[0:00] Now, if we'd like us to look for a few minutes today at these verses, 7 and 8 in Galatians chapter 6. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
[0:13] 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.
[0:26] Now, of course, every text is a context, and the context in these verses is that what we saw, for example, in chapter 5 of Galatians was again the same sort of contest between the flesh and the Spirit, but the sense in chapter 5 was almost of a battleground with two opposing armies.
[0:47] In chapter 5, verse 17, for example, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one to the other, so ye cannot do the things that ye would.
[0:58] So there's the pulling in two dimensions of the spiritual element within the believer, and also the old flesh that wants to go back to the old ways. It's like what we read in chapter 7 of Romans, where Paul is struggling against what he desires to do in the Spirit, and yet the sin that keeps dragging him down again.
[1:18] So that's the sense in chapter 5. You've got the sense, if you're led of the Spirit, you'll not be under the law, but the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.
[1:28] And then it gives a whole long list of that, which includes, you know, impropriety and adultery and all the sins of what we would think of as the flesh and sort of more sexual sins, and also as that spills over then into sort of more spiritual ones, occult and so on, and then all the division and strife and anger and fighting that goes with it.
[1:48] So all these things go together, and this is all part of the works of the flesh. But then it contrasts that at the end of chapter 5 with the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
[2:04] But notice the contrast, however, it's not the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, because the flesh doesn't have any fruit. It's like the banana that you mentioned with the children.
[2:15] There's no seed that will bring forth anything subsequently. You could eat it there and then, but you can't plant it for future reference, because in and of itself it's just corruption.
[2:26] It just dies. The best that it brings forth is like James says, you know, when it's conceived, it brings forth death at the end of the day.
[2:37] And that's just the ongoing process, a downward spiral. There is no future prospect if we simply sow to the flesh. So this is the sense here, it's the fruit of the Spirit, but just the works of the flesh.
[2:51] The works that are there and then, present, idolatry, fornication, between the sorts of reasons, and so on. But the fruit of the Spirit, that which not only is organic and living, but is also seed-bearing with a promise for the future, is this love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
[3:08] This which will triumph in the end. That when all the things of the flesh have long since perished and passed away, that which has been planted by the Lord's grace.
[3:19] You know, like it says at the end of Psalm 92, you know, they are in the house of God are planted by his grace, they shall grow up and flourish all in our God's holy place. And in old age, when others fade, they still forth fruit shall bring.
[3:32] They shall be fat and fruit of sat, and I be flourishing. And so it is with that which is the fruit of the Spirit. The seed that is planted, it continues to bring forth life in all its fruits.
[3:46] Whereas the works of the flesh, they are just for now, and they bring forth death at the end. That's the sort of battleground context of chapter 5. But in chapter 6, into which we go on, the sense now is almost of a field.
[4:01] Not so much a battlefield, but just a planting field, with two kinds of seed that you plant in it. We could say two separate fields that are sown differently, but it's just as effective if it's a one field, but two different kinds of seed that are sown in it.
[4:18] Now, of course, as we've said, you can't really plant anything of the flesh. If you sow to the flesh, there isn't even really seed to sow. God is not mocked. Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
[4:32] 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.
[4:43] You see these different kinds of, if we can call it seed, although there isn't really any seed for future reference with the flesh, these are being, as it were, sown on the field of our lives.
[4:55] He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. And he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. What we become, in other words, as the, you know, the Anglican commentator John Stott said, what we become depends largely on how we behave.
[5:15] Our character is shaped by our conduct. You might think, well, sure, it's the other way around. Our conduct is shaped by our character. But these two are almost kind of like a circular argument, like chicken and egg situation.
[5:27] You behave in a certain way because of a certain character. But you can start forming your character by choosing to behave in a particular way.
[5:38] As Paul writes elsewhere, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. You may feel an urge to do one thing, but if you compel yourself to do something different because you know it to be the right thing to do, then that becomes your, if you like, precedent.
[5:56] That becomes now your statement. You've laid down a mark of, this is what I do, not that. I may be tempted to do that, but I am doing this because I know it is the right thing to do.
[6:07] And then because you've done this once, then that becomes what people might expect you to do for the future. So it's easier to do it for the future. What we become depends largely on how we behave, John Stott said.
[6:20] Our character is shaped by our conduct. Or to put it another way, you sow a thought, you reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit.
[6:34] Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. So what we plant, the seed that we plant, if it is a thought that we are determined to carry through, then we reap the act by being determined to carry through the thought.
[6:54] We sow the act, lay down the marker, and then it's easier to do the right thing the next time it becomes the habit. Now, okay, if I were to, I can't look into your hearts, but if I were to say, you're right.
[7:07] How many of you are here in church today because you woke up this morning and said, yes, I just can't wait to go to the Lord's house. I'm bursting with enthusiasm over the Spirit, just spilling over.
[7:19] I just can't wait to get there. Well, I would like to thank most of you, but there might be more for whom perhaps you know it to be duty to the Lord, you know it to be that which a Christian should do.
[7:31] Perhaps for some, it is your habit. A habit is not necessarily a bad thing. You get up in the morning, maybe you shower before you go off to work or whatever, that's a good habit to have.
[7:45] You make sure that you eat something before you go out the door, that's a good habit to have. Of our Lord himself, it is said, you know, he went as he was walked to the Mount of Olives.
[7:56] You know, that's the place where he went to pray. No, he went as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. These were godly habits of our Lord, which he didn't just do because, well, I've always done it, you know it's a habit, but it was the consistent action of one who lived in a certain way.
[8:18] You sow an act, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap a character because people know, yes, someone's like, yes, he's always in the synagogue there on the Sabbath day, that's what that Jesus of Nazareth does.
[8:31] He's always up on the Mount of Olives, yes, every evening because that's where he goes to pray or that's where he spends the night or whatever. Yes, they know that's his character because of the habit which he sowed.
[8:42] And so, they can identify the kind of person that he is because of the nature of what he does on a consistent basis. So, a character, reap a destiny, the direction in which the Lord will take us will depend on the character with which he has equipped us.
[9:04] Yes, so, the Lord's plans are always laid beforehand but he's not going to take us in a direction for which we have no means of coping with it. He will take us in a direction, in a way, and with a plan for which he has prepared us even if we don't feel that.
[9:22] So, a character, reap a destiny. Be not deceived then. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man saw that shall he also reap.
[9:34] Now, the literal verb here for mocked means literally to sneer with the nostrils drawn up in contempt.
[9:44] So, as we can say to turn up your nose at somebody and the nostrils drawn up, sneering at somebody because there's beneath your contempt because these silly people don't know what really is going on.
[9:56] It's silly God doesn't really know what's in my heart. I can fool God by doing some things outwardly that look good but really in my heart I think something completely different.
[10:08] God is not mocked. It's like sometimes where you might hear of or see these situations portrayed in a police station where somebody's being interviewed and maybe they're all denying that they've done anything and then the policeman sets out photographs or witness statements and the evidence just piles up and piles up and piles up and there's the CCTV footage that proves that they're in a certain place at a certain time and when they're confronted with all the evidence they say, okay, fair enough, right, yes, I did do that.
[10:36] So, what they need convincing of is that the police already know the facts. What you and I need convincing of is that God already knows the truth of your heart.
[10:48] Remember Ananias and Sapphira, for example, who having a field or a piece of property, they sold the property and they came and laid the money down at the feet of the apostles or they pretended that they were laying the whole amount down.
[11:03] And this is the thing that God takes issue with them for through the apostle Peter. It's not that perhaps they kept back selling the money because they needed it to pay a bill or they just wanted it for themselves or they said, look, Peter, we've sold this field, here's half the money, we have to keep half for ourselves or we want to keep half for ourselves, but here's half the money just now.
[11:22] But the thing is they made out that they had sold the lot and were giving the lot, but they kept back part for themselves so that nobody would know. It would look good, but really they'd get the benefit too for themselves.
[11:36] They sold, as it were, to the flesh pretending that they were sowing to the spirit. And it was the deceit which was offensive to God. It's the idea that God wouldn't know.
