The Divine Harvest: Separating the Wheat From the Tares
A fifth step toward the first resurrection from the dead has to do with the Divine harvest, with the separating of the wheat from the tears.
It is a mistake to suppose the Lord will gather into His barn, in the first resurrection, both the wheat and the tears. He is not going to do that. He first will remove the tears from the wheat and burn them. Then he will store the wheat in his barn.
The churches of today are filled with tears as well as with wheat. The individual saints have both the wheat of Christ and the tears of the devil in their lives. God will not gather the believer into His barn when there is adultery, lying, hatred, strife, envy, pride, greed, self-seeking, and every other abominable work in his personality.
Whoever would seek to attain to the first resurrection must purify himself of all unrighteousness (I John 3:3). The tares must be gathered out of the Kingdom of God. Then the righteous will shine in the Kingdom of their Father, in the power and glory of the first resurrection.
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. (Matthew 13:30)
The Kingdom of Heaven, as it stands today, cannot be lifted from the earth in the first resurrection and ascension of the saints. The preaching of the Kingdom has gathered "of every kind." Some of what has been gathered is fit for the Kingdom; some is not.
Before the Lord returns and the saints are gathered to Him there must take place a separation between the vile and the precious, the unclean and the clean. Then the hoped-for eternal life will be given to us.
So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, (Matthew 13:49)
From the above words of Christ we know that the wicked and the righteous will be mingled together until the end of the present age. By the term righteous is meant those persons who, having received Christ as Lord and Saviour, are through His grace practicing the righteous ways of the Lord. They are not living in sin. They are being transformed into righteous, holy, and obedient behaviour because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and because Christ is being formed in them.