Gospel Relationship.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] I love how everybody just knows when to sit down in church. [0:03] It’s when you know you’re in the South. [0:05] So the pastor’s up. Everybody sit down. [0:08] Hi, I’m Steve, one of the pastors here. [0:10] Good to see you. Spring has sprung, and it’s nice outside. [0:15] And I spent a while outside with a lot of you guys inviting people to come out for our Easter service.

[0:23] And it took me about 20 minutes to complain. [0:26] So I love it when spring comes because we see the sunshine. [0:30] It’s like, oh, it’s beautiful outside. [0:32] And then when you’re like a Siberian husky and you’re built to live in Minnesota because you have so much insulation, [0:40] you go outside and within 20 minutes it goes from, oh, it’s so beautiful to, it’s hot. [0:45] I’m going inside.

[0:48] Turn the air conditioner on. [0:50] It’s March and my air conditioner is already on. [0:52] But it’s so good to see you guys. [0:54] So good to be here. [0:55] I love that song, God of the City, because it’s something that’s so kind of countercultural for us to believe that our best days are ahead of us. [1:07] I think that that’s something that is kind of countercultural in this society to believe because we typically see all of the rough stuff in this world.

[1:15] And trust me, there is some rough stuff in this world from earthquakes to crime, to just relationships being ripped apart because of the sin in our lives. [1:24] And it’s hard sometimes to look at that and then also have this faith that our best days are ahead of us. [1:30] And the thing about the New Testament and the world that the New Testament says is coming, which is the kingdom of God, [1:37] is it paints this picture of our best days being ahead of us and us heading towards a hope that we struggle to right now see. [1:47] Romans chapter 8 verse 18. [1:49] I love this verse.

[1:50] It says that the suffering that I’m experiencing right now in this world, the present sufferings that I’m going through aren’t even worth comparing to the glory that God has set in front of me in the future. [2:06] And that’s what faith really looks like. [2:09] It’s seeing everything that sin has caused in this world and all of the wreckage and all of the turmoil and all of the bad things that this life inevitably brings us because of sin. [2:22] And not necessarily even our sin. [2:24] Just sin’s existence causes bad things. [2:28] And looking at that, but then looking at what God has promised us through Jesus and the work that Jesus has already done on the cross and saying our best days are ahead of us.

[2:40] And the song’s so cool because it compares what God is doing and saying that God is building a city and that God has hope for the city. [2:49] If you go through the book of Revelation, God has this way of painting through what the apostle John saw as if God is building a magnificent city that is just beautiful and his glory radiates in that city. [3:05] And we see God for who he is and we live in this perfect unity with God and others and that is what heaven looks like. [3:13] It’s a city that is just consumed with the glory of God. [3:19] And the scripture says in the book of Ephesians that God is giving a taste of that to us through the church. [3:25] And that we are to be a sign of the kingdom of God to the world all around us.

[3:30] And that fills us with so much hope but then in the same sense it also fills us with a bit of dread because sometimes we look at our life and we say that’s not what my life looks like though. [3:40] I’m not seeing that hope taking root in my life. [3:44] I’m glad you’re here because that’s a little bit of what we’re going to touch on today. [3:48] Is how the kingdom of God actually translates into day to day living. [3:54] If you’ve been with us for the past, feels like 5,000 weeks, we’ve been going through the book of Galatians for quite a time now since the fall. [4:03] And we’ve gone from a place where Paul is combative with people who are preaching a false gospel that is totally man centered.

[4:12] As if we can earn something before God and Paul says that’s not the gospel. [4:17] The gospel is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and our hope is in Jesus and Jesus alone. [4:23] Without Jesus we have no hope. [4:25] Our religious attempt at reaching God is fruitless. [4:29] But Jesus and our trust and our faith in what he has accomplished on the cross and through the resurrection. [4:34] That is where our hope really is and that is all that we need for acceptance with God.

[4:41] And then God will use our ruthless trust in him to give us his Holy Spirit. [4:47] And he pours himself into us through our faith in him. [4:51] And then out of our lives and into our lives we begin to experience what life with God actually is. [4:57] We’re swept up in this relationship with God that is a beautiful thing. [5:03] And in that God works himself into our life. [5:07] And Paul says things like, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

[5:14] And the life I now live is through faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. [5:20] So there is this connectedness that God pours himself into us. [5:24] And then when he is in our life through the Holy Spirit we begin to see him working himself out of our lives. [5:31] And our lives begin to change right in front of our eyes. [5:35] And we see things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. [5:42] We see these things begin to take root in our lives and we see ourselves united with God.

[5:47] But then what that does to us is we begin to see what Paul says the law fulfilled in our lives. [5:55] Because Jesus completely fulfilled it on the cross. [5:58] Jesus himself said, and Paul reiterates it in chapter 5, he says the law is summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself.

[6:07] And before that he says Christ died to redeem us from the curse of the law. [6:12] Because sin came like we talked about last week and sin totally ruined relationship. [6:17] Tore us away from God and then tore us away from each other and we have been having issues ever since with that.

[6:26] But through the gospel we can now know what it is like to love our neighbor as ourselves. [6:31] Because Jesus gave us more than an example of what that looks like. [6:36] Jesus gave himself over completely to doing that and he loved us with this love that forced him to die. [6:44] Because that was the only way that the wrath of God would be fully consumed and fully met and fully poured onto him. [6:54] Is if he took what we had done wrong against him onto himself. [7:00] And then the father pours his wrath on the son on the cross and redemption takes root because the penalty for sin has been paid.

[7:08] And Jesus redeems us from that sin. [7:11] And he doesn’t just give us a future ticket to ride to heaven, rather he gives us a new life to begin to live now. [7:18] And that is what we talked about last week as the spirit pours into our life and we begin to build the kingdom of God. [7:24] Because when redemption in the gospel really takes root in your life, what you see happening is you take that love that Jesus has given you, you take it into other people’s lives. [7:33] And life stops being about you and it starts being about seeing others redeemed through the gospel. [7:39] Because you know there is no hope in you.

