This post is a continuation.  If you wish to read the first part “The Preparation,” click here.  If you wish to read the second part, “The Planting,” click here.

III.  The Produce

That brings us to the third step, “The Produce.”  I believe that if you were to ask any Christian the question, “Are you hungry for revival?” their answer would be “yes.”  God’s people will, by nature, be hungry for revival.  By revival, I’m not just talking about a series of nightly meetings where we invite an evangelist to come and preach every night.  The revival I’m talking about is a soul-stirring, life-changing, fruit-bearing revival.

I probably don’t have to tell you that the world needs us to have that kind of revival as much as or more than we need to have that kind of revival.  The longer we live without it, the more desperate the world is going to become.

The whole purpose of The Preparation, the breaking up of the fallow ground, and the whole reason why we have The Planting, those seeds of revival, is to experience The Produce.

One of the most exciting things I hear in the spring is when one of the wonderful ladies in our church starts talking about getting her garden ready.  She gives me a play-by-play of everything she is planting in that garden.  It has been my experience that after her preparation and her planting, that, in due time, I will get to experience the produce from her garden.

Spiritually, it has been my experience, that if we will be diligent in The Preparation, and if we will be careful in The Planting, God will allow us to experience The Produce in our lives. 

I don’t want to live in the past on memories of great revivals.  I don’t want our young people to have to rely on our testimonies of great revivals.  I want us to have revival in our day.  I want to experience it afresh and anew and I want our young people to experience it for themselves.

I firmly believe that God is looking for men and women, young and older alike, who are willing to get down to business with Him.  If the church of this day is going to change the world, we’re going to have to do it the same way the early church did it.

They prepared the ground.  The Bible says they were all with one accord in one place.  We need to understand that being in one accord doesn’t happen by accident.  They had to find a place of common purpose.  They had to reach a place of common passion.

Then they planted the seeds of revival.  I know there were other things that happened in the upper room while they were waiting on the Promise of the Father.  But I believe that much of the time they spent there was spent worshipping and magnifying the Lord and waiting…just waiting.

And when the conditions were just right, when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, the roots of that revival reached down to be established on God’s Truth.  Then that revival sprang up to produce fruit in the lives of those in the upper room.  The Bible says they turned the world upside down.

I heard Rev. Brent Gabbard preaching a camp meeting earlier this summer.  He told of his anguish and distress at how many people were sick in his church.  He was crying out to God asking for the reason why there are so many who are being prayed for and are not being healed.  He was reminding God of the promises in His Word, “…these signs shall follow them….”  He asked God the question, “Why aren’t there signs following us?”  He said God smote his heart with these words, “I said those signs would follow you.  The church isn’t going any more so how can signs follow.”

I’m convinced that if we’ll get hungry enough that we’re willing to put everything else on hold.  If we will determine to wait in His presence until… just like they did in the upper room.  If we will wait in His presence until we are endued with power, power to become witnesses, power to stand against the evil of this world, and power to become His ambassadors to this world, we will experience The Produce.  We will experience the fruit of revival in our lives, in the lives of our families, and in our community and beyond.

The question is simple.  How Does Your (Spiritual) Garden Grow?  Are you experiencing The Produce of revival in your life?  Does the world see the evidence of His power in your life?  Maybe I’m oversimplifying it, but I don’t think so.  If we will do The Preparation by breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts.  And if we will do The Planting by planting those seeds of revival in our lives, we will experience The Produce.  Revival will break out in our life, our family and our community.  What’s more important than that?  I’ll answer that for you – Nothing!!!!

This post is a continuation of  “How Does Your Garden Grow? – The Preparation.”  You can read that post here.

II.  The Planting

The next step is the planting.  It’s important that we do not use just any seed.  It must be the right seed.

I have a feeling that if you were to walk into your back yard and find a bucket of seeds just sitting there and you had no idea from where they came or what kind of seeds they were, you probably would not want to plant them.  From those that I have known that have an annual garden, they are very particular and specific about what varieties they plant and grow.  It is not easy to talk them into anything else.

My point is that we must be careful with the seeds that we plant in our spiritual garden.  Because the enemy will do everything within his power to plant tares and thorns in our life.  We must do everything within our power to keep that from happening.  We also must do all that we can to make sure that the seeds we plant are pure and right.

Several months ago, I preached a message entitled, “The Seeds Of Revival.”  I used that verse that is so often referred to as God’s recipe for revival.

 2 Chronicles 7:14
 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

There are very important seeds found in that verse.

The first seed is Humility.  God told Solomon, “If My people which are called by My name, shall humble themselves….”  It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of humility in a Christian’s life.  We must humble ourselves before God.  We need to realize who He is, and who we are in relation.  That revelation ought to bring about the proper response which is humility.

The second seed is Humger.  God went on to tell Solomon “…and seek My face….”  Hunger is such a blessing.  How sad it would be if we were to sit down to a banquet table with every imaginable culinary delight and we weren’t hungry.  God wanted us to know that it is important for us to hunger after Him.  Jesus even said that those who were hungry were “…blessed…”

Matthew 5:6
 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 The more we hunger for God, the more likely we are to do whatever is necessary to allow Him to bring a spiritual harvest in our lives.

