3449. Buying the Truth

A Sermon Published On Thursday, March 11, 1915.

Buy the truth, and do not sell it. {Pr 23:23}

1. John Bunyan pictures the pilgrims as passing at one time through Vanity Fair, and in Vanity Fair there were to be found all kinds of merchandise, consisting of the pomps and vanities, the lusts and pleasures of this present life and of the flesh. Now all the dealers, when they saw these strange pilgrims come into the fair began to cry, as shop men will do, “Buy, buy, buy—buy this, and buy that.” There were the priests in the Italian row with their crucifixes and their beads. There were those in the German row with their philosophies and their metaphysics. There were those in the French row with their fashions and with their prettinesses. But the one answer that the pilgrims gave to all the dealers was this—they looked up and they said, “We buy the truth; we buy the truth,” and they would have gone on their way if the men of the Fair had not strung them up by the heels in the cage, and kept than there, one to go to heaven in a chariot of fire, and the other afterwards to pursue his journey alone. This is very much the description of the genuine Christian at all times. He is surrounded by vendors of all kinds of things, beautifully made up and looking extremely like the true article, and the only way in which he will be able to pass through Vanity Fair safely is to stick with this, that he buys the truth, and if he adds to that the second advice of the text, and never sells it, he will, under divine guidance, properly find his way to the skies. “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.”

2. Is not the parable we have just read a kind of enlargement of our text? When the merchantman had travelled all over the world to find some pearl that should have no flaw, some diamond of the purest water fit to glisten in the crown of royalty, at last in his searches, he found a gem the like of which he had never seen before, and, knowing that here was wealth for him, in the joy of his discovery, he sold all that he had so that he might buy that pearl. Even so, the text seems to tell us, that truth is the one pearl beneath the skies that is worth having, and whatever else we do not buy, we must buy the truth, and whatever else we may have to sell, yet we must never sell the truth, but hold it firmly as a treasure that will last us when gold has cankered, and silver has rusted, and the moth has eaten up all goodly garments, and when all the riches of men have gone like a puff of smoke, or melted in the heat of the judgment day like the dew in the beams of the morning sun. Buy the truth. Here is the treasure. No matter what it may cost, buy it. Here is the piece of merchandise which you must buy, but must not sell. You may give everything for it, but you may take nothing in exchange for it, since there is nothing that can be compared to it.

3. I. With this as a preface, let us now came straight to the text, and you shall notice:—THE COMMODITY THAT IS SPOKEN OF.

4. “Buy the truth.” I shall not speak tonight of those common forms of truth that relate to politics, to history, to science, or to ordinary life, yet I would say of all these—buy the truth. Never be afraid of the truth. Never be afraid in anything of having your prejudices knocked on the head. Always be determined, come what may, even though truth should prove you to be a fool, yet to accept the truth, and though it should cost you dearly, yet still to pursue it, for in the long run those who build mere speculations, fancies, and errors, though they may seem to build suitable structures for the time, shall find that they are wood, hay, and stubble, and shall be consumed; but he who sticks with what he knows, to matters of fact, and matters of truth, builds gold, silver, and precious stones, which the trying fire of the coming ages shall not be able to destroy. I would sooner discover one fact, and lay down one certain truth, than be the author of ten thousand theories, even though those theories should for a while rule all the thought of mankind.

5. But I speak now of religious truth. Buy that truth; buy that truth above all others. And here we must have three points. First, in the matter of doctrinal truth, buy the truth. Holy Scripture is the standard of truth. To the law and to the testimony; if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no truth in them. “Your word is truth.” Here is silver tried in the furnace and purified seven times. Speak of Infallibility? It is not at Rome, but it is here in this Book. Here is an infallible witness to the truth of God, and he who is taught by the Holy Spirit to understand it gets at the truth. Now, dear brethren, strive to get the right truth, the real truth, concerning matters of doctrine. Do not consider it a trifle to be sound in the faith. Think no error to be harmless, for truth is very precious, and error, even when we do not see it to be so, may lead to the most solemn consequences of mischief. In this world we see too much of salvation without Christ—I mean we meet many who believe that they are saved because they have been baptized, or confirmed, or passed through the ceremonies of the church to which they belong. They have not looked to the precious blood; they are not depending simply on the finished work of the Redeemer, but something else other than Christ has become their confidence. Now, avoid that, and buy the truth, which lies here, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.”

6. We hear too much nowadays of regeneration without faith—the supposed regeneration of unconscious babes, the new birth of people through drops of water, when they are not able to understand what is performed on them. I beseech you believe that there is no new birth where there is not a confidence in Christ, and that the regeneration which does not lead to repentance and faith, which is not, indeed, immediately attended with it, is no regeneration whatever. Buy the truth in this matter. Believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit in rational and intelligent beings, leading them to hate sin, and to lay hold on eternal life.

7. Alas! we have in some quarters too much of faith without works. A kind of faith is preached, a kind of faith is trusted in, which is not practical. Men say they believe, but they do not prove it by their lives. They remain in sin, and yet wrap themselves up in the belief that they are God’s chosen ones. From such turn away, and remember that a faith without works is dead, and only the faith that changes the character, sanctifies the life, and leads the man to God, is the faith which will save the soul. We must see to it that in our doctrine we bow our judgment to the teachings of Scripture, and try to be conformed to all the revelation of God, and especially to all the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we not fall into one error or another. Scylla {a} is there and Charybdis {b} is there, and he is a happy helmsman who can steer between the two. You shall fall into this ‘ism’ or into that, unless you stick with the truth. Never mind whether you can make the truth always consistent with your own judgment or not. If it is the truth, believe it; and though it should seem to contradict another truth, yet hold to it, if it is in the Word, waiting until clearer light shall reveal to you that all these truths stood in a wonderful harmony and consistency which, at first, you could not perceive. In doctrine, buy the truth.

8. But, secondly, buy experiential truth. I do not know another word to use; I mean truth within, the truth experienced. See that this is real truth. How easy it is to be deceived with the notion that we are converted when we still need to be converted; to imagine that, because we have the approbation of our minister and of our Christian friends, we must, therefore, necessarily be the people of God. There is only one true new birth, but there are fifty counterfeits of it. In this respect, then buy the truth. Let me have you beware of an experience which has a faith in it that was never attended with repentance. I am afraid of a dry-eyed faith. That faith seems to me to be the faith of God’s elect, whose eyes are full of tears. If you have never felt yourself a sinner, never trembled under the law of God, never felt that you have deserved to be cast into hell, I am afraid your faith is a mere presumption, and not the faith that looks to Christ.

9. Beware of an experience that lies in talk, and not in feeling. Mr. Talkative, in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress could speak very glibly about religion; no man more so than he; he was fit to take the chair in an assembly of divines; but it was not heart-work; it was all surface-work. Plough deep, my brethren. Feel what you believe. Let it be with you real home-work, soul-work, the work of God the Holy Spirit—not a temporary excitement, not head-knowledge, not theory. May the truth be burned into your souls by the operation of the Holy Spirit. In this respect, buy the truth.

10. Alas! we see nowadays in many professors a great deal of life without struggle, and I think I have learned that all spiritual life that is not attended with struggles is a mistake, for Isaac, the child of the promise, is sure to be mocked by Ishmael. No sooner does the seed of the woman come into the world than the seed of the serpent tries to destroy it. You must, and will, find a battle going on within you if you are a believer. Sin will contest it with grace, and grace will seek to reign over sinful corruptions. Be afraid of too easy an experience. “Moab is at ease from his youth; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; for the time comes when the Lord will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men who are settled on their lees.” There must be strivings within! or we may well beware of such an experience.

