Sermon

Galatians // Fulfil the Law of Christ [Galatians 6:1-10] (Murray Grindlay)

Hukanui Bible Church

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  1. By the gratefully we draw near to you in the precious name of

  2. the Lord Jesus, we thank you for the words that we have sung and

  3. worship today. No other name, no other

  4. treasure, no other satisfaction, but all found in new our Lord

  5. Jesus and in you our God. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

  6. We thank you that today we have been able to consider the

  7. finished work on the cross and the salvation that you have

  8. provided. We thank you that today you have

  9. lifted our eyes to consider your greatness, your kingship, the

  10. fact that you are sovereign. And so today we subject

  11. ourselves to that. We bow before you.

  12. We rest in your wisdom, in your power, in your might, in your

  13. sovereignty, and today, as weak and fallible people, we turn to

  14. you as we see your grace and your gentleness with us, as we

  15. see your hand of mercy upon us. We come to you as families.

  16. We come to you as a church family and as individuals, and

  17. we look to you for your mercy and for your comfort and your

  18. strength and healing. Today we pray for our families

  19. amongst us. We pray for our mothers, and we

  20. thank you for them. We thank you for the children

  21. and pray that you'll bless and encourage as they grow up to

  22. know about you and to trust you. And as they go to Sunday school

  23. now, Lord, we pray that you'll encourage and please the

  24. teachers. We pray that you'll give them

  25. wisdom that you give help as you're weird is open to these

  26. young people that you're bless and encourage as the senior

  27. school and the teen Bible class goes ahead further.

  28. We thank you for your word to us today.

  29. And as we open your word, as we welcome Murray, we thank you for

  30. the privilege of being in your word.

  31. We pray that you'll help us to be hearers and do us, and we

  32. pray your blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.

  33. Very good, Thank you. It's good to come back here

  34. again. And you've changed your Chapel

  35. around a little bit since last time I was here.

  36. So anyway, it's good to see such a good crowd of people here

  37. today. And part of the work I do is

  38. does take me around the country visiting churches and

  39. individuals. So it's a it's one reason why

  40. I'm up this way for a period of time.

  41. Before I start looking at if if Galatians we were messages

  42. today. I just want to say a few things

  43. about Ms. Bible School, which is something I'm involved in.

  44. So we've got May Correspondence School, it's a something's been

  45. going for a long time, since 1942 in North America, but it's

  46. been in New Zealand since the late 1950s.

  47. But it aims to help people just to get to know the scriptures.

  48. And so there's courses that have been developed and spread around

  49. the world, is being used printed copies in 110 different

  50. countries and it's been translated into 86 different

  51. languages. And so there's a wide range of

  52. subjects and books that are covered in the courses.

  53. We've got about 100 of them available now from my office in

  54. Wellington. There's a brochure which sets

  55. out a lot of courses. The brochure is free.

  56. If you want a newsletter, seems a bit of news about what's

  57. happening, that's free as well. If you'd like, of course, please

  58. pay for it sort of between 4:00 and $12.00.

  59. Basically for the courses, effectively most of them or all

  60. of them have got questions and answer questions to be answered

  61. in them and they can be seen in for marking to our office in

  62. Wellington if you want to get in the marked.

  63. So just to give an idea of what's involved in the last

  64. financial year, there's 1646 courses that we sent out, OK, or

  65. distributed to different people around New Zealand.

  66. And we marked 601 courses. Many of those who do the courses

  67. are prisoners. Maybe 8080% of those who are

  68. doing the courses would be in gaol, but we're thankful that

  69. many of them are. Well, I would say we're

  70. benefiting spiritually from studying the Bible this way.

  71. And so don't need to be a prisoner to study the Bible.

  72. I hope you want to study the Bible.

  73. And there's something which may have helped me and when I was a

  74. teenager to get into the word of God.

  75. And then I developed my own method.

  76. But it's something which if you've never studied the Bible,

  77. will you get one of these courses and just let it help you

  78. to, to get the discipline of study there.

  79. If for some reason you don't like paper courses, well, you

  80. can do it online. There's the Ms. app, which has

  81. been developed recently and the app has been accessed and all

  82. but seven countries of the world and it's available in 31

  83. languages and 8 / 80,000 active installations.

  84. And so if you prefer to study the scriptures using that sort

  85. of method, then you can do that. It's administered through people

  86. overseas. It's not not something I have

  87. anything directly to do with, but it's something which is

  88. there if you prefer that way. OK.

  89. The other thing I mentioned, one of the other things I do is I

  90. eat at the magazine run with the good news.

  91. If you haven't seen a copy or want one, there are some in the

  92. four. You're the free and so you're

  93. welcome to take a copy. It's got some news of New

  94. Zealand work and also some Bible based articles.

  95. I'm currently working on the June edition.

  96. OK, we're going to look at Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 to

    Galatians 6:1–10

  97. 10. So I want to start by reading

  98. that passage and then I'll talk a bit about this section of the

  99. Bible. So Galatians chapter 6, verses 1

    Galatians 6:1–10

  100. to 10. So we'll read the passage and

  101. then I'll talk a bit about what's in it.

  102. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are

  103. spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

  104. Keep watching, watch on yourself, lest you 2 be tempted.

  105. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

  106. For if anyone thinks he has something when he is nothing, he

  107. deceives himself. But let each one test his own

  108. work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone

  109. and not in his neighbor, for each will have to bear his own

  110. load. That's the one who was taught

  111. the word. Share all good things with the

  112. one who teaches. Do not be deceived.

  113. God is not mocked for whatever one shows that will he also

  114. reap. For the one who shows to his own

  115. flesh will from the the flesh reap corruption, but the one who

  116. shows to the Spirit, will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

  117. And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we

  118. will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity,

  119. let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of

  120. the household of faith. God will bless His word to us.

  121. So the letter to the Galatians, it's a book which is about

  122. freedom. It was especially about freedom

  123. from slavery to the law of Moses.

  124. And much of the letter concerns the true good news, the true

  125. gospel and its relationship to the law.

  126. Now there's only one good news message from God, one true

  127. gospel. Any other gospel is not a true

  128. gospel. And Paul says that people who

  129. teach a different gospel should be condemned.

  130. That's harsh words, but it's truth is important.

  131. In any other kind of message, claiming to be from God is

  132. leading people astray. And Paul says those who involved

  133. in spreading that should be condemned.

  134. Now the good news is that God declares righteous all those who

  135. believe in his Son Jesus Christ and their acceptance by God does

  136. not depend on the keeping of God's Lord.

  137. It depends on Jesus Christ, especially on his death on the

  138. cross and salvation is a gift from God-given by innis grace to

  139. those who believe. Now, the problem with the

  140. Galatians was basically they had people going around saying, you

  141. know, to be a really good Christian or maybe even to be

  142. accepted by God, you have to keep the law of Moses and those

  143. big emphasis on circumcision. But it really stood for all the

  144. ceremonial stuff in in the law of Moses, maybe except the

  145. sacrifices. And so Paul is writing against

  146. that sort of teaching, say, well, God accepts us because of

  147. what Jesus has done. It's not.

  148. We don't have to sort of keep keeping the law thinking that

  149. God will not accept us unless we keep all these other commands.

  150. And so we're not under the Old Testament law today.

  151. It had a purpose. It was there to lead people to

  152. the Messiah, to Christ, but that was only temporary now.

  153. So looking at some of the teachings in this letter, he

  154. talked about the Christian life. What's it about?

  155. Well, he says to us that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that

  156. he could deliver us out of this present evil age.

  157. And that suggests that when you receive Jesus Christ as Saviour,

  158. if he, if you're a believer, then your life should be

  159. different from unbelievers. We are delivered from this

  160. present evil age, not in the sense that God removes us out of

  161. this world, but rather we are. Now we have a different life.

  162. Paul has said that he no longer lives.

  163. Christ lives on him. I'd be crucified with Christ and

  164. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me and so he lives the

  165. life he lives. He lives by faith in Jesus

  166. Christ, and so Jesus Christ is now the master of his people.

  167. I am not my own as we were singing.

  168. And so we're, we're no longer our own masters, but we live by

  169. faith in Christ, obedient to him.

  170. He says that all have been baptised into Christ, have

  171. clothed themselves with Christ. So it maybe means that we're

  172. becoming like Christ. That's the aim, that we should

  173. become like Christ as a transformation that is going on.

  174. And what is important in the Christian life is faith working

  175. through love. So faith must express itself.

  176. You can't just sort of say I've got faith in Jesus in my life.

  177. There's no different from what what it used to be that it needs

  178. to work out in people's lives. True faith isn't just in the

  179. mind. It must show itself in actions.

  180. And so we've got really three ways you could live, and only

  181. one of them is right. And so some people say, well,

  182. we're not under law, but under grace.

  183. So then we can just send anyway. You want to heard recently the

  184. some group of people in Auckland, I think they go into

  185. the name Free Grace where they kind of have the idea that you,

  186. you trust in Christ, but then you can just go and live in

  187. summer anyway you like, live anyhow.

  188. Well that's a false teaching. There's three ways you could

  189. possibly do it and 1 is on the left side.

  190. As you say, well we are under law.

  191. And this is the problem that Paul was particularly

  192. confronting, and he wrote to the churches in Galatia, because

  193. there are people who are saying, well, we should really obey the

  194. law of Moses, and that will make you a good Christian, that will

  195. do what God wants. And Paul says no.

  196. And there are some people who say, well, if you wanna be

  197. really good, they have extra laws, extra rules that you have

  198. to obey. And they may sound good, but yet

  199. they really are not what God is requiring.

  200. Now as long as you get a an opposite reaction from a

  201. somewhat wrong idea and some go to the other extreme and say

  202. well you can be lawless. You don't need to have any laws.

  203. You're even free to sin because God will forgive you, you're or

  204. under grace. And Paul is very clear in this

  205. later that this is not what the way the Christians should live,

  206. but we live under grace. We live by faith, we live by the

  207. Spirit. We are to obey Christ.

  208. And so in the section of the letter from chapter 513 through

  209. to six verse 10, he talks about the nature of Christian freedom.

  210. And and so he says that in the chapter 5 verse 13, he says, for

  211. you were called to freedom, brothers only.

  212. Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but

  213. through love serve one another. And so he's got a bit about true

  214. freedom. Then he talks about how there is

  215. this conflict between the flesh or the sinful nature and the

  216. Spirit, the Holy Spirit in the believer.

  217. And while we're in this world, we do have this conflict within

  218. us. None of us reach a stage where

  219. we're sort of kind of totally free from temptation.

  220. We don't have any in ourselves, but there's all this conflict

  221. and how do we live for God? He talks about that.

  222. And then we're coming to chapter 6, first ten, one to 10, where

  223. he talks about fulfilling the law of Christ.

  224. And so today if we look at this passage, there's five headings I

  225. want to look at this under. We're gonna start about with

  226. talking about the law of Christ and then we'll look at the four

  227. things we see is here to help one another, to have a proper

  228. opinion of yourself, to appreciate your leaders and to

  229. do good. And so we have the law of

  230. Christ. And so there's a statement in

  231. chapter 6, verse 2 where he says at the end of the verse, so

  232. fulfil the law of Christ. Now in chapter 5, there's a

  233. number of general statements about Christian living.

  234. It talks about walking by the Spirit, faith, working through

  235. love, through love, serve one another.

  236. And sometimes we don't necessarily put those things

  237. into practise because they sound a bit general, that kind of

  238. sound nice, but what do they actually mean?

  239. And we don't perhaps think they apply to situations where in and

  240. people can talk about love. There have been at times a lot

  241. of songs about popular songs about love, All you need is love

  242. and things like this and the community sound very nice.

  243. But it can be harder when you get down to the concrete details

  244. of people's lives in particular situations.

  245. And for some of these, Paul is now unfolding and he tells us

  246. how if we're walking by the Spirit that we should or should

  247. not behave towards one another. And so Paul is ready.

  248. I'll sort of four things that he's wanting to tell or tells

  249. Christians to do in these verses we're going to look at and some

  250. of these these teachers, some of the things that God expects us

  251. to do now. So there are commands that in

  252. the Bible that we should obey. Now, we're not under the Old

  253. Testament law. That's very clear.

  254. If you read right through Galatians, it's very clear that

  255. we're not under the Old Testament law today.

  256. So you don't have to be bothered about clean and unclean food and

  257. male circumcision and that that's sort of those sort of

  258. details or keeping the Jewish feast and that kind of thing.

  259. But Paul makes it quite clear that we are under the law of

  260. Christ and 1st contains 9. Paul says that even though he

  261. himself was not under the law, he was not being outside the law

  262. of God. That was under the law of

  263. Christ. The Lord Jesus said if you love

  264. me, keep my commandments. He has my commandments and keeps

  265. them. He is the one who loves me, and

  266. he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him

  267. and manifest myself to him. And Christ has given commands to

  268. his followers and Paul speaks of some things that fulfil the law

  269. of Christ. Now this doesn't mean that we

  270. we're going, we make progress in the Christian life by just

  271. setting it before ourselves. A whole lot of rules and

  272. regulations. There's nothing in the last half

  273. of Galatians or the New Testament suggests that is the

  274. way the Christians to live. But still it means that the

  275. essential ends of of God's law will be met in those who are

  276. being called by God and filled with the Spirit of our God to

  277. produce the spirits fruit in their lives.

  278. And being under the law of Christ is different from being

  279. under the law of Moses. Moses law promised life for

  280. obedience, but didn't give any power to obey it and could only

  281. encourage people to obey it by fear of punishment.

  282. But the law of Christ is loving instruction for those who

  283. already have life. If you have life, if you've been

  284. forgiven your sins, you have eternal life, then we have

  285. instructions as to how we should live.

  286. And believers are enabled to keep its precepts by the power

  287. of the Holy Spirit. And motivation is love for

  288. Christ. Do you love Jesus Christ?

  289. Well, I hope you do. Most of us here have taken the

  290. bread and the cup this morning. And among other things, that

  291. should be an expression of our allegiance to Jesus Christ, that

  292. we appreciate what he's done, we're thankful for what he's

  293. done, and that we want to serve him and to do what is right in

  294. this world. And so there is the law of

  295. Christ that he has given us things we should obey.

  296. And if we love him, we should keep his commands.

  297. So this will behind what Paul is saying here 0 we'll come to help

  298. one another. The really is the first thing

  299. that he sees in this particular passage here and he starts by

  300. dealing with a particular type of situation.

  301. Help a brother who has since brothers.

  302. If anyone has caught in any transgression, you who are

  303. spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

  304. But keep watch on yourself. This you 2 be tempted.

  305. And there are times when we can we discover that a fellow

  306. Christian has committed a son. He's done something that is

  307. wrong and this place is speaking about a person who particularly

  308. has has been tempted. He's he's committed some one act

  309. of sin. It's not really so much a person

  310. who claims to be a Christian who's continually singing in

  311. some way. It's we're all subject to

  312. temptation. And even though we should not

  313. give in to temptation and sin, it is possible that all of us do

  314. you sin from time to time. But what are you to do?

  315. If your brother or your sister's sons what?

  316. What are you gonna do about it? Do you just overlook it?

  317. You tell everybody else about it because you're more holy than

  318. your brother or sister. Well, all tells us that a person

  319. who's led by the Spirit is not going to do either of those

  320. things, that there are lawyers who should help this person who

  321. has fallen into sin. You who are spiritual, I wonder

  322. if you're a spiritual person. Now, of course at these days

  323. there are a lot of people who say, well, I'm not religious,

  324. I'm just spiritual. Now, this is not what Paul's

  325. talking about here. He's a he's talking about

  326. Christians who are, who are led by the Spirit, who are filled

  327. with the Spirit. And so the people who are able

  328. to help someone who has fallen into sin, it's really only those

  329. who have are really walking with God, who are, who are led by the

  330. Spirit of God, who are really able to give spiritual help to

  331. those who have fallen into temptation and, and fallen into

  332. sin. And what's the aim of helping

  333. this person? Well, the aim is restoration.

  334. You should restore him to bring the person back to a an obedient

  335. way of living. Now, sometimes a lot of these

  336. things can be dealt with privately.

  337. I can think of a situation and a church I was in some years ago

  338. when I lived in Zambia and 11 brother there was he was tempted

  339. in a certain way, wasn't it didn't fall into gross sin, but

  340. it was something that was wrong. And I felt I, the other person

  341. involved told me about it. And I thought, well, I've got to

  342. go and talk to this man and just confront him with it and just

  343. try to to help him in this situation.

  344. Anyway, he he admitted he had done wrong and, and he was sorry

  345. but for the situation. And it was a sort of one off

  346. situation and I so I wasn't necessarily take any greater

  347. steps. But the aim is to bring a person

  348. back to an obedient way of living when we're not if a

  349. person, if a brother sense of sister.

