You Reap What You Sow Series

· Wise sowers sow with a harvest in mind

· What we look like, think, say, do and believe….is a direct reflection of our past!

· Ill.: Some time 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 & regulations, & get away with it completely." But he didn’t, & you really never do.

· Sin will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay!

· The Law of Sowing and Reaping

o Law #1: You Reap What You’ve Sown (and then some!)

o Law #2 You Reap Where You’ve Sown (and then some!)

o Law #3 You Reap More Than you’ve Sown (and then some!)

I. Don’t Play With God, 7a

A. There is a Deceiver

i. Satan, “…which deceiveth the whole world…” Rev. 12:9

ii. Satan “…the father of lies.’ John 8:44

1. He deceived Eve into disobeying God, Gen 3

2. He deceives Christians into believing there will be a great revival before the rapture, II Thes. 2:3

3. Mt. 24:23-25

B. You’re Deceived when

i. you say, “I didn’t know”

ii. you act like you don’t understand

iii. you say you disagree

C. You’re Mocking God when…

i. When you expect good, when you’ve done bad

ii. When you expect spiritual, when you’re acting carnal

iii. When you expect blessing, when you’re sowing cursing

1. Mal. 3:9-10

2.

II. Don’t Deny The Inevitable, 8

A. If you sow to the flesh…

i. You reap corruption

1. Definition: ‘Ruin’ or ‘Decay’

2. cf. I Cor. 15:50 ‘Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.’

ii. Gal. 5:19-21

1. Adultery Sex outside of marriage

2. Fornication Pornography (porneia)

3. Uncleanness Impurity

4. Lasciviousness Sexual lust

5. Idolatry False Worship

6. Witchcraft non-medical use of drugs (pharmakeia)

7. Hatred

8. Variance Being Argumentative

9. Emulation Jealousy

10. Wrath Fierce anger

11. Strife

12. Sedition Division/Disunity

13. Heresies Doctrinal Error

14. Envyings ill-will or spite

15. Murders

16. Drunkenness

17. Revellings loose living

18. And Such like

…shall not inherit the kingdom of God!

B. If you sow to the Spirit…

i. Notice that ‘the Spirit’ is the Holy Spirit

ii. II Cor. 9:6-7 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

iii. We Sow To The Spirit when…

1. We Do His Work

2. We Do His Will

Conc.

· It’s not a matter of if you’re reaping what you’ve sown, but rather, do you like what you’re reaping?

· “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

· If you like what you’re reaping, keep sowing what you’re sowing.

· If you don’t like what you’re reaping, starting sowing something different!