Your Harvest Is Coming Part 2
Scripture: Galatians 6:7-8; Isaiah 40:29-31; 55:11; Matthew 13:4-8
This morning we’re going to complete the message that I began last week titled “Your Harvest is Coming.” Last week the focus of that message was to show us how important it is for us to purposefully sow God’s Word, the Bible, into our lives so that we will benefit from the fruit that it is designed to produce within us lives. I told you last week that our ability to sow (speak) the Word of God into and over our lives and the lives of others begins with what has been sown within us first. Isaiah 55:10-11 tells us that when we speak God’s Word over people and the situations in our lives, it will produce the promised fruit, the promised results. It says, “10. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11. so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah? ?55:10-11?) ?When we speak God’s Word, and believe that what He says about His Word is true, then and only then will see the promise of His Word established in our Iives. The example I highlighted in last week’s message to paint a picture for you of how seeds bear fruit was how Nikki sows seeds when planting her vegetable and flower gardens. She first identifies the seed she wants to plant and then she decides where they are to be planted. Once this is done, the seeds are planted, watered and maintained. Once the plant begins to grow, she may have to pull weeds that also begin to sprout up around the plant and she has to get rid of bugs or animals that may threaten the successful growth of the plant. This is the process that she must go through every season in order to protect her harvest – her seeds. ????????????????????????????
I want you to keep this in mind because this is the launching point for this message. After we have sown the Word into our lives, we must take care of it so that it can reach full maturity and produce in our lives what it is designed to produce. Now the two questions I have for us this morning New Light is “Who are we protecting the Word from and who is it that wants the Word to be ineffective in our lives?” We know that the answer is Satan. In the first part of John 10:10 Jesus calls him a thief that “....comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” And what the thief is after is the Word that we have sown and are sowing into our lives. This morning we’re going to see the primary tactics that he uses to accomplish his goal of stealing, killing and destroying the Word we have sown in our lives. We find them in Matthew chapter thirteen, where Jesus tells the parable of the sower. While the parable is about the sower, the true focus is the seeds that the sower sows. Jesus said, “4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. 5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and immediately they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. 6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. 8. But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” (Matthew 13:4-8) After Jesus told the parable, His disciples asked Him to explain it to them. This is what He told them beginning in verse nineteen: “19. When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the way side. 20. But he that received the seed in stony places, the same is he that hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it. 21. Yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while: for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he is offended. 22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23. But he that received seed in the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it; who also bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:18-23)
I want you to see something in these verses. In Galatians 6:9, Paul said if we don’t faint after we have sown our seed, we would receive the harvest. Jesus said that in the last days the love of many for Him and for one another will grow cold because of sin. We also read this last week in Matthew 24:12. Both of these statements were made after Jesus told the parable of the sower. When Jesus explains this parable, He tells us clearly in verses twenty through twenty-two who will “faint” and why. It all goes back to their understanding of the Word and what they do with it. When you read what Jesus said, there is one common denominator related to each individual. Each person heard the Word! It wasn’t an issue of hearing, it was an issue of what was done with the Word after they heard it. New Light, before I continue, I want you to understand something. The different grounds that Jesus talks about are “grounds of spiritual maturity” and as we read the parable, we’ll see that it takes more effort for Satan to remove the Word as we move from one “ground” to the next. The seeds that fell by the wayside are Christians who are new to the faith and before they can truly understand the Word, Satan comes immediately to steal it from them. The seeds that fell upon the stony places, again a different level of spiritual maturity, lasted for a while but were lost because the person, when persecutions arose because of the Word, they were easily offended. Some would say that this person did not have the maturity to stand up in defense the Word. The pastor said something he didn’t like so he left the church and didn’t come back. Jesus also says seeds fell among the thorns, which represented people who had heard the Word of God, and although they are more spiritually mature than the wayside and stony believers, the Word never took root in their lives because when they faced adversity and the cares of this life, they fainted. Do you see how it took so much more to steal the word from the “thorns person”? Why did they faint? Because of what they did not do with the Word! They heard it and received it gladly and that was it. The Word never took root in their lives in such a way that it provided the hope they needed “…..as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast….” (Hebrews 6:19a) If we are not taking the Word of God and implanting it within us, then not only do we not have spiritual seeds to sow, but the initial seeds that were sown into us die when we face trials and tribulations and the cares of this world.
