Daily Devotional For Monday, November 17, 2025

Good morning and praying that your weekend was both restful and rewarding in serving the Lord. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Today, we are coming to the end of Matthew 13. Look at Matthew 13:36-41:

“Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’ (37) And He said, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, (38) and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; (39) and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. (40) So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. (41) The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, (42) and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (43) Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” (NASB).

Jesus’ explanation of the meaning of the Parable of the Tares is self-explanatory. It is when we get to verse 42 there has been some misunderstanding on what Jesus meant by “will throw them into the furnace of fire.” When we read this we normally think that "furnace of fire” is a metaphor for hell, but it is not according to Daniel 3:6. It is a metaphor for judgment. Jesus often used the term “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as a metaphor for judgment (See Matt. 8:12, Matt. 13:50, Matt. 22:13, Matt. 24:51, and Matt. 25:30. The weeping shows extreme sorrow and remorse; the gnashing of teeth shows extreme maximum pain and anxiety. 

There are many people who live and even say, “I don’t care what will happen to me after I die,” but they should be. There is eternal damnation of judgment that consists of burning forever. They will be punished by God for their self-centeredness, their self-righteousness, their selfishness. Their indifference to Christ during their life will at death cause Christ to be indifferent to their punishment. New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton warns those who are saved to not be prideful. He writes this:

“Followers of Jesus do not fear God’s final judgment, but we must respond to it with:

• Tears, for the separation and suffering that will fall upon evildoers. We must never gloat over or feel indifferent to the fate of those facing judgment. God mourns over lost souls, and so should we.
• haring the gospel, since many need to hear and all who respond in faith will be saved from judgment. Christians ought to always be witnessing people.
• Lifelong service, because no matter what your job, profession, or education, all you do should be dedicated to God. God uses your work to advance his kingdom and overcome evil” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 273).

Those who receive God’s favor stand in brightness compared to those who face the darkness of God’s judgment. There is coming a day when Christ returns that He is going to separate the sheep from the goats, the just from the unjust so that that mingling no longer continues. From that point on the kingdom of God will be characterized by righteousness and purity. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll warns us about what our response should be until this happens:

“In the end, it’s the responsibility of Jesus Christ as Judge to separate the tares from the wheat—that is, the wicked from the righteous. In the meantime, we need tremendous patience and wisdom to know when to step up and wage an aggressive fight against wrong … and when to step back and fulfill other work God has called us to do, knowing that God Himself will deal with the wicked. If we rush in and try to purge every sinner and confront every sin, we’ll inevitably uproot the true believers who fail to live up to our unreasonably high standards. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus and His teaching, we’ll gain the insight to pursue the quest for purity without trespassing into God’s domain of sowing and reaping” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 284).

• • First, Jesus’ point is that there will be times when it is hard to distinguish the wheat from the tares, truth from untruth, especially when it is cloaked in Scripture. This is something the devil did with Jesus in the wilderness with the temptations he posed to Jesus (See Matt. 4:1-11). False teaching is not something we might experience out there somewhere, but it can be in our own church. The Apostle Paul warned the church at Ephesus to be on guard against wolves that might cloak themselves in their church (see Acts 20:29). Paul warned the church at Corinth about the infiltration of the devil in their midst (see 2 Cor. 2:11-13). These warnings should keep us alert. That the devil can disguise himself as “an angel of light,” should put all of us on alert in our churches.

• • Second, we all have a tendency to rush to the extremes when combating a wrong. In the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the farmer restrains his workers from rushing to judgment and pulling up the tares too swiftly. We live in an evil world and we must make sure that we do not jump to conclusions too quickly. This is why patience is needed. We must confront wrong, but we must make sure we have the right information first. This means we must proceed slowly and with God’s wisdom. 

• • We must remind ourselves that God is just and in the end, He will sort all of this out. God knows who is evil, who the charlatans are, who the wolves are. God will separate the sheep from the goats on the day of Judgment (See Matt. 25:32). Evil workers tend to gather more evil workers to join them in their hunger and lust for power and position. This is expected in this age, BUT this age is not the last age. One day the King is coming and He will sort all of this out in the final age” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 284-286).

Assignment: When was a time you jumped to conclusions about someone’s motives or attitudes or actions? What did you learn from that? When was the last time you confronted evil, tares and wolves in a church or group of believers who had gathered together? What happened and what did you learn from this?

Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 2:16, “And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Lord, give me courage to challenge wolves and wisdom to know when and how. Help me to advance Your kingdom and not mine. Guide me to take a stand without coming across as prideful, arrogant and hypocritical. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly