What to Do With Your Burdens

Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers. Everybody has burdens sooner or later.

Well, it almost starts the day we're born. We're born crying, and then the doctor gives us a whack. And from there on, it just goes on and on and on. We have burdens. we have problems.

But I want to tell you today what to do. With your Burden. If you don't have burdens, really the problem is you're probably not. a thinking person.

Well, the Bible says man that is Born of woman is full of trouble as the sparks That fly upward. But thank God. We don't have to bear Our burdens alone, saved or lost. We're going to know burdens. Look, if you will, in chapter 6.

And verse 1, brethren. If a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. and so fulfill The law of Christ.

For if a man think himself to be something, When he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work. And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone. and not in another. For every man shall bear his own.

Burden.

Now there are three kinds of burdens I want to talk to you about today. There are Burdens. that we willingly take up. There are burdens that we faithfully endure. And then their burdens that we wisely Lay down.

First of all, there's certain burdens. that you're not to try to escape. As a matter of fact, they're burdens that you are. to take up. And what are those burdens?

Those are the burdens of another brother. Another sister. When somebody is hurting, Now what uh Paul is writing about here is primarily the burden of the backslidden person, the man who has gotten away from God. Look, if you will, in verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault.

Now the word here is to a Christian. Brethren If a man be overtaken in a fault. He is talking about somebody who is our brother.

Somebody who is our sister.

Somebody who's gotten away from God and somebody who needs to be restored.

Now notice the word restore. He's saying, here's a person who was once in fellowship, and now that person has gotten out of fellowship. Why? because he's been overtaken in a fault.

Now this is not the person who is not saved. is not the person who uh who's running to sin. Actually, here's a person who was endeavoring to get away from sin. But sin overtook him.

Somewhere years ago I read that in Africa, Each morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. And that gazelle says to himself, If I cannot outrun... The fastest lion on these planes I will be Devoured. And somewhere that same morning, a lion wakes up. And that lion says, if I cannot outrun the slowest gazelle, I will starve.

And so both the gazelle and the lion wake up running.

Now folks, every morning you and I need to wake up running because we are running from sin and Satan is running for us. And sometimes we're overtaken.

Sometimes we stumble and fall. You see, when you get saved, that doesn't mean you can't sin anymore. Say amen. You know that to be true. When you get saved, it doesn't mean that you cannot sin anymore.

Sometimes we're overtaken in a fault. You know the difference between my life before I was saved and after I was saved? Before I got saved, I was running to sin.

Now I'm running from sin. But we can sometimes stumble and fall.

So he's talking about brothers. He says, if a man be a brother, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, that is run down by Satan, trapped and snared by a fault, then we are to restore him. I want you to begin to think, can you think of somebody that you used to have sweet fellowship with, maybe a soul-winning partner, maybe a prayer partner?

Somebody that maybe you sang in the choir with.

Somebody that maybe you served on a committee with. And they truly, so far as you know, Knew the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, and know him today. But they're out of fellowship? This church is filled with them, and so is every church. They are brothers.

They are sisters. Go out of fellowship with God. And God has called upon us to restore these people. Because they're living a life that the Apostle Paul calls a burden life. They are brokenhearted.

Now, The scripture today. That I'm reading is hope for that kind of a person. If you're that kind of a person, Away from God, yet in your heart of hearts you've been saved, you know the Lord, you're a brother, you're a sister. This message is a word of hope for you. And if you have not been overtaken in a fault, thank God for it.

But this message is a word of warning. For you. And it's a call to action for all of us.

Now, a brother can be restored. That's good news if you've gotten away from God. Our God is a God of a second chance. If you read the Bible, the Bible tells about men who got away from God and who got back to God. because the Bible does not mistake the moment for the man.

And the Bible is a picture of people who've gotten away from God. and yet have gotten back to God. There was Jonah.

Now, we criticize Jonah for running from the Lord, but the Bible says the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, saying, Does God speak to you that intimately? Jonah must have been a great man, that he was in such contact with God, he could hear the word of the Lord. He was such an instrument that God wanted to use him. And yet, Jonah got away from the Lord, you remember? Spent the night on a foam blubber mattress.

You remember the story. Swallowed by whale. But yet Jonah came back to God. And Joan was used of God to bring an entire city. None of it.

