WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 Well, good morning, church. It's good to see you all this morning. Our sermon text today 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:11.839 ! is Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 through 5. We're actually going to pick up for context at the end 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:19.280 ! of chapter 5. So if you have a pew Bible, you can open with me to page 916, and we'll start in Galatians 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.320 chapter 5, verse 25, and then I'll read through chapter 6, verse 5. These verses will be on the 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:34.359 screen as well. All right, let me pray as we come to God's Word. Father, we've sung this song of 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:40.900 consecration and dedication. Lord, take all that we are, receive it, Lord, 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:50.359 and Lord, use us for your glory. God, in this time as we come to meditate and reflect and to listen 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:57.320 again to your Word. Would your Spirit use it as an instrument of His work of sanctification and 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:03.899 redeeming power in our lives, that our hands, our voices, our minds, our feet, our wills, our hearts 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:12.640 might more and more glorify you. We pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. All right, Galatians 5, 25. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:19.780 Paul writes, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:26.040 conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:31.299 transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:41.079 Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:48.460 of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:53.879 one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 00:01:54.899 --> 00:01:57.019 For each will have to bear his own. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:07.060 Well, in this passage, as Paul begins to talk about how the Holy Spirit begins to show up practically in 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:10.799 the life of a Christian, it's interesting that he doesn't highlight any of those things. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:17.960 They all have their place, of course, but what does Paul say here is the main outgrowth of a Christian 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:23.700 in whom the Spirit is active? When a Christian is walking by and keeping in step with the Spirit, 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:31.500 what are the key marks in their life? Well, it's not particular gifts or worship experiences. 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:40.199 It's not about intellect or knowledge. No, it's about how you love in community. 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:48.599 A Christian who's keeping in step with the Spirit will be a Christian who loves his or her fellow 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:56.240 Christians in a local church. The Spirit produces churches of grace-fueled love. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:03.960 But what specifically does that love look like? Well, Paul shows us two aspects of this love in 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.719 verses 1 through 5 of chapter 6, and that's what we're going to spend our time looking at this 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:14.439 morning. And what we're going to see is that the Spirit produces communities of, on the one hand, 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:24.080 mutual correction, and on the other, mutual care. So, mutual correction and mutual care. Let's consider 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:29.300 each of those in turn, and let's learn how we might keep in step with the Spirit. So, first, 00:03:29.980 --> 00:03:33.860 if we want to keep in step with the Spirit, we must be a community of mutual correction. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:39.660 We see this in verse 1 of chapter 6, brothers, and as the ESV footnote points out, that term includes 00:03:39.660 --> 00:03:46.160 brothers and sisters. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, if anyone is caught in any transgression, 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:54.300 you who are spiritual should restore Him in a spirit of gentleness. Now, we have to admit, 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:05.099 at first, the thought of fostering a community of mutual correction at first sounds terrible, doesn't it? 00:04:06.079 --> 00:04:13.780 I mean, who wants to live like they are under a constant performance review, right? Who wants to be 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:18.680 surrounded by people who are quick to point out their faults and their flaws? Many of us have 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:24.439 unfortunately experienced what it's like to be in a workplace or to be in a peer group where there's 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:30.360 constant evaluation and judgment, right? At work, are you working hard enough? Are you producing enough? 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:36.019 Or amidst your peer group, are you cool enough? Are you into the right sorts of music or hobbies or clothes 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:43.859 or causes? Those sorts of communities, if we're honest, are exhausting and they're awful. 