We are a week behind in our Sunday School series because we were not able to have morning service last week, no Sunday School. We did, a few of us were able to gather Sunday afternoon about three o'clock, but we just had one preaching service that allowed me to record something for sermon audio today, but no Sunday School lesson last week. No VBS meeting last week, so this morning, We are doing Lesson 12, and then next Sunday we're going to do Lesson 13. Somewhere we will double up, or we'll catch up, and we'll try to announce that when we get the new student books to you. So don't be discouraged. These last two lessons in Galatians are that important. And I'm glad we're doing it this way. And then this morning, after the morning service, I ask you to stay for the BBS meeting. That way nobody's hindered by the weather or not being able to come back tonight. If you're interested in praying for Bible school or helping the Bible school, Stay for that morning meeting, and we'll get you on your way to lunch as soon as we can. Tonight, of course, the evening service at six, and the business meeting is part of that service, which we did not have last week. So, very important. February business meeting, nominating committee, audit committee, and all those things coming up tonight. So, help us with that. Galatians chapter six. Verses 1 through 10, that's the text, and the focus, verses 1 through 10. Maybe the key verse is Galatians 6, 9. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. One of my favorite, I hope your favorite verses as well. Be not weary in well-doing. John MacArthur said, growing weary in doing good is an ever-present danger in the Christian life. There are things we can do to minimize weariness. Jesus scheduled times of rest and so should we. Over committing ourselves is a primary cause of weariness among Christians. trying to do too much. Sometimes we do that because others are trying to do too little, but there is a ditch on both sides of the road, and overcommitment is a cause of weariness. We want so much to contribute and to respond to God's love by pouring ourselves into ministry, we're saying that we risk burnout. Someone said burnouts better than rust out, but either way you're out. So yeah, there is an argument that well, I'm going to burn the candle at both ends. Actually candles are better when they're just burning at the top, you know, burning at one end. Discernment is essential. God will provide for each need He wants to fulfill. He is after all in charge of it all. "'Not a sparrow falls without his seeing it,' Matthew 10, 29. "'He will ordain the means to accomplish his ends. "'Sometimes all he really wants from the overcommitted "'is for them to quiet their hearts "'and be still before him.'" The choir sings this song, "'Be still and know that I am God,' Psalm 46, 10. How many one-anothers can you find in the Bible? I don't always include these questions, but this is a good one. How many one-anothers? What does he mean by one-anothers, quote unquote? What's a one-another in the Bible? Well, he's looking at specific things that we do or should do What's something we're supposed to do for one another? Pray for one another. Encourage one another. There's actually some. Be kind one to another. That's a good one. Provoke one another to good works, those kind of things. One writer said there are 59 of those. one another is in the Bible. Romans 12, 10. preferring one another, give preference to one another. Romans 14, 19, edify means build up one another. Romans 15, 17, receive or accept one another. 1 Corinthians 12, 25, care for one another. Galatians 5, 13, he says, use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. So, service, ministry. In our text, we're going to see one another, bear ye one another's burdens. That's one of the one another's in the Bible. Be kind, I mentioned that. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, Ephesians 4, 3. Regard others as more important. Esteem others more highly than yourself. Philippians 2, 3 says. Bear with and forgive grievances or complaints against others. Colossians 3, 13. Encourage and esteem one another. First Thessalonians 5, 11. So that's just a sample. There are I'm sure there are more than 59. It depends on how it's phrased. Things we're supposed to be doing for each other. And before you get weary in that and say, how do I keep track of all this? That's a lot of extra work for me, doing all these things for other people. Here's the good news. Others are gonna be doing that for you. Doesn't that make you better? It's not a one-way street. If it is, something needs to be fixed or something needs to be corrected. If you think, yeah, I spend all my time referring to others and edifying them and esteeming them and encouraging them, they should be doing the same for you. And since there are more people than you, you're one, they are many, actually, On the scale of burdens and blessings, you should be coming out ahead. Sometimes we don't count our blessings. We don't appreciate what others are doing for us. Maybe they're doing it behind the scenes, or we don't know who's praying for us. I think a Christian should be able to assume that other people are praying for them, that other people are