Doing Good to All
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bibles please turn to
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
We have made it to the end of the book of Galatians. Over the course of the letter Paul covers a lot and in these final few verses that we are going to look at today Paul has challenges for us to consider. and some encourgement as well.
So let us look at the first
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
One of the areas that we are supposed to help each other is when we are caught up in sin. I competely understand that in today's world this is not the most popular topic. When we take sin and we no longer make it sin then we are not following the Biblical teachings. I started coming church and following Jesus precisely because I was tired of sin running my life. I was tired of the destruction it left and I was tired of not living God’s way of living. I didn’t want and still do not want anyone tell me that it was okay to live a life that isn’t God’s way to live.
When we hold people accountable it is because we love them. If I see that you are struggling or caught up in something or going down the wrong path , whatever you want to call it. If I do not say something, is that actually love? If I truly care about you and your soul, then I am compelled to say something. Jesus is our guide to follow, did He not say something?
Now to be fair even to people in your lives that do hold you accountable. This doesn’t say that we should stand and yell at people and condemn them to hell. Trust me, none of us want the power to condemn. That is God’s alone and I am thankful for that. We are to do this Gently. I am going to do something I do not do very much, and go back to the Greek so you can get a better idea of Paul is talking about.
In the NIV, the word is restore
Katartizete: It is the word for setting broken bones, Mending fishing nets, knit together, unite completely
This is how we need to look at helping people. Setting broken bones is done gently and it takes a long time to heal. Knitting something together, is done gently and takes time. Mending fishing nets takes time. My point is that it takes love and time to mend someone back together and of course the help of the Holy Spirit. This verse is not an excuse to run out judging everyone. This verse is a call to action to help people with the biggest pandemic in the history of the world and that is sin.
Now we must be careful that we ourselves do not fall to temptation. I want to further this point with the words of Jesus.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The first thing is that we must always remember that we ourselves are sinners. Without Jesus in your life this is who you are, this is who I am. Now here is the interesting part and why I always say that context matters and we cannot simply cherry pick verses. Many people know these verses and forget the last line though.
“Then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye”
I want to make one final point about this because this topic is important and one that we as a big church need to take more serious. The point isn’t to shame and ridicule someone. The world does that pretty well without us helping. The point is that you should not be fighting against the enemy or sin alone. This is a call to mature believers to help those in need. This is a call to less mature believers to ask for help. We live in a lonely world where people are going through some tough stuff and they are doing it alone. Please do not do it alone. Let someone help you remove that speck from your eyes. Let someone help you set your broken bones.
I can tell you that if you are struggling with something you can always come talk to me and I will not judge at all. I have zero place to judge because just like you I am but a sinner.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
This fulfills the law of Christ right here. We have to carry each other’s burdens. We have to help each other through tough times. We as Christians need to wake up and get into action. There is a Spiritual war going on outside those doors and we need to be out there. I can’t tell you how many times people have talked to me and they were just looking for someone to listen. Sometimes you just need to go out there and sit on the ledge with someone and listen. Then you can help them back off the ledge. This is the beautiful thing about Jesus, He puts people in your life to help you do that. Then He will put you in someone’s life so that you can help them.
If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
We always need to test our own actions against the Bible. Do not compare yourselves with other people. Do not do this in anything in life by the way but especially when it comes to following Jesus. I am not better at following Jesus than you. It isn’t a competition. You have a calling and a purpose in Jesus and I have one.
“Comparison is the thief of Joy”
— President Theodore Roosevelt
You cannot say it any better than that. Now for the end of the verse, you may be thinking that well Paul told us to shoulder each other’s burdens and now he is saying to carry our own load.
So again we need to go back to the Greek briefly here, in the previous verse burdens means this
Bare: heaving, crushing load
Phortion: pack carried by a marching soldier
Now for those of us that have been on ruck marches or our fire fighters and first responders, we know what it is like to carry a pack of standard gear. All of us have a load to carry, but when it gets to heavy. When it is a crushing load, do you leave that person behind? Of course not, we help carry the load.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
I have said this before many times from the pulpit. God cannot and will not be mocked. Please do not be deceived by the world, please do not be deceived by people who teach things that are against the Word of God.
A couple of weeks ago we talked about decisions and here Paul brings the point home. Whatever your sow is what you will reap. Those decisions that you make each and every day. If you are working toward the sin nature, the flesh or are you working towards Jesus? All of these little moments in life they add up over days and months and years. What do you want to reap? When you have sometime this week, sit down and really look at all the aspects of your life. This is difficult but be honest with yourself. Are there areas of your life that you haven’t given over to God? Maybe you are a person that needs to ask for help. I’ll be honest it is one area I struggle with , is asking for help. Maybe work is an idol, maybe entertainment is an idol?
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Brothers and Sisters, we are in a spiritual battle. A lot of people have given up and most people simply do not want to get involved anymore. Please do not give up, please do not get tired of doing the right thing. We desperately need people that are willing to do what is right and stand up for what is right.
There will be a harvest and you will see amazing things.
The harvest happens all around us when we open our eyes and see how God is working in people.
Last week we had Dwayne being baptized. That is a harvest, and all the people connected to Dwayne and Becky and their story of faithfulness. I know that will be a big harvest for the Lord.
When new people come into any church to learn about Jesus, When someone who has fallen away from the faith comes back. These are the harvests. The little kids all the way to the teenagers that every week are learning about Jesus through the different ministries we have. That is the harvest.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
As we have opportunity let us do good. When God puts someone or some situation in your path. Please do not look the other way. Do not walk on the other side of that path to move around it. I have to goals I always try to keep in the front of mind.
Is to live in the Will of God with the guidance of the Holy Scriptures as best that I can. I may fail but I will try.
Is to help whoever God has put in my path to find Jesus. It always requires love and it is probably going to require tough conversations but that is how we grow.
I want to close with two last scriptures as we close out Galatians.
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.
One thing I will always admire about Paul is that he never boasted about himself. Everything he did , he did for Jesus. I want to try to emulate that as best as I can. Anything that I do is because of what Jesus is doing. Jesus saved all of us on that cross. He repaired, re-set our broken lives. He continues to do that today. He will always get that credit.
Finally.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Let us pray