“They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest” (Isaiah ix. 3; John xii. 20-25; 1 Cor. xv. 36-58; 2 Cor. ix. 6-11; Ps. lxxii. 16).
THERE can be no doubt that this prophecy refers to the first advent of Christ. The verses preceding the text are quoted by Matthew as therein receiving their fulfilment: “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matt. iv., 13-16). The verses following the text, also, contain the well-known and heart-stirring doxology, in which the Church is represented as welcoming the birth of her Warrior-Redeemer: “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David.” The increase of the Church at this epoch was wonderful. Messiah assumed the throne of His father David; was inaugurated King of Zion—”Thy King cometh unto thee, O Zion;”—and, on His ascension, the kingdom of David threw off its beggarly elements—its carnal envelope—and stood forth trusting to its spiritual powers alone, received immense accessions from the middle wall of partition being broken down and the Gentiles being admitted among the Israel of God, and Jesus very largely “saw of the travail of His soul” and of “the joy set before Him.”
The language of the prophet, in fact, was verified: “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased unto Him the joy” [marginal translation]. And in these circumstances it is that the joy of the Church is announced and described: “They joy when they divide the spoil.” First of all, Messiah Himself is joyful: “Thou hast increased unto Him the joy;” or, as in the language of the 21st psalm, “The King shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in Thy salvation how greatly shall He rejoice.” Then the Church, loyal to her husband, rejoices in His joy, being admitted by Him, in His love, to share the gladness of His heart: “Thou hast increased unto Him the joy”—and now—”they joy before Thee.”
For, all warrantable joy in this world of death and sorrow is Christ’s joy. All the true joy of the Church is the joy of Christ, her living Head. It is so in this life: “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John xv., ii.) It is so in the life to come: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
Now, there are three views given in Scripture of the joy of the Church—whether it be the joy of Christ personally, or in His members; and they are all fitted to show that such joy has its root in sorrow, in suffering, in self-denial, and conflict. First, there is the joy that succeeds travail. Such is Christ’s joy: “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” Such also is the joy of His members: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail, hath sorrow because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now, therefore, have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” Then, secondly, there is the joy of the harvest; which, as we shall see, presupposes sacrifice and self-denial. And, thirdly, there is the joy of victory, which, of course, is preceded by conflict. The text sets Christian joy in the light of the second of these analogies. It is the joy of harvest. We propose to consider Christian joy under that particular aspect; the joy of harvest.
Now, to see what is peculiar in the joy of harvest, it will be necessary to analyse the idea of harvest. It is a complex idea. Especially when introduced, on the principle of analogy, into the unseen affairs of the moral and spiritual world, it requires a careful examination before it yields up all the special truths for which it becomes a ready vehicle—a comprehensive expression. At the outset, however, let me show—of course from the Scripture, our only source of knowledge—that the idea of harvest, I might almost say the principle of harvest, is eminently applicable to the kingdom of Christ; and hence the joy of harvest may well be expected to be found there. There is real harvest in the Church, and, therefore, there is the joy of harvest. Nay, the principle and power of harvest, whatever these may be, are universally present and continually in action in the Church. To illustrate Christian joy by the joy of harvest is not a mere illustration. Nor is it merely a passing expression of the pen inspiration—an occasional, happy phrase or turn. Deep inlaid in the whole scheme of redemption, the complex and comprehensive idea of harvest is to be met with; so much so that it applies—First, to the person and work of the Redeemer; Secondly, to the person of the redeemed; and, Thirdly, to the good works of the redeemed.
First. As to the person and work of the Redeemer.
Let the passage in the 12th chapter of John be considered. Towards the close of the Lord’s ministry, there were “certain Greeks that came up to worship at the feast; the same came, therefore, to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.” The disciples convey the expression of this request to their Master, Jesus sees in these Greeks the first-fruits of all the Gentile nations, one day to be brought unto Him. He looks forward and sees in anticipation “all nations blessed in Him, and all nations calling Him blessed.” He sees the whole world one great and golden harvest-field, waving in autumnal plenty and beauty. And knowing that all this rich ingathering is from His own redemption-work in death, through which alone He could thus be glorified in this world, and comparing His own person and work to the seed-corn from which, through death and burial, new and plenteous life springs again—He exclaims, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” The harvest principle has its first and greatest verification in the Redeemer Himself, and in the work of the Cross.
Secondly. Jesus goes on immediately to apply it to His people also.
For certainly this is His design in adding: “He that loveth His life shall lose it, and he that hateth it in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John xii., 25). He that so “loveth his life” as “to keep it”—like the husbandman in spring preferring to retain the seed—such an one shall not really keep his life, but rather lose it; as the husbandman by keeping the seed would be only providing famine. But he that “hateth his life” in this world—he who can deal with his life like the husbandman who seems to hate the seed, and throws it from him, and parts with it, and buries it out of his sight—he shall not lose his life; it shall be he only that shall really keep his life; yea, “keep it unto life eternal.” He shall have a harvest of life. So that the harvest principle applies to the persons of the redeemed. Yea, it applies to their whole person, soul and body alike. The soul is especially mentioned in a passage in Matthew exactly parallel to what we have now quoted from John: “For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matt. xvi., 25, 26). The salvation of his soul is on the principle of harvest. It applies also to the body: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” The resurrection is a harvest. The soul has been quickened, raised, and ripened in glory. To the entire person this idea of harvest applies.
Thirdly. To complete the full range and sweep of its application
As really embracing all that is to be found in the kingdom of Christ, it applies to the works of the redeemed, as well as to their persons, and to the person and work of their Redeemer. All their good works are so much sowing; and all their reward is so much reaping. “Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. vi., 9). “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm cxxvi., 5, 6). Again, it is just the harvest. The idea of harvest, whatever that may imply, is all-pervasive in the kingdom of faith.
