Alright, so I'm doing the final sermon on the decently and in order series and I really
wanted to cover this one.
But look at Galatians chapter 6 and verse number 2, Galatians chapter 6 and verse number
2, Galatians chapter 6 verse number 2, it says, bear ye one another's burdens and so
fulfil the law of Christ.
And so we can see very black and white there as it is written, we're being commanded there
to bear one another's burdens, that's quite clear.
But drop down to verse number 5, it says, for every man shall bear his own burden and
you'll say, whoa, hold on, this one's just saying, every man, every individual person
should bear their own burden, is this a contradiction in the Bible?
What is this about?
And so the title for the sermon this evening is Burden Bearing, Burden Bearing.
And it is important to be part of the decently and in order series because as I've been teaching
you all, you know, we saw in the decently and in order series that, well, we looked
at all the different institutions of God, how God has ordained a leader in every institution
and then there are those that are under that leader, but hey, that leader is accountable
to God for the people that are under him and for the institution that God has given him,
okay?
And of course because that person is a leader and he has authority, you know, it's his decision
based on whatever factors are at play to, you know, direct, you know, lead in a certain
direction that institution, those that are under him.
I also taught during this time, I preached a sermon called Mind Your Own Business, okay?
And the purpose behind that was to say, well, if everybody has an institution that they
are part of and everybody has a leader, well, you have to allow those leaders to make decisions
for their institutions, not for you to get involved in other people's matters, right?
And so, you know, the point behind that was not so much that you mind other people's business,
but that you focus on your own business that God has given you.
You figure out what it is that God has given you and you take accountability or responsibility
for what God has given you.
And then I preached a sermon on leadership.
So if you do find yourself as a leader in one of these institutions or maybe you find
yourself in the future as the leader of one of these institutions, at least you can kind
of, you know, reflect on how well, you know, your leadership skills are, you know, are
they aligned with the Bible, are there areas that you can improve in because obviously
I want everybody to be a successful leader for those that are under them, okay?
But when I cover those topics, you know, I wanted to, you know, be clear that everybody
has their responsibilities, every leader is accountable to God.
And so the idea that you may have then, which is kind of correct, but I don't want you to
be extreme with this view, is well, if I've got to mind my own business, not get involved
in the business of others, and I just take care of my own needs, the worst thing that
you can do is become selfish and say, well, I'm just going to care about my own issues.
I'm just going to care about my own problems.
I'm going to care about only the things that pertain to me, who cares about others that
might be struggling, who cares about others that might be in this situation, or that situation,
because hey, they're accountable for themselves, or that leader is accountable for that situation.
And you know, and so it's so important that I preach a sermon called burden bearing, you
know, understand that there is a time that we need to bear the burdens of others, because
I don't want you to take that extreme view that it shouldn't matter to me what other
people are doing, okay, there is a time to care for others, there is a time to love and
to lift one another's burdens, okay.
So let's start there in Galatians chapter six and verse number one, let's begin by looking
at the context where we find these two phrases about bearing one another's burdens, or every
man bearing his own burden, let's look at the context and let's just understand what
God is saying, and then we'll take that and apply that in our day to day life, you know,
try to say make it, you know, your daily applications to what we're learning here.
But let's start there in verse number one, Galatians six, number, verse number one, it
says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such
and one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted, alright,
so this is the context, it's not about a man who is overtaken in a fault, you know, he's
got himself into problems, he's got maybe even into something sinful, you know, he's
far from the Lord, he's fallen away in his faithfulness to the Lord, and we might find
sometimes that there is somebody in our church that has fallen away from the Lord.
So what are we to do if we find someone in that situation?
Are we to say, well, that's their problem, who cares, I'm going to mind my own business.
Again, there's a time and place for that, okay.
But when there's a brother, when there's a man that's overtaken in a fault, we are being
asked to help that person, okay.
But who is it that is to step in and help that brother that is in a fault, okay.
So the idea here is the person in a fault is not having the spiritual victory that he
once had, okay, he's struggling in his service for God, in his faithfulness to God, well,
it's not just for anybody to go and help and restore that person.
It's not just anybody.
Have a look at verse number one again.
It says, ye which are spiritual, okay.
So somebody that is a spiritual man should be the one that steps in and helps that brother.
You know, if you're in a weak spiritual state, or if you're a babe in Christ and you're just
new to Christianity, you're not that person, right, that should be going and helping.
This is why the Bible tells us you've got to determine whether you are spiritual, okay.
Not only should you be a spiritual person.
The idea with this person walks well the Lord, he's got a life that's pleasing to God,
it seems like this would be the right person to speak to this person.
But hey, not only that, to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.
This is how you know, this is one way of knowing at least that you are spiritual is that you
have a spirit of meekness, okay.
It's not well, you know, I'm so holy.
Look how right I am with God.
Look at all the things that I'm doing for God.
I can be the one that restores this person.
That's pride.
You know, somebody that lifts themselves up, they think they're high and mighty, they think
they're doing so well.
You know what, they're going to cause further damage to the brother that's fallen.
It's got to be someone that has a spirit of meekness, someone that is lowly, because we're
not there to tear apart the brother who's fallen.
We're there to edify that person, we're there to lift them up, okay.
And then it says, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
And if you can keep your finger there, let's go to, actually, let's just go to Galatians
chapter 5, so just the previous chapter, and look at the last verse in Galatians chapter
5, which led into Galatians 6, 1, which we read.
And I think this gives us a good idea of whether somebody is spiritual or not, because it runs
straight off it, okay.
In Galatians 5, 26, it says, Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another,
envying one another.
