Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: Making a decision today, I'm going to follow Christ. Today, I'm surrendering myself to Christ. I'm asking for the Holy Spirit to produce in me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor of Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Galatians. Let's listen in as JP gives part two of keeping it real.

JP Jones: See, whatever area you're comparing yourself with with someone, you will either falsely think you're better than you are or falsely think you're worse than you are. Because the problem is you're comparing yourself to other people rather than standing for God's presence and letting God speak to you about your life. And it's a symptom, you see, of not taking personal responsibility for who you are and who God made you to be and what God's called you to do. If anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions, and then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else.

Verse five, for each one should carry his own load. That's interesting because it says in verse two, bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. Here it says each one should carry his own load. Well, again, Paul is using kind of a play on words because there are two different words for burdens in verse two and load in verse five. The word for burden is the Greek word baros, and the word for load is the Greek word phortion. One implies the overwhelming heaviness that can kind of defeat us. That's burden. The other is the stuff that's appropriate for each of our responsibilities.

That's load. Sometimes in life, things become overpowering and overwhelming, and we need one another's support and help. But that doesn't deny the truth that every day their daily responsibilities, that's our own stuff that we have to take care of. Let me give you an illustration if it maybe can help a a picture for you. Let's say we're all students in school and we have backpacks that we carry our stuff in. And everybody here has a backpack, and we've got, you know, our books and for for our classes and our papers and our pencils and erasers and the stuff that we need, that's all in our backpack.

So, we all get ready to go to school. We put our backpack on because it has our stuff in it. And we are wearing our backpacks to school. We get to class, we take our backpacks off, we go into the classroom. And while we're in the classroom, somebody comes along and puts a bunch of really heavy rocks in my backpack. So, when the class is over, we all get out, we go to put on our backpacks. I go to pick mine up. It's so heavy I can't even pick it up. Now, you have your backpack and you need to put on your backpack, but all also you need to help me put on mine.

It doesn't really matter how the rocks get there. Whether the rocks are there because I made some sinful choices, whether rocks are there because I stepped out of God's will, whether the rocks are there because of the family I came out of and the stuff I just carry through my life or whether it's spiritual warfare or whether it's God's unique design to test me. It doesn't matter how the rocks get there. They create the backpack to be so heavy I can't lift it on my own and I need your help. But you help me while you're carrying your own backpack at the same time.

We are to bear one another's burdens, but we're also to take care of our own load, you see. Because what this passage is telling us is that we as followers of Christ are to own our our own life issues. We're to own our own feelings, we're to own our own thoughts, we to own our own emotions, we to own our own actions at the same time caring for one another and helping one another. We need to take responsibility for our stuff. That's that's keeping it real. That's that's the spirit-filled life in action. Here's a second thing that Paul says in this passage in the series of these exhortations.

We need to take care of those who bless us spiritually. We need to take care of those who bless us spiritually. It says in verse six, anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. When it says those who receive instruction, it's a it's a Greek verb katacheo. It's where we get the word catechism. From the earliest church, there was a spiritual catechism principle. In other words, when we cross the line and we we give our lives to Christ, we we we make much of that around here because God makes much about that.

But that really is just the first step of a whole lot of other steps. We are all in a process of being discipled and becoming formed to become like Jesus Christ. And that's what this is describing, that spiritual formation process, receiving instruction, receiving the word, receiving spiritual input, receiving encouragement, receiving the the modeling and pastoring and shepherding and discipling and teaching of others. Now, there's an immediate context to this was the way the local church got set up. I mean, from its earliest formation, it was God's design that of the body of Christ there would be those who would be called out by virtue of their gifts and passion and calling to teach and minister and shepherd and pastor the rest of the body.

That's not just a New Testament principle, that's an Old Testament principle. That's the Levitical principle of the 12 tribes of Israel. One tribe was called out to kind of spiritually shepherd and minister and lead the other tribes, the tribe of Levi. And so the Levites had a calling to spiritually care for the rest of the tribes. And because they did that, the other tribes were to contribute financially to make it possible for them to do it. That was through tithes and offerings in the Old Testament. So, what Paul is saying here is part of this owning our own stuff is owning our call to care for one another, and in particular, those who spiritually lead us.

Those who make a spiritual investment in our lives. It's true that this is kind of immediately the principle of how a church can operate. But it's more than that. Cuz think about all the people in your spiritual journey who've had an impact on your life, all the people God has used. On Wednesday night, I lead a group of men. We we're in a discipleship study. We are studying the book Master Plan of Evangelism. And and we are talking about how did Jesus disciple the disciples. In a couple of weeks ago, one of the things we were talking about was our own personal spiritual history.

And a question that I'd asked the guys to consider was who are the people that God has used in your life to disciple you, to teach you, to encourage you, to pastor you, to shepherd you. Who are the people that God used to have an influence on your life and how did he use them? What what what was the spiritual influence? Think about if we were to actually do that, do that exercise, and then thank those people, appreciate those people, let them know how God used them in our life. Wouldn't that be great? Maybe you're one of the people that will get thanked.

Maybe you're one of the people who will receive a phone call or an email and someone says you don't even maybe realize this, but God used you in an amazing way to help me in my my walk with the Lord. I think if we created that kind of culture here, it would just elevate our sense of involvement in one another's lives and appreciation and gratitude and encouragement and we'd be contagious in this community. And it would spill out and bless the entire community, you see. And that is exactly why God led Paul to write this to this church at Galatia.

In in the first letter possibly that Paul wrote, this book of Galatians, and in a letter that's filled with all these deep theological issues, he's just keeping it real and says listen, the people that God uses to bless you, appreciate them. And if that's in a financial way, make sure you do it that way, but appreciate them and share all good things with them. Because it creates a culture of generosity and a culture of encouragement and a culture of blessing. We need to take personal responsibility for our stuff and we need to take care of those who bless us spiritually.

Here's a third idea of how we just keep it real. We need to take advantage of the law of reaping and sowing. We need to take advantage of this. You see, Paul has um introduced this concept of sharing good things with those who teach us and instruct us. The idea is is immediately financial. And what Paul does is he backs this up with a larger principle. The law of reaping and sowing or the law of sowing and reaping depending on how you understand it. He does the same thing over in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 because in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 Paul is talking about the New Testament principle of generous giving and sacrificial giving.

And he uses the same example. You reap what you sow. And so he comes back to this here in Galatians chapter 6 and says do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. In fact, what Paul is saying is this, whether the issue is financial stewardship or any other life management, a spiritual principle that just God has said is true is this principle of sowing and reaping.

And we need to be aware of it and not only aware of it, take advantage of it. Cuz it can work either way. It can work for good or it can work for bad cuz it's just a principle that works. See, it's really not that complicated. If I invest my time, my talent, and my treasure in the world, I'm going to become more worldly. If I invest my time, my talent, my treasure in the spirit, I'm going to become more spiritual. So, do you want to become more worldly or do you want to become more spiritual?

It's not that complicated. You know, growing spiritually, becoming more like Christ, becoming a person of spiritual impact from a big picture perspective is not that complicated. So do the spirit, and from the spirit you'll reap eternal life. But if you're not doing that, guess what? By default, you're sown to the flesh. Because what this is saying is we need to take a proactive stance about our lives. We need to take a proactive stance in terms of investing in the things that matter for eternity and sowing to the things that will reap a spiritual harvest. Whether that has to do with our financial stewardship or any other aspect of life.

I mean, take the obvious example of of of physical conditioning. You know, I've been sharing for the last year or so all the Jacuzzi ministry stories. I don't know if anybody is sharing their faith anymore, but I know some of you are working out more. I see in the gym. I see more people from Crossline at the gym now than I ever did before. If you exercise, you get a return. I mean, think about this show the uh you know, uh America's Biggest Loser. You know, without I'm not being critical, but they get people who are obviously overweight.

And maybe for some of them the first time in their life they get on a healthy diet. Maybe for some of them the first time in their life they're on a disciplined exercise routine. And guess what happens with every one of them? They lose weight. Why? Cuz they're reaping what they're sowing. Think about it as a spouse. If you sow as a spouse with your husband or wife, if you sow into your marriage anger and resentment and a critical spirit, what are you going to reap? Now, if you sowed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which is the fruit of the spirit, what do you think you're going to reap?

As a parent, think about it. If if you sow into your relationship with your child, you don't have time for them, they're just a drain on your energy. They can do whatever they want to do without any sense of discipline or consequence, what are you going to reap? On the other hand, if you sow that they matter, in fact, they matter so much you want to raise them to become a godly child and you want to love them and pray for them and discipline them, what are you going to reap? See, this law of sowing and reaping applies to all of life.

And we need to be aware of it and we need to take advantage of it. That's what Apostle Paul's saying. Spirit-filled people understand this Biblical truth and apply it in a way that produces kingdom results, eternal results, spiritual harvest. Now, here's the caveat, and this is what's very important. We don't get to leverage God in terms of when and where he produces the harvest. So, inevitably, we don't always see the harvest when we want to see it or how we want to see it. And so what can happen for with good people, loving people, Christ-following people is we get tired of sowing good.

Cuz we're not seeing the results we think we should see. So, he encourages us and cautions us. Verse nine, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. So, twice he says don't get weary of doing good and don't give up. And let's just be real, keeping it real. Sometimes I get tired of doing good. I do because I feel like it's not being appreciated. Or I feel like it's not returning what I want to to return when I want it to be returned.

And Paul is saying here, when that happens, when you are just tired, bored, weak, frustrated from doing good, when you want to just give up, remember the law of the harvest. God will not be mocked. That's remember how he introduced that, the first line. Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked. Don't get into that stinking thinking. Don't get into a worldly mindset. Don't start feeling like it's up to you or don't start feeling like it doesn't matter or don't start feeling like I just want what I want when I want it. Remember the law of the harvest that there is a harvest when we whatever we sow, we are going to harvest it.

And if we will sow to the spirit, we will harvest from the spirit all the spiritual fruit. It may not come when we want it. It may not come in the way we want it to come, but God honors his promises. And this is a promise. We need to encourage one another in this. We We We need to stand side by side with one another in this, whether it's in the area of our marriages or our parenting or our spiritual lives or our desire to serve God or our desire to fulfill the Great Commission or it's our financial stewardship, whatever it is where we're trying to put into practice this Biblical truth of sowing and reaping, we need to realize there's going to come a time, and maybe we're in it, when we're not seeing the return we think we should be seeing, but that doesn't mean God's not going to honor his word.

He's going to. There is a a non-viable principle here of we reap what we sow. So, let's keep on keeping on. Here's a fourth truth from this passage. Take the opportunity to do good to all people, especially believers. Take the opportunity to do good. It says verse 10, therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. In effect, what Paul is doing here is he's landing this plane of keeping it real. He's been giving us a series of applications, exhortations, and promises all that are like this is the real stuff of life in the spirit.

And then he says, therefore it's one of those little things that if you're a Bible student that you ought to notice, what's the therefore therefore? It's a word that means conclusion. Or in light of what I've said, here's the big idea application. And in light of what he's been saying in verses 3 to 9, what's the big idea application? As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. Do you know that as followers of Christ we've been called to do good? Cuz God's good. It reflects his nature.

It's all about, you know, loving God and loving people. Now, the NIV postures this kind of in a passive way as you may have opportunity. The the word opportunity here is the Greek term kairos. It's a term for time. There are two words, chronos and kairos. Chronos means the flow of time. We get the idea of chronology from it. Kairos also is talking about time, but time from the aspect of opportunities, moments that have potential that can either be redeemed or forgotten, missed. And the idea in this passage isn't if you have opportunity, but when you have opportunity, take it.

Every day there are opportunities to do good to somebody. To your spouse, to your kids, to your neighbors, to the person at work, to the person that serves you at the restaurant, to the person you talk to while you're pumping gas. I mean, we're we're running into people all the time. Either person or on the phone or through email, we have the opportunity to do good. Do we take it? You see. And that's the command of Galatians 6 here. This is where he's saying all this is kind of leading up to this. Do good. In every window of opportunity there is, take it to the fullest.

Especially with believers. That's interesting. Why Why is that? I mean, we're supposed to be witnesses, aren't we? To be winsome with with the world and and be the light to the world and represent Christ to the world. Yes, of course. He's not saying don't do it with them, but he's saying especially with believers. You know why he's coming back to this truth? We've been called to be a family. We have a spiritual bond in Christ that is going to last for eternity. And right now, it's a laboratory to figure out how to make it work, and in eternity it'll work perfectly.

So, as we have opportunity, and we do, let's take it. Here's what I've discovered. And again, this it's not brain surgery, rocket science. If I'm not really looking for opportunities, I miss them a lot. But when I have a mindset that they're going to come and so I am aggressively looking for them, I see them when they're there. How about this? How about getting up every day and making a decision today, I'm going to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Today, I'm going to follow Christ. Today, I'm surrendering myself to Christ. I'm asking for the Holy Spirit to produce in me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And today, I want to have spiritual eyes to see all the opportunities that are around me. And Lord, when they're there, I'm going to take them. See, now all of a sudden I start seeing stuff I never saw before. And I realize it's not all about me cuz I'm not, you know, just a flaming narcissist. It's about God and others. And I I want to bless people. And if that person's not a believer, I want to bless them by trying to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ. And if that person is a believer, I want to bless them in any way I can, financially, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually.

However I can bless them. See, that's just keeping it real. The Christian life isn't designed only for monks in a monastery. It's for real people in the real world. And when we live it out, we get the opportunity to do good to everybody and especially to believers.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or give us a call at 949 916 0250. That's 949 916 0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book Facing Goliath.

Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. In Galatians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul is telling us to keep it real. The Christian life is lived in the real world. Following Jesus in the real world is what it's all about. He says this in Galatians 6, brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual, restore them gently. But watch yourself or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens and in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions and then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else.

For each one should carry his own load. Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.

These are practical instructions about keeping it real. We need to live the Christian life in the real world. If that seems strange to you or mystical to you, then just read the word of God and do what it says. That sounds pretty simple, but we do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the power of the Holy Spirit, read the word of God and do what it says, and that's keeping it real. God, I pray that you would lead us to read the word of God, to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit and to do what it says, and that you, Jesus, would live in us and through us.

And we ask for this in your name. Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or call us at 949 916 0250. On the internet, you'll find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.