Wheat and Tares are two plants that are almost completely identical, but there are two main differences. Their purposes and sowers are not the same. So, who is your planter, and which plant are you? Are you on fire for God, or are you lukewarm? There are only two people who truly know the answers to those questions: you and God. Let’s get real here….These two passages are describing what is going to happen at the end of the age. Within the passage in Matthew, Jesus reveals what the punishment is for people who are not in the Bride of Christ at the end of the age, or the Harvest. The Tares are sown by the Devil and are not in any way, shape, or form children of God. These people will in fact receive the wrath of God on the day that they are harvested. Matthew 13:40-42 says, “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The people who are not of God are thrown into the fiery pit of Hell. This place is one of pure pain, torture, and no escape for all of eternity. Hell is real, and it will be occupied by people. You see, the Tares are hinders to the Kingdom of God who pull down and overtake the wheat. But for the people who have not fallen into the hands of the Devil, they shall shine forth as the sun. They are enduring the price of being a disciple all for righteousness sake. They give the glory of that suffering up to the Lord because they are blessed to be hated by the world. From Romans 8, we learn that we are the heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, so we may be glorified with Him. This is a huge part. In order to be an heir to Christ, we must suffer. What does it mean to suffer with Christ? It means suffering in the hands of Persecution. For we have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds we were healed. (1 peter 2:21-25) If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:12ish-19) One example is a little boy by the name of Andrew Myman. He was shot five times in the stomach simply because he cried out “I am so afraid but I cannot deny Jesus Christ! Please don’t kill me, but I will not deny Him!” And he died on a sidewalk in a pool of blood….. How come, for us, wearing a t-shirt with a Bible scripture, or some catchy saying, is enough to show the world that we are a Christian? That attending church on Sunday and throughout the week is enough to prove that we are in love with God without undergoing any real change. We have no understanding of true repentance and no understanding of Fearing the Lord. If we don’t know what true Godly repentance is, and how to have a true, honest relationship with God, then how can we go out and minister to a world that is lost and hurt. If we ourselves are not any different than they are, then we are doing something majorly and drastically wrong. WE have to examine what we are doing as the Body of Christ. We are supposed to be the light and salt of the earth, but if we cannot even have a legitimate change and movement of God within our own hearts, then how can we expect others to live like Christ? We can’t. We indulge ourselves in the same things as the world does, and we claim it’s the Christian way of living. That is not the Christian way of living. The Christian way of living is a life of submersion in the word of God, prayer, fasting, repentance, and a life of suffering for the Good Fight. So the question before us is, are we willing to go to such extremes like Andrew Myman, if the time should arise to deny, or not deny, the name of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? Are we willing to be mocked, abused, and possibly die for the Gospel that was preached by Jesus Christ Himself? I believe that many of us, including myself, have never even seen the true movement of the Living God that beckons us to fall on our faces and repent of our sinful desires; not for a week, but for years, so that we can be filled with the Fire of God. We have to go deeper inside of ourselves, and repent of what is not holy, ungodly, and unrighteous. We must not live by our fleshly desires, but by the Spirit who is given to us by God at the appointed time. Our bodies are dead because of our sin so we need the Spirit to make us alive. The spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us; He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us. So then, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, for if we live according to the flesh we must also die; but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body, we will then live. For anyone who is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God. So, what do we live by? Are we living by our flesh, or the Spirit of God? Are we telling white lies in hopes to save ourselves, or are we being truthful in every circumstance so that our word may be found to be consistently truthful and upholding of the Bible? Are we holding grudges against people, or are we forgiving so that we may be forgiven by God? Or maybe you have hate inside of your heart towards someone, or you have trouble obeying your parents, you fall into the trap of gossiping, or even disobeying God. In the midst of these evil works, have we repented and found that our hearts and actions are God’s? Has the Spirit of God given testimony to your spirit that you are a Child of God and, therefore, entering into the kingdom of God? John Wesley said, “How many vain men, not understanding what they spake, neither whereof they affirmed, have wrested this Scripture to the great loss, if not the destruction, of their souls! How many have mistaken the voice of their own imagination for this witness of the Spirit of God, and thence idly presumed they were the children of God while they were doing the works of the devil!” Are we fooling ourselves into believing that God told us something that He absolutely did not say to us? Are we trying to make ourselves feel good about everything that we are doing, while yet we are neglecting the one thing that is important to the Christian faith? Are we tricking ourselves into thinking that repentance and forgiving is for everyone else to do but not for ourselves? To have a true relationship with God takes more than 5 minutes to say a good prayer that is repeated after someone else. Being a Christian is a lifetime commitment, not just a Sunday morning experience. It is a commitment that is life changing and completely centered around the Biblical truths of the word of God. Have we, at an individual level, actually had an encounter with the living God that has placed us on the right path, and allowed the Spirit of God to testify about our spirit? A preacher by the name of Paul Washer once said this: (He was giving an example of excuses and seeing a change when we have a true encounter with the Living God) "Well, I was out here on the highway, and I was driving, and I had a flat tire, and I got out to change the tire, and when I was changing the tire, the lug nut fell off, and I wasn't paying attention that I was on the middle of the highway. I stood up and there was a 30-ton logging truck going 120 miles an hour about ten yards in front of me, and it ran me over, and that's why I'm late. I know no one studies logic anymore, but there would only be two logical conclusions. One, I'm a liar, or two, I'm a madman. You would say, ‘Brother Paul, it's absolutely absurd. It is impossible, Brother Paul, to have an encounter with something as large as a logging truck and not be changed.’ And then my question would be to you -- What is larger? A logging truck or God? How is it that so many people today profess to have had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and yet, they are not permanently changed?” If we have a true encounter with the living God, how come we aren’t changed? Why are we still drawn to watch, read, listen, agree with, and talk about the things that God despises? Why do we still find enjoyment out of the things that God tells us that He hates? So many times throughout the week I am gripped by the realization that because of a lack of repentance, people are going to go to Hell. I do not want God to look into the eyes of people in the church and say, “Away from me, I never knew you!” or spew people out of His mouth because they are lukewarm. We must repent of everything that God despises and allow ourselves to be filled with a passion and fire for His kingdom. We have to become holy and righteous through Christ, so that we may one day stand before Him and hear Him say “You are my good and faithful servant.” Are we doing the works of God in our personal lives? The lack of repentance and obeying God cannot be fixed by our parents, friends, neighbors, or pastors, but only we and God can correct this issue. We must go back to the foundation of Christ’s ministry, which is about repentance. If we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, then we have to know what it means to repent. We must look into the deepest parts of our very being and repent, because we cannot live until we are actually in Christ. We must shed off our pride and self-indulgences and give into the will of God by dying to ourselves. So then, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? (Ephesians 5: 1-2) Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). We have to be willing to give up all of our pre-planned lives and follow the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. If anyone wishes to go after Jesus, they must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Him. Because whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for His sake is the one who will save it. We need to come before the feet of God and repent from the depths of our hearts in genuine sincerity. Self-examination is a necessary practice of a Christian. We cannot expect to have our lives completely altered, and enter into the Kingdom of God through repentance, if we keep making excuses for ourselves, and each other, about what we are doing. It is our human nature to hate the things of God, and to love the things of the Devil. It is human nature to be sinful, which makes repenting so much more important than we are making it today in the American church. God is a Holy and Righteous God, and He truly hates anything that is not Holy and Righteous. So when we look inside of ourselves, we need to not ignore what we think is good or okay, and really let God reveal what is acceptable in His eyes. Let the living word of God reveal what is good and evil. We have to step out of our newspaper Titanics and step onto the unsinkable ship of God. The Christian Church of America is sinking into the depths of sin We have not been taught the need for continual repentance; we have not been taught the need to fast, pray, and read our Bibles, much less the importance of actually knowing scripture. We know that the reading of the Word is important, and that talking to God is important, but how often do we make time just for God? Just to listen to Him and actually see what His word says. It should disgust us that people my age, who have grown up in the church, have absolutely no clue what actions God clearly calls sin. We have to stop being afraid that we are going to make someone upset when it comes to standing up for the Word of God and standing up for His kingdom. What are we more afraid of, the people of this earth, or the Pitt of Hell? At a very deep and personal level do you have a fear of God? I know I don’t. The man we claim to follow gave up His life for us. He did not do this so that we could say a prayer one time and claim to be saved. He did this so that we would have a chance to live in eternity without pain and torture. He asks for our lives to be His in return. Christianity is not easy, and Christianity is not a religion that can be taken lightly. How much of our lives have we spent doing what we want? Have we been in complete submission to God? We are part of the Bride of Jesus, and right now we are disobedient, ungrateful, and selfish, but we don’t see it. Right now, I want to emphasize how important it is to pour out your heart to God and be transparent with Him. We can’t hide anything from Him, but the way we approach Him is everything. Be like David and put on the sackcloth, and mourn in ashes. Open up and mourn and cry out to God, and be undignified before Him. Throw out your reputation and repent. Remove your pride and kneel down; not at an alter railing, but on the ground with your faces in the dirt. The fact is that we have to be broken vessels. We seriously need to be so vulnerable to God that we are wounded by his words and his love. We should be excited about going to the house of God and worshiping Him; not because of the music, the preacher, the scripture, or the people that are there, but because HE IS GOD. My heart is breaking right now, not because His bride has no fear or true, pure love for Him, but because we have been so blind for so many years to the fact that people are going to go to Hell because they have bought into American Christianity. Paul Washer works outside of American walls in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. He said, “When you take a look at American Christianity, it is based more upon a Godless culture than it is upon the word of God.” In America, we are in a sleep of death and from there have become blinded by the fact that God is angry and will bring justice to us. We are constantly deceiving ourselves into believing that because we are not as bad as someone else, or we have done more “good” things, that we must be safe from the wrath of God, when in fact we are in danger of His wrath. We are not judged based upon the goodness of other men but based on the perfect and justifiable hand of God. He controls the gate to Heaven and Hell, and we have no say. How many people are going to approach Jesus on the Day of Judgment and say, “I prophesied in your name, and in your name drove out demons, and in your name performed many miracles,” and then be sent away because they were not authentic Christians? But there is a hope, and that hope is repentance. As individuals and as a nation and as the Bride of Christ, we must lay down our pride, get down on our faces and beg God for repentance. We must stop playing games and making everybody feel good in the realm of sin and start claiming lives for Christ, starting with our own. If we want to be reunited with Christ, and be blessed by our God, we must stop doing our own thing and start obeying His will, humbling ourselves before Him. What if we humbled ourselves and put on sackcloth as David and mourned before Him for our souls and the souls of our fellow Americans and people? Maybe God would give an ear to us and hear our cries, like He did with the prophets of old. Let us consecrate ourselves to our God and go after His righteousness, holiness, passion, and conviction; For He is the almighty controller and ruler who’s ways are just. So, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) But for those who find their way on the path of righteousness and truly repent of the sin and the desires of their flesh, they will spend all of eternity with the Living God. For those who take up their cross and follow Jesus according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and according to the commands and will of the Father, they will be a part of the tree of life. Their names will be written in the Book of Life for all of eternity. These people will live in New Jerusalem and shall see things that are truly amazing. There will no longer be any curse upon them, and the light of the Lord will illumine them. For our Salvation is by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. And faith in Jesus Christ starts with a repentant heart, who will continue to repent from that day forward. As Jesus preached the gospel, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). This is what Christianity is about. Repenting, suffering, and enduring the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Are you willing to go back to the foundation of the Gospel that Jesus Himself preached?
