Removing the Tares from the Wheat

REMOVING THE TARES FROM THE WHEAT

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In the world and in God’s Church (His Kingdom), there are righteous people and wicked people, the wheat and the tares. In the day in which we are living, the Lord Jesus has begun the work of removing from the Church what is not of His righteous nature.

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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 (Matthew 13:41)

The wheat and the tares! God does not divide the world into Christians and non-Christians, but into the wheat and the tares, the righteous and the wicked. There are wheat and tares in the churches as well as in the world.

Matthew 13:41 might have already begun. We believe there will be in our time a removing of wickedness, and then wicked people, from the ranks of the Christian believers, and finally from the world itself, for “the field is the world.”

Judgment always begins with those closest to the Lord.

We have spoken in other articles of removing sin from the Christians, of delivering believers from the “tares” of lawless behavior. While it is true that there still is deliverance in Mount Zion for all who repent and call on the name of the Lord, we think God may be going a step further in the present hour.

Perhaps the Lord has already begun the process of removing the wickedness, and then wicked people, from the one true Church. God may be placing an uncrossable barrier between His elect — those who truly have been born of Him — and those who appear to be Christians but who have not been born of God. Many individuals who assemble with Christians have been born of the religious activities of the churches, the fleshly efforts of the churches as they pursue the work of “church growth.”

Let us consider for a moment the concept of Matthew 13:37-43. Jesus is speaking of the world. In the world there is the Kingdom of God, which (in the present hour) consists of the Christian churches. In the Christian churches, there are the true children of the Kingdom and also the children of Satan. The Lord declares that during a period of time known as the “end of this world,” the Son of man will send forth his angels (messengers). They will gather out of His Kingdom all that offends God and then those who practice wickedness.

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 (Matthew 13:40,41)

Out of His Kingdom! Out of His Kingdom! That evil was in His Kingdom! First the offenses, and after that those who are causing the offenses, if they are not willing to be cleansed from their wicked practices.

In the day in which we are living, it appears that the Lord Jesus has begun the work of removing from His Church, His Kingdom, all sinful, worldly, rebellious behavior. It is crucial that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He seeks to lead us to confess and forsake our sins. We, through the Holy Spirit, are to put to death the thoughts, words, and actions that the Scriptures define as sin.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)

The Spirit is ready to help us put to death all the unclean actions of our flesh and spirit.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

As we said, it is very important that we follow the Spirit in putting to death the unlawful appetites of our flesh. If we do not allow the Lord to cleanse us, then we ourselves will need to be purged from the Kingdom whether or not we name the name of Jesus.

If we will follow the Lord carefully, He will remove the lying from our personality, the immorality, the violence and anger, the occult practices, the greed and covetousness. If we work with the Lord, confessing our sins and forsaking them by His power, we will enter the Kingdom of God.

But if we refuse to be separated from our sins, then we will become part of the sin itself. Instead of telling lies, we will be considered a liar. Instead of being separated from lust, we will become an adulterer. We will become the sin in question. If that proves to be the case, we will be thrown into the Lake of Fire whether or not we name the name of the Lord Jesus, because the Lake of Fire has authority over all liars, all adulterers, all murderers, all sorcerers.

Then God will say, “Let the liars remain liars; let the adulterers remain adulterers; let the murderers remain murderers.” We have turned away from God and now God has turned away from us.

The Lord Jesus has declared that those who practice sin will be purged from His Kingdom. If they are purged from His Kingdom, then it must be true that at one time they were in His Kingdom.

In the parable of the wheat and tares, the Lord Jesus stated that at the completion of the present age, the wicked will be removed from His Kingdom. This certainly must take place before the saints rise to meet the Lord in the air. Will the believers be resurrected, ascend to meet the Lord in the air, and after that, have the tares removed from them or themselves be removed from Christ’s Kingdom? The purging must occur before the Lord returns.

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 (Matthew 13:41)

All wicked behavior will be removed from the Lord’s Kingdom at the completion of the age.

Before the Lord returns, there will be a purging of His Church, His Kingdom, that He may receive to Himself a Bride without spot, wrinkle, or blemish of any kind.

Today the Christian churches contain numerous members who are not walking in the Spirit of God. The hour has come for the Lord to separate the tares from the wheat.

The book of Jude, written in the first century, speaks of the infiltration of the Christian assemblies by people who are not of God:

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness [immorality, lust] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

Peter also warns us concerning the presence of the wicked, of those who never were born of God, in the assemblies of the Christians.

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. (II Peter 2:1)

From its beginning, the Christian Church has been a mixture of wheat and tares. The wheat and the tares, the righteous and the lawless, have grown side by side in the Kingdom of God. Now it may be time for the tares to be removed from the wheat and for the righteous to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

Jude claims that the wicked teachers and members of the Christian assemblies turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, into freedom from moral restraint.

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness [immorality, lust] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

Nowadays, the apostle Paul’s teaching of grace is being perverted to mean Christians do not have to obey the moral laws of God.

All people who, after continued warning, continue to break the moral laws of God without repenting, whether or not they profess to belong to Christ, are not of God. They are lawless people. They are tares. They “worship” with us in the assemblies, but they are not of God. We know they are not of God because they practice unrighteousness.

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. (I John 3:7)

The pastors, teachers, and evangelists of our day appear to not believe I John 3:7. They do not believe that it is the person who practices righteousness who is righteous, just as the Lord Jesus is righteous, or that those who persist in wicked behavior are not of the Lord.

The current teaching is that we are acceptable to God by belief alone apart from works. The doctrine of “faith alone” is in clear, direct opposition to I John 3:7. Notice the next verse:

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:8)

The Christian churches of our day are in moral chaos because of the doctrine of “faith alone.” It is not true, not scriptural, that we are justified (made acceptable to God) by “faith alone.” If faith is not demonstrated in righteous behavior, it is dead, “being alone” (James 2:17). This is what the Spirit has declared through James. Let God be true and every man a liar.

The Christian churches throughout the world are filled with people who are not walking in righteousness. They do not practice moral restraint. They are accepted by churches or by the denominations as Christians. They are not Christians. They are tares. They resemble wheat but they are not wheat. We know they are not wheat because they practice sin. They are not walking prayerfully and righteously before the Lord.

Jude warns us clearly:

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 1:5)

It is said today that once we “accept Christ,” our salvation can never be in danger. But consider the preceding verse!

Deliverance from Egypt is the strongest of the types of Scripture relating to the Christian salvation. Jude states that God brought the people out under the protection of the blood of the Passover lamb, and then destroyed them in the wilderness. How then can we claim that our salvation can never can be in danger?

What did the people do that brought destruction upon them? They revealed their unbelief, their lack of trust in God, by turning back in their hearts to Egypt. God’s wrath fell on them as a result.

How many members of the Christian churches of our day still love the world? They have never come out of the world in their hearts. They act, think, and speak like worldly people. They with their children sit for hours before the ungodly television. Yet they are members of Christian churches. How could they possibly be termed disciples of the Lord Jesus? They are tares. They are not Christians. A Christian is a disciple of the Lord. They are not wheat. They shall be removed from the wheat in the near future.

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified. (II Corinthians 13:5)

Unless we are serving the Lord faithfully and diligently, rejoicing with trembling in the holy fear of the Lord, growing in righteousness every day, continually washing our robes and making them sparkling white in the blood of the Lamb, we are not of God.

It does not matter how long we have been in our church or what denomination we belong to or what doctrine we subscribe to or what we have accomplished “for God” or whom we know or how we feel. Judgment has fallen on the Christian churches. Those who are not serving the Lord with all their strength will stumble and fall because they are not practicing the righteous ways of the Holy One of Israel.

There is a danger that multitudes of Christians in America, as well as in other places, will never believe the warnings coming forth today from the Lord’s servants. The believers are too confident of their position. They are smug in their belief that they are safe in their churches. They are of the church of Laodicea, having “need of nothing.”

They (the “believers” in the Lord Jesus) soon will be crying to God for mercy as divine judgment falls on every nation under the heavens. There will be no pre-tribulation “rapture.” The believers are unprepared for what is coming on the earth and unprepared to meet the Lord Jesus.

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22,23)
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (II Thessalonians 2:11,12)

God’s issue with us is not our doctrinal stance, but our behavior — our thoughts, words, and deeds. God is concerned about what kind of person we are. No amount of “accepting Christ” and no amount of “successful ministry” can possibly make up for a sinful life — a life where there is no repentance.