[7:43] But you know that God has put himself into you and that God is that hope. [7:47] And God now desires to steer your life into redeeming others. [7:53] We are redeemed people taking redemption that we have known and that we are learning and that we are living into the lives of others. [8:03] The Holy Spirit does the work, we take zero credit for it. [8:07] And so we have all of these realities, all of these spiritual blessings that we can say and we can look at. [8:14] And it is pretty awe inspiring sometimes if you really step back and look at it.

[8:17] Because you see the gospel for what it really is, you see what God does in our lives. [8:21] And you look at it and you say, man, God has given me this amazing life. [8:26] But then we just go through our daily lives and the struggle is in actually seeing it happen. [8:33] Because it is one thing to look at this list of what the Holy Spirit does to us. [8:37] You know, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. [8:39] To look at that stuff and say, wow, that would be a beautiful life.

[8:43] But it is another thing to actually begin to point and define in our lives where it is happening. [8:52] And if you struggle, like if somebody were to come to you today and just ask you straight up. [8:56] How is the gospel changing your life? [8:59] Many of us, and quite frankly myself included a lot of times, Jesus.

[9:07] And we give that Sunday School answer because it is a struggle. [9:09] It is something that we can’t really point to because we walk through our life. [9:12] And it is this step by step process of struggle. [9:15] And sometimes we struggle more with sin and we have sin in our lives. [9:19] And we can’t really point to the gospel because of the sin that is so rooted in us. [9:24] And the self-centeredness that is so rooted in us that this life is a struggle.

[9:30] If you have your scriptures, open to Galatians chapter 6.

[9:36] And when Jesus says that the law is fulfilled and loving your neighbor as yourself. [9:40] Understand what he is actually talking about is the redemption that God is going to do through you. [9:45] See, God is building the church. [9:47] Last week we made mention that God is using the church. [9:50] And he is using it to be a sign of the kingdom of God. [9:56] But what does that actually mean?

[9:57] Let’s get specific. [9:59] Let’s take all of this knowledge that is up here. [10:01] And all of these truths that we have in our heads from scripture. [10:04] And let’s actually translate that into our daily lives. [10:07] In Ephesians 2. [10:10] You don’t need to turn there.

[10:11] I will just tell you what it says. [10:12] In Ephesians 2, Paul writes in this section about a great reality that God is building in the church. [10:20] And he says that the church is building the kingdom of God. [10:24] And he compares it to a facility or a building like what we are in right now. [10:29] And what is the most important thing about a building? [10:31] Well, it is the foundation.

[10:33] If you don’t have a good foundation on a building, you build walls on it and they are eventually going to crumble.

[10:43] And what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2. [10:45] God is building his kingdom through the church and it has got the surest foundation possible. [10:51] God has made the foundation completely on Jesus. [10:56] We are not responsible for the foundation. [10:59] Which is where a lot of us struggle because we are trying to continue to build the foundation. [11:04] And the scriptures through Paul say, no, the foundation is done.

[11:07] Jesus is what that foundation is sitting on top of. [11:10] It calls Jesus the cornerstone. [11:12] The weight bearing part. [11:14] And then the work of the apostles who were sent by Jesus, that completes the foundation because they were witnesses to what Jesus did. [11:23] But then he says the building is not yet complete. [11:26] It has a foundation.

[11:28] But since the days of the apostles, what has been taking place is that the walls have been being set up. [11:35] And that is where we are. [11:37] Right now in the history of the church, in the history of the kingdom that God is building. [11:43] That is where we are. [11:45] We are wall builders.

[11:49] So God is building this wall on top of the foundation of his son Jesus. [11:54] And God says I am pouring myself into you. [11:57] And you pour what I pour into you out of yourself into the lives of others. [12:01] And you are building walls. [12:03] When will the walls be complete? [12:04] We have no idea.

[12:06] The disciples wanted to know and in Acts chapter 1 they look at Jesus and say, [12:10] Jesus is now the time you are going to restore your kingdom? Is it over? [12:14] And Jesus says it is not for you to know the times and the seasons but you be my witnesses all over the world. [12:20] And you build the walls. [12:22] Is what Paul is using an analogy for. [12:25] And then God will then set the roof on top.

[12:29] But we are to build the walls. [12:32] And that is what Paul is getting at throughout the entire book of Galatians. [12:36] He is giving us the gospel. [12:38] And then throughout chapter 5 he begins to transition. [12:41] And he says now this is the life that the gospel will cause inside of you. [12:46] It will cause a life where the Holy Spirit is living in you and living through you.

[12:51] And you have these fruits that are taking place. [12:53] And these fruits that are building up. [12:55] And now you build these walls on all these sides. [12:58] You bring people in. [12:59] You form relationships. [13:01] And what happens then necessarily is the Holy Spirit builds this thing called community.

[13:08] And what is community? [13:10] Community is the church. [13:13] The church is a gathering of a group of people. [13:17] Who have been redeemed by the gospel. [13:20] And then what they do then is they come together in worship of God. [13:24] And they take the gospel.

[13:25] They take this redemption. [13:26] And they teach other people how to follow Jesus. [13:29] While taking redemption to those in the culture who don’t already have it. [13:33] Because we are building some really big walls. [13:36] Because the greater your foundation the bigger the wall can be. [13:40] And we have the surest foundation possible.

[13:44] Jesus. [13:45] So our walls can go as high as you can’t even imagine. [13:50] Because it is on Jesus. [13:52] And so God is building this great kingdom through his church. [13:57] And we are a part of that. [14:01] The problem is though when he begins to build this kingdom.

[14:05] It can get so confusing and so rough. [14:08] Because if it is one thing that we all have in common. [14:11] It is the thing that we are redeemed from. [14:14] What are we redeemed from? [14:15] Sin.

[14:17] Throughout your entire life you have this tension going on. [14:21] It is the life of the spirit versus the life of the flesh. [14:24] What Paul talks about at the end of Galatians chapter 5. [14:27] And we are kind of tilted towards ourselves many times. [14:30] And when you are tilted towards yourself. [14:32] Community doesn’t take root because community is all about others.

