Your Harvest Is Coming Part 1
Scripture: Galatians 6:9; Matthew 13:4-8; 18-23; Isaiah 40:29-31
Good morning New Light! I want to thank you for your calls and prayers while we were away. As most of you know, my uncle went home to be with his Lord and Savior week before last. He had gotten saved at the age of 12 and served the Lord faithfully for 74 years. I got a chance to see him while we were home and he was continuing to sow seeds in the lives of others. Although he will not be here to see the fruit from those seeds he had sown into others, he is receiving his rewards for the sowing. You see, the Bible makes this clear when it says, “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (First Corinthians 3:7-8) The title of my message this morning is “Your Harvest is Coming” and this will be a two part message.
Thirty-five years ago I was in the military and going to school at night working on my Graduate’s degree. At this point I had been working and taking college courses for seven years and I became tired. I was tired of studying while working full time. At this time in my life I never had the opportunity to just focus on either school or work. In order to attend and pay for college, I worked while going to community college and then entered the military in order to finish. While I am not complaining, as I was able to complete several degrees with no student loans, I grew very tired towards the end. I got to the point where I sat down with Nikki and told her I was thinking about quitting and possibly finishing the Graduate degree later. Although she told me that the decision was mine to make, she stressed that I needed to consider a few things. First and foremost since I was almost done it seemed stupid to stop when I only had just a few more months before graduation? Second, she told me to think about the fact that most people who drop out of school never go back. She stressed that if I stopped I probably would not ever go back and finish. After considering what she said, I made the decision to continue and I am glad that I did.
As I go through this message, I want you to think about a time when you almost gave up on something or someone before you saw the completion of your work. If you need to, consider my example of thinking about dropping out of Graduate school because if I had dropped out I probably would not be standing here today as some of the jobs that I obtained once I got out of the military were due to the fact that I had a Graduate degree. So, if I had I quit, I would not have received the harvest from that very last year as many employers would have wanted to know why I did not finish that degree and if me not finishing was symbolic of me being a quitter when times get tough. I would have forfeited the career that I retired from. One last thought before I get into the message, oftentimes we think of the seeds we are sowing bringing a harvest to us, but I also want you to think about the seeds we sow bringing a harvest to others. So keep in mind that others will be blessed by the seeds you are sowing – especially when you are sowing the Word of God in the lives of others.
Most of you know that Nikki plants a vegetable garden every year in addition to all of the flower beds and pots that surrounds our home. She definitely has what people refer to as a “green thumb.” I have watched her and I know it takes a lot of attention and work to plant and maintain a garden (vegetables and flowers) in order to reap the benefits of a harvest in due time. The work includes ensuring they have enough water, nutrition, dirt, and free of the insects that would destroy them. To that end, several weeks ago I was outside with Nikki at ten o’clock at night with a black light flashlight looking for tomato hornworms. These worms are hard to see in the daylight but their fluorescent bodies shine bright under a black light. So there we were outside at 10 p.m. looking for worms so we could preserve the vines that would later produce tomatoes. If Nikki did not take these and other steps to protect the seeds that she had planted, her harvest would not produce to its fullest. If she had planted her seeds and did nothing else, chances are great that she would not have much of a harvest at all. Also, when her harvest comes due, she does not keep it just for us, she shares her harvest with many others. You see, when we plant seeds and receive the harvest from them, others can be blessed. There is one important point that I want you to think about as it relates to planting a garden. When Nikki plants flowers and/or her garden, the first step she takes is not preparing the ground, the first thing she does is decide on what she wants and then purchases the specific seeds that will give her the end results.
In this message I want to focus on the seed of God’s Word because it is this seed that will bring us the real harvest while also giving us the understanding we need of the other seeds we sow. Every child of God has a harvest coming and that harvest is based on two things: the seeds that have been sown within them from others and the seeds that they have sown within themselves. We often focus on the seeds that we are sowing but the truth of the matter is we can only sow seeds after seeds have been sown within us. The seeds sown within us becomes the same seeds that produces a harvest within us and which we are able to sow into others which produces a harvest within them. Spiritually this means that we begin sowing after the Word of God has taken root within us. As I shared with my example of Nikki’s gardens, we must do more than just plant the seeds, we have to maintain them. And how do we “maintain” the right spiritual seeds? By not giving up on the truth that they will produce a harvest and by not stopping the planting and sowing seeds because we are not seeing immediate – microwave – results.
