Weeds and Seeds
Nothing in my maturing Christian life has captured my interest in the Bible like the subject of contrasting people groups. Before I was born again, I was aware of heaven and hell. I mused that good people went to heaven and bad people went to hell, after they died. I tried to be good, and I judged myself to be better than most other people. I was not entirely sure, but I hoped that heaven would be my eternal home. Later, I learned these are common sentiments, among unbelieving churchgoers.
When God sent His Spirit to baptize me into Christ’s church (1 Cor 12:13), His body of believers (Is 49:6), I was introduced to the milk of God’s Word (1 Pet 2:2). As a babe in Christ, I became aware of a new appetite for the Bible and things of God’s Spirit (1 Cor 2:15). My mind was being renewed (Rom 12:2) from one set on the flesh and things of the world (Rom 8:5–7; Eph 2:3), to a mind set on the Spirit and things of heaven above (Col 3:2).
My appetite moved from the milk of the Word, to the meat of the Word (Heb 5:12–13). I had tasted and seen that God is good (Ps 34:8), and my hunger and thirst was for righteousness (Mt 5:6). I wanted to be pleasing to God (2 Cor 5:9), and my heart’s desire was, to serve Him (Rom 15:16). God’s Spirit and His Word were changing me from the inside (1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13). My transformation, as I was learning, was entirely the work of God (Jn 6:29; Gal 2:20; Phil 2:13). It was God’s will, from eternity, to be glorified, in His bestowing grace upon grace to me (Jn 1:16; Acts 4:33).
My newfound awareness, of the conflict between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God, revealed two distinct groups of people. I had belonged to the sons of Adam (Rom 5:12–21), the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2), but God had transferred me from the domain of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13).
The kingdom of God, in this fallen world, is in the Spirit, where righteousness, peace, and joy are attributes (Rom 14:17). The Holy Spirit indwells every soul that He has made alive to God (Rom 8:9, 11; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). It is God who gives life (Jn 6:63; 2 Cor 3:6), to those He has appointed to life (Acts 13:48). This new and abundant life is the eternal life that Jesus gives (Jn 10:10; 17:2), when He sends the Spirit to one who is chosen by the Father (Eph 1:4–5; 2 Thess 2:13) and given to the Son (Jn 6:37; Jn 17:2–3, 6, 24).
The means by which this life is manifested, by the indwelling Spirit, is the Word that was preached to us (Heb 4:2; 1 Pet 1:25). The Word of God is the seed of spiritual life (Mt 13:23). It is implanted by the Spirit of God, who nurtures and protects its growth to maturity (Lk 8:15). Like a farmer who purposefully plants the seed in his field, God plants His Word and expects a multiplied harvest (Mk 4:26–29).
Weeds appear in the productive field and produce a multitude of problems for the farmer. Still, the farmer is wise to keep his planted crops growing. The weeds steal from the productive plants, both water and nutrients. Plants suffer, but the good farmer knows what is required for them to thrive in their adverse environment.
The seed of God’s Word, planted in the soul (heart and mind) of God’s chosen people (Rom 10:8, 17), is ever-threatened by the harsh conditions of this world and the weeds, who Jesus called, “sons of the evil one (Mt 13:38).” They steal, kill, and destroy, in the manner of their father, the devil (Jn 8:44; 10:10). These children of the devil (1 Jn 3:10) are reprobate vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22).
Weeds are not of God (Jn 8:47). The weeds are the sons of the evil one, the enemy who sowed them, who is the devil (Mt 13:38–39). They are not recipients of God’s grace because they are not God’s beloved (Eph 1:6). God did not predestine the weeds to life; rather, a furnace of fire has been prepared for them (Mt 13:42, 50). They will all be cast into fiery hell on the Day of God’s Judgment (Mt 5:22; 18:9). These wicked people, haters of God (Rom 1:30), do not belong to Christ (Jn 10:26) because they were not given to Him by the Father (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24).
Weeds produce zero spiritual fruit, and by this they are known (Mt 12:33; Lk 6:44). Like the leech, they take and take and take more. It is a gross error for Christians to imagine that God loves everyone and desires everyone’s salvation (text misused = John 3:16). This is not sound doctrine, but false preachers propagate these doctrines of demons. The result is that many weeds imagine they are wheat, planted by God. They are together in the same field, but they are not the same…not even close.
Weeds and seeds are both elements of God’s predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). They will grow together in this life, but the separation will occur (Mt 13:30), as the judge of the whole earth (Gen 18:25), comes again in glory and majesty (Mt 16:27; 24:30; 25:31). On that day, the world will know, by experience, that which has been given as a stewardship to ministers of the Word (1 Cor 4:1–2).
It is the duty of the Gospel preacher to do as I have done for you here. He is to explain the hidden mysteries now revealed for all to hear. This Gospel will be refreshment to the growing seed, like a river of living water in a dry and dusty land. It will be foolishness to the weeds, who suck life out of the Word, by denying the grace of God, in favor of man’s mythical free will.
Eternal punishment in the lake of fire is a fitting and just end for these imposters. Eternal pleasures at God’s right hand (Ps 16:11), await those who received their life from God (Jn 6:63; 2 Cor 3:6), as ordered from the foundation of the world (Rom 8:30; Eph 1:4–5; Rev 13:8; 17:8), having been buried with Christ in His death and burial, and bursting forth with Him in His resurrection (Rom 6:1–7). This is the story of the people you find in the Bible and in your neighborhood (1 Cor 15:3–4). Some are weeds and some are seeds.
David Norczyk
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
November 11, 2020