[14:37] That is why Paul says the law is summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself.

[14:43] So as soon as he gets done telling us what the fruits of the spirit are. [14:48] And how this kingdom is going to be built. [14:51] He then tells us, he says, you know the spirit is doing all the work. [14:54] You can’t take any credit for. [14:55] And in verse 26, and then I will get into chapter 1. [14:58] He says, let us not become conceited.

[15:01] Provoking one another. [15:03] Envying one another. [15:05] And then in 6.1 he says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression. [15:11] You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. [15:17] That is pretty interesting. [15:18] He transitions and makes a really interesting move.

[15:22] He goes from works of the spirit, fruits of the spirit. [15:25] We love reading that list. [15:26] Because it is something that fills us with good feelings of love, joy, peace. [15:30] It is great. [15:31] And then he says, don’t become conceited.

[15:36] That is interesting.

[15:40] What Paul is basically saying here is that we have an amazing way of taking what God [15:46] has made beautiful and taking it and perverting it. [15:51] And making it something that it is absolutely not.

[15:55] God is saying you can take the fruits of the spirit in your life. [15:59] You can take the love. [16:00] You can take the joy. [16:01] You can take the patience. [16:02] And then because of your sinfulness and because of this thing that the flesh causes you to do. [16:06] Which is rebel against God.

[16:08] You can attempt to make all of those fruits about you. [16:12] And you can become puffed up about your relationship with God. [16:16] And you can just walk around and basically have this mentality.

[16:22] I am such a good Christian. [16:24] What is your problem?

[16:28] I don’t know about you.

[16:30] But when we talk about something like that, immediately someone comes to mind. [16:35] You have all got baggage from a religious person. [16:37] If you all just kind of relax right now and admit it. [16:41] When I said that, you were like, Carl Crawford.

[16:48] All right, now that is not a literal person. [16:49] I literally don’t know where I got that from. [16:50] But Carl Crawford. [16:54] That guy thought he was amazing. [16:55] That is exactly who Steve is talking about. [16:58] That is exactly what he is saying.

[17:00] All right, if you are like me, that is what happened to you. [17:03] All right, but as soon as you did that, you are guilty of the same thing Carl Crawford is guilty of.

[17:15] Because you pointed a finger at him and you got puffed up about yourself. [17:20] Basically you said, I am a better Christian than Carl Crawford. [17:24] I don’t know where the term better Christian came from. [17:26] I get the practicality of it. [17:29] That I am a good, better Christian than someone else. [17:32] But what are you saying here?

[17:35] Because we just spent weeks pointing out this key that the Holy Spirit produces the fruit. [17:42] Jesus does the work. [17:44] God works himself into you. [17:47] You get no credit for it whatsoever. [17:50] And then out of the other side of your mouth you say, I am a better Christian than that guy.

[17:58] We don’t pay very good attention and we have very short memory spans. [18:01] You can’t be a better Christian. [18:04] Because Christianity isn’t your work. [18:07] It is the work of God. [18:09] So you can’t take any credit for it whatsoever. [18:14] When you come into community with other people,

[18:16] the big problem and the big thing that causes strife inside of our relationships is sin. [18:24] Is us becoming puffed up about ourselves and us pointing and saying, [18:29] well it is all about me because look at what I add to the mix. [18:33] Look at how good I am. [18:35] Look at how special I am. [18:36] This community would be so much better if they would just listen to me.

[18:41] If they would just let me take this part over or that part over. [18:44] Because man, God has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

[18:53] And when we come into it with that attitude, [18:55] here is the key, understand that you are not the only one coming into it with that attitude. [19:00] And if you have five people coming into it with that attitude, [19:04] do you think there is going to be some strife inside of the community?

[19:09] If you think about American history and the way that Native Americans would set up their communities, [19:18] they had one chief. [19:21] Have you ever heard the phrase, there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians?

[19:26] Because in Native American culture you had one chief and everybody listened to that one chief. [19:32] In church culture we have many chiefs. [19:36] And not very many Indians.

[19:40] And when we come in and we try to build community on what we can add to this community, [19:47] well we have just really seen a revelation of Galatians 5.26. [19:53] Don’t become conceited provoking one another, envying one another. [20:00] Because that is a community that is not built on the foundation of Jesus Christ [20:05] that is discussed in Ephesians 2. [20:08] It is built on the foundation of my own personal greatness.

[20:15] And let me tell you something right now, if you build community on top of the greatness of Steve Gentry, [20:21] as soon as the sprinkles hit, the house is falling down.

[20:27] Not even that, as soon as it hits like 80 degrees I am going to go home because I am going to start sweating. [20:31] I don’t like that very much. [20:33] I experienced that yesterday.

[20:36] This is a weak foundation. [20:39] But here is the key, look in the mirror, you are a weak foundation too. [20:43] That is why we can’t save ourselves. [20:46] Because we are desperately in need of salvation through Jesus.

[20:51] So if it is one thing that we can start off with, God is clearly saying through the apostle Paul, [20:57] notice how he says brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression, [21:03] transgression is just a Greek word for sin. [21:06] If anyone is caught, what is he presupposing? [21:10] If you catch someone it means that you know them, it means that you are in relationship with them.

[21:18] Communities taking place right here. [21:21] Where did this community come from? [21:24] Because if you have relationships where people are seeing how other people are living, [21:29] and we are seeing how other people are sinning, [21:30] we are seeing how other people are being disobedient to the gospel, [21:34] then communities taking place.

[21:36] Where does this community come from? [21:39] Rewind back to chapter 5. [21:41] Read through the fruits of the spirit. [21:42] The spirit, the spirit builds community. [21:47] That is the big key that you have to understand. [21:49] The community is not created or built by me.

[21:52] The community is absolutely created by God. [21:56] If the foundation is on Jesus, who built the foundation? [22:00] God. Because who is Jesus? [22:02] Well, he is God. [22:04] And if he builds this foundation and we are walking on top of it, [22:08] trying to put some walls up,

[22:09] who has created that community? [22:11] Who has done the redemption? [22:13] Who is producing the fruit? [22:15] God. [22:16] So God the spirit, the third person in the trinity, [22:20] is forming and creating this community.

