Go back to the book of Galatians.
Galatians. Now, our text will be found in
chapter 6, verse 1. And I'm going to get to verse
2, so that's just a little rule of that out already. Verse 1. The apostle says, brethren, if
any man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, Restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted. I've entitled this message Restoration
of the Fallen. Restoration of the Fallen. I've got three points that I
want us to seize. If you want to write them down,
go ahead. In this church, a deception had
taken place, and some men were overtaken by the deception. Secondly, there is a restoration. Paul said, those that are spiritual,
you that are spiritual, you that have not been duped, here is
your duty, here is your privilege and responsibility. Here it is. such and one, out in the spirit of meekness.
And third point is this, a consideration. Consider yourself. When you're
restoring them, you should consider yourself. Now, the apostle, let's
go back and get a mindset here. I wanna get a, I want you, I'm
gonna take a run and start at it. The apostle has now set forth
in the minds and hearts of the saints by looking at our collective
experience. The collective experience of
every believer is this. We each have two distinct natures
residing inside of every believer. He said the flesh lusteth against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary,
listen, one to the other. You got one, you got another.
You got two. They're contrary to spirit and
the flesh. And both of these reside in every
one of us. Everyone born again. Listen,
if you don't have two natures, it's because of this. You ain't
born again. I mean, you've got the same old one, and that's
it. You don't have a struggle. You don't have a fight. But we
who believe do have a struggle. And the struggle is within. And
no man is discharged from this war. This is collective. He's putting us all in one basket
here. Nobody is discharged from this
warfare. Until this flesh lies rotting
in the grave, you are going to struggle. That's it. It's no discharge. Or until Christ
comes. Oh, that'd be great, wouldn't
it? Right now? Wouldn't that be just right now? Boom! We're
instantly made perfect. That'd be great, but either way,
then and only then are you discharged from this war. And he gives the
works to the flesh. Now, why is he doing this? Not
that we should point at other people. He's telling you this
is your flesh, that lust against the spirit, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness. witchcraft, idolatry, variance,
emulation, strife, wrath, sedition. That's in each one of us. Some are more prevalent than
others, yes, but I'll tell you, they're all in you. But our hope is this. Our hope
is this. He said, this is good, but you
are not under the law. Isn't that great? Now if you're
under the law and you have all those things, what does the law
say? guilty. But you're not under the law,
Paul said. You're under grace. And to give us hope, he says
this, this is also the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace,
meekness, gentleness, goodness, longsuffering, faith. These things
are also in the new man. The new creation, which is, listen,
created after God in true holiness. That new nature, it cannot sin.
It only produces what's in it. Love, joy, peace, meekness, faith,
temperance, all of those fruit are what? Fruit of the Spirit.
And you don't do those things in order to be saved. You do
those things because you are saved. This is the difference
between works religion and the true gospel is that works religion
say you do these things and then you are saved. No, these are
fruits. Fruits of the spirit. And then Paul gives us encouragement. I like this encouragement. He
tells us we belong to Christ. You that are Christ, you have
this struggle. Listen to this, you belong to
him. You belong to Him because God chose you. That's why you
belong to Him. According to the election of
grace, you belong to Him. He said, you have not chosen
me. I have chosen you. Why do you belong to Him? Well,
He chose me. Why? No reason in me. I just
like you. I just like everybody else. No
reason. Other than He would. Secondly,
he bought me. That's why I'm his. He purchased
me. He bought me with his own precious
blood. He bought me. And in the course of time, he
came to me. He, in majestic conquest, conquered
my soul. And I am His. And the wonder of it all, He
is mine. It's astounding. And the reason
that we continue in the faith is because He keeps us. Peter
said, we are kept by the power of God unto salvation, ready
to be revealed. We're kept. Why are you still
here? You're here because you're kept.
Why? You belong to it. He chose you,
he bought you, he conquered you, and he is going to keep you until
he brings you to himself. You're his. I like that, what
Paul said, he said, because he said, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies it. You
want to find something to condemn me over, you won't have to look
very far. But God says, who's going to
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justifies. Who is He that
condemns? Not only you can't charge me,
you can't condemn me. Who is He that condemns? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather He's risen again.
