The Hidden Wounds Of The Faithful

Introduction

Returning your Bibles with me this morning to Galatians chapter 6. We’ll be noting that text, Galatians the sixth chapter. It is a blessing to be here with you, as I mentioned in your Bible class, and appreciate so much the brethren here for the invitation to be able to worship with you this week and to study from your word. It’s good to see Sherry and also Tony. No, not really. It is a blessing to be with them. I did enjoy very much Tony coming and holding a gospel meeting for us a while back. And we had a good week. And I’ve looked forward, there’s other folks here that I know, and I’ve looked forward to being with you, as I mentioned to you before. A.B. Simpson, a writer, wrote the following.

There’s a particular clause I especially want you to notice with me this morning. He says, the smallest grain of faith is a deathless and incorruptible germ, which will yet plant the heavens and cover the earth with harvest of imperishable glory. Lift up your head, beloved. And this is the part I especially want you to notice. Lift up your head, beloved. The horizon is wider than the little circle that you can see. He goes on to say, we are living, we are suffering, we are laboring, we are trusting for the ages yet to come. That’s a beautiful quote, I think, and a great truth is in it. The inspired apostle Paul would speak along this same kind of line in Galatians chapter 6 as he will encourage us to look beyond our immediate circumstances and think about our brethren in Christ and bearing the burdens that we have for one another in our life.

Notice what Paul says in chapter 6 and verse 1 as he exhorts those who are spiritual to restore those who have been overtaken in sin, those who have been overtaken in a fault. But especially as we move on into verse 9, and I think we’re still on the same subject. In verse 9, he will say, Let us not be weary or lose heart in well doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not, if we do not grow weary.

Who encourages the encourager? We have high expectations of our shepherds usually, our elders, they’re to encourage the flock, and that’s true. But who encourages the shepherd? We think, well, you know, I don’t know if I got a lot out of that sermon. I don’t know how encouraged I feel today. Well, perhaps you need to be reproved on that particular day, but we won’t go there. Who encourages the preacher? Who encourages the Bible class teacher? Leadership of all kinds, but especially spiritual leadership, sometimes, and I don’t think the Lord wants it to be this way. But sometimes can be a lonely place. And as I think about what Paul is dealing with, we’re going to be speaking about some things from Galatians 6. And I hope no matter whether you’re a new Christian or not a Christian at all, there’s something in this that will profit you.

And if you’re outside of the body of Christ, it would cause you to come to the good shepherd of your soul. But really, I believe this sermon is intended for those who are more mature in Christ. For those who are working with their brethren, for those who are serving. And that’s not just elders and preachers and deacons, by the way. We’re talking about the hidden wounds of the faithful. If you’re not faithful, it may be hard this morning for you to relate to what I’m saying. And I hope that will change. I hope that will change. But if you are devoted to Christ, and I believe most of you are, my prayer and my expectation is that this sermon will strengthen your heart in your service to the Lord.

1. You Who Are Spiritual, Restore Such a One

Let’s try to build into this context, if we may, and then we’re going to make some applications regarding what are some of the hidden wounds of the faithful. Look in Galatians 6 with me. And let’s, first of all, of course, verse 9 there is that wonderful exhortation, let us not lose heart in doing good. For in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. That is the encouragement that the apostle Paul gives. But our question from a contextual standpoint is why does he say that exactly? Is there a general exhortation? Surely.

But let’s try to look at that general exhortation this morning in light of the context itself. If you back up to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1, and actually we might need to back all the way up into chapter 5, in the chapter 5. If you look at Galatians chapter 6, he mentions the one who is to do the restoring, the healing, if you will, or at least to be an agent of God’s healing for this person who has been overtaken in a fault. This person is in sin. Apparently they at one time were saved before God, but they’ve left their relationship with God. And they’ve been overtaken in this sense. He specifies the kind of person. And I believe this is the recipient of the exhortation in verse 9 as well as in verse 12.

That is to be involved in restoring. And it’s a rather obvious truth, I would think, that if you have one person who’s overtaken and fault, it wouldn’t make sense for him or her to go to another person who’s overtaken the fault to try to restore somebody when they’re out of relationship with God themselves. And so he says, here’s the kind of person that will be an agent of God’s healing. Here’s the kind of person that will be involved in restoring. They are to be a spiritual person. Well, what does that mean exactly? And this is a contrast you see throughout Scripture, this idea of those who are fleshly minded or carnally minded versus those who are spiritually minded. Well, if you back up in chapter 5, remember he talks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

And he has three phrases there in the fifth chapter. One in verse 16, one in verse 18, and one in verse 25. In which he describes this person who is surrendering and submitting to the Spirit. You know, it’s interesting to me that we have to some degree allowed our charismatic friends in the religious community who have false ideas about the working of the Holy Spirit to take the Holy Spirit away from us. I refuse to allow them to do so. The Holy Spirit’s influence and teaching here is exerted through the revelation of Scripture, through the revelation of the gospel. But that doesn’t deny its activity. It just explains the means through which, for instance, when we read about the Spirit in Ephesians chapter 5, and then we come to Colossians 3, and he’s talking about let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Well, the Spirit revealed the Word of Christ. And so as we think through this, he mentions the idea that they would be walking in the Spirit and led by the Spirit to live in the Spirit. There is some subtle nuance between those phrases, but they all come down to this most basic common denominator, and that is this person has surrendered their life to Jesus Christ and is obeying the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that is the gospel. That’s Romans 8 and verse 2. In chapter 6 and verse 8. Now try to hang on to this with me. In chapter 6, you know, sometimes we read chapter 5, and then we turn the page and come to chapter 6, and it’s as if these things have been completely divided, and we see no connection in Scripture.

He’s saying in chapter 5, this is the surrendered, obedient, submissive life. This person is conducting themselves in a way that conforms to the Spirit’s teaching in God’s word. They are led or guided by the Spirit, not in some miraculous way, but because they are listening to the teaching of the Spirit in Scripture. And they are living in their spirit, or in the Spirit.

But then in chapter 6 and verse 8, he speaks to those who sow to the flesh and those who sow to the Spirit.

And so he says, the one who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap what? Corruption. The one who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap life everlasting. In between chapter 6 and verse 8, then these three phrases in chapter 5 is chapter 6 and verse 1. Who says, this is a spiritual person. What does it mean? This is a person that is intent on serving God. That has surrendered themselves to Christ. And so in chapter 6 and verse 1, brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, you who are submitting to the Spirit’s teaching, and thus there’s a spirituality that is produced in you. Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Where does meekness come from?

Produced by life that submits to Christ. And so this is a, this isn’t just necessarily an elder or a preacher, even though I would certainly hope they would fall in this category. This is a faithful Christian. He goes on to mention the idea of restoring, this work of restoring.

I had last meeting I held, somebody pointed it out. I thought, man, they’ve got really good eyes. I’ve got a crooked finger. I’ll go and get this over with. Alright? Here’s my crooked finger. When I was in the tenth grade, I had basketball practice, and a guy threw what we call a baseball pass with a basketball. And my finger was sticking straight up. I thought, man, I broke that finger. And so I finished practice. I went to a specialist. He said, No, it’s not really broke. I said, Great. That’s good. I thought it was broke, but okay, he’s the expert. And it grew crooked. And I went back and he said, hey, I can take care of this. I’ll just re-break it for you. I said, no, thanks.

I can live with the crooked finger. But it’s the idea, of course, of setting a bone here. Something is not like it needs to be, and it’s being corrected. It’s being mended. That’s why nets there, fishing nets, the idea of mending something, making something broken whole. But you see, there’s a, there can be a challenge in that. And I’ve seen it in the eyes of elders and preachers and just faithful brethren who invest themselves in doing what the Bible says here. In helping. In strengthening, in healing, is emotionally, if you’re not rooted in the Lord, it can have a gradual influence on you that can exhaust you. And I can’t tell you how many elders I’ve talked to in various congregations to say, you know, there’s these positive things we really need to be doing and want to be doing and are planning on doing, but we’ve had to spend part of the responsibility.

