“Is it not Wheat Harvest Today?” (1 Samuel 12.17.)
Introduction. I shall take these words as a motto. The world is a temple of truth to the enlightened mind. Flowers, what are they? They are the thoughts of God solidified. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are four evangelists. What says spring? You are a seed; you will be buried to rise again. Summer speaks of the sun shining on the evil and the good. Winter points to the fruits we must store up in autumn against the day of wrath. We shall hear autumn’s message this morning.
(1) The Harvest of the Field. Fields covered with corn ought to keep us mindful of God’s mercy. Ingratitude is a viper that nests in the heart of man. Only divine grace, by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood, can slay it. Like the Christian full of years and heavy with fruit, heavy ears of corn bend toward the ground. God has given us barns full at home. Not one person can be uninterested in this matter. What happens to one member of society affects us all. You must attribute your daily mercies to God as if you lived from hand to mouth. Sometimes hand to mouth is a blessed way of living. “Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be sure.”
(2) The Harvest of Every Christian. In one sense the Christian is the seed sown by God, which is to germinate, grow, ripen, and be harvested. In another sense, he is a sower. Sometimes Christians sow sins; but they never reap them; Christ does. But God will take your sin and make it bitter to your taste. Ah! the minister gets a joyful harvest, even in this world, when he sees souls converted. Some Christians persist in standing out in the field. They do not like to make a profession and join the church. Unless you are fit to be gathered into Christ’s little granary on earth, you have no right to anticipate being gathered into that greater granary in heaven. Every Christian has his harvest. You are accountable for your labor, not your success. So toil on still! However bad your children are, press toward the throne of grace, and you shall have a harvest. God turn their hearts! for bitter is the doom of that man who goes to hell over the road that is washed by his mother’s tears. You shall have a harvest, whatever you are doing. I trust you are all doing something. If you see no harvest in this world, you shall have one in heaven. Ah! if there could be grief in heaven, it would be the grief of Christians who have sown so very little.
(3) The Harvest of Christ. Christ sowed the world with tears, sighs, agony, and blood. At last he sowed himself in the ground as the seed of a glorious crop. He shall have his harvest. The everlasting predestination of the Almighty has settled it. Every converted soul is his reward. In the latter day, he shall reap armsful at a time. And there shall be a greater harvest when time shall be no more (Revelation 14.13.) An angel gathers the wicked. Christ reaps the Christian.
(4) Three Sad Harvests. The first is the harvest of death. The wicked are ripe for hell when they die, while the saints are ready for glory. The second sad harvest is the one the wicked reaps on earth. Young man, go to the hospital and see what can be reaped by sins against the body. And it is a law of nature that a man can’t hurt his fellows without hurting himself. But he who touches God’s church will suffer the direst vengeance of all. The third sad harvest is Almighty wrath. Suppose a mighty giant comes and treads us under foot, that is the idea (Revelation 14.)
Selection from Conclusion. “Let me speak to the children of God once more…Steep your seed in tears, and then put it into the ground, and you shall reap in joy. No bird can devour that seed.”
