GMe19jiqj-Q

1:30Let the sea roar and all its fullness. Let the field be joyful and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we gather this morning a grateful people, a humble people. Lord, we can only be humbled in the presence of your holiness and your majesty that we read about from your word, that you have revealed to us in your creation, but you tell us about your power, your faithfulness. You demonstrate that in our lives and in your people and in your word. Lord, we come here this morning exalting your name. Lord, exalting your kingdom that we are so privileged to be a part of. Lord, we look forward to the day of coming judgment when you will judge the earth and establish a kingdom of righteousness on earth as it is in heaven. But Lord, we gather here today to ask you to help us to persevere through this world where we live side by side with the With the sons of the wicked one. Lord, with those who rebel against you and do not bear your name. Lord, help us to live in accordance with your word, realizing that judgment is yours and ours is to reach out to them in love and in truth. And I pray that you would empower us to do that and you would equip us even today through the singing of praises to you, the singing of the deep doctrines of the faith, and Lord, the proclamation of your word. I pray that these things would penetrate each heart here. Lord, that in this service, as we exalt you, that you would also grow us more into your likeness. Lord, that is our prayer today. That we would put aside every encumbrance, every distraction that would come between us and you. Help you to be the focus, not on what we want or we might gain or what we desire out of this time, but Lord, only what you desire and the praises that are so deserving to you. Help us as we offer those to you today, and may they be acceptable in your sight. And in doing so, Lord, may you transform us more into your likeness.

4:16I'd like to thank the praise team for elevating our praises to God and at the same time elevating our hearts as we approach God's word. It's a wonderful blessing that the Lord has. As we praise him, that we are elevated as well. Well, open your Bibles to the book of Matthew. We'll be back in Matthew chapter 13. I struggled with a title for this. The colloquial title for the passage that we're going to look at, and starting in verse 24, is generally known as the parable of the wheat and the tares.

5:01That's what it is, but I don't think that's what it means. At first glance, in my first reading, several readings of this, I could tell it focused on judgment. So, in many ways, this is a parable of judgment, particularly to the world, to the tares. But as I looked deeper and realized, the ultimate purpose of the parables was to teach Christ's disciples and us deeper truths about the kingdom. And so, I look to this as a parable of patience and assurance and hope. And I'll try to show you that in this parable. Now, the parables, particularly in chapter 13, I've discovered, really cannot be taught in a vacuum. They're linked closely with the other parables surrounding it. This one. That we're going to look at today is one of seven parables of the kingdom told by our Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 13. And when we talk about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, of course, first we recognize that is that God is ruler over all creation. From the beginning, God ruled over his creation and he chose to rule over it through human agency. From Adam and Eve, He created man in His image and He immediately gave them dominion over everything that He created.

6:36He ruled over Israel until they demanded a human king. And after the disastrous reign of King Saul, God ruled through David and his lineage. After the exile, the nation looked expectantly for a king to reestablish the throne of David and deliver them from their oppressors. And we could review many of the prophecies in the Old Testament about this coming kingdom. But we can sum up their expectations about the kingdom with the passage that I read earlier from Psalm 96. I think you'll see as we look through John the Baptist's declarations about him is the disciples, everyone expected a kingdom that would come now, and judgment on the wicked would come now. So to better understand these parables, it's helpful to understand. The progression of the previous 12 chapters. So I'm going to attempt to give you a survey of the first 12 chapters of Matthew. So you can turn back to chapter 1 if you want to. You can hold your page there. We'll get there to chapter 13.

7:45Because the whole book of Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly to the Jewish people, as their coming king, their long-awaited Messiah. From his royal genealogy back to King David in chapter 1, to the recognition of his royal birth in chapter 2 by Magi from the East, to the declarations of his forerunner, John the Baptist, Matthew makes the case that Christ is Israel's long-awaited king. So we can't approach these parables, and this parable in particular, without this background. I'm going to read to you some of John the Baptist's declarations here. In Matthew chapter 3, in verse 2, John, who is the forerunner, declares and announces the king's arrival on the scene. He says, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So the kingdom of heaven is here, it is at hand.

