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Transcript

Well, good morning, brethren. What a beautiful sight this is. It’s so nice to see you all here. And for those of you that I’ve been able to meet already, hello again. For those of you that I am looking forward to seeing and greeting for the first time, I look forward to that as well. It’s a great time to truly spend time together in fellowship and as never before throughout the entire rest of the year. This is truly unique. So I’m glad to see everybody here and smiling, the weather’s been perfect, it’s just been truly a great feast so far.

Well, you’ve heard the name the Feast of Tabernacles, of course, we’re all here, certainly we’ve heard that term before, and this feast also goes by another name, the Feast of Ingathering, the Feast of Ingathering. Now, if you want to turn over to Exodus chapter twenty-three, we can do that. While you’re doing that, I’ll tell a little bit of a story. You know, I live at headquarters. A number of us here come from headquarters. Not originally, I’m from Iowa, and I met another Iowan here. Oh, he and I got along very well until he told me where he went to college. He happened to go to the University of Iowa.

You all would agree, right? I went to Iowa State University. Yes, okay, hey, okay. No, I’m just kidding. But I won’t disclose his name lest stoning begins. So I don’t want to disclose who it was, but it was nice to meet a fellow Iowan. He no longer lives in Iowa, but just had to have some fun there. We’re, of course, very good friends despite our great rivalry. Well, we... as I said, I live at headquarters and so do a number of us. And we have a thing called the community garden.

And Mr. Garb is here, who marvelously works with this garden and the people who help with the garden, the volunteers in the garden. And it’s just... excuse me, I’ve still, you know, had something a little while ago. I’m still dealing with the residual effects. So if I’m coughing, forgive me. But Mr. Garb has worked with this community garden for the last number of years. And this year in particular was just, I mean, abundant. Anyone who’s at headquarters would have seen it. There was a lot of people that helped with that garden. There was a lot of work that was put into that garden.

Without that work, there wouldn’t be any produce. There wouldn’t be any wonderful peaches that came off of the peach trees in the orchard. There wouldn’t be any corn. There wouldn’t be massive amounts of lettuce that, so much came, that I think we ended up having to mow some of it down, if I’m understanding correctly. I mean, just so much lettuce. We just didn’t know what to do with it all. And the produce went on and on and on and on and on. And in the end, you know, this really ties in with the Feast of Ingathering that we’re at today.

This Feast of Ingathering, anciently, you would... ancient Israel was told you’re supposed to take the crops, tenth of your crops, come to the Feast of Tabernacles with it. And if the journey was too far, you’d turn that crop, the yield that you had, into money so that you can go to the feast. And that’s what we do. We primarily, I don’t see anybody calling in wheelbarrows of corn. If you did, wow, good for you, but it’s probably not going to get you very far at this feast. You’re better off with money, okay? And that’s where we are in the modern age, is we bring our money, but the Feast of Ingathering, that’s what it was about initially. You brought your crops, your ingathering.

And the fact that we had such a wonderful abundance at headquarters this year is kind of it just, it sets the table for the message that I’m going to give today. You know, crops don’t just grow on their own. Weeds grow on their own. We all know that. But crops oftentimes take a lot, a lot of hard work and effort. You can’t just expect a whole field of corn, or a whole field of beans, or a whole field of... we drove down here, cotton. It doesn’t matter what the crop is, you can’t expect it to grow and to yield wonderful fruits in the end without tending to it.

And you’ve all heard the term, you reap what you sow. Right? How many have heard that phrase? I don’t think there’s probably a soul in here that hasn’t heard that phrase before. You reap what you sow. So if you sow good crops, you’re going to get a good yield. You’re going to be able to reap a lot. But if you don’t sow it at the right time, if you don’t water it properly, if you don’t tend to it properly, like we did with the community garden at headquarters, we did tend to it properly, and we were able to have a great crop. But at the end, if you don’t do that, then you’re not going to get the same crop.

So, therefore, you reap what you sow. You reap what you sow. And we’re here in Exodus twenty-three, we’ll just read this verse, verse sixteen, it says this. “Three times in the year we’re to come, we’re supposed to come to the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering...” That’s where we are today. “…which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.”

Again, we don’t do that today. I don’t see everybody coming in with tractor-trailers of produce and things like this to eat. No, we have restaurants, and we turn all of our earnings into cash so that we can come here and enjoy such a wonderful time together. But they physically reaped what they sowed many months earlier, ancient Israel, I’m talking about. They sowed many months in advance of the Feast of Tabernacles so that they could reap and attend this wonderful feast.

But turn over to Matthew chapter thirteen. This is what happens if you don’t necessarily reap properly or sow properly. Matthew thirteen. We all know these parables, the parable of the sower and the seed, spiritually speaking, it of course has application. Let’s just think about it physically for a minute. This is what happens when you don’t put a seed in the right environment. Don’t tend to the seed properly. What happens to it? Verse three, Matthew thirteen, and verse three.

“And He spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside. And the fowls came and devoured them up.” So if they don’t actually land in soil, they’re not going to produce anything. Birds will come and eat them, and then they might find themselves, those birds, find themselves in other places, and the seeds find themselves in other places as well. They might grow there, but they didn’t grow in the field where the sower intended it to grow.

