Now let's open our Bibles to Galatians 6, please. Galatians chapter 6. And with the Word open there, we'll bow in prayer again, looking to the Lord for His blessing and His enablement to rest upon the preaching of His own truth upon our hearts as we hear it. And may the Lord draw nigh to us even now. Again, unite our hearts in prayer. Our loving God and our Father in heaven, we wait on before Thee in Jesus' name and we pray that Thou wilt draw nigh to us in this time that is before us now as we consider the Word and the message of God for this very hour. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt grant us that blessing that we need, that help, without which no man is able to deliver the Word effectively. without which no hearer will receive the Word profitably. So, Lord, grant us help from heaven. Breathe on as we ask of Thee. Come down in all Thy fullness and bring great glory to Thy name. We pray all this for Jesus' sake and for His eternal praise. Amen. Galatians chapter 6 Today we come to verses 7 and 8 of this chapter. Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 and 8. 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. Now, these two verses form the conclusion to a main line of thought that the Apostle Paul took up in chapter 5, as we have already noticed, where he speaks in terms of the conflict that there is in the believer's experience between the flesh and the spirit. In that fifth chapter, Paul points out that the believer's freedom in Jesus Christ is liberty from sin to serve the Lord and to do His will. It is not freedom to do what pleases the believer's old sinful nature, but it is freedom to do that actually which is contrary to that sinful nature that is yet in the child of God. And therefore, there is a conflict in the believer's soul between these two opposing forces of the flesh and the Spirit. But the great objective of the apostle in chapter 5 is to show the Christian that by the enablement of the Holy Spirit, the fleshly nature of all its works and all its motions and its opposition to the things of God may be mortified and may be suppressed so that the child of God may live in the enjoyment of the victory and the liberty which that person has in Jesus Christ. We saw that the key verse really is toward the end of chapter 5, where it says in verse 25, the closing words, let us walk in the Spirit. And as we have noted, it means let us walk in line with the Spirit. And to emphasize the necessity of living under the control and the power of the Holy Spirit rather than the flesh, Paul brings these solemn words, which we find in today's text. where once again he mentions the flesh and the spirit and therefore you see the connection right back into chapter 5. Notice here that he uses figurative language as he applies the truths that he wants to convey to his readers in that he speaks of sowing and reaping. I say figurative language because sowing and reaping belong to the earthly realm ordinarily, but the terms are taken here and used as a figure of speech by the Apostle. And he's talking of course here about moral things, about spiritual things, but he's conveying to his readers the great matter that they must not give way to the flesh, they must live in the Spirit. And he speaks in terms therefore of sowing to the flesh, or sowing to the Spirit on the other hand, and then reaping accordingly reaping a harvest that is in keeping with that sowing. And he says that the man who sows to the flesh will reap what is due to that. And the man who sows to the Spirit will also reap what comes as a result of sowing to the Holy Spirit. If in the lives of believers, therefore, and let us remember that Paul is addressing at least professing Christians here, And in the lives of believers, there is often, sadly, a sowing to our flesh. And when that is true, then there will be a harvest. There will be repercussions in our lives and in our experiences that are in keeping with that sowing. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap accordingly. But when the Holy Spirit is the one to whom we sow, as Paul puts it here, then as we walk in line with the Spirit, that person who does so will enjoy the blessed fruit of that kind of walk and that kind of behavior. That's what he's talking about here. To be more specific, these two verses are a warning against not being serious about the things of God. And in that sense, they stand in very close connection with the immediate preceding context. I have been dealing with verses 2 to 5, 2 to 6 actually now for a number of weeks. And we must not think that verses 7 and 8 stand absolutely isolated somehow or other from those verses, never mind the context in chapter 5. These two verses are an immediate connection with what we have seen in verses 2 through to 6. And remember the theme of those verses is that of the believer who is walking in line with the Holy Ghost, bearing the burdens of the work of God, supporting one another as Christians and supporting the whole ministry and the whole service of the church of Jesus Christ and the work of God. every way we possibly are able to do that. Those who walk in line with the Spirit will endeavor therefore to bear and to shoulder the responsibilities of the Christian life and the Christian church. Instead, therefore, of selfishly catering to the fleshly nature, they will give themselves to the promotion of the things of the Spirit of God. And in that sense, they sow to the Spirit, not to the flesh, as they support God's work and God's cause and God's kingdom. That's the connection between