THE WHEAT AND THE TARES.
By Francis M. Wilcox
IN this world the difference between the righteous and the ungodly does not always appear. The Lord does not place an outward premium upon righteousness. To do this would be to defeat the very plan He is endeavoring to carry out in connection with the salvation of the human family. If the Lord to-day invariably sent upon the righteous man the blessings of life, of health, of property, and upon the wicked, sickness, death, and disaster, the ungodly would cease to serve the Lord from mercenary motives, and with hope of temporal gain, rather than from true love. Hence the Lord sends His rain upon the just and upon the unjust. He bestows upon all alike the blessings of life and health and temporal prosperity. But the time is coming in the last great day when the Lord will make up His jewels and gather His precious ones home unto Himself, and then the difference now unseen will be made manifest. "Then," says the prophet, "shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not." Read Mal. 3:13-18; 4:1-3. This same experience, as illustrated in the parable of the wheat and the tares, is brought to view in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, in the following words: "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. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 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." The disciples could not understand the lesson taught by this parable. After Jesus had sent the multitude away, and, with His followers, had gone into the house for a period of rest, they came unto Him requesting an explanation. "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." We see from this lesson, and its explanation by our Lord, that so long as this world in its present form shall exist, the righteous and the wicked will both exist with it. They will live here together, side by side, in the same company, and perhaps associated together in the same relations of life, and in many instances their lives may be so blended, and their interests so closely identified, that only one with more than mortal vision could pierce the exterior of form and pretension, and, in the light of divine illumination, weigh the motives and purposes of the heart, and determine who were the sound wheat and who the light and worthless chaff. Not much of the world's conversion is couched in these words of our Lord. On the other hand, this parable stands as a strong and emphatic protest against this delusive doctrine of the enemy which has been foisted upon the world during this closing century. And, in addition to this, what a blessed practical truth is taught us to reserve judgment to the final day of harvest gathering, when that which is clouded and indistinct now shall appear in its true light, the wheat brought to a golden maturity, and the tares revealed in their pretentious worthlessness. To-day the wheat and the tares are growing together in every part of the world's great harvest-field. Every church contains both good and evil. Side by side on the roll of the same book, side by side perchance in the pew of the same church, sit persons, one the pure gold, and the other base and worthless dross; one sound wheat, and the other chaff. In many instances the distinction even now may be so great and the contrast so sharp that a classification may be made; but in many instances this can not be done. Hence, it is for us to labor for all men lovingly, assiduously, faithfully, even as Christ labored; for the Judas as well as the John; for the impulsive Peter as well as the conservative James. And in doing this we are to remember the words of the great apostle, "Judge nothing before the time." Perfect knowledge must precede perfect judgment. Only God possesses perfect knowledge; hence only God can perfectly judge. And so the child of God to-day must labor in charity, in love, and in long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but determined, so far as possible, that all shall accept the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and have their lives transformed by the power of His Gospel. If we do not know now, we shall know sometime. If we can not discern clearly now, but must see through a glass darkly, sometime we shall see face to face. The cloud of sin will be rolled away, and the glory of God will shine forth in all its radiant effulgence. So in the darkness of night through which we are now passing, that darkness which just precedes the breaking of the glorious day, let us hope on and labor on, being sure that the night is far spent, and that the morning will soon break. O glorious day, long desired, dawn upon thy waiting children! O blessed Jesus, long expected, come and come quickly to thy waiting people!