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Wheat and Tares

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The parable of the wheat and the tares found in Matthew 13 is one of the few parables that Jesus explained right after it was told. A review of this parable is found in Christ’s Object Lessons, 70–74.

“Another parable He put forth unto 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 [or during] the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ” Matthew 13:24–30. NKJV.

The harvest is the little period of time just before the end of the year. Jesus explains this beginning in verses 36–43: “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 [or during] 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!’ ” (NKJV)

Notice it says in verse 41 that He is going to send His angels and they are going to gather out of His kingdom. What is His kingdom? This is a parable, not just about the natural world but more specifically the spiritual world. When Jesus says that the field is the world, He is talking about the spiritual world—the church. The angels are going to gather out of the church, out of His kingdom, all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness.

Everybody is going to be bound in a bundle, one that will be burned up or one that will be taken to heaven. Right now we are living in this harvest time. It is during this time that the tares and the wheat are separated by the angels.

Some think that we just have to put up with or endure anything in the church because the wheat and the tares have to grow together. That is not what Jesus said.

“Christ has plainly taught that those who persist in open sin must be separated from the church, but He has not committed to us the work of judging character and motive.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 71.

The parable of the tares cannot be used to tolerate open sin. The person who persists in open sin is to be separated from the church. A tare is a person who has sin in the heart but is not in open sin.

Another misunderstanding of this parable is that the righteous and the wicked will be together until Jesus comes and then the angels will do the separating. But let’s read what is going to happen before that time. Before Jesus comes the tares will have been bound in bundles, even though they may not be separated from the wheat or have been burned.

“The evil servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delayeth his coming’ [Matthew 24:48]. He does not say that Christ will not come. He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant eats and drinks with the drunken, unites with the world in pleasure seeking.” The Desire of Ages, 635.

A study of the book of Revelation reveals a great harlot that is drunk causing the rest of the world to also be drunk. To eat and drink with the drunken is to get involved with the ecumenical movement. The people who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists and get involved with the ecumenical movement are eating and drinking with the drunken. The evil servant who eats and drinks with the drunken will smite his fellow servants (Matthew 24:49). Those who eat and drink with the drunken will also smite their fellow servants. This has happened in some countries where fellow church members have burned houses. Here in the United States of America some have been smitten by being taken to court and sued with an attempt made to put them in prison. Those same people who are involved in the ecumenical movement are smiting their fellow servants. “He smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world. Like grows with like in transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. With the world he is taken in the snare.” Ibid., 635.

“There is One who said that the tares were not to be plucked up by human hands lest the wheat be rooted up also. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then the Lord sends forth His reapers to gather out the tares and bind them in bundles to burn, while the wheat is gathered into the heavenly garner. The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 234. One is taken and one is left.

“The tares and wheat are now commingled, but then the one hand that alone can separate them will give to everyone his true position. … Those who have sought an excuse to avoid the cross of separation from the world will, with the world, be taken in the snare. They mingled with the tares from choice.” Ibid., 235.

If you attend a church where the preacher is not preaching the Three Angels’ Messages but something else, then you have a preacher who is a tare. If you attend a church like that, then you are mingling with the tares by choice.

“Like drew to like in transgression.” Ibid. Those who mingle with the tares by choice will become like them.

We are not referring here to mingling with somebody who is outwardly keeping the commandments but have some secret sin in their heart, but a tare that has gone to seed; a tare because the sin has become open. “Like drew to like in transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. Men choose to stand with the first rebel, who tempted Adam and Eve in Eden to disobey God. The tares multiply themselves, for they sow tares, and they have their part with the root of all sin—the devil.” Ibid.

This parable of the wheat and tares is really serious and one that we need to study asking the Lord to help us to understand, because it has to do with people who think they are going to be saved, but when they come to the end they find out they are in the wrong bundle.

When Ellen White wrote the following statement; it was prophetic, but I do not think it is a prophecy today—it is happening right before our eyes. “There are to be but two classes in our world, the obedient and the disobedient. …

“I see perplexities on every side. As character develops, man and woman will take their position, for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Every one will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself. The wheat is being bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now pulling apart, and the tares are being bound in bundles ready to burn.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 995.

