Culver Community Church
Pastor Chris Sweeney
Sermon Notes
November 24, 2019
Galatians 6:7- 10 God’s Law of Sowing & Reaping
{vs 7-8} Do not be deceived – this reminds us of the earlier line of questions to the foolish Galatians by the apostle Paul - ‘Who has bewitched you?’ His meaning is clear, this is something important and elementary – it is self-evident and obvious! This is one of God’s laws and there is no cheating or finding loopholes to get around or ‘mock God’ in this area! God sees, He knows and He is just – for every evil seed sown there will be consequences – either we will pay or by God’s grace, Jesus will pay for us! Whatever a man sows, that will determine what he will reap! Some people try to separate this from God; they may call it natural law, karma or something else but God has set this as one of the governing rules over our existence! If you or I sow seeds to the flesh (the sin nature) - - - it is a guarantee that what will grow up is works of the flesh and they will cause destruction, to us and those around us! However, if we sow seed ‘to please the Spirit’ (God’s Holy Spirit within us) - - - then God will cause the fruit of the Spirit to be the crop, which will lead to eternal life, again, both in us and in those around us who are influenced by this fruit!
While this rule is set, there is only one condition, which Paul does not mention here – God controls the increase or return (1 Corinthians 3:7). We may sow, tend and water either carelessly or diligently – but God causes things to come to life and grow. This is a scriptural principle for both good and poor seed – God is the one who brings to life whatever we plant and He determines the increase! It is not absolute, because we would all be overwhelmed by the return on our own sin. Sometimes we plant and pray that we get a hundredfold return, other times we plant and pray that God lets the seed die in the ground! Only God knows when, where and how much the harvest will be. There are times when He, in great mercy diminishes the harvest to protect us and other times when we need to reap - - - in order to learn! What is sure and certain is that if I sow sparingly, I’ll reap sparingly but those who sow generously will reap a greater harvest (2 Corinthians 9:6) and what we sow is what will grow. Apple seeds always produce apple trees! We cannot sow to the flesh and expect God to transform those seeds into a holy crop! Likewise, if we are sowing to the Spirit (for God’s Kingdom) – those seeds will (eventually) reap a Godly reward.
There is an immediate context and an overall context as to why Paul (and the Holy Spirit) gives this truth right here at this point in the letter. First, the near and less obvious context, Paul has just been teaching that we need to bear each other’s burdens and specifically to share with those who teach or invest into our lives. Believers should not see this sharing or giving to ministers, mentors and the local church as payments for to a hired hand or for services (although in a crude sense that is at least partially the outcome), but rather as sowing seeds. If we sow seeds for Godly preaching, mentoring and for the church to further the Kingdom of God then we can and should expect a harvest from this! This is an opportunity for the sower – instead of simply buying goods, we can invest in God’s work! Don’t take that lightly, because in God’s economy investors always get returns. If you and I give to a missionary, God recognizes us as partnering in that endeavor and reserves a portion of the rewards for that mission just for us! Those rewards may manifest themselves in the physical, financial, spiritual or any number of other ways. They may be received in the here and now, or sent ahead to our account in Heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy!
Second, there is a context for Paul to teach this principle of sowing and reaping because of chapter five, which he alludes to here. We have been looking at the great contrast between someone who is serving the flesh, producing the works of the flesh and someone yielded to God, upon whose life the Holy Spirit is producing the Fruit of the Spirit! In reminding us of God’s law of sowing and reaping, Paul tells us that if we cater to the flesh – we will reap destruction! If we walk by the Spirit we will please God (our Savior), becoming more like Him, bearing the Fruit of the Spirit (God’s character) and that fruit is eternal! And that has more than one way to be understood! One, the Godly character we develop here on Earth will follow us into eternity. Two, the fruit is for others to consume and those who do will be influenced to seek God either in salvation or a closer walk with Him. This Godly fruit is the equivalent of building on the foundation that is Christ with gold, silver, costly stones (1 Corinthians 3) – yielding a reward before the throne of Christ! However, for believers who sow to the flesh, part of that destruction will be to suffer the loss, watching their works burned up by the fire of God’s judgement as if wood, hay or straw! Believers will not lose their salvation because of poor choices, bad seed sown and wasted opportunities but there will be loss or destruction!
