This lesson covers three of the parables which the Lord spoke to the multitudes by the sea side.
The lesson assigned is nevertheless very incomplete, since it divides the principal parable, leaving off the interpretation which the Lord gave the disciples after the multitude had deserted, which is the most essential part of the record. Without the interpretation, we are left in the dark.
We shall therefore take it for granted that the student will include it in his lesson; and in order not to break the continuity of the subject, we will first note briefly the two parables that are recorded between the first parable and its explanation.
Wonderful Growth of the Kingdom
"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his fields." (Matthew 13:31)
Very little and insignificant in appearance is the mustard seed, yet it is wonderfully prolific, and moreover when sown in congenial soil grows most luxuriantly. In some parts of the world, where the climate is mild, and the soil is productive, the mustard plant becomes really a tree, with branches so large that they will bear up a man's weight, and so of course they afford lodging for the birds of the air.
This illustrates one phase of the kingdom, namely, the great results that come from the seemingly smallest causes. "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are; That no flesh should glory in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
The Hidden Working of the Gospel
Another phase of the kingdom is presented in the next parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matthew 13:33)
The likeness is somewhat similar to the preceding, in that it shows how great influence seemingly insignificant things have, but it differs from the parable of the mustard seed, in that here the cause is unseen, and only the results appear. God sees in secret, and works in secret, and is manifested to the world only by His working. "The kingdom of God comes not with outward show; Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)
It is the office of the kingdom of God to permeate the whole world, and its influence has been felt even among those who have despised it and rejected it. There is not an infidel in the world, who mocks at the Gospel, and who prides himself upon his "morality" without religion, who is not indebted to the very Gospel which he hates, for the decency that makes him tolerable in respectable society. There is no good thing on this earth, that does not owe its existence to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But we must remember that the leaven represents the kingdom of God only in the extent of its influence, and its silent way of working, and not in character. The leaven which is put into meal produces fermentation and decay, while the kingdom of God works just the opposite. God takes that which is not, to bring to naught that which is. So where men would take some visible means, God works by invisible agents; and while the leaven that man uses produces decay, the life of God permeating everywhere just as the leaven does, produces purity and incorruption.
A Comprehensive Parable
The parable of the wheat and the tares is well known. A man sowed good seed in his field, but an enemy came, stealthily and sowed tares among the wheat. No one could detect anything wrong until the wheat came up, and then the tares appeared also.
The servants would have pulled up the tares at once, but the master would not suffer it, lest some of the wheat be pulled up at the same time. So both were allowed to grow together until the harvest, when the tares were gathered in bundles, to be burned, and the wheat was gathered into the barn.
The explanation is so definite and precise that it leaves nothing to be desired. "He that sows the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy, that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:37-43)
There we have the whole Gospel story in a nutshell, together with the fate of both the righteous and the wicked. This earth is the rightful kingdom of the Lord Jesus. In the beginning the whole earth was given to man, and he was given dominion over it. But this, dominion was lost through sin, and Christ came in man's place, and as man He won the earth back by His righteous life.
The good seed was sown in the beginning, but the devil sowed his tares. There are many zealous servants of the Lord who would pull up the tares at once. That is, they would summarily cut off out of the professed church, and even out of the world, all evil persons.
The point of the master's refusal to allow this is better seen when it is remembered that what the enemy sowed in the field is something that greatly resembles wheat. So the danger in rooting it up lay not merely in its proximity to the wheat, but in the fact that one might readily be mistaken for the other.
Only in the time of harvest can it be definitely determined who are the Lord's and who are not. Only then will evil have so fully developed that there can be no mistake made by anybody.
God has not set any in the church as executioners. The preceding parables show what is to be the work of the church in the world, namely, to fill it with the knowledge of the truth of God; Christ and His angels will do the work of severing the wicked from among the just.
Mark this: The wicked are to be among the just even until the end: If all the professed followers of the Lord were wholly intent upon doing their legitimate work, and would leave judgment to the One to whom it belongs, the kingdom of God would make far more rapid progress on earth.
Judgment Not Yet Given to the Saints
It must be remembered that "the field is the world," and that this parable teaches that even Christ, the rightful Lord and Master of all does not now exercise the office of judge and executioner in this world. Just as the tares are not gathered, out from among the wheat until the harvest of the wicked are allowed to flourish among the just until the end of the world. It is not until "the time of the dead, that they should be judged," (Revelation 11:18) that Christ takes to himself His great power, and reigns, and that He destroys them that corrupt the earth: "Saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because You have taken to yourself your great power, and have reigned. And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth." (Revelation 11:17-18)
Until that time He does not interfere in the government of this world, but allows men to conduct it according to their own will. The people of God, therefore, who are to be in the world even as Christ is, are not to interfere in political affairs. The time for judgment, that is, authority to sit in judgment, to be given to the saints of the Most High and for the saints to possess the kingdom, is not until the coming of the Ancient of Days: "Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." (Daniel 7:22)
All the power and authority now given to the servant of God is to "preach the Word, [to] reprove, rebuke, and exhort" (2 Timothy 4:2) according to that word, and then to leave the sincere to decide their course for themselves. "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come." (1 Corinthians 4:5)
The Fate of the Wicked
This earth is, as already said, Christ's rightful kingdom; but it is now largely overrun with weeds. Yet the Lord has patience. Soon the end will come, and then He will rid His inheritance of everything offensive and will utterly destroy it.
Here we have clearly set forth the fate of the wicked. They are to be burned up as weeds and chaff. There is to be no more any place found for them, and the righteous alone will remain forever. "For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:9-11)
The Glory of the Righteous
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:43)
Mark the expression, "shine forth." It is not that light will shine upon them, so that they will be seen, but the light will proceed from them. Even so it was with Jesus when He was transfigured, when the world to come was represented in the mountain.
The glory which He had from the beginning was with Him all the time that He was here on earth, but only occasionally did it appear so that men could catch a glimpse of it. And yet it was manifest all the time. "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) "The Lord will give grace and glory." (Psalm 84:11)
He gives glory now in the form of grace, and in the ages to come He will manifest His grace in the form of glory. Compare the following: "That he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." (Ephesians 3:16) "And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:6-10)
In all the good works that Jesus did, He manifested forth His glory. As He is the light of the world, so are we to be, gaining glory for God by means of the good works which we allow Him to do through us. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:9)--Present Truth, May 17, 1900--Timeline: IV-24 (Sermon by the Sea)--Matthew 13:24-43.