What, then, is implied in Harvest? Let us analyse it, and we shall find that it contains the ideas of:—I. Surrender. II. Surrender unto death. III. Life in, and by means of, death. IV. Abundance of life. V. Beauty of life. VI. Variety of life.
I. Harvest implies and presupposes surrender.
You surrender the good seed. You give up, as it would seem, all personal interest in it. Apparently and comparatively, you hate it. You cast it away. Like a thing which you have quitted and abandoned and are done with—which you are to make no use of, and turn to no good account—you throw it from you, and bury it in the ground, and there you leave it. You most thoroughly and completely give it up. You make a most entire surrender. This, first of all, is involved in the idea or principle of harvest, and, therefore, in the joy of harvest. There was this, very eminently, in Christ. He gave Himself. He made a most complete surrender of Himself—”for us, men, and for our salvation.” He surrendered all His own personal rights and claims as the Son of God, the Holy One, and the Just. He did not “love” and retain his honours, dignities, and glories as the co-equal of the Father. He did not stand upon any of them; He resigned them all. He resigned all personal interest in them. He pleased not Himself—He denied Himself. Not counting it robbery to be equal with God, He nevertheless made Himself of no reputation. He emptied Himself. Though He were rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. There is this, also, in the case of His members. They part with themselves. “They give their own selves to the Lord.” They surrender all personal interest in themselves—all right and desire to call themselves their own. The wicked do not so; they do precisely the reverse. They say, “Our lips are our own,” and they ask, “Who is Lord over us?” But conversion revolutionises this. It brings with it the feeling—the resolution—”We are not our own,”—no, neither in soul nor in body; we will glorify God in our bodies and our spirits, which are His; we will live not unto ourselves, but unto Him that died for us, and that rose again.” We surrender ourselves. We present ourselves to God a living sacrifice. But this applies also to the good works of the redeemed, as well as to their persons, and to the person and work of their Redeemer. All their good works are offerings, sacrifices, surrenderings. And the surrendering must be complete, unreserved, ungrudging; “a matter of bounty and not of covetousness.” Here the principle and analogy of harvest come in very expressly: “He that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully”—”And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that ye, always having all sufficiency, may be able to abound unto every good work”—”And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due time ye shall reap if ye faint not.” In all these cases, then, to which, as we have seen, the idea of harvest applies, there is first of all a surrender; and that surrender is voluntary, unreserved, and in faith.
II. In the idea of harvest there is implied not only the idea of surrender, but of surrender unto death.
Without this, no harvest is attainable. “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die.” “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” To this extent is the surrender required; and to this extent is the surrender yielded, where it is complete and true. It is—even unto death. This is verified, first, and very eminently, in Christ Himself. It was, indeed, concerning His own death that He uttered the pregnant maxim—”Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” When He gave Himself for us, it was a giving of the most complete kind; it was giving Himself unto death. Without this, in fact, the surrender would not have been complete nor thorough—nor, indeed, real. For in Himself He is the Life—the Fountain, and the fulness of life; and it is inconceivable that He could, as such, surrender Himself, except in death. It would be a contradiction. He would not have been surrendering, but, on the contrary, retaining Himself, unless He had died. He who was rich as the Fountain of Life, could, in that respect, become poor, only by dying. He did so. “I lay down my life.” “The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” That it might not “abide alone,” the Seedcorn fell into the ground and died. He surrendered Himself unto death. This is verified, also, in His people, wherever there is that surrender that shall issue in a harvest of life, it is surrender unto death. The old life in sin—which is a life unto self—is given up to be destroyed. It is submitted and subjected to the power of the Cross, which is a power fatal and deadly to self, and to sin, and to Satan. The old man is crucified with Christ to the end that the body of sin may be destroyed. Christ’s members share Christ’s death. They are dead indeed unto sin. For it is impossible to surrender myself truly or safely or acceptably unto God, except with and in Christ. To surrender myself to God apart from Christ is that “fearful thing” which Paul speaks of with trembling—“falling into the hands of the living God.” But, by faith, I adjoin, I conjoin, myself with Christ. I surrender myself as He surrenders Himself; I surrender myself where He surrenders Himself—at the Cross. I surrender myself in and with His surrender of Himself. But His surrender of Himself is in death; so, therefore, is mine. “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” “Reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sin.” “Know ye not that as many of you as were baptised unto Christ were baptised unto His death?” Conversion is the surrender of ourselves unto death. This is verified, yet again, in the believer’s good works, as well as in his person, and in his Lord’s. If you believably present the sacrifices of good works unto God, you give up all passing, temporal, earthly interest in them. You submit to have no more lot or part in them than Abraham in Isaac when he was about to resign all personal interest in him, and all personal intercourse with him, till they should meet on the other side of time and the grave. This is involved in all sincere good works. You do not, for instance—if observant of your Lord’s injunction—invite to your feast those that can “bid you again” for then a recompense is given you in this life. That is not sowing. That is lending, hoping to be paid again. “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.” This is sowing, not lending. This is sowing, not bartering. This is heavenly agriculture, not earthly commerce:—for the recompense is on the other side of death; heavenly agriculture, waiting for the great harvest-home. Yes, death intervenes where harvest comes into play. Sowing is surrendering unto death—looking for recompense on the other side of death. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” If you surrendered it not to death, you may receive it again as what you gave in loan, or gave in hire. But you do not reap, for you did not sow. You did not give up all interest in it on this side of death. And death is necessary—pre-requisite—to harvest. It is so, we have seen, in Christ personal, in Christ’s people, and in their good works.
(To be Continued.)