Galatians chapter 6, the Bible reads,
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one
in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted.
Bury ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
But let every man prove his own work,
and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone
and not in another.
For every man shall bear his own burden.
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 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.
And 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.
Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you
with mine own hand.
As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh,
they constrain you to be circumcised,
only lest they should suffer persecution
for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised
keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh.
But God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom the world is crucified unto me
and I unto the world.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
As many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God.
From henceforth let no man trouble me,
for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit, amen.
Let's pray, dear Lord God, I thank you for this church
and for our pastor, just ask that you be with him now,
please strengthen him, fill him with your Holy Spirit
and please bless the preaching
and continue to bless our church
and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen, okay, we're in Galatians chapter number six
and look down at your Bibles at verse number seven.
It says, 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.
And the title of my sermon this morning is Two Fields.
I'm gonna preach on the subject of Two Fields.
Now here the Apostle Paul is essentially using terms
of agriculture to illustrate the impact
of a believer's actions and he talks about here
the concept of sowing and reaping, right?
What is sowing and reaping?
Sowing of course refers to the planting of seeds,
reaping refers to the harvesting of the crops
that have sprouted as a result of the seeds
that are being sown and the principle
that he's trying to get across here
is that when a believer sows in the field of his flesh,
you know, you shouldn't be shocked
when he harvests corruption, right?
And in like manner, when a believer sows to the spirit,
the expectation should always be
that we will reap a harvest of life everlasting
and I'll explain what that means later on in the sermon.
So what is he saying?
He's saying that essentially for the Christian,
for the believer, there's always two fields
that we can be sowing in.
The field of our flesh
and then you have the field of the spirit.
Now let's get some context here.
Go to Galatians chapter five, the previous chapter,
Galatians five, if you would,
and let's look at verse 16,
Galatians chapter five and verse 16.
It says here, this I say then,
walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the spirit,
the spirit against the flesh.
These are contrary the one to the other
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Now what is this referring to?
Well, here the apostle Paul is saying that,
you know, we as Christians have two natures.
We have the spirit of God dwelling within us
but we also have the old man
which is referred to as the flesh.
And the Bible says that both of these natures
have contrary desires, right?
They want that which is contrary one to the other.
The flesh desires fleshly things, sinful things,
things that are not right in the eyes of God,
they're not pleasing to the Lord.
So it lusts or it desires,
that word lust is another way of saying covets or desires,
that which is contrary to the spirit.
And it says there that the spirit by the way,
capital S, not referring to the new man
but referring to the holy spirit of God
that dwells within us.
Because when we get saved,
we not only have a regenerated spirit which is our own
but we also have the holy spirit of God
dwelling within us as well.
So this is actually referring to that holy spirit,
that capital S.
It says that it desires
that which is contrary to the flesh.
And here we see that it says
that they're contrary one to the other.
And then it says there,
so that you cannot do the things that you would.
Now that's very interesting.
Why does it say that?
Well, because of the fact that,
if you are constantly going after the things of the flesh
you're not gonna do the things
that the spirit would like to do.
Because the spirit always delights in preaching,
it delights in reading the Bible,
doing things that are pleasing unto the Lord.
But if you are a carnal Christian, a fleshly believer,
you're not gonna fulfill those things of the spirit.
And in like manner, if you're walking in the spirit,
you're not gonna be able to do the things
that the flesh wants to do.
The sinful things, right?
The things that are contrary to the Bible,
contrary to the laws of God.
He says in verse 18,
but if you be let of the spirit,
ye are not under the law.
Now, this is an important passage here
because it's proof that once you get saved,
you don't just automatically start living righteously
and automatically just live a life that's pleasing unto God,
just automatically repent of your sins,
automatically just live a holy life.
No, it actually, it has to be
an intentional thing that we do, right?
We have to intentionally walk in the spirit,
we have to intentionally starve the flesh
in order to fulfill the desires of the spirit
and to please God, right?
And that's why it says that we have to walk in the spirit
and that's how we'd not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And it says in verse 18,
but if you be led of the spirit,
just another way of saying when we walk in the spirit.
Now, look at verse 19.
Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.
Now, what is he talking about here?
He's gonna give a list of sins that are common to man,
things that mankind has always practiced
and done and committed.
And these are things that come naturally to the flesh.
And it says that they're made manifest.
He goes on to say, adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness,
revelings, and such like.
So that's a pretty thorough list there.
And notice that it doesn't have any abominable things
such as bestiality, sodomy, incest,
because those are not sins that are common to man.
These are, right?
These are sins that are common to man.
These are sins that the flesh is capable of committing.
And it's telling us that they're made manifest.
Look what it goes on to say in verse 21.
It says, of the which I tell you before,
as I have told you in time past,
that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now, a lot of people will take a passage like this
to teach that this is why you can't abide in sin.
This is why you cannot commit sin,
because if you don't repent of your sin,
what's gonna happen is you're not gonna inherit
the kingdom of God.
They'll teach a workspace salvation,
asserting that you could lose your salvation
if you commit these sins,
because if you do,
you will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But let me explain the misunderstanding
of this particular passage here.
And that is that they're only halfway true, right?
About what they're saying.
Because our flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God, right?
The Bible explicitly tells us that flesh and blood
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
And because the flesh is responsible
for manifesting these particular sins,
that's why it's saying
that it cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
But here's the solution,
is that you gotta get saved.
And once you get saved,
you obviously have eternal life,
the spirit is saved,
the flesh is still corrupt,
therefore it continues to commit those sins.
But here's the solution to that.
It's called the resurrection.
When the resurrection takes place,
the body that is buried in the ground is corrupt,
but the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15
that it is raised in incorruption.
So you go from Bruce Mejia to Bruce Mejia 2.0,
when you resurrect.
And that 2.0,
what's included in that 2.0 is sinlessness.
You understand?
A body that is completely absent of sin,
the manifestation of the works of the flesh.
So when it says that they would do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God,
they're absolutely right
because the person who remains in the unsaved condition
will not inherit the kingdom of God
because their flesh is sinful.
But also our flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God,
which is why God has to give us a new one,
a new body that is completely absent of those sins
so we can stand before God, et cetera.
Look at verse 22.
I want you to notice this.
It says, but the fruit of the believer?
The fruit of the Christian?
No, it says the fruit of the spirit.
Now that is important right there.
Because it's telling us
that the one who bears fruit is not us.
Who bears the fruit?
The spirit.
It's the Holy Spirit,
which is the third person of the Trinity
that actually begins to bear fruit in our lives, right?
And that's important because people will say,
well, if you don't bear fruit, you're not really saved.
