Harvest time is when God brings to fruition what he wants to do in your life in light of what you've sown. Dr. Tony Evans says what you do to bless others is never wasted. One of the best ways to increase the speed of harvest is the good investment you make in the lives of others. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. Every choice we make plants a seed. And eventually we reap the results. Today, Dr. Evans shows how to sow intentionally into the spirit rather than the flesh, and how doing good, especially within the body of Christ, leads to an abundant harvest.
Let's join him as he wraps up our study of Galatians with a challenge to live purposefully and with an eye on eternity. We're in Galatians chapter 6. Last time. We dealt with the fact that. God is not mocked, verse 7.
Whatever man sows, that he also reaps. For the one who sows to his flesh will reap from his flesh corruption. The one who sows to the spirit will reap. From the Spirit, eternal life.
So we said there are two fields. You can sow on. To sow is to plant. One field is called the flesh. The flesh is Pleasing myself independently of God.
The spirit is where I am Pleasing God irrespective of the desire of the flesh. And so he says, be not deceived. What you sow is what you reap.
So the question that you have to ask Is not first what do you want to sow, but what do you want to reap. Because what you want to reap will determine what you sow. When you go to college? your course planning Will be affected by what your outcome wants to be. I want to be a doctor.
Well, that's going to affect. But classes you choose. I'm going to be an accountant. That's going to affect the classes you choose.
So when you look at the The N first. and double back to the beginning. then you are sowing. in light of the outcome. What the flesh wants us to do is so without thinking about the outcome.
The flesh wants us to skip the outcome. And think immediately only about what I'm sewing now. because we're not thinking about consequences upfront. We're just thinking about the desire up front. He says Let us not lose heart.
To lose heart means to become discouraged. to become discouraged. Because it can be discouraging if you're sewing and not seeing anything. It can become discouraging if you are sowing. And you're not seeing the result of the sowing that you're doing.
But he says, For in due time.
So there is always, all farmers know this, a gap. Between sowing and reaping. It's seasonal. You sow now, and depending on what you sow, X amount of months later, you reap. You don't get The sea What you sow come out of the ground the day after you sow it.
But that does not mean nothing is happening. It means you don't see what's happening. Because once you plant that seed, There are things happening, they're just invisible. To the naked eye. What God is doing in your life is.
For a season invisible. When you're sowing to the spirit, you don't see anything happening. And that's why he's very practical here. He says, don't lose heart. Don't be discouraged.
Don't throw in the towel. Don't quit just because you don't see any results yet. He says, in Do Time. This word due time means in the opportune season. When it's harvest time.
Harvest time is when God brings to fruition What he wants to do in your life. In light of what you've sown.
Now. What if you've already sown all these bad seeds? You got, you already got, you got weeds everywhere. Just weeds growing everywhere, okay?
Well, the reality is It's not that you're trying to. Fix the weeds, it's your changing soil. Whatever that is, that's already happened. That is a reality. Assuming Confession and repentance has occurred.
And you've dealt with it spiritually before the Lord. The repentance. Repentance is the inner resolve and determination to turn from sin.
So let's assume that that is. If that hasn't happened, then you're still stuck in the same field. But once you have repented, Then now you go to another field. You don't fix this feel, because that's That field is called the flesh. And the flesh is the flesh.
You can't make the flesh unfleshly. It's what it is. You shift fields. And you begin to sow different seeds. in the new field.
Which he calls the spirit. And so He wants you now to begin sowing, not to lose heart. In due time, you will reap if you do not go weary, which implies something. If you do grow weary, you won't reap. Meaning, if you grow weary, meaning you faint, you quit, you throw in the towel.
In fact, When you get to the point. where you want to give up. That is the exact time you need to keep going. When you get to the point where you want to give up. And we all face that from time to time.
That is the exact time you want to keep going. because that typically indicates you're closer than you think to harvest time. But that's also a difficult time because Israel lost out on the promised land when they were at the border of the promised land. They were right there, numbers 14, but they gave up at the last minute and did not inherit it.
So, you keep going in terms of sowing to the spirit, pleasing God, irrespective of the call of the flesh. And he says, you will reap in due season.
Okay, so what do we do with this? He helps us out. He says, so then, say, so then.
Some of your versions say therefore It means in light of what I just said. In light of what I just went through with you. He says While we have opportunity. While we have opportunity. Let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Now notice he's used the word good already. Because he uses that inverse. Yeah. Let us not lose heart in doing good.
So he attaches sewing. to doing good. Doing good involves two things. It involves Pleasing God. and benefiting others.
He's already talked to the pleasing God part because he talked about. walking in the spirit and being spiritually minded.
So he's already talked about that, but now he brings in this second part, and that is benefiting others. One of the best ways to increase the speed. The speed of harvest. is the good investment you make in the lives of others. It is easy.
When you are getting faint to become self-absorbed. Because you're unhappy, you're miserable. You're tired, and that's just our humanity, and that's right. But he says, as you have opportunity. First of all, do good to all people.
Now it's basically this verse. that gave me the impetus for Our acts of kindness cards. And to just do acts of kindness as you have opportunity, as people cross your path. who you can do some act of kindness for. And there's a million different ways to do that.
But that's the spirit of this verse. As you have opportunity. Don't miss the opportunities that cross your path to do acts of kindness, to do good. Because he puts this in the context of sewing.
So God created. credits that. pleasing God personally, but benefiting others. As it's natural for you to do so.
So I'm not talking about going out hunting for situations. He's saying, as you have the opportunity, just as you move about and you run across them.
Okay. Because he ties that to doing good. See, he's used the word good in the previous verse. Don't lose heart in doing good. What do you mean?
As you have opportunity benefiting others. And then he says, especially the household of faith, that is, other Christians.
Okay, so he gives the general thing to people in general. as you have opportunity. But do it especially. to your brothers and sisters of Christ, because that's a family matter. And all of this is tied to this issue of Sowing and reaping.
In other words, because of the good you're handing out. God is interested in bringing good back to you. That's the idea, the boomerang effect. No farmer. It's Everything he plans.
And no farmer eats everything he plants. If he's farming, he's farming because it's going to the farmer's market, it's going to the grocery store, in other words, it's going to benefit other people.
Okay, in fact, the more he farms, the more benefit goes out to other people.
So, if you carry this mindset, it's a mentality I'm talking about, then you are sowing. seeds for you to reap. For God to reap it back to you. Luke 6:38 makes this clear. Dr.
Evans will wrap up his study in Galatians when he returns in just a moment. First, though, as we've been learning, faith, not rulekeeping, is the key to unlocking God's promises in our lives. And when we sow in faith, we'll reap His blessings. That truth is front and center in Dr. Evans' study of Galatians, as he shows how trusting in God's grace positions us to receive all he has in store.
The entire Eleven Message Galatians series, including a good portion of material we haven't had time to present on the broadcast. is available for you to own and review on C D or U S B flash drive, as well as on instantly downloadable digital files. It's our gift to you when you make a donation to support this ministry. And for the final day, along with all the full-length messages from the Galatians' study, will also include doctor Evans' practical, insightful book, Kingdom Prayer. It's a guide to taking your prayer life to the next level.
Where your communication with God becomes a channel for real change. Learn more and make your request today at tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222, where one of our friendly team members is ready to help with your request any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org. or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Well, let's rejoin Dr. Evans now as he wraps up our study in Galatians.
So Paul now comes to the conclusion of his book. Beginning with verse 11. See with what large letters I am writing to you. with my own hand.
Now, Paul makes it clear that he is writing this personally. There's indication in scripture that Paul had an eye problem, and because of this eye problem, he had to get help in writing. But he wants them to know he wrote this with his own hand.
So Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh. That's the legalist. Try to compel you to become circumcised. come back under the law. Simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
Okay, they want to bring you back under the law because. If you were Jewish, you would be persecuted. By the Jewish legalist. for not coming underneath the Mosaic law. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the law themselves.
So you see, he's talking about circumcision combined to the law. He says, and the ones that are trying to pull you under the law are hypocrites. Because they're trying to pull you up under something that they don't even keep themselves. And so, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But then he makes another statement that's very intriguing.
At the end of verse 14, he says, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. This is very important. When he talks spiritually about the world, he's not talking about the planet, he's talking about spiritually about the world and what we would call worldliness. He's talking about a organized system like the world of politics.
Well, the world of politics has government buildings and all that, but it's talking about a system of governmental affairs. Or the world of finance.
Well, they're buildings, they're banks, there's the treasury. as the Fed, you know. But we're talking about a system that having to do with money. When God is not part of the consideration, You have now become worldly. Even if you're in church.
Because worldliness is a system. That's designed to exclude God.
Okay, so if you get that understanding, then that helps us understand what the concept of the world is. He says he's going to boast in the cross.
So that he might be crucified. To the world.
So the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
So he speaks about a crucifixion. A death. He is no longer obligated to this world order. He is what the Bible says, in the world, but not of the world. He lives in the physical sphere.
of the you know five senses But he is crucified to it, dead to it. In other words, It no longer owns him. It no longer decides for him. It no longer controls him. If you work for one company, And you're under contract of that company.
And you're offered a new job over here. to this company. And you decide to change jobs. You're no longer going to work for this company, you're not going to be employed by that company. This company calls you up.
