In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven using a story of wheat and tares.

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 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?’ 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?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ‘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.” ’ ” – Mat. 13: 26-30

This is a story about the true and false church, the sheep and the goats. And the harvest is the end of the age when the Lord returns and the enemy who sowed the tares is the Devil. Now, there are some who claim to be Christians who are saying we are going to establish the kingdom of God on the earth before the Lord returns but, this parable paints a different picture. The Church will be infected with the false tares right up to the end of the harvest when the angels separate out the tares and cast them into the fire.

“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” – Mat. 13:41, 42

I notice also that the tares are gathered first, not the wheat. There is no mention of a pretribulation rapture here. The Book of Revelation also describes a similar picture in chapters 17 through 18 where the false harlot who is called mystery Babylon is described.

Mystery Babylon is described as a harlot riding on the back of the beast of Revelation (described in Revelation 13 who is the Antichrist) and she was dressed in ‘fine linen, purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.’ This is a picture of the false church as God sees her and she is sold out to the Antichrist system. She was sitting on many waters and the waters represent peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. There is no ‘kingdom of God’ represented here, only nations that have sold out to the Beast and a false church that sold her soul to the devil. She is dressed in ‘fine linen’ as though she were righteous but she drinks from a cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication (she was meant as a bride for Christ but she makes her bed with the world). The beast on which the woman is riding is described in Revelation 13 exercising such power as to cause the entire world to worship him. –

“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” – Rev. 13:3

There is no mention of an earthly ‘kingdom of God’ here – all nations bow to the beast and the harlot. This harlot is also described as a great city that sits on seven hills –

“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.” – Rev. 17:9

When she is destroyed, the merchants of the earth lament saying –

“and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!” – Rev. 18:16

The fact that the word ‘mountains’ in Rev. 17:9 could be translated as ‘hills’ has led some to believe it is a reference to Rome, which is built on seven hills, but I believe that is a stretch. Rather, I think the seven mountains is a reference to the seven heads of the beast she is riding. Revelation 17 provides the interpretation of these seven heads –

“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.” – Rev. 17:9-11

At the time of John five had fallen – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. One is – Rome. And the seventh is yet to come – one with ten horns. While no one knows for sure what this final kingdom will be, the statue of Daniel 2 makes it clear that it will be an extension of the kingdom of Rome, as feet and toes are but extensions of the legs. It has been suggested that this kingdom is the EU and I believe that is a real possibility. Most do not know that the EU was originally formed by three Catholic men with consultation by the Catholic Church.

I believe the Harlot is the false church, including the Catholic and many Protestant churches as well. She has been around since the beginning of the true church. The Apostle Peter writes of them, calling them “wells without water” and accuses them of having gone the way of Balaam.

“They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;” – 2 Pet 2:13-15

The Apostle Paul also writes of them –

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” – 1 Tim. 4:1-3

Paul also speaks of the great falling away which we will see before the Antichrist appears –

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,” – 2 Thes. 2:3

The final form of this harlot is forming even now as the Pope signs a historic Covenant with Islam, thus laying the foundation for the One World Religion.

So we see that the tares have been in the Church right from the beginning and will be until the end, when the Lord returns. The earth is not going to be getting better, it is rather going to be getting worse right up till the end. Jesus Christ is content to leave His chosen, the wheat, amidst the tares until the harvest, when He will say to Mystery Babylon –

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” – Rev. 18:4

While Scripture are clear about the future of the earth, God has given us a restrainer to hold back the ‘lawless one’ until the final harvest is ripe –

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He (or he) who now restrains will do so until He (or he) is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” – 2 Thes. 2:7, 8

I believe America is the restrainer God is presently using to hold back the forces of lawlessness and to uphold God’s plans for the nation of Israel. We should all pray fervently that President Trump gets another four years to finish the job of restraining. The Third Temple in Jerusalem has yet to be built and the ‘latter rain’ of the Holy Spirit has yet to fall thus bringing in the final harvest.

While the wheat may be among the tares, we don’t have to be in fellowship with them. We can be lights in their darkness. Paul admonishes –

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” – 2 Cor. 6:14-17

The latest Barna survey shows that over 61% of Americans claim to be Christian but only 2% of them have a Biblical worldview. I know that many of you are enrolled in churches that don’t preach the whole word of God. Churches that have accepted the philosophies of the world. Churches that are walking in fear of man and viruses when God’s word has said “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7). When the enemy uses a virus that is no stronger than the flu to close down churches and their worship but allows the forces of lawlessness to walk the streets freely, it is time to take a stand. It is time to let your light shine in the darkness. It is time to take our children back from those who are filling their minds with false philosophies of humanism, socialism, marxism, and Islam.

It is time to hear the heavenly voice calling out to Mystery Babylon “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”