00:04:45.859 --> 00:04:53.620 And unfortunately, churches can become that way too. If we lose sight of the gospel, 00:04:54.659 --> 00:04:59.319 if we lose sight of the fact that we are sinners saved by the sheer grace of Christ, 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:05.879 then churches too will become just like the world. Judging everyone by external standards of performance, 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:12.240 writing people off as hopeless cases, as irredeemable, showing no mercy, no patience, 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:18.019 no kindness. And in a church like that, everyone wants to hide. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:27.879 No one is real or transparent in a church like that. And in a church like that, no one grows 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:33.000 because we just hide our faults and our flaws and our struggles, and we put up a good show on the 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:39.360 outside while inwardly. We're stuck in habits and patterns of sin that we wish we could break, 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:47.060 but we can't overcome in our own strength. So we fight alone, and we live in shame, 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:55.620 and we quietly wither spiritually. We're like plants longing for the sun and for the rain, 00:05:55.620 --> 00:06:02.340 but we can't seem to get ourselves out of the dark warehouse and into the rich soil of the garden. 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:11.879 But what sort of community, what sort of church does the gospel create? 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:20.579 What does mutual correction look like specifically when the Holy Spirit is at work and the grace of 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:26.919 Christ takes center stage? Well, look at how Paul describes it in verse 1. He begins with that word, 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:34.360 brothers, brothers and sisters. It's a family word, right? It's actually the first and the last word 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:40.079 of chapter 6 if you don't count the final amen in verse 18. In other words, the whole culture that 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:46.240 we're talking about here is a culture where we no longer view one another according to worldly 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:53.340 standards of performance or pedigree, but as family, as brothers and sisters through the grace of Christ, 00:06:53.340 --> 00:07:02.519 not as competitors to be exposed or humiliated or bested, nor as heroes to be idolized and chased after 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:12.259 and envied, but as brothers and sisters, as family that we love. So we start in the gospel by viewing each 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:21.539 other differently. And next Paul says, if anyone is caught in any transgression. Now the word caught here, 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:30.039 it could mean sort of found out, as in someone is discovered in sin, but that word can also mean 00:07:30.039 --> 00:07:42.240 overtaken, as in someone's habitual sins have overtaken them, so they're stuck in transgression. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:49.620 Caught in a web, and they can't get free. In any event, Paul says this could be the case with 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:57.040 anyone in the body of Christ. If anyone is caught, he says. You see, we're all susceptible in our battle 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:05.300 with our old nature to get stuck, to get overtaken. And this means our work of mutual correction can never 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:13.000 come from a place of judgment or superiority. Rather, it comes from a place of mercy and of compassion. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:19.759 We don't look at a brother or a sister caught in transgression and say, how could they? 00:08:21.280 --> 00:08:29.040 But rather, I know what that's like. That's why at the end of verse 1, Paul says, 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:35.080 keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. It's tempting, it can be tempting, when you see a 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:39.980 fellow Christian overtaken in sin to think, I'd never do something like that. But Paul says, 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:46.340 keep watch on yourself. You might not be tempted to fall into the same sort of transgression, 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:53.259 but don't let pride creep into your heart. Don't fall into the temptation of thinking that you 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:59.919 aren't a fellow sinner in need of grace. Your particular sin may be different than mine, 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:06.779 but every Christian knows what it's like to battle besetting sin, to wrestle with old habits, 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:14.159 to get caught, to get overtaken by selfish desires. So, we view those that we are aiming to help 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.819 as fellow travelers on the journey of sanctification. 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:27.740 And what's the goal? What's the goal of this work of correction? Well, consider first that in a 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:34.720 community where the gospel is lost, in a church where we've lost sight of the grace of Christ, 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:44.980 the goal of correction is usually self-justification. In other words, if I can correct and judge you, 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:50.940 then I can prove that you're beneath me, then I can feel better about myself and my own efforts at 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:58.139 performance. I prop up my own self-righteousness by judging and correcting others. 00:10:00.420 --> 00:10:06.379 But when the gospel reigns supreme, when Christ is our righteousness, not our own performance, 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:12.340 when our standing with God is based on God's gift and not our works, then the goal of correction 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:20.019 completely changes. According to verse 1 of chapter 6, the gospel-shaped goal of correction is what? 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:29.940 Restoration. You who are spiritual should restore them. The aim of correction, then, is not 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:37.580 condemnation, not humiliation, but restoration. When we see a brother or sister under the heavy burden 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:43.700 of sin, walking down a path that leads to sorrow, our desire above all is to restore them. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:50.820 This is what Jesus taught His disciples about the ministry of correction in Matthew 18. 00:10:51.700 --> 00:10:59.200 And because the goal is restoration, not humiliation, He describes what? A long and patient process. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:07.700 First, He says, go to your brother or sister one-on-one. Talk with them. Ask them questions. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:18.700 Be patient. Be clear. Be loving. Let them know you desire their good. Then, if that one-on-one ministry 00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:23.740 over time doesn't produce repentance, doesn't produce change, what does Jesus say? He says, 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:29.960 post on social media how terrible that person is and write them off as a lost cause. Right? No. 00:11:31.180 --> 00:11:38.120 Jesus says what? Get everyone in the church and stage an intervention. No. What does He say? He says, 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:45.600 take one person with you, another mature believer, and perhaps two of you over time can help bring this 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:54.259 brother or sister back from their sin. And only, only in cases of ongoing unrepentant sin would a more 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:59.620 formal process of church discipline begin with the members of that local church who have committed 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:08.100 together to this ministry of mutual correction. But again, the aim in all of that is what? It's 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:18.860 restoration. Jesus says, if He listens to you, you've gained your brother. Now, the word restoration 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:26.180 here is the same word that was used in the ancient world for a doctor resetting a bone. And the reality 00:12:26.180 --> 00:12:31.759 is that sort of work isn't always comfortable. I've never had the privilege of resetting a bone. Some of 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:37.700 you are medical doctors. Maybe you have. My guess is…I've also never broken a lot of bones. My guess is 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:42.640 that resetting a broken bone really hurts, right? I'm sure it hurts for the person for whom it's 00:12:42.640 --> 00:12:47.680 getting reset. I'm sure it's kind of a little painful for the person doing the resetting, right? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:13:02.080 It hurts at first, but only then can the real healing begin, right? But in what manner, 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:10.440 in what manner should this restoration happen? If family is the context, brothers and sisters, 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:17.440 fellow sinners, if family is the context, if restoration is the goal, what sort of attitude 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:23.720 or spirit should we have in this ministry of mutual correction? Well, Paul says, in a spirit of 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:31.240 gentleness. Gentleness. A good doctor knows, I'm guessing, exactly how much pressure to apply 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:39.779 at just the right spot for the bone to be put back in place. That is biblical gentleness. Not weakness, 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:45.019 not passivity, but strength applied, perfectly controlled in the right way. 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:55.419 Or picture, if you will, kind of restoring an old historic home, right? Now, if you want to quickly 00:13:55.419 --> 00:14:01.339 renovate a house to flip it and make a quick profit, what do you do? You use a sledgehammer, 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:05.299 right? You demo the walls, you gut the rooms, you throw up some paint and new appliances, and you're 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:12.839 done. But if you want to restore a home, if you want to return it to its original beauty, 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:21.120 then you use a totally different approach, don't you? You don't want to demolish the old woodwork and 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:26.159 the crown molding, you don't want to demolish the old floors and the antique fixtures and the clawfoot 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:34.460 tub. You want to restore it. So, you don't use a sledgehammer. You use more gentle tools. You use 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:43.820 more controlled tools. You don't swing and destroy. You tap, you file, you sand, and it takes a lot more 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:52.780 time and a lot more care and a lot more effort. Friends, that is what real soul care looks like. 00:14:53.920 --> 00:15:00.600 Real, grace-filled, restorative correction is gentle. That doesn't mean it's painless. 