You Are Not Broke if You Have a Seed: 7 Facts About Sowing
Dr RJ Sing, 35 min, Part 5 of Solving Life's Problems
Originally preached as “Solving Life's Problems: Freedom in the Financial Realm”
Sermon outline
The reason for getting out of debt and learning to save is so that you have seed to sow, because seedtime and harvest is the law God uses to take you out of your financial rut and into your future.
Main text
- Genesis 8:22
Opening
He welcomes the church and prays that people will take heed how they hear, declaring that they are no longer slaves but free. He explains that last week he spoke about managing your finances, getting out of debt and saving, and that this week he is building on it: the reason for all of that is freedom in the financial realm, so that you can be a blessing in the kingdom of God. He then reads Genesis 8:22.
Your seed will multiply: from thirty-fold to a thousand-fold
Sowing finances into the kingdom of God is sowing on good ground, and it is never a loss but a gain. The thirty-fold and sixty-fold are a training ground, the hundred-fold is where a believer should operate, and God wants to push you on to the thousand-fold. If you sow in multiples of thousands you will harvest in multiples of thousands.
Illustration: The Lord once told him to sow 1,000 rand on top of his tithe and offering, and began teaching him about the thousand-fold. Around then a woman in the church, who had sown 1,000 rand into his life every month as a priestly offering for two or three years, arrived with a brand new Mercedes-Benz paid for in cash, after her husband had laughed at the idea.
“The 30-fold and the 60-fold is just your training ground. Your 100-fold is your operating ground. And your 1,000-fold is your supernatural manifestation ground.”
- Genesis 8:22
- Mark 4:20
- Psalm 50:10
- Judges 15:15
The purpose, process, power and planting of a seed
The purpose of sowing into the kingdom is to take you out of your financial rut. The process is to sow and trust God with the how. There is power in a financial seed, and planting it is a kingdom dynamic God wants you to catch. The enemy fights this revelation in your mind because he does not want you living in overflow.
Illustration: He was not a pastor all his life. He and his wife both worked and were successful, yet they lived from paycheck to paycheck until they understood the principle of sowing into the kingdom of God.
“Don't sow seed and ask how. Just sow seed and trust God.”
- Romans 10:14
- Ephesians 1:18
You must trigger and provoke the anointing
He defines his key words: multiply, potential, power, process, exchange and sowing. An exchange is giving one thing and receiving another of the same kind, so finances sown reap finances. The Spirit of God is always hovering, as over the waters in the beginning, and a seed is how a believer provokes him into action.
Illustration: When he entered the ministry his big argument with God was that God could never pay him what he could make in the world. God proved him wrong: he now gives more than he used to earn.
“You must trigger and provoke the anointing.”
- Genesis 1:2
- 2 Corinthians 9:7
- Luke 6:38
1. Your seed is a bridge to your future
Your seed is a bridge to your harvest. Everything you are sowing now is carrying you into your future.
“Your seed carries you to your future.”
2. Your seed is a conversation about your future
As you give, God is instructing angels on your behalf, as he once spoke about Job. Whatever level you are on, thirty, sixty or a hundred-fold, there is no condemnation, but God is pushing you higher. Before asking why someone else is prospering, ask what they did to get their results.
Illustration: We criticise others because we only deal with the facts on the surface. We do not know a person's heart or what God is working in them.
“A seed is a discussion in the courtroom of heaven about your future.”
- Job 1:8
3. Your seed is a documentation of trust
Every time you sow, God records it, so that in the future he has someone come your way with a harvest.
Illustration: The Bible has a whole book called Numbers where everything was recorded. Do you think your giving is not being recorded?
“Your seed is a documentation of trust.”
4. Your seed is a picture of your passion
You cannot say you love God and withhold from him; faith and love have to be demonstrated. Giving is an act of worship that shows what you think of God, his house and the gospel, and thanks him in advance for what he will do. It is also a picture of your obedience and the last snapshot God has of you.
Illustration: As a young Christian who knew nothing about tithes and offerings he used to give coins. One day, as he dropped a coin in the offering, the Holy Spirit asked him, 'Is this what you think of me?' It sobered him on the drive home.
“My giving is a demonstration of what I think of him.”
- James 2:18
5. Your seed is proof of expectation
Your seed proves both that you are expecting something from God and that God has already blessed you.
“Your seed is proof of expectation and proof that God has blessed you.”
6. Your seed is an instruction to your future
By your giving you can determine your future. Your destiny is not in the devil's hands, and he cannot stop what God has planned for you.
“Your destiny is in your own hands.”
7. Your seed is an investment into kingdom soil
Prayer is your intimate fellowship and conversation with God, but it is your seed that gets you out of a financial rut. Each person has to come to that by revelation in their own heart.
“Your seed is the only voice that your future obeys.”
Settle God's opinion about money and follow the law of seedtime and harvest
Settle once and for all what God thinks about money, because your decisions are responsible for the quality of your life. Know where your money comes from and where it goes. After the flood Noah built an altar and God established seedtime and harvest, the principle your whole life has run on since birth. Start at the level you are at, because the big is in the little, and build an inheritance for your children's children.
Illustration: He says they came from absolutely nothing, barely making it, until they put what he once called biblical economics to work.
“You are not broke if you have a seed.”
- Genesis 8:20-22
- Proverbs 13:22
- Hosea 4:6
Putting it into practice
- Never count what you sow into the kingdom of God as a loss.
- Get out of debt and save so that you have seed ready when the Holy Spirit prompts you.
- Start at the level you are at and let God move you higher.
- Settle in your own heart what God thinks about money.
- Know where your money comes from and where it goes.
Closing
He has the church stand, praise God and tell their neighbours they are not broke because they have a seed. He urges them to start where they are, speaks of leaving an inheritance to their children's children, and declares an end to their financial struggles and that they are no longer servants to sin, poverty or mediocrity. Before handing over for the grace he gives an altar call for salvation and rededication, and people respond.
Declarations he led
- I'm free.
- The devil's a liar. I'm catching this revelation. I'm not stingy. I'm not stingy hearted. I'm a liberal, prompt to do, cheerful giver.
- I'm not broke because I have a seed.
- I'm going to sow myself out of this hole. I'm going to the next level. God's taking me to a greater place. My sowing is not in vain.
In his words
- “Never look at sowing into the kingdom of God as a loss. It's not a loss. It is a gain.”
- “A closed hand indicates a closed heart.”
- “Seed that leaves your hand goes into your future and multiplies.”
- “Your seed is the only voice that your future obeys.”
- “You are not broke if you have a seed.”
Every scripture in this message
- Luke 8:18
- John 8:36
- Genesis 8:22
- Mark 4:20
- Psalm 50:10
- Judges 15:15
- Romans 10:14
- Ephesians 1:18
- Genesis 1:2
- 2 Corinthians 9:7
- Luke 6:38
- Job 1:8
- James 2:18
- Genesis 8:20-22
- Proverbs 13:22
- Hosea 4:6
