The Destiny of the Bride of Christ - Part 5
We see that when Jesus returns in the clouds of Heaven, it will be time for the two great end-of-the-age harvests to finally take place.
The prelude to these two great harvests is described by Jesus in his parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at 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 barn.” ’ ”—Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV)
As Jesus does with all of His teachings, He explained this later to those who were closest to Him and sought Him for answers.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil**,** **the harvest is the end of the age, **and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”—Matthew 13:36-43 (NKJV)
Jesus reinforced this in John chapter 15:
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”—John 15:1-6 (NKJV)
Jesus’ comparison of the enemy’s seed to tares among the genuine wheat is very fitting. They may look like believers. They may talk like believers, but in the end, tares produce no good fruit. This is exactly how Jesus taught us to recognize false prophets among us. We can’t always know them by what they say or how they appear. We will know them by their fruits!
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”—Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV)
They may have sat next to you in church all of your life. They may have joined in singing worship songs along with you. They may have attended prayer meetings with you. They may have led home group meetings with you and participated in church activities alongside you.
But in the end, if they do not produce the good fruit of a genuine disciple of Christ, it will be clearly evident to the reaping angels that these tares do not belong in the great harvest of the true disciples of Christ. They will be separated out to await the great harvest of God’s wrath.
“I tell you, on that night [when Messiah comes again] there will be two [sleeping] in one bed; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left. There will be two women grinding [at the mill] together; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left. [Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.]”—Luke 17:34-36 (AMP)
Once the tares have been separated from the wheat—the false disciples from the true disciples—then the two great harvests will happen in quick succession—the great harvest of the true disciples and the great harvest for the wrath of God.
The Bride of Christ will take part in both of these great harvests.
