I was trying to think. I think, Chucky, with you coming, I think in the last two years, we have had every mission partner that we have be on this stage, and I think that's worth celebrating. I told him during prayer time this morning that our intention with our mission partnerships is to be relational first. And so I'm. I appreciate you being here, and I've gotten a chance.

This is probably my second time. I think that we've got to share space the other times with coffee. But thank you for being here today. That just lights my fire. To hear what's going on down south, I'm going to invite you to turn to Matthew, chapter 13.

Put your finger there. You know, it's funny. Before I walked into service, I was going in to fix my shirt. And I don't know which kid asked me this question. I just got to be honest with you, because I was in a stall.

But he said, do you, like, rehearse your message like, four or five times during the week? And so as I'm fixing my shirt in the stall, I'm just like, well, no, what I do is I do this, and then I do this. And then like this morning, I came in early and I walked through it so that I know that my notes have things that'll jump out at me and remind me of different things. But, you know, the practice of crafting a sermon usually will focus on some problem. In fact, really what preaching should be about is and engagement with the scripture that points out a problem.

And then we talk about how the Scripture then answers that problem. I think that's the answer I gave you boys in the restroom. But if not now, you got it. Because there is a problem that I want to talk about. It's a pervasive problem.

It's a problem a lot of times, maybe you don't really think that much about. It's not something that really bears on your mind, but it is something that influences you, whether you know it or not. And it's called deception. Deception. Over 30 different times, Jesus and the writers of the New Testament warned us about false sheep and false believers.

It's a problem. In fact, when you look at the book of Matthew, starting in chapter seven, and just listen to me. Don't. Don't try to flip. But in verse 13, Jesus warns against us just kind of being settled, to not ask the question, what kind of person is talking to me?

And what kind of person am I? In speaking of the kingdom, he says this. 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 tells us that the way of the kingdom is not as easy as some people are telling us.

It also tells us that there are few who find it and probably a lot less than we realize. Do you realize right now, according to Pew Research, that 62% of Americans claim to be Christian? 50 years ago? 50 years ago. I'm 50.

I was born in 74. Though 50 years ago, 90% of Americans claim to be Christian. And that drop was not so much because other religions were gobbling it up. It's the group that we call the non religious, or in some circles, the nones. That has tripled in size in the last 50 years, up to 30% today.

And I don't think that's a bad thing. Do you know why? Because it's more than what you confess to believe that makes you a believer. What Jesus is about to do is he's going to ask a very stark are you bearing fruit? He's not asking whether you are a Christian or not a Christian.

That term comes very much later in the history of the church with the book of Acts. But when you boil it down and someone looks at your life and they look at my life, there is the question, is there fruit? In fact, Jesus begins to talk about this in the text because he says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. So every good tree that bears good fruit and the bad tree bears bad fruit.

He said, look at it, discern it, and judge it. Why? Because. Verse 20. So then you will know them by their fruits.

But then he does something that just kind of breaks the mold. 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 will enter heaven, many will say on me that day, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and perform miracles? He says, and I will declare to them, I never knew you. Just calling yourself a Christian does not make you a Christian. You see, at the end of the day, it's God Almighty who knows the hearts, the thoughts and the intents of all men.

It's God Almighty who's looking at the fruit that's bearing in your life. And I'm asking you the question today. What kind of tree are you? Y' all know how much I love Bradford pears, right?

Joe knows.

Do you know why they're being outlawed? Because they are an invasive species. It's a hybrid. They're beautiful, aren't they? They smell bad, but they're beautiful.

They're a hybrid plant. Have you ever gone to kind of an abandoned cow pasture where some of the Bradford pears have started taking growth? They breed like rabbits. And the tree that comes up is not like the Bradford pear in your yard. It actually has thorns on it about this long.

It's an invasive species. And what Matthew is calling us to consider today is that there are people even in this room right now that are false believers, false teachers, false prophets. How do you know that? Because they are sowing discord and division and hatred in the body.

He's saying that if someone is good, they have been made good, then good is going to come out in them. There's two ways that fruit is birthed in our life as Christians. One, we begin to have freedom from our sin and we begin to bear the fruit of righteousness. If that is not active in your life, look at me. I'm preaching this message because I want to challenge you in your comfortability, in your maybe false assurance that I don't care if you've been in this church since the day you were born and you're 75, if you have not been born again by the spirit of God, you are lost and going to hell.