00:15:01.800 --> 00:15:07.220 Broken bones hurt when they are reset, but it does mean the pressure is only applied where it's needed 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:12.720 most and always in hope of healing, always in hope of restoration. Because what are we doing in this 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:21.259 ministry of restoration? We're helping to bring one another back to our original beauty, the beauty of 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:29.279 being creatures in God's image before the fall ravaged so much, to become more like Christ, who is the image 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:40.240 of God. That's the work of restoration. But last, on this first point, who is it? Who does this work 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:51.440 of restoration? Paul says, you who are spiritual. You who are spiritual. And what does spiritual mean in 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:58.620 the New Testament? Does it mean super-Christians, right? The Christians who have to go into a phone 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:04.500 booth and come out with a cape and all that sort of stuff? That's Superman, for those of you who are not 00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:12.340 familiar with that. I was more of a Marvel guy, but you know. What does spiritual mean? Super-Christians? Is it an 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:18.320 elite class of believers who've leveled up beyond the rest of us, right? They spent some time level grinding and 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:26.159 collecting coins, so they've leveled up to super-Christian spiritual status? No! Look again at the end of chapter 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:32.699 five. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. The truth is, every Christian 00:16:32.699 --> 00:16:39.360 is alive by the Spirit when He grants us faith in Christ and causes us to be regenerated, to be born 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:45.679 again with a new spiritual life in us. Every Christian is spiritual. You can't be a Christian and not be 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:53.600 spiritual. So when Paul says, you who are spiritual should restore them in a spirit of gentleness, 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:58.680 He's reminding us Christians what the real qualifications for this ministry of correction 00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:07.380 is, lest we'd want to avoid it. What are the real qualifications? Not years and years of seminary 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:16.039 training, although that's good. Not a PhD in counseling, although that's good too. No, the essential 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:25.659 qualification is a regular walk with the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit produces in us the fruit of love, 00:17:26.159 --> 00:17:32.500 of joy, of peace, of patience, of kindness, of goodness, of gentleness, of faithfulness, of self-control, 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.819 we will be more and more the sort of people who can do this work effectively. 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:43.440 You who are spiritual is meant to give us confidence to do this work. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:51.480 So this work of restoration is really for all of us together. This is part of what we commit to 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:58.900 when we commit to being members in a local church. No one is above receiving this restorative correction. 00:18:00.100 --> 00:18:05.500 No one is below imparting it. We need one another to do this well. 00:18:05.500 --> 00:18:14.000 So this, this mutual correction, this is the first aspect of love that the Spirit produces in us. 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:19.220 We love one another enough to engage in mutual restorative gentle correction. 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:27.460 We neither excuse nor condemn each other, but rather we seek to restore those caught in transgression. 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:34.500 Paul then continues with the second aspect of love in verses 2 through 5. And what we see here is that 00:18:34.500 --> 00:18:39.240 we don't just love each other as we wrestle with sin and temptation, we also love each other as we 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:44.600 struggle with sorrows and trials as well. So the second big point is this, if we want to keep in step 00:18:44.600 --> 00:18:50.140 with the Spirit, we must be a community not just of mutual correction, but of mutual care. 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:58.740 Mutual care. Verse 2, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And the word burdens here 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:05.860 refers to all the hardships that arise in life, exhausting work, sickness and physical pain, psychological 00:19:05.860 --> 00:19:13.320 suffering, loneliness, strife, failure, the whole gamut of living life in a fallen world. Keeping in step with 00:19:13.320 --> 00:19:19.540 the Spirit means seeing your brothers and sisters in need of care, in need of help, and taking the time 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:27.240 the energy, the resources to help lift that heavy burden, to come under the weight with them, and to help 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:34.180 them carry on. And again, this isn't just a ministry for some Christians. This is a ministry for every 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:39.119 Christian. Look at verse 3. Paul says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:49.220 if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. In other words, do we think that 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:58.660 our time and our talents are too precious and too important to help a young family change diapers, 00:19:59.299 --> 00:20:06.980 to help a struggling Christian find work, to give an encouraging word to a downcast brother or sister? 