If you don't bear fruit, you're not really saved.
And you know, you weren't really saved to begin with
because if you're really saved, you'll bear fruit,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But as we looked in according to the context,
the prerequisite for the Holy Spirit to bear fruit
is that we have to walk in the spirit.
We have to be led of the spirit.
We have to sow in the field of the spirit.
You understand what I'm saying?
He says the fruit of the spirit is what?
Love, joy, peace, long suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,
against such there is no law.
He said, well Pastor Mia,
I know someone who claims to be saved
and they believe on Jesus,
but they're not very joyful.
They're just grumpy.
They're angry all the time.
They don't seem to have peace.
They're not very patient with people.
They're not long suffering.
They're definitely not gentle.
They're not filled with goodness.
They don't have love.
They don't have temperance or meekness.
I don't see any of this stuff.
Well, that's because they're not sowing
in the field of the spirit.
Because in order to even see this,
in order for the spirit to even produce
this fruit in our lives,
these virtues or qualities in our lives,
we have to be led of the spirit.
We have to walk in the spirit
in order for that to take place.
Now look at Galatians chapter six.
So this concept of what we're looking at in Galatians six
ties back to Galatians chapter five
that essentially tells us that we have to walk
in the spirit, not to fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And then he kinda gives some practical application
to that in verse number one.
It says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual restore such a one
in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted,
bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ.
So what is he saying here?
He's saying that if someone is weak in the faith,
we as Christians should be able to bear their burdens.
We who are strong in the Lord
and the power of his might
should be able to help one another,
bear one another's burdens.
And it goes back, it goes into the concept
of sowing and reaping because what's our man soweth,
that's how he also reap.
In other words, if you help someone who is in need,
you help someone who is overly burdened,
that's gonna come back to you again
later on in the future, okay?
And then he goes on to say in verse number five,
for every man shall bear his own burden.
Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
And of course, he goes into be not deceived,
God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
Look at Galatians, look at verse number eight again.
It says, 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.
And by way of introduction, let me just say this,
is that only believers have the options
of sowing in both fields.
Think about that.
Because you know, you have the world that says,
well, no, that's karma.
You know, what goes around comes around.
And at the end of the day,
karma is just a cheap knockoff
of the Bible's cause and effect.
Because God has instituted certain universal principles
that if you do A, you will receive B as a result.
Okay?
And that's universally applicable to just everyone,
not just safe people, okay?
So we don't believe in karma,
because we're Christians.
We understand that God has set forth
certain universal guidelines, restrictions and principles
that when a person does a particular action,
they will receive a certain consequence
or reward in return, regardless if you're a Christian
or not.
This particular principle that we see here,
the law of sowing and reaping
is actually only applicable to Christians.
You say, well, how so?
Well, because unsaved people can't sow to the spirit.
Right?
Unsaved people are incapable of actually sowing
in the field of the spirit.
They can only sow in the field of the flesh.
And in fact, it doesn't matter how much good they do
how many good seeds they sow,
it won't do anything for them eternally.
Right?
This means that all the charity in the world,
all the philanthropy, all the good works,
the good intentions, the good motives,
the good actions that the unsaved people of this world
do will not profit them at,
it won't profit them at all.
Why?
Because even as good as quality as that seed is,
it's being sown in the field of the flesh.
And the flesh brings forth what?
Corruption, according to the Bible.
And again, there's obviously a secondary law
of cause and effect,
which is why good works have a temporary impact
in this world, right?
Because all of us can point to someone who's not saved,
who did right, they did some good work,
they participated in some form of philanthropy,
gave to charity of some sort,
and they actually received good in return, right?
They were quote, unquote, blessed because of it.
Why?
Because the cause and effect principle shows us
that good works have a temporary impact in this world,
but none of them could ever reach the eternal,
because only seeds that are sown in the field
of the spirit transcend into the eternal.
Okay?
Unsaved people don't have that access.
The field that they sow in
will always bring forth corruption.
Now go to Matthew chapter seven, if you would,
hold your place during Galatians.
The title of the sermon is Two Fields.
Two Fields, and by way of introduction,
I'm simply showing, stating the obvious
that only we as believers have the option
of sowing in both fields, the field of the flesh
and the field of the spirit.
Unsaved people cannot do this.
They cannot sow in the field of the spirit.
They can only sow in the field of the flesh.
Now let's look at an example here.
In Matthew chapter seven, he says in verse 19,
every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father,
which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name,
and in thy name have cast out devils,
and in thy name have done many wonderful works,
and then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you, depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.
Now this is an important passage right here.
And in its immediate context,
it's addressing false prophets, right?
But really, this is basically applicable
to every unsaved person,
because every unsaved person or every false prophet
will suffer the fate of all unsaved people
and false prophets.
They will suffer the same fate.
They'll go to hell, right?
But I want you to notice that
when this person faces God in the day of judgment,
he says to the Lord,
have not I believed on Jesus Christ?
No, he doesn't say that,
which is exactly what you need to do
in order to be saved, right?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Instead, what does he do?
He actually lists good works.
And in fact, if you look at the list,
these works are basically superior
to pretty much all other works of this world.
Preaching, exorcisms,
and just in general, many wonderful works.
So he begins to list all of these good seeds
that he was sowing in this world
as a reason why he merits eternal life.
But then the Lord says,
I never knew you, depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.
Why?
Because of the fact that this person
only sowed seeds in the field of the flesh,
because he has no access to the field of the spirit.
Therefore, even the good that he does,
listen to this, works against him.
This is why the Bible says
that even the plowing of the wicked is sin.
I mean, think about plowing.
Plowing is a good thing.
And you know, the person who plows
will probably receive the temporal results of plowing.
The actual crops,
he'll actually receive a harvest because of it.
But hold on a second,
for the eternal means nothing in the eyes of God.
You understand what I'm saying?
So he says, many will say to me in that day,
why, because there are few that be saved,
according to the Bible.
And the only requirement to be saved,
according to the Bible,
is that we have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's not what this person is saying.
Which is interesting,
because many will use this passage of scripture
to teach against believing on Jesus Christ,
exclusively for salvation,
and that you have to have good works.
But hold on a second,
it looks like the good works didn't help this guy.
And in fact, the good works that he did
worked against him.
And it's not like, and people will say,
well, it's just that he didn't do it from the heart.
It doesn't say anything about doing it from the heart.
Like, don't infer into the passage what's not there.
He says, many will say it to me that day,
and it doesn't say anything about believing.
It doesn't even talk about Jesus.
Put it that way, right?
All he's doing is listing his merits, his works,
showing us that even the good that unsaved people,
even the good seeds that people sow in this world
who are not saved,
it will profit them nothing in the day of judgment.
Why?
Because they're sowing in the field of the flesh.
Go to Romans chapter eight, if you would,
Romans chapter number eight.
But you know what, for you and I, it's not so.
If you're saved,
we actually have the option of sowing in the Spirit,
to the Spirit, should I say.
And obviously, if we were to look at, you know,
churches and Christians in general,
a lot of Christians don't even go to church.
Many Christians just simply sow in the field of the flesh
then neglect sowing to the Spirit,
and this is why they're constantly reaping corruption.
It's not because they're not saved.
It's not because, you know,
they don't have the Holy Spirit
of God dwelling within them.
It's not because they don't have access
to the field of the Spirit.
It's because they're just choosing
not to sow to the Spirit.
And look at Romans eight and verse number five.
It says, for they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit.
Now what does it mean to be after the flesh?
It means you're minding the things of the flesh.
You're fulfilling the desires of the flesh.
He says, verse six, for to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
That's pretty self-explanatory.
If you're a carnal Christian,
you're just gonna die eventually.
Either spiritually you're just gonna die,
or, you know, you'll get involved in some vice
or something that'll just end up corrupting your life
and just destroying you, right?
However, if you're spiritually minded,
if you are a spiritual Christian,
you're minding the things of the Holy Spirit,
you know what you're gonna experience?
Life and peace.
It's just life is good.
He says in verse seven, because the carnal,
or another word for that is fleshly,
the carnal mind is enmity against God.
Meaning that it's in direct opposition to God.
It's an enemy of God.
The flesh does not wanna do the things that please God.
He says, for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
That means it doesn't matter how many spiritual disciplines
an unsaved person accumulates,
it does nothing to them because they're not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
He says in verse eight, so then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God.
Now, this could be referring to,
this could be addressed or applicable
to a saved and an unsaved person, why?
Well, because if someone who's not saved,
they're not pleasing God,
because they're always in the flesh, right?
But someone who is saved can also walk in the flesh,
thereby not pleasing God.
So think about this,
when you are a fleshly carnal Christian,
you're not pleasing God.
Why?
Because the flesh is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be, okay?
Look at verse nine, but ye are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit,
if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
So what he's saying is this,
he's not saying that we don't have the flesh,
he's just saying, you also have the spirit.
And because the spirit of God dwells in you
because you're saved,
you basically, you're a child of God,
you're a regenerated person,
you have these two natures.
The point that I'm making here is that as Christians,
you know, we have literally a daily decision
of where we're gonna sow our seeds,
whether in the field of the flesh
or the field of the spirit.
So in verse 10,
and if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
Now, think about this, okay?
Before I get into my main,
I just have three points this morning,
and this is all introduction.
But think about this, okay?
Because the concept that I'm trying to get across here
is what the Bible's telling us is there's two fields,
field of the flesh, field of the spirit, okay?
Unsaved people can sow as much as they want
to that field of the flesh,
nothing will ever come of it.
In fact, only corruption will be produced, right?
And if you look at it from an agricultural perspective,
you know, certain seeds require certain soils to grow in,
certain amount of sunlight, water.
I'm not an expert, so don't get mad at me,
you know, you farmers out there.
It's just an illustration, okay?
But you know, certain seeds require,
they just need to be babied or something, right?
If not, it's just not gonna germinate and grow, right?
But the field of the flesh is just corrupt ground,
it's just nothing will ever grow there.
It'll only bring forth thorns and thistles.
But you know, in the real world,
like the physical world,
you know, I've learned that like potatoes grow anywhere.
And then we learned that like in grade school,
like we grew it like in a cup,
or like a piece of cardboard or something.
Like it's a very resilient vegetable.
Okay, it's considered a vegetable, right?
Am I right?
I just noticed, that's where my fries come from.
It's, you know, and you can grow it anywhere,
and in fact, you can pretty much put it,
don't quote me on this,
but like in like the worst of conditions,
and it'll still grow.
It's very resilient, okay?
Well, you know what?
Nothing will grow in the field of the flesh,
but there's one seed that you can plant
in the field of the flesh that will do something,
it's called the gospel.
And it's the seed that the person can't sow themselves,
someone else has to sow it in there.
So their works, their seeds of good works,
and all these good things that they do,
it'll just bring forth corruption,
but the seed of the gospel on the other hand,
when sown in that field, if the field receives it,
guess what?
Can grow up into everlasting life.
And so the point that I'm making here is that,
you know, it's futile for any unsafe person of this world
to sow any seeds in that field,
thinking that it's gonna produce anything
other than corruption.
However, the only thing that can actually produce something
is the seed of incorruption, known as the gospel,
and it has to be sown by someone else.
And once it does, that person has access
to the field of the spirit, right?
The law of sowing and reaping is always in two fields.
And the challenge this morning,
or the reminder this morning from pastor,
the church member is, hey,
don't forget you still gotta sow
in the field of the spirit.
Don't forget you got a field called the spirit
that you should be sowing your good seeds into
on a weekly basis.
Make sure you look at the harvest,
both and hopefully the harvest of the spirit
is far greater and larger than the harvest of the flesh.
Hopefully there's more incorruption
than there is corruption.
And if there is more corruption
than there is incorruption,
then we need to tear down some of those thorns
and thistles and start sowing seeds
in the field of the spirit to produce life everlasting.
And I'm not referring to salvation,
I'm referring to eternal rewards, blessings, virtue,
things that will benefit us as Christians
in the long term.
Go to Hosea chapter eight, Hosea chapter number eight.
Let me give you three principles regarding the law
of sowing and reaping in these two fields.
Point number one is that when it comes to the law
of sowing and reaping,
you always reap more than what you've sown.
So always keep this in mind.
You will always reap more than what you've sown.
What am I talking about?
Quantity.
You sow five seeds, you're gonna reap a harvest.
The law of the harvest doesn't always operate
according to the exact proportions.
What you reap in the harvest is always greater
than what you sow in the spring and summer.
And this obviously applies to that which is good,
but it also applies to the areas
that we don't want to see multiplied.
The result of you committing sin
has exponential consequences attached to them.
And the admonishment here is that
before you give in to sin,
before you build up bad habits, sinful habits,
before you get involved in things
that are displeasing unto the Lord,
just keep in mind,
you may think that that is just one little seed,
but that one little seed can cause a large harvest.
It can cause exponential problems in your life
in the years to come.
It always does.
Why?
Because you always reap more than what you've sown.