And hell will be full of a whole lot of good people. It's serious. When you look at culture, especially church today, you see this glorified passive tolerance that is no longer convicted about the holiness of God. And how can they preach to be delivered from sin when they're preaching to sin? They're false sheep.

They're ravenous wolves.

And the reality is they're all around us. And how, as a Christian, am I to live a life of faith surrounded by all of this? You know, Jesus goes on in Matthew 12 to bring this back up again. 12:33. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad.

What's he saying there? Well, there is an order. Your DNA is what produces the kind of fruit that you will produce. So if you're a peach tree, what do you expect from to be on a peach tree? Peaches, Peaches, peaches, peaches.

Some of y' all got that kind of. Like last week when I talked about audio adrenaline and somebody said, I've never heard of them, went, God help us.

Where your treasure Is is where your heart is. And out of the mouth, out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks. You can come in here for an hour and say, yes, glory to God, I'm a Christian. And spend all of the rest of your week confessing to something else and hold to false assurance that because you came and gave God your glorified hour and live according to the lawlessness of this world, but yet still believe that you're saved. I'm begging you to reconsider what where you stand before the Lord.

What kind of tree are you? You see, in biology, a tree comes forth from a seed, right? Like Kevin shared with us last week, here's this field, and there's these different kinds of soils and different situations, and this man is sowing seed. So last week the message was that the word of God gets implanted and it's expected to become a plant. Well, now this week with the parable we're about to read, that seed has become a plant.

And that plant is expected to produce fruit that inside that fruit is more seeds of the Word that goes out and continues to populate the world and to be sown. You know why fruit is good? Because it needs to be eaten. Plants will come by and they will pick that fruit and eat that fruit and the seeds be ingested and. But they don't eat, they don't get processed.

And it comes out in the stool and planted in the fields and it becomes a plant. Instant fertilizer.

That fruit comes out and is desirable because it's righteous. But what's inside that's producing that righteousness is the seeds of the Word of God. And God intends for you and me to be dispensers of that word because that is what we're founded upon. That's how we're even in the kingdom. I think that we can see and realize today that we are engulfed in false teaching and false doctrine and false prophets.

But yet God puts you where you are. How are you to live in and among that. And are you okay? Are you passive as well to just say, well, you know, just going to keep hanging out with the crowd. I'm hanging out and it'll be all right.

It's not all right when it says the wrath of God. I was listening to Chip Ingram this week and I was refreshed and reminded again that the wrath of God is because God is angry at your sin. When was the last time you got angry at your sin in your life enough that you didn't want it in your life anymore? Are you just passive and you say, well, that's just the way I am. That's the way God made me.

Gosh, I could chase a rabbit. It's gone. What? This parable that we're about to read, the parable of the tare and the wheat. The wheat and the tares, however you want to call it, is calling us to assess and reflect these realities of the kingdom in our life and the call that God has put for us.

Listen, Kevin, you ready? You're gonna love this sentence. I mean, I'm telling you what, you're gonna jump up and shout. It's a reality that causes us to reflect on a future recourse, that provides a reason to rejoice where God has rooted us. And Kevin said, God has put you where he's planted you.

And he didn't call you to try to be a light. You are a light. He didn't try to cause you to be a flavor. You are flavor. You're not to try to be a witness.

You are a witness. So wherever God has planted you in this world, be who God has made you because you're no longer a bad tree. Through his supernatural power, he's rebirthed you into something completely new. Let's start thinking of salvation that way. If you have not been changed, if you have not been transformed, if.

If you have not been reborn by the spirit of God, you are lost. And today I don't want you to leave that way. So I'm asking you, what kind of tree are you? So before I get excited, stand up and let's read this parable together. And then I'm going to give you these five realities of the kingdom.

Starting in verse 24 of 13, right after the parable of the sower, he says, Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in a field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and then went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, what do you do with grain? You eat it. You also replant it.

Then the tares became also evident. The. The slaves of the landowner came and said, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? And he said to them emphatically, an enemy has done this.

