Waiting For The Harvest

James 5:7-8 contain an analogy of a farmer patiently awaiting the early and latter rains, to be able to harvest the precious fruit of the earth. That farmer had to rely upon God for the coming of those early and latter rains. He couldn't will them into existence, he was fully reliant on His Creator. While he awaited those rains, there was an ever-present work to be done. He wasn't idle. As the early rains softened the soil, and the latter rains helped the fruit come to maturity, so it is with us spiritually. Annually, we need the early rains to soften our hardened hearts, so that the word of God that is sown within it throughout the year can take root and produce, we need those latter rains to bring to bear the spiritual fruit which God has sown in us with His spirit. How do these agricultural analogies connect to our spiritual lives in the modern era of the Church today?

Transcript

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It speaks of the sowing of seed. It speaks of the maturation process of those crops. It talks about harvests. It talks about then processing and storing up that which is harvested. And these analogies, these concepts, by and large, especially to the people at that time, would have been very strongly understood. I would say almost viscerally understood because they lived it. They lived it, each and every day of their lives, even those that were maybe second or even third hand connected seemed to be a lot closer than we are today. So they would have associated these things as they heard these concepts, these analogies in their original context. There's a passage of Scripture that's located in the book of James that when we think about this agrarian context, I think really helps the passage come to life, and I think it contains a great deal of important lessons about our own Christianity. It's found in James 5. If you would turn over there with me, please. James 5. And we're going to go ahead and pick it up in verses 7 and 8 of James 5. So James 5, verses 7 and 8. We'll go ahead and begin in verse 7. James 5 verse 7 reads as follows. It says, Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. Verse 8 goes on to say, You also, in like manner, so to speak, you also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. So James really drives home this point of the patience that is necessary as we wait on the Lord's coming. That very similarly, as the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, kind of waiting patiently for the development and the maturity of those crops and the harvest that was to come. These two things he was linking in this section. There's a series of spiritual lessons that I think we can draw from this passage, and I think they're very important for us in the modern era of the church today to really consider as we await the return of Jesus Christ. And so I'd like to explore this concept today. I'd like to take a look at some of these lessons in greater detail. The title of the message today is Waiting for the Harvest. Waiting for the Harvest. Now, full disclosure, I'm not a farmer. Surprise, surprise. Okay, I'm not a farmer. I have never experienced having my livelihood wrapped up and being dependent on a crop. I've never experienced having the mortgage of my home and my farm rely upon what I am able to produce in my fields and send to market. I've never had that take place. From year to year, wondering what that year, what that growing season was going to bring, that was something that I have no visceral connection to. But intellectually, I think you can agree, there would be a very significant degree of stress that would be wrapped up in the reality of that. There would be a lot of stress wrapped up in the reality of having those things so directly connected to that production. We know crops are beholden to weather conditions. They're beholden to pest infestations, storm damage, a whole lot more. There is a lot that can go wrong. Sometimes what's sewn into the fields in its proper season with the absolute best of intentions, by the time that harvest comes, can be fruitless if the right conditions aren't in place. If the right conditions didn't take place in those fields and in those orchards throughout that growing season, the fruit would not be realized.

There's a lot that can go wrong in that process. There's a whole lot that can go wrong between planting those seeds and harvesting that crop. And to be honest, what James is describing here, I think we can also understand there is not a whole lot that that farmer can do about any of it. There's not much they can do about any of it. That farmer can't will those rains to come. He can't will the rain to come. He can't will the locusts to stop eating the crops. He can't will the hail from laying over the wheat after it comes to the head. He has very little control in that process. Instead, as James describes, he must wait. He must be patient, placing his trust fully in God for his provision.

In verse 7, James speaks to this patience. James 5 and verse 7, therefore again, be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rains. This Greek word that's used here in James 5 is macrothromia, and it's translated patience or forbearance. Patience or forbearance. And what it indicates really in the sense of the word in Greek is this sense of being slow toward a response. Being slow to a response might say long enduring, or as the word is frequently translated in Scripture, long suffering. We see that word frequently used in Scripture. It's the word that's used in Galatians to describe the character of God that is expressed through the fruit of the Spirit. Long suffering, in this case, patience in a sense of an active endurance, until the end result of whatever has been planned has arrived. So in that sense, there's an expectant end. There's something that they're looking forward to, and that endurance and that patience is focused forward on that which is coming. And it's because of that which is coming that that person can have that long suffering and can have that patience as they wait for the end result of what is planned to arrive. They have an earnest expectation, we might say, of that which is to come, that end result. Let's pop over to 2 Peter. Just a couple of books over here. 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3. We see this word used in a different context, slightly different context. 1 Peter 2. I'm sorry. 2 Peter 3. Try that again. 2 Peter 3.

