PRODUCING A HARVEST
(Kingdom Life-II)
We started a new sermon series called "Kingdom
Life" last week. We learned about what God's Kingdom is like, its arrival,
and the truths and fallacies related to God's Kingdom. As the name suggests, we
established that it is not mine, yours, but God's Kingdom.
I love this solid working definition of God's Kingdom
in eight words by the Gospel Coalition. The Kingdom is God's reign
through God's people over God's place. God wants to reign as King
through His people over the earth as He is reigning in Heaven. Why is it
essential for God's children to know the message and even more so to live by
Kingdom principles?
First, "The word 'kingdom' is found fifty-five
times in Matthew; twenty times in Mark—forty-six times in Luke and five times
in John. The phrase 'the Kingdom of God, or 'Kingdom of Heaven, or his Kingdom,
occurs about eighty times. These statistics show the great importance of the
core teachings of Jesus." [1] If it was important for
Jesus, it should be for His disciples too.
Second, all those who received the message of God's
Kingdom will live in His eternal Kingdom, which Jesus establishes upon His
return. It makes perfect sense to know about the place where we are going to
live forever. As we wait for God's Kingdom to arrive in its finality, in the
meantime, we have to live out Kingdom principles as Heaven's representatives on
earth.
How did Jesus spread this Kingdom message? By
preaching, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is near." He realized that He couldn't do it alone, so He chose a band of twelve
rugged Galilean fishermen to become His followers. He taught them what God's
Kingdom was like through parables and teachings. He showed them how to live Kingdom
Life on earth. Last week we saw a farmer scattering seeds in his field, which
fell on four different types of soils. Today we will learn how those soils
produced fruit or the lack thereof.
I.
Explanation of the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed
This parable contained: A farmer, seeds, and four
different kinds of soils. Who is the farmer? The farmer
represents God himself. Jesus elicits this Truth in another parable of Wheat
and Weeds ( Mt 13:37), where he says, "The Son of Man is the farmer."
The great farmer is God, and the field is the world.
God is concerned with his Kingdom's message spreading worldwide. To accomplish
it, He employs angels and people. Before sharing this parable, Jesus reminded
his disciples about the harvest and the need for workers to harvest. (Matt
9:37-38). God is the chief farmer. His followers are little farmers in His
field (I Cor 3:9).
What about the seeds? The seed is the
message of the Kingdom. What is the message of the Kingdom, then? The Kingdom's
message is the Good News. It is about how people can enter God's Kingdom by
repentance and returning to God from their evil ways. What about the
soil? The four different kinds of soil represent four categories of
people who respond when the message of God's Kingdom is presented to them. Let
me unpack this parable.
II.
What hinders Christians from producing a harvest?
Jesus explained the spiritual message behind a
familiar farming story. It was the same farmer scattered the same good seed in
his field. Some fell on a footpath as he scattered, and the birds came
and ate them." As we share the Word, it sometimes falls on the
footpath only to be eaten by birds. The footpath people represent
those who hear the Word but don't understand it.
These people consist of skeptics, unbelievers,
atheists, etc. They hear the Gospel preached repeatedly but never seem to respond
to it because the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts. It is
discouraging when we see the Gospel doesn't seem to bear fruit. Let's remember
we are contending with the devil. He tries everything to confuse and stop
people from believing the Truth, lest they be freed from their sin and receive
God's gift of salvation.
The seed on the rocky soil: "Other seeds
fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because
the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since
they didn't have deep roots, they died." Matthew 13:5-6.
The rocky soil represents the people who, when they
hear the message, quickly respond to it with Joy. Their newfound joy won't last
long if they fail to be part of a spiritually nurturing fellowship where their
roots of discipleship grow deeper. We call them shallow Christians.
Unfortunately, some Christians like the Kingdom's
promises but don't want to follow its principles. They won't read the Bible,
pray, worship, or attend Church. In other words, they like the perks but want to avoid paying the price. When some hardship or trouble hits them, they throw in
the towel, stop attending Church and eventually give up their faith hence
bearing no fruit.
The seed among the thorns: Matt 13:7, "Other
seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants." (NLT).
In Mark's Gospel, we read the thorny ground represents those who hear the
message, "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the
desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful. Mk
4:18-19
The Word bears no fruit on these people because "they go
about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun." Luke
8:14,( The Message). Unfortunately, many Christians worry about tomorrow and
care about making money and having fun.
Jesus offered another alternative to his followers, "So,
don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink?
What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your
heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all
else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew
6:31-33. Is worry keeping you up all night? Are you caught up in the web of the
deceitfulness of riches and rendering you fruitless? Here is how you can bear
much fruit.
III.
What Makes Christians Produce a Harvest?
The
seed on the good soil: Matthew 13: 8, "Still other seeds
fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even
a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Why
did three soils not bear fruit while the fourth produced a harvest?
Haven't they all received the same seed? Yes, they
did! The main difference was that the fourth soil was fertile and could produce
an abundant harvest. Similarly, good soil represents those capable of producing
a harvest of thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times. Over my years in
ministry, I have noticed Christians representing all these four soils. Which
one are you today?
When we look at
Matthew and Luke, we glean a few principles that would help us cultivate our
hearts to produce an abundant harvest. First, pay attention to Jesus'
admonishment to his listeners, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen
and understand." Matthew 13:9
The fruit-bearing Christians don't stop at just
listening to God's Word. They try to understand with the help of the Holy
Spirit and apply what they are learning in their daily lives. Second, They hear
God's Word, cling to it, and with perseverance, produce a harvest. Luke 8:15.
Throughout the Bible,
the harvest carries spiritual significance. The harvest has always been a
beautiful and important part of life on earth. It is symbolic of bounty, health, and abundance. In the parable of the farmer
scattering the seed, spiritual harvest results from God's work in man's heart. This explains how people respond to
the Good News.
In some, the devil steals it from the beginning. The
message won't go deep into others because of the lack of discipleship. Some
others get caught up in worries, pleasures, and deceptiveness of riches,
bearing no fruit. Yet some good-hearted
people hear and respond to God's Kingdom message. They produce a spiritual
harvest by increasing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23).
[1] The
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible(, Vol. III, Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, 1976, p. 804).
