All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Galatians. Galatians chapter 6. We'll be looking at verse 1 and 2 again
this evening. I've entitled this message, Bearing
One Another's Burdens. Bearing One Another's Burdens. The Apostle says, Brethren, if
any man be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted. Bear you one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. And the apostle, having established
the gospel of God's grace, having set at naught the gospel of superimposing
the law upon the covenant of grace, you see, he now seeks
to restore those that are fallen. He seeks to restore unity and
fellowship to the church. Division had come. Strife had
come, and now is a time of restoration. Once the gospel had been declared,
now is a time of restoration. In the previous chapter, you
know, he calls for those believers to stand fast. You believer,
listen, stand fast regardless of the strife and division and
whatever takes place in circumstances. Stand fast in the liberty. wherewith
Christ hath made you free. Don't be entangled again with
that yoke of bondage. But some had fallen into this
evil doctrine. Some had been, what Paul says,
overtaken, taken from behind, duped, deceived. It was then the temptation of
those who were faithful to look down or feel superior to those
who had fallen. Now, last time I emphasized the
greatness of this deception, and I spent a lot of time on
the greatness of this deception simply because of this. The deception
of legalism is seductive to every one of us. It is seductive not to the new
man, but to the old. It is the religion we were born
with. Every one of us was born in works
religion. I don't care where you came from. Could have been
a Buddhist or a Taoist. You could have been an Islamic,
Islamist. You could have been a Baptist. It was all the same. Works, earning
our favor before God. It is the natural religion of
the flesh. That's why it's seductive. And
we all desire, now every believer, and I'm talking to believers,
we desire to honor God. Isn't that right? We desire to
live a life of righteousness. We desire to grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We desire to know our victories
and our failures. We want assurance. Isn't that? I want to know that I know that
I'm His. This is the heart of every believer.
Every believer desires the assurance that we are in Christ. And the answer of the flesh is
to fulfill these desires by law. That's how the flesh determines. Listen, that's reasonable to
the natural mind. It's reasonable to the natural
mind, to the flesh, to use the law as a guide. We all want to
know how to act. We all want to know what to do.
And it's natural for us to turn to the law as a guideline as
to what to do. The problem with that is this.
The law was never intended to be a guideline. You know, government
puts out guidelines, suggestions. It's not really a law. They didn't
codify it through Congress and legal means. They just put out
guidelines, right? So, you know, you kind of stay
within the guidelines, maybe. That's not what the law is. The
law is not a guideline. The law is a commandment. The
law demands obedience. It doesn't ask for it. It doesn't
ask for it. As many as are of the works of
the law, Paul said, are under what? The curse. For it is written,
this ends debate, and I don't care what men say, it is written.
God said it. This settles it. Curses everyone
that continueth not in what? All things written in the book
of law. You want to be under the law? Listen, you have to
be under all things. There's no pick and choosing. This is what the Pharisees did.
That's why they did the traditions because they couldn't obey everything.
So they started making traditions, excuses as to why they can't
do it. So that's not the law. The law
says curses everyone that continues not in all things written in
the book of law to do that. But no man is justified by the
law and the sight of God, that's just evident, Paul said, that's
just clear. Well, how then in the world does a believer live?
If you've excluded the law of Moses, how does a believer live?
Here it is, by faith. The just shall live by faith,
daily, constantly, steadily, looking to Jesus Christ as all
my righteousness, all my wisdom, all my sanctification, all my
redemption, daily. daily, constantly looking to
Christ. That's our guideline. It's our law, friends, the law
of faith. And the just shall live by faith.
And listen to this, the law is not a faith. The law of Moses
is not a faith. So if you're trying to live by
the law, you're not living by faith. It's either or here. And so the rule of the believer's
life is faith. How do we honor God? By faith
in Christ. How do we grow in grace? By faith
in Jesus Christ. How do we know our acceptance
with God? By faith in Jesus Christ. By looking to Christ. And this
is what is meant by Paul exhorting these believers here. Walk in
the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. To walk in
the Spirit is to walk by the fruit of the Spirit. It is to
walk in faith. The author of our faith is who?
It is the Spirit, the Spirit of God. It was by the power of the Spirit
we live and believe in Christ and it is by the grace and power
of the Spirit we continue to believe. Now next we see that
every believer has the constant struggle in the flesh. He gives
those He said the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh. Now he's doing this again for unity. He's trying
to show this that you that have fallen and you that are faithful,
you both have the same struggle. There's no difference in this
struggle. Just because you were faithful doesn't mean you were
discharged from the struggle. And just because you were fallen
doesn't mean that you're overcome by the struggle. We have this
struggle within us Works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit
are in every believer. So then Paul says to the faithful,
why in the world do you seek any glory? Because that's what
was going to happen. Paul knew it was going to happen.
It was natural for it to happen that those who were faithful
would somehow feel superior to those who failed. If you've lived long enough in
the faith and you've seen brethren fall, you know this. You and I have
this inclination to glory that we weren't the ones that fell. And then try to give us, it makes
us feel good about ourselves. We didn't, oh, man, I'm glad
it wasn't me. Oh, really? Be careful. Nothing in you made you to stay. And so it was inclination. So
Paul said, Why would you even attempt to glory? He calls it
vain glory. In verse 26, Let us not be desirous
of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. And instead of this, Instead
of this, the apostle then exhorts us to this. Brethren, if a man
be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, restore such
and one, one who is overtaken, one who has fallen, one who was
deceived. Restore him in a spirit of meekness,
considering thyself. Now then you see the man that
has fallen, thy brother has fallen. He is in much pain and sorrow. Look and see that thy brother
was duped by sin, but now the Holy Spirit has brought him low.
He has convinced him of his error. How are we to receive him? How
are we to receive our fallen brother? How do we restore him
to the fellowship and unity of the congregation? Now one preacher
said this, Christians are the only people that shoot their
wounded. You find a wounded one, we're
prone to it. Do we pour salt in the wound?
If you got a brother who had fallen, do we want to go and
try to rub it in and make sure that they understand that they
were fallen? Are we given the office of inquisitor? and ask them questions to make
sure their doctrine's straight before we let them back in the
church? Are we to interrogate them until they meet our standard
of restoration? Now listen, this may seem like
it's outside the pale, but it's happening, friends, in sovereign
grace churches today. Some men had fallen, some men,
not even due to their own sin, but the sins of other people. And yet, men are holding them,
their feet to the fire. They look so sternly at them
as though they have to meet some standard of the congregation.
Well, let me just see if he meets the standard before I let him
back in or show him any kindness. That's not our business, Father.
That's not our business. What does the Word of God say? What is to be our attitude? Paul
says, in a spirit of meekness. A spirit of meekness. A spirit
of meekness is one that takes to heart this truth. I am a sinner saved by grace. That's a spirit of meekness,
when one can recognize that I am a sinner. I remember that story
that Spurgeon wrote of, the huckster. You remember him, that wicked
fellow that everybody in the town knew? And the Lord saved
him and he heard that woman, he heard that woman singing that
little melody, I'm a sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ
is my all in all. And the Lord convicted him and
saved him and he was coming to church and the church wanted
to put him through an inquisition to see if he was really true.
This guy had been a real rascal in the community. He had been
horrible. And they started asking him questions and this was his
answer to everything. I'm a sinner and nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my whole and
all. What do you think about this, doctor? He said, I don't
know much about that. But I know this, I'm a sinner and nothing
at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. See, that man had
a spirit of understanding meekness. He was a meek, he was brought
low. And this is how the same spirit,
we are to receive those who have fallen. We are sinners saved by grace.
This is a spirit of meekness is to consider, Paul said, considering
thyself. You can't have a spirit of meekness
unless you consider yourself. That you are just as capable
and prone to sin as the one that's fallen. If you don't believe
that, you cannot restore anyone in a spirit of meekness. You
just can't do it. Well, I would never. No, you
don't understand yourself. That's just the problem, you
don't understand yourself. The spirit of meekness considers
our own weakness, our own sinfulness of the flesh. We consider that our pardon,
our fellowship with God and our faithfulness and our continuance
is all by the grace and power of God. This whole letter that Paul wrote,
this gospel, the intention of the Apostle Paul was never to
destroy the fallen brethren. That's not why he wrote this
letter. He wrote this letter with the intention that they
should be restored. This is why we preach the gospel. We preach the gospel because
we are all prone to fall. And what keeps us is what? The Gospel. What sustains us,
what comforts us, what encourages us is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so when Paul wrote this letter,
what was he writing? He was writing the Gospel. He was preaching
to them. And so when the Spirit, this
is the means of the Spirit in restoring the fallen, it is the
Gospel. The word that Paul had spoken,
surely, listen, this gospel always makes a division, always does,
by itself. I don't need to intentionally
make divisions. A lot of times people preach,
they seek to make a division, they seek to divide. I believe
the gospel does that all by itself. When you preach a gospel, it's
gonna make a division. It will always separate the precious
from the vile, the believer from the pretender. It will separate
the false gospel from the true, and by it, all debate is ended. Paul said the word of God is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. What?
Dividing asunder the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow,
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. What is
the purpose of the Word of God? The purpose of the Word of God
to the lost is to harden them. When God sends His Word to the
reprobate, to the one that He has not chosen, it always hardens. It always does. God's purpose towards the elect
is always to break his heart. God always uses his word to melt
the heart of stone to convince us of sin and lead us to Christ. You see the word, what does God
say about his word? He said my word shall go forth
out of my mouth and do what? It shall accomplish the thing
where into I send it. Now whether to harden or whether
to break the heart, whether to whether to reprobate the man
or to save him. Whatever God determines His Word
to do, that's what's going to happen. And so this gospel always
makes a division. But this gospel is always the
means of Spirit both in our conversion and our restoration. Isn't it? It's always the means, the same
means of our conversion. What did God use to convert you?
What did God use to save you? It was the preaching of the gospel.
Paul said, by the foolishness of preaching, God purposed to
save them that believe. It was the gospel. And I'll tell you this, when
we are fallen, what restores us? What convicts us? Is it the man pointing his finger
at us and yelling at us? Is that what convicts us? Is
it the one trying to straighten us out, is that the one that
does it? It's the Word of God, isn't it?
It's the Word of God used by the Holy Spirit. Now listen,
we must stand fast in the truth, not in a spirit of anger or in
a so-called zeal, not in pride. We must preach the truth in love,
only desiring the return of God's people to Christ. Not to us. You know, that's one thing about
it. I'm not in competition with any other preacher of the gospel.
Just not doing it. If a man leaves here, would to
God he go somewhere where the gospel is preached. I don't care.
It doesn't matter where the gospel is preached. But our desire always is that
they maintain the truth in love. We preach the truth that our
brother who has fallen should return. Let us then long for
them that once looked to Christ, but now have looked to the flesh. I know brethren in Christ who
are duped even at this time, believe such a lie that the law
is somehow transposed upon the gospel. That the law of Moses
is somehow transferred I mean, where do you think people get
infant baptism from? You can't find it in the book.
It's not in the book. You won't find it. Not once. Where do they
get it from? They superimpose circumcision
to baptism. That's how they do it. So there are people today, like
they were in Galatia. Now, in Galatia, it was the law
of circumcision. It is the doctrine of progressive
sanctification or progressive holiness. And there are some
brethren who are duped. They're duped by this. And now we stand fast in the
truth that Christ is all our wisdom, all our righteousness,
all our sanctification, all our redemption. Why? Because the Word of God declares
that to be true. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
30. God hath made Him to be what? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. God hath made Him, not us, Him. God did it. Therefore, we know this, that
we are sanctified. You who are believers, you are
sanctified by the will of God. You were made holy by the decree
of God from eternity. You were sanctified by the blood
of Christ when Christ redeemed you, when Christ paid for our
sins, and we were sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit
when He gave us a new heart, a holy nature that now dwells
within every believer. And we know this, that our works
and obedience have nothing to do with our holiness. Our works and our obedience have
nothing to do with our holiness or standing before God. Christ
is all. Christ is all. All our salvation has been accomplished
and all our salvation has been applied Yet it is my longing desire that
every saint should repent from such doctrine that teaches they
can sanctify themselves before God. That they can make themselves
holy by their obedience either to the law or to traditions. It is my desire that they would
reject such vile doctrine and be restored into the fellowship
of the saints. Now if our brother is by the
grace of God able then to see this. If we preach, we're constantly
preaching the gospel and if by the grace and power of God they
hear it and they recognize their error. If they reject the lie
and seek to be restored Who did that? Did we do that? No. We just did what we were supposed
to. Preach the Word. Preach it in love. And then the
power of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit
to restore these people. It is the work of the Holy Spirit
to convince them of the lie. It's not our job. It's not my
job to convince you of the lie. I can tell you the truth, but
I can't convince you of it. I can show you. Then why would we ever seek to
add our opinion or our standard of justice to this work of reconciliation? Why? It's not our work. Reconciliation is not our work.
Instead, let us consider our own proneness to sins pronest to the same sins of our
brother, and by the grace of God let us restore him in this,
a spirit of meekness, a spirit of love and forgiveness." Let us forgive him, comfort him, encourage him with such a tender and and meek spirit. Okay, now then
look at the next thing. Bear you one another's burdens.
He said, bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law
of Christ. Now I want to view this in two
ways. In light of the restoring of a brother and secondly in
light of common troubles and trials. Bearing one another's
burdens. When a believer has wandered
from the gospel and has been overtaken, at first he feels as though he's
discovered something new. I want you to see the experience
of someone who's duped into this. Legalists come in and they start
throwing out the law and this man grabs a hold of it, hook,
line, and sinker, and at first he feels as though he's discovered
something wonderful. Why? Because I told you it's
appealing to the flesh. It's appealing to the flesh. He thinks he's found some unsearchable
riches that everybody else doesn't know. This is always the feeling of
the flesh when any law is applied to the salvation of Christ. He begins to see that there are
many evils in his life that he needs to put out. He begins to
see that there's many good things that he's not yet done that he
needs to do. Now, let me ask you this question.
Is there anything wrong with putting out evil? No, you should. That's just so. Isn't it? Put
off the old man and his deeds and put on the new man, which
is created after God in true wholeness. Put him on. Is there anything wrong with
seeking to do more good? Can you do more good? Is there
things that you can do? Yes, you can. Is there anything wrong with
that? Absolutely not. What's wrong with the legalist
is this. The reason that he is putting
off evil and putting on good is so that he might by his obedience
appeal to God. That he, by his putting off evil
and by his putting on evil, he might obligate God to something. To make him grow. Isn't this
what we want? We want to grow. You want to
grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
the legalist believes that if I do this and stop doing this,
then God is obligated to make me grow. No. No. Anything that is not done in
faith and love is sin. Anything that is not done in
faith and love is sin. And the law is what? The law
is not a faith. So what is it? Sin. All that
good you think you're doing is nothing but evil. And all that
evil that you think you're throwing away, you're embracing. You're
duped. The rules and constraints of
the church feel good to his flesh and give him a sense of accomplishment
and spiritual growth and acceptance. But if that man belongs to God,
that newfound treasure will soon be turned to grief and sorrow.
I'm so glad I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen, and listen,
I've seen it happen in this man's life. When I was young, boy, I love
Reformed theology. Well, I spent a lot of time studying
it, eating it up. I spent a lot of time listening
to men like R.C. Sproul and many of the others
of the Reformed church, and boy, I just, at that time, I just
wish I could live like them. Boy, they were just so righteous,
and I was just so vile. How in the world could I keep
up with those guys? And sure, they'd tell me what
to do. I was duped. They gave me rules and constraints
and it started to feel good, but you know what happened to
me? When a man belongs to God, that
newfound treasure will be turned to sorrow. We will soon find
the evil of this heart has not decreased one bit. The more we
try to put it out, the more it inflames. And the works that we desire
to do, the good that we desire to do, we find out this, it's
never enough. It's never enough. So the Eden
that he thought he had found turns to a wilderness. His soul
begins to be dried up and thirsty for lack of the water of life. He sees the message of legalism
then is not about Christ but all about Him. In a legalistic church, Christ
is nothing more than a pretext. They just mention Him and then
get right to you. Their message is all about you.
