I invite you to take your Bibles, please, to Galatians chapter six. I was laughing there because I just about bit the dust. I hit the step on the way up and almost went down. That would have been fun, wouldn't it? Again, big crash right there. Galatians chapter six. I need to pick my feet up. I'd like to follow on what we talked about this morning as we look at the opportunities that come before us in the new year and look at a passage of scripture where the Apostle Paul is challenging the church at Galatia about living with an eternal perspective that should drive and control the choices that they're making, the way they're going about their lives and serving. Look at you at chapter, Galatians chapter six, begin in verse seven, please. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this he will 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. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially those who are of the household of faith. So you're familiar, I'm sure, with the Book of Galatians. They're a group of churches that Paul planted, and then false teachers usually give them a label like Judaizers. They're people who are coming in among them and trying to get them to take what Paul had preached about Christ and join to it observance of elements of the law. So they actually are saying it's not just Christ alone, it's Christ plus obedience to the law marks you off as one of God's people. That's why the big issue in chapter two was that, The Judaizers that had that kind of influence came to the place where Paul and Peter and Barnabas were, and they were eating with the Gentiles. And when these folks showed up, Peter and Barnabas pulled away from that. And the point of that was that they were passing some kind of a judgment on the Gentiles for not observing the food laws. And so they pulled back and Paul challenges them about the hypocrisy of that, that they were not being straightforward with the gospel. Because you can't have Christ plus. observance of the law, or you've actually undercut the whole point of the cross. That's how it says at the end of chapter two, if righteousness could be by the law, then Christ died in vain, but no one is justified by works. And so it's a gospel issue that is controlling really very fully the first three chapters into actually chapter four pretty consistently. But by chapters five and six, he's starting to talk about the ramifications of that for how we order our lives. Against the backdrop of that, you should hear sort of this conversation. Well, if we're not under the Mosaic law, then what should be the rule of our life? And if you remove the law, then things are gonna go crazy. People will just go wild. And so Paul's answering that in chapters five and six and saying the answer isn't in the Mosaic law, it's actually in the ministry of the Spirit. that we have been set free from the law in order to serve one another by love. That's what he says in chapter five. And then he talks about walking in the spirit, being led by the spirit, keeping in step with the spirit. And he's created two categories at the end of chapter five, the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. And he's trying to demonstrate the radical difference between those two. that if actually you live a life captured by the works of the flesh, it reveals that you are actually of the flesh and you'll not inherit the kingdom of God. That's what he says in chapter five. So if your life is marked by the works of the flesh, then you're giving evidence that you've never actually been born of the Spirit, because the Spirit will produce something very different than that. And there is a, I think there's an intentional play in the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, right? The Spirit produces this fruit. And that fruit actually is very relational. It has to do with how we would exhibit the character of Christ in our relationships. And so then he talks about how he starts with, we serve one another by the Spirit, and we do that in love. Here's what the Spirit produces. So he ends up with a warning about biting and devouring one another so they're not consumed of each other. But they need to recognize that those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and desires. There's a radical difference. If you're in Christ, then the flesh has been crucified. And so something different should characterize your life. He turns into chapter six and then says, so what do you do about sin? And he talks about how they're to restore one another and bear one another's burdens and carry out the life of mutual help inside the church of Christ. Now he's coming down toward the end of that and trying to give them in some ways like the final exhortation about how they ought to live. And he does it by laying out a principle and then the promise that is derived from that principle and then what the practice should be that comes out of that. And so that's just, we're gonna just walk through that. Look at verses seven and eight because here's the principle. All right, and it's a simple one. It's the principle of sowing and reaping. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. There is a pattern of sowing and reaping, and that's because God has ordained this. And therefore, you shouldn't be deceived about it, and God's not going to be mocked by us. He is going to hold true to this. And then verse eight, it comes first as a warning, but then also as a promise. Look at verse eight. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. That's the warning, then the promise. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. Now, I took that time to talk about chapter five because that's important to understand that. He's saying there's a kind of life that's characterized by the flesh. And if that's what you sow to, you need to recognize the harvest of that is corruption. He's saying basically the same thing as he said in chapter five, look back to chapter five in verse 21. Chapter five and verse 21, he finishes the works of the flesh and look what he says, of which things like these, so it's not just this list, but things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The end of 21 is saying the same thing as the beginning of verse eight. If you practice the works of the flesh, you'll not inherit the kingdom of God. If you sow to your own flesh, you will from the flesh reap corruption. You can't live like that and be truly of the Spirit. He's warning them about this because, remember the context of Galatians, he says in chapter four, I'm in birth again with you, because he doesn't know exactly where they are. They've been bewitched chapter three since. They've turned from the gospel that Paul preached to another gospel, which is not the gospel. So Paul's really laying it down as like a hard dividing line. If your life is marked by fleshliness, you practice these things, you sow your life to these things, then there's a sober, serious, eternally significant warning. You'll not inherit the kingdom, you will reap the corruption that the flesh always provides. That's the principle there. But then there's the positive part of it at the end of the verse, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will from the Spirit reap eternal life. There is a harvest that comes from the Spirit that's life-bearing. It actually has that kind of life and have it abundantly that Jesus talked about in John chapter 10. So there are two controlling powers, the flesh and the Spirit. and that produced two different kinds of sowing to the flesh or to the spirit with two distinct kinds of harvest, corruption or eternal life. So you have the flesh or the spirit. You're either living under the control of the flesh or the control of the spirit. When I say that, remember, we talked about this a lot in Romans chapter seven. Don't think you're toggling back and forth between them. Right, okay, I'm in the flesh, oh, I'm in the spirit. This is categorically separate. If you are in the flesh, you are not in the spirit, Romans chapter eight says. So there's two realms or controlling things that you have to recognize, the flesh or, I shouldn't say thing, person, the spirit. And there are two kinds of sowing, to the flesh or to the spirit, with two kinds of harvest, corruption or life. That's the principle and it's, that sometimes can rub hard against us because we have had decades, if not centuries of easy believism that tries to explain away the seriousness of this kind of warning. They want to try and tame the warnings of scripture and go, well, it's not really saying that. And what it ends up doing is robbing the text of God's word with the grace that comes through a warning. I mean, I imagine most parents in this room warned your little babies and toddlers about light sockets and traffic in the street. You know, don't play with knives. All kinds of warnings, which were the evidence of your love for them. It was you actually trying to direct them away from something that could harm them toward what was good. For some reason, we see warnings in the scripture, and we think they're God being an ogre. No, they're God being kind. God being gracious to say, don't go down that path. That path leads to destruction. That's Jesus, right? There's two roads, the broad way to destruction, the narrow way to life. Jesus isn't being an ogre there. He's being loving, gracious, and merciful to give a warning. And that's what seven and eight are doing. Listen, God's not gonna be mocked here. If you choose to sow to the flesh, here's the harvest that's coming, corruption. Don't think you can do this and overcome the reality of what God has said here. But it's not just that, right? And if you sow to the spirit, harvest is eternal life. There's life from God. So he offers to us. And as Paul often does, he speaks very strongly and then comes along with words that are positive and encouraging in that way. And that's what he does now in verse 9. Look at what he says. in terms of the promise. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So the warning statement, the principle of verses seven and eight, he follows up on with a promise to them, right? If you sow, you will reap. So don't lose heart. Right, and that's the reason why he's giving it. The cause for highlighting this promise is the potential to lose heart. So he wants them to not lose heart in doing good. They should keep pressing on. And often, and I think this would be true with the Galatians, the, a part of the appeal of the false doctrine of the Judaizers was that it could protect them from the persecution that would come their way. We just spent Sunday nights over the last year looking at Hebrews, and that was the same tension. If you say it's Christ alone, grace alone, by faith alone and Christ alone. The religious people who believe in salvation by their own righteousness are going to be offended by that. And since they outnumber you and have more power than you, they turn and attack. And that's what