Parable of the Tares – No Middle Ground

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Sep 15, 2010

The story of the parable of the tares is found in Matt. 13:24-30 and then explained by Jesus in verses 36-43.  I quote the parable as follows:

"Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." '" (Matt. 13:24-30 NKJV)

There has been a lot of debate over the years about this parable among commentators as to whether or not the kingdom referred to in the parable is the church or the entirety of the world over which God rules.  For the purpose of this article it really does not matter for the thing that struck me as I was reading this passage a few days back and which has spurred me to write on it is the stark contrast between the tares and the wheat.  There is no middle ground to be had.  One is either a tare or wheat and which one it is makes all the difference in the world.

Let us say for the sake of argument the parable is a reference to the church and the saved Christians in it (the wheat) versus those who are ungodly characters in it (the tares).  There is no middle ground there and to bring the point home if the ungodly in the church are not to be saved (and they are not) then what hope does that leave for the ungodly outside the church?  The answer is none.

All the godly are in the church.  One cannot be godly and be outside the church for the same process that saves a man (gospel obedience) makes him godly.  God adds the saved, the godly ones, to the church.  "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47 NKJV)  The church is that which Jesus is Savior of.  "Christ is the head of the church; and he is the Savior of the body." (Eph. 5:23 NKJV)  The "body" is the church.  "And he put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22-23 NKJV)

If a person is saved he is in the church, the body of Christ, but this does not mean once saved always saved for a Christian can fall away and become ungodly, even become a disbeliever, later in life.

In a practical sense as far as what will happen at the last day, the Day of Judgment, everyone is a tare who is not saved whether in the church or outside it.  All outside the church are going to be gathered together to be burned along with any tares that are found in the church.  

While Peter may well have had reference to the Roman invasion and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 when he penned the following passage he nevertheless made a point we all need to give consideration to.  He said, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17 NKJV)  What indeed?

Paul tells us elsewhere.  He talks of Jesus' second coming and says this, "When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he comes, in that day." (2 Thess. 1:7-10 NKJV)  We see no middle ground.  One has either obeyed the gospel or he has not.

It brings me great sorrow and sadness to know people I care about and realize that to them gospel obedience and faithfulness is no big deal.  What they are thinking (or how) I will never know I guess and that saddens me too?  I am not sure they know.  Do they think the Bible is a fairy tale?  Do they believe you cannot trust God's word?  Do they believe God exists or do they believe, as absurd as it sounds, that life somehow evolved from non living matter?  Or, do they think they are special and God is going to give them a free pass despite their ill treatment of him, disrespect, and lack of love for him?  Or, is it that they are just so "this worldly" to the point that they cannot give spiritual matters the time of day? 

They live their lives giving God little to no consideration.  "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." (Psalms 10:4 NKJV)  No, to you and me they do not seem "wicked" as we generally think of the term but we must remember we do not think as God thinks nor do we see or understand as he does.  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," says the Lord." (Isa. 55:8 NKJV)  Besides, if we are honest, and we stop and think about it, we know a person who does not seek God is proud in that he thinks he can do fine without giving God a primary place in his/her life.

If we don't care about God while living why should we think we shall be saved in the Day of Judgment?  Whatever other lessons are to be found in the parable of the tares this one stands out to me – there is no middle ground.  One is either wheat or a tare, saved or lost, obeyed the gospel or hasn't obeyed the gospel, loves God or does not love God.  How badly we desire middle ground, if not for ourselves for others, but there is no middle ground to be had.  It is finally heaven or hell.

"Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The son of man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 13:40-42 NKJV)

There is no middle ground but unlike in the physical realm where a species cannot help but be whatever it is in the spiritual realm a tare can be changed into wheat if the desire is there to make the change.  God's desire is to save, not to cast into the furnace of fire.  "The Lord … is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV)  "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23 NKJV)  "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezek. 18:32 NKJV)

Yes, turn and live for there is no middle ground.

http://www.articlesbase.com/christianity-articles/parable-of-the-ta...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

What Makes Teenagers Shoot a Baby in the Head?

