Latest / Reformed Thinking / A Visit to the Harvest Field (James 5:7-8) | Charles Spurgeon

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A Visit to the Harvest Field (James 5:7-8) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to reformed thinking. Glad.
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To be here for this SO. We live in this this era of
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Amazon Prime character development, you know.
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Oh, that is a great way to put it.
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Right, because think about it, you want to have it changed.
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There is an app for that. Yeah, just download it.
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Yeah, you want spiritual growth, just, I don't know, download A5
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day devotional, check the little boxes and just wait for the
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results to roll in. 2 day shipping on Sanctification.
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Spot on. We expect this vending machine
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experience in literally every facet of our existence.
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You put in your time, you push a button, and the solution just
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arrives at your doorstep by the next morning.
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But that is, that is really not how reality works, is it?
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No, it isn't. And that is what we are looking
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at today. What happens when you collide
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with a God who operates on the agonizing, just unyielding
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timeline of an oak tree? It's a harsh collision for most
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of us. Yeah, it really is.
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So we are taking a hard look at Charles Spurgeon's classic
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message today. It's called a visit to the
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Harvest Field. A fantastic text.
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And the mission for this deep dive into the source material is
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to really unpack this agricultural metaphor.
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We want to understand the nature of spiritual patience, hard
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labor, and the absolute sovereignty of God in producing
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a harvest in your life. Right, because the friction
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really begins the moment we step off the concrete into the dirt.
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I mean, we are so removed from agriculture now.
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We really are. But to get this, we have to
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establish the premise that the author of the Bible is also the
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architect of the universe. No, I like that.
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The hands that crafted the laws of agriculture are the very same
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hands that crafted the laws of spiritual reality.
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So they mirror each other. Precisely, Spurgeon points out
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that God ordained seed time and harvest to teach us through
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fixed, reliable laws. OK, let's unpack this a bit.
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Yeah, so the earth yielding seed to the sower and read to the
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eater. It has a constitution governed
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by divine Providence. When you study the soil, you are
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actually studying the mind of God.
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Wow, you're studying how he interacts with his people.
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The universe operates on covenantal laws.
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Meaning like cause and effect. Yes, meaning there's a binding
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relationship between cause and effect established by the
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Creator himself. So the physical dirt is an
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actual classroom for us. That's a good way to look at it,
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yeah. So let's look at the very first
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lesson of that classroom. It's this concept of having a
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realistic expectation of what you were actually planting.
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The source text definitely does not pull any punches.
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Here, not at all. It says the farmers hope for a
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crop is reasonable entirely because he actually plowed the
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field and sewed the grain right. If he left the fields fallow or,
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you know, never stirred the clods, he'd be a fool to look
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for a wheat harvest. Thorns and thistles would be his
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only return, yet we see people making this miscalculation
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constantly. What's fascinating here is how
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the text notes that if a farmer cast garlic into the dirt, he
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would be absolutely foolish to look for a wheat harvest.
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Obviously you plant garlic, you get garlic.
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Right. We have to examine the mechanics
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of why this happens in an agrarian society.
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The audience understood the unforgiving nature of seeds.
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The soil is basically an impartial judge.
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Spot on. It does not care about your
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intentions, it only responds to the physical seed introduced
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into it. So Spurgeon is drawing a sharp
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line here between genuine spiritual investment and, just
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like the delusion of expecting unearned grace.
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Yes, he quotes the scripture, noting that the one who sews to
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the flesh shall reap corruption, while sowing to the Spirit
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yields everlasting life. Action and consequence are tied
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together by divine design. You cannot cheat the dirt.
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You really can't. You know, I see people treating
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their spiritual lives like a cryptocurrency scam.
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Oh. How so?
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Well, you know the exact mindset.
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They want to get massively wealthy overnight with 0 actual
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investment and 0 fundamental value created.
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I see. Yeah, they want the massive
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payout without ever touching a plow.
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They live for their own passions.
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Scatter the wild oats of sin. Right, indulging every fleshly
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desire. Yeah, and then somehow they
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assume everything will be fine for them in the end.
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They expect massive spiritual dividends from a completely
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fleshly portfolio. That psychological blindness is
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really fascinating to dissect. It's terrifying, honestly.
