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Okay, Galatians chapter 6, and look at verse number 2. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. And that's really nice to think that, you know, we're being commanded here to bear each other's burdens. I feel like my voice is really loud. What is it? It's echoing. I haven't been here for three weeks. I'm not used to preaching here. Anyway, it sounds like my voice is being broadcast. Anyway, it's all good. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. You know, it sounds, so look at that verse. You go, man, that's awesome that, you know, if we've got brothers and sisters in the Lord, we have friends, we have family, that we can come alongside one another and support each other when somebody's facing a trial, a burden, a difficulty. And I remember when I would read this chapter in my young years, I always sort of scratched my head when I looked at verse number 2, and then I looked at verse number 5. Verse number 5 says, For every man shall bear his own burden. Oh, what in the world? You know, is this a contradiction in Scripture? Why is it saying that we should bear one another's burdens, but now it's saying that every man shall bear his own burden? And of course, when it comes to the Bible, there are no contradictions. Okay, everything is true, and so we must understand what God is trying to tell us in this Scripture. The title for the sermon tonight is When Help is Not Helpful. When help is not helpful. Have you ever been in a situation where someone has offered you help, and you maybe gingerly kind of accepted it, you knew, I don't think you're going to help me. I don't think, you know, you're really going to come alongside and support me, but you know, okay, they're offering help, I'll accept it, I feel like I might offend them if I don't accept their help. They've come alongside you, they've tried to help you, and they've only made it worse. Have you ever had that situation develop? I've had that situation, and I wanted to tell you when they were, because I don't want to offend brothers and sisters in the Lord, when they've, you know, meant to do good things, and maybe I've come alongside you sometimes to try to help you, and I've only made your situation worse, it's possible. You know, we can be on either side of this equation, and so this is what I believe God is trying to bring us to. There is a time to bear one of those burdens, but there's also another time where every man must bear their own burden, and so we must understand the context of the situation. Now, when we look at Galatians 6, let's just get the context of verse number two, because obviously the chapter did not start with verse number two. Verse number one really gives us the context of when it is that we should come alongside someone and help them with their burdens. Verse number one says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, okay, someone's in a fault, someone's got a burden, someone's got a trial, someone's struggling with a sin, whatever it is, whatever fault that could be, it says everybody at church restores such and one in the spirit of meekness. Is that what it says? No, no. It says ye which are spiritual, okay, restore such and one in the spirit of meekness. So you've got to assess, am I in the right spiritual condition to help this person in their burden? And then it says in the spirit of meekness, when I come alongside this person, am I meek, am I lowly, or am I coming alongside and am I being lifted up and haughty and prideful, and look what you've done to yourself. You wouldn't have done that if you just took my advice. No, you've got the wrong spirit if you come alongside them with that spirit. It says here, considering thyself, consider yourself, lest thou also be tempted. Sometimes, I'll give you just an example. I don't have this example in my life, but I'll give you an example. Let's say two of you have been alcoholics in the past. You struggle with the booze, you know, and you both, you know, after you get saved, you both are able to clean up your lives, and you know, you go about whole living, and you don't touch that wicked thing. You know what God has to say about that topic, and then one of those brothers falls into alcohol once again. You know, they have a weak time, and they turn to the booze, and they're drunk again. You know, should you as a former alcoholic be the one that really comes alongside them and helps them in that situation? Maybe, probably not though, because you need to consider yourself. You could be tempted. When you go alongside that brother, and they express to you why they went back to the alcohol, what they're struggling with, you might be tempted to get back into that same old sin. So are you the right person? You know, what we see in this context is consider yourself, are you the right person to offer your help? And if you are the right person, you are one that is spiritual, you are someone that has come alongside meekly, you have considered yourself, you realize you're not going to be the one tempted to fall in that regard. Now you're the one that ought to bear one another's burdens. You're the one that needs to be there to help that person in that time of difficulty. But you can see when you look at verse number one, there are conditions as to who that person is. Now, let's understand the context of verse number five. For every man shall bear his own burden. What is God trying to tell us about this? Well, look at the verse previous to that. Look at verse number four. But let every man prove his own work. Then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. So it's saying here, look, when you're going through a difficulty and a trial, you need to take that responsibility upon yourself. You know, you're not to run away from the problems. You're not to hand that problem over to somebody else. You're not to hand that problem over to your pastor. You're to take that, you're meant to take ownership of that. And when you sort it out, for every man shall bear his own burden, it says, and then you shall have rejoicing in himself, in yourself. You'll be able to say, wow, with God's help, I was able to overcome this challenge. I was able to overcome this trial. I got through it and now I can rejoice that God used this burden, God used this trial to better me, to profit me, to help me grow and to be someone of a mature standing. Someone that is a little bit more like Jesus Christ after I've gone through this trial. But you see, when you go through a burden and you bear it alone, and of course not completely alone with the Lord God at your side, and you come through, you can rejoice. You can learn through that. But if someone takes that burden away from you, are you going to grow? Are you going to mature? Are you going to learn from that experience? No, you've learned how to run away. You've learned how to run away. You've learned how to blame anybody else and you've learned how to handle a promise to everybody else. No, God wants us to bear our burdens. He's given us his burdens for a purpose so we can grow. And when we go through them, we can rejoice in the Lord when he sees us through. And so understanding the context, of course, makes all the difference. But you see, both of these things are true. There's a time to come alongside and help somebody. There's also a time for let everybody themselves handle their own burdens and for you to handle your own burdens. And so, again, the two problems when you're trying to help someone when God is telling them that they have to carry that burden on loan, again, you're stopping that burden bearer from rejoicing in recovery, but also you end up carrying somebody else's burdens which will cause you unnecessary stress and problems. Okay, look, I'll give you an example. And it's very