Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Are you heavy laden with a burden today? Have you got a broken heart today? Have you got a burden? There's somebody who cares. I may not know, maybe your wife, your husband doesn't know, maybe your mom, your dad have no idea, maybe you say my pastor can never understand. There is one who knows. There's one with the nail prints in his hand. He's the one I serve and he's the one who sent me here to tell you today, cast your burden upon me. I'm the one who cares for you. If I'm sufficient to carry your sin, I'm sufficient to carry your sorrow.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the profound truth of the gospel simply stated in the messages of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Whether saved or lost, we'll all carry burdens at some point in our lives, but we don't have to bear them alone. In part one of today's program, we learned that as believers we're called to take up the burdens of another brother or sister who's hurting.

We need to love each other back to fellowship with God and mend the broken place in the net. Galatians chapter six also reveals two other types of burdens we face and what to do with them. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers shares part two of his message called Burdens.

Adrian Rogers: My brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. 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, what is my ministry? What is your ministry? There's certain burdens that we're to take up. That is, there is the ministry of restoration. Look if you will here in this passage of scripture and see in verse one, the Bible says restore such a one. There is a ministry of restoration. Our God is a God of a second chance. And the Bible says if a man be overtaken in a fault, we are to restore, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.

I say it again, if you have fallen, there's hope for you. If you've not fallen, there's a warning for you and there's a call to action for every one of us. We are to restore such a one. Notice how you're to do it. Look at it again in verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one. Remember, that means to set a bone in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. Now, how are you to restore him? Well, number one, you're to restore him gently.

Now, that's in the spirit of meekness. You're not to be belligerent. You're not to be bellicose. You're not to be judgmental. You're to do it in a spirit of meekness. Do you know what a person with a broken arm needs? I'll tell you one thing from experience, he needs a tender touch. He needs a tender touch because he's broken and he hurts. You're setting bone. And if you're harsh and overbearing and judgmental, God can't use you.

I'll tell you something else. Not only are you to restore him gently, but you're to restore him humbly. Now, look at what it says here. The Bible says here that you are to consider your own self also lest thou also be tempted. Remember, you also have feet of clay. You also are subject to temptation. And the Bible says if a man thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. And when you're going around trying to mend a broken brother, just consider yourself because one of these days you may be the one who needs to be restored.

You may not understand the possibility that you might have to fall out of a coconut tree and it'll happen to you real suddenly. Do you know what sin is? Sin is an undetected weakness, an unexpected opportunity, and an unprotected life. And you put those things together and down you go. You think, well, I'm just sailing along fine. You may be in serious trouble this time next week.

If you have an unprotected life, if you have an undetected weakness, an unexpected opportunity, you may fall into sin. I've told you before, there's three persons who are sitting in the seat that you occupy this morning: the person you are right now, the person you could be for good, for God and for His glory, and the person you could be in depravity and sin if you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ. And few of us dare realize how high we may rise or how low we may sink according to what we do with Jesus Christ.

But I'm telling you that when you go to restore a brother or sister in the name of Jesus, number one, you're to do it gently with meekness. Number two, you're to do it humbly, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. And number three, you are to do it sympathetically. Look if you will in verse two, bear ye one another's burdens.

I can tell you from experience that a person with a broken bone is hurting. If a man is truly a believer, I'm not talking about an unsaved person, I'm talking about a child of God, I'm talking about somebody who knows Jesus Christ as his or her personal savior, if that person has a broken bone, if that person is a child of God and has fallen into sin, that person is hurting. Now, if he's not hurting, he's never been saved. Friend, if you're a child of God and you're living in sin, you're hurting. And what you need is some sympathy.

Now, what is the hurt that this kind of a brother has? Well, first of all, he's out of fellowship with God. The fellowship with God is broken. That's what David said. He said, "Oh God, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight." I'll tell you something else that burdens him: his conscience is smitten. King David said in Psalm 34 verse four, "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me."

There's another burden. It's the burden of shame and humiliation. That's the reason that some people don't come back to church. They're ashamed to come. They're afraid of what the Pharisees and the legalists there at the church will say about them. Broken fellowship with God, their conscience is smiting them, they are ashamed and humiliated. And then on top of that, the devil moves in with accusations. And the devil says, "See, you're no good. See, you never were saved. See, you deserve the judgment of God. You would be better off dead."

And the devil, the accuser of the brethren, moves in on this fallen brother. And then there's that inward misery that he carries within his heart. I've told you before, 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. A person who's known the Lord, a brother, a sister who's been overtaken by a fault and he has a spiritual broken body.

The Bible says we which are spiritual are to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. And why do we do it? What is the motivation for taking up somebody else's burden? Let me give you some reasons. First of all, he's my brother. He is my brother. That's what the Bible says, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one. And if he's in a body of Christ, just like my brother helped me when I fell out of that coconut tree, that person is your brother, your sister.

Secondly, we're members of the same body. When one member suffers, every member suffers with him. I'll tell you a third reason. Look at it here. The Bible says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? Well, just go left to chapter five and verse 14. Look at it. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Would you want somebody to restore you? What is the law of Christ? The law of Christ is love.

And if you're spiritual, the spirit of God will produce that love in you. For the Bible says the fruit of the spirit is love. I'll tell you another reason. Do you know why we need to restore him? Because this word restore not only means to set a broken bone, it also means to mend a net. It was used for the mending of a net. Now, you know what we're in? We're in the fishing business.

We're in the business of bringing people to Jesus Christ. We want this community to know Jesus Christ. When a member of this church or any church professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then falls into sin and is not restored, you know what that is? That's a hole in the net. That's a hole in the net. I cannot tell you the number of times I have visited and tried to bring a person to Jesus Christ and you know what has kept that person from coming to Jesus Christ? They point out the sins in the life of some member of this church or some other church. There's a hole in the net.

Which is more important? To restore the saved or to win the lost? Don't try and answer it because you can't answer it. That's like saying which wing of a bird is the most important? The right wing or the left wing? Friend, I want to tell you, a bird cannot fly with a broken wing. And if we would get those who are saved right with God, we'd get a lot of the lost saved. Sometimes we can't reach the goal for stumbling over our own players.

So which is more important? They're both important. We want to win the lost. So why do we restore the saved? To get these people right with God. All of these things are reasons that we ought to restore a brother. So there is the burden that we take up. There are the burdens that we share when we go to an individual with a broken heart to win him to Jesus Christ.

Now, there's another kind of burden. Not only is there the burden that we take up, the burden that we share, but there's the burden that we bear up, the burden that we shoulder. Look if you will again in this passage of scripture in verse five, "For every man shall bear his own burden." Now, is that contradictory? Verse one says bear one another's burdens. Verse five says every man shall bear his own burden. There is no contradiction there whatsoever. Two different words are used for burden in the Greek language.

In verse one, the word for burden is used as a burden which is a heavy load. Something that is painful. Something that bows you down. The word in verse five is the Greek word phortion, which has the idea of a backpack. It's something that a soldier might wear that he would keep his implements in. It's something that a woodsman might have on his back that would preserve and save his life.

And there are certain burdens that God gives us. And these burdens are not meant to bow us down and break us down. They're meant to lead us on and to help us and God in His mercy will lay upon us certain burdens and God knows we're to have those kind of burdens. And Jesus spoke of those when he said sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And there's certain burdens that we shoulder.

Now, what does he mean by this? He means by this that there's certain things you cannot shove off on someone else. There's no such thing as proxy religion. There's certain burdens that we cannot escape. There's certain personal responsibilities. For example, there's nobody who can repent for you. There's nobody who can worship for you. There's nobody who can receive Christ for you. There's nobody who can serve God on your behalf.

You say, well pastor, I come to church. I put money in the offering plate. That's what I pay you to do. Well, I've got news for you. You don't pay me. You say, well I thought we did. No you don't. You give your money to God. God pays me. I am not a hireling. I am not a substitute. I am not somebody that you say, well I'll pay you to do the preaching and the praying and the soul winning.

Now don't misunderstand me. I'm grateful for your gifts and I'm grateful for the way that this church takes care of its pastor. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. But what I am saying is I'm not a hireling. The hireling flees. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And you cannot pay somebody else for your responsibility. Every man must bear his own burden.

And if you're a spiritual person, if you're a child of God, there're people out here in this community who need your love, who need your care, who need your ministry, who need your helping hand. And there're burdens that need to be lifted and it's your responsibility. Every man shall bear his own burden. They're the burdens that we take up. Those are the ones we share. They're the burdens that we bear up. Those are the ones we shoulder.

Let me quickly go on. There's a third category of burdens. They're burdens that we take up. There are burdens that we bear up. And thank God they're burdens that we give up. There's another category of burdens. There're certain burdens that we roll on the Lord. Now I'm going to leave our text here and I want you to put in your margins Psalm 55 and verse 22. Listen to this: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

I want to remind you, if you were to read this 55th Psalm, it was written by David who was a king. He was wealthy. He was godly. He had the wisdom of age. But burdens come to the high as well as to the low. Burdens come to the rich as well as to the poor. Burdens come to saints as well as sinners. Burdens come to the old as well as the young. And we have burdens. And these are burdens we were never meant to carry alone.