these verses and what immediately precedes them. Therefore, Paul here, as I said, is giving a warning against not being serious enough about the things of God and the life of the Christian. But while this is the context and the setting of these two verses, I want to consider them today from a broader perspective. I want to look at them as a reminder that they contain the thought and the teaching that all men, all people, need to be most serious about the things of God. The heart of that reminder is in verse 7. It says, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The thrust of those words is very clear. This present earthly life that you and I are living is a serious and a solemn matter because all that we are and all that we do and all that we say is actually a sowing. And it's going to bring an eternal reaping. There's never a moment goes by, and you need to remember this, there's never a moment goes by that you are not sowing. Whether you're saved or unsaved, all men are sowing and all men are going to reap. The seriousness of these two verses, therefore, most certainly can be broadened out and applied to everyone, even here in this congregation today. To put it very simply and concisely, right here God sets before you in this text a certain law that He demands that you should regard, and you should regard with the greatest seriousness, that the life that the Lord has given you upon this earth is indeed treated as it should be treated with the solemnity that these words demand, because whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. That's the law that this text sets before us. As I said, these words are the very heart of these two verses, and they encapsulate this law. Whatever a man sows, he's going to reap accordingly. I want to develop that line of thought now, and I want to do so in three ways. There's first of all the principle within this law. Take these words that form the core of our text, as I have put it. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Now, in that clause in this verse, there is the reminder of a solemn principle that we dare not trifle with. and we dare not treat lightly. And that is that reaping is always according to what is sown. That's the principle that is established by God in these words concerning this law of sowing and reaping, that the reaping is according to the sowing. And God has established that principle in various ways for mankind to note and to observe. And I want to draw your attention right here, therefore, to those ways in which God has established this principle concerning this law that the reaping is in keeping according to the sowing. Keeping with and according to the sowing. That principle is established by God's natural law. In the physical world, there is a natural law, as we are all aware, that what is sown is going to be reaped. Men expect to reap a crop of the same kind as the seed that they have sown, and they expect that because that is a law in the natural realm. It's everywhere to be seen. It is all around. It doesn't matter how limited your knowledge of agriculture or horticulture might be, at least you know this. If you sow a potato, you're not going to reap something different. It's a natural law. The Lord Jesus Christ makes use of that natural law. If you turn to Matthew chapter 7, In the verse 16, he makes use of that natural law in a very striking way. Matthew 7 and the verse number 16, he says, "...ye shall know them by their fruits." And then he asks a question, "...do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" Now, the Lord's question underlines that no man would ever expect to gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles. He's therefore referring to the natural law that whatever kind of plant or whatever kind of tree, whatever it might be you're dealing with, well, whatever it produces is going to be of the same kind as it is according to its own species, according to its own family, according to its own nature. Well, that's the kind of fruit you're going to find. And the Lord brings that in right here. And interestingly, He's dealing here with false prophets. And he says in verse 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now the Lord right there is again focusing on this law in the natural realm because a wolf is not a sheep and a sheep is not a wolf. As we all know, and therefore right there you can see how the Lord is speaking in a figurative way. He talks about these false prophets. They come, He says, in sheep's clothing. That means that while they are wolves, they try to pass themselves off as being a sheep, or in other words, being part of the Lord's family. That's what He's really saying, because the Lord talks about His people as sheep in many places. Then he comes to say in verse 16, and he says, "...ye shall know them by their fruits." And what he's saying there is, the spiritual fruit from such men is according to their nature. "...ye shall know them by their fruits." And then he says, "...do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" Whenever you study your Bible, ask yourself questions. The Lord's doing it right here. He's asking questions right here. is to make us think. Because you know, brethren and sisters, we need to be made to think. Very often we go along in our Christian experience, as Paul tells the Hebrews, dull, not exercising our minds at all. And the Lord very often brings up a question, and that question is designed to make us think. And that's what he's doing right here. And isn't it interesting that when the Lord talks about