Galatians chapter 6. We'll be
looking at verses 6 through 10 again this morning. I've entitled
this message, The Sowing Saint. The Apostle says, "...let him
that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all
Good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. 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. let us not be weary
in well-doing. For in due season we shall reap,
if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are
of the household of faith." Now, remember the Apostle is now speaking
to believers. He is now speaking to those who
are walking in the Spirit, those who walk by faith, those who
are regenerated by the power and grace of God. Or at least
to those who profess to believe in Christ. He is speaking. He
exhorts us. He exhorts us with the knowledge
of the warfare that resides in every one of us. Understanding
the warfare. Understanding that the two natures,
the two armies that are in you, the flesh and the spirit struggling,
opposed to one another, He understands that. And in spite of that, He
exhorts you. He exhorts you because of this.
Walk in the Spirit. What is it to walk in the Spirit?
We've said this many times. To walk in the Spirit is simply
believing in Jesus Christ. That is the work of the Spirit.
To point you to Christ. To take the things of Christ
and testify of those things to you. It is to believe. It is to constantly set our eyes
upon Christ. That is the fruit of the Spirit.
He produces this fruit in everyone who believes. And then you remember
in verse 1, He begins to show us the outward manifestation
of the inward fruit. The inward fruit of the Spirit
will always manifest itself. And the first thing He talks
about is love for the brethren. Love for the brethren. He says
those that are spiritual. If you see a man, a brother,
overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, mature, restore
such in one. This should be a heart of every
believer, is to seek restoration of those
of our brethren who have fallen into sin. Now how can this be
done except the Spirit give us meekness? except the Spirit of
God give us a meek heart." How? Considering yourself. That's
the second thing you must do in order to restore a brother.
You can't restore him at all. You can't have any affection,
any compassion, any zeal of love for that person, except you consider
yourself. Consider that you are just as
capable of any sin he has committed and far worse. Far worse. Then he says in verse 2, bear
under their burden. Bear under their burden. Bear
you one another's burdens and thus you fulfill the law of Christ.
What is the law of Christ? Faith and love. Faith and love. And those who walk in the Spirit
will soberly consider their own vile nature, this is in verses
4 and 5, let every man prove his own work and then he shall
have rejoicing in himself alone and not another for every man
shall bear his own burdens. In other words, he's saying work
in your own vineyard. Don't be, you're not fruit inspectors. That's kind of what he's saying
there, and I think this translation, the way it's worded, is not exactly
the best way it should be worded, but it means this, that make your calling an election
sure, rather than trying to make someone else's sure. He said,
you desire to restore that one, but in doing so, consider yourself.
Think about yourself. Don't consider the speck in your
brother's eye when you've got a beam in your own eye. He said, no, you need to consider
yourself. You need to measure your own
self. And how do we do that? What's the evidence that we're
in Christ? Is it not faith and love? Faith
is the evidence. And what is the evidence of true
faith? But love. Faith worketh how? You can't
work faith without what? Love. So faith worketh by love. And so as we walk, we walk soberly,
righteously, and godly. When? In this present world. This is how true believers are
to walk. Therefore we should never seek as the legalist to
exalt ourselves over our fallen brethren. This was the danger here, is that those legalists
in that group who profess to be believers in Christ would
see their fallen brethren and they would exalt themselves. They would try to compare their
spirituality with the one that has fallen so that they might
have a better confidence or assurance. You seek assurance sometimes.
We do. We seek assurance. I like what
Tim James said about this. The moment you're looking for
assurance, you've lost it. That's good, yeah. Our assurance
is not found by looking within or looking at other people. Our
assurance is only found if we are looking to Christ. That's
where assurance is found. It is found in the perfect blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Did He accomplish my salvation?
Well, then I have assurance if all my salvation is based on
Him and not looking at myself or others. And so then we come down to verse
6 and Paul is speaking here and he says, "...let them that are
taught in the Word." Went over this Wednesday evening, "...them
that are taught in the Word." This is important. We ought to
remember that the knowledge of the Gospel did not come by our
own abilities. It did not come to us By our
own understanding, our own knowledge, we have not learned the gospel,
nor have we known God by the merits of our flesh. For the
Word of God is very plain, the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them, because He is spiritually judged of God,
condemned, sentenced to spiritual death, even from his birth. He cannot know those things.
I tell you, I desire to preach the gospel as plainly and as
clearly as I possibly can. It is the desire of every pastor
that you understand every word that we say, so that no one could
misunderstand our speech. We go to great lengths to do
this, so that you understand that Christ alone is all the
salvation of His people, and that you should believe on Him.
But no matter how clearly I state this, it still is not going to
help you who do not know Christ. This is something God must do.
I consider Christ the best preacher, don't you? Is there any preacher
that we would exalt above Christ? No. And you remember our Lord
performed miracles even. Fed those 5,000 men with five
loaves and a few fishes. They saw it. They experienced
it. They actually ate those loaves
themselves. Our Lord preached to them, didn't
He? And what was his message? Look, I am the bread of life.
Whosoever believeth in me shall never hunger and never thirst
for righteousness and acceptance with God. That was his message,
and a clear message you could not have preached, ever. A better
message you could have not preached. And what is the result of that
message? They did not believe. And even those who profess to
believe, those disciples... Now, listen, some of those people
didn't stay to the end of that message. Some of them left long
before that. But there were some disciples,
self-professed disciples, they hung on as long as they could. They hung on to the end of that
message and they left just like the others. Why? No man can come unto me
except the Father which hath sent me draw him for it is written
they shall all be taught of God." Listen, we who have come and
believed on Christ, how is it that you've been taught? You've
been taught of God. You've been taught of God. You've been taught of God, and
the power of God and the grace of God has taught you and given
you faith. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that faith, even that faith, is not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. It was a sovereign power of God
that quickened and taught you. But what means did God use? What
means did God use to communicate this Gospel to your ears? Remember, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Preaching. I don't think the preaching of
the Gospel in this generation can be overemphasized, because
it is so demoted in this generation, and so foolish and worthless
in this generation, Preaching the gospel is the only means
God has chosen to save sinners. Kick if you will, preaching in
this day has become nothing more than storytelling. That's all
it is. You get a man who can spin a
yarn and tell a story, they'll put him in the pastorate. Preaching today is nothing more
than self-motivating, self-help seminars. And Christ is only
used as a springboard to help yourself. Now, preachers are called to
do one thing, preach Christ and Him crucified. That is the sum
and substance of our message. Now, why is preaching important?
Because it pleased God. Now you don't need any other
excuse than that. You don't need any other reason than that. It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. And so then we are called to
do what? Preach the gospel. To who? Every creature. And this
is our message. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. This is our message. This is our gospel message that
we preach. And we preach this in confidence
knowing this, that all God has purposed to save, He will save.
No one accidentally trips on salvation. God wills it. And when he wills
it, it will take place. I stand amazed at all of the
providences that God moves together. Everything God does in perfect
time and harmony so as to bring that one sheep, that one person
under the sound of the gospel. deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill. He treasures up his bright designs
and works his sovereign will. Isn't this what he does through
the preaching of the gospel? Often, Brother J.D. and I talk
about this, he says, he stands in wonder, he says, how is it
that this old Kentucky boy came to sit under a Texan? I just
can't imagine how it was that we were brought together, and
yet I know God did it. God did it. God does this for
all His sheep. And the preaching of the gospel
is not just to call the lost, but it's also for the encouragement
of the saints, isn't it? You that have been taught, do
you not still need to be taught? I do remember this fool. It was kind of hard to miss some
people when they're just so ignorant and foolish. This man, he came
to worship with us at Lincolnwood there in Houston. And he came
for a while. He came for about a year. And
then he just stopped coming. And he was asked, why did he
stop coming? He said, well, I know it all. he said i don't need here anymore and then one part of god That
man wasn't taught. It's easily seen that that man
was not taught of God. Because God's people, sure enough,
we have not ever loved as we should. We have not ever believed
as we should. We have not ever been as gentle
and meek as we should. We need to be taught over and
over again that Christ is all. Seeing the rotten corpse about
our neck, seeing that we need to hear again the gospel of free
grace, of free mercy and forgiveness. I stand in constant need of mercy.