[22:23] And God understands that those who he is pulling into community have been redeemed from sin. [22:29] He has put his spirit inside of us. [22:32] But what Paul is saying here is [22:33] that community is going to have tension inside of it. [22:38] Because we have this natural leaning towards sin.

[22:48] That’s why I’m uncomfortable in heat. [22:51] Sin.

[22:53] That’s why I have sinus pressure. [22:55] Sin.

[22:58] Even in redemption, Paul says, sin leaves a mark.

[23:05] That’s why he says things like he did in Romans 8, 18 when he said, [23:09] this present suffering doesn’t compare to the future greatness. [23:12] Because Paul understood he hasn’t seen the totality of the kingdom of God yet. [23:17] It’s still being built with the residual effects of sin going on in all of our lives.

[23:24] So get ready because you are going to catch people in sin. [23:29] The key is you are going to catch yourself in great sin.

[23:33] So Paul starts off, he says, brothers, let’s talk about how the fruits of the spirit actually work out in our lives. [23:40] He says, you can pervert it. [23:42] You can turn it into something that is totally about you. [23:44] And you can start saying you are better than everybody else. [23:46] He says, if anyone is caught in any transgression, [23:49] you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

[23:57] Notice the play on words there. [23:58] See, we have this natural leaning to understand this. [24:01] And we say those who are spiritual. [24:03] Oh, so those who are better Christians. [24:06] Those who are more spiritually mature.

[24:11] I love that terminology because the more spiritually mature you get, [24:17] the more of your own sin you see. [24:21] And we in this society tend to look at spiritual maturity by how well someone’s suit is pressed on Sunday morning.

[24:30] We tend to have a view of spiritual maturity by, well, he’s a deacon Carl, man. [24:37] I’m really beating up on Carl this morning. [24:39] If you are in here this morning and your name is Carl, I apologize. [24:43] I promise I’m not talking about you. [24:45] I just pulled a name because I don’t know any Carl’s. [24:48] So that’s where that came from.

[24:50] I thought it was safe. [24:52] If I said Dave, well, the drummer would be in trouble. [24:55] Actually, I should have just said Dave.

[24:59] But deacon Carl, he’s in church every Sunday morning. [25:01] He looks the best. [25:02] He’s so spiritually mature. [25:04] That’s who this is talking about. [25:06] No! You’re pointing it towards a human being again. [25:09] What did he just talk about?

[25:12] Don’t take that verse on its own. [25:13] Look at the last paragraph.

[25:17] Fruits of the Spirit. [25:19] If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit. [25:22] Those of you who are spiritual. [25:25] No, he’s just simply saying, look in your own life. [25:29] If someone is bringing strife into your community, go home first. [25:33] Look in the mirror.

[25:34] Make sure you’re not the problem.

[25:38] Take inventory of your own life. [25:40] Find where the fruits of the Spirit are going on in your own life. [25:44] Make sure you’re not the conceited party. [25:46] Make sure you’re not the one provoking everyone. [25:48] Make sure you’re not the one envying everyone. [25:51] Then and only then can you really look in the mirror and say,

[25:54] it’s not about me, it’s about the Holy Spirit. [25:57] And then you go to that person who is struggling in sin, [26:01] and you don’t point at them and say, [26:03] you better live better. [26:05] You better act better. [26:07] You better shape up.

[26:09] What does it say?

[26:13] You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

[26:24] In other words, when you see sin, when you see hurt, [26:29] when you see pain coming out of someone else’s life, [26:32] your response is not, you hurt me so I’m going to get you. [26:38] Your response is, I understand.

[26:45] Because I’m no better than you. [26:48] Because I’m redeemed by Jesus.

[26:51] Let me help you. [26:54] When you come with a spirit of gentleness, [26:57] which is what? A fruit of the Spirit. [27:00] Not something you possess. [27:03] This isn’t about being Mr. Nice Guy. [27:06] Some people are just naturally nice.

[27:09] And niceness just wants to stay away from conflict. [27:14] It’s like, oh you can keep doing what you’re doing, it’s okay. [27:17] That’s not what he’s talking about. [27:18] He says restore. [27:20] That means you better stop whoever is causing the problems, [27:24] and you better restore them.

[27:26] That doesn’t mean you don’t confront them with their sin. [27:29] That means you do. [27:30] You just do it in the Holy Spirit of gentleness. [27:34] And you restore for the sake of the community, [27:38] for the good of the community. [27:40] Because the Spirit creates community.

[27:43] Understand what Paul is talking about here. [27:45] Paul is talking about us furthering the Gospel. [27:48] What is the whole book of Galatians about? [27:50] The book of Galatians is about the Gospel.

[27:55] And he tells us at the end there, he says, [27:57] restore him in a spirit of gentleness, [28:00] and then notice how he finishes, [28:01] he says, keep watch on yourself, lest you be tempted.

[28:12] Let’s just make this as practical as possible. [28:15] What happens in church all the time? [28:16] You’ve probably been in church quite a while. [28:19] People get mad at each other. [28:21] Quite frequently.

[28:24] Both Ethel and Gertrude made fried chicken. [28:27] And more people said Gertrude’s fried chicken were good, [28:30] and then they said Ethel’s fried chicken were good. [28:32] Well, we’re having a church split over the fried chicken issue. [28:36] Either that or we’re just outlawing potlucks. [28:39] And some of you are my age,

[28:41] and you’re like, I have no idea what a potluck even is. [28:43] And I promise I’m only 29. [28:46] But I know what that’s all about. [28:48] Because that’s what I came up with. [28:50] We’re still in the South, right? [28:52] Here’s what he’s saying.

[28:53] When somebody comes at you and attacks you, [28:56] and tears you down, all right? [29:00] What is our first response because we’re so prideful? [29:04] Well, I’ve got to get back at them. [29:07] I’ve got to tear them a new one. [29:10] That’s our mentality.

[29:11] Don’t act like it isn’t.

