December 1st, 2002, Sunday Morning
(Day of the Berean Independent Baptist Church's 12th Anniversary)

"The Laws of the Harvest"

Summary of the Seven, Elaboration of the Third

OPENING: Galatians 6:7-9

The Laws of the Harvest

#1: Reap only what's been sewn

If you sew zero, you reap zero.
We're always sewing something right at this moment--either sewing belief or unbelief.

#2: Reap the same in kind as you sew

If you plant little tomatoes, don't expect to reap large watermelons.

#3: Reap in different season than you sew

Ecclesiastes 8:11: This is why it's so important to discipline evil right away. A person who sins and is not immediately corrected believes it is OK to continue the evil he/she does. Prison is not meant to be rehab but punishment. Rehabilitation is a bi-product. EXAMPLE: If one is sexually promiscuous and contracts the HIV virus, it incubates for 3-7 years ... it "bears fruit" in a different season.

#4: You'll reap more than you sew

If you sew a little hated, you'll get much hated back. If you sew one lie, you'll teach many to lie forever.

#5: We reap in proportion to what we sew

If we plant one grape seed, the seed will bear vines of clusters of grapes. GOD has left it up to man to sew. So we will either sew a little, a lot, or not at all so that man can consider, for himself, the consequences of his actions.

#6: We reap the full good if we persevere

If anything grows in your seed-planted garden other than fruits from that seed (i.e., weeds), remove them. Take care of the good over the bad. Parents don't have to sew wickedness into their children--the world will do that for you.
Ephesians 4:29: We must also be watchful of what seed come out of our mouth--how we speak.

#7: We cannot do anything about last year's harvest; but we can for next year's.

What's done is done ... we cannot change the past but simply move on.

The Laws of the Harvest impact not only spiritual but physical laws

"What comes up must come down" applies to astronauts; what happens after being shot into space? Man has to come back to the same place he landed!
Even a three year old child submits that when an egg is to be released from the hand, it will fall to the ground
Yet adults today will not consider the consequences of their actions with regard to the Laws of the Harvest--either spiritually or physically

There are seven Laws of the Harvest

1: YOU WILL REAP ONLY WHAT'S BEEN SEWN

You will reap not only what you sew BUT WHAT OTHERS SEW (i.e. children will reap and grow up in the life their parents have created)
- Those children who have ambitions of acquiring an education their parents never had is an example of the child reaping of the educational seed never planted by the parents
- If you don't like the results or life you live today, sew a different seed today and wait for its growth because changes/growth are not instantaneous--just like on a real farm

2: YOU WILL REAP THE SAME AS WHAT YOU SEW

Cats breed cats. Each animal/person reproduce after their kind; even clones must come from their own
Job 4:8: Spiritually speaking, if you plant/sew (do) good, you will reap good (in the end); if you sew (do) evil, you will reap (result in) evil
- There are people (including Christians) who sew evil Monday to Friday and then ask for repentance on Sunday; but God says if you don't want a tomato plant to sprout, then don't plant the seed to begin with because what you planted may not be prevented
People today plant tomatoes and want cucumbers (something different) to result. I.e., people want loyalty without being loyal; people want friendships with others without being true friends, themselves--but the Bible says you must first be friendly to have friends, Proverbs 18:24
God will never re-pay evil for good

