“Sowing Seeds of Service”
12/30/2007 – Marsing, ID, 5/24/2009 – Nampa, ID
Ricardo Rodriguez – Pastor_rr@yahoo.com
II Cor 9:7
“7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
“Cada uno dé como propuso en su corazón: no con tristeza, ó por necesidad; porque Dios ama el dador alegre.”
The seeds for the Kingdom of God are not silver and gold.
The fields of the treasure valley are ready. The potatoes, onions, wheat, sugar beets and other fruits of the field have been planted for a season of plenty.
God has blessed in times before and our prayer is that God will bless us this year 2009.
It has been a blessing to have sowers (Antepasados/Patriarchs) among us who have sown their seeds before us. OUR SPIRITUAL FOREFATHERS, (PATRIARCAS).
Exo 20:12
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
“Honra á tu padre y á tu madre, porque tus días se alarguen en la tierra que Jehová tu Dios te da.”
Too many times we get excited about the new generation and we forget what those who have gone before us have suffered and struggled to have the benefits and commodities we now enjoy.
To have a Joshua we needed a Moses.
To have a David there was a Samuel.
To have a Timothy there was a Paul.
To have you and I here there were men and women who went before us!!
Too many times the younger generation despises the older and too many times the older generation looks down at the younger.
One generation always precedes another, but ALL ARE PRECIOUS in the eyes of God.
All those have planted for the Kingdom of God will receive their reward from the God who rewards all.
Whether we planted SCARCELY or we planted ABUNDANTLY we will reap what we have sown. We all planted, we all had some type of sowing.
The question remains, you sowed, but
What did you sow?
How did you sow?
How did you plant?
Paul writing to the Church of Corinth reminds them as we should be reminded:
“…God loves the cheerful giver…”
What do we GIVE/PLANT?
We plant when we speak.
We plant with our possessions.
We plant with our thoughts.
We plant with our actions.
We plant with our greetings.
We plant with our giving.
We plant with our testimony.
In all we do we plant.
Our planting here on earth is for reaping not onions or potatoes, but heavenly treasures.
Matt 6:18-21
“…thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
You see when you plant on Earth, your wife, husband, father, brother, sister, may not appreciate what you have planted but remember we have a Father in heaven that SEES ALL AND KNOWS ALL, and not only sees the action, but the intention of our hearts.
Where is your heart?
Where is your treasure?
Where is your reward?
The truth is that we have all been entrusted by God with certain gifts and talents.
These seeds are seeds for the Kingdom of God.
Did Jesus say in vain? Matt 18:(7)10
“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”
“Mirad no tengáis en poco á alguno de estos pequeños; porque os digo que sus ángeles en los cielos ven siempre la faz de mi Padre que está en los cielos.”
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
II Cor 9:1
“For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.”
“Porque cuanto á la suministración para los santos, por demás me es escribiros.”
There are a lot of things we can learn from the church of Corinthians. There were many problems and needs we could expound on, but their giving is noted here in this 9th chapter of II Corinthians.
The Church of Corinthians was a spontaneous and generous church. They knew how to plant their giving for the Kingdom of God.
You see when we plant here on earth our deposits are being made in heaven. If we could see our spiritual checkbook I wonder how many of us would be shocked. Some of us have been overdrawn and some of us have stocks beyond our understanding.
Matt 5:12
“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven…”
“Gozaos y alegraos; porque vuestra merced(recompensa) es grande en los cielos…”
Everything we do for the Kingdom of God will be measured not by our standards but by God’s Heavenly standard.
How many of us would like to get to heaven and be paid with checks like we get paid here on Earth?
Would you be satisfied with a check you can’t cash and even if you could cash it it would be useless because in heaven you won’t have the earthly needs you have today.
In heaven you won’t need to eat, because your body will be transformed.
In heaven you won’t need to sleep, because you won’t get tired.
In heaven there is no such thing as tissue paper…
Rev 21:3-8
“3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
“3Y oí una gran voz del cielo que decía: He aquí el tabernáculo de Dios con los hombres, y morará con ellos; y ellos serán su pueblo, y el mismo Dios será su Dios con ellos. 4Y limpiará Dios toda lágrima de los ojos de ellos; y la muerte no será más; y no habrá más llanto, ni clamor, ni dolor: porque las primeras cosas son pasadas. 5Y el que estaba sentado en el trono dijo: He aquí, yo hago nuevas todas las cosas. Y me dijo: Escribe; porque estas palabras son fieles y verdaderas. 6Y díjome: Hecho es. Yo soy Alpha y Omega, el principio y el fin. Al que tuviere sed, yo le daré de la fuente del agua de vida gratuitamente. 7El que venciere, poseerá todas las cosas; y yo seré su Dios, y él será mi hijo. 8Mas á los temerosos é incrédulos, á los abominables y homicidas, á los fornicarios y hechiceros, y á los idólatras, y á todos los mentirosos, su parte será en el lago ardiendo con fuego y azufre, que es la muerte segunda.”
