This morning's lesson is out of Galatians 6, verses 6-10. Galatians 6, verses 6-10. Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, 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. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Father God, we ask this morning Your blessing upon the reading of Your Word. Father, we ask this morning that You would remove all of those distractions that so easily Pull our attention away. Those distracting thoughts that creep into our minds that would take our mind off of the clarity and the application of Your Word in our lives. Father, minister to us out of Your Word. Plow up the hardened ground of our hearts and plant that precious seed of Your Word in us, that, Father, it might bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some even a hundredfold. Father, please hide me behind the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ this morning and glorify Your name through the preaching and teaching of Your Word. We ask these things in our Lord Jesus' precious name, Amen. The lesson this morning is entitled, Sowing and Reaping. And as I said, it was out of Galatians 6, verses 6-10. We see the analogy of sowing and reaping used often in Scripture. Last week in Isaiah chapter 28, we saw where God's Word uses the example of the sowing and threshing of cumin, wheat, and barley, the process used in that sowing and threshing, and how God brought out of that physical example a spiritual example for us, a spiritual understanding. Christ Jesus give us several parables, two of the most famous, the parable of the sower and the soils and the parable of the wheat and the tares, both of which involve sowing and reaping. So Paul's use of the sowing and reaping analogy is very timely in his fleshing out of this concept of stewardship which he introduces us to in Galatians chapter 6, verse 6. Stewardship, the process of using physical gifts which God has supplied to us to support the work of His kingdom. And He likens it to seed. A key point in our lesson this morning. Unlike the parable of the sower and the soils, in which four types of ground are brought forth. Christ Jesus told us in the sower and the soils that some of the seed falls by the wayside and some falls on the rocky ground, and some falls on the soil that has the weeds that grow up and choke it, and finally some of it falls in the good earth which has been prepared and brings up fruit. Unlike the parable of the sower and the soils, which has four types of ground, Paul gives us in this analogy this morning, he gives us two fields. The two fields are the flesh and the Spirit. Those are going to be key in our lesson this morning. Those two fields are the flesh and the Spirit. And unlike the parable of the wheat and the tares, which we read just moments ago, in the parable of the wheat and the tares, we saw two types of seed being sown in the same field. Paul gives us one type of seed and two different fields in which that seed is sown with the admonishment to consider well where we plant. Folks, we need to understand we are to consider well where we plant that which God has provided for us. Most of you are probably aware, years ago I used to really enjoy the black powder stuff, the muzzle loading, and I know some of you are old muzzle loader fans. I read a book about the turn of the century, this young fellow that he was talking about growing up, and he would go bear hunting. All they had was muzzle loaders at that time. Back in the 1800s, he had this muzzle loader and he'd go bear hunting. You had to be a good shot or else somebody else got to hunt that bear. You were that bear's dinner. It was very important you had one shot and you had to use it wisely. The lesson this morning, if you learn nothing else We have one shot. We need to use it wisely. We have one bag of seed. And we need to be very careful which field we sow it in. Because there will be a harvest that comes forth out of that field. One to sadness, or one to joy. So with that, if you're taking notes, have four different major points in the lesson this morning, four calls. There's a call to stewardship, which will be in verse 6. There's a call to seriousness, which will be in verse 7. There is a call to discernment, which will be in verse 8. And there is a call to perseverance, which we will see in verses 9 and 10. Four calls. Stewardship, seriousness, discernment, and persevering. The Apostle Paul is deathly serious in this passage because he's dealing with things of eternity. As I used the analogy earlier about the muzzle-loading bear hunter, things become deathly serious when you are looking down your sights and you know that you have one shot. This analogy which we're going to look at in verses 6-10, as I said, this analogy of sowing and reaping, begins first with a call to stewardship. In verse 6, let him who is taught in the Word share in all good things with him who teaches. Seems fairly straightforward. Him who is taught in the Word, those who receive the preaching and teaching of the Gospel, are to share in all good things with the One who teaches. What happens when we are taught in the Word? Do we come to the Lord's house on the Lord's day and endure an hour of Bible study and endure an hour of worship service and go home unchanged, I would pray, I would hope and pray that we do not come to the Lord's house out of a sense of duty, or we do not come to the Lord's house as a place to