[0:00] Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
[0:15] ! For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
[0:28] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like.
[0:51] I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
[1:10] Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
[1:24] Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
[1:36] But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
[1:50] Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. Anyone who receives instruction in the Word must share all good things with his instructor.
[2:07] Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.
[2:21] The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
[2:35] Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. We're learning in our Sunday morning series just how important it is for the Christian to understand our identity, who we are.
[2:58] We simply don't live well if we're confused about that point, if we forget who and what we are. But self-conscious awareness of what we are helps set the agenda of how we are to live and indeed motivates us to be what we are.
[3:16] So we've been spending the last two weeks on the fact that the Bible calls believers, every one of us, saints. And so, I ask you, have you been living saintly lately?
[3:31] We saw last week that to live saintly is to, in everything, always to be giving thanks to God the Father for everything. Well, that's how saints live.
[3:43] They're very, very thankful people for what God is and has done for them in Jesus Christ. But we move on today. There's more to learn about our identity as believers in Jesus.
[3:57] We're fast coming upon that time of year when we'll see the fields and the gardens being plowed and planted. And so, springtime should give us many reminders of this next identity, that we are farmers.
[4:16] We are farmers. You may not own a pair of bib overalls or a seed corn hat. You may not have a tractor and a combine. But, as sure as you're sitting there, in Christ, God speaks of you in Scripture as a farmer, as one who is sowing seed.
[4:38] Indeed, seed that is sure to reap a harvest one day. So, I'm here to remind you of what God calls you. And let's open our Bibles to Galatians chapter 6, this passage that was read for us.
[4:51] What if a farmer woke up one day and forgot he was a farmer? And so, he slept in until 9 and moseyed uptown and sat around the coffee table and discussed politics and the world's woes and then went on home and had lunch with his wife and then took a little nap and then checked to see if a ball game was on TV and then puttered around the house and lo and behold, it's supper time.
[5:22] And all the while, his 500 acres are sitting untouched, unplowed, unplanted, untapped as to their potential harvest.
[5:34] If he forgets too many days in a row that he's a farmer, it's going to be tragic, isn't it? It's going to mean great loss to him. It's important that he remembers who he is and then acts like it.
[5:49] And no less is it important for us believers in Jesus to remember that we are farmers sowing seed and that we need to act like that if we would be the kind of farmers that the scriptures hold out for us to be.
[6:06] So what does the Bible tell us about our identity then as farmers? And by way of introduction, I just want us to realize that to live is to farm. To live is to farm.
[6:18] To live is to be sowing seeds. It's true for those who are in Christ as much as it is true for those who are outside of Christ. Whether we realize it or not, we are all farming.
[6:31] And every day you live, you are sowing seeds that will have their harvest perhaps in time, but for sure in eternity. So the real question is not are you a farmer, but which kind of farmer are you?
[6:44] A wise one or a foolish one? Well, believers in Christ are wise farmers. And they're that not because they were born that way. They're that way because they were born again that way.
[6:56] And Jesus has saved them and taught them how to farm. I'm going to set out some of the marks of the wise farmer in contrast with the foolish farmer.
[7:08] And so number one this morning, a wise farmer sows good seed. And that stands to reason, doesn't it? That if you're going to go through all the trouble of farming, you want to be sure that you're sowing good seed so that all your labor is not in vain.
[7:25] So the wise spiritual farmer sows good spiritual seed. Now what is this? Good seed. Spiritually that we're sowing. Notice verse eight of chapter six of Galatians.
[7:37] The one who sows to please the flesh or the sinful nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life.
[7:51] So the foolish farmer sows to please his flesh. Flesh is that fallen human nature under the control and power of sin. And he sows to the flesh.
[8:04] It's directed to his flesh. It's... And the seed he's planting in life are attitudes and actions then that are directed by his sinful desires.
[8:18] He doesn't care what the Holy Spirit wants. The ultimate decision is what do I want? What does my own sinful desire dictate?
[8:28] So he sows to gratify his own sinful nature. And there's a whole list of such attitudes and actions back in chapter five and verses 19 through 20.
[8:39] The acts of the sinful nature are obvious, Paul says. And in that list there's everything from sexual immorality and witchcraft, drunkenness and orgies, to hatred and discord and jealousy and fits of rage and selfish ambition and envy.
[9:01] These are the seeds that he's planting, you see. Whatever the sinful nature wants. Well, that's the foolish farmer. But the wise farmer sows to please the spirit.
