24 THE BOOK OF GALATIANS – CHAPTER 6:3-5 - Message 24 – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? DO NOT DECEIVE YOURSELF – YOU WHO ARE A BALLOON OF HYDROGEN. EXAMINE YOUR WORK; CARRY YOUR OWN LOAD
We continue in Galatians 6:3 from the last message looking at those who think they are so important, and are self-deluded. Sadly some in churches are like that and cause all sorts of friction and trouble. Then also we will study Galatians 6:4-5.
{{Galatians 6:3 “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself”}}
[1]. INTRODUCTION
“I am the greatest.” Do you remember who said that? It was said by Cassius Clay as he was then. “I AM THE GREATEST! I'M THE GREATEST THING THAT EVER LIVED. I don't have a mark on my face, and I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned twenty-two years old . . . . and I just turned twenty-two years old. I must be the greatest.”
This boxer turned to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. A little later on in response to a Harold Bell interview, he said this – “I believe in Allah and in peace. I don't try to move into white neighborhoods. I don't want to marry a white woman. I was baptized when I was twelve, but I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not a Christian anymore. I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be . . . I'm free to be what I want.”
He thought he knew where he was going but he is in hell today because there is no salvation outside the Lord Jesus Christ.
A film star does a movie and from then on the head is in the clouds and the person thinks how important he or she is because she is on the screen. That person has the head inflated in self-glory. (a balloon of hydrogen)
Alexander the Great thought he was something. At 30 he was lamenting the fact that he had no more places to conquer.
Nebuchadnezzar had been warned in a dream about pride but in time forgot the message. We read this – {{Daniel 4:29-31 “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, ‘IS THIS NOT BABYLON THE GREAT WHICH I MYSELF HAVE BUILT as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared. Sovereignty has been removed from you’”}}
Nebuchadnezzar had built a wonderful spectacle, good enough to be included as one of the wonders of the Ancient World – The Hanging Gardens. However thinking you are something will lead to arrogance and pride and that was his problem. That is a noose that will hang anyone.
The man who thinks he is something and has accomplished much is probably considered to be satisfied with what he has done. Providing he does not become proud and arrogant, I guess we can understand that, but the man and woman who thinks he/she is something when in fact that are such lightweights and have achieved little, then they are fools. Such a person is nothing.
I see that in politicians, in film stars, in celebrities, in some church positions, in some in the sporting field, among teachers where my career was, and the list would continue.
[2]. WHAT WAS PAUL INFERRING BY HIS WORDS IN GALATIANS 6:3?
First of all he was speaking to Christians and behaviour found in the world is not acceptable for Christians. The world acts with no accountability but Christians must be aware of the consequences of self-deception at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
There is within human nature some facet I am not sure how to describe that is never satisfied with the status quo. Allow me to give some examples. A man begins with small betting and sometimes may win so he is more enthused to continue. Perhaps he loses from the start so he perseveres in the hope of winning the big one. A youth may take a drink at parties and the drug conquers him and he end up with no control over the alcohol.
A petty criminal may begin stealing small items and graduates from bigger to bigger. A young person may start with the school friend pot scent but the craving gets stronger and he advances to more potent drugs. The sex addict and even sex criminal may have started with Playboy magazines. Addiction is related to progression of sin and being taken over and controlled.
So often the bible uses the word “beware” and let us not forget in verse 1 of this chapter, the words, “Lest you too be tempted. The moment you think you are strong to resist and it won’t happen to you, that is the time when sin strikes. You may think you are something in resisting sin and temptation, but you are nothing, because your strength is of no avail and you are deceiving yourself.
Self deception is dangerous because it sits at the top of the cliff ready to roll itself into the sea and be drowned. You may deceive yourself in very small ways by thinking this or that, and thinking you are something when you are nothing, but it never remains there. Like a cancer it grows through the programming of the mind. That is why it is so important for your mind to be renewed by the Lord and the Helper, the Holy Spirit. The converse is a mind taken over by delusion or deception.
You have all heard of the flat earth society, these people who believe the earth is flat even though it is obvious that the sun and moon are round. A few of these people began their belief through a joke or curiosity but over time, through the subtleties of the human mind, they become more and more committed to the extent they actually earnestly believe all that.
