Burden Bearers: The Attitude Needed

Introduction

If you wish, I invite you to open your Bibles this morning to Galatians the sixth chapter. Galatians chapter 6 will be our text this morning. We’ll be looking actually at a portion of Galatians 6 and also a portion of Galatians 5 in our study this morning. So be turning in your Bibles there, and we’ll begin reading that text in just a moment. First of all, to those who are visiting with us, and we do have many who are visiting with us, both from outside of our area, and those who are right here in Orlando. We thank you for joining us as we’ve come together on this day to worship our God, to praise his great and glorious name, and to remember, humbly remember, a great sacrifice that was made on behalf of each and every one of us.

And now we have opportunity to look to his word, our great God who loves us, who has saved us. And yet we should follow him in love and serve him in love. And he has given us direction on how we can follow him and serve him and how we can effectively serve each other. A couple of weeks ago we brought forth a lesson titled Dropping the Brave Face. The idea being that each and every one of us encounters spiritual struggles in our life. And how God put us within a family, that his intention for us is not to go through life alone, shielding our problems from each other, but God’s intention for us is to live our lives as a part of his family, where weeping and rejoicing both take place, where we can confess our false one to another.

We can pray for one another. And that lesson was well received, and there were several questions from various people about how can we effectively do that? How is we as a congregation can effectively help those who are suffering with various spiritual struggles? We’re going to be looking at that really for the rest of this month, the idea of being burden-bearers. And of course, that comes from Galatians chapter 6 and in verse 2. I’m going to begin reading this morning in Galatians chapter 6, and let’s read the first five verses. Galatians chapter 6 and verses 1 through 5. Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted.

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.

Now let’s make sure we understand this at the outset. A series of sermons, and it does not matter what topic you want to speak about. A series of sermons is not going to fix the problem. It is not going to solve any issue that you and I want to speak of. But we do have faith in what God has said. That if we will take in his word, and if we will allow that to equip us, then we can, in fact, effectively minister to one another. And so do not take that when we talk about these things for a few minutes on Sunday mornings that, okay, we’ve got it. No, we need to take what God says, look at it further, study it further, and see how we can apply that.

And then see how we as a congregation can effectively help one another in bearing these burdens. We’ll look at some practical measures in future lessons, but this morning we have to start where we always start when it comes to following God’s word, and that is with attitude. That if I am going to effectively help my brethren, am I going to help my brothers and sisters bear the burdens that they are weighed down by, then what kind of attitude must I have? The word burdens there in verse 2 is not defined for us. It does not say what those burdens are. Clearly, in the context from verse 1, the matter of sin is certainly a part of that. But really, we could be speaking of any kind of burden that you and I want to talk about that we may experience in this life.

Anything that would weigh down upon us something we cannot carry alone, whether that is distress over some kind of physical ailment or distress because of someone whom we love is suffering and has even died. Whether we want to talk about spiritual anxiety and problems that we’re facing, or whether it be even the trespasses that Paul mentions there in verse 1. How am I going to help you? How are you going to help me bear those burdens? Paul says, those who are spiritual. And that’s the attitude that he wants us to bear. That we are those who are spiritual, and it is these that can restore. It is those who are spiritual that can truly bear the burdens of each other. And so let’s focus this morning on what Paul means by this phrase.

1. Free, But Not Free: Through Love Serve One Another

What does he mean by those who are spiritual? And to understand that, we need to go back to chapter 5. Let’s go back first of all to verse 13 to define those who are spiritual. In verse 13 of chapter 5, he says, You were called to freedom, brethren, only to not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. The idea of this passage being that you are free, but you’re not free. Now, what freedom is he speaking of? Well, clearly, in the context, he’s speaking of freedom from being under the curse of law. You go back even to the same chapter, back in verse 2 of chapter 5. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have been severed from Christ. You are just seeking to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. The idea of circumcision within that passage is to keep the law of God, that is the Old Testament law of God, and that by keeping that law, you are therefore more pleasing to God. Paul says, if you’re going to keep circumcision, you are bound to keep the entire law. And you know how that’s going to work out for you. You’ll perish. You’ve fallen from grace. You won’t be a part of Christ. You’re free from that. But you are not free. Freedom abused would lead to what Paul is speaking of in verse 15 of chapter 5.

If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. If in your concept of freedom you are your own man or your own person, and you thereby can go by and do whatever you wish to do, and Paul says that’s going to have ramification even among the brethren. If in your freedom, you are not abiding by God’s law of love, then this is what will happen to you. You’ll bite and you’ll devour one another. You’re free, but you’re not free. He goes on to say in verse 14, the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The idea is significant there, whereas the Jewish mindset may have been, as long as we keep the Ten Commandments or the Ten Words, then we are God’s people.

But Paul says the law is actually fulfilled in one word, one as opposed to ten. And that is the law of love. Now we certainly understand that Jesus, when asked about what the great commandment is, he might say, Well, he gave two commandments. The first being that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and the second, like unto it that you love your neighbor as yourself. I think Paul is giving us the benefit of the doubt here that you we know you love God. But here is the law now. You must love one another. You must love your neighbor as yourself. You are still bound to follow God. Yes, you are free from law, but you are not free to do whatever you wish.

You are to follow God, and you are to follow Christ. And that means you are to love one another. Then you go to verse 5 of chapter 6, and we’ll come back and look at the verses in between verses 2 and 5 here in just a minute. But there’s also this idea in the text that each one of us is to bear his own load. Well, that too is speaking of duty. The burdens found in verse 2 is a different word from the word for load in verse 5. In fact, the word for load in verse 5 is the same word that Jesus would use in Matthew 11 in verse 30: that my yoke is easy. That’s his load, what he asked you to carry. And if we were to simply surmise what does Jesus say is our yoke, what is the burden?

What is the load that each and every one of us is supposed to carry? Well, we’ve already defined it, haven’t we? To love your God and to love each other. This is your load. This is what each and every individual is to carry. His devotion and duty to God and his devotion and duty to each other. And so in carrying that load, we will also help each other bear their burdens. That idea of being of the load which one cannot bear, that spiritual distress that he is under, that sin has caught him. You in bearing your load, your yoke, that you are following God in Christ, and you are loving God and you are loving each other, you will bear the burdens of each other. My attitude has to be this, first of all.

2. Those Who Are Spiritual Are Led by the Spirit

That God has given me freedom. He has freed me from sin. He has freed me from the curse of the law, but he has brought me into a family. And within that family, I am to follow the Father’s example and the example of his son. In supreme love and devotion to him, and love and devotion to each other. Those who are spiritual recognize that that is what God has called them to. They recognize that that is their duty. They are to love. Furthermore, we could define that those who are spiritual are those who are led by the Spirit. That’s what Paul’s point in verses 16 through 26 of chapter 5 is all about. There are two principles that are set forth here. You are either going to be led by one or the other.

Let’s read those verses and we’ll come back and we’ll speak about those. Verse 16, beginning. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now let’s stop here and we’ll come back to read verses 19 and all in just a minute. Two principles that you are going to be led by one or the other. And I want to emphasize the fact that Paul says, led. Not driven, led. Driven is that which compels you, which forces you.

Well, you are not forced by your flesh or driven by your flesh to do anything. Yet you give in to the desires of the flesh. We all give in the desires of the flesh. Likewise, you are to be led by the Spirit. You are not overwhelmed by the Spirit. You are not driven by the Spirit. It is not that you have no choice in the matter, because Paul over and over and again says, yes, it is your duty, it is your obligation to walk in the Spirit, but let it lead you. It’s the idea of giving yourself over to it. Rather than giving yourself over to the passions of the flesh and the desires of this life, give yourself over to God. Let his Spirit guide us.

And you are going to be led by one or the other. There is no middle ground, Paul says. You will either fulfill the flesh and thereby come into the condemnation of law. He says that again in verse 18. You were led by the Spirit. You were not under the law. Turn back, if you would, for just a moment to Romans chapter 7, where Paul speaks about this just a little bit more. How Paul, even though he once was alive, and yet the commandment of God came and he died. Romans chapter 7 and in verse 7. Just note in this passage, Paul is not condemning law. But he’s saying this is what law does. Shall we say that the law is sin? May and never be, verse 7 of Romans chapter 7.

On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. For I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, you shall not covet. That’s what law does. Law does not save, law does not show mercy, law does not have grace built into it. Law shows what is right and what is wrong. Sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died. And this commandment, which was a result in life, proved to result in death for me. That’s why Paul in Galatians chapter 5 is speaking of flesh and law together.

Law came from God. Law is holy, law is good, Paul would go on to say in Romans chapter 7. But what law does is it defines what is right and it defines what is wrong. And since every one of us have given ourselves over to the flesh, we are under law, we are under judgment, and we are under the punishment that that law states must happen. And so that’s the reality. If you are going to be led and governed by what you want to do in this life, if you were going to let this outward man, this flesh, guide you in this life, then you’re under law. Law convicts. And law condemns. Rather, be led by the Spirit. Perhaps Paul is even hearkening back to the language of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31 about how, under this new covenant, God’s law being written on the heart, appealing to that sense of us.

We know that the Spirit has delivered the message of God, and now we are to be led by that. We are allowed to allow God to lead us, not to try to lead ourselves.

Be led by Him. And if we’re going to do that, that’s going to show in our lives. It’s going to show in our fruits, which is what verse 19 through 24 is all about. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. We might classify these works of the flesh in a variety of ways, but it’s a pretty simple classification if you just look at what they’re really about. You have sensual or sexual sins, immorality, impurity, sensuality. You have those sins which are in regard to religious worship, idolatry, and sorcery.

