John 4:35-38 Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields… Autumn, or the "feast of harvest," is not only a season for national gratitude, rejoicing, philanthropy, but also instruction. Look at the fields and mark — I. The RESUSCITATING principle of the Divine government. What you see ripened was a few months ago buried and apparently dead, but the dormant germ has been quickened by God. This principle is seen at work — 1. In the mind of mankind, calling up buried thoughts and impressions. 2. In the conversion of souls, quickening the conscience, and imparting spiritual vitality. 3. On a grand scale in the general resurrection. II. The RETRIBUTIVE principle in the Divine government. Nature gives back what she has received — 1. In kind. Wheat for wheat. 2. In amount. The more she receives the more she gives. "Be not deceived," etc. III. The MULTIPLYING principle in the Divine government. For one grain many are returned — some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. So in morals. One thought may run into thousands, one noble deed may become the parent of millions. Nothing true is lost; every. thing true is multiplied. IV. The MATURING principle: the Divine government. Through slow stages of growth. The blade, the ear, the full corn in the ear. Character ripens. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. |
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