easy. As someone that is, you know, you're friendly and you care for people, it's very easy to get into this problem. But you've got friend A having a conflict with friend B, all right? And friend A comes to you and says, look, I've got this problem, I've got this conflict, you know, can you help me out? What you should say, and this is a biblical teaching, I call it Christ, is you should say to that person, look, take your issue to that one person one on one alone. I don't need to hear it. But it's very easy as a friend to go, you know what, I'll contact so and so, I'll contact friend B over there, and tell them about the issues you've got. If you're struggling to talk to them, I'll step in, I'll carry your burden, I'll go talk to friend so and so. And then friend B says, well, why couldn't friend A come to me directly? That's a bit wrong. You know, why did you get involved? Well, can you tell him in return that he should come to me? Okay, I guess I will. Now go back friend A, you know, friend B over there says, you know, you should be getting, now all of a sudden you're this middle person, it's not your problem, it never was your problem. God's way of rectifying that issue was that person goes to that person, and now you find yourself going back and forth, back and forth, and your friends are getting mad at you when you're giving them information that they didn't want to hear. Have you ever been that person, caught in the middle of someone else's problems? Because you try to be a good friend. But the right instruction at that point would have been, hey, they have to carry their own burdens. Let them rejoice when they sort out their own issues. You know, it'll strengthen their friendship. You know, when two people in conflict are struggling, and when they talk it over, and they say sorry, and they forgive each other, it strengthens the friendship. But when they find out you've gone to source C, you've gone to someone else, it's only going to anger the issue, it's only going to make the issue worse. And that's not the time for you to carry someone else's burden. Now, there are times that we might carry each other's burdens. I'll just quickly read to you. Actually, can you turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5? Come with me to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Now, let me give you just a real situation, which should be a very everyday scenario for us as God's people. While you're turning to 1 Peter 5, I'll read to you from Romans 12. Romans 12, 15 says, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Weep with them that weep. You know, one thing I've learned to the pastor is, just sometimes, someone's going through a hardship, sorrows, sadness, and I used to think I've got to lift them out of that sadness, or I've got to provide them a solution, because maybe they're struggling to find the solution themselves. But what I found as a pastor, the most effective thing that I can do when someone's weeping, is just to weep with them. Okay? And when you learn to just weep with that person that's weeping, they say, wow, my pastor, or my friend, my brother, or my sister, and the Lord, my friend loves me. You know, they care for me, they sense my hurt, and they hurt for me as well, because from what I'm going through. And that is, you are carrying their burdens. Because at that time, they realize, I've got friends, I've got brothers and sisters that love me, that care for me. And that makes a huge difference when you're going through a downtrodden time, and you're going through a time of sadness. But the reason I read Romans 12, 15 to you is, you know, is brother, do we have brother John here? No, whatever John. Okay, you know, is brother John always going to be weeping? Every single Sunday, every single Thursday? You know, is that his life forever? Just constant weeping? You're going to come alongside and weep and carry his burdens constantly? No, no, no. There are going to be times in his life that he's rejoicing. And there's going to be times in his life when he's doing just fine. There's other times in life when he's got sorrow and sadness, and that's the life of all of us, right? It's not always, woo hoo, party. It's not always sad crying and sad, you know, sadness. And it's, you know, most of the time, life is just getting through the day-to-day situations. And so this kind of help when you come alongside someone isn't going to be something that goes on indefinitely, is what I'm trying to say. When someone is weeping, they're going through a difficult situation, a one-off situation, a rare scenario, and that's a great time for you to come alongside them and weep with them. But what I'm trying to say is, it's not an ongoing scenario. And I'm going to touch upon that as we go further into this sermon. You're in 1 Peter 5, verse number 6. 1 Peter 5, verse number 6. Now, the first point I have for you, brethren, is when help is not helpful. When help is not helpful is when you put yourself in the place of God, okay? Friend has a problem. Friend, tell me all your problems. Friend, speak to me. Vent to me. Tell me your issues. Let's sit down, grab a coffee, and tell me what bothers you right now, friend. Look, that is not the right approach. The Bible's so clear. You know what the Bible says about a topic like this. In 1 Peter 5, verse number 6, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, cast in all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Okay? So, brethren, when you've got burdens, when you've got trials, when you've got difficulties, that's not the time to pick up the phone and call your friend. That's not the time to pick up the phone and call your pastor. Now, I'm not going to reject your phone call, but what I would expect, the first phone call you make is to God. You say, God, I'm struggling. God, I've got a burden. God, I've got concerns. I've got issues. And Lord, the only person that I can rely on, the only person that I know that can bear my burden and help me in this journey is you. Because the Bible says, cast in all your care upon him, for he careth for you. See, God can do something about your burdens. Now, look, it's very rare for us to do too much. Like, we are limited beings. You know, we can't change the events and causes of someone's personal life. Again, we can come alongside. We can weep. Look, if you've got an issue, I'm not saying don't call me. Call me. That's one of my jobs as a pastor is to pray for you. And if I give you some biblical advice, I'll do that. But I should be secondary, down the list. Like, God's up there, and then Pastor Kevin's down here, and then other people, other friends are down there, compared to God. But many times, when we go through burdens and trials, we reach out to man first. No, reach out to God. God careth for you. You see, every other human being has problems, has burdens themselves. You know, is there anyone here, bold enough to say, our pastor, I've got no problems in life. I've got no burdens. It's too easy. Life is just too easy for us. Everyone's got burdens, right? Whether it's your health, whether it's relationships, whether it's your finances, whether it's, I don't know, your spiritual situation, right? There's so many burdens that we all carry at different times. And guess what that means? Everybody else is carrying burdens. And brethren, God is the only one that can carry them. In fact, in the mindset of eternity, Christ already carried your burdens to the cross. He already paid for the sins, and not just the sins, but the consequences of sins, okay? Jesus Christ was able to take on every punishment, all the curses of sin upon himself, all the sorrow, all the hurt, all the sicknesses, all the curses because of sin upon his body. God's already borne them on the cross. So going to God, he knows what your issue