2 Peter 3. What we see is that in the book of 2 Peter, Peter's describing this outlook of God as He ultimately considers His creation. So 2 Peter 3. We're going to pick it up in verse 8 of 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3 and verse 8. It says, But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This word that's used here is macrothumea. It's the same word. God exhibits this same macrothumea towards us. He's not slack concerning His promise. God's not delaying. He's not slow. He's long suffering toward us. He is just as we are waiting for an expectant hope.

He's waiting ultimately. He's not desiring that any should perish. He's desiring that all should come to repentance, that all should be brought to humility, that all should recognize the sinful nature and the sins of their lives, and that they should turn to Him.

You know, similar to our expression of patience towards God, we are focusing on an expectant hope in His coming. We're focusing on the end result, that promise of eternal life, and God is doing the same toward us. He is earnestly expecting the repentance of His creation. He is earnestly expecting that those whom He has called, those who He has chosen, the bride is making herself ready.

God is earnestly expecting, and He is long suffering, and He is patient, and He is waiting for His chosen people to put in the difficult work of submitting to Him, allowing God's Spirit to lead them and to in turn become more like Him.

That is the eager expectation that God is waiting in that sense, and that process, brethren, is a lot of work. That process is a lot of work. That process requires us to give up our own will, requires us to focus more on what God wills for us in our life. It requires us to set aside our anger, set aside our frustration, to set aside the hurt that we've experienced, and to forgive other people. It requires us to put aside our bitterness, to put aside our malice, to put aside our ungodly speech, and instead speak words that edify, that build up. It requires us to overcome our sins as God's Spirit works in us, to bring us to obedience. It requires us to become, which is the Greek word gena mai, to be, or perhaps more appropriately translated, to become holy as God is holy. It's not easy. It's not glamorous work. And sometimes I think it can lose sight of that work and its importance, because it's one of those things that's just ever-present work that's in the background that needs to be taken care of. And it's in the background around all these other big things of life that are happening during each growing season, so to speak. But during James's time, as he builds this analogy that we see in James 5, while the farmer waited on the maturation of his crop, he wasn't idle. The farmer wasn't sitting there idle. He had work to do. He was taking care of that which needed to be done. He was working through the backlog, so to speak, of the work that ends up stacking up when you're working from growing season to growing season. He was working through that work that was ever-present, but was so incredibly important. Agriculture today is even. It's driven by seasonal work. You know, the growing season has very specific events that have to take place. Fields have to be prepared. Seed has to be sown. Feeds need to be irrigated. They need to be maintained. Crops need to be harvested. They need to be processed. They need to be stored up. You know, all of these things have to take place, and what that means is a whole lot of work during very specific parts of the year. A lot of work. A lot of things in which you drop everything else to make sure that this thing gets taken care of in the time that it has to get taken care of. You know, if that farmer went through and he laid down that crop and had to wait for it to dry out, it's got to get taken care of before the rain hits. It just has to. And so there's this time, there's these places throughout this in which there's a whole lot of work that's being done, but in between those events, while that work is being taken care of on its annual regular timing, there were these ever-present things that still needed to be taken care of between those periods of peak work. Equipment needed to be maintained. Don't maintain the equipment. Boy, the next time you go around to try to actually do something in the peak season, something breaks, right? Upkeep on buildings needed to be done. Maybe the roof on your storehouse has gone out. You know, you're getting rain in your storehouse. You've got to fix the roof.

Ultimately, irrigation systems, mills, infrastructure, all that stuff needed to be repaired. Sometimes it just needed to be rebuilt. Sometimes it's just completely shot and you need to rebuild it to make sure that you're ready for those seasonal things that are going to be coming. I'm sure farmers in those days, and I'm sure even today to some degree, it can feel like the work is never done. I feel like it's just one thing after another, after another, you finish one thing and you're like, okay, I got to do this thing next.

