The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a
Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.
# 2 Opposition to the Kingdom (Matt. 13:24–43)
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| Satan is a Lier |
Satan opposes the
kingdom by trying to snatch the Word from hearts (Matt. 13:4, 19). But when
that fails, he has other ways of attacking God’s work. These three parables
reveal that Satan is primarily an imitator:
He plants false Christians, he encourages a false growth, and he introduces
false doctrine.
The tares—counterfeit
Christians (vv. 24–30, 36–43). Satan cannot uproot the plants (true Christians), so he
plants counterfeit Christians in their midst. In this parable, the good seed is
not the Word of God. It represents people converted through trusting the Word.
The field is not human hearts; the field is the world. Christ is sowing true
believers in various places that they might bear fruit (John 12:23–26). But,
wherever Christ sows a true Christian, Satan comes and sows a counterfeit.
We must beware of
Satan’s counterfeits. He has counterfeit Christians (2 Cor. 11:26) who believe
a counterfeit Gospel (Gal. 1:6–9). He encourages a counterfeit righteousness
(Rom. 10:1–3), and even has a counterfeit church (Rev. 2:9). At the end of the
age, he will produce a counterfeit Christ (2 Thes. 2:1–12).
We must also stay awake
to make sure that Satan’s ministers do not get into the true fellowship and do
damage (2 Peter 2; 1 John 4:1–6). It is when God’s people go to sleep that
Satan works. Our task is not to pull up the false, but to plant the true. (This
does not refer to discipline within the local church.) We are not detectives
but evangelists! We must oppose Satan and expose his lies. But we must also sow
the Word of God and bear fruit in the place where He has planted us.
What will happen to the
tares? God will gather them together and burn them. It is interesting to see
that some of this “bundling” is already going on as various religious groups
merge and strive for union. Spiritual unity among true Christians is one thing,
but religious uniformity among mere professing Christians is quite another. It
is difficult to tell the false from the true today; but at the end of the age,
the angels will separate them.
The mustard seed—false
growth (vv. 31–32). In the East, the mustard seed symbolizes something small and
insignificant. It produces a large plant, but not a “tree” in the strictest
sense. However, the plant is large enough for birds to sit in the branches.
Since Jesus did not explain this
parable, we must use what He did explain in the other parables to find its
meaning. The birds in the Parable of the Sower represented Satan Matthew 13:19
(NIV) When
anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown
along the path.
Passages like Daniel 4:12 (NLT) It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree. and Ezekiel 17:23 (ESV). On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest indicate that a tree is a symbol of a world power. These facts suggest that the parable teaches an abnormal growth of the kingdom of heaven, one that makes it possible for Satan to work in it. Certainly “Christendom” has become a worldwide power with a complex organization of many branches. What started in a humble manner today boasts of material possessions and political influences.
Passages like Daniel 4:12 (NLT) It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree. and Ezekiel 17:23 (ESV). On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest indicate that a tree is a symbol of a world power. These facts suggest that the parable teaches an abnormal growth of the kingdom of heaven, one that makes it possible for Satan to work in it. Certainly “Christendom” has become a worldwide power with a complex organization of many branches. What started in a humble manner today boasts of material possessions and political influences.
Some make this parable
teach the worldwide success of the Gospel. But that would contradict what Jesus
taught in the first parable. If anything, the New Testament teaches a growing
decline in the ministry of the Gospel as the end of the age draws near.[1]
[1] Wiersbe, Warren W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Mt 13:24). Wheaton, IL: Victor
Books.
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