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Good morning. Would you take out your bible, please, and turn to Galatians chapter five? Galatians chapter five, and we'll look there in verse 16 here in just a moment. Galatians chapter five and verse 16. And if you wanna take out your Bible and make the effort to turn there, I think it'll be helpful to you as we're gonna be spending almost all of our lesson in Galatians chapters five and six this morning.

So Galatians chapter five and verse 16. Now before I get started this morning, bear with me for just a quick moment. I wanna thank you for all of the prayers that you've offered for my cousin, Dylan, with his accident and then his subsequent surgeries. He is in a smaller neck brace now. He's walking with some assistance, and so he is improving, and we're very, very grateful for that.

But I'd ask you to continue to pray for him if you would. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my family. So thank you very, very much for that. I know it's probably dangerous to do in a sermon right before lunch, but maybe it's appropriate after all the talk of bread and breaking of bread.

I want you to think about a sandwich for just a second. Okay? And you can fill it with whatever you want on the inside. Paul's writings are filled with what we might call theological sandwiches where Paul expresses an idea. That'd be the top piece of bread.

He fills out that idea with a lot of vital information that relates to it and how you might do it. That would be the ham or the PB and J or the chicken salad or whatever. And then he comes back to that idea with similar but slightly different language from a slightly different viewpoint. That's the bottom piece of bread to kinda tie everything together that he's talking about. He does this all the time in his writings.

If you start looking for it, you're gonna start seeing it everywhere. A good example of that would be in Galatians chapter five, a text we're very familiar with with the fruit of the spirit and the works of the flesh. Notice what he says in verse 16. I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the spirit.

That's the concept that he introduced. And then he fills that in with a lot of vital information about what walking in the spirit looks like with the lust of the flesh, the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit, and all of those things that are involved with that. But then I want you to drop down to verse 25 where he says, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. So walking in the spirit, that's the bread that holds this entire passage together. And you think about the things that you're gonna produce if you're walking according to the fruit of the spirit and the things that you're gonna produce if you're instead walking after the lust of the flesh, the works of the flesh.

So we see that theological sandwich. Give me a thumbs up if you're with me so far. Well, a good example of this would also be found in Galatians chapter six verses one through five. It's another such sandwich, and it is the one that I want us to consider this morning. And the meat found in the middle of this sandwich is humility.

Humility. And while the bread is a little thicker on this sandwich, it comes down to this idea of bearing burdens. Bearing burdens on the top, bearing burdens on the bottom with this vital concept of humility in the middle. So let's read chapter six verses one through five from that perspective, and then we'll make some comments about what this means to all of us. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness considering yourselves, lest you also be tempted.

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for each one shall bear his own load. Maybe your translation says bear his own burden. So what is our sandwich that we find in these five verses that work out very, very nicely?

Well, Paul isn't talking out of both sides of his mouth. Instead, he's describing two sides of the same coin in regard to work or responsibility or burden. So here's the sandwich. He introduces in those first two verses bearing one another's burdens, both spiritual and physical burdens. You've gotta bear other people's burdens.

That's what you're supposed to be doing as a Christian. In the middle of that, verse three, is this idea of humility and the way you view yourself and think about yourself. And then we have the other side of the sandwich, kind of from the opposite viewpoint, but it's still about bearing burdens, not other people's burdens, but bearing your own burdens, bearing your own load. And I'll tell you, I've preached from this text in times past, and I've kind of not ignored verse three, but kind of run over verse three because it kind of, at first glance, doesn't fit. May I suggest this morning that this is not just something thrown in verse three, but that's the meat of the sandwich.

Here is what we have to get in our minds and in our hearts if we're truly going to be bearing one another's burdens in the way we ought to do it. So let's look first there at verse three, the meat of the sandwich, the heart of the matter. Let's read it again. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. A lack of humility is expressed in two ways regarding to needs and burdens.

We have a deceptive perception of our selves that is detrimental to ourselves and others, and pride might become these two things as we think about the bearing of burdens and others bearing our burden. The first thing pride become is it might become entitlement. I'm something. I'm really something, we might say, so everyone should be providing for my needs. What does this do?

