back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Night Bible Study Galatians 6:6-10
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and we'll get started with worship in just 30 seconds. 00:05:56.620 |
Okay, everyone, please join with me in a word of prayer. 00:06:07.620 |
Our God and Father, we are so grateful to you. 00:06:11.620 |
Thank you, God, for all that you provide into our lives. 00:06:19.620 |
and, God, just the simple fact that you sustain us in Christ. 00:06:24.620 |
for the privilege of coming together as a church. 00:06:35.620 |
And we pray that when we come together in faith, 00:06:42.620 |
that all this would be honoring and pleasing in your sight. 00:10:56.620 |
♪ Unless the Lord does raise the house in vain ♪ 00:15:35.620 |
God, I pray that you wouldn't waste these breaths 00:15:39.620 |
that you've given to us by living for ourselves. 00:15:41.620 |
But Lord, I pray that you'd help us to live by your spirit. 00:15:44.620 |
God, I pray that as we read from your word tonight 00:15:49.620 |
and help us to understand what you have in store for us. 00:15:55.620 |
We'll start our table discussions now and reconvene at eight. 01:02:39.620 |
I wanna encourage those of you guys who are in the rooms 01:02:42.620 |
to make your way on into the main meeting area 01:04:23.900 |
All right, if you would, please take a moment 01:04:41.020 |
to request, God, that you would grow our faith. 01:04:46.580 |
Lord, we pray that you would do such a spiritual work, 01:04:51.580 |
God, that every time your word is opened up to our eyes, 01:04:55.260 |
and God, every time we can hear the scripture, 01:04:58.940 |
Lord, that you would help us to both understand, 01:05:11.540 |
so that, God, we'd be able to put off that which is earthly 01:05:15.180 |
and continue, Lord, to pursue after the image of Christ. 01:05:19.420 |
We pray for that kind of spiritual blessing in our life, 01:05:22.140 |
Lord, that the fruit of your word will take its effect, 01:05:46.500 |
and what I mean by that is for us to have our senses 01:05:52.660 |
that we can see that which is earthly, fleshly, carnal, 01:05:56.920 |
and just even what the world may presume neutral, 01:05:59.820 |
but still, nevertheless, just temporary, right, 01:06:08.220 |
that we wanna be able to sense that which is heavenly, 01:06:13.900 |
because in many ways, two people can do the exact same thing. 01:06:25.980 |
between he who is working by the inspiration, 01:06:31.340 |
and a relationship with him, walking in the spirit, 01:06:37.500 |
and so the scripture had for us this admonition 01:06:41.480 |
that every single one of us walk by the spirit of God, 01:06:47.300 |
he was giving us various, very specific things 01:06:57.060 |
he gave us the exhortations of how to deal with one another 01:07:00.860 |
and to say that we ought to restore really gently 01:07:08.180 |
that we should bear the burdens of one another, 01:07:21.940 |
telling us that we should share all good things 01:07:31.240 |
that there is these commands in there for us to do. 01:07:34.280 |
Within this passage that we have for today, then, 01:07:38.000 |
I would say that there are three distinct sections. 01:07:57.340 |
has this element of reciprocating the blessing you receive, 01:08:04.180 |
clearly shows us this other operating principle 01:08:16.220 |
And then he talks about how if you sow to the flesh, 01:08:19.880 |
there you will reap from the flesh corruption, 01:08:34.440 |
So, as a brief just kind of snapshot of the paragraph, 01:08:41.340 |
that you guys have done in preparation for this lesson. 01:08:47.260 |
where we look at the general principle, okay? 01:08:49.820 |
And I will tell you honestly, looking at this passage, 01:08:52.820 |
I started giggling as I was preparing for this lesson, 01:08:55.760 |
because, you know, it sounds so self-serving, 01:09:01.640 |
After the lesson, I will walk around your table 01:09:12.340 |
I mean, obviously, this is kind of interesting 01:09:19.900 |
like, is this just a random thought he had, you know? 01:09:27.020 |
and Apostle Paul's like, dude, the more I love you, 01:09:31.100 |
because I'm coming after you, I'm pursuing you? 01:09:42.300 |
But again, my thought is, not making too much of it, 01:09:50.460 |
I don't think you're a spirit-filled person, right? 01:09:57.400 |
