Gal. 6:7 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 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. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

The above admonition tells us that we should not practice self deception by believing we can mock God by living after the flesh and claiming to be the disciples of Christ. The above sets forth a certain principle of God's dealing with his children on matters of how they live their lives. As Old Baptists we love the "shalls" of the scriptures. There are two "shalls" in verse 8 above. These are certain consequences to the actions we take in this life.

Paul compares the behavior of the child of God to the sowing of seed in the field and the subsequent reaping of what was previously sown. In the above analogy there are two fields: the flesh and the Spirit. Obviously for a person to be able to sow to the flesh and to the Spirit, he must of necessity have both flesh and spirit. You cannot sow a field that you do not have. Only God's born-again children have both flesh and spirit. Those who have not been born of the Spirit only have flesh. They can only sow to the flesh. You cannot sow to the Spirit unless you already have spirit. In the above analogy, Paul is addressing church members. He is addressing the members of the churches of Galatia. These people have both flesh and spirit as they are born-again children of God.

When we live to satisfy our fleshly desires we are sowing to the flesh. When we live to satisfy the desires of the spiritual inner man we are sowing to the Spirit.

Paul tells us that there are certain consequences depending on which field we sow into. If we sow to the flesh by living to satisfy our fleshly desires, the consequence is that we will reap corruption in our lives.

If we sow to the spirit by living to satisfy the desires of the spiritual inner man we will reap life everlasting. This is not getting everlasting life, for those who have been born of the Spirit already have everlasting life. It is to enjoy the blessings of that life which we already have.

There are numerous examples in the scriptures where children of God sowed to the flesh and reaped corruption. We now look at some of these examples:

1. David sowed to the flesh when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed on the battlefield. Subsequently, David saw four of his sons die by violent action. He also had rebellion in his own household and his own son Absalom take and violate ten of his concubines. David lost the joy of his salvation because of having sown to the flesh.
2. Isaac deceived Abimelech the king of the Philistines by telling the people that Rebekah was his sister, when in fact she was his wife. Isaac was rebuked by Abimelech because of this, but Isaac reaped further corruption when his own wife, Rebekah and younger son Jacob, conspired to deceive Isaac into giving the blessing unto Jacob thinking that it was Esau. Isaac, thus practiced deception and then was deceived. He reaped what he sowed.
3. Jacob joined with Rebekah to deceive his father, Isaac. Subsequently, Jacob went to Padanaram to escape the wrath of Esau and there fell in love with Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban, his uncle. Jacob agreed with Laban to serve him seven years for Rachel. When the time was completed and Jacob was supposed to be given Rachel, Laban deceived Jacob by giving Leah his older daughter to be the wife of Jacob. Jacob sowed deception and then he reaped deception.
4. Jacob took advantage of the carnal lust of Esau for a pot of beans and bargained with him for the birthright. Then Jacob deceived his father, Isaac, into giving the blessing unto him instead of Esau. Subsequently, Jacob had to flee for his life from the anger of his brother who purposed to kill Jacob for what he had done.
5. Abraham and Sarah agreed on a scheme to help the LORD out by having Abraham take as a second wife Sarah's handmaid, Hagar. The child born of this union was named Ishmael. Ishmael mocked Isaac, the promised child, at the time of his weaning. The fleshly actions of Abraham and Sarah resulted in a dislike between Ishmael and Isaac and the descendents of these two boys are still fighting in the world today.

While there are many more examples in the scriptures of people sowing to the flesh and reaping corruption, we also note that the time of reaping is often much later than the time of sowing. Just because we do not see immediate consequences to our actions does not mean there will not be consequences. As our text says, we reap what we sow.

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Above we dealt with the negative consequences of reaping corruption by sowing to the flesh. Now we look at the positive consequences and assurances of a certain blessing by sowing to the Spirit.
Some examples of those who sowed to the Spirit, who subsequently reaped everlasting life, are as follows:

1. Enoch walked with God three hundred years. Enoch enjoyed the close fellowship with God for the three hundred years that he walked by faith with God. Subsequently, he was translated that he should not see death for he had this testimony that he pleased God.
2. Noah, sowed to the Spirit by being obedient to the command of God and building an ark. Subsequently, Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives all escaped the flood that destroyed the earth during his day. In addition, they had the knowledge that God was with them and was leading them during this whole ordeal. Noah sowed to the Spirit and reaped life everlasting.
3. Peter and the other apostles sowed to the Spirit by leaving all and following the Lord. Mark 10:28 "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Like Peter, I have experienced some of these things in my own life.
4. Every time a group of the Lord's humble people sow to the Spirit by gathering in His name, they reap of that everlasting life that God has given them: Matt. 18:19 "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Paul concludes his argument by encouraging the disciples of the Lord to be diligent in doing good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. We are sowing to the Spirit every time we do good to others. The Lord said: John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Let us not be weary in well doing. Let us not faint. The Lord will abundantly bless us in due season.

Elder Vernon Johnson