[9:13] That's a whole other kind of farming. He finds that the spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. So the flesh wants this kind of action and attitude and the spirit wants something completely different.
[9:28] And you see what the spirit desires and you can learn about it from that list in chapter five verses 22 and 23. The fruit of the spirit, the things that he produces like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
[9:50] That's what the spirit wants and that's what this wise farmer is planting now. He too was once a foolish farmer without the spirit living to gratify his sinful nature.
[10:03] But if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone. The new has come. So the old way of farming, sowing to please the flesh, that's gone.
[10:16] A new way has come. Sowing to please the spirit. So the decisive issue now is not what do I want but what does the Holy Spirit want?
[10:28] I want to sow what's pleasing to him. And that's what the wise farmer sows. Actions pleasing to the spirit. That's what marks him.
[10:39] That is his habitual behavior. Not perfectly but habitually. And that is not known what pleases the spirit.
[10:50] It's not known simply by a feeling or by a hunch. But rather by the book that's been inspired by the spirit. Every word of it. And so the wise farmer has got his nose in the book.
[11:05] He wants to find out what pleases the spirit. And that's how he sows. You see he's sowing that way in his life. Walking by the spirit.
[11:19] You see to sow to the spirit is to walk by the spirit. It's being led by the spirit. It's keeping in step with the spirit. All of these phrases that Paul is using in this context.
[11:31] So the wise farmer sowing good seed. It's what the spirit wants. And it's also described in verses 9 and 10 of Galatians 6 as doing good.
[11:44] That's what it means to sow good seed. It's to be doing good. Good seed is good deeds. Good seed is good works as defined by the Bible again.
[11:55] And so wise farmers are those described in Romans 2 and verse 7 as those who by persistence in doing good are given eternal life. So there's that old farm gal down in Joppa named Dorcas who was always doing good and helping the poor.
[12:17] She was sowing good deeds. She was like the chief farmer the Lord Jesus himself who was anointed with the spirit and power who went around doing good.
[12:31] Acts 10 38 went around doing good. Isn't that the picture of Jesus? Wherever he went he's sowing good seed. He's doing good to all men.
[12:46] That's the seed being sown by the wise farmer. Good deeds. It's the good work of peacemaking James says. James 3 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
[13:01] They sow words and actions that make for peace. They do all that they can to live peaceably with all men. Proverbs 11 18 He who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
[13:17] So the seed is doing righteous deeds. What are righteous deeds? What is righteousness? It's what's right in God's eyes. And again we're not leaning on a hunch or a feeling. We have words that define for us.
[13:28] This is what's right. This is the way. Walk in it. And so doing righteousness doing God's right ways is planting good seed.
[13:41] All day every day sowing. It involves using time in serving others. These good deeds will require time to bear burdens to meet needs whether physical or spiritual.
[13:54] It may require words. It may require your presence your being there with them encouragement instruction recovering the fallen involves using your money for the kingdom of God and for those in need.
[14:10] These are the things that the good farmer is sowing. Galatians 6.10 further defines the objects of our good deeds. Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people.
[14:24] So you're sowing good deeds to who? To all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers the church. Isn't that what Jesus did?
[14:36] Did good to everybody but especially to his family to his children to his sheep and that's what we're to be doing.
[14:48] Our good deeds should reach both the lost and especially the saved. It's one of the purposes for which Christ died in Titus 2.14 that he gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people who are his very own zealous to do good deeds.
[15:10] He died to have a people who are eager beavers when it comes to doing good. And that's that's the farmer he's he's doing good. He's sowing good seed.
[15:22] It's been a busy weekend for Grace Fellowship Church and the retreat the funeral. Many of you farmers have been sowing good seeds doing good deeds serving people serving the Lord.
[15:35] That's that's the sign of the wise farmer. Secondly a wise farmer not only sows good seed a wise farmer is hard working. Paul writes to Timothy and he says in his second letter chapter two and verse six the hard working farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops.
[15:56] The hard working farmer literally it's the toiling tiller of the soil because a farmer works the soil and that's hard work. The hard working farmer.
[16:09] It speaks of toiling to the point of exhaustion. And that's the kind of work farming is or at least was in the first century before the tractors and before all the automatic machinery.
[16:25] But even with the machinery it's still hard work being a farmer and during the critical seasons of planting and harvesting he's often up before the sun and collapses into bed after the sun is down.
