THE LAW OF CHRIST

 

 

Gal. 6:1-10; 14-13

 

Prayer

 

We begin with the word “Bretheren;”

A reminder of the relationship that exists between us.

 

 

We take it for granted.

But we are family;

 

 

Not family in the sense that we all share the same genes.

But family in the sense that we are all indwelt by the same Holy Spirit.

 

 

WP are brothers and sisters in Christ;

Members of the household of faith.

 

 

Our spiritual family is presented with a hypothetical question:

“If a man be overtaken in a fault.”

 

 

If one of our Church member falls into sin.

There's no doubt that he's a sinner.

 

 

He's been caught red handed.

So what do we do?

 

 

God says, “Ye which are spiritual restore such an one.”

It’s the responsibility of those who are mature in the faith to restore the fallen          

Church member;

 

Help him mend.

Bring healing into his life.

 

 

And verse 1 adds do it, “in the spirit of meekness;”

Meekness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit;

 

 

A fruit we need to demonstrate when dealing with sin in the Church.

The spirit of meekness means be humble, be gentle.

 

 

Don't demonstrate a “holier-than-thou” attitude.

Don't lose sight. of what true spirituality is.

 

 

True spirituality is more than acting spiritual;

More than attending church;

 

 

More than reading the Bible;

More than studying the Sunday School lesson.

 

 

True spirituality is loving people the way Jesus loves people.

It's restoring our fallen brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

 

Mature Church members should do this because they understand that it's our         

goal to restore the fallen not to drive them away.

Verse 1 continues, restore the fallen brother in meekness “considering thyself          

lest thou also be tempted.”

 

 

If you were the fallen Church member, how would you want the Church to    

treat you?

Would you want the Church to talk about you?

 

 

To look down its nose at you?

To gloat over your fall?

 

 

None of us want to be treated like that.

And God is saying, “Put yourself in the shoes of others.”

 

 

“Treat them way you want to be treated.”

Verse 2, “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

 

 

The Galatians were legalistic.

Some were still trying to keep the Law of Moses.

 

 

But God was saying, “if you want to keep a law, keep the law of Christ.”

What is the law of Christ?

 

 

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

 

 

“Encourage one another.”

“Submit to one another.”

 

 

“Honor one another.”

“Instruct one another.”

 

 

“Forgive one another.”

“Pray for one another.”

 

 

We fulfill the law of Christ when we bear one another's burdens.

Suppose we don't care about our brother's burdens?

 

Verse 3, “If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he         

deceiveth himself.”

We deceive ourselves, if we think we are saved and we don't care about        

others in the Church.

 

 

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have     

love one to another” (John 13:35).

John said, “He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death” (I Jn. 3:14).

 

 

God is love.

And we deceive ourselves about our salvation, if we don’t love each other.

 

 

Verse 4, “Let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing         

in himself alone, and not in another.”

Those who think they are saved should prove it.

 

 

We prove it by loving others;

By backing up our righteousness with good deeds.

 

 

“Don't talk about your goodness.”

“Demonstrate your goodness.”

 

 

“Don't just talk the talk.”

“Walk the walk.”

 

 

Verse 5 is a verse the atheists love.

They love it because they think they’ve found a contradiction in the Bible.

 

 

Verse 2 says, “Bear ye one another's burdens.”

Verse 5 says, “Every man shall bear his own burdens.”

 

This sounds like a contradiction.

But it's not a contradiction.

 

 

We’re using an English translation of the Bible.

And eleven different words have been translated into the one English word    

“burden.”

 

 

There are burdens we can bear for others.

And burdens we must bear alone.

 

 

For example, we can bear the burden of those who are broke.

We can give them gifts of money.

 

 

We can help the blind and the elderly.

We can comfort the sick and the grieving.

 

 

But if we get a fever, no one can bear that fever for us.

If we need surgery, no one can have that surgery for us.

 

 

If it's our time to die, no one can die for us.

And this is the point.

 

 

When we stand before the judgment bar, no one will be judged in our place.

