"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."--Matt. iii. 12.

The verse of Scripture which is now before our eyes contains words which were spoken by John the Baptist. They are a prophecy about our Lord Jesus Christ, and a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. They are a prophecy which we shall all see fulfilled one day, and God alone knows how soon.

I invite every reader of this paper to consider seriously the great truths which this verse contains. I invite you to give me your attention, while I unfold them, and set them before you in order. Who knows but this text may prove a word in season to your soul? Who knows but this text may help to make this day the happiest day in your life?

I. Let me show, in the first place, "the two great classes into which mankind may be divided".

There are only two classes of people in the world in the sight of God, and both are mentioned in the text which begins this paper. There are those who are called "the wheat", and there are those who are called "the chaff".

Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it only contains two. Man's eye looks at the outward appearance:--this is all he thinks of. The eye of God looks at the heart:--this is the only part of which He takes any account. And tried by the state of their hearts, there are but two classes into which people can be divided:--either they are wheat, or they are chaff.

"Who are the wheat in the world?" This is a point which demands special consideration.

The wheat means all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,--all who are led by the Holy Spirit,--all who have felt themselves sinners, and fled for refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel,--all who love the Lord Jesus and live to the Lord Jesus, and serve the Lord Jesus,--all who have taken Christ for their only confidence, and the Bible for their only guide, and regard sin as their deadliest enemy, and look to heaven as their only home. All such, of every Church, name, nation, people, and tongue,--of every rank, station, condition, and degree,--all such are God's "wheat."

Show me people of this kind anywhere, and I know what they are. I know not that they and I may agree in all particulars, but I see in them the handiwork of the King of kings, and I ask no more. I know not whence they came, and where they found their religion; but I know where they are going, and that is enough for me. They are the children of my Father in heaven. They are part of His "wheat."

All such, though sinful and vile, and unworthy in their own eyes, are the precious part of mankind. They are the sons and daughters of God the Father. They are the delight of God the Son. They are the habitation of God the Spirit. The Father beholds no iniquity in them:--they are the members of His dear Son's mystical body: in Him He sees them, and is well-pleased. The Lord Jesus discerns in them the fruit of His own travail and work upon the cross, and is well satisfied. The Holy Ghost regards them as spiritual temples which He Himself has reared, and rejoices over them. In a word, they are the "wheat" of the earth.

"Who are the chaff in the world?" This again is a point which demands special attention.

The chaff means all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ, and no sanctification of the Spirit, whosoever they may be. Some of them perhaps are infidels, and some are formal Christians. Some are sneering Sadducees, and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point of keeping up a kind of Sunday religion, and others are utterly careless of everything except their own pleasure and the world. But all alike, who have the two great marks already mentioned--"no faith and no sanctification",--all such are "chaff." From Paine and Voltaire to the dead Churchman who can think of nothing but outward ceremonies,--from Julian and Porphyry to the unconverted admirer of sermons in the present day,--all, all are standing in one rank before God: all, all are "chaff."

They bring no glory to God the Father. "They honour not the Son, and so do not honour the Father that sent Him." (John v. 23.) They neglect that mighty salvation which countless millions of angels admire. They disobey that Word which was graciously written for their learning. They listen not to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and die for their sins. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gave them "life, and breath, and all things." And therefore God takes no pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than "chaff."

Yes! you may have rare intellectual gifts and high mental attainments: you may sway kingdoms by your counsel, move millions by your pen, or keep crowds in breathless attention by your tongue; but if you have never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ, and never honoured His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are nothing in His sight. Natural gifts without grace are like a row of cyphers without an unit before them: they look big, but they are of no value. The meanest insect that crawls is a nobler being than you are: it fills its place in creation, and glorifies its Maker with all its power, and you do not. You do not honour God with heart, and will, and intellect, and members, which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, and live as if time was of more importance than eternity, and body better than soul. You dare to neglect God's greatest gift,--His own incarnate Son. You are cold about that subject which fills all heaven with hallelujahs. And so long as this is the case you belong to the worthless part of mankind. You are the "chaff" of the earth.

Let this thought be graven deeply in the mind of every reader of this paper, whatever else he forgets. Remember there are only two sorts of people in the world. There are wheat, and there are chaff.

