WEBVTT 00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:05.250 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:07.669 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.669 --> 00:00:10.169 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:12.689 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.949 --> 00:00:15.929 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:20.109 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:27.089 enjoy this week's message. We get ready to move 00:00:27.089 --> 00:00:29.129 on. Jenny's gonna just play just a little bit. 00:00:29.329 --> 00:00:31.250 Why don't you open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:35.869 chapter eight and nine. Hopefully it opens there, 00:00:36.049 --> 00:00:38.590 chapter eight and nine. At least it is in my 00:00:38.590 --> 00:00:40.929 Bible where eight's on one side, nine is on another. 00:00:41.229 --> 00:00:42.909 And so if you don't have that Bible, you might 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:46.590 wanna get one. No, just kidding. Eight and nine 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:48.590 is what we can look at it. 2 Corinthians eight 00:00:48.590 --> 00:00:50.570 and nine. There's a few verses that we're gonna 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:54.490 get to there in a bit. Father, this morning, 00:00:55.229 --> 00:00:59.909 as your word is opened. Lord, I'm reminded of 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:04.629 Zechariah chapter four, where there were two 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:11.209 olive trees that stood before him. Lord, pumping 00:01:11.209 --> 00:01:18.469 oil into a lamp that would produce light and 00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:25.030 fire. Father, we recognize that that presence 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:28.269 that stands before you always as both your living 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:35.090 word and your Holy Spirit. Lord, always releasing 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:39.109 their life into us that it might produce light. 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:43.829 Let the fire of God, the passion for your word, 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:47.569 the passion to love you and serve you with all 00:01:47.569 --> 00:01:50.689 of our heart be our portion today. Open the scriptures 00:01:50.689 --> 00:01:56.530 to us in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. Can you 00:01:56.530 --> 00:01:58.709 tell the band and the team, they did a great 00:01:58.709 --> 00:02:01.129 job in worship this morning. I really appreciate 00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:06.750 it. Awesome. All right. I got a lot to cover 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:10.469 this morning, so let's get right into it. I kind 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:12.129 of gave you the scriptures this morning. We're 00:02:12.129 --> 00:02:14.090 going to look at a few scriptures, but I kind 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:15.729 of gave you the context where I hope that we 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:18.810 will start to land the plane on those scriptures 00:02:18.810 --> 00:02:22.000 a little later. Last week, we had the honor and 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.000 the privilege to have Pastor Tim Karskadin with 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.120 us from Shreveport, Louisiana, good friend of 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.819 mine and love him very deeply. And the reality 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:36.219 was he came simply to encourage us in our journey, 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:39.219 obviously with this riverbank project that's 00:02:39.219 --> 00:02:41.599 behind us, but to speak the word of the Lord 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.960 as we begin to move into what we call our first 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:48.650 fruits. commitment season. And the reality of 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:51.370 that is this is something that Jenny and I personally 00:02:51.370 --> 00:02:53.909 have been operating in for over 30 years. It 00:02:53.909 --> 00:02:56.629 has marked our life. From the moment we heard 00:02:56.629 --> 00:02:59.229 it, it has become something that has changed 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:03.530 how we live and with an understanding of how 00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:07.949 we grow in various aspects as God stretches our 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:10.389 faith. This is something that we'll be celebrating 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:13.229 25 years for those that are fairly new to Life 00:03:13.229 --> 00:03:16.689 Bible. We'll be celebrating 25 years this September 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:20.129 and October of planting this church. And this 00:03:20.129 --> 00:03:23.430 has become a culture for us that every year right 00:03:23.430 --> 00:03:27.469 after, right around the season of close to Pentecost, 00:03:27.569 --> 00:03:30.650 from Passover to Pentecost, just in the calendar, 00:03:30.729 --> 00:03:33.810 we kind of just look at that because that was 00:03:33.810 --> 00:03:37.289 where the children of Israel... in their calendar 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:40.069 brought the sheaf of first fruits that represented 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:43.150 something that they were to give to God as a 00:03:43.150 --> 00:03:47.250 worship experience in honoring God with covenant. 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:50.729 Now we know that the scripture says that Jesus 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:55.090 is our first fruits. I was looking at it this 00:03:55.090 --> 00:04:01.080 morning and I found a hundred scriptures. Now 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:03.520 we won't get to all hundred today, but I found 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.219 a hundred scriptures dealing with first fruits 00:04:06.219 --> 00:04:09.819 and the first of bringing the Lord the first. 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:14.580 A hundred. It's amazing how deep this truth that 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:18.300 runs from Genesis to Revelation with Jesus being 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:20.800 our understanding and the principle of it. So 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.720 let me just remind us what Pastor Tim brought 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.759 to us last week. He brought really a message. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.129 If you were able to catch. Both, you got a real 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:32.589 full meal deal. But he, if you were only able 00:04:32.589 --> 00:04:35.410 to catch one of the messages of the two, he was 00:04:35.410 --> 00:04:38.329 really trying to deal with the principle of the 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:41.910 giving of our first and our best. And that principle 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:44.930 is reinforced throughout the scripture, but it's 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:48.269 demonstrated best in Galatians, or sorry, not 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:51.850 Galatians, Genesis four, verses three through 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:56.930 seven, in the two persons of revealing two hearts 00:04:56.930 --> 00:05:01.449 of, Cain and Abel. The account not only reveals 00:05:01.449 --> 00:05:04.889 the Lord's blessings upon who gave their best, 00:05:05.029 --> 00:05:08.589 but it also reveals the issue of the heart that 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:11.230 started with mankind from the very beginning. 