Good morning, brethren. Good morning. Another wonderful day that the Lord has given us. Today we are going to consider Galatians chapter 6. We are going to consider two verses from there. Galatians chapter 6, we'll consider two verses. We are going to spend most of our time on one verse, but we can read. Galatians chapter 6 from verse, let's read from verse 6. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. I will request that we pray together. Our Father in Heaven, we are thankful that you, our God, are our father, and you have compassion on your children. You know we are dust. Our father, we want to thank you that you also have provided for us to uphold us in this walk while we are here on earth. We thank you for your word. without which we would have been in the dark, not knowing you and not knowing how to relate with you. But we thank you that you have revealed yourself and you have revealed your ways. And our Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who came and stood in our place to take away our confusion, to take away our sinfulness, to take away our errors and mistakes and all sorts of disappointments. And now we have been recreated, being recreated into his image. We want to pray, almighty God, that we may hear your word as it comes today. There are yet those who do not know you. We want to plead, oh God, because this word applies to them also. We want to ask. that you will open their understanding and let them see the enormity, the seriousness of what you have to say. We pray, O God, that you will do these things for us, helping your servants to be faithful to that which you have charged them to do, and your servants to receive a blessing in this morning. For we pray and ask in the worthy name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Normally, we expect people to be responsible. Sometimes we might be looking at our children. We might be looking at our parents, our siblings. and we expect them to at least take some responsibility for something so that they can benefit. like one who doesn't want to study but expects to pass. That cannot happen. And all of us, if we know about such a one, we see them, they are always partying, we hear stories that they are never in university, every weekend they are out, in the evenings they are out, they come, they pass out, and in the morning they miss classes and so on and so forth. All of us will be saying, but you went to school. You wanted to succeed. The way you succeed at school is to study, to pay attention so that success may result. That is the way we think. But brethren, though we might consider a person who expects to pass, when they have been irresponsible, we might consider that as strange, or maybe even insane. Yet, every single day, not only us who are here, and not just the Christians that are here, we do the spiritual vision of that exact thing. We are expecting to have happiness, to have peace, to have joy, and yet what we are investing is something that brings pain and disappointment, and yet we expect that we should have peace, we must have joy. And when it doesn't come, in fact sometimes we even fought God. The Bible tells us about such a person who suffers calamity as a result of their own sin, and they turn against God. They point at God. This passage that we have read is one of the most sobering in the Bible because it points a finger at us, but it is also a hope-filled life-shaping verse in the entire Bible because again it gives us great hope and confidence giving us assurance that there is something that can result in good for us in that which we desire and we can play a part in that as the Holy Spirit helps us Do not be deceived God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Assurances, equal assurances. The one who sows to the flesh, there is something that will follow. but the one who sows the spirit is assured and there we are sobering but yet giving hope and here we are going to consider the fact that our daily choices are seeds those are seeds and we are in fact in the process of planting And every seed has a harvest. That's what the Bible is saying here. And that the harvest always matches the seed. Your daily choices are seeds. And every seed has a harvest. And the harvest always matches the seed. We're going to look at this in three aspects. There's the warning that he says, do not be deceived. The Apostle Paul was addressing the Christians in Galatia, the Christians who had also some issues of their own. They were sinners like us. They were human beings. and he sent them guiders, he was addressing something in the church and at some point he addresses an issue where they were relying on themselves and he addresses the issue of legalism, he addresses the issue of works, works of the law They were demanding, some were demanding among them, that those who were non-Jews should do the things that Jews traditionally had done so that they can be accepted. And yet, by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, those things were not required. So these are people who were demanding exactness. They were demanding precision. They were demanding the orthodoxy of the day. so that those that were professing who were