Paul ended chapter five with, let
us not be desirous, that word can be translated conceited. Let us not be conceited of vain
glory, provoking one another, envying one another. That's what
happens. That's the result. That is the
end result. of seeking salvation by the works
of the law. It begins a pharisaical spirit,
an attitude. And Paul is guarding against
that. And that's what it begins. But
those who are led by the Spirit, they operate by a different principle.
It's the law of love. And Paul, for the first time,
we'll see it here in a minute, he uses the law of Christ, which
is a royal law of love. And that's the principle by which
we operate, by which we deal with each other, is this law
of love. Now, he says here in verse one,
brethren, and he lets them know he still calls them and considers
them brethren, brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. If
a man be overtaken in a fault, in a transgression, whatever
it is, whatever it is, ye which are spiritual, ye which walk
in the Spirit, ye which are led by the Spirit," as you know,
we were ending chapter five, he was talking about being led
of the Spirit. And that's why I'm saying here,
you which are spiritual, restore. I titled this, Restore, not Destroy. Not Destroy. You remember those
Pharisees, they took that adulterous woman and they brought her to
the Lord. And they cast her down at his
feet and said, now what does the law say? They knew what the
law said. And they were wanting to see
her destroyed and see how he would handle it. But he says
here, restore. Aren't you glad he restored you?
I'm sure glad he restored me and not destroyed me. He could
have done it. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. Meekness, kindness, gentleness.
Handling one another gently, kindly, considering thyself,
considering thyself, lest thou also be, listen, lest thou also
be tempted. That's all that needs to happen.
All that needs to happen is just, is for God to allow you to be
tempted and you'll fall also. We're all of the same nature. We all have that same potential.
Now, the children of God are a holy people. They are born
of the Spirit of God. He dwells in them. The Spirit
of God dwells in you. But they still have that old
nature in them. We still have it. We still have
it. They still have to contend with
the flesh. The motion of sin still wars in our members. And
the potential to fall is always present, isn't it? It's always
present. That potential is. Now, he says
here, if a brother falls or trespasses, how are we to handle it? Do we condemn him like those
Pharisees did that adulterous woman because he's fallen? Paul tells us here to restore. Restore that brother or sister
back to fellowship with open arms." He says, this is how you
handle it. You restore such a one back to
fellowship. We are not to have a holier-than-thou
attitude, which is what happens. This is what happens when we
begin to pursue salvation by the works of this flesh, by the
works of the law. We begin to have this holier-than-thou
attitude and look down sharply on people who follow. Paul said,
don't do that. You remember that elder in Corinthians? Remember that man that had committed
incest? And Paul dealt with it. He dealt
with it. Later on, the man wanted to come back. The man repented.
Later on in 2 Corinthians, the man repented. Paul said, receive
him back. He said, receive him back with
open arms. Just love him up. Just love him up. That's what
we're to do. Bear, he says in verse 2, bear
ye one another's burdens. We naturally, and I know this
by experience, we naturally shun trouble. We naturally want to
turn away from trouble. But he says here, you don't turn
away from trouble, you turn into it. Your brother's troubles,
you turn into it and you help him. And you bear one another's
burdens. And so fulfill, now here's a
different law. It's not different in that it's
more pure or more holy. No, it's not that. It's different
in the way it deals with us and with one another. So fulfill
the law of Christ. He said, this is my commandment.
Here it is. That you love one another. Having
loved his own, he loved them to the end. He loved Peter when
Peter denied him three times. The Lord's love to him did not
diminish in our own lives. How many times
we've denied the Lord? Ain't no doubt. We've kept our
mouths shut when we should have spoken up. There are many things
we've done. But our Lord's love to us has
not diminished one iota. Not one iota. And we are to do
the same. We are to do the same. Bear one
another's frailties. You know, some people just, their
makeup is just frail. Whether it be in body or whether
it be their personality is just frail. He says, bear it. Bear one another's burdens, bear
their frailties, bear their troubles. Time of trouble is not the time
to leave, it's time to stay. It's time to stay, it's time
to support, it's time to help, it's time to pray. Love bears
all things. It's not time to leave. When
we're approved, do it gently. Do it gently. I told you you
shouldn't do that. That's not the way to deal with
it. Do it gently. Do it with sympathy. Consider
in yourself. Consider in yourself. Genuinely
forgive. You know, when we forgive, we
forgive without stipulations. That's true forgiveness. Forgiveness
is not based on conditions. You do this and I'll forgive
or whatever. Forgiveness is just that. You
forgive. And I tell you, when a person
is born of God, he's tasted of the grace of God and the mercy
of God, you can't help but forgive. You cannot help but forgive.