Brethren, do you ever feel that way sometimes with the spiritual work that we're undergoing? That ultimately it's never going to be complete?

That we're just constantly going from one issue to the next?

Is that discouraging at times? Can it be discouraging at times? Do we ever reach a point where we just don't even really want to expend the effort? It seems so big, seems like such a major thing. There is absolutely no solution whatsoever. It's not even going to try. Not even going to expend the effort.

But brethren, because it's ever-present, because it's in the background, and in some ways work that is largely unseen by other people does not mean that it's not critical important work. This ever-present work in this process that God is calling us to be like Him, to become holy as He is holy, these things are absolutely critical. They're absolutely critical. Hebrews 12 verse 14. We won't turn there if you guys want to pop it on the screen. Feel free. Hebrews 12 verse 14 says we need to pursue peace with all and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Brethren, that's not hyperbole. That is not hyperbole.

There is an ever-present spiritual work that needs to be taking place in our lives. And to be quite frank, without it, the end result of that thing that we so eagerly place our expectation in will not be available to us if that work is not getting done.

It is that ever-present work of becoming more like our Father, yielding our will to Him, submitting ourselves to His ordinances, to His commandments, to His statutes. It's these things that are important. These things are 100% salvation. God is calling us to become like Him, to exert His character in our lives.

In ancient Israel, we see God tie this concept of the early and the latter reigns to the obedience of His people. If you want to go to Deuteronomy 11 real quick, Deuteronomy 11, God ties the obedience of His commandments, He ties the obedience of His statutes, to these life-giving reigns that took place in this part of the world. Deuteronomy 11. Deuteronomy 11 in verse 13.

God tells ancient Israel as He brings them into the land that He had promised. Verse 13, He says, And it shall be that if you earnestly obey my commandments, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your being, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season. Remember the rain that James talked about the farmer waiting on says the early rain, the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain your new wine and your oil.

He says I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and that you may be filled. The obedience of Israel to the commandments of their God, their love of Him, their submission to Him, yielding up their own will to His, serving Him with their heart and with their soul. What that created in Israel was the conditions for God to be able to pour out His blessings on His people. But we see God in verse 16 warns them.

We see God in verse 16 warns them. He goes on in verse 16, He says, take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and you serve other gods and worship them. Lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain and the land yield no produce. And then the end result here that you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you. You know, with God's people, as He dealt with ancient Israel, He tied the reins of the land in which they lived to His commandments and to His people's obedience of Him.

How do we show our love for God? We obey what He says. That's how we show God our love. We see examples in Scripture of times in which Israel didn't receive those needed rains. They did not receive the rains for their crops because of their disobedience. In fact, we see times in the future, we see mentioned in the future, in which nations that don't obey God, those who won't go up to the feast during the millennium, they don't get rain.

This is a system that God has used throughout as He's worked with His people. These rains were entirely dependent upon the blessing of God and the farmer fully reliant on those blessings as God poured them out. Now, in the land of Israel, there were two types of rains.

You had your early rains and you had your latter rains. And James references these directly as the rains which the farmers waited on. Due to the timing of Israel's agricultural calendar, the early rains were the rains that came upon Israel during the months of October to December. So they were kind of our winter rains, so to speak. And then in the latter rains took place later in the spring months, typically end of February through April. These two rains were very different.

These two rains are very different. Just like our rains in our area between October, November, and April, May, are very different kinds of rain. You know, if you live in Oregon, you recognize we have two kinds of rain, heavy and light. Right? I mean, we just... and it's a little different, right? You have these cold winter rains. That was the early rains. Okay, again, their agricultural season, the way that calendar fell, those were early in the agricultural calendar.

And these were colder, and they were heavier rains. They softened up the ground. These rains soaked into the ground. They softened up the ground after it had been baked over the summer months, after it had been hardened. These rains enabled the soil to be worked. Enabled them to actually be able to plow this ground that it baked to become like bronze.

Enabled them to break up this fallow ground to be able to plow it and turn it over in preparation for the sowing of seed. Now, additionally, these rains ultimately would allow the seed that had been sown to germinate. So it would allow the seed that had been sown to be able to germinate.

