The Benefits of Casting Your Bread Upon the Waters.
Eccl. 11:
1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
This world is governed by LAWS… not just referring to man-made laws, but rather the laws that come from God.
One of those laws is the LAW of the Harvest.
It is most definitely found here in Eccl. 11:1
The N.T. also records this law rather effectively.
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
7 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Please understand that according to scripture,
Even when we do not sow spiritually, we are still sowing…. Be as it will….we are sowing to the flesh.
Tonight: deal with the Benefits of sowing spiritually!
1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
You will eventually find the harvest. It will come.
Therefore, in all you do, work faithfully and patiently for as you sow to the spirit, you will reap a harvest of benefits!!!
But before I get into too much of the benefits…
Let me give you a few things about this CALL to CAST your bread upon the waters.
1. First of all, the call to sow is a call to a special kind of work, not really that all popular, but so essential for every Christian.
It is the call to Unappreciated Work:
We are called to render service that is often unappreciated by many, and often times unacknowledged.
The work we do, the sacrifice, the giving of our all is so often gone unnoticed by man…
BUT let us continue on with steadfastness and work in the spirit of a noble faith and concentration, because God is keeping a record book of all we do for HIM.
-the elderly folks you pick up for church….
-the Sunday school class you labor to teach
Sunday after Sunday…
-The janitorial work you do…
-The behind the scenes labor you do for the Lord….
2nd: It is a call to an Unobtrusive Work:
Bread sown on the waters suggest silent forms of service, that which is not in the limelight….that which is not out front in the spotlights of society.
Look at the life of Jesus… in all his work there was an absence of theatrics and advertisement.
-He never went around tooting his own horn.
-He never lifted himself up for men to see his works
John 7: 3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come:
Even Christ realized the importance of sowing… and also realized that there was a time of reaping to come!
He declined the temptation of publicity and simply went about doing good, sowing break upon the dark waters of humanity.
So softly did he trod, that History barely realized, and hardly recorded his supernatural events!
BUT he kept on Sowing here and sowing there… because he knew that his Kingdom was not of this world, but in the world to come!
And the history of the church has been pretty much the same way… from time to time, there have been great men of God to arise and make a mark in history, but for the most part, the church has survived and continued on because of
Men and women who cast their bread upon the waters…
They were faithful, they were committed, they were steadfast….
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Tourists love the effects, the sounds, the magnificence of Niagara Falls….but cataracts like Niagara do little
For the fertility of the world….
HOWEVER… it is the thousands of little streams that go softly throughout the earth that bring it’s fruit and it’s beauty.
AND so it is a call to an Unobtrusive Work
JUST continue to be faithful!
Continue to be dedicated
Continue to be committed to the cause of Christ.
Continue to pray…
You may feel like you’re the only one
Praying….
Continue to be faithful to pay your tithes,
Continue to be faithful in your offerings…
Continue to be faithful in giving of your time…
ONE day, the reaping will take place!
One day, you will receive the great reward!
YOU may not make a big splash in this world…
You may never become a flaming evangelist…
You man never be known world wide…
But you make your mark for the Lord right where you are and ….
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with thy might;
3rd: It is a call to Unpromising Work:
To sow bread upon the waters sometimes looks hopeless
Little good seems likely to come of such toil and sacrifice.
It is a call that is many times “unpromising”
We’re not talking about the reaping here….
We’re talking about the immediate results that I preached about the other night…
After all, we are so geared to think upon IMMEDIATE gratification…. Immediate results…
That we forget that great results often take much Time, toil, effort and sacrifice on our part.
Therefore the giving of our time, talents, money, and efforts seem only sometimes like we’re throwing them into the sea, never to see them again…
BUT what looks HOPELESS to the carnal eye sometimes yields the richest results!
The finest grapes in the world are not grown on fat soil, but sand deserts that look so unpromising, but yield some of the finest clusters.
During Bible School, I would look at my graduating class and wonder what in the world some of them would do for God…
-some that I thought would never make it have turned out to be some of the finest workers for the Lord.
And so there may not seem to be much promise to this work of sowing your bread upon the waters…
BUT God’s word is TRUE… and that is…
Thou shalt find it after many days!
There indeed is a harvest to come! The call is to be
FAITHFUL to sow your bread upon the waters!
Eccl 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
IF you always check to see which way the wind is coming… you’ll never do any sowing.
Isn’t that just like many Christians today?
They hear of some great revival somewhere, and
They forsake their home church services to go hear Some big evangelist in town…
THEY never SOW because they are always looking at the clouds… always checking out the wind….
AGAIN… the church has stayed in existence not by those flaky, shallow, in and out, up and down, inconsistent baby Christians,
but by those who service after service keep sowing regardless the change in Christian politics…
They are the ones who faithfully heed to the call
Of the great commission….
AND they are the ones who will REAP the Harvest!
They are the ones who will reap the benefits!
What Solomon is telling us is to SOW no matter what the outcome looks like… No matter how the immediate future looks!
AND then when your life is done… you will have laid up great treasures in heaven!
But what about the Benefits of Casting our Bread upon the waters?
Let’s look first at a few benefits here in this life!!!
1. Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Why were the righteous not forsaken???
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 : for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Why were the righteous not begging bread?
Because they had learned the importance of Casting their bread upon the waters!!!
Benefit #1 God is on our side!
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
The same God that spoke this world into existence…
That put the universe in it’s place That said, “let there be light” and there was…
That breathed into man the breath of life….
IT is HE that doth go with thee!!!
BENEFIT #2 Mal 3:10-11 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Our tithes is that 10% of our income that belongs to God.
Our Offerings is that additional amount that we give
Above our tithes.
1. God will open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
2.God will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.
Zech. 3:1 Joshua was standing before the angel of the Lord… and Satan was at his right hand to resist him.
Vs. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
BENEFIT #3 IF you’ll cast your bread early for the salvation of your children… it will come to pass!
Preaching now mostly to you young couples….
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
YOU parents, keep faithfully sowing your bread upon the waters of your family!!!
-Don’t ever take for granted that just because you’re a Christian that they are going to follow suit.
YOU must train them EARLY to follow the ways of the Lord.
YOU be faithful to cast your bread in this area….
YOU will eventually reap the benefits of having Your children saved, full of the Holy Ghost, and doing A work for God.
Illust. Bro. & Sis. Bean Most all of you know them from Recent years… but you didn’t know them when they Were raising their family….
BUT they were Consistent! They were faithful. They took their children to church, to campmeetings, to Youth camps…
They themselves proved their love for God and the church.THE RESULTS????
ALL five children saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, And all active in Christian ministry!!!!!
3 are Pastors, 1 is an evangelist, and 1 is a Pastor’s helper.
YES these are just a few of the benefits of casting your bread upon the waters…
BUT don’t get so wrapped up in looking at the benefits that you forget to CAST YOUR BREAD.
You let God take care of the Harvest… It is not up to you to save anyone from their sins… only Jesus can do that.
You just be faithful to witness… be a witness.
Be a light for Jesus Christ.
Do your duty for God! Let God take care of the results! Cast your bread far and wide… don’t be stingy with it. And in the end, you will REAP a RICH harvest.
It is not too difficult to get men to make up their minds to do good… the real difficulty is to get them to carry it out.
It’s fairly easy to get men and women going in the right direction, but it’s very difficult to keep them going in that direction.
It is not the first volley of cannonballs against a fortification that will break the wall down… it is the constant keeping at it day after day til the breach is made and the stronghold can be taken.
That is what momentum is all about… A man must cast his bread today, tomorrow, the next day… etc.
Just as Jesus went around doing good…. We also must follow in that great example of doing good.
BUT what about those who practice goodness, and it comes in gushes but stops too often in fragments?
WHAT is it that stops a man from doing good?
IT is because men mostly do good out of impulse and not out of principle!!!
WE set out to do right riding upon a great wave of emotion, instead of a serious and earnest determination of the will.
Do you understand what I am saying here tonight? AS a preacher, I have got to do more than just move you temporarily into service by pulling on your emotions!
What it boils down to is: How serious and determined you are to CAST YOUR BREAD UPON THE WATERS!
Because, this cannot just be a one day desire to do this:
THIS has to be a commitment from now until eternity that you are going to live the way God wants you to live.
Another problem that is often encountered: is that men try to calculate profit, that we ought to look out for results.
AND if we don’t see them immediately, we tend to give up, and fall right back where we once were.
Imagine a farmer doing that??? Always trying to calculate whether or not he’s going to get a return???
Now, I wonder if this here little grain is going to
Make it or not? I wonder if a bird will eat it, or if it will rot in the soil? Therefore, I better not take the chance….
That’s about as silly as you wondering whether your dollar in the plate is going to produce a sinner getting saved… and you don’t think the chances are too good, so you keep you dollar!!!
LISTEN church, we have got to SOW in faith believing that God will bring the increase!!!
1 Cor. 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
Do you realize who will fill the splendors of heaven???
Those who are working when the Promises are looming
Large,
And those who are still working even when the Promises seem so distant, you can’t even see them
Those who are standing in the pathway of duty,
Those who are fulfilling the call to Divine Service.
It’s not easy to do good… and sometimes you get so weary and so tired of the self-sacrificing…
-so tired of forgiving that brother or sister that always irritates you…
-so tired of doing good, that you sometimes feel
justified in wanting to take an interval, a holiday from doing good…
BUT it is like a wheel of momentum… the moment you stop, it’s so hard to get going again!
BUT remember what Paul said:
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
WHAT is the greatest benefit of Casting our Bread upon the waters?
IT is not Everlasting LIFE… for we don’t WORK to be saved…But after we are saved, we work for God, because we love him…
SO what is the greatest BENEFIT of Casting our Bread upon the waters????
Psalms 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Songwriter:
1. Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noon-tide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
2. Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze
By and by the harvest and the labor ended
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
3. Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master
Tho the loss sustained, our spirit often grieves,
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
1 Thes. 2:19-20 19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For ye are our glory and joy.
What is then the greatest benefit of casting our bread upon the waters? It is the privilege of leading someone to Jesus Christ that they may make heaven!
