Grow Strong in God’s Grace: Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!

The Faith that Bears Fruit! (Cont.)

Hebrews 11:11-12 (NASB)

STEP #3 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CARE FOR THE MATURING PLANT

Sarah was a real woman, with real faith, in real history, and her story began with a faith that pleased God. Her transforming story is recorded in Hebrews 11:11-12:

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

To experience the promises of God we must learn how to care for the maturing plant of our faith through the storms and tribulations of this life. Genesis 21:1-8 tells us how long Abraham and Sarah had to wait to experience God’s promise in their lives:

Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

If you read more about Abraham and Sarah’s transforming story of faith in Genesis, you will see that they went through many trials and tribulations. While they blessed the nations through their faith, they had to live by faith to bear the good fruit of the promises of God to them. We are now going to turn to the New Testament, learning from the biblical pattern of Paul’s life so that we can learn how to live strong in God’s grace as an heir of the promise of Abraham. Let us learn from the fruit of Sarah’s womb how we are to live as those who have inherited the promise of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul said in Galatians 4:28, to those who believe in Jesus Christ, “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” This is how Paul saw himself and this is how we should see ourselves.

There are four practical steps we can learn from Paul about how to live as children of promise. First, Paul started by claiming the promises of God in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” As we have previously learned in my Live like a Champion Today sermon series, the Bible is filled with the promises of God that will lead you to living the victorious life of Jesus Christ. For example, you may think, “If I am not successful in this situation, then my life will fall apart.” The natural result of such catastrophic, slippery-slope thinking is anxiety and doubt. Replace that faulty logic with the promise of God, “Even if I am not successful in every situation, God, who began a good work in me, will bring me through this tribulation and bring me to completion.” This promise will decrease the anxiety-inducing, self-focused thinking, and keep your mind focused on the power of God to fulfill the promises of God, in and through you! 

Second, Paul taught us to pray the promises of God in Philippians 1:9-11:

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The Bible is filled with prayers that are effective and in accordance with God’s will: pray these prayers! The Psalms were Jesus’ prayer book; the Bible has example after example of prayers God has already declared as prayers He will answer. Memorize them, cultivate them into your heart and mind, plant them as seeds of grace, so that in your 9-1-1 moments your communion with God will be unbreakable by neither of the normal fleshly responses caused by your autonomic nervous system: adrenaline rush (fight) or detached retreat (flight). To illustrate this form my life experience, Psalm 23 is my personal go-to prayer. I have memorized it and I walk through my days with it for three reasons:

1. It relaxes me – rest for my soul in His green pastures and beside quiet waters
2. It reminds me of who God is – the Good Shepherd of my soul, in whom I shall not want
3. It focuses me on God’s promises for my life and eternity – He walks with me all the days of my life and I will dwell with Him always

Paul then gives us the right perspective on our circumstances in Philippians 1:12-14:

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

Our circumstances overwhelm us so often that we lose perspective on what is true and real in life from God’s reality. Yes, it is true that our perception shapes how we view what is real to us, but it is not true that my perception is true reality. Paul claimed God’s promises, he then prayed them, and then he gained an accurate assessment of reality. God gave Paul his perspective: what has happened to me, though difficult, has served a greater purpose. In life, we are going to suffer, but will our suffering have meaning, purpose, and hope attached to it. It is a right perspective of life that shapes our contentment and ability to rejoice in all circumstances. It is how we walk through these circumstances that often shapes our witness to those around us and proclaims the transforming power of faith to all who are watching us. This is the good fruit of God’s grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ – live strong in God’s grace today!

That brings us to the last thing we are going to learn from Paul in how to care for the maturing plant so that it grows strong enough to bear good fruit. Paul teaches us to seize the moment and execute God’s plan for our lives in Philippians 1:21-24:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

Paul’s life was built on the promises of God, he prayed effective prayers from the Word of God, and he kept a right perspective on his circumstance, so that he could seize the moment for the plan of God in his daily life. God used Paul’s life as a descendent of Sarah’s womb, an heir of Abraham’s promise – Paul was a blessing to the nations as the Apostle to the Gentiles! We are to do the same in our lives as children of the promise – we are called to bless the nations as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). Just as Sarah’s faith bore good fruit, so should our lives reap a harvest of praise. That brings us to the last action step.

