Restore such a one

Before we get into the passage here, I wanted to first bring something else up first. And this last week I was meeting with Roger and Mike, and I mentioned that starting next month we'll be studying in the book of Genesis. We'll be finishing up Galatians here by the end of this month, starting in the book of Genesis, beginning next month.

One of the things that I said we would add along with that introduction is an adjustment in the way I teach. And of course that brought raised eyebrows, huge eyes, and dropped jaws. And so they said, you better warn people. And so I'm doing that. Now, one of the things I want to do is just to let you know, I typically use the New American Standard Bible. For some verses or passages, I may, for a specific purpose, use another translation. But typically, that's what I use, just so you know. We encourage you to bring your Bible, and it's going to be increasingly important that you do as we study together. And so that's one of the things I wanted to kind of give you some advance warning on. We suggest that a word-for-word translation, and the New American Standard is one of those, is going to be easier for more detailed study, and that's certainly what we do a great deal of here.

You have in the Pew Racks, New King James, which is also a very good translation for word-for-word study, in case there is some Question about that or you'd like some guidance? We have a one-page handout that is available on kind of picking translations and not terribly difficult, but it might be helpful. That's available on the cabinet to the right as you exit the room.

So feel free to take that, look at it, ask me questions if you like, but just thought I'd give you some advance warning so that the The eyes, the eyebrows, and the jaw don't do what Mike and Rogers did on Tuesday. Anyway, back to our passage here. We're going to be looking at the passage that Courtney read for us. One of the things as I look through this, this is another passage I've been looking forward, not for weeks, not for months, I've been looking forward for years for the opportunity to teach this passage.

It's one that I think is just very special. And so it is a passage just power-packed, full of wonderful counsel on dealing with a believer who has kind of fallen off the path of fellowship. And Paul gives some very special guidance on who should be carrying it out and how they should go about carrying it out this approaching brother or sister who has fallen off that path of fellowship with the Lord. One of the key things that he reveals to us and is an extremely valuable piece of information is what are we aiming to do? What are we trying to do? What are we seeking to accomplish here? And what's our goal?

And he addresses that well. We also get some essential guidance on who should we be helping and who not. And that's also real important because other times it may feel like I have to just go out and help everybody. How do we pick? So I think this is just an extremely valuable and extremely practical passage.

It fits what we need to know to serve each other in this church body just as good as it can get. Paul gives us a perspective here that's really important. Each believer in our church body, and I'm talking about you, each believer here needs to understand and to have this perspective that Paul gets in order for us all to be spiritually healthy. Spiritually healthy. That's key.

Now, what's going to be a little curious is he's going to use a set of words here that might at first have us scratching our heads. and mine tends to contact less and less hair as the year goes by. But anyway, he's been telling us for five chapters that we are absolutely not under law, and then he goes and uses this term, the law of Christ. What does he mean by that? So let's take a look here at the first verse. He's got this word brethren. He's given us an important insight about what this is about. He narrows it down. So, the principles that He has given us here are for believers in Christ. It's for you this morning if you're a believer in Christ, and it's for those who are believers in Christ that we're dealing with. That's an important thing to know.

It is not that we don't have a place of expressing what is good morals and ethics among people that we come in contact with that are out in the world. There may be a place to have an impact and have an influence, and so I'm not denying that. But what he puts at is, what's the priority? It is not our priority in life to go about setting the world's morality straight. So that's a key distinction to make here. This is for the body of Christ. This is for believers. to understand and to use and to learn among other believers. That's what the revelation is for. That's what he's centering it on.

He also has this word anyone there in this first verse. And that's a real important word. Any one of us as believers could stumble, could fall. It is possible, can be. And so that's one thing. He has right alongside that with that the word any. The stumbling could come in different forms. It's not always one form or another, it could come in various forms. So I think that's something to keep in mind, that it could happen to anyone, and it could happen in a variety of ways. It's not just one fixed form. He has this phrase, caught in any trespass, and some of your translations will word that a little differently. Some people have suggested, well, what he means is the believers caught the person red-handed.

And while that's, I suppose, possible, I don't think that that's what it means. That's the sort of thing that the Jews might do if they said, now look, we've got this law and we've got you, and so you're going to be lovingly stoned, right? The Jews would do that according to the way they saw the Law of Moses, but that doesn't seem to fit what he's got here. It doesn't seem to fit the spirit of the rest of the passage.

And so, because of that, I think it's far more likely that what Paul had in mind was that a person was overcome, overtaken. Maybe it was something by impulse or unexpectedly. And perhaps you've seen or even experienced something like that, where it just sort of hit you and you hardly knew what was coming before you find yourself having stumbled and fallen. And I think that's far more likely what he's talking about rather than having caught somebody red-handed. The rest of the passage just doesn't seem to use that sense.

We have this word trespass here, and the Greek word here is a singular trespass. We saw, and this was admittedly a few years back when they were studying Ephesians, that word trespasses was used in the first verse of Ephesians chapter 2, but there it was plural, and it was used to describe unbelievers who were, as Paul put it, dead in their trespasses and sins. So, interesting, that's plural. Here, it's a singular trespass that any one believer could fall into, and it might be of any kind.

So it kind of indicates, you know, there's a pattern here. The unbeliever is stuck, like stuck in a rut with trespasses and sins, and that's the rut that they're going to stay in. The believer, you know, this gives the indication, it's not guaranteed the believer will never fail, will never fall. But what we do have clear indication of here is that the believer, though the believer may fall, falls, and yet God has something else in mind. It is not God's intent that the believer stay there.

And the trespass is singular. So what are these trespasses? They're a falling off of the path. The word literally means, from the Greek, to fall alongside. Here you were in the path, walking in fellowship with the Lord and in fellowship with other believers, and by a tripping, I know it makes a lot of you nervous when I do something like that, but by a tripping, falling off the path.

So, sometimes that can be pretty dangerous. Be careful. Alright. Then he has a really neat This is a set of words that I think are worth taking a look at. You who are spiritual. And boy, if you're not careful, that can go woooooo. This is not spooky spiritual. He's not trying to be spooky. This you, by the way, is also plural. So when he says, you who are spiritual, it's not like, look, there's only one guy on all of Holly Hills that's spiritual.

This is you plural. You who are spiritual. A number of people may have this qualification. A number of people. And that also implies this is not some special case. It's intended to be a general case that there are people who are spiritual in this church body. So who are those who are spiritual? Nice question. I'm so glad you asked. And I want you to keep something else in mind.

These are believers who are no more than two years old in the Lord, so they're young believers. It is possible then for young believers to be in what this category calls spiritual, and to be therefore qualified to be able to carry out this ministry, let's call it that, this ministry that he has in mind.

Those who are spiritual are those who are walking by means of the Spirit. Are you walking by means of the Spirit in dependence upon the Lord, recognizing the motivation that comes from Him by grace, and by means of all the resources made available to you by the multiple ministries of the Holy Spirit who will point to Christ? That's the answer to the question. Who's the one who's spiritual? The ones walking in fellowship with the Lord. It's not something mechanical. We don't say, OK, I've got to go and approach this brother because he's doing X, Y, and Z, and we've got our checklist. Are we spiritual? Yep. OK, good. Let's go. This is something not to be looked at superficially or lightly, but carefully.

The key point here, the Spirit directs believers to Christ. It's our focus upon Christ. It's our focus upon Christ. That's what the Holy Spirit's going to do. Put our focus on Him. There are a number of people that will get distracted, it seems, in Christendom today. I'll use that word. And boy, all their focus is on the Holy Spirit. Well, interesting.

Scripture itself, Gospel of John, Jesus Christ Himself saying it, says that the Holy Spirit will put the focus upon Christ. That will be His ministry. That will be His direction. Do we sing songs like this that give the Holy Spirit honor? Most certainly. But the Holy Spirit's primary ministry is going to be centering your attention upon Jesus Christ. The Spirit directs believers to Christ.

A very key point. The next one. Restore such a one. This is one we've got to get. Restoration is a key thing. Think about it. It's important, we think in our own era, of restoration work of different kinds. It's important to be done by someone who's qualified, whatever you're restoring. Restoration work, to be done well, has to be done by someone who's qualified. So what's he doing? He's giving us the qualifications here for spiritual restoration. Restore such a one. The aim and intent. What are we trying to do? Here's a brother or a sister who has stumbled and our job is what?

To pick the best rock to throw at them? To throw them really fast? To make sure they're really pretty? No. That we come down on them really hard? That we rush in immediately? No. The point is to restore them. The aim, the goal, what we're shooting for doing is to restore them. To put them back into the place. where they were before, walking in fellowship with the Lord. That's what we're trying to do. Restore them to the path. What does that restoration look like?

It means that they were in a place of walking in fellowship with the Lord, knowing Him, enjoying that fellowship, and they fell off the path. They came to a place of no longer enjoying the fellowship. and instead being distracted by some sin. You know, this is a key thing. And I don't want you to get me wrong. The Lord is not intensely interested in your sin. I haven't seen any jaws drop yet. Okay, the Lord is not intensely interested in your sin.

Why? He is intensely interested in you having fellowship with Him. The only reason he has to deal with the sin is to get it out of the way so that the fellowship is back. That's the only reason he's interested in sin. Jesus Christ took care of the whole sin issue. So the only issue now is, is there continuing and ongoing fellowship? That's what he's concerned about. And that's the only reason that sin becomes an issue. He says, let's get this out of the way so we can keep on fellowshipping. That's what he's interested in. He wants you to know him.

We're going to take a little side trip here to 1 Corinthians 1.10. 1 Corinthians 1.10 starts off with this, in the English, three words, I exhort you.

This exhort you is from a word that means to call alongside, to counsel is a reasonable way to put it. Now, counseling is a term and a practice that's, well, frankly it's earned itself among many circles a kind of a bad name. Partly because it can mean a lot of things in our culture. Biblically speaking, counseling is deeply biblical. Okay? Biblically speaking, counseling is deeply biblical.

And this is one of those places where it shows up. It's Paul's word for counseling his brothers. I come alongside you as one called to do so." And in that, here's what I have to tell you. That's his counsel that he's giving them. It is an appeal, whenever he's exhorting and urging, he's appealing to believers.

He says, believers, you have an eternal position in Christ that is fixed, unchangeable, untouchable, and cannot be touched or lost. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, no exceptions. In the heavenlies, that's where it's at. That position will not change. Every time you see in scripture, I urge you, I exhort you, even I encourage you, it is to call a believer who has this eternal position to walk in it. You have that eternal position in Christ, it is part of who you eternally are, because you're in Him. The exhortation, the urging, and even the imperatives, you must do this, you must not do that, have to do with urging you to live moment by moment, day by day, according to that eternal position you already have.

That's what it's about. Here's an example we saw earlier in the book of Galatians. Paul had to confront his fellow apostle Peter. Can you imagine that? An apostle confronting another apostle. But what was it to do? Paul's intent was not to say, Peter, I'm going to just smash you.

Peter, I'm going to clobber you clear into the other side of the Roman Empire. No. His intent was to restore Peter. His intent was to restore Peter, to put Peter back into a place of full service. That's why he did it. Not to wipe Peter out. Not to show him, Peter, I'm more potent than you are and you're going to know it. But to say, Peter, I love you as the Lord loves me. And because of that, I want to restore you to full service. That was what he had in mind. The other thing that comes out of this passage, let me back up just a second here.

The other thing that comes out of this passage is that He is exhorting them, and one of the things that He exhorts them to is to be made complete. And that word there is a word that is used in the Gospels for mending fishing nets. Here the nets have been torn, broken, And this word here, to be made complete, means to be mending the nets. It was also used in the medical literature of the time for setting broken bones so that they could heal.

You get the picture? He says, you people in Corinth have divisions among you and you need to be mending the nets. You need to be setting the broken bones so that they can heal. You have those divisions and those need to be healed up. Restore. That's the word that Paul uses here for restore such a one. The same way that nets are mended so they can be put back in service. The same way that the bone is set so that it can heal up and be used again. That's the intent. That's what Paul had in mind here.

And how do you do it? In a spirit of gentleness. So, I have a question. Why didn't Paul just say, restore such a one gently and leave it at that? Why add the extra words in there? Well, I think the reason is this. When you say spirit of gentleness, it says it's not just a checklist item. Did we exhort him? Did we restore him gently? Yeah. Check.

No. It means that everything about the restoration is done with gentleness. It means that, since it's a spirit of gentleness, that gentleness comes from deep and not just superficially gentle. It means more than that because it's the same word for gentle that was up before in the fruit of the Spirit. It means that that Spirit of gentleness comes from the Holy Spirit who will produce the fruit of gentleness.

