.
So much has happened in the religious world during 2007. Men and women I looked up to, felt drawn to, and trusted have become involved in scandal of every kind. Two of those whose names hit the news lately were ministries I was ordained under.I have been sickened and shaken as the reports and the depth of perversion came out about Earl Paulk and cried many nights wondering how it could be. As more and more came out I was frankly angered. First at his wife Norma, then the people involved in covering up for Paulk and finally, stunned that I never sensed a thing in those years we were involved with that ministry.
The beginning of the congressional investigation involving Copeland, Meyers, White, Long and Dollar for possible misappropriation of funds starts next month. The civil lawsuit for Earl Paulk could begin as early as January of this year. I felt more than just a little uneasy as the New Year began. Jack and I talked New Years Eve at length. Before I hung up I felt a peacefulness settle in, convinced that what lies ahead this year is a good thing even a God thing.
This afternoon Christine Beadsworth sent this writing which shed light about what God is doing in the earth and even covered some of the very topics Jack and I discussed..........I hope it encourages you as it has me.
Joian
Tares amongst the Wheat
Christine Beadsworth
Jan 2, 2008
Recently the Spirit of the Lord took me to the parable of the tares and the wheat in Matthew:
Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
This parable depicts mixture – the kingdom fields have both good and bad seed growing. The servants are disturbed by the appearance of the tares springing up amongst the wheat but the Master says He will leave them growing in order to protect the wheat.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. And in 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 granary.
I have a very real sense in my spirit that we are living in the days of the harvest, the time when mixture in the Church of Jesus Christ is being dealt with. The word ‘servant’ means ‘bond-slave’. Those who are bond-slaves of the Lamb have grieved and mourned over the presence of those they discern to be tares within the Lord’s field. They have cried out to the Lord in the past for them to be removed because of the damaging influence they have. Yet the Lord has not done so because He has the good of His wheat plants in mind. He knows that if the removal of the tares is done when the wheat plants are young and impressionable, they too will be uprooted in the process. The word tells us that there are three different stages of growth:
Mar 4:28 For the earth brings out fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear.
There is an appointed time of separation when both plants have reached maturity. To understand this timing we must understand the difference between wheat and tares. The tare looks very much like wheat, so much so that it was only in the final stage of ripeness that one can clearly see the difference. A ripe ear of wheat becomes so heavy that it bows down under the weight, whereas the tare’s ear remains bolt upright when mature. The differentiation process becomes easy and the tares can be laid hold of and cut down without damaging the mature wheat.
What a graphic prophetic picture. The bowing ear of wheat depicts humility and a personal decreasing that Christ may increase while the upright tare in contrast depicts arrogance and pride. It seems that what is depicted here in the separation process is in effect a cleansing of the temple, a driving out of moneychangers and those who have made God’s habitation a den of thieves. When Jesus is later explaining the parable to His disciples He says:
The Son of Man shall send out His angels (also translated ‘messengers’), and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Paul warns the Church about these tares in Corinthians:
2Co 11:13 For such ones are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Did not even Satan marvelously transform himself into an angel of light? Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
An angel of light or a tare – same thing in different clothes – a counterfeit, one who masquerades as the real thing in order to lead people astray. It is uncomfortable to think that the enemy has planted ‘deceitful workers’ amongst the people of God. Yet we must be aware of this strategy for it is already far advanced. The plants have already grown past the ‘blade’ and the ‘ear’ stage and we are presently entering the season of harvest when the full grain in the ear is becoming evident. We are in the days when the separation line between those who are truly of the seed of Christ and those who are of the evil one is becoming clearer and clearer. What was previously hidden is now coming into plain sight within the context of the Church firstly, as well as in the world.
In recent months there has headline after headline concerning the uncovering of scandal and unrighteousness within the Church. Highly renowned leaders have been removed and the Church has been shocked and shaken as those they previously looked up to have been exposed. However because the sons of the kingdom are coming to maturity, their Christian walks have not been completely derailed by these discoveries.
