HOW MUCH IMPACT DOES GOD WANT TO HAVE THROUGH YOUR LIFE? Does your life’s impact resemble an overflowing orchard basket or a Charlie Brown Christmas tree?
- Matthew 13:8, 23; Mark 4:8, 20; Luke 8:8, 15; John 15:5, 8.
- Let’s talk about these two images for a moment.
- Image #1: the overflowing orchard basket.
- You go out into the apple orchard with a basket and you can’t contain all that is there for the picking. Your basket is overflowing.
- Image #2: the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
- Now let me quickly say that I realize that a Christmas ornament is not the same thing as an apple. I recognize that ornaments don’t grow on trees! Still, I want to use that image because (a) it’s a well-known image and (b) it’s such a compelling image of scarcity.
- You have that pathetic little tree – so small and weak – bending over under the relatively light weight of a single bulb.
- It’s substituting for our image of an apple tree with a single apple simply because the Charlie Brown tree is more iconic and memorable.
- What does it mean when Jesus speaks of “the good soil”?
- The four different soils represent different kinds of hearts. The good soil represents a good heart.
- In Luke 8:15 (which is Luke’s version of this same parable), Jesus says, “. . . the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart. . ..”
- How do we get a good heart? Well, it happens through Christ’s work in our lives. We do not have a good heart in our natural state because we’re sinful creatures, but Christ regenerates us and makes us into new creatures in Christ. A truly saved person is “good soil” because of what Christ has done in Him.
- Ezekiel 11:19; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
- In John 15:5, Jesus says that it is the plan that we would bear “much fruit.” John 15:8 says that when we bear “much fruit” we bring glory to the Father.
WHAT DOES "THIRTY, SIXTY, OR A HUNDRED TIMES WHAT WAS SOWN" MEAN? The average “planted seed to harvested seed” ratio in Palestine at that time was eight times what was sown, so Jesus is talking about fruitfulness ranging from impressive to overwhelming.
- John MacArthur notes that the average “planted seed to harvested seed” ratio in Palestine in Jesus’ day was eight times what was sown.
- Jesus in this parable is talking about harvests of thirty times, sixty times, and a hundred times.
- A thirty times ratio would be four times more fruitful than average. A hundred times ratio would be over twelve times more fruitful than average.
- Of course, getting too deep into the specific numbers can obscure the larger point, which is Jesus is not planning on moderate fruitfulness from His followers.
- I’ve used the words “impressive” and “overwhelming” in the sermon outline.
- Seeing someone produce four times the average would be impressive.
- Seeing someone produce twelve times the average would be overwhelming.
- Here’s the point: Jesus doesn’t want to do something small through your life. He wants a great harvest; he wants “much fruit.”
- The thirty/sixty/hundred statement is meant to leave hearers thinking, “Wow! That much?” He meant it to impress.
- We need to consider that this is what He wants to do in the life of every Christian, not just super-Christians.
- John MacArthur:
“In Palestine during New Testament times, the average ratio of harvested grain seeds to those that were planted is said to have been less than eight to one. Even a tenfold crop would have been well above average; and the yields of which Jesus speaks were truly phenomenal.”
“Not only does Jesus assure us that true believers bear fruit but that they bear it in great abundance: one a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. Those figures represent phenomenal yields of 10,000 percent, 6,000 percent, and 3,000 percent. Believers differ in fruitbearing because they differ in commitment to obedience, but all are profusely fruitful.
“As mentioned above (under v. 8), the average yield ratio of grain crops in Palestine was less than eight to one. Therefore even the least productive thirty to one was almost four times the average. It is not that a believer produces a hundred, sixty, or thirty times the amount of fruit that an unbeliever produces—because an unbeliever can produce no spiritual fruit at all. Jesus simply used these figures to represent the great productivity He gives to the faithful proclamation of His Word. That is the point of the entire parable: true believers produce fruit.”