8:44He continues in verse 10: Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Skipping down to verse 12, his winnowing fort. Is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. So John declares that a king is coming to establish his kingdom with an axe, with a winnowing fork, punishing the wicked with unquenchable fire. That is the expectation of John. That is the expectation of the disciples. That's the expectation of the nation of Israel.

9:32They expected that God would bring a king that would immediately punish God's enemies and usher in an era of righteousness. Well, the book of Matthew progresses in chapter 5 through 7 as the king lays out the principles of his kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. And then chapters 8 through 10 record miracles, healings, casting out of demons that authenticate the divine nature of the king. But something interesting happens as the evidence is mounting, as it progressively increases for Christ as king, we also see a negative progression that occurs here as well. We see an increasing resistance to Christ as king. Or perhaps another way to put it is the people were happy with his miracles. They were happy to accept him as an earthly king who would overthrow the Roman rule and deliver them from. From their oppressors, but they rejected him as God come in the flesh. So by the time we get to Matthew chapter 11, we find John the Baptist imprisoned by Herod. Everything John had done in ministry was to prepare Israel and the world for their Messiah and deliverer.

10:52John and his followers assumed the Savior would come as a mighty ruling king, an axe, winnowing fork, fire, not as a humble servant. So the kingdom was not progressing the way they had expected. In fact, Jesus was not being received as the Messiah by the majority of Israelites. Instead, Jesus was teaching things like, love your enemies and turn the other cheek. No axe, no winnowing fork, no fire. So from prison, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus in chapter 11. He says, Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else? And Jesus answers John's question like this: He says, Go back to John and tell him what you've seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the good news is being preached to the poor.

11:55But finally, in chapter 12, we reach an important turning point, and this is really what I'm going to do. I want to focus on as we approach chapter 13. In Matthew 12, verse 22, we read that then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see. And all the people were astonished and said, Could this be the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons. So by this point, this downward progression of rejection is complete, as Israel's leaders have rejected Christ as their king. It's so complete that they attribute his power not to God, but to the devil. And in rejecting their king, they also reject the kingdom. Now, God is faithful to restore the kingdom to Israel, but that complete fulfillment of that promise would now be delayed in God's timetable until Christ would return a second time. Now, this delay was not unforeseen by God. It's even hinted at in the Old Testament, but it was hidden. And we know it's hidden because Christ tells us it was hidden in chapter 13. You see, the period between Christ's first coming to earth, when Israel rejected him, until his return to earth in glory, when they will look for him when they will look upon him whom they have pierced. This is a period that Christ refers to as a mystery or a hidden time. Some theologians refer to this as the interim or the parenthesis. I love this term, the interregnum. We typically call it the church age, but this was not foreseen. You don't read about this in Psalm 96. You read about God comes and he judges. He judges the earth. We don't read about a time of waiting for this.

14:04So in Matthew chapter 13, verse 11, Jesus says, It has been given to you, he's talking to the disciples, to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, the multitudes, it has not been given. So this is why he speaks to them. Beginning in Matthew chapter 13, he speaks to the multitude in parables. And the meaning of the parables would only be explained to his disciples. Jesus tells seven parables in this one chapter about this, about the mysteries of the kingdom, to help them to understand that it's not what you expected. And he sets their expectations right.

14:41The first parable he tells is about the soils. You may remember I taught on that a few months ago. There are four soils, and this parable teaches that there would be some who rejected his word. There would be some who believed his word, but many only looked like they believed him. His word. The seed sprouted. It looked like it was going to flourish, but it did not come to fruition. So this was something that was hidden, and Jesus teaches them that in the parable of the soils. Well, the parable we're going to look at today, we're almost there, teaches that as believers in this kingdom, you're going to live side by side with those that you would like to see destroyed. You'll not have the immediate judgment of the wicked you expected. You'll have to wait for that. But be assured that it will come. And by the way, you will not be the ones to dispense that judgment. Jesus in this parable gives his followers five reasons for patience, for assurance, and for hope. So after that lengthy introduction, let's go to the parable in Matthew chapter 13, verses beginning in 24.

