God's Harvest Festivals

The word harvest is kind of an enchanting word. It's full of warmth and excitement. Those who have fields that are harvested finally get to see what their crop will be. And if the crop is large, wow, it's just a warm, exciting time of year. The word brings almost visions of an ecstatic time. When people are excited over bountiful crops, maybe so big, they have to fill the middle of the streets in town. People are out happily reaping the crops and bringing them into the storerooms and storehouses. It's a time of plenty.

It's a time when there's abundance and opulence, and people like to celebrate, and they like to have various festivals at that time. Except, that is, for those fruits that are still out in the field, the ones that didn't get harvested. We don't tend to think about that, but in every crop there are unsuitable fruits in the field. They didn't make the grade, and they're left behind.

They're lying out there. Water's cut off to them. They get abandoned. They're rejected. There's no ecstasy for them. There's no opulence. There's no future. And such are harvests. This happens in your garden, in my garden. It happens in fields everywhere, because there are those things that you expect to grow, and when you go out, they think, what's this? That's not what I was expecting. This is what I was expecting. And this other thing, maybe with a hole in it, or it's disfigured, or it's small, or it's too big, or it's not ripe, or it's grown in some other direction, that just gets left behind.

Jesus said in John 15.8, by this is my Father glorified. If you want to bring glory to the Father on the throne in heaven, do this, that you bear much fruit. He is a farmer. He is excited about the crop that's coming. And if you really want to glorify Him, and really want to make your life worthwhile in His eyes, bring forth fruit for the harvest. Today I'd like to examine harvests, harvests in God's plan of salvation for mankind. The title of the sermon is God's Harvest Festivals. They are God's festivals. He is the expecting Father. He is the one that's wanting the harvest to come in, and that all of the fruits in the field are part of it.

God's seven festivals are found in Leviticus 23, and they occur during three seasons, three growing seasons, three harvest seasons, back in the Holy Land. Now, those are in the Northern Hemisphere, and there are similarities around the Northern Hemisphere with those harvest seasons, up in the land of Israel, modern land of Israel, the old land of Canaan. There are various altitudes in that country, and so there are various harvests of various things at various times, similar to most countries in the Western Hemisphere. We have the spring harvest, the summer harvest, and the autumn harvest, and so it is with God's plan. If we go back to Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, there is a harvest right there. If you notice carefully, Jesus Christ died on Passover Day, and during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there was a harvest festival, the Wave Sheaf Offering. He was the first one of the family of God among humans to be accepted and harvested. That's a very special time. Unleavened Bread for us means a time of growth, a time of putting sin out and putting God's nature in, developing godly fruit in our life, the fruits of God's Spirit, and growing towards another harvest festival, which is coming up as the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost. That was the summation of the barley harvest in the Holy Land, and also pretty much the summation of the wheat harvest. Though the wheat harvest, there's a couple of types of wheat that mature at various times. But the point was that this is an early harvest. It's attached to Jesus Christ. It was part of what He did, in a sense. He got it started. He was the example. He was the one first harvested, and now others like Him who will be supporting Him and working with Him will be harvested in what we celebrate in the Feast of Pentecost at His return. The last four festivals fall in the late summer autumn season, and those are the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day. And those celebrate another harvest, a harvest which Christ and those first fruits work to bring in. It's the big harvest. It's the end of the summer growing season when there's been plenty of sunshine, unlike the spring season when the sun has just come out. The temperatures are still cool. There are certain grains that can come off in that have been growing over the winter, but that's not the big growing season, as Mr. Herbert Armstrong used to say. The great news about the Feast of Pentecost is that it's the small harvest. The big news is there's a really big harvest coming later, which God is going to involve all humans in. And these are called the Feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23, verse 2. My feast, God calls them. These were not for the Israelites only. These weren't for some humans, not something that was just created for a group of people and then done away with. But rather, these are the Feasts that celebrate what God, the great farmer, is involved with. Let's go to Exodus 23 and verse 16. Exodus 23 and verse 16.

Here it is called, and the Feast of Harvest. This is that exciting time when God is looking for bounty. He's hoping that none will perish, but everyone will be part of the resurrection, and everybody will be part of this first harvest. The Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field. So this coming spiritual harvest will be the first fruits of God's harvest, which he has sown. Sure, an enemy has sown tares among them, but God sowed seed out there, and he is expecting a return on that. Very excited about that.