If that's our attitude, if that's the entitlement that we have in our heart, the I'm something that we have in our heart, well, I think chapter five and verse 26 tells us, let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. So he's talking about don't have pride, don't have entitlement because that's gonna lead to the provoking of others. In other words, we are provoking other people to not be what they ought to be ought to be. That provokes other people to not want to help you even when you're in need. You could have something to give.

You could be an active part. You could be helping others, but instead, you're choosing to be a burden because you think you just deserve it. And good hearted people are tempted to think when they see this in others, oh, there they go again. Always needing help or complaining about not being helped, and frankly, that makes me not want to help them. This is provoking of others when we have this kind of arrogance and entitlement in our heart.

But the other side of the coin, pride might become conceit. I'm something. And the reason why I'm really something, the reason why I puff myself up is because no one ever has to help me. I don't ever need help. I'm totally reliant on myself.

And what does this do? Well, chapter five and verse 26 tells us again, instead of provoking others, this might cause envy in others. You do have something to give, but you don't use it on anyone but yourself. You hoard this up saying, I don't need anyone from anybody. And good hearted people are tempted to imagine what they could do if they had what you have.

Wait. You have all of this and you aren't helping anybody with all the things that you have? I wish I had what you have because I would use it differently. It causes others perhaps to envy. And neither one of these things is godly, neither one of these things is Christ like, and Paul is blunt about it.

Isn't he? For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Nothing. That's pretty harsh. Your nothing doesn't fit in our time of building self esteem, certainly.

And biblically, we aren't nothing, at least not from the viewpoint of God. We are chosen. We are precious. So what is Paul doing when he says, you are nothing, and that's the attitude that we ought to have? Well, it's a comparison, isn't it?

I'm nothing in comparison to something else. So my cousin Dylan's father is my uncle Brian, and Brian is my dad's youngest brother. He was a basketball player as most of those brothers were. And I remember when I was a freshman in high school, we always went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving. And Brian had, you know, just been out of college a little while.

He was still very fit, still in very good shape, and so forth. And he was a great basketball player. And I remember we were playing basketball there on the court that my granddad had made, and that was the court he grew up playing on. Well, I was just smoking all the cousins. You know?

I was something. I was a freshman in high school on the varsity of the basketball team, the one a school, but come on. And so here I am, and I'm just winning at everything until my uncle Brian comes out. We played two games. We played a game of one on one.

We played a game of horse, and I still remember that left hand jump shot. It was just like bang, bang, bang over and over and over. I lost it horse. And then I played him one on one, and he just backed me down into the post and abused me over and over and over. I think I scored two points, but I had, like, no legs left from him just leaning on me the whole game.

I thought I was something, and I was something in comparison to those others I was playing, but I was nothing compared to him. Well, what's the comparison that Paul intends us to make here? With whom are we comparing ourselves to where we say I am nothing? Well, he's just mentioned him there in verse two. It's Jesus Christ.

It's his law and his perfection with which we compare ourselves, with whom we compare ourselves. And in comparison to Christ, I am nothing. We might be something on this earth, but not if we put ourselves in our proper place compared to God. I don't deserve to have all of my wants fulfilled because of who I am, and I am not the source of all of my own wealth and accomplishments either. It all comes back to Christ, and I see myself in comparison to him.

It is in that context of needed humility in who Christ is and what Christ has done that we can see our proper duties to one another in verses one and two and four and five. Humility is in the middle of this sandwich. But if we see ourselves as we truly are, if we think about ourselves in regard to Christ, then we truly can bear one another's burdens in the way that we ought to. In verses one and two, we are reminded that it is our responsibility to help others and accept help when we need that help, that we are to bear one another's burdens in humility. Read verses one and two with me.

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness or meekness considering yourselves, lest you also be tempted. There's that humility. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We bear one another's burdens in humility. Now it's interesting to me that the Greek word for burden here doesn't imply that these burdens are things that we could never carry on our own at all.

