The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 334

nature nnd its true nourishment. 2. We should cultivate the spirit11al appetite to feed on the will of God. For this is the proper food of the soul, adapted here nnd hereafter. From. the altitude of spirit~al satisfaction and joy earthly things apprnr gross, nnd matena~ food becomes too d1st.'lstefnl ror even thought-, much more for participation. This pomts t-0 a state where material food will not be required, nor can it be procured. Let the soul free itself from all gross influences and from the dominicn of bodily ap_IJ?tites and passions, and this will discipline it for the enjoyment of the purely Fpmtual. 3. We shOfddfeel thankful, to Christ/or introdttcing to us the true food of the soul.. He made our physical nature and provided for it; ho made our spiritunl nature :ind snpplied it with proper nurture-the will of God. 4. If we wish to become 0/iri,st,.. like, u,e must feed on tlie same meat as Christ. If we wish to be God-like, we must do his will. Food has great influence on the growth of the soul. Inferior and adulterated food dwarfs it, ea.uses it to grow downwards. Doing the will of God causes it to grow heavenwards. Holy activity whets the spiritual appetite and supplies it with nourish- ment. The soul feeds by doing, by activity, by the sweat of its bro\v. If we want to be benevolent, like Christ, we must not feed on ourselves, but the will of God-on the love of Christ and the welfare of our fellow-men.-B. T. Ven.. 35-38.-The Christian ha,·vest. Notice-- I. lTs NATURE. It is spiritual. "Lift up your eyes," etc. To see the temporal harvest you look down and around, but to see this you must look up; it is in the spiritual region, and concerns the spiritual nature and interest of man. It is the harvest of rnuls-the harvest of Jesus' soul. It is i:piritual in its processee, its sphere, its aim, and its results. It means the spiritual quickening, the germination, the growth, the cultivation and ripening of huma.n souls. Think not that this world is only for material and physical purposes. Its chief end is the production of holy and perfect souls. Ancl as the system of nature is adapted to produce different grains in perfection, so there is a spidtual system of Divine grace adapted to produce perfect souls. II. 'Im oPER.A.TIO!<S OF THE HARVEST. 1. There are preparatory operat-io1ts. As in the material, so in the spiritual harvest, the soil of the soul is ploughed; cultivated, by warnings, by judgment and mercy, by Divine threatenings and promises; and the se~d of the Divine Word is sown with much prayerfulnegs and tears, aud then left in hope and anxiety. 2. There are the secret, Divine operations. Once the seed is deposited carefully in the soil, the husbandman can do nothing more but hopo, wa\ch, and trust. It is now in the custody of God; he alone can make it grow. 'fhe Christian husband- man can only commit the Divine seed to the soil; he must there leave it to the secret and quickening operations of the Holy Spirit. 3. There are the subsequent Divine and hwman operations. Ae soon as the seed begins to bud, it is partially given back .to human care. As soon as the Divine Word begins to bud in repentance a.nd faith, and grow in grace, it is at once, to some e:r.tent, under human discipline and supervision. The Divine and human operations join in its development and progresR. 4. These operations are very great and various. There is infinite thought, sacrifice, and life, and there is much toil and labour, and there are various agencies, "One soweth, and another reapeth." IIL THE VA.STh"'ESS OF THE EABVEST. 1. Vast in relation to space, The space of the harvest is the whole earth. The field is the world. But there are fields. Human, geography is recognized. "Look on the fields." J udaia, Galilee, and especially Samaria, were in tbe eye of Jesus now. Human geography fits in well with the Divine pur~ poses. The whole earth is the Lord's farm, and the harvest covers it all; but it is well for the purpose of spiritual cultivation that it is divided into fields. Thw labour and vastness are distributed so ·as to suit finite comprehension and energy. Through the parts the whole will be reached. Field after field will be cultivated till the whole earth be covered with waving corn fit for harvest. 2. Vast in 1·elation to time. It re.aches from the first moment of the "day of gra.ce" to the last, and in results stretch forward to the endless eternity. Men have a series of harvests, but Jesus has only one great Lnr.est, embracing all time and all ages. 3. Vast in relation to the labour and agencies w,ployed. These embrace all Divine, human, and angelic agencies from the first hu11 er to the last reaper. Abel, Paul, and Luther worked in the same harvest. All the spiritnal energy brought to bear upon this world belongs to the same, The en. 1v. 1-61.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,TOWL