Sowing & Reaping Part 1
Now in this
section that we will look at Wed. night Paul is talking about giving
A)Collecting an offering for the Church in Jerusalem
that was going thru some rough times because of persecution
& Famine in that area
B) Paul spends two whole chapters encouraging the
Corinthians to follow thru on their commitment to join the other Churches in
Macedonia in Helping the Jerusalem Church
C) Now in the Mist of that encouragement Paul shares an interesting Concept – that we are looking at this morning in v. 6-9
1)
Concept
of SEED TIME & HARVEST
/ SOWING & REAPING
D) That if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly – But if you sow Bountifully you will reap bountifully
The
Bible makes it clear – seen over & over again that God is not a respecter
of Persons: God is not a Racist
A)He is not impressed w/ peoples pedigrees or social
status / Education or Economic standing – God looks at the Heart
B) God is not a respecter
of Persons – But He is a respecter of
Principles
1)
And there are certain principles that God has laid out in the word
& it doesn’t matter who you are Jew or Gentile/ rich or poor/ male / female
C) If you abide by those Principles God will honor
that & You will be blessed !!!
1)Such is the Principle that we are looking at today
– the Principle of sowing and reaping – The Principle of SEED TIME &
HARVEST
D) It is a Principle
found throughout the scriptures
For Instance:
ECCLES. 3:2
There is a time to sow and a time to pluck up
that which has been sown
A)In other words there is a time to Invest and there is a time to collect a return on that investment.
B) Paul wrote in Gal 6:7,9 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a
man sows, that he will also reap. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing
good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
C) Paul is echoing what Solomon wrote: there is a
season to sow and there is a season to reap – but they
are different
1)
Those seasons are not simultaneous – we don’t sow one hr and reap the
next hr. Sow one day & reap the next
D) IN this principle of seed time & harvest there is always a gap between the Season of sowing & the season of reaping
1)
That
gape is called the season of WAITING -
We hate waiting – our Culture is so bent toward instant
Gratification
E) We forget when we look
at the massive Oak tree{ Once a little ACORN
A)In other words when God created a peach tree He didn’t keep creating Peach trees –
B) He created a Peach tree and then allowed that peach tree in a sense to recreate itself –
1) So that
when it’s seed was sown in the Ground it would produce a harvest of Peach trees –
C) SO what is Harvested is going to resemble that which was Sown
1) So
These are just a few of the many places where this Principle is mentioned in
Scripture
But
the Principle is not just a picture of What happens in nature – It is also an
illustration of God’s Plan of Salvation:
A)Jesus used this same illustration from nature in
speaking about Himself & his work on the Cross – Jn 12 :24
24 Most assuredly, I say
to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
B) Simply put in every matter of life there must be a
sowing – a letting go / a death if there is to be a Harvest
1)
Jesus is the seed that Let go of His right to dwell in
heaven as the 2nd person of the Triune God head – Humbled came to
earth
C) He was the seed that fell to the ground & died on the Cross
1) He was sown in a tomb but rose again from the dead & the result was a massive harvest that continues to this day
D) A Harvest that we are a part of if we have been born again – Look 8:9
2 Cor 8:9 For you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. {Great verse consider the context }
E)So all the illustrations that we have around us of sowing & reaping are illustrations of & Explanations of & Celebrations of God’s plan of salvation 1) That He would send His Son to be Planted to die & be Buried that from His death we would have the opportunity to be a part of the Harvest of life
So
just like what goes up must come down – so too according to God’s principle
what is sown will be reaped / Apple seed = Apple tree
A)After it’s Kind -
So too what you are sowing into your life / into your heart into your
time – YOU WILL REAP – after it’s kind
B) Sowing Love / sowing faith / sowing Seeds of truth
& righteousness – that will be what the Harvest looks like
1) But
if you are sowing seeds of doubt / bitterness /
untruthfulness….
C)
But the Principle is not just- that what is sown determines what is
reaped - that it will be after it’s kind
1)
But it also applies to the extent of what is Sown –
will be the extent of what is reaped –{ Look at v.6 again –
D) Sow Sparingly – you
will reap sparingly – Sow Bountifully – you will reap bountifully !!!!
1) Sow only one SEED – small harvest – sow few seeds – that will be the harvest – sow Bountifully …… reap ……..
E) So don’t Blame God if the Harvest is small or if the fruit is sparse – the only person to blame is ourselves
Hosea 8:7 "Those who sow to the wind, will reap the whirlwind.
