Articles
He Will Weed Out His Kingdom
HE WILL WEED OUT HIS KINGDOM!
“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,” Mt. 13:41 ASV
Sometimes Jesus speaks harsh words, doesn’t he? He had spoken the parable of the tares to the multitudes, hoping for honest hearts who would be provoked to ask questions, to seek further, to think deeper. Then when he is with his disciples, and they ask for an explanation of the parable, he says these words above. ONE DAY, the weeds will be separated and burned! “All who offend”, all who work iniquity (lawlessness), all who cause others to stumble will be seized with a terror that they cannot imagine.
How empty this threat of Jesus seems to most of us! The “weeding out” seems to be far away, maybe not even real. We love to dwell on the love of Jesus. We comfort ourselves by the idea of the matchless grace of God and his goodness to us. And well we should. Let that never fall from our view. But we MUST realize that his love is HOLY love. It is just and pure. He will settle for no counterfeit Christianity. He will not be satisfied with superficial religion – just affiliating with the right group, or hammering the truth on a few key doctrines. He will not tolerate any who will live in lawlessness – who chose to walk as if there is no law of life given to us by God, no expectation from him about our character and our conduct. (Don’t you know church members who live that way?).
And he will not tolerate ANY in his kingdom who cause his children to stumble. What kind of influence are YOU on the precious souls around you in the kingdom? Are you exhorting, encouraging, uplifting, speaking words of grace to bless them, in humble and sincere concern for them? Or are YOU a part of their problem? Do you ignore them? Do you drag them down? Do you discourage them? Do you influence them to do or say things that are not fitting for a child of God, to be offended and to stumble in their walk? Remember what Jesus said about the millstone?
BROTHERS and SISTERS, bear with me while I say this in more concrete terms. Are you discouraging the hearts of your brethren and undermining their spiritual growth by your lackadaisical attendance, your disinterest in Bible study, your refusal to sing from the heart, your forsaken prayer life, your unwillingness to “get involved” in serving, encouraging, thanking, leading, teaching, showing hospitality, welcoming visitors, praying, even cleaning? Are you content to just be affiliated with this church, with no accountability for your influence on other souls? I thank God from my heart for the untiring service of so many in our group. But many more should be involved for the sake of the cross, and for the souls around us. Steve and Davy and I and others may seem to “harp” on these things too much, but please try to see how URGENTLY we need to strengthen disciples and to save souls around us with the power of the gospel of Christ!
He longs for us to be pure and holy – and he will have us help others be pure and holy. Period. Otherwise, he will one day weed us out!
Larry Walker
July 2010
- He_Will_Weed_Out_His_Kingdom.doc (27.65 kB)
