Matthew 13 — Mack Tomlinson

The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds

Hope you're well where you are. I hope you'll ask a question at the end. If you have any, we'll pray. For any need, you also wanna share, so be ready. I want us to look at Matthew chapter 13. It's a parable chapter, parables of the kingdom of heaven.

And I want us to think about Jesus' words, an enemy has done this, an enemy has done this. So let's look at this parable, we'll read part of it. Matthew 13, 24, he put another parable before them, saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

So you have a good man sowing good seed in a field. But while his men were sleeping, in other words, it's darkness now, under the cover of darkness, 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 again. 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 servant said to him, do you want us to go and gather them? He said, no, listen, gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them. Look on down in the chapter to Jesus interpreting this later.

Jesus' Interpretation of the Wheat and the Weeds

Notice in verse 37, he interprets it, the one who sowed good seed is Jesus Christ. It's not Christians, it's not preachers, it's not evangelists. The one sowing good seed here is Jesus Christ. The field is the world we live in.

So the Lord Jesus is sowing things in the world continually. And the good seed he sows are Christians. Notice that in verse 38, the good seed is the sons of the kingdom and the weeds that the enemy sows in darkness are unregenerate servants of the devil, the sons of the evil one.

So in the enemy, verse 39 tells us, is the devil himself. So you have this picture of the earth and you have Jesus Christ sowing believers, but in the darkness, remember, Satan is the God of this world.

In the works of darkness, under darkness, he sows wicked, evil servants of his to do damage, to wreak havoc, to do harm. And so think about this in the last two weeks. I know the social unrest is always on the minds and you may be following all of it since the death of Floyd George in Minneapolis days ago.

Applying the Parable to Social Unrest

Look at all that has been sown in the earth. Hate, further murder of innocent people, discord, rioting, stealing, anger, internet arguments. Actual Christians dialoguing and disagreeing and being alienated from each other just because of the discord.

The Bible says Satan comes to do one thing, to steal, kill and destroy. So all the response in our nation on the horizontal, carnal level in the field is, can be summarized by this diagnosis. An enemy has done this.

Now, brethren, if we as believers don't see this, if we look horizontally, we only look at what can be seen. We will look at the left and the liberals and the minorities acting out because of the wrongful murder of a black man in Minneapolis.

We'll look at those on the right, overreacting too in defense of whites and all that, trying to balance things. And the comments keep coming and the emotions keep soaring and the feelings are hurt deep.

And we're just dealing with it on the visible, in the field, horizontal level. And when we do that, we're missing it all together. We gotta look deeper. Jesus said it, this is the work of the enemy. And I want you to figure out Revelation 12 .12.

I'll read it, you don't even have to turn to it. Listen to this, this is quite a commentary. "'Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.'". So in heaven, rejoicing, perfection. But then he says the opposite.

"'But woe to you, O earth and sea, "'for the devil has come down to you in great wrath.'". Why? Because he knows that his time is short. That's why there are these attacks that are almost supernatural, that come out of nowhere.

There's no explanation for them often. It's the devil pitching a fit. It's him like a sulking bully who knows he's under control, but he knows his time is short. So he's gonna do whatever he can just to wreak havoc.

The Kingdom Mindset and Spiritual Discernment

Jesus said an enemy has done this. So all the fruits of what we've seen, the arguing, the dissension, the alienation, the hatred, the further murdering, the bickering, the heightened racism, the arguments, the opinions, the going on social media and unwisely posting things that shouldn't even be said is a work of the enemy.

And when believers do that, we're blinded and we fall right into the ploy and the tactics in the walls of the devil. We are then acting like his weeds that he's planted in the earth. We're acting like unregenerate people act.

We're acting carnally. We're reacting. Brethren, the only reaction we should have is a kingdom reaction. The only thoughts we ought to think about any of it is through the lens of the Bible. The only mindset that any of us ought to have is a kingdom mindset.

How does the Lord Jesus Christ want us to think and view things? What does he want us to say? If we get down on this horizontal level and we're playing in the field with the weeds, we're dialoguing with them, we're not even on the same page as Jesus Christ.