[16:36] He doesn't always stop and go in for lunch but he often eats in his tractor and he's just working hard you see he's got to work he pulls all nighters he's making hay while the sun shines maybe you've heard the poem I think our dad drove it and drummed it into us a farmer's work is never done we weren't farmers we just had a half acre of garden but we were farmers to dad a farmer's work is never done from rising dawn to setting sun hard work employers salivate when they see a farm boy coming in for the job he usually knows what hard work is like especially so in the first century if you want a job of ease and relaxation you're not interested in being a farmer but that's what marks out the wise farmer he's he's all about it his heart's in he's working hard the hard working farmer now we're talking about spiritual farming and if farmers work hard for an earthly harvest how much more do we for a spiritual and an eternal harvest sowing good deeds is hard work isn't it it's hard because it's sacrificial it's hard because it costs something it means giving up some of your precious time some of your hard earned money the easy thing to do is to turn the other way and ignore someone's need right the easy thing to do is to do what the priest and the
[18:16] Levite did when they saw the man beaten up on the road they just went around and kept going and doing what they had on their schedule that day the hard thing to do is what the good Samaritan did is to pull over and to help that man and invest his money and his time to see that the man got what he needed if you're going to do good you're going to need to be a hard working farmer sowing with hard work loving your neighbor as you love yourself it's hard because doing what is path of least resistance that's easy but to set your face to doing right no matter how hard it is that will take some effort you'll need to do some sweating to be sowing good deeds it's easy to get even isn't it it's easy to get even it's easy to give a word back like you received it a harsh word and give back a harsh word it's harder to give back a kind word it's harder to bite your tongue and speak lovingly it's not easy sowing moral purity in an impure and an immoral world is it it calls for the hard work of a farmer it's not easy to be a peacemaker to sow in peace calls for the hard work of humbling yourself confessing you're wrong what you have contributed to the problem owning your sin and pursuing an offended brother or sister in love and sometimes your good work will be evil spoken of it will be rewarded with persecution that's hard when you do good and you get punished for it but the hard working farmer just keeps!
[20:20] with the occupation it comes with the identity are you Christian? then you're a hard working farmer because you're following Jesus who went about doing good and you're becoming more like him and it's hard because the flesh screams for ease the flesh says let up you're done enough and it will be hard because you have indwelling sin remaining and it rarely just screams no once it must be told no resisted many times and that's why it takes hard work the hard work of prayer the hard work of disciplining yourself to godliness it's not the work of a moment of a week of a year it's the work of a lifetime it's work that's never done there's always more on the farm to do isn't there and the christian's work is never done not not in this life persevering so a farmer's work hard for an earthly harvest the wise farmer works hard for an eternal harvest the third lesson on farming you you reap what you sow and that goes for wise and foolish farming alike galatians 6 7 and 8 do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows the one who sows to please a sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction and the one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life as you watch how people are sowing today doesn't it seem like they think that they are sowing without any thought of a day of reaping they don't realize that that there is a connection between what they're sowing today and how it's going to go one day in reaping but we must all appear before the judgment seat of
[22:36] Christ why that each one of us may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or evil to receive what we have been sowing there is a day of reaping and sadly most people sow as if there is no day of reaping but it is followed by an eternal reaping because you reap what you sow that's just the bottom line with farming isn't it as long as there's been farming in the world you always reap what you sow so kids if you sow carrots what are you going to reap corn no no one has ever sowed corn and reaped beans it's never happened in farming no you reap what you sow nothing is more certain and that is not only true in the physical field of the farmer it's true in the moral universe of spiritual farming and that's what
[23:46] Paul is talking about here you reap what you sow and yet strangely there are many who are deceived at this very simple point they think that they can sow to please the flesh and yet reap eternal life so so I do Jesus says there will be many in the day of judgment who are expecting to reap corn when they've been sowing beans they've been they've been sowing a life of attitudes and actions to please themselves and they expect to reap the harvest of eternal life he says many will say to me in that day Lord Lord Lord we preached!
