Responding to Sin in Others, Part 2

Under the leadership of Bill Payne, and they'll be ministering at the Bethel Covenant School in Kampala, Uganda. they're going to be working to assist that school with a computer lab, and, they're going to be providing some technology service for that school, which will be very needed, in Africa there. And they are looking for old USB thumb drives, the little drives that you can just pop into a USB and keep some storage on. If you have one of those that you're not using, they'd be happy to put that to good use in Uganda.

secondly, I'd like to tell you about the Mexico team that's coming up. we're going to be assisting, Hands of Mercy and, building a home for a family in Mexico. So, this is a great opportunity to show God's love, and, we're gonna actually prebuild the home here in the parking lot at Cornerstone, and that's going to take place on, June twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. So that's coming up in a few weeks here.

And we need lots of hands to, hands of mercy to help, put this together. And, the actual trip where we go down and set it up in Mexico will take place July 4th through the 6th, and we definitely need more volunteers for both events. I will, be at the, table outside, after the service if you'd like to sign up or get more information. so just pray that God will bless both of these trips with, fruit for His kingdom, and I'd like to take just a moment and say we're sending out quite a few different teams this summer.

And if you'd like to contribute financially to any of the teams or any member of the teams, listen carefully. This is specified by our treasurer how we'd like to do contributions. if you're contributing, go ahead and, write a check. to Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church.

Don't make it out to the mission team or to the individual. Make it out to Cornerstone, OK? And then on a separate piece of paper, put down the team that you'd like to contribute to. Put that in the envelope, and, you can put that in the offering or hand it to our treasurer, Alvin Davis.

So, Check payable to Cornerstone, separate piece of paper specifying the mission trip that you're contributing to. So, any questions, again, I'll be outside, but please do be in prayer and consider how God might be able to use you on one of these, teams that we've got going out. Thank you. Well, thank you, Steve.

Well, good to see you all this morning and what a beautiful day, it is. let me have you guys turn in your Bibles to, Galatians 6. We're going to be, picking up where we left off last, Sunday, and, for those visiting with us, we're doing a verse by verse study through the book of Galatians, and as we continue in our study of this book, we come this morning to Galatians chapter 6, verse 1. And, in the first service, we got, last week, we got all the way through verse one.

In the second service, we didn't get quite that far. So, I'm going to preach this morning in both services like I will be preaching in the second service. So there'll be a tiny bit of redundancy, but maybe the Lord knew you guys needed that, the, the repetition. But the, the title of the message, this morning is Responding to Sin in Others, Part 2, Responding to sin in others, and we'll be looking at verses 1 through 5 of Galatians 6, this morning.

There's actually a total of 10 responses that we're going to sweep together that you should have to send, in other people. I, let me start off with this though. I, I, I pulled this out, This is a letter from, my wife of, maybe, about 20 years ago, a letter from her 20 years ago, not my wife of 20 years ago, as if it's someone different, but, my last year of seminary as the year was coming to a close, I got like so honed in on, on getting my work done and preparing for finals and stuff that I would just, we had a small two bedroom.

condo that was like 760 square feet, so it was really small, and, and our bedroom, was, that was also my study.

So did, did much for the aesthetics of our, of our room, and, and I got so focused on my studies as the semester wore on that I would just leave my books out and there were papers strewn everywhere. And also I, I, I started hanging my clothes on the door of our bedroom. just one day after another, they just piled high. There was no way to even close the door, and when I ran out of room.

On the corner of the door in our bedroom, I just started laying my clothes on the back of the, the chair of the desk where I studied. And, and so this was piling up until about a week before the, my graduation, and I came home from school one day and I found this letter from my wife. you want me to read it? Says dearest Milton, Let me begin this letter by telling you that I love you dearly and believe you are a wonderful husband.

I am so very proud of your accomplishments and I am impressed by your goals. However, One, no, two things have really bothered me of late. I understand that this is your final week of school, but dear, we are having company this weekend. And not only that, but I am living here this week.

I would appreciate so much your putting away your books and the papers that have been piling up on your desk. I would also appreciate your putting away the clothes that are piling up on the chair and the door in our bedroom. I think we will both be amazed at how simple the task is and how it will heighten the aesthetic quality of our room. I will be happy to assist in providing hangers for the clothes, trash cans for the papers, and space for the books.

Just let me know what you need and I will cheerfully oblige. Thank you for your time and your concern. I do appreciate the concentrated effort that you will make tonight, and tonight is underlined 6 times. To do these things, I think the peace and harmony that reigns in our home will be elevated to an even higher plane.

Your loving and hopeful wife, Donna. Then says PS, if there's anything you may need to share with me in regards to your feelings about this matter or any other, please feel free to contact me. I'm more than happy to listen. Well, guess what I did.

