The document discusses the responsibility of spiritual individuals within the Christian community to gently restore those who have been overtaken by sin due to sudden temptation. It emphasizes the importance of approaching such situations with meekness and compassion, acknowledging that anyone could fall into similar faults. The text stresses that those who seek to reform others should be mindful of their own vulnerabilities and act with kindness and humility.

1. GALATIA S 6 1-8 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who
are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch
yourself, or you also may be tempted.
BAR ES, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken - Margin, “Although.” It is a case
which the apostle supposes might happen. Christians were not perfect; and it was
possible that they who were true Christians might be surprised by temptation, and fall
into sin. The word rendered “be overtaken” (προληµφθᇽ prolēmphthē from προλαµβάνω
prolambanō), means properly “to take before another, to anticipate” 1Co_11:21; then “to
be before taken or caught”; and may here mean either that one had been formerly guilty
of sin or had been recently hurried on by his passions or by temptations to commit a
fault. It is probable that the latter here is the true sense, and that it means, if a man is
found to be overtaken by any sin; if his passions, or if temptation get the better of him.
Tyndale renders it: “If any man be fallen by chance into any fault.” It refers to cases of
surprise, or of sudden temptation. Christians do not commit sin deliberately, and as a
part of the plan of life; but they may be surprised by sudden temptation, or urged on by
impetuous or headstrong passion, as David and Peter were. Paul does not speak of the
possibility of restoring one who deliberately forms the plan of sinning; he does not
suppose that such a man could be a Christian, and that it would be proper to speak of
restoring such a man.
Ye which are spiritual - Who are under the influences of the Holy Spirit; see the
note at Gal_5:22-23. The apostle, in this verse, refers evidently to those who have fallen
into some sensual indulgence Gal_5:19-21, and says that they who have escaped these
temptations, and who are under the influences of the Spirit, should recover such
persons. It is a very important qualification for those who would recover others from sin,
that they should not be guilty of the same sin themselves. Reformers should be holy
persons; people who exercise discipline in the church should be “spiritual” men - people
in whom implicit confidence may be properly reposed.
Restore such an one - On the meaning of the word used here, see the note at 2Co_
13:11. Here it means, not to restore him to the church after he has been excluded, but set
him right, bring him back, recover him from his errors and his faults. The apostle does
not say in what manner this is to be done; but it is usually to be done doubtless by
affectionate admonition, by faithful instruction, and by prayer. Discipline or punishment
should not be resorted to until the other methods are tried in vain; Mat_18:15-17.

2. In the spirit of meekness - With a kind, forbearing, and forgiving spirit; see the
note at Mat_5:5. Not with anger; not with a lordly and overbearing mind; not with a love
of finding others in fault, and with a desire for inflicting the discipline of the church; not
with a harsh and unforgiving temper, but with love, and gentleness, and humility, and
patience, and with a readiness to forgive when wrong has been done. This is an essential
qualification for restoring and recovering an offending brother. No one should attempt
to rebuke or admonish another who cannot do it in the spirit of meekness; no man
should engage in any way in the work of reform who has not such a temper of mind.
Considering thyself ... - Remembering how liable you are yourself to err; and how
much kindness and indulgence should therefore be shown to others. You are to act as if
you felt it possible that you might also be overtaken with a fault; and you should act as
you would wish that others should do toward you. Pliny (Epis. viii. 22) has expressed a
similar sentiment in the following beautiful language. “Atque ego optimum et
emendatissimum existimo, qui caeteris ita ignoscit, tanquam ipse quotidie peccet; ita
peccatis abstinet, tanquam nemini ignoscat. Prolade hoc domi, hoc foris, hoc in omni
vitae genere teneamus, ut nobis implacabiles simus, exorabiles istis etiam, qui dare
veniam nisi sibi nesciunt.” The doctrine taught by Paul is, that such is human infirmity,
and such the strength of human depravity, that no one knows into what sins he may
himself fall. He may be tempted to commit; the same sins which he endeavors to amend
in others; he may be left to commit even worse sins. If this is the case, we should be
tender while we are firm; forgiving while we set our faces against evil; prayerful while we
rebuke; and compassionate when we are compelled to inflict on others the discipline of
the church. Everyone who has any proper feelings, when he attempts to recover an
erring brother should pray for him and for himself also; and will regard his duty as only
half done, and that very imperfectly, if he does not “consider also that he himself may be
tempted.”
CLARKE, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken - Εαν προληφθη· If he be surprised,
seized on without warning, suddenly invaded, taken before he is aware: all these
meanings the word has in connections similar to this. Strabo, lib. xvi., page 1120, applies
it to the rhinoceros, in its contests with the elephant: he suddenly rips up the belly of the
elephant, αν µη προληφθη τᇽ προβοσκιδι, that he may not be surprised with his trunk. For,
should the elephant seize him with his trunk first, all resistance would be afterwards in
vain; therefore he endeavors to rip up the elephant’s belly with the horn which is on his
nose, in order to prevent this. It is used also by Arrian, in Peripl. Mar. Eryth., page 164,
and page 168, to signify a vessel being suddenly agitated and whirled by the waves, and
then dashed on the rocks. See Kypke.
Ye which are spiritual - Ye who still retain the grace of the Gospel, and have
wisdom and experience in Divine things;
Restore such a one - Καταρτιζετε τον τοιουτον· Bring the man back into his place. It
is a metaphor taken from a dislocated limb, brought back by the hand of a skillful and
tender surgeon into its place.
In the spirit of meekness - Use no severity nor haughty carriage towards him; as
the man was suddenly overtaken, he is already deeply humbled and distressed, and
needs much encouragement and lenient usage. There is a great difference between a man
who being suddenly assailed falls into sin, and the man who transgressed in consequence
of having Walked in the counsel of the Ungodly, or Stood in the way of Sinners.

3. Considering thyself - Σκοπων σεαυτον· Looking to thyself; as he fell through a
moment of unwatchfulness, look about, that thou be not surprised; As he fell, so mayest
thou: thou art now warned at his expense; therefore keep a good look out.
Lest thou also be tempted - And having had this warning, thou wilt have less to
plead in extenuation of thy offense. It is no wonder if a harsh and cruel censurer of a
weak, backsliding brother, should be taught moderation and mercy by an awful proof of
his own frailty. Such a one may justly dread the most violent attacks from the arch
enemy; he will disgrace him if he can, and if he can overtake him he will have no small
triumph. Consider the possibility of such a case, and show the mercy and feeling which
thou wouldst then wish to receive from another. From the consideration of what we are,
what we have been, or what we may be, we should learn to be compassionate. The poet
Mantuanus has set this in a fine light in his Eclogue, De honesto Amore: -
Id commune malum; semel insanivimus omnes:
Aut sumus, aut fuimus, aut possemus omne quod hic est.
“This is a common evil; at one time or other we have all done wrong.
Either we are, or have been, or may be, as bad as he whom we condemn.”
GILL, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,.... Or "be taken before" in one;
not, as Grotius thinks, before this epistle should come to them, which is a very jejune
and empty sense of the words; nor before the conversion of the man, because sins before
conversion do not come under the notice and cognizance of a church, or are liable to its
reproofs and censures; but before the man is aware, through negligence and
imprudence, for want of caution and circumspection, and so is carried away, either
through the treachery of his own heart, and the power of corruption; or through the
temptations of Satan, who goes about, and comes on the back of them, lays snares for
them, and attacks them unawares, and takes all advantages of them; or by the ill
examples of others, whereby they are drawn aside, and into sin. The apostle has no
particular respect by a "fault" to schisms in the church, or to any errors or heresies in
doctrine, though the restoration of such in meekness should be endeavoured; but rather
to immorality in life and conversation, and indeed to any of the works of the flesh
mentioned in the preceding chapter; and especially he means any "fall" of professors, as
the word used signifies, into sin, through inadvertency and want of care and
watchfulness, in distinction from a wilful, obstinate, and continued course of sinning;
and intends not any man in the world, for those that are without, churches and members
of churches have nothing to do with in a church way; but any man that is a brother, a
church member, that stands in such a relation to them, when he falls into sin, is to be
taken notice of by them. And so the Syriac version reads, "any one of you"; as does one of
Stephens's copies.
Ye that are spiritual; meaning not such who had greater spiritual gifts than others,
their ministers, pastors, and ecclesiastical governors, though these may be so called; and
to them it belongs to reprove and rebuke, recover and restore backsliders, which they
should do in gentleness and meekness; but the apostle here addresses the brethren in
general, the several members of the church, even all but those that were fallen: nor does
he mean such as have more spiritual knowledge than others, in opposition to babes; nor

4. regenerate persons, and such as had the Spirit of God, in distinction from carnal men;
but such as live and walk in the Spirit, and are strong, and stand by the power and grace
of the Spirit of God, as opposed to the weak, and who were fallen through the prevalency
of the flesh, and force of temptation; whose duty it is, and on whom it lies, to
restore such an one, that is overtaken and fallen. The allusion is to the setting of
bones that are broken, or out of joint, which is done with great care and tenderness.
Professors fallen into sin are like broken and dislocated bones; they are out of their
place, and lose both their comfort and usefulness, and are to be restored by gently telling
them of their faults, and mildly reproving them for them; and when sensible of them,
and troubled for them, by speaking comfortably to them, and by bringing them again,
and resettling them in their former place in the church, and restoring them to their
former usefulness and good conduct: and which is to be done
in the spirit of meekness: in the exercise of that grace which is a gift and fruit of the
Spirit of God; or with a meek and humble spirit, not bearing hard upon them, and
treating them in a supercilious and haughty manner, upbraiding them with their faults,
aggravating them, and using them roughly, and with sharpness, which in some cases is
necessary, but not in this:
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted: a spiritual man should consider
himself as in the body, and as carrying about with him a body of sin, a corrupt and
treacherous heart, that is full of deceitful lusts, by which he may be tempted also, and
drawn away and enticed; and as being liable to the temptations of Satan, and of being
overcome by; them, against which he should watch and pray; and should think with
himself what he would choose, and should desire to be done to him in such a case, and
do the like to others that are in it. This is a reason enforcing the exhortation; and indeed
almost every word in the text carries an argument engaging to it. The relation the saints
stand in to one another, as "brethren", should excite them to seek each other's welfare,
and to restore any that are fallen, and to abstain from all roughness and severity. The
persons addressed are "spiritual", and therefore should behave as such as have the fruits
of the Spirit, and, among the rest that of meekness; and, since they are strong, should
help the weak, and raise up the fallen: the persons recommended to them, as the objects
of their pity, care, and concern, are not such who have given up themselves to sin, but
are circumvented by it, and "overtaken" in it, suddenly, and at unawares. And besides,
are men, frail sinful men, liable to sin, encompassed with infirmities, and exposed to
snares and temptations, which are common to human nature, and therefore should be
used gently and tenderly: The apostle having given an enumeration in the foregoing
chapter, of the works of the flesh, and fruits of the Spirit, directs such as are in the
exercise of the latter, how to behave towards those that fall into the commission of any of
the former, which may be expected, since there is flesh as well as spirit in the best.
HE RY, "The apostle having, in the foregoing chapter, exhorted Christians by love
to serve one another (Gal_6:13), and also cautioned us (Gal_6:16) against a temper
which, if indulged, would hinder us from showing the mutual love and serviceableness
which he had recommended, in the beginning of this chapter he proceeds to give some
further directions, which, if duly observed, would both promote the one and prevent the
other of these, and render our behaviour both more agreeable to our Christian
profession and more useful and comfortable to one another: particularly,
I. We are here taught to deal tenderly with those who are overtaken in a fault, Gal_6:1.
He puts a common case: If a man be overtaken in a fault, that is, be brought to sin by

5. the surprise of temptation. It is one thing to overtake a fault by contrivance and
deliberation, and a full resolution in sin, and another thing to be overtaken in a fault.
The latter is the case here supposed, and herein the apostle shows that great tenderness
should be used. Those who are spiritual, by whom is meant, not only the ministers (as if
none but they were to be called spiritual persons), but other Christians too, especially
those of the higher form in Christianity; these must restore such a one with the spirit of
meekness. Here observe, 1. The duty we are directed to - to restore such; we should
labour, by faithful reproofs, and pertinent and seasonable councils, to bring them to
repentance. The original word, katartizete, signifies to set in joint, as a dislocated bone;
accordingly we should endeavour to set them in joint again, to bring them to themselves,
by convincing them of their sin and error, persuading them to return to their duty,
comforting them in a sense of pardoning mercy thereupon, and having thus recovered
them, confirming our love to them. 2. The manner wherein this is to be done: With the
spirit of meekness; not in wrath and passion, as those who triumph in a brother's falls,
but with meekness, as those who rather mourn for them. Many needful reproofs lose
their efficacy by being given in wrath; but when they are managed with calmness and
tenderness, and appear to proceed from sincere affection and concern for the welfare of
those to whom they are given, they are likely to make a due impression. 3. A very good
reason why this should be done with meekness: Considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted. We ought to deal very tenderly with those who are overtaken in sin, because we
none of us know but it may some time or other be our own case. We also may be
tempted, yea, and overcome by the temptation; and therefore, if we rightly consider
ourselves, this will dispose us to do by others as we desire to be done by in such a case.
JAMISO , "Gal_6:1-18. Exhortations continued; to forbearance and humility;
liberality to teachers and in general. Postscript and benediction.
Brethren — An expression of kindness to conciliate attention. Translate as Greek, “If
a man even be overtaken” (that is, caught in the very act [Alford and Ellicott]: BEFORE
he expects: unexpectedly). Bengel explains the “before” in the Greek compound verb, “If
a man be overtaken in a fault before ourselves”: If another has really been overtaken in a
fault the first; for often he who is first to find fault, is the very one who has first
transgressed.
a fault — Greek, “a transgression,” “a fall”; such as a falling back into legal bondage.
Here he gives monition to those who have not so fallen, “the spiritual,” to be not
“vainglorious” (Gal_5:26), but forbearing to such (Rom_15:1).
restore — The Greek is used of a dislocated limb, reduced to its place. Such is the
tenderness with which we should treat a fallen member of the Church in restoring him to
a better state.
the spirit of meekness — the meekness which is the gift of the Holy Spirit working
in our spirit (Gal_5:22, Gal_5:25). “Meekness” is that temper of spirit towards God
whereby we accept His dealings without disputing; then, towards men, whereby we
endure meekly their provocations, and do not withdraw ourselves from the burdens
which their sins impose upon us [Trench].
considering thyself — Transition from the plural to the singular. When
congregations are addressed collectively, each individual should take home the monition
to himself.
thou also be tempted — as is likely to happen to those who reprove others without
meekness (compare Mat_7:2-5; 2Ti_2:25; Jam_2:13).

6. MEYER, " OUR OWN AND OTHERS’ BURDENS
Gal_6:1-10
The spirit of the world gloats over sin; the Spirit of Christ leads us to restore the sinner.
Our first thought should never be of revenge or contempt, or of the adjustment of our
own claims, but rather of how to help our fallen brother to regain his old place in the
love of God. The memory of our own temptations and failures should make us very
pitiful and tender. The Apostle does not speak, in this place, of premeditated sin, but of
that by which we are entrapped and taken unawares.
The most spiritual men in the Church are needed for this holy work of restoration, and
they must do it with great meekness and humility. It is thus that we bear one another’s
burdens; but there are some burdens that each must bear for himself alone, such as his
own existence and personal accountability to God.
Life is a seedtime. It is the opportunity of preparing for heavenly harvests. The open
furrows invite the seed, and every moment, in some form, we scatter seeds that we shall
inevitably meet again in their fruition. Let us remember especially our obligations to
God’s own children.
RWP, "If a man be overtaken (ean kai prolēmphthēi anthrōpos). Condition of third
class, first aorist passive subjunctive of prolambanō, old verb to take beforehand, to
surprise, to detect.
Trespass (paraptōmati). Literally, a falling aside, a slip or lapse in the papyri rather
than a wilful sin. In Polybius and Diodorus. Koiné[28928]š word.
Ye which are spiritual (hoi pneumatikoi). See note on 1Co_3:1. The spiritually led
(Gal_5:18), the spiritual experts in mending souls.
Restore (katartizete). Present active imperative of katartizō, the very word used in
Mat_4:21 of mending nets, old word to make artios, fit, to equip thoroughly.
Looking to thyself (skopōn seauton). Keeping an eye on as in 2Co_4:18 like a
runner on the goal.
Lest thou also be tempted (mē kai su peirasthēis). Negative purpose with first
aorist passive subjunctive. Spiritual experts (preachers in particular) need this caution.
Satan loves a shining mark.
Warren Wiersbe former pastor of Moody Memorial Church said,
"The way you and I respond to someone who sins indicates whether
or not we are spiritual." If we are judgmental and care only about
the sinner getting punished and getting what they deserve we are

7. more pharisaical than spiritual. This is not everybodies job in the
church. Some people are not qualified to do it. It is only for those
who are truly spiritual. Those who are not will only make things
worse and end up sinning themselves.
CALVI , "1.Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault (94) Ambition is a serious
and alarming evil. But hardly less injury is frequently done by unseasonable and
excessive severity, which, under the plausible name of zeal, springs in many
instances from pride, and from dislike and contempt of the brethren. Most men
seize on the faults of brethren as an occasion of insulting them, and of using
reproachful and cruel language. Were the pleasure they take in upbraiding equalled
by their desire to produce amendment, they would act in a different manner.
Reproof, and often sharp and severe reproof, must be administered to offenders.
But while we must not shrink from a faithful testimony against sin, neither must we
omit to mix oil with the vinegar.
We are here taught to correct the faults of brethren in a mild manner, and to
consider no rebukes as partaking a religious and Christian character which do not
breathe the spirit of meekness. To gain this object, he explains the design of pious
reproofs, which isto restore him who is fallen, to place him in his former condition.
That design will never be accomplished by violence, or by a disposition to accuse, or
by fierceness of manner or language; and consequently, we must display a gentle
and meek spirit, if we intend to heal our brother. And lest any man should satisfy
himself with assuming the outward form, he demands the spirit of meekness; for no
man is prepared for chastising a brother till he has succeeded in acquiring a gentle
spirit. (95)
Another argument for gentleness in correcting brethren is contained in the
expression, “ a man be overtaken. ” If he has been carried away through want of
consideration, or through the cunning arts of a deceiver, it would be cruel to treat
such a man with harshness. ow, we know that the devil is always lying in wait, and
has a thousand ways of leading us astray. When we perceive a brother to have
transgressed, let us consider that he has fallen into the snares of Satan; let us be
moved with compassion, and prepare our minds to exercise forgiveness. But offenses
and falls of this description must undoubtedly be distinguished from deep seated
crimes, accompanied by deliberate and obstinate disregard of the authority of God.
Such a display of wicked and perverse disobedience to God must be visited with
greater severity, for what advantage would be gained by gentle treatment? The
particleif also, ( ἐὰν καὶ) implies that not only the weak who have been tempted, but
those who have yielded to temptation, shall receive forbearance.
Ye who are spiritual. This is not spoken in irony; for, however spiritual they might
be, still they were not wholly filled with the Spirit. It belongs to such persons to raise
up the fallen. To what better purpose can their superior attainments be applied than
to promote the salvation of the brethren? The more eminently any man is endowed
with Divine grace, the more strongly is he bound to consult the edification of those

8. who have been less favored. But such is our folly, that in our best duties we are apt
to fail, and therefore need the exhortation which the apostle gives to guard against
the influence of carnal views.
Considering thyself. It is not without reason that the apostle passes from the plural
to the singular number. He gives weight to his admonition, when he addresses each
person individually, and bids him look carefully into himself. “ thou art that takest
upon thee the office of reproving others, look to thyself.” othing is more difficult
than to bring us to acknowledge or examine our own weakness. Whatever may be
our acuteness in detecting the faults of others, we do not see, as the saying is, “
wallet that hangs behind our own back;” (96) and therefore, to arouse us to greater
activity, he employs the singular number.
These words may admit of two senses. As we acknowledge that we are liable to sin,
we more willingly grant that forgiveness to others which, in our turn, we expect will
be extended to us. Some interpret them in this manner: “ who art a sinner, and
needest the compassion of thy brethren, oughtest not to show thyself fierce and
implacable to others.” (97) But I would rather choose to expound them as a warning
given by Paul, that, in correcting others, we should not ourselves commit sin. There
is a danger here which deserves our most careful attention, and against which it is
difficult to guard; for nothing is more easy than to exceed the proper limits. The
word tempt, however, may very properly be taken in this passage as extended to the
whole life. Whenever we have occasion to pronounce censure, let us begin with
ourselves, and, remembering our own weakness, let us be indulgent to others.
(94) “ the original it is ἔν τινι παραπτώµατι, ‘ any fault.’ The expression is general,
though it seems to refer to those works of the flesh of which he had made mention in
the 19th and following verses of the foregoing chapter. ‘ in any of these faults any
person should happen to be overtaken;’ the last word seems to denote somewhat of a
surprise, by which a man might be drawn into a sin, without any previous deliberate
purpose or design; a sin committed through some extraordinary and sudden
temptation. The last words of the verse, ‘ thou also be tempted,’ seem plainly to
intimate that this was the apostle’ meaning.” — Chandler.
(95) “ observe an agreement in a somewhat peculiar rule of Christian conduct, as
laid down in this epistle, and as exemplified in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
It is not the repetition of the same general precept, which would have been a
coincidence of little value; but it is the general precept in one place, and the
application of that precept to an actual occurrence in the other. (See 2Co_2:6.) I
have little doubt but that it was the same mind which dictated these two passages.”
Paley’ Horae Paulinae.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Gal_6:1

9. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an
one in the spirit of meekness.
I. The nature of the fault. Overtaken in it, not overtaking it.
II. The duty of the friend. The allusion is to the surgeons who set bones out of joint,
although they put their patients to pain.
III. The method of service. Swine may be driven violently; brethren must be drawn
gently. (G. Swinnock.)
A triple duty
I. An act of charity; support of the weak (Gal_6:1-2).
II. An act of integrity: proof of ourselves (Gal_6:3-4).
III. An act of equity; support of ministers (Gal_6:6). (T. Adams.)
Christian helpfulness and personal independence
I. The motive to mutual helpfulness drawn from self-knowledge. Apply to--
1. Infirmities.
2. Matters of opinion.
3. Sins.

10. 4. Unfaithfulness to Church obligations.
II. The power of mutual helpfulness arising from the endeavour after Christian
integrity.
1. The simple unsophisticated conscience never finds consolation in others’ sins.
2. The moral power of sympathy is in proportion to the sincerity of our Christian
character.
3. That was the secret of Christ’s moral power among men.
III. The limits of mutual helpfulness imposed by personal independence.
1. We cannot stand in another’s place to answer for his sin.
2. We cannot put ourselves within his being so as to compel his judgment, command
his feeling, “restrain his choice.
IV. Practical lessons.
1. To call our thoughts from vain longings after the impossible to do what is given us
to do.
2. ot to burden with our follies and sins those already bearing burdens of their
own.
3. The proper, burden for the Galatians and all who seek a burden is “the law of
Christ.” (A. Mackennal, B. A.)
Other men’s failings
I. These things are to be done because they are commanded.
II. Christlike piety may be known by its gentleness and helpfulness towards them

11. that Are evil.
III. A profound sense of weakness and sinfulness is indispensible to any intelligent
charity.
IV. The grace of God serves instrumentally by man’s love.
V. The curative sympathy of men does not lead them to look lightly on
transgression. Conclusion:
1. o man has a right to be absorbed in his own piety: we were born to live together,
and no man has a right to shirk the duties he owes to his brother.
2. The bearing of burdens is a duty
(1) in the household,
(2) in society. (H. W. Beecher.)
The sins of others
Consider--
I. The effect produced by the falls of others.
1. Here is a worldly company. A scandal is disclosed; what malignant joy it
occasions.
2. But what shall we say when that detestable joy is shared by Christians?
(1) Over the adversaries of the faith,
(2) and, alas! over fallen Christians also.
3. Who are we to condemn the fallen?
(1) Have we never erred?

12. (2) Have we had no secret inclination to equivalent transgression?
(3) Did we strive to prevent our brother falling?
(4) Was he blessed with our privileges?
4. Thus a brother’s fall should produce in us, not censure, but self-examination and
humiliation.
II. What are we to do is order to wise them?
1. The nearer a being lives to God the more deeply it feels compassion and mercy.
(1) As proved by the angels who sang hymns of redemption and rejoice over
returning sinners.
(2) As proved by the infinite tenderness of Christ.
2. The least that we can do is to give our fallen brother our sympathy.
3. But this is not enough.
(1) There is a sympathy which is mere weakness.
(2) You must have for your brother a love without weakness, a holiness without
pride.
(3) You must point him to the Saviour.
(4) We cannot raise souls en masse, but only by individuals.
III. Conclusion:
1. What an honour to raise a fallen soul.
2. Christ the Raiser has called you to this.
3. Have you not lost some soul? (E. Bersier, D. D.)
The restoration of the erring

13. I. The Christian view of other men’s sin.
1. The apostle regards it as if it might be the result of a surprise.
(1) There are some sins for which we have an inclination.
(2) There are those which, seemingly unnatural to us, come upon us unexpectedly.
(a) A question may be hurriedly put concerning a secret; not having presence of
mind to turn it adroitly, a lie is told. So Peter.
(b) Inexperience, a hasty promise, excess of trust, and even generous devotion may
have the same effect.
2. The apostle considers it a fault which has left a burden on the erring spirit.
(1) It is a chain of entanglement which drags down to fresh sins.
(2) It is the burden of the heart weighing on itself which keeps the soul down from
good.
(3) The weight of secret uncommunicated sin; as evidenced
(a) by a mysterious necessity to tell it under the personality of another;
(b) by profuse general acknowledgment of guilt;
(c) by the longing for confession.
(4) The intuitive consciousness of hidden sins in the hearts of others.
II. The Christian power of restoration.
1. Restoration is possible.
2. Restoration is accomplished by men as instruments.
3. The mode in which it is done;
(1) by sympathy;
(2) forgiveness.

14. 4. The motive--“considering thyself,” etc. (J. W. Robertson.)
The duty of brotherly admonition and reproof
I. What that duty is.
1. We are members one of another.
2. It is our interest to keep our members together, and in good health.
3. A means of doing this is timely admonition.
II. Rules for its effective discharge.
1. It does not follow that where-ever a man sees vice he is bound to rebuke it.
Reproof may exasperate.
2. Regard must be had to the circumstances of the offending party.
3. An exact proportion should be preserved between the offence and the rebuke;
failings are not necessarily sins.
4. The rebuke should be given privately.
5. Take care not to be chargeable with the same fault yourself.
6. The end in view must not be the gratification of a private pique, but restoration.
III. The evil of neglecting it.
1. Evil is encouraged by neglect.
2. The good are lost for the want of timely interference. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Motives to charity
“Considering thyself.”

15. 1. Thine abundance may become poverty; therefore, O man of wealth, “consider the
poor.”
2. Thy happiness may be blighted; therefore, O man on whom all things smile, raise
up the mourners.
3. Thou mayest be sick; therefore, O man of health, give aid to the diseased.
4. Thou, too, must die; therefore, O living man, do not forget the bereaved.
5. Thou mayest be deprived of the means of grace, therefore, frequenter of the house
of God, succour those to whom the gospel does not come. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Self-knowledge is the knowledge and love of God
There are many ways of selfconsideration.
I. Self-love, when right and when wrong.
II. Self-ignorance.
III. Self-knowledge.
IV. The knowledge of God’s love in Christ, on which the noblest self-knowledge
rests. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The occasion for the injunction
The fervour and pathos of this appeal are perhaps to be explained by certain
circumstances which engaged St. Paul’s attention at this time. A grave offence had
been committed in the Church of Corinth. St. Paul had called upon the brethren to
punish the offender, and his appeal had been answered with so much promptness
that it was necessary to intercede for the guilty one. He commended their
indignation, their zeal, their revenge; they had approved themselves clear in the
matter (2Co_7:11); and now they must comfort and forgive their erring brother, lest

16. he be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow (see the striking resemblance in tone of
2Co_2:6-8, and the text). It was the recollection of this circumstance that dictated
this injunction. The Galatians were proverbially passionate and fickle. If a reaction
came it might be attended, as at Corinth, with undue severity towards the
delinquents. The Epistle, therefore, was probably written while the event was fresh,
and perhaps after he had witnessed too evident signs of over severity. (Bishop
Lightfoot.)
The restoration of the lapsed
In the Pauline hypothesis of a perfect society, the rectification of a wrong is not due
to the clamour or plaint of that which is immediately distressed, but to the sympathy
felt by the whole of the society towards the suffering or injured part. From St.
Paul’s point of view, a social evil sends a pang through the whole body, urging it to
take note of the disease, and to discover the remedy. That the remedy can be found
and the disease subdued he did not for a moment doubt. Conceive, if you can, a
public conscience so keen and tender as to be instantly alive to the moral evils which
corrupt, enfeeble, and blemish it, and so wise as to be constantly busying itself with
their cure. Imagine men comprehending that the corrective forces of public morality
are concerned principally with the purification of mankind from evils which it has
contracted. Picture a society employed in finding out the means by which poverty,
ignorance, vice, selfishness, can be chastened or healed because itself is degraded
and dishonored, and is restless till it has found a cure. Well would it have been if the
reformation of man had been continued on these lines laid down by St. Paul; but the
utmost that men have done as yet, is to concede a right, perhaps no more than a
right, of complaint to the sufferer. (“Paul of Tarsus.”)
Methods of restoration
Saints, like clocks, made up of curious wheels and engines, are soon discomposed,
and therefore often want some workman to set them in order again. A good man, if
his friend follow virtue, will be a father to encourage him; if he be full of doubts, he
will be a minister to direct him; if he follow vice, will be a magisstrate to correct
him. Christians must allow one another for their infirmities, but not in them. (G.
Swinnock.)
Compassion the law of Christ
Compassion is the law of Christ, not because He laid it down in words, but because
it was His life. He who left us an example that we should follow His steps, showed
that with Him no condition of life was too low for His esteem, no sinner too guilty
for His assistance, no enemy too fierce or cruel for His good will. And Christ is the
law of His people, not His words alone, but the life He lived and the Person He

17. showed Himself to be. (Archbishop Thomson.)
Our duty to the erring
The soul which sin has overtaken is like the bruised reed. It must be raised up gently
that it may once more aspire heavenwards. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
The graceful vase that stands in the drawing-room under a glass shade and never
goes to the well, has no great right to despise the rough pitcher that often goes and is
broken at last. (A. K. H. B.)
Brotherly reproof
I. The case which the text describes. Wrong-doing under the influence of sudden
temptation.
II. Let us endeavour to ascertain the conduct to be persued in such a case. Ye which
are spiritual, restore such an one, considering thyself, etc. This applies not simply to
such persons as are endowed with spiritual gifts; but to those Christians who are
more than ordinarily devoted to religion. A spiritual man is one whom the Holy
Ghost hath enlightened and changed. It does not belong to every one in the Church
to assume this office. To restore, is a general term, admitting of a variety of
applications. It often signifies to amend. In a moral sense, it means to restore the
faulty person to the moral feeling which he has lost. He who thus restores, becomes
the healer of disease.
1. The text intimates that the reproof is to be faithfully administered. To tell another
of a fault, even if it be done in the mildest manner, constitutes reproof. Faults are
not confined to practical matters, but extend also to doctrinal. Christians are
exposed to both, and both are equally dangerous.
2. It is to be done in the spirit of meekness. This is eminently necessary; because we
undertake to restore our brother, we assume superior ground. He who inflicts pain
willingly and intentionally is a monster. The skilful practitioner will probe the
wound to the bottom, but he will do it as gently as possible. A spirit of kindness
pervaded the corrections which the Saviour so faithfully applied. It must be obvious,
from what has been already said, that if we see a brother overtaken in a fault, and

18. leave him, without an attempt to restore him, we are guilty of serious neglect of a
known Christian duty. This will appear even more forcibly, if you consider what
was enjoined under the Jewish economy, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy
heart, nor suffer his sin upon him, but rebuke him.” (R. Hall.)
Faults and burdens
I. The possibility of being morally overcome.
II. The duty of restoration. This includes--
1. A proper sense of the value of individuals--a man.
2. An intense sympathy with Jesus Christ in His saving work.
3. A practical knowledge of human nature.
III. The work of restoration is to be done in a proper spirit. Dislocated limbs should
be handled skilfully. What is involved in restoring a man?
1. A proper sense of sin.
2. A wise excitement of hope.
3. A deep conception of Christ’s work in relation to fallen men. Beware of
encouraging false peace. It is possible to bandage a limb without setting it. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
The spirit in which restoration should be taken
1. In a spirit of faith.
2. Meekness.
3. Considerateness.
4. Humility. (Clergyman’s Magazine.)

19. Christian reformation
Let us begin this consideration with its proper beginning--the first detection--the
first moment that constitutes what society knows as a criminal. The first detection
may have followed on a trifling fault, or a mere inadvertence; but once past, the
barrier is past with it--the badge is irremovably attached; the words “convicted
criminal” are the strokes of a knell which tolls the man to his grave, be he scores of
years from it: we are so determined to be in outward appearance separate from
sinners, that we draw the line bold and dark which shall mark the distinction: there
shall be no penumbra to that eclipse. Exiles and outcasts, whether their fault has
been great or small, from the society of the virtuous or of the undetected--every
influence is arrayed, many influences perhaps not unjustly arrayed, against their
return to the place whence they have fallen. First of all, in speaking of this duty, let
me say something of the spirit in which it is to be performed. “Restore such an one
in the spirit of meekness--considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Surely this
is the very opposite of the spirit of the world, of which we have been speaking. That
spirit refuses to consider the possibility of ourselves being tempted: parades a
challenge in the face of the world to question our own purity and inviolability, and
declares that we are determined never to admit the hypothesis of our becoming like
them. Well then, it is here as so often: I have to ask you to put on a spirit directly
contrary to that which you find around you in the world: to sit at the feet of a far
different Teacher, and learn of Him. We have spoken of Him who came to seek and
to save that which was lost. And this is the very thing which we ask you to do
likewise. Our blessed Lord spent His life and shed His blood, in devising means
whereby His lost ones might be recovered to Him. And every follower of His--every
one who is under the discipline of that great Reformatory which He has founded--is
expected not to look only on his own things, but also on the things of others. These
criminals are your brethren; your fellow-Christians by profession. And it is only His
preventing and upholding grace, which keeps from falling any of us who thinketh he
standeth in uprightness. Bearing their burdens, instead of disclaiming them and
letting them sink under their weight; and so fulfilling the law of Christ. We may
ask, what law? And the answer is very simple. There was one law in which our
blessed Lord summed up His social and practical precepts; one, which peculiarly
belongs to Him: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do
unto them.” This is emphatically the law of Christ. (Dean Alford.)
On restoring a sinner
This restoring of sinners is the primary duty of the members of the brotherhood of
Christ. Is it not, too, the great problem of society? It lies as near to the heart of the
welfare of homes, of kingdoms, as of Churches. Restore the sinners and you save the
State.

20. I. The man overtaken in a fault. It is literally the man “even caught in a sin.”
Putting the case most strongly, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one, despite the
open scandal and shame. The sense of our translation, “overtaken in a fault,”
suggesting, I think, the idea of surprise by the sin as well as in the sin, though not
the literal sense of the original, is, perhaps, spiritually, not far from the truth. The
word for “sin,” the word for “restore,” and the allusion to temptation, seem all to
point to the case of a man overtaken and snared by a sin. There are those who
overtake sin; who seem to catch sins as easily as the vapour of naphtha catches fire.
It is not to them that the apostle is here referring. But there are others whom sin
overtakes. It is out of the course of their most earnest purpose. It comes as a
perversion. It twists, if it does not break, the unity of their lives. David’s deadly sin
was of this character. Sin has caught him, and holds him as a captive. But there is
an uprightness there which it has bent but has not prostrated, a love for truth and
honour which it has blighted but has not killed. Brethren, take him by the hand and
clasp him. Throw the cords of your love around him, and stay him in his mad
career.
II. Ye which are spiritual. Who are the spiritual? Who knows the secret of this
Divine art of restoring souls? The spiritual--those who know that they are the
spiritual, and who are the qualified teachers, correctors, and exemplars to their
fellow-men. I am not sure that this is the class which is meant by the term, when we
hear it on an apostle’s lips--indeed, I am quite sure that it is not. I am quite sure that
Paul speaks of a class of much simpler and humbler men. Men who are not at all
sure that they are the spiritual; men who are only sure that sin is a great sorrow to
the sinner, a great sorrow to the Saviour, a crushing burden on the spirit, which so
fills them with distress and pity, that they can take no rest and know no joy until
they have lifted it and borne it away.
III. Restore such an one. Restore him. There is but one way. Restore him to God,
and you restore him to his brother, to the Church, and to himself. Do not imagine
that you can restore him. Man can do just one essential service to his brother: he
can bring him to Jesus, and leave him with Him. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Turning the icy end to our fellows
One day, when I was serving my apprenticeship in a factory on the banks of the
Marrimac River (says the Hon. . P. Banks, late Governor of Massachusetts), a
party of the hands saw a man a quarter of a mile down tile river struggling among

21. the broken cakes of ice. We could none of us for the moment determine his political
complexion or bodily colour, but he proved, in the end, to be a negro in the water.
Of course the first care was to rescue him; but twice the victim slipped from the
plank that was thrown him. The third time it was evident to our inner hearts that it
was the negro’s last chance, and so he evidently thought; but as he again slipped
from the board, he shouted, “For the love of God, gentle men, give me hold of the
wooden end of the plank this time.” We had been holding him the icy end! How
often do Christians make the same mistake. We turn the icy end of the plank to our
fellows; and then wonder why they do not hold on, and why our efforts do not save
them. (Preacher’s Lantern.)
Duty of the Church to the over-tempted
The exercise of discipline is ever a delicate and dangerous work. Those who have not
themselves fallen are apt to be a little puffed up by the sense of their superior purity,
and so to neglect to treat outcasts with true Christian considerateness.
I. The duty of Christens to seek to reclaim the over-tempted.
1. The light in which many sins are to be viewed--a slip into a pit. Sin not indulged
in because loved, but because the sinning one has been surprised, overtaken,
entrapped by it.
2. The difficulty of rising after such a fall. Despair settles down on the soul;
disgrace; self-reproach. Souls that are in the wild, wide forest of sin, with night
coming down, are not likely to find their way out when the notches on the trees--
such as the Indians make for guidance--have grown over or been obliterated. Souls
that have lost their balance on the narrow ledge of the lofty mountain path, are very
likely to fall into the abysmal gorge at their side. Then is the time for Christians to
step in and take the erring one by the hand, bestowing interest, affection, fellowship.
II. The manner and spirit in which this is to be performed. The spiritual must act in
a spiritual manner.
1. Setting an example in all good. o moderate indulgence in sin, no laxity, no half-
measures.
2. The spirit of meekness. This gives us a fellow-feeling, and makes us act as
brothers.
3. Consideration for ourselves. We may one day need the helping hand we are now

22. extending to another. Let us, then, do as we would be done by. o boastful, self-
sufficient spirit becomes those who are themselves within reach of temptation. (F.
Hastings.)
Comprehensiveness of Christ’s law
The law of Christ is the law of universal love; and it requires every man to be
interested in every man and in his difficulties; to be in sympathy with him and in all
the spirit of helpfulness, although the act may be beyond our power. It requires us
also to be in sympathy with men, not only when they are doing right, but when they
are doing wrong. A fault is anything inconsistent with the rule of life or duty. In
common usage it is a minor transgression, but here undoubtedly it is
comprehensive; it includes whatever a man does aside from the rule of rectitude, or
aside from any law, ideal, or measure in life by which men are accustomed to be
judged. It may respect the man’s person, his body, health, his strength, or it may
respect a man’s mind, his judgment, temper, disposition generally. It may have
respect to a man’s social connections, neighbourhood; his relations to the family,
and to all the collected families. It may have relation to his religious connection;
what as a churchman, what as a professing Christian, his faults, feelings, and
transgressions. It may have relation to his civil and business duties, commercial or
political … obody can free himself from the subtle and perpetual influences that
work upon the intelligence, the conscience, the ideals of life. We are members of a
complex body in family relations or in civil relations; and, as the foot cannot ache
without having the whole body ache, and the hand cannot suffer and the whole body
not suffer, so every man more or less is so connected by vital nerves with the whole
community in which he is, that he comes up with them and goes down with them,
and he commits faults simply because he cannot separate and disentangle himself
quick enough not to go as the multitude are going. We are all of us in a drove. We
are all of us of one nature in the one world, under the one system; and there is not a
man living who does not commit faults every day of his life. They may not be of the
severest kind. They may not be the faults you dislike the most. You commit them--
not as your neighbour does, but in your own way. Everybody does, and everybody,
therefore, is dependent upon the charity and the goodwill of his neighbour for
himself; and the command is, “return that goodwill and that charity, since you
yourself are liable to suffer in this very way, and are suffering all the time. Treat
every man as you would wish him to treat you.”… A brave man would not know
that a companion was in captivity among the Indians, and not venture something
for him. What if he did caution him not to ride out unattended? What if he did warn
him? If the man was careless and heedless, and was snatched up, bound, and hidden
away for to-morrow’s torment, he would creep on his belly until the moon went
down, and steal in and cut the man’s cords and withs, and snake him out, and put
himself behind him to defend him if they were discovered, and work him back again
into liberty and the settlements …. The scope and the sweep of faults is so great, that
you may just as well sit yourself down to this thing, that universal human nature is
so poor and so weak and so liable to temptation, and to failure under temptation,

23. that you must have compassion upon all men, or, as it is expressed in Hebrews, you
must “have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way”--
compassion universal, continuous, adequate, vital, and active. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Christians duty to an erring brother
We have here--
I. Christian fallibility.
II. The duty of those who stand towards those who fall.
III. The reason why we should so act. (A. F. Barfield.)
Magnanimous conduct
When Conkling precipitated himself from the Senate, it was very much against
General Grant’s judgment, and that was known, and yet he attempted in every way
to befriend Mr. Conkling, and shield him; so much so that everybody thought he
had gone over to his side, and a man expostulated with him, saying, “General Grant,
how is this You don’t believe that he did right, do you?” “ o, sir; I don’t.” “How is
it, then, that you are on his side now?” His reply was worthy to be written in letters
of gold. “When is the time to show a man’s self friendly, except when his friend has
made a mistake? That is not the time to leave a man--when he has made a blunder
or a mistake.” That is one of those unimpeachable moral principles which appeal to
the universal conscience. Stand by a man who is your friend. Stand by him in his
adversity, if you don’t stand by him at any other time. (H. W. Beecher.)
Discretion in censure
It is true, open sinners deserve open censures; but private admonitions will best suit
private offences. While we seek to heal a wound in our brother’s actions, we should
be careful not to leave a sear upon his person. We give grains of allowance in all
current coin. That is a choice friend who conceals our faults from the view of others,
and yet discovers them to our own. That medicine which rouses the evil humours of

24. the body, and does not carry them off, only leaves it in a worse condition than it
found it. (Archbishop Seeker.)
Test of friendship
It is one of the severests tests of friendship to tell your friend of his faults. If you are
angry with a man, or hate him, it is not hard to go to him and stab him with words:
but so to love a man that you cannot bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to
speak painful truth through loving words--that is friendship. (H. W. Beecher.)
Tenderness in reproof
There is much discretion to be observed in reprehension: a word will do more with
some than a blow with others. A Venice glass is not to be rubbed so hard as a brazen
kettle. The tender reed is more easily bowed than the sturdy oak. Christ’s warfare
requires no carnal weapons. Dashing storms do but destroy the seed, while gentle
showers nourish it. Chariots too furiously driven may be overturned by their own
violence. The word “restore” in this verse signifies, to set in joint again; and to set a
dislocated bone requires the lady’s hand: tenderness, as well as skill. Reprehension
is not an act of butchery, but of surgery. Take heed of blunting the instrument, by
putting too keen an edge upon it. (Archbishop Secker.)
Suitable times for reproving
Discretion in the choice of seasons for reproving, is no less necessary than zeal and
faithfulness in reproving. Good physicians use not to evacuate the body, in the
extremities of heat and cold. Good mariners do not hoist up sail in every wind.
(John Trapp.)
Reproof begins with self
If we would reprove others wisely, we must understand our own hearts. If we give
ourselves to the healing of others, and take no remedy for our own mortal disease,
we must expect the scorn of men. He would be an ill pastor who busied himself
about another’s parish and neglected his own. (J. G. Pilkington.)
Benefit of reproof

25. To reprove a brother is like as, when he has fallen, to help him up again; when he is
wounded, to help to cure him; when he has broken a bone, to help to set it; when he
is out of the way, to put him into it; when he is fallen into the fire, to pluck him out;
when he has contracted defilement, to cleanse him. (Philip Henry.)
Considering thyself:--The motive for Christian tenderness
What an amount of motive is gathered into these simple words! It has been one of
the natural, we might almost say necessary, consequences of the combination of men
into societies, possessing all possible variety of condition and circumstance, that
there has been a comparative losing sight of the equal liability of all to the several
ills to which flesh is heir. In an early stage of society, when men are nearly on a
level, and every one is in a measure dependent on his own strivings for the means of
subsistence, there is, evidently, much the same exposure to misfortune; and none can
be fancied secure against calamities by which others have been or may be overtaken.
But the case alters as society is wrought into a finished structure and form, and
through the accumulation of capital, certain of its ranks are placed beyond the need
of labouring for a livelihood. Then in all the security with which property is fenced,
and the ready supplies which it commands, there is something which looks like, and
which passes for, evidence that a measure of independence is reached, and that some
are in the enjoyment of certainty, whilst others are still within the reach of accident.
It is very difficult not to fancy, that the man of large ancestral revenues, inhabiting
the baronial hall which proudly surmounts the domain which owns him for its lord,
has an exemption from the contingencies and chances of want, which beset the poor
peasant who tills one of his fields. And that noble, surrounded by everything which
luxury can either invent or desire, might look upon us coldly, and even angrily, if we
backed our appeal to him on behalf of some starving cottager, by simply telling him
to “consider himself, lest he should be similarly tried.” It might sound to him as a
threat, whether of ignorance or insolence, that it should thus be implied that,
notwithstanding all his state, and all his abundance, he might come to want the
morsel which we ask him to bestow; and, if he complied with the petition, he would
probably spurn the motive by which it had been urged. And, of course, it does need
a very thorough and practical recognition of the truth that “the earth is the Lord’s
and the fulness thereof,” to be able to put aside all the appearances of security and
independence, which hoarded wealth furnishes, and to view in every man,
whatsoever his circumstances, a pensioner on the bounty of that Omnipotent Parent
who “openeth His hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.” It is not to
be wondered at if the beggar be commonly thought to have to live from day to day
on the providence of God, whilst the man of accumulated stores is considered as
having provision in hand for his every future necessity. But what actual infidelity--
what virtual atheism--may be detected in every such notion. It is a substitution of
money for God. I would rather have the security against want, which the meanest of
our villagers enjoys, whose daily bread is the subject of daily care and daily toil,
than that of the foremost of our capitalists who in any way gives indulgence to the

26. sentiment, “Soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years.” The one, indeed, has a
security--the security of a prayerful dependence on God; the other has no security
whatever, but lies exposed to the peril of being punished for presumption. It matters
nothing to us, what may be the worldly circumstances of any one, nor how far they
may seem to remove him from liability to poverty. If he be a man, he may come to be
a starving man; and that, too, without any of these inexplicable occurrences and
variations which seem to mark God’s special interference to bring round the
unlooked-for catastrophe. There ought, therefore, to be to him, as much cogency as
to the man whose property seems jeopardized, in the words “lest thou also be
tempted,” when it is for the relief of the actually destitute that we appeal to his
bounty. And this is, perhaps, the only case in which there is even the appearance of
exemption from liability to misfortunes with which we see others oppressed. In
every other case we may contend, that even the appearances are wanting; so that
there cannot be the shadow of an excuse for denying to the apostle’s motive the
greatest possible force. It cannot be said that any one form of sorrow is
appropriated to this class of men, and warded off from that; all are accessible
through the same channels, and all are capable of the same wounds. Rank gives no
exemption from misfortune. The great and the mean bow beneath the same sorrows,
and die of the same sicknesses. Is there not, in consequence, the greatest cogency,
whosoever be the party addressed, and whatsoever the affliction, in the words of the
apostle, “considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted!” It is the enlisting of
selfishness on the side of the afflicted, and the calling upon us to be merciful, if we
would have mercy ourselves. The thing assumed--and it is not a thing to be
disputed--is, that God’s moral government is eminently and avowedly a retributive
government. And if, moreover, we live beneath a retributive government, and lie
ourselves exposed to all the afflictions with which we see others are visited, then, if
only on the principle of self-preservation, we are bound to be merciful to the
suffering, lest being brought into similar circumstances ourselves, we find our
neglect and churlishness returned to us in kind. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Spirituality of mind possible
If you will go to the banks of a little stream, and watch the flies that come to bathe
in it, you will notice that, while they plunge their bodies in the water, they keep their
wings high out of the water; and, after swimming about a little while, they fly away
with their wings unwet through the sunny air. ow, that is a lesson for us. Here we
are immersed in the cares and business of the world; but let us keep the wings of our
soul, our faith, and our love, out of the world, that, with these unclogged, we may be
ready to take our flight to heaven. (J. Inglis.)
Meditation promotes spirituality
A beautiful flower, the wood-sorrel, grows among the trees in the sylvan scenes of

27. England. It has shining green leaves, and transparent bells with white veins. When
it is gathered roughly, or the evening dew falls, or the clouds begin to rain, its foliage
closes and droops; but, when the sir is bright and calm, it unfolds all its loveliness.
Like this sensitive flower, spirituality of mind, when touched by the rough hand of
sin, or the cold dew of worldliness, or the noisy rain of strife, hides itself in the
quietude of devout meditation; but, when it feels the influence of sunny and serene
piety, it expands in the beauty of holiness, the moral image of God. (P. J. Wright.)
The spirit of meekness
Meekness is Christian lowlihood. It is the disciple learning to know himself:
learning to fear and distrust and abhor himself. It is the disciple learning the defects
of his own character, and taking hints from hostile as well as friendly monitors. It is
the disciple watching and praying for the improvement of his talents, the mellowing
of his temper and the amelioration of his character. It is the loving Christian at the
Saviour’s feet. It is the loving Christian at the Saviour’s feet learning of Him who is
meek and lowly, and finding rest for his own soul. (Dr. T. Hamilton.)
JACOX, FRA CIS
THE U TEMPTED THAT STA D, A D THE TEMPTED
THAT FALL.
Galatians vi. I.
ST. PAUL would have his brethren restore in the spirit of
meekness a man overtaken in a fault, each of them, the
while, considering himself, lest he also be tempted.
It is easy, said a heathen poet, to be virtuous when one is
not exposed to temptation : Esse bonuni facile est, ubi quod vetet
esse remotum est. But no soul is absolutely impeccable ; and,
in Frederick Robertson's words, it seems as if all we can dare,
to ask even of the holiest is how much temptation he can bear
without giving way.
*' 'Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall ; "
but the distinction comes with sorry grace from one who fell
so low as Angelo. Who, asked Rogers, can say, " In such
circumstances I should have done otherwise"? Who, did he
but reflect by what slow gradations, often by how many strange
concurrences, we are led astray; with how much reluctance,

28. how much agony, how many efforts to escape, how many self-
accusations, how many sighs, how many tears, — who, did he
but reflect for a moment, would have the heart to cast a stone ?
Byron was the subject of his lines beginning,
" Thou art gone ;
And he who would assail, thee in thy grave,
Oh, let him pause ! For who among us all,
Tried as thou wert — even from thy earliest years,
"When wandering, yet unspoilt, a highland-hoy —
Tried as thou wert, and with thy soul of flame ;
A D THE TEMPTED THAT FALL. 295
Pleasure, while yet the dow-n was on thy cheek,
Uplifting, pressing, and to lips like thine,
Her charmed cup — ah, who among us all
Could say he had not erred as much, and more ? "
To Byron himself once turned Sheridan at a dinner-party,
in tears, and said, " It is easy for my Lord G. or Earl G. or
Marquis B. or Lord H., with thousands upon thousands a year,
to boast of their patriotism and keep aloof from temptation ;
but they do not know from what tempation those have l^pt
aloof who had equal pride, at least equal talents, and not
unequal passions, and nevertheless knew not in the course
of. their lives what it was to have a shilling of their own."
And Byron, could he ever have forced himself to quote
Wordsworth, might for once have used lines of the derided
Lake poet's, and have reassured his fellow-guest, so far as he
was concerned, by the assurance,
" I am not of the world's presumptuous judges.
Who damn where they can neither see nor feel.
With a hard-hearted ignorance."
Said Johnson once, " You may not have committed such crimes
as some men have done ; but you do not know against what
degree of light they have sinned." But the Judge who, as
Thackeray puts it, sees not the outward acts merely, but their
causes, and views not the wrong alone, but the temptations,
struggles, ignorance of erring creatures, has, we know, a
different code to ours — to ours, who fall upon the fallen, who
fawn upon the prosperous so, who administer our praises and
punishments so prematurely, who now strike so hard, and,

29. anon, spare so shamelessly.
" Who made the heart, 'tis He alone decidedly can try us ;
He knows each chord — its various tone, each spring — its various
bias :
Then at the balance let's be mute, we never can adjust it ;
What's done we partly may compute, but know not what's
resisted."
Was Lord elson, it has been asked, a better or a worse man
than a clerk in a London bank who passed his life in a sort
296 THE U TEMPTED THAT STA D
of moral torpor, without sufficient energy or temptation to do
anything very right or very wrong ? Et combien semblent purs
qui ne furent qulieureux ! exclaims Victor Hugo. It is all
very easy for a man to talk of conquering his appetites, when
he has none to conquer, says Charles Kingsley's first hero.
We owe all to Heaven, even our virtues, muses the Vicar in
metaphysical William Smith's Grave^ihurst ; and he professes
to have always felt a certain timidity in dealing out the
requisite censures against men who ha-e been led into error
by hot impetuous temper, who probably thirsted after pleasures
and excitements v/hich to him and others were no temptations
at all. The Countess Brunella of Dr. Moore's ¦ Z^/z/r<? "was
chaste, without being virtuous; because in her it proceeded
from constitution, not principle. Guarded by the breastplate
of frigidity, which, like the aegis of Minerva, repels the shafts of
love, she walked through life erect, and steady to the dictates
of decorum and self-interest, without a slip or a false step.''
In his Inquiry concerning Virtue, Shaftesbury accepts as the
greatest proof imaginable, that a strong principle of virtue lies
at the bottom, and has possessed itself of the natural temper,
when ill passions or affections are evidently and firmly seated
in one part of the temper, whilst in another part the affections
towards moral good are such as absolutely to master those
attempts of their antagonists : " Whereas, if there be no ill
passions stirring, a person may be indeed more cheaply, vir-
tuous, . . . without sharing so much of a virtuous principle as

30. another." To apply a couplet of Corneille's Pauline,—
" Ce n'est qu'en ces assauts qu'eclate la vertu,
Et Ton doute d'un coeur qui n'a point combattu."
Leonard Fairfield m,ay admire as a definition wiser and simpler
than any in the most elaborate sermon by Parson Dale, Helen's
question and answer, What is the difference between being
good and bad ? The good do not yield to temptation, and the
bad do. But it is too epigrammatic to be exhaustive. Dn
Boyd accounts it fearful to think what malleable material we
are in the hands of circumstances : " the graceful vase that
A D THE TEMPTED THAT FALL. 297
stands in the drawing-room under a glass shade, and never
goes to the well, has no great right to despise the rough pitcher
that goes often and is broken at last." The image recalls one
that follows Frederick Robertson's apostrophe to the proud
Pharisee of a woman, who passes by an erring sister with a
haughty look of conscious superiority, ignorant, it may be, of
what temptation is, with strong feeling and mastering oppor-
tunity : " Shall the rich-cut crystal which stands on the table
of the wealthy man, protected from dust and injur}-, boast that
it has escaped the flaws, and the cracks, and the fractures
which the earthen jar has sustain^, exposed and subjected
to rough and general uses?" Gibbon is sneering, as usual,
when he remarks that the virtue of the primitive Christians,
like that of the first Romans, was very frequently guarded by
poverty and ignorance.
How is it, asks Crabbe, that men, when they in judgment
sit
" On the same fault, now censure, now acquit?
Is it not thus, that here we view the sin,
And there the powerful cause that drew us in ?
'Tis not that men are to the evil blind,
But that a different object fills the mind.
In judging others we can see too well
Their grievous fall, but not how grieved they fell ;
Judging ourselves, we to our minds recall.
ot how we fell, but how we grieved to fall. "
Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he- fall.

31. There is something applicable in Ovid's line, Etsi non cecidit,
potuit cectdisse viderL A commentator on the two Bacons,
referring to the spotless descent to posterity of Roger's name,
while that of Francis has come down to us darkened Anth more
spots than time can efface, deems it hard to say how much
difference of position had to do with this difference of moral
purity. If Lord Bacon had lived in his study, we might have
had nothing but praises for his name. In judging such an
Edgar Poe-like German romancer as Ernst Hoffmann, if we
are forced to condemn him, let it be without forgetting, pleads
298 THE U TEMPTED THAT STA D,
Mr. Carlyle, that for a mind like his, the path of propriety was
difficult to find, still more difficult to keep : moody, sensitive,
and fantastic, he wandered through the world like a foreign
presence, subject to influences of which "common natures
have happily no gUmpse." The American romancer, Charles
Brockden Brown, modestly referred his abstinence from coarser
indulgences to his constitutional infirmities, and consequent
disinclination to excess : the benevolence of ature, he used
to say, set him free from many of the temptations which beset
others in their hot youth. Had he been furnished with the
nerves and muscles of hi^ comrades, his career, he beHeved,
might have been the reverse of temperate and intellectual.
" Who has assayed no danger, gains no praise," is a sententious
line of Prior's. How can the proud Pharisee, as Dr. South
words it, that shall reprove a publican in terms of insultation
and boasting, tell but what, in the same circumstances and
opportunities of sin, he should have done the same " for which,
with so much arrogance, he reproves or rather baits another?
Was it not the mercy of Providence that cast the scene of
his life out of the way of temptation ? that placed the flax and
the stubble out of the reach of the fire ? " Prescott pleads for
Pizarro that his lot was cast among the licentious inmates of
a camp, the school of rapine ; and argues that the amount
of crime does not necessarily show the criminality of the
agent; and though history is concerned with the former, to
be recorded as a warning to mankind, it is He alone who
knoweth the heart, the strength of temptation, and the means
of resisting it, that can determine the measure of the guilt.
** The life of the man — can you tell where it lies?
In the effort to sink, or the power to rise ?
Can you guess what the thirst is the man quenches thus?"

32. As Gordon says to Butler of their great leader, in Schiller's
Wallensteinstod :
'* We in our lucky mediocrity
Have ne'er experienced, cannot calculate,
What dangerous wishes such a height may breed
In the heart of such a man."
A D THE TEMPTED THAT FALL. 299
To Macaulay the " moderation of virtue " ascribed to Sir
William Temple seemed littleness and meanness when he
compared him with many of those frail men who, aiming
high, but often drawn from the right path by strong passions
and strong temptations, have left to posterity a doubtful and
chequered fame. Clive, for instance, who, " like most men
born with strong passions and tried by strong temptations,"
committed great faults. Of Cowper, on the other hand, as
the contrasted schoolfellow of Warren Hastings, the historian
observes, that having never been compelled to make a choice
between innocence and greatness, between crime and ruin,
his habits were such that he was unable to conceive how from
the path of right even kind and noble natures may be hurried
by the rage of conflict and the lust of dominion.
That which we do being evil, writes Hooker, "is notmth-
standing by so much more pardonable, by how much the
exigence of so doing, or the difficulty of doing otherwise, is
greater," — unless indeed this necessity or difficulty have origi-
nally risen from ourselves. To estimate the force by which
temptation is overcome, said Sir James Stephen, you must
ascertain the force of the propensities to which it is addressed.
Robert South describes Him who came to save the lost, as
never weighing the sin without weighing also the force of the
inducement — how much of it is to be attributed to choice,
how much to the violence of the temptation, to the stratagem
of the occasion, and the yielding frailties of weak nature.
De Foe is extolled by W. C. Roscoe as a great teacher of
charity to those who are apt, as we all are, to think of the
criminal outcasts of society as of persons removed from the
ordinary conditions of humanity, and given up to a reprobate
condition totally different from our own : one day we may be

33. surprised to find that, while right and wrong continue to differ
infinitely, the various degrees of human sinfulness lie uithin
much narrower limits than we, who measure by the external
act, are at all accustomed to conceive. Mit deni inigliickliche7i
solte der gliicklich nicJit rechteu, says a German dramatist. A
deed done, a word spoken, is an act over which we can sit in
300 DECOMPOSITIO
judgment; but how that word came to be spoken, the temp-
tation which led to it, the human nature which yielded — there
is quite sure, as one of George Eliot's reviewers affirms, to
be something in the process with which we can sympathize ;
enough for pity and fellow-feeling to mingle with our virtuous
indignation, and divest it of some of its harshness. There is
a good clerg}'man in one of Mr. Froude's early fictions, to
whom eil, in its abstract form, was so loathsome, and in its
concrete so little familiar, that if ever he was obliged to transfer
the judgment he had of the general to the particular, it was
transferred whole : he could make no allowance ; he k-new not
the infinite variety of natures m.en receive at the hands of
Providence ; nor had . ever studied the strange laws which
govern the moulding of them into characters ; nor had any
idea that the same temptation acts as variously on different
men, as the same temperature on metals and gases.
PETT, "Verse 1-2
‘Brothers, even if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore
such a one in a spirit of meekness, looking to yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear
you one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’
‘Even if a man is overtaken in any trespass.’ ote the ‘even if’. It should be looked
on as an unexpected rarity. The idea of being overtaken is that the person is taken
by surprise. They have been careless and allowed themselves to be overtaken by
some trespass, a falling short of the mark. They have been walking by the Spirit but
have somehow lapsed and have been overtaken by the flesh.
Then those who are spiritual, being led by the Spirit, will not be judgmental, but
when someone so fails and is ‘overtaken in any failure or sin’ they will help to
‘restore’ them in a spirit of meekness, a spirit of selfless concern and gentleness
without censoriousness. They will do this aware that they themselves are frail, and
have often fallen, and will be wary that in helping another they themselves do not
fail through temptation. For he who thinks that he stands should take heedful care
lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12-13)

34. We must remember that the Spirit does not ‘lead us’ to enter places or situations
which may put us to too great a test, even to help another. If that happens we have
not been led by the Spirit. So we must walk wisely and each task should be given to
those with the strength to deal with such situations. We must be humble enough to
recognise when an older, wiser, or more spiritual head is needed to help the one who
is fallen.
‘Taken in a trespass.’ He has been detected in a failure to obey the law of love,
which is the law of Christ. But this is not necessarily some grievous sin, although it
often feels like it to the Christian. It is a stepping over the boundary between right
and wrong (or even right and not so right), it is a deviation from the path of true
righteousness, but if persisted in, it can lead to greater sins. When Christians are
humbly concerned about the sins of their fellows the church prospers, but when
they become judgmental and censorious, the unity of the church is destroyed. And
that is a catastrophe, for we cannot afford to lose even the weakest member (1
Corinthians 12:14-26).
‘Bear one another’s heavy burdens, and thus fulfil the law of Christ.’ Christians
should therefore help each other, bearing each other’s burdens. This is the law of
love, the law of Christ (John 13:34). Where someone is carrying a load too heavy to
bear or is having a difficult time, those who can should unobtrusively step in and
seek to assist with the burden. But this is to be done tactfully, tenderly, and without
a sense of superiority or condescension, for if we think we are somehow superior to
them we are deceiving ourselves.
‘Restore’. Bring back to his former position and behaviour.
‘The law of Christ.’ Having rejected Law all through the letter Paul now boldly
speaks of the law of Christ. And that can only be the law of love (Galatians 5:14;
John 13:34). Christians are freed from the Law so that they can walk in the Spirit
by the word of God and reveal the fruit of the Spirit. That is the law of Christ. It is
exemplified in Matthew 5-7.
Verses 1-5
The eed to Constantly Help Each Other Without Condescension (Galatians 6:1-5).
While confident in the Holy Spirit Paul does recognise that God’s people will
require assistance in their walk with Him. What has been described is the life of the
Spirit, but those who are young in it, or weak, will certainly need help and guidance.
He points out therefore that we must each seek to help the other. This is one of the
unique features of the Spirit-led life, a genuine concern to help each other while not
being too intrusive. The life of the Spirit is not self-centred, it is Christ-centred.

35. 2
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you
will fulfill the law of Christ.
BAR ES, "Bear ye one another’s burdens - See the note at Rom_15:1. Bear with
each other; help each other in the divine life. The sense is, that every man has special
temptations and easily besetting sins, which constitute a heavy burden. We should aid
each other in regard to these, and help one another to overcome them.
And so fulfil the law of Christ - The special law of Christ, requiring us to love one
another; see the note at Joh_13:34. This was the distinguishing law of the Redeemer;
and they could in no way better fulfil it than by aiding each other in the divine life. The
law of Christ would not allow us to reproach the offender, or to taunt him, or to rejoice
in his fall. We should help him to take up his load of infirmities, and sustain him by our
counsels, our exhortations, and our prayers. Christians, conscious of their infirmities,
have a right to the sympathy and the prayers of their brethren. They should not be cast
off to a cold and heartless world; a world rejoicing over their fall, and ready to brand
them as hypocrites. They should be pressed to the warm bosom of brotherly kindness;
and prayer should be made to ascend without ceasing around an erring and a fallen
brother. Is this the case in regard to all who bear the Christian name?
CLARKE, "Bear ye one another’s burdens - Have sympathy; feel for each other;
and consider the case of a distressed brother as your own.
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.
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; saints bear one another's, not
by making satisfaction for them, which they are not able to do, nor by conniving at them,
and suffering them upon them, which they should not do, but by gently reproving them,
by comforting them when overpressed with guilt, by sympathizing with them in their

36. sorrow, by praying to God for to manifest his pardoning grace to them, and by forgiving
them themselves, so far as they are faults committed against them: or else the frailties
and infirmities of weak saints, which are troublesome, and apt to make uneasy, are
meant; and which are to be bore by the strong, by making themselves easy with them,
and by accommodating themselves to their weakness, and by abridging themselves of
some liberties, which otherwise might be lawfully taken by them; or afflictions may be
designed, which are grievous to the flesh, and are bore by others, when they administer
help and relief under them, whether in a temporal or spiritual way; and when they
condole them, and sympathize with them, bear a part with them, and make others' griefs
and sorrows their own:
and so fulfil the law of Christ; which is the law of love to one another, Joh_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.
"The law (they say (x)) which a man learns in this world is vanity, in comparison of ‫תורתו‬
‫משיח‬ ‫של‬ "the law of the Messiah", or Christ;''
by "fulfilling", it is meant, doing it, acting in obedience to it, and not a perfect fulfilling it,
which cannot be done by sinful creatures.
HE RY, "II. We are here directed to bear one another's burdens, Gal_6:2. This may
be considered either as referring to what goes before, and so may teach us to exercise
forbearance and compassion towards one another, in the case of those weaknesses, and
follies, and infirmities, which too often attend us - that, though we should not wholly
connive at them, yet we should not be severe against one another on account of them; or
as a more general precept, and so it directs us to sympathize with one another under the
various trials and troubles that we may meet with, and to be ready to afford each other
the comfort and counsel, the help and assistance, which our circumstances may require.
To excite us hereunto, the apostle adds, by way of motive, that so we shall fulfil the law
of Christ. This is to act agreeably to the law of his precept, which is the law of love, and
obliges us to a mutual forbearance and forgiveness, to sympathy with and compassion
towards each other; and it would also be agreeable to his pattern and example, which
have the force of a law to us. He bears with us under our weaknesses and follies, he is
touched with a fellow-feeling of our infirmities; and therefore there is good reason why
we should maintain the same temper towards one another. Note, Though as Christians
we are freed from the law of Moses, yet we are under the law of Christ; and therefore,
instead of laying unnecessary burdens upon others (as those who urged the observance
of Moses's law did), it much more becomes us to fulfil the law of Christ by bearing one
another's burdens. The apostle being aware how great a hindrance pride would be to the
mutual condescension and sympathy which he had been recommending, and that a
conceit of ourselves would dispose us to censure and contemn our brethren, instead of
bearing with their infirmities and endeavouring to restore them when overtaken with a
fault, he therefore (Gal_6:3) takes care to caution us against this; he supposes it as a
very possible thing (and it would be well if it were not too common) for a man to think

37. himself to be something - to entertain a fond opinion of his own sufficiency, to look upon
himself as wiser and better than other men, and as fit to dictate and prescribe to them -
when in truth he is nothing, has nothing of substance or solidity in him, or that can be a
ground of the confidence and superiority which he assumes. To dissuade us from giving
way to this temper he tells us that such a one does but deceive himself; while he imposes
upon others, by pretending to what he has not, he puts the greatest cheat upon himself,
and sooner or later will find the sad effects of it. This will never gain him that esteem,
either with God or good men, which he is ready to expect; he is neither the freer from
mistakes nor will he be the more secure against temptations for the good opinion he has
of his own sufficiency, but rather the more liable to fall into them, and to be overcome by
them; for he that thinks he stands has need to take heed lest he fall. Instead therefore of
indulging such a vain-glorious humour, which is both destructive of the love and
kindness we owe to our fellow-christians and also injurious to ourselves, it would much
better become us to accept the apostle's exhortation (Phi_2:3), Do nothing through
strife nor vain-glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than
himself. Note, Self-conceit is but self-deceit: as it is inconsistent with that charity we owe
to others (for charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 1Co_13:4), so it is a cheat
upon ourselves; and there is not a more dangerous cheat in the world than self-deceit. As
a means of preventing this evil,
JAMISO , "If ye, legalists, must “bear burdens,” then instead of legal burdens (Mat_
23:4), “bear one another’s burdens,” literally, “weights.” Distinguished by Bengel from
“burden,” Gal_6:4 (a different Greek word, “load”): “weights” exceed the strength of
those under them; “burden” is proportioned to the strength.
so fulfil — or as other old manuscripts read, “so ye will fulfil,” Greek, “fill up,”
“thoroughly fulfil.”
the law of Christ — namely, “love” (Gal_5:14). Since ye desire “the law,” then fulfil
the law of Christ, which is not made up of various minute observances, but whose sole
“burden” is “love” (Joh_13:34; Joh_15:12); Rom_15:3 gives Christ as the example in the
particular duty here.
RWP, "Bear ye one another’s burdens (allēlōn ta barē bastazete). Keep on
bearing (present active imperative of bastazō, old word, used of Jesus bearing his Cross
in Joh_19:17. Baros means weight as in Mat_20:12; 2Co_4:17. It is when one’s load
(phortion, Gal_6:5) is about to press one down. Then give help in carrying it.
Fulfil (anaplērōsate). First aorist active imperative of anaplēroō, to fill up, old word,
and see note on Mat_23:32; note 1Th_2:16; and note 1Co_14:16. Some MSS. have future
indicative (anaplērōsete).
CALVI , "2.Bear ye one another’ burdens. The weaknesses or sins, under which
we groan, are called burdens. This phrase is singularly appropriate in an
exhortation to kind behavior, for nature dictates to us that those who bend under a
burden ought to be relieved. He enjoins us to bear the burdens. We must not indulge
or overlook the sins by which our brethren are pressed down, but relieve them, —

38. which can only be done by mild and friendly correction. There are many adulterers
and thieves, many wicked and abandoned characters of every description, who
would willingly make Christ an accomplice in their crimes. All would choose to lay
upon believers the task of bearing their burdens. But as the apostle had immediately
before exhorted us to restore a brother, the manner in which Christians are
required to bear one another’ burdens cannot be mistaken.
And so fulfill the law of Christ. The word law, when applied here to Christ, serves
the place of an argument. There is an implied contrast between the law of Christ
and the law of Moses. “ you are very desirous to keep a law, Christ enjoins on you a
law which you are bound to prefer to all others, and that is, to cherish kindness
towards each other. He who has not this has nothing. On the other hand, he tells us,
that, when every one compassionately assists his neighbor, the law of Christ is
fulfilled; by which he intimates that every thing which does not proceed from love is
superfluous; for the composition of the Greek word ἀναπληρώσατε conveys the idea
of what is absolutely perfect. But as no man performs in every respect what Paul
requires, we are still at a distance from perfection. He who comes the nearest to it
with regard to others, is yet far distant with respect to God.
ISBET, "MUTUAL HELP
‘Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’
Galatians 6:2
There are two great forces for uplifting human life, when it is low in quality and low
in material prosperity, which are more powerful and more necessary than any other
of the processes of civilisation. One is mutual help, and the other Christian
conviction and practice.
I. Mutual help.— owhere are examples of ‘mutual help’ so numerous and striking
and beautiful as are to be found in the lowest abysses of poverty. Ah! yes, we who
live where want and suffering most abound can bear witness to the truth of this.
Our people are not thrifty, but they are generous; they are self-forgetful, but they
are mindful of one another when real trouble comes. They fail in many things, but
they excel all classes of the community in this thing. Here is the strength of the poor:
they do assist each other; they do share with each other; they do stand by each other
in ways which are often sublime in their meaning and heroic in their measure. But
this strength of the poor has its accompanying weakness, and that weakness is this:
‘the mutual aid’ which characterises the poor above every other class is not
organised. It is chaotic. It works on no definite lines. It is not continuous. It is not
disciplined and made to work for designed and continuously practical ends. And the
result is that this magnificent force of ‘mutual aid’ among the poor, which, if
properly organised, would of itself work out the social salvation of the poor, is
largely unutilised and lost. The remarkable development of trades unions, of
friendly societies, of benefit societies, of loan clubs, which have sprung into existence
of late years, is a sufficient indication of what the poorer classes can accomplish if
they will but turn their minds seriously and perseveringly to this great and urgently
required work. It is a work which the whole nation is waiting to see done. It is work

39. which can only be done by the poorer working classes themselves. It is a work which
must be done before better housing conditions, more adequate means of living,
improved social habits, and increased happiness can come to those who now suffer
most from these evils. ‘Mutual help,’ which is ‘self-help’ multiplied, is the law of
progress for all men, specially men who are low down the scale of material
prosperity.
II. History nowhere tells us of a nation which has reached greatness and goodness
without the uplifting force of religion.—And so we come to our second condition for
the social plus the spiritual salvation of the suffering masses, viz. Christian
conviction and Christian practice. There was a time when secular Socialists cried,
‘Down with religion’! we will have none of it.’ But that cry was not re-echoed by the
general body of the poor. Their instinct was too strongly on the side of religion.
They felt that, however much religious people and religious teachers had failed to
come up to their own professed ideals, religion was still necessary for human life.
And so secular Socialism is changing its tone about religion. But this service which
religion can do for the suffering poor is one for which there need be no waiting for
outside action. The poor can obtain it for themselves. They can help themselves in
this matter just as truly and effectively as they can in the matter of ‘mutual aid.’
Indeed, if they do not make religion a personal matter, if they do not seek out Jesus
Christ for themselves and have direct and daily communication with Him, neither
religion nor churches nor Christian workers will bring them the saving they need,
and which their pitiable conditions cry for. That famous utterance of Jesus Christ,
‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God,’ is a principle
which applies to all human life, but specially to crushed and afflicted human life. A
poor man needs the new birth, which comes from the Holy Spirit of God, more than
any man. He needs it, not because he is a greater sinner than a man who is not poor,
but because he needs more courage, more hope, more patience, more high thought
and feeling, more contentment, more strength to endure his hard lot, than men who
are socially better off than himself. But the poor man needs this ‘new birth,’ of
which our Lord spoke, not merely that he may endure his lot, but also that he may
improve his lot. In the early days of the Church the first Christians were mostly of
the slave class. How did they become free and prosperous and powerful? The
change was entirely due to the religion of Christ. It found them as slaves; it raised
them to freedom, and to civil rights, and to prosperity. And the same result can be
obtained in our crowded and poverty-stricken English cities, if only the poorer
members of our communities will but recognise and lay hold of the spiritual and
social salvation which is waiting for them in the Gospel of Christ. There lies their
hope. There waits certain deliverance from their own human weakness and the
crushing power of misfortune. Let the sufferers from cruelties of our modern
civilisation turn their despairing souls to Him Who was the Carpenter of azareth,
but who is now the Lord of Glory. Let them follow as He leads; let them do as He
commands, and He will so transform them from weakness into might, from deadly
despair into beautiful hope, from earth-meanness into God-like dignity, that life,
instead of being, as it is now to the vast majority of them, a heavy burden, shall
become a glorious privilege, and a blessed and blessing thing.

40. Rev. Canon Henry Lewis.
SIMEO , "BE EVOLE CE RECOMME DED
Gal_6:2. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
TO open and unfold the mystery of the Gospel, is doubtless an employment which,
in point of utility to others, or of comfort to ourselves, may vie with any other, in
which a human being can be engaged. But to inculcate the morality of the Gospel is
also a most delightful office: and a minister of Christ, who feels averse to it, gives
reason to fear that he has never yet entered into the spirit of the doctrine which he
professes to teach. St. Paul manifestly delighted in this good work; for, in the close
of all his epistles, he paid the most marked attention to it [ ote: See Gal_5:19-24.].
or did he rest in general instruction, but descended to the most minute particulars;
omitting nothing that could tend to advance the honour of God, or the welfare of
mankind.
That we may enter into the precept before us, we will consider,
I. The duty enjoined—
Burthens of some kind every man is called to sustain—
[Some may be comparatively freed from them; nor do they lie on any with the same
weight and pressure at all times: but no child of man is altogether exempt from
them. The body is subject to diseases, the mind to trials, and the outward estate to
disasters, which no human foresight can prevent, no power on earth can avoid. They
greatly mistake, who think that trouble is the exclusive portion of the poor. The
rich, in their respective spheres, are as obnoxious to it as the poor; and, for the most
part, by reason of their keener sensibility, they feel it more acutely.]
or can any support their burthens alone—
[The king upon the throne needs the assistance of others, as much as the beggar
upon the dunghill. The very necessities of our nature call for mutual aid. o one
could support himself alone. It is by the division of labour that society is kept
together, and every individual that composes it is made happy. All, taking on
themselves some one office for the benefit of others, promote, at the same time, both
their own welfare, and the welfare of the whole community. The artisan, the man of
science, the practitioner in any useful line, supply the wants of others in common
with their own; and, whilst depending on their employers for their own support,
administer support in return to them. It is thus that the hungry are fed, the naked
clothed, the sick healed, and the weak protected in their rights.]
But, not confining ourselves to the duty of our own particular station, we should
endeavour, as God may enable us, to bear the burthens of all—

41. [This may be done in a way of sympathy, and in a way of succour. As members of
the same body, we ought all to care for each other [ ote: Php_2:4. 1Co_12:25.], and
to sympathize with each other under our several circumstances, whether of joy or
sorrow. The Divine command is, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with
them that weep [ ote: Rom_12:15.].” But sympathy must shew itself in deeds, and
not in words only. It will be to little purpose to “say to our destitute and naked
brother, ‘Be warmed,’ or, ‘Be filled,’ whilst we withhold from him what is needful
for his support [ ote: Jam_2:14-16.].” True, indeed, we cannot all administer relief
to others in the same way, or to the same extent: but what we can do, we should with
alacrity and joy. The eye, the ear, the tongue, the hand, the foot, cannot all render
the same service to the body: but, if they improve their respective energies and
powers for the good of the whole, they answer the end for which they were formed.
Thus we should consider what service we are best capable of rendering to every
afflicted brother: and to that we should address ourselves with all diligence; blessing
and adoring God, who has put it into our power to shew love to our fellow-
creatures, and fidelity to Him. The word which St. Paul used, to express the
assistance which the Holy Spirit affords to us in our necessities, marks the precise
office which we are to occupy in assisting all who stand in need of help from us: we
should take hold on the opposite end of their load, and bear it together with them
[ ote: Rom_8:26. ó õ í á í ô é ë á ì â Ü í å ô á é .]. And this we may all do in some
measure, yea, and must do, if we would approve ourselves faithful to the trust
reposed in us.]
That we may be stimulated to this duty, let me endeavour to impress upon your
minds,
II. The consideration by which it is enforced—
In executing this office, we “fulfil the law of Christ”—
[The Lord Jesus Christ has enjoined it as our duty: “These things I command you,
that ye love one another [ ote: Joh_15:17.].” He has gone further; and proposed
himself to us as the pattern to which, in our exercise of love, we should be
conformed: “A new command I give unto you, that ye love one another: as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another [ ote: Joh_13:34.].” He has gone further
still; and declared, that the love which we are here called to exercise is the
distinctive badge of all his followers: “By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another.” ay more; he has told us that it is the test
whereby he will try our fidelity to him in the day of judgment: to those who have
administered to the necessities of others be will give a suitable reward; and to those
who have neglected this great duty, a just and fearful doom [ ote: Mat_25:34-46.].
ow, if he had only expressed it as a wish that we would perform such services for
him, methinks it were abundantly sufficient to call forth all our exertions in his
service. But when he issues it as his command, as his command which we must obey
at the peril of our souls, who will venture to disobey it? Think but a moment what

42. Christ has done for you: “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich [ ote: 2Co_8:9.].” Has He, the God of heaven, left his throne of glory, that,
through his own sufferings unto death he might exalt you to it: and will not you, a
redeemed sinner, forego some small comforts, in order to administer to the
necessities of your afflicted brethren; and especially when called to it by your
Redeemer himself? — — —]
This law, then, I now call you to obey—
[Let the affluent bear the burthens of the poor — — — The healthy, of the sick —
— — The enlightened, of the ignorant — — — The saved, of those who are
perishing in their sins — — — And let those who are not able to engage actively in
the duties of benevolence spread the cases of their afflicted brethren before God in
prayer, and bring down from God the help which they themselves are unable to
impart — — —]
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE BY HASTI GS
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.—Gal_6:2.
For each man shall bear his own burden.—Gal_6:5.
The key-note of this Epistle, the key-note of Christianity, is struck in these two
sentences. They seem to express a contradiction, but it is not really so. If we take
them together they are a brief description of the essence of our religion; a definition,
in short compass, of the spirit of the Christian life. For the Christian faith is based
upon two great underlying principles which, though not strictly original to it, are
yet, in their passionate expression, among the most precious of its gifts to man. They
explain at once the mystery and comprehensiveness of its scheme of salvation for the
individual soul; and also the Divine beauty and eternal reality of that great ideal of
the Church as the Kingdom of God, a community of souls in which each individual
member must bear his own burden, while all the members are bound together,
bearing one another’s burdens, and united in Him who is the great Burden-bearer
of humanity, who is the Head of the body, even Christ.
It is impossible to obey one part of this law without obeying the other; it is
impossible to bear our own burden, without at the same time bearing the burden of
others; it is impossible to realize the awful responsibilities of being, without at the
same time realizing the claims of our brothers; impossible to find our own true life
without giving up our individual will, without merging our personal interests in

43. those of the human brotherhood.
So we have—
I. The Individual Burden.
II. The Mutual Burden.
III. The Law that Lightens the Burden.
I
The Individual Burden
“Every man shall bear his own burden.”
1. When St. Paul says, “Every man shall bear his own burden,” he is speaking of the
burdens which no man can transfer from his own shoulders to those of another,
burdens which from the very nature of things he must bear, and not another. And
he uses a word that carries this meaning. It is the word used by classical writers
when speaking of a soldier’s kit. St. Luke uses it in the Acts when speaking of the
lading of a ship. And our Lord uses it when He says, “My burden is light.” In all
these cases the idea is that of a burden which cannot be got rid of. A soldier on
active service must carry his own knapsack, or he is not fit to be a soldier. A
merchantman must carry her own lading, or she may as well be broken up. A
Christian must bear the burden of Christ, whatever that burden may be, or he
cannot be a Christian. There are, then, certain burdens which a man must himself
bear, which he cannot transfer from his own shoulders to those of another—which
another cannot carry.
How many people cunningly and persistently contrive to shift their burden to the
shoulders of their neighbours! They are not particular as to whom they saddle with
their duty and care, but they determine to bear as little of it themselves as is
possible. In youth somebody must fag for them; they treat their friend as a valet;
their public life is parasitical; as husband or wife, they shuffle the whole weight of
responsibility on their partner. The ingenuity of the ignoble to make themselves
comfortable at other people’s expense is no small part of the comedy and tragedy of
human life. How different the spirit of Christ! Let me manfully accept my own
burden; and then, by thought, sympathy, influence, and substantial aid, let me
lighten the burden of my neighbour. My Master was the great burden bearer of the
race. Let me drink in His spirit and follow in His steps.1 [ ote: W. L. Watkinson,
The Gates of Dawn, 24.]
2. In creating man God has laid firm and deep the foundations of individual
character and of individual life. There is no individuality in the case of a flock of
sheep or a herd of cattle Doubtless no two sheep are exactly alike, and the shepherd
knows the difference between them, however alike they may appear to the

44. superficial; but there is no individual consciousness and no individual life. One
primrose is like another primrose. It is a pity that this one should fade, but another
will spring up in its place, and the hedgerow will be none the worse. But in the case
of men God has laid firm and deep the foundations of individual character,
individual condition, individual responsibility, and individual destiny. So it comes to
pass that of two children born of the same stock, playing in the same nursery,
brought up very largely with the same education and surroundings, each possesses
his own individual character from the outset, sometimes in a fashion which puzzles
parents who study their children closely; and, as soon as moral responsibility
begins, each one begins of necessity to shape his own character, to choose his own
course, to mark out his own path, and very largely to fashion his own destiny. And
the burdens each one has to bear are those belonging to his individual lot.
Perhaps the most prominent Secession divine in Aberdeen who was a contemporary
of Dr. Kidd was James Templeton, minister of what is now Belmont Street U. P.
Church. He was a man of quiet power and singular shrewdness of observation. His
mother wit, spiritual fervour, homely illustration, and unabashed vernacular gave
him acceptance with the people. One Sabbath, speaking to persons who complained
that their burdens in life were exceptionally heavy, he said—“Suppose now you
were to take all your separate burdens to the Castlegate and drop them doon there,
and after examinin’ them and comparin’ them one with another, I am thinkin’ you
wouldna be willin’ to exchange with any when you really saw what they were; but,
pickin’ up your bit bundlie, each one of you wad gang awa’ hame mair contentit
than when you went to the Castlegate.”1 [ ote: James Stark, Dr. Kidd of Aberdeen,
140.]
(1) There is the burden of physical disability or disfigurement, such as lameness,
blindness, or deformity of any sort—always a very grievous burden to be borne. St.
Paul knew this burden, the shame and the sorrow of it. Apparently he suffered from
some distressing physical evil that made him contemptible in the eyes of men and
that injured even his ministerial usefulness. Some, indeed, have held that the thorn
in the flesh was a moral weakness—a violent temper, a jealous nature, even a lustful
passion. But no man ever received grace to bear these things, though thousands
have received grace to get rid of them. The facts that the thorn was not removed and
that grace was given him to bear it show conclusively that it could not have been a
moral weakness but rather a physical defect, a disease. And there are thousands in
the world to-day, like him, who have to bear unaided and alone the burden of
physical weakness or deformity save for that Divine grace which helps them to
overcome the shame and to endure the pain.
In one of Schiller’s poems a beautiful story is told to this effect: When God made the
birds He gave them gorgeous plumage and sweet voices, but no wings. He laid wings
on the ground and said, “Take these burdens and bear them.” They struggled along
with them, folding them over their hearts. Presently the wings grew fast to their
breasts and spread themselves out, and they found that what they had thought were
burdens were changed to pinions.1 [ ote: A. T. Pierson.]

45. (2) There is the burden of intellectual weakness. Men have not all the same mental
powers, the same facility in acquiring learning, the same range of vision, the same
foresight. One man succeeds in life because he has a greater power of forecasting the
future, of calculating the changes in the money market, or industrial life, than his
neighbour. The race is perhaps not always to the swift, but it generally is. The battle
is not always to the strong, but it generally is. And in the race of human life a man,
notwithstanding all his diligence and probity, may find himself outdistanced by one
of keener intellect and greater foresight. He may think it hard that it should be so,
but he must bear the burden of his own defects as best he may.
I would gladly bear your burden,
If it might be so,
But each heart its own must carry;
one may go
Altogether free, you know.
If I might, it would be easy,
O my friend, for me
Just to take your task and do it,
But, you see,
Such a thing could never be.
Though my heart aches, as I watch you,
Toiling through the day—
Missing some of life’s old sunshine
From your way—
Finding work instead of play—
Yet I know that it is better—

46. Know that you and I,
Looking back from God’s to-morrow,
By and by—
ever more shall question “Why?”
By our losses He is leading
To eternal gain:
He will surely give us sunshine,
After rain—
Calm for sorrow—peace for pain.1 [ ote: Edith H. Divall, A Believer’s Rest, 78.]
(3) It may be some permanent or far-reaching consequence of a former act of our
own; some neglect, or recklessness, or sin in the past, which has hung a weight about
our necks. The sin may be repented of; the pardon may be assured. But the
temporal consequences of the sin remain, and will remain so long as we have breath.
This is the most irksome and the most painful form which a man’s individual
burden can take. If you thrust a knife into your arm, it does not affect me. You
yourself feel the pain; you yourself must endure the agony. I may sympathize, I may
pity, I may bandage the gash, but the severed flesh and the lacerated fibres are
yours, and along your nerves nature telegraphs the pain. So it is with the soul. A
man who stabs himself with a bad habit, who opens the arteries of his higher life
with the lancet of his passions and drains them of the vital fluid, who inserts his
head within the noose of appetite and swings himself off from the pedestal of his
self-control, must endure the suffering, the weakness, and the loss which are the
issue of his insane conduct.
Sin is often described by active and aggressive metaphors—it is a deceiver, a
destroyer, an enemy, etc. This passive one is more dreadful, for it tells simply of the
dead weight of fact. Facts are “chiels that winna ding.” Sin is, to Paul, “this dead
body”; and the flaccid mass of inelastic flesh, at once soft and heavy, is horrible
enough without the implied hint of decay. The worst thing about sin is just that it is
there—an irrevocable fact which the sinner has put there. When he realizes this he
feels it as a burden: he cannot sleep, or eat, or work, or play as once he did. Yet that
is a precious pain. The far deeper danger is that one should grow accustomed to it,
as the Swiss peasant to the growing load of hay or Milo to his ox, until he is able
complacently to “draw iniquity with a cart rope.” The unblushed-for past—the
dead weight of sinful facts faced deliberately and carried lightly—that is a doom far

47. deeper than the most oppressive load.1 [ ote: John Kelman, The Road, i. 3.]
3. ow St. Paul does not say that the burden shall be lifted from off our shoulders,
or that it shall be borne for us, but that we shall be sustained in carrying it. If it is
God’s gift, it is His will that we should keep it, at least for the time. There is some
blessing in it for us, and it would not be kindness to us for God to take it away, even
at our earnest pleading. It is part of our life, and is essential to our best growth. This
is true of duty; however hard it is, to relieve us of it would be to rob us of the
opportunity for reaching larger usefulness. It is true of struggle; all nobleness and
strength of character come out of conflict. It is true of suffering; it is God’s
cleansing fire, and to miss it would be a sore loss to us. Hence, while God never fails
us in need, He loves us too well to relieve us of weights which are essential to our
best growth and to the largest fruitfulness of our life. He does not take the load from
our shoulder, but instead He puts strength in us to enable us to carry the burden,
and thus grow strong. This is the secret of the peace of many a sick-room. It is the
secret of the deep, quiet joy we see oft-times in the home of sorrow.
The seal of one of those Scottish Covenanters whom Claverhouse imprisoned on the
lonely Bass Rock reads “Sub pondere cresco”—“I grow beneath the load.”2 [ ote:
A. Smellie, In the Hour of Silence.]
Thy burden is God’s gift,
And it will make the bearer calm and strong;
Yet, lest it press too heavily and long,
He says, “Cast it on Me,
And it shall easy be.”
And those who heed His voice,
And seek to give it back in trustful prayer,
Have quiet hearts that never can despair,
And hope lights up the way
Upon the darkest day.
It is the lonely road

48. That crushes out the light and life of heaven;
But borne with Him, the soul restored, forgiven,
Sings out through all the days
Her joy and God’s high praise.1 [ ote: J. R. Miller.]
II
The Mutual Burden
“Bear ye one another’s burdens.”
1. The Greek word for burden in this verse might be better rendered by “load,” for
the idea is that of an adventitious and heavy burden. A man’s family is, in a certain
sense, a burden—a burden that arises from his being a husband and a father—but
it is not a burden of which he can rid himself. To him it is a light burden, as to the
Christian Christ’s burden is light. But to this burden there may be added the
burden of ill-health, or misfortune, or poverty. It is not in any one’s power to say to
him, “I am to take up your burden. You shall no longer be weighted down with your
family. You shall no longer be a husband. You shall no longer be a father. Your
duties as husband and father shall no longer oppress you.” We cannot say that. We
might, indeed, remove his children from him, but that would not in any degree
lessen his duty to care for them and train them and teach them and act a father’s
part towards them. If we wish to help him it is his load, not his burden, we must
bear—the crushing weight of poverty, or misfortune, or sorrow.
2. This burden-bearing means a different thing in each life. It is not a pretty
sentiment, a mere figure of speech. It is the great and manifold service of love, which
needs all the wisdom and strength and patience that we can bring to it, and which
can be wrought in a thousand ways. Occasionally this burden-bearing can be done
very literally when we can take on to our own shoulders for the bearing, and into
our own hands for the doing, that which for another was too heavy and too hard.
But more frequently it must take the form of the indirect and mediate service of
sympathy. In the great league of pity and help to which we are all called, and in
which, if only we are unselfish enough, we can all find a place, we ever find that the
best thing we have to give to the world is our influence. o man liveth to himself.
Every man is ever adding to or diminishing the burden of other lives. There is an
infinitude of interaction—much of it beyond our tracing; and in so far as we carry
through life a cheerful, patient, responsive, and unselfish spirit we shall be doing
something every day to make the burden of others easier to be borne.
Dr. Bell’s desire for sympathy, and his appreciation of it was touchingly intense, and
yet he had a way of looking and speaking with almost flippant unconcern when
feeling most deeply. This was at times when he knew that any display of emotion
would “upset everything.” Thus many people who knew him well saw little of his

49. inner self. They saw him as the hope-inspiring physician, smiling and chatting,
cheering the sorrowful, soothing the sufferer, quick to see fun lurking near
solemnity, taking up the burden of others with seemingly no burden of his own,
bringing a gay good humour to meet anxious doubts and dreadful fears. When
young, his bearing was that of a joyous nature on whom the gods had showered
their good gifts. Even in later years when many bereavements had wounded his
warm affections to the quick his smile was ready, and his sense of fun as fresh as
ever. His self-control was perfect.1 [ ote: Joseph Bell: An Appreciation, 34.]
The late Right Hon. W. H. Smith, when First Lord of the Admiralty, was leaving his
office one afternoon, when his secretary, seeing him packing up a number of letters
and other Government papers, asked him to leave them and have them forwarded to
him by post as other Ministers did. “ o,” was the answer, “the fact is our postman
has plenty to carry. I watched him one morning coming up the approach, and I
determined to save him as much as I could.”2 [ ote: The Morning Watch, 1894, p.
10.]
(1) By the giving of sympathy you take away the worst weight of sorrow. You cannot
take it all away, but you can lift off that in it which maims the life or slays the soul,
if you love enough. Unloving sympathy has no tact, no inventiveness, no insight, no
reverence. But the sympathy of love—and that you are bound to win, if you would
obey this law—enters into the sanctuary of another’s sorrow with uncovered head
and reverent stillness, sees the point where tenderness can touch and not hurt, has
quickness of imagination to invent the means of bearing away the burden; rescues
the sufferers before they are conscious of being rescued, and wins undying love.
There is no happiness in life so delicate and pure as the doing of this beautiful thing.
It is the happiness of God Himself.
(2) Joy may for the moment be as great a burden as sorrow. The heart may be
o’erfraught with delight, and nigh to breaking with it. When Lear awoke from his
madness and saw Cordelia bending over him, and love in her eyes, he all but died of
joy. We have no right, but have great wrong, if we treat with indifference the joy of
the child or the rapture of youth. “They want no sympathy,” we say, or even with a
scoff, “He is happy! let him alone!” Have we never repulsed young or old with a cold
look when they came up full of their delight, longing for us to share their pleasure?
It is an unkindly act; let us never do it again. Let us think rather that joy is a
burden that you have to bear for others. Make the delight of others brighter by
sympathy. Do not blow with a cold wind upon the rose in flower, lest you wither its
leaves. “Rejoice,” said St. Paul, with his large knowledge of the needs of love,
“rejoice with them that do rejoice.”
3. Different temperaments, like different plants, require different atmospheres.
Some plants require a tropical heat before they will put on their beautiful garments.
We have to create about them a mimic summer, and delude them into feeling that
they are far away, at home in the burning clime. Other plants seek for our own
temperate heat; they disburse their treasure, not to the soft calling of the luxurious
breeze of the tropics, but to the robust, bracing, toughening winds of our own land.

50. How we have to humour the plants if we would lure them out into blossoms and
flower! This one must be set a little farther in the shade. That one must be lifted up
into the light, to receive the baptism of the sun. Each one must be placed according
to its temperament. And when vices cling about them in the shape of destructive
little parasites, little insects which grow fat by draining up the sap, then how we
have to medicate the atmosphere, to provide certain conditions which shall help the
plants to deal with their enemies, and to throw off the burdens! Thus we create
suitable conditions for individual plants; and thus we must create suitable
conditions for the full and beautiful growth of individual men.
Looking back over these two years of illness, it is impossible not to be struck by the
calmness and fortitude with which that illness was met. There were moments of
terrible depression and of disappointment and of grief. It was not easy for him to
give up ambition, to leave so many projects unfulfilled, so much work undone. But
to him this illness grew to be a mount of purification,
Ove l’umano spirito si purga,
E di salire al ciel diventa degno.
More and more there grew on him a deepening sense of the goodness of God. o one
had ever suffered more from the Eclipse of Faith, no one had ever been more honest
in dealing with himself and with his difficulties. The change that came over his
mental attitude may seem almost incredible to those who knew him only as a
scientific man; it does not seem so to the few who knew anything of his inner life. To
them the impression given is, not of an enemy changed into a friend, antagonism
altered into submission; rather is it of one who for long has been bearing a heavy
burden on his shoulders bravely and patiently, and who at last has had it lifted from
him, and lifted so gradually that he could not tell the exact moment when he found it
gone, and himself standing, like the Pilgrim of the never-to-be-forgotten story, at the
foot of the Cross, and Three Shining Ones coming to greet him.1 [ ote: Life and
Letters of George John Romanes, 351.]
III
The Law that Lightens the Burden
“And so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Here the Apostle directs his readers from the law given on stone to the law which
should be written on the heart, from the Mount of Sinai to the Mount of Beatitudes,
from the law of the letter which killeth to the law of the Spirit which giveth life.
There can be little doubt that the Apostle’s words here were suggested by the
controversy which had been raging in the Galatian Church.
The Galatians who were the object of St. Paul’s attention had been showing much
more interest in the outward marks of religion than in its inward power. They had

51. come under the spell of that view which made religion a matter of rite and ritual,
and here the Apostle would have them learn that such a view was altogether a
mistake. Like his fellow-Apostle, he could enforce the truth that pure religion before
God and the Father was not a matter of circumcision or of outward ordinances. It
did not consist of attendances at synagogue at the proper hour or of keeping the
feasts in all their strictness. Pure religion was something more than these. It was to
visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted
from the world.
1. This law is founded on the necessities of our human nature. It is not necessary to
obey it because it is commanded; it is commanded because it is necessary. It fits into
the wants of man. For we are all dependent on one another. As in our body each
organ lives for itself only in living for the rest, as each part, even each atom, of our
frame supplements the wants of the others, gives and receives, bears and forbears,
dies and lives alternately for the life of the whole—so is it in the ever living body of
humanity. The life of each nation, each society, each man, depends on the mutual
giving and receiving, dying and living, bearing and forbearing of all the rest. So the
moment we, through selfishness of life, divide ourselves from this living and dying
for others, the moment we isolate ourselves, we pronounce our own sentence of
death. The absolute loss of love is eternal death, as its absolute gain is eternal life. It
was that Christ Jesus saw; it was that He proclaimed on Calvary. And it is the law
of the life of the universe. Therefore, “bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ.”
To bear the burdens of others might well have seemed to St. Paul a dictate of the
intuitive moral consciousness, and might well have been commanded by him on the
ground of that inward intuition. But this is not the ground on which St. Paul
commands it; he appeals to a positive historical authority, which he calls “the law of
Christ”; and he asks men to bear the burdens of others, not because that precept
was written in their hearts, but because it had been given by Him who was the
object of their worship. In writing to these Galatians, wavering as they were
between Christianity and Judaism, he evidently speaks of the law of Christ in
contradistinction to the law of Moses. It is as if he had said, “Do not think that, in
coming from Judaism to Christianity, you are passing from a region of positive
certainty into a world of mystic obscurity; we too have a historic Lawgiver, who has
uttered His voice from the mount of God, and who speaks with an authority which
Moses never wielded. You have received from Moses only the negative precept—the
command not to hurt your brother; we offer you a law of Christ which commands
you to identify your brother’s interests with your own—‘Bear ye one another’s
burdens.’ ”
When Dr. Temple resigned the headmastership of Rugby to become Bishop of
Exeter, his farewell sermon to the boys was from the text, “Bear ye one another’s
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” “This new commandment of Christ,” said
the preacher, “this law of love which Paul is here referring to, our Lord and the
Apostles place above all other commandments. How is this? The older dispensation
had placed the fear and love of God first, then the love of neighbours. Surely the

52. highest rule must be to love first God, then truth, holiness, justice, and after these
one another. Has the Gospel sunk below the law? o, for under the Gospel, by the
incarnation of the Son of God, the two loves are united, can no longer be kept apart.
There can be no love of God apart from love of man. Christ Himself has pointed out
this love of each other as the special mode by which He would have us acknowledge
Him. Let us help one another, then, at our Lord’s call, by courage, by patience, by
cordial and tender sympathy in joy and sorrow, by faithful warning, by resignation.
There are no bounds to the help which spirit can give to spirit in the intercourse of a
noble life. When parted, we can still bear one another’s burdens by hearty, mutual
trust. There is nothing which gives more firmness and constancy to the life of a man
than loyal trust in absent friends.”1 [ ote: Frederick Temple, Archbishop of
Canterbury, i. 238.]
2. The bearing of our own burden in a Christian spirit prepares us for lifting the
load of other people. Every experience carries with it the power of bearing a burden.
Have you never passed through times when your own religious faith was at stake?
Then how tenderly you can enter into the mental struggle of others. Have you never
known the trouble of making both ends meet? Then you will sympathize with the
burdens of those who dare not be generous, because, by God’s grace, they will first
be just. Have you known what it is to go to your business, while some dear child was
lying, like alabaster, in the sleep of death, and you had to keep down your feelings
while you won life’s daily bread? Then how you can feel for others who have left
their hearts in the great death-chamber with the closed door.
While it is true that by bearing our own burdens we learn best how to bear other
people’s, the converse is no less true. There is no help towards bearing our own
burdens so effective as the bearing the burdens of others as well. This is the moral
paradox of our being. Are we sinking under the weight of our own burden? Then let
us go up to our neighbour, and courageously shoulder his also. The two will be
lighter, incomparably lighter, than the one was. Is not this demonstrably true? Is a
man’s heart wounded and bleeding with some recent sorrow—a cruel bereavement,
a disappointed hope, an outraged affection; and he broods over it until the pain
becomes too terrible to bear? The only relief for his agony is found in ministering to
the wants or consoling the sorrows of another. His sympathy is thus evoked; and
with sympathy come new interests, new feelings, a new life.
Sad souls, that harbour fears and woes
In many a haunted breast,
Turn but to meet your lowly Lord,
And He will give you rest.
Into His commonwealth alike
Are ills and blessings thrown;

53. Bear ye your neighbours’ burdens; lo!
Their ease shall be your own.
Yield only up His price, your heart,
Into God’s loving hold;
He turns with heavenly alchemy,
Your lead of life to gold.
Some needful pangs endure in peace,
or yet for freedom pant;
He cuts the bane you cleave to off,
Then gives the boon you want.1 [ ote: S. H. Palfrey.]
Describing David Hill’s itinerant tours in China, one of the missionaries, the Rev. T.
Protheroe, says, “I venture to add an incident which occurred on one of our
journeys. He had a servant in training for the work of an evangelist. The servant
had given over a bundle of rugs, which served as Mr. Hill’s bedding, to an old man
who escorted us, and showed evident unwillingness to bear any share even in
relieving the old man of his burden. It was a hot day. One word from Mr. Hill would
have been enough, but he preferred to teach the much-needed lesson in another
way, and said he should carry the bundle himself. Of course, I objected, and there
was some dispute as to which of us should bear the burden but he won the day in
the end by saying, ‘Do let me have it; I want to teach him humility.’ ”2 [ ote: J. E.
Hellier, Life of David Hill, 247.]
3. The measure of our love to one another must be the love that Christ showed to us.
It is an infinite measure. There is no one who can say, “I have done enough for my
brother man. I have loved enough.” Beyond our most eager efforts stretches the
ever-expanding loving-kindness of Jesus. There is no one who can say, “I have
forgiven enough! If my brother sin again, if my enemy do me another wrong, I will
forgive no more”; for beyond our most amazing forgiveness extends the unwearied
forgiveness of Christ—the image, the reflexion and the revelation in man of the
unconquerable desire to bless and to redeem, which is deepest towards us in the
heart of God our Father. Therefore, in this illimitable demand upon us for love, we
are greatly blessed. We are placed in the infinite, and kept in the infinite; we are
freed from definitions of love, from maxims of forgiveness, from all the foolish
casuistry that limits love. In this, at least, we are not to be content with our
limitations. There are no limitations. We are challenged by God Himself to share in
His infinity; never to endure finality in tenderness, never to imagine the end of love.

54. It is a glorious call, and to answer it brings us into the infinite God Himself. So, as
the Apostle Paul exhorts the Ephesians, “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye
are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love.”
Thus will you “fulfil the law of Christ”—that law which has its culminating glory in
the atoning death of Calvary; its Divinest symbol in the cross. Then only does the
higher life begin with us when we bow ourselves before the majesty of this “supreme
offering made by supreme love, because the need of man was great, when we feel the
glow of a common life with the lost multitude for whom that offering was made, and
behold the history of the world as the history of a great redemption in which we
ourselves are fellow-workers in our own place and among our own people.”
In the Pilgrim’s Progress, coming to the Cross is the last incident in the man’s
salvation. The cross, which used to be the emblem of slavery, now becomes the
means of liberty and lightening. The point to notice here is that we are saved by
what we see. The sinful man loses his burden upon realizing a fact, and the essence
of Christianity is a magnificent realization. Sin had been too much for him, but now
God has vanquished it. The joy that follows is inevitable. Bunyan tells us in his
Grace Abounding, that, when the joy of this release came to him, he could have
spoken of it to the very crows that sat upon the ploughed land by the wayside. The
power and beauty of the simple sentence which tells of the burden tumbling into the
mouth of the sepulchre make that passage one of the religious classics of the world.
o commentary is necessary or possible except the memory of that experience in the
hearts of those in whose lives it has happened.
BI, "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Burden-bearing
These two principles are:--
I. The brotherhood of souls--“Bear ye one another’s burdens.”
II. The responsibility of the individual soul--“Every man shall bear his own
burden.” ow these two principles are not really opposed to each other, and neither
are the precepts of the text. For if you think of it, you will find it is impossible to
obey one part of this law without obeying the other; that it is impossible to bear one,
your own burden, without at the same time bearing the burden of others; that it is
impossible to realize the awful responsibilities of your being without at the same

55. time realizing the claims of your brothers; impossible to find your own true life
without giving up your individual will, without “merging your personal interests in
those of the human brotherhood, and those of the human brotherhood in the light of
the life of God.” Take one side of the idea first. “Every man shall bear his own
burden.” There is certainly a very real sense in which this is true, and perhaps no
truth has impressed itself more deeply upon the mind of man. Strangest of all things
in this wondrous universe is the loneliness of man. Lonely in his birth, lonely in all
the great movements of his life, lonely in his death, he comes, he passes, he
disappears. Enthroned on the citadel of being, each soul is like a star, and dwells
apart. There, in the solitary circuit of its own being, it must patiently revolve, for no
star can move in the orbit of another star; it cannot pass the silent deep that lies
between; it is alone, and shines in solitary beauty. How then, you ask, is it possible to
obey the command of the apostle: “Bear ye one another’s burdens”? My only
answer is that which is implied in the words of the text, that it is only by bearing one
another’s burdens that we can really bear our own. Does that seem to be a paradox?
If you consider deeply you will not think so, you will see that it is really the law of
Christ--the highest phase of that law which rules the rhythmic harmony of the
universe--that the true life of man is something higher than a life of individual
isolation or of personal interest, and that to attain this you must give up your
individual will, you must rise into a life which is your own, and yet not your own,
and of which the highest expression must always be, “I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me.”
1. Take first the illustration which Christ Himself gave in the simplest phase of
growing life, the living unity of the tree: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” In the
economy of a tree you know there is a function which every member must perform,
and without which the vigour of life cannot be maintained. If any part should, so to
speak, refuse to exercise its function and to bear the burden of the others, itself must
pass away. Give it a separate existence, give it the individuality to which it aspires,
and what is the result? When it formed a part of the tree joyfully bearing its own
burden, and so also bearing the burden of the others, it shared the glory and the
freshness of its life, and all its bloom and beauty.
2. The same principle which is thus exemplified in the tree is seen also in the
phenomena of sentient life. It is true that the same law holds throughout the realm
of our inorganic life, and even in the subtler relations of organisms as collections of
modified cells, with unity of origin and coordination of function, it is clearly shown
that life cannot be sustained without that mutual burden-bearing which is part of
the very law of God. While each individual member has its part to play, its burden
to bear, there is a life of the organism to which it must contribute. The members are
not independent of each other, but linked together and mutually helpful. “The eye
cannot say to the hand I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have
need of you.” Each member must bear its own burden, and in so doing it will bear
the burdens of the others.
3. You have seen the principle illustrated in the life of the body. In the structure as it
rises from base to summit each stone bears its own burden, and from foundation to

56. cope stone there is none which is useless, all alike sustaining and sustained, rising in
gradual ascent according to the plan in the mind of the architect, and growing up
into that ideal of beauty and of serviceableness after which he strove, exemplifying
in the simplest as well as in the most elaborate form the same principle, and showing
that the law which gives its nameless grace to the tiny arch gives also its imposing
grandeur to the great cathedral, rising as it does, in ever ascending glory, from its
pillars of over-vaulted gloom, with architraves and arches of majestic beauty, “like a
primeval forest,” till all the building fitly framed together grows into a holy temple,
meet for the worship of God.
4. And if we pass from these suggestive illustrations we shall also find in the life of
man and in the arrangement of society equally forcible illustrations of the same
principle; a principle which is indeed the very law of society, and without which
society could not cohere. Take, for instance, the very common principle of the
division of labour, a principle which was slowly adopted, but which is now one of
the axioms of economic science. It is not only of direct utility in increasing the power
of labour, justifying the saying of the preacher, “Two are better than one,” because
they have a good reward for their labours. But there is also a higher principle
involved. For it is thus by their lower necessities that men are led to see that they
have need of each other, and that each and all have their place. I might go on to
speak of the basis that has been laid for the law of mutual burden-bearing in the
natural constitution of man, in the power of sympathy and natural affection, in the
love that binds parent to child, and friend to friend in the sweet charities of human
life. There is a similar illustration which may be given in what is called the body
politic. What is a State? The true idea of a State is not that of an unconnected
collection of individuals, but rather that of an organism, with an organic life and an
economy of members, each of which has its own part to play, its own burden to
bear, and if it honestly bears that burden, it is also bearing the burdens of the
others. For you cannot say that in making the demand Christ makes a demand
which is contrary to the nature of things. He merely demands that you should
submit yourself to a law which is the expression of God’s will, and which is the very
law of life. He shows that which is the very glory of the Christian faith, that it does
not stand in antagonism with any true principle of our nature. We are, as it were, a
great army under marching orders. Day by day we are marching onwards. Each of
us has his own burden to bear. Each of us must carry his own knapsack, and
shoulder his own musket. And as our comrades fall beside us shall we not pause,
and carry them to the rear? Would you call that man a true soldier who could see
his fellow soldier fall and not seek to relieve him, who would quail before the shot of
the enemy and run to save himself when his wounded brother fell? To this it is, my
brethren, that the law of Christ calls you. You must renounce your own will, and
bow to the will of God. You must give up your own freedom, and find it in a greater
and nobler freedom. You must bear the burdens of others or you cannot bear your
own. (A. W. Williamson, M. A.)
Bearing one another’s burdens

57. I. Enumerate some of the burdens of the Christian life.
1. The greatest of all burdens which the Christian feels is sin. It is this which makes
the whole creation groan, and causes an apostle to cry out, “Oh wretched man that I
am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom_7:24). David also
complains and says, “Mine iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they
are too heavy for me” (Psa_38:4).
2. Bodily infirmities and diseases are in themselves a burden, however providence
may intend them for our good, and finally overrule them for our spiritual
advantage.
3. Worldly losses, trials and difficulties, are the burden which some are called to
bear, and of these there is a heavy load. The unkindness and ingratitude, the malice
and opposition of enemies, press heavily on some: the undutifulness of children, and
the breaches made by death, on others: and an endless train of disappointed hopes
and expectations attend on all.
4. A state of distance from God, and the hidings of His face, are a great grief and
burden to the believing soul. “Thou hidest Thy face,” says David, “and I am
troubled.”
II. Our obligations to sympathise with one another, under the various ills and evils
of the present life. We cannot so “bear each other’s burdens” as to transfer them to
ourselves, or suffer in another’s stead. In this sense Christ bore our griefs, and
carried our sorrows, and at length bore our sins in His own body on the tree; and
He alone was able to do it.
1. Let us bear one another’s burdens by tenderly sympathising with those who are
afflicted. Let us make their griefs, as well as their joys, our own.
2. We are to bear one another’s burdens by endeavouring to alleviate the afflicted,
and comforting them under all their sorrows.
3. The motive by which this duty is enforced is, that in so doing we “fulfil the law of
Christ.” It is according to the new commandment which He has given us, that we
should love one another; and according to the old commandment that we should
love God, and our neighbour as ourselves. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Mutual burdens

58. I. We must take this text into the sphere of realism. Trouble is not to be treated
sentimentally, curiously, inquisitively, but practically Reach out a heart of love and
a hand of help to your brother man, not only touching his burden, but bearing it, so
that it becomes a matter of prayerful thought, tender remembrance, and gracious
kindness.
II. This is to be done with great tact and delicacy of feeling. Seek never to lower a
brother’s honour, while helping his need.
III. We must do this as the law of life. There is nothing “occasional” in the Christen
spirit. Separate actions do not make good men.
IV. We must look at this great teaching along the line of true social economy. Help
those who are trying to help themselves.
V. Cultivate a tender sense of brotherhood. In sympathising with, and bearing one
another’s burdens, we realize the great fact that we shall have burdens to bear
ourselves. So we shall. Those who have most, often say least about them. But God
intends these trials to prepare us for Christian service. Every experience brings with
it the power of bearing a burden. (W. M. Statham.)
Christian generosity
So deceitful is the heart, it must be constantly watched, lest under the semblance of
piety and religious zeal, we should be led to indulge rancorous and unholy passions.
This the apostle seems to have felt; hence the caution (Gal_5:13-16), the exposure of
the fruits both of the flesh and the spirit (verses 19-23), and the exhortation which
concludes with the text.
I. The duty enjoined. The term “burden” denotes something which, by uneasy
pressure, exhausts the strength and spirits of the person oppressed by it. It may
apply to--

59. 1. A weight of labour or bodily toil. This is the effect of the original transgression
(Gen_3:19). We may lighten it by manual assistance, by procuring the requisite
help, or pecuniary, which would render the excess of labour unnecessary.
2. A weight of personal affliction (Job_7:20). The pressure of this may be relieved by
medical aid, kind attendance, the soothing, sympathising language of friendship, or
the considerations which religion affords.
3. Domestic affliction and cares.
4. Providential losses, poverty, embarrassment, oppression, etc.
5. Guilt and corruption. In this case especially, is Christian sympathy demanded.
6. Temptation (Ecc_4:9; Rom_15:1; 1Th_5:14).
7. Infirmities, whether of body or mind. Pity rather than upbraid a weak brother.
Help his infirmities, instead of exposing them to others.
II. The enforcing motive.
1. This is worthy of the character of Christ, inasmuch as it is
(1) a law of equity,
(2) a law of benevolence,
(3) a law of general utility, by which society is benefited, the sum of evil being
lessened, and that of happiness increased.
2. It is congenial with the Spirit of Christ (Php_2:5; 2Co_8:9; Col_3:12-13.)
3. It is agreeable with the example of Christ (Joh_13:13; Php_2:6-9; Heb_2:14-16).
4. It is deducible from the precepts of Christ (Joh_13:33-34; Joh_15:12; Joh_15:17).
5. It has, and shall have, the approbation of Christ (Mat_5:7; Mat_25:34-40).
Concluding inferences:
(1) Seeing that the text expresses the peculiar genius of the religion by which we
hope for salvation, the subject should awaken inquiry (1Jn_4:19-21).
(2) If examination should happen to lead us to humiliating views of past
shortcomings, etc., it should also lead us to unreserved and constant obedience;

60. which may be supported by a consideration of what we owe to
(a) ourselves;
(b) our brethren;
(c) our Saviour, who regards what is done to His followers as done to Himself;
(d) our God, who expects such return for His love (1Jn_4:9-11). (Theological Sketch-
book.)
Bearing one another’s burdens
This world is full of burden-bearers. We cannot pass through it without taking a
load. or can we help fulfilling the injunction of the text in some sense. We do,
naturally and inevitably, bear one another’s burdens. Life is such that every man
must take some share of the life of those around. To be in relationships means this;
to be in a family as head or member, to be in business, to be one of a social and
civilized community, implies it. The text is needed, then, to make that Christian
which is simply natural, to change hard necessity into holy duty. Christianity speaks
to men who are all struggling and suffering together, and says not, “Throw off the
burden, deny the mutual claim, restrain the hand of help,” but, “What you must do,
do willingly; what you might leave undone, do more willingly still.”
I. Some of the burdens we may help others to bear.
1. Poverty. Answers to objections--
(1) “Many of the poor are born so, and do not feel their privations as a burden, not
knowing any other state.” True, but we must think of what they may be raised to
The poorest man is a man altogether, and capable of all a man can be in soul and
circumstances.
(2) “There must be the different classes in society. Christ tells us we shall always
have the poor with us.” Yes, but Christ merely refers to a fact He does not commend
it, or announce it as one of the laws of His Kingdom. The nature of His Kingdom is,
in proportion as its principles prevail, to bring all evils to an end, and poverty
undoubtedly tends to produce and perpetuate evil; e.g., it prevents the acquisition of
knowledge, makes decency very difficult, quenches nobler strivings, makes life a
drudgery. When very deep, it is twin-sister to famine, and behind them both are the
darker forms of crime (Pro_30:8-9).
2. Infirmity. Weak goodness needs encouragement. Many who fall often are

61. struggling hard all the time. Be willing and ready to hold out a helping hand. Suffer
the hasty word to pass in silence, without answering again. Check the ungenerous
judgment in your heart. Watch for the best opportunity of suggesting a more
excellent way.
3. Trouble. To “weep with them that weep” is a ministration of love far more intense
than to “rejoice with them that do rejoice.” A friendship of fellowship cemented by
sorrow is often both more profitable and more lasting than the fellowship of health,
and laughter, and mutual success. Christ’s fellowship with men is enduring and
valuable because it includes all imaginable sympathy. You must fill your own heart
with the trouble you would lessen. This is “Christ in you,” and is probably the
presage of Christ in your suffering friend, with increase of soul-strength, and
abundance of consolation.
II. Motives or inducements.
1. The frailty of human nature, and the uncertainties of human life.
2. It is the way to fulfil the law of Christ. And to fulfil that law is to fulfil all laws.
More than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, more than all ceremonial and
observance, more than all philosophy, more than all morality, more than all religion
besides. The keeping of it is the completeness of duty, the substance of goodness, the
secret of happiness, and the best preparation for the ineffable glories and joys of
heaven. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Poverty is the load of some, and wealth is the load of others, perhaps the greater
load of the two. It may weigh thee down to perdition. Bear the load of thy
neighbour’s poverty, and let him bear with thee the load of thy wealth. Thou
lightenest thy load by lightening his. (Bp. Chris. Wordsworth.)
What is our whole religion but a burden-bearing? We have our own and also
others’ burdens to bear. We are all on a journey; if one is like to give way, the other
must refresh him; if one is likely to fall, the other must help him up. (Starke.)
Christian sympathy
The individual conscience, if sufficiently sensitive, and alive to its responsibilities,
will daily find for itself manifold occasions of bearing others’ burdens. We may
show our sympathy, for instance, with sickness and suffering, in our liberal support

62. of hospitals and similar appliances for bringing excellent medical skill within reach
of those who most need and can least afford it. Those who have leisure to do so, may
show it by visiting the sick and afflicted, and alleviating, by gentle acts and kindly
attentions, the suffering they find around them. We may sympathise with poverty,
either by actual relief of want and destitution, or by the better method, where it is
possible, of procuring for them the means of earning an honest livelihood. And our
sympathy with such may be most clearly expressed by the delicacy with which the
help is tendered, a matter which many benevolent people are apt to forget, and so
mar the good they would otherwise do. We may sympathise with age and its
attendant evils, by cheerfully tendering the deference and consideration which the
better portion of mankind has always combined to accord to increasing years: we
may show it, too, by patience of its tediousness, and querulousness, and by diverting
attention from failing faculties and enfeebled powers of mind and body. We may
sympathise with infirmities of temper in those with whom we may be thrown in
contact, by tact and temper, and forbearance on our part, endeavouring to hit the
due medium between an undue complaisance, which is no true kindness to the
wayward, and a needless and irritating opposition. We may sympathise with
ignorance, by excusing it where it is unavoidable and not culpable, by seeking to
remedy it in every way that lies in our power, and by readiness to impart whatever
knowledge we possess, at whatever cost of time or trouble. We may sympathise with
the penitent sinner, if the providence of God has placed us in such a position as to
minister to the wounds of a stricken conscience, by encouraging the confidence of
those who would repose it in us, by hearing their griefs and troubles and by leading
them to Him who alone can heal the ravages of sin and speak peace to the troubled
spirit. We may sympathise with distracting doubts and difficulties, whether as to
faith or conduct, by patiently hearing all the doubter’s perplexity, by offering in all
humility solutions which have satisfied the minds of others, or, if it be so, by
showing how we ourselves have groped our way amid such clouds of the mind from
darkness to partial light: or at least we may do so by secret prayer, that God in His
own good time will lead all who err or waver into the narrow path which struggles
upward towards the truth. (Bishop Mitchinson.)
Lightening others’ burdens
The application of this law are manifold. Yonder is a poor woman who has more
children than she can feed. Take one of them to your own house. Give employment
to another of them in your store. That will lift up the load from her, and it will send
you to your family altar with a new cause for thanksgiving and praise. Do you not
know that in life, sometimes, the breadth of one inch in a railway truck determines
whether the cars shall go over the embankment or on the straight track--just the
pull of a switch one inch. I know some large-hearted, godly men, who stand by
young men when they come to London or ew York, and give them the helping
hand of sympathy and prayerful support; and that act just pulls the switch one inch,
and puts them on the road to success, to happiness, and to God’s blessing. We have
in America our William E. Dodges who are the Lord’s switch-tenders. I am thankful

63. that in London you have your Samuel Morley, and other faithful servants of the
Lord, who rejoice to be God’s switch-tenders, to turn the needy, and the tempted,
and the young into paths of sobriety, prosperity, and blessing. Do you not know that
sometimes a very small lift is very timely? A word, an old familiar word--it is like a
medicine. A kind word to your neighbour in trouble, an inquiry at the door when
crape hangs there, the pressure of the hand: there is not a man in England so high
that he is above the reach of the need of sympathy. One of our noblest women,
Fidelia Fisk, tells us that when she was in Syria one day, preaching to the native
women, she found herself very tired. Here are her own words--“I had worked hard
all day, and I had a prayer-meeting yet to attend that night, and I felt very weary. I
longed for a little rest. Just then, as I was sitting on the floor, one of the native
Christian women took hold of me, and pulled me over against her and said, ‘Are
you tired? Just lean against me; and if you love me, lean hard--lean hard.’ I did lean
against her, and I found myself wonderfully rested. I attended the women’s prayer-
meeting, and I went home that night scarcely tired at all; and oh, how often the
words of that woman came to me, ‘If you love me, lean hard--lean hard.’ And then I
thought how the Blessed Saviour says, ‘If you love Me, lean hard.’” And mothers,
mothers, do you not remember how, when you carried that burden of the dying
child, pale, feeble, and the breath almost gone, you felt, “Oh, if it loves me, let it lean
hard.” You man, remember you not the time when, night after night, you took up
your beloved wife and carried her to her couch, sad at the thought that the load was
becoming lighter every moment, and you were ready to say to her, “My darling, if
you love me, lean hard and close.” Oh, blessed Jesus, teach us how to rest our
weakness on Thee, and lean hard on the burden-bearer of our sorrows and our
weaknesses! (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
The Church a reliever, of burdens
In this work of supplying the conditions of human progress, the State has found
from time to time its most powerful helper and its most eloquent teacher in the
Church of Christ. And in proportion as the State has realized more and more its
true idea it has seemed to some to trench upon the work of its best friends. The relief
of poverty for instance, the guarantee, that is, of the conditions of life in its lowest
form, was long the work of the religious orders. The poor law of Elizabeth was the
direct outcome of the suppression of the monasteries. So, too, the education of the
people. The Church made manful efforts to supply the defects which the State
ignored by its system of parochial schools, and it was not till our own time that the
truth came home to men, that national education is a matter of national interest, and
can be guaranteed only by the nation itself. So, too, in earlier times the freedom and
the sanctity of the individual person were recognized by the Church long before
they became embodied in legislation, and in our own time it was the religious
instinct of the nation which drove Parliament to sweep away the last trace of
slavery. Are we then peevishly to complain of the growth of the responsibility, and
activity of the State? Are we to look upon each fresh duty which it undertakes as an
invasion of individual rights, or a sort of trespass upon what is the peculiar province

64. of the Church? Shall we not rather see in every successive advance a fresh victory
for the Church of Christ? for it shows that the Church has been true to its mission,
and has taught its lesson to the world, and has made men feel the truth and the
power of the words, “Bear ye one another’s burdens”, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
(L. R. Phelps.)
Burden-bearing
I. Different kinds of burdens.
1. Those that are necessary.
2. Those that are superfluous.
3. Those that are imaginary,
II. What shall we do with them?
1. Reduce their number to the limits of necessity.
2. Some of these we are expected to carry ourselves. (American Homiletic Review.)
I. Bear ye one another’s burdens. The late George Moore was accustomed to say
that sympathy was the grandest word in the English language. Sympathy overcomes
evil and strengthens good, it lies at the root of all religion. The late Mr. Justice
Talfourd lamented the lack of it. He said, “If I were asked what is the great lack of
human society, I should say that need is sympathy.” Selfishness is said to be the very
root of original sin, and it is the duty of Christianity to break down this selfishness.
We have all burdens to bear, but not all equally, and it is the privilege of those who
are less burdened than their fellows to minister to the relief of those by whom they
are surrounded. Sometimes, under an apparently rough exterior, there is a gentle
spirit and genuine kindness. But in offering to these the ministry of Christian love
we should avoid everything that is likely to hurt their sensibilities. An air of
condescension and a lofty tone of patronage are out of place in Christian service.
Genuine Christlike sympathy must be practical. The shedding of sentimental tears
will not suffice. It is a mockery and an insult to go to a man and offer him a tract
when he wants a loaf, if you have a loaf to spare. Sympathy must be personal. In this

65. age of societies and committees we are in danger of delegating our duty to other
people. Real beneficence is simple prudence--to do good is to get good. Be the
almoners of your own bounty. This ministry is to be mutual. Human life is very
changeful, the picture is constantly being replaced. A man rejoicing to-day may be
smitten down by a fell disease tomorrow. The hand that is now ministering to others
may sorely need ministration itself. By observing the principles of the text we fulfil
the law of Christ. There is a moral power in the human nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ which is second only to His Divinity. It fitted Him for the ministry of solace.
But we are to bear one another’s burdens in order to fulfil the law of Christ. We
fulfil the law of Christ’s example, as witnessed in the incident at ain, and at the
grave of Lazarus. There Jesus wept in sympathy with Mary and Martha. We fulfil
the law of Christ’s teaching, and that of His apostles. “A new commandment I give
unto you, that ye love another, as I have loved you.” We fulfil the law of Christ’s
administration. It is a law of the kingdom that all His people shall be mutually
dependent. Society is bound together by mysterious but mighty ties.
II. Every man shall bear his own burden. The two statements of my text are
perfectly consistent. There are burdens which we can help other people to bear. But
there are others which neither they nor we can bear for purposes of mutual help.
There is the burden of responsibility. Life is a magnificent thing. Life in this world
may lead to life eternal in the world to come. Then there is the burden of guilt. This
is a personal matter. Again, there is the burden of remorse. We all possess a faculty
of conscience. Lastly, we have each a burden to bear in the hour of death. (M. C.
Osborn.)
Fellowship in suffering
The apostle here goes even beyond what he has laid down in another very large and
comprehensive precept, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that
weep.” He requires something more than sympathy--more at least than sympathy as
commonly understood, though not perhaps more than sympathy in its strict literal
import. One man is generally said to sympathize with another, who is pained, when
and because that other is pained; and sympathy, as thus understood, is little more
than pity or commiseration. But to suffer with another--which is actually to
sympathize--this goes much beyond the weeping with another. It is the making the
griefs of that other mine own; so that the blow is on me as well as on him, and the
wound is in my heart as well as in his. The members of one family accurately
sympathize, or suffer together, when death has come in, and snatched one from
their circle. The loss is a common loss, affecting all equally, and the sorrow of each
is literally the sorrow of every other. A Christian friend or minister may visit the
disconsolate household, animated by the kindliest feelings, and sincerely desirous to
afford them a measure of consolation, through the manifest interest which he takes
in their grief; and he may succeed; for exhibitions of kindliness have the great

66. faculty of going like balm to the heart. The tears which friendship sheds in our woe,
possess the wonderful property of staunching our own. But nevertheless, this
comforting visitor may rather feel for than with the afflicted. They have lost a
brother or a sister, but he does not necessarily feel as though he had lost a brother
or a sister. The blow has made them orphans, but he does not necessarily feel as
though it had made him an orphan. And thus, whilst he may literally and
thoroughly obey the injunction which requires of him that he “weep with them that
weep,” he may yet be far off from that actual sympathy--that suffering with them
that suffer--which is described in the text; where you are not only enjoined to
commiserate with the oppressed, but so to put yourselves into their position as to
bear their burdens. And yet it is evident that so far as Christianity succeeds in
restoring the brotherhood which sin has infringed, it will substitute sympathy thus
strictly understood, for that which in our present broken state has usurped the
definition. It is only needful that I come to regard any one of you as a brother; and
when he loses a kinsman, I shall lose a kinsman. I shall not merely be sorry for his
bereavement, but I shall feel that the bereavement is my own. So far as two families
can be made one, the sorrows of either are the sorrows of both; and if there were
but one vast family on the face of the earth, whatsoever afflicted the individual
would afflict the mass … Who can tell us what Christian philanthropy would be, if
the law of membership were felt and obeyed. You ought--this is what St. Paul seems
to enjoin and exhort in the text--you ought to remember the imprisoned and
burdened, not merely as being your fellow creatures, but rather as being, in a
certain sense, yourselves. What a motive to exertion on their behalf! How earnest,
how unremitting, would be that exertion, if that motive were indeed in full force.
You tell me, for instance, of unfortunate captives who have fallen into the hands of
cruel taskmasters. They are shut out from the cheerful light of day; they eat their
bread in bitterness of soul, and almost long for death; and you say to me, Remember
them, Remember them! Why, you have told me of myself! It is my own captivity
which you have described; it is the clanking of my own chains which you have made
me hear; and I must struggle for their emancipation, that my limbs may be free, and
that I may breathe the fresh air of heaven. O Christians 1 what would be your
benevolence, if you felt that they were your own members which you were invited to
succour? And it is quite evident from the text, that nothing less is expected of you as
professed disciples of Christ. The apostle introduces the principle of membership,
just as he might the simplest and most elementary of truths. He is not proposing any
rule or standard to which men were unaccustomed, but, on the contrary, one which,
as being generally acknowledged, needed only to be indicated by a passing remark.
And yet it is possible enough, that the doctrine which we have now endeavoured to
lay down, will appear to many of you to have the air of a new and far-fetched
speculation. “Give us,” you are ready to say, “pictures or descriptions of distress;
expatiate upon the miseries by which numbers are oppressed; and move our feelings
by a touching tale of human grief; but as to wishing us to make the wretchedness
our own--that we should labour for its alleviation, just as though it were pressing
upon ourselves--that is altogether beyond nature, and its possibility is but the fiction
of an exaggerated theology!” Beyond nature, we confess it; but not beyond grace.
The Christian is not to be content until, in relieving the distressed, he can feel that
he acts upon the great principle of membership. It must not be enough for him that

67. his heart yearns at the tale of calamity, and that he is ready to employ his money
and his time in lightening the pressure of which he has been told; he must see to it
that he have part in the bearing, as well as in the relieving of the calamity. (H.
Melvill, B. D.)
Helping men to bear their own burdens
Many persons are caught with the most superficial contradiction. Here St. Paul
says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens”; and in the fifth verse of this same chapter,
be says, “Every man shall bear his own burden.” As if both of the statements could
not be true! As if a man carrying a burden for which he is especially responsible,
might not have it lightened somewhat by one who walked by his side and helped
him! As if a little child carrying a heavily-laden basket--which it was his task and
business to carry, and which he had to take care of--might not be helped by another
child walking by his side and taking hold of the handle! so that it might be said to
one of them, “This is your burden, and you must see to it,” and to the other, “Help
him with his burden.” And yet, persons suppose, because here it is said, “Bear ye
one another’s burdens,” and further on, “Every man shall bear his own burden,”
there is some contradiction. o; there is co-operation. The reponsibility is on each
man to carry himself and his trials and troubles through life. All the more,
therefore, as far as in us lies, we should help each other. For, to “bear one another’s
burdens,” does not mean to take them off from one another’s shoulders, but to help
each other to carry them. We are to assist others in bearing their own burdens. We
are to contribute to their strength and to their courage. We are to render them as
much help as, by sympathy or otherwise, we may. Taken in connection with the
preceding verse this precept means: Whatever thing tends to bend a man, to warp
him in his habit of thought, in the conduct of his moral feelings, in the
administration of his affections, in the whole range of his social life; whatever may
be a man’s imperfection, or misdemeanour, or fault, or failing, the command is--
“Help him.” (H. W. Beecher.)
Helpfulness
To bear the burden of a person who has a heavy load of laborious duty, is either to
assist him directly in the performance of it, or to act towards him in such a manner
as shall make the performance of it more easy; to bear the burden of a person who is
oppressed with affliction, is to commiserate him, and do what we can to relieve and
comfort him; to bear the burden of one who is encumbered with mistaken views,
mental weakness, strong prejudices, and bad temper, is patiently to bear the
annoyance which these unavoidably occasion; at the same time employing all proper
means for correcting these intellectual and moral obliquities, weaknesses, and faults
To bear the mistakes and faults of our fellow Christians does not by any means
imply that we flatter them in their erroneous opinions or improper habits: but it

68. does imply that we, cherishing a deep-felt sense of our own intellectual and moral
deficiencies and improprieties, bear patiently the inconveniences which their
mistakes and faults occasion to us, and in a truly friendly disposition do everything
in our power to remove these mistakes and faults. Chrysostom well says on this
point--“He who is quick and irritable, let him bear with the slow and sluggish; and
let the slow, in his turn, bear with the impetuosity of his fiery brother; each knowing
that the burden is heavier to him who bears it than to him who bears with it.” When
a Christian brother under his burden stumbles and falls, we are not to let him lie on
the ground and recover his feet the best way he may; far less are we to insult him as
he lies prostrate, and point him out to the scorn and derision of the world. We are to
take him by the hand and raise him up; and as we have all our burdens, we are to
journey on, hand in hand, endeavouring to keep one another from falling, and to
press in a body forward along the prescribed course, that we may all obtain the
prize of our high calling, in that better country, where we shall be relieved from all
our burdens at once and for ever. (John Brown, D. D.)
The spirit that restores a fallen brother should pervade ordinary Christian relations
The “burdens” have been unduly narrowed in the definition of them. They are not
weaknesses simply, as in Rom_15:1, but also errors, trials, sorrows, sins, without
any distinct specification. And they are not merely to be tolerated; they are to be
taken up as burdens (Mat_20:12; Act_15:10). Whatever forms a burden to our
brethren we are to take upon ourselves, and carry it for them or with them, in the
spirit of Him who “bore our sins and carried our sorrows.” The emphasis is on “one
another’s,” giving distinctness to the duty as a mutual duty. Mutual interposition in
sympathy and for succour in any emergency--fellow-feeling and fellow-helping--is
the duty inculcated, as opposed to that selfish isolation which stands aloof, or
contents itself with a cheap expression of commiseration, or an offer of assistance so
framed as to be worthless in the time or the shape of it (2Co_11:29). (John Eadie, D.
D.)
The best burden and the highest law
“If you must needs impose burdens on yourselves, let them be the burdens of mutual
sympathy. If you must needs observe a law, let it be the law of Christ.” (Bishop
Lightfoot.)
Christian socialism
o other law but the law of Christ ever taught this maxim; the proper discharge of
social duties is regulated nowhere but in the law of Christ, which is the law of love,

69. “for love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
All those social symptoms which rise like the foam out of the agitated elements of the
present generation, disappear in rapid succession, because they have no other
foundation than the wave which cannot rest; and they are at best but mere spurious
imitations of that fraternity which was founded by Jesus Christ. It is some tribute to
the origin of our holy religion, that men in their most extravagant aberrations, and
amidst the wildest theories for promoting the happiness of the many, should appeal
to the Divine founder of Christianity, as having first introduced the system which
they are seeking to propagate; but, inasmuch as they know nothing of the law of
love, which He taught us the moving spring of every good word and work, they do
but wander on the outside of the Christian system …. In the general history of
mankind, the maxim of the text, so far from being acted out, has been reversed;
instead of men sharing or bearing one another’s burdens, they appear to act upon
the rule of laying them on each other’s shoulders, with the view of getting rid of
their portion of the weight. In the times of classical antiquity, which our youth are
taught to hold in admiration; in the days of heroism and splendid war, which poets
have sung and historians have embellished, there were the degraded classes of the
community, made to bear the burdens of the rest. The helots of Sparta, and the
slaves of Greece, the gladiators of Rome, and the captives of barbarian invaders,
were but the beasts of burden for the more favoured portion of the community.
What cared the Roman citizen for the slave that went his round of ceaseless toil?
What thought had the feudal lord for the drudge that wore out his brief existence in
subterranean damps to do his master’s pleasure? Who, even in our Christian land
for many generations, heeded the heavy burdens laid upon the negro slave, or the
tender females working in our mines, or the helpless children in our factories? What
thought or care among hundreds and thousands now, who refuse to give to the man
who has done his six days’ labour, the day of rest which is his due, because they will
not forego one single particle of their ordinary luxury, nor bear any portion of their
brother’s burden? St. Paul here appears to take it for granted that every man has a
burden; and shortly afterwards he says that “every man shall bear his own
burden.” There must be no such shifting away of the trial or hardship, which, in the
course of providence, he has to bear, as will exempt him from the ordinary lot of
humanity. It is not at all a question of getting everything done for us, so that we may
have a smooth and easy path at others’ expense and toil; but it is just that there may
be a mutual succour, which will help every man to “bear his own burden,” such,
e.g., as the burdens of poverty, affliction, excessive labour, etc. (R. Burgess, B. D.)
Loving ministrations
There lay recently, in an infirmary in ew York, in a darkened room, helpless and
sightless, a man made blind by cataract. He had crossed half a continent in the faint
hope of finding a relief or cure. Beside him, when I saw him, sat his daughter, who,
as I learned afterwards, had taken up his work--a work involving long and exposed
journeys through a wild and thinly settled country on our western frontier, and who
left it, now, only to minister to this helpless and suffering parent while he lay

70. shrinking and quivering under the surgeon’s knife. It seemed doubtful whether the
operation would be successful, and equally doubtful whether all this filial devotion
would not be wasted time and worthless endeavour. But, as one looked at that
woman’s face of heroic sacrifice and utter self-abnegation, one read in it how out of
love’s Divine unselfishness there comes a sweeter and nobler fruitage than any that
could be garnered without it, even though to-morrow all sorrow and pain and
helplessness should be swept out of the world for ever. (Bishop H. C. Potter.)
Sympathy aided by sight
Consider how you would act if these vices and monstrous passions, instead of being
a part of the machinery of rational, intelligent, and responsible agents, were
transformed in the actual forms of wild beasts. Is it intemperance? suppose you
figure to yourself a lion in ambush springing out upon a man; suppose you saw the
man trembling under the lion’s paw, how would you feel? But suppose, instead of
being a lion, it was Satan in the form of an intemperate appetite, worse a thousand
times to the man than any real lion of the desert? You would run to rescue a man
from an outside lion: will you not do anything for a man who has one inside? What
if it were sickness? What if it were a man swollen with dropsy? What if it were a
man crying out for water, with lips parched by merciless fever? Would you not
moisten his tongue and his brow, and fan the fever away? But is any fever of the
body so pitiable as the fevers which come upon the soul? Would you have
compassion upon a man who was attacked by an outward disease, and none for a
man whose soul was diseased Are there no bearers of men’s inward burdens? Are
not these burdens to be borne, even though men may have brought them upon
themselves? Are not bad men punished by what they suffer from their
transgressions? Is it not enough that such men have to live with themselves, and
take the consequences of their own actions? And is not a man, the consequences of
whose conduct are going on, working, and laying up wrath against the day of wrath,
to be pitied? Is not he to be pitied who for his transgression has to bear the infliction
of law, of public sentiment, and of his own nature? In all ways of looking at it, he is
most to be pitied who is most variously and most hopelessly wicked. (H. W.
Beecher.)
Sympathy not separation
But it will be objected, “Are we not commanded to abhor that which is evil, and to
cleave to that which is good?” Certainly; but are we anywhere commanded to abhor
sinners because we abhor sin? What is it to abhor evil? Is it the sudden disgust
which arises, which ought to be momentary, and which is designed to put us upon
our guard, and to inspire us with self-defensory power, till we have time to lay our
course more deliberately? Every man ought at the first impulse of the evil to feel
repugnance at it; but that is not the higher kind of abhorrence of evil. It is an

71. inspiration of a lower kind. He hates evil most who hates it so that he will annihilate
it. There is animal hatred, and there is Divine hatred. Two men hate malaria. One
says, “I will not settle here; I will pack up my things, and clear out.” The other says,
“I hate it; but I am going to work to morrow morning, with my whole force, to drain
that marsh.” He goes to work and digs a ditch through it, risking his health, and
removes the stagnant water. Who hated the malaria most, the one who ran away
from it, or the one who cured it? Is not a cure a witness of dislike more than
neglect? A mother hates the disease that is in her child; but does she abandon the
child, saying, “I hate morbid conditions of every kind,” and let the child die, as a
testimony to her dislike of violations of natural law? Is it not a better testimony to
her hatred of disease, that night and day she lingers over the little sufferer till she
brings it back to good health? Is not that a better way of hating disease than the
other would be? That is the true hatred of sin which kills it by kindness. (H. W.
Beecher.)
Open hearts and ready hands
One day a teacher said to his class, “Boys, you can all be useful if you will. If you
cannot do good by great deeds you can by little ones.” These boys said nothing, but
the teacher saw by their looks that they thought he was mistaken. They did not
believe that they could be of any use. So he continued: “You think it is not so; but
suppose you just try it for a week.” “How shall we try it?” asked one of them. “Just
keep your eyes open and your hands ready to do anything good that comes in your
way this week, and tell me next Sabbath if you have not managed to be useful in
some way or other,” said the teacher. “Agreed,” said the lads; and so they parted.
The next Sabbath those boys gathered round the teacher with smiling lips and eyes
so full of light that they fairly twinkled like the stars. “Ah, lads, I see by your looks
that you have something to tell me.” “We have, sir; we have!” they said all together.
Then each told his story. “I,” said one, “thought of going to the well for a pail of
water every morning to save mother the trouble and time. She thanked me so much,
was so greatly pleased, that I mean to keep on doing it for her.” “And I,” said
another boy, “thought of a poor old woman, whose eyes were too dim to read. I went
to her house every day and read a chapter to her from the Bible. It seems to give her
a great deal of comfort. I cannot tell how she thanked me.” “I was walking with my
eyes open and my hands ready, as you told us,” said the fourth boy, “when I saw a
little fellow crying because he had lost some pennies. I found them, and he dried his
tears, and ran off feeling very happy.” A fifth boy said: “I saw my mother was very
tired one day. The baby was cross, and mother looked sick and sad. I asked mother
to put baby into my little waggon. She did so, and I gave him a grand ride round the
garden. If you had only heard him crow, and seen him clap his hands, it would have
done you good; and oh! how much brighter mother looked when I took the baby
indoors again!”
The value of sympathy

72. An eminent clergyman sat in his study, busily engaged in preparing his Sunday
sermon, when his little boy toddled into the room, and holding up his pinched
finger, said, with an expression of suffering, “Look, pa, how I hurt it!” The father,
interrupted in the middle of a sentence, glanced hastily at him, and with just the
slightest tone of impatience, said, “I can’t help it.” The little fellow’s eyes grew
bigger, and as he turned to go out, he said in a low voice, “Yes, you could; you might
have said ‘Oh!’” Alas! how many of us “children of a larger growth” have gone
away hugging our hurt, with a sadder hurt in our hearts for lack of one little
sympathizing word. To most of us, in the great trials of life, sympathy comes freely
enough; but for the small aches and hurts, the daily smarts and bruises, how many a
heart hungers in vain for the meagrest dole! “It is such a briery world!” said a little
girl one day, while making her way through a blackberry thicket. The briers meet
us at every turn, and there is nothing like sympathy to ease their pricks and stings.
(Christian Age.)
The power of a kind word
There are no readier or sweeter sympathizers in the world than little children, and
they seem to know intuitively when sympathy is needed. A friend of ours had the
misfortune to break a valuable dish not long ago, and naturally enough was inclined
to blame herself for her carelessness. A little four-year-old girl looked up from her
play as the dish fell to the floor, and touched by the mother’s troubled face she stole
to her side, and softly stroking her hand, whispered, “ ice mamma.” Blessed little
comforter! What mother would not cheerfully have given the price of a dozen dishes
for the sake of such sweet sympathy? And what mother in the world would have the
heart to reprove such a child for a similar mishap?--for to reprove when the little
one is already quivering with dismay at the mischief it has wrought, is sheer cruelty.
It is a wise mother who at such a time folds the darling in her arms with a gentle,
“ ever mind.” (Mary B. Sleight.)
Fulfil the law of Christ--not “fulfil,” but “complete”
He says not “fulfil,” but “complete;” i.e., make it up all of you in common by the
things wherein ye bear with one another. This man is irascible, thou art dull-
tempered; bear therefore with his vehemence, that he in turn may bear with thy
sluggishness; and thus neither will he, through thy support, transgress, nor wilt
thou offend in the points where thy defects lie, through thy brother’s forbearance.
So do ye reach forth a hand one to another when about to fall, and one with another
fulfil the law in common, each completing what is wanting in his neighbour by his
own endurance. (Chrysostom.)

73. The bearing of burdens
These passages seem to be contradictory; but the opposition is only apparent, not
real. One asserts a Christian obligation, the other states a solemn fact.
I. There are burdens to be shared. Our relationship to each other, and our
possession of advantages and talents, involve us in manifold responsibilities.
1. Burdens of ignorance. It is our duty to diffuse the knowledge of God, and to
attempt to remove the evils of darkness and superstition.
2. Burdens of sorrow. Calamities, distress, bereavement, appeal for sympathy and
ministry; and we cannot escape the demands upon us for consideration and help.
3. Burdens of infirmity. All are in jeopardy. The strongest are not always strong.
Christians are not to rejoice in iniquity, or affect a disdainful sanctity, but to seek
with Christlike gentleness and grace the recovery of the erring one (Jam_5:19-20).
The Christian has two noble attitudes or possibillties--he can look up, and he can lift
up. Think of the animating motive, “and so fulfil,” etc. Christ taught the law of
action by
(a) His precepts,
(b) His life,
(c) His death.
II. There are burdens which cannot be shared.
1. The burden of personal duty.
2. The burden of sinful character.
3. The burden of individual responsibility.
4. The burden of death.
Conclusion: Do you carry an anxious heart, or a weary soul, or a guilty conscience?
Get rid of the heavy burden. Carry the load not a moment longer (Psa_55:22). (M.
Braithwaite.)

74. Mutual help in burden-bearing
You have often noticed, if you have any special disease or malady, how strangely
you begin to learn of others who have the same. There is this sympathetic instinct in
our mental and spiritual maladies It is when we have learned in our own personal
experience the struggles of mind and heart, the manifold bonds of human life, that
we have gained the only power to help our fellow-men. It may be said most truly
that it is only the man or woman who has suffered, who has any real feeling of
kindred with the heart of man. The child is often cruel to the child, the young are
impatient of the sight of sorrow, because they do not know the reality of it. The
deepest cause of our uncharitableness is our ignorance. Who of us has ever known
the weary burden of doubt, the earnest craving for a truth to rest on amidst the
chaos of opinion, who that has at last found it does not know how many there are
like himself who only need a word of wise counsel, a ray of kindly light, to lead them
into the path? It is that spirit the Christian believer must cherish. And who, again,
has felt the hard struggles of his conscience in this daily life, the temptations that
have met him, the weakness of his own will, and yet through God’s grace has kept
his purity, does not know somewhat of the burdens that crush others less happy
than himself in the results of the trial? Yes, this is the lesson we all need We cannot
change all the inequalities of the world, or heal all its diseases. But we can do much
to help it by the spirit in which we strive to understand and reach human need. It is
not our wealth or our cold, condescending pity men and women need; it is the
Christian fellowship that makes them feel that “we have all of us one human heart,”
that sees in every class or lot creatures of “like passions” with us, the same
infirmities, and the same redeeming graces. It is this gospel which teaches no envy of
the rich and no scorn of the poor, but that all these differences of lot, to the believer
in Christ, are not barriers to sever, but bonds to bind us in one. And as we have so
learned it in our personal experience, we have found happiness in this joy of human
sympathy. Our grief is healed as we go out of our own cell of brooding thought to
find our fellow-sufferers. It is the only antidote. For then we learn always that there
are sadder hearts to be healed, and we feel ashamed of our own trouble in the
presence of a greater, and as we minister to them the mercy of our God steals into
our own souls, and brings the consolation we never knew before. And so our
happiness is enlarged only as it enters into the enlarged heart. If we have brought
our sunshine into the life of others, if we have given of our comfort to those whose
lot is less fortunate, we can enjoy the wealth with a new sense of His goodness who
has made us stewards. I have read of a Christian man, who, to know the reality of
poverty, put on the dress of a beggar, and went into the hard lodging-house, where
the poor outcasts have a comfortless pallet of straw and a ration of bad food, and
after a week of experience gave this evidence, that it was worth to him ten years of
study, and the source of the most intense pleasure in his lifetime. Such a voluntary
exile is not often sought or found by most of us. But each in his degree, if he have
come face to face with human wretchedness, has learned the meaning of this
Christian experience. Each has found the recompense of the reward; as we have
borne the burden of others, we have borne our own more bravely. (E. A. Washburn,
D. D.)

75. Burden-bearing
Galatians apparently fond of the law and its burdens: at least, they appeared to be
ready to load themselves with ceremonies, and so fulfil the law of Moses. Paul would
have them think of other burdens, by the bearing of which they would fulfil the law
of Christ.
I. Community. “Bear ye one another’s burdens.”
1. egatively. It tacitly forbids certain modes of action. We are not to burden others.
We are not to spy out others’ burdens, and report thereon. We are not to despise
them for having such loads to bear. We are not to go through the world oblivious of
the sorrows of others.
2. Positively. We are to share the burdens of others. By compassion bear with their
former sins (verse 1). By patience bear with their infirmities, and even with their
conceit (verse 3). By sympathy bear their sorrows (verses 2, 3). By assistance bear
their wants (verses 6, 10). By communion, in love and comfort, bear their struggles.
By prayer and practical help bear the burden of their labours, and thus lighten it
(verse 6).
3. Specially: We ought to consider--The erring brother. Referred to in verse 1 as
“overtaken in a fault.” We must tenderly restore him. The provoking brother, who
thinks himself to be something (see verse 3). Bear with him: his mistake will bring
him many a burden before he has done with it. The brother who is peculiarly trying
is to be borne with to seventy times seven, even to the measure of the law of Christ.
The greatly tried is to have our greatest sympathy. The minister of Christ should be
released from temporal burdens, that he may give himself wholly to the burden of
the Lord.
II. Immunity. “For every man shall bear his own burden.” We shall not bear all the
burdens of others. We are not so bound to each other that we are partakers in wilful
transgression, or negligence, or rebellion.
1. Each must bear his own sin if he persists in it.
2. Each must bear his own shame, which results from his sin.
3. Each must bear his own responsibility in his own sphere.
4. Each must bear his own judgment at the last.

76. III. Personality. “Every man … his own burden.” True godliness is a personal
affair, and we cannot cast off our individuality: therefore, let us ask for grace to
look well to ourselves in the following matters:--
1. Personal religion. The new birth, repentance, faith, love, holiness, fellowship with
God, etc., are all personal.
2. Personal self-examination. We cannot leave the question of our soul’s condition to
the judgment of others.
3. Personal service. We have to do what no one else can do.
4. Personal responsibility. Obligations cannot be transferred.
5. Personal effort. othing can be a substitute for this.
6. Personal sorrow. “The heart knoweth its own bitterness.”
7. Personal comfort. We need the Comforter for ourselves, and we must personally
look up to the Lord for His operations. All this belongs to the Christian, and we may
judge ourselves by it. So bear your own burden as not to forget others. So live as not
to come under the guilt of other men’s sins. So help others as not to destroy their
self-reliance. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Secret burdens
There is a gateway at the entrance of a narrow passage in London, over which is
written, “ o burdens allowed to pass through.” “And yet we do pass constantly with
ours,” said one friend to another, as they turned up this passage out of a more
frequented and broader thoroughfare. They carried no visible burdens, but they
were like many who, although they have no outward pack upon their shoulders,
often stoop inwardly beneath the pressure of a heavy load upon the heart. The worst
burdens are those which never meet the eye. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Sympathy curative
When the child was dead, and the prophet came to heal it, he stretched himself out
on the child, and put his lips to the child’s lips, and his hand on the child’s hand,
and his heart to the child’s heart. Then it was that the breath came back, and the
child, sneezing, showed that life was returning to it. And I do not believe that there

77. is anything which cures hearts in this world besides other hearts laid upon them,
brooding them, and imparting to them something of their own sympathy and
goodness. If a heart cannot be cured by a loving heart, it is incurable. (H. W.
Beecher.)
What is included in the term Burden?
Whatever makes right living, according to the law of God, difficult to a sincere
man--that is a burden. It may be in his mental constitution; it may be in his bodily
health; it may be in the habits of his education; it may be in his relation to worldly
affairs; it may be in his domestic circumstances; it may be in his peculiar liabilities
3
If anyone thinks he is something when he is
nothing, he deceives himself.
BAR ES, "For if a man think himself to be something ... - see Gal_5:26. This
is designed, evidently, to be another reason why we should be kind and tender to those
who have erred. It is, that even those who are most confident may fall. They who feel
secure, and think it impossible that they should sin, are not safe. They may be wholly
deceived, and may be nothing, when they have the highest estimate of themselves. They
may themselves fall into sin, and have need of all the sympathy and kindness of their
brethren.
When he is nothing - When he has no strength, and no moral worth. When he is
not such as he apprehends, but is lifted up with vain self-conceit.
He deceiveth himself - He understands not his own character. “The worst part of
the fraud falls on his own head” - Doddridge. He does not accomplish what he expected
to do; and instead of acquiring reputation from others, as he expected, he renders
himself contemptible in their sight.
CLARKE, "If a man think himself to be something - i.e. To be a proper
Christian man; when he is nothing; being destitute of that charity which beareth,

78. hopeth, and endureth all things. See 1Co_13:1, etc. Those who suppose themselves to
excel all others in piety, understanding, etc., while they are harsh, censorious, and
overbearing, prove that they have not the charity that thinketh no evil; and in the sight
of God are only as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. There are no people more
censorious or uncharitable than those among some religious people who pretend to
more light and a deeper communion with God. They are generally carried away with a
sort of sublime, high sounding phraseology, which seems to argue a wonderfully deep
acquaintance with Divine things; stripped of this, many of them are like Samson without
his hair.
GILL, "For if a man think himself to be something,.... Of himself; to have
anything of himself, to do anything of himself, and of himself to attain to life and
salvation:
when he is nothing: of himself; not even as a creature, but owes his being and
preservation, and all the mercies of life, to another, even to God; has no grace nor gifts of
himself, but what he has received, and can do no good thing, not think a good thought,
or perform a good action, of himself, and much less of himself procure eternal life and
salvation:
he deceiveth himself: and will find himself sadly mistaken, and wretchedly
disappointed another day; or whoever thinks himself to be some famous and excellent
person, to be something more, and better than others, of a more excellent nature, and of
greater abilities, that he is free from sin, or at least holier than others, and not liable to
fall as others, whom he looks upon with disdain and contempt, wanting that charity
which the law, and new commandment of Christ, requires, when he is nothing but sin
and vanity, he is destitute of the grace of God, he deceives himself and the truth is not in
him. This the apostle says to depress pride, and a swelling conceit of themselves, and all
uncharitable, rough, and severe usages of others. A saying like this the Jews have (y);
"whoever he is that is something, or thinks in himself that he is ‫,כלום‬ "something", it
would be better for him if he had never been created.''
JAMISO , "Self-conceit, the chief hindrance to forbearance and sympathy towards
our fellow men, must be laid aside.
something — possessed of some spiritual pre-eminence, so as to be exempt from the
frailty of other men.
when he is nothing — The Greek is subjective: “Being, if he would come to himself,
and look on the real fact, nothing” [Alford] (Gal_6:2, Gal_6:6; Rom_12:3; 1Co_8:2).
deceiveth himself — literally, “he mentally deceives himself.” Compare Jam_1:26,
“deceiveth his own heart.”
RWP,"Something when he is nothing (ti mēden ōn). Thinks he is a big number
being nothing at all (neuter singular pronouns). He is really zero.
He deceiveth himself (phrenapatāi heauton). Late compound word (phrēn, mind,

79. apataō, lead astray), leads his own mind astray. Here for first time. Afterwards in Galen,
ecclesiastical and Byzantine writers. He deceives no one else.
CALVI , "3.For if a man think himself. There is an ambiguity in the construction,
but Paul’ meaning is clear. The phrase, When he is nothing, appears at first view to
mean, “ any person, who is in reality nothing, claims to be something;” as there are
many men of no real worth who are elated by a foolish admiration of themselves.
But the meaning is more general, and may be thus expressed: “ all men are nothing,
he who wishes to appear something, and persuades himself that he is somebody,
deceives himself.” First, then, he declares that we are nothing, by which he means,
that we have nothing of our own of which we have a right to boast, but are destitute
of every thing good: so that all our glorying is mere vanity. Secondly, he infers that
they who claim something as their own deceive themselves. ow, since nothing
excites our indignation more than that others should impose upon us, it argues the
height of folly that we should willingly impose upon ourselves. This consideration
will render us much more candid to others. Whence proceeds fierce insult or
haughty sternness, but from this, that every one exalts himself in his own estimation,
and proudly despises others? Let arrogance be removed, and we shall all discover
the greatest modesty in our conduct towards each other.
BI, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he Is nothing, he deceiveth
himself.
Caution against over self-estimation
These words admit of two different interpretations, according as you connect the
middle with the first or with the last clause.
1. If we connect the middle clause with the first one, as our translators have done,
the meaning is, If a man think himself to be a Christian of a high order, while he
either is not a Christian at all, or, at any rate, a Christian of a very inferior order, he
commits an important mistake and falls into a hazardous error. The man who
supposes himself arrived at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, when
in reality only a babe in Christ, deceives himself, and throws important obstacles in
the way of his own improvement. In their own estimation they have little to learn,
while the truth is, they have learned but little. But the mistake is much more
deplorable when a man flatters himself into the belief that he is a Christian, perhaps
a Christian of the first order, while in reality he is not a Christian at all. The thing is
quite possible--I fear not uncommon. We pity the poor maniac mendicant who
thinks himself a king; we pity the man who has persuaded himself he is a man of
wealth, while in reality he is in immediate hazard of bankruptcy; we pity the man
who is assuring himself of long life, when he is tottering on the brink of the grave;
but how much more to be pitied is the man who thinks himself secure of the favour

80. of God, and of eternal happiness, while in reality the wrath of God is abiding on
him, and a miserable eternity lies before him! o kinder office can be done to such a
person than to arouse him from his state of carnal security, to undeceive him, to
convince him of his wants while they may be supplied, of his danger while it may be
averted. A woe is denounced against such as are thus at ease in Zion.
2. Perhaps, however, the apostle’s meaning is, “If any man think he is something, he
deceiveth himself, for he is nothing.” The apostle is cautioning the Galatians against
a vainglorious disposition; and in this verse I apprehend he means that the habitual
indulgence of vainglory is utterly inconsistent with the possession of genuine
Christianity. Humility is a leading trait in the character of every genuine Christian.
He knows and believes that he is guilty before the God of heaven exceedingly, and
he feels that he is an ignorant, foolish, depraved creature, that of himself he is
nothing, less than nothing, and vanity. Feeling thus his insignificance as a creature,
and his demerit and depravity as a sinner, he is not--he cannot be--vainglorlous.
Whatever he is that is good, he knows God has made him to be. Whatever he has
that is good, he knows God has given him. The falls of others excite in him not self-
glorification, but gratitude. (John Brown, D. D.)
Self-magnifiers
A friend had fitted two glasses into a little ivory tube in such a way that any small
object, like a midge or other insect, when put into it, and viewed through the smaller
and upper glass, seemed of enormous magnitude, with all its parts, however
diminutive, distinctly visible. If, however, the tube was reversed, and the objects
contemplated through the larger glass, they then appeared to shrink below the usual
size. Gotthold looked upon the contrivance with no ordinary pleasure, and said: “I
know not what better name to give this instrument than ‘the magnifier.’” In my
opinion, however, the hearts of the proud and of the hypocritical are of the same
construction. When they contemplate what is their own--their virtues and talents--
they see through a glass which self-love has so artfully prepared that all seems of
vast dimensions, and they imagine that they have good reason to boast and
congratulate themselves upon their gifts. If, however, they have occasion to look at
their neighbour and his good points, they turn the instrument upside down, and
then all seems small and commonplace. In like manner, their own faults and vices
they observe through the diminishing glass, and reckon them very inconsiderable;
while they contemplate their neighbour’s from the opposite side, and so convert a
midge into an elephant: The greatest of all delusions in the world is that which man
voluntarily practises upon himself, and which betrays him, with his eyes open, into
pride, self-esteem, and contempt of others. You will own that the heart of the
Pharisee, who looked upon himself as a mighty saint, and upon the publican as a
brand fit for the burning, was of this description. That Pharisee, however, has left
behind him a numerous breed, and spread his line over the whole earth. In fact, I do
not believe there exists a man who has not sometimes used such an instrument in the
way we have described. (Scriver.)

81. Self-deception
Boswell relates that Dr. Johnson told him that when his father’s workshop, which
was a detached building, had partly fallen down for want of being repaired, he was
no less diligent to lock the door every night, though he saw that anybody might walk
in at the back. Even so do many persons, guarding themselves against one approach
of sin only, while they are exposed to danger from some other point, vainly suppose
themselves safe from their spiritual foes. (R. Brewin.)
I. Men are nothing of themselves.
1. The gifts of God, whether of nature or grace, are not ours, but God’s.
2. In the use of these gifts the best fall far short of what they ought to be (1Co_15:10;
1Co_8:2).
II. Though men are nothing, yet they seem to be something, and that of themselves.
This arises from--
(1) Pride;
(2) the excessive consideration of our good things;
(3) the comparing of ourselves with the infirmities of others;
(4) the flattery of men.
III. In so doing, men deceive themselves. Self-deception is
(1) The worst deception (Jam_1:22; Jam_1:26);
(2) the most dangerous deception;
(3) self-degradation;
(4) spiritual impotence. Conceit is fatal to the duty of burdenbearing, for it is the

82. death of love.
IV. The remedies against the overweening of ourselves.
1. To look ourselves in the glass of the law (1Co_3:18).
2. To remember that the gifts on which we pride ourselves are ours only for a time
(Luk_16:2), and for the use of them we shall be held responsible.
3. To compare ourselves with God’s majesty (Psa_8:4). (R. Cudworth.)
Self-complacency
One day arcissus, who had resisted all the charms of others, came to an open
fountain of silvery clearness. He stooped down to drink, and saw his own image, and
thought it some beautiful water-spirit living in the fountain. He gazed, and admired
the eyes, the neck, the hair, the lips. He fell in love with himself. In vain he sought a
kiss and an embrace. He talked to the charmer, but received no response. He could
not break the fascination, and so he pined away and died. The moral is, Think not
too much nor too highly of yourself.
A man’s talk better than himself
A hungry man once caught and killed a nightingale that filled a grove with its song.
A bird that makes so much noise, thought he, must be something. So he plucked it.
And lo! it was no bigger than a sparrow. “Ah!” said the man, “I see what you are.
You are voice and nothing else.” So it is with not a few. They are full of vauntings,
they talk of their goodness, their liberality the whole parish rings with the praises of
themselves, which they warble so well. But pluck them, strip them of all
appearances, and you will find them “voice and nothing else.” A great deal of talk,
and very little action. (S. Baring-Gould, M. A.)
SIMEO , "AGAI ST SELF-DECEIT
Gal_6:3-5. 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.
SELF-K OWLEDGE is at the root of all true religion. Without that, we shall have
no right disposition, either towards God or man. Without that, we shall not be able
to pity the fallen, or sympathize with the afflicted; but shall be alike unfeeling
towards the failings and the necessities of our fellow-creatures. But, if we are duly

83. conscious of our own weakness, we shall be ready to “restore in meekness any
brother that has been overtaken with a fault:” and, if we know our own desert, we
shall most willingly labour to “fulfil the law of Christ, in bearing the burthens of
others,” as He has borne ours. To cultivate self-knowledge therefore is, in this view,
extremely important: but more especially is it so in the prospect of that judgment
which God himself will shortly pass on every child of man: for, whatever be our
estimate of our own character, it is not by that, but by God’s own view of us, that
our state shall be determined to all eternity. This is plainly declared in the words
before us; in which we may see,
I. An evil complained of—
The entertaining too high an opinion of ourselves is a common evil; I should rather
say, is an evil co-extensive with the human race, with those at least who have not
been converted by the grace of God. If it be asked, Whence does this evil arise? I
answer,
1. From judging ourselves by a defective standard—
[The generality take no higher standard than that which custom has established in
the place where they live: and if they conduct themselves agreeably to that, they
consider themselves as having fulfilled all that can reasonably be required of them.
They never once suspect, that to “walk according to the course of this world is to
walk according to the prince of the power of the air,” or that “the broad road is that
which leadeth to destruction.” They have satisfied others; and therefore they have
satisfied themselves.
But some take a far higher standard, even the law of God itself, (as far as they
understand it,) and aim at obedience to the whole will of God. But they take only the
letter of the law; and if they abstain from the actual commission of murder,
adultery, and theft, they imagine that they have no reason to reproach themselves
with any violation of the commandments which forbid those crimes. Hence, like the
Young Man in the Gospel, they will recite the commandments, and say, “All these
have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” This was the source of Paul’s self-
deception, in his unconverted state. He knew not the spirituality of the law; and
therefore he imagined himself to be alive, whilst he was really dead, with respect to
all spiritual obedience [ ote: Rom_7:9.]. He thought himself to be something, when
he was nothing; and thereby deceived himself.]
2. From comparing ourselves with others—
[Some look at those who are of the same rank and age with themselves: and, if they
fall not below them, they conclude that they are right. Others look at those rather
who live without any particular regard to morals: and, from seeing a manifest
superiority in themselves to these, they will with a self-complacent air say, in their
hearts at least, if not with their lips, “I thank thee, O God, that I am not as other
men are, or even as this Publican.” Others again will compare themselves with the

84. religious world. They will select those who have in any respect dishonoured their
holy profession, and hold them forth as a proper specimen of all. Or they will take
the more defective part of a good character, and represent it as exhibiting a just
picture of the man himself. In doing this too they will believe all they hear, without
any examination or inquiry: they will make no allowances for any thing as arising
out of peculiar circumstances: they overlook entirely all the humiliation and
contrition which in a real saint follow the commission of a fault: they will go further
still, and impute all this evil to wilful and deliberate hypocrisy: and then they will
bless themselves that they are at least as good, if not better than those who make so
much profession of godliness; yea, therefore better, because they make no such
profession.
But to these we may apply what the Apostle said of the false teachers at Corinth;
“They measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among
themselves, are not wise [ ote: 2Co_10:12.].” For what have they to do with others?
It is not by any comparative goodness that their character will be estimated.
Whether they be better or worse than others, they are in God’s sight precisely what
they are in themselves: and, whilst they form a judgment of themselves by the
relative situation which they occupy in the scale of general goodness, they only
deceive their own souls.]
3. From comparing our present with our former state—
[It may be, that at an early period of our lives we were gay and dissipated: and that
since that time we have reformed, and become observant of many duties. Yet still we
may be very far from a state that is pleasing and acceptable to God: we may even
(and it is no uncommon case) be more odious in his eyes than before, by having
become more inflated with pride and self-confidence, in proportion as we have
reformed our external conduct. For what is this, but to exchange “fleshly for
spiritual filthiness,” and to acquire the image of Satan in proportion as we have
relinquished that of the beast? But, waving this circumstance, which may or may
not exist, the question is, not what reformation we have experienced, but what yet
remains to be reformed? It matters little that the outward conduct is changed, if the
heart remains the same. If we are not “new creatures in Christ Jesus,” we have
attained nothing to any good purpose: and, if we look with complacency on any
change short of that, we fancy ourselves something when we are nothing, and fatally
deceive ourselves.]
4. From judging under the influence of partiality and self-love—
[Self-love blinds us: it hides from us our faults; or puts such a specious gloss upon
them, that they are scarcely discerned as faults. It magnifies our virtues too, and not
unfrequently represents as virtues what in reality are grievous sins. If there be any
point in our character that is more favourable, (as generosity, or benevolence, or
any other good quality,) self-love represents that to us as constituting almost the
whole of our character, and then fills us with self-complacency in the contemplation
of it. Thus it was with the Pharisees of old, who “trusted in themselves that they

85. were righteous,” whilst in the sight of God they were no better than “whited
sepulehres.” And thus it will be with all of us, until God open our eyes to see things
as they really are, and give us hearts to judge righteous judgment.]
But for this evil there is in our text,
II. A remedy prescribed—
God has given to us an unerring standard of right and wrong—
[In the Holy Scriptures, he has revealed to us his mind and will, and shewn us what
is that state which becomes us, as creatures, and as sinners. As creatures, we ought
to love him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love our
neighbour as ourselves. As sinners, we ought to humble ourselves before him in dust
and ashes; to lay hold on the covenant which he has made with us in the Son of his
love; to seek for mercy solely through the atoning sacrifice of Christ; to live by faith
on Christ, receiving out of his fulness as branches from the vine; and by the
influences of his Spirit to bring forth fruit to his glory. And, to form a right estimate
of our character, we must try ourselves by this standard: we must see how far we
are observant of his law, and how far we are obedient to his Gospel.
But besides this written standard, we have a copy of all perfection set before us in
the example of Christ. We see how ardent and uniform was his zeal for God, and
how active and self-denying his love for man. We see him in all situations of
difficulty; we behold all his tempers and dispositions tried to the uttermost by the
perverseness and cruelty of men; and we see in every thing how to conduct ourselves
towards God and man. In his example, we have a touchstone whereby to try our
supposed virtues: and, whereinsoever we differ from him, or come short of him,
(unless in those things which arose out of his mediatorial character,) we may
assuredly conclude that we are wrong.
Further, though the word of God, and the example of Christ, are the only unerring
standards of truth, we have yet further,—what is of great advantage to us,—the
examples of men who were of like passions with ourselves. We see Patriarchs,
Prophets, and Apostles, all walking, as it were, before our eyes; and we learn from
them how we ought to walk and to please God. If we take the life of Abraham, of
Daniel, of the Apostle Paul; if we contemplate their unshaken faith, and unreserved
obedience; and then inquire how we have demeaned ourselves under any
circumstances which have borne an affinity with theirs; we may certainly attain a
pretty correct knowledge of our state and character before God.]
By this standard then we should try ourselves—
[It is of use to all persons, and under all circumstances. From the king on the throne
to the beggar on the dunghill, all may find it suitable to their condition. To it
therefore we should refer the whole of our conduct, and by it “every one should
prove his own work.” Every particular work should be tried by it. Whatever the

86. work be, we should examine what the written word required of us, and see how far
our work fell short of the true standard. We should bring it to the test, and inquire
into the principle from which it flowed, the manner in which it was executed, and
the end for which it was performed; and then form our judgment, after a candid
and impartial survey of its defects.
But it is not our actions only that should be so proved: we should examine also the
entire state and habit of our minds: for it is this, and this only, that will determine
our real character before God. And who that does this will think highly of his own
attainments? Who that considers what is that love which is due to the Supreme God;
what is that gratitude which the Lord Jesus Christ calls for at our hands; what is
that affiance which we should place in him; and what is that zeal which we should
put forth in his service; who, I say, will then vaunt himself as somebody, and swell
with self-preference and self-conceit? The remedy once brought into daily and
habitual use, will soon cure the evil complained of in our text.]
What the Apostle thought of this remedy, appears from,
III. The prescription eulogized—
A more valuable prescription could not be given either,
1. As it respects our present happiness—
[To what purpose is it to be applauded by others, even though we were held forth as
patterns of all that is great and excellent? It might please our vanity; but it would
afford us no solid satisfaction, whilst we are afraid to bring our conduct to the only
true test. What comfort would a merchant feel to hear that he was reputed rich, if
his affairs were so embarrassed that he dared not examine his accounts, and knew
not but that he was on the very verge of bankruptcy? So is the man, who, whilst he
is extolled by his fellow-creatures, is averse to learn what is said of him by his God.
On the contrary, the man who tries himself by the standard of God’s word, and
finds that, amidst innumerable defects, he is on the whole upright before God, he
“has his rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” He lives not on the
testimony of his fellow-creatures: his comfort is independent either of their censure
or applause. He rejoices in the testimony of his own conscience, as the Apostle Paul
did [ ote: 2Co_1:12.]. He “has the witness in himself:” and “the Spirit of God also
witnesses with his Spirit,” that he is a “child of God.” O what an advantage is this,
under every situation and circumstance of life! Are we in a state of prosperity? We
shall make no account of our wealth or honour in comparison of the testimony of a
good conscience. Are we in adversity? Our spirit will be buoyant in a sea of
troubles; we shall know assuredly that all things are working together for our good,
and that, “light and momentary in themselves, they are working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”]
2. As it respects our eternal welfare—

87. [Whatever others may think of us, or we may think of ourselves, it will not at all
influence the judgment of our God: “for not he that commendeth himself will be
approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth [ ote: 2Co_10:18.].” The works that
are applauded of men, may be recorded in his book of remembrance as splendid
sins: and the works that are condemned by men, may be put to our account as
services greatly to be rewarded. The very same judgment which the written word
pronounces now, our God will pronounce hereafter. Hence, in bringing ourselves
continually to this standard, we know what will be approved in the last day, and
what sentence to expect at the mouth of a righteous Judge. There will doubtless be
many actions which will be erroneously judged by man, and the precise quality of
which we ourselves also are at present unable to discover: but, whilst we are
conscious of an unfeigned desire to please and honour God, we shall say with the
Apostle, “It is a small matter to be judged of man’s judgment; yea, I judge not mine
own self: but he that judgeth me is the Lord [ ote: 1Co_4:3-4.].” My own heart does
not condemn me; and therefore I have confidence towards God [ ote: 1Jn_3:20-
21.].” Whilst practising this habit, we shall be attentive to every thing we do. We
shall preserve a tenderness of conscience: we shall spy out readily any thing that has
been amiss. We shall, from a sense of the imperfection of our very best deeds, wash
them daily in the fountain of Christ’s blood, and never hope for the acceptance of
them but through his atoning sacrifice, and his all-powerful intercession. Thus,
whilst all, who refer their actions to any inferior standard, delude their own souls,
and “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath,” the careful Christian attains a
just knowledge of his own state, and accumulates “a weight of glory,” which “the
Lord, the righteous Judge,” shall confer upon him in exact proportion to the
services he has rendered to his God [ ote: 1Co_3:8. Heb_11:26.]. Here we are called
to bear the burthens of others; and frequently to groan under burthens that are
unrighteously cast upon us: but in the day of judgment, both the one and the other
of these will be removed from us, and we shall “bear that only which is properly our
own:” “we shall reap precisely what we have sown: if we have sown to the flesh, we
shall of the flesh reap corruption; and, if we have sown to the Spirit, we shall of the
Spirit reap life everlasting [ ote: ver. 7, 8.].”]
Address—
1. Those who form too favourable an opinion of their state—
[Do not imagine that we wish unnecessarily to disturb your peace. We would to God
that “your peace might flow down like a river!” All that we are anxious to do, is, to
keep you from resting in undue security, and “saying, Peace, peace, when there is no
peace.” When we entreat you to stop and try yourselves, and to prove your own
work, what do we but consult your truest happiness both in time and in eternity?
We desire to bring every one of you to a state of holy joy, even to “a joy which no
man can take from you,” “a rejoicing in yourself alone, and not in another.” Let me
then say to you, as the Apostle does, “Let not any man think of himself more highly
than he ought to think, but think soberly [ ote: Rom_12:3.]:” and again, “Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves [ ote: 2Co_13:5.].” It
is in this way only that you can attain self-knowledge, or be delivered from self-

88. deception. Think what you will of yourselves, “you are nothing,” nor ever can be
any thing, but poor, weak, guilty creatures, indebted to the free grace of God alone
for all your hope and all your salvation. Even St. Paul, whilst declaring that “he was
not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles,” confessed that “he was nothing [ ote:
2Co_12:14.].” Let the same mind be in you, and you will find the salvation of the
Gospel sweetly suited to your souls.]
2. Those who form too unfavourable an opinion of their state—
[Some there are, who, when they see how far they have departed from God, are
ready to imagine, that they have sinned beyond the reach of mercy, and that, with
respect to them, Christ has died in vain. But no man is warranted to say, that his
state is desperate; nor ought any man to come to such a conclusion after the strictest
search. There is one distinction which ought never to be forgotten: it is this; that
whatever grounds sin affords for humiliation, it affords none for despondency. If
there were not a sufficiency in the blood of Christ to cleanse from the guilt of sin, we
might well despair: or, if there were not a sufficiency in the grace of Christ to rescue
from the power of sin, we might justly say, There is no hope: but, whilst we are
assured that Christ “is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him,”
we need not fear, but that if we go to him, he will receive us; and if we trust in him,
he will glorify himself in our salvation. Attempt not then to hide from your own eyes
the extremity of your guilt; nor, when it is revealed to you, indulge any desponding
fears: but flee unto Christ, and lay hold on him, and cleave to him, and determine,
that, if you perish, you will perish at the foot of his cross, trusting in his blood, and
pleading with him that promise, “Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast
out.”]
3. Those who are enabled to form a just estimate of their state—
[These persons are a perfect mystery to all around them. The world sees them
humbling themselves as the very chief of sinners, and yet exulting under a sense of
God’s pardoning love: and how to reconcile this they know not. ‘If,’ say they, ‘you
are so vile, how can you rejoice? and, if you have such cause for joy, how is it that
you yet sigh, and mourn, and weep, as if you were the vilest of mankind?’ But it is
this union of humility and confidence which characterizes the true Christian: and,
the more eminent the Christian is, the more do both these graces flourish in his soul.
Thus then, brethren, let it be with you: affix no limits to your self-abasement; for it
is not possible for you ever to have too humiliating thoughts of yourselves: yet, on
the other hand, let there be no limits to your confidence in Christ, as able, and
willing to save the very chief of sinners. Yet, at the same time, do not imagine, that,
because you are vile in yourselves, you are at liberty to indulge in sin; or because “in
Christ you are complete,” you are not under any necessity of practising universal
holiness: these would be fatal errors indeed: were any such licence given you,
“Christ would be a minister of sin.” But this is far from being the case. It is true,
that you are justified by faith alone: but by your works will you be judged: and the
measure of your works will be the certain measure of your reward.]

89. PETT, "Verse 3
‘For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives
himself.’
Self-importance is revealed as a major sin, especially when seeking to help another.
The self-important man should never be a counsellor. For if we would counsel we
must remember that we are in fact nothing, that without Christ we are useless and
helpless in such matters, and it is Christ Who is all and alone can help the
trespasser. We may be His instruments, but He can well do without us, for it is He
alone Who can lift the sinner, and not us. In fact it is only of His grace that He is
willing to use us at all. And indeed without the Spirit where would we be? We too
would be sinking in iniquity. Thus if we claim to be ‘somebody’ we deceive
ourselves. We need to recognise that we are but weak and frail instruments of a
powerful Lord. But that is the gist of it. We have a powerful Lord.
4
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can
take pride in himself, without comparing himself
to somebody else,
BAR ES, "But let every man prove - That is, try or examine in a proper manner.
Let him form a proper estimate of what is due to himself, according to his real character.
Let him compare himself with the word of God, and the infallible rule which he has
given, and by which we are to be judged in the last great day; compare the Rom_12:3
note; 1Co_11:28 note; 2Co_13:5 note.
His own work - What he does. Let him form a fair and impartial estimate of his own
character.
And then shall he have rejoicing - That is, he will be appropriately rewarded, and
will meet with no disappointment. The man who forms an improper estimate of his own
character will be sure to be disappointed. The man who examines himself, and who
forms no extravagant expectation in regard to what is due to himself, will be
appropriately rewarded, and will be made happy. If, by the careful examination of
himself, he finds his life to be virtuous, and his course of conduct pure; if he has done no
wrong to others, and if he finds evidence that he is a child of God, then he will have

90. cause of rejoicing.
In himself alone - Compare Pro_14:14; “A good man shall be satisfied from
himself.” The sentiment is, that he will find in himself a source of pure joy. He will not be
dependent on the applause of others for happiness. In an approving conscience; in the
evidence of the favor of God; in an honest effort to lead a pure and holy life, he will have
happiness. The source of his joys will be within; and he will not be dependent, as the
man of ambition, and the man who thinks of himself more highly than he ought, will, on
the favors of a capricious multitude, and on the breath of popular applause.
And not in another - He will not be dependent on others for happiness. Here is the
true secret of happiness. It consists:
(1) In not forming an improper estimate of ourselves; in knowing just what we are,
and what is due to us; in not thinking ourselves to be something, when we are nothing.
(2) In leading such a life that it may be examined to the core, that we may know
exactly what we are without being distressed or pained. That is, in having a good
conscience, and in the honest and faithful discharge of our duty to God and man.
(3) In not being dependent on the fickle applause of the world for our comfort. The
man who has no internal resources, and who has no approving conscience; who is happy
only when others smile, and miserable when they frown, is a man who can have no
security for enjoyment. The man who has a good conscience, and who enjoys the favor of
God, and the hope of heaven, carries with him the source of perpetual joy. He cannot be
deprived of it. His purse may be taken, and his house robbed, but the highwayman
cannot rob him of his comforts. He carries with him an unfailing source of happiness
when abroad, and the same source of happiness abides with him at home; he bears it
into society, and it remains with him in solitude; it is his companion when in health, and
when surrounded by his friends, and it is no less his companion when his friends leave
him, and when he lies upon a bed of death.
CLARKE, "Prove his own work - Let him examine himself and his conduct by the
words and example of Christ; and if he find that they bear this touchstone, then he shall
have rejoicing in himself alone, feeling that he resembles his Lord and Master, and not in
another - not derive his consolation from comparing himself with another who may be
weaker, or less instructed than himself. The only rule for a Christian is the word of
Christ; the only pattern for his imitation is the example of Christ. He should not
compare himself with others; they are not his standard. Christ hath left us an example
that we should follow his steps.
GILL, "But let every man prove his own work,.... Not concern himself about the
actions and works of others; let him review his own heart and actions; let him examine,
try, and prove his whole conduct in life by the rule of God's word, when he will find
enough at home, without bearing hard upon, and censuring others:
and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another; which is
either ironically said, he will then see what reason he has to rejoice and glory in his own
works, and vaunt over others, and to boast of his performances, and despise others; so
far from it, that he will have reason to be ashamed of himself, and to own and
acknowledge his unworthiness and unprofitableness: or if, upon such a review,
examination, and probation of his works, it shall appear that he has had his conversation
in the world, by the grace of God, in simplicity and godly sincerity, this testimony of his

91. conscience will be his rejoicing; see 2Co_1:12. He may rejoice "in himself", in his own
works, as the fruits of grace, but not as the effects of his own power and strength; and
may glory and boast of them before men, in vindication of his cause and character, and
as evidences of the truth of grace, but not before God, as if they were the matter of his
justification and acceptance:
and not in another; that is fallen into sin; making use of his sins and faults to set off
himself, and to increase his own praise and condemnation; rejoicing in this, that he is
better than others, and is not, as the Pharisee said, as other men are, as wicked as they,
or has not fallen into such sins as others have done. He will have occasion to take such a
method as this, if his conversation will bear the test; he will have rejoicing in the
testimony of his own conscience, and will have no need to compare himself with others;
his glorying will be on account of his own actions, and not through a comparison of
other men's. This no ways contradicts a man's glorying in God, and rejoicing in Christ
Jesus alone, in the business of salvation. It only regards a man's glorying before men, in
a modest and humble manner, of what he is enabled to do, by the grace of God, without
fetching in the characters of other men that are wicked, or have fallen, to illustrate his
own.
HE RY, "III. We are advised every one to prove his own work, Gal_6:4. By our own
work is chiefly meant our own actions or behaviour. These the apostle directs us to
prove, that is seriously and impartially to examine them by the rule of God's word, to see
whether or no they are agreeable to it, and therefore such as God and conscience do
approve. This he represents as the duty of every man; instead of being forward to judge
and censure others, it would much more become us to search and try our own ways; our
business lies more at home than abroad, with ourselves than with other men, for what
have we to do to judge another man's servant? From the connection of this exhortation
with what goes before it appears that if Christians did duly employ themselves in this
work they might easily discover those defects and failings in themselves which would
soon convince them how little reason they have either to be conceited of themselves or
severe in their censures of others; and so it gives us occasion to observe that the best way
to keep us from being proud of ourselves is to prove our ownselves: the better we are
acquainted with our own hearts and ways, the less liable shall we be to despise and the
more disposed to compassionate and help others under their infirmities and afflictions.
That we may be persuaded to this necessary and profitable duty of proving our own
work, the apostle urges two considerations very proper for this purpose: -
1. This is the way to have rejoicing in ourselves alone. If we set ourselves in good earnest
to prove our own work, and, upon the trial, can approve ourselves to God, as to our
sincerity and uprightness towards him, then may we expect to have comfort and peace in
our own souls, having the testimony of our own consciences for us (as 2Co_1:12), and
this, he intimates, would be a much better ground of joy and satisfaction than to be able
to rejoice in another, either in the good opinion which others may have of us or in
having gained over others to our opinion, which the false teachers were wont to glory in
(as we see Gal_6:13), or by comparing ourselves with others, as, it should seem, some
did, who were ready to think well of themselves, because they were not so bad as some
others. Too many are apt to value themselves upon such accounts as these; but the joy
that results thence is nothing to that which arises from an impartial trial of ourselves by
the rule of God's word, and our being able thereupon to approve ourselves to him. Note,
(1.) Though we have nothing in ourselves to boast of, yet we may have the matter of
rejoicing in ourselves: our works can merit nothing at the hand of God; but, if our
consciences can witness for us that they are such as he for Christ's sake approves and

92. accepts, we may upon good ground rejoice therein. (2.) The true way to have rejoicing in
ourselves is to be much in proving our own works, in examining ourselves by the
unerring rule of God's word, and not by the false measures of what others are, or may
think of us. (3.) It is much more desirable to have matter of glorying in ourselves than in
another. If we have the testimony of our consciences that we are accepted of God, we
need not much concern ourselves about what others think or say of us; and without this
the good opinion of others will stand us in little stead.
JAMISO , "his own work — not merely his own opinion of himself.
have rejoicing in himself alone — Translate, “Have his (matter for) glorying in
regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another (namely, not in regard to his
neighbor, by comparing himself with whom, he has fancied he has matter for boasting as
that neighbor’s superior).” Not that really a man by looking to “himself alone” is likely to
find cause for glorying in himself. Nay, in Gal_6:5, he speaks of a “burden” or load, not
of matter for glorying, as what really belongs to each man. But he refers to the idea those
whom he censures had of themselves: they thought they had cause for “glorying” in
themselves, but it all arose from unjust self-conceited comparison of themselves with
others, instead of looking at home. The only true glorying, if glorying it is to be called, is
in the testimony of a good conscience, glorying in the cross of Christ.
CALVI , "4.But let every man prove his own work. By a powerful blow, Paul has
already struck down the pride of man. But it frequently happens that, by comparing
ourselves with others, the low opinion which we form of them leads us to entertain a
high opinion of ourselves. Paul declares that no such comparison ought to be
allowed. Let no man, he says, measure himself by the standard of another, or please
himself with the thought, that others appear to him less worthy of approbation. Let
him lay aside all regard to other men, examine his own conscience, and inquire what
is his own work. It is not what we gain by detracting from others, but what we have
without any comparison, that can be regarded as true praise.
Some consider Paul to be speaking in irony. “ flatterest thyself by a comparison with
the faults of others; but if thou wilt consider who thou art, thou wilt then enjoy the
praise which is justly due to thee.” In other words, no praise whatever shall be
thine; because there is no man by whom the smallest portion of praise is really
deserved. In conformity with this view, the words that follow, every man shall bear
his own burden, are supposed to mean, that it is usual for every man to bear his own
burden. But the plain and direct sense of the words agrees better with the apostle’
reasoning. “ respect to thyself alone, and not by comparison with others, thou wilt
have praise.” I am well aware that the next sentence, which annihilates all the glory
of man, has been regarded as justifying the ironical interpretation. But the glorying
of which this passage treats, is that of a good conscience, in which the Lord allows
his people to indulge, and which Paul elsewhere expresses in very animated
language.
“ earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good
conscience before God until this day.”

93. (Act_23:1.)
This is nothing more than an acknowledgment of Divine grace, which reflects no
praise whatever on man, but excites him to give God the glory. Such a reason for
glorying do the godly find in themselves; and they ascribe it, not to their own merits,
but to the riches of the grace of God.
“ our rejoicing is this, the testimony of a good conscience, that in simplicity and
godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our
conversation in the world.”
PETT, "Verse 4-5
‘But let each man prove his own work, and then he will have his glorying in himself
alone, and not of the other. For every man shall bear his own pack.’
Rather than criticising or looking with superiority at the behaviour of others, what
we should be doing is putting our own behaviour and achievements to the test. We
must ask, is our behaviour satisfactory? Are we up to the mark? Then we will have
something to take pride in, especially before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans
14:10-12). For in the end each man has to bear his own pack, not someone else’s. In
the end we will be tested by what we are.
otice that in Galatians 6:2 the word for burden is ‘baros’, a weight, a heavy
burden that wears a man down and makes him wilt (Matthew 20:12; Acts 15:28). In
Galatians 6:5 it is ‘phortion’, e.g. a soldier’s pack or load, something to be carried
without being too arduous, although in another context it can mean a grievous
burden (Luke 11:46), as indeed a soldier’s pack can sometimes become.
BI, "But let every man prove his own work.
Faithful self-examination
Let us be careful to get the true balance to weigh ourselves. There are the scales in
which the world weighs men and things, and decides their amount of good or evil.
But these, or the like balance, are so appended to the beam as to favour one scale
more than the other. They will therefore deceive us in forming our estimate of
things; for sin, when put into them, and love for God, and devotedness to Him, like
two feathers east into the scale, will weigh so light that they will kick the beam when
the meanest worldly trifle is weighed against them, while the scale in which the
world weighs their virtues will have a vast preponderance in their favour. There is
also the balance of conscience, and this is more false and deceitful (if possible) than
the other. The conscience of the natural man is like a fraudulent man with false

94. weights and measures, from whom we shall be sure to have no just weight. We must
therefore take the golden balance of the sanctuary. Here, indeed, even our best
services, when weighed with the law of God, will be found wanting; but the fulness
of the redemption in the blood of Jesus, the freeness of His promises to every
repenting sinner, the merit of His sinless obedience--these, on which the believer
builds his hopes, however nicely weighed in the balance of truth, will want nothing
of that true weight which the justice of God will demand at our hands. (H. G.
Salter.)
ecessity of self-examination
The reason why there is so little self-condemnation is because there is so little self-
examination. For want of this many persons are like travellers, skilled in other
countries, but ignorant of their own. (Archbishop Seeker.)
True self-examination
Around the masterpieces in the galleries of Europe artists are always congregated.
You may see them standing before Raphael’s transfiguration, copying with the
nicest care every line and tint of that matchless work, glancing constantly from their
canvas to the picture, that, even in the minutest parts, they may reproduce the
original. But if, at one side, you saw an artist who only looked up occasionally from
his work and drew a line, but filled in there a tree or a waterfall, and there a deer or
a cottage, just as his fancy suggested, what kind of a copyist would you call him?
ow, true self-examination lies in ascertaining how nearly we are reproducing
Christ. He has painted for us in no gallery; but His life glows fourfold in the
Gospels, and our hearts are the canvas upon which we are to copy it. Let us not take
occasional glimpses, and work meanwhile upon earthly designs; but let us look long
and earnestly till our lives reflect the whole Divine image. (H. W. Beecher.)
Dread of self-examination
As it is an evidence that those tradesmen are embarrassed in their estates, who are
afraid to look into their books, so it is plain that there is something wrong within,
among all those who are afraid to look within He that buys a jewel in a case deserves
to be cozened with a Bristol stone. (Archbishop Seeker.)
Urgency of self-examination

95. Remember that the time you have for self-examination is, after all, very short. Soon
thou wilt know the great secret. I may not say words rough enough to rend off the
mask which thou hast now upon thee; but there is one called Death who will stand
no compliment. You may masquerade it out to-day in the dress of a saint; but Death
will soon strip you, and you must stand before the judgment-seat after Death has
discovered you in all your nakedness, be that naked innocence or naked guilt. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
True and false standards of character
I. The false standard of character. There is a very common mode of judging of
ourselves and our friends which is in itself utterly false and unsatisfactory; I mean
that mode of estimating character and works, not by what these are in themselves,
but by what they are in comparison with the life of others. “I may not be what I
ought to be,” a man says; “but, side by side with my neighbour, I have no cause to
be ashamed.” The picture seems fairer if it has a dark background; and we fall into
the habit of measuring our own goodness by other men’s want of goodness. Instead
of making conscience the standard of duty, they practically make other men’s want
of conscience the standard. They have no sorrow or compunction for anything they
have done or left undone, so long as they can point to others who are more to blame
than themselves--as if health were to be measured, not by the pulse and vigour of the
patient, but by the feverishness and insensibility of another patient lying at his side!
II. The true standard of character. Let every man prove his own work; let him test it
on its own merits and for its own sake; and let it be judged, not by the indolence and
failures of others, but by its own character and worth. This method of judgment,
whereby every man must; prove his own work, is in accordance with facts of the
spiritual world; for “every man must bear his own burden.” The character is the
outcome of a man’s life and labours. What the man is, is really the fruit of what he
does, and of what he thinks and speaks day by day. The character of every man is
the measure of his works. The character will continue to tell what a man’s life has
been, and what in its inmost nature it continues to be. And in this matter each man
bears his own burden--a burden in which others may sympathize, but which no
human sympathy can relieve him of. God has made visible in man His eternal law,
that every man’s own work is proved, so as to give him rejoicing or sorrow, as the
case may be, in himself, and not in another. And there is all the more need to test
and prove our own work, that the time for doing our work is fast passing away. Our
influence is gradually, and in modes unnoticed and unseen, pervading all around us;
and that influence for good and evil is what we are responsible for. (A. Watson, D.
D.)

96. Self-examination
Mind is the principal distinguishing attribute of man. This undying principle
enables us to reflect on our condition as accountable creatures, and on the
connection between our present state and final destiny. It is to man, thus
constituted, that Divine revelation is addressed. It regards him as capable of
reasoning as well as feeling. Every man is required to prove his own work. Those
who most need this counsel will probably least feel their need of it, which is the
strongest argument for attempting to enforce it. The text prescribes an important
measure, and enforces it by weighty considerations. Let us advert--
I. To the measure which it prescribes. “Let every man prove his own work.” This
seems to imply that every man should be seriously concerned to ascertain his own
real character and condition before God; and that in order to this he should
carefully examine both his principles and practice, his heart and life, and thus prove
his own work. Probably there is in these words an allusion to the process of proving
the genuineness of metals, by putting them to the test.
1. The text supposes the existence of an authorized test. In the absence of a test the
process of proof is impracticable. Every man must have some rule by which to try
his work, or he cannot prove his own work. The Word of God, and nothing but the
Word of God, is the authorized test of Christian character.
2. It requires the application of this test by every man to himself. The application of
this test includes two things, namely, the examination of the Scriptures, and the
examination of ourselves by the Scriptures. If either of these is neglected, the
examination is but partial.
II. The motives by which this measure is enforced. Beyond the obvious importance
and necessity of this self-scrutiny, the apostle adduces two considerations to prompt
every man to the adoption of the measure.
1. He adduces the advantage that may arise from it at present. “Then shall he have
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” The apostle supposes a favourable
result of the investigation, and in this case he affirms it would yield peculiar
satisfaction and joy. He whose own work is thus proved to be genuine has just
ground for rejoicing.
(1) As it respects the question decided. Many questions about which we often
perplex our minds and waste our time are after all but trifling, comparatively very
trifling! But in the case before us the question is of the highest importance, of

97. infinite moment. The extremes of bliss and woe, immortal bliss and endless woe, are
involved in this question.
(2) As it respects the manner of deciding it. “Then shall he have rejoicing in himself
alone, and not in another.” His rejoicing arises from the testimony of his own
conscience, and not from the opinion of others respecting him. He has not rested in
the vain conceit of his own imagination.
2. He adduces the nature of the proceedings of the last great day. “For every man
shall bear his own burden.”
Having endeavoured to explain the measure which the text prescribes, and the
motives by which it enforces this measure, I shall close by--
1. Urging its immediate adoption.
2. By attempting to obviate sonic difficulties attending it.
In undertaking and prosecuting an examination of ourselves, we shall probably
discover many and great defects. If the trial be impartial, this will certainly be the
case. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
Self-proving
I. A duty. Our work is good, and approved by God, if it have--
1. A good ground, viz., the will and Word of God, and not will-worship and human
invention.
2. A good performance. Sincere, as in the presence of God, and with an honest heart.
3. A good end.
(1) God’s glory (1Co_10:30).
(2) Our brother’s good (1Co_14:26).
II. A privilege.
1. Independence of men.

98. 2. The blessed testimony of a good conscience (2Co_1:12). Hence learn--
(1) That if we would have a light heart we must approve ourselves unto God.
(2) That the common estimate of religion as gloomy is false (Pro_15:15; 1Pe_1:18).
(3) That there is much spurious joy in the world, which arises, not from within, but
without. There are those
(a) who rejoice in the opinions of others;
(b) in the fact that they have not been open offenders;
(c) in the virtue of their ancestors (Joh_8:33; Mat_3:9);
(d) in that others are worse than themselves. (R. Cudworth.)
5
for each one should carry his own load.
BAR ES, "For every man shall bear his own burden - This seems to be a kind
of proverbial saying; and it means here, every man shall have his proper reward. If he is
a virtuous man, he will be happy; if a vicious man, he will be miserable. If a virtuous
man, he will have the source of happiness in himself; if a sinner, he must bear the proper
penalty of his sin. In the great day every man shall be properly rewarded. Knowing this,
we should be little anxious about the sentiments of others, and should seek to maintain a
good conscience toward God and man. The design of this passage is, to prevent people
from forming an improper estimate of themselves, and of the opinions of others. Let a
man feel that he is soon to stand at the judgment-seat, and it will do much to keep him
from an improper estimate of his own importance; let him feel that he must give an
account to God, and that his great interests are to be determined by the estimate which
God will affix to his character, and it will teach him that the opinion of the world is of
little value. This will restrain his vanity and ambition. This will show him that the great
business of life is to secure the favor of God, and to be prepared to give up his account;
and there is no way so effectual of checking ambition, and subduing vanity and the love
of applause, as to feel that we are soon to stand at the awesome bar of God.

99. CLARKE, "Every man shall bear his own burden - All must answer for
themselves, not for their neighbors. And every man must expect to be dealt with by the
Divine Judge, as his character and conduct have been. The greater offenses of another
will not excuse thy smaller crimes. Every man must give account of himself to God.
GILL, "For every man shall bear his own burden. That is, either do his own
work, which God has allotted him to do, whether in a more public or private station of
life; which, because it is generally troublesome to the flesh, is called a "burden", and "his
own", being peculiar to himself, and in which no other is concerned; and which he
should patiently bear, cheerfully attend to, and constantly and faithfully perform while
in this world: or he shall give an account of his own actions, and not another's, to God, in
the other world; he shall be judged according to his own works, what they are in
themselves, and not by a comparison of other men's, who have been more wicked than
he; which will be no rule of judgment with God, nor of any advantage to man. Every
wicked man will bear his own burden; that is, the punishment of his own sins, and not
another's; so the judgments of God, inflicted on men in this world, are often called ‫,משא‬
"a burden"; see Isa_13:1 and so may the punishment of the wicked in another world,
which will be grievous and intolerable. The saints will be exempt from bearing this
burden, because Christ has bore it for them, even all their sins, and all the punishment
due unto them; but another burden, if it may be so called, even an exceeding and eternal
weight of glory, shall be bore by them; and every man shall receive his own reward, and
not another's; and that according to his own works and labour, and not another's; not
indeed for his works, but according to them, the nature of them, according to the grace
of God, from whence his works spring, and by which they are performed. This the
apostle says to take off men from dwelling upon, and censuring the actions of others,
and from making use of them to set off their own, and buoy themselves up with vain
hopes, because they are better than others; and also to engage them to attend strictly to
their own actions, and consider them simply and absolutely as in themselves, and not as
compared with other men's, since they will be accountable for their own actions, and not
other men's; and will be judged according to their own works, and not in a comparative
view to others.
HE RY, "2. The other argument which the apostle uses to press upon us this duty of
proving our own work is that every man shall bear his own burden (Gal_6:5), the
meaning of which is that at the great day every one shall be reckoned with according as
his behaviour here has been. He supposes that there is a day coming when we must all
give an account of ourselves to God; and he declares that then the judgment will
proceed, and the sentence pass, not according to the sentiments of the world concerning
us, or any ungrounded opinion we may have had of ourselves, or upon our having been
better or worse than others, but according as our state and behaviour have really been in
the sight of God. And, if there be such an awful time to be expected, when he will render
to every one according to his works, surely there is the greatest reason why we should
prove our own works now: if we must certainly be called to an account hereafter, surely
we ought to be often calling ourselves to an account here, to see whether or no we are
such as God will own and approve then: and, as this is our duty, so if it were more our
practice we should entertain more becoming thoughts both of ourselves and our fellow-
christians, and instead of bearing hard upon one another, on account of any mistakes or

100. failings we may be guilty of, we should be more ready to fulfil that law of Christ by which
we must be judged in bearing one another's burdens.
JAMISO , "For (by this way, Gal_6:4, of proving himself, not depreciating his
neighbor by comparison) each man shall bear his own “burden,” or rather, “load”
(namely, of sin and infirmity), the Greek being different from that in Gal_6:2. This verse
does not contradict Gal_6:2. There he tells them to bear with others’ “burdens” of
infirmity in sympathy; here, that self-examination will make a man to feel he has enough
to do with “his own load” of sin, without comparing himself boastfully with his neighbor.
Compare Gal_6:3. Instead of “thinking himself to be something,” he shall feel the “load”
of his own sin: and this will lead him to bear sympathetically with his neighbor’s burden
of infirmity. Aesop says a man carries two bags over his shoulder, the one with his own
sins hanging behind, that with his neighbor’s sins in front.
CALVI , "5.For every man shall bear his own burdens. To destroy sloth and pride,
he brings before us the judgment of God, in which every individual for himself, and
without a comparison with others, will give an account of his life. It is thus that we
are deceived; for, if a man who has but one eye is placed among the blind, he
considers his vision to be perfect; and a tawny person among negroes thinks himself
white. The apostle affirms that the false conclusions to which we are thus conducted
will find no place in the judgment of God; because there every one will bear his own
burden, and none will stand acquitted by others from their own sins. This is the true
meaning of the words.
BI, "For every man shall bear his own burden.
Here are some of the burdens which each man must bear for himself alone
1. The burden of personality. Each individual is open to manifold influence--may be
impressed, drawn, turned, melted, inflamed, according to the powers that play upon
him; but he is himself in all. He abides in the eye of God a separate, complete,
individual soul for ever.
2. The burden of responsibility. This arises of necessity out of the personality. Man
is moral, therefore responsible. The separate threads of each one’s life are singled
out by God for judgment.
3. The burden of guilt. Where guilt gathers, there guilt must rest until God shall
remove it. And what a load it is. ‘Tis this which turns the moisture into the drought
of summer, which breaks the bones, drinks up the spirit, weakens strength by the
way, quenches the light of hope, and cleaves and clings to the soul a burden of
present judgment, and daily foretelling of doom.
4. Immortality is a man’s own burden. Each is to live for ever--his own life and not

101. another’s: carrying forward with him through eternity its accumulating elements of
happiness or woe. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The individual burden
A man often ceases to feel it for a while. He mingles in some great and gay
assemblage, and for the time feels as though his personality were gone, or in
suspense. He is not as a separate drop, he is lost in an ocean of life. But in a little
while the great assemblage melts all away--only the individuals are left; that which
they constituted when they were together has gone for ever; and the man whose life
seemed to be almost absorbed and lost in an ocean of multitudinous existence--
where is he now? He is going home there pensively under the shadow of the trees,
and deeply conscious of himself; with his own joys and sorrows, with his own
thoughts and plans, with his soul in all its powers and affections untouched. He is
bearing his own burden. Or, in a time of sorrow, other souls come around with
watchful yearning love. He has letters breathing the intensest sympathy. He has
visits of sincere and sorrowing affection, or he has in the house with him those who
feel so deeply and truly with himself that they hardly seem to be divided in the grief.
But, the letters are read, the visits are paid, the tears are shed, and then--he retires
into his personality, and feels that his sorrow is his own, that none can tell the loss to
him, that none can feel as he feels, that he possesses his sorrow because he possesses
his soul, and that he, as every man, shall bear his own burden. A man is born alone--
has his being moulded with God’s plastic hand, has all his powers implanted, and
the awful image of God impressed, to be carried in glory or in ruin for ever. In all
the stages really, and in all the critical and important times of his life consciously, he
is alone, as distinct as a tree in the forest, separate as a star in the sky. And in death
he leaveth all his friends, and goeth out along the darksome valley without a hand to
help, without a voice to cheer--when the dying really comes. He goeth out bearing
his own burden of life from one world into another--from the things which are seen
to the things which are not seen, from those which are temporal to those which are
eternal …. We must think of this if we wish to be faithful and true men. It may be to
some the taking up of the cross; but it must be done. Let a man examine himself. Let
him sit down to weigh his burden and think: “I am one--personal, complete. I
cannot mingle my being in a general tide. I cannot lose one atom of my personality. I
must be myself for ever!” (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The believer’s freight
The Greek word ( öñïôé́ïí ) is different from the word translated “burden” ( âá́ñïò )
in Gal_6:2; and signifies “a burden or load, especially a ship’s freight or lading.”
Paul was a native of Tarsus, which was situated on the Cydnus, about twenty miles
from the sea; and, in Paul’s time, was in the Eastern basin of the Mediterranean
almost what Marseilles was in the Western. It was a place of much commerce; and

102. St. Basil describes it as a point of union for Syrians Cilicians, Isaurians, and
Cappadocians. Such was the city in which Paul was born and brought up, and from
which he must have repeatedly sailed as a passenger in merchant ships going from
one port to another to take in or unlade their freight ( öïñôé́ïí ). And thus, from his
very childhood, Paul must have been quite familiar with this word as signifying a
ship’s freight, and he could scarcely ever have connected it with any other idea than
that of something precious and valuable. This is the only place in his writings in
which he uses the word. May we not suppose that he here compares believers to
vessels carrying off their respective freights, varying in value; and that he means, by
this nautical phrase, that each one will receive his due reward at the last day?
Elsewhere he speaks of the believer’s receiving a “burden ( âá́ñïò ) of glory,” which
is a somewhat similar figure, and certainly not less harsh to our ears than the one
here used (2Co_4:17). Thus translated, the connection is clear. Let each one take
care to have his ground of rejoicing in his own consistent life, and not in the falls of
others; and this is the reason why he should do so--viz., that each one will have a
reward according to what his own life has been, without reference to what the lives
of his brethren were. (John Venn, M. A.)
The separate burden of each soul
I hope you will not associate with burden-bearing anything menial or degraded.
Remember that our Blessed Saviour consecrated labour with the axe and the adze
and the mallet at azareth; and labour is a crown of glory, never of degradation.
Everybody, high or humble, ought to have some work to do. I remember how, in the
days of the old dispensation in America, before slavery committed suicide, I was
once the guest of a hospitable planter, and I stood by the river bank and watched
the long line of negro men and women carrying bags of rice on their heads to load a
vessel, and chanting the rich melodious song with which Africa’s daughters seem to
have cheered themselves in the hours of their bondage. They were carrying their
burdens. I went into the house, and the head of the family said to me, very
thoughtfully; “Sir, it is a tremendous thing to be the owner of a hundred immortal
beings.” That was his burden then. The burden in the one case was physical, and in
the other mental, moral, spiritual. Well, in the same way, everybody has his own
burden. Bear that in mind. The merchant goes to-morrow to his warehouse, and he
says, “What an easy time my porter has! He has nothing to do but to load up the
dray. He has no care. What an easy time my clerk has--my book-keeper. He has
nothing to do but to perform my work and receive his salary, and I have the care of
the whole establishment.” But, on the other hand, says the workman: “What an easy
time my master has. He has nothing to do but to ride here in his carriage, and sign
cheques, and go home to his country seat.” Ah, and the brain of the employer is the
bread of the workman, and the toil of the workman is the prosperity of the master.
Capital and labour God has joined together, and what God has joined together let
no agrarian or communist ever tear asunder. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)