Verse five, “Some fell on stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprang up because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched. They got burned, dried out, because they had no root, and they withered away. And some of them fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.” Have you ever tried to plant? This is similar to if you plant something in a forest or among other plants, you try and get something to grow and there’s a canopy over it, there’s other plants growing above it, that plant can’t get enough sunlight, and it just simply will choke out and die. There’s nothing it can do.

It doesn’t have the proper environment to live in to be able to thrive and end up producing fruit. Verse eight, “But there’s this category as well. The other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty-fold.” Now, even if it falls in good ground, what was done to that seed after it fell in good ground could still produce more or less, depending on how well it was tended to. Some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty-fold.

So, brethren, this lesson of the physical seeds being sown is important for us to understand, to kind of get in our minds as we enter into this message. It oils us up for the topic that we’re going to cover today, and that is, of course, reaping what you sow. But it’s going to take a fascinating twist here in a little bit. You’ll find that out shortly. Turn over to Galatians chapter six. You know, of course, in Matthew thirteen, well, you’re turning to Galatians six, of course, that parable applies spiritually as well.

The seeds we sow in our lives, the things that we do spiritually in our lives, will either produce greater fruit in us personally, or not, depending on how much we study, depending on how much we pray, or how regularly we fast if we need to, we meditate and just ruminate and think about God’s Word, think about and chew on what it is that we’re studying. Maybe we can go home after today’s service or yesterday’s service, or tomorrow’s and think about what it is that we’re learning. That’s what meditation is. It’s just taking time to think about it.

The more we do those things, the more the seed that we’ve planted of the seed of truth that has come into us and contact with us will land on fertile ground. And what that seed will do is it won’t just produce thirty-fold or sixty-fold, it could produce a hundred-fold. That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to produce the most fruit we possibly can produce at the Feast of Tabernacles. A concentrated amount of messages every single day. Here we’re on a Sabbath, it’s two services, just like a holy day. Think about all the spiritual meat that you’re hearing. Think about the things that you’re learning and the fellowship that you’re having. The connections that you can make with other brethren at this time.

If you’re unlike any other, this is a time to let those seeds really germinate. Let the truth sink in. Let everything that you’re doing sink in to allow it to help you to build greater fruits. And here we are in Galatians six and verse one. Let me turn over there. Galatians six and verse one. Now, this is how most of us view the idea of sowing and reaping. This is where the verse comes from. This is where the concept comes from. Let’s take a read.

Paul speaking to the Galatians, he says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you at your spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also attempt it. Bear you one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We’re not in Christianity just to do it for ourselves. We’re not here just for our own salvation. We’re here to help other people. We’re here to live the give way of life.” You’ve heard Mr. Pack talk about that endlessly, and Mr. Armstrong before him.

“We’re here to live the give way of life so that we can help other people enter into eternal life.” Verse three, “For if a man think himself to be something when he’s nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own work. Then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.” And whatever we do in our lives, it ultimately comes down to us. No matter how much good we’re impacted by those around us here at the feast or back at our congregations, it really ends up coming down to are we doing our part? Are we doing all the things that God wants us to do?

Verse six says this, “Let him that is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teaches in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” That’s wonderful. “Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we’ll reap if we faint not.” So, brethren, our goal in Christianity, or you could say, a goal, we’re going to get to something fascinating here in a minute.

A goal in Christianity is to eternally reap what it is that we’re sowing in ourselves right now. We’re trying to sow good fruits in our lives. We’re trying to be fertile fields so that when the truth lands on us, comes to us, we can develop those fruits. And those fruits are evidence that we can receive eternal life and show us what amount of eternal life we’re going to get. How much glory we’ll have, if you will. How many pounds or how many talents we’ll have. Those kinds of things. What kind of a reward we’ll get at the end.

This is generally speaking how we collectively in God’s church, you could even argue, many abroad, all Christians read this verse. This is a very common concept to discuss and think about in Christianity. You reap what you sow. Everybody knows that. Cause and effect takes hold. If you do something right with your life, it’s going to have good effects. But if you do something wrong, the effects will be bad. Everyone understands that, but of course, we understand that because we’re in contact with the truth, we actually get to receive eternal life at the end of it. That’s our great reward. That’s what we’re all looking forward to.

But is that all, brethren? Is that all? You know, just reading here in verse nine, it says, “For in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” That word for faint means to relax. Just start to relax. We’re going to reap, brethren, as long as we don’t start to relax in our Christianity, in the things that we’re doing for other people, and for ourselves, frankly. We must not relax in doing well. This is for our own eternal benefit. Our own eternal lives are at stake, and the reward that we get is at stake, depending on how much or how little we grow these fruits.

But again, I’ll ask, is this all there is to sowing and reaping? Is that it? I’m going to do these good deeds in my life. I’m going to build these fruits so that I can get a big reward at the end, that’s my goal. My goal is to get, you know, you’ve seen these brothers... I think Mr. Habush read it the other day, these brothers who are fighting over who could be second and third next to Christ in the Kingdom. What a presumptuous, amazing question to be asking, but nevertheless, it was asked. But a lot of us oftentimes just think about the reward that we’re going to get in the next life.

Let’s turn over to Matthew chapter twenty-five. Of course, we should focus on the reward. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s a better way to view sowing and reaping. There is a far, I would say, a far better way to view sowing and reaping in our lives than just thinking about the reward that we’re going to receive at the end. That reward is magnificent and so special, and God has it prepared for each and every one of us, but that’s not the end-all be-all. Let’s turn over to Matthew chapter twenty-five, and we’ll read in verse thirty-one.

