Message solid and good. Sound quality not so good. Blessings.

There are cults invading the church. False man-centered gospels abound in the church. Leaders fall away. Part of the reason for this is that not all these are true Christians. The joke is that if you should find a perfect church, don’t go in there. Because as soon as you do, it will no longer be perfect. So true. The church is populated with not only imperfect Christians, she also has many non-Christians as well.
I remember sitting on my couch listening to a televangelist asking for money and reaching out his hand and saying, “you reach out for my hand and by faith touch mine on the screen and the Lord will bless you for it.” To my dismay, I could feel the urge in me . . . my hand reaching for the screen. Matt chandler speaks of an instance in which he heard another televangelist say on TV that he could sense that there is a widow with a pension fund that is debating whether or not to donate the entire fund to his ministry and that she should act of faith and donate it and God would bless her for it. Chandler said that he could almost hear the voice of God say to him, “Go over there and punch that guy in the throat!”
It may surprise you to know that Jesus said that it would be this way. He described it as weeds among the wheat. Not only will Christians be living in the world. The world will be living among Christians. Quite likely, Jesus was talking about His church. By experience, we know that His insight/foresight has proved true.

I. The story
A. Weeds and Wheat
The weeds in view here are most likely darnel. These look almost identical to wheat when they are young.
There is quite a difference between the two plants, however. The seeds of the darnel are poisonous whereas the seeds of the wheat are life giving.
B. Wisdom of letting them grow together
How do you tell the difference between the weeds and the wheat? You know them by their fruits. When these weeds grow to their full ripeness, the difference in texture and color of the seeds of them and true wheat can be easily discerned.

II. The reasons for the weeds
A. The enemy has planted them
“An enemy has done this.”
Corruption exists in the church. But God is not the author of corruption. Lying exists in the church, but God is not a liar. It is certainly the work of the enemy to plant wolves among the sheep, the weeds among the wheat.
B. It is for the good of the wheat
“No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.”
When God comes to clean house, the children can get hurt. I remember a kid caught in the middle of the adults fighting over the church and just in tears because of the harm that he saw and could not understand. How much more harm might be done if all the dirty laundry of the church were to be aired all at once. He postpones judgment so that the wheat are not harmed.
C. God means it for good
Is God responsible for the tares in the ultimate sense? God is the author of all creation. In that sense, yes, He has allowed evil to exist in His world and He, in His wisdom, has seen it fit to allow tares among the wheat. So, yes. And in that sense, He means it for good.
God gives time for the weeds to become wheat. I guess, more consistent to the analogy, He waits for the wheat to discern themselves from the weeds. As long as these people are within the walls of the church, there is still opportunity for redemption, there is still hope for what may appear to be weeds to be displayed as wheat.
So don’t fret too much because of weeds. Do you see hurt inside the church? Do you see leaders falling away? Be concerned. Cry even. But don’t let your tears last too long or be too heated. God said it would be this way. Your loving Lord is still in control.
D. The day of harvest is coming
“. . . at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
When everything is said and done, God will bring justice. I am glad that it is not my responsibility to judge for the most part.
There is a lot of hurt in the church right now. There are churches on the verge of splitting up, hanging on just because of a mortgage document. But there is also much good that is being done. God is getting glory for Himself by saving and healing individuals and families. Many churches are getting intoxicated with the glory of God as opposed to being obsessed with the felt needs of man.
So I know a few things. I know that God is in control and God is good. I know is that Jesus loves His church better than I ever could. He is in it to win it. The harvest is coming.