Read Matthew 13:24–43
Questions from the Scripture text: What story does Jesus now tell in Matthew 13:24-30? Where did the tares come from (Matthew 13:28a)? But who are the owner’s primary concern (Matthew 13:29)? But what is the appropriate end of the tares when that is fulfilled (Matthew 13:30)? What story does Jesus tell in Matthew 13:31-32? What is the seed like, but what is the outcome like? What story does Jesus tell in Matthew 13:33? What does the woman do to the leaven, but what is the end result? How did Jesus speak to whom (Matthew 13:34)? Why (Matthew 13:35)? Bu to whom did He speak plainly (Matthew 13:36)? Who is the Sower (Matthew 13:37)? What is the field (Matthew 13:38)? Whom does the Son of Man sow into it? Who else sows whom into it (Matthew 13:39)? What is the harvest? Who are the reapers? Whom will the Son of Man send (Matthew 13:41)? To gather what two things out of His kingdom? Where will those who practice lawlessness be cast (Matthew 13:42)? What will be the resulting effect upon those who remain (Matthew 13:43)?
What is the Lord waiting for? Matthew 13:24–43 prepares us for the sermon in the morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord is patient, even with imperfections in the church, because He is determined to gather in and perfect all of the sons of His kingdom.
Christians can be disappointing. And the church can be disappointing. The church certainly isn’t yet what it ought to be! The true church is often small, and apparently insignificant (Matthew 13:31-32). The visible church throughout the world is certainly full of the sons of the wicked one (Matthew 13:38). But it’s very difficult to tell them apart from the sons of the kingdom (verse 38), or to pull the one without harming the other (Matthew 13:29). But God hasn’t lost track, and things aren’t going awry. The Son of Man’s angels are at the ready, and when the growing/leavening is complete, they will do their work, leaving behind not only a 100% converted church (Matthew 13:41-42), but a 100% sanctified and glorified church (Matthew 13:43)!
Though we may be grieved over the condition of the church, we must not be discouraged. And, let each of us take heed that we do not turn out to have been a son of the wicked one that was indistinguishable from the true wheat. To that end, may the Lord by His Spirit, give us ears to hear; and, may He give us to use them!
When have you been discouraged about the condition of the visible church? But what is the Lord doing right now? And what is the Lord waiting for? And what will He have done, when the end comes?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for how You are planting Your church throughout the world. Help us not to be false sons within the kingdom, and grant that we would not be discouraged by how many of them there are. Instead, grant that we would joyously anticipate the day when the whole church will shine forth as the sun, and make us to pursue that in our own lives, with all our hearts, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH552 “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”
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