11. And I think I have noticed a growing feeling abroad of confidence without self-examination. I would have you hold onto and believe God’s word, but do not take your own state for granted. Do not conclude that you are a Christian because you thought you were one ten years ago. Day by day bring yourself to the touchstone. He who cannot bear examination will have to bear condemnation. He who dares not search himself will find that God will search him. He who is afraid to look himself in the face needs to be afraid to look the Judge in the face when the great white throne shall be placed, and all the world summoned to judgment. Confidence is quite consistent with self-examination, and in this thing please buy the truth, and seek to have a religion that will bear the test—a true faith, a living faith, a faith that moves your soul, a deep-rooted faith, a faith which is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, for the time comes when, as the Lord lives, nothing short of this will stand you in good stead.

12. Again, I spoke of three kinds of truth—doctrinal truth, experiential truth, and now practical truth. By practical truth I mean our actions being consistent, and those of a right and straightforward course. In this matter, buy the truth. You profess to be a Christian: be a Christian. You say that you are a follower of Christ: follow him, then. You know it is right to be a man of integrity and uprightness: be so. Let dirty tricks of the trade, let no basenesses, let none of those white lies which degrade commerce nowadays, ever come across your path, except to be reprobated and abhorred. Walk straight forward. Do not learn to tack. Do not wish to understand policy, and craft, and cunning. Buy the truth. It will shame the world yet. He who speaks out his mind, says what he means, and means what he says, does the just thing, does the right thing, fears no man, and lifts his head boldly in the face of all creation if it dares to whisper that it will enrich him by his doing wrong—that is the man who buys the truth practically. You know how it can be carried out in commerce readily enough, in the parlour, in the drawing-room, and in the kitchen. There is a truthful way for a shoeblack to polish shoes in the street, and there is a lying way of doing it. There is a truthful way of doing the commonest actions, and there is a false method of doing the very same thing. In this respect, then, buy the truth, concerning the straightforwardness, the clean, sharp transparency of your moral character and of your Christian conduct.

13. Never seem to be what you are not, or if you must for a while be in that position, consider that you are unfortunate, and escape from it as soon as you can. Never do what you are ashamed of; it does not matter who sees. Always think that God sees, and with God for a witness you have more than enough observers. Only do what you would have done if all eyes were fixed on you, and you were observed even by your most cruel critics. Never stifle conscience. Carry out your convictions. If the skies fall, stand upright. What God’s Holy Spirit tells you, do that. What you find in this Book, carry out. If you bring any mischief to other people through it, that is their problem. If I keep on the right side of the road, and run over anyone—that is his fault; he should have kept out of the way. I would not run over him if I could help it, but I cannot turn aside from the right road. Stand in your place. Let malignant eyes look at you, but, like the sun, shine on, and if others envy you, yet do not fret because of them, neither be grieved to act truthfully, but in this respect again fulfil the text and “buy the truth.”

14. So I have shown you what the commodity is—doctrinally, experientially, and practically. “Buy the truth.”

15. II. Now let us come and think especially on the first part of the text:—HOW THIS COMMODITY IS OBTAINED.

16. “Buy the truth.” Let us correct an error here. Some might suppose that Christ, and the gospel, and salvation—all of which are included in the truth—can be bought. They can, but they cannot. They can in the sense of the text; they cannot in any other sense. You cannot purchase salvation; merit cannot win it. Christ’s price is, “Without money and without price.” Has not the prophet worded it like that? “Yes, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price.” Salvation is by free grace, and is from the very necessity of its nature, gratis. You cannot merit it; you cannot earn it. It is not by the will by man, nor by blood, nor by birth, but “he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion.”

17. What, then, does the text mean? I will try to expound the Word. It means, first, to be saved, give up everything that must be given up, in order to receive the free salvation for yourself. Every sin must be given up. No man shall go to heaven while he lives in, and favours any one, sin. A man may sin, and be saved, but he cannot love sin and be saved. Give up, then, your drunkenness, if that is your sin. Give up, then, your unchaste living, if that is your sin. Conquer that angry temper, that love of greed—whatever it is that keeps you back from Christ. Buy the truth, and give up these. You will not merit salvation then; but if this must be given up, do not let it stand in your way. Give it up, man! Since you cannot have your sin and have Christ too, get a divorce from your sin and take holiness, and take the Saviour.

