Paul’s concept of the church throughout the scriptures is that the Believers are the family of God.
WHY IS HE ADDRESSING THEM?
He is addressing them because people in the family of God are supposed to love one another as a LOVING FAMILY.
Like all families, the family of God has times when people need to assist and take care of some of the family members who are in need of help. These verses of scripture tell us how this is to be done by the family of God.
Let’s first look at-
I. WHO IS TO DO IT
Look at 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.”
After addressing the family of God as “Brethren,” he refers to the one needing assistance as a “man.” Look at verse 1 again, “Brethren, if a man…”
WHY DOES HE REFER TO THE FAMILY MEMBER AS A “MAN”?
Because as members of the family of God we must never forget that each of us are merely humans. Each one of us is subject to the same desires, passions, and urges and temptations as the rest.
• Sometimes people in the family of God will be talking about another member of the family of God, and they will say, “I do not understand how they could do such a thing!”
• This kind of response many times is no more than SINFUL PRIDE. In other words they are saying, “I could never do a thing like that!”
Listen, it should never shock us that some in the family of God will fall into sin sometimes, because they are mortals subject to the same temptations we are tempted with.
1 Cor. 10:13, says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
We all face the same kind of temptations, and we are all human and are tempted by these things. The Lord can always be trusted, but those in the family of God sometimes will yield to temptation.
God has made a way for us to escape every time we are tempted, but for one reason or another, some do not take the route of escape, and they fall smack dab in the middle of some kind of sin.
Notice, no particular sin is mentioned because all sins affect the family of God. We like to categorize sin as big sin and small sin. In the sight of God, all sin is sin, there is no such thing as BIG or SMALL sin in the sight of God!
This is why the Bible equates lust with doing the act. For example, suppose I see something that you have and I lust for it. Now I do not steal it from you but I lust for it. In the sight of God, I have the same rotten desire a thief has. But the reason I do not steal it is because I am afraid I might get caught and be sent to jail. I STILL HAVE THE SAME ROTTEN DESIRE A THIEF HAS. This MENTAL THIEVERY is as bad as committing the ACT ITSELF.
For example, scripture addresses this lust problem in another way. Look at Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
In the sight of God, MENTAL ADULTERY is equal to PHYSICAL ADULTERY. Some folks have the same evil heart as those who commit the act. Perhaps the only reason they do not commit the act is because they are afraid they might get caught.
Sin is sin in the sight of God. God can see when the heart is EVIL. But notice, the family of God does not go out and look for sin, but sometimes we are “overtaken” by sin.
There are many Christians who have fallen into sin. One day Satan sets a trap for them, and in a time of weakness they fall into Satan’s trap. When this happens, WHAT SHOULD THE FAMILY OF GOD DO?
We have a variety of options, such as:
• Shame them
• Scold them
• Criticize them
• Spread rumors about them
• Isolate them
All of these are options the church has when someone falls into sin. God’s solution is that the person be RESTORED.
The word “Restore” is the same thing as what a physician does when someone breaks their arm. If a child breaks their arm, the parents could:
• Shame the child
• Scold the child
• Criticize the child
• Spread rumors about the child
• Isolate the child
But loving parents do the best thing for the child, they take them to a qualified physician and have the broken bone SET. Once it is set, they nurse the child back to good health.
WHO IS TO DO THE RESTORING? Look at verse 1 again, “…ye which are spiritual…”
When people fall into sin, it becomes a SPIRITUAL PROBLEM. Only those who are spiritual are qualified to assist those who have fallen.
WHY MUST SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS BE THE ONES TO RESTORE THE FALLEN?
Illus: Listen, if I was drowning and could not swim, the last thing I would need is for someone who can not swim to jump in and try to save me. And the last thing a Christian who has fallen into sin needs is someone trying to help them who has also fallen in sin.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells how a Christian lady fell into an adulterous relationship in his church. She came to him and told him what she did and how bad she felt. He had prayer with her and told her that he wanted her to meet weekly with one of the Christian ladies in the church, who would meet with her and talk with her and pray with her until she had gotten over this situation. He talked with a Christian woman that seemed to be SPIRITUAL who had a lot of time on her hands, and felt that she might be the one. They met for about a month and became best of friends.
