pretenders; saints from sinners. Just because God doesn’t judge people NOW for their sins, doesn’t mean we won’t be judged! It’s coming and YOU must be ready!

1. HOW WILL GOD IDENTIFY THE RIGHTEOUS? How will the angels know which to bring to Heaven?
   1. Genuine Christians have been “sealed” with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22; 1:13, 4:30). Paul said we have “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). God can certainly recognize His Son in us! “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Tim. 2:19), those who’ve sold out and belong to Him.
   2. There will be 2 vastly different outcomes; one group is destined for Heaven, the other destined for Hell. The real difference is the presence of Jesus in their heart because they surrendered to Him (1 John 5:12; Lk. 9:23).
   3. On that Great Day the righteous will shine forth, perfected, before all the world. God will own them as his children, and will take them to Himself as His eternal treasures!

A thought … a seed … is planted in the mind and in the heart. “One is tempted by one’s own desire,” says James. And that thought, that desire, takes root and it “conceives” … it produces … it gives birth to sin (James 1:15).

5. The attack will never stop, the work has to continue.

How can we keep growing in the midst of the weeds?

1. Start your day talking to God. Thank Him for seeing you through yesterday and for being with you today.
2. Praise Him for providing for you and working out all your situations for His Good
3. Ask Him to make you aware of His Presence all day long
4. Allow Peace to fill your heart as you keep your mind stayed on Him
5. Quickly weed out the things you see within yourself that is choking the gift of the seed out

Conclusion

In this parable, weeds and wheat are not plants but people and thoughts. And the good part of that is that as children of God, the weeds can change their nature. Someone who is viewed as a ‘weed’ can repent of those things that make them a weed to society and become a positive member of the Kingdom. It isn’t easy, but it can be done.

In a pint-sized parable about paths, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-15 NIV). John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

A “White Harvest” implies that the fields are ripe and ready to be harvested.

There are times when we are all wheat – and then weeds. We change and grow.

Are you following the good parts of yourself or are you settling for the “weeds’ in you?

Don’t pull out the weeds.

Don’t judge others around you.

Instead, build up the things around you. Make sure you are not becoming a weed yourself

So, what are you?

Are you a stalk of wheat. . .or a weed?