You know what that does to a true believer? It withers his soul. It dries up. He begins to be thirsty. He's
like that wanderer in Psalm chapter 107 in verse 4. He said, They
wandered in the wilderness in a waste-howling way. They found
no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted within them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble. Notice that. They cried unto
the Lord. When a man is fallen and Christ dries up his soul,
who is he going to cry to? You? He's not going to cry to
you. They cry unto the Lord. And you
know who hears them? The Lord hears them and he delivers
them out of their distresses and leads them forth by the right
way that they might go into a city of habitation. There's an illustration of this
in George Whitefield. I've read his biography a long
time ago. George Whitefield, when he, a
young man, he desired to join this club called the Holy Club.
the Holy Club. John and Charles Wesley were
the founders of that Holy Club. And these men, the determination
of these young men were to live a righteous life. That was their
determination. They were determined to save
their own soul and the souls of those around them by their
obedience to the law and to their works A lot of these men felt like
that they were doing a really good job. Not Whitefield. Whitefield, the
more he did to do good, he felt this, that evil was present with
him. He sought to follow them, and it was not long until he
felt the barrenness of all the effects of his self-righteousness,
he became desolate. And this is what God does to
chasten his sons. Everyone that he loves, everyone
that falls out, he will chasten them, and yet he will deliver
them. This is a hope, isn't it? This is always my hope, and I've
seen it. I've seen them leave, but I've seen them. They're the
Lord's. And you know what? Everyone that
is His, He brought them back. He set them in a right way. Now
are we to set... Now that we... What are we to
do then to this one who is weary, to this one who is dried up,
this one who is thirsty and burdened from the heat of the day? Are
we now to press down on his burden, to make him feel shame and guilt
for what he's done? Are we to set Him right and remind
Him of the hurt that He caused? Are we to press down on His broken
heart? No. Instead of this, we are to
rightly consider our own sin and the mercy of Christ to us
daily and then come alongside Him and bear under His burden. Bear under His burden. Now, what does it mean to bear
under When I say bear under the burden of his guilt, because
when a man comes back, when God restores him, that's what he
feels. He feels guilt. He feels shame. We are not to amplify this, but
rather to bear under his guilt with him. Now how do we do this?
We know this, that only Jesus has bore his guilt. I'm not going
to be able to bear this man's guilt. I'm not going to be able
to bear this man's sin. Only Christ bore his sin. Christ
alone bore our guilt and suffered the justice of God for our sins.
And He alone can by His Spirit give us faith to see, know, and
feel that Christ has removed our sin. Because that's what
He needs, isn't it? When you fall, what do you need? You need
to know that your sin has been removed. Doesn't the Scripture tell us
that? That as far as the East is from the West, so far hath
He removed our sins from us? So how do I bear under the guilt
with my brother is simply this, to remind him of what Christ
has done with that guilt. When Christ hung on the tree,
was He not bearing our guilt? It's something miraculous because
we can't do that. You do something wrong and I
pay your debt, I still can't take your guilt away from you. But in this transaction, God
does just that. He takes the guilt of our sins
and transferred it to Jesus Christ. And you know what? Christ never
did anything wrong. He never did anything that he was guilty
of, and yet God can't punish an innocent man. That would be
an abomination. And yet, look, behold, Christ
was made sin for us. That's the only way we can say
it. He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. So how do I bear under
his guilt? Remind him of what Christ did. Oh, brother, I feel so guilty.
Brother, remember what Christ did with your guilt. Did he not
remove your sins from you as far as the east is from the west? Does he not like a father pity
his children? The Lord pitieth them that fear
him. Remind him of these things. In other words, what are you
doing? You're preaching the gospel again to him. This is how we
bear under one another's burden. Have you fallen? Are you burdened
with your sin? Then look and see the mercy of
God is greater than our sins. Christ has removed them from
us and the Father knows our proneness to sin. The Father does hourly,
daily, constantly pity us. He does, by the blood and righteousness
of Christ, constantly cleanse us from our sins and lovingly
receives us. When you're guilty, is that not
what you want to be reminded of? I want to be reminded that
my sin is gone. I need that. I need to be reminded
of what he's done. It is then the fallen brother
who can understand this. I know what he's going through. You may come to that brother
who has caused a ruckus in the church, and he's gone out in
the huff, and God's brought him back. And you know what? I can
really say I understand what you're going through. Now, I
didn't do it openly, but I've done it many times in my heart. And so then I know his feeling
of guilt. John Newton wrote that hymn,
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. It saved a wretch like
me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Blind, but now I see. But he
also wrote another hymn, Tis a point I long to know. Oft it
causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I his or am I not? See, we have an acquaintance
with this feeling of guilt and shame. And so when my brother
comes and has a feeling of guilt and shame, I understand. I can
empathize with him. I know what it's like to wander
from my Lord. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it for thy courts above.
