We began to learn last week about the “enemy” who sowed tares—bad seed—in the Lord’s field, where He had put only the good seed of His own Word, Jesus! said that this parable in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew is about the kingdom of God explained it to His disciples, “The field is the world; to teach us When He said, the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil.”

You all know when and how Satan began to cast his bad seed into the Lord’s field. Into the beautiful garden of Eden he came with his heart filled with hatred, to try to destroy the work of God. He began by whispering lies into the ear of Eve, telling her that the Word of God was not true, so that she might let him pluck it from her heart, and put his bad seed in its place.

If only Eve had trusted in God and believed His word, she would have kept it in her heart and been safe. For we learned last week how carefully our Heavenly Father watches over His plants, and keeps them “night and day” lest any hurt them. But, oh, she listened to Satan until she really believed that what he said was true, and so his bad seed got right into her heart, and choked the good seed and destroyed it.

And how quickly this bad seed sprang up and brought forth its bitter fruit of sinful actions, disobedience and shame and sorrow. Instead of “the children of the kingdom” which come from the good seed of God’s Word, Adam and Eve became “the children of the wicked one.” They were just tares or weeds in God’s garden, instead of His precious and fruitful plants.

And since, as we have learned, every plant must bring forth “after its kind,” and can only multiply itself, but not bring forth any other kind of plant, all their children must be like themselves, “the children of the wicked one.” So the whole world would be filled with weeds.

How sad for the Lord to see His beautiful garden that He loved and watched so eagerly bringing forth only weeds. But He did not become discouraged and leave the field to Satan. He says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,” and “My word shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” [Isa. 46:10; 55:11] No enemy can really hinder the work of the Lord, or keep Him from carrying out His purpose.

God did not pull the weeds out of His garden and destroy them at once; He loved His children so much that He longed to save them. He wanted to put the good seed back into their hearts, and undo all the work of the enemy.

So He gave to the woman in her sorrow the promise of a most precious Seed that He would plant in His field, through whom they might again become “the children of the kingdom” and the whole world be filled with the precious fruit of it. Read the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of Galatians, which will tell you who this precious Seed is, and then we will talk more about this next week.

The Present Truth – October 13, 1898
E. J. Waggoner

Story in pdf  The Enemy