Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ "And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ "But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."’" (Matthew 13:24-30).In order to understand this parable, we have to know what Jesus refers to when he talks about tares. Tares are a kind of darnel, a weed resembling wheat except the grains are black. Notice that only when the wheat sprouted and bore grain did the tares become evident. It is even more interesting that Jesus tells us that only at the time of the harvest the tares will be dealt with. The reason is that if it would be done earlier the real wheat might be uprooted as well! This parable contains a strong warning for us. Firstly, these tares will be amongst us until the time of the harvest while producing false fruit. Secondly, we ourselves may represent the tares. They, or maybe even we, will be deceivers looking and acting like true Christians, all the while not knowing or opposing the truth.How many tares will there be as compared to the real seed from God? Jesus again gives us insight into this, when He states: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:13, 14). If Jesus addresses this warning to believers, and I believe that is exactly what He does, most of us will NOT find eternal life!Another Scripture makes this very clear; it explains that the tares who believe that they are following Christ, in fact are the seed of the devil. In Matthew 7, Jesus warns us with another example, when He says: "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7:21-23).Jesus makes a point of using the word LAWLESSNESS and describes this as the condition of the people in Matthew 7:23 and also of the tares that will be burned as is recorded in Matthew 13:41. The meaning of this word LAWLESSNESS is very important. Lawlessness means: being in the condition of without law; this may be because one is ignorant of the law, or one deliberately disobeys the law. The law in this case refers to all that Jesus commanded us. There are no exceptions. When we make an exception, the devil can and will deceive us. Just remember what happened as result of the first act of disobedience by man in the Garden of Eden. Satan became the ruler of this world and all of mankind was now separated from God the Father. If we want to stand firm against the schemes of the devil and not end up as the people who operated in the supernatural realm “in the Name of Jesus,” or as the tares in the parable, we have to know God’s Word. We cannot rely on the interpretation by men, but have to ask the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, while keeping very short accounts of sin by confessing and repenting. THIS MAY NOT INCLUDE PORNOGRAPHY AND OTHER SECRET SINS. CONTINUALLY PRACTICING THIS IS PLAYING WITH THE FIRE OF HELL. This is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. Just read what Jesus tells His disciples when He explains the parable of the tares:"So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:40-42). The tares that the devil has sown amongst the real seed of God are those who are stumbling blocks and who commit lawlessness. We may also consider that this parable follows directly after the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-23). In order for a tare to grow to maturity it has to be in good soil just as the seed that bears fruit, some hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty and we may expect it to bear fruit as well, be it false. Note: All Scriptures used are taken from NASB95