these false prophets and deals with the fact that the fruit that they bring forth is according to their nature, spiritually speaking, He actually talks about thorns and thistles. And it's interesting for this reason. The first time in the Bible those two things are brought together, those two plants, thorns and thistles, is an association with the curse. In Genesis 3, you read there in that passage where the fall takes place, you read right there of the curse, verse 17 and then verse 18. And the Lord says of the ground, thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto you. That's the first place in Scripture where you read of thorns and thistles, and they're associated with the curse and with the fall. And here he's talking about men who are professing to be preachers of the gospel. They come as sheep, but they're really wolves. And all the while their nature therefore manifests itself Because such men can only produce what's according to their nature. They're cursed men. They're blasted men. They're blighted men. And that's what they leave in their wake. They leave the thorns and the thistles all around them. And they sow Spiritually speaking, thorns and thistles continually with their false doctrines, their perverted ways. And therefore, a harvest is reaped that is according to what they have sown. There will be a harvest of the curse and the blight of a Christless ministry. It's a terrible thing for sinners who do not know God, obviously, to sit under such a ministry where there's a wolf in sheep's clothing and he's sowing the thorns and the thistles of a cursed and a terrible, sinful, and satanic ministry. And the awful harvest that will come from that is a harvest of eternal damnation and everlasting ruin. But here's the natural law that God has established in the physical creation, that the reaping is according to the sowing. It's also this principle, it's also established by God's providential law He got us various laws or rules by which He governs this universe. Never forget that the universe is not out of order. The universe is not in chaos. The world is not out of control. It may seem to be sometimes, but we have a God who put laws into action at the very beginning and they continue on. And here's another of them, God's providential law. Now you see that In this sense, Providence decrees that a man reaps what he sows. If he sows the field of life in a careless, negligent manner, he will reap accordingly. Now again, you can see that in the earthly realm in the sense that a man who is lazy need not expect to prosper. A man who is lazy and indolent in his business or his occupation will soon come to penury He will soon come to grief. Turn to Proverbs. The book of Proverbs has much to say about that. And you see, that's a providential law. If you don't work, you are not going to eat. If you don't use labor and industry, then you are going to suffer for that. That's a providential decree. Look at Proverbs 27 and the verse 23. And here's a very interesting little passage, "...be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure to every generation." He's only talking about the hay appearing and the tender grass and the herbs of the mountains. Verse 26, "...the lambs are for thy clothing, the goats are the price of the field, and thou shalt have goats milked enough for thy food, and for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens." But all of that is said against the background of verse 23. Be thou diligent. Be thou diligent. In other words, the farmer need not expect to reap a profit from his flocks and his herds if he is not diligent. And therefore, the inference is that the law of providence dictates that if he's not diligent, well, then he will be a loser. Now turn to Proverbs 24. Proverbs chapter 24. And look at another way in which this particular law, the law of providence, is seen. If a man is lazy and slothful, well then he's going to reap accordingly. He is under the control of providence and if he doesn't exercise himself, if he does not put himself to it, well then he's not going to benefit from what he has or what he owns. Proverbs 24 and verses 30. to 34. You may be familiar with these words. They are solemn words. Solomon says, I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. Solomon obviously was a man who liked to go for a walk. And one day right into the field or into the country area, maybe near Jerusalem, I don't know exactly where it was, as he took his walk, he happened to look over the hedge. Well, the hedge wasn't there. He looked over where it should have been. And he saw a field and he saw a vineyard, and he knew right away it belongs to a slothful man. Why? It was all grown over with thorns and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands of sleep." You see, in those two verses, He's telling us what he observed about the man who owned that field. Where was he? He was in his bed. And he knew things weren't right. He knew he neglected his vineyard and his field. But Solomon can see by the state of things that man's in his bed and he's still saying, a little more sleep. He's as lazy, you'll know what it means, as shook water. That's what Solomon sees a lazy, slothful man still in his bed and is filled in this state. And you see, here's the law of providence. You lie in your bed. You neglect your duties, your work, whatever, and my friend, God is showing you, you will reap accordingly. You will reap. a disastrous harvest. Let me say to you, when I talk about the law of providence, providence has put into place what we often call today the work ethic. That's the fancy term that people use today. The work ethic. Turn to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 15. Genesis 2 verse 15. And notice what is said there. The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." And notice here that in His unfallen and in His innocent state, Providence decreed that man should work. The institution of labor or work by God was made when man was yet unfallen when he was still without sin. And therefore, if the institution of labor was made in that situation, that is why labor has dignity attached to it. And it's wholesome and it's right. And that is why in our experience, God is showing us here today that The institution of labor is even more important since man has now fallen and man is naturally lazy. He is. He's naturally lazy. You parents need to drive it out of your children. You need to teach them to work. You need to show them responsibility. You must make it clear to them that providence has a law decreed by God that if a man does not work, If he is left to be a mere layabout, he's going to reap the harvest of that. Church history talks about the Protestant work ethic, and rightly so, because wherever the gospel has gone, the gospel has taught men to labor and to toil and to obey the law of providence. Then turn to 1 Timothy 5, verse 8. You see, we can translate this right into the spiritual realm. I'm talking here about God's providential law now that God has decreed that labor men should work in the physical realm, and that is a very important thing. There's much to teach us there. But God takes this now and He applies it spiritually. 1 Timothy 5 verse 8, "...if any provide not for his own." and especially for those of his own house. He had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. And I will grant you that those words in that verse have certainly a physical application for a man to take care of his house and his family. He's to work. He is to, as we say, earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. That's what God's saying here again. But there's more to it than that. This verse also addresses the providential decree that man should provide for their family spiritually. That is a law of providence. That's really what Paul's getting at here. I want you to get this straight. He's talking here to the church, to God's people. And he certainly is saying that Christian men should not be lazy, slothful layabouts. But he's also saying with regard to the things of God, if a Christian man, a professing Christian, does not provide spiritually for his house, he's worse, he's denied the faith. There's the point. He's denied what he professes. He says he's a Christian man, but he never gathers his children around to pray with them. He professes to be a child of God, but he never sets up the family altar to read the Scriptures and teach them and train them in the ways of the Lord. Let me ask you, Father, very, very pointedly, have your children ever heard you pray in your house? Have they ever seen you make that attempt to take the book, open it up, at least read it with them, pray with them? God is showing us here, and listen carefully, that where that is not done, where that principle is not applied, we're seeing today even decreed by the providential law of God, there will be an awful harvest. Many a Christian parent I know has been very faithful and diligent, and many children have gone astray. But at least you can say this, my head is clear from their blood. But my dear friend, if you cannot say, I did my best, And with all my failures, I tried to show them and teach them and bring them the Word. If you cannot say that, and they're now gone into the world, and only the grace of God will rescue them, you are reaping what you sowed. You weren't careful about your little flock. You weren't diligent about that flock that God gave you in the form of your children. And therefore you're going to reap what you sow. And then this principle is established by God's moral law. Because in the moral government of this world established by God, it is firmly fixed that a man will reap what he sows. And the fact of this principle being established by God in the moral realm is proved in a very interesting way and in a very solemn way in that man's conscience tells him to expect the consequences of his sinful behavior and the sowing that he carries out. You know how people talk, oh, he sowed his wild oats, and it's a kind of a joke. It's laughed at. I tell you, my friend, that's not a matter to laugh at. Because I tell you right now, the man who sowed his wild oats, as they call it, is a man who will have a conscience if he doesn't repent that will torment him in hell forever. God has established in His moral, in this moral law, that a man reaps what he sows. And as I say, it's seen in the faculty of conscience. Turn to Romans 2, Romans chapter 2, 14 and 15. Romans 2 verse 14. The apostle says, for when the Gentiles... Now remember that when the New Testament uses the word Gentiles, it not only distinguishes such people from Jews, it means more than that. It means that you're talking about pagans. Of course, it's not politically correct today to call people pagans. Well, that's what the word means, pagans, heathen. And it says, for when the Gentiles which have not the law, that means don't have the law written down in a book which they can read like we have in God's Word, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves. That doesn't mean that they're a law unto themselves and that they can do what they