That sets the stage for what we're going to be talking about today. And so if you have your Bibles, we'll take them and turn to Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 through 10 is our text for today, Galatians 6, 1 through 10. While you're turning, I just want to tell you that we're getting close to the end of the Book of Galatians. Matter of fact, we're going to finish it next week. And then following that, we're going to be moving into an Old Testament study in the Book of Ruth. That you will come and be ready. Galatians 6, verses 1 through 10, is our text for today. Apostle Paul says, brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted, carry each other's burdens. And in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to someone else, for each one should carry his own load. Anyone who receives instruction in the Word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reads what he saw. The one who saws to please his sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction. The one who saws to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time. We will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. How many of you subscribe the sports illustrator? Not that many, couple. How many of you know somebody is, hopefully, addicted to sports? Raise your hand. That is a little bit better. Elements response there. Sports Illustrated is the magazine for the addicted. It is the magazine that comes and eagerly awaited each month or whenever it comes. As you can see, I am not going to be addicted. But when it comes, the person who sees it picks it up and just devours it because they want to know if they could, they would be watching sports 24 hours a day. The next best thing is sports Illustrated because as you read the magazine, you begin to see all of the games that you couldn't see and all of the featured stories about people that you wanted to know about, but didn't have time to watch TV or watch all those events. Sports Illustrated is the next best thing to be in it. But even then, you don't get it all. If you read sports Illustrated, you still didn't get to see all of the details of every one of the games. And so, what is he talking about sports Illustrated for today? The reason is this. Is that in our text for today, what Paul is doing is he's giving us grace Illustrated. What Paul is doing is he is giving us the picture, the illustrations, the featured articles that sort of help us work out in our everyday lives what it means to walk by grace. You've been hearing me for weeks, upon weeks, upon weeks talk about grace and how we ought to be grace Christians. Last week we talked, or two weeks ago, we talked about the fruit of the spirit and how you follow the spirit. Well, today what Paul does is he shows us illustrations of what it means to walk by grace. He gives us a couple of pictures, a couple of illustrations so that we would be able to follow, but we need to follow the Holy Spirit's teaching here or we won't know how to live by grace. I like the story of the photographer who worked for National Geographic and he was covering the stories of fires in northern Minnesota and up in the Canada, but the smoke got so bad that he really couldn't get the footage that he wanted, the pictures that he wanted. So he called the home office and said, I need a plane. They said, we'll send you one, get to the airport and a plane will be ready to go. So he got there, sure enough, the photographer saw a plane, small plane warming up on the runway, he jumped in through, he was equipping in and he said, let's go. So the pilot turned the little airplane into the wind and before he knew it, they were up in the air and so the photographer said, all right, what I want you to do is I want you to make three low passes over the fire and get as close as you can. And the pilot said, what for? And the photographer was upset and incredulously said, because I'm going to take pictures. I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures. There was a long pause. And then the pilot said, you mean you're not the instructor? Guys, sometimes we think we're figuring it out and we're up in the air and we're flying along in our Christian lives, but we're really, we're really cannot live grace by ourselves. We need the instructor. We need somebody to teach us. We need somebody to flesh it out for us and show us what it means to walk by faith, by grace through faith alone. And so here it is. A couple of illustrations Paul gives us four points here, let's take a look. The first thing I want you to see about how grace is illustrated is that grace is living supportive versus combative. Grace living is supportive versus combative living. Look at verses one and two. Paul says brothers, if someone is caught in a fend you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself or you also may be tempted, carrying each other's burden and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Have a snapshot that Paul wants us to look at as we flip through this illustration of grace is this idea of a Christian being caught in a sin. You say what do you mean caught in a sin? I mean caught red handed. I told you before about the time when I was much younger and I was at a scout activity and I uttered an expletive that was before I knew Jesus. And a scout master put his old hairy hand on my shoulder and spun me around and I said, oh and he said, he said, do you know what you did? I said, yes, I'm sorry, terribly sorry. He said, are you sorry because you got caught or are you sorry because you did it? I said, I'm sorry because I did it and he said, all right, I wouldn't. I'm sorry I got caught and if you got caught in a sin, you'd be sorry that you got caught too. But I don't think that's what Paul's talking about here. I think Paul brings out the nuance of this word in the original language the idea he brings about is the idea of kind of getting tripped up kind of going along trying