Tares of Unbelief

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, who hath mercy on thee.—Isaiah 54:10.

The absolute promises of our gracious Lord, are the foundation of faith, the encouragement of hope, the excitement of love, the source of comfort, and the spring of true holiness. Why then are not the children of faith always joyful in hope, ever comfortable in love, and constantly happy in the way of holiness? Truly, because an enemy hath sown the tares of unbelief in our nature. This evil root of bitterness continually springs up, and troubles us. It bears the most base, dishonorable fruits, respecting our God; and is most hurtful and poisonous to our souls. Little reason have we to dung and water, so as to strengthen this degenerate plant, with the corrupt notion of those who deny God's covenant love and faithfulness, and dare teach 'That one may be a child of God today and a child of the Devil tomorrow—that souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus, may, after all, burn in hell.' Shocking! it is our daily duty, our greatest wisdom, ever to be on our guard against, and avoid all such doctrines. They are contrary to the precious declarations of our loving Lord; and tend to weaken our faith in and hope of perfect salvation by Jesus. But a false show of humility works very deceitfully upon men. Hence we are prone to look into ourselves, to find some inherent worth, some personal goodness, as the cause WHY the Lord should deal thus bountifully with us.

Alas! pride is at the bottom of this. Hereby our eyes are diverted from the alone object of faith, Jesus, and turned to self. Then, no marvel unbelief prevails, and we lose sight of God's free grace, rich love, and inestimably precious promises. Soul, know thyself. Though an object of mercy, a subject of grace, and an heir of promise, yet not one single drop of mercy, or of grace, nor one word of promise is made to thy person, but only as thou standest in, and art related to thy precious Saviour, according to covenant love. Therefore God's covenant of peace shall not, cannot fail. Sooner shall the hills and mountains be removed, yea heaven and earth shall pass away, but thy Lord's love and kindness shall never depart from thee. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Here to doubt, is to dishonor the God of truth. Here stedfastly to believe, is to glorify the God of love—"He sent redemption unto his people; he hath commanded his covenant FOREVER,"—Psalms 111:9.

- William Mason, A Spiritual Treasury for the Children of God, Volume 1, January 5

 

Mason is not applying the parable. He doesn't even reference the parable. He is using the idea of "tares" to make a different point than the parable.