But we spent so much time dealing with these very negative things and trying to help people and correct people. And you can see where that can happen if you’re not careful, if you don’t stay, you don’t stay balanced. Now, the solution is not to say, okay, well, let’s just forget the negative aspects. No, then I would not be fulfilling my responsibility as a faithful Christian. But my point to you is that those who mend, those who restore, those who are trying to help those who are broken, have to ensure that they are rooted in Christ. And there are some hidden wounds that come with restoring. To elders, to gospel preachers, to parents, to all faithful Christians. And we have to prepare our mind to deal with that the way the Lord wants us to.

2. Do Not Become Weary in Well-Doing

I think in Galatians 6, if you’ll look in your Bible at verse 1, he’s talking about restoring and how to restore and having meekness of being a spiritual person. I don’t think verse 1 and verse 9 should be completely just separated and disconnected. I think the reason he’s saying, don’t become weary is because he knows we could become weary in well-doing. And what a cost there would come to God’s people if we become weary in well-doing and in bearing one another’s burdens. You know, you’ll hear people sometimes say, well, I’ll tell you what, I want to find a local church where they just bear one another’s burdens. That’s what I want. And I do too. That’s the kind of folks I want to worship with.

In this context, what’s he talking about? See, a lot of people have this idea of bearing one another’s burdens only means, and this certainly would be included, but it only means when I get sick, you send me a card or give me a telephone call, or care whether or not I’m still breathing. That’s a nice thing to have in people that you worship with. I get it, okay? That’s part of showing love. And I don’t want to marginalize that. But that’s not all there is to bearing one another’s burdens. And in this context, the act and work of restoration is part of bearing one another’s burdens. You holding me accountable because you love me is part of us bearing one another’s burdens. Now, if you keep reading and look at verse 5, there’s a load that only I can bear.

My own personal individual load. But up in verse 2, he says, we’re to bear one another’s burdens. In the context, he’s talking about restoration.

Paul gives this very strong encouragement in verse 9 that I want you to notice, and the language of it is rather rich. First of all, he mentions weary, and these words seem so similar, but there is some distinction, weary, as in the idea of lacking courage, losing heart, being faint-hearted. The term faint denotes to loose or to release. It’s like a bowstring, to relax. He says, don’t become loosened in your resolve to serve God because of difficulties. As we think about this, what is it saying to us? It’s saying that there will be some battle scars that we must endure as good soldiers of Christ. I read a book not too long ago, and its title was Wounded Healers. There are certain wounds that should not destroy our spiritual lives, that should not devastate us, nor should they surprise us when it comes.

3. The Pull of the World

And to which, as a local fellowship, we must be sensitive. Let me try to describe some of those hidden wounds that come to the faithful. Turn to 2 Peter, the second chapter, if you would, in verses 7 through 9. One of the first things I would mention to you, and I think this comes to every faithful Christian. And it’s part of living in the world that we’re living in and journeying toward our heavenly reward. Is the pull of the world.

I’m talking about the pull of the world. Even for those who are faithful, there is a pull the world tribes to exert upon us, and we’re fighting that process. You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. But if you’re not careful, it can just accumulate on you and just wear you out and exhaust you. It can be one of those hidden wounds. People usually don’t fall from the Lord all at once. Now, it seems that way to us. You know, one day they decide, you know, I don’t know if I believe in God and Jesus, and I think I’m not going to be a Christian anymore. They were fine last Sunday. I saw them. They were sitting in the pew. They look good to me. No, see, this has been an eroding process.

You just didn’t know about it. And perhaps we’re not as sensitive enough to this. This has been going on. And finally we see it. Maybe there were red flags, maybe there weren’t. But this has been going on internally. See, that’s what the world tries to do. It’s a little bit at a time. Satan knows for most of us who profess faith in Christ, he will not get us all at once. But if he can get us with the little compromises here and there, eventually he gets the whole ball of wax.

2 Peter chapter 2, notice verse 7 with me. And the words here speaking of the influence of the world. 2 Peter chapter 2 and in verse 7 that the King James mentions the idea and rightly so of vexed both times. There’s actually two distinct terms. Verse 7 speaking of the ungodly lives of those who had been around the faithful. If he rescued righteous Lot. Oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men. They use the word oppressed there. For by what he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul. Notice this word, tormented day after day by their lawless deeds. And he goes on to say God knows how to rescue the righteous. But I want you to note these two terms because they relate to what we’re talking about.