[29:15] Paul says, be careful.

[29:19] That’s not the spirit of gentleness. [29:21] Because if that’s your reaction, guess what? [29:23] You’re not spiritual.

[29:28] Paul’s getting really practical here. [29:30] We like to read through this and just get inspired. [29:32] I read through this and I feel like I’m getting beat up. [29:36] Because this is me. [29:39] Because if somebody lashes out at me, [29:41] whose kingdom am I going to defend?

[29:43] Not God’s. [29:44] I’m going to defend my kingdom. [29:46] My kingdom come, my will be done.

[29:50] And I want to tear them apart. [29:51] And I want to tear them down. [29:53] And I want to take them out.

[29:56] But the Scripture says right here, [29:58] yeah, that’s the human response. [30:00] That’s the fleshly response. [30:02] That’s the sinful response. [30:04] But what about them? [30:05] Does God not love that other person?

[30:09] Does God not care for them? [30:11] Did Jesus not die for them? [30:13] The community is not created by you. [30:17] It’s created by the Holy Spirit. [30:20] And what is the Holy Spirit passionate about? [30:23] The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[30:26] So if the Spirit creates community, [30:28] the Gospel must then therefore drive the community. [30:33] And if the Gospel is driving our community, [30:36] then what we will see is when someone comes in [30:39] with all of their baggage, with all of their pain, [30:41] and attacks us, we will simply stand there

[30:44] and we will not just take the attack. [30:46] That’s not what this is about. [30:47] We will just put our hand out and say, [30:48] whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. [30:51] Friend, where is this coming from?

[30:56] Where is this coming from? [30:57] And we will do everything we can [31:00] to restore that person. [31:02] We will do everything we can. [31:04] We must build the community on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [31:08] Because what does the Gospel do?

[31:11] The Gospel restores sinful people. [31:13] The Gospel transforms us from sinner into saint. [31:16] Literally, that’s what the Scripture says. [31:18] It says we are saints in Christ Jesus. [31:21] Because Jesus takes us and His perfection is now our perfection. [31:24] His righteousness is now our righteousness.

[31:27] We are not the source of it, He is. [31:29] He is building this beautiful kingdom on Himself. [31:32] And He is letting us be a part of it. [31:34] Not just a part of it, He is doing it through us [31:37] and through our lives.

[31:40] Not on Sunday morning, Monday through Friday too. [31:44] Even Saturday.

[31:47] God wants to transform your life. [31:50] He wants to build a community on His Gospel. [31:55] He wants to create it through His Spirit. [31:57] He wants to bring us together. [31:59] Why does He do this? [32:01] To take the Gospel out and make His community bigger and bigger and bigger.

[32:07] Because the bigger the community of God is, [32:10] guess what? The more of an impact we are going to see on this world, [32:13] and the more people we are going to see redeemed. [32:18] So the community must be driven by the Gospel. [32:21] The Gospel is what saves us. [32:22] The Gospel changes us into God’s people.

[32:25] Therefore it must be about that. [32:27] That’s why when someone strikes at us,

[32:33] we don’t necessarily strike back. [32:37] I know that you might. [32:38] I know that I might. [32:39] Let’s say you come to my house tomorrow morning [32:41] and you accuse me of a bunch of things that I didn’t do. [32:44] I’m probably going to get pretty mad at you.

[32:48] And I might strike back at you. [32:51] And I might try to tear you apart. [32:54] But guess what? In the reality of the Gospel, I don’t have to. [32:59] Why don’t I have to?

[33:04] Because I’m not building my kingdom on this earth.

[33:08] My worth, my value in this life, is not caught up in Steve Gentry.

[33:19] It’s caught up in Jesus Christ.

[33:26] The Scripture says there is a great accuser of men. [33:31] He’s the devil. [33:32] But then it says there’s a great intercessor. [33:35] And that’s Jesus Christ.

[33:38] So my worth is not caught up in these temporal things. [33:43] Because you could come to my house and you might not like the paint on the walls. [33:46] I have no idea. [33:46] You may not have wanted to pick that color. [33:50] But if you stand there and you’re like, man, Steve, you’ve got some ugly walls.

[33:55] Alright.

[33:57] It’s a good thing my worth is not in my house.

[34:01] For some of us it is. [34:04] For some of us our worth is caught up in our clothes. [34:06] For some of us our worth is caught up in our car. [34:08] For some of us our worth is caught up in our job. [34:11] So if someone says we’re not doing a good job, you have just ripped their whole life’s worth apart.

[34:19] So what’s our worth actually made up of? [34:21] When you strike against me, the Gospel responses,

[34:27] If I’m going to build the kingdom of God, I need to do everything I can to help this person. [34:34] I need to confront them with their sin. [34:36] And then I need to attempt to restore them. [34:39] And you’re like, are there limits?

[34:42] Am I just a doormat now? [34:44] Because that’s where we sometimes logically take this. [34:46] We become doormats for people. [34:48] And it’s just like, whoa, we’re just going to get beat up for 50 years. [34:51] That’s why Paul was like to live as Christ, but to die as gang. [34:53] Because he was a doormat.

[34:55] When you’re a doormat, you want to die. [34:59] So are there limits? [35:00] Let’s go on.

[35:04] Verse 2. [35:06] Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [35:11] For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [35:16] But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone, and not in his neighbor. [35:24] For each will have to bear his own load. [35:28] One who has taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.

[35:33] And we’re reading that and we’re like, I have no idea what any of that means. [35:36] I want you to focus on two parts right now. [35:39] First, bear one another’s burden. [35:42] Second, each will have to bear his own load. [35:47] Let’s focus on those two things. [35:48] Because those two things seem to contradict each other, do they not?

[35:52] Bear one another’s burden, but you better carry your own load.

[35:57] That doesn’t seem to gel very well together. [35:59] If someone’s bearing my burden, how am I then to carry my load? [36:04] First, let’s talk about bearing one another’s burden. [36:07] There’s really two places that this works in our lives. [36:11] The word that is used here, bearing one another’s burden, [36:14] the phrase that’s used here is an analogy of a very long beam that can only be carried by two people.

[36:23] Because if you pick it up on one side, if you’ve ever been to a lumber yard or anything, [36:27] you pick it up on one side and you try to carry it, you’re just going to struggle because you’re dragging the other end. [36:32] But if someone will just come alongside you and pick that other side up, [36:37] you can walk in step and you can take it at the distance. [36:41] Paul is talking right there about a burden that can not possibly be carried by you. [36:49] You can’t do it. It is a burden that will literally kill you.

[36:53] What did he just get done talking about? [36:55] Catching someone in sin and then restoring them? [36:59] The burden here is sin.

[37:02] You cannot carry your own sin. [37:04] The thing is, we spend our entire lives trying to cover up our own sinfulness. [37:09] When Scripture says clearly right here, you can’t bear that burden. [37:13] Stop carrying it alone. Get help. [37:16] Help is in two places. It’s from God who takes our sin off of us. [37:21] Jesus. Jesus stands as a testament to how weak we are.

[37:26] Because we cannot alleviate the pain and the burden of sin on our lives. [37:31] So Jesus literally fulfills bearing one another’s burdens. [37:34] He comes and he takes the burden of sin off of us. [37:37] And then he says, now you are redeemed. [37:40] Be with other redeemed people. [37:42] Build my kingdom through the community.

[37:47] Then on the flip side, [37:49] love God because he takes the burden of sin.

[37:54] Love your neighbor as yourself. [37:56] You are going to get a lot of benefit out of that. [37:59] Because if you are loving your neighbor as yourself, guess what? [38:01] He is loving you as himself.

[38:03] And as we have this tension between sin and the Holy Spirit in our lives,

[38:10] it’s a burden that we can’t carry alone. [38:12] Jesus stands as a testament to that. [38:13] But God doesn’t leave us to live this practical world [38:17] with just a spiritual reality of our sin taken away. [38:21] No. He gives other people into our lives to help pick up that sin. [38:25] And walk through our lives and get victory over that sin.

[38:28] Learn obedience to that sin for the greater good. [38:31] Which is always the gospel taken by the community out into the world. [38:35] And we walk in step. [38:37] Our burdens lifted up by other people.

[38:42] And we love that. [38:43] It’s like, that’s great. [38:44] But then he says, but.

[38:49] If your burdens are being lifted, you better carry your own load. [38:52] It’s a different word there when he says, bear your own load. [38:55] The first is a burden that no one can carry by themselves. [38:58] The second word used there is a backpack. [39:03] Seriously.

[39:05] In the Roman army, each soldier would have a pack. [39:07] And that pack had all of their supplies. [39:09] And they were heavy. [39:11] But basically what they did was, they had these packs. [39:14] And they basically were smart enough to measure each man’s pack. [39:17] And what they would say is, this is a pack one man can carry.

[39:21] So each soldier would carry his own pack. [39:23] But if you were to get tired and take your pack off, [39:26] and try to throw it onto someone else, [39:29] they would be struggling to carry your pack. [39:33] So when he says, carry your own load. [39:36] This is a pack.

[39:37] This is a burden that you can carry.

[39:41] Paul is getting the point across here. [39:43] That community is not self-centered.

[39:49] Here’s what I’m talking about. [39:50] When we tend to talk about community, and sin enters into our community, [39:54] and we become conceited about ourselves, [39:57] guess what community becomes? [39:59] Meeting my needs.

[40:05] I’m not going back to that church anymore.

[40:10] They don’t pay enough attention to me.

[40:17] That church, tell you what, [40:20] the music that they play, [40:23] it’s just not my preference.

[40:27] I heard that they sent a team over to so-and-so’s house, [40:31] and they mowed their grass. [40:33] Nobody’s ever offered to come mow my grass.

[40:38] I don’t feel like my needs are being met here.

[40:43] I’m out.

[40:46] And this is where, honestly, this is where we’re getting uncomfortable. [40:49] Because this is where I get uncomfortable. [40:50] Because guess who’s all… [40:53] Let me just be really honest with you. [40:55] You know who’s usually the most guilty of making community all about themselves?

[41:01] Pastors.

[41:05] Because church can very quickly become about meeting this guy’s needs by all of the community.

[41:17] This is not about me. [41:19] But here’s the big key. [41:20] It’s not about you either.

[41:24] If your view of community is all wrapped up in you, [41:29] and these little temporal things that you see in this world, [41:34] you’re not carrying your own load. [41:36] You are taking your preferences, [41:40] your traditions, [41:41] your wants,

[41:43] your laziness, [41:44] your apathy, [41:46] your unwillingness to really live for the gospel and love other people, [41:49] and you’re hoisting it on to everybody else. [41:52] And you’re saying, community? [41:54] Carry my load, because that’s what community exists.

[41:57] It exists for me.

[42:01] That’s when we get to walk this very close line, [42:04] because sometimes we get very tempted, and I do it too. [42:06] I look at the community and I’m like, [42:08] you guys have no idea what community is all about, [42:11] because you’re not doing enough for me.

[42:21] And then Paul writes,

[42:25] bear your own load.

[42:31] See, what he’s talking about here between burden and load [42:34] doesn’t contradict itself. [42:36] The burden is the gospel. [42:38] No one can live the gospel alone. [42:41] The load is just your everyday life. [42:46] The load is just the things of this world that aren’t gospel-centered.

[42:53] And Paul says, stop trying to make community [42:57] about you.

[43:01] Because community is not self-centered. [43:03] If community is created by the Spirit, [43:05] if community is driven by the gospel, [43:08] what is the gospel all about? [43:09] Notice here, notice what he says. [43:11] Let’s get really specific with this.

[43:13] He says, bear one another’s burdens, [43:16] and so fulfill the law of Christ. [43:19] He says that the gospel fulfills two laws. [43:23] First, in chapter 5, he says the gospel is fulfilled [43:27] in loving your neighbor as yourself. [43:28] Then he says, when you bear one another’s burdens,

[43:30] you fulfill the law of Christ. [43:32] Because what did Christ do? [43:34] Christ perfectly loved other people as he loved himself.