God will not judge us for what we claim to be.

 

 

He will judge us for what we really are.

There are burdens that we can bear for others.

 

 

 

 

And burdens we must bear alone.

Verse 6, “Let him that is taught in the word share with him that teacheth in all

good things.”

 

 

Share what you have with your pastor.

Now, having said that, please don't misunderstand me.

 

 

I'm not asking you to pay me more money.

Thank you for paying me a good salary.

 

 

I'm not asking you to give more money to the Church.

Thank you for paying one hundred percent of your Conference Askings.

 

 

Thank you for doing what you are suppose to do.

I'm simply expounding on what the Bible is saying.

 

 

A preacher should spend a lot of time studying, teaching and preaching.

Depending upon how much time he devotes to that, he may not be able to    

adequately provide for his family.

 

 

His job is to feed you spiritually.

And your job is to feed him physically.

 

 

This is one of the ways we bear one another’s burdens.

I bear your burden to know the Word.

 

 

And you bear my burden to care for my family.

Lucy asked Charlie Brown, “Why are we here on earth?”

 

 

 

He replied, “To help others.”

Lucy thought a minute.

 

 

She asked, “Then why are others here?”

She had it figured out.

 

 

They are here to help us.

We are here to help each other.

 

 

Verse 7, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth,       

that shall he also reap.”

This is what theologians call an immutable law.

 

 

An immutable law is a law that cannot be changed;

A law that God has woven into the very fabric of His creation.

 

 

There will be a harvest.

The harvest will be affected by the quantity of our sowing.

 

 

If we sow little, we will reap little.

If we sow much, we will reap much.

 

 

The harvest will also be affected by the quality of our sowing.

If we sow bad, we will reap bad.

 

 

If we sow good, we will reap good.

Life is like a boomerang.

 

 

 

 

What we put into it will come back to us.

Verse 8, “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but        

he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

 

 

We live our lives as sowers.

And we can sow two kinds of seeds with two kinds of harvests.

 

 

If we spend our money, time and talents sowing earthly things we will reap a harvest

of earthly things.

We will die.

 

 

We will leave our earthly things behind.

They will eventually be destroyed.

 

 

If we spend our money, time and talents sowing spiritual things, we will reap a

harvest of spiritual things.

We will die.

 

 

But our works will follow us.

And we will have treasure in heaven that will last forever.

 

 

We have not been saved to live self-centered lives.

God wants us to put our arms around hurting Church members;

 

 

To help them, pray with them, teach them and weep with them.

If we love them, they will love us.

 

 

If we forgive them, they will forgive us.

If we turn our backs on them, we will lose them.

 

 

Every action produces a reaction.

It's like priming an old fashioned pump.

 

 

If we put water in, we can pump it and get water out.

But if we never put water in, we will never get water out.

 

 

Verse 9, “Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap,

if we faint not.”

We sometimes get tired of doing good.

 

 

We plant cotton.

We get cotton.

 

 

But we also get a lot of grass and weeds.

We plant lettuce.

 

 

We get lettuce.

But we also get bugs and worms.

 

 

We see someone that needs help.

We help them.

 

 

But it turns out to be more than we expected.

This can drain us.

 

 

God knows it.

So He is saying, “Just keep sowing.”

 

 

 

 

The harvest will come in due season.

Verse 10, “As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men,  

especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

 

 

We don't have a choice about who to be good to.

We should be good to everyone everywhere.

 

 

And we should especially be good to those in the Church.

The world is our field.

 

 

But this Church is our highest priority.

I will skip down to Verse 14.

 

 

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus       

Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

One woman said, “My little Suzie could sit up when she was four months     

old.”

 

 

“She could crawl when she was six months old.”

“She could tell us what she wanted when she was sixteen months old.”

 

 

She asked her friend, “Did your daughter tell you what she wanted when she

was sixteen months old?”

“No!” replied her friend.

 

 

“My daughter wrote it down.”

We like to brag about our children and grandchildren.

 

 

I thought about showing you some pictures.

And talking about my grandchildren today.

 

We even like to brag about what we do.

We are right to restore a fallen Church member;

 

 

Right to support our pastor financially;

Right to be good to all people.

 

 

But when we get right down to it, Jesus is the only thing that we have to

brag about.

He is the foundation of everything we believe and do.

 

 

Without Him, we will be nothing one hundred years from now.

But because of Him our works will last forever.

 

 

So let us glory in Jesus instead of ourselves.

Dennis the Menace and Joey were leaving Mrs. Wilson's house with a big      

handful of cookies.

 

 

Joey said, “I wonder what we did to deserve this?”

Dennis the Menace` replied, “Mrs. Wilson doesn't give us cookies because   

we're nice.”

 

 

“She gives us cookies because she's nice.”

We don't have a future because we're good.

 

 

We have a future because God is good.

Verse 15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor      

uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

 

 

The Jews loved to brag about their circumcision.

They said their circumcision made them a child of God.

 

But a physician can't operate on a man.

And make him a child of God.

 

 

The Bible is saying circumcision means nothing as far as salvation is   

concerned.

The essential question is, “Are you a new creature?”

 

 

“Have you been born again?”

“Do you have a new heart through the miracle of God's grace?”

 

 

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away,    

behold all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17).

This does not say, “If you are saved, you SHOULD be a new creature.”

 

 

It says, “If you are saved, you ARE a new creature.”

You have changed.

 

 

Your old habits, your old thoughts, your old ways are gone.

If you are saved, you are doing things differently.

 

 

If you are saved, you are trying to do what God wants you to do.

Here’s a test for you.

 

 

Has your attitude toward spiritual things changed, since you accepted Jesus?

Verse 16, “As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and    

mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”

 

 

What do you want out of life?

Do you want peace and mercy?

 

 

Living by the law of Christ (the Golden Rule) will produce it.

The problem is that too many of us are trying to live by our own rules.

 

 

And we can't understand why things are going wrong.

If we would live by God's rules, things would be better.

 

 

We wouldn't have everything we want, but things would be better.

Verse 17, “Henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks        

of the Lord Jesus.”

 

 

Paul was beaten at Philippi.

And locked in stocks.

 

 

He was stoned at Galatia.

And he almost died.

 

 

He looked at his scars.

He said, “Don't question my salvation.”

 

 

“I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”

“These marks on my body show that I changed.”

 

 

At Philippi, he said, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only          

to believe on him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29).

Our task is not just to believe in Jesus.

 

 

Our task is also suffer for Jesus.

That's what He did at Calvary.

 

 

 

He suffered for us.

And because He suffered for us, we should suffer for Him.

 

 

Are you willing to suffer for Jesus?

Willing to put your own desires and opinions aside?

 

 

Willing to love everyone in this Church?

Willing to reach out?

 

 

Circumcision is not an evidence of salvation.

But a changed life is.

 

 

Do you bear any other marks that shows you have changed?

Are you marked by a victory over sin;

 

 

Marked by a commitment to learn the Word;

Marked by a commitment to attend Church;

 

 

Marked by the fruit of the Spirit;

Marked y the gifts of the Spirit.

 

 

What marks do you bear in your life that show that you are a changed person?

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,    

and with all thy mind.”

 

 

“This is the first and great commandment.”

“And the second is like unto it.”

 

 

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-38).

Verse 18 concludes the book of Galatians.

“Bretheren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

We are sinners.

 

 

We need grace.

The grace of Jesus is with us.

 

 

We are saved by grace.

We are kept by grace.

 

 

God asks us to show grace to the fallen;

To restore them.

 

 

But restoring them is not enough.

God also asks us to help then with their burdens;

 

 

To minister unto their needs.

That's what we are all about.

 

 

Loving God.

And loving each other.

 

 

Do you love me?

Feed my lambs.

 

 

Do you love me?

Feed my sheep.

 

 

Do you love me?

Feed my sheep.

 

The grace of Christ be with you.

Amen.