This is the parable of the sheep and goats. We all know it, but I’ll read it here again. Matthew twenty-five, verse thirty-one, “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations. And he’ll separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he’ll set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, to those that were good, that did the right things. He’ll say, ‘Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was a hungred, and you gave me meat, and I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in, naked, and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.’”

Remember, this is Christ or the Father speaking here. “I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry? Never saw you hungry? We never fed you. You were never thirsty in front of us, and we gave you a drink. When saw we you a stranger and took you in, or naked and clothed you? Or when saw we you sick or in prison and came unto you?’“

“And the King shall say unto them, ‘Truly I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.’ Then shall he say unto them on his left hand, depart from me you cursed, into everlasting fire,” because, brethren, these people did not do the things that the righteous did. They didn’t look around them and serve the people that were around them, and they’ll receive a very, very different reward because of that. So, brethren, we often think about reaping what we sow at the judgment. It’s natural. It’s very easy for us to think about that.

Think about the reward that we’re going to get when we stand before God and Christ. But have we considered when the Father and Christ come, they are looking to reap fruits from us, and the fruits they are looking for are based on the fruits brethren see in you. The brethren are the litmus test. What kind of fruits do we see in one another is the litmus test for whether we become a sheep or a goat. Brethren, if we just focus on sowing, doing all these... think about Bible study and prayer and spending all this time living a Christian life and doing all the things that we’re supposed to, to develop our character, if we just focus on those things to receive an eternal reward at the end and that’s it, in many ways we’re kind of being selfish, aren’t we?

But if we seek to sow good seeds in this life, focusing on having others reap from us, then you’re going to both get a temporary reward and an eternal one. There’s a different and a better way that we can view sowing and reaping, and our goal should be for others, you and I, to reap from one another what we sow, not just that we reap it at the judgment. Again, I’m rooming with Mr. Houk, you heard the story of my daughter deleting his message. That’s not good. But nevertheless, we are rooming together. And he gave a message. We’re not in the same bedroom. I just want to clarify that.

I just realized what that sounded like. We have our own bedroom. They have their own bedroom. But he covered a kind of a similar subject at the singles event this past summer. When all the singles came to headquarters, those who were able to visit, he gave a lecture talking about something very similar. How if you’re looking for a mate, a woman is looking for a husband, or husband’s looking for a wife, you should be producing certain fruits so that others can come and reap those fruits from you. What are you producing that can be... like, are you growing corn all over your body? Are you growing, you know, various things like this? Let’s make it visual here.

What can other people come and pluck off of you? If you have a lot of fruits, you’re going to be a much better candidate to get a wife or a husband, will you not? Because others will want to be partakers of those fruits. They’ll see those fruits and say, “This is a Godly person. I want to be with that person for the rest of my life. I see they’re producing good fruit.” If they walk up and see no real... Like, you know, those little, small corns, have you ever seen those? Or, yeah, I mean, you don’t want that. It’s a one bite and it’s all kind of the middle part, there’s no kernels, it’s no good. You don’t want that. I don’t want a little piece of corn growing.

So you just have to think about that. Mr. Houk gave a very similar message in some regards to the singles. But the same is true for us, brethren. What kind of fruits do we have that others can come reap from us? That’s the goal. If we’re just waiting for the resurrection, if we’re just waiting for the judgment for the Father and Christ to come take all these pieces of produce from us, all the fruits that we’ve produced, we’re not thinking right. We should be thinking about having one another take the fruits off of us. We should be having massive fruits in our lives so that others can benefit from them. That’s the parable of the sheep and goats.

And the fruits come in vast different arrays. You think about all that was said about these sheep. The sheep, they visited people in prison. They visited the sick. You know, if you’re signing that card, do you know what kind of fruits that you’re showing? You’re not just passing by and saying, “Okay,” or just ignoring altogether. You’re letting your fruits be seen and shared with the brethren. That’s the whole point of the Feast of Tabernacles, is we’re here to share these fruits with one another.

Now, think about the physical fruit. We can go back to that analogy. Again, on the campus, we’ve got this orchard. And oftentimes, when you’ll go there, you’ll look on the peach trees or the pear trees, and there will be produce that has not... like it’s past its prime. Let’s just put it that way. It’s gone. It’s gone bad. Maybe it fell off the tree, and it’s now on the floor, and it’s got worms in it, and you can tell it’s half-eaten from a deer or something. So, think about the physical example of trees. Fruit, if it’s not used and eaten at the right time, will eventually kind of just rot and go away. That’s the way that it works, physically speaking.

Fruit doesn’t just last forever. It will rot and die and decompose and turn back into soil. The same is true for us spiritually, brethren. If we’re not using the fruits that we’ve developed through the hard work that we do in Bible study, in prayer, fellowship with one another. If we’re not using those fruits and sharing them with other people, in the end, what are we really doing? We’re kind of just letting those fruits die on the vine, if you will. Never to be benefiting anybody.

