Separatism, Part 3

Separatism as a Fundamental Principle of Christian Agrarianism, Part 3
Posted by Michael Bunker
editor@biblicalagrarianism.com

The Kingdom of God

In the last part, we cursorily examined the history of the world's system of mammon, and of the beast system which would arise that would cause all manner of men to become slaves to their own primitive and carnal lusts. As prophesied in the Holy Bible, a system arose from among the people that allowed them to join together in order to fulfill the desires of the flesh. This system, despite and contrary to the commandments of God, allowed man to come together and develop a system of specialization which severed man from his connection to the creation and gave him duties and employments that were unproductive or counter-productive to his spiritual well-being, causing him to rely inordinately on man and governments rather than on the providence and sovereignty of God, and it eventually stripped man of his position of authority in the lives of his people, his family, and his children. Through time mammon became the operative principle of life, and, as the scripture promised, even very religious men and women were deceived by it, taken captive by it, and would become slaves to it - even to the point that the religious authorities in the time of Christ were willing to purchase, betray, and extinguish His mortal life for money. From these truths we come to understand that arguments for syncretism and against separatism are really arguments for the maintenance of (and service to) the system of mammon that feeds and coddles the flesh as opposed to God's ordained system which nurtures and grows the spirit. Jesus said that every man would serve either Him or Mammon (Matt. 6:24), and His Word teaches us that in the last epochs of this period of world history the system of Mammon would grow to be such a powerful entity that men would not be able to separate from it without great personal cost – in persecution, pain, and suffering - and that those who are enslaved to it would only be able to continue in it by agreeing to willfully choose and serve (worship) it, as opposed to serving God in the Kingdom of God.

In the first part, we discussed the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) as it is taught to us in the parables of Christ. We should take another look at these parables here. I will relate to you two of the parables from Matthew the thirteenth chapter that the Lord uses to explain and display the Kingdom of God:

“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:3-9).

And again:

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 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” (Matt. 13:24-30).

We should note that Jesus chose not to explain the parable to the masses:

“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field” (Matt. 13:34-36).

Jesus did not intend for the religious pharisees or the carnal man to understand the parable. We should also note that he sent the multitude away so that he could explain the parable to his elect disciples alone:

“He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 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. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:37-43).

In explaining the parable to his disciples, He chose to use agrarian terms - terms only those who understood a farming based life could understand - so even among the disciples (and those that would come after them) His words were intended to be clear and understood chiefly among the people who understand, live in, and work, the soil. His words would have meaning to those who understand the soil, and whose society is built and designed around the proper management and dominion of the land. Think about that for awhile. We have to confess upon reading the Word of God, that God had no intention of showing truth and mysteries to those who have no love for Him or His ways. He intended this truth for a separatist - agrarian people.

So let us look at the parable:

Jesus Christ is the one that soweth the good seed – and we know that the good seed is the Gospel of God and His Kingdom.

The field is the world (not the “church” as is claimed by some), and we know from the parables in this very chapter that we studied earlier, that the world has wayside areas where the hearts of men receive the Word of the Gospel, but understand it not, and it is said that the seed which spills there is snatched up by the Devil (Matt. 13:19). Remember, these people were not intended to hear or understand the Gospel:

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matt. 13:14-15).

Some people receive the Gospel in stony places, which means that they are unregenerate religious people who claim to understand and believe the Gospel, because the Word says that they receive the Gospel with “joy” (Matt. 13:20). These people have stony unconverted hearts (Eze. 36:26) that are blind, deaf, and dumb to the Kingdom of God. These religious professors have no good soil (meaning they do not have regenerate hearts) and therefore the Word cannot root in them. These make a good profession for awhile, but at last, when things get too hard, or when persecution and suffering arises, they fall away.

Some people receive the Gospel among thorns. The thorny ground is that unfruitful ground which is encumbered by the cares and deceptions of the world. There is much activity (like in Vanity Fair) and much commerce, and much activity, but no separation or true righteousness. When these people receive the Word of the Gospel, they try to combine it with the ways of the world. These folks say they love Christ and are Christians, but they truly love mammon and the ways of the world. The ways of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches then choke out the Word. Sadly, the Word of God says that this false believer may look and act like he thinks a Christian should look and act, but alas, in the end, he is unfruitful (Matt. 13:22).

So these are the explanations that Christ gave of the way the Word of God is spread and received, and how the Kingdom of God is grown in the world. Now, within the world, in the best soil, Christ has sowed His seed. Not long after this sowing, though, the enemy (Satan) sows tares (or false wheat) which grow up in the world in the same places where the Gospel was preached.

Jesus Christ says that the good seed are the Children of the Kingdom, and the tare seeds are the Children of the Wicked One.

When the time comes that the Word begins to bear fruit (the Gospel leads to conversion in the hearts of God's elect), angels come and separate the wheat and the tares. The tares are gathered together (not out of the “church”, but out of the whole world, including the professing “church”). What is this gathering together if it is not the gathering of worldlings to the centers of mammon and worldliness? The people gather together, just as they did in the days of Babel, in the days of Nimrod, and in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. These are gathered together to be burned, as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned.

This gathering together of the wicked, from my understanding, happens twice – once because the wicked tend to gather together in this world – and again when they are gathered together at the great judgment to be thrown into a furnace of fire:

“As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world” (Matt. 13:40).

God will also gather together His own:

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah” (Psalm 50:3-6).

The wheat is gathered into the barn (Matt. 13:30) and onto the threshing floor which is the place of purgation or purging (Matt. 3:12). This is not some spiritual “purgatory” like that which has been made up by the Papists, but is the Church of God and our life of obedience in Christ while still here in this world:

“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12).

Our verses here and our knowledge of the agrarian art of threshing teach us some valuable lessons. First we should note that tares are never brought to the threshing floor. They are already gathered to be burned. Only wheat is gathered to the threshing floor. On the threshing floor the wheat is spread and it is thoroughly beaten with sticks. This purging does not separate the wheat from the tares (who have already been separated and gathered together) but it separates the wheat from the chaff. Chaff is the part of the wheat which not desirable to the farmer. He desires to purge the chaff away from the wheat, so he beats the wheat - “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19a). The Holy Spirit – the fan of the Lord – thoroughly purges the floor, blowing away all that which is displeasing to the Lord. The wheat is then gathered into the garner, which is the Lord's Kingdom. When the Lord desires to use the wheat, it is ground into flour and used to make good bread.

This is a story of separation through and through.

Now let us take a look at how horribly these beautiful parables have been mangled, distorted, and mis-taught by the prophets of syncretism.

1. They teach that the wheat and tares are supposed to stay together, and that they are indiscernible, and that they are never separated, and that these verses teach that there is no telling where a Christian may be found, and that a Christian may grow just as safely and healthily in an urban city among the wicked and surrounded by unbelievers as he will when separated into a true Christian agrarian society.

2. They teach that the field is “the church” (although Christ says it is the world), and therefore it is no wonder that there are unbelievers and believers in the church. While it is true that there will almost always be deceived unbelievers in any “church”, the Bible teaches that they are the Children of the Wicked One and that they should be rooted out. The prophets of syncretism teach that it is natural for a “church” to be filled with unbelievers (after all, it is evangelism), and that tares and other weeds are to be encouraged, and that the “church” ought to be filled with them. In fact, the entire modern “church growth” movement is based on the premise that tares need to be brought into “church” so that they can be changed into wheat! The modern dominionist movement doesn't believe in filling the “church” with tares, instead, they believe that the wheat ought to be about the business of expanding the fields and taking over neighboring farms, so that more tares will be converted to wheat.

3. Contrary to the teaching of the Bible, the prophets of syncretism teach that tares become wheat when they “get saved”, and that all men were once tares but that the saved tares become wheat. The Bible, however, teaches that wheat comes from wheat seed, and that tares come from tare seeds.

4. The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the sower, who plants only good seed. The prophets of syncretism teach that evangelists and all believers are sowers, and that they plant indeterminate seeds, some of which grow into tares, and some that grow into wheat.

5. The prophets of syncretism teach that the wayside is to be purposely sowed, as is the stony ground and the thorny ground. While the Bible teaches that sometimes good seed happens to fall in these places, the syncretists manipulate others into giving money, and gather together huge amounts of it, to hire professional “sowers” who are then purposely sent out to sow seed among the rocks and thorns.

6. While the prophets of syncretism teach that any man can and should be a sower (despite the fact that Jesus calls Himself the sower), they also teach that only spiritual angels – actual created angels from heaven - can be reapers or harvesters. Syncretists teach this error despite the fact that Christ asked the disciples to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers to the harvest: “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38). The Bible teaches that the word “angels” means “messengers”, and that sometimes ministers of the Gospel are called “angels” (Rev. 1:20). Now, if we look at the Bible and we see that these harvest labourers are supposed to separate wheat from tares in this world, and then gather the wheat to the threshing floor, does the false gospel of syncretism still stand up to scrutiny?

7. Since the parable of the sower says that these harvest events are to happen “at the end of the world”, the prophets of syncretism teach that physical separation will only happen “at the end of the world”, and by this they mean, after we are all dead. The Bible, however, teaches that the phrase “at the end of the world” often means “during the time of the Gospel”, after Christ has suffered and died on the behalf of His elect, and has put away their sin in order to separate and purify them unto Himself: “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”.

The Lord Jesus Christ used these parables to accomplish two things:

• To give enlightenment, truth, direction, and encouragement to the elect of God – those who have been given by Divine Grace the ability to hear and see the Kingdom.

• To hide these sublime truths from world lovers and mammon lovers – the Children of the Wicked One – who naturally and angrily reject the truth of God.

“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13:10-13).

To those whom it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, more shall be given to them, and they shall have more abundance. The phrase “he shall have more abundance” is one word in the Greek which means “to superabound” or “to have in excess”. Since the child of the Kingdom has a heart towards spiritual things, and towards eternity, he will superabound in spiritual gifts when he is separated by God into the Kingdom. Those who believe themselves to be in the Kingdom of God, but who are actually the “children of the wicked one”, will have even those gifts that they think are theirs taken away from them. This is why it is constantly reaffirmed in the scripture that the professing believer is to examine himself that he be in the faith. There are those who love the world, who serve mammon, who separate only invisibly and never actually, who think that they are in a good condition, and that they are bound for heaven after they die. They have been blinded to the truth of God found in His parables. The kingdom of this world has a religion called Christianity, and the prince of this world has a people who call themselves “christians”. This truth is plainly evident in the prophetic scriptures, yet it doesn't often cause mainstream “christians” to question their affiliation, their lives, or their understanding of God's Word.

In the next part we will examine God's plan in using separatism to teach and train His children for the Kingdom that is to come.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker