Sermon:  Cargo – Part II
by Chris Cumming

Back in February of 2012 I gave the sermon, Cargo which concerned ourselves with handling burdens.  Let us have a five-minute review of that sermon.

What are burdens?  How do we deal with them?  What are the sources of burdens in the Bible?  Are there different kinds of burdens?  What are we supposed to do with burdens?  Are their different procedures for different kinds of burdens?

Definitions:
---something that is emotionally difficult to bear.
---a source of great worry or stress; weight.
---sin or iniquity
---trouble.
---impediment or encumbrance.
---afflictions and sufferings.
---a severe task or difficult duty, requiring effort.
---worries or sorrows.

Some key verses:
Psalm 38:4
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Psalm 25:17 
The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Psalm 38:17 
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

Burdens Appointed to Us
1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 
3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
4. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

Does God help Us with Our Burdens?
Psalm 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Casting Our Burdens Upon the Lord
Psalm 27:14
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

God Will Not Allow Us to be Moved
Psalm 16:8
I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Overcoming Tribulations and Trials
Romans 5:3-5
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Action Steps to Deal with Burdens
Many items could be on this list including…

---Praying all you are able.
---Giving time to meditation.
---Immersing yourselves in the Word of God.
---Occasionally fasting.
---Having a 10,000-year perspective. View things from the Kingdom perspective looking back.
---Bringing all things to the Christ level.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Sheep and lambs are not beasts of burden.  They were not designed to carry heavy burdens.  God is asking us and commanding us to give those burdens to Him.

When you go into your prayer closets with your burdens, take all the steps necessary to insure you are not still carrying them as you come out of the prayer closet.  Remember the words of your saviour Jesus Christ in Matthew 11...

Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

~end of excerpts from Cargo - Part 1~

Today we are going to take the idea of burdens a step further to show how we can deal with the burdens of our brothers and sisters in the faith and ultimately all of our loved ones.  This concept can be compounded when we were the cause of the burden.

The purpose of my sermon today is to encourage all of us to bear the burdens of our brother.

Key verse:
Galatians 6:2 
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

From the commentaries:
Bear ye one another’s burdens - all sorts of troubles, cares, errors, and infirmities. Sin and error should be resisted and rebuked in a spirit of charity and meekness; but with all our faults we ought to esteem and love one another as brethren in Christ (See Romans 15:1.). ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verse:
Romans 15:1
We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Bear ye one another’s burdens - Have sympathy; feel for each other; and consider the case of a distressed brother as your own [or empathy].

Definition: Empathy
---the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

Quotes on empathy:
"Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'"

"When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems."

"Change begins with understanding and understanding begins by identifying oneself with another person: in a word, empathy. The arts enable us to put ourselves in the minds, eyes, ears and hearts of other human beings."

"A prerequisite to empathy is simply paying attention to the person in pain."

Now back to the commentary on the second phrase of Galatians 6:2

And so fulfill the law of Christ - That law or commandment, Ye shall love one another; or that, Do unto all men as ye would they should do unto you. We should be as indulgent to the infirmities of others, as we can be consistently with truth and righteousness: our brother’s infirmity may be his burden; and if we do not choose to help him to bear it, let us not reproach him because he is obliged to carry the load. ~Adam Clarke

And so fulfil the law of Christ - which is the law of love to one another, John 13:34 in opposition to the law of Moses, the judaizing Galatians were so fond of, and by which Christ's disciples may be distinguished from those of Moses, or any others. This is a law or doctrine which Christ has clearly taught, and recovered from the false glosses of the Pharisees; it is his new commandment, which he has strengthened and enforced by his own example in dying for his people, and which he, by his Spirit, inscribes upon their hearts. The Jews speak of the law of the Messiah as preferable to any other.  ~John Gill

Bear ye one another's burdens -  Which may be understood either of sins, which are heavy burdens to sensible sinners, to all that are partakers of the grace of God; Christ is only able to bear these burdens, so as to remove them and take them away, which he has done by his blood, sacrifice, and satisfaction.

Bear one another's burdens by gently reproving them, by comforting them when overpressed with guilt, by sympathizing [and empathizing] with them in their sorrow, by praying to God for to manifest his pardoning grace to them, and by forgiving them themselves. ~John Gill

Bear ye one another's burdens. - Help each other, sustain each other; if you see one about to stumble under his burden, hold him up. ~People’s New Testament

Colossians 3:12-17
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1 John 3:14-18
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Philippians 3:13-15
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Psalm 103:1-17
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

Quotes on lifting burdens of others
"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else."

"Remember, the burden of sorrow is doubled when it is borne alone."

"Try to help others. Consult their weaknesses, relieve their maladies; strive to raise them up, and by so doing you will most effectually raise yourself up also."

Let us go back to that list of action steps in Part 1 of this sermon and see how they can be applied in lifting the burdens of others.

Action Steps to Deal with Burdens
Many items could be on this list including…

---Praying all you are able.
---Giving time to meditation.
---Immersing yourselves in the Word of God.
---Occasionally fasting.
---Having a 10,000-year perspective. View things from the Kingdom perspective looking back.
---Bringing all things to the Christ level.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

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