Tares & Thorns | Mark Varughese

1:00 and the reason for that is not because of the size of the obstacle, but where it's located. A boulder is so much bigger than a pebble, but a pebble causes more damage if it's on the inside of you, and we often set up our prayer and our plans about God helping us scale the mountains of life and the hurdles we face, and rightly so, but God is far more interested in what's going on inside of you, because the stuff that surrounds you, He can take care of. He's actually more than able. He's the God who will do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all you can ask, think, or imagine. That is who your God is.

1:52 And see, the enemy, I don't know if you believe in the devil, but he's real. He just doesn't deserve worship and too much attention, but he's real. And his simple goal is that you would focus only on everything outside you and never focus on what's going on inside you. But the scripture teaches us that it's not what's outside you that's going to kill you, but what's on the inside of you that could derail you. Jesus told maybe certainly the most important parable, and I'm going to paraphrase it for time's sake. He talked about a farmer who scattered seed and it landed on four different types of soil. The four soils represent four hearts, the condition of the human heart. And in this meeting right now, there might be some in each of these categories. I personally don't think there's anyone in the first category because the first category is basically cement. It's pavement.

2:48 It's like nothing going on. If your heart was that hard, you wouldn't even have turned up to church today. I mean, you might be here and going, I don't really want to come anyway. But at least you're here. So you can't be that bad. The second one, it's pretty rocky, stony ground. And the problem with pavement is nothing can grow. You can have the most anointed seed. You can have the most incredible preacher, prayer, minister. If your heart is stone cold, nothing will grow. So may that never be any of us, no matter what goes on in life. And then you've got the second soil. The second soil is what they call stony ground, which is shallow soil. And the problem with the second soil, it's pretty rocky. So when the seed lands, there's this farmer just scattering seed. The second soil, there's no depth of soil. You know, in Christianity, you know, when people are like, I want deep teaching, deep teaching, that's normally weird because they're just looking for stuff that, just obey the shallow stuff first, and then we'll get to the deep stuff.

3:51 But there is a problem when there is no depth in your own spirit. Because the seed needs space to take root. The Bible says about the second soil that they received the word with gladness and with joy. But then the first sign of problems, persecution or hardship, they're gone. There are people here today celebrating because you're in a good space and you've had a great week. There are others here who are going through grief and pain. And there are people here who are somewhere in the middle, but what you know is when you have depth of soil, you will stand the vicissitudes of life. When the storms come, you've got enough of a root system to hold you whenever things are going good or bad. And that's better than the first soil, but it's the second soil, it didn't have that depth. And because it didn't have that depth, the seed would come in and then it would be gone.

4:45 Better than hard pavement, but not ideal. But then we get to the third soil. The third soil is actually good soil. It's called thorny ground. But the reason I call it good soil is that the Bible says that the seed goes in and it actually takes root. So there is depth. There's depth of soil and the plant begins to grow. So, the problem with the third soil is not what's growing, it's what else is growing. In the same heart grows not only the Word of God, but of some thorns. And the thorns in opposition to the Word ends up choking the Word. Because we really all want to be in the fourth soil, which is good soil, that is literally 30, 60, and 100 fold. every time you come to Zoe Church, every time you go to a connect group, every time you open a podcast or you listen to something from the Word of God, you want it to land in your heart in a way where you can say, this didn't just tickle my brain, it's produced fruit. 30, 60, and 100 fold.

5:52 That is the destiny of God for all our lives. Now, what's the difference between this soil, which is where we all want to be, and the third soil? Because they're both good soil. See, that one is shallow soil, that's not even soil. These two are good soil. You know, the only difference between the third soil and the fourth soil is gardening. because in this soil, there's no thorns to choke the fruit. This explains why you can have a good heart and never be fruitful. because you never guarded your heart. You never gardened your heart.