18. You must also give up all your self-righteousness. Some are trusting in their prayers, some are trusting in their tears, their repentances, their feelings, their church-goings, their chapel-goings, and I do not know what men will not trust in. Give them all up. They are all lies together. There is no reliance to be placed on anything you can do. Come and trust what Christ has done, and if it is, as it certainly is, necessary for you to give up your own righteousness to win Christ and be found in him, then do it, and in this sense part with all you have so that you may buy Christ. Yourself, your sinful self, and your righteous self—oh! that you might be willing to part with both, that you might buy the true salvation!

19. And the text means this, again, that if, in order to be saved, it should cost you a deep experience and much pain, yet never mind it. It is better that you should bear all that and get the truth, than that you should escape without this heart-searching work, and be deceived at the last. If the price at which you shall have a true experience is that of sorrow, buy the truth at that price. Be willing to let the doctor’s lancet wound you, if by it he shall heal you. Be willing to lose the right eye or the right hand, if by it you shall enter into eternal life.

20. It also means this—buy the truth; that is, be willing at all risks to hold onto the truth. Buy it as the martyrs did when they gave their bodies to be burned for it. Buy it as many have done when they have gone to prison for it. Buy it if you should lose your job for it. Lose your job sooner than tell a lie. Like the three holy children, be rather willing to go into the fiery furnace, than to worship the image which Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Run the risk of being poor. Do not believe, as all the world says, that you must live. There is no absolute necessity for it. Sometimes it is a grander thing to die. Let the necessity be, “We must be honest; we must do the right thing; we must serve God,” for that is a far greater necessity than that of merely living. Count all things but loss so that you may be a true man, a godly man, a holy man, a Christly man, and in this sense sacrifice everything, and so “buy the truth.”

21. I think that is what the word means. I expound it to mean this—give anything and everything, sooner than part with Christ, part with the living work of grace in your heart, or part with the integrity of your conduct.

22. III. And now let me:—PARAPHRASE THESE WORDS.

23. “Buy the truth.” Then I say, buy only the truth. Do not be throwing away your life, and your abilities, and your zeal, and your earnestness, for a lie. Some are doing it. Thousands of pounds are given to erect edifices for doing mischief. Multitudes of sermons are preached, very zealously, to propagate falsehoods, and sea and land are traversed to make proselytes, who shall be ten times more the children of hell than they were before. Buy only the truth. Do not buy the glittering stuff they call truth. Never mind the label; look to see if it is truth. Bring everything that is propounded as truth to the test, to the trial. If it will not stand the fire of God’s Word, then do not buy it; no, do not have it as a gift; no, do not keep it in the house. Run away from it. It eats like a canker; do not let it come near you. Buy only the truth.

24. “Buy the truth” at any price, and sell it at no price. Buy it at any price. If you lose your body for it, if you do not lose your soul, you have made a good bargain. If you lose your estate for it, yet if you have heaven in return, how blessed is the exchange! You certainly will not need to lose your peace of mind for it, but you may lose everything else, and you shall make a good bargain. Come to no terms with Christ. Throw everything into the soul-bargain. Let everything go, as long as you may only have truth in the doctrine, truth in the heart, and truth in the life, and Christ, who is the Truth, to be your treasure for ever.

25. Buy all the truth. When you come to the Bible, do not pick and choose. Do not try to believe half of it, and leave out the other half. Buy the truth—that is, not a section of it that suits your particular idiosyncrasy, but buy the whole thing. Why do you need to break up pearls and dissolve them? Buy everything that is true. One doctrine of God’s Word balances another. He who is altogether and only a Calvinist probably only knows half the truth, but he who is willing to take the other side, as far as it is true, and to believe everything he finds in the Word, will get the whole pearl.

