2014.08.10_The Good Seed and the Tares

God the Farmer, and Man Brought to Ruin By the Fruit of His Thoughts

God is a farmer. To say He is a farmer is a most appropriate way to describe God’s position towards mankind. As a farmer labors all throughout summer for the harvesting in autumn, God is also growing His crops to reap in a once-in-eternity harvest. He desires bountiful fruits and does not hold back investing in that. God’s truthfulness and eagerness are found in such investment. It is not just an investment for His own success but also an expression of His love towards His crops. He considers the good of his crops as His own success. Thus, the crops must also understand the Farmer’s heart and keep up with His efforts.

There was once in the early times when the entire human race excluding one family was buried under water. That is the unprecedented event called Noah’s Flood. So why did such event take place? The Bible testifies that it is because man’s every thought and plan in his heart were always evil (Gen 6:5-6). At that time, the thoughts of every man including the spiritual men were becoming distant from God the Farmer, and the probability of gaining fruits from them was all the more remote. Instead of carrying on farming in a no-win situation under the poor environment dominated by the thoughts of man, God wanted to start anew by first obtaining a fertile land. And that was fulfilled under the big picture of God’s administration. The Lord has warned that something similar will take place once more in the future.

Man’s actions proceed from his thoughts. It says in John 13:2, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Judas Iscariot received the Lord’s love as His disciple, but being unable to overcome the thoughts brought on to him by the Devil, he betrayed his Savior, the Son of God. Ananias and Sapphira committed their hearts to dedicate but after selling their possession, they brought only a certain portion of the proceeds. Then, Peter reproached him, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Likewise, whoever accepts the thoughts given by Satan would try to deceive even God, and fall under the delusion that he is able to deceive God.

Man’s every action proceeds from his thought. This is an issue because man tends to have a strong attachment to the things of his flesh and what he sees. He does not have a sense of objective judgment of the outcome of his action. And many times he cannot clean up the mess that he has made. Such weakness of man paves the way to destruction. Destruction begins with thoughts. Thus, it is not a very difficult task to manipulate man through his thoughts. And that is why man could easily become the Devil’s prey.

The Bible warns that the result of man’s thoughts is calamity. Jeremiah 6:19 says, “Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words nor My law, but rejected it.” The reason people perish is because they put their thought first and do not heed God’s words. God brought calamity upon man in the Old Testament and stopped the fall of man at a certain point in order to prevent the corruption of the whole world.

When a thought enters, man’s heart is led by it uncontrollably. Furthermore, once it is put into action and even becomes a sin, man is only busy justifying himself rather than repenting. He even gets angry when somebody rebukes him or disapproves. And then his countenance is bound to change as well. Isaiah 3:9 says, “The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.” When God accepted his brother’s offering only, Cain’s countenance was the first to change. God warned Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen 4:6-7). But after his countenance had fallen, God’s warning could not get through Cain’s ears. He eventually became a murderer and thus perished.

Man is likewise extremely weak when it comes to the matter of sin. So God wanted to deliver such man. The thoughts of man are like explosives ready to blow off and destroy him at any moment. God desired Himself to be planted in every man. He wanted to plant His thoughts in anyone who has thoughts; plant His nature in whoever has a heart; sow His will in him who has a will; sow His wisdom in those that have wisdom; and plant faith into those who have a spirit. He wanted to fill man with the things of God in place of what he already had. And to do that, God invested His Son. Investment is a type of sacrifice.

God came towards us wholeheartedly. He made atonement for the sin of man through His Son, who was made the Christ, and invited every soul to come into Christ. And with the blood of Jesus He covered the souls who came into Christ and gave them the flesh and blood of Jesus to eat and drink so that they may rise to the glorious resurrection in the future. With a long-term outlook, He had made a perfect investment so as to obtain a harvest of fruits. It is clearly evident in this aspect that God is a farmer. The farmer’s desire is to reap what he has sown. Even now, God is longing for the day of the harvest.

The Enemy Has Sown the Tares!

What does the farmer want? The first is a fertile soil. A fertile soil does not mean a kind and gentle character. When the seed called Jesus is sown, the soul that understands and retains it so that God’s will and plan are fulfilled in him is a fertile soil. However, there are instances when foreign things grow even in the fertile soil which God has not sown. They are the tares.

It says in Matthew 13:27-30, “‘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.”’” These words demonstrate Jesus’ will to suppress His anger and wait.