Look at Hosea chapter eight in verse number seven.
It says in verse number seven of Hosea eight,
for they have sown the wind.
Who's the they?
It's referring to Israel.
And they shall reap the whirlwind.
It hath no stock, the bud shall yield no meal.
If so be it yield, the stranger shall swallow it up.
And this is referring to the fact that Israel
was involved in idolatry, covetousness.
They were constantly sowing bad seeds
in the field of the flesh.
Well, they reaped the whirlwind,
meaning God's judgment came down hard on them.
And you know what?
Let me just say this,
is that sometimes people come to me
or I talk to individuals and they need help
with a particular consequence of their action.
And more often than not,
they're surprised of how much they're suffering
because of an action they took however long ago.
And they don't understand why they're suffering so much.
But folks, this is the principle,
you always sow, you always reap more than what you sow.
And you know what?
When you sow that seed of fornication,
you're not thinking about
the exponential consequences of STDs.
Or as the Bible puts it, bastard children.
Trauma, shame.
You know, people only think about the immediate pleasure
that comes with fornication.
But folks, there are some extensive, exponential,
painful, traumatic consequences.
There's painful, exponential consequences
when you reap that which you've sown.
So before you think about,
oh man, I'm just tempted to fornicate,
I'll just fornicate this one time.
Maybe nothing will come of it.
You sure you wanna sow that seed in that field though?
Because number one, it brings forth corruption.
But also number two,
you always reap more than what you've sown.
The problems can multiply abundantly
when you sow in the field of corruption.
You think, well, you know,
I'm gonna sow just the seed of a weekend of drinking,
alcohol, and I know it's bad, but you know what?
It's just one drink.
It's just two drinks.
It's just one night.
But you know what that can result in?
Rape, theft, death.
Why, because you always reap more than what you've sown.
And here's a principle that a lot of Christians
don't take into consideration
when they're being tempted with sin,
is the exponential consequences that come
with just that one little action that you take.
Alcohol can destroy your life.
And here's the thing, you know,
drinking one drink may not immediately destroy you,
but it also may.
I'm not promising you anything.
Because one drink can get you drunk,
get you in the car, get you in an accident,
and yeah, maybe you don't die,
but what if you kill someone?
What if you take another person's life?
What if you take a child's life?
You see how much that snowball effect is
of the seeds that you sow into the field of the flesh?
You know, drinking, or you say,
well, I got home safely and I'm fine.
You know, nothing really happened.
Yeah, but what if you just built the habit
of becoming an alcoholic,
and now you got cirrhosis of the liver, right?
You have all these medical conditions,
you have these addictions, you're depressed,
you're just completely distraught and destroyed,
you're not where you used to be,
you lose your job, you lose your family.
I mean, the problems can multiply exponentially
if you don't understand that one seed
that is sown will reap a harvest.
Keep that in mind, folks.
The next time you're tempted with alcohol,
the next time you're tempted,
and I know I'm speaking to people
who may not be tempted with alcohol,
but maybe some of you are.
Maybe some of you have a predisposition to alcoholism.
Maybe that's something that you have to overcome.
Maybe, you know, back in B.C. or A.D.
in your Christian life, you know,
you were predisposed to alcoholism,
and you know what, maybe that tempts you a little bit,
and maybe in your times of depression,
and times when you're discouraged,
and times when you're just having a rough week,
a rough day, you know, that might call out to you,
but just understand this, every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed,
and what does the Bible say
the end result of that is?
Death.
Oh man, with just one beer, one shot,
one trip to the bar, one night out,
yeah, one night can cost you tens,
it can cost you tens of thousands of dollars,
it can cost you 10 years.
Why, because what you sow, and what you reap,
what you reap is always greater,
quantity-wise, than what you've sown.
And God wants us to be wise, folks.
He wants us to have wisdom, he wants us to have prudence.
What is prudence?
The ability to foresee evil and hide ourselves.
The ability to know and understand
that my actions have consequences,
especially as a Christian.
Now go to Psalm 126, so we see there
that when it comes to the law of sowing and reaping,
you always reap more than what you've sown.
And a great way to apply that is when it comes to sin.
Fornication, adultery, drunkenness,
drugs,
you name the works of the flesh,
they all have exponential consequences to them.
And we're just talking about sins of commission.
What about sins of omission?
Omitting things in your life
can have exponential consequences to them as well.
How about just like, well, you know,
I'm just gonna take a break from church for a little bit.
And you sow that seed in the field of the flesh,
and then after like nine months,
you're just still out of church.
Now your marriage is in shambles,
your mental health is in shambles,
you know you're not right with God.
I mean, that's just the way it works.
You always reap far more than what you've sown.
Now obviously, that applies to the sinful things
of this world, but it also applies
to the good things as well, right?
So when we sow in the field of the flesh,
there's all types of corruption,
multiplication of corruption,
destruction that comes with that.
However, if we just, you know,
get those seeds and sow them to the spirit,
we also reap abundantly in the spirit as well.
And let me just give a real practical application
to this, souls being saved.
You know, our church goes sowing every single week,
we preach the gospel every single week to the lost,
different days of the week,
and I think everyone can testify to the fact
that not everyone we preach to gets saved.
And in fact, I've had experiences where it's just like,
you just go sowing and just no one's even listening.
You can barely get a seed in, you know what I mean?
And it's just like, man, this is like discouraging.
Because you know, you wanna go get people saved.
You want people to be responsive
and you want people to be open,
but there's just times
when you just don't get people saved.
I mean, when we went to Mexico this last time,
like in the very beginning,
I was just getting no one saved.
And everyone else is getting people saved
and I'm just like, Lord, is there something wrong with me?
Am I not filled with the Spirit or what's going on here?
And you know, but I've learned by experience
that even if people don't get saved,
I'm very much content with sowing seeds though.
And I've learned by experience
that nothing that is sown into the field of the Spirit,
especially when it comes to the gospel,
will ever return back void.
It always germinates some time or another.
Even if I don't see it in my lifetime,
I know for a fact that it will germinate.
Because this is God's Word.
But you know, this is obviously applicable to so many
when we preach to people who we don't know.
But what about the people that we love
and we do know, right?
Because often we have more faith
in the people that we don't know
that they're gonna get saved
than the faith that we have
and the people that we do know.
Like to us, the people that we do know
in our family, our friends,
there are way harder cases than the people out there.
Right?
I think all of us could attest to that.
We're like, oh yeah, yeah, but you know,
my brother's just, he's just,
I don't know man, he's close to reprobation or something.
Like we always cut people out there more slack
than the people that we actually know.
