This morning we are continuing and actually wrapping up on our Harvest Series that the Holy Spirit has started on with us. And today we are looking at; “How to Harvest the Word of God.” In Hebrews, the Bible made us to understand, it said; “the worlds are framed by the word of God” In John 1 we find in the Scriptures the Bible says; “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God”
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In the beginning, all things were made by the word. And there is nothing that was made outside of the word. So, the word is so important and vital to every kingdom citizen. If you have Jesus Christ as your King, the word is very vital to your very existence. No wonder the Bible says; “the just shall live by faith” Faith in what? Faith in God, faith in the word of God. I want us to start by looking at that John 1 and we will read from verse 1 to 5, so that we can see the importance of the word and we know why it is important for every kingdom citizen to Harvest the word. And remember when we are talking about Harvest, you can’t talk about Harvest and not talk about seed. And that’s why the Bible makes us to understand that from the beginning in Genesis 8:22, “that as long as the earth remains, as long as we are on this side of the universe; seed time and Harvest will not cease.” It won’t stop. There will always be a circle of seed time, and Harvest. And we must understand that.
No wonder the Bible records concerning the men of Issachar, the Bible says this particular group of men, called the men of Issachar, they understood the times and the seasons. If we look at that Scripture very closely, what the Bible is saying is that; these men called the men of Issachar understood timing for seed and Harvest. And they also understood the cycle and the season in which there is seed. They know when it is time to sow, and when its time to Harvest. Because in the world generally, go and check in any subject or discipline all over, you will realize that God has structured this principle that it cuts across all human race, all age brackets, all social strata.
There is always seed time and Harvest. So, it is the men and women that understand or have come to know the seed time; that’s the time and the season. The Harvest that are always in command. So, for us to be in command as children of God, as kingdom citizens, we must come to understand like the men of Issachar, the time and the season. It will be foolishness to plant corn when its time to plant groundnut. What will happen is that there will be frustration.
The elements of the earth, they are supposed to attend to your seed will be absent because you have missed the time. When you miss the time of seed, Harvest becomes difficult. And we have come to realize that there are two things that happen at every Harvest. It is either there is a famine or there is a feast. So, those that have famine as the Harvest of their lives is because something went wrong in the seed time. Because the seed time is such a big time and it’s a big deal. Because when something has gone wrong in the seed time, Harvest will be hampered. And that is why it is important for us as children of God, and God is letting us into this secret, and mystery in such a time as this. That there is seed time for everything in your life sir/ma. There is a time to put something in the ground, and allow it to die.
Jesus said “if the grain of wheat does not fall down and dies, it abides alone.” But if that grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, there will be much grain, there will be a Harvest of feast. So that when we are talking about Harvest, we should differentiate the kind of Harvest we are talking about. Is it a Harvest of feast or a Harvest of famine? What happens in our seed time, is critical to the kind of Harvest that we will command. As sons of God, it pleases God that we live our lives in perpetual feast. It is the desire of God that we live our lives in a perpetual feast, no wonder the Scripture says; “I wish above all things, that you prosper” that is the desire of God.
“I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” That’s the desire of God. Your prosperity talks about a Harvest of feast and that’s the desire God for you and I. But we can’t have a Harvest of feast if we mess-up the seed time. And that is why it is so critical and important for us in this series, please if you are just joining us you can go back from the beginning and just go to our website and download the podcast of the previous series and understand what God is saying about Harvest. Because it is so important as sons of God that we understand that this principle works, and this principle has been instituted by God, and God honours it.
So, when we are talking about how to Harvest the word, what does it mean? John 1, I will read from verse 1-5.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 The same was in the beginning with God.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
The word of God is God, the word of God is the creator of all things. To Harvest the word is to Harvest God. And its not just at that, we are going to look at three important things that we must understand, in Harvesting the word. How we should Harvest the word as a believer and as a son. When you Harvest the word, what should you have? When you Harvest corn, you will have the cubs of the corn, you will have something more than one. For example, if you plant yam, you could plant the head of the yam or the body of the yam, which ever planting skill or technique you want to use, but when you are Harvesting, you are not Harvesting the head, in fact you will Harvest in some cases more than one tuber. In most cases you will have another tuber, so you plant the head of the yam but you Harvest a tuber.