A)In other words if you take the seed of your resources and sow to every wind of the world / every passing fancy / every earthly pleasure
B) Don’t be surprised if you having nothing Left – don’t be surprised if you don’t have anything to show for your efforts
1) So often God gets blamed when it is us who have been foolish with our investments & decisions
C) The Bible likens the Christian to a Steward – who has been entrusted w/ certain things – to Care for in his masters absence & until he returns
1) 1 Cor 4:2 Most important
thing for a steward is that he be found Faithful
D) All of us are STEWARDS of what the Lord has given to us & we will one day have to give an ACCOUNT/
1) CONSIDER some things we have been made stewards of !!
we are going to have to answer to God for
the way acquired it / how used it
A) We are Stewards of
our time – In
Eph. 5 Paul Speaks of REDEEMING THE TIME
1)
That Phrase REDEEMING THE
TIME – comes from the Business World & means BUYING UP THE OPPORTUNITY
1Pet.
4:10 Each
one has received a gift, so minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
A) (1 Thes.
2:4). But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so
we speak, not as pleasing men, but God
who tests our hearts.
B) All of these things are seeds to be SOWN that will result in a Harvest – Sow Sparingly reap sparingly / Bountifully – reap bountifully
C) Because how you sow & where you sow is very important /for the rest of our time today I want to direct your attention towards some wise investments
1)3 areas where you can be sowing seed – bountifully where the return will be great – because the Soil is Soft & Fertile
D) First I want to talk about the soil of the Kingdom of God / 2ndly – The Soil of Your Kids or family / 3rdly –
The Soil of Character or Faith
1) Might not get thru each one today – so if not return next week
1st
The soil of God’s Kingdom: Plant seeds in that soil – How? – thru Our tithes & offerings
A)Many
People are very uncomfortable when this subject comes up in Church/ & I understand that
1)
There
are many so called MINISTRIES out there saying things like if you don’t give we are going to go off the
air / shut down / close doors
B)They make God appear to
be Broke - God is about to Go under –
SAD /
1)
Now
Contrary to the way that some SO
CALLED ministries portray Him God is not Broke /
2) GOOD THING TO REMEMBER – Where
God guides God Provides
C) So if some so called MINISTRY is pleading w/ me to Prop it up so that it can SURVIVE - / I would say that God is not Guiding
1) And I
don’t want to be helping to prop something up that God is not in
But
it is because of that type of MANIPULATION & PRESSURE that many people feel uneasy when this
subject comes up
A) But at the RISK of being
MISUNDERSTOOD – I realize that I have a RESPONSIBILITY TO this Congregation /
declare whole Counsel Acts 20
1) Last time we dealt with this subject on a Sunday am – Nov 98 – Luke 16
1)But To SKIP over this would make me Guilty of not DECLARING TO YOU THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD/ Be a Detriment to CCV
2) It is an Important subject in regards to Christian living
In fact
When you read our Lord’s sermons
& parables, you REALIZE THAT HE had
a great deal to say about material wealth.
A) INFACT –Jesus had more to say about Money than almost any other subject
B) Did you know
that one 6th of Matt./ Mark
& Luke’s GOSPELS & 12 of the 38 parables have to do w/ MONEY MATTERS
1)
WITH
MONEY & the STEWARDING OF MONEY –
It was something that Jesus taught on a lot !!!
C) Why? Perhaps this is a REASON – Back in 1990 the
RAN CORP. did a study where they discovered that the average American male
1)
Spends
50% of his FOCUSED thinking time /
thinking about money
D) How to get more / how to spend what he has / how he is going to pay the
bills / should he switch jobs in order to make more
1)
50%
of his focused thinking time spent thinking about money
E) Jesus knowing that would be
the case – Spent a great deal of time instructing us in this area / IMPORTANT
1)
Why
Jesus said – Where your treasure is your heart will be Also –
The Great Evangelist DL
MOODY – I can know more about a man by looking at his Checkbook than
his Prayer book
A)What we do w/ our resources really speaks to what is
important to us – where our Priorities lie – which is why the Lord says in Prov
3:9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And
with the firstfruits of all your increase;
B) See all I have is the
Lords I am just the steward of that
which He has given to me & the Lord asks that I give back to Him the First
fruits
1) The
First fruits – means – tithe / or a tenth in scripture of our income – It is
used in that way throughout the O.T.
C) Now Some of you –
might be thinking wait Rob / tithing is a part of the Law & we are no
longer under the Law /
1)So we are really not
required to give a Tenth / or to give at all
D)STUDY YOUR BIBLE MORE /
See Tithing is first seen before the Law
Gen.