not Jews may be assured that they were believers. And the Apostle Paul addresses this and says, no, no, no, no. This is not so. This is not to be. In fact, we have been freed. We have been so freed by grace. We do not have to do anything to help ourselves to become Christians. We cannot do anything that might impress God and change his mind concerning us and then say, oh, since you have been doing this, come in. Now you are worthy. There is nothing like that. In fact, he addresses this in chapter five. He says, For freedom, Christ has set us free. Jesus has set us free so that we may be free and we may live freely to honor him, not bound by anything, not bound by anyone. And this is what he addresses there. Unfortunately, It appears there were people that were struggling in this church with how they lived and he says, do not be deceived Some took this teaching to the point where they started thinking it doesn't matter how I live or maybe God doesn't care how I go about things So he brings this urgent imperative, urgent caution, urgent command. And there's urgency in these words. In fact, this saying, do not be deceived. It is not like a moment, just for a moment, do not be deceived. It is something that is ongoing. And then he is now saying, you are being deceived. Stop being deceived. So it's more of an intervention. He is intervening in something that is already happening. And he says, stop letting yourselves be deceived. And he assumes some were already wandering off the path. Thinking, if I'm saved by grace, it doesn't matter how I live. But brethren, it matters how we live. It matters the choices that we make. As we have seen, the verse that we have read is already telling us. The decision that you make is going to result in something. and the lie that they were falling for is active, it's alive even today and it might be the case that actually you are one of those that says to yourself, God understands my situation others don't understand, but God understands my situation and therefore I can keep this relationship Who is going to find me a wife? Who is going to find me a husband? Yeah, it's not clear whether they are believers or what, but he's a good man. He's a good girl. You keep that relationship. There are many red flags and people are pointing out or maybe people are scared. They see you, they see you with this guy, they see you with this girl and you know they are not too sure And yet you go on and think God understands You might be one who is planning to leave your marriage Things are messed up in this, this is not what I signed up for God surely understands what I'm going through. Even people who are strong can't bear with what I'm going through. And yet God has clearly said he hates divorce. And you say, oh yeah, God hates divorce, but you know my circumstances. Well, you are one who thinks that it doesn't matter what your parents think. You are a modern child. They don't understand. They are old fashioned. So you can go on and live the liberal life that you have chosen. You have learned things from your friends. You have discovered life out there. All along they were like keeping you at home and stopping you from enjoying yourself. And now you have discovered for yourself. and you don't care what they have to say. You think God surely understands that we are young and we must explore and enjoy ourselves. Or you might be that one who says everyone struggles with this sin. Everyone struggles with lying once in a while. Everyone struggles with slander and gossip. Everyone struggles with impure thoughts. Everyone struggles with porn. It's not a big deal. The Lord is saying, stop being deceived. You are being deceived. Stop being deceived. Oh, look, I'll start saving when life slows down. When my problems are less, then I will focus, I will be able to concentrate and I will be able to save God The Bible is saying, do not be deceived You are deceived already And deception is the greatest danger to our souls Because the Bible even warns us against ourselves He says, your heart, your heart is deceitful. He's not saying the heart of another person is deceitful. He is saying your heart is deceitful. So you might even be comforting yourself and say, well, those things that are being discussed are not applicable to me. Look, I take care of myself. I do everything. I don't think that is applicable to me. Stop being deceived. Your heart can deceive even you. That's why the Lord is saying this. You are being deceived and this command is urgent. Stop being deceived. You are already ensnared. Maybe you think because you have been a Christian for so many years and this is the way you have been, you haven't changed anything, any way of your life drastically, so you are fine. What if you have been a sinner who has been accommodating corruption all your life? Are you still happy with that situation? That you are deceived and you continue to be deceived? You are a liar and you appear to be getting away with it. But sometimes you may not realize that people actually know you as a liar. They just don't tell you. You are miscellaneous, dubious, away from here. And people see you, they know But somehow, because it is not talked about, you