Whoever lives to make intercession for us. Who then shall separate me from
the love of Christ? Tribulation or distress? Persecution
or famine? Nakedness, peril, or sword? As
it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for a slaughter. No, in all things we are more
than conquerors. Now it feels like we're counted
like sheep for a slaughter. That's how we present ourselves,
isn't it? We present our bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and accepted by the Lord, which your reason
will serve. That's how we present ourselves. But really, in reality,
it's not how you think or feel. We are more than conquerors to
him that loved us. More than conquerors. Brian persuaded that neither
death. He begins with the word, doesn't he? I'm persuaded either. What else is worse than that? I'm not persuaded of death, nor
life, nor anything that happens in this life, nor principalities,
things above this life, nor power, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, just
in case I miss somebody. Just in case I miss something.
Nothing is able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus. Why? You belong to Him. Logs, talking
barrels, there He is. And then he deals with this matter.
Now he's coming back to where he's brought the church to a
collective experience. This is all our experience, isn't
it? This is ours. And now he brings the church
back to where they're at. They're at a point where some
have fallen. Some have been doomed. Some have
been deceived. Some have forsaken the gospel
of Jesus Christ and believed a lie of legalism and heresy. while others in the church maintain
their faithfulness. And what does he say then? What
is naturally going to happen? Some of those who are faithful
are going to seek glory for themselves. Why is it natural? I just told
you the flesh is still in you. It's in all of us to do this.
It's natural for us to try to pat ourselves on the back and
say, Good thing I did. Look at old so-and-so there.
He failed. Look at me. Look at me. I didn't
fall. He did. So what does Paul say? Look at that. Let us not be desirous
of what? Empty glory. What is that? You bragging on yourself? Empty
glory. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what has to, all those things
I just told you, love of Christ, love of Christ, what have you
that you did not receive as a gift of free grace? Then why in the world are you
acting like you earned it? That's what he's telling them.
He's bringing them to the same I want to get to the text. I've
got a bunch of other stuff in there, but let's just get to
the text. I've got to get to the text.
Here we go. He calls them now and he says, now he's brought
them to this point. That some were tempted to exalt
their own faithfulness. Someone to say, I thank God I'm
not like those that have fallen. I thank God that I've maintained
my faith and not sinned like that guy over there. Who's that
sound like? Doesn't that sound like the Pharisee
who prayed thus within himself? I thank you, God, that I'm not
like this guy over here. I thank you that I fast twice
in a week. I give tithes of all that I have.
I'm not a sinner like that guy over there. Listen, have we not
done the same thing? We say this in piety, in false
piety. Listen to this. But by the grace
of God, there go I. You ever said that? No, no. You've already gone there. You may have not done it outwardly,
but whatever they did inwardly, you, outwardly, you did inwardly. No, I am, what we ought to do
is take off our fair cynical robes and go lay down with the
public. Though we've not done it outwardly, I guarantee you
we've done it the same or worse. We should go lay down with the
public and say that God be merciful to me. Listen to this. The sinner. I don't know about
anybody else. So now the apostle is going to
speak. Listen, some have fallen and some have fallen and fallen.
It was a terrible thing that was happening in this church.
Horrible thing. Some had forsaken and some had
maintained. But I want you to see the Apostle
Paul, he spent five chapters talking about those that failed.
Now if you want to hear about those that had fallen, he's spoken
to them, but he's now going to speak to those who had not fallen. and their responsibility to those
who have. He will deal with those who were
not duped as to how they received those that were. Listen, have
any of our brethren fallen? Has there been any overtaken
in a fall, seduced by the lust of their flesh and drawn out
of the way? Listen as the Holy Spirit then gives us wisdom how
we're to deal with this, because it happens. It happens. It's a reality. And listen to what he said, Brethren.
Who is he talking to? We're not going to be a theologian understanding.
