We Reap What We Sow In Kind
Again, let us read Galatians 6:7-9 – Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Last Sunday we started this series about sowing and reaping. The first lesson we learned about sowing and reaping is that “We reap only what has been sown.”
Whatever we sow, we reap; so that, if we sow good, we will reap good. This principle as stated in Galatians 6 is an absolute law. It starts with these words, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked.” These words introduce not only the law of sowing and reaping, but the fact that we reap the same in kind as we sow. This is a warning and it stresses the importance of the absolute nature of this law.
“Be not deceived” is an imperative command that means- stop allowing yourself to be deceived, stop allowing yourself to be led astray, or never even allow it to happen. It anticipates the constant threat of our spiritual enemies seeking to wreck havoc on our spiritual walk with God. It warns and reminds us that Satan and the world system under his control is never at rest.
And then it says, “God is not mocked.” “Mocking” is like you’re snubbing or turning up your nose against someone with contempt to ridicule. Folks, we cannot do that to God without tragic consequences. We cannot ignore and treat God, and treat His truth and laws with contempt by attempting to live on our own wisdom and ways without serious consequences. And then, that’s followed with these words…
“For whatsoever.” “For whatsoever,” makes this command all-inclusive! It applies to any and everything we sow. Then, the words “that shall he also” makes the connection in kind to what we reap. Since everything reproduces after its kind, God can never be mocked because the law of sowing and reaping sets it. Just as when you sow rice, you would not produce corn, or breed carabaws and produce horses. It will always be after its kind.
Therefore, no one can sow evil and produce good. We cannot sow discord and produce unity. We cannot sow lies and produce truth. We cannot sow sin and produce holiness. If we sow to the Spirit, we reap of the Spirit righteousness. If we sow to the flesh, we reap of the flesh corruption. If we sow evil, we will reap evil. If we have filled our minds and hearts with evil, we cannot bring forth what is God’s good.
If we sow seeds of apathy to God, we reap the fruits of apathy. What are the seeds of apathy? It could be indifference to God’s words and His ways, it could be coldness to church activities and service, it could be ignorance, hardness, greediness or self, and it could be frustration. Jesus gave this rebuke in Matthew 12:34-35 to the Pharisees who were showing indifference to Him saying that the power he had in doing those miracles are from to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Jesus blurted out….
-O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Can you the reaping after its kind?
And you might say, we don’t do that to God! But these spiritual apathies can affect even the most sincere Christian if we are not careful. Why? It is because our human emotions are fickle. It gets affected with the circumstances around us. It could be because you expected so much of the Pastor or of anyone in the church and they offended you for some reason. Then you got discouraged. You don’t want to come to church anymore.
And the next thing you know is instead of being propped up by God’s words, you start to be indifferent to God, as if it was God’s fault and weakness. Folks, let’s be careful because feelings of disinterest can sometimes replace the passion we once have for the things of God. This is the reason why we must be watchful and alert all the time because our minds can be darkened and blinded.
Ephesians 4:17-19- This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
So, here’s what happens. This is something we need to think about: Every time we sow a thought, we reap an act; every time we sow an act, we reap a habit; every time we sow a habit, we reap a character; and every time we sow a character, reap a destiny or the destined result. Then as I was reading Hosea this week, this is what I read in Hosea 8:7.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. “Wind” represents all efforts that which lacks substance, like works of the flesh, it’s futile, it’s worthless, and of no eternal value. “Whirlwind” represents the harvest in kind which comes from sowing the wind. All her efforts directed toward self would be self-destructive.”
It is because we reap the same in kind as we sow. We’re going to dig some Bible characters here to illustrate this. David in 2 Sam 11:2-3 we see how he coveted his neighbour’s wife, then in v4, he kidnapped Bathsheba and finally committed adultery with her. And because sin breeds sin; (haven’t you noticed that a liar would always cover his lie with another lie?), David committed murder to try to hide his sin in v15. This was just the beginning because each of these sins he committed he reaped disastrously that affected him and his family.