Be very careful you don’t fall into the trap at any time thinking you are important or you are something when in fact, in the greater scheme of things, you are nothing. You are one human being on a planet with 8 thousand million human beings. You live on a planet, quite small when compared with the multitudes of exoplanets being discovered. You live in a solar system of hundreds of billions of other solar systems. And then you live in a galaxy (the Milky Way) amid billions times billions of other galaxies.
You are infinitesimal but you matter to God and He wants to keep you safe and healthy in your spiritual life. De not become inflated or overtaken by self-thinking in this world of deluded Power of Positive Thinking because it will bring you down.
What does God require? He requires humility, trust, and obedience. He requires a full dependence on the bible that “puts you in your proper place”. Anyone living in Australia should know what is termed, “The Tall Poppy Syndrome,” even though we are now swamped by migrants who don’t know our culture. People who try putting themselves out there as something importance are quickly slapped down (not physical) and brought down to size. Perhaps that is what some of us need from God. I think America is the opposite – they seem to love the “hero worship.”
“He deceives himself” - A peculiar word, perhaps coined by Paul meaning he puts himself under an hallucination; persuades himself of the existence of that which has no reality. The mind is fond of fancies whereas we must live as sober people.
I will let another say something here. This is John Gill (1697-1771) in the days when writers loved long sentences – [[“when he is nothing: of himself; not even as a creature, but owes his being and preservation, and all the mercies of life, to another, even to God; has no grace nor gifts of himself, but what he has received, and can do no good thing, not think a good thought, or perform a good action, of himself, and much less of himself procure eternal life and salvation:
“He deceives himself”: and will find himself sadly mistaken, and wretchedly disappointed another day; or whoever thinks himself to be some famous and excellent person, to be something more, and better than others, of a more excellent nature, and of greater abilities, that he is free from sin, or at least holier than others, and not liable to fall as others, whom he looks upon with disdain and contempt, wanting that charity which the law, and new commandment of Christ, requires; when he is nothing but sin and vanity, he is destitute of the grace of God, he deceives himself and the truth is not in him. This the apostle says to depress pride, and a swelling conceit of themselves, and all uncharitable, rough, and severe usages of others. A saying like this the Jews have:-
"Whoever he is that is something, or thinks in himself that he is "something", it would be better for him if he had never been created.'']]
[3]. EXAMINE YOURSELF AND BOAST ALONE
{{Galatians 6:4 “but let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another,
Galatians 6:5 for each one shall bear his own load.”}}
Ellicott speaks most sanely here – [[“The best antidote for such false estimates of self is severe self-criticism. Let a man judge his own work, not by comparison with others, but by the ideal standard, then he will see what it is worth and how much he has to boast of. His boasting will be at least real, and not based upon any delusive comparisons. He must stand or fall by himself. He must bear the weight of his own virtues and his own sins. By them he will be judged, and not by any fancied superiority or inferiority to others.”]]
[4]. PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES
I believe there are certain principles coming out of all this.
(a). We are not to glory or boast in the presence of men. It is a difficult thing especially when we want acceptance, or we don’t want people to think we are stupid.
(b). Work for what is good and excellent so that you may satisfy yourself. This is the boasting to yourself, perhaps – the fruition of what God enabled you to do. You can say, “This has been accomplished by the Lord’s help.” A man and woman should know deep in his/her own soul a witness that God is pleased with him/her. This confidence comes from the witness of the Holy Spirit I believe.
(c). Let another praise you and not you yourself. When you are praised or thanked, BE VERY CAREFUL that the praise does not raise its head before you, and becomes a god for you to muse over and begin to worship.
(d). Humility is required by every Christian in ministry and in living the Christian life in the world and in God’s church of His saints. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. I think we all fail here to a lesser or greater extent, and we must look to the Lord in humble dependence.
(e). Examine yourself to see that your motives are correct. Do not think in your soul, “I hope God sees this and He should reward me.” A humble man of service does not have incorrect motives. He performs as God leads.
(f). I think it is a good thing for a person to be examining what he is doing in “Christian service” constantly, to see that the motives and reasons for doing what is done are not tainted with self-glory, or the need to be noticed by others in order that they might praise you.
