Recognizing the Tares Take Two

[Vince]

Do you know why some of you have had very bad experiences in church? In the coming days, I want to explain some things from Matthew 13:

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 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?'
28 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?'
29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 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." ' "

 

[Vince]

Re: Recognizing the Tares

Notice in verse 25 "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat ..."

Satan sows his tares secretly. Galatians 2:4 tells us how salvation by works entered Christianity: "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),"

Jude 4 tells us how modernism entered Christianity: "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."

When dealing with these types of people, you do well to remember that they are not genuine Christians, and it is not God who put them among us.

 

[Vince]

Re: Recognizing the Tares

"his enemy ... went his way"

We often miss this important point: SATAN DOES NOT TRAIN THE TARES. WE DO. We teach lost church people to memorize John 3:16, how to act properly, how to pray, Biblical doctrine, etc. Satan stays out of it. That's why they look and act like Christians when they start out.

 

[Hitch]

Re: Recognizing the Tares

Its interesting that the parable is silent wrt the tares ability to change into wheat.

 

[Vince]

Re: Recognizing the Tares

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?'

There's an important point here. The SERVANTS noticed the tares. Not the bishops, elders, pastors, teachers, etc. Depending on which translation you're using, this Greek word "servants" is translated "deacons," "ministers," "slaves," or "servants" elsewhere in the New Testament. It refers to "menial servants."

In the parables of Jesus, the servants are the soul-winners. In Acts and the epistles, the servants do menial tasks, teach the Word to the saved, teach the Word to the lost, and are sometimes given authority to perform specific tasks. It is Christians who are actually DOING God's work who spot the tares, perhaps because the tares are attacking the servants.

 

[Eventide]

The words of eternal life..

IMO one of the vital things to glean here is that the wheat is a result of the word of God.. that's the good seed, the incorruptible word of God which lives and abides for ever.. and this is how Peter tells us that we were born again Spiritually.. by the word of God.. for His words are spirit and they are life..

 

[Vince]

Re: Recognizing the Tares

Some things to notice about the servants:

1) They told the owner of the vineyard, but they didn't tell anybody else.
2) They didn't accuse anybody by name.

While the Scriptures do not forbid either practice, they generally don't work.

Matthew 15:13-14 tells us: " But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."

 

[stovebolts]

Bump Take Two

 

[childeye]

From Tares take one:
I find your reasoning hard to follow, respectfully. You show above a good insight in your describing "the eternal conditions that are laid down to seperate the two". This is a very objective point of view. But then you claim it was, is, & always will have been their free choice. These negate each other in my reasoning. If the choice is free, then they decide if they are tares or not. Since the scripture states that the children of God are made so not by the will of men, there is a disconnect. Moreover the parable claims the seed that is planted is good seed which does not imply the seed is freely changeable. This parable is about why there are bad seeds in the field and they are attributable to Satan, not to men's "freewill". I detest this freewill theology as described in this manner. Ask me why later. Ezekial 33 is not an explanation of freewill, but is a description of the unfairness to God wherein men think they have one as pertains to vanity. This of course will be argued depending on ones definition of freewill.

In fact there are ways of telling who are the tares and who are the wheat. There are certain characteristics that divide the two. The tares are there to mimic the wheat, the wheat are not there to mimic the tares. Likewise lies exist to hide the Truth, not the Truth exists to uncover the lies. Truth precedes lies in existence even as Holiness precedes corruption. The wheat want to be found. the tares do not. The wheat are willing to die to preach the Truth. The tares are willing to kill to silence it. I am very willing to discuss the merits of freewill theology for the sake of preaching the Truth and this parable is very telltale regarding that.

 

[Elijah674]

From Tares take one:
I find your reasoning hard to follow, respectfully. You show above a good insight in your describing "the eternal conditions that are laid down to seperate the two". This is a very objective point of view. But then you claim it was, is, & always will have been their free choice. These negate each other in my reasoning. If the choice is free, then they decide if they are tares or not. Since the scripture states that the children of God are made so not by the will of men, there is a disconnect. Moreover the parable claims the seed that is planted is good seed which does not imply the seed is freely changeable. This parable is about why there are bad seeds in the field and they are attributable to Satan, not to men's "freewill". I detest this freewill theology as described in this manner. Ask me why later. Ezekial 33 is not an explanation of freewill, but is a description of the unfairness to God wherein men think they have one as pertains to vanity. This of course will be argued depending on ones definition of freewill.