is. He knows what you're struggling with. Go to God first. The problem with you coming alongside brother, tell me about your issues. Sit down with me. Look, I get a lot of issues. And look, I need you to understand, if you call me about a problem, I'm not going to reject you, okay? I'm going to hear what you have to say, all right? But here's the thing. I don't need to know every little bit of detail. Even as your pastor, I don't need to know. I don't need to know every skeleton in your closets. It's very easy for you to say to me, pastor, can you just pray for my marriage? That tells me enough. I don't need to know about your argument last night. I don't need to know what you expressly argued about last night. I don't need to know anything about that. I just pray for me and my wife, pray for my marriage, pray for my husband. I will do that. I will take it to the Lord. I will take it to the one that saw everything, that knows everything, that knows if it's your blame or your spouse's blame or if it's both your blame. God knows. I will take it to him. And that is my job as a pastor. I don't need to know every detail. Be careful when people come alongside and say give me every detail of your issue. Because you don't know how they're going to use that information, okay? And even if they're well-meaning, you don't know how that information might be translated elsewhere, how it might be communicated elsewhere and now that help is not helpful because it's caused you other problems. But see, help is not helpful when you put yourself in the place of God. God is the one that can carry our burdens. He is the one that cares for us. You're still there in 1 Peter. Can't we meet to 1 Peter 4? 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4. Ramsey, can I bother you for a cup of water? 1 Peter 4, please. Look at verse number 15. 1 Peter 4, verse number 15. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. You know, one of the things I hate the most just in life, not even necessarily as a Christian, just in life, I hate busybodies. I do and I preach about these things a lot, okay? Because look, I mean, look at the list that being a busybody is within. Murderer, thief, evildoer, busybody. Like you think being a gossiper, being involved in other people's matters, you know, forcing yourself in other people's situation, you think, oh, that's something minor. Look, it's compared to murderer and thief and all this kind of stuff, right? I mean, it's pretty wicked. And see, when you start to involve yourself in somebody else's life, it's very easy, even if you don't intend it, very easy to become a busybody. Because when you start to hear gossip, you know what the natural man does. Oh, tell me more. I want to know more about the situation. What else? What do you think? What happened? Oh, really? Look, it's so easy to become a busybody, okay? And look, it's so wicked. It's so wicked. You know, we all have our own lives, okay? And once again, God sees the challenges that we face, we have our own challenges, we have our own family issues, whatever it is. You know, when you get yourself in someone else's business, oh, but I'm trying to help. It's not helpful. You're becoming a busybody. You know, you're trying to understand every little bit of detail, but you don't understand the context. You don't understand the history. You don't understand every scenario that person might be going through. And you're going to end up with a perception of that person's life or that person's sin or that person's struggle, that person's faults differently to the reality of that person's life. I've seen it so many times. People make these final conclusions about somebody. They got so involved in their business and it's not even the reality of that person's life. You've become a busybody. You've tried to interpret their life in light of your understanding, which is faulty. And it causes damage. You know, it causes hurt and pain. You know, especially if you're a busybody and you start to gossip that information to somebody else. It's so easy. That's why I don't want to know about every little detail of your life because I talk to a lot of people. I'm constantly on emails. I'm constantly on messages. I'm constantly on phone calls. And if I'm not careful, I might say something about one person to another person. So I'd rather just not know. I'd just rather know the general gist. All right, I'll be praying for you. Understand. We'll take it to the Lord. But help is not helpful because we're in this situation when it encourages you to become a busybody. You want to know about everybody's issues. Come with me to Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. And I know a few of these things I kind of mentioned a little bit in the introduction, but I just want to give you some scriptures to think about also. When you come alongside someone and try to help them when it's not the right time to help, I sort of mentioned this before, but you rob someone of their potential to grow. You rob someone of their potential to grow. Look, I'll give you just an on-the-job scenario. There was a, you know, I was in a management role and I had some supervisors under me. And I recently promoted one person into a position of a supervisor because I felt this person had the qualities. You know, they could step up. They could challenge themselves. But this one individual, when they step up to the role, were very insecure about taking on the position. And then every hour of the day, I'd get a knock on the office. Hey boss, can I talk to you about this? Can I talk to you about this? Can I talk to you about this? At first, you know, I started to give some advice and some counsel. Eventually I got to a point where I was like, look, you've got to stop coming to me. I promoted you for a reason. I promoted you because I saw some qualities in you. I know you can do this job. Like you got to learn to trust yourself. You've got the skills. If I'm coming and sorting out every issue there was no point of employing you. I can do the job myself. You're there to do the role. And look, once that person realized that their burden was for themselves, guess what? They flourished in their role. But while they were asking questions and going back to the boss and making sure and checking with this person and checking with that person, they never grew. They never learnt. At some point, you've got to bear that burden alone because those burdens have a purpose in your life. Look at Romans chapter five, verse number three. Romans chapter five, verse number three. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. Tribulations is the word trouble. We glory in trouble also. Why do we glory in trouble? Why do we glory in tribulations? You say, Pastor, I don't want to glory in tribulations. I want to run away from my problems. I want to run away from my burdens. Why should I glory in this? Well, it says here, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Look, if you're going through some tribulation right now, maybe God has said, you know what? You need to learn a bit of patience. You need to become more long suffering. You have to become more patient in your life and God will send you a problem. See, God is at work. He's trying to refine you. He's helping you grow. And when someone comes alongside, let me take that problem away from you. Well, you're robbing me for my potential to grow. You're robbing me for my opportunity to learn patience. And what else? Verse number four. And patience, experience. And experience, hope. Right? I mean, the more trials you go through, the more burdens you go through, and you learn how to overcome that, you get through to the other side, it gives you experience. You'll be better prepared for the next time you go through a trouble. Or you'll be a support to someone that's