C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.  Eternal Plan of God for Man For  March 31st, 2019 : LESSON SIX – TOPIC :  HARVEST OF THE EARTH

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C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.  Eternal Plan of God for Man For  March 31st, 2019 : LESSON SIX – TOPIC :  HARVEST OF THE EARTH

C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
Eternal Plan of God for Man.
March 31st, 2019.

LESSON SIX
HARVEST OF THE EARTH

Christ is coming soon to harvest the earth. Don’t align with the devil, so that you won’t regret on that Day.

MEMORY SCRIPTURE
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:30).

BRIEF COMMENT
Jesus told the parable of the wheat and tares to drive home His points on the Kingdom of God. He had earlier compared the Kingdom of heaven to a sower who planted good seed in his farm, only to be told later that tares were growing with the wheat he had planted. Enemy did this! he exclaimed. According to Jesus, the farmer preferred that both plants (good and bad) should be allowed to grow together, until the harvest. He believes weeding before harvest could have negative effects on the good plants, as they also could be tampered with. That implies the survival of the fittest.

It is equally believed that separation during the harvest would put the wheat and tares where each belongs. Of course, the bad ones would first be gathered, and they are good for nothing, but fire. The wheat is the choice plant that would be harvested and gathered in the barn.

Very soon, this is what the earth would experience: the good people (the children of the Kingdom) shall be gathered into paradise of God while the wicked, children of perdition, would have their portion in the lake of fire, which is the second death. This therefore answers the people who believe God is not powerful enough to undo evil and wickedness, thus have no choice than to allow continue. God is sovereign and has the might to undo anything that He wants to, yet He has set a predetermined day of harvest, when He is going to bring separation to both the good and the bad. This is the harvest of the earth.

DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING FOR WEEK ONE
Mon.     Mar. 25:     Israel’s Punitive Harvest (Isa. 5:1-7)
Tue.      Mar. 26:     Babylon’s Daughter would be Harvested (Jer. 51:33)
Wed.     Mar. 27:     God’ll Harvest the Nations (Joel 3:12-16)
Thur.    Mar. 28:     The World: Ripe for Harvest (Rev. 14:14-15)
Fri.       Mar. 29:     Thrust Your Sickle for Harvest (Rev. 14:15)
Sat.      Mar. 30:      Let Them Grow Together Until Harvest (Matt. 13:24-30).

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
1.   No matter how long we live here on earth, we would live longer than this with Jesus in Heaven.
2.  We are mere sojourners here; our stay on the earth is momentary. Heaven is our commonwealth. Therefore, do not destroy your eternity with the passing glory of this earthly home.

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Matthew 25:1-46

AIM AND OBJECTIVES:
AIM: To let the learners know that God shall carryout separation between good and evil, any moment from now.

OBJECTIVES : At the end of this lesson, the learner should:
i.   be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the fact that, simultaneous existence of the good and bad is not forever; there shall be separation by God sooner than later;
ii.  be able to identify the devil as the causative agent sowing evil and sinful seeds in the world;
iii. be able to discuss the fact that the separation at the end is what the Bible refers to as harvest of the earth; and
iv. be showing signs preparing themselves for this great harvest, in order to be in good book of God.

INTRODUCTION
TEXTUAL SOURCE: MATTHEW 13:24-43
We cannot but appreciate God for the way He has been dealing with us in the course of this Sunday School series, which is the first in this glorious year 2019. Most recently, He re-set out to us the godly golden rules guiding conduct in Christ’s Kingdom, now and in eternity. These constitute what is called the ETHICS OF ETERNITY that we discussed from Matthew chapters 5 to 7. May God’s expectation be out joy and way of life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lesson Six is God’s desire for us to rediscover the truth that Jesus is coming to harvest the earth, and how is would happen. We need this knowledge as we gradually move towards the fulfillment of this scriptural prophecy. Whether consciously or unconsciously everyone prepares for harvest, for whether there is sowing of seed, there is bound to be reaping; so also it is in the Christian race.

God has promised that at the end of this age, there would be a great harvest of the world. The harvest is not of corn, wheat or barley, but souls. The Lord warned that during the harvest of the end time, multitudes would be in the valley of indecision due to lack of faith, insincerity, whose religious bigotry. It will be a time of both true and false believers, whose religious activities may be very difficult to differentiate, as to their right perception.

The Bible indicates and describes two types of harvest, a good harvest and a harvest of wrath (Matt. 13:24-30; Rev. 14:14-16). The Bible says, The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matt. 13:41-43).

In this lesson, we will concentrate on the salient and important issues, drawn out from the Lord’s Parable of the Wheat and Tares, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, which will assist our due diligent preparation for the coming harvest of the earth. May God assist us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

AUTHORSHIP AND BACKGROUND OF THE MATTHEW
Refer to lesson 2.section *5A.

INTRODUCTION TO EACH DIVISION
This lesson is divided into two sections, I and II. Each of the sections is further divided into A and B.

DIVISION I: THE IDEA OF THE PARABLE
This section discuss two critical issues about the harvest of the earth. THE COMPONENTS OF THE HARVEST forms the body of part A, while THE PICTURE OF THE ENEMY constitutes the second part (B). The Son of Man who is the sower of the good seed, the good seed itself, the tares, and the devil, sower of bad seeds, are all identified under the components of the harvest. The true identity of the enemy, the devil, is also set out in part B.

