“In Psalm 126:5 it says, ‘They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.’ Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross in tears, as it were, so that we might have the joy of salvation,” Billy Graham said while preaching in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1987. Listen to the full sermon to hear how you can find that joy by following Jesus Christ. Watch more #MondayNightClassics every Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. CONNECT with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: on Facebook: / billygrahamevangelisticassociation
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from our archives the Billy Graham
classics
tonight I want to turn you to turn with
me to a very familiar passage of
scripture to all of you
and that is found in Romans the first
chapter
and the 17th verse and then I want us to
turn over to Galatians the sixth chapter
when the book of Galatians the Apostle
Paul is explaining what he meant in the
17th verse of the first chapter and this
was the verse That Shook all of Europe a
little over 500 years ago when it was
discovered and it was revealed to him in
a powerful way to Martin Luther
first chapter of Romans the 17th verse
and therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from Faith to Faith as it is
written the just
shall live by faith the just shall live
by faith not by our own goodness not by
our own works but by faith
by grace are ye saved through faith and
that none of yourselves it is the gift
of God not of Works lest any man should
boast then we turn over
to Galatians the sixth chapter what a
marvelous chapter this fifth chapter is
and the sixth chapter and the sixth
chapter has something I want to speak on
and I’ve never before preached a sermon
on this text
be beginning with verse seven be not
deceived God is Not mocked for
whatsoever man soweth that shall he also
reap for he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption but
he that saw to the spirit shall of the
spirit reap everlasting life
I want to speak tonight on sowing and
reaping I noticed as we came in the Lush
Farmland that’s here in this Red River
Valley I guess there’s nothing quite
like it in the United States I used to
come to Fargo quite often stop here at
Fargo Moorhead you couldn’t get to
Winnipeg without stopping on Northwest
Airlines here on a DC-3 back in the 40s
we used to go back and forth to Winnipeg
a lot and we stopped here a lot and I
would see this country and often Marvel
that it’s lushness and congratulate you
and your grandparents and parents that
came here and settled here because this
has become one of the great areas of the
entire United States I was born and read
on a farm and I’ve read about families
that have been losing their family farms
and I was read on a family farm
and I remember the days back in the 20s
and the 30s
back during the Depression when my
father would look for rain and we would
pray for rain and we raised wheat and
barley and grain we didn’t have sugar
beets but we did raise other things that
would be familiar to you then my father
had what he called A Truck Farm where he
raised vegetables and then we had dairy
cattle and we milked and every morning
from the time I was about seven or eight
I had to get up at three o’clock and go
milk cows and when I was in high school
I milked 20 cows every morning before I
went to school and milk those same 20
when I came home from school and so I
knew a little bit about farm work
now I believe that they’re in the Bible
there are five laws in sowing and
reaping first you must sow to reap in
China two thousand years old seed were
taken from an ancient tomb and they’re
sprouting today and growing tomatoes
even though they were sown two thousand
years ago but it wasn’t until they were
sown that they could produce a crop for
reaping we have to sow to reap now in
Hosea it says so to yourselves in
righteousness think of it so in goodness
so in righteousness
reap in Mercy if you sow in
righteousness living a good life
putting your faith in your confidence in
Christ you are going to reap the mercy
of God and the grace of God and
salvation
for it is time the scripture says to
seek the Lord till he come and Reign
righteousness upon you
has righteousness reigned upon you
because unless you are clothed in the
cloth of the righteousness of God you’ll
never out of heaven and that
suit of clothes or that dress of
righteousness was provided by the Lord
Jesus Christ who died on the cross for
you
we have a cross on all of our churches
whatever our denomination may be
we agree on one thing that the cross is
the central fact of Christianity and
it’s on the cross that Christ hung for
our sins and died for us and provided
for us a righteousness that you cannot
provide for yourself
in Psalm 126 5 it says David So in tears
shall reap in joy
our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross
in tears as it were so that we might
have the joy of salvation
now if you want to become a lawyer or a
doctor or a scientist or Professor you
have to spend years of study you still
you so study and you reap professionally
there was a hillbilly from the south who
felt lost at Times Square New York
so he asked a young fella with a long
bid how is the how do you get to
Carnegie Hall
and snapping his fingers the bearded man
replied practice man practice
and to be a great musician like
Pavarotti you have to practice
passionately and perpetually
you reap Excellence if you sow effort
but you have to sow in order to reap
have you been sowing in Good Deeds have
you been sowing in Repentance have you
been sowing in faith have you been
sowing in Bible reading and prayer and
church going Faithfully have you been
sowing so you can reap the grace and the
mercy of God
oh have you been sowing the Wild Oats
that so many people sow or been sowing
things for your own lust and your own
pleasures and you’re going to reap
someday that which you have sowed and
then the second thing
if you sow you will reap every person is
a sower and a reaper now the Bible
teaches that Satan is a deceiver and in
Galatians 6 it says be not deceived
many of you are already deceived
he that soweth to his flesh that is lust
drugs
wrong kinds of sex
too much drink
shall of the flesh reap corruption
in Proverbs 6 it says a wicked man
soweth Discord therefore shall his
Calamity come suddenly suddenly shall he
be broken without remedy
the Bible warns
that if we continue that kind of life we
will be broken
we’ll we’re going to reap what we sow
Henry woods with long fella and here’s
the reaper and the flowers says though
the Mills of God grind slowly yet they
grind exceedingly small
you remember Cain became jealous
of his brother Abel
and he killed his brother in a fit of
jealousy and rage and became the first
murderer and that was the first war and
that took place in Paradise many people
say oh if we only change society
if we make the world better if we spend
more money if everybody had everything
they wanted it would they would we would
produce a new man
this is what uh
Marx taught
this is what Lenin strongly believed
he had great ideals he believed that
they would ultimately produce a new man
but we’ve lived long enough now to know
that it has not produced a new man
the only person that can produce a new
man is the one that said you must be
born again it doesn’t mean really born
again it means born from above borne by
the spirit of God just as you were born
into the physical world and from your
mother’s womb you must be born into the
spiritual world
and so in one sense it’s being born the
second time
the third thing is you will reap what
you sow whatsoever man soweth that shall
he also reap in numbers 32 it says be
sure your sin will find you out
be sure
your sin and we’re all Sinners I’m a
sinner you’re a sinner
the Bible says all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God and sin means
the breaking of God’s law the breaking
of the Ten Commandments and the Bible
says if you break those Commandments in
one place you’re guilty of all
and we’re all Sinners and we’ve broken
all the Commandments we all need the
mercy and the grace and the love of God
be sure your sin will find you out every
sin that has ever been committed is
going to be found out either in this
life or at the judgment
somewhere sometime every little sin that
you committed and every big sin will
find you out
because you remember the tapes back in
Watergate days
and what they did to our president
God has tapes
far more sophisticated
not only does he record all of our
actions but all of our thoughts all of
our words all of our intents are
recorded
and you may deny it at the judgments say
God it just didn’t happen that way he’s
got it all that
he has every moral choice you faced and
he
has the road that you took
you’ll reap what you sow
in job 4 it says they that plow iniquity
and so wickedness reap the same
you’re going to reap
everything that you sow you’ll reap I
read in Time Magazine review of a book
entitled Wild Oats and some people lived
by the philosophy that you sow your Wild
Oats all week then go to church on
Sunday morning and pray for crop failure
it’s not going to be that way the crop
is going to come in and how many of us
go to church and we really don’t know
Christ I did I was real a presbyterian
and I was baptized I was confirmed in
the church
and I thought everything was all right I
thought the minister was a little bit
boring I didn’t particularly like going
to church but I went because my parents
told me to go
and if you knew my father you know you’d
go if he told you
but I really didn’t have Christ in my
heart I didn’t have Assurance I didn’t
know
that if I died I’d go to heaven I wasn’t
sure of that
I wasn’t certain that my sins had been
forgiven
so one day when they had an Evangelistic
meeting I went forward and received
Christ into my heart and recommitted my
life to Christ and I remember the things
that I promised those Elders when I met
with them at the time of confirmation
and I said Lord I’m going to recommit my
life to you I’m going to surrender to
you I’m not sure where I stand but I
want to be sure
and that simple decision changed my
entire life
but life doesn’t always work that way in
Proverbs 28 it says he that cover this
sin shall not Prosper but whosoever
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have
mercy God is willing to have mercy upon
you he’s willing to bestow his grace
upon you he’s willing to forgive you if
you’re willing to repent of your sin and
receive him you see the Bible says that
sin is no respecter of persons in James
1 it says every man is tempted when he’s
drawn away of his own lust and enticed