going through a trouble similar to yours. And you can say, hey, I went through that as well, brother. This is how I handle it. Now that might work for you. Experience and hope. Hope has been hopeful for the future. Having a positive outlook. Right? And then verse number five. And hope, make if not ashamed. Because the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. That hope, that positive mindset is really where you want to get to in life. Where you've got a problem, you've got a burden, and yes, there's a time to weep. Yes, and there's a time to cry out to the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know what to do. You know, please help me. But at the same time, at the same time, while you're going through that down, when you're heavy laden in that regard, if you've gone through trials and you've come through the other side, you will start to learn to be positive minded. You go, Lord, I don't know what your plan is for me right now, but I know when I get through this issue, it's going to be for my profit. Lord, I know there's something more you're going to teach me. I know I'm going to grow through this situation. I know I'm going to be more mature. I know I'm going to be more like Jesus Christ when I get through the other side. It doesn't feel good right now, Lord. I need to cry out to you, but I've got a positive mindset. I'm hopeful because I know you're going to come through and help me. And Brevin, this is part of maturity. This is part of growth, okay? Having burdens, going through troubles, going through difficulties. God allows this in your life so you can grow. So would you really want someone to come alongside and remove that burden from you when God is trying to work in your life? God is trying to profit you. God is trying to help you. Now God's not going to send you a problem so great that you can't carry, all right? And when you get to a point where you feel like, Pastor, I can't carry it, that's when you take it to God, right? Cast all your care upon Him because He cared for you. So the right attitude when you go through problems and tribulations is, I can't wait to see how God uses this situation. I can't wait to see how God is going to make something good out of this tough time. And look, if you've not taken that view, if you're going through a problem right now and you've not been that kind of person, look, I don't think you're an idiot. I don't think, like, it's hard. It's hard. It requires maturity. That's why God wants to work in you. Like, even me, when I'm going through difficulties, I'm not like, yes, whoa, yes, God. I'm like, not again. What's this issue about? You know, am I going to fail? You know, well, God, what have I done? I don't know what to do. You go through these periods of fear and concern and loss, but, see, God is refining us. God is making us into something greater, someone that can be hopeful, someone that can be positive-minded, someone that has experience. Come with me to 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17. I gave you that example of my supervisor who had a lot of questions. And then when I said to them, look, you can do it. You know, trust in your abilities. All right? Just give it your best effort, right? What do you think that developed in that supervisor? A bit of self-confidence, you think? You know what? I can do this. I can do this on my own. I don't need to run to someone else. Well, when someone tries to help you and it's not helpful, they try to remove that burden completely away from you, it causes you to lose self-confidence. Okay, self-confidence. Now, look at 1 Samuel 17, verse number 32. We're looking here at the story of David, very famous story, you all know it, when David had to deal with Goliath. All right? David was a shepherd boy. David was not a soldier, if you know the story. He's a young lad. He's not a soldier. He's a shepherd boy. And he comes to the battlefield. He sees the Philistines mocking the Israelites and he sees Goliath and he goes, why isn't anyone taking down Goliath? All right? And David's like, I can take down Goliath. I mean, he's got confidence. He's got a lot of self-confidence. Why does he have the confidence? We'll look at verse number 32, 1 Samuel 17, 32. And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him, because of Goliath. Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for thou art but a youth. And he a man of war from his youth. It's like, David, you're just a young lad. Are you kidding me? You've not been a soldier. You're a young guy. This guy is a seasoned veteran soldier. All right? There's no way you can take him on. Verse number 34. And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep. All right? That's what he was. He was a shepherd. And there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. Now, brothers and sisters in the Lord, if you're in your backyard, let's say you have a pet dog or a pet cat or something, all right? In your backyard. And a lion or a bear comes into your backyard and, you know, it's hunting down your little precious pet or it's got your pet in its mouth. What are you going to do about it? Like, seriously, just. Probably, yeah. Look, honestly, if a lion or bear, you know, was in my backyard, I'd be calling animal control. I'd be calling the council. I don't know what I'd be calling the police. I don't know. I'd be calling somebody, wouldn't I? Like, you think there's no way you're going to take on a lion or a bear. But look at David. He says in verse number 35. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Okay. Just look, I took on the bear. I destroyed the bear. I took on the lion. I destroyed the lion. Verse number 36. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. And then he says this. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go and the Lord be with thee. Brethren, David did not call animal control. All right. David did not call the cops. He did not call the army. When he saw the bear and the lion in his field, hunting his sheep, he went out and took him out. Now, do you think a bear and a lion is a big burden? It's a huge burden. That's why we'd rather run away from it. We'd rather somebody else handle the situation. We'd rather somebody else come and carry our burdens. Let's call the bear control. Let's call the lion control. Whatever it is. All right. Or if you've got some weapons at home, guys, bring your weapons. Something like this, right? It's very rare for us to go out, you know, like a David, like a shepherd, you know, with very few instruments of war to get out there and take on this great burden. But he took on the burden, you know? And as he took on his burdens, guess what? He grew in confidence. So much so that even though he's not a soldier in the army, when he sees Goliath, a seasoned big man, big muscles, huge stature of a soldier, he goes, I can take him down. I can take down the next burden because I've taken on other burdens in the past. You see, when you carry your own burdens and you don't let people take it away from you or you don't run away from it, it develops self-confidence. Confidence in yourself. I've done it before, I can do it again. I've taken on other character, I can take on the bigger challenge because I've proven, I've got a track record that I've done well in my life before. Now, look, David's a great man here. You know, he doesn't glory in himself. He glories in the Lord, right? In verse number 37, he said, David, moreover, said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the port of the lion and out of the port of the bear, because it wasn't really me, it was the Lord. The Lord gave me the ability. The Lord is the one that helped me take on these burdens. And now he's got the experience. He's able to now, he's hope, he's got hope. I can take on Goliath. And, brethren, this