The first term there conveys the concept of something that is a burden to your spirit. You ever feel the world, you’re trying to do the right thing, but whether it’s the relentless attack of the media upon marriage, upon the sanctity of life, we can just go on and on and on, and that continues to be the case. It feels just like it’s exhausting you, like it’s tiring you. He says it was a burden to his spirit. It’s the idea of a torment wearing out, just wearing you out. Thayer says, to tire down with toil, to exhaust with labor. Now the second word is a little bit different, and this was interesting to me. It references the idea of mental torture, torment, to vex with grievous pains.

Notice what he says. Dwelling above them, but not only dwelling among them, seeing and hearing, you’re just being exposed to this regularly and constantly. And people can carry this wound around because they’re not feeding and nurturing their faith. And eventually they leave. And sometimes they give us red flags. And we have to be sensitive to those things. Even for the faithful Christian, the effect can be fatiguing if we do not continue to receive the benefit of our Lord and our relationship with him. But I want to go on.

4. The Sorrow Over the Unfaithfulness of Loved Ones

And verse 2. Turn there with me. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 2. This is another hidden wound. The sorrow over the unfaithfulness of loved ones. Why is Paul rebuking the church at Corinth? You say, well, they had a man living with his father’s wife. We’ve heard the sermon. We’ve read the scripture. They had a man living with his father’s wife in this scandalous sexual immorality. And they had not approached to address the issue. That’s right. Why is he not only concerned about the effect of that and what’s going on in their fellowship? But how does he express this? Well, let’s read together. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 1. It is actually reported. There’s sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, but someone has his father’s wife.

You have become, listen. How did they get there? You have become arrogant and have not mourned. I want you to focus on that word. You have not mourned, he says. Instead, so that the one who has done this deed might be removed from your mist. I don’t really believe. Maybe there was somebody they were really bragging. We are so tolerant. We have a man that’s living with his father’s wife, just want you to know he belongs to us. I don’t think they were really doing that. But I’ll tell you what they were doing. They were bragging about how spiritually minded they are and how right they are. And here is a man, and he’s not even a blip on their screen. That’s what was going on.

They were so proud of him of how gracious and merciful and wonderful, and how and he deals with this all the way through. And I do like the old King James rendering of puffed up, because in that word, the translators are giving you the idea of the definition of the term. It’s arrogance, but the word is somebody, we talk that way, we’ll say, man, that guy has got one inflated ego. Well, that’s what Paul is saying. You’re just inflated with yourself. You’re just arrogant with yourself. They were so conceited, they were not recognizing what was going on. He says, instead of being puffed up, you should be mourning over him. And that word mourning is the idea of sorrowing and grieving, the kind of grief you would have if a loved one actually perished physically.

This man is spiritually dead. You should be mourning over him.

He later will speak of his mourning and concern for them and being comforted when they later I think would repent. But the point I want you to see is that it’s right in those situations for us to mourn over a brother or sister that’s fallen from the Lord. But then when you kind of get hit twice, when it’s someone that no one do you love as a brother or sister in Christ, but it may be your father or your mother. It may be your son or your daughter, or your husband or your wife. You have to remember something about Satan. He’s extremely strategic. And he always picks your most vulnerable time. And I will tell you right now, you will never be more vulnerable than when a son or a daughter, or a husband, or a wife, or someone in your immediate family.

You see, you have the spiritual aspect that’s just hurting you, because that’s the preeminent relationship, right? And then you have this other relationship, too, and responsibilities in that relationship.

How many people have we known? I know I’ve known several, I’m sure you have too.

And then all once everything gets cloudy. Well, it’s really not all that cloudy. It’s emotion. And so Satan always seeks to. And let me tell you something. These parents, let’s use that as an example, that may be in our fellowship are hurting. Now they’re coming to worship and they’re standing on the pew and they shake your hand and put a smile on their face and they look okay on the outside. They are hurting. And that’s when brethren have to be sensitive to those things. And maybe not everybody at once, but people that know that have to serve. We sing the song, make me a servant. It’s time to serve. This can be a somewhat nice issue. We have spiritual obligations. We also can have physical obligations.