helping them. So this is not meant to discourage us and say, oh no, another dozen things I gotta start doing, or I have to do, Actually, it's a reminder that others are doing these things for us. Find out who your one and others are. Here's our outline for these 10 verses. Bearing one another's burdens. Every man bearing his own burden. That seems sort of contradictory. If I have to bear others' burdens, Then why does every man have to bear his own burden? I hope I can explain that or point out a simple explanation for that. And also, number three, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, whatever a person sows, they're going to reap that. You sow corn, you reap corn. You sow wheat, you reap wheat. You sow one another's for others, you'll reap one another's. That's the way it works. It's reciprocal. Verses one through three. Brethren, if a man be overtaken, and the word man here means person. It could be man, woman, boy, or girl. If an individual is overtaken in a fault, That's a misstep or a mistake or a falling short. It could be a sin. The idea here is that sometimes it's unintentional or they're caught unawares. You which are spiritual, and the word spiritual here means mature, the grown-up, in that situation. Now, in every situation, The grown-up may be a different person. Sometimes we are childish about certain things. We're not always the grown-up in every situation. I was at a restaurant, and I saw a couple. And the waitress came by and said, do you want to order dessert? And they said, yes. We would love pecan pie. And the waitress is gone. She comes back. She says, I'm sorry. There's only one piece. I don't know what you would have done in that situation. There are several things you could do. You could cut it in half, right? How many of you thought of that immediately? How many of you thought, well, it should go to the wife? Anybody think that way? A couple of wise men. But how many of the wives thought, oh, I'll just give it to hubby. He needs it. Yeah. Some of you thought that way. There's really no, that's not a wrong answer in that list, is there? Some of you would say, it's mine, I don't care about her, I don't care about him. Too bad. You snooze, you lose, you grab it, you take it. You take his fork to fight him off and eat it. Nobody went there, nobody did that, so. But the husband says, I'll give it to her. I thought, well. But you know what? He pouted. How do I know that he pouted? She said, what's the matter? She said, order something else. He says, I don't want anything else. There's nothing else. And I could hear for their chatter, I said, you should have been eating your meal and not paying attention to this. I was about to offer free marital counseling, but I didn't know if that would offend him or something. And she said, why didn't you order something else? Here, have some of this. Here, you take it. No. And I could hear the pout. His back was to me, but I could see the pouting lip. He was pouting. He was sad. I'm thinking, in this situation, he did not prove to be the adult. You never know when that's going to pop up on you, by the way. You never know when childishness will pop up on us, and we'll say, so sometimes we think, well, I'm this year's old, so I'm always the adult. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes the childishness in us resurfaces, so in some situations we are the more mature. Sometimes children can illustrate to us kindness better than grown-ups illustrate kindness. Sometimes children are more spontaneous in their affection and their acceptance So it is a chronological age that always determines who is spiritual. But anyway, the one who's fallen needs to be helped by the people who haven't fallen. You know how to tell when you're old? You know what the symptom is of oldness? Well, that's one of the symptoms, but when you fall, If people laugh, you are young. If people rush to help you, you're old. So don't be mad if somebody laughs when you fall because they think you're a young kid. They think you're okay. So if you fall and people rush to you and they're calling 911 as they come to, you're old. So that's how you know. Bury one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. If a man think himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. The word restore in verse one parallels a word in Luke where they were mending nets. They were fishermen. And of course, I'm sure after every expedition there were some mending of the nets because there's two aspects to it. Repairing tears, you pull the net out, you unload the fish, and you see where a break in the net has occurred, and you would get out your equipment, and you would patch that hole in the net. Otherwise, it'll just get bigger, and it would be useless. But it also carries with it the idea of cleaning the net. When you restore a net, there may be dirt and any kind of junk in the net as well. And you clean that out because it's certainly not fish. It's not what you're after. But you clean the dirt away from the net. Restoring has two aspects, cleaning and patching. So when people fall down, they need two things. They do need to get cleaned up. And whatever the fall was, remember back when you were little, or not so little, and you would fall, fall off your bicycle, fall on your skates, fall down the steps. What's the first thing mom would do? Well, some of your moms would love on you and, oh, the poor baby. Maybe dad would say, shake it off or, you know, But mom would maybe love on you. But the first thing they would do would clean it out, right? My mother, what her medical expertise started with, you got to do something painful to it. You got to pour something that's going to burn in it to it. And then you cleaned it out, cleaned out the wound. I'm told by doctors, surgeons, that the most important thing with surgery is keeping the wound clean or clear of infection. That's why they do all that masking and gloves and all that stuff, and why they're so careful with sterilizing the instruments, because The first step of healing is to keep it clean. So when somebody fails or falls or falters or stumbles, they do need to get cleaned up. There is a daily aspect to sanctification, Jesus said, constantly setting ourselves apart or being set apart for the work of God. We need to help them get cleaned up, and we need to make it good. You might need a Band-Aid. You might need x-rays, and you might need a cast, depending on the fall. The correction can be... You might need to go to the hospital. Or you may just need to wash it off and see if it's bad sprain or bruise or might need stitches. Possible. Not every fall requires a trip to the emergency room or the cast or stitches, but it could. You just have to, you have to weigh and say, and I think you are. Later on, you may decide we might still need to go to the hospital because this looks bad or something's not healing properly. I forget, before my dad moved into the apartment, they lived on Connie Court. And I got a call 2 o'clock in the morning. My mother said, Daddy fell in the kitchen. And I can't get him up. I said, well, I'll be there as quick as I could. So he didn't want to go to the hospital. So I said, I'll be there as quick as I can. Make him comfortable. Put a pillow around his head. And I got there. And he was still strong enough. I could stand him up. We got him to a chair. And I said, what happened? He says, I don't know. I went in to drink water or something. And he says, I just went limp and slumped to the floor. He says, I don't think I'm hurt. He says, I kind of slid down the cabin. Because I kind of grabbed and I just kind of slid to the floor. So I stayed for a while. Eventually we had breakfast together. He walked over to the table. He went to the bathroom before I left and came back out and he says, I think I'm OK. Well, my mother called. The next thing said he's he's really kind of bruised and kind of I said well You think we should take him to doctor? No, you don't want to go to the doctor He says he's just sore. So another day goes by and he can't get out of bed We call an ambulance we took him to the hospital he had a broken hip and We weren't laughing about it then. He hobbled around for two days on a broken hip. And we didn't know it. Because, well, he somehow managed to get it. The doctor, when he said, he says, did it not hurt? When you got up, he says, oh, it hurt terrible. He said, why didn't you say something? He said, I have all kinds of aches and pains. He says, I thought it would go away. He said, broken hips don't go away. So I'm thinking, sometimes you don't know how serious the fall is. We don't want it to be serious. We want it to be, oh, you're OK, and let's wash out the cut. clean it out, put a band-aid on it. Sometimes it needs stitching. Sometimes you need a cast. That's why you need mature people making decisions. I don't know if you've ever listened to the comedian Brian Regan. He used to laugh about children medicating each other. He said, you'd fall, you'd cut yourself, and they would say, put some leaves on it. Soak up the blood with leaves. Here's my handkerchief. I'm sorry, I had a cold, but here's my handkerchief. Wrap that around your knee. Sometimes immature people don't know how to clean it up and correct it, so you need grown-ups. It says in verse two, bear one another's burdens, And then in verse five, we're not there yet, he's gonna say, every man should bear his own burden. So which is it? Does every man carry their own load, or do we help them carry their burden? Well, it's really pretty simple. Verse two is talking about the excess load. Every person, like a truck, What's the gross vehicle weight, Scott, of your? 80,000. 80,000 pounds? Yes, sir. Good grief, that's a lot. That's a lot. So you shouldn't put 100,000 on there. So if we had 100,000 on that truck, we need another truck to come along and take 20,000 pounds off. That's bearing one another's burdens. That's saying, like, hey, I've got too much. I've got too, and my load's too heavy. You should carry your capacity, but you can't be expected to carry more than your capacity. Don't you wish there was a plate on the back of our head that said, gross vehicle weight. No more burdens beyond this amount or this number. There are signs. There are signs that someone's overloaded, that someone's carrying too much. They can't always tell. People who love them, people who care about them, people who are with them, they can know. You're trying to do too much, you're overextended