Somes notes on Sunday's message about the Wheat and the Tares.

Today, I think I heard one of the best messages I've ever heard addressed to the church. It's a shame I can't replay it but I wanted to write down a few of the things that stuck in my mind. The text was found in Matthew 13:24-30.

• The Wheat and the Tares are both planted. They both had an experience. They both supposedly got saved. But God sees the Tares among the Wheat. One holds on to the experience and church, while the other holds on to faith and Jesus.


• Wheat and Tares both grow. Plants grow and so do weeds. They both look alike because Tares are counterfeit, but one has the grain and the other does not. One develops fruit while the other conforms.

Three things hinder the Tares:

1. Their experience. They got just enough of it to be immune and be lost without realizing it.


2. Their Believe. They believe in the Word. They participate in church and perhaps are quite active but that does not make them any more real than sticking an artificial flower inside a page of the Bible.


3. So called helping people. These are the same people who prayed with them, perhaps prayed for them while they repeated along. The people who perhaps out of concern pressured them to get saved. The same people who remind them of a commitment made at their church. The same people who try to help God by getting in the way.

I've watched all these things happen! It's all over the churches nationwide, bar none!

The Tares are there perhaps because of comfortable preaching, but even in uncomfortable preaching, they are produced in six months or less! One only need to open their eyes and be truthful to one's self to see that there are not as many Christians that claim Christ as their Lord, that truly have the goods. Lots of good people. Lots of religious people. Lots of self righteous people. Lots of lost people.

The service ended with an altar call that brought me to tears. This was not an emotional altar call. The music did not bring on feelings of contriteness and pressure to pray. It was a flat out call from 2 Corinthians 13:5

"Examine yourselves,whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves...."

The question was asked, "Are you a Tare?"

The question was not,"Do you need to rededicate your life to Christ, or do you need to get saved again?" The question was flat out, "Are you a Tare?"

I cried as I stood there. I cried because that was the sweetest question that preacher could have asked anyone who was there.