then when lust hath conceived it
bringeth forth sin and sin when it is
finished brings forth death and that
death is not only natural death when
your body dies but you can be dead right
now where you’re sitting spiritually
dead you’re dead toward God that’s the
reason people can’t find peace and joy
and happiness today they search for it
they want it but they can’t find it you
can’t find it in drugs you can’t find it
an extramarital affair you can’t find it
any other place or you can have a
temporary time you can get drunk and go
out with some girl and have a good time
for a while but it soon wears off
it’s gone
I had a bishop we’ve had a number of
Bishops but one Bishop in particular
who came forward in our meeting
an Anglican Bishop in England
and later
I saw him privately
and I said Bishop why did you have to
come forward
he said you know I’ve been to the
university I’ve gotten my degrees and
I’ve been to the theological school and
all the rest and he said I’m I’m now in
my 50s and I’m a bishop but he said I am
not sure where I stand before God and I
just wanted to make sure
do you feel that way you can make sure
tonight before you leave here
and then the fourth thing the ignorance
of what you are sowing will keep you
from reaping Leviticus 19 19 says Thou
shalt not sow thy field with mingle seed
the Bible teaches that when The Good
Seed of the word of God is sown the
Devil comes along and sows tares Jesus
said you can sow are allowed to be sowed
in your life to the devil and you’ll
repel
the devil for thousands of years has
been issuing an invitation to hell to
all of those who sow to the sins of the
flesh to those who permit Satan to sow
Tears in their lives
come to Christ now
give him your life
on the cross
Jesus Christ conquered Satan
and hell and sin
and in First John 3 8 it says he that
committeth sin is of the devil for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the
devil so that we might live the life
after Christ
first John 4 4 says greater is he that
is in you than he that is in the world
Christ comes to live within you and
gives you a new power
to live a life that you never dreamed
you could live and he produces within
you love and joy and peace and
satisfaction and fulfillment that you
never knew before
and he put you on the right road because
Jesus said there are two roads of Life
the broad road that leads to destruction
and the narrow road that leads
to life Everlasting
and then fifthly and lastly
you will reap more than you serve Hosea
8 7 says they have sown the wind and
they shall reap the Whirlwind John 4 36
says he receiveth wages that reaps
Charles Reed wrote a century ago
so an act in euripa habit saw a habit in
Europa character saw a character in
euripa Destiny Lord Macaulay the great
historian once wrote old men reap
someone was showing a clergyman through
one of the prisons the other day in the
east
and they saw an old man sitting there
weeping
and they asked the warden what is he
doing and the warden replied he’s
reaping
and that’s where many of us are going
we’re going to a place where we’re going
to reap we’ve been sowing all these
weeks and months and years and we think
we’re getting by with it
our conscience no longer bothers us why
because the Bible teaches that you can
Harden your conscience you can cause it
to become dead it no longer speaks it’s
no longer an accurate guide for you
come to Christ and he’ll re-sensitize
your conscience
a hundred million people die every year
270 million die every day
ten thousand people die every hour 180
die every minute three die every second
and you will be one of those statistics
one of these days are you ready to meet
God the Bible says prepare to meet God
Jesus said the dead shall come forth
they that have done good unto the
resurrection of life and they that have
done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation too crowds
crowd you say well Billy what do I have
to do to make sure to make certain
many people want to be sure but they
don’t know what to do
first you must repent of sin the word
repent means to turn to change to change
the direction of your life to change
your mind you change your mind about God
you change your mind about yourself and
your need of God
and you go home ready to change the way
you treat your wife or your husband or
your parents or your children or your
neighbors or the people you work with
you’re ready for a change
second you put your total confidence and
your total faith in Christ alone you’re
not depending on anything else for your
future salvation except the cross and
the resurrection of Christ
for by the grace of God are you saved
the word Grace means unmerited favor
something I don’t deserve Billy Graham
doesn’t deserve to go to heaven I
deserve to
go to the Judgment I deserve hell
but I’m going to Heaven by the grace of
God
by Christ who died on the cross
and said my God my God why hast Thou
forsaken me and in that terrible moment
something happened that none of us
really understands God laid on him the
sins of us all Jesus became the great
sin Bearer
he died for us
then he comes into our hearts and he
gives us a power to do good works
and we go out with a burden for our
neighbors a burden for peace in the
world
for a burden to Help the Hungry to feed
the poor
to help the poor
that’s our responsibility as Believers
