The Sin Unto Death Part 1 (Restoration / Galatians 6 )

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Let's turn in our Bibles to Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. So we want to support one another, amen?

Amen.

Bearing One Another’s Burdens in the Church

These are kind of challenging times that we're living in and we all need support. And because of that, we should all support each other. The church should be a place where this happens. We should bear one another's burdens.

And that's the title of the message, bearing one another's burdens. Where there is estrangement, we seek reconciliation. Where there is a trespass, we seek forgiveness. So when someone stumbles and falls, the church and the people of the church should be there for them to help lift them up.

This is how we honor and obey Christ. By bearing one another's burdens. So let's read Galatians chapter 6. We'll begin with verses 1 and 2. The Apostle Paul says, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Let's open in prayer. Lord, how thankful we are that Christ has carried our burdens. He has borne our griefs, the scripture says, and carried our sorrows.

And because he did this for us, stir up our hearts, Lord. Stir up the hearts of your people to be diligent to love and good works. And Lord, remind us always to help carry one another's burdens. We ask all of this in Jesus name.

Amen.

All right.

So how do you bear one another's burdens? Well, one simple way is when someone needs help, you help them out. When somebody is talking, they're expressing maybe something they're going through grief. Listen to them and be attentive to their needs.

So we're going to talk about all the ways this is done and why we need to do this. But last week in Galatians chapter five, if you remember, we looked at the comparison between what? The works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit.

We looked at what the Christian life should look like and what the Christian life should not look like. So last week we talked about the works of the flesh. Paul says the works of the flesh are evident.

In other words, the works of the flesh are obvious. What are some of the works of the flesh? You talked about adultery, hatred, you know, hating one another, being contentious, fits of anger, selfishness.

That's obviously the opposite of loving your neighbor as yourself. This is one of the overarching principles in the word of God. You love your neighbor as yourself. Well, if there's that stuff going on, you're not doing that.

So the fruit of the spirit, that's the comparison, works of the flesh, fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit, on the other hand, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The fruit of the spirit, that's what the Holy Spirit in our lives, that's what he produces. So the flesh produces one thing. The Holy Spirit produces something else. So this is the contrast, the life of a believer versus the life of an unbeliever.

Now, we also talked about how a believer sometimes can be ensnared and start to go in that direction. And obviously, if we see somebody doing that, if somebody's overtaken in a trespass, that's what Paul's talking about here.

What's the goal? What should we do? Judge the person? Condemn the person? No, the goal is to try to help the person. So we should be supportive of one another. We should be there for one another. So ultimately, there are only two paths.

There are only two kingdoms. There's the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. We can either make a decision, because it's ultimately up to you to make that decision. Are you going to be of this world?

Or are you going to be of the kingdom of God? Are you going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind? So the instruction Paul gave to the churches was what? Walk in the Spirit. This is the admonition for you this morning.

Walk in the Spirit. Sometimes you hear these phrases in the Bible and say, OK, yes, I should walk in the Spirit. But what does that mean? What does that look like? How do I walk in the Spirit? Well, I think it's very simple.

We yield to the Spirit's control. We live our lives either the way God wants us to live them, or we live our lives the way we want to live them. Now, hopefully the way you want to live lines up with the way God wants you to live.

That's the ideal. So a Christian who knows the Word of God and has the Holy Spirit within, and even sometimes an unbeliever, let's face it, we know the difference between right and wrong, don't we? Maybe there are some issues that seem a little murky and gray, but generally we know the difference between right and wrong.

So this is our choice. Are we going to choose to walk the path of light or the path of darkness? Are we going to do the right thing or are we going to do the wrong thing? And if we reject God's ways and we walk in the ways of this world and there is the fruit of the Spirit, the works of the flesh, if there's the works of the flesh, that's destructive not only to us, it's destructive to other people also.

So let's look at these verses again. He says, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one. What's another word for trespass? Well, in the Lord's Prayer we say, forgive us our trespasses.

And sometimes you say, okay, what does that mean? Is this trespassing on someone else's property? No, it's talking about sin, right? Debts and sins and that's what he's talking about there with trespasses.

