GALATIANS 6: 6-8
SOWING AND REAPING
The principle of reciprocity is certainly being taught here. Though the initial thought is that their ministers should have a material return for what they spiritually sow in the life of the believers the principle extends beyond that arena. The creation precept or the spiritual law built into the very fabric of all creation, both physical and spiritual, is that a person reaps after the same manner and nature that they sow. Every thought, attitude or action has its own natural reproductive cycle. What you sow, you reap. If you sow what is bad you will reap what is bad, if you sow what is good you will reap what is good.
I. RETURNING TO THE INSTRUCTOR; 6.
II. REAPING WHAT SOWED; 7.
III. REAPING CORRUPTION OR LIFE; 8.
Since a disproportionate portion of the load of bearing the burdens of others falls on the ministers in the caring for and instructing the church, verse 6 instructs those taught to share with those teaching. "The one who is taught the Word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him."
There were many workers or elders in the church assigned to various aspects, but this verse is for the those whose foremost duty was teaching the Word. Those who receive instruction [kat ch n- catechist] in the Word should share (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor 9:13; Heb. 13:16) all good things with the instructor or pastor. All good things includes material return and/or financial or remuneration to biblical teachers or ministers.
The verb translated share [koin né ] is imperative or it is a command and is emphatic in the Greek text. It literally means "to contribute a share to" or "be a partner with" [Longenecker, Gal. Word Biblical Com. 278]. The benefitted should benefit those who benefit them.
The ministry responsibilities of the church presses its leader to give up their daily employment to fulfill them adequately. The precept being taught is that the teacher of the Word shares spiritual treasures and empowering and those who are taught ought to share material substance and support in return (1 Cor. 9:7-12). It is easy to take spiritual leaders for granted, ignoring their financial, emotional and physical needs. They should be supported and cared for, not grudgingly or reluctantly but with a generous spirit showing honor and appreciation for all they have done (1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 Thess. 5:12-13). (See Luke 10:7 & 1 Cor. 9:3,11,14).
II. REAPING WHAT SOWED, 7.
Verses 7 & 8 state the spiritual principle that lies behind the precept in verse 6. The command to give is not simply so that pastors, missionaries (Phil. 4:10-19), and teachers might have their needs meet but that the givers might invest for a greater blessings.
In every dimension, including the moral and spiritual, the universe is structured on inexorable laws. In Galatians 6:7 the Bible uses a well-known law of botany-that a given seed can reproduce only its own kind-to illustrate God’s parallel and equally inviolable laws in the moral and spiritual realms. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
The elaboration of verse six first comes with a solemn warning that God is not mocked. The word mock (mykterizetar) means snub, sneer, treat with contempt. It literally translates "to turn up the nose at." The thought is don’t deceive [pres. imper.] yourself into thinking you can sow wrongly and escape the results of your wrong sowing. For a Christian to sin while thinking he is somehow immune from God’s standard of holiness is to mock the Lord and to mimic the world. (You may find forgiveness but God does not wipe out the earthy consequences of your actions). Some because they have not suffered evil consequences for living according to their fleshly desires assume they are getting away with it. They let the devil deceive them into thinking that either God does not care or God is not holy. The principle is that you can not mock God nor His natural, moral or spiritual laws and do so with impunity.
The principle created into the very fabric of the physical and spiritual world is what ever a man sows, this he will also reap. God does not operate His realm by whim or capriciously. How else would the farmer know when or what to plant in order to get the desire result. The farmer know when and what to plant, to get what he wants because he looks to the end before beginning.
What is sown is what is reaped is how God established His physical and spiritual world. What a person sows will result in blessing or judgment for God is not a deity who does not fulfill His laws or who reverses His laws. God’s laws are not mocked by mankind’s attempts to ignore the cause and effect relationship of justice nor is God tricked into bestowing blessing instead of due judgment. You cannot sow wrongly and escape the results of wrong sowing. The corollary is also true. You cannot sow rightly and not reap its rewards.
[WILD OATS] How foolish is the person who thinks he can get around the divine law of sowing and reaping! There was a fable about a farmhand who was given instructions to plant a field of barley. He acted immediately, but he sowed oats instead of barley. After several weeks, the owner of the farm went out to inspect the crop and was astonished to see oats growing instead of barley. The workman was told to report to the owner’s office at once. "I told you to plant barley," he said. "Why did you sow oats?" "Oh," the man responded, "I didn’t think it would make any difference. I figured that even if I planted oats, I could expect barley to come up." Enraged, the owner shouted, "Are you crazy, man? What ever made you think that?"
The farmhand replied, "I got that idea from you, sir. I’ve been watching the way you live. I’ve noticed that even though you’re constantly sowing evil, you expect good to come of it!
If you are engaging in sinful practices or are living only for the things of this world, you can’t avoid the natural consequences. You’re like a man who expects barley from oats. Listen again to that Bible warning: "Do not be deceived,...for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." The cost of living may go up or down, but the cost of sowing wild oats remains the same. So stop sowing "wild oats!"
What is true in the natural realm is just as true in the moral and spiritual realm. You cannot sow indulgence and reap health. You cannot sow strife and reap peace. You cannot sow sin and reap righteousness. You cannot sow "the works of flesh" and reap "the Fruit of the Spirit."
[According to the Associated Press, in fall 1997 the journal Cell reported on an experiment that potentially has far-reaching potential for fighting disease. Dr. John Rose and his research team at Yale Medical School had successfully altered the genes of a virus that normally infects livestock and turned it into a virus that specifically and exclusively attacks AIDS-infected cells and destroys them. In other words, they created smart bombs out of a virus. They used infection against infection.