26. Buy the truth now—buy the truth tonight. It may not be for you to buy tomorrow. You may be in that land where God has cast for ever the lost soul away from all access to the truth, where truth’s shadow, cold and chill, shall fall over you, and you, in outer darkness, shall weep and wail, and gnash your teeth, because you shut out truth from you, and now truth has shut you out, and all your knockings at her door shall be answered with the dolorous cry, “Too late, too late! You cannot enter now!”

27. So I have paraphrased the text. Buy only the truth; buy all the truth; buy the truth at any price; and buy the truth now.

28. IV. Briefly let me give you:—THE REASONS FOR THIS PURCHASE.

29. You need the truth, and you will never be received by God at last unless you bring the truth in your right hand. Only the truthful can enter those gates of pearl. You need the truth now. You are not fit to live any more than to die without an interest in the truth as it is in Jesus. Accept Christ to be truly yours, so truly yours as to make you true. You do not know how to fight the battle of life at all without the truth. Your life will be a blunder, and the close of it will be a disaster, unless you buy the truth. May God grant that you may buy the truth now. You need it. You need it now, and you will need it for ever. Oh! I wish that that hymn we sang should not merely be heard by you, but felt by you:—

   Hasten, sinner, to be wise,

   And stay not for the morrow’s sun.

Oh! that fatal “tomorrow!” Over the cliffs Of “tomorrow” millions have fallen to their ruin. Tomorrow, no, “tomorrow!” Here are these put-offs, and these delays, and yet God has never given you a promise of mercy tomorrow. His word is “Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” A better day shall never come than today. Oh! that you would accept it now.

   If you tarry till you’re better,

   You will never come at all.

And until times are more propitious, if you wait, you will wait on for ever and ever. May God grant you may buy the truth now, for the text is in the present tense, for you need it now.

30. V. Let me direct you to:—THE MARKET WHERE YOU CAN BUY IT.

31. These are the words of Jesus Christ when he appeared to his servant John, “I counsel you, buy from me,” he said. There is no place where truth can be found in its power and life, except in Jesus Christ. Truth is in his blood; it will wash away what is false in you. Truth is in his Spirit; it will eradicate what is dark and vile in you. His love will make you true by conforming you to himself. Come to Christ. Bring nothing with you. Come as you are, empty-handed, penniless, and poor. The rills of milk and wells of wine are all with him. He is the banquet-giver, and the banquet too. To trust him is to live. To look to him alone for salvation is to find salvation in that look. Oh! that these simple words might point someone to the place where he shall buy the truth! And now let me repeat my text again, “Buy the truth.”

32. Do not misread it. It does not say hear about the truth. That is a good thing, but hearing is not buying, as many of you tradesmen know to your cost. You may tell people where to go, but you do not want them merely to hear; you are not content with that; you need them to buy. Oh! that some of you, my hearers, would become buyers of the truth! I know some of you. I happen to look around, and find here and there some of you, whom I know, and respect, and esteem, and pray for. I had thought that you would have bought the truth long ago, and it often staggers me why you have not. Oh! that you were decided for God! I am afraid I am preaching some of you into a hardened state. If the gospel does not save you, it will certainly be a curse to you, and I am afraid it is being so to some of you. Please think of this! Why should you and I have the misery of doing each other harm when our intention is on both sides, I am sure, to do what is kind and good? Oh! yield to my Master. The Light of the World with his hand at your door is softly knocking tonight. Do you not hear the knock of the hand that was pierced? Admit him! He does not come in wrath; he comes in mercy. Admit him! He has waited long, even these many years, but no frown is yet on his brow. Rise now and let him in. Do not be ashamed. Though ashamed, do not be afraid, but let him in, and blushing, with tears on your face, say to him, “My Lord, I will trust you; worthless worm as I am, I will depend on you.” Oh! that you would do it now, this moment! May the Lord give you grace to do it! Do not hear about it only, but buy the truth.