So we have three elements here, that if you're doing these things, if this is your makeup,
you are not the spiritual man.
You are not the one that should be restoring a brother.
And so it says, Let us not be desirous of what?
First of all, of vain glory.
Can you keep your finger there?
Let's go to Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6.
So somebody that desires vain glory, what's vain?
Empty.
What's glory?
Having a boast of oneself, okay.
So there are some people that do desire this.
Hey, they can be in our church, okay.
They want to be praised of men.
They want to be lifted up, but it's all empty, it's all vain.
Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 1, Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 1, it says, Take
heed that ye do not your arms before men.
Arms are your good works, okay, to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your
Father which is in heaven.
So you can see here that some people do good works to be seen of men.
They want the vain glory.
They want to be seen, hey, you are a spiritual man, look at you, look at the good works you
do, okay.
But they do it to be seen of men, all right.
Verse number 2, Therefore when thou doest thine arms, do not sound a trumpet before
thee, as the hypocrites do in their synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory
of men, verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And so, you know, when you do good things, brethren, you have a decision.
Do I do it, you know, basically you make a decision of this, who is it that I want to
reward me?
Do I want God to reward me for the good that I've done or do I want men to reward me?
And if I'm doing it to be seen of men and to be praised of men, look at me, I'm such
a great man of God.
You know, if that's your desire, your reward is the praise of men and you have nothing
from God, all right.
They have their reward.
Verse number 3, But when thou doest arms, let not thy left hand know what thy right
hand doeth, that thine arms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret himself
shall reward thee openly.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to praise
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men,
verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And so, brethren, when you come to pray to church, it ought to be to praise God, it ought
to be for the service of the local body of God, it ought not to be to be seen of men,
look how well I can pray, look at all the big words I can use, look how long I can pray.
Listen, if that's you, you do it to be seen of men, okay.
We cannot be that way, we cannot be people that want that vainglory.
If you have vainglory, if that's your desire, you're not the spiritual man, you're not the
person that's going to be able to help a brother who is struggling, okay.
That's not you, all right.
Next one that was mentioned there was in Galatians 5 26, desires of vainglory.
What else are they desirous of, or what else did they do?
Provoking one another.
Now this is not saying you provoke one another unto love and good works, okay.
This is some, when it says provoking, this means you're kind of annoying, okay.
In the sense, you know, I look this up, you know, what do you call someone that provokes
a lot?
Well, in our English language, we have at least three words for it.
I couldn't believe it.
Okay, we have a provoker, okay, a provoker, that's someone that provokes.
We also have a provocateur, provocateur, that's another English word, for the same thing.
And then the French have a word which we've also basically accepted it in our English
language and it's the provocateur, I don't know if you've heard that, okay.
So we have these three, it's all the same, okay, but we have these three English, I guess
it's such a common thing that you're going to give it three English words, okay, one
that's French, taken directly from French, but we still use it in our English language,
to describe people that provoke one another, okay.
Now, I remember there was a work colleague that I used to work with and they loved drama.
They loved it when there were arguments, they loved it when there were fights, you know,
and they just loved it when there was tension, they loved it when one person was up against
another, and this person was a self-confessed, unfortunately, this person was also a good
worker, okay.
But at the same time, you know, this person was a self-confessed person, you know, that
would say, I love to stir the pot, I love to stir the pot, okay, they like to provoke
is what they're trying to say.
And the idea is, you know, obviously if you have a pot of soup or something and you leave
it still for a while, it's not going to move, it's just going to sit there for a while,
you know, it's not very exciting, a pot of soup or something.
But the idea is, to be a pot stirrer, you take a spoon, you put in the soup, you start
to stir it violently, right, and you like to see it move and, you know, you like the
adventure and the excitement and you like the drama, well, this person was a self-confessed,
you know, stirrer of the pot, you know, and there are people like this, there are people
that actually cannot go through life seeking peace, they like to see tension and arguments
and they would try to cause things, right, they will say this person did this because
they know it upsets someone else or someone said this or, you know, did you know Kevin
as a Christian, he believes X, Y and Z, knowing full well that other people don't believe
that or think that's unusual, right, they're purposely trying to do things to cause tension
and arguments between people but then they don't get involved, they just stir the pot
and they sort of, you know, step back and just watch it all unfold, you know, just glory
in the drama that they created, I mean, I know people like that, I don't know if you
guys know people like that but there are, there definitely are people like that and
listen, if that's you, okay, you're not going to be the person that can restore somebody
that has fallen, okay, because you're going to, all you're going to do is you're going
to provoke that person, you're going to be critical of that person, you're not going
to be meek and lowly and humble, you know, you're not going to have that meekness to
get to their level and show them that you love them and you're trying to lift them up,
you're just going to drive them further down, you're going to be critical, provoke them,
get more upset than they need to, you're not going to be any help, alright, and then it
says in Galatians 5 26, envy in one another, so if you envy other people, okay, you envy
what they have, you know, you envy their family, you envy their life, you envy their possessions,
okay, that means you're not somebody that's content in the Lord, you're discontent, you're
not satisfied, you desire the things of others, you're not a spiritual man if you're any of
these things, and so that's not the person that gets behind someone else and tries to
lift them up, you're just going to cause further damage, okay, so then obviously that verse
leads us to Galatians chapter 6 and verse number 1 about helping a brother that is at
a fault. Now, what else does it say there in Galatians 6 verse number 1? It says, considering
thyself lest thou also be tempted, so before you go in and you try to help somebody, you
need to consider yourself, am I spiritual, am I meek, am I the person to help this individual,
because if you're not, you might find yourself to be tempted, okay, so the idea behind that
is that they will become a bad influence to you, instead of you being a good influence
to that person, they're going to be a bad influence to you if you're not prepared to
help somebody, okay, so for example if they are discouraged in the Lord, then they will
cause you to become discouraged in the Lord. Have you ever just gone through life and you're
happy, you're content, you may not have much, but you know, you're fulfilled, you're in
the Lord, you're going to church, things are okay, things are fine, you're just going through
life, but then someone comes up to you, right, and they say things to cause you to be discouraged
and discontented, right, they'll say well, you know, but this is a problem, and that
is a problem, and this is a problem, and you know, church has problems, and this person
has a problem, and all of a sudden, now you're not happy in life, okay, you're just, well,
I see what he sees now, now everything is just pointed out to me, now I'm seeing all
these problems, now I'm not content anymore, now I'm not happy anymore, right, but they
didn't bother you before until this person came up and said a few words in your ears,
now you've, well, what I'm trying to say is that person became a bad influence to you.
