The Great Separation

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This is the fifth sermon in a series of messages on the Kingdom of God. This message references the parables of the Kingdom of God in which Jesus describes the separation that will take place between the tares and the wheat; the good and bad fish; and the wise and foolish virgins.

Written excerpts:

Matthew 13:24-30, 47-50 ^(NKJV) 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. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "

⁴⁷ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 25:1-13 (NKJV)  “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Introduction:

This is now the 5^th sermon in a series we have been doing regarding the Kingdom of God. We have already covered a number of topics related to the Kingdom:

·    The Old Testament basis for the Kingdom and other details such as: kingdoms have a sovereign ruler or king, the king rules over a dominion or realm, & the fact that God’s kingdom is both present and future;

·     The values of the world vs. the values of the Kingdom;

·     The infinite value or worth of God’s Kingdom and our investment in it; and

·     The ever-expanding growth of the Kingdom.

Today we are going to examine another feature of the Kingdom of God. This feature includes the sobering fact that there is a day of reckoning and judgment coming.

The parables we are discussing today about the kingdom of God each stress the truth that there is a great separation coming when there will be a division between the wheat and the weeds, the good and bad fish, and the wise and foolish virgins.

I would like to summarize the content of each parable and then draw a few conclusions for us to ponder.

Parable of the Tares (Weeds)

Not a parable about true and false believers in the church.

Jesus is talking about the world (v.38) with good seeds (true believers, “sons of the kingdom”) and the weeds (sons of the wicked one).

(Weeds were identified as “darnell” by most commentaries because it so closely resembles wheat in early growth.) The weeds look just like the wheat until it came time for the heads of grain to form, then it became apparent that they were weeds. (Just like people who haven’t been truly born again and filled with God’s Spirit can still imitate Christian behavior to some extent.)

“Enemy sowed the weeds.” In that region it was a crime to purposely sow weeds into someone’s crop field. The “sons of the wicked one” are not only headed for destruction themselves, but are used by the “wicked one” in an attempt to hinder/ruin the good seed or “sons of the kingdom.”

The owner allows both to grow together until the time of harvest when the weeds will be gathered and burned, but the wheat will be gathered in storage.

Jesus compares the harvest to the time when God will send angels to harvest the wicked and the righteous from the world. There will be a final separation with quite pronounced differences in their final lot (fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth vs. shining forth in glory).

Parable of the Fishing Dragnet

Tyndale Commentaries - The net is the large ‘dragnet’ which is drawn between two boats or by ropes from the shore, collecting all fish and other creatures within the area covered, which must then be sorted out to remove the bad, i.e. those unsuitable for eating. The reference, as in the weeds, is not primarily to a mixed church, but to the division among mankind in general which the last judgment will bring to light.

Jesus says this dragnet describes the separation of the wicked from the just. The wicked will be cast into the fire with wailing and gnashing of teeth. He doesn’t mention what happens to the just, but it is assumed that they are rewarded as indicated in the previous parable.

Parable of the Ten Virgins

This parable is not given at the same time as the two we’ve just discussed, but it was included in a later discourse by Christ about His second coming.

Lenski New Testament Commentary - These [virgins] were friends of the bride who went out from their homes with the necessary lamps, not to the bride's home, but to a place that was conveniently near. When the groom brought the bride out of her home, these virgins came forward and joined the procession with their lighted lamps and had their part in the feasting and the joy of the wedding in the groom's house…. In this parable the bride and her special attendants and the companions of the bridegroom are not mentioned because the [point of comparison] deals only with the bridegroom and with the action of these virgins.

The number ten is not accidental but symbolical. It denotes completeness. Thus we have Ten Commandments, ten talents (25:28), ten pieces of silver (Luke 15:8), ten servants, ten pounds, ten cities (Luke 19:13-17), an instrument of ten strings (Ps. 33:2), at least ten families needed to establish a synagogue, and ten persons for a funeral procession. These ten virgins represent all the followers of Christ during all the ages….

Lamps without oil are the forms of Christian life that are without the substance of this life; lamps together with oil are the forms that are vitalized by the true Christian life. Compare 5:14. We may call this oil spiritual life, faith with its works, even the Holy Ghost as some do. We prefer to think of faith and its works as being the flame of the lamp, the grace and the power of Christ in his Word as the oil, and the outward forms of Christianity as the lamps. We have the exposition in 2 Tim. 3:5: "Having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof." We must have both.

I won’t try to interpret all the points of the parable, except to offer these few observations:

1. At the end of the story, there is a final division between the wise and the foolish, similar to the separations that occurred in the previous parables. The wise get to go inside with the wedding party but the foolish are left on the outside, forbidden to enter.

2. The virgins were described the same in every way except in the level of readiness when the bridegroom finally came.

They were ready at the beginning, but they were not ready when the crucial time came to go meet the groom.

Those who did not remain ready due to a lack of oil, were shut out of the celebration with finality.

3. What does it mean to be ready with fresh oil? The condition of readiness appears to be further expanded with the next parable in the chapter (vv. 14-30).

Lenski New Testament Commentary – [The structure of the sentence in the original language indicates that] Jesus is still speaking of "the kingdom of the heavens" (v. 1) and is adding another resemblance….

In the parable of the Pounds [Lk. 19] we have ten slaves and ten pounds, to each slave one pound. The one pound given to each slave is the Word and the Sacraments which belong alike to each of us and can never be divided. In the present parable the number of the slaves is not important. The point stressed here is the diversity, one getting more, another fewer talents. This very diversity helps us to explain the talents. They are our abilities and gifts, of which each of us has his personal and different share. We may think of the spiritual gifts, but we must include the natural (sanctified as they ought to be by grace) faculties of mind and of body, position, influence, money, education, and every earthly advantage and blessing. They come to us from the same Lord as a sacred trust to be employed in his service….

In this he is a picture of all those in the church who for any reason refuse to use the gifts of Christ in his service.

The point of the parable seems to be that it is not enough to believe the gospel (as all ten virgins and all three servants would seem to represent), but we must be continuously ready for the coming of the bridegroom by using (investing) our gifts in the service of the Lord.

You might have heard this statement before: “Going to a church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car.”

A more appropriate analogy might be this: “Going to church and saying you’re a believer doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going into a fire station and saying you believe in fighting fires makes you a real firefighter.”

To be a firefighter, you must actually fight fires. You certainly need the special training and the correct qualifications, but you’re still not a firefighter until you actually go out and help put out fires.

We are not really Christian until we have embraced certain beliefs, and we actually practice the instructions of our Lord.

Failure to invest our gifts and abilities in the service of the Lord would not only make us like the one servant who buried his talent, but it would also make us like the foolish virgins who did not buy enough oil to keep their torches lit when it was time to go meet the bridegroom.

The sad consequence is… separation from all those who are ready.

Conclusion:

We have taken a look at three specific parables today, plus a brief glance at a fourth one.

The common theme in all three has been the concluding scene involving separation between the good and the bad; the righteous and the wicked; or the wise and the foolish.

These parables reveal the truth that Jesus not only offered love & grace to his listeners but he also warned of coming judgment – a day when there will be final distinction btw true & false, right & wrong, and between “kingdom accepter and kingdom rejecter.”

These parables reveal the same truth that is revealed at the end of God’s revelation – separation is final.

See Rev. 20:11-15 ^(NKJV) Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

I want to close the service today by asking you the question that is asked in our closing hymn: There’s a great day coming… are you ready for that day to come?