is why you don't want to just hand your problems and your issues to your pastor or to always your parents or, you know, some friend, because you're going to lose out on the opportunity to develop self-confidence, to develop a track record. So, when future problems come, you're ready to take them on. You've got the confidence. Yes, I can do it again. You're in 1 Samuel. Come with me to 2 Samuel. Come with me to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6. Now, I don't want this sermon to be misunderstood. I'm not saying never come alongside and help someone out in a problem. Okay? In fact, that's what David exactly did. This problem of Goliath was a problem of soul and the armies of Israel. And guess what? David comes alongside and carries their burden. Okay? But, so, that is an important part. I don't want you to completely go to a point where I'm never going to help anybody. I heard pastor Kevin's sermon. You know, brother so-and-so is going through a hardship. Forget about it. He's got to go through the experience. I don't care about it. Right? He doesn't need me because I'm going to make things worse. No, I'm not. That's not the point. What we saw earlier when we saw Galatians chapter 6. Hey, there is a time to carry one another's burdens but this was about time for each person to carry their own burdens. And what we want to do is when we see someone going through a trial or difficulty, we want to be able to make the right decision. Is it time for me to step in or is this something they need to carry? Okay? And that's the purpose of this sermon tonight. But 2 Samuel 6 and verse number 1. 2 Samuel 6 and verse number 1. Now, next thing I want to talk about is sometimes, look, if you've tried to help, if you've been that person, you've tried to help but your help wasn't helpful. You tried to help but you only made things worse. Okay? If that's been you, let me strongly encourage you to just put your hand up and say, look, I'm sorry. I messed up. I thought I could help but I didn't. I couldn't. What I've seen in my life, in church, as a pastor, what I've seen over the years is that when someone's help is not helpful, when someone's help has made things worse, instead of acknowledging, yep, I wasn't the right person at this right time. All right? They start to say other things. They try to hide behind good intentions. Oh, but I meant well. I mean, it's great that you meant well but the end result is worse. You know? Like, but people do. I meant to do that. Like, I meant to help. Oh, but I've done so much for this person. I've done so much for that person. Look, don't worry. Just the situation at hand right now. Did you help or did you not help? And if your help was not helpful, your hope was worse, just put your hand up. I messed up. Sorry about that, brother. Sorry about that, sister. I thought I could help but I realised I was out of my depth. I've probably made it worse. Please forgive me. All right? That's much better than to hide behind good intentions but I meant well. Don't worry if you meant well. You caused problems. Okay? Now, look at 2 Samuel 6. I want to show you a story about good intentions. 2 Samuel 6, verse number 1. Now, this is the time when the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of God, was taken by the enemy. Long story, but they're trying to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into Israel. And it says there in verse number 1, again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000, and David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Baal-e of Judah to bring up from thence the Ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. So, they're going to get the Ark of God. They're going to get the Ark of the Covenant. Do you guys know what the Ark of the Covenant is? You know, it's that Ark where the priests would have to carry on staves. Okay, they had four priests, two priests at the front, two priests at the back. They had these staves and they would carry the Ark of God and inside the Ark was the Ten Commandments, was the Rod of Aaron. It was Aaron, yeah, that's right. And I think it was something else. Showbread, I think, also in there. But also, it was the Ark where the Holy of Holies was and they would sometimes once a year sprinkle blood upon the top of that altar. But anyway, so this is a precious ornament to the Israelites and so they're bringing that back and it says here in verse number three, and they set the Ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. That sounds great, Pastor. You know, they got a new cart. It's been recently made. It must be strong. It must be able to carry that covenant securely and so they're doing the best they can, Pastor. You know, they've got good intentions, Pastor. They're bringing it on this new Ark. But again, if you know the Commandments of God, that's not how they were to carry the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant had to be carried by staves by the priests. It had to be walked. It was literally a burden on the shoulders of the priests. Okay, but they wanted to remove the burden and put it on a cart. Okay, let the horses pull it or whatever it was, right? It says here the, what was it? The oxen, all right? And then it says in verse number four, and they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the Ark of God and Ahio went before the Ark and David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps and on salt trees and on timbrels and on corn and on cymbals. So they've got this wonderful music playing as the Ark has been carried. They're excited. They're happy. You know, we've got it back. We're going to bring it back. Verse number six. And when they came to Nacon's fresher floor, Azar put forth his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen shook it. So the oxen carrying the Ark, right? In a new cart. It gets a bit unstable. The cart wobbles and the Ark starts to tip over. Now, Azar had good intentions. He gets ready to hold the Ark. I don't want it to, we don't want it to fall. So he puts his hand out to steady it. God, that's good intentions, pastor. He means well. Verse number seven. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Azar and God smote him there for his error and there he died by the Ark of God. He said, but pastor, he had good intentions. Yeah, but he was not to touch it. Only the priests were allowed to touch it, okay? He was not to be carried in that manner. But he did it. He had good intentions and God kills him because of his good intentions. Reverend, don't hide behind good intentions. You make someone's life worse. Just say, man, I made it worse. I'm sorry. You're better doing that, okay? Look at verse number eight. David was afraid. David developed a fear of God right there. Whoa. God just killed a man who had good intentions. But see, even though he had good intentions, the problem is he did not follow the commandments of God. See, God would prefer obedience, okay? Then good intentions. Good intentions that end in a bad result. God prefers your obedience. And if only they did it the right way. So David starts to ask the question, how are we going to bring this thing? Now, just very quickly, I'll just read to you from 1 Chronicles 15 verse one, just very quickly. It says, and David made him houses in the city of David and prepared a place for the Ark of God and pitched for it a tent. And then David said, none ought to carry the Ark of God but the Levites. For them have the Lord chosen to carry the Ark of God and to minister unto him forever. And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Lord into his place, which he had prepared for it. Did David learn his lesson? Absolutely. He goes, look, nobody's allowed to carry that. Except the Levites. Except the priests. They're the only ones. That's what God