Victory In Sowing And Reaping Series

TITLE: Victory In Sowing and Reaping

TEXT: Galatians 6:7, 8

INTRO: Several years ago a woman by the name of Mrs. Jane Kolodziej was attempting to have her husband released from the psychiatric ward where he had been committed because she had testified that he had tried to kill her and their two son. She had told the judge that she believed her husband was mentally ill, so the court ordered him to be sent to the psychiatric ward.

Suddenly, Mrs. Kolodziej decided that she wanted him back again, and announced that she had lied to the court and staged a 4-day sit-down strike at the hospital. Finally she won his release by signing a waiver where she made the statement, “I want him out even if he kills me!”

Three months later, her husband beat her and the two children to death with a 2 foot length of pipe.

She wanted her husband with her at any price, even life itself, and that is exactly the price she had to pay.

When I read that story I couldn’t help but think of so many I have talked with that want their sin at any price – no matter what that price may be! They seem to forget that there is an undeniable principle that we must face: We Reap What We Sow!

God has many laws which cannot be broken: *Law of gravity – step off a 50 foot building into space, you will fall! You can DEFY the law of gravity, but you cannot BREAK it!

*Law of centrifugal force – if you drive your car around a sharp corner at the speed of 100 miles per hour, your car will be unable to maintain its balance and will roll over a number of time. You can DEFY the law of centrifugal force, but you cannot BREAK it.

*There is also a Law of sowing and reaping. If a farmer sows oats, the Law of like-produces-like guarantees that the crop will be oats – not barley, or wheat! Whatever a farmer sows, he reaps!

ILLUS: I heard a story once about a boy who tried to defy this law. On the back of their property 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 and dream away the hours.

There he was a space ship commander traveling to galaxies unknown. He was a Tarzan, living in a jungle world. And he was a philosopher, solving the riddles of the ages. 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 and to his best friend, another little boy down the road.

So you can imagine how he felt when he heard his father telling his mother, "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, and 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 and his best friend got a whole basket full. That evening, while his parents were busy inside, he and his friend climbed the tree and tied the stems of the apples to almost every limb of the old fruit tree.

Well, the next morning his father went out and looked at the old tree, and 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 and said to the mother, "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 said, "That’s remarkable." "Yes," the father said, "and it is even a double miracle because that’s not an apple tree. It’s a pear tree."

Well, just as God has natural laws that cannot be broken, He also has spiritual laws that can be defied but not broken. One of those is this spiritual law of sowing and reaping. Remember: it cannot be broken! The principle stated here is immutable, invariable, unalterable, and cannot be revoked. Let’s take a close look:

I. GOD SEES WHAT YOU SOW

A. Satan tries to deceive folks into believing they can mock God!

- Think they can sin and get by with it….that they can break holy laws and not get caught…..that they can sin and not pay the price for their foolishness!