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Galatians 6:1-9, "Bearing Burdens" · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to the July 27 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 6:35 Flesher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Galatians, chapter 6, verses 1 through 9. And the sermon is entitled Bearing Burdens, delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell.
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  Speaker B: I'm grateful for everyone that is here today, and I'm grateful that as we gather, we gather around the good word of God. So take your Bibles, go to the book of Galatians, and here's what you need to know. Church, I don't know if you're ready for this, but we're almost done. Some of you are probably like, good, we can move on. But some of you, if you're like me, I'm like, I hate to see this book come to an end. It has taught me so much. But we're gonna have to wait a Sunday of revival, and then we will end the book the week after. But Galatians, chapter Numbers five and six, speak to the practical side of our faith as it reaches others in love. And here's the reminder to all of us. Faith is a wonderful thing. But if we keep faith to ourselves, or if we keep faith in a building and we don't live it out each day, it does not have an impact in a world that surrounds us. And so our faith, as much as we know it, as much as we have heard it, as much as we understand, must play out in everyday life. And so chapters five and six of Galatians. Paul is teaching the church in Galatia how to put this gospel of grace into action, into their everyday life, so that God is honored through the church, and God is honored through the people of the church, but also that God would get the glory out of it all. And so today we gather around chapter number six. It commands believers to be bearers, to be carriers, messengers, agents. Bearing also speaks to endurance. It speaks a word that we must patiently wait for God to do some work in our lives. We're not going to have the immediate response that we so desire. But chapter number six will be broken into two parts. We will be challenged to bear burdens, and we will be challenged to bear marks. That's the title of the next two sermons. And so when we think about the gospel of grace, it frees us from the burden that those who were under the law had. But we are called to carry one another's burdens. The big issue that Paul points out was the marking of circumcision that identified those that were believers. And here we are called to bear the marks of the Lord Jesus not of some surgeon's scalpel. And so today, when we think about the burdens of one another, we are called to bear one another's burdens. Those who have been overtaken, those who carry burdens. Reminds Christians that we are called to help folks out, not sit on a seat of judgment and scorn, but called to pull in beside those around us and help them out in the name of Jesus. And so doing that, we bear the burden alongside them. But God gets the glory as faith becomes practical and becomes lived out in our world. And so today, bearing burdens, you will get four burdens that every one of us are called to bear today. Look at verses one and two as we begin this sermon together. Galatians, chapter number six, verse number one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Point number one. Today, the first burden that you are to bear are the burdens of others. The burdens of others. We live in a society that seeks for our own benefit, our culture. We have drifted from community and compassion to isolation and indifference. And we can point fingers and identify, listen, Covid did not help this whatsoever. But it's not Covid's fault. Covid's five years ago. And we got to get past that. So here's what I want you to know. We can't continue to blame Covid for what's happening five years later in our churches. Our churches are dying, and all we want to do is point back and blame something. When the church, not just this one, we need to look in the mirror and say, are we truly making a difference? Are we community and compassionate people? How does the church confront these situations in a all about meeting me world? Well, Paul starts out in verse number one by saying this. If a man be overtaken in a fault, now notice he begins with brethren, which means he's talking to people that are believers. He is talking to children of God. Brothers, if somebody is overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. And so when we think about bearing the burdens of others. I don't know. Every time I read this verse, I think of people that I could help, that I know that are in trouble. I know they have stepped off the path of God, and I know that God could use me. But. But here is what this is speaking to the language here. Overtaken in A fault is not someone that is deliberately out living in sin. This is a brother or sister that has been overtaken, has fallen into something unexpected. And the Bible says this church, that person should be restored. Now listen to me. Churches today take the seat of judgment and look down their long noses and say this, shame on you, you shouldn't have done that. Now I don't know about how you parent, but I parent. I try to tell my kids where they mess up and then I try to reinforce them of how they can do better. But if I beat them with the same old thing over and over, I'm going to distance them from their Father's love. And so today I want to challenge you for those people that are going through, that have stumbled and have been overtaken. Church, we must be forthright. We must be honest that a mess up did occur. But we also must be a church that surrounds them with God's grace and loves them to the Lord. And if a church cannot love someone to