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:16.120 Ah, don't deceive yourself, Paul says. No one is above this ministry of mutual care. 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:25.639 Before the cross of Jesus Christ, we see what's really true. Apart from Christ, we are nothing. 00:20:27.639 --> 00:20:37.119 We're helpless sinners. We deserve condemnation. It is pride that prevents us from doing this ministry 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:44.779 of mutual care so often. But the gospel reminds us that everything we are and everything we've received, 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:53.079 we've received as a gift of God's grace and love. So how could we turn a blind eye to the needs of our 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:59.980 brothers and sisters when God has been so kind and so gracious to us? This is why Paul says that bearing 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:05.980 each other's burdens is the way we fulfill the law of Christ. And what is the law of Christ? Well, it's 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:11.700 what we read earlier in the service from John's gospel. Jesus, in that passage, stooped to wash His 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:18.880 disciples' feet. Can you imagine? The One who fashioned the universe through whom all things 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:25.140 were created, the One to whom all things belong by right, the One who will receive the focused glory 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:33.080 of all creation one day, came to earth, and what did He do? He washed the feet of His disciples. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:40.859 We don't even like looking at each other's feet, right? And He washed them. Incredible. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:48.000 If there is any human being in the history of the world who could have rightfully said, 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:56.480 that is a task beneath my dignity, it was Jesus. And yet, He gladly stooped to serve. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:06.400 And then He said, this is my command to you, that you love one another, that you serve one another, 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:12.500 that you take off your pride and your worldly significance, and you put on a towel, 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:20.259 and you care for each other. That's how the world's going to know that we're Jesus' followers. 00:22:20.259 --> 00:22:27.140 not by the cleverness of our arguments, not by the polish of our programs, 00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:31.779 but by the genuineness of our love for one another. 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:39.099 A church that bears one another's burdens in the name of Christ, that will be a place where the 00:22:39.099 --> 00:22:46.420 light of Christ shines brightly for all to see. Why? Not just because it's so countercultural, 00:22:46.420 --> 00:22:53.580 but because it's going to be tangible evidence, a tangible sign, a tangible speaking forth of the 00:22:53.580 --> 00:23:00.680 very heart of the gospel that we love because He first loved us. You see, the gospel is this, friends, 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:07.420 that the God who created all things and who created humans in His image didn't turn away from us when 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:15.039 we turned away from Him. When we rejected God, He did not reject us, but in Christ, God demonstrated 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:21.920 His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And three days later, 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:28.339 He rose again as proof that all who fall on Him in faith and trust in Him will be forgiven 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:37.059 and granted everlasting life. What greater love could there be than the love we have received from Christ? 00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:46.440 When the burden of sin had buried us beneath eternal death and condemnation, Christ stooped and carried 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:53.179 that burden for us all the way to the cross and lifted it once and for all when He died and rose again 00:23:53.179 --> 00:24:03.379 for all who believe. So you see, the law of Christ is not some new code that we have to meet in order to 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:10.120 earn our salvation. No, rather the law of Christ is a whole new principle of life. It's a whole new way 00:24:10.120 --> 00:24:18.580 of being in the world, a way of being in the world that says what we have freely received, we now freely 00:24:18.580 --> 00:24:26.400 give. He has borne our burdens free of charge, so we willingly bear the burdens of our brothers and 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:36.600 sisters in gratitude and in love. But just as there was a danger to avoid in the work of mutual correction, 00:24:37.500 --> 00:24:43.720 so there is also a danger to avoid in this work of mutual care. Remember, it's easy to look at a fellow 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:49.080 Christian caught in sin and say, oh, I'd never do that. And it's just as easy to look at a fellow 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:57.059 Christian buried beneath the sorrows of life and say, I'd never be that weak or foolish or downtrodden. 00:24:59.399 --> 00:25:07.139 In other words, it's easy to compare ourselves with others, to think that just because I'm not 00:25:07.139 --> 00:25:13.220 experiencing a certain trial or challenge or because I'm not suffering in a certain way, then I must be 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:18.900 living my life in a better way. I must be doing something right that they're doing wrong. 