“The true people of God are pulling apart from the tares—there is a separation that is taking place. Decided positions will be taken. Satan will move upon minds that have been indulged, upon men who have always had their own way, and anything presented to them in counsel or reproof to change their objectionable traits of character is considered faultfinding, binding them, restraining them, that they cannot have liberty to act themselves. The Lord in great mercy has sent messages of warning to them, but they would not listen to reproof. Like the enemy who rebelled in heaven, they do not like to hear, do not correct the wrong they have done but become accusers, declaring themselves misused and unappreciated.”

“Now is the time of trial, of test, of proving. Those who, like Saul, will persist in having their own way will suffer, as he did, loss of honor and finally the loss of the soul. God has a people, and they will be a tried people, but the people will be humble. They are under the guidance of the Holy One in thought, in word, in deed.” Ibid., 995, 996.

“Dark hours of trial are before the church because they have not obeyed the warnings and reproofs and counsel of God. What a bewitching power comes upon human minds to do contrary to the oft repeated will of God, and close the eyes and stop the ears, when Jesus is calling to them to hear His voice. He says, ‘My sheep hear My voice’ [John 10:27].

“That night in that boat was to the disciples a school where they were to receive their education for the great work which was to be done afterwards. The dark hours of trial are to come to every one as a part of his education for higher work, for more devoted, consecrated effort. The storm was not sent upon the disciples to shipwreck them, but to test and prove them individually. Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving, comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd. The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.” Ibid., 1002.

Ellen White says the people who “would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test.” They will reveal that human weakness before the great time of trouble comes so that God’s people will know not to listen to what they have to say. That has been going on for several years already. We need to know to whom we are listening. If you persistently listen to a preacher who is preaching error, the time will come when you will believe it. That is how the mind works—Adolf Hitler understood that if you tell something often enough, people eventually believe it. The Communists also understood that principle and many soldiers were brainwashed in the concentration camps during the Korean War by being subjected to being told on the loudspeaker over and over again, day and night, the same lies. We need to know to whom we are listening. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice.”

We have been told, “The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.” Ibid.

“Can we not discern the signs of the times? Can we not see how earnestly Satan is at work binding the tares in bundles, uniting the elements of his kingdom, that he may gain control of the world? This work of binding up the tares is going forward far more rapidly than we imagine. Satan is opposing every obstacle to the advancement of the truth. He is seeking to create diversity of opinion and to encourage worldliness and avarice. He works with the subtlety of the serpent and, when he sees it will do, with the ferocity of the lion. The ruin of souls is his only delight, their destruction his only employment; and shall we act as though we were paralyzed?” Testimonies, vol. 5, 383, 384.

Prior to World War 11, several hundred or almost 1,000 non-Adventists would attend evangelistic meetings when they were advertised. Today very few will attend. The time will come where it will appear impossible in places like Europe and the United States to save souls. But the message must keep going forward. God is working things out, and near the end there will be an influx of people who were before prevented from hearing the truth.

The hearts of men today are becoming very hardened in the United States so that we cannot even get the response in evangelism that we had 25 years ago.

“The time will come when the sensual, the proud, the careless in heart, those who are opposed to the truth, will have to be separated from the Office. Darkness will close about them, and soon, very soon the cry will come from unfeigned lips, ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved’ [Jeremiah 8:20]. They are gathering in bundles with the tares, to be consumed by the fires of the last day.” The Bible Echo, September 18, 1899.

This refers to God’s people who are working in God’s institutions. They will be bound in bundles with the tares so that eventually they will have to be separated. In which bundle will you be?

“ ‘The end of time is close upon us. The world’s inhabitants are being bound in bundles to be burned. Shall you be bound up with the tares?’ ‘Do you realize that every year thousands and thousands and ten times ten thousand souls are perishing, dying in their sins? The plagues and judgments of God are already doing their work, and souls are going to ruin because the light of truth has not been flashed upon their pathway.’ ” The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1897. [Emphasis author’s.]

It is one thing when we do not know when there are wheat and tares in the church, but if the tares go to seed, into open sin, the church has the responsibility to deal with it. This does not mean those persons cannot come to church—it may be that the Lord may convert their hearts, but they cannot be accepted as church members while still in open sin. “Christ requires personal faithfulness of his servants, and we are to show that we have no fellowship with the secret, hidden things of darkness. The wheat is not to sow itself among the tares; for although we may not practice the works of some of the members of the secret orders, in joining them we are registered in heaven as partakers of their evil deeds, responsible for their works of evil, and bound up in bundles with them as tares.” The Review and Herald, January 10, 1893.

That is a very interesting statement. There was a person who came to me requesting baptism after attending a prophecy seminar. He said he was a Mason and could not understand why he could not be a Seventh-day Adventist and at the same time be a Mason. He said whatever they did wrong he was not doing it. We need to understand how the Lord sees things and makes His decision on where our names are. According to this statement, if we join these secret orders, then in heaven we are accounted as partakers with them in their evil deeds. We are bound up with them as bundles to be burned.

According to this statement if we join these secret orders, then in heaven we are accounted as partakers with them in their evil deeds. We are bound up with them as bundles to be burned.

The secret societies are involved in open sin. Some of the highest officials in many of these secret societies are Luciferians—they worship Lucifer and break the first commandment. You may think you are a commandment keeper and keep the Sabbath, but in the books of heaven it is recorded that you are a partaker of those people in the society.

Some of the most prominent secret societies in the world are associated with the ecumenical movement. Soon the ecumenical movement is going to be responsible for enforcing the worship of the beast and causing most of the world to receive the mark of the beast. If you are a member of the organization doing that, you will be held responsible for supporting them. Remember, “In joining them we are registered in heaven as partakers of their evil deeds, responsible for their works of evil, and bound up in bundles with them as tares.” Ibid.In the revival and reformation movement today there has been a necessity worldwide to organize churches that are independent from conferences that are part of the ecumenical movement. This is not just happening in the United States; it is happening in Germany, Australia and all over the world; it is very serious. I firmly believe from studying these types of statements that the people who are involved in this ecumenical movement will not only have to get out but will need to confess and forsake their sins in that regard or they will lose their souls.

Mrs. White wrote to Elder and Mrs. J. A. Burden who were involved in the establishment of Loma Linda [University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California, United States]. She said, “In the time of the harvest the Lord will say to His reapers, ‘Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn’ [Matthew 13:30]. God has a people on the earth who will see the evil of every phase of oppression, and will refuse to unite with the enemy in carrying out his plan.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 58.

I would like to be one of those people who sees the evil and refuses to unite with the enemy. God is going to have a people who will discern every phase of oppression and refuse to cooperate in working out His plan. What about those who don’t see this? She wrote:

“There is little wisdom in binding about the work in any line. God has not given His sanction to any branch of His work’s being bound about. But unbelief has strengthened, and those who have not been sanctified through the truth will be subjects of Satan’s temptations. They will be his most successful allies to criticize, speak evil, and work unrighteousness. There are now those who will show just what they will do under temptation and in an emergency. They cannot be depended upon. [She is talking about Seventh-day Adventists.] The Lord has given them great light but they choose Barabbas rather than Christ. This is being enacted in our very midst. They crucify afresh the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. But the unsetting Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth, and those who have worked to counterwork what God has appointed will be gathered in bundles with the tares.” Ibid., vol. 19, 383, 384.

We must separate from the bundles that are being bound with tares. If we have been involved with any of these things, preaching or teaching publicly something that we find out is wrong, it will need to be confessed. If we have been involved in a secret society or the ecumenical movement, a confession is needed. Public sins are to be publicly confessed. Secret sins are not to be confessed publicly but to the Lord alone.

There is a good example of this in the last chapter of the gospel of John. Peter publicly denied his Lord three times. The disciples had known what Peter had done. So when Jesus and the disciples were all together, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you really love me?” Peter confessed and said he was truly sorry, but he had to affirm his faith and trust in God the same number of times he denied Him. (See John 21:15–17.)

“Every open sin should be as openly confessed. Wrong done to a fellow being should be made right with the one who has been offended. If any who are seeking health have been guilty of evilspeaking, if they have sowed discord in the home, the neighborhood, or the church, and have stirred up alienation and dissension, if by any wrong practice they have led others into sin, these things should be confessed before God and before those who have been offended.” The Ministry of Healing, 229.

Speaking of Peter’s experience, Ellen White said, “The gospel makes no compromise with evil. It cannot excuse sin. Secret sins are to be confessed in secret to God; but, for open sin, open confession is required.” The Desire of Ages, 811.

