[0:00] Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6.! Last week we keyed on those phrases.
[0:45] Ye which are spiritual, restore. Today, look at verse 2. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
[1:01] But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.
[1:13] If you've read this chapter before through this section, you've probably always gone like me. You look at verse 2 and you go, bear ye one another's burdens. You look at verse 5, and every man shall bear his own burden.
[1:27] We'll talk about that before we're done today. We'll look at that a little bit. Let's have a word of prayer. Do you have any, Father? I pray that you would be with us this morning as we look at your word.
[1:38] Lord, I pray that you would take it, help us to understand. Lord, help us to apply the things of your word, Lord, to our life.
[1:49] Lord, our title is Make Me a Blessing. And Lord, as we talked last week, those that are spiritual are supposed to help restore people. How do we do that? One of the ways we do that is by the things we're going to look at this morning, being a blessing to people, helping them out, uplifting them, bearing their burdens.
[2:07] Lord, just help us to be used of you to be a blessing to people around us. Lord, I pray that you would help each one to hear your word today, to understand it, to understand the fact that Jesus came, and he did exactly these things for us.
[2:25] He took our sin on himself. He gave his life, though we might not have to face eternal death. He took our burdens on him. And Lord, we just thank you for all that Jesus has done for us.
[2:39] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Paul, so far in this book, has been challenging us. He says, look, some of you, he's been reproving them in the fact that some of you have already been turning away from the things that I taught you and the things that I've shown you and the things that I've given you from God's word.
[3:01] He says, some of you are already starting to turn away from that. Don't do that. Don't go after the things of the world. Don't go after the things of men's philosophy, but follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:12] And then he gave instruction about how to do that. All throughout the rest of the book, he's been telling us, stand fast in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:23] Today, he's continuing with that, and he's showing us, look, you need to understand what God is doing. You need to be a blessing to others. He's saying, look, the way you treat one another is important.
[3:41] You know, a lot of times, Christians don't treat each other well. Last week, I gave you the little quote that we have heard so often. Christian army is the only army that shoots its own wounded.
[3:53] You know, we go after people, and instead of helping them, instead of trying to be spiritual and restore, sometimes we go after people. And he says, no, no, no, no, that's not the way it works. That's not what you're supposed to do.
[4:05] He says, look, this instruction I'm about to give you, it is important for you as a church, it is important for you as Christians, to understand what I am telling you.
[4:17] And he says, look, there's going to be three ways in which you can fulfill this idea of helping one another and being one who comes alongside and helps bear burdens for people.
[4:33] So he says, look, first of all, make me helpful. To make me a blessing, make me helpful. Look at verse two again. He says, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
[4:49] Bear ye. What does that mean? Bear ye. Well, you probably can kind of figure that out from reading it and understand it, but in the Greek words that are used there, it means to take up in order to carry or bear.
[5:06] To put upon oneself something to be carried. To bear what is burdensome. Where to help people with their burdens.
[5:17] Where to help people carry a large load that they may have. We're supposed to come alongside them and help them to take, you know, when Jesus said he was going to leave leave and he was going to send us the Holy Spirit.
[5:32] He used the word paraclete. And paraclete is the one who comes alongside and helps to carry burdens. That's why we have the Holy Spirit. He comes to us. When I was thinking about this passage and what that means to bear one another's burdens and lift up, I remembered back to the day of Jesus' crucifixion.
[5:52] Remember, Jesus has gone through the night. He has been interviewed and beaten and the crown of thorns put on his head and all kinds of things have taken place.
[6:03] He's had no sleep that night and now he's supposed to carry his cross to Calvary. And he bears that cross but then he stumbles under the weight of that cross.
[6:14] And you remember there was a guy named Simon, a Cyrenian. He was off on the side in the crowd and the Romans said, you, come here. And he comes and he winds up taking the cross and bearing it, bearing that burden up to Calvary so that Jesus didn't have to.
[6:31] So when I think of that bearing a burden, we come alongside people and help them bear their cross. The Bible tells us we're supposed to bear crosses, right? He says, come alongside, help people, give them what they need.
[6:46] How do we do that? Well, first of all, we do that in love. We bear that cross, we bear that burden in love. In John chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus says, look, a new commandment I give unto you.
[7:06] Stop right there for a second. A new commandment I give unto you. Go back to verse 2 there of Galatians 6 and verse 2. Bear ye one another's burdens.
[7:17] You've been with me long enough, you've heard me say this long enough, and often enough, when you start a sentence with a verb, it's an imperative sentence, which means it is a command.
[7:30] He says, you as Christians, you as spiritual, you as those who are going to restore someone, bear their burdens as well.
[7:42] That's a command. And so then Jesus comes along and he says, look, a new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
[7:58] Love one another as I have loved you. How did Jesus love us? Jesus came to this world, lived among us, faced everything that we face, did it without sin.
[8:13] And then, at the end of his life, he goes to the cross and takes all of our sin on himself. He says, let me show you how much I love you.
[8:24] I'm willing to take all of your sin on me and bear it on the cross. So you do not have to face that. You do not have to face an eternity without me because of your sin.
[8:38] I'm going to take it away for you. I'm going to bear your burden of sin and take it upon myself. John chapter 15, verse 12, pretty much the same thing. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.
[8:55] So, you which are spiritual, restore and bear the burdens of those around you. You help them. You give them the instruction that they need.
[9:07] You give them the comfort that they need. You give them whatever they need in order to see them saved and see them walk with the Lord every day. So, in love, we come and we show people how to live for the Savior.
[9:24] He says also, in your labors. In labor. Notice the word there. Bear ye one another's burdens. Burdens. What is a burden?
[9:37] A burden is a heaviness, a weight, trouble that we have in our life. He says, help people with the heaviness and the weight, the trouble that they're facing in their life.
[9:50] He says, help carry the weight of other people. Help lift them up. Help encourage them. Help them stay on the right path. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12.
[10:02] So, we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. Get to know the people around you. Get to know the people who are sitting there next to you.
[10:14] Get to know them. He says, and help them. Those that labor among you. See, true love always labors despite the trials and the tribulations and the burdens that we face.
[10:31] he says, true love is always there to help. True love is always there to watch over others and to help them. In a light of the context, again, verse 1, you would just spiritual, restore.
[10:47] Then it would be logical. If we're going to help restore, we're going to help them get past the burdens. We're going to help them get past the things that are weighing them down. We're going to get past the things that are holding them back.
[10:59] the obstacles that are in their way. And he's referring to spiritual things here, but if we're truly working on a spiritual level, it's going to spill over to the physical as well.
[11:13] Helping people with the things that they need help with. Several years ago, well, many years ago, the founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, was on his deathbed.
[11:30] And as he's on his deathbed, the Salvation Army is holding its annual convention. And as they're gathered there, wherever it was they were gathered, they're meeting and they're talking about the things that they're going to do.
[11:45] They're making plans and stuff. And General Booth sends them a telegram. He wants them to understand something from him. And he sends this telegram to the convention and it has one word.
[12:02] Want to guess what word? We sang it this morning. Others. Others. He says, that's the key to everything we do.
[12:13] Others. Are we concerned about others? Do we love others? Are we trying to help others? It's not all about us. And a lot of churches and a lot of Christians think it is.
[12:27] You know, hey, I'm a Christian. I need this. I need that. I need the other thing. I need that. He says, no. Others. Are we concerned about them?
[12:38] He says, look, learn to be helpful. Learn to take your time, your energy, your talents, your money, everything about you and funnel it toward others and what they need.
[12:58] Help them to get on the right track. Second thing, besides being helpful, I need to be humble. I need to be humble.
[13:09] Verse 3 says, for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Think yourself to be something when you're nothing. He says, you're deceiving yourself.
[13:22] A lot of Christians think there's something pretty special. A lot of Christians think they're doing all right. I've got this down. I got, you know, I understand the word of God. I understand this and that and I'm a spiritual leader and I, he says, oh, be so very careful.
[13:38] When you, when you start to think you're something, he says, no, no, no. You've got to be humble. There's some people who think they have that know-it-all attitude. They think they've got it all down.
[13:48] They've got everything taken care of. God says, oh, be so very careful when you do that. Beware, first of all, the false pride. You know, it's so easy sometimes.
[14:00] We've been saved for a long time. We've been through church and we've been to Sunday school and we've been to youth group and we've been to all these different things and yeah, I know the word of God. I know it well. Okay, that's great.
[14:13] But how are you applying it? What are you doing with it? How are you showing others that the word of God is true, that the word of God changes lives, that the word of God can help no matter what's going on in your life that word of God is there?
[14:36] Be so very careful. There was a pastor, he was out in the graveyard and he found these two different gravestones that had these epitaphs on them. One of them was a lady and let's see how you take this one.
[14:52] It says, she lived with her husband 50 years and died in a confident hope of a better life. I read that first of all and I'm like, hmm.
[15:04] But then I read it again and I'm like, okay, maybe it's the fact that her husband and she had a good life and they were godly people and she knew that she was going to have an even better life when she gets to heaven.
[15:15] I'll take it as that one. So she's going to have a better life when she gets to heaven. She's confident about it. The second one was another lady who had died. Now, listen to this one and see what you think of this one.
[15:30] Here lies Jane Smith, wife of Thomas Smith, marble cutter. Stop right there for a second. So who's the tombstone about? Jane Smith or Thomas Smith, the marble cutter?
[15:43] But it goes on. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and as a specimen of his work.
[15:54] Monument of the same size, $350. Used it as an advertisement to hope to drum up more business. See, he didn't care about her.
[16:07] He didn't care about, he was caring about himself. Okay, she's gone, I'm still here and I need to make money. How are we going to do that? See, we need to be careful. I can do this best job.
[16:17] See, what a great job I did on this tombstone. I can do that for you too. You know, sometimes we get carried away with thinking that we are something special and we don't need to go there.
[16:29] He says, be careful of false pride. We sometimes as Christians can do that. You know, as my job as pastor, there are times I get to counsel people.
[16:42] I have to counsel people about many various things, whether it's their kids, their marriage, their job, all kinds of things. And I can start to go, hey, you know what, I'm pretty good at this.
[16:54] I mean, look at these people, they're not divorced now, they're still together, it's been years, and these people, look at how their kids turned out, look at these people, and I can say, hey, I did pretty good, I did nothing, other than point them to the word of God.
[17:08] What does the word of God say? What does he say is the way to fix a marriage? What does he say about the way to raise your kids? What does he say about those things? So we need to be careful of false pride.
[17:21] It's not us. It's God and his word that does the work. We also need to be aware of self-deception. Self-deception. If we get that proud attitude, eventually you're going to say something or do something that is going to hurt and it's going to show the pride that you have.
[17:42] Proverbs 4.23 Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Keep your heart where it belongs.
[17:54] You hear me over and over and over and you probably will until the day I die. Looking unto Jesus. Hebrews 12.2 Looking unto Jesus.
[18:07] He says keep your focus on him. Keep your focus on what God is doing in your life. He says because when you do that, he says keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.
[18:18] If I keep my focus on Jesus, the information that I give, the advice that I give, the direction that I take, everything that I do is going to have a purpose to it and the issues of my life are going to be centered on Jesus and him alone.
[18:33] We need to be so very careful. See, sometimes we tend to forget something. How many people here have been saved over 50 years? Okay, a few of you.
[18:47] Good. We can start to think that we, you know, that we're pretty good. we've got it down. We know this stuff. We're all set.
[18:59] We need to remember that we are all sinners saved by grace. We're all sinners saved by grace. We're all sinners who, you know what, I've been saved over 50 years.
[19:11] I can still sin almost every day, probably every day. Forget the almost, probably every day. I can say something I shouldn't. I can think something I shouldn't. I can go a direction I shouldn't.
[19:23] He says, look, we're all sinners. We have to remember something. God and his word is the premier thing. I am not indispensable.
