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      LIVING UNDER THE NEW COVENANT       
Study #52: The Requirement of Making Seeds Grow

"By grace you have been saved through faith...it is the gift of God, not as a result of works..." - Ephesians 2:8-9 
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 Dr. Bill Miller                                 Volume XIX Number 36                        September 4, 2016 
       
Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!
    
We're still discussing the spiritual condition that the Bible calls HARDNESS OF HEART. Apparently we've become camped on this subject because: 1) it is REALLY important to God, and 2) almost the entire present-day Body of Christ is afflicted with it. As you now know, when the New Testament talks about the HEART, it's actually referring to the MIND and to the THINKING that emanates from there. And so, the bible expression HARDNESS OF HEART describes a condition when believers have become mentally insensitive to the things of God and His Kingdom.
 
Another way to say it is that people with HARDNESS OF HEART are afflicted with a limited PERCEPTION of spiritual things. That condition then forces them to depend on the five physical senses for direction in life instead of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said they have spiritual ears but they cannot hear and they have spiritual eyes but they cannot see (Matthew 13:14-15). People so afflicted have to walk out their lives in the FLESH instead of by the Spirit. Along with that comes a weakening of FAITH and an inability to UNDERSTAND matters of the Spirit.
 
Last week we discussed the idea that the main way to deal with HARDNESS OF HEART is with the WORD. Another way to say it is that the Word of God is able to increase spiritual perception by reducing hardness of heart. The more that hardness of heart is reduced, the more spiritual perception increases. We have to hear the Word, then understand the Word, then take ownership of the Word so it becomes personal, then meditate on the Word until it produces the fruit of perception and by PERCEPTION and strong faith comes victory in life.
 
Seed Time and Harvest
Have you ever thought about the fact that EVERYTHING in God's creation works through the principle of seed time and harvest? Everything and every being, human or otherwise, starts out from a small seed planted in an appropriate environment that grows from there to maturity. Because of this, God's creation has the ability to recreate itself species by species so that He doesn't have to personally create every single tree or blade of grass or every animal or every human being for all time. No, He already took care of that part of the process and His creation is able to sustain itself through the process of seedtime and harvest. And you can see in your Bible that the principle of seed time and harvest will endure for as long as the earth remains (Genesis 8:22).
 
Your Bible also says that the Kingdom of God works essentially the same way: "The Kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil" (Mark 4:26). These exact words were spoken one day by Jesus and our questions in response are likely to be the following: how are these two things alike, what exactly was His point and what does that have to do with us Believers? This isn't just an idle comparison that we should just glance at because Jesus didn't waste His time speaking stuff we can afford to skim over and not understand.
 
Indeed, this scripture is from the "Parable of the Seed" and in it Jesus was REVEALING that the basic principle of seedtime and harvest on the earth imitates a similar process in the Kingdom of God that has existed since the beginning. To really start to understand this relationship, please take a moment to MEDITATE on the four verses in this parable (Mark 4:26-29) so you can get the full meaning from the various observations that follow:
  • First, seeds must be planted in an appropriate "soil." The truth is seeds won't grow until they have access to soil. Put the seed into soil and it will ALWAYS grow. The seed's nature is to produce something. Seeds are the source of all life; the LIFE is in the seeds. Everything starts with seeds.
  • Then for a time the one who planted the seeds must simply rest and wait until the plants can begin to grow. The sower has little to do with the "growing process" after the seeds have been sown except to act as a caretaker.
  • Third, the soil in which the seeds have been planted is responsible for producing the crop. The Farmer is responsible to protect the young plants from weeds, weather, animals, disease, etc. and he has no idea really how the soil and the seeds interact with each other to produce the plants.
  • Finally, there's a perfect moment when the crop is fully matured and ready for harvest. If the harvest occurs too soon, the plants will be immature and there will be an inadequate number of seeds for the subsequent crop. If the harvest is too late, the mature grain will over ripen and many will lose their reproductive nature. But if the harvest occurs at the right moment, there will be a bountiful harvest. And, at that right moment it's the FARMER who must perform the harvest. It's the FARMER who must thrust in the sickle to make the harvest happen. The soil doesn't do the harvesting; it does the growing. God doesn't do the harvesting either; He provided the process. No, it's the FARMER, the one who sows who also performs the harvest.
The Word is an Incorruptible Seed
Now, these verses are certainly describing the seed time and harvest principle working on the earth. But now how do we draw the parallel with the Kingdom of God? What is it about the Kingdom of God that is imitated by the process of seed time and harvest on the earth?
 
In the first part of Mark, Chapter 4, you'll find the "Parable of the Sower and Soils" and by meditating on verses 4 through 14, you'll see that Jesus reveals there that the word SEED as used in the natural world represents the WORD in the Kingdom of God. The sower sows the Word (Mark 4:14). Therefore, when the WORD is planted into "good ground" it will produce a harvest and it works in a similar way as the Farmer sowing seed on the earth.
 
Within this parable there's a key point to take note of before we move on: Jesus said He spoke in parables so that only those who're spiritually PERCEPTIVE could/can understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and that if someone could/can understand the "Parable of the Sower and Soils," all of the parables can be understood. In other words, the sowing of the WORD into spiritually PERCEPTIVE ground is what the Kingdom of God is all about. Read it for yourself and see if you agree with this conclusion.
 
Now it starts to get exciting! Check out 1 Peter 1:23 and you'll find that when you were born again someone had sown a SEED into you. Somehow the WORD of God, an incorruptible, enduring and eternal SEED had been sown into you and it interacted with your spirit and began to grow producing a rebirth, a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) and connected you to the Holy Spirit. The sower doesn't know how it happened, doesn't know how the new creature was produced, in fact YOU may not even know when or how it happened. And at the perfect moment after the SEED was sown, something supernatural happened and by FAITH the Holy Spirit started the harvest of your mind and soul. No one gets born again unless the WORD of God has been sown one way or another. The WORD is the Source of all Spiritual life and it automatically produces fruit in your life commensurate with your determination to understand it and allow it to do what it's been created for.
 
And the WORD continues working that same way after you're born again. Do you want prosperity in your life? Sow prosperity scriptures into yourself until you're prosperous. Do you want healing in your life? Then sow healing scriptures into yourself until you're healed. Find the WORDS you need in your Bible and PLANT them. How do you PLANT them? After they're sowed, the SEEDS start to grow by MEDITATING on them: Meditate on the WORD day and night so that you will make your way prosperous and have good success (Joshua 1:8). At the perfect time, your harvest will be ready. Simply sow the SEED and then MEDITATE on it to provide GOOD SOIL, to be spiritually PERCEPTIVE and produce fruit in your life. You won't know how it happens; it will just happen. And don't forget something VERY important: since you did the sowing, you're also responsible for thrusting in the sickle and bringing in the harvest. God won't don't do it for you; it's your job. Start looking around because your harvest is just about ready!
 
In sum, there's a crop for the Christian to produce. A seed must be planted, growth must follow and the amount of that growth is based on the quality of the soil that the seed has been sown in. If the seed of the Word is sown into PERCEPTIVE soil that has been prepared by meditation and has focused on spiritual things, the crop will be an ever-increasing abundance for the perceptive believer to harvest and enjoy That is the way the Kingdom of God works, end of story!
 
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on September 11. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), pushing you to VICTORY in every area of life!
 
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be your Lord, you can do so today by believing and saying out loud the following simple prayer:
 
Jesus, I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and I believe that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven for all time and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
 
If you were sincere as you prayed, God has already come into your life and you're a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
 
When you get a moment have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer and believing what you said:
 
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
 
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