0751. Satan's Second Strategy–Seen in the Parable of the Tares
Satan’s Second Strategy–Seen in the Parable of the Tares
"While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat" (Mat_13:25).
The second parable is that of the tares. The true Gospel is being preached, but satan busies himself with preaching a counterfeit gospel. In this parable we do not see satan hindering the work of the Church, but he is scattering a message altogether antagonistic to and distinct from the real message of the Church. He is, however, presenting it in such a way that it has every outward appearance of truth.
The tares (darnel) were so much like the wheat that their fruitage alone bore witness to their difference. The parable teaches that the devil has counterfeited everything for which the true Church stands.
1. Does the Church have ministers commissioned to preach the Word? The devil also has ministers–ministers which bear every outward appearance of God-sent men. They move about with a holy air and a sacred mien; they profess a Godliness which only servants of God possess.
2. Does the Church have synagogues or buildings dedicated to their faith? So does satan have synagogues or buildings–"the synagogue of satan." Alas, too, for many of the devil’s synagogues are popularized by Christian names. Ofttimes popular Christian churches with "liberal" preachers are, in fact, no more than a synagogue of satan.
3. Does the Church preach righteousness? So do the ministers of satan preach righteousness. To be sure, there is a difference, but the men of this world do not detect it.
The righteousness which the Church preaches is a righteousness by faith through the Blood of Christ.
The righteousness which the devil’s ministers preach and which the world gladly endorses, is a righteousness by works; a righteousness dependent upon man; a righteousness that demands no faith and asks no Cross.
So it is all down the line. The Lord has sown the good seed and the devil has imitated and counterfeited, and sown the tares.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR