Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Galatians chapter 6, we're just going to read these six verses. We have some additional passages that I'll probably read at the end.
Just for supporting passages, but we want to kind of mainly deal with our time in these first six verses. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
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. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all goodness. Good things.
Very well-known passages of scripture. There are a few verses that sometimes are very misunderstood. I have heard many say, and I guess somewhat ignorantly so, they say, you know, hey, we're in verse 2, we're to bear one another's burdens, but then in verse 4 and 5, we're to bear our own burden. And, you know, scripture is very clear on the difference here, but we're going to go through that, just make sure you understand. And remember, as we end tonight, this is about us being church members, this is about us being in the body of Christ.
Church is only going to work if we follow what the Bible says to do. I believe church is important. I believe that church is beyond important. I really, nowadays, everybody comes up with all these so-called deep dive biblical reasons why church isn't necessary. And can I just help you?
Don't listen to that mess. Just don't listen to it. Everybody thinks they're so smart nowadays, and they found some nut in a room somewhere that found a word that he has decided believes and means this. Listen, can I help you? Just go to church.
Just be faithful to church. Make church the central part of your life. God's going to honor you for that.
Now, if you get to heaven and you weren't supposed to, or you weren't required to, or it really wasn't that important, God will forgive you for that. He really will. In fact, I think God's going to bless you even if it's not because you believe it is and you've made it an effort and this is his house.
So just don't listen to some of that stuff, but we'll clear it up and I hope that. That this will help you this evening. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. Thank you for all that you've done.
And Lord, help us in this oh-so important part. of these things that we have gone through. These six things, Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand what it means to bear. one another's burdens. Pray you'd help us.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Real quickly, tonight, I want you to understand that bearing one another's burdens requires a few things. And this passage. Kind of makes it very clear.
Number one, it requires observation.
Now look at verse one: brethren. If a man be overtaken, in a fault.
Now, notice that, brethren.
So, what we have here is a group aspect. We have here in the context of a church. And we are brothers and sisters in Christ. That is the body of Christ. But I believe through the local church, the New Testament local church, what we have here is something that is very important.
If you don't know your brothers and sisters in Christ, you're not going to know if one has been overtaken in a fault. You know, I believe that there's a lot of people sitting in church that need restored, they need loved, they need helped, they need supported, but most people in the church don't even know it. Right, right. parts on two people. Number one, it requires you to be observant.
to be interested in your fellow brother and sister in Christ. Church isn't just about coming and sitting and checking off that list. It's literally about fellowship. It's about accountability. It's about relationship.
It's about our ability to help each other, encourage each other, pray for one another, edify one another, everything that we've gone through in these past weeks. But it also requires that maybe you're the person that needs some help, that needs restored, that needs support. It means that you're going to have to make yourself available too. I mean, it's one thing to sit there and say, well, nobody at church even noticed me, but if you come in when the music's starting and you leave during closing prayer, how in the world is anybody going to get to know you? If we're never at anything, we show up at one church service a week, if that, and we don't talk to anybody, we won't do anything, we don't get in a Sunday school class, we don't get in any kind of a small group atmosphere thing that we have here, we're not in a choir, we're not in a ministry, we're not in any of that, then we really have no right to get mad at a church for not showing interest.
In us. What that really is, is us not showing interest in a church.
So it requires both ends, it requires observation. And so I want to challenge you: part of our job as church members is to be observant. And to notice when somebody needs some help and to understand they don't need a sermon, they need support. You know, they don't need you telling them everything they've done wrong. They probably already know it.
What they need is to know somebody loves them and they care about them and they wish to help restore them. It requires observation. Notice number two, it requires evaluation. He says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual. Yeah.
This means automatically you and I have to take a quick evaluation of things. Am I in that category?
Now, I don't know, none of us would want to stand up here and say, Yeah, I'm spiritual. But it's an honest question. Would you fit in this category?
Now we would not say epic and there might be some of us that are sitting here saying well, I think so You know, at least I am aware of the spiritual. I spend time in the spiritual. I'm in God's Word. You know, you want to be a spirit-filled believer. Spiritual.
But what I wanted to say is, according to the Word of God, the way you're evaluated as to whether or not you are spiritual is not all the rules and standards that you follow. The Bible never says that.
Okay. What the Bible says is the way that you're evaluated. Is not all the ministries you're involved with, not all that you do, not even how many years you have been at this church. And bless your heart, you've been here all those years and sat in the same seat and done the exact same things. Listen, no, no, no, no.
The way the Bible says you and I are evaluated is spiritual. is if we are involved. Helping, restoring, and supporting our brothers and sisters in Christ.
So are we in that category? Let me just say this. There has to be some evaluation done tonight. If I'm going to bear one another's burdens, the Bible says that the way you do that is to help restore each other. And God says if that's going to happen, you're going to have to be spiritual.
We're going to have to be spirit-minded. To help others, to restore them, to bear their burdens. You know, I think we think bear each other's burdens mean: hey, just be available so they can give you their testimony or give you a prayer request, or I'll write it down and I'll pray for it. That is tremendous. Please, half Christians don't even do that.
So, if we can get you to write things down and pray, and that is part of bearing one another's burdens, but you have to understand that what we're talking about is spiritual. burdens. It means something that a person, although they've tried their best, cannot carry this load themselves. They need some help. Yeah.
Restoration. Bearing one another's burdens requires observation, evaluation, And notice third, restoration. Look what he says. Restore such an one. If a man's overtaken in a fault, You who are spiritual.
Restore. Don't preach at. Don't criticize, don't give him the list of why he went wrong, how he went wrong. How we all know he went wrong or she went wrong. No, it says restore.
It doesn't even say go tell everybody what they did. It says, Restore such an one.
So to bear one another's burden, listen to me. I am not bearing a person's burden if I go talk about them. I am not bearing their burden if I go tell other people what they're going through. I am only helping to bear their burden if I am involved in restoring them. In restoration.
Now, he gets real specific on this one. I want you to notice first, restoration requires guidance. He says, restore such in one. It means this, that if I'm going to bear somebody's burden, to restore somebody means God is going to have to guide me. I'm going to have to see them.
I'm going to have to care about them. But listen, they're going to need help. And if I am going to be involved in restoring them, look at me. You don't have what they need to restore them.
Now I know that many think that they do. Oh, they've been around. Oh, you don't know a season that I went through three years ago, and I went through that, and God really got me through it, so now they're ready to help the world. Listen to me: you do not have what people need if you have this. You have what people need.
All right.
So I need God's guidance. I don't need my wisdom. I don't need my experiences. I don't need my stories and glad that any of those things can be part of it. But to restore somebody means I'm going to need God's guidance.
Restore such an one. Not only does restoration require guidance, number two, restoration requires gentleness. Yeah. The Spirit of meekness. Don't crush the fallen.
Carry them. Help them. This is the opposite of arrogance. This is the opposite of This condescending, I can't believe you did that. Listen, I have been around this thing long enough, I do believe it.
When I hear somebody's done something, listen to me, I believe it. I absolutely believe it. It doesn't really surprise me anymore. Can you believe so-and-so? Yeah, I can.
I can't. We're flesh. We're human. We're sinners. We're evil.
So I can believe it. And guess what? You should be able to believe it too. He says this: restore them in a spirit of meekness. And here's why.
If it's not done with the spirit of meekness, restoration is really not going to take place. It's just not. Right, it's good. It's gonna drive them further away? instead of closer.
It's going to have to be done with gentleness. It's going to have to be done with guidance from God, and it's going to have to be done with gentleness. Number three, restoration requires grace.
Now notice this, considering thyself. This is all part of restoration. I'm going to need God's guidance to restore.
Okay, I'm going to need gentleness to do it in a spirit of meekness, but notice this: considering thyself. lest thou also be tempted. It means, listen, restoration is going to require grace. And it's only the grace of God that kept me from doing what they've done. It's only the grace of God why you didn't do what they've done.
And let's just be honest, many times you did do. What they've done. Maybe nobody found out. Hey, half the time I have done. I have thought that.
I have done, but maybe it's just not been known. You and I need to understand something. We have to consider ourselves. We ought to not just show grace to them, but we need to ask and beg God for His grace in our life so that we don't end up in this same situation, so that we don't make those same decisions. Considering thyself, notice this: lest thou also be what?
Tempted. Tempted. Restoration requires guidance, gentleness. and grace. And we haven't even really gotten to the bear you one another's burdens yet.
This is a brethren that's overtaken in a fault, but this is all. burden bearing. It's all in the same passage. Here's somebody that needs help. And here I know that I don't necessarily have all the answers, but I know that God does.
And my job is not to get them close to me. My job is to get them close to God. Let me say that again. My job is not to gather my little circle and get everybody close to me so that I can be their little guru. My job is to get that circle close to God.
Let him guide them and me stay out of the way.
Okay, that's biblical. Amen, preacher. Amen. So, restoration requires guidance, gentleness, and grace. Number four.
Restoration requires compassion. Bearing one another's burdens requires Compassion. Look what it says. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. one another's burdens.
It means I'm going to have to have compassion. What is compassion? I'm going to have to kind of feel what they're going through. I'm going to have to care what they're going through. I'm going to have to get to the point that I really kind of care what they're going through more than what I care what I'm going through.
Compassion means, you know, obviously, and I can give you definition after definition and all the little quotes and all these things. I'm not going to do that tonight. You all know what compassion means. It means that I have to care enough that I genuinely am interested in helping bear this person's burden. This burden that they obviously couldn't carry, this burden that they didn't have the strength, or they wouldn't have fallen, they wouldn't have had this fault in their life.
And I've got to care enough to realize they can't. Listen, if they could do this without help, they wouldn't be where they are and they wouldn't need what they need. And by the way, lest we forget, we've all been in a situation where we needed someone else to sit down and help restore us. We've all needed that. My compassion means I'm going to help you because I know I've needed help.
My compassion is, I'm going to help you with this, and I'm going to care enough in this because, listen, if it's not for God's grace, you might have to help me next year. Compassion. Bearing one another's burdens, number five, requires contrition. Here's what's interesting. Look at verse 3.
Look at this wall. For if a man think himself to be something. Don't you love the Word of God? It doesn't just come out and say, listen, I know all you. I know all you Christians.
It's not like Jesus is saying, hey, listen, I created you, I know you, I've saved you. Listen, you're going to think you're something.
Now he just says, brethren, if a man You know, hypothetical situation here, which we all fit into. If a man be over, listen, I love this. If a man thinks himself to be something. when he is nothing. It doesn't say if a man thinks he's something and it just might so happen to be that he's nothing.
No, he is saying an individual here that thinks there's something when he is nothing. That's what you and I are, by the way. without Christ.
Okay. If a man thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. What is this? This is humility. It's contrition.
It means that I've got to listen to me. You're not going to help anybody if when you help them, you think that you're above that need. You think you're above doing that. You begin, you and I can begin to think, well, listen, I can't believe he did that. I would never do that.
Oh, yeah, you would. All of us are susceptible. All of us are weak. All of us are flesh. All of us are human.
And what it means is that you and I need to be contrite. We need to understand as we go to help each other bear burdens, we need to realize: listen, I could be bearing this burden just as much as them. And I'm going to help them. And I, listen, I know I'm nothing. And if you begin to think you're something, you begin to think you're above the person that needs help, dear friend, you are on a wrong path.
You are on the wrong path. God says he deceiveth himself. It means you're not right about it.
Now, I know that maybe you, you know, in my eye, remind you, there is a story about what we call the prodigal son, who is not really the prodigal son. There was an older brother and the prodigal son, but at the end of the story, the prodigal son got right. The older brother never did.
So who's the real prodigal here? We have a whole lot of Christians that are the older brother. They've crossed all their T's, dotted all their I's. I mean, I'm telling you, they don't miss a thing, they do everything, and kudos for all the effort and all the good works. But their heart has become cold and hardened and arrogant and apathetic and all these things.
Listen, when you and I begin to think we're something. And God knows we're nothing. Then we begin to deceive ourselves. And what happens when you and I begin to deceive ourselves? We begin to talk ourselves into something.