  350. Since it's not that you don't just just reject the person, but

  351. you try to restore him. And of course, the one whose sin

  352. must accept that he has sinned and shows signs of repentance.

  353. And it's a spiritual Christian who will try to lead the one who

  354. is seen to do this and then help him to avoid sin in the future,

  355. the same sin or maybe other types of sin, and to do it with

  356. gentleness. Restoring A sinning Christian is

  357. not to be done with pride or with harshness.

  358. It's to be done with gentleness, which is one of the fruit of the

  359. Spirit. Now all of us can fall into sin

  360. as long as we're living on earth.

  361. I can do that. I can fall into sin if I'm not

  362. careful. Maybe I'm not gonna be bothered

  363. with the same temptation this particular brother has fallen

  364. into. Well, maybe I will be, but there

  365. might be some other temptations that could trip me up and I need

  366. to realise that there but for the grace of God go I, I, I

  367. could fall into that. And if I had the OHH falls in

  368. this other person's circumstances, maybe I would

  369. fall into sin. And so it needs to be that, the

  370. gentleness there, that humility, we need to be watch full over

  371. ourselves lest we be tempted. One of the problems sometimes

  372. with dealing with people who have fallen into sin is if we're

  373. not careful, we can be corrupted by the particular evil they've

  374. got into, and we need to be careful about that ourselves.

  375. And so somebody said, if we walk by the Spirit, we would love one

  376. another more, and if we love one another more, we would bear one

  377. another's burdens. And if we bore each other's

  378. burdens, we would not shrink from seeking to restore a

  379. brother who has fallen into sin. And further, if we obeyed this

  380. Apostolic instruction, we should as we should.

  381. Much unkind gossip would be avoided, more serious

  382. backsliding prevented, the good of the Church advanced, and the

  383. name of Christ glorified. But we should know that God is

  384. not commanding us to restore a brother into fellowship at all

  385. costs. If the person refuses to return

  386. to God's ways, and if he persists in his Son, then the

  387. Scriptures say, then it may mean he has to be separated from the

  388. congregation. So restore a brother, help a

  389. brother who has sinned, and then bear each other's burdens, bear

  390. one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.

  391. Now believers in Jesus Christ have various faults and problems

  392. and we need to be patient, be to endure patiently the weaknesses

  393. and failings of others and not just please ourselves.

  394. We need to help people with their problems.

  395. And so this is something which continues on really from the

  396. beginning command about restoring the fallen brother.

  397. The scriptures are very clear. We need to help one another,

  398. support those without strengthening, encourage the

  399. oppressed, that the strong of a hand to the weak and the rich

  400. support poor. I like the illustration and the

  401. Good News Bible which I've put on there about bearing 1

  402. another's evidence how we can all help one another with

  403. various burdens. The law of Christ calls us to

  404. love one another. And this love will show that

  405. everybody that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

  406. And there is a certain assumption behind this, that all

  407. of us have burdens of one sort or another and that God does not

  408. mean us to carry the heavy burdens alone.

  409. And if, if we've got heavy burdens, then we do need it's

  410. it's good if other brothers or sisters can come and help us in

  411. that situation. An illustration of that is in

  412. the given in the case of the apostle Paul, there was one

  413. stage in his life he was terribly burdened.

  414. He was really worried over the state of the church in Corinth

  415. and particularly about their reaction to a rather severe

  416. letter that he had written to them.

  417. And his mind couldn't rest because he was thinking

  418. continually about this problem, so great was his suspense.

  419. Paul could say we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without

  420. and fear within. Well, he had this big burden

  421. about his concern about other Christians, but how did God

  422. comfort him and help him? Well, God sent a long man called

  423. Titus. Titus had been to Corinth and

  424. we're told that he came back to Paul and he reported back to

  425. Paul. There was good news.

  426. He'd been there. So that sorted out the problems

  427. and so he was able to come back with good news.

  428. And so Paul says that it was through the coming of Titus that

  429. God gave him comfort. It wasn't just through his own

  430. private prayer, but this man, this human companion came and

  431. helped and encouraged Paul. So long as you can help somebody

  432. else just through being there with him or her, you can help

  433. them carry the burden of some be heavy burden they've got.