But folks, the same principle applies though.
The Word of God is not less powerful
to your family members, to your brothers and sisters,
to your wife, to your husband, to your children
than in comparison to the people out there,
the Bible's always powerful.
Look what it says in Psalm 126 verse five.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
That is the cause and effect.
When you sow in tears, you will reap in joy.
He says in verse six,
he that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him, the Bible says.
So when it says you're going forth and weeping,
you're going forth with compassion,
with empathy, with love in your heart,
and you're going forth bearing the precious seed,
which is the Word of God, the gospel, right?
And the Bible says, when you do that,
you will doubtless, meaning it's gonna happen,
with assurance, you will reap what a harvest.
He says, you will not only come with rejoicing,
but you're also gonna bring your sheaves with you.
What are the sheaves?
The bundles of the harvest that you have collected.
So you think to yourself, man,
I preached the gospel to my family so many times,
or I preached the gospel to unsaved people so many times
and there's people that just don't get saved.
Hey, if you go forth weeping, you have compassion,
you go forth bringing the Word of God,
the precious seed, the Bible says, don't doubt.
Don't doubt that your children are gonna get saved.
They're not gonna, yeah, they're gonna get saved,
because they are gonna get saved.
You know, if the Word of God is going forth,
why should we doubt?
If the Bible is saying here that if we have compassion,
we weep, and we pray, and we go,
and we sow those seeds, the spouse can get saved.
The children can get saved.
The brother or the sister can get saved.
You say, well, how do you know?
Because it's being sown in the field of the Spirit.
And anything that is sown in the field of the Spirit
always brings forth good fruit.
It'll always happen.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter nine,
2 Corinthians chapter nine.
You say, well, what if I don't see it in my lifetime?
I mean, it may not happen in your lifetime,
you don't know that.
We just never know.
You know, there's so many testimonies of people
that prayed for the salvation of their family members,
and years, they sowed those seeds in that field,
and you know what happened?
Doubtless, they got saved.
So give me an example.
All right, my mom, how about that?
July 22nd, 2007 is when I got saved.
That was 17 years ago, okay?
And she didn't get saved until we started this church.
That's a lot of weeping and sowing.
That's a lot of time just spending time
asking God to soften our heart.
That's a lot of time me doubting, too.
That's a lot of time wondering if it's gonna happen.
You say, what did you do?
I just kept sowing.
Just keep sowing.
Just sowing in that field of the Spirit,
just keep sowing in the field of the Spirit,
just keep sowing, year after year after year
after year after year.
You say, what happened after five years?
Nothing happened, actually.
Nothing came out.
Nothing.
But it was the field of the Spirit, though.
So it was just like, keep sowing, keep sowing.
And let me just say this.
It was important that I sowed in the Spirit,
to the Spirit, consistently.
So I don't know if I would've sowed to the Spirit
if I was out of church, if I backslid,
if I wasn't right with God, if I was involved in sin.
And one of the reasons why it takes so long
for other people to get saved
is because Christians are just inconsistent.
Inconsistency hurts the reputation,
hurts the testimony, right?
But I just kept doing it every single year,
every single year.
And then finally, what must I do to be saved?
And now she's here.
And you know there's other people
who have that same testimony as well.
What's the point that I'm making?
The point that I'm making is
that I got my sheaves with me.
You know, other people have their sheaves
with them as well.
Don't doubt that your family members
are gonna get saved,
or that they're gonna get right with God,
or that they're gonna serve God,
because if we go forth weeping,
bearing precious seed, it will happen.
Look at 2 Corinthians 9, verse six.
Therefore, I thought it necessary
to exhort the brethren
that they would go before unto you
and make up beforehand your bounty,
whereof ye had noticed before
that the same might be ready
as a matter of bounty,
and not as covetousness.
But this I say, he which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly,
and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully.
Every man according as he purposeeth
in his heart, so let him give,
not grudgingly, or of necessity,
for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Now this is applicable to us today, right?
Because today we took up the offering
for the wall,
and here's some principles when we,
I probably should have gave this principle beforehand,
but it's too late now.
You know, the Bible says that when we give,
we should not give grudgingly.
What does grudgingly mean?
I guess.
Just put it in the offering plate.
I am.
Just like it's a chore.
Oh man, you know, just sowing your seeds
into the field of the Spirit,
just like.
I'd rather be sown to the flesh.
He says use your purpose in your heart
to not give grudgingly,
or of necessity, because you just have to do it.
You just have to.
Why?
Because God loves a cheerful giver.
God loves it when God's people,
and not just when it comes to money or resources,
just anything.
In this context, it actually is referring to money, though,
because he's talking about taking up an offering
for another church.
He says God loves it when people give cheerfully.
They're happy about it.
Why?
Because it's giving in faith that God can provide
and make up the difference.
And at the end of the day, it's giving back
to the Lord what he's given to us already.
And here's the philosophy that my wife and I
have lived by, is that we just can never outgive God.
Never.
And so through the years, we've had to learn
the discipline and the cheerfulness of giving
and realize what a blessing it is to give
to an individual, to a family, to the church.
In fact, this offering that we took,
once I announced that, I went to my wife
and I said, all right, I'm thinking of a number,
what number you got?
Because I've been praying about what to give,
and she's been praying about it,
I was like, let's see, and she called out the number.
And we're like, great.
But we're both thinking, where are we gonna get that,
though, we don't just have that kind of money lying around.
But you know, we just know how it works, though.
And the way it works is when you pray,
you work, you do what your responsibility,
you have faith, God provides all the time.
And yesterday, just randomly, just a random check came in
for that exact amount.
She texted me, she was like, he gave it to us,
it's right here, just a random check.
And it was one of those things where like, what?
And we're like, why am I surprised, though?
Like, I'm like, I have faith, God's gonna provide,
but then when he actually does it, it's just like,
wait, how, though?
What?
And this happens, like, this has happened
over the last 17 years consistently,
where it's just like, I know God can provide,
I'm preaching about how God will provide,
I'm showing people how God will provide,
and then when he actually does it for us,
it's like, well, how, though?
What in the world?
Is it a real check?
You're all like, look, you know, calling the bank,
hey, is this real?
But it just works like that all the time.
And you know what it causes us to do?
Be cheerful, because we can never out-give God.
It goes on to say in verse eight,
and God is able to make all grace abound toward you,
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work,
meaning that God gives to you so you can give to others
so that you can continue to abound in the work of God.
As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad,
he hath given to the poor,
his righteousness remaineth forever.