[11:49] It's so if you were to go out to a shop with your pockets bulging with stuff that you lifted off the shelves and say, oh no, I haven't taken anything. Imagine the staff are so stupid, they can't see.
[12:01] And they wouldn't know that you've been shoplifting and you've been helping yourself without paying. It's as though this is how we treat God and we sneer at God's knowledge.
[12:13] God is not mocked. You can't sneer at God in this way and pretend that he doesn't know what's going on. He knows what's in your heart.
[12:23] Do you not be deceived? What we are sowing here is what we will reap. He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.
[12:36] But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap blood. Now notice the distinction also here. It's his flesh but it's not his spirit. It's not the flesh but it's not his spirit.
[12:49] It's his flesh because the flesh is always in a sense self-centered. It is always his own flesh. It's the indulgence of his own desires.
[13:00] It's the me, myself, I kind of unholy trinity. And if this is the thing that we are investing in, that we are sowing for, because you know, all sowing of seed is an investment if you think about it.
[13:14] If you've got a crop of seed and so much curdles of wheat or whatever it may be, then you want to sell that on for money or you want to keep it and eat it or whatever to take a portion of it and stick it back in the ground.
[13:29] That seems like, you know, it seems like money lost. Seems almost like money you're literally throwing it away and on the ground. But what you're doing, of course, is you're investing for the future.
[13:41] You bury the seed, you plant the seed, so that in the fullness of time there will be a crop which will yield much more seed. It's not wasted in the eyes of the farmer.
[13:51] It's invested because you hope to have much, much more in the future. But in the short term, in the immediate term, it's just so much seed you can't sell or so much seed you can't eat or can't use.
[14:03] You know, it seems like a loss. But it's not a loss. It's an investment or a bumper for the future. Bumper crop for the future. God has not mopped whatever you sow.
[14:15] That will be what you reap. He that sowed to his flesh, shall have a flesh reap corruption because that's all it can produce. You see, the flesh is always self-centered, always self-concerned, self-desiring.
[14:31] Desiring. It is about one's own desires and the consequent results. To gratify the here and now, that is sowing to the flesh. Just what I want, the things I want to do.
[14:43] I want to indulge. I want to engage in. I want to be. And it's all about me. And doing the most that I can, getting my best out of life. And, as it were, pampering and preening to this flesh.
[14:57] It's not just about, you know, grooming or looking after or welcoming. It's about indulging all the things that are concerned simply with the here and now for their own selves, for their own ends.
[15:11] Because that's what I want to do. He that sowed to his flesh. Notice that his, shall of the flesh reap corruption. You'll get what you want.
[15:23] You'll get your heart's desire. If you invest completely, say, in your hobby or your sport or your career, or if that's what you give yourself to, then you'll probably do extremely well at it.
[15:38] Because people who are totally focused and single-minded on one thing will prosper, on the hand. But, at the end of the day, you might be a brilliant athlete for a few years.
[15:49] Because that's where you put your time, your focus in. You might have a scratch handicap at golf, and that's brilliant. Oh, okay. Fine. For a little while. You might have built up a wonderful community and huge business and have loads of money.
[16:03] Well, that's fine. You reap what you sow, but at the end of the day, you can't take any of it with you. It will die when you die.
[16:14] And its usefulness will have departed from you long before, probably, you die in this world. He that sowed to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, death.
[16:25] But he that soweth to the spirit, notice it's not his spirit, it's the spirit, shall of the spirit reap the life of the last thing.
[16:37] The farmer that has put the seed into the soil is going to have some kind of harvest. It may be a bumper harvest, it may be a blue harvest, it may be an indifferent middling harvest. You know, not every kind of harvest is the same, even in the parable of the sower, even the good seed, in the good soil.
[16:53] Jesus said it brought forth some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. We'd all like to be the 100 fold, but some were maybe just the 30, and some were the 60.
[17:05] You know, it was the five talents and the two talents and the one talent, each according to his several ability. It doesn't mean everything's going to be identical, but if you plant the sow according to the spirit, you know, the spirit weep life everlasting.