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:25.120 One Christian sees another Christian struggling with parenting and starts to think, I must be doing 00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:29.279 a better job raising my kids. Look how well-behaved mine are compared to them. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.220 One Christian sees another Christian struggling to hold down a job and starts to think, 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:41.440 I must work harder and better than them. I've never had to hunt for work for so long. 00:25:43.220 --> 00:25:47.880 One Christian sees another Christian wrestling with their health and starts to think, 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:54.579 I must be taking better care of myself. I've never had those sorts of issues. 00:25:56.819 --> 00:26:05.860 But Paul wants to cut this comparative thinking off right at the root when he says in verse 4, 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:23.159 You see, when Paul talks about your reason to boast, 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:29.019 he's not talking about sort of proudly, brashly boasting about all the awesome things you've done. 00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:35.420 No, he's talking about where your confidence lies. Does your confidence lie in the fact that you're 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:41.859 doing better or worse than this person over here or that person over there? If so, then you're putting 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:48.619 your confidence in the wrong place. Let your confidence, let your reason to boast be in what 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:58.879 you've done with what God has entrusted to you. What has God in His providence given to you? And how, 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:06.379 with His help and His grace and His Spirit, are you fulfilling the calling He's put on your life? 00:27:08.459 --> 00:27:12.399 One Christian might wrestle with chronic pain. Another might be relatively healthily most of their life. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:18.040 At the same time, one Christian might experience financial hardships. One might be relatively well off. 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:22.960 One Christian might be struggling with loneliness or anxiety. Another might be quite carefree. 00:27:24.820 --> 00:27:30.180 As we practice mutual care, as we bear each other's burdens, the question we must continually ask is not, 00:27:30.580 --> 00:27:37.120 how am I doing compared to so-and-so? But rather, how am I stewarding the calling God has given me? 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:44.199 It's easy to see someone else's weaknesses and shortcomings when they have a different road to 00:27:44.199 --> 00:27:53.439 walk than you. But instead, pay attention to the path God has given to you. Are you walking in faithfulness, 00:27:54.019 --> 00:28:00.259 in love, depending on the grace of Christ, giving God the glory for it? 00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:09.099 And on the flip side, sometimes, a lot of times, it's easy to see all of your own weaknesses and 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:12.900 shortcomings and beat yourself up all the time because your life doesn't look like this person 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:22.299 or that person. But Paul gives us this liberating message. Test your own work. Then your confidence 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:29.920 isn't in how you compare to others, but in how your life, your unique life that God has given you 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:36.080 is being conformed more and more to the image of your Savior. Yes, we should be receiving wisdom 00:28:36.080 --> 00:28:40.840 from one another. Yes, we should be caring for one another. Yes, we should be open to learning from one 00:28:40.840 --> 00:28:47.240 another. But each of us has a unique way that God intends us to bear forth His image and His glory. 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:55.820 God has given each of us our own load, as verse 5 says. And as we carry this load, 00:28:55.819 --> 00:29:02.679 this particular responsibility from God, we will display that unique glory that He intends for us 00:29:02.679 --> 00:29:10.599 to shine forth. Now, it does seem on the surface that verse 2 and verse 5 kind of sound a little 00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:16.700 contradictory, don't they? Should we bear one another's burdens or should each one bear our own 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:26.539 load? Well, the answer is yes. On the one hand, we should never be unwilling to help a brother or 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:31.700 sister in need, and we should never be unwilling to receive help. When the heavy burdens of life come 00:29:31.700 --> 00:29:36.840 crushing down, we must give and receive loving care to and from our fellow Christians. The very word 00:29:36.840 --> 00:29:43.200 burden implies something that requires help. But as we bear each other's burdens, we must remember that 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:51.480 each of us has our own load to carry. We can't abscond responsibility for our own lives by quoting 00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:58.680 verse 2. You know, I'd love to just sit around and do nothing and eat ice cream all day and then tell 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:05.360 everyone else to bear my burdens. That's not what Paul's talking about, right? We must remember that 00:30:05.360 --> 00:30:09.799 each of us has our own load to carry. And the word load there literally means it's a different word than 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:14.680 burden. It literally means a backpack. It's not a crushing burden, but it's the unique