Now he that ministered seed to the sower
both ministered bread for your food,
and multiplied your seed sown,
and increased the fruits of your righteousness,
being enriched in everything to all bountifulness,
which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
What does it say?
You know, when you sow whatever it is that you sow,
whether it's a resource, it's time, it's talents,
whatever it is, you know, at the end of the day,
you always end up reaping more than what you've sown.
You'll become enriched in all things.
Because more important than what we gave
is the fact that God,
and look, if God never even gives us that money back,
you know what, we got something
way more valuable than that.
You say, what is it?
Our faith was increased.
You know what, the increase of faith
is worth more than any amount of money can offer.
Because it's like, well, now I know for a fact,
I mean, I knew before,
but now I know for sure that God will provide
when we ask Him for it,
and we give to Him, we lend to Him,
He ends up providing so much more,
and I'm like, now I have more faith
for the next time I give to someone or something,
and then I know that next time,
I'm gonna be like, what, how did that happen again?
Why, because your faith just continuously increases
when you sow in the field of the Spirit.
What happens?
You reap faith, cheerfulness.
You're blessed because of it.
He's able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that you can ask or think.
The law of sowing and reaping teaches us this,
we always reap more than what we've sown.
Number two, you always reap later than when you've sown.
So the first one is about quantity,
but now we're talking about timing.
Now this is important right here.
Go back to Galatians chapter six.
This is important.
Why, because far too many times,
people sin because they don't realize
that just because they're not punished for it immediately
doesn't mean they won't be punished for it later,
and sometimes Christians don't do
or stay faithful to the things of God
because the blessings take too long to come.
They don't get the blessing immediately.
They don't see the results immediately.
They don't receive the virtues immediately,
and therefore they throw on the towel,
but I want you to notice verse eight.
He says, 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,
and let us not be weary in well-doing.
Weary, what does that mean?
Tired.
For in due season we shall reap if we faint not,
the Bible says.
So according to the Bible,
there is a due season to reap that which you've sown,
and the due season is not,
you don't put the date to the due season.
It's like, I'd like to reap this
at this point right here.
Lord, if you can make sure that comes right here.
He said, well Pastor, you just said
you got the check in the mail yesterday.
Yeah, but we didn't ask for it yesterday.
We didn't ask for it to come.
We were just gonna give whatever we had
and figure out the rest later.
We didn't say, hey, if you could just,
so I can use that as an illustration
on Sunday morning sermon.
You could just go ahead and send that in.
Appreciate that.
No, I don't give God deadlines.
You know, a lot of times people pray,
they work, but then they quit.
They throw in the towel
because they become weary in well-doing
because sometimes it's tiresome doing
that which is right in the sight of the Lord
consistently when you don't see results.
It's hard, right?
If you're doing right in the sight of the Lord,
you're going to church, you're serving God,
you're sowing seeds and just nothing's coming out,
it gets a little wearisome.
You're just kinda like, okay,
I feel like I'm spinning my wheels here.
Lord, I thought you said.
Yeah, but your due season's not here yet though.
And this happens consistently to every Christian.
It happened to me.
I remember years of just like waiting
for that due season to get married.
And I'm not going to rehash that whole story.
But good night in the morning.
It's just like waiting for years, right?
Just waiting and waiting, it's just like,
and it's just like I'm serving God,
I love the Lord, I win souls to Christ,
I love people.
I'm kinda like doing that which is pleasing
in the eyes of the Lord to the best of my abilities.
You know, I'm like searching my heart.
Is there anything, what's keeping this from happening?
But it just wasn't the due season yet.
But think about this, what if I just quit though?
And it just never would have happened.
I never would have married my wife.
I never would have had these beautiful children
that I have.
I mean, the future would have been a lot different.
And you know what, far too many times,
people, they sow a bunch of seeds
into the field of the Spirit,
and they just leave
because it just doesn't germinate in time.
And you know what happens?
Someone else comes and reaps the benefit
of the seeds that were sown there.
Now, praise God, but you know what,
I sow those seeds, I'd like to see those seeds germinate.
And you know what, in this church,
hundreds of thousands of seeds have been sown.
And we're not gonna see it for the next 10, 20 years.
It's a fact.
Hundreds of thousands of seeds,
spiritual seeds have been sown,
and we will not see the majority of them
for the next 10 to 20, yea, even 30 years.
We won't see it, because it takes that long to germinate.
We won't see the certain blessings
for the next 10 to 20, 30 years.
I mean, folks, let me just give you
a real raw example of this.
We have people in our church
who have known about our church since we got here.
And it's just decided to come within the last year or so.
There's just, you know, there's nothing wrong with it.
It's just God working in their hearts,
sowing the seeds that are being sown.
And there's people that have known about us
since we were in that place,
that one city over there, Omani.
And they decided to come here.
The seeds germinated, it began to work in their hearts,
and now they're here, and praise God for that.
There's certain people where the seed
just takes a little longer, okay?
And you have to realize that you just have to be patient.
The Christian life is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
And you just go every single day and you check
to see if the, you sow seeds
as you're checking the seeds that you're already sown,
and you check and you check,
and you're like, nothing yet.
And you come back 10 years later,
and nothing's there, it's coming.
You come back 15 years later, nothing's there, okay?
You come back 20 years later, 30 years later,
you're like, whoa, how long are we gonna
have to wait for this?
Just wait.
But you know what happens when the deuce season comes?
It's just like, you're gonna have a whole freaking forest.
And this is often what people call the overnight success.
But it's not overnight success.
Sometimes it takes decades of work,
behind the scenes of prayer, working,
reading the Bible, serving the Lord,
checking the field, watering the field,
making sure the field gets sun,
sowing in faith, knowing that one day it's gonna come.
In deuce season, though.
What's the principle there?
The principle there is persevere, folks.
You gotta endure the Christian life sometimes.
And I'm not saying the entire Christian life is endurance,
because honestly, the entire Christian life in general,
a large percentage of it, it's just good times.
Right?
I mean, I'm almost 20 years into this thing,
and you know what, it's been good times.
We had a good time on Friday,
have a good time last month,
and this year has just been a good time.
Are there hard times?
Absolutely, of course.
But you know what, the Christian life
should be viewed as an endurance test,
that we just need to stick it out until the very end,
and realize that you always reap later
than what you've sown.
You say, well, what can I do, though, Pastor,
to make sure that I stick it out, though?
Here's what you can do to make sure
that you'll stick it out to the very end, okay?
This is very important, everyone listen up.
This is the one thing you have to do
to make sure you stick it out to the very end,
you do it for the Lord, not for me,
not for your family, not for the church,
not for anybody else, you do it for the Lord.