WHAT DOES "THIRTY, SIXTY, OR A HUNDRED TIMES WHAT WAS SOWN" LOOK LIKE? It is both (a) obvious and significant change in your life to literally become more like Jesus in character and behavior as well as (b) seeing many people drawn closer to God because of your presence in their lives.
- I’ve said in another sermon in this series that fruit can generally be divided into two categories: internal and external.
- Internal fruit is me becoming more like Christ. External fruit is me pointing people to Christ.
- So when we talk about this fruitfulness that ranges from “impressive to overwhelming,” we’re talking about these two areas.
A. There will be obvious and significant change in your life to literally become more like Jesus in character and behavior.
B. You will see many people drawn closer to God because of your presence in their lives.
- This is not always an immediate and obvious thing. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes you may not realize the impact you’re having right away.
- I remember being tagged in a graph on Facebook one time. It was someone who had been a high school student at the church I was pasturing. She came on Sunday mornings with her grandparents and I always presumed she was mostly there just because it was the rule of the house. (“It’s Sunday morning, so we’re going to church. Let’s go.”) I was surprised to see that she’d tagged me on the chart as “someone who changed your life.” What did I do? I faithfully preached the gospel week-after-week and tried to live out an honest Christian life. I didn’t know I’d had that kind of an impact on her, but I had.
- But overall, there is an obvious sense of people being seeing Christ in you.
- Because sometimes it’s hidden, ask yourself: “Who am I serving?” “Who am I praying for?” “Who am I helping?” “Who am I lifting up off the ground?” “Who am I witnessing to?”
- Because if we are being faithful to Christ’s commands, the fruitfulness will come. John 15 assures us of that. But we have to be doing Christ things if we expect to see Christ results.
- Another thing, watch the “thank you’s.” When we’re reaching people Christ, there are going to be some words of appreciation along the way. (Not always, but sometimes.)
- “Thank you for listening.” “Thank you for the help.” “Thank you for praying for me.”
- A point that needs to be made here: notice what is not fruit.
- Power. Possessions. Titles. Degrees. Houses. Bank accounts.
- None of those are intrinsically wrong. It’s a good thing to have them if you have the opportunity. But if fruitfulness is the goal of our lives, then you have realize that those things in themselves are not particularly worthwhile. It’s only how we can use those things to further the agenda of God in our lives.
- Am I using my power to further my name or to help people in need?
- Am I living in a house that’s adequate or one that represents an ungodly money investment?
- Because fruitfulness before God is not exactly the first thing that the world thinks of when it thinks about a life well-lived, we need to make a deliberate effort to stay focused on this. The world is not going to push us in this direction. We need to know what God is looking for when He’s trying to produce fruit in our lives: internal Christlikeness and external witness to Christ.
WHY DO SOME BEAR THIRTY, SOME SIXTY, AND SOME A HUNDRED? People have different gifts, capacities, and circumstances.
- Matthew 25:15; Luke 12:48; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31.
A. Different gifts.
- 1 Corinthians 12:1-31.
- The Spirit has given all of us at least one spiritual gift. That is to be used for the advancement of the Kingdom.
- Some of those gifts naturally have the capacity to bear more fruit. For instance, preaching.
B. Different capacities.
- Matthew 25:15; Luke 12:48.
- Some of us have more intelligence, more empathy, more insight, more strength, more faith.
- Those who are blessed in life with more are expected to produce more.
- Matthew 25:15.
- Jesus tells a parable where one servant is given five talents (an amount of money back then), one two, and one one. It says each was given “according to his ability.”
C. Different circumstances.
- 1 Corinthians 3:7-8.
- Some are in a situation where they are seeing someone just start toward God; others are seeing harvest.
- Some are in countries open to the gospel; others in countries where it’s totally foreign to the locals’ sensibilities.
SOME HARVEST PRAYERS:
- Here are some prayers to pray if you want to move in this direction and want to experience more of God’s overflowing fruit in your life.
1. “I WANT TO BE CLOSER TO YOU.”
- John 15:7, 10.