[17:20] There will be some kind of harvest. There will be some kind of fruitfulness, because the seed you're sowing is good seed. And the soil we trust is that which the Lord has prepared.
[17:32] He that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit weep life everlasting. You know, some that we sang with the children of Coke, that was, you know, you know, he that sow in tears shall weep in joy.
[17:45] They that sow in tears shall weep in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with them.
[17:57] The precious seed that we expend just now, this seed of the spirit sowing to the spirit, it doesn't bring a return immediately. It's not like eating the seed right away and making food with it right away.
[18:11] It's not like selling it right away. It's like you get your money in your hand right now. But rather it's the investment for which we look for the return. Be not deceived.
[18:24] God is not mocked. In and of ourselves, of course, we are carnal. We're not spiritual. The flesh is devoted to selfishness, literally.
[18:36] Self-pleasing and our own desires. This is a kind of bondage. You know, as we said that Paul writes at the end of chapter 7 in Romans, how he brings a law when he would do good, he was present with it.
[18:47] But we read in chapter 8 in Romans, at verse 21, the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. That death which is the result of of sowing to the flesh, the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
[19:06] And that's what we have to desire. That we will be delivered from the bondage of corruption because death is, it's the end of all things in this fallen world. What's not being morbid about it, it's just the reality.
[19:19] Everybody of us beyond a certain generation that we have known eventually has died. And unless the Lord comes back, everybody that we know will die. And eventually we ourselves will die.
[19:31] Unless the Lord comes back, that's just a fact of life. It's not being morbid, it's not being dark about it. It's simply a reality. How are we going to prepare for that?
[19:42] It's just like if you've got a child at school and you know that when it comes to fourth year, they're going to have to do whatever the equivalent is of standard grades and old grades nowadays. National fours, national fives, or then highers or afterwards, this is the normal progression as they work their way up through school.
[19:59] It's not a case of, well, let's just pretend it's not going to happen. Let's just sort of not go to school today and maybe it'll all go away. You can't just make it go away. These things have to be faced.
[20:10] And likewise, all the different stages of life have to be faced. Leaving school has to be faced. Growing up has to be faced. The reality of paying bills and having somewhere to live and so on, it all has to be faced.
[20:23] You can't make it go away just by pulling the covers over your head and hoping everything will be all right. And so it is with the future, from time into eternity, we have to sow something.
[20:38] Sowing to the flesh is the equivalent of not sowing anything at all. We're not planting any kind of seed. It's the equivalent of what used to be called sowing your wild oats.
[20:49] It means just kind of scattering and wasting it. Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. We read in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 9, verse 6, This I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
[21:09] Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver, 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.
[21:26] As it is written, he hath dispersed the broad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.
[21:43] Now, whether Paul is talking there about, you know, maintaining and giving to the work of God's kingdom, or whether he's talking about sowing to the Spirit, as he's talking about here in Galatians, the result of the message is the same.
[21:56] You can rely on God to provide for your needs here and now. He's not going to abandon you. He's not going to forget you. He never has yet. He's never left you completely without his help.
[22:09] He's never not looked after you. He's never not brought you through. And the times that we may think, oh, well, yes, he has. I can think of times when God really let me down. Now, did God let you down?
[22:22] Or did you let God down? Or did you let yourself down? Did God forsake you? Or was it you who had turned away from him? Or did he abandon you?
[22:34] And if he abandoned you, then did he not bring you through that valley of the shadow? Are we not here today able to say, hitherto hath the Lord helped us?
[22:45] You know, David himself, the beloved of the Lord, talked in Psalm 23 about being brought through the valley of the shadow of death. But there's that key word, through. He didn't leave him there.
[22:56] He didn't dwell there. He didn't die there. He was brought through it. And all of us will have valleys of the shadow in our lives. There will be difficulties.
[23:06] There will be problems. There will be times when we think the Lord has surely abandoned us. But he has not. And he has promised that he never will. God is not unfaithful.
[23:19] And God is not mocked. And whatever we sow, we shall also reap. Now, you could say this is the good news, or perhaps this is the bad news. That we will get from the Lord our heart's desire.
