Do Not Be Deceived, God Is Not Mocked Part 2
Scripture: Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-10
Introduction:
In part one of this series I focused on the seeds that are being planted within us. I shared with you that God is sowing seeds within us every time we hear or study His word. The seeds that are being sown can produce fruit only if we do what is needed to protect the seeds and ensure their growth. In addition to God’s seeds, I also shared with you that Satan is sowing seeds within us too. His seeds are pleasing to us and we generally enjoy his seeds more. Because Satan seeds are more pleasing to us, his seeds tend to grow faster because those are the seeds that we pay attention to. As I take you into the heart of the message this morning, I want to remind you that once God has deposited His seeds within us, we are responsible for those seeds. Once those seeds enter into our possession, God holds us responsible for what we do with them. Although Satan actively attempts to steal and destroy God’s seeds, if that happens, it is not God’s fault, it is our fault. So once we receive the seeds, we must take due diligence to ensure their growth. Also we cannot forget about the seeds that Satan is sowing. Those are the seeds we must actively seek out and destroy. Remember my example last week with my wife pulling weeds from her garden? This is what we must do with those seeds that Satan in sowing within us. We must recognize that it is his seeds and that they have no place in our current walk.
In my message today, I want to take you to the sixth chapter of Galatians. In this chapter, we will examine our responsibility to one another as it pertains to sowing and reaping. In my message on standing in the gap I shared with you that we have a responsibility for one another and as we begin to stand in the gap, we are actively sowing good seeds. In that message I shared with you how we must be careful as to how we judge the person we are standing in the gap for. How we evaluate their situation plays directly into how effective we will be in standing in the gap for that person. Well this morning I also want to share with you that the attitude that you have when you are standing in the gap for someone else will play out when you are reaping your harvest from the seeds you are sowing. Turn with me to Galatians chapter five, verses twenty-five and twenty-six.
I. When Someone Falls
We have all been around small children as they are learning to walk. Initially they start out by rocking back and forth on their knees and trying to crawl. Once they master the art of crawling, they stand up using something to support them as they take their first steps. Maybe it is a table or they hold your hand, but they use something to balance themselves. During these times of learning they often fall down, sometimes very hard. When that happens, what is our response? We rush to their side, pick them up and steady them. Now fast forward 50-60 years when that baby is grown and we are the old ones needing help. They now stand with us when we are sick to help steady us. Maybe that child will become our caregiver, helping us through our final years, months or days on this earth. Whatever the case, the times have changed and we are now being picked and steadied where before we were the ones doing the picking up. In this example, we are reaping from the seeds that were sown many years before. Keep this in mind as we examine what Paul said to the Galatians.
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” Gal. 5:25-26
In chapter five of the book of Galatians, Paul encourages the Galatians to walk by the Spirit. He gave them concrete examples of how to do just that while also painting a very vivid picture of what it means to walk in the flesh. In verses twenty-five and twenty-six, Paul states that “if” we live by the Spirit we should also “walk” by the Spirit. How is it possible that we can live by the Spirit while not walking by the Spirit? It comes down to choice. You see, we can have the Spirit of God operating in our lives while at the same time not fully allowing Him to work through us. To live by the Spirit and to walk by the Spirit should go hand in hand, but sometimes our individual attitudes affect this negatively. Paul is encouraging us to allow what the Spirit is doing on the inside of us to be reflective on the outside. Once Paul makes this point, he gives them an example which takes us into chapter six.
“Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Gal. 6:1
In this example Paul states that if a man was caught in any trespass, those who were spiritual should restore him. Although Paul was talking to the whole congregation, he specifically called out those who were spiritual as the ones who should perform this task. This tells us that just believing in Christ and accepting Him does not necessarily make you spiritually mature – hence what Paul is referring to. He specifically asks those who are spiritually mature to work with the man towards full restoration. A spiritually mature person is able to look beyond the person’s circumstance and see Christ. Being able to see Christ (what Christ desires in a person’s life) allows us to fully come into a position of being able to help restore the person. So what we find here is an all inclusive situation. If someone is caught in “any trespass” someone who is spiritual and can see beyond the person’s situation to what Christ desires for them should be the one to reach out to attempt to restore the person. To restore some requires a spirit of gentleness – not condemnation. Now notice what Paul says in the last part of verse one: “each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.” In this statement Paul offers up a warning.
As we are looking upon the sins of others, we must do so while also giving consideration to our own selves. What this means is that while we are helping to restore someone else, we must remember that we too could be in the same situation so we should not stand in judgment/condemnation of them. I remember a well known televangelist who condemned another minister publicly after that minister was caught in sin. The minister who was caught in the sin was surprised that this televangelist came out so harshly against him publicly. In response to the televangelist condemnation, this minister followed the televangelist and took pictures of him meeting with women of the evenings (prostitute). (This minister was already familiar with the habits of this televangelist.) He then took his pictures public and that televangelist was forced to face the nation on his TV show and admit his sins. He lost his ministry and his effectiveness. The sins we often condemn in others can be found lurking within ourselves – just below the surface waiting for an opportunity to spring out. This is why Paul confirms that we must handle the sins of others carefully and with gentleness as we work towards their restoration. If you are not walking with the Spirit, it will be hard for you to restore someone because our natural first response is to condemn the person caught in sin.
“Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself.” Gal. 6:2-3
In these two verses Paul make the reference that we should bear one another’s burden. You know what that means don’t you? It means that we should stand in the gap for one another, especially when one of us is caught in a sin. To bear one another’s burden means that you are there to help them get up once they have fallen. Again, you cannot help someone with their burden if you are standing in condemnation of them. In verse three Paul gives us another reason why we should do this – when we begin to think we are something, then we begin to deceive ourselves. I want to share something with you. On my secular job, I am a manager. I go to work and give my best in order to get the job done. But with all of the responsibilities that I have and with all of the benefits that I receive, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am replaceable. If I quit tomorrow, my company would continue to exist as if I was never there. My team would hopefully miss me, but they too would quickly move with their lives. I know this and I understand it. How would I act if I believed within myself that I was so great that the company had to have me in their employment? I would be walking around like I owned the company having a great air of importance all around me. Oh how deceived I would be. In reference to verse three, when we begin to think we are all that as a Christian and forget from whom our power comes, we begin to think we are something when we are nothing.
“But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load. And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.” Gal. 6:4-6
One of the hardest things in life to do is self-examination, especially when we are trying to think of something good about ourselves. If I were to sit down and think about all of my attributes, I could think of all of my faults a lot easier than I can the good because this is how most people have been conditioned to think. In these verses Paul discusses their habits of boasting about what they were doing especially when they compared their accomplishments to someone else. In these verses Paul instructed them to first look at their own deeds and then determine if there was something there for them to boast about. If you read these verses in context with the whole chapter, a different picture begins to form. Paul has taken us from how we are to respond to someone who is caught in sin to looking at ourselves and what we are doing. This goes back to how we stand in the gap for others. You see, if I look at your sins and I tell myself I could never do anything like that, I am deceiving myself. In verses 4-6, Paul requests that each of us really examine just what is in us because when we realize that it is by the grace of God that we are not living like we could be living, our compassion rises to the top and we are in a better position to help someone else who has sinned. Many of us know someone who is always boasting of their “spiritual achievements” when other fall short. Every one of us should be personally responsible for what we are doing (bearing our own load). Now jump down to verses seven and eight, the heart of this message.
II. Do Not Be Deceived
“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 shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Gal. 6:7-8
Let me go all the way back to my messages on standing in the gap. When we stand in the gap, we are sowing seeds. We are becoming a bridge to God for those who cannot reach Him on their own. When we do this correctly, we are sowing good seeds that will bear fruit in the life of the person we are standing for. Sometimes that fruit will be complete restoration; sometimes it will be healing; sometimes financial gain. Whatever that fruit will be, it will come because of the seeds you had sown in that person’s life. But don’t forget what I told you last week, that seeds can be either good or bad. You make the determination as to what type of seeds you are sowing. But you need to beware, as we just read, God will not be mocked. He has said that we will reap what we sow and His word cannot change. If we sow to the Spirit, meaning that we are walking with the Spirit and acting as directed, we will reap eternal life. But, as so many do, if we sow to our flesh, from our flesh we will reap corruption.
In thinking of an example that we can all recognize, I want to share with you something I saw on TV last Sunday. It was a show that focused on four people who had a food addiction. Two of the individuals were confined to a bed because they weighed so much that they could not walk. One person weighed well over 600 pounds. One of the individuals was not that big and she was still pretty functional, but she said these words: “I know I am going to eat myself to death. I cannot stop it and I know it is going to kill me.” This is a close example of what Paul was talking about. This woman understood that all of the calories that she was consuming on a daily basis would eventually kill her – she was sowing to her flesh. Every time we choose to do something that our flesh wants versus what God wants for us, we are sowing seeds to our flesh.
Paul tells us not to be deceived for God is not mocked. To be deceived means to be tricked, to be fooled into thinking something is one way when in fact it is not. What Paul is stressing is that we cannot believe that our actions do not carry consequences. We cannot believe that we can do whatever we want to do with immunity. We do not have diplomatic immunity – we will be held accountable for what we are doing. Those things that we accept as okay which God has said is not okay, we are fooling ourselves if we think God will accept it because we choose to make it okay. Paul tells us that God will not be mocked. The term mock means to “ridicule or to make fun of.” Whenever we take God’s word and ignore it, we are mocking God. When we live like we want to live thinking that we are getting away with it, especially after we have accepted Christ, we are mocking God. People, God will not be mocked, whatever we sow, we will from that reap.
Let me close the loop on this message because next week we will continue with this, but in a different way. Verses nine and ten says: “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 to those who are of the household of the faith.” It gets tiring when we are constantly doing good for others, especially when our flesh wants to do something else. When you are visiting the sick at the hospital, while everyone gets to go out to dinner, it gets tiring. When you are spending time in a hot kitchen making dinner for those who are shut in and you miss a meal because you only had enough for others, your body gets tired. When you work on the deacon board, trustee board, usher board, choir, youth departments and everything else because no one else steps up, it gets tiring. But hold on, don’t give up, your blessing is coming. The problem many Christians have is that they give up before they have time to reap their harvest. Paul said if you do not grow weary, you will reap from the seeds you have sown.
Christians across the world have grown tired. We have grown tired of fighting the battles. We have grown tired of dealing with the issues that have become taboo. We have grown tired of being accused of being out of step with society with our conservative viewpoints. We have grown tired of teaching and preaching a gospel that does not sound good because it is not promising you money and blessings and you do not have to do anything. We have grown tired. Get some rest this week because next Sunday God will give us a wake-up call. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, and next week I will share with you how we are mocking Him with our stance on abortion. You do not want to miss that message. Until next week, God bless.