16:02Another 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?

16:30He 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 the 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.

17:02So the kingdom of heaven is likened. These parables that come after that continue to use that phrase. The kingdom of heaven is like something. And here, Jesus said, It's like a man. It's like a man who sowed good seed in his field. This man was obviously a farmer. He obviously owned his field. It sounds like he did the sowing himself, and he's a good farmer because he took care to plant good seed. Let's talk about the good seed. The good seed would grow into wheat. It was good seed because it was the cleanest. There were no weeds in it at all. During the previous harvest, the area of that field had no weeds. The area of a field that has no weeds or the less weeds would be harvested and stored in the barn and used next year as the seed wheat. We still practice this today. So this was the good seed. It was clean and it was free of weeds.

18:02Now, the tares is not a word we use commonly today. This is a word for weeds. So, the weeds are the tares. In this parable, most commentators believe that they are a weed called darnell. Now, I looked this up on the Texas Agri-Life Extension website about Darnell because I knew you all want to know about these weeds. Here's the definition: Lolium temulentum. I had to practice that a few times. That is this form of ryegrass that is commonly known as Darnell. It's a weedy annual grass. The plant stem can grow up to one meter tall. Wheat only grows about half that high. The ears, or the heads of grain, are relatively light compared to wheat, and they remain upright when they're mature. But they turn black in color due to a fungus that this particular variety of darnell is susceptible to. And the fungus, as the seed comes to fruition, turns the head of the darnell black.

19:10The fungus in the seed head actually makes the seeds poisonous to humans and to livestock. And it's very difficult to separate the seeds of this loleum temulentum from those of wheat and other small grain crops, as they're similar to size in wheat. That's actually on their website. And it went on to say, by the way, Way, this is referred to in the Bible in this parable. So, text of Agri-Life Extension, they're reading their Bibles too. So, in Jesus' story, the man's enemies come by night. The man's enemy comes by night, stealthily, so he would not be caught. And he scatters these Darnell seeds, and they're practically invisible because they're small, all over the man's field. It wouldn't be noticed. And in a few days, the good seed is sprouting, and the Darnell seed is sprouting together, and it looks like we've got a good stand because it all looks identical. Wow, we've got a lot growing out there. But as these plants mature and continue to grow, and the differences begin to express themselves, particularly as they produce fruit, seed heads, the difference become more apparent. And the servants notice that the field is contaminated with tares, with weeds. They report this to the master, and their question, Did you not sow good seed, is more of a statement of shock than a question of the quality of his seed. They know he sowed good seed. Well, the man knows that the seed he sowed was good. He knows that the only explanation for this is that an enemy has done this. Somebody has sabotaged my field with tares. This was actually a common practice, so common that there were laws passed against it, because this would, if you fed, if you either knowingly or unknowingly fed a contaminated wheat crop to your animals or to people, they would get sick and possibly die.

21:00So, sowing poisonous plants in a neighbor's field would ruin the crop since it would harm the people who would consume it. Well, the servants are going, man, the crop's ruined. We're not going to get paid. So, they're thinking, in an attempt to salvage the crop, the servants propose, Do you want to send us, do you want us then to go and gather them up? Let's take them out now. So, this solution would root up the noxious weeds before they grew to maturity. But the farmer is wise, and he realizes that although the weeds, the presence of the weeds there continually would reduce his crop yield because they would take nutrients from the soil and they would damage his crop. But the damage to his crop would be even greater by uprooting the weeds as they would also uproot much of the wheat. Since they were growing together, their roots are intertwined and intermingled. So, he tells them, No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them.

