SOWING AND REAPING

Text: Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Intro: Nature teaches us that harvest always follows seed time. This rule is as true in the spiritual and intellectual realms as well as the natural.
It is no wonder that there are so many frustrated people in our society who are so despaired when faced with life's small problems. After all, they have sown the seed of trashy literature and immoral entertainment. Nearly everyone enjoys a good ball game, but if the reading of the sports page is the highest of our literary attainments, then where are we to get the strength we need when faced with a real personal crises?

In amoral sins also, one reaps what he sows. We remember the story from our childhood of the boy who cried 'wolf' so many times that when the wolf really did come, no one believed him. It still holds true; One who sows deceit will reap suspicion. One who sows anger toward others will reap malice toward himself. One who sows violence will reap fury
Hosea 8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:

The examples of the truth of this are many. There are the broken bodies and lives on the skid rows. The despair and dashed hopes in the prisons and in homes, as mothers and wives weep over those who have wasted their lives. Unwed mothers and broken homes are multiplied. Society is reaping what it has sown in the schools by disavowing God and in the population as a whole by putting the seal of approval on illicit sex and loose morals.

While all these are tragic, by far the greater catastrophe is in the realm of the spirit. Here we aren't dealing with wasted years but with eternity. We are not concerned with man's relationship with man but with his outlook for eternity and his relationship with his creator. We are not worried about cirrhosis of the liver, altered genes or a prison record, but the eternal banishment of his soul from the presence of God and an eternity in a burning hell.

Let's take another look at the text with which we began. The first part of the verse reads, "be not deceived". The word, as used here means to be led astray by false teachers. Eve was led astray in the Garden of Eden as she was deceived by Satan. He lied to her about the penalty of disobeying God. The statement of God was the first posting of the edict of the Law of Sin and Death. "In the day thou eateth thou shalt die." As proclaimed by the prophet Ezekiel it is,
Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Satan's deception was,"Thou shalt NOT surely die." and he is still spouting the same lie to mankind today. To some he says,"Sin is only relative. As long as you are only average or better you are okay. To others he says that sin is only in the mind and can be erased by denial. To others he assures them that it can't really be evil if it makes you feel good! To still others he is busy trying to convince them that God has more important things to think about than to worry about them and their little lives.
In spite of what the devil and his minions say, the Word of God still declares,
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;
Don't be deceived by false teaching, God is not mocked! This phrase means to turn up the nose in derision. The Bible is filled with the accounts of those who have thought to treat God with contempt. There were kings who scoffed at the God of Israel, but learned to their great sorrow that God is not mocked.
II Chronicles chapter thirty two records how the armies of Sennacharib, king of Syria, went home in shame after making fun of God. The Book of Daniel records the account of king Nebuchudnezzar and how he was made to live like a wild beast until he learned that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men.
All this is exactly what God has pronounced upon those who scorn Him. Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Psa 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore

Things have not changed. God is still not mocked. One who lives without faith must face death with uncertainty. One who lives without hope goes into the next world with hopelessness. Those who reject the love of God must face judgment without Christ, who is the gift of God's love..
While most of our remarks thus far, have been directed toward those who are lost, the words were actually written to those who were saved, and were members of the churches of Galatia. We who are saved NEED this admonition. Jesus said that he who saves his life shall lose it but he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Paul informs us;
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Jesus was teaching the same lesson in
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Picture the man who claims to have been saved, but has never committed his life to Christ. Sunday after Sunday he spends the day fishing, working in his yard or polishing his car instead of obeying the command of
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The years pass and the house is condemned as unsafe, the fishing place is polluted, the car is rusting in a wrecking yard, the well-tended yard is overgrown with weeds, and his body is moldering in a grave while he waits for a judgment he had hoped would never come.

Another spends so much time 'improving his mind' that he never has time to meditate upon God or to serve Him. He finds himself standing before his maker and discovers that the wisdom of the world is but foolishness with God.

There are many ways in which man can sow to the flesh. Whether it be seeking pleasure, wealth, fame, status, or power, the reaping is all the same. When the flesh decays, all efforts put forth for its enhancement fade away.
Those who sow to the spirit shall reap life everlasting! No, this isn't speaking of how to be saved, but rather about how to make this present life have eternal significance.
There is no need for all the accomplishments of our earthly existence to be left behind to decay and be lost. The answer is simply, SOW THE RIGHT SEED! Sow to the Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus said,
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
Then, he identified the Truth.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Paul Instructed Timothy,
2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
It is clear that if one is to sow to the Spirit, he MUST act in obedience to the Word of God, for the Holy Spirit will never act or lead contrary to the revealed word of God.

As the children of God stand at the judgment bar, the criteria for hearing the words, "Well done--" is not simply to have been saved, but to have been faithful to the savior by finding, uniting with, and serving in a New Testament Church!.
They will have served him faithfully all the days of their lives.
They will have been constant in their stewardship, prayers, Bible Study, witnessing to the lost and allowing the love of God to be shown through them.
According to the third chapter of I Corinthians, they will find their life's work purified by the fires of judgment, while those who have sown to the flesh will see their's consumed.

The first step toward laying up treasures in heaven is to lay the proper foundation.
1 Cor 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If you can't say with full assurance, "for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." then this is the time to come to Christ, repenting of your sins, and let Him save your soul. Then and only then can you begin to sow the right seed in preparation for the harvest to come.




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