Sowing the Good Seed
Mark 4:26-29 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Our part is to sow the seed. We must leave the results to God. All our efforts may appear wasted, but when we leave the matter in God’s hands, wonderful things happen. That (seed) which is lost is found, the (spiritually) dead are raised to life. The blind sees, and the deaf hear. And it is none of our doing. We are as the man who scatters the seed “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.”
So then, how do we reach the heart of people with the light and truth of God’s word? Basically, we don’t. At best we are like the man in the parable who scatters the seed on the ground. To all outward appearance, (for all the effort and work and care the man put into sowing the seed), the seed is just thrown away and wasted.
All we can do is sow the seed. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts and converts. Generally, when we find ourselves frustrated it is because we trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit, and convict and convert the heart. And that we cannot do and trying will only led to frustration. Our part is to faithfully sow the seed. Our part is to trust God to bring that seed to life.
When we do our part, AND allow to Holy Spirit to do His part, (instead of trying to do it for Him), we will find peace as we reach out to others, sowing the good seed.
By Much Prayer You Sow the Good Seed
Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Isaiah 29:18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Isaiah 29:24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.
Sowing the good seed involves more than just preaching and teaching. It involves more than just presenting the Scriptures. One vital ingredient, (you might look at it as the fertilizer) is prayer. Peter says that we have been given “exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these [we] may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). And three of those promises are listed above.
When we present the truth to others, we can pray that God will open the hearts and minds (the understanding) of the people we are reaching out to “that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Because truly, except God gives them that understanding, they cannot understand it. The Bible tells us plainly that the carnal mind cannot comprehend the Scriptures.
We can lift up the promise of Isaiah 29:18 to God, asking that (spiritually) blind eyes may be opened and (spiritually) deaf ears be unstopped – so that they can see their way out of the obscurity and darkness of error – and so that they will rightly hear (and give heed to) the words of God.
We can lift up to God the promise of Isaiah 29:24 in behalf of those for whom we pray, trusting by faith in this word (And God’s word cannot fail) that those who are deceived and are in error (in spirit) will, (by God Almighty Grace) “come to understanding.”
When we submit to let God work (instead of trying to do His work for Him) wonderful things happen. The (spiritually) blind see, the (spiritually) deaf hear, the (spiritually) dumb speak, the (spiritually) dead are raised to life.
Trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit, however, only leads to frustration. And generally, when we try to do the work of the Holy Spirit, it is because we don’t really trust Him to do it right.
When Waging Spiritual Warfare, Use the Right Weapons
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
How often we strive to wage spiritual warfare using the weapons of the flesh. We put forth our best reasoned and most logical arguments, only to discover to our dismay that however powerful the argument, however flawless the logic, it has no power to change the heart. We use all our arts of persuasion, and our best efforts fall flat – the darkness is not shattered, error still prevails. We call upon our authoritative sources, all to no purpose — and we wonder, ‘What more could have been done?’
But battles of the spirit cannot be fought with the weapons of the flesh. Here the flesh is powerless. It is the Holy Spirit Who converts and convicts. It is by the Holy Spirit that hearts are softened. It is through the Holy Spirit that understanding, and enlightenment is given. God alone can change a heart, a life. God alone can speak light into a darkened mind.
If we would sow good seeds of light and truth, we must first go to the source of all light and truth and receive from Him the seed we are to sow.
When we use the right weapons, (those weapons which are “mighty in God”) then strongholds of opinion, and strongholds of prejudice, and strongholds of error and darkness will come down like the walls of Jericho before the Lord’s armies. All the finely polished arguments of the enemy fall like a house of cards before the mighty weapons of God. “And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” will be brought “into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”