Baptists -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
"So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the
ground:" this the gracious worker can do. "And the seed should spring
and grow up, he knoweth not how:" this is what he cannot do: seed once
sown is beyond human jurisdiction, and man can neither make it spring
nor grow. Yet ere long the worker comes in again:--"When the fruit is
brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle." We can reap in due
season, and it is both our duty and our privilege to do so. You see,
then, that there is a place for the worker at the beginning, and though
there is no room for him in the middle passage, yet another opportunity
is given him further on when that which he sowed has actually yielded
fruit.
Notice, then, that _we can sow_. Any man who has received the knowledge
of the grace of God in his heart can teach others. I include under the
term "man" all who know the Lord, be they male or female. We cannot all
teach alike, for all have not the same gifts; to one is given one
talent, and to another ten; neither have we all the same opportunities,
for one lives in obscurity and another has far-reaching influence; yet
there is not within the family of God an infant hand which may not drop
its own tiny seed into the ground. There is not a man among us who needs
to stand idle in the market-place, for work suitable to his strength is
waiting for him. There is not a saved woman who is left without a holy
task; let her do it and win the approving word, "She hath done what she
could."
We need never quarrel with God because we cannot do everything, if he
only permits us to do this one thing; for sowing the good seed is a work
which will need all our wit, our strength, our love, our care. Holy seed
sowing should be adopted as our highest pursuit, and it will be no
inferior object for the noblest life. You will need heavenly teaching
that you may carefully select the wheat, and keep it free from the
darnel of error. You will require instruction to winnow out of it your
own thoughts and opinions; for these may not be according to the mind of
God. Men are not saved by our word, but by God's word. We need grace to
learn the gospel aright, and to teach the whole of it. To different men
we must, with discretion, bring forward that part of the word of God
which will best bear upon their consciences; for much may depend upon
the word being _in season_.
Having selected the seed, we shall have plenty of work if we go forth
and sow it broadcast everywhere, for every day brings its opportunity,
and every company furnishes its occasion. "In the morning sow thy seed,
and in the evening withhold not thy hand." "Sow beside all waters."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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