Jesus, shame on us. And so today the wording here for overtaken is the resetting of our broken bone. Has anybody ever had that done before? I had an incident, a couple of them actually. I've broken both wrists. But in one of those accidents, my hand was right here and I just went into the hospital and said, doc, I need some help. And he gave me a couple shots and he said, are you ready? And I just did like this. And when he popped it, it all went back in place. This story ain't about me, it's about Jesus. It's about you and me. When somebody else messes up, when somebody has been overtaken by sin, it is our job to help reset their lives in accordance with God's word. And so what we are called to do in this verse is we are called to bear their burdens. So a couple of things. Church number one, we should be willing to help those who around us. We should be willing. Now look at me real quick, look at me. If God lays on your heart to help somebody out, we don't need a committee, we pray about it. But we don't need an all day prayer. Go meet the need, meet the need. Get somebody to help and go with you. Church, we must be willing to help those around us. But the attitude is important as well. Look at verse number one. It says this. Ye which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness. It's not a spirit of judgment or an attitude of judgment, but is one of gentleness. That's how you restore someone. You don't restore them by beating them over the head with the Bible. You restore them with arms that are wide open to say, God will forgive you and God will lead your life. But I want you to know that this attitude is one that is not of acceptance either. If someone does not want your help, if someone does not listen to your advice, they have made their choice. So it's not to coddle them and accept where they are. It is to correct them and say, this is what's going on. Let me show you from God's word and let me lead you back to the Lord. Let me help walk that road with you. The third thing is this. It reminds us of our own weakness. Look at verse number one. It says this, Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So the warning here is this, that our own areas, we have our own areas of weakness. You and I are not perfect people, but there are areas where we are weak and where you need to be careful. If you are helping someone in a situation and you are weak, you could be pulled in. Churches have a tendency to disassociate with the ones who have sinned instead of trying to help reset and restore them. Churches also turn a blind eye and accept anything and everything. Walk in the door. Because they're so desperate for people to show up. The world will never like the church. That's what we've got to realize. But it is our job to be the light on a hill. And so today, how do we balance that? Here's what I want you to know. This is not an easy thing to do. It is very uncomfortable. We may not like it, but we are called to do it as the people of God. When we see someone in need carrying a burden, we are called as believers to come beside them and walk that road, bear that burden with them. As hard as it is, we are called to do it. Now, these people that are caught up, the Galatian people, they desire to fulfill the law. But how do you bear the burdens? Look at verse number two. It says this. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. How do you fulfill the law? How do you fulfill this book? We talked about it already. You need to love God with all your heart and you need to love others. And you will fulfill this law. But how do you fulfill the law? By bearing one another's burdens. Here's Jeffrey's little steps. Number one. You've got to notice people are hurting in this room today. There are people that have lost loved ones. This week. There are people that are going through financial and situations at home that are hard. There are people that are contemplating leaving this world under their own taking and you are sitting beside them. There are people in this world that are searching for the answer that you and I carry in our hearts, but we won't share it. So today, Jesus may be the answer. All you have to do is open your eyes and notice people are hurting, but also notice they're carrying something heavy. Y' all know me. I walk around with a smile on my face and like the Energizer Bunny all the time. I check all my Sunday school classes every Sunday morning to make sure everybody's doing fine. I walked into Sunday school class one Sunday and the guy just said, I'm doing ok. Okay was not okay. But how many times are we okay with okay? And we move along. Notice that people are hurting. Notice they're carrying something heavy. Pull in beside them. Not for the wrong reason, but for the right reason. You can pull in beside someone and gossip about everything that's going on in their life, or you can pull in beside them and help them carry the load. And here's the thing, just help them get through it. Help them get through it. Prayer, encouragement, acts of service, listening resources. It takes time invested in someone else in order to fulfill this commandment to bear one another's burdens. And so today, church, we're called to bear burdens. Others. Look at verses three through five. 