And he calls the latter season the Feast of In-Gathering at the end of the year, or the end of the summer season, when you've gathered in all the fruits, all the various types of things, the big bounty and the abundance that will see us through the winter. Now, these are analogies created from harvest, literal physical harvest, that refer to spiritual things that are going on in heaven, that are going on in the plan of God and the family of God, with great amount of effort, a great amount of planting, as it were, and nurturing and watering, and ultimately harvesting with great celebration and great expectation on God's part. The first fruits of the physical harvest were the first grains to come in, and those grains of the very first went to God, just like you and I are expected to go to God. Let's go back to Exodus 23 and verse 19. The first of the first fruits of your land, this isn't your crop now, this is the very first of the first fruits of your land, you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

And so, when we come to the harvest festival, which we call Pentecost by its Greek name, what we are seeing is the first of the first fruits that are redeemed to God will join God and work with God and work with Jesus Christ.

We're going to be part of that family, part of that team.

In 1 Corinthians 15 and 20 it says, But now Christ is risen from the dead. You see, he died three days and three nights as a human, and he was resurrected and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. That special time, that wave sheaf offering on the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, that was his day, his celebration, the Father's great excitement about seeing the first of the first fruits. Here we see that he has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. There are more first fruits to come in, and they're going to reign with him, be his bride in another analogy. They'll be called the first fruits we see in Revelation chapter 14 and verse 4. Let's go back to Revelation chapter 14 and look at verse 1 as well. Revelation chapter 14.

Notice something in verse 1. And I looked and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion, this lamb.

And he was the one who gave his life as our Passover lamb. And he has now come, he's returned, he's standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.

This is the harvest. This is what we want to be part of. We want to be there for this.

In verse 4, in the middle part, these are the ones who follow the Lamb. They are led by the Holy Spirit wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. It doesn't say that they would be first fruits, but now once they're resurrected, they are first fruits. And that's the first time we see saints being called first fruits.

That is an exciting harvest. Now, we tend to look at that from our perspective and say, yeah, that's going to be a nice next chapter. Paul said, I'm ready for that one. I've got a crown waiting for me. I'm confident. I've worked hard. From our human perspective, we can think like Paul, yes, this is going to be great. I'm going to get rid of this tent and all the physical problems that go on with this life and step way up. But look at it from God's standpoint for a minute.

He is going to finally reap that which he has worked so hard for for millions of years, billions of years probably, in planning and creating and finally bringing humanity where it is and working through the difficulties with Satan always opposing him. And as this plan works out, it's going to be an exciting time for God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. The booklet, God's Holy Day Plan, shows that we are called to become first fruits of the family of God. We are called to be first fruits because there are going to be later fruits.

We have a specific reason for being called now and a work that we will be doing when Christ returns. But in order for us to be growing into the fruit that's going to be harvested and not the stuff that's left behind in the field, we have to be involved in a lifetime process.

We can't just assume because, well, we're in the church that we're ready for the harvest.

This process is something that the Apostle Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 6.

1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 6 through 9.

He says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. You see, it's not about humans. Some of us are called, but we're not called because of who we are. We are called to do things in the name of Jesus Christ. I don't heal anyone. No elder knows so much that they just preach all the things that people need.

Those things come from God. The inspiration, the tools, the power, all of that comes through the office. And the offices that God has put in the church should be highly respected. The people, not so. The office should be highly respected because those represent God Himself and what He is doing and what He can do. Paul does not take the glory here at all, but rather he says, sure, I was called to do a work.

I planted. Apollos was called to do a work. He watered. But God gave the increase. It's God through His Spirit that grew the crop. He influenced. He assisted. He watered with the Holy Spirit. And He made that grow. The increase means the growth. So then neither He who plants is anything or He who waters, but God is everything who gives the increase.

Now He who plants and He who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. Do you see the focus here? It's on the members. And by the way, those of us in the ministry are also members. We also get to sit and be fed. We also get to be anointed. We also get to be taught. It's God's field that is important. You are God's building, the edifice, the thing that God is growing.

And this farmer God, as we might call Him, has a particular fruit that He's harvesting. And that's really the lesson for today. The harvest festivals aren't harvesting anything that grows. They're harvesting something that the Father has planted, has fed in a certain way, and He is looking for a specific product, a specific outcome. And that which meets His expectation will be harvested. We go to James chapter 1 and verse 18. We'll get an indication of this.