00:05:12.209 --> 00:05:17.110 Abel gave of his own free will, and he does not 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:20.689 withhold what God says is to be the first and 00:05:20.689 --> 00:05:24.129 the best that the Lord provided him with. Abel 00:05:24.129 --> 00:05:28.120 represents someone that does willingly and joyfully 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:31.779 what God asked them to do. Cain still gave an 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:36.300 offering. However, Cain in his offering determined 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.699 the level of his giving rather than responding 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:43.800 to what the Lord had actually asked of him. Let 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.480 me just kind of portion this out. You can give 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:52.620 to the Lord and give an offering or of your heart. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.839 That actually doesn't bring your whole heart. 00:05:58.420 --> 00:06:02.579 God responded by saying. Abel's offering he accepted. 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:06.360 Cain's he did not. Which means what? You can 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.459 actually give an offering. And God not receive 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.980 it. What does that mean? That means you can. 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.100 Listen. Jesus taught this even by the widow with 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.680 the two mites. He said this woman gave more than 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.300 all of them. counted together. Why? She gave 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:28.959 from the heart of dependence of faith. They gave 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:33.579 out of their excess. So we see the principle 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:36.339 of Cain and Abel starts just like we would see 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:40.079 Babylon starts in Genesis 10 and 11 and carries 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.579 all the way through to revelation of this understanding 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:47.040 of this sin and this economy of Babylon of the 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:51.699 worship of self. It starts. Even earlier than 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:55.480 that with two representatives. Cain and Abel. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.639 One that gives willingly and cheerfully what 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.800 God says. And does not try to negotiate with 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:05.540 God. But surrenders and allows God to bless it 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:09.160 and accept it. And one that gives and negotiates. 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:13.740 And gives stingily even though they give. And 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.759 doesn't seem to get breakthrough. How does that 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:21.980 work? It works because of the heart. Where's 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:25.959 my heart in this process? As we celebrate this 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:28.120 truth of firstfruits, of giving our first and 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.660 our best, firstfruits offering is further explained 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:34.680 with the children of Israel coming out of the 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:36.879 land of Egypt and their journey to the promised 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:40.920 land. We see that God actually writes on it multiple 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:43.959 times. I'm just gonna pick a few. He later talks 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:46.860 about it in Ezekiel. He talks about it in Nehemiah. 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:50.899 He talks about it, but he sets the page for the 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:55.439 children of Israel in Exodus 23 of them coming 00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:00.620 out past the Red Sea, past Sinai, and beginning 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:04.660 to receive something that they would do in the 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:08.170 promised land. Turn to somebody and say, he's 00:08:08.170 --> 00:08:11.649 talking about the promised land. Okay, there's 00:08:11.649 --> 00:08:13.250 three of you that are responding to that. He's 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:16.610 talking about the promised land. Who is your 00:08:16.610 --> 00:08:21.670 promised land now? Thank you, Jesus. Jesus is 00:08:21.670 --> 00:08:23.850 your promised land. Why? Because the scripture 00:08:23.850 --> 00:08:29.509 says all of the promises of God are what? Yes 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:34.899 and amen in Jesus. He becomes our promised land. 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:38.399 In the Old Testament, the promised land was physical 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:41.519 land. In the New Testament, what they experienced 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.279 natural first, we experience spiritual first. 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:47.559 It doesn't mean that our spiritual isn't connected 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:50.320 to our natural, but it's spiritual first and 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.320 then affects our natural. For them, they lived 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.539 everything in the natural trying to get an understanding 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:59.519 of spiritual. We get the fullness of the spiritual 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:04.879 now. Are you there? And so he deals with it in 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:10.700 Exodus 23, Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 26. He connects 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:14.460 it to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 through 23 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:19.460 that says what? Jesus now has become our first 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:22.940 fruits that we also might be the first fruits 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:27.120 unto God. Meaning what? What is done, this is 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.059 the principle of first fruits. What is done with 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:35.799 the first governs the rest. Let me say that again. 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.340 What you do with the first fruits determines 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:43.899 the rest. What God did with Jesus in the first 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.100 fruits determines what's going to happen to you 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.360 and I with the rest. You understand that? Because 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.259 he's changed, because he lives in resurrection 00:09:53.259 --> 00:09:57.210 life, because he now has a new body. Guess what? 00:09:57.309 --> 00:10:00.490 That is your assurance. What happened to the 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:03.029 first fruits will happen to the first fruits 00:10:03.029 --> 00:10:06.230 that follow the rest of the harvest. Why? I mean, 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:08.730 it's just the principle. That's the principle. 