The Bible says cast your burden upon the Lord. Peter told us in another way: "Cast all your care upon him for he cares for you." I love that old song we used to sing. "I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burden alone. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me. Jesus alone."

There are the burdens that we take up. These are the burdens we share. They're the burdens we bear up. These are the burdens we shoulder. But they're the burdens that we give up. These are the burdens we shed. We just roll them on Jesus. Have you got a broken heart today? Have you got a burden? There's somebody who cares. I may not know.

Maybe your wife, your husband doesn't know. Maybe your mom, your dad have no idea. Maybe you say my pastor can never understand. There is one who knows. There is one with the nail prints in his hand. He's the one I serve and he's the one who sent me here to tell you today, cast your burden upon me. I'm the one who cares for you. If I'm sufficient to carry your sin, I'm sufficient to carry your sorrows.

I get a lot of mail. I got a letter a while back from a person in Nevada. I said, well who do I know in Nevada? Here's what the letter said, and I'll not share the name. "Pastor Rogers, I was at a total and complete bottom. I had just left my motel room in Memphis, Tennessee. I had been beaten and choked by someone very close to me, not a boyfriend, lover or husband. I was lost and crying. I asked two men for change to get a cup of coffee I think. They both turned me down. But now I know in my heart that that was a blessing from God."

"For you see Mr. Rogers, I saw a young man with a small child getting packing boxes. I hesitated because of being rejected again. But the more I looked I felt like I should approach this man. Mr. Rogers, I asked this man for change for coffee. He asked me what was wrong. I was crying and I was a mess. I told him nothing. I just needed to go and have a cup of coffee. Well this man asked me did I know Jesus. I started really crying. I also started talking. He helped me so much. He prayed with me. And I asked God to accept me as his child. He was a wonderful caring person. He loves God so much and believes so very much that he helped this sinner find her way to her father."

"Mr. Rogers, I'm not going to say that it has been easy because it has not. I have a long way to go but I'm not rushing it for I walk each day with God. I'm holding on to his robes for I never want to feel alone again. I don't know if I will ever know who that man was, but I truly am glad that he was placed in my life that day. I love him for being a Christian." I don't know who that man was either. I'll tell you something. He knew something about burdens. He knew something about lifting burdens. He knew something about bearing burdens. And he knew something about teaching people how to roll burdens on the Lord.

They're the burdens we share. They're the burdens we shoulder. They're the burdens we shed. Maybe today you know somebody who is a broken brother. He needs you. Ask God to lay that soul upon your heart. They need you. They're in misery. And then maybe you're here today and you've got a burden.

I read about a man who had a very fine dog. He trained the dog quite well. And the dog was one of these dogs like a Labrador that loves the water. And the dog was out there in the lake frolicking and playing in the lake. The man wanted to go and he called the dog and the dog wouldn't come. He called him several times, he wouldn't come. He was a well-trained dog but he just would not come. And the man said I know what I'll do. And he got a stick, threw it out in the water. When the dog saw it, he swam over, got the stick, and came back and laid it at his master's feet.

It just may be that God has given you a burden. It just may be that that's what he's given you because he can't get your attention. It just may be that God has given you a burden so that you might come and lay it at your master's feet. That you might cast all your care upon him because friend, he cares for you. And he sent me here to tell you if you are a broken brother, there's hope for you. A fallen sister, there's hope.

And if you are a spiritual person, there's a burden of responsibility for you. And if your poor heart is aching and breaking, there's a savior who loves you. Cast your burden upon the Lord. He'll sustain you. He really will. He will.

Guest (Male): What powerful, comforting truths to dwell on today. As you've listened, maybe you have questions regarding your faith in Christ. We'd love to offer an insightful resource on the website. It's our find answers page. There you'll discover resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about how to begin a relationship with God through Christ.

We also would love to invite you to check out our grow your faith page. You can get grounded and dig deeper in the scriptures right there. Go to lwf.org/radio and click on the tab that says grow your faith or find answers. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Cary Vaughn: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. So to give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD. That's 1-877-568-3463.

You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Rogers. Or even write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for listening today and be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Male): We loved reading this note from a listener in El Salvador who said this, "My daily devotionals include Pastor Rogers' messages. This program has helped me grow in my spiritual life." You know, at Love Worth Finding we are honored to share these timeless teachings and exciting new resources to help you flourish in your faith. That's why when you donate to the ministry this month, we'll send you a copy of Discover Jesus.

Who is Jesus? And how can you truly know him? Discover Jesus by Adrian Rogers answers life's biggest questions and shows you how to experience his presence, grow in your faith, and share it with confidence. Request the book Discover Jesus when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE-GOD, 1-877-568-3463 or give online at lwf.org/radio. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.