The third seed is Holiness.  God let Solomon know that we have to turn away from sin and turn toward Him; “…and turn from their wicked ways….”  We must be seeking to be holy.  I understand fully that our righteousness doesn’t save us.  I know that we absolutely cannot be good enough to be worthy.  But if we are hungry for Him, that hunger will naturally draw us to set ourselves apart from the world and draw us closer to God.

The fourth seed is Hope.  This seed is the motivation for the whole process.  God did not give Solomon a list of things to do without a promise of a Divine response.  We must hold on to the hope that when we humble ourselves,  and when we seek after Him, and when we turn away from sin, God “…will…hear from Heaven, and will forgive…and will heal…”

We can rest assured in the hope that if the ground has been prepared properly and those seeds of revival have been planted with care, something amazing is going to happen.

In the natural, when you plant a seed, that seed is alive but dormant.  It is waiting for conditions to be just right for the seed to germinate, take root and start to grow.  Once that seed is in the ground, the moisture and the soil activate the seed.  First, it starts growing a system of roots establishing it’s source of life-giving nutrients and moisture.  Then it starts it’s journey toward the top of the ground.

In the spiritual realm, a very similar things starts to happen.  Those seeds of revival have been dormant, just waiting for conditions to get right.  Once the ground has been prepared and the seed has been planted, the rain of God’s righteousness rains down and waters the ground.

Did you notice the end of verse 12 in our text?

Proverbs 12:12
 … but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

The roots are absolutely necessary if we ever want to bear fruit.  So, first of all, the roots of revival reach down to the Rock to be established, and then it starts the process of breaking out of the ground and rising up for the purpose of bearing fruit.

(Continued here…)

Proverbs 12:11-12
11 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.
12 The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

I need to start out with a disclaimer. I readily admit that I know very little about gardening…at least in practical experience. So I’m probably opening myself up to criticism from some the gardening experts out there, but that’s a chance I’ll have to take.

What I do know is that to have a successful garden, you have to be committed to it. You have to stay right on top of the needs of that garden. Whether it is weeds that need to be hoed, bugs that need to be sprayed, or wildlife that needs to be kept out, every task must be carried out in a timely manner in order to maintain a good garden. Otherwise, it won’t have a chance to be productive. There are so many natural enemies to a garden and you have to protect your garden from each one.

There was a man in Karnak, IL that planted a garden in my wife’s parent’s back lot every year. You could find him in that garden almost every day doing something. He was diligent in working in that garden hoping for a harvest. He was usually well rewarded.

I started thinking about the basic tasks that are involved in gardening.  Knowing that there are so many details involved, I wanted to focus on 2 basic tasks and the final result.

I. The Preparation

The first thing I want to talk about is the preparation. The ground has to be prepared. During the winter months, there has been freezing, thawing and even the sun shining down on the surface of the ground making it so hard and crusty. If the ground hasn’t been properly prepared when the spring rains start to fall, the water won’t be able to soak into the ground.

Solomon told us that “…he that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread….” I believe that the opposite of that is also true. He that doesn’t till his land shall want for bread. It is of utmost importance that the ground is prepared.

God spoke to the men of Judah and Jerusalem through the prophet, Jeremiah. He was trying to get them to turn away from the wickedness of idolatry.

Jeremiah 4:3
For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

Don’t plant the seed on sun-baked, hardened ground. Don’t plant it among thorns. In other words, your ground isn’t ready. You need to get all of the thorns and brush out of the land. Get rid of all of those things that can potentially limit or prevent your harvest.

Break up your fallow ground. That word fallow simply means untilled or uncultivated ground. Judah, Jerusalem, get your ground ready for the planting. Get your ground ready for the rain. He was telling them to get rid of their idols.

In another place, God spoke to Israel through the prophet, Hosea with a very similar message.

Hosea 10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

You can’t make it rain or create a harvest.  No one has the power to cause the seed to sprout or grow or the ability to multiply the harvest.  But there is something you can do. You can till the land. You can break up your fallow ground and get your heart ready for His rain of righteousness.

When you look at verse 13 of Hosea 10, God made it clear why it was so important for them to break up their fallow ground

Hosea 10:13
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

You have plowed, planted and reaped iniquity because you were trusting in your own power and leaning on your own ways. You trusted in the multitude of your mighty men when you should have been trusting in Me. And that iniquity, that misplaced trust, has hardened the soil of your heart. You need to break up the fallow ground and seek the Lord until He sends the rain and soaks you through and through with His Spirit.

That task, breaking up the fallow ground, may very well be the one thing that’s standing between you and the blessing you have been desiring. It may be the thing that’s preventing you from receiving the baptism you’ve been seeking or the healing that you’ve been needing.

Think about it for a minute. Have you been experiencing the joy of His rain as His Spirit moves in the house of the Lord. But it seems like there’s no lasting effect in your life. The very next day you sense that nothing has really changed. You need to consider that it just may be that the ground of your heart has been hardened.

Maybe it was hardened by the hurt of people that have stepped all over you. Maybe it was hardened by the burdens of life that are weighing you down or simply the cares of this world. You look around at all that’s happening in our country and in the world and you feel yourself getting harder and harder.

