The Word x 2
The Lord Jesus used both water and seed as illustrations of the germinating and life-giving power of the Word. How do these work together?
“As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11)
“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work…Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Cor. 9:8, 10, 11).
These two passages—one from the gospel prophet, Isaiah, and one from the evangelist to the Gentiles, Paul—are linked by the common idea of combining bread for food and seed for sowing. The Isaiah passage is a promise; the Corinthian verses are a prayer.
In Bible days, if a farmer didn’t sow seed, he had two problems the next year. He had no seed for his fields and no bread for his table. Is there a lesson here for us? If we are not in the fields sowing seed, it is not just that our harvesting of souls diminishes. It may also be that our children are starving for the Word. Not that there is a shortage of preaching! But I know that in my own public ministry, if I was not involved in sharing the gospel with the lost, my preaching became disconnected with reality. My addresses were more like reading a menu than actually serving food. Only with this combination will we be “enriched in everything to all bountifulness” and our personal lives and assemblies ring with “thanksgiving to God.”
But notice carefully the description of the Word of God in the Isaiah passage. I have heard it suggested from this verse that every tract, every verse quoted, will not return to God “void.” But is it really saying that? Notice that here the Word of God is not spoken of as the seed or the bread but as the precipitation that germinates the seed and causes the grain to grow. I would suggest that the seed and the bread picture the Word of God as we speak it (to sinner or saint), and the water is the confirmatory word from heaven.
A person is not saved, nor is a saint inspired, by the mere mention of Scripture by a human agent. People are saved when they actually hear the Lord speaking to their souls. So it is with the ministry of the Word to God’s people. As we, His servants, speak the words of the Lord, He by His Spirit confirms this through His own gracious work. At such times we know the Lord Himself is communicating with us. Such communication, He declares, “shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please….”
Is the same idea found in John 3:5? “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Is it possible that the Lord Jesus is referring to the same idea of the confirming word from heaven and the germinating work of the Spirit?
The apostle gives additional encouragement. The Lord not only adds His gracious ministry to the Word but also to the workers: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).