Instead of you influencing and saying well, you know what brother, yeah, we all have problems,
you have problems, I have problems, okay, well, let's just be content in the blessings,
let's be thankful for what God has given us, and let's move on, let's just carry, and instead
of you being that positive influence, they've become a negative influence, and now your
vision on things that you used to be happy about, it's brought you low, it's brought
you upset, it's brought you discomfort and, you know, sorrow, all right, or that brother
that's in the Lord that has fallen, he may have fallen into some sin, all right, and
because we're all made of the same flesh and blood, you know, they might be a bad influence
in the sense of getting you into that sin as well, getting you into the problems that
they have, and so it's not just let's just help everybody, okay, you've got to understand,
you've got to be the spiritual man, you've got to be meek, you've got to assess yourself,
am I able to help so and so in their difficulty, okay, now let's go to Galatians chapter 6
verse number 2, then it says, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ, okay, so you understand, when you read verse number 2, you have to understand
that verse number 1 came before it, okay, this is not just saying everybody, just bear
everybody's problems, everybody's burdens, no, okay, leave it to those that are spiritual,
to be the ones that step in and bear one another's burdens, right, and fulfil the
law of Christ, and so you can see that the direct context of this is helping somebody
in the church that has fallen away, maybe they've stopped coming to church, maybe they've
stopped just, you know, living for the Lord, you know, they're struggling with something,
you know, they're in a fault, you know, they're in a sin, hey, that's the time that you would
apply Galatians chapter 6, now let's keep going, verse number 3, for if a man think
himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself, but let every man prove
his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, okay,
so let's get verse number 3 and number 4, let's understand that, if any man think himself
to be something, hey, this is somebody that maybe talks themselves up, right, and then
says, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself, I know you know people like this that will
talk themselves up, talk about all their accomplishments, all the things that they've done, right, to
be seen as someone important, to be seen as someone successful, but when you dig in for
information, when you dig in and, oh, can you explain that, you realize they could be
lying, okay, or, you know, making things up or exaggerating the truth, or sometimes taking
stories that belong to someone else and making it seem like it's about them, okay, now just
recently, I don't know if you guys have heard this name, this guy called Rabbi Zacharias,
okay, this great Christian apologist, you know, he passed away, I don't know, a few
weeks ago, a couple of months ago, I'm not sure, and I actually remember seeing on Facebook,
you know, Christians constantly posting his videos, oh, what a great man of God, alright,
and this Rabbi Zacharias, he came out, you know, he kept saying that he went to some,
what university did he say he went to? Does anyone know? Was it Harvard University? Was
it Harvard? So, you know, one of the most famous universities, let's say it's Harvard
or maybe it's Cambridge, I don't know, maybe it's both, he said, man, you know, I went
here, I studied under this professor, and he kept quoting, saying the same thing over
and over again, trying to make it seem like he's well educated, making it seem like he's
so knowledgeable, he knows all these great men, he's great, great education, and then
it comes out that all of it's fake, that it's not even true, that he wasn't a student
in Harvard, okay, and this guy, you know, has had an influence on Christianity today,
people watch his videos and think that is the best way to teach people about Jesus or
to lead them to God, that guy's fake, okay, and not only that, it's come out after his
death that this guy was involved in several sexual deviances, right, cheating on his wife
and things like that, this has come out of his ministry, I'm not making this up, out
of his own ministry, they've had to admit that this man was a fraud, alright, and so,
listen, there are people like that, these are wolves in sheep's clothing, and it surprised
me there are still Christians defending this man, but we all have problems, don't we? Listen,
this guy's a liar, I've never checked his gospel, but I'm almost certain his gospel
would have been a false gospel anyway, okay, but listen, okay, we can point our fingers
to that and laugh at that and just, you know, rebuke that, but we need to be careful that
ourselves, that we don't, you know, promote ourselves or lie about ourselves just to seem
important when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself, alright, so another example that
I might be able to give you here is, you know, I went to a Christian school, it was supposed
to be a Baptist Christian school, but it was more Pentecostal, and, you know, in school
we would have a chapel, so every Thursday, I don't know, I can't remember what time,
maybe it was about 10am on Thursdays, we would go and basically have like a church service,
you know, with the students basically, okay, they call it chapel worship, and they would
have preachers, they would have guest speakers to come, and quite often, you know, you'd
get the charismatic, you'd get the Pentecostal preacher to come, and they would give these
amazing stories, and I remember just as a teenager going, wow, this is amazing, right,
and the story that I remember the most was, and I can't remember who they were right now,
but someone came and basically preached, you know, and I can't remember if the story was
about them, this happened to them, or it happened to someone they were with, okay, but the story
goes that, you know, there was a child that was playing on the footpath, and then he ran
on the road, got hit by a car, and basically his leg or his arm got decapitated, right,
I mean, this young boy's in a mess, you know, you know, there's ligaments, there's blood
everywhere, you know, he's losing a lot of blood, and so, you know, they call for the
ambulance, and the ambulance is on its way, and then either the one preaching or the one
that he was with would say, well, let's just, you know, let's just commit this to the Lord,
let's just pray over this boy, and they pray over this boy, and you know what, you notice
all of a sudden the ligaments start to come back together, the arm comes back into the
sockets, and by the time the ambulance arrives, the boy's had a full recovery, okay, now,
has anyone heard that story before? Maybe you heard it because I've said it before,
maybe you know, okay, well, I just thought, wow, surely they're not going to lie to me
about that, surely they're not going to get behind, you know, the pulpit and teach all
these students in the school this amazing thing, wow, look at God's miracle, and I'm
like, man, I guess the Pentecostal Way is the right way, maybe, I mean, look at how
God's working in this life, okay, and then I remember in the same year, another guest
preacher came, totally different person came, and guess what, oh, I have this story, there
was this young man running on the road, got hit by a car, he lost his leg, you know, there's
blood everywhere, and we prayed over him and he was healed, and I'm like, hold on, that's
the same story, that's the same story that impressed me last time, or maybe it was the
other person, maybe this person knows this person, and they were the ones together when
this took place, I just, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, you know, I guess that's what's
happened, okay, but I just thought it was a little bit fishy, a little suspicious, well
then I remember a couple of years later, a third person, totally different, came with
the same story, the kid's running on the road, get hit by a car, and you know, his arms came
back together, and before the ambulance arrived, and people were wondering, wow, what happened,
the power of prayer, and at that point I realised, man, these guys are frauds, okay,
they're just making things up, they're trying to seem important, they're giving all these
amazing stories, right, and I just thank God that he allowed me to hear it three times
from three different people, otherwise if I only heard it once, I might be still thinking
that maybe that was true, okay, but I heard it three times, I could see, you know, that
these are lies, these people are false prophets, okay, and they lift themselves up to be something
more than they are, they're just deceiving, well they deceive probably a lot of students,
but really, the Bible tells us they deceive themselves. Let's be careful to not be the
same kind of people that promote ourselves, lift ourselves up, right, and say, well I'm
spiritual, look how good I am, I can help a brother in a fault, okay, no, don't think
yourself to be above your measure, and then it says, but, so instead of boasting of yourself,
instead of trying to make yourself seem more important than you really are, it says let
every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not
in another. So what that is basically saying, it says to prove his own work, that means
to examine or to test, okay, so instead of making up stories, instead of lying and stealing
someone else's story, hey, what you should do is test or examine your own life, your
own works that you've done, okay, and look at the burdens that you've had, look at the
challenges and the tribulations and the accomplishments that you've had, you know, how you've seen
God's hand lead you through some difficulty, and when you remind yourself, when you examine
and you test, you know, how you've come through challenges, you can now rejoice in yourself
alone, okay, and not in someone else. And so this is really important because I've been
telling you, you know, God has given us all responsibilities, you've got to take care
of those things. I want you to look back after several years when you've taken responsibility
for your actions and you've succeeded and you've done well and you've grown and you've
been promoted in different places, all right, I want you to be able to look back and say,
well, yeah, you know what, I can prove, I can test, examine what I've done, and I can
find joy in myself. You know, one example that I just want to give you, a quick example
that I want to give you here. Well, actually, let's read verse number five, because then
it says, for every man shall bear his own burden, okay, for every man shall bear his
own burden. And so we ought to look at the burdens of the past and see how we've come
through, how God has helped us, all right, and that allows us to rejoice in ourselves,
all right, rejoice in the Lord, all right. But, you see, let me give you a quick example
here of this, you know. There was once I had a job and there was a lot of problems.
I basically inherited a lot of problems. They were not my problems, okay, there was just
a lot to get done, all right, and the business was suffering. The business was really suffering
and I had basically this responsibility to land on my shoulders and, you know, I thought
that, you know, I'm going to have this team around me that's going to help me and guide
me and mentor me and give me encouragement, but what I found was, you know, people were
kind of, you know, other people in prominent positions were kind of trying to blame me
for all the problems that were in the business, okay, even though I kind of just walked into
it, you know. I was put into that position. I didn't create the drama. I was just put
into the position where I would have to deal with all these problems, all right, and I
just found that people were backstabbing me. People were trying to discourage me. People
were trying to cause me to fall and to fail in the job that I've been given and listen
Brevin, was I out of my depth? I was in that situation. I was out of my depth, okay, and,
you know, obviously with the Lord's help and with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, I was
able to resolve all of those issues. It took a long time, but I was able to resolve it.
It was probably the most stress I've ever experienced in my life and, you know, when
the time came, once I got everything under control and everything went back to normal
and things are operating like clockwork, I decided to resign, okay. I didn't resign when
things were difficult. I decided to resign when things got back to normal because I felt
it was my responsibility to make sure we settle things, we get things working, things are
ticking along perfectly and I didn't want to quit halfway because I realized this was
a burden, this was a struggle, this was a test that I needed to go through to get better,
alright. And listen, when I resigned, the same people that were trying to see me fall
and to see me fail, the same people that were trying to discourage me, were the same people
that came up to me afterwards and said, listen, I don't know why you're quitting now. Why
are you leaving now? You fixed it. You've done well, you know. Sign a new contract.
