The Ministry of Restoration
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Intro: Concerning
this matter of sin in the church, I believe there are two ditches on either
side of the road. We must be careful not
to hold one of these extreme positions.
A. The
Ditch of Arrogant Defense – Turn to I Cor. 5:1-8
The church of Corinth was in this ditch.
Sin was going on around them and they defended the guilty
party.
Paul rebuked them for being “puffed up” rather than mourning
the sin of this man.
He was guilty of the grossest, most ungodly form of
fornication – incest.
Rather then deal with this sin, the church of Corinth were
“puffed up” and “glory” – vs. 6
Paul, in his absence, weighed in on the situation with
strong admonition and rebuke.
He used the phrase in verse 5 “delivered unto Satan” and vs.
7 “purged out”.
Paul made no bones about it – this man needed to be cast out
of the church.
B. The
Ditch of Arrogant Division - 3 John 9, 10
On the other side of the road is another ditch that is
condemned by the Scripture just as strongly.
Here was a man that was the absolute opposite of the church
of Corinth.
The church of Corinth didn’t think you could do anything BAD
enough to get cast out of the church.
This man – Diotrephes – didn’t think you could do anything
GOOD enough to NOT get cast out of the church.
Note John the Beloved’s comments about this man’s method.
·
Who loveth to have the preeminence among them
– contrast this to Colossians 1:18 And he
(Jesus Christ) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
·
Receiveth us not – this man didn’t even
want the Apostle John around. Imagine that!
This man was called
“the disciple whom Jesus loved FOUR TIMES! - John 19:26; John 20:2; John 21:7; John
21:20
- prating against us – to utter nonsense, talk idly, to bring forward idle accusations,
make empty charges
- malicious words
– full of labours, annoyances; unethical, wicked, evil
- not content therewith – he was an unhappy, dissatisfied, discontented, miserable man
- doeth he himself receive the brethren – to not admit; to reject
- forbiddeth – to
hinder; to prevent; to deny
- them that would
– them that are willing; that have a desire
- casteth them –
drive out; force out; leave out; to lead out or force somewhere else
SOMEWHERE IN
BETWEEN THESE TWO DITCHES IS THE PATH TO BIBLICAL RESTORATION.
I. The Cause for
Restoration - Brethren, if a man
be overtaken in a fault
A. If
a man – keep this in mind: people make mistakes.
People sin. We have a
sin nature.
This caught my eye as I meditated and studied this verse.
Even saved people are still people – fallen man with a
cursed sin nature.
Saved or not – people have the capacity to do a lot of
things that are wrong.
Acting like a saved person shouldn’t do anything wrong is
both naïve and unbiblical.
Notice what God said –
·
Psalm
78:37 For their heart was not right
with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. But he, being full of
compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time
turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but
flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
B. be
overtaken – to take by surprise; to get caught up with
C. in
a fault – a sin or a lapse or deviation from truth
II. The Conditions
for Restoration
A. ye
which are spiritual - described in detail in Galatians 5:22, 23
NOTE: If
you do not fit the criteria for the Spirit-filled life, you are not Biblically
qualified to restore a brother!
·
Carnal people cannot restore.
·
Bitter people cannot restore.
·
Vengeful people cannot restore.
·
Sinful people cannot restore.
Paul wrote to the Galatians for YE WHICH ARE SPIRITUAL to do
the restoring.
This is why it is so important that we walk in the Spirit.
Someone might need our help this week!
B. restore such an one
RESTORE: to
render fit, sound, complete, to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair
There is a great
need in the church for spiritual people to help restore others!
·
Eccl. 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their
labour. For if they fall, the one will
lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath
not another to help him up.
NOTE: The goal is not to RELATE – it is to RESTORE.
You don’t have to
be able to identify with someone in order to help them.
You don’t have to
experience what they are experiencing.
·
ILLUSTRATION: Does a doctor have to know what its like
to have cancer to help someone with cancer?
Christ has done
that already. He was tempted in all
points.
They don’t necessarily
need our sympathy; they need restoration.
We need to be
HONEST; truth AND grace
We must agree with God
about their fault.
Agreeing with them
will not restore them; it will make it worse.
·
QUOTE: Most people do not want advise – they want approval.
They don’t want to
be restored; they want to recruit.
C. in the spirit of meekness – this is the tenderness; a tactful and gracious spirit
To approach a person with a problem with a “I can’t believe
you did that attitude” is counterproductive.
Restoration should
be done with a kind, loving, compassionate, gentle, Christ-like spirit and
attitude.
Not one of
judgmental condemnation and berating rebuke.
III. The Cautions
for Restoration - considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
It is absolutely imperative that the one doing the restoring
has enough wisdom to consider themselves.
They way some people pursue the restoration process is not
very considerate toward themselves.
They do themselves an injustice.
·
Consider:
to look at, observe, contemplate 2) to mark 3) to fix one’s eyes upon, direct
one’s attention to, any one 4) to look to, take heed to thyself
·
Tempted: to be tested or tried
This is why you must be spiritual.
Carnal people can’t handle being privy to things that have
OVERTAKEN most people.
Carnal people can’t respond correctly to details about a
FAULT that has OVERTAKEN a brother.
They misjudge – they act irresponsibly; they talk to others
about it; they let it bother them.
Then we have the BLIND LEADING THE BLIND and they will both
fall into the ditch.
Conclusion:
Biblical restoration calls for spiritual people with a love for God and a love
for people to help those that are in need of help to get back on their feet and
help encourage them to keep going on for God.