And ultimately, that would allow those plants to grow and get a good start on that coming growing season. Without these rains, without these early rains, the ground was like iron. And you can imagine, if you've ever worked with baked-in soil, it is a lot of work to break that up. Thankfully, we have machinery that does a lot of that for us today. But in those days, you had an ox, you had a plow, you had hand tools, you had whatever you had to try to get that done at that point in time. It was tough. Those rains softened up that ground and allowed it to be broken up more easily. It allowed them to be able to plant. And without it, the seeds wouldn't germinate. Ultimately, the fruit of those crops wouldn't be realized because they'd been hindered on the early part of the process. The latter rains, those that come along kind of later in the growing season during those spring months, were critical for the maturation of the crops. It was necessary for those crops to put the fruit on that they had grown. The stocks would grow up, the rains came, gave it the last little bit of oomph that it needed, so to speak, to be able to put on fruit. They were essential for the plant to be able to actually bear fruit for the harvest.

Without the early rains, without the latter rains, the crop didn't produce. The harvest was not realized. And so every year, that farmer had no choice but to be patient as he waited on the Lord. He had no choice. He couldn't will these things to take place. He had to wait on God each and every year. But something to consider, it wasn't as though he only disced or plowed his field once and then was able to plant for the next 30 years.

It wasn't as though that ground only had to be broken up one time, and for the rest of that time, that field could be planted. No problem at all. This was a yearly occurrence. This was a yearly occurrence for this soil to be broken up. Every year, those rains soften that ground so that it could be worked and it could become productive. It's not a one-time thing. And spiritually, we see the same. This isn't just physical. Let's turn to Mark 4. Turn over to Mark 4. Mark 4, the multitudes we see gather around Christ to hear his words. He speaks to this gathered group in parables, ultimately in something that was challenging to understand, in such a way that it was difficult even for the disciples to understand exactly what it was that he was saying. But he gathered these groups together and he spoke to them in these parables. In Mark 4, we see a description here. We see a description all over the place. That is another of these spiritual analogies. Mark 4. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 3. Mark 4 and verse 3. Mark 4 and verse 3 says, listen, a sower went out to sow. Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside. The birds of the air came and they devoured it. Some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Some seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it out, or choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed, verse 8, fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced, some thirty-fold, some sixty, some a hundred. And he said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. You know, I think sometimes when we consider this particular parable, we think of it in the sense of the first time that someone hears the word of God, and we connect it solely to that initial aspect of their calling. One and done. That's it. One and done.

Those of you that have been baptized for some time, you realize the conversion process is quite literally a lifetime of working that field. It is a lifetime of working that field. Every year, that field had to be broken up so that seed could be sown.

Every year, those rains needed to water those crops so that the fruit could be produced. And while I would agree, the initial steps here, when we look at this, they're in place, and we hear the word and we obtain our calling, these fields needed to be softened, plowed, and sown with aspects of the word of God regularly. Not just the gospel message in that sense, but the word of God as we see it outlined in this book, as we see God speak to us through his word, as we see him convict us through his spirit.

These words have to be sown into a field of soil that is willing to take it, and is willing to allow that to be softened to the point where it can actually land and it can take root. At any point in time in this process, as we see the word of God, through the hardening of our hearts, through the hardening of that soil, through the challenges that we're facing in the moment when we hear that word, through the distractions that are in our life which might choke that word out, all of those things can impact how that word lands on our heart. At any given point in time, during our conversion, it is not one and done.

It is consistent. It is yearly. It is regular that that hardness of that ground has to be broken up.

We get the word of God through our process of our Sabbath services, through our own Bible study, through God's Spirit, through things that we listen to, conversations we have with people, and if our heart is not right, so to speak, if that soil is not in the right spot, that word will not land.

It will not land, and it will not produce, and it will not grow.

And the fruit will be barren on the stalks.

The principle that we see outlined in Deuteronomy 11 for the physical blessings of crops in ancient Israel, brethren, spiritually applies to the production and the maturation of spiritual fruit as well. Deuteronomy 11, 16, paraphrased version, says, Take heed, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord's anger be aroused, and he shut up the heavens so there be no rain, the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Brethren, our disobedience toward God, our unwillingness to submit ourselves to Him and to His instruction, can cause our heart, that spiritual soil, so to speak, in Mark 4, to be so hardened that we will not hear His word. It can cause it to be so hardened that, whether we read it, whether we hear it, we won't follow God's instruction. As we hear messages and as we see principles from Scripture, as we read things, as God's Spirit works with us, He works to convict us through His Spirit and His word, the ultimate condition of that field, the condition of our heart, will determine whether or not what we hear or read takes and bears fruit.