To Jesus Christ. Christ to repentance. Toward faith. I remember reading in the Bible about Simon Peter, the big fisherman. He loved God.

He was the one who said to Jesus, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet Simon Peter cursed and swore and denied the Lord Jesus. I imagine the critics that day had a field day. They said, oh, Reverend Simon Peter, did you hear what he did? He cursed in front of a teenage girl.

I never did have much confidence in Reverend Simon Peter. I'm finished with him. I'm glad God wasn't finished with him. Because that same Simon Peter who stumbled and crumbled, and when the rock turned to sand, God made him a rock again and he became the flaming apostle of Pentecost. There was a man who wrote a book in the Bible called the Gospel of Mark.

You have the Gospel of Mark. That man's name was John Mark. was a young man. He started out with Paul and Silas on a missionary journey. He must have been a remarkable young man for the great Apostle Paul to say, John, come and go with us on this missionary journey.

But on the missionary journey John Mark got frightened. He got homesick. He got discouraged. And he went back home. And the Apostle Paul.

Lost confidence in John Mark. When they got ready to go on another missionary journey, Somebody said, let's take Mark with us, and Paul said, no, sorry. We're not going to take him. He's a failure, he's a quitter, he's a slacker, he's a shirker. He's not going.

Old Barnabas said, well, I'll take him with me. And do you know what? God restored John Mark. Later on, John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark. And later on the Apostle Paul said, and by the way, when you're coming to see me, bring Mark.

He's profitable. You see, God wasn't finished. with John Mark. David. The man after God's own heart.

What a mighty, wonderful man was David. I've got a son named David. David got away from God. David committed a horrible sin. You say he was only human.

No, I say he was desperately wicked. He was overtaken with a fault. And yet... He prayed that prayer and God brought him back. He prayed, Lord, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.

And thank God God did, and God gave him a second chance. Our God. is a god of a second chance. Do you know somebody who's been overtaken with a fault?

Well, the Bible says you're to restore him.

Now I want you to look at that word restore. Look at it. Restore such a one. Do you know what that word means? It's a technical word.

It literally means to set a bone that has been broken. And it literally means to mend a net that has been torn. is restoration Putting back in place that which is broken or that which is torn. Have you ever had a broken bone? I have.

I was raised in Florida. And down where I was raised, coconuts grow. And we didn't have money to spend at a 7-Eleven because we didn't have a 7-Eleven, but we had coconut trees. And if you wanted some refreshment, all you had to do was be part monkey, shiny up a coconut tree, and get a coconut. And I was up a very tall coconut tree one time trying to extradite a coconut.

And I had one arm around a palm frond and I'm up there and I'm twisting that coconut. And when I gave a yank on the coconut, I put pressure on the palm frond, which was turning yellow. The palm frond came loose, the coconut came loose, and I came loose. And we all fell together. And I fell on the ground, the pomefronde fell on me, and the coconut fell on it, and my arm fell on the sidewalk.

And I had a horrible compound fracture in that elbow.

Now at that moment I needed restoration. I had a bone. That was broken, and I can tell you some things I did not need. And I'm going to tell you what some people who are out of fellowship today do not need. At that moment, I did not need a lecture.

I didn't need somebody to come and say, that was a dangerous thing you were doing. Hey, didn't you have enough sense to see that that palm frond was turning yellow? You did a stupid thing. I did, but that's not what I needed then, right? And your friend right now doesn't need a lecture.

I'll tell you something else I didn't need. I didn't need for them to ignore me. I'll tell you something else, I didn't eat. I didn't need to be reported. Yeah.

I'm glad my brother didn't run all over town saying, did you hear what happened to Adrian? Here I am down there on the ground, squirming, crying. Do you hear what happened to Adrian? Adrian fell out of a coconut tree. Adrian fell out of a coconut tree.

That's what we do sometimes, isn't it? A brother, a sister falls away, and rather than going to love that person, to restore that person, to bring that person back to sweet fellowship, what do we do? We just go around talking about them. And sometimes our little prayer sessions are nothing but gossip sessions. Under the guise of being prayer sessions, praying for sister so-and-so, praying for brother so-and-so.

Now, I'll tell you another thing I'm glad they didn't do. When I broke my arm. I'm glad they didn't shoot me.

Well, he's got a broken arm. Blam. We fixed it.

