Wheat in His Barn

 

“Gather the wheat into my barn.”—Matthew 13:24-30.

Text:  Matthew 13:24 ‍

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.‍^[1]

“GATHER the wheat into my barn.” Then the purpose of the Son of man will be accomplished. He sowed good seed, and he shall have his barn filled with it at the last. Be not dispirited, Christ will not be disappointed. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” He went forth weeping, bearing precious seed, but he shall come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

“Gather the wheat into my barn”: then Satan’s policy will be unsuccessful. The enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, hopeful that the false wheat would destroy our materially injure the true; but he failed in the end, for the wheat ripened and was ready to be gathered. Christ’s garner shall be filled; the tares shall not choke the wheat. The evil one will be put to shame.

In gathering in the wheat, good angels will be employed: “the angels are the reapers.” This casts special scorn upon the great evil angel.

He sows the tares, and tries to destroy the harvest; and therefore the good angels are brought in to celebrate his defeat, and to rejoice together with their Lord in the success of the divine husbandry. Satan will make a poor profit out of his meddling; he shall be baulked in all his efforts, and so the threat shall be fulfilled, “Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat.”

By giving the angels work to do, all intelligent creatures, of whose existence we have information, are made to take an interest in the work of grace: whether for malice or for adoration, redemption excites them all. To all, the wonderful works of God are made manifest: for these things were not done in a corner.

We too much forget the angels. Let us not overlook their tender sympathy with us; they behold the Lord rejoicing over our repentance, and they rejoice with him; they are our watchers and the Lord’s messengers of mercy; they bear us up in their hands lest we dash our foot against a stone; and when we come to die, they carry us to the bosom of our Lord. It is one of our joys that we have come to an innumerable company of angels; let us think of them with affection.

Here note that the tares and the wheat will grow together until the time of harvest shall come. It is a great sorrow of heart to some of the wheat to be growing side by side with tares.

The ungodly are as thorns and briars to those who fear the Lord. How frequently is the sigh forced forth from the godly heart:—”Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!” A man’s foes are often found within his own household; those who should have been his best helpers are often his worst hinderers: their conversation vexes and torments him. It is of little use to try to escape from them, for the tares are permitted in Gods providence to grow with the wheat, and they will do so until the end. Good men have emigrated to distant lands to found communities in which there should be none but saints, and alas! sinners have sprung up in their own families. The attempt to weed the ungodly and heretical out of the settlement has led to persecution and other evils, and the whole plan has proved a failure.

Others have shut themselves away in hermitages to avoid the temptations of the world, and so have hoped to win the victory by running away: this is not the way of wisdom.

The word for this present is,—”Let both grow together”; but there will come a time when a final separation will be made. Then, dear Christian woman, your husband will never persecute you again.

Godly sister, your brother will heap no more ridicule upon you. Pious workman, there will be no more jesting and taunting from the ungodly.

That “but” will be an iron gate between the god-fearing and the godless: then will the tares be cast into the fire, but the Lord of the harvest will say, “Gather the wheat into my barn.”

This separation must be made; for the growing of the wheat and the tares together on earth has caused much pain and injury, and therefore it will not be continued in a happier world. We can very well suppose that godly men and women might be willing that their unconverted children should dwell with them in heaven; but it cannot be, for God will not have his cleansed ones defiled nor his glorified ones tried by the presence of the unbelieving. The tares must be taken away in order to the perfectness and usefulness of the wheat.

Would you have the tares and the wheat heaped up together in the granary in one mass? That would be ill husbandry with a vengeance.

They can neither of them be put to appropriate use till thoroughly separated. Even so, mark you, the saved and the unsaved may live together here, but they must not live together in another world. The command is absolute,—”Gather the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Sinner, can you hope to enter heaven? You never loved your mother’s God, and is he to endure you in his heavenly courts? You never trusted your father’s Saviour, and yet are you to behold his glory for ever?

If you want to see your mother of father in heaven and spend eternity with them, then you must do what they did to get there:   you must be born again of water and spirit!

 

That separation involves an awful difference of destiny. “Gather the tares in bundles to burn them.” I do not dare to draw the picture; but when the bundle is bound up there is no place for it except the fire. God grant that you may never know all the anguish which burning must mean;

 

If you want just a taste of it, check out the news of the burn victims in Southern California these past couple of weeks, and think of that kind of torment for eternity:  not a place even the vilest of human beings want to go, yet the Bible is clear:

Revelation 21:⁵ ‍And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.‍ ⁶ ‍And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.‍ ⁷ ‍He that overcometh shall inherit all things‍^a‍; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. ‍ ⁸ ‍But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.‍

⁹ ‍And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.‍ ¹⁰ ‍And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,‍^[2]

Heaven:  you don’t want to miss it! 

 

{Repeat)}

¹⁷ ‍But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;‍ ¹⁸ ‍How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.‍ ¹⁹ ‍These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.‍ ²⁰ ‍But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,‍ ²¹ ‍Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.‍ ²² ‍And of some have compassion, making a difference:‍ ²³ ‍And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.‍ ²⁴ ‍Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,‍ ²⁵ ‍To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.‍^†‍ Amen.‍

^[3]

Altar Prep: 

Some people say that preachers should not warn of the coming judgment or of the dangers of being lost and going to Hell.  Jude 23 clearly states that some people need to be scared into being saved!

My high school drivers ed teacher scared the day lights out of us by showing us a film of real live recorded car accidents:  I came within seconds of passing out because I knew it was real!  But it caused me to be a safe driver.  I don’t allow anybody to ride in my vehicle without wearing a seat belt!

You say, well you should never talk about Hell because we should reach out with compassion.  I agree that is the first approach, but the Bible clearly states that some won’t be reached with compassion, and they must be warned to be woken up!

God is sending a clear warning to somebody tonight who thinks that living for God is just a game and that you can treat the things of God like you would a trip to Kings Island:  You serve God halfheartedly and that won’t get you there.

God loves you so much that he was willing to tell you the truth about our lost condition.