responsibility 00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:21.180 God has entrusted to each of us. We each have our own responsibility before the Lord which He has 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:27.619 entrusted to us and for which we will be held accountable. It kind of reminds me of Jesus' words 00:30:27.619 --> 00:30:34.200 to Peter at the end of John's gospel. After the resurrected Jesus comes to Peter and sort of restores 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:39.440 him, after his betrayal, Peter says, I love you, Lord, I love you, and Jesus says, feed my sheep, feed my sheep, 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:43.779 feed, and then Jesus says to Peter, remember what He says? He says, Peter, you're going to follow me so 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:46.640 faithfully all your life that you're actually going to lay down your life for me. You're going to be a 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:52.860 martyr for me. And on the one hand, that's kind of good news, right? Because Peter, who just betrayed 00:30:52.860 --> 00:30:58.500 Jesus just a few weeks before, or a few days before, excuse me, right? Jesus is saying, you're going to 00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:06.600 finish well, Peter. But then Peter starts to think about it, and he says, well, he looks over at John. 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:14.279 He says, what about that guy? What's going to happen to him, Jesus? And Jesus says, 00:31:14.939 --> 00:31:21.399 what is it to you if he remains until I come? Don't worry what my plans are for John, Peter. 00:31:22.099 --> 00:31:31.619 You worry about following me. In other words, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. And as we fix our eyes on 00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:38.319 Jesus, we'll stop measuring our success or failure in terms of other people. In fact, other people 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:44.139 won't be the means of judging ourselves at all. Rather, we're going to be more concerned with our 00:31:44.139 --> 00:31:50.719 eyes fixed on Christ, the great servant King. We'll be more concerned about loving other people 00:31:50.719 --> 00:31:56.479 and fulfilling what God has called us to do rather than comparing ourselves to other people, 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:05.799 for good or for real. And friends, coming back to where we started, it's only the Holy Spirit that 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:12.700 can really do this work in us, because only the Holy Spirit is able to take the great truth about Christ 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:20.480 and to make it not just clear to our minds, but real to our hearts. When by the Holy Spirit, 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:28.039 the grace and love of Christ for you hits home, not just to your head, but to your heart, then you'll 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:34.720 let go of comparing and you'll start loving. Then we'll stop competing with other people, and we'll 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:42.500 start rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep, because we have something that 00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:49.059 nothing in this world can take away, something of so much value and such enduring eternal quality and 00:32:49.059 --> 00:32:56.539 joy that the comparisons of this life are meaningless. We have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly 00:32:56.539 --> 00:33:07.839 places in Christ. What is there to compare to that? And then we'll start bearing one another's 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:15.079 burdens, just as Christ did for us, and we'll start restoring the fallen, just as Christ restored us 00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:25.720 when the Holy Spirit does His work. And friends, here's the good news. The Holy Spirit is at work in our 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:32.220 midst. The ascended Christ, do you remember in Luke's gospel, in the first chapters of Acts, 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:38.419 the end of Luke's gospel, in the beginning of Acts, when Christ ascended on high, what did He do? 00:33:38.420 --> 00:33:46.920 He poured out the Holy Spirit. Not withholding the Spirit, not sort of like, you know, just trickling 00:33:46.920 --> 00:33:53.900 it out a little bit at a time, a slow drip. The resurrected and ascended Christ has poured out His 00:33:53.900 --> 00:34:00.860 Spirit upon the church. As we read the Scriptures that the Spirit has inspired and proclaim its message, 00:34:01.340 --> 00:34:06.620 as we sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs, as we pray with the Spirit's help, crying out, 00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:11.500 Abba, Father, when the Spirit Himself even prays with our spirits and groans that are too deep for 00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:17.199 words, that is the Holy Spirit doing His work, and He will continue to do His work. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:28.259 And we'll see, then, His work expressing itself in how we love one another, restoring the wayward, 00:34:28.259 --> 00:34:34.539 comforting the downcast, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. 00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:40.599 To love because He first loved us. Let's pray. 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:53.420 Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth, come down. 00:34:55.159 --> 00:35:02.380 Fill us with Your Spirit, Lord Jesus, that we might become a church that truly loves. 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:08.559 And so that the world might see how wonderful and great You truly are through us. 00:35:09.220 --> 00:35:11.380 We pray this in Your mighty name, Jesus. Amen.