Weeds in God’s House
Matthew 13:24-30, "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. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
Every church has the potential for great things. Every child of god was born again to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God.
All too often, we do not measure up to the Call of god upon our lives and many have walked away in total defeat.
It is my prayer that Victory Temple will never become a victim, or that any of you would ever be guilty of failing God and yet, I know that all of us will at times, fail god.
It isn’t hard for the “Root of Bitterness” to take hold of our lives and begin to destroy our victory and our families.
Hebrews 12:14-15, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;"
That root of Bitterness comes from many different sources:
1)Loose lips, talking and gossiping, murmuring and complaining. That bitter weed will take hold of our spirit and steal our unity and victory.
2)Hurt feelings that are unresolved. Too many people have their feelings out on the end of their sleeves and the least little things will cause that bitter spirit to arise.
3)Misunderstanding – misinterpretation of something that someone else said or that we thought they said
4)Frustration – from not seeing the results that you desire from your hard labor in the Kingdom of God
That Root of Bitterness begins to grow within each of us if we are not quick to destroy it and pray through.
Soon, we don’t want to be involved anymore – just let us alone to go our own way.
We don’t want to talk to another Christian about our situation, We don’t want to talk to the Pastor, and we are mad at God so we really won’t talk to him.
When we allow that Bitterness to Grow, it becomes a tare, or a degenerated seed, in the field of our Lord’s work and kingdom.
How often have we seen that degenerate seed in our churches?
It’s a degenerated seed that will destroy the unity.
It’s a degenerated seed that will undermine the ministry.
It’s a degenerated seed that spreads rumor and gossip and leads the weak away from Christ.
If we walk into church angry because of something we heard – we are allowing the tares to grow.
If we come together as the body of Christ to worship and allow our minds to wander the whole time – we are allowing the tares to grow.
If we have a “don’t’ care attitude”, we are allowing the tares to grow.
If we allow the tares to grow, without repenting of our bad attitudes, they will choke the life and victory out of our lives and our church.
You can work in any ministry you want, but if that bitter spirit is within you, there won’t be much accomplished for the Lord!
Teacher – your lesson will fall on deaf ears if your life doesn’t portray what you are teaching.
Worship Leader – your songs and music won’t accomplish anything unless you have your heart right with God first and you have spent time in prayer for the service.
Preacher – how can you preach to others if you don’t live right yourself
Church Member –if you allow that tare to grow, your witness will be worthless, your spirit is weak and you are in danger of losing your salvation.
It’s people like these who become wolves in sheep’s clothing to destroy the church family from within!
YOU MUST WALK THE WALK BEFORE YOU CAN TALK THE TALK!
It’s like a famous quote I read:
"You may fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time."
Abraham Lincoln or Phineas Barnum
If that heart isn’t right, don’t expect the anointing of God to be upon you, and, if that anointing isn’t there you aren’t teaching or preaching , you are just talking.
If you try to lead in worship, sing a solo under the pretense of worshipping God without a clean heart, you are only entertaining.
I WANT THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY GHOST IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
The only way we will have it is to get rid of the weeds, tares and bitterness that take root in our heart!
Those tares, degenerated seeds of faithlessness and bitterness, will tear us apart. Unity will dissolve and the fight will begin.
The “Fruits of righteousness” that we are commanded to display will be “rotten fruit of unrighteousness” because light and dark cannot mix.
Paul writing to the church at Philippi says in chapter 1:9-11, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
WE MUST BEAR THOSE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND KILL THE BITTER WEEDS!
God will not step in and destroy that “root of Bitterness” and those “tares” in your life!
He leaves that up to you.
If you want to continue to walk in the ways of bitterness and unfruitfulness- you can do just that and no one can stop you.
UNDERSTAND THIS –
There is a day of Reckoning coming soon.
On that day, when we stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ, or when we stand before the Father at the Great White Throne Judgment, the righteous judge of the universe and He who knows the very intent of your heart and can read your thoughts, HE WILL SEPARATE BAD FRUIT FROM THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Our works may look good to other people, but why do we do them?
We can look good, smell good, and appear holy to men – put on a front to save face – but we aren’t fooling God for one minute!
Quite often, I, as your Pastor, cannot give you the right counsel or give you an answer for your bitterness.
I have to fight that same Devil myself!
Either we destroy those things in our lives that will hinder us, or we will answer to God for them and He will judge us because of them.
How do you get rid of that “root of bitterness’ and the “tares, or bad seed”?
RUN TO THE ALTAR AND REPENT BEFORE GOD! THAT’S HOW!
Don’t allow the enemy of your soul to sow discord, or bitterness and destroy the seed of Holiness and righteousness that Jesus has given you.
Fall on your face before God, repent of your sin, ask your brother or sister to forgive you – then forgive them and do your best to forget why you were bitter in the first place.
Jesus can and will wash away your guilt – He will make your seed good again.
Let your prayer be as David’s was:
Psalms 51:9-12, "Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit."
That’s the only answer – there is no other!
KILL THAT BITTERNESS – PLUCK UP THAT TARE FROM YOUR HEART!
LET JESUS MAKE YOU BRAND NEW!