So the point of this message isn’t just to bear fruit. The focus of this message is to share your fruits. Develop them, yes, but share them. Give them to other people. Benefit other people. Turn over to Ephesians chapter five. Here’s why we must share the fruits that we’ve produced. Ephesians, chapter five. I’m sorry, I wrote the wrong verse down. Galatians chapter five. Not too far away. Galatians chapter five, we’ll pick it up in verse nineteen.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these…” These are all the things that we wrestled with and struggled with and probably still to some certain degree struggle with to this day, but we’re trying to eradicate from our lives so that we can produce good fruits. But these are the fruits of human nature. These are kind of the poison ivies that grow off of us and the, whatever, you can think of all kinds of terrible things that can grow on you, that can grow out of the ground, on you, yes.

I have to tell a story, if I may. This reminds me. We went to a golf course yesterday, and this golf course, I was shocked to hear this. There were four different kinds of snakes. We said, “How often do people get bitten here at this golf course?” He just said, “Just don’t go near the water, don’t go in the woods, don’t... pretty much just stay everywhere where the grass is this long, okay?” And we said, “How many snakes do you have here? Or how often do people get bitten?” “Oh, not every day.” You better be paying me to play golf there, not the other way around.

“Not every day, what do you mean? How often do they get bitten?” “Well, once a month, we have about a bite here or there.” And we’re talking four of them, like venomous snakes. We’re talking about people who die because of these bites. And how that ties in with, well, human nature. We’re talking about disgusting things that, you know, so adultery and fornication, uncleanness. It’s like the snakes. You know, we’re not talking about good fruits here. We’re talking about kind of snakes in the weeds. Okay. That’s the connection. All right.

Here we go. Galatians chapter five and verse nineteen, these are the works of the flesh, the filthy snakes that’ll come bite you out of the weeds at the golf course. “Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

If these are the fruits we’re bearing in our lives, there isn’t a chance that we’re going to be able to reap eternal eternally. God wants us to reap the following fruits. These are the fruits that we’re about to reap, that we’re supposed to have an abundance, see coming off of us as big pumpkins, or big apples, or whatever it might be. These are the fruits we’re supposed to produce. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, and joy…” being happy. I see a lot of joy in this room. I see a lot of happiness. Even despite some of the terrible things that brethren have been through in recent weeks and months with these hurricanes. I mean, it’s just terrible.

Beyond that, just other trials and things that everybody’s going through. But nevertheless, I see joy everywhere in this room. Peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. If we have these things, brethren, against which such there is no law. So we all know the fruits of the Spirit are intended for our own personal benefit. It benefits us personally to have peace, does it not? When we have peace, it profits us in times of great uncertainty or trouble. Maybe we’re going through a really difficult argument at some point with our spouse who might not be in the church or something.

And if we just ask for peace, God will give that to us and help us personally just remain calm. Help us with overwhelming stress and so forth. Or, of course, temperance. Temperance helps us control our impulses. And without it, we could fall into personal sin much more easily. Having these fruits helps us individually. That’s the point here. Of course, faith helps us hold firm to the truths that we’ve learned and been assured of. But have we considered, brethren, have we considered that these fruits that we develop can also be given to others to help them?

Do we develop peace just so that we can personally, when we need it, ask God for the gift of peace, for the fruit of peace to just kind of overwhelm us? We’ve all done it. We’ve all used that wonderful blessing that God has given us to just say, let the peace of God reign in you. We’ve all experienced that personally. But have we thought about saying, how do we use peace to benefit other people? How do we use temperance to benefit other people or the love of God to benefit other people, not just ourselves?

It’s great if we have these fruits, but what are we doing with them? You know, it’s funny, if you have, let’s just take kindness, this fruit of kindness. Kindness is a wonderful thing because when you are kind to other people, it inspires them to be kind also. If you’re angry and frustrated with other people, they’ll get defensive and angry and frustrated back at you. That’s how it works. So when God says that he’s going to give us these fruits, he wants us to use them not just for our own benefit, but to benefit others, those around us.

When we are kind, kindness can be infectious. And it can actually impact your life. If I’m kind to you, it can impact your life greatly. So that then when you receive kindness, you have a better opportunity to go be kind to other people, and that kindness spreads and is infectious. My wife has gone through the... maybe this has happened to some of you, where you’ll go through the drive-thru, drive-thru at a coffee or something, and the person in front of you, somehow, you get to the... You’ve already ordered and you get to the window, and the waitress or the barista or whoever it is at the window says, “Excuse me, the person in front of you already paid for your drinks. It’s on them. You don’t have to pay today. You’re welcome to just go ahead.”

Well, you know what happens when somebody does that? You immediately say, “Well, look, that’s wonderful. What, could you believe that? I’m going to pay for that guy next behind me. Just hope that he only has one drink and not a full family.” I’m just kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. That’s a joke. If you’re really righteous, you’ll say, “I hope he has five kids in the back, and they all get full meals or something.”

Okay, but just being lighthearted there, of course. But my wife would say this... the barista would tell her, “Yes, this is happening, somebody did this, somebody started this this morning, and it’s been happening all through the afternoon.” It literally is just chain reaction. So that’s the effect that kindness can have. One act of kindness impacted scores and scores of people throughout the rest of that day. And it didn’t just impact them personally, where they’re saying, “Wow, that’s just so wonderful,” and then they move on.