And I'm not saying you can't do it for your family,
or for me, but may we come third, fourth,
fifth in that list.
May we do it as unto Christ.
May the love of Christ constrain us,
because I'm gonna just be honest with you,
your family's gonna disappoint you.
Your kids are gonna disappoint you.
Your spouse has already disappointed you.
I'm gonna disappoint you.
People are gonna disappoint you,
because we're sinners.
But the Lord will never disappoint.
Therefore, He's always the motivation
to come keep checking back, sowing seeds,
because we know that He's faithful.
He's always faithful, He will always be there,
He will never leave us nor forsake us,
He will always reward us, and even if we go back
and we don't even see a green sprout,
we see nothing coming out of the ground
of that field of the Spirit, we know for a fact
that it's gonna happen, because the Lord is faithful.
Fact.
So if you wanna stick to this thing for the long haul,
you need to do it for the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you wanna continue to look at the field
20, 30 years after, you gotta make sure
you're doing it, because you're doing it
as unto Christ and not unto men.
You always reap later than when you've sown.
Look at John chapter four, John chapter four.
Now with that in mind, because we reap later
than when we sown, start sowing now.
Don't wait till tomorrow, don't wait till next week
to get committed to the Lord, to get committed
to sowing, to get committed to get ready for marriage,
start doing it now.
Why, because now you gotta make up for lost timing, man.
Well, you know, I'll get serious about the things
of God in about five years or something.
No, do it now.
Get right with God now.
Hey, start raising your kids for God now.
Start being intentional about raising your children
for the Lord now.
Why, because it takes a long time for those seeds
to germinate, that's why.
Start working on your marriage now.
Why, because it takes a long time
for those seeds to germinate sometimes.
Look at John chapter four, verse 35.
Say not ye there are yet four months,
and then cometh harvest.
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes,
look on the fields, for they are white already
to harvest, the Bible says.
Hey, don't wait till next week to go soul-winding,
just go soul-winding now.
If you have a chance to go today, go today.
Well, I wanna wait till I get the right soul-winding
Bible, right conditions.
I wanna be able to memorize my introduction.
I wanna make sure that just the ducks are in order.
Just go now.
Cause you know what, even when you get all those
things ready, you're gonna look for more excuses
as to why you have to wait to go soul-wining.
Go now.
Go preach the gospel now.
You're like, well, I've been wanting to go to Mexico,
but I'm still trying to learn a little bit more,
and I already know Spanish, and I understand it,
I can speak it, but I'm just waiting for what?
Just go now.
Go to the next trip.
Why not?
Well, I'm just kind of waiting to see
when I can start really liking Mexican food
and you know, and now if you're waiting for your passport,
that's a different subject, okay?
Yeah, you should wait, all right?
Especially if you look like a Mexican.
We don't wanna make you a permanent missionary there.
Which almost happened to me this last trip.
Cause I brought my passport, and I remember thinking,
cause I always, and I brought it,
but we ended up switching cars,
and I left it in the other car,
and then finally we crossed the border,
and we get to the park, and I do the pocket check,
and I'm just like.
But I'm here, so obviously it all worked out.
The point that I'm making here is the fact that,
you know, when it comes to sowing in the field
of the flesh, yeah, you may not suffer the consequences
to that immediately, oh, but you will suffer
for it one day, though.
Sin is pleasurable for a season,
but you know what comes after that season?
The consequences of that sin.
And you know what?
Yeah, you may be able to enjoy it,
and maybe God is not chasing you right now,
oh, but just be aware that that consequence
is coming five years from now.
And you know what, five years from now,
when you're committed to the Lord,
when you're happy about the things of God,
you've gone right with the Lord,
you know what you're gonna have?
Baggage!
From the seeds that you sowed in the field of the flesh.
And that's one of the worst things.
Because five, 10 years later,
when you're actually serious about the things of God,
you're like, you wanna serve God,
you wanna get committed, but now you have to deal
with the consequences of seeds that were sown years ago.
So I'm telling, and by the way,
if that's you right now, I'm not preaching against you,
I'm trying to warn people in our church right now
to not sow those seeds in the field of the flesh,
because listen to me, 10 years from now,
you're gonna regret it.
Five years from now, you're gonna regret it!
Don't sow those seeds!
You always reap later than when you've sown.
Go back to Galatians chapter six, here's my last point.
In regards to the law of sowing and reaping,
you always reap differently than what you've sown.
He says in Galatians six, verse seven again,
actually verse eight, for he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap the flesh?
No, he reaps corruption.
But he that soweth to the spirit
shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
And the point that I wanna make here
is that the harvest that comes as a result
of the seeds that were sown
may not be exactly what you expect.
Sometimes it just comes in a different form.
You may think to yourself, well,
I sow financial seeds to receive finances in return.
But you know, you may not actually
receive finances in return.
You know, you might get something more valuable
which is called contentment.
Godliness with contentment, according to the Bible,
is great gain.
Think about that.
Like, no, I want the money.
I'll take the money.
Yeah, but that means you just don't realize
the value in contentment, though.
Because contentment is such a powerful virtue
because it allows you to just be at peace
with whatever you have, whether abundance or lack thereof.
Means you're just happy in whatsoever state you're in.
It means you know how to be abased
and you know how to abound.
And often, and this is not just in regards to finances,
just sowing seeds in the field of the Spirit in general
will produce virtues in your life
that will benefit you spiritually in the long term.
And obviously, eventually they manifest themselves
in our lives with our families and our jobs.
For example, you know, if you sow to the Spirit
by coming to church consistently,
reading your Bible, serving God,
it'll actually make an honest Christian out of you.
You'll become a good worker.
You go to work, you get raises, and you get more money,
but you're just kind of like whatever about it
because now you also learn contentment.
I mean, it's better to have money with contentment
than to have money without contentment.
It's better to have a lot of money with contentment
than to have it without contentment
because of the fact that when you have contentment,
money doesn't really mean anything to you.
It's just one of those things like I have it,
and I'm thankful for it, and I pay my bills,
I get to be a blessing to others,
but you know what, if this was gone tomorrow,
I wouldn't miss it
because I'm just happy where I'm at right now.
That's a powerful virtue.
You know what's equally powerful?
Greed.
You know what's equally powerful?
Covetousness.
Covetousness will destroy a man's soul.
Desiring that which he cannot have, should not have,
God will not give.
That'll eat away at a man's soul.
But you know what, covetousness is one of those sins
that is produced with a person sowing seeds
in the field of the flesh
because he's not sowing seeds in the field
to the spirit, producing contentment, godliness,
faith, charity, all of these virtues.
