It is rarely found that the proofs of any leading truth of Scripture so depend
one on another, that unless each proposition is demonstrated in its order, the
whole fails: for habitually we find that the evidence of revealed verities is collateral;
that is, there are many passages which prove a point if taken singly; and when
looked at together they have a strong corroborative force.
In the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
Christ gives us some very simple instruction. The result of the sowing of the
seed is that there is much wheat in the field: an enemy sows tares amongst
them; and from that day until the harvest there is no point of time in which
the field does not contain some of each. “Let both grow together until the
harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the
wheat into my barn” (Verse 30). “As, therefore, the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world [age]. The Son of
man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (40-43).
Thus the removal of the Church, as set forth in the secret rapture
theory, is impossible: for, from the moment of the first preaching of the
gospel, until the angels are sent forth to sever the wicked from among the
just, both classes are found mingled in Christendom. Had the secret rapture
been the teaching of Christ, He could not have spoken of wheat as well as tares
growing together until the harvest. For if the Church had been previously taken
away, there would have been in the field tares, and tares only.
This contradicts also the notion of a body of Jewish believers being
formed after the rapture of the Church; for unless the field were left, for
awhile at least, free from wheat, and unless a new sowing altogether took
place, this could not be. There is no such break or interval allowed in
Scripture up to the time of the harvest, when “the righteous shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their Father”. [4]
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[4] See Appendix D.
