Your Harvest Is Now by Pastor Jerry Eze: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Ezekiel 37:7-11

Genesis 37

The congregation read together from verse one, recounting Joseph's dream of binding sheaves in the field, his sheaf rising and standing upright while his brothers' sheaves bowed down to it, and how his brothers and father responded to the dream with envy and rebuke.

• Father, we ask that in the next few minutes you make your word and your will known to us.
• Father, let there be none of any man, but all of you. Let Jesus be glorified.

Seeds and Harvest Are Consistent Through Scripture

In this kingdom, seeds and harvest are major and consistent themes running through every area of Christian endeavor. There is no such thing as a random occurrence of God's power; there must be a seed somewhere.

Some are walking in the harvest of prayers sown by others. There were persecuted believers who, long ago, prayed for the gospel in Nigeria to become what it is today. A new generation may be walking in the fullness of a harvest that a group of people under pain and persecution prayed about. They may not have lived to see it, but their harvest is already speaking.

There will always be seed. There will be time, and there will be harvest. It is easier to declare that the theme of a service is harvest than to ask the harder question: if your present seed becomes a harvest and comes back to you, will you be able to receive it?

The Bible was situated in a largely agrarian society. Much of the imagery in the parables and much of the economic life recorded in scripture was tied to who sowed and who scattered what was in the field. Every matter of seed and harvest reflected not only on individuals, but on the economies of nations. In scripture, whenever the devil wanted to block the prosperity of a nation, he used economic blockades. When rival nations wanted to deal with their enemies, they would destroy seed or destroy harvest. When God wanted to discipline a nation, he would cause a famine. A nation's posture toward seed and harvest determined whether there would be a famine, destroyed seed, or a harvest that never came to yield.

Before a harvest is declared, seeds have already been sown. Many under the sound of preaching have sown seeds of prayer, seeds of the word, seeds of righteous living, seeds of hard work, and seeds of creativity. Once there is a seed, there will always be a harvest.

Discern What Is Not Your Harvest

As much as God is interested in the harvest coming, the devil is also interested in it. Not every harvest that comes is from God.

If a farmer plants the right seeds and returns to the farm weeks later, other things may also be growing there, things he did not plant. Some may even produce flowers, seeds, or fruit, yet they are not what was sown. Anyone expecting a harvest must be discerning about what is not their harvest. A farmer can tell the difference between a corn cob, a corn stalk, and a weed. A weed might be colorful and look impressive, but it was never sown.

Weeds grow in the places where nothing was deliberately planted. No weed grows inside of what was planted; it finds the space beside it. The space left open for the enemy becomes the growth of negativity. Like the parable of the tares and the wheat, some things look like a harvest, but appearance can never prove that something was sown by the believer. A seed is both a source and a target of attack; once the right seed is planted, the enemy is bent on attacking it.

The Sheaf That Could Not Be Bound

In his dream, Joseph said he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field, meaning they were gathering the harvested wheat into bundles. While the others were binding their sheaves, Joseph's own sheaf rose up on its own and stood upright, and the sheaves of his brothers bowed down to it.

Those who came against Joseph's harvest wanted to bind it. They wanted to tie it, to define how far it could go, to say he was too young, that he would never reach a certain level. But greater is he that is in Joseph than he that is in the world. Out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. Your harvest cannot be tied down, because eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what the Lord has prepared for those who love him. Any limitation tied to where you were born, where you are living, or where you are aspiring to be, let it be broken right now.

The Bible says Joseph's sheaf bowed to him because his was not tied. Whatever the devil tries to tie remains unable to bow to the next generation waiting on it. If the devil ties someone's prayer life, there are blessings that will not bow to them. The brothers' question to Joseph, asking if he would indeed reign and have dominion over them, was rooted in the fact that harvest determines who is in charge. Joseph did not argue with them; he simply allowed his harvest to speak. Years later, when a massive harvest came through Joseph in Egypt, it was that harvest that made his brothers bow.

The absence of evidence, not the absence of words, is often the real problem. People are quick to explain God in their own English, but the works of God in a person's life should be left to explain him, not their words. When your harvest comes, those around you will hate you for it, but their hatred does not tamper with the harvest. Often, when a person is severely hated for no apparent reason, walking deeper reveals it is because they began to walk into their harvest. Their harvest is now.

Don't Let the Old Season Die in You

Going into the second half of the year and into a season of fasting and prayer, the call is not to let weaknesses, failures of yesterday, anxiety, or depression continue to tie a person down. Those who know someone's story know where they have come from, and though no one is perfect, pushing forward against all odds matters more than perfection.

I pray over every liquid you have, it ceases to be ordinary and becomes the very blood of Jesus. I pray over every substance you have, it ceases to be ordinary and becomes the flesh of Jesus. Your harvest cannot be tied.

Even things that are tied for convenience, to make them easier to carry, can still be too much to be tied down. Once a harvest is tied, it can be regulated and its weight controlled by others.