I want to finalize this series on finances with a passage that wraps up all we have been speaking on with a word of warning.

Verse 6 speaks of sharing with spiritual leaders. 6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Verse 9 tells us to do good, verse 10 especially to the family of believers. 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. These include more than financial help, but they include financial help as well. In between 6 and 9 is verse 7-8.

The first part of verse 7 starts with a warning. The warning is this: Don’t mock God. The word in the Greek comes from the root for nostril or snout. To mock God is to turn your nose up or make an inappropriate noise through your nose. You have heard these sounds before. Someone says something that is way out and you snicker. Someone does something they think if fine, but you think is outrageous and you snort. The verbal sounds indicate a heart that mocks, that makes fun of another.
The warning is clear: Don’t mock God.

We can be deceived on this point. When we hear a message and say, “That’s only for the fanatics”, we mock God. When we decide that we will wait to forgive, wait to repent, wait to stop an immoral relationship, we mock God.

What do we think? Do we think that we know more about live than God does? Do we think that his commands are optional for us because we are different? Do we humor God by only doing what we agree should be done?

When we take this attitude, we are deceived. It sounds good, it feels good, but it is wrong. We are deceived and we mock God.

Don’t mock God.

When the Bible says to “share all good things with his instructor” and we snicker, we mock God. This is the Bible speaking to us. When we say we don’t need to share with those in need and laugh at the idea that anyone else is going to get my money, we mock God. God has spoken to us directly about this.

Don’t mock God.

A man reaps what he sows.

We plant corn and corn is what we get in return. We plant weeds and weeds is what we get in return. If we don’t plant, we don’t get anything. A man reaps what he sows.
8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.
What does it mean to sow to please the sinful nature? The KJV uses the word “flesh”.
It doesn’t mean that we please the sinful nature when we help other people. If you look at verse 6 and 9, both encourage us to help others.

The sinful nature, or the flesh, is illustrated earlier in Galatians.
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Ga 5:13 -21)

Serving one another in love is living the life of the spirit, indulging the sinful nature is to bite and devour other people (vs. 15). Indulging the sinful nature means to be sexually immoral, impure, drunk, following pagan religions, hating, dividing, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition and so on.

If we do these things, we will reap what we sow. If we tear others down, we will be torn down ourselves. If we are impure or sexually immoral, we may find that when we enter a relationship our spouse will do to us what we have done to others. When we are jealous and have fits of rage, we may harvest bitterness and separation. The sure result is destruction. When we sow to the sinful nature, something will be destroyed.
But when we sow to please the Spirit, we will reap what we sow as well. The fruit of the spirit is given:

(Ga 5:22 -23) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

God has no law to condemn loving. He has no law to condemn patience or kindness. God is for goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we reach out in this way to a spiritual leader, God says you will get a return. When we reach out this way to someone in need, God says you will get a return.

What is the return? The Bible says, “Eternal life.”

From the very beginning, God created man to live with a high quality of life. He placed in the garden of Eden everything that man would need to live forever, including the tree of life. But Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in direct disobedience to God. We call this terrible event the fall of man. And fall he did!
Look at all the works of the sinful nature. These could be called the works of the fall or the results of the fall. God never intended that we live this way, but we did and have and so many do. When we live according to the flesh, according to the works of the sinful nature, we reap destruction wherever we go. This is why families are torn apart, this is the root cause behind war, poverty, and even environmental issues. The result of the fall is seen in election tactics and in the fact that we need multiple parties to make sure that no one is steamrolled by those in power. All of this is expressed well in Ephesians 4 where Paul writes

(Eph 4:17 -18) 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

But when a person becomes a Christian, instead of separation from the life of God, they are joined into the life of God. They experience life eternal. They come into contact with the life God always intended before the fall. It is the spiritual life, the higher plain, the deeper life, the abundant life. Use whatever name you want, but it is higher, better, greater than the life we lived before Christ. We experience the fullness of the Christian life. We find out about God’s life, the life that is eternal. Instead of destruction, there is wholeness, building, fullness and completeness in this life.
So how does this relate to the issue? Paul is saying that when you support your spiritual leaders, when you give to those in need, you are sowing spiritual seeds that will result in a harvest for which God will give you credit. Notice the wording: 8 the one who 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.