So it begs a question in each of our lives, what's stopping us? What's getting in the way? What's preventing that heart from being yielded to God in such a way that that word lands, that it germinates, that it grows, and that God can bless that effort? What is stopping us?

Brethren, what's preventing us from reconciling a broken relationship? What's stopping us from doing that? What's preventing it? Is it a hardened heart? Is it a hardened heart? Is it a sun that cooked the word before it can take root? Do we start strong? Do we start out strong? And then when things get hard, we go right back to our old habits. Are we so distracted with the thorns of this life that is preventing us from being able to put in the effort and the time needed to make the necessary changes? What God says in His word is that we are to become holy as He is holy. Become holy as I am holy. Brethren, that's God's expectation of all of us. That is His expectation.

So what's our justification? What's our justification? What do we tell God when it's time to give account? What do we tell God when it's time for us to give an account? Sorry, God. I didn't reconcile with that person because I was really upset with how they treated me.

Sorry, I was too busy or I was too distracted with X, Y, and Z. Sorry, God.

God, I wasn't able to let go of my past. I wasn't able to let go of my trauma and become who you called me to be. Sorry, God. The struggle to overcome is just too much. What can I say? I'm human. What's our justification? What's our reasoning?

You know, we may have a number of justifications that, to our own ear, sound perfectly rational. They do. We are really good at justifying ourselves at times.

But, brethren, none of these justifications will amount to anything more than excuses before God. He is merciful. I want to make that abundantly clear. He is merciful. He does understand the challenges. He loves us dearly. He loves us dearly. But, brethren, that grace that He provides us cannot cause us to just continue in these things, to just continue to abound in our sins or in our own self-limitations. That grace that God gives us should motivate us to change, to become like Him, to be called to holiness. And holiness involves two separations. It involves a separation from the world, and it involves a separation to God. We are to be separated from the things of this world. We are to be separated from the wisdom of this world, to be separated from all that derives from that, and instead be separate to God, to be different, to be sanctified, to be set apart the Greek word agios, which is G 38 in Strongs, if you want to look it up. We're to be holy. Let's turn over to Hosea, Hosea 10. Hosea 10.

Quit hiding, Hosea. There you are. Hosea 10. You know, Hosea talks about the importance of this process of breaking up the soil, of breaking up the fallow ground, okay? This ground that has not been worked. Talks about the importance of breaking this up, and he talks about, to some degree, the role that these early reigns play spiritually in the process of this in our lives. Hosea 10, and we'll go ahead and we'll pick it up in verse 12. Hosea 10, verse 12, says, So for your self-righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and reigns righteousness on you. He continues, he says, You've plowed wickedness, you've reaped iniquity, you've eaten the fruit of lies because you trusted in your own way in the multitude of your mighty men. Hosea says, break up the fallow ground, it is time to seek God. It is time to seek God. Talks about sowing in righteousness, talks about sowing in righteousness in the obedience of God, the righteous deeds that accompany are yielding to his Spirit. And Hosea says, the reaping of that sowing will result in a harvest of mercy. It'll result in a harvest of God's grace. But we have to sow in righteousness. We have to sow righteous acts, we have to sow in faith, we have to sow all of these things that God has called us to. Galatians 6, 7, and 8, again we won't turn there, but it provides kind of a similar analogy to this concept. It gets at this idea that whatever we sow, that we shall reap. Again, spiritual principle, which essentially goes back to the farming concept, if you plant corn, if you're a farmer, if you plant corn, you're not going to harvest beans. That would be weird. If you plant beans, you should not expect to harvest corn. We reap what we sow. We reap, ultimately, we harvest that which is planted. And spiritually, if we want to reap the fruit of God's Spirit in our lives, if we want to experience a life of joy, of love, of peace, of patience, kindness and goodness and faithfulness, gentleness, if we want to reap self-control, brethren, we have to sow those seeds to the Spirit. That's what we have to plant. And then, once we've planted it, we don't pull up in doubt what we planted in faith.

We don't tear the plants out of the ground with our doubts.

