Continued from previous post.
VERSE 41 “The Son of man (A title of high honor, a reminder of his obedience, even to the death of the cross, by which he secured the title to the honor, dignity and power of the divine nature) shall send (Christ is superintending the harvest; he sends) forth his angels (His servants or messengers, begotten of his spirit.), and they shall gather out of (or from, in one sense, the wheat is gathered out from among the tares, because of the greater abundance of the tares; in another sense, the tares are gathered from the wheat. The wheat has the place by right; it is a wheat field, not a tare field. The Lord has chosen to make this separation publicly known, in order to demonstrate his own justice in the matter) his kingdom (The true Church, in the sense that the Church at the present time is God's Kingdom in embryo state. It is one thing to gather his people out of Babylon, and quite another to gather the offenders out of his Kingdom. In reality the "tares" leave the "wheat" by utterly abandoning the faith once delivered to the saints, something which is taking place even now)
all things that offend (Those that cause others to stumble, including many teachers and preachers, and many doers of wonderful works. They are blameworthy; because they are in the nominal church and posing as Christians. And not only "those that do iniquity," the "tares," but also "those that offend," those who fail to come up to the requirements of their covenant in fullness of consecration. There is a particular separation or sifting taking place even now which goes beyond the separation merely of the wheat and the tares, this separation work consist of separating the ripe wheat from the un-ripe, the Wise Virgins from the Foolish, the Little Flock from the Great Company), and them which do iniquity (Which practice sin, or which are not fully in sympathy with the principles of righteousness. The only things that shall remain are the things that cannot be shaken, the true and faithful).”
VERSE 42 “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire (A time of trouble destructive to the nominal systems and false professions; occasioned in great measure by the growth of infidelity and Spiritism of various kinds. It would be thoroughly illogical to burn symbolic tares in a literal furnace with literal fire. The fire is as much a symbol as are the tares, the wheat and the garner. So-called Christendom will be the great furnace.): there shall be wailing (There is such a commotion in connection with the separation of the wheat and the tares because Christendom as a whole, though nominally a wheat field, is practically a tare field) and gnashing of teeth. (Great disappointment, sorrow, pain, trouble and anguish throughout Christendom, "Men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." (Luke 21:26) The great time of trouble will make general havoc of present arrangements--social, financial, political, ecclesiastical.)
VERSE 43 “Then (After this age and after its harvest, after "the wheat" of this age is gathered into the garner by the power of the first resurrection) shall the righteous (The Church, as a whole, in glory. When the division is accomplished, the wheat alone will represent the Kingdom of the Church of Christ, while the church nominal will fall and be broken, then shall the righteous) shine forth (to abolish darkness, to heal earth's sorrows and scatter earth's night. To bless, restore, purify and disinfect from sin and error the whole world of mankind, to bring order out of present confusion, to scatter present darkness, ignorance and superstition, to cause the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to fill the whole earth. "The earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the Sons of God." (Rom 8:19) God gives light that it may shine that others may see and be blessed. To shine can mean no less than to give light. And if the Church gives, the nation’s receive and "walk in the light of it." (Rev 21:24) as the sun ("The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings" (Mal 4:2) Whom shall scatter the darkness of earth, binding the prince of darkness, Satan, and freeing mankind from the bonds of ignorance, superstition and credulity. The great Sun of Righteousness, the great Messiah, the great Prophet, Priest, King and Mediator between God and man) in the kingdom of their Father (Primarily, the Kingdom is God's but he has voluntarily, for a thousand years, placed it under charge of a viceroy, the Christ, the Lord and his Church which is his body).
Who hath ears to hear (The attitude of heart to appreciate it, the ability to understand spiritual things, not everyone at present has this hearing ear), let him hear. (We should not despise those who cannot hear, but rather sympathize with them and be thankful for the hearing ear, which permits us to appreciate the various features of God’s plan. None can give eye to see nor ear to hear save the Lord alone).”