He's talking about God's people. Brethren! He's not talking about
those outside. He's talking about those in here,
those who are believers. Brethren! Listen! You faithful
men, because you're going to follow the Spirit. If a man be
overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, restore such an
one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself. First of
all, I want to see the deception. The deception. If any man be
overtaken in a fault. You know what the word overtaken
means? It means taken from behind. Taken from behind. Ambushed. It has the idea of someone walking
with their head in the cloud, not paying attention to where
they're going, and stepping into a trap. Someone who has overtaken
the end of fall. Someone who has not been cautious. This is exactly what happened
to the saints. These saints were walking in the clouds. They were
paying no attention. They supposed themselves to be
above such temptation. I would never leave the gospel.
Do you suppose any of them had any intention to ever leave the
gospel? In doing what they were doing,
they were supposing that they were furthering the gospel, that
they were enhancing it, that they were making it better. They
didn't think they were leaving Christ. They thought themselves to be
too strong to be moved. Anybody feel like that? You ever
feel that way? You have and I have. Therefore
some man came in who was not deceived. He knew exactly what
he was doing. Some man, some people crept into
this congregation seeking followers for themselves. I've seen this
happen multiple times. Men coming in with ulterior motives. They got a plan. I remember my
pastor getting a call a long time ago, and this guy said,
Brother David, pledge your eyes. He said, yes, sir. He said, you
know, I was praying the other day, and the Lord said, I was
to help you out. And my pastor, without hesitation,
says, I don't want out. Because that's what he was trying
to do, help him out. So men want to come in, they
got a plan. And they want to seek to find followers for themselves. He later says this in chapter
6 in verse 12. He says, as many as desire affairs
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For
neither they themselves that are circumcised keep the law,
but desire to have you circumcised. For this reason, they make glory
in your flesh. This is always the way with false
religion is to look on the outward appearance of things. When people
come in and they're looking at the outward appearance, when
they look at this church, what do they see? They see nothing.
A few people here, ain't nothing big about this. And you can go
two miles this way and you can find a church with 100,000 people
sitting there today. And they look at this, and they
look at that, and say, well, man, God can't be with this. He's
got to be with that. Why? Looking without outward things. They look at outward things. They look at the appearance.
They always want to appear pious, to seek to constrain men by law
that they themselves can't keep. This is always the way with false
belief. They can't keep the law, yet they want you to. These men, they seek to be honored
by other men. They seek the praise of the world
and the glory in their number of converts as though that makes
it more acceptable with God. In the book of Proverbs, it says,
who so boasted himself in a false gift is like a cloud without
rain. What good is a cloud without
rain? To the grass, what is it? Nothing. They have the appearance,
but no real gift. Now these legalists are not always
obvious. They creep in, listen, unawares,
as Paul says. They creeped in unawares to lead
silly women captive, laden with lust. This is not sexual. This is talking about religious
lust. The flesh desires some observance. It desires something to see,
something to touch, something to feel. And that's what false
religion gives you. Something to feel, something
to touch. These men, they come in, and
they come in like the Amalekites. You remember the Amalekites. They came in from behind. They attacked the weaker. segment
of Israel, and that's what false religion does. It comes in and
finds the weakest. Now who are the weakest among
us? Listen, the most self-exalted people are the weakest. You find
the people who's got a list of things to do and not do, those
are the weakest. Now the world thinks those are
the strongest. Remember how Paul dealt with the meat-offered idols? There were some who believed,
that if you ate that meat offered to idols, you were dishonoring
God. Now, in the world's religion,
that appears pious, doesn't it? They appear to be honoring God. Paul said, what in the world's
an idol? What's an idol? He's nothing. He's nothing. They've offered it to nothing.
So save $1.50 and go buy the meat over there. That's what
he was saying. But he said, you know, that's
your conscience. I'm not trying to defile your
conscience. But he said, which one's the weaker brother? The one that
ate the meat for $1.50 less? Now the world would think, man,
that guy sold out his soul for $1.50. That's what the religion
will tell you. But really, he, in faith, realized
that idol's nothing. But the other man thinks that
idol is something. And so who's the weaker? The one who is more
outwardly pious. Well, they come in, they creep
in and try to get those who are weak in faith. And so it is those that have
been in the faith for many years, those who are trusting in their
own understanding. How often do we pride ourselves
in our understanding? You who know much, you who are
given much, how often do we look down upon those who have little?