We planted them in faith. We trust that God is going to work, that He is going to do His part, that He's going to produce. And that means that we have work to do in that process as well. But brethren, we won't be able to sow to the Spirit in this way if our heart is hardened.

If our heart is hardened, if that soil is rock hard, those seeds are just going to bounce right off the top of it. They are not going to ultimately take hold. That seed won't germinate because the conditions of the soil aren't right for that seed to take. We have to break up the fallow ground. We have to provide something for those seeds to be received into. The other role of the early rains was to allow that planted seed to germinate so it could begin to take root. It actually provided the right environment for those seeds to sprout. You know, I think sometimes as we go through life, we become hardened not necessarily toward God, but we become hardened toward our fellow man. Maybe we have a challenging situation taking place with our spouse, one of our brethren, our boss, and as that situation goes unresolved for a long enough period of time, frequently we start to become so calloused to that situation and even in some cases to that individual to the point that we just don't really care how we come across to that person anymore. We just don't. And we don't necessarily care to even try to solve the solution. We don't even necessarily want to even try to solve the situation, but brethren, the problem is when we become hardened toward our fellow man, when we become hardened toward our boss, toward our spouse, toward our spiritual brother, or our sister, or our neighbor, we have to recognize that we are becoming hardened to God too. In the process of not loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are disobedient to God. There's all part and parcel. It's all connected. All of this works together. If we're ignoring that command to love one another, if we're ignoring His command to love our neighbor as ourselves, or we've maybe we've ceased to follow the scriptural instructions of submission in various ways, you know, Peter talks about that numerous times, Ephesians talks about that, maybe we're ignoring that process of the mutual submission of husbands and wives, treatment of how we treat one another, and instead we've turned to following our own way. We've decided, now I got this. I know what I'm gonna do. I know exactly what I'm gonna do.

If we turn to following our own way, brethren, Proverbs 14 says that end is the way of death.

Leaning on our own understanding, turning to our own devices is the way of death. That is the way of destroyed relationships. It is the way of bitterness and deceit. It is the way of Satan. There's no other way to put it.

Hebrews 13 verses 7 through 11, again referencing, speaks to the dangers of a hardened heart. It speaks of Israel's rebellion in the wilderness. It speaks of the voice of God that the Israelites ceased to listen to, and how that changed their relationship with God, how that changed their relationship with their fellow man. Hebrews 13 verses 7 through 11. It caused Israel to become desensitized to their own sin. It impacted their view of God. It impacted their view of the requirements of him, and ultimately the requirements he placed upon them as his people. And, brethren, if we are not careful, the same thing can take place to us as we await the return of Jesus Christ. If patience, or our patience, is not firmly placed in the eager expectation of his coming, and we lose that sense of urgency, if we lose that sense of the reason why we're here and why we're doing what we're doing, if we're not careful, we start to mistreat one another. And sadly, brethren, we have a history of this, of mistreating one another, just as we go back through our own collective history at times. Luke 12. You want to turn over to Luke 12? We'll see an example here in Luke 12 in a contrast of two servants. Okay, Luke 12, we'll see a contrast of two servants. We'll see one servant that continued to do what his master instructed him to do, and then we'll ultimately see a second servant who lost that sense of urgency, who lost that patience.

Kind of lost track of what that earnest expectation of what was coming was, and then slipped back into sinful ways. Luke 12, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 48. 48.

Promise I've been talking a few years. I can say words sometimes. Luke 12 and verse 48. 40. 48. Luke 12 verse 48.

Actually, I want to pick it up in 45. All of that, and then I want to get it in 45. Sorry. It says, but if that servant, this is the contrast here to the one that is doing what he's supposed to do, it says, but if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, and he begins to beat the male and the female servants, he begins to eat and drink and be drunk.

Verse 46. The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and he will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Verse 47. That servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes.

But he who did not know, yet committed these things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For ultimately, to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed of him, they will ask the more. You know, the actions of the individual outlined above is someone who has lost track of what is coming. They have lost sight of what is coming. They have taken their eyes off of that hope, and the actions of this individual are the actions of someone whose heart has become hardened, someone whose heart has become calloused, someone whose soil is not capable of receiving the Word of God without some serious work to break up that fellow ground.

