1 00:00:01,990 --> 00:00:05,530 There is a saying, what goes around comes 2 00:00:05,530 --> 00:00:10,210 around, that if somebody does you wrong, like 3 00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:12,850 throwing a boomerang, it will come back to 4 00:00:12,850 --> 00:00:13,270 them. 5 00:00:13,510 --> 00:00:15,410 A lot of people believe that to be 6 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:16,330 true, friends. 7 00:00:16,790 --> 00:00:19,790 But there have been many instances in my 8 00:00:19,790 --> 00:00:23,130 life where I've been wronged by someone, and 9 00:00:23,130 --> 00:00:24,830 they got clean away with it. 10 00:00:25,030 --> 00:00:27,490 I've never seen a payback come to them. 11 00:00:28,190 --> 00:00:30,330 But there is a law of nature that 12 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:34,450 holds true every single time, and that's the 13 00:00:34,450 --> 00:00:35,350 law of the harvest. 14 00:00:36,090 --> 00:00:37,330 It cannot be altered. 15 00:00:37,790 --> 00:00:40,810 If you have some farmland and you plant 16 00:00:40,810 --> 00:00:43,530 soybeans, then you will reap a harvest of 17 00:00:43,530 --> 00:00:46,790 soybeans, because the law of the harvest states, 18 00:00:47,170 --> 00:00:48,470 you reap what you sow. 19 00:00:48,850 --> 00:00:52,050 You can't plant soybeans and reap a crop 20 00:00:52,050 --> 00:00:52,670 of corn. 21 00:00:53,090 --> 00:00:55,050 This is the law of the harvest, and 22 00:00:55,050 --> 00:00:58,010 the natural world has seen in nature. 23 00:00:58,690 --> 00:01:01,170 I have a lemon tree outside my window. 24 00:01:01,770 --> 00:01:03,989 I can't plant an apple tree there and 25 00:01:03,989 --> 00:01:05,190 grow lemons. 26 00:01:05,750 --> 00:01:07,370 What you sow, you reap. 27 00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:09,610 This is the law of the harvest in 28 00:01:09,610 --> 00:01:11,910 nature, in the natural world. 29 00:01:12,590 --> 00:01:15,990 There's also a harvest in the spiritual world 30 00:01:15,990 --> 00:01:18,750 as well, friends, in the law of God, 31 00:01:18,750 --> 00:01:20,690 and it works the same way. 32 00:01:21,250 --> 00:01:24,830 In Galatians 6, 7, we read, Be not 33 00:01:24,830 --> 00:01:29,190 deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a 34 00:01:29,190 --> 00:01:32,810 man soweth, that shall he also reap. 35 00:01:33,290 --> 00:01:35,670 And it's true, friends, as sure as I'm 36 00:01:35,670 --> 00:01:38,590 speaking to you now, that truth is a 37 00:01:38,590 --> 00:01:41,830 living reality in scripture, for God's word is 38 00:01:41,830 --> 00:01:44,790 true, and God is true to his word. 39 00:01:45,190 --> 00:01:47,090 You will reap what you sow in the 40 00:01:47,090 --> 00:01:48,150 spiritual realm. 41 00:01:48,590 --> 00:01:50,930 I can take a walk through my Bible 42 00:01:50,930 --> 00:01:54,690 and see instance after instance of the proof 43 00:01:54,690 --> 00:01:55,650 of this text. 44 00:01:56,250 --> 00:02:01,150 Galatians 6, 8 says, For he that soweth 45 00:02:01,150 --> 00:02:03,830 to his flesh shall of the flesh reap 46 00:02:03,830 --> 00:02:07,070 corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit 47 00:02:07,070 --> 00:02:11,370 shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. 48 00:02:12,300 --> 00:02:15,530 Now that's my introduction to my message today, 49 00:02:15,630 --> 00:02:20,570 friends, and it's entitled Sin's Harvest, and my 50 00:02:20,570 --> 00:02:23,010 text can be found in the book of 51 00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:23,730 Hosea. 52 00:02:23,930 --> 00:02:25,950 You can turn in your Bibles there now, 53 00:02:26,030 --> 00:02:26,410 friends. 54 00:02:27,010 --> 00:02:29,490 We will be in chapter 8 and verse 55 00:02:29,490 --> 00:02:30,150 7. 56 00:02:30,730 --> 00:02:33,690 And may God's spirit attend the reading of 57 00:02:33,690 --> 00:02:34,930 his holy word. 58 00:02:35,630 --> 00:02:38,410 The backdrop to this verse in Hosea is 59 00:02:38,410 --> 00:02:39,370 a sad one. 60 00:02:39,830 --> 00:02:43,450 Destruction is threatened to Israel and Judah because 61 00:02:43,450 --> 00:02:45,650 of their multiplied sins. 62 00:02:46,030 --> 00:02:48,530 They have sinned grievously against God. 63 00:02:48,990 --> 00:02:51,610 We see in verse 1 of chapter 8, 64 00:02:52,530 --> 00:02:56,330 Set the trumpet to the mouth, he shall 65 00:02:56,330 --> 00:02:59,010 come as an eagle against the house of 66 00:02:59,010 --> 00:03:02,510 the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant 67 00:03:02,510 --> 00:03:05,130 and trespassed against my law. 68 00:03:05,610 --> 00:03:09,390 God says the temple will be destroyed because 69 00:03:09,390 --> 00:03:13,010 his people are misusing it because their worship 70 00:03:13,010 --> 00:03:16,250 to God has become a sham, as has 71 00:03:16,250 --> 00:03:17,090 their religion. 72 00:03:17,930 --> 00:03:20,070 And then we see this striking verse of 73 00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:23,450 scripture in verse 7 of chapter 8, which 74 00:03:23,450 --> 00:03:26,390 is our text today, friends, and its truth 75 00:03:26,390 --> 00:03:28,950 rings out all throughout my Bible. 76 00:03:29,510 --> 00:03:32,610 For they have sown the wind, and they 77 00:03:32,610 --> 00:03:34,150 shall reap the whirlwind. 78 00:03:34,890 --> 00:03:37,590 In this case, the law of the harvest 79 00:03:37,590 --> 00:03:40,310 is turned upon their heads in a more 80 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:43,830 dreadful outcome as they will reap far worse 81 00:03:43,830 --> 00:03:45,130 than they have sowed. 82 00:03:45,590 --> 00:03:48,570 They sowed the wind, but they will reap 83 00:03:48,570 --> 00:03:49,510 the whirlwind. 84 00:03:50,390 --> 00:03:53,390 There are few things in life more terrifying 85 00:03:53,390 --> 00:03:55,390 than being in a tornado. 86 00:03:55,910 --> 00:03:58,050 I used to live in what is known 87 00:03:58,050 --> 00:04:03,450 as Tornado Alley, that section of mid-America 88 00:04:03,450 --> 00:04:07,390 where it draws tornadoes like magnets because of 89 00:04:07,390 --> 00:04:08,250 its geography. 90 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:11,550 I lived in the mid-south, in Tennessee, 91 00:04:12,230 --> 00:04:15,510 and every spring we had tornadoes roar over 92 00:04:15,510 --> 00:04:18,730 our heads or pass around us or come 93 00:04:18,730 --> 00:04:20,050 down upon us. 94 00:04:20,329 --> 00:04:23,710 When my daughter was a newborn, a savage 95 00:04:23,710 --> 00:04:27,470 tornado came barreling into our neighborhood one evening, 96 00:04:27,470 --> 00:04:31,210 and it seems that's the time most tornadoes 97 00:04:31,210 --> 00:04:33,850 seem to hit, at night, when you can't 98 00:04:33,850 --> 00:04:34,810 see them coming. 99 00:04:35,450 --> 00:04:38,750 Anyhow, that year was a bad outbreak for 100 00:04:38,750 --> 00:04:41,610 tornadoes, and one came through our neighborhood. 101 00:04:41,930 --> 00:04:44,770 It sounded like a freight train coming fast 102 00:04:44,770 --> 00:04:45,850 down the track. 103 00:04:45,850 --> 00:04:48,510 My wife and I huddled in the hallway 104 00:04:48,510 --> 00:04:51,970 with our little baby in our arms, and 105 00:04:51,970 --> 00:04:55,050 we were praying out loud for God's protection 106 00:04:55,050 --> 00:04:55,990 over us. 107 00:04:56,350 --> 00:04:57,750 Things were so bad. 108 00:04:57,850 --> 00:05:00,770 My next-door neighbor, who was a pilot 109 00:05:00,770 --> 00:05:03,250 in the Vietnam War, said the next day 110 00:05:03,250 --> 00:05:06,210 he'd never been so scared in his entire 111 00:05:06,210 --> 00:05:06,810 life. 112 00:05:07,010 --> 00:05:08,890 He felt he was going to die worse 113 00:05:08,890 --> 00:05:09,790 than in combat. 114 00:05:10,630 --> 00:05:13,470 Well, we all survived, but our homes and 115 00:05:13,470 --> 00:05:15,850 neighborhood was pretty tore up. 116 00:05:16,150 --> 00:05:18,570 But that's the destructive fury of what a 117 00:05:18,570 --> 00:05:19,870 whirlwind is like. 118 00:05:20,230 --> 00:05:23,250 So when God says in his word, they 119 00:05:23,250 --> 00:05:25,930 have sown the wind, and they shall reap 120 00:05:25,930 --> 00:05:26,890 the whirlwind. 121 00:05:27,250 --> 00:05:29,630 That's a vivid picture of the sinner in 122 00:05:29,630 --> 00:05:32,530 hell, with the outpoured wrath of God upon 123 00:05:32,530 --> 00:05:35,570 them, like a roaring, smoking furnace. 124 00:05:36,290 --> 00:05:39,970 There are three realities of our text today, 125 00:05:40,330 --> 00:05:42,850 which I will bring before you now, friends. 126 00:05:43,690 --> 00:05:47,450 Number one, sin has a harvest. 127 00:05:47,790 --> 00:05:51,150 Number two, sin is known to God. 128 00:05:51,790 --> 00:05:55,450 Number three, sin reaps more than it sows. 129 00:05:56,170 --> 00:05:58,370 Let's look at these one by one. 130 00:05:58,890 --> 00:06:00,570 Sin has a harvest. 131 00:06:01,130 --> 00:06:02,810 God's word says so. 132 00:06:03,170 --> 00:06:05,090 In Galatians, it states this clearly. 133 00:06:05,690 --> 00:06:07,130 Be not deceived. 134 00:06:07,590 --> 00:06:09,310 God is not mocked. 135 00:06:09,530 --> 00:06:12,830 For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 136 00:06:12,830 --> 00:06:13,850 also reap. 137 00:06:14,390 --> 00:06:16,830 You live without God in the world, and 138 00:06:16,830 --> 00:06:19,150 you will live without God in eternity. 139 00:06:19,910 --> 00:06:22,350 That is why there exists a heaven and 140 00:06:22,350 --> 00:06:23,010 a hell. 141 00:06:23,610 --> 00:06:26,050 Shew not the judge of all the earth 142 00:06:26,050 --> 00:06:26,710 do right. 143 00:06:27,190 --> 00:06:29,810 If you live a godless life here, you 144 00:06:29,810 --> 00:06:32,370 will exist in a godless eternity. 145 00:06:33,010 --> 00:06:36,010 A Christless life ends up in a Christless 146 00:06:36,010 --> 00:06:39,570 death that leads to a Christless grave and 147 00:06:39,570 --> 00:06:40,930 a Christless eternity. 148 00:06:41,650 --> 00:06:45,410 For he that soweth to his flesh shall 149 00:06:45,410 --> 00:06:47,270 of his flesh reap corruption. 150 00:06:48,210 --> 00:06:50,210 So says God in his word. 151 00:06:50,710 --> 00:06:51,910 Sin has a harvest. 152 00:06:52,550 --> 00:06:54,570 It is a law of God that cannot 153 00:06:54,570 --> 00:06:55,550 be altered. 154 00:06:56,270 --> 00:06:59,210 Number two, sin is known to God. 155 00:06:59,810 --> 00:07:02,210 Look at verse two in chapter seven of 156 00:07:02,210 --> 00:07:03,050 Hosea. 