THIS IS A HOLD UP
Galatians 5:25-6:5
S: Encouragement and support
Th: Grace-Full Living
Pr: WE ARE TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER.
?: How?
KW: Ways
TS: In our study of Galatians 5:25-6:5, we will find four ways we can support one another.
The _____ way we can support one another is…
I. LIVE IT UP (25)
II. DON’T TEAR DOWN (26)
III. BUILD UP (1-2)
IV. KEEP DOWN (3-5)
RMBC 9/24/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook: Encouragement (patients in coma)
Lillian‘s physician stopped by her hospital room to see her every day while she was recuperating from an operation, but he hardly said more than a few words to her. One morning, however, he was unusually talkative. After chatting for about 15 minutes, he turned to leave and said, “It sure has been nice talking to you, Mrs. McDade. All my other patients are in a coma.”
Now tell me, how encouraged would you feel at that point?
I don’t think I would feel real encouraged at that moment, wondering if the coma was next for me.
But that little story brought to my mind this thought…
When things aren’t going right, we all appreciate those that are able to offer the right words and right actions, don’t we?
1. Have you ever enjoyed the support of someone in a difficult time?
There are many times in my life when someone has come along with the right words at the right time.
I am so grateful for the times of support when I felt so weak and unable to make it on my own.
But you know…
2. Unfortunately, sometimes the church is known more for its discouragement than encouragement.
Many of you have probably heard this little poem before:
To dwell above with saints we love,
oh, that will be glory.
To live below with saints we know;
well, that’s another story!
Through the years, I must admit that I am amazed at how many people in the church are gifted in discouragement rather than encouragement.
They really are very good at tearing down and not building up.
They know how to identify the problems, but offer no solutions.
ILL Notebook: Criticism (helpful congregant)
One day, a parishioner was talking to his pastor over coffee; and he said this:
"All I’m trying to say is that certain people might think that 12:15 is a little late to be getting out of church, that a pastor doesn’t need three weeks of vacation, that your office is offensive, that a guy my age doesn’t need a guy your age telling me how to raise my kids, and that if it weren’t for your crazy Third World projects we could have repaved our parking lot by now. I’m not saying those are my opinions, or course. I just thought you should know what others might be thinking."
I’ve read that when a group of musk oxen face attack, they stand in a circle facing each other and, with their back legs, kick out at the enemy.
Donkeys, however, do just the opposite.
They face the enemy and kick each other!
It is too bad that Christians are more often like donkeys than musk oxen
Though we express our disapproval of matters around us, it often seems we reserve our sharpest criticisms for other believers with whom we don’t quite see eye to eye.
Just when encouragement is needed, it is the very thing that is missing.
TRANSITION:
We are in our next to last week of our emphasis on discipleship.
I am looking forward to what Pastor Dick Murphy is going to lead us in tonight…some practical application about what it means to be a disciple.
But let me ask this question…
1. What does it mean to be a disciple (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Galatians 2:20)?
A disciple is a follower of Jesus.
A disciple is one that desires to live as Jesus lived.
Perhaps even more importantly, a disciple wants to live as Jesus would have us live.
But the great thing about being a true disciple of Jesus is that we are not left to do this discipleship thing alone.
God clued us in on how He was going to accomplish it in us through the prophet Ezekiel:
(26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
God puts His own Spirit in us.
He does this because, left to ourselves, we are unable to do what is required of us.
We need God working in us.
And the testimony of Paul, as he has been writing this letter to the church in Galatia, is that this is the very thing that has happened.
Paul writes:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now, because Christ lives in us, we can keep in step with the Spirit.
And this is what a disciple does…
2. A disciple keeps in step with the Spirit…
2.1 by lovingly serving others (5:13);
Two weeks ago, we considered this verse:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
We prove that we are a disciple when we are able to serve one another.
When we do it freely and when we do it lovingly, we are keeping in step with the Spirit.