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It is men and women expect something good to turn up in
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spiritual matters while they actively neglect the things that
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make for their peace. They say they hope it will be
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well with them at the end. But since they are living in
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rebellion right now, why should they expect a sudden magical
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change that runs contrary to the entire Order of Providence?
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Yeah, the man who scatters nothing, reaps nothing.
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A man who sows to the wind reaps the whirlwind.
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We want the agricultural laws suspended for our personal
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convenience. We assume God will alter the
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fabric of reality just to spare us the consequences of our own
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sowing. Which is an incredibly arrogant
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position to take. It sounds totally absurd when
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you put it in farming terms. Nobody walks out to a field of
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thistles and expects to harvest corn.
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No one in their right mind. But we do this in our daily
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routines without a second thought.
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We feed our minds with absolute garbage on the Internet.
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We neglect prayer. We ignore our families.
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And then we are shocked when our lives fall apart.
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Right. Or we feel completely alienated
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from God. We get angry at the sky for not
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raining down blessings on a field we deliberately filled
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with weeds. The true believer understands
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the absolute necessity of the seed they sow abundantly, even
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if they go forth weeping, knowing they shall come again
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rejoicing. Bringing their sheaves with
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them, yes. They accept the reality of the
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soil, but you know, accepting the reality of the soil brings
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us to the next severe challenge. The waiting.
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Right. Even when you do everything
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right, the time frame of agriculture is unyielding.
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This brings us to the agonizing timeline of the soil.
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The farmer has what the text calls long patients.
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Long patients, yeah. He does not sow in the winter
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and expect to take a sickle out in May.
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And here is where my modern brain starts to short circuit.
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I want 2 day shipping on character development.
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If I pray for patients on Tuesday, I expect to be a
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completely Zen unbothered person by Thursday morning.
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Well, God does not utilize 2 day shipping.
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Clearly not. The moons must wax and wane.
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Suns must rise and set. Truth takes its leisure.
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The text compares it to a grain of mustard seed right or leaven
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in the dough. Yes, it does not work.
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In the next moment, the sufferer must wait for the peaceable
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fruits of righteousness, and this waiting extracts a massive
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psychological toll. Oh, for sure.
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The source notes that impatience sours the temper, chills the
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blood and sickens the heart. It's physical.
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When we look at the biology of stress, we know that prolonged
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anticipation without resolution actually spikes their cortisol
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levels. We are literally sickening
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ourselves because we refuse to submit to the divine timeline.
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I want to push back on this idea of waiting though.
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OK, let's hear it. Let's say I am sharing the
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gospel with a friend, or I am praying for a specific outcome
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and I'm getting 0 results year after year.
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Nothing happens. Very common scenario.
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Right. So at what point does patient
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waiting just become a stubborn refusal to admit I'm using a
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broken strategy? Am I exercising the long
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patience of the farmer, or am I just wasting my time staring at
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a patch of dead dirt? That is the critical tension we
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have to differentiate between the method and the material.
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The sources detail a specific command to the worker to repeat
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their efforts despite rejection. If you go to a Sinner once on
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Christ's errand and he rejects you, you are commanded to go
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again seven times. Nay 70 * 7.
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Precisely think about the theological weight of outlasting
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A hardened heart through sheer, persistent patience.
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It's exhausting just thinking about it.
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It is but you are trusting that the seed of the Gospel, though
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buried in hostile soil, possesses a divine vitality that
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will eventually sprout. So if you are preaching the true
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gospel, you are planting the right seed, yes.
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The lack of immediate response is not an indictment of the
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seed. It is a reflection of the
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season. So the issue is not that the
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seed is defective, the issue is that winter lasts a lot longer
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than I want it to. Spot on.
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The text explicitly tells the worker to hush their sad
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complaints and still their petulant wailings.
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Ouch. Right.
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Do not fret because of the nipping frosts.
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Truth is mighty, and it will prevail.
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The long, tedious winter of waiting will seem like a short
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span when you look back from the perspective of the harvest.
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We must stop evaluating the efficacy of the Word of God
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based on the immediate emotional response of the hearer.