3: YOU WILL REAP IN A DIFFERENT TIME THAN YOU SEW

Galatians 6:9: Do not get tired of doing good toward others--and when you do good, don't expect an immediate response. You must have the patience to await the outcome; end results can take months or years!
- IMPACT: If you sew little, you'll reap little; for some, if results are not positive and immediate, there is a tendency to give up and quit. Patience is a critical virtue to a successful reaping
- EXAMPLES:
  - Parents must have infinite patience with children, teachers must have patience with students who take longer to learn certain concepts
  - Christians who tithe and don't see an immediate blessing as an expected reward soon quit tithing
- In short, wait for God's appointed time, not yours, for planted seeds to grow
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: There is a SPECIFIC, SET time for everything in this world (i.e., sleeping, relaxation, and recreation)
- (ASIDE: This is where the inspiration for the Byrds' song "Turn, turn, turn" came from--they didn't invent it)
This is the law that declares you must wait--have patience. I.e., if you plant watermelons, results are just a few weeks away but if you plant an entire forest like the early settlers into America, the results can take beyond their generation's lifetime!
Ecclesiastes 11:1: This is another way of saying have great patience after you perform a work to see its results. Setbacks and negative results don't mean failure--they mean "pull out the weeds" and continue on.
- EQUATION: sew seeds + not quit = reap
- Marriages aren't perfect. Growth and change can be painful and need to be worked out not given up on; do good toward your spouse even if they're undeserving of it--you will reap good in a later time if you do good
- When a child is first born, they are given full, immediate attention and are not expected to provide for themselves (i.e., all seeds are planted by the parents)
  - When the child turns five, they are expected to begin doing some things for themselves (i.e., they must begin to plant their own seeds as parents will plant less seeds for them)--like when they begin kindergarten where the world begins to plant seeds in them
  - Judges 17:6, Judges 21:25, Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 21:2: To promote independence, the world says, "let them have their individuality"--let them "express themselves" and do what they think is right
    - Mark 4:3-32 (key v19): And as Jesus describes in His "parable of the mustard seed," the world chokes out the dying number of Biblical seeds planted in the child so that the child becomes spiritually unfruitful
  - At seven, the child is skeptical and ask mom and dad about everything the world has taught them (i.e., the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, Santa Claus)
  - At thirteen, the child is now totally lost because parents quit sewing seeds--there is nothing left to reap or grow!
Hebrews 6:10: God is not unrighteous to forget to reward you good for the good you've done and evil (punishment) for the evil you've committed; even if you think you've "gotten away with an evil deed" for years it only means your punishment has not YET come
- Israel disobeyed God for 490 years by working the earth to death on Sundays when God said to let the earth rest on Sundays (the Sabbath)
  - TRANSLATION: God was patient 490 years with Israel
  - As punishment (reaping of the disobedience), God moved Israel off their land one year for every year they violated the Sabbath (70 Sundays = 70 years)
Ecclesiastes 8:11: Just because God is longsuffering (endures our disobedience for a long time) doesn't mean he's forgotten of your sins from years ago
- Because punishment from God is not expedient (quick) or instant, man mocks God by believing they can get away with what they've done and subsequently future sins
Operating negatively (the lost person) and positively (the saved person)
- A lost farmer taunts a saved farmer for not working Sundays. In the outward appearance, the lost farmer yields a slightly better crop than the saved farmer; END RESULT: God hasn't yet punished the lost farmer for working his land on a Sunday
  - NOTE: Not working Sundays, the Sabbath, was a former law (dispensation) which no longer applies today.
- Revelation 22:12: One day, God will come back to settle all the open accounts with man--whether good or bad
  - Revelation 20:11-15: The lost person will only face the White Throne of Judgment to determine whether they go to Heaven or hell (and it will be hell)
  - The saved will not face the Judgment of whether they're going to Heaven or Hell because they're going to Heaven; they will be evaluated for the good and bad things they did in their life
  - God has a 100% accurate record of everyone's doing in their entire life for everyone in this entire world and another book called the Book of Life which determines whether you go to Heaven or Hell when you did based on simply whether your name is written within (Revelation 20:15)
2 Corinthians 5:10: Again, both the saved and lost will be judged and rewarded for what they've done
- Accounts will be settled personally--not like in the military where one or a group suffers for another's mistake
- A warning to the saved: God will open the dialogue with, "let's see what you've done since you've been saved..."

4: YOU WILL REAP MORE THAN YOU SEW

EXAMPLE: By planting one seed of corn, an entire crop grows

5: YOU WILL REAP IN PROPORTION TO WHAT YOU SEW

2 Corinthians 9:6: The more you sew (plant/do), the more you will reap (be rewarded) from it
EXAMPLE: The more money you put away in a bank, the most interest you accrue; the more you "diversify your portfolio" (meaning the more diverse places you invest your money), the more opportunity you have to gain a monetary return

6: EVIL GROWS INDEPENDENTLY OF WHAT YOU SEW--YOU MUST PERSERVERE TO REAP

Evil winds aren't sewn--they come in independently and uncontrollably; perhaps some things were sewn in ignorance or unknowingly
You can't initially plant a garden and expect it to grow on its own--weeds grow!; you must constantly tend the garden by pulling these evil weeds (i.e., parents must be proactive with their children the same at age five to the day they move out of the home)

7: YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST--ONLY THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

What's been planted and reaped is done--it cannot be changed. If you wish change, begin with a different seed today

CLOSER

If there was no belief or forewarning of punishment in coming days, everyone would do whatever they felt like because there's no fear of a non-existing punishment!

Jehovah's witnesses would quit striving to tell everyone about the Bible
Pastors and preachers would quit going to church
People would not do evil in secret or darkness (the night)

Hitler murdered more than six million Jews; he mutilated children who couldn't defend themselves ... God has not forgotten and Hitler's final judgment is still to come

If we have the faith to serve God then we will have the patience to wait on God's timetable for seeds to grow

If God came to reckon with you today or you knew you would die tonight, would you change your ways this instant?

Whether you sew (do) good or bad things today, be assured you will reap the reward of it later; it will not be forgotten