It influenced them to be kind themselves. That’s the key here. This is why, brethren, sharing our fruits with other people isn’t just good to do. You’re actually helping other people build a greater reward because of it. If we just sit here and think, “Oh, I’m glad. I’m sure glad I’m a kind person, and I’m going to be receiving eternal life when I do for my kindness,” but we don’t actually go out and impact people with our kindness. What did we really do? Are we really being kind?

You might naturally be a kind person. I know a lot of people who are just naturally very kind people. It’s not hard for them to develop that fruit. So the question becomes, what do we do with it? Are we going to impact other people’s lives with it? It could be peace. If somebody comes up to you and says, “Wow, you’re just cool under stress. How do you do that? How do you have such good peace? How do you have such wonderful peace when things are stressed?”

I think about, you know, we’re at headquarters and there’s a lot of... it can be busy and there’s a lot going on and it can be stressful at times with everything that’s going on. And I know the same is true with wherever you work in the world. It doesn’t matter where you work. Stress can come. But if you have peace, you know what that peace can do? Not only for you personally, other people will see that you have peace and they’ll try and replicate it. They’ll say, “I want to be cool under stress. I don’t want to have to be anxious and worried,” and look, look, it makes you look weak when you’re anxious and worried under pressure.

But if you have peace, it actually puts other people at ease. A fire could be going on back here, and a tornado over here, and all kinds of terrible stuff could be happening in your life. But if you’re peaceful, you can keep others at peace as well, rather than stoking a fire and making everybody else anxious around us. Peace begets peace. Kindness begets kindness. And love begets love. You could take every single one of these fruits of the Spirit and apply them, find examples, and apply them as I’m explaining them today.

And I’m here to tell you this isn’t just for the adults. No, you can be a teen, a child, and you can show these amazing fruits as well. You may not have God’s Spirit in you, but God’s Spirit is working with you, that’s for sure, is working with your parents. Let me tell you, some of the things that the children do have such powerful impact on us adults. If you just come up, one boy came up to me today and he stuck out his hand and wanted to shake my hand. I said, “Thank you, that is incredible. You’ve got a great handshake.” And you know what? That made me feel wonderful.

It might have been nothing to him. He might not have even remembered doing it. But I remember it because it impacted me. That’s the impact that the fruits that we produce toward other people can have on others. And you don’t have to be an adult. You don’t have to be baptized. You can have that same impact on adults by just doing little things. Share your fruits, whatever little fruits you might have. Any fruits that you have, share them.

Turn over to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five, and we’ll just read one verse. We all know these, the Beatitudes and Christ’s Sermon on the Mount picks up in verse three, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and...” excuse me, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

When we have the fruit of mercy, if we’ve borne that fruit, you know, we have to first bear the fruit. We’re not talking about how to bear that fruit, that’s a whole different subject. We could get into the importance of spending a lot of time on that seed that you planted in your life and developing all of these different fruits, what it takes. It takes Bible study, it takes prayer. We could get into all of those things. That’s a whole different subject. For now, we’re assuming that we’ve developed the fruit of mercy. We’ve developed the fruit of love. The question I have for us is, what are we doing with that?

It says here that if we are merciful toward other people, God will eventually show us mercy as well. And frankly, other people will show us mercy. If we’re merciful toward others, it encourages them to be merciful back toward us if we’ve done something wrong toward them. Showing mercy doesn’t just bring us eternal reward, it will inspire those around us to be merciful themselves and help them receive a greater reward.

So what we’re doing, brethren, is we’re not... what this sermon is trying to do, what I’m trying to get across in this message, we’re trying to take our minds away from our own reward that we’re going to be receiving at the end of our physical lives when we get salvation. And I want us all to walk away focused on everyone else’s reward. If my goal isn’t to just help me get a bigger reward, my goal is to help you get a bigger reward? Of course, I’ll get a big reward for it. We don’t need to think about that.

I want to think about your reward. If I’m merciful toward you, I know that that mercy might inspire you to be merciful. And in doing so, I’m focused on you, not me. I’m thinking about your reward. I’m thinking about you developing that fruit now. And that’s the whole point. If we can get our minds away from the original, you know, you’ve heard the phrase, you reap what you sow. I’m going to title this sermon, “Who Reaps What You Sow.” Do you reap it? Or do other people reap it?

Those of us around us should be reaping what we sow. Our fruits should be used and developed by others beyond us. That’s the whole point. So if we merely think about sowing seeds to reap eternal life, we’re thinking way too small. And in the end, we’re kind of thinking selfishly. We’re kind of thinking selfishly. The real benefits come when our fruits impact others. And how do we do this? We take our hard-earned fruits and we distribute them.

Turn over to Ecclesiastes chapter eleven. Ecclesiastes chapter eleven. Start reading in verse one. Ecclesiastes eleven, one. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days.” Now, we’ve all heard that phrase before, “Cast your bread on the waters, for you’ll find it after many days.” What it means, and we’re going to continue to read down and help clarify it, what it means is give regularly and don’t necessarily expect a return. When we give our fruits toward other people, we’re not always going to get an immediate takeaway from it. But that’s not the point. The point is that we gave the fruit. We did our part. We did the best that we can to develop other people and share those fruits that we have with others.

We cast that bread on the water. And after many days, we might take it up again. Verse two, “Give a portion to seven and also to eight. Give it to many, everywhere you can find.” Share your mercy, share your love, share your peace, share your temperance. Any fruit that you’ve developed, share it. Make it known, not in a self-righteous way. I am a very temperate person. I would like you to see how temperate I am. No, that is the opposite. That will not inspire other people to become temperate. Let me tell you, that will inspire them to walk the other way and never interact with you again. That’s what that will do.