You always reap differently than what you've sown.
And often when we pray for certain things,
we don't know exactly what we need, right?
We think we do.
Like God, give this specific answer to prayer
and sometimes the Holy Spirit has to translate that for us
according to Romans chapter eight, right?
Because we don't know how to pray for the things
as we ought to pray for, right?
Therefore he makes intercessions for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered, the Bible says.
And sometimes, you know,
when we're praying for something specific,
God ends up answering that prayer in a different way.
I mean, think about this.
There's times that maybe you have prayed for something
and then years later you think to yourself,
man, I'm glad God didn't answer that prayer
because I actually don't want that, right?
That has happened multiple,
I've seen that in people's lives,
I've seen that in my own life
where it's just like, for example,
I'll give you this example.
When I first got saved,
there was a girl that I was interested in
and she ended up getting saved.
I'm like, man, I hope she gets committed
because maybe we'll get married someday or something.
And I was praying, like, God, do some of this person's,
but then even like, not even a year later,
like a couple months later,
I was like, I'm so glad God didn't answer that prayer.
That would have been horrific.
Dodge the bullet.
Dodge the shotgun shell.
Dodge an atomic bomb.
It's true.
And sometimes we need to realize
that God answers prayers in different ways
and we know what we want immediately,
so because we know what we want immediately
and because we want it from the Lord,
we keep sowing in that seed in the field of the Spirit
and we're expecting a particular crop,
but you know what, we get a different crop
and it's like, oh yeah, you know what,
this is actually better.
Nevermind.
I'm glad I didn't get that first crop.
Thank you, Lord.
This crop is way better, actually.
What I'm saying is, you know,
whatever crop God gives you, you'll be happy with.
So don't have your heart set on a specific thing
because sometimes God might just throw something else
in there and you're like, oh wow, actually, yeah,
Lord, I actually want that bit more.
That's actually better.
That actually satisfies me far greater
because obviously, he knows the inner recess of our hearts.
He knows what we desire, what we delight in
and so you always reap differently than what you've sown.
The Bible tells us, go to 1 Timothy chapter six
and we're done.
1 Timothy chapter number six.
Now in Galatians six, he says that if we sow
to the Spirit, we shall have the Spirit
reap life everlasting and people will often
misinterpret that to mean that, oh, this is why
we have to walk in the Spirit to stay saved
because we gotta sow those seeds
in order to reap life everlasting.
But really what it's saying there
when we compare scripture with scripture
is that the works that we do
end up going into the eternal.
In other words, we receive eternal benefits
because of the works that we do, okay?
Let me give you proof of that.
Look at 1 Timothy chapter six and verse 17.
He says, charge them that are rich in this world
that they be not high-minded nor trust
in uncertain riches, but in the living God
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy,
that they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
Listen to this, laying up in store for themselves
a good foundation against the time to come
that they may lay hold on eternal life.
See, the goal should always be
that whatever we invest in,
those investments reach the eternal.
And it always reminds me of this particular story.
King Tut.
When he was found, he was found with like
millions and millions of dollars worth of gold
and rubies and just these very precious treasures
in his tomb, okay?
And the reason they were with him in his tomb
is because they had the belief that, you know,
he would take it with him into,
well, we know to be hell, right?
What they think is the afterlife.
But 3,000 years later, you go into that tomb
when they found it and it was still there.
And he's just kind of like, you know,
looking for his stuff.
You guys know what meme I'm talking about, right?
This is 2024, you guys should know.
He's just kind of like looking for his treasures
because they're not there.
Because it doesn't matter what you get buried with,
it's not gonna go with you.
You carried nothing into this world
and it is certain you can carry nothing out,
the Bible says.
You know, I've seen crazy burials, you know.
I remember this one that I saw on YouTube
where a guy literally was, it was either on YouTube
or I don't remember where it was,
but he was buried with his favorite vehicle.
It's still in the ground.
He's with him in it.
And wherever he is, you know,
I don't know if he was saved or not,
but I would just guess that he probably wasn't saved.
That vehicle's not there with him.
Because you can't take anything with you.
Unless, of course, listen to me,
unless, of course, you sow to the spirit
and those things can lay hold on eternal life.
This is why Jesus says,
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth doth corrupt,
where thieves don't break through nor steal.
He's basically saying, you know, invest in the eternal.
Invest your time, your talents,
your treasures into the eternal.
If you want to see your resources again,
you gotta invest it into the eternal.
And yeah, you know, American dollars
are not gonna be waiting up there for you,
just to let you know.
Why?
Because it's always different than what you've sown.
What you reap is always different than what you've sown.
Let me read to you this last verse.
Luke 12, verse 32 says this.
Fear not, little flock,
for it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
Sell that ye have, give alms,
provide yourselves bags that which wax not old,
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not,
where no thief approacheth,
neither moth corrupteth for where your treasure is,
there where your heart be also.
What is the law of sowing and reaping?
It's simply showing us that we always reap
more than what we've sown, meaning the quantity.
You will always reap later than what you've sown,
meaning the timing,
and you will always reap differently than what you've sown.
So the expectation should always be left up to God
or what he gives us in return.
But it's always gonna be of good quality.
God doesn't give Timu
style products.
What's the other one?
Wish.
You know, you see these advertisements on Amazon,
we're like, oh wow, that looks really good.
No, the picture, they just took the picture really good.
The Photoshop is just excellent.
And then you get it, it's two times smaller
than what it looked like.
The quality's really bad.
Doesn't work that way with the Lord.
You know, with the Lord, whatever you invest into the Lord,
it actually is abundantly above all
that we can ask for a thing.
The quality is actually better.
There's more of it and it lasts longer.
Keep that in mind, you reap what you sow.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for this principle.
Help us all as Christians to live by it,
to keep it in mind, Lord, as we live our lives.
And we have two fields that we're sowing in, Lord,
the field of the flesh and the field of the Spirit.
And it's near impossible
to not sow in the field of the flesh
because we're sinners, we make mistakes.
But we can definitely sow more to the Spirit.
And less to the flesh as we live our lives
in accordance to your word.
I pray that you'd help us to do so.
And Lord, help us as your church
to not be weary in well doing.
When we don't see the immediate results,
may we not be discouraged, quit,
and just kind of throw in the towel, Lord.
Help us to have endurance and faith,
knowing full well that we shall reap if we faint not,
Lord.
And may this motivate us to seek opportunity, Lord,
as we therefore have opportunity.
Let us do good unto all men,
but especially those of the household of faith.
Lord, we love you, we thank you,
pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Please turn your songbooks to song number 325.