Tossed bread.

Ecc. 11:1 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.

What an odd thing to think about, to cast bread on the water, what happens if we do that? Will it come back later or will fish and birds consume it, or perhaps just sink to the bottom and decay? It is hard to expect a loaf or even pieces of bread to float back to us once it has been tossed out, rather it will dissolve and not be found again at all, so more likely it we might say our bread is gone and lost.

Or is it? Fishermen know that bread might be used for bait to catch fish. Others know that birds will come and eat crumbs until nothing is left. If anything remains of bread it nourishes the ever lower forms of life, so that nothing is lost or wasted, whether on the ground or in the water. Maybe our bread cast out does return as we find a bounty in what is fed by it.

Ecc 11:2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

We become focused on one goal and at times we build in the path of ruin. We speak only to those who understand as we do, to those who we desire and approve of, seeking our will portrayed as hope. It isn't our choice on where to place our efforts but rather to the tasks that present themselves. Not by our own agendas can anything be built, nor by our dreams realised. It isn't by our will but by God's. The further we spread out what we do increases the influence our efforts make, we do not know with certainty the results, we know only a call to diligence in labour.

Ecc 11:3-5 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies. He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

As much as we want to determine the future and to get what we want, to fulfill our own agendas and wishes, all things are by His will alone and for His purposes. Even when we act in wisdom and watch the signs we are limited to hoping for the results. What we do is in obedience not expecting reward but relying only on merciful grace. What reverence is there is saying "this we will do" and not follow it with "Lord willing"? With so many schemes and contrivances we go forward saying what will result when there is no guarantee at all.

Ecc. 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

How easy it is to do work and think the results are certain and that no more needs being done when complete. At times our work is done and no more is needed yet at others times there is only hope it will produce what we expected. Slackness and laziness will diminish a harvest. It is just as easy to neglect a sermon preached in the evening and place hope on only one preached in a morning. Is it a sermon preached in the morning or in the evening that reveals to the heart it's sinfulness and the need of Christ? It might be slothfulness and excuse for avoiding an opportunity then since we do not know the will of God and when His timing brings about an abundance. In diligence much is done, and in faithfulness much is produced, but in all things it is by God's own providence an increase is realised.

When we evangelise, and when a sermon is preached, are we casting our bread out on the waters or only tossing it where we want to find it? Maybe we aren't looking at God's will or providence but at our own agendas and prejudice. Is it our choice to say where a seed is planted or what we will reap from it? Often we want to save those we like, to ignore those we reject or believe worthless, to proclaim where we find satisfaction rather than go where the abundance is. Maybe we place confidence in ourselves and our intellect, supposing that those destined to be saved by God will be and already are saved so no effort is really needed to evangelise. Such is often the accusation against those that speak of election and predestination.

If we do believe in Election and Predestination of sinners to salvation, that God has chosen who He will redeem, then we must go forth to proclaim that Gospel and leave the choice to God alone. We can not choose who those are, when we pretend to do so then we only manipulate God, and those that seek to manipulate God are idolaters. Therefore, cast that Bread of Life out to every unworthy sinner having a broken and contrite heart, for it is effectual to each one who unconditionally belongs to Christ.

Luke 10:2 And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.


All Scripture texts quoted from NASB(1995)

The Duty of the Church: Evangelism in a World that Desperately Needs the Grace of God

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Ezekiel 3:17 – 19 (ESV)

When someone thinks of duty there are many things that can come to mind. Duty to the Military, Duty to Parents, Duties of your Job... One of the things that is almost never talked about in relation to the Christian faith is that we have duties as Christians, and these duties are not to be held in the same contempt as other duties like doing the dishes or cutting the grass. We need to think about these duties... What are Christian duties? There are many of them, and they are all listed in the Bible. You find a lot of our duties in Exodus like the Ten Commandments, in Matthew 5 like the Beatitudes, or like in the corresponding text in the New Testament that we are going to be looking at, the very last earthly command of the Resurrected Christ in Matthew 28:18-20:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You may be thinking, “He is about to cross the line and interfere with my life.” and I am saying, “Yes, I am about to meddle.” Let us look at another related text in the Old Testament from Ezekiel.

In 3:17, God is speaking to Ezekiel telling him the duty of a prophet. He is a watchman. What is the first duty of a watchman? To be a lookout and an alarm. The watchman is continually looking out for danger and suspicious people or things in order to safe guard something, in this case the people of God. The other duty of a watchman is to sound the alarm at the first hint of danger. You sound the alarm to alert the people and to raise the army to the ready. The people are alerted to flee to safety and the army is sounded to defend the people. So the prophet is the very first line of defense against an enemy spiritual or otherwise, and he does this by keeping a vigilant watch and recognizing potential dangers. The second duty that he performs is the alerting of the people, and the prophet does this by giving information to the people.

You might be thinking, “Well that is all fine and good but that is just for the prophet, right?”. Let's consider that question in light of Scripture. As Christians, with the Holy Spirit working through us, the average Joe in a small part acts as a prophet and as a priest; what is commonly called the “priesthood” of all believers. We are all, as Christians, told to profess and proclaim the teachings of Christ and Him crucified (see Matthew 28 above). In a sense, the Church, the Body of Christ has replaced the historical prophet with a composite of all believers, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God as contained in the Bible as well as the directive from the Christ Himself to take the Word of God to the ends of the earth.

One of the results of genuine conversion is the immense desire to tell everyone in the world the good news of what Christ has done in them. I know that I had this when I first accepted Christ, and the Holy Spirit was working through me. But as time drew on, the initial fire and passion chilled to a simmering ember through the general wetness and heaviness that life likes to pour on us. We need to continually stoke the fire and keep it burning hot. Note I didn't forget or loose my grip on Christ, my fervor just dwindled.

In Ezekiel 3:18 God says the following to the prophet, “When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.” This speaks of great personal importance. God gives us a saving message. He expects us to carry it to everyone to whom that message is pertinent. By withholding it we demonstrate to our brothers that we either have left over pockets of sinful resistance in our souls or at worst demonstrate that we lack the love for others to desire that anyone escape the fires of hell. That should give us sober pause.

God then concludes his warning to Ezekiel in 3:19, “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.” The man of God, we see here, saves his heart from hardening by the sharing of the same message that saved him. God desires mercy, and His message is a message of mercy. That foundation of mercy grounds our salvation. The more intimate that we become with our Savior's story and message, the more intimate we become with ourselves and with God.

What do we gather from Ezekiel 3:7-19 and Matthew 28:18-20? First of all, God gave us a message that saves us from death and condemnation. Second of all, He wants us stand at post like a watchmen, ready to give this message to everyone. Finally, it is out of love that we give this message to the sinful world in order that through hearing they may be saved. The prince of preachers of the 19th century put it this way:

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
C.H. Spurgeon