2 Timothy 2 Pt. 4 Tilling The Fields Of The Heart To Receive The Seed Of the Gospel

2 Timothy 2:1-5  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2)  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3)  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4) No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5)  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 

So far, the apostle Paul has told Timothy that he must remain dependent upon the grace of God in Christ. 

He must also pass on the gospel truth and the apostolic doctrine to the next generation of Christians. 

Paul has compared the life of a pastor or elder to being a good, well prepared soldier serving in the army of God. 

He also compared this to an Olympic athlete who must exercise discipline by training hard and following the prescribed rules. 

Now, Paul will make another comparison to teach us about of the life of a pastor, elder or church leader.

A powerful agricultural metaphor teaching truths about gospel ministry. 

2 Timothy 2:6  The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

Paul now uses an agricultural metaphor because this is an effective way to teach truth.

A "husbandman" is a farmer who tills the earth or is a keeper of a vineyard. 

It literally means a toiling tiller of the soil who puts in sweat equity to prepare a field for planting. 

Plowing with horses. 

Using a Harrow

Using a disc.

The ground must be thoroughly broken up, and then it must have a harrow run over it to pull up any remaining roots or stones. 

Finally, it must receive a good going over by a discing which breaks the soil down more completely into good ground ready to receive the seed. 

This same metaphor is used throughout the Bible. The husbandman must first plow his ground before he can expect a crop. 

Then he must till it using a harrow and discs according to best practices of agriculture, else he will not have a crop.

The clods or soil of our heart must be broken up, to receive the seed of the gospel.

Isaiah 28:23-26  Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 24)  Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? 25)  When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? 26)  For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 

God taught Adam and Eve how to till the ground and be productive keepers of the garden of Eden. 

A husbandman uses various methods to prepare his land, and adapts it to the specific kinds of seeds to be sown. 

He carefully observes the seasons and weather patterns to plant and harvest at the optimum time.  He employs different methods for different sorts of grain.

In like manner, the pastor and elder must labor and toil, preparing the soil of the heart to receive the seed of the gospel.

He must learn and study his congregation, to see what kind of soil he has to work with, and to plan to sow the seed of the gospel in a way best suited to each person.

There is a bountiful harvest of souls and we must work to bring it in. 

Matthew 9:35-38 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36)  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37)  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38)  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 

As Jesus ministered by teaching and preaching, and healing all who were sick, he had compassion on the people. 

He saw them as a vast harvest of souls, and He said more workers were needed to bring home the harvest for His kingdom.

This is the kind of truth Paul is using to teach pastor Timothy about the importance of being an example of godliness, knowing whom he is ministering to and seeking to preach, teach and share the truth in love. 

John 4:34-38  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35)  Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36) And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37) And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38) I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 

Again, Jesus beheld the throngs of people coming to hear His preaching, and He compared them to a ripe field awaiting harvest. 

One man plows, another uses the harrow or the disc. Another comes along behind to sow the seed into the prepared ground. Yet, others come behind them at the right time, reaping the harvest. 

Such is the kingdom of God. 

3 soils of the heart do not yield fruit, but the good soil does. 

Matthew 13:18-23  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19) When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. 20) But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21) Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22) He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23) But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

This text is Jesus' explanation of the parable of the seed and the Sower. The seed sown is the Word of God. Some hear it, but the Devil snatches it away before they respond to the gospel. 

Some hear the word and are temporarily attracted to it, but when persecution for the gospel comes, they leave. 

Some hear the seed of the gospel but they choose to pursue worldly pleasures instead of seeking heavenly treasure. 

But, there are some whose hearts are like a well prepared field, ready to receive the seed of the scriptures. When they do, it takes root and bears fruit. 

Pastors, elders and church leaders work together in gospel ministry. 

1 Corinthians 3:1-9  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2) I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3) For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4) For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5)  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6) I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 

Paul also wrote to the church at Corinth and reminded them of what the Lord Jesus taught. They were guilty of creating divisions as some followed Paul some followed Peter, some followed Apollos. 

Paul, like Jesus did, reminded them that there is no preeminence among the ministers of the gospel. One plows the field and gets it ready. Another sows the seed of the gospel, another irrigates the field with water. 

Any harvest is from God who alone gives the increase. Thus, they work together in gospel ministry. 

It may be years after someone has sown the seed, and after another has watered the field, before a harvest emerges at the individual level. 

Pastors, elders and lay leaders are God's own husbandmen laboring in the fields of the souls of men. 

Every Christian can be used by God to prepare the fields of those whom we love, to receive the seed of God's Word.

Every Christian can be used of God so sow the seed of the gospel of Christ into another person's life.

Every Christian can be used of God to pray to Him to save the lost and bring a harvest of souls, to fruition.

Every Christian should be willing and ready to do the necessary work of the gospel.

Bob