Fullness of Time...

We have been exploring the principle of Seedtime and Harvest. In this episode we look at the role time plays in this process. Some seeds have a longer gestation timeframe than others. What do we do when we feel that we have been sowing good things into our lives and have not yet seen the fruit? Do we stop sowing? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

And uh, you know, I do have to admit, I used to have an addiction to the hokey pokey until I turned myself around. What do you call someone who tells dad jokes but isn't a dad? A faux pas. This one's called God Made Us. A little girl was sitting on her grandfather's lap as he read her a bedtime story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book, reach up and touch his wrinkled cheek. She was also stroking her cheek. Then he said, finally, uh spoke up, Grandpa, did God make you? Yes, sweetheart, he answered. God made me a long time ago. Oh, she paused. Grandpa, did God make me too? Yes, indeed, honey, he did, said the grandpa. God made you just a little while ago. Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, God's getting better at it, isn't he? Kind of our anchor verse that we've been going over is Genesis 22, or 8, 22, sorry. While the earth remains, seed time, harvest, cold and heat, winter, summer, day and night shall not cease. And we've been delving into this principle of seed time and harvest, which we see clear back in creation. And I'll just kind of quickly recap what we've been going over. But in Genesis 1, we see as God is creating day after day, he starts to articulate that what he's creating will produce after its own kind. So he says the trees with fruit that birds seed after its own kind. And then he creates the cattle, the land animals, after, and they will reproduce after their own kind, and the birds and the fish. And if you if you're reading through chapter one, you'll see that this, he keeps reiterating this in the in the fruit is the seed, and it will reproduce after its own kind. And so we understand that there's a physical law of reproduction, of a seed bearing fruit, which then bears seed after its own kind. But this is also a spiritual truth, which we see in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve, who are made in the image and likeness of God, so God creates throughout the week, and then on day six at the end, he creates man after his own kind, after his own image. So we are created in the garden to replicate the image, the likeness of God in the earth, and ultimately his will and desire. But in chapter three, we see that Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, which contains seed. But this is like spiritual seed that now brings forth the fallen nature, which is now reproducing after its own kind. We see this throughout history and every man and woman everborn. And so there is now this corrupted seed that is reproducing after its own kind. And we understand that Jesus Christ then became the seed that brought us back to the original intent and purpose of the Father. And now He has become a spiritual seed that when we partake of Him, when we abide in Him, we now bear fruit that is unto Christ. That is Christ-like. So the fallen world only has the seed, the ability to replicate after the fallen nature. But now that we have Christ, who is the eternal seed, in us, we can now reproduce. We have the ability to produce an image and likeness of God, of Jesus Christ more specifically. So then last time we talked about what is seed. So we were talking about kind of the overall concept, and then we started to break it down. What is seed? Well, the word for that is Zara in the Hebrew, and it's most often used in the Old Testament to refer to offspring or children. And you know, the seed of the woman, he was talking about Jesus in the future, well, I'm gonna head on myself. Anyway, so it's talking about offspring many times. So when we realize, again, going back to God's original intent and purpose, that man would reproduce physically but also spiritually the image of God or of his desire, his nature. And so the greatest, I think, revelation of seed time and harvest is humans, right? That is children, the offspring. And if you look at any culture, children are some of the most sacred things about a culture. Like the next generation, we understand will carry on our legacy and what we've poured into them to the next generation. So people are a form of seed. The kingdom of God is referred to as seed in Matthew 13, when Jesus is telling the parable about the kingdom of heaven as like a mustard seed that was planted and it grew, and it's one of the smallest seeds, but it grows into a tree that birds come and nest in. So the kingdom of God is like that seed. It grows, but it starts humble and small. Money is like a seed in 2 Corinthians 9. Uh Paul is telling the Corinthians, like, you know, he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, he who sows abundantly will reap abundantly. And what he's talking about in that, in those scriptures, is particularly talking about money. Now the the concept is still there. And the interesting part is he says, so that you will have an abundance for every good work. So he's not just saying, uh give money so you get money, he's actually saying, may your heart desire to have this posture to give, to be generous, and from that you will have everything that you need according to life and guidance. That's a promise, but it's also something we get to act to participate in. We also talked about words are seeds. Proverbs 18, 21 says, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and we eat the fruit thereof. The fruit that has seed in it, right? It reproduces after its own kind. The word of God is a seed. And Luke, well, I was just saying generally words are a seed. Whatever you're sowing into your life verbally is going to produce fruit. But also the word of God is a seed. Luke 8.11, the parable of the sower, it just clearly states the seed is the word of God. And then thoughts. We really got into this one more because I think thoughts are the precursors to words, right? So we're going back to like the original molecules, if you will, of what I think seeds are made up of. So we talked about thoughts. Genesis 6, 5 was talking about how before Noah's Ark, the people, it says their imaginations were continually evil. So if they are unable to have a good or righteous thought, they are incapable of doing any good or righteous thing. We talked some about how if you meditate on committing sin, there's a lot more likelihood of committing that sin. Well, I'm just thinking about it. I'm actually doing it. But I kind of referred to the fact that if someone were to get caught into adultery, they were already thinking of that long before it actually happened. Our thoughts begin to give our life trajectory direction. And it comes out of our mouth, it comes out of our actions, but it starts in our thoughts. And then Genesis 11, 6, when God was talking to himself about the Tower of Babel, he says, nothing that they've purposed or imagined will be withheld from them. So that's why he scattered them. Because the unity of thought, the unity of what they wanted was within grasp. Because thoughts are powerful. Joshua 1, 7 and 8, God was talking to Joshua and he says, to meditate upon the book of the law day and night. And he says, from that you may observe to do that all that's in it, then you will prosper and have good success. So the precursor of observing all the law was he had to think upon it all the time. So his thoughts continually upon the word of God made him follow the word of God, which made the whole nation successful. And it said about Joshua that he accomplished everything that God had told him. Everything that Moses had laid before him, he accomplished. Why? Because he did the right things? Yes. But more specifically, he was thinking the right things. He was filling himself up on the Word of God that gave him the perspective that God and heaven wanted him to have. So the scripture gives us stories and pictures of what God is like and who he can be to all of us. If we continually allow these seeds into our hearts and minds, our lives will produce fruit after the kinds of seeds we are planting. Proverbs 4.23 says, keep your heart, your soul, mind, your inner self, with all diligence, for from it are the issues of life. My Bible puts in there for from it spring the issues of life or flow the issues of life. But in the Hebrew, it actually just says, they are the issues of life. What's in your heart becomes your issues. And if you don't want issues, then you need to start changing your heart, which means changing the way you think. What's better, better way to think than along with the Word of God? Right? Okay. That was just review. So now we're going to start talking about time. In Genesis 8, 22, it talks about seed time and harvest. It's actually just saying seed time is one word, but I'm breaking it apart because we understand that you don't just plant a seed and tomorrow you harvest. Can anybody tell me the general germination time for wheat seeds in like an average situation? You got decent moisture, it's in the ground, you got it planted. How long would you expect for the seed to germinate? Three days. Three days, okay. How about peas? About the same? Or beans and lentils, so are they all the same? Roughly the same? So then you so you have a germination time, right? I looked up, there's this uh, it's a bush. It's called a pin cherry, and they use it a lot in like burned areas. It'll come back first, like after a fire goes through. Some of those seeds sit in the ground viable for up to 150 years. They just sit and wait. And they need some sort of kind of cataclysmic event to activate them and then they grow. So it could be like your grandfather in your grandfather's lifetime, there was none of them. And they can still come back. It's crazy, huh? But just waiting for the perfect the perfect scenario, the right conditions. Okay, then there's days of maturity. So the difference between when it sprouts to when it has viable C, it produces viable C. Do you guys know what that is for wheat? Peas? Lentils? It's about 90 days for wheat, is that right? And what about lentils? Do you guys know what that is? It's a tough question, I guess. Trade secrets, yes. So, like for a bull thistle, it takes two years for that thing to come up and then actually produce a viable seed. Carrots are the same way because they're biannuals, right? But uh passion fruit, which maybe you've never even eaten one, but takes up to 18 months from it like sprouting to actually producing fruit. What I want to point out is those things can be very different, right? That time, the time that the seed requires to produce fruit and to produce seed after its own kind, is not the same for every seed. So let's look at Genesis 3.15. Do I have that one there? No? Okay, that's fine. So this is called the proto-evangelium. That's Latin for the first time the gospel is preached, and that is by God Himself when he tells Eve about her seed and the seed of the serpent. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Speaking of Christ destroying the work of Satan and of hell. Alright? How far before Jesus accomplished that was that? How long was that? Days of maturity. 