The "Seed" Decree
By Dennis Ross

(Decree: "An authoritative order having the force of law" Amer. Merit. Dict.)

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:1-2)

"In the Beginning," the Father, the Son, (cf. John 1:1-3), and the Holy Spirit created order from chaos, and brought forth that which we call Earth. Then they made the following decree:

"... Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:11-12)

After the flood, God said, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,... shall not cease.." (Genesis 8:22)

As long as the earth remains, "the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word." (Cf. 2 Peter 3:7) Nothing has changed. It is still essential that there be seed and fruit for reproduction. Where there is no seed, there can be no fruit; and without fruit, the seed dies.

In spiritual matters, God's word is the seed. Long ago, God said: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (without fruit), but it shall prosper whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:8-11)

As it is in nature, so it is with God's word; it only produces fruit after its kind. Jesus, in His parable of the sower (Luke 8), refers back to the beginning "seed decree" to establish the spiritual law of fruit bearing.

"A sower went out to sow his seed." (vs.5) "The seed is the word of God." (vs.11) "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.(vs.12) And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. (vs.13) And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. (vs.14) And these are they which are sown on good ground (in honest and good hearts)." (vs.15) "Such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some an hundred." (Mark 4:8)

Jesus taught that only when the seed, the word of God, is planted in honest and good hearts, does it produce fruit. Without fruit, the seed becomes dead to the soul. Fruit not after its kind, becomes dead to God. Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, taught His disciples that they would either produce fruit unto the glory of the Father, or they would perish. The same thing remains true today.

"I Am the true vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I Am the vine; ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." (John 15:1-8)

Unless the seed (the Godhead) abides within us, we cannot produce fruit. The only medium through which the Godhead dwells in us, is the same medium through which we become Christians, and dwell in God. That medium is the seed-the word of God.

Only as God's word dwells in a man's soul (cf. Colossians 3:16), can the Godhead dwell in him. And until God abides in the soul, it cannot produce the fruit through which it glorifies God. Until the seed, God's word, takes root, there will be no fruit bearing. For the fruit of the word is the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). Sadly, many religious-minded souls are being deceived into believing that they are producing the fruit of the Spirit, when they are producing nothing more than better-felt-than-told feelings, or experiences, or insights. Christians are to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), God's word (cf. Colossians 3:16). "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, are spirit, and are life." (John 6:63; cf. Ephesians 6:17)

The world misunderstands the Holy Spirit's work and that work's medium--God's word. Whenever one plants a seed, he expects it to reproduce the same type of fruit. Corn seeds bring a harvest of corn. Apple seeds produce apples-not grapefruits or oranges. To grow a Christian, plant God's word (His good seed) in the believer's heart. Any other seed type produces another crop type.

Allow me to give you a few examples:

How can we plant differing doctrines and belief systems in men's hearts and expect to harvest New Testament Christians? Just as we cannot produce grapefruits by planting apple seeds, we can't produce Christians with any seed other than God's word. Why? EVERY SEED PRODUCES AFTER ITS OWN KIND! That is God's "Seed Decree."


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