Anybody here identify with that? Do you need mercy? I need more
mercy now than when I first started understanding my need of mercy.
And so God says I give gifts unto men. What gifts? Some apostles,
some prophets, some pastors, evangelists, some pastor teachers.
For what? for the perfecting, the maturing
of the saints, and the work of the ministry, the edifying of
the body, till when, Lord? Till we're all gathered in the
faith and brought home to glory. That's when preaching will cease,
when we are all brought into the glory of God. We are sent
to teach, to preach. Let us be reminded that this
is what God has done. He has taught us through the
preaching of the gospel. Now, you who are taught, Paul
gives you an exhortation. Let us who are taught communicate
unto him that teacheth in all good things. Those that are taught
of God through the preaching of the gospel will out of a loving
heart support the gospel ministry. You who have been taught. This
is a rhetorical question because I know the answer. Do you love
the gospel? What do you love above it? Is there anything you desire
to hear more than the gospel of Christ? No! Not to the believer. This is the most precious thing
to my soul. We love Christ. We love His gospel. Listen, then we should give whatsoever
is good and whatsoever is needed that this gospel may continue
to be preached. And before I move on, I want
you to see that this communication surely includes money. The church
has needs, doesn't it? Church has needs of lights and
a building, a place to where we meet. There are needs. The
pastor surely has needs to support the family and everything like
that. But that's not all that's mentioned here. And I don't want
you to consider this communication like most men in churches do.
It's not a tithe. The tithe is according to the
law. Believers give. They give freely. give cheerfully. Remember what the scripture says,
God loveth what? Cheerful giver. I don't have this, but who's
the most cheerful giver? Was it not Christ who freely
gave himself? God loveth his Son, the cheerful
giver. And is it not just so that his
children are like him? His children Give cheerfully. Please, don't ever give grudgingly. I'll move on here, but I also
want you to know this. It's not just money. that's mentioned
here. That's why I didn't say communicate
unto them all money or something like that. He said all good things.
You know what the best thing is for your pastor? You. The best thing you can give to
me is you. Your presence is a good thing. It makes my heart glad. And it encourages those who preach
the gospel to see men who are faithful to give themselves to
the gospel. Not just their money, but themselves. I've seen men give money at a
distance, but what good does that do the church? I'd much
rather them keep their money and come. I'd much rather them be present
where the gospel is preached, wouldn't you? Would that not
be more encouraging than them sending checks? Yes, it would. Communicate unto them that teach
you in all good things. In all good things. Paul said, let us not forsake
the assembling of yourselves together as a matter of some
is, but exhorting one another. You see what it does? What does
the assembling of the saints do? Exhorting one another. Listen, so much more as you see
the day approaching. As you see more clearly the day
approaching, what is our business here among the saints but to
encourage and love one another, serving Christ together? And
I want you to know that your service and faithfulness not
only encourage the pastor, but those around us. Those around
us. Now then, let's go on in verse
seven. Let's look more closely at this
exhortation. Verse 7, Be not deceived. God
is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. The Apostle here desires full
honesty. Full honesty. Why? Because there are many who
profess to know Christ and preach Christ who do not know Him. Who
do not truly believe Him, are liars. And their religion is
vain and empty. Be not deceived. You know, I believe the only
people who are really concerned about that are believers. I'm sure there may be others,
but God's people, we're often plagued with this. Am I deceived? Here's a point I long to know,
oft it causes anxious thoughts. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? It plagues us. And Paul says,
I would not have you to be deceived. Don't be deceived. Listen, God
is not mocked. You remember in David's occasion
when he sinned against the Lord, there was that man Ahithophel.
Ahithophel was a wise counselor. And I believe he was the grandfather
of Beersheba, so it made it very understandable his anger and
hatred toward David. But Ahithophel was a wise man
in the eyes of everyone, a righteous man in the eyes of everyone.