commanded. Regardless of good intentions, okay, good intentions are wrong at the end of the day if it ends in a bad result. Good intentions are wrong if it makes a situation worse. You'd rather be obedient. You'd rather do things God's way all the time, okay? And doing things God's way all the time will always have a positive result. What I'm saying, brethren, is look, be careful when people are just all over you to help you and you know it's not helpful. Maybe be honest. Look, brother, I know you mean well but I've got this. I'm fine. I'm fine, brother. I've got this. Now, the next thing I want to talk to you about is this. Sometimes we think of burdens and trials and many times people think of this as a bad thing, okay? Now, what I want to say to you, brethren, is that being busy, all right, I feel like I'm a very busy person, okay? But being busy and hardships, they're not bad things, okay? Being busy and having hardships are not bad things. You know, I listen to a lot of, I don't just read my Bible. You know, I always do other things. I try to listen to, you know, just good advice just about life and maybe investments and just different things about life and one thing I always see is that people are always seeking to retire as early as they can. Now, like that sounds really good. Like really, it sounds wonderful. Like the idea of just retiring, not having to work, being self-dependent and again, you know, if God's blessed you and he's given you that ability and you have to step away from Monday to Friday kind of work, I'm not blaming you, but I'm saying, hey, keep busy. Keep busy, you know, still handle issues, keep yourself busy because I don't know if it's a problem. But business and hardship are not bad things and sometimes we want to run away when things get too busy, when they get too overwhelming. Sometimes we want to run away when things are too hard. We want someone to come alongside and take that difficulty away from us. Brother Hayden, you've heard this in a new life after church. I know because I'm looking at my illustration here and I remember you told me how to pronounce it. But there's a, there's a, I don't know if you've heard this story, but it's well documented. The monarch butterfly. Okay, you know butterflies start as a caterpillar and then they get themselves in not a cocoon, a chrysalis. It's coming back to you now? It's got a chrysalis. All right, but that caterpillar, that monarch, has to struggle. Okay, as it tries to break itself out of the chrysalis, as it's emerging and becoming that butterfly and that metamorphosis, it needs the struggle. You may have heard a story, I've heard it multiple times in different ways taught, where a man saw this monarch butterfly struggling to come out of its chrysalis. Okay, so he thought, I'll be helpful. Poor little creature. Look how it's suffering. I'm going to come alongside, I'm going to start breaking it apart so you can come out, make it a little bit easier so the butterfly doesn't have to struggle so much and then he can fly away. Well, he broke the chrysalis, he helped the butterfly out, but when the butterfly came out, it just fell to the floor. The wings were underdeveloped, they were too small, the body was still too swollen. Okay, and that caterpillar then just died. Okay, just perished very quickly because it's not fit for life. Okay, now this man, he felt, man, I helped. Yeah, but your help was not helpful. Your help was a disaster. Your help caused that caterpillar to perish. It needed the struggle, is what I'm trying to say. As it struggles, the wings develop, the swollen part of the body, the fluid goes into the wings, helps them develop, gets stronger, so that when it comes out, it's even better than it was when it first went into that chrysalis. I mean, you would say the butterfly is much better than the caterpillar. The butterfly can fly, it can get around a lot easier than the caterpillar can. But because someone could try it, oh, I've got good intentions, I'm going to help it, you made it worse. You know, life is a lot like that. You know, and you come alongside, always trying to help so and so, you're making things worse. They need the struggle, or you need the struggle. You know, stop running away, stop giving it to somebody else, just deal with it, handle it, and say, God, you've given this to me because you're trying to make me into something better. Business and hardships are not bad things. You know, I get a lot of people say to me, and look, if you've said that, because a lot of people have said it to me, you know, I know you mean well, you know, a pastor must be difficult, two churches traveling back and forth every week, this and that, three, four sermons, everyone says it to me. But here's the thing, this is a hardship that God gave me for a reason. I don't know exactly why, I don't know why, I can't really tell you why. Are there times that I just wish, God, please just remove me, this responsibility from my shoulders? You know, God, can you just expedite a man to come and take over this church so I don't have to travel? Do you think there are times that my mind doesn't think that? But I don't know what kind of pastor I would be if I only had one church. Maybe I'd be a failure of a pastor, like maybe I'd be very selfish, like I don't know, I don't know, but God has given me a difficulty, a hardship for a reason, okay? And this is why, you know, things can be difficult, things can be hard, but I know God is doing something in me, I know God is trying to make me a better pastor, you know, maybe a better father, maybe a better husband, maybe a better friend, maybe someone that is more empathetical when someone is going through a difficulty, I don't know what it is, but one thing I've learned in life, if God's given me a hardship, I'm not going to run away from it. Sometimes people say, you know, it must be hard for your wife with 12 kids. It is hard, it is hard, but would she be as good of a mother if you're just the one? I don't know, you know, you know, maybe we needed this hardship, maybe we needed this difficulty, I'm giving you my examples, you've got your examples. All I'm saying to you is, you get to a point, this sermon is part of the Perfect Man series, we're trying to become the perfect man, you're going to get to a point, as you grow mature, where you say, what, Lord, just bring on the hardship. Lord, make it difficult, because I want to grow, I want to be better, I want to learn something more, I want to be a greater person in your sight, I want to be more like Jesus Christ. And so, Lord, if you need to send me the burdens, you need to hand me the hardships, then do it. You know, my wife just gave birth, of course, and it's not easy, like a cesarean, she struggles, and there are tears at times, but I know that that pain and suffering that she's going to go through is going to cause her, not that she doesn't, but it's going to cause her to value this baby even more so, because of the anguish, because of the pain that she's gone through. She's going to go, man, it was all worth it in the end, you know, this child was worth the pain, the suffering, the labour, the difficulty, you know, any time a lady gives birth, you know, you need that struggle, you need that hardship, so you can value what comes forth afterwards. Can you come with me to, come with me to 1 Thessalonians, please, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Let me give you an example, just because I'm thinking about it right now, of a situation where help is not helpful. You know, sometimes when ladies give birth, you know, it's not unusual for other ladies, especially in churches, to come alongside and say, you know what, we'll prepare a meal for you, so you guys can relax, and you know, take it easy, we'll go and send you a frozen lasagna, or