We’re not talking about self-righteousness here. That’s the farthest thing from what we’re talking about. That has the same effect as just... You’re actually better off not sharing your fruit if you’re going to do that. Okay? You’re better off just starting to have... Let them fall off and rot and all of these things before being self-righteous and shoving them in people’s face. Don’t do that.

But it’s saying here, as often as possible, “Give a portion to seven and give a portion to eight…” Anywhere you can, spread your fruits with other people, “…for you know not what evil shall be on the earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if the tree falls toward the south or toward the north, and the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.” Life is going to happen, brethren. But the more that we sow good seeds, you could say deposits. I like to say that it’s good to have good deposits with people. If you have a deposit with somebody, you’re putting a little bit of money in the bank. You’re putting a little bit of money here and a little bit of money there. It’s good to deposit toward a relationship.

It doesn’t have to be big deposits, but just little deposits, little deposits in relationships will help develop those relationships. And it will be good. So that if time comes and something happens, you now have all of these wonderful people that you’ve made good relationships with, you’ve inspired in a proper way, who will actually be there for you if something bad happens, or something goes wrong, or you’re in need, or they’re in need. You know, you’ll be there for one another.

Verse four, “He that observes the wind shall not sow. And he that regards the clouds shall not reap.” If we just decide to sit back and not give our fruits to other people, then that effect is like wind. Nothing, just passes by, nobody knows it, and it’s gone. And nobody benefited. “As you know not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so you know not the works of God, who makes all. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand. For you know not whether shall prosper, either this or that, whether they both shall be alike or good.”

We don’t know, brethren. We can’t necessarily fully have control over what happens once we’ve given other people our fruits. But the important thing is that we do it, often, regularly. And as it says, after many days, you’ll take it up again. Have you ever done something for somebody? Maybe you just said something nice to them. Maybe you did something for them. You just completely forgot about it. You did it because you wanted to, and you wanted to help them. But then years down the road, that simple act, that simple phrase, the thing that you said to them, for some reason to them it had such powerful meaning, that years later, they come and they say, “Thank you for saying that to me. Thank you for doing that for me. I remember that. It was important to me at that time, and you were there and helped me.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t remember what you’re talking about.” What that is, brethren, that’s you casting bread on the waters. That’s you letting your light shine to speak to the sermonette. That’s you giving your fruits to other people in hopes that maybe it will impact them in a big way, in ways that maybe they don’t even yet understand, nor do you. Turn over to First Timothy chapter six.

First Timothy six and verse seventeen says this, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they may be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the loving God who gives us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute.” Paul was charging Timothy to charge all the brethren that he was working with, make sure that you have them be ready to distribute. Rich in good works. Rich in good works. Willing to communicate. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Brethren, that’s the thing. Of course, sharing our fruits with others is going to help us eternally as well. That’s the point here. It will help us, but our focus shouldn’t be on ourselves in certain regards. Let’s turn over to Acts chapter nine. Let’s read a fascinating account about a woman that we don’t read much about. So, Acts chapter nine, we can all take a lesson from this wonderful saint. Acts nine and verse thirty-six. “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and almsdeeds, full of them.”

That word full isn’t... excuse me, it isn’t just plēroō, which means full or complete and so forth. I think it’s plērēs. it’s very similar but different. It’s almost like a stronger version of that word, and it means replete, covered over, and complete, complete with good works. Have you ever met anybody in your life who is covered over and complete with good works? That’s an amazing status to hold. She was known for that.

“And it came to pass...” verse thirty-seven, “...in those days that she was sick and she died.” Brethren, we’ve seen people die in the faith who were wonderful, who were servants. And what happens when they die? People mourn their loss. “Whom when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber.” They took this lady Tabitha up to the upper chamber after she had died. “And for as much as Lydda...” that was the city, “...was near to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men. They said, ‘Go get Peter, he’s only in Lydda. Send him over to come back to Joppa.’ Desiring then that he would not delay to come to them.”

“Then Peter arose and went with them. And when he was come, they brought him to the upper chamber and all the widows stood by him, weeping.” What did they do? “They showed the coats and the garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.” This woman was so full of fruits, she had made clothing, garments for these other people in the congregation that she knew, and the other people in the area, and she had such an impact on other people that they were so mourning her loss that they brought those clothes that she had made for them.

In verse forty, “And Peter put them all forth and kneeled down and prayed. And turning him to the body said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and the widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And it came to pass that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon, the tanner.”

She was full of good works. She lived the Ecclesiastes eleven, verse six, casting your bread on the waters, and after many days, take it up again. You know what many days was for her? Her death. She wasn’t even there to see the reward. She wasn’t even there to behold all these wonderful people who came and were witnesses to the fact that she was such a great person in her life. But we can read about it. And she could eventually see it once she was resurrected. She lived Ecclesiastes eleven, making sure that every day she was benefiting those around her. And her fruits never died on the vine.

John chapter four. John chapter four and verse thirty-four. John four and verse thirty-four says this, “And Jesus said to them, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’ “Christ didn’t come here to do his own will. He came here to do the Father’s. “Say not you that there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together.” And herein is that saying true. One sows and another reaps. What does this mean?

