We are in the time when those who are faithful will become more faithful and be trusted with even more authority. It is also the time when the faithless will become more faithless. Both the good seed sown into the world and the tares will come to maturity. Because of this, it will become more and more clear which are tares and which are the good seed, as the Lord prophesied in Matthew 13:37-43. Here He explained to His disciples the meaning of the parable about the enemy of the farmer who came and sowed tares in his wheat field:

And He answered and said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."

The Lord said this would take place at the end of this age, which is "the harvest." The harvest is the reaping of both the wheat and the tares. Both good and evil will come to full maturity at the end of the age. This will enable each to be clearly distinguishable, and we can expect this to become more so each year.

Once, when I was driving by a wheat field, it was pointed out to me that tares actually look like wheat, and just about the only way you can tell them apart is when they both come to maturity. At maturity, the wheat will begin to bow over, but tares will remain upright. We might say by this that with maturity the wheat will become more humble, and tares will become more proud. Pride and humility are two of the most basic distinguishing characteristics between the true and the false, and this distinguishing characteristic will become more and more pronounced as we draw closer to the end of this age.

We should also keep in mind that because it is hard to tell the wheat from tares until maturity, it was the wisdom of the Lord to allow them to grow up together for the purpose of not wrongly uprooting the wheat. This is one point that we have been confronted with continually in the emerging prophetic ministries. Young, immature prophetic people will often behave quite badly, and we will be tempted to think that they are really "tares" instead of "wheat." Those who do not listen to the wisdom of the Lord, and try to weed out the tares prematurely, often throw out the "wheat" and keep the "tares."

Many churches and church leaders want the prophetic, but only after it has become mature. Of course, this would be easier in the short-term, but would actually be very costly in the end. It is by going through the maturity process, and learning the nature of each from the maturing of both the wheat and tares, that a church and its leadership are prepared to handle the responsibility of a mature prophetic ministry. It is also the way we will be able to discern the false.

I have watched a number of times as churches and ministries rejected immature prophetic people because they still had problems. These same churches and ministries are usually then deceived by a false prophet that inevitably causes much harm. They then blame their problems on "the prophetic." This is not just true with the prophetic ministry, but is likewise true with evangelists, teachers, apostles, and pastors. This is the reason for much of the fragmentation in the body of Christ today, and why there are now more Christians that have been severed from local church life than there are those in a healthy one.

Immature ministries will cause problems too, but they are worth it. In this parable, the Lord is the farmer who is sowing or investing into the field, which is the world. Remember, the basic investing principle is to "buy low, sell high." The time to invest in a person is when they are low or just starting out. The same is true of a ministry. The churches and ministries, which the now maturing prophetic ministries will be able to trust, will be those who trusted and invested in them when they were going through the maturing process.

We should also begin to recognize the tares that are among the wheat in any movement as they mature. One of the great examples of how the wheat matures is the Apostle Paul. In one of his early letters, he stated that he was not inferior to even the most eminent apostles (see II Corinthians 11:5). He wrote about five years later that he was the "least of the apostles" (see I Corinthians 15:9). In a letter he wrote about five years after this, he stated that he was "the least of the saints" (see Ephesians 3:8). In one of his last letters, he declared himself to be "the greatest of sinners" (see I Timothy 1:15). He kept seeing himself as less important, though he was obviously growing in spiritual stature, and actually was one of the most important first century apostles.

We need to also consider that Paul may have been quite arrogant as a young apostle, but he was still an apostle! Paul even commended the Galatians for receiving him as if he were an angel from heaven, even though his flesh was a trial to them. Those who are idealistic about what apostles, prophets, or any ministry for that matter, should look like and be like, will almost certainly miss them when they come. As Paul noted in I Corinthians 1:26-29,

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.

The Lord calls and uses the base, the weak, and even the foolish of this world. It may take almost as much humility to perceive and receive a true ministry as it does to be one. False ministries will attract the proud, while true ministries will only be perceived by the humble and teachable—by God's design.

The great conflict between light and darkness at the end of the age is basically between pride and humility. Pride is what caused Lucifer to fall, and it has been at the root of almost every fall since. The full maturity of the seed that the enemy has sown in the world will be pride and arrogance. This is reflected in the ultimate arrogance of mankind that would have us think that we can run the creation without the help of the Creator.

Likewise, the ultimate maturity of the seed that Christ has sown in the world will be humility—which will most basically be demonstrated by increasing dependence on the Lord and His strength and wisdom, not ourselves, our strength, or our wisdom. These will be increasingly in touch with how frail, foolish, and weak they are without the Lord, compelling them to seek Him more and more.

We need this reminder from time to time, especially as the Lord begins to trust His people with increasing resources and authority. The more we are entrusted with, the more dangerous pride will be to us, and to those who may have been entrusted into our care as shepherds or watchmen. As the Lord begins to trust us with more resources and more authority, we need to always keep in mind that it is not because of our great wisdom and ability, but it will be because of our faith in Him, and our humility to base everything on faith in Him, not in ourselves.

One of the most basic characteristics of humility is to be teachable. You are teachable because you know you do not know everything, and you know that you are not the wisest, but need wisdom. As I have been able to get to know and have studied some of the most successful people in almost every field, the greatest of all leaders and managers have always been those who were continually learning, studying, and listening, rather than talking. You could watch them mining for gold in every conversation, seeking to draw out of others the treasures they had learned so that they could be taught. Those with a teachable spirit will always be the greatest teachers. Let us always keep in mind that:

...He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:6-8).

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen (I Peter 5:6-11).

This issue is one that I will not hesitate to remind us of, because there are great blessings coming, which if we are not careful (which means to be full of care), can cause us to stumble instead of being the blessing that we are called to be. We must always keep in mind that Jesus is our Righteousness, and we are not receiving the abundance that is coming because we are so righteous, wise, or strong, but because of what Jesus purchased for us. Therefore, we want the blessings that we are blessed with to always point to Him and His goodness.