You know, you're the target. Not at all. You're the target. The moment we think we are above
being the target of deception, you're taken. That's what it is to be deceived. Who is deceived and knows they're
deceived? The very definition of the word deceived
is you don't know. You don't even know. A heart
of deceitful and desperately wicked above all things, who
can know it? And so Paul later says, let any man that thinketh
his hand take heed, lest he fall. It's when all is well and we
feel secure that we are most vulnerable. Isn't that true,
David? When David was fighting Saul,
when David was in the cave, When David was being chased like a
dog, he was more secure than when
he was at peace in his palace, because that's when he failed. And so because believers, we
have this old man that we are still prone. Listen, and I'm
talking about deception of not, believers are prone to any sin,
that is true, but this sin of legalism is a is a very daunting
and seductive thing for believers. It is to the flesh. It is. The
old man of sin is still prone to try to follow the law. Now, the law, as a rule of life,
listen, is reasonable to the flesh. It's reasonable to the flesh.
Why? Because it feels good to the
flesh when we can have something to measure our obedience. Do you not long to have some
measurement of your obedience to God? Do you not want to obey
God? Of course you do. Well, don't
you want to know if you are? The law gives us some sense of accomplishment
or progression. When we appear, listen, when
we appear to have honored God, in some measure, it gives us
assurance. Pastor told me this before I
became a pastor. He said, the whip of the law
will feel good in the minister's hands. And the whip of the law will
feel good to the backs of the people. And this is why. Because it is the native religion
of the old man. It's the native religion of your
flesh. This is what your flesh wants. I'm talking to you, believer.
This is us. This is our nature. What believer does not desire
a constant guide as to how to conduct ourselves? You want a
constant guide? Yeah, of course. What believer does not long to
feel his acceptance with God? You not long to feel your acceptance?
What believer does not seek to honor God by our obedience and
conduct? Then comes the legalist in suddenly. He comes in suddenly. He doesn't come in denying the gospel
you believe. He comes in accepting it. He believes, the legalist believes
in salvation by grace. Ask any Catholic. They'll tell
you they believe salvation by grace. As any worse religion,
do you believe the necessity of the blood and righteousness
of Christ? Well, of course we do. Of course we believe in the
blood and righteousness of Christ. Ah, but then comes the venom. Then comes the venom of legalism
that says, well, grace is good, but But the law of God must be imposed, superimposed upon the gospel
of grace. You can't just let these people
do what they want to do. They'll just go out and be sinners.
They'll just go do horrible things if you don't bind them. You don't
grab the law and force it down their throat and chain them to
the chair. They say that the law is to be
superimposed on the gospel. They say that by our obedience
to the law, we can somehow measure our success and failures. And we may, by the law, measure
our spiritual growth by our outward conduct. Listen, this does appeal
to our flesh. And if you deny that, you're
ready to fall, because it is appealing. This is the questions they ask.
Is the law not good? We say, well, Christ needed a
law for salvation. Everyone didn't believe it. They
said, well, is the law good? What's your answer? Yeah, yes,
the law is good. Nothing wrong with the law. Well,
was the law not given by God? Yeah, of course it was. Is God's
word not eternal? Yeah, well, God's word is eternal.
Then why are you trying to dishonor God by disallowing the law? That's
their reasoning. And a lot of people are like,
ooh, what do I do with that? I don't understand. No wonder that so many in our
day are duped by these vain teachers. Listen, the law was given by
God. God's word is eternal. And listen,
if you are under the law, you are under all of its blessing
and cursing. You want to be under the law.
What part of the law do you want to be under? Name it. Any part. Because I know you
don't want to be under all of it. I know you don't. You'd need a high priest. You'd
need an offering. You'd have to go bulldoze that
mosque over there in Jerusalem. You'd have to build a temple.