Oh, it's okay if I do this. I'll never do that. Oh, and listen, I'm strong enough to handle this. Oh, I'm strong enough to this. We begin to deceive ourselves.
I want you to notice, number six. Bearing one another's burdens requires, and this is big, self-examination. Self-examination. Look at verse 4. But let every man, notice this, 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. Very misunderstood passage. If I can, let me try to explain this to you very clearly.
Look at verse 4. Let every man prove his own work. And then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, not in another. This simply means don't measure your life by comparing yourself to others, which breeds. Pride, which breeds discouragement.
Instead, examine your own emotions, examine your own life. Listen to me. When a believer sincerely Um And I would call it um Honestly, sincerely, open before God, your spiritual evaluation should come from God's approval of your work, not from outdoing someone else. Understand this passage. What does he say?
Let every man prove his own work. In other words, I'm going to help restore people. That's what we're talking about, verses 1, 2, and 3. I'm going to restore. God says, listen, somebody's fallen in a fall.
Somebody needs help, support. You ought to care. You ought to know about it. You ought to observe. You ought to be a spiritual individual and you ought to help them.
Listen to me. But when I help them, what I've got to be careful of is that I don't judge my spirituality based on the fact I didn't do what he did. What God is saying is don't judge your work by another man's work. Don't judge your spiritual condition just because you haven't done what another brother has done. Look what he says: let every man prove his own work.
You quit worrying about how you compare to others. You quit worrying about, oh, I didn't do what so-and-so did. That doesn't matter. That's not the evaluation. The evaluation is this: that every man must prove his own work.
And here's why. Then you'll have rejoicing in yourself alone, not in another. Because I don't want to rejoice that another man has fallen, because that makes me feel better as a Christian. You see, if my spiritual thermometer or however you want to call it is based on how I measure up to people, guess what? Then there's going to be this sick Christian joy when I find out somebody's done something wrong.
And don't look at me like you don't think that happens. Let me put you in my world. I'm a pastor. And we pastors like to tell you, we're not in competition with anybody. We love everybody.
And these pastors are going through website after website. Reel after reel, see how full their building was, how many people they had, what did they do at their church this week, and it turns into this big thing. We're all jockeying, trying to have the same stuff. And here's what happens: if you're not careful, if you begin to evaluate your ministry based on how does my ministry compare to that person, how does my church compare to that guy's church? Here's the problem: there's going to be this problem that all of a sudden the pastor over here falls, messes up.
Guess what? There's going to be this little thing inside that thinks, oh, I didn't do that. I'm a better pastor. That I didn't do that. And that happens on your level, it happens on my level, and God says that stinks.
Let every man prove his own work. Don't rejoice because the brother has fallen. You prove your own work and you find your joy in yourself and God. And you know what? When you know you're right before God and you've done right before God, that should be your joy.
Your joy should not be involved and glad when a brother or sister has fallen. Self-examination. Listen to me. Your joy should come from doing right. Not from liking the fact that your brother or sister did worse.
We have to avoid this comparison when we feel spiritual because someone else fell. Look at verse 5. For every man shall bear his own burden. Now, why does this not conflict with verse 2?
Well, let me say this first. At first glance, it sounds like a contradiction. Verse 2, we're to bear every other, you know, bear one another's burdens. Then verse 5, I'm to bear my own burden.
So preacher, what are we talking about here?
Well, there are two different Greek words used here. for the word burden.
Okay. First is the word bare. The second is the word forteon.
Okay, now. Bare means heavy, crushing burdens, things that are too big for a person to carry alone. God says that you are to help restore a brother because he has things bearing upon him that are too great for him to carry alone. But when we come down to verse 5, it's the word forteon, P-H-O-R-T-I-O-N. It means a personal load or a backpack.
It means normal God-given responsibilities for life. Daily burdens. Things that I gotta do every day.
Okay? It's things that God has given me and things God's put in my path. And here's what it's saying: You and I are to help our brothers and sisters when they're under a burden that's too big for one person to carry. But we also need to understand that we need to judge our own work and we're responsible for what we do. I'm not responsible because I look better than so-and-so.
