Radio Broadcast Tuesday 09/19/2024

Classic Christianity – Book of Galatians P23 (09-17-24)

Restore Those Caught in a Sin With a Spirit of Gentleness, Especially for Those in Christ Jesus

~ We get it in our heads, that when a person is caught in a sin, it must be some type of “big sin” as though there are big sins and little sins as taught by the Catholic church for example. But the Truth of the matter is that sin is much more than what a person Does, it’s based on what a person thinks. For example, people can be involved in always be condescending to others, when they think they know more than you do. Or a spirit anger and rage when someone doesn’t do what I want them to do, or when I want them to do it. Or a spirit of pride in themselves, and how good they are based on some form of higher education when in fact they have actually been taught the lies of Satan more so than you, yet they don’t recognize it. Or a spirit of greed, when a person goes out and wants and wants and wants in what is nothing more than coveting more money or this or that. Or a spirit of wrath, where they are going to get even with another person that has wronged them, if it’s the last thing they do. Then there are those that get jealous, or lust after others, or placing idols on pedestals left and right (in the form of people and things) yet don’t have a clue what they are doing, or think that some Man is going to save them in this evil world, or place unrealistic expectations on their mates, and of course get angry with their mate when they don’t do what they want them to do, and on and on it goes. Or the spirit of fear is the big one that goes on today. They are caught in the spirit of fear left and right. They are fearful that they are going to get sick and die from something, or from someone. Yet most people never see these sins in and of themselves as sins, because to them, most of these are simply normal behavior and the world tells them to be afraid indeed. Yet the word of God says the complete opposite of that: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7. They are caught in their sin, and are blind to what it is doing to them. They are NOT thinking clearly.

So what are we to do with people like this, especially if they are in Christ? We are to go to them, with a Spirit of gentleness, and bring them back to proper thinking and understanding through the word of God. But do not think that that could not happen to you, or hasn’t happened to you in the past or even in the present, for we have all been deceived by Satan and his schemes. And those that are spiritual, that have been shown the Truth of the word of God, we are to approach those with the Holy Spirit in control of what we say and do. For the Sprite of God is our true Spirit of gentleness, for do not forget how the Holy Spirit has treated you with kindness and compassion and gentleness. For most today have indeed forgotten the Truth of the word of God. They have trusted in Man instead of God. And it takes discernment and wisdom from God to really understand what is going on in the world today. Nothing is as it seems. Things are much much worse than most imagine.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36

“For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4

Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else. For each one should carry his own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

Final Warnings and Blessings

See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!

Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.

Amen. Galatians 6:1-18

Pray to God:

Do you really want to know the WHOLE Truth of what is going on today?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Lord Jesus, teach me the truth of the world today and give me the wisdom to know the truth and identify the lies of the devil. Thank you God.”

~ “Now, folks, what is he dealing with in this last chapter of the book of Galatians? It’s an attitude. He’s saying, brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, and what does that mean? Does that mean I caught you, or does it mean they’re trapped? You’re trapped in a sin. Now, if you’re trapped in a sin, what do we normally think of, trapped in what? Now normally we think, what? Alcohol, right? Drugs? Yeah. What else? Sex? Is that what you said? What?

What else we trapped in, the what? Yeah, materialism. We get trapped in that. But basically, what do we normally think of? Well, I’m trapped in a sin, drugs, alcohol, sex, you know, right? That’s, that’s a big three, and that’s what we think we’re trapped in. You say, my goodness, if that’s the case, why didn’t he just say if someone’s caught in sex, drugs or alcohol? He said, If you’re trapped, if you’re caught in a sin, trapped in a sin. What can you get trapped in? Can you get trapped in the sin of worry? Can you get trapped in a sin of critical spirit? Anybody trapped in that one? What else can you get trapped in, lust, fear? Good one, trapped in fear. Does any of that come from God? No. Fear doesn’t come from God. God didn’t give you a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind. What else do you give? You did what God didn’t give a selfishness. But all those are traps, aren’t they? So folks, again, we just have to realize that when we look at ourselves, we have to see something about our flesh, and that’s what we were talking about last week. There a good thing in it, and it isn’t that God came to save me a little bit. He came to save all of me. Why? Because all of me is a mess. You don’t need 10% Jesus or 20% Jesus. I call it a brill cream theology, where a little dab will do you, your whole thing is messed up. And that’s what he had to come to save, is you, not just what you’re doing, but to save you.” ~ Bob George

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Announcer 0:12
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Bob George 0:29
Now, he is saying to us, I took away the sins of the whole world. Do we believe that? Do you believe that there is any sin that you have or will commit that God has not taken away? How many believe that there’s no sin that you could commit that he hadn’t already taken away at the cross? Is that true or not? Did he go to a cross to cover sin like atonement, or did he go to cross to take away sin? And when you put God’s blood on the same par as a bowl and goat, you’ve diminished him down to the point of an animal, God’s blood was not the blood of a bowl and goat that covered sin called atonement. God’s blood was God’s blood, and that took away the sins of the world. God was in Christ, reconciling the whole world unto Himself, not counting their sins against them. Do we believe that? There is no sin that I’ve ever committed that God has not taken away. Why did he do that? It because he loved me, because he loved me, and that’s what forgiveness is about. When we refuse to forgive a person, it’s because we don’t love them. Because when you love somebody, you forgive them. That’s why we are so lenient with our children when they do wrong. Don’t blame my kid. He is basically a good person. Why? Well, because we love them, and when you don’t forgive, it’s because we don’t love them. Now if we don’t forgive, then we sit there and say, I can’t forgive. I can’t forgive. No, that’s not your issue. That’s not the problem. The problem is you don’t love, and what did God command us to do? Love. So if you can’t love, go to God with that problem. God, I can’t love, I can’t love. And he says, I know it’s because you don’t understand my love for you, because it’s not that you love me, but that I loved you first, and until you’re grasping a hold of my love for you, you may think you’re grasping a hold of it, but you’re still under the Law. And the reason we cannot love people is because we’re not we have not resolved this fact that the sins of the world have been taken away. That’s why you can’t forgive. And so he’s saying you got a love problem. And if you got a love problem, you got a love problem. That isn’t a big deal to God. It isn’t taking him by surprise. Ooh, I didn’t know that. He knows we got a problem. And so he’s saying, I want to put love in your heart that is so of such a value that there’s nothing left for you to do except love one another. But you see, our hearts, our pride, is so strong that we can’t do that we want to hang on. It feels good to hang on to our resentments. It feels good, doesn’t it? Going to have me a pity party, and you have people who who live in such a way that they say, as marvelous as I am, the world ought to be treating me wonderful and I and I don’t deserve to be treated this way. So I’ll just go get drunk. I’ll show them, or I’ll go commit suicide. I’ll show them. Well, you really show them, all right. That doesn’t prove anything to anybody, but that’s the way our pride is. I’ll just show them. What is it? Pride.

Now, folks, what is he dealing with in this last chapter of the book of Galatians? It’s an attitude. He’s saying, brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, and what does that mean? Does that mean I caught you, or does it mean they’re trapped? You’re trapped in a sin. Now, if you’re trapped in a sin, what do we normally think of, trapped in what? Now normally we think, what? Alcohol, right? Drugs? Yeah. What else? Sex? Is that what you said? What?

And so he’s saying, because of that, as we have grabbed a hold of that truth, here’s how we should respond to one another, brothers, if someone is trapped in a sin, you who are spiritual. Now, what does that mean? Those of you that had your quiet time this morning, or have I tithe on my license plate? Or walk around with your Bible under your arm, looking holy? What does it mean to be spiritual? It’s the opposite of being natural. Are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? Then what are you called? A spiritual being. So it’s like saying, If you who are in Christ, who have the Spirit of God living in you, that’s something real, you should restore him. Do you hear the word restore? Did you not hear condemn? It says, restore. Jesus said, I did not come to judge the world. If we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, what are we doing judging the world? What are we doing judging whatever sin this man is or woman is caught in, remember what the scripture said, hypocrite before you take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. Take the log out of yours. Why does he say that? Because we all got logs. We could keep the fires burning all winter long with our logs. And he’s saying you are hung up on one sin. What about yours? What if people were as unforgiving towards your sins as you are toward theirs. He’s saying there’s an attitude that we should develop as a child of God, and that is quit judging each other, quit being so surprised when we sin. Should that surprise any of you when you sin, should you be? I mean, seriously, does anyone of you like that? Then why should you be surprised when someone else sins, when he says your flesh is always going to sin? Do you think God’s surprised when you sin? Ohh, I didn’t know you’re going to do that one. That’s a new one. Paul, he’s not surprised. I’m not surprised. So why do we act the way we do? He says to us, if you’re in Christ, you should restore a person how? Gently. Now? How gentle is it? How did you do that? One is that gentle restoration? If you have a gentle spirit, you have a spirit that says, we’ve all sinned. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. And my heart is deceitful above all things. And who can know it, but God gave me a new one. I have the ability to grab a hold of that divine nature that lives within me, and also have the ability to grab a hold of this old, yucky thing that I was born with, and the choice is mine, and sometimes I make a good choice, and sometimes I make a bad one. How about you? So he’s saying, restore gently to be gentle.

Bob Davis tells that story sometimes of a guy that’s got a talk program. Certainly I don’t call it biblical, but it’s a talk program that some young lady called in one time and talked about the fact that she was living, she had come to Christ, but she was living with her boyfriend, and who’s kind of eating her lunch, and this guy comes back and says, You’re nothing but a whore. Is that restoring gently? Is that judging? Is that self righteousness? Person like that ought to be taken off the air. If you, who are spiritual, see someone trapped in a sin, he says, restore him gently.

I’m going to ask you a question, folks, if you’re trapped in a sin, are you happy with the sin you’re trapped in? How many of you have a sin that you’re kind of trapped in? And say, oh, boy, you. It. You see, if you were happy with it, you’d be telling everybody about it, but you don’t tell anyone about it, because it’s eating your lunch. It kills you. And so we have to understand that we don’t need more beating up. We’re already beating ourselves up, enough that what we need is restoration, not condemnation. Christ is not condemning you. Why are we condemning each other? Why should this be such a big shock to us? It’s pride.

I had a lady on the air one time was talking and her husband had gone out and had an affair, and all can she just mad as wet hen. And my question to her, Would you be that mad if that was someone else’s husband, we wouldn’t be mad at all with someone else’s why you’re mad? Because it’s mine, and I understand that, but you’ve got to also understand why you’re so angry is because that’s mine, and God says, No, it isn’t. No folks, do you know that we should hang on to our relationships loosely, that the only relationship that we hang on tightly is him. You know why you’re not going to be married forever. As a matter of fact, the minute one of you die, that marriage is over, and when both of you die, it’s really over, and there’s not going to be marriages in heaven. That’s why some people call it heaven. There isn’t going to be any marriages up there. And so we have to understand these truths, that this is all temporary. It’s wonderful and marriage is a wonderful thing, but it’s temporary.

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Bob George 14:00
And so, because in light of eternity, whatever happens down here is a speck of time, whatever happens down here is a speck of time. In light of eternity, do we understand that? So when we start looking at things from an eternal standpoint, we see there isn’t any big deal. It’s bad. It has repercussions to it. Sin always has natural repercussions to it on this level. But we cannot get over zealous. We have to understand it’s happened, and I’m a child of God now I’m going to go and try to restore you, gently, not going to condemn you, because I could do it myself. Now, in case you don’t believe that, keep reading. When you go to restore someone gently, not banging them in the head, not this old stuff. And I don’t know how you could ever do such a dumb thing, because I believe people that say that. And God Says, I’ll show you, I’ll show you how you can do such a dumb thing, and you’ll do something else just equally as dumb. But he says, Watch yourself, or you may also be tempted. So in other words, when we’re going into a situation, we can be tempted by the situation. Now, folks, that is why I do not believe in counseling, that it is wise to sit down, especially with someone of the opposite sex, and let’s go back into your past, and let’s talk about all the things that’s happened to you. And so they start in and they start talking about the things that’s happened to them, you say, really, that’s interesting, and before long, we’re sitting there wishing we’re involved in that. It is not wise to dig into a person’s past in too much detail, especially someone of the opposite sex. Why? You also could be tempted. There are many counselors who have affairs with their counselees. That’s why pastors need to be very careful about that, and counselors need to be very careful about that, because it can happen. I know a situation in Dallas where the counseling counselor was counseling with a couple. Both of them had insurance, and he ultimately said, Let’s just forget your husband’s insurance, and we’ll use that for you so that we can counsel more. And they ended up on the couch. They ended up divorcing. They ended up remarried, and they ended up divorcing again. Can it happen? Absolutely. And so we have to be cautious. He’s saying to us, don’t ever hesitate to reach out to someone who’s caught in a sin, but watch yourself always with an attitude of restoration, not condemnation. But watch yourself, or you may also be tempted.

Carry each other’s burdens. What does that mean? Carry each other’s burdens. In other words, there’s a burden that’s there. I’ll carry it with you. I understand I got burdens too, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. Now we all talk about wanting to be under the law and fulfilling the law. What is the law of Christ folks? Love. Love your neighbors yourself. That’s the law of Christ. Do you want to fulfill the law of Christ, then don’t stop with being loved. Pass it on. And until we’ve passed it on, all we’ve done is become the Dead Sea. And so you carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, fulfill the law of Christ, fulfill the law of love. So here’s an attitude in verse three that keeps us from that if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Now folks, what is it saying here? If you think you’re something when you are what? God sent on nothing. How much do you say we could do apart from Him? Nothing. What did Paul say? I consider all these things lost compared to that of what? Knowing Christ. You see, everyone is trying to build up our self image and tell us, you got to think you’re a somebody, somebody. Paul says You’re nothing. Who are we going to believe here?

Now, folks, when you get another idea that I’m really something, I’m a really, a somebody, somebody. And I want to tell you something that attitude comes and is being fanned by this blab it and grab it mentality that’s in Christianity today. And all you’ve got to do is just ask God, he’s going to do it for you. You just speak it into existence if it we’re not, and it will come to pass. And you just walk around you, just boss God around you. Just tell him what you want, and he’s got to do it for he’s obligated to do that for you. And we’re just a cocky we just strut across the podiums. We’re so cocky, we can hardly stand because I’m a somebody, somebody Paul says we’re nothing, which is it is that going to give you a bad self image to say you’re nothing? No, I just reality. And if you think you’re somebody, get cremated after you die and see how much of you is left. Everything we have is temporal, folks. We think we’re big deals. Driving by Tilton’s place over here on the way in is empty, desolate, empty. Had his day of glory, it isn’t there anymore. We come, it says we’re not even acknowledged. We have our time in the sun, and then we’re gone, and someone else takes over. Said, we’re about as important as sticking your fist down into a bucket of water, and you take it out and you see how much you’re missed. Is that right or wrong guys? My mom and dad were here. They’re gone. They were missed, still to a degree, missed, but time cures a lot of ills. And so we have to look at life soberly. We don’t look at life as look at look at me, what I’ve accomplished, because they could all be taken away. And so he says, If someone thinks he’s something when he’s nothing, he deceives himself. A person walking around thinking he’s a somebody, somebody is deceived. And how many of us have ever been subject to that kind of thinking?

I don’t need a good self image. I don’t need a bad self image. I need a proper self image. The world teaches you. You need to learn to love yourself more. I thought the Bible said that pride was our problem. We love ourself too much. Said before you have somebody come in the office and say, I hate myself, I’m ugly. No, if you hated yourself, you’d be glad you were ugly. I mean, if you had someone across the street, you couldn’t stand it was ugly. Would you be bad? Feel bad? You’d feel good. So we don’t have a poor self image. We’ve got an exalted image. Now that manifests itself in all kinds of ways. But the issue is, pride is the root of all evil. And so he says, You’re deceived. Now each one of us, he says, should test our own actions, then you can take pride in himself without comparing to someone else. So it’s saying, if you’re going to take pride in yourself, take pride in your own actions, not as it relates to somebody else. Now, again, folks, another way that Jesus said was, I’m the vine and you’re the branch, right? So are you a branch on the vine? Okay. So let’s say that you look down and you’re up here, this little, tiny branch with just a little piece of fruit hanging out of it. And you look down below, and here’s a branch that just overloaded. It just got fruit hanging all over. And you look down on there and say, I want some of that. So out you go, trying to grunt and grown out fruit. You’re this branch down there, the whole bunch of fruit hanging on it. You look up with the one or just little one, and say, look at that. Now, does that sound like? How big is your church? Only 1000 got 20,000 literally. Are you doing comparing yourself by yourself? You know what the scripture says a man compares himself by himself is what? A fool. So numbers mean nothing to God. The issue is, how are you doing?

Remember what he said to Peter, I don’t care what I do with John. I’m telling you to follow me. I’m not telling you to be like the crowd. I’m not telling you to follow what the crowd is doing. I’m saying you follow me. Just you, and don’t wait for someone else to come along. Just you follow me. When I went into full time Christian work back in 1971 it didn’t make a difference to me who else was going into it or who had been into it. It was the fact God was saying, this is where I want you to go and you follow. What were the results going to be? I didn’t have a clue. Had two kids to get through college, had all kinds of stuff that I would looked at, would have said, Hey, I can’t do this, but God provided for all of that, and still, to this day, does. And so he’s saying that you can take pride in yourself without comparing yourself to someone else. For each one should carry his own load. God called you individually unto himself. There aren’t any grandchildren in heaven, just children. God called you unto himself. Now, guess who’s leading you, the Spirit of God. You don’t need to go to a big assembly to pray. Isn’t that some thought that the only place I can pray is on Wednesday night. He says, You pray. You see a person caught in a sin. He says, You go to them. You know our deal is, hello, Salvation Army. No. He said, You go to them. You’re the one. You’re there, you go to them, you help them. And again, when God puts these circumstances in front of our face, that’s where we have the opportunity of responding. God’s done that now he says, respond to it. So carry your own load. Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share good things with his instructor. I love that passage. Let me read that again. Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Now, what is that? What does it say? What is that saying, guys? All of you are blank out there. What does that mean? It means to share with your instructor. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean strictly money? No. Could mean sharing your lives, sharing your prayers, sharing passing on the message that he’s passed on to you or she has, whatever it might be, financial is certainly there. That’s what giving does. It does help to provide for the income of people who are doing the sharing. So what does it say? Share with people who are sharing what, giving you instruction, where? In the word, it doesn’t say to share with those who are developing programs. It doesn’t even say sharing with those who are calling you to prayer. It says who are sharing what, instruction from where? The Word. Where else you’re going to get instruction, except in the Word of God, and so it says, to share with them. Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Announcer 27:11
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