In his sermon, Robert Bosley discusses the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, found in Matthew 13, emphasizing its role in illustrating the Kingdom of Heaven. Bosley explains that parables served as a form of divine judgment, leaving those outside the disciples in confusion. The parable depicts the coexistence of believers (wheat) and unbelievers (tares) in the world until the end of the age, when they will be separated. Bosley clarifies that the Kingdom of Heaven is synonymous with the Kingdom of God, referring to God's visible reign through Christ, distinct from His providential rule. Through this parable, believers are encouraged to examine their hearts and to understand the ultimate separation and judgment that awaits at the end of times.

Thank you and good afternoon everyone. If you would take out your copy of the scriptures and open up to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. This afternoon we're going to continue a series that I started several months ago, actually back in August, on the parables that our Lord taught during his time here on the earth. The first part was the parable of the four soils in the first section of the chapter.

Today we're gonna go on to look at the parable of what is often called the parable of the wheat and tares or the parable of the weeds in verses 24 through 30 and then looking at Jesus' own interpretation of his parable in verses 36 through 43. So let's read the parable as Jesus presents it and then let's pray. So Matthew chapter 13 beginning in verse 24. 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 tears 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 tears and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Let's pray.

Well, Father, we come before you this afternoon So thankful for the wonderful gift of your word God thank you for giving us the scriptures that we have the very word of God in our hands able to read it And Lord we pray that as we look at this passage you would help us to understand it. Lord help me to teach and explain it clearly. Lord keep me from error. And Lord may you open the ears of your people here to know and to hear great things from your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

So again, as I said, this is actually the second in a series on the parables that I'm gonna be doing over the next several months. I want to start with going back and refreshing our memory, again that first one was back in August, refreshing our memory on what the the purpose of parables, what was the purpose of Jesus teaching in parables to the people. Often we get this idea that the parables are these cute little illustrations used, that Jesus used to teach his doctrine to the crowds. And that is absolutely not the purpose of the parables. The parables were not illustrations in the typical sense of an illustration.

An illustration is intended to add clarity to the message that contains the illustration. The parables are not like that. The parables were given as these stories given to the people, not so that they would have a clearer understanding of Jesus' message, but they were actually a sign of God's judgment against the people. This is a nation that had rejected their God, a nation that had rejected its Messiah, And so Jesus taught them in these stories that are by their very nature difficult and unclear. The authoritative interpretation that Christ gives of a handful of the parables, this one today as well as the previous one, was given only to the disciples, not to the people.

The people were left in darkness and confusion because it was a means of God's judgment on them. The disciples asked him, why do you speak to them in parables? And he said, because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. The eyes and ears of the disciples are blessed, but the eyes and ears of the multitude are judged and condemned. And so Jesus makes it even harder for them to understand him and his messages because it is now God's intention to destroy these people as future parables will also show.

Now that doesn't mean that we can't learn from the parables. That doesn't mean that they aren't instructive for us. They are absolutely, but they're not merely illustrations. As Christians who have the complete Word of God and Jesus' own authoritative interpretation, again, we can look at the parables and we, after doing the hard work, we can understand them. But it's not because we're smart.

It's not because we're cleverer than other men. It's because God has been good to us. By His grace, He has given us His word and allowed us to understand these things. When Jesus said to the disciples, when he asked them, have you understood this? Referring to the first parable, and they said no.

He said if you cannot understand this, How can you understand any of the parables? He wasn't meaning, well, this one's so obvious, if you can't get it, you're not going to get any others, you're hopeless. That wasn't his point. He meant rather that this understanding of this first parable is kind of an interpretive key for the rest of the parables. So the parable of the four soils we looked at and how the word of God comes, the message of the kingdom comes, and it's the same message to each of these soils.

Some accept it, some reject it, but it's God who gives the increase. That is kind of the interpretive key for all the parables. All the parables find their their central theme on this message of the kingdom of God that has come into the world. And just as Jesus gave his interpretation of that parable, he gives his interpretation here. So look with me at verse 36 and I'll read the interpretation.

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, and 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 son in the kingdom of their father he who has ears to hear Let him hear So I want us to look at this parable and its interpretation under three main points first I want us to consider what is the kingdom of heaven? What is the kingdom of heaven? And then the intermingling of believers and unbelievers in the world. The intermingling of believers and unbelievers in the world, and then the separation of believers and unbelievers in eternity.

The separation of believers and unbelievers in eternity. So first the issue of the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? By this three-word phrase, what is Jesus communicating? Is this the same as the Kingdom of God that we read of in other parables and the other gospels?

What does Jesus mean by this? Hasn't God always ruled? It should be no surprise to anyone that there is no little debate about this. What does this phrase mean? First I do want to point out that the uses between the gospels of the phrase on the one hand in Matthew the kingdom of heaven and then in Luke and Mark in particular the kingdom of God these phrases are used in parallel.