Tares are weeds that only grow in wheat fields. They are almost identical to wheat in color so that it is not easily distinguishable from afar. Moreover, because the roots of the tares entwine those of the wheat and spread, it is a very tricky task to remove the tares without damaging the wheat. The wheat may die if its roots are even slightly disturbed while trying to pull out the tares. That is the reason for His concern that “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.”

How great was the grace that we received when we first came to know Jesus? At that time we had such joy and thankfulness in our hearts to even relinquish anything of this world. How precious is it to be born again as those who have eternal life? Sadly though, many people gradually lose that fervor as the years go by and at some point start to grumble toward God. Through their church-life, they should deeply experience God’s love that cares for us and thus have peace in their souls, but that is actually not the case. Although they feel troubled about their spiritual inspiration fading, they cannot open up to anyone about it. In such situations people ask, “God, did You not sow Jesus inside of me? Did You not plant the heart to love You and Your joy? I want to be happy through You O God, and be satisfied in Jesus alone. But why is my heart so lost and struggling?” God would answer, “The enemy has done this!”

God has sown Jesus, the good seed in us but the reason we have doubts arising in our hearts is because the enemy has sown the seed of the tares. God sowed faith within us and revealed the spiritual reality. We entered into everlasting joy and became completely transformed from our past. We were confident that we would never go back to the past. Yet for some reason, we begin to have doubts. “God, isn’t my spirit born again? Isn’t it because my spirit has been cleansed that the Holy Spirit dwells in me? Then, why is the seed of sin sprouting?” God replies, “The enemy has done this!” “Should I pull it out?” “No, leave it, lest you uproot the wheat with them.”

When a thought of temptation enters us, we must resist it aggressively. Otherwise, that thought would enter our hearts and root itself. The seed of doubt sown by the enemy will take root and entwine the faith that was sown in our hearts. Once that happens, it would not be easy to remove it. Anyone that realizes the gravity of the situation even later would strive neither to sin nor fall into temptation. However, once the tares have been rooted, it becomes a deceiving spirit that he cannot escape from and remains with him for the rest of his life. And as it grows, he has constant doubts and uncertainties. At first, he resists them with faith, but later on, even his faith becomes oppressed to the point that he is unable to use it at all. Then, even the joy in his soul disappears. In such times, he needs to have greater faith to keep hold of his heart, but the tares that have already been rooted would torment that person to the end. Therefore, it is wisest to fiercely reject any doubts the moment they arise.

When doubts take root, the attitude of people’s hearts becomes drastically different to when they first believed in Jesus. Even a person who used to be thankful for the grace he received and love the church, change all of a sudden and even utter words like, “I’m only going to church so that I don’t go to hell, not for the church’s sake.” This is very dangerous. When the tares are already growing like so, it is useless trying anxiously to persuade that person saying, “Please don’t do this, deacon. Please come back.” Since pulling the tares may well harm the wheat as well, sometimes all we could do is stand and watch a person perish. Who is it that causes this? God says, “The enemy has done this!”

God is patiently waiting for us as a farmer waits for the harvest. We ought to battle and resist insofar as He is being patient. But sometimes we are simply attacked without being able to resist, or we do not even know how we came to be under such attack. God’s heart is filled with anguish as He patiently watches us in such a state. His anguish is in stark contrast to our carelessness. The Bible portrays in various places this anguish God has. How does a parent feel to search for a child who has left home? ‘Do you know how much I longed for you to be well? Yet you have left me! Come home! Quickly come home!’ The parent’s heart burns while the child does not realize. God’s heart is the same.

Those that Have an Enemy

Christians can also suffer illness. Why should be diseased when we have the name of Jesus? Why are there troubles in the family if Jesus has carried our curses? Why do hardships come when we have cast out demons in Jesus’ name? Has not the Lord given us the power to be healthy? Has He not given us the power to succeed? Then why do we have pain and trouble? The Lord answers, “The enemy has done this!”

The Bible says concerning Job, “that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Job was a man of great faith. Even so, he was faced with terrible adversities. He lost his possessions, his children and wife, friends and his health all at once. He sought to die instead of being in such severe torment. He could be seen as the most cursed and tormented person on earth. But one thing is clear, that he was not cursed as a result of transgressing against God. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find what he had done wrong before God. So he confessed, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him” (Job 13:15). He was a sincere man, but why did such affliction come upon him? The cause was the enemy.