So usually, the Harvest is always bigger than the seed and it is the same thing with the word. The Harvest is usually bigger than the seed. There is nothing you plant that the Harvest would not be bigger than the seed but this is also a principle. The Harvest is the product of the seed. The same body of the seed, is the same body of the Harvest. Usually it is greater if it is a Harvest of feast. Now we are going to look at three important things, that we need to Harvest as a child of God. When you sow the word, how do you sow the word? And what will be the Harvest?
Isaiah 55, I will read from verse 8-11. "For My thoughts" this is God speaking;“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
God gave us an example, He gave us a model, that represents how His word works. He said; “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me [c]void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Now there are two important things we must note from verse 10 and 11. God said; "for as the rain comes down.” The first thing is that, as a human being in our own understanding, is the rain a product of our work? No! Is it a product of our labor? No! The rain is a gift, the rain is available and it is released. And notice something, the rain falls in seasons. It is not every time of the year that you continue to have rain. No! Rain falls in seasons. And you will notice there it says; "for as the rain" why did God use something that is seasonal? Why didn't God use something else? Maybe for as the sun. But God said; "for as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven" So the rain is a gift from heaven, but they fall in seasons. And they do not return there, but water the earth. There are instructions there for us.
"And make it to bring forth and bud" It's a teaching this morning and I want us to follow closely, because this will liberate us as sons of God. It said; “it makes the earth to bring forth and bud and it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” I want you to just hold on that verse and come with me to Genesis 1, I will read from verse 11. “Then God said, Let the earth” You know the Bible says in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” then in verse 11 God said; “Let the earth bring forth grass” Did God plant the grass? No! God spoke to the earth for grass to come out. He said; “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind”
I want us to move to verse 20. Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth and all that.” Let me move to 21 “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind.” Now let us go 24, so that we understand the sequence. And God said “Let the earth bring forth” Now God is speaking to the earth. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.”
Then in verse 26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [g]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” When God wanted to create the plants, God spoke to the earth, when God wanted to create the animals, God spoke to the earth, when God wanted to create man, He spoke to Himself. He said; "let us" So God spoke to Himself to create man, so why do we think that our sustenance is outside of Him? Why do we think that our increase is outside of Him?
The Bible says that; “and every tree, every plant that the earth brought forth has the seed in itself.” So, the seed that made man, is in God. No wonder the Bible says; “we are born of an incorruptible seed.” What did the Bible call that seed? The word of God. We are born of an incorruptible seed. The word of God is a seed that God spoke to Himself and brought forth human kind from. The Bible says; “and the tree has its seed in itself.” So, our seed is in the word. What makes us is in the word. Let us go back to Isaiah 55. I went to that Scripture so that we will understand the beginning. So, when God was speaking here, He was speaking from the knowledge of the beginning.
It said; “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there” Do we understand that verse now? “But water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be” but it shall: Number one; “accomplish what I please.” Until it accomplishes what I please. Secondly, "and it shall prosper in what I sent it." So, the word of God is the seed that produces us. We are a Harvest of the word. So, for every time the word of God is planted, there is a Harvest for mankind. So, when God speaks, it is not plants and animals that benefit. It is mankind. Because man was born of the incorruptible seed of the word of God. When rain falls to the earth, the earth produces what plants and animals benefit directly.
But when God speaks, it is for the Harvest of mankind. It says; "so shall my word be that goes out of My mouth." In Hebrews 1:1 it said; “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” So, God speaks to us through His Son in times and in seasons for the benefit of mankind. You cannot be anything outside the word of God. The word of God is the instrument, it is the seed of your Harvest. And that's why the Bible says in that Isaiah 55:10b, “That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” So, when the word of God goes out, when God speaks, we Harvest two things: A.) we Harvest seed, B). and we Harvest bread. The seed is for the sower, and bread for the eater. We are going to explain it.
