John 4:35-38 Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields… I. HOW THIS PROVERB WAS VERIFIED IN THE CASE OF THE APOSTLES. The general view is that they went into a moral wilderness, and that planting and sowing were simultaneous. This was not the case. 1. As regards the Jews, the prophets, etc., John and our Lord had sown the seed. The harvest at Pentecost was the result of centuries of seed-sowing, and in preaching Peter was merely putting in the sickle. 2. As regards the heathen the seed had been sown — (1) By the teaching of nature and conscience. (2) By priests and prophets such as Melchizedek, Jethro, Job, Balaam, by whom the tradition of a purer age had been preserved. (3) By the dissemination of truth through the dispersion of the Jews. 3. Thus the fields were now white unto harvest, and the apostles reaped where others had sown. II. HOW IT MAY BE CONTINUALLY VERIFIED AMONGST OURSELVES. 1. Sudden conversions produced by preacher or friend are only the outcome, it may be, of a long series of impressions. 2. An apparently unfruitful ministry may be a preparation for a rich harvest under some successor. III. THE GRACIOUS ASSURANCE THAT BOTH SOWER AND REAPER SHALL REJOICE TOGETHER. It may make a difference to a man as far as his present comfort is concerned whether he be a sower or a reaper, but none as far as his future is concerned. If he has done his work faithfully he shall have his reward. Moses and the prophets and the Gentile teachers will rejoice with apostles and Christian missionaries; apparently unsuccessful parents and missionaries with those who have spoken effectively. Lesson: Be not weary in well-doing — parents, teachers, preachers — you may see no fruit, but you are sowing good seed. (H. Melvill, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. |
    |