And then you’ll note right there in the middle, most of those sins had to do with attitudes, dispositions, and actions toward others. Enmities, deep-seated ill will towards one, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes and dissensions, the dissensions being uh that, or I’m sorry, the factions being that which result from disputes and dissensions, and so you now have division among brethren. You have parties envying. All of those had to do with treatment and attitude toward others. And then you have matters of giving over to this life, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Paul says if you’re led by this flesh, if that’s the principle in your life that is governing you and guiding you, then this is what that will produce. Maybe not all of those in every individual, but you will see those in each one.

And note what he says you cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now, why is that so? Who inherits things? Sons inherit. Kingdom of God belongs to God. Sons of God will inherit the kingdom of God. The sons of God are not led by the flesh. The sons of God are led by God’s Spirit. And so likewise he goes into what we would refer to as the fruit of the Spirit. It is love, it is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things. There is no law. Well, of course there is no law of the law simply defines that which is wrong and that you’ve done wrong. There’s nothing wrong with these things. You live by these things. You are always doing what God has pleased, and you are not under any condemnation of law.

I don’t hesitate to even do this because I think you could look at all these and say they all have to do with treatment of each other. But certainly these do. Love, whether it be love for God or love for others, our joy, not only joy for what we have in this life, but that rejoicing that we have with each other and good fortune, peace, peace with God, yes, but peace among each other, patience with one another, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. We may think of faithfulness in our attitude toward God, but there’s also an aspect which we need to be faithful to each other. Gentleness, we’ll talk more about that next week. Self-control. Your fruits will always show what is leading you. Whether you are being led by the flesh, or whether you’re being led by the Spirit.

And I think it’s significant that he says this is a past action. Then verse 24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. It may be that Paul is even speaking about their baptism, how they were baptized into Christ back in chapter 3. That is, when you die with Christ, you’re crucifying your old life then and there. Paul says, you are now to be led by the Spirit. You’ve been led by the flesh all your life up until now. But you crucified those things with Christ. And so, verse 25, if we live by the Spirit, if it’s by God’s Spirit that we now have life, then let us also walk by the Spirit. And not by accident. He concludes, that’s going to be seen in how you treat each other.

Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. If you’re really led by the Spirit. Again, I say led. Don’t be expecting God just to overwhelm your personality and say, okay, now you will do these things. No, you must allow God to lead you. You must allow his words, his ways to lead you. You be led by the Spirit, and that will be seen in your actions, and it will be seen in my actions. And that will be seen in our attitude and our treatment of each other. Those who are spiritual, Paul says, restore such a one. You go back to chapter 5. You know who he’s speaking of, those who are spiritual. It is not those who are being led by the principles of this life, it is those who are being led by God’s will, God’s ways.

3. No Place for Ego or Pride

They want no part of those works of the flesh. They want to bear the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. But then also in chapter 6, one final point that we can make about this matter of those who are spiritual is the matter of ego. The matter of pride, Paul addresses. Read again with me beginning in verse 1 of chapter 6. Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. The first point is, you recognize that you too can stumble. There is a difference in verse 1. Those who are caught in a trespass. This is not those who back in verse 21 that Paul forewarned those who practice such things.

What Paul is speaking of in verse 21 of chapter 5, those who practice the works of the flesh. That is that they have given themselves over to doing these kinds of things. But Paul recognizes that in the lives of Christians that we do become caught in a trespass. It was not our intention to go out and sin. It may have been inadvertent, yet we find ourselves sinning against God. We were not practicing evil, but yet we found ourselves caught in sin nonetheless. Restore such a one. But each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. There’s no place for ego here. If we’re going to be serious about really helping one another, then we better be serious about what God says here.

That if we want to look at those who are struggling, this is not the place to say, sure I’m glad I never did that. Sure I’m glad I’m strong and I haven’t done things like that. Paul says, no. You look to yourself. You look to bear this brother’s burden. You look to restore this person, but you recognize in your life, you too could stumble. There is no place for pride. There is no place for ego. You go on in verse 2. Bear one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Pride is deceptive. This idea of the one who thinks he is something goes back to what we read there in verse 1.

You look at this brother or sister, and they are struggling in some way. And you have looked at this as a cause for boasting in yourself. I’m really something. I’m not like them. Look at how bad they’ve got it now. Look at how low and weak they are. Look at me, I’m something. You don’t know what Paul says, then you’re nothing. If you think you’re something, then you really are nothing. If you would look at a brother or a sister’s spiritual struggle, you look at their sin and you look at that as a cause for gloating in your life, nothing. That’s what you are. That is the most unspiritual, the most ungodly attitude that anyone could possibly have. You have deceived yourself, Paul says. Pride does that.

