Restoring a Struggling Christian October 6, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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In the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly make this covenant with each other as one body in Christ.

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We will walk together in brotherly love. We will exercise a

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Christian care and watchfulness over each other. We'll faithfully admonish and help one another as the need may be.

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We will be slow to take offense but always ready for reconciliation without delay.

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If any stray from the path of truth, we will endeavor to restore them in the spirit of meekness.

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We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together or neglect to pray for ourselves and for others.

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We will seek to educate our children in the scriptures. We will seek to win our kindred and acquaintances to Christ and to holiness.

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As stewards of the Lord, we will aid in the support of a faithful evangelical ministry among us and in efforts to preach the gospel to the whole human family.

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We will live circumspectly in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and according to our ability and opportunities, we'll do good to all men.

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We will endeavor as long as we live to glorify him who has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

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The Lord's Supper is for disciples of Jesus Christ by anyone but a true

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Christian and so if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, we invite you to eat and drink with us.

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Of course, we offer either wine or grape juice depending upon your conviction. The wine is in the purple shaded cups around the perimeter of each tray and we also have some gluten -free bread and cellophane in the trays for those that require such things.

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So may the Lord bless us. Again, this time of the Lord's Supper is to be a time in which we exercise personal judgment upon ourselves.

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We're to examine ourselves and the promise is if you examine yourself and judge yourself with regard to these matters that you'll forego future judgment from God.

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That's an important matter, important blessing. This is what disciples of Jesus Christ are to do and so may the

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Lord help us to point out those aspects of our lives that are not pleasing in his sight.

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May we be humble and confess them and ask for his grace through the merit of Christ who lived and died for us on the cross.

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They pardon us and by the blessed Holy Spirit he gives to his people to enable us to be break free from these things.

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Of course, we're weak and frail and so we'll pray and this reading written long ago, this prayer is fittingly entitled

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Weaknesses. So let's pray, please. O Spirit of God, may you help our infirmities when we are pressed down with a load of sorrow, perplexed and knowing what not what to do, slandered and persecuted, made to feel the weight of the cross.

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Help us, we pray thee. If thou seest us, in us, any wrong thing encouraged, any evil desire cherished, any delight that is not thy delight, any habit that grieves thee, any nest of sin in our hearts, then may you grant us the kiss of thy forgiveness and teach our feet to walk in the way of thy commandments.

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Deliver us from carking care and make us a happy and holy people.

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Help us to walk the separated life with firm and brave steps and to wrestle successfully against our weakness.

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Teach us to loud adore and magnify thee with the music of heaven and make us a perfume of praiseful gratitude unto thee.

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We do not crouch at thy feet as a slave before a tyrant, but rather exult before thee as sons and daughters with a father.

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Give us power to live as thy children in all our actions and to exercise sonship by conquering self.

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May you preserve us from the intoxication that comes from prosperity. Sober us when we are glad with a joy that comes not from thee and lead us safely on to the eternal kingdom, not asking whether the road be rough or smooth.

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We request only to see the face of him we love, to be content with bread to eat and raiment to put on, if we can be brought into thy house in peace.

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Father, bless this meal to us as we celebrate the forgiveness of sins we have in Jesus Christ.

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Cleanse us, our God, and help us to put our faith afresh in him, our

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God, and so bless this bread and bless this cup to us in Jesus' name, amen.

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Let's pray for the bread first. Thank you, Father, for this bread that so wonderfully portrays the spiritual life that is given to us through Jesus Christ, our

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Lord and Savior, the true bread that you've sent down from heaven to give life to us.

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Lord, as we hold it in our hands and as we ingest it, Lord, the physical reality confirms to us the spiritual reality that Jesus Christ is our

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Savior and that life is in him. We pray, our God, as we exercise faith afresh in Jesus that you would infuse us, our

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God, with spiritual vitality and health and life, for we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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Well, it was after supper the Lord took the bread and gave it to his disciples and said to them, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.

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Do this in remembrance of me. We thank you for this cup, our

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God, so beautifully portrays the shedding of blood of our Lord Jesus upon his cross so long ago.

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We thank you, our God, for its effectual nature. It has ability, our

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God, as we look to Christ in faith to cleanse us from our sin today. We pray that it would do so, our

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God, as we look to Jesus Christ. And Lord, as we hold up this cup, it's also in celebration of what

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Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf. Lord, with great difficulty, torment, and sorrow, he secured our redemption.