[43:41] Community is always about the other guy. [43:44] Here’s why community cannot be about you. [43:47] Just really raw and gritty, why it can’t be about you. [43:50] Because if community is about you, [43:51] then you have 16 people focused on one guy. [43:54] And that one guy’s needs are being met by 16 people.

[43:58] So that one guy is draining the community of the gospel, [44:01] making life all about himself, [44:04] making life all about building his kingdom, [44:06] making life all about making him comfortable, [44:09] all about meeting his little wants, [44:11] because they’re not really needs, they’re wants.

[44:13] And the gospel is never furthered in this world. [44:16] But what happens when that person who the community is really focused on, [44:20] when they become redeemed, [44:22] when they’re restored by a spirit of gentleness, guess what? [44:25] They begin to love other people as they love themselves. [44:28] Those other people love others as they love themselves.

[44:31] As long as everyone is focused on loving other people, guess what? [44:37] Everyone’s going to get loved. [44:39] The problem in our culture and the churches that we’re building is, [44:43] everyone comes into the church saying, [44:45] meet my needs, meet my needs, meet my needs. [44:48] And no one is focused on other people.

[44:50] So you’re going to be dissatisfied, [44:52] because everybody wants their needs met. [44:55] And in the end when we have a culture like that, [44:57] no one’s needs are going to be met.

[45:03] When we designed the way that we would do services here, [45:07] and some of you come in here and you love it, [45:09] and I’m so glad for that, [45:11] but if you’ve been in church for any period of time, [45:13] we did not have you in mind when we did our services, [45:17] the way that we did our services.

[45:18] Do you want to know what we had in mind? [45:20] People that don’t know Jesus. [45:23] Because the gospel is fulfilled in loving my neighbor as myself, [45:28] and like that, Pharisee came in and he said, [45:30] well then who is my neighbor? [45:31] Church. If you are redeemed by Jesus Christ,

[45:35] your neighbor is everyone inside of the church [45:38] and everyone outside of the church. [45:41] Because everyone in this culture is hurting.

[45:46] So if you don’t like a G chord that Josh drums,

[45:52] and you’re like, I can’t go to church there anymore. [45:54] They hit those drums way too loud.

[45:58] Ask yourself this question. [46:01] What are you building community on?

[46:08] Because at the village,

[46:13] we desire to build community on seeing as many people redeemed as possible. [46:18] We want to be a church where people can come and hear the gospel.

[46:25] Without any of the pointless traditions that we’ve built up over the years blocking their way.

[46:34] We’ve got a real comfortable atmosphere for you to come in, [46:36] but we don’t preach a real comfortable message. I’ll tell you that right now.

[46:46] It’s not always comfortable.

[46:50] But it’s always satisfying because it’s about redemption. [46:54] It’s about the gospel. [46:57] And if community is not self-centered, [47:00] guess what will happen? [47:02] Community will build the church.

[47:06] You’re like, I don’t understand that. Doesn’t the church build community? [47:10] No.

[47:13] Because when you come together, you can build community on a lot of things. [47:15] You really can. You can build community on a lot of things. [47:20] Racing, baseball, basketball, knitting. [47:24] You can build community on all those things. [47:25] You can do however you want to. [47:27] But the community that God is building is centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[47:32] And if community comes together on the gospel of Jesus Christ, [47:36] guess what? Before we even know it, we’re building the walls. [47:39] We’re building the church. [47:42] Because the church is not about us. [47:43] The church is about redeeming people, bringing them in, [47:47] building a church built on redemption.

[47:49] And it is not about the church. [47:54] As long as it’s about you. [47:56] When you build real community, [48:00] the church comes out of that real community. [48:02] And then the church shows the gospel in action.

[48:08] Really quickly, verse 6. [48:10] One who has taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. [48:15] Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. [48:17] For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [48:20] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from his flesh reap corruption. [48:24] But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

[48:28] And let us not grow weary in well-doing. [48:30] For in due season we will reap if we do not give up. [48:33] So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, [48:36] especially to those who are of the household of faith. [48:38] Let me tell you what our first temptation is. [48:40] We tend to look at these verses and we single them out.

[48:43] And we take them totally out of context. [48:44] And we say, you see, if you reap alcoholism, [48:49] you are going to sow cirrhosis of the liver.

[48:53] If you sow drugs, guess what? You are going to reap OD. [48:58] If you sow immorality, you are going to reap death.

[49:03] Now, granted, I am not saying those natural laws aren’t true.

[49:09] So, you know, kids don’t go home and be like, [49:11] see, he said that if I drink all I want, I won’t get cirrhosis of the liver. [49:13] No, you really will. [49:15] That’s a medical fact. I’m sorry. I can’t avoid that. [49:18] It’s just medically it’s true. [49:21] So you should avoid alcoholism.

[49:23] But here’s what I’m talking about. [49:24] What is he talking about right here? [49:28] Sow what you reap. [49:29] That’s just a fact. [49:31] Alright? [49:32] If I don’t put gas in my truck, it will run out of gas.

[49:36] I will reap that.

[49:39] Here’s what he’s talking about here. [49:40] What’s the whole book of Galatians been about? [49:41] The gospel of Jesus Christ versus religion. [49:45] Religion is built up on you. [49:46] It builds your kingdom. It’s all about you. [49:48] If you sow the gospel, you will reap community.

[49:53] If you sow the gospel, you will reap the fruits of the Spirit. [49:58] If you sow faith, guess what? [50:00] You will get faith in return. [50:02] If you sow love from the Holy Spirit that He just gives you, [50:06] guess what? You are going to reap love from inside of your community. [50:10] But guess what?

[50:12] If you sow

[50:16] self-centeredness, [50:18] if you sow [50:20] idolatry, [50:21] if you sow your kingdom, [50:24] guess what you’re going to be left with when you reap? [50:27] You.