So, the question for the church today is ‘What seeds are you sowing?’ That applies to our finances, our time, our giftings and our attention. It is certainly true that two of the best barometers of our spiritual condition are where we spend our time and yes, money! However, they are not the only ones:
· When we are emotionally weary at the end of the day – what is it that draws your attention? What do you try to plug into to recharge? Is it the computer? The cell phone? The T.V.? Personal interaction with family or friends? Some activity or entertainment? Or do you seek God through prayer, praise, worship and His Word? So many of us spend time with Hollywood’s idea of entertainment and we wonder why our thoughts and outlook on life are so desperate? The things we feed into our mind and heart today, determine how we think and feel - What we sow today, becomes tomorrow’s harvest!
· Take a moment to inventory your natural and spiritual gifts. How are they being used? Do they bless the body of Christ? Are they used with a joyful spirit that gives God the glory? Or are your gifts used to self-eddify? Or are they unwrapped and unused like some underappreciated Christmas gift from years gone by? Whatever your gifts: prayer warrior, musician, teacher, acts of service, administration, etc. Let us yield them (like our bodies and wills) to God! What we sow today, becomes tomorrow’s harvest!
· If you and I look to our daily list of activities – how much of our time is used to sow seeds for God’s Kingdom? I’m not saying you and I have to spend all day in a monastery, at the church or feeding orphans in Africa or the homeless right in our neighborhoods (unless you are called to do any of those things) – but how much time is spent doing whatever we do for God? We can clean toilets for God or we can be employed by the largest of ministries, for ourselves. The choice is ours. It’s about attitude and intentions; “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” (Colossians 3:23). What we sow today, becomes tomorrow’s harvest!
· If you and I look at our latest bank statement and checkbook, what do our finances say about our priorities? Do all the outflows go to rent/mortgage, utilities, food and entertainment or is there a place (a noticeable place) for tithes and offerings, for gifts to brothers/sisters in need, for gifts to the poor, widows and orphans and the spread of the gospel?
I know how hard it is to make ends meet however, if you and I look to this world’s priorities - - - then there will be little or nothing left for God! God must come first! In the book of Haggai God tells Israel that they are working in vain, sowing but not reaping, as if putting wages in a purse with holes in it - - - because they were putting themselves before God! However, Jesus promised (Matthew 6:33) when we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”, “all these things [life’s necessities] will be added unto you.” In fact, God issues a challenge in this area of tithes, that few dare try -
Malachi 3:10 NIV - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
God says to them and to us, ‘give it a try, I’ll prove it to you! I will open not the windows, nor the doors but the floodgates of Heaven. You know what comes through floodgates don’t you? It is literally the gate that holds back the flood of water which would destroy the damn – that’s a whole lot of water! Where are we sowing our money and what returns will it bring us? What we sow today, becomes tomorrow’s harvest!
I could go on but you get the point – how we use what God has given to us is the seed from which we will harvest either good or bad! God desires that we be good, Godly stewards and use His resources (and our lives) for His kingdom and glory! “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
{vs 9} As we do our best to wisely manage our resources before God under the principle of sowing and reaping, we need patience. Harvesting is rarely instant! It usually takes time and does not come up immediately after you sow the seeds. Here Paul assumes we have sown good seed and are eager to see the rewards – so he tells us to be patient, not to give up! Those who persevere will harvest – at the proper time (notice that neither Paul not God give specific time frames – it’s not always the same and we have to trust God!)
{vs 10} Here’s the bottom line – do good to everyone (starting with brothers/sisters in Christ but to every neighbor) at every chance that you get! At every opportunity – I can’t help but think of Jesus’ answer to the quesiont ‘Who is my neighbor?’ It’s not just those who live on either side of you! It’s not just your close-knit community or those like you – a neighbor is anyone who you come in contact with, especially those in need! Paul basically said be perfect – always do the right thing, the generous thing – the God thing! You might say I thought we didn’t have to do works, that Jesus freed us from all that! No, we are not bound to the law and the to-do’s and to-don’ts but now we have a higher standard - - - LOVE! Love fulfills the law and keeps on going! Love is so much more; so be loving to everyone, always – just as Jesus Christ would do! By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. – John 13:35