Sowing and Reaping — Erlo Stegen

Proverbs 15 and the Law of Sowing and Reaping

Now, to the text. I'll read the text, and I'll speak on the points that the bridegroom gave me. I won't be able to read the whole text. I won't read the whole text passage that he gave me because we read 33 verses.

We'll be here till tomorrow morning, but I'll just read some of the verses and touch on some of the points. But I'd like to request you to go home and to go and read this passage prayerfully. We'll read from Proverbs chapter 15.

Shall we pray? Be with us, Lord. Speak to us through your holy word. Amen. Verse one. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Verse two. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Verse three. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Verse five. A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. Verse 10. Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path.

He who hates correction will die. Verse 11. A man of understanding keeps a straight course. Verse 21. Folly delights a man who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps a straight course. 22. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Speaking Gently and Reaping What We Sow

I'd just like to speak very briefly on these points which the bridegroom is passing on to you. That you'll also understand why it is and how it is that he has been successful and reached to this day. It says a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

What does that mean? The first thing, a gentle answer turns away wrath. If a person comes to you angry and hot under the collar and boiling, then if you answer that person gently, then you take all that anger away from him and you pull the carpet in front of his feet.

God says what you sow you'll reap. If you go to a person angry, angrily, then that is what you'll reap immediately from that person. If you give a hard answer, then you'll reap anger and wrath. And then that word is fulfilled.

That which a person sows, he will reap. If you go into a room full of people and you just come in there disrespectfully and you swear and you're angry, then that's the same kind of thing you'll reap. Sow that which is harsh and you'll reap that which is harsh.

But if you go into a room and you're friendly, you smile, you greet everybody, immediately they'll smile back at you, they'll greet you back and you'll immediately reap that which you've sown. Some of that you'll reap immediately and some of it only after years.

Now the Bible says God is not mocked. That which a person sows, you will reap. So if you as young people go around and you are disrespectful, then the children that you bring into this world will be like that, only worse.

It shouldn't be difficult for a Christian young person to know how to live in this world, in this corrupt world, because they'll know that which I am, that is what my children will be like. That which I do, that is what I'll reap.

Be very careful about what you say and how you go about things and what you think about. The Bible says God is not mocked. That which you sow, you will reap. Verse two, the tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Wise Speech, Fear of God, and the Heart

Verse three, the bridegroom wrote here, those who fear God, their tongues speak, their tongues speak. Those who fear God, they ask before they speak, that which I'm going to say, will it be a building?

But those who don't fear God, they speak all manner of filth. And the mouth runs over from that of which the heart is full. So if you speak about that which is filthy, that means your heart is full of it.

God Sees What Is Hidden

Verse three, the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Everybody needs to understand and know that whatever you say, God is busy looking on and taking notice of that.

And take note of the fact that God is keeping watch over us. And like the father who went to a certain white man's farm with his son, he said, my son, let's go there. He took his ax and things along with him, other tools.

They got there. The father glides in all directions. He said, well, nobody's seeing us. Let's cut this log. And the son said, father, you've looked in this direction and that direction all around us. But there's one direction you've forgotten to look.

You haven't looked up because God is looking on. God is watching us. And when the father heard that, his hands just fell limp next to his sides. He started trembling. And he said, my son, let's take our things, let's go home.

You lock all the doors, you close the curtains, you make sure that you're all on your own there. And you forget that whilst you're busy with your sin there, God is busy looking on. The eye of the most high is upon you.

There's nothing hidden. What is covered up before his eyes. According to Luke 12, that which is whispered behind closed doors will be shouted out on the rooftops. God sees everything, even the thoughts and intents of men's hearts, the hearts of men.

When Jesus was walking on this earth, as he was going around, from far off, he could already see what people are thinking in their hearts. Well, that Samaritan woman, when she asked Jesus for water, he said, first go and for the living water, he said, first, go and call your husband.

She said, I've got none. He said, it's true because you've had five and the one you're living with right now is not yours. You see Jesus numbers whilst you're busy having your boyfriends and your girlfriends.

