Wheat or Tares? False or Genuine?
Matthew 13:24-25 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.
The Enemy is at Work
The Bible addresses the truth. One of the important truths of Scripture is that the Lord has an enemy called by various names. He is the Devil, the Serpent, and the Destroyer. He is the adversary or Satan. But most of all He is the Liar and a Deceiver. As a result of His enmity and hatred for anything that is right and good and that glorifies the Lord Jesus, there is a real attack against the church, the body of Christ. The church is one aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven; and Satan, the enemy, has made sure that there are tares among the wheat. Tares apparently look like wheat but are a noxious weed that takes up space and nutrients needed by the wheat. They hinder the growth of the wheat which represents those who are the real servants and worshippers of the Lord in the Kingdom.
False Things
The Bible warns us about false prophets, false teachers, false brethren, false witnesses, false christs, and false apostles. Something that is false is not genuine, it is counterfeit. It may look like the real thing but there are “giveaways”, that should alert a believer to that which is false.
I am told that in order to find counterfeit money, you have to study the real thing. You don’t spend time looking at all the counterfeits. If a person knows the real thing, when the counterfeit comes along, the trained eye will detect it. It is the same with that which is false in the kingdom. When we study that which is real, we find ourselves discerning that which is false. That is why in 3rd John v 11, Gaius is told to imitate that which is good. There were three men involved in this letter. Gaius who needed discernment. Diotrephes who had his own agenda and wasn’t even a believer. Then there is Demetrius who has a good report of all men. Gaius is encouraged to imitate Demetrius.
The false is not always detected because a Christian is supposed to “believe all things (1 Corinthians 13:7).” That probably means he is not to be suspicious of everyone’s motives. But sometimes the motives are clear. Paul dealt with Jews who called themselves Christians but who wanted the Christians to live like Jews. Paul called these people false brethren. But in the upper room when the Lord said that one of the apostles would betray Him, they all began to question themselves since we who are true disciples all know that we have weaknesses. A false believer (or in Judas’ case, a false apostle), knows he is false. In Matthew 26:25 Judas also said, “Is it I?” However, while the others wondered if they could possibly betray the Lord, Judas asked the question to see if the Lord knew that he was a betrayer. And the Lord did know.
So What do We Do?
First of all we need to make sure that we are true and not false. It is one thing to say we are believers and it is another thing to be convinced by the Holy Spirit of the Truth of Scripture. We need to be sure that we really believe that Christ is Who He claimed to be and that He is the sacrifice for our sins.
Second, we need to pray for discernment that we might be “wise as serpents but harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). A false prophet, a false believer, a false teacher will demonstrate pride (he will want the preeminent place), and he will have his own agenda. A Christian is no match for them. Only the Lord can really protect the believer from the deceitfulness of our cunning enemy. However, the more we study the truth, the more likely it is that we will discern the false. Then the Lord will be able to use us to tell a Gaius to imitate a Demetrius and not a Diotrephes.
Third, we need to believe the Lord when He says to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Lord is building His church on the Truth that Peter confessed. That truth is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We can rejoice in the fact that no matter how weak we are and no matter how cunning and strong the enemy is, the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church.
Conclusion
I am convinced that we are either doing the Lord’s will and work or we are doing Satan’s will and work. While believers may not be able to discern the motives of others, we certainly know our own motives. If anyone is doing Satan’s work as a false believer, their end is to be destroyed. The Lord always wins in the end.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of January 18, 2015