00:10:08.909 --> 00:10:11.950 Now, let me just give you a couple of scriptures 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:15.429 real quick. Exodus 23, 19. What's it say? Bring 00:10:15.429 --> 00:10:17.830 the best of your first fruits from the ground 00:10:17.830 --> 00:10:21.830 into the house of the Lord. Leviticus 23, 9 through 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:24.789 11 says this. When you come into the land that 00:10:24.789 --> 00:10:27.580 I give you, bring a sheep of the first fruits 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:30.639 of your harvest to the priest that he would wave 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.279 it to the Lord. Deuteronomy 26, and I'm just 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.799 highlighting some passages here. Deuteronomy 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.480 26 says, when you come into the land that the 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.399 Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:44.860 and have taken possession of it and live in it, 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.700 you shall take some of the first fruit of all 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.750 the ground. and that the Lord your God is giving 00:10:50.750 --> 00:10:53.309 you and you shall put it in a basket and you 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:55.210 shall go to the place that the Lord your God 00:10:55.210 --> 00:10:58.529 chooses and there where he causes his name to 00:10:58.529 --> 00:11:01.960 dwell. Verse three. And you shall go to the priest 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.700 who's in the office and declare today that I 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:07.440 have come into the land that the forefathers, 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:10.100 that you swore to our forefathers and the priest 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.299 shall take the basket from you, set it at the 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:15.519 altar of the Lord. Verse 10, and then you're 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.500 to say, I have now brought the fruit of the ground 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.220 which you've given me. I set it before you, Lord, 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.759 and I worship before you. What is the essence 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:30.679 of first fruits? It is a covenant. That is formed 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:37.179 out of worship. It's not a covenant. Like the 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:40.700 tithe is of a surrender. And an allegiance. And 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:45.159 Lord it's yours. This now comes to a place. An 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:47.460 offering comes from a different place than the 00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:51.470 tithe. An offering is something that I choose 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:55.429 of my own free will. Another word for it would 00:11:55.429 --> 00:11:58.289 be it's votive. What does votive mean? It means 00:11:58.289 --> 00:12:02.590 it's my choice. A tithe, of course, still is 00:12:02.590 --> 00:12:05.549 my choice. But a tithe, I don't have a choice 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:09.309 in what that means. It means a tenth of all. 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:11.549 It means if I'm going to honor God with that, 00:12:11.669 --> 00:12:16.970 a tithe is a tithe. It's not negotiated. Portion 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:20.809 to it. An offering is whatever God puts on my 00:12:20.809 --> 00:12:25.110 heart to do. Radical difference. Two different 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:29.169 blessings associated with it. One represents 00:12:29.169 --> 00:12:33.409 a covering and a grace that comes over all that 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:37.950 I have. But an offering represents what? I tap 00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:40.429 into, and this is the other scripture, not only 00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:43.350 do I tap into 1 Corinthians 15, that Jesus is 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:46.669 the first fruits. I tap into what the Holy Spirit 00:12:46.669 --> 00:12:50.750 gave the apostle Paul revelation into what? Sowing 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:54.269 and reaping, which means what? It is tied to 00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:58.470 increase. Now you have to ask yourself the question, 00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:02.909 is this guy preaching a prosperity gospel? No 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:08.070 and yes. And what do I mean by that? It means 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:13.299 if it's a tied to abundance, and it's tied to 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:17.519 increase, that has some form of prosperity to 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:21.820 it. But the problem is, where most people go 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:25.139 wrong is that that's all they teach on is money. 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:28.440 First fruits is not about money. First fruits 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:34.600 is about increasing you in every dimension. It's 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.440 not allowing God to be some cosmic slot machine. 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:45.350 That is the furthest from the truth. The reality 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:49.470 is everything that God actually does, he does 00:13:49.470 --> 00:13:54.269 to do what? To increase you at every level so 00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:58.730 that more of him actually comes out of you. So 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:01.509 just think about it. If he's going to teach you 00:14:01.509 --> 00:14:05.649 on love and forgiveness, what is he going to 00:14:05.649 --> 00:14:10.879 do? he's going to stretch you to see if you actually 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.019 got it. Have you ever noticed the time that you 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:16.399 just decided that you were going to actually 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.919 just let go of some of the bitterness and the 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.679 wounds and the things that God did and you come 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:23.639 to the altar, oh God, I give it to you and I 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:27.000 forgive them of their trespass. Forgive me as 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.279 I forgive them. I let them go. I give it all 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:32.740 to you. And then the next two weeks, you are 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:35.440 tested of whether or not you really have forgiven. 