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And so, bless this cup to us, our God, as we, as your body, as your people, corporately and jointly lift up this cup in celebration and with confidence and faith that our sins are forgiven us through Jesus Christ.

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Cleanses of our sin, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, the

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Lord, in the same manner, took the cup and said to his disciples, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

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This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, you ate and drank in faith, confessing your sins, you may rejoice in the truth, your sins are forgiven you, amen.

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Let's pray. Thank you, God, for your kindness and mercy to us in Christ. And then we thank you,

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God, for your word now that's going to be brought before us. May the blessed Holy Spirit, our

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God, illuminate our mind to the truth of your word. Help Pastor Jason, our

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God, we pray, as he opens your word to us. And so help him and bless him, our

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God, bless us, Lord, with your truth in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.

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One of the books that was very influential in my life and ministry was

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A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Philip Keller. Keller was an actual shepherd.

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He was born in East Africa and studied and trained in management, managing farms and livestock.

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Keller lived a significant part of his life on ranches and pasture lands. He was a man who lived among vast flocks of sheep.

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And he was a keen observer of the relationship between sheep and shepherds. On the care of sheep, he wrote the following.

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There's an old English shepherd's term for a sheep that has turned over on its back and cannot get back up.

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A cast sheep is a very pathetic sight. Lying on its back, its feet in the air, it flays away frantically, struggling to stand up without success.

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The way it happens is this. A heavy, fat, or long -fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground.

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It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground.

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It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently this only makes things worse.

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It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet.

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A cast sheep truly is a pathetic sight. A perfectly healthy sheep lays down for some rest, and as it stretches itself out on the ground and gets comfortable, either because of its heavy weight or its thick wool, it is unable to get back up again.

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The problem with a cast sheep is that if it is left alone in this helpless and vulnerable state, gases will eventually build up in the stomach.

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Circulation to the sheep's extremities will be restricted, and the sheep will die.

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If the weather is cold and wet, the sheep can survive for many days in this position.

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But if the weather is hot and dry, the sheep will die within a matter of hours.

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What do you think a cast sheep needs more than anything else? A cast sheep needs to be rescued.

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It needs to be recovered. It needs to be regained. More than anything else, a cast sheep needs to be restored.

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One of the spiritual themes that we see throughout the scriptures is that Christians are very much like sheep.

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And like sheep, Christians will often find themselves in a helpless, vulnerable, and cast state.

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It seems that when we are the surest of ourselves, when everything is going our way, when we are fat and comfortable, spiritually speaking, and stretch out to relax, we can suddenly find ourselves cast down and unable to get back up on our own two feet.

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The scriptures frequently warn us of this state. In the book of 2

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John, verse 8, watch yourselves so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.

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Hebrews 3, take care, brothers, lest there be in you any evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living

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God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

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First Corinthians 10 -12, therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall.

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I know in my own life there have been many times when I thought that all was well.

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Things were good and easy. Life was comfortable and without any significant complications.

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But then, catastrophe in the blink of an eye. It's frightening just how quickly our circumstances can change.

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It's frightening just how quickly we can fall into temptation and sin, and how quickly we can find ourselves trapped and bound in a helpless, vulnerable, and cast state.

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I think that part of the problem is cultural. In our North American context, we live in a very individualistic society.

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And there are many professing Christians who live without any accountability, without any close friendships, without intimate relationships, without living in community and true fellowship with other believers.

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Beloved, this is not how the Christian life is to be lived. The Christian life is to be lived in close community and intimate fellowship with one another.

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Hebrews 10 -24, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

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But beloved, our lives are to be so close and intertwined together that we feel comfortable confessing our sin to one another.

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James 5 -16, therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

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The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation from other believers because the

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Christian life is not an individual endeavor. All of us will fall into sin and like that cast sheep, we will need to be rescued, recovered, regained, and restored.

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Someone will need to come alongside us and help us get back up. In Matthew 18, we see the picture of a loving shepherd who goes out and looks for a lone and wandering sheep and when it's found, the shepherd rejoices greatly.

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What do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountain and go in search of the one that went astray?

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And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray.

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So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. The example that believers are to remember and imitate is the example of the

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Lord Jesus Christ who was and is the good shepherd. In the same manner that the

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Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated his patient and pursuing love for us, we need to patiently pursue those who are struggling in their walk.

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We need to patiently pursue those who have fallen into temptation and sin and seek to restore them by helping them see their sin for what it truly is.

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Sin is rebellion. Sin seeks not only to unthrone God, but to un -God

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God and to rule and reign in his place. Sin is perversion.