I, upon reading this, I put my clothes away, organized my books, and, cleaned off my desk in response to This gentle rebuke from my wife. On this particular occasion, this is how my wife chose to respond to a particular failing on my part, and I was grateful for the fact that she chose to deal with it, number one, but then secondly, that she chose to deal with it the way that, that she did. As we all know, a wife could handle something like this very differently, right? But she chose to handle it in this way.

And I began with this primarily to, to illustrate something that when we're looking at Galatians 6, I don't want you to just only think of, some major moral failing. OK, Galatians 6, a brother's caught in a trespass. this is, this is what we do when someone has committed adultery. and so I need to know this passage whenever these serious things happen.

No, this passage applies to any situation. wherein there's any wrongdoing or failing in the life of a brother or sister in the Lord. And so, yeah, there's serious extremes to this. And then there's the other extreme.

where Paul is giving us guidance basically in how to respond to the sins and the failings of other people. That's really what we're dealing with in this passage. In Galatians 5, Paul has taught us how to deal with sin in ourselves. Now he's teaching us how to deal with sin in our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

And I think you guys understand the concept of why this is important. is it not true that more than half, not all, but is it not true that more than half of the sins we commit, we commit in response to either a real or a perceived wrongdoing in somebody else? Is that not true? Think about the worst things you did this week.

What was it that provoked that? Not that you're making excuses for the choice you made, but, was not most of the time in response to a real or perceived wrong that someone has done? You're driving on the freeway, someone selfishly cuts you off, on the freeway and you respond in the flesh. You didn't just get fleshly just to get flesh, It was in response to a wrong that somebody had done on the freeway.

Think about times where you behaved towards your kids in a way that you later regret and that was wrong. I can't believe I said what I said to my kids and I responded that way. think back to those occasions, even this week. What were those occasions?

What initiated that, if it was not either a real or a perceived wrongdoing on the part of your children that you then wrongly responded to? And so when you realize that, that more than half of the sins we commit, we commit in response to wrongdoing in others, or at least perceived wrongdoing in others, you then come to understand why if Paul's goal in this part of Galatians is to deal with sin, then it makes sense that yes, in chapter 5, he teaches us how to deal with sin inside of ourselves.

But then coming into chapter 6, he teaches us how to rightly respond to sin in other people. Well, last week, we looked at the 1st 5 responses to sin in other people.

and these responses, let's just review them very quickly, are number 1, think family. Think family. In verse 1, he says, brethren, and he begins by calling us brothers. So you need to look at your sinning brother, your failing brother as, as being a brother in Christ, and you are a brother or a sister to this one that is failing.

You are family, you've got a family responsibility here to address this issue. with your brother in Christ. There is a second response that we saw, and that is that you need to be spiritual. You need to be spiritual.

Paul says, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one. Now, we, we use the word spiritual in an unfortunate way, like someone who, we would be reluctant to say I am a spiritual person, right? But actually, we shouldn't be reluctant to say that if we understand that the way Paul is understanding it here in Galatians, to be spiritual is to be walking in the spirit. All right?

To be choosing the Spirit over the flesh and to be walking in the Spirit, And Paul is saying it's absolutely critical that you be spiritual as you're dealing with sin in other people. In other words, that you yourself be walking in the spirit. And I'll come back to that in just, just a moment, but let's finish this review. A third response is that we need to be compassionate.

We need to be compassionate in the way that we look upon our brother in his sin. Paul says, brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, it's just interesting the way he describes your failing brother's sin. and it's a brother who's been caught, he's been overtaken in a trespass, meaning the trespass is the enemy, not your brother, and the spiritual part of your brother does not want to do what he has chosen to do, and you need to understand that. And, and your response needs to be something like, oh, Dear, my brother, my sister has been overtaken by sin in an unfortunate way.

There's a 4th response that we saw to sin in others, and that is that we need to seek to restore them. We need to step towards that failing brother. And be involved constructively in their lives with regard to this failing. Paul says, you who are spiritual, restore such a one.

You seek to mend what needs mended, you seek to fix what needs fixing. seek to provide equipping where that is needed. You seek to be a help in making right what is presently wrong in this brother's life. And then there is 1/5 response that we saw, and that is that we need to be gentle.

We need to respond by being gentle. Paul says, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. So being extremely careful, so as not to cause any more hurt than is absolutely necessary in dealing with your brother. Now, the truth is, Listen carefully to this.

You may be looking at a brother who doesn't even see his sin yet, and he thinks what he's doing is totally fine, and you need to get involved in that brother's life to help that brother see his sin. Maybe you're dealing with a brother, you're observing a brother who does see his sin, but he's overwhelmed with condemnation and guilt over that sin. And you need to step towards that brother and to help that brother be released from the condemnation and the guilt of his sin. Maybe your brother does see his sin, but maybe he's excusing it and blame shifting, as he's dealing with his own sin and he needs to be helped to deal with the sin he sees properly.

Maybe your brother does see his sin and he's working to get out of his sin. And he needs help. Maybe this brother in Galatians 6 is someone who's come to you and said, man, I'm really struggling in this area of my life, and, I've had some victory, but I, I just can't fully break free of this, and would you help me? Would you pray with me?