Somebody said that the church is the only army in the world that shoots its wounded. But sometimes we do that. I mean, here's a person with a broken bone. They didn't shoot me. I'll tell you something else I'm glad they didn't do.

I'm glad they didn't amputate that arm. Because I need that arm.

So I can point at you. I need that arm. God gave me that arm. They didn't just say, well, that's not important to the body. The body can get along without that arm.

They did not amputate the arm. What they did, they put in place a broken bone. They restored it. And that's what the Apostle Paul said that we are to do. You know, listen, folks, there was one thing I could not do when I broke that arm.

And that was ignore it. Do you know why I couldn't ignore it? Why? Because the rest of my body said don't ignore it. You see, the Bible says when one member suffers, every member suffers with it.

That's the way God made us. We need to be as sensitive spiritually as we are physically. What do we do when a brother fails? Do we say it's none of my business? Folks, it is your business.

He is in the body. Do you condemn him? Then you're condemning yourself. He's a part of you. Christians have a way of crucifying living saints, worshiping dead saints.

and shooting wounded saints. What do we do when we have a brother who is wounded, a sister who's wounded? Did we report him to the church? You'd be amazed how many people will say to me Pastor. I am so burdened about thus and such a person.

God has laid him on my heart. Will you go see him?

Now you think about that. I am so burdened. God has laid him on my heart. Will you please go see him?

Well, if it is so strategic, so necessary, yes, if I can, I will. But why do you think God laid him on your heart? Why do you think God put him on your heart? Because, friend, you are the one. That has that relationship.

You're the one that God is burdening, and you're the one that God wants. To go. They don't need a lecture. They need love. If you know somebody like this, I am here to tell you today that that person is your responsibility.

My job is to teach you to minister so that you can be. A minister of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Where you say, Pastor, Pastor, that's well and good. That's just not my gift. I'm not qualified.

Well, maybe you're not, because let me show you the qualifications. Look in chapter 6 and verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one.

Now if you say that's not my gift That's not my calling. That's not what I'm inclined to do. That's not what I'm supposed to do. You know what you're saying about yourself? I'm not spiritual.

I am not spiritual. If you are a spiritual person, a person who loves God, a spirit-filled person, then you're going to have all the qualifications you need. to restore such a one.

Now, I've talked about the ministry of restoration. Let me talk about the manner of this restoration. If you say, all right, Pastor, I'm going to do it. I have somebody right now in my heart and in my mind, some man, some woman, some boy, some girl. All right.

Let me tell you how you're to do it. First of all, you're to do it very gently. Look, if you will, in chapter 6 and verse 1. Restore such a one in the spirit of God. Meekness.

Do you see that?

Now folks, when you're setting a broken bone, what do you need? Gentleness, isn't that right? In a spirit of meekness, tender, loving care. You can't restore somebody if you're harsh and overbearing. You've got to be gentle.

By the way, those of you who are parents, Do you know what I've noticed about dads whose children love them most? They're jample. Every child wants a strong dad. They want a dad that they can look up to. But they want a dad that's gentle.

Gentle. You can restore your children with gentleness. Rather than whacking at them and screaming at them and criticizing them. Try some tenderness. with your children.

Riot. If you've got backslidden children, they need tenderness. Your neighbor needs tenderness. Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Do it gently.

I'll tell you what else to do. Do it humbly. Look at this passage. Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Now, watch this.

Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted. You say, not me. Friend, there are three persons in your seat this morning: the person you are now, the person you could be for holiness and good in God, and the person you could be for debauchery and wickedness if you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ. You say, well, it won't happen to me.

Well, I want to ask you a question. Happened to Jonah. Are you better than Jonah? Happened to Elijah, are you better than Elijah? Happened to Simon Peter, are you better than Simon Peter?

It happened to John Mark, are you better than John Mark? No, the Bible says, let him that thinketh he standeth do what? Take heed lest he fall. And so when we are there to restore somebody else, Not only should we do it gently, that is with meekness, but we're doing it humbly, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. I'll tell you a third way that when you do this restoration, that you need to do it.

You need to do it sympathetically. Sympathetically. You see, the Bible says. And verse 2. Bear one another's burdens.

Do you know if the person is truly a child of God?