here, your load's too heavy. Every person is supposed to do their part, but we're not expected to do more than our capacity. You say, well, that takes some wisdom to know that, doesn't it? That's why you have to ask God for wisdom. Who gives it liberally? If your loved one is struggling, if your loved one is out of sorts, think about it. Think about it. Maybe they're burdens more than they're designed to carry by themselves. It has to do with compassion. It has to do with discernment. Sometimes this is easier to see with children and young people. It becomes apparent when they've got too much on their plate, as it were. They've got too much activity. They're overburdened. It takes some real discernment sometimes. We are supposed to carry our own weight. We're supposed to carry to capacity. But we are to be ready to help others. So one writer pointed out, and this is pretty wise, he says, don't carry to your capacity all the time because you might need to help somebody else. He went on to explain, he says, what I mean by that is don't spread yourself so thin to say, I can manage. I can just barely, got enough minutes in the day, got enough hours in the day, I got just enough strength to do what I need to do, and after that I'm exhausted. If you're too heavily loaded that you can't help somebody, Here, let me take that extra off of you. And you may have to ask other people to come. You may have to ask, here, we'll get some people to help you carry these burdens. It's too much for you. It's too much for me. But many hands make light work, the proverb says. So bearing our own responsibilities So verse 5 is about your everyday normal responsibilities. Verse 2 is the excess load when the burden becomes too great. Someone suffers a great loss, a death in their family, a great disappointment. Those are above and beyond the everyday burdens that we bear. You say, well, every day there's problems and difficulties. Sure. You know, life has its difficulties, but sometimes they pile up on us. They're more than we can handle. And we're not expected to handle it by ourselves. We are, everyone is bearing one another's burdens, one another's. And the only reason you wouldn't do that is because of pride. Whose pride? Verse 3 says, if a man thinks himself to be something, when he's nothing he deceives himself. This is ego, this is arrogance, this is pride. Whose being proud here could be two people. One of them could be the person who says, I can't be, I'm too important to help you. I can't stop and help you. I can't interrupt my schedule and help you. I'm an important person. My priorities are really important. I can't be bothered to help you. That would be arrogance. But sometimes it's the person who's struggling who's proud. Says, no, I don't need any help. I don't want anybody to help me. I don't need anybody sharing this excess load I've got. Sometimes it's pride on the part of the struggler. Something to think about. Let every man prove his own work or do his own job, and then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden. We're not talking about making people do nothing. We're not talking about making people, stopping people from doing their part or serving their ministry. No, everybody should have a job. Everybody should have a ministry. Everybody should have a load to carry. But verse 6 says, let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things. Some see this as a reference to encouraging those that help you. Those who do share your load, those who do benefit you or bless you, let them know. It could be as simple as saying thank you. It could also be as simple as being there when they need help. And then this is a very familiar passage of scripture. It's often preached to stand alone. It's a golden text. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, let us not be weary while doing, for a new season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Most often this is taken out of context, especially verse seven, to teach a true thing that, for example, be careful, Your sin will find you out. If you sow to the wind, you'll reap the world in. There's a biblical principle. You do wickedness, those that live by the sword die by the sword. That's a biblical principle. You do bad things, bad things are gonna happen. You sin against your flesh. You do damaging things. You break laws. You may end up in prison. You may end up in all kinds of trouble. So bad things, you may reap bad things. However, I don't really think that that's the focus of verse eight. I think it's talking about helping each other or not helping each other. That's the well-doing he's talking about in verse 9. What kind of well-doing? Make it mean everything, but in the context of 6, 1 through 10, it's talking about doing your job and then helping others when their load becomes too great. That's the well-doing he's talking about. And we're not to be weary in that. We're not to be worn out in it. for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Now the way this works, the only way this works, I mean God's in it, but the only way it works is if people are willing to help. You can't solve everybody's problems yourself. You can't always take on all of their responsibilities. You might be able to take