22:05Instead, the man would allow the crop to grow to maturity when the difference would be the most apparent. He says, Let both grow until the harvest. So, once the stalks are headed out, the wheat is much more easily distinguishable from the darnell. The wheat, amber waves of grain, and the darnell, black, easy to note the difference. And they're going to be of different sizes too. And I love this. I can't leave this out. One source even noted that when the wheat is ready for harvest, and I've seen this, you've seen this, the heads of the wheat are so heavy that they bend over. Have you seen that in a wheat field?

22:47They actually bend over. But the Darnell seed is lighter, so it stands upright. So while the wheat kind of assumes a posture of bowing in humility, the darnell is upright and proud. I kind of like that. At the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, this is the man talking, first gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them. So here's the plan: I'm going to bring in my reapers. They're very skilled at this. You sower, you guys, my servants, you're not going to be pulling these up by the roots, okay? You're going to damage the wheat. We're going to wait till the harvest, and these skilled reapers are going to bring in their sickles, and they can tell the difference, and they'll cut them down separately. The reapers were skilled at using a sickle to harvest. They'd cut the stalks at the base, slightly above ground level, not getting into the roots. And the skilled reapers could remove the tares more effectively than they could be separated from the wheat as they harvested the field. So he would have the reapers bind the tares into bundles later to be burned. But he says, gather the wheat into my barn. So while the tares would be burned, The fate of the wheat is separate. It would be preserved. It would be taken into the man's barn for storage and safety. So, this is the story that Jesus told the assembled crowd. He's on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. They heard a pointed story about a field with wheat and with tares. The wheat would be preserved. The tares would be burned. Most, however, though, would miss the hidden truths about the kingdom in this story, which would only be revealed later to Jesus' disciples and now to us. In verse 34, we read about Jesus' method here. If you skip down to verse 30, he tells a couple of other parables, but we'll get those another time. In verse 34, Jesus says, All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world. So, at this point, because of Israel's rejection, he speaks to them in parables. They hear some entertaining stories. They kind of are interesting, but the meaning escapes them. It would only be for the disciples.

25:31So we're not left to wonder at the meaning of this parable as the multitudes were. Jesus actually delivers the meaning of the parable a few verses later, which thankfully makes my job this morning much easier. But it's remarkable as I've studied this at the variety of interpretations of this. I've read from scholars more learned and experienced than me. Some of them make this very straightforward parable into an unnecessarily complicated one, but I'm going to stick as much with Jesus' interpretation of this as I can because, of course, he is the Lord. So let's read Jesus' explanation of the parable, starting in verse 36.

26:12You've heard the parable? Now, here's Jesus' explanation of it. Verse 36: Then Jesus sent the multitudes away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. So 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.

26:53Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the 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 to the kingdom, sons in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

27:29Notice when the disciples ask Jesus to explain this parable, they say, they don't say, hey, tell us about the wheat and the tares. They say, tell us about the parable of the tares. They're focused on the tares here that are burned. That gets their attention. I think they know that this is rightly, this is the focus of the parable. Remember, their thoughts about the kingdom was one of righteousness and judgment. You remember? A king with an axe and a winnowing fork and an unquenchable fire, all that judgment, they were eager to see it come to pass. And understandably so, even us today, when the wicked prosper, we rightly cry out to God for justice. So that was on their minds. That had been the expectation. This king would rapidly come in and set things right. And Jesus tells this parable to say, you're going to have to wait for that. You're going to have to wait for that. Which is important. Important thing to understand when you see the wicked prosper, what's going on? Do we need to look for somebody else? No, I've got it. So, quickly, let's look at the major characters. This is not complicated. We've got the man who sowed the good seed. Who is this? The Son of Man.

28:50This is Jesus Christ. Christ is referred to as the Son of Man 92 times in the New Testament. 78 times he uses that term for himself. This appears to be his preferred title. It's a messianic title. It also emphasizes his humanity as well as his deity. So we can understand why this would be Christ's favorite. Now, we could spend a lot of time on every word of Christ's interpretation, but it's really very straightforward. Let's go through verses 38 and 39, the main terms: the good seed, sons of the kingdom. Who are these? Well, these are those who believe in God. These are followers of Christ. These are the righteous that we read about. Here's a tough one: The field is the world.