happened at Thessalonica. happened all throughout Judea. It was happening, it seems, at Philippi, when Paul says, beware the dogs who are coming in to try and get you. And I would assume it's at the backdrop here of Galatians, which, if you think about it, why, I mean, it's not excusable at all what Barnabas and Peter did, but there was some pressure on them to conform to this outside group. They valued the opinion of these Jewish people, the Judaizers, more than they did the Gentiles that they had been fellowshipping with, and that's why they pulled away from them. The cost of that acceptance would have been exacted on them if they had stayed true to the gospel. That's always the temptation that's going on. And it's possible that you might lose heart in that regard. You're doing what's good, but you start to get discouraged by the consequences and cost of it. And so Paul reminds them of this promise in due time, right? You will reap. if you do not grow weary. And so he wants them to recognize this and recognize it clearly. I take it the due time to be basically in God's time, right? It's when God is ready to provide you with the harvest, you will experience that harvest. It's possible it could be in this life, I mean, God does often allow us to reap benefits in this life, but I think the context would point more toward Paul's hope for the future, because look at the last part of verse eight, will from the Spirit reap eternal life. So Paul's not teaching them some kind of a, in this world, seed faith kind of a thing. You sow, God's gonna give you the blessing, right? And that's why he says in due time, that is in the course of God's timing, you will reap, right? And so you should not lose heart about that. And if you think about it, that's where the tension can be. We're prone to want God to answer on our time. Why aren't you doing this? Why isn't this happening? We want God to do the thing that we would love to see happen now. And Paul's frame of reference is larger than that and governed by the fact that there is a harvest that's coming, and we just need to not lose heart about that. All right? Don't grow weary because the harvest hasn't come in yet. In due time, it will. So we have to be sustained by that hope in that regard and to have our focus in that way. And that's, I think, woven into faith and hope for a believer. Hebrews 11, we love to think about the front, well, honestly, it's probably like 75% of the chapter, which is great things happening because of faith. But at the end of the chapter, the writer does this masterful turn where he says, you know, by faith they conquered kingdoms, administered righteousness, had their dead raised, the dead raised back to life, they escaped. And then it goes, and others. And then it starts talking about all the things that happened to them that were horrible. And he says, of them the world was not worthy. And says, these all died in faith, having obtained the approval of God. We have the tendency to think that if you have the approval of God, then you escape the lion's mouth. You pass through the fire. You have healing. You have all of these things because God's approving of you. But the book of Hebrews in 11 says, no, faith actually allows you to do all the downside. Because it's by faith, they didn't escape. It wasn't a lack of faith on their part, it was God's plan for their part, and they all gained approval. Because the key is that their faith in God wasn't the ultimate issue of faith in Hebrews 11, wasn't in the immediate benefit that was be to received, it was in God keeping his promises. And in some circumstances, God hasn't promised that you'll escape death. He hasn't promised that you're gonna live in a bubble and nothing will ever be able to harm you, right? He hasn't made that explicit promise to you for in this life, but he has promised actually something better than all of those things, the promise of resurrection and a city whose builder and maker is God, and in due time you will reap There will be a harvest. And that's woven through the scripture. When Jesus is telling us to, in the Sermon on the Mount, it ranges from rejoice and be glad when people persecute you and say all manner of evil against you for my name's sake. Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven. All right, so they're gonna hammer you, insult and slander you, persecute you, rejoice, because great is your reward in heaven. In due time, you will reap. All right, that's chapter five, chapter seven in the Sermon on the Mount. He's talking about laying up treasure in heaven where it can't be taken away. So he's not saying, hey, give a little to the church and you'll have a nice car and a big house. He's saying, no, invest it where in due time you'll reap, which requires faith. It requires trust. It requires hope that God keeps His promises. And so the content of this promise is to turn us toward the day when God will, in fact, bring in the harvest that's appropriate. You've heard me quote this verse often, but Hebrews chapter six and verse 10 says, for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. God is not unjust so as to forget. That's the negative way of saying God is righteous to remember. Right? It's a literary device. The technical name is litotes. It's so you say what you want to communicate negatively. God is not unjust so as to forget, which means God's righteousness guarantees he will remember. And he's saying this to people that the writer of Hebrews will say in chapter 10, you