You'd have to offer a sacrifice. That's just as much as the law
as any other part. Men divide the law. God never
divides the law. The law is the law is the law. You're guilty in one, you're
guilty in what? All of it. So you want to be
under the law? What does Paul say? Go back to
chapter three. What does Paul say to anybody who wants to be
under the law? We're dealing with the deception. Those who
are overtaken. This is who they're overtaken
by. Look what Paul says about the
law. Verse 10, he says, for as many as, whoever you are, are
under the works of the law, are under what? Cursed. Why do you say cursed and not
blessed? Because, for it is written, this settles all debate. When
you read that, say, this settles all debate. It's written, God
wrote it. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in, two words, what are they? All things. All things written
in the book of the law are new. You want to be on the law? What
does the law say to you? Curse. Curse. What does the law say? That no
man is justified by the law and the sight of God is ever. That's
just clear. He said, man, you can't be more
clear. Nobody is justified by the law
and the sight of God. You might justify each other,
But you ain't gonna be justified before God by it. Before the just, those who are
justified, those who are without sin, those who are sanctified
by God, made holy. Listen, the just shall live by
what? Faith. And the law is not of
faith. You got that? I mean, I, I, the
clarification is not necessary. It's clear. If you're under the
law, you're not living by what? Faith. If you're not living by
faith, you're not just. You're cursed. May God ever keep us from this
deception. May God keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ for one.
But what Paul says, Christ hath, hath redeemed us. I like that. It's past tense. He's already
done it. Christ hath redeemed us from what? The curse of the
law. How did that be made a curse? Now you want to chew on something,
chew on that. How in the world could the Son
of God be made a curse? Can't be made a curse unless
you're guilty under the law. Now what guilt under the law
is? Cursed is everyone and continued not in all things. He did always
please the Father. How is it that He was made a
curse? Paul said, for He hath made Him, God hath made Him to
be sin for us who knew no sin. At the same time, He was both.
He was made sin and He knew no sin. Felt no sin, thought no sin,
did no sin, and yet He was made sin so much that the justice
of God condemned Him. God poured out the vengeance
of his law on his own son. For what? My sin. My sin didn't get swept under
the rug. God didn't pretend. This is what people think about
this. That God somehow pretended he
was guilty. God didn't pretend he was guilty,
he was guilty. How? I don't know. Now you've gone
far beyond what I can comprehend. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. For this reason, that I might
be something that I'm not. The righteousness of God in you.
It's amazing, it's astounding. One hymn writer wrote, on him,
almighty vengeance fell that must have sunk a world. He fought for his chosen race,
and thus became their hiding place. Hebrews 10, verse 14 says, he
hath perfected power. I'm still the man. He hath perfected forever them
that he sanctified, those he chose, those he died for, those
he called, those he keep. He hath perfected them forever. What does a perfect man need
the law for? If your car could only go 55,
would you need A speed limit sign. No need. Ain't gonna do that. You can only be holy. What do
you need law for? No. Perfected prayer for them
that are sanctified. Therefore, the rule of the believer's
life is what? Faith. That's your rule. It is a simple one. It is a singular
one because we are stupid. Isn't that why sheep, isn't this
why he calls us sheep? I mean, if you just watch the
little videos on sheep, they're the dumbest things in the world.
They're just stupid. And I identify, I identify. You know what I mean? I'm not gonna
give you this. I'm not gonna finish this. I
got it, I got it, I'm gonna get it. There was a shepherd boy,
His sheep, that big, fat, wooly sheep, back bench here, fell
over. Fell in a ditch. And he's looking
at his sheep, he said, oh, how'd you get yourself in this condition?