Christ was saying, if you look out on these proverbial fields, fields of people, if you could put it that way, they’re white to harvest. They’re ready to be reaped. They’re ready to be worked with. And what He was saying was, people in generations prior to, all the way going back to Abraham and all these patriarchs, they’ve been holding to the truth in certain regards all the way through the centuries. Isaac was able to reap the fruits that Abraham had already started to sow. Jacob was able to reap the fruits that Isaac was able to sow off of Abraham.

And to this very day, brethren, for thousands of years now, we’re not just here today because all of a sudden, we’re so great and so special that we could all figure this out on our own. We’re standing on the shoulders of people whose fruits we are still partaking of. Think about Mr. Armstrong and what he had done to bring truth back to God’s Church. Without Mr. Armstrong, none of us would be here. Then think about the deception that occurred at the apostasy and how everybody watered down the truth or just abandoned the truth all together, but Mr. Pack decided to hold fast.

Without Mr. Pack, that one man deciding to hold fast with his wife at his side at the time, we wouldn’t be here. The fruits that they have borne. They didn’t just say, “Oh, I’ve got all the truth. I’m going to hold it with me. I’m not going to share it with any...” They shared it. They spread it abroad. They preached the gospel. They made sure that access to the truth was everywhere it could possibly be found so that you and I today can sit in this room and obey God and have a chance at eternal life.

Without that, without them, those people, going all the way back... I mean, it just goes back as far as the eye can see, before Christ’s time, because the fields were white to harvest then. Without them and the fruits that they have borne and that they decided, not just that they’ve borne, that they decided to share with us, we wouldn’t be here. We can never ever forget that. It’s easy to forget that. It’s easy to eventually come into God’s church and think, “I’ve got this figured out. Oh, I don’t like this, that, or the other,” and blow yourself out of the church for what?

We were given this opportunity, brethren. Not by our own selves, but by God who called us, and God, who worked through people whom he’s called before us, so that we can have this special and precious time here at the Feast of Tabernacles. We are reaping the benefits of what Mr. Pack and Mr. Armstrong, before him, and saints before them, have produced. And without these men sowing good seeds decades ago, and all the way through today, we wouldn’t be here.

But the same is true with us personally, brethren. Do you not think that you can have the same impact on other people that the Bible greats have had on others? You can have that same impact. All it takes is you sharing the fruits that you’ve produced. Don’t put them under a bushel. Genesis chapter eighteen. You want to take this idea of standing on the... You’ve heard the phrase, “standing on the shoulders of giants.” We didn’t get here because we’re all of a sudden way up in the sky. We’re standing on people’s shoulders a mile high. People who have worked with God directly from the beginning, including Abraham. Genesis chapter eighteen.

Genesis chapter eighteen. You want to see what a simple, simple generosity towards someone else, toward other people, brought about? This is the impact that our little deeds can eventually have. Let me show you. Verse one. Genesis eighteen and verse one. “And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre,” Abraham, “...and sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground and said, my Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away,” don’t just pass by my house and continue on your journey, “...I pray you from your servant.

“Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.” Stay for a little bit, let me serve you, let me help you with some water, let me get, wash your feet and my wife will go help you as well. “And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah and said, make ready quickly the three measures of fine meal needed and make cakes upon the hearth.” Baked bread for him very quickly. “And he took butter and milk and the calf, which he had dressed, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.”

“And they said unto him, where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto you according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.” Who is that? Isaac. “And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which she was behind him. And now Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure in my Lord, Abraham, being old also?”

“And the Lord said to Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will return unto you according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Now let me ask you this. I’m not entirely sure if that was God or Christ speaking. I would kind of assume it’s Christ, but I’m not sure. That’s unimportant. One of the two God-beings is there talking with Sarah and Abraham.

What would have happened if Abraham decided not to say to the Lord and to those that were with him, “Please, stop on your journey, on your way by, come and have a glass of water, let me wash your feet, I’ll get this calf for you, sit here under the shade, we’ll tend to you?” What would have happened? The birthright blessing wouldn’t have happened. And we all know that God would have probably brought it about some other way. But why was it recorded that the great birthright blessing to Abraham about Isaac being born and all of the sand of the sea coming off of Isaac and Jacob and everybody today, including Ephraim and Manasseh and the great promises to Ephraim and Manasseh later on, all of that started with a simple act of service.

Abraham decided, you know what, I’m going to share my fruits with these people passing by, knowing that it was God there too. But rather than just letting them walk by, he stopped them and served them. That’s all it took. The course of history was changed forever because of one simple act of kindness. You must never forget that. Do you not think that one little act of kindness that you have can have... I mean, none of us are going to be pretty well in the God family. Who knows what will happen? But do you not think that one little act of kindness could produce massive effects in other people’s lives? Of course, it can. The question is how often are we sharing them? How much are we giving?

We don’t have much time left, but here’s a few simple ways that we can practice distributing our hard-earned fruits. The fruits that we’ve worked hard at developing, the character, if you will, that we’ve begun to develop in our lives. Here’s a few simple ways that we can share those fruits and distribute them. Set your will to never miss a day of serving somebody, giving your fruits. Set your will to never miss a day of doing good works.

