May it please God to bless the
reading of his words to the prophet of our souls this evening. Let
us turn to the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians and we'll read
chapter three. The epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
and reading chapter three. For this cause, I, Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, If ye have heard
of the dispensations of the grace of God which is given me to you
ward, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery,
as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men. as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel, whereof I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power. unto me,
who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches
of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of
the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. to the intent that
now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God according to the
eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom
we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him
Wherefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you,
which is your glory. For this cause, I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. unto him that is able, do exceeding
abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church,
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. May God bless his word. And now
may the Lord once again help us to meditate in his word as
we turn again to the epistle of Paul to the Galatians, chapter
six, and this evening we'll read verses three, four, and five. The epistle of Paul to the Galatians,
chapter six, and reading verses three, four, and 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. We should be very thankful that
God in his wonderful grace and providence gave to Paul the blessed
wisdom and instruction to write such truths for our instruction
today, because we know that the Word of God never becomes out
of date. Those things were written over
2,000 years ago, which were so appropriate to the Church of
Galatia, and none less appropriate to us today. So the Apostle tells
us, for if a man think himself to be something. Now how important
that is, that we might be able to look at ourselves. The Bible encourages us to examine
ourselves and by nature we want to be thought something. And
yet here the apostle says, for if a man think himself to be
something when he is nothing, And that's hard for us to naturally
understand. We like to be somebody. We like
to be thought well of. We don't like to be thought of
as nothing. And yet you see, the apostle
himself, as we read together in that third chapter of the
Ephesians, in the eighth verse, he says, unto me whom less than
the least of all saints. The Apostle was a blessed man. He had great knowledge. He had
great understanding. He was favoured with tremendous
union with the Saviour. And yet, you see, by the grace
of God, he was able to come to this position and explain and
say, from his heart, it wasn't just a theory. It was in his
heart to be able to come and say unto me, who am less than
the least of all saints. Clearly, he viewed himself as
nothing. He didn't view himself as something. And what a blessing for us today,
if God gives us grace to look at ourselves, and not think we're
important, not think we're worth anybody taking notice of, but
to realize that before God, we are as nothing. And yet, you
see, The Apostle very graciously tells us, if a man thinks himself
to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. So we should
never come to the conclusion that we are something. Because
if we do, what's the result? Well, we are deceiving ourselves. And we know that the heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. and how easily
we are deceived. We only have to look back, don't
we, to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They were deceived by
the subtlety of Satan. And friends, the devil hasn't
changed his skills. He hasn't changed the way he
operates. He operates the same today. And so we should be very
aware of his devices and be given that grace to understand what
the apostle tells us here It's so important for all of us today,
for the whole Church of God, not just for the Church of Galatia,
the whole Church of God. For if a man think himself to
be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Well, good instruction, isn't
it? Puts us in our right place, doesn't it? Makes us small in
our own eyes. It's always a good thing to be
small in our own eyes. It's always a good thing to come
down, indeed, as the Word tells us, unless you become as little
children, simple, to be taught, willing to listen, willing to
be directed. And then the Apostle goes on
and says, but let every man prove his own work, let every man examine
his own work. It doesn't just say, well, some.
Every one of us needs to examine our own work. That means we need
to examine our motives in the things that we say, in the things
that we do. Is it for our own exaltation? Is it for our own gratification? Or is it for the honor and glory
of God? And the apostle, when he wrote
to the Philippians, And the second chapter and the third verse,
if you read it recently, we're told this, let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. That's a good test,
isn't it? Of the reality of our religion.
It doesn't say, well, now we can look around and there are
some who are better than ourselves. It doesn't say that. But in loneliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. What
a mercy that is, when we look around and we realise that we
should esteem others better than ourselves. We shouldn't think
we're better. We should think they're better.
and that we indeed are less than the least of all saints. And
so the Apostle tells us, Unto me who am less than the least
of all saints, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Vain glory. That means, what
it says, seeking glory of ourselves, which is vain. Let us not be
vain. Let us not be looking for vain
glory. Let us be desiring that our lives
may show forth the glory of God, and not our glory. What a blessing
if that is so, and if we can understand the truth of it. So be blessed with this, but
let every man prove then his own work, and then shall he have
rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. You see, when
the Lord then brings us to view ourselves as God sees us, to
realise how absolutely poor we are and how we need to be ashamed
of ourselves. When the Lord brings us to that
position, then you see we can rejoice in what the Lord has
done in bringing us to that low place. not leaving us to the
pride of our own hearts. What a wretched thing it is,
pride. What a blessing it is when God graciously deals with
us. And the Apostle tells us when
he wrote to the Corinthians in the third chapter, in the 10th
and 11th verses, he says this, according to the grace of God
which is given unto me. The Apostle only rejoiced in
what God had given to him. not what he had produced himself.
According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise
master builder, I have laid the foundation. Another man buildeth
thereupon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Christ, my friends, must be the
firm foundation. Christ must be the true foundation. Let us not be found building
anywhere else. Let us not be found building on our own abilities. And let us therefore examine
ourselves to be able to have the evidence that God is dealing
with us in love and mercy to bring us down in our own estimation
that Christ might be lifted up and honoured and glorified. To the true believer, the desire
is this, that Christ is worthy of all honour, he's worthy of
all exaltation. And the true Church of God desire
that Christ might be lifted up. And so then, what is the rejoicing? the Lord will bless his work.
And we will rejoice in his work. We rejoice in his work in our
hearts. We're knowing it's not that which
we've done, it's what he has done. The Apostle tells us when
he wrote to the Corinthians for his second letter, in the first
chapter of the 12th verse, he tells us this, for our rejoicing
is this. the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world
and more abundantly to you, Lord." What a good thing it is. We look
back and can see when we did have our conversation in the
world, but by the grace of God, he said our hearts and our affections
upon things above and not on things on the earth. And then he goes on and says,
for every man shall bear his own burden. The Lord places burdens
upon us, burdens to keep us down, keep us lonely, and to enable
us to desire to cast all our burdens upon him, not to therefore
look to ourselves and to try and relieve ourselves, but every
man shall bear his own burden. And what a blessing if that burden
then directs us to our need of a saviour. The Lord afflicts
us sometimes in order to bring us down in our own estimation. The Lord knows what each one
of us need, what burden It is that he places upon us, where
every man shall bear his own burden. But you know the Apostle,
when he wrote again to the Corinthians, and in the second epistle in
the fourth chapter, verses 17 to 18, he tells us this. And
it's a very wonderful expression, he says, for our light affliction. The Apostle considers his afflictions
to be light. Now the Apostle had many, what
we might term, heavy afflictions. We need to be very careful that
we don't therefore think that we're very hard done by and that
we have a very heavy burden, that we're heavily afflicted.
And that of course covers a multitude of situations. For our light
affliction, and he puts it into this context, and this is the
blessing, which is but for a moment. It worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory." You see, the light
affliction on one hand, it is just light. On the other hand,
there is an eternal weight of glory. There's no comparison
really, is there? What a blessing when the Holy
Spirit shows us the wonderful difference are far more exceeding
an eternal weight of glory while we look, this is a secret you
see, not at the things which are seen. You and I look around
us and we think what a burden this is. We need to look up.
We need to look out of ourselves. This is what the Saviour instructs
us through these words, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. Now, when the Lord blesses us
with spiritual eyes to observe this, it puts everything in a
right perspective. And we thank God the Lord gives
us grace to bear that burden, which he sees fit to lay upon
us, so that we look out of the things of this life. If we never
had burdens, we'd never pray. If we never had burdens, We'll
never look forward to our eternal home, what a blessing it is which
God, the great God, deals with us as sons and daughters of the
most high God in that great and glorious preparation for our
eternal home. So tonight, may we not thank
God for words like this, 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. Amen.