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Text Sermons : ~Other Speakers G-L : Allan Halton : IN DUE SEASON WE SHALL REAP

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I was thinking about that verse in Galatians again earlier today. “And let us not be weary (or, lose heart) in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6.9). I looked it up, and apparently the Greek here is something like, “in its own season.” In other words, there is a specific season for the harvest. Let us remember this—those of us who have sown to the Spirit and wonder where the harvest is.

We are seeing all around us in our world that things are pretty ripe as far as evil is concerned. There’s been a lot of sowing “to the flesh.” So there is going to be a harvest of corruption. The season of that harvest is obviously nigh.

Now, the doers of evil never seem to need encouragement to persist in doing evil and not grow weary. It just comes naturally. At the same time, it’s kind of dull of them to not grasp that their evil doing will bring them a bountiful harvest of evil.

But aren’t our own senses just as dull if we have grown weary of sowing to the Spirit? We rejoiced when the seed was sown. But then come the difficult times—like the one we are in right now—and we faint. The promise of the Word of God is that we shall reap… if we faint not. I know it can be very trying when we embrace the seed of the Word in our heart and faithfully seek to keep out the weeds—and yet still do not see the fruit we long to see. Our Lord knows this, and inspired Paul to write those words. He urges us to not be weary in well doing—in sowing to the Spirit. We are going to see the harvest—in the season God has ordained for the harvest! God is not mocked. We shall reap what we have sown… in the season God has ordained for the harvest.

As I was thinking of this earlier today, and about God’s provision for us in the Day of Evil, Psalm 27 came to mind, and I turned to it. And as I read the familiar words once again, the light bulb suddenly went on. (The Bible is such an awesome book!) David knew an Evil Day was coming—something many Christians today are aware of, and talk much about. When Christians get together this will often be the topic of conversation. Trouble is nigh. Great shakings are ahead. It seems we understand this quite well.

But how was David preparing for this evil day he understood was coming? Well, in a sense he wasn’t preparing for the evil day at all. He was preoccupied with One Thing today.

“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple. For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His pavilion…” (Ps. 27.4,5).

See how beautifully the one follows the other? David had a certain preoccupation day after day… all the days of his life. Seeking to dwell in the house of the LORD today. And so where will that put him when the evil day dawns?

“For in the Day of Evil…” (That’s how we must translate the original Hebrew for the phrase the King James translates as “the time of trouble.”) “For in the Day of Evil He shall hide me in His pavilion (His covert, His booth): in the secret (place) of His tabernacle He shall hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock” (Ps. 27.5).

Day after ordinary day, David was sowing to something. He was seeking to dwell in the house of the LORD. Where, then, will this find him when the Day of Evil arrives? In the same Place he was in yesterday—in the house of the LORD—and discovering that this House is a Secret Place of refuge from all evil. It is the “secret Place of His tabernacle.” How simple, yet how wonderful, the ways of God!

“He shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret (place) of His tabernacle He shall hide me…” This is God’s provision for the Day of Evil? A tabernacle, a flimsy tent? But I am sure David has in mind the tabernacle he set up on Mount Zion for the ark of God, for the Presence of God Himself. The secret (place) of His tabernacle is the secret of the Presence of God. Once we see this it suddenly becomes very understandable why a flimsy little tent becomes the place of perfect security. God is there! In a day when it seems that evil has been let off the leash there is a Place evil cannot penetrate. “In the secret (place) of His tabernacle He shall hide me…”

And who is this Tabernacle, but our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the House of God, He Himself is this Tabernacle of God—this Place of the Presence of God—the one and only refuge in the universe when all evil is unleashed around us, the immoveable Rock we can confidently stand on when all else around us is sinking sand.

Psalm 27 is no doubt prophetic of the Evil Day that is before us. God says that this is our provision for what is ahead of us tomorrow—what we are doing today. Let us believe Him, then. Let us sow to the same thing David was sowing to. Let us not be weary in doing this, even though it’s a very difficult hour, and finding this Place of His Presence is often very difficult. There is a weariness. But let us persevere. Let us continue sowing to this. Let us seek to dwell in the House of the Lord—in this Place of His Presence—all the days of our life. We will not be caught off guard tomorrow if we are sowing to this abiding relationship with Jesus Christ today. In the Day of Evil when our need is desperate we will find ourselves hidden away in a certain Tabernacle. In fact it’s just as necessary today, isn’t it—this Secret Hiding Place. I sow to this even now in the evil days that often come my way, and every day. As difficult as it is I am not giving up. I have tasted the preciousness of this Presence many times… in measure. I have seen the beauty of the Lord… a little. And I am hooked. I am going to continue sowing to this. I shall yet see the fullness of His beauty in His House, and go no more out from His Presence.

How can I be so sure? Simply because… I sow to this! And God is not mocked. I fully anticipate a harvest. God has designated a season for this harvest. I am going to reap what I have sown.

That is the Word of God.





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