29:40I'll say that again because there's some disagreement about that in the literature. The field is the world. How do I know that? That's what Jesus said. I'm going with him, okay? Moving on. The enemy is the devil. The tares are the children of the wicked one. Who's the wicked one? Well, he's the devil. So these are unbelievers. These are the condemned. These are the rebellious. So the tares are children of the wicked one, unbelievers. The harvest is not now. It is at the end of the age.

30:16And the reapers, they're the angels. They are the avenging angels at the judgment. Those are the reapers. So we're going to move right on to verse, now that we know who's who, let's look at what he teaches in the last three verses here, verses 40, 41, and 42. Because you see, in this kingdom, he gives us five reasons for patience, for assurance, and for hope. So look here. Before the harvest at the end of the age, we're going to be living among and intermingling with the tares, the sons of the wicked one. We're going to be intermingling with unbelievers. Now, Jesus is talking to his disciples, so he's saying, you're going to be living among the sons of the wicked one, the unbelievers.

31:09Verse 38, he says, the field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. They're all in the field together. They grow together. And the field is the world. It's not the church, although the church is in the world, and there may be some application there. Many commentators focus on the church being the world. Well, if the field were the church, Church, I'm sorry, they focus on the field being the church. Now, if the field were the church, we would have a difficult time with church discipline, right? And dealing with heretics and such as that. No, the field is the world because Christ here uses the word cosmos, meaning world or earth. He does not use the word ecclesia, which is used over a hundred times in the New Testament, to refer to the church. That word was available. He used it other times. He does not use it here. He uses cosmos. So the field is the world. So the clear teaching is that the sons of the kingdom are going to live side by side in the world with sons of the wicked one. Why would the Lord do this to us? Well, why would the Lord do this?

32:22We know one of the attributes of God is his long-suffering, his patience, his loving kindness. And I'm going to read a verse from 2 Peter 3 in verse 8 that I think captures this. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So Israel has rejected their kingdom. There's going to be a period now of undetermined time that we're in now. It began at this point when Christ is telling his disciples, Let me tell you some things you didn't know about my kingdom. You're going to have to wait for judgment. You're going to be living. You're going to be living among the tares.

33:08Now, something important to note here about the sons of the wicked one. I don't want to go too far without talking about this. First of all, notice how he refers to them. They are the sons of the wicked one. And the wicked one is the enemy, the devil. These are sons of the devil. Now, Christ is clear in his teaching that those who do not love God and cannot bear his word are children of the devil. We know this because he tells this to the Pharisees. This is what he calls them in John 8, verse 44. He says to them, You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire. So, while we may all be God's children in a creation order sense, there is clearly a delineation between the sons of the kingdom, God's children, the children of God, and the sons of the wicked one. These are the sons of the father, their devil. So, their father is the wicked one, he is the enemy.

34:10We've got to recognize their father is the enemy, not the sons. They are not the enemy. They may oppose us, they may speak evil to us, they may do violence to us, they may say things about our Lord, take his name in vain. But we have to remember they are captivated. They're captive slave warriors to the enemy, as we once were. Paul warns us: see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception.

34:45The wicked that we live within this world may appear to be our enemies, but they deserve our compassion, our prayers. They are captives in a spiritual war. And our job is to rescue as many as we can. So we must realize that we must learn to live in a world with the tares. Now, I suppose from a pure Calvinistic election point of view, tares are tares and wheat are wheat, but we're not going to make this parable walk on all fours, okay? We have many commands in Scripture to evangelize. And we're not turning tares into wheat, but there are those who need to hear God's word and to be evangelized. So we live together with them for that purpose.

