Pastor Roger Snow Timeless Principles From The Wheat And The Tares
1 Corinthians 4: 5 states; “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
Now “Tares” is a weed resembling young wheat. Some people misapply the parable of the wheat and tares. They say, “Since you cannot tell who is a real Christian and who is not, you should live and let live. It is not our job to try to convict people of sin. Let God deal with them.” That is a false gospel. The most unloving thing you can do toward somebody you see living in sin is to allow them to continue going down a path of destruction. The result of this parable should not be an apathy toward sinners in need of salvation or an acceptance of sin in the church. Instead, let me tell you of three timeless principles that come from this parable.
First of all, believers often resemble believers. It would be easy to spot phony believers if they were cheating, murdering scoundrels. But you see, Satan is much more clever than that. In 2 Corinthians 11: 14, Paul said that Satan often appears “an angel of light.” When Satan seeks to deceive people, it is not always with out – and – out heresy; many times it is with a little bit of truth wrapped around a lot of error. That is true in the church as well. Unbelievers often resemble believers, and they can easily lead people astray.
Second, the ultimate judgement of unbelievers belongs to God. Jesus was not saying we should never try to recognize unbelievers. He was simply saying, “Do not pronounce a final judgement that only God is capable of performing. Leave that ultimate judgement to God.” I am sure when the disciples heard the first part of this parable, they got ahead of Jesus and made the wrong application. I can just hear them saying, “Tares in our midst? Let’s launch a crusade right now and uproot all the unbelieves from the earth!” Jesus said not to do that. If you look through history, you will find all kinds of crusades that failed miserably and many genuine believers who were martyred because they refused to accept the authority of the church above the authority of the Word of God. You see, the ultimate judgement of unbelievers belongs to God.
Third, fruitfulness is the test of genuine faith. What is the difference between a phony Christian and a real Christian? A real Christian produces fruit. A genuine Christian can point to people he has led to faith in Christ. For a genuine Christian, reading the Word of God is a pleasure, not a chore. He are she looks forward to coming to church on Sundays and being with God’s people. His life is characterized by the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. Fruitfulness is the test of genuine faith.