Mystery of the Kingdom of God - God vs Devil - Ch.4-Pt.3

The Kingdom of God

vs.

The Kingdom of the Devil

In Matthew 13:36-52, Jesus describes in detail the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil:

(36) Then Jesus sent the multitude away,

and went into the house:

and his disciples came unto him, saying,

Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

Jesus had just finished teaching the parable of the Kingdom of God to the crowd that had surrounded Him.  The disciples were beginning to learn that a parable is a symbolic story woven around an important truth that has been hidden from those who would reject Christ.  So when they were alone with Jesus, they pressed Him to interpret the parable and explain the meaning.

       
When interpreting a parable the first thing that must take place is identification of the players.  Today much error in doctrine is a result of failing to correctly identifiy whom Christ is actually describing in the parables.  This is amazing because He has clearly revealed this foundational information to us when He explained it to His disciples in Matthew 13.

Five basic problems we can encounter when interpreting Scripture are:

1. failing to give God preeminence
2. a wrong attitude of heart toward God and others
3. not being familiar enough with true biblical history and the entire Bible
4. isolating verses and passages instead of interpreting the Word in the context of the entire Bible
5. accepting wrong conclusions because they fit better into our church doctrines or our own system of belief

(37) He answered and said unto them,

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man:

The first character in this story found in the Gospel of Matthew is Jesus, the "Son of man," because the spiritual, eternal Son of God is also Jesus--the one who came to Earth clothed in physical flesh.  

. . .Note what He has done in the physical world in this parable.  Jesus has planted a spiritual, eternal, seed into the physical world.

       
Jesus is sowing, or planting the good seed.

       
Who is sowing the good seed--the disciples and the followers of Christ?

       
No, Jesus is the Sower.

       
No one plants the good seed into the world, except God Himself via Jesus Christ.  This is completely God's doing.  He never turns this responsibility over to His followers. . .HOWEVER. . .

       
We will eventually see in Luke, Chapter 8 that His followers are called to sow seed, but men can never qualify themselves as this specific Sower who is engaged in sowing this specific seed. 

(38) The field is the world;

the good seed are the children of the kingdom;

but the tares are the children of the wicked one.

This seems to be self-explanatory, but it is actually an introduction to the fact that in the world we really have just two kinds of people:

1. those that are God's children (wheat) planted by the Almighty Sower into the field (world)
2. those that are tares (weeds) planted by the devil into the world

What does the "good seed" represent and what do the "tares" represent?

       
The good seed represents the children of the Kingdom of God and the tares represent the children of the devil.  Both are being planted into the world.

       
There seems to be some confusion and contradiction about this in various church doctrines.  Some follow this example in Matthew, Chapter 13, that tells us that Jesus is the Sower sowing His children into the world and others follow Luke, Chapter 8, that identifies the seed as the Word of God and the sower as anyone who sows that seed into the heart of those who hear the Word.

       
Remember, the message of the parables has been hidden from some and revealed to others.  Therefore, we can expect to find confusion and contradictions in church doctrines.  But we will never find confusion and contradictions in the Word of God--only the appearance of confusion and contradictions.  This is our cue, the signal God has inserted into His Word, to alert us that His message has been hidden and that we must therefore pay closer attention to the details.

       
Is one Gospel in error and one Gospel correct?

       
Certainly not, both Gospels are the Word of God, therefore both are true.

       
How then can the parables of the sower identify two different sowers and two different seeds?

       
Two different sowers and two different seeds are identified because the parable in Matthew and the parable in Luke are two different parables with two different messages.

       
The interpretation of the sower depends on the interpretation of the seed.

       
(More about the parable of the other sower in Luke, Chapter 8 follows in Chapter 7, "The First Works: True Evangelism.)

       
Actually, it is the Father who gives the seeds of eternal life to the Son to sow.

But he answered and said,

Every plant,

which my heavenly Father 
hath not planted,

shall be rooted up.

-Matthew 15:13

(37) All that the Father giveth me

shall come to me;

and him that cometh to me

I will in no wise cast out.

-John 6:37

Jesus is telling us in this parable in Matthew that right from the beginning, God knows who the good people and evil people are.  According to God's foreknowledge, the good have been planted good and the wicked have been planted wicked.

The Apostle Paul's conversion is often used as an example of someone being born-again.