I believe it’s very possible that you need to break up your fallow ground. Take the time to dig deep into the soil of your heart through prayer and God’s Word. Let God turn over the hardness of your heart. Allow Him to point out those things that need to be removed. Surrender to His searching Spirit to show you every hardened area of your life. And then pray until you pray through and break up that fallow ground and get your heart ready for the rain of His righteousness.

And The Preparation is just the first step. There’s more. (Continued here)

Mark 16:1-3 
¹  And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
²  And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
³  And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Last Sunday morning (Easter), over 2000 years after the event that was described in the text, we gathered very early in the morning on the first day of the week again.  We gathered to remember their early morning trek to the tomb and the wonderful discovery they made that day.

Have you ever thought about what we know now that they didn’t know as they were making their way to the tomb that morning so long ago?  That was the direction of my thoughts last week as we were preparing to celebrate Easter.  I thought of three very specific things that we know that they didn’t.

I.     The Stone Is Rolled Away

Mark 16:3 
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Obviously, these women were troubled.  They were on a mission but there seemed to be an immovable object in their way.  They couldn’t really expect any cooperation from the guards who were guarding the tomb.  And the disciples weren’t about to come out of hiding to help them.  And there was no way they would be able to move the stone themselves.

So, why did they keep going?  I get the feeling that their love for Jesus was compelling them.  It was subconsciously drawing them to the garden tomb.  They probably couldn’t have told you why they were still walking toward the tomb.  But we know what they didn’t know.  We know an angel had already rolled away the stone because Matthew told us.

Matthew 28:2 
 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

I love that detail that only Matthew included in his account.  Not only did the angel roll the stone away, he sat on it.  I think he was silently making it clear: Don’t even think about trying to roll that stone back over the door.  It’s staying right where I put it.  That’s the first thing we know that they didn’t.

II.    The Tomb Is Empty

They had gathered the supplies and made all of the preparations beforehand.  They were going to anoint the body of Jesus.  They had been devastated at His death.  There was nothing they could do to bring Him back.  This was the one thing they could do to show their love and devotion.  They were on a mission of love.  So despite what they didn’t know about the stone being rolled away, they were still determined to complete their mission.

We know that the tomb was empty because Luke told us about it.

Luke 24:3 
And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

If the women in our text had known that the tomb was empty, they wouldn’t have needed to gather spices.  They wouldn’t have been worried about the weight of the stone.  They would have had other concerns on their minds.

III.  Jesus Is Alive

The greatest thing that we know that they didn’t is that Jesus is alive.  That was something they didn’t know even when they discovered that the tomb was empty.  We know that to be the case because John described Mary Magdalene’s response when she found that the tomb was empty.

John 20:1-2 
¹   The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
²  Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

The tomb was empty so, to her, it was obvious.  They have taken His body away.  They have laid Him somewhere else and we don’t know where.  We know that while all of this was unfolding, Jesus was alive because Matthew, Mark and Luke gave us the message of the angels.  This is how Luke recorded it.

Luke 24:4-6 
⁴  And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 
⁵  And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 
⁶  He is not here, but is risen:…

They were much perplexed.  They were very troubled.  They couldn’t see anything positive in the circumstances.  But then they heard the message of the angels, “…He is not here, He is risen…”  And the angels asked them why they were seeking the living among the dead.  You don’t look for the living in the tombs.  That was the greatest thing the angels could have told them.

And I believe it is very significant what the angels then told them to do.  Once they had learned those things that I’ve mentioned in this message (those things we know that they didn’t know), look at the commission the angel gave them.

Matthew 28:7 
And go quickly, and tell …

That’s what I want to bring to your attention.  We know that the stone is rolled away.  We know that the tomb is empty.  We know that Jesus is alive.  There’s not a visible angel that has appeared to us and given us that commission.  But I believe that God gives us the same commission.  Go quickly and tell.

All across the country, people gathered very early in the morning on the first day of the week knowing what they didn’t know.  Now the responsibility falls on our shoulders.  We need to go quickly and tell.  Tell everybody we can that the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive.

May God burden us with an urgency to reach for those who don’t know what we know.  We have the message of hope.  We have the message of deliverance.  We have the message that will change their destiny and their destination.  We must go quickly and tell.

2 Chronicles 7:12-16

¹²  And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

¹³  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

¹⁴  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

¹⁵  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

¹⁶  For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

God told us that He would be watching what happens in His house.  He promised He would pay attention to our prayers in His house.  The said that He has chosen and set apart His house.  He said that He is endorsing  (putting His name on) His house.  And He promised that His eyes and heart would be there perpetually.  For those reasons, I believe that verse 14 is only possible because of verses 15 and 16.

When it seems that a nation has turned so far away from God that there’s very little hope to be found in what we can see.  And when it seems that the church world itself has drifted so far away from God that it seems impossible that they will ever find their way back, there’s nothing wrong with looking back at the pattern of the prophets and finding their path to revival and implementing it in our situation.

Joel 2:12-17

¹²  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

¹³  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

¹⁴  Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

¹⁵  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

¹⁶  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

¹⁷  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

In reality, it’s obvious what works.  It’s obvious what moves the heart of God toward His people.  He told them to turn toward Him with all of their heart.  My conclusion from reading that is that they probably had been – at best – only halfheartedly following after Him.

He told them to turn toward Him with 3 things: 1) Fasting (crucifying our flesh), 2) Weeping (repentance for our sins) and 3) Mourning (Godly sorrow over the conditions around us).  Don’t just rend your garments, rend your heart.  Let your heart be broken for the things that break His heart.

I believe that there are 4 seeds of revival.  Bro. Mike Blue called this Revival’s 4H club.  All 4 of these seeds are essential if we want to experience true revival in our church, in our nation, and in our world.

I.  Humility

First of all, we have to take a look around and come to grips with our situation.  Realizing that we’re not where we need to be.  And we have to acknowledge that God cannot bless us in our current state.  Because when we really take a good look at God and what His word requires of us, and then we really take a good look at ourselves and who we are or what we’ve become, our response ought to naturally be humility.  Lord, I’m a mess, I’m not good enough, and I never can be good enough.

But God told Solomon in verse 14…

…If My people which are called by My name will humble themselves and pray…

There is so much teaching in scripture about the importance of being humble.  Probably the one that stays in my mind the most is in James 4:6 at the end of the verse…

James 4:6

…God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

There’s no way for us to have revival unless we are willing to humble ourselves.  There really isn’t any middle ground.  Either you are willing to humble yourself or you are proud.  And if you are proud, God is resisting you.  His grace is amazing, but it is only available to those who will humble themselves.

Peter said…

1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

If we’re interested in reaping a revival, we must be willing to sow the seed of humility. That’s the starting point.  And I have no doubt that if we plant that seed, it will bring about the 2nd seed we need to plant.

II.  Hunger

I’ve said on many occasions, “It’s a blessing to be hungry.”  I remember an experience I had during my Bible College days.  There was not an overabundance of good food at our school.  So when we had the opportunity to be a part of a ministry team that went out for the weekend, one of the thrills was getting to eat well.

On one such weekend, we had decided, as a group, that we would wait to eat until we got to a popular all-you-can-eat smorgasbord that was very close to where we would be ministering that weekend.

We all ate until we were beyond full and drank milk, which we didn’t have in our college cafeteria at that time.  We were all making comments about how full we were and how good that food was.  And it was just a short few minutes until we arrived at our ministry location.

Our instructor went into the fellowship hall to get our instructions about where we would be staying and any other information we might need.  When he came back to the van, he opened the door and said, “You all are hungry, right?”  We all laughed because we thought it was a joke.  There was no way any of us could eat any more.

He repeated the question with a very serious face.  And then he told us that the church had prepared a complete Italian meal complete with lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, and garlic bread.  And there was no way we could offend them by refusing their hospitality.

We walked into that fellowship hall and saw an amazing feast.  Normally, that would have been cause for rejoicing, but we weren’t hungry.  It would have been a blessing to be hungry when there was so much food available.

It’s a promise from God’s word.  It’s a direct promise from the mouth of the Son of God.  It’s a blessing to be hungry.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

It would make absolutely no sense to go on a junk food binge right before going to a big dinner.  Because if we fill ourselves with junk food, and then walk in to the place where good food has been prepared, it won’t matter how good the food is, we won’t be hungry.

If we’re not careful, the same thing will happen to us spiritually.  We will  fill our lives with any and every thing this world has to offer.  We will find ourselves watching what the world calls entertainment to amuse us.  The roots of that word amuse are a- which mean not and muse which means think.  We are trying to find something that will help us not have to think.  We are tempted to listen to things that please the flesh.  We are drawn to read things that fill our minds with impure and ungodly thoughts.  Then we come into the house of God and we are so full of other things that we can’t possibly be hungry for the things of God.

If we want revival, we have got to determine in our hearts that we won’t be defiled by what the world is offering.  We’ve got to reserve our hunger for the things of God.  Then when we come into His house, and are ushered into His presence, we will come hungry. And the hungry shall be filled.  That’s a promise you can stand upon.

God told Solomon…

If My people which are called by My name…shall seek My face…

There’s a time and a place for bringing our petitions before the Lord.  There’s a time to tell Him what we need.  But if we want revival, we need to start by seeking His face, not His hand.  We need to be seeking to know Him more.  We need to be seeking to draw ever closer to him.  We need to allow ourselves to get so hungry to see His face and so hungry to know His will for our lives that it becomes our driving obsession in life.  Because the hungry shall be filled.

III.  Holiness

God also told Solomon…

If My people which are called by My name…shall turn from their wicked ways…

He described a scenario to Solomon wherein His holiness would require judgment for the actions of His people.  It could be that the judgment would be in the form of a lack of rain – a drought.  It could be that it would be that the locusts would destroy the harvests. Or it could be a pestilence in the land.

He wanted Solomon to know that no matter how His judgment fell, there would be a road back into His favor.  After they humbled themselves and prayed, and after they hungrily sought after Him with all their heart, the next step was to turn from their wicked ways.  They would need to set aside all of those things that had ushered them out of the presence of the Lord.  They would need to remove all of those obstacles between them and the blessings of the God of heaven,   They needed to turn from their wicked ways and forsake the works of the flesh.

Peter said…

1 Peter 1:14-16

¹⁴  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

¹⁵  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

¹⁶  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

When we get to the place where our desire to be like Jesus supersedes every other desire in our heart, we will start to reflect His holiness in our choices and the fruit will be evident in our lives.  Our hearts and lives will be significantly changed.  We’ll be striving to be holy as He is holy.  Not just in one area or even a few areas of our lives, but in all manner of conversation or all manner of behavior.

IV.  Hope

And the last seed or the last H is probably the driving force throughout the entire process.  We must have hope.

We must have hope that He will hear from heaven.  We must have hope that He is listening for our cry.  We must have hope that He will do what He’s promised He would do.  And we must have hope that He will heal our land.

We can complain about the condition of our nation.  We can blame our leaders from either party.  I believe they are to blame to a certain extent but that’s not where the bulk of the blame belongs.

We can blame our colleges, universities and public schools.  They are corrupt and even subversive to the truth.  They are to blame to an extent but that’s not where the bulk of the blame belongs.

I personally believe that the bulk of the blame falls on the shoulders of the church.  Not just one church or one denomination, or one movement but every church that calls the name of Christ.  We’ve failed to reflect Christ to the world.  We’ve failed to remind them of who God is.  So we have become a nation – a civilization – a world that is forgetting God.

I’m afraid that we’ve forgotten the importance of praying for our nation with prayers that are birthed out of hope.  We need to pray for the leaders of our nation and for the direction of education in our land.  We need to pray that God will raise up righteous leaders.

And the same goes for the church.  We need to pray for the church with a prayer that is birthed out of hope.  We need to pray for the leaders of our churches.  We need to pray for  God to open the eyes of those who are being blinded by the enemy and rejecting biblical standards of living.  We need to pray for God to raise up fearless, righteous leaders in the church.  Those who will be willing to confront error in doctrine and errors in standards of holy living.  We need leaders who are willing to stand fast in the truth of God’s word.

And every one of those prayers need to be prayed from the foundation of hope.  We must grasp the hope that God can do what we’re asking Him to do.

Are you willing to plant the seeds of revival?

Humble yourself before the Lord and acknowledge your personal need of Him.

Hunger after the Lord instead of the things of this world.

Recommit to pursuing Holiness.  Seek to be holy as He is holy.  Seek to be more like Jesus in every area of your life.  Seek to reflect the image of Christ to the world.

Allow the Holy Ghost unfettered access to your life.  And if there is anything there that is hindering you; anything that is not consistent with God’s holiness, allow Him to sanctify you wholly.  If there’s an area of your life that you have committed to God, surrender it now to Him and sanctify yourself.

And that last seed is hope.  Pray from a foundation of hope no matter how desperate situations may become.

Have hope that God is able.  Have hope that God is willing.  Have hope that God is listening.  Have hope that God will hear you.  Have hope that God can send revival in your soul.  Have hope that God can send revival in your community.  Have hope that God will heal our land.

May we bind our hearts together and join our voices in prayer together.  May you link your faith with mine and together let us plant The Seeds Of Revival hoping for a bumper crop from the very throne of God.

 This is a continuation of the previous 2 posts.  Please read The Wheat and then The Weeds before reading this post.  Thank you.

III.                  The Warning

Once again, how could something like this happen?  How could bad seed be sown in a good field?  Obviously, this was not the Sower’s plan.  This was not what He wanted.  What possible conditions could there be in which this terrible thing could happen?

 Matthew 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

I believe that we, as Christians, are two elements in this parable.  We are the good seed, planted to bring forth fruit and bring glory to God.  We are also the servants of the Sower.  Remember the Sower is the Son of Man.  It is the central focus of my life to be a servant of the Sower.

That said, we know that the Sower never slumbers or sleeps.  It was “…while men slept…” that the enemy came and sowed bad seed among the good.  The enemy will always try to stifle fruitfulness among the good seed.  In other words, he will try to keep the good seed from taking root and growing according to God’s plan.  He will try to cultivate the tares in such a manner that they will overtake and choke out the good seed.

 Matthew 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Another thing that we need to consider is the reaction of the servants.  It’s interesting that they didn’t even realize that there were weeds among the wheat until the plants started sprouting and appearing in the field.  Remember they were asleep when the tares were planted.

And then, when they noticed the weeds, they were quick to try to pin blame on the Sower.

 Matthew 13:26-27  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Can you hear their accusation?  “Sir, did you use bad seed?”  It couldn’t have been their fault.  It has to be the Sower’s fault.

Can you hear our accusation?  “Lord, look at the world around us.  There are tares growing right in the middle of the church.  People are not receptive to the message of the gospel anymore.  Lord, we’ve done all we know to do and it’s not working.  Master, did You use good seed?  We know we shouldn’t ask such questions and we know the right and obvious answer to that question and yet we ask it.

We may not ask it out loud, but we ask it in our private thoughts.  We ask it when we are having a pity party in our prayer time.  We ask it to soothe our conscience.  There must be something wrong with the seed if the harvest is not what we think it ought to be.

 The truth is: while we, the church, slept, the enemy has sown tares among the wheat.  A nation that was founded on the truth of God’s Word has become a post-Christian nation.  We have allowed our government to remove God from every corner of the public arena.  And we wring our hands and reminisce about how things use to be in the church and wonder if they can ever be the same again.  But we are so reluctant to let any of the blame fall on our shoulders.

 The next response of the workers was to take matters into their own hands.  Sir, we will fix your problem.  We will gather the weeds and get rid of them right now.  We’ve got this covered.

God did not place us in this world to get everyone to live the way we think they ought to live.  God didn’t save us or bring us to this place so that we would weed His garden.  He planted us here to bear fruit.

The Sower told the servants to let the wheat and the tares grow together and wait until the harvest.  Then things will be sorted out in a manner that will be just and righteous.

Matthew 13:39-42  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

The end of the world, as we know it, is coming.  I believe the signs of the times are pointing to the imminent return of the Lord.  That will be the time of the harvest.  That will be when the weeds will be gathered together and separated from the wheat.  The weeds will be cast into a lake that is burning with fire and brimstone.

This is a warning that we need to share near and far.  What a sobering thought that those who are lost today may very soon be lost forever.  Heaven and hell are not just theoretical places.  They are not a fairy tale created by man’s imagination.  Oh sinner, please hear and heed the warning of the Sower.  Don’t wait until it is too late.  Oh Christian, please hear and heed the warning of the Sower.  There are so many souls lost and dying without any hope.

I need to point out one more thing.  After the sorting and after the tares are burned, we see the outcome of the good seed.  We get a glimpse of the completion of God’s purpose for our lives.

Matthew 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

You may have all the ritual and formality figured out and know all of the right things to say.  But if you don’t belong completely to Christ, you have been planted among the wheat by the enemy.  Your future is an eternity in the Lake of Fire.  That’s not a very pleasant thought.

However, if you will surrender completely and give God your all, He will make a trade with you.  He will take away the promise of an eternity in hell and give you the promise that you will one day shine like the sun in the Kingdom of Heaven.  That’s a trade that you cannot afford to resist.

You can rest assured that for everything good that God creates, the devil comes up with an imitation and uses it to deceive the souls of men and women everywhere. When I observe the lives that he has ruined, I can’t help but get angry even while my heart is breaking. The enemy of our souls is not happy with the fact that Jesus has planted us in this world as good seed. He is so afraid that we will bear the true fruits of repentance. That is why he does his own brand of sowing in this same field.

Notice that it is the same field, but the children of the wicked one are the tares. As a side note, no matter where you go, you are going to find both good and bad seed. In fact, and I know it’s hard to believe, but you will even find both kinds of seed in the local assembly.

Sometimes we act as if there is nothing evil that could go on among God’s people. Surely there couldn’t be anyone in our church who is a weed – a tare. Sadly, my experience has been to the contrary. Since I gave my heart to the Lord 44 years ago, I have found that some of the most conniving and deceitful people in the world go to church. Let me be quick to point out that they are the exception and not the rule. If you don’t believe that is true, you are living in a fantasy world

Let me just insert that this fact is not a reason to stay away from church. Those same people go to the grocery store but that isn’t a reason for you not to go. The reason you go to the grocery store is not for who else goes there but to buy food. The reason you go to church is not because of who else goes or doesn’t go, it is to worship God and learn from His Word and to fellowship with the good seed.

That said, we need to be careful because church people, in general, can gossip and backbite and bear tales as much as the world. We can become so critical of each other that we act like vultures. We carefully watch for the first sign of death. If we see someone make a mistake, we start circling, preparing to devour the wounded.

There are also those who thrive on keeping things in turmoil. One person can come in and start a tiny thread of discord that can grow into a canyon. Before you realize what has happened, the body is torn asunder, and there are casualties everywhere. We need to be so careful.

We are supposed to be the good seed. So how can such things happen? How can someone that appears to be so good be so bad? It just doesn’t make sense.

I talk about this from experience. I have been fooled by people in the past. I thought they were one thing and found out they were another. I have been drawn in by personality and didn’t discern the problems within their spirit. There have been times that I have felt like a complete failure when such things have happened. And then I read this verse…

We shouldn’t be surprised when such things happen in the midst of the church. What better weapon can the enemy use against a child of God? He thrills when we are fooled by those that we thought were good but who, in fact, are his ministers.

This parable is an illustration for us. As the weeds grow among the wheat, they sometimes look so similar that it is confusing. We have to remember that it is not our responsibility to make the distinction between the wheat and the weeds. In other words, it is not our responsibility to weed the garden. It is our responsibility to bear fruit. Let the sower take care of the weeding.

I don’t mean any disrespect, but we don’t have the spiritual insight necessary to separate the weeds from the wheat. There is only one with that insight and He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (To be continued…)

Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 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 blade 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, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye 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 ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I. The Wheat

In this passage, Jesus presents another parable dealing with a sower and some seed. He wants us to know that when we consider the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to realize that a harvest is involved. If we ever lose our vision of that harvest, we will become ineffective in our outreach.

Jesus didn’t die for the church so that it would become a social club or a place where we fulfill our Christian obligation. He died to reconcile us back to the Father. He made us ambassadors for Christ. We are tasked with the responsibility of reconciling men back to the Father with the message of the Gospel through faith in Christ.

In verses 37 and 38, Jesus explained the meaning of this parable to His disciples.

Matthew 13:37-38 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; . . .

In the parable of The Sower, The Seed, And The Soil (which is discussed in the prior 3 blog posts), there isn’t a specific sower. “The sower soweth the Word.” (Mark 4:14) I believe Jesus was saying that every Child of God should be a sower. Ministers sow the Word. Plumber’s should sow the Word. If you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, you should be sowing the Word.

In this parable, Jesus tells us specifically that the sower is the Son Of Man. That term is used to describe the humanity of Christ. Jesus often used this term for Himself when He discussed His purpose for coming.

Matthew 26:1-2 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,
2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

It was Jesus, the Son of Man, who was betrayed and crucified. He was the Son of Mary. He was Immanuel, the Son of God made flesh and dwelling among men. And it is the Son of Man who is the Sower in this parable. He explained that the field in the parable is the world.

We know and believe that the truth of the gospel is the Word of God. Those who have heard the Truth and have believed are the good seed in the parable. We have been planted in this field (world) for a reason. The Sower, Jesus, has planted each of us here with the desire that we would bear fruit. He wants us to accomplish the will and purpose of God in our lives.

In the Gospels, Jesus likened us to various things in describing our effect on the world. We are to be the light of the world shining through the darkness. We are the salt of the earth. We season and preserve the world. It is obvious that in every situation of life, God is intent on our affecting this world. He wants us to be fruitful. That is one of the most important reasons that we are here.

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: . . .

He revealed that His will is for us and our fruit to endure. Jesus wants us to endure to the end. He also wants those that we win for Christ to endure as well. There is only one way for that to happen. We must abide in Him. We must remain connected to the Vine.

John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

So we are the good seed that Jesus has planted in the field of this world. As we grow, our root system, or the vine, is not of ourselves, it is of Christ. We cannot sustain ourselves or each other. We can encourage and exhort one another but if we are not connected to the Vine, we will die spiritually. If we remain connected to the Vine, we become the branches whose sole purpose is to bear fruit that we might bring glory to the Vine. (to be continued…)

This post is the conclusion of  the 2 previous posts.

III.    The Hedge Way

The intention is to make sure the good plants get all the nourishment they need.  Look at Jesus explanation of this group of people.

 Mark 4:18-19  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

There is another message in those two verses alone.  Who does Jesus say are those who are described as being among thorns?  They are those that hear the word and the thorns choke it out.  Then Jesus gives us a list of thorns that will choke out the Word of God in our lives.  Things that keep the seed from reaching it’s full potential of spiritual growth in the lives of the hearers.  The first thorn He mentions is “…the cares of this world….” 

If you look back through history, and if you could look into the future, you would find that there are distractions in every generations.  There are so many things that can deter us from what is good and right.  Things that can cause us to look to the left or the right.  Things that can and will draw our attention away from the things of God.

The second thorn that Jesus mentions is “…the deceitfulness of riches….”  Literally, the delusion of possessions.  I have seen so many get so sidetracked by the accumulation of possessions.  They spend well beyond what they can afford and get well beyond what they can manage.  They find themselves so bound by possessions that the things they thought they owned, in reality, own them.  And before they even realize it, they just lose out with God.

The third thorn Jesus lists is “…lusts of other things….”  He was more general concerning this thorn.  Literally, it is the longing for the rest of what we don’t have.  It is longing for relationships that have the potential to draw individuals away from God.  It is longing for social status that will cause the pride of life to destroy us.  It is longing for friends that will hinder our relationship with God.  Jesus was describing any longing that hinders the longing for God.  You see, when the affection is on the things of the earth and not on things above, we are already at a disadvantage and most likely will not survive spiritually.

So there are three types of soil in this parable that do not produce what the sower is longing for.  His desire is a harvest.  He wants His seed to produce fruit.  You can see that all through the teachings of Christ in the Gospels.  He cursed a tree that gave all the indications that it had fruit but when He examined the tree, He found “…nothing but leaves….”

But there is something else that these three types of soil have in common.  The sower didn’t sow there on purpose.  These types of ground were not His target.  They were sown incidentally.  The sower didn’t get discouraged and quit sowing because the seed on the high way wouldn’t grow.  He didn’t give up because the seed on the hard way wouldn’t last.  He didn’t throw in the towel because the seed on the hedge way couldn’t survive.  He kept right on sowing because His goal was another kind of soil and that is where He obtained the fruit that He so desired.

IV.     The Harvest

I can tell you from experience that it is so rewarding to preach a message that you know came from God.  And, oh the joy, when you see that the seed of God’s word is taking root.  Then when you are able to see the evidence of fruit in the life of someone that has heard that message, there is no way to describe the satisfaction.

I think it is interesting that it doesn’t seem to be that important how much fruit is being produced.  It just seems to matter that there is fruit and that it is increasing.  In other words, you may be more fruitful than me but, if I am being fruitful, that is what God wants in my life.

So what is it that makes the good ground good?  The seed is sown and the ground receives the seed.  Then the ground allows it to bear fruit.

There is probably every kind of soil in the hearts of those who are reading this message.  Some may be like a highway.  So many have stepped all over your heart and your feelings through the years.  Now you don’t want to dare to allow your walls to come down.  You think you can’t afford to be vulnerable again.

