True Spirituality | Tyrone P Jones | No Other Gospel

Amen. You may be seated. Now, we're coming to kind of toward the end of Galatians. And this particular section, you know, last couple of weeks, two weeks, three weeks maybe, we dealt with verses 16 through 25 and addressing the conflict between the flesh and the spirit, and how strong that is, and how constant that is, and how each one of us have to walk through that battle. Paul, you very much can tell that he's bringing the letter to a close because he does this so often in all of his writings. He'll go from a lot of biblical principles and truths and doctrinal stuff, setting stage for theology, and then he starts to close out with some practical stuff. It's like he has an agenda of what he wants to teach, or yeah, through the writings, and then says, okay, now that you got that, remember this, remember this, do this, do that, be like this. And that's kind of what he does here. He, after telling us what it means to walk by the spirit and be led by the spirit, he now just kind of brings out some stuff that's really just kind of personal holiness, that this is what it means to be a Christian. John Stott said it this way. He said, Galatians 6 shows us the social consequences of the gospel, the social consequences. So if we have the gospel, understand the gospel, what is the social consequences of that? How does that affect us in everyday life? And I titled this message True Spirituality because it brings out some things that I think are truly spiritual indeed. And so the first one, and I will read the first five verses again, but true spirituality restores one another and carries each other's burdens. This all operates from love. It all operates from the law of Christ that we read about in verse number two. And so, just hear this again. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you or ye who are spiritual... It's very seldom that I use the old King James version, but I broke it out, you know, had to dust it off, but here it is. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. I want you to hear this. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man put to the proof of his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not another. And then watch this, for every man shall bear his own burden. And so, in this discourse of principles, he starts out with saying, listen, here's what we do as people. We restore people. Paul absolutely assumes that Christians will sin. That's not permission, and don't take that as permission. That's just the reality of life. And if anybody is sitting in here that tells me you don't sin, you just lied right there. And so, Christians do sin. But what Paul is saying here, the issue is not so much that. The issue more so is how does the spirit-led community respond to that? And he really does put an onus on us in a couple of ways. First of all, if we see someone doing wrong, and they're part of the spiritual community, or if they're caught doing something wrong, Paul is basically saying, none of us should just stand by and do nothing. If we know someone is doing some sinful stuff, and they're confessing Christians, we shouldn't just do nothing about it and take the pretext that it's not our business, or that we just, you know, stand by and with the idea, well, I just don't want to get involved. Paul is saying, no, no, that does not help the Christian community. And if it affects that person, then it affects us all. Because remember, we're all one family. We're all one community. He says, what we should do is restore that person. We don't reject them, we restore them. The word he used here, charizo, it means to put them back in order, back to their former condition. So if we see them in acts of sin that we know is not Christ-like, not godly, based on their confession of faith, Paul says, listen, the mission here is to restore those folks, to reset them, to help get them back in the right place, just like a doctor would reset a bone. It would be, what would you think of a doctor if you went and you know your bone is broken, collar is broken?

arm is broken, leg is broken, and he looked up on it and said, man, I don't know, I really don't think this is something I need to get involved with. You wouldn't go back to that doctor, would you? It's the same mindset for us with Christianity and the faith, that we don't look up on a person and say, I know they're broke, I know they're doing the wrong things, I know they're jacking up their lives, but you know what? It ain't my business. No, we don't do that. We don't despise them. We don't condemn them. And we don't gossip about them. And we certainly don't judge them. Luke 18, 11 says, the Pharisee, this is when Jesus was using the illustration of two different people. One guy went in and he was totally broken. He went before the Lord in Luke 18 and he said, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. He went in the temple and he prayed and he said, I know I'm a sinner. But then there was a Pharisee who was standing right next to him and the Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank you, God, that I'm not like other people, cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I'm certainly not like this tax collector. And so we don't have that kind of mindset. True spiritual people we restore. We help people get back on the right path. You see a very good illustration of this with Jesus and with the woman that was caught in adultery in John chapter 8, verses 1 through 4, I think, will be on the screen. It's actually verse 5 that actually has more implication. But as you're reading that on the screen, you'll see this Jesus is teaching. There's a big crowd gathering as he's speaking. Some teachers of the religious law who knew what the word said, they come to him and they bring this woman and they say, this woman was caught in adultery. They say this in front of the crowd. And they said to Jesus, this one was caught in adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her, but what do you say? Now, Jesus could have said, well, you know what the law says, stone her. But that's not what he did. You know the story there. He bent down, he'd done some writing. He said, though, he without sin cast the first stone. He'd done all of those various things. But it's the ending of that, of course, everybody walked away. Jesus had all right to really embarrass this woman, condemn this woman, and commit her to execution. But then when Jesus looked up after everybody left, he says, is there anybody here that condemns you? She says, no, there's no one. And Jesus says, I don't condemn you either. But watch this, because sometimes we leave it right there. But I don't condemn you either. I'm not the one that's going to be judging you. But Jesus did judge her. He did judge her. He says, but I don't condemn you either. Condemnation

is not judgment. But here's where he did judge her. He says, now go and sin no more. Now, catch that. What did he say? Woman, you sinned. You sinned. But I want to restore you. Go and sin no more. So the message there is clear. Jesus saw the opportunity and said, no, no, no. No, I don't want you to do this anymore. That's not what you should do. So go and sin no more. This is what I know. When people are in sin, and there's times when discipline is needed. I don't have the time. I was very tempted to go into what takes place when someone is caught in sin and don't repent. But don't need to do that now. You're smart people. You won't get this. I won't have to worry about it no more. Somebody say amen. I'm going to get this. I won't. Amen. Here we go with the golf claps again. Okay. So some people caught in sin may need discipline. But I'll tell you what people don't need. They don't need amputation. They don't need to be, they don't need isolation. They need restoration. We need to restore people back into the community and back into fellowship. Martin Luther said this, talking about people that are in sin. He says, you run unto him. You reach out your hand. You raise him up again. You comfort him with sweet words and embrace him with motherly arms. That's what we do. We don't just stand idly by. We don't act like it ain't our business. We don't judge them in a matter where they're so condemned and they're isolated, but we actually gently. And I like what Paul said, watchfully. He said this very carefully. He says, we need to be careful to watch ourselves in the process because every one of us is susceptible. Oh, y'all want to remark with that? I'm preaching the gospel. And then when I mess up words, you want to say something. But, but, but he tells us are susceptible to sin and to stumbling and to falling. And, and so he says, now you be careful in the process of that. You watch yourselves. It's, it's, it's, I mean, we, we hear the stories all the time. Doctors that are treating their patients get themselves in a mess. Pastors that are counseling people get themselves in a mess. Watch yourself as you're restoring people so that you don't stumble. You just got to keep in mind that the church is, it's not a, it's not a courtroom where we're trying to seek convictions. We're not, we're a hospital trying to heal people. A hospital trying to heal people and for them to be fully committed and to love people and to enter restoration. So he gives that principle. And then, and then he, then he gives another principle. He says, carry each other's burdens fulfilling the law of Christ. Chris, if you can help me with this. He says, carry one another's burdens. And in this case,

he's not talking, yeah, the big one first. He's not talking about sin. Just lift that up so I can pop that off. Let's see, did we do that right? He's not talking about sin. In this particular case, he's talking about the burdens of life that people carry. Now, I don't know how much this pack can hold. I don't know, this, I don't know, probably 150, 200, but I'm pretty strong, but so I don't know how much it can hold. But, but this is what I know. Some people in life, it's not necessarily sin that weighs them down. It's anxieties of life. It's fears. It's doubt. Some people can get just so overwhelmed with a lot of grief that they just can't even bring their head up because of death and loss and passing. The scripture says, the scripture says, people in that nature, they need our help to carry them. Now, there's, we can, I guess, at times probably can look up on them and say, man, man, I got my own stuff to carry. I'm sorry you're going through that, but you just got to do the best you can. That's not how the Christian community replies. Because what I've learned about all of us, every one of us are wounded healers. Every one of us are carrying our own stuff. And yet we know because we're in the family of God, we still, even with what we are carrying, want to help other people carry theirs. Because we're trusting while we're doing that, people are helping us carry ours. That's community. That's what the Christian family does. So, so Paul says, listen, there's some folks that's got some big, heavy burdens that they're carrying. As a community, we come alongside them. And at CTC, I can tell you, the church, of course, is rather large, and I'm sure there can be people that are missed. But that's why we set up our care and discipleship. That's why we set up our care and support. And Pastor OJ and Candy do a great job with that along with their teams to help people go through this tough stuff of life. Paul says, we got to help them carry those burdens. And why do we do this? We do this out of the law of Christ, which is love. John 15, 12 says this, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. So he's saying to us, love is helping people carry those burdens. 1 Peter 4, 8 says, most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. We don't do this with a feeling of superiority, because we can look down on other people and see them carrying their burdens and say, and I've heard this kind of foolishness even growing up in Christianity. Man, they've gone through so much stuff, they must be sinning. Anybody ever heard that? They must be sinning. They've gone through so much stuff, something in their life must not

be right. No, no, no, that ain't the case. I can absolutely tell you personally, that ain't the case. Life is just life, and life can just weigh you down. Am I talking to the right church? You may be worried about job. You may be concerned about relationship. You may be concerned about how you're doing with your children and parenting. You may be concerned about finance. I mean, there's just so many things that can take place. And once you allow these things to get on you, then they can pile on. So he said, listen, he said this, don't be conceited about it and don't provoke people when they're going through. through these kinds of things. Don't think too highly of yourself. As a matter of fact, he used the term scopiest. He says, you better observe yourself, Chris, you can take this. You better observe yourself while you're going through that and don't think too highly of yourself. Instead of provoking people with your inferiority, which honestly, or making them feel inferior with your superiority, honestly, what usually happens in cases like that is you poison a relationship. I don't go back to folks who I'm going to talk to about issues and when I walk away, they just made me feel like I'm condemned and going to hell. I don't call them back. Matter of fact, I very often defriend people, but I did somebody last week. I thought I'm done. Okay, let me just move on here. But you know, you poison a relationship. You poison a relationship. Remember what, the words in that hymn,

the hymn is called Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, but it uses that word, that line, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Every one of us can get to that place. So we don't want to feel like we're superior over others who are going through issues, who are burdened by things, who may not, may be stumbling with what they're carrying. We find a way to come alongside and hold them up and carry some of that burden. In Romans 12, three says this, because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think you're better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of others. Measuring yourselves by faith that God has given you. Measuring yourselves by faith that God has given you. Now then he does, he does this third thing. And it's in verse number five, he says, in so doing, we help carry one another's, we help them carry their own burdens. Sorry, Chris, if you don't mind. This one I actually might be able to do myself. Remember, I'm strong, I got it. So, you may look at this and you may say, okay, you just told us that we gotta help carry people's burdens. But then, he turns around in verse number five, and he says, by doing this,

you help them carry their own burdens. It's so wonderful. I love reading and studying the Bible, because sometimes you see words and you think, that's the same thing, I'm confused. But actually, no, in the Greek, it's not. That first word, burden, or load, that we read in verse number two, is barrows. That word means heavy load that can overwhelm anyone. But this word, in verse number five, is the word fortean, and it actually means backpack that anybody can carry. So, on the one hand, Paul says this. Fellow Christian brothers and sisters can have on a barrow, such a heavy, heavy load, and if we have an eye out for people and love people and care for people, we can see that they're carrying that heavy load, and we wanna come alongside and help them. And as we help them out of love, what they end up carrying on their back is just a backpack, which Paul is saying, every one of us can carry, and honestly, he's saying every one of us should have. Because the burden that we do carry are burdens which are everyday, also, life stuff, burdens that we learn how to take to the Lord. So there's some things some people can help us with. Come alongside us, help lift that. If they're going through grief,

sometimes it's just being present. Sometimes it's a meal train, whatever. You know the various things that the Lord leads you and guides you and instructs us to do that just kinda helps that. But then, every one of us have our own issues that honestly, the Lord ain't asking people to help us. The Lord is actually teaching us to take those things to Him, to take those things to Him. Because some burdens that we carry, we need the Lord to help us and guide us. Here it is, the Lord helps us. Psalm 55, 22 says, give your burdens to the Lord and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Meaning you carry. We've helped them do it. Now, there's a lovely thing about this. Because honestly, sometimes, even when we're carrying. a load that we know we can, sometimes we let that thing just weigh us down, and we start lagging, we start falling back, start slipping up, not going to our small groups, hitting and miss with church, just carrying the normal things of life, and instead of going to the Lord, we just let that stuff take us farther and farther back, out of community, out of fellowship, et cetera. I've seen a marvelous thing happen, especially in our community with Marines,

when people are running, when doing their PT, and they're carrying their loads on them. I've seen this, and I'll probably use an illustration of what I see in football that's a little bit better. I've seen the leader come from the back, from the top, and go around behind the one who's lagging. Now, we do something like this similar in football. I think it is called crazy train, I think. Let's call it crazy train right now. For the sake of the name, it could be, you know, Rhett's pretty colorful with his language, so we'll just go with crazy train. But it's when the whole team has to run, and it's inevitable, they're all running, they're chanting, they're doing their thing, et cetera, et cetera, and the idea is you go so far, the leader does, and it's inevitable, there's gonna be somebody in the back that's lagging. Everybody's in the tight-knit place, but sure enough, there's always one, sometimes two, that's in the back that's lagging. Here's what the leader does. After so long, he leaves the front of the pack, and he runs back there where the guy that's lagging, and he gets behind him. Now, when he gets behind him, he can't carry him. That's not his job. His job is not to say, man, we gotta finish this, just get on my back. No, no, his job is to get behind him and say,

come on, Elias, you can do this. We all can do this. We've been trained, we've been prepped, we're in shape, we're in condition, let's get up there. We gotta catch the rest of the team, and eventually, that guy who never was carried, eventually, he runs quick enough till he gets right up there with the rest of the group. That's what the Christian church should do. When we see people lagging, we don't come, what's wrong with you? You ain't come to church, you ain't going to Bible study, you ain't in fellowship, no, no, you get behind and say, come on, Janice, we all in this together. We are family, we are community, we can do this together, and eventually, you end up with the rest of the group. So Paul says, we teach them, we help them carry their own burden. Now, verses six through eight, he gives us this wonderful principle of sowing and reaping. He says, true spirituality, or my line here, true spirituality is proven in sowing and reaping. Listen to this, verse six through eight. Let one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher. Don't be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows, don't miss this, he will also reap. Because the one who sows to the flesh

will reap to destruction from the flesh. But the one who sows to the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. You know this principle, it's a universal principle. Whatever you sow, you're gonna reap. That's a universal principle. Every farmer can tell you that if you wanna harvest, you gotta put seed in the ground, you gotta sow it. If you sow wild oats, you're not gonna end up with strawberries. That's just not where it's gonna happen. Job 4.8 says this, my experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. That's a principle. If you plant trouble, if you cultivate evil, it's coming back to you. There's a passage in Proverbs, I think it's 1723, somewhere in that area. It says this, if you do evil to people, if you cheat people, evil is coming to live with you. I tell you, I've said this to folks, when they've done me wrong, I said, you better add on to your house because evil is coming to live with you. Not so pastoral, I guess, but it's a Bible principle. So the more you sow, the more you harvest. The principle works in every arena of life. Here it is, of course, when it comes to generosity. 2 Corinthians 9.6, the point is this,

the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. And so, he picks up and. A lot of commentators are not so sure why Paul went this route. I got my thoughts, but I'll just leave it at that. First, but he says, sowing and reaping, he's talking to those who are ministering the gospel in verse 6. And basically, he says, if you sow good seed, if you sow the word of God to those that you have responsibility for, that you've been assigned to, if you share the gospel with them, then good is provided for you. Simply put what he's saying, if people who invest their life in Christian ministry, Christian pastorate, who give their life to sowing good seed, the preaching and teaching, they'll also reap a livelihood, that they shouldn't be concerned about how they're going to live because they're sowing good seed. 1 Corinthians 9, 11, he says this, since we've planted a spiritual seed among you, aren't we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? So he's saying, listen, fellows, if you're sowing good seed, don't worry, don't worry, you'll reap a harvest. Martin Luther did make a statement that I thought was pretty good. He said, it is impossible for one man, both to labor day and night, to get a living, and at the same time, give himself to the study of sacred scripture as preaching the gospel requires. It's a great statement and it's a truth. 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 18 says this, elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching, for the scripture says, you must not muzzle the ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain. And another place says, those who deserve, they deserve their pay.

And so what Paul is reminding them of is this, listen, sowing the gospel into people's lives and reaping the benefit of that is not charity, but it's partnership, it's partnership. Well, then in verse number 7 and 8, he brings that to everyday life and how that is for people. And he talked to the Christian minister about sowing and reaping, now he's talking to us about Christian holiness and that our character is shaped by our conduct. So he's already said, we are to walk by the Spirit. Now he's saying, we are sowed to the Spirit. It's a sober warning. Spiritual laws are as real as physical laws. If you sow to the flesh, you're going to receive corruption. That's as real as any physical law. If you sow to the Spirit, you're going to reap eternal life. And he makes this so strong in verse number 7, he says this, don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. He's saying, don't fool yourself. Don't think you can mock God in such a way that this will not come true. Don't be misled. Don't mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. We got so many examples in the Scripture of people mocking God and reap destruction. You can read in 1 Samuel 17, Goliath was mocking God and he reaped destruction. You can read it in Acts 12 where Herod set up on the throne in Acts 12 and mocked God. And he reaped destruction right before the eyes of the people.

They saw worms come and eat him up because he mocked God. We were in Cuba a few years ago, 2019, which was a historical event when we went down to Cuba. We went to the place of Ernest Hemingway, the place where he would hang out. And I didn't know as much about Ernest Hemingway then. Of course, I knew his name and knew some of his writings. But I didn't know his attitude toward God. But Ernest Hemingway snubbed his nose at God and basically said to people, and wrote some of this stuff, that there's no consequences for life no matter what you do. He said the Bible was an antiquated and outdated book. It has no appeal to the modern man and restricted the pleasure of modern man. He said that moral laws have no relevance. They're just a bunch of superstition. He wrote a parody of the Lord's Prayer. And this is how Ernest Hemingway started it out. Our nada, instead of God the Father, who art in nada, instead of in heaven. Those of you that don't know multiple languages like me and Spanish, nada means nothing. So he says, our nothing who is nowhere, nothing. How did that work out for him? He ended up in drunkenness, hopelessness, and a bullet in his head. His own Bible. his own hand. You don't mock God. You don't mock God. People mock God by sowing to the flesh, whether it's indulging in pride, or gossip, or bitterness, or sexual sin. And all of that usually leads up to just broken relationships and spiritual dryness. Sometimes it's lingering with bad company, company that you know has a bad influence, or reading bad literature, or watching or listening to garbage that just brings corruption within you, and evil, and dishonesty. John Brown, in his commentary on Galatians,

he said this, it is a lie that a man may attain ultimate happiness without living a spiritual life. I love that statement. It's a lie that a man can attain ultimate happiness without living a spiritual life. Romans 2, 6 and 8 says this, he will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory, and honor, and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out anger, wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth, and instead live lives of wickedness. That's sowing to the flesh. It ends bad. It ends bad. But then there's sowing to the spirit. There's prayer. There's repentance. There's the word. There's fellowship. All that leads to joy. It leads to holiness. It leads to endurance and to faith. If you sow truth, you sow love, you sow care, you sow generosity, you sow service. It leads to friendship. It leads to community. It leads to a positive outlook on life. If you honor the marriage bed, if you deny your own ambitions, reconcile with your brothers and sisters in Christ, that's sowing to the spirit. Yeah, team, you can come. And here's the last thing, reaping and sowing. Don't mock God. Sow to the flesh, you get the flesh. Sow to the spirit, you're going to reap eternal life. And he closes this section out by saying this, just keep on doing good. I love this verse 9 and 10, so let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we'll reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. We should do good to everyone. We should do good to everyone. Do I got to keep creating my own amens? We should do good to everyone, especially to those in the household of faith. And I know faithfulness sometimes can be exhausting. It can be exhausting, and especially when the results seem slow. Paul is saying, listen, the harvest will come. Just keep doing good. Look at a farmer, they wait. The farmer doesn't abandon the field because the seed is underground. They wait. And so should we. 2 Thessalonians 3.13 says,

don't grow weary in doing good. Don't grow weary in doing good. The Christian life is marked by perseverance, so we got to keep on sowing. Keep on doing good. Keep on giving. Keep on serving. Keep on caring. Keep on showing up. The harvest will come. And if you get tired, Isaiah 40, 29 through 31 tells us this. He gives power to the weak, I love this passage, and strength to the powerless. Listen to this. Even the youth will become weak and tired. The young men will fail in exhaustion. But hear this, but those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on the wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. That's what happens when we keep doing good. When we're a spiritual-shaped community, we restore the fallen with gentleness. We support those who teach the word, and we sow faithfully, patiently, and lovingly, knowing the Lord will bring a harvest. And speaking of harvest, you're going to witness the life of someone who gave their life to Jesus Christ, and the good harvest that the Lord has produced in them through this baptism. My name is Paola. Before Christ, I was full of hate. I would spend my time drinking alcohol, depressed in my room. I relapsed after being clean for 15 years. Then my mother died, my daughter passed away, and I thought I was going crazy. This last November, I fell on my knees and cried to the Lord to save me. I threw away the drugs and alcohol that had left my... a heart and I could feel myself being happy like when I was a little girl. Yes, I am. Since giving my life to the Christ, I want to tell everyone about Jesus. I want everyone to know that God is the only way that he is the one that loves us all regardless and knows our needs always. I know I'm not perfect, but I love God and I love everyone. Now I'm grateful for the people that Lord has put in my life. Thank you, Candy. Today I'm going public with my faith.

I love Brian too. Awesome. Paula, Jesus said every disciple should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And because of your confession of faith, today I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And according to scripture, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Come on, come on, come on. Let's stand to our feet. We're going to worship the Lord. We're going to thank God for a harvest that was reaped because of somebody doing good, somebody sharing their faith, somebody continuing to care, somebody continuing to love, somebody helping somebody carry their burden, somebody encouraging them that they may do the walk of faith. Our God will do what he promises. If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap to the Spirit. And our God is a God that keeps his faithful promises. Father, I thank you for this opportunity to share your word, to rejoice in you, to celebrate the life of Paola. And Lord, we trust that you will be glorified. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Come on, let's give God a hand of praise.