Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Lekki Soul Centre (LSC)
Date: Wednesday, 7th September 2022
The principle of sowing and reaping is one that governs creation, especially the earth (Gen. 8:22). This is a law in the spirit, not just for agriculture. The relationship between heaven and earth needs to be understood. Heaven is considered as the head and the earth, footstool -- not just as a footrest but a place where things are sown or committed. When God wants to multiply things, He brings it to the earth. Angels cannot multiply, however all living things on earth multiply -- they can replenish, reproduce and multiply.
The earth is like a woman. This has nothing to do with Mother Earth but it is something spiritual. A wrong spirit taught man that wrong principle of Mother Earth.The earth being like a woman means the earth is womb-like. This speaks of something eternal. Everything that is made has to speak of something in God otherwise, it has no place of existence. Womb is not just found with the woman but it speaks of something in God. Every womb speaks of an eternal womb which is in God. According to John 1:18, ‘bosom’ can also be referred to as ‘womb’. This womb is the womb of the morning. The dew of the youth is found in the womb of the morning, showing that it is a place of excellent strength (Psalm 110:3).
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” (James 5:7). This precious fruit of the earth was a seed sown by heaven. Earth has to bear for heaven. Earth (the womb) receives the seed; heaven has the seed. Heaven is a place of seeds which is why it is the head. Seed had to be received in the womb. The earth is for a purpose. The earth is a place for sowing and reaping. God planted a garden eastward of Eden. In that garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:8). These trees were brought down to earth and not left in heaven because there is a way that they exist there. But when they are on earth, they find expression differently. The intent of God was to see the manner of everlasting and Eternal Life on earth.
Upon Isaacs' inquiry in Genesis 25:21-23 about his wife’s pregnancy, we see that two nations were in her womb. This tells that a man is a nation. The woman is endowed with womb to carry nations. By observing in a mirror, you would only see your physical appearance. To truly see ourselves, we need to procreate. We cannot fully express our tendencies except when we bring forth our offspring.
The reason God planted the tree of life in the garden of Eden was for Him to see what He would look like on earth; not the tree, but when He enters into man. The man is the earth. According to 1 Corinthians 15:47, if man is of the earth earthy, he has capacity to carry seed and multiply seed. Although the man is the head of a woman, he is a woman to God. This is because we all are going to become brides for God. The Lord God wanted to see what everlasting life looks like on earth and has waited patiently for it. Therefore, because of the seed, He supplies rain because He expects to reap something.
Eden was a place where the law of sowing and reaping was very evident. Genesis 8:22 tells us that as long as earth remains — man remains earthy — seedtime and harvest time will not cease but there will come a time where he will be heavenly. In resurrection, they will be like angels. Angels don’t multiply; they are made so. Everything about man is for multiplication. Everything about man can replicate itself. That is a law in God— the law of increase. This principle is also applicable to man and it governs creation, especially the earth. The law of sowing and reaping is a principle that governs the earth. In previous times, this passage has been used to preach earthly prosperity. But if you read further to verse 8 of Galatians chapter 6, you would see that the principle was referring to the reaping of everlasting life.
Jesus showed us in his first two parables the principle of sowing. Inside the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, there were many things locked in it. This parable holds the key unto other parables. The sower is the Son of man (Matt. 13:3). The good seed sown is the seed of the kingdom (Matt. 13:24).
Jesus was explaining how the kingdom of God will come in Matthew 13:31. It will come by sowing seed. The essence of the law of sowing and reaping is primarily for the kingdom and not for crop production. God himself is a husbandman because He also obeys that law. On our end, we always perceive and expect the kingdom of God to be a physical manifestation. This is one of the reasons the Jews did not understand His style of kingdom coming, and they called to inquire of Him when the kingdom would come. He told them the kingdom does not come by observation (Luke 17:20). He was referring to this law of sowing and reaping.
The kingdom within you is the seed that has to be sown in you. The kingdom comes by the giving and receiving of seed. Hence when the Lord asked us to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” He was not talking about earthly rule. He was saying, “May we receive Your seed”; because the giving of a seed is the giving of a kingdom. To receive a kingdom that cannot be moved is to receive the seed that liveth and abideth. It is the receiving of the everlasting seed, the incorruptible seed. We must pray that the incorruptible seed visits us, since the Church is the ground (for sewing).
Every seed has its rain. The incorruptible seed has its rain. The rain is what will condition that seed in the heart. Before the heart receives the seed, the fallow grounds in the heart must be broken. Our ground is fallow when we have not yet received Christ’s seed. The season of receiving Christ seed is the season where they break our fallow ground. A heart or a womb that has not borne Christ fruit cannot bear everlasting fruit. Our wombs must be conditioned to first carry Christ seed.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7). 'Whatsoever' is seed. If it is not a seed, it is not whatsoever. The word “soweth” is not just one sowing; it is a continuous action, one keeps sowing. Every life we come into starts with and comes as a seed. For instance, the life of Christ comes first as a seed.
"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one…" (Matt. 13:38). The good seeds are the children of the kingdom. You begin to become children of the kingdom when you have received a seed. The various hearts highlighted in the parable of the sower are the hearts that we find ourselves in different seasons (Matt 13). At one point, the heart can be a wayside heart which means it cannot take seed. At another point, when some bit of work has been done on it, it can still have thorns and thistles. At another point when the thornes and thistles have been dealt with, it can be rocky. Thorns and thistles are things external. Rocks are embedded inside and are not seen. Some things cannot take root in a heart because there are rocks underneath and inside it. Rocks are also persecution and they rise because of the word. At the same time, thorns and thistles are the cares of this world.
These hearts are hearts going through the process of receiving the seed. The heart comes to a point where it becomes a good ground. What makes the good ground is the good seed. For each season that seed comes into the heart, it does a work in the heart. Seed reveals the incapacity of the heart until the heart becomes one which can receive the seed that stays. Afterwards, harvests were brought forth in varying degrees (30, 60, and 100). This means one cannot bear the fullness of strength at once; growth is required.
"…but the tares are the children of the wicked one…" (Matt. 13:38). The children of the wicked are not just unbelievers because unbelievers are not yet bearing fruit. These bring forth an opposite of the kingdom. Hence it is also a kingdom. If a believer is not careful, he could bear fruit for the adversary. This is because a believer is a heart and it has the capacity to bear seed. If a wrong seed is sown in the heart, it will bear it. That is why the Lord admonished the believer not to be deceived.
When we got born again, we still had the ability to live for ourselves. This is why the Holy Ghost fights the warfare of collecting our lives. If we do not deny that life, we will live for ourselves - our ambitions, and aspirations (Luke 9:23). Our lives are seeds, we can either sow it to the flesh or the spirit. The flesh has its lust and its laws. A believer could live for many things in the flesh. This world paints a hope, otherwise, men will not serve it. The world paints what our lives can actually look like so that we can sow. The hope is what is not seen but it paints a picture of a projection so that we can sow. Several persons have sown their lives for vanity, not just unbelievers.
To also sow to the Spirit, the believers need to be shown things. The Spirit here is Christ. This is our first point of entrance into the Kingdom. Not everyone likes to sow this seed. The first point of entrance is to deny. We are not meant to eat our seed. We must first sow our lives to Christ. In simple terms, it means to live for Christ. It is possible to pay tithe, attend meetings, and do other things and not be living for Christ. It is impossible to live for Christ without revelation because Christ is a revealed life. Without revelation, we can coin out our own interpretation of Christ. Christ is a life in the spirit; a life that is revealed. To live for Christ, it means I am living for that which is revealed. You cannot live for Christ without the bread called Christ (Matt 6:11). A man cannot deny himself because he does not know what he is capable of doing. It is as Christ is revealed or lifted from the scriptures that one knows the standard and sees how bad he is and what he needs to live for.
The essence of the revelation of Christ is to bring about the life of Christ. We have to die to be able to live the life of Christ (Phil. 1:21). We must keep dying. However, we cannot die without seeing Him. We cannot claim to be crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20), except His standard of life has been unveiled to us. Even Jesus kept on dying (denying Himself) until He finally died on the cross. The cross was just a physical show of the ultimate death. Jesus was evidently set forth before He was eventually crucified. How? He was living a crucified life. Jesus could have used the life of Christ for His personal gains. Instead, He sowed Christ to become the Son of God. Jesus had to sow Christ to reap everlasting life (John 12:24). Then at another point, He had to sow everlasting life to reap Eternal life.
In the principle of sowing and reaping, when a farmer sows and reaps, he re-sows out of what he reaps. So also, in our walk with God, Christ, which is the first point of our entrance into the kingdom, came about by us sowing our lives. However, after we have come into Christ, we are still required to know that the life we have acquired or attained is a seed that will spell itself out in our walk with God. At a point, the Christ that we are will be called forth to be sown. It is an experience. We cannot cross or change state if we do not sow. If we hold the things we have, we will not translate. God is showing us principles on how to cross. We can change state.
“Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness…” (2 Cor 9:10). He gave bread, but there is seed in the bread. This means that in Christ, there is the allocation for eating and there is for sowing. The Christ we eat is the revelation for our development while the Christ we sow is what we become. After we have eaten, we will become seeds.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24). When Jesus said this, He was referring to Himself as an everlasting Son, not Christ. At this point, He needed to shed His everlastingness because He was looking for something He called ‘the glory He had before the world was’ (John 17:5).
God has faith. He has been obeying the law of seed time and harvest time. God gave His only begotten Son to the world. This Son is the Eternal Son. Christ sowed Himself and reaped everlasting life. Seed time and harvest time will not cease until one gets to Eternal life (Gen. 8:22); it is a principle of transiting. Much fruit is not talking about much as in numerical count. Eternal life is much more than everlasting life. Everlasting life is many fruit but Eternal life is much fruit. A man can be much but he is one. Our Lord Jesus was ‘much’. When the Father saw Him, He was satisfied. The Father had never gotten this level of satisfaction until Jesus came to Him (Matt. 17:5). “I go to my Father” (John 16:10). Jesus going to the Father was not about Him leaving the earth physically. It was a spiritual transition by the sowing of Himself. It was a commandment that the Father gave to Him.
At each point in Jesus’ journey, there was a revelation of life He had to attain. At a point, it was the revelation of everlasting life and He called it “His commandments are life everlasting” (John 12:50). In doing it, He reaped everlasting life. By the time He got to Eternal life, He became the only begotten Son to the Father. The Father had faith and He sowed Jesus to the earth. What the Father gave to the earth was not Christ, it was the Eternal Son. He sowed Eternal life because He was seeing many sons. But that Eternal life He sowed cannot be entered into us just like that; we also have to sow our life. We have to sow the life we started with to reap Christ; sow Christ to reap everlasting life; and then shed everlasting life to reap Eternal life. These are the principles of transition.
Do not be weary of well-doing (Gal. 6:9), because many eventually become weary of well-doing. This well-doing is dying. Jesus did well for God to be well pleased with Him (Matt. 3:17).
“Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (Phi. 3:16). This means that at any level we have attained, we should be aware that something is ahead of us until we come to the excellent knowledge, which is, the knowledge of Eternal life (the knowledge that will make us excel). So, we should not become weary because we have attained one level. If we attain unto Christ but do not keep moving, the tempter will surely come, and we will eventually eat the seed of the knowledge of good and evil. It is the tempter that makes us eat the seed. He is the one that tells us to use our attainments (the life we have gotten) for ourselves. The life we attain is a seed that can be sown to the flesh or the spirit. Therefore, we should not be weary of doing well (transiting).
When a person does not transit from one level of life to another, such will get offended. The offense will arise because such a person is being tempted to bite the seed that is meant to be sowed. Such a person will get offended by the brethren and the life that is being raised as a standard.
Ordinarily, we would not sow seed on our own. Heaven would have to arrange for us to sow. This is when our love for the Lord will be trusted. When our support systems are removed, we are being helped to relinquish a life. These support systems have worked for us and helped us serve the Lord in previous allocations of life, but they can be hindrances to the entrance to higher allocations. So, when heaven is on our case, we are helped to transit. Part of sowing to the Spirit is the ability to endure trials and tribulations that come as a result of what we hear. It is part of not being weary in well-doing.
Anytime we go through the process of dying, we resurrect as better. After dying, it becomes easy to let go of our former conversations and let God have His way in us. The thought of tomorrow can prevent a man from sowing his life. But after dying, one just knows that he is safe, that all will be well and the Lord is in control. Such a person would not be perspiring or expiring because he has reaped a life. The first life we reap is life and peace (John 14:27). However, there is still more ahead that we ought to become. We need to keep sowing and not be weary in well doing. It is not easy but there is grace. “Eyes have not seen, ears have not heardm neither has it entered into the heart of man the manner of person we will be like” (1 Cor. 2:9). May it not be said concerning us that the harvest has passed, the summer has ended and we were not saved (Jer. 8:20). Therefore, we need to keep on with sowing.
A lot of us have sown our lives. Coming for meetings is also part of sowing our lives because there are other things that we would have used our time for. So, heaven can show a man mercy to lay down his life but he can refuse and another will take it and become what he ought to have become by laying his life. In the spirit, names are not written on allocations. We have to write our names by ourselves in fulfilling the requirements. When we do so, the allocations would be patented to us. We are in the process of our names being written in heaven. We write our names by receiving the standards of heaven while denying the standards of the present. After a while, we will no longer be earthly.
There are some seeds we will receive that will make heaven follow us closely. They will frustrate whatever attempts to abort Their seed. Even we will not be able to abort it because They will make sure They remove all the tendencies within us that can try to. Sometimes, we do not know when we endanger ourselves or do things to abort Their seed. However, heaven will jealously guard us just to ensure Their seed is not aborted. That is the season many of us are at the moment. Heaven is not joking about it; God really wants to see what Eternal life will look like. This is the joy of a Father in seeing His children being born, how much more our Heavenly Father. There is something we ought to give to Him. We should not deny Him of it.
Heaven carries seed. The earth receives seed, and it should carry it to full term. No earthly creature will become heavenly without receiving seed from heaven. What will make us heavenly is the seed we are receiving. Becoming heavenly for the soul is a matter of destiny. Heaven here refers to the heaven that is in God, which the present heaven speaks of. The seed is not from this present heaven; it is from the heaven that God is.
The seed we are receiving is coming from the heaven of God. It is a more superior heaven, of which Jesus has been made a High Priest (Heb. 9:11). The good things to come that Jesus was made an High Priest of are good seeds, which are the children of the kingdom. Our destiny is not to be earthly or earthy; it is to become heavenly. We will not be satisfied, nor would we have fulfilled our destiny if we remain earth. Some can remain earth even while they pass on to the other world. A person can die and go to heaven but is still earth, but God does not want it to be so.
“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.” (1 Cor. 15:47). It is not bad that we are earthy from the beginning, but it will not be good that we remain earthy. So, Heaven will visit us with seed, and this seed is the Lord from above. This is what will make every one of us become heaven. The angels are heavenly beings. We cannot judge angels when we are earthy in our judgment because what we see is how we judge and what we hear is how we judge. God does not want us to remain earthy. We have borne the resemblance of earth but we must bear the resemblance of heaven.
It is possible to be heavenly and still be on earth. Jesus was heavenly while He was on the earth (John 3:13). How we know a man is in heaven is from his conversation or manner of life. Jesus knew heavenly things (John 3:12). For us to hear and see these things, we need to ascend. Satan wants to hinder men from becoming heavenly. The prince of the power of the air will not fall if we are earthly. His fall is attached to us being heavenly. As we become heavenly, he is falling.
Some evil spirits have already fallen to the earth because some of us have, in a measure, become heavenly. However, the prince of the power of the air will not fall just like that. His captains and princes that are around him first have to be removed, and the only way to do that is for men to begin to assume heavenly conversations. The measure to which we are heavenly is the measure to which evil spirits are falling. They will keep falling until the prince of the power of the air will be left alone. That is the principle of Gog and Magog. Magog represents the captains of Gog, while Gog is in their midst. Magog has to be taken down before Gog can be captured.
Michael will take Satan down. This is why Michael is the one directly supervising our rising. As we journey, we will get to the point where we will begin to encounter the ministry of Michael. This is the point where we would see the jealousy of God. Here God will not allow us to go back; instead, He will frustrate everything around us that can make us go back because we have made a covenant. Here, our rising is for the falling of some and we will be made to rise.
Blessings!
Summary
1. The earth is a place for sowing and reaping.
2. The kingdom of God comes by the giving and receiving of seed.
3. To receive a kingdom that cannot be moved is to receive the seed that liveth and abideth.
4. The season of receiving Christ seed is the season where they break our fallow ground.
5. A heart or a womb that has not borne Christ fruit cannot bear everlasting fruit.
6. Our lives are seeds, we can either sow it to the flesh or the spirit.
7. We are not meant to eat our seed. We must first sow our lives to Christ. It is possible to pay tithe, attend meetings, and do other things and not be living for Christ. It is impossible to live for Christ without revelation because Christ is a revealed life.
8. We have to sow our lives to reap Christ; sow Christ to reap everlasting life; and then shed everlasting life to reap Eternal life. These are the principles of transition.
9. Part of sowing to the spirit is the ability to endure trials and tribulations that come as a result of what we hear.
10. The seed we are receiving is coming from a more superior heaven, of which Jesus has been made a High Priest (Heb. 9:11). The good things to come that Jesus was made an High Priest of are good seeds, which are the children of the kingdom. Our destiny is not to be earthly or earthy; it is to become heavenly.