whatever it is, right, something you can heat up in the oven, something you can heat up in the microwave maybe. And look, there's nothing wrong with that in of itself. Please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. You know, if people want to do that, if people want to bless one another like that, go for it, or if the Lord's putting your heart, go for it, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but one thing we've experienced, and I won't say, because it was actually in Old Church anyway, but one thing I've heard other women also speak about, is when someone prepares a meal, oh, I want to go and bless, I want to go and help sister so-and-so who's just given birth. Okay, great, you make them a meal, knock on their door, all right, sister so-and-so, this is what you should do, I've prepared a meal for you, all right, you don't have to cook tonight, or tomorrow night you can just stay in the fridge until tomorrow, all right, this is going to make your life easier, God bless you sister, praying for you, you know, hope you fully recover, and are keeping you in mind, thank you for being an encouragement to me, see you later. That would be helpful. But sometimes, oh, sister can I come in, I've got a meal for you, can I see the baby, can I sit down and have a conversation with you, then they're there for an hour, they're there for two hours, they're there for five hours, and you know what that mum who's just had a baby is saying, I'm in pain, I'm sleepy, I need to breastfeed this child, I don't want to breastfeed in front of you, can you please go home, but I don't know how to tell you to get lost, because you've been so nice to me, but your help is no longer helpful, you're making my day stressful, that happens, and I've heard people complain about it, you see there's nothing wrong with the meal in itself, but that's the help, boom, but sometimes people take this view that, I don't know why, because you know everyone is important in God's eyes, and I don't want to attack, like I don't want to attack people, because people do mean well, they have good intentions, as I had good intentions, right, but it still bothered David when he saw what God did to him, people have good intentions, but it's so easy, what we saw earlier was to become that busy body, you know, and then they go to church, oh yeah, I was helping sister so and so, I was at her house for five hours, oh man you must be such a great lady, and you caused problems, you made it more difficult, you made it more stressful, that's not the time for the gossip and the chatter, where did I get to turn? 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 11, 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 it says, that ye, sorry, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, that means mind your own business, get busy with your own life, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing, you know it says that you may have lack of nothing, that's saying that you're perfect, you're well rounded, you're not lacking any major things in life, you need to get to the point where you learn how to be quiet, you learn how to mind your own business, to do your own business, to work with your own hands, not always to rely on everybody else to get you through life, this is part of growing and becoming a perfect, well-rounded person. So brethren, let me just summarize, I'm not near the end, let me just summarize very quick, because I spent most of my time explaining when your help is not helpful, okay, but I do want you to understand, and let me summarize very quickly, the problems when you try to help and it's not the right time, let me just summarize those points very quickly once again, number one, you're putting yourself in a place of God, okay, number two, it's encouraging you to be a busybody in other people's matters, number three, you're robbing someone of their potential to grow, okay, those are the key reasons, and you need to assess this, you need to ask yourself these questions, before I just step in and help someone, am I the right person? Okay, now let me conclude with when should you help? Because we should help, okay, it's the first thing that we saw, this is the law of Christ, we saw it earlier, God does want us to be there and to bear one of those burdens, but when is that situation? Well, first of all, ask yourself this question, is the person who's suffering that burden, are they under your authority? If they're under your authority, it's an automatic yes, I do have to help this person, husbands, if your wife has burdens, you don't just say, oh honey, that's your problem, oh, she's under your authority, okay, you're the leader in that scenario, right, you work it together, I don't like these marriage situations that I hear about, oh, he lives his life, she lives her life, he's got his finances, she's got her finances, he's got his burdens, she's got his burdens, basically we have nothing in common except that we live on the same roof and we have the same kids. Now look, if someone's under your authority, it's an automatic yes, okay, if you have children that are going through difficulties, it is your burden to carry, okay, as an employer, if you're an employer and your employees aren't able to do the job properly, they're failing on your job, it's your responsibility as the employer to come alongside that employee, how can I help you? What is it that you need? You need more training, how can I give you the confidence you need to further and to do the work that you need to do? If they're under your authority, it's an automatic yes. The next thing that you should think about is this, ask, don't presume that somebody needs help, ask, okay, don't be like, oh, you know, well, let's say someone's, I don't know, brother Les, you're suffering a very problem, brother Les, well see, here's your problem, here's your situation, I mean, did he ask for my help? No, ask, you know, brother, I know you're going through some difficulties right now, is there anything I can do to help? You know, sister, you know, you're struggling with this scenario, I had a very similar scenario in my life too, going back 10 years ago, would you like to hear how I overcame that? Ask, don't just throw your 10 cents, all right, don't presume that area, they just wanna hear what you have to say, ask, all right, and when someone says, yes, I would like your help, the next question is, not, this is not what you say, well, this is what I can do to help you, no, how can I help you, how would you like me to help you? Because they've already assessed with the kind of help they need, they already understand the stress and the struggle they're going through, now's your time to say, hey, how can I come alongside and help you? Ask them, okay, don't just presume, don't just be so prideful to think I'm the person, I can accomplish this, ask them if they genuinely need help. The point number three here, is learn to categorize the problem or the burden, okay, learn how to categorize it, assess the situation, now, this is my advice, I'm not gonna be able to pull a Bible verse out of this, but I believe this is God's intention with Galatians chapter six, is the burden this person's suffering with, is it a one-off situation or is it an ongoing situation? Is it an unexpected scenario and an emergency scenario or is it an ongoing issue that this person has for the rest of their life? You need to decide, look, I say if it's a one-off, emergency, unknown, you know, out of the blue, that's the time to help them, okay? Because they weren't prepared, all right? It just happened, it's a rare occasion, it's time to step in and try to be a help, all right? Let me give you an example, let's say kids, okay? My wife's just had a baby and we already had some people come and say, hey, I've got some food