Arizona republican., 1909-11-15
THE HARVEST Is READY
 THE TIME IS SHORT
The Sermon of Rev. Mir. Campbell al the Presbyterian Church Tester-
 day Morning

[
 the First Presbyterian church yester- day morning used as his text the thir- | ty-sixth verse of the fourth chapter of
 John. Say not ye, There are yet four months. and then cometh harvest be
 hold, say unto you. Lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are 1 white already to harvest" A synopsis of the discourse is given below.
 Tn our text we recognize the words
 of our Master. uttered in some measure as a rebuke to the disciples for their ' lack of expectation of the speedy com | ing of the Kingdom. If the disciples
 of that day needed the rebuke, so do i those of this age of the world. Just i before Christ spoke thus to His fol- | lowers. He had brought the living water to the woman of Samaria. Her l eagerness for the message was to Him an earnest of the ripening harvest.
 T am exceedingly anxious that we as servants of Christ shall endeavor to
 reap the harvest that is ripe for the | reaping. because the time is short. men | need to be saved, and the word of God ! teaches us the necessity of seeking the | lost The Master said of Himself, I
 am the light of the world. and then He said to His disciples, 'Ye are the light ' of the world If Christianity is wrong We are bound to change it; if it is right, then we must propagate it. There
 is no other way. It is not theology nor | is it controversy that should concern
 the Christian, it is the salvation of men. | If the church evangelical would be- rs-.ss. ;N l set the world on fire for Christ.
 'Thera IS a rebuke in our text for
 the disciples, whether We read it as a question or as a positive statement or l command The harvest is ripe and they are 10 expect that it is. They are l looking lound about and they cannot i see any evidence that men are turning to Christ. To them it is all discourage ment and there is nothing of encour- agement al all; but, to the mind of the Master. the coming of this woman is tine beginning of the coming of the Kingdom. The attitude of the disciples is the attitude of the disciples of to- | day-failure to expect the blessing, failure to believe in the power of God. As long as that is our attitude, we are not going to receive the blessing. We succeed in life because We expect to succeed. and we fail ir life because We expect to fail. I heard a speaker say, in addressing an assemblage of teach CTS, that he knew a boy who had gone through high school and had made a miserable failure of it because l:e did not believe he had it in him to be a scholar. .
 "'These bring success their zeal to fan: They can because they think they can. Columbus discovered America because he thought he could;. Franklin chained the lightning because he thought he could. We are soon to realize the dream of the years in the Panama canal What is the secret of it? The confidence of those who are behind it that it is possible The church succeeds, other things being equal in proportion as it has confi- dence and expectation. Christ told His disciples they could not cast out the demor because of their unbelief Again and again does Christ state the fact that faith andl belief are the measures of accomplishment. Our prayers have in them many vain words Take out of the average prayer all that is not desired or expected. and not much will be left Expectation that God has the power and that He will give the bless ing is the need of the church.
 Christ tells His disciples that the harvest is ripe. l am convinced that one of the secrets of our lack of zeal and activity in doing the Lords work is that we have not realized that the harvest is ripe. The more we look in- to conditions. the more we are convinc- ed that the harvest is ripe. We say, Men don't want Jesus Christ When we say that we are simply trying toI find an excuse for lack of confidence
 Men are not naturally. on their own account. coming into the Kingdom of God. Gods plan is for the saved one to go out and seek his brother who is un- saved. What was the condition when the Master uttered these words? Only one poor heather woman turned to Christ and she only after He had con vinced her of her need. Christ's com mand to His church is, Go Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. The church is mak- ing a mistake if it thinks God is go- ing to do the reaping of the harvest that He has ripened for the sickle. When we reckon on the ripeness of the harvest, God surprises us with the extent to which He gives His blessing When we are willing to fight He will give the victory. When we are will ing to put in the sickle, He will help us to reap the harvest without a single doubt. When Dr. Goodale of Brooklyn, was transferred to Calvary Church of New York, many prophe- sled that the success which had been his in his former charge would be turned to failure. He said, If there is a failure in the church, there will be a funeral in the parsonage. for | cannot live and see failure in the work of Christ Oh, people, wish that you might pray your pastor into that atti- tudei Dr. Goodale went on trusting