Title: Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
Text: Gal 6: 1-5
Date: January 17, 2016
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Everything God teaches his child from his word, God brings his child to experience in our daily lives. God sends trials to effectually make us learn that we need Christ every hour!
So when you hear a text like you will hear today—know that it will only be a matter of time and God will send us a trial to make us experience what he is teaching us, here. God may allow you to walk in your flesh, so that you totally disobey. If so, God will make you see that in your flesh dwells no good thing—your flesh is not to be trusted—we are never to lean to our fleshly understanding. Instead, we are to look to Christ and his Wisdom and his Power.
Or God may give you power to obey what he teaches in this text. If so, God will make you know that you have no room to boast; the only reason you obeyed is because it is God “working in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.”
One more thing—this applies to believers, not only with each other in the church, but in all our relationships with fellow believers such as husbands and wives, parents and children and so on.
Galatians 6: 1: 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. 2: Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3: For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4: But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5: For every man shall bear his own burden.
BRETHREN
It will set the tone to consider how true believers are “brethren.” True “brethren” are inseparably one by the grace of God in Christ. We have one and the same God and Father; we are born of one and the same Holy Spirit. we have one and the same Elder Brother, our Lord Jesus Christ—“the firstborn among many brethren.”
Ephesians 4: 3: [Endeavour] to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [because] 4: There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6: One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph 4:1-6
Our great High Priest interceded on our behalf with our God and Father, saying,
John 17: 22…the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Brethren, let that sink in! We are one, even as God the Father and God the Son are one. Christ is in each of us, and God the Father is in Christ, and so we are made perfectly one, in one. God sent his Son and gave us this oneness through his blood, because God the Father loves his elect even as he loves Christ. This is why our Lord tells us “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Mt 25: 40)
Now, do you see what a great gift Christ has given you by giving you brethren? We are brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a word to you who are truly “brethren.”
IF A MAN BE OVERTAKEN IN A FAULT
This person is overcome in a sin. It is known by brethren, perhaps it is known by worldly men. It is some grievous sin.
When we confess Christ in believer’s baptism, we are confessing that from that day forward we are consecrated to our Lord Jesus Christ. The desire of our inward man is to walk “in newness of life” as Christ commands us. Christ teaches his disciples to no longer live in sin. No believer desires to continue in sin. We know that sin is mixed with all our thoughts and deeds because of our sin-nature. But how believers want to avoid sin! We want to honor Christ in all things so that this world has no evil thing to say of us.
Titus 2: 7: In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8: Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
But each of us knows, how so very easy it is to be overtaken in a sin. You know this about yourself the same as I know it about myself. We need God’s preserving grace every hour of every day. Else we will do what any other sinner will do. If you are truly born of God then you know this is true about yourself. So this text teaches us what we are to do when one of our fellow brethren is overtaken in a fault.
YE WHICH ARE SPIRITUAL
Before we come to the instruction, we are given another qualifier. This is written to “ye which are spiritual.”
Indeed, to be “spiritual” is to be born again by the irresistible grace of the Spirit of God. But there is even more to it than that. Here it means “ye which are strong” (Rom 15: 1). It means ye which are matured in grace by our Lord so that when your brother is overtaken in a fault,you are able to be gracious toward him. The believers at Corinth were not mature—not “spiritual”—but were acting like carnal, immature babies. Paul said. Paul said to them, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ…For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Cor 3: 1, 3)
This is important. I may be born again of the Spirit of God. But when my brother is overtaken in a sin and I find myself being self-exalted, judgmental and harsh toward him then I am disqualified to say one word to him. This is for those matured in grace so that you can be loving, gracious and helpful to an overtaken brother—“ye which are spiritual”
RESTORE
Now we come to the instruction—“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.” (Gal 6: 1)
“Restore” means “mend what is broken”, “strengthen such an one.” It carries the meaning of “using great carefulness to reset bones that are broken.”
When God makes a believer see our sin as being against God, dishonoring to Christ, a disgrace to his church and hurtful to our brethren, it is as painful as having your bones broken. For example, when the Lord brought King David to behold his sin, David asked God—“Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.” (Ps 51: 8)
If we learn the joy and gladness that God made David hear to make his bones rejoice then we will know what we are to speak to restore our fallen brethren. Here it is. David asked God—“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow….Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.” (Ps 51: 7, 9) God sent Nathan the prophet and made David hear that in Christ his Surety, God is faithful and just to purge you, to wash you, to make you whiter than snow. God sent Nathan the prophet with these words, “The LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” (2 Sam 12: 13)
Brethren, the gospel of God’s unchanging, unchangeable grace in Christ is the joy and gladness by which we restore our fallen brethren. Remind them of this good news—
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…2: 1: If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins:…
IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS
Sometimes, we can say the right thing but we say it the wrong way. We are to restore with the gospel of Christ “in the spirit of meekness;” (Gal 6: 1) “The spirit of meekness” means “the spirit of gentleness and mildness.”