The same parables in Matthew where the kingdom of heaven is referenced are referring to the kingdom of God in Luke, for instance. They are synonymous. Perhaps Matthew was using the word heaven rather than God as a metonymy. That's a figure of speech such as, we're used to hearing this all the time, such as when a news reporter says, we're gonna hear from the White House when they're meeting, we're gonna hear a message from the president, not that the presidential mansion is actually going to start speaking. Perhaps he was using this figure of speech to accommodate his gospel to Jewish sensibilities.

We don't know, but we do know from their use in the parallel accounts that these phrases are referring to the same thing. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, they are the same thing. But what does it mean? Now we know that he doesn't mean that the world up to this time has been left to its own devices, ungoverned and unruled since creation. We know he does not mean that.

The Bible makes it clear that God has ruled and reigned from the beginning. Psalm 103 verse 19, the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules overall. That's just one verse of many that could be brought forth to show that God has always had his kingdom, his rule over this world. So we're not talking about God's providential rule because his providential care and governance of the creation has existed since he spoke the world into existence. Yet at the same time Jesus is teaching that something new has happened with his coming into the world.

To the twelve he said, as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is something new that's come near. Again he said to the twelve, and heal the sick that are there, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you." And to his critics, he said, If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. So something new is happening with the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we look in the old covenant scriptures and the prophets foretold of a new kingdom that God would establish through his Messiah.

Psalm 2 verses 6 through 8, I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son today. I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.

Daniel 2, 44, in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself stand forever. And Daniel 7, 13 and 14, a key text because this contains that phrase that Jesus applies to himself so often, the title of the Son of Man. Daniel said, I saw in my vision in the night, I continued to watch and I saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence and he was given dominion, glory, and kingship that every nation and language should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. So God told his people he was going to bring a new kingdom into the world with his Messiah. Yes, God has always ruled and reigned over the world in His providential and hidden rule behind the scenes, bringing all His purposes to pass. However, the Kingdom of God that we find in the parables is a unique kingdom that Jesus has brought into the world. It is something else.

It is something more. Something where the effects are more clearly seen. It is one where the nations and all the peoples of the world bow before God openly So in some way we can consider this kingdom of heaven this kingdom of God as a a visible kingdom Whereas his providential rule is more of a hidden rule. Now what else does Jesus mean when he uses this term, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven? Now I want to propose, and this is not original to me, being original in theology is not a good idea, So I'm not being original here.

I want to propose that when we think of the kingdom of God, we should think more in the terms of the rule of God or the reign of God. That better captures the idea of the language. The Greek itself, Basileia, the kingdom, it has more to do with the act of ruling. It is the royal reign. That is usually what's communicated by rule.

It's not so much the place, but the action. Not the place of the kingdom, but the action of rulership is the emphasis there. When we think of a kingdom we think of lands and borders, but at the heart of this biblical concept of the kingdom is the rule itself, the reign of the sovereign king. And so this kingdom is the visible rule of God, not merely the place of his reign. It is his active ruling.

It's also an eschatological concept. The prophets, as we mentioned, foresaw a coming kingdom where God would rule over all peoples through his Messiah. It would be the providential rule of God made visible and more concrete as the law of God is spread throughout the world and people are brought to joyful submission to that law. Where all nations would be brought together to obey the one true God in eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed. This is what I think Jesus means when he refers to the kingdom of God.

It's the visible reign of God through the rule of his Son over people who've been gladly brought into obedience to him, beginning in the incarnation and continuing throughout eternity. It's the visible rule of God through his son over those who have been brought to glad obedience to Jesus Christ. Now I know that's a long-winded definition of what seems like it ought to be a very simple three-word phrase. I've never been accused of being pithy and I don't expect to start now, but I think that's really the essence of what is meant by this phrase. And I think we have to keep these elements in mind if we're rightly going to understand the parables.

Now in this parable Jesus says that the kingdom may be compared to this field. Now the field, What is the field? He says the field is the world. Look in, excuse me, in verse 38, the field is the world. Jesus very clearly identifies it.

It is not the church. You will read many commentators who will say the field is the church. Jesus says no the field is the world. I understand why many men, good men, men that we will often look up to and go to their resources for understanding Scripture. I understand why they say it's the church but I do not believe that is the case.

It is the world as in all of the inhabited creation, not just the elect of God, not just the visible covenant church, not just those who who claim to follow. It is the inhabited creation. It is the whole world. And the sower, Jesus, the Son of Man, plants his good seed in the world. These are the sons of the kingdom or the children of the kingdom and the enemy, the devil, the adversary has his own seed, his own sons of his kingdom which he sows into the world as well.