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It corrupts, it twists, it distorts that which is good into something that is not good, into something evil, immoral, and wicked.

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Augustine remarked that sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals in life.

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If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate obsessive ways, then sin occurs.

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And that sin is magnified when for these lesser goals we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals.

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So when we ask ourselves why in a given situation we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things.

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Either we wanted to obtain something we didn't have, or we feared losing something we had.

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Sin is foolish. Sin is illogical. It is irrational.

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If the Lord God is the source of supreme beauty, goodness, joy, love, and pleasure, then turning away from him makes absolutely no sense.

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Is it rational to prefer the lesser over the greater? Is it rational to gain the whole world and let you lose your soul?

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Is it rational to choose the temporary and fleeting over the permanent and immovable? Is it rational to gratify an enemy?

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Is it rational to lose eternity for a momentary indulgence?

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In sin we do. Beloved, sin is a lie.

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Sin is a cheat. Sin is deception and delusion. Sin never delivers what it promises.

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You will never achieve what you hope to accomplish by sinning because sin is folly.

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Sin is futility. It is frustration. Sin will boast of great and mighty things.

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Sin will promise you comfort, contentment, delight, satisfaction, but in the end it will leave you cast down.

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It will leave you alone. It will leave you empty in despair and on the brink of death.

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So, do not fall for sin's sales pitch. Do not be caught by sin's snare.

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Do not be lured in by its delicious and enticing bait and get caught by its deadly hook.

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Resist the first inclination of sin. Resist the first thought of sin.

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Resist it immediately and stamp it out entirely. Keep your distance from sin or you will find yourself cast down and in need of rescue and restoration.

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This theme of restoration is scattered all throughout the scriptures. Believers are called to help one another, to serve one another, to admonish one another, to forgive one another, to rebuke one another, to save one another, especially those dear brothers and sisters cast down and caught in the clutches of temptation and sin.

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In the book of Romans, Paul exhorted and reminded his readers that those who are strong are not to offend the weak nor to cause them to stumble, but rather the strong are to help build up the weak.

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The strong are to strengthen the weak and assist them in their struggles and trials.

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Romans 15, one through three, we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

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Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

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For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.

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Paul again encouraged the same practice in writing to the church in Thessalonica. First Thessalonians 5, 14, and we urge you brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint -hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

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The term admonished in the Greek is nutheto, which means to instruct or to warn, and it carries with it the idea of coming closely alongside someone who's following a path that ultimately ends in severe consequences and teaching them about the dangers and inevitability of those consequences.

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You see someone traveling at a high speed down a dark road coming up to a bridge that was out, you would admonish and warn them, hey if you continue driving down that road you're going to wreck, the bridge is out.

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In the instruction is given as to what we must do in the case of a brother or sister in Christ who wanders from the truth, who is cast down and trapped and bound in the clutches of temptation and sin.

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In this passage Paul instructs spiritual believers on their response if a brother or sister is caught in any transgression.

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Let's look at the text together, Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

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Keep watch on yourselves lest you too be tempted. The term brothers here is referring to Christians.

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Spiritual believers are responsible for pursuing fallen brothers and sisters and seeking to restore them.

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As brothers and sisters in Christ the Lord God leaves it to you, he leaves it to me.

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We are the ones whom the Lord God uses to come alongside and help fallen brothers and sisters get back onto their feet.

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Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

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The word transgression in Greek means a false step or a blunder or a mistake, an error.

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Transgressions are not always intentional and they're not always premeditated.

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The word carries with it the idea of something that has caught you off guard.

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Let's say I'm walking in the woods and unknowingly I cross a property line and now

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I'm trespassing. I didn't mean to trespass, I hadn't intended to trespass but here

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I am a trespasser. I've been caught off guard. The word caught in Greek is prolambano which can be translated as trapped or bound by or in bondage to.

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The term implies that a trap, a surprise or an ambush has overtaken someone.

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It has overpowered them, it has overwhelmed them. The brother or sister that needs our help has been trapped, has been bound, has been in bondage to a trespass that has caught them off guard, that has caught them unaware.

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Ken Sandy the author of The Peacemaker which is a book that I have mentioned from this pulpit many times, a book on resolving conflict says this about a brother or sister who has been caught in a trespass.

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He is like a fisherman who wasn't paying attention and got entangled in his nets as it was going overboard and now he is hanging desperately to the side of the boat in danger of being drowned.

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Both the fisherman and the man caught in sin have the same need. Their problems have become so serious that they may not be able to save themselves.