We're on a different radio frequency altogether. Brethren, it is vitally important that we recognize this is a spiritual battle. Spiritual forces are at work stirring up things in the earth because it's always of the enemy to steal, kill, destroy, accuse, alienate, divide, and cause problems.

So this is something that's critically important for us to discern. I believe we ought to ride across the top of all that's going on in America right now in the last two weeks. An enemy has done this.

We know it was of the devil, that police officer, to murder that man. We know it was of the devil for those others around him to let him. We know all the anger and the looting and everything is of the devil.

It's all of the devil. And we better not toy with it and dialogue with the weeds because they're tears and we are wheat. And our only responsibility to the tears is to be a bright and loving light, speaking the truth, not about the social stuff, speaking the truth in love about the greatness of God and that Jesus Christ is the only answer to the world's chaos.

Walking in the Spirit Rather Than Political Conflict

Well, who has a question? I don't wanna discuss the political scenery. I don't wanna discuss the weeds and the tears, but I wanna discuss if we are arming ourselves with the mind of Christ to function well because what we have to bring forth, the fruits of the spirit, walking in the spirit, praying in the spirit, life in the spirit, that's the only order for us.

And it's today and every day. Because six months from now, there may be something else that's stirring the pot. Satan is raging in the earth because he knows his time is short. He's throwing a little bully's fit and we can't fall into his strategies and walls and be tricked by him and act like his children.

So who has a comment or a question? Jump right in. Anyone? While I'm waiting, another thought just comes. That parable says the enemy, while the servants of the master were sleeping, came and sowed the weeds, the tears.

So we know everything happening in the earth, in the field that's evil comes from a source of darkness. And brethren, we're children of light. We can't tread into that darkness and do stuff on that turf.

We will only act carnally if we do. We're children of light. So let's walk and talk and think as children of light. All right, somebody give me a response. Prayer request, comment, encouragement. Anybody?

Guarding Words in Political Discourse

I don't think we have any. Well, there we got someone, Nathan Freeman. Welcome, brother. What you got? Unmute your, and speak to us. Can you hear me, brother?

Yes, sir, go ahead. So I was kind of wondering if you could kind of expound on this. How would you go about exhorting and encouraging fellow believers to kind of stray away from the political discourse of the day that's so rampant?

What would be some ways you would encourage people?

Well, that's very important. And I do think one way we can encourage them is just to be very discerning and tell them we've got to think spiritually minded. We can't get drawn into the carnal battle of dialogue.

It's a trap, it's always a trap. And so just to be discerning and to tell them this is a trap and a while of the devil, a trick, a tactic of Satan to lure us in for us to get frustrated, agitated, upset, and alienated from people.

That's his method. So we should be aware of his devices, number one. Number two, Ephesians 4 .29 says that every word that comes out of our mouth needs to be with grace and under edification, that it will minister grace to those who hear us.

So we ought to check our words at the door of our mouth is what I'm saying. Not only true, is it necessary in the moment? Will someone, because of how I phrase things, misinterpret this as if I'm saying something else?

That's always a danger, which means we've got to be very guarded in how we say things. Thirdly, is it edifying? If what I say on social media is not edifying and God-honoring, then I shouldn't say it.

We know how much Proverbs in the book of James says it's wise to be quiet and wise to listen and to speak less. A wise man knows when to be silent, but a fool runs on and runs his mouth and he suffers.

So I think telling others to be discerning, very discerning, don't fall into the traps of the enemy. And his traps are always agitation, disagreement, arguing, because he wants to divide. And then the other thing is just our words.

Let our words be few. Let our words be absolutely pure and God-honoring and not in any way, I guess, negative in the sense that they're not full of grace and they won't build others up. So Knight, that's the best two things I can say.

I think it's wiser, especially if people are emotional and they want to respond. I think it's wiser if they do less than more. I know Christians today who maybe they're retired, maybe it's a wife that's home, and they spend hours on social media and they're tracking it all.

