Can a farmer plant one acre of crop and reap 100 acres worth? Quote: "If the farmer only cultivates one acre, he can only reap what one acre can produce." Today we examine the 5th law of the harvest to the aspect of our "doing." "We reap in proportion as we sow." This law identifies the quantity of the harvest to the proportion that has been sown.
• Law 1 We reap much we did not sow
• Law 2 We reap the same in kind as we sow
• Law 3 We reap in a different season than when we sow
• Law 4 We reap more than we sow
• Law 5 We reap in proportion as we sow
• Law 6 We reap the full harvest of the good only if we persevere; the evil comes to harvest on its own
• Law 7 We cannot do anything about last year’s harvest, but we can about this year’s
At first glance one might think this law is the same as law 4, "We reap more than you sow." The 4th law can be viewed as "God’s part" and the 5th law has to do with "our part" in relations to how we sow.
I. Biblical Basis for this Principle
Principles govern our lives. Principles are eternal and fundamental to life. This law like all the others, is based upon the principles found in God’s word.
2 Corinthians 9:6 “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
Here’s another way to look at it:
If you want to be rich … GIVE
If you want to be poor … GRASP
If you want abundance … SCATTER
If you want to be needy . . HOARD
The law that “we reap in proportion to what we sow,” like all the laws of the harvest, operates both negatively and positively. If we sow abundantly to the Spirit, we will reap abundantly in spiritual blessings and consequences.
But if we sow abundantly to the flesh, we will reap an abundant harvest of the consequences of fleshly living—a life full of the weeds of unrighteousness.
David is a case in point: Because David continued to sow to the flesh, his sin snowballed. He went from coveting Bathsheba to one sin after another. He sinned abundantly and reaped abundant consequences.
However, the primary motivation and emphasis of this principle and promise in the Bible is toward the good. It is a spiritual law of life that is inherent in the nature of God, but one that is contrary to the nature of man.
So God encourages us through a number of passages to live as children of God according to this principle and promises that our generosity will not be forgotten:
Proverbs 11:24-26 “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.”
Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Acts 20:35 “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
II. Foundations for This Principle
A. God’s Character
God’s divine essence, His character, forms the foundation and motivation for operating by this principle in life. We need to remember who God is, what He is like, and what He has promised. It is God’s nature to bless and give. The gift of His Son is the supreme illustration of this. Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”
B. Man’s Part and Need
Obviously, since bountiful sowing is the result of what we do, we need to say a bit about our part and what is needed in us if we are going to act on this principle of sowing bountifully. Bountiful sowing is always to be the result or the outworking of biblical insight, values, commitment, and the Spirit-filled life.
2 Corinthians 8:3-8: “For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.”
In other words, what I think Paul is saying is that talk is cheap. You can tell a lot about a person’s Lordship by their calendar and their checkbook.
I want to talk more personally to our ministry at Jackson Ridge. I am comfortable doing so because Kathy and I have made it a priority to give to the work of the church regularly and generously. But we could even do more. Ministry takes money to fulfill.
Not only for a local preacher, which is $300 a week, of which we give $150 per week, but for utilities, supplies, and now we have launched out with the Youth Alive! program. We are not meeting our weekly needs. In my opinion it has become out of sight out of mind. So I want to encourage you to sow gifts of faith, sow generously. And we’ll begin posting the results this week. $500 per week.
1. Purpose what you will give. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” To purpose in your heart is to choose. God allows us to choose what we will sow. He asks us to give in a cheerful and hilarious fashion, reflecting His character.
2. Be cheerful in your giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
3. Be generous in your giving. Mal 3:6-11: "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, ’How are we to return?’ "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
4. Be consistent in your giving. Phil 4:17 “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.”
READ 2 Corinthians chapter 9
“Bountiful” in 2 Corinthians 9:5-6 is eulogia (eulogiva) from eu, (eu) “good” and logos, (logov”) “word.” We get our word “eulogy” from this Greek word. It meant “praise,” “blessing, benediction.” From this it came to mean simply “blessing.”
“Bountiful gift” is the Greek eulogia which means “blessing, benefit.” Why use this word? Paul probably chose eulogia here because it is a play on the word “collection,” logeia, (logeiva) in 1 Corinthians 16:1.
Principle: Paul wants our logeia, our collections (one of the ways we sow to the Spirit), to be a eulogia, a gift and a collection that is the result of the grace work of God and His blessing both spiritually and financially, but especially spiritually. Eulogia refers to the gift of money to be collected and sent by Corinth which, of course, was designed to be and would be a blessing to Jerusalem.
In connection with the gifts given by the Philippians to supply his needs, Paul wrote: Phil. 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
A point of clarification is in order here. The analogy of sowing and reaping in 2 Corinthians 9:6 does not teach that you will get back ten fold or a hundred fold of your giving so you can live in greater and greater luxury or prosperity. In grace sowing, you give so that God is glorified and others receive a blessing. There is a promise of return, but it is to increase our seed for sowing, greater giving, and increase the harvest of our righteousness, spiritual fruit for the glory of God
Remember: 2 Cor 9:10-11
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
III. Life’s Uncertainties
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 The Message: “Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. When the clouds are heavy, the rains come down. When a tree falls, whether south or north, there it lies. If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb. Be sure to stay busy and plant a variety of crops, for you never know which will grow--perhaps they all will.”
Contrary to how man typically thinks, these verses and the conditions they describe are designed to promote bountiful sowing, not the opposite which is stinginess. These verses warn about the dangers of being overly cautious which hinders generous sowing.
The uncertainties of life are one of the things that keep most people from giving and ministering to others when they have the opportunity. They are afraid their giving will be their lack. Who knows what the future holds. If I give, I might not be able to meet the needs of my family. But these verses are given in a context that calls for generous giving knowing that our gifts will return to us later.
The point here is don’t try to second guess the sovereignty of God. Just trust the Lord. We can’t wait for conditions to be perfect. Nor can we wait for things to be free of all risks—absolutely free, absolutely safe. Instead of protecting ourselves, we have to take what appears to us as risks and live by faith.
And when the harvest does not seem to be coming, read Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls; Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Trust God and sow His seeds and watch the harvest come.
(From a series by Bob Aubuchon modified for my audience)
