MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP #364.)
TEXT: Galatians 6:7 9; Hosea 8:7; Genesis 1:11
(This is a shortened variation of a sermon “Do Not Be Deceived” donated earlier to Sermon Central.)
A. When you were a child did you ever have a special place, a secret place where you could go & be all alone?
ILL. I heard a story once about a boy who did. On the back of the property where he lived was an old fruit tree. It had lots of leaves, but it had produced no fruit in years. High up in its branches, hidden from view by the leaves, there was a perfect spot for a little boy to sit & dream away the hours.
There he was a space ship commander traveling to galaxies unknown. He was a Tarzan, living in a jungle world – master of all he surveyed!
There, too, he would go when he felt mistreated, or misunderstood, or when he felt all alone. Little boys feel that way sometimes. That tree was his hideaway, special to him & to his best friend, another little boy down the road.
So you can imagine how he felt when he heard his father telling his moth¬er, "I think I'll cut down that old fruit tree. It hasn't borne any fruit in years."
What could the little boy do? If he begged his father not to do it, then he would have to say why, & his secret hideaway would be a secret no more.
Then he hit upon a wonderful plan. Since there were a number of apple trees in a field nearby, he & his best friend got a whole basket full of apples. That evening, while his parents were busy inside, he & his friend climbed the tree & tied the stems of the apples to almost every limb of the old fruit tree.
Well, the next morning his father went out & looked at the old tree, & was amazed to see that it was laden with big, fat apples. And the little boy waited to see how his father would react.
His father came back inside &, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "You're not going to believe this, but a miracle took place last night. That old fruit tree is full of apples. There are fat, juicy apples on almost every branch."
His wife smiled & said, "That's amazing." "Yes," the father answered, "& it is even a double miracle because that's not an apple tree. It's a pear tree."
APPL. We smile at that because apple trees don't produce pears & pear trees don't produce apples. When you sow apple seeds you expect apples. When you sow pear seeds you expect pears. When you sow wheat you expect wheat, because we learned a long time ago that what you sow is what you reap.
Listen to the familiar words of Galatians 6:7-9. Paul writes, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; “the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
B. Now this principle that the apostle Paul shares with us here has been around for a long time. In fact, Paul was not the first to say it.
1. Jesus taught that principle in His parables. You remember the parable about the farmer who went out & sowed good seed in his field? (Matt. 13:24-30) Then as he slept, an enemy came & sowed bad seed (weeds) among the good.
No one knew about it until the two kinds of seeds started to grow. One day a servant discovered that there were weeds growing among the wheat. He rushed in & told the master that wheat & weeds were growing side by side.
They concluded, "If wheat & weeds are growing side by side it means that two kinds of seed have been planted." Wheat seeds don't produce weeds, & weed seeds don't produce wheat.
2. Back in the O.T., in Hosea 8:7, the prophet Hosea said, "If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind."
3. Even further back, in Exodus 21:24 Moses says, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound." Moses is talking about reaping what you sow.
4. And we can even go back to Genesis 1:11 where God forms the earth & says, "Let the ground bring forth grass, & the herb yielding seed, & every fruit bearing tree bring forth fruit after its own kind. And it was so." The principle of sowing & reaping is as old as life itself. What you sow is what you reap.
C. But Paul began his statement of this eternal principle with a warning, "Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked."
We may 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 what you will reap when the day of harvest comes."
PROP: With that in mind, there are three important lessons in this passage that I want to call to your attention this morning.
I. WISE SOWERS SOW WITH THE HARVEST IN MIND
The first is, “Wise sowers sow with the harvest in mind.” And they know they have to sow good seed in order to reap a good harvest. But many others live without ever giving a thought about the harvest that is to come.
ILL. That is one explanation for the generation gap. Over there is a younger genera¬tion who is enjoying the fun of sowing, & they seldom think about the harvest.
But over here is an older generation who also sowed without considering the harvest. But time has passed, & 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 seems to be paying 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. Some years ago, Ann Landers published a letter from a prison inmate. It was a 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 - & how that one wish was never realized.
He wrote, "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.
So remember, the first lesson we learn from this Scripture is that “Wise sowers sow with the harvest in mind.”
II. YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW
Our second lesson is brief, but also very important. "You will reap what you sow. You will not reap something else, you will reap exactly what you sow." If you sow wild oats, you will not reap corn. You will reap wild oats.
ILL. John Paul Moore wrote about this in “Drinking From My Saucer "
“I've never made a fortune and it's probably too late now,
But I don't worry about that much I'm happy anyhow.
And as I go along life's journey I'm reaping better than I sow.
I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed.
I ain't got a lot of riches, and sometimes the going's tough;
But I've got my family & friends who love me, and that makes me rich enough.
I just thank God for His blessings and the mercies He has bestowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed,
I remember times when things went wrong my faith got a little bit thin.
But all at once the dark clouds broke, & that old sun peeped through again.
So, Lord help me not to gripe about the tough rows I've hoed.
I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed.
And if God gives me strength & courage when the way grows steep & rough,
I'll not ask for other blessings, I am already blessed enough.
And may I never be too busy to help another to bear his load.
Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed!”
(Found in “Still Waters” by Cynthia Perkins, Westbow Press, pg. 324)
We go through many experiences in life, & some of the seed we have sown in times past is being harvested right now. I'm harvesting some of the seed that I sowed years ago – in an aching back & knees that snap & pop. You know what I mean.
But it is also true that the seed we sow will be a determining factor in where we will spend eternity, & we will reap that harvest forever.
So there are two times of harvest, now & forever. And the 2nd lesson is that “For all eternity you will reap what you have sowed.”
III. YOU WILL HARVEST MORE THAN YOU SOW
A. There is a third lesson in this passage of Scripture, & it is simply that you will harvest more than you sow.
ILL. Ask a farmer how much seed corn he is planting, & he might reply, "Oh, 15 or 20 bushels." Then you ask, "How many bushels do you expect to harvest?" And if he answers, "Oh, 15 or 20 bushels," you'll wonder about him, because that doesn't make sense at all, to expect to harvest only as much as you have sown.
So that is not the answer he will give. He'll say, "I expect to reap wagon loads of corn. I expect to reap much more than I sowed."
You see, the great principle of sowing & reaping not only tells us that we will reap what we sow, but also that we will reap much more than we sow.
B. That is true no matter what we are sowing. There are a lot of people today reaping the seeds they sowed in their youth.
ILL. Maybe they experimented a little with drugs, & the flashbacks have been going on ever since. They wake up in a tumult saying, "It's worse than anybody can imagine. Why me? It really didn't seem so bad back then."
But you see, that's the principle of sowing & reaping. Whatever you sow you're going to reap, & you will reap much more than you sowed.
SUM: One day we all will find ourselves in a new world. The Bible says that some will find themselves in hell where there is weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth, & they'll cry, "We didn't do anything to deserve this. We weren't that bad."
Others will find themselves in heaven, on the streets of gold, standing before the throne of God, surrounded by angels praising God day & night. And they, too, will say, "We didn't do anything to deserve all this."
But you see, whether it is for good or for bad, not only will we reap what we sowed, but we will always reap much more than we sowed.
ILL. Billy Graham, who died at his home in North Carolina on February 21st, 2018 at the age of 99, was among the most influential religious leaders of the 20th Century.
Before his passing he wrote, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
ILL. C.S. Lewis wrote, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ & those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’ Sadly, many people will have to suffer eternally without God because they chose to live without Him on Earth.
“We were made by God & for God, & until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Your life isn't an accident. You have a purpose, a destiny, one that only you can complete. You will live forever in the presence or absence of God, reaping the consequences of your choices and actions on earth.”
B. Paul said, "Do not be deceived." I wonder, how many are being deceived today? How many are thinking that they're pulling the wool over God's eyes & that they're getting by with something? How many are thinking only about the fun of sow-ing, & never about the harvest to come?
How many think that they can actually live according to the standards of the world & still inherit heaven? Paul says, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked."
CONCL. But I do have good news! If you're not very proud of the seed you have sown, then the best news is that Jesus died for your sins & for mine, & to cleanse us with His own precious blood.
And when we accept Him as our Lord & Savior, & are obedient to Him in Chris-tian baptism, then we are promised that all our bad seeds, all our past sins, will be forgiven & forgotten by God.
That is the Lord's invitation. I pray that you will respond to it as we stand & as we sing.
