The Six Laws Of The Harvest

TEXT: Galatians 6:7-10

TITLE: THE SIX LAWS OF THE HARVEST

There are laws governing man and his makeup, concerning spiritual development and maturity to mention just a few. But there are no laws more important or significant to us than the principles that govern the harvest we reap. In the book of Galatians, Paul has been dealing with one principle – the Galatians are not under the Law of Moses or any legal system; either to be saved or to live pleasing to God. Having driven this point home for 5 chapters, Paul then says to these Galatian believers: Read 6:7-10.

While those believers were not under the law that God gave from Sinai or any other legal code that man might adopt for righteousness; yet still they were under the spiritual laws of God’s operation, and they dare not deceive themselves to the contrary.

We today in this age of “grace” need this truth brought forcibly home to us. Somewhere we have developed the idea that we can do anything wrong and then use 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” and we will get by with it. In doing this, we are deceiving ourselves and making a mockery of God and His Word. Paul says these laws operate today; they are divine; they change for no one; they are absolute and unfailing. These laws of sowing and reaping are equally valid for all, whether we are married or single, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, or any other distinction we might make. In fact, these laws operate whether we know about them or are totally ignorant of them.

Law 1: We Reap Much We Did Not Sow.

Stop and think: Much that we reap, we never planted. Somebody else did and we reap the consequences. Sometimes we reap things that are good, but not always.

Let’s look at the positive side first. We receive many blessings given to us by God for which we have performed no labor whatever. In fact, the Lord wants us to trust Him that he will provide all of our needs even as He provides for the birds of the air (Matthew 6:25-34). The Lord extends His blessings to all men as “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

Think about it! What is God’s indictment against mankind? It is that “because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful…” (Romans 1:21). Man has and is guilty of ingratitude. What man did, rather than give thanks to God, was change “the truth of God into a lie,” and worship and serve the creature “more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

Yet God loves man. The greatest giver of all is God Himself. He loves to give. He is a God that is abundant in mercy. “Every good act of giving and every complete and perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow cast by turning” (James 1:17, lit. trans.). “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27).

The Greatest of all gifts is the gift of the Father’s own Son. “Last of all he sent unto them his son” (Matthew 21:37). Quote John 3:16.

So the Father gives salvation to all who do nothing more than believe on His Son.

But not only are we blessed because of what God has done in our behalf, we are also blessed by what others have done. Others have labored and we have entered into the blessings of their labors. Because of many who have labored we have entered into the blessings of their labors in the establishment of churches, schools, orphanages, hospitals and all the many other blessing we enjoy so bountifully.

Not only does this law operate positively, but it also operates negatively. We not only enter into blessings God has bestowed upon us for which we have not labored at all, and we not only enter into the blessings and benefits of the labors of others in this life, but we reap the wrong because others came along before us and sowed the wrong.

Individually, our parents may have sown within us a critical spirit. Perhaps they were always finding fault with everything and we learned to imitate them and criticize things and people. They may have been fearful and afraid, and so this is the way we have become in life. We reap much of what our parents sow into us. How that should wake us up as parents.

We are reaping the results of our government leaders today. When our leaders sow wrong, we who are believers, right along with others, will be involved in reaping the wrong. We cannot escape the consequences of what happens in our midst.