Do Not Be Deceived!

C. But Paul began his statement of this eternal principle with some very disturbing words, "Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked." Why did Paul say that? Is it possible for us to be deceived?

Maybe we think we have pulled the wool over God’s eyes, that God doesn’t see what we are doing, or know what is going on inside our hearts & minds.

But Paul says, "You must not deceive yourselves. You are not deceiving God. God knows what kind of seed you are sowing, & whatever kind of seed you sow, that is the kind of seed you will reap when the day of harvest comes."

PROP: With that in mind, there are four important lessons in this passage that I want to call to your attention this morning.

I. WISE SOWERS SOW WITH THE HARVEST IN MIND

A. The first is this, "Wise sowers sow with the harvest in mind."

I’m not a farmer. But I think that if we were to go to a farmer when he is sowing seed & ask him why he is sowing, he would tell us that he is sowing seed in hopes of getting a good harvest. I really don’t imagine that He ever sows just for the fun of sowing.

Maybe sowing could be fun. In the springtime birds are singing, & the sun is shining brightly. After being cooped up all winter, it is just great being outdoors in the beautiful spring weather. But even with all that going for them, I’m convinced that farmers never sow just for the fun of sowing.

B. But in our personal lives, I’m afraid that many people enjoy their sowing, without ever giving a thought about the harvest that is to come.

ILL. That is one explanation for the generation gap that we hear so much about. Over there is a younger generation who is enjoying the fun of sowing, & they never think about the harvest.

But over here is an older generation who also sowed without considering the harvest. But time has passed, & now they’re beginning to reap their harvest, & that makes a big difference in the way they look at life.

So now they’re trying to warn those who are following in their footsteps, but no one pays much attention.

Paul calls that "sowing to please the sinful nature." We call it "sowing wild oats." But the harvest of destruction is the same.

ILL. A few years ago, Ann Landers published a letter from a prison inmate. It was a pathetic letter that really tugged at your emotions, written by a man whose mother had just died, & he couldn’t attend her funeral because he was in prison.

He wrote, not to complain about the legal system, because he said that he really did deserve what he was getting. But he wrote to tell the story of his life, how his mother’s one wish was that he would be released from prison before she died. And how that one wish was never realized.

He said, "The reason I am in prison is because I thought I could take shortcuts, that somehow I could ignore the rules, & get away with it." But he didn’t, & you really never do.

Think about the Apostle Paul. It would have seemed smarter for Paul to have remained just a Jew, because he had prestige & honor among them. He was a respected teacher & leader in Jewish circles.