show off our finds and impress other people with how well-dressed we are, but rather that we would come to the Lord's house Hungry for God's Word. Hungry for that which has been prepared for us. That banquet table which has been set for us. Him that is taught, what does He receive? First of all, Him that is taught, the individual who comes and sits under the preaching and teaching of the gospel, male, female, adult or child, When they come and sit under the preaching of the teaching of the Gospel, they come to receive comfort from the world to come because they dwell in a world which has precious little comfort. They come to receive a security, a sense of well-being, a sense that God cares for them because they exist. in a world that all too often is populated with those who are concerned with their own welfare and not that individual's welfare. They come to receive comfort from a world to come that sustains them in the time of loss. They come to receive hope from the world to come as they look forward to the harvest. And they come to receive instruction from the world to come to receive that instruction in how to order their own lives and how to order their own households in a way which will bring honor to the Lord God who gave His only Son that they might have eternal life. So Him who is taught, the individual, be it man, woman, or child that comes to sit under the preaching and teaching of the gospel, they are to come hungry to receive that which is from the world to come. That is not of this physical world. It's not that which we can lay hold of. Folks, we look around us in this world, we have things made of wood, made of steel, made of plastic. We can grab hold of those things. They're physical. But when we come to God's house, we come to God's house to learn about that which is ahead of us. That which is eternal. Not that which is temporal. My stepbrother lived down in Central America and there was a lot of terrorist activity going on there. He and his wife and children went into town one day and when they came back, their home was simply smoldering ashes. It had been burned to the ground. In a short time, everything physical which they owned had been destroyed. There was an accident years ago down near Globe where an entire family, I guess it was the husband who was driving the car, and they were hit in a head-on collision. And everyone was killed in his family except himself. In a blink of an eye, everything he had was gone. In those times, We come to seek those things which are heavenly, those things which are eternal, those things which are lasting, because we realize how quickly those things that are physical and temporal can be taken from us. Him who is taught. Let Him who is taught the Word share in all good things with Him who teaches. Folks, there is a banquet table set out week after week in the house of God. There's a banquet table set out week after week in the mission fields. Here alone, here at Miller Valley alone, you can come in at 930 on the Lord's Day and you can receive teaching out of the book of Romans. Sound, doctrinal teaching that will last you when the storms of life come. Oftentimes, when we set sail, everything's calm. The seas are calm and it's sunny. We have no clue of the storms that are coming on the horizon. When we come and we sit under the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God, whether it be morning Bible study, whether it be in our morning worship service, whether it be in our evening worship service, even the gathering together of the saints on Wednesday night as we lift up our voices and our petitions and prayer to God. Every one of those is a banquet which God has provided for us to feed us, to strengthen us, to prepare us, not just for this life, but for the world to come. Week after week, in the far corners of the world, missionaries labor to provide light in a world that is filled with darkness, to provide the Gospel to those who have never heard of Christ Jesus. Week after week, under-shepherds across this land labor to provide that which is best for the flock. Those who are taught, Him who is taught, comes to God's house or comes to whatever building it is or gathering it is in the mission field to partake of that which God has provided. And Him who is taught is to share in all good things or to support those who labor in that kingdom. They are to support Him who teaches. You say, pastor, You're trying to exalt your position. No, I'm not. I don't need to exalt the office of God's Messenger. He has exalted it Himself. In the eyes of the world, the Messenger of God is often despised. In the eyes of the world, they hold up the CEOs of major corporations. They hold up the great basketball and the football stars. And they look down their nose at the messenger of God. In Hebrews 11, we see in that chapter which oftentimes is referred to as God's hall of fame, in Hebrews 11, verse 36, it says, Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain. slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth." Folks, oftentimes in the eyes of the world, God's messenger is despised, and yet God has called that to be an honorable position, that of being his under-shepherd. He told Ezekiel, go to this people. Whether they hear or whether they forbear, in Ezekiel 2, God says whether they hear or whether they forbear, they will know that a prophet has been among them. God has not left us without instruction. That Great Shepherd under which His under-shepherds serve, He is watching out for your soul. And He has called the under-shepherds, whether they be missionaries, whether they be associate pastors, whether they be pastors, whether they be elders, He's called for those who watch out for your soul as those who must give account. Let them give account with joy and not with sadness. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, if any of you have ever read the biography of D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, he did not want a biography written about him. He forbade the gathering of any information about himself. He wanted all the glory to go to Christ and he didn't want any fuss made over him. I praise God that through persistence, a biography finally was written about him. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones was a brilliant physician. He left the physician's practice to pastor a church in Wales, and many considered him a madman for leaving such a prestigious and financially profitable practice to go pastor a church. You know what he said? I got tired of healing men's bodies so they could go right back out and sin again. He said, I wanted to work with their souls. Not just to fix up their bodies so they could live for a few more years, but to take them to Christ where they could live for eternity. Adoniram Judson. He lost members of his family. He was imprisoned. He labored and labored and labored. In 12 years in Burma, Adoniram Judson made 18 converts. He labored 37 years in the mission field of Burma with one home leave. Why? for love to his Master. Let him who is taught share in all good things with him who teaches. Folks, we have missionaries in Chile. We have missionaries in Argentina. We have missionaries in Ireland. We have missionaries all over the world that are laboring for the Kingdom of God. We have pastors in churches all over the world that are laboring for the Kingdom of God. And God has called us, and even I as a pastor, even I as an under-shepherd, have those who shepherd my soul. We are to share in all good things with those who teach us. It's a call to stewardship that we see in verse 6. Let him who has taught the Word share in all good things with him who teaches. And he immediately follows it with a call to seriousness. The Apostle Paul says, God is not mocked. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. We are called to understand the seriousness of our obligation. If we are being taught, if we are reaping spiritual benefits, if our marriages are improving because of the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, if our children are growing in grace because of the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, we are called to a stewardship to provide for those whom God has placed in that position of feeding and serving the Word of God. It's a call to seriousness. Paul says God is not mocked. We oftentimes say, well, times are tough and I'm having a rough go of it and he's not much of a missionary so I won't give him much of a support. You know what? We might be able to justify our tight-fistedness to ourselves But we won't justify it before the Lord God. Our transaction is not with man. Our transaction is with God. Our lack of obedience is not towards the church or to the pastor or to that missionary out on the mission field. It's a lack of obedience against God. He has provided a banquet for us. And He is using those means which He has given us He uses those means to bring the gospel to a lost and dying world with eternal results. Folks, how much money do we spend? How much time do we spend for that which only brings a short-term gratification? Stop and think about it. Years ago, I realize many of you will think of this as an act of stupidity. I didn't realize it until well into the situation how stupid it really was. My son talked me into going on the Batman ride at a Six Flags over Texas. Have any of you ever heard of that? It's sheer terror. I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it. Anyway, it's a few short moments of sheer terror. And I thought afterwards, I thought, why did I pay money to have that done to me? You hang in this little thing and you go through this corkscrew and you wonder, what kind of idiot was I to stand in line? And some of you are grinning. Some of you go, oh yeah, Pastor, that's a great ride. No, it isn't. It was X number of dollars for a few brief moments of excitement. And then it's gone. Yet, God calls us to take and invest that which He has given to us in that which is not just for a few brief moments. It's that which is eternal. It's the saving of souls. It's the healing of marriages. It's the bringing back of children that were on the edge of destruction and bringing them back to godly, productive lives and marriages. Folks, how often we squander that which God has given us for that which brings back no benefit whatsoever. In the book of Haggai, Beginning in verse 3, it says, The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses? And this temple to lie in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. You have sown much and bring in little. You eat, but you do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Folks, as ever, every bit is applicable today as it was back in Haggai's time. Therefore, thus says the Lord, consider your ways. Go up to the mountains. Bring wood to build the