On one hand, we do not want to endorse, and we would be wrong to do so, or give the impression, really, you know, this is just one of those church things, and we’re really okay, even though they’re not. But on the other hand, you try to have some level of communication so that you can bring this person back to the Lord. But my point in saying this is that the grief of this kind of soul can be quite debilitating if we do not maintain our relationship with God and our fellowship with one another. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 18. Remember the story, of course, of Absalom. And Absalom has died, and the report comes back to David, and from the standpoint of his responsibility as king.

Joab’s like, you know, the military man here, and he’s saying, Hey, this is great, your enemy. Not only your enemy, but the enemy of all of Israel has been put to death. But see, David’s not thinking like king. David’s thinking as a father. Because this wasn’t even just about Adam’s physical well-being. This was his spiritual well-being. And in 2 Samuel chapter 18, as the report comes back in, notice in verse 31, behold, the Cushite arrived, and the Cushite said, Let my Lord the King receive good news. Do you think David thought it was good news? For the Lord has freed you this day from the hand of all those who rose up against you. And then the king said to Cushite, is it well with the young man Absalom?

He just keeps asking us, Is it well with the young man Absalom? Do you think David already knew I do? Verse 33, after he’s told, the king was deeply moved. And he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, Oh, my son Absalom. My son, my son, Absalom. Would I have died instead of you? Oh, Absalom, my son, my son. You could almost hear the words of Jesus crying over Israel in Matthew 23 when he says, I as a hand gathers her chicks into her wings. I wanted to pull you in. I wanted to support you and strengthen you, but you were not willing. It’s in this moment. These hidden wounds are in there. And our faith in God and our relationship with God and the love and the concern of our brethren is so important.

To not compromise.

I am not saying this to you because I do not appreciate the grief. I have a sister who I pray for. David. Who has left the Lord. She left the Lord a number of years ago. And I have seen the age and aging of my parents over her.

I’ve seen the anguish. I appreciate this. There will be those moments in your life when life gets a little chaotic. You stay strong. Let me tell you something. Think about the prodigal. The story of the prodigal. Have you ever thought about this loving father who typifies God? This loving father, your son says, Listen, I want you to liquidate my inheritance. I want to now out of here. And he has to lets them go. He’s not going to force him to do, right? So he lets them go and he goes off and he wastes all of his money. By the way, he knew he couldn’t do it under the nose of his father. He couldn’t stay at home and do this because of his father’s standards. And so he goes off to the far country.

I’ve always wondered how that elder brother knew what was going on, by the way. Remember, he said, Well, you know, your son’s done this, and he wasted his money. How do you know what he wasted all his money on?

But my point to you is the father stayed strong. Was he hurting? Yes, he’s hurting. But one day, this lost son comes back. And when he comes back, his father runs to embrace him. By the way, in Jewish culture, a wealthy, accomplished Jewish man didn’t run. That was for the kids. He runs to him and embraces him. But let me tell you, the reuniting of these two. The reconciliation doesn’t happen if the father compromised what was right at the beginning. You have to be an anchor. There has to be someone there that represents truth and goodness and what’s right that stays there. Even in the grief, even with the tears. Even with the hidden wound, because God will heal that. And God will bless you. There’s another hidden wound I want to deal with.

5. That Can Be Our Own Brethren

And that can be our own brethren. You know, you kind of expect people that aren’t Christians to act in certain ways. And sometimes our brethren act worse than people who aren’t children of God, which is always disconcerting. I wish I could tell you that you will never have to deal with a brother or sister that’s going to mistreat you or not act right or be hypocritical or be divisive or whatever, but that’s just not reality. And in the New Testament, we can read Paul talk about those who had strife in their hearts and selfish ambition in their heart. Those who were they were preaching the truth, apparently, but not preaching for the right reason. He’ll talk about those who were warped and how they thought, and those who were carnal.