think things are okay The Lord is saying, you are deceived Deceit can come, deception can come in a form where you start thinking of delay Delaying, delaying action, I will repent tomorrow I will make right tomorrow. I'll go and apologize tomorrow. The matter is urgent. You have sinned against your brother. The Bible says, leave your sacrifice, quickly go and address the issue. I will do it. They can wait. After all, I mean, they led me to harm them. So they can wait. Yet tomorrow's sun may actually be the reason to harden your heart. It will harden your heart. As you delay, you get hardened. You become used. You don't see it as agent anymore. And the devil gives you ideas that you are all right and shows you that you are actually performing better than many people. Look. A lot of people in this state, they don't even come to the evening service. You, you are there. On Thursday, you are present. They are nowhere to be seen. You do all the right things. Delay. But also, you might think that it is just a small sin. The magnitude or the severity of the sin You think, ah, you know, this doesn't have a lot of repercussions. Whom have I harmed? I've not harmed anyone. This sin is just with myself. So, it is just a white lie. It is just a fleeting glance. But brethren, you know that even small seeds can grow into mighty trees. The oak is an example. It can become a huge tree of corruption. But some are deceived by the fact that they think their destiny is secured. I am elect. And they know the doctrines of Calvinism, the doctrines of grace. They can explain to you. They can expound to you. They can tell you the history of the Reformed Baptist Church in Zambia. They can tell you biographies of every one of the pastors. They are solid. They are buaks of the faith. And as a result, Because I am elect, God will save me regardless. Brethren, election is not a license to sin. In fact, as a result of election, like we were looking at Peter, we ought to fear God. We ought to live holy lives because of because of the salvation, because of what Christ has done. If we are saved, if our destiny is assured, then we must do what is right. It is expected that we will do what is right, because we have been changed. Beloved, you have to test yourself. When you wake up, you spend it in idleness, the morning, not caring to Get your guardrails clear from the word of God so that you are guided in the day. Then you dash into the world and expect that things will go well. In the evening, you are asking for blessings. And this deception, dear friend, does not announce itself. It does not come like we draw, we paint the devil black with a hook, with black dripping where everyone can see it. It is deception. It is deception. It whispers that you are an exception. Your circumstances are understandable. and it won't happen to you. That is what it tells you. Brethren, we have to rely on God. We have to pray to God to ask Him, help me. Look at your life, take an inventory. There are aspects of life, prayer, relationships with others, relationships with your own family, relationships at work, What is your attitude towards work? Are you a faithful worker? Or are you deceived there that you are like the others who just report for work and then you go on doing your own things when God expects us to be faithful in the workplace? Are you a thief who shortchanges business partners? Reflect, dear friend, you might be deceived. But let us also look at the fact that he goes on to say, God is not mocked. God is not mocked. God is not mocked. And here, mocked, to mock is when you act as if the morality of God can be ignored without consequence. It doesn't matter. You have contempt for God. You know, the way you hear someone saying, you know, have you heard that? I don't know. I mean, just... My friend, God is saying this. I'm more important. My views are more important. How I think is more important Friends, God cannot be mocked And He cannot be mocked Because He is the one who formed you He knows you, He knows everything He is the one who formed the eye Do you expect Him not to know what is going on to see? What your life is like? He is the one who made the ear. Doesn't he hear what you have to say? Doesn't he perceive what is going on in your life? You cannot mock him. You cannot mock him. He knows everything and he is in charge. He is the judge. He is the one who determines the direction of your life. Friend, mockery is present even in our day. Mocking God. When you are there sinning and then on Sunday you come and the priest is giving out the wafers, you know, the Eucharist and you go sanctimonious and you go and get it. And immediately you leave, you continue. Afternoon shift, sinning against God. You're mocking God. Giving to God what is mimed. He says, go and give to your governor this mimed offering that you want to give and see what happens. We give to God what is no longer useful to us. When we are finished, that is when we want to pray. Before you realize it is in the morning you are waking up. We give to God scraps even in financial terms giving to God scraps oh I don't get much money you know God understands that life is difficult you know the economy everyone