Have you ever wondered why the Christian Church has so many problems? The evils of this world have always found a way into the Church. The good is what God puts into it. The evil comes from another source. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus explained one reason for this. He taught that the kingdom of heaven like a farmer who planted good seed in a field, but that an enemy had also planted weeds in the same field. The outcome was a mixed crop.

The weed that Jesus described was probably darnel, also called cockle, which is sometimes referred to as "false wheat" because it looks similar to wheat until maturity. The ears of wheat are heavy making it hang down, while darnel ears are light and it stands up straight. Because cockle has a deeper root than wheat, removing it would also cause many wheat stalks to be lost. So, a solution is to let both grow together until harvest.

So, the evil that was wrought upon the kingdom of heaven could not be remedied until the harvest. The same is true of the Church. Until Christ returns, there will always be a mixture of good and evil in the Church. Jesus explained this in Matthew 13:36-43. In doing so, he gave seven keys to unlock the parable. 1) The farmer who planted the good seed is the Son of man. 2) The field is the world. 3) The good seeds are the people of the kingdom. 4) The weeds are the people of the evil one. 5) The enemy is the devil. 6) The harvest is the end of the age. 7) The harvesters are the angels.

The Church is in the world, and the world does enter into the Church. So, in any church assembly, there are those who are not really of the kingdom of heaven. There has never been a complete separation of the righteous from the evil and there will not be until Christ returns. Just as the false wheat stands tall and the real wheat bows down with its yield, so too do the wicked seem to prosper and the righteous suffer. So, the present situation is a mixture of upright and sinful people.

Dishonest sinners will be thrown into a fire, but the honest and upright will receive an extravagant reward. Then and only then will there be an unmistakable separation of the two.