God doesn't care how good I look compared to so-and-so. God cares whether I followed His word or not. God cares whether I'm right or not. God cares whether I've kept myself right or not. That's what God, He doesn't care about how I compare.
So every man must prove his own work, and every man needs to get his joy between him and God, not because of other things involved. And that also means this: that every day you and I are responsible to carry out the responsibility that God has given us. Yeah. Amen. Amen.
We are the bear. our own burden. Every believer has a personal load of responsibility before God. Our obedience, our motives, our discipleship, our spiritual growth, our accountability at the judgment seat of Christ. Nobody else can do that for me.
Listen to me. This is the key to the whole thing. Here is the main deal: others can help you with heavy sorrow, but they cannot carry your accountability before your God.
So I am to help others bear their sorrow, but nobody can take my accountability. For me. I am going to answer to God for what I've done. Can I have an amen right there?
So, I'm to help them bear their burdens, but I need to remember in the middle of this, it doesn't matter just because I compare better to them. Maybe I haven't done what they've done. Listen to me, one day that nobody can take that accountability from me. I am going to have to give an account to God for what I've done. And if I'm going to bear another person's burden, I better keep all that in mind.
That's going to keep me from pride. And arrogance, and I'm going to tell you something. I know that I've always lacked certain filters. When it comes to some things, Um But let me tell you where I am losing some filters. is where you know you just Keep accommodating, and well, it's okay.
Listen, I'm getting to the point that I'm getting very wary of people. that are so judgmental. That are so better than thou, more spiritual than thou, greater than thou, and they talk about people in the church as if I can't believe that they, and can you believe that they, can you believe that, and I'm telling you something, it's this mess. That individual is not bearing anybody's burdens. I'm going to tell you, they are not involved helping anybody.
They are not involved helping to restore. Listen, if you are a person that is involved right down where the rubber meets the road, where somebody's struggling, and you sit there and you pray with them, and you help them, and you love on them, and you give God's word to them, and you support them, and you call them during the day, and you're there for them to call you late at night when they're struggling, and all those different things. Let me tell you, you're involved in that. That should keep you humble. It ought to remind you, God, this could happen to me.
And God, just because I haven't done that doesn't mean I'm any better than them. And God, just because I haven't struggled with that doesn't mean that I won't struggle with that. And that ought to keep us accountable to God. God, it doesn't matter what they've done, I'm going to give account to you for what I've done. That's why it's so important for us to bear one another's burdens.
Because if you're not involved in that, pride will enter. Arrogance will enter. and we become that church member. Yeah, where we have people.
Well, they're here on Sunday morning. I and everybody. Yeah. What's she wearing over there? Mm-hmm.
I didn't. I'm not wearing that. Of course you're a man, she's a woman, so you shouldn't be anyway, but... Listen. I'm just getting to the point in church, I'm getting tired of that mess.
All of us ought to be tired of that mess. Listen, I'm for keeping your silly thing. Guess what? God's going to hold you accountable for you. And if you remember that, that'll keep our nose out of everybody else's business, commenting on what everybody else is doing, commenting on everybody else is dressing, trying to get our nose into what they're doing in life and what their grandkids do.
Can you believe what their kids do and what they wear and where they go? And can you believe what they had on their... I don't care what they have on their Facebook site. I don't care. That's not my business.
My business is one day I'm going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. And I've got plenty to give account for already. I don't know about you. I've got plenty. I've messed up so much that it embarrasses me, and I've got too much of that to worry about.
I'm more interested, and somebody needs some help and support. Listen, I know how it can happen, and I know how easy it is, and I know how I can struggle, and I know how I can get to dark places fast. And I would rather go sit down and pray with them and love them instead of judging them and preach at them and give them a sermon and all that stuff. I would rather help them and love them and show them that God's grace is what's involved in this. And instead of me sitting back and trying to analyze and almost manipulate and be the overseer of their life, listen, that stuff is done, it's gone, and it ought to never be part of Kerwin Baptist Church.
Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com.
Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
