[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 14th of July, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
It’s summertime and we’re in the midst of the growing season. The ground is prepared and seeds are planted in the spring. Many crops are harvested in the fall, and the land rests through the winter.
But summertime is a busy time as the fields are cultivated and kept free of undergrowth. Plants are watered when the rain doesn’t fall. Some of the crops are picked and enjoyed by many. It’s a lot of work, but it’s all to bring forth fruit.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote about bringing forth fruit in the 1st chapter of his letter to the Colossians, verses 1 through 14, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
But summertime is a busy time as the fields are cultivated and kept free of undergrowth. Plants are watered when the rain doesn’t fall. Some of the crops are picked and enjoyed by many. It’s a lot of work, but it’s all to bring forth fruit.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote about bringing forth fruit in the 1st chapter of his letter to the Colossians, verses 1 through 14, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
--Colossians 1:1-14 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, Your word in our Holy Bible is not only our user’s manual for this life, it is also a seed, a seed that can bear glorious fruit. Thank You, Lord, for Your word. Please help us to plant that seed in others, to carefully tend to it and help it grow. Help us be faithful gardeners in Your fields. Now speak to us this morning, Father, that we may hear Your message this day. Write it upon our hearts. Give us clearer vision into Your will for our lives. This we pray in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.
Henry Abbey, an American poet who lived in the latter half of the 19th and into the 20th century, penned this little poem:
What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the ship that will cross the sea,
We plant the mast to carry the sails,
We plant the planks to withstand the gales —
The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee —
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.
The tallest, mightiest tree starts out as a tiny seed. When we plant that seed, what we expect to harvest is not only a tree, but what can be made from that tree. Maybe we envision a simple bench, a roomful of furniture, a house, or even a ship. But a tree takes a long time to grow, and sometimes the one who planted the seed is not the one who harvests the tree, nor the one who uses the wood to create those marvelous things.
And the same is true for when we plant the seed of Truth, the seed of God’s Word, the seed of the Gospel. What we hope to harvest is not a Bible, but a believer, a new follower for Jesus. But we have to understand that it can often take a long time for that seed to take root and grow. We may not see the harvest in our lifetime. But that shouldn’t keep us from planting the seed.
Last week we saw the help wanted sign Jesus posted. This week we'll look a little at what the job entails. Paul gives us a very good idea of the kinds of fruit we can expect to see by showing us the Colossians. They have great faith in Jesus Christ, and love for all the saints. Their hope is laid up in heaven, not based on earthly things or mortal endeavors. And then comes the kicker.
They are bearing all this fruit because of the seed that was planted in them earlier, and not by Paul but by a fellow minister of Christ, Epaphras. Paul also notes that this is all pleasing to our Lord: being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, seeking greater wisdom and spiritual understanding. Epaphras planted the seed, and Paul is seeing the fruit from that seed.
Seeds are amazing things. One tiny seed can produce a dandelion, which in turn will produce dozens of seeds, each becoming another dandelion. So it can be with the seed that is the Gospel, the Word of God.
Someone planted a seed within each of us present here this morning, or we wouldn’t be here. I don’t know of anyone in the US that hasn’t heard about Jesus somewhere along the line, that they would just happen to walk into a church on a Sunday morning to see what was going on. Someone worked the soil and planted a seed in us. Maybe it was our father or mother or some other relative. Maybe it was a teacher or a friend.
Someone planted a seed that bore harvest when we accepted Jesus. Someone cultivated and watered the plant. For some of us, maybe that plant is still growing, hasn’t quite yet quite ripened. For most, though, the fruits of that planting are visible, the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us – love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, self-control.
The person who first planted that seed may not have been around for the harvest, but that’s OK. Jesus says it’s OK. Listen to His words in the 4th chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel account, verses 34 through 38…
Jesus says that His sustenance, His food, is to do the will of God who sent Him, to finish His work. Shouldn’t ours be as well? Jesus sends us out to finish His work and that should be our primary goal in this life, working His fields.
Jesus also says it doesn’t matter if we are the one who first plants the seed or who later gathers the fruit. Both the sower and the reaper have entered into the same work, to produce a harvest. And Paul tells us that both the sower and the one who tends the garden will be rewarded. Listen to what he wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 5 through 11…
In this case, it is Paul who planted the seed, and then Apollos came along and tended the garden. Someone planted a seed within you that is now bearing fruit. I am helping cultivate the garden, tending the plant that has sprung forth from that seed.
But it’s not up to just me, or my fellow pastors. Each of us here can plant seeds, each one of us can tend to gardens, each one of us can help pull weeds. Because weeds will grow up in rich soil. Anything can be built upon a firm foundation. We have to do what we can so that only the fruits of the Spirit grow and flourish, so that no other building but Christ Jesus be erected upon the foundations set in place by the Word of God. The load is lighter when shared, and in this case, the rewards will be equally shared, no matter which labor we help with, once the great harvest is completed.
Be a planter of seeds. Keep the garden clear of weeds and pests that might damage the growing plant. Water and tend the garden and help it grow. Watch the fruits as they come forth and flourish. And some sweet day we will all share in the wonderful harvest.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, spreading Your truth should be just as important to us as our physical food, just as it was to Jesus. Thank You, Father, for Your word, saved for us in our Bible. Please give us the courage to share the Good News of salvation You offer through Your Son Jesus with others. Please forgive us when we are fearful or hesitant to do so. Please help us work Jesus’ fields, preparing for the great harvest to come. Strengthen us, encourage us in our labors.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…
Lord Jesus, nothing was more important to You than to finish Your Father’s work. Thank You, Lord, for caring enough about us to see God’s work through. Please help us be good and faithful gardeners, too, whether it is in planting the seeds or tending the fields.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Henry Abbey, an American poet who lived in the latter half of the 19th and into the 20th century, penned this little poem:
What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the ship that will cross the sea,
We plant the mast to carry the sails,
We plant the planks to withstand the gales —
The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee —
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.
The tallest, mightiest tree starts out as a tiny seed. When we plant that seed, what we expect to harvest is not only a tree, but what can be made from that tree. Maybe we envision a simple bench, a roomful of furniture, a house, or even a ship. But a tree takes a long time to grow, and sometimes the one who planted the seed is not the one who harvests the tree, nor the one who uses the wood to create those marvelous things.
And the same is true for when we plant the seed of Truth, the seed of God’s Word, the seed of the Gospel. What we hope to harvest is not a Bible, but a believer, a new follower for Jesus. But we have to understand that it can often take a long time for that seed to take root and grow. We may not see the harvest in our lifetime. But that shouldn’t keep us from planting the seed.
Last week we saw the help wanted sign Jesus posted. This week we'll look a little at what the job entails. Paul gives us a very good idea of the kinds of fruit we can expect to see by showing us the Colossians. They have great faith in Jesus Christ, and love for all the saints. Their hope is laid up in heaven, not based on earthly things or mortal endeavors. And then comes the kicker.
They are bearing all this fruit because of the seed that was planted in them earlier, and not by Paul but by a fellow minister of Christ, Epaphras. Paul also notes that this is all pleasing to our Lord: being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, seeking greater wisdom and spiritual understanding. Epaphras planted the seed, and Paul is seeing the fruit from that seed.
Seeds are amazing things. One tiny seed can produce a dandelion, which in turn will produce dozens of seeds, each becoming another dandelion. So it can be with the seed that is the Gospel, the Word of God.
Someone planted a seed within each of us present here this morning, or we wouldn’t be here. I don’t know of anyone in the US that hasn’t heard about Jesus somewhere along the line, that they would just happen to walk into a church on a Sunday morning to see what was going on. Someone worked the soil and planted a seed in us. Maybe it was our father or mother or some other relative. Maybe it was a teacher or a friend.
Someone planted a seed that bore harvest when we accepted Jesus. Someone cultivated and watered the plant. For some of us, maybe that plant is still growing, hasn’t quite yet quite ripened. For most, though, the fruits of that planting are visible, the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us – love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, self-control.
The person who first planted that seed may not have been around for the harvest, but that’s OK. Jesus says it’s OK. Listen to His words in the 4th chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel account, verses 34 through 38…
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
--John 4:34-38 (NKJV)
Jesus also says it doesn’t matter if we are the one who first plants the seed or who later gathers the fruit. Both the sower and the reaper have entered into the same work, to produce a harvest. And Paul tells us that both the sower and the one who tends the garden will be rewarded. Listen to what he wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 5 through 11…
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
--1 Corinthians 3:5-11 (NKJV)
But it’s not up to just me, or my fellow pastors. Each of us here can plant seeds, each one of us can tend to gardens, each one of us can help pull weeds. Because weeds will grow up in rich soil. Anything can be built upon a firm foundation. We have to do what we can so that only the fruits of the Spirit grow and flourish, so that no other building but Christ Jesus be erected upon the foundations set in place by the Word of God. The load is lighter when shared, and in this case, the rewards will be equally shared, no matter which labor we help with, once the great harvest is completed.
Be a planter of seeds. Keep the garden clear of weeds and pests that might damage the growing plant. Water and tend the garden and help it grow. Watch the fruits as they come forth and flourish. And some sweet day we will all share in the wonderful harvest.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, spreading Your truth should be just as important to us as our physical food, just as it was to Jesus. Thank You, Father, for Your word, saved for us in our Bible. Please give us the courage to share the Good News of salvation You offer through Your Son Jesus with others. Please forgive us when we are fearful or hesitant to do so. Please help us work Jesus’ fields, preparing for the great harvest to come. Strengthen us, encourage us in our labors.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…
Lord Jesus, nothing was more important to You than to finish Your Father’s work. Thank You, Lord, for caring enough about us to see God’s work through. Please help us be good and faithful gardeners, too, whether it is in planting the seeds or tending the fields.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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