Galatians 6:9, says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” All of us have experienced times when we wanted to stop, to give up before we received our harvest. Spiritually, those times generally come when we are under attack as we wait on God. In the natural, we experience those times as we struggle to stay the course and continue to believe that the Word we are sowing will produce the harvest it’s designed to produce. Whether we are dealing with spiritual “fainting” or natural burnout, the initial symptoms are the same and it’s at this point that we begin to stop caring. Do you remember what Jesus said about the last days? His disciples had asked Him about signs of the last days and His return and this is one of the things He said would happen, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) Jesus said that in the days that we are living in right now sin would be so prevalent that the love of many will wax cold. When you read verses four through eleven, Jesus lists those things that will be happening in the last days and He said because of all of these evils, Christians will become lukewarm and cool. Because of the trials and persecutions from without and the apostasies and false prophets from within, the love that people have for Christ and His doctrine, and their love for one another, will wax cold. Jesus also said that some shall openly desert the faith; some shall corrupt it; and others again shall grow indifferent to it. Each of these is what Paul talked about in Galatians 6:9.
When we get to the point that our love for Christ and for one another grows cold because of everything we are dealing with, (Mark chapter four verse 19 calls them the “cares of this world”) we are fainting. It is at this point that we begin to forfeit our harvest. And we will know that we are at or reaching this point when we begin to stop caring if “my” work is done completely. We discussed this during our Bible study lesson when we talked about how we stop caring about being on time and completing tasks in a timely manner because no one else cares. We talked about how we start things and do not finish them; how we have new ideas but we are too tired to bring them forward and implement them. But most important we talked about how we begin to lose our dedication to the ministry (personal and corporate) that God called us to. In our eyes we no longer see it as important. These are the manifested symptoms of fainting, of spiritual fatigue. However, it is in these moments that we need to grab a hold of the power of God and determine that we are not going to stray from the course until we have finished what God has called us to do.
Paul told the believers in Galatia, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” The word “weary” is a compound Greek word that means “to give in” and which denote something that is “evil, destructive, or unjust.” Here it actually depicts “a person who is tempted to give up because he feels confronted by an evil, destructive, or unjust person or circumstance.” Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24:12? He said, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.” We are often tempted to give in when we are under attack from without and from within. We are often tempted to give in when we have sown seeds, but do not see any results. Paul told the Galatians that in “due season,” a harvest will be reaped if they refuse to quit – the manifestation of what each of us are believing for will come if we will not cave in and give up. With the words “due season” Paul was telling them that each seed has its own set season – a specific, individual time when the seed will produce its harvest. Even if multiple seeds of various kinds are planted at one time, each has its own season to be reaped, depending on the seed. One seed produces in one set season, and another seed is reaped in a different set season.
When we understand that natural seeds produce a harvest at different times based on the seed themselves, then likewise we cannot compare our harvest to someone else’s harvest. Their harvest is based on the seeds they are sowing as is ours. The goal for us is not to give up on the seeds we are planting and sowing before they produce the harvest because each seed has its unique set season to mature. But no matter the seed’s season, God promises that if we are consistent – if we steadfastly keep sowing our seed into the ground and refuse to let weariness take us down – a time will come when we shall reap. The words “we shall reap” describe a future, fixed event. So if a seed has been sown, a harvest is guaranteed – if we stay the course. This is why Paul says “if we faint not.” The word “if” tells us that our actions have the power to disrupt a harvest. Paul added the “if” to help us understand that our consistency and refusal to surrender for any reason is vital in reaching the set season of our seed. If we “faint” at any point along the way, we can jeopardize the long-term harvest of what we have sown.