So this is the Lord's work, isn't it? It's the Holy Spirit's work to do the restoration. You who are spiritual are those walking by means of the Spirit. You who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Where does the gentleness come from? From the Holy Spirit, which comes through and is lived out by those who walk by means of the Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit's work to do the restoration. You're the instrument. You're the one that God had in mind to do that restoring by God's intent and by God's power.

Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. There is a risk factor. There is a hazardous duty issue to this restoring work. You need to be aware of that. We give an example up here. One of the things that they caution those who are in life-saving position among swimmers.

Be careful how you come up to that swimmer or you too will go down. So come up carefully. Here's how you come up behind them. You don't allow them to go grabbing you and pulling you down. In retrieving someone who has fallen through ice, similar kind of thing. You don't just run out there and put a hand out. You're going to be down the hole with them.

It has to be done carefully. And so he gives a warning here. He says, this is really important work. You, multiple, are qualified who are walking by means of the Spirit. I do need to caution you that there's a danger, but here's how you deal with it. It's not that you don't do it, just be careful, and this is what you need to watch out for. The danger is in that trying to help this person, we too would fall into a trap. And he even describes what those traps are.

We're to examine ourselves before the Lord. It doesn't mean we suddenly become introspective and contemplate our navels. We are to examine ourselves before the Lord in this. So asking the question, are we walking by means of the Spirit? Am I in fellowship with the Lord depending upon His resources to pull off this restoration work?

That's qualification. we are not to be sucked into another fleshly plan where we walk up, hey, that guy's got a problem, I don't have that problem. I know what to do with that guy. I'll set him right. Hey, yeah, we know how to do this. No. Anyone who does that is immediately not qualified. That's not what he's asking for. If you're starting to pick up the rocks, you're not qualified. Now, let's look at the next four verses, verses two through five. As we look at those, one of the things we've done, and it's on page three of your handout, is to put these as bullets.

These are principles of perspective and things about the church body that are valuable in this restoration work. If you were in the place of putting back together an old 57 Chevy, you would want to know, okay, what are the things I need to know in order to do this right? If you were looking at restoring an old house or an old antique, you would want to know what tools do I need to know? What techniques do I need to have in place? He's giving us here, here are the principles when you're involved in restoration work that you need to keep in mind, okay?

That's what he's laying out for us here. Let's take a look at them. Now, the first one in verse 2 is bear one of those burdens. Now I have a piece of good news for you. Are you ready for this? It's not this kind of bear. So this bear one of those burdens isn't to eat the person alive or terrify them. What this is, He's going to clarify it for us, but we need to make sure we get this right. Is his intent in bearing one another's burdens that we should just go about doing everybody else's stuff?

You who have young children, you don't need to worry about that. We've got a bunch of moms who used to be moms who come in. They're going to take care of your kids entirely, but you've got to go back to their house and clean their house and cook and do all the dishes. Is that right?

No. His intent is not all that we go run and jump into everybody else's business. That's not his point. But we'll see that. It doesn't mean that we should just give everybody what they ask for. And boy, there are plenty of people out there who will ask for stuff. That's not his intent either. Let's see what he did intent.

We look at these verses. What I'm going to do is pair up verses 2 and 5 because they address together a key question in what we're wanting to examine. Do we bear one another's burdens or do we each bear our own when we look at those? After five chapters telling us that we're not under law, what can Paul mean by the law of Christ? We need to answer those questions here. So let's do that.

This Greek word translated burdens refers to an excessive heavy load. And the Greek word translated load in verse 5 refers to a smaller, more manageable load. In fact, there is some overlap in the way these are used, but the general intent is a contrast here. So what is he saying? Put this together here. We could put it this way. We'll kind of restate what he means here to explain it.

Among believers, you are to bear one another's heavy and excessive burdens. The things that are way over the top. But each believer should bear the usual responsibilities that go with his or her personal capacity and place in life. I don't have to worry about going and taking over for somebody else when they're doing what they ordinarily should do. But when someone has something hit them that is over the top, that's an excessive load, something by surprise or massive, magnitude. Those are the places where we need to help.

The over-the-top things that hit people. A believer that you know that was doing just fine until they had an accident or got sick. A believer that you know that was doing just fine until this certain thing happened to their family that just hit them hard. Those excessive loads we need to share. among each other. Those loads that are over the top. That we have a place in helping one another. How about this one, fulfill the law of Christ. So are we actually under law after all? Is this a different one? See, before it was, we had the Mosaic Law, but we said, no, it's not that. Now we've got a new set of laws and it's the law of Christ. Is that what he means? I don't think so.

The Apostle John in the book of 1 John put it very well. He explained it this way, and by the way you see in there, commandment single. And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. It's that simple. Fulfilling the law of Christ isn't a matter of, okay, now I've got the checklist. Now I've got another set of laws that I'm going to be condemned for if I fail. No. This instead is love. It's the principle of love. Key point. To fulfill the law of Christ for us, who are believers here this morning, is to love one another unconditionally. Unconditionally.

Now we're going to go through verses 3 and 4. This is the middle of the sandwich. So we'll take a look at that one. The first part of verse 3, if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, well, what's that all about? I think they studied it in the Romans elective not too long ago, Romans 12, 3. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.

Years ago there was a sheep and cattle rancher that I used to help from time to time. A neat guy. One of the things I found was interesting is that he wasn't a real talkative fellow, but when he said something, it was really worth listening to. And one of the things that he said is, humility is giving credit where credit is due. That's humility. It's not going around demeaning ourselves. It's not making sure somebody else is humble by demeaning them.

But it is giving credit where credit is due, and in reality, The Lord is due the credit, giving him credit for all that he is due. And that's what Paul is wanting to get across here. An exalted and vaulted idea of who we think we are in our place. He says that's a hazard in this restoration work. Someone who does so deceives themselves.

Now one of the things that's really important, it's a brief set of words, But, you know, it's an interesting thing about us as humans. We actually enjoy illusions, or at least most of us do. You ever notice that? You know, you look at something like this and you say, that's cool. I like that illusion. Or here's another one.

Somebody actually went and painted on an elevator floor such that it looked like there was a bottomless shaft. It's actually a valid floor, but you can't tell by looking at it. So anyone walking into the elevators, going to feel like they're in trouble, right? But it's really just an illusion, okay?

Isn't that cool? Or if you're going down the street, you're going down the street, and here's this soft drink truck with all the cartons upside down, okay? Now, illusions like that, we look at that and we say, that's neat, I like that, okay? And that's all right.

But the key point he has here is self-deception in restoration work is exceedingly dangerous. It's hazardous. Why? The sin nature is filled with deception and a key point, a covert distortion of reality about ourselves is the sin nature's chronic strategy. Got that? A covert, a secret, a hidden distortion of reality about ourselves is the sin nature's chronic strategy. The sin nature is always pulling this off or trying to.

The sin nature will tell you, you know, you aren't happy now, but if you just have a couple more drinks, you will be. And it even kind of says, you'll be forever. Does that work out? Not so much. You know, what these people did to you was really unjust. And if you just give them a blast of anger, that'll set things right. And you'll be in right relationships with them after that for good. Oh yeah. See?

The sin nature is always deceiving and trying to pull things off. It's its chronic strategy. And I use that word chronic intentionally. Because it has the implication of this is a serious and continuing problem. After that, distorting reality about everybody else is just a given. Once we get a warped idea of who we are in our own place, like he's warned about in the very first part of that verse 3, distorted feelings and perceptions of everybody else, oh, that comes easy.

And he uses this word, must examine. This is a word that means to test with a view to approval. It was a word that was used in testing various kinds of products in ancient times, including testing for precious metals, gold, silver, to see if this is the real thing. To examine. Now that's important for us to take a look. Each must examine his own work.

He goes along here with a priority given in the first verses there, to look first to one's own attitude and mindset before attempting to restore a fallen brother. And the point is not to get our eyes on ourselves, but to ask ourselves the question, am I looking at the Lord? Am I looking at the Lord here or depending upon my own resources as I step into this restoration work? Or as the Sermon on the Mount put the equivalent thing, if I got the beam out of my own eye first, before getting the speck out of my brother's eye. The first line in verse 4 is a call for the believer to see who is doing the work. Who's behind this? Am I going to set my brother straight? Because boy, have I got it done, Pat. I know what to do. And I know just what his problem is. I can fix it. Yeah, right. That's the question.

Now, the last part of verse 4, he talks about boasting, and this is not boasting in a sense of kind of puffery. This prideful puffery is certainly something that's of the flesh. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about being able to stand before the Lord when time is done. When we're done here, stand before the Lord knowing that that was the Lord's work and that was the Lord's doing. I couldn't have pulled that off, but thank you, Lord, for doing it through me and in me. It means Christ having lived out His life in us and His life through us. That's what it's talking about.