Some are like the hard way or the stony ground.  You have heard the message of the gospel before and you have known the joy of praying through.  But you wouldn’t allow yourself to be broken so that His word could take root.  At the first sign of trouble, you couldn’t stand the heat of the battle.  You withered and died spiritually.

Some are like the hedge way or the thorny ground.  You have heard the Word of God and allowed it to start working in your life.  But this world and the cares thereof have so distracted you and choked out any spiritual life that was in you.  You can’t bear fruit because you have no life.

If you find yourself in that list as you read this message, there is hope for you.  You don’t have to remain unfruitful.  There is something you can do.

I was looking at this parable in the three gospels in which it is recorded and each writer used a different word to describe what the good ground does with the seed.  Matthew said they “understand” it or comprehend it.  They are able to put it together in their mind.  Mark said they “receive” it or delight in it.  Luke said they “keep” it or seize it.  In other words, they make it their own.

So if you want to turn your well-travelled soil, or your rocky soil, or your thorny soil into fruitful soil, there is something you can do.  You need to take the Word of God that you’ve heard and understand it (put it together – comprehend what it means).  In like manner, delight in it (don’t fear what it will require of your life).  And finally, possess it (seize it and make it yours).

When you hear a message from the Word of God, don’t try to figure out who else the message is for.  Make it yours.  Seize it.  Possess it for yourself and don’t let it go.

If the Lord was taking soil samples and he sampled yours, what kind of soil would you be?  Will you allow the enemy to steal what you have read in this message?  Will you allow the heat of the battle to wither your progress in the Lord?  Will you let the thorns (the distractions of this age, the delusion of possessions, and the unsatisfied lust for what you don’t have) choke out your life and fruitfulness?  Or will you hear His word, understand it, delight in it, and make it yours?  It’s your choice, what kind of soil will you be?

I.                  The Highway

This post is a continuation of the previous post.  Please read “The Seed, The Sower & The Soil – Introduction” first.

 Mark 4:4  And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

The term “way side” means road.  In other words, some fell on the highway.  It was not a paved road, but a well-trodden path.  It was such that there was no earth in which the seed could take root.  The way side was so hard that the seed could not penetrate the hard crust.  Listen to Jesus’ explanation.

Mark 4:15  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

What is it that could possibly make a person’s heart as hard as a highway?  I believe it happens when people walk through or over our lives.  They are not willing to stay in our lives.  They just are stepping into or on our lives to get somewhere else.  They are using us.

When we open ourselves up to a friendship, and we find out that the other person has an ulterior motive for being our friend, we get hurt.  We come to the realization that they had no interest in being close to us.  When we open ourselves to love someone and they walk all over us, and treat us like dirt, and disregard our feelings, it hurts.  Every time we get hurt, we harden our heart to protect ourselves from even more hurt.

We have no choice about people walking through our lives.  That is a fact of life unless we shut ourselves off from society and become hermits.  For that reason, it is a unavoidable part of life that we get hurt and we get hardened.

The problem is that it affects how we respond to God and His Word.  When we are in an area where the seed is being sown, some of that seed may fall upon the hardened ground of our heart.  Because of the hardness of our hearts, the enemy is able to steal that seed away.  We can even feel the Spirit convicting and drawing us, and yet we resist out of hardness or stubbornness.  We believe that we are protecting ourselves.

The truth is that we are disallowing the seed to take root in our hearts.

II.      The Hard Way

Mark 4:5-6  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

6But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

Every time I read this parable, I remember when I was in bible college.  I was helping my roommate build a deck for someone in the area.  In digging the holes for the corner posts, we encountered a problem.  There was only a couple inches of dirt and then it was solid rock.  I remember having to break up the rock and dig it out.  That was the hardest post holes I have ever dug.

It takes a lot of work to have a lawn in areas like that and much more work to have a garden.  When you plant the seed, it may sprout and appear to be doing well, but when the sun comes out, the sprouts will die.  The roots are not deep enough to draw moisture from the ground.  Listen to Jesus’ explanation.

 Mark 4:16-17  And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

17And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.

I love to see the joy on the face of a new convert.  They have just experienced the joy of having their sins forgiven.  The burden of sin has been lifted.  The guilt and shame are gone.  They finally know what it feels like to be completely loved.  For the first time they are loved not because of anything they have done, or because they are good enough but loved unconditionally.        They get up from the altar feeling like they will never have another problem.  We all know that such in not the way life works even in the life of a the Christian.  There’s an old song that says, “If I never had problem, I wouldn’t know that God could solve them.  I’d never know what faith in God could do.”

It is such an important aspect of growing strong in God when we allow ourselves to be broken and remade.  I have thought so many times when we would sing that song, “I Want To Do Thy Will, O Lord,” the chorus is quite a commitment.  “Take me, break me, mold me and make me.”  That is the kind of surrender it takes for the seed to be able to take root in us.

There are those who will not allow the Word of God to take root in their lives.  They won’t allow it to change them even when they experience the joy and thrill of forgiveness.  They won’t allow themselves to be broken by His Word and His Spirit.  Then when trials come, they cannot stand the pressure.  They wither and die.  (To be continued…)