[23:32] As I've mentioned in the past, we will get from the Lord exactly what we wish. If we wish to have nothing to do with the Lord and to focus simply upon this world and its benefits and its goodness and all the things to be enjoyed in it, then that's what you'll be able to do.
[23:50] That's what you'll be allowed to do. That's what you will reap to the full. And you can clutch it all to you with your dying breath. But it will not be able to do anything about that dying breath.
[24:03] It won't be able to go with you into eternity. It won't be able to plead for you at the throne of grace. It won't be able to speak for you when your life then is set before the Lord's perfect judgment.
[24:17] And that perfect judgment is not in the sense of, oh, he's going to find them all your little faults. Yes, he'll do that. He knows them already. But he's also going to, in that perfect judgment, whenever you have done good, he's going to acknowledge it.
[24:29] Whenever you have made emphasis to help somebody or to try and pick somebody up when they were down or to do them some good, every little act of charity, yep, that'll be there.
[24:40] Every little donation to the poor, to a good cause, yep, that'll be there. All the things you're so concerned that you're a good person and that these things should be taken known of, they'll all be taken known of.
[24:52] I guarantee it. They will all be there. But at the end of the day, they are but splendid sins. Unless we be in a state of grace.
[25:04] Unless we be in Christ. Who's going to plead for the fact that we are, at the end of the day, still separated from God? You're separated from God.
[25:15] Even in the state of all these good things that we think we are doing, how would you close that breach? And at the end of the day, when all these things have been taken into account and judged minutely, with all their goodness and badness, it's not a case of, oh, the good might won't go with the bad, I might stand half a chance.
[25:33] How would you deal with this gulf that is still between you and God at the end of the day? How will that chasm be closed if not by Christ?
[25:45] There is no other way than Christ for that chasm to be closed. But you will get from the Lord exactly what you desire. You desire all that is in this world.
[25:58] You desire to sow to the flesh. You shall have the reaping of the flesh. But the reaping of the flesh is only corruption. It's only death at the end of the day, which will come to all men eventually.
[26:10] That's what you sow. That's what you'll reap. We will get from the Lord exactly what we desire. Your heart's desire. Isn't that great news? You'll get your heart's desire from the Lord, but be careful what you wish for.
[26:24] He that soweth to his flesh shall have a flesh with corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
[26:35] Proverbs 11, we read it, verse 18, a wicked worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. Now, of course, we don't have any righteousness of our own.
[26:49] It says, even back in the Old Testament, it is the Lord who is our righteousness. If we sow that which is of his Spirit, sow that righteousness, there's a sure reward.
[27:01] Notice how there, even in Proverbs 11, verse 18, there that we just read, it doesn't say, the wicked soweth a deceitful work. It's not a sowing, really, with that which is wicked or that which is deceitful.
[27:13] It just works. The wicked worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. There is a living seed with that which is of the righteousness of God.
[27:26] There is hope for the future. The Lord understands trials and temptations. He understands the difficulties. We're not talking about, oh, you're okay, you're falling into this sin, or you're falling into that sin.
[27:40] That's you done for. Sorry, there's no way back. This is what this chapter is talking about. 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.
[27:56] Bear one another's burdens, help lift up each other, and so fulfill the law of Christ. There's no point thinking you're better than you are, because you'll be seen to be nothing if you're deceiving yourself.
[28:07] Then every man prove his own work. Then he shall have rejoiced in himself alone, not another, for every man shall bear his own burden. That's not a contradiction of verse 2. Verse 5 is not a contradiction of verse 2.
[28:18] Verse 2 is talking about helping and bearing up and supporting one another. But at the end of the day, there's no point thinking we are better than them, because we'll be judged according to what we've done, not according to what they've done.
[28:31] Every man shall bear his own burden. But at the end of the day, whether we fall into that sin, those sins, or whether we are picked up, or whether we go on, or whether our sins are many, or are few, at the end of the day, the question is maybe, what about that passing that is between you and God?
[28:49] Has it been closed? If it has been closed, it is only closed by Christ. If the seed has borne fruit, it is only by the grace of Christ. If there is a harvest to be reaped, it is only because of Christ.
[29:02] For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. You see, somebody may sin many times, and they may sin publicly, and they may be shamed, and they may be scandalized, but at the end of the day, if they repent and turn to Christ, that chasm will be closed.
[29:25] That breach will be bound up, and Christ will have paid for all their sins, and when they are judged in the presence of all the angels, and all the hosts of heaven, there will be seen all that they have done, and all the wickedness, and all the sins, and all the failures, but there also will be seen Christ standing in the breach and saying, All of these I have paid for.
[29:48] All of these are covered by my precious blood. All these I have gone to the cross for, and the Father, in his perfect justice and mercy, cannot require now of the sinner that which has been already paid for by the Son.
[30:05] That is the perfect justice of God. When it comes to the death of his Son, it has paid for the sins of his elect. Regardless of what they may be guilty of.
[30:18] But then when we are assessed on what we have done, and said, and thought, and the good, and the evil, and so on, and there we are, clothed in the filthy rags of our own righteousness, false righteousness of course, but with the chasm still there, and we say, Well look at the good things I have done.
[30:34] Yes, those will be taken into account. Look at the bad things. Don't look at the bad things I have done. They will still be taken into account. But at the end of the day, all these things will be like a hill of dust. It's the chasm that will be important.
[30:47] It is the separation between man and God that will matter. Who is making up your breach? Who is covering your sins? Who is paying the price of what you want? Who have you got? That's what the judgment will want to know.
[31:00] Have we sown to the Spirit? Or have we sown to our flesh? He that soweth through his flesh, shall the flesh reap corruption. You've got your heart's desire in this world, but that was it.
[31:13] We've had it. And where are you now? As we stand before the Lord. And he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
[31:24] See, sowing to the Spirit is not something that comes naturally to us. It is not a work of nature. It is not natural. It is supernatural. It is supernatural. It is above and beyond nature.
[31:36] Just as it is the work of God in his mercy who causes the seed to sprout in the physical soil. The farmer does not grow his harvest. The farmer may plant the soil and prepare it and fertilize it and plant the seed and he may even give it a wee boost of extra fertilizer or whatever.
[31:55] But even if the rain falls or the sun shines, the farmer cannot make the seed grow. Only God can make it grow. It's like Jesus says, it's like seed which a man goes and scatters and he goes to bed and he gets up in the morning and it springs up.
[32:10] He knows no how. God makes it grow. Only what is the case may be. Whatever happens, if you have a broken arm and you're biting up with a plaster of paris or a bandage or whatever, the doctor, the surgeon is not mending the bones.
[32:25] He's simply creating the conditions in which they can be fused back together again. It's God who does the healing. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. You can't fool God.
[32:38] You can't pretend with God. Yes, yes, I'm so useful. Yes, I'm doing religious things. That's right. Of course, I go to church. And of course, yes, I acknowledge God. I believe in God. Of course, I'm not a bad person.
[32:50] That may very well be the case in the judgment of the world. It's not the judgment of the world you'll have to think about at the end of the day. It's not whether or not you look better compared to others.
[33:02] It's not whether you're better in your own eyes. It's what will the eyes of God see when they look at you? What do the eyes of God see when they look at you?
[33:15] See, you can fool all the world. And you can even fool yourself for a while. And you cannot bring out the secret sins that are in your heart. You can keep them locked away. Nobody knows about them.
[33:27] God knows about them. God is not locked. And all the motivation for why you do this or that. And it looks so good, maybe. Maybe at the end of the day, it was just from a selfish motive.
[33:40] Maybe it was just pride. Maybe it was to gain something. Nobody knows that. But God knows it. God is not locked. And at the end of the day, all that we have done, and all that we have said, and all our motivations for it, and all our secret sins, and all our thoughts, and all our intentions, will all be said out there.
[34:00] I guarantee God is not trying to catch you out. I guarantee he is not going to twist or fabricate or make things look in a bad light.
[34:11] All he has to do is set out the truth. And that will be light enough and bad enough for us in our fallen states.
[34:23] Who is going to bridge the chasm for you? You can look as great as you do on the wrong side of it. You can be the rich man who had everything in his life in Luke 16.