The slaves then said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them up now? 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. But gather the wheat into my barns.

Father, we long to hear you. Speak to our hearts, to soften it, to mold it and to make it. Lord, speak to us now in Jesus name. Amen. You know, I'd really love to pronounce this word.

I think I'll try it. Lolium to mullentum.

I just spoke in tongues.

Now, that's actually the biological word for a plant that we know today as darnel. Poisonous darnel. The root of this name, to molentum, comes from a Latin word that means intoxicating. And more than likely, this is exactly what Jesus was referring to in this parable. In fact, if you have a study guide, I want you to look at it.

And there's two pictures on that study guide. Now, to the naked eye, you look at it real quick and you're like, there's not a whole lot of difference between those two pictures, is there?

One is wheat and one is poisonous darnel. In fact, you can see it up here on the screen. I mean, the way the picture is being perceived, you can tell the difference, right? Like the one on the left, you can kind of see that it's got a lot, kind of a little bit more seed, they're a little more compact around the stem, but when it's coming out of the ground, you probably can't tell that big of a difference. The blade, the width the blade, and those little pieces coming off the tips of the seeds, you can't really tell the difference until it's time to harvest.

At certain levels, darnel is just that, it's poisonous. It's strong enough to kill people. You know how they found this out? Well, they would go and they would take the grain that was harvested, mill it and put it into bread. And when they started eating the bread, you know what happened?

They died because it's poisonous, but at a little level, it's intoxicating. In fact, there's a painting that was painted about poisonous darnel. And the farmers are all passed out on a couch from eating the darnel. Drunk, intoxicated. And back in the distance in the field, you see a demon like character throwing seed.

You see, this is a picture of what Satan has done in our lives. He has planted among us false witnesses, false prophets, false teachers, deceived believers for the purpose of doing two things. Taking away nutrients and taking up space. Taking up nutrients and taking up space. Remember what we read in the parable of the sower, verse 22, and the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns.

This is the man who hears the word. And the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Why? Because. Because there are voices telling them, worry about the world, worry about your wealth, worry about your impressions, worry about the way people think about you.

Worry about all these things rather than worrying about, am I planted in the word of God? And if I'm not, if I'm not, I'm allowing the poisonous darnel to choke me out. In fact, one lady wrote this article, and the title of it was, Wheat's evil twin has been intoxicating humans for Centuries. That's the name of the article, and she gives some examples and some points about this plant. It's called the mimic weed because it looks just like wheat until those buds come forth and you see the seeds.

It's called a stowaway because once it's harvested, it gets mixed in with the wheat seeds and you can't tell the difference and it gets resown. It's kind of like some of you right now that have. How many of you have a garden this year? You got a garden, raise your hand high, Big, big and high. Right now it looks beautiful.

Stuff's starting to come out. I mean, Laura popped and strung green beans all and canned. I mean, it's beautiful. Like, had this perfect jar of green beans. Can't wait to eat them.

But you know what's interesting? In the fall, when you stop harvesting, this little plant starts coming up. It's called Cuckleburg. And you didn't see the seeds before you tilled up the garden, did you? But, you know, every year, these weeds just have a way of coming right back up.

I just cut a tree down in my backyard, and I didn't have to put a single seed out. And it's full of weeds already. You see, you can't distinguish it. Howard Thomas, biologist, said this. Where there is darnel, there is treachery, toxicity.

Shakespeare even referred to Darnell's properties in the story of King Lear, where he's wearing it around his head in a crown of weeds. And more than likely, the symptoms of his madness was a symptom of darnel poisoning. In classical Greek, it was called the plant of frenzy. They would use the pagan worshipers would use it, much like drug abusers today. Mushrooms and all these other things to get intoxicated and lose Control.

One modern use is people mixing darnel with barley to put it in their beer so it has a little extra kick.

I think the case is made that its presence is neither pleasant nor profitable. And the reality of what I just read says this. There are tares all around us. What do I do? Because Jesus already made the argument, you know them by their fruits.

Well, let me ask you a question. If you're a Christian, then what kind of fruit should somebody expect to see in your life? Have you ever asked that question? Jonathan Edwards, when he wrote Religious Affections, he talked about the 12 affections that should result in from regeneration, that you've truly been. That you've truly been saved.

