We shall now turn to the chapter which we read together, Matthew chapter 13, and we shall read again verse 43. Matthew 13, verse 43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Who has ears to hear Let him hear. Jesus is telling us here the parable of the tears, the wheat and the tears. And he's explaining it for us. And then he says at the end, who has ears to hear? Let him hear. Do you have ears? Well, it looks as if you do. But then, do you have spiritual ears? Do you hear God speaking to you? Do you really hear? There are so many people, and the Word of God seems to just go in one ear and out another. It passes over them. It seems to make no difference. There are many voices calling for your attention. You hear the call of pleasure, but do you hear the call of repentance and the need for faith? Are you deaf to the voice of Christ? I wonder, has the loud music of this world dulled your ears so that you can't hear. How important it is that you ask God to give you the Holy Spirit to open your ears and to enable you to hear Christ speaking to you from the Bible. God's Word is not an old book irrelevant and unimportant. God's Word is alive and it's God speaking to you today. And as I stand in this pulpit today, I'm saying to you, God is speaking to you, whether you hear it or not. Thus saith the Lord. Open your ears and hear what God is to say to you. Take it seriously. Take it to heart. Too many people don't listen and then perish. Listen to God's Word and be saved. Well first of all here tonight we notice Christ's work. Verse 37, Jesus explains the the parable of the wheat and the tears. He that soweth the good seed is the son of man. So we have here Christ's work. He sows the good seed. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. The good seed are Christians, believers. Are you the good seed? Have you been born again? Have your eyes been opened to see Jesus? Your ears to hear him? Do you have a living relationship with him? Not all are the children of the kingdom and the children of God. You need a work of God in your soul, convicting you of sin, showing you your need, bringing you to repentance, bringing about faith in your heart. Remember how Nicodemus came to Jesus asking a question. We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Well, it's not much of a question, but Jesus understood the question and Jesus replied to him. You must be born again. No man can get to heaven except he's born again. Except you are born of water and of the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom. You want to be part of the kingdom, a child of the kingdom. Unless you're born again, you cannot enter the kingdom. You need God to work in you. not some decision of your own, not some good resolution, but God, God in you. You need to be born of God. And God is the author and the finisher of our faith. He's the one who starts it and who ends it. We need God. Too often today the idea is given that you're the author of your faith and you're the finisher of it. You make the decision. You make the commitment. You keep on going with the commitment. And it's you, you, you all the way along. But you're too weak to save yourself. You're dead in trespasses and sins. You need God to save you. You need Christ to have mercy on you. You need the Holy Spirit to work in your heart. You need a miracle. Nothing else will do. Has God begun then this good work in you? And has this huge change taken place? Conversion? It's a new creation. You didn't perform the first creation, and you can't perform the new creation. It's not of man. Paul plants, Apollos waters, God gave the increase. We can do all the planting we like and all the watering we like, but there'll be no increase unless God gives the increase. God alone is the one who does it. And that's why the scripture says, look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. Whoever you are, wherever you are across the whole world, look to me and be saved. Don't look inward. Don't look to man. Don't look to humans to help you. But look to me. Look unto me. and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Our God is a mighty saviour. Ask him to save you. Ask him into your heart, into your life. Cry to him to have mercy upon you. Christ's work then, he plants the children of the kingdom. But then secondly, we see here Satan's wickedness. The farmer planted the seed in the field. He planted the wheat. But under cover of darkness, an enemy comes along. And he sows tares in the field, wheats. He wants to spoil, to cause trouble, to choke the good seed. He wants to do harm. Remember how it was in the Garden of Eden? Everything was lovely and beautiful. There were Adam and Eve in the image of God and knowledge, righteousness and holiness. The beautiful trees and flowers, the animals and the birds and everything in harmony, everything bursting with life. And God coming into the garden and fellowshipping with man. It was wonderful. God and man together in the garden. And then in comes the evil one, the serpent, and everything is spoiled. And the whole world is spoiled. The serpent comes in and he brings misery, destruction. Satan hates God. He rebelled against God in heaven. was thrown out of heaven, came to earth, and goes around seeking to do as much destruction as he can. His name is the Destroyer, Abaddon in Hebrew, Apollyon in Greek. He makes great promises. He told Eve, eat of this fruit and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. You'll feel wonderful. It'll be amazing. You'll be like God. She ate the fruit and instead of being like God, she became like the devil, a child of the devil. And Adam with her. Eating the fruit, listening to the great liar brought misery into the world, pain and suffering. And men and women today are under the wrath and curse of God. Satan promises you happiness too. You listen to him and he leaves you empty and miserable. You try what he tells you to do and instead of feeling good, you feel flat and guilty and ashamed. He tells you money will give you everything. You need more money. You have to get it one way or another. But you end up dying and leaving all your money behind. You have that beautiful house and that wonderful garden and then you have to go into a care home and you've just got that one room. And then it's death. and you've got six foot of ground. You had so much, but you leave it all behind. Satan promises everything and gives you nothing but misery. The wages of sin is death. Why listen to the destroyer? He wants to destroy you and to destroy everyone in this world. Think of the misery that he brought into the world at the beginning. Turn your back on Satan. Listen to God