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:41.980 Why? There's always the stretching of things 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:45.659 and in the faith of things to move you to a place 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:49.519 of what? Of increase. You have to ask yourself 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:53.639 the question, if I'm not increasing, what kind 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:58.980 of gospel and message am I listening to? That's 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:03.500 a good word, preacher. Come on. If Christ is 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:08.080 not being formed in you, An increase of the things 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.500 of God are not increasing in your life. That 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:15.279 means you're in a stagnant place. You can deal 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.320 with it in forgiveness. You can deal with it 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.139 in love. You can deal with it in patience. You 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:22.580 can deal with it in virtue. You can deal with 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:25.120 it with the gifts of the Spirit. Every gift of 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.639 the Spirit. Every grace that deals with the nine 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:31.259 gifts of the fruit of the Spirit. The nine gifts 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:34.159 of the quality of the character of the Spirit. 00:15:34.809 --> 00:15:37.169 Every single one of those things is meant to 00:15:37.169 --> 00:15:44.009 what? Grow in you. You see, every time I see 00:15:44.009 --> 00:15:46.769 you, I had this thing in my head and I go, and 00:15:46.769 --> 00:15:49.769 white boy Rick, right? And so I'm like, white 00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:55.330 boy Rick is meant to grow. He's meant to not, 00:15:55.429 --> 00:16:01.299 where he, I met him today or last year. By the 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:03.980 time I see him in the next two or three years, 00:16:04.259 --> 00:16:08.659 Rick should not be the same Rick that I met three 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:14.799 years ago. He's been what? Deepened, widened, 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:20.179 lengthened. The breadth of who he is has actually 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:25.240 grown. You see, God doesn't think linearly like 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:34.720 we do. We think, equation. This is where we get 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.580 in trouble. We think God should work on an equation 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:44.440 of one plus one equals this. God says in Ephesians 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.279 what? He said, I pray that you would be filled 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:51.419 with the love of God. And God is love. And love 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:53.720 is the motive for everything. So what is he saying? 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.779 In that love, he wants to fill you. How does 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.299 he say he wants to fill you and enlarge you? 00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:04.740 Height. depth, breadth, width of the love of 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:08.039 God, that you would know the fullness of Christ. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.240 You understand what he's saying? He's saying 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.559 that in every area of your life, you may not 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:17.220 see exponential quotient on the one linear thing, 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.460 but he's also working in three other dimensions 00:17:20.460 --> 00:17:24.789 of you, not just the output level. And so when 00:17:24.789 --> 00:17:27.910 we deal with increase, we're dealing with the 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:32.369 increase of who Christ is inside of you. Can 00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:37.289 I get an amen? All right. Now, you have to understand 00:17:37.289 --> 00:17:39.950 that when God launched, oh, I gotta hurry, shut 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:44.029 up. When God launched this first fruits offering, 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:49.170 he gave them the offering when they couldn't 00:17:49.170 --> 00:17:56.769 do it. Meaning, He gave them the offering as 00:17:56.769 --> 00:18:01.589 they were coming out of the land of Egypt. The 00:18:01.589 --> 00:18:05.890 whole goal of the wilderness wasn't supposed 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:09.349 to be 40 years there. The whole goal of the two 00:18:09.349 --> 00:18:13.529 years of the wilderness was to work God's miracle 00:18:13.529 --> 00:18:17.569 provision of keeping them safe and supplying 00:18:17.569 --> 00:18:20.210 all that they need that it wouldn't wear out. 00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:23.829 to get them to get to a place where they trusted 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:28.930 God to move to a different level of faith. That 00:18:28.930 --> 00:18:31.569 was the whole goal, right? Because it doesn't 00:18:31.569 --> 00:18:33.990 take much faith. Just work with me here. It doesn't 00:18:33.990 --> 00:18:37.930 take much faith to pick up supernatural bread 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:41.710 that's on the ground. You don't need to go out, 00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:44.349 oh God, give me faith to pick this up this morning. 00:18:46.069 --> 00:18:48.650 You didn't do that. Once you did it a time or 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:52.329 two, You moved to expectation and it just became 00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:55.829 something that became concrete. You expected 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:59.930 in the wilderness manna to fall. It had no faith 00:18:59.930 --> 00:19:04.630 to it. Hello? The sign and the wonder and the 00:19:04.630 --> 00:19:08.710 sustenance of it was to get you to believe in 00:19:08.710 --> 00:19:12.369 God's ability to do way beyond what you asked 00:19:12.369 --> 00:19:15.880 or thought. That's why when he brought them to 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:19.019 the promised land and they saw the giants and 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.599 the cities and they saw the enemy, the goal was 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:25.960 after two years of him doing, and the Bible records 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:30.359 it, 10 specific supernatural miracles to sustain 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:34.019 them, that the law of faith, 10 being the law, 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:37.660 the law of faith would have taken over from the 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:40.759 law of unbelief. And they would have looked at 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:43.779 the promised land and said, God is. is able. 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:48.200 Two of the 12 did, but the 10 of the 12 didn't. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:53.359 The curse was that that generation had to stay 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.099 in the wilderness. And the Bible says what in 00:19:56.099 --> 00:19:58.859 Hebrews chapter three, it says, and with that 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:01.859 generation, he was not well pleased and their 00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:04.779 bodies littered the wilderness. They will not 00:20:04.779 --> 00:20:10.809 enter my hello rest. Because, oh my goodness, 00:20:10.849 --> 00:20:12.670 I'm going to preach this morning. Why? Because 00:20:12.670 --> 00:20:18.849 rest is connected to faith. Let me say that again. 