the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
By Helena Lehman
Pillar of Enoch Ministry
http://pillar-of-enoch.com
Are you an earnest believer in Yahshua that desires to dwell on the things of God and are you excited over the Gospel of the coming Millennial Kingdom of God? Furthermore, do you find yourself bewildered and shocked when you are ostracized and avoided because of this? If so, “The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” should be consulted for wisdom. Please allow me to guide you in an exploration of this Parable to see what hidden wisdom it has to share. Let’s begin by reading the entire Parable:
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares - Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV): “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 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?” 28 He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” 29 But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 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 bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn”.’”
After reading it, it should be clear that this Parable is teaching that the Church is NOT exempt from judgment. In fact, the sifting process of dividing out the bad tares from the good wheat in the final harvest before the Millennial Kingdom of Yahshua is going on within the Church just as it is in the world at large. This is because, even as the Protestant Churches have grown in wisdom and truth over the past two centuries, the Devil has been busy sowing God’s enemies within as well as outside of the Church! Remember what Yahshua said at the end of “The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares”:
“At the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘FIRST gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’.’”
Note that, in this Parable’s conclusion, Yahshua is saying that He will gather the tares into bundles (by way of their seeming unity and their large congregations) BEFORE the wheat are gathered into God's Barn. What this Parable is saying is that the bad tares among the congregations are to be separated out of the Body of Christ JUST BEFORE the RAPTURE into Heaven and we who are INSIDE the Body of Christ will KNOW who the tares are by their behavior and choices that are CONTRARY to the Word of God. All liars, thieves, idolaters, homosexuals, fornicators, and carnally-minded people will be known by their works and their denial of God’s laws:
Unrighteous Excluded From The Kingdom - 1 Corinthians 6:8-10 (NKJV): “You yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Anyone with their spiritual eyes open that has a living, loving relationship with Yahshua Ha Mashiach and the Ruach Ha Kodesh will be able to plainly see this occurring. They will see the liars within the churches and will do their best to expose them. Meanwhile, the lying preachers that are promoting these false doctrines because they are secretly followers of Satan that wish to destroy the Church are making false accusations against the true prophets and followers of Yahshua, trying to create a spirit of confusion in the Church. But ONLY those who are NOT living a sanctified life, not reading God’s Word for themselves, and not constantly praying for discernment will be deceived!
The lines are being drawn and everybody is being called to take a side. No one will be left on the fence when this divine sifting process is finished, and all who are meant to be exposed as the false teachers and liars that they are will be exposed - but ONLY to those whom God is soon going to call UP to His Heavenly Home to wed His Wonderful Son. Yahshua our Bridegroom also intimated that our enemies (the tares) would at times be members of our own family. This truth is clearly taught in the Scripture listed below:
Christ Brings Division - Matthew 10:34-39 (NKJV):) “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Those who have lost their carnal lives in order to inherit the spiritual life that Yahshua offers them are the only ones that will be counted as the Bride of Christ and the True Church! This is revealed in the Book of Revelation regarding the Church of Philadelphia:
The Faithful Church - Revelation 3:7-12 (NKJV) “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.’”
In reviewing this amazing passage, let’s identify the traits of the Church of Philadelphia. First of all, this church only has “a little strength”, meaning that it is a relatively small and materially poor congregation of believers that are nonetheless spiritually rich. Furthermore, this church has “kept My word, and have not denied My name.” This means that the members of this Church are not ashamed to profess their faith in and love for Christ and their desire to follow Him and His laws to love God and one another. As the name of this Church implies, they are full of “philadelphia” or brotherly love. They love one another deeply, and also show love to their enemies and persecutors by trying to reach them with the truth of the Gospel that Yahshua is the Messiah and Son of God, and the ONLY way to Heaven!
Yahshua also declared that the Church of Philadelphia has “kept My command to persevere.” By saying this, Yahshua meant that they would be able to endure the insults, taunts, betrayals, and beatings that are part of the persecution of the saints by the Evil One without losing their faith or hope in Yahshua’s promises of deliverance. Those who persevere are also those whom Yahshua calls “overcomers”.
This means that only the believers who display the characteristics of brotherly love, faithfulness to God’s Word, and perseverance in persecution belong to the Church of Philadelphia. Furthermore, this is the ONLY church of the seven mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Revelation to which Yahshua promises: “I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it”, and; “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Both of these statements are allusions to the Harpazo, Rapture, or “catching away” of the Church that many believers are hoping for.
This is why the churches are being so heavily sifted into wheat and tares and why there are so many true believers who are being persecuted within the churches and driven outside of them. As this sifting process reaches its conclusion, the many divisions and squabbles going on within and between and outside of the world’s many churches will only increase. Meanwhile, those poor but loving believers who belong to the Church of Philadelphia will stand alone, for they will be the only people who are truly worthy of Yahshua’s love. Only they will love Yahshua with all their hearts, and only they will be loving one another while they anxiously await the Rapture.
There is one final trait of the Church of Philadelphia that too many prophecy teachers have overlooked to the detriment of the Church. This is the fact that Yahshua only identifies the Philadelphians with the New Jerusalem, and only the New Jerusalem is identified as the Bride of Christ. Yahshua identified the Church of Philadelphia with the New Jerusalem when He said:
“I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.”
Then, later in the Book of Revelation, we read:
The New Jerusalem - Revelation 21:9-10 (NKJV):“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…”
This reveals that ONLY those who are in the Church of Philadelphia will dwell in the New Jerusalem. Meanwhile, all those who are not found worthy to be included in this group will dwell outside the New Jerusalem:
The Glory of the New Jerusalem - Revelation 22:22-27 (NKJV): “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
What this Scripture teaches is that those whose names are written in the Book of Life but who are not chosen to be the Bride will be allowed to come within the walls of the New Jerusalem and experience its glory and share in its joy as the Bride of Christ. But they will NOT be the Bride. Rather, those who dwell outside in the blessed communities surrounding the New Jerusalem will be the attendants of the Bride.
These are the saints that are identified as the wise virgin bridesmaids in “The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins” (Matthew 25:1-13). Only those wise virgin believers whom Yahshua has not excluded with the words “I do not know you” (See Mat. 25:12) or “I never knew you” (See Mat. 7:23) will be allowed to attend His Bride and partake in her Glory. This means that the attendants to the Bride will only be those who have a personal and deeply intimate relationship with Yahshua and His Ruach or Holy Spirit, and who hear and follow God’s voice even while living in this fallen world.
Only Yahweh God our Father knows who the Bride of Christ is and who her attendants will be. Our jobs as believers should not be to worry about which category we fall into, but only that we are counted worthy to have our names written in the Book of Life. Indeed, all those who dwell on the New Earth - whether outside or inside the New Jerusalem - will have blessed and happy positions within God’s everlasting kingdom and no one will ever feel envy or jealousy ever again. They will all be united forever in the perfect love of Christ that casts out all fear and envy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Shalom! Feel free to comment, but please be respectful. God bless!