May I read the 12 to you? Paraphrased. And as I read them, I want you to think about your life, because I'm going to tell you, in grace, no Christian is perfect. You're not going to get these right all the time. But if there's not some consistency of these things in your life, you need to ask the question, have I been born again?

What kind of tree am I? The presence of Divine influence Is there influence in your life by the divine, the Holy Spirit? Do you focus on God's person or only what God does for you? Is there a conviction for knowing spiritual truth and not driven by emotional hype? Is there a measure of internal motivation from being reborn where you're pursuing new life in the Spirit?

Is there a place of humility in your life, a deep awareness of the depth of sin and the need of God's grace? Is there love, obedience and godliness being produced in your life because grace has invaded you? Is there some observation of being in balance in your spiritual life, not lopsided ebbing to and fro? Is there a commitment in your life to Christlike behavior, not just in talk or in response, but behaving like Jesus would behave? Is there the observation of a softened, tender, teachable and loving heart in response to God and others?

Is there a hunger for the things of God and for the things he wants? Is there the measure of bearing spiritual fruit consistent over a measure of time with perseverance and consistency? And finally there some presence of progressing in holiness? In other words, it's over time. Your life is no different than when you made profession.

Your profession means nothing.

You will stand before Jesus someday and you will say, but Lord. Lord, I went down to the altar in Bible school and I had a Bible. I even gave money. I went to church every week. And those don't even compare to what he said in There about doing miracles and healing and prophesying me.

Those were big things, and yet they still did not know them. Why? Because he said, you have worked lawlessness. See, the fruit of these others are division. The fruit of the sons of unrighteousness is.

Is discord. The fruit of unrighteousness is uncontrolled anger and sin giving in to lust.

That's what the sons of the enemy is, sowing among the sons of the righteous. So I'm asking you again, and I want you to look at me sincerely. Look at me. What kind of tree are you?

I want you to pick up with me in Matthew 13:36, because after two parables, which I'm just telling you next week, come back, you're going to hear those other two parables, and it's going to be special. I'm just not going to tell you why. You just need to be here next week. 1031 Service Be here. No groups.

Be here 1030, because there's a special, special surprise, or it is special to me. In 36, Jesus says, it says they went into the house and his disciples said, explain this parable. And so there's some characters that begin to be explained. First is the sower. This is Jesus, the Son of man.

The phrase he's used 82 times to refer to himself without saying me. He's referring to himself in third person. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. And the field is the world. The field is the world.

Around about the third or fourth century with St. Augustine and others, they began to try to say that this was Satan sowing in the church alone. But I'm going to argue, no, this is Satan sowing in the world. Because for most of us in this room, we spend one hour in this room. No, he says he's sown it in the world to disrupt the sons of the kingdom where they have been planted.

So then we see that this good seed is believers. They're the ones who have come through the narrow gate that have repented because the kingdom of God is Ann. They're the ones that two weeks ago when we talked about repentance, have taken on the mind of God and said, God, your priorities, your standards, is what I should worry about, not my own. And the Tares, According to verse 38, they are the sons of the evil one, the devil, according to Philippians three, two. They're the dogs.

They're the false circumcision. They're the ones in 1:17 of Philippians that proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than pure motives. But I also believe that they're those that are self deceived, false believers. Self deceived false believers. It's a concept that Mark Devers says is the suicide of the church.

That if you'll just show up, I'll tell you something easy enough to believe, but it'll have no transforming effect in your life. You think that because the world's getting more worldly that that's why people have left the church over the last 50 years. It's not because of that. It's because the church has become soft on sin and is not preaching the purity of the gospel. And I'm begging you today to consider that.

Because God, if you are a son of the kingdom, has planted you exactly where you are. Not to become like, but to be like. Not to become salt, but to be salt, not to become a witness. You, you are a witness. If you have been saved, you have witnessed the life changing power of being reborn.

I am no longer the way that I was. I am now a child of God. And it's a supernatural power at work in me. It's not me just trying to get a little better at things. It's God has changed me.