on some of their responsibilities. You think, well, we're not going to ask anybody to help, or I'm going to help my friend, but I'm not going to tell anybody else they need more help. When Bruce was in Jewish, not Jewish, but St. E. Edgewood, His daughters all live out of town. They thought, how could we get Sylvia over there? Well, there were a lot of problems. There was bad weather for some of that time. There was a lot of sickness going around. There were a lot of hindrances. But several people were able to help. No single person. had enough time or availability to say like, well, I'll just, but if you have several people, fortunately it wasn't a long period of time. Bruce is now home and that's good. And even after he got to the nursing home in Lawrenceburg, It was close enough that Sylvia had access to the hospital shuttle or the community shuttle, and that helped a lot. So there are all kinds of services. But my point is it takes several people some time to take on one person's job, one person's extra load. So when you have opportunity, do good to all. That includes your neighbor who may or may not be a Christian. That may be your co-worker who doesn't know anything or care anything about Christianity. But if you could help them in some way, if you could help with their burden somehow. But he said, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. A priority for those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Be not deceived. Sowing spiritually means helping others. Does that include the gospel? Yes. Does that include teaching people the Bible? Yes. But it also includes caring for them. It includes helping them practically and even physically and not being weary in well-doing. This kind of work does come at a cost. Part of the problem sometimes, I said, is we're already overextended. And so when somebody needs help, we think, I don't know. I can't spare one more. I can't do one more thing. I can't help them. I am overloaded as it is. That's problem number one. Somebody should be helping you with your excess load. Say, well, I don't want to talk to anybody. I know. That's why pride is the problem. When you're overloaded, You need to say, I got too much work to do. I got too much on me. I need somebody to be helping me. Say, well, I don't want to bother anybody. Why not? You're robbing them of a blessing. You're robbing them of an opportunity to do good to you. I don't think we want to encourage people to be selfish or whiny or grumbly, but if you need help, ask for it. You might be surprised at who's willing to help you. You might be, you say, well, I'd have to be surprised. Nobody ever, ask. If you need something, ask. You might have to ask two or three people. You might ask one person and they're already overextended. Ask somebody else. Now, I'll grant you, it's always more comforting if people just volunteer. People just show up and say, you look like your load's too heavy, let me help you. It's always, that's great, you know, you're hunched over and your burden is too great, and somebody just, I see the problem here, let me take part of that load. But sometimes you just, you have to ask. You just have to ask, and it's pride that keeps us from asking. It's a hard thing to do sometimes when we feel like we are self-sufficient or our ego won't let us ask for help. We have to read the whole Bible in context. Let us not be weary in well-doing. There's a lot of good work to be done, and it is work. Well-doing is work. And if we're not careful, we'll faint. We don't hydrate properly. We don't rest properly. We will be exhausted. Then we'll not be able to carry our own loader, and we won't be able to help anybody else either. The person who passes out is not getting the job done. No offense, but the person who collapses, they're not going to be able to help you with your load, and they're not going to be able to carry any of their load if they collapse. And that's where we started in verse 1. When somebody's overtaken, We need to restore them in the spirit of meekness. What's that mean? Take heed lest you also fall Take heed lest you also faint or fall or collapse. We have opportunity, therefore, do good unto all, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Father, I pray you bless the Sunday school hour. We do pray for the Sunday school teachers that are absent today. Bless those classes. Thank you for the privilege to even be in your house today. We don't take it for granted, and we know that the weather prohibited us from gathering last Sunday, and safety demanded that. And we're glad that we see the sunshine today. We see warmer temperatures. We see no snow and ice falling. We're thankful for that. Help us to have hearts open to the word of God and hearts open to each other, to love one another, to esteem one another, to bear one another's burdens. to be ready to help and also to be ready to ask for help as the need may arise. Bless our sick, our shut-ins, those absent from us, special needs that may be in our congregation. We pray for our missionaries and their needs. We ask you to help them, be with them. In Jesus' name, amen. Please remind the choir. The choir will be singing this morning. th th th th th th th th th th This is quite a life changing thing