We also keep in step with the Spirit…
2.2 by humbly submitting to the Spirit (5:16) and observing the difference He makes in us (5:22-23).
Last week, when John Fischer was here, I was very pleased on how he led us through this passage.
In verse 16, Paul writes:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
When we humbly submit to the Spirit, we will walk by the Spirit.
And when the Spirit is leading us, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I appreciated John’s comment about a tree trying to produce fruit.
It does not do it by its own effort, but by design.
And the same is true of us.
We bear fruit as an evidence of the Holy Spirit in us.
Today, as we continue this emphasis on discipleship, we learn that true disciples of Christ support one another.
3. WE ARE TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER.
Believers in the Lord Jesus are to support and encourage one another, not discourage and criticize as we mentioned before.
When we truly support and love each other, our unity is the evidence the world needs that the Spirit within us is real.
I want us to remember a little bit of our context as well.
Paul was writing this letter because certain legalists had infiltrated the church that he had founded.
And they were making the Christian life harder for the Galatians by imposing certain regulations as essential to faith.
For Paul, this was more than an irritation.
For legalists have this uncanny ability of applying the law more harshly toward others than toward themselves.
They had no interest in reducing the burdens, but rather producing them without assisting those on whom they are imposed.
This according to Paul was not the way to discipleship.
The way to discipleship was by keeping in step with the Spirit, and in our passage today, supporting one another.
So…
4. In our study of Galatians 5:25-6:5, we will find four ways we can support one another.
It is our goal to be people of encouragement, not discouragement.
It is our goal to be people of praise, not of criticism.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first way we can support one another is LIVE IT UP (25).
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
I want to encourage you today to live it up by living the Spirit’s way.
1. We live it up by choosing the Spirit’s way over our own.
We are to keep in step with the Spirit, and as a result, we move in step with each other.
The metaphor that Paul seems to have in mind suggests an army marching down the road together.
The great Roman roads were built with the idea that armies should be able to march quickly along them in military formation to whatever part of the world they were sent.
The Greek word translated as “keep in step,” or “march along together,” was used of any sort of formation of people.
It had the idea of staying in a straight line.
It was the idea of a group making progress together.
So, if we live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit, we will therefore, keep in step with the Spirit, together.
But note this.
We don’t lead Him; He leads us.
This is the way of living it up.
And…
2. We live it up by possessing a new way of life.
Paul‘s encouragement to the Galatians was not to listen to the legalists who were trying to entrap them into their system.
There was no freedom there.
There was no joy there.
But there was a way to live it up.
It is by the Spirit.
They did not need to live by the legalists’ rules.
For when they invited Christ into their hearts, they gained the Spirit as their new possession and keeping in step with the Spirit as a new way of life.
So live it up!
II. The second way we can support one another is DON’T TEAR DOWN (26).
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
1. We can tear down by becoming preoccupied with self.
How often have you found yourself challenging or provoking others to realize how “good you are” at something?
The problem is that we are trying to move up some ridiculous ladder that no one ought to care about at all.
Our ability to help others is lost because we are preoccupied with self.
We are too concerned about whether we’re valued or applauded.
We have to be better than someone else.
And we continue to tear down.
2. We can tear down by keeping the competition going.
We must admit that we like it if there is someone around that we are better than.
It makes us feel as if we are not as bad as we can be.
At least there is someone else that is worse than we are.
You see, we desire to be independent.
We like to think that whenever we have a problem, we can take care of it ourselves.
We don’t want to bother anyone else, we don’t want to depend on anyone else, and we don’t trust anyone else.
Our theme song is like the one Paul Simon sings:
“I am a rock, I am an island.
I have no need of friendship,
friendship causes pain,
its laughter and its loving I disdain,
I am a rock, I am an island.”
But God never meant any of us to live that way.
If we are going to support one another, we have to give up our need to be on top and be better than everyone else.
Which brings us to the…
III. The third way we can support one another is BUILD UP (1-2).
(1) Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (2) Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
1. We can build up each other by being healers.
The person in question is “caught in sin.”