for a change. Listen to what Christ has to say, to what God's word says. Does Satan have your true interests at heart? Not a bit of it. But God does. And God gives you his commandments, his law, and his gospel. His promises and His eternal salvation. He gives you a saviour. So we have there Christ's work and Satan's work. Next, the angels weeping. The angels are God's servants. They go back and forth from heaven, carrying out the work of Christ in the world. Just the other day I was reading a sermon by Jonathan Edwards and I thought it was very interesting what he said. How is there joy in heaven? How do the saints in heaven know what is going on in the world and when somebody is converted? Well, the angels, they're ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who are heirs of salvation. They're back and forth from earth all the time. This morning we were talking about Jacob and Jacob's ladder reaching up to heaven, the dream that he had. And then you remember how Christ says that he is the ladder stretching up to heaven, the son of man, and the angels ascend and descend upon the son of man. So Christ is the ladder up to heaven, and the angels are going back and forth from this world, and as they come to heaven, they're bringing back news from this world, and telling, perhaps telling your parents, your grandparents, people who knew you, who are Christians, who are in heaven, telling them what's taking place in this world, telling them of your conversion, how you've come to faith in Christ, so that there's joy in heaven. over sinners repenting. So the angels, they carry out the missions of Christ. We're told here that the angels, they came and they tell the householder or the servants come and tell the farmer about the tares growing in the field. After a time, the wheat begins to grow and the tares grow and then the servants notice that it's not all wheat. There's some obvious tares or weeds among the wheat. What shall we do? Shall we go and gather them out now? And the Lord says, no, because maybe if you start gathering them out now, you'll pick up some of the wheat as well as the tares, or you'll uproot the wheat. You see, in this world, it's awfully hard to know the difference between a true Christian and somebody who's just a hypocrite. There are many hypocrites who look like beautiful Christians. They're so churchy, so religious, so diligent in their attendance at church, so enthusiastic for the church. They've never been born again, but they're living out the Christian life. And on the other hand, there are some Christians who are terribly backslidden. compromising, they've fallen into perhaps a very inconsistent lifestyle and they're not the way they should be. So how do we know the difference between a backslidden Christian and a good living hypocrite? It's very hard. It would be hard even for the angels to tell the difference between the two but The farmer says, leave them until harvest time. And then, then it'll be obvious. Leave it till the end, and by their fruits ye shall know them, because there'll be some there, some wheat, with their heads bent over with a full ear, full ears of corn, ripe for harvest. And beside them, there'll be the tears. with no wheat. Bury no wheat. Bury no harvest. At the end of the world, it's obvious. There will be no difficulty discerning between the wheat and the tares, between sheep and goats. Every shepherd knows the difference between a sheep and a goat. It will be obvious. Those on the right hand, those on the left. There'll be no difficulty. The hypocrite will be found out and the backslider will be restored. But during our time in this world, it's difficult. Now, As churches in the world, we have to exercise a certain kind of discipline. And it's not right for the church, for example, to allow drunkards and adulterers and those who are practicing open sin to allow them to the Lord's table. So certain judgments have to be made but the eldership within the church has to be charitable because we don't know everything. We have to be charitable and in that sense there will be some, some who are allowed into the membership of the church who ought not to be there but in due course they will be found out. That's why Peter writing to the church said, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. You might be a member of the church, but don't take it for granted that you're okay. I was reading a sermon this afternoon about, a sermon based on a verse in Job about the hypocrite. and how the hypocrite grows weary in secret prayer. In a sense, secret prayer is a real test. The hypocrite can do secret prayer for a while, but then they get tired of it, going away into the secret place and pouring out their heart to God. The true child of God continues. continues day after day, week after week, year after year, prioritising secret prayer. It's so important, it's so vital, it's as vital as breathing, it's your life, it's your health, your strength, spiritually, secret prayer, how important it is. But the hypocrite is quite happy with attending the prayer meeting and holding maybe family worship, and from time to time to satisfy his conscience, doing a bit of secret prayer, but not really, not really keeping going at it. There's a great mark of the difference between the true child of God and the person who's never been born again, who doesn't delight in the presence of their Heavenly Father. And so, fourthly, we have here the sinner's misery. The tears of the children of the wicked one. And there are people like that all around us. You see, many today think, well, we're all children of God. God is our Father, and in all sorts of settings, they think it's appropriate to pray the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, and we're children of God, and God loves us, and everything is wonderful. But Jesus tells leaders of the church in his day, you are of your father, the devil. So there are some people who are children of the devil. and some who are children of God. And none of us are children of God by nature. That's why we've got to be adopted. You don't adopt your own children. God adopts people into his family. We are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. And following our justification by faith, we are adopted into God's family. There are the two kinds of people in the world, children of God and children of the wicked one. Could you be a child of the wicked one? You're a child of the devil. What a thought. The devil is your father, our father, which art in hell. What an awful thought. Search your heart. Am I a child of God or am I not? And if you're not a child of God, it's time to cry out to God to make you one of his children. Today is a day of grace, a day of salvation. As long as you're in this world, you have the opportunity. Once death comes, it's too late. as the tree falls, so shall it lie. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. We have a gospel, we have glad tidings, we have a mighty saviour. And this mighty saviour is actually able to perform a wonderful miracle. He can change tears into wheat. That's a wonderful miracle. He can take a child of the devil and make him or her a child of God. Jesus tells us, we're told in the Gospel of various miracles he performed, giving hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind and raising the dead and stilling the tempest, the storm. But the greatest miracle is to change a child of the devil into a child of God. And Christ performs that miracle today. He still does it. Make sure that he does this work in your heart, in your life. So we're told that the angels, one day soon, will go out and gather all the tears together in bundles to burn them. They will gather all that offend, all that sin, all that do iniquity, all sinners. He will gather them in bundles to burn them, to cast them into the furnace of fire. That's why we need our sins to be forgiven and to be washed away. As therefore the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and cast them into a furnace of fire There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Absolute misery. Who can imagine what it's like to be in a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth forever? Flee to Christ while you have the chance. call upon them and make sure you're saved. But then finally notice the saint's joy. Verse 30, we're told, let them both grow unto the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. The wheat will be gathered into the storehouse of God, valuable, treasured. In the day when I make up my jewels, not one of them will be lost. Not one grain of wheat will perish. How wonderful. When farmers are harvesting, lots of grains are lost, but not one grain of wheat will be lost. by the angels, gathering in to the heavenly storehouse. Where he begins the good work, he will bring it on, perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. None perish that him trust, who trust in him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Whoever's cast out, those who sincerely come to Christ in faith and repentance, in genuine prayer will not be cast out. What a blessed day it will be for God's people. Come ye blessed of my Father, enter into the kingdom, the inheritance prepared for you from before the foundations of the world. Come, ye blessed. Come and enter in. Come and enjoy the wedding feast. Come and be blessed forever. Blessed in the paradise of God, to be with Christ, which is far better. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. with our Lord, with our beloved Lord, to sit with Him, to eat and drink with Him, to enjoy His company, to be led by Him to living fountains of water, to have God wiping away all tears from our eyes. We think of loved ones we've known, who trusted in Christ, who passed on to glory. We think of the blessedness that is theirs, made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity. The righteous shall shine as the sun. There's no need for the sun in heaven because the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof. But the Christian will also shine as the sun. But it's not because of any light we have in ourselves. It's because we're like mirrors reflecting the light of the sun of righteousness, reflecting Christ's light and shining forth that light so that heaven is the kingdom of light, the place of joy, and blessedness and happiness, glorifying God, praising and worshipping God forever. How wonderful it is to be a Christian. What a great hope we have. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to be with myself, that where I am, there ye may be also, blessed, blessed forever in the full enjoying of God. What a wonderful future you have, child of God. Yes, I know we're poor and needy sinners in and of ourselves. but the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. Washed in the blood, we have a great future. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Let's pray. O Lord, our God, we thank Thee that we have this glorious prospect set before us. We thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ and his work for us on the cross of Calvary. We thank thee, O Lord, for the Holy Spirit and his work in us and we pray that thou would bring on that work in our lives and may we go on growing in grace and increasing in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Bless us each one and may we all of us here know what it is to be thy children and to walk with thee each day, to be like Enoch who walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Grant that it will be so with us. Pardon sin for Jesus' sake. Amen. Our closing praise is Psalm 98. Psalm 98, verses 1 to 4. Psalm 98, at the beginning, O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he hath done. His right hand and his holy arm him victory hath won. The Lord God, his salvation, hath caused it to be known. His justice and the heathen's sight he openly hath shown. Psalm 98, verses 1 to 4. O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders ye have done, this night and now. and his own holy heart in victory he hath won. The Lord God givest, some privilege shown, that caused it to be known. This class is here on the reasoned side. In hope and willingness shown. Be mindful, O His praise and truth, To Israel's fellows hath been. And the salvation of our God O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Let all the earth unto the Lord send forth a joyful noise. Lift up your voice and run unto Him. The intimations are as follows. The meeting on Thursday at the usual time, 7.30, will be taken by Reverend Craig Dennison, who will speak on behalf of the Trinitarian Bible Society. The collection will be given to the work of TBS. Mr. Denison will be staying in the manse with his young family till the 29th of this month and will take the Sabbath services next week and the prayer meeting on the 28th. Services next week at the usual times, 11 and 6.30. There are some extra copies of Mr. Ferrier's book, Ministers of the Free North, on the box on the table in the vestibule for anyone who would like to buy one. There has been a problem with the production of the double issue of the July-August Witness, but it's hoped to be able to distribute the magazines later this week. Apologies for the delay. These are all the intimations. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.