The purpose of God always has been and always will be to bring forth sons who practice justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. The religion of Judaism neglected these virtues and strained over the tithing of herbs. The religion of Christianity is neglecting these virtues and stressing an unscriptural “grace.”

The false teachings of grace and the pre-tribulation “rapture” have lured the churches into a false sense of security. The Christian people will not escape. God’s wrath is ready to fall on all unrighteousness and on all who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Only His love and mercy are holding back the sword from falling. But the sword soon shall fall because Christians are not repenting!

In several instances, the Jews of Europe were warned of the coming destruction. The prophet and scholar Jabotinsky over a period of several years went from town to town warning the Jews that destruction was at hand. Sometimes Christian people offered hiding places. The Jews who took heed were saved. Those who believed their families should stay together in their familiar homes, decided to wait. They were destroyed.

Remember Lot’s wife!

Now the Gentile holocaust is at the doors. The Spirit of the Lord is warning us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Yet many are teaching we should wait for an unscriptural “rapture.” Those who delay, playing silly church games, are facing affliction, torture, and death on a scale without precedent in world history. The Gentile holocaust will be more severe than that of the Jews.

Jude reminds us of God’s punishment on the disobedient angels and of the eternal fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Jude speaks of the flesh-defiling, filthy dreamers who are in our assemblies and who call themselves believers. They reject authority. They have “accepted” Jesus as Savior but they have no intention of receiving Him as Lord. They will not obey the Lord or anyone else. They speak evil of angelic majesties. They are proud, haughty, presumptuous, ready to do whatever they desire. They are in our churches. Soon the fire of God’s judgment will remove them from the churches. They are “brute beasts,” Peter and Jude declare. They live and behave in their soul and their fleshly appetites rather than in the Spirit of God. They corrupt themselves with the flesh. They eat, sleep, play, work, and reproduce, and believe that this is eternal life. They do not know of the true saint’s life of prayer and consecration.

In many instances, ungodly people rule and attempt to guide the saints, who often are not wise in their behavior. But God knows and loves the true saints. The sensual, although they boast themselves in the things and activities of the churches, will never stand in the Presence of the Lord.

They “have gone in the way of Cain” (Jude 1:11). This means their hearts are not pleasing to God when they offer their sacrifices of worship. They stand side by side with the true believers and “give thanks” to God. Yet there is spiritual envy, anger, and murder in their hearts as there was in the heart of Cain. God does not accept their sacrifices.

They “ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.” They are lovers of money. They are prominent in the aspects of the churches that have to do with raising and spending money. To them, the Kingdom of God proceeds according to how much money is available. They react with cynicism and unbelief toward anyone who suggests it is the Spirit of God who performs the work of the Kingdom of God rather than money.

They are ready to plead for money in order to accomplish their programs — all in the name of the Lord. But the Lord has never known them. They will discover this fact to their terror when they meet the Lord Jesus.

They perish “in the gainsaying of Korah.” Because of their spiritual envy, they are not willing to submit themselves to God-given leadership. Rather, they always are seeking preeminence among the saints. They gain a following and then strive to displace those whom the Lord has chosen. But they will be removed in the end.

These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. (Jude 1:12,13)

They murmur and complain. They walk in their passions. They seek to impress people with their arrogant, boastful words. They are mockers, scoffing at the righteous. They live according to their natural mind, not having the Spirit of God.

They will be separated from us during the period of tribulation that is ahead. When the Lord returns with His saints, they will receive their judgment:

Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men [“Christian” sinners] also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:14,15)

How will they be separated from us? The Lord Jesus stated, “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” (Matthew 13:41).

The Lord’s “messengers” may be holy angels, wicked angels, people, or circumstances. The Lord gave Paul “the messenger of Satan to buffet me” (II Corinthians 12:7). It was Satan who was hurting Paul, but it was the Lord Jesus who was in control. The Lord Jesus was removing from Paul the last traces of Paul’s tendency to trust in his own strength.

God uses many devices to remove the tares from the wheat. A major tool is fiery persecution. When we are ready to attend the assemblies of the saints at the risk of our life, or imprisonment, or torture, then we know we have been born of God. When we make a profession of Christ only when it is safe and comfortable to do so, we may be a tare and not know it.

The way of the Lord must be made straight. There is little God can do with the Christian churches of our day. They are neither hot nor cold. They are a mixture of true saints and fleshly “believers.” The tares must be removed from the wheat before the righteousness of the true Church can be witnessed by the peoples of the earth.