You could ask yourself, another way of putting it is, what have I done for others today? What have I done for others today? Am I at the feast because I just want to enjoy it, or am I at the feast because I’m thinking of other people and thinking about their needs? Maybe I’m thinking about their eternal life. How can I help that person toward eternal life, a greater reward themselves? You could ask yourself, what fruits have brethren or anyone else around me... It could be a waiter or a waitress at a restaurant or anybody. What fruits have brethren or anyone else around me been able to pluck from me today?

Brethren, I look out into the audience and I see vast fruits here right now. I’ve told you that earlier. They’re growing off of you in abundance. I see ears of corn. Okay, there’s one. I see a head of lettuce over here. Okay. I see a few black-eyed peas, some potatoes over there. Yes, I’m a dad. That’s what you get when you become a dad. Cheesy jokes.

Let’s turn over to Matthew chapter twenty. It was like something that I developed being a dad. I didn’t have that ability before being a dad, but now I do. And so I’m sharing that fruit with you right now. Matthew chapter twenty, verse twenty-five. Matthew twenty and verse twenty-five. “But Jesus called them unto him and said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you…” let him be your minister, “…let him be your servant. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life for a ransom for many.”

Christ set the bar for how often we should be doing good works and serving others, and that bar is as often as possible. Christ gave His entire life as a ransom for us. So you and I have been bought and paid for, and our lives aren’t our own. We’re here to be living sacrifices. That’s the whole point.

So if we decide, “Oh, I’m just going to do one good deed a week. I’m going to do something... I’m going to share my fruits with other people just once this week,” that’s not enough. We need to do it every day. And because we’re not here at the feast and we’re not engaged with the brethren every single day, that’s not to say that others in the world couldn’t share those fruits, see those fruits. You could still benefit them.

The second point, another way we can distribute our hard-earned fruits, is to give godly advice. If we see somebody who is struggling with something, look, if it’s a real big issue, of course, go to the ministry. But if somebody just needs a pick-me-up and they need advice on how to... go over and encourage them. You don’t have to be a minister to give good counsel to somebody. Maybe you’re very intelligent in the field that you’re in, and somebody has a need... They see their car broken down, and you know how to fix engines, you know how to do all kinds of things mechanically, help them. Give good advice. Be apt to teach.

It says in Second Timothy chapter two and verse twenty-four, speaking to the ministers, but we heard here in Matthew twenty that we’re all ministers, we’re all servants, we’re supposed to be apt to teach, ready to teach when necessary, but also ready to know when something is above our pay grade and above our head and that we shouldn’t get into that and we should just say, it’d be better if you go talk to the minister. We should be ready and willing to help other people at a moment’s notice.

And the last point of how we can better distribute our fruits with others is to go above and beyond, wherever we can, go above and beyond. Turn over to Mark chapter eleven. Mark eleven, we’ll pick it up in verse eleven. Mark eleven, eleven. “And Jesus entered Jerusalem, and into the temple. And when he looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry.”

“And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find it anything thereon. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet.” The time of figs was not yet. It wasn’t even fig season yet. So this is kind of a strange parable. When Christ saw the fig tree afar off, it didn’t have leaves. Verse thirteen. “If haply he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, there was nothing there because it wasn’t yet the time of figs.” And Christ did something curious. “He answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of you hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. And they come to Jerusalem. And Jesus went to the temple and began to cast them out that sold the moneychangers,” and so forth.

If you come down to verse twenty, it comes back to the fig tree again. “And in the morning, as they passed by and saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Peter, calling to remembrance, said unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which you cursed is withered away. And Jesus answering said unto him, have faith in God, for truly I say to you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be you removed, and be you cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe in the things which he has said, shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says.” And Christ continued.

But the question in my mind has always been, why did Christ curse that tree? It wasn’t even the time of figs. Why was it cursed? And brethren, the only answer I could come to in talking with others about it is that Christ wanted that fruit to produce more than it actually could. But it didn’t. Think about us. God wants us to go above and beyond in all that we do. He doesn’t want us to just produce the status quo that hit the quota of fruits. He wants us to produce more. The only way I could take this, and we could all take it, is Christ saw that the fig tree didn’t go above and beyond in producing fruits out of season when He wanted it to, and so He cursed it.

It’s not enough for us, brethren, to be given a talent or a pound in our lives, and to take that very pound, go bury it, and come back at the resurrection, at the time of judgment, having that same talent in hand. What happens to a person like that? They’re dealt out. The whole point of the talents and pounds parables is that we take the thing that God has given us. It could be a fruit, it could be our temperance, it could be our patience, and we develop it.

Now, practically speaking, what does it mean to develop that fruit? It means that we go out and share it with others. That’s how we develop our talents. That’s how we develop our pounds. That’s how you take one pound and turn it into two or five or ten. Because brethren, you’re not just benefiting yourself, you’re not just coming back with what God gave you. You’re coming back and having produced more fruit in other people, too. That’s what God wants. It’s an amazing plan that God has built and designed.

And so, brethren, this Feast of Ingathering is a perfect time to consider the fruits that we have borne and to share them with one another. We have to just completely change our focus away from our eternal reward in certain regards that we’ll get by doing these works, and think about the eternal rewards others will receive. That’s the goal. And they’ll receive them because you shared them with them, you shared your fruits. And brethren, in so doing, the feast will by far be the best you will ever have.