Welcome to another
episode of Books of the Book.
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I'm Pastor Mark Howard
of the Emmanuel Institute of
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Evangelism in the Michigan
conference of Seventh-day
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Adventist as well as Goebel
Seventh-day Adventist church
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and I'm here today with
my co-host, my brother Jim.
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Yes, my name is Jim Howard
and I am the Pastor of the
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Detroit Metropolitan
and South Lyon Seventh-day
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Adventist
churches also in Michigan.
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Now we have been studying
in the book of Galatians and
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today we are going to
be talking about bearing
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one another's burdens.
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We're pulling them out of
Galatians Chapter 6 and if
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you have your Bible near
you at home or somewhere where
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you can grab it real quick
I would like to grab it and
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follow along with us.
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We're going to
the book of Galatians.
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You go to the New Testament
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
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Acts, Romans, 1 and 2
Corinthians and then Galatians.
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We are actually going to
start right before we get into
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chapter 6, of Galatians 5:25.
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We talked last week
about walking in the Spirit,
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the flesh and the Spirit,
the battle between the two.
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In verse 25 Paul says, "if
we live in the Spirit, let us
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"also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited,
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"provoking one
another, envying one another. "
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One of the things he is
doing here is trying to draw the
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a connection between the
profession of the Galatian
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believers and
their actual conduct.
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Jim it is so important for
us to realize that as much as
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our works don't justify us,
a Christian who has a living
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connection with Christ will
bear the fruit of the Spirit
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in his works. -
that's exactly right!
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Paul is trying to draw
that out with this group of
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Galatians and help them
to see that if there is a
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disconnect in their actions
that should be an indicator
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to them that there is
something wrong with their
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relationship with the Lord.
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As he points out not
becoming conceited or provoking
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one another and then
he says in Chapter 6:1,
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"brethren, if a man is
overtaken in any trespass,
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"you who are spiritual
restore such a one in a spirit
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"of gentleness,
considering yourself lest
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" you also be tempted.
" - that's right and this
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particular verse is
full of instruction.
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The idea that is being
relayed here is that the
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apostle Paul is
talking about how to restore
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someone who has fallen.
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And he gives a couple of very
important pieces of instruction
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right here in that one verse.
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The first is he says, "if
any man is overtaken in any
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"trespass, you who are
spiritual restore such a one. "
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It is important someone
who is not spiritual not be
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the one to try
and restore someone.
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The reason is because
when the Spirit of God comes in
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to someone's heart, it
gives a certain humility or
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acknowledgment of our
own weakness that enables us
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to be able to
empathize with someone else.
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It makes me think of
what the Lord Jesus said in
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the book of Luke and I
thought maybe we could turn
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to that passage, Luke
6:41. Where Jesus says,
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"and why do you look at
the speck in your brother's
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"eye, but do not perceive
the plank in your own eye?
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"Or how can you say to
your brother, brother let me
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"remove the speck that
is in your eye, when you
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"yourself do not
see the plank that is in
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"your eye? Hypocrite!
First remove the plank from
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"your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to
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"remove the speck that
is in your brother's eye. "
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So Lord Jesus here is
outlining the fact that when we
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see something that
somebody else is doing wrong,
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and we don't see our own
weakness then we are going
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to end up fumbling
through it and perhaps driving
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somebody away
instead of restoring them.
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So we need to be
able first to see that our
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own house is in order.
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We need to first spend
time with the Lord Jesus so
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that we can gain the
Spirit of God in our own heart
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and have the right attitude,
the right spirit before
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we seek to restore someone.
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That is an important
point, Paul of all people is
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qualified to be the
one addressing this.
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Not because he is an
impossible but because he is
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and spiritual man, for example.
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Go to 1 Timothy 1,
which to me is one of the most
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incredible
passages in the Bible.
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Really it's a humbling
passage to me where the apostle
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Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15
tells this young apprentice
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Minister, "this is a
faithful saying and worthy of
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"all acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world
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"to save sinners,
of who I am chief. "
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Now this was written
near the end of Paul's life.
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This was 30 years of
ministry for Christ, the most
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diligent labor for
Christ and yet he says not I
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used to be the chief of sinners,
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but I am the chief of sinners.
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You see Paul understood that he
had no righteousness in and of
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himself, we read last
time in Romans chapter 7 where
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he says in my flesh
dwells no good thing.
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He wasn't trying to
vaunt himself or point out
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his goodness, Paul would
have said, I'm miserable,
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I'm wicked, he saw the
condition of his heart.