33. Do not merely commend the truth by saying, “The preacher spoke well, and he spoke earnestly, and I love what he said.” The preacher would almost rather that you said nothing than that, if you do not buy the truth. How it provokes the salesman when a customer says, “Yes, it is a beautiful article, and very cheap, and just what I need,” and then walks out of the shop. No, buy the truth, and you shall commend it better afterwards, and your commendation shall be worth the hearing.

34. And, please, do not stand content with merely knowing about the truth. Oh! how much some of you know. How much more you know than even some of God’s people. You could correct many of my blunders. But ah! he who knows is nowhere unless he also has. To know about bread will not satisfy my hunger; to know that there are riches at the bank will not fill my pocket. Buy the truth, as well as know it; that is, make it your own.

35. And please do not intend to buy it. Oh! intentions, intentions, intentions! The road to hell—not hell—that is a mistake in the proverb—the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Oh! you laggards, pull up the paving stones and hurl them at the devil’s head. He is ruining you; he is luring you to your destruction. Turn your intentions into actions, and no longer intend to buy, but buy the truth.

36. And tonight do not wish that the truth were yours, but buy it. You say the cost is too great. Too great? It is nothing. It is “without money and without price.” Do you mean, however, to say, that it is too great a cost to give up a sin? What, will you burn in hell rather than give up a lust? Will you dwell in everlasting burnings for ever, sooner than give up those cups that intoxicate you? Must you have your silly lewd and lascivious mirth, or any kind of sin? Must you have it? Will you sooner have it than heaven? Then, sirs, your blood be on your own heads. You have been warned. I hope you are sober, and have not yet gone to madness, and if you are, you will see that no pleasures of an hour can ever pay for casting yourselves under the anger of God for ever and for ever. Buy the truth. Do not merely talk about it, and wish for it, but buy, buy the truth.

37. VI. And then, lastly:—A WARNING AS FOR LOSING THE PURCHASE.

38. “Do not sell it.” My time has gone, and therefore, since I never like to exceed it, there shall be only these few words. When you have once gotten the truth, I know you will not sell it. You will not, I am sure, at any price; but the exhortation, nevertheless, is a most proper one. There have been some who have sold the truth to be respectable. They used to hear the gospel, but now they have gotten on in the world, and keep a carriage, and they do not like to go where there are so many poor people, so away they go where they can hear anything or nothing, so that they may be respectable. Ah! I have the uttermost contempt for this affectation of gentility and respectability that leads men to be so base as to forsake their Christian friends. Let them go; they are best gone. Such chaff had better not be with the wheat, and those who can be impelled by such motives are too base to be worth retaining.

39. Some sell the truth for a livelihood. I pity these far more. “I must have a job; therefore, I must do what I am told there; I must break this law of God and that, for I must support my family.” Ah! poor soul, I pity your unfortunate position, but I pray that you may have grace even now to play the man, and never sell the truth, even for bread.

40. Some sell the truth for the pleasures of the world. They must have enjoyment, they say, and so they will mix with the multitude who do evil, and give up their Christian profession.

41. Others seem to sell the truth for nothing at all. They merely go away from Christ because religion has grown stale with them. They are weary of it, and they go away. I shall ask the question painfully of all, “Will you also go away? Will you to be respectable, will you to have a livelihood, will you to have the pleasures of sin for a season, will you out of sheer weariness—will you go away?” No, we can add:—

   What anguish has that question stirred,

      If I will also go!

   Yet, Lord, relying on the Word,

      I humbly answer, No.

Do not sell it; do not sell it; it cost Christ too dearly. Do not sell it; you made a good bargain when you bought it. Do not sell it. Do not sell it; it has not disappointed you; it has satisfied you, and made you blessed. Do not sell it; you need it. Do not sell it, you will need it. The hour of death is approaching, and the day of judgment is close on its heels. Do not sell it; you cannot buy its like again; you can never find a better. Do not sell it; you are a lost man if you part with it. Remember Esau, and the morsel of food, and how he would again have found his birthright if he could. Remember Demas; remember Judas, the son of perdition. You are lost without it. It is your life. Skin for skin, yes all that you possess, part with for it, and be resolved, come fair or come foul, come storm or come calm, come sickness or come health, come poverty or come wealth, come death itself in the grimmest form, yet nothing shall separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus your Lord, and nothing shall make you part from the truths you have learned and received from his Word, the truths you have felt and have had worked into your soul by his Spirit, and the truths which in action you desire should tone and colour all your life.

