But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
Every growth God has not planted — human teachings, customs, traditions and rules set in place of His commandments, with human prejudice, worldliness and fault-finding toward brethren — shall certainly be rooted up and cannot endure His testing and judgment. The unplanted growth is also evil within the heart and professing Christians who bring dangerous sentiments and poisonous fruit into the church, whose defilement comes from within yet whose fruits at last reveal their character. The uprooting is God's work alone and not given to finite human hands, so wheat and tares must be left to grow together until the harvest when angels without mistake will gather the wheat and the plants of righteousness will appear distinct by their fruit. Those who held the verse to command church discipline teach that it authorizes the church to censure and separate from its fellowship those who prove unworthy and dishonor God's cause. The church is a garden redeemed from sin and entrusted to divine cultivation, so its spiritual character must be strictly guarded, its doors not opened to worldliness, and all must walk humbly and become one in judgment to be a help for good rather than a hindrance to be rooted up. In contrast, believers planted by God hear Christ's voice and follow Him, and He gives them eternal life so they shall never perish and no one can pluck them from His and the Father's hand, while those who fall away in the last conflict were never truly planted by the Father.
What the Plants Are
Every plant the heavenly Father has not planted is human teaching, custom, tradition, and rule set in place of God's commandments. Such inventions confuse the sacred with the common and receive the reverence that belongs to God's law alone. They have no divine authority, and God's word rather than church custom or human authority is the source of truth. Human authority cannot make them endure, and every human invention substituted for God's commandments will prove worthless when tested and when God judges every work, even what is secret. What God did not establish will ultimately be removed.
The unplanted growth is also evil within the heart. Christ knows the hearts of all with nothing hidden from Him. The evil seed and seed root of bitterness is cultivated in the garden of the heart by one unwilling to receive light when it shines forth, and then is planted in other hearts. The unconverted heart so affected sees everything in a perverted light, as when the Pharisees were repulsed in hatred of Christ. The church on earth is under the Son of God's control and entrusted to His servants as a sacred guardianship, a garden redeemed from the wilderness of sin by the divine Husbandman to be filled with plants of righteousness.
The plants the Father has not planted are professing Christians who bring dangerous sentiments into that garden and bear poisonous fruit unto death. True Christians in plain contrast bring forth fruit to God's glory and are plainly different from worldlings. When such false plants appear the warning is to beware of what God has not chosen. Those not planted may hold the truth in unrighteousness yet appear outwardly like the wise, so that no one can now distinguish the wise from the foolish and no one has authority to decide, since men cannot read the heart and tares so closely resemble wheat. Defilement comes from within, out of the heart, in evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. Fruits declare character and reveal who is false, and God's angels commissioned to counterwork falsehood will separate without error and make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares when the door will be shut.
Every plant, influence, and working in the church which God has not planted includes human prejudice, unguided impulse, and worldliness. The church is in the world to do a work for the world, but its doors are not to be opened to worldliness; its spiritual and sacred character must be carefully maintained, strictly guarded, and demonstrated to the world so the Lord's name is glorified and His cause advanced. The church with its heaven-born principles is a sacred enclosure given divine cultivation by the heavenly Husbandman and entrusted with sacred responsibilities. The same unplanted working includes the spirit of criticism and fault-finding toward brethren, accusing God's delegated servants and questioning and nullifying the message they bear. That spirit is what Satan plants in human agents to set his throne between worship and God and to appropriate God's adoration.
Removal and Preservation
Every growth the heavenly Father has not planted will certainly be rooted up, and that uprooting is God's work alone and is not given to finite, ruthless human hands. Wheat and tares must be left to grow together until the harvest, for human beings cannot now reliably distinguish the wise from the foolish or wheat from tares, cannot read the human heart, and have no authority to pronounce who is wise and who is foolish when tares so closely resemble wheat. Defilement comes from within, out of the heart, in evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and blasphemies, yet fruits reveal character, and at the harvest the plants of righteousness will appear distinct and plain and will be known by the fruit they bear. God's angels, commissioned to counterwork those who fight against the truth of God's word and the spirit of criticism, fault-finding toward brethren, accusing God's delegated servants and questioning and nullifying their message which Satan plants to set himself between worship and God and appropriate God's adoration, will gather the wheat from among the tares without mistake and without error when the time comes that the door will be shut.