joyfully, you joyfully endured the seizure of your property. So it clearly wasn't, hey, God's gonna remember what you did and he's gonna keep you from having problems. No, there's coming a day when the righteous God will remember everything that you've done in love for his name and in ministering to the saints. Same thing Paul's saying. In due time, you will reap. It will happen. You live by faith. You believe the promises of God. You trust him that he will, in fact, do that. So that leads to verse 10 and practice that should flow out of that. So then, the reason I say it leads to it is because he says what he says in 7, 8, 9. He says, so then, or like in light of that, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who are of the household of faith. So the action is let us do good. It's literally let us work the good. Let's put our energy into doing the good. And I think that would be in some ways him bringing to conclusion what he started in chapter five and verse 13, "'For you were called to freedom, brethren, "'only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity "'for the flesh, but through love serve one another. "'For the whole law is fulfilled in one word "'in the statement, "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" So there's the good. It's the good that's done as a display of love in serving one another. It's the good that is exhibited by that second great commandment, love your neighbor as yourself. All right, so get after that. Work that out in your life. Make certain that that's the way in which you are sowing to the Spirit. There is good for others that is the freedom for which I've been purchased, and I should sow in that way. I engage in that activity that's seeking good for them. And I think that's the point he's trying to make. And notice where this is supposed to happen. Verse 10, let us do good to all people. and especially to those who are the household of faith. So he gives a universal responsibility, if I could put it that way, to all people. Paul does not limit our doing good to only believers. All humans are made in the image of God. Therefore, our love for God should translate into love for those who bear his image. that we don't walk through this world going, hey, you're on the other team, I don't need to do any good to you. But they bear the image of God and are, in fact, the object of God's common grace. He bestows good gifts on even those who are his enemies. That's what Jesus said, it's like, be like your father in heaven. because he showers even his enemies with blessings and rain. Paul stands in Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 14, and preaches about God leaving himself a testimony because he filled your hearts with gladness and gave you many good things. So a part of the testimony to the character of God is that God is kind even toward his enemies because they bear his image. So Paul's simply telling us to be like our fathers who's in heaven, right? Do good to all. You have a responsibility as an individual to think that way. And that's part of what Jesus was driving home in the parable of the Good Samaritan, right? It was the most unlikely person who demonstrated love for neighbor, right? There was nothing communally, familially, religiously that would have captured the heart for that commitment to seek his good. And Jesus uses that as the illustration for what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. But then notice the language in verse 10. There's also a family responsibility alongside of that universal responsibility. Let's do good to all people and especially to those who are of the household of faith. And the word especially there means to an unusual degree, or most of all, or above all, or particularly. So what it's doing is saying, hey, in this universal responsibility, there's actually even a prioritization toward the household of faith that you need to have your eye opened for that. And I think that that's, I think that's consistent with the family imagery that he has. I mean, think about 1 Timothy 5 and verse 8, where it says, if someone does not care for his family, he's worse than an unbeliever. So there is a kind of obligation that comes to you by virtue of the familial relationship. And in this case, the spiritual family is described as a household of faith. And that's consistent with other places in Scripture where that's taught. For instance, 1 Timothy 3.15 calls the church the household of God. Ephesians 2.19 says believers are God's household. And that's why in the early part of Acts, it's the kind of life that emerges in the church is that they are of one accord, not just in agreement, but actually if a brother or sister had a need, like a good family member, they would even dispose of their assets to help meet that need. They cared for them like they were their own family because spiritually they were. They were part of the household of God. And that's clear by the fact that he says here, the household of the faith. It's a relationship that's built on their common faith in Christ. So practically speaking, that means that we should have a heart to help whomever we can, whenever we can, but that this is especially true when it comes to our spiritual family. that we're ready to assist and help and care and do good toward them. Notice again the phrase, and this is what ties into what we were looking at this morning, when it says, while we have opportunity. I said this morning that the word that's translated opportunity