want. It simply means that they have a reminder within themselves there is a law. because by nature they do that law. Now what does that mean? It means simply this, when God made Adam, when God created man, He created the law within man. I've been teaching in the Bible class about Genesis 3 and the temptation and the fall. I've been pointing out to the brethren and sisters there that the temptation there in Genesis 3 and what took place was not a matter of Adam and Eve merely eating the wrong fruit. It was a matter of Adam and Eve disobeying God, because when God made them, He put His law into their hearts. They were created with the law created in them. And that tree of the knowledge of good and evil was actually a gracious act of God, because that tree was a symbol of the good that they would have if they obeyed, but it was a symbol of the evil that they would have if they disobeyed. That's what it's all about. So, man was made with the law created within him. Now look again at Romans chapter 2. That explains verse 14, man is the law of God written in his very being. And then it goes on to say in verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts. How do they show it? Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Right there in verse 15, you can see that man has God's law in his heart because there's a conscience within him. And remember, my friend, as Proverbs says, the candle of the Lord, he calls it there, conscience is the candle of the Lord that searches out the hearts of men. It's an inward monitor. It's a faculty of the soul. You have a conscience. I have a conscience. The Bible talks about the conscience frequently. And the conscience is that inward monitor, that searching light that tells us when we have done wrong and when we have done right. And it's the evidence of the moral law that God has established in the very being of man. And it all translates into this. It doesn't matter where the person is. The man lifts his hand and he commits a murder. The man lifts his hand and he steals, whatever it may be. He may be living, I don't say this disparagingly, I just am using the point. He may be living in a quarter of the earth where primitive times still exist. But if he does any of those things, his conscience begins to work. He knows he has done wrong. Furthermore, he knows he will reap what he has sown. It may all be very clouded and darkened and so on, but there's something telling that man, I'm wrong. I've done wrong. This is not right because God has a moral law. that establishes the principle that a man will reap what he has sowed. And it's right there in the very conscience. Now look at Acts 28. Acts 28 and verse 3 and 4. Acts 28 verses 3 and 4. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand And when the barbarians, now again remember, Paul here is among people who do not know God. They are heathen, they are pagan, they are idolatrous about God, Acts 28. And it says in verse 4, when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they set him on themselves. Now listen to what they said, no doubt this man is a murderer. Whom though he hath escaped the sea," listen carefully, even more now, "'yet vengeance suffereth not to live.'" That's a remarkable statement. Here are people who have no Bible as we have it. Of course, they haven't even got the Old Testament. And remind the new. They have nothing by way of written revelation from God. They're lost. They're in darkness. Paul and his company have just arrived on this shipwreck on the island of Malta, or Miletus it's called here. And you see the story how the serpent came out and gripped Paul's hand. And of course they thought, well he must be seriously in trouble as a murderer. That's their conclusion. And he's about to die because he escaped the sea. But he's not going to escape anymore. And listen to what they say. Vengeance is not going to suffer him to live. They knew what vengeance is. They knew there is an answer to be given. They knew that what a man sows, he reaps. Now, of course, they were wrong here in this case, as far as Paul is concerned. But it's the fact they had this knowledge, this understanding. And you see, that's built into men. Remember in Luke chapter 13, whenever the Lord was giving His little parables there, He talked to the people about about repenting, and he taught them about those who had been slaughtered by Pilate, and then another group on whom a tower had fallen. And he said to them, I suppose you think that these people were terrible sinners because these things happened to them. The Lord goes on to correct their thinking, but the point is that is how people think. And they still think that way to this day. A calamity happens immediately people jump to the conclusion, oh, those people must have done something terribly wrong. Or even more than that, have you never heard the person say, when a calamity comes, I wonder what I did to deserve this? Now, that person may have done nothing at all, but the very fact that person says that tells you the conscience is at work. It's uneasy because God establishes this principle, you'll rape according to what you sow. He establishes it by natural law, providential law, moral law, but He also establishes it by spiritual law. In the spiritual realm, God has decreed that men should worship Him and should obey Him and should love Him and should glorify Him and serve Him. I want you to get what I'm saying right here. That is a law. that God has established for mankind. It's a spiritual law now we're thinking about. God, because He's Creator, deserves