  434. This is one reason why Christian fellowship is so important.

  435. I've always said by people who are Christians, but for various

  436. reasons they don't go to church anymore.

  437. But we do need each other in Christ.

  438. Christians belong to one another, and our task is that we

  439. can make our burdens lighter when we share our burdens with

  440. others. And so we do need to help one

  441. another, seek to restore a brother who has sinned, and seek

  442. and bear each other's burdens. And they're doing this will

  443. fulfil the law of Christ. Well, we can't tell you at this

  444. next section hitting three have a proper opinion of yourself.

  445. This is the second thing that Paul is saying to these people.

  446. Have a proper opinion of yourself.

  447. For if anyone thinks he is something when he has nothing,

  448. he deceives himself. But let each one test his own

  449. work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone,

  450. and not in his neighbor. For each of us will have to bear

  451. his own load. It's important to think about

  452. ourselves in a proper way. Pause this something similar and

  453. his letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 3.

    Romans 12:3

  454. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not

  455. to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to

  456. think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of

  457. faith God has fined. Now we do not choose our own

  458. identities. We need to consider how God has

  459. made us, how He's gifted us, and how He is using us.

  460. And God has given each of us responsibilities.

  461. He's all He's given each of us something to do, some work to

  462. do. He's given us different

  463. abilities and one Christian cannot do the work will take on

  464. responsibility that God has given to another.

  465. And it's important not to compare yourself with others.

  466. If you compare what we're doing for God or ourselves with other

  467. people, then you could it may lead to either you become proud

  468. because you think you're better than others.

  469. We maybe we're even indispensable.

  470. Or else you can become discouraged because you think,

  471. well, I'm not as good as other people, I'm worse, or maybe I'm

  472. even totally useless. And we do need to be careful.

  473. We don't comparing ourselves with others, but rather we're to

  474. do the task that God has given us to do.

  475. Our responsibility is to serve God and what He has given us to

  476. do. Now you can find something on

  477. hand where you can do something for God.

  478. God. God's plan is that each of us

  479. have something to do, and if you don't know what to do, we'll

  480. look around and see if there's somebody you can help that you

  481. can. At least you can pray for

  482. people, but there's usually something you is available.

  483. Maybe humble, humble task, but if you do it well, maybe God

  484. will show you something more you can do and do the task that God

  485. has given you. So then each of us will have to

  486. give an account of ourselves to God, and each will be rewarded

  487. according to his own labour. And so we've got

  488. responsibilities allowed that that God has given us.

  489. And so if we look at the Lord rather than at other Christians,

  490. rather than comparing ourselves with others, what what Lord,

  491. what do you want me to do? That's a good question.

  492. What should I do, Lord? I've had a number of times in my

  493. life where I've come into a, perhaps a crisis situation in

  494. life. Often it's occurred in relation

  495. to work. And I've said, Lord, what do you

  496. want me to do? What should I do, Lord?

  497. And the Lord does provide and guide as to what we should do.

  498. We need to do the task on hand, but carry your own load.

  499. Each one shall bear his own load.

  500. That's not a contradiction with verse 2.

  501. It talks about carrying one another's burdens.

  502. There's different words that are used for their loads there.

  503. In inverse 2, the word for carrying one another's burdens,

  504. it's a heavy load there that's mentioned, but in this five it

  505. literally is a expression about a soldier's pack.

  506. The idea really that each soldier must bear his own pack.

  507. And so I do quite a bit of tramping and I have a pack that

  508. I have to carry. And it's, it's important that I,

  509. I carry my essential things. Now for some reason I was

  510. carrying something very heavy then maybe somebody else could

  511. help. But just basically, I've got to

  512. look after my own stuff when I'm I'm tramping.

  513. We certainly do need to help one another if we've got very heavy

  514. burdens of life, but there are responsibilities that we cannot

  515. pass on to others or are things that we need to do.

  516. We need to take our own responsibility.

  517. One man who was a father, he's, he said, well, if my car breaks

  518. down, my neighbor can help drive my children to school, but he

  519. cannot assume the responsibilities that only

  520. belong to me as their father. That's the difference.

  521. It would be wrong to says it would be wrong for me to expect

  522. someone else to be the father and our family.