And they see things, they think, they got to respond. This is a big trap. So less is better. Less words, more thinking before we speak, discerning, recognizing all that's going on, an enemy has done this, and then self-control.

So that's what I would say to anybody, Knight. That's a little longer than I should have gone, but I think that's it. So thanks for the question. Someone else had one. You know, I think also we see the work of the enemy in this, in that, as you already know, with one family's request that a Minneapolis police department be dysfunctioned, be disabled, and dismantled, and the city council there, just without real meetings, without long discussion at all, they say, okay, that's right.

That's what we've got to do. This shows that this world isn't thinking. It's not rational. They're just feeling and they're reacting. And it's a delusion. God is sending a divine delusion on our land and it's happening.

So we need to, there was a policeman that drove by my street this morning while I was outside. I waved at him, but I wish I'd have waved him down and stopped him to tell him how much I appreciate his work and to tell him that I'm praying for him.

We can encourage policemen. We should pray for the policemen. We should pray against the demonic deception of the cities that are just jumping on the bandwagon one after another about the direction of the authorities in the land.

We should really pray for our city and for our police departments running and for the city council because insanity is ruling right now. And cowardice, because they're not courage, they're cowards because they just have to play the political correct game.

Encouraging Police Officers and Respecting Authority

Byron Porter, brother, what you got? Speak to me. You got your mic muted? Byron, can you hear me? If you're speaking, I can't hear you yet, brother.

I think I just hear me. I just want to reiterate what you said. My brother-in-law is a police officer and I sent him some initial thoughts, some biblical considerations on what's happening right now.

And the way he responded, I've never seen him respond this way to me, which tells you the sign of the times and what's going on. I would encourage everybody to please do that. Not only reach out to any police officer that you can, that will give you the time to listen, but remind them of what scripture says, what God commands as far as order and the way he has ordered things.

They are not thanked, they are not appreciated and they're expected to serve without question, without being treated as human beings or given the dignity of being seen as a human being. And just the tenderness in his response to me, it was very encouraging to me, but it was also very heartbreaking because I know if he feels that way, how much more the rest of the officers across the country must be facing things without having any support system.

He told me, he said, I wish I had more support outside of law enforcement that would speak up the way you did.

That's good, Byron, that's really right. And we don't walk in their shoes, but we can sure speak words of encouragement in their ears. So they're ministers of God for the punishment of evildoers and for the protection of law abiding people.

Prayer for Churches, Authorities, and Police Departments

Anyone else have something? Go ahead and speak up. Well, let's pray right now. Let's pray for our churches to walk in wisdom, understanding the times we're in. Let's pray for those in authority in our community.

We need to pray for our city councils because that's where the pressure comes first. We need to pray for our police department. And in fact, Paul tells Timothy, pray for all those that are in authority.

So join me as we pray, and let's agree together for God's mercy in these days. Father, we come in the name that's above every name, the name that is exalted in the universe, the name of Christ our King who rules and reigns, who governs all things.

And one day we'll return again and we'll deliver up the kingdom to his father and our father. Lord, until then, the enemy is raging because he knows his time is short. We pray that you'd rebuke him. We pray, Lord, were the enemies coming like a flood, the spirit of God would raise a standard against him.

We pray for the judgment and the defeat and the removal of intellectually and morally insane, civic and governmental leaders who, Lord, are pawns of the devil. We pray for them, Lord, they are tears in the field and they need to be controlled.

Lord, we as weak, we can't pull them up, but Lord Jesus, you own the field, so we ask you to control them. We pray for the cities in our own state. We pray for the major cities that are influential, that you would govern, that you would protect our police departments.

Lord, that you would cause things to swing for the better for them. Encourage the police officers. Encourage, Lord, city council members to have courage to stand and not give in. We pray for our churches, Lord, that we would have discernment to see that an enemy has done this and that's totally what's behind it all.

Help us, Lord, to walk as children of light and to shine as lights in a crooked, in a perverse generation. Lord, thank you for the truth that renews our minds today. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Well, thanks, brethren, for joining.

I hope you have a good weekend, a good Lord's Day, and God willing, we'll be back on Tuesday.