157 00:07:03,390 --> 00:07:06,210 And they consider not in their hearts that 158 00:07:06,210 --> 00:07:08,570 I remember all their wickedness. 159 00:07:09,010 --> 00:07:12,010 Now their own doings have beset them about. 160 00:07:12,430 --> 00:07:14,490 They are before my face. 161 00:07:15,370 --> 00:07:17,070 Sin is known to God. 162 00:07:17,630 --> 00:07:20,110 We can hide it from our friends, and 163 00:07:20,110 --> 00:07:22,450 we can even sometimes hide it from our 164 00:07:22,450 --> 00:07:22,910 family. 165 00:07:23,290 --> 00:07:25,730 But we cannot hide it from a holy 166 00:07:25,730 --> 00:07:26,430 God. 167 00:07:26,710 --> 00:07:29,870 God keeps a record book on every single 168 00:07:29,870 --> 00:07:33,090 sin we do, either sins of commission or 169 00:07:33,090 --> 00:07:34,530 sins of omission. 170 00:07:35,090 --> 00:07:37,050 They're written down in a book on us, 171 00:07:37,110 --> 00:07:40,450 which will be read out loud before humankind 172 00:07:40,450 --> 00:07:42,530 at a future judgment. 173 00:07:43,010 --> 00:07:46,430 If you die outside of Christ, Revelation 20 174 00:07:46,430 --> 00:07:49,890 12 declares a solemn scene of the grand 175 00:07:49,890 --> 00:07:50,690 size. 176 00:07:51,430 --> 00:07:55,770 And I saw the dead, small and great, 177 00:07:56,090 --> 00:07:57,510 stand before God. 178 00:07:57,750 --> 00:08:00,690 And the books were opened, and another book 179 00:08:00,690 --> 00:08:03,470 was opened, which is the book of life. 180 00:08:03,650 --> 00:08:06,070 And the dead were judged out of those 181 00:08:06,070 --> 00:08:09,390 things which were written in the books according 182 00:08:09,390 --> 00:08:10,610 to their works. 183 00:08:11,070 --> 00:08:14,750 Believe me, friend, when I say sin is 184 00:08:14,750 --> 00:08:16,010 known to God. 185 00:08:16,650 --> 00:08:20,170 Lastly, sin reaps more than it sows. 186 00:08:20,870 --> 00:08:23,870 For they've sown the wind, and they shall 187 00:08:23,870 --> 00:08:24,910 reap the whirlwind. 188 00:08:25,530 --> 00:08:29,030 I don't believe King David knew the whirlwind 189 00:08:29,030 --> 00:08:31,950 of trouble that was to befall his family 190 00:08:31,950 --> 00:08:35,130 when he stood on his balcony, sowing the 191 00:08:35,130 --> 00:08:37,970 wind of lust and murder as he beheld 192 00:08:37,970 --> 00:08:41,330 the lovely naked Bathsheba in her bath. 193 00:08:41,650 --> 00:08:43,910 I've seen it time and time again in 194 00:08:43,910 --> 00:08:47,470 the lives of friends who have committed adultery, 195 00:08:47,770 --> 00:08:50,090 and their homes and family are wrecked and 196 00:08:50,090 --> 00:08:51,890 ruined to such a degree. 197 00:08:52,170 --> 00:08:55,950 The aftermath of their sinful choices is like 198 00:08:55,950 --> 00:08:59,530 a whirlwind, destroyed everything once dear to them. 199 00:08:59,890 --> 00:09:02,610 The law of the harvest is the sad 200 00:09:02,610 --> 00:09:06,830 reality in the spiritual realm that sin reaps 201 00:09:06,830 --> 00:09:08,270 more than it sows. 202 00:09:09,010 --> 00:09:12,030 We've looked at sin's harvest today, friends, and 203 00:09:12,030 --> 00:09:14,830 I don't know about you, but it looks 204 00:09:14,830 --> 00:09:16,170 pretty ugly to me. 205 00:09:16,570 --> 00:09:18,190 It makes you want to stay as close 206 00:09:18,190 --> 00:09:20,750 to Christ as white on rice. 207 00:09:21,150 --> 00:09:22,450 Let us pray.