       
It is extremely difficult for any of us to determine good seed from bad seed because at times those who are wicked can appear to be very good and religious, while those, such as Saul of Tarsus who was a murderer of Christians, though he was wicked at first, had actually been a good seed called by God, destined to eventually become the Apostle Paul and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

       
Jesus stopped Saul in his tracks to ask him why he was persecuting Him.  Paul had been called from the foundation of the world to belong to Christ, but he did not realize this until that moment on the road to Damascus, when Jesus made him question what he was doing.  

A clue to this truth becomes evident when Saul's name is changed to "Paul."  At first Saul did not know that he was functioning contrary to the person he was created to be and that he was really "Paul."

       
The name God bestows upon us defines our character and calling.  Saul (#G4549 - meaning "desired") became Paul (#3972 - meaning "small.")

      
 "Saul," the desired, important, and popular man among worldly men discovered that he was really "Paul," a man destined to become small, rejected, and unimportant to the world--but chosen to become great in the eyes of God by fulfilling his calling as the man God created him to be.

       
The seed the Almighty Sower had sowed (even before Saul was born) began to grow as the powerful light of the Word of God, in the form of a question from Jesus, brought about the seed's germination.  Saul's mind and spirit were changed or "converted" to a new way of life.  Paul finally recognized who he really was.  He finally discovered that while he was yet a sinner, Christ had died for him.

       
At this point, the powerful light of the truth about Saul's spiritual blindness created a shockwave permeating throughout his total being, resulting in a temporary physical blindness.  Paul remained in this physically blind state until God brought a healing Word to him via Ananias.  (See the complete account in Acts, Chapter 9.)

       
Weeds do not turn into wheat.  While we are all born with the sin nature inherited from Adam, we are not all born of the devil's seed and then some of us changed into good seed.

       
Likewise, goats are not turned into sheep.  Entering the Kingdom of God happens just the way Jesus said that it happens.  He plants the seed of those the Father has chosen and chooses those who are created to be (and are already) His sheep.  When He extends the call for the inhabitants of the Earth to come to Him, only His true sheep will hear His Voice, realize that they belong to Him, and by the power of His Word and Holy Spirit, will follow Him.

       
A God who knows all things past and present, is a God who also knows all those who belong to Him.  God's definition of past and present is not the same as man's definition.  False doctrine regarding this truth is a result of man's attempt to limit the power of God and force Him into an image of man's own making, by trying to confine God within the walls of man's concept of time.

       
Matthew 13:

(39) The enemy that sowed them is the devil;

the harvest is the end of the world;

and the reapers are the angels.

(40) As therefore the tares [wicked]

are gathered and burned in the fire;

so shall it be in the end of this world.

Throughout history the good seeds and the bad seeds have grown side by side in the world.  When a seed first germinates, sometimes it is difficult to identify just what kind of plant it really is.  However, when the system of this world ultimately comes to an end, the angels are going to engage in a great harvest.  They have the ability to identify the wicked tares and will gather them up and burn them. 

(41) 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;

(42) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:

there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

(43) Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun

in the kingdom of their Father.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

-Matthew 13:37-43

Jesus is telling us that not everyone will understand what He is saying; only those who have ears to hear what God is telling them.

(24) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying,

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man

which 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 blade was sprung up,

and brought forth fruit,

then appeared the tares also.

(27) So the servants of the householder

came and said unto him,

Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field?

from whence then hath it tares?

(28) He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

The servants said unto him,

Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

(29) But he said, Nay;

lest while ye gather up the tares,

ye root up also the wheat with them,

(30) Let both grow together until the harvest:

and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,

Gather ye together first the tares.

[first the children of the devil]

and bind them in bundles to burn them:

but gather the wheat into my barn.

-Matthew 13:24-30

In the end, the wicked weeds that have been planted by the devil will be fully grown and easily identified.  At the harvest they will be gathered up by the angels first and burned (Matthew 13:30).  This is the final judgment. 

...ALSO...

There are some who may appear...or "seem to belong" to Christ...but really do not belong to Him at all...In Luke 8...this time the sower is anyone who sows the seed of the Word of God into lives of men...but while some may last for awhile, for various reasons, most seeds of the Word of God die...don't live long enough to produce any evidence/fruit from the heart.

Luke 8:18:
"Take heed therefore how ye hear: 
  for whosoever hath, 
  to him shall be given; 
  and whosoever hath not, 
  from him shall be taken 
  even that which 
  he seemeth to have." 

. . .as we will see in the next, part.