4,000 years about. So then we look ahead and the promise to Abraham that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. Again, talking about Jesus Christ. How long did that seed take to produce about 2,000 years? That's a long time for seed to sit there, right? That's a long time for that to be spoken by God Himself to wait for what? God calls a fullness of time. Let's turn to Mark 1, 14 and 15. I think I do have this one on the slide. So Jesus is saying this, and Jesus said, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So Jesus shows up on the scene. And what's really interesting is Daniel had a prophecy some 700 years before this or so, about the timing of when the Messiah would come. And if you figure out that timing, it aligns with Jesus' baptism, not with his birth. So the fruit of Jesus Christ did not actually begin to like show until his baptism. Until his time. And this is what he starts to say: the time is fulfilled. What time? The time had finally become pregnant and had borne the seed that all the world was waiting for this 4,000 years. So that time is necessary for what God has planned for those seeds. So Jesus began his ministry. So the world met the spirit, the spiritual seed, and it created fruit. But Jesus kept going around and saying, Well, believe me for my signs. I would say another way to say that is believe me for my fruit. What's the fruit that you see? What's the fruit that you consume for my life? That is when Christ became that. But he didn't become a seed until he was buried in the ground. And if a seed is buried and it dies, it produces much fruit. Okay, Galatians 4, 4 and 5. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. So we definitely understand that there is seed, time, and then harvest in the physical. But it's also true for the spiritual. Ephesians 1.10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on the earth, in him. I believe that this is future. This is when all the nations of the world, all of heaven and hell, will be put under Jesus' feet and they'll worship him, they'll declare that he is God and Lord. And that comes also when time, the time is fulfilled. What time? I don't know. Whatever it's supposed to be, right? And so this, I just want to highlight the fact that this, again, it's a spiritual law. It's a physical law that we we live with, we understand, but there's also a spiritual aspect to this. Ecclesiastes 3, 1 and 2. We've all heard this. To everything, there's a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. There's a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted, to harvest, to essentially do the harvest. We understand again from what God told Noah in Genesis 8 that that's going to continue until the end of time. This concept. 1 Corinthians 3 7. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but it's God who gives the increase. I think it's really frustrating at times with raising children. There's a lot of opinions on how that has to happen. And if you go online, there's even more opinions. Like what how do you instill certain principles of them? Oh, you never spank. You always spank you. Timeouts. You don't nitpick them. You're friends with them. You're never friends with them. You're their parent. All these things. You know, vaccinate, don't vaccinate, you're a horrible parent if you vaccinate. You're a horrible parent if you don't vaccinate. It's all over the place, right? The problem is you don't actually know if you did a great job until they're gone. I wish there was a way to know, like, is this tracking really well? Because I've seen like little angelic children turn into aliens afterwards, right? And then you have these other kids that are just wild crazy kids, and then they hit adulthood, and all of a sudden they're like, these upstanding citizens. And it's like, man, I wish you could tell what, you know, if you're you can kind of tell if you're tracking right, but you just wish there's a grade somewhere, right? Uh but it's like you don't actually know, you're just planting these seeds in faith, and then at some point it produces fruit. And then you figure out, oh, should have done that different. And that's why you have multiple kits, because the first one is you just, I don't want to start already, you know, it's figuring out. And then the next one is you get better, right? I heard it like first kids like a like the first pancake, you just kind of throw it out, it never really works when it is over. I don't think that's right. I've got two at the same time, so I've got like two pancakes cooking at the same time. What I'm saying is that so much of what we sow our lives into, we do not see the harvest for quite some time. And what I think we begin to get discouraged when we don't see fruit in our lives, when we just planted that seed last week. And there is time that is necessary, and there is faithfulness, there is stewardship, there is faith. You farmers probably don't have to use much faith when you plant, but when I go out there with a drill, I gotta have a lot of faith because I'm like, I don't know how this is gonna come up. Maybe it's too deep, maybe it's too shallow, and my discs too. Two dolls, so now it's pinning, or is anything gonna come up? And then it comes up, and you're like, wow, I'm pretty good at this. It's kind of like golfing. You hit a really good one, and you're like, Oh, I think I think I can do this. No, no, I can't. But anyway, uh the seed is faithful, and like what we saw earlier, like one plants, another one waters, but God gives the increase. There's something about sticking that seed in the ground. When you stick it in the ground, you're not going to dig it up and sell it. You're not going to be able to eat it again. You have actually just expended something, money, time, and you're waiting for that thing to germinate and to produce a harvest. And we do the same thing in our lives. Whether we realize it or not, the things that we speak, the things that we believe about our lives, it will begin to produce fruit. Because your life is a field and those seeds are sitting there. So by faith and patience. Okay, we're going to go to Hebrews 11. We're going to read a few verses if I want here. So this is the what we call the Hall of Faith or the faith chapter. And the author of Hebrews is going through and highlighting all these amazing stories of people of faith in the Old Testament and how they kept moving forward, how they kept going. Even Abraham, you know, God tells him, hey, you're you're actually not going to get any of this land. But your kids, your grandkids, your offspring are going to come back to this promised land and they're going to have this, but it's going to be after 400 years. Look at that incubation time, right? I can imagine Abraham was like, oh, well, he didn't have a cell phone, so he's probably like, yeah, nothing's that fast, right? But can you imagine, like, thinking about seeds that you're planting that maybe your family's going to benefit from later and down the generations? Are you willing to plant those seeds in faith? Even if it costs you something for their benefit? Because Abraham was. He counted it. He counted the cost. He didn't get to live in the fullness of what God had promised. But he knew if he remained faithful, that would come to pass. There is a level of courage and faithfulness that we have to maintain in order to see the right fruit come about in our lives. Because it's way easier to plant negativity and feeling down on yourself and thinking the world's just going to heck in a handbasket. And it's a lot easier to go that route, right? Because the world's going in that way. But it's different to start to think from kingdom, from God's vantage point, and to continue to do that, not only for yourself but others, right? So we'll get into it. Hebrews 11, 32. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, and Samson, Jephthah, also David, and Samuel, the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women receive their dead, raised to life. And we kind of do a fist home of like, yeah. That's awesome. That's how we're supposed to be. As Christians, we always win every battle, every time. We become valiant and we take down the enemy and we possess the land, right? That is who we should be, and that's it. Period. Let's just let's like not read the next bit, right? But it's there, so let's read it. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. Wow. If you think about that, they had the opportunity to not go through that. It says there, not accepting deliverance. They had deliverance, and they said, no. Why? That they may obtain a better resurrection, so that they might have a greater heart. Still others had trial of mocking, scourging, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. That doesn't sound as cool as the other verses. And do you know what the interesting part is? I can't really point to any specific people that this is talking about, probably because the world will never know. But heaven does. Like he's not saying, you know, like Daniel, where he was, you know, slain with the sword, or all these people are like no-named. But heaven knows them. And they continue in this path to sow the goodness of God, the nature of God in their lives, and stand for it even when it meant annihilation of their own lives, torture, abandonment. Wow. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, that means like, although they've been stamped as like faithful and true, they did not receive the promise. Oh. Whoa. So they did all this, stayed in faith, planted those seeds, and then they died. And they didn't receive that in this life. We oftentimes we get like frustrated in this like instantaneous society where it's like you hear something, you know, you get a good TikTok reels going, you get all pumped up, you're gonna like work out, and you like do it for a week and you're sore and you hate it, and then you sprain something and it kind of hurts, and you keep going, but then like three weeks later you're like, I can't keep doing this, and you stop, and then you're mad because you're still overweight. You think it's gonna change that fast, right? I was telling somebody recently I've come to the place where I realize that anything of real value in life that you look down the road like 30 years and you're like, wow, that person is financially here, or that person's you know, health-wise here, and like these other people are here. The difference between that, usually 99% of the time, is are these people did something really consistently that was small and seemingly almost insignificant and usually very uncool and unsexy for a long time, and they reaped that in their life. I heard this statistic recently that young males, the amount of money they're putting into betting went from 5 million to 150, or 5 billion, it's now at 150 billion or just within a few years because online gambling has just gone through the roof. Why? Because no one wants to do the slow, steady, faithful, true, good things for 50, 60, 80 years. They want it now, or they don't think they can get there. Because it's easier to plant one big seed and expect a million bushel harvest than it is to plant tens of thousands of seed, tend that, take care of it, and see a harvest. So bringing that back to spiritual terms, I'm saying we need to start being faithful in the little things, the little seeds, the little thoughts, the little ways in which we don't agree with what the Lord has said, and begin to change those worldly seed for heavenly seed. And guess what? Keep doing it. Keep doing it for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. Don't get weary in well-doing. Last verse, verse 40 of this chapter says, God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Now, the Greek word perfect means complete. It means accomplished, carried through to the end, to reach a goal. What's it saying? That what they planted, what those people planted in faith, never receiving a harvest, we are now the receivers of those harvests. The cycle is now completed, and we are receiving what those former believers, those former faithful people have planted and what they did. We get to receive that now in Christ. How they sustain the faith through the ages, through persecution and death and all of that, we are now receivers of that in us, and it's completed, being completed in us, of what we're living in. The fact that we can hold a physical Bible is a miracle. The fact that people would literally die over translating this, burned at the stake, copying it, killed, torn apart, these sawn apart people, these people who are in the caves and hiding, we are now receivers of the Word of God because they lived that way for years. We are not among a small or insignificant group of people if we continue in faith to plant what's right and good in our lives, starting in our thoughts, starting in our words, starting in the relationships that we have around us. So that what we've started, maybe we don't receive it all, but that the next generation can be completed in them. And that's legacy. That's thinking outside of yourself. And not only planting in our lives, but in our communities. And that's what these teams that we're starting are for. The idea is that what God has placed within each one of us, we have seeds to sow and to plant. We want avenues in this church that people can sow those seeds into our community to not just have a nice church or whatever is the goal of Western churches, but that we may influence our community, that we bear fruit, that they want to eat, so that the seed that's in that fruit of our lives can reproduce in this community. Seeds of joy, seeds of connection, love. And that's a process because each one of us have the day-to-day decision of if we're going to accompany these people in Hebrews 11, or if we're just going to live our own life and plant whatever seeds we feel like for the day. Because there's a level of intentionality and grit, determination, and courage that it takes to be consistent and faithful for a long time. Patience, the other word for that, is long suffering. And what does it say about these people? Through faith and patience, they obtained the promises. It wasn't through fast planting and great fertilizer, it was through faith, long suffering, and patience. They kept planting. And folks, there's not a day in your life that you aren't planting or that you can go on vacation. There's no retirement in the kingdom. We all have seed to sow, we all have fruit to produce until our last sprout. So nobody's authentic. So what happens when you dig up a seed that's just starting to sprout? You kill it. It's pretty tough to dig it up, put it back, and make sure it doesn't die, right? So when you stop sowing truth, scripture, and faith for some reason, like it's taking too long, it's too costly, you believe it won't actually work, maybe through disappointment. I've been speaking against fear in my family for years, and my daughter keeps struggling with fear at night. God, this doesn't work. I'm not gonna do this. I might be two weeks from harvest. I might be, I might be one day from seeing that fruit change, right? Don't stop sowing what's true. Galatians 6, 9. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in what? Due season we will reap. How? If we don't lose heart. Losing heart is one of the biggest shortfalls of seeing fruit in our lives that we want to see. Does this resonate with people? Don't get stuck on the time. Keep sowing. God gives the increase. When is the fullness of time? When it is. Don't worry about it. You can't change it. It's important that we keep our hearts tender to the Lord and that we keep stepping into what He's calling us to. Because you don't know what seeds you're planting in your life that are actually fruit for your neighbors and for your kids and your grandkids. Don't get stuck on it's not happening yet. Don't get stuck on the word doesn't work because I've said it 3,000 times. Say it five billion. Big deal. These people are sewn in half. How bad's your life? Keep sewing. Don't lose heart. Stay strong. And surround yourself with other people who do it too. Because if you're out there by yourself, it's lonely and you get tired. And the enemy always likes to go after the stragglers, right? Don't be a straggler. Come. Be a part. Don't be a stranger. Alright, thank you, God, for your word. Lord, I pray that you would convict each one of us about ways in which we have sown the wrong seed, or that we have lost heart, or that we are not being faithful in these areas. And Lord, I pray that you would convict us and call us up higher, that we may be in the same heart and nature of these believers in Hebrews 11 that did not stop doing what's right, that saw the promise afar off, even though they didn't receive it. It didn't stop them from sowing. It didn't stop them from continuing to do what the Lord had called them to. And Lord, I pray that the seeds that we do sow would reap a hundredfold harvest. And the seeds that people have been sowing in their lives, the good seed of the word and of truth. I just command the harvest to start coming. The people again need to see the reward for their faithfulness and consistency. And that their children, their families, their community, their neighbors would be receivers of that abundance. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.