Matthew

[0:00] As the Lord may help me Help me to speak And help you to hear I will ask your attention To a few words from the Gospel according to Matthew 13th chapter And a part of the 39th verse The harvest is the end of the world The 13th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew And a part of the 39th verse The harvest is the end of the world Friends who were here this afternoon Probably expected a continuation Of the subject of our meditation But this word has seemed to engage my mind

[1:02] And take my thoughts rather from the other subject To the solemn considerations That this word suggests Perhaps there is a purpose for this For I believe Do you not That the Lord not only Directs his servants In general Into his words But directs them also With regard to particular words Truths That he will have to be spoken On particular occasions Because he has a purpose To some To be fulfilled By and through That particular message If it should be That in this I am the Lord's messenger In the Lord's message To anyone Tonight Oh that will be a wonderful confirmation That the Lord has directed me To this world The harvest Is the end

[2:02] Of the world You will Recognize Of course That it is in the connection Of the parable Of the Wheat And The tares It is not In my mind To Deal with the parable Itself This evening But with this One A particular Clause Of this verse But still The context I think Needs A very brief Consideration There are two parables Of course In this chapter Amongst others That in some respects Are very similar The parable Of the sower And the seed And the parable Of the tares And the wheat The one Expresses The effect Of the word Of God Upon the heart That is prepared By the grace

[3:03] Of God To receive it To believe it And to be Fruitful In it It illustrates In general The fruitfulness Of the word Of God In the heart Of such As to receive it According to the good Character Of the good Ground The parable The tares And the wheat Is much the same With this difference That in this parable It is not so much The seed As the person The persons Are either the wheat Or the tares But there is a connection In this way That that which makes The wheat To be wheat Or as it is Explained The children Of the kingdom Is that The word Of truth Has been Made effectual In their hearts By the holy Spirit Especially With regard

[4:04] To their Regeneration The children Of the kingdom Are such As have been Born again By the Incorruptible Seat of the word Of God As the holy Spirit Has caused it To have That mysterious And wonderful And vital And absolutely Essential Effect In the soul That makes Them To be children Of the kingdom That is They have a part And a lot In all the Blessings Present And to come Of the kingdom Of the Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ The tares Are the children Of the wicked One But I do not Understand this So much To mean The ungodly In general In the world For they Would hardly Seem to Answer

[5:04] To the Likeness Between The wheat And the tares In the early Stages Of their Development But I Understand And I have Never heard It so Explained I leave This to your Sober judgment As to whether It is the right Interpretation The Tares Are such As Professed To be Believers In Jesus Christ And Yet Have never Had The true Seed of the Word Made effectual In their Hearts But they are Such as that The devil As the Lord Here Clearly means Has Sown Errors Vital Awful Soul Destructive Soul Deceiving Errors Well now There are Many You know In whose Hearts

[6:05] The enemy Hath Sowed The tares Of error Who say Oh they Believe in Jesus Christ Oh they're Christians They're Christians And It may be Exceedingly Difficult To know Whether They really Are or Are not Err If any Will say That they Don't Believe at All They don't Profess to Be Christians They've Got no Regard For the Ways Of Truth And Openly Walk In The Ways Of Sin And Ungodliness There's No Question Whether Their Children Of The Kingdom Are Not They're Obviously Not But when People Profess to Be Believers And Christians And Yet Their Profession Of Christianity Does Not Spring From The Vital Truth Made Defecture In Their Hearts By The Holy Ghost That Such Errors As We Know Are Being Continually Broached

[7:05] In The Earth They Are Terrors And Although Of course They Would Deny And Repudiate The Thought Of Such A Thing As That They're The Children Of The Wicked One But Mark You This If Their Religion Is The Effect Of Satan's Errors Stown In Their Hearts Then They Are The Children Of The Wicked One In Just The Same Way As Those Children Of The Kingdom In Whose Hearts The Good Seed Of The Gospel Is Sown And Made Effectual By The Holy Ghost Now Both These Will Profess To Be Christians Those Whose Religion God And It Springs From The Good Seed Of The Kingdom Or From The Evil Seed Of The Devil's Errors And As I Said It Is Exceedingly Difficult Er In Fact It Is Not Safe For Us Really