The experiments were successful in the test tube and had yet to be tried on animals or humans.
Just as viruses can be designed to kill viruses, one of the ways God judges evil is to withdraw His protection and allow evil to come against what is evil.]
A further truth that causes one either to rejoice or cringe is that we not only reap in like kind but we reap more in quantity than what we sow. Not only does corn yield corn but one seed of corn reaps scores of like grains.
This principle of multiplication maybe why the final judgment comes after the end of the age and not right after physical death. Judgment cannot be rendered until all the evidence is in at the end of age when the Great White Throne is in session. There they will be judged according to their deeds (Rev. 20:12b,13b). This judgment will determine the degree of punishment in Hell (Luke 12:47).
A person commits a sin that may seem little to themselves and society but by the end of the age could result in millions of souls going to hell. Therefore he cannot be properly judged concerning His punishment till the end of the age. The opposite is also true. A seeming little good deed done in the power of the Spirit could set in motion a reaction that could result in thousands of good deeds and souls trusting Jesus (Mt. 25:14-46).
Dr. R. W. De Haan recorded some impressive statistics concerning sowing and reaping in the families of two men, JONATHAN EDWARDS and Max Jukes. Jonathan Edwards was a man of high Christian character and commitment. Out of his 1,394 descendants, 13 were college presidents, 65 were professors, 60 were prominent lawyers, 32 were noted authors, 90 were physicians, 200 plus were ministers of the gospel and 300 plus were good farmers.
Max Jukes on the other hand was a notorious foul mouth lawyer. The life histories of 903 of his descendants have been recorded. Of these, 300 were delinquents, 145 were confirmed drunkards, 90 were prostitutes, 285 had ‘evil diseases’, and over 100 spent an average of 13 years in prison. The crimes and care of this one family have cost the state of New York millions of dollars!"
III. REAPING CORRUPTION OR LIFE
The explication for why God’s justice cannot be mocked is found in verse 8. 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.
There are two possible kinds of soil; the flesh and the Spirit. Investments made in the flesh will reap a harvest of corruption or rottenness (phthorán- refers to degeneration, going from better to worse like decaying food). Sowing to the flesh means allowing the old nature to have its way. Sowing to the Spirit means allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way.
John R. Stott has written, "Every time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge, nurse a grievance, entertain an impure fancy, wallow in self-pity, we are sowing to the flesh. Every time we linger in bad company whose insidious influence we know we cannot resist, every time we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, every time we read pornographic literature, every time we take a risk that strains our self-control we are sowing, sowing, sowing, to the flesh" [The Message of Galatians. London: Inter-Varsity, 1968, p. 170].
"To sow to the Spirit is the same as to walk by the Spirit (5:16), to be led by the Spirit (5:18), and to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). It is the same as abiding in Christ and in His Word and having His words abide in us (John 8:31; 15:7). It is the same as walking in Christ (Col. 2:6) and setting one’s "mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (3:2). It is the same as giving one’s body as "a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God," and not being "conformed to this world, but [being] transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:1–2)." [MacArthur, NT Com. Gal. ]
Corruption and eternal life must be understood in a double sense. First corruption comes from ones bodily sins, that every doctor will attest to, and at the end of earthly existence in eternal destruction in Hell. Sowing out of the Spirit reaps life and everlasting life. It is a life which begins now and abides through out eternity. Life everlasting is the strongest term in the Greek language to express eternity. We can enhance the quality of our life here on earth and in eternity by permitting the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in and through our lives.
[PICK OFF MOVE] [Left-hander Terry Mulholland of the Seattle Mariners had one of the best pick off moves in baseball. Over a period of five years, from opening day in 1992 until June 19, 1997, a total of only six runners were successful at stealing a base off Mulholland. Mulholland’s pitching motion was so deceptive that a runner on first would think the pitch was going home, and he would start to lean toward second. At that instant, Mulholland would turn and throw to first, often catching runners in no-man’s land for an embarrassing out.
Kansas City’s speedy Bip Roberts knew that embarrassing feeling. Despite his base-stealing skill he too got picked off by Mulholland. Roberts said, "Sometimes, it seems as if he gives up a hit just so he can pick you off."
That statement perfectly describes the tempter. Sometimes people have the mistaken idea that Satan wants to give people pleasure. Satan no more wants to give us pleasure than a baseball pitcher wants to give up hits. Satan hates us and wants to inflict suffering into our lives. Satan offers the pleasure of sin only to inflict later suffering and to make that suffering permanent.
It’s the way the world is, you reap what you sow. Every action has its reaction or result. If you plant to please your own desires you will reap a crop of sorrow and evil. If you plant to please God, you will reap joy and everlasting life. What kind of seeds are you sowing?]
His name was Fleming, and he was a POOR SCOTTISH FARMER. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby boy. He dropped his tools and ran to the boy.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. And elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son’s life." "No, I can’t accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I’ll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming’s son graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the nobleman’s son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around.
If one sows only the things of this world, he will reap only the things of this world. If one spends all his time sowing efforts to make money, he will make money, but earthly reward will be the only thing he will have. He will not have love, faith, peace, joy nor communion with God.
He will have the things money can buy. He will not have victory over sin, demons or fear.
CONCLUSION
Would you like to SOW BETTER SEED? Few prayers composed by the hearts of men have equaled that of Francis of Assisi:
Lord, Make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The evidences of hatred, doubt, despair and the other negative soul-killers are all about us at all times. They will surely master us unless we exercise the strength of character provided by the "Fruit of the Spirit." We should busy ourselves in broadcasting the better seed in order to harvest the better fruits. What kind of seeds are you sowing? (Ps. 126:5-6).