Because you know, a sheep can't ride itself. A sheep, when it
rolls over on its back, no matter what it does, it can't turn itself
over. Unless the shepherd comes and
turns the sheep over, it'll die. And you know what that little
boy did? He just went up there and put his hands on there. Boop. Put
the sheep up. You know, five minutes later, the
sheep's over there on his back again. I identify. The simplicity of this cannot
be overstated. Listen. Faith is the rule of
your life. Don't be deceived. Don't be duped. Don't be overtaken. The just
shall live by faith. And faith is not a law. So when
somebody comes in trying to impose a law, listen to this. That's
not my rule of life. No. My rule of life is faith
in Christ. Why? God said so. I don't need
it. You're like some of the kids
when they start talking, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just
don't listen to them. Yet when our brothers fall into
this, and they do, when our brothers fall into this,
it is incumbent then upon us who have maintained the faith,
it is incumbent upon us to have love and compassion for those
that are fallen, and not seek to exalt ourselves above them. Paul exhorts us to keep the faith, but yet have
compassion on those that are overtaken. He said, brethren,
brethren, you that are spiritual, what is your responsibility then?
If you've not been duped by this, what is your responsibility then
to those that have? Is it to look down on them, to
condescend to be condescending toward them? Is that our responsibility? We need to set those guys straight.
Is that our responsibility? No. Our responsibility is to
have compassion. Have compassion. And seek what? We are to seek their restoration
and not their damnation. So this second point here is
restoration I'm going to go this lightly, and then I'm going to
have to deal with it another time. Restoration to a brother
that has been overtaken, to those that have been deceived by the
gospel. When that gospel comes in power, and restoration only
comes when they turn from it. When they turn from their sin. And so you have one that's fallen
over here, and by the power and grace of God, He hears the gospel
again. He hears the preaching of the
gospel and his heart is broken. You see this one that has fallen.
His heart is laid bare before God and he turns again and he
wants to be received back into the church. I want to be clear about this.
The exposing of the guilt and shame of the fallen is not our
work. It is not my work to expose and
make you feel guilty. That's the work of the Spirit
of God. It is done only through preaching
the gospel. Now, I've seen it done both ways.
I've seen it done in churches both ways. I've seen some in
their congregation who are unruly and have fallen out and they
forsake and they just sit there and look at the preacher and
their arms are pulled in and scowling at him. The temptation of the preacher
is to preach to him. Set him straight. That's our
temptation. What is our purpose? Our purpose
simply is to preach the gospel And in preaching the gospel,
this is what causes men to feel their guilt. Those who have fallen,
it causes them to feel their need of restoration. It's simply
through preaching the gospel. And that works perfectly. I've
seen it. And then you've got the other
group who desires to just settle straight. That ends badly all
the time. Why? It's not my job to set you
straight. My job is simply to declare Christ
to you. Have you fallen? Look at him.
There he is. That's him. What about me? No, don't worry about me. Look
at him. I want you to see him. I want
you to look at him. Remember, it was not until the
Lord looked in the eyes of Peter that he felt conviction, right? Paul said, preach the word. Be
instant, in season, out of season. Listen, reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and doctrine. How do you do that? Preach the
word. That's how you do it. You preach Christ. And it's Christ
that convicts. And so the same means of our
conversion is the same means of restoration. Behold, the Lamb of God, bear
the weight of sin. Man, if that don't convince you
nothing will. And He will do this. So no amount of zeal will help
our brother. No amount of zeal. We must preach
the truth in love. We must hold fast to the profession
of our faith without wavering. We must be faithful. And that's
what he means by those who are spiritual, those who are faithful. It's not talking about a preacher.
It's not talking about somebody with a position. You that are
spiritual, it's not talking about some super Christian. That's
not what he's talking about. He's saying those who hold fast
to Christ, you are spiritual. And it is your job simply not
to condemn but to preach the word, declare the gospel. That's
it. Not try to straighten them out.
That's the work of the Holy Spirit. And so you've got one now that's
heard the word and he's come back. How do you treat him? Listen, some of you have been
in horrible situations where there, now this is, again, this
is a real situation. This church was in pain. You
have families, you have friends, you have, everything was going
well and these guys come in preaching a false gospel and war breaks
out in the church. Emotions are flared. People are hurt, feelings are
hurt, relationships are torn, forever scarred by this incident. So you now have someone who has
caused this problem, someone who has inflamed the situation
in the church, and he got out and he's hot, he's mad, and he
calls you names, he calls you heretic, they call each other
heretics, then what? There's some emotion there. There's
some pain there. And now it goes away for a while.