And on that day of judgment, everything will come to light even before your husband and even before the minister you, who you brought into marriage. Verse five, a fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

Receiving Correction and Honoring Parents

That's why things are, as they are in the world today. That is why things are, as they are amongst the young people today. Verse six, a fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

Because they spurn their father's discipline and his correction, they don't listen. They don't hear what he says to them. And that's why they did their rubbish. You can give them all sorts of names that you like.

They go out into the world. They run away from home, go to the cities and there they do their own thing. But let me tell you, you are going to end up facing a very difficult day in your life. Verse seven, a fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

The Bible says why they spurn their father's discipline. It's because they are fools. You are the greatest fool in this world if you don't heed your father's correction. But whoever heeds correction shows prudence, but we don't like to be corrected.

Verse eight, a fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. If you want to be a man, then pay heed to your father's discipline and his correction and also the correction of your mother.

If you don't do that, as long as there is a God in heaven, let me tell you, things won't go well in your life. There'll only be curses and bad luck that comes in your direction. The Bible says, Jesus said, honor your father and your mother.

That is the first commandment of the promise so that it might go well with you and be well with you in this world. Many people die before their time because they've never honored and obeyed their parents.

You children who run away from your parents' discipline and correction at home, you'll be licked by the flames of hell before you've even died while you're still in this world. No matter where you might go to on the face of the earth, which university you might go to, doesn't matter what salary you might earn, all of that will come to naught because your parents' commands and instruction and discipline was like rubbish to you, you'll become rubbish.

So, this God says to all of us that if we spurn our father's correction and we don't heed that discipline, then your worst nightmare will come true wherever you might go in this world. Even if you go to church there where you are, that'll only make matters worse in your life because God's word to you is go back to where you have sinned against your parents and go make it right, be reconciled.

Marriage as a Picture of Christ and the Church

So, you bridal couple, build your lives upon this word that it might be well with you. Now, the word which I was going to say to you, give to you as a bridal couple is that there is no position as high in this world as the position of marriage.

You've heard that marriage is something that God is well pleased with and it makes Him happy. God is well pleased with it. But God's instruction and God's word to you as a man is that you ought to love your bride and your wife as Christ loved the church and you need to sanctify her as He did.

You are a prototype of Christ in that. There is no position higher than that, that you represent Christ, that you're a prototype of Christ, that others should see Christ in you through the way in which you treat your wife and your family and you, the bride.

When you're a type of the church, a prototype of the church where you represent the church, where they should see in your life how the church ought to behave towards Christ, the way that you submit to your husband and honor and respect him.

Because I'll learn from you how my relationship with Christ should be like and I'll see in your relationship with your husband, oh is that how you treat him, then I should see from that, oh this is how I need to treat Christ.

Because If you do that, it will be heaven on earth, and all the relatives, all the family, they'd love to be with you because they'll experience heaven in your home, but if you don't, it'll be hell on earth.

The Consequences of Smoking, Drinking, and Immorality

Some marriages are like hell on earth. It's just a cat and dog affair, and there's drinking and smoking and immorality. It's just like hell on earth. You are reducing your life span by four hours daily if you smoke a number of 30 cigarettes.

Eight, seven minutes. And some doctors dispute that fact. They say, no, it's only seven minutes. Well, whether it's seven or eight per cigarette, you're still bringing the grave closer by that amount of time daily, and I'm not even speaking about all the diseases that people are riddled with that smoke, where they get legs that are amputated.

And you, who smoke Dacha, it's worse per Zol, per cigarette, you're reducing your life I saw a young man in Mozambique smoking, and I went to him and I said, well, you look so young and good and healthy.

Why do you want? Are you tired of life? Why are you smoking? I said, why do I, why do I say that? I said, because you're putting poison into your own mouth and the same with people that drink. They're busy putting poison into their bodies.

Eventually the liver fails. It can no longer purify their blood. Now some people say, well, why did God then create it? If we shouldn't use it, well, then you can go to the garden and go and get some droppings there and eat that because it's also been created by God.

Droppings from a dog. If they tried, they like a cigar. You can smoke it or you can chew it as you like. It was created by God. You're created. Now cigarettes and drinking on its own is deadly, but when it's combined, it's 40 times more potent.

But let's not go that way. Let's not spurn our father's discipline, but heed correction and then we'll be blessed.