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That is huge. But you know the waiting is not
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just sitting around looking at a clock.
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As the sources point out, the process begins with a visceral,
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tangible loss. It does.
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This brings us to the paradox of the buried grain.
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The first action a farmer takes to gain a crop looks, to the
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untrained eye, like a total loss.
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It is a striking economic reality that we often gloss
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over. Yeah, unpack that for me.
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Well, the farmer has good edible wheat in his granary.
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He could use it to feed his household right now.
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He could bake bread today. Have a feast.
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Right. Instead, he takes sacks full of
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this precious food, carries it out into the weather and buries
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it in the dirt. It goes under the clod and there
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it must die. This means there is less bread
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on the table today. He is deliberately making
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himself poorer in the short term.
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Think about that action in modern terms.
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Here's where it gets really interesting.
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It is like taking your entire life savings and cash, putting
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it in a metal box and burying it in your backyard.
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Trusting A seemingly crazy map that promises it will multiply
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in 10 years. Yes, that runs completely
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counter to the modern prosperity mindset that dominates so much
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of popular religion today. Oh, absolutely.
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We are told that faith should result in an immediate upgrade
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to our standard of living. But the agricultural metaphor
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eviscerates prosperity theology. True religion might cost you
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comfort, ease, relatives, or life itself.
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The text offers a severe critique of transactional
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religion here, doesn't it? It does if you follow faith for
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the loaves and fishes, you will abandoned that faith the second
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you have eaten your fill. Or the moment a better bargain
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comes along. Exactly.
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I mean precisely. There is nothing in such piety
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but pretension. If your loyalty can be bought by
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comfort, it can be sold to the highest bidder when the comfort
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runs out. If you have taken it up for
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game, you will lay it down for what promises you a better
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bargain. That is a terrifying diagnostic
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question for anyone claiming to be a believer.
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What good wheat am I terrified to bury?
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Yeah. What comforts are you and I
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hoarding in the granary instead of planting in the field?
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We hold on to our reputation, our leisure time, our financial
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security. Because burying those things
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feels like actual death. Right, because it is death,
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except a corn of wheat falling to the ground and die it abides
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alone. True faith requires giving up
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the immediate for the eternal. The farmer expects to be a loser
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for a while. He does not expect immediate
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reward, no. He waits for the precious fruit
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of the earth. Yeah, and it is a reasonable
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waiting, knowing the character of the God who designed the
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process. The preservation of the seed
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requires its destruction. If you hoard the grain in the
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granary, it will eventually rot or be eaten by rats.
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So by refusing to lose it, you ensure it's absolute
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destruction. And by burying it, you ensure
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it's multiplication. Wow.
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OK, so once that seed is buried, the farmer faces the reality
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that he is no longer in control of the elements.
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He has done his part. He has sacrificed his grain and.
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Now he is utterly helpless. The sources describe this as
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waiting with the eye upward, facing the threat of brass skies
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and iron clods. The text notes that the harvest
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depends on the early and latter rain.
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Which the farmer absolutely cannot control.
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Not at all. If the skies are brass, the
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clods will be iron. Unless God speaks to the clouds,
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and the clouds speak to the earth, the earth will not speak
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to the corn. Plowing and sowing are useless
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unless God sends his spirit like heavenly rain.
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We see the absolute reliance on God's sovereign provision here.
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Human effort, no matter how rigorous, cannot force the seed
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to sprout. The keys to the rain clouds hang
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at the girdle of Jehovah. None but the Eternal Father can
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send the Holy Spirit like showers on the Church.
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All labor is in vain without this covenant blessing.
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You know, I grew up around sailboats and this feels like
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the perfect parallel. How so?
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Well, you can rig the ship. You can tie the knots Florida
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State, you can Polish the deck and hoist the sails with
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absolute mechanical precision, but you cannot make the wind
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blow. You are entirely at the mercy of
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the sky. You just have to be ready with
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your sails up when the wind finally decides to move.
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The sailor cannot manufacture the wind, and the farmer cannot
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manufacture the rain. It strips away all human pride.
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We cannot claim credit for the rain.