This topic is very serious. We cannot go on thinking that it will go away if we ignore it. Public sin must be confessed publicly, not simply spoken to the Lord in private.

If we want to be ready for Jesus to come, we need to go to the Lord and say, “Lord, have I been involved in open sin that I need to publicly make right?” An open sin that is flagrant among Seventh-day Adventists today is that they have taken their fellow Christians to court and sued them. “These men cast aside the counsel God has given, and do the very things He has bidden them not to do. They show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and in heaven their names are registered as one with unbelievers.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 299.

Do you want God to not hear your prayers because you are suing your fellow believers? “They insult His holy name, and He will leave them to the buffetings of Satan until they shall see their folly and seek the Lord by confession of their sin.” Ibid.

I am not concerned about the lawsuit, really, but I am concerned that there is no confession, no repentance, no making things right, and if that does not happen, they will be written in the books of heaven as unbelievers, and God will not hear their prayers until they confess this sin—this is not a private sin. When you go to court that is a matter of public record. We are living in a very serious time.

The tares are being bound in bundles, and when Jesus comes they will be burned. The good news is that while probation is still open you can be set free; confess your sins and tell the Lord you will have no part of that anymore. You can be free—you can be with the wheat. But don’t deceive yourself. There are a lot of people today who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists who are directly linked up with church organizations or secret societies that are bound up with tares.

My dear friends, if you do not want to be bound with the bundles of tares and burned with the tares when Jesus comes, you have to take heed to these statements and understand what is involved with being bound with the tares, being a member of an organization that is in open sin.

“For years I [Ellen White] have been given special light that we are not to center our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is not God’s planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise acknowledge. God’s word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves up in bundles ready to be burned.” Maranatha, 180.

How are they doing this? They are part of the labor unions. I hear people say that they will not be able to make a living if they leave the labor union. It would be better for every one of us, even if we could not make a living, to be poor our whole lives than to be bound up with the tares. When you follow the Lord, He will open up the way so you will have what you need.

“These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members [Seventh-day Adventists], but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue.

“ ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself’ (Luke 10:27). These words sum up the whole duty of man. They mean the consecration of the whole being, body, soul, and spirit, to God’s service. How can men obey these words, and at the same time pledge themselves to support that which deprives their neighbors of freedom of action? And how can men obey these words, and form combinations that rob the poorer classes of the advantages which justly belong to them, preventing them from buying or selling, except under certain conditions?” Selected Messages, Book 2, 143.

If you are a member of an organization that is in open sin and you are supporting that organization with your money, time and influence, it is written in the books of heaven that you are a partaker of their evil deeds.

When Jesus comes, we will all be bound with one bundle or the other. We have been counseled that we should not even be going to honest people in the world for advice about God’s work, because even if they are honest, but not under the control of heavenly angels, they are under the control of the devil though they are unaware. (See Selected Messages, Book 3, 300.) The last message to go to the world, the third angel’s message, separates every last person into one bundle or the other. “Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner.” Early Writings, 118.

It is interesting that as apostasy has developed in Adventism, we find ministers in churches who do not want to preach the Three Angels’ Messages anymore. That should be a warning sign. There is no middle ground, only two classes. Right now there are people whom the Bible describes as being in the valley of decision. In the end there will be only two classes.

Study this parable, because it reveals that we are all going to be in one bundle or the other. Every decision being made, in thoughts, feelings, and actions, is preparing us to be bound in one bundle or the other. Day by day our destiny is being determined and our characters weighed in heaven to see in which bundle we belong.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Free Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Current Events – Labor Unions

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The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked men. Letter 26, 1903.” Country Living, 10.

“The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began. Letter 200, 1903.” Ibid.

In the United States of America, 23 states currently have right-to-work laws, with the majority of them in the Southeast and through the Great Plains. Right-to-work laws restrict the financial and political power of unions, which is why the issue is generally fought along partisan lines. The ability to create such a provision was created as part of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.

Right-to-work states basically believe that the right to live includes the right to work, and that the exercise of the right to work must be protected and maintained free from undue restraints and coercion. Therefore, in these states the right of persons to work will not be denied because of membership or nonmembership in any labor union or labor organization or association.

Contrary to the right-to-work states’ fundamental beliefs, a major large labor organization in the United States has stated that labor unions are a fundamental institution for democracy and economic development.

In January 2012, the United States President signed three union-friendly Executive Orders. The Executive Orders expressly noted the need for “strong labor unions” to support a strong middle class, and the “need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests.”

Labor unions, however, are not active only in the United States. For example, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), a worldwide union network based in Brussels, Belgium, represents 175 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. An Internet visit to LabourStart provides daily news of labor union activity throughout the world. A recent visit there carried news from 37 countries.

Resources:

Current Events – Union Trouble

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“The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive.

“The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.” Country Living, 9, 10.

“The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them, and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them.” The Adventist Home, 136.

“These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue. …

“Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids.” Maranatha, 182.

Utility crews from several states East of the Mississippi River hit the road this week to volunteer their time and talents in Northeastern states hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. But crews from Alabama got the shock of their lives when other workers in a coastal New Jersey town told them they couldn’t lend a hand without a union card. Crews in Seaside Heights, New Jersey turned them away, saying they couldn’t do any work there because they’re not union employees. Electric repair work for public utilities in New Jersey is dominated by the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers, a unit of the politically powerful AFL-CIO. www.dailycaller.com/2012/11/02.

A New Jersey power company denied Friday that it is turning away nonunion volunteer crews who want to travel great distances to help reconnect power supplies severed by Hurricane Sandy. But an Alabama utility is clarifying that it was the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers [IBEW]—not the company—that turned them away. www.dailycaller.com/2012/11/04.

“Amid Sandy’s devastation, a Long Island union sent written demand to Florida utilities: Pay dues or stay home. In a two-page October 29 contract, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) local 1049 demanded union dues, pay hikes and benefit contributions from Florida electric utilities before its workers would be permitted to help reconnect power to Long Island communities. The demand came as Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the Northeastern United States, stranding tens of millions without electricity.

“The unions, steeped in international socialism, need to be controlled. In normal times, they hold citizens and their children hostage to their demands. They corrupt politicians and force the taxpayer away from the bargaining table. If they don’t get their evil ways, children suffer and we find criminals being released into the public. But now, in a time of grave emergency, unions are demanding tribute from volunteers and workers who are paid by other utilities. Outrageous. Time to purge the democrats and their unions—return America to prosperity and eliminate political extortion, blackmail and corruption.” www.onecitizenspeaking.com/2012/11/04.

The Cords that Bind

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Jesus said that when the Lord comes, everybody in the world will be bound into bundles. “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, [Another version says, “at the time of the harvest.” A more accurate translation would be, “during the time of 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.

Notice, it says the tares are gathered together and they are bound. To bind anything, you need to have some kind of a cord or rope or something with which to bind them. Jesus explained what these cords were: “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.’ ” Verses 36–43.

We read here that Jesus will send forth His angels to bind the tares in bundles and cast them into the fire before the wheat is gathered for the heavenly garner. This is surely not a physical binding but a mental or spiritual binding. But what are the cords that bind?

Binding the Tares

“Satan is busily at work in our crowded cities. His work is to be seen in the confusion, the strife and discord between labor and capital, and the hypocrisy that has come into the churches. That men may not take time to meditate, Satan leads them into a round of gayety and pleasure-seeking, of eating and drinking. He fills them with ambition to make an exhibition that will exalt self. Step by step, the world is reaching the conditions that existed in the days of Noah. Every conceivable crime is committed. The lust of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the display of selfishness, the misuse of power, the cruelty, and the force used to cause men to unite with confederacies and unions—binding themselves up in bundles for the burning of the great fires of the last days—all these are the working of Satanic agencies. This round of crime and folly, men call life.” Evangelism, 26.

Notice the two things mentioned that bind them: confederacies and unions. Men are bound up in bundles by joining certain organizations. How does this happen? “In all our great cities there will be a binding up in bundles by the confederacies and unions formed. Men will rule other men and demand much of them. The lives of those who refuse to unite with these unions, will be in peril.

“The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked men. …

“These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue.” Maranatha, 182.

If you are a member of an organization that is breaking the law of God, you are a part of it, and when you give your time, money and influence to it, you will be acknowledged as guilty of the same sins if you stay in it. You will be bound in a bundle.

Very often somebody says, “I’m not doing it.” But you are a member of an organization that is doing it, and supporting what they are doing with your influence, time, and your money. And so, it says, “They cannot possibly keep the commandments of God, for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue.”