103. Our burden our blessing
Here is a man, who has “come in” for a good fortune and a good business. He has
not made either the one or the ether. Those who did make the business, who
watched and nurtured it from a tiny seed to a great tree with many branches,
nourished and organized it so wisely that, even after they are gone, it continues, at
least for a time, to grow and thrive and bring forth fruit well-nigh of itself. The man
has no serious difficulties to encounter, no rubs, no hardships, no heart-tormenting
cares. He lives at his ease, carelessly, luxuriously--drives down to his counting-house
now and then, but gives most of his time to pleasure or to self-pleasing pursuits. Is
he likely to be either a good man or a good man of business? It is nothing short of a
miracle if he is. How should he feel the gravity of life, its solemn responsibilities, or
even its true joys? For want of a burden he is only too likely to leave the straight
path. With nothing to bear, nothing to conquer, and not much to do, he grows
indolent, self-indulgent, fastidious, perhaps hypochondriacal; and, because he has
no other burden, becomes a burden to himself. But here is another man who has
had to “begin life for himself.” Under the pressure of necessity, he has been
industrious, frugal, temperate, contriving; he knows all the ins and outs of his work;
he has mastered the secrets of his craft, studied his markets, adapted himself to the
time, won a good name, inspired his neighbours with respect for his ability, with
confidence in his trustworthiness. In short, his burdens have made a man of him,
and a true man of business. He is likely to succeed, and to be happy in his success.
Up to a certain point, let us say, he has succeeded. He has a good and growing
business, a considerable capital embarked in it, a comfortable home, a family
trained in habits similar to his own. If you set such an one talking of his past career,
you soon find that he sees how much he owes to his burdens. He will tell you himself
that he thanks God for the very difficulties he once found it so hard to bear; for the
obstacles which stood in his way, but which he has surmounted. If he is a thoughtful
Christian man, he will also acknowledge that he has gained in character, in
judgment, in patience, in energy of will, in faith in God, in charity with his
neighbours, by the very trials and hardships he has had to endure. othing, indeed,
is more common than to hear “a self-made man” refer boastfully, or thankfully, to
the disadvantages, the unfavourable conditions, which he has overcome, and confess
that but for these, and his resolute struggle with them, he would never have been the
man he is. Whatever else, or more, a family may be, no one will deny that it is a
burden. The father’s broad shoulders take a new weight with every child that is
born to him. He must work harder; he must think and plan, and strive not for
himself alone, but that he may feed, clothe, and educate his children. Most of you
fathers have, no doubt, felt at times how heavy this load is; how sharp and painful is
the pressure of the anxieties it entails. But you have also felt how this burden is your
help and blessing. For your children’s sake you rule and deny yourselves. You know
very well that if you would have them grow up with good habits, your habits must
be good; that you cannot expect them to be punctual, orderly, temperate,
industrious, considerate, kind, if you are unkind, thoughtless, indolent, passionate,
disorderly, irregular. That you may train them in the way they should go, you try to
keep the right way, to set them a good example. And thus they help you to acquire

104. the very habits which make your own life sweet and pure, to keep the only course
which leads to peace on earth or in heaven. Your burden is your benediction.
Despite your good example and careful training, some of your children (let us
suppose so cruel a case) do not turn out what you wish them to be: they are lazy,
though you have tried to make them industrious; self-pleasing, though you have
taught them self-denial; passionate and ungovernable, though you have striven to
make them temperate and obedient; or even vicious, though you have done your
utmost to keep them pure. And as the sad conviction grows on you that your labour
has been lost, that they are settling into the very habits from which you would have
made any sacrifice to preserve them, your heart fails you, and you almost give up
the hope of reclaiming them. This new burden is, you say, heavier than you can
bear. Oh, weak and faithless that we are! Oh, thankless and inobservant! Though
every past burden has helped us, no sooner is a new and strange burden laid on us
than we declare it beyond our strength. How does God prove Himself the perfect
Father? What is it that we most admire in His paternal goodness? Is it that He sits
among His unfallen children, shedding a heavenly bliss into their pure obedient
hearts? Is it not, rather, that He comes into this fallen world to dwell with us--His
prodigal and unthankful children--to suffer in and for our sins, to bear our sorrows,
to pursue us with His lovingkindness and tender mercy? Is it not, rather, that He
will not cease to hope for us, however hopeless and wicked we may be; that He
lavishes His love upon us, even when we do not love Him, and saves and conquers us
at last by a goodness which has no limit, and will not be repelled? And how shall we
be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, unless we, too, bear the burdens of the
weak and erring, patiently endure the ingratitude of the thankless, and overcome
the evil of the wicked with our good? How shall you, fathers and mothers, become,
and prove yourselves, perfect parents if you can only love the children that love you,
if you cannot be patient with the disobedient, if you cannot take thought and pains
to bring back those who have gone astray? This new terrible burden of sorrow and
care is a new honour which God has put upon you, a new call to perfection. It is
because you are strong that He asks you to bear the infirmities of the weak. It is
because you are capable of the most heroic tasks of love that he taxes your love, and,
by taxing, strengthens and deepens it. But take, for one example, the burden of
mystery which lies on the sacred page. Most thoughtful men have felt its weight; in
these days, indeed, it is hardly possible to escape its pressure. When we seek to
acquaint ourselves with the truth, which is one, lo! we find it manifold; the simple
and sincere Word bristles with paradox and contradiction; it opens up depths we
cannot fathom, and suggests problems we cannot solve. Yet is not this burden a
veritable blessing? If the inspired Word were simple and plain through-out--if it
were level to the meanest understanding, and disclosed its inmost secrets to the most
cursory and fugitive attention, could we study and love it as we do? (S. Cox, D. D.)
Burden-bearing strengthens
The Christian gets stronger for his load, or he ought to. Train up your boy indoors;
give him as much spending money as he wants; never put the boy to any work; and

105. the poor little flabby creature will get to be mere pulp. But turn him out to work for
himself, load on him study, toil, the necessity of supporting himself, and you
graduate him to manhood. That man, at whose departure a world is mourning,
fought his way up from poverty by hard struggle, until he attained that place which
he filled in the eyes of the country and of the world. ow, that is the way God deals
with His children. He burdens them to make them strong. He says to one of His
spiritual children, “Every man shall bear his own burden; carry that;” and to
another, “Every man to his work; do that:” and to another, “Every man his own
cross; carry that.” Between here and heaven lies many a Hill of Difficulty, as
Bunyan describes it, where you and I have got to give over running for walking, and
to give over walking for climbing on the knees. I have lived long enough to thank
God for difficulties. They make you strong, they sinew your heart; they enlarge your
faith; they bring you near to God. Burden-bearing strengthens; grappling with
difficulties gives us what we so much need, and that is force; and in God’s school
some hard lessons have to be learnt. I think we learn our most precious lessons when
we look at them through tears which make a lens for the eye. I have found the
hardest lesson in this world is--what? It is to let God have His way; and the man or
woman who has learnt how to let God have His way has attained the higher life--the
highest on earth. (S. Cox, D. D.)
Religion must be personal
A little girl, whom we will call Ellen, was some time ago helping to nurse a sick
gentleman whom she loved very dearly. One day he said to her, “Ellen, it is time for
me to take my medicine, I think. Will you pour it out for me? You must measure
just a table-spoonful, and then put it in that wine-glass close by.” Ellen quickly did
so, and brought it to his bedside; but, instead of taking it in his own hand, he quietly
said, “ ow, dear, will you drink it for me?” “Will I drink it? What do you mean? I
am sure I would, in a minute, if it would cure you all the same; but you know it
won’t do you any good, unless you take it yourself.” “Won’t it, really?” the
gentleman replied. “ o, I suppose it will not. But Ellen, if you can’t take my
medicine for me, I can’t take your salvation for you. You must go to Jesus, and
believe in Him for yourself.” In this way he tried to teach his little friend that each
human being must seek salvation for him-self--repent, believe, obey, for himself:
that this is a burden which no man can bear for his brother.
Doing duty by proxy
Bishop Burnet, in his charges to the clergy of his diocese, used to be extremely
vehement in his declamations against pluralities. In his first visitation to Salisbury
he urged the authority of St. Bernard; who being consulted by one of his followers,
whether he might accept of two benefices, replied, “And how will, you be able to
serve them both?” “I intend,” answered the priest, “to officiate in one of them by a
deputy.” “will your deputy suffer eternal punishment for you too?” asked the saint.
“Believe me, you may serve your cure by proxy, but you must suffer the penalty in

106. person.” This anecdote made such an impression on Mr. Kelsey, a pious and
wealthy clergyman then present, that he immediately resigned the rectory of
Bernerton, in Berkshire, worth two hundred a year, which he then held with one of
great value.
Burden-bearing
I. Self-help.
1. This is inevitable. Each has his burden of
(1) work;
(2) sorrow;
(3) responsibility;
(4) bodily infirmities;
(5) waiting.
2. This is salutary.
(1) To utilize our powers.
(2) To develope our excellences.
II. Brotherly help (Gal_6:2). The carrying of our own load gives strength to carry
the burden of others.
(1) The burden of trial.
(2) Of poverty.
(3) Of bearing a wandering brother to Christ.
III. Divine help (Psa_55:22).
(1) The burden of anxiety.
(2) Of sin. (T. L. Cuyler.)

107. I. Man is independent, öïñôé́ïí , one’s own proper burden, a packman’s bag, a
soldier’s kit. Responsibilities of life, of parents, masters, teachers, is not a curse but
a privilege, which is thrown away when we endeavour to throw it on others.
2. Fruits of past conduct.
II. Men are interdependent (Gal_6:2), âáñç , burdens which may be shifted or borne
by another.
1. A man’s infirmities, temptations, poverty, stumblings (Gal_6:1).
2. The mutual blessedness of this interdependence.
III. Men are absolutely dependent. (Psa_55:22): burdens sent as a portion from
God.
1. Affliction.
2. Consciousness of guilt. (D. A. Taylor, M. A.)
Burdens
I. Our own.
II. Our brother’s (Gal_6:2).
III. Our Lord’s (Gal_6:17) By bearing the first we relieve our Lord’s trouble: if
every man bore his own burden, instead of shirking it, the will of God would be
done on earth as it is in heaven. By bearing the second we relieve our brother’s
trouble. Either by sympathy or substitution. By bearing the third we relieve our

108. own: the trouble of doubt, of sin, of controversy.
IV. Personality an awful gift. This short verse--
I. Singles us out from all the multitude around us.
II. Bids us remember, what the world would hide from us, that we are each of us
one.
1. This is a great thought.
2. An awful thought.
3. A thought we cannot shake off.
III. Ordinary life witnesses to this truth.
1. All deep thinking people live apart from others.
2. Sympathy may lighten their burden, but still it is their own.
3. Pain and death prove this.
IV. The present life cannot explain all this. We must go to Revelation: there we
find--
1. That this great mystery is the gift of individual being from God (Gen_2:7).
2. That we have a will that can resist the almighty will of God.
3. That the whole volume is a history of the conflict of the human will with the
Divine, and of God’s endeavour to win the human will by redemption.
4. That every healed will owes its healing to Divine grace.

109. V. Hence the unspeakable worth of every life.
1. The will is either hardening itself against God, or--
2. is being drawn into harmonious action with the will of God.
VI. Practical lessons.
1. The great importance of acting in the remembrance of our responsibility.
2. The necessity of securing times for self-examination and prayer.
3. The need of claiming our place in Christ the new and living man. (Bishop Samuel
Wilberforce.)
How to bear our burden
The world proposes rest by the removal of a burden. The Redeemer gives rest by
giving us the spirit and power to bear the burden. (F. W. Robertson.)
Burden-bearing
I. This, then, is my first proposition, namely, that every one must bear the burden of
his own sins, both as concerns this life and the next. The results of sin are strictly
individual. It is with the soul as with the body, with the spirit as with the flesh. If
you thrust a knife into your arm, it does not affect me. You yourself feel the pain;
you yourself must endure the agony. I may sympathize, I may pity, I may bandage
the gash, but the severed flesh, and the lacerated fibres are yours, and along your
nerves nature telegraphs the pain. So it is with the soul. A man who stabs himself
with a bad habit, who opens the arteries of his higher life with the lancet of his
passions, and drains them of the vital fluid, who inserts his head within the noose of
appetite and swings himself off from the pedestal of his self-control, must endure the
suffering, the weakness, and the loss which are the issue of his insane conduct. In
morals there is no copartnership, no pro rata division of profit and loss. Each man
receives according to the summation of his own account.
II. I have alluded to the individuality of moral responsibility. I have striven to show

110. you that each one must endure his own sufferings, and abide the result of his own
actions, and that in this no one can share with him. ot only is this true in respect to
moral responsibility, but it is equally true in respect to moral growth. You may
place two trees side by side, so that their branches shall interlace, and the fragrance
of their blossoms intermingle, and yet in their growth each is separate. Covered by
the same soil, moistened by the same drop, warmed by the same ray, the roots of
either collect and reinforce the trunks of each, with their respective nourishment.
Each tree grows by a law of its own growth, and the law of its own effort. The sap of
one, in its upward or downward flow, cannot desert its own channels and feed the
fibres of the other. So it is with two Christians. Planted in the same soil, drawing
their sustenance from the same source, they, nevertheless, extract it through
individual processes of thought and life. In daily contact and communion, whether
in floral or fruitful states intermingling, equal in girth and height, equal in the
results of their growth, the spiritualized currents of the one mind cannot become the
property of the other. They cannot exchange duties. They cannot exchange hopes. I
cannot think for you, or you for me. We cannot meditate for one another. Soul-food,
like bodily food, is assimilated by each man for himself. See what determination the
world manifests in pursuit of carnal things; over what sharp obstacles men mount to
honour and wealth. A worldly man asks no help from another. He plays the game of
life boldly, asking no odds. When he comes to an obstruction, he puts his shoulder
bravely against it, and rolls it aside or climbs over it. ay, more, out of the very
fragments of a previous overthrow he erects a triumph. othing overawes him nor
discourages him. He asks no one to bear his burden. He bears it himself, and finds it
to be a source of strength and power. And shall a Christian shrink from what a
worldling bravely attempts? Shall we unto whom the heavens minister, faint when
those to whom the gates of power are shut persevere? These things ought not so to
be. What is a slip? What is a scar? What is a fall? They will all testify to the perils
you endured, and the heroism of your perseverance, at the Last Day. Think not of
these. Write on your banner, where, living or dying, your eyes shall behold them,
these words: “He who endureth unto the end shall be saved. (W. H. H. Murray.)
MACLARE , "BURDE -BEARI G
Gal_6:5.
The injunction in the former of these verses appears, at first sight, to be inconsistent
with the statement in the latter. But Paul has a way of setting side by side two
superficially contradictory clauses, in order that attention may be awakened, and
that we may make an effort to apprehend the point of reconciliation between them.
So, for instance, you remember he puts in one sentence, and couples together by a
‘for,’ these two sayings: ‘Work out your own salvation’; ‘It is God that worketh in
you.’ So here he has been exhorting the Galatian Christians to restore a fallen
brother. That is one case to which the general commandment, ‘Bear ye one
another’s burdens,’ is applicable.

111. I cannot here enter on the intervening verses by which he glides from the one to the
other of these two thoughts which I have coupled together, but I may just point out
in a word the outline of his course of thought. ‘Bear ye one another’s burden,’ says
he; and then he thinks, ‘What is it that keeps men from bearing each other’s
burdens?’ Being swallowed up with themselves, and especially being conceited
about their own strength and goodness. And so he goes on: ‘If a man think himself
to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.’ And what is the best cure
for all these fancies inside us of how strong and good we are? To look at our work
with an impartial and rigid judgment. It is easy for a man to plume himself on being
good, and strong, and great; but let him look at what he has done, and try that by a
high standard, and that will knock the conceit out of him. Or, if his work stands the
test, then ‘he shall have rejoicing in himself, and not’ by comparing himself with
other people. Two blacks do not make a white, and we are not to heighten the lustre
of our own whiteness by comparing it with our neighbour’s blackness. Take your
act for what _it_ is worth, apart altogether from what other people are. Do not say,
‘God! I thank thee that I am not as other men are . . . or even as this publican’; but
look to yourself. There is an occupation with self which is good, and is a help to
brotherly sympathy.
And so the Apostle has worked round, you see, to almost an opposite thought from
the one with which he started. ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens.’ Yes, but a man’s
work is his own and nobody else’s, and a man’s character is his own and nobody
else’s, so ‘every man shall bear his own burden.’ The statements are not
contradictory. They complete each other. They are the north and the south poles,
and between them is the rounded orb of the whole truth. So then, let me point out
that:
I. There are burdens which can be shared, and there are burdens which _cannot_.
Let us take the case from which the whole context has arisen. Paul was exhorting the
Galatians, as I explained, in reference to their duty to a fallen brother; and he
speaks of him--according to our version--as ‘overtaken in a fault.’ ow, that is
scarcely his idea, I think. The phrase, as it stands in our Bibles, suggests that Paul is
trying to minimise the gravity of the man’s offence; but just in proportion as he
minimised its gravity would he weaken his exhortation to restore him. But what he
is really doing is not to make as little as possible of the sin, but to make as much of it
as is consistent with the truth. The word ‘overtaken’ suggests that some sin, like a
tiger in a jungle, springs upon a man and overpowers him by the suddenness of the
assault. The word so rendered may perhaps be represented by some such phrase as

112. ‘discovered’; or, if I may use a ‘colloquialism,’ if a man be caught ‘red-handed.’
That is the idea. And Paul does not use the weak word ‘fault,’ but a very much
stronger one, which means stark staring sin. He is supposing a bad case of
inconsistency, and is not palliating it at all. Here is a brother who has had an
unblemished reputation; and all at once the curtain is thrown aside behind which he
is working some wicked thing; and there the culprit stands, with the bull’s-eye light
flashed upon him, ashamed and trembling. Paul says, ‘If you are a spiritual man’--
there is irony there of the graver sort--’show your spirituality by going and lifting
him up, and trying to help him.’ When he says, ‘Restore such an one,’ he uses an
expression which is employed in other connections in the ew Testament, such as
for mending the broken meshes of a net, for repairing any kind of damage, for
setting the fractured bones of a limb. And that is what the ‘spiritual’ man has to do.
He is to show the validity of his claim to live on high by stooping down to the man
bemired and broken-legged in the dirt. We have come across people who chiefly
show their own purity by their harsh condemnation of others’ sins. One has heard
of women so very virtuous that they would rather hound a fallen sister to death than
try to restore her; and there are saints so extremely saintly that they will not touch
the leper to heal him, for fear of their own hands being ceremonially defiled. Paul
says, ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens’; and especially take a lift of each other’s sin.
I need not remind you how the same command applies in relation to pecuniary
distress, narrow circumstances, heavy duties, sorrows, and all the ‘ills that flesh is
heir to.’ These can be borne by sympathy, by true loving outgoing of the heart, and
by the rendering of such practical help as the circumstances require.
But there are burdens that cannot be borne by any but the man himself.
There is the awful burden of personal existence. It is a solemn thing to be able to say
‘I.’ And that carries with it this, that after all sympathy, after all nestling closeness
of affection, after the tenderest exhibition of identity of feeling, and of swift godlike
readiness to help, each of us lives alone. Like the inhabitants of the islands of the
Greek Archipelago, we are able to wave signals to the next island, and sometimes to
send a boat with provisions and succour, but we are parted, ‘with echoing straits
between us thrown.’ Every man, after all, lives alone, and society is like the material
things round about us, which are all compressible, because the atoms that compose
them are not in actual contact, but separated by slenderer or more substantial films
of isolating air. Thus there is even in the sorrows which we can share with our
brethren, and in all the burdens which we can help to bear, an element which
cannot be imparted. ‘The heart knoweth its own bitterness’, and neither ‘stranger’
nor other ‘intermeddleth’ with the deepest fountains of ‘its joy.’

113. Then again, there is the burden of responsibility which can be shared by none. A
dozen soldiers may be turned out to make a firing party to shoot the mutineer, and
no man knows who fired the shot, but one man did fire it. And however there may
have been companions, it was his rifle that carried the bullet, and his finger that
pulled the trigger. We say, ‘The woman that Thou gavest me tempted me, and I did
eat.’ Or we say, ‘My natural appetites, for which I am not responsible, but Thou
who madest me art, drew me aside, and I fell’, or we may say, ‘It was not I; it was
the other boy.’ And then there rises up in our hearts a veiled form, and from its
majestic lips comes ‘Thou art the man’; and our whole being echoes assent--_Mea
culpa; mea maxima culpa_--’My fault, my exceeding great fault.’ o man can bear
that burden.
And then, closely connected with responsibility there is another--the burden of the
inevitable consequences of transgression, not only away yonder in the future, when
all human bonds of companionship shall be broken, and each man shall ‘give
account of himself to God,’ but here and now; as in the immediate context the
Apostle tells us, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ The effects of
our evil deeds come back to roost; and they never make a mistake as to where they
should alight. If I have sown, I, and no one else, will gather. o sympathy will
prevent to-morrow’s headache after to-night’s debauch, and nothing that anybody
can do will turn the sleuth-hounds off the scent. Though they may be slow-footed,
they have sure noses and deep-mouthed fangs. ‘If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for
thyself, and if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it.’ So there are burdens which
can, and burdens which cannot, be borne.
II. Jesus Christ is the Burden-bearer for both sorts of burdens.
‘Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ,’ not only as spoken
by His lips, but as set forth in the pattern of His life. We have, then, to turn to Him,
and think of Him as Burden-bearer in even a deeper sense than the psalmist had
discerned, who magnified God as ‘He who daily beareth our burdens.’
Christ is the Burden-bearer of our sin. ‘The Lord hath laid’--or made to
meet--’upon Him the iniquity of us all.’ The Baptist pointed his lean, ascetic finger
at the young Jesus, and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God which beareth’--and beareth
away--’the sin of the world.’ How heavy the load, how real its pressure, let
Gethsemane witness, when He clung to human companionship with the unutterably

114. solemn and plaintive words, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Tarry
ye here and watch with Me.’ He bore the burden of the world’s sin.
Jesus Christ is the bearer of the burden of the consequences of sin, not only
inasmuch as, in His sinless humanity, He knew by sympathy the weight of the
world’s sin, but because in that same humanity, by identification of Himself with us,
deeper and more wonderful than our plummets have any line long enough to sound
the abysses of, He took the cup of bitterness which our sins have mixed, and drank it
all when He said, ‘My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ Consequences
still remain: thank God that they do! ‘Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and
Thou didst inflict retribution on their inventions.’ So the outward, the present, the
temporal consequences of transgression are left standing in all their power, in order
that transgressors may thereby be scourged from their evil, and led to forsake the
thing that has wrought them such havoc. But the ultimate consequence, the deepest
of all, separation from God, has been borne by Christ, and need never be borne by
us.
I suppose I need not dwell on the other aspects of this burden-bearing of our Lord,
how that He, in a very deep and real sense, takes upon Himself the sorrows which
we bear in union with, and faith on, Him. For then the griefs that still come to us,
when so borne, are transmitted into ‘light affliction which is but for a moment.’ ‘In
all their afflictions He was afflicted.’ Oh, brethren! you with sad hearts, you with
lonely lives, you with carking cares, you with pressing, heavy duties, cast your
burden on the Christ, and He ‘will sustain you,’ and sorrows borne in union with
Him will change their character, and the very cross shall be wreathed in flowers.
Jesus bears the burden of that solemn solitude which our personal being lays upon
us all. The rest of us stand round, and, as I said, hoist signals of sympathy, and
sometimes can stretch a brotherly hand out and grasp the sufferer’s hand. But their
help comes from without; Christ comes in, and dwells in our hearts, and makes us
no longer alone in the depths of our being, which He fills with the effulgence and
peace of His companionship. And so for sin, for guilt, for responsibility, for sorrow,
for holiness, Christ bears our burdens.
Yes! And when He takes ours on His shoulders, He puts His on ours. ‘My yoke is
easy, and My burden is light.’ As the old mystics used to say, Christ’s burden
carries him that carries it. It may add a little weight, but it gives power to soar, and
it gives power to progress. It is like the wings of a bird, it is like the sails of a ship.

115. III. Lastly, Christ’s carrying our burdens binds us to carry our brother’s!
‘So fulfil the law of Christ.’ There is a very biting sarcasm, and, as I said about
another matter, a grave irony in Paul’s use of that word ‘law’ here. For the whole of
this Epistle has been directed against the Judaising teachers who were desirous of
cramming Jewish law down Galatian throats, and is addressed to their victims in
the Galatian churches who had fallen into the trap. Paul turns round on them here,
and says, ‘You want law, do you? Well, if you _will_ have it, here it is--the law of
Christ.’ Christ’s life is our law. Practical Christianity is doing what Christ did. The
Cross is not only the ground of our hope, but the pattern of our conduct.
And, says Paul in effect, the example of Jesus Christ, in all its sweep, and in all the
depth of it, is the only motive by which this injunction that I am giving you will ever
be fulfilled. ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens.’ You will never do that unless you have
Christ as the ground of your hope, and His great sacrifice as the example for your
conduct. For the hindrance that prevents sympathy is self-absorption; and that
natural selfishness which is in us all will never be exorcised and banished from us
thoroughly, so as that we shall be awake to all the obligations to bear our brother’s
burdens, unless Christ has dethroned self, and is the Lord of our inmost spirits.
I rejoice as much as any man in the largely increased sense of mutual responsibility
and obligation of mutual aid, which is sweetening society by degrees amongst us to-
day, but I believe that no Socialistic or other schemes for the regeneration of society
which are not based on the Incarnation and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ will live and
grow. There is but one power that will cast out natural selfishness, and that is love
to Christ, apprehending His Cross as the great example to which our lives are to be
conformed. I believe that the growing sense of brotherhood amongst us, even where
it is not consciously connected with any faith in Christianity, is, to a very large
extent, the result of the diffusion through society of the spirit of Christianity, even
where its body is rejected. Thank God, the river of the water of life can percolate
through many a mile of soil, and reach the roots of trees far away, in the pastures of
the wilderness, that know not whence the refreshing moisture has come. But on the
wide scale be sure of this: it is the law of Christ that will fight and conquer the
natural selfishness which makes bearing our brother’s burdens an impossibility for
men. Only, Christian people! let us take care that we are not robbed of our
prerogative of being foremost in all such things, by men whose zeal has a less
heavenly source than ours ought to have. Depend upon it, heresy has less power to
arrest the progress of the Church than the selfish lives of Christian professors.

116. So, dear friends, let us see to it that we first of all cast our own burdens on the
Christ who is able to bear them all, whatever they are. And then let us, with
lightened hearts and shoulders, make our own the heavy burdens of sin, of sorrow,
of care, of guilt, of consequences, of responsibility, which are crushing down many
that are weary and heavy laden. For be sure of this, if we do not bear our brother’s
burdens, the load that we thought we had cast on Christ will roll back upon
ourselves. He is able to bear both us and our burdens, if we will let Him, and if we
will fulfil that law of Christ which was illustrated in all His life, ‘Who, though He
was rich, yet for our sakes became poor,’ and was written large in letters of blood
upon that Cross where there was ‘laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’
6
Anyone who receives instruction in the word must
share all good things with his instructor.
BAR ES, "Let him that is taught in the word - In the word of God; that is, the
gospel.
Communicate unto him - Let him share with him who teaches; let there be a
common participation of all good things.
In all good things - In everything that is needful for their comfortable subsistence.
On the duty here enjoined see the notes at 1Co_9:11-13.
CLARKE, "Let him that is taught in the word - He who receives instructions in
Christianity by the public preaching of the word;
Communicate unto him that teacheth - Contribute to the support of the man
who has dedicated himself to the work of the ministry, and who gives up his time and his
life to preach the Gospel. It appears that some of the believers in Galatia could receive
the Christian ministry without contributing to its support. This is both ungrateful and
base. We do not expect that a common schoolmaster will give up his time to teach our
children their alphabet without being paid for it; and can we suppose that it is just for
any person to sit under the preaching of the Gospel in order to grow wise unto salvation
by it, and not contribute to the support of the spiritual teacher? It is unjust.

117. GILL, "Let him that is taught in the word,.... Instructed in the knowledge of the
word, either of the essential Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, of his person, office, and
grace; or rather of the written word, particularly the Gospel, which is sometimes called
the word, without any additional epithet, which distinguishes it, and directs to the sense
of it; and sometimes with such, as the words of truth, the word of faith, the word of
righteousness, the word of reconciliation, and the word of this salvation, so called from
the nature, use, and subject matter of it. He that is taught in this, is, according to the
original word used here, a "catechumen"; and which designs not one that is just
beginning to learn the first principles of the oracles of God, but anyone that is instructed
in it, as this word is rendered in Rom_2:18 whether more or less, or whether internally
or externally: one that is internally taught in and by the word, is one that has been taught
to know himself, and his lost state by nature; to know Christ, and salvation by him; to
know the truths of the Gospel, and to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to live
soberly, righteously, and godly. It may include everyone that is only outwardly taught,
that is but an external hearer; and so the Syriac version renders the clause, ‫מלתא‬ ‫,דשמע‬
"he that hears the word": of which there are many sorts, and on whom it is an incumbent
duty to
communicate to him that teacheth; who is commissioned, and qualified and sent
forth by Christ, and whose office in the church is to teach the word, to preach the
Gospel, to instruct men in the truths of it, and teach them their duty also to God and
men, such are to be communicated to; that is, such as are under their instructions ought
to impart of their worldly substance to them, for their honourable and comfortable
support and maintenance; for since they spend their time, and make use of their talents,
gifts, and abilities, for their instruction in spiritual things, it is but reasonable, and no
such great matter, that they partake of their carnal things; and especially since it is the
will and ordinance of Christ, that they that preach the Gospel should live of it. The
apostle adds,
in all good things; which may be either connected with the word "teacheth", and so be
descriptive of the teacher, as the Arabic version reads, "him that teacheth all his good
things"; good doctrines, excellent truths, the wholesome words of Christ, which he is
intrusted with, has a knowledge and experience of; and who freely and faithfully imparts
them, and conceals and keeps back nothing, but declares the whole counsel of God, all
that he knows, and that is good and profitable; and carries in it a very strong argument
why he should be communicated to: or else with the word "communicate"; and the sense
either be, let him be a partaker of, and join with him in everything he says or does that is
good, but not in anything that is evil, which is a sense some give into; or rather let him
impart of his temporal good things unto him: temporal things are good as they are of
God, and in themselves, and when rightly used answer good purposes; all a man's good
things are not to be communicated, only a part, according to his ability, and in
proportion to others; and yet the communication should be large and liberal, sufficient
to support the teacher in an honourable manner, and to supply him with all the
necessaries of life, that his mind may be free from secular cares, and he be at leisure to
attend to the instructing of others.
HE RY, "IV. Christians are here exhorted to be free and liberal in maintaining their
ministers (Gal_6:6): Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that
teacheth, in all good things. Here we may observe, 1. The apostle speaks of it as a thing

118. known and acknowledged, that, as there are some to be taught, so there are others who
are appointed to teach them. The office of the ministry is a divine institution, which does
not lie open in common to all, but is confined to those only whom God has qualified for
it and called to it: even reason itself directs us to put a difference between the teachers
and the taught (for, if all were teachers, there would be none to be taught), and the
scriptures sufficiently declare that it is the will of God we should do so. 2. It is the word
of God wherein ministers are to teach and instruct others; that which they are to preach
is the word, 2Ti_4:2. That which they are to declare is the counsel of God, Act_20:27.
They are not lords of our faith, but helpers of our joy, 2Co_1:24. It is the word of God
which is the only rule of faith and life; this they are concerned to study, and to open, and
improve, for the edification of others, but they are no further to be regarded than as they
speak according to this rule. 3. It is the duty of those who are taught in the word to
support those who are appointed to teach them; for they are to communicate to them in
all good things, freely and cheerfully to contribute, of the good things with which God
has blessed them, what is needful for their comfortable subsistence. Ministers are to give
attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (1Ti_4:13); they are not to entangle
themselves with the affairs of this life (2Ti_2:4), and therefore it is but fit and equitable
that, while they are sowing to others spiritual things, they should reap their carnal
things. And this is the appointment of God himself; for as, under the law, those who
ministered about holy things lived of the things of the temple, so hath the Lord ordained
that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel, 1Co_9:11, 1Co_9:13, 1Co_
9:14.
JAMISO , "From the mention of bearing one another’s burdens, he passes to one
way in which those burdens may be borne - by ministering out of their earthly goods to
their spiritual teachers. The “but” in the Greek, beginning of this verse, expresses this: I
said, Each shall bear his own burden; BUT I do not intend that he should not think of
others, and especially of the wants of his ministers.
communicate unto him — “impart a share unto his teacher”: literally, “him that
teacheth catechetically.”
in all good things — in every kind of the good things of this life, according as the
case may require (Rom_15:27; 1Co_9:11, 1Co_9:14).
RWP, "That is taught (ho katēchoumenos). For this late and rare verb katēcheō, see
note on Luk_1:4; note on Act_18:25; and note on 1Co_14:19. It occurs in the papyri for
legal instruction. Here the present passive participle retains the accusative of the thing.
The active (tōi katēchounti) joined with the passive is interesting as showing how early we
find paid teachers in the churches. Those who receive instruction are called on to
“contribute” (better than “communicate” for Koinéōneitō) for the time of the teacher
(Burton). There was a teaching class thus early (1Th_5:12; 1Co_12:28; Eph_4:11; 1Th_
5:17).
CALVI , "6.Let him that is taught in the word. It is probable that the teachers and
ministers of the word were at that time neglected. This shewed the basest
ingratitude. How disgraceful is it to defraud of their temporal support those by
whom our souls are fed! — to refuse an earthly recompense to those from whom we
receive heavenly benefits! But it is, and always has been, the disposition of the

119. world, freely to bestow on the ministers of Satan every luxury, and hardly to supply
godly pastors with necessary food. Though it does not become us to indulge too
much in complaint, or to be too tenacious of our rights, yet Paul found himself
called upon to exhort the Galatians to perform this part of their duty. He was the
more ready to do so, because he had no private interest in the matter, but consulted
the universal benefit of the Church, without any regard to his own advantage. He
saw that the ministers of the word were neglected, because the word itself was
despised; for if the word be truly esteemed, its ministers will always receive kind
and honorable treatment. It is one of the tricks of Satan to defraud godly ministers
of support, that the Church may be deprived of such ministers. (98) An earnest
desire to preserve a gospel ministry, led to Paul’ recommendation that proper
attention should be paid to good and faithful pastors.
The word is here put, by way of eminence, ( κατ ᾿ ἐξοχὴν) for the doctrine of
godliness. Support is declared to be due to those by whom we are taught in the
word. Under this designation the Papal system supports idle bellies of dumb men,
and fierce wild beasts, who have nothing in common with the doctrine of Christ. In
all good things. He does not propose that no limit should be set to their worldly
enjoyments, or that they should revel in superfluous abundance, but merely that
none of the necessary supports of life should be withheld. Ministers ought to be
satisfied with moderate fare, and the danger which attends pomp and luxury ought
to be prevented. To supply their real necessities, let believers cheerfully devote any
part of their property that may be required for the services of devout and holy
teachers. What return will they make for the invaluable treasure of eternal life,
which is communicated to them by the preaching of those men?
BI, "Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all
good things.
The duty of ministerial support
It is one of the tricks of Satan to defraud godly ministers of support, that the
Church may be deprived of their services. Paul’s recommendation arose from a
desire to preserve a gospel ministry. (Calvin.)
I do not love to expound such sentences which speak for us that are ministers of the
Word; moreover, it may look, if one is zealous to treat such texts before the people,
as if he did it on account of avarice. But one must nevertheless instruct the people
thereabout, that they may know what degree of honour and support they owe to
their teachers. This is also good for us, that are in the ministry, to know that we may
not take our deserved recompense with uneasy conscience, as if we had no right to
it. (Luther.)

120. A fair exchange
Between teachers and hearers there should be a lovely exchange and joyful barter.
A hearer needs not to complain as though he suffered disadvantage in this exchange.
Whoever will not give our Lord God a penny, gets his due when he is forced to give
the devil a dollar. (Starke.)
The support of the ministry
I. A children are bound to maintain their parents (1Ti_5:4), so believers their
spiritual parents (Gal_4:19; 1Co_4:15).
II. The Old Testament enjoins this (Deu_12:19), much more the ew.
III. Every calling maintains those who live therein: the highest calling should do no
less.
IV. Ministers are God’s soldiers, and should not go a warfare at their own cost; the
Lord’s labourers, and therefore worthy of their hire; the Lord’s shepherds, and
thereforeworthy the milk of the flock (see also Deu_25:4; cf. 1Co_9:9-10; 1Ti_5:17).
V. Ministers are to give themselves wholly to their work (2Ti_4:13-16), and
therefore must not be entangled in the affairs of this life (2Ti_2:4).
VI. It is the ordinance of God that they which preach the gospel should live of the
gospel (1Co_9:14). (R. Cudworth.)
Material aids needful

121. Some people give as though they only half believed that Christ has ordained the
money power as one of the powers of His cause; as if in travelling from place to
place the missionary cost no more than the flight of an angel; as if the Philip of to-
day might be “caught away by the Spirit,” and then suddenly be “found at Azotus “;
as if bills could be paid by devout emotions or declaratory words; as if lives could be
sustained on mere air; as if ravens might be expected to bring food to fainting
prophets; as if miracles of providence would provide for ministers of grace. But this
is not God’s method of working now. You must furnish material supplies for
material apparatus. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
Paying the minister
In 1662, the town of Eastham agreed that a part of every whale cast on shore be
appropriated for the support of the ministry. The ministers must have sat on the
cliffs in every storm, and watched the shore with anxiety. And for my part, if I were
a minister, I would rather trust to the bowels of the billows to cast up a whale for me
than to the generosity of many a country parish that I know. (Thoreau.)
Liberality to ministers
The people of one of the out parishes of Virginia wrote to Dr. Rice, then at the
Theological Seminary in Prince Edward, for a minister. They wanted a man of first-
rate talents, for they had run down considerably, and needed building up. They
wanted one who could write well, for some of the young people were nice about that
matter. They wanted one who could visit a good deal, for their former minister had
neglected that, and they wanted to bring that up. They wanted a man of very
gentlemanly depoitment, for some thought a great deal of that, and so they went on
describing a perfect minister. The last thing mentioned was that they gave their last
minister £70, but if the Doctor would send them such a man as they described, they
would raise another £10, making it £80. The Doctor sat down and wrote them a
reply, telling them they had better, forthwith make out a call for old Doctor Dwight
in heaven, for he did not know of any one in this world who answered the
description; and as Dr. Dwight had been living so long on spiritual food, he might
not need so much for the body, and possibly he might live on £80. (Dr. Haven.)
It is my intention to expound and to defend this financial law of the Christian
Church: “Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth
in all good things.”

122. I. Let us expound this financial law of the Christian Church. The phrase “in all
good things” may be connected either with the words “him that teacheth;” or with
the words “him that communicateth.” It may mean either, first, “Let him who is
instructed in all good things communicate to him who thus instructs him;” or,
secondly, “Let him who is instructed communicate all good things to him who
instructs him.” The necessity of a distinct order of men for the purpose of Christian
instruction might be easily rested on rational principles. But I choose rather now to
appeal to the will of the great Legislator” I appeal to that passage contained in Eph_
4:1-32.: “When He ascended up on high He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men;” and among these gifts he gave “pastors and teachers.” It is plain, from
Scripture, that there ought to be an order of men devoted to this work. It is evident,
also, that they should devote their whole time and attention to its duties: this might
be grounded on rational principles, arising from the nature and number of the
subjects which must necessarily be included in such instructions; but here, again, I
shall refer to the will of the great Lawgiver. His determination is, that those who
minister should “wait on their ministering, and he that teacheth, on teaching;” that
such should “give attendance to reading and exhortation;” that they should
“meditate upon these things,” and “give themselves wholly to them.” We are not to
look at this subject as we look at our Missionary Societies, and Bible and
Educational Societies: these are human institutions, and we may support them by
human plans; but the Christian ministry is a divinely appointed means for a
divinely appointed end; and the means of its support are divinely appointed too. We
may as much err by using means different from those which Christ has instituted, as
if we lost sight of the end itself.
II. Let us defend this financial law of the Christian Church. Like all the other laws
of Christ it is “holy, just, and good.” It is an arrangement which is alike just,
generous, and useful.
1. It is a just arrangement.
2. This is a generous as well as a just principle. Men who thus believe are brought
under the influence of the love of Christ; and on this principle Christ secures the
maintenance of His ministers in Christian Churches to the end of time.
3. This is a useful arrangement also. But objections have been made. First, it is said,
“Such an arrangement has a great tendency to degrade the Christian ministry.” In
one sense we may ask, Do such persons expect the Christian minister to be
altogether independent? We are all dependent, and must necessarily be so. And who
applies this mode of reasoning to other professions? Who would think of saying of a
lawyer, or of a medical man, that they are low-spirited, time-serving, dependent
men, because the one is dependent on his clients, and the other on his patients, for
subsistence. Are they degraded by such dependence as this? Is the minister of Christ
to be degraded, because he is supported by the same means by which Christ his

123. Master was supported? It may seem strange that those who are to be accounted
“worthy of double honour,” should be dependent for their support on the bounty of
others. But when it is founded on such a principle as Christian love, I know not of a
more honourable way than to be dependent on the will and love of others. Secondly,
as to the objection that “this arrangement throws difficulties in the way of the
minister, by making it necessary for him to submit to much in order to cultivate the
good-will of those to whom he preaches.” But let them continue a Christian people,
and then tell me how such a man should please such a people but by doing his duty
towards them as a Christian minister. Thirdly, it is objected that “it makes the
subsistence of Christian ministers uncertain; and that it endangers the existence of
the Christian ministry, and by this means, Christianity itself.” I might say here, that
all below is insecure; but I would say also, it does not appear that the subsistence of
the Christian minister is more uncertain than that of other men. (J. Brown, M. A.)
PETT, "Verse 6
‘But let him who is taught in the word communicate to him who teaches in all good
things.’
In thinking of the load that each man must carry as he seeks to help others, Paul’s
thoughts turn to the burdens borne especially by those who ministered the word in
those days, for it was often difficult for such to earn a living (not all were
tentmakers). Those who are well taught in the word by others should therefore be
willing to share all good things with those who do the teaching, thus helping them
with their burden.
Perhaps this verse should be above the doors of some churches. Ministers should not
have to just ‘make do’ when their congregations thrive. They should share in the
good things that their congregations enjoy, while they themselves share with their
congregations the good things that they themselves have learned.
7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A
man reaps what he sows.