00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:28.630 God's rest is connected to faith. That's what 00:20:28.630 --> 00:20:32.750 was missing. That's why the water coming out 00:20:32.750 --> 00:20:35.250 of the rock that followed them. That's why the... 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.240 elders standing over the ground and singing to 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:42.599 the ground and the well pops up and water springs 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:45.440 up out of the desert spring up a well where we 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.019 get that song comes right out of that example 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:50.880 where the elders put their staffs in the ground 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:55.680 and by putting a stick nobody drills a well with 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:00.160 a stick Okay, if you're a farm kid at all, you 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.640 don't go out there with just a walking stick 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.619 and just tap the ground a few times and a well 00:21:05.619 --> 00:21:09.319 of water that could feed hundreds of thousands 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:12.299 of sheep and cattle and two million people pop 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:17.700 out of the ground. But supernaturally, God did 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:20.660 all of those things in the wilderness. Why? To 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:24.420 prepare them. for a different culture. Please 00:21:24.420 --> 00:21:27.900 hear this. For a different culture, a different 00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:31.539 system, and a different rhythm of living than 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:35.339 what they walked out of Egypt. Everything in 00:21:35.339 --> 00:21:41.740 Egypt was done by hand. It was what? Egypt was 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:46.720 the epitome of build it by man's power, man's 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:51.019 strength, and man's mind. It was by the crack 00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:54.480 of the whip, And it actually says this in the 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.740 scripture, by the pressing of the foot pedal 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:00.980 of the Nile River, they watered their crops. 00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:06.599 It was all, they didn't have Elon Musk back then. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.640 They didn't have Tesla technology. They didn't 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:14.019 have sump pumps to put in the river and do it 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:16.759 for them and just have automatic timers. You 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:19.940 know how Egypt grew all their crops? By slaves 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:26.180 pumping water. on the ground. You know what God 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:28.380 said to them when they came into the promised 00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:32.759 land? He said, this ground is different. He said, 00:22:32.779 --> 00:22:38.619 this ground will respond by heaven, and I'll 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:41.900 give you in covenant relationship the early and 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:45.960 the latter rains. It will not respond. The ground 00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:48.559 in the promised land will not respond like the 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.250 ground did in Egypt. That's why the early and 00:22:52.250 --> 00:22:55.990 the latter rains are associated with what? Faith 00:22:55.990 --> 00:23:02.650 and obedience and blessing. Rains always speak 00:23:02.650 --> 00:23:06.509 of blessing. Why? What do rains come to do? Well, 00:23:06.529 --> 00:23:09.190 I don't have time. I could teach a whole series. 00:23:09.329 --> 00:23:11.609 It's probably eight weeks on just the rains. 00:23:11.890 --> 00:23:15.730 But I know I need to do it. But the reality is, 00:23:15.829 --> 00:23:20.099 what does the early rain do? The early rain is 00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:24.700 the rain that sets the seed that has been sown. 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:31.460 It's a setting rain. Meaning, when you go to 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:37.140 sow. All right, I'm going to keep going here, 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:40.920 but let me just give you a scripture. What is 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:43.319 the kingdom of God? Luke 13. Let's just read 00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:44.960 it so that you understand what I'm preaching 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.299 on. Luke 13 verse 18. What is the kingdom of 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:52.500 God like? Jesus is trying to explain kingdom 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:56.460 of God to the people. And to what shall I compare 00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:00.799 it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:07.420 man took and sowed in his garden. So let's get 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:11.240 this down. Jesus is trying to explain the laws 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:14.019 and the realm of the kingdom because it's different. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:16.559 The laws of the kingdom are different than the 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:20.380 laws that are connected to sin and to the earth. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.079 Jesus has kingdom laws. That's why it's sowing 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.779 and reaping is a kingdom law. Are you there? 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:31.559 Forgiveness and love actually unlocks more forgiveness 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.920 and love. That's a kingdom law. Give and it shall 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:36.720 be given to you. Press down, shaken together, 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:39.740 run to it. As one gives whatever measure they 00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:42.200 give, it shall be measured back to you. That 00:24:42.200 --> 00:24:47.160 is kingdom. If you sow love and kindness in the 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.380 midst of life, guess what's gonna happen? To 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:51.420 the degree that you're willing to do that, God 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:53.819 says that will come back in your life. You sow 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:57.859 hardship and be in a hard rear end your whole 00:24:57.859 --> 00:24:59.839 life, guess what's gonna come to you when you 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:04.160 need it? Not grace and mercy. But the rear end, 00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:11.339 that stiffness of a hard A of a man will come 00:25:11.339 --> 00:25:16.220 back. I've watched it. I've watched it for, as 00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:18.339 I've been a Christian now for over 40, almost 00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:21.940 45 years. I've watched it. Those who measure 00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:26.160 and operate in kingdom principles when it's hard 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.380 and they do what Jesus asked them to do when 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:33.279 