“What we DO matters, even if we never ever see the justice we seek, or the change that we yearn for. We plant seeds anyway in the hope for an orchard in a future that may be beyond us.” — Christa Brown
Despite all the things which crush, burn, rip out and starve the seedlings we have planted, we keep on planting seeds. Despite the porn juggernaut, and bro-culture, and all the varieties of blindness and systemic abuse which blight most of the seeds we plant, we keep on planting seeds.
We keep on planting seeds, even if they never grow or produce any fruit that we can see.
In this picture, the passers-by do not care that the birds will snatch many of the seeds as soon as they hit the ground. These men with long robes pass by on the other side, letting the sower labour on his own. They might even be discussing deep theological concepts, while not giving any thought to this peasant who is struggling to grow a crop in a hostile environment.
Most of the seeds that germinate will fail to thrive because of poor soil moisture, rocks, pathogens or toxins in the soil. Of the few seeds that do grow, most will be crowded out by thistles, thorns and other weeds, or be eaten by insect pests, or blighted by frost. The sower may never see a fruitful crop in this lifetime. We cannot control many of these “environmental” factors; they are outside our influence. They are controlled by evildoers who control so much in this fallen world — namely, Satanists and those who are blind to or actively complicit with Satan’s agenda. As I’ve said countless times in the past, many so-called Christians are blind to or actively complicit with Satan’s agenda. They may have good intentions — they ‘mean well’ — but they are blind.
Fruit trees planted long ago by others may have been keeping us alive. If those trees are cut down in siege warfare (contra Deuteronomy 20:19), we and our descendants face starvation.
Nevertheless, we persevere in planting seeds — as much as we are able in our frailty — because what we do matters.
I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of thee: Namely, to do right, to have pleasure in loving-kindness, to be lowly, and to walk with thy God. (Micah 6:8, Matthew Bible, spelling gently updated.)
Christa Brown talked about “an orchard that may be beyond us”. All who remain faithful will enjoy an orchard in eternity:
And he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the seat of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of the street of the city. And on either side of the river there was the wood of life, which bore twelve kinds of fruit, and gave fruit every month. And the leaves of the wood served to heal the people.
And there shall be no more curse, but the seat of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. And they will see his face, and his name will be in their foreheads. And there will be no night there, and they need no lamp, nor the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they will reign forevermore. (Revelation 22:1-5, NMB, emphasis added.)
We will all be judged for our deeds
On the Day of Judgement we will all be requited for our deeds. In other words, when Jesus Christ winds this world up like a scroll and brings in the New Heavens and New Earth, giving each person their resurrection body, some to damnation and some to eternal life, we will all be judged for our deeds.
Are you shocked to hear that we will be judged for our deeds? It is a biblical truth, although it’s not taught much in evangelical Christendom.
Listen carefully. Our virtuous deeds do not obtain salvation for us — salvation is a gift from God. (Rom 3:8; Gal 2:16; 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:5) But it is foolish to ignore all the passages which say everyone will be judged (rewarded) according to their deeds. (Ps 18:20-46; Matt 16:27; Rom 2:6; 2 Cor 11:15; 2 Tim 4:14; Titus 1:16; James 2:14-26; Rev 20:12-13; 22:12)
Let me show you the New Testament passages which say everyone will be judged (rewarded) according to their deeds.
All New Testament quotes are from the New Matthew Bible (NMB).
“For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he reward every person according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:27)
“He will reward every person according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6)
“Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers fashion themselves as though they were the ministers of righteousness – whose end shall be according to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11:15)
“Alexander the coppersmith did me much ill; the Lord reward him according to his deeds.” (2 Timothy 4:14)
“They confess that they know God, but with their deeds they deny him, and are abominable and obstinately self-willed, not to be trusted for any good works.” (Titus 1:16)
“Will you understand, O vain man, that faith without deeds is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified through works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? You see that faith operated with his deeds, and through the deeds, the faith was made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled that says: Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. You see then how by deeds a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also, was not Rahab the harlot justified through works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” (James 2:20-25)
“And I saw the dead, both great and small, stand before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by those things that were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead that were in her, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them. And they were judged, every person according to his deeds.” (Revelation 20:12-13)
“And behold, I come shortly, and my reward with me, to give to everyone according to his deeds.” (Revelation 22:12)
For reasons of space I have not quoted Ps 18:20-46, but if you want to read it, go here.
Sometimes the seeds of truth we plant are not in the form of words
To plant seeds, we do not always have to use words. Seeds can be silent but firm resistance against evil. Refusal to comply with the lies. Refusal to agree with oppressors’ narratives. Refusal to smile when they smirk. Refusal to overlook how they abuse and mislead people. Refusal to go along with a shallow doctrine of forgiveness that does not require repentance from the oppressor.
Every act and every moment of resistance to oppression is a seed that might germinate into a seedling. This is true whether the resistance is overt or covert, seen or unseen by others, silently prayed out to God, silently clenched in one’s heart and belly and in eyes that say No to liars.
As sowers, we may never see one seed we plant become a fruitful tree in our lifetime. That is one reason why we need to trust God’s Word — His promises in Revelation 22 which I quoted above.
My best wishes to all of you who remain faithful to Him.
***
For further listening, viewing and reading
Why Not Quit? — a one hour talk given by Julie Roys at the 2023 Restore Conference. (Note, I found the talk very helpful, but I do not endorse every individual whom Julie Roys cites favourably.)