And yet what did he seek to do? He sought to destroy God's man. You do not see that the outward show was not manifested by his
actions. You see how one can profess to
believe, but yet if he has no heart for his brother, if he
has no love to restore his fallen brethren, don't be deceived,
that man is not of Christ. Man is not of Christ. Those who
are deceived do not communicate good to those who preach the
gospel. They have their eyes and their
hearts set on the things of the world and the things that please
the flesh, although they may say, I love God, I serve God,
and yet, where are they? Where are they? Don't be deceived. I wouldn't want a man to be deceived. Men make all kinds of excuses
as to why they can't support the ministry or why they can't
be present. There's a lot of reasons why
when you get hurt by someone, even a brethren, if their sin
hurts you, you may use that as an excuse to say, well, I can't
forgive him. You can't? Really? Seeing what
Christ has forgiven you? Something's wrong. We should
forgive. God is not deceived. Now listen,
men may deceive us, but they will not deceive God. God's not
going to be mocked in this. God is not deceived by vain words
and empty, loveless professions. God will not be mocked by vain
delusions of men. You know how much God needs your
money? Really. If we give, we give out
of love, right? Understanding this, that it all
belongs to God anyway. He says, the cattle on a thousand
hills is what? It's mine. If I was hungry, I
wouldn't have told you. What does God need from you?
What about all your fruitless works? Does God need our works? No. No. God said, I've made the earth
and man and the beast upon the ground. I've made it by my great
power, my outstretched arms, and I give it to whomsoever it
seemed good to me. That's who I give it to. All that men have in this world,
God has given them, and He will give it and take it as He pleases. And you know who's all right
with that? Believers Had just all right with that Whatsoever
seemed good in thy sight We know all riches belong to
him and I know this You look at the false religious church
and how? Rich they are You realize how much that affects? the gospel
of Jesus Christ? None. Nothing. It doesn't do anything. If God
wanted us to have that, we'd have it. Matter of fact, God says of all
false religion, they shall not benefit this people at all. At all. And so he says this,
listen, God is not mocked. Here's a proof. "...For whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. If a man sows to the flesh
and the things of the world, if he clings to the works of
his flesh and the obedience of the law, so as to fulfill the
work of Christ, that man shall reap exactly what he sowed."
Corruption. Paul is not making a He's just making a statement
of fact here. This is not, this is a truth. This is not actually
an encouragement. It's just a fact, isn't it? Whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he reap. If a man sows wheat, will he
expect grapes? If a man sows grapes, will he
reap oranges? Well, that's foolish, isn't it,
to think that? You would think that's just ridiculous. That
man is out of his mind. Well, listen, so it is if a man
sows to his flesh. He shall reap nothing spiritual. Isn't this the idea of carnal
religion, that the outward always affects the inward? that outward
works, outward religion, outward things, His giving even. His
giving His money, His giving His time has some effect on the
inside of His soul. No! If that's what you're sowing,
you shall reap only corruption. It's just a fact. He that soweth
to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But you that
are believers, you are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.
That's what God says. You're not of the flesh. You
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So if a man sows to his flesh
and his lusts, he shall reap nothing of the Spirit of God.
He will never reap life everlasting by sowing to his flesh. He should not then expect to
receive the blessings and acceptance of God. Whatsoever man will reap,
that's exactly what the fleshly religion and works of this flesh
deserve before God is nothing but corruption. So then what are you sowing? Are you sowing to the flesh?
Are you walking after the flesh? Are you trusting in the flesh?