is talking about the economy and so on and so forth but it's good and reasonable to still expect you to give to Him because even today Malachi chapter 3 applies that if you let go of that which your mind is telling you, if you give it away, you are going to lose, you are going to fall into problems, yet it belongs to God and you say, okay, because it belongs to God, let it go Malachi still applies and the Lord says, you will see what I will do for you You will see what I will do for you God cannot be mocked God cannot be mocked because he knows all things and he is in charge of all things And dear friend, because God cannot be mocked there is something that he now goes on to which is the heart of this passage that we are looking at For whatever one sows, that weary also reap. The law of sowing and reaping. For whatever one sows, that weary also reap. You shall reap what you sow. And this is the law of harvest. It is an integral part of creation. The way things are, like gravity when a thing is thrown up it will be put down by gravity because gravity is and when you fall from a roof it's not because gravity has a grudge or hates you it's because that is the law the law is that when you misstep and You subject yourself to gravity, you will be grabbed and you will be plunged down That is what the Bible is telling us here And the farmer who sows, expects to reap If he sows a lot, he expects to reap a lot If he sows a little, he expects to reap a little If he sows maize, he expects maize, not beans And here you see that this law is applicable to everyone. That's what the Bible here is telling us. Whatever one sows, it is universal. It is whatever and whoever sows. There are no exceptions. Whether you are rich, you are poor, you are young, you are old, you are a Christian, or you are an unbeliever, This law applies and every choice that you make is a seed you are planting and there will be a harvest. Your words, you are planting. The seeds of life or the seeds of death. Your thoughts, you are planting. The seeds of peace or poison. Even in silence, you are planting. You could be sowing negligence. But also see that this law guarantees the results. There is certainty of results. The result is guaranteed. What does it say? What you sow, that shall you also reap. It doesn't say you may or you might, but it says you shall reap. Lawyers like this word. This will happen. There is no debate. The harvest is inevitable. Well, it might be delayed and you might be thinking you have got away with so much for a long time, but the Lord is not slow, as some count slowness to be. He is showing His grace to you, but the result will come. There are certain times where we plant and Then the rains suddenly stop. And we were calculating, thinking that the rains will continue, and we plant. And then the rains stop. And we think we have lost the seed. After some time, the rains come and fall. And suddenly, you see these plants are germinating. The delay does not matter. You might think that what you sowed is dead. It has been such a long time that I committed this sin, but yet the fruit will ripen in its season. As the Bible says, your sin will find you out. There is one Esau, the brother to Jacob, who sowed a mess. In that decision he made when he sowed the birthright for the pottage. What happened for the rest of his life? He spent many, many years, the rest of his life crying out for it, regretting. And this is what happens. David also sold adultery and he reaped many evils. Lack of peace. He was running away, became a fugitive. His own son turned against him. But brethren, see also that the harvest matches the seed. The harvest matches the seed. What you have sown, you will also reap. You will not reap something unrelated to what you have sown. Here he says, if you sow to the flesh, And what is sowing to the flesh? If you have carnal appetites, appetites of the flesh, you have worldly ambitions, and you are going to reap corruption. What is this? How is it going to show itself? It will show itself in diseased bodies, shattered homes, broken relationships, and empty souls. Emptiness. In Galatians chapter 6 verse 8 we see that. But if you sow to the spirit, again, this is things like in prayer, reliance on God, love, love for God, love for the brethren, seeking peace with those that you live with. honoring God in your life, obedience. You are sowing to the spirit. The Bible tells us that you are going to reap eternal life. And eternal life is not just the life yet to come, but even now you have been saved to eternal life. You have it, but you are experiencing the effects even now. And it is, for example, we have been learning about assurance for believers. Why does assurance sometimes elude us? Why are people who are Christians, why don't they enjoy peace and calm in the presence of God? Sowing the wrong seeds can deprive us of our assurance of faith. And here he says, when you sow to the Spirit, You are going to reap eternal life, things like joy. Even now, even in difficult times, whatever circumstances you are going through, peace with God. Knowing the confidence of God and Him helping you through life's circumstances, wondering how did I escape