A Deep-Dive into the Book of Romans: Dr. N.T. Wright — Preston Sprinkle interviews Tom Wright about his recently released book Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter. Go to 46:35 to hear Wright talking about how Romans 8:23-30 is chiefly about our glorification, not our justification:
(48:45) We are called to be the people who stand at the place where the world is in pain. … God by the Spirit comes to dwell at the place where the world is in pain, by dwelling in the hearts of His faithful people, so that when they are most aware of the pain and horror of the world, and when there’s nothing to say except, “My God why did you abandon me?” then at that very point the Spirit is groaning within us with groanings that cannot even come into speech. And when you realise what Paul is saying, he’s saying that there are some situations which are so bad that even the Third Person of the Trinity has no words to say about what’s really going on. … Part of the glorification of the church is that the church is privileged to be the people of lament in the places where the world is groaning in travail right now…
At 53:50 in the podcast, Tom Wright explains why he thinks Romans 8:28 has been mistranslated and misinterpreted. He argues that verse 28 means God works all things through those who love him. And those who love God are those who groan and lament with the Spirit without necessarily being able to put their groaning laments into words. God is working together with and through those who love him. He is collaborating with those who love him. (The Greek word sunergei in Romans 8:28 means work with, collaborate with.)
Christa Brown’s substack (her blog)
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An initial comment….I’m still kind-sorta processing something I read earlier today…. 😊 And either WordPress has made another change or I’ve done something differently….I’m hardcoding HTML this time. 😊
From Barb’s opening post:
That. Although — and no offence intended, Barb 😊 — something of ours that we planted and thought was blighted might eventually (and we might or mightn’t see it happen) grow and / or produce fruit. 😊
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Adding on to my comment of 6th December 2023….
In my comment, I wrote:
I was planning on writing a longer comment today, but something similar has happened….I was re-reading through Barb’s post, as well as her link to Psalm 18:20-46 when I noticed something REALLY good that I haven’t experienced in quite a while 😊 (omitting details for my safety and protection).
In my first comment, I’d had an insight into something from quite a few years ago (omitting details for my safety and protection, as well as the safety and protection of many other people). Although I processed through the insight rapidly, I was left VERY tired. 😊 And as a result of that insight, I realized that what I’ve been experiencing almost all of my life is what might be called a “time-release” miracle 😊 ….a miracle that started the day I was baptized and saved at six months old. I’ve often said that when people pray for a miracle and expect instant and complete results (including instant healing), that such a thing would probably have killed me. I was right. 😊
Since I was baptized and saved at six months old, my life’s been kinda-sorta like a “time-release” coming out of the fog. And this coming out of the fog is NOT the same as the whole “salvation thing”. 😊 I’ve been doing two things all along….healing though a “time-release” miracle (omitting details for my safety and protection) and the “doing the Christian thing” (becoming more Christ-like).
Today, I read through part of the transcript from the linked The Roys Report podcast titled Why Not Quit?, but stopped reading part way through….then I read through part of Barb’s post and thought that Barb’s post said something similar but WAY better. And for those readers who’ve not yet read Barb’s Blindness Series, might I suggest you follow the link in her post to her Blindness Series Digest (found when you click on her phrase “blind to”).
And, Barb, I’m taking the liberty of copying-and-pasting (and re-formatting a bit) the quote from Psalm 18:20-46 that you linked to in your post (and which has FAR better wording the another translation I’d compared it to 😊). It was while I was reading this part of Psalm 18 that I noticed something REALLY good that I haven’t experienced in quite a while 😊 (omitting details for my safety and protection).
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Thank you for posting the whole of Psalm 18 in your comment, Finding Answers.
I especially love this part of your comment:
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Adding on to my comment of 8th December 2023….
From Barb’s post:
(The word “reconciliation” in brackets was added by me.)
That. And I would add….not laughing at “jokes” — things that are racist, derogatory, or diminishing about those who are “not us” or “not like us”.
From Barb’s post:
That, although we can’t be certain of how other people will be judged on Judgement Day….as humans, we can’t know another’s heart, we can only see their actions, reactions, or responses. And for some ideas on how we might misjudge people because they’ve been hurt or hurting, please read Barb’s thoughtful and excellent post Liam Goligher turns out to be a wolf in shepherd’s clothing and follow the links in her post and in the comments thread to the two posts at The Wartburg Watch, reading the posts AND the comments if you’ve the time, the energy, etc. I’m not giving an order, merely making a suggestion. 😊
There were two people in my life — both Christian men (one a Christian and the other more likely a “Christian”), not my immediate or extended family, nor my ex-“husband” — that I’m certain have been already been condemned to hell as they committed the unpardonable sin (omitting details for my safety and protection, as well as the safety and protection of many other people).
I’m copying-and-pasting one of the examples I mentioned (from this comment of mine on Barb’s Liam Goligher post):
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Adding on to my comment of 18th December 2023….
From my comment (and is a quote by Barb in her post):
No offence to you intended, Barb….something I just read from Jimmy Hinton’s newest post (Do abusers feel remorse when confronted? [Internet Archive link], January 23, 2024….the Internet Archive link was done by me.)….your quote gave me a “jumping off” point to add what I wanted to quote. 😊
From Jimmy Hinton’s post:
(Jimmy Hinton’s name in brackets was added by me.)
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Well said, Finding Answers!
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I came here looking for your article on Goligher. Please reply again in Wartburg Watch if you have completed your post.
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Hi Friend 2,
I’ve commented on The Wartburg Watch and included a link to Barb’s post on Liam Goligher. My apologies if there is a delay in my comment appearing there 😊 — I’ve not previously commented on The Wartburg Watch using this screen name, and it might’ve gotten hung up in moderation (also known by some on TWW as customs 😊).
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