James chapter 1 and verse 18. It says, well, let's start in verse 17. It's very important. It says, For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Now we think, oh, that's nice. Gifts. Oh, we all like gifts. That's not what he's talking about. Every good spiritual gift and every perfect spiritual gift is from above. That which feeds us, that which changes us into what God is desiring to harvest.

These things come from God, and they come down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Don't think that God is changing His idea on what He wants to harvest, or that you and I can say, oh, I'll just grow with anything. I'll grow in any direction I want. I'll grow with any food I choose to find for myself. I'll become something really special. It might be a little different than what God's trying to grow, but it'll be okay. I'll be impressive. No. He only takes fruit that is grown with good spiritual gifts, perfect spiritual gifts, that comes down from the Father, that has light.

There will be no variation or shadow of turning with that, and of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth. Not some other ideas, not every wind of doctrine, not every concept that a human has is what is good and what is evil, but by truth, the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. See? Not just any creatures. He is developing a specific mindset, a specific fruit that He is going to harvest. Again, whenever you go into a field and you see a crop, there's quite a lot of variation there, and a lot of that variation is not acceptable.

Give you an example. Let's say you're in the pickle business. Now, when you go out and you plant cucumbers, you have pickle jars already to fill, and some cucumbers like to grow this big.

Guess what? That doesn't fit the jar, does it? And it says on the jar that maybe there's 10 pickles in there. So the ones that's this big, that's not going to work either.

The jar is this tall, it's this wide, and it's got room for 10 pickles in it. And so the people that are out picking pickles are looking for pickles just the right size.

Now, you and I come along and we say, well, wait a minute. I've got more cucumber here than anybody else. Is God going to pick that one? If He's in the pickle business? No. How about the little baby sweet corn? You know, the ones they cram in those little jars about that big? I got a big piece of corn for you, God. You know, it won't work. That's not going to work.

We have to be exact in developing the kind of first fruits of His creatures or His converts that He is looking for. This really means submitting to Him and not doing our own will, but actually doing and performing as He has called us to.

In Exodus 20, verse 16, I won't turn there, but this is called again, the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors. It has to be done God's way if you take the spiritual analogy there. It's also in Numbers 28-26 called the day of first fruits when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord. This is all about God. This is all about doing it His way and becoming what He's looking for. This is pointing to the time of the end of the spring harvest when all the work has been done. Remember in Days of Unleavened Bread, we're picturing six days of working and developing God's nature. And this time between then and the harvest of the first fruits festival, again, it pictures seven times seven. It's like seven times the period of the days of unleavened bread in us living our lives and growing and getting ready for this harvest. Will we be ready?

It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 22 and 23, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits and afterward those who are Christ at His coming. The coming festival of Pentecost speaks to one group, and that is the harvest of the New Testament church, the New Covenant church. It stretched back a little, included a few unique individuals like Abraham and David and others, but it is the harvest of the New Covenant church, specifically to be reigning and ruling with Christ, to be just the type of helper that He needs.

You and I need to fit into this. Each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits and afterward those who are Christ at His coming. If we look at an overview of Pentecost events, we find the Feast of the First Fruits. Again, it's the early harvest. Jewish tradition says that the Ten Commandments were given on Sinai on the Feast of Pentecost. If you look at the record there of Israel's travels in Exodus, it seems to fit pretty well with being at Sinai on the Feast of Pentecost. It doesn't say it is, it doesn't say it isn't. But there is a tradition that links the giving of the Law, the giving of the Ten Commandments, with this festival. Mr. Armstrong again said, the important thing is that this is just the small harvest. The big one is yet to come.

Those commandments give us the directives, all the commandments, all the Law, the new commandments Jesus gave us, the two great commandments. They give us the direction and the directive that we are to grow and what we are to grow up into to become like our Father. As a Helper, God also gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came on the first feast of Pentecost after Jesus Christ's resurrection. It was a token group, as it were, 120, 10 x 12.

It certainly wasn't all the people that would receive the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit came in a big way. It showed that this indeed was the founding of the New Testament church.

And the miracles, the speaking in tongues, and the visible flames of fire that were extant on that day all really showed the Jews, especially, that something unique, something pronounced, something different had begun. The Holy Spirit would eventually come to all humanity. As Peter quoted that day from the book of Joel, he said, And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

So we can see that there is more coming. There is more to be harvested at a later time.

And as the Bible shows, all will be given that opportunity. Revelation 20, verse 5, we certainly get the clear statement of another resurrection, not just left to somebody's whim or some imagination. Here at the end of verse 4, it talks about the first resurrection, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So the rest of the dead do live again once that millennial thousand years is up. And what are they to become? What's to happen with them?

If you go down to verse 11, we saw a great white throne. In verse 12, And I saw the dead. They're not dead anymore. They're standing. Just like you and I stand now in our lives before God. They're standing before God, and books were open. Jesus said, Your eyes are open, and your ears are open that you can see and hear, but their eyes are not, and their ears are not, so that they cannot hear and they cannot see. The day is coming when the dead will be resurrected and books will be opened. Whatever Bible or books that God has developed at that time, whether it's more than what we have now or what, they will be open. They will understand. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The only way the Book of Life is open to somebody is when they have their name written in it, and that happens when they receive God's Holy Spirit. So God's Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, and everyone will have that Spirit. And they will be judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

So these harvests are pretty exciting. Exciting opportunities, and God is there every step of the way involved in helping, watering, trying to encourage growth. But there's another component to it, isn't it? We have a personal responsibility. We might say, isn't it nice to know about these harvest festivals? To know the truth about them? We could close our Bibles, and we could all go home and say, we know about the harvest festivals. We know about the plan of God. We know that it's coming. Thy kingdom come. Bring it on. I'd like to be there as well. And since every human on earth is bearing fruit, we could just pause and wait and be patient for the bridegroom to come, couldn't we? And just have good thoughts about the coming harvest. But before we do that, let's consider this. You and I probably won't be harvested when Christ returns, statistically speaking.

Do you ever think about that? Statistically speaking, you and I will probably be that fruit that's left behind in the field. You think, well, oh, where does this come from? Let me tell you where it comes from. Many of us statistically will miss out on what the harvest festivals picture, which is entry into the kingdom of God. I didn't make this up myself. I got it from Jesus' parables, many of them. Let's consider them. The bridegroom comes. The door shuts them out. Trees don't bring forth good fruit. They get burned up. Remember the parable of the sower and the seed? How many types actually grew a crop? Only one. The rest all failed. If we look at his parable of the traders, of talents and meaners, the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats, the wise and the foolish virgins, the vines and the branches, and the seven messages to revelation with their warnings, we see there is a serious responsibility component involved in being part of that harvest. I'm not being negative here. Jesus Christ is, in a sense, trying to wake us up and say, listen, this is not a done deal. This is a difficult walk. I had it tough. I came. I lived. I died. I sacrificed. I set you an example. Now I've given you a tough walk to make down in difficult trail through a narrow little door. Few there are that will find it.

So, as exciting as harvest festivals are, we need to realize we may be the pumpkins left out in the patch if we're not very, very careful. And why is that? Because people with God's Holy Spirit tend to not follow directions. That's just the way it is. Even with God's Holy Spirit, people don't tend to follow directions. We end up growing the wrong crop for the harvest. God says we tend to hear, but not to do. We treasure His Holy Spirit like a keepsake that we would put behind glass.

But we don't really get it out and use it. We go along with doing whatever we want, growing whichever way we want, however we want, into whatever we want. And we think, well, this is going to be nice. This is going to be good. Let me ask you a question. Did you ever order something to be made, custom made for you? You know, you contract with somebody. Maybe it's a builder or a cabinet maker or a car maker or something. My wife and I were going to buy our first car back in 1976. Not buy it, we're going to order our first car. And we did. We ordered it. And, you know, down the list of features and all the colors and all the fabrics and all the options and on and on and on. And place the order. Oh, this is exciting. And it was going to take about a month to build this car and have it shipped. And, you know, couldn't sleep at night. Never had a car like that before. A new car and it was coming. And the car finally arrived. Oh, we went down to get that car. But, you know, they built it a little differently than what we'd ordered.

What about this, I said? We didn't ask for that. Well, we built it better.

What about this part over here? Well, no, well, yeah, well, we couldn't do it that way, I guess. So we didn't do it quite that way. What about this thing? Well, it's different, okay? But it's a great car. I said, yeah, but look at the piece of paper. It's not my car. You built yourself a car.