The idea in the word “caught” is about something that traps you by the leg—a snare that might be laid for some kind of animal—and all of a sudden it wraps itself around your feet and you can’t move forward.
The meaning in this particular word used for “sin” is the idea of stumbling and falling.
The interesting thing here is that when someone is caught in a sin, they have stumbled and have fallen and can no longer go forward.
As a result, everybody else is impeded.
All of us are unable “keep in step with the Spirit” and move as a group.
So we need to deal with the situation.
We cannot ignore it.
Nobody can say, “That’s not my business. I don’t have to add that to my burdens. It’s his problem not mine.”
No, it affects all of us.
Our task is to restore this person.
The word carries the idea of making things right.
It was used for repairing nets or setting a dislocated or broken bone.
We build up by bringing healing.
We don’t kick people out.
We don’t leave them where they are.
We gently bring them back to the place they need to be.
Paul even addresses who is to do it.
It is the spiritual.
It is those that the Spirit guides.
The spiritual are not super-saints or some exalted genus of people.
They are ordinary Christians who are walking in the Spirit.
Spiritual people are ordinary people relying on an extraordinary Spirit.
And we are instructed in how it is to be done.
There are some folks in the church that think that when someone is in the wrong that it is their right and duty to establish justice as they understand it ought to be done.
But that’s not Paul’s description of how it is to be done.
The healing is to be done gently.
Francis Schaeffer said whenever there is a conflict in the church, we need to confront each other with tears in our eyes.
And though we should not avoid the confrontation over sin, we should never relish it.
Instead, we are to be lovingly involved in each other’s lives.
And…
2. We can build up each other by sharing the load (Matthew 23:4).
The description that we find here is of a person stumbling with a great burden on them.
It is so heavy that their knees buckle and they can’t stand up any longer.
And, the person has to be helped.
We cannot keep in step with the Spirit together as a group because this person can’t move under the load.
But you know, how often do we hear, “Well, he got himself into this mess; let him get himself out”?
That is the same Pharisaic attitude that Jesus criticized when he said:
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
The command, “Do not judge, or you to will be judged,” was written for such as these.
So now, when we carry each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.
In some ways, this is an unexpected phrase from Paul.
He has been critical of the law in this letter.
But the difference is that the law Moses gave could not change our hearts so that we would freely obey.
The law of Moses did not conquer our pride and rebellion.
But when Christ summons us to obey his law of love he offers us Himself to slay the dragon of our pride, change our hearts, empower us by his Spirit and fulfill his law.
Because we have the Spirit, we can love and support one another, and build up.
IV. The fourth way we can support one another is KEEP DOWN (3-5).
(3) If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (4) Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, (5) for each one should carry his own load.
We need to be realistic…
Someday we are going to be the one who needs a “spiritual” believer to help us.
So, there is no advantage in creating an environment of judgmentalism, being “holier-than-thou” and pointing fingers at sinners.
To the degree that we create this environment, it is going to rebound back on us someday, because we are going to be the one who needs help.
If we are honest and can say that Christians trip and fall as this text teaches, then our response needs to be, “How can I help?” not, “How can I judge?”
So…
1. We need to keep down by remembering that we flow toward self-exaltation.
Please note for whom the strong language is for in this particular text.
The greater caution is directed not to the one who has fallen, but to those who aim to help him.
Our failure to fulfill the law of Christ is because we think we are something when we are nothing.
You see, we are made of the same stuff as the fallen.
And our fall is not necessarily far off.
But how often the legalist rules in our midst!
And he rejoices at the fall of another brother, since he appears better in comparison.
His response is that of smug superiority and self-righteous condemnation.
But, his judgment makes him blind to his own sins.
ILL Notebook: Comparison (cow)
Two cows were grazing alongside a highway when a milk truck went by. On the side of the truck were the words: “PASTEURIZED, HOMOGENIZED, STANDARDIZED, VITAMIN A ADDED.” One cow turned to the other and said, “Makes a girl feel sort of inadequate, doesn’t it?”
