Sermon Tone Analysis

*Weeds in God’s Garden*

Matthew 13:24-43

 

*Intro:*

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Video: The Kingdom is…

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Parables are like windows that let the soul of man see and understand the things of God.

What is God’s kingdom like?

#. *The setting:* Jesus sitting by the Sea of Galilee.

Mark tells us what had been happening (3:20- 21, 31-35): Great crowds came to hear Jesus preach and teach.

The news of these crowds unsettled his family and his relatives came to “take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

What did Jesus do?

He kept on teaching.

*What I want to say*:  There are aspects of God’s kingdom that are not immediately evident.

In these parables Jesus helps us to understand what we do not see.

We find three traits of God’s kingdom: it is presently mixed, it is powerful and it is pervasive.

What is the Kingdom of God like?

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I.      Weeds among wheat - God’s kingdom is present though mixed (:24-30; 36-43)

!! A.    Jesus is the planter of good seed (:37)

!!! 1.

The good seed is God’s people (:38)

!!!! a)    Here the seed has a different meaning than in the Parable of the Sower

!!! 2.    The field is the world.

God has planted good seed in this world.

!! B.    Satan only wants to destroy the work of God (:39)

!!! 1.

An enemy plants darnel

!!!! a)    The darnel is the enemy’s imitation of God’s wheat

!!!! b)    Because they look alike, it is difficult to tell the difference between the darnel and wheat

!!! 2.    We live in a world corrupted from God’s plan by sin.

If it was not for the hope of the promises of God, we would despair hopelessly.

!!!! a)    Daily we read about murders, robberies, rapes, violence.

We read about greedy people having a lot of money and poor people struggling with little.

!!!! b)    Someone said recently that she did not believe in God because little children get cancer and suffer.

The implication is that God must not be good.

Children do not get cancer because God is not good but because sin is evil.

But God is patient and He allows mankind to go along in rebellion for a season so that there is no doubt of the reality of sin.

!! C.   A day of reckoning is coming.

!!! 1.

The weeds grow alongside the wheat until the harvest (:39)

 

ILLUS> I’ve got weeds in my front lawn.

They are wild violets.

Stubborn things.

Once I tried spraying weed killer on them and I killed some.

My son came by and asked, “Dad, why are there all those dead spots in the grass?”

You see, the weed killer not only got on the weeds but also on the good grass because they grow right next to one another.

!!! 2.    The harvest is the end of the age (not the end of all things) but the end of this present season of God’s grace.

!!!! a)    This is the end of the time frame between the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming:

!!!! b)    the Judgment which is followed by the Millenium where Christ rules on the earth.

!!! 3.    In the world today, there are only two kinds of people – saved and not saved

 

I heard a radio commentator speaking about the death of Jerry Falwell.

He played a recording of a conversation that Dr. Falwell had with him at the end of which Dr. Falwell quoted Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 ESV.

Afterward, the commentator said that to his mind, all religions lead to God and that a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist or a Christian all seem the same to him.

This is exactly Jesus’ point.

In our world we are surrounded by believers in Christ and nonbelievers.

But often we cannot tell them apart by outward appearances or even practices.

Religious people seem to be good because they are religious.

But the reason we cannot generally tell if a person is a believer or not is that faith is a matter of the heart which only God can read.

A drunken man got on the bus late one night, staggered up the aisle, and sat next to a woman who was clutching a Bible.

She looked the wayward drunk up and down and said, "I've got news for you, mister.

You're going straight to hell!"

The man jumped up out of his seat and shouted, "Oh, man, I'm on the wrong bus /again/!"/Keith Todd, www.sermonfodder.com/

!!! 4.    The reapers are the angels (:39)

!!! 5.    The tares or weeds are gathered and burned with fire

!!! 6.

It is interesting to note the nature of the separation:

!!!! a)    First the weeds are gathered and burned (there is a destiny for those who reject Christ)

 

…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 ESV

 

!!! 7.    The place where the wicked go is a place of weeping.

Jesus uses this phrase to describe hell seven times.

The weeping seems to refer to everlasting regret.

!!! 8.    The place where the wicked go is a place where the constant conscious pain causes them to grind their teeth.

Hell is a very real place reserved for those who rebel against God.

!! D.   There is a reward for those who love God! (:43)

!!! 1.

The wheat is harvested and stored in the barn of the Master.

!!! 2.    The concern is that at all costs the wheat is preserved

 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 ESV

 

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV

 

!!! 3.    God will preserve His saints!

!!! 4.    They will shine!!!

And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3 ESV

 

| I have hope in the future.

The Bible speaks about bodies being glorified.

I know the meaning of that now.

It's the time after my death here when I, the quadriplegic, will be on my feet dancing./Joni

Eareckson Tada, quoted by John R. W. Stott, "The Up-to-the-Minute Relevance of the Resurrection," Preaching Today, Tape No. 79./ |

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II.

The Mustard Seed – God’s Kingdom is powerful (:31-32)

!! A.    Even the smallest things have great potential

!!! 1.

Although there are smaller seeds known in the world, in that day the mustard seed was the smallest commonly known thus giving rise to the saying, “Small as a mustard seed.”

(cp.

Matthew 17:20)

!! B.    Size does not determine impact   Disproportionate growth

!!! 1.

The mustard seed grows to be between 12 and 15 feet tall – in one season!

!! C.   Great blessing comes from a small beginning

!!! 1.

It is surprising that something so small could grow large enough to be a place of nesting for birds.

!!! 2.    In the same way, the kingdom of heaven began small and will grow to be a great blessing to the whole world.

|      The second edition of the /World Christian Encyclopedia/ (Oxford University Press, 2001) reports the following statistical estimates:Christianity has become the most universal religion in history with believers today composing a majority of the population in two-thirds of the world's 238 countries.

Christianity began and ended the century as the world's biggest religion with 555 million believers or 32.2 percent of world population in 1900 and 1.9 billion or 31 percent as of 2000.

There are 192 million people in U.S. Christian groups./"New