The Irrefutable Law of Gardening
Griffith Baptist Church – 4/20/08
A.M. Service
Text: 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Key verse: 2 Corinthians 9:6 - But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
The Introduction
British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once had a discussion with a man who firmly believed that children should not be given formal religious instruction, but should be free to choose their own religious faith when they reached maturity. Coleridge did not disagree, but later invited the man into his somewhat neglected garden. ’Do you call this a garden?" the visitor exclaimed. ’There are nothing but weeds here!"
’Well, you see," Coleridge replied, ’I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself." Daily Walk, March 28, 1992
There is no area in life that you are not responsible to God for.
You simply do not have that liberty
We are in this life as tenders of the garden God gives us. These can be broken down into three main areas
o Time – reading your Bible, witnessing, prayer, wise use of time, the basics of the Christian life
How do you use your time each day?
o Talents – our gifts and our abilities
o Treasures – our possessions, our bodies, and our finances
They are all subject to a universal law that governs everything you do all of your life
I have named it, the irrefutable law of gardening, and it goes like this
The irrefutable law of gardening is this: You get out what you put in.
The Bible puts it this way, Galatians 6:7 - Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap
This is true for every area of life.
Transition Statement: As you get ready to have your garden, you have to prepare it first, which involves two crucial steps, cultivating (improve and prepare) the soil and clearing the weeds.
Body
1. Preparation
A. Cultivate the Soil
i. Turn it over
a. Bury the past (like burying the hard crusty surface)
b. Break up hardness – Hosea 10:12 - Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
ii. Take out the hard stuff
a. Rocks of indifference
b. Debris of self
c. Fragments of fear
B. Clear the Weeds
i. Weeds will choke out and rob you of better fruit or any fruit at all
ii. Get rid of and watch out for the weeds of:
a. Lack of faith
b. Greed
c. Bad habits
Transition Statement: After you have prepared your garden, you are ready to plant, which also involves fertilizing and watering.
2. Planting
A. Plant
i. Be pro-active
a. The time to plant is not when you’re hungry but before hunger strikes.
b. Plant for the future.
ii. Be wise
a. Plant only those seeds that will produce what is beneficial
b. Seeds of kindness, generosity, compassion, biblical virtues
iii. Be liberal
a. The more you sow the more you reap
b. Hiding your seeds produces nothing (parable of the unjust steward, Matt. 25:14-30)
c. Holding back your seeds produces very little
d. Parable of the sower – Matthew 13:3-9 - 3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
B. Fertilize
i. Faithfulness
a. Trust in God
b. Believe in the outcome God has promised
ii. Works
a. Nothing will grow by wishful thinking
b. It takes sweat and getting your hands dirty
c. James 2:14 - 14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
C. Water
i. Salvation
a. John 4:10 – Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
b. The living water of salvation must flow in us if we are to bear fruit
ii. The Word
a. Ephesians 5:26-27 – 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
b. The word washes, cleanses, and strengthens
iii. The Holy Spirit – John 7:38 - 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Transition Statement: Now the hard part patience.
3. Patience
A. Watch
i. For thieves
a. Joy stealers
b. Satan – John 10:10 - The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
ii. For rot
a. Rotten attitudes
b. Rotten outlooks
B. Weed
i. Keep pulling
a. They are in between where they can’t be seen
b. It requires getting close to your garden and looking carefully
c. Get rid of whatever crops up that doesn’t belong there:
• Bitterness
• Apathy
• Unbelief, etc.
ii. Weeds will never stop appearing, but you can keep them from taking over
a. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can sit back and the garden will tend itself
b. You are in control
c. The master gardener is there to help you and give you sound advice (The Bible)
C. Wait
i. The hardest part is to wait when God says wait
a. Waiting does not mean sitting around doing nothing but moving forward and eagerly anticipating renewed strength and success in challenges - Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
b. Patience is the key.
ii. You may not see results right away, but if you’ve done it right, there will be fruit
a. We may not see the results yet, but wait, they’re coming - Romans 8:25 - But if we hope for that which we do not see yet, then do we with patience wait for it.
b. When God makes a promise, it is a sure thing that it will come to pass
c. When He says He will bless, than He will!!!
Transition Statement: After all is said and done, and everything has bloomed and what you have planted has appeared, you are ready to harvest and enjoy the produce of your labors. This means three areas of responsibility for you.
4. Produce
A. You will receive more than what you put in
i. The text says you will reap according to what you have sown
ii. God makes this promise when you have sown good seed in a right way:
a. Abundance (6, 8)
b. A righteous legacy (9)
c. Blessings from heaven – Malachi 3:10 - 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
B. You will be able to produce more with what you have received
i. You will save some seeds for planting at another time
ii. This will produce more than the previous time
iii. Verses 10-11:
a. God multiplies so we have more to use for Him (10)
b. That our righteous deeds produce more righteous and enduring fruit (10)
c. That we will be blessed individually in all things (11)
d. It ought to also produce thankfulness to God, which is the proper outcome (11)
C. You will have enough to give away more than what you can use yourself
i. 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 - 13For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: 15As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
a. It all evens out in the divine plan – you supply others their needs and they supply yours
b. God is aware of all needs and uses our abundance for supply
c. We should never hoard to ourselves but share as God has given us (15)
ii. You cannot beat God in giving.
Concluding Statement: The garden of your life is a full-time job to care for. When you let it go, it will be overgrown. We should never be content to look like an unkempt field. We should rather strive to have the greatest most productive garden that people can see and when they see it, it can change the world around us and glorify our Father.
Conclusion:
Are you sowing correctly?
Are you giving what you should?
Are you prepared to meet God the way you are with the things you have done so far?
