Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we are encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ.
I'm Pastor Patrick Daly, and each week I share sermons that balance the grace and love of Jesus Christ with the truth of the Word of God.
Together, we'll explore Scripture using observation, interpretation, and application.
This helps us discover practical ways to live out our faith every single day.
Let's dive in together into God's Word.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Are we keeping warm this morning?
It's 20 degrees or less, depending upon which part of town you're at.
It's cold, and it's hard to adjust.
And I think for every year, for a lot of us, it's definitely hard to adjust to it.
Well, today we have a sermon titled, The World of Wheat and Weeds.
You know, the world that we do live in is constantly changing.
Even when we think of just what's happened in the month time that we've been here in 2025, we had...
We have a lot of transitions that are happening, things that are happening in our own world today.
From the fires that's happening in California, to the volcano that was going off in Hawaii, to the TikTok ban, to the change or the transition of power and the administration.
All these things are happening, and it can certainly be overwhelming for us, especially...
It's January.
Come on.
I mean, you'd think this would happen in June or July kind of thing, these kind of events that are happening.
But the reality is, we live in a world where there are wheat and weeds.
And we're going to go over this very famous parable, and you'll see here that we're actually skipping a parable.
We're going to go specifically over the parable of the weeds.
And this is very important for us to recognize, as always, we read the Word of God.
And we want to know what the Word of God has to say in its context.
We also have to learn to know what are the lessons, what are the things, right?
What are the things we can observe?
What are the things that we can learn?
And what are the things that we can apply to our very lives?
For each and every one of us, I hope and pray that you come to know the Lord.
That your journey will be the journey to Jesus Christ, to know who He is, the way, the truth, and the life.
And upon receiving the free gift of salvation, it should be our prayer, and it is my prayer as well,
that you grow in Christ.
That you go from milk of the Word to solid food.
That you will mature, understanding more of the complexities, and stop worrying about the elementary things,
or even the former life that you once lived.
To grow and to be transformed.
Just like it says to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Just like when we think of this idea of repentance, the changing of our mind,
before we believe in Jesus Christ, and even after.
That we are continually being molded by the Lord every single day.
And so today, we're going to see that this parable of the weeds, or the world of wheat and weeds,
is very real for us today.
There's a lot of connections in here, and if you look at your notes, you'll see there's quite a lot.
But before we go to our notes, let's open the Word of God.
Let's go to that next slide.
It's going to be our scripture reading.
I have the prayer before that.
Go ahead and turn to page 973.
It's going to be the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 24 through 30.
As we're turning there, let's pray.
Let's ask for God to reveal truth, wisdom to us, and let transformation happen here.
Father God, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for us to gather together.
We realize and we recognize that we are in a world that is certainly messy.
We live in this world where there's a lot of just strange things that are happening that we may not understand.
But may we point to you.
May we turn to you in times of crisis.
Even when we become Christian and we believe in you and we're saved and we receive the free gift of salvation,
may we trust in you and may we become more like you each and every day.
Father, I pray that truth is spoken here
and that every single person will know that they are loved by you no matter who they are,
where they come from,
when or where they're watching this,
or whatever life is throwing at them,
that they are loved by you.
You call, you send us this invitation,
Father, to receive the free gift of salvation
so that we can be saved and upon that salvation we can grow in you
and become more like you.
So we pray that our ears are open to hear,
our hearts are ready to love,
live in love,
and our minds are open to learn from the word this morning.
It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and we all say together,
can I get an amen?
So let's go to that next slide then.
That should have...
Oh, we don't have that.
That's okay.
So the Gospel of Matthew,
let's go back to that title slide if we can.
We had previously the parable,
the purpose of parables, right?
The parable of the sower,
where we learned about the four soils
and how important it is
that our hearts are right with the Lord,
that we receive the seed representing the word,
and that it gets planted into our hearts and it grows.
You have a lot of agricultural language, as it were,
to grow and to bear fruit.
How important it is for us to receive the word.
How important it is for us to grow in the Lord
and to bear fruit.
And so we go into verse 24 then of Matthew chapter 13.
Are we all there?
Are we all ready to read together?
So it goes off by saying,
He put another parable before them,
saying,
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While his men were sleeping,
his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat
and went away.
So when the plants came up and bore again,
the weeds appeared also.
And the servants of the master of the house
came to him and said,
What?
Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then does it have weeds?
I mean, I'd like to know too, right?