And I also know this, I know the source of refreshment for
the thirsty soul. I know that Christ is the source
of refreshment. I know that. And what do I do
to bear into my brother's burdens is simply this, I go with him
to the feet of Christ. I don't say, hey, you need to
go sit down at the feet of Christ. No, I go with him. I go with
him. Because the forgiveness he wants
is the forgiveness I need. I need forgiveness, too. I need
mercy. And where are we both going to
find it? We're going to find it at the feet of Christ. So
this is how we bear under one another's burdens. And that's
what he said, thus fulfill the law of Christ. What is our law?
You, the believers, we're not lawless, are we? We're not lawless. What is your law? Simply put, faith and love. Go to 1 John. See it. Look with
me. 1 John, I'll close in just a
second. 1 John, look at chapter 3, just
so you know what your law is. Look at 23. And this is his commandment. that we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you believe on the name of
His Son, Jesus Christ? All right, how about now? Do
you believe on the name of the Son, Jesus Christ? Well, how about now? Do you believe
it's a constant law that the believer is constantly in obedience
with? Yes, yes, yes. Look at the second part of this.
And love one another as he gave us commandment. Do you love one
another? I confess on the first one, I
believe, Lord help thou mine belief. And on the second one, yes, I
love you. Surely not like I should love
you or want to love you, but I love you. God's people love
one another. How much then are we to love
one another? What's the commandment of Christ?
He said, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another. Listen to this, as I have loved
you. That man who caused all that
trouble, that man who caused all that hurt and pain in the
church and went out of here and a huff has now come back, how
are you to love him? just like Christ loves you. John even goes to the point where
he says we should lay down our lives for one another. This is how much we should love.
How much does Christ care about you? How much does He bear under
your burdens? How often does He give you relief
from your struggles? How often does He take your dried
up weary heart and cover it with the oil of His Spirit? Even so, do that for one another. Especially to those who are fallen.
Why? Because they do need it the most.
And lastly, I want you to see that we're not only to bear under
someone who has fallen, we're to bear under all of life's burdens. Our Lord, when he promised us
something, didn't he? He said, in this world you shall
have peace and prosperity and good times. No! In this world you shall have
tribulation. It is given on you in the behalf
of Christ to not only believe on His name, but to suffer for
His namesake. This world is full of pain and
sorrow and trouble. What are we to do in the midst
of this? Because every one of us are under
great pains, great troubles. We all have the common troubles.
We all get sick. We all suffer loss. We all have
the same guilt and shame we daily bear. Then let us, by the grace
and power of God, not only feel empathy for our brothers, but
actually supply what they need. How can we say it's love if we
just feel empathy for someone and don't actually supply what
they need? Is that love? Can we dare call that love? No. Let us love by the grace and
power of God and not only feel empathy but supply the needs.
Are they sick? Visit them. Are they suffering loss? Provide
their needs. Do they feel guilt? Then gently lead them and embrace
them and care for them. You know, that leper, I can't
get over this. Nobody really understands the
power of just a touch. Just an embrace. That leper, our Lord healed. Do you realize that that man
spent years without anybody ever touching him? And yet what does the scripture
say? And the Lord touched him. Can you imagine how that? He
didn't have to touch him. I know that that is a spiritual
significance I don't want to get into. He was identifying
with him. He was actually, you know, when you touch the leper,
you yourself became cursed. There's a whole message in that,
but the fact that he touched him. How often do we need that
from others? And we should be willing to give
that if we really love one another. James says, what in the world
does it do if a man's hungry and thirsty and you don't give
him what he needs? Now let me ask you this, seeing
that our law is a law of faith and love, do you really need
another rule to live by? Do you really need any other
rule to live by? Do you still feel the need of the law of Moses?
Not the believer, for we have the law that we constantly live
by. It is the law of Christ. It is
a law of love and a law of faith. May God ever give us wisdom and
grace and power to keep constantly to fulfill this law of Christ.
Let us by grace keep looking to Christ and by the grace and
power keep loving and serving one another. I pray God will bless this to
your heart. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Parents dismiss in prayer, please.