And thus may you see who are in the book of life, and who are not. For all those that are obstinate sinners, are without Christ, and so not elect to everlasting life, if they remain in their wickedness. There are none of us all but we may be saved by Christ, and therefore let us stick hard unto it, and be content to forego all the pleasures and riches of this world for his sake, who for our sake forsook all the heavenly pleasures, and came down into this miserable and wretched world, and here suffered all manner of afflictions for our sake. And [pg 025] therefore it is right that we should do somewhat for his sake, to show ourselves thankful unto him; and so we may assuredly be found among the first, and not among the last; that is to say, among the elect and chosen of God, that are written in the counting book of God, who are those that believe in Christ Jesus; to whom, with God the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end.—Amen.
The Parable Of The Tares,
By Bishop Latimer, Preached On The 7th Of February, 1553.
Matthew xiii.—The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way, &c.
This is a parable or similitude wherein our Saviour compared the kingdom of God, that is, the preaching of his word, wherein consisteth the salvation of mankind, unto a husbandman who sowed good seed in his field.
But before we come unto the matter, you shall first learn to understand what this word parable, which is a Greek word, and used in the Latin and English tongue, means; that is to say, “A parable is a comparison of two things that are unlike outwardly;” while in effect they signify but one thing, for they appertain to one end; as in this place, Christ compared the word of God unto seed: which two things are unlike, but yet they teach one thing; for like as the seed is sown in the earth, so is the word of God sown in our hearts: and thus much of this word parable.
The sum of this gospel is, first he speaks of a husbandman that sowed good seed; after that he mentions an enemy that sowed evil seed. And these two manner of seeds, that is, the husbandman's seed that was good, and the enemy's seed which was naught, came up both together: so that the enemy was as busy as the other in sowing his evil seed. And while he was busy in sowing it, it was unknown. And at the first springing up, it all seemed to be good seed, but at length the servant of the husbandman perceived the evil seed sown amongst the good; therefore he came and told his master, showing him all the matter, and required leave to gather the evil seed from amongst the other. The husbandman himself said, “Our enemy hath done this. But for all that, let it alone until the harvest, and then will I separate the good from the evil.” This is the sum of this gospel.
First, note that he saith, “When everybody was asleep, then he came and sowed his seed.” Who are these sleepers? The bishops and prelates, the slothful and careless curates and ministers; they with their negligence give the devil leave to sow his seed, for they sow not their seed. That is, they preach not the word of God, they instruct not the people with wholesome doctrine, and so they give place to the devil to sow his seed. For when the devil cometh, and findeth the heart of man not weaponed nor garnished with the word of God, he forthwith possesses the same, and so getteth victory through the slothfulness of the spirituality, which they shall one day grievously repent. For the whole scripture, that is to say, both the Old and New Testament, is full of threatenings against such negligent and slothful pastors; and they shall make a heavy and grievous account one day, when no excuse shall serve, but extreme punishment shall follow, for a reward of their slothfulness.
This gospel gives occasion to speak of many things: for our Saviour himself expounded this parable unto his disciples after the people were gone from him, and he was come into the house. For the disciples were not so bold as to ask him of the meaning of this parable in the presence of the people; whereby we may learn good manners, to use in everything a good and convenient time. Also we may here learn to search and inquire earnestly, and with great diligence, for the true understanding of God's word. And when you hear a sermon and are in doubt of something, inquire about it, and be desirous to learn; for it is written, “Whosoever hath, unto him shall be given; and he shall have abundance.” (Matt. xiii.) What means this saying?—When we hear the word of God, and have tasted somewhat thereof, and are afterwards desirous to go forward more and more, then shall we have further knowledge; for God will give us his grace to come to further understanding. And so the saying of our Saviour shall be fulfilled in us.
Now when our Saviour heard the request of his disciples, he performs their desire, and begins to expound unto them the parable, saying, “I am he that soweth good seed: the adversary, the devil, is he who soweth evil seed.” Here our Saviour, good people, makes known that he goeth about to do us good; but the devil doth quite the contrary, and he seeks to spoil and destroy us with his filthy and naughty seeds of false doctrine. The field here is the whole world. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels of God, who are his servants: for as every lord or master has his servants to wait upon him, and to do his commandments, so the angels of God wait upon Him to do his commandments. The angels at the time of the harvest shall gather first all such as have been evil and [pg 027] have given occasion of wickedness, and go forward in the same without repentance or amendment of their lives. All such, I say, shall be gathered together and cast into the furnace of fire, “where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For in the end of this wicked world, all such as have lived in the delights and pleasures of the same, and have not fought with the lusts and pleasures of their flesh, but are proud and stubborn, or bear hatred and malice unto their neighbours, or are covetous persons; also all naughty servants that do not their duties, and all those that use falsehood in buying and selling, and care not for their neighbours, but sell unto them false wares, or otherwise deceive them; all these are called “the offenders of this world,” and all such shall be cast into the furnace where shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.