But instead, it's things that we can't carry without great difficulty. It's something not that we can lift easily, but something that we have to try really hard to lift. It's the idea of a heavy weight or a stone that must be carried for just a short distance. This is not a momentary burden. This is an ongoing burden, and that's important.

Because in the short term, we can carry just about any burden. Right? If I know that I just have to do it for a little while, I can probably just do it myself. But when the burden goes on and on and on and on, that's probably when I need help from other people. Growing up, we had to do all of our big grocery shopping in Lubbock, and it was about a an hour's drive or a little more to the nearest Walmart for us.

And so what we did is we had this big big freezer, you know, with the big door, and we put lots of things in the freezer. And we had a big refrigerator, And so we would buy things, a lot of things for the month, other things we would buy for a couple of weeks at a time. And so when we go to Lubbock, we go to Walmart, we go to Sam's, and the back of the SUV would just be filled with stuff. And I remember as a kid, maybe you did this too. How when you've got a million bags of groceries to carry in, how do you carry those groceries in?

Just two bags at a time. Right? No. I mean, maybe this is a guy girl thing. I don't know.

But I would I would get as many of those bags as I possibly could. Right? And so I've got all of these bags and, like, I'm losing feeling in my fingers. I can't get them up to open the door, so I'm trying to open the door with my foot to get in there. And so I bring them into the kitchen, and I just kinda, like, get them all up on the counter.

Well, that's the way I chose to carry that very heavy burden because I knew I'm just getting from the car to the kitchen. What if, imagine with me, what if instead of driving all those groceries home, I had to carry by walking all of those groceries from Lubbock all the way to my house? All of a sudden, I wouldn't be able to carry as much. I would need a little more help. And that's what Paul is really describing here.

Here is somebody who has a burden that is ongoing. It's not just a momentary thing, and they need ongoing help in order to carry that burden. The longer we carry a burden alone, the more likely we are to collapse under the weight of it. The lesson is let others help. And the great thing is it's not just one or two helping, it is many.

It is the brethren under consideration. And God's plan is not for me to take all of my burdens that I can't that I can't carry myself and dump all of those onto one other person so that they might be overloaded instead of me. It's to spread out my burdens among many. There's a family here. Well, I'll just call them by name.

The Gieslings are incredibly generous, wonderful people. And they hosted the Monday night meeting with their high school kids for years by themselves. And I know that was a lot for them, but that was a load that they happily and joyfully bore. But when Clay graduated, they just didn't dump all of that onto one other family, but many families volunteered to host. And the burden was shared so that it might become easier for everyone.

That's the way things are supposed to work. And what kind of burdens are we talking about with this? Well, spiritual burdens, certainly as we see there in verse one, sin and temptation. We need a group of people around us to help us overcome the things in our life. Have someone to whom you can confess, and then they pray for you, and they confess to you, and you pray for them.

Have people in your life to keep you accountable and encouraged. And we are supposed to notice those who are struggling so that we might reach out to them. You who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness considering yourselves. You see what's going on, and so you reach out to try and bear some of that burden. Certainly, spiritual work is a burden that we share with one another.

That's the whole purpose of the local church in many ways. Every part should be doing its share, as Paul says, of the body. So I ask you, where are you working in the church and in the kingdom? Are you bearing one another's burdens in that way? And then this applies to physical burdens and physical work too.

If we need help, even if we need help physically, our spiritual family is still here to help us. And it's not just that I'm willing to bear your burden. I have to be willing to let you bear my burden as well. Bearing one another's burdens is a two way street. Bear others and let others bear yours.

But for many of us, the reality is it is a lot harder to ask for help than it is to give help. Would you agree? It certainly is for me and has been for me. And in those moments, we need to remember that even the best, quote, unquote, of us sometimes are in need. The apostle Paul found himself in need, and he talks about this in the book of Philippians.

Mark your spot there in Galatians and turn to Philippians for just a moment. Three times, he mentions specifically the need that he has. First in Philippians chapter two and verse 25. Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need since he was long for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. He ministered to my what?

Paul says to my need. I was in need. Go to chapter four and verse 14. Chapter four and verse 14. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress.