Would you hold me accountable and could maybe we meet together and maybe this brother who's struggling with the sin issue is coming to you. And Paul is saying, you who are spiritual, get constructively involved in a spirit of gentleness in that brother's life in order to help that brother with the issue that he is dealing with. Now, let me say one more thing and then we'll get into the new material for this morning. I'm very concerned about this.

So, I, I do not want anyone to respond to what we learned last week or this week. In this way, maybe, maybe you've seen someone in the church that has really messed up and maybe the way they've messed up has offended you and so you've just pulled away from them. You're like, I don't want anything to do with them. I don't want my children to have anything to do with their children, and you pulled away from them and you're probably thinking that they probably even know that.

A little miffed at them, and that's why I pulled away. But we're going through Galatians 6 here and I'm amazed at the Lord's timing and I need to go confront this brother. And so, what, tomorrow I'm going to go confront this brother, and I'm going to speak to this brother about the sin issue that has been bothering me over these last several months. Can I beg of you not to do that?

Please don't do that. If you do that and I hear about it, so help me, I will rebuke you with gentleness, OK? here, here's what you need to ask yourself before you go to that brother. You need to ask yourself, Have I been A brother to this person lately.

Have I been relating to this person as a brother, showing in my heart that I'm receiving them as a brother or sister in the Lord, and, and I am towards them as a brother or sister in the Lord who loves them. Have I been relating to this person in a family or brotherly way? And also ask yourself, not have I been spiritual, but have I been spiritual in my relationship with this person? What did we learn?

A couple weeks ago, that when you're walking in the Spirit, what happens, the fruit of the Spirit begins to be manifest in your life, right? And what is the fruit of the Spirit? If it's not love, joy, peace, and patience, and on and on the list will go in Galatians chapter 5, you need to ask yourself, have I been relating to this person in such a way that they have been tasting of and experiencing the fruit of love? And joy and peace from me towards them, and even joy, the joy of the Spirit in me as I rejoice in the good that God is doing in this brother or sister's life, in spite of maybe the, the ways that they're messing up, there is good in them.

And I rejoice in that. Have I been relating to this person in a spiritual way, in a brotherly way, that creates a context in which I can now go to them. And address the sin issue. And maybe some of you, you need to step towards this brother or sister, but not with a rebuke in your hand.

But you need to step towards them and start loving them and start being a brother and sister to them and start manifesting the fruit of love, joy, and peace and patience towards them. and then at some point later, a context can be established. Where you can address the issue of concern in their life. one of the saddest things I've ever heard in my ministry here at Cornerstone, it's a number of years ago, I was counseling with a, a troubled teenager.

And His, his family attended our church, and they don't attend here anymore, but, this teenager was telling me about his relationship with his dad. And he told me, he says, the only time I ever see my dad passionate about me is when he's angry. And as parents, we need to be asking the very questions that I just suggested that we ask. sometimes, we're, we're dealing with our children, and if someone were to interview our children, they would say primarily, when my mom or dad talked to me, it's correction, and they're mad at me, they're ticked about this, they're ticked about that, and everything they're coming at me with is legitimate.

Yeah, I got all this stuff to work on, but that's primarily when I see passion in them with regard to me. And I'm just suggesting that pragmatically speaking, and even biblically speaking, as parents, Our correction would be more effective if we would invest equal amounts of energy, if not even more amounts of energy into relating to our children, relating to our spouses, relating to one another in a brotherly fashion that is manifesting the fruit of love and joy and peace. And what's the purpose of fruit to be partaken of, right?

Not just to look at.

And so you want your children, you want your spouse, you want your brothers and sisters to be actually partaking of and tasting of the joy of the Spirit, the love of the Spirit, and the peace of the Spirit. And then in that context, you come to them with a particular issue of concern. So please give serious thought to this and don't just go charging like a bull in a china shop into confronting some brother or sister that you've pulled away from and have had not much to do with in recent months.

Well, there is a 6th response to sin in.

that we want to look at this morning, and that is at the very end of verse one, and that is to be watchful of yourself. He says, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. Paul is calling you. When you look at sin in other people, he's calling you to realize that you have sin in you, just as they have sinned in you, you are as much of a sinner with a sinful of a flesh inside of you as They do.

And especially now as you're dealing with and responding to wrong in them, you must be literally continuously looking to yourself or scoping literally yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. In a way that causes you to fail, it's definitely true, guys, as I touched on at the beginning of the message that when encountering sin in others, we must be especially watchful of ourselves or we will sin. That's the scary thing about this challenge at the end of verse one. If you're not continuously watchful, guaranteed you will sin.

So realizing and being suspicious of your motives and, and as you're thinking about how do I approach this brother and, and what am I going to say and with what attitude and do I have any pride? Do I have an attitude of superiority? how will I, I, I nuance what I'm going to say to this brother and then maybe you go to this brother and you gently, lovingly, spiritually share with them the issue of concern, and maybe they respond in a fleshly way. That happens a lot.

It happens often that someone initially doesn't like confrontation. How many of you love confrontation the first time someone comes to you, or any time? none of us like confrontation. So if you come to your brother and they get all Mad, don't get angry.

And again, your response to their response to your confrontation provides fertile opportunity for you to sin. And then maybe you find out they're talking to someone else about you and what you've done and how you've come across to them and, and, and, and you hear about that and you see how as things unfold, there's multiple opportunities for sin. And so from the beginning all the way to the end, make absolutely sure that you are not only having one eyeball on them, but you have another eyeball on yourself throughout the whole process so as to ensure that you don't sin.

there's something about being involved in other people and dealing with sin in other people that, that That does create opportunities for us to sin.

I remember when I was in college, there was a guy right across the hall from me, and, and I, we don't have time to go into all the details, but it turns out the guy was demon possessed and the demons were telling him at night to kill people on the hall and the, the dean of men at the school along with some others and our dorm supervisor ended up getting him into a room. And reading scripture and so forth, and the demon began to speak. Ultimately, to make a long story short, the demon ended up being cast out of this guy.

Our dorm supervisor was in the room where all of this happened.

And a week later our dorm supervisor was sharing with us that he says you cannot imagine. The degree to which I have been battling with lust and with sin issues that I just thought were addressed. He says, I have been harassed. To a major degree over these days since this encounter with evil.

So there, there is something about encountering evil and sin, not just with demon possession, but, but even dealing with sin and failings in others that, that if we're going to step in and get involved in that, we really need to be extremely watchful of ourselves so as to ensure that we don't sin. Jesus called us to do this in Matthew 7. He says, Why do you look? Not the emphasis on looking here.

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log is in your own eye. Verse 3, is not even dealing with going to your brother to help your brother. It's just dealing with someone who's just staring. Just, why are you looking at the speck in your brother's eye?

Just focused on that. You're talking about that, man, can you see that? And And so and so brother's eye, can you believe he's walking around with that thing in his eye, and you're just, you're obsessed with this speck. That is, in his eye, but you don't see the log that is in your own eye.

Or now verse 4, he does deal with going to your brother to help. How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, and, and, and put the emphasis on me, out of everyone else that, let me be the one. I am God's gift to you. Let me be the one to help you take the speck out of your eye.

And Jesus says, behold, which is literally look, The log is in your own eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Jesus doesn't say, hey, if you see sin in someone else, don't even go to that person. You've got enough trouble of your own.

You just examine yourself, deal with your own sin, and leave your brother alone. No, that's not what he's saying. You need to go to your brother and help get that speck out of your brother's eye, but you had better examine yourself. And deal with sin in yourself first before you do so.

So Jesus calls us to be watchful, and Paul actually in Galatians 6 goes beyond what Jesus says. Jesus says, look for sin inside of you, and then deal with that so that you can see clearly. Paul in Galatians 6 says, even if after you have examined yourself and removed sin, you still need to be ever watchful. So as to ensure that new sins don't come to the surface as your dealings with this erring brother unfold.

So be ever watchful of yourself. Response number 7 to a brother who is failing or in sin is get yourself under your brother's burden. Get yourself under your brother's burden. In other words, step towards your brother.

Look what he says here in, in verse 2, bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. the idea almost literally is shoulder one another's burdens. So you step towards your brother. Here's your brother.

He's trying to carry this burden of sin. The sin problem, and he's not able to carry it all by himself. God does not intend for him to carry it all by himself. And God is speaking to you and saying, step towards your brother, bend down, get your shoulder underneath that burden that your brother is laboring under, and help your brother to carry this sin burden.

That he is seeking to carry and Paul uses the word burden because it is a burden. Yes, ministry is a joy, but in that ministry there is a burden. You are adding a weight on top of yourself as you get involved in a brother's life to help that brother with a sin issue. What, what is the burden?

Well, it could be described in a bunch of ways. All of these on the screen are true. The burden of helping your brother see a sin. how many of you have ever had to go to someone to confront them regarding a sin issue?

Just raise your hand. That's in their life. Isn't it probably the most nerve-wracking thing you ever have to do? Oh, I just hate it.

I absolutely hate it. it is a burden to think about, OK, now I've got to go to this person. I know they're probably not even going to want to see me. I'm probably going to be their worst nightmare.

I've got to make sure I do it right and I've got to help them see their sin because it doesn't seem like they see it. And that's a burden to help a brother see a sin. And then maybe after they see their sin. Or if they already do see their sin, there's a burden in helping them to get out of their sin.

There's, there's a lot of brothers and sisters in the church that would say, if you come to them, they're like, yeah, I know I got a problem. I, I've had a problem like this for all my life, and I, I have victory, but then I'm defeated. And, but how do I get out of this? And, and so you get underneath the burden of helping them to Get out of the sin, get under the burden of helping them to establish new patterns of behavior.

You get yourself under the burden of praying for this brother or sister, in the Lord, you get yourself under the burden of, of even experiencing his or her sin firsthand. think about it, guys. If you go to a brother or sister, regarding an anger problem, What do you think the odds are that you're going to experience their anger firsthand? You go to your spouse because it seems like lately they've had an anger problem.

What do you think the odds are that you're going to experience their anger firsthand at some point along the way? Are you willing? Are you willing to actually be on the receiving end? In a firsthand way of their sin.

And even as they're unleashing that on you, and you're experiencing that firsthand, that you not take that personally and instead say, even as they're wronging you, oh dear, my brother, my wife, my husband, my child has been overtaken by a trespass. Sin is the enemy, not them. But it's a burden to experience firsthand. See, Jesus, what did he do?

He came into the world to save us from our sins. But the very means by which he saved us from our sins, which was the cross, Jesus experienced our sin firsthand, as wicked hands nailed him to the cross. There's also the burden of dealing with contributing causes., maybe you're going to a brother who's who's got a drinking problem and maybe lately they've been going to drink because, because they're stressed. Well, you want to find out, that doesn't excuse their choice, but what are you stressed about?

Well, it's my job. It's, it's this, it's that. Well, hey, can I pray with you about that? And, and maybe we can look at God's word and maybe there's some steps that could be taken to address these contributing causes.

Or a husband goes to his wife and says, honey, I, So, I've noticed you've been angry, lately, and I just wanted to practice Galatians 6 and deal with you about this sin issue that's in your life and, what, if you go to her about maybe an anger problem, you just might hear back from her that, what, you're right, I'm wrong. I should not react the way I do, but it would sure be nice to get a little bit of help from you around the house. I'm overwhelmed with all that there is to do.

I could sure use your help with the kids.

I could sure use you being a spiritual leader in our home with regard to the kids because I'm overwhelmed and can't quite deal with everything. In a situation like that, you shouldn't say, well, I can't help you there, but, But I'm here to help you see your sin. No. What are the contributing causes and are any of those contributing causes coming from you, you need to be willing to get under the burden of helping, To address contributing causes.

So think, guys, when you do step towards a brother regarding an issue in your life, it's not like you're going to have a 5 minute conversation, seal it with a 32nd prayer, and walk away saying that was really great. That was successful, sin problem is over. It rarely ever happens that way. You are stepping into a multiple burden.

To do this. Now, we'll look at the second half of verse two. we'll come back to this at the end of the message, but let's move on. an eighth response to sin and another is to be humble, to be humble.

When I say be humble, what the word humble means, means to be lowly, to be lowly. and literally, it's, it, it's not just to be lowly, it's to think lowly thoughts about yourself. That's absolutely important. When you are dealing with sin in another person, you observe sin in another person, you actually We need to think lowly thoughts about yourself.

We've already seen you look at yourself, you're watchful of yourself, but you also think about yourself. And when you think about yourself, you think lowly thoughts about yourself. Look what Paul says in verse 3. For if anyone thinks he is something, he's describing someone who is thinking about himself, and he thinks that he is something when in fact, he is nothing, and such a person deceives himself.

Underline the words, he is nothing. And then in your thinking, just take the word he out and you can put your name there. I am nothing. Milton is nothing.

Now in Christ, I am something, but what Paul wants you to be realizing is that apart from Christ, you are absolutely nothing. In fact, according to Isaiah 40, you are less than nothing apart from. Him. Anything good that is in you, is in you solely because of the sovereign grace of, of, of God through Jesus and through His Holy Spirit.

You can't take an ounce of credit for anything that is good in you. And that's important for you to remember when you're looking at someone else who is lacking something good. Or they have something in their life that maybe you don't have, they're dealing with a sin issue that maybe you don't deal with, or maybe you dealt with it years ago, and you've had nothing but victory, in recent years. It is very important that you remind yourself that apart from Jesus, you are nothing.

Don't ever let you yourself think that you are something in a situation like this. Apart from Christ, you're nothing. That's why Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 says to the Corinthians, what do you have that you didn't receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

He's saying, you guys, I, I need to humble you, and I need to remind you that anything good in you has been received. And it's been received from God. So you cannot boast in anything apart from Christ, you are nothing. I would encourage you guys actually to, to cultivate this discipline of thinking lowly about yourself.

And again, you can go overboard with anything. But if in our culture, And even in the church today, we go overboard with anything. It's we go overboard and thinking too much of ourselves rather than thinking too little of ourselves, especially apart from Christ. Cultivate the discipline of rightly viewing yourself and what you would be and what you are apart from Jesus.

Let me give you the example of Charles Spurgeon. Who, if anyone was something, Charles Spurgeon was, and yet listen to this meditation that he went through. He says, I must confess that I never would have been saved if it, if I could have helped it. As long as I ever could, I rebelled and revolted and struggled against God.

