They That Sow in Tears 2000

This is really good to see you all again. It's a blessing to us. We've just finished having our harvest dinner.

A time when we think of the abundance that the Lord has made available to us. How do you think that the harvest has been so abundant that the the food in the supermarkets is cheap enough so that even those of us who are on a tight budget can eat fairly well. What a blessing.

Now we may not be out there in the farm, but we know that if someone isn't out there sowing the seed, reaping the harvest, we don't eat. The farmer knows that if there's too much rain or not enough rain or frost at the wrong time, he doesn't eat. So when the harvest comes in, we all give thanks.

The sower, the reaper, the cook, the eater. Thank you, Lord God, for this abundance. Thank you for the rain and the sunshine and good soil.

Thank you for the food on our table. Thank you that we have enough abundance that we can share with others. Now this harvest that we celebrate as we have these harvest dinner is a huge parallel pointing to another harvest which Jesus calls the harvest of the kingdom of God from Mark chapter 4 verse 26.

And he said the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should sprout and grow. He knows not how. The earth produces of itself first the blade and then the ear then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. He's talking about the end of the age. There's a lot to say about this.

Another parable from Matthew 13 verse 24. Another parable he took before them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed seed in his field but while men were sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain the weeds appeared also.

The servants of the household came and said to him, sir did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds? He said an enemy has done this. The servant said then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said no lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with it. Let both grow together until the harvest and at harvest time I will tell the reapers gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my farm.

That's pretty heavy. And the disciples having a problem with this what does this mean? Then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered he who sows the seed is the son of man.

Field is the world. The good seed means the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one.

The enemy who sowed them is the devil and the harvest is the close of the age and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire so it will be at the close of the age. The son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers and throw them in the furnace of fire.

Their men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear let him hear.

These are the words out of the mouth of the incarnate word the son of God. Incarnate love who laid down his life for us and yet he has these scary things to say. Now between the harvest of food that we celebrate tonight and this harvest that comes at the end of the age is another harvest.

The harvest that's in front of our eyes right now into which every single believer in this gathering is being sent. So even as we celebrate the abundance as we thank God we ate tonight and as we live in the shadow of this final harvest knowing that we're going to we have to keep in mind and remember the harvest that's in front of our eyes to which we have been sent and for which we're responsible. Do you not say there are yet four months then come to harvest? Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are all green white for harvest.

Lift up your eyes he said. They're like sheep without a shepherd they don't know which way they're going they're all over the place. Now we may not be farmers out there on the field but this is our harvest.

We belong to Jesus that harvest is our responsibility and we do what we do with this harvest. That's what we do with it. You know just as the farmer has to plant cultivate water and ultimately reap and it's work so the harvest is which we have been sent is work.

It means we're going to work we're going to sweat we're going to worry and we're going to weep from Psalm 126. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him.

What's this business about weeping? Now as long as you're sitting on the sidelines watching other people work in this harvest this business of weeping won't mean very much. What's it a cry about? That once you answer the call and you commit yourself to this harvest and you start reaching out and you start praying for people and you go out of the way and serve them pretty quickly you will understand what he's talking about. You will weep.

You will weep. You know this idea that you know if you serve in the kingdom of God it's going to be one great big happy time. Everybody's going to be so glad you're a Christian and they're so thankful that you come with the good news is a delusion.

That's not how it is. You may not shed absolute tears but you're going to weep inside. You are going to weep with frustration at those hard hearts that aren't getting it.

You're going to weep with disappointment the people you reach out to people you work with and you weep over and you know things are going good they're really responding things are going great suddenly they're off the wave. You're going to weep with helplessness when you offer the way of life and they choose the way of death. You're going to weep.

If you take it seriously if you get into this harvest it's not just the bowl of cherries. Sometimes you're going to feel like Jesus weeping over Jerusalem for like the apostle Paul weeping for those Galatians. But you know look at the literally I'm sure hundreds of disciples took off and left Jesus by the time he gets to the cross who's left still he doesn't get bitter he prays for them he knows he's hanging there for them knowing that he's preparing the way for a glorious harvest which is in front of our eyes right now because those who sow in tears will reap in joy.

He who goes forth and weeps bearing precious seed shall without a doubt come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. It never fails us it's a divine promise you go out there weeping with this precious seed you're going to come back with joy in your heart you're going to come back with sheaves in your arms and that's how it's going to be. So exactly how do I fit into this thing you know it's you know we've been in this many of us here maybe all of us for so long and yet we know that somehow the harvest isn't getting from us what is required.

Yeah so what do we have to do three things first you get the seed into your heart secondly you sow it and then when the time is right you reap it. Now first you get the seed which is the word of God and you get it not just into your head but into your heart. You know lots of there are people who who have their heads filled with spiritual words they can quote descriptions they know all about but those words never get down to the heart because they keep falling out their mouth before they get there you know and then they're like stones they're dead.

The word of God does not take root in us and become part of our lives until it has a chance to germinate and get hold down in the heart so it becomes part of our life and so we have to get it from up here down here we don't have the word of God in us until it's it's part of our life so that I'm not just saying to other people you got to forget I never do and I'm not just saying to other people chug it up I have come to the place I have to come to the place where I give up nitpicking criticizing condemning everything in sight so we have to concentrate on getting the word into our hearts down into our lives feeding on that word every day so you go to the bible every day it should be you know the normal thing go there for a word from God go there and get something so I don't feel like it you know how can I get anything if I don't feel right you got to discipline yourself you know you had your honeymoon you did get across the red sea now it's time to go through the wilderness and you have to do it well you don't feel like it then you're coming you have to get fellowship and in the fellowship you feed on the word always trying to get this word some kind of word from God and as we do this one truth comes into focus above all others and it boils down to three words Jesus is Lord that's the bible in a nutshell Jesus is Lord he died on the cross he rose again he's Lord of heaven and earth and all enemies are going to be put under his feet so that's the seed and we have to keep filling our hearts with that seed that's the truth this world knows nothing about that's the truth that is able to heal the sick cast out demons cleanse the lepers and raise the dead when you have that truth in your heart you have seed to sow and you're under obligation to sow it secondly sow the seed even if you have to sow in tears because for all the churches and crosses and creeds and christian radio and christian tv very very few people really know that Jesus is Lord if you know that he's Lord if he's Lord in your life if he's Lord over you over your possessions over your tongue over your attitudes Lord over you then you've got seed to sow you have truth to impart life to give and you have no choice but to speak that truth boldly and to live it openly and soon you discover that when you do this Jesus is the same now as the scripture said he was and as we sang a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces despised and rejected and you are beginning you will begin to experience some of that rejection yourself and if you don't and if i don't we're missing it you know it's all about the cherries it's so nice to be a christian and so nice to have fellowship with other christians and to stay away from all those worldly people then we rot now some of that seed that you sow as you weep will take it's not all going to fall off by the wayside or among the rocks or among the thorns some of them will take root it will find good soil this friend that you've been talking to is so low so depressed and you tell his friend again that Jesus is Lord and he's alive and he cares and he's going to do something he really will you know your friend has heard this a hundred times but now your friend for some reason or other has a tender heart and it gets in some years ago some of us were down in park park one night passing out traps trying to talk to people about him and we weren't getting much of a response and we get up along a highway and here's this guy he says black jeep parked right up on the sidewalk police are coming by going by they don't bother it they're gonna mix up with normal what's going on in the north end of clark park we come up to him and he says what's this man i said this is about you and he says about jesus maybe it's time for me he was here the next sunday i'm talking about mike hall who prayed a prayer that brought him right down to us last night he's been following jesus ever since you know it you know it you don't know where it's going to take and you don't test the soil to find out if it's worth planting some seed there you just sow it and some of it will grab when the time is right then you begin to reap and one day you're going to open your eyes in amazement and you're going to see this friend that you've been worrying over and praying for and maybe even gave up on standing in the doorway now they're ready you know and you discover that your tears weren't wasted i want what you got show me how to get there tell me the next step they that sow in tears shall reap in joy he who goes forth and weeping weeping very impressive seat shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves bringing her sheaves with no doubt one of the greatest joys there is is to see this person that you love or this person you just met this person that somehow got laid on your heart finding their way to the door of the king you know you're going to many of us have seen this maybe all of us have seen it but all of us are satisfied that we've seen enough of it there's so much more there's so much more and the hour is late we're going to see it and we're going to experience this your friend coming with you to the door of the kingdom and walking in from papa from darkness to light from the power of saving god the most effective harvesting that's going on right now is not taking place in these huge evangelistic rallies all the respect to that the most effective harvesting that's going on is taking place at kitchen tables and coffee shops where people are being harvested one on one and there is somebody out there waiting for you to come along amen so as we thank god for the food we ate tonight the abundant harvest may he give us a help us to see the harvest beyond the harvest into which we are being sent so that we get that seed of his living word into our hearts deeper than it is now more alive more strong more powerful you know the minute you're satisfied that you you know know what it means to say jesus is lord you already begin to stagnate who can get to the bottom of that what does it mean that jesus is lord it's beyond us it's so deep and that's the thing we have we have to put into our hearts every single day and then we need to sow and we got to sow that seed even when if they were replaced by these trips and where we turn and maybe we're weeping inside but we keep on doing it we we do the word of encouragement and hope to the people around us if we do that it's a promise from god you're so in tears you reap the joy you go forth weeping bearing the precious seed and you will return again with rejoicing bringing your sheaves along you will one day soon this harvest will be over and the real harvest will be here and he will send out his angels to gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and then those who are there will shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father amen god help us to see that and live that and make it real to the lives we touch let's pray lord god we confess to you that all the gifts that you've given us all the knowledge that you've imparted to us all the victories that you want for us are somehow still automatic so that the abundance that comes in is not flowing out with the freedom to share and we ask that tonight whatever in us is hindering that free flow of your resurrection life lord jesus may be dealt with in us at whatever the cost so that our lives may be a glory to your name and a blessing to the ones that we have been sent to harvest and we thank you for this lord god in jesus name amen