If you were planting a garden,
you have all these weeds,
you're planting a tomato garden,
or you're planting, you know, apricots or something,
or any sort of plant.
What are all these weeds doing here?
He said to them,
An enemy has done this.
So the servant said to him,
Then do you want us to go and gather them?
But he said, No,
lest in gathering the weeds
you root up the wheat along with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest.
And at the harvest time,
I will tell the reapers,
Gather the weeds first
and bind them into bundles to be burned,
but gather the wheat into where?
My barn.
Now,
here is where we go into the mustard seed.
We're skipping that this time.
We're going to go into that in another week,
two weeks from now.
Okay?
So then it goes into verse 36.
I mean, you can even look at verse 34, right?
All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables.
He said nothing to them without a parable.
This was to fill what was spoken by the prophet.
I will open my mouth in parables.
I will utter what has been hidden
since the foundation of the world.
This goes to show the power
and yet the simplicity of parables.
Verse 36.
Then he left the crowds and went into the house,
and his disciples came to him, saying,
Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.
I'd like to know, right?
And he answered,
The one who sows good seed is who?
The son of man.
The field is the what?
The world.
The good seed is the sons of the kingdom.
And the weeds are the sons of who?
The evil one.
And the enemy who sowed them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age.
And the reapers are who?
The angels.
Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The son of man will send his angels,
and they will gather out of his kingdom
all causes of sin and lawbreakers.
And throw them into the fiery furnace.
This gets to really heavy language.
Let's be honest here, right?
Throw them into the fiery furnace.
In that place there will be the weeping
and the gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their father.
He who has ears, let him hear.
And so in your notes here,
it's kind of a breakdown of what's happening.
It's on the first page here, right?
So we have the sower, God,
who plants the good seed, right?
The word into the field, into the world.
You can get this kind of imagery that's happening here.
Then you have the enemy sows the weeds among the field.
Sin.
You're seeing the entrance of sin.
And those who reject God.
Among the wheat, the children of God.
The workers, you have the angels,
ask if they should pull up the weeds.
The sower tells them to let them grow together
and tell the harvest, tell the judgment.
And at the harvest, the weeds,
the judgment on sin are burned
and the wheat believers are gathered into the barn.
And you'll see a lot of scripture verses.
I challenge you, check those verses out.
You will see how embedded in such a simple parable,
you're seeing something here that's very deep
and hidden, as it were.
So let's go to this next slide.
One of the things you can notice here
is that there is,
this actually shows us,
in a very simplistic way,
the story of redemption.
If we think about it,
the sower plants good seed.
Doesn't God created the world and made it good?
Then, the enemy sows weed,
representing sin among the wheat.
Isn't that interesting?
That's where we have the fall.
Now redemption then,
we have Jesus Christ who comes in.
From redemption
comes this time period
where the wheat and the weeds,
they grow together.
And it's giving them time.
And that's interesting
because we've found
in a lot of the other parables,
there's a time that's allotted
before the master returns
or before the bridegroom returns,
signifying that there's a specific amount of time
for you to come to know Jesus.
For you to turn to him
before it's too late.
And this is showing
in the redemption part,
giving time.
And then of course,
you have restoration
or you could call that judgment
and then restoration.
The harvest separates the weeds
and the wheat.
And it's so fascinating
when we look at it like that.
We have kind of an echo,
as it were,
of the story
throughout all of Scripture,
the gospel connection
with the parable.
And so this is simple,
yet it's complex.
There's all these verses
that are connected into it.
So what can we learn from this?
Well, the first thing
that we can learn
is that,
let's go to that next slide,
is that we live
in a world
of weeds and wheat.
We think about it.
In Matthew 5,
verse 45,
it goes on to say,
He causes His Son
to rise on evil
and the good.
In Romans,
Romans chapter 8,
there's a section in here
where it's mentioning
that creation is groaning
and waiting for redemption.
Isn't that interesting?
And we have to think
to ourselves
when we're learning
this lesson is,
well, then how can
we faithfully live
while we're surrounded
by weeds?
Right?
You get this image.
Many of you,
you guys have,
some of you guys,
I'm not going to say
all of you,
but some of you guys
have gardened before.
Sometimes you have weeds
that just come out
of nowhere.
Is it a frustrating thing
or has that never
happened before?
Right?
Where did this weed
come from?
Why is it here?
It's going to destroy
whatever plant
that I've put there.
It's a very frustrating thing.
And we see this kind
of connection
with God
looking at the world
and giving time
to happen.
Much like how we live
in this world
where there is sin,
there is brokenness,
there is those
that are saved
and those who,
well, you have those
that are not believers yet.
That's why it's so important
for us to spread
the gospel message
to other people.
how can you live
faithfully
while surrounded
by brokenness
and sin?
You continue
in your walk
in the Lord
knowing that
no matter what happens,
no matter what sin
or brokenness,
your faith
is in the living God.
Not in man,
not in a government,
not in TikTok,
but in God.
Let us be reminded
of that.
Despite what happens
in our culture,
despite what happens
in the world,
we trust
in the living God.
The second thing
is
the Lord
is patient
and His will prevails.
Let's go back.
It's still that same thing.
That's all right.
His will prevails.
We are to trust
in 2 Peter 3,
verse 9.
It says that
the Lord
is patient,
not wanting
anyone
to perish.
And that's a very
powerful thing
because God
gives us time
for us
to come to Him.
Not forever,
but enough time.
Enough time
from what
He decides
is appropriate.
Isn't it amazing
to know
that the God
who created
heavens and earth
gives us
not only an opportunity
to be restored
unto Him,
but to return
into His presence
to be saved
and He gives us
that choice
and He gives us
time to do so?
Every single day,
if you are not
a believer,
is an opportunity
for you
to come to Jesus.
And for us
that are in the church,
those who are saved,
grow and act
upon your faith.
Be transformed.
Let God work
in and through you,
putting on the new self,
setting aside
the elementary things
that divide us.
Doing good
in the name of Christ.
We can think of
sharing the gospel story
with our friends
and our families,
being ambassadors
for Christ
in our everyday lives.
Our work,
our school,
right?
Our very families.
We think of
all these things.
Sharing in our testimony
and how God
has worked in our life.
Or sometimes
it's just
being a listening ear.
You know,
I've had this conversation
with many people.
the church
exists
for those
who are churched
to grow,
right?
You have
to follow
God's mission
and God's purpose
and plan for you.
But you also have
the church
for the unchurched,
those who are yet
to believe,
those who do not believe
and they don't
understand yet.
And finally,
the church exists
for the de-churched,
for healing
and restoration,
recovery.
Because let's face it,
for many of us,
we get hurt
at times.
Sometimes we get hurt
by the world,
sometimes we get hurt
by other Christians
and we have to remember,
we have got to allow
for the healing process
to happen,
much like we've got to allow
for the growth process.
People need a place
to belong.
People need a place
to heal.
And people need a place
to grow
where they can act
upon their faith,
becoming the man
or the woman
that God has for them.
Finally,
the third thing
that we can learn
is that the final judgment
belongs to who?
Not man.
Not a government.
Certainly not an app,
right?
I know I'm,
that's,
we have to think
about that.
In Romans chapter 12,
verse 19,
there's a verse in there
that we can think of.
This is hard.
When it says,
don't take revenge,
leave room
for God's wrath
or God's judgment.
When someone does us wrong,
we want to attack.
More often than not,
let's be honest here.
You've wanted to retaliate.
You don't have to raise your hand.
I know I have.
But you're offering it to God.
Let God be the judge.
I certainly don't want
to be the judge.
You know how hard it is
for us to forgive,
let alone forget,
and knowing that God forgives you
and He loves you
and He gives you a chance
to come to Him
every single day.
Think about that.
I know I couldn't do that.
That's,
goes to show the power
and the patience
of our God
and
ask yourself,
what does it look like
to leave
judgment for God
rather than you taking it
upon yourself
to retaliate,
right?
And it also
challenges us
in how we see
the weeds.
We think of the weeds
representing,
now if we go back
for a second here,
when we learned
about the four soils,
we learned about
the presence
of the weeds
where the seed
was being planted
into the ground.
When we think of weeds,
we can think of
two things here.
The presence of sin
just period,
but also
for sinners,
those who don't know
the Lord.
We have to focus
on our own growth,
but we have to
scatter the seed
as it were
so that other hearts,
because not only
do you see the field
representing the world,
we have seen
in other parables,
the field represents
our hearts.
We allow for God
to transform us.
And here's the
amazing thing.
Let's go
to the application.
So I've got to tell you,
this is heavy stuff.
