Wheat and Tares

“There are 200 million church members in America,” said Dr. Bailey Smith, speaking at Beulah Hill Baptist Church in West End, N.C., in 2003. “If they were all saved, this nation would be in better shape; there are always tares among the wheat.”

Smith of Atlanta served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1981-82. He grew up as a Baptist pastor’s son in Dallas, Texas and “walked an aisle” to receive Christ at age 5 because his “grandfather wanted him to.” He said his conversion really took place at age 10 when he prayed with his father. As a high school senior, he felt called to preach and pastored a church at age 19. He graduated from Quachita Baptist University in Arkansas and Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Smith indicated that many churchgoers think they are “saved” but are not. He asked the Rev. Billy Graham why Graham often hinted that church members might need to accept Jesus as Savior.

Graham replied, “I myself was an unsaved church member.”

Preaching from Jesus’ wheat-and-tares parable (Matthew 13:24-30), Smith said that Jesus compared “the kingdom of heaven” to a wheat field. Jesus said an enemy sowed tares (weeds that appear as wheat) in the field, and workers wanted to pull up those tares. The field owner, fearing some wheat might get uprooted if hired hands tried to eliminate tares, told workers to wait until harvest time. At that time, tares would be gathered and burned and wheat brought into his barn.

“Farmers used to show me wheat and tares,” said Smith, who once lived in Oklahoma. “I couldn’t tell the difference, but if you open up the head and there are kernels of wheat, it’s wheat.”

Smith said some people believe they are Christians because they had “experiences,” were baptized when their friends were baptized, or because their parents keep telling them, “You accepted Christ when you were young.”

“What somebody told you that you did won’t save you,” Smith said. Paraphrasing 2 Corinthians 13:5, he added, “Examine yourself to see if you ever got it (salvation) or not. A lot of you have been inoculated from going to heaven – it’s called ‘walking a church aisle as a kid.’ There’s a lot of difference between a good man and a saved man; the difference is eternity. You can go down a dry sinner (in water baptism) and come up a wet one.”

Smith said that wheat and tares look alike.

“Only God knows the difference,” Smith said. “Can a weed grow? An unsaved person doesn’t grow in Christ but appears to. He can be a busy church member on his way to hell. Wheat and tares are planted together, progress together and are harvested together. Those who are deceived don’t know they’re deceived. The Devil doesn’t want you to doubt your salvation. He wants you to believe you’re saved. The Devil knows you are good, and he is smart. He’d just as soon you go to hell from a church pew as from a bar stool.”

These are Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 7:22-23 (New KJV): “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Smith said a person might think he’s all right with God because he performs good works, attends a good church and hears good preaching. He told about a 19-year-old woman who confessed that her daddy had prematurely prayed the sinner’s prayer for her when she was young.

“You can believe in soap and die dirty,” he said. “To be 99 percent saved is to be 100 percent lost. The wheat is placed in the father’s house; the tare is bound and burned. We’ve had about 90 pastors get saved, and some music directors. I was a tare; Billy Graham was a tare. I believe all across this building we have tares among us.”

Smith quoted Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

As musicians played “Just as I Am,” Smith asked those needing to accept Christ to raise their hands. He led those who responded in repeating a sinner’s prayer.

“Some of you pray that prayer every time because you haven’t prayed it once,” Smith said.

Smith’s sermon challenges us to make sure we have repented of our sins and are trusting Jesus Christ to save us from eternal separation from God.

“But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…” (John 1:12, New KJV).

Haiti Needs Help and Prayer

January 15, 2010

The earthquake that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, caused me to think of Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 24:3-7:

“And as he (Jesus) sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, ‘Tell us…what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?’ And Jesus…said unto them, ‘…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers (various) places.’”

“The New York Times” printed this about the recent Haiti earthquake: “Survivors strained desperately on Wednesday against the chunks of concrete that buried this city along with thousands of its residents, rich and poor…And the poor who define this nation squatted in the streets, some hurt and bloody, many more without food and water, close to piles of covered corpses and rubble.”

Was the earthquake – Haiti’s worst in more than 200 years – one of those Jesus predicted, or was it a direct judgment on Haiti?

According to “Wikipedia,” Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo may be considered the country's national religion. Most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist with Catholicism…The belief system of voodoo revolves around family spirits (often called “loua” or “mistè”) which are believed to be inherited through maternal and paternal lines.