When he would have me pray, I would not pray. When he would have me listen to the sound of the ministry, I would not. And when I heard and the tear rolled down my cheek, I wiped it away and defied him to. My heart, so did I continuously trust in my self-sufficiency.

When my heart was a little touched, I tried to divert it with sinful pleasures and would not then have been saved until God gave me the effectual blow, and I was obliged to submit to that irresistible effort of His grace. Speaking of that effort of God's grace, Spurgeon goes on to say, it conquered my depraved will. And made me bow myself before His gracious scepter. When the Lord really brought me to myself, He sent one great shot which shivered me to pieces.

And lo, I found myself utterly defenseless. I thought I was more mighty than the angels and could accomplish all things, but I found myself less than Nothing. This is years after his conversion, and he's reflecting back on his road to conversion or to salvation. And he's, he's seeing the sin that was in him, and even the ways that he rebelled and revolted throughout that process.

And yet God drew him to himself and saved him. And Spurgeon sees nothing of himself in that that contributed to that. God brought him to a point where he discovered himself. And what Spurgeon discovered about himself is that he was less than nothing.

Some people today are trying to find themselves. If they live on the east coast, they go to the west coast to find themselves. They live on the opposite coast, they go to the opposite coast to find themselves. Spurgeon says, I found myself.

And what I found is that I'm less than nothing apart from Christ. why it's important to think this way about yourself? Because the more you think this way about yourself, the more amazed you are at God's grace and the more you see that God is everything. And then all the good that is in you, that makes you something in Christ, you give all of that credit, all of that glory to God.

In fact, listen to Spurgeon, again, as he goes back and rehearses how he came to know the Lord. He says, Make sure I got the right. OK. One weeknight when I was sitting in the house of God, the thought struck me, how did you come to be a Christian?

That's what he asked himself, how did, how did you become, come to be a Christian? His answer to himself was, I sought the Lord. But then the next question, but how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment.

I would not have sought the Lord unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed. Maybe that's what it was that caused me to seek him. I prayed, but then he says, I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, how came I to pray?

Well, I was induced to pray by reading the scriptures, but how came I to read the scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that he was the author of my faith. And so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me.

And from that doctrine, I have not departed to this day. And I desire to make this my constant confession. I ascribe my change wholly to God. I am less than nothing.

God is everything. When you see sin in another person or you see something that is lacking in another person, you need to be careful to think this way. You might say, well, Pashor Melton, I, I do have a lot of godly virtues in my life and more so than this other person that I'm, I'm looking at and it's because I practice the disciplines and they don't. But what makes you practice the disciplines?

Did you not receive that from God, that inward drive to practice the disciplines? even the things you do that then bring more experience of grace your way and spiritual maturity your way, where did you get that? To practice those things that then generated a deeper experience of God's grace and spiritual growth, everything is received. there's nothing more irritating, more bothersome, and more counterproductive than a condescending rebuke.

than someone coming to another with an attitude of superiority, we genuinely need to come to one another as a nobody, apart from Christ, I am nothing, anything good in me, it is totally of God. I have no advantage over this person in terms of what is in me by myself apart from Jesus. And as someone who is mindful, thinking consciously about my nothingness apart from Christ and how God is everything, it is in that mindset that I will go to this brother. We're really good at thinking that other people are nothing, and, and, and thinking truthfully about others.

Paul says, when you see sin in another, you need to think rightly about yourself and see yourself as indeed nothing apart from Jesus. Along these lines, there's 1/9 response, and that is don't let yourself compare yourself with anyone else. Don't compare, don't compare. Don't let yourself compare yourself with anyone else.

When we do start, this is what gets complicated, guys. You see sin in another person, you're doing some self-examination. So far, so good. And yeah, I'm seeing sin, and so far, so good.

But then, you're like, but my sin compared to their sin is not as bad. And we start comparing ourselves with either the person that we're seeing sin in or we just start comparing ourselves with other people and easing our conscience in that way. This is such a natural tendency. Paul has to speak to this.

He doesn't just want to say examine yourself, and be watching yourself and think lowly of yourself. Paul knows that left to our own devices, we would examine ourselves and by the time we're done, we've compared ourselves to everybody else. and not felt the full weight of what we should feel. Look what he says in verse 4.

Each one must examine his own work. You keep your eyes on your own work in terms, he's not saying don't look at your brothers. We need to do that to help our brothers with sin issues in their life. But when you're doing self-examination, Don't look at anybody else's work.

You look only at your work when you are examining yourself, look only at yourself, only at your own work, then you will have reason for boasting, or for glorying in regard to yourself alone and not in regard to another, or in other words, not in comparison with another. So he's saying when you examine yourself, you look at the Word of God, and just totally just between you and God, you evaluate yourself on how you're doing and obeying what God tells you to do in His word. Don't look at God's word, look at God, look at yourself, and then look at your brothers and sisters in the Lord and say, well, what, compared to them, I'm actually doing OK.

Sometimes we might have a mindset that on Judgment Day God's going to grade on a curve.