A lot of times
when this parable
is preached,
it's like,
you're either a weed
or you're wheat,
and it's a done deal.
But do you know
what's missing
in that section?
Is that there's a call
for the weeds
to come to Christ,
because God
makes things new.
Think about that.
Were you not
a sinner
at one point?
We still sin, right?
All fall short
of the glory of God,
but it's a call.
Think about it.
Create in me
a new heart,
O God,
and renew
a right spirit
within me.
Think about
for a second
how
if anyone
is in Christ,
he is a what?
A new creation.
Do you see it?
Do you understand?
That we go
from weeds
to wheat.
That it is God
who transforms us.
Removing the sin.
That's when we think
about the gospel message.
the death,
burial,
and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
This is a call.
If you are a weed,
come to the Lord
and be transformed
and be saved.
Become a wheat.
You can't do that
on your own.
That requires
the Lord.
And the thing is,
it's a call for us
to come to God
as we are.
You hear many churches
say that, right?
I hope all churches
should say that.
Come as you are
and be transformed, though.
Not come as you are
and remain as you are.
Be transformed.
And even if you are saved,
continue to be transformed.
That's the thing.
We don't just
come and remain
as we are.
We are transformed
every single day.
God invites us
and he turns us,
let me make this
crystal clear,
we go from,
remember when we went
over Ezra?
The vessels that were
transferred,
they were transported
from the place
they didn't belong
to the place
they belong.
Here we have
another layer here.
Going from a weed
to wheat
because God
takes that
which is broken
and restores it.
You find this
as a pattern
through all of Scripture.
and if we just say
you're either a wheat
or a weed
and that's it,
there's nothing you can do,
we're missing the mark here.
We're missing the point here
that God calls us
to be transformed.
Now, yeah,
it's heavy to think
about the judgment
and the throwing
away of the weeds.
But that's why
it's so important
for us
to come to know Christ.
So for the weeds,
if you are one,
come to Christ.
Receive that invitation,
that free gift
of salvation.
And the second thing then,
for the wheat,
if you are saved,
is to what?
Grow in Christ
and live out the faith.
Be more like Him.
Right?
And wait patiently
for the harvest.
We continue
every single day
we have the opportunity
to scatter the seed
as it were.
That starts
with relationships.
It's not about
being aggressive
or pugnacious, right?
I love that word,
pugnacious.
I think of a little
pug dog, right?
Being aggressive
and angry, right?
You've seen
little pug dogs
when they're angry, right?
Or if that doesn't help,
little chihuahuas, right?
The smaller they are,
the more aggressive
they get.
But in that,
it's all about relationships
that we have with others
or that we cultivate
with others.
We build relationships
and we live out
the word.
We live out
following in the
footsteps of Christ,
being an example
for others to see
because how many times
have you met someone
who is a Christian
and you're like,
I know they're a Christian
and there's no doubt
about it.
I don't know why,
I don't know how,
but there's something
different about them.
You want to live
and follow
in the footsteps
of Christ like that.
Being a light
unto the world.
Being salt,
right?
Salt and light.
And we think about that.
We scatter the seeds.
Now, for some of us,
it can be frustrating.
I've talked, you know,
you talk to your sister
or you talk to your uncle
or you talk to your neighbor
about the Lord,
you know,
every week
and they don't get it.
You still scatter the seed.
Still scatter the seed.
Pray for them.
Pray for hardened hearts,
changed minds,
changed attitudes,
a renewed spirit,
the softening of the heart.
And what if today
is the day you let God
transform your life
and make you new?
Think about that
as one question.
The other question
I want you to think about,
what does it mean
for you to grow in Christ
even in difficult circumstances?
What we seem to forget
at times is
we grow
and we bear fruit.
It's when you're very early on.
That's where the whole,
well, what about the rocks?
What about the rocks?
What about the obstacle?
What about the sins?
As you grow,
you become more firmly rooted
in God.
Just like how we learn
about Christ
being the firm foundation
and building our house
upon the solid rock
and not the sand.
Do you see how
things get connected
with each other?
That's why it's so important
for us to look
at the context
and connections.
We can see
sometimes we have to
wrestle with the text
and that's okay.
Sometimes we have questions
and we're not understanding things.
That's okay as well.
That's part of the growing process.
I mean,
didn't you fall a few times
when you began to walk?
Probably too many, right?
Some of us more than others.
How many times
did you fall off a bike
before you figured it out, right?
That's how it is
when we're growing
as a Christian,
as believers,
as ambassadors for Christ.
We're going to stumble
and fall sometimes,
but we continue on that,
knowing that God
is our firm foundation.
So that's how things
are connected.
So we grow
and we live out the faith,
become more like Him.
Wait,
we wait for the harvest
and we scatter the seed
to others.
We minister.
We evangelize.
We let God transform hearts
because look,
I can't control my kids,
you guys.
I can't.
Okay?
I got to be honest here.
I can't control
all five of my kids,
but I can teach them
and I can guide them.
It's the same thing
with my wife.
I can't control her, right?
I know a lot of us
would like to control
our spouses,
I admit.
But in that,
you scatter the seed.
Let it take root.
Again,
we pray
for those,
we minister,
we evangelize,
and we let God
transform the heart.
That's how things
are so connected.
When we think
in John 15, 5,
if you remain in me
and I in you,
you will bear much fruit.
We think of Matthew
chapter 28
where it says
to make disciples
of all nations.
Not only is the seed
planted in our hearts,
but it grows
and it cultivates.
And I love Isaiah 55,
10 to 11,
my word will not
return to me empty,
but will accomplish
what I desire.
Let us think about
all these
and ask yourself
this question,
who in your life
needs to hear
about Christ?
Who in your life
do you need
to pray about?
Who is unchurched?
Or who is
de-churched?
Right?
We sometimes forget.
We like to think
of those who,
and we should,
our primary objective
is to get people
to believe in Christ,
but what about those
that have been hurt?
What about those
who've been discouraged
or disgruntled?
They need Christ
just as well,
and they need
the healing power
that comes from Him.
You know,
it really hits home
how many people
that I personally know
who have deconstructed
and have left the faith
because of some
silly thing,
some elementary thing.
I pray for them,
for their return,
knowing that
God loves them.
This is why
it's so important,
again,
we place our faith
and our trust
in the living God.
Not on man,
because man will fail you.
How many of us
know that to be true?
Man fails us.
God doesn't.
That's why we have
so many verses
that say that God
is the same yesterday,
today,
and what?
Forever.
Or everlasting
to everlasting,
you are God.
Or when we think
about God
as the solid rock,
we certainly need
a constant
in our life.
And so ask yourself,
who in your life
needs to hear about
Christ this week?
How can you be faithful
in scattering the seed?
That's a question for you
as we close our time today.
Whether you feel like,
maybe you identify
as a weed,
let this be a call
for you to come to Christ
and put off
the old self.
When you think of a weed,
we think of like
a hairy and thorny plant.
It's quite disgusting
when you think about it,
right?
Put off the old self
and become wheat.
Become restored.
And for those
who are wheat,
the call is the same.
Trust in the living God,
grow in faith,
and scatter the seed
of the gospel
wherever you go.
Let us remember
this parable
and how it's connected
not only with
the story of redemption,
but how God
transforms lives,
taking that which is broken
and restoring
and renewing it.
Let's pray together.
Father God,
we thank you
for this time,
this opportunity
for us to
open your word
and to study it.
We have observed,
we have learned
so many lessons.
And I pray, Father,
if there are any weeds here,
they will be transformed.
They will come
to believe in Jesus Christ,
the Son of the living God.
And we pray
for the wheat here.
They will grow.
They will bear fruit,
just as your word
says so much.
And Father,
I also would like to pray
for any person
who has deconstructed
or anyone who's been
hurt by the church,
whether they're here
or not.
I pray for healing
in their life.
Father,
you call all of us
to gather together,
to sing praises to you,
to assemble together
as the church.
And you have done
so much for us.
We pray
for the unchurched,
for a place
where they belong,
believing in you
and being established
in the church.
We pray for the unchurched,
those that are disconnected,
disgruntled,
or hurt in some capacity.
And we pray for the churched
to continue to grow
and to go on their mission,
to make disciples,
to scatter the seed,
and to become more like you
every single day.
It is in the name
of Jesus Christ,
the cornerstone
of our faith,
that we pray.
And we all say together,
can I get an amen?
Amen.
Thank you for listening
for this week's message
from Ontario Community Church.
I pray that you are
encouraged and strengthened
in your walk with Christ.
For more sermons
and resources,
visit
OntarioCommunityChurch.org.
May God bless you
as you live out
His grace and truth
every single day.
NINGNING