The word ‘enemy’ is the same as ‘Satan’. God used the name ‘Satan’ to specifically refer to His own enemy. In this world, there are sinners and then there is God’s enemy. They are not the same. God’s enemy is forever His adversary and Christians’ adversary. God’s enemy is also the enemy of Christians. He brings trouble, hardship and problems to the saint’s household full of God’s joy and happiness; he discourages them, cause sickness and takes away their joy. In spite of the Farmer’s anticipation of reaping after sowing the good seed as well as our hope to be joyful through God, the enemy comes and blatantly sows the tares.

Even now, we must return to the repentance we had when we first met the Lord. We need to restore the determination and vigilance we had at first. We must protect our spirit which has been redeemed. We ought to remember the day when we confessed in tears, “God, thank you for your grace. Receive me God for I will now live according to your will.” We have to once again restore the heart of repentance we had on that dreamlike day.

Before we believe in Jesus we neither considered the Devil as our enemy nor did he really attack us. Yet, he took us on as his enemy when we were liberated from his rule. He first considered us his enemy before we did him. After having faith, some people face even worse troubles than before. That is the beginning of this inescapable battle that should not be avoided. From the moment we believe in Jesus and are born again, the Devil regards us as his enemy.

Enemies are not simply of different opinions or in disagreement. It is not just hostility toward each other as in ‘since he has done me wrong, I will take revenge.’ With an enemy, there could never be any reconciliation, truce or forgiveness. We must obey the Lord’s command to love our enemies, but that command does not apply to the Devil. Religious people might not have any enemy but Christians do. Because religions are established on a dogma of morality, they do not acknowledge the existence of an enemy. Religion teaches man to be patient and forgive the wicked even if another has wronged them. Thus, religious people do not have an enemy. However, the church does have an enemy.

We need to have patience and tolerance towards man. However, we must be on guard against the Devil and resist him at all times. Whether we are in the flesh or out of it, the Devil is our enemy. Until he meets his final end, we must not even consider having mercy towards him. Any true Christian needs to have absolute awareness of the enemy, the Devil and be ready to fight against him with strong hostility.

The Lord too considered the Devil as His enemy. He said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me” (Matt 16:23) and guarded against the Devil. And He warned us saying, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” To such words of the Lord, Peter replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” But the Lord answered, “The rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me” (Luke 22:31-34). And indeed that was what happened.

Even if the Holy Spirit is leading us, the enemy tries to hinder us. He deceives us so as to interfere with our faith-life and bring hardships in an effort to destroy our lives. With burning jealousy he endeavors to sow the tares in our hearts. He sends forth demons to taint our hearts where the precious things of God have been sown.

The Church that Overcomes the Enemy’s Interference and Produces a Hundred-fold Fruits

While Israel was the way prepared to receive the coming Lord as the servant of suffering, the church is the way prepared for the Lord who will be coming as the King of kings. Now the Lord comes only to sacred places. The church is a holy assembly. The holiness of the church is the path through which the King of kings can comfortably come. The church Jesus has built is one that the enemy cannot defeat. The Lord returning to the world will no longer come to the sinners but the holy souls He has redeemed by the death of His beloved Son on the cross. They are the holy church, who are led by the Holy Spirit, who live by God’s word and fight to keep the word; they find happiness in Jesus alone no matter what thoughts come into their hearts, and they overcome every trial and fight to fill themselves with Jesus only.

We must stop the enemy from sowing the seed. If the seeds have already been sown, we need to keep our faith in holiness so that those seeds do not grow. The enemy is jealous of us and tries to use the tares to snatch away the nourishment coming from God. He wants us to pour on the earth everything we have received from God, and forfeit the power we obtained through the holy, precious blood and torn flesh of Jesus. Even so, the Father is still waiting for us. He waits not with a stern and forbidding expression, but in anguish He earnestly waits for the fruits to be produced. Furthermore, Jesus is praying for us. Hence, we can overcome. We must be filled with Jesus; filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot let down our guard for even a second. By obeying the Holy Spirit, we need to possess the power to defeat the Devil. We ought to be the church that longs for the Truth and acts according to the Truth.

Jesus said, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matt 13:23). Some say, ‘I’d be happy if I could bear fruit of even three times not thirty.’ But God had said a hundredfold because He knows that we are able to produce such fruit. Though we may seem like failures by the standards of this world, we should be the church that yields fruit a hundredfold before God. We have to become the church that has revival and growth, full of happiness and joy. All the saints should unite as one, comforting and encouraging one another, and be the church that fights against the Devil.