Salvation
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Let us not cut out the tares which are in us |
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Jack
Hyles, the late pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana (FBCH), in
his sermon, “Don’t Cut the Grass,” taught that all of us have “wheat and
tares” in us, but we should let both grow side by side and not cut anything,
lest we cut out the wheat (good) in us by mistake. |
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Confutation |
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What Jack
Hyles taught is false for it is a misinterpretation given to the parable of
the tares of the field. So let us first look at the parable of the tares
spoken by Jesus: ‘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. Another parable put
he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of
mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the
least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and
becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches
thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like
unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the
whole was leavened. All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in
parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in
parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation
of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house:
and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the
tares of the field. …. He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The
field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the
tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in
the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew |
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Now, as
you can see, the good seeds are the sons of God, while the tares are the sons
of the devil. Therefore we can’t give to the good seeds nor
to the tares the meaning given to them by Jack Hyles. If things were as Jack
Hyles affirmed, that would mean that we must not cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, which is the opposite of what the
Scripture commands, as it is written: “Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). In other
words, if we interpreted those words of Jesus in that way, that would mean
that we sons of God must not lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, and
envy, while the Scripture commands us as follows: “Wherefore laying aside all
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings as
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”
(1 Peter 2:1). To give such an interpretation to the parable of the tares
means to discourage the saints from perfecting holiness, that is to say, from
putting off all the things which God dislikes, when the Scripture says: “That
ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). |
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Let no one deceive you with empty words. We must
strive against the evil which is still in us. Do not worry, because in
striving against the evil which is in you and in trying to take it away, you
don’t run the risk of taking away the good which is in you, for the Holy
Spirit who is in you will guide you so that you may avoid doing such a thing.
The Spirit will help you to reject the evil only, to hold fast what is good,
be sure of this. Of course, the fact that we strive against the evil which is
in us does not mean that the hour is coming when we will cease to make
mistakes in this life; however it is something we must do. Surely when we
appear before the judgement seat of Christ each of us will be rewarded
rightly by God for every good work he has done, while he will suffer loss for
every evil thing he has done; however, as long as we are in this tent we must
do our best to strive against every form of evil and to cling to what is
good. |