[8:05] Er To Er Judge Especially In The Early Stages As To Where People Stand In This Particular We Can Begin To See Perceive Perhaps About There's Something Not Right Somehow They Don't Speak About Jesus Christ As Those Who Really New And Felt And Possessed His Grace Somehow There's Something Isn't Right With Them Perhaps Some Vital Truths You Perceive They Begin To Deny Or Cast Doubt Upon Or They Begin To Give Expression To Things You Begin To Perceive This Is Not The Teaching Of The Holy Spirit In Their Heart So You Begin To See There Tears And Wheat But Now They Would Never Do For To Begin To Say Well This Person Is Religion Is Christianity Is Profession Oh That's The Devil And This

[9:05] One Oh That's Of The Holy Spirit Because These Things Are So Mysterious And We Can Be So Easily Deceived And Especially Perhaps Our Own Minds May Be So Affected By Our Disposition Either To Be Over Charitable Or Over Critical Too Easy Disposed To To Receive All Unless They're Absolutely Obviously Wrong Or Too Exclusive Even To Receive Some Who In Whose Hearts The Lord Has Really Implanted The Good Seed Of His Word For People's Dispositions Differ Greatly About This Some Are Over Generous In Their Judgment Only Too Ready To Receive Without Any Deserlment At All Others On The Other Side Measure

[10:06] People So Much By Their Own Measure If They Don't Come Up To That Cut Them Off Well Now All This Is Not Sanctioned By The Word Of God You Know It Is Like The Servant Of The Householder Saying Sir Here Are Tears In The Fields Here Are People Who Are In The Church In The Professional Religion And Yet I Am Sure They Are Not Genuine Christians Not Born Again They Haven't The Right Language Although They May Say The Same Things Shall We Go And Gather Them Up Shall We Have A Church In Which There's Absolutely None But We And Not One Single Tear Oh My Friends That's Been Attempted To Over And Over And Over But It Never Were Because No Man Has Sufficient Insight Into The Heart Of Another Such

[11:07] In Valability Of Judgment Such Impartial Discernment As To Be Able To Put Their Hand To Work Like Pulling Up The Tears As I Say Some Would Leave Some Of The Tears Some Would Pull Up Some Of The Wheat Let Both Grow Together To The Harvest And Then When It Comes To The Harvest Which Is The End Of The World It Will Not Then Pertain To Any Man Any Minister Anyone To Do The Separating Work Even When The Distinction Is Plain And Clear No He Will Send His Angels To Do That And They Shall Gather Together The Tears And Bind Them In Bundles To Burn Them And Gather The Wheat Into His Barn My Brethren Some Of Us Have Been Long Laboring In The Gospel To Preach

[12:07] And To Teach The Good Word Of God We Hope The Lord Has In Some Measure Blessed Our Labours And Nourished The Seed Of The Word Which We Have Sown With Feeble Hands Admitted But The Word Of God Is Not Feeble For All That The Holy Spirit Has Nourished It Caused It To Spring Up In The Heart And It May Be There Are Some Gathered To Our Ministry Who Are Not Really Called By The Grace Of God Through It But When It Comes To The Harvest We Who Preach Must Take Our Place With Wheat Or If We Have Not Been Godly Ministers With The Tares We Must Take Our Place With Them Then For It Doesn't Attain To Ministers Or Anyone To Gather The Tares Together And Bind Them In Bundles Nor To Gather The Wheat Into The Barn

[13:07] Preaching Is The Work Of The Lord Servants The Final Separation Is The Work Of The Angels Well Now With These Few Through Through Observations On The Parable As Such May The Lord Direct Us Into This One Expression In It He That Hath Ears To Hear Let Him Hear Let Him Understand Harvest Is The End Of The World I Suppose There's Hardly Any Occasion In The Natural Course Of Life And Labor That Is So Frequently Referred To In The Scriptures As The Harvest All Through The Bible From That Covenant Word To Noah After

[14:08] The Flood That While The Earth Remains Seed Time And Harvest So On Should Not See Brought Through To The End Of Time In The Book Of The Revelation Where You Read The Word To The Angel Thrust In Thy Sickles For The Harvest Of The Earth Is Ripe You Find The Harvest So Frequently Brought Forward And For Different Purposes Of Course There Is The Natural Harvest That Is Often Referred To And Sometimes Very Beautifully In The Scripture Like You Get It In The Book Of Ruth And Then Sometimes The Harvest Is Brought Forward Metaphorically As In That Passage Doth Not The Plowman Plow All Day To Sow Does He Not Cast In The Principal Wheat And Other Forms Of Seed There's The Harvest Used

[15:09] Metaphorically And Sometimes The Harvest The Harvest Is The Harvest Which Will Be At The End Of The World And That Is Meaning In My Text Tonight We Have The Harvest Used In A Prophetical Way The Harvest Is The End Of The World That Is At The End Of The World Will Come The Last Final Harvest And By Way Of Laying The Matter Out For Our Consider Very Briefly Consider What The Harvest Implies It Is Of Course The Consummation Of All That Has Gone Before To Produce It If The Ground

[16:09] Is Plowed That's Not An End In It It Is Plowed In Order That Might Be A Harvest Of The Seed If The Seed Is Sown That's Not The Purpose In Itself The Seed Is Sown That There Should Be An Harvest Presently And So All Through The Course Of The Seasons Of The Year Spring And Summer And The Autumn When It Comes It All Leading Up To The Harvest Nothing Is Complete Nothing Is Finished Until The Harvest When Comes And All Is Gathered In That The Termination Of All The Labor And Husbandry That Been Expended On The Soil Termination Is The Consummation And It's The Reward For Harvest Time Of Of Of Beauty Especially Of Its Own Every Season

[17:09] Of The Year To Those Who Have An Eye To See And To Appreciate As A Beauty Even The Winter In Certain Respect But Still The Spring Of The Beauty We See The Seed Springing Up Afresh Showing Itself In Its Green In Its Green Vitality And We See The Trees Blossoming And So On And Then We Perceive The Developing Of The Seed Or The Developing Of The Fruit That Has A Beauty But The Harvest Time Has A Beauty Of Maturity And There's A Beauty In Maturity That Belongs Especially To That Particular Time And That Particular Condition It It Is It is So As I Have Said In The Course Of Nature When The Valleys Are Covered Over With Corn It Is Nature's Golden Crown When The Valley Is Covered Over With Corn

[18:09] And Covered With The Flops There's A Beauty So There is Spirit All Through The Stages Of Grace In The Soul There's Something Beautiful It's Beautiful To See The First Indications Of Desire And Spiritual Life And Tender Affection Springing Up In The Heart That's Beautiful Beauty Of Spring And Then Is There's A Deeper Experience A More Established Judgment A Growth In Grace That's Beautiful Too And Then When Towards The End Of The Season Of Spiritual Life When It Is So It's Very Beautiful As I've Sometimes Said Spiritually There is No More Beautiful

[19:09] Sight Than A Child Of God Getting More Heavenly Is Getting Nearer Heaven That's Beautiful That's The Right Thing For The Harvest Oh May The Lord Grant It So With Us Especially Those Of Us Who Know We're In The Even Of Our Lives The Lord Mature Our Spirit With His Grace Make Us More Tender More Humble And And As The Air Bends Under Its Own Weight Of Corn Towards The Earth So May Our Spirit Bends More And More Only Not Towards The Earth But Towards Heaven There Really Is Nothing More Beautiful Than To See A Child Of God Getting More Heavenly As He's Getting Near Heaven It's The Beauty Of Maturity And

[20:11] How much Goes to That How much Of Teaching Of The Holy Spirit How much Of The Experience In Our Hearts Of Trial And Support Of Temptation And Deliverance Of Sin And Of Grace Of Those Things That Distress Us Spiritually And Those Things That Encourage And Comfort Us How much Experience Of The Different Effects Of The Word Of Truth Upon Our Souls Through The Years That We Have Heard It How much Goes To The Maturity That Precedes The Harvest You Can't Have Maturity Without Experience I Know The Lord Can Work As He Will And In A Very Short Time Take A Soul From Heaven From Earth To Heaven That Had Very Little

[21:11] Time But Ordinarily Where The Life Is Lengthened To To To To The Usual Span It Takes Years To Attain The Maturity Of Experience In The Things Of God Matured Saints Are A Great Blessing A Great Blessing They Are But Now Having Just Said This I Must Come To That Which Is More Particularly On My Mind The Harvest Is The End Of The World Now First I Want To Set Before You All Or Some Of Those Necessary Things Of Grace That Lead Up To This Final Harvest And First This There Is The Continual Springing Up Of The Life

[22:13] Of Jesus Christ In The Soul According To His Own Word When He Said Except A Corn Of Wheat Fall Into The Ground And Die It Abideth Alone But If It Die It Bringeth For Much Fruit Of Course He Meant Himself In That Metaphor He Was That Choice Corn Of Wheat That Had Life In Itself For That Lord Jesus Had Life In Himself But That That Life Should Bring For Fruit In The Salvation Of Many Many Precious Souls He Must Fall Into The Ground In Death And Die Because As He Said It Abideth Alone Unless Let It Fall Into The Ground And Die Good

[23:13] Corn Of Wheat There Is Only One Corn Of Wheat It Cannot Multiply Itself Except By Dying In The Ground Now That Is Very True Of The Nature And The Effect Of The Redeeming Work Of The Lord Jesus Christ In Dying He He He He He He He He He Knoth What He He territory Every가 Only He Was That Filled Theальную Father Different In Everyone Those 2005 Making Me and in the effect of it that it is a matter of eternal praise that he fell into the ground and died because he could never have given that life that was in him to us who are lost and helpless and utterly dead spiritually he could never have given his life to us unless he had died for us he could not sin would have held our souls and the souls of the whole human race in its inexorable grip in time and in eternity unless the dear Redeemer had first died and by dying conquered death itself he would have abode alone he would have had life in himself but he would have been confined to himself if he could have carried the title and designation of a Savior he would have been alone without anyone saved if he had borne the title of a Redeemer he would have been alone without anyone redeemed no he must die to give life life by his death and so it was after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and his ascension into heaven and the Holy Spirit was so wonderfully poured forth upon the apostles to empower them to preach the plain truth of this matter of the Savior's death and resurrection and why at once there began to spring up a large number of precious souls who received life that Pentecostal day from the Lord Jesus Christ who had died because you may be sure if the apostle Peter had preached anything no matter what if he hadn't preached

[26:31] Christ crucified those thousands of people would never have been called by the grace of God and quickened by the power of the Holy Ghost through the world never and the same day were added to the church about 3,000 souls that was the beginning that has been going on ever since in every generation assuredly those for whom the dear Redeemer as the corn of wheat laid down his life will be quickened by the Holy Spirit through the word and that is the sure and certain and sufficient evidence of a personal participation in the redeeming death of Jesus Christ is to possess his life in the soul by the quickening power of the Holy Ghost the word has been used to this end by the Holy Spirit all down the centuries and the centuries this has been going on in every generation some souls the Lord knows how many have been called by grace quickened by the Holy Spirit given a new spiritual life by a new spiritual birth and so it's going on until the harvest and the harvest is the end of the world that is the harvest of all that great harvest of souls that have come of the sowing of that one precious corn of wheat that's one consideration now let me mention another the harvest the harvest is as I have said the consummation of labor everything leads up to it now we will take the labor of the ministry of the gospel the ministry of the gospel is a scriptural and a gospel appointment there's no question about that the Lord has not left it that it shall be in any kind of way a haphazard matter as to how and by whom the word of the gospel shall be preached and this living seed shall be sown

[29:05] I feel we have much cause to be thankful for the appointment of the gospel ministry how many blessings that has been the means of bringing to the hearts of men it's impossible no one can possibly say what a fruitful appointment the ministry of the gospel has been the Lord can work we know he can sovereignly and effectually hell and where and by what means it seemeth good to him but there's no question about it the Lord has greatly honored the means that he has himself appointed that is he has honored the preaching of the gospel to the salvation of souls and the ministry needs ministers and it is only the great head of the church who has the prerogative of appointing raising up and preparing and qualifying whom he will for the ministry of the gospel no matter how poor and weak and insufficient the Lord's servants feel in themselves and there's no question about it the more they feel about it the better for them but that's no hindrance to the Lord working mightily and effectually through their labors

[30:39] I believe that in every generation there have been faithful preachers of the gospel only for a long period which we often speak of historically as the dark ages when superstition and potpourri and ignorance covered the earth I still I believe that even in those days there were hidden and often persecuted faithful men who taught others the things they had been taught by the Holy Spirit themselves and oh how much some of them were persecuted and how much they suffered and how many of them were martyrs for the truth's sake while this is still going on still the Lord's servants labour in private and in public they bear the burden of the word of the Lord and it is a solemn burden and they pour everything they have of their feelings and affections into their ministry and it is not in vain for he that goeth forth and weepeth and there is very much make some of us ministers weep today he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him the labour of the ministry all through the centuries up to the end of the world is a labour preparatory to the final harvest the harvest of all the labours of all the labourers through all the generations will end in a glorious harvest the harvest is the end of the world and then there is another consideration mentioned and that is that the essential and vital work of God the Holy

[32:54] Ghost in the souls of men is all preparatory and leads up to the harvest at the end of the world you all know how essential it is to be the subject of the work of the Holy Ghost in the soul there is no salvation without it the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is as essential as the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the one relates to the other and both relate to the sovereign eternal purpose of God the Father before the foundation of the world the work of Christ relates to that he said I come to do thy will O God and that will meant that he should suffer and die for sinners and the Holy Spirit work in the soul relates to the work of

[33:56] Jesus Christ he convinces of sin and if there is no conviction of sin what meanest the blood of Christ shed for the remission of it the Holy Spirit convinces of sin in order to bring to repentance he bringeth to repentance in order to raise up faith in the heart in Jesus Christ for salvation and the Holy Spirit makes the work of Jesus Christ in his cleansing and justifying nature and effect to be really effectual personally in the soul my brethren my friends you young people listening to me quietly tonight these are the deep things of God and if you are able to receive them and spiritually understand and appreciate them and experience them in your heart they will give substance to religion in you they will real substance reality depth and power never rest on superficial things in religion they'll make you superficial seek the deep things they'll make you deep that is they'll make you very real and solid and if you feel these things are beyond you then do pray that God the Holy

[35:30] Ghost will lead you into them and enlighten your understanding so then you will indeed feel that these things are most blessed well now I was saying the work of the Holy Spirit going on and has been going on ever since he was given at the time of Pentecost he's going on now I trust that many of us this evening have been the subject of the Holy Spirit's gracious teaching and quickening work in our souls we are sure of this if we have any spiritual life he's quickened us if we have any understanding spiritually he's enlightened us if we have any faith he's imparted it through the word if we have any love he's inspired it if Jesus Christ is precious to us he's revealed him we're sure it's his work and so as one generation of the godly passeth away another generation cometh and so that word that we read in the prophecy of Isaiah is in continual process to fulfilment he shall see his seed the

[36:57] Lord is continually seeing his seed and souls are born again of the travel of his soul for remember this my friend he shall see the travel of his soul although he died his sufferings were not just death sufferings but birth sufferings travel travel and travel means a birth the sufferings of Jesus Christ were birth pangs of the church they were the birth pangs of the church so the holy spirit work goes on and will go on and this is very encouraging especially in dark times like these I was thinking when I was speaking at our prayer meeting on Monday evening about the discouraging circumstances that attended the laying of the foundation of the second temple under

[38:05] Zerubbabel and how it seemed to them and of course it was so in fact that the temple they were endeavouring to build was a very poor mean structure compared with the magnificence of Solomon's temple and the feeling that they could never build a temple equal to Solomon's seemed to dishearten them as though they felt it was no use labouring at all but now the prophet Haggai as the Lord's message was sent to encourage them to go on with the building and that that temple would have another glory other than the gold and the silver that embellished Solomon's gorgeous structure so it is now my friends we may look back hundred years or more say well look what congregations gathered what the power attended the preaching how many souls were convicted converted and built up see how the buildings that were filled with people are filled with empty seats now we might say well what can we do compared with what the ministers were enabled to do all those years ago but we do not inquire wisely concerning this for the work of the Lord is going on just the same and will go on and when the harvest comes which is the end of the world it will make much difference whether in this generation less souls were called by grace than a hundred years ago make no difference then they will all be gathered into one blessed consummation one glorious harvest now I haven't much time in fact I haven't any time really left to develop before you the other part of the subject the harvest is the end of the world the words have this solemn note there will be an end of the world there certainly will the world had a beginning and the world will surely have an ending that time will come when the heavens will be rolled together as a scroll and the Lord

[40:38] Jesus Christ will come to gather together all his people the dead by resurrection and the living by changing as the apostle says those that sleep in Christ he will bring with him and we who are alive and remain shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye that final harvest suggests then these considerations which I will mention without enlargement first it suggests as I have been pointing out all along it suggests the consummation of all that has led up to it the saviour's sufferings the holy spirit's operations the useful instrumental labor won't limit it to the preachers but to all who have labored and labored for the salvation of the souls of others it will be the consummation then secondly it is a time of separation however closely the wheat may stick to the tares and the tares cling to the wheat but final separation will come then everything will be finished there will be no more preaching of the gospel i thought sometimes that some who may be impatient of listening to the solemn gracious words of truth and of the gospel might consider they won't always have to be bored with it the time will come when they will never hear it again never never hear words like these for instance which you're hearing tonight him that cometh unto me i will in no wise cast out never hear that word again those who have come have come and those who have not never will there will be a separation and if these considerations have any weight then let them have weight if you feel there's any solemnity about these thoughts that i'm expressing i beg you admit that solemnity into your heart and the lord make it a profitable consideration then another feature of the harvest is the ingathering of all all into one blessed unity and what a description we have of that in the revelation which is just as it were mentioned here how that there will be in that kingdom men out of every kingdom tribe people nation and tongue but all gathered into one eternal unity of life of life and love and not hypocrite amongst them not a tear amongst them not one who has professed the faith of jesus christ yet it sprung from the tears of error sown in his heart not one of them what an ingathering and then there is the destination and I cannot stay upon that let the word itself speak of that gather the wheat into my barn where all is safe and secure where no storms no tempests

[44:40] blow no sin injures no fears distress not a wave of sorrow rolls across the troubled breath peaceful breath gather the wheat into my barn the awful fate of the tears too awful for me to speak much about is set before us by the lord jesus christ in unquestionable language gather the tears in bundles together and burn them make an end of them clear them away they're no use they have no place in the barn clear them away but gather the wheat into my barn lord grant that in that great final harvest we may be gathered in the lord grant that we by faith in jesus christ may be amongst those that receive their life because he died the lord grant that we may be of those the holy spirit has quickened taught and led the lord grant we may be of those that the lord's faithful labor have been the means of bringing us to the knowledge of the truth and sowing that good seed in our hearts that has made us to be indeed the children of the kingdom lord of harvest grant that we pure and wholesome seed may be the friends will please remember the collection for the support of this cause of truth and i must add the word i do hope and pray and i believe the lord will still be with his people here my long and very close and very affectionate union with the late dear pastor makes me feel in my own spirit sad today i miss his presence very much but the lord i believe is with you i pray he may still bless the flock here in union chapel and if it be his will answer every prayer the lake the lovely pastor offered for his people good hope you you you you you