but rather, you have such an entitled mentality, 01:10:01.860 |
especially young children who look at their parents, 01:10:03.980 |
like, of course, parents are supposed to sacrifice, right? 01:10:11.100 |
that they don't even give them a second thought. 01:10:13.980 |
If you have been blessed, the spiritual model typically is, 01:10:21.060 |
The thought here is, the general principle is, 01:10:25.640 |
is expected to respond with an open-heartedness, 01:10:36.840 |
really misapplied by the prosperity gospel people. 01:10:46.980 |
oh, thank you for laughing, I'm not gonna joke. 01:10:50.680 |
and wondered, like, what are the good things, you know? 01:10:53.480 |
I don't think, obviously, he's thinking about one thing. 01:10:57.200 |
Because in the text, the idea for share is really broad, 01:11:04.320 |
The term for share is essentially the verb form 01:11:08.440 |
of the noun we use for fellowship, koinonia, okay? 01:11:12.240 |
And so that's why there's like a broader sense 01:11:14.520 |
of being associate with us, like, open your life up, 01:11:19.300 |
is almost a mentality that you have within this verse. 01:11:26.920 |
but one of the passages I want to highlight for you guys, 01:11:29.640 |
it's not here on the PowerPoint, but just listen. 01:11:32.680 |
When Apostle Paul was talking about his ministry, 01:11:40.440 |
as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 01:11:48.040 |
not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, 01:12:07.020 |
in order to do ministry like Apostle Paul's doing, right? 01:12:20.360 |
So here's an interesting passage in 2 Corinthians 6, 01:12:26.000 |
Paul says, "Our mouth was spoken freely to you, 01:12:33.760 |
"but you're restrained by your own affections. 01:12:36.000 |
"Now in like exchange, I speak as to children, 01:12:44.920 |
Later, he's going to, just in the next chapter, 01:12:51.140 |
"let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh, 01:13:04.820 |
"for I have said before that you are in our hearts 01:13:11.380 |
What an amazing kind of mentality and attitude, right? 01:13:30.880 |
Here, I think Apostle Paul would have just loved it 01:13:36.040 |
because so far, it seems like reading in between the lines, 01:13:44.680 |
out of the deceptions that they were in, right? 01:13:47.760 |
So in that way, I think this idea of sharing all good things 01:13:52.760 |
really is inclusive of a general openheartedness, 01:14:01.440 |
and maybe even just the thought of being in this ministry, 01:14:09.240 |
Moving forward to verse seven and eight, the second part. 01:14:23.700 |
that it doesn't require like, okay, what's happening here? 01:14:39.960 |
And as soon as he says that, we're like, whoa. 01:14:42.720 |
The tone of that takes it to a whole nother level. 01:14:47.440 |
who is being deceived and what kind of deceptions 01:14:51.660 |
But also, why is God being mocked by their decisions? 01:14:56.660 |
Why is God being mocked by their deception, right? 01:15:02.400 |
Now, what's very clear just from the end of verse seven 01:15:06.360 |
where he says, four, because whatever man sows, 01:15:09.660 |
he will also reap, he gives us this principle. 01:15:27.360 |
He said earlier in the previous segments of the passage 01:15:30.080 |
or the chapter that those of us who feel like, 01:15:33.200 |
now that because we are free, we are children of God, 01:15:35.920 |
and then all of a sudden, we take full advantage of it 01:15:45.880 |
And just the sheer deception that sometimes people have, 01:15:52.100 |
I know this may be sin, but I'll just repent of it later 01:15:56.620 |
I'll give in now, but I'll do better later, right? 01:16:00.260 |
What kind of crazy deception for a slave of God, 01:16:04.420 |
a child of God, in that moment to think he can disobey? 01:16:11.960 |
but one of the egregious deception is to think 01:16:23.120 |
and as you think, think about this photo, okay? 01:16:30.160 |
and doing the na-na-na-na-na thing, right, okay? 01:16:32.760 |
He's mocking somebody, and the scripture says, 01:16:45.060 |
When you act like there are no consequences, you mock him. 01:16:53.780 |
You know what you're doing is, literally, the Greek word, 01:17:06.100 |
Back then, can you imagine somebody who scoffed, right? 01:17:09.820 |
Or if you imagine somebody who's very disrespectful, 01:17:12.780 |
you imagine them, like, spit on their shoe or whatever. 01:17:17.600 |
where they put their thumb on one nostril and clear it, 01:17:26.500 |
I guess, to make it even more modern, it's like this guy. 01:17:33.300 |
the next time you are tempted to compromise, okay? 01:17:50.340 |
Am I gonna miss this opportunity to have this da-da-da-da-da? 01:17:52.860 |
I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm just gonna do it once, 01:17:57.580 |
but we're not thinking about the picture God sees of us, 01:18:01.060 |
which is, I'm gonna do this thing, what are you gonna do? 01:18:12.160 |
You're not gonna punish me now, you never have. 01:18:16.460 |
You're not gonna do anything about it, you never did. 01:18:40.960 |
So, when we think about that then, what arrogance, 01:18:47.380 |
And I just wanna make mention of this idea again, 01:18:53.500 |
about the idea of motivations in our heart, yes? 01:19:06.160 |
where we offend, where we act as though God cannot do. 01:19:15.540 |
of the kind of universal principle that exists, 01:19:20.160 |
that if you sow to the flesh, you will reap, right? 01:19:30.940 |
Here is a powerful cross-reference in Proverbs, 01:19:39.220 |
"Then, they will call on me, but I will not answer." 01:19:47.060 |
"but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge 01:19:55.380 |
"So, they shall eat the fruit of their own way 01:20:03.320 |
"for the waywardness of the naive will kill them." 01:20:07.840 |
Wow, "The complacency of fools will destroy them, 01:20:11.240 |
"but he who listens to me shall live securely 01:20:25.680 |
you will reap the consequences or the corruption, right? 01:20:38.200 |
as a kind of the regular wrath, the regular consequences, 01:20:42.020 |
the judgment to come, we are going to be bound 01:20:54.020 |
You hear something, and in your procrastinating heart, 01:21:04.780 |
Interesting and convicting to think about, right? 01:21:08.460 |
If we have, in here, this passage is challenging us, 01:21:13.460 |
we have a lackadaisical attitude to God's commands, 01:21:16.260 |
do you not think that that will bear its rotten fruit? 01:21:22.180 |
that by that kind of naivety, that kind of ignorance, 01:21:29.260 |
Another passage, in Hosea 10, verse 12, it says, 01:21:41.420 |
"until he comes to rain righteousness on you. 01:21:44.460 |
"You have plowed wickedness, and you have reaped injustice. 01:21:51.020 |
"because you trusted in your way in the numerous warriors." 01:22:05.180 |
you will find if people, this passage in Hosea, 01:22:21.180 |
"was fallen on deaf ears, the same happens to you," right? 01:22:43.380 |
they died by the betrayal of those nations, right? 01:22:57.360 |
Let me give you over to that which is your idol, okay? 01:23:03.300 |
I just wanna make mention of this kind of thought here, 01:23:10.960 |
we have a couple things to kind of think about. 01:23:14.320 |
One is the thought of clearly then, if we are wise, 01:23:25.840 |
small opportunities and provisions for the flesh 01:23:35.620 |
written by this British author, Samuel Smiles, 01:23:46.040 |
"Sow a character, and you reap destiny," right? 01:23:51.320 |
In the counseling world, this is very, very helpful, okay? 01:24:04.960 |
or like a burst of anger, a fit of rage, right? 01:24:09.440 |
all of a sudden, they just blow up at the house, 01:24:11.560 |
they scream at the kids, they scream at the wife, 01:24:39.440 |
How were your, what was your thought life like then 01:24:42.640 |
in the last two weeks since you haven't reconciled? 01:25:05.480 |
which is, you don't go from zero to 100 just like that. 01:25:08.520 |
What you have is you have a moment of compromise, 01:25:16.940 |
Why did you make provision for your bitter heart 01:25:28.360 |
You don't think that little seed of disobedience 01:25:30.560 |
when God said, we'll go reconcile, and you didn't, 01:25:50.460 |
just filtering through the videos that Facebook feeds you? 01:25:56.120 |
whatever thing it is that was just provocative? 01:25:58.440 |
Why did you, there are little trails, is my point, 01:26:09.960 |
by way of motivation, you know there are consequences. 01:26:28.080 |
It's like, you wanna have your cake and eat it? 01:26:29.760 |
And then he added to it, said, you wanna have your cake 01:26:36.340 |
The desire to have everything and its benefits, too, 01:26:39.540 |
even in scenarios where, yes, you can't eat the cake 01:26:43.500 |