He was in need. He was in distress. Notice verse 16. For even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Paul was lacking some things, and he was willing to admit it.

He admitted his need, his distress, his lack of necessities. And he makes clear earlier in chapter four that he could survive without those things, but he was so grateful for their help. And yet sometimes we get worried and embarrassed about receiving help from others. Don't be conceited. Be willing to accept help when you are in need.

And yet at the same time, we know the goal is for us to not be in need. And in Galatians chapter six verses three and four, if you turn back there with me, verses four and five of Galatians chapter six, we see the other bun on the sandwich as Paul calls us several times to bear our own burden. We bear our own load in humility versus four and five. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for each one shall bear his own load, his own burden. Now the word for load there, though sometimes translated burden, maybe your translation has it as burden, is actually a different word than the word used back there in verse two.

This one is associated with a load in the sense of, like, a cargo that you would put on a ship. That is something that you were assigned to carry, that this is your job to carry this burden, this load. And so we ask ourselves, what can I and what should I be doing? I can rejoice, he says, in knowing that I did not make somebody else do something that was my responsibility, something that I could do that was assigned to me that I had the ability and the opportunity to do, and I rejoice that I was willing to do it rather than waiting on somebody else to come along and do it for me. This is not some attitude that refuses to accept help, but it is an attitude of commitment that I'm gonna do my part.

And I'm not gonna leave my brothers or sisters in Christ high and dry because I abandoned my responsibility to do what God has called me to do. The reality is, as we come into the adulthood of our faith, it is not everyone else's responsibility to take care of me all the time. And we need to go beyond that in a society for where everyone is looking at something as someone else's fault, and it's the responsibility of others to fix my mistakes. And too many are looking for a way out of doing what they're supposed to do. We as Christians should stand out because we see that we have a duty, that I have a god given role and responsibility.

I am supposed to do my part. That is the godly mentality. That I am willing. I am willing to bear one another's burdens. I'm willing for others to bear mine, but I am committed to do my part and to bear my own load as God has given it to me.

We see this, I think, in a couple of places. Turn to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, from where you are in Galatians, maybe just two or three turns to your right. Turn to Ephesians chapter four and verse 16. Ephesians chapter four and verse 16.

From whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which, listen, every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. God expects you to do your part, but your part plays into us, the body as a whole. God expects you to do your part, and your brethren are relying on you to do your part. And so I take care of my business in large part because it helps everyone else and so that I might be able to help everyone else. And if you're wanting the benefits of being part of the body of Christ hear me clearly on this, please.

If you want the benefits of being a part of the body of Christ and you don't make an effort to be part of the body of Christ, an active part, you're missing out on what we are and are supposed to be together. And so I encourage you to come to services, to stay and to talk with people, to reach out to others outside of the assembly, to let people into your life and heart, and seek to know other people as well, to be active in giving without expecting anything in return. That's the goal, isn't it? If you drop down in Ephesians chapter four and verse 28. Ephesians chapter four and verse 28.

Let him who stole steal no longer. And maybe sometimes that's what we're doing in a metaphorical sort of way. We're stealing from our brothers and sisters because their efforts and their energy and their resources could be used for someone who needs it worse than I do. But instead, they have to use it on me because I'm not doing my part. Well, let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give to him who is in need.

Our goal is to work in God's kingdom and to grow in our faith and to practice what we preach where we are in a position to give to others rather than just receive. Because as Jesus said, quoted by the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20 and verse 35, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now don't misunderstand him. It is more blessed, which means it's a blessing to receive something from others, and we all find ourselves in that situation from time to time. But it is more blessed to be in a position where we might give to others.

And may we all resolve to be in a position to give and to serve and to do for others rather than becoming upset that others are just not doing enough for me. People want to give when you're in need. If you've been the one constantly giving and doing for others up to that point. If you're the one who has been seeking diligently to bury your own load as best you can and then have something to give who is in need when the need arises. But when the time comes that you can't bear the burden alone, others will be there to help you.