[50:30] You’re going to be all alone. [50:33] Because you’ve built your kingdom. [50:35] You didn’t build God’s kingdom. [50:37] You cannot go through this life [50:39] avoiding the gospel, [50:41] avoiding gospel relationships,

[50:44] avoiding community with other believers who could actually help you with some of the problems that you have in this life, [50:49] avoiding taking the gospel into the culture [50:52] so that people in this culture will be redeemed by the gospel, [50:56] avoiding mending relationships that have been broken because of your sinfulness, [51:00] avoiding people who have hurt you, [51:03] and avoiding giving them the forgiveness that Jesus would have you give them,

[51:07] avoiding all of it. [51:08] You cannot sow all of that and then in the end of your life, [51:12] look forward and say, [51:13] okay, the kingdom of God’s mine, [51:14] no it’s not because you didn’t live the gospel in your life.

[51:20] But I thought Jesus forgave me. [51:21] He absolutely does, [51:23] but His forgiveness will change your life. [51:27] I’ve covered that already.

[51:31] What you sow, you will also reap. [51:33] If you sow a self-centered life that could care less about the community of God, [51:37] could care less about building the church of Jesus Christ, guess what? [51:40] You get yourself.

[51:45] He directs it right back to where the community is being built. [51:49] He says, do good to all people, [51:51] but especially to those of the household of faith. [51:54] Why does He say that? [51:55] Because it starts right here. [51:57] Here’s why this culture is becoming less and less church oriented.

[52:04] Because the unbelieving culture looks inside of the church, [52:07] guess what? It doesn’t look very attractive.

[52:10] When you spend Monday through Friday in a dog-eat-dog world, [52:14] at work with people who are self-seeking, [52:18] selfish, [52:19] desire only their kingdom,

[52:22] you don’t want to go to a church that looks like that.

[52:27] You don’t want to look at what’s supposed to be a sign of the kingdom of God [52:30] and see the exact same thing you see in an unbelieving world.

[52:34] He says, do good to those of the household of faith, [52:38] not because Christians are better than everybody else [52:40] and because we’re more important, let’s only focus on ourselves. [52:43] That’s all He’s talking about. [52:44] He’s saying, it’s got to start right here or it’s never going to get out there.

[52:50] If we’re in here backbiting, hurting each other, disunited, [52:53] we could really care less about each other except for on Sunday mornings, [52:58] guess what? The unbelieving world will stay an unbelieving world [53:01] because they do not see the fruits of the Spirit in our life.

[53:07] He’s just putting a cap on the end and saying, [53:11] what you sow, you will reap.

[53:16] Do you want the kingdom of God?

[53:19] That’s the question.

[53:22] Do you want the kingdom of God? [53:25] Because it’s only available through the Gospel. [53:28] That’s it. [53:30] It’s only available through Jesus. [53:33] We’ve spent so much time in the book of Galatians, do not miss this.

[53:40] You cannot build the kingdom of God on top of your shoulders. [53:45] You can only build it through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, [53:52] which is not about a burden going on you, [53:55] it’s about a great burden coming off of you. [53:59] That guilt, that sin, that baggage, the religious people have put on you, [54:07] that pain that a relationship has caused you,

[54:10] you can’t build the kingdom of God as long as your life is lived toward that thing.

[54:17] Jesus died to remove that weight. [54:20] He is the fulfillment of bear one another’s burden. [54:24] Jesus wants to bear your burdens. [54:28] And then when he takes that burden off of you, guess what? [54:31] You’re free to live for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [54:34] But as long as you’re letting that burden weigh you down,

[54:38] you’re in bondage, you’re condemned. [54:41] Not because God’s condemned you, God wants to free you. [54:46] But because you are letting a burden that has already been lifted continue to stay on you. [54:52] God wants to take it off and you’re grabbing for it. [54:55] But they hurt me, you don’t understand. [54:57] Jesus understands.

[55:00] Because he took that pain off of you and onto himself.

[55:05] Right now, let’s respond to what Paul has said to us. [55:11] Let’s say, yes Lord. [55:13] We want to build your kingdom. [55:15] God help us because we don’t know how.

[55:19] The foundation, sure. [55:21] Because the foundation is Jesus. [55:24] But at the village, it had better be about the Gospel or this is pointless.

[55:31] It had better be about the Gospel or this is pointless. [55:33] It had better be about bearing one another’s burdens and loving one another and not about us. [55:40] Or it’s pointless. [55:41] It’s not the Gospel.

[55:44] The Gospel is Jesus, body broken, blood shed to remove our sins. [55:52] As we go into this Easter season,

[55:56] we just have such a picture of the Gospel. [56:01] A kingdom worth building. [56:03] Because it’s a sure kingdom. [56:05] It’s a narrow road and we’ve seen a little bit today why it’s so narrow. [56:08] Because it’s tough. [56:09] It’s tough to live focused on others.

[56:12] That’s why the Holy Spirit does it through us.

[56:15] Let’s respond right now in taking communion. [56:19] If you’re not a believer or you’re struggling with something right now, [56:23] I’m back there. [56:24] There’s a few others back there. [56:26] I want to pray with you. I want to talk to you. [56:29] But if you don’t believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

[56:32] if you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Savior, [56:35] please don’t take communion this morning. [56:37] Not because we’re trying to prevent you, [56:40] but because in order to truly experience the blessing of reflecting on the cross of Jesus [56:45] and rejoice in something like that, [56:48] you’ve got to believe it.

[56:49] If not, it’s pointless.

[56:53] If you just want me to pray with you, [56:55] if you want to talk about living Gospel-centered life, [56:58] I want to talk to you. I want to pray with you. [57:02] I’ll be in the back. [57:04] Let’s pray. [57:05] Father, we come before you and we thank you.

[57:09] Lord, you’ve taken our burdens off of us. [57:12] You’ve put them on yourself. [57:14] We praise you. We thank you. [57:16] But God, may we begin to live a Gospel-centered life [57:19] where we go to others and we, because our burden has been lifted, [57:23] we can help them get rid of their burden of sin

[57:26] through the hope that is in your Son Jesus. [57:30] Lord, bless us as we reflect on your body and your blood right now. [57:35] In the name of Jesus, Amen.