but we don’t have the power to do the
things we ought to do it to live the
life we ought to do but Jesus Christ
gives it to you
he rose again
and we reap eternal life forgiveness
peace Joy love the power of the Holy
Spirit comes within
eternity in heaven we sang the song a
moment ago Amazing Grace
do you know the story of that song
it was written by a slaver
a man by the name of John Newton
and John Newton became the slave of a
slave in West Africa
and one day when he was coming back to
England on the slave ship and treating
the slaves miserable and terrible
they had a thunderstorm
and he fell on his face and he
remembered some scriptures that his
mother taught him when he was a boy
and he received Christ into his heart
and it changed his life and he went back
to England
and became a great friend
of those who were to someday lead the
fight against slavery in Parliament and
did more to help probably than any other
person motivate the British people
toward outlawing slavery he himself
became the minister of an Anglican
Church he himself wrote many hymns
and that was one of the hymns he wrote
Amazing Grace
How Sweet the Sound
I don’t deserve it John Newton said I
don’t deserve it and when he was an old
man
and he could barely get up into the
pulpit and he was in his middle 80s he
held on to the pulpit and he said I
don’t know much
but he said I do know this that I’m a
great Sinner and I have a great savior
and John Newton left his Mark for God
after being a terrible sinner
you can be forgiven of any sin any
failure it may be hypocrisy whatever it
is but tonight you’d like to make sure
I’m going to ask you to do something
that I’ve asked Africans but the
thousands to do Asians but the thousands
Europeans but the thousands Americans by
the thousands and I’ve seen them do it
to the thousands
I’m going to ask you to get up out of
your seat where you’re sitting right now
and come and stand in front on this
beautiful turf
and stand there for a moment or two
quietly
and say you know I want to be sure about
this I want to be sure my sins are
forgiven I want to know I’m going to
heaven I want this Supernatural peace
and joy and fulfillment that Christ can
give me and I want to settle it I would
like to rededicate myself to my
confirmation vows
what my baptism meant
whatever the reason whatever your need
I’m going to ask you to get up and come
and stand and after you’ve all come and
stood there I’m going to have a prayer
with you and give you some literature to
help you in your Christian Life if
you’re with friends or relatives they’ll
wait
oh you may be the only one from your
area to come but get up and come
I’m going to ask that no one leave the
stadium now at this holy moment and
everyone in an attitude of Prayer you
get up and come you may be a member of
the church you may not be a member of
any church I don’t know who you are but
you need Christ you come right now we’re
going to wait on just come and stand
here quietly young and old whatever
whoever you are
we’re going to wait Catholic or
Protestant Jewish whatever you come and
stand here
say yes and make sure of your
relationship to Christ
you may be in the choir
are you me
just be somebody that wandered in but
God is speaking to you you come just
stand here in front behind those cameras
that are around here on or right in here
we’re going to wait on you quickly bring
somebody with you
[Music]
hello
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and as these many hundreds make their
personal decision for Christ here in
Fargo North Dakota
to wherever you are can make that
decision call the number on your
television screen right now
the line is busy wait a few moments and
call again
says
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good morning
words this song
[Music]
I want to say a word to you that have
been watching on television
you’ve been watching from other parts of
the country and other parts of other
countries and you see people coming here
and Fargo Moorhead City
Fargo North Dakota Morehead City
Minnesota and other parts of this great
Midwestern area on Northern Plains area
whatever area we want to call it
and you see them coming to make their
commitment you can make your commitment
where you are in your hotel room
or in your bedroom or in your living
room or with your family
make your surrender to Christ now and
say Lord I need you come into my heart
forgive my sin give me Assurance of my
own faith
I’m going to pray that you’ll make that
commitment now if you just prayed that
prayer with my father or if you have any
questions about a relationship with
Jesus Christ I’ll just call that number
that is on the screen there’ll be
someone there to talk with you pray with
you and answer those questions and
remember
God loves you
if you would like to commit your life to
Jesus Christ please call us right now
toll-free at
1-877-772-4559 that’s 1-877-772-4559
or you can write to us at Billy Graham
One Billy Graham Parkway Department C
Charlotte North Carolina
28201 or you can contact us on the web
24 7 at
peacewithgod.tv we’ll get the same helps
to you that we give to everyone who
responds at the invitation
on behalf of Franklin Graham and the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
thank you for watching and thank you for
your prayers
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