So far we have talked about sowing and planting seeds into our lives and being patient enough to experience the harvest. But one thing we haven’t talked about is how does a Christian sow seed – God’s Word, the Bible – into their lives? We know what to sow, but it’s the “how” that we may not understand. I’m going to use Nikki again as our example. Before she does anything, she must first decide on the type of seed she wants to plant. And that decision is based on what the seed will produce at harvest time. And this is important. The packet of seeds has a picture of what they will produce. In other words, Nikki already knows what the harvest will look like before she plants the first seed. This is very important New Light. But let’s continue with the analogy. Now, there is also something she does around the same time she’s deciding on what seed to plant – she’s also deciding where the seed should be planted. She has to decide which part of the yard or garden will give the seed the best chance to flourish. Once all of these decisions have been made and the seed is planted, that’s when the nurturing starts. It also has to be watered and sometimes people talked to their plants. By the way, do you know that seeds can hear! I am not sure if Nikki talks to her plants, but she closely monitors them until she sees the picture on the packet – until she sees the harvest.
Now, let’s take this example and apply it to sowing the Word of God into our lives and the lives of others. The first thing we must do is identify the seed that needs to be sown. For example, if we are constantly battling a debilitating illness, then we need to plant seed for healing. We don’t need a picture to tell us what our healing will look like, do we? We already know the picture – no longer suffering from the illness – before we plant the spiritual seed. So, just like in the example with Nikki, we must decide where the seed needs to be planted to produce the harvest of healing. So, how do we sow the seed of God’s Word into our life to bring about the healing that we need? First, we have to identify what scriptures deal with healing. Psalm 107:20 is one we could use. The verse says, “He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” The verse tells us that we have already been healed and delivered from the illness. Now, what gives this verse the best chance of flourishing and healing the illness? Believing it! Before we will ever see the healing manifest, we must have faith that it has already manifested in our body. Remember my example with Nikki and others who watered and talked to the seeds? You water and talk to the seed of healing the same way. The water is our praise and thanksgiving that we offer to God for the healing that He has given to us. There’s a song called “Praise Before My Breakthrough” and the chorus says “I’ll praise before my breakthrough, till my song becomes my triumph.” We are simply confessing our agreement with Psalm 107:20 when we do this. And also throughout the day, talk to the illness and tell it that it no longer is part of our life because we are healed.
Remember when Jesus spoke to the fever that had Peter’s mother-in-law on her deathbed? The passage is found in Luke 4:38-39. It says, “Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. 39. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.” ?Treat the illness like Jesus treated the fever – like it could hear your command for it to leave! New Light, this is how we sow the Word into our lives for specific needs. But we also must sow the Word into our lives to build a foundation of triumph over the planned attacks of the enemy. Do you remember the message where I asked what Word had you sown into your life that you have access to when the devil attacks? Reading the Word consistently gives us that access. One last thought about sowing the Word before I close. A great way to help the Word take root in our lives is by reading it over and over again. Let me suggest something to you New Light: this coming week read the book of Galatians five times. It’s not a long book. Some of you read 2-3 novels a week so this should not be too hard for you. Read it and reread it for one week and see how it affects you. Next week, choose a different book. This is how you sow the Word into your life and the lives of others and when questions surface or situations happen that need a godly response, you will have a reservoir inside of you ready to be tapped.?
As I close this morning I want to remind you of a story from John chapter eleven. In this story Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus, became sick and died. His sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent for Jesus to come and heal him. Mary and Martha had seeds within them that had been planted by Jesus and their belief that He could heal their brother was evidence of the seeds growing. When Jesus finally arrives Lazarus had been dead four days. Now I want you to see something, Martha tells Jesus that if He had been there her brother would not have died. Then she says this, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” (??John 11:22) The seeds that Martha had allowed to grow within her believed that even though her brother had been dead for four days if Jesus asked God to revive him God would do it. When you think about the seeds that you are sowing within your life from the Word of God, do you have a picture of what that seed will produce when your harvest comes? Will it product faith for healing? Will it produce faith for deliverance? Will it produce wisdom for handling finances? Will it produce patience to walk through your trials and tribulations? What seeds are you sowing in your life and are allowing to be sown in your life? You have a harvest coming – will you recognize it?
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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