Well, comparisons can get us into trouble.
For, if we are too impressed with our place in the scheme of things, we are fools.
The comparison we should make is not who we are relative to each other because God is completely uninterested in such comparing and measuring.
For…
2. We need to keep down by measuring our achievements by the law of Christ, not someone else’s performance.
In measuring the value of our own achievement , we are not to take the work of others as our standard of measurement.
If we want to compare ourselves to anyone, we should compare ourselves to who we would be if Jesus had every bit of our strength and energy and every moment of our thoughts.
That comparison will do much to deflate pride.
We are not who we ought to be.
Therefore, why are we impressed with ourselves?
The final phrase that each one should carry his own load refers to a soldier’s pack.
Everybody has a certain amount that they are suppose to buck up under.
It’s reasonable, so we’re not to whine and feel sorry for ourselves.
We’ve all been given some difficult circumstances.
It’s our responsibility to grow in grace, trust the Lord, and carry our own pack.
It’s not heroic for us to do so.
But when the thing that happens to you is one of these awful, difficult, knee-buckling sort of experiences, we are to be there to help carry the burden.
APPLICATION:
ILL Notebook: Humility (Grounded)
A heavily booked commercial flight out of Denver was canceled, and a sin-gle agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the front and slapped his ticket down on the counter. "I have to be on this flight and it has to be in first class!" he insisted. "I’m sorry, sir"’ the agent replied. "I’ll be happy to help you, but I have to take care of these folks first." The passenger was unimpressed. "Do you have any idea who I am?" he demanded in a voice loud enough for the passengers behind him to hear. Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and picked up her public-address microphone. "May I have your attention, please?" she broadcast throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate." As the man retreated, the people in the terminal burst into applause.
We all need the same humbling, don’t we?
You know, it is said that we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross.
Which points us to this fact…
1. We all have the same need—grace.
Grace removes all ground for boasting, save in God.
His grace has given us everything.
None of us should ever think we are above helping others because none of us is ever above needing help.
Remember, each one of us is a basket case of sin apart from God’s gracious Spirit.
We are completely dependent on the Spirit, so we should keep in step with the Spirit.
And…
2. We keep in step with the Spirit when we act in love.
When we are truly characterized by love, the Spirit’s working and control is evident.
Sometimes, though, our desire to be spiritual though is perverted into self-righteous proud piety.
True spirituality, then, must be understood as a manifestation of love in meekness.
It credits completely the grace of God and the work of the Spirit and the Word.
So, we involve ourselves in each other’s lives, not to be interfering, but because God love us so much that He became involved in ours.
3. We support one another, not to be meddlesome, but because we care.
There is never permission to be meddlesome in another person’s life, but there is great permission to be an encourager.
ILL Notebook: Encouragement (Shaq to Levine)
Irving R. Levine, who retired a few years ago as chief economics correspondent for “NBC Nightly News,” cited an interview with basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal as one of the “great memories” of his 45-year career in television news. As he and “Shaq” headed for the locker room, they passed a cold-drink dispenser that repeatedly refused to take the basketball great’s dollar bill. “May I?” asked Levine, who rubbed the bill against the side of the machine and inserted it first try. Shaquille turned to him and said, “Irving, you’re magic.” As he recounts the incident, Levine remarks, “What more could one ask for an accolade?”
My final question to you today is, “Do you make people feel great?”
When we pick up, build up and hold people up, it is the very thing we do.
When we truly support one another, we are certainly followers of Jesus.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Live it up and keep down…live freely in the power of His Spirit, follow His lead, and keep in step; don’t let your ego arrogantly get in the way of loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, but accept humbly that your place in the kingdom begins at the level ground of the cross;
Build up and don’t tear down…remember that we are a team together, so when one falls down, we all go down; so let us build each other up and not tear down and help each other live for Christ as His disciples.
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