[19:36] If I were to drop dead this minute, you'd all go, but you know what? You'd have another pastor in here very shortly. Because another pastor can come in and he can preach the word of God to you and he can give you direction as well.
[19:51] you know, some, you know, my tithe. Church needs my tithe. I've had people tell me that in the past. Church needs my tithe.
[20:02] No, God will replace. God will do what God wants to do. Well, you need my talents. You don't have my talents to do this, that, and the other thing. God has other people out there who will.
[20:14] See, we sometimes tend to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. The Bible talks about that. And he says here, don't let a man think of himself to be something when he is nothing.
[20:27] We are all created by God. We are all sustained by God. Everything we have is because God has given to us. You know, when I prayed there a few minutes ago, I talked about the fact that, you know, we can go to work and we can do our jobs and we can do all this, but where do you get the strength to do that?
[20:45] Where do you get the breath to do that? Where do you get the heartbeat to do that? God is watching over you. God is taking care of you. A spiritual man does not think that he is something when he is nothing.
[21:01] Or he doesn't think that he's nothing either. He simply doesn't compare. He says, everything I am and everything I do is because God is working in my life and allowing me to do it.
[21:14] Number three, if I'm helpful, I'm humble and I need to be honorable. Honorable. Look at verse four and five.
[21:25] It says, but let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for every man shall bear his own burden.
[21:40] First of all, he says, look, be honorable as I prove my work. As I prove my work and what I am doing.
[21:52] Notice that word prove. Prove says or means to test, to examine, to scrutinize, to see whether something is genuine or not, to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, to deem worthy.
[22:13] He says, prove. Every man prove his own work. Is it worthy? Is it approved?
[22:23] Is it what God wants me to do? How often do we stop and look at what we're doing and examine it and take a look at it and say, is this what God has for me? Is this what God wants me to do?
[22:35] Is this the direction God wants me to go? am I doing God's will? Paul is giving this metaphor and he's saying, look, examine yourself.
[22:51] Are you genuine? Are you worthy? You ever take yourself and you're getting ready some mornings or getting ready for bed at night and you're standing there in front of the mirror and all of a sudden you kind of look up and you're looking at yourself eyeball to eyeball in the mirror?
[23:12] Do you ever have those thoughts about am I doing what God wants me to do? Am I following the way God wants me to go? Am I? You look yourself right in the eye and you're like, hmm.
[23:25] What he's saying here says, look, examine yourself, prove yourself. He says, every believer has to be ready to bear the load. God has for him.
[23:37] 2 Corinthians 13.5 says this, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. That's a good one.
[23:49] Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Do I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sin? Do I believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for my sin?
[24:02] Do I believe that the only way I'm going to heaven is my believing that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for my sin? Do I believe that I'm going to heaven because of Jesus Christ and him alone?
[24:14] It's nothing that I've done. I am not capable of earning my way into heaven. Do I believe that Jesus is the answer to everything that I need?
[24:28] He says, examine yourself whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Romans chapter 14 verse 10.
[24:45] But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We are very quick.
[24:56] I mentioned last week when we were talking about you were just spiritual restore someone. So quick to go look you you you're the problem you you did this and you did this and you did this and I remember I mentioned when you point like that you got three over here that are pointing back at you.
[25:17] So often we're ready to point at others.! So often we're ready to accuse others. We're ready to say you're the problem you're the fault. He says you know why are you so quick to judge your brother?
[25:29] He says look we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Every one of us are going to stand before the judgment seat.
[25:40] First of all do you know! Jesus Christ as your Savior? What did you do with Jesus? I accepted him and took him part of my life. I rejected I didn't want anything to do with him.
[25:53] There's choices the first choice you gotta make. And the only way you're moving on toward heaven from that choice is I accepted Jesus Christ and what he did for me. But then he says you go on and he says we're all going to appear before!
[26:07] The Bible talks about other judgments. Okay I accepted Jesus what did I do? How did I show my love to him? It's not going to send me to hell but it's going to change the way what I get as far as rewards.