Now let's stop there in the interpretation for a second and remember that the parables are not systematic theologies. We do not overinterpret every single little element of the parables. Not every point in each parable and every story corresponds to reality. The parables are what the kingdom is like, not what the kingdom is. It is a comparison.

So in the story, the sower plants good seed, but while men sleep, the enemy sows tares or weeds among the wheat. We ought not from this phrase think that somehow the activity of the devil is something that God is unaware of. The enemy sneaks in while men are sleeping and does this unknown to the sower and to the servants of the field. The devil is not that clever. He may be clever, he is smarter than any of us, but his activity is not unobserved by the omniscient God.

So not every point in the parables corresponds to reality. Jesus is not surprised at the existence of wicked men in the world. That's not what this is teaching. And so in the story, the enemy sows his seed while men sleep. And notice that Jesus doesn't interpret that part of the story for us.

Some overinterpret again, I believe, indicating that the men who are sleeping are lazy or inattentive ministers, those who are lax at the work of preaching the gospel. I don't think that's intended here. I think really it's simply a way of making the story make sense. While the owner of the field And while his servants were sleeping, the enemy snuck in and planted these seeds. This is a good principle for us to have in mind as we move forward looking at the other parables.

We do not need to explain every single detail of the parables to understand their interpretation. Again, these are comparisons, these are analogies, it's what the kingdom is like, not what the kingdom is. But the main point In the story is the enemy's seed and the good seed of the owner grow in the field alongside one another. They're planted together, they spring up together, they grow together until the harvest. And so by this we have our second point, the intermingling of believers and unbelievers in the world.

In the story the servants after they see that there are weeds among the wheat they come to the owner and point out the tares and ask if they should tear them up, if they should rip them up, so the wheat can grow unobstructed. But the sower tells them, no, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. In this world the wheat and the tares, the righteous and the wicked will live side by side. Righteous men and wicked men will be neighbors.

Righteous men will have wicked children. Wicked children, sorry, wicked men will have righteous children. The wheat and tares grow together in the world. Neither side will be utterly removed until the end of the age. Again, some take this as a picture of the church, not the world entirely.

But if we are going to say that the field is the church, then we have a real problem when we consider the issue of church discipline. Because what are we commanded? We're commanded, purge the evil one from your midst. Jesus himself in just a few chapters, he gives the rules for church discipline and he comes down to, if the one is unrepentant, expel him from the church. Treat him as an unbeliever.

So if we take the field to be the church, we have Jesus arguing against himself. So no, this is not the church. This is the world. Righteous and wicked men and women growing in the world, living side by side until the end of the age. Now of course this does not mean that there are not false converts and false professors in the church.

Of course there are when I refer to the church here. I mean the true elect of God. That is the kingdom of God visible. This visible rule of God is growing in the midst of this field. It's growing alongside the kingdom of the evil one.

Paul encapsulates this idea very well in 1st Corinthians 5 verses 9 through 11 when he tells the Corinthians, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people, yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters. Since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I've written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater. We would need to go out of the world if we were to never mix or interact with those who are unbelievers, those who live in sin. The visible church should mirror the purity of the true church as much as possible.

And so here Jesus is not arguing against church discipline. He's teaching that there will be a distinction between his people and the people of the devil. That's his purpose. That's his point. Now I do also want us to consider that in this parable, this is a wheat field and not a weed field.

God has prepared a field for his seed, for his wheat to grow in. It is a field with wheat, with some tares scattered among it. It is not a wild and untamed field with wheat thrown in. And so any view that says that this world belongs to the enemy or that in the end the weeds will win and choke out the wheat. Any view that teaches the success of the tares is running up a very big obstacle in this passage.

They grow alongside one another and ultimately the tares are uprooted. It is a wheat field, not a weed field. Now that being said, the distinction between the wheat and the tares is not always obvious. In the visible church, in society, at large, those who are in the world, it's not always clear who belongs to which kingdom. The kingdom of God or the kingdom of the devil.

And this I think is signified by the the use of the word tares or the word that is translated in some versions as as weed. This word is often used in antiquity to describe a particular weed called darnal, which in both its seed form and its sprouted form very closely resemble wheat. So similar do they look that darnal was often called false wheat. And they would often be sewn together, completely unaware until the harvest. Because though they started out looking very similar, At harvest time, the differences became obvious.

The ear or the head of the wheat appears and it ripens into this beautiful golden brown color that we all know of when we think of wheat. However, when ripened, Darnal turns black and looks dead. What a picture. The wheat and the weeds. So often the sons of the devil look like the sons of the kingdom.