here is the same word that's translated redeeming the time. That's why some translations have make the most of your opportunity. It's the same Greek word, and it's intended, though, to talk about a time which is favorable to some occasion or event. That's why it's an opportunity. I don't have a good time to do that means I don't have an opportunity. There's not a circumstance that's conducive to it. And that's what he's talking about here is that there are opportunities that God is going to bring your way that are an occasion for you to do what he's talking about. And so I think it actually, I think it is trying to get us to see our lives as being controlled by the sovereign hand of God so that when we come across someone to whom we may do good, we see that as something of a divine appointment. You have an opportunity that God has just opened up. And while you have opportunity, do good to all people, especially the household of faith. I mean, think about, again, that parable of the Good Samaritan. The two religious guys passed by the other side. The opportunity was there for them to do good, and they chose to bypass it. But in God's providence, obviously it's a parable, but in the way the story's unfolding is, that man who had been beaten and robbed and left by the thieves was there by divine appointment when that Samaritan came by. And so there was an opportunity that that person was to take hold of, to seize. So what it's talking about is an approach to life that sees God directing our steps so that we might be his servants. And that has broader connection than just a household of faith, but it has special connection to the household of faith. Again, so let me step back to the bigger picture of what Paul's arguing. The objector to Paul's gospel of grace and freedom from the Mosaic law is going to say, so what's going to regulate us, Paul? I mean, if there's no law, then everything's going to become lawless, and it's going to be out of control, and people will just be doing sin. And Paul's answer to that is, no, we've been set free from the law, but that freedom isn't to satisfy our flesh, but by love to serve one another. Well, how does that work out, Paul? Well, here's how it works out. You walk in the spirit. And if you walk in the spirit, you'll not fulfill the desires of the flesh. You need to be led by the spirit. because here's what the Spirit is producing, fruit of the Spirit, and that's very different from what I just talked about, the works of the flesh. Can you see the difference between those two? Here's what the Spirit will produce in you, love, joy, peace, gentleness, right? All of those things that would make you respond to people around you in a radically different way than the kind of selfishness that marks the works of the flesh. Right, biting, provoking, envying. Right, the flesh produces that. The spirit produces a heart like Christ toward people. So keep in step with the spirit. So as you go about your life, there's two ways you can sow. Sow the flesh, sow the spirit. But let me tell you, if you sow the flesh, you're gonna reap corruption. Sow the spirit, you'll reap life. Listen, don't lose heart. Don't grow weary. In due time, you will reap, right? You will reap. So then, whenever you have opportunity, do good. By love, serve one another, right? And if that happens to be with someone who doesn't know Christ, they bear the image of your Father, so do good to them. And if it's a part of your spiritual family, then that certainly has to be the prioritization of your life. Serve them. Do good to them. Recognize that the Spirit of God is at work in you so that when these doors open up, you might respond to his work. He's bearing fruit. Walk in the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Keep in step by the Spirit. So the answer to the problem of our potential being torn up by lawlessness is a life lived, yielded to the Spirit, so that the love of Christ is being produced in us and working out through us, because that's what the Spirit's going to do. And the net result is we get to reap the harvest of his work in us. and that harvest is gonna come in God's time. Let's pray. Father, please help us to look at this next year through the window of what you're doing in us to make us like Christ and to do good, you doing good to your people through the body. you displaying your kindness and common grace to a world that has rejected you through your people in this world, that we might not allow the harshness of our society and culture and even the potential of persecution, whether that comes in terms of slander or attack, that we might not fall back into a self-protective mode, but that we might follow Christ in the path of ministry to even those who were his enemies. But especially, Lord, may we have a care for one another that walks in the Spirit and is responsive to the fruit that he's producing, which overflows into good for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to be deliberate and intentional about that, to recognize that this is what you want to produce and really deepen our heart because the Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance. He is working in us to have an eye for that harvest, a hope of eternity that frees us from being controlled by the things of this world. Please help us to be good stewards of all that you've entrusted to us so that we can take advantage of the opportunities that you open up in front of us. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.