[26:21] What did you do with Jesus? James chapter 4 verses 15 through 17 it says this for that ye ought to say if the Lord will we shall live and do this or that first of all my body my life is in the hands of the Lord he makes decisions he is the one who's in control he's the one I have to answer to verse 16 but now you rejoice in your boastings all such rejoicing!
[26:58] is evil! He says we get so caught up in what we can do and what we've done how good he says no boasting is not what God wants for us everything in our lives should be about Jesus what he's done verse 17 therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin you know the right thing to do you know the right way to go you know where to place the praise and the blessing and but you keep trying to bring it back on yourself and he says nope you know the right thing to do the right thing to do is to put it all on Jesus and when you don't do that he says you know to do the right thing but if you don't do the right thing it's sin see when we know how to follow God's word when!
[27:57] do! Jesus says when we know how to follow the Holy Spirit and we don't we were in Sunday school this morning we were talking David knew all the right things to do when it came to Bathsheba he knew the direction he should have taken he knew what God wanted him to do he chose not to was that sin oh yeah that was sin second thing I need to be honorable as I bear my burdens!
[28:31] As I bear my burdens!! Verse 5 for every man shall bear his own burdens now comes the thing I was talking about verse 2 bear ye one another's burdens!
[28:46] and so fulfill the law of Christ verse 5 every man shall bear his own burdens what's the difference verse 2 is talking about our service as part of our service to God and doing what God wants us to do he says bear one another's burdens be there ready to help be ready to bring them back in be ready to show them the right direction to take be ready to help in any way you can to lift them back talking about our personal responsibility what if I don't want to help build up other people what if I don't want to bear their burdens then I'm not fulfilling my personal responsibility to do what God has asked me to do second Thessalonians three verses 10 11 for even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should they eat for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busy bodies he says there's people out there that weren't working they were just trying to sponge off others they were trying to get everything from others he says no that's not what you're supposed to do he said what they're doing is they're not doing anything at all other than hanging around and being gossips there would have people like that they just want to on they're not helping anybody they're not encouraging anybody they're not uplifting they're not bearing anybody's burdens they're just adding to them by the gossip two men were out for a walk one day and they were walking down the street and on the sidewalk they came past the storefront and in the storefront they had a sign there that said no help wanted!
[30:50] apparently people have been coming in and said you ought to go apply you would be good at that you have people like that coming into the yes okay he goes on in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 12 and 13 now them that are such those that are busy buddies those that aren't working we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread take personal responsibility go out and do the work so that you can earn the money to buy the bread verse 13 but ye brethren be not weary in well doing if you're helping people to get back on track if you're helping people to follow through doing things for the Lord Jesus Christ he says don't be weary!
[31:54] in well doing you say oh but I get tired I'm always helping people I'm always doing things for people I'm always he says don't be weary remember the commandment he gave us love one another even as I have loved you you think Jesus ever got tired of the crowds think Jesus ever got tired of people always wanting things yeah see a spiritual Christian one who wants to restore is also going to be helpful he's also going to be humble and he's also going to be honorable he's prepared to stand alone and do what God has called him to do one way to detect if you're growing spiritually is how do you handle burdens!
[32:50] how do you handle things that come into your life you see the burdens of others are you willing to help them carry them are you willing to help them move forward how do you handle your own burdens how do you handle your own burdens!
[33:14] 1 Peter 5 7 casting all your care upon him for he careth for you I'm going to cast my burdens on the Lord I'm going to leave them at his feet I'm going to let him take care of them I'm going to concentrate on helping these people over here God will take care of me wow that's a different way of looking at it isn't it I'm going to help others you know when people go through tough times when people lose someone or they've lost a business or they've lost they're going through a tough time and they have a tendency to really take it in on themselves I try to encourage them to get involved in life with somebody else go find a place where you can help go find a place where you can help care for somebody go to the nursing home and others others Lord yes others let this my motto be help me to live for others that
[34:20] I might live like thee see when we can do that when we can follow this when we can say I'm going to help restore people I'm going to help carry people's burdens I'm going to try to do everything that God wants me to do and that he leads me to do you know what happen all the anxiety all the other stuff that goes on in life will change and we will say you know what it is well with my soul 478 478