I sense the Holy Spirit wants to impart understanding to His wheat plants in order for them to operate in wisdom during this season of separation. There are many who have been growing in their appointed place in the field for a long time. It seemed to them in days gone by that they were surrounded by many other wheat plants. Right through the ‘blade’ and the ‘ear’ stages, the tares and the wheat are indistinguishable. They can walk together because they seem to be agreed on everything that is of importance.
As James says in chapter 3, a fig tree cannot bear olives, nor can a vine bear figs! A tare seed cannot produce wheat! In the same way, a false messenger will in the beginning appear to present doctrine in line with the Word of God. The wheat plants within his range of influence grow, unperturbed as they do not yet discern the root of the matter. The Lord allows this in order for the wheat plant to become grounded and strengthened, in preparation of bringing forth a full ear of wheat.
So as the wheat plant, or son of the Kingdom, allows the incorruptible of Christ to bring forth Christ within, he begins to bring forth fruit. The character of Christ becomes evident in him. As maturity comes, it brings with it, humility and a laying down of one’s life – and the ripe ear of wheat bows in the presence of the Lord of the Harvest. However, the sons of the evil one are going through the same forming process. They cannot help but bring forth the character of the Father of Lies. The early stages of ‘blade’ and ‘ear’ have served to allow them to grow undetected in the midst of God’s people but error begins to be woven in with truth and finally in the day of exposure, there is a clear display of the fruit of darkness. Arrogance and a refusal to acknowledge sin or undertake repentance are hallmarks of the full ear of a tare.
The seed has brought forth fruit according to its kind. In Genesis 1 we read what happened on the third day of creation. God drew the waters back and exposed the earth and then the seeds which were already within the earth sprouted:
Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth tender sprouts (the herb seeding seed and the fruit tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself) upon the earth; and it was so.
We are now in the Third Day since the coming of Christ and God is revealing which seed is planted within the earthen vessels of humankind. They are bringing forth fruit after their kind both within and without the Church. Judgment and separation begins with the House of God and the Lord has decreed that in the time of Harvest, those which have been stumbling blocks to His people will firstly be openly revealed for what they are, and then removed.
God’s wheat plants will firstly experience this separation within their hearts. They will find they have less and less in common with certain people and groups that they have been in association with for an entire growing season. This will be because of the development of the full corn in the ear. They will find the process disconcerting and will at times wonder whether they themselves are becoming un-Christlike as their hearts begin to pull away from these ones.
The discomfort will cause them to run to the Word and re-examine what they believe as they compare it to what is being declared from the pulpit. Areas in which they have been beguiled into absorbing false doctrine will now become glaringly evident as the veil is removed from their eyes - and because they are of the seed of Christ, they will renounce and flee from these doctrines of demons once they become acutely aware of them. As realignment to the plumbline of Truth occurs within the hearts of God’s sons, they are to remain submitted to the Spirit of the Lord, not trying to pre-empt any physical separation of their own volition. The outward separation of tares from wheat is effected by the ‘angels’ or messengers of the Lord of the Harvest as they use the sickle of Truth to weed out the tares. As always the Word will divide between soul and spirit.
After the cleansing of the temple, the exposing of the counterfeit and the removal of the stumbling blocks amongst the sons of the Kingdom, the full ears of wheat are taken into the granary in order to feed the hungry.
The fullness of harvest time when the tares and the wheat are clearly discernable is in effect a depiction of the manifestation or unveiling of the sons of God. Up until the season of the full corn in the ear, it has been impossible to distinguish between the two. Although there has been an awareness of some form of mixture present, it has not been entirely clear just who is who in the zoo! Then as maturity comes, the DNA of the seed within the heart is manifested fully. Just as the tares were bundled together, so too will there be a gathering together of the true sons of God, recognising and imparting the Spirit of Christ within one another!
Mat 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
As we move through these days of separation and harvest, let us ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all Truth and let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and tremble at His Word. It is time to walk in the fear of the Lord as never before.
Selah
.