Now, I know we're in this flesh and we get upset, but you can't
help but forgive. It's in you to do something.
And in so doing, listen, in so doing, in so acting this way,
you fulfill the royal law of Christ, that royal law of love. If you want to be like Christ,
you say, I want to, I want, do you want to be like Christ? I
do. Well, it's not in do's and don'ts.
It's an attitude. Father, forgive them. They don't
know what they're doing. How many times did he bear reproach
and not say a word? He bore it. He bore it. This law is on a higher level
than that of Moses. Moses' law says eye for an eye,
tooth for a tooth. This law seeks others' good.
It's not a get even. It seeks the good of someone
else. Now, if a man think, he says
here in verse three, for if a man think himself to be something,
he's conceited. That's what conceit does. And
this is what happens. And Paul, he's pointing out here,
this is what happens when we start to seek salvation by rules
and regulations. Then we start to gauge our Then
we start to gauge our righteousness when we start doing the do's
and don'ts. I don't do that anymore. I used to, but I don't do that
anymore. I do this. Paul said if a man thinks himself
to be something when he's nothing, when he's actually nothing, he
deceives himself. The Scripture says man at his
best state. This is the Word of God that says this. Man at
his best state. What is that? Doing what we're
doing right now. At our best state, we are naturally
vanity. Naturally vanity. Nothing. Christ
said, without me, you can do nothing. And without Christ,
you are nothing. And I'm nothing. And that's so. That's the truth. That's the
truth. Everything that I have, everything
that I know, everything that I am able to do is of God. Is that not right? Paul said,
what do you have to the Corinthians? What do you have that you did
not receive? What can you bring up? What can
you produce that you did not receive from God? Nothing. Nothing good. He gave
me my intelligence. He's given me my health. He's
given me the ability to do the job I do. He's given me the food
I eat. Let Him just send a drought.
What are you going to eat? What are you going to eat then?
What are you going to drink if God stops the rain? Everything we have, God has given
us. What do we have to boast about?
That's what He's saying. What do you have to brag about?
Only in Christ do we have anything to boast about. Christ is our
most thing. Christ is our glory. We glory
in Him. And it is a constant battle.
It is a constant battle not to glory in this flesh. It's something
we have to battle every day. Not to toot our own horn. Not
to toot our own horn is difficult. It's a difficult thing. If I think myself to be something,
Paul says here, I am deceived or that man is deceived. He's deceived. I doubt that anyone
else is. I doubt, you know, people know
you, they know you. You know, I might deceive myself, but I'm
probably not deceiving you. You know, after a while, we pretty
well know who people are. We pretty well know one another.
If we think ourselves to be something when we're nothing, we've deceived
ourselves. Now, verse four and five. We want
to keep this in its context. Now, let me read verse three
first. For if a man thinks himself to be something when he's 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." If we keep this in its context, here's what it's
saying. It's easy to compare ourselves
against weaker brethren. We don't usually compare ourselves
against somebody that's a lot higher. We compare ourselves against
weaker brethren and begin to feel good about ourselves. begin
to feel good about ourselves, that we're stronger, we're stronger
spiritually, that we're better. And that's what happens. This
is what happens when you start seeking salvation by the works
of the law, the works of the flesh. When you start comparing
yourself, your spirituality, instead of looking into the Word
of God, you start looking at others. God, I thank you. I'm not like other men. I fast,
I tithe, I do all these things, and I think I'm not like that
publican down there. I'm not like him. If we have true spiritual growth,
we can thank God for it. He's the one to thank for it.
He's the one who gives the increase. And every man is judged by his
own works. Not by comparing himself to someone
else or to some weaker believer. You know, I cannot judge my spiritual
strength by your spiritual weakness. No, we go to the Word of God.
We go to the Word of God. That's where we are judged and
examined, by His Word, by His Spirit. Paul says, let him that is taught
in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good
things. Here he's going to teach the support of those whom God
calls to the work of the ministry. He's saying, take care of them.
Take care of them. And this congregation takes good
care of me. Take good care of me. And he's
telling them, you take care of them. You support them. You know,
just like you would your doctor. You go to the doctor, you know,
you pay. And we're not doing it for pay,
but you understand what I'm saying. You don't muzzle the ox that treads
out the corn, Paul said. And those who labor in the Word
and in prayer, he says, to take care of, communicate. See to
it that they're taken care of, is what he's saying. See to it.
that they have their needs met. I know, I know, back when I was
younger and where I came from, all the men that I knew that
was in the ministry, pastoring, back then, they all worked. They
couldn't live on what they was given. They couldn't live on
the support they were given. He says, you take care of them.
You support them. You support them, just like you
would support, you know, your doctor or your mechanic. He said,
you take care of them. And that's an expression of love,
really. That's an expression of love.
You're glad to take care of them. I know that. I was glad to take
care, help take care of, you know, my pastor. And you're glad
to take care of your pastor. I know you are. It's not a burden. You're glad to do it. Just like,
you know, with Cody being here with the Groovers down in Mexico.
Glad to be a part of that. Glad to be able to help them.
Wish we could help them more. Let's go back here to verse 6.
Now, let him that is taught in the Word, let him that is taught
in the Word communicate, take care of, Him that teaches and
all good things. Be not deceived now. Be not deceived. God is not mocked, but whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." When we withhold from those who minister
the Word because of covetousness, because of greed, because of
selfishness, God's gonna deal with that person. God'll deal
with it. We do it. Whatsoever man soweth,
that shall he reap. Now listen. For he that soweth to his flesh,
if that's what he does, he that soweth to his flesh shall of
the flesh reap corruption. That's the end of it. That's
the end of it. If a man sows, To his flesh it
is. Here's what he's saying. If he
spends his time, if he spends his time always taking care of
himself, of his wants, of his desires, of his body, of himself,
that man's going to reap corruption. It's going to rot at the end.
That reveals who he is. You know, in all honesty, What
we do reveals who we are. This is the tenor of our life
I'm talking about. The tenor of our life tells who we are.
Because you go back to chapter five. Look here, he says, speaking
of the works of the flesh, which are manifest, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, and he goes on down through there,
and they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. If that's the tenor of their life, if that is their
life, it's evident, he said, they're lost. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, and you'll notice all these are an attitude.
Long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against us there is no law. That man, the tenor of his, this,
if this is the tenor of his life, his or her life, that person
has been born of God. Because that's the fruit of the
Spirit. That's not of the flesh. That's not of the flesh. And
those who are always taking care of themselves, looking after
themselves, He says that their end is corruption. Their end
is corruption, if that's it. But if a man devotes his time,
if he devotes his time and his substance to the glory of God
and the good of others, he's going to reap everlasting happiness. God is not mocked. God is not mocked. He said a
man shall reap. exactly what he sows. If you
sow wheat, you're going to get wheat. And if you sow to this
flesh, if this flesh consumes your time, your energy, your
thoughts, I mean, it's an old country song I heard, Let's Talk
About Me. I can't remember who sang it,
but anyway, it says, I want to talk about me. If that is so,
then you're just going to reap, the harvest is going to The harvest
is going to be corruption, it's going to be rot, it's going to
be decay, it's going to be destruction. But if a man devotes his time
and his substance to the glory of God and the good of God's
people, the good of others, period, whether they're God's people
or not, that man's going to reap everlasting happiness. Now, he says here in verse 9,
verse 10 I'll close. Let us not be weary in well-doing.
That can happen in this world. Doing right in a wrong world
is tough. It's tough. Let's not be weary
in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap. We shall reap
if we faint not. I remember growing up on a farm. In the springtime, we'd be sowing,
and Dad would plow the field. I was just a young boy growing
up, and I'd get tired. I wanted to stop. I wanted to
quit. Of course, I wanted to go play,
but Dad wouldn't let us. We'd just keep on plowing and
keep on planting, plowing and planting. You know, as a kid,
you just, you get tired of it. Well, had we quit, we would not
have reaped anything. We would not have reaped one
thing. Don't be weary in well-doing. You may do something, you may
give someone something, and the gratitude's not there
that ought to be there. Or they may have done something
with it that they shouldn't have done. Does that mean we'd stop
doing what we ought to do? We'd just do it again. We'd do
it again. You know, what people do with
what I might give them, that's not me. That's not my fault, what they
do with it. It's what I do with it. It's my attitude in giving. It's what I do with it. Let us
not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap."
God's faithful, God's faithful, if we faint not. And as we have
therefore opportunity, we have plenty of it, we have plenty
of opportunity to do good. As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all that is all men, lost and saved. Every time we have an opportunity,
let us do good. But he says here, but especially,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith, especially
to God's family. What a blessing it is when God
gives us an opportunity to do something good for the family,
to be a blessing, to be a blessing to the family. But the lesson is this, and Paul's
telling them. If a brother falls, restore him. Restore him in the spirit of
meekness, love, with open arms, bring him in. Don't have a harsh
attitude. Don't look down your nose at
him. Because all that needs to happen
is you to be tempted. That's all that needs to happen. And don't think so highly of
yourself, he said. Don't think so highly of yourself. What you
have, God gave you. What I have, God gave me. It's
all God-given.