Stay here. You know, you're doing well for us. You know, and listen, that probably, you
know, the whole, I ended up leaving anyway, but here's the thing. That probably means
nothing to nobody, but to me it means a lot. To me I can look back at my own work and I
can examine that, I can prove that, I can see how I've come through that with God's
help and as it's said there in verse number four, and then shall we have rejoicing in
himself alone. I can rejoice in how God has seen me through a burden, okay. Why? Because
I saw there was a burden to bear, for every man shall bear his own burden. I took that
burden on board and I was able to get through that burden, okay. Again, it may mean nothing
to anybody. I don't expect anybody to rejoice with me, but this is some rejoicing that I
can have in my own personal life. To say, hey, God has seen me through a burden. Next
burden that I have, God's going to see me through that burden once again, alright. So
what's the summary? We've gone through here Galatians chapter six. What is the summary?
Are we to carry each other's burdens or are we to bear our own burden? Well, both, okay.
Both are true. Number one, if you are the spiritual person, if you are someone in position
to help, when you see someone else struggling with their burdens, yeah, seek to be a help
to that person that is struggling, okay. Seek to get alongside them and encourage them and
lift them up, but at the same time, take responsibility for your own burdens without the expectation
that others will come and bail you out in a problem, okay. If you have responsibilities,
you have burdens in your life, it's your job to get it done, you have to say to yourself,
this is my burden, I've got to bear this burden, alright. And if you see someone struggling
with their burden, you have to say, well, am I in a position to help this person? If
I am, I'm going to step in and help that brother in the Lord. I'm going to help encourage them,
okay. But the reason verse number five is here is because if we only had verse number
two, you could be left thinking that anytime you're struggling, other people are supposed
to just come in and help you. No, okay. You have your burdens, you have responsibilities,
you deal with it yourself. Listen, if someone comes along and helps you, praise God, but
don't have that expectation. Have the expectation that you've got to see through it, that God's
going to give you the ability to get through that trial, okay. Now, let's take this and
apply it in a practical way, alright. So, why do we go soul winning? Or why is it that
we preach the gospel to people? Well, obviously, we want them saved, we want them in heaven,
right. And we want to get rewarded by God, you know, probably not going to be rewarded
on this earth for doing that. Maybe God's going to bless us from time to time. But we're
really looking forward to the treasures, right, the rewards that we will have in heaven for
preaching the gospel and doing the work. So, I'm not denying that. But another reason
we go is because the lost have a burden, okay. The lost, those that are unsure about salvation,
they have a burden on them. And we, when we go and we give them the gospel, we come alongside,
don't we? As someone that is more spiritual than they are. In fact, they're not spiritual,
they're spiritually dead, right. We come alongside and say, hey, let me help you with that burden,
okay. You've got these sins, you don't know if you're on your way to heaven, you're not
sure of eternal life. Hey, I can be here, I can come and help you and lift that burden
by explaining to you that you can place all that burden on Jesus and be sure that you
can go to heaven, okay. So yeah, when we go soul winning, or when we give the gospel,
we are trying to lift the burden of the lost. And you know what, if someone refuses the
gospel, you know, let's say you got them through the gospel presentation, they understand,
and they kind of reject it, there's nothing wrong with adding a little bit of pressure.
You know, even Jesus Christ said, compel them to come in, okay. We're trying to help them
to come into the kingdom of God, right. But what if they just flatly refuse? You've given
them the gospel, they're just like, you know what, it's not for me, or I don't believe
it. Is it for us then, to get frustrated and angry and upset? You know, sometimes when
we go soul winning, you have to be careful and read and listen to what the other person
is saying. If they don't want you there, it's time to go, okay. You don't have to linger
and be like this pest. I'm just going to pressure them until they hear me, pressure them until
they pray. Look, sometimes people will pray just to make you go away, okay. Not because
they truly believe the gospel, they just want you to go because how else am I going to get
rid of this guy? I've got to let him go through a spill, I'll pray with him, all right, see
you later, okay. We can't be that kind of person. And what you need to understand is
yes, as you try to go and help somebody with their burdens, you have to make a, the conclusion,
well, they have to bear their own burdens. When someone says, I'm not interested, I don't
care for that, I don't believe it, you've tried to get there, you've tried to help them,
but they don't want your help anymore, do they? At that point you say, well, you've
got to bear your own burden. And you move on to someone else that is willing for you
to help them lift their burdens. You know, another example that I have when it comes
to the lost, we had a visitor come to Blessed Help Baptist Church sometime last year, and
I, you know, if I could get all the information, I would have addressed this with the individuals
but I couldn't get the information. But they came as a visitor, right? And, you know, this
person's lost, you know, this person's, you know, it's possible that the people they interacted
with did not know that they were unsaved, right? And so they had a desire to be in church,
of course, I'm trying to grow the church, I'm trying to reach new people, right? I'm
trying to encourage people, you know, I get phone calls and emails, I'm constantly trying
to encourage people, hey, come visit the church, right? It's a bit different now with COVID
restrictions, but that's what I'm trying to do. And so when we have someone come through
the door, the first thing you need to be thinking about is this person even saved, right? But
this person came and, you know, the information that I got was they were kind of rebuked for
the music they listened to. This is a visitor, a first time visitor to Blessed Help Baptist
Church. They came and was rebuked for the music they listened to, okay? And then when
I tried to follow up, hey, how are things? How was church? This individual said to me,
and look, could they be lying to me? They could be lying to me, okay? It's possible,
okay? But based on the conversation, I took it as truth because they desired, in fact,
this person also called me up several times asking about church and coming to church and
doing all these things. And when I tried to get to the church, they were reminded of
the rebuke that they received for the music that they listened to, for the worldly, you
know, ungodly junk that they listened to, all right? And they were asking me, is it
all right if I come to church and still listen to this kind of music? I'm like, of course,
all right? And then as I got talking, I realized this person's not even saved. I was like,
what in the world? You know, this person has been put this burden on them about what kind
of music they're listening to when their burden of salvation is not even, hasn't even
been settled with. And so I was able to give them the gospel over the phone and lead them
to Christ, all right? But listen, when someone is lost, I don't care how worldly they are.
I don't care if they're drunkards. I don't care if they're fornicating. I don't care
if they're committing adultery, all right? I don't care what sins they're involved in,
all right? All that matters, the only burden that matters is to get them saved, to, you
know, ensure that the sins have been paid for by Jesus Christ on his cross and they
understand that they, it's just believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing on his
death, burial, and resurrection that gets them to heaven. Who cares about what music
they listen to, right? But we're trying to fix this burden of music, this music here.
They're not even saved. What's the point? You get them looking like you, talking like
you, you know, speaking like you, and living like you, and listening to your music and
they still die and go to hell. What's the point? You know, the lost have a burden and
that burden is they have no idea where they're going to be in eternity. That's what we focus
on when they're lost. I have no interest in debating with a lost person about what sins
they're doing, okay? As long as I can show them in the Bible if I'm part of my gospel
orientation that they're sinners and they're willing to accept I'm a sinner, okay, and
I've come short of the glory of God, I can move on. I'm not trying to fix that sin before
they're saved. Let's put in the cart before the horse, okay? Once they are saved, once
they are a child of God, they have the Holy Spirit of God living in them, God's going
to be the one that helps them to change their lives, to be more godly, okay? That's when
they can come to church and receive the teaching, receive the Word of God, okay? Otherwise they're
dead spiritually and they will not be able to discern, you know, the teaching of God,
the words of the Bible. And so we need to be careful, you know, as a church. And you
know, if I knew who it was, I would deal with that but the person couldn't, you know, just
gave me some vague descriptions and I couldn't, you know, they didn't have a name so I couldn't
really pursue it. So anyway, this is a good opportunity to present it. So if there's anybody
that is like that or has done that, that's something we need to fix, okay? We need to
fix the right burden. A third example that I have is, you know, just recently I received
a phone call and as I said, I get phone calls quite regularly and emails and I'm constantly,
you know, communicating with people. And this person had marriage problems and they wanted
some marriage advice and, you know, see if I could step in and do something. Well, you
know, during the course of the conversation, I found out this person was not even saved.
All right? And so it's like, well, look, I understand what you're saying to me about
your marriage. Let me get to that but what concerns me more is this greater burden that
you have. Are marriage problems a burden? Absolutely, okay? But which is the greater
burden, okay? Marriage problems or someone that believes a false gospel that's on its
way to hell. Of course, this person needs to get saved. And so I asked him, can I give
you the gospel? Yes. Gave him the gospel, got saved. All right? Then I was able to give
them some biblical guidance about their marriage, okay? We got to make sure that, you know,
these are practical things. You know, if you have family or friends that are not saved,
all right, and they love the sodomites, don't fight about them with the sodomites. Who cares?
Okay? What matters is are they saved? You get them saved, then they'll understand the
Word of God. Then they'll be able to absorb God's Word because they have the new man in
them, they have the Spirit of God that will talk with their spirits, okay? That stuff
can take time, all right? But make sure you're not arguing with people in your workplace,
in your family, your friends that are unsaved about secondary issues, you know, trying to
make them more Christian when they're not even believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay?
So we should have a burden for the lost and we ought to be helping their burden, all right,
of the uncertainty of whether they're going to heaven or not. But listen, once again,
we're there to help them with their burdens but if they say, I'm not interested, you have
to just say, well, this person has to carry their own burden then. I'm going to go to
the next person that's willing to help me, to allow me to preach the gospel to them.
Next one, burden of believers. You know, we've got a church, we've got brothers and sisters
in the Lord and, you know, everybody has burdens. Everybody has, look, everybody has
some difficulty. Everyone has some trial, okay? Some more than others, you know, obviously
some more than others and, but we all have it. Never get to the point where you think
I'm the only one that has difficulties. Everybody has difficulties, okay? In fact, the best
Christians are the ones that kind of, you don't even know they're having difficulties
but they are, okay? Because, you know, all they are is like this encouragement, they're
a blessing, they're walking with God and, you know, they're there to just bless one
another and you think, man, this person's got his life together. No, he's got problems
too, okay? But he's walking with the Lord and he knows or he has God's help, you know,
to go through that. You know, don't ever think that, you know, life or even the Christian
life is a life with no difficulties, no burdens. You're always going to have them, all right?