So when we choose to do wrong, when we commit a trespass, it's destructive to us, to other people, and when someone is involved in a trespass, we want to help them. So when we submit to the Lord's will and do what is right, we reap the fruit of the Spirit.

So doing the right thing consistently, the word walk means something that's ongoing. When you are consistently obeying God in your life, the fruit of that is the fruit of the Spirit. Okay, so following along so far.

Let me just use this as a simple illustration. What we eat, our diet. So if we eat consistently, if we're eating unhealthy food, what's going to be the result of that? You're going to be unhealthy, but if you eat unhealthy food day after day after day, sometimes it only takes once and you really don't feel good.

But if you eat unhealthy food day after day after day, you're going to feel lousy, right? But if you eat healthy food day after day after day, you're going to feel better. I mean, what can be more basic than this?

We all know this. Well, it's the same with spiritual things. Walking in the Spirit, being consistent in obedience to God, doing the right thing consistently, you are going to feel better spiritually. You are going to flourish spiritually, as opposed to the works of the flesh consistently, and then you're going to be down and miserable and all the rest.

So walking according to the flesh produces the works of the flesh. Envy and bitterness and hatred, it's one problem after another. And you say, why is the world such a mess? Why are there all these problems in the world?

Because people have rejected God. You could talk about governments and policies and laws and wars. Well, I mean, that's all the symptom, the root issue. They have rejected God, and it's led to the mess that we are in.

The more we reject God, guess what? The worse it's going to get. All right, let's go through this more closely. Galatians 6 .1, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

So don't think it can't happen to you. That's something you need to keep in mind. So instead of judging a person who has fallen into disobedience, instead of judging someone who is maybe doing the wrong thing, and it's obvious and you can tell, the goal is to help the person.

The goal is restoration. So if you really love somebody, you know this, if you really love somebody and care about someone, you want what's best for them, right? If you want to see God's blessing upon your life, obey God.

If you want to see God's blessing upon their life, which is what's best, encourage them to obey God. So if anyone is overtaken in a trespass, the one who is spiritual should try to help out and restore them.

The Sin Unto Death and the Need for Restoration

Okay, let's turn to 1 John 5. Here's what happens if a person continues down that road. We're talking about believers here. We're talking about people in the church, church members, Christians, people who know Christ as their savior.

If a person continues to walk down that road of rebellion towards God, what's going to happen? How many of you are familiar with what the Bible says about the sin unto death? Now you can just tell by listening to that, this doesn't sound good.

This is something I want to avoid, right? The sin unto death. What am I talking about? It is possible for a believer to cross a line where the Lord takes them out of this world early. Let me repeat that.

It is possible for a Christian to get involved in the works of the flesh, to go too far, and to cross a line where God takes them out of this world early. Say, prove it. How many of you know of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5?

I also believe this happened in the Corinthian church when some of them were not discerning the Lord's body at the Lord's Supper. They were disrespecting the Lord's Supper. They were disrespecting their fellow believers.

And what did the apostle Paul say? That because of that, some of them were sick. And some of them had died. Then there is the man in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 where Paul said, because he had just gone over the line in what he was doing, Paul said, hand him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Now thankfully that man, we know based on 2 Corinthians, that man was restored. So his life was spared. But you know, not everybody is restored. Look at 1 John 5 starting in verse 13. So if you love somebody, you want to rescue them.

It's like the analogy of somebody driving 80 miles an hour down a road and you know the bridge up ahead is out. And if they keep going, they're going to go off the bridge. What would you do if you really cared about the person?

You'd be out there waving, stop, stop. And yet in our own lives, sometimes we just let people go. And we don't even bother to help. 1 John chapter 5 verse 13. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

So this is just a great verse that you can actually know whether or not you're going to heaven. You can actually know whether or not you are saved. If you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sin and rose again the third day, and you're trusting in Him and in Him alone for eternal life.

That's the Gospel. If you believe that with all your heart, the Scripture says you can know that you have eternal life. So who is he talking about? Are we talking about Christians or are we just talking about the lost people of this world?

Who are we talking about? Yeah, we're talking about believers here. Verse 14 says, Now this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

So praying makes a difference. And if you see somebody straying in the wrong direction, you better be praying for them. So if you care about somebody, pray for them. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.