35:33That's why we live in a world side by side with the tares. They're going to grow, we're going to grow, and we're all going to be side by side. That's what the kingdom of heaven is like, according to the king. Well, moving on, also in this kingdom, before the harvest at the end of the age, we can expect the judgment of the wicked to be delayed. So the judgment of the wicked will be delayed. In verse 40, we read, Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, So it will be at the end of the age. Not now. It will be at some point at the end of the age. Christ's explanation here describes two actions related to the judgment of the tares: there's a gathering and a burning. So the tares are cut down, they're gathered, they're bound up, and then they are burned in a fire. I don't want to take that too much further. We could talk about perhaps at the second coming of Christ, the wicked are cut down. And we read about this in Revelation chapter 14, where there's actually harvest imagery there, right? There's one like the Son of Man who sends his angels with a sickle, put in the sickle and harvest. In this case, they're grapes. But the blood ran the length of horses' bridles for a long distance.

36:56But in Revelation chapter 20, we read about fire, about the eventual end and destruction of these wicked who will be cut down and bound, will be in fire. So the fiery judgment that we just heard about from Thomas in Revelation chapter 20, those servants of the wicked one are cast into the lake of fire with the devil, with his angels, which speaks of the worst imaginable eternal punishment. So judgment will be delayed, but The next thing about the kingdom is: we are not the judges. We are not the judges. Verse 41 says, The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, those who practice lawlessness. These are the sons of the wicked one who offend and practice lawlessness. They will be reaped by the angels sent by Christ himself. So this is clear enough. The reapers are the angels, not us, not you, not me.

38:04The disciples, remember, expected Jesus to set up his kingdom quickly. There's something that occurs, an event in Luke chapter 9, when Christ was rejected by a village in Samaria. I'll just refer to it here. James and John said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Judgment now! We can do it. Christ says, No. He rebukes them. And it's in the spirit of verses 29 and 30 here in Matthew 13 in the story where the man tells the servants that they want to pull the tares up by the roots, right? They want to do that. They want to destroy them now. But the man says to them, No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let them both. Grow together until the harvest. So they're going to stay together. Their roots are intermingled. They're just going to have to live together. But their judgment is coming. But the servants aren't the one who are going to pull them up. It's going to be the reapers.

39:17So we're not to call down thunder on our fellow captives. We are not to go around trying to pluck tares from among the wheat. We're not to take it upon ourselves to uproot unbelievers because the difference between true believers and false believers isn't always so obvious, and we're going to get it wrong. Tares, especially in the early stages of growth, remember, they look just like wheat. Likewise, a false believer may resemble a true believer at first. We see this in the parable of the soils. And it's not until the fruit is put on or failed to foot on that we see the difference. And doesn't history bear witness to the calamity that occurs when the servants try to pull up the tares by the wheat? Can you think of some times in history, the Inquisition, the witch trials of Salem, other times when the followers of Christ wrongly assumed that they were the chosen instruments of God's judgment and wrath upon the earth? No, that will be the angel's job.

40:25The sons of the wicked one may offend and practice lawlessness, but we have no Role to pronounce judgment on our fellow image-bearers. Now, we are to exercise discernment. We can know by their fruits who we're dealing with, but condemnation, judgment? No, that's not for us. Our responsibility, our commission as followers of Christ, is found in the great commission. The Lord tells us to make disciples, baptize, teach them everything I have commanded you. There's nothing about judgment in there.

41:08Romans chapter 12, verse 19, it's written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. And it goes on, as if that's not enough. It says, Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him a drink, for in doing so, you'll heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That is the character of this kingdom that we're to live in now. The wicked don't get blasted away. We're going to live with them and overcome evil with good. So we're not the judges. A fourth characteristic of this kingdom: we're assured that the judgment of the wicked is absolute. It will come. It may look like it's a long ways off. But it is absolute and it is coming. And according to the Lord, it is coming quickly. So their judgment is absolute. Verse 42 says that he will cast them into the furnace of fire.

42:15And just so you don't miss it, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now, whenever this phrase is mentioned by Jesus, it refers to only one thing: this is a fiery hell for all eternity. This is the assurance to the sons of the kingdom that God's justice remains intact. God's justice will be delivered. He will not overlook sin and rebellion. Now, I've tried to make this parable one of hope and one of assurance, but we can't overlook.