they needed it comes back to them. But when they 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.859 refuse to do what the Lord says, exacting everything 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:39.279 from every person without love and forgiveness 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:42.859 and grace, when they end up in that place, then 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:46.119 they wonder why that's not happening. It's a 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:50.000 kingdom law, sowing and reaping. Now, Jesus ties 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.339 it to the kingdom of God is like a man who sowed 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:57.500 mustard seed. Well, Jesus taught a lot on mustard 00:25:57.500 --> 00:25:59.359 seed, but what we do know, it's the smallest 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:02.180 seed of the field. But the Bible tells us in 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:04.440 other places that that mustard seed becomes, 00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:06.640 even though it's the smallest seed in the field, 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:11.000 it becomes the largest plant in the garden. Now, 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.960 let me ask you a question. What constitutes a 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:22.160 garden? How do you determine a garden? Cohen, 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:26.240 right? Cohen, would you say this is a garden? 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:37.210 No. And why is it not a garden? Right. It's not. 00:26:37.329 --> 00:26:39.529 You were close. So I'm going to give you the 00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:43.569 answer. And you did well. It's because there's 00:26:43.569 --> 00:26:49.329 nothing cultivated or turned over to prepare 00:26:49.329 --> 00:26:53.829 for seed. Notice what Jesus says. The kingdom 00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:59.529 of God is like an individual that took a mustard 00:26:59.529 --> 00:27:05.529 seed and sowed it in his garden. Do you understand 00:27:05.529 --> 00:27:09.130 that, first of all, you actually have to have 00:27:09.130 --> 00:27:15.630 a garden? You can't become just a concrete wall 00:27:15.630 --> 00:27:20.470 to the things of God and expect growth. You can't 00:27:20.470 --> 00:27:23.349 just be pavement. Remember, we spent a whole 00:27:23.349 --> 00:27:28.789 year on the parable of Mark 4. I have 37 lessons 00:27:28.789 --> 00:27:32.569 we taught. On 37 Sundays out of 52, I taught 00:27:32.569 --> 00:27:35.450 on this what? The seed that falls on the hardened 00:27:35.450 --> 00:27:38.910 path gets plucked up, right? The other seed that 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:42.289 falls on what? Stony and rocky ground shrivels 00:27:42.289 --> 00:27:45.490 and dies. The other seed that falls on shallow 00:27:45.490 --> 00:27:50.339 ground never produces fruit. You plant a mustard 00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:52.759 seed, if it's going to grow to become the biggest 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:55.319 thing, even though it's the smallest seed, it 00:27:55.319 --> 00:28:00.380 has to be what? A cultivated, tilled garden ready 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:05.500 to receive the word. So what is he saying to 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:08.099 us? He's saying, listen, if you're going to operate 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:11.259 and want something, you want to grow in God, 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:15.960 you have to begin to cultivate your garden. Who's 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:20.170 the garden? You are. Prove it to me. 1 Corinthians 00:28:20.170 --> 00:28:29.210 3, 9. You are God's field. Guess who's responsible 00:28:29.210 --> 00:28:33.849 for tilling that field? You are. Where's that? 00:28:34.369 --> 00:28:41.670 Genesis chapter 2. And God put man in the garden 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:47.599 to till it and to cultivate it. The very first 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:52.420 commission of our lives as Christians, even what 00:28:52.420 --> 00:28:54.839 he started original with mankind is to what? 00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:59.339 In order to get the garden to expand, you have 00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:04.200 to do what? Go cultivate it. Do you understand 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:07.000 that the scripture actually says in Genesis that 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:11.400 God forbid the rain to come. On the ground. Now 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:14.140 listen to this. Early latter rain. We're connecting 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:16.460 it to blessing. And we're connecting it to faith. 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:21.039 God did not send rain on the earth. Tell what? 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:26.960 There was a man to cultivate the ground. Do you 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:31.240 understand? That rain. Which represents blessings. 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:36.460 Can only come. When you move past the territory 00:29:36.460 --> 00:29:40.160 of what you are now and you begin to cultivate 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:44.140 your heart to plant seed in borders beyond where 00:29:44.140 --> 00:29:48.500 you're at now. That is the essence of first fruits. 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:52.799 The whole point of first fruits that we do yearly 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:57.500 is what? Cultivate your heart to do what? Move 00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:03.019 you to a place of increase. Does that mean, does 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:09.900 that, equate to money? No. Not directly. It equates 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:13.440 to growth in Christ which comes to what? Your 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:18.119 success. Are you there? That's the real prosperity 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:22.539 preaching. Real prosperity preaching is you get 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:27.019 more of Jesus. Who wouldn't want to be that kind 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:30.220 of preacher? I'm a preacher of doubt and unbelief. 00:30:31.849 --> 00:30:37.190 I'm a preacher of stagnation. God forbid the 00:30:37.190 --> 00:30:41.349 whole point of preaching is to move people into 00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:46.759 a place of increase for God's glory. And if it 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:49.740 affects your love, if it affects your forgiveness, 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:52.259 if it affects your character of Christ, if it 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:55.099 affects your speech, if it affects the way you 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:58.539 steward, if it affects your integrity, that is 00:30:58.539 --> 00:31:02.319 increase. And guess who gets the glory? God. 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:06.920 And guess what happens to you? You actually succeed 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:10.279 in the things that God puts you on earth to do. 