There is a verse of scripture that haunts
me.
It's found in the book of Hosea and
it speaks of sin's harvest.
It is Hosea 8 7 which declares, for
they have sown the wind and they shall
reap the whirlwind.
And it's true friends that sin has a
harvest and the reaping is far more costly
than the sowing.
The title of my message today is Sin's
Harvest and I believe this harvest of sin
can be seen in the nation.
Sin's harvest can be seen in the church
and sin's harvest can be seen in the
individual.
In Hosea chapter 6 God exhorts Israel to
repentance as seen in verse 1.
Come and let us return unto the Lord
for he hath torn and he will heal
us.
He has smitten and he will bind us
up.
This illustrates a loving father who exercises harsh
discipline to a wayward child but the remedial
judgments of God upon his wayward people go
unheeded as we see in Hosea 6 10.
I have seen a horrible thing in the
house of Israel.
There is whoredom of Ephraim.
Israel is defiled and in Hosea chapter 7
God reads off a laundry list of Israel's
manifold sins.
God likens them to a deceitful bow and
a half-baked cake.
They are self-deceived about their half-hearted
worship of God and they are unreliable in
their obedience to God.
And then in chapter 8 where we have
our text for today God threatens destruction to
both Israel and Judah for provoking an offended
God by their gross sins.
God's been rejected.
They have set up kings but not by
me God tells them and the whole heart
of the matter is dealt with in Hosea
8 7 as God declares for they have
sown the wind and they shall reap the
whirlwind.
In other words what's done is done.
There's no going back.
The seeds of evil and iniquity have been
sown by the rebellious Jews and now it's
harvest time.
And as the seed ratio is seen in
agriculture where there is a ratio in the
investment of seed versus the yield.
For example if three grains are harvested for
each grain seeded the resulting seed ratio is
1.3. And in the spiritual life there's
a harvest ratio as well.
Sin sown will produce a world of trouble
and woe and pain and suffering yielding far
more than what was anticipated.
Listen to me friend.
Sin will take you further than you want
to go.
You'll leave you there longer than you want
to stay.
And sin will cost you more than you
ever realized.
For they have sown the wind and they
shall reap the whirlwind.
There are three aspects of this truth I
want to explore today friends.
For it applies to us as it did
to Israel of old.
And these three aspects are the following.
Number one.
Sin's harvest is seen in a nation.
In Hosea 4 1 we read.
For the Lord hath a controversy with the
inhabitants of the land because there is no
truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in
the land.
By swearing and lying and killing and stealing
and committing adultery they break out and blood
toucheth blood.
Therefore shall the land mourn.
This is sin's harvest to a nation.
Look at America friends.
Once favored by God with great material blessings
and spiritual awakenings where revival spread all over
the land bringing salvation to thousands.
Now America has rejected the God of the
Bible.
America has legalized sin and it promotes sexual
perversion.
America has legislated God out of our public
schools, out of our government.
Now it's harvest time.
Natural calamities fall upon the land.
One right after another.
Floods and fires and hurricanes and tornadoes.
Now a great plague is spreading across the
land.
And it's a scene right out of the
old testament upon a disobedient people.
America has sown the wind.
Now she reaps the whirlwind.
Number two.
Sin's harvest is seen in the church.
The modern church is a deceitful bow.
Quite unreliable in the proclamation of the true
gospel as she slumbers on pillows of compromise
and conformity.
The church wanted to reach the world by
letting the world into the church.
And the result is a great judgment from
God upon the church.
In Hosea 5 15 we read, I will
go and return to my place until they
acknowledge their offense and seek my face.
The American church is under the remedial judgment
of the withdrawn presence of God.
When was the last time, friend, that you
felt the power of God in a meeting?
Church on Sunday is like a showboat.
It's all pomp and hot air.
God tells the backslidden Jews, I will go
and return to my place until they acknowledge
their offense and seek my face.
God has withdrawn himself from the church in
America and he's waiting for the church to
repent and seek his face.
Until that time, we will just continue to
play church on Sunday amidst cold formality and
spiritual dryness.
Number three, sin's harvest is seen in the
individual.
Listen to me, friend.
When the son of God was nailed to
the cross, every stroke of the Roman hammer
was an explanation point.
Crying out, sin is costly.
Sin is costly.
For it costs the Savior his blood.
You sow the wind, young friend, and you
will reap the whirlwind.
You cheat on your wife in adultery and
your family will reap the whirlwind.
You may hide your sin for a little
while, but a harvest day fast approaches.
You will reap more misery personally than you've
ever sown.
For they have sown the wind and they
shall reap the whirlwind.
In the Bible, the whirlwind is a symbol
of the sudden destruction of the wicked.
I've seen church members who became involved in
gross sin without any repentance and they were
removed by sudden death.
Sin is playing with fire, friend, and like
Proverbs 6 27 declares.
Can a man take fire in his bosom
and his clothes not be burned?
Of course not.
Sin's harvest is a certainty.
Sin's harvest is full of sorrow and suffering.
For the word of God stands sure.
For they have sown the wind and they
shall reap the whirlwind.