DIVISION II: THE END WILL COME
What happens in the forms the bedrock of this division. There is a saying that the end justifies the means. The end shall come and count. How? There shall be total separation: the bad ones shall be sorted out and removed from the good ones. This is solely God’s act. That is what this division is out to emphasise.

LESSON OUTLINE
I.    THE IDEA OF THE PARABLE
A.    COMPONENTS OF THE HARVEST
B.    PICTURE OF THE ENEMY
II.   THE END WILL COME
A.   THE GROWING TOGETHER OF NOW
B.   THE HARVEST IN THE END.

LESSON EXPOSITION
I.   THE IDEA OF THE PARABLE (Matthew 13:36-39)
Jesus teaches mostly in parables. Why? to make Himself clear to His audience, as in contextualising His teaching and illustrating for effective learning. It was also characteristics of Him to later explain the parables to His disciple. What then is parable? It is a short simple story intended to illustrate a moral or religious lesson. In parables, Jesus teaches the harvest of the earth. Teaching in parable are not meant to dull our understanding, but to enhance our comprehension.

A.   COMPONENTS OF THE HARVEST (Matt. 13:36-39)
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one (v. 38).
i.   The Sower of the good seed is the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) who is also the Lord of the field and the harvest. Ministers are instruments in Christ’s hand to sow the good seed (wheat) in the world.
ii.  The Field is the world of mankind, a large field capable of bringing forth good and bad fruits under the same weather and atmospheric conditions.
iii. The good seed (wheat) are the children of the kingdom; the saints (redeemed), not only in profession, but also in sincerity. They are good and precious seeds in the hand of the Lord to be sown for productivity (cf. Psa. 126:6). Are you a good seed of God’s Kingdom?
iv. The weed (tares) are the sons of the wicked enemy. They do not good. They are weeds in the garden. Even though they have the same rain, sunshine and soil, they are good for nothing. They are “Christians” who pretend to be religiously correct in standard and pattern, but are actually bankrupt (2 Tim. 3:5). It can be very difficult to identify and separate them until the fruits to appear (Matt. 13:26-28). Hope you are not a tare?
v.  The Enemy is the devil who sowed the (tares) weed. Cunningly, while others are unaware, watching all opportunities that it might be known, He orchestrates great deal of secret wickedness in the hearts of men.
vi. There are good seeds as well as bad ones. Implication: good ones should be weary of the contamination and corruption tendency of the evil ones, because practically, weeds affect the good seed negatively. Hence, the children of the Kingdom must be vigilant against the activities of the devil and his agents (Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8).

B.   PICTURE OF THE ENEMY (Matt. 13:39)
The enemy who sowed them is the devil (v. 39a).
i.   Unfortunately, many of those who preach on the opposite of Truth were initially godly, genuinely born again people who loved God. Yet, they sometimes teach errors, right long with the truth, and they are just as strong for the error as they are for the truth — double standard. They are the changing chameleon; it is very difficult to discern them (Jer. 6:13; Matt. 24:1-4; Rev. 2:14).
ii.  Gradually, the great central truth of faith started becoming a great deal of doctrinal controversy through the subtle ways in which the devil infiltrates the rank and file of Christian leadership and followership alike (Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 1:3,4).
iii. Eventually, the truth grows, it gradually becomes apparent that the heresies are leading men astray, while the truth is still being established there. Gradually, the tares begin to take form and appear to be their real selves (2 Tim. 4:1-4), thus deceiving many.
iv. God’s people must carry the Light of Christ to silence the enemy of our souls in his nefarious advances, here on earth.
v.  The battle line is already drawn between light and darkness, good and evil. Satan and his host are advancing against the children of God. Great danger looms for the children of the Kingdom, without the help of God. But when God is on their side, there is no fear; victory is sure.

LESSONS DERIVED
1.   We are living amongst the wicked now. So, we must stand out in terms of holding out the Light of God’s holiness.
2.  The devil is fighting tooth and nail, to knocked every Christian. He plants his agents around us. We need Christ’s help.

WORK TO DO
What are the implications of the wheat and the weed growing together before the harvest, for the church and the world?

SUGGESTED ANSWER TO WORK TO DO
The implication of the wheat and the weed growing together:
i.   They have to grow together, so that the wheat would not be tampered with when the weeding is done before the harvest.
ii.  This parable explains why God allows evil to keep existing in the world, as against the belief in some quarters, that God cannot undo the power of evil that is why he allows it.
iii. If God had not allowed the two elements to continue together, we wouldn’t have had the harvest of the earth as we study it today.
iv.  Another implications is that God, in His grace and infinite mercy, shows His benevolence and opportunity for repentance to the sinful and fallen man, so that no one would have any excuse.
v.  Also, the truth nature of the seed would be know when the bad seeds are placed side by side, just as trial/temptation reveals our true nature and personality, and darkness reveals the true nature of light.
vi. The Church should know that growing in this wicked world won’t be rosy. She should be ready to face persecution, affliction, corruption, contamination and the rest. And in all these, the grace of God will be readily available to see the church through to eternity, if she determinedly follows God until the end.

Click to read previous CAC Sunday School Manuals here

vii. Growing with the tares prepares the Church for God and confirms the authenticity. The Church needs to endure hardship, as true solders from the hand of the devil and all his wicked children, to be presentable to God without spots and wrinkles.

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