There will be people like that. We that will grieve you, that will hurt you. But don’t leave the Lord for those kinds of things. There will be some brethren, and I want you to hear me on this. We get all the other stuff. There will be some brethren who are apathetic. Let me tell you are hurting your brother or sister through apathy as much as if you were hurting them in some other area.

But there will be some brethren like that. You know, we quote Hebrews 10 25 and it rolls off our lips so smoothly, doesn’t it? Somebody says, Do I really have to come to ever worship service? Do I really have to be here? Well, I’m going to ask you why are you asking me that question. Why don’t you want to be with the Satan? Why don’t you want to worship God? Look at Hebrews 10 and verse 24. Verse 24 says, we’re to stimulate one another. I had a lady in Bible class one time, and she said, Oh, Brother Bruce, that says that we’re to provoke one another. And she said, I got a lot of people in here that provoke me. I said, Well, I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about.

I hope you do have someone who provokes or stimulates you, who encourages you and the love and to give works. And then verse 25, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together is the banner of some is. I was a pretty young preacher, and I remember preaching in a small church, and we had some folks who were indifferent. Nothing bad for anybody sitting on the back pew, but there’s this one guy, he’s sprawled out back there on the back pew. He’s really hearing everything I say, but he wants me to think he’s not hearing whatever I say. And I thought, well, hey, I mean, I’m 16 years old, I’ve got this. So I’ll just preach. That’s what preachers do, right? When there’s a problem, just preach on it, and that takes care of it.

And so what I will do is I’m going to preach on indifference, and that’ll take care of this problem. The issue with that is, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to preach to indifferent people. I know Tom has ever had that experience. But the guy that’s indifferent, when you preach about indifference, is going to be indifferent about your sermon about indifference. So it’s got to be tough to deal with. But you know, and I know you guys are the same way. I would imagine your brethren know where you sit. Do you guys have designated sitting around here, by the way?

I thought that was just in Arkansas. Okay. They know when you’re not here. And usually we know, as brethren, we know when it’s legit and when it’s not. And when it’s not, we’re concerned. There is a hurtfulness about that. Not because of us, but because of what that says about your relationship with God. Let me tell you, there will be people who right now, and I hope this is not the case, but I think you can go to the bank on it. There are people right now in any particular assembly that you would never think would become apathetic. It may not be right now, but three years, four years, five years from now, ten years, it’ll be interesting to see if you’re faithful to God. And let me tell you, there’s preachers that’s happened too.

6. The Remedy for Some of These Hidden Wounds

I can name you off, and I’m sure Tony could do a long list of preachers that were very faithful. They’re not even Christians now. Not faithful Christians. And so I say all of this to say this, and that is you’re going to have some hidden wounds in your life that other people may not see. You have to go back to the source of your strength repeatedly. God will heal the wound. And you can be a healer. But not if you don’t go this alone. You can’t go alone. You keep relying on God. And that leads us to the final point that I want you to consider with me. And that is the remedy for some of these hidden wounds. These seem like basic things, but this is what we need to do.

Number one, always focus on pleasing God and not men. Don’t be a man pleaser. Serve God. Recognize I’m being faithful to God. Make sure that He’s pleased with your life. Secondly, nurture your faith. Sometimes people say, I just don’t know if I can worship. You must. You must work through that grief by worshiping God. Continue to express love. Continue to express brotherly kindness and help. If one person doesn’t want to receive your help, go find somebody else and help them. And then finally, and the lesson will be yours, strengthen your hope. Keep your eye on the goal. Don’t let Satan overtake you through some wound of your heart. If you only would have let God heal it, and let God’s providence work and do what you could do to serve Him.

Conclusion

You’ve been very patient today. I certainly didn’t want to give you less than what you deserve this morning. So I want to make sure I preached long enough that everybody would be happy with the Sunday. You’re going to hurt sometimes. I’m going to agree. It’s part of the human experience. But rely on your Lord. Rely on your God. And you will be amazed of all the good that He can do through you. Do not let Satan overtake you. Let the great physician heal even your hidden wounds. If you’re not a child of God, your greatest wound is that you’re a sinner. And you need the great physician to cleanse you of your sin. Will you obey the gospel this morning? Come down. Together we stand and we think.