Freed to Love

Today on Summit life with Judy Greer know what Christ did when he saved you. You know how far he reached.

It was a burden that you would yourself, so why wouldn't you reach out to somebody you brought on the burden on themselves because when you do that you start fulfilling the law of Christ was the law of Christ. The wall prices that you doing to others as Jesus has done it to you and that means voluntarily entering into their burdens just like Jesus and yours at the summit church in Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina. I'm your host Molly events Jesus said that the world would know his disciples by our can you finish the sentence live as believers, our love for each other and for the world around us. To set us apart from any other group. So then we have to ask ourselves what does Christian love actually look like and how we start to live it out faster.

Judy Greer answers those questions today as he continues her series freedom in between any of the previous messages catch up right now online.com right now. Let's get started with the message he titled to live the Galatians, so we come out and relationship six which are Paul's final thoughts that he is going to give to the Galatians I have this series I explained you that every pastor has a speaking style that usually got determines we open our sermons the same way a lot of somewhat unique way. We try to end the sermons I know some pastors that seem to like to in their sermons by revving up the audience and try to get them to an applause line got of a drought that might moment.

I did what I was going to use camp as stated she might be used speakers. They are always like to tell emotional story at the end that everybody crimes will come forward promise to be missionaries was a worship leader worked with one job at a college conference that I did that will be in every worship set by just come to a point where you got lost control. The jump around on his toes play in the last few Vargas on the old Zeus is guitar but many just falls backwards and it was kind of like a little walk is a lot awkward because all the other instrumentalists are going to look about them got on the conference of the medias is after about 10 seconds. He said brought a note to tell you.

You're up next on the schedule so this was on you so will come up with a little you have like step over him. I can see he's fine, but you have to step over him and go start the message you about two minutes of the message he gets up and pick up his guitar and then we go on well. Paul has his own particular type of preaching style and Paul gets to the unit. One of the sermons which that's what you should read a letter is like one long sermon. The ball is preaching on Paul's habit at the end of the sermon is to rattle off a litany of really practical instructions and at first these instructions seem like a bunch of random standalone Proverbs as if you say you know you remember this you should do that, but they're not really random at all these things are the practical workings of the gospel that is explained now for five chapters. You see here's the thing to remember about Paul anytime you read anything written by Paul. This is not for Paul imperatives always flow out of indicative you're like imperative to what what are you talking about I indicative's are declarative statements about what God has done. Imperatives are commands about what you should do so for Paul, the commands of what you should do come out of a response to what God has done right so that's how you always should see Paul Balto say here's what God has done the indicative now here is what you should do in response. That's why Paul often signals that transition by the word therefore, therefore, all said you about the gospel. Here's how you should live.

In response, and that's why every good Bible teacher will tell you that whenever you see the word. Therefore, Paul's letters, you should always look and see what it's therefore exactly right. You're looking backwards because what is the indicative that is grounded me imperative because before you undertake the imperative to make sure you got a really good hold on the indicative, otherwise you're going to turn that list of imperatives to a list of moral dues and goals and that will lead you to something that both called legalism what we call legalism which is just where you're trying to obey a bunch of commands and that is the opposite of always wanting you to do the imperatives of the Christian life grow as a natural response to the indicative's statements about what God has done.

Paul is urging us now in chapter 6, or respond to the gospel that he is explained now for five chapters start our reading of chapter 6 of the chapter 5 doubts because the last two verses of chapter 5 in my opinion where he starts the instructions of chapter 6. The structure like this. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. In other words, the spirit is created a new reality for us in the gospel and that reality comes with it the power of a new creation and the power resurrection but in order for you to access that power you walk in a way that is consistent with what the Spirit is doing what you will have access to the power, so therefore he says let us not become conceited, but is not become conceited, provoking one another in the one another that word conceited bears a very important word is one of the few places in our Bible that we unfortunately don't have the right English word to translate the Greek word, we still have one. The closest we get is, you have the old King James version of the Bible. That's what I grew up on and a lot of words, and I did not understand, but in this place a KJV actually gets it exactly right. But in order to do that anime company was worth in the world that uses vainglory vainglory is what the word Greek literally means is empty of glory.

If you become a person who is empty of glory you are going to become a person who provokes and envies one another. What Paul is explained to us, you and I were created for the glory of God. We were created to be complete in God we were created so that God's love and acceptance was our glory.

Literally every part of you, whether you're Christian or not, every part of you just because the way your created cries out for you to hear from God the father.