The verse commands the church to administer censure and rebuke and separation from its fellowship to those who profess to be loyal members yet prove unworthy and dishonor God's cause by their conduct. The unplanted plant means a person unworthy of church fellowship, and its removal means separation from Christ's body. This painful discipline is a duty commanded by God and carries Christ's authority, so no one should speak lightly of it or criticize the church for doing it, and to speak against or oppose this authority is to speak against and oppose Christ.
The church is a garden redeemed from the wilderness of sin by the divine Husbandman, a sacred enclosure with heaven-born principles under the control of the Son of God on earth, entrusted to the care of His servants as a sacred guardianship with sacred responsibilities and given divine cultivation to be filled with plants of righteousness. Jesus looks upon every soul with intense interest and requires the spiritual character of His church to be carefully maintained and strictly guarded, and though the church is in the world to do a work for the world its doors are not to be opened to worldliness but it must demonstrate its sacred character so that the Lord's name is glorified and His cause advanced. Every plant, influence and working in the church which God has not planted, including human prejudice, unguided impulse and worldliness and professing Christians who bring in dangerous sentiments and bear poisonous fruit unto death in plain contrast to true Christians who bring forth fruit to God's glory and are plainly different from worldlings, shall be rooted up, and when they appear the warning is to beware of what God has not chosen. Therefore all must walk humbly with God, cease seeking to be the greatest influence, and counsel and pray with brethren to become one in judgment rather than one mind hastily forming and carrying out decisions on important matters without calm and prayerful consideration of other minds, so as to be a help and strength for good instead of a hindrance to be rooted up.
In the last days and the last conflict, while heaven is preparing a people to stand and the Captain of the Lord's host leads and fights for them, apostasies are to be expected and will occur. Those who fall away and leave and go out were never truly of God's people and not truly of the faithful community, because the heavenly Father had not planted them, and they shall be rooted up.
In contrast to growth God did not plant, which is certain to be removed, believers given by the Father to the Son are planted by God. They hear Christ's voice, come to Him, and follow Him, and He gives them eternal life so they shall never perish. No one can pluck them out of His hand or the Father's hand, and He will in no wise cast out him that comes, but keeps them secure forever, and this certainty of removal and preservation must be remembered when facing unbelief and loss of first love.
Every growth God has not planted — human teachings, customs, traditions and rules set in place of His commandments, with human prejudice, worldliness and fault-finding toward brethren — shall certainly be rooted up and cannot endure His testing and judgment. The unplanted growth is also evil within the heart and professing Christians who bring dangerous sentiments and poisonous fruit into the church, whose defilement comes from within yet whose fruits at last reveal their character. The uprooting is God's work alone and not given to finite human hands, so wheat and tares must be left to grow together until the harvest when angels without mistake will gather the wheat and the plants of righteousness will appear distinct by their fruit. Those who held the verse to command church discipline teach that it authorizes the church to censure and separate from its fellowship those who prove unworthy and dishonor God's cause. The church is a garden redeemed from sin and entrusted to divine cultivation, so its spiritual character must be strictly guarded, its doors not opened to worldliness, and all must walk humbly and become one in judgment to be a help for good rather than a hindrance to be rooted up. In contrast, believers planted by God hear Christ's voice and follow Him, and He gives them eternal life so they shall never perish and no one can pluck them from His and the Father's hand, while those who fall away in the last conflict were never truly planted by the Father.
What the Plants Are
Every plant the heavenly Father has not planted is human teaching, custom, tradition, and rule set in place of God's commandments. Such inventions confuse the sacred with the common and receive the reverence that belongs to God's law alone. They have no divine authority, and God's word rather than church custom or human authority is the source of truth. Human authority cannot make them endure, and every human invention substituted for God's commandments will prove worthless when tested and when God judges every work, even what is secret. What God did not establish will ultimately be removed.
The unplanted growth is also evil within the heart. Christ knows the hearts of all with nothing hidden from Him. The evil seed and seed root of bitterness is cultivated in the garden of the heart by one unwilling to receive light when it shines forth, and then is planted in other hearts. The unconverted heart so affected sees everything in a perverted light, as when the Pharisees were repulsed in hatred of Christ. The church on earth is under the Son of God's control and entrusted to His servants as a sacred guardianship, a garden redeemed from the wilderness of sin by the divine Husbandman to be filled with plants of righteousness.
The plants the Father has not planted are professing Christians who bring dangerous sentiments into that garden and bear poisonous fruit unto death. True Christians in plain contrast bring forth fruit to God's glory and are plainly different from worldlings. When such false plants appear the warning is to beware of what God has not chosen. Those not planted may hold the truth in unrighteousness yet appear outwardly like the wise, so that no one can now distinguish the wise from the foolish and no one has authority to decide, since men cannot read the heart and tares so closely resemble wheat. Defilement comes from within, out of the heart, in evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. Fruits declare character and reveal who is false, and God's angels commissioned to counterwork falsehood will separate without error and make no mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares when the door will be shut.
Every plant, influence, and working in the church which God has not planted includes human prejudice, unguided impulse, and worldliness. The church is in the world to do a work for the world, but its doors are not to be opened to worldliness; its spiritual and sacred character must be carefully maintained, strictly guarded, and demonstrated to the world so the Lord's name is glorified and His cause advanced. The church with its heaven-born principles is a sacred enclosure given divine cultivation by the heavenly Husbandman and entrusted with sacred responsibilities. The same unplanted working includes the spirit of criticism and fault-finding toward brethren, accusing God's delegated servants and questioning and nullifying the message they bear. That spirit is what Satan plants in human agents to set his throne between worship and God and to appropriate God's adoration.
Removal and Preservation
Every growth the heavenly Father has not planted will certainly be rooted up, and that uprooting is God's work alone and is not given to finite, ruthless human hands. Wheat and tares must be left to grow together until the harvest, for human beings cannot now reliably distinguish the wise from the foolish or wheat from tares, cannot read the human heart, and have no authority to pronounce who is wise and who is foolish when tares so closely resemble wheat. Defilement comes from within, out of the heart, in evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and blasphemies, yet fruits reveal character, and at the harvest the plants of righteousness will appear distinct and plain and will be known by the fruit they bear. God's angels, commissioned to counterwork those who fight against the truth of God's word and the spirit of criticism, fault-finding toward brethren, accusing God's delegated servants and questioning and nullifying their message which Satan plants to set himself between worship and God and appropriate God's adoration, will gather the wheat from among the tares without mistake and without error when the time comes that the door will be shut.
The verse commands the church to administer censure and rebuke and separation from its fellowship to those who profess to be loyal members yet prove unworthy and dishonor God's cause by their conduct. The unplanted plant means a person unworthy of church fellowship, and its removal means separation from Christ's body. This painful discipline is a duty commanded by God and carries Christ's authority, so no one should speak lightly of it or criticize the church for doing it, and to speak against or oppose this authority is to speak against and oppose Christ.
The church is a garden redeemed from the wilderness of sin by the divine Husbandman, a sacred enclosure with heaven-born principles under the control of the Son of God on earth, entrusted to the care of His servants as a sacred guardianship with sacred responsibilities and given divine cultivation to be filled with plants of righteousness. Jesus looks upon every soul with intense interest and requires the spiritual character of His church to be carefully maintained and strictly guarded, and though the church is in the world to do a work for the world its doors are not to be opened to worldliness but it must demonstrate its sacred character so that the Lord's name is glorified and His cause advanced. Every plant, influence and working in the church which God has not planted, including human prejudice, unguided impulse and worldliness and professing Christians who bring in dangerous sentiments and bear poisonous fruit unto death in plain contrast to true Christians who bring forth fruit to God's glory and are plainly different from worldlings, shall be rooted up, and when they appear the warning is to beware of what God has not chosen. Therefore all must walk humbly with God, cease seeking to be the greatest influence, and counsel and pray with brethren to become one in judgment rather than one mind hastily forming and carrying out decisions on important matters without calm and prayerful consideration of other minds, so as to be a help and strength for good instead of a hindrance to be rooted up.
In the last days and the last conflict, while heaven is preparing a people to stand and the Captain of the Lord's host leads and fights for them, apostasies are to be expected and will occur. Those who fall away and leave and go out were never truly of God's people and not truly of the faithful community, because the heavenly Father had not planted them, and they shall be rooted up.
In contrast to growth God did not plant, which is certain to be removed, believers given by the Father to the Son are planted by God. They hear Christ's voice, come to Him, and follow Him, and He gives them eternal life so they shall never perish. No one can pluck them out of His hand or the Father's hand, and He will in no wise cast out him that comes, but keeps them secure forever, and this certainty of removal and preservation must be remembered when facing unbelief and loss of first love.