STEP #4 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: REAP A HARVEST OF PRAISE

Living strong in God’s grace leads to a harvest of praise because it is the empowered life of the Holy Spirit! In a life that reaps a harvest of praise, all four of the elements we learned from Paul’s life are important: a promise to claim; a prayer to pray; the right perspective on circumstances; and a plan to execute. Without one of these you may find yourself overridden with an anxious or fearful heart, aimless in your life, and buried in your circumstances. If you were to examine the life of Abraham and Sarah, you will see the damaging effects of not trusting God for the promises of God (Genesis 16). Whereas the flesh produced Ishmael, the Spirit of God birthed the good fruit of Isaac (Galatians 4:21-31). Paul emphasized this part of the Abraham-Sarah story in Galatians 4:31-5:1, to illustrate why we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to walk by the Spirit, “So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman [Hagar who gave birth to Ishmael], but of the free woman [Sarah who gave birth to Isaac]. It was for freedom [from sin] that Christ set us free [to live for God through faith]; therefore keep standing firm [by faith through the Spirit] and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [the flesh].”

It is my desire to help you choose the better way, the way of living by the power of the Holy Spirit, who promises to reap a harvest of praise in and through your life, learning to trust God’s promises and obeying Him in all that you do. This is the life of faith – live strong in God’s grace! Jesus taught about the empowered life of the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-21:

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

To keep Jesus’ commandments is to obey the God you worship. True worship is not empty praise from unbelieving lips; it is a life whose actions and attitudes flow out of what you believe about God. This is what Jesus intended when He said in John 4:23-24, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Are you worshipping in spirit and truth?

 What do you believe about God?  Faith is reckoned to you as righteousness! What does your life say you believe about God? Faith in God leads to a life that proclaims the very character of God through the fruit bearing of the Holy Spirit, as promised in Galatians 5:22-23, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” This is the harvest of praise that will spread the seed of Abraham, the fruit of Sarah’s barren womb, to all the nations because you obeyed God’s voice in your life. This is the miracle of God’s grace as it grows in you – from Sarah’ barren womb came the child of promise, Isaac, just as from the seed of faith, God grows the fruit of the good news of Jesus Christ – God’s righteousness for all the nations. Be fruitful for the kingdom of God!

Abraham and Sarah’s transforming story of faith strengthens our faith, gives us hope, and gives us the courage to tell a better story with our stories. To make visible that which is invisible – the kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven! May we reap a harvest of praise as our stories are transformed through the gospel of Jesus Christ!

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Grow Strong in God’s Grace: Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!

The Faith that Trusts God’s Promises!

Hebrews 11:8-10 (NAS95)

God is in the business of transforming stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to grow strong in God’s grace as active participants in the world He created. God has entrusted His creation to His people to work as His Harvest workers – “All the world’s a field, and all the disciples of Jesus Christ merely farmers!” Let’s follow the four-step strategy of a faith farmer: 1) cultivate people with faith; 2) sow the good seed of God’s grace (the gospel) into their hearts and minds; 3) care for them as their stories are transformed into fruit-bearing plants; and 4) reap a harvest of praise as the church of Jesus Christ. Never forget, this strategy must be empowered by the Holy Spirit because apart from God’s grace through His Son Jesus Christ you cannot bear God’s good fruit (John 15:5). Therefore, harvest workers of God’s kingdom are called to grow strong in God’s grace to reap a harvest of praise to the glory of God. Let’s turn to Hebrews 11 and learn from the next transforming story in the Hall of Faith.