About a month later, this young woman came back to his office with big tears in her eyes and said she needed to talk to him.
She could hardly talk for crying, but she said, “You remember when I told you what I had done?” He told her he remembered.
She said, “You wanted me to meet with (_______) each week for prayer and counseling.” He said, “Yes, I remember!”
Then with a burst of tears she said, “She can not help me, she needs help herself!” Then she showed him some pictures that she had taken of that woman and a man in a parked car, and it was not her husband.
Then she said, “She is nothing but a first class hypocrite. All this time she has been telling me I shouldn’t do the things I did, and she is doing the same things!”
Listen, there is an old saying, “You shouldn’t throw rocks if you live in a glass house!” We all live in a glass house. People see the things we do and they hear the things we say.
Many folks have no business counseling others about spiritual matters until they are proven SPIRITUAL in the eyes of others.
There are those in the church whose REPUTATIONS are not that good among the brethren or the lost world. Not everyone that attends church can be considered SPIRITUAL.
Illus: They remind me of two young men who went to a Catholic mass to confess their sins.
The first one steps into the confessional and sits down.
• "Bless me father for I have sinned because I have been with a very immoral woman.”
• "Who was it with my son? Was it with one of the young women in the congregation?"
• "I am sorry father, I can not divulge the woman's name. It would ruin her reputation."
• "Well tell me, was it Mary-Lou?" "No father."
• "Was it Mary Sue?" "No father. I can not tell you. If I told anyone the woman's name, her reputation would follow her everywhere."
• "Was it Sally Mae?" "I am sorry father, I cannot say."
• "Well then. Repeat 4 Hail Mary's and 5 Our Fathers."
As the young man proceeded to leave the confessional, the second young man approaches and asks, "So what did he give you?"
"Well he gave me 4 Hail Mary’s, 5 Our Fathers and 3 VERY GOOD LEADS!"
Illus: Everyone has a reputation, even Teenagers:
A dad went into a disaster area. "Oh, No!" he gasped as he surveyed the disaster before him. Never in his 40 years of life had he seen anything like it. How anyone could have survived he did not know. He could only hope that somewhere amid the overwhelming destruction he would find his 16-year-old son.
Only the slim hope of finding Danny kept him from turning and fleeing the scene. He took a deep breath and proceeded.
Walking was virtually impossible with so many things strewn across his path. He moved ahead slowly.
"Danny! Danny!" he whispered to himself. He tripped and almost fell several times. He heard someone, or something, move. At least he thought he did. Perhaps, he was just hoping he did. He shook his head and felt his gut tighten.
He couldn’t understand how this could have happened. There was some light but not enough to see very much. Something cold and wet brushed against his hand. He jerked it away.
In desperation, he took another step then cried out, "Danny!"
From a nearby pile of unidentified material, he heard his son. "Yes, Dad," he said, in a voice so weak it could hardly be heard.
"Its time to get up and get ready for school," the man sighed, "and, for heavens sake, clean up this room."
We have found out WHO IS TO DO IT, but also we need to consider-
II. HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE
Look at verse 1 again, we read, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness…”
Notice, the Bible says that a fallen brother should be restored in the “Spirit of meekness”. We live in a society that is filled with PRIDE.
Illus: That reminds me of four fathers that graduated together and were going to meet at a restaurant. They had not seen each other in twenty-five years. Three of them arrived on time, but the fourth father was late. When they met they wanted to impress each other with their sons. With great pride, each father began to tell about their young adult son.
• The first father said with PRIDE, “Well, my son is the BMW branch owner. He is doing so well that he gave away a brand new BMW to a friend that was less fortunate than him.”
• The second father said with pride, “My son is a successful stock broker. He is doing so well he gave away $30,000 worth of stock to a friend who is less fortunate than him.”
• The third father said with my pride, “My son is a very wealthy Realtor. In fact, he so successful he gave away a new house to a friend who is not doing so well.”
The last father finally arrived and they asked him about his son. He said, “Well, to be honest with you, he is a no good bum! But I guess he could be considered successful because some idiots gave him:
• A new BMW
• $30,000 worth of stock
• And a brand new house”
Many folks like to strut their stuff because they are full of pride.