And we've heard about that even in 2nd Peter and in other places. There are so often those who are actually sons of the devil who come in and deceive and try to lead people away from the truth of God. So often they look so good. They look the same. But eventually, eventually the truth comes out.

Eventually the differences are seen. The fruit comes forth. And what should be a bountiful harvest of righteousness ends up simply revealing the blackness and deadness of the unconverted heart. And both these are growing together to the harvest. The world contains both and this building right now contains both.

I want to appeal to you, especially to you children, you younger boys and girls, you young men and women. What are you? Are you wheat in the field of your God, Or are you weeds that will be uprooted? What are you? What is in your heart?

Are you truly wheat, a son, a daughter, a child of the King? Or Are you an imposter? Are you seeds that have been planted by Christ himself, rooted and grounded in grace? Or are you weeds that put on a good show for a while, but will be uprooted and burned at the end. What are you?

I cannot make that judgment. Look at your heart and beg God to reveal the truth to you. Beg God to make you part of his harvest. Because you may fool men for a while. That's not terribly hard to do.

You may fool men your whole life, but the harvest will come. The day of separation will come and these two that have grown together in the world will be apart forever. They will be separated forever and God will know the truth because God knows your heart. God sees past all the lies, God sees past all the disguises, he sees past the hypocrisy, God knows your heart. Do you have a dark heart or do you have a heart that loves the Lord your God?

The day of harvest will make it plain. And in that day there will be this final separation. The separation of the believer and unbeliever in eternity. We heard much about the fearful judgment on the wicked in this morning's message. Particularly as it relates to false teachers or those we can often we can hear the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and say, well, I'm not that bad.

Have you read the story of Sodom? I'm not like that. Don't deceive yourself. If you are apart from Christ, you will face the judgment of God just as surely as the residents of Sodom did. You will face the wrath of God if you are not in Christ.

The sower says to his servants, let both grow together until 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 in my barn. The distinction that now exists between the wheat and tares, that hidden distinction we don't always see, that will be made completely and irrevocably visible on that last day. And that distinction will be made into a permanent separation. He says he will send out his angels to gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and who practice lawlessness.

Now I'm not a huge fan of the way the new King James renders that all things that offend. I don't think he's talking about things inanimate objects. He's talking about people. All people that offend and even the word offend it's the idea of a stumbling block. Some versions render it as all who cause sin.

That's I think a good way of looking at it. It's you by your lawlessness you're causing others to sin. Your lawlessness provokes greater lawlessness. Your law breaking encourages other law breakers. But I think there's another sense that we can take the idea of an offense here because this word can also be used to indicate something that causes revulsion.

It is something that in itself is offensive. If you are here and you are not in Christ, if you are not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ right now, you are offensive to God. Your sin has caused you to be revolting in his sight. He will gather out all offensive and all offensive things and lawbreakers. It's the same group.

By your lawbreaking, you have become offensive to God. And so he is against you. He's hostile. Against you. He's hostile.

A sower, a farmer, is not merely annoyed with the weeds. He hates them. God hates the wicked. God will bring his judgment against the wicked. All sin will be punished.

If you are without Christ, you are an offense to God. He will not allow your sin to go unpunished. The lawbreakers, the offensive, those who cause others to sin and to stumble, they will be gathered together and thrown into the fire, this unquenchable fire that is the judgment of God. If you do not have Christ as your Savior, you will have him as your judge, and his judgment will be without mercy on that last day. Now is the time of mercy.

Now is this is the day of salvation. Now is the time to escape the wrath that is to come. But that open doorway of mercy will not be open forever. It will close. And those weeds that are still in his garden, in his field, will be pulled up and cast out.

And for those who are the wheat, the children of the kingdom, listen to what Jesus says is for you. Verse 43, then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their father. It will be far better than we can ever imagine. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor is entered in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. That beautiful, incredible city we've heard about in Revelation 21 that's waiting for his people So listen to me Christian be encouraged God has planted you in his field.

You have been put here and put in place by Christ himself. You are a part of his great harvest of this world and one day you'll be gathered to shine in his kingdom and enjoy greater peace and glory and happiness than you can ever imagine. That's what awaits you Christian. If you do not believe, if you have not yet bent the knee to Jesus Christ, you will suffer a fate worse than you can imagine. Described as unceasing fire, The weeds will be cast out and burned.

Why continue in your lawlessness? Why continue in your law breaking? Why remain a stumbling block and an offense to others and to God? Jesus stands ready to save. Repent.

Turn to him and live. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this parable. And Lord, may you give us grace to examine our hearts and to truly see what our state is before you.

God, I pray that you would increase your harvest, that this church would truly be a wheat field that produces a great harvest. May you be glorified in this church in the salvation of souls and the gathering of great harvest to your own glory in Jesus name Amen. We are dismissed.