42:50If there is one message of terror in this parable, this is it. The punishment for the terrors, the sons of the wicked one, those who reject the king, their punishment is eternal punishment in fire. Now, I know those who think that hell will be just a great drunken party. This is no party. What is described here is a furnace of fire, and Jesus wanted sound effects. What is the sound that you make when you're burning in this fire? Wailing in pain. And when you're not wailing, you're crying. Grinding your teeth, you're gnashing your teeth in pain. Oh.

43:36At the end of the age, all unbelievers will be judged for their sin and unbelief. And then they will be removed from God's presence, and Christ's kingdom will be one of complete righteousness. And that brings us to the last verse here. The last verse of this parable, of Christ's explanation of this parable, is a glorious one. We can have hope that we will be part of a kingdom of righteousness with our Father. Verse 43, then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

44:10This explanation, this message, would end darkly if it wasn't for this verse. For followers of Christ, this parable has a message of hope for us in a troubled world, right? Of course, as believers, we shine forth here as we are the messengers to the unbelieving world of the good news that Christ has paid the debt for our sins. He's paid the price of our redemption. But there's a day coming when we will shine even brighter, as bright as the sun in the kingdom of our Father. So we can, while it may not have been good news to the disciples, hey, you're going to have to live with these terrors until the end of the age. You're not even going to judge them. The angels will do that. But be assured, they will be judged. But hey, take hope. There is a day coming. When that day comes, you will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of your Father, shining forth. We will be face to face and reflecting his glory, more so than we could possibly do here on the earth. Well, I think these thoughts of patience, assurance, and hope are summed up in another passage. You can turn there if you want to. 2 Peter chapter 3, I've referred to it once already. Peter assures fellow believers of that day regarding the patience and insurance and hope that we should have while awaiting the harvest at the end of the age. 2 Peter chapter 3, starting in verse 8, he says, But beloved, do not forget this one thing: that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. This is about God's patience and loving kindness. He's willing to wait a long time. It's no problem for him. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, that all should come to repentance. You see, the Lord is patient, so we're to be patient.

46:18And you see in verse 10 that while delayed, the judgment of this world will come. Verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great Noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. So, how should we live? Verse 11: Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. He's captured all three of those thoughts. Be patient as God is patient. Be assured that judgment is coming on this world, but also look forward to the promise that God has told us of a new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. So in this world, for a time, we have tribulation because we live side by side with sin.

47:38Those who place their hope in Jesus Christ live in a kingdom that will come to fruition in God's time according to his good pleasure. Until then, we should understand our circumstances. We should understand this kingdom that we are in. And we should bring as many into the kingdom as we can with the gospel of our Lord and look forward to the day that we're assured. Will come when Christ returns and ushers in a kingdom of righteousness where sinners will be judged and we will shine forth as the sun.

48:13But, you know, Jesus ends this explanation with an invitation to hear it and respond to him. He says, Hear, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. If there's anyone within the sound of my voice who's rejected Christ, this tells you there is still time. We do not know when the end of the age will come, but today, while your ear is hearing the word of God, open your heart to the conviction of the Holy Spirit who calls you to hear him. Repent of your sins. Place your faith in the work of Christ on the cross. He's the one who took the penalty for our sins. Surrender to him and become a son of the kingdom. Let's pray.

49:04Heavenly Father, we thank you for your loving kindness toward us in that you did not want your followers, your disciples, to be frustrated at what they saw in their day, nor do you want us to be frustrated in what we see today. As the wicked prosper around us, you have told us, don't worry, that's my plan. You'll live side by side with them. Thank you, Lord, that you've given us that. That instruction. Lord, thank you for assuring us that while judgment is coming, we are not the ones to do the judgment. And Lord, thank you for the hope that we have of an eternal kingdom of righteousness that we can be a part of. And O Lord, I pray that anyone who has not placed their faith in you, that this would be the day of their salvation. And may you be glorified in all we say and do. Amen.