Gal 6:9
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
“No nos cansemos, pues, de hacer bien; que á su tiempo segaremos, si no hubiéremos desmayado.”
Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto man. Hence, even the humblest act of humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him.
The supreme test of service is this: ’For whom am I doing this?’ Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: IS IT WORK from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him."
A.T. Pierson wrote, The Truth.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBERS IN THE BIBLE
The people who wrote the books of the Old Testament, ancient Israelites, loved numbers. They are not unusual in this, many different nations loved numbers as well. This is important, when they mention a number it is usually has significance way beyond just counting. More than that, the significance of the number is probably more important than the literal number itself. So
1 = Wholeness
3 = a divine number, so Abraham was visited by three men, the Temple had three parts to it, the works of God could take three days - just like the resurrection. Time is also in three parts, God was and is and is to come.
4 = the number of the created world. There are therefore four seasons, four corners of the earth, four kinds of living creatures, four riders of the apocalypse, four winds,
6 = seven minus one, a number of incompleteness. Six days of creation were incomplete until the seventh day had come. So in Revelation six seals, trumpets represent the course of the world before Gods final seventh act brings the eternal sabbath. So in spite of having seven heads the beats is number 666. See why we must not take Revelation literally!
7 = The sum of three plus four, the earth number and the divine number. It signifies perfection. There were seven heavenly bodies sun, moon and five planets, seven days of the week, seven archangels. The great festivals lasted seven days, every seventh year was a sabbath year when the land was laid fallow and slaves went free. So Jesus says forgive seven time seven, which means always. Later Christians tradition noted that the Gospels record seven last sayings of Jesus.
10= a round number, the fingers of both hands, good for commandments. Note that there were ten things God said at creation, so ten words to create were supported by ten words to keep order.
12 = there were 12 tribes - also a number of completion, so 12 x 12 is very complete (144) which is the number of the elect, not literally but to show that no one is forgotten or lost. So there will be 12 cornerstones of the new Jerusalem
40 - a strictly limited period of time. It was the length of a generation. http://www.thisischurch.com/christianinfo/numbers.html
Nine - Denotes Finality of Judgement. It is (3X3), the product of Divine Completeness. The number nine, or its factors or multiples are seen in all cases when judgement is the subject. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_significance_of_the_number_nine_in_the_Bible
9. Judgment; as 3 x 3, it signifies the Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit http://www.7spirits.net/BibleNumbersMean.htm
Luke 17:17
“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?”
“Y respondiendo Jesús, dijo: ¿No son diez los que fueron limpios? ¿Y los nueve dónde están?”
BIBLE NUMBERS MEAN
1. Unity, Primacy
2. Division
3. Divine Perfection or Completeness
4. Fullness of Creation, the World
5. Grace, God’s Goodness
6. Man, Man’s Wisdom and Labor
7. Spiritual Perfection
8. New Birth, New Creation, New Beginnings
9. Judgment; as 3 x 3, it signifies the Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit
10. Fullness of Law and Responsibility
11. Disorder, Disintegration
12. Divine Government
13. Depravity and Rebellion
14. Deliverance, Salvation
15. Rest
16. Love
17. Victory
18. Bondage
19. Faith
20. Redemption
21. Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin
22. Light
23. Death
24. Priesthood
25. Forgiveness of Sins
26. Gospel of Christ
27. Preaching the Gospel
28. Eternal Life
29. Departure
30. Blood of Christ, Dedication, Spiritual Maturity
31. Offspring
32. Covenant
33. Promise
34. Naming of a Son
35. Hope
36. Enemy
37. Jesus, as The Word of God
38. Slavery
39. Disease, Infirmity, Weakness
40. Trials, Probation, Testings
42. Man’s Opposition to God, Antichrist
45. Preservation
46. Herod’s Temple, Man Without the Holy Spirit
49. Jubilee
50. Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Jubilee
51. Divine Revelation; Peace
52. Building Wall around Jerusalem
60. Pride
65. Apostasy
66. Idol Worship
70. Universality, Restoration of All Things
76. Cleansing or Blotting Out
100. God’s Election of Grace, Children of promise
119. The Call to Resurrection (yet falling short)
120. Probationary Period Awaiting the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Those Who Await
144. The First Resurrection saints
153. The Sons of God
200. Insufficiency
210. Time of Jacob’s Trouble (see 21)
220. Light (see 22)
276. The Flesh, Satan, Babylon
390. No King in Israel (see 39)
414. Cursed Time
434. Judged Time
490. Blessed Time (see 49)
600. Warfare in the World (see 60)
666. Man’s Authority Over God’s Creation (usually misused)
888. Fullness of Christ’s Body
1000. Glory of God, Completeness
49000. Creation’s Jubilee
http://www.7spirits.net/BibleNumbersMean.htm