You might imagine if that person were sitting in services here today, they might be looking for reasons why what I'm saying today doesn't apply to them, why they're justified in their position, how I don't know their story, how I don't realize what's transpired to bring them to this point.

I don't have to fulfill that responsibility to that person. I don't need help. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I sure hope that's not the response that we have in our hearts as we hear these things. I really truly hope that's not the case. In this example in Luke 12, we see an extreme. I want to be very clear. This is an extreme example in Luke 12. But what we see as an individual, instead of focusing on what's coming and the absolute importance of preparing for what is coming, that focus from that individual has shifted completely to the here and now. They've begun to live a life of dissipation. They beat their fellow servants. They've lost sight of the vision. Now, in our life today, this isn't necessarily only physical. When we lose sight of God, we begin to lose focus on other things. We begin to pursue pleasure over holiness in a variety of forms. We begin to mistreat other people as we insist on our own way. We care less for their needs. We care less for their needs. We care less about how we can ultimately serve them. And we become abusive. We can become abusive verbally, emotionally, psychologically. I hope and pray, not physically. But we can become verbally, emotionally, and psychologically abusive as we mistreat one another. As we lose sight of and lose track of this vision. And brethren, these things, they're not godly. They're not godly. They are characteristics of our yielding to the wisdom of this world and not the wisdom that comes from above. James, contrast the two of these things in his epistle. James 3. Turn over to James 3.

James 3, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 13 with a description, really, of the two choices that we have to choose from when it comes to these decisions in our lives. When it comes to how we interact with these things. James 3, we'll pick it up in verse 13.

Again, the description of these two choices that we have when it comes to the wisdom that we will ultimately yield ourselves to. James 3 verse 13 says, Who is wise and understanding among you, let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. Verse 14, but if you have bitter envy, if you have self-seeking in your hearts, says do not boast and lie against the truth. Verse 15, this wisdom does not descend from above, but it is earthly, it is sensual, it is demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But it goes on in verse 17, it says, But the wisdom that's from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. And notice what he says in verse 18. Now the fruit of righteousness, the harvest of righteousness, we might say, is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James advocates here for a very practical proof of the existence of wisdom in our lives. It's our conduct. It's how we interact with one another. It's how we treat one another. It's how we go about our lives. And what James is getting at, he says, if we're submitting ourselves to God, if we're submitting ourselves to his wisdom, he says, then our deeds and our conduct will follow. And he says that it will follow in addition. But he says, if we have bitter envy, we have self-seeking in our hearts, James comes out and just flat out says this wisdom does not come from God. Bitter envy, self-seeking, is demonic. It's earthly, it's sensual. It says, where envy and self-seeking exist, when we're bitterly jealous, when we have bitterness in our heart, when we're just jealous, when we're seeking our own, every evil thing and confusion is present in that environment. That's what James says. He says the wisdom that comes from God is first pure. It's peaceable. It's gentle. It's willing to yield. It's full of mercy. It's full of good fruits. This word pure is the word agnos. It comes from the same root, essentially, as agios. It's pure. It's innocent. It's holy. It's without defect. It's without defect. And what he's saying here is not that it's first in the sense of being numerically first. What he's saying is that everything else in this list derives from the purity of this godly wisdom. That is where peace comes from. That's where gentleness comes from. That's where a willingness to yield or to submit comes from. That's where mercy and good fruits come from. It's the yielding to this pure wisdom which comes from God, which we see contained in the pages of our Bibles. See, God's Spirit reminding us of. Ultimately, this is the wisdom that we're to be yielding to. So, when we look at practical application of this, because that's all—James is all about practical application—do you want less conflict in your relationships? Do you want purity? Do you want gentleness? Do you want to be better at yielding or submitting yourself to someone else? Do you desire a life full of mercy and good fruits? What James says is that we need to sow righteousness and peace as a peacemaker. Now, what makes this incredibly challenging is this takes two individuals, both of whom must be sowing righteousness in peace as a peacemaker.

