How To Live A Fruitful Life For Jesus Christ Series

*This is the power of the perfect "seed" of God's Word. This is also why 1 Peter 1:22-25 speaks to Christians and says that we should love one another fervently with a pure heart:

23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

24. because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away,

25. but the word of the Lord endures forever.'' Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

2. HOW CAN WE HAVE A FRUITFUL LIFE FOR THE LORD? IT TAKES THE RIGHT SEED, AND IT TAKES THE RIGHT SERVICE.

*In vs. 3 Jesus said, "Behold, a sower went out to sow." Then down in Matthew 13:37 as He explained another parable, Jesus said, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man." Jesus Christ is the ultimate planter of good seed!

*But now Christians, Jesus wants us to go and sow the good seed of God's Word! Somebody has got to go out and plant the seed. Somebody has to be willing to share the wonderful Good News of salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ.

*Allen Gardiner is an amazing example of faithful service to God. In the early 1800's, Allen was one of God's faithful missionaries. He went through many physical difficulties and hardships as he served, but Allen said, "While God gives me strength, failure will not (overwhelm) me."

*Allen died in 1851 from disease and starvation. He was only 57 years old. At the time, Allen was serving on Picton Island at the far southern tip of South America. When they found his body, his little diary was laying nearby. It told the story of Allen's hunger, thirst, injuries, and loneliness.

*The last entry showed the trembling of Allen's shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. But with all of his suffering and all of his hardship, Allen's last words were: "I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God."

*Allen Gardiner repeatedly went to South America. He even gave his life trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost people in South America. And Allen died of starvation without seeing a single soul saved. But the South American Missionary Society he founded has been sending out missionaries and winning souls for 178 years! May God give us hearts fully devoted to serving the Lord! (2)

3. HOW CAN WE HAVE FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN LIVES? IT TAKES THE RIGHT SERVICE, AND IT TAKES THE RIGHT SOIL.

*The faithful servant spreads the seed, and the seed of God's Word is always good. But there were 4 kinds of soil in the Lord's parable. Only one of the soils was good, and naturally, that had a giant impact on the resulting fruit.

[1] THE FIRST BAD SOIL WAS TIGHTLY PACKED DOWN.

*Jesus mentioned it in vs. 3-4 where He said, "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them." Then in vs. 19 Jesus explained, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside."