THE TARES
OR
THE
BY
PHILIP MAURO
-------
We read in the 16th
chapter of Matthew that our Lord
rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees because they could not discern the signs of
the times. They should have understood
those signs because they were the custodians and expounders of the oracles of
God; but they erred, not knowing the Scriptures. Moreover, the signs were sufficiently clear
and numerous. They were clear enough for
John the Baptist. When he from his
prison sent messengers to the Lord to ask if He were the One that should come,
His answer was Go and show John again the
things that ye do hear and see. He knew that the answer
would be understood. But to those who sat in Moses seat, and in whom the
authority to teach was formally lodged, the signs of His coming were absolutely
without significance. They could discern
the sign of the sky and give some information about the weather; information of
a relatively trifling and transient value; but they could not discern the signs of the
times. Hence our Lord termed them hypocrites.
They assumed the role of teachers, but
did not teach that which it most concerned the people to know.
How is it in our day?
Events are happening that are full of significance. There are signs enough; but those who sit in
Moses seat, and are formally invested with authority are, with few exceptions,
telling us merely about the weather, and generally the prediction is, it will be
fair weather (Matt. 16: 2.)
In Scripture all signs have reference to Him that should come; but to the majority of those who
comment on current events all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. (2 Pet. 3: 4.)
Our purpose in this hour is to take notice of some of the
things that have happened in the past, and that are transpiring in our day, and
to examine them in the light of Gods Word.
May the Spirit of Truth be our guide.
There are two Scriptures which I wish to have particularly in
mind:
Matt. 13:
30: Let both grow together until the harvest, and Rev. 14: 15: The harvest of the
earth is ripe.
The age in which we are living is bounded by these two
sentences of Scripture. The first marks
the beginning of the age and the character it should possess throughout its
entire length. There was a sowing of two
general kinds of seed - only two,
(though, of the second kind, the tares, there might be many varieties): and
there was to be a continuous development of both sorts throughout the age until
the harvest.
The second text marks the ending of the age, for the harvest
is the end of the age. (Matt. 13: 39.)
What happens after the harvest belongs to another age; the harvest is the end of this [evil] age.**
* Strictly speaking the end of the age
referred to in this parable is doubtless the end of that portion of the Jewish
age which will be resumed after the present parenthetical dispensation (the
Church age) is brought to its end by the removal of the Church as described in 1 Thess. 4: 16- 19. The writer not aiming
here at strictness of interpretation.
The importance, however, of noting the real end of this present
dispensation lies in the fact that,
while the nearness or the harvest may be clearly realised from the facts set
forth in this address, the removal of the Church from this earthly scene is
nearer still.
[*NOTE. There is also a removal of some of
His redeemed people - (certainly not all, but certainly those regarded worthy to escape), - will occur before
God deals again with the Jewish nation; and before the commencement
of Antichrists persecutions during the Great Tribulation. See Luke 21:
34-36 and
Rev. 3: 10.]
A STRIKING
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE AGE
Our Lord thus clearly and pointedly announced, at the very
beginning of the age, and calling on all who have ears to pay heed to the
announcement (ver. 43) that the age was to have a very striking characteristic. It has indeed, many characteristics
distinguishing it from ages past and ages to come; but we confine our attention
to that special one presented in the passage cited; namely that throughout the
age, God would not interfere with the doings of men acting with self-will, and
under the guidance of Satan, who was the chosen god of this age. (2 Cor. 4: 4.)
This was a consequence of the rejection of Christ, the rightful
Sovereign. Satan was thereupon confirmed
in his title of prince of this world, which our Lord recognised explicitly three distinct
times, as recorded in Johns gospel, and impliedly in the temptations in the
wilderness. (Luke 4: 6.) But in addition to the office of
prince of this world, Satan also became the god of this age; i. e., the director of its spiritual affairs. Hence the utter
irreconcilability, between those who are in Christ and those who are in the world. Henceforth then, until the very end of the
age the course of human affairs, directed by the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience,* (Eph. 2: 2) was to proceed unchecked and unhindered by the hand of God.
[* NOTE. That
is, in both the unregenerate, and also in the disobedient regenerate. Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from
Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled
him: (1 Sam. 16: 14. See LXX.). cf.
1 Sam. 28:
15: And Samuel said
to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to being me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the
Philistines make war against me, and GOD IS DEPARTED FROM ME, and
answereth me no more, neither by prophets,
nor by dreams: therefore
I have called thee, that thou mayest make known
unto me what I shall do. And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing THE LORD IS DEPARTED
FROM THEE, and is become thine adversary?
And we are witnesses of these things,
said the Apostle Peter, and so is the Holy Ghost
{Spirit}, whom God hath GIVEN TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM: (Acts 5: 32,
R.V.).]
Attention to these plain teachings of our Lord would save the
Christian from much perplexity. Many
things happen which seem to be, and are, utterly
inconsistent with the idea that God is directing human affairs in this
age. But where did that notion come
from? Not from the Word of God, which teaches the direct opposite. It could only, come from the spirit of the
world (1 Cor.
2: 12), whose constant aim is to cast
reproach upon God. No, when you are
asked by the sceptic, how could such a thing happen
in Gods world? you can say,
it could not; but in Satans world it is quite in keeping.
In previous ages God did deal directly with the affairs of
representative men, with those of a family, and then with those of a
nation. But now, from the age which has
rejected His Son, He withdraws Himself.
It is the day of Gods silence.*+ It is the day in which man can have
his own way; in which he can achieve and can freely boast himself of his
achievements; in which he can speak even against the Most High, unchecked and
unrebuked. It is emphatically mans day.
(1 Cor.
4: 3; marg.)
+ See that valuable and illuminating volume - The Silence of God, by Sir Robert Anderson.
In this age then the evil one was permitted freely to sow his
seed throughout the field, and the field is the world. (Matt. 13: 39). Not only so, but the
plants germinating from these seeds
are permitted, to spring up and grow, and to spread their branches, and to bear
and mature their fruit.
The divine pre-announced programme for the age afforded free
and ample opportunity to mankind to bring forth the very best possible results
that could be achieved with the aid of mans chosen leader, and along the
alluring paths of self-improvement, self-reliance, self-sufficiency,
self-development, in which their chosen guide essayed to lead them. For Satans aim is, not to drag men down, but
to lift them up. Every gospel of self-development
and self-improvement is satanic in its origin and result. (See The World and Its
God by the writer.)
God declared that He would not interfere with the growth of
the tares. The effects of Satans
leadership were to be fully disclosed.
His plan was to be accorded a perfectly fair test,
with every favourable condition the tares were to have the benefit of the same
soil air, moisture and sunshine as the wheat.
The servants of the householder, seeing the presence of tares in the
field, would have gathered them up, but He said: Let both grow together until
the harvest. No obstacle is to be put in the way of the
growth and development of any seed of the devils planting.
We may be very sure that Satan is deeply interested in the
success of his plan for humanity. We
know not all that he may have at stake, but we know that he has enough at stake
to incite him to the exercise of his highest intelligence, and to the putting
forth of his greatest energies in behalf of the progress
of the race. It is certainly
with him a matter of pride, and pride was the cause of his downfall. Hence the intense activity of the age - the
tremendous, the superhuman energies put forth, and the marvellous intelligence
displayed in every line of material development; as well as in the spiritual
realm. Nature is pillaged of all her
resources, creation is ransacked, and is forced, by the persistence of men, to
yield up her secret stores, and to lend her hidden and mysterious forces to the
service of mankind. Generations of men
fall in the struggle, and pass away without seeing the elusive goal for which
so much life and blood are spent; but nevertheless a single definite purpose
holds steadily throughout the age. All
the results of human discoveries, inventions and triumphs
over nature, as they are proudly called, are directed toward the single
object of making earth a pleasant and comfortable abiding place for humanity
apart from God - a place in which He shall not be missed - toward an object
which shall justify the rejection of Christ.
And so in all these discoveries and triumphs
no glory is given to Him who stored creation with the products of His
marvellous wisdom. Men take all the
credit to themselves and they ever bestow their own names upon Gods laws. It is
LIMITATIONS OF MANS ABILITIES AND THE
INFERENCE THEREFROM
It is, however, to be observed, as a very significant fact,
that men do not quite comprehend, or even fully learn the right uses of, the
substances and forces of nature which they discover, and which they label with
their own names. Mishaps, blunders and
even disasters attend each innovation.
Explosions, collisions, conflagrations and the like are every-day
occurrences. This fact alone would
indicate to the truly-wise that the present uses of these natural materials and
forces have not been learned from Him who created them. The presence of a superior directing
intelligence in human affairs, an intelligence that is superhuman, is
sufficiently, manifest; but on the other hand it is evident that the directing
intelligence is not the Wisdom of God.
Doubtless one of the delights of those who are chosen unto the
resurrection of the just will be to learn, in
the [millennial] age to come, the true uses of all those things
which now are but partly understood.
And so the great experiment of the age
proceeds to its very end. Full scope and
time have been given to it. Man has, in this [evil] age ample opportunity to cultivate
the earth according to his own ideas, prompted and aided by the wisdom of the
god of the age; and not until all the fruits are fully matured and their nature
clearly manifested, shall the reapers be sent forth to gather them up. They will then, and not sooner, become an
object lesson in the moral government of God, to all created intelligences,
celestial and terrestrial.
* *
*
THE NATURE OF TARES - THEIR GOOD QUALITIES
Let it not be supposed that the tares which are to grow together with the wheat until
the harvest, are rank and noxious weeds, such as the vices, crimes and
cruelties of humanity. Quite the contrary.
These tares are the products of mans genius and industry, not of his
viciousness and depravity. The resources
of nature which men have developed are the creation of Gods own hand, and the
forces of nature, which men have mastered and applied to their own purposes,
are Gods own energies. The products,
therefore, could not fail to have in themselves properties of beauty and
utility, which naturally evoke admiration.
But looking at the method and purpose of their production, the results
of human ingenuity are all alike evil. Our Lords unqualified testimony of the world
is that the works thereof are evil (John 7: 7).
He found nothing to commend in all the works of the world. No, the tares were not a rank poisonous
growth; but on the contrary, they bore a very close resemblance to the wheat;
so much so that even the angelic servants of the householder could not be
trusted to distinguish between them. (Nay, lest while ye gather up
the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.) Until ripe the difference
could not be detected.
And not only so, but the same soil and
air which supply nourishment, and the same sunshine and rain which ripen the
wheat, perform the same ministry to the tares: For He maketh His sun to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5: 45).
The main and vital difference between the tares and wheat is
this, that the former lack what the latter yields, namely, the kernel or grain,
which is fit to be gathered into barns, and which can be converted into bread
that sustains the life and satisfies the soul.
The appearance of the tares or darnel is fair to the eye. It is green and flourishing. Its appearance promises a satisfactory yield,
and the field presents a pleasing prospect as the blades of imitation wheat
wave gracefully in the summer breeze.
But despite the fair and promising appearance, the product is a mockery
to those who have expended their toil, and tears and lives, upon it, and is fit
only to be gathered into bundles to be burned. Human genius and human industry,
with all the great engines and contrivances that have been devised, and with
the aid of all the natural stores and forces to which God has given free
access, have not produced one single
thing which can satisfy, the heart of man. But this lack of kernel or grain is not
manifest until the plant has reached maturity.
Therefore the word is: Let both grow together until the harvest.
THE LENGTH OF MANS DAY
Mans day has been a long day.
It has far exceeded in length any previous day. God cannot be charged with unfairness in not
allowing sufficient time for the crops to ripen. No one will be able to say that, with more
time, the Satanic plan for the human race could have
been worked out to a satisfactory conclusion.
The experiment, therefore, is allowed to proceed to its very end. But there is to be a time of harvest, a time
of a general reaping and gathering of all the products of the age, and that
time of harvest is to be the end of the age (Matt. 13: 39).
THE PROCEDURE AT HARVEST TIME
The procedure at the time of the harvest is to be
peculiar. The wheat is to be gathered
into the Householders barn. He who
sowed in tears shall then reap in joy.
The Divine Sower who went forth with weeping,
bearing precious seed, shall come again with rejoicing, bearing His sheaves
with Him. (Ps. 126: 5, 6).
But the tares - every growing thing, no matter how excellent
in appearance, which has sprung from seed not sown by the Son of Man, - is to
be gathered into bundles on the field (and the field is the world) to burn them. None
of the products of this age, upon which the age so greatly prides itself, is to
survive into the age to Come.
When the time of harvest arrives the Son
of Man will send forth His angels. These
angelic beings come, not to hold up their admiring wonder at the great things
which man has made, the twenty-story buildings and the hundred-horse, power
automobiles, and all the other products of civilization.
Those holy hands will be engaged in an occupation of a very different
sort; namely, in gathering all these great achievements into bundles, as
worthless rubbish, which must be consumed before the righteous
shall return with their Lord to shine forth in the kingdom of their Father.
WHEN SHALL HARVEST TIME
COME?
When then is the time of the harvest? The Husbandman Himself
is the One who determines when the time has come for reaping the harvest. Looking upon the field He will perceive that
the products of mans unhindered cultivation of the fruitful soil of earth are
fully matured, and the word will go forth:
Thrust in thy sickle and reap;
for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. (Rev. 14: 15).
To us, the precise time of the harvest has not been
revealed. Of that day and hour knoweth
no man. Even He who sits on the clouds awaits the words, - Thrust in thy
sickle and reap.
Nevertheless ye, brethren,
are not in darkness that day should overtake you as a thief
(1 Thess. 5: 4); and so, as we survey the field, in
the light afforded by Gods Word, we can observe the progress and the condition
of the various crops which men have been, throughout this long [evil] age, so sedulously cultivating. We
cannot fail also to note that the influences which tend to ripen those crops
have been working in our generation with intensified power; just as, at the end
of the summer, a few days of warm sunshine bring every growing thing quickly to
a state of maturity.
The results of such a survey of the field must be startling
and impressive, indeed, to one who has eyes to see; for there are abundant
evidences that the time of the harvest of the earth is at hand. Those fruits of the earth which have not
already fully ripened are maturing so rapidly that surely we may say, in the
words of Jeremiah
51: 33:-
Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
Let us now take for our consideration a few instances from
which a general idea of the condition of the crops, and of the proximity of the
harvest, can be obtained. In presenting
these examples I have not pursued any logical order, but have simply noted them
as they occurred to me.
Philosophy. - The products of the wisdom of
the world are
fully ripe. In fact, they are
overripe. No philosophy worthy of the
name has ripened since the days of Plato and Aristotle. Efforts of recent times to furnish an
explanation of things - (for philosophy is the attempt to explain how things
came to be what they are), - only serve to show clearly that the fruit of mans
wisdom is fully ripe. There has been no
progress here in many centuries. What
has come up in this part of the field has been a sort of second growth - very
scrubby, [unscriptural] and of poor quality. This portion of the harvest
of the earth is ripe.
Literature. - Here we need exercise but little
discernment to perceive that the crop of literary fruit is fully ripe. There
has been practically no literary product in this generation. In the works of Shakespeare,
Milton, Dante, Schiller, Goethe and a few others we have the fully matured
product of the field of literature. The
present day product in this field is what a recent editorial in a
* Within a day or two appeared another
editorial on the young toughs, the unspeakable young
devils who disport themselves in
In fact the subjects of literature are exhausted. There remain no great themes to be worked up,
even if we have among us (as possibly we may have) men endowed with the
literary capacity needed to work them up into approved literary forms. Human effort in this line is now running into
the daily paper and the ephemeral periodical.
Literature is neither produced nor
consumed. There is no public appetite
for it.
In the literary field the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. - The story here is the same. The fruits of these fields of human labour
have long since ripened. Among the
recent product to be found in these fields there is nothing but imitation and
repetition. Further effort along these
lines, except of the most perfunctory sort would be futile, for the supreme
products of human genius in these fields have been brought forth. All the forms have been worked over into all
possible shapes. The result of our
survey here must be the conviction that, in these well cultivated fields also,
the harvest is ripe.
Music.- Here is a rich and fertile field whose
fruits and flowers have refreshed and cheered humanity through the ages, and
upon whose cultivation the greatest care has been bestowed. In this field it needs no long scrutiny to
discern the true state of things.
Musical forms and compositions in their richness and variety have been
already developed, and the highest specimens of every form have been already
produced. Every conceivable theme which
could inspire the musical creative genius has been treated. Indeed, the very conditions which are favourable
to the conception and embodiment of truly great musical ideas are passing
away. This generation has neither time
nor taste for these things; and, as we sample the present-day output from the
music publishing houses, our conclusion therefrom must be that, in the great
field of music, the harvest of the earth is ripe.
THE VAST FIELDS WHERE AGGREGATED HUMAN
EFFORT IS PUT
In the hasty glance which we have taken at some of the various
fields which humanity has cultivated, our eyes have been greeted everywhere
with unmistakably ripened fruit. Let us
look now in quite a different direction, namely, to the vast domain wherein
national and social experiments are worked out, and the fruits of organizations
are produced. Heretofore, we have been
looking at individual achievement and production. We now look at associations of men -
voluntary and involuntary - and at the result of co-operative effort, wherein
the individual is nothing, and the society is everything.
Previous to what we may call modern
times the fruits of co-operative effort had been brought forth under
many different conditions, and a vast amount of history and experience
had been accumulated. In all this the
incapacity of man to govern himself and others had been strikingly
manifested. But the Almighty had, in His
wisdom reserved for a special purpose the fairest and most highly favoured part
of the earth. He kept it carefully
hidden from those who had in hand the progress of
humanity. The exceptional
natural conditions presented by the continent of
Man is reluctant to confess failure. He will even close his eyes to it when it is
clear and unmistakeable. We may
recognize here the power of the great Deceiver of mankind. For we must not forget that all the things we
have been considering are but phases of Satans great experiment, the
development of his plan for the human family, of which plan the first step was
the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evi1.
True, there is at the present moment a great stirring of the
police and health departments of the nations, and a great scurry is manifested
around the spots where the rapidly spreading corruption has come to the
surface. The false optimism of the times
points to these nervous and spasmodic flutterings of the body politic as
indications of a tendency towards better conditions. But to one who has eyes to see, what they
really indicate is the matured fruit of unhindered material prosperity, fruit
which has been cultivated under the most favourable conditions, by the most
gifted, versatile and energetic people who have ever occupied a portion of the
earth.
The leaders and beneficiaries of the activities of this age
and country will continue to cry peace and safety, but the anointed eye can clearly see
that in this vast field the fruits of mans long toiling and sweating are now
fast ripening, if indeed their full maturity has not been already reached.
* *
*
THE CROPS SAMPLED: AND
CONCLUSION.
HUMAN GOVERNMENT
The
progress of the Harvest of
human government may also he clearly traced from the time when God lodged governmental authority in the hands of
Nebuchadnezzer. The image which that
monarch saw, who was himself the golden head of human sovereignty, gives us the
absolute limitations of the cultivation of this field. Man had rejected the
only government which God ever instituted on earth; and so, in Nebuchadnezzars
day, authority was committed to the
Gentiles to be exercised by them until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled.
Nebuchadnezzars vision forecasts the progressive weakening governmental
control, until the last period of all should see the iron of the Roman system
mixed with the fragile pottery of democratic or popular rule.
That the world has advanced very far into this final stage of
gentile government is undeniable. A striking illustration is afforded by the
work of the last American Congress, which work the people have been called upon
by the President and by the newspapers to admire. The attention of the national legislature,
assembled to provide measures for the welfare of this great people, has been
occupied almost exclusively in the attempt to check two tendencies of our
twentieth century civilization and progress; first unequal freight rates on the
railroads; and second, the selling of decayed animal matter under government
labels as inspected food; and we have no assurance
that either attempt will succeed. We
have been taught from our infancy to regard the railroads as prominent among
the blessings of modern civilization. At
what stage then have we arrived, when the power of our national government must
he invoked to devise legislation which shall protect as from our blessings?
It would be supposed that the meaning of such facts as these
would be unmistakable. Under what spell
then are the minds of men held that they can even regard the desperate governmental
expedients of these times as indications of progress towards better things? Is it not plain that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless
and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,
etc. (1 Tim. 1: 9)? The laws never come
into existence until after the evils at which they are aimed have become
intolerable; therefore, the more demand there is for repressive legislation the
greater is the pressure of the
rising tides of evil.
As to human government there can be no doubt that we have
reached the latter end of the last stage before the King comes.
MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT, INVENTION AND APPLIED SCIENCE.
The resources of nature have now been
widely and deeply explored. Many and
remarkable adaptations of means to ends have been contrived, and discovery
seems to be as active as ever. In
surveying this field the superficial idea is that an indefinite period of discovery
and invention yet lies before humanity; and indeed it requires a closer scrutiny
and a deeper acquaintance with the facts in this field of human endeavour than
are required to arrive at a correct conclusion as to the state of maturity of
the crops in other fields.
Doubtless many new chemical combinations will yet be formed,
and new permutations of mechanical elements will be devised; but I believe
there are clear evidences that the main fruits of material development are
practically ripe. Everyone who, like the
writer, has to do with inventions, is well aware that
the industrial arts are all in a highly developed condition. It is also clear, that in every direction
which industrial development has taken, there are indications that the limit
has been reached or is near. Inventive
effort is now expending itself upon the mere details.
We cannot go into the proof of this at length, and it must
suffice to cite as an illustration the present state of development of those
means whereby the energies of nature are utilized. The development and transmission of power or
energy lies at the foundation of all industrial operations, and this example
will well serve to indicate the condition of the crops in this entire field.
Man-power and animal-power were first utilized and depended
upon. Then, as these were found to be
inadequate, they were supplemented by devices for utilizing wind-power and
water-power. After this stage came the
era of employment of the power of heat, which was latent in the immense forests
and in the more immense beds of coal. Now
we are in the final stage of this last era, and are seeing the application of
the energy of the high vibrations in general (etheric
vibrations or radiant energy) and of electrical energy in particular. Not only have we entered upon this final
stage, but it must be admitted that the means for utilizing these forms of
power or energy have themselves been highly developed; and what is now going on
is mere improvement in details.
We have called this the final stage of material and industrial
development. Every one can see for
himself that the forces of nature have all
been mastered and pressed into the service of man.
What shall we say then to these things? Can we
say otherwise than that the crops in every field which man has cultivated are
in such a state of advancement that at any moment the Lord of the Harvest may
declare that the
harvest of the earth is ripe?
Other
crops might be sampled. Particularly we
might examine the conditions in the fields in which the religions of mankind
have been cultivated. Much is to be
observed here; and the result of allother observations woulf be that the final
stage of strong
delusions. Repugnance to sound doctrine and choice of teachers having itching ears has been reached.
The fruits and flowers of the religious field, of which Cain was the
first cultivator, and which has produced all the popular systems which offer
the delusive hope of salvation without the atoning blood of Christ, are ripe.
THE IMMEDIATE PRELIMINARY TO THE
HARVEST:
GATHERING THE TARES INTO BUNDLES.
The
Divine programme for the [evil] age was that the wheat and tares were both to grow
together until the harvest; and the immediate preliminary to, or more properly,
the first stage of, the harvest is to be the gathering together first of the
tares into bundles (Matt. 13: 30). Then, the wheat is to be gathered into the
Lords barn, leaving the tares on the field, bunched together in bundles in
condition to be consumed by the fires of judgment during the tribulation.
As
we survey current events is it not clear that the process of gathering into
bundles is proceeding in a variety of ways with amazing rapidity? The individual now counts for nothing. The organization is the thing. And this is so wherever we look.
In
the world of business (which is the foremost concern of the age) the tendency
to gather into bundles is strikingly exemplified. In every field of human industry the
corporation has replaced the individual, with disasterous consequences to
business honesty and fair dealing.
Nearly all the individual workers have been already gathered into
bundles. Those who are not so fortunate
as to have a place in the corporations, but are compelled to work for them, are
themselves gathering more and more into labour unions, each according to his
particular craft, and this condition prevails everywhere.
Other
bundles may be seen, of many different sorts.
There are societies, fraternities, clubs, guilds, unions, associations,
etc., etc.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. The Son of man shall
send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom, all things that offend and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear,
let him hear (Matt.
13: 40-43).
And I looked, and behold a
white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like
unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden
crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple
crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Thrust in thy sickle
and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe (Rev. 14: 14, 15).
OUR TESTIMONY
The
subject assigned to me calls for a word as to our testimony regarding the
characteristics of the age; but since the allotted time has been consumed in
discussing the first part of the subject, the latter part must be dismissed
with the briefest comment.
In
the face of all these things, and with the repeated warnings of Scripture in
our ears, what can our testimony be other than it is now time to look up, and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh? We have a
four-fold testimony to present to the world.
The answer to the sin that is in man is Christ our Saviour,
the answer to the feebleness, defeats
and wilderness-wanderings of believers is Christ our Sanctifier, and
the answer to sickness and disease in the mortal body is Christ our Healer. Surely then,
the answer to the conditions prevailing upon the earth at the present day is Christ our coming Lord and King.
Let
us then give our testimony in the language of James 5: 7, 8.
Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of
the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth.
May
we not remember in this connection what our Lord said in another place: My Father is the Husbandman? He too is
waiting, with an intensity of expectancy far exceeding anything that can kindle
our hearts. And His waiting is for the precious fruit. For there was
another kind of sowing. We do not forget
Him who went forth bearing precious seed (Psalm
126: 6), from which comes the fruit that is precious to the Husbandman, and is
to be gathered into His barn. Our
thought has been directed solely to the other kind of crops; but it is
appropriate just here to remind ourselves that our Lord too has had long
patience for the promise. He shall see His seed,
and shall see the travail of His soul and shall be
satisfied (Isa. 53: 11, 12.) This is the patience of Jesus, the patience
of hope.
Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patience for it, until He receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH
(James 5: 7,
8).
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