temple. and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified. You looked for much, but indeed it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts, because of My house that is in ruins while every one of you runs to his own house." God rebuking Israel for looking to their own selves instead of looking towards the Kingdom of God. The third verse I would like to look at is a call to discernment. In verse 8, the Apostle Paul tells us, 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. There's a call to discernment here, folks. How much do we sow to the flesh? What does sowing to the flesh mean? It means looking forward to the wants of this present life without regard to the future life. What did Jesus tell us in Matthew 6 verse 19? He says that we're to seek the Kingdom of God. We're to seek treasures in heaven. rather than treasures on this earth where moth and rust corrupt. We're to have a discernment. This dollar that I spend, this hour that I spend, these words that come out of my mouth, are they building towards the Kingdom of Heaven or are they building towards the flesh? Am I sowing to the flesh or am I sowing to the Spirit? John Calvin said we are quick to pay Satan's wages, but we grudgingly give to the work of God. We sow to flesh, what's its results? God's Word says we sow to the flesh, it reaps corruption. As I pointed out before, it can all be gone in an instant. But the opposite, that of sowing to the Spirit and its results, Jesus told us in Matthew 6.33, seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you. Sowing to the Spirit brings eternal results. You say, ah, Pastor, that means that if I do good things, good things will come back to me. No, that's the Hindu law of karma. What I'm talking about is seeking first the Kingdom of God. His grace enables us to perform good works and in His kindness, He honors those works. Folks, we are called to an obedience. We're called to discern between that which is of the flesh and that which is of the Spirit. And we have one handful of seed, let's use it right and let's cast it into that field of the Spirit. We have one shot. We have one bag of seed. If we sow it to the flesh, if we sow it to that which brings a momentary feeling of wellness, it will all die in corruption. If we sow it to the Spirit, we may not see immediate results. We may be like Adoniram Judson and labor and labor and toil and toil and not see anything. But what does God's Word tell us? Let us not grow weary while doing good. In due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. That leads us to the call to perseverance. Don't grow weary. Continue onward. I won't ask for a show of hands, but how many of you remember the movie Cool Hand Luke? I love that. That's one of the soundest theological movies you can see. Actually, there's a few good ones that cause the elders to roll their eyes when I mention them. But Cool Hand Luke is a good movie. Why? Because you see Paul Newman get knocked down, and he gets back up, and he gets knocked down again, and he gets back up, and he gets knocked down again. And finally, when he can't even swing, George Kennedy grabs Paul Newman, throws him over his shoulder to take him back to the barracks, and Paul Newman hits him again. And I thought, praise God, what a perfect example of staying in there slugging, even when you've got nothing left. Let us not grow weary. Strengthen the feeble hands which hang down. Make straight paths for your feet. Let us not grow weary while doing good. In due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart. John Calvin made the observation, he said, the harvest will come. God has set this life apart for plowing and sowing. Let us work while we have light. Folks, we only have so much daylight. We only have so much daylight. Let us make use of it. Plow. Sow the seed. Make good use of that which God has provided for you. In due season, We will reap if we do not lose heart. And then Paul closes in verse 10 with an admonition, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. God has given us a series of priorities. All too often, we mix our priorities up. We get our priorities skewed. But God has called us to a certain series of priorities, and He says, let us do good to all, but especially those who are of the household of faith. You say, Pastor, I know believers that I just really have a tough time with. Well, guess what? There's probably believers who have a tough time with you. But you know what? We're to do good to all, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Let us sow and eventually, eventually we shall reap. It may not be in this life. We may not see in this life any results of our labors. But the day will come when if we are faithful servants, And we plow and we sow. And we throw that seed in the field of the Spirit rather than the field of the flesh. There will come a day when we stand before the Lord God Almighty and He'll say, well done, good and faithful servant. May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word. Dear Father, we come before You this morning asking That, Father, You would bless Your Word. That You would impress upon our hearts the urgency of the work of the Kingdom. That You would impress upon our hearts how temporary our lives are in this world. That You would impress upon our hearts the need to sow to the Spirit rather than to the flesh. We ask these things in our Lord Jesus' precious name, Amen.