There are many nations in Europe. Each differs from the rest. Each has its own language, its own laws, its own peculiar customs. But God's eye divides Europe into two great parties,--the wheat and the chaff.

There are many classes in England. There are peers and commoners,--farmers and shopkeepers,--masters and servants,--rich and poor. But God's eye only takes account of two orders,--the wheat and the chaff.

There are many and various minds in every congregation that meets for religious worship. There are some who attend for a mere form, and some who really desire to meet Christ,--some who come there to please others, and some who come to please God,--some who bring their hearts with them and are not soon tired, and some who leave their hearts behind them, and reckon the whole service weary work. But the eye of the Lord Jesus only sees two divisions in the congregation,--the wheat and the chaff.

There were millions of visitors to the Great Exhibition of 1851. From Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,--from North and South, and East and West,--crowds came together to see what skill and industry could do. Children of our first father Adam's family, who had never seen each other before, for once met face to face under one roof. But the eye of the Lord only saw two companies thronging that large palace of glass,--the wheat and the chaff.

I know well the world dislikes this way of dividing professing Christians. The world tries hard to fancy there are "three" sorts of people, and not "two". To be very good and very strict does not suit the world:--they cannot, will not be saints. To have no religion at all does not suit the world:--it would not be respectable.--"Thank God," they will say, "we are not so bad as that." But to have religion enough to be saved, and yet not go into extremes,--to be sufficiently good, and yet not be peculiar,--to have a quiet, easy-going, moderate kind of Christianity, and go comfortably to heaven after all,--this is the world's favourite idea. There is a third class,--a safe middle class,--the world fancies, and in this middle class the majority of men persuade themselves they will be found.

I denounce this notion of a middle class, as an immense and soul-ruining delusion. I warn you strongly not to be carried away by it. It is as vain an invention as the Pope's purgatory. It is a refuge of lies,--a castle in the air,--a Russian ice-palace,--a vast unreality,--an empty dream. This middle class is a class of Christians nowhere spoken of in the Bible.

There were two classes in the day of Noah's flood, those who were inside the ark, and those who were without;--two in the parable of the Gospel-net, those who are called the good fish, and those who are called the bad;--two in the parable of the ten virgins, those who are described as wise, and those who are described as foolish;--two in the account of the judgment day, the sheep and the goats;--two sides of the throne, the right hand and the left;--two abodes when the last sentence has been passed, heaven and hell.

And just so there are only two classes in the visible Church on earth,--those who are in the state of nature, and those who are in the state of grace,--those who are in the narrow way, and those who are in the broad,--those who have faith, and those who have not faith,--those who have been converted, and those who have not been converted,--those who are with Christ, and those who are against Him,--those who gather with Him, and those who scatter abroad,--those who are "wheat," and those who are "chaff." Into these two classes the whole professing Church of Christ may be divided. Beside these two classes there is none.

See now what cause there is for self-inquiry. Are you among the wheat, or among the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one class, or in the other. Which is it of the two?

You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table. You like good people. You can distinguish between good preaching and bad. You think Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and support it cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more than can be said of many. But still this is not a straightforward answer to my question.--Are you wheat or are you chaff?

Have you been born again? Are you a new creature? Have you put off the old man, and put on the new? Have you ever felt your sins, and repented of them? Are you looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal? Do you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe heart-sins, and fight against them? Do you long for perfect holiness, and follow hard after it? Have you come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible? Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take the lowest place? Are you a Christian in business, and on week-days, and by your own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul.

I beseech you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it may be. Answer it, though it may prick your conscience, and cut you to the heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it is between you and God. Better a thousand times find out that you are in an evil case, and repent betimes, than live on in uncertainty, and be lost eternally.

II. Let me show, in the second place, "the time when the two great classes of mankind shall be separated".

The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a separation. It says that Christ shall one day do to His professing Church what the farmer does to his corn. He shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be divided.

There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers,--converted and unconverted,--holy and unholy,--all are to be found now among those who call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our assemblies. They kneel side by side in our pews. They listen side by side to our sermons. They sometimes come up side by side to the Lord's table, and receive the same bread and wine from our hands.

But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the second time with His fan in His hand. He shall purge His Church, even as He purified the temple. And then the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each shall go to its own place.