Ephesians 6:11-17. The Bible says:
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [b]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
I want to explain all that before I break it down. In Isaiah 55 from verse 10 to 11, particularly we realize that when the word of God goes forth, we Harvest seed, we Harvest bread, then in this Scripture we read, it says; “take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” So, we Harvest the word also as a sword. It is not every child of God that has the word of God as a sword. And it's not just something that will fall on you. I want you to examine it closely. It says; "take the helmet of salvation" take it, handle it, wield it, “and the sword of the Spirit” take the sword of the Spirit. But you can't take what you don't have. When I say take something, it is because you see it, you can't be given something you cannot handle.
So, we Harvest the word as a seed, as bread, we Harvest it as a weapon. The sword of the Spirit. When we talk about all these, how does it materialize. Hebrews 4, we will read all those Scriptures and we come back to practicality. Hebrews 4:11-13. “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Because you will wonder we are talking about the word of God, how comes we are going into person "for there is no creature hidden in its sight" in the sight of the word, in the sight of Jesus. “But all things are naked and open in the sight of Him, to whom we must give account” So the word is a personality we are born of that word. And the Bible says the Lord is living and powerful, it said the sharpness of the word cannot be compared to a two-edged sword. And it said what the word does is that it pieces through the division of the soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and it's a discerner. So, we said there are three important things that the word does. It is a seed to the sower, bread to the eater and it is a sword, a weapon in the hands of sons.
But what gives us the privilege to be able to wield it? Verse 11 of Hebrews 4 says; “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest” Because you can't wield the sword of the Spirit if you are not in the place of rest. And it says this is the place of rest; “lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” If we flip it around what does it mean? Obedience is the key that helps us to be able to wield the sword of the Spirit. You cannot have the word of God as a sword in your hand if you are disobedient. The word works for the obedient. That's why Jesus said; if you in abide in Me and My word in you. You will ask the father you will be able to wield the sword you will ask the father anything in my name and he will do it. You will get it. You will be able to fight with it and have victory. Why? My word abides in you, you are obedient.
2 Corinthians 10 I want us to finish reading this Scriptures so that we will receive it into our spirit and I believe the Holy Spirit will make it clearer to us. 2corinthians 10:4-6. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” Did we see mighty in God? Not mighty through God, not mighty with God, mighty in God because the seed we are born of the seed of the word. Everything we have, our victory, our blessing, our riches, our glory, our wisdom our honor; they are a Harvest of the word. It said; “but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
The obedience of the word. That's why we read what we read earlier, that the word is a personality the word is Christ we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ to the obedience of the word and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. You can't Harvest the word if you have not sown the word in obedience. You cannot Harvest the word, if you have not sown the word in obedience. So, your seed time is a time of your obedience is the time when your obedience is being fulfilled.
Because when your obedience is fulfilled, you can punish every disobedience. Let me give us a practical example, Daniel read by the books that the time of captivity of the children of Israel was for a number of years and he prayed that word to God, he said to God, God you are a merciful God, you are a covenant keeping God. You have been the one keeping us, your word has not fallen to the ground before. Lord I have come to understand in your will that this is your will for your people and he raised it to God, that was what he was doing in his seed time and he continued to raise it to God in Thanksgiving and God responded, because this is the key.
We have answers to prayers that we pray, remember where we read in Isaiah 55:10 to 11. In that verse 11 God said “My word will accomplish what I please.” So, there is a will of God in our seed time. You must understand what the will of God is; that's the first point of call. The word does not work if it does not please God. The word of God is tied to a time when it pleases God to rain the word. And when you key into the time that it pleases God to rain the word, you key into answered prayers. It said “My word will accomplish that which I please and will prosper in the thing which I have sent it.” So, if it pleases God that that word goes into your life, into your finances, into your marriage, it will prosper in the thing which God has sent it. So, you have the word as your bread, so you can eat it. It's an experience you can eat. So, Daniel was able to eat. He got the word as a bread and he was able to eat it. But the word did not start with eating, he first became a sower of the same word. So, the first thing we will never forget, these things are in hierarchy.