Now, I'm not talking about a person running to sin. I'm talking about a person who was running from sin, who's been overtaken. If he is truly a child of God, you can put it down big, plain, and straight. If that person is truly saved, truly born again, and is out of fellowship with God, I can tell you he's carrying a big burden.

Now, if he's not saved, he's not carrying any burden at all. But he if he is truly saved And out of fellowship with God, he is carrying a big burden. The most miserable man on earth is not an unsaved man. The most miserable man on earth is a saved man out of fellowship with God. What is the burden?

That we ought to have sympathy for with these people.

Well, first of all, they have a broken relationship with Almighty God. David prayed in that penitential psalm: Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. This person who once walked in sweet fellowship with God, that fellowship with God is broken. Here is a man away from God, folks. I am telling you, he's got a burden.

There's a broken fellowship with God. There is a guilty conscience. There's the accusation of Satan. And many times, there's public shame. These people say, Well, I don't dare show my face at church anymore.

If I were to come down there, everybody knows what I did, where I've been. They wouldn't receive me. Friend, we better receive them. We better let them know you're loved and you're welcomed, and come on home now. Why do we do it?

Why did we restore such a one?

Well, first of all, he's our brother. Notice how this begins. Brethren. If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, Restore such a one. Not only is he our brother, But we are members of the same body.

When any member suffers, every member suffers with it.

So, why should we restore such a one? We are brothers, we're sisters. Beyond that, we're members of the same body. But let me show you the main reason that we do it. Look in verse 2.

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

So fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? You can find that in Galatians 5 verse 14, for all the laws fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. That's the law of Christ, it's love. Genuine, genuine, Christ-like.

Love, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. Look at that fallen individual, that person who is burdened, and understand that you are to love him as you would want somebody to love you if you were in the same situation. And by the way, only a spiritual person can do that, for the Bible says the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Yes, it may be firm love. Yes, even though it's gentle, it may be firmness.

But love says we'll go to those who have fallen. Love says we will go humbly. Love says if possible we will go. Privately, we will go prayerfully, and we will restore him, and we will fulfill the law of Christ. Christ.

Why don't you right now ask God to lay somebody on your heart? Why don't you say God this week? I will do that. And if you're that person who's gotten away from God, I want to tell you, you can be restored. You can come on home.

And don't let that failure make you bitter. Let it make you better. You may have failed. But it's not all over. You may have lost the game, but there's still a season out there.

Now listen. There's another motive. What are the motives we're talking about? He's our brother. We're in the same body.

There's the law of Christ. There's another motive. Remember that I told you. That the word restore has a twofold meaning. It has the meaning of mending a broken bone.

It has also the meaning. Uh the uh meeting of mending a broken net. Do you know what God has put us together to be? A network. You know, when Jesus called his disciples, what were they doing?

They were mending the nets. And he says, you come after me, I'll make you become fishers of men. Do you know what a broken brother is? A broken sister. He or she is a hole in the net.

They're a hole in the net. Did you know that there are people we can't win to Jesus here at Bellevue because of some. brother, some sister who's backslidden. And maybe they live right up next to somebody that we're witnessing to. And they've seen that person away from God.

And because they've seen that person away from God and seen their lifestyle, they have no confidence in the ministry of this church. Did you know if people would start living right on Monday, people would believe what I preach on Sunday? Did you know that? But you see, the greatest testimony for Jesus and the greatest testimony against Jesus is the life of a Christian, isn't that right? The greatest testimony for Jesus, the greatest testimony against Jesus is the life of a Christian.

The Bible calls us living epistles. How is the gospel according to you? If all of our members were right with God, What an awesome. Net this would be to bring souls to Jesus Christ. There are the burdens, there are the burdens, dear friend, that we willingly take up.

Where we bear somebody else's burden. Are you willing to do that? The Bible says, bear one another's burdens.

Now, There's another kind of a burden. There's the burden we faithfully stay under. Look now in verses 4 and 5. Let every man prove his own work. Underscore that.

Let every man prove his own work. Then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.

Now that's not a contradiction in terms. On the one hand, the Bible says bear one another's burdens. And then the Bible says, every man shall bear his own burden. Is that contradictory? No, it's complementary.

Mal. The key to this is two different words that are used for burden. The first time, the word for burden here means a heavy load.