If anyone had warned David before his affair with Bathsheba that it would break the laws of sowing and reaping, he would have denied himself of his lust particularly the law that says, “we reap the same in kind as we sow.” This ugly story strongly stresses out our need to follow God’s warning to “take heed lest ye fall.” David’s downfall into sin posts a serious warning to each of us of the deceitfulness of sin and its dreadful consequences in the law of sowing and reaping.
That’s why as a church, we need to be very closed knit with each other to be able to exhort; exhort is encourage, urge or even pressure one another into godliness. We become so closely knitted to a point where no one would say, it’s none of your business. Well, of course, if you are my brother and sister, you are my business because I care for you.
Here, in this church, I have personally warned some of you of the sins you need to surrender before the Lord if you want God to bless you and your children. Whether you take heed to my warnings or not, I believe I did that in the spirit of love and that I won’t be answerable to God for you anymore.
If you see your brother or sister doing something that will burn them one day, please lovingly warn them. Hebrews 3:13-14 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.
Here, Jesus has offered to break the pattern of the laws of reproduction.
If you are now in Christ, saved, redeemed, we are now made partakers of Christ. You see, we were all created after and in the image of God. But sin broke that law. Therefore, that image after God’s likeness was broken. Adam now is separated from a holy God and he became unholy. That’s why you will find in Genesis 5:3 – that when Adam begat a son, he begat a son now after his own likeness, and after his sinful image.
That’s the principle of reproduction. Romans 5:12 says- Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: You can read this right up to v18.
The principle of reproduction is that God created everything after it’s kind in Genesis 1:24-25. Look the words, “after his kind” 4 times repeated in those two verses. Then in v27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Why male and female? That’s God’s wisdom for reproduction!
God did not create Adam and Steve but Adam and eve. It cannot produce anything. In our world today, we find that this law is broken right on our face, in same sex cohabitation. Praise God for the queen of England declaring that in her country is only male and female marriage. God, in fact, has given a law in Leviticus 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie or sleep with mankind or man with man, and womankind or woman with woman: it is abomination.”
God ordered everything to produce “after their kind.” We all recognise that this is true in the biological and zoological world, but what is true in the physical world is also true in the spiritual world. Adam was created after the image of God and he would have reproduced that image from generation to generation if he didn’t sin against a holy God.
He was created for fellowship with God and to walk in dependence on Him. Adam would have likewise reaped the results of that wonderful fellowship with God. But when he took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was forbidden to him. As a result, he reaped: spiritual and physical death in his own life and the life of his future. As a further consequence of his negative choice to live independently, his sinfulness was transmitted from generation to generation.
That’s why the Psalmist in Psalm 51:5 says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. That’s why I said last Sunday, that you don’t have to teach a baby to lie. They already got that whether you like it or not. In fact, Psalm 58:3 says,
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
So, apart from God’s intervention in sending His Son Jesus, “the fall” actually disabled man’s ability to sow and reap spiritual fruit and the experience of any fellowship with God. Adam reaped spiritual death (or loss of fellowship with God) and began to die physically. We were dead in trespasses and sin but glory to God we can be quickened and be made alive in Christ Jesus.
Praise God that we can be regenerated. REGENERATION is rebirth and restoration. We need to die to self and be alive in Christ. That’s why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-6, knowing that Nicodemus is spiritually dead, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” to which Nicodemus answered, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
But notice the emphatic answers of Jesus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, ….That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This is the law of reaping the same in kind from what is sown. Because of this, the natural man can only sow and reap according to the flesh as we find explained in Galatians 6. But in Christ, we become new spiritual creations. John 6:63 – It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
And we become new creatures with the capacity to sow and reap in the Spirit. 2 Cor 5:17 -Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God and the gift of spiritual regeneration, man gains the capacity to sow and reap spiritual fruit and reap the blessing of God on this life and in the world to come.