6:35 And you have people who've got a soft heart, cry in the worship, respond, and always struggle to bear fruit. It's not because your heart's not good soil. It's because you've never actually removed the thorns that have no right to be there. Whereas Proverbs 4, we know the verse. Proverbs 4, 23, if you've been around church longer than about three weeks, you've probably heard this verse, it says, guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. The word guard, I used to think was like, put a soldier in the front and go, no one's getting in. That's not a guarded heart, that's an isolated heart. The word guard is Hebrew word noughtsar, which means to tend, which literally means to garden. So what he's saying is garden your heart, get into your heart and go, you know what, that doesn't belong here, that attitude doesn't belong here, that offense doesn't belong here. God has put too much into of my life. I can't afford all these other things to get in the way. And do a bit of gardening, because when you do the gardening, then the fruit can grow up unchecked. Whereas in the third soil, because there was no gardening. You know, haven't you realized thorns probably grow quicker in good soil? Weeds grow faster in good soil. There's not a hard thing to grow. That's why you could be real soft before the Lord, and soft-hearted people also get the most offended.

7:59 Come on worship team. Oh, dude, we honored them before, so we've got to give them the other side as well. You know, and you have to make sure you're gardening your heart. You've got to make sure God take the stuff out of me that doesn't belong so that I can actually grow and become fruitful. I know you have a neighbor right now, one you probably prefer more than the other. Be decisive, look at them, and say, gardening is good. Some of you didn't do anything. Don't hate on the people on either side. Come on, everybody say gardening is good. Gardening is not only good, it's vital. It's the difference between me having a good heart and me having a fruitful life. Gardening is good. Straight after that story, Jesus tells another parable, and we read it now in Matthew 13. This is the one I wanted to read to you, Matthew 13, 22, sorry, verse 24. Let's go to verse 24. It says, another parable he put forth to them saying, this is all agricultural parables. If you're new to church, the reason he talked about agriculture a lot is everyone was farmers back then. If he came today, if Jesus turned up today, he would use more AI analogies or kingdom of heaven is like an iPhone. You know, you download from heaven and you apply it or whatever. I don't know. It's not me. But verse 24, here's what it says, another parable he put forth to them. This is literally straight after the one I just paraphrased for you. He said to them, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. All right. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares, T-A-R-E-S. Someone say tares.

9:46 Tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, Then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? He said, an enemy did this. The servant said, do you want us to do some gardening? Like, should we go then and gather them up? But he, the master, said, no. lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers first gather together the tares and buy them into bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn Everyone say, gardening is bad.

10:43 All right, which one is it? In the first parable, gardening is the difference... between a fruitful life and one that has no life. God, get rid of the thorns in my heart. And literally the next story, not the next book, not the next page, the next story. He says, an enemy did this, and he says, shall I take him out? Nah, leave him.

11:15 We have to understand the difference between the tears in our life and the thorns in our life. Because apparently, according to Jesus, we have to treat them very differently. We have to be ruthless with the thorns. But the tares apparently are no big deal. Let them grow. In fact, he said, I don't want you to rip up the tares because you could even uproot the wheat with them. Meaning, okay, well, help me understand this. What are the tares? What are the thorns? Let me give you some framework for this. They're very, very close. The tares are people. who are in your life. The thorns are the issues that appear in your heart. You're meant to be ruthless with the thorn, but leave the tear alone.

12:07 Tears are what people do to you. You know, your interactions with humans. They say things, do things, and you feel one way about it, but the thorns are the effect or the impact of whatever they did inside of you. The thorns you have to deal with, but the tares, let it go. The tares grow around you, thorns grow within you. The tares are not your responsibility, but the thorns absolutely are. The tares are the seen things often, and the thorns are often the unseen things. The pebble in your shoe is a lot smaller than the boulder in your path. But the problem is, because the tares are far more visible, we deal with the tear we curse the tear we rebuke the tear we divorce the tear we leave the tear we find another new tear and it's the tears are not the problem i mean i know look people can be a problem but according to jesus that's not the problem it's what's growing on in your heart that'll ultimately affect the fruitfulness in your life and because tears are so much more noticeable we focus on the tear more than the thorn. And the devil laughs all the way to hell or wherever he laughs to.