In fact there are ways of telling who are the tares and who are the wheat. There are certain characteristics that divide the two. The tares are there to mimic the wheat, the wheat are not there to mimic the tares. Likewise lies exist to hide the Truth, not the Truth exists to uncover the lies. Truth precedes lies in existence even as Holiness precedes corruption. The wheat want to be found. the tares do not. The wheat are willing to die to preach the Truth. The tares are willing to kill to silence it. I am very willing to discuss the merits of freewill theology for the sake of preaching the Truth and this parable is very telltale regarding that.

OK: Tell us why the tares are tares in Rev. 17:1-5's Inspired Word of God?
You post that the tares are there to mimic the wheat? These whole fold's + daughter's are documented as the abomination of the earth, by Inspiration!.

--Elijah

 

[Vince]

"...his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat..."

Notice that it wasn't the fault of the owner, nor of the servants.

It should be no surprise when wicked people suddenly appear within a work of God. We do our best, but it still happens. The fact that a small percentage of professing Christians cause scandals does not prove that the entire movement is fake, and when a Christian organization has a scandal it doesn't prove that the whole thing was of the Devil from the beginning.

Critics rejoice when an organization that has served God for decades suddenly has a scandal, and the cheers from the sidelines when God's servants suffer a disgrace can be deafening. But you'll generally find that the critics and scorners are themselves doing little or nothing for the Lord.

Now, it MIGHT be true that the work wasn't of God, but we decide that on the basis of Scripture. When an organization is organized on anti-Scriptural principles, we should reject it whether or not it has scandal.

 

[Alabaster]

I would like to add something interesting here that I learned about tares.

Tare is a name for a particular plant which is generally thought to be Lolium, or Darnel.

It looks very much like wheat. As harvest time approaches there is a distinct different between wheat and the tare, which is very telling to us as Christians---the wheat bows its head, but the tare continues to boldly stand erect.

This is a very distinct difference, and one that the reaper will be looking for when it comes time to scythe out the false from the true.

 

[childeye]

OK: Tell us why the tares are tares in Rev. 17:1-5's Inspired Word of God?
You post that the tares are there to mimic the wheat? These whole fold's + daughter's are documented as the abomination of the earth, by Inspiration!.

--Elijah

The Tares are there as an act of vandalism. We know tares look like wheat until harvest when the tares seed appears black. One seed of a tare mixed in with the wheat grain makes the flour bitter. Of course the tares are the children of Satan. It is very appropriate that Alabaster has provided additional information about tares. We know the tares are the children of Satan, for Satan is King over the children of Pride Job:41. The tares therefore hold the same false image of god as Satan does. And the pride based on this false image is the same vanity of Satan, which is to believe in a "freewill" that one can choose to disobey God and live; To believe a man is free to choose to be good or bad of one's own volition apart from God's Holy Spirit. Note: Satan has incredible knowledge, but he has no heart that can feel for others. God is Love, and love is what makes people good. To consider the One True God, Love, as an option, you must believe in more than one god. Therefore one who ponders the proposal of a choice, does not trust that He is True. What have I said here? Merely that righteousness is by faith.

 

[Vince]

"But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared."

The Greek word translated "crop" in the New King James Version is usually translated "fruit," which is more accurate. Notice that the tares do not appear until fruit appears. It is difficult to tell the difference between a new Christian and a false professor, but a new Christian MUST eventually produce fruit, and then the difference appears.

"Easy Believism" is the doctrine that a person is saved by saying something like "Jesus, please save me" and meaning it, whether or not the person actually repents. The doctrine then continues that no matter how wicked a life the person lives, he is a genuine Christian because he prayed "Jesus, please save me" and meant it.

Scripture, however, teaches us that the new birth MUST produce a changed life, and that a genuine Christian is "...His workmanship, created unto good works." Some of you reading this have been harmed in the past by "Christians" whose evil conduct harmed you. God didn't fail, the new birth didn't fail, and the work of the Holy Spirit didn't fail: the person was probably a tare.

 

[childeye]

"But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared."

