Getting Clean To Take A Bath – Part III
"Who Will Run Dem’ Off"
Matthew 13th Chapter
24 Another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in
his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. 27 So the servants of the
householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He
said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou
then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he
said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them. 30 Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the
wheat into my barn.
Every now and then, we humans choose to be exclusive in nature. We have a
tendency to form clubs and societies to keep the "undesirables" out.
However, when the exclusive filter fails to keep the "rift-raft" out
we then choose to be expulsive, casting out those who found their way in. Now
let’s "kick it real" for a moment. Isn’t this the same attitude that
we see in some of our churches? Well this week, we look to see whose job it is
to clean house in the church.
This week’s scripture is known as "The parable of the weeds." For
better understanding, Jesus breaks this parable down for us in the 36th
– 43rd verses and identifies six people in the process.
(1)
The man who sowed good seed – Jesus
(2)
The Good Seed – The Sons/Daughters of the Kingdom
(3)
The Servant – The one who has a permanent relationship of
servitude to the master’s (Jesus’) will.
(4)
The Enemy – The devil
(5)
The tares (weeds) – The sons/daughters of the devil
(6)
The reapers – The angels
The one group we need to pay special attention to for this message is the
reapers. Why? Because in many cases, we (the servants or the good seeds) have
been trying to do the reapers’ jobs. I’ll explain. In this parable, Jesus
planted good seeds (us) for the purpose of the kingdom of Heaven. But while
Everyone was sleeping, His enemy (the devil) planted tares/weeds (his sons/daughters)
among Jesus’ seed (25th). Now before we go any further let’s ask the question,
"who allowed this to happen?" The answer — Everyone. Remember the
story about the four people: Everyone, Someone, Anyone and No One? Anyone could
have done the job that Everyone thought Someone would do, but No One did it.
The same applies in the 25th verse. While EVERYONE slept, the enemy
planted weeds. What does this mean, while everyone slept? It means, when
Everyone got comfortable, lazy, and careless. This is when the people of God
stop praying for their church "ground" and the enemy infiltrates it
and plants the bad seed. Again, Everyone was supposed to be watching and
praying; instead Everyone thought Someone was going to when Anybody could have
but No One did.
What we can expect to happen next is explained in the 26th verse:
" But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also." To put it in layman’s terms, as soon as things
start going well for your church and ya’ll (excuse my English) start producing
fruit, those bad seeds the enemy placed there will come to harvest as well.
O.K., I hear the critics, "See Brother Yon!!! This is why we need to run
dem’ problem folks out of our church!" However, to rebuke that statement
here’s something that will shock you. Not even the most righteous Christians
can get rid of that person planted by satan. Why? Because it’s not their
harvest. We can cast out the demons but the people have to stay. The 27th
and 28th verses confirm this.
The 27th verse tells us, " So the SERVANTS of the
householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares?" The word servants in this text
comes from the Greek word Doulos meaning one who is in permanent relationship
of servitude with another, and his will is consumed by his master’s will. This
servant is truly the essence of a servant. Now if a person is totally, 100%
committed to the will of God, he/she is a righteous person. But even he/she
can’t get rid of the "undesirables" because in the 28th
verse this servant says to the master, "Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up?" In short he/she is saying, "Master, do you want me,
who is righteous and right standing in your eyes, to go gather this bad harvest?"
But the master says, "No" for three reasons: (1) It’s not their
harvest to reap (2) They could possibly damage the good harvest while trying to
get rid of the bad harvest and (3) It’s not their job.
First, one law of seedtime and harvest is that whatsoever you reap you will
sow; the servants did not sow the seeds. Therefore, they could not remove the
bad harvest even though they were victims of a bad harvest. The second reason
the servants could not get rid of the bad harvest is because they might damage
the good harvest in the process. Damaging the good harvest comes in many forms
but the most common one is discouragement. In the process of getting rid of
those "undesirables," those who have overcome the same sin may be
discouraged. (For instance, Deacon Do-Right says to Joe, "We have no room
for those hell bound drug dealers here" but four months ago Joe was a drug
dealer which is unknown to Deacon Do-Right.) The possibility of damaging the
good crop is why it’s not our job to reap the harvest. So whose job is it to
remove this bad harvest? The reapers
(The Angels).
We live in a very interesting time. We see alliances like we have never seen
before. In the 1960’s, abortions were a "behind the closed doors"
issue, but now we have the Pro-choice group. Also homosexuality was "in
the closet" but during the 1980’s there was the "coming out of the
closet" movement and now I guess they would say today, "we’re
out." We’ve got satan worshipers going to concerts and boldly wearing
their paraphernalia to the mall. So ask yourself, "Why are all these
groups coming together?"
If we look at the 30th verse we will see that during the harvest
God will tell the angels to gather up the tares (weeds). As these ungodly
groups unify, they are actually being gathered up for a harvest they wish they
never had. And when judgment falls they will have no escape from the judgment
on that group because at that point they will be BOUND to that group
("bind them in bundles"). And after the judgment comes the FINAL REMOVAL
— the burning (death)!!
It’s not our job to remove the people; it’s our job to watch and pray!!
God’s got the reapers bundling those who need to be cast into outer darkness,
and in due season this will occur. So next time you see these ungodly rallies,
protests and parades, beloved, don’t get discouraged. Just remember, "The
reapers are reaping. The reapers are
reaping." And that should be more than enough evidence to let you know
it’s not our job to cast people out of God’s church. If you have a hankerin’ to
cast out anything, cast out demons and let the reapers cast out the
people. Amen and Amen.
A Little Somethin’ Somethin’ Extra!!!
The world even knows that someone has the job to remove people from this
side of life. Therefore, the "grim reaper" was invented. Now there
are three things that caught my attention about this character. The first two
were the associations with harvesting: (1) The name – "grim REAPER"
and (2) The scythe (a hook-like tool used for harvesting) he is always holding.
But we need to touch on something more important for a brief moment — (3) The
deception. This character was created to deceive us the same way the Easter
Bunny and Santa Claus do. Think about it. If people are taught to believe in
these mythical creatures then what is going to make them seek the truth
concerning God? These types of
deceptions are tools of the enemy to keep people ignorant of the things of God
and how the spiritual realm works.
Instead, of asking, knocking and seeking the sovereign truth, the enemy
wants you to keep guessing, wondering and hoping. At all costs, always seek God’s truth in the matter.