124. BAR ES, "Be not deceived - That is, in regard to your character, and your hopes
for eternity. This is a formula of introduction to some admonition that is especially
weighty and important. It implies that there was danger that they would be deceived in
reference to their character. The sources of the danger were the corruption of their own
hearts, the difficulty of knowing their true character, the instructions of false teachers,
etc.; see the note at 1Co_6:9.
God is not mocked - He cannot be imposed on, or mocked. He knows what our real
character is, and he will judge us accordingly. The word rendered “mocked” (µυκτηρίζω
muktērizō), means, properly, to turn up the nose in scorn; hence, to mock, or deride, or
insult. The sense is, that God could not be imposed on, or could not be insulted with
impunity, or successfully. To mock is, properly:
(1) To imitate, to mimic: to imitate in contempt or derision.
(2) To deride, to laugh at, to ridicule.
(3) To defeat, or to illude, or to disappoint.
(4) To fool, to tantalize - Webster.
Here it cannot mean to imitate, or to mimic, but it refers to the principles of the divine
administration, and must mean that they could not be treated with contempt, or
successfully evaded. They could not hope to illude or impose on God. His principles of
government were settled, and they could not impose on him. To what the reference is
here, is not perfectly plain. In the connection in which it stands, it seems to refer to the
support of the ministers of the gospel; and Paul introduces the general principle, that as
a man sows he will reap, to show them what will be the effect of a liberal and proper use
of their property. If they made a proper use of it; if they employed it for benevolent
purposes; if they appropriated what they should to the support of religion, they would
reap accordingly. God could not be imposed on in regard to this. They could not make
him think that they had true religion when they were sowing to the flesh, and when they
were spending their money in purchasing pleasure, and in luxury and vanity.
No zeal, however ardent; no prayers, however fervent or long, no professions, however
loud, would impose on God. And to make such prayers, and to manifest such zeal and
such strong professions, while the heart was with the world, and they were spending
their money for every thing else but religion, was mocking God. Alas, how much
mockery of God like this still prevails! How much, when people seem disposed to make
God believe that they are exceedingly zealous and devoted, while their heart is truly with
the world! How many long prayers are offered; how much zeal is shown; how many
warm professions are made, as if to make God and man believe that the heart was truly
engaged in the cause of religion, while little or nothing is given in the cause of
benevolence; while the ministers of religion are suffered to starve; and while the “loud
professor” rolls in wealth, and is distinguished for luxury of living, for gaiety of apparel,
for splendor of equipage, and for extravagance in parties of pleasure! Such professors
attempt to mock God. They are really sowing to the flesh; and of the flesh they must reap
corruption.
For whatsoever a man soweth ... - See the note at 2Co_9:6. This figure is taken
from agriculture. A man who sows wheat, shall reap wheat; he who sows barley, shall
reap barley; he who sows cockle, shall reap cockle. Every kind of grain will produce grain

125. like itself. So it is in regard to our works. He who is liberal, shall be dealt with liberally;
he who is righteous, shall be rewarded; he who is a sinner, shall reap according to his
deeds.
CLARKE, "Be not deceived - Neither deceive yourselves, nor permit yourselves to
be deceived by others. He seems to refer to the Judaizing teachers.
God is not mocked - Ye cannot deceive him, and he will not permit you to mock him
with pretended instead of real services.
Whatsoever a man soweth - Whatsoever kind of grain a man sows in his field, of
that shall he reap; for no other species of grain can proceed from that which is sown.
Darnel will not produce wheat, nor wheat, darnel.
GILL, "Be not deceived,.... By false teachers, who, in order to engross all to
themselves, dissuaded the Galatians from communicating to their honourable pastors,
and faithful ministers of the word; or by themselves, who being of a tenacious and
covetous disposition, devised various things to excuse them from performing this their
duty to the preachers of the Gospel; as that they had families of their own to maintain,
that their circumstances were such that they could give little or nothing this way, and the
others, who were of better abilities in life, ought to bear this charge; and with such like
things endeavoured to satisfy their consciences in the neglect of their duty: but this was
all self-deception, for
God is not mocked; nor will he be; men may deceive themselves, and others, with
such excuses and false appearances, yet they cannot deceive God, who knows their
hearts as well as their worldly substance, and that the omission of their duty arises not
from want of ability, but from a covetous temper; and who looks upon withholding from
his ministers that which is due unto them as mocking of him, and which he will not
suffer with impunity:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; as to kind, quality, and
quantity, generally speaking; if he sows wheat he reaps wheat, if he sows barley he reaps
barley; no man can expect to reap another sort than what he sows; and if it is good seed
he may hope for a good crop; and if he sows bountifully, he shall reap bountifully; but if
he sows sparingly, he shall reap sparingly; and if he sows nothing, he can never reap
anything. This is a proverbial expression, and may be applied to all actions, good and
bad, and the reward and punishment of them, and particularly to acts of beneficence,
and the enjoying of the fruits thereof; See Gill on 2Co_9:6.
HE RY, "V. Here is a caution to take heed of mocking God, or of deceiving ourselves,
by imagining that he can be imposed upon by mere pretensions or professions (Gal_
6:7): Be not deceived, God is not mocked. This may be considered as referring to the
foregoing exhortation, and so the design of it is to convince those of their sin and folly
who endeavoured by any plausible pretences to excuse themselves from doing their duty
in supporting their ministers: or it may be taken in a more general view, as respecting
the whole business of religion, and so as designed to take men off from entertaining any
vain hopes of enjoying its rewards while they live in the neglect of its duties. The apostle
here supposes that many are apt to excuse themselves from the work of religion, and

126. especially the more self-denying and chargeable parts of it, though at the same time they
may make a show and profession of it; but he assures them that this their way is their
folly, for, though hereby they may possibly impose upon others, yet they do but deceive
themselves if they think to impose upon God, who is perfectly acquainted with their
hearts as well as actions, and, as he cannot be deceived, so he will not be mocked; and
therefore, to prevent this, he directs us to lay down as a rule to ourselves, That
whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap; or that according as we behave
ourselves now, so will our account be in the great day. Our present time is seed-time: in
the other world there will be a great harvest; and, as the husbandman reaps in the
harvest according as he sows in the seedness, so we shall reap then as we sow now.
JAMISO , "God is not mocked — The Greek verb is, literally, to sneer with the
nostrils drawn up in contempt. God does not suffer Himself to be imposed on by empty
words: He will judge according to works, which are seeds sown for eternity of either joy
or woe. Excuses for illiberality in God’s cause (Gal_6:6) seem valid before men, but are
not so before God (Psa_50:21).
soweth — especially of his resources (2Co_9:6).
that — Greek, “this”; this and nothing else.
reap — at the harvest, the end of the world (Mat_13:39).
RWP, "Be not deceived (mē planāsthe). Present passive imperative with mē, “stop
being led astray” (planaō, common verb to wander, to lead astray as in Mat_24:4.).
God is not mocked (ou muktērizetai). This rare verb (common in lxx) occurs in
Lysias. It comes from muktēr (nose) and means to turn the nose up at one. That is done
towards God, but never without punishment, Paul means to say. In particular, he means
“an evasion of his laws which men think to accomplish, but, in fact, cannot” (Burton).
Whatsoever a man soweth (ho ean speirēi anthrōpos). Indefinite relative clause
with ean and the active subjunctive (either aorist or present, form same here). One of the
most frequent of ancient proverbs (Job_4:8; Arist., Rhet. iii. 3). Already in 2Co_9:6.
Same point in Mat_7:16; Mar_4:26.
That (touto). That very thing, not something different.
Reap (therisei). See Mat_6:26 for this old verb.
CALVI , "7.God is not mocked. The design of this observation is to reply to the
dishonest excuses which are frequently pleaded. One alleges that he has a family to
support, and another asserts that he has no superfluity of wealth to spend in
liberality or profusion. The consequence is, that, while such multitudes withhold
their aid, the few persons who do their duty are generally unable to contribute the
necessary support. These apologies Paul utterly rejects, for a reason which the
world little considers, that this transaction is with God. The supply of a man’ bodily
wants is not the sole question, but involves the degree of our regard for Christ and

127. his gospel. This passage contains evidence that the custom of treating faithful
ministers with scorn did not originate in the present day; but their wicked taunts
will not pass unpunished.
For whatsoever a man soweth. Our liberality is restrained by the supposition, that
whatever passes into the hands of another is lost to ourselves, and by the alarm we
feel about our own prospects in life. Paul meets these views by a comparison drawn
from seed-time, which, he tells us, is a fit representation of acts of beneficence. On
this subject we had occasion to speak, in expounding the Second Epistle to the
Corinthians, where the same metaphor was employed. Happy would it be for us, if
this truth were deeply impressed upon our minds. How “ gladly” would we “ and be
spent” (2Co_12:15) for the good of our neighbours, encouraged by the hope of the
coming harvest! o operation is more cheerfully performed by husbandmen than
throwing the seed into the ground. They are enabled to wait with patience during
nine months of the year, by the expectation of reaping a corruptible harvest, while
our minds are not properly affected by the hope of a blessed immortality.
PETT, "Verse 7-8
‘Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that shall he also
reap. For he who sows to his own flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who
sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.’
This statement applies to the whole of Galatians 5:13 to Galatians 6:7. He has
already given a stern warning in Galatians 5:21. ow he repeats it even more
strongly. He warns them against the danger of being deceived, this time not by false
teachers but by themselves. They must not treat lightly what he has taught them, for
its consequences are real. We cannot turn our nose up at God. Let us be sure of this.
Whatever we sow we will reap.
How easily men convince themselves that ‘God is love’ so that they do not have to
worry too much about their behaviour. How easily the ease of forgiveness makes us
think lightly of the sin. So Paul warns us that we may be mocking God by our
attitude. And he warns us that we will not get away with it. Forgiveness may give us
a new start, but to continue in sin regardless will mean that we suffer the
consequences. That is an inexorable law.
‘He who sows to his own flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.’ The flesh ‘longs’
against the Spirit, and those who go on yielding to it with little regard will reap
corruption. That is the law of creation. He who sows to the satisfaction of the desires
of his flesh will discover that it has inevitable consequences, possibly in the shorter
term, certainly in the longer term. In many cases their lives and their health will be
ruined by excess, in others the corruption may come in the judgment when they
weep and gnash their teeth at what they have lost. God’s judgment may seem
delayed, for He is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But it will surely come. And the corollary
of comparison with the next phrases is that such a person will not inherit eternal

128. life.
‘But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.’ Paul shows clearly
that in the struggle between flesh and Spirit we are not dealing on the one hand with
weak Christians and on the other with strong ones, but we are dealing with all men
who are affected by the Spirit. Those who follow the flesh do so because they are not
Christians. They reject the working and pull of the Spirit. But those who respond to
the Spirit’s prompting and let Him produce within them His perfect fruit, will reap
eternal life. And here eternal life refers to the life to come, as usually in Paul. It is
our certain hope (1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 3:7).
So there is no middle way. Either the flesh is lord, or the Spirit is Lord. The one will
produce unpleasant physical and spiritual consequences in this life and finally the
corruption of eternal death, the other will result in the joy and blessing in this life
and in the life of eternity. To be free from the Law as Paul describes it is not an
excuse for lawlessness. It is to be responsive to the Spirit of God. Those who are not
responsive to the Spirit of God cannot claim to be Christ’s, for their faith is a sham,
as they may well discover too late.
This does not, of course, mean that the Christian cannot enjoy some of the pleasure
that man’s make up provides. Kept within bounds and subject to God’s teaching
and will, such pleasure is not a ‘lust of the flesh’. It is enjoyment of God’s generous
provision. It is when it gets out of bounds, when the flesh is given control, that it
becomes sinful.
‘Mocked.’ The word means to turn the nose up at something. Thus when men sin
and live after the flesh they are basically turning their noses up at God.
Verses 7-10
In the End We must Face Up to the Consequences of our Behaviour (Galatians 6:7-
10).
Paul warns us all to remember that in the end we will have to give account for our
behaviour. Walking with Christ is not a soft option that we can take or leave as we
wish. It is the very evidence that we are truly His. For the test of the good seed is
that it produces a hundredfold.
U K OW , " Galatians 6:7 makes it plain: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
forwhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Paul is saying,"Man is caught
by what he chases." It is the same thing. We reap whatwe sow; we are caught by
what we chase. If the farmer sows one thingin the spring, he cannot decide to have a
harvest of something else inthe fall. If we sow anything, whatever it is, we cannot
reverse it.There is an inevitability about this that should strike to our veryhearts
and cause us to think seriously about what it is we arepursuing, what it is we want,
what it is we pour out our lives for.What are you selling your soul for? You are

129. going to get it. Be surethat it is worthwhile.
God guarantees this, although superficially it may not seem to be so.A man may
strive for success but fail to attain it. An athlete maystrain to win and yet he loses.
Love is not always requited. I know; Ihave received a Dear Don letter. I know about
that, and I imagine mostf you do too. It is a rather common experience among
human beings.That is not the point. God guarantees that the deep-down principle
ofour motivation will be fulfilled. This is the thing that willdetermine what happens
to us. It will be this that is fulfilledpartially in this life but completely at death,
either in heaven or
6hell. These are the only two places that exist beyond the grave. Donot try to pull the
two together or deny the existence of either one.Ethics and sound thinking demand
that since there is no balancing ofthe books in this universe, which is obviously a
moral universe, therehas to be a balance in the hereafter. If you think any other
way, youare not thinking very logically. Why is it that we want to live likehell and
go to heaven? Let me tell you this: you are caught by whatyou chase.
The basic thrust of our motivational drive is reflective. It bouncesback; it comes
home to roost. It makes its eternal home within us.This is a most serious thing. It
becomes eternally fixed at death, butit also increasingly shapes the form of our soul,
and this shows inthe face. You know people who have hated. They have been
negativeabout life for years and years. If you look at them as they grow oldyou will
see how all the lines are down. Everything about them sags,because the thing at the
center sags.
My father did not have a saggy line about him, because he did notthink negatively.
He thought about the Lord, and he lived the Lord'sway, and he lived his whole life
seeking the Lord's will. You haveheard me say before that when one generation died
off, he just joined
7the next one. He lived to be 98 1/2, and all the years of his life helived to the glory
of God. That is the way we are supposed to live.
Samson is an excellent negative illustration of what we are talkingabout. He was
given extraordinary gifts and he was raised to aposition of honor as a judge of the
people, but his basic motivationwas so like that of people today. It was self-
indulgence. What hewanted was what pleased him. He saw a woman of the
Philistines and shepleased him. He wanted her for a wife, but she was of a pagan
race; itwas a forbidden relationship. God has always told his people, "Youcannot
marry outside the faith" not only in the Old Testament but inthe ew. Too often
today our young people do not consider this, andthen they wonder why their
marriage is not good. However, if you arenot walking in the same direction, as the
Bible tells us, you cannotwalk together.
Samson wanted to marry this pagan girl, and he talked to his familyabout it. They
tried to dissuade him, but he would not be dissuaded.Finally the principle of his
motivation was revealed in these words,spoken to his father, in Judges 14:3: "... Get
her for me; for shepleaseth me well." The only thing he cared about was being
pleased. Isit any wonder then that he died under the rubble of a pagan temple?
8You see, man is caught by what he chases—not just Samson, but you, andme.C. S.
Lewis said that after all there are only two kinds of people:those who say to God,
"Thy will be done," and those to whom God says,"Thy will be done." In other
words there are those people who pursuethe will of God and those who pursue their

130. own will. God guaranteesthat if you prefer your will to his will, you are going to get
it. Ifyou want to run your life instead of having God run your life, it isall right with
God, but what you get is going to be pretty sad. Youcan have the glorious will of
God, or you can have the miserable,shrunken will that is your own, all cankered and
broken and ugly. Manis caught by what he chases after all, and either you say to
God, "Thywill be done," or He will say to you, "Thy will be done." This is
putanother way in Matthew 6:24: " o man can serve two masters ..." Youcannot
hold on to Satan's hand and God's hand. You cannot live in theworld and in God's
will. You have to make up your mind. You have tochoose, "... for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; orelse he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serveGod and mammon." You cannot serve God and anti-God. You have
tochoose, and since man is caught by what he chases, choose carefully.
9Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter ye in at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide isthe gate and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and manythere be which go in thereat:
Because strait [narrow] is the gate, andnarrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that findit." There are only two ways. There is a rather foolish idea
abroad,which we hear often: all roads lead to the same place; whether you goup or
down, you always wind up where you want to be. That is not so.When you choose a
way, you choose the destination of that way. Inother words, you are caught by what
you chase. If you take the roadthat leads away from God, you will find despair and
death. If you takethe way that leads to God, you will find abundant life and
eternalglory.
BI, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.
The present seed-sowing, decisive of the future harvest
And I suppose, that nature is full of spiritual instruction, in all its subdivisions and
departments, if we had but an eye to see it. And for anything I know, it may be as
much the purpose and design of God, to teach us by all the objects and operations in
His world and in His works round about us, as it was the object and design of God
to teach us by the furniture and all the preparations of the Hebrew sanctuary. Our
Lord frequently adverted to the harvest.
I. And first, then, for the sentiment and doctrine, which the text contains. I think
that the text necessarily carries out our thoughts to the future life. If we sow to the
Spirit, we shall “of the Spirit reap life everlasting;” which can, as it seems to me,
have no reference to the existing economy of things, where every object around us is
transient and perishing and passes away. And if “sowing to the Spirit,” leading to a
harvest of “life everlasting,” directs our view to the future world, then “sowing to
the flesh,” involving in it “corruption,” must also necessarily relate to the future life;

131. the two being parallel to each other, both must have reference to the result of good
and evil actions in the world to come. What is “sowing to the flesh?” By “the flesh”
understand, not the body as in contradistinction to the mind; but understand
depravity as in opposition to holiness. They will “reap corruption.” That which is
defiled, that which is worthless, that which is filthy, that which is abominable--
corrupted in body, corrupted in mind, corrupted in associates--all the corrupt deeds
of the guilty past, of the unforgiven, unrenovated, human population, concentrated,
amassed for them. A harvest of corruption. Let me turn, therefore, to the other
question, respecting “sowing to the Spirit.” And the “sowing to the Spirit,” again,
here, is the same thing with bringing forth “the fruits of the Spirit,” of which we
read in the foregoing chapter. But of the principle, of the fact, of the truth, we have
the deepest certainty--that as we “sow to the Spirit,” we shall “reap life everlasting.”
And this notwithstanding the time, be it what it may, longer or shorter, more or less,
which may intervene between the period of the sowing and the period of the
reaping. In the ease of the natural harvest, as you are aware, there is a considerable
period intervening. But I think that time has respect purely and exclusively to man,
and not to God at all. either does it matter how entirely the sowing of the seed may
have been forgotten. It does not appear that the memory of the husbandman has
any influence whatever upon the seed sown. There it is; it takes root, germinates,
buds, comes to perfection, whether he remembers and thinks of it or does not. ow
we know nothing of man’s memory. We cannot explain what man’s memory is; we
do not know how it was created, or in what manner it acts; we can give no
explanation of the diversities of memory--why is it that one man’s memory retains
clearly all things, and another man’s memory is like a sieve which lets all things
through; we cannot tell how this is, or why this is. But in the future life memory may
be a perfected capacity; so that, as I have intimated, all things may be as fresh and
vivid, as powerful and direct upon the spirit, as if no time had intervened whatever.
Therefore, though there maybe a non-recollection now, an utter forgetfulness of
what kind and manner of seed we may have sown for the last seven years, or the last
twenty years, this is no proof whatever against the principle of the text--that the
seed has been sown, and that the harvest will be reaped, and that when the harvest
is reaped, either for good or for evil, we may have brought powerfully to our
recollection the seed that has been sown. either is it of any consequence, that we
cannot understand the nature of the connection between the process of the sowing of
the seed and the coming of the harvest. If you saw a man casting seed into the soil,
and were not perfectly acquainted with the probable result--if you or I were not
acquainted with the fact, that the seed-time always precedes the harvest, we should
think the man was throwing the seed away; we should ask--“What is he doing? he is
casting his bread into the ground.” But we know what he is doing. Yet we do not
understand any one of the principles, which bring to pass the harvest in connection
with the seed sowing; we only know the fact. And exactly in the same manner,
though I cannot explain what is the nature of the thing, or what are the manifold
causes which are at work and in operation so as eventually to evolve a harvest of
glory or of corruption, yet as I see the close connection subsisting in the one case in
nature, why should I doubt an equally close or a stronger connection in morals,
when I have reason on my side and God’s Word declares it? And I think, the
principle to which I have now adverted, which is the resurrection of character, the

132. re-appearance of our moral actions, stands in close connection with the doctrine of
the resurrection of the dead. I believe, as I have said, from Scripture, that there is to
be a resurrection of man’s body; but that is comparatively a mere small matter.
Suppose it be a resurrection of the body in glory; well, let the body in glory stand by
itself, alone in its glory, what is it?--(I mean, without its mind, and without its
character and these transactions.) What is it? A statue, that shines and glitters; that
is all. A statue; nothing but a statue., You must have the mind; not the mere
intellect--you must have the moral state and condition; you must have the virtues,
with which the mind is endued and ingrained; you must have the achievements, if
there are any--or the softer and milder emanations of moral beauty, if there is
nothing that is great and grand.
II. ow I have to state, secondly and more briefly, the evidence and authority by
which it is sustained. And I might remark, it is God’s ordinance--God’s constitution.
It is His arrangement and His pleasure; and we can even see wisdom and reason in
it. The connection between seed time and harvest is of Divine constitution. All that
we see in the processes of nature round about us, from the one period to the other, is
of Divine arrangement and according to the will of heaven, The elements work, all
the agencies and causes are in action, under the presidency and direction of the
unerring and infinite Mind. The connection by man cannot be destroyed. God’s
ordinance by God will be carried into effect. So it is in morals. It is certain; it is
irresistible; it will be triumphant. The sower to the flesh shall reap his corruption;
the sower to the Spirit shall reap life everlasting. Secondly, this is plainly revealed to
us in Scripture. We have it in various other forms, besides that of the passage which
is now before us. There is the parable of the talents. And, thirdly, I observe, that it is
sustained by the justice and fidelity of God. Without this, there is no explanation of
the exceeding mysteries of the Divine providence. Hereafter good is to have its day--
justice its day. It is the day of God. ow, he says, “they call the proud happy;” now
they say that those who blaspheme God are in honour; then--hereafter--“shall ye
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and
him that serveth Him not.” There are various kinds and degrees of vice and virtue,
According to the kind and according to the degree, whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap.” ot only according to the quality and the degree, but the
quantity. And I think the text implies the principle of reproduction. The seed
produces itself over and over again. And the principle of multiplication is seen in a
vicious action or in a vicious principle. It existed and was manifested in you; it may
be copied--re-produced--in your sons and in your daughters; and it may go on from
them illimitably. Or it went forth from you and took root in society; and it went on,
and reproduced itself in its own unslightliness and enormity over and over again. Or
take the other view of it. There is a virtue and an excellency in you; it reproduces
itself; it is seen in your family, it shines in your sons and your daughters; it is
copied; it reproduces itself in your circle; it goes on to posterity; no man can tell
where it goes, any more than a man can tell what will be the result and produce of a
handful of corn planted upon the top of the mountains. And this principle of
reproduction I hold to be one of the greatest importance, and consolatory in the

133. highest degree to good men. It is what is intended in Scripture by “the dead yet
speaking;” because their thoughts and their actions go on. Especially note the
influence of it in the compositions of wise and holy men--such men as Owen, and
Howe, and Baxter, and Jeremy Taylor, and Bishop Hall; view their thoughts, their
character, their writings, re-produced over and over again, till nobody knows to
what extent they scatter the principles of truth. And on the other hand, the principle
is terrific in respect to vice. Take up such a writer as Hobbes, Voltaire, Hume, Lord
Byron; think of the mischief done by such men, the evil which comes over and over
again--the seeds of pestilential doctrine, the mischief of bad and malign passions,
over and over again. Yes; reproduction--multiplication--again and again. A harvest
of evil, a harvest of corruption--a harvest of good, a harvest of glory--in the life that
is for ever and ever. So it will be.
III. The danger of our being deceived. “Be not deceived.” What is the danger? Why,
the heart is very deceitful, “deceitful above all things;” and there may be reasoning,
very acceptable but very delusive, that men may indulge in sin and yet escape any
punishment--that they may not serve God and yet arrive in heaven. I find Scripture,
in several emphatic places, giving this caution--the caution “not to be deceived” in
connection with the indulgence of sin. If this be true, what importance attaches itself
to our dally life! You rise in the morning, and go through the day; you are sowing
seed of some kind or other. You rise without God, live without Christ, go up and
down among men unjust, a thundercloud, hating, angry, backbiting; what are you
sowing? You rise in the morning; your first thoughts consecrated to God; you come
into your family, meek, gentle, bland; among men, just, upright, good, generous;
what seed are you sowing? See; the harvest you shall reap in the world to come. (J.
Stratten, M. A.)
Christian liberality
The metaphor of seedtime and harvest, although capable of an almost universal
application, is primarily applicable to the principle of Christian liberality, and the
earnestness of St. Paul’s admonition finds its probable explanation in an allusion in
1Co_16:1 : “ ow concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given Order to
the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.” He had at his former visit urged them to
contribute to the support of their suffering brethren of Judea; but Gallic avarice
was proverbial. And is it not reasonable to suppose that the messenger who had
brought the apostle word of their defection from the faith, reported also
unfavourably of their liberality? Hence his strong statement concerning sowing and
reaping; hence his earnest exhortation to support their teachers, to do good unto all
men. And surely, brethren, the money test is one of the truest tests by which the
genuineness of a man’s religion can be tried. It was the money test which our Lord
applied to the rich young ruler, and from which he shrank; it was the money test
which proved too much for Achan and Gehazi in the Old Testament, for the Apostle

134. Judas, and for Ananiss and Sapphira in the ew. And the money test has not, I
believe, lost its practical value now. The love of money is the root of as much evil in
England as it was in Gallatia or Judea; it is equally now as then a lust of the flesh
which needs greatly to be crucified. Show me a liberal and large-hearted man--one
whose delight it is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked; a generous, ungrudging,
cheerful giver. His creed may possibly be defective, his knowledge limited; yet surely
it may be said of such an one, that he is not far from the kingdom of heaven; for is it
not promised that “if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted
soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” But
let a man be close and miserly in his habits--more ready to hoard than to give--one
that knoweth to do good, but doeth it not--then, however accurate his creed,
however strict and orthodox his profession, he lacks surely the vitality of grace; he
has a name to live, but is dead. All separation between knowledge and action is
ruinous and enfeebling, and faith in Christ as dying for us is worth little, unless
there be also faith in Christ as living in us … There is no alternative between sowing
to the spirit and sowing to the flesh. o middle course is possible. The policy of
inaction, whilst the great contest between good and evil is raging around us, is
nothing else than the policy of selfishness, and many a life, which drifts along in
amiable, aimless inactivity, is just as truly a sowing to the flesh as is the life of the
most abandoned. According to the context, the man who soweth to his flesh is he
who spends upon himself that which he ought to spend upon others--the niggardly
Galatian who neglects his Christian teacher, or the poor saints at Jerusalem, that he
may hoard or squander his gains--the professing Christian of every age who lays up
treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. It is in such things that self-
deception is so easy. The profligate, the drunkard, or the murderer cannot doubt for
a moment how he is sowing: his works of the flesh are manifest. But the man of
Christian profession may conceal his selfishness beneath such a veil of devout
behaviour as to deceive others, and perhaps himself. Hence the warning of the
apostle--“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” If Christ would have His followers
count the cost of becoming His disciples, He would have all men count the cost of
serving sin, whether in its grosser or in its more polished form; He would have no
man cheat himself into believing that a life of self-indulgence, however amiable and
engaging it may be, can issue in aught but ruin. (Emilius Bayley, B. D.)
The danger of self-deception
Man is both deceitful and deceived; and being so, it is difficult to undeceive him. We
have also to do with a deceitful enemy. Moreover, everything around us is deceitful.
Riches are so. Favour is deceitful. The heart also is deceitful. Sin also is said to be
deceitful; and there is therefore great need of the caution in the text--“Be not
deceived.”
I. Consider some of the instances in which we are liable to be deceived. Men in

135. general have mistaken apprehensions of the character of God. We are also much
deceived about our fellow-creatures. We call the proud happy, and regard the poor
as miserable: we despise those whom God honours, and applaud those whom He
condemns. But, above all, we are in danger of being deceived about ourselves.
1. Those are certainly deceived who entertain lessening apprehensions of the evil of
sin, saying of this and the other transgression of God’s holy law, as Lot did of Zoar,
“Is it not a little one? and my soul shall live.”
2. Those are deceived who think that the wrath of God against sin is represented in
too strong a light.
3. Those who amuse themselves with the hope of a death-bed repentance, are in
danger of being deceived.
4. Those who flatter themselves with the idea of safety, while they continually expose
themselves to danger, are under great deception.
5. Those are awfully deceived who think their state to be good when it is really
otherwise. Many imagine that they are justified and pardoned when they are in a
state of wrath and condemnation.
II. Consider the evil and danger of self-deception.
1. It leaves us in a state of painful uncertainty. Those who are under the power of it
will still be in suspense, and never attain to full satisfaction: they will be continually
fluctuating between hope and fear, neither enjoying the pleasures of sin nor the
contentments of piety.
2. Remember, God cannot be deceived. He knoweth them that are His, and them
that are not so.
3. Those who are deceived will one day be undeceived, and that perhaps when it will
be too late.
4. Self-deception discourages from the use of means. Those who fancy themselves
safe and right, though they have the greatest need of a Saviour, are not likely to
apply to Him.
5. Present deception will aggravate future misery. one sink so deep in hell as
hypocrites and self-deceivers.
Hence we may learn--
1. The necessity of self-examination.

136. 2. The advantage of a soul-searching ministry.
3. When we have examined ourselves, and have been tried by others to the utmost,
still there is a need to prostrate ourselves before the throne, and to pray with the
Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts!”
(Psa_139:23-24). (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The reward of the work
“Whatsoever”--both in kind and in degree. The law runs through all creation, from
the natural up to the supernatural life--from the world of sensation to the world of
spirits--from this earthly existence to life eternal. The what and the how much are
proportionate. The wheat-seed comes not up as barley, and the scanty sowing sends
not forth an abundant harvest. The acorn comes not up as the sycamore, nor does
the orange seed produce the fig-tree. Each has its own crop. What we put into the
earth, that we know will come back to us after many days. Or rise into the world of
man. Here the same law obtains. What man labours for, that he for the most part
achieves. What man labours for, that he achieves, and in proportion to his labour.
The years given to intellectual study do not produce the athletic champion of his
country. These form the student. The keen politician does not find his meed in the
peace and retirement of a learned leisure. Each man works to an end; and the
appropriate end for which he works, that he obtains. He gets his own reward, and
not another’s. ow let us go a step further. We have found this great law of God
pervading physical and intellectual life--does it extend into the spiritual life? The
text gives us the answer--“God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall
he also reap.” The law of the natural harvest, of the intellectual harvest, of the
spiritual harvest, is one; and that law is the law, so universal, so all-encircling, that
the heathen in their blindness supposed it a Deity--Retribution.
I. The life of the flesh. There is a gross sowing to the flesh in the indulgence of the
carnal desires of the flesh in their coarsest form. ot only is there retribution here,
but retribution in its most evident form. The man who lives for the purpose of
indulging his passions does so with effect. He makes a science of sinning. The whole
powers of his mind are bent upon compassing his desires, and by the great law of
life, he succeeds beyond other men. Occasions of evil, by an inscrutable mystery,
present themselves to him beyond others. Success attends his efforts in evil, as we
see in the luck which attends the incipient gamester. He has good fortunes (as
another nation terms such offences) in his iniquity. He reaps the meed of the care,
and thought, and time, and money he has expended upon his favourite faults. But
this very harvest is--corruption. The very success is ruin. Linked as cause and effect
with the fortunate perpetration of sin comes the destruction of all the aspiring part
of man. And what is the condition of things when this fearful degeneracy has

137. budded and flowered and brought forth its fruit in the world to come? What a sight
will it be in the sunlight of the new creation to behold the haggard, scowling, bloated
features of the victim of past sin; how fearful will it be to fix our eyes upon those
hardened and deformed lineaments in which weakness and brutality, coarseness
and emaciate sickliness in marvellous combination, alike have their part and
portion. But what will this be to the state of their souls? The measure of iniquity has
been fulfilled; not one unit from the full sum of absolute degradation is wanting,--
the natural powers have been perverted--the spiritual ones are lost, gone for ever, or
only exist in the increased responsibility which attends them, and nought remains
but the full measure of the fruits of sin--the pain of the loss of God’s presence--the
agony of the undying worm, inextinguishable despair, and absolute hatred of God.
II. The life of the Spirit. He that sows to the Spirit shall also reap, both in degree
and in kind. In degree he will reap in proportion. He that soweth sparingly, shall
reap sparingly; and he that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully. A scanty
obedience will produce a scanty reward: scanty, both here and hereafter; scanty in
the graces and comforts accorded by the blessed Spirit of God as the consolation of
our pilgrimage here below; scanty, alas! also in the jewels of our eternal crown. A
plentiful sowing on the other hand will produce its proportionate harvest. For
everything done for Christ we shall have our own reward; and in the degree that we
work for Him so shall that reward be. The same law of retribution will run through
the apportionment of every seat in heaven. Everything in the way of faithful
obedience done here below will determine and establish its own peculiar glory and
bliss in the world to come. (Bishop A. P. Forbes.)
Sowing and reaping
I. God is not to be trifled with.
1. Either by the notion that there will be no rewards and punishments.
2. Or by the idea that a bare profession will suffice to save us.
3. Or by the fancy that we shall escape in the crowd.
4. Or by the superstitious supposition that certain rites will set all straight at last,
whatever our lives may be.
5. Or by a reliance upon an orthodox creed, a supposed conversion, a presumptuous
faith, and a little almsgiving.

138. II. The laws of His government cannot be set aside.
1. It is so in nature. Law is inexorable. Gravitation crushes the man who opposes it.
2. It is so in providence. Evil results surely follow social wrong.
3. Conscience tells us it must be so. Sin must be punished.
4. The Word of God is very clear upon this point.
5. To alter laws would disarrange the universe, and remove the foundation of the
hopes of the righteous.
III. Evil sowing wilt bring evil reaping.
1. This is seen in the present result of certain sins. Sins of lust bring disease into the
bodily frame. Sins of idolatry have led men to cruel and degrading practices. Sins of
temper have caused murders, wars, strifes, and misery. Sins of appetite, especially
drunkenness, cause want, misery, delirium, etc.
2. This is seen in the minds becoming more and more corrupt, and less able to see
the evil of sin, or to resist temptation.
3. This is seen when the man becomes evidently obnoxious to God and man, so as to
need restraint, and invite punishment.
4. This is seen when the sinner becomes himself disappointed in the result of his
conduct. His malice eats his heart; his greed devours his soul; his infidelity destroys
his comfort; his raging passions agitate his spirit.
5. This is seen when the impenitent is confirmed in evil, and eternally punished with
remorse. Hell will be the harvest of a man’s own sin. Conscience is the worm which
gnaws him.
IV. Good sowing will bring good reaping. The rule holds good both ways. Let us,
therefore, inquire as to this good sowing.
1. In what power is it to be done?
2. In what manner and spirit shall we set about it?

139. 3. What are its seeds?
(1) Towards God, we sow in the Spirit, faith, and obedience.
(2) Towards men, love, truth, justice, kindness, forbearance.
(3) Towards self, control of appetite, purity, etc.
4. What is the reaping of the Spirit? Life everlasting, dwelling within us and abiding
there for ever.
Conclusion:
1. Let us sow good seed always.
2. Let us sow it plentifully, that we may reap in proportion.
3. Let us begin to sow it at once. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
o loss from sowing good seed
Doth any think he shall lose by his charity? o worldling, when he sows his seed,
thinks he shall lose his seed; he hopes for increase at harvest. Darest thou trust the
ground, and not God? Sure, God is a better paymaster than the earth; grace doth
give a larger recompense than nature. Below, thou mayest receive forty grains for
one; but in heaven (by the promise of Christ) a hundred-fold: a measure heapen,
and shaken, and thrust together, and yet running over. “Blessed is he that
considereth the poor”; there is the seeding: “The Lord shall deliver him in the time
of trouble” (Psa_41:1); there is the harvest. Is that all? o; Mat_25:35 : “Ye fed him
when I was hungry, and gave Me drink when thirsty”--comforted Me in misery;
there is the sowing. Venite, beati. “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you”; there is the harvest. (Thomas Adams.)
Christian diligence
The days and hours of this present state, which often flit by so little heeded, are of
immense consequence to us all. They contain the seeds, the concentrated germs, of
an endless future life. As the seed enwraps the plant that shall be, so the thought, the
word, the act of time, enwraps the expansion of the man in eternity. ow, what does
the Christian sow? and what shall he reap? In the answer to this question, comes in
a deep and most important truth, to which I will beg your earnest attention. When
the husbandman has sown, and tended the seed, and waited the appointed months
till the harvest come, what,--of what kind, is his reward? It is not a bestowal of

140. something different, and from without, as a recompense for his labours; but the
fruit and expansion of those labours themselves; that which he has sown, the same
does he reap, not, it is true, as it was sown, but enriched with God’s abundant
blessing, increased thirty and sixty and an hundred fold, still, however, the same;
the very thing which he deposited, so unpromising itself, in ground so unpromising,
does he now gather into his bosom, a full and rich reward, satisfying him and
gladdening him, and filling his heart with praise. Again then, what does the
Christian sow? for that also, not a reward or recompense external to and separate
from that, shall he reap; that same, but blessed and expanded and glorified, and
become his exceeding great reward. The Christian, brethren, sows to the Spirit, not
to the flesh. Let us try to give a plain practical interpretation to these words. The
sowing being interpreted to mean the thoughts, words, and acts of this present life--
the Christian thinks, speaks, and acts with reference to the Spirit--to his higher, his
Divine part; to that part of him which being dwelt in by God’s Holy Spirit, aims at
God’s glory; loves Him, serves Him, converges to Him in its desires and motions. His
Spirit, the abode of the Divine witness within him--the highest part, which aspires
after God and His glory--this deserves especial culture of its own, but not exclusive
culture. It must reign in him, not by sitting on a height apart, not by dignified
slumber only broken on solemn occasions, but by watchful and constant rule, by
claiming fur itself and for God the subordinate thoughts and plans and desires. And
it is among these that the Christian’s sowing for eternity will most commonly and
most busily take place. Educate for God by drawing forth, and as you draw them
forth, balancing with love and with wisdom those mental and bodily capacities, and
the several parts of that spiritual character, which God has entrusted to your care.
But do not educate for self and for the world, for the display of person and of
attainment; for this is sowing to the flesh, and the harvest shall be accordingly.
(Dean Alford.)
Men reap as they sow
Human actions draw after them consequences corresponding with the nature of
those actions. I shall begin with offering a few familiar illustrations of this principle
as witnessed in the common affairs of life, in the hope that I shall thus be able to
show more clearly and usefully its bearing on the higher interest of the soul and
eternity. I remark then--
1. The assertion of our text is literally true. Whenever the husbandman goes forth
and sows his prepared acres, or the reaper gathers in the harvest, or the passer-by
surveys the crop as he looks abroad upon the fields, waving with the ripening grain,
and fruits of various kind, a voice continually sounds in the ears of each,
“Whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.” It is the voice of nature repeating the
voice of revelation.
2. We see the principle of our text illustrated in the culture of the mind. Here it
holds true that whatsoever a man soweth, that he also reaps.

141. 3. The same truth is illustrated in all the various occupations and pursuits of life.
The lawyer, who sets his mark high in his profession and pursues his object with
earnest, persevering application, is sure to acquire a reputation and an influence
corresponding with his efforts. The physician, who gives himself to his calling, and
is judicious and thorough in his practice, draws around him, if not suddenly, yet
certainly, the confidence and patronage of the community, and in the end reaps the
rewards of his diligence and skill, while the pretender and the quack are of
ephemeral reputation, and soon pass away and are forgotten. The master mechanic
and the merchant, and men of business of every name, know well how universally
applicable to their respective callings is the principle we are considering. They know
that success depends on diligence, industry, perseverance, and that to expect to rise
to eminence or to wealth without corresponding efforts, would be as vain as to
expect to reap a harvest without the previous labours of sowing and cultivation.
4. Apply this principle to another case: the acquisition and use of property. The
moral law of accumulation is but little understood. We are not our own masters, but
God’s stewards. So long as we plan and toil on this principle, we act in accordance
with the will of God and for our own best and highest interests. We are sowing our
seed well, and we shall reap a plentiful harvest both here and hereafter. But when
the law here referred to is transgressed, and the just limits of accumulation are
disregarded; when a man comes to feel that he is his own master, and gives himself
up to the getting and laying up money for his own selfish purposes, to gratify his
worldliness and love of gain, or to heap up treasures for his children, he just as
surely sows to the flesh, and of the flesh shall reap corruption, as that he is a living
man.
5. The truth of the maxim declared in our text is also strikingly illustrated in the
training of families. The family state, the first ordained of God in Paradise was
expressly appointed, as He tells us in His Word, “that He might seek a godly seed,”
in other words, to spread and perpetuate truth and piety in the world, and no
institution can be conceived more wisely adapted to this end. There is no so hopeful
a vineyard for cultivation as a young, rising family. The soil is rich and mellow, as
yet unoccupied by noxious plants, and ready to receive whatever seed may be cast
into it.
6. The principle of our text holds true in regard to the attainment and growth of
personal religion, Every man, while life lasts, may be regarded as entrusted with the
care of a moral vineyard, which he is required to cultivate, and the harvest he reaps
is sure to correspond with the seed he sows in it. A part of this vineyard, if I may so
speak, lies in his own bosom. It is his mind, his heart, his conscience, his affections,
his character.
7. The principle we are considering will be fully illustrated in the retributions of
eternity. Men are now forming the characters in which they are to appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. (J. Hawes, D. D.)