Well done good and faithful servant. When you and I send we were stripped of the love and the acceptance of God and when we are stripped of that love and acceptance that glory. We felt naked and ashamed. So we immediately turn to begin to look to replace that glory was something else if I can walk around this big old glory hole in our hearts glory back. You were always looking for something replace what we lost in God and one of the main ways that we do that when we try to replace that glory is we do it by comparing ourselves to one another. We tweak we try to show that we are better than other people in some way and that becomes our glory and that manifests itself in two different ways. In this verse. The first way here's provoking one another, provoking is when you have a superiority complex toward others and you just feel like you are better than them. For some reason. Maybe you are smarter or you are prettier or you are rich or poor. You are more moral. I guess it's how you say that more your more talented you get a better family, but there's something that makes you better and so you look down on them and you provoke them in the is the opposite side of the coin. When you envy others is because you have an inferiority complex because when you compare yourself to others. You don't match up.

And so you resent that what the provoking and the NV what the superiority complex and the inferiority complex have in common is that you enter into relationships from a sense of emptiness. You need glory from other people. While the gospel does three things Paul says that transforms your relationships. The first thing it does is it humbles you it teaches you that there really is nothing about you that makes you better than somebody else. Everything you have is a gift of grace. Secondly, it completes you. You don't need glory distinction from other people because you have the approval of the heavenly father, and then it redirects you, rather than being a person who is focused on using others to meet your needs. You become a complete person who offers your self to meet the needs of others. You see, before the gospel you approach every relationship from what's called a market standpoint. How can this relationship, benefit me. How can this person help me fulfill my goals for the goals of my family with every person you meet you little plus and minus charting your head and you're asking yourself is this person and add more to me than they're going to take away what can they do for me and my family.

That's how you evaluate relationships by watch how those things show up in this litany of instructions if you been experience the gospel.

You will be humbled to be complete and will be redirected. Watch your show over these next few verses here together this brothers and sisters, if somebody is overtaken along doing what we have here somebody has fallen into sin.

I would mess themselves up, you who are spiritual you talking about Christians walk around with a sanctified look on their face. No surgical suite.

You have the spirit that's only me there so is any Christian you have the Spirit restore the three core cooperatives, which means, but a broken bone back in place, restore such a person with a gentle or humble, proud, tossed spirit watching out for yourselves because you may out of the same stuff.

They are 1 also be tempted.

As you get into this, how does a gospel saturated person respond to somebody in sin. Paul's answer they approach them with empathy and compassion, knowing that there may out of the same stuff that that person is in the fact that they haven't been overcome by this particular temptation is not because they're better than them anything it's because they been spared the set of circumstances that that person was an had you grown up like them or even put the same temptations, you probably would've made the same dumb decisions that they may see the gospel teaches you that any righteousness that you have is a gift that's when I'm around, somebody was fallen. I approach them humbly because I too am a wretched dark hearted sinner just like them.

Any righteousness I have is a gift that's what the gospel teaches me about myself and it changes the attitude that I have the somebody whose life is messed up. A person who didn't know the gospel assumes that their righteousness is something that they have achieved so they feel concern needed and proud. They have a glory from that and so they back away from person and they don't get involved in the life of somebody who's messed up because they think why would I encumber myself of your mass. The reason I'm not in the messages that make good decisions and so if I'm not in a mess because I made good decisions, I'm not going to bring your mess into my life.

All I try to get out of mess. Which leads me to the next verse verse two pulses carry one another's burdens.

In this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Now, in context, the burden that he's talking about here is the burden that comes to somebody because of their own sinful choices. And Paul says if you get the gospel you will voluntarily enter into the burdens of others burdens that they brought on themselves for their own sinfulness, which addresses one of the primary reasons Christians use excuses we use for not getting the ball with other people who were suffering and in the job that I words, the 300 years ago the little book called the duty of Christian charity. Identify the primary reasons that Christians excuse themselves from getting involved in the needs of others. The number one reason he's at the number one reason still relevant today as he says Christians will say no I don't want to help somebody in need that kind of the because they brought that on themselves. They made a dumb decision. They brought it on themselves. So I feel no compulsion to go out the job at average response was, do you not know the gospel at all. Do you realize the misery that Christ brought you out all the misery that you have brought on yourselves in entirety. You know the golden rule right you do the golden rule is doing to others as you would have been doing to you.

