Some time ago, I heard a news report about a group of people who were defrauding senior citizens. That is not necessarily breaking news, but this one had a twist to it. There was a group of people looking for people who been defrauded. They claimed to go after scam artists and for small fee would get back people’s stolen investments. Unfortunately they were as much frauds as the original frauds. They were deceiving people who had already proven themselves to be gullible.
Have you ever been deceived? I know I have been deceived by people in different ways, although not with any great loss money. I have considered people to be friends, when in fact they were only using me for one reason or another. I have trusted people, but found them to be untrustworthy, when it was to their benefit. You’ve probably gotten into similar situations as well.
I have heard several messages from our scripture and I have preached several myself. And then after years, I was struck with something which I had never considered before. Thinking that perhaps you’ve missed this point as well, I thought that we’d look at it this evening. So I ask you to take an eraser to that blackboard in the back of your mind and wipe off the notes that are there about Galatians 6:6-7. Probably what you have is scripturally correct, but I want you to make room for something else which is equally correct – and equally important. Be not deceived, this is a bigger subject than most of us have realized.
First let’s consider the questions of deception.
There are a couple of obvious things which only need to be mentioned in passing. First is the fact that God never deceives anyone – ever. “God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent.” God cannot lie – Titus 1:2. Second, Satan is a liar and the father of liars – and we’d have to add deception, a form of lying. Third, others may try to deceive us, but if they succeed, it’s our fault to some degree. I don’t want you to become so cynical (distrustful) that you question everyone and everything. But it pays to watch for the signs of potential dishonesty. Thomas, a disciple, was given a rather negative nick-name – “the doubter.” But the people of Berea, were considered “noble,” because they searched the scriptures to put to the test the sermons Paul preached to them. It is un-wise to trust the man who is a known thief. You’ve seen him steal from others, so it’s a good idea to hold your own wallet kind of tight. But what if he disregards other commandments of the Lord, like blasphemy, gossip or gambling? Should we expect obedience to God in one area when other areas are discarded? People may deceive us, but some of the responsibility for our fall is our gullibility and unwatchfulness.
Related to this is that among the worst forms of deceit are lies which we tell ourselves – self-deception. And this is the theme that Paul is raising in Galatians. Someone may lie to you about the doctrine of God, but the only reason that you’ve believed him is because your own heart is wicked and deceitful. Paul’s exhortation: “Be not deceived” is probably more critical than the prohibition, “Do not deceive.”
Specifically, Paul says, “Don’t be deceived about the Lord.”
To this he adds, “God is not mocked.” This word “mukterizo” (mook-tay-rid’-zo) is found only once in the Bible – obviously, right here. And the root word refers to “the snout” – the snout of an animal, like a pig. It has something to do with making faces and sounds of ridicule or contempt. In other words, Jehovah is not going to put up with any ridicule from man. He is the Lord, & what He has ordained, what He has commanded, what He has established shall stand. “He is the Lord, His work is perfect and all his ways are judgment, a God of truth, just and right is He.” Jehovah is holy, and sovereign and omnipotent. Before him every knee shall bow and every deed shall be judged. And this means the Lord is not someone with whom to toy – His laws are not made of rubber or paper.
Like His Saviour, Paul refers to earthly illustrations to prove spiritual and eternal truth. God has established a law that when the farmer plants wheat, he will not reap potatoes. And if that farmer doesn’t plant anything, he certainly will not make $20,000, harvesting cucumbers. There is an earthly, but God-established law that if you shoot an arrow at the sun, it may come down on your pet dog. There is an unwritten law, “It is illegal to spit into a strong head-wind because you’ll get saliva in your face.” Please realize, says the Apostle, that this earthly statute illustrates an even more rigid Spiritual statute. Don’t be so foolish to think that God will bend these rules just to suit you. While still in Bible school, I was taught that if I expected people to listen to me as their pastor, I had better listen and put into practice what my pastor taught. I needed to be the best church member I could possibly be, if I expected others to be good members. If I hoped that others would tithe, then I had better tithe. The lessons went on like that in similar ways. Be not deceived, God is not going to put up with the mocking faces of men.
FOR…. sowing demands reaping.
Horatio Bottomley, was once editor of the magazine “John Bull”, but then he had been caught embezzling. In prison an old acquaintance came to visit him & found him sewing mail bags together for the post office. “What, Bottomley,” he said, “Sewing?” “No!” said the convict, “Reaping.” Generally speaking, once a seed has been planted or sown, the rest is history. If you took a sack of feathers and dumped them out at the front door of the church, pretty soon, you’d have feathers all over Post Falls. And despite all your efforts to undo what you did, there could be no reversing your deed. If you chose to rob a convenience store and you later changed your mind, the fact couldn’t be reversed. You might plea bargain, or say that it was all your father’s fault, but the fact stands forever. The first puff of marijuana or the first can beer, open doors which may never be closed again.
Now, we come to two thoughts which I had not considered in the early years of my ministry. Usually when this text is published in church, sowing to the flesh is painted as something sinful. And that certainly is not a mistake for the most part. The flesh stands in opposition to the spirit, and sowing to the flesh is often clearly sin. Adultery & fornication are sowing to the flesh, forbidden by God and condemned by the Word of God. Lying in order to save one’s neck is sowing to the flesh. And “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.” Gambling is sowing to the flesh, and gluttony is, obviously, sowing to the flesh. Paul lists several works of the flesh in the preceding chapter. Things like contentiousness, envy, dissension, drunkenness, pride and so forth. Filling our lives with the works of the flesh are corruptive. And what is “corruption?” The Greek word speaks of decaying, rotting self-destruction.
Need I remind us that we all live in the flesh and the flesh demands some attention or we shall die? For example, it requires rest and nourishment. It deserves some relaxation and recreation every now and then But be aware that the good & necessary things you do to care for your flesh still ends up in corruption. All the food you feed it, even if it be the best and most nutritious, still is temporary and you will die. You can work yourself to death or you can sin yourself into the grave. You can give yourself adequate rest and relaxation, but either way you will die. It is appointed unto all men once to die, even the most healthy man or woman on the face of the earth.
Therefore the emphasis must be – not just on eliminating the sins of the flesh… Some emphasis must be place on non-fleshly things; the emphasis must be on the things of the Spirit. Here is a man who’d punch another man in the nose for eating a Quarter Pounder at McDonalds. He ingests nothing but antioxidents, barley greens and naturally grown apples. The questions is – what, in addition to these things, has he sown to the Spirit lately? Feasting on only the finest of God’s vegetables is still going to produce a crop of corruption – death. “But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” This is the part of this scripture which is not preached enough. What are you doing for the glory of Christ Jesus? That is an infinitely more profound question than what your caloric intake was today.
The second thing often overlooked in this scripture was “whatsoever a man soweth THAT shall he also reap.” Sowing good things to the flesh, will not produce a Spiritual harvest. Here is a nominal Christian whose life hasn’t been running very smoothly lately. So he decides to begin going to church, receiving the baptism he’s been putting off for so long. He begins to tithe and give to missions; he helps to repair the house of God. Where does he get idea that now his business is going prosper, and he’s going to become a zillionare? Another man has a little store just down the road from his competitor. He is a Christian man and runs his business according to the dictates of the Word of God. But his competitor is a ruthless, moral-less shark, lying and cheating on every hand. The Christian thinks that God should bless his business because of his honesty. That is not the spiritual mathematics taught by this scripture. “Whatsoever a man soweth THAT (sort of thing) shall he also reap.” Don’t think that by your obedience to the Lord, you will not have trials and troubles in the world. Your obedience will not be forgotten by the Lord, but it may not make you financially wealthy. Even a cup of cold water given by a disciple of the Lord will produce its reward. But that reward may not be enjoyed on earth, in some tangible way, recognized by your accountant.
So should we cease to serve God and to obey His commands? Absolutely not: be more diligent today than you have ever been before. But remember that “he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap of the Spirit.” One of the lessons here relates to putting first things first. “In due season we SHALL reap (of the Spirit), if we faint not.”