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

You can watch this message by clicking HERE.

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

The Faith that Gives Substance to your Life

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!” Therefore, let’s be faithful farmers by following 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.

This strategy must be empowered by the Holy Spirit! Therefore, harvest workers of God’s kingdom are called to grow strong in God’s grace. Let’s take the first step by walking through the Hall of Faith, learning from the transforming stories of the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11.

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 11:7 illustrates the life of faith with the third transforming story in the Hall of Faith, from which we are going to learn how to grow strong in God’s grace:

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Just like you and me, today, Noah was a real man, with real faith, in real history, and his story began with a faith that pleased God. Noah’s faith brought substance through things not yet seen! His story is told in Genesis 5:28-9:29. Listen to what Noah’s father prophesied over him at his birth in Genesis 5:29, “Now he called his name Noah, saying, ‘This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.’” Noah was born for such a time at this! In Genesis 6:5-8, after hearing that the Nephilim were upon the Earth at this time, we learn God’s verdict:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Today, we are going to learn what it was that gave Noah favor in God’s eyes. In those evil days, Noah had faith, and when God called upon him to act, Noah’s obedience put substance on his faith. Here’s the principle I want you to learn today: If your faith has no substance, it will not provide your life with sustenance!

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

We use words like faith, grace, and good works a lot in the church. One of my favorite passages that combines all three is from Ephesians 2:8-10:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

These words give your life value, meaning, and purpose, but what happens when those words become empty to you? What happens when the promises of God ring hollow in your heart and mind? Has faith become an empty word to you? Have good works become an exhausting tread mill of fleshly striving to you?

Allow me to illustrate with this empty jar: this empty jar is our cruise fund and I hope that if I put enough change into it, we will be able to go on a cruise. Let’s be honest, this empty jar has as much potential to get us on a cruise, as an empty word can lead us to live a life that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). The comparison is obviously not perfect, but I think you get the point: we use the word faith all the time, but the word must have substance to transform anything. As James said in James 2:26, “faith without works is dead.”  

Today, God is going to put some substance in our potentially empty jars through the story of Noah, the man of God, through whom God judged the world for sin, but preserved a righteous root through faith. Listen to God call Noah to substantiate his faith in Genesis 6:17-21:

Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.

Faith gives substance to that which is not yet visible! Noah responded to the Word of God in Genesis 6:22, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.” In building the ark, God preserved humanity through Noah’s seed of faith – through his three sons and their wives, whom God commanded to be put on the ark with all the animals and birds of His beloved creation. God made a way through faith – that is God’s grace at work through a person of faith!

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

Whether it took Noah 55-75 years[1] or over a century to build the Ark, the reality is that Noah was called by God to build an ark at a time when God’s command would not have made sense to either Noah, anyone in his family, and definitely not anyone in his community.

What motivated Noah to persevere in the building of the ark? The answer is found in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household.” The key concept is “in reverence,” or as it is translated in the NIV, “holy fear,” in the ESV, “reverent fear,” and in the CSB, “godly fear.” Eugene Peterson described it this way in The Message, “His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world.”

The same Greek root word translated “reverence” is applied to Jesus in Hebrews 5:7-8, “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” [emphasis added] Jesus was heard by the Father because of “His piety” – His reverence or holy fear!

We must have the same “reverence” or “piety” if we want to be like Noah; if we want to be like Jesus; if we want to have the same kind of faith that would compel a man to be seen as crazy for his God in a world that does not accept faith as adequate reasoning for doing anything, nevertheless counter-cultural things. Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Is your life bearing the good fruit of faith? Jesus taught in Matthew 7:16-20:

“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Noah’s faith is proven true by the substance of the fruit of his obedience when the flood came in Genesis 7. The conclusion of the matter is found in Genesis 7:23, “Thus [God] blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.”

The proof was in the pudding! Noah’s faith was substantiated because for 55-75 years, Noah was ridiculed for acting upon the promise of God and nurturing the faith of his wife and three sons, and their wives. Noah and his family acted out their faith by building an ark, every day for 55-75 years (a lifetime of faith for us by today’s adult life spans), and through their faith God preserved the righteous root of humanity. That is why Hebrews 11:7 stated of Noah, he “became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

In the same way, God has planted a good seed of faith into your life so that you will mature into a life that bears fruit, testifying to who you are (a disciple) – a witness of God’s grace bestowed upon you by Jesus Christ. In the same way that Noah’s faith brought substance to the way of salvation, so can yours. That takes us to the last action step.

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

The life of growing strong in God’s grace leads to a harvest of praise! Jesus said in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” The author of Hebrews concluded that Noah became “an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Noah’s life reaped a harvest of praise! Watch Noah’s first activity after he and his family got off the ark in Genesis 8:20-22:

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Noah’s life reaped a harvest a praise – He offered God a right sacrifice of praise! Then, in Genesis 9:1, 12-13 God restored onto Noah and his sons the Genesis Commission He had originally given Adam, and then God gave a sign of His covenant with humanity through Noah:

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” … God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.”

What next steps of faith will allow you to be like Noah – an heir of righteousness?

Noah’s transforming story teaches us to live with a reverence that seizes the moment.[2] The faith that brings substance to your life is your belief in an unchanging holy and sovereign God, which allows you to live by faith day by day, situation by situation, moment by moment. John described such belief in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Hold up the empty jar: The first step to having substance in your faith is to know God and what He has already put inside of you – the victory of His faith through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit! Inside of you is the priceless treasure of God’s presence. God willingly and lovingly has put into your jar of clay the gift of eternal life through which you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, according to Ephesians 1:13-14:

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

When God Himself is the substance of your faith, your faith will give you the sustenance necessary to face your everyday life circumstances like Noah.

As you grow strong in God’s grace, you will embrace the Noah moments of your life and seize the moment. The pressure is not on you to perform or add substance to your own faith; this substance is the work of God in you – it is the sustenance of God’s grace at work in you through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit! 

Allow me to pray over you a disciple’s holy ambition, from the testimony of Paul in Philippians 3:7-11:

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Noah’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!

You can watch this message by clicking HERE.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Bodie Hodge, “How Long Did It Take for Noah to Build the Ark?” Answers in Genesis https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/how-long-did-it-take-for-noah-to-build-the-ark/ (Accessed April 28, 2023).