When you receive the word of God, you receive it as a seed, you must be a sower. You must sow it in prayers, you must sow it in obedience, what is God asking you to do? There is no Harvest in your seed time. There is no Harvest without seed time. You must sow the word on obedience. Your obedience must be fulfilled. Receive the word as a seed, you sow it. Then God will give you the bread of the word to eat. God will give you the bread of the word to eat. And if that bread is being contested for. You wield the word as a sword to stand against the wiles and the devices of the devil.
If for example God says you going to carry your baby this year, receive that word as a seed. Sow it in the place of prayer. Thank God, take that word back to God. Sow it in obedience whatever God is asking you to do. Do it! And when your bread is coming, and it looks as if the devil wants to fight it. You take the word as a sword and you fight. You attack the devil with the word. This is what God has said I will not be denied of my bread. I have sown this word in prayer and I know the ears of my God is not deaf to my cry. I know the hand of my God is not short to save me. But devil if you are going to stand in my way, I take this same word; this word is my sword and I stand against your manipulations, I stand against your activities in my life and you fight out the devil. The Bible says; “resist the devil and he will flee away from you.”
How do you resist him? By the sword of the word. The sword of the Spirit. So, when we Harvest the word, we Harvest it as a seed. We receive a word from the Lord, we make sure the grain of wheat falls into the ground and die so that we can have our bread and if the devil is standing against your bread you take the word the sword of the Spirit. That's why it says "take the sword of the Spirit.” The word of God. Take it, use it! That's what Jesus did in Matthew 4. He took the word as the sword of the Spirit, the devil said to Him; turn this stone to bread, He said no man must not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And Jesus was able to overcome by the sword of the Spirit that He is. That's how we Harvest the word.
What is God saying to you? Have you received it as a seed? Have you sown it as a sower? Because ultimately, every word of God is for the benefit of mankind. We are born of the incorruptible seed of the word of God. And we are sustained by it. That's why the Bible says; “the just shall live by faith.” Faith in the word. The word equips us, the word builds us, the word molds us, the word is the bread we eat. Money in your account will come by the bread of the word. That child you are looking for will come by the bread of the word. That house you are trusting God for will come by the bread of the word. And if the devil wants to deny you of eating the word. Take up the sword of the Spirit. We must become men and women of faith wielding the sword of the Spirit.
But we can't wield that sword of you are not obedient. You can't wield that sword if your obedience is not fulfilled. Your obedience has to be fulfilled. What are you doing with that word you received from God? What are you doing with it? Are you keying into your seed time? Are you keying into what God is saying to you or you are just allowing the words to go? Are you sowing them? In the field of your heart are you sowing the word of God? You want to get married are you sowing the seed of the word of God? The Bible says "non shall lack their mates" He set His holy trees in families. Are you sowing that word into the field of your life? Are you sowing it into the field of your heart?
It’s time for us to pray, I don’t know which side of the word you are trusting God for, I don’t know the kind of Harvest, this is the time to receive from God. What excites me the most is receiving a word from God. When I receive a word from God, I know it’s a done deal. There are some of us we are too carried away we list one thousand prayer points we want to pray to God, we talk and talk never allowing God to speak to us to release His word, to release rain, to release the water of the word. This is a time for you to sit down in your secret place and say to God LORD what do you have to say to me? Maybe that is what we should do at this moment. Just say to your Father; Lord I am open to your word, I am open to your will, I am open to your will for my life. Any man that desires the will of God desires the word of God.
Any woman that desires the will of God desires the word of God. And God releases His word at all times for the benefit of mankind. God speaks because of you. Because you cannot connect to heavenly resources. Your world cannot be framed by anything else but the word of God. Are you ready to receive that word this morning? Say: “Lord I am open to your will? Lord let be unto me according to your word. Lord I am ready, Lord I am available, let your kingdom come, let your will be done in my life. As your word is in heaven, let your word be released to me on the earth. Lord your word for me, I receive it this moment, your pleasure for me, your will for me, I receive at this moment.”
I believe you have been blessed!