for you, you know, here's some gifts, here are some outfits for the little one, hey, that's a great way to help us, you know? I mean, are babies, you know, are we popping out babies every single day, every single week, every single month? No, we're going at least nine months, no, we're going along with that, no, we're going at least three years or three years before a baby's been popped out, look, that child is a one-off scenario, all right? And it's fine for people to come alongside, you know, hey, I've prepared a meal, here are some clothes, here are some things that I, you know, we can help you with, that's fine. But you know, that baby is going to be in the parent's life every single day of their life until they're old enough to leave home, okay? Now that becomes an ongoing thing. So you may have helped out in a one-off situation time, but are you going to help out every single time? Are you going to say, hey, you know what, you're struggling with your children, leave them at my house. Other times that can happen where mother's so stressed and she says, you know, I might just leave them at the grandparents' house just one day so I can just get a breather, I think that's fine. A one-off emergency, just blow some steam, relax. But what happens if it becomes an everyday situation? I can't handle the kids, let's just dump them out over at the grandparents, let's dump them over at this house or let them, let's just dump them at the school system. Look, that's not helpful, okay? People have to learn to carry their burdens. And again, I saw this in the workplace where, you know, look, if you're taking your kids to school for an education or praise God for that, okay, if the purpose is education. But one thing I observed when I was on the job, it wasn't about the education. It wasn't about the education. Mothers just wanted to dump the kids and wanted nothing to do with them because come school holidays times, okay, when school holidays come around and the kids are at home, guess what all the mums at work complain about? Oh, the kids are home. Oh, I can't wait for the holidays to be over. I can't wait to get them out of the house. I can't wait for them to get them back to school. So, it wasn't about education, was it? You just want them off your hands because they don't want to carry their burdens. They've not learned how to carry the burdens. The government system has come alongside, hey, as soon as your child's a few weeks old, you can leave them in daycare, you can leave them in this, you can leave them in that, you can leave them in preschool, you can leave them in school, you can leave them in high school, and then they grow up and then they don't even know who you are. You've never carried the burden. You don't know what it's like. And when the kids are home from school, on school holidays, the mothers can't handle it. They've never dealt with it. Did the government really help them? No, they can't even handle their own children. So, categorise the problem. Is it a one-off? Is it an unexpected situation? You know, is it a reoccurring or a frequent burden? If it's ongoing and frequent and you know it's going to be part of their life long term, that's for them to carry. That's a time for them to carry because they need to learn how to carry it with the Lord God at their side. I'll give you one more example, okay? On the job, value employee lady, you know, we gave her a pay advance, okay? Because, I'll just share, you know, her husband essentially became a bum, okay? Her husband just said, I'm not going to work anymore. I'm done, all right? Just lazy man, just playing video games probably or something like that, right? And so, she was struggling to pay the bills and, you know, her husband didn't care. And so, she asked for a pay advance. So, instead of just getting a single pay slip for that week or whatever fortnight, whatever it is, you know, she got an extra fortnight pay in advance. All right, look, it's a stressful situation, you know, fell upon her, she's got children, she's got bills, she's got a rent or mortgage, whatever it was to pay for. All right, we'll help, you know, you're a valid employee, we'll be a support to you in this time. But what happened after? After another two weeks? Oh, can I have another pay advance? Two weeks later, can I have another pay advance? You know, kept going. This kept going for about two or three months. Can I have another pay advance? Can I have another pay advance? And look, me as a manager, I'm thinking, at the time, I'm thinking, oh, I want to help her. I want to be a help. But was my help helpful at that time? When it's just one advance, another advance, another advance, another advance. You know, I realised we can't, this can't go on forever. This is no longer a one-time, urgent time or event. This is becoming a long-term thing and I've got to put a stop to it. So I called my employee into the office and said, look, we're putting an end to your advance payments. That means the next fortnight you're not going to get paid because you're already in advance, right? You're going to have to wait a whole month before you get your next payslip. Look, we've tried to help you. You know, we've cared for you. We value you. I don't want you to get the wrong impression. You know, I hope the best for you. Hope you sort out your family issues, but we just can't continue doing this. Well, that employee got upset with me, got mad, you know. Oh, how can you do this? Blah, blah, blah, whatever it is. And you know, I mean, we somewhat made peace at the end of it, but at the end of the day, you know, she left angrily out of the office. Anyway, as time went on after a bit of time, probably after the month, that same employee came into my office and said, boss, I just want to have a quick chat with you. I said, okay, sat down and she said, look, I'm really sorry for having to go at you at the time when you stopped the advance payments. In fact, I realised when you stopped giving me the advance payments, that I finally had to make a decision. I had to prioritise what are the most important bills. I had to rearrange our lifestyle. I had to learn how to cut costs, you know. And now, even though we're earning less, even though my husband's not working, now somehow we are doing better than we have before financially. Right now, we're not worried about bills they've been taken care of because we removed my help. I was forced to make a change. I was forced to reassess our financial position. And boss, I just want to say thank you for doing that. Look, if I kept giving the pay advances, she would not have gotten to that point to sort herself out, sort out her life, sort out her finances. You had to pull away the help, okay. And sometimes they get mad at you. But in the long run, they'll learn, man, I needed to go through that struggle. I needed to learn something. I needed to learn how to manage my finances. So I know this works. Like biblical principles, they work everywhere in the world. Every situation, biblical principles always work. That's what makes the Bible such an amazing book. So brethren, the title for the sermon was When Help is Not Helpful. I hope I've given you some ideas, some thoughts. I don't know what you're going through right now. I don't know if you're seeking help. I'm not sure if you're seeking to run away from problems. I'm not sure if you're someone that is trying to help or you're making things worse. And I hope I've given you a different perspective of how to think. When is it the right time to help? And when is it without making things worse? But the most important thing, the most important advice we can give anybody with this sermon, you've got burdens, you've got problems. You cast all your cares upon Him, upon God. He's the one that's going to see you through. Okay, let's pray.