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We must have the dew from God, or else our seed shall rot under
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the clod. Our expectation will perish like
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a stillborn child. We must wait with our eye
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upward. Think about the crushing anxiety
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that comes from trying to manufacture spiritual results on
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our own. We try so hard to force the wind
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to blow. We see this in modern church
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culture constantly. Oh, everywhere.
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We create these highly engineered, emotional
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atmospheres. We use marketing tactics.
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Dim the lights, swell the music. Manipulate the environment.
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All to force a harvest. We are trying to build
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artificial rain machines because we are terrified the real rain
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might not come. The artificial brain machine
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might produce a temporary emotional response, but it will
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never produce a crop that survives the winter.
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When we realize we only control the sowing and not the raining,
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it should produce a massive sense of freedom.
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But it also demands a posture of humility.
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We are forced to admit our own limitations.
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Wait. I need to push back on this
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entirely all. Right, go for it.
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If God holds the keys to the rain clouds, and God controls
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the sun, and the outcome is entirely dependent on his
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sovereign will, isn't the most logical response just complete
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spiritual fatalism? I see where you're going.
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Like why should I exhaust myself out in the field pulling weeds
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if the harvest is completely out of my hands?
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I should just sit on my porch, drink iced tea, and wait for God
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to do the work. That is the perpetual
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misunderstanding of divine sovereignty.
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How so? It leads directly to the concept
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of being what Spurgeon calls gloriously active nothings.
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I love that phrase. Well, looking upward, the
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farmer's hands are intensely at work.
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He does not wait in sluggishness.
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Right when the green blade appears, the weeds appear with
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it. Those weeds must not be suffered
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to outgrow the wheat and choke it.
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The farmer must go up and down the field, his skill must be
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taxed, and no drudgery must be disdained.
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So God utilizes means to accomplish his ends.
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Yes, the sovereign decree of the harvest includes the sovereign
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decree of the labor required to bring it about.
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I cannot get over that phrase. Gloriously active nothings.
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It is such a brilliant paradox. We are nothing compared to the
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sovereign power of God, yet we are gloriously active in His
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design. It really captures the balance.
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It makes me think of a toddler helping a parent build a house.
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OK, I like this. The parent is the architect, the
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financier and the master builder.
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The parent provides all the materials and does all the heavy
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lifting, but the parent hands the toddler a little plastic
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hammer and says help me build. The toddlers involvement is
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required not because the parent lacks strength, but because of
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the parents loving design to include the child in the work.
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That is a highly accurate illustration of the relationship
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between divine grace and human effort.
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The Christian must work as if all depends on him, and pray as
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if all depends on God. He is nothing in his own
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estimation. Yet God treats the things that
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are not as though they were and gets glory out of them.
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The text outlines the rigorous maintenance required in a
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believer's life. We are talking about spending
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solitary hours seeking in prayer and searching the Word.
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The eye that looks up to God must be attended with the hand
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that is ready for work. God will not accept the look of
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a sluggard. So the fatalist who sits on the
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porch waiting for God to do everything is actually living in
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rebellion. They are.
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You are called to the field. You have to keep your lamps
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trimmed and burning. Correct.
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But even with perfect theology, hard work and complete reliance
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on God, the middle of the growing season brings
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terrifying, unpredictable weather.
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The farmer waits under changeful circumstances.
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He constantly fears the weather. Is it too hot?
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Is it too cold? Too dry?
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Too wet. The text says he is full of
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changes in his mind because the season is full of changes.
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He fancies there is a blight or a black smut creeping into the
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wheat. We can all relate to the fear of
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the black smut. We look at the cultural weather
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around us and we panic. We doom scroll the news,
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obsessing over the daily forecast of cultural decay.
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We see temporary shifts in the political landscape or scandals
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in the church, and we assume the sky is falling.
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We obsess over the weather instead of trusting the soil.
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The anxiety of the spiritual worker is immense.
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The sources draw a direct parallel between the farmer's
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fears and the fears within the church.
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Yeah, the worker sees initial conversions that seem promising,
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but they produce no fruit. They witnessed massive
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backsliding among people they thought were solid.
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They watched the black smut of deadly heresy creep into their
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congregation. The anxious worker fears there
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will be no harvest after all. Spurgeon says 10,000 farmers
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fears have been disappointed this year.