to serve Jesus follow him. And all of a sudden, wow, you cut loose with a torrent of expletives that you never thought would come out of your mouth again since you came to Christ or you just cut somebody low at the knees with the words and you thought I thought I had my temper under control or you gave into a lust or an addiction, I think that's the idea. The idea is that even though we're followers of Christ, sometimes we still sin and sin in a way that surprises us. No illustrations. Don't give me your examples right now, but we've all done it. And so Paul says that the difference here is how a person of grace will help a person who's caught in sin like that. Did you read recently, a few weeks ago, about this man who was a member of a large paratured organization and he was caught in one of our toll booths over here. He had plugged it up and he'd come back to steal the money that he'd plugged up and said he'd done it before. How could he do it? He was caught, both ways, in a sin. Now what Paul wants us to see is that the legalist and the person living by grace are going to deal with that person in a completely different way. He wants to illustrate grace living versus legalistic living and he shows us that the person who wants to live by grace, his knee jerk response is going to be to try and restore that brother or sister who's fallen into sin, caught up in a sin, or is the legalist's knee jerk reaction is what? Make them pay, make them know what they did, let everybody know, put it on the prayer chain. And then Paul says here that the idea, the idea is that a grace living is to restore the fallen brother. See, grace living is supportive versus combative, that's the difference. As you want to live out the grace that they've been giving or supportive of one another, rather than combative, the idea of restore is the idea of the fisherman mending his nets. It's the idea of a physician setting the bone of a broken arm. That happened to me this past, not to me, but to my son. I guess as I was studying this text, the father wanted to drive it home. So Wednesday night, my son broke his arm, blamed basketball and so we were in the emergency room until 2.30, Thursday morning, but I want you to know when the doctor finally came in and he showed me the X-ray. And the bones which both of them had been broken were set in place. I could see the line, but they were right, they were lined up right. I wanted to just hug the guy, guys don't do that, but you see, the person of grace is a healer, is a restoreer. He's a person who wants to mend things, a legalist, is a person who wants the painful situations that he's made even more painful. Paul says, if you really want to live out grace, then remember that since you have been given all of this acceptance in Christ, you will give that acceptance to other people. But he says, now when you're involved with other people, watch out. If you're dealing with somebody who's tempted and fallen into sin, be careful, you too could be tempted and fallen to sin. So watch yourself. Those of you who've been close to people who've fallen know how easy it is for you to get pulled into that kind of thing. And he says, but our goal here is Christians is to carry each other's burden. And then when we do that, we fulfill the law of Christ. He said, but I thought this was all of grace, there's no laws when you come to Christ. Yeah, there is. Jesus said in John 13, 34, a new command, I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another. And so the law of Christ is to carry, it's to love each other enough to be involved in each other's life, to carry each other's burdens. And that's so difficult for me because I want to just carry my own burdens. I got enough, thank you. And you do too. And yet he's teaching us here that the life of grace is a life that is given to other people as we carry their burdens as well. An old story that Warren Worsley tells about General William Booth, many of you remember him as the founder of the Salvation Army. And General Booth, in his later years, couldn't attend one of his international meetings with his people. And so he sent a cable to this conference, he couldn't address them, he couldn't be there. So he sent a cable and this cable had one word, others, others. And he wanted to leave with his people who were going to impact and change the world was the reality that in Christ we've been given so much that others must be our focus. And one very practical way to live out grace is to seek to restore the people who fallen into sin around you guys. I want you to know that's something that you can do that I can't do. Sometimes we think that it's the elders or the pastors who are always to be the ones to offer the absolution for sin or whatever, guys, you're there, you're out there. You know the people who've fallen, who've hurt, maybe it's you and you need somebody. But this is a ministry that we can have together because every one of us is a minister in Christ, a way to live out what you've gotten freely, to love and to give to other people. The picture that Paul wants to give us here in this first point of grace is that grace living is sort of like a little house on the prairie, you know, this warm environment where everybody loves each other and cares for each other. The legalist on the other hand is American gladiators, always ready to fight. But I like the picture supportive versus combative. Secondly, Paul illustrates grace in the life of grace by telling us that grace is humble versus proud. Galatians 6 verse 3. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself, each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else for each one should carry his own load. Now that seems to be a contradiction. Up at the beginning he said, we've got to carry the load of other people. Here he's saying we've got to carry our own load. What's the point? What is? That in Christ, the people who want to live out in grace understand that their lives are humble, not proud, and therefore they can be involved in other people's lives. That we live our lives not by comparing ourselves with one another, but carrying our own load in a sense, comparing ourselves to Christ and not to one another. Primadanas emerge in public from the forest of deceit. Primadanas are people who have bought into a lie, and the lie is that they really are so open. Aren't I great? I'm the species that cut above. I'm really better than other people. Now really deep down they're more insecure than most, but legalists and primadanas are closely related, because they have bought the lie. The picture that Paul wants to imprint upon our minds is that the person who lives out in grace is humble. The person who is proud is legalist, kind of the difference between the sheriff and the Griffith and his deputy, Barney Fife. You know, one is calm, in kind, and supportive, and humble. The other is comically arrogant, and in his arrogance, those all kinds of stupid things don't get me wrong. I like Andy Griffith for the show, but the illustration is great, because it shows this that a person of grace has come to understand that they really aren't anything. Have you ever said to a person who understands grace, sometimes going to say to them, man, you are great, or you are wonderful. If they really understand grace, they'll probably say, no, I'm really rather bad, but God loves me unconditionally. They understand it, and because they understand who they really are, because they have a right view of themselves, they're humble, they're humble, they understand grace, you can afford to be humble. You have to be humble, because you know you didn't work up anything on your man who smelled like a distillery flopped onto a subway seat next to a priest. The man's tie was stained, he reeked of alcohol. His face was plastered with red lipstick, his coat pocket had a half-enthy bottle of gin sticking out, and so he sat down next to the priest and started to read the paper. After a little while, he looked up and said to the priest, he said, say, father, what causes arthritis? And the priest immediately said, Mr., it's caused by loose living, being with cheap wicked women, too much alcohol and a contempt for your fellow man. He said, well, I'll be. He went back to reading his paper, and the priest started thinking about it, and he realized he'd done wrong. He said, sir, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come on so strong, how long have you had arthritis? So I don't have arthritis, I was just reading here that the Pope does. The legalist is a knee-girt critic. The legalist looks for an opportunity to bring out the negative as quickly as he can. The person who understands grace has looked inward and seen their own brokenness so much and is so thankful for what Christ has done for them that they are involved in the person's life, because they have been broken and healed and healed, and they want to be a part of the process of helping others to heal. The picture of grace is supported versus combative, humble versus proud. And then thirdly, Paul gives another snapshot. He gives us the snapshot that grace, living, maintains, grace, fellowship. He wants to leave us with this picture in the action of our lives, that the person who wants to live out grace and end their life living grace out is a person who will maintain grace fellowship. Look at verse 6, 6, anyone who receives instruction in the word, Paul says, must share all good things with his instructor, anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Now, if you were just taking this in the general flow of what Paul is saying here, you might think Paul is trying to get these Galatians to give money. That Paul is fighting to get them to come back to grace and away from legalism so that he'll still get his support check every month from these guys. Now, I don't think that's what's going on. You have to understand that Paul had a day job. He made tense. Most of the time, when he was dealing with people in ministry, he had another job to support himself, left they say that the motive for his ministry was money. The second thing is here that Paul would be absolutely out of his mind to bring money. And if he was trying to draw the Galatians to him to bring money in now, he'd be stupid. He'd drive them away. And the word for share is the word coignaniyah. It's the word for fellowship. It's the word for relationship. Paul says that the one who has received instruction in the word in the word of grace, I think, must also share all good things with his instructor. In other words, get back, develop, maintain the relationship that you have with the teachers of grace. I think Paul is saying here that Eugulation Christians have been marginalizing the grace teachers and letting the legalistic teachers have the front of the church, letting them win the day, and you guys, your life is becoming disgusting by how you're trying to obey Christ by keeping all of these rules and regulations, and you've missed the joy of grace. You've gotten away from it. He says, get back to the teachers of grace. You guys, this is something that I think is so important for all of us, and who we are around is what we'll be like. Legalists can be very, very strong, and you and I can say, wow, they must know what they're doing. Paul says now you've got to marginalize the legalists and maintain the relationships with those who will encourage you in the lifestyle of grace, or you will become like a legalist. Beget legalists, grace teachers, beget grace, followers, and it's important to remember that we need to be around the right people. First Corinthians 1533, Paul says, bad company corrupts good morals. And Paul would say that the bad company are the legalists in the church. Get with a good company. I don't know who said it, but it's true. A person who wants to lead the orchestra on this turn is back on the crowd. It's really true. And when it comes to grace living, if you don't get around people who follow grace, you will follow the strong, wild, legalists. Well, the third illustration, Paul, gives us here, a grain shows us that in order to maintain fellowship, we've got to get with people of light, precious space. If you're a Miami-Dolphin fan, you sit with a Miami-Dolphin fan, right? When you go to a magic agency, it's hit with the magic fans. Stay with grace. Stay with grace. Grace Christians. Grace is illustrated not only in supportive versus combative living, humble versus proud living, maintaining grace fellowship, but grace living, Paul would say, in this picture that he's trying to give us of the life of grace, is that grace living makes spiritual investments. Some of the most profound and powerful words in the whole New Testament. Galatians 6 verse 7, do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he shows. The word man there is the word anthropos, which includes male and female. A person cannot be mocked. God cannot be mocked. A man, a person, reaps what he shows. The one who shows to please his sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction. The one who shows to please the spirit, from the spirit, will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. Paul is saying here, from Galatians 6, that to live out grace means that we have got to put the investment into spiritual things on a regular basis every day of our lives. Let me ask you a question. We used to talk about these things in seminary. Is there anything that God cannot do? Can God create a bolder, for instance, so big that nobody could pick it up? Yes, we actually sat around talking about those things, not in class so much as around coffee, to illustrate our newly gained wisdom and knowledge. Is there anything God cannot do? Can he create a bolder, so big that he could pick it up? Let me tell you the answer to that question is, yes, there is something that God cannot do. God cannot do anything that is inconsistent with his nature and being. And so you and I have to take these solemn words, these are powerful words, God cannot be mocked. He will not be mocked. We cannot, as human beings, from our nose to God. We cannot give an expletive to God and say, you will do your own thing and do my own thing and expect that we will not be unfazed by Him. God cannot be mocked. He will not be mocked. And the person who shows to the spiritual will reap the spiritual benefits. The person who will reap simply to the material or will reap the judgment of God. And so as Paul gets to the end of this letter to Christians, he says, Christians, you've got to understand it, even though you've been saved by grace, it's possible to develop your life, invest wrongly in your life. So don't buy into the legalists. The Christian life is impossible. The only way to live the Christian life is to let the Holy Spirit live through you. Follow Him, invest in the spiritual. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to live every day of your life. To do otherwise is to receive the judgment of God. Guys, I have come to see as many of you have that the Christian life is impossible. After the first service a lady came up and never met before visiting our church, she had a clump of tissues in her hands and she said, I've been trying to build my life. I have tried to be good and I tried to make my marriage work and I can't. My husband, my second husband just left me and I am ready. I am ready to sow to the spirit. That's the kind of life God blesses. That's the kind of life God puts back together. That's the kind of life God resurrects and I could give her all of the confidence in the world that if she were to sow to the spirit she would indeed reap the benefits of the spirit. And so don't get tired. Some of you are tired. It's Sunday morning. You were up late last night. Shame on you. I was too. I'm tired today. And sometimes we get tired sowing to spiritual things. We get tired of being good. We want to be bad when I go out and experience God's grace again. Paul says, don't do that. He says, invest in the spirit. Listen, if you continue to invest in the spirit God will bless you and you will have the spiritual benefits. Start at home. Verse 10. Start at home. The family circle is an open circle. We start investing in our ministries here at home and then they inevitably extend out into the world. I love the legacy that we will live if we will invest our lives this way and walk by the spirit and live the life of grace. Listen to the old proverb who summarizes it perfectly. When you were born, you cried in the world, rejoice. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. That's grace. Grace illustrated. You take it to heart and let's pray. Our Father, we come to you this morning, just desiring for you to work through us and Lord, we do need your energy, your strength, your spirit. We do need to be refreshed today at the hope that if we invest in what is spiritual, you will bring the fruit. Father, we are far beyond thinking that we can do this Christian life by ourselves and so we pray, that you would help us to experience again the freshness of being unconditionally accepted by your calling and by the grace of Christ and utterly committed to you, to work through us, that we might be supportive and humble, stay close to grace and then give ourselves out, fill us, fill us for another week as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. This morning, if you are ready to begin the investment in the spiritual and have never done that, I would love to meet with you at the front of the church and we could pray together introducing you to Jesus Christ, who can begin that journey in your life of grace. And now may the amazing grace of the Master Jesus Christ, the outrageous love of God the Father and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, go with you this week as you remember his deep love and concern for you. Amen.