#A23: SOWING THE SEEDS OF SALVATION

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by Luis B. Vega

vegapost@hotmail.com 

www.PostScripts.org 

‘Be patient, then, Brothers, until the LORD’s Coming. See how the Farmer awaits the Precious Fruit of the Soil— how patient he is for the Fall and Spring Rains. You, too, be patient and strengthen your Hearts, because the LORD’s Coming is near’. -James 5:7-8

The New Testament of the Bible teaches that there is no Salvation apart from Jesus. That His Name is the only one in which a Human must call to be Saved. It is a Salvation based on Grace, not Works. No other Religion or Faith can do this. Jesus was not just a ‘Good Moral Teacher’. Jesus confirmed the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. The Accounts of Adam, Noah, Moses, and Lot in Sodom were not ‘Fairytales’. 

They were Warnings to Humanity. Jesus came as a Prophet. He is presently a Priest interceding for His Body while still on Earth during this Church Age. Jesus will return to Earth as King. Since His Departure, He promised to return for His Bride, as a Metaphor of all those Believers and Followers of His Gospel Promise. And during that Time, Jesus has been ‘Building’ the Wedding Chamber in His Father’s House, in Heaven, etc.

In tandem, Jesus has left the ‘Body of Christ’ that is being Built-Up along with a Commission. And that Commission is to Sow the Seeds of His Salvation that is being offered to Mankind. It is a Redemption from the Rebellion Adam capitulated to in Eden. It is not only that one can be forgiven but be an Inheritor. During Jesus’ Ministry, He taught many Spiritual Laws and Principles based on the Sowing of Seeds. Jesus used Agriculture and the Types of Soil that link the Gospel as the ‘Seed’. He is the Seed.
 

‘Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a Kernel of Wheat falls to the Ground and dies, it remains only a Seed; but if it dies, it bears much Fruit. Whoever loves his Life will lose it, but whoever hates his Life in this world will keep it for Eternal Life’. -John 12:24-25

The Gospel Message, that being Jesus, is about Sowing and Reaping of the ‘Seed’ of Faith. It is a Spiritual Principle. But one was reminded that in Times of Testing, Persecution or Problems, the Holy Spirit brings to one’s Remembrance a Postcard. It is a Testament to planting the Seed of the Gospel in People through one’s Outreach Efforts and then being allowed to know about its Fruition or Harvest years later. 

So, what is the Problem? Oftentimes, one does not even know or has doubts if such sowing of the Gospel Seed, of one’s ‘Work’ or Words really has had any effect for the Kingdom. Is it not the case that in the Walk of Faith with Jesus, it is to be Walked by Faith and not by Sight, on this Side of the Rapture? It is natural to doubt or wonder. 

The Commission

One usually does not see, cannot see the Invisible, in how the Seeds of the Gospel or the Building-Up of others in the Faith is going or it at all the ‘Seed’ germinated. As it is, once a Seed is planted in the Ground, it cannot be seen. Nonetheless, what a Farmer or Gardener does is to diligently still attend to the Seed; to be watered, nurtured, etc. It is later that one sees it grow and produce the Fruit. This is the Expectation and Longing. 

This is what Jesus is looking for and doing during this Church Age. It does depend on the Type of Soil. This is why Pruning is needed. This was demonstrated by the Parable of the Good Seed that Jesus taught in Matthew 13:23-33. And one is to be involved with this Commission based on the Gifts that were dispensed at one’s Point of Salvation. Those Gifts will depend but need to be recognized and utilized. 

The sole purpose for the Holy Spirit to have bestowed them is for the Believers and Followers of Jesus to be ‘Working in the Wheat Field, in the Vineyard, etc. Now how that will look will be different for each Person. One does have to have Perspective and be reminded that ultimately, it is all about Jesus and not one’s Insecurities in being apprehensive or timid in exercising those Abilities given to ‘Work the Field’, Jesus’ Field. The Great Commission, to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the World is about His Field, His Seed and His Harvest. One can be assured or should be assured that one can leave the Fruit for Jesus to deal with. And it is a Corporate Effort.
 

‘Already the Reaper draws his Wages and gathers a Crop for Eternal Life, so that the Sower and the Reaper may rejoice together. For in this case the saying One sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the Hard Work, and now you have taken up their Labor’. -John 4:36-38
 

One just has the Privilege of being able to help-out on this side of the Rapture. It is like a Father allowing a Son to ‘Help’ work on the car, or a Daughter with a Mother ‘Helping’ make and bake a cake, etc. In one’s Personal Experience, during the College Years at the California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, one got involved in the Campus Ministry. One will share an Experience about the Spiritual Law of Sowing and Reaping and waiting for the Fruit, in due Time. 

Based out of the local House Church Assembly, it really emphasized Outreach and Bible Study. For example, after the Morning Service and Lunch, the Brethren would go-out and Witness, either Door-to-Door or at various Public Places. Because the Beach was only 20 Minutes away, one would often Witness at the Piers and the Boardwalks. A lot of the People would come from the Central Valley of California to escape the Heat. 

Having done Street Witnessing for over a Decade, one can understand, 1st-Hand why most Christians do not ‘Witness’ anymore. It is intense as one has gotten heckled, yelled at, pushed, nearly arrested by the Police, etc. It is Abuse and one cannot sustain such ‘Rejection’ for a long Period of Time, without suffering Mental Consequences, at least in one’s Case. And? So, here is the part about the Reaping or Harvesting what one had sown, the Little Seeds that took Years to reap a Harvest. Or rather it is what GOD the Holy Spirit had sown and accomplished in that Time. 

Toe the Line

It came in the form of a Postcard, out-of-the-blue in 1998. So, the Remembrance of this Postcard has come-up again, as of this Writing. And when it does, it is because one is about to go through some sort of Contention, Opposition or Trial. So, during the Outreaches, back in the mid-1990s, one would pair-off and talk to as many People as possible before heading back for the Afternoon Church Services. Most People would say, ‘Not Interested’, etc. 

One would try to give out Flyers with the Gospel. Some would take them, most did not. But one’s Words and the Gospel Pamphlet were as the ‘Small Gospel Seeds’ that one could only cast, like a Net, etc. But on the reverse side of the Pamphlets, one would write one’s Personal Contact Information. Amazingly, nearly 2 Years later, and having stayed at the same Address, which was a Miracle in itself as one moved so much that one averaged about a 2 Year Stay in any 1 Place, a Postcard arrived in the Mail.

Apparently, one had witnessed to a Couple from the Central Valley, from Fresno. In remembering the encounter, vaguely, the Wife was trying to be Polite but the Husband was mean and derogatory towards one’s Witnessing about Jesus, etc. One left the Pier with the others and concluded the Gospel Outreach Session in the ‘Field’ for that Sunday. The Group prayed and committed the Seeds of the Gospel sown into the People’s Minds and Heart that day into Jesus’ Care. That is all one could do and is commanded to do. But one suffered the brunt of the Encounters, ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’. 

However, one would often get Spiritual Strength from the Perspective of how it is Hard Work being there in the ‘Wheat Field’, or ‘Casting the Nets’, being ‘Fishers of Men’, etc. However, it is not about one’s Personal Treatment. If one wanted to Obey the Great Commission and Please the King, which one genuinely did, then one had to just ‘Toe the Line’. The Church Age is about ‘Casting the Net’, Sowing and Reaping the Seed.

‘Restore our Captives, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in Tears will reap with Shouts of Joy. He who goes out Weeping, bearing a Trail of Seed, will surely return with Shouts of Joy, carrying Sheaves of Grain’. -Psalm 126:4-6

Well, it took 2 Years but the Holy Spirit allowed one to see the ‘Invisible’ of how Jesus is working. It is a Work ‘Behind the Scenes’ of how it is Jesus that is the Sower. He plants the Seed. He is the Seed. And He is the Gardener. He is the Vine. His People are the Branches, etc. And it is He that nourishes the Seed to bring forth the Fruit, in His Time. It may take Days, Weeks, Decades or back in 1998, this Couple took 2 Years. 