Posted 11 hours ago by Dave Jolly

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Sherry West, 41, of Brunswick, Georgia, was pushing her year old son Antonio in his stroller down the sidewalk.  She was approached by two black teenagers, one of which was armed with a gun and demanded her money.  West told the teens that she had no money, so the teen with the gun told her that if she didn’t hand over her money, he would shoot her baby in the head.  She said she thought the gun was fake and again insisted she had no money, the teen turned, and shot Antonio in the head.  In the ensuing melee, Sherry was shot once in the leg and another bullet grazed her ear.

A passerby called 9-1-1 as Sherry pulled her son out of the stroller and tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save his young life, but her efforts were in vain.  Police offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.  They received leads through various hotlines and phone calls.  Following up on those leads, they arrested 17 year old Demarquis Elkins and an unnamed 14 year old.  Elkins can be tried as an adult under Georgia law.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/sherry-west-antonio-santiago-...

Sherry says the motive was robbery, yet many people have been asking why something like this could happen.  What would cause teenagers to commit such a horrendous act of shooting a year old boy in the head?  In all of the reports I’ve read, no one has been able to offer up any reason for the actions and that only shows just how far from God and the Bible our nation has strayed.

In Genesis 3, we read where Adam chose to disobey God, committing the first sin in history.  That sin brought suffering, disease and death into the world (Rom. 8:22).  Adams sin corrupted all of creation including his own offspring.  In Genesis 4 we read where Adam and Eve’s first born son was jealous of his younger brother Abel and ended up killing him, the first murder.  In Genesis 6:5, we read:

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Since we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, we all are born sinners with wicked hearts and thoughts.  Our sinful nature and wicked hearts are what leads to us committing such violent and obscene acts like shooting an infant in the head or gunning down a classroom of kids.  It’s what leads to stealing, lying, cheating, lusting, sexual perversion, homosexuality, pornography and war.

It’s not God’s fault, it’s man’s fault.  We’re filthy sinners, blackened by the vileness of our thoughts and deeds.  As such, our only guarantee in life is to spend eternity in Hell because of our sins.  According to Scripture, just one sin in a lifetime is enough to separate us from God in this life and throughout eternity.  No one is capable of living a perfect sinless life, meaning that every person in history is condemned to Hell.

However, as John 3:16 states:

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

That eternal life is a free gift from God for all who believe in Him.  It isn’t anything we can earn by living a good life as our lives will never be good enough to earn it, so He provided the means for us to come to Him holy and pure.  Romans 6:23 reads:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And Ephesians 2:8-10 reads:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Events like the shooting of little Antonio not only shows us the depravity of mankind, but also reminds us that we are in such dire need of a Savior and that Savior is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.  Son of God and Son of man, He lived a perfect life and was offered up as the perfect and pure sacrificial lamb for OUR sins.  He was hung on a cross and died an excruciating death for OUR sins.  He was dead and laid in a tomb and descended into Hell to the pay the penalty for OUR sins.  What makes Christ different from any other prophet or religious figure in history is that He was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven to prepare a place for all who believe in Him.  There is no other way to get to heaven but through faith in Jesus Christ.  In John 14:6, Jesus said:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Hopefully, you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and have the assurance of where you will spend eternity.  If not, please find someone that can help you find that path before it’s too late.

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/10044/teenagers-shoot-baby-head-brunsw...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Passover and Palm Sunday

The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." (John 1:29,34).

John the Baptist had been preaching about the coming Messiah, identifying himself as the forerunner Isaiah had promised over 700 years earlier. Quoting from Isaiah 40:3 John said, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord ' " (John 1:23).

Introducing Jesus to Israel as the Lamb of God was no doubt meant to prompt a comparison between Jesus and the Passover lamb in their minds. Reading about the first Passover (Exodus 12:1-20) from a Christian perspective makes the similarity so clear we wonder how they could have missed it. In fact several hundred Old Testament Prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus and many of these came in the last week of His earthly life during the two events we'll be celebrating in the next few days, Passover for Israel and Palm Sunday for the Church.

For Christ, Our Passover Lamb, Has Been Sacrificed ... 1 Cor. 5:7

By now the Passover story should be familiar to us. The final showdown between God and Pharaoh was coming. Through 9 plagues God sent to demonstrate His power over the pagan gods of Egypt, Pharoah had remained just as obstinate as God had predicted. The 10th plague, the death of all the firstborn, would break Pharoah's will and free the Israelites from their bondage, but first they had to be protected from the plague.