You either eat the cake or you save it for later. 01:26:46.240 |
But we also want to eat it, save it, have it, 01:26:59.140 |
to the last portion of it, which is part three, okay? 01:27:03.680 |
Which is let us not lose heart in doing good, okay? 01:27:08.820 |
Here, he essentially gives us such encouragement. 01:27:22.380 |
he gives us challenge and encouragement in due time, right? 01:27:27.300 |
And what's more, this passage is, in some sense, 01:27:30.380 |
very sympathetic, challenging us not to lose heart, 01:27:37.640 |
he gives a sense of urgency and motivation, saying, 01:27:49.880 |
"to do the work of God, to invest into the kingdom, 01:28:00.420 |
it's chock-full, it's within so many different parts 01:28:03.060 |
of scripture, that our ability to meet the needs 01:28:06.040 |
of the people around us, to love the brethren, 01:28:15.900 |
is that something that I am growing in right now, 01:28:19.380 |
or is that something I'm getting tired of, right? 01:28:23.700 |
And it's just an honest, genuine question for you guys. 01:28:25.800 |
Some of you guys, I believe our church is active. 01:28:31.220 |
this past weekend, we had VBS Workshop for Volunteers. 01:28:36.060 |
On the volunteer roster, there are over 140 volunteers. 01:28:42.460 |
The worry is that people will grow tired, yes? 01:28:48.640 |
But when we think about that, we have to ask the question, 01:28:55.480 |
It's like, well, technically, we've done VBS every year. 01:29:04.360 |
For us, most likely, the trouble isn't just the nature 01:29:09.540 |
of the work itself, the trouble is motivation, right? 01:29:20.400 |
are we having the goals, are we having the hope, 01:29:23.760 |
are we having the kind of future hope of reaping, 01:29:27.780 |
are we having sight and mind of what God has in store, 01:29:31.880 |
If we're not, of course we're gonna grow tired. 01:29:36.280 |
You know, just talking about the topic as an example 01:29:40.540 |
of ADD and ADHD, or like the attention deficit 01:29:47.840 |
what's really interesting is if you look at the CDC 01:29:50.340 |
or even the NIH, et cetera, they'll just describe 01:29:52.960 |
and say, you know, individuals who have a hard time 01:30:00.920 |
More recently, they have been doing other kinds of studies, 01:30:04.320 |
they would take these children and they'd put 'em in a room 01:30:12.100 |
Not only that, but if you take a student with ADD 01:30:16.000 |
and then you put them in a room just with the video game 01:30:19.240 |
and leave them without their parents on their own, 01:30:24.400 |
As a matter of fact, they won't even take a pee-pee break. 01:30:38.720 |
You don't get 'em until the end of the semester. 01:30:55.160 |
It's because here we're looking at motivation. 01:31:03.940 |
How does the Galatians, how does the book of Galatians 01:31:09.520 |
He says you're free in the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:31:23.200 |
You don't have an earthly mountain to look for, 01:31:33.920 |
and then He says you're actually free to love. 01:31:40.800 |
So concluding with this kind of cross-reference here, 01:31:49.240 |
For us, the motivation, internal to the will of the Lord, 01:32:31.000 |
Honestly speaking, what do you think would happen? 01:32:44.360 |
or just simply, "You can do it," or something like that. 01:32:47.160 |
If you were to find a source of energy and motivation 01:32:50.960 |
deep in your heart, Scripture literally says, 01:32:56.160 |
But for every single one of us, we have hope, 01:33:04.120 |
to accomplish everything that He said He will do, 01:33:13.420 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the encouragement 01:33:32.880 |
insulated, always preserving and protecting self. 01:33:37.720 |
But God, we know that you have called us, God, 01:33:44.160 |
in the fullness of Christ, in an outward working of love, 01:34:04.200 |
God, that we would bear good fruit to your glory. 01:34:34.300 |
and challenge of your word, in an outward working of love, 01:34:51.160 |
and challenge us to do so, in an outward working of love, 01:38:33.240 |
Thank you for joining us, and I'll leave you to your groups. 01:38:36.240 |
Thank you for joining us, and I'll leave you to your groups. 01:38:39.240 |
Thank you for joining us, and I'll leave you to your groups. 01:38:42.240 |
Thank you for joining us, and I'll leave you to your groups.