OPENING
Last week we was in Isaiah 6:1-8 and we saw why we need to stop and look at who God is (Holy, Holy, Holy) and what we have become (sinful in need of cleansing from God) before we GO!. When Isaiah saw God’s greatness he recognized his own unworthiness before this Holy God and was very enthusiastic (like a child raising his hand for candy) to go on mission for God, without even knowing what the mission was first. God said, “who shall I send, who shall go for us” and Isaiah said, “Here am I send me”. I ended with saying God is saying the same to us, “who shall go for us” and I left the answer between you and God.
Missions , Evangelism, and Discipleship--- are all connected to each other. You can’t have one without the other. But before we continue on we need to know that the reason these 3 things exist is because proper worship of our God does not (Piper and Jonathan Edwards). True worship is eternal, but missions, evangelism, and discipleship is temperal. Meaning they will one day cease to exist, but true worship of our Majestic King will continue for all eternity.
When Jesus comes and makes all things new, there will be no need for missions, evangelism, discipleship because we will be with God giving Him our praise and true worship. SO, while we have the opportunity to serve our Holy God on this Earth, which is not our home BTW, let us be obedient to God’s plan to reach the world. TAKE YOUR BIBLES IF YOU WILL AND TURN TO…..
Psalm 126:6 (V6 is an explanation of Verse 5)
CMT: God’s plan has always been for His seed to be sown so that a harvest will come.
Proposal: If we do not sow the seed, you can believe that there will be no harvest. God’s plan is very simple.
Title: Simple truths of God’s plan to reach the world
I. TRUTH 1: God’s plan is for you to “GO”
a. To GO is to have an active faith not an inactive one. God never intended to call us on His team to warm the bench.
b. We must rediscover the “go” in Gospel.
i. Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel..."
ii. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save the lost." The "seeking" has to come before the "saving."
c. QUOTE: John Wesley once said, "The church must go to the lost or go to oblivion." Someone else put it this way: "Any church which is satisfied to hold her own is on the way to the cemetery."
d. GO means that we have to learn how to be the church out there. NOT come to church, but BE THE CHURCH. Most people think that this here is church. We say things like, I’m going to church. NO! this is what the church does. This is fellowship. We are the church. The church is not a building, the church is the people. Living, breathing, thinking, loving, moving, active in the lives of others. We need to learn how to go and be the church out there. (Use Jason Dukes ill)
e. Let me ask you something. Let me test our Bible knowledge in this room. Does it say in the Bible that God has commanded all sinners to go to the church? Does it say that God commanded the church to go to the sinners? Then why don’t we go? Let’s call an orange and orange….it’s because we don’t look at lost people the way God does….with tears in our eyes.
II. TRUTH 2: God’s plan is for you to weep for the lost
a. V5 “those who sow in tears” and V6 “he who goes out weeping”
b. We don’t see many people weeping over the lost people around them, do we?
c. Here is a few that did care…
i. Jeremiah had compassion for the people---we wept (Jer. 9:1)
ii. Paul had compassion for the people---he wept (Rom. 9:1-3)
1. Rom. 9:1- I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people
2. Is that not the heart of Christ? Wow… look at Jesus…
iii. Jesus had compassion for the people---he looked at them as sheep w/out a shepherd and as He entered Jerusalem the week before He took the cross, He wept over the city (Luke 19:41)
d. ILLUSTRATION: How is it that we can cry and get all emotional over football game or a good chick flick, but we can’t get emotional over someone spending eternity in damnation separated from their creator? All because we don’t go….
e. People GO because they have a deep compassion, love, for the lost. When you have that then you go and when you go make sure you take God’s word with you because.…..
III. TRUTH 3: God’s plan is for you to sow His seed everywhere you go
a. “sow the seed” or a better translation “bearing precious seed”
b. The seed is called “precious.” Why? There are several reasons, but the main one is the fact that the seed contains within it life. When it is sown into the ground, and the conditions are just right, that seed will germinate and new life will be the result.
i. I LOVE THE QUOTE, “any person can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed!”
ii. You see, for a seed to give life and become many more seeds it must first die. Jesus said this concerning Himself in…(John 12:24, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”) Jesus died to bring us into the kingdom and tells us we must die to self to be a part of bringing others.
c. ILLUSTRATION: When the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh King Tutankhamen was discovered, among the many treasures in that tomb were some seeds that were over 3,000 years old. Scientists took some of those seeds, planted them and they germinated and grew up into plants. 3,000 yrs old! No wonder the Word of God is compared to a seed. There is power in the blood, but there is also power in the book!) READ LUKE 8:11-15—In order for a seed to give new life it must be sown.
d. ILLUSTRATION: Two weeks ago my heart was filled with joy because Melinda came up here and wanted me to pray with her because she wants God to guide her in sharing the gospel through the four stores she operates for the boyscouts. This has had a ripple effect from Melinda to me. I can’t wait to see what kind of affect it has on lost people around her who need Jesus.
i. Richard-with his company—sowing seed and watering
ii. Mauricio-with gymnastics and feeding the neighborhood---sowing seed and watering
iii. Pam and Vicky with their time pouring into others—sowing seed and watering
iv. Jonathon, Phyllis, Jarod, tenille, and Oscar with their homes.
1. These are all great because the gospel is attached to the acts. Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, and God made it grow”.
a. We must understand that the work of God is not just for lost people either. It is also for us. You see…
IV. TRUTH 4: God’s plan is for you to reap the harvest
a. “will return with songs of joy” and “carrying sheaves with him”
b. God intends for you to be joyful and blessed.
c. You get joy and blessings from going out and sowing seed because it brings a harvest to reap.
d. The only way that you can be joyful and blessed is sowing the seed. Spreading God’s word and praying for a plentiful harvest. (names being written in the book of life)
i. This seed that is to be sowed and the harvest that is to come is NOT, I repeat NOT, what some of these televangelist portray it as. This is what I mean…when they say, “sow that precious seed in faith for a thousand dollars and it will come back to you 10 fold”. That is not what scripture teaches. That is mans teaching not God’s. That teaching is heresy and it is an abomination to God’s Holy and precious word.
1. After all, if that were true then why don’t they give all they own so they can get back 10 fold? What that says is that only the rich people have strong faith. I know some rich people whos hearts are far away from God.
ii. Jesus did not die on the cross so people could be rich on this earth (though being rich is not bad). He died and resurrected so dead people would come to life through hearing His word, the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus Christ making a way for us into heaven. When we realize that then we see how rich we really are as children of God and wants to share it.
e. If you do not sow the seed, which is sharing the gospel, there will be NO harvest. We should find joy and feel blessed by seeing people’s names being written in the book of life.
CLOSE
Let us remember that we were once lost and if it were not for the faithful who went out in tears weeping over your sin, sowing precious seed, you may have remained in your sinful state.
For you who have not put their faith in Jesus, understand that there is only two places for a person to go after death. Heaven and hell. Depending on where your faith lies when you die, in God’s plan or in your own plan, will determine where you spend eternity.
So let me ask both groups….will you commit to taking the precious seed to the lost people around us and to the ends of the earth?
If you feel God tugging at your heart today to make a commitment or to re-commit to sow and water His seed so He can make it grow, then I beg you step out in faith and come up to the front and pray with me as I get on my knees and ask for forgiveness for my hesitation in spreading the gospel. Will you join me?