And he's going to say, well, Milton, you've, you blew it here and here and here, and, but what, when I look at everyone else at Cornerstone, you, you actually, you, you've done OK. You've done OK compared to other people. And so, that will affect my judgment of you. No, that's not going to have any bearing on God's judgment.

We shouldn't let it have any bearing on our self judgment or self-examination. maybe, here's how we do this. Someone maybe entertains lustful thoughts in their mind, and they don't really carry those thoughts out, but they entertain them and enjoy them and feel guilty about them. But then they find out about a brother or sister in the Lord that's been involved in full on adultery.

And so suddenly it's like, well, here's what I've done, and yeah, that's wrong, but here's what they've done, and, and I, I'm glad I've never done that and I'm at least better than that. Surely God will see that when he looks at me and go, oh, you're doing much better than this person. And therefore we don't feel the weight. Of concern over our own sin that we should feel because we cop out and compare ourselves to other people.

So don't, you, when you're examining yourself, you keep your eyes on your own work, on your own self, and, and, and then as a result of that, you will have cause for glorying or boasting, and your boasting and glorying would be in God in regard to yourself alone and not in regard to another, and tied to that is the 10th response. The 10th response. And that is 10 to the burden that only you can bear, 10 to the burden that only you can bear. Verse 5, for each one will bear his own load.

Now this could be translated verse 5 as an imperative, but most commentators translate this as a statement. And it could also be understood as a future tense, the, the, the verb here, each one will bear his own load. That's the way the new American Standard translates it. In other words, speaking of something future, each person will bear his own load.

And what Paul is alluding to, especially as you tie that together with verse 4, is Paul is speaking of Judgment Day. on Judgment Day, everyone is going to have to carry their own load. No one will be able to carry that load for them. In fact, one commentator says about this passage, he says, there is one burden which we cannot share, and that is our responsibility to God on the Day of Judgment.

On that day, you cannot carry my pack, and I cannot carry. Yours. You are responsible. You examine yourself.

How am I doing? You also examine your behavior from this point forward. What does God called me to do? It doesn't matter what anyone else is doing or not doing.

What does God called me to do, this I will do. That is your responsibility. There have been times in marriage counseling where trying to get the husband to do what God wants him to do, but I can't even get him to focus on what God wants him to do because he's so obsessed on what God wants his wife to do. And often she's in the same place and cannot focus on what she's supposed to do, because her eyes are on her husband.

And when is he going to start doing what he is supposed to do? Listen, you can't, you're not, you're not responsible ultimately for those choices that someone else makes, whether they choose to obey or disobey, but you are responsible for what God calls you to do. And the fact that someone else is not doing what they're supposed to do does not exempt you. On judgment Day, you will not be able to come before God and say, Lord, I'm glad that we're finally together.

And because I got a lot to talk about regarding my husband. And if I, have you met with my husband yet and judged him? No, you haven't. Good, because I, I've got some things that definitely need to inform your judgment of my husband.

He's done this and this and this and this, and it's made it challenging for me here and here and here. God will stop you if you try to do that and say we are not here to talk about anyone but you. God would say, my only concern. I OK.

Did you carry your own load? Did you discharge your responsibility? Did you do what I called you to do? That is the only thing we will speak about.

As you stand before me. So, You might say, I thought we were talking about sin in other people. But see how this gets turned around. This is, this is what should happen.

You see sin in someone else, and you're like, I, I, I need to address this and, and before it's your You're, you're looking at yourself and, and the stuff that's in your life and thinking lowly of yourself and how big and gracious and amazing God is, and you're examining your own work, and, and as you're examining yourself, you're not even allowed to look at this brother or anybody else to compare yourself to them. And, and you realize your responsibility. What does God called me to do in this situation and in all of life, I must carry this load.

It's also important to remember when you do go confront a brother, you can do the best that you can do, but ultimately you can't carry that load for them.

And that is the choice that they make. You can do your part, but they're going to have to make a choice. That will be their choice to make. Whether they will walk in obedience or not.

Now, let me try to round the corner here towards the end of this message. I, I want to address something that probably some of you are either thinking consciously or, or you're feeling. And that is this, you're like, Milton, I got to admit, verse 2 does not excite me. A bear one another's burdens.

Frankly, I'm already cracking under the weight of the burdens I have to bear. I've got a, I've got a sinful flesh inside of me that gives me fits every single day, just bearing that burden. I've got a spouse. I've got children.

They all got a sinful flesh, and I have even more fits dealing with that burden, and I've got bills to pay. I've got groceries to go buy. I've got to take my kids to school and bring them home. I've got to home school.

I've got to, I got, I got meals to prepare. I got this and that to do. And, and, and just looking at my life as it is right now, I feel like I'm staggering under the weight of the burden that's already there. And I come to church and I'm being told to step towards my brothers and sisters and get under their burden and help them carry it.