The church is at peace. And all of a sudden, that troublemaker
comes right back in the building. What's your first inclination?
Oh, no. He's come back. So then what do you start to
do? You start to plan. You say, well, how in the world
am I going to test this guy? Wait, is that your responsibility? No. If he's come back with a
heart to seek and hear the gospel, if that's his heart, he's not
coming back, he's been broken. You see him coming in? He's broken.
How much does it take for him to come back into a place like
that when everybody hates him? Remember that man taken in incest
in Corinthians, right? Horrible thing. Took his father's
wife. And they were so proud of themselves
for tolerance. Look how tolerant we are. We've
got an incestuous man. We've probably got a couple of
homosexuals over here. We're tolerant. I said, what
in the world are you doing? No, no, no, no. They've been
already duped by Satan. Leave them alone. Leave them
alone. Because I know this, if they
belong to Christ, he'll bring them back. Don't tolerate that
stuff. What happened then? They went,
when they kicked him out, and he was repentant and came back,
they said, well, you know, they went the other way and said,
well, we're not going to have you back in here. Paul said, look,
he's suffered enough, hasn't he? Receive him with love. This
is the point. If God has caused someone to
be broken, what is our duty? It is to receive them as though
nothing has ever happened. Let me ask you this. Every time
you fall, every time you commit vile acts of sin in your mind,
in your heart, with your body, how does Christ treat you when When you want to be restored
in your fellowship with Him, how does He treat you? Whosoever confesseth his sin,
he is faithful and right to forgive us our sins. So when you find those brethren
and come back, what do you do? You that are faithful, what do
you do? This is what I wanted to hold
on? I don't, I didn't want you to go. I want you here. I love you. I think that prodigal son, not
in the hall at the end. What was the father this whole
time? He was sitting there looking for
him to return. And when he returned, who ran
to who? When your brother is broken,
how then do you restore him? I'm going to close with this.
How do you restore him? The idea of restoration is like having
a, the idea is a broken boat. Dad and mom told you not to go
up in that tree house. Now let's climb that tree. Sure
enough, you climbed it, and you fell and broke your arm. And you go to the doctor, and
you want the doctor who says, your mom and dad told you not
to go up in that tree. I'm going to show you. And he
snap, pulls that arm right back in the socket. Woo. Is that the
kind of doctor you want? That ought to teach you a lesson
not to get up in that tree. Or do you want a doctor that
comes along and says, I understand. You know, when I was young, I
fell out of a tree. It's going to hurt a little bit.
But it's got to hurt before it heals. And then he gently sets
the bone into place and nurtures it, cares for it. Isn't that how you want to be
set? If you fall, is that not how you long to be restored? This is how we restore our brethren.
And listen, consideration. You've got to do it with a consideration
of your own self. Why? You are just as prone to
that fall as he was. You have to consider your own
flesh. is just as guilty and vile as
it ever was. Nothing's changed about your
flesh. When Christ saved you, he did nothing to your flesh.
Nothing. He subdued it in some measure,
but he's not yet eradicated it. It's still there. If any man think that he is something,
what is it? Nothing. And that's how you ought
to think of yourself. What am I? Nothing. And if I'm nothing,
how can I be better than you? A deception. A deception to return
from the gospel and faith of Christ alone to the Lord. We're
all susceptible to it. If you've not fallen, and you
find someone that has, and God has broken them, how do you receive
them? You receive them with love and meekness. What? Considering yourself, lest you
also do the same thing. May God ever give us grace to
love one another. Love one another. I know this,
I don't love you enough. I confess, I should love you
more. And I don't mean just a feeling.
I mean do what you need me to do for you. Care for you. I should do it exactly how he
does it for me. May God help us. This surely would end many scribes.
It would mend many fences. if we would just be nothing. I'll get a run and start at it
next time too. May God bless us to stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Please dismiss us in prayer please.