20, February 2005
Dakota Community Church
The Law of the Harvest
Definition:
Principle: A fundamental truth, law, doctrine, or motivating force, upon which others are based. A principle is a rule of right conduct or the law of nature by which a thing operates.
- God has established certain truths that the world operates on.
- They are always true and they work for anyone who will apply them.
- The more of them you know and obey the better your life will go.
- They should be diligently taught to our son’s and daughters.
- They are the keys to the abundant life.
One of these laws is the law of the harvest or as it is sometimes called the law of sowing and reaping.
Genesis 1: 11-12
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
The thing has right in it the capability to reproduce itself. (Anger)
Genesis 8: 22
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
So this is a dependable truth that is not going to change until the earth passes away.
Mark 4: 26-28
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain–first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
So the whole Kingdom of God operates on this principle.
- A man scatters seed.
- A harvest follows.
- It doesn’t matter whether he understands the process.
Galatians 6: 7-9
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.
Three truths concerning the law of the harvest:
1. You cannot pull a con job on God.
He knows what you are really sowing.
You will not reap according to your image or your reputation; you will reap according to the reality of your sowing.
You are not getting away with anything!
Jeremiah 12: 13
They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. So bear the shame of your harvest because of the Lord’s fierce anger."
Quote:
"Most of us spend the first six days of the week sowing wild oats, and then we go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure." -- Fred Allen
Consider the example of Jacob:
Genesis 27: 32-35
His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau."
Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him-and indeed he will be blessed!"
When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me-me too, my father!"
But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing."
Genesis 29: 25-27
When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?"
Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."
Genesis 37: 31-15
Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe."
He recognized it and said, "It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.
He sows deception in blessing and reaps a lifetimes worth.
This is why you must not try to cheat.
Got money troubles? Sow the right stuff.!
Illustration:
Sir Robert Watson Watt, the inventor of the radar was arrested himself for speeding. He had been caught in a radar trap. Shortly after his irony, he wrote this poem:
"Pity Sir Robert Watson Watt, strange target of his radar plot, and this, with others I could mention, a victim of his own invention."
- Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1998
2. Your harvest is much bigger than your seed bag.
Sometimes we complain that we haven’t done anything to deserve the harvest we get but we forget that what comes back to us is multiplied many times.
Luke 6: 37-38
“Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
This works in reverse too.
- Judge others and you will come under judgment.
- Condemn others and you will come under condemnation.
- Refuse to forgive those who commit offenses against you and your offenses will not be forgiven.
- Hoard you money or gifts or services and you will be hoarded from.
Illustration:
I have always been generous with drives and cars.
I rarely refuse someone who needs a ride; I have loaned out my vehicles almost every time I have been asked, and I have given away three cars.
- My Chevette.
- The Pulsar
- The Tercel
In return I was given a Corona, a Tercel, a Voyager, and I received awesome deals on the Firefly and the Jeeps that Randy got for me.
So if you do not like what you have been getting out of life, change what you are dishing out.
This is really true in marriage.
Are you waiting for your ship to come in?
Ships do not materialize out in the ocean and come drifting into port. They are sent out loaded and return to those who sent them.
When you sow according to the sinful nature you will reap destruction.
Examples:
- Sow gossip reap being talked about and not trusted.
- Sow laziness and you will reap poverty.
Proverbs 6: 9-11
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Matthew 18: 23-35
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
- Sow rebellion and you will reap having no authority.
Proverbs 6: 12-15
A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart- he always stirs up dissension. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed-without remedy.
- Sow lying and cheating and you will reap being ripped off and cheated on.
- Sow mistrust of others and you will reap people living up to your expectations.
When you sow to the Spirit you will reap eternal life.
Examples:
- I have sown providing people with a place to live, and reaped a wonderful home life.
- Sow Godly dating practices reap a high level of trust in marriage.
Genesis 13: 5-17
Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
So Abram said to Lot, "Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left."
Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go; walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
Genesis 39: 19-23
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
1Kings 3: 5-13
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
3. You will reap the good at the appointed time.
If you do not give up!
Think about the way a garden works.
- You do not cause the seeds you plant to produce tomatoes, God does that.
- You do have a part to play.
- If you do nothing you will lose or have a poor harvest.
- We need to combat enemies – bugs, weeds, and animals.
- We need to supply water and we need to work the soil.
These things require of us:
- Consistency
- Diligence
- Patience
- Focus and Vision (On the harvest).
By this principle God allows us to determine our own destiny!
Psalm 75: 1-3
We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.
You say, "I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah
Illustration:
A lady called American Airlines and asked the reservation clerk, "How long does it take to get from Dallas-Fort Worth to Frankfort, Germany?" The clerk had to wait a moment for the information to come up on her computer screen, so she said, "Just a minute." The caller responded, "Thanks very much," and hung up! Most of the things that really matter in life do not happen in "just a minute". They come for those who learn to wait upon the Lord.
PowerPoint available on request - dcormie@mts.net