Has he changed you? Have you experienced the grace of God in such a way that you loathe sin as much as God loathes sin? And that you long for righteousness and hunger for righteousness as much as God wants it for you See, the enemy, the devil, See, that's been his mode forever, is to seek to divide and discourage and to diminish. And his followers are no different, according. Write this passage down.

2nd Corinthians 11, 13, 15. 2 Corinthians 11, 13, 15 says this, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. You've got people around you who profess to be Christian and they're sons of the devil. That's hard, isn't it?

You're looking at me like man, you're being awful judgy. Oh, we're not supposed to judge people, you know. Let me say this online and in this room. Jesus never said not to judge what he said. Listen, Matthew 7:1 says, do not judge lest you be judged.

He said you need to judge actually. Why? Because you need to discern who's around you. He said to remove the gunk out of your eyes so you can see clearly. If you can't judge, then how are you going to keep false Teachers out of your life.

If you can't judge, how can you judge if somebody's coming against you or not coming against you for selfish gain or to bring harm against you? Yes, you need to judge. What you don't do is pass value on your life. What you don't have is permission to be executioner. That's what we just read in that parable.

He said, yeah, the tares are in the wheat, but don't touch the tares. It's not your job.

I'm just going to chase a rabbit. Y' all ready?

Churches have stopped doing church discipline. You know why? Because if we tell you you're wrong, you'll just get in your car and go to another church and you're sowing the seeds of the devil. If somebody comes to you in grace and love, you receive it. Jesus said in Matthew 18, if they won't receive that, you take somebody else with you and you confront them.

And if that won't listen, then you bring them before the assembly and you treat them like a what? A lost person. And how do you treat lost people? With the gospel. You see, the reason church discipline hasn't worked is because the church has abused it.

We've used it for punitive reasons. It's for repentance. You confront people to draw them to a place of repentance so that their soul might be saved. Isn't that what James wrote at the very end of his book? That if you lead someone astray, that their soul might be saved?

I mean, how awesome is that? That God could use you a wheat to bring a tare into the kingdom? Maybe, just maybe, it's the reverse, that maybe the invasive species isn't the tares. Maybe, maybe we are. Maybe God has said, I've sown you in the world so you can invade Satan's territory.

Be the light, be the salt, be the witness, so that people might actually see the light and come to know Jesus Christ. Oh, but I can't go around lost people. I might catch the sin.

You have been sown where the sower has intended. And when it comes time for the harvest, the end of the age, the consummation of the age, what we call the Great White Throne judgment. We read about this in Matthew 25 and Revelation 20, where there is a separation. In Matthew 25, the goat and the sheep are separated. In Revelation 20, those who are not in the book of life are separated.

Now look at me. Listen. This is why people don't repent anymore. They have no reason to repent because they don't know that there's judgment coming. Whoever's name is not found in the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the.

Oh, say it louder. Oh, that was metaphorical. God didn't really mean there's a literal hell. There's a literal hell, my friend. There is a literal burning hell.

And it's burning for Satan and his angels and was never created for you. But as long as you live in self deception, self assurance, and God has not rebirthed you, you will be there someday. And that should trouble you, that should bother you, that before you leave these doors today, ask yourself the question, has Jesus Christ saved me from my sins, not making me a better person?

Almost everything in church today is about therapeutically making me a better and moral person. That is not the gospel. But what it does do is it changes your nature. And if your nature is changed for the good, then what should come out of your life? Good.

You will know a tree by the what? That it bears the fruit. And these harvesters will come and they will separate. In fact, he says in here, I want you to notice in verse number 41, he says, those he will gather out of his kingdom. Out of the kingdom.

We're talking about kingdom parables, right? The tares will no longer be in the kingdom. When this time comes, he will take them out. He calls them stumbling blocks, committers of lawlessness. The word stumbling block is used 15 times in the Greek text.

And one thing you may know it better by is in Matthew 18, where Jesus has the kids coming to him, and he says, woe to him who would keep the kids from coming. It would be better if he does anything to these little ones, that he have a rock tied around his neck and thrown into the ocean and drown. But wait, listen. What else he said. He follows that up because, you know, we got to teach a little bit on that.

Jesus then said, woe to the world. Where are we sown? Say it again.

