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… I. THE RIPENING principle of the Divine government is at work — 1. In the inorganic realm. Our system is travelling to a crisis. 2. In the vegetable realm. The oak moves from century to century from an acorn to a point when its perfection is reached. 3. In the human realm, (1) In the body. From infancy to old age our bodies are ripening for the grave. (2) In the character, which is ripening for bliss or woe. (3) In institutions, which, whether good or evil, reach their culmination. (4) Individuals are ripening. (5) Nations. (6) The world — the harvest is the end of the world. II. The COMPENSATORY principle in the Divine government. This principle rewards the labourer — 1. According to the kind of his work. What was sown is reaped in species and quality. The same holds good in morals. 2. According to the amount. "He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly." There are degrees in glory which are regulated according to degrees in goodness. III. The CO-OPERATIVE principle. In the harvest-field you have the result of a vast combination of agencies, animate and inanimate, human and Divine. The harvest demonstrates that man is a co-worker with God. Paul plants, etc. (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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