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“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: “One sows and another reaps.”’” (John 4.34-37) Today’s message will address the topic…

The Sower and the Reaper Rejoice Together

One sows and another reaps, but they rejoice together. This is a bit of a puzzling statement but we will see that it is certainly true when it comes to the sowing and reaping of the good seed of the Gospel. In the material world, this might not be true. Typically, if a crop is reaped by someone other than the sower, it is not a time for rejoicing for both parties. Another reaps when the sower is sick, or disabled, or dispossessed of his land, or some other calamity strikes, but with the seed of the Gospel, it is a different story.

First, let’s establish the fact that the seed of the Gospel is sown when the Word of God is preached or taught (see Luke 8.11). It is harvested when souls become obedient to the saving message of the Gospel. This is the exact metaphor that Paul used when he spoke of his and other’s work in Corinth. Note this text: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3.5-9). See how Paul referred to the common work of planting and watering which he and Apollos had done; it was a joint effort; the work of one was built upon the work of the other.

There is no room for petty jealousy in the work of the Gospel; after all even as Paul stated, it is “…God who gives the increase.” The glory goes not to man, but to God and to His grace, wisdom, and power in winning souls back to Himself through the sacrifice of His Son. However, it is certainly appropriate for any and all who had a part in the converting of a soul to rejoice in that conversion! There was no bickering between Paul and Apollos to see who got the glory for those who were converted under their preaching or teaching; they knew that the glory went to God. However, they also knew that it was appropriate for each of them to rejoice whenever anyone obeyed the Gospel; the sower and the reaper rejoiced together.

Now let’s return to Samaria several years after Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman. The Lord had ascended back to heaven in the sight of His apostles, but only after telling them that they would be His witnesses “…in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1.8). The first Gospel sermon had been preached (Acts 2). A great persecution arose against the church and the disciples were scattered abroad preaching and teaching (Acts 8.1). During this time, Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ to them (Acts 8.5). The result: Multitudes believed and were baptized (Acts 8.5 & Acts 8.12). Great joy filled the city (Acts 8.8). The Sower and the Reaper rejoiced together. Jesus sowed the seed by preaching to the Samaritan woman; Phillip reaped the harvest years later, and all believers rejoiced together; this is as it should be!

Questions:

1. What is meant that God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3.5-9)?

2. What do we have to glory in when someone obeys the Gospel? Should there be rejoicing? If so, in what?

3. What did the work of Jesus in Samaria have to do with the obedience of the Samaritans in Acts 8?

4. What do you think that God thinks when two believers are jealous over the successes of the other in spreading the Gospel? Should such attitudes exist? Do they ever?

"God's Words For US" from Cecelia Lester

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