"TARING UP A CHURCH!" 

TEXT:  Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43 

INTRO:            There are many reasons people join churches:

a.     The social thing to do

b.     Curiosity about religion

c.     Their friends go

d.     They like to sing

e.     To keep their family happy

f.     To express worship to God

g.     For fellowship

h.    Don't like to be a home on Sundays

i.     To find out what's going on in town etc.

j.      They might even like the Preacher! 

Now stop and think; why do you go to church? 

ILLUS:                 Emerson Colaw tells about doing some work with his church's nonresident membership list.  He wrote a letter to one family that had been very active in his church.  A letter came back saying, "Mr. Colaw, we now live near a university campus and we go every Sunday to the chapel service there.  They have unusually fine music -- they have nationally known preachers ever Sunday morning."  And she added a note he didn't think necessary.  "We had not heard such preaching as that before.  The children are being taught in church school by seminary students."  And then she ended, "But the best of all there is no membership, no pledging, and no women's society asking me to work.  So if you don't mind, we'll just leave our membership at Hyde Park and continue to enjoy what we have here."  No involvement, no bother.  No crosses. -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 87. 

PROP. SENT:  This parable teaches us that there are two kinds of people on this earth; sons of God's kingdom and son's of Satan's kingdom ... and it is not a matter of just going to church that determines which kingdom they are in but “why” they go to church and identify themselves with the kingdom of God! 

I.          THE SOWER    Matt. 13:24-26 (“Son of Man” Matt. 13:37-38) 

A.     Seed    Matt. 13:24,38 

1.    The sower is Jesus Himself – the “Son of Man.” 

2.    Good seed -- saved “sons of the kingdom” (NIV) (wheat) 

3.    Bad seed -- unsaved “sons of the evil one” (NIV) (weeds) (tares KJV)) 

ILLUS:                 I often visit newcomers in town and find them to be church shopping.  They want to know what they can get out of church. Churches are one more consumer commodity.  Worship services are not a place for us to serve God and neighbor but a place where people expect to purchase the best:  inspiring worship, good music, moving sermons, quality child care.  As if we buy God and not vice versa. -- Arthur Boers in The Other Side  

4.    It is important to recognize that the seed is NEVER the problem!

a.     God’s Word is always good, it is living, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. 

b.     God’s Word gives life … it is the “Gospel” or “good news” … the seed will always be good, we do not have to worry about the quality of the seed, never contested.  It will yield life if given opportunity to be planted properly.

c.     The issue will be somewhere else. 

B.    Sleepers      Matt. 13:25 

1.    When the enemy attacks is when we are asleep. 

a.     Off guard!  The enemy’s plan cannot destroy the seed … so he has to come up with another plan.  This new plan is simply to plant weeds in the midst of the good seed.  The best way to damage a good crop if you can’t do anything  about the good seed is to try and overwhelm it with lots of weeds. 

ILLUS:                 The building is not really the Church. God's people are.  Yet the Church today spends more money for buildings than for anything else.  When an artist was asked to paint a picture of a decaying church, to everyone's astonishment, instead of putting on canvas an old, tottering ruin, the artist painted a stately edifice of modern grandeur.  Through the open portals could be seen the richly carved pulpit, the magnificent organ, and the beautiful stained glass windows. To one side was an elaborately designed offering plate for foreign missions -covered by a cobweb! – Source Unknown 

2.    Best time to do damage is when a plant is just starting to grow! 

3.    This may also be a metaphor for the period of time between Jesus giving the seed and the time of the harvest at the end of time, in other words, the time of sleeping is simply a reference to His being gone until He returns again. 

a.     If so it reminds us that during this time frame there will be a mixture in the church, those of true faith and those who are not true to the faith. 

b.     The problem with weeds in their early stage is that they look a lot like plants you want … it will be hard to distinguish at times the real heads of wheat from the weeds until they are more mature. 

c.     Jesus warns however about starting to yank everything out that looks like a weed too early, the point is to be careful that we don’t go on purification hunts to try and purge all the weeds out of the church …  

        d.  We must be careful we are doing the Lord's will, the Lord's way  There are times when church discipline is necessary, there are other times when love and encouragement are better 

4.    Jesus recognized that Satan would come and plant bad seeds among the good seed.  Matt. 13:27-28 

a.     During this period of grace Satan is able to plant his phony seed, and they grow up sometimes among the wheat.

C.    Sprouts   Matt. 13:26 

1.    Formed heads -- wheat 

a.     Bears fruit 

b.     Increases itself -- multiplies 

2.    No heads, but they appear also -- weeds 

a.     Unfruitful 

b.     They appear at the same time.

c.     Notice that they may be in the same location. 

ILLUS:                 No sooner is a temple built to God, but the Devil builds a chapel close by.  

(1.     They abide in church, refusing to believe they are a problem, often refusing to leave 

(2.     Claim to be doing God's bidding while hurting the church! 

