The Wheat and The Tares

“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt. 13:30)

Are we living in the time of the gathering of the wheat and the tares?

Is this the time of the harvest? Something is certainly happening because a great divide is certainly happening between the people of God and the rest of the world. Those of us who believe the Word of God and believe that by following God and His Laws and Commandments we can live a healthy, safe and productive life. When we do not honour Him and blatantly disobey His Word, we can bring nothing but trouble and a deep separation from our Father and His love and protection. He has told us this many times and those who choose to walk their own way and make their own rules are very foolish, as it brings nothing but their own destruction in the end.

Unfortunately, today it is not always easy to live our faith in this very secular and humanistic world where it seems almost anything goes. We are often ridiculed and thought of as silly and uneducated. It is sad but this is the world we live in. If they only knew that we are not the ones who are silly and uneducated but we are the sons of the Living God. “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” (Hosea 1:10)

Last Saturday I went to a tea at my church to hear the Minister’s wife speak on Amazing Grace. She gave a short talk on her testimony, but then spoke on the problems the church had gone through awhile ago compared with the direction the Diocese was going in; it was not Biblical. The Pastoral staff and the majority of the Congregation knew they could not follow this direction and after a long battle, which was often on the news, they split away with a few other churches into a new group.  They lost a lot though when they did this. They lost the beautiful old church they had and the pastor lost his position and his pension and many others lived with much stress which affected their health. They now share a church with the Seventh Day Adventist church but have quite a large Congregation. Still, it was very hard on all of them. My friend who was there during all of this says she cannot even talk about it today. They chose to follow God and not the new secular, humanist way of the world. The Minister’s wife said that through it all God was there with them and even though they had many health problems and of course, financial ones as well, they counted on Him to see them through. She said they came through it all with a faith that is sure and true and it is now stronger than ever. When you stand with God He honours your faith and trust in Him. I have so much respect for all these people, especially the Minister and his wife, as I know how hard it was for them. But they had many true believers supporting them and encouraging them and it was all because of God’s Amazing Grace that they made it through. It was a wonderful testimony to the power of God’s love for us and when we honour Him, we are rewarded. It may not be the way the world sees it but it goes deep in your heart and you know that you have been faithful to God.  We do not live for the praise and admiration of this world. We live for the Lord Jesus Christ and His plans for our life. So, be steadfast in your faith and trust in the Lord with all your heart. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6) We are saved by grace and we wait to be part of His Kingdom on Earth. Surely, He is coming soon and we will all see Him. Hallelujah!! It is time to make a stand. Are we going to be part of the wheat or part of the tares. The world is in turmoil and so many people are being led astray. Do not be one of them. Stand firm. The harvest is very near.

Paul says in 2Timothy 1:7-10, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”