Posted on 08/24/2022 6:31:52 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters” (Proverbs 25:13).
“As,” another “as.” He will take a known truth, to present a truth that might not be so clear, in order to clarify it.
Notice that the man is a servant. He is to carry the gospel and we supposed to be out in the harvest fields. He said that “the harvest truly is plenteous,” and “as the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger.” We are to carry a message. We are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. We have the message of peace. We have the ministry of reconciliation as Paul tells us in second Corinthians chapter 5:18-19.
A cold drink of water in the heat of August; now look at that thing, “as the cold of snow in the time of harvest.” Where in the world would you get snow in the time of harvest? The only place you can get it is out of the refrigerator. You couldn’t get ice that way in the days that this was written—you’d have to go up on top of the mountain to the snow caps—by the time you got back down to the field it would have melted. But if it would have been possible, of course, today it is possible with electricity. If it would have been possible, that would have been a tremendous blessing—right in the midst of the harvest to get a cold drink of water. You realize that up to about the last fifty years, that would have been impossible. You just drank lukewarm water, or you found you a spring that was deep and coming up out of ground, or a well where you could get cold well water. That wasn’t always possible in the harvest time.
It's all about the gospel! Verse 13 is about a faithful messenger, such as a witness, a preacher, a Christian brother who comforts. It is like First Thessalonians 4:18 where we are told to “comfort one another with these words.”
Now there are two kinds of witnesses. You will find them in Second Samuel 18:19-32, Cushi and Ahimaaz: the two runners that run back to tell David about the battle, where they're fighting against Absalom and his armies that have taken over Jerusalem. And Joab and his men, and and men of David have gone out to fight. Of course, David is back at wherever he was, I don't think he was in Jerusalem at that time, and he was waiting on word from the battle as to what happened, and he was especially concerned about the boy Absalom, who had revolted against him.
Well, Ahimaaz ran to tell David, but he did not know the full message, and he did not have the real information that the King wanted. He went ahead and outran Cushi and got there before him. When the King asked him how the battle went, he said that it was going good, and he had no good news about the boy he had no good news.
There's a lot of Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons going up and down the road just like that. You see, they have no good news. They really can't tell the person what they really want and needs to know, but the faithful messenger may not get there as quick as the heretic, but you know you are better late than never. Some people are in a haste to get their heresy spread around which doesn't help anybody.
“As cold waters of snow,” like ice water, “in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger,” so is the refrain in verse 25: “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:25). Well, the far country is heaven (Luke 19:12). The good news is, of course, the gospel (Romans 10:15). And when a guy is lost and on his way to hell, you know it’s hot in hell? Do you know what the first thing the guy in hell says? “Get me some water!” Well, you need to get the water before you go to hell! The everlasting water, the living water (John 4).
The Gospel satisfies forever.
Matthew 5:6 says that those that “hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.” There again, I say that what the Christian is to do is to make Christianity so appealing to a sinner that they become thirsty for the kind of things that the Christian has.
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