Sowing Seeds of Righteousness

Jeremiah: Prophet — Divided kingdom — People have turned their back on God

Jeremiah 2:13 ““They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

Yet there is Hope for the Wayward — A call to return

They only needed to ACKNOWLEDGE, ADMIT , CONFESS and RETURN

Season when we get back to…Also when many decide to come back to church

No matter how far we have strayed, God is always wanting for us to return!

Jeremiah 3:12 “O Israel, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.”

Jeremiah 3:14 ““Return home, you wayward children,”

For Israel and Judah, it was so they could again Sow Seeds of Righteousness . Return to living lives of abundance for God’s glory, instead of their own.

Hosea 10:12 “‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’”

Sowing seeds of righteousness would require more than simply coming back — A change of heart.

The hardest part of surrendering my life to Jesus was examining my own heart. Letting him in to fix the parts that weren’t right. A work that God continues in me only by grace.

Living as we should (Jesus), takes hard work…It means digging in, turn up the soil of our own hearts in complete surrender to him.

In what area if your life do you need to return to God? Turn your heart over to Jesus? So you can sow seeds of righteousness and be a vessel for good in the world?

Jeremiah 4:2 “You will be a blessing to the nations of the world, all people will come and praise my name.””

BIBLE — NOTES — PRAY

“You have no events in your calendar today”

We can’t look at the writings of the prophet Jeremiah without understanding the events that were on the horizon, for the people of Isreal and Judah; being overcome and carried away by the Babylonians.

Jeremiah 1:14-15 ““Yes,” the Lord said, “for terror from the north will boil out on the people of this land.

The armies of Babylon was God’s judgement for a nation that had turned away. Judgement is a topic most would rather avoid. Why many struggle with the O.T. God’s wrath is always the last resort.

Knowing what is to come, Jeremiah weeps for his people who would not heed his warnings and the instruction of the Lord — To return and repent.

Jeremiah 4:19 “My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries.”

The begining of Chapter 4 is God giving them another chance to return and what they must do, First directed at Israel (1-2), and then Judah (3-4).

God’s message to Israel is a...

I. The REWARDS of REPENTANCE are CONDITIONAL

Their idolatry had led to separation from God. Under the influence of the Assyrians to the north. They were hanging out with the wrong people, eventually dragging them away.

If we let sin have the last word in our life it csn do the same.

Assyria, named for the god Ashur (highest in the pantheon of Assyrian gods).

Jeremiah 4:1 (NLT)

“O Israel,” says the Lord, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.

In 721 B.C. Assyria swept out of the north, captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and took the ten tribes into captivity. From there they became lost to history.

The rewards of repentance are conditional — Get rid if anything that takes you away from me.

Jeremiah 4:2 (NLT)

Then when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness.

If you will return, you must swear by my name...“Make a statement, oath, or promise, regarding your future acts and behavior”.

The rewards of repentance are conditional — Their repentance or turning back must be sincere. Doing so solemnly and reverently, with truth, justice and right-living.

In other words by their actions God would know their intentions and sincerity, not mere words.

John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””

What are the conditions? Get rid of....make a promise...and start acting like...

Jeremiah 4:2 (NLT)

Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name.”

Then you will invoke blessing on the people. The result of returning to a place of faithfulness would be a blessing to the nations — Both then and now

The believers influence in the world since Jesus to today

I wonder if as the church...have given up on trying to influence the culture around us for God.

Sowing seeds of righteousness brings great reward, but The REWARDS of REPENTANCE are CONDITIONAL

retrun to me — get rid f your idols — make a promise — Do so with truth, justice and righteousness

It would take outward evidence by their actions that proved their repentance...

Our problem: We want the blessing without the conditions.

We want the good...but will avoid whats wrong in our lives. Lord bless me and I will...Why we sometimes avoid the truth of Jesus’ words... they require our response, they demand a change of heart.

God’s message to Judah, sowing seeds of righteousness…you must

II. Allow GOD to FIX Your HEART

Jeremiah 4:3–4 (NLT)

This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord...

It’s more than just your outward appearance and how you act. It’s whats inside that counts.

1 Samuel 13:14 “But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.””

God knew the needs of their heart s — Just like he knows ours.

So God speaks to them so they can understand…

Jeremiah 4:3–5 (NLT)

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord...

Plow up the hardness of your heart. What is keeping you away.

FALLOW GROUND is an uncultivated field. Mosaic law required the Israelites to allow their ground to be left this way once every seven years (Exodus 23:11). In a figurative sense, the expression “break up your fallow ground” referred to returning to righteousness (Jer 4:3; Hos 10:12).

Sowing seeds of righteousness, means doing the hard work of plowing the grounds of our own hearts, ket Jesus fix it, in order to bring God’s blessing of an abundant harvest.

It means getting right with God, so redemption can take place, by allowing the holiness of God to come in.

Perfect Love – Methodism in its inception was a powerful movement influenced by the Holy Spirits work in the person who came to the end of their brokenness and meeting Jesus on their knees with a repentant heart.

“It usually involved two trips to the alter, one to be saved and one to be sanctified or to be made holy...

How do we let God fix our hearts? It requires three things..

1. Having a Heart READY to RECEIVE

Jeremiah 4:3 ““Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!

Seven years is a long time for an uncultivated field to sit — Exposed to the elements. The hard heart is a spiritual problem, and will prevent spiritual transformation. “

It means we have to look at the causes of the hardness...

Unforgiveness — Hurt — Grief — Distance — lack of love — Poor self esteem

The heart receives its own supply of blood from the coronary arteries. When the coronary arteries narrow to the point that blood flow to the heart muscle is limited (coronary artery disease),

Plowing the ground is breaking up the hard surface and readying it to receive; Just as a heart needs blood to pump to the rest of the body. The only answer for the hard heart is the blood of Jesus.

Unless you allow the Lord to heal your heart, you will never grow past the place of your wounding.”

2. A Heart ABLE to REPRODUCE

Jeremiah 4:3 “Do not waste your good seed among thorns.”

“just as natural seeds will not grow on pavement-like soil, so the spiritual fruit of righteousness cannot grow in a spiritually-resistant heart. Cornerstone Com.

A heart functioning well is pumping blood throughout the body, Sowing seeds of righteousness is knowing when to sow and where to plant seeds of faith.

We do that only when our heart is filled with Jesus and his love.

John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

Do you have a heart ready to reproduce, flowing with the love of Jesus?

3. A Heart that is BEATING for GOD

Jeremiah 4:4 “O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power.

God knew what they were going to experience when the enemy came from north…loss, heartache, injustice...but he was also preparing them for revival for when he would bring them back and they would again sow seeds of righteousness.

But first, they had to swallow their pride and surrender their whole-self to him. Is your heart beating for God? what do you need to surrender over so that your heart is beating in step with God’s will?

The good news, you are already more than half way there. Who created us? Our hearts?

Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.”

If you have received the spirit by faith, you have the heart beat of God in you.

Is your heart ready to receive? Is it in good working order and able to reproduce? Do you have a heart beating for God? If you have Jesus in you, you doi!

Jeremiah 4:4 (NLT)

Change your hearts before the Lord....

Is repentance conditional? Yes! We have ti get rid of…make a promise and live differently

Can we sow seeds of righteousness? yes! We only have to God fix our hearts by letting jesus in

What will you do?