Something onerous, something that weights you down, something like being out of fellowship with God. It's a heavy, heavy burden. It is a crushing load. When somebody has a load like that, we're to come and bear that burden and lift that burden from Him. That's a burden we willingly take up when we bear one another's burdens.

But the word for burden here, portion. Here's a different word altogether. It has the idea of a Soldiers Weaponry. Or a backpack. Or a knapsack.

Strapped to your back.

something that is necessary.

Something that is not burdensome. But something that is useful Something that will make you useful. and something that may even save your life.

Now, God does not want us to live lives at ease. But God wants us to live disciplined lives, and so God lays burdens upon us, and God expects us to bear those burdens because these are burdens that we are to stay. Under.

Now. What does it mean when it says that uh Every man must bear his own burden. That means there's something that you cannot let anybody else do for you. There's something that you cannot relegate or delegate to anybody else. Or what are some of those things?

Well? Nobody can repent for you. Isn't that right? Nobody can trust Christ. For you.

Nobody can love God. For you. Every man must bear his own burden. I wish sometimes when I preach I could go out there, sit in your seat, come forward and give my heart to Jesus on your behalf, but I cannot. There are certain things that are our responsibilities.

And will become our blessings if we will take them. There's no such thing as proxy religion. And I'll tell you one of the burdens that we need to take up and bear Is the willingness To relieve a brother. to bear his burden. You see, a fallen Our broken brother, It's not a call to gossip, it's a call to prayer.

That's a prayer burden. Nobody can take that for you. There are the burdens that we willingly take up when we bear one another's burdens. There are the burdens that we faithfully stay under when it says every man must bear his own burden. There are certain responsibilities that are ours that nobody, nobody can do for us.

There's one more burden. And that's the burden that we gladly lay down. Put in your margin Psalm 55 and verse 22. Cast Thy burden upon the Lord. And he shall sustain thee.

He shall never suffer the righteous. to be moved. Do you know who wrote that? Uh King David. Who'd had his burden lifted when he was restored to God, but he had other burdens.

You see, he was a king. He was wealthy. When he wrote this, he was godly because he was a writer of the Psalms. He was aged. What do we learn from this?

That burdens come to the high as well as to the low. They come to saints as well as sinners. They come to the old as well as the young. Adrian, do you have burdens? Yes, I do.

You have burdens. What do we do with our burdens?

Well, if we have those kind of burdens, we have to Cast them upon the Lord. Roll them on the Lord. Do you have a broken heart? Is their child? that has ripped your heart out.

Is there a husband? Who has forsaken you? Is there a physical malady that is gnawing away at your body? Is there a problem that is perplexing you? The Bible says you are to cast your burden.

Upon the Lord. Friend, we have a wonderful, wonderful Savior. You say, Pastor, I have a burden today. Why do you think I have a burden? It may be that God Has given you that burden to bring you to Him.

Somewhere I read about a man who had a beautiful dog. And he had that dog. It was maybe a Labrador or some of these dogs that love the water. And the dog was swimming out in the water in a lake. And the man wanted to go home and He called the dog.

But the dog was having such a great time the dog would not come. You know what the man did? He picked up a stick from the shore. and threw it out in the water. And when this dog saw the stick, You remember what he'd been told?

The dog swam to the stick. And got it. came back to his master. and laid it at his master's feet. I wonder if If the burden that you have has not been given to you by God to cause you to come to his feet.

to cause you to come to his feet. Maybe he's called you other ways and you wouldn't come. And maybe just the burden. is what God is using to bring you. to your master's feet.

Cast your burden on the Lord. He loves you. You say, Pastor, if I got away from God, would he receive me? Oh, yes. Yes.

Pastor If I have never known the Lord, can I be saved? Oh You can. Come to Jesus. If you have a special burden, Roll it on the Lord. He may not lift the burden.

He may not solve the problem. But the Bible says, cast your burden upon the Lord. He will sustain you. He will. He will see you through.

He will. Cast it on him. And if you want to be saved, let me invite you to pray a prayer like this. Just pray it right now out of your heart. Dear God, I know that you love me.

I know that you want to save me. Right now. Like a child. I open my heart. I receive Jesus Christ who died for me, who paid for my sin with His blood on the cross.

I receive Him now. This moment. as my Lord and Savior. And Lord Jesus, because I trust you to save me. I'll not be ashamed of you.

In your name I pray. Amen. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.