There will come a day when every believer here this morning We'll stand before the Lord, and the Lord will judge us for evaluation. Do you know how much condemnation the Lord will judge us for? Zip. The Lord's going to burn away all that stuff. This is 1 Corinthians 3, verses 10 through 15. There's a really good description of what that's like.

The Lord is not interested in what He can condemn us for. He is interested in what He can reward us for. It will be a judgment of evaluation, not a judgment of condemnation. Paul's point at the end of verse 4 here is, we will not be judging other believers. The Lord will. And when the Lord judges us, it will not be a question at all of how did you do compared to another believer.

His question will be, did I do it through you? Did I do it through you? That's what he's looking for. Not, well you didn't do as well as that person, and that person did more than you, or better than you did. Not at all. He'll be looking to reward you to the maximum for everything that was done by his power. That's what he's looking to reward. That's all he's interested in.

The rest of it will be burned away. There is Galatians 6, 1 and 2, and 3 through 5 on the next two slides. You have it on the last part of page 4 of your handout. I won't take the time to read through that this morning, but I would invite you to do that. Look through it. Think about it. Ponder it. Because what it attempts to do is to explain, in hopefully understandable words, what the passage is talking about. But I would like you to take a look at this question. What do we do with all this?

We've looked at five verses here. It's five verses in the very last chapter of Paul's writing. He's just about done with his letter to this church that he cares so very much about. He put his life on the line to give them the gospel. He's again writing a rather intense letter. There's no question about that. But a letter that's full of his love and care for them. Because of the Lord's love and care for them.

So what do we do with this? We can ask questions, not to look at ourselves ultimately, but to look at the Lord. Am I walking in fellowship with Christ? That's a primary consideration in looking at, am I qualified for this restoration work? Am I getting to know Him? Is it about knowing Him and depending upon His resources to live out my life? First point of qualification for that restoration work, that very important restoration work. Is He my motive by grace and my means by the Holy Spirit? Got that? Is He my motive by grace and my means by the Holy Spirit?

I'm not talking about am I so seared with guilt that I can't stop looking at it even if I cover my eyes. That's not his point. He's not saying, do you feel guilty about it, or do you want to make the other person feel guilty about it? He doesn't want that. That's not what he's interested in.

Even we have somewhere between one and five sign-up sheets. You know, we never want you to sign any of those things because you feel guilty. We want you to be grace-motivated. Yeah, grace-motivated. Is He my motive by grace, and my means by the Holy Spirit? Guilt is just a terrible thing. to have as a motivator. And it's simply not God's intent for you as a believer. God does not want you to be driven and operating out of guilt. He doesn't. It's just not what He has in mind. If you want to feel guilty, I just can't help you.

If the answer to those is yes, then I have a grace-given opportunity to be used of Him. Notice it's an opportunity. It's a wonderful opportunity. It's exactly what God has in mind. It means that I am qualified to be in the restoration work when that's called for.

Isn't that something? Yeah. You. You. When I see a believer who has fallen off the path, overtaken, as Paul puts it, by this sin, then by God's amazing grace, and it's by grace, I was spiritually qualified because He's qualified. That's why. And really, what's it about? I'm qualified because I know and am right at this moment knowing Him.

And what do I want for that fallen brother or sister? I want them to get back in the process of knowing Him too. For me to be in fellowship with the Lord, and walking in dependence upon all the multiple ministries of the Holy Spirit. And I want that fallen brother and sister to be put back on that path too.

That's what we're aiming for. That's what it's all about. Because we want all of our brothers and sisters in the Lord to be walking in fellowship with the Lord, depending upon Him, and knowing Him, getting to know Him more. And that's what this whole passage is talking about. He talks a lot about restoration and things to be careful of, and those are all valuable. In the end, why? Because knowing Him, as Paul puts it, there isn't anything better. Knowing Him. That's where it's at. Let's pray.

Lord, as we do look at this passage, we get the point. We see that it's restoring and not condemning and destroying another's life. We see that It is knowing you in the present tense that qualifies us. And we see that it is knowing you in the present tense that we want to do with our brother and sister. And that's love. That's wonderful, marvelous love. And we thank you for that, shown so marvelously to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.