Seven Rules for Life - Gal. 6:1-10

Intro:

Good morning.

You know, one time I heard someone say regarding parenting children - “They don’t come with an instruction manual.”

And I get what was being said, don’t get me wrong …

But I got to thinking - They don’t come with an instruction manual? (Slowly hold up Bible)

You see, the Bible says that it contains “ALL THINGS for life and godliness,” given to us by “DIVINE POWER” (2 Pet. 1:3).

And so I ask the question - Wouldn’t it be nice to have some sort of Guidebook, some Compass, some Map to guide us through this thing called life?

(We do!)

The Bible!

This morning, I want to talk about “Seven Rules for Life.”

And these rules are found in just one small portion of the Bible, in Galatians chapter 6, if you’ll be turning there.

This is not an all-inclusive list — There are MANY lists in the Bible, and by themselves they aren’t all-inclusive — You have to take the WHOLE Bible and glean all truth from it.

Psalm 119:160

Psalm 119:160 NKJV

The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

So it is to be understood that the 7 rules we are going to look at this morning are not the ONLY rules, but are a good starting point as we will see.

So without further ado … (in order of how we are going to see these in the text) …

Rule Number 1 - Leave No Man Behind (VS. 1a, 2)

This is like rule number 1 on the battlefield as far as I’m concerned — That, and don’t ever be a sitting duck (Make a decision!)

I think our soldiers are still taught to make sure and have a “battle buddy,” and to always have their battle buddy’s back!

Well, it’s the same way in the Spiritual war that is the Christian life!

4. Galatians 6:1 - “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Galatians 6:1 NKJV

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

5. Galatians 6:2 - “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2 NKJV

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

6. If we are watching our spiritual brothers and sisters drown, will we throw out the life line?

7. If we are unwilling to do that, then we are not fulfilling the Law of Christ!

8. Examples:

a. Let’s say a brother misses services, first once every few weeks, and then he starts missing a couple weeks in a row, and then he misses for a couple months, then makes a random appearance one time, then misses again, and eventually he’s GONE and we never see him anymore.

b. Have we reached out to him? Have we let him know we care, and we miss him?

c. Have we left the ninety and nine for a brief moment so we could go retrieve the ONE?

9. So that’s rule number one - Leave no man behind in this BROTHERHOOD, this FAMILY, that is the Lord’s church.

Rule Number 2 - Have the Right Attitude (VS. 1b, 3)

Specifically, have an attitude of humility!

A humble man is a man who can be taught, and can teach others without having to heap praise upon himself!

Never stop learning!

We never get to the point where we have “ARRIVED!”

Maintain an attitude of humility, along with the gentleness that we saw earlier!

Why is it so important to remember this, with respect to restoring our brother who has fallen behind?

Galatians 6:1 - “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Galatians 6:1 NKJV

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

That’s why! Because we have to remember the principle found in 1 Corinthians 10:12 - “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!”

No man is above falling! And on the physical battlefield, the guy who thinks he is invincible and incapable of falling, who runs “gung ho” into the battle … May just be the first one to get shot! :(

We have to not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (Rom. 12:3)!

We have to remember the principle found in Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”

We have to have the right attitude of humility - Gal. 6:3

Galatians 6:3 NKJV

For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

At the end of the day, I don’t care how good you think you ARE:

How many good deeds you think you have proven yourself with …

At the end of the die, all of your righteousness is still like filthy rags compared to a holy and omni-benevolent God! (Isa. 64:6)

So don’t think of yourself highly!

No, think lowly!

Think “unprofitable servant” (Luke 17:10).

Rule Number 3 - Take Personal Responsibility for Your Own Self - (VS. 4-5)

This is a big one, because in today’s day and age, I’m afraid many people want to shift the blame to someone else for all of THEIR sins!

He murdered somebody? (Oh, but don’t you know what his Daddy did to him?)

Doesn’t matter! (Well, it DOES matter - The dad shouldn’t have abused him, or whatever the case may be …)

But … That doesn’t give the son an excuse to go out and MURDER people!

And yet, that’s the mentality sometimes today - Lets shift the blame - Modern psychology is bad about this!

At the end of the day, we are ALL accountable for our OWN actions!

We heard a great Bible class about this a few weeks ago on Sunday morning — Accountability!

What is the exact age of accountability?

The Bible doesn’t specify — Personally I firmly believe that it VARIES depending on one’s maturity!

But at some point in our lives, we become ACCOUNTABLE for our actions!

What does that mean?

It means we will ANSWER to the Judge of all the earth for our actions!

John 5:28-29 says “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

We will all be in that situation one day!

Our text here in Gal. 6:4-5 says …

Galatians 6:4–5 NKJV

But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.

That means that we will all answer for our OWN actions on judgment day!

“Let each one examine his OWN work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone” — In other words, this is a spiritual “tend to your OWN affairs,” which is a nicer way of saying “mind your own business.”

Should we bear one another’s sin burdens? Absolutely, that was part of rule number 1!

Elders — Their job is to shepherd the flock, to guide the flock, right?

But on the other hand, should Christians act as the brotherhood police and be constantly LOOKING for problems? (I don’t see that in the Bible)

We need to remember the words of Jesus in Matt. 7:3-5 - “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

We are going to answer for our OWN actions — Sometimes we need to focus on our OWN sins more so than looking at everyone else’s!

Rule Number 4 - Live Generously (V. 6)

This is a quick one because it’s a pretty simple verse.

Gal. 6:6

Galatians 6:6 NKJV

Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.

This is another way of saying “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” (1 Cor. 9:14)

That goes back to the O.T. principle that the Levitical priests made their living through the offerings Israel brought.

“The laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 17:7).

1 Timothy 5:18 says that “the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

“Let him who is taught in the word (Christians) share in all good things (material needs) with him who teaches (preachers).”

But it doesn’t stop there — We should ALL be giving people!

Preachers should turn around and be as giving as they want the church to be toward them - Sometimes people assume that since preachers receive their pay from the offering, that they don’t give — Wrong - The principle set forth in the Bible was that the Levitical priests were to turn around and give a tenth of what THEY received too …

Num. 18:26 -

Numbers 18:26 NKJV

“Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe.

All of us as Christians should be good givers, should give from the heart!

We should live generously (and when we reflect on what God gave US, it should be a joy to give back to Him and to others!)

Rule Number 5 - Realize the Law of Sowing and Reaping (VS. 7-8)

We’ve already touched on this really, from the standpoint of PERSONAL accountability for one’s SELF …

So this is really building upon rule 3 that we saw earlier.

Gal. 6:7-8

Galatians 6:7–8 NKJV

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

There are CONSEQUENCES for sin!

Our actions will follow us around, and consequences are hard to get rid of!

Sadly, sometimes even though a man has repented (and that’s something to be thankful for), but still earthly consequences linger long after — Just think about marital infidelity for example — Someone can repent for betraying his spouse, and yet the consequences may still remain.

Thus, we need to treat sin as the deadly enemy that it really is!

“You reap what you sow!”

We must not be DECEIVED by the Deceiver, the Devil, who tries to ENTICE us and make sin look appealing!

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay!”

So what will it be?

Sowing to the FLESH and reaping CORRUPTION?

Or sowing to the SPIRIT and reaping EVERLASTING LIFE?

Rule Number 6 - Do Not Allow Discouragement to Keep You From Fulfilling Your Duty (V. 9)

Gal. 6:9

Galatians 6:9 NKJV

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

It can be easy to lose focus on the hope we have in Christ when the distractions of life hit, or when we get discouraged.

Last week we talked about Elijah — Sometimes Christians find themselves getting an Elijah complex — downright depressed like we talked about with him.

Sometimes we get to feeling all alone like he did; Sometimes we feel like Jeremiah, who in Jeremiah chapter 20 almost quit preaching the truth - People mistreated him on every side!

… But Elijah was NOT alone! There were still 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal!

And Jeremiah DIDN’T quit preaching, because the Word of God was within him like a FIRE deep inside his bones, he was wearing from holding it in, and he could not (Jer. 20:9)!

And we too need to make sure and not quit!

Rev. 2:10 - “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life,” Jesus says!

Finally …

Rule Number 7 - Seize Every Opportunity to Do Good (V. 10)

Gal. 6:10

Galatians 6:10 NKJV

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Sometimes we hear of someone literally taking the shirt off of his own back in order to help another — or in another case, taking the jacket off of one’s own back to give to someone in need — Now THAT is the definition of caring about others better than one’s self — and a job well done!

Notice “as we have opportunity” — And the fact of the matter is we all probably have a LOT of opportunity, don’t we?!

So let us USE those opportunities to do good!

To ALL MEN, and especially those who are of the household of faith, as we in honor give preference to one another, and are kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love (Rom. 12:10)!

Conclusion:

How’s your standing on these 7 rules we’ve looked at today?

No, these aren’t the end-all/be-all — But they’re a good start for faithful Christian living!

1 - Leave No Man Behind.

2 - Have the Right Attitude of Humility.

3 - Take Personal Responsibility for Your Own Self/Your Own Actions.

4 - Live Generously.

5 - Realize the Law of Sowing and Reaping.

6 - Don’t Allow Discouragement to Keep You from Fulfilling Your Duty.

7 - Seize Every Opportunity You Can to Do Good!

Do those rules for life describe you this morning?