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They need someone else to step in and sever the cords that entangle them.

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A struggling fisherman and a cast sheep both caught unaware and both in need of rescue.

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So it is with the brother or sister that has become caught in a transgression.

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Would you let that fisherman drown while he struggled, entangled in his net? Would you let that sheep remain in that deadly cast position?

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Neither should you stand by and watch a Christian brother or sister flounder and struggle in their sin.

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Beloved, do you know of anyone who is in a position like this? A brother or sister in Christ that has been caught, trapped, bound or is in bondage to a particular sin?

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What have you done about it? What are you going to do about it? Think about that cast sheep lying on its back in the red hot sun, panic stricken and frantic.

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Think about that fisherman entangled in his net, hanging onto the side of his boat, slowly losing his grip in danger of being dragged off into a deep watery grave by the weight of his own nets.

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What is preventing you from responding? What is stopping you from taking action?

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What is preventing you from reaching out and seeking to restore them? I'll tell you why

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I fail to respond in circumstances like this. When I've noticed or I found out that a brother or sister was caught in a transgression, there have been many times, sadly, when

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I have failed to respond, failed to take action and failed to pursue and seek to restore my fallen brothers.

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One of the reasons why was because I was more concerned about what that person would think of me than I was about their spiritual state.

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I make a good friend and they've accepted me and they think well of me. Our time together is enjoyable.

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I certainly wouldn't want to jeopardize my friendship with them because they're caught in a little sin, would

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I? What would he think of me if I were to speak out and confront him? Would he be angry?

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Would he be offended? Would he think that I was being judgmental? Proverbs 29 25, the fear of man lays a snare.

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The root of this type of thinking is nothing less than idolatry. To think like this is to put my desire for man's acceptance above the

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Lord God's acceptance, above what the Lord God has commanded me to do in his word.

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In this situation, I have removed the Lord God from the throne of my life and I have supplanted it with the desire to be pleasing to men, which is foolishness.

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It's folly. Indeed, the fear of man lays a snare.

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It lays a trap. It traps you. In that moment,

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I have just exchanged the truth of God for a lie. I've worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator.

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And this is precisely what this kind of selfish thinking does. It takes the

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Lord God, the blessed creator of the universe, and exchanges him for a lie.

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A lie that says it's more important that the creature thinks more highly of me than the creator. A lie that says my life will be better off if I'm accepted by my fellow man rather than by the

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Lord God. A lie that says you would better trust your gut feelings rather than do what the

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Lord God's word is telling you to do. I've also failed to pursue and restore fallen brothers because I just didn't care.

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I didn't care enough about my brother to confront him. Confrontation isn't fun.

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It's hard. It's complicated. It's messy. Confrontation can be very awkward.

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It can put a tremendous strain on the relationship. So, I convinced myself that it's safer and better for me to ignore my brother's sin rather than get involved in his situation.

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Well, what's the problem with this kind of thinking? Again, it puts my selfish desires above my desire to please the

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Lord God. It puts my desire to live a comfortable, uncomplicated, and easy life above my desire to please the

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Lord God and to obey the command to love my brother as myself. This kind of thinking ignores the great and first commandment and the second.

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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment and a second is like it.

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You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This type of thinking ignores the intention and purpose for which every believer is to strive and travail.

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2 Corinthians 5 9. Whether we are at home or absent, our goal, our ambition, our aim is to be pleasing to Him.

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This type of thinking ignores the chief end, the goal, the main objective that every believer is to diligently pursue.

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Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

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Beloved, it's not about what you want to do. It's not about what I want to do. It's not about what makes us feel comfortable or at ease.

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It's about what the Lord God has commanded us to do. Our focus, our intention, our purpose, our goal, our foremost objective is to glorify the

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Lord God, to please the Lord God, and to love the Lord God with all our heart, all our soul, all of our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourself.

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Would you want to be left in a caste state? Would you like to be left with the weight of your fishing nets pulling you under the water?

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Or would you want to be restored? Would you want to be rescued? You know the number one reason why

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I think Christians fail to pursue and restore fallen brothers and sisters who are caught in transgression.

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It's because we're not spiritual. It's because we usually have so much sin and transgression in our own lives that it paralyzes us from taking any action.

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What right do I have confronting someone else when my own life is just as sinful? What right do

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I have confronting someone else in their sin when my sinful struggles are just as great?

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I heard a song on the Christian radio station and the lyric stuck with me. How can

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I further your kingdom when I'm so wrapped up in mine? It's very easy to get wrapped up in our own lives.

