.  Living Hope Fellowship Church....Sermons by the Pastor 

WHILE MEN SLEPT

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

            In Matthew 13:24-28 Jesus said, “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 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 blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. . . .”

            Some do not understand why the tares (being the hypocrites and the sinners) are mingled among those that are supposed to be the wheat (God’s children, Christ’s body, the church).  Jesus gave us this parable.  While men slept, the devil came in!  A religious spirit came and planted deeply in the church a hypocritical counterfeit of the real thing of God.  God’s Word gives examples and instructions, and it is applicable for today. 

            Jesus said in Matthew 13:28, “. . . An enemy hath done this. . . .”  Verse 25 tells us it was while men slept. 

            In our area, Johnson grass might be likened to a tare.  In some areas it’s even illegal to have it on your field, and you could receive a fine for it, because it could spread and destroy other men’s crops as well.  If a man sleeps all the time, and doesn’t cultivate or get the proper herbicide to destroy Johnson grass, it will spread until it chokes any crop you plant. 

            Proverbs 24:30-32 says, “I went by the field of the slothful [that means lazy], and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding [one who has not listened or has not heard things he should know]; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.” 

            People need to receive instruction.  They are looking for something real, but have found counterfeits.  A few will realize that it doesn’t line up with the Word of God.  It’s a tare.  It’s close, but it’s not of God. 

            Proverbs 24:33-34 says, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth. . . .” 

            The church is troubled with things that are not of God.  Many pastors and evangelists have preached a smooth gospel that they might continue to make a living.  Jesus preached the truth, and he preached about hell.  He said in Matthew 23:33, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” 

            If a preacher said this nowadays, many would shut him completely down.  Preachers know that this is the truth, yet they cannot stand to be without food.

            The field has grown up because some preachers were slothful in the vineyard.  The church wasn’t praying and seeking God.

            Years ago the Lord asked me, “Would you not watch with me one hour and have others do likewise?”  I said, “Yes, Lord.”  We began a prayer meeting where we just pray for one hour on Friday nights.

            To try to get a group of people to pray for a solid hour, without having to entertain or feed them, or give them something later, is an awesome thing in these times, in America. 

            God says in Hebrews 11:6 that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  He doesn’t want you lazy or slothful.  If they had not been asleep, the enemy would not have been able to sow the tares.  It seems that the field is almost consumed, but God says He has a remnant.  God is calling you out of the field choked with tares.  He’s calling you into the prayer closet to seek His face.

            In Romans 11:8 it says, “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”

            Sometimes God puts the spirit of slumber on His people, because they are asleep in their hearts.  They have not continued to seek God.  Some people don’t even know that there is a drought in the land, a famine for the Word of God (see Amos 8:11).

            We must tear the nettles and the thorns out and rebuild the wall, which is the hedge between us and the devil. 

            Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you.  Preach holiness, believe God, and seek God’s face for the whole truth and nothing but the truth in Jesus’ mighty name. 

            There is an infirm spirit that can take hold on people so that they fall asleep at any given time.  This is something that takes place in an individual.  However, it is taking place in the whole church, spiritually. 

            There is no revival in the land!  The deaf are still deaf; the blind are still blind; those in wheelchairs remain there; those who are bound and devil possessed continue to be so.

            The tares that you dislike so much are still bound of the devil, because somebody has not sought God as they should!  We won’t receive anything from God unless we wake up and believe God again!