42. May God bless you, dear friends, and keep you, and when the Great Shepherd shall appear may you have the mark of truth on you, and appear with him in glory.

{a} Scylla: A rock on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina facing Charybdis (q. v. for the proverbial use); also personified as a dangerous sea-monster. OED.
{b} Charybdis: A dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Sicily (now Calofaro), opposite the Italian rock Scylla. Used allusively of anything likely to cause shipwreck of life, etc., and especially in combination with Scylla, of the danger of running into one evil or peril in seeking to avoid its opposite. OED.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {Mt 13:24-50}

24. He spoke another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field:

He knew that it was good. It had been tested: it was unmixed: it was good throughout.

25. But while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

It was a very malicious action. The thing has been done many times. Bastard wheat was sown in among the true wheat, so as to spoil the crop.

26, 27. But when the blade was sprung up, and produced grain, then the tares appeared also. So the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the tares come from?’

We often have to ask that question. How does this come about? It was a true gospel that was preached, where did these hypocrites come from—these who are like the wheat, but are not wheat? For it is not the tare that we call a tare in England that is meant here, but a false wheat—very much like wheat, but not wheat.

28. He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

The enemy could not do a worse thing than to adulterate the Church of God. Pretenders outside do little harm. Inside the fold they do much mischief.

28-30. The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; lest while you gather up the tares, you also root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."‘”

The separation will be more in season, move easily and more accurately done when both shall have been fully developed—when the wheat shall have come to its fulness, and the counterfeit wheat shall have ripened.

31, 32. He spoke another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds:

Commonly known in that country.

32-35. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” He spoke another parable to them; “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal flour, until it was all leavened.” Jesus spoke all these things to the multitude in parables; and he did not speak to them without a parable: so 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.”

How thoroughly impregnated our Lord was with the very spirit of Scripture. And he always acted as if the Scriptures were uppermost in his mind. They seemed to be always in their fulness before his soul.

36. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came to him,

Those house-talks, those explanations of the great public sermons and parables—were sweet privileges which he reserved for those who had given their utter confidence to him.

36-44. Saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them, “He who sows 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 who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so it shall be in the end of this age. The Son of man shall send out his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field; which when a man has found,

Stumbling over it, perhaps, when he was at the plough—turning up the old crop in which it was concealed.

44. He hides it, and for joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

Some people do stumble on the gospel when they are not looking for it. “I am found by those who did not seek me” is a grand free-grace text. Some of those who have been most earnest in the kingdom of heaven were at one time most indifferent and careless, but God in infinite sovereignty put the treasure in their way—gave them the heart to value it, and they obtained it to their own joy.

45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man, looking for valuable pearls:

He does not stumble on it: he is looking for pearls.

46, 47. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered from every kind:

Bad fish and good fish, and creeping things, and broken shells, and bits of seaweed, and pieces of old wreck. Did you ever see such an odd assortment as they get on the deck of a fishing vessel when they empty out the contents of a drag-net? Such is the effect of the ministry. It drags together all kinds of people. It is quite good that we do not have eyes enough to see each other’s hearts tonight, or else I dare say we should make about as strange a medley as I have already attempted to describe as being in the fisherman’s vessel.

48. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

All a mixture. We cannot sort one from the other now, but when the net comes to shore then will be the time for picking over the heap. No mistakes will be made. The good will go into vessels, and the bad, and nothing but the bad, will be cast away.

49, 50. So it shall be at the end of the age: the angels shall come out, and separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Not fire, then, which annihilates, but fire which leaves in pain and causes weeping and gnashing of teeth.