And if you realize this morning, you need others to help with your burden, but they aren't there. I want you to consider carefully why that might be. Maybe they're not doing what they ought to. Sure. But maybe it's because you haven't been there to help others, and that entitlement has soured the desire of others to help you.

But a heart of service, a heart that desires to give, makes others want to return in kind. I wanna leave you with this morning. Joanna told me a story about her father, Joe Smitherman, that we all knew and loved, and their family and something they went through that I've meditated on, and I thought a lot about as I was preparing for this lesson. And some of you heard this story at the funeral, but I it's really stuck with me, so I wanna repeat it to everyone who is here this morning. One of the hardest things that Joe and Juanelle ever faced was when they lost their family home in an arsonist fire.

And with little money, Joe had built a home for the family with his own hands, a piece at a time as he had the money. He was striving to bear his own load. And they loved that house, and they put their effort and material wealth into it such as they had. And one day, a neighbor boy who had befriended Joanna and Jim, their children, who suffered from some mental disabilities came over to steal Jim's coin collection. And he realized as he was stealing it that he might be leaving fingerprints in the house, and so he set it on fire.

It took a great toll on Joe and Juanelle. But that very night, members of the Lord's Church there in Crane, Texas where they lived began showing up with gifts of money that had been collected. And Joe had never accepted charity, and he was proud that he had never accepted it. And the generosity of the church and the townspeople broke down his pride and changed Joe for the better. When that elder came that night, he said, I just can't take this.

And the elder replied, no. You are gonna take it. For weeks thereafter, the family couldn't go anywhere in town and eat with their own money. The costs were just waived away. The local clothing store allowed Joe and Juanelle to buy whatever clothes they needed for themselves and the kids on credit with no interest and no date given for repayment.

And, of course, Joe was determined to return that kindness by paying the debt as quickly as possible. It was a learning experience for the whole family, and the results showed the grace of God. Their house was moved to a better location across the street from the barbershop where Wanell would work. But most of all, the family felt that they had become better as a result of that tragedy. And when Joanna wrote that down and I read this story, it reminded me of the book of Job at the end where Job receives money from all of these people as he is restored, and they see that he is in the right in regards to the things of God.

It reminds me a little bit of the old movie, It's a Wonderful Life, which is based on the book of Job with the same kind of ending. But the postscript is that Joe refused to demand that the family of the boy repair damages when it came to court. He said, they didn't have any money, and it just wasn't fair. They had enough problems trying to help their own son. So here is a faithful Christian and family who gave generously, who rejoiced in their own work, who were determined to bear their own load.

And when the time came that they needed a burden borne by others, others were excited and grateful to bear that burden for them. And when they saw a different kind of burden on the family of the boy who had set the fire, they didn't add to their burden. Pride had been conquered, and when it was, Christ was fully seen. May the same be true of us, and I hope your house never burns down. But the time will come perhaps when you need help from your brothers and sisters in Christ physically or spiritually.

Will you be willing to accept that help when it comes? We're called to bear one another's burdens. And even more, are you willing to help now to do what you can for others? Are you willing in humility to say, I will bear another's burden if I possibly can? In humility, we bear others burdens.

We bear our own load. And when the time comes, we accept the help of our brethren. That is the model of Jesus. That's the humility sandwich in Galatians chapter six. And in many ways, that is a summation of Christianity, isn't it?

If you're not yet a Christian, Jesus is able to bear a burden that you could not and cannot bear, the burden of sin and death that comes with it. But you have to bear your own load in response, What he has called you to do, a burden that he says you can bear in response to what he is doing for you, and what you have to do is have humility. You have to be poor in spirit that says, I am willing to submit to Jesus and whatever he asked me to do because I see what it is that he is doing for me. Respond in humble submission to the king of kings and put Christ on in baptism. And then start living that newness of life that looks not to myself and what others might do for me, but looking to see how you might help others in imitation of your king, in imitation of your God, the one who gave himself for all.

And if you need to come in humble submission this morning to do what Christ has called you to do, may we help you? We'll pray for you. We pray with you. We'll do anything that we can to aid you. If you'll come now, where together we stand and while we sing.