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It's easy to get wrapped up in our own problems, in our own sin. It's very easy for the focal point of our lives to be ourselves.

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But when we neglect our brothers and sisters in Christ because we focus too much on ourselves, we forget the divine purpose that the

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Lord God has for us. We are his workmanship, Ephesians 2 .10.

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We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

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The Lord God has pre -ordained his children for good works. The Lord God has prepared beforehand good works that we are to accomplish.

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And some of these prepared good works include pursuing and restoring our fallen brothers and sisters who have been caught unaware, who have been overtaken by sin.

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Beloved, they need to be rescued. They need to be recovered. They need to be restored.

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But if your focus is on yourself and not the Lord God, nor them, then you will not be very useful to the kingdom.

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Loving confrontation, loving restoration begins with you.

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It begins with me. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

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Keep watch on yourselves, lest you too be tempted. Who is Paul describing as the spiritual?

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What does it mean to be spiritual? Well, Paul qualifies the word spiritual in the previous chapter,

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Galatians 5. The spiritual are those who bear the fruit of the spirit,

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Galatians 5 .22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.

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Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit. The spiritual are those who bear the fruit of the spirit.

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The spiritual are those who belong to Christ Jesus. The spiritual are those who have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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The spiritual are those who live and keep in step with the spirit.

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Well, how do we live and keep in step with the spirit? What does this mean? Wayne Mack describes walking by the spirit as this, relying completely on the spirit for every aspect of the

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Christian life. It means living in the consciousness of his personal presence in us and with us.

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It means that you will be willing to do what the spirit tells you to do in his word. The believer who is walking in the spirit must be willing to go where the

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Holy Spirit guides and leads him to go and do what the Holy Spirit guides and leads him to do in his word.

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He seeks to obey the Holy Spirit and he trusts that the spirit of God will give him the power to carry out the spirit's directions.

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It means walking thought by thought, decision by decision, and act by act under the spirit's control.

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Matthew Henry remarked, if therefore we would have it appear that we are Christ's and that we are partakers of his spirit, it must be by our walking, not after the flesh, but after the spirit.

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We must set ourselves in good earnest both to mortify the deeds of the body and to walk in newness of life.

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James Montgomery Boyce wrote that it's easy to talk about the fruit of the spirit while doing very little about it.

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So, Christians need to learn that it is in the concrete situations rather than in the emotional hives that the reality of the

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Holy Spirit in their lives is demonstrated. Beloved, in concrete situations you need to be walking by the spirit every day.

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Your life needs to demonstrate and manifest the fruit of the spirit every day.

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Now, this doesn't mean that you're going to be perfect. It doesn't mean that you will never stumble or fall.

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Perfection is not what is required but a general pattern of life.

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Does the fruit of the spirit characterize your life in good times, in bad times?

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That's the question. Spirit -fuel lives can be visibly seen in good times and in bad times.

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According to Ephesians 5, spirit -filled wives will submit and respect their husbands.

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Spirit -filled husbands will love their wives as Christ loved the church. Spirit -filled parents will not provoke their children to wrath but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the

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Lord. Spirit -filled children will obey their parents. Spirit -filled employers will be kind and fair to their employees.

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Spirit -filled employees will serve their employers from the heart as if they were serving the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

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Beloved, it is the responsibility of the spiritual, of spirit -filled believers to pursue and come alongside the brother or sister that has been caught in any trespass and to restore them in a spirit of gentleness.

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Well what does it mean to restore? The word restore in Greek means to mend or to repair and this term is used several times in the

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New Testament to describe fishermen mending or repairing their nets. In the book of Hebrews this term is used for setting a broken bone or putting a dislocated limb back into place.

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Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather healed.

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In addition to mending and repairing, the term restore also carries with it the idea of making someone or something useful for its intended purpose.

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Spiritual believers are to mend broken unusable people and restore them to their usefulness in the

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Lord God's kingdom. Our restoration of others must be done with a spirit in a spirit of gentleness.

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When a brother or sister is caught in any transgression we're not to grab hold of them by the scruff of their necks and demand their repentance.

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We're not to bully them. We're not to nitpick them, look down on them, ignore them, shun them, or judge them or even give them an ultimatum.

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Instead we are to gently restore them patiently showing them the mercy and grace and love of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Philip Keller's description of how a shepherd is to restore a cast sheep.

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As soon as I reached the cast ewe my very first impulse was to pick it up.

