Be Generous And Do Good

                                                             
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
 
When we feel afraid, worried or uncertain about certain things, the present, the future and so on, it lifts our spirit and strengthens our faith to remind ourselves of the glorious character of our God. He is the Rock, He can never be moved, a solid foundation. His works are perfect in all that He does. All His ways are justice. He is a JUST God. A God of truth, there is no lies in Him. Righteous and upright is He.
 
The word that really caught my eye in this verse, is the word “Justice”, He is a Just God.
 
Webster dictionary defines “Justices”, as…
Judge- supreme court, the administration of law, the establishment of rights according to the law, the quality of being impartial, or fair, a concern for justice, peace genuine respect for others.
 
These are the qualities of our “Just” God. He’s judgement is fair, simply because He is righteous! We live in a world where being fair…being just is hard to find. At times, many would like to blame God for the things that are happening around us. The disasters, the violence…they blame God. The most famous question an unbeliever likes to ask is, “if there is a God, why does He allow bad things to happen?” We’ve all heard that right!
 
You see, God’s judgement has always been fair. Even from the beginning, all His works were good. Sure…we have no control of the weather, whenever natural disasters strikes, like hurricane, earthquakes, tsunamis, you name it, out of our control. But one thing we do know is that Gods plans are always perfect. We just live in a fallen world.
 
The human-race just likes to pass the blame. And why not? We did inherit that from the fall. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent. And out comes the fall of all mankind. You see, God being a “just”, a judge… could not allow the fall (sin) to ruin what He has created. Everything the Lord created was good! You see, God could have destroyed the whole world, which He did in the flood, but He kept mankind alive, but still stained from the fall, (sin). Being a Just God that He is, a price needed to be paid. But how much? At what value? It has to be something of great value, to pay for the sins of the world, It had to be His one and only Son.
 
Jesus was the price to save the world. To save you, and I. You see, God is perfect…Jesus is perfect. You and I, we’re not! We need help, we need a lot of work…. That is why scripture remind us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. (Phil 2:12)
Church… likes I said earlier, we live in a fallen world, and we cannot join in that mess. We have been set apart from the world. We are just passing by. This is not our home. From time to time, we will make mistakes, and we need to own those mistakes…. learn from those mistakes. We cannot blame God for our mistakes.
 
James 1:13:15
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
 
Church… you are here today, you just read it. God, being the “just” God that He is, will not tempt you and I to do evil… to sin! That is not His character, it’s not one of His attributes. He is holy, He is perfect, and He is Just. So… we need to realize that we have the problem, and we need to work at them in a way that will be pleasing to our Lord.
 
Galatians 6:7-10
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
 
Each choice that we make brings with it a consequence. If we make wise, God honoring choices then we will experience positive consequences. If we make sinful, disobedient choices then we will experience negative consequences. Sowing and Reaping has both positive and negative connotations.
 
If you sow good things, you will reap good things! If you sow honesty, you will reap trust.
If you sow goodness, you will reap friends. If you sow humility, you will reap greatness.
If you sow perseverance, you will reap victory. If you sow consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you sow hard work, you will reap success. If you sow forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
 
On the other hand, if you sow bad things, you will reap bad things.
 
If you sow dishonesty, you will reap distrust. If you sow selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you sow pride, you will reap destruction. If you sow jealousy, you will reap trouble.
If you sow bitterness, you will reap isolation. If you sow greed, you will reap loss. If you sow gossip, you will reap enemies. If you sow sin, you will reap guilt.
If you sow worries, you will reap wrinkles.
 
 
 
I submit to you, that not only do you reap what you sow, YOU WILL REAP MORE THAN YOU SOW! - Take for instance a farmer who plants a kernel of corn. That one kernel has the potential to produce a stalk with several ears that contain many kernels of corn. If the stalk produces 2 ears of Corn that would be approximately 1600 kernels.
 
With that in mind... it is imperative that we sow the RIGHT SEEDS! I would like to look to these verses this afternoon and preach on this thought "You Will Reap What You Sow! Let's begin by looking at the opening verse: V7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”.
 