Peter warned us about false teachers, of whom there always has been an abundance. The false teachers are covetous and seek to get money out of the Lord’s flock (II Peter 2:3).

We commented previously about running greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. The love of money is the basis for a major part of the Christian ministry in the wealthy nations of the world. Money is the prime motivation. The preachers and teachers, in many instances, dilute the message of righteoussness, holiness, and discipleship. They do so in order to make the congregation more comfortable, gaining more people and therefore more money.

In our day, the churches are rated by the number of people in attendance. A little reflection will reveal that the number of people in attendance is not a true measure of the quality of an assembly of Christians. Probably most of us would agree that measuring the worth of a church by the number of people who attend is not sound. Nevertheless, we continue to regard large numbers of people as signifying that an assembly is successful and worthy. Why do we do this? It is partly because of the love of money. A large congregation ordinarily means a large cash flow and status in the eyes of people. We value popularity and material success. But the Lord Jesus does not. He is content with two or three of the faithful.

Fierce, violent persecution will help banish from us this wrong value and the other evidences of the lack of spiritual discipline. When it becomes dangerous for a large group of people to meet together, we no longer will place such a high value on large numbers of people. At that time, we will realize that our motivation in building large churches has been fleshly.

The Scriptures teach us that God performs His tremendous works with one person or a few people. We desire numerous people because we love money, status, and power. We love money, status, and power because we are tares and not wheat.

God is righteous by nature. Those who are born of God are righteous by nature and practice righteousness. They love mercy and walk humbly with God. This is how we can tell the difference between those who have been born of God and those who have not been born of God.

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. (I John 3:9)

The above verse means the person who has been born of God begins to show God’s nature in himself. Although he may stumble and fall while he is growing to maturity, he is always striving to walk in righteousness and holiness. Eventually he is able, through God’s Life that is in him, to walk before the Lord (even in the world) in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

The tares are not like that. They have never been born of God. They are sons of the wicked one. They have entered the assemblies of the saints, but not by the direction of the Holy Spirit of God. They will leave just as quickly as they came as soon as there is persecution.

The tares are ready to believe they are saved by “grace” and do not need to change what they are. The tares will always resist the doctrines of overcoming sin and crucifixion of self. They are not willing to allow the Lord to perform the painful operations necessary for deliverance from the world, from Satan, and from their lusts and self-seeking. They have perverted the teaching of the apostle Paul to mean that the grace of Christ is God’s way of excusing our lack of personal change into holiness and righteousness.

The tares always are seeking the cheapest possible way of regaining Paradise.

The wheat love God. They are more interested in God’s attitude toward them than they are in going to Heaven when they die. The Life of God in them calls out to God desiring to be like God, of God, an eternal part of God. God is their Father. The Spirit in them cries, Abba.

One point of confusion is what it means to be “born again.” We have made being born again synonymous with “accepting Christ” or with faith in the blood atonement. Accepting Christ as Savior and Lord is one matter. Remission of sins through the blood atonement accompanies all true receiving of Christ. Being born again of God, while it follows all true receiving of Christ, is a distinct experience. It is not a legal transaction, as is forgiveness through the blood atonement, but an experience in one’s personality. To be born of God is to receive the divine Seed in us and to have it grow from a seed to a new creation in Christ. As the Seed develops in us, we reveal in ourselves the family likeness of God.

The tares have never been born of God. They have not been born again, although they may talk a great deal about being born again. We know they have not been born of God because they do not show the family likeness of God. Rather, they show the likeness of the personality of Satan. They are children of wrath. They are more of Adam than they are of God!

The wheat are the sons of the Kingdom. The tares are the sons of the wicked one. The wheat have been ordained to eternal life. The tares have been ordained to condemnation:

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness [immorality, lust] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

Being of God’s wheat is by election, by the working of God. The Lord adds to the Church daily. When men add to the church, it is tares that are brought in. This is what has happened through the centuries of the Christian era.

In my opinion, many (perhaps most) of the Christians of our day have never been born of God. They are not the Lord’s wheat. If they had been born of God, they would show the nature of God in themselves. They will soon be removed from the true Church.

They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. (John 8:39)
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources [nature], for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:42-44)

Here Jesus is informing the Jews who believed in him that Abraham was not their father; rather, Satan was their father. On what basis? On the basis of the fact they practiced the works of Satan.