Here Paul is upgrading that to the platinum rule right if a gallbladder rule but I will call them platinum rule is doing others as Christ is not into you. You know what Christ did when he saved you. You know how far he reached. It was a burden that you would brought on yourself, so why wouldn't you reach out to somebody even when they brought on the burden on themselves because we do that, you start fulfilling the law of Christ was the law of Christ. The wall Christ is that you doing others as Jesus has done it to you and that means voluntarily entering into their burdens just like Jesus entered into yours. So let me just ask you a little diagnostic question right now.

Okay I want you to think about the burdens in your life that you were carrying right now and I want you to ask yourself how many of those burdens, from carrying the burden somebody else how much of the burden in the way that you feel under this morning. How much of it comes from somebody else's burden that you have voluntarily entered into and shared in our Paul is telling us to do carry each other's burdens, anything about the metaphor on this table. If I were carrying this table and you were going to help me. How much is a stable way like what 350 pounds and so if we really carry together what I would do is turn it on its side so that now the weight would be distributed so that I would carry 175 and you would carry 175. That's how we would do that and some of the weight that I was carrying would now rest upon you. In other words, in order to help me some of that burden has to fall on you reason I take pains to point this out is most of us want to give to others without really costing us.

We want to give to others without feeling the burden. But that is not what people who have experienced the gospel should be like Jonathan Edwards of the second reason but second excuse. Christians give for why they don't help others in need. As they say. I don't really have any access and I really couldn't give to that person and leave without experiencing hardship myself. Member says it's about exactly what Paul is telling us to do. In Galatians 62 is the experience hardship because of how much we give to give to a point of some of the burden of those in the actually falls on us in that what it means to share the burden. That's why CS Lewis said the only safe will give you one rule. The rule is not 10%. If you want to say for you and giving is to give more than you feel like you can spare because only then will you be sharing the burden that somebody else is feeling and only then are you fulfilling the law of Christ. A conceited person you has forgotten the gospel thinks how I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. You ought to do the same right. I am back on some of my life trying to get myself to a place where I have the burdens I've earned this position of privilege and I'm certainly not going to encumber myself with the burdens that you have brought on yourself there conceited, unaware of the great need that they had when Christ saved them right when you know Jesus you voluntarily begin to bear the burdens of others. Now there are of course other ways to apply this principle be on the financial you can do it with people emotionally hurting when they hurt making their concerns, matters of personal prayer, where you not know the difference in somebody's given me a perfunctory. I'll pray for you brother when they actually are taking some of this burden in the following up with me about it and are praying for them to treat it like it's their own burden and we try to shoulder the load with people around you and really practical ways it simple is sometimes taking the meals when they're going through a difficult time watching over their kids when they come when they need that are about this one helping people move. I hate moving.

Everybody hates moving, I don't even like helping other people move from a no offense but that is a time that we literally bear one another's burdens.

If you're in a Christian community. You should expect and not resent when people ask you to help move and by the way, if you have a truck I would advise you to conceal that fact. Otherwise everybody in the church and random strangers you meet in the mall parking ask you to help them move.

The point is you just voluntarily begin to share burdens around you. Let me apply this principle and one other way that I think is very timely for us and if I could, if you will indulge me to speak as a white guy to those of you in who were listening to me who also are white, I believe this is one of the major things that we need to do in situations of racial tension that is to make every effort to bear the burdens that are borne by some of our brothers and sisters of color burdens. We may never have had to experience personally you leave often talked about here this church.

It is easy for any of us not to think about things that don't affect us directly, but if we are gospel people will we will be aware of the pain that others are going through, unaware of the privileges that we experience that others don't have access to, and we will use any position of privilege or strength that we enjoy in order to serve and empower others.

We will spend time listening and trying to see and understand things from their perspective because in that the first part of bearing the burden is to listen. Listening is the first stage in sharing are bearing the burden so we ought to realize that when it comes to things like you controversial things like viewing for the flag. For example, or even protesting arising after the shooting that others often feel like they do because of experiences that they had and to be frank, that you are. I grown up in their situation. We probably feel the same way that is not saying that they are all right and you were all wrong is just saying that you should realize that your perspective on those things is largely an opinion that is been formed out of your own experiences and that's all that it is an opinion we should listen to others in our community trying as much as we can to see it from their perspective. And as much as we can share in the burdens that they live with as if they were our own writing stuff down right this down. We are called to share the burdens our brothers and sisters live with, as if they were our own. For the majority culture. This is the beginning of progress in a lot of this racial strife. I know that is not all that needs to be set on this. I get that but I know that it is something that we can do is something that Galatians is telling us to do by the way, maybe the first place. This will show up is on your Facebook wall.