The ten walls we're in right now. We have spent about an hour or two hours a week you were sown in the world. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks. For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come tares among the wheat. But woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes.

Can I get real eyeball to eyeball with you? Thank you, Levi Skipp.

If your total existence in church is to cause problems, to sow discord and complain all the time and make people's lives miserable, you might be a son of the devil.

If your modus operandi is to go and gossip about how bad this person is, that person is, how bad that church is, how bad this pastor is. You might be a son of the devil, and that should bother you. Where is the fruit of righteousness in your life? See, because Christians forgive. Why?

Because Jesus forgave us. Christians live holy lives. Why? Because God is holy and he's called us to be holy. How are you different?

So true to my nature. I could ramble about this all day long, but I want to walk through five realities. Five realities. We've already read both the parable and the explanation. But can I give you these five realities and give you some applications?

And I'm just expecting, you know, I've given you some verses in these points. Go home and read those. You need to constantly check every person that stands in this pulpit of whether or not we are speaking truth. But what you don't have a right to do is go down to this steakhouse after church and talk about how bad we are. That is not profitable, nor is it profitable to catch every pastor in this church and complain about everything that you don't like.

You know what that does? That sows. Discouragement. Intoxication is a Darnell. Toxicity is Darnel.

What are you doing to sow? To life? The first one is this. Spiritual growth is expected. I don't know that I need to really dig into that one very, very deep.

But because this parable is coming off the parable of the sower, the word is sown. And it's expected that a plant will come forth out of that soil and begin to grow into a plant. Spiritual growth is expected from the word. And I'm just telling you, go and read those passages. But I want you to hear this one.

This is Psalm 2, 3, Psalm 1, 2, 3. In verse 3, he says he, this person who meditates on the law of the Lord will be planted by streams of water which. Which yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither. And whatever he does, he will prosper. It's one of the reasons why here at Ebenezer we talk so much about our purpose statement.

And one of those purposes, one of our values, is discipleship, owning our faith. And how do we know that I'm owning my faith? Because I'm learning. If I'm growing, I'm a learner. And if I'm learning, I will grow.

It goes hand in hand. That's why we believe it. But how can I grow? And if I'm not learning? So I'm just going to ask you straight, point blank.

Where are you in ingesting the word of God? Do you read it? Do you have a Bible? Like when we quote verses up here? You going home, going, wait a minute, let me check that.

Do you get up every day and at some level you're taking a verse and processing it? Don't just read it. So you can go, okay, on the Bible app, I got my reading done for the day. But is it speaking to you? In fact, I want to challenge you to think of it like this.

And I've said this before, it's more than you just reading the words. The word reading you and analyzing you. And it can't do that if you don't spend any time in it. Now we're in the 21st century, I'm going to suggest that almost everybody in this room can read. That's not true around the world.

And 2,000 years ago, it wasn't true either. You know how they got the Bible? They sat with other people and they read it. So let me say this because I've already, you know, I've been on enough soapboxes already. Let me say this one.

You don't read the Bible in a vacuum, and you don't read it for what it means to you. That's dangerous. That is very dangerous. If you sit under a teacher, and I hope none of our life group teachers do this, but if they don't, I'm about to scold you. Don't you ever ask somebody, well, what does that verse mean to you?

It has a meaning and the application varies. Truth is truth. If you start distorting truth to fit you, you become God. How's the word speaking to your life? Second point, Second reality.

We just talked about this. True and false believers coexist. The enemy sows them among us, but where does he sow us in the where in the world? But as we read in Matthew 7 and Matthew 12, it's clear that there will be a distinction between those who are sons of the kingdom and the sons of the enemy. You see, we're in a spiritual battle.

And Satan wants to do everything to diminish, disrupt and stop the work of the Gospel. But let me ask you a question. So here you are. And say maybe where you're planted, you've got 12 weeds around you. Maybe you're planted over here.

And this person over here, you might have two or three around you. Live and be where you're planted. Live and be where you are planted. But now let me ask you this. Are you walking close enough to Jesus that if you're being smothered by the tares around you, that you can still thrive in your spiritual life.