(3.     Are you building up or tearing down God's kingdom ... it is always easier to tear something down than to build something up. 

3.    It is possible that too many weeds could impact the fruitfulness of the wheat by crowding the wheat out. They would certainly compete for the same resources. Nothing worse than competition in the church 

II.         THE SERVANTS         Matt. 13:27-30 (“Angels” Matt. 13:39-43) 

A.      Surprised!   Matt. 13:27-30, 36-38 

1.    Bad among the good and Godly! 

2.    How can weeds be among the wheat? 

a.     God allows this during this age. 

        Sometimes it isn’t those who try to destroy the work, but apathetic 

ILLUS:                 I believe a very large majority of churchgoers are merely unthinking, slumbering worshipers of an unknown God. -- Charles H. Spurgeon in Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 11. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 1. 

b.     Either will hurt God's true work. 

B.    Satan           Matt. 13:28,39a 

1.    Tries to “tare” up every church he can! 

2.    Encourages everyone to focus on each other instead of Christ. 

a.     Faults 

b.     Programs 

c.     The way we dress 

d.     The parts in our hair, etc. 

3.    Satan has many ways of killing a church: 

a.     Don't come! 

b.     If you do come, come late! 

c.     When you come, come as a grouch! 

d.     At every service ask yourself, "What do I get out of this?"e.     Never accept a job, it is better to stay outside and criticize. 

f.     Visit other churches about half of the time to show your preacher that you are not tied down to him.  There is nothing like independence! 

g.     Let the Preacher earn his money; let him do all the work!

h.    Sit pretty well back and never sing.  If you have to sing, sing out of tune and behind everybody else. 

i.     Don’t give liberally, never pay in advance, especially for religion, wait until you get your money’s worth, and then wait a bit longer!  If you don't like the preacher, perfect excuse for not giving! Maybe they can’t afford him so they have to fire him 

j.      Never encourage the preacher; if you like a sermon, keep mum, many a preacher has been ruined by flattery.  Don't let his blood be on your head! 

k.    It is good to tell your preacher's failings to any strangers that may happen in; warn them about your preacher they might be a long time finding them out otherwise! 

l.     Of course you can't be expected to try to get new members for the church with such a preacher as he. 

m.   If there happens to be a few zealous workers in the church, make a tremendous protest against the church's being run by a clique! 

n.    If your church unfortunately happens to be harmonious, call it apathy or hindrance or lack of zeal, anything under the sun except what it really is. 

ILLUS:                 Dear Preacher,

   You often stress attendance at worship as being very important for a Christian, but I think a person has a right to miss now and then. I think every person ought to be excused for the following reasons and the number of times indicated:

Christmas (Sunday before or after)—1

New Year's (Party lasted too long)—1

Easter (Get away for the holidays)—1

July 4 (National holiday)—1

Labor Day (Need to get away)—1

Memorial Day (Visit hometown)—1

School closing (Kids need a break)—1

School opens (One last fling)—1

Family reunions (Mine and wife's)—2

Sleep late (Saturday night activities)—4

Deaths in family—4

Anniversary (Second honeymoon)—1

Sickness (One for each family member)—5

Business trips (A must)—3

Vacation (3 weeks)—3

Bad weather (Ice, snow, rain, clouds)—6

Ball games—5

Unexpected company (Can't walk out)—5

Time changes (Spring ahead; fall back)—2

Special on TV (Super Bowl, etc.)—3

   Preacher, that leaves only two Sundays per year. So, you can count on us to be in church on the fourth Sunday in February and the third Sunday in August unless providentially hindered.

Sincerely,

Faithful Member -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited 

Jesus was kind, see how Paul describes these willing to destroy the church  Acts 20:29-30 

3.    Satan doesn’t usually destroy churches from outside sources, he usually is quite effective at destroying a church from inside sources. 

a.     Ironically most churches suffer from insider revolution … not outsider revolution. 

b.     Most churches that have bad reputations do so because of church members attacking church members, congregations attacking congregationsand harsh judgmental overtones, not because they are too aggressive with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the community. 

c.     No church ever gets a bad rap for being a loving congregation! 

C.    Separate    Matt. 13:30,39b-43 

1.    A harvest however is coming!  There is a time when the separation will occur, God Himself will order it, and it will be done. 

a.     Wheat will be gathered.  (For the barn) 

b.     Tares will be gathered.   (For the burning) 

2.    Are you going to the barn or the burning? 

a.     There will be a day when the wheat and tares will be separated … by God’s order and by God’s power. 

b.     Then it will be too late to change your nature,  

you will be gathered either to the BARN or to the BURNING. 

c.     Why not become wheat now. 

We are either destined for the Father or the Furnace …  the Barn or the Burning,  

it is not so much if you go to church, but why you go!   

Are you part of the real kingdom of God or are you taring it up?