Matthew 13:29

III. SEPARATED AT THE HARVEST.

29. Nay; lost... ye root up the wheat also with them.

We have quoted from Thomson the statement that the roots of the wheat and tares were often so intertwined that one could not be pulled up without the other. The Lord does not mean to prohibit discipline in the church lest it might lead astray weaker brethren, but to prohibit the church from persecution of heretics or unbelievers, and to prohibit it on the ground that it would be ruinous to the church itself. The struggle that would arise would often cause the slaughter of his followers, the wheat would be pulled up as well as tares, the world would everywhere regard Christians as relentless foemen, and would seek to destroy them. Besides the attempt to remove the tares from the world would demoralize the church.