1. Let me show you, in the first place, the two great classes (continued)
the world? Do you delight in the Bible? Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes and willing to take the lowest place? Do you live like a Christian at work, and on weekdays, and also in the privacy of your own home? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul. I implore you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it may be. Answer it, though it may prick your conscience and convict your heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong and expose your fearful danger. Do not rest, do not rest, until you know how it is between you and God. It is a thousand times better to find out that you are living an evil life of sin, and repent immediately, than live on in uncertainty and be eternally lost. 2. Let me show you, in the second place, the time when the two great classes of mankind will be separated. The verse at the beginning of this paper tells of a coming separation. It says that Christ will one day do to His professing Church what the farmer does to his corn. He will sift it. He "will clear His threshing floor." And then the wheat and the chaff will be divided. There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers— converted and unconverted—holy and unholy—all are to be found now among those who call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our churches. They kneel side by side in prayer. They listen side by side to our sermons. They sit side by side at the Lord's table and receive the same bread and wine from our hands. But it will not always be so. Christ will come the second time with His winnowing fork is His hand. He will purge His Church, even as He purified the temple. And then the wheat and the chaff will be separated, and each will go to its own place.
(a) Before Christ comes separation is impossible. It is not in man's power to make the separation. There is no minister on earth who can read the hearts of every person in his congregation. He may speak decidedly about some, but not everyone. Who has oil in their lamps, and who has not—who has grace as well as profession, and who has profession only and no grace—who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil—all these are questions which in many cases we cannot accurately answer. The winnowing fork was not put into our hands. There are some Christians whose grace is sometimes so weak and feeble that they look like unbelievers. Unbelievers sometimes are so convincing and well dressed that they look like Christians. I believe that many of us would have said that Judas was as good as any of the Apostles; and yet he proved to be a traitor. I believe that we would have said that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his Lord; and yet he repented immediately. We are fallible men. "For we know in part and we prophesy in part." (1 Corinthians 13:9) We scarcely understand our own hearts. It is any great wonder that we cannot read the hearts of others? But it will not always be this way. There is One coming who never makes a mistake in judgment and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus will purge His floor. Jesus will sift the chaff from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I will lean to the side of love in my judgments. I would rather tolerate a lot of chaff in the Church than to cast out one grain of wheat. He will soon come with "His winnowing fork is in His hand," and then everyone's identity will be known. (b) Before Christ comes it is useless to expect to see a perfect Church. There cannot be a perfect Church. In this life the wheat and the chaff will always be found together. I pity those who leave one Church and join another because of a few faults and questionable members. I pity them because they are fostering ideas, which can never be realized. I pity them because they are seeking that which cannot be found. I see "chaff" everywhere. I see imperfections and weaknesses in every congregation on earth. I believe there are only a few communion tables of the Lord, if any, where all the communicants are converted. I often see loud-talking Christians exalted as saints. I often see holy and contrite believers looked upon as having no grace at all. I believe that those who demand a perfect Church will go fluttering about, like Noah's dove, all their days, and never find rest. Does any reader of this paper desire a perfect Church? You must wait for the Second Coming of Christ. Then, and not until then, you will see "a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. (Ephesians 5:27) Then, and not until then, the threshing floor will be purged. (c) Before Christ returns it is vain to look for the conversion of the world. How can the whole world be converted, if the Bible says that Christ will find wheat and chaff growing side by side in the day of His Second Coming? I believe some Christians expect that missions will fill the earth with the knowledge of Christ, and that in time sin will disappear and a state of perfect holiness will gradually be manifest. I cannot agree with them. I think they are mistaking God's purposes, and sowing for themselves bitter disappointment. I expect nothing of the kind. I see nothing in the Bible or in the world around me to make me expect it. I have never heard of a single congregation in all of England or Scotland, which was entirely converted to God—so why am I to look for a different result from the preaching of the Gospel in other countries of the world? I only expect to see a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in other nations, some in one place and some in another. Then I expect the Lord Jesus will come in glory with His winnowing fork in His hand. And when He has purged His floor, and not until then, His kingdom will begin.
No separation and no perfection until Christ comes! This is my creed. I am not moved when the unbeliever asks me, "How can Christianity be true if the whole world is not converted?" I answer, "It was never promised that the whole world would be saved before the return of Christ." The Bible tells me that believers will always be few in number and that evil and divisions and heresies will always abound, and that when my Lord returns to earth He will find plenty of chaff. No perfection until Christ comes! I am not disturbed when men say, "You must make all the people good Christians at home before you send missionaries to the heathen abroad." I answer, "If I am to wait for that, I may wait forever." When we have done all that we can at home, the Church will still be a mixed body—it will contain some wheat and a lot of chaff. But Christ will come again. Sooner or later there will be a separation of the visible Church into two companies, that will be a fearful separation. The wheat will make up one company. The chaff will make up another. The one company will be all godly. The other company will be all ungodly. Each will be by themselves, and a great gulf will exist between them that no one can cross. Blessed indeed will the righteous be in that day! They will shine like stars, no longer obscured with clouds. They will be beautiful as the lily, no longer choked with thorns. (Song of Solomon 2:2) The wretched will be most ungodly! How corrupt will corruption be when left without one grain of salt to season it! How dark will darkness be when left without one spark of light! Yes, it is not enough to respect and admire the Lord's people! You must belong to them, or you will one day be separated from them forever. There will be no chaff in heaven. Many, many are the families where one will be taken and the other left. (Luke 17:34) Who is there, among the readers of this paper, that sincerely loves the Lord Jesus Christ? If I know anything of the heart of a Christian, you experience your greatest trials when you are in the company of worldly people, and you experience your greatest joys when in the company of the saints. Yes! There are many days when your spirit feels broken and crushed by the "worldliness" of all those around you —days when you could cry out with David, "Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!" (Psalm 120:5) And yet there are hours when your soul is so refreshed and revived by meeting some of God's dear children that it seems like heaven on earth. Am I not speaking to your heart? Are these things not true? Then you should long for the time when Christ will return. You should pray daily that the Lord would expedite His coming kingdom, and say to Him, "Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20) Then, and only then, will there be a pure unmixed communion. Then, and only then, will the saints all be together and will not go out from one another's presence again. Wait a little while. Wait a little while. Scorn and contempt will soon be over. Laughter and ridicule will soon be ended. Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour will come and plead your case. And then, as Moses said to Korah, "the LORD will show who belongs to Him." (Numbers 16:5) Is there anyone, among the readers of this paper, who knows that his heart is not right in the sight of God? You should fear and tremble at the thought of Christ's appearing. Yes, for the man that lives and dies with nothing better than a pretext of religion, he will have his true colors exposed in the day that Christ comes and separates the chaff from the wheat. You may deceive ministers, friends, and neighbors— but you cannot deceive Christ. The paint and varnish of a heartless Christianity will never stand the fire of that day. The Lord is a God of knowledge, and He will examine and judge every action. You will find that the eye that saw Achan's and Gehazi's sins has also read your secrets and searched out the hidden things of your heart. You will hear that awful word, "Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?" and you too will be speechless. (Matthew 22:12) Oh, tremble at the thought of the day of sifting and separation! Surely hypocrisy is a losing proposition. Surely acting the part of a