our worship. He has owed our worship. He's owed our obedience. He's owed our love. He's owed our everything. Do you understand that? That is a law, and that law is universal. There's not a person on the face of the earth who is exempt from that law. That is why the heathen go to hell, though they have never heard the gospel as we know it. It's because all men by virtue of their creation owe their Creator worship and adoration and praise, and they're accountable to Him. That's a law. And that spiritual law therefore dictates that men will reap what they sow. Let's get God's Word to show us that. Acts 17 this time. Acts chapter 17. When Paul is at Athens and he preaches on Mars Hill, a very well-known passage to many believers, but look at it with me now. Acts 17 verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth. And you notice here how Paul starts out his sermon on Mars Hill. He starts out with the name God. In fact, in the original Greek it says THE God, the one and only God. He made heaven and earth. He made the world, all that is therein. He's Lord of heaven and earth. He does not dwell in temples made by hands. He's immense. He's infinite. This is what Paul is preaching here. We haven't had time to read all the verses, but when you go down these verses, you will find that he shows these philosophers in Mars held that they should worship this God. Look at verse 28, sorry, verse 27, that they should seek the Lord. Let that sink into your heart today. You should seek the Lord because He made you. If there were no other reason, here's one that is powerful. you should seek the Lord. If haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not very far from every one of us. What an amazing sermon to preach to pagans and heathens on Mars Hill, but what a mighty sermon. He couldn't have said anything better at this point. He's dealing with men, men who are made by God, men who are under God's authority as the Lord of heaven and earth. men who are under God's standard and God's law. And one of them is this spiritual law that all men ought to worship Almighty God and fall before Him in repentance. That's what he says here. Seek after Him. Find Him. And he gives a reason. Verse 28, For in Him we live and move and have our being. Do you see that, sinner? It's in God. that you live and move and have your being. Here you are going through life and you think you're in charge. And you think that you're the owner of it all. And you're fully convinced that you have made it to where you are right now. through your own attainments and efforts and energy and brains and all the rest of it. I know all those things need to be used in life. But my friend, God tells you that in Him as a creature you live and move and have your being. And for that reason, you need to seek Him and find Him. Instead of living without Him, Instead of doing what pleases you, you should be seeking God. And here's the reason. You will rape from what you sow on. Because look at verse 31. He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. You see where he comes to? He's coming now to apply the principle, the spiritual law that shows this principle, that a man reach according to what he is sown. And the spiritual law is God as judge, God as creator, therefore He's judge. You should worship Him, you should repent of your sin, because if you don't, there is coming a day when God will judge the world, and will do so in righteousness, and you will stand before Him. And then the spiritual law will be fully applied. You are going to reap what you've sown. That's the principle in this law. And I've taken most of my time today to deal with it. But there's a preface to this law. Notice it quickly. In Galatians 6, look at verse 7. We've seen the words in this statement, Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. We've seen this principle that the reaping is according to the sowing. It's established by these laws of God. But look at the preface now, the opening words of this verse. Be not deceived. God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth. that shall he also reap." What is the preface saying to us? The preface is saying two things to us. You're going to reap according to your sowing because God is not deceived, or you're not to be deceived about your relationship with God. It says, be not deceived. And there's a command right there, be not deceived. That word means, as you would imagine, to lead astray, to be deceived, to cause to wander and all that. It means all those things. And what the Lord is showing us here is simply this, that because of the state of our hearts, here's the point man, here's the point sinner, because of the state of our hearts, we are in danger of being deceived into concluding. that I can do what I like and not reap the harvest." That's the meaning of those words. The Bible says the heart of man is deceitful. And you see, in this matter of reaping what you sow, isn't it the case that men tell themselves, I can do it and I will get away with it? I can turn to the drink. I can turn to whatever it might be. And when it might have harmed others and ruined other homes, I will be able to master it. It won't destroy me. It won't harm my family. See, my friends, sin is deceitful. And our hearts are deceitful. And we tell ourselves all the time While others may have been caught, I won't be caught. I won't reap the consequences of what I've just said or done. God is telling you, do not be deceived because you will. And then in this preface to this law, there's not only this command, there's