that? How did I maneuver that situation? How did I navigate life? The presence of God with you. He actually says, He will make His home with you when you are in obedience with Him. And indeed, there will be glory hereafter. But this law also means that one seed is going to yield many seeds, many, many fruits. One too many. You plant one seed, you yield more than one, it multiplies itself. A single act of kindness might bloom, might result into a legacy, a legacy for you, a legacy for the person that you have helped, that you have shown kindness. Just that one act of sponsoring that child who is an orphan, that one act of attending to the brethren, just that one act of humbling yourself and going to repent to the one that you offended, to apologize, to make peace, can result in so, so much more. fruits so much usefulness yourself for yourself and for the other person you have released yourself you have unleashed yourself you are not bound but yet we also know that just a night of indulgence can result in a lifetime of misery and sorrow yet brethren Though this law humbles us and we cannot outrun our sowing, our sowing will follow us exactly the things that we are sowing right now. The thoughts that are going through your mind. The plans that you have, you are sowing. The time that you have invested to spend here, you are sowing. And expect that there will be a yield. But remember, this also empowers us. By grace, we choose the field, and the gospel can actually interrupt the path of deception, the process of deception, the ongoing lifestyle of deception. The gospel can interrupt, and it has done so for many. And there is the invitation. Come to the Savior. Go to Christ. Even you, believer, preach the gospel again to yourself. Jesus died for you, not so that you can continue sinning, not that you can continue living a careless life. He died that you may now be involved in the good works for which he created you. The good works that were prepared from the foundation of the world. Obedience and doing what is right, honoring God, living for him, obeying his word. And dear friend, even you who is not a Christian, you can cry out to Jesus Christ. You can ask him. You can say you have wasted your life sowing all sorts of useless seeds. And your life is full of weeds and thorns and thistles, frustrations and disappointments. You've tried this, making this decision. Whatever you do goes wrong. The Lord can intervene for you. Jesus Christ took all those frustrations, took all those weeds, took all those wrong decisions, took all that deception upon himself and was crushed for it so that you might be freed, that you might be empowered. So examine yourself, dear friend. What occupies your hours? Is your Bible gathering dust? Are you becoming an expert at the politics of the day and yet ignorant on the things of God? When we start discussing the teachings of the scriptures, you become quiet. But when we go outside, you are loud! With knowledge about all the politicians and you know all the information that is there to be known. You are an expert about business and yet ignorant about the most important aspects of your life. Examine yourself. Confess. Repent. Dear friend, you might be in a difficult situation and you are trying to do the right thing you are trying to sow the right seeds to honor God you love Christ and yet you are being faced with all this opposition you are being faced with all this oppression the Lord still says continue doing that do not get tired of doing what is right for in due season you will reap that is what he says They that saw in tears shall reap in joy. You are trying. You are trying to be a good wife. You are trying to be a good husband. You are trying to be a good child. You are trying to be a good dependent, a good employee. You are trying to be a good Christian. And you have all these things coming against you. Go on, do the right thing. Do not Be overcome by evil. Do not go on to do the same things that are being done to you. Continue entrusting yourself to the one that has changed you, because that is the life that he has called you to. And do it bountifully. Do not so sparingly. Do it. Help. Be there. Do what is right. Honor God. Be in attendance in the meetings of believers. Participate. Pray. Share in the gospel. Be there. Go and evangelize. Be present. Honor Christ. Do it, and the Lord will also bless you bountifully. That is what he says. But you must also anticipate the harvest. The harvest will come. So do not get tired. Do not get faint. The reaper is drawing near. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58, your labors in the Lord are not in vain. The final harvest is going to be seen at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for all that are faithful. Beloved, we have come to the end of this sermon. But what has not come to an end is that process of sowing. You continue with sowing. Remember, God is not mocked. The law of sowing and reaping will continue. How will you continue? How will you go from this moment on? The Lord loves us. That is why He reveals these things, warns us of the danger and points us to the beauty of the opposite direction. What will you take this morning?