Creating Your World pt 3
Wheat & Weeds
Creating your world through the word of God requires obedience which is a heart condition. Sacrifice is a consequence of disobedience — a high price to pay.
Jesus paid the price for our disobedience and made us righteous through His obedience.
THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND TARES
Matthew 13:24-30 TLV ”He presented to them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Now when the stalk sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. So the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ But he replied, ‘An enemy did this.’ Now the slaves say to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go out and gather them up?’ But he says, ‘No, for while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’”“
Parables and why they are used
- To take something that is unclear or less than clear or maybe not persuasive like a moral attitude, or a religious idea and to make them more understandable, more persuasive.
- In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked His listeners to understand an intangible reality they couldn’t see with their physical eyes—the kingdom of God. He knew they could only engage this reality with the eyes of their hearts, so He chose to use stories—what we commonly call parables—to illustrate His meaning
- In the parables, Jesus hits the most important issues in this life now and beyond: our value to God, human relationships, the kingdom of God, heaven
Matthew 13:34-35 NKJV “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 Isaiah , saying: “ I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
Jesus was a master storyteller, and the parables He told were ingeniously simple word pictures with profound spiritual lessons. Understanding the parables is a crucial matter for followers of Jesus.
The use of wheat in the Bible
- FOOD- wheat was perhaps the most widely used grain in the ancient Near East. It was roasted, ground into flour to make bread, or fermented to make beer. The stalk was used to make bricks, baskets, and bedding.
- The wheat harvest marked the time of year: “And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest” (Genesis 30:14).
- In Deuteronomy 8:8, wheat is one of seven foods that mark the abundance of the promised land.
- Christ uses the familiar scene of the wheat harvest to symbolise His second coming (Matthew 13:24–30), which is as inevitable as the vital yearly rhythm of seedtime and harvest (Genesis 8:22).
Definitions of the following;
Field – the world
Harvest – end of age
Barn– church
A Farmer – Son of man – Jesus
The Enemy –Satan – He sowed the weeds among the good seed, a false word.
Darnel/Tares/weeds – Fake wheat, unbelievers (tares) that grow alongside one another in this world(field) waiting for the day of the harvest( the end of the age), when the Lord will separate the believers from the non-believers, condemning the non-believers to Hell while gathering the believers into His Heaven.
NB! It is important to know that we can have tares or darnel in our own lives whilst we walking out our salvation. The goal is to grow in the word and in our righteousness and become good strong healthy wheat to be brought into His barn at the right time; harvest time.
Wheat – the good seed-: true believers – is the one who hears the word and comprehends it and bears fruit and yields as much as was sown. Some 100 fold some 60 fold and some 30 fold…30 times as much.
It’s interesting to see when the weeds were sown.
While the men were sleeping – this means the men who worked in the field-have a spiritual responsibility to be vigilant over the seed sown —of Gods word.
Luke 22:46 ”And He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation.”“
Sometimes weeds grow when the we are distracted or consumed with other things; or while you are waiting orr when we are disobedient.
The weeds were sown whilst they were not watching or off beat, off duty, off guard. Tired,offended, in a spiritual slumber, it also represents no Hope, spiritually dead or dull, having a preference for sin, rejection of Gods love.
Ephesians 2:1-5 TLV ”You were dead in your trespasses and sins. At that time, you walked in the way of this world, in conformity to the ruler of the domain of the air—the ruler of the spirit who is now operating in the sons of disobedience. We too all lived among them in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind. By nature we were children of wrath, just like the others. But God was rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Messiah. (By grace you have been saved!) And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua—“
~in the presence of God there is strength to resist temptation.
~ an antidote for spiritual sleep is Grace. The energizing presence of God Himself in the human mind, body and spirit.
Luke 22:46 – Why do you sleep? Rest or sit, Stand, walk vs walk, stand, sit, sleep.
Lack of obedience is the first step to falling into temptation. Not being busy with a good work.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
King Saul’s lack of obedience to God in the beginning of his reign, giving into his will and need instead of obeying God, fueling his own passions which that character was to weak to handle. He began to weaken and the weeds began to show up…, the favor of God began to shine on David now as he gained popularity . Saul consumed with himself became obsessed with David’s favor among the people that Saul’s couldn’t handle it — He allowed this anger and Envy set into his heart, and closing the doors of favor upon his life. He lay upon his bed at night tormenting himself over David, that his heart turned to hatred against David. Because ‘The women where chanting praises. “Saul kills thousands but David slays ten thousand”’
It says the following morning an evil Spirit came upon Saul… and the presence of God left him.
