by esther phinias | 3 February 2020 08:46 pm02
Please read this message with spiritual discernment and humility before God.
Many of us know that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. This isn’t speculation—it’s Scripture.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14 (NKJV)
But why does he do this? His aim is not just deception; it’s confusion. He intends to discredit the holy by mimicking it. If Satan can appear righteous, then even true ministers of God may be doubted. His ultimate strategy is to blur the lines between truth and error, so that people eventually say, “They’re all the same!”—lumping the genuine in with the counterfeit.
This is why Jesus gave us the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, a prophetic teaching about the coexistence of true and false believers in the visible Church until the end of the age:
Matthew 13:24–30 (NKJV)
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 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?’
28 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?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
🔍 Spiritual Insight: The Danger of Premature Judgment
The landowner in the parable—representing God—does not allow the tares to be pulled out prematurely, not because He tolerates evil, but because removing them too soon would damage the wheat. This is divine patience and wisdom.
Jesus later explains the parable to His disciples in Matthew 13:37–43. He reveals:
The sower is the Son of Man (Jesus).
The field is the world.
The good seeds (wheat) are the sons of the kingdom.
The tares are the sons of the wicked one.
The enemy who sowed the tares is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age.
The reapers are the angels.
This means God alone is qualified to separate the genuine from the false, and He will do so at the end of the age, not before.
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7b (NKJV)
⚠️ Caution Against Blanket Condemnation
Too often, people are quick to condemn entire categories of churches or ministries:
“All Pentecostal churches are fake.”
“All small or unregistered churches are false.”
“Any pastor who prays for healing or deliverance is a scammer.”
“Those who spend all night in prayer are mentally unstable.”
“Those who cry out to God are just poor, lazy, or uneducated people.”
Such statements are dangerous generalizations that reflect more of human pride than spiritual discernment. Not everyone in prayer is misguided. Not everyone preaching miracles is a fraud. Not every struggling ministry is fake. In fact:
Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
James 2:5 (NKJV)
Furthermore, the spiritual calling of ministers requires sacrifice. If all true servants of God were to abandon their posts and pursue secular work, who would preach the gospel to the lost? Jesus warned:
The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Matthew 9:37 (NKJV)
In economics, we learn about opportunity cost—to give your full attention to one thing, you must forgo another. The same applies in ministry. Many genuine servants of God have sacrificed worldly gain to serve the kingdom full-time.
Let us remember: even Paul was accused of being a deceiver (2 Corinthians 6:8), and Jesus Himself was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub (Luke 11:15). If the holy Son of God could be slandered, what about His followers?
🧪 Testing Spirits, Not Destroying Churches
We are not told to accept every spirit, but to test them:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1 (NKJV)
We should rebuke error, warn against deception, and preach sound doctrine. But we are not called to tear down every ministry we don’t understand or agree with. To do so is to risk harming what God Himself has planted.
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls…
Romans 14:4 (NKJV)
If we try to “clean up” the Church by human strength, we may end up doing more harm than good. This is not our harvest—it’s the Lord’s.
🕰️ The Spirit of Antichrist and Forced Religion
If we take it upon ourselves to silence or shut down churches, we may unknowingly be aligning with the spirit of the antichrist, which seeks to control, restrict, and eventually outlaw true worship under the guise of order and unity.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come…
1 John 2:18 (NKJV)
Revelation warns of a time when those who do not conform to a global system of control will not be allowed to buy, sell, or live freely.
…no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast…
Revelation 13:17 (NKJV)
Such systems may arise through laws and cultural pressures that begin by trying to “clean up” the Church but eventually suppress it altogether.
📖 Final Encouragement: Let God Do the Separating
Be wise. Be discerning. But above all, be humble. Leave room for God to judge His Church. Do not become part of the destruction.
Let both grow together until the harvest…
Matthew 13:30
The Church is Christ’s bride (Ephesians 5:25–27). He will purify it, refine it, and separate the wheat from the weeds in His perfect time.
Maranatha — The Lord is coming.
May we be found among the wheat, not among the proud. Amen.
Source URL: https://wingulamashahidi.org/en/2020/02/03/be-careful-not-to-uproot-the-wheat-while-dealing-with-the-weeds/
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