14 Abe after the Battle – Kings / Melch. Gave him a tithe of all
Abe meets Melch. & gave
him a tithe – a tenth of all that he had /
500 yrs or so before the Law was even given / Tithing Precedes the Law
A)
True it is in the
Law & it is AFTER THE LAW
B)
Luke 11 Jesus rebukes
the Pharisees because although they paid their tithes / gave of the first
fruits of their spices /
1)
They neglected Love
& Justice
C) Jesus said the First you ought to do / ( other words it is good that you are tithing ) but you shouldn’t have left the others undone
1)
good you are
tithing – Jesus commends it – but shouldn’t neglect love & justice
D)
So Jesus commends tithing after the Law
1) And Paul –also instructed the Corinthians Ch. 16 to Bring their first fruits (Tenth of
Increase) on the first day of the week {
So this Principle of tithing
is seen BEFORE THE LAW / In the LAW /
Taught by JESUS/ AND in the
EPISTLES OF PAUL
A) To say that it is not applicable is to not fully
understand the full counsel of God or early Church History
B) But Tithing is really
a matter of the Heart – v. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of
necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
C) God is looking for
Cheerful givers – those who realize all that the Lord has done for them &
want to respond to that by giving of tithes { tenth
1) And offerings – anything that is above the tithe –
gift to missionary
Offering
for the homeless / gift of your time !!!
D)We will see in Ch.8 v.
7 Paul calls giving A GRACE – HE
mentions it in context of other Character traits of Christian –
1) A grace – I like that: Seeing it as Privilege & an honor to give
So the tithe is commanded by the Lord / And the Offering is
desired
But why is investing in the Kingdom of God such a great
thing to do
A)I want to give you 3
reasons – 1st is because
it is good for you Presently Lets Consider the
Challenge of God’s Challenge in Mal 3
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have
robbed Me!/ But you say, 'In what way
have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
B) The nation was holding back from the Lord – their
first fruits & their special offering – that which was the Lords in the
First Place
C) Now this is
a Heavy thought that is being stated here that if I am not giving the tithe I am actually robbing God / it is His money
D) Now I doubt very seriously that there is anyone here
who would even think about reaching into the offering basket & taking money
out
1)
And putting it into your own pocket – That is stealing
E) None of us would do that – but the fact is that if I don’t tithe I am doing just that / I am
using that which is God’s for my own Pleasure
1)
When I do that in
Reality I am ROBBING GOD
Notice the result of not tithing v. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For
you have robbed Me, Even this whole
nation.
A)Haggai Ch.
1:6, 9 describes what this curse was
6
"You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have
enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves,
but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with
holes."
"You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when
you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts.
"Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his
own house.
B)Listen to the way the Living Bible reads : You put your money into pockets filled w/ holes/ Ever feel
that way ? Holes in pockets
Now watch what the Lord says
next – Mal. 3:10
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food
in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I
will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
A)
Now Check this out the
Lord says – TEST ME –
only place in the entire Bible where the Lord says – TEST ME / put me to the TEST
B)
Bring your tithes into
the Storehouse / Storehouse is the Place of congregational meeting { Church / Place of meeting & dispersing
1)
Same idea that Paul was
referring to in 1 Cor. 16 – the early Church met on the first day of the Week –
Sunday – Bring their tithe
C)
Now
Why does the Lord want us to Bring it into the Storehouse ? I don’t get any credit when I give here at
CCV
1)
There is no mementos/
no Plagues / not a part of 100 dollar club / not going to put picture on the
wall or name in the Bulletin
D) I am not going to get
a letter from the President / NOTHING
No one Knows / no one sees / I am giving to
the Lord in total anonymity
So the Lord says try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
A)
Prove me & watch
what happens – watch how I take care of your needs
B)
See we can never out give God – so God says watch how I open up the windows of
Heaven & Bless you
1) So first according to Mal 3 there is a blessing here
in this life – for those who give the tithe – those who trust the Lord in that
way
2nd It is good for you in Eternity -
Matt 6:19-21
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal. 21 For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
A)Every time we give
we are investing in the Kingdom of God – and storing up treasure in heaven
B) Interesting someone
once did a little study on how the widow in Lk 21 who gave 2 mites – which is ½
a penny
1) 2,000 yrs later – her little investment – gone a long
way
C) See ½ penny – at 4%
interest – multiplied by 2,000 yrs = 10 to the 20th power – that is
10 with 20 Zeros after it – No number
3rd It is good for you Personally - Giving reshapes you
A) Not God’s
way of raising funds / doesn’t need it / but it is his way of raising kids /
B) See God knows that we are selfish by nature /
covetous / but he wants to make us more like Him / He is a GIVER