STEP #1 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: CULTIVATE THE SOIL WITH FAITH

Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1-2, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men [and women] of old gained approval.” Today’s passage from Hebrews 11:8-10 illustrates the life of faith with the fourth transforming story in the Hall of Faith, from which we are going to learn how to grow strong in God’s grace:

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Just like you and me, today, Abraham was a real man, with real faith, in real history, and his story began with a faith that pleased God. His story is told in Genesis 11:27-25:8. It all started when his name was still Abram, as he responded to the invitation of God in Genesis 12:1-5:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

Abraham’s faith in God’s promises led him to obey God, leaving for the Promised Land even though he did not know where he was going. Has God ever asked you to take the next step of faith in your life even though you didn’t know where it was taking you? While my story is not nearly as dramatic as that of Abraham, I remember, in October 2009, when we answered God’s call to transition from being the Associate Pastor of Crosswalk Community Church in Sunnyvale, California to become the Senior Pastor here at First Baptist Church of New Castle, Indiana. By faith, and on a handshake, Kimberly and I packed up our baby boy, Beorn, and we drove thousands of miles to come to God’s promised land for our family – the place God called us to serve His kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. While it started as a place we had to look up on a map because we had no idea where it was, I can attest to you over 13 ½ years later, since we obeyed God by saying yes to leaving everything to come to New Castle, Indiana, that God has brought great joy to our lives because we obeyed His call, to include both Alana and Willow being born here. If obedience were easy, everyone would be doing it, so let’s learn from the transforming story of Abraham how we, too, can live lives of faith that trust God’s promises.

STEP #2 OF THE FARMER’S STRATEGY: SOW THE GOOD SEED OF GOD’S GRACE

Hebrews 11:8-10 emphasizes Abraham’s faith. It was his faith in God that caused him to go to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance even though he did not know where he was going. It was faith in God that caused him to take his wife and all that he had to a place where he would be an alien in a foreign land. It took faith for Abraham to trust God and move to the Promised Land.

What is the land of promise for us today? While there is still the literal Promised Land, known as Israel, as a biblical principle it goes beyond the geographical land itself. It represents God’s grace at work in the world – His providential provision and divine protection for His people, both for this life and in the life to come. God’s grace is at work in and through His people to bring about a multigenerational eternal promise which has implications for you today! This is why we are learning how to grow strong in God’s grace, so that we can be the people of God – men and women who believe God for His promises!

The Bible makes it clear that the promises of God are dependent on only one thing: the blood line of faith! What started as the blood line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then David, was eternally sealed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Hebrews 9:11-28). Therefore, you are the people of the promise through the blood of Jesus Christ! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:20-22:

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

You are called to be a person of God’s promises! That requires faith, so let’s examine the work of God’s grace to plant the seeds of faith into our hearts and minds through the story of Abraham in Genesis. After a great military victory to rescue his nephew Lot, and having received a blessing from Melchizedek king of Salem (Jerusalem), Genesis 15:1-6 conclude with one of the most important statements made in the Bible, and it was first used about Abraham:

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. [emphasis added]

In two places, Paul quoted this statement, “[God] reckoned it to him as righteousness.” The first is in Romans 4, specifically verses 1-5 and 16-22:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, … For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.

The second place Paul quotes this truth about Abraham’s life is in Galatians 3:6-9, 29:

Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. … And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Like Abraham, through God’s grace, you are called to be a person who believes God for His promises, and as a person of faith you become a son of Abraham – an heir according to the promise! Obedience flowed from God’s grace through Abraham to Jesus to you today! God made a way through faith – that is God’s grace at work through Jesus Christ! When your story is transformed by faith, through the power of God’s grace, then you will be a blessing to all the nations, just as God choose Abraham and Sarah to do. This is your birth rite as a Christian, as well as the harvest God has called you to reap. Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is the work of fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham:

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

When you have a faith that trust God’s promises, you will answer the call upon your life to be like a hard-working farmer for God’s Harvest. In doing so, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will mature in Christ and bear the good fruit of the Spirit. Let’s now turn to Sarah’s story and learn from her the faith that bears fruit.  

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

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