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:14.140 And you increase. Now that brings me... in the 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:16.359 last five minutes to the verse that I said we 00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:20.579 were going to get to. See, I should have really 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:22.319 gone to law school. I was going to go to law 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:25.579 school because the argument of most of the time 00:31:25.579 --> 00:31:27.759 how I preach is bring everything around to my 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:33.920 closing argument. And here it is. 2 Corinthians 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:43.119 8, 7. But as you excel in everything, talking 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:47.119 to the Corinthian church, as you excel in faith, 00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:54.299 in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness, and 00:31:54.299 --> 00:32:00.140 in love, see that you excel in this act of gracious 00:32:00.140 --> 00:32:06.200 giving. You understand, God is asking you to 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:09.880 what? To excel. Excel is not a spreadsheet here 00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:13.660 in the Gospels here. It's not the computer program 00:32:13.660 --> 00:32:19.119 Excel. This word Excel means what? It is increase 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:23.880 and abundance. It is growing from one place of 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:27.619 where you were to growing in a new place of where 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:30.960 God wants you to be. That's why Paul could write 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:35.650 in Romans chapter one, Verse 17, for the justified 00:32:35.650 --> 00:32:42.990 shall live by faith. And we're to grow from faith 00:32:42.990 --> 00:32:49.009 to faith. What was he saying to the Corinthian 00:32:49.009 --> 00:32:54.269 church? I want you to now grow and increase in 00:32:54.269 --> 00:32:56.650 what? Your speech. He didn't mean I want you 00:32:56.650 --> 00:32:59.950 to talk more. That wasn't what he was saying. 00:33:00.029 --> 00:33:04.319 I want you to talk more. I would say no. Jesse 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:09.400 Joe, that is not your gift. You don't need to 00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:12.299 talk more. What do we need to talk? I know I'm 00:33:12.299 --> 00:33:14.900 using you as an example. What do we need to do? 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:20.839 When she talks, if she grows in God, her talk 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:24.400 is going to have more substance, more character, 00:33:24.599 --> 00:33:28.900 more depth, and it's going to reflect her relationship 00:33:28.900 --> 00:33:33.059 with Jesus. It's not about the abundance of words. 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:36.519 It's about the depth and the breadth of Christ 00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:39.440 formed in her. That's the excelling. It's supposed 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:41.740 to happen in speech. What else is supposed to 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:44.839 happen? It's supposed to happen in deeds. Your 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:48.559 deeds that are generated by what? By what you 00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:52.000 hear the voice of God speak to you. As you hear 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:56.380 God, you what? Respond and do deeds that are 00:33:56.380 --> 00:34:00.160 sponsored by faith. Faith without works or deeds 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.940 is what? Dead. If you have a live faith, I don't 00:34:04.940 --> 00:34:08.440 show my faith by deeds, but deeds certainly validate 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:12.340 the fact that there's a living faith. What else 00:34:12.340 --> 00:34:17.019 does it say here? In love, right? In earnestness. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:21.760 Earnestness is what? In genuine, heartfelt faith, 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:25.760 but in compassion and care. What's he saying? 00:34:27.269 --> 00:34:31.809 Bring increase to that inside of your life. In 00:34:31.809 --> 00:34:34.150 knowledge. What's he saying? Knowledge. Not just 00:34:34.150 --> 00:34:36.670 anything. I don't just crack open a book and 00:34:36.670 --> 00:34:40.730 study biology for the sake of growing. Now, if 00:34:40.730 --> 00:34:42.969 you're a scientist, you probably ought to know 00:34:42.969 --> 00:34:46.929 some things. But if you're a Christian, you ought 00:34:46.929 --> 00:34:51.710 to know Jesus. And listen, I'm not trying to... 00:34:51.710 --> 00:34:54.449 Cohen, I picked on you here. Let's just keep 00:34:54.449 --> 00:34:58.170 going. Okay? Let's just keep going. You had it 00:34:58.170 --> 00:35:01.429 once. Let's give you the second barrel. If you're 00:35:01.429 --> 00:35:04.449 going to grow in the knowledge of Jesus, it isn't 00:35:04.449 --> 00:35:08.190 going to be by reading 30 years worth of somebody 00:35:08.190 --> 00:35:14.690 else's devotionals. That is not growing in knowledge. 00:35:15.690 --> 00:35:17.610 Growing in knowledge means you're actually going 00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:20.719 to get a book. that's gonna dive into the language 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:23.880 of Hebrew and of Greek and is gonna teach you 00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:27.880 the living word, Jesus, in the fullness of who 00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:31.920 he is. And you're gonna pull it out. Why? Because 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:35.000 the more you know about him, who is the living 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:37.820 word, the more Christ is gonna be formed in you. 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:42.280 Now, I don't say this often. I'm not a huge fan 00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:45.460 of technology. But there's one thing I like about 00:35:45.460 --> 00:35:49.809 technology, Diane. And that is, I'm not the greatest 00:35:49.809 --> 00:35:51.929 Greek scholar and I'm not the greatest Hebrew 00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:55.070 scholar and I don't know any Aramaic or Latin. 00:35:56.110 --> 00:35:59.550 But what I do love is the computer does know 00:35:59.550 --> 00:36:04.369 it. And I can hover over a word and say, say 00:36:04.369 --> 00:36:08.429 for me this word. And it goes, and it repeats 00:36:08.429 --> 00:36:12.829 it out. I now can speak Hebrew with the help 00:36:12.829 --> 00:36:18.219 of AI. I can speak Greek with the help of AI. 00:36:18.340 --> 00:36:20.940 I can understand. Now, Trent says I still don't 00:36:20.940 --> 00:36:25.380 do it right. But the point is, at least, at least 00:36:25.380 --> 00:36:29.079 I can go deeper in the meaning of the word and 00:36:29.079 --> 00:36:32.739 pronounce it. Why? I'm getting more of why God 00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:36.059 used that word to convey a message in the language. 00:36:36.179 --> 00:36:39.539 And Christ is now being formed in me. I'm not 00:36:39.539 --> 00:36:43.400 just listening to somebody's opinion. I'm now. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:46.800 finding him to be real inside of me. Are you 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:50.340 doing all right? What am I doing? Well, in first 00:36:50.340 --> 00:36:53.039 fruits, and Jenny's gonna just play a little 00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:58.980 first fruits closing music here. In first fruits, 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:03.380 as we get ready to hear the Lord and we start 00:37:03.380 --> 00:37:07.159 this process, and today you see some cards on 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:09.579 there. If you are ready to begin to fill that 00:37:09.579 --> 00:37:11.340 out, we can do that in a little bit. We'll take 00:37:11.340 --> 00:37:14.900 time for that. But over the next few weeks, we're 00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:16.980 going to be praying for people as what they heard 00:37:16.980 --> 00:37:20.500 God. What does God asking us to do? We begin 00:37:20.500 --> 00:37:24.900 to ask the Lord of the harvest. Remember how 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:28.420 he said, pray and ask the Lord of the harvest 00:37:28.420 --> 00:37:32.639 to send workers. The Lord of the harvest is over 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:36.539 every form of harvesting, every form of sowing 00:37:36.539 --> 00:37:39.340 and reaping. You're talking to the one who is 00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:42.610 the Lord of the harvest. He can't be Lord of 00:37:42.610 --> 00:37:45.170 the harvest unless he's also Lord of your sowing. 00:37:46.909 --> 00:37:50.349 Let me say that again. He can't be Lord of the 00:37:50.349 --> 00:37:54.969 harvest unless he's Lord over your sowing. And 00:37:54.969 --> 00:37:58.530 he asks us to what? Sow in accordance to the 00:37:58.530 --> 00:38:01.050 measure of our faith. That's why the next scripture 00:38:01.050 --> 00:38:03.190 I told you to look at is right on the next page. 00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:06.769 Second Corinthians chapter nine, verse six that 00:38:06.769 --> 00:38:11.250 says, if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. 00:38:11.550 --> 00:38:15.550 If you sow generously, you reap generously. And 00:38:15.550 --> 00:38:19.210 then he adds this amazing statement. He says, 00:38:19.389 --> 00:38:24.170 for he who sows must do it cheerfully for God, 00:38:24.269 --> 00:38:27.210 not under compulsion or grudge, for God loves 00:38:27.210 --> 00:38:29.570 a cheerful giver. Do you know where that verse 00:38:29.570 --> 00:38:32.349 is actually connecting you? To the very thing 00:38:32.349 --> 00:38:35.789 that Pastor Tim brought you back last week to 00:38:35.789 --> 00:38:43.059 Cain and Abel. a sowing with Abel and Abel responded 00:38:43.059 --> 00:38:46.840 generously and cheerfully and he accepted it. 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:49.800 You know what Cain did? He begrudgingly gave 00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:52.820 of his own works. He still gave. God didn't accept 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:56.739 it. That's why the Holy Spirit puts in this verse. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:59.539 He said, you have to do it because your heart 00:38:59.539 --> 00:39:02.659 is stirred and you have to do it willingly because 00:39:02.659 --> 00:39:05.539 you want to hear God and you want him to grow 00:39:05.539 --> 00:39:11.280 in you. Now on those cards, you'll see, it says, 00:39:11.320 --> 00:39:16.519 I'm believing for a harvest for. You can't sow 00:39:16.519 --> 00:39:20.239 seed in God's economy without believing for a 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:25.960 harvest. I filled out my card yesterday because 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:29.539 I knew I was going to preach this and I asked 00:39:29.539 --> 00:39:33.659 the Lord, I said, Lord, I want to have my seed 00:39:33.659 --> 00:39:38.579 ready to give this weekend. What you've spoken 00:39:38.579 --> 00:39:40.559 to Jenny and I, and I'm gonna put on my card. 00:39:40.619 --> 00:39:42.519 You know the first three things that I put on 00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:47.059 my card have nothing to do with me or Jenny. 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:52.239 Has everything to do with this church. And the 00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:56.000 number one response is not the riverbank. That's 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:00.199 number three. I put about seven or eight things 00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:04.559 that I, because I'm sowing what I believe the 00:40:04.559 --> 00:40:09.130 Lord asked me to do. It's sacrificial. It's difficult, 00:40:09.690 --> 00:40:12.869 but it's large, but I have joy in doing it. But 00:40:12.869 --> 00:40:17.250 in the response, okay, what am I sowing to? I'm 00:40:17.250 --> 00:40:21.630 sowing into this church. I'm sowing into the 00:40:21.630 --> 00:40:25.050 people. I'm sowing into breakthrough and into 00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:27.750 his presence. I'm sowing for breakthrough on 00:40:27.750 --> 00:40:31.150 the riverbank. Those become my top three, and 00:40:31.150 --> 00:40:33.250 then there's some things for my family and my 00:40:33.250 --> 00:40:36.420 future. But the principle is I have to be willing 00:40:36.420 --> 00:40:39.800 to cultivate the ground of my heart, take what 00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:43.159 God has given me as a steward, and now come to 00:40:43.159 --> 00:40:45.159 the Lord of the harvest who's in charge of all 00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:47.960 of the fields of my heart. And I say, Lord, speak 00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:52.119 to me. You know what's inside of me. You know 00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:55.920 what I have. How do I partner with you by faith 00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:00.239 and that you would stretch the increase and enlarge 00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:02.699 me? What is it going to take this year? What 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:05.199 do you want to do through me? And that's how 00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:07.880 I wait on the Lord. And that's how I'm hoping 00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:11.219 you wait on the Lord. I know we're just a little 00:41:11.219 --> 00:41:13.019 over time here, but I'm going to give us a few 00:41:13.019 --> 00:41:15.219 moments and then I'm going to ask the elders 00:41:15.219 --> 00:41:17.340 and pastors to come. And if you're ready, we'll 00:41:17.340 --> 00:41:20.019 pray for you. We'll be praying for people after 00:41:20.019 --> 00:41:22.539 the next few services. So you can, if you're 00:41:22.539 --> 00:41:24.500 not ready today, you can take that card home 00:41:24.500 --> 00:41:26.840 and pray over it. If you are, we want to pray 00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.460 for you as Pastor Trent comes in a bit. Let's 00:41:29.460 --> 00:41:33.360 just wait on the Lord. Father. Right now, Lord, 00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:37.460 we're asking you to speak to us. Lord, we're 00:41:37.460 --> 00:41:42.199 prepared our heart this morning. We know that 00:41:42.199 --> 00:41:44.440 this is our first fruit season. This is a time 00:41:44.440 --> 00:41:47.679 of growth for us. It's a time of stretch. It's 00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:55.059 a time of being enlarged in every area. Would 00:41:55.059 --> 00:42:00.039 you now speak to each family? Husbands and wives 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:03.510 together in faith. Those that are single coming 00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:07.090 to you, Lord of the harvest, our God of salvation, 00:42:07.349 --> 00:42:12.110 our God who provides, as it says, he gives seed 00:42:12.110 --> 00:42:15.170 to the sower and bread to the eater. Lord, that 00:42:15.170 --> 00:42:20.090 he may abundantly supply, having sufficiency 00:42:20.090 --> 00:42:24.170 for all things. God, speak to us. What do you 00:42:24.170 --> 00:42:27.909 want to do? What do you want me to do? What do 00:42:27.909 --> 00:42:59.030 you want us to do? If you are in need of prayer, 00:42:59.150 --> 00:43:04.989 send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We 00:43:04.989 --> 00:43:06.190 would love to pray with you.