On the 10th day of the 1st month God had them select a male lamb for each household and inspect it for 3 days to be sure it had no blemish or defect. Then it was slaughtered, and its blood was applied to the door posts of their homes. That night, behind closed doors in their own house, each family ate the lamb quickly with some bitter herbs and unleavened bread, not venturing outside. At midnight the destroying angel came through Egypt and took the life of the first born of every family, except for those who had covered their door posts with lamb's blood (Exodus 12:1-13, 21-23, 28-30).

The next morning the Israelites were released from their bondage and given the wealth of Egypt, beginning their journey to the Promised Land with God in their midst. They weren't spared because they were Jewish, or because they had lamb for dinner, but because they applied the lamb's blood to their door posts believing that it would protect them. They were saved through faith by the blood of the lamb.

Just as the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, we are slaves in this world, held in bondage to sin. On that first Palm Sunday, the 10th of the 1st month, our Passover Lamb was selected by allowing Himself to be proclaimed as Israel's King for the first and only time in His life. When the Pharisees told him to rebuke His disciples for doing so, He said if they kept silent the very stones would cry out (Luke 19:39-40). This was the day ordained in history for His official appearance as their Messiah.

For the next 3 days He was subjected to the most intense questioning of His entire ministry lest there be any defects found in His words or deeds. Then on the 14th He was crucified, releasing us from our bondage to sin, and qualifying us to receive the wealth of His Kingdom. We are saved through faith by the blood of the Lamb. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

The Son of Man Wept, The Son of God Warned

As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city He wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in from every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you" (Luke 19:41-44).

The prophet Daniel had laid out the schedule for them over 500 years earlier. From the time the Jews were given permission to rebuild Jerusalem after it had been destroyed by the Babylonians, to the coming of the Messiah, there would be 69 periods of 7 years each, or 483 years (Daniel 9:25). History tells us that this permission was given to Nehemiah by the Persian ruler Artaxerxes Longimonus in March of 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-9). The Sunday when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem to the shouts of Psalm 118:25-26 was exactly 483 years later, but by then most of the Jewish leadership no longer took the Bible literally and the validity of predictive prophecy was being denied.

Regardless of their opinion, the Lord held them accountable for knowing when He would visit. Given that hundreds of additional prophecies of His coming had already been fulfilled in their midst, we can see His point. Remember, they were all fulfilled in the span of one lifetime, the one in which He came. There are hundreds more prophecies relating to His Second Coming, and again all will be fulfilled within the span of one lifetime, the one in which He comes (Matt 24:34). And just as it was then, our leaders no longer take the Bible literally and the validity of predictive prophecy is again being denied. But regardless of their opinion, the Lord will hold the people of our day accountable to "recognize the time of God's coming" just like He did back then.

Who Was That Man?

A few days ago I got an email from someone I assume to be Jewish claiming that Jesus didn't meet a single requirement to be Israel's Messiah. I've received a number of these over the years and have come to realize they think this way because Israel was looking for a Messiah to fulfill what we know as second coming prophecies. They wanted the Lion of Judah, a powerful warrior king like David, who could throw off the Roman yoke and restore Israel's kingdom, because that's what they thought they needed.   They didn't think they needed a Savior, so when they got the Lamb of God who came to take away their sins they didn't recognize Him.

Today, because of a similar denial of the validity of prophecy, much of the world is looking for some version of the Lamb of God. They want a gentle teacher who will accept us all and promise to show us the way to peace and plenty. They won't think they need a conqueror, so when the Lion of Judah comes to utterly destroy His enemies and restore God's Kingdom, they won't recognize Him (Matt. 24:30). Like the man said, "Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it." You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

- This Week's Feature Article by Jack Kelley - http://gracethrufaith.com/selah/holidays-and-holy-days/passover-and...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

http://www.wordofhisgrace.org/par2tares.htm

http://postmillennialism.com/2012/10/the-parable-of-the-tares-and-t...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

http://executableoutlines.com/pa/pa_04.htm