Matthew 13:30
“Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvester to sort out the weeds, tie them unto bundles, and burn them, and but the wheat in the barn.”
In this life the righteous and the wicked mix together. All the righteous do not live in one state and the wicked in another. In fact, the righteous and the wicked are not just commingled in our society, they are also commingled in an assembly, within the corporate body of the church. We cannot separate them; the Lord has commingled them. The Lord does the separating. How? His Holy Spirit works grace in the soul.

Jesus spoke of this same principle in His parable of the wheat and tares when He said in the book of Matthew 13:28-30 “An enemy has done this! The farmer exclaimed. “Should we pull out the weeds?” they asked. “No, he replied, ‘you will uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvester to sort the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.” Do you see what the Lord is saying? Throughout our career in this world, there will be a commingling of the wicked and the righteous.

On the great day of harvest our Saviour will make the final separation between the righteous and the wicked. MAT 25:31-33 says,” But the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, and then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.”

On the Day of Judgment, when all mankind will be called to the Judgment Seat, those in whom the Holy Spirit has worked His grace in their hearts will be separated from those who have served sin. He will place the sheep on His right hand, the goats on the left. It is most important to understand upon what basis the sheep and the goats are distinguished! What does the Lord look for in this separating process? Read Verses 34 and 35 which say, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Why? For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in." Do you realize what He is saying? Because you lived by the law of love, you showed love to your fellow man and treated them as you would want them to treat you. That is the criteria which Christ used to separate the sheep from the goats.

What is the distinction between hypocrites and those who are truly God's people? The difference is found in their attitudes toward the Lord, the law of love, i.e., their attitude toward loving God with all their hearts, souls, and minds and their neighbours as themselves. They are the ones on His right hand who in MAT 25:36-40 saw Him "naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

The Lord Jesus is telling us that on the Day of Judgment, those who have done unto others as they would have people do to them, those will be on His right hand, and those who did not treat others as they would be treated will be on His left hand. We will see the separating of righteous and wicked taking place after it is too late to change our position if we are like the goats.

As long as we dwell in these vessels of clay on earth, there will remain the wicked mingled even with the righteous The old nature will constantly pursue some wrong attitudes and other things about Christ's sheep that are still unrighteous, but they have been renewed in the spirit of their minds, giving them a new desire. By the regeneration of the Holy Spirit the sheep love to do that which is according to the law of love. They come very short, but the Lord uses His refining process to purify them.

Mary expressed her love for the Saviour by the odour of the ointment she poured upon His feet; that odour filled the house. As long as we live on earth there will be some commingling; there will be a Judas that will find his way into the inner circle of Christ's flock. Now see the distinction in attitude between the precious metal revealed in Mary's conduct and that of the dross. Look at MAR 14:10, "And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them." Did Mary's love cause such an offense to Judas that he went to the chief priests to betray Jesus that they might crucify Him? In the previous verse 9 Jesus commended Mary's conduct saying, "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever’s this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Where do we find the difference or distinction between a saint and a hypocrite? It is found in their attitude toward God and His law of love.
Mary and Judas were both Jews--and members of Jesus' inner circle, but see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked in ROM 2:28-29. “For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parent or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather it is a change of heart produced by God’s spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
By merely being a member of a church or denomination, which is an outward act does not make one a true Christian. However removing the foreskin, the filthiness of the flesh, from the heart by living by the golden rule is a symbol of being a true Christian. The key is to be circumcised in the heart. It is not just something written on a piece of paper in the form of church membership. But it is doing that which is for the glory of God. Our actions should not be done to please flesh or gain honour; they should be done to glorify God. Amen

God bless