Doesn't excite me, doesn't excite me. Let me give you just 3 quick thoughts to address this, I think legitimate. Concern. Thought number one, understand that when God gives you a command, he always provides the wherewithal to help you carry out that command, right?

Do you believe that? Peter believed it. He saw Jesus on the water and says, Lord, command me to come. Jesus said, come, Peter got out of the boat and walked to Jesus.

He didn't say, Lord, command me to come, and then give me a promise that I'll be able to actually do what you commanded me to do. All Peter needed was a command. Just give me the command. And I know implied in that command is the promise of wherewithal to do what you've commanded me to do.

So it'll never happen that you're like, OK, I'm going to obey God, and I'm going to get under my brother's burdens. And then in the midst of that, you collapse under the weight of it. And the Lord's like, Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, you're right.

I commanded you to do that, but I didn't. that requires more than I thought and I just, I, I can't help you like I thought I could. So, let's retract that command. That's not going to happen.

A second thought is realize that to step towards other people and to get under their burden is actually the essence of Christianity. If you don't do this, you're, you're just playing church. Paul says in verse 2, bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Whatever that means, what he's saying is that that is the essence, that is the fulfillment.

Of the very Law of Christ, the whole reason Christ came, the whole agenda of Jesus for you. is that you would step towards others, live in community with them, get yourself underneath their burdens and help them carry it. When Jesus sees his children doing that, he says, that's exactly what I died for. That is not just obeying my law, that is fulfilling.

That is the essence. That is the essence. Of what I want Christianity to be. There's a third thought though.

And that is this, I want you to really seriously consider this. Maybe you are so overburdened. Because you're not letting others help you carry your burdens. Maybe you really are cracking under the weight of your burdens and, and maybe dealing with sin issues, but, but you're not sharing those with anyone else, and so you're shouldering, Those burdens yourself, no one knows about them or the depth of them.

And so here you are trying to carry all of this. You're not living in community with other people. And so you are overburdened, and verse two just is impossible for you. I, I can't go to other people and bear their burdens.

And I want to release you from that a little bit. Look back at verse two, guys, bear one another's burdens. You see that reciprocal pronoun, one another? Do what that means?

Whenever you see one another in the New Testament, follow, following a command, it makes the command a twofold command. Bear one another's burdens. Here's how God wants me to read that. He wants Milton to read that and say, OK, I need to bear my brothers and sisters' burdens.

I need to step towards them and help them bear their burdens. But God also wants me to read this and say to myself, that God wants me to allow them to bear my burden, to bear my burdens, to open up and let them into my life, so that Others can help me carry my burdens the way that God wants me to. So, I'm carrying theirs, they're carrying mine. just this week, I was dealing with a sin issue that no one knew about.

I wasn't sharing it with anyone, and I thought I could handle this, I could handle this, but it was just really getting on top of me and wearing me down. I ran into someone, on Friday, and they were like, how are you doing? And before I knew it, I was just spilling my guts, and they were like, what, let's stop right here. Let me pray for you.

And just in getting it out, having a brother pray, I was amazed at how the power of that just seemed to break. And that lightness I felt was the lightness that comes when someone else gets their shoulder underneath that burden you're carrying, and it becomes lighter. Suddenly I think I've got a little more room on my shoulders. To go bear someone else's burden.

Now, because of that, here's the last thing I want to share. Because verse 2 is a twofold command, you bear others' burdens and let them bear your burdens. That means that you can split the passage after verse 2, or at verse 2, and all the commands that we've seen that apply to those who are doing the restoring also apply to those that are being approached. So those that are doing the restoring, they need to bear the burdens of their sinning brother.

They need to be humble. They should not compare themselves to anyone else or to their sinning brother. They need to tend to the burden that only they can carry. But from verse 2 on, those of you that are ever approached by someone regarding your sin, you need to be willing to share your burden.

Let someone else come underneath that burden you're bearing. You need to be humble in your response. You need to make sure you don't compare. Someone comes to you and you're like, huh.

I can't believe you of all people are coming to me about some issue in my life. Look at yourself. here's some things, we can just start comparing ourselves to them. And then also you tend to the burden that only you can carry, so these commands apply just as much to you that are being approached as it applies to those that are doing the approaching.

Well, there's so much in this passage. That we can learn from. Let me ask you to bow your heads. I, I hope you guys have taken good notes, because this is the stuff you really want to process and, and, and let it get into your system.

Come back to this passage frequently. Because we as a church, we, we need to deal effectively with situations where there is a failing or sin in another, especially when the failing or sin affects us. And so just take a moment to commit yourself to the Lord. And to whatever he's calling from you, We just.

Just, Asked that you would give us eyes to, To see ourselves as we should see ourselves. Give us eyes, Lord, that are also keen, Enough to look out for them. We love our children enough to look out for them, And our spouse is enough to look out for, And being detestable We should not think it a light thing. Should want to address that, but we should want to address that problem.

Teach us to have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. That we might faithfully carry out the whole, commit ourselves to Let's stand together. You just