The same is true today. The church members claim to be born of God. Yet in many instances, they show the works of Satan. They are the planting of Satan, not of God, although they are active members of Christian churches.

It is not what an individual believes or professes that is important. It is what he is, as evidenced by what he thinks, says, and does, and by the attitude he demonstrates. Religious talk is of little worth. The Kingdom of God is revealed in righteousness and power. Not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Judgment is here — now. The removal of the tares from the wheat has begun. As the pressure increases, many who have always considered themselves Christians will discover, to their terror, that the right kind of motives and actions are not proceeding from them. They might perceive somewhat dimly what God is requiring of them, and might realize they are not able to rise to meet the new challenges. Let all such people seek God with all their strength because in doing so they might find the Lord.

Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (II Timothy 2:21)

The tares are actually in union with Satan. They have wasted the opportunities God gave them to be in union with Christ. This is now being revealed and the “dust” that they are is not able to resist the spirits that are in them. This will be true of numerous believers in the near future.

God is ready to move forward in our day, as we approach the coming of the Lord from Heaven. God wants a Church without defect of any sort. To accomplish the purifying and maturing of His Church, the Lord will send much divine glory and much tribulation upon us. In addition, God will pour out the latter rain of His Spirit so that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation for a witness.

There is no doubt that the Lord is speaking to the young people of our day, inviting them to press through into a greater portion of Kingdom power and glory than the Christian churches have known. The children and young people who answer the call of the Lord to discipleship will have an opportunity to be among those of first rank in the Kingdom of God. Powerful signs and wonders will follow their testimony.

The older believers, many of whom have never been disciples, who have never denied themselves, taken up their crosses, and followed the Lord, are also invited to press into the greater fullness of God that is now available. There is deliverance for them in Mount Zion if they will humble themselves and pray. The Lord is able to bring them to a place of release from Satan.

We are too careless today. We are not serious enough. The Lord Jesus is far, far stricter than we realize. The time is at hand when it will no longer be possible to repent. Think about the following statement:

“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” (Revelation 22:11)

Each of us must cry to the Lord for mercy and for help as we are drawn toward sin by the enticements of our environment. Those who turn away from the call to repentance because they believe that they are one of God’s favorites will continue in deception until they stand before Christ. When they come in contact with the terror of the Lord, they will discover they have permitted themselves to be deceived. The Lord was not what they had been led to believe. Instead of going to the realms of light and glory when they die, they will find themselves in a place of spiritual darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment.

It is time now to seek the Lord, to repent, to turn away from the scornful attitude of the churches. Christian teaching and preaching is in error, having been perverted in several major ways.

The spiritual leaders might have little time left to consider seriously that they might be in error. In the days to come, all they have trusted in for security will be shaken. They will face the Judge, the Lord Jesus. Only then will they wake up to the fact they have been abiding in religious blindness (as was true of the Pharisees) — a blindness resulting from their lack of denying themselves, lack of taking up their crosses, and lack of following the Lord Jesus in stern discipleship.

The hour of removal is here. The pressures will mount until men’s hearts are failing them for fear. Only those who truly are of God will stand. The wheat will be sifted until the finest of the grain is ready to be made into bread for God. The tares, the sensual Christians, will be gathered and burned in the fire of divine judgment.

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 (Matthew 13:41)

The Lord Jesus is ready to gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend. If we will allow Him to do so, He will remove from our personality all that is offensive to Him. It is His good pleasure to do this for us, to give us the Kingdom.

But if we continue to ignore the need for repentance and deliverance, the day will come (and it might be closer than we know) when we ourselves are removed from the Kingdom of God.

Let us not harden our heart against the Lord Jesus. He is standing at the door of the heart of each believer. He is knocking. If we hear His voice and open the door, He will enter our heart and spread a banqueting table for us. His banner over us will be love.

But if we continue in the busy work of our church life, ignoring the call to personal communion with the Lord, and are not cleansed from the sin that is in us, we will be removed from the Kingdom of God and cast into the flames.

This is true even though we have “accepted Christ” and have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues.

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil: (Isaiah 33:14,15)

“The sinners in Zion are afraid”! “In Zion”!

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Christian churches in our day.

(“Removing the Tares from the Wheat”, 3427-1, proofed 20240713)