And it's your car. We didn't get that car. We walked away. You know, and that's kind of what God is doing. He wants a certain thing. He wants a certain fruit. We tend to, yeah, we, yeah, I know what you're saying, but here's what I'm going to build for you. Here's what I've got. You want wheat? I've got tares. You want sheep? I've got goats. You want wisdom? I've got foolishness. But, you know, I'm with you. That tends to be, to some degree, maybe not black and white, but we tend to weave in, well, here's what you got. You know, you wanted a pickle for the jar. I got one for the bucket. I got one for the barrel. What can God do with that?

You know, before we can be confident about the harvest festivals, we have to take responsibility, personal responsibility, for growing into what that harvest is reaping and be fit for the harvest. The Jewish tradition says the Ten Commandments were given on the day of Pentecost. We say, okay, I don't break them. Great. What's next? Well, let's go to 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5 and 6. Sometimes we look at the commandments of God and we say, well, yeah, I'm staying away from breaking those. I've sort of built my own personal fences around that, and I just don't go there. I don't break those commandments. 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5 says, Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, like the beatitude said.

Blessed are those who have a pure spirit, for they shall see God. God is wanting us to grow into His agape love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.

That's what God is wanting. That is where He is heading with this. And if we don't make it into what He wants, but we can sort of hold up the commandments and say, well, I didn't really break them. Is that what He's trying to develop in us? Or is it something else?

We, in verse 6, can stray, can't we? Okay, God wants a agape nature person with a pure heart from a good conscience and a severe and from sincere faith. Yes. But what do we give Him? Something just a little different? Something just a little unique? See, yes, everyone is producing fruit, like I said. But God is only harvesting one fruit, and the fruit He's harvesting is holy, righteous character made of agape, His love. The point is that successful people are growing the specific fruit, the very thing that He is wanting, and that's the thing that's being harvested, holy, righteous character of agape.

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given. Okay, nice to know that detail. I have the Holy Spirit. I have the Holy Spirit. Thank you. Bring on the harvest. Well, if we go to Galatians chapter 5 in verse 22, we find that that Spirit was supposed to grow something. It was supposed to develop something. It wasn't just supposed to sit there and be respected or honored or be some sort of indicator of who we are. Galatians 5.22 begins with the word, but. And it means as opposed to what went before. And what went before is all the other things that we humans are growing into.

Verses 19 and 20, 21, well, 19 and 20, you know, they just really get into the guts of what humans are creating and the fruit that we're growing. But, verse 22, as opposed to the fruit of the flesh, the fruit of the Spirit is agape. That's what's supposed to be born. That's what's supposed to be growing here. Agape love, joy and peace. Peace, meaning to stitch together. It's the joining. It's the family of God, the nurturing, the edification, that growing that happens when every part does it share in love, godly love. You see, God is love. 1 John 4 states that a couple of times. God is love.

And what's He coming to harvest? He's coming to harvest love. God is holy, righteous, character, pure, agape. And what is He wanting from you and me? Holy, righteous, character, pure, agape. He can't make that Himself. That's why this whole universe is so complex and is taking so long.

Why you and I are called at this time and given the helper of the Holy Spirit and given the commandments, the whole purpose of these is so that we can develop that fruit that He is coming to harvest. You see, though, that it has to be His fruit to His specifications. Otherwise, it's not going to be useful. Otherwise, it's going to be people in the church, the five foolish, the five wise, all together. Yes, here we are. Oh, but you don't have the fruit for that. You don't match what we're harvesting here. Oh, let me go grow something, the five. Here, quick, let me change my fruit. Let me water me real quick. Let me go buy something. Sorry, this is a lifetime, and over a lifetime you've built something that's different.

Oh, but I'm meant to be a sheep. I know I'm a goat, but I'm a bear. Sorry. We're not doing goats here. But I look like wheat. I'm a tear, but I look like wheat. No? No? God's not harvesting those things. He is harvesting a certain thing that He has planted and growing and nurturing to His own specifications.

God is love, and He is harvesting those led by His Holy Spirit. He's not harvesting those who have His Holy Spirit. God is harvesting those who are keeping His commandments, not those who know His commandments. God is harvesting those that grew the holy, righteous character of Agape. He is not harvesting those who grew the carnal human nature of Philia or Eros.