In Notebook Leaflets, 48, Ellen White has this to say about the subject: “I am instructed to say that in the future great watchfulness will be needed. There is to be among God’s people no spiritual stupidity. Evil spirits are actively engaged in seeking to control the minds of human beings.”

Notice the way evil spirits try to control the minds of human beings. She says, “Men are binding up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last days. Those who discard Christ and His righteousness will accept the sophistry that is flooding the world. Christians are to be sober and vigilant, steadfastly resisting their adversary the devil, who is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles.” Ibid.

We don’t understand how rapidly this work of binding people in bundles is going on. Once people are bound, it appears to them that they can never get loose. They say that they will lose their job and won’t have a way to make a living. Of course, they could decide that they are going to lose anything to gain eternal life and the Lord could provide for them. But you can see how it takes a tremendous amount of faith to get loose from this bundle once you have been bound.

“Can we not see how earnestly Satan is at work binding the tares in bundles, uniting the elements of his kingdom, that he may gain control of the world? This work of binding up the tares is going forward far more rapidly than we imagine. Satan is opposing every obstacle to the advancement of the truth. He is seeking to create diversity of opinion and to encourage worldliness and avarice. He works with the subtlety of the serpent and, when he sees it will do, with the ferocity of the lion. The ruin of souls is his only delight, their destruction his only employment; and shall we act as though we were paralyzed? Will those who profess to believe the truth listen to the temptations of the wily foe and allow themselves to become selfish and narrow, and their worldly interests to interfere with efforts for the salvation of souls?” Testimonies, vol. 5, 384.

Notice what Satan is introducing to bind people in bundles. Three things are mentioned. He is seeking to create diversity of opinion, to encourage worldliness—the love of the world, and avarice—a desire and craving to gain possessions. The devil tries to break down people’s barriers so their soul is weak, that without moral force, they can be overcome and then become polluted and debased and easily bound together in bundles.

“The matter is placed before us in the correct light. The question is asked, ‘And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God … Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing’ (II Corinthians 6:16, 17). What does this mean—the suggestions, the evil workings in the children of disobedience. You are not in any case to become contaminated with the spirit or influence of unbelievers. Be afraid of uniting or binding up in bundles with them. Be afraid of communicating the works connected with the Lord’s cause to those who have no part with God, or sympathy with those who love the truth of God.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 271, 272.

The devil seeks to get us bound up by being contaminated with the spirit or the influence of unbelievers. Of course, this Scripture (II Corinthians 6:14–16) is usually used to teach that as Christians we should not marry those that are not Christians, those that do not have the same faith. That is a true application of this Scripture, but it does not refer simply to a marriage covenant. When you are in close business relationships with a non-Adventist, disagreements can arise on whether or not to keep the establishment open on Saturday, when to close it on Friday or how to distribute the means that are made. An Adventist will want to pay tithe on his increase while a non-Adventist will generally not want to pay tithe on anything. When you are bound up with an unbeliever you are headed for trouble, and the Bible says not to do it.

In the book This Day With God, 163, it says, “The inhabitants of the world, under Satan’s leadership, are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. We have no time, not a moment, to lose. The judgments of God are in the land, and those who stand obstinate, unconvinced by the warnings God sends, will be bound up in bundles ready to be burned.”

We are not to bind ourselves with them. In Special Testimonies for Ministers and Gospel Workers, 10, Ellen White said, “Let not God’s people in any of our institutions sign a truce with the enemy of God and man.” She then quotes from II Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

In our institutions there is a continual temptation to try to become more successful by uniting with the world. Ellen White wrote, “Christian consistency marked the course of Daniel and Joseph in all the actions of their lives. There are men binding in bundles by vows that will end in sacrificing conscience for professional success.” Pamphlet, 167.

Elder Burden was the principle leader that helped the Seventh-day Adventist church establish today what is called Loma Linda University. Ellen White wrote to him and Mrs. Burden: “How long will the Lord suffer oppression of the poor that rich men may hoard wealth? These men are heaping together treasures for the last days. Their money is placed where it does no one any good. To add to their millions, they rob the poor and the cries of the starving are no more to them than the barking of a dog. But the Lord marks every act of oppression. No cry of suffering is unheard by Him. Those who today are scheming to obtain more and more money, putting in operation plans that mean to the poor starvation, will in the last great day stand face to face with their deeds of oppression and injustice. Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us. The transgressors of the law of God have taken sides with their leader, the general of rebellion. He understands how to devise his satanic schemes and through whom to work for the carrying out of them. He is striving to lead every soul to take sides with him, and under the influence of his temptations, thousands are binding themselves up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last day. Those who yield to his temptation become in their turn tempters, standing among the ablest of his helpers.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 78.