[34:35] And yet at the end of the day, it was in hell he lifted up his eyes. Because nobody paid for his sins. There was no intercessor. There was no intermediary.
[34:46] There was no savior. Because he had to do it. He had to do it. Well now in this day of grace, now in this opportunity of favor, this day upon mercy's ground, we have the chance to seek for such a savior.
[35:07] We have the chance to ask, and it shall be given. We have the chance to seek, and we shall find, God's word says. We have the chance to knock upon the door of mercy, and we are told infallibly, it shall be opened.
[35:23] For they that ask receive, they that seek, find. To him that knocketh it shall be opened. Jesus said that not me. And therefore we know that if we saw them to the spirit, and he that saweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
[35:45] Some people might have made a better job of it than you may. Some people will be high up and near the throne. Some people's mansions will be better than others in heaven.
[35:56] I do not doubt it. That is mere justice. But to be there at all, to be on the right side of the chasm, is what will matter. To know that your sins are covered, that your prices pay, that the blood of Christ cleanseth you from all sin.
[36:13] And having sown to the spirit, you may not have the hundredfold bushel. You may not have the sixtyfold. You may only have the thirtyfold. You may only be at the bottom end of the harvest that's reaped.
[36:26] You may only be the faithful servant with the two talents. But it doesn't matter. Because the blessing is the same. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Lord.
[36:38] Others may have done better. They may have done greater. They may be more super saints. Than we will ever be. But we're not saints because of how good we are. We're saints because of how good Christ is.
[36:52] And because we sowed that seed to the spirit. And of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. Don't be fooled, friends. Be not deceived.
[37:03] This is the first problem way back in the garden. The serpent deceived Eve. The serpent beguiled me and I did eat.
[37:15] I was deceived. And then one persuades another. And one sin follows from another. Don't be deceived. There is no fooling God.
[37:25] God is not mocked. He's not sneered at. He's not going to be in any way defeated. Whatever you sow. That is what you will reap. You will get from God.
[37:38] Your heart's desire. Now that should be good news. But it depends what your heart's desire is. Doesn't it? If your heart's desire is the Lamb of God.
[37:50] Samed from the foundation of the world. If this is the one you love. You long for. Then seek him while he is to be found. Call upon him while he is near. Invest that seed in the soil of your heart.
[38:05] He that soweth to the Spirit. Shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing. In doing what's right. Even when you don't feel like it.
[38:16] Remember. Sow a thought. Reap an act. Sow an act. Reap a habit. Sow a habit. Reap a character. Sow a character. Reap a destiny. What is your destiny before God?
[38:29] Well I would suggest to you obviously. The end of that destiny is as yet hidden from you. But the first step need not be so. For the first step upon the road is that you close in with Christ.
[38:43] You sow that seed to the Spirit. You begin the journey with him. And you just be concerned to keep on taking each next step. You don't have to navigate.
[38:54] You don't have to know where the road will ultimately lead. He already knows that. You just need to travel with him. You just need to follow where he leads. What we become depends on how we behave.
[39:08] Our character is shaped by our conduct. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man's sword that shall he also reap. But let us not be weary in well-doing.
[39:19] For in due season we shall reap if we think not. Don't bother. Don't fail. Don't drop out of the race.
[39:31] That day will come. There will be a time to stop. There will be a time to end. There will be a time when you have to lay down your burden. And you'll be compelled to do so. And believe you and me. That day will come soon enough.
[39:41] But for now. Pick up the hands that hang down. Strengthen the feeble knees. Let us run with diligence the race that is set before us.
[39:52] And sow to the spirit. And invest in the future. And trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And look to him alone. For the forgiveness of your sin.
[40:03] For the building of the kind of character you would desire to have in him. And above all so that when we stand before his throne at the last.
[40:15] What the father sees is not you and me. In all our filthiness. He sees his perfect son. That which is committed by the sinner.
[40:26] Is paid for by the son. God is not mocked. What we sow. That is what we shall reap. And regardless. You will have your heart's desire.
[40:40] Let us pray.