Reaping the Whirlwind

Abstract

seed he planted. Just one grain of corn, germinated, bearing fruit and barring insect problems, will multiply itself at least 180 times. The water melon seed, by the same token, can multiply itself in number thousands of times and by weight an unbeliev able number of times. So it is with sin. We never reap only the conse quences of an act; the evil of that act will multiply itself as long as it is allowed to go unchecked. The point is very simple regarding sin: it will grow, spread, and destroy until it is brought under control by the word of God. Israel sowed the wind of sin and indifference to righteousness and truth. Now, she must reap many times over what she sowed. The church our Savior purchased with his blood is passing through some dark times; perhaps darker than most of us realize. Not all is doom and gloom. In spite of the apos tasy of a large number of our men in whom brethren had high hopes, the Lord is yet raising up capable young men of dedication and determination. But that is not the point. The point is we sowed much of the wrong kind of seed in the past and we must yet reap even worse consequences. Men can't sow the wind without reaping the whirlwind. We in no way defend the Shellys, Copes, Wallings, Woodroofs, et. al. There is no excuse for abandoning the faith once deliv ered to the saints. There is no justifi cation for believing and teaching false doctrine. But where were we when these men started on their downward path? These men, none of Hosea wrote: "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up" (Hosea 8:7). The northern kingdom of Israel had sown her acts of vanity so long the only thing left was to reap the conse quences. It was too late for her to change her course. She was doomed as a nation to destruction. It was just a matter of time. Israel had posited false values and lived by wrong prior ities. She had sown the wind. She must reap the whirlwind. Of significance is the lesson that we gather of that which we sow. One of the immutable laws of the universe is that like begets like. We all shall reap of the kind of life we sow. As surely as people expect to gather corn when they plant corn, so men shall reap the consequences of the nature of life they live. Paul stated it in the New Testament in Galatians 6:7-8: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall ofthe flesh reap cor ruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Whether nation or indi vidual, physical or spiritual, the law of reaping and sowing remains unal terable. Beyond the immutable law of reaping what we sow is the law that we shall reap more than we sow. This is what enables the farmer to plow in hope. He anticipates getting back at harvest many times more than the them, began believing and preaching their present error overnight. They didn't go to bed one evening whole and healthy and get up the next morning spouting the devil's doctrine. Rubel Shelly began preaching his Big F and Little f fellowship several years ago. In the first place, numer ous congregations and schools contin ued to use him in spite of that and other serious errors. In the second place, Rubel was preaching what a large number of preachers and con gregations practiced. I have heard preachers and elders defend having a false teacher to preach to them on the basis that he would have some good things to say and would not teach error while there. The very basis for such an arrangement is abominable! It is reprehensible! Yet, many have been guilty of it. All these men have been used, and some are still being used by those who cling to some sem blance of soundness. Closely related to this fact is the practice of men who claim to be sound, appearing on the same church lectureship with men known to be unfaithful. No effort is made to identify and rebuke the sin and error practiced. Rather, the con demnation of witch doctors is pre ferred on those lectureships. After all, it is a comfortable distance to the nearest witch doctor. One oftheir dis ciples is not likely to be present. Inspiration is very plain about such matters. John wrote in 2 John 9-11: "Whosoever transgresseth, and