Eight Ways of Deceiving Ourselves - Part 5

You ask yourself if this temptation doesn't come to you. Don't some of you older people who have been in the church longer, perhaps some of you older sisters, have an itch to go around advising younger sisters? Why? Because you came in the first hour, not the eleventh hour, right? Like these people. You've got enough knowledge in your head to advise them.

You're a somebody. God have mercy on you. You're deceiving yourself.

It's very difficult to find a spiritual person in most churches because, first of all, it takes time to be spiritual. You can't become spiritual overnight. It takes time to be a spiritual man or woman.

Say twenty years. But then by the time the person has gone through twenty years and he becomes spiritual, he suddenly gets puffed up and begins to think I'm a somebody. It's like the whole balloon being pricked and coming down to earth.

There's no air left in it. It's zero. That's why it's very difficult to find spiritual people because gradually they begin to think they are somebodies.

They begin to think they are senior now. They begin to think everybody's got to listen to them. I mean, that's why you've heard me say many times, many times I've said this.

Think of the day when you first came to this church. You can do that exercise right now. Think of the day when you first came to this church.

What were you that day? Did anybody even know your name? You were a nobody. In your own mind, remain there. And you'll be alright.

Let God make you the most spiritual person on earth. But in your own mind, think of yourself as the one just like you were when you first came to the church. Lost in the crowd.

Not disturbed if somebody doesn't even know your name. That's how it's going to be in heaven. I hope you know in heaven there's not going to be any seniority.

I mean, I'm sorry to disappoint any of you who were hoping that you would have some seniority there. But I have to tell you the truth. There's not going to be any seniority in heaven.

They're all going to sing, Thou alone art worthy. The rest of us are all at the same level. So let's get prepared for heaven.

And let's consider ourselves equal to the brother who came yesterday. Anyone thinks he's somebody when he's a nobody, he deceives himself. Okay.

Number 5. Again in Galatians 6. And that is chapter 6 and verse 6 or 7. Do not be deceived. Again the same word. God cannot be mocked or fooled.

You can't fool God. Whatever a man sows that he will also reap. The one who keeps on sowing to his own flesh.

Talking about believers everyday. Will from that flesh reap corruption one day. It's like, you know, you keep on sowing weeds you get weeds, a big harvest of weeds.

But the one who sows to the Holy Spirit will from the same Spirit reap eternal life. Now many people think the gift of God is eternal life. That's also in the Bible.

Romans 6.23. It is a gift. In fact everything God gives us is a gift. But though it is a gift, it also says here we reap it.

When I get it finally, it's a gift. And if I get it now, it's a gift. But here it speaks about reaping eternal life.

And I find a lot of Christians who know Romans 6.23 the gift of God is eternal life. Don't know Galatians 6.8 which says if you sow to the Spirit you reap eternal life. It's the same apostle Paul who wrote both verses.

And if you take one verse alone that's how the devil tried to deceive Jesus by quoting one verse the gift of God is eternal life and I would say it is also written if you sow to the Spirit you reap eternal life. If you put it together you get the truth. So there is such a thing as reaping eternal life according to Galatians 6.8. How do I get that? By sowing to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

If you have received the Holy Spirit even if you have not filled with the Holy Spirit even if you are not baptized and immersed in the Holy Spirit if you are born again you have the Spirit telling you my son, my daughter don't do that that's wrong you listen to those promptings nobody sees you you listen to the promptings of the Spirit you are sowing something do you know that every time you listen to the prompting of the Spirit you are sowing a seed and how many times the Holy Spirit prompts you during the day when you are traveling in a bus or driving on the road or sitting in the office or sitting at home or just lying in your bed daydreaming little thoughts come and the Spirit says not that or the Spirit says do this go and help that person or something, some prompting and you do it you know what you are going to reap at the end of your life? eternal life, what a harvest on the other hand here is another person who says he is a believer and all that but he sows to his flesh because the flesh is also there saying hey come on do that nobody is watching come on nobody is watching you do that, do that, do that you know what you are going to reap?

I will tell you what you are going to reap corruption, corruption the one who plants selfishness it's a message the Bible says the one who plants selfishness to sow to the flesh is to sow to your own selfish desires ignoring God, ignoring other people think just of yourself, selfishly sow to yourself until one day you reap a huge harvest of corruption and that's why you find the difference between two believers who are both born again on the same day 10 years later you see a tremendous difference between them, why is that? because in secret one was sowing to the Spirit and in secret the other was sowing to the flesh and you suddenly discover after 10 years, 15 years hey look at the difference between these two young men or these two young women world of difference one is reaping corruption and the other is reaping the life of God don't be deceived don't think the little choices you make each day are unimportant everything is a seed, every decision you make is a seed, is a seed, is a seed the harvest hasn't come yet the harvest will come and the harvest depends on the type of seed you sow now that's what he's saying, don't be deceived and it doesn't matter whether people are watching or not supposing you sow weeds in your garden when nobody is watching will it make a difference? so what if nobody is watching, you're going to get a harvest of weeds even then and if you sow good wheat in your field when nobody is watching you're going to get a good harvest it's got nothing to do with whether people watch you or not it's got to do with what you sow ok, now we go to number 6 number 6 is in the book of James and chapter 1 number 6 James chapter 1 and verse 22 prove yourselves to be doers of God's word and not only hearers you know Jesus spoke about those who hear are like those who build on sand and those who do are like those who build on rock the difference is not that one did not hear and one heard both heard one did, the other only heard so he says here, if you're only a hearer and not a doer of what you hear you're deceiving yourself because if you're a hearer you're like a man who looks at your face in the mirror imagine, all of us look at a mirror in the morning before we go to work dark, some dirt on your face or some food sticking here or there and you don't wipe it off you go away and completely forget all about it and you go to work like that we wouldn't do it