When we decided to come to Sydney for 12 months, there was a financial burden, you know, on
our family. It's a big decision. We have big family to come. It might not seem like much
but it actually involves quite a lot, okay? And you know what? The people in this church,
the families in this church stepped in and helped us financially, okay, to make that
transition over here for 12 months. Hey, you helped lift your pastor's burdens, the financial
burdens that we had to come and serve here. Praise God. That's a great way you can do
things. If you're in that position to help, step in and help, absolutely. Oh, Pastor Kevin,
that's your burden. You need to carry that. Yeah, I'm doing it for everybody. I'm trying
to do it for the church. I'm trying to do it to be a good example and to help this church,
right? Another recent one with a financial issue is Brother Sam and Sister Eve at New
Life Baptist Church. Eve has struggled to fall pregnant, has had many miscarriages unfortunately
but this time things seem to be going very well and unfortunately with COVID, you know,
they had a plan because there's healthcare in New Zealand but because of the border issues,
they're here in Australia and they're in a situation that they weren't expecting themselves
to find and of course without Medicare, we're talking about, you know, going to hospital,
literally thousands of dollars. We don't realise because a lot of us as Aussies, we have Medicare,
we think it's free. It's not free but we think it's free, right? It seems like it's free but
for other people know that they're paying literally tens of thousands of dollars for,
you know, medical things and, you know, again many people have stepped in and helped out,
you know, that family in that financial situation, okay? It's a situation that was
not expected but there it is and people have stepped in to help. Praise God, that's a great way
to, you know, carry one another's burdens, all right? But one thing I need to you to understand
is, you know, it is not your job, one mistake that we often make, you know, it is not your job
to help everybody with their burdens, okay? Some people think it's the pastor's job to carry
everyone's burdens. You know, when I told somebody, an individual, you know, that I wanted to become a
pastor and I was going to start a church, this and that, you know, the person, you know, they're
trying to be an encouragement and trying to warn me as well but they said, are you ready to carry
everyone's burdens? And I said, no, I'm not, okay? Because I can, you know, I really have to carry
my burdens, I'm not ready to carry everybody's burdens. I'm going to mind my own business because
I already understood this doctrine. I already understood that there were leaders, there were
institutions, there were families, God's given ahead and the leader of every institution,
everybody has to carry their own burden. Yeah, I'll help her, I can as a pastor but it's not my job
to go about house to house and solve everybody's issues, okay? Now, of course, as a pastor,
you know, and this is why I'm teaching this stuff, this is why I'm teaching about the institutions,
so you understand that you need to take hold of what you have, your responsibilities and deal
with it and carry your own burdens so you don't become burdensome to others unnecessarily, okay?
And then when you find yourself spiritual and you find yourself having success and you find yourself
doing well in life and you see someone else struggling, you can come alongside them and help
them, okay, to carry their burdens. But the greatest verse that I personally think of when
I think of when you're stressed and worried and concerned is Philippians 4-6. You can turn there
if you want, let's go there. Philippians 4-6, let's please turn there. Philippians chapter 4 and verse
number 6. Philippians 4-6. Obviously, as a pastor, I'm going to hear a lot more of people's burdens
than the average person in the church, right? I think that's obvious, right?
And again, it's not just the people in my church. As I told you, I get random phone calls,
I get random email, I get people asking me biblical questions, I get people asking me
for advice and life advice and, you know, I do my best to find out if they're saved first and
foremost as I said, right? But Philippians 4-6, it says, be careful for nothing. Hey, careful,
full of care. Don't be full of care. Don't be full of worry for nothing. But in everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
And so, brethren, we don't have to carry everybody's burdens all the time. You know what
we do? We find a burden, it's your own burden, say, God, I'm going to bring this, I'm not going
to worry for anything, Lord. Lord, I'm going to bring this to you. You know what, God, I have
control over this. I will deal with this, Lord, you help me deal with that. This is out of my
control. I mean, there are some burdens we carry that is outside of our control. There's nothing
we can do about it. So say, God, this is out of my control, but it's in your control. So I need
to give that part to you. This part, yeah, I can do something about that, Lord, help me to make
the right decisions with this area. But Lord, what is out of my control? That's for you. That's your
burden. You don't have to carry everybody's burden. That was my biggest concern of becoming
a pastor. How am I going to carry everybody's burdens? Well, thank God, I don't have to.
It's impossible for me to do that. But I know a God that can, so whenever I hear issues,
instead of me getting upset and worried and stressing about it, I'm like, all right,
you've given me the burden, let me just give it to God. I'll just dump it to God and God will take
care of it because I want to be careful for nothing. I don't want to have to worry about
things that I can't change. And so as I said, it's not your job to just find everybody with
every issue and just step in and help every burden. The next thing that I have here is
don't create burdens where there are none. Okay, and sometimes and again, people mean well, right?
And I have people sometimes that come up to me and say, oh, you know, I realize you're in this
difficulty. And I'm like, not really. Right? Is there anything that I can do to help you
this challenge or this difficulty? I'm like, it's not even a challenge. Yeah, okay, it's a burden.
We all have burdens to bear. But I'm carrying it just fine. You know, my wife is carrying it just
fine. My children are carrying it just fine. You know, you don't, you know, sometimes people see
you with things that you're carrying burdens that you are carrying, and they want to come in and
like, oh, you can't do it. Let me be the one that helps you. Well, many times, like, it's not even
a burden to me. Okay. You know, you don't, but sometimes the people you know, that it's like I
said, their influence can cause you to make or actually, this is a big burden. Actually, yeah,
you know what, instead of me being happily carrying this burden, I realize now you actually,
this is probably a burden. Now it becomes heavy. Now it becomes stressful. Why am I having to carry
this? Right? And you know, you got to be careful with people that are maybe even mean well,
all right? Make it look like you're carrying a burden when it's not really that difficult to
carry. All right. Jesus Christ says that His burden is easy. All right. His burden is easy.
Now, if, you know, some examples that I might, you know, explain here, I'll give to you.
And again, people mean well, right? But for example, in some churches, when a lady gives birth,
you know, it's difficulty, right? And the Bible calls it labor. It's hard work to give birth.
And then that woman comes home, and she's got maybe other kids to look after, and she's got
her house duties. And sometimes people in the church nicely, and they mean well, are like,
you know what, let's get every lady in the church, and we'll go and we'll make sure that every day
we'll go and deliver them food. Okay. Hey, is that good? Yeah, it's good. That's awesome. You're
trying to carry one another's burdens. I know you're struggling. But you know what? Many times
those mothers don't want that help. I've come across this several times with different people
that are like, Oh, man, someone's coming to my house. And so they're trying to clean up.