It is not wrong to praise a fellow believer. Paul did it – {{1 Corinthians 11:2 “NOW I PRAISE YOU because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you,”}}. Of course this MUST NOT be done for ulterior motives but must be genuine and always under the Lord’s leading. Conversely, there may be times when we have to take the opposite tact as Paul himself had to do – {{1 Corinthians 11:22 “What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? SHALL I PRAISE YOU? In this I WILL NOT PRAISE YOU!”}}
** Once again I wish to share some thoughts from “Enduring Word”:
[[{{Philippians 2:3-4: “In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”}}. If I esteem you above me, and you esteem me above you, a marvellous thing happens: we have a community where everyone is looked up to, and no one is looked down on.
We often get angry when someone deceives us. Yet we don’t take the danger of deceiving ourselves as seriously as we should. It is a serious and terrible thing to deceive yourself. “The misery of most men is, that their minds are as ill set as their eyes, neither of them look inwards.” (Trapp)
“But let each one examine his own work”: Instead of deceiving ourselves, we must take a careful and a sober examination of our works before God. If we don’t, and if we carry on under our self-deception, then we may THINK our works are approved before God, when really they aren’t. We want to have our work approved before God, so that our rejoicing on the day of reward can be for our own work (himself alone), and not in the work of another.”]]
Some wise words from Cambridge Bible for Schools and colleges:- [[“Let each one prove his own work – (He must) ‘test his own conduct’. Self-examination will lead to a true estimate of self, ascertained by comparison, not with the attainments of others, BUT with the requirements of the law of Christ. The result may be humiliation, self-abasement, shame; but the ground of boasting will not be that of the Pharisee, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are’, but of that other Pharisee, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am’.”]]
[5]. VERSE 4 – BE A GOOD SOLDIER FOR JESUS CHRIST AND WHAT IT ENTAILS
A soldier on duty carries the necessary provisions and equipment for his service when he is on the march. It is his soldier’s pack, and that is the word used here in verse 4. It is his “load” (??af?a). He does not shrug his load on to another already bearing his own load, yet Christians do that to others. It is not honourable.
Some translations have translated the word here – “load” – as burden but it is a different word from “burden” in verse 2. Meyer sees this load (he retains the AV translation “burden – he sees this load as being the carrying of the moral burden old sinful nature each of us is responsible for individually.
This very same word is also used in {{Matthew 11:29-30 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and My LOAD is light.”}} That is the 1977 rendering of the NASB which was changed to “burden” in 1995. Only a few use the word “load in the Matthew verse but it is the better translation.
For those who like to look into the literal text more I want to quote F.B. Meyer - “The distinction between ß???? [baros] (burden in verse 2) and f??t??? [fortion] (load in verse 4) consists in this, that the latter denotes the burden in so far as it is carried (by men, beasts, ships, wagons; hence freight, baggage, and the like), while the former denotes the burden as heavy and oppressive; in itself the f??t??? [fortion] may be light or heavy; hence: f??t?a ßa??a (Matthew 23:4;), and ??af?a (Matthew 11:30); whereas the ß???? is always burdensome. (I am not sure if the Greek words will show up in the texts).
The conduct of the Pharisees is the exact opposite of what the Lord does for us. His load is light and the yoke is easy. The Pharisees are the worst of hypocrites as this verse would indicate - {{Matthew 23:4 “THEY TIE UP HEAVY LOADS and lay them on men’s shoulders but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”}}
My wife and I are in older age and am realising that there is another load we are carrying; that one in the physical sense. Health wise we have to bear an increasing load of health issues. I would say this is the “baros” burden, but we gladly carry the “fortion” load. We must carry them alone, each one. Others may support you, but can not carry your load.
In all this we must not become academic and miss the practical aspect of all this. I am going to quote MacLaren’s Expositions this time – [[“So, dear friends, let us see to it that we first of all CAST OUR OWN BURDENS ON THE CHRIST who is able to bear them all, whatever they are. And then let us, with lightened hearts and shoulders, make our own the heavy burdens of sin, of sorrow, of care, of guilt, of consequences, of responsibility, which are crushing down many that are weary and heavy laden. For be sure of this, if we do not bear our brother’s burdens, the load that we thought we had cast on Christ will roll back upon ourselves.
He is able to bear both us and our burdens, if we will let Him, and if we will fulfil that law of Christ which was illustrated in all His life, ‘Who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor,’ and was written large in letters of blood upon that Cross where there was ‘laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’”]]