The Greek word translated "crop" in the New King James Version is usually translated "fruit," which is more accurate. Notice that the tares do not appear until fruit appears. It is difficult to tell the difference between a new Christian and a false professor, but a new Christian MUST eventually produce fruit, and then the difference appears.

"Easy Believism" is the doctrine that a person is saved by saying something like "Jesus, please save me" and meaning it, whether or not the person actually repents. The doctrine then continues that no matter how wicked a life the person lives, he is a genuine Christian because he prayed "Jesus, please save me" and meant it.

Scripture, however, teaches us that the new birth MUST produce a changed life, and that a genuine Christian is "...His workmanship, created unto good works." Some of you reading this have been harmed in the past by "Christians" whose evil conduct harmed you. God didn't fail, the new birth didn't fail, and the work of the Holy Spirit didn't fail: the person was probably a tare.

I agree with your assessment. The tares will not return good for evil.

 

[Vince]

In the parable of the tares, Jesus tells us that the difference between tares and wheat does not appear until they bear fruit. Proverbs 11:30 tells us "The fruit of the righteous is s tree of life..."

A born-again Christian, motivated by his new life in Christ, will do things that produce salvation in others. Whether it is witnessing, helping others to witness, working at some sort of outreach ministry, etc., the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. When a professed Christian is a foe of soul-winning and battles against attempts to spread the Gospel, that person has not been made righteous by Christ.

 

[childeye]

In the parable of the tares, Jesus tells us that the difference between tares and wheat does not appear until they bear fruit. Proverbs 11:30 tells us "The fruit of the righteous is s tree of life..."

A born-again Christian, motivated by his new life in Christ, will do things that produce salvation in others. Whether it is witnessing, helping others to witness, working at some sort of outreach ministry, etc., the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. When a professed Christian is a foe of soul-winning and battles against attempts to spread the Gospel, that person has not been made righteous by Christ.

I agree but would add, there is also a false gospel being preached that muddies the waters.

 

[Vince]

In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. But there is an important teaching in the very last part of Paul's statement:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul had just finished telling the Galatians that these people are not born-again saints. Then he tells them that he had just told them that. Then he tells them that he is telling them in advance. Why? Because most Christians do not believe Galatians 5:19-21. I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm including many Godly saints. I'll be talking about this passage over the next few days.

 

[childeye]

In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. But there is an important teaching in the very last part of Paul's statement:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul had just finished telling the Galatians that these people are not born-again saints. Then he tells them that he had just told them that. Then he tells them that he is telling them in advance. Why? Because most Christians do not believe Galatians 5:19-21. I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm including many Godly saints. I'll be talking about this passage over the next few days.

That's a very astute observation. I think I know where you're going with this. I think you should rephrase the word "Godly" in your sentence above or just use a lower case g. Godly people do Godly things.

Those who are of an Old Testament mindset persecute those of the New Testament mindset. The Old Testament mindset is of an image of god that is corrupt in concept. What do you think about what I just said?

 

[Vince]

Folks, I am not trying to hurt feelings. But Most Christians do not believe Galatians 5:19-21. I want to give an excerpt from the passage:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: ...
hatred, contentions, ... outbursts of wrath, dissensions, heresies,... and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

During the 1950's, Peter Ruckman invented the doctrine that the King James Version IS the Word of God, and that it is sinful to use any other translation. His original doctrine was that the Bible was also the Word of \God, and that God had preserved the translators of the KJV from error.

As that position became more steadily disproved, Ruckman invented a new doctrine: in 1611 God had rejected His Word and replaced it with a new revelation: the KJV. Ruckman teaches that those who adhere to his original doctrine are apostates.

In his writings, Ruckman rages in his hatred against Godly men who held to the Word of God. His blatantly racist insults (I personally read a racist joke that he wrote in one of his Bible commentaries) and a series of prophecies that did not come true show that this ungodly man cannot possibly be a prophet sent from God to teach us to reject His Word in favor of a man-made translation.

When I was a student at Hyles-Anderson College, Ruckman stole the wife of a fellow student. The student showed me Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go,
25 Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.

He told me that God had convicted him of that passage and he had disobeyed God, and he had lost his wife as a result. That verse clearly forbids any Christian from dealing with Peter Ruckman. Whether his books, his slanders, his original false doctrine, his current false doctrine, his false prophecies, his multiple marriages, his racial hatred, or his other sins, we are forbidden to have anything to do with this man.