What is the point to the Galatians? Paul is telling them that if they give to help those who preach and teach the word of God, they are not wasting their money, they are investing it. He is telling them that when they help those who are in need, especially those in the household of God, they are not throwing their money away, they are planting seed money that will have eternal benefit. There will be a harvest. What they sow they will also reap. There will be a return on their investment. What goes around comes around. The return will not be destruction, but rather life eternal.

I don’t know if you realize it, but the money you invest in the salaries for the pastor, youth pastor and administrative assistant entitles you to share in both the credit and the joy for those who are saved or who grow through our ministries. When you provide the building, heat and lights for the classrooms, electricity for projectors and other tools of ministry, you are investing in eternal life issues. When you support the Sunday school teacher, the deacon’s ministry, the small group ministries with your funds, any harvest, any spiritual benefit, any spiritual growth, any eternal benefit that comes out of that is a result of a joint effort. Your giving enables another to plant and water. And through that God gives the increase.

But beyond that, when we give we get. The Bible says that if you want friends, be friendly. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. If we sow negative, we will reap negative. If we sow eternal, we will reap eternal.

There is a harvest day coming. God has a day in the future in which the true value of all we say and do will come to light. It is a day that will divide truth and error, sheep and goats. It is a day that will reveal the true impact and significance of even the smallest things.

What will be your part in this?

As I close this series I will say that there are some in this church who are planting a tremendous amount of seed. You are giving in proportion to your means and even above your means to see the kingdom of God move forward.

There are some who are planting little or no seed. Instead of seeking first the kingdom of God, you are seeking first the things of this world.

In the studies I have done, I have come across an interesting fact. For most people in church, the more people make, the less percentage they give to the kingdom of God. In studies done across America, the lower your economic status, the more apt you are to tithe ten percent of your income to the Lord. The higher your income status, the more percentagewise you keep for yourself.

A while ago we had Rich Warren’s, 40 Day’s of Purpose in the Church. His book, the Purpose Driven Life has been on the New York Times Bestseller list and he has made millions in sales.

In an article, he writes about the battle we have with the “lust of the eyes”. This is what he writes: “There’s only one antidote to the ‘lust of the eyes’ (or materialism)--and that’s generosity. Every time we give, we break the hold of materialism in our lives. When The Purpose Driven Life came out, I had more financial opportunities than I’d ever had before. Kay and I could have let that money change our lifestyles. We could have moved into a bigger house and got a nicer car, but we didn’t. Why? I didn’t write it for the money. I believe the first line of the book: it isn’t about me. We decided we wouldn’t change our lifestyle one bit. I gave back every dime of money I had earned at Saddleback. From that day on, I haven’t taken a salary from the church. We also became reverse tithers. We give away 90 percent of our income.--Rich Warren

So what kind of a harvest will he have? If he invested 90% of his money in homes, cars, vacations, and the pleasures of his life, when he came to that harvest day, what would be the value of his investment?

But with the choice he and his wife made to invest in eternal things, what will be the value of his investment when he stands before God?

These are the same questions we need to ask.

I have never done this before. But I want to encourage you to consider planting seed money into the kingdom of God.

First, I want to encourage you to plan to give. Sit down with your spouse or by yourself and pray to God and say to him, “God, what do you want me to give.”
Second, I want to encourage you to give that amount first. In the Old Testament, they gave 10% of their wealth to the Lord. It was considered a “firstfruit.” The “firstfruits belonged to God because he was the one who gave them what they had.”
Third, I want to encourage you to test God. (Mal 3:10) 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. This is the only place in the Bible where we are told to test God. I want to encourage you to give responsibly, yet in a way that may seem sacrificial or may stretch you. Our family has been stretched in giving the tithe. I would encourage you to consider the same.

Fourth, I want you to look around. Do you hear any testimonies of what God has done? Do you see any good things happening spiritually? Are you blessed by our musicians, by the preaching and teaching ministries of the church? In some way, all these things have happened because someone gave. I would like you to sense and feel that whatever God is doing here in this place, that you are a part of it.

Don’t mock God. Whatever a man sows he will also reap. Contribute to the sowing and you will partake in the harvest.