Mat 13:24
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But
while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way.
Mat 13:26 But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also.
Mat 13:27 So
the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow
good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He
said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou
then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But
he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them.
Mat 13:30 Let
both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to
the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to
burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Mat 13:36 Then
Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came
unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37 He
answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of
man;
Mat 13:38 The
field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the
tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39 The
enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and
the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the
end of this world.
Mat 13:41 The
Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 And
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Prior to the end of
the world as we know it, there is a gathering of the harvest. Or to put it
plainly as explained by Jesus Himself- 'the reapers are the angels' 'tares are
the children of the wicked one' 'the good seed are the children of the
kingdom'.
Here we have:
A Sowing.
A Growing.
A Harvest.
Children of God and
children of the 'wicked one'.
God sows the seed of
His children.
The wicked one sows
the seed of his children.
They both grow
together.
The end result- the
good seed has grown into wheat that is completely discernible from the weeds.
There is no chance of harming the wheat by pulling up a weed, because it is now
easily separable. Pulling up of both is the end result, wheat to God, weeds to
the wicked one.
When the time comes
to pull up the fully grown plants it is the end of the world.
The separating and
gathering, and then ultimately what is destroyed and what remains.
The end of the
world. Isn't this what every single
Christian alive longs for? Isn't this what we are waiting for? Isn't the end of
the world our hope?
Christ followers
wait and watch, they live for one of two things. They live first and foremost for the end of
the world- they live for their translation to heaven upon the return of Jesus
Christ at the last trump, when all has been decided and our Savior gathers us
to Him. Secondly, they live for the alternative to the Savior's return (which,
as already said, is their FIRST and FOREMOST HOPE), to fall into the first
death's sleep to await their awakening at the last trump when Jesus Christ
calls them from their graves and gathers them to Himself.
Two things await
Christ followers, only two.
The longing for the
return of the Savior as conquering King, which means that the fate of every
single human being in existence has been decided- wheat or weed.
Please, Father, we
would be wheat!
Today's thought
paper reading- written in 1975- brought all the above to mind. May we all seek
to belong to God, to be His as the end of the world, at the harvest! All through Jesus Christ, our LORD and
SAVIOR, now and forever!!!!!!!
*******
THE HARVEST
PRINCIPLE
In the January
thought paper, we called attention to a presentation at the 1974 Bible
Conferences by Dr. Herbert E. Douglass entitled - "The Unique Contribution
of Adventist Eschatology." This paper presented what is now being accepted
as the reason for the delay in Christ's Second Coming. Concisely stated by the
author it reads - "The reason for the delay in the
Advent is contained in the harvest
principle." 1 This thought paper will
examine this principle, and the application made by Dr. Douglass.
"The Harvest
Principle" is Biblically based. Jesus taught
- "The harvest is the end of the
world." 2 In the book of Revelation,
Christ is pictured sitting upon a white cloud holding in His hand a sharp
sickle. An angel from the temple calls to Him
- "Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the
time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of earth is
ripe." 3 Turning to the Spirit of
Prophecy, we find that the divine Husbandman is looking for a harvest - the
reproduction of "Himself in the hearts and lives of His
followers." 4 When this is
realized, "He will come to claim them as His
own." 5 The conclusions
by Douglass are rightly stated.
"Historic Adventist theology" consists
of two points in this regard: - 1)
"Jesus delays His coming, waiting for a quality people to whom He may
impart the immeasurable power of the latter
rain;" and 2) "God
has left His church in the person of Jesus an Example of the quality people for
whom He is waiting." 6 But have
all the factors been considered?
p 2
Closely associated
with the principle of the harvest is the fact that it is God who gives the
increase. Paul clearly enunciated this factor. He wrote:
"Neither is he
that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase." 7 "The
growth and perfection of the seed rests not with the husbandman. God alone can
ripen the harvest." 8 It was God's design that
through the agency of the church this ripening of the harvest should be
accomplished. He set His hand to bring about this objective through the message
of righteousness by faith that He sent to the Church in 1888. Of this message
it is written - "The present message -
Justification by Faith - is a message from God; it bears the divine
credentials, for its fruit is unto holiness." 9
The supreme question
of this present hour, and one to which one must find the answer is - Does God
still plan to use the agency of the Church in its present corporate state for
the accomplishment of this objective, or has He chosen to take the reins into
His own hands to accomplish the objective through other agencies and means?
This is no idle question. It is fraught with eternal Consequences.
Douglass in his
presentation states what we all theoretically believe.
"The principle of conditional prophecy
recognizes that the promises and threatening's of God are alike
conditional." 10 God has made
great promises to the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a corporate body. We
dwell at length on these. But He has also made some threatening statements. It
is written - "If her [Seventh-day
Adventist Church] spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages
that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred
have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be
pronounced the sentence, 'Found wanting.'" 11
To this principle of
conditional prophecy, Douglass adds a reciprocal. He states -
"The correlate to the principle of
conditional prophecy is the principle of the harvest - that God will wait for
the maturing of Christian character in a significant number of people as the
chief condition determining the time of the
p 3
advent." 10 He
then concludes that "the mission of
highest priority in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church" is first "to
produce the rich harvest of men and women who truly represent Jesus, thus
vindicating the honor, justice, and love of
God." 12 By so concluding. He rejected
the question which he himself suggested would be projected, to
wit, "how long the Church's failure can postpone
the will and plan of the Lord for the Advent. That is, will there come a time
when God's justice will demand that His mercy give way, recognizing that there
is a time when 'the inhabitants of the earth have filled up the cup of their
iniquity'?" 13 Thus, "the harvest
principle" as defined by Douglass can be made to delay the coming of the
Lord, and theoretically, extend the Second Advent into future generations of
time, depending on the decision of the Church.
Every sincere and
devoted Seventh-day Adventist whose heart is attune to the Spirit of God must
ask seriously the question - What factors, if any, have been overlooked in the
presentation of "the harvest principle" as the answer to why we are still
here in this world?
The work of the
Church was clearly defined. Those who understood what happened in 1844 - that
their great High Priest entered upon another work of ministration
- "were led to understand also the closing
work of the church, and were prepared to receive and give to the world the
warning of the third angel of Revelation
14." 14 Now the work of the Third
Angel "is to select the wheat from the
tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly
garner." 15 In other words, the
Third Angel is the angel of the harvest, to prepare a people to reflect fully
the image of Jesus. This work was committed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church
and defined as "the closing work of the church."
God intended to
finish the work through His church following 1888. But He warned through His
servant - "All heaven is represented to me as
watching the un-
p 4
folding of events. A
crisis is to be revealed in the great and prolonged controversy in the
government of God on earth. Something great and decisive is to take place, and
that right early. If any delay, the character of God and His throne will
be compromised." 16
There has been a
delay. We can write and say all we want, but we cannot erase the fact that with
each passing year, the credibility gap in our doctrine of the Investigative
Judgment widens. To have God in judgment one hundred and thirty years looking
over records, making decisions when the deeds of each mortal have been entered
with unerring accuracy by angels with all accounts current, is to test the most
credulous mind. To so assume gives validity to the charge that Barnhouse made
indicating that our doctrine of the sanctuary was a face-saving device to cover
the disappointment of 1844. 17 Let's face
it; in the continuing delay, we have compromised the character and throne of
God. In the government of God on earth - His church - there has been a great
& prolonged controversy over the message of righteousness by faith. This
controversy has been heightened in the last decades since 1950 with the
introduction of false doctrines regarding the incarnation, the atonement, and
the remnant. Is God going to sit idly by and wait for the accomplishment of
what is now called "the harvest principle"?
The answer is - NO!
Through Ezekiel, God revealed Himself as arising from the cherub
"whereupon He was", and going to the threshold of the sanctuary
ordering the sealing work to begin for the church.
18 It must never be forgotten that those who are
sealed have written on their foreheads their destination -"New
Jerusalem". 19 Thus two things stand out
clearly from the prophecy of Ezekiel. The city of Jerusalem - the church in the
prophetic symbolism of the book of Ezekiel - does not receive the seal; it does
not go through. Neither do all who dwell in her midst, but those only who sigh and cry
for "all the abominations that are done in
the midst thereof." 20
This work is defined
in contradiction to the closing work of the church as the
closing work for the church. When this takes place there
are two distinct groups of people; 1)
"the true people of God", and
2) "God's professed people." Note carefully
how these two groups and the work for the church are
described: The true people of God, who have
the spirit of the work of the Lord, and the salvation of souls at heart, will
ever view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of
faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God. Especially
in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and
forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God,
will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God's professed
people. (21)
If the church were
in a position to accomplish the work assigned to her - the giving of the
message of Revelation 14, to prepare the harvest of earth - she would not have
to have a special work done in the midst of her - the gathering of the 144,000
who will glorify and give honor -to the Throne of God, and who will not
compromise God's character in the final struggle of earth. In the light of
this, can we not see why the servant of the Lord wrote:
- "Let us strive with all the power that God
has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four
thousand" 22 - and not
- "Let us strive with all our power to keep
our names on the church records of God's professed
people." One record is written in
heaven, and the other is recorded on earth.
Is there a time
indicated when we can know that God has taken the work into His own hands,
removing from His professed people their responsibility of the closing work of
the church, and instituting the closing work for the church, the sealing time
of the 144,000? - We shall give consideration to this in future thought papers.
(((Footnotes))))
1 -- Herbert E.
Douglass, "The Unique Contribution of Adventist Eschatology", p. 15,
North American Division Bible Conferences, 1974
2 -- Matthew 13:39
(((Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the
angels. ))))
3 -- Revelation
14:14-l5 ("the" omitted before "earth")
(((Rev 14:14 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.
Rev 14:15 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 earth is ripe. ))))
p 6 --
4 -- ) Ellen G.
White, Education, p. 106
5 -- Ellen G.
White, Christ's Object Lessons,
p. 69
6 -- Douglass, op. cit., p. 29
7 -- 1 Corinthians
3:7
(((1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any
thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. ))))
8 -- Ellen G.
White, Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 508
9 -- Ellen G.
White, Review & Herald,
September 3,1889
10 --
Douglass, op. cit., p.
iv
11 -- Ellen G.
White, Testimonies for the Church,
Vol. 8, p. 247
12 --
Douglass, op. cit., p. vi
13 -- Ibid., p. 12
14 -- Ellen G.
White, Spirit of Prophecy,
Vol. IV, p. 272
15 -- Ellen G.
White, Early Writings,
p.118
16 -- Ellen G.
White, Special Testimony read by A. T. Jones, Review & Herald, June 21,1892
17 -- Donald G.
Barnhouse, "Are Seventh-day Adventists Christians?", Eternity, September 1956. Barnhouse
wrote -"The latter doctrine ["the investigative judgment"], to
me, is the most colossal, psychological, face-saving phenomenon in religious
history!"
18 -- Ezekiel 9:3-4
(((Eze 9:3 And the glory of the God of Israel was
gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And
he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his
side;
Eze 9:4 And
the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of
Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry
for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
19 -- Ellen G.
White, Early Writings, p.
15
20 -- Ellen G.
White, Testimonies for the Church,
Vol. 5, p. 212; See also Vol. 3, p. 267 -"Mark this point with care:
…"
21 -- Ibid., Vol. 3, p. 266
22 -- Ellen G.
White, Review & Herald,
March 9, 1905 (7 Bible Commentary,
p. 970)
NOTES AND
COMMENTS -- Erratum -
Footnote #10 in the November, 1974, Thought Paper should read
- "Ellen G. White, In Heavenly Places, p. 163"
March 1975 -
Watchman, What of the Night?
Adventist Laymen's Foundation.
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