Someone who is seeking peace and seeking resolution. Both individuals need to be in this spot. The soil needs to be broken up in such a way that they can both begin to plant this seed. Sadly, and I think what makes this really challenging today is we really don't have any control over how the individual responds. We really don't. We have no control over how the other person responds. We have very little control over the condition of their heart, whether they can actually hear, but it doesn't absolve us of doing our part. It does not absolve us of doing our part to continue to sow righteousness in peace. The scriptural principle that we see is that we reap what we sow. I think sometimes that asks us the question, we need to be asking the question, what exactly am I planting? What exactly is the seed that I'm sowing in my life? And am I waiting patiently for God to both soften that ground, both me and that other person? Am I waiting for God to soften that soil so that seed that's being planted can actually take root? And then as it takes root and as it grows, am I waiting patiently? Am I long suffering toward that individual? Am I working and trusting God that He'll water those crops so that fruit can come to maturity, so that there can be a harvest, as we both tend to our own individual fields, so to speak. But, brethren, none of us are absolved of this individual work. We've all got this ever-present individual work to do, and as we complete this work individually, collectively as a body, we are strengthened. Collectively as a body, we're strengthened. Let's turn to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. We see the final moments here in some ways of—well, final moments, the near-to-final moments—of God's plan kind of coming to fruition. We see these pieces falling into place here as what God has been pushing for and what God has been doing begin to come to fruition. Babylon the Great has been destroyed, and this earnest expectation of what we await is beginning to be described. Revelation 19. We'll pick it up in verse 6. It says, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.

Collectively, this ecclesia of God, this assembly of those who have been called, is likened unto a bride that will be presented to the Son of God. This marriage supper will come, that bride will be joined to their husband. Exactly what that looks like is uncertain, but we see that analogy used in a variety of places. One of those places is in Ephesians 5, where we see individual instruction on marriage today, ultimately the reason why we even have an institution of marriage today. Because our marriages in this life mirror the relationship between God and his church. That's what they're intended to do. It's a way for us to be able to understand how Christ gives himself for his bride, how that bride submits herself to a loving, godly leader, and it helps us to understand and to approximate, at least to some degree, to the best that we can understand it physically on this earth, the oneness that God and Christ share.

That is what marriage is intended to do for us today. Turn with me, please, to Ephesians 5. I want to read these words because I want you to see this and how it's laid out. Ephesians 5, verse 22.

Ephesians 5 and verse 22. It says, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is head of the wife as also Christ is head of the church. So again, we see that analogy being put into place. The husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Verse 25, husbands don't get let off the hook. It says, husbands love your wives. Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. Why? Verse 27, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Holy and without blemish. You know, we are busy individually and collectively as God's ecclesia, putting in the work as we yield ourselves to God's Spirit, as we yield ourselves to him ultimately, and as we work towards that obedience that comes through that submission, to be able to produce a bride that is without spot or wrinkle in that sense. And that is Christ working in us that enables that to even take place. And the expectation and the calling is that we will be agios, that we will be holy, we'll be sanctified, we'll be set apart, we'll be different from the world around us. And brethren, as we've mentioned that work, that work is ever present. That's that backlog of work that's always in the background, as there's one more thing that we all need to focus on and work on. It requires us to be patient, it requires us to trust in God, it requires us to do our part as we turn to him in obedience and in faith. And as he softens that soil of our hearts, as he provides soil that the Word of God can take root in, soil in which that Word can germinate and grow into an abundant crop of spiritual fruit in our lives. Individually, we produce this spiritual fruit in our lives, producing in our relationships collectively, as that's expressed individually and in our relationships, it's expressed collectively as the bride prepares herself for her husband. Brethren, this is God's expectation for us. This is his expectation for us. That we will cast off the wisdom of this world, and that we will submit ourselves to the wisdom which is from above. That our interactions with others are governed by the Spirit of God, not governed by the Spirit of this world. You look in the world around us today, that Spirit is evident. It is bitterness, it is anger, it is wrath, and the Spirit of this world comes from the influence of Satan. God says, don't submit yourself to that wisdom. Submit yourself instead to the wisdom which is pure and that comes from above. Then, brethren, and only then can we begin to become the bride which our bridegroom seeks. James 5 verses 7 through 8 speaks to the patience that we need to have as we await the return of Jesus Christ. Brethren, let us maintain our focus. Let us put in the work. Let us all resolve to break up the fallow ground, seek the Lord, and pray for those needed reins in each of our lives.

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Ben is an elder serving as Pastor for the Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Oregon congregations of the United Church of God. He is an avid outdoorsman, and loves hunting, fishing and being in God's creation.