[24:42] in your name we did many wonderful things in your name and Jesus said not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven only the one who has sown the will of God in his life done the will of God done what pleases the spirit they're the only ones that will reap the harvest of eternal life oh but Lord we did away from me you evil doers you see see what you've been sowing evil deeds fits of rage envy hatred factions immorality that's the way you have been sowing you will reap destruction and here in our text
[25:43] Paul is warning against this very deception doesn't he he says don't be deceived parents you don't need to say that if your kids are never deceived about something you only say that if they are falling into that same pattern and you say listen son don't be deceived and that's what Paul is doing for his spiritual children here he's saying there's some of you who are thinking you can sow to the flesh and reap eternal life don't you ever be deceived on that point a man reaps what he sows and that consistent principle of sowing and reaping then not only holds for the foolish farmer it holds for the wise farmer you notice that for you who sow to please the spirit from the spirit you will reap eternal life peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward and the reward is of the same kind as the sowing and to be sure these are all rewards of grace that a farmer who's been sowing in his life to please the spirit should should receive eternal life is not that he earned eternal life by his good deeds do you know this very gospel or this epistle of
[26:59] Galatians was written to correct that very point why does Paul take up his pen and write Galatians well because there were people in Galatians that were saying that if you keep the law yes it's Christ but it's Christ plus it's what you do that earns eternal life that makes you right with God and Paul's taking that to task in this gospel we know that a man is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Jesus Christ so we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ not by observing the law because by observing the law no one will be justified for it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything that is written in the book of the law if you're going to seek to get into heaven by good deeds you know how good you got to be continuing to obey everything that is in
[28:01] God's law all the time and if you mess up just once then you're under the curse you see you're not earning heaven by your good deeds you only get into heaven by Jesus deeds his dying on the cross for sin and his giving to you his obedience and you receive that gift by faith faith alone so he's writing to correct that error no amount of obeying can earn eternal life but that's not the only damning air that was being held in the Galatian churches there were also those who claimed to be justified by faith in Jesus and they said Jesus is all my salvation and therefore it doesn't matter how I live indeed they were using their freedom so-called freedom as an excuse to gratify the flesh chapter 5 in verse 13 so they were gratifying their sinful nature because they said
[29:04] Jesus has got it all taken care of for me and Paul is saying to write to correct that as well in our passage don't you ever think that you can sow to please your flesh and reap eternal life that's to be deceived so he spells out the acts of the sinful nature they're obvious and he says I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God don't be deceived God cannot be mocked do you know ground has never been mocked nobody's ever tricked the ground put in one kind of seed and reaped another the ground has never been tricked and Paul is saying God is like that God can't be mocked you can't trick God no this too is a damning error be careful that you don't think that I can live any way I want and still go to heaven no because if you put faith in
[30:05] Jesus Christ that same faith that comes to Christ with nothing in your hands to offer nothing in my hands to bring I bring simply to your cross I cling I receive salvation as a free gift from God that saving faith and saving faith will then go and do good works that's James chapter two if it doesn't you know that it's not true saving faith you've never come to Christ empty of yourself putting yourself completely on to him in saving faith because if it's true saving faith it will always eventuate in a life of good works so consistent is that principle that true faith always produces a life of good deeds that Paul can write you reap what you sow so if you're doing good deeds why that shows that you have trusted in Christ he has forgiven your sins and given you his righteousness and eternal life is yours so a wise farmer a wise farmer sows good seed he works hard and he knows that he will reap what he sows he has he has he ever met a farmer who wasn't concerned about the harvest probably wasn't in farming for long if he didn't have any concern about harvest harvest are you concerned about your harvest and that's something we don't see that in the earthly realm but we see it all the time in the spiritual realm people are not thinking they don't they don't give a hoot about harvest you say what they think that they're just sowing and there's no harvest no there there is a harvest there's a harvest for everyone and the question comes which harvest are you hoping to reap destruction or eternal life then pay attention how you're sowing have you come to
[32:15] Jesus Christ as a hell deserving sinner and thrown yourself upon his mercy that's sowing to the spirit that's what the spirit is seeking to bring you to this morning to recognize your sin and to come and to trust in Jesus Christ but if you go on or just forget about reaping no that's sowing to please the flesh so if you need immediate gratification in your work farming is not for you because there's a long time between sowing and reaping and that leads us then to the fourth lesson a wise farmer then will need to persevere patiently patiently waiting for the harvest verse 9 Galatians 6 let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up farmers do a lot of waiting don't they they're waiting right now for the sun to dry out the ground so they can get in and work the field then they'll wait for the rain to water the seed and then they'll wait for drying!