  523. That's a burden and a privilege that I alone can bear.

  524. But sometimes there are Special Situations where the extra

  525. burdens where you need help. So have a proper opinion of

  526. yourself. Don't compare yourself with

  527. others, but bear the load of responsibility that God has

  528. given you, right. Appreciate your teachers.

  529. So appreciate your teachers. What they, the one who was

  530. taught in the word, share all good things with the one who

  531. teaches. And that has to do with the use

  532. of positions. It tells us that we should

  533. appreciate people who faithfully teach us God's word.

  534. We do need to be taught or instructed in the word of God

  535. and the teacher is a spiritual gift.

  536. And you read about the the teacher and three of the lists

  537. of the spiritual gifts that are there and the one who has taught

  538. well, it does indicate we do have a need to be talked, taught

  539. and helped by those who have an ability to teach God's word.

  540. And so the instructions to share an all good things.

  541. And basically it's saying support those who particularly

  542. are devoting themselves full time to the teaching of God's

  543. Word so that they can do their task now finally do good.

  544. And so we come to this last part here that do not be deceived.

  545. God is not mocked for whoever, whatever one shows that he will

  546. also reap inverse Tncs. So then as we have opportunity,

  547. let us do good to everyone and especially those who of the

  548. household of faith. And so there's a point there

  549. that we reap what we sow. It's a picture taken from

  550. agriculture. You put in a, you know, potato

  551. seeds, you're going to get potatoes out of the ground.

  552. You're not going to get roses or carrots or something different.

  553. It's and it's a warning that our lives or an encouragement in our

  554. lives that we can get reap what we sow.

  555. And so there's two types of sewing.

  556. You can sow according to the sinful nature, the flesh, or you

  557. can sew according to the Spirit of God.

  558. And So what we do to be sung in either of these directions, and

  559. there are consequences of that. But he goes on to say, don't

  560. grow weary in doing what is good.

  561. Don't get discouraged. So nice.

  562. We don't see things happen immediately.

  563. But if you are involved in agriculture and you're sewing

  564. something, you've put in your your potato seeds, let's say,

  565. are you gonna go along tomorrow and see if the the potato were

  566. there? Studies don't grow that fast, so

  567. they don't grow in one day. You've gotta wait a period of

  568. time and sometimes there is a wait.

  569. We need to wait for the long term consequences of what we do,

  570. but don't get weary and doing good.

  571. There will be a harvest, but rather use the opportunities

  572. that we have while we have them. Sometimes the opportunities will

  573. pass away. We can no longer help somebody,

  574. but we have to do what is good. And there's a summary chart that

  575. I put there which covers a number of things there the the

  576. solar. Firstly, you got the teacher who

  577. shows God's Word and so he shows it into the mind and hearts of

  578. the church. And his harvest he will reap it

  579. as his living. But any Christian who his own

  580. thoughts and deeds, he saying we saw this to the flesh, the

  581. sinful nature, he will reap corruption.

  582. And so don't think because you're a Christian, if you go

  583. indulging in sinful things, you're gonna reap corruption out

  584. of that. But if you say to the Spirit,

  585. then there's eternal life. It says here the idea not only

  586. of the everlasting life, but an ever deepening communion with

  587. God. But a Christian who can do good,

  588. he can sow good works, commit to people in the community and

  589. especially the believers, and there can be a good crop in the

  590. lives of those he serves and a reward from God himself and

  591. eternity. So there's a number of things

  592. that we've been looking at. Fulfil the law of Christ.

  593. There are commands that we should, we should be obey

  594. because we belong to Jesus Christ.

  595. Here's our master and so just a summary here.

  596. Fulfil the law of Christ by doing good and helping others,

  597. especially other believers who are burdened or in need.

  598. Actions have consequences and we will receive consequences from

  599. the things we do and say. And this warns us against sin

  600. and encourage us to faithfully live for God.

  601. So just finally, just applications there.

  602. The Christian freedom means serving our Lord Jesus Christ

  603. and Chris Christian free. He set us free from sin.

  604. We're not slaves to wrong beliefs about the world or the

  605. law of Moses. He's given us the Spirit so we

  606. can live for God. And Christian freedom is shown

  607. by faith expressing itself and love.

  608. And love is practical. So help one another, have a

  609. proper opinion of yourself, appreciate your teachers and do

  610. good. May the Lord help us all to

  611. fulfil the law of Christ. Thank you.