Sunday Sermon: The Full Harvest, January 17, 2021

The Full Harvest

Sunday Sermon at Grateful Church (UPCI) in Phoenix

We are sown in corruption, died in repentance, buried in baptism, and are resurrected in the new life of godly desires by the Holy Ghost - Rom 8:11. In the process,

1. We conquer death, temptations, and lust by allowing the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts.

2. We find deeper meaning and purpose in our life. The new life in Christ gives us greater capacity to change lives, families, and communities. The grain of corn produces a forest of cornfields.

3. We are no longer driven by the dictates of our sinful nature but by godly desires of the new life in Christ– Rom 8:2.

Rom 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The Joy of the harvest is that we reap in return more than we invested. The return on investment satisfies our sense of worth, significance, fulfillment, value, etc.

Reading from the text,

Acts 2:1-4

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Lev 23:16

16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days, and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.

Jesus as the seed of Abraham-

The enmity is between the seed of the Eve and the seed of the Serpent, our attitude and our desires, or the mind and the heart. These are the battleground and competing interests we had to deal with and overcome.

Gen 22:18

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Jesus had to die, buried, and come alive as it grows into a new plant to bless the world with the fruit of salvation.

John 12:24

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.

In the process, He became the first fruit of the harvest (1 corint 15:20) and the ear of the corn (Mark 4:28).

1 Cor 15:20

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Mark 4:28

28 For the earth bringeth forth the fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

The Full Harvest – The Church

The full corn in the ear - many little Jesus, came on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:1-4), on the feast of the first fruit -Jesus, as over 3000 souls were filled with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:41

41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Now, we as the fruit have the seed of new life in us through the Holy Ghost to change our world and produce a forest of corns –

John 14:12

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

This is the joy we celebrate in Jesus, the empowerment to change our situation.