Paul knew that a lot of the unspiritual people in the church wanted to counsel others, not because they cared for them, but because it made them look spiritual. They thought highly of themselves!
Look at Galatians 6:3-4 “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.”
They have a false opinion of themselves.
Look at the word “Prove” in verse 4. This is the word “Dokimazo” (pronounced “Dok-im-ad'-zo”) meaning to test, to approve, examine.
They have not passed the test of BEING SPIRITUAL, they think they have, but they have not. They do not care a thing about the FALLEN, all they care about is using the fallen condition of the weak to make themselves look good.
If a Christian attends church regularly, this is good. But everyone knows they have sins in their life that they are not willing to deal with. But since they do come to church regularly, they are constantly encouraging weaker Christians who do not come regularly to attend.
BUT WHAT IS THE WEAKER CHRISTIAN THINKING AS THEY ARE TALKING TO THEM?
I can tell you exactly what they are thinking. They are thinking, “You hypocrite, you need to get your own life straightened out before you start to tell others how they should live their life.”
Illus: One day an unsaved lady told a preacher that some of her family members were constantly inviting her to church. She said she never was convinced that the church was doing them that much good, so one day she told them, “When you start living like a Christian is supposed to live, then invite me, but until then, I would rather not hear any more from you about attending church.”
Any time we talk with others as if we are truly SPIRITUAL and we are not, we are practicing hypocrisy.
The Lord dealt with this in Matthew 7:3-5, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”
Proud people will always find something in their life that is good, something that no one can contradict, and rub it in the face of a weaker brother. They want to talk about someone else’s sins, so no one will be talking about their sins.
But those who are going to be successful in helping members in the family of God that have fallen, are those:
• Who are spiritual
• Who are humble
We have looked at: WHO IS TO DO IT and HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE, but we also need to consider-
III. WHY WE ARE TO DO IT
This Scripture tells us what we are to do and why we are to do it. It gives us a number of reasons why we should do it.
A. WE ARE FULFILLING THE LAW OF CHRIST
Look at Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” One of the most Christ-like things we can do is care about others.
When Christ was here on earth, He saw our condition of falling into sin and He bore the burden of every one of us. When we bear the burden of others who have fallen into sin, we are CHRIST-LIKE!
John 13:34-35, we read, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
When we bear the burdens of those who have fallen, WE ARE FULFILLING THE LAW OF CHRIST.
B. THE SAME THING CAN HAPPEN TO US
Look at verse 1 again, “…considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
Illus: Some of the best Sunday School teachers have stood before Sunday School Classes and taught from God’s Word. The things they said others should not do, they have fallen into sin and done.
Some of the best Missionaries have stood before the lost in foreign lands. The very things they taught from God’s Word that others should not do, they have fallen into sin and done.
Some of the best Pastors have stood in a pulpit and preached. The very things they taught from God’s Word that others should not do, they have fallen into sin and done.
Illus: A man that used to sing on national television on Jerry Falwell’s television program, who has sung hundreds of times and blessed God’s people, fell into sin that destroyed his family.
Never think that because you are a member of the family of God, what has happened to others can not happen to you.
Look at verse 3 again, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”
But notice, after Paul tells us to “bear one another’s burdens,” it sounds like he is contradicting himself in verse 5. We read, “For every man shall bear his own burden.”
If I see a brother or sister that has been overtaken by a temptation, I have a responsibility, if I am SPIRITUAL, to try and restore that person.
But listen to this closely; this does not mean that I am suppose to bear every kind of burden a brother or sister has. There are some things that people are responsible for themselves. This is why the Bible says, “For every man shall bear his own burden.”
• Some folks think they are doing the will of God to feed and clothed healthy people that are street people, who will not work and take any responsibility for themselves.
• As long as that crowd can stand around holding their hands out, and dumb people are putting their hard earned money in their hands, they are never going to work.
• As long as churches will feed them, clothe them and shelter them, they will never work.
When people put responsibility on their own shoulders and when their belly begins to growl, they will go to work. There are some burdens we are to BEAR and there are some burdens we are not to BEAR.
Conclusion:
I. WHO IS TO DO IT
II. HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE
III. WHY WE ARE TO DO IT