Another reason we may faint is because, as we are sowing good seed into our lives, we are also allowing others to come along and sow bad seeds into our lives. This happens spiritually and it happens in the natural. I want you to see what happens when this is done. When we are sowing our seeds, our enemy, regardless of the form he takes, comes along and sows bad seeds where we are sowing good seeds. Those bad seeds begin to grow right beside the good seeds. And, oftentimes the bad seed grows faster than the good seed. Why is this? It’s human nature to focus on what’s wrong than what’s right. So what is our response? Actually we have two different responses. One response is we stop focusing on the harvest from the good seeds and begin focusing on the growth of the bad seeds. Human nature. We get so frustrated and focused on the growth coming from the bad seeds that we begin trying to pull up that growth. Human nature. If you have ever tried pulling weeds from a garden or spraying weed killer to manage the growth, then you understand what I am talking about. Sometimes when you pull weeds you end up damaging the good plants that the weeds are entangled with. The same thing happens when you over spray with weed killer – you kill the good plants. With our first response, as we pull up the growth from the bad seeds, we also destroy part of the harvest from the good seed. Jesus told a parable about this. He said, “24. Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26. But when the plant was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then has it tares?’ 28. He said unto them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Will you then that we go and gather them up?’ 29. But he said, ‘Nay; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. 30. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)
It was common in the East for enemies to sow tares and other poisonous seeds in the fields of those they wished to hurt. In some cases it would take years to get rid of the weeds that had been sown. Now this is important: tares are grains that look like wheat while growing, but when full grown and ripe, has ears which are long and the grains are black and poisonous. Because the tares were growing with the wheat, the farmer could not remove them without harming his wheat harvest. So his response was to let them both mature and then when the harvest time comes it would be easier to separate them. You see, this should be our first response when people are attempting to sow bad seeds where we are sowing good ones. As we are sowing our seeds, we cannot lose sight of the harvest when we see the growth from the bad seeds that were also sown. When you are doing your best and others see what you are doing, you cannot stop doing good because someone begins talking negatively about your work behind your back. We must reach a point where our focus is on what God has told us to do and what we believe Him for regardless of all of the distractions that circle around us. We must remember that God knows the truth and He knows who belongs to Him.
Now our second response to the bad seeds being sown within us is one that we need to pause and think about. You see, those bad seeds, if we are not careful, will so greatly resemble the good seeds that we will accept those seeds as we do the good seeds. In the parable that Jesus told about the wheat and the tares, the tares of grains, when the first sprout peeks above ground, looked just like the grains of wheat. It wasn’t until they had started to grow that the farmer realized that they had been sown. When you are sowing the Word of God in your hearts and within the hearts of others, you are sowing good seeds that will bring forth a harvest. But, there are others out there taking the Word of God and are twisting it and sowing those seeds into the lives of many. And because those seeds appear to be good seeds, people accept them freely. I will complete this message next week with an example of how people sow bad seeds (an alternate gospel) that are so close to the true Word that many people flock to that gospel turning their backs on the truth. Again, I ask that you read the book of Galatians in preparation for the message next week.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(We are once again conducting live services on Sunday morning beginning at 9:15 a.m. We will continue to broadcast live on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m.. Please tune in to "New Light Christian Fellowship Church" and like our page if you wish to watch our broadcast and be notified when we go live. If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. We also have Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. via Zoom that you are also welcome to attend – please email me for the link. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. If you would like to donate to our ministry you may do so through our website: newlightchristianfellowship.org by clicking on the PayPal or Cash App buttons. May God bless and keep you.)