Number three, the connection between true and false believers is very delicate. If you could look under the soil, what you would find is, here's this wheat and its root ball, and here's the darnel and its root ball, and they're interlapping. That's why he said, don't go pull up the wheat, because if you pull it up, the weeds would then uproot the other one. Do you know sometimes in your life, the terror is actually your brother, your mother, a family member, a close friend. That's why it's delicate.

You'll offend a stranger, but you will submit to somebody who's beside you. Let me talk to my. Let me talk to my friends that are starting to date and want to date. You know, you see this like, you're going, like, you know what, Lord, I want to keep my purity to the day I get married.

I think that's every young christian's desire. I'm going to stay pure. But then you have no discernment about the tares that you're dating. And I can guarantee you the terror don't care about your purity. No one.

Amen to that. You missed an opportunity.

It's better for you to hold out until a godly man or woman comes in your life that will support the faith that you have than to jump in the bed with somebody who does not. And that's just one example of many. Maybe you got a buddy at work, and, you know, like you said, you know what? I struggle with alcohol. I put that behind me.

But then you go every afternoon, and you go with the guy who's going to get the beer at the bar. You're just like, I'm just going to be his designated driver. But then you start taking a sip, too. The darnell is intoxicating, and it's a delicate relationship between you and them. And so my question to you is, are you setting appropriate boundaries so that you keep the influence of the tare at arm's length?

Number four, leave the judging between true and false believers to God. And I'm talking about the passing of the judgment, yet strive for purity in the church. Let me make a point here. When he said, don't touch the tares because you might hurt the wheat does not mean that the wheat just sits there and goes, okay, well, tare, have your way with me. It's very clear in scripture, in colossians where he talks about that we are called to be holy.

In Ephesians 5, when he's talking about the husband and the wife, the husband's job is to keep the wife pure as the church. When we get to Revelation and Jesus appears and it talks about a bride adorned with for her husband, it's the church in Christ. We're to be holy. And when we make judgment that someone is causing something to make the church unholy, that is okay. That's why church discipline existed.

That's why Jesus called us to do that. Why? Because we want to present ourselves and the church as holy. What that does not give you the permission to do is go to harm or hurt somebody. You're going to confront them, to call them to repentance.

90% of the times in church, I've had to confront somebody over the sins they left.

But in leaving, they proved where their heart is. You want a heart to be softened, to receive the truth of Scripture so that it might then take root and grow into what it's supposed to be. Here's the reality. Judgment is coming. Romans 1:18 says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

God is ticked off. He's ticked off at your sin, he's ticked off at my sin. And the longer that I continue in my sin, the matter that God should get, but it's a righteous anger.

He said, never take revenge on your own, but leave room for the wrath of God. For God said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. Let God take care of the judging part. We take care of living in holiness. And if the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, at some point in your life, holy should begin to live out of you.

Okay, so what? I know I'm going a little bit longer, but y' all are second service and y' all love me. I'm just kidding.

So what? There are two reasons that people have moved on.

There are two reasons that church discipline doesn't get done in a restorative way. Because sometimes it's been too harsh or there is a soft tolerance to just let things be as they are. Both of those are damaging. If we desire to be in the big C church, we ought to long for purity. And one way we do this.

Now, hear me carefully. I'm going to coach you now. You need an accountability partner. You need someone you have given permission in your life to say, hey, you know what? What you're doing, it's not good.

And you need in grace to be able to say, you know, What I received that in the spirit that it was given, it doesn't give you the right to be moral police. Because when you go to somebody and say, man, you're an idiot, what are you thinking? That doesn't help anything.

In loving response, you then confront somebody and they would hopefully receive that. And if they won't, then you take somebody else who has clout with them and has relationship with them to say, hey, you know what, this isn't good. And if they won't hear you the third time, then you consider them lost. That's hard, isn't it? But if they won't repent of their sin, then they're stuck in their sin, which means they're lost.

So there's this big question, the last point. What are you? What are you? What am I? Am I a wheat or am I a tare?

Because if I'm a tare, I could go to counseling, I can go somewhere else and get a whole lot of self help stuff, but I cannot make myself a wheat. The only way that you can become a wheat is, is to accept Jesus Christ in the free pardon of your sin, to receive him, Repent of your sins, ask for forgiveness. But in doing that, trusting that Jesus raised him from the dead, the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead then comes into your life and he changes you. And if transformation is not taking place, there's no evidence of transformation. Then you may be lost, or at the minimum, you may be struggling.