- We’ve talked in a previous sermon in this series about how the key to greater fruitfulness is not “trying harder,” but “getting closer.”
- When we are closer to Christ, He is able to work more powerfully through us.
- Is it a sincere prayer in your life that you want to be closer to God?
- That’s an easy question to say a vague “yes” to, so let me throw out a few follow-up questions:
a. Do you want Him to reveal your sins to you so you can actively work to get rid of them?
b. Are you willing to start reading the Word daily and incorporate what you learn into your life?
c. Are you willing to obey the teaching of Jesus – the parts you like and the parts you don’t?
2. “PUT STRUGGLING PEOPLE IN MY PATH.”
- Much of our greatest impact comes with people who are hurting and struggling.
- Why is that? Largely because those are the moments in our lives where we’re the most open to help from people and from God. Most of the time most of us like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient and in control.
- I can prove it in a single question: do people pray more after getting a big bonus check or when they’re in the ER? No doubt it’s in the ER. Why? Because when you’ve just got that big bonus check you don’t need any help – you’ve got everything under control all by yourself (or so you think). In the ER we’re in a situation where we know things are bigger than us and we need outside help.
- One big open door for fruitfulness is people who are going through a tough time.
- It can be that we listen to them and offer some comfort.
- It can be that we listen and offer advice.
- It can be that we help them in some practical way and so lighten their load.
- It can be that we tell them about the spiritual opportunity that God has opened in Christ.
- There can be a lot of different things we do, but the point is that we point them to Christ through our love and actions.
- Why don’t we do this more often?
- Because often our attitude toward those who are hurting is “get away as fast as possible.” We don’t want to deal with their mess. We don’t want to deal with their pain. We don’t want to deal with the uncertainty and difficulty of their circumstances.
3. “BRING WORKERS TO MY CHURCH.”
- Matthew 9:37-38.
- Jesus spoke in Matthew 9 about how the fields were white for harvest – that is, that there was a lot of “fruit” (or, in that analogy, grain) ready to be harvested. He then said that our prayer to the Father should be for Him to send us workers.
- Why do that? We’ve got a church full of people, right?
- Because not all people sitting in the pews are workers in the harvest field. Few have a burden for the lost. Few have a willingness to witness. Few are willing to step out in Christ’s name to publicly share their story.
- So Jesus told us to pray for workers. “Father, send us people who will actually work to see the spiritual harvest. Send us people with a heart for those sought by You.”
- Not to make too obvious a point, but this is something we actually need to be praying. Jesus said to pray this prayer and, so, we need to be praying this prayer.
- Here at our church, are we satisfied that we’re generally moving in a positive direction?
- Or do we visualize and pray for:
a. A full sanctuary.
b. A full altar service after service.
c. 20-40 baptisms a year.
d. Having to go to two services.
e. A full choir loft
f. 30-40 kids up here each week hearing the Children’s Sermon.
CONCLUSION:
- There is a phrase that I like and have mentioned before that is worth mentioning here: “holy discontent.”
- There is a good contentment, where we’re thankful and satisfied with the grace and supply that God has given to us.
- There is also a bad contentment, where we’re apathetic and unconcerned that things are not the way that they should be. For our purposes this morning, that bad contentment is when we look at the mediocre impact of our lives and we shrug our shoulders and say, “Well, what more could you hope for?” Actually, you could hope for a lot more! Actually, you should expect a lot more.
- We must not be content with a tiny or even moderate amount of fruitfulness. To do so is to live below God’s blessings, to live below God’s power.
- If you look at your life today and think, “Man, this thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold harvest is not true in my life right now,” then don’t stay where you are. Consider the truths that we’re talking about in this sermon series and expect more. I’m not talking about shallow self-help, “you-can-do-it” efforts. I’m talking about holding onto the blessings that God wants to give you. I’m talking about asking God to unleash in your life the power He said in the Word that He wants to release into your life.
- Be discontented if you’re not experiencing that in your life and resolve today to pursue what God is offering.