NB! When we allow anger, bitterness, envy, offense in. The spirit of God because it cannot share the same space.
The nature of Sin
Romans 7:15-20 ”For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but willpower is not enough to accomplish it. My lofty desires to do what is good are dashed when I do the things I want to avoid. So if my behavior contradicts my desires to do good, I must conclude that it’s not my true identity doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin hindering me from being who I really am.“
Consequence
When you subscribe to itJames 1:15
James 1:15 ESV ”Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.“
Tares
Pride, Fear, Anger, bitterness
James 3:16 ”For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
Wheat.
James 3:16-18 ESV “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.“
How do we overcome this situation
- Recognise your human nature for what it is— and remind yourself of Gods grace
- Play it forward — see the outcome, the end result of sin ends up in death spiritually physically and emotionally.
Conclusion: It always comes down to obedience is better than sacrifice. Saul and David are a picture of the soul and the flesh. Acting out the chararistics of the good seed/wheat and the weeds/Darnel. They function together yet have different outcomes. Based on how they handle their shortcomings.
Hebrews 4:14-16 TPT “For we have a magnificent King-Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose into the heavenly realm for us, and now sympathizes with us in our frailty. He understands humanity, for as a man, our magnificent King-Priest was tempted in every way just as we are, and conquered sin. So now we draw near freely and boldly to where grace is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness.“
Rise up pray, lest you enter into temptation.
1 Cor 10:13 ESV ”No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.“
NB! When you are spiritually low you use your mind to suppress temptation and desires. Your mind does not have the strength to succeed in this.
Wake up, open your eyes and build your spirit. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remains.
Ephesians 5:14-18 TPT ”This is why the Scripture says, “Arise, you sleeper! Rise up from your coffin and the Anointed One will shine his light into you!” So be very careful how you live, not being like those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times. Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes. And don’t live foolishly for then you will have discernment to fully understand God’s will. And don’t get drunk with wine, which is rebellion; instead be filled continually with the Holy Spirit.“
King Saul’s Demise
Started with his unlawful sacrifice and disobedience to kill the king Agag of Amalek and all that remains, but he chose to keep what appeared good to him against GODS INSTRUCTION. A representation of pride, holding things higher than God.
NB!Samuel makes it clear that God is more interested in our obedience, than our self-satisfaction.
1 Samuel 18:10-12 ESV ”It came about the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, so that he was raving within the palace. While David was playing music with his hand, as he did day by day, Saul had his spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall!” But David eluded him—twice. Now Saul became afraid of David, because Adonai was with him but had departed from Saul.“
- Get busy doing Kingdom work —Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain Rev. 16:15 nkjv the church at Sardis=was about to die— they had to strengthen the little they were doing. As you strengthen these things, Keep your eyes open and watch.
- Open your eyes lest you fall into temptation Luke 22.46 esv
Sleep or waiting procrastination is a state of inactivity or rest. Make sure you are at least praying. Not being spiritually active could lead to distractions and even getting involved in stuff you used to do before you became a Christian. It is like this because you’re spiritually sleeping. Spiritual slumber is dangerous. The cost is often abject poverty. Because ‘hope’ is lost.
NB! Sleep causes productivity to decrease in fruitfulness.
- Hold fast and repent
Repentance means you are sorry for what you have done against God’s word and His Work. Repentance is a change of heart and mind leading to action.stop doing things that take you away from God… and start focusing on the things that draw you closer to Him.
- Keep your garments clean
Revelations 3 mentions the color white = Purity&Heaven
Garments stand for our behavior. Living a Holy life will help you keep spiritually awake.
Even in Sardis a few have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
He who overcomes shall walk with me in white garments and I will not blot out their name from the book of life.
But I will confess their name before the Father and before the angels. Rev 3:4-5 esv
- Hear what the Spirit says to the churches Rev 3:6 esv
Remember the importance of being spiritually awake. Look at the areas in your life where you are spiritually dead or asleep and use the above points to revive them
I pray that God will help us to wake up, where we are spiritually asleep. May we be like Deborah and Gideon, ready to arise and believe for God to move in our city and generation.
Paul says follow me as I follow Jesus. We all ought to be following so closely that the dust from our heels kicks up onto the person who is following closely behind you. Whose life are we making a difference in. If we are not following Jesus who are we following. The one who sows fake wheat—Darnel? Who are we modeling our lives on, the one who has sown the tares. Or Are we seed of the good farmer.