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He knew it was only by
the grace of God that he was
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anything different and
because of that, you know Jim
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when we realize that the only
good in us comes from Jesus.
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When we realize that we
don't have inherent goodness,
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it changes the way
we treat our brother.
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It is impossible to hold a
grudge against somebody else
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if I feel like
I'm worse than them.
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This is why the apostle
Paul was saying in the book of
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Philippians 2:3, "we are
to esteem others better than
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"ourselves. " He cites the
example in the life of Jesus.
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The whole idea is that
when we really realize our own
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sinfulness then it helps us
to have compassion on others.
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That's what it
means to be spiritual.
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That's right, so when
the apostle Paul says you who
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are spiritual,
there is a lot in that.
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It is important
that we be spiritual.
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The first key point that
we would like to draw out and
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the second is you who are
spiritual restore such a one
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in a spirit of gentleness.
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The second component here
in restoring someone is that we
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need to do it in a
spirit of gentleness.
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It makes me think of the
Lord Jesus in Matthew 12:20
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the Bible speaks of Jesus
as one who would not break
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a bruised reed, and would
not quench a smoking flax.
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He was not needlessly
abrupt or he didn't say things
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in such a way that they
would be void of that tact.
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He always spoke the
truth, but He spoke it in love.
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One time in my early
experience when I was really
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recognizing certain
wrongs in different people,
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wrongs in the church
I was trying to navigate
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how to handle those I recognized
I wasn't doing it quite
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right when I read a
statement in the book called
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'Thoughts From The Mount
of Blessings' and I thought
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I would read that
statement to our viewers.
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It says, "no one has ever
been reclaimed from a wrong
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"position by censure and
reproach, but many have thus
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"been driven from Christ. "
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So no one is won
over when we censure them.
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When we reproach them,
but many people when that is
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our spirit will
actually be driven from Christ
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instead of won to Him.
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So when I read that I
thought wow, I need to be very
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careful that when I'm
trying to highlight some
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thing that needs
changed in church or to restore
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someone who is in need of
change themselves, who has
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been overtaken by temptation,
not only am I spiritual
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but that I'm also gentle.
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That's right and you are
going to mention I thought
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that there was one other
component there that says
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it calls for restoration.
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Oh, that's right! The
reality is, though we must be
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spiritual, and though we
must be gentle the command
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here is that we must restore.
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So sometimes we want
to say, you know what?
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I'm going to leave
that to the Holy Spirit.
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This particular person is
going through a difficulty and
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I see that difficulty
and they have begun to fall
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and are drifting from
Christ so we see the need.
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But because we are
afraid, or because it might
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inconvenience us, we
think well it is up to the Holy
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Spirit, the Holy Spirit
will have to lead them back.
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The Holy Spirit makes us
spiritual, but apostle Paul is
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saying here the Holy Spirit
wants to use us to restore them.
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So though you must be
spiritual, and though we must
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be gentle we must restore.
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That's right, sometimes
I think, I'm afraid that
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we call tactfulness is
really a fear to address
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somebody on spiritual issues.
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In other words, it
can be uncomfortable.
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Here see brother
overtaken in a fault, that is an
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uncomfortable situation
so I say, I don't want to be
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judgmental, but the
reality of my heart may be that
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I'm not even thinking judg-
mental, I'm thinking about me.
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How am I going to be viewed
and how am I going to feel
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when I'm not
thinking about them.
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I think it is important
for us to understand that true
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love, to find true
love as love to God
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with all your heart, mind,
soul, and strength and your
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neighbor as yourself, that
is true love first seeks the
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honor of God and
that is above anything.
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Then next, loving your
neighbor as yourself, what is
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the most precious thing
we can receive in this life?
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Salvation, so if I love
my neighbor as myself then
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true love leads me to
seek the honor of God and
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the salvation of souls.
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So this idea of
restoration means that if I see
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a brother overtaken in a
fault, I'm not going to be
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in different to that.
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As much as it's an
awkward situation if I am a
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spiritual person, and if I
had that gentleness and love,
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it is going to prompt me
by the grace of God to pray
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prayerfully to come in
close to that person and seek
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to help to reclaim them because
otherwise they may be lost.
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I think that is what the
apostle is saying in verse 2.
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That's right! When you
go to verse 2 where it says,
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"bear one another's
burdens and so fulfill the law
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"of Christ. " And this is how
he talked about this earlier.
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This law that says love
your neighbor as yourself.
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Then he points in verse
14 and of course that is
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a summary of God's commandments.
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He says bear one another's
burdens, sometimes we read
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that and think, oh yeah
that means to help them out.