They've just had a baby. Right? Their bodies are tired. They're trying to get things tidy,
that this person's coming over to bring a meal from church, you know, man, I got to be a good
guest. And so they come and they bring the meal. And it's like, you're still here. One hour later,
two hours later, three hours, it's still here. You know, can I hold the baby? It's like, Oh,
man, I'm so tired. I've got other things to do. You know, and what you end up doing is you create
more burden than what you thought you were trying to help with. All right. And you need to just be
aware of these things. Just be aware. You know, and you know, if we ever make a decision to help
someone that's given a baby, you know, had a baby and we make a decision to go and help that person
before we go and just make our own plans and invite ourselves to their homes, you know,
is to go to that person and say, Hey, would you like our help? This is what we're willing to do.
Would you like us to do that? Or would you not? And if they decline, guess what? That's fine.
Okay. That's their burden to carry. Every man needs to also carry their own burdens. You don't
get offended. Don't get upset. Okay. It's their burden. You've gone to try to help them. Hey,
it's good, but they don't need your help. They're doing just fine. Well, then let it be. Okay. Let
it be. And if we have another mother that says, yeah, I would like that. I would like
the help. I would like someone to bring, then we do that. Okay. We carry one another's burden.
Next thing that you need to learn in this
study is basically that, you know, some people don't want to be lifted out of their burdens.
Okay. Some people don't want to be lifted out of their burdens. Again,
you know, they may refuse your help. Oh, but I can help you.
If they refuse. If they say no. Okay. Oh, but I want to be there. I can help your brother. Just
okay. No worries. Don't get frustrated. Don't get offended. You know, that person has decided just
to carry their own burden for every man shall bear his own burden. You need to learn this.
This is part of the minding your own business. They've got their business. They're saying,
look, I'm happy to carry this burden on my own. In fact, sometimes it's just easier to carry a
burden on your own than having to shift it to somebody else. We have to explain that situation
and maybe that person tries to carry it and makes a mess of it. Okay. So listen,
if someone doesn't want help, just don't help. Okay. Just accept it. Except that's the way
they want it. But this is the one that you need to be careful of the most.
People that claim they want help. Okay. You go and you provide assistance. You go and carry
their burdens. They claim that they want it. They claim that, you know, you've helped them.
And then, you know, really they're not taking anything on board. They're not improving.
They still have that burden. They still have it. And it's almost like they're happy to have
that great burden on them because it gives them attention. I don't know if you can think of anyone
like this. I call these people black hole friends. Black hole friends. I've had several
black hole friends. What's a black hole? Well, the idea of the black hole is that it has such a
heavy gravitational pull that nothing can get out of it, right? That it sucks in, you know,
any kind of space debris. You know, there's no light. Even light can't escape. Even something
traveling at the speed of light cannot escape the black hole. That's why it's dark. If you guys
understand that, right? Well, there are some people in your life that are black holes, okay?
You offer them help, it gets sucked in. You offer them, you know, your time and your resource,
it gets sucked in. And it's still a black hole, okay? I don't know if you know, if you can think
about people like this, brethren. They claim to want your help. They want your attention.
And you give them advice. And you give them a counsel. But they're just, they're still where
they are. And they're still saying, I need your, I need help. I need guidance. They take nothing
on board, okay? In fact, sometimes not only do they stay where they are, but they get worse and
worse and worse and worse. And you're investing time and resources and prayers and love and stress
and concern. You love that person, it's your friend. And you find, I'm doing all this and
it's not going anywhere. It's a black hole. It's a black hole, okay? They claim to want to be lifted
out of their burdens, but they want to stay in that burden, okay? And you have to make a very
difficult decision and say, you know what? I have to sever this friendship because it's going
nowhere. In fact, it's taken me away from all these other things that I could be doing.
There are people that need their burdens lifted, that want that help and I can be there.
There are other things that I can do. I have my own burdens, but I'm so busy helping somebody
else with theirs that I'm getting crushed under the weight of my own, okay? There are times that
you have to make a decision which is very, very difficult and sever that relationship, right?
It's difficult to admit that, but remind yourself when that happens, when you have to sever, okay?
I mean, I can think of, I won't go for the examples, okay? But I can think of many people
that have come for my aid and they're just, and they're probably even worse now than they've ever
been and they're just going on this downward spiral. They're a black hole and just remind
yourself when it's hard to let go, when it's hard for you to say, well, I can't help this person
anymore, remind yourself the verse, for every man shall bear his own burden. If they want to bear
their own burden, they don't want to take on the advice, they don't want to get out of that rut,
let them be, it's their burden. It's not your burden to bear, okay? So let me just summarise,
conclude and, you know, I want us to understand that we have our responsibilities and we have
our burdens and don't have this expectation that people are just going to come and help you all
the time, okay? I mean, God's always there to help you, okay? That's who you should be going for,
strength and guidance, okay? But at the same time, you know, because, you know, at the same time,
I don't want you thinking that well then, you know, I have my responsibilities, that person
has their responsibilities, therefore we can never help one another, we can never encourage
one another. No, you've missed the point, okay? If you are spiritual, if you are in a position,
you've examined yourself, you're in a position to help someone else with their burdens, then do it.
Praise God, that's the lesson, all right? Seek to be a help to others with their burdens,
but don't forget, if they don't want the help or that you cannot help, you've got to remind
yourself that every man shall bear their own burdens, okay? Hope that helps, let's pray.