Can I suggest a verse that you should probably put at the top of your computer. Proverbs 18 Sue of full takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion for many of you this this summarizes your entire approach to Facebook right here, looking understand is looking to show the world how smart I am because what I feel in this particular moment, right, spare us that and spend more time trying to understand than simply tell everybody how smart you are right you may make this your screensaver or something because there's so much division that gets caused by people not understanding what just trying to vent whatever they're feeling at a particular moment never post your opinion under saying that for every one comment you make telling yours. You're asking two questions that help you understand somebody else I will Paul keeps developing this point. What are the first three everybody considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. What you talking about he still going after this issue of being conceited. Do you really thought your something, do you not know the gospel at all.

Do you remember who you were when God saved you, you were dead in trespasses and not mostly dead or merely dead or really sick you were dead you were children of wrath, you're not. That's a bad center or a sinner who had a good harder sinner with a lot of potential. God did not look at you and say oh there's still some good in that when I think I can save it. That's Star Wars that's not the gospel there's only one kind of sinner, according to the gospel and it is wretched, dark hearted, spiritually dead sinners like you were so bad that Jesus had to die to save you but you sure you get that not the people were so bad that Jesus had adopted a number of things that you know what their some people are so bad. I can only save them if I die for his friend Michael for you but somebody else I had to die for their know you were so just you by yourself was so bad that the son of God had to spill his precious blood to redeem your soul from hell that you deserved and if you forget that you'll think of something when you're actually a big old.

Nothing and then you can be self deceived yourself deceives you become conceited coming up become ungenerous toward others and you relate to them wrongly when they go through a time of need when they're under a burdens brought on by their symbolist verse 44 let each person examine his own work and take pride in himself alone and not compare himself somebody else prefers not to carry the load is contradicted everything he just said you notice you notice a contradiction when you were reading it early. To be honest I just can't write a rickety nightly reading vein attention your agreement see is what I'm talking about. You gotta see this kind of stuff and I think he's contradicted himself. It looks like on the surface but not when you understand the context. The context listen he's still going after this idea of being conceited and he is saying it is foolish of you to feel proud that you're not struggling with something when somebody else is because each of us have been given a different size load to carry.

In the back to somebody else's struggling with something that you're not struggling with is not because you were just inherently awesomer than they are because the situation of their life and the circumstances that they were in were different.

It was a different load and you know what had you been on the same load.

You probably would've struggled the same way that they did because all the righteous is that you have is a gift from God anyway that you been given the same low, that person was given broken meeting people. We should approach people humility and compassion, eager to share each other's burdens, because Jesus did for us. You're listening to Summit life with pastor Arthur and theologian JD Greer if he missed any of the previous messages in our teaching series through the book of Galatians. You can find them all online@jdgreer.com Ginny today were introducing a brand-new and little different kind of study to our listeners what can you tell us about it yeah it is a little different.

Molly, this is sort of a here and now book that's got a study guide about joining God and what he's doing right now with us you want the most profound experiences I had years ago I was in college which what couple years ago.

I think W's good times Dan it was Henry Blackett is experiencing God in them. The basic idea was, you find what God is doing in you join him. And while that's a great study, but it's a principle that I've tried that we try to put in. So what we we teach and preach and I think that's certainly true flow of what we got for you this this month. Yet the summa church. Our mission statement is that we want to follow the Holy Spirit to create movement discipling disciples is an obstacle. Brush over that following Holy Spirit because you dislike what Christianity is and I'm going out to do a bunch of things for God. I can tell you that is an exhausting night. You have some most people listen to us in the light like you never do what you do. Molly but it it's it's there is a disciple making capacity that God calls each of us to and this will show you how you can have a role in how you can live that out reach disciple send us what God is called the earliest disciples to do it's waistcoat you and I to do, and that's what this study is all about God perceiving them everything you give gifts to covering the cost of producing and distributing into the gospel with joint mission. When you get and remember to ask for your copy of our newest resource title fixing refined 50 220-669-5224 online JD Greer.com Molly of intervention. I'm so glad to be sure to set aside a few minutes to join us tomorrow as were continuing the message title Friday on Summit life prayer ministry