If your child fell and broke a bone and came to you weeping, you would not take out a rod and start whipping your child. Your own heart would be broken. You would speak with such compassion and care. You would do everything you could to comfort your child. You would carry them to a physician as fast as you could.
That is exactly what our text says we are to do to a brother overtaken in a fault. Rather than pulling out the rod of the law to further break their bones, in the spirit of gentleness, speak comfortably reminding them that our sins can never destroy God’s free grace in Christ. Lead them as fast as you can to Christ the Great Physician in whom all Christ’s people are complete.
CONSIDERING THYSELF
This is so important. As we do this we are to be ever “Considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” (Gal 6: 1)
“Considering” that you are a sinner easily tempted and overcome as your overtaken brother or sister. There is nothing my brethren have done that I have not done and worse. “Considering” that if the shoe was on the other foot, I would want my brethren to gently comfort me with the good news of God’s immutable grace in Christ. “Considering” that “meekness” is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, if we are able to deal gently, there is no need to be tempted to pat ourselves on the back—instead, thank God; it is his grace giving us the “spirit of meekness.” “Lest you be tempted” to fall into that worst fault of all—self-righteousness.
BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER BURDENS
Love bears all things. (1 Cor 13: 6, 7) This is rule of Christ. Paul uses the word “law” here because the Galatians were desiring to be under the law of Moses. Believer, do you want to obey Christ? What is the rule of those who are no longer under the law but under grace?
One night Christ took off his outer garment like he took off the garment of his glory and became flesh like his people. He kneeled down at the disciples feet like he came down from heaven and took the form of a servant and made himself of no reputation. He washed their dirty feet like he washed us in his own blood, laying down his life on the cross. When Christ arose he said,
John 13:14: If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15: For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Brethren, Christ loved us by taking the lowest possible place on the cross and bore the heavy burden of our sin, our shame, our curse, and our judgment. So he says, “Do as I have done to you. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (Jn 13: 34)
Have you ever borne shame? When a believer is overtaken in a fault, you bear shame, disgrace, dishonor toward our Father, our Lord Jesus and our brethren. That shame is a very small taste of the shame Christ endured when he bore the sin of his people on the cross. God’s chastening is sufficient. There is no point in you and I putting a greater burden on them by setting ourselves up as self-righteous judges. Instead, “Bear with their sins, be merciful, forgive them without limit and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
IF A MAN THINK HIMSELF SOMETHING
Yet, if we become self-righteous judges, we have deceived ourselves. We have not obeyed Christ. We have fallen into a worse fault than our overcome brother. “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” (Gal 6: 3)
When we deal harshly and judge our brethren, we are saying, “I think I am really something!” God says, “You are really nothing.” He says, “You have merely deceived yourself.”
PROVE HIS OWN WORK
Believers are not to attempt to force others to do as we think they ought to do. It is our responsibility to point them to Christ, to bear with their sins, and to examine ourselves to make certain we are obeying this word. This is what it means “But let every man prove his own work,” (Gal 6: 4)
Let every one of us examine ourselves, judge ourselves, correct ourselves. We will find enough that needs to be corrected in our own selves so that we do not have time to be censuring others.
God has been gracious to give my wife and I a very happy marriage for over 18 years. One reason is because we do not try to make the other do what we think they ought to do. Usually, that is among the chief problems when husbands and wives have trouble. It is a full time job making sure I love her as I ought.
REJOICING IN HIMSELF ALONE
If a believer is given grace by God so that Christ works within him to make him examine himself, “then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” (Gal 6: 4)
The legalist glories in the flesh of others because of what he force others to do. (Gal 6: 13) But if I prove my own work then I will have rejoicing in my own heart, glorying in Christ alone, in what Christ constrained me to do.
BEAR HIS OWN BURDEN
The last word is this, “For every man shall bear his own burden.” (Gal 6: 5)
If I hear this message and I am thinking, “I hope she hears this or he hears this. That is how he ought to be treating me.” Then I have missed it. Every man is to bear his own burden of proving his own self. I should be making sure I answer this question, “Am I hearing this? This is how I ought to treat my brethren.” That’s it! Peter asked the Savior about John, “What about him?” The Lord said, “What is that to thee? Follow THOU me.” Amen!