[33:27] weather during lots of waiting before there is ever one bit of return on all that investment and isn't that not our problem as spiritual farmers as well that we don't like to wait if we're sowing we like to reap what would you think of the guy that went out and planted on Monday and he went out to see if he had a harvest on Tuesday you say hadn't been farming very long because farmers have to wait don't they yes and so do spiritual farmers oh but we sow one day and we we don't get a harvest the next day and we start to mope what's the use of sowing then we get discouraged what's the use no results nobody noticed nobody thanked me for what I did this weekend I wasn't appreciated there was no harvest for all this good that
[34:28] I I'm doing moms and dads can't can't you grow weary sowing all the sowing you're doing into the life of that little one and then they're a little older and they're bigger and you're still sowing and you you still haven't seen the harvest that you're after and you get weary there's a reason why we're often sowing with tears Sunday school teachers Wednesday night teachers faithfully sowing week after week good seed but made to wait to wait for harvest preachers witnesses for Christ I don't how's it going everybody getting saved the first time you witness to them no you're you're having to wait I know on Wednesday night we pray once a month for for the lost people that we're concerned about and seeking to witness we've got people on that list we know very well by now why because they're still not saved we've got to wait long spiritual farmers wait long prayer warriors wait long working hard at your job is unto the
[35:47] Lord and you see no reward for it the lazy guy besides you gets paid just as much it's hard you gotta wait for your reward single and keeping yourself pure waiting on a godly spouse but no harvest on the horizon it's hard service in the church in the community loving people and so often it's thankless good deeds dear farmers don't stop sowing don't grow weary keep on with the hard work of doing good keep sowing and at the proper time at just the right time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up so James chapter five and verse seven here's the word to you Christian farmers be patient then brothers until the
[36:54] Lord's coming see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains you too be patient how patient until the Lord comes until the Lord comes come on spiritual farmers patient waiting comes with the territory and James says that the ultimate reaping that we're waiting for is when Jesus returns it's been two thousand years now some are growing tired of waiting some have given up sowing be patient keep on keep on doing the good keep on obeying keep on doing those righteous deeds keep on loving and serving and at just the right time the Lord will come back see the
[37:56] Lord is coming and his reward is with him the harvest is with him for when he comes back he'll call all men to judgment and then you will reap your rich harvest then you will receive rich rewards of grace do you know that not one good deed will be left unrewarded in that day not one good word that you spoke to another not one kind look with your eye not one tear shed for a brother or sister not one prayer uttered in faith to the Lord through the Lord Jesus not one good thing that you do every day you do gobs of it because you're a Christian farmer and you're sowing all day long and not one of those things will go without a harvest because God is just too holy to overlook your sowing you know that's what he says in
[38:57] Hebrews God is not unjust he will not forget your work and the love you've shown him as you help his people and continue to help him he's too just for that have you been sowing to please this from the spirit you're going to reap one day for that little thing that you did because he will not forget he's too just so we want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end keep sowing in order to make your hope sure we do not want you to become lazy but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised keep on sowing with the certainty that there will come a day!
[39:41] reaping and no one will ever be disappointed how our Savior waited he went around doing good and what did he get for it he was despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows familiar with grief he went around doing good and they falsely accused him and called him names he went around doing good and they called him a blasphemer demon possessed a false messiah and they nailed him to a tree you are farmers following in his train wait wait till the lord comes and reap oh he he did it because he had his eye on the reward that was coming for him he he he endured the cross and scorned its shame for the joy that was set before him seeing you come to heaven that that reward of seeing you in heaven instead of hell forever that joy kept him waiting waiting for harvest and oh how he's being rewarded as his gospel is going into all the earth and gathering the nations they are the reward for his suffering and he is too holy he is too just to overlook your good deeds and not to reward them retiring missionaries were returning home after a lifetime of service in
[41:33] Africa and on the same boat was President Teddy Roosevelt returning from a hunting expedition and as they pulled into New York Harbor the bands were playing the crowds were cheering everyone glad to just catch a glimpse of their president but no one was there to greet these two who had spent and been spent in the kingdom of Christ for a lifetime and as they stood there on the deck taking in the scene this sensitive wife sensed what her husband was thinking he seemed to be thinking it's just not right and she leaned into his ear and said but dear we're not home yet we're not home yet don't don't expect the reward farmer don't expect the harvest farmer before harvest arrives don't don't expect to find it in this life this is the world that persecuted and killed our savior we must wait wait therefore for the coming of the
[42:48] Lord for the farmer waits for the harvest let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up and lastly for wise farmers you reap proportionately to how much you sow it's not in our text but it's 2nd corinthians 9 6 remember this whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will reap generously so we see the principle for farming is that you reap what you sow but you also reap according to how much you sow whether that be generously or sparingly earthly farmers know this and so they plant as much seed as they can you been up here on dogwood road you find corn planted about as close to the road as you can without bumping it with your bumper they know that if you plant more seed you'll get a bigger harvest and some people even rent other acres besides all that they've got they want to make sure every little tillable plot of ground has got seed in it why do they do that because they know that you reap proportionate to how much you sow why spiritual farmers know this as well that's why in this passage
[44:18] Paul reminds them remember this whoever sows sparingly will have a sparing harvest now he's talking about giving money in this context that's one of the good deeds that's one of the good deeds that spiritual farmers are doing they're investing you see in the kingdom not only time but yes money and Paul's taking up a collection for some needy saints!
[44:42] in Jerusalem and he's seeking to encourage the Corinthian church and he says remember if you sow a little bit you're going to reap a little bit if you sow a lot you're going to reap a lot you know the world sees us giving money to to send a missionary to France to send a missionary to Eldoret Kenya to send the gospel to a Muslim country and they say that's that's good money down the drain you're pouring your hard-earned money into a rat hole but the spiritual farmer knows otherwise that's some of my best spent money because the more I sow the more I will reap and someday it could be that there will be believers from Eldoret that I will meet in heaven that heard the gospel through the man I helped put there and from that agnostic country of
[45:46] France that's got no time of day for Jesus and our labors are theirs maybe we'll meet some of them I have met some of them and even some from Muslim lands who otherwise would have been locked into generation after generation of a cycle of my fathers have worshipped Islam with the Islam religion and I continue and continue but for this this one who came among us and told us about Jesus and his rich salvation oh you sow now generously you will reap generously in the day of harvest and I wonder as you consider this principle do you really believe it do you really believe that this is the time for sowing and that the more I'm sowing now the more I'll reap in eternity think of that deal
[46:50] I mean the short time that we're here just a few years and it's over like that but if I'm busy sowing good deeds I'm going to reap forever and ever rewards for what I sow what a deal do you believe it is it affecting how much you're sowing of yourself your time your money look around look around at your fields and ask yourself in the field of my life are there areas that are that are untilled they're just laying fallow I could be planting seed in that area of my life I haven't thought about it but that's an area of my life I could be planting good seed in for a day of harvest break up your unplowed ground sow for your self righteousness reap the fruit of unfailing life and break up your fallow ground for it's time to seek the
[47:52] Lord till he comes and showers righteousness on you is there fallow ground in your life and if we would be sowing more seed we should not only look at every place but all times look over your schedule are there segments of your day and of your week your month that that they're not sowing you're not sowing that time Ecclesiastes 11 6 sow your seed in the morning and at evening let not your hands be idle for you do not know which will succeed whether this or that or whether both will do equally well but you do know that the more you plant the more you'll reap so sow in the morning sow in the evening think about how can I use these segments of time to be planting good seed don't hold back your seed bag the Lord
[48:57] Jesus knows how to give you more in your seed bag as you're expending it for his kingdom we don't know when our farming days here are over but we do know that Jesus said we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day for the night is coming when no man can work Robert Murray McShane was a minister in Scotland and he from time to time would sign off his letters with those words work for the night is coming when man works no more he died at age 29 but he used his time and his life to sow for the kingdom of Christ if you've been sowing as a foolish farmer the answer for you is not to try to do more good deeds the answer is to do the first right thing is to come to Jesus as you are and to throw yourself without any claim of goodness upon his mercy and he'll save you just gracious free grace forgiven if you cast yourself on his mercy and then he'll change you from a foolish farmer into a wise farmer he'll put his spirit in you and he'll teach you to sow to please the spirit and he'll teach you how to farm nobody knows how to farm like
[50:18] Jesus for the kingdom that is forever and ever let's pray thank you lord for eyes to see what the world cannot see that there is a day of reaping for the way that we are sowing in this life we thank you that there's also grace to do with that truth what surely ought to be done that we ought to be then persevering and not growing weary and sowing we surely ought to be sowing as much as we can because you are glorified as we sow to please the spirit and as we are rewarded in heaven every reward of grace will only redound all the more to just how good and kind you are to your people so help us help us to to find ground in our lives time in our lives when we can be sowing more seed and we pray for those that need to come to Christ you draw them and do them good for Jesus sake we pray in his name amen amen
[51:30] Thank you.