Most do not understand how the labor movement began. A few decades ago a Seventh-day Adventist minister who was a leader of the religious liberty department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, came to talk to ministers about this problem and the problems that they were facing, at that time, in the State of California where people were saying, in certain big cities, that if you want to get a job and earn a living here, you have to belong to a labor union. Sharing the problems they were dealing with, he told us how the modern labor movement got started. It was very interesting to hear the dates that he gave, compared with the statements that Ellen White wrote around the turn of the twentieth century. He told us that at the end of the nineteenth century a pope was elected in 1878 who continued in his office until 1903. In 1891, he wrote an encyclical that initiated the modern labor movement. Most people are unaware of the very close connections that the labor movement has had from its very inception with the Roman Catholic Church. Ellen White goes on to say to Elder Burden, “In the time of the harvest the Lord will say to His reapers, ‘Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn’ (Matthew 13:30). God has a people on the earth who will see the evil of every phase of oppression, and will refuse to unite with the enemy in carrying out his plans.” Ibid., 79.

Are we going to become sanctified through the truth or are we going to become the subjects of Satan’s temptations? “Let all walk and work circumspectly, under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit. There is little wisdom in binding about the work in any line. God has not given His sanction to any branch of His work’s being bound about. But unbelief has strengthened, and those who have not been sanctified through the truth will be subjects of Satan’s temptations. They will be his most successful allies. … There are now those who will show just what they will do under temptation and in an emergency.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 383. When you are under temptation and in an emergency, what will you do?

Concerning these people, “They cannot be depended upon. The Lord has given them great light, but they choose Barabbas rather than Christ. This is being enacted in our very midst. They crucify afresh the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. But the unsetting Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth, and those who have worked to counterwork what God has appointed will be gathered in bundles with the tares.” Ibid., 383.

There is always somebody to object, criticize and counterwork any time God is doing a work in the world. Those people guilty of this will be bound together in bundles. We all need to be very careful when we are analyzing and listening to somebody criticize something. If you are found criticizing something that God is in, then you are counterworking something that God is doing and are in a very dangerous situation.

Ellen White wrote a letter while she was in Australia, around 1892, to a gentleman that was a member of a secret society. There are many, many lodges, fraternities and secret societies of all kinds in the world today. These secret societies are another means by which people are bound in bundles. This man was a member of a Masonic Lodge. This is what she wrote to him: “I am anxious that you shall be a free man from the slavery of all bondage. You have been binding yourself in bundles with those who are an offense to God. Your brethren, or many of them, do not know that which you yourself and the Lord know—the inward workings of the association with which you are connected. You do not yourself know its character.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 281.

Often times these organizations look very bland and mild on the outside, disguising the inner secret workings that go on within. Ellen White went on to say, “You are like a man intoxicated; every advancement perverts your senses.” Ibid.

That man finally freed himself from his association with the secret society. There are other people today who are members of these secret associations who will cut loose when the loud cry goes out. During the time of the latter rain, the people who want to be saved are going to cut loose from everything that keeps them from obeying the truth.

Today there are many obstacles that prevent people from obeying the truth. Some people refuse to obey because of their spouses; others hold back because of family connections. There are people who don’t obey the truth because of their business or connections with secret societies and labor unions. This connection makes them responsible to a degree for what is done by those associations in breaking the law of God.

As mentioned previously, when we come to the end of time, everybody is going to be bound. There is a big difference in the outcome, which depends upon the bundle in which you are bound. The parable says that the tares will be bound first, but later on, the wheat also will be bound.

Let us consider the cords and what it is that binds the wheat and holds it together. Some people believe that it is the church organization to which you belong.

In the book Early Writings, 88, 89, Ellen White wrote, “I saw the rapidity with which this delusion was spreading. [She was referring to spiritualism.] A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board, that there could not be one left. Said the angel, ‘They are binding in bundles ready to burn.’ Then he showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, ‘It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned. This agent, the next highest in order to him, is the engineer, and other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them, and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.’

“I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel, ‘The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly garner.’ This little company looked careworn, as if they had passed through severe trials and conflicts. And it appeared as if the sun had just risen from behind a cloud and shone upon their countenances, causing them to look triumphant, as if their victories were nearly won.”

The result of the Three Angels’ Messages ends in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” It is the third angel that binds the wheat into a separate bundle from the rest of the world.

“However much man may pervert the words of God, His purposes will be accomplished. Men may reject the truth, but it is the truth still. To us is committed the most solemn warning ever given to man; for us who are now upon the stage of action are reserved the most important scenes in this world’s history. Many who gave the first and second messages (Revelation 14:6–8) greatly desired to see this day which we see, and saw it not. And not all who now believe will remain to the coming of the Lord; some will sleep for a moment. The Master is binding the precious grain in bundles for the heavenly garner, while the wicked are gathering together as fagots for the fires of the last day. The church and the world are preparing for the last great contest, in which all must act a part. The kingdoms of the whole world are gathering their forces to the battle of the great day, when the wrath of God will be manifested against the nations that have made void His law.” The Review and Herald, January 27, 1885.

“The third angel’s message must go over the land, and awaken the people, and call their attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Another angel unites his voice with the third angel, and the earth is lighted with its glory. The light increases, and it shines out to all the nations of the earth. It is to go forth as a light that burneth. It will be attended with great power, until its golden beams have fallen upon every tongue, every people, and every nation upon the face of the whole earth. Let me ask you, What you are doing to prepare for this work? Are you building for eternity? You must remember that this angel represents the people that have this message to give to the world. Are you among that people? Do you really believe that this work in which we are engaged is truly the third angel’s message? If so, then you understand that we have a mighty work to do, and that we ought to be about it. We must sanctify ourselves by a strict obedience to the truth, placing ourselves in right relation to God and His work. As the truth goes forth, Satan intensifies his zeal to defeat its progress by presenting pleasing delusions. As we urge the truth, he urges his errors. He will stir up his agents, in view of the coming of the Lord, to go out and cry, ‘Lo! here is Christ, and lo! there is Christ.’ And here arises this superstition, and there arises that heresy. And tell me, what are we to do about it? I will tell you: we can become familiar with the Bible, and read what saith the Lord. Not only the ministers but all who love and fear God are to do the Master’s work; and that is to let the light that He has given you shine before all. Here are two companies; one of them is being bound in bundles to burn, the other is being bound by the cords of truth and love. Satan is binding his followers with the work of iniquity. Christ is binding together His people in love and faith in the keeping of His commandments. And this work will increase more and more, and Satan will work to divide and separate God’s people one from the other.” The Review and Herald, August 18, 1885.

The devil is trying to separate and divide God’s people. “Satan will work to divide and separate God’s people one from the other. And while he is doing this kind of work, be careful that none of you are found helping him. We want to put away our cold-heartedness, and let love, tender compassion, true courtesy, and the spirit of tenderness come into our midst. Here we are in the waiting time, in the day of God’s preparation. Here in this world we are to fit up for these great trials that are soon coming upon us. And yet some of us act as though we had a whole millennium before us in which to accomplish the work. But, says the text, ‘Watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is’ (Mark 13:33). And what Christ said to His disciples, I say unto you, ‘Take ye heed, watch and pray,’ that when the Master comes to reckon with His servants, you may receive from Him the crown of life laid up for the overcomer, and rejoice with Him in His kingdom.” Ibid.

In Ellen White’s day, the following was a prophecy of what was going to happen in the future, in our day. It is happening all around us. She says, “I see perplexities on every side. As character develops man and woman will take their position, for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Every one will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 995, 996.

Every bundle has its own character. We will reveal the character of the bundle with which we are being bound. If I intend to be in the kingdom of heaven but belong to an organization that is in open sin, I will have to cut loose from it before Jesus comes. The multitude of God’s people is still in Babylon, but before Jesus comes, the cry of Revelation 18:4 is going to go out, “Come out of her My people.” Babylon is in open sin and God’s people have to come out.

Two groups, both bound—one group ready to be burned. Jesus is coming for the heavenly garner that is bound about with the cord of truth. Make sure you choose the right bundle!

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.