Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Here is a free sermon for all you pastors, Sunday School teachers, and Bible study directors. I just recently preached this sermon, but I have preached it many times before at different churches as well. This sermon is for sinners and saints. It is a promise that God is not mocked. No one will stand and shake their fist at God and say He is not a fair judge of all humanity. Do not try to deceive yourselves thinking God is not watching and does not see all you are doing. This promise says if you sow to the flesh (carnal nature), you will reap from the carnal nature, and this is corruption. Too many times today, we think we can rewrite the Bible and throw such important verses like this out. It is obvious in these words that sowing to the carnal, worldly nature, reaps nothing more than short term happiness. We have walked away from passages that say, “Be ye holy as I am holy”, which is a direct quote from God. We are to reflect the fruit of the Spirit and the characteristics of God. For the saint that rejects God’s Word and the teachings of many sanctified pastors on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, they will reap exactly what they have planted. For example, if you sow to your sexual nature, you might have a good time for a short period. However, when you grow old and die, coming face to face with God, there is nothing left for you to harvest after you spent your life sowing to the lustful desires of the devil of this world. If you sow a life of addictions, you will reap exactly that crop, whether that be drinking, drug abuse, pornography, etc. You can sow to the crop of pride and self-ambition and be a trillionaire in the end, but your money will not buy you a place in heaven. You can only have this with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you choose to sow to the spiritual perspective of God, you will reap eternal life. When you pray, you are planting a healthy crop because you are just not repeating a few words off a page, but you are having a personal relationship and awakening with God. When you read your Bible, you are reaping a harvest of the knowledge of the Creator of all things. When you go to church faithfully and support that church faithfully, you are living in another promise that you can’t outgive God. Your blessings will be pushed down and overflowing. That does not mean financial blessings but spiritual blessings. When you sow faith that is the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains. When the devil throws us a spiritual problem that seems too big to handle, we don’t always see it, but God has an answer for it. Life doesn’t seem fair sometimes. I have personally had situations in my life that I could not understand why they came my way. I could not resolve these situations myself. All I could do is rely on God’s holy nature. The last part of the opening Bible verse says do not grow weary in doing good. Another quote from Paul is to finish the race. We will reap a beautiful crop on the other side of eternity if we do. Sinners will reap what they have sown, and saints will reap what they have sown.

Dr. Brian Brown

Lisbon Church of the Nazarene