While our human good can produce some benefits in society, in families and nations, without God’s Word and new Life in Christ, there are no solid way, or spiritual capacity for us to be sowing good and reaping accordingly. Look at what’s happening in the world today, until everyone gets saved (which is not possible because man will always believe in anything but the existence of a God) man will continue to face moral deterioration and decay and reaps the same in kind as he sows.
Before I finish, let’s talk briefly about how to overcome these bad seeds of apathy. As Apostle Paul points out, we are daily in a spiritual warfare. Therefore, overcoming is necessary for continuing our walk with God.
If you are humble enough to admit you are spiritually apathetic or spiritually unconcerned, you need first of all, to make sure you are a true believer in Jesus Christ and you are saved. You might ask, how do I know I am saved? Well, if you ask me, this why I know I am saved: I can see and feel the Holy Spirit guiding my thoughts to the things of God. There are times I rush out from my bed in the morning and just before I reach the kitchen, the Holy Spirit impresses in me to pray first.
The same is true in reading the Bible. The Holy Spirit in me would reveal in my thoughts, what’s the rush. You have not even read my words yet. And so I humbly ask for forgiveness and do the things the Holy Spirit is guiding me through. I become very God-dependent. That’s some of the reasons why I know I am saved. Romans 8:16 says- The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
So, now if you know that you are saved or a true believer in Christ, you need to then ask yourself this question: “What caused me to lose my love and passion for the Lord?”
One cause of a bad seed of spiritual apathy is sin in the believer’s life. When David sinned, he felt separated from God. He prayed in Psalm 51:11 – Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. And as he confessed his sin, he begged in v10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Then in v12, he pleaded, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
A believer who feels spiritually apathetic should confess any known sin and ask for God’s cleansing and renewal. Another cause of a bad seed of spiritual apathy is allowing dead religiosity to replace a true love for the Lord. A Christian is to be marked by his love for and obedience of Jesus.
John 14:21 says, He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. What is worth noting though is that sometimes we can very well obey but without love. It is possible to cling to the truth and serve God- and yet, we do so in a loveless, lifeless fashion. A mechanical service will not be pleasing to God.
This was the Lord’s condemnation of the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:4: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” When Paul wrote to the same church years back, he commended them for their love (Eph 1:15-16), but here Jesus says they had left their first love. Meaning, their passion for God had waned.
Why? Perhaps the Ephesians had begun to take for granted what they had in Christ. Living for Christ was no longer a daily adventure for them; it was becoming “boring,” and they were losing sight of their eternal purpose. The church at Ephesus knew the teachings of Christ, but they were not living in His power. In so doing they lost their vibrant love and passion for Christ.
Please let it not be said of us here at MBBC. Let us be on fire for God. Let me then give you biblical solutions for turning the seed of spiritual apathy into a renewed love and passion for Jesus Christ. God’s word to this spiritually apathetic Ephesian church in v5 was, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” This is the message: you need to remember, repent, and renew if you have become spiritually apathetic. Remember is think back to the time when you sensed the warmth and closeness of Christ’s presence.
That’s how loving our God is. He causes us to remember so that we can return to Him as we remember. Then we need to confess and repent from our sin to God (1 John 1:9). And then we need to renew. We must cultivate a renewed commitment to the Lord—not just in serving the Lord, but in knowing Him, in praising Him, and in fellowshipping with Him through your reading and personal devotion.
Sometimes though, there will be some chastening that God will do because He loves us. Hebrews 12:7-8 says, If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
We should start again. We should let the indwelling Holy Spirit empower us so our life will display the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). And if you have been missing church, you need to be aware that that God tells …us to consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:24-25.)
Satan loves to see us sowing the seeds of apathy. But we must stay alert to the temptations of the old nature, the world, and the evil one. We must never lose the sense that God is always with us and in us. I love the words of God in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that says- “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (our earthly bodies), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
As we begin to worship and praise the Lord and let Christ control our lives each day, we will rediscover a life of adventure filled with joy and eternal purpose. Let’s pray….