Russell Goldman, reporting for ABC News, wrote, “Some 80 percent of Haitians are practicing Roman Catholics. But despite their Christian faith, half the country’s population practices voodoo, an Afro-Caribbean faith in which practitioners cast spells, conduct sacrifices, worship spirits and believe in zombies, according to statistics compiled by the CIA World Factbook. Increasingly, evangelical Protestant faiths, like Pentecostalism, which stress a locally popular belief in an ‘unseen spirit world,’ have taken hold.”

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes in his January 14 blog: “Haiti is well known for its history of religious syncretism – mixing elements of various faiths, including occult practices…Haiti's history is a catalog of political disasters…In one account of the nation's fight for independence from the French in the late 18th century, representatives of the nation are said to have made a pact with the Devil to throw off the French (in 1791). According to this account, the Haitians considered the French as Catholics and wanted to side with whomever would oppose the French. Thus, some would use that tradition to explain all that has marked the tragedy of Haitian history – including now the earthquake of January 12, 2010.”

Mohler says many point to the Haiti earthquake as a sign of God's direct judgment.

“God does judge the nations – all of them – and God will judge the nations,” Mohler says. “He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples…

“God's rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

“The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake – at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense – in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

“The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God…The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti…Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.”

A Prayer: Father, many Haitians are “dirt poor.” The recent earthquake added misery to their lives. Help us respond to the Haitian people in the manner of prayerful Good Samaritans. Help us avoid judging them in their time of need. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When Hard Times Come

When things don’t go well for me, I sometimes recall words from “Hard Times Come Again No More.”

Stephen C. Foster wrote that folksong in 1854, and it was popular in its day in the U.S. and Europe.

Here is that song’s first verse:

“Let us pause in life’s pleasures and count its many tears / While we all sup sorrow with the poor / There’s a song that will linger forever in our ears / Oh, Hard Times, come again no more.”

Chorus: “Tis the song, the sigh of the weary / Hard Times, Hard Times, come again no more / Many days you have lingered around my cabin door / Oh, Hard Times, come again no more.”

The “Collins English Dictionary” defines “hardship” as “conditions of life difficult to endure” and as “something that causes suffering or privation.” “Privation” is defined as “lack of basic necessities or comforts of life.”

Foster’s song and the definition of “hardship” seem to mainly describe physical or circumstantial difficulties, but spiritual, mental and emotional hardships are also hard to endure and are not easily separated from circumstances and physical trials.

Someone said, “Your body and soul live so close together that they catch each other’s diseases.”

I have heard people talk about feeling so down-and-out that they “had to reach up to touch bottom.” One person described a season of depression when he “felt lower than a snake’s belly.” “Hard times” come to us in various forms, and they come to us all. Someone said, “Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”

Hardships are part of life.

“There is no success without hardship,” Sophocles said.

Frank A. Clark said, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

“Adversity reminds men of religion,” Livy noted.

Evangelist Charles Spurgeon said, “Stars may be seen from the bottom of a deep well, when they cannot be discerned from the top of a mountain. So are many things learned in adversity which the prosperous man dreams not of.”

“It is not until we have passed through the furnace that we are made to know how much dross is in our composition,” said Colton.

What about this verse? “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction…” (Isaiah 30: 20-21).

Does God “give” adversity?

Sir Francis Bacon commented on his perception of God’s way of dealing with people during Old Testament and New Testament times. Bacon said, “Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of God’s favor. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.”

Writer Jeanne Guyon said, “Adversity and affliction are not easy for anyone of us; nevertheless, the good thing is that the Lord is with us and directing us not to get anxious, but get effective…If we faint in adversity, our strength will be small. We must abandon every voice in order to listen to His Word...To penetrate deeper in the experience of Jesus Christ, it is required that you begin to abandon your whole existence, giving it up to God.”

The Apostle Paul said, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh (produces) patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Romans 5:3-4).

Joyce Meyer said, “No one enjoys going through difficult times, but when we’re in the middle of a crisis, it’s comforting to encounter someone who has had a similar experience and has survived…Even if no good comes from our crisis other than our ability to help others, we still might one day say going through it was worth it all.”

Here are the words to “Lord, When I Hurt Inside,” a song by my wife, Carol Crain:

“Lord, when I hurt inside, I often question why all this pain had to be part of my days.

“Then you take me by the hand and help me understand, because you love me, and I can trust your higher ways.

“Though I may never know the reasons or the whys, to You, Lord, I can go; on You I can rely.

“My memories You will heal. You have and always will give me strength, peace and joy and victory.”

Trust God during good times; trust God during hard times.