It's not what's being harvested. So, brethren, as we look at these harvest festivals, let us look very carefully into the eye of our future, each of ours.

Let us consider why we're here on earth and what our purpose is. Let's be serious about this calling. Peter looked ahead, as it were, in vision to the ultimate harvest and that crop that will be resurrected along with the fire that will burn the chaff and the wheat stalks and the other parts, the other things, the branches and the brambles and the goats and the foolish, etc., etc.

Let's go to 2 Peter 3. We'll begin in verse 1. 2 Peter 3. I'm going to see something really fitting here in the connection of the great fire that's going to come and purge the type of people we ought to be and what God is doing here. 2 Peter 3. He's writing to the church. He's writing to you and me and his day, people that he really wants to see in the kingdom of God, that God even more wants to see in his kingdom. 3. Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle in both of which to stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. Church members tend to forget. Church members tend not to listen. Church members tend not to follow. And now Peter's having to write a second epistle to try to encourage us to get the growth going here in the right direction.

We need this. We need the annual holy days. We need the annual reminders. We need the weekly Sabbath. We need correction from God. All of these things are important because we're humans. Just as they were humans, they had pure minds that needed to be stirred up and reminded so that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. It's not the words of somebody's ideas or intellect or somebody's great new intuition, but rather the things that God is building his firstfruits with and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. See the tendency here in saints to miss out on the harvest? That's what he's speaking to. There's a tendency for you and me to be left in the field, to be outside when the bridegroom closes the door. There is that tendency to miss out on the harvest. He talks about the final purging of the earth that will happen. Down in verse 7, he continues, but the heavens and the earth, which are now prepared by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment or condemnation and perdition of the ungodly. Who's the ungodly? Well, those that don't have the holy righteous character, the godly character, all the other kinds of fruit, all the ones that were close, but they don't fit in the jar or like the lettuce that's grown. You know, the bags are already made into two sizes in all the grocery stores, and when they go to harvest lettuce, if it's not this size or this size, it's left in the field. There's nothing they can do about it. The boxes are all standardized. The labels are already made. You see? You and I have to realize that there's going to be judgment, and the godly-natured is what God is going to select, and the ungodly-natured is reserved for the fire. Verse 8, But, beloved, don't forget this one thing. Here comes a warning. Why is he warning the church? Why is he warning people who have the commandments and they have God's Holy Spirit? And now he's going to warn them. Beloved, don't forget this one thing. And he's saying, warning, the lake of fire may be a thousand years away still, but it's coming sooner than you wish, if you're not in the resurrection. Verse 11, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, burned up, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? What kind of individual are we to be growing up into? What kind of fruit are we to be producing? What kind in godliness? Because that's what he's harvesting. Looking for and hastening the coming day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat. Now, there's a lot of bad stuff right there. We've covered a lot of things here, a lot of warnings, a lot of parables we've reviewed. And even to the church and those with the Spirit and those with the commandments, there's a tendency for us to miss out.

God does not want that. Jesus Christ didn't come so that any could perish. It's not God's will to plant seed and have it destroyed. So here's some good news in verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some counts lackness, but He is long suffering toward us. Not that we're going to get away with being something other than He's going to harvest. He won't allow that. He can't allow that. But He'll be long suffering as we grow, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's His will, that we repent, that we change, whatever it is we started growing into, that we repent, we get washed clean, we regroup, and we grow into that which He is coming to reap. It's very clear what God's will is. Back in John 6 in verse 39, Jesus talks about it being God's will that we have everlasting life. That's what He wants. That Christ would give us everlasting life, and that Christ would raise us up at the last day. That's the harvest, that we would be collected from the field as the reapers go through and collect it. That's God's will, that you're part of that harvest.

As we look forward to the resurrection, the resurrections pictured by the harvest festivals, we need to remember that these harvests came and come at a great price. A huge investment on part of God's family and on the part of Jesus Christ and on the part of the Father. They've given everything they could possibly give. They could give no more than what they've given.

And they're going to harvest only those who also give it all and take the difficult path. And they really work and truly desire to take on that holy righteous character, born of Agape, that mindset of God. So, brethren, let's rejoice every year in the festivals, but let's be wise and preparing godly fruit for the harvest festival so as to inherit the kingdom of God.