That’s why Jesus says, judge not that you be not judged. We understand going further forward from there, it’s the matter of hypocritical condemnation of looking at that speck in your brother’s eye when you’ve got this plank sticking out of your eye. Jesus said you address your own problems, and then you can help your brethren. But if you’re the one with the plank sticking out of your eye and you’re so concerned about what’s going on in your brother’s life, then maybe Jesus would say, But Paul, you’re nothing. You think you’re strong. You think you’re superior. You are in fact nothing. And you’ve shown that by your attitude. You’ve shown that you are now practicing the works of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit. And so he continues in verse 4.

But each one must examine his own work. And then he’ll have reason for boasting in regarding to himself alone and not in regard to another, for each one will bear his own load. We’ve already talked about verse 5. But Paul’s main point here is if there is any boasting whatsoever, then that boasting is to be on your own success. And again, we understand from the rest of what Paul writes. There really is no place for boasting in one’s own success. This is all by the glory and the grace of God. But Paul’s saying if you are going to be proud, I say that accommodatively, if you are going to boast in anything, let it be that you have been successful. And again, I would say, by the grace of God, do not let your boasting be that others failed.

Because what kind of boasting is that? It’s like the sports fan, and I mean, who’s not guilty of this? It’s like the, let’s see, they’ve got some cardinals fans. Like the Cardinals fans boasting about how great the cardinals are, they’re called the Cubs are so bad. Well, the Cardinals may not be any good either. We just know the cubs are bad. Greg’s here, so I had to go with the Cubs. But only magnified. I’m not really looking at how spiritual I am. I’m not really concerned about how many of these fruits of the Spirit are being seen in my life. I’m just concerned with the fact that I look at others and look at them.

Conclusion

And oh, I’m not like the world. And oh, I’m not like this person or this person. Or Paul is saying, you look to yourself. And you be led by God’s Spirit. And you bear in your life this fruit of the Spirit. Those are the ones who are spiritual. So let’s go back to where we started. How am I going to be a person who helps others bear their burdens? Well, the fact is not everyone can do that. I don’t mean that not everyone in this room could not. I certainly hope and pray that it could be said of each and every one. But the fact is, when Paul said those who are spiritual, he is ruling out those who are not spiritual. You cannot bear these burdens if you are not spiritually minded, if you are not being led and guided by God.

Can’t do it. But furthermore, we read there in verse 2 that you are to fulfill the law of Christ. So it is God’s will. It is God’s will that I, as one of his children, be a person who can help a brother or sister bear their burden. And so what’s the conclusion? Be spiritual. We would like to at the end of every lesson just give you know five steps to go out and practice this week and to really sum it up nicely. Christianity doesn’t always work that way. Christianity works by principle. That you be convicted by these principles and these attitudes. And then that will be seen in your life. So what God would have me to go out and do this week is to follow what He said in these passages.

Place myself under that obligation to truly love. I am free, but I am not free from following God, and certainly am not free from loving my brethren. I need to remember that always. As I look at my time, my schedule, my life, what am I doing to serve others? I am under that duty obligation. Follow the ways of the Spirit, not of the flesh. Every choice is really simply a matter of, am I going to be led by flesh? Or am I going to be led by Spirit? Will I lead, let God lead me, or will I allow this body and its desires and this world to lead me? Which one? That’s the choice I face. It’s a choice you face at all times. And so let it be our attitude that we will strive to be led by the Spirit.

We will walk in the Spirit our days, and let’s leave the ego behind. Check it at the door. No place for that when we’re helping others. Can’t be spiritual and look at self and look at how great I am as opposed to others. This is what God would have us to do if we are to bear one another’s burdens. Of course, there is a burden that each and every one of us bears in life, and that’s the burden of our sins. That curse of the law that we are under because we sin. When God calls us to bear one another’s burdens, he’s actually calling us to act as he has acted. We can’t do what God has done by any means. But we are to help one another because he has demonstrated the ultimate help to us.

That we, each and every one of us, was under a burden we could not bear. We were being crushed by the load of our own sins. And he removed them through the blood of his son. Let him remove those sins from you. That’s what Christianity is about. Letting God take that burden away, the burden of your sins, so that you can be whole and new and be led by his Spirit to even help others bear the burdens that they face in this life. So did you respond to God’s invitation by believing in his son, Jesus as the Christ? By repenting of your wrongdoings? Because if we want that burden of sin lifted off of us, we don’t want to go right back to doing those sins again.

Again, we crucified those things in Christ. So repent of your wrongs. Let me baptize. And know with the full assurance that yes, God will remove that burden of sin. He will forgive you, and you can be restored and whole and new in him. Can we aid you in some way? Won’t you come as we stand and as we sing?