this caution. And the caution is this, God is not mocked. The word for mouth literally means to turn up the nose. That's what it literally means. And we often use that term, don't we? So-and-so turned up his nose at whoever or whatever. Well, here's the thought right in the Bible. Do not turn up your nose at God. That's a caution. That's a very solemn caution. Because what it's saying is this, no man will get away with turning up his nose against God concerning this issue of raping what you sowed. You see, people do turn up their noses at God, as I said. They're doing it all the time. They're doing it this way. They commit wickedness and they say, God doesn't know. People convince themselves of that. If they even believe in God, well, He doesn't know anything about it. Therefore, they turn up their nose at God. They deny His omniscience. The Bible says God knows everything. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are running to and fro through the earth, beholding the good and the evil. God knows your sin. Do not turn up your nose at God by saying in your heart, I can do what I like and get away with it." Because the preface to this text and to this law tells you otherwise. Don't let your heart deceive you. God is not mocked. And I've explained the sense of that. And then there is the prospect of this law. 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." Notice again that since the reaping will be according to the sowing, then there is a prospect here encapsulated in verse 8. It is brought together, and there are two sowings and there are two harvests. My friend, there's a prospect before you one way or the other. He, we are told, that soweth," verse 8, "'to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. On the other hand, he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'" You and I have got to see today one or the other of those harvests will be ours. As I said at the outset today, We are all sowers. We're all sowing in time for God's great eternity. To sow to the Spirit is to live, as we've seen, in line with the Spirit, a life that's controlled by the Holy Ghost, a life that's in Christ, a life that has His blessing and has His Spirit living in our hearts, bringing forth fruit now. And then looking forward to that glorious day that Paul points to right here when he says that those who sow to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. That's glorious. Dear believer, be encouraged today to sow more to the Spirit. Be encouraged today to do more for God, to do more for Christ as you see what He has done for you. Love Him with all your heart. See the enablement of the Holy Spirit, because great will your reward be in heaven. So to the Spirit. So less and less to the flesh. We all still do as God's people, but oh, let it be less and less. Less to self. Less to have our own ways. Less to have dominance over other people. Less gossip. Less criticism. Less slander. Less lying, because we all lie. Is it God saying to us? Less of that. More of the Spirit. And then in glory, what an eternal weight of glory will we reap. Not because of our works. Because God blesses us in Christ. And you see, while that may be the prospect for the Christian, There's a prospect here for the unsaved. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. And there the word corruption is used in the sense of disaster. It's used in the sense of the awful reaping that the sinner is going to have. In Hosea, there's a little verse that says, They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." They have sown the wind. You see, that is a figurative expression. It means that here are men, and they're carefree, and they're careless, and they go through life, and they sow the wind. They just do what pleases them. God says they will reap the whirlwind. The whirlwind in the Bible is often associated with judgment. It says in Job that the whirlwind will drive the ungodly out into darkness. You sow the wind. You reap the whirlwind. You live for yourself only. And are there not some of you doing that? Your whole life is consumed with you, your pleasure, your business, making money, getting on, as men put it in this world, and all of those things, which many of them are very legitimate and fine in their own place. But, ah, my friend, is this what controls you and drives you? The fleshly desire for more and more and more. You don't see the awful end of all that. You will reap a terrible harvest. That's the prospect. It's dark. It's foreboding. But oh, that you today would come to Jesus Christ and begin to live by faith in Him and have the Holy Spirit in your heart and reap life everlasting. Because the Lord says in Matthew 25, But these shall go away into life eternal, but these shall go away into everlasting fire." I looked her hymn book for that old hymn, and it's not in it. You will reap whatsoever you've sown. is certainly coming, you will reap whatsoever you've sown. Sinner, come to Christ today. Just now as you sit in that seat, let your cry go up to God for mercy. Flee from the wrath to come. Let us bow in prayer. May God write His Word upon our souls. on our minds for His own eternal praise. Father in heaven, may Thy Holy Spirit take Thy Word this day and use it. And may there be a drawing of souls to Christ, a saving of them by grace, by God's almighty power. And we pray, Lord, that Thou wilt work on and Thou wilt use Thy truth for the glory of God. And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit be with every believer both this day and then forever. In Jesus' name, amen.