Most oftentimes one would return a bit Discouraged from such Encounters with People. But the Postcard from 1998 shows that the Words of Jesus are Spiritual and cuts through to the Bone as it states in Hebrews 4:12. Well, if you all want to see and read what the Postcard stated, here it is.

POSTCARD: REAPING A HARVEST OF SOULS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qbMEUQQ-gPMN1vDqovAWot32QFjJQYQX/view?usp=sharing 

The Great Commission 

One called the Phone Number on the Postcard. Well, come to find out that it was the Husband that was convicted, driving all the way back home to Fresno, California. It is about a good 3 Hour Drive. He stated that over the Weeks he finally surrendered and got Saved. He mentioned that his Wife also received Christ and it saved their Marriage. That Week when one had called was the occasion where he and his whole Family were going to be Baptized at a Church they found and attended. Wow. Imagine that.

So, in one’s moping, in 1998, the Holy Spirit said, ‘So, Lu, you want Proof if the Sowing of the Seed is effectual? If there will be Fruit and a Harvest, eh? How is this? All one could say and do after the Phone Conversation was to prostrate and say, ‘I am unworthy, I am unworthy’. Every Believer and Follower of Jesus knows or has Family Members, Prodigal Sons and/or Daughters, Neighbors, Work Colleagues that only see a ‘Vision’ or Representative of Jesus in His People. It is about being ‘Ambassadors’. 

Perhaps it will be who they will ever know as an ‘Ambassadors’ of the Great King, Jesus. And what one says in Words or Works is as planting the Small Seed of the Gospel in them. It can and does make a difference. Sure, it may take 2 Year or more and one may not even know until the Bema Seat of Christ. Only then will one know what the Holy Spirit did with one’s Commission and with all those other People that one has never heard back from. Well, the Postcard from 1998 is just a glimpse, that although one may not see all or know all, Jesus is working where it cannot be seen. 

So long as one has Breathe on this side of the Rapture, there is hope for a Seed to bring a Harvest in People and Places. It could be seen in one’s Wayward Son, Daughter, Family, Neighbor, City, State, Nation, or World, etc. Although the World is being Dismantled, Jesus is in the Business of Restoration, of redeeming Lives, Couples, Marriages, etc. There is a Season for Everything and the Church Age will conclude 1 Day. It is because the Harvest will have been completed. 

When the Bride is ‘done’, Jesus’ will then come for her. They have a Wedding to attend at the Father’s House. It is because His Bride has been redeemed and restored, much like that Husband from the Postcard that had come to his Convictions. That is what the Seed is all about and the Work during this Church Age. One’s intention is not to ‘Guilt-Trip’ anyone for not doing Evangelism or Witnessing. One just shared what one was doing and going through, at that Point in Time in one’s Life back in 1998. 

It was a Year, a Time where one questioned if one’s Evangelizing even made a Difference for the Kingdom, with so little, seemingly to show for. One does realize that one's Life’s Journey of Faith is like a Book, delineated by Chapters throughout Life. There are Seasons of Time that Christ Jesus has His Body doing and working as He leads. For example, now one cannot physically do such a Work of Evangelism anymore due to Health Issues, not to the degree as one did when one was younger. And due to the Political Correctness of these Last Days, at least in California and on a University Campus, one needs to be careful now, not to just hand-out Gospel Tracks. Evangelists have to ask a Person if they are willing to receive any Material, etc. 

Rewards 

But in that case, whenever one sees Fellow Christians witnessing in Public or when the Gedeon’s come on Campus to give out Bibles, or one sees Christian Students witnessing to others in the Main Campus Plaza, for example, one makes sure to go-up to them. One makes the effort to encourage them that they are making a difference and to be blessed. And as one cannot go on Missions Overseas as one did before, one has supported those that do. And this is the case with many in the Body of Christ, presently that are just not able to do it for various Reasons. 