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Tenderly I would roll the sheep over on its side. This would relieve the pressure of gases in the stomach.

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If she had been down for long I would have to lift her onto her feet. Then straddling the sheep with my legs

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I would hold her erect rubbing her limbs to restore the circulation to her legs.

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This often took quite a little time. When the sheep started to walk again she would she often just stumbled staggered and collapsed in a heap once more.

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Little by little the sheep would regain its equilibrium. It would start to walk steadily and surely.

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By and by it would dash away to rejoin the others set free from its fear and frustrations given another chance to live a little longer.

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Keller's description of a good shepherd and his patient tender and gentle care pales in comparison to our good shepherd the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

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John 10. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

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He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.

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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me.

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Your rod and your staff they protect me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

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You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the

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Lord forever. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ has restored you and me our restoration of others must be accomplished in the same spirit.

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In a spirit of gentleness. Thomas Schreiner remarked a gentle and humble spirit does not provoke one who has sinned but treats that person with dignity.

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In restoring a fallen brother or sister we're not to be overbearing. We're not to be obnoxious and judgmental.

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We're not to be harsh or critical but gracious kind and gentle.

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We're to have the attitude of Christ. Philippians 2 do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

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Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the of others. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.

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The spiritual believer who restores his brother or sister must do so with humility.

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Counting them as more significant than themselves. This must be done with gentleness.

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It must be done following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking out for their interests.

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Looking out for their best interests. Beloved if you cannot restore a brother or sister in this way if you cannot confront the sin of a brother or sister in this way in gentleness then it would probably be better for you not to do it at all.

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Matthew Henry commented many needful reproves lose their efficacy by being given in wrath but when they are managed with tenderness and from sincere concern for the welfare of those to whom they are given they are likely to make a due impression in your instruction in your correction in your reproof in your restoration of others.

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Philippians 2 5 have this attitude in yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.

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Humility. One more observation from Galatians 6 1. Paul also gives a very stern and sobering warning.

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Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

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Keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted. Do you know why

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Paul reminds us to keep watch on ourselves lest we too be tempted.

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Because no matter how deplorable despicable or depraved your brother or sister sin may be you are not above it.

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You are not above your brother or sister sin. You may think that you are but you're not.

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As it took them unaware it can just as easily and quickly take you unaware.

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Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall on our great spiritual vulnerability.

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Charles Spurgeon made this remark. If God were to ever allow the fountains of the great deeps of depravity to break up in the best man that lives he would make as bad a devil as the devil himself.

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There is tender enough in the saint who is nearest to heaven to kindle another hell if God should but permit a spark to fall upon it.

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In the very best of men there is an infernal and well nigh infinite depth of depravity.

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Beloved in restoring your brother or sister that has been overtaken in sin you must look to yourself lest you too be overtaken in sin.

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The phrase looking to yourself is in the present tense emphasizing a continual and diligent attentiveness to your own life and your own purity.

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In restoring a cast sheep be careful not to become cast yourself. In restoring the entangled fishermen be careful not to become entangled yourself.

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In restoring a fallen brother or sister in sin be careful not to fall yourself.

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Beloved look to yourself lest you too be tempted because as Spurgeon so eloquently stated there is tender enough in each one of our hearts to kindle another hell if the

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Lord God should but permit a spark to fall upon it. As you leave here today remember the cast sheep.

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Remember the entangled fishermen and most importantly remember your brother and sister who is caught in any transgression and that is the responsibility of the spiritual.

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It is your responsibility to restore him in a spirit of gentleness looking to yourself lest you too be tempted.

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Beloved there may be cast sheep among us among our own flock please don't turn a blind eye to them but love them as you would love yourself.

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Pray for them reach out to them pursue them in humility and gentleness look to restore them as the

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Lord Jesus Christ restored you in a spirit of gentleness. Let's pray.

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Lord God we thank you that you are our shepherd that you care for us that you sought us out that you transferred us from the kingdom of darkness and you placed us in the kingdom of your beloved son and that you have equipped us with your spirit you've given us your word you've given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.

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Lord I pray that we would live in this truth that we would walk in obedience that we would be doers of your word.

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Lord help us to focus on you help us to focus on our brothers and sisters help us to look out for them.

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We pray Lord that if there is a cast sheep among us that we would be made aware that you would give us an impression on our heart to reach out to that person.

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We pray Lord that you would protect our church protect our church from the wiles of the adversary from the wickedness of this world protect us from apathy.

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We pray Lord that you would renew in our hearts a great love for you a great love for one another and a great love for the lost.