We begin with an important warning... When we live as if our rebellion against God has no consequences we’re acting in a very foolish manner. Paul says that you cannot mock the justice of God. No one will ever disobey God’s commands and escape divine punishment. 
 
Hebrews 12:5-8
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
 
You see…the flesh is the natural part of us that wants to live life on our own terms. Even though the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit the flesh still puts up a fight. When we sow to the flesh we are yielding to its sinful desires. We are failing to "walk in the Spirit" and instead we are fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.
 
You see… I don’t know if you know this or not, but satan, is also a good fisher of men. Now-now, wait… let us not start passing the blame on satan. Satan can also set a bait… a trap to lure the Christian into sinning. But… we don’t have to take the bait, we don’t have to fall into his traps. We can just ignore him and move on.
 
We are told that, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction”.
Destruction speaks of decay, ruin, and corruption. Over time, rebellion against God destroys a person, just as a fatal disease slowly takes a life. Are you sowing seeds of the flesh? Maybe you just need to get saved and Jesus takes full control of your life. Or maybe you would say "I know that I am saved preacher but if I am honest, I have sown some seeds of corruption" then, you need to return to the Lord today confess, and get a new bag of seeds! (Seeds for eternity)
 
 
This whole sowing and reaping thing isn't all bad. There is a positive side as well. There is another seed that can be sown, it is the seed of the Spirit.
 
Galatians 6:8
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
 
To sow to the Spirit means to do things that please the Lord. When we do this it will continually increase the Spirit's influence in your life. Simply put. sowing to the Spirit means allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way.
 
Notice if you will John Macarthur’s comments on this matter:
 
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as to "walk by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16)
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as to "be led by the Spirit" (Gal 5:18)
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as to be "filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as "abiding in Christ" (John 15:7)
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as "continuing in Christ's Word" (John 8:31).
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as "walking in Christ" (Col. 2:6)
To sow to the Spirit" is the same as "setting one’s "mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col 3:2)
                                                            -Powerpoint-
 
We are told that when we do sow to the Spirit, that we will reap everlasting life. Everlasting life speaks of eternity. Keep in mind, our eternal life doesn't begin after we die, it begins at salvation. By sowing the seeds of the Spirit, we will also enhance the quality of our life here and now. Another great benefit of sowing to the Spirit is that you will have an impact on the Kingdom of Christ.
 
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
 
This refers to the one who is sowing the seeds. Specifically, the seeds of the Spirit. If you continue to sow to the Spirit there will be an eventual reward. There are times when the work is difficult! There are times when we get weary! There are even times when we want to quit!
But we are reminded, “to not give up”.  The Apostle Paul also remind the Corinthians, and you and I to not give up…
 
1 Corinthians 15:58
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
 
“Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord”. This is no guarantee that you will have all that you want in this life. It is no promise of material possessions. You may never even get any type of recognition down here. It is no guarantee that you will not face danger, trouble or trials.
 
Consider if you will:
 
*Paul was faithful in his labor for the Lord and he was beheaded.
*Peter was faithful in his labor for the Lord and he was crucified upside down.
*James was faithful in his labor for the Lord and he was beheaded.
*John the Baptist was faithful in his labor for the Lord and he was beheaded.
*John the Apostle was faithful in his labor for the Lord and he was exiled to the isle of Patmos.
*The remainder of the Apostles were faithful in their labor and they all died as a result.
 
You and I, may never be known…be famous. But that’s ok, we’re not doing this for fame, this is for the Lord. “Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord”.
 
In conclusion, let us look at our last verse V10:
 
Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
 
“Be generous And Do good”. “especially to those who belong to the family of believers”.
Jesus remind us that, “by this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another”. Sometimes it takes only one little word, a smile, a hug or a grasp of the hand to let them know that they are not alone. That you are sharing in their joy, in their burdens, just as Christ has joined you in yours.
 
I do hope and pray, that the Lords message has reached you well. Sow the seeds of the Spirit amongst each other. We’re all that we have. Do not let the seed of the flesh ruin your relationship with each other. Sin will tear us apart, and we cannot allow that.
 
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers”.