Now you work for that company. And This company. Wants you to come back over to it to do some things for it. Your ability to do something with this old company. has to be consistent with whatever you're doing for the new company.
In other words, you can't contradict the new company to help the old company. Because you've died to the old company when you change jobs. You're no longer obligated to its demands. When you come to Christ. The world no longer It owns you.
I may think it does. And it may act like it does. But Paul says, I'm crucified to that system owning me.
Now you talk about freedom. It's freedom to know. That system does not. On me. That's a free thing.
to know that I'm no longer owned by that system. And that takes the shackles off, you know.
So that means that system. That system does not own you and the to not be a slave anymore. Ooh, The devil doesn't want you to know that it doesn't own you. It doesn't want you to know that it doesn't own you because As long as you think it owns you, you're in handcuffs. Yeah.
I can't make it without the world because I mean, the world has, is that's where the power is? That's where the people are, that's where the money is, that's where the, okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not your source anymore. That's not your source anymore.
It may be a source God uses. But it's a source that God uses. It's not. You're not owned anymore. And you know, you do what God expects you to do in the world without being owned by the world.
And you are free. That's why Paul could spend this whole book of Galatians talking about freedom. Because he's saying, I am crucified. The world, this system. doesn't get to get me to exclude God now.
Because I am crucified to it. I am crucified. And it to me, he says. And I to the world, and the world to me. It says it goes in both directions.
For neither circumcision, so he's back to the law again. It's anything nor uncircumcision. Close. Being under that system. Is now not a relevant issue.
What's relevant now. is what he calls in verse 15, a new creature. Creation. A new creation. 2 Corinthians 5.
If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. A new creation. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. and all things are of God.
So, the new creation concept is that now God is your new point of reference. for all matters in life. We call that the kingdom agenda. The visible manifestation of the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life. God is now your point of reference.
McKay? God, what do you think about this? How do you feel about this? What do you want in this? What don't you want in this?
You bring in God now, and He says, That is the issue. That is the issue because that distinguishes you from the world. from the world. And that is what matters now. He says circumcision, non-circumcision, whether you're circumcised, whether you're not circumcised.
That's not the point now, it's this new creation.
Okay, so how am I to operate? Verse 16. And those who will walk by this rule.
So he gives you a rule. He says, I want you to roll like this. Those who operate this way, walk by this rule, means operate this way. Those who are, this is how you roll now. Peace and mercy be upon them.
And upon the Israel of God.
Well, okay, basically it's saying the people of God. You're going to experience more peace. You're going to experience more mercy. He says Yeah, in other words. You're going to experience more of God.
That's the bottom line. And then it comes to a conclusion in verse 17 and 18. From now on, let no one cause trouble for me. For I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus.
Now, let me tell you why he says this. He's already said the Judaizers, the guys trying to get them back under the law. are doing this And they're doing that so that they don't have to be persecuted, verse 12. He says, They're doing this so they don't have to be persecuted. He says, I can show you my wounds.
I can show you what I've gone through for Jesus. I can show you this thing is real for me. because they're trying to avoid the marks. I've taken the marks. You will take hits.
For being a full-time Christian and not a part-time saint. You will take hits. for having a God-centered perspective on decision-making. You will get some marks. You will lose some friendships.
You will have some relationships interrupted. You will have some denials. You will have, you know, there is a negative, those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
So there will be those times when there will be marks.
Okay, like Paul says, I bear the marks, the repercussions. Of being crucified to the world, not going along with the crowd, not being like everybody else. Yes, there are marks to that. He says. But Paul would not trade.
The marks of Jesus for the acceptance of the world. And so he closes with the Benedictus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Brethren Fellow Christians. Amen.
So you are free. but you will only experience the freedom that you have. to the degree that you operate in relationship driven a relationship driven orientation to the lord and to no longer letting the world own you, setting God free to work in you, through you, by you, from you. for your benefit and for the benefit of others. Dr.
Tony Evans, bringing to a close his insightful and comprehensive study of the book of Galatians.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, all eleven full-length messages in this sermon collection can be yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help support the alternative's mission of bringing life-changing messages to a world in need. You'll receive the complete Galation series on digital download as well as either C D or USB flash drive. And as a special bonus, you'll also receive Tony's inspiring book, Kingdom Prayer. Touching heaven to change earth. Today's the final day we'll be packaging these two resources together.
So take advantage of this special offer right now by visiting tonyevans.org or by calling 1-800-800-3222. Our friendly Resource team members are on hand 24-7 to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Or once again, make the arrangements online and get your digital downloads right away. at tonyevans.org.
You know, we spend a lot of time asking for God's blessings. But on Monday, Dr. Evans will explain that many times We don't recognize the ones we already have. Be sure to join us for that.