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. For every man shall bear his own burden. The second burden that you've got to carry is your own. This is actually a warning for all believers. And here is some of the burdens that we carry that relate to us. Number one. What you see in verse number three is pride. When someone thinks he's something when they are nothing. Boy, you got your hands full. Here's what we've got to realize. None of us are anything apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. If it becomes about us, we're in trouble. Christians, we've got to realize we're not better in the eyes of God than anyone. We are nothing in the eyes of God without his grace. But pride can say, I am a better Christian than this person over here. But pride can also say this. I. I'm too good for somebody to help me. I don't need your help. I can do it on my own. When we bear our own burdens, pride becomes an issue. But also in verse number four, you see that we think we have to prove something we're called to prove. Paul says everyone needs to take a long look at what they're doing and, and why they are doing it. Verse number four says this. Let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. So we need to prove, we need to test why we are doing what we are doing. So it's easy to see when somebody else has overcome or fallen into sin. But sometimes it's hard to see when we are headed that direction because pride has set in our hearts. Examine your faith. Examine yourself. Examine your why you do what you do. Why are you here today? Why am I here today? We need to examine that pride. Prove. And the third word is pack. Look at verse number five. For every man shall bear his own burden. That seems very straightforward. But that word burden in verse number five in the original is different than verse number two. The word in verse number five is the word for a backpack. Everybody knows what that is, right? I don't want to even bring up that S, C, H, O, O, L word, right, Because I'll get in trouble. That word means that you can bear your burden, means that you carry a pack. And here's what Paul is trying to say. You can help others bear heavy loads, but you are still responsible for your own pack, your own burden. You're responsible for your own load. There are some things that only you can carry that nobody else can help you with. And that's what Paul says. You must be willing to bear that burden. Bear that pack. The biggest burden that all of us carry is this, That I can't help you with is one day you will stand before Jesus Christ and you will have to give a word about what you did with all of your days that he blessed you with. I can't stand there with you. I can't stand there. They're in your place. You can't call. You can't reference me. It doesn't matter. Then I can't help you. You've got to bear that burden. So I can help you do some things. I can help you carry some things. But there are some things that we individually must carry in our life. The responsibility for your choices or your actions or your sin. I can only walk so far with you in that. But you have to deal with the consequences. I can't carry those. Providing for your family, that's your responsibility. That's Something you've got to carry, your time and your talents and how you use them, that's something that you must figure out and you've got to deal with. How about this one? Staying faithful in dry seasons. Anybody ever been through a dry season? And you just said, okay, I don't know, God, where are you? How do you stay faithful there? I could walk so far. But it's between you and God to continue that journey, your walk and your growth in the Lord. Everybody wants to blame the church. No, you are responsible for that. Get plugged in, get invested, get around people that are studying God's word and you will grow, guaranteed. But you are responsible for that. Can I tell you a very personal example? People that have come through church, their kids have been in and out of church, and all of a sudden they disappear. And then the parents come back and just say, jeffrey, I don't know what happened. Little Johnny or little Susie doesn't want anything to do with church anymore. That's a burden that burdens my heart. But that's something you as a parent. The greatest responsibility of a parent is to parent your children and teach them about Jesus. That's your responsibility. We can help as a church, but that comes from you. There are some things that you must carry your responsibility. So you're sitting here today and saying, okay, Pastor, you're telling me to help others carry burdens. And then you're telling me I've got to carry my own weight. Absolutely. Welcome to the joys of being a Christian. But you can't expect someone else to help you carry the things that you are responsible for. Pride gets in the way. And I want you to know that is a big issue here. You got to bear others burdens. You've got to carry the things that God has given you. But there's also the burden of sowing. Look at verses six through eight. Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things, be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, so shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. The burden of sowing starts out with Paul saying this. You gotta take care of others. You gotta take care of yourself. And you gotta take care of those that teach you the word of God. That's what verse number six is, speaking to those that teach and lead you in the study of God's word, you need to take care of them. Now here's what I want to say, very humbly, that's hard for me to preach. Anybody knows me knows I do not want attention. I don't want that. But the church in Galatia was called to take care of those that were leading them. And I believe that's true for today. The people that lead the church should be taken care of. And here's what I want to say on the heels of that church, Clifford Baptist Church. You take care of me. Well, thank you, my family, you take care of us. Thank you. I cannot say enough thank yous for that. But as we are called to take care of the teachers, the teachers are then called to lead in a godly way. So we are held to a standard as well. But then Paul goes on in verse number seven saying, don't be deceived and don't make a mockery of God. What is a mockery of God? How do you make a mockery of God? It's when you put up a front that is not genuine. Alright, listen to me, Christians, that's one of the biggest insults of church people. They do one thing in a church house and they do something else outside of the church house. Here what Paul is saying in verse number seven is we cannot be deceivers in the eyes of God. We cannot mock God by saying that we are Christians and then live a life that is outside of those words. Because here's what he says. Whatever you so you will reap. How many of you know understand that biblical principle, sowing and reaping. How you sow and what you sow matters because it's coming back your way in one way or another. I believe that with my whole heart. But I also believe that we should not mock or make a mockery of God. And God will see our reaping and sowing through. What does the burden of sowing mean? It means this. Make sure you're doing the right thing in the eyes of God. Before God, you must be doing the right things. Where is your time and where is your talents and where is your money? Where are those things being thrown at? Look at your own life. Don't look at mine. Don't look at anybody else's. Look at your own life. Where are you sowing? I'm not talking about the guard and I'll get to that in a minute. But you sow with your time and your energy and your effort. I feel like at 40, almost 43 years old, I'm in the best stage of my life right now, and I feel like I've got about. I don't know. I'm afraid to say this. I feel like I got about seven more years. When I hit 50, I dread that number. But here's what I'm saying. Your time and your energy and your talent, all of that is invested. All of that's part of the sowing. And if you give your time to work, then your family's gonna fall apart. If you give your time to succeed, to make the money, then guess what? The money's good. You gotta have money, right? How do we balance that? As Christians, we are called to be careful. Because what we sow, we will reap. And the issue here is this, that you can sow to flesh, as verse number eight says, but you will reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap life everlasting. I believe in these two principles. You will reap what you sow, and you will reap more than you sow. It has always worked that way in what I have seen God doing. Are you sowing to fleshly things, or are you sowing to spiritual things? Go back and read the end of chapter number five that we looked at last week. The fleshly things are in verses 19 through 21 of chapter five, the spiritual things, verses 22 and 23. But here is the principle. You cannot sow to the flesh and reap the things of God. Amen. We've got to be careful, and we cannot make a mockery of our God. If you sow anger, you will reap broken relationships. If you sow gossip, you will reap a loss of trust. But if you sow kindness, kindness and support, will you reap if you sow prayer and Bible study and faithfulness? Oh, the blessings that are available there. Reap in an eternal way, if possible. You and I carry the burden of investing or sowing seeds in the lives of others. And we are called to do that. There's one more today as we finish up. And that's the burden of reaping. Look at verse number nine. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As Paul discusses this principle of sowing and reaping, he also acknowledges this. These are two separate seasons. Look at verse number nine. Again, it says this. Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season. Do you see that? That's a whole separate season. So as we understand that the reaping and the sowing are separate seasons, here's what Paul is trying to say, that reaping is not instant, but it is constant care for that which you have sown. Some of you have sown for Jesus and sown well in your families, maybe with a child or a husband or a wife. And you haven't seen the results, and you have gotten weary. Here is what Paul is saying. The burden of reaping is this. We cannot grow weary. We cannot give up. Because those seasons have turned from days to weeks to months to years. A pastor loves it when he preaches a sermon and someone gets saved instantly. But here's what I'm more concerned with. I, as a pastor, am more concerned with sowing spiritual seeds. And as God works on those hearts, I pray for people to come to him. But we are called in this one verse to do well. And here's what that means. Do your part. You and I have a part in the work of God and the sowing of seeds and the reaping. You've got to do your part. We have a place to do well. We are called to not grow weary. That means this. Know that God will do his part when we grow. When we don't grow weary, we are trusting that God will continue to work even when we don't see it. So don't grow weary. And verse number nine. We are called to not give up or to faint. Here's what that means. Our faith can't fall apart between the seasons. Our faith cannot be impacted. We must stay strong in our faith. And if all of that happens, then we will reap. Pray for the harvest. When's the last time you prayed for somebody that would get saved? As a believer, when's the last time you prayed for somebody to get saved? That should be one of our constant prayers. Those in our circles, those in our families, those in our church, those that we work with. Those people need Jesus. And here's a fact. God wants to use you. I planted tomato plants this year. Some of you have beautiful, huge, tall tomato vines. And I'm saying vines because that's what they look like. Because I've seen pictures. I've seen a picture of a tomato plant that was taller than me. Some of you have already enjoyed tomatoes. You're eating tomato and Duke's mayonnaise sandwiches together. I got an amen on that one, didn't I? Well, praise God. I'm looking for somebody. They're not jumping off the pages. I know that there's a special way some of you make those sandwiches. The mayonnaise has got to be done right. I understand that. Here's what I want you to know. I was late planting my tomato plants. I'm watching, I'm seeing pictures. I'm even enjoying some of your fruit. But every afternoon, I'm weeding and waiting and working those plants because I know the harvest is coming. As Christians, it's easy to get your eyes on somebody else's field or on somebody else's life or what somebody else is going through and not take care of your own. You grow weary because you've got your eyes somewhere they should not be because they're not on God. They're on other people. They're on their blessings. They're on their life. They're on what they're enjoying, and you're not getting it. Here's what I want you to know from a little tomato plant. The harvest is coming. They're green and they're about that big. And it's coming. And here's what the Bible says. You will reap if you faint. Not church. Don't put our eyes on another church or another pastor or other people. We want to be great sister churches. Now, don't get me wrong. Don't get your eyes on other Christians that seem like everything's going right and everything's going wrong for you. Here's what God calls us to do. To stay faithful and not grow weary. The burden of reaping is this, that it's a different season than sowing. And you may never, ever see that season, but you can trust God through that season and not grow weary. Today, as we end this sermon, I believe we've forgotten the principle in our church of sowing and reaping in our churches. Not just this one, in our churches across this great nation, we have lost the principle of sowing, reaping. Listen, we don't have time because we don't make time. And when we don't make time, we start to blame God. We grow weary and say, God, this is all your fault. And then there are people that are walking away. So today we make time for everything else we want to do. If I told you we were going to dinner right after church and you had other plans, some of you would make plans to join me. We make plans for schools. We make plans for our kids, lives all around them. We'll go to different states and do whatever we need to do for our kids. But one hour a week for God? God, that's way too much. Two hours on Sunday. Okay, Pastor, you're asking for a little much there. What if everybody in this room invested two hours, a Sunday, Sunday school and worship, two hours. What? If everybody in this room invested that time not to come and fellow come and get around the word of God together, what would God do with the sowing and reaping of Clifford Baptist Church? It all boils down to time. We don't know how much we have left. But what we have, we can invest and sow for the kingdom's work today. Church. How will we do that? How will we grow ourselves? How will we reach to other? That is the call from Galatians, chapter 6. Living out a godly, practical life in the lives of others. Some of you may be weary, some of you may have given up. Some of you may not realize the harvest is coming. Here's what I want you to understand. You must grow where you have been planted. And I believe we have been planted in Clifford, Virginia, of all places in the world. Not only do we need to invest our time here, but we need to invest in our community and pray. Pray, pray for God to do the work in the lives of those around us. Make this your prayer, God. Use me in some small way. I'm closing the Bible. I'm done today. Will we open our eyes to the burdens that others are carrying? Will we open our eyes to the burdens that only we can carry? Will we reap and will we sow with spirits that are not giving up, but that are depending on God's strength? That way we cannot grow weary. And then here's the promise you will reap if you faint. Not as I close this service. I just want to sow a little seed. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's no perfect person in this room. All of us are sinners. All of us deserve separation from a holy God. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. We deserve death. But Jesus took our death on a cross. That was his great gift to us. God's great gift to us was his son, Jesus. God commended his love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved today. If there's somebody in this room that needs Jesus, he's here. He can change your life. He can save your soul. And you will have a relationship with him if you come today. Let's pray. Father God, thank you. Thank you for a chance to sow seed today. God thank you that your Holy Spirit is at work right now. And God, we just depend on you to do the work in our lives. The changing, the opening of our eyes, the opening of our hearts, the burdens that we must carry. God, we will be careful to say we need your help God in all the way that you can. I pray that you move in this church's heart and that you will teach us the principle of sowing and reaping. God, I feel that you can do something powerful through the people that are devoted to you. So God, place upon our heart the need to invest to sow seeds of eternity for our family's sake, for our co workers sake. God I pray Lord that you will lead us to be faithful to you in all things God that you will work in this moment if that one person that needs you God, I pray that you will save people's souls. Only you can do that work God Lord, I pray Lord that maybe today the seeds that have been sown Lord that we will see the fruit. God thank you for your work. And God, I pray Lord in the days ahead that you will give us a spirit of sowing for the kingdom's work. In Jesus name. Amen.
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  Speaker A: Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-94-605 55.