Are you believing in some unholy mixture of flesh and grace? Then
you shall reap of the flesh. You shall reap exactly what you
deserve. Corruption. Damnation. And you will have no one else
to blame but yourself. To show an illustration of this
was Ananias and Sapphira. This is a good illustration of
combining all of these things. Ananias and Sapphira had all
of the outward show of religion, didn't they? They had all the
appearance. And if God hadn't called them
to the carpet, if God hadn't exposed their lie, then they
would have continued and everybody would have thought they were
the greatest. You remember how they had that property, and they
sold it. And they conspired among themselves
to keep some of that, And yet they told everyone they'd given
all. And the Holy Spirit, who the
Apostle Peter said, you've lied under the Spirit of God. He said
that was your money. You could have kept it and been
just fine. But because you lied, God killed
him. You see, God was not mocked by
their show of religion. They sowed to the flesh, and
of the flesh they've reaped corruption. That's just a statement of fact.
But, I'm so thankful for this. They that are sowed to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. This is a grace of God that is
given to us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. Listen. Who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. To walk after the Spirit is simply
and plainly to trust Christ alone and have no confidence in the
flesh. Listen, you give, but how much
confidence do you put in your giving? You love your brethren, but how
much confidence do you put in your love for the brethren or
your love for Christ? May I ask you this? How much
confidence do you put in your faith toward Christ? None. I put all of our confidence is
in the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, because our faith is
always fluctuating. Our love is always fluctuating. We have no confidence in those
things. And so then we, as we walk in the Spirit, we sow what
the Spirit has already produced. Isn't that right? You're not
producing this of yourself. If you have any love, it is because
the Spirit has produced love in you. If you have any love
to give, it is because the Spirit has produced this. And guess
what He says? You shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting. That's just a fact. That's just
a fact. And so then, as we do these things,
as we are through the Spirit, manifest itself in us, and we
love our brethren, we give according to the Gospel, we abase ourselves,
listen, you will become weary. Therefore, Paul gives us this
exhortation. Look at that next verse, verse
9. Let us not be weary in well-doing. I'm going to close with this
illustration. Go to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. Look at verse 22. The Scripture says, "...and straightway
Jesus constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to
go before him unto the other side, while he sent away the
multitudes. And when he had sent away the
multitudes, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening
was come, he was there alone. But the ship was in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, and the wind was contrary. The Lord sent his disciples into
the sea, knowing full well he would send the wind against them. As you are constrained by the
love of Christ to love your brethren and forgive them, listen, as
you are constrained to give according to your heart toward the gospel,
as you are constrained by the love of Christ to do these things. Listen, the wind will be contrary
to you. Satan, the world, and your own
flesh will oppose you. They will. We must learn that the one who
sends us and commands us to do these things also sends the opposition. But this is our comfort. Let
us not be weary in well-doing. Why? For in due time, His time,
You shall reap if you faint not. Is this not what they experienced
then? Look at what it says. In the fourth watch of the night,
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. How many times in the darkness
has He come to you? He sent you into the darkness. He brought the darkness. And then He comes with the light. He comes Himself. He doesn't
send an emissary. He comes Himself, walking on
the very thing that opposes you. Doesn't that show us then that
God is sovereign over all that oppose us? He manifests to us
His great love and care in the midst of our troubles. Isn't
that the greatest time that we can see Him. Isn't that the clearest
time you see Him is in the midst of trouble? So He sends these things. He
says, don't be weary. Don't be weary in loving your
brother. Don't be weary in communicating
the things that are good. In due time you shall reap if
you faint not, both in this world and the world to come. You shall
reap of the Spirit everlasting life. Don't be weary. And so then we pray, Lord, give
us strength. Give us strength to do that which
is good. And listen, the next verse he
says, as we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially them of the household of faith. We're not to make our opportunities. I've tried that and they fail
miserably. But when God opens opportunity
for us to do good, do it. Do it. Do it to all men. But especially
especially the household of faith, especially among your brethren. Why? Friends, this is just the
law of Christ. And this law to us should not
be grievous if we would consider ourselves and consider Him. This
law would not be grievous for us to love our brethren and support
the ministry. It's not grievous to us who walk in the Spirit and not
after the flesh. I'm so thankful God has ordained
this sowing and reaping the way He has, because He does all the
sowing and we do all the reaping. We get all the benefits of what
He has sown. I'm so thankful for grace. Let's
be dismissed in prayer.