142. It is impossible for a man continuously and successfully to practise a fraud.
I. Upon his own immortality.
II. Upon his neighbour.
III. Upon his God. (Samuel P. Jones.)
The double harvest
I. Our present life is a moral trial for another to come.
II. Human life has one or other of two great characters, and will issue in one or
other of two great results.
III. We are liable to delusions with respect to these great verities. (J. B. Geden, D.
D.)
The principle of the spiritual harvest
I. The principle.
1. There are two kinds of good possible to man; the one enjoyed by our animal
being, the other by our spirits. There are two kinds of harvest, and the labour which
procures the one has no tendency to produce the other.
2. Everything has its price, and the price buys that and nothing else: the soldier pays

143. his price for glory and gets it: the recluse does not.
3. The mistake men make is that they sow for earth and expect to win spiritual
blessings, and vice versa. Christian men complain that the unprincipled get on in
life, and that the saints are kept back. But the saints must pay the price: “they have
as their reward something better for which they do pay. o man can have two
harvests for one sowing.
II. The application of the principle.
1. Sowing to the flesh includes
(1) open riot, whose harvest is disappointment and remorse.
(2) Worldliness whose harvest being with earth perishes.
2. Sowing to the spirit, which is “well doing,” the harvest of which is
(1) Life eternal; here and hereafter.
(2) ot arbitrary but natural: the seed sown contains the harvest. (F. W. Robertson.)
Man’s seed time and harvest
I. A caution which is--
1. Dissuasive--“Be not deceived” (Eph_5:6). To prevent the deceivings of sin (Heb_
3:13.) The pretexts for sin are--
(1) Predestination.
(2) God saw it and might have prevented it.
(3) Ignorance.
(4) Good deeds outweigh it.
(5) God is merciful.
(6) Christ died for it.

144. (7) I shall repent of it.
2. Persuasive--God is not mocked (2Ch_6:30; Act_1:24). Hypocrisy and gold can
cozen men, but not God.
II. The reason. “Whatsoever,” be it good or evil, blessing or cursing, truth or
hypocrisy, “a man,” Jew, Turk, heathen or Christian, prince or subject, rich or
poor, “soweth,” etc.
1. To begin with the wicked. They shall reap what they have sown.
(1) “In kind (Oba_1:15; Eze_35:15).
(2) In proportion (Jam_2:13; Hos_10:13).
2. The godly. They sow
(1) in faith, and have eternal life (Joh_5:24).
(2) In obedience, and have a sense of God’s love (Joh_15:10).
(3) In tears, and reap in joy (Psa_126:5; Mat_5:4).
(4) In charity, and have heaven’s abundance (Mat_10:42; 2Co_9:6; Mat_25:35)
(Thomas Adams.)
Sowing and Reaping
I. The solemnity of the apostle’s warning.
1. The nature of self-deception. It is sad to be deceived in
(1) a friend;
(2) our state of health;
(3) our means--but these are not beyond remedy--but
(4) to be deceived about the soul’s condition is irreparable.
2. Its cause.

145. (1) Living upon the memories of the past.
(2) Zeal for the ordinances of religion.
(3) Taking safety for granted.
3. Its futility. While you deceive yourselves God is not mocked.
II. The importance of the apostle’s statement.
1. Flesh includes all desires whether sensual or refined that does not lead us to God:
the Spirit those desires which spring from His inspiration and find in Him their
response and their joy.
2. The underlying principle here is that we have largely the making and marring of
our own future.
3. The marring is when by sowing to the flesh in, e.g., pride, covetousness,
ungodliness, a man reaps corruption, i.e., desolation and decay; the making when by
sowing to the Spirit we reap everlasting life, something that shall not pass away. (W.
M. Punshon, LL. D.)
I. A man expects to reap that which he sows.
II. He expects to reap a crop of the same kind that he has sown.
III. He expects to reap more than he sows.
IV. Ignorance of the kind of seed sown well make no difference to the crop. (D. L.
Moody.)

146. I. Righteousness and sin always yield their harvests: the moral results of our actions
are determined by definite and irresistible laws.
II. Yet in the lower provinces of life there is a good deal of sowing that is followed by
no reaping.
1. In business;
2. Politics;
3. Science;
4. Home and society.
III. The disappointments in these lower provinces make us cynical, but God permits
them in order to warn us against sowing too much seed where it may be blighted.
IV. God is the only master who always gives His servants the wages they work for.
Serve Him--
1. In business, and whether you make money or not, you will increase your treasure
in heaven.
2. In the service of the public, and whether you have your reward or not you will
have honorable distinction in the kingdom of God.
V. The harvest may not be tomorrow or the day after, but in due season we shall
reap.
VI. Enough, however, is reaped now to save men from despair. Work done for God
is never wasted.
1. Take the social and political improvements of recent years.
2. The advance of the kingdom of God. (R. W. Dale, D. D.)

147. Man’s work and his certain reward
1. A timely caution: God’s omniscience renders it impossible that He should be
mocked.
2. A great principle stated: what is true in nature is true in morals.
3. This great principle in its application to man’s probation. The work of man is--
I. That of sowing to the flesh.
1. Pleasure seeking.
2. Money making.
3. Knowledge acquiring. This must reap corruption, because
(1) the corruption of death will put an end to most earthly accomplishments.
(2) That which survives the work of corruption will entail the agonies of spiritual
corruption.
II. That of sowing to the spirit.
1. Those who yield their heart a willing sacrifice to God.
2. Who consecrate their substance to God.
3. Who devote all their energies to the service of God, sow to the Spirit;
(1) because they enter into sympathy with the strongest elements, laws, and forces of
the spiritual universe: and
(2) in eternity reap in quantity and quality what they have sown here. (S. B.)
Retribution and grace

148. I. The preacher of justification by faith lays down the principle of retribution.
1. This principle is of universal application.
2. It is applied to man not only as the agent but as the one on whom it is to operate.
3. In virtue of it we can be prophets of our future.
II. The laws of grace and retribution are perfectly harmonious.
1. Salvation is a gift.
2. But we have to take advantage of this gift.
3. This is accomplished by faith.
4. But faith is a continuous act, and involves obedience as well as trust. (S. Pearson,
M. A.)
Three dualities
I. A duality of nature.
1. “Flesh,” representing that which connects man with time and sense.
2. “Spirit,” that which connects man with the immutable and the Divine.
II. A duality of procedure.
1. Sowing to the flesh: cultivating the animal powers and propensities.
2. Sowing to the Spirit: cultivating the spiritual powers and propensities.
III. A duality of result.
1. Corruption.

149. 2. Everlasting life. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
True moral culture
I. The spirituality of the work.
1. The spirit requires moral cultivation. In its unregenerate state its ground is fallen;
it is a wilderness, full of the germs of evil.
2. The spirit is capable of moral cultivation. Facts show this: what moral changes
have taken place in human nature: read the history of Paul.
II. The eternity of the work.
1. The soil is everlasting.
2. The seed is everlasting: we are sowing for eternity.
3. The uniformity of the work.
(1) Of kind. The kind you sow you will reap.
(2) Of amount. If little, reap little. All this is ensured by the laws of causation, habit,
memory, retribution. Every deed is a seed sown in our nature, either good or evil,
and according to the seed will be the harvest. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
God is not mocked
I could both sigh and smile at the simplicity of a native American, sent by a
Spaniard, his master, with a basket of figs, and a letter wherein the figs were
mentioned, to carry them both to one of his master’s friends. By the way this
messenger eat up the figs, but delivered the letter, whereby his deed was discovered,
and he soundly punished. Being sent a second time on the like message, he first took
the letter, which he conceived had eyes as well as a tongue, and hid it in the ground,
sitting himself on the place where he had put it; and then securely fell to feed on his
figs, presuming that that paper which saw nothing, could tell nothing. Then taking
it again out of the ground, he delivered it to his master’s friend, whereby his fault
was perceived, and he worse beaten than before. Men conceive they can manage
their sins with secrecy, but they carry about them a letter, or a book rather, written

150. by God’s finger, their conscience bearing witness to all their actions. But sinners,
being often detected and accused, hereby grow wary at last, and to prevent this
speaking paper from telling tales, do smother, stifle, and suppress it, when they go
about the committing of any wickedness. Yet conscience (though buried for a time in
silence) hath afterwards a resurrection, and discovers all, to their greater shame and
heavier punishment. (T. Fuller.)
The folly of sowing to the flesh
If you saw a man with a seed basket on his shoulder, who had a field which by
proper cultivation would yield a plentiful crop and profit, and there he was with his
basket filled with thistles and nettles, and all noxious weeds that he could lay his
hand on, and he was sowing that field with these from morning to night and on
Sunday too--you would say, “I doubt yon man is spoiling that field, sowing it with
that stuff;” and if you saw him sowing still all day long, and on Sunday more than
any day, you would say, “I think it is time yon man was stopped, he must be a
madman,” and suppose you talked with a person that saw it too, and he said to you,
“Do you know what the end will be?” “Why,” you would say, “he is ruining his
field, it must be all undone before any crop can be got from it again.” “Ah! but (says
the other) do you know these seeds that he is sowing will rise and prove to be a
plentiful harvest, and they will touch the clouds, and then afterwards the field is to
be cleared of them, and there is to be a fire made of them in which the man himself
will be consumed?” “Do you say so?” “That is the truth.” “Why then, surely he
must be undeceived; let us try to undeceive him.” Ah, friends, I am afraid that there
are many such madmen here to night. (William Dawson.)
Self-deceived
A eapolitan shepherd came in great anguish to his priest. “Father, have mercy on
a miserable sinner! It is the holy season of Lent, and, while I was busy at work, some
whey, spurting from the cheese-press, flew into my mouth, and wretched man! I
swallowed it. Free my distressed conscience from its agonies by absolving me from
my guilt!” “Have you no other sin to confess?” said his spiritual guide. “ o; I do not
know that I have committed any other.” “There are,” said the priest, “many
robberies and murders from time to time committed on your mountains, and I have
reason to believe you are one of the persons concerned in them.” “Yes,” he replied,
“I am; but these are never accounted a crime; it is a thing practised by us all, and
there needs no confession on that account.” (Bagley’s Family Biblical Instructor.)
Sowing and reaping

151. An American minister, towards the close of his sermon, introduced a very powerful
and dramatic illustration in allusion to some well-known place where certain
blasting was to be carried out. “The rock is tunnelled, and deep under the solid
masses over which men walk with such careless security, there are now laid trains of
explosive powder. All seems so safe and firm outwardly, it is hardly possible to
imagine that those solid masses will ever be shaken; but the time will come when a
tiny spark will fire the whole train, and the mountain will be in a moment rent in
the air, and torn to atoms.” “There are men,” he said, looking round, “there are
men here who are tunnelled, mined; their time will come, not to-day or tomorrow,
not for months or years, perhaps, but it will come in a moment, from an unforseen
quarter, a trifling incident, their reputations will be blown to atoms, and what they
have sown they will reap. There is no dynamite like men’s lusts and passions.”
Sowing and reaping
One day as Felix eff was walking in the city of Lausanne, he saw a man whom he
took for one of his intimate friends. He ran up behind him, tapped him on the
shoulder, and asked, “What is the state of your soul, my friend? “The stranger
turned; eff perceived his mistake, apologized, and went away. A few years after a
stranger came to eff, saying he was greatly indebted to him. eff did not recognize
the man, and begged him to explain. The stranger replied, “Have you forgotten an
unknown person whose shoulder you touched in the street in Lausanne, and asked,
‘What is the state of your soul?’ It was I; your question led me to serious reflection,
and now I trust it is well with my soul.”
Deception in spiritual things
There are four subjects which the apostle would have us particularly guard against
being deceived in.
I. Be not deceived in the character of the being and perfections of God.
1. He is omnipresent.
2. He is omniscient. There are no secrets on earth to Him--no secrets in hell: hell is
naked before Him, and destruction has no covering; much more the hearts of the
children of men.
II. Be not deceived regarding your own character as rational and redeemed
creatures. You are a probationer for eternity. What infinite importance, then, is
stamped on every thought, word, action; they will all spring up again, multiplied a
hundredfold at the world’s great harvest.

152. III. Be not deceived concerning the evil nature and dreadful end of a life of sin.
Whenever a man is living according to the principles, appetites, propensities, and
passions of his fallen nature, he is sowing to the flesh, and the crop that he must
reap is eternal perdition. He can’t have anything else.
IV. Be not deceived concerning the nature and excellency of a life of holiness.
“Sowing to the Spirit” is yielding to the illuminating and quickening energies of the
Holy Ghost, living according to the light of the Spirit of God within and without us.
Surely this is better than sowing to the flesh. A man who is sowing to the flesh has to
labour; and sowing to the Spirit is no more laborious than sowing to the flesh, nor
yet so much. The exercises of holiness are no greater than the exercises of sin: so
that even in that view the saint has no loss. But then there is the harvest to come;
and what a difference then. (W. Dawson.)
Deception in matters of religion
It is above all things important that in the great and momentous matters of religion
we should not be mistaken or deceived, but should have the most correct, exact, and
vivid impressions and opinions; because religion deals with such momentous
subjects as God, the soul, eternity; and if in these momentous interests we are
deceived, and our conduct in consequence be mistaken, the consequences must be to
us lamentably and eternally fatal. o other way of acceptance with God, no other
refuge from the wrath to come; nor can we offer acceptable worship and service to
the Most High, if our impressions of His character be false and incorrect. For,
remember, God cannot be deceived.
I. Consider our liability to deception.
1. Our ignorance.
2. Our natural selfishness. For the most part, men are fearfully inert, awfully
indifferent, strangely unconcerned about religion. They won’t take the trouble to
ascertain the truth,
3. Our natural warmth. Susceptible of impressions; easily moved--first one way,
then another. Like the chameleon, men are ever shifting the hue of their religious
character. The misfortune is, that those who try everything, generally hold fast
nothing.

153. II. Some of the ways in which delusion in religion operates.
1. It produces satisfaction in externals, and the deluded sinner rests there.
2. It fills the mind with false, distorted views of religion. Eve actually believed Satan
when he gave the lie direct to God! Men will rather receive a pleasing error than
embrace a self-denying truth.
3. It substitutes mere animal excitement for practical godliness.
III. The consequences of such deception.
1. Criminality. It is the sinner’s own fault. o excuse for ignorance or apology for
error, because he ought to have sought the truth, which whosoever seeks, shall
surely find.
2. Eternal ruin. The mistake is final and fatal Repair it while there is time. (T.
Raffles, D. D.)
Fallacies in religion
If anything is important, religion is all-important. It may be undervalued in health
and prosperity; but in sickness and trouble we feel its necessity. When the ship is
overtaken by the storm it must have not only a good anchor, but a strong cable.
Here are some of the fallacies with which men deceive themselves.
I. Ample time in the future for attending to the concerns of the soul. What a
mistake! You cannot tell what a moment may bring forth. By delay the heart gets
harder. The unwillingness of to-day becomes still deeper to-morrow (2Co_6:2; Heb_
3:7-8; Heb_3:15; Heb_4:7; Ecc_9:10).
II. If elected, we shall be saved; if not elected, we must be lost. But, observe, election
is the result of foreknowledge on God’s part (Rom_8:29). It is our own fault, and
only ours, if we are not elected. The gospel has been preached to us, and the offer of
salvation extended.

154. III. It will be all the same a hundred years hence. o: it will not, it cannot be. The
present is seed-time; the harvest is to come (Gal_6:7). Our destiny hereafter depends
upon our conduct now.
IV. Great men have held that there is no future punishment; So we need not fear. A
bold assertion, but no proof. Butler’s argument is unanswerable: that, inasmuch as
the visitation of our acts by rewards and punishments takes place in this life,
rewards and punishments must be consistent with the attributes of God, and
therefore may go on as long as the mind endures. The soul that dies in love with sin
and sinful pleasures, may only have that love intensified in the future state. Change
of residence brings about no change of moral character.
V. We are to be saved by doing the best we can. ay; but by taking hold on Christ
by the hand of faith, and walking with Him in newness of life. (Alex. Brunton.)
Be not deceived
--Futility of delayed repentance
If any of you rely upon the hope or the chance or the possibility of a deathbed
repentance as an excuse for sin; if any of you are secretly saying to yourselves, I will
go on stoning now; I will repent before or when I die,”--I would say to you briefly
and most solemnly, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked,” but when you wickedly
think thus you are mocking, you are insulting, you are defying God, you are, as it
were, insolently bidding God to wait your leisure; you are bidding Him to be content
with the ragged and bitter lees of life after you have drained to the dregs what
should have been its bright libation. You are flinging to Him, as it were, the
shrivelled and withered leaves in which you have yourself cherished a canker in the
worthless flower. There is an awful truth, if there be also quaintness, in the
language of one who said, “My Lord, heaven is not to be won by short hard work at
the last, as some of us take a degree at the university after much irregularity and
negligence. I have known,” he says, “many old playfellows of the devil spring up
suddenly from their deathbeds, and strike at him treacherously, while he, without
returning the blow, only laughed and made grimaces in the corner of the room.” If
you rely on deathbed repentance, you are, believe me, relying on a bruised and
broken reed, which will break beneath you and run into your hand. I have seen
deathbeds not a few, and I know that he who thinks he can make sure of deathbed
repentance, or even a mere semblance of it, is hanging his whole weight upon the
thread of a gossamer over a deep and dark abyss. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

155. The law of sowing and reaping
o analogy is more easily understood than this. A certain point of resemblance
between the thoughts, wishes, affections, purposes of the mind, and the seed-corn
cast into the earth at one season of the year; and another between the gathering of
the harvest, and the result in our own minds of the thoughts and affections we have
cherished during our life. “Culture” and “cultivation,” e.g.,--terms originally
denoting the tillage of the earth, have been transferred, by the hint of analogy, to the
soul.
I. Sowing and reaping as an illustration of spiritual law.
1. In reference to labour and reward, we cannot reap without previous sowing; we
cannot reap where we have not sown; inferior seed will yield a poor return. And we
must patiently wait for our crop till “due season.”
2. In reference to Divine will and operation. God is faithful; He will not fail those
who sow in dependence on Him.
II. The application of this law to the personal and the social life.
1. The life for self distinguished from the life for others. The cultivation of the lower
mind and nature in us. There are men who hunt after sensualities as if they were
digging for hid treasures, or pressing after the discovery of truth that would bless
mankind; they cultivate their propensities as if they were talents that ought to be
increased by use, and faculties that might be improved by constant exercise. How
they are deceived! They reap the quality of their sowing; and it is a harvest of
corruption. A soil that has been forced, and whose virtue has been used up, is the
image of their souls.
2. The life for self united with the life for others. “Flesh”--the ordinary uninspired
life of man; “Spirit”--the inspired life of those who have come under a higher
influence. Slavery to custom is life after the flesh, the origin of a thousand
corruptions in the whole system of our social life. The ideal of the Christian is the
inspired life, sowing to, walking in, being led by the Spirit--the promotion of truth,
justice, love, between man and man.
III. The application of this law to the present and the future life.

156. 1. The present life as a sowing incomplete. To follow the inspiration of God, to live
the truly elevated and conscientious life is too hard and fatiguing for many; and the
few who do persevere are exposed to terrible temptations to doubt of themselves,
and to suspect they would have done better to have walked in the beaten track of the
world’s use and wont. This life does not afford materials for the complete solution of
the problem; it leaves room for a multitude of doubts which only the strongest
illumination and faith can overcome.
2. Indications of future completeness. Traits of character so Divine, promises of
youth cut off by untimely death, loftinesses of the human spirit, buds not yet
unfolded, aspirations only starved here--what of these? Surely their harvest is to
come.
3. The hope of future perfection and glory. Life will then be rounded and made
whole, moving on from true beginnings to worthy ends. Death is not the end of our
being, but rather the moment for putting in the sickle, and reaping that fulness and
completeness, that purity and intensity of all intellectual and social joy, that glorious
revelation of the truth of the spiritual nature, which is included in the great word
“Life Eternal.” (R. Johnson, M. A.)
Sowing and reaping
I. The sowing. That is a description of our life--a description which very few people,
old or young, seem to think of. Our present life is our sowing-time for eternity. You
may have been in the country in spring, when the frost and snow have disappeared,
and preparations are being made for the work of the coming year. The ground has
been ploughed and manured and made ready for receiving the seed, and you may
have seen sacks of seed-corn standing all over the field, and men walking up and
down the furrows, with bags tied round their waist or slung across their breast,
throwing out their arms in a peculiar way. Those of you who have been brought up
in towns, may have thought they were taking exercise on a cold spring morning, or
were amusing themselves. But if you had asked them, “What are you doing?” you
would have got the answer, “We are sowing.” If you had stood in their way, or done
anything to interrupt them, or put off their time, they would have called out to you,
“Keep out of our way, we are sowing; this is seed-time. After a long winter, we must
make the most of spring, for all the rest of the year depends on what we make of it.
If we lose the spring, we lose the harvest; and so we want to make the most of every
hour. We have not a minute to spare.” Or you have seen in the garden, at the same
season of the year, the gardener busy at work. Everybody wanted to have him, and
so he was hurrying through with his work, in one garden after another, late and
early. If you had asked him, “What are you doing, gardener?” he would have said,
“I am sowing--pease, and turnips, and lettuce, and carrots, and spinach; or
mignonette, and sweet pea, and candytuft, and saponaria, and asters, and

157. marigolds, and wallflower, and stock. If we miss these weeks--if we were not to sow,
as we are doing, you would have no vegetables and no flowers. And what would you
say to that? All depends on what we are now doing. It is the most important work of
the year.” ow, suppose some mischievous boy were to take up a handful of
vegetable seeds and to scatter peas and beans and potatoes over the flower-beds; or
a handful of flower-seeds, and were to scatter Indian cress, and wallflower, and
Virginian stock, and Venus’ looking-glass, and Love-lies-bleeding over the
vegetable-beds, the gardener would call to him, “Stop, boy! do you know what you
are doing?” “Getting a little fun,” he might say. “Fun is all very good in its own
place,” says the gardener, “but you are sowing. It is not as if you were scattering
clay, or stones, or bits of wood. These are seeds, and they will grow; they will spring
up again; and what a strange sight the garden will be!” ow your life is just like
that. It may seem mere amusement to some; but it is a sowing--a scattering of seed.
1. The sowers--who are they? All of you. Every one who lives sows, and sows until
he dies.
2. The seed--what is it? Everything that you do. There has never been a day or an
hour in which you have not been sowing. You have never done anything else. Your
work, your play, your lessons at home or at school during the week or on the Lord’s
Day, when you were at your games, when you were reading some story or other
book, when you were amusing yourself or other people--it was a seed which you
were sowing--sowing, indeed, for this life, but sowing also for the life to come--for
eternity. Some of us have the field or garden of our life well filled up--some have it
almost full, almost all sown over. Some have only a tenth of the field filled, and some
an eighth, and some a fifth,
ISBET, "A I EXORABLE LAW
‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’
Galatians 6:7
Every habit formed is seed sown. Our thoughts, our words, our deeds are all seed
which, in the world to come, we shall reap, in sorrow or in joy.
After all, is it not simply just? And for this reason, that a man sows what he likes, as
he likes. As it is with the seed sown in the fields, so it is with our lives, a fixed law!
Yet men ignore it: seem to hope that after all it may not be true. As well might a
farmer sow barley and hope that after all there may spring up oats!
I. Putting aside the reaping that will be in the next world, do we not find the words
abundantly fulfilled even in this?—We are, we enjoy, we suffer in the present, as we
have done, or as we have left undone, in the past.
(a) You see a man in the evening of life, full of riches and honour. You knew him
long ago a struggling youth, yet even then noted for application to business, sober,
self-denying, honest. The seeds of industry have produced a harvest of peace and
plenty.

158. (b) You see another born to better things thrown on the parish. You don’t wonder
when you know that drink was his master. The seeds of intemperance are bearing
the bitter fruit of ruin and disgrace.
(c) A third case, perhaps, puzzles you for a time. You see a man struggling hard to
keep his head above water, and yet going steadily down. His health is broken. And
you say, ‘It seems hard, doesn’t it?’ ‘Ah,’ some one replies, ‘he is wonderfully
changed, wonderfully sobered. But I can remember the time when he was “sowing
his wild oats”—he sowed at the same time the seeds of the disease which is killing
him now.’
II. The inexorable law.—A man lives a life of the most reckless waste—waste of
time, waste of health, waste of opportunities. He ‘sows to the flesh’ in the indulgence
of every passion. When he has done ‘sowing his wild oats’ he ‘settles down.’ But—
before he is middle-aged he is old! His health is gone, he is broken down. Then he
cries out bitterly, and says that ‘it is hard, so hard, that the sins of his youth should
be remembered against him!’ Remembered! Why, it is only the working out of a
natural law. If you forget that you put seed into a field, your forgetfulness will not
prevent it springing up. Remembered! ay! the wild oats sown so recklessly do but
yield the harvest of pain, and feebleness, and sorrow, and regret. Sowing and
reaping! You cannot separate the two. Young men, must you sow your wild oats? Do
they tell you that it is ‘only natural.’ Very well; but ‘whatsoever a man soweth,’
remember ‘that shall he also reap!’
—Rev. J. B. C. Murphy
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE BY HASTI GS
Sowing and Reaping
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.—Gal_6:7.
1. It is one of the characteristics of St. Paul that he enforces the commonest duties by
the highest motives. When he urges the Corinthians to make a contribution for the
poor saints at Jerusalem, he drives home his appeal by these words: “For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich.” When he vindicates
himself from the accusation of fanaticism which his enemies had made against him,
he says: “Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is
for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live

159. should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and
rose again.” His habit thus was to run up the separate actions of his life to great
principles, by which they were dominated, and in accordance with which they were
regulated. The poet has reminded us that in the material universe,
That very law which moulds a tear,
And bids it trickle from its source,
That law preserves the earth a sphere,
And guides the planets in their course.
And much in the same way the Apostle shows that the great fact of our redemption
by Jesus Christ should affect the little things of our benevolence and our manner of
speech as really as the great things of our life at the crucial and decisive turning
points in our history. The background of his life was the cross of Christ, and from
that every action, whether to human view important or the reverse, drew its
inspiration and acquired its momentum.
Accordingly we are not surprised to find that the words of the text stand in
immediate connexion with the command that ministers of the gospel should be
liberally supported by those whom they instruct. That is a commonplace duty, but it
is lifted by St. Paul into eternal importance, when he links it on, as here, directly
and immediately to the doctrine of retribution; for then we are reminded that in the
way in which we deal with it we must sow either to the flesh or to the spirit, and
reap either corruption or everlasting life.
2. The principle on which this warning rests is stated in terms that give it universal
application: Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. This is in fact the
postulate of all moral responsibility. It asserts the continuity of personal existence,
the connexion of cause and effect in human character. It makes man the master of
his own destiny. It declares that his future depends upon his present choice, and is
in truth its evolution and consummation. The twofold lot of “corruption” or “life
eternal” is in every case no more, and no less, than the proper harvest of the kind of
sowing practised here and now. The use made of our seed-time determines exactly,
and with a moral certainty greater even than that which rules in the natural field,
what kind of fruitage our immortality will render.
We scatter seeds with careless hand,
And dream we ne’er shall see them more:
But for a thousand years
Their fruit appears

160. In weeds that mar the land,
Or healthful store.
The deeds we do, the words we say,—
Into still air they seem to fleet,
We count them ever past;
But they shall last,
In the dread judgment they
And we shall meet.1 [ ote: Keble, Lyra Innocentium, 115.]
3. While the text is fitted to awaken the careless, we must not forget that it is equally
fitted to cheer and encourage the fainthearted. This, indeed, seems to have been its
original purpose. St. Paul was writing to the members of the household of the faith,
and was calling them to Christian service. And to encourage these Galatian
Christians to labour earnestly, he tells them that their labour cannot be in vain.
Their spiritual work is a sowing, and by the eternal law of the universe it must be
followed by a reaping. For in the spiritual world, laws are as inevitable and
unalterable as in the natural world. Caprice has no more a place in the one than in
the other. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Just as surely as he
who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, so he who sows to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
We have thus, first of all, to understand the law of the harvest—“Whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap”; and then we have to receive a warning, which is at
the same time a strong encouragement—“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”
I
The Law of the Harvest
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
1. Our present life is the seed-time of an eternal harvest. Each recurring year
presents a mirror of human existence. The analogy is a commonplace of the world’s
poetry. The spring is in every land a picture of youth—its morning freshness and
innocence, its laughing sunshine, its opening blossoms, its bright and buoyant
energy; and, alas, oftentimes its cold winds and nipping frosts and early sudden
blight! Summer images a vigorous manhood, with all the powers in action and the
pulses of life beating at full swing; when the dreams of youth are worked out in

161. sober, waking earnest; when manly strength is tested and matured under the heat of
mid-day toil, and character is disciplined, and success or failure in life’s battle must
be determined. Then follows mellow autumn, season of shortening days and
slackening steps and gathering snows; season too of ripe experience, of chastened
thought and feeling, of widened influence and clustering honours. And the story
ends in the silence and winter of the grave! Ends? ay, that is a new beginning! This
whole round of earthly vicissitude is but a single spring-time. It is the mere
childhood of man’s existence, the threshold of the vast house of life.
What men sow, they reap, is not a cheque to be cashed here below, when and how
we please, but a word of faith, which cannot be severed from the hope which rests in
God, the righteous Judge of heaven and earth. The text points to another, a perfect
world; it says: The harvest comes, but whether as a blessing or a curse, for salvation
or perdition, that is the great question for us all.1 [ ote: J. E. B. Mayor.]
2. The text tells us that all our life long we are employed in sowing the seeds of that
harvest which we must eventually reap. Our actions do not expire with their
performance, nor our words with their utterance, nor our thoughts with the
thinking of them. Each of these is a seed sown, and will bear fruit after its kind.
Each of them survives in us, after it seems to be past and gone, and when it is
perhaps forgotten, in the impress which it has left upon us, or in the habits and
tendencies which it has strengthened and confirmed. It is a matter of experience that
every after-period of life is affected more or less by the conduct of every earlier
period, manhood by youth, and old age by manhood. “The child is father of the
man.” Such as we now are, we are as the offspring of the past, the practical result or
the living embodiment of the days and years during which we have been occupied—
it may be without much thought about it—in acquiring or developing the qualities
that now distinguish us. And the like process still continues. We are sowing, from
day to day, the seeds of that character which will cleave to us in after life, and
which, if the same course of action be adhered to, will follow us beyond the grave,
and go with us to the judgment.
We cannot teach art as an abstract skill or power. It is the result of a certain ethical
state in the nation and at full period of the national growth that efflorescence of its
ethical state will infallibly be produced: be it bad or good, we can no more teach nor
shape it than we streak our orchard blossom with strange colours or infuse into its
fruit a juice it has not drawn out of the sap. And, farther, such seed of art as we sow,
such also must we reap; that which is born of lasciviousness begets lasciviousness,
that which is shed from folly will spring up into folly, and that which is sown of
truth bear fruit of truth, according to the ground it is cast on, some thirtyfold, some
sixty, some an hundred.1 [ ote: Ruskin, Relation of Ethics to Arts, § 5 (Works, xix.
166).]
The story of Adam Bede is a tragedy arising from the inexorable consequences of
human deeds. It will be remembered that it was Charles Bray who first set George
Eliot meditating on the law of consequences. Sara Hennell had thought much about
it too. She wrote in Christianity and Infidelity: “When the law of moral

162. consequences is recognized as fixed and absolute, the hope to escape from it would
be as great madness as to resist the law of gravitation.” George Eliot’s best known
expression of this law is in Romola: “Our deeds are like our children that are born
to us; they live and act apart from our own will. ay children may be strangled, but
deeds never: they have an indestructible life both in and out of our own
consciousness.” This is the old Buddhist doctrine of Karma. St. Paul had put it still
more briefly: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.” This law was not fatal to St. Paul, because he believed in
regeneration. George Eliot followed Charles Bray. For him, the responsible person
was he who, recognizing the inexorable consequences, governed himself accordingly.
emesis was George Eliot’s watchword, but in her handling of this law she
approached to the Greek Fate rather than to St. Paul. It is this Fate that makes
much of the extraordinary impressiveness of Adam Bede. Arthur Donnithorne’s sin
brought its retribution of terrible suffering not only to himself, but to Hetty, to
Adam, to the Poysers. “There’s a sort of wrong that can never be made up for,” are
the words wrung from him after bitter experience.2 [ ote: C. Gardner, The Inner
Life of George Eliot, 117.]
3. The harvest corresponds in kind to the sowing. Each seed produces its own kind,
because God has so ordained. That which we reap from off the fields of nature is
always of the same species as that which we have sown. o sane man, even if he
should be the most unquestioning believer in the transmutation of species, would
expect a crop of valuable grain from an inclosure which he had sown with tares;
and every husbandman when he plants his corn does so in the confidence that,
according to the uniformity of nature’s operations, he will have a harvest of the
same. He has no manner of doubt about it. There may be sometimes a question in
his mind during a long drought as to whether he shall have a larger or smaller crop,
possibly even as to whether he shall have a crop at all; but he knows that if he have
any crop it will be of the same kind as that which he has planted. On the plane of
material nature, then, every one understands, admits and acts upon this principle as
an absolute law admitting of no exception—“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.”
Our Lord endorses this principle in his Beatitudes. He affirms that the soul’s
reward matches the soul’s effort and expectation. If we hunger and thirst after
righteousness, we shall be satisfied with righteousness, and with nothing lower. We
reap that which we sow the seed of, and not any other kind of grain. There are some
Christians who repine and grow despondent because they do not find themselves
reaping a harvest which they have no right to look for. If you hunger and thirst
after riches or renown, rather than after righteousness, you may win them on the
same terms. If you devote yourself, body and soul, to becoming a successful man
rather than a good man, you may probably succeed; only it is not possible to achieve
both aims at once.
Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. Mind you, he shall not only see it grow
and see it ripen, but he shall reap. And everything you sow shall grow, and you, and
you only, shall most certainly reap. Be sure your sin will find you out. It won’t

163. perhaps be found out. But, I say, it will find you out. It will grow and grow and eat
out your life. It will run you to earth a doomed man. For the end of these things is
Death. And you will reap in many directions. You may not know the seed or the
ground you sow, but sow and you will reap. Men know thistles from oats. You sow
and sow, and then you hope God will forgive and your page be clean. I answer you,
ay. Sow thistles, and thistles will come up. Sow oats, and thistles will not come up,
oats will come up. “Sow thistles,” you say, “and then sow good oats, and thus clear
the thistles.” o, the harvest will be thistles and oats.1 [ ote: The Life of Henry
Drummond, 477.]
One story connected with this time Mr. Erskine used to tell. It was of the Rev.
William Dow, a good man, who was minister of a parish in the south of Scotland,
but who for siding with the views of Mr. Campbell of Row was called to stand his
trial before the General Assembly. On the Sunday immediately before he went to
Edinburgh for his trial, being quite sure what fate awaited him, he thus addressed
his country congregation:—“You all know that to-morrow I leave this to go to
Edinburgh, and to stand my trial before the General Assembly. And the result I
know will be that I shall be turned out of my parish, and that this is the last time I
shall address you as your minister. This you all know. But there is one thing about
myself which you do not know, but which I will tell you. When I first came here to
be your minister I found difficulty in obtaining a house in the parish to live in.
There was but one house in the parish I could have that was suitable, and that
belonged to a poor widow. I went and offered a higher rent for her house than she
paid. She was dispossessed, and I got the house. I put that poor woman out of her
house then, and I hold it to be a righteous thing in God to put me out of my parish
now.”1 [ ote: Principal Shairp, in Letters of Thomas Erskine, ii. 362.]
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best shall come back to you.
Give love, and love to your heart will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.

164. For life is the mirror of king and slave,
’Tis just what you are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.2 [ ote: Madeline S. Bridges.]
4. The harvest is always an increase of the sowing. The crop is a multiplication of
the seed. From the seed of the flesh the ripened result is corruption, which is flesh in
its most revolting state. From the seed of the Spirit the full ear is life everlasting,
which is eternal holiness with its concomitant of endless happiness. We plant a
single grain, we pluck a full ear; we sow in handfuls, we reap in bosomfuls; we
scatter bushels, but we gather in rich granary stores. The remorse of earth is but the
germ of the despair of hell. The holiness of the present is only the bud from which
will blossom that vision of God which is the full-flowered beatitude of heaven.
This stern law of reaping as we sow has a gracious and gospel aspect in respect to
the abundance of the harvest, whether natural or spiritual. Our Lord insists
especially upon this. He says that the seed which fell upon good ground bore fruit,
“some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” May we not suppose that
He had been counting the grains in a wheat ear, and saw in this the beneficence of
the law of growth, and a prophecy of nature as to the growth of His Kingdom? This
natural multiplication goes far beyond what we should have expected. It is increase
after the Divine measure, rather than the human. Our Lord sees another example of
this in the mustard plant, which grows from one of the tiniest of seeds, but within
the year mounts up into quite a branchy bush, the biggest of the garden herbs of
Palestine, and affords rest and shelter for the birds.
This teaching is confirmed by our experience of life. We are all tempted to despise
the small crosses, the small openings for kindness and self-sacrifice the day brings
us, and the petty duties and burdens which fill up our humdrum existence. When we
meet these faithfully and nobly, we have our reward on a grander scale than we
could have expected. Burdens grow to wings, crosses to crowns, faithful endurance
to triumph; and from each discharge of duty we acquire the power to meet the next
with efficiency. “We see dimly in the present what is small and what is great,” as
Lowell says. We are blinded by the illusions of life, and take the great for the small,
because it is not the big. Our small victories in the face of temptation are won over
obstacles and spiritual enemies of the highest rank, and are won to the shaping of
our characters, the strengthening of our wills, the purification of our vision, the
increase of our faith and joy. Professor William James suggests that to do each day
of life some one thing which we know we ought to do, but which we do not want to
do, would have the result of making us wiser and braver men, and more fit for great
things if these fell to our share.
Hast thou, dear brother, toiled through many years

165. And seen no fruits, though thou hast freely sown
Thy life in labour and with watchful tears
Watered the soil yet none the richer grown?
Remember that the reaping is God’s own,
And He can gather even of doubts and fears;
We only plough and plant our little field—
He is our harvest, and His Love the yield.
Be sure no kindly word or work may fail
To leave a blessing, if we know it not
And our poor efforts often err and ail,
While nothing that we do is without spot;
Christ stands Yoke-fellow, in the lowliest lot;
He is the light, and prayers at last prevail;
And, should thy service seem a wasted part,
It still shall blossom in some happier heart.
ot ours to finish tasks or seek the sight
Of precious increase and the praise of man,
But just to scatter seed in nature’s night
And leave with God the issue of His plan;
He will complete what He in Grace began,
And order even thine errors all aright.

166. Thou wert well paid, whatever clouds do come,
If thou hast helped one wandering sinner Home.1 [ ote: F. W. Orde Warde.]
II
The Folly of Self-Deception
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”
The word for “mocked” implies the most unseemly and insulting gesture. When is
God thus mocked? God is mocked when we pretend to be His, while we cut our
being in two and give the better half to Satan; when we draw nigh unto Him with
our lips while our hearts are far from Him; when we say, “I go, sir,” and go not;
when we try to combine the vile pleasure of sin with the perfect allegiance which
God requires; when we say “Lord, Lord,” and do evil continually.
1. The danger of deception is very real. For one thing the interval between the
sowing and the reaping is much longer than in the natural world, and the connexion
between them is not clearly seen. Think of a child that has been foolishly brought
up. o effort is made to train its will to obedience, to instil into its mind a reverence
for God, and a love for the high things of the soul. There is a certain pleasure in
giving the little one its own way. Thus the evil seeds have been sown. The child
becomes a man. Years lie between the sowing and the reaping. Only then may it be
that the harvest of pain and shame comes home which brings the grey head with
sorrow to the grave. The interval is so long that the connexion between the sorrow
and the foolish training is not recognized, and parents wonder why their children
are so stubborn, self-willed, and ungrateful. They do not see that they are the
victims of their own folly. Twenty years ago they sowed the seeds of which they now
reap the bitter harvest. They have deceived themselves, but God is not mocked.
apoleon had the faculty, when he chose, of creating a fool’s paradise for himself.
In the Russian campaign he had, for example, ordered his marshals to operate with
armies which had ceased to exist. When they remonstrated he simply replied, “Why
rob me of my calm?” When the Allies invaded France he professed to rely greatly on
the army of Marshal Macdonald. “Would you like,” said the Marshal to Beugnot,
“to review my army? It will not take you long. It consists of myself and my chief of
the staff. Our supplies are four straw chairs and a plank table.” Again, during the
campaign of 1814 the Emperor was detailing his plans to Marmont. Marmont was
to do this and that with his corps of ten thousand men. At each repetition of this
figure Marmont interrupted to say that he had only three. Yet apoleon persisted to
the end: “Marmont with his ten thousand men.” But the strangest instance of this is
detailed by Meneval, who tells us that when the Emperor added up numbers of his
soldiers he always added them up wrong, and always swelled the total. So at St.
Helena he really, we think, brought himself to believe that he would be released
when Lord Holland became Prime Minister, or when Princess Charlotte ascended

167. the throne.1 [ ote: Lord Rosebery, apoleon: The Last Phase, 113.]
2. Long before we gather into our arms the final harvest, we are receiving according
to what we have done, whether it be good or evil. In the end we