But the solution is the same. To take on the mind of God and repent of whatever behaviors that you're doing and get back on the track craving that word of God. See, Mark Devers said this. The reason that things are the way it is today is because there's five things that aren't being preached. Can I just go ahead and say these things to you so I can say I preached them?

God's judgment is coming.

Joe, can I pick on you? Joe asked me the day he said, you think the end's coming? And I said, well, I've got my reasons why I don't believe it is. But there is one sign that we can see right now. There is a great falling away.

That is one of the signs that Jesus is about soon coming. But we ought to expect it every day. We ought to wake up every day. I've been given another day. God didn't come back today.

So his grace has given us one more day to live. We should in that that I and you should be judged for our sin because we are all guilty. That's why we need Jesus. We need to analyze our life. Is it hopeful in Christ?

Are we seeing the fullness of salvation inside of us? And finally, are we watching out for the deceivers in our life? So my question is, what are you? Because when you read Daniel 12, 3, which is a quotation that Jesus makes here, it says, those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness in the heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness like stars, forever and ever. As you shine, you are beckoning others to come and shine with you.

You see, we think that the tares were the invasive species. They're not. We are. We are. In fact, that last blank on your outline says this.

The kingdom has come to invade, as God has planted you. But you know what I know that wherever you're planted, you may be surrounded. Jesus said, I know my sheep, and no one can pluck them from my hand. You don't have to worry about being a wheat and becoming a tare, but what you need to be concerned about is helping the tare become weak. And that only happens through the supernatural power of God.

He said, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. But he's planted you and he's planted me. So as we take this time to wrap up, I'm going to give you five applications from reality. Number one, are you in the word? Number two, because those false believers exist.

How are you living separate but holy? Number three, that relationship is delicate. So I'm asking you, how are you setting boundaries in your life to safeguard your own purity? Number four, it says we need to leave the judgment to God. Well, let's leave it to him.

But we live knowing there's coming a day very soon where the sheep and the goats will be separated, the wheat and the tares will be separated. Does that bother you, Church? Does it bother you? Does it bother you that the person sitting next to you that may have been sitting there for 50 years has never been born again? And when they leave this world, they'll stand before God and they will go to hell.

Does it bother you? No. Does it bother you? Does it bother you that you may be self deceived and you yourself may be going to hell someday? Steve Payson says it all the time.

Hell's going to be full of a lot of good people because they weren't born again.

So as we go into this time of prayer, reflection and decision, I'm challenging you. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your lord and savior and you're not sure, why would you Leave this place today and be in doubt. You have no reason, there's no reason why you can leave today in doubt if God's stirring in your heart and making you realize, know what? I am a sinner and my sin is on my shoulders right now. I want Jesus to take my sin away.

So I'm gonna ask you to stand with me. I appreciate you letting me go a little bit longer because this was a teaching message. And I'll be frank with you, I skipped three pages. You're welcome. You know what I'd rather have you do is go.

You know what you've made me think. I'm going to go home and read this again. I'm going to go home and study this again. I'm going to come back next week and see what it looks like to have to see how the kingdom is going to grow like a mustard seed.

Father, as we go into this time of decision, there's a lot of things I could challenge them to do. I could challenge those in this room that said, you know what, I'm kind of stuck in my growth. They can come to this altar and pray and say, lord, I confess my sins, I repent, please forgive me. I'm going to get back on track. I'm going to get in your word.

I'm going to get with other people that will lift me up, encourage me. Can I be frank, Lord? Maybe there's some people in this room that need to come down to this altar and confess for the division that they've sown. Maybe they need to go to the people that they've hurt because of that and ask them to forgive them. But mostly, Lord, there may be some here today that are lost.

And I would ask Lord that they wouldn't leave this place to know that it's not a metaphorical hell, but it's a real hell. And whether they're self deceived or they're being deceived by others, if they're a tare, the only way they can become a weed is for Jesus to change them. So Lord, I ask that you would work in our hearts and our lives right now in Jesus name, amen.