Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

WHENCE HATH IT TARES?

1. The sower, in this parable, is the Son of man, He sows the good seed:
   1. The field is the world - Matt. 13:38; 28:18-20
   2. The good seed are the children of God or the kingdom of God.
2. The sower of the tares is the devil:
   1. The tares are the children of the wicked one - Matt. 13:38, 39
   2. The harvest is the end of the world.
   3. The harvesters are the angels.

1. This is a thought provoking question:
   1. Christ calls his children out of the world; He separates them from their former life - 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Rev. 18:4
   2. Yet, sooner or later, one discovers that among the saints are children of the wicked one.
   3. How did they get into the church?
2. Did they get into the church:
   1. Because the church lowered its standard?
   2. Did they come into the fellowship of the believers with hidden sins in their lives, unknown to themselves?
3. Do we not read in Eph. 5:27 that when the Son of Man cometh to receive his people, his church will be without spot or wrinkles?
   1. How do wicked people get into the church?
   2. We may not be able to answer these very important questions, but this we do know that it is the devil that guides them into the church to harm it - Matt. 13:39
4. This parable of our Lord is very important for a number of reasons:
   1. It shows how Satan uses divers means and ways to hinder the work of the gospel.
   2. To make the cause of Christ appear in an unfavorable light.
   3. To entice or ensnare careless souls and destroy them.
5. How Satan works and how to guard against his devices; how to foil his evil designs:
   1. Satan works in the church while we sleep -
      1. When the members of the church are asleep and off guard, Satan does his dirty work - Rom. 13:11-14
      2. The ten virgins are a good example of God's children going to sleep - Matt. 25:1-12
   2. The tares always surprise those who must take or deal with the consequences of sin.
   3. Our unguarded moments are ever openings for the enemy of our soul.

1. It shows that sinful and wicked people do get into the church, where they can do much harm:
   1. A little leaven leavens a whole lump - 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9
   2. Sin works like a cancer, it will eat into the very life of those affected by it - 2 Tim. 2:17
2. Experience shows that sinners get into the church through divers channels:
   1. Carelessness in holding up the standard in the church opens the door for sinners to join the careless to make trouble to the church.
   2. Association with worldlings will lead to worldliness among the members of the church, and that will work like a contagion, spreading its poison very rapidly.
3. The question is ever present -- What can be done about it to keep the enemy out of the church?
   1. That is a most difficult job for anyone.
   2. The difficulty arises from our inability to differentiate the wheat from the tares.
   3. There is a time in the growth of the wheat and the tares when it seems impossible to know which is the wheat and which are the tares.
4. Here is what the church can do:
   1. It can hold up the banner of truth and urge its members to live up to the standard.
   2. It can expose the working of Satan, so that the people can be on guard.
   3. It must, however, let the wheat and tares grow until the harvest -- and let God divide the tares from the wheat - Matt. 13.