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To buy groceries that
they need it, shovel the
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driveway if they need it in
the wintertime and that kind
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of thing, and
those are all good.
00:11:13.10\00:11:14.77
But the context is
talking about a person overtaken
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in a fault and the burden
is a burden for their soul.
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It reminds me of an
interview I saw not too long ago
00:11:23.28\00:11:27.32
where there was a woman who
had converted to Christianity
00:11:27.35\00:11:32.05
and her husband owned a
dry cleaning operation in
00:11:32.09\00:11:39.23
Salt Lake City and she was
talking about how she first
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came to church and she began
to see all these people that
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had come in and out of
her store all the time.
00:11:48.24\00:11:50.44
They were so glad you are
here, we are so glad you're
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here and praise the
Lord you are with us.
00:11:54.51\00:11:56.61
She said I addressed them
at one point and told them
00:11:56.68\00:12:00.55
if you guys are so glad
how come all those years you
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were coming into our store
and you never said anything
00:12:04.22\00:12:07.82
to us about the Gospel?
00:12:07.86\00:12:09.76
So they said to her, you
seem so happy in your experience
00:12:09.79\00:12:14.36
and we didn't
want to disturb it.
00:12:14.36\00:12:15.86
But she said, I was lost
in my experience, I was lost.
00:12:15.90\00:12:20.57
So the whole idea is
bearing one another's burdens,
00:12:20.60\00:12:24.67
we need to have the same
burden for souls that Jesus
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had, that burden that led
Him to give Himself to seek and
00:12:28.74\00:12:33.18
save the lost.
00:12:33.25\00:12:34.58
Exactly, you know the
verse actually says that.
00:12:34.62\00:12:37.62
The end of the verse
says, "and so fulfill the law
00:12:37.65\00:12:41.22
"of Christ. " You
mentioned earlier the idea of
00:12:41.29\00:12:44.69
the Golden rule, do
unto others as you would have
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them to do unto you.
00:12:48.10\00:12:49.43
What will we want someone
to do to us but to help us
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if we had fallen, if
there is eternity at stake we
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would certainly
want someone to help.
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Yeah we always think
that, I wish they would smile
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at me and I would smile at them.
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I wish they would give
me preference and let me sit
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in the front seat, you
know these little things.
00:13:04.41\00:13:07.05
Instead of thinking
in terms of salvation.
00:13:07.08\00:13:09.42
The whole picture that
he is painting here is to
00:13:09.45\00:13:12.65
bear burdens and when
you think of fulfilling the
00:13:12.72\00:13:15.46
law in line of Christ,
but thought that keeps coming
00:13:15.52\00:13:18.23
to my mind is that
Christ is a burden bearer.
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There is one passage maybe
we can look at in Isaiah 53
00:13:20.50\00:13:23.57
that touches on
this point beautifully.
00:13:23.63\00:13:25.83
Isaiah 53:4 it says,
"surely He has borne our grief's
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"and carried our sorrows.
" See there, He is bearing
00:13:32.37\00:13:37.11
our burdens, "yet we
esteemed Him stricken, smitten
00:13:37.15\00:13:40.95
"by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our
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"transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities,
00:13:44.32\00:13:47.66
"the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him, and by
00:13:47.69\00:13:50.83
"His stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have
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"gone astray; we have
turned, everyone, to his own
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"Way; and the Lord has
laid on Him the iniquity
00:13:56.33\00:13:59.73
"of us all. " The Lord
Jesus is the one who bears
00:13:59.77\00:14:03.47
our burdens, He is the
one who ultimately teaches
00:14:03.51\00:14:06.54
us what we ought to do
when it comes to somebody
00:14:06.57\00:14:09.54
else being
overtaken in trespass.
00:14:09.58\00:14:11.35
That is right He is our
model and that should be what
00:14:11.38\00:14:14.68
we are seeking an
incidentally that kind of heart
00:14:14.72\00:14:17.95
religion, and that
kind of burden bearing is
00:14:17.99\00:14:19.99
impossible for somebody
with an outward religion.
00:14:20.02\00:14:22.89
- That is exactly right!
Paul is drawing and saying
00:14:22.92\00:14:26.03
your circumcision and
your salvation by circumcision
00:14:26.06\00:14:29.03
is not bringing in to you
the fruits of righteousness.
00:14:29.06\00:14:31.63
Well we are going to come
right back after the break.
00:14:31.67\00:14:34.24
We have to take
a break right now,
00:14:34.27\00:14:35.77
But join us as we return.
00:14:35.80\00:14:38.07