In one’s Personal Case, for perspective, realize that being an Immigrant and in the Military has forged into one’s Constitution more of a Militaristic Disposition about the ‘Work’ or the Commission of Christ Jesus. Not that by doing the Works one is seeking the Rewards, but that one is, to a fault seeking Approbation of the Chief Commander. One has taken the literal description of how Followers of Jesus are ‘Soldiers’ in His Army, the Greater Joshua, etc.

And for sure, one is not and cannot evaluate other Brethren in what they should or should not be doing in light of their Gifts and Call in their Lives. But Paul does say that, by default everyone in the Body of Christ is a Witness and to Evangelize is everyone’s Duty. See 2 Timothy 4:5. Now what does that look like? That will depend. But as Brethren point-out, for example, Teaching Children and the like is doing just that. To reiterate, not everyone can Teach or Preach or Evangelize, depending on one’s Circumstances and Talents given.

The Great Commission is a Comprehensive Work and a Collaboration as a Body. Remember how the Body of Christ is explained that some sow, others plant, others water, and others do the harvesting, etc. Others are never seen as they are the ‘Behind-the-Scene’s Type of Workers. Just giving a Cup of Water is a Reward that is recorded in Heaven, etc. So, not all can be a Billy Graham leading Millions to Jesus. But in Proportion, one’s Scope of Influence and Reach may only be to 1 or 2 other People in one’s whole Lifetime.

But it is a very Good Point to have in Perspective also that in regard to the Great Commission, one is to be ready just for Jesus. How can one Evangelize, and build-up others if one is not? Ultimately, one has been redeemed by Jesus to be for Jesus Himself. In one’s Attitude about the Great Commission, one has not been preoccupied with any Rewards, if any or how many. Jesus is the Reward. What is prominent is one's Relationship with Jesus, is to be like Him and to be with Him.

What good are the Works done and Rewards expected, if Jesus will say, 'Depart from Me, I never knew you'. This is especially True and Important to point-out, especially as one sees the Rapture Day approaching that will conclude the Church Age Commission. That means that one will soon face Jesus at the Bema Seat and one’s Works, not oneself will go through the Fire of that Evaluation. But what lingers in one’s Mind is how one has been given Talents and will be giving an Account of them at the Bema Seat of Christ. One thinks that it is Fair to be reminded of that. 

But many of Rapture Critics do say that the Rapture ‘Watchers on the Wall’ neglect the Evangelizing Part. One would stress that knowing Prophecy and discerning the Times and the Signs of the Times are Key Components in being able to Witness that more intelligently to People, one is convinced. This is especially the case when the Signs of the Times are pointing to the nearness of the Rapture of the Bride occurring within this Terminal Generation. 

And to that, one admits that one is over-sensitive in not wanting to find oneself suffering Loss and being Ashamed at what one knows and did not do. But even for that and any failure and/or short-comings, there is Grace. Thank the LORD who Covers. But until that Call to ‘Retreat’ or Fall Back, i.e., the Rapture Trumpet Call, it is all about having 1 Hand on the Trowels and the other on the Spiritual Weapons, as the Spiritual Jerusalem is being built-up, i.e., the Bride of Christ, etc.
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Books

CHURCH AGE
Conclusion of the Commission
 

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RAPTURE DAYS BEFORE
The Great Escape
 

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WRATH OF THE LAMB
Why the World will be Judged
 

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Luis B. Vega is a Political Scientist, a Citizen Journalist, Independent Reporter, Graphic Artist, Amateur Astronomer and Writer who believes in the Free Expression of Ideas and Critical Thinking. He has worked in Education for over 30 Years. As an Instructor, he taught UNIV 102 at Sonoma State and AgEd 102 at Cal Poly, SLO. Lu has Traveled to over 18 Nations on Service Projects.

This Body of Work comes from 45+ Years worth of Research presented, that is based on Eschatology. It is the Study of the End Times and given from one's Prophetic Perspectives and by way of Articles, Chart Illustrations, Posters, Publications, and Bible Codes from a Biblical Point of View, etc. 

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