Others - Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, Thou forest of my God and King, Thou triumphs of His grace.

This is Lasei Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Be holy, as God is holy. Be holy, as God is holy. Just as He who calls us is holy. Be holy before the Lord. God is grace, sufficient and strength to run the race, and He calls us to be holy, holy before His grace. Be holy, as God is holy. Just as He who calls us is holy. Be holy before the Lord. Be holy before the Lord. If the messages are a blessing to you and you'd like for us to continue on this station, I hope you will write and let us know, and if you can, help us with the support.

Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Now, these are some of our human responses and excuses. Let's think about our biblical guide.

When there are offenses, what are we to do? Let's turn to the book of Matthew, chapter 18. Matthew 18, verse 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Now, we've talked about what our human response may often be.

So, your brother has offended you. You say, I just want to get away from that person. I don't want to talk to them anymore.

I don't want everything to do with them. Or, you may want to get some sympathy and so you tell several other people. Can you believe what this person did? How they treated me?

What they said about me? You're already in violation of God's Word. It says, go to him alone and you seek to work things out. Now, if you're not successful, and that doesn't mean you can just have to limit it to one time, you might go two or three times on your own.

And it must not be in the spirit that where people are somehow looking for the loophole. I've had people heard me preach some of these things on the radio and they would call and say, well, preacher, let me tell you about this situation, don't you think under these circumstances, I could handle it differently? I said, are you suggesting that when God inspired his Word, he just didn't realize about your situation? And if he had, he probably would have worded it differently. Well, no, I didn't mean that.

Well, okay, then let's say, let's do it God's way. Or somebody said, well, I really don't trust that person. Do you think I could have a hidden microphone and record it? No, I don't.

Or do you think I could just send them an email? No, if you're offended, you go to them. Now, if you don't have success, you take one or two others with you. And one of the unique things about that, it may be that if you've taken others in the church, and you go and you're talking about this issue, those that you've taken might decide you're wrong. You're in the wrong spirit. There may be wrong on both sides and there may be some repenting you have to do.

You may deceive some of your failures, some of your error in the process. Now, if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. If the matter then is not resolved, it's brought before the church. If they will not hear the church, then they are dismissed.

Oh, somebody says, I just, I don't believe in that, I could never do that. I remember the church, I could never vote for anybody to be excluded. Then that's to say, you feel your opinion and your emotional makeup about this situation is superior to what God's Word says. Comes down to an issue, are we going to do things God's way?

Well, there's another issue. What about when somebody is offended at you? Matthew chapter 5 verse 23, Therefore, if thou shalt bring thy gift to the altar, and there remembers that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Now Jesus was talking to people who were under the law.

They were to bring a lamb, offer it, the priest took it, slew it, offered it as a sacrifice. So you're bringing your gift to the altar, and you get there doing what's expected and required of you. But you remember, somebody has got something against me. Now it's so important from God's standpoint that differences are resolved and that there be peace and unity.

As important as it is about worshipping and bringing your gift, you stop right there. And you go deal with that issue. You resolve that thing that has divided you, go to your brother, be reconciled.

Now you're going to win your brother, not win an argument, but win your brother. You're going to bring about reconciliation. Reconciliation, according to this text, is to precede worship. So if you're sitting here today, and you've got resentment and malice in your heart, and there are unresolved differences, you have an obligation before God to deal with it. Romans chapter 12 verse 18 says, if it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Now obviously, Jesus Christ Himself did not have all men living peaceably with Him, because He was hated by the religious leaders of His day. It could be, you go to somebody who has something against you, they're offended at you, but they're offended at you because you believe a biblical truth. You believe that God is sovereign and working His will according to His pleasure. The person says, I don't like that doctrine, I don't agree with you, and they're still offended at you. So as much as lies within you, it's not possible to live peaceably with some people, because they just are not going to receive the principles that make that possible. But nevertheless, I've had people say this, well now preacher, I don't get it. Why is it always me that's got to do the going? Matthew 18 says, if I'm offended, I've got to go, and Matthew 5 says, if they're offended at me, I've got to go. Well, the fact is, if everybody was doing what they ought to, they'd meet each other on the way. Because this person would be going, and this person would be going, and they'd meet each other, oh, isn't this great?

We've already made great strides, because we're both going in the same direction to resolve this. But you know, that seldom happens, because one or the other is overcome with sin and selfishness and pride, and refuses to do it. But you know, the interesting thing is, God's Word never lets you off the hook.

We always would like to shift the blame. That started also, back early on, when the Lord came to Adam, saying, where art thou? He says, Lord, that woman you gave me, she presented this thing to me, and I made the wrong decision. He didn't want to say, I'm responsible, I'm guilty, I sin.

No, he took a swipe at God and his wife both at the same time. It's this woman that you gave her to me. And how many times do you want to blame somebody else? Shift the blame.

That's our tendency. So, in both cases, it says, you need to go. The Lord never talks about, never fails about you.

Here's what you need to do. Somebody says, you know preacher, I really don't care for that kind of preaching. I'd like to hear a lot more about what God has done for me. I love to preach about what God has done for us.

That's wonderful, the wonderful truths of His grace. But, Titus chapter 2 verse 14 says, the grace of God teaches us something. It doesn't just rescue us, it teaches us. It teaches us how we ought to live. Now, what about when someone is going astray?

What is our responsibility? We turn to the book of Galatians chapter 6. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one of the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Considering yourself, the thing that will help you to always live with a humble spirit, is considering yourself. Look at your own weakness, look at your own sin, look at your own faults, look at your own failings, and it will enable you to have the right outlook.

You're not going there to tell somebody off. You're going there to help them, to restore them. This word restore alludes to the setting of a broken bone. Many years ago, when we were out sled riding as children, one of our sisters broke her arm. And it was broken so badly, you could just see the bone where it was separated, and kind of protruding out to one side, and I thought, what do you do in a case like this?

I stayed there with her while I sent one of my brothers and sisters back to the house to ask mother, what do we do? And she sent down a piece of pasteboard and said, put that gently under her arm so that there is support. And you hold it there until you can get her back to the house and we can get her to the hospital.

If somebody had got a broken bone, you see it's kind of stuck out a little bit and may soon penetrate the skin. You don't go over there and jerk it back into place. You have to deal gently, carefully. When you go to help restore somebody, you understand that you are to go considering yourself, lest you be tempted. You are to go gently, trying to help them bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. If any man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. And let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man must bear his own burden.

Now somebody may say, well that seems like a contradiction. One place that says, bear one another's burdens and another place that says, bear your own burden. Well, the fact is, our concern is to be to bear the burdens of others. But, if you become a scorekeeper and you are saying, I've got all these burdens and nobody has come to help me. And I really feel left out.

I really feel neglected. Let every man bear his own burden. You learn to find fellowship with God.

Find your strength in Him and not depend on others. And the person that really finds joy in God's service is not the one that's keeping score, but the one that's thinking, how can I minister to somebody else? Now, others will look at this and say, well this excuses me because this says, let those that are spiritual.

And I'm just not quite on that level. I believe I'm a Christian, but I haven't been elevated to that higher realm of the ladder. No, this is talking about any Christian, any believer. Back in the preceding chapter, chapter 5 verse 16, This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Verse 18, But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Verse 22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. If you are born again, you have the Spirit of God in you.

You walking in the Spirit, relying upon the Spirit of God, go in gentleness. One thing to remember, don't jump to conclusions. Sometimes more harm can be done than good, because you've made an assumption. Yes, maybe the person is going astray, but you don't know all the details. The book of Proverbs says, Do not answer a matter before you hear it. Ever been guilty of that? Jump into conclusions, you've jumped right into something you didn't even know the facts. Before you can really help somebody, you've got to build a rapport with them.

You've got to know something about where they really are. What is this burden all about? What is this temptation that's pulling in the wrong direction? When someone's going through trials, what then do you do? Not just somebody here is Galatians that's overtaken a default, but some brother that's encountered very great difficulty.

Some sister that's in deep sorrow. How are you going to help that person that is going through trials? Well, Romans 12, 15 says, We are to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice. Book of Romans, chapter 15, 14th verse, I myself am persuaded of you, my brethren, that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. He's described in the preceding verse as being the God of hope, so you're going there to tell them about the hope that there is in God. Now, what do you do when you feel like giving up?

You've tried to lovingly admonish, you've tried to help, but you feel like giving up. Galatians, chapter 6, verse 9 says, Be not weary in well-doing. Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13 says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me. And then we see our divine example. Instead of pulling away, instead of letting sin divide and separate, grace draws us to one another. And our example is the Lord Himself. Ezekiel, chapter 34, verse 11, God, speaking of His people, Israel says, For thus saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. The shepherds had failed in their God-given responsibility. And the Lord says, Therefore I will do it.

I'm not going to ignore them, they have sinned, they have fallen short, they have worshiped idols, but I will seek them out. We see an example of how God works in the case of Elijah. Elijah had that great day of victory on Mount Carmel.

The people saw that the true and living God was to be worshipped. And so 800 of the prophets of Baal were put to death. Jezebel hears about it and said, I'm going to kill Elijah. Now you'd think that since Elijah had prayed and God rained down fire from heaven and he enjoyed that victory. That old Jezebel tried to get me, she won't make it because God's on my side.

But you know what he did? He headed for the woods, running as fast as he could, high-tailing it out of town. Gets way out there in the wilderness and lays down under the juniper tree and moans and goes, Oh, Lord, take me on. Now the reason he was running, he didn't want Jezebel to kill him. But he gets out there in the wilderness and says, Lord, I want to die.

Shows how inconsistent we can be in the midst of our troubles. Oh, Lord, just take me on. Now, you might say, that's disgusting to see a prophet of God out there walling around on the ground moaning and groaning about this woman is trying to kill him. But look how the Lord attended to the matter. In the book of 1 Kings chapter 19, it says in verse 4, He himself on a day's journey into the wilderness and came up and sat down under a juniper tree and requested for himself that he might die.

But verse 5, he lay and slept under the juniper tree and behold an angel touched him and said, Arise and eat. What did he need? He needed rest and something to eat and the Lord gave it to him. Sometimes when people are discouraged and exasperated, they haven't been sleeping right, they haven't been eating right and that's just some of the basic things they need. Sometimes you might be able to minister to someone, maybe a young mother just at her wits end and you say, I'll come and babysit for half a day so you can get out of the house a little bit.

You might be able to help somebody, minister to somebody in that way. The Lord came to his servant. He didn't just say, alright I'll just leave you out there in your misery.

He came to him. Think about Jonah. Here's Jonah who is cantankerous and rebellious. The Lord tells him to go in one direction and he buys passage on the ship to go in another. Well, the Lord might say with my prophet being so cantankerous, I'll just leave him alone.

But Jonah chapter 1 verse 4 says, the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to be broken. Jonah said, I'm going to run away. God said, I'm going to find you.

I want to tell you, you can run away from the church, you can run away from biblical counsel, you cannot run away from God. He knows where you are. He'll find you and he'll send the storm in your life if you're one of his. The Lord will chasten everyone whom he receiveth. Well, Jonah finally confessed to the mariners that he was the problem passenger and said you'll get no relief until you throw away overboard.

And it did. Well, he was in bad need of transportation and the Lord provided it for him. Chapter 1 verse 17, now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

What do we see? The Lord provided for his servant even when he was disobedient and then chapter 3 verse 1, and the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time. The Lord came to him the second time. Aren't you glad that the Lord has often come back to you in your life, not just the second time, but the third time, the fourth time.

No telling how many times. When you have strayed, you have veered off course, but in his love and tender mercy, he has come after you. And then we read recently in our studies in the Gospel of John of Peter denying the Lord, but the Lord did not leave Peter. When he was out of the grave, he said, go tell the disciples and Peter. And in John chapter 21, he invites Peter to breakfast and then converses with him and says, follow me.

We are to imitate the actions of our God. The followers, he says in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, we are to love like he loves. John chapter 13 verse 1, speaking of Jesus says, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. In spite of all of their false failings, misunderstandings, he loved them anyway.

That's the way we are to love. Matthew chapter 5 verses 43 to 48 says that we are to imitate God and that God is gracious even to those who are his enemies. And we are told not to hate but to love our enemies. We are to be like him in forgiveness. Ephesians chapter 4 says, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Many a time I've heard somebody say, preacher, I just cannot forgive.

I've been too deeply hurt. You don't understand. I say, I don't have to understand.

That's not the issue. I can guarantee you that whatever has been done to you, whatever hurt has been imposed, whatever sin of somebody else has affected you, it doesn't compare to what your sin against God really stacks up to be. Now how has God forgiven you? As God said, I will forgive you your little sins but the big ones I won't forgive.

I'll forgive you but I'll bring it up to you every time I see you. He says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It ought to be a delight to forgiven souls, to forgive others. When you've been forgiven by the grace of God, you find it a joy to forgive others. Grace draws us to one another and sin divides.

How is it with you? Are you constantly thinking of others, praying for others, ministering to others, or are you thinking only of yourself? Someone here today confesses that sin has separated you from God.

It may have been lust, it may have been worldliness, it may have been ungodly actions, it may have been pride, it may have been a variety of things, but by his grace, he's come after you and you know it. Will you today repent, turn from your sin, and come to the Lord by faith? Lord, help me live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way that even when I kneel to pray, my prayers shall be for others, others. Lord, help me live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way that even when I kneel to pray, my prayers shall be for others, others. I hope that this message, which we have entitled simply, Others, has been meaningful to you and that the Lord will use it to help you to interact with others in a godly way that will be of their benefit and to the glory of God. Because of time restraints, we've not been able to air the entire message, so if you would like to get it in its complete form, we'll send it to you on CD upon request.

I hope you will plan to join us again for the broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour, and until then, this is LaSara Bradley Jr. bidding you goodbye. Help me, help me to live for others that I may near my feet. Let self be crucified and slain and buried deep and all in vain. May efforts be to rise again, unless to live for others, others. Lord, yes, others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others that I may near my feet. And when my work on earth is done, and my new work in heaven's begun, may I forget the race I've run, while thinking still of others, others. And when my work on earth is done, may I forget the race I've run, while thinking still of others, others.