Wheat and Tares

     This study has been concerned with very unhappy and awful truths. Now we can begin to understand why God speaks of this as a time of Great Tribulation which has never before been experienced in the world. At a time when we see churches filled with apparently happy and secure Christians all over the world, we are taught that the facts are altogether different. We have discovered that the churches are filled with tares. We have learned that throughout the church age, tares (unsaved church members) have been virtually indistinguishable from the wheat (saved church members). However, now that God has established the mechanism to separate the wheat from the tares, we can begin to see the results.

Why This Terrible Indictment

     Before we finish this study, some questions remain that should be addressed. One important question surfaces as we look a moment longer at Hebrews 10:28 and 29, where God declares:

He that despise Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

     We know that any sin is rebellion against God, and the perfect law of God demands destruction as payment for any and every sin. But why should the willful sin of refusing to obey God’s commandment to forsake the local congregation cause God to set forth the awful language of Hebrews 10:29? Earlier in our study, we noted that God’s wrath is upon these individuals who refuse to come out of the churches because in actuality, they have never become saved. However, isn’t it true that God’s wrath is the consequence of any sin?

     Why does the sin of refusing to leave the local congregation cause God to use the striking language, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God."

     Surely, if any and every sin is terrible, then by this statement, God is saying that the sin of not leaving the church at the end of the church age is super, super terrible!

     We can find an answer to this question as we examine, once more, God’s indictment as recorded in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10. In Hebrews 6, God speaks of the congregation that is crucifying the Son of God afresh, putting Him to shame. In Hebrews 10, God’s indictment is against the individuals for whom there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. God says that they trod under foot the Son of man, that is, effectively, they are declaring that Jesus is worthless. These are enormously serious indictments.

     The horror of it all is that the congregation and the individuals in the congregation are well acquainted with the Bible. As we learned from Hebrews 6, they knew the first principles of Bible truth. As indicated in Hebrews 10, these individuals are in a congregation in which the Holy Spirit had been saving people. They also had the Bible completely available to them.

     In other words, these local churches and the individual members within them were much closer to the kingdom of God than those who were outside the church. They were in "the holy place," to use the language of Matthew 24:15. God was in their midst. They were taught many truths of the Bible. Of all the peoples of the world, they were the most knowledgeable of the God of the Bible and His salvation program.

     The sin of disobeying God’s command to leave the church reveals a terrible truth. Before the end of the church age, it appeared that the individuals of Hebrews 10 and the congregations of Hebrews 6 were faithful followers of Christ. But now it shows that their trust was not in Christ. It was in the church or in the confessions of the church or in their water baptism etc. They are revealed as being like the seven women of Isaiah 4:1 who wanted the name of Christ but wanted their own bread and apparel. That is, they insisted they were Christ’s children but they wanted to tailor their gospel to suit themselves. Thus, effectively, Christ was not needed for their salvation. They believed their salvation was adequately supplied to them as they followed the rules set forth by their church or denomination.

We are reminded of the teaching of Luke 12:47-48:

And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with a few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

    Unfortunately, by means of this study of the parable of the wheat and the tares, together with the warnings of Hebrews 6 and 10, we now understand the grievous seriousness of the warning of Luke 12:47-48. God is instructing us that the most grievous sinners under the fearful wrath of God are not the prostitutes, the murderers, the thieves of the world. Rather,

it is those within the churches who are convinced they need not obey the command to come out of the church, thus showing that they had never become saved. How terrible. How awful!

We Are Not to Judge Individuals

     One more thought should be expressed. It is true that we are now in the time of the separation of the wheat from the tares. However, those of us who understand this and realize the reality of this must be certain that we do not begin to make judgments regarding individuals remaining in or leaving the churches.

     We all know individuals who have heard of the teaching that we are to come out of the congregation, but thus far, they are refusing to do so. We must remember that no human can see the heart of that person. Inwardly, he may be struggling with that question so that after much prayer and study of that command, then finally, he will leave the congregation.

     Moreover, if someone readily leaves the church, that does not in itself prove that he is truly saved. Furthermore, there may be individuals in the church who are elect of God but at this time, they are still unsaved. We know they will not become saved as long as they remain in the church. Therefore, in some way, God must drive them out because it is only outside of the church that salvation is possible.

     It is true that they will receive no spiritual guidance from their church. This is so because God has forsaken their church. However, when they hear truth from sources outside of their church, God will have mercy on them, if they are elect of God. They will come to truth and realize they must leave their church.

     We learn this as we examine the situation in the synagogues in Paul’s day. Remember, at the time Jesus went back to heaven, God shifted the Gospel responsibility away from the institution of the nation of Israel who worshiped in the temple and the synagogues. Ever since that time, no one has become saved because of the preaching of the leaders of the synagogue. This situation continues to our present day.

     However, outside the synagogues, there were the churches who had been given the task of sending forth the Gospel. Paul, who had been a Pharisee, was sent to tell those in the synagogues of God’s plan of salvation. God now assigned the task of disseminating the Gospel to the local churches. While most synagogues persecuted Paul for his efforts, some of the priests did believe as did some in the synagogues of Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1-4, 10-12).

     Likewise, in our day, God has shifted the care taking of the Gospel from the local churches to individuals outside the churches. However, as those who are outside share these truths with church members, or as church members listen to radio programs such as those offered by Family Radio,

God can work through these efforts to rescue those who are still in the churches but should come out. 

     Of course, we must admit that the situation in the local churches looks incredibly terrible. So few appear to be troubled by the command to leave the church. In fact, most people within the churches appear to have no interest whatsoever in even beginning to study the question of leaving the church. And each day that passes is a giant step that brings us closer to the final Judgment Day.

     However, as people within the churches listen to the Gospel proclaimed by those who are outside of the churches, we hope that some within the churches will become saved and come out of the local churches.