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We fret, we murmur, we worry that the blight has ruined
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everything. Why do we have such a hard time
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trusting the master of the harvest to handle the weather?
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Because we lack the historical perspective of the covenant.
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Oh. Say more about that.
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We evaluate the success of the church based on a five year
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window instead of a 500 year window.
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Oh, spot on. The text points out how often
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believers murmur and fret over the state of the Church, only to
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look at last upon the well filled ear and the heavy wheat
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sheaf. When God gives a rich return for
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the labor, the worker blushes to think they ever doubted.
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They are shamed. They ever grew weary.
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The master of the harvest maintains long term stability
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despite the chaotic fluctuations of any given season.
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So that anxiety, the sweat, the fear of the black smut, it is
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only tolerable if the payoff is genuine.
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Yes, we have to examine what exactly the farmer is hoping to
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reap, the source says. He's waiting for real right and
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bountiful results. Real results, not fake metrics.
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The text specifically calls out the 19th century newspaper
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reports of 51 conversions of an evening.
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Even back then they were inflating numbers.
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Oh. Absolutely.
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The true worker is not looking for superficial, immediate
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metrics manufactured to look good on paper.
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They're looking for ripe fruits for Jesus, seen in the growth in
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advance of those who are truly converted.
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A manufactured revival that produces no lasting
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sanctification is like a farmer painting his dead stocks green
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to impress the neighbors. That's a sad but very accurate
18:53
picture. We are entirely consumed by data
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and metrics today. We want to count heads, track
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engagement, monitor the analytics and publish reports
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showing how successful our efforts are.
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We want the applause of the industry.
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But the farmer knows his real reward comes at the very end.
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The source notes that the lounger always criticizes the
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laborer. The psychology of the spectator
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versus the participant is a major theme in the text.
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Cure motives are almost always misrepresented by onlookers.
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The less a man does, the less he is open to rebuke.
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And the more he does, and the more vigorously he works, the
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more he shall be upbraided. If you seek the praise of men,
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what is it actually worth? It would not fill your nostrils
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if you were about to die. It provides no actual
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sustenance. It is the exact dynamic of the
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Internet troll. You have people who are out in
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the world actively building things, planting seeds, sweating
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in the field, and then you have the anonymous lounger.
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Sitting on the sidelines behind a keyboard.
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Doing absolutely nothing but criticizing the technique of the
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laborer. The loudest criticisms always
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come from those doing the the least amount of work.
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Therefore, the worker must contrast the fleeting applause
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of men with the permanent approbation of God.
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The reward is the master saying well done, good and faithful
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servant. God gives rewards out of his
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abundant grace, not as a strict debt.
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We wait until the week is over and then comes the wage.
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We wait until the sun goes down and then there will be the penny
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for every laborer in the vineyard.
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You must insulate yourself from the critique of the lounger by
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focusing entirely on the coming evaluation of the master.
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So if the applause of men means nothing and the work is
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exhausting, we have to talk about the true encouragement to
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keep going. It is the sheer unadulterated
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value of the crop itself. The text cites a man named Mr.
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Richard Nil and his perspective completely flipped my
20:46
understanding of return on investment.
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What did he say? He said that if there were one
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unconverted person in Siberia and it required all the
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Christians in the world making a journey there to save him, it
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would be worth all the trouble. We really must consider the
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infinite value of a single human soul.
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The theology behind this is entirely countercultural.
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In the modern world, we calculate effort based on mass
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returns. We want thousands saved for a
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small amount of effort. We want maximum efficiency.
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But heaven calculates based on the infinite worth of one soul
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rescued from eternal judgement. A single soul brought to
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salvation justifies the entire enterprise of the global Church.
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Let's examine the friction there though.
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OK? From a purely administrative
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standpoint, sending millions of people to Siberia to save one
21:31
guy sounds like terrible resource management.
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By human standard, sure. It is like launching A
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multibillion dollar global rescue operation, pulling
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military resources, satellites and manpower from every nation
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on earth just to save one single stranded hiker freezing in the
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snow. Our modern metrics would say
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that is wildly inefficient, right?
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It is inefficient if you view the human soul as a temporary
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biological phenomenon, but if you view the soul as an eternal
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entity destined for either everlasting joy or everlasting
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torment, the math changes completely.
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God's metrics dictate that the soul is precious.
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Furthermore, this harvest is guaranteed by the theological
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bedrock of the believer's confidence.
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God is a covenant God. He promised that seed time and
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harvest, summer and winter shall not cease.
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Because heaven and earth will pass away, but His word will
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not. The believer's faith cannot be
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confounded. We also have the immense cloud
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of witnesses. Right ancestors, apostles and
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confessors who planted seeds in total darkness.
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Trusting the exact same covenant promises we rely on today.
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And who reaped the blessing? With such an incredible prize on
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the line, the guaranteed Covenant promises, and the
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historical track record of the cloud of witnesses cheering us
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on, our human instinct is to rush the process.
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We want to speed up the harvest. But the sources give a severe
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warning against impatience. The text highlights the absolute
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futility of impatience. Let's look at the mechanical
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reality of it. The farmer cannot yell at the
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clouds to make it rain. A mother's petulance does not
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call him a crying child. Impatience does nothing but
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cause destruction. It casts Satan out of heaven
23:13
because he was impatient at being a servant to his Maker.
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It caused Cain to kill Abel. There is a story in the text
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about Mr. Hill and the swearing captain on a vessel that
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perfectly illustrates this. Oh, I love that story.
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Mr. Hill, here's the mate swear. Then the captain swears.
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Mr. Hill steps in and says let us be fair, let us take turns.
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My turn to swear is next. The captain is shocked, thinking
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this good man will not actually swear.
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And Mr. Hill says, I mean to swear as soon as ever I can see
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the good of it. It is a humorous interaction,
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but it contains A piercing observation.
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We should be impatient only as soon as we can see the practical
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use it will serve. Which is never.
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Exactly. I mean, yes, never.
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The destructive nature of impatience leads to hasty,
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foolish decisions. Ministers get discouraged
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because they do not see immediate fruit and they leave
24:04
their pulpits prematurely. People get touchy, angry,
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abandoned. Their local congregations head
24:09
out into the wilderness of isolation.
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And regret leaving the fat pastures behind them for the
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rest of their lives. Impatience is exactly like
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laying on your horn in a completely deadlocked traffic
24:20
jam. That's a great analogy.
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It does not move a single car, it does not clear the accident
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ahead. It just spikes your blood
24:25
pressure, deafens your ears, and makes everyone around you
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miserable. You are burning massive amounts
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of energy to accomplish absolutely nothing.
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The text references John Bunyan's parable of passion and
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patience to drive this point home.
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Passion wanted all his best things first, so he received
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them immediately. He lavished them, consumed them,
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and used up all his joy in a brief moment.
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While Patience sat and waited, When Passion had nothing left,
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Patience received his portion. And as Bunyan remarked, there is
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nothing to come after the last, so the portion of patients
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lasted forever. The true believer has the grace
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to wait, wanting the best things last, knowing those things will
25:05
last for eternity. How many blessings have we
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aborted because we pulled the plant out of the ground just to
25:10
see if the roots were growing? We refuse to let patients finish
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her work, but there is one specific season where patients
25:17
has tested the most severely and it happens right at the very end
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of the line. The text points to Hebrews
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chapter 10 verses 35 and 36 which says we have need of
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patience after we have done the will of God.
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This is a crucial psychological insight into the human
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condition. We're never so subject to
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impatience as when there is nothing left we can actively do.
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While the farmer's plowing, tilling and hoeing, his muscles
25:40
are burning and he's too busy to be fretful.
25:43
The physical exertion distracts the mind.
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But when the active work is finished and he just has to
25:47
watch the sky, the sudden leisure gives occasion to secret
25:51
qualms and lurking cares. The hardest way is always when
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your hands are empty. The source uses a striking
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physiological metaphor about mature wheat to explain this
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final, terrifying waiting period.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, the description of the
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sun painted wheat is a masterful illustration of sanctification
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and dying. As the wheat matures, A
26:13
fascinating biological shift occurs.
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The hollow stems stop drawing nourishment from the soil below.
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The vital powers fail. The fibers become rigid.
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The stock literally dies from the bottom up.
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Having fed on the riches of the soil long enough, the grain is
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now only influenced from above. The sun paints its
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superscription on the ears of grain, ripening it for the
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sickle. The wheat stock has to die from
26:35
the bottom up in order to be ripened by the sun.
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It stops pulling nutrients from the Bert.
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It is a beautiful, severe concept.
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It really is. It reminds me of a space capsule
26:45
detaching from its massive booster rockets.
26:49
For a long time, you needed those boosters.
26:50
You needed the fire, the fuel, and the massive weight from the
26:53
Earth to push you upward into the atmosphere.
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But eventually those earthly attachments fall away, dead and
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useless, because they are no longer required for the final
27:03
phase of the ascent into the heavens.
27:05
Continuing to hold on to them would actually drag the capsule
27:08
back down. Spurgeon applies this biological
27:11
and mechanical reality directly to the aging Christian.
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The believer experiences a final detachment from earthly things.
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They stop drawing their satisfaction, their identity,
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and their nourishment from the earth.
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They are only influenced from above Physical decline, the
27:26
failing of vital powers, the loss of mobility or influence.
27:30
These things are accepted not as a tragedy, but as a necessary
27:34
precursor to eternal harvesting. The heavenly powers work quick
27:38
and marvelous changes in the soul, and the Son of
27:41
Righteousness inscribes holiness on them.
27:44
They are ready for the sickle. This runs completely contrary to
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a culture that is utterly terrified of aging and finality.
27:51
We spend billions of dollars trying to artificially pump
27:54
nutrients back into the dead stalk.
27:56
We try to look young, we try to stay relevant, we try to cling
27:59
to the dirt with everything we have.
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But true maturation is learning to stop pulling from the earth
28:04
and yielding to the sun. The culmination is a soul
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perfectly resigned to the will of the Lord, ready to depart and
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be with Christ, which is far better.
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Patience has had her perfect work.
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The believer lacks nothing, waiting only for the heavenly
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husbandmen to say, Put in your sickle.
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That brings us to the final moments in the field, and we
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have to address the sobering reality for those who refuse to
28:26
plant. The Source closes with a stark,
28:29
chilling observation. The unbeliever cannot wait with
28:32
patients because they have absolutely nothing to wait for.
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There is no crop coming. If you have not sown to the
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Spirit, you cannot expect a spiritual harvest.
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The text is unambiguous on this point.
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For the unbeliever there is only a fearful looking for of
28:46
judgment. It makes all earthly wealth,
28:49
joy, poverty or suffering totally irrelevant in the end.
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If you are driven from the Lord's presence, the temporary
28:56
comforts you hoarded in the greenery will mean absolutely
28:59
nothing. The safety, the pardon, the
29:01
salvation is found only in resting in the finished work of
29:04
Jesus. So we synthesize all of this.
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You are currently standing in a field.
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You're holding seeds in your hands.
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You are making choices every single day about where you
29:14
scatter those seeds. Are you throwing garlic into the
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dirt expecting wheat? Are you hoarding your grain in
29:19
the grainary, terrified of the short term loss?
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We must look up to the Sovereign Lord of the harvest.
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We must rely entirely on His covenant promises and the life
29:29
giving reign of His Spirit. But simultaneously, we must keep
29:32
our hands dirty in the soil of daily obedience.
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We must be gloriously active, nothings pulling the weeds,
29:38
wading through the long winter and trusting that the Master
29:41
will return with his sickle in his perfect time.
29:44
It requires A manhassa reorientation of how we view our
29:47
daily labor, our anxieties, and our ultimate hope.
29:51
It really does change everything.
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As we wrap up this deep dive into the source material, I want
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to leave you with a final thought to Mull over on your
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own. Let's hear it.
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If the specific seeds planted in the soil of your life today
30:02
dictate the exact nature of your eternal harvest, what invisible
30:06
seeds are you unknowingly watering right now through your
30:09
daily habits? A question that demands an
30:11
honest assessment of the field. Thank you for joining us on this
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deep dive into the source material.
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We will see you next time on Reformed Thinking.