13:31 Because he's like, while they keep getting mad at all the tears around them, the thorns are growing unchecked in here. And that's what's killing your 30, 60, and 100 fold. And if this sounds too theoretical, it's about to get a little more real. So here's some examples you may or may not relate to. The tare is the mother-in-law.

13:54 That was not necessary. Any family member who speaks bad about you. The thorn is the unforgiveness growing in your heart every time you go to family gatherings. So the mother-in-law is just the tare. Leave her alone. And all the mother-in-law said, Thank you. never mind nobody wanted to say anything but it's the unforgiveness that'll kill you that's the thorn the tear is the work colleague who's always undermining you but the thorn is the resentment you have against them the resentment will kill you not the colleague the tear is the guy who burgled your house when you went out but the thorn is the fear you now have every time you leave your house.

14:47 That fear in the long run will rob you. That's growing inside you. That's got nothing to do with the tear outside you. The tear is the decision you need to make and you're thinking about option A or B, but the thorn is the anxiety that is robbing your sleep. That anxiety will mess you up more than whether you pick A or B. The tear is that friend who badmouths you behind your back and the thorn is now your lack of trust in all your relationships. you now have a closed heart to everyone that thorn will kill your fruit not the friend that backstabbed you the terror is that person who flattered you and you felt amazing but the thorn is the pride growing in your heart because you think it's all you and not God I got more. Shall I keep going?

15:35 The tear is the church member from the last church. Nobody in Zoe does this. Let's get it straight. The tear is that former church member who spoke abusively with you, but the thorn is now your cynical view of church-going Christians. That cynicism will stop your fruit, not some crazy church member who did something stupid. The tear is the sick person you prayed for, believing for healing, and then they died. But the thorn is now the unbelief in your heart that God doesn't heal and I'm not going to pray anymore. That unbelief that you take in here will shut down the fruit in your life far more than one incident. The tare is the parent who you thought was unreasonable when they brought you up.

16:32 But the thorn is now your resentment towards your own upbringing. And we can keep going. But here's the problem. The tare and the thorn are very related. But the devil cares that you obsess with the tare. And Jesus said, leave the tare alone. Leave it alone. In fact, sometimes we often even center our prayer around the tare. We have tear prayer. You're like, how can I pray for you? Well, my boss, okay, Lord, remove him, Lord. we just pray that you just take away the pain take him away Lord take him away and we pray for the removals of tears and Jesus is like it's not the tear what you'd be praying for is the the irritation in your spirit that's rubbing your peace all our focus even in our prayer becomes tear centered and and really it's the thorn that'll kill you. In fact, what's really sad is we get sick of the tear. So we, like I said, we just leave that tear and find a new tear. And we keep trading tears, whether it's jobs, churches, spouses, houses, governments. We just find new tears. And we think we've escaped. In fact, we call it a new season. What you don't know is the thorns have been aggregating inside of you. There's no new season. You're getting more and more corrupt and bitter and hard and indifferent because you think escaping the tear gave you a new day, but you are focusing on the wrong thing. We need the gardener to come in and remove the thorns because it's the thorn that's killing us, not the tear.

18:32 Leave the tear alone. God is far more concerned about the thorn in your heart. I'll tell you why God is not fussed with the tears in your life. See, right now, you're making a long list of all the tears in your life. Wife, son, dad, boss, Pastor Chad. And you're making your list.

18:54 And just before you, you know, because here's the thing. With the wheat and the tear, we all think we are the wheat. we're just surrounded by tear but before you're before your list gets too long just remember you are tear on someone else's list I know you thought you're the wheat and all these people are the tear but you are also on someone's list as oh just if you're gonna write my name spell it correctly please V-A-R-U-G-H age is. So, now, why is that a big deal? And I'm not talking about wheat and tear in terms of salvation, right? The story and the context of that is in eternity. Those who were saved, wheat. Those who are not, tear. But think of it in the context of what's going on in your life day to day. Let's be honest. We can all flip. We can be wheat in the presence of the Lord.

19:49 We are wheat in the auditorium and tear in the foyer. we're wheat on Sunday tear on Monday when you when you interviewed him for the job the wheat showed up but when you hired him the tear showed up when you dated them they were wheat And then by the fifth anniversary, it's like, yeah. And you know, it doesn't matter. Look, we all got to have our moments. But here's what I want you to know. You're not the problem. That's a good place to say amen.

20:28 It's what's going on in the heart of everyone that's connected to you that is the problem. And that's why we have to guard our own heart. Look, we're in a series on freedom, right? What was last week? Rent free? Anyone remember rent free? I don't. I wasn't here. But I was told it was awesome.

20:48 Today's message is called thorn free. Because we don't want anything to affect the 30, 60, and 100 fold that should be coming into our life. Can I hear an amen? So here's the thing. I'll tell you why God is not fussed about the tears around you. I'm not advocating staying in abusive circumstances or anything hostile. I'm saying, generally speaking, we're all so quick to cancel and quit and da-da-da. And we just think by a new scenery, a new tear, I'll have a new day. And it's, what's going on in here? They might have caused the problem, but deal with the thorn because it's my fruitfulness that's affected.

21:31 You know, I'll tell you why. Because no tear on earth can stop your destiny. God has a destiny for every person in this auditorium. Young, old, rich, poor, male, female, black, white, doesn't matter. He's got a destiny for you. But the issue is the tares that surround you are just part of your story. They're not going to change the story. Think of King David. He literally was rejected when his dad was saying, who of your sons could be king? He brings out all his siblings and he's in the field. His dad was a tare, terrible dad. then he goes he ends up killing Goliath and he goes to work for Saul Saul is a terrible boss you know what Saul did Saul while he's playing the harp takes a spear and throws it at him read the bible and I this is not 2026 spears like emotional spears oh he threw some spears at me no real spears he threw a real spear at him if your boss has thrown a real spear at you that's a tear his dad's a tear his boss is a tear his wife Michael does not like his dancing style at all terrible wife he rescues 400 men they turn on him he's surrounded by tears but I'll tell you what he becomes the king of Israel and he becomes the leader of a nation because all the tears in your journey cannot stop your destiny why because the tears are always gonna be there but David is the one that said, create in me a clean heart. Lord, deal with the thorns in my life. Search me, O God, and know my heart. See if there's any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

23:11 That's the prayer we should pray. That's why David knew, Lord, get rid of all the thorns in here, all the tears around me, whatever. Look at Joseph. Joseph's siblings sold him into slavery. I don't know how bad your brothers and sisters are, but I'm pretty sure they're not as bad as Joseph's siblings. He had 11 of them. Tear, tear, tear, tear, tear, tear, tear, tear, tear. And then he goes to work for Potiphar. Tear. He goes to work. Potiphar's wife literally tore his clothes. She's a real tear. And then he ends up in prison. And then he's ministering. And all of a sudden, the guy he ministers, he forgets him. He's surrounded by tears, his whole destiny. But in one day, he goes from prisoner to prime minister, because all the tears in the world cannot change your destiny leave the tear alone leave the tear alone and let God do a fresh work you know here's the thing there's some gardening required you know I confession I hate gardening personally I mean I'm grateful for gardeners in fact gardeners are grateful for me because I hate gardening there are gardeners otherwise every male will have to do their own gardening But when we had lawn and stuff back in the day, once a year, I had to do the gardening.

24:34 Why? Because I neglected it the whole year. And I'd get, I'd go to the hardware store and buy stuff that I've never used. Don't know how to use. Probably dangerous. And it was a two-day hell project. Because that's what happens when you ignore your garden. for a year. See, I have a friend, his name's Chad. He's not my favorite Chad, this is my favorite Chad now. But anyway, his name's Chad too. And he had a pristine garden. Like his lawn was real. See, after my, a few years of doing this, I told Jemima, we're out of this. Fake lawn, fake plants, fake stones. You didn't know you could get fake stones. Like, fake stones.

25:26 Fake fruit. You know, in the fruit bowl, it's fake. Because we live between two countries. The only thing that's real in our house is me, Jemima, and the boys. Everything else is fake. But I remember for a few years having to do this, and then my friend Chad, he never does gardening. He's always enjoying his garden, but you know why? He does a little bit every day. He just sees a little bit and he just clips that, or he just changes that, or he just pulls that out. And he's never tired. He didn't have to do a two-day hell project. See, why? Because a little bit of daily gardening will save you. Back to this context.

26:11 Daily coming before the Lord and say, remove the thorns. A little bit of daily deliverance is way better than an annual exorcism. it's like you know you know you know you need an annual exorcism when they bring the buckets out and they get all those people okay wow man you got a lot but that's like me with gardening and that's why creating me a clean heart is a daily prayer you know jesus taught us in the lord's prayer which is a daily bread because he says give us today our daily bread he didn't say weekly loaf or monthly bakeries, daily bread, which means in part of that prayer is deliver us from evil. And we pray that in a planetary way. Deliver me from all those terrible evil people out there, Lord. Well, that's both a prayer of protection and deliverance. Deliver me from the evil outside, but maybe deliver me from the evil...

27:09 inside. Lord, it's not deliver me from the tears out there, but deliver me from the thorns in here. And if a little bit of daily praying, you'll be like my friend Chad. No big deal, clean heart, fruit. Whereas if it's a once a year project, see, this is the thing. Anything that you fix by project that should be fixed by process is not a culture in your life. and we need to have a culture of coming before the Lord and saying, Father, create in me a clean heart. It's just not once a year when I go through hell, when I go through a real storm. No, every day, God, whatever it is that's in me, take it out of me. I'll close with this. You know, I remember one season, like, so do you remember our life, basically, three months in KL, Malaysia. Anyone ever been to Malaysia here?

28:01 You guys are awesome. And then three months in Australia. Anyone ever been to Australia? and that sums up the two countries right there. So we would do three months, pack up, three months. We have an apartment in each, and as our church was growing, it's a long story. But we've done that for I don't know how many years, but every time it started to feel a bit tiring. I was like, okay, but God's called us to do this. We can do this. But I remember one day we just landed in Malaysia to start a new three-month phase, and the day I landed I get a call from my PA in Perth and she's sobbing on the phone what's wrong she goes you know how you left your keys with me I'm like yes they're stolen I'm like how do you know she goes I put it in my car in a public car park and someone broke in and stole your keys and on my keys is the church keys the house keys everything it's like and I'm thinking oh I've just landed in KL this is happening in another country 5,000 kilometers away and I'm thinking, oh God, I've got to deal with it. All the thorns are rising inside of me as I'm hearing her. And then she says, that's not the worst part. I'm like, that's not the worst part? What's the worst part? She says, well, you know, I put some of your mail under the keys and the mail had your address on it. So I I think they saw the address and then took your keys and went to your house and then they stole your car." I'm like...

29:39 Terrible PA. Anyway, here's the issue. There's been bigger trials in life, but I'm... Jemima and I and KL, and we're like, oh, man. And then for the next week, on the phone to the police, to the insurance, to the... Yeah, it needs some music. This one needs some... I'm literally dealing with all the stuff, the locksmith, everything, including the PA, who by the way she's a great girl she's still on staff by the way just in a different role um and honestly after a week we thought okay dealt with everything the cops they found the car fixed the locks from another country just awkward it's a pain but then the weirdest thing I noticed about maybe two three months later I'm finding myself very hesitant like indecisive I can't make decisions like unsure of myself which is not me normally and I said what's wrong and you know what I realized I thought we dealt with everything but we didn't see what I did is I dealt with all the tears the insurance the police the PA the team locks what I didn't deal with was the thorns see because we're so busy taking care of all the tears around us that what I left unchecked was a a sense of doubt. God, is this you? Maybe we're doing the wrong thing. Maybe this isn't sustainable.

31:20 Maybe we're going to burn out. And these thorns began to grow. And I thought, no big deal, because nobody knows about it. And I didn't really think too much about it, but I could feel it two, three months affecting how I was doing life. And I thought, God, I need you. I need you to come in. And Jomara and I knelt down and prayed. We said, Father, take it out. Take the thorns out. Take the unbelief, God. We trust you in good days and bad days. And when our hands are empty or in the fields of plenty, we bless your name. We still choose to be faithful to you because you give and you take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Father, we just, sorry, Lord, we took care of all the tears, but we left the thorns unchecked. I mean, I've got so many stories and I don't have time today, but I'll tell you this. that, do you know, maybe in these last few minutes, we can actually have, because God is so incredible.

32:14 One verse, John 15, one. We can actually have a moment of divine gardening. John 15, one, Jesus says, I'm divine. You are the branch. And my father is the gardener. I have never heard, I've heard sermons about God, the king, the savior, the lord, the healer, the provider, the rock, the almighty. I've never heard a sermon. I don't know about you. Have you ever heard a sermon on God the gardener? Today I want to talk about the gardener God because it just sounds like such a low thing for divine God. And yet Jesus said, my father is the gardener. That's amazing news because it means in a few moments, even now, you can say, Gardner, come in.

33:00 You know exactly where the thorns are. I don't even know. I've lost track of what I've collected, what I have not collected, what disappointment did to me way back then. I don't even know anymore. I might need one of Pastor Mark's two-year projects, but from this day on, I'm going to pray it daily.

33:23 I'm going to pray daily. God, take the thorns out of me. See, I know some of us have got some tears in your world. But can I tell you something? Jesus wore a crown of thorns so you would never have to carry it in your heart. Everything he took on the cross was an exchange so you and I could live free. and He wore the crown of thorns on His head so you would never have to carry thorns in your heart, that there would be 30, 60, and 100 fold in your life, in your family, in your marriage. It's some work. But today, can we stand to our feet? Come on, let's stand to our feet from the front to the back. And we're gonna have a moment with the Lord. And here's what I love about God.

34:16 Here's what I love about God. see some of us some of us it's been so long in fact you did what i did with my natural garden what i did with my natural garden is our we put fake lawn in fake plants in that's fine if that's what you want to do with your garden but don't do that with your heart you know why we did fake because it's easier it's cleaner and that's fine for a garden it's not fine for your heart we can fake a lot of things in church we can fake a lot of things in life god whatever just it's too hard to go there to go back to my childhood go back to some issue go back to but listen can i tell you something about god that i've discovered he's not a butcher he's a surgeon. He knows exactly. He's not going to murder you on the process if you would surrender.

35:15 And in a few moments, I'm going to invite everyone just to open your heart, open your hand. You can put your hand on your heart because that's where the gardening is happening right now. And I'm praying that the Spirit of God, that the gardener himself would literally, he's not just a gardener, he's an intelligent gardener. He's a divine gardener. He's almighty God gardener. He knows exactly where to go and He knows exactly what to do. Just trust Him. Can you do that for a moment? In fact, can we put a hand on our heart right now, right across this auditorium, because all of us need it. Even if it's daily gardening, maybe you've gone through a serious challenge, a trial, maybe you've been through a betrayal, you've been through a hurt. But today, don't worry about the tear. Leave the tear alone and let the gardener have his work. So in a moment the worship team are going to play.

36:12 They're going to worship. And here's what I know. That when they worship it's an atmosphere and an environment as we fix our eyes on him that the Lord can do his work. So you don't have to sing. They can sing. Just allow the Lord. Just allow the Spirit of God. Father even now I thank you that the remnants and the residue and the leftovers and the scars of yesterday and yesteryear, Father, you have abundant life in store for Zoe Church. You have abundant life in store for every person. I thank you that this is going to be a hub of health. This is going to be a place that people from all over Los Angeles, Lord, would find the gardener, would find a place where hearts can be made right. Father, even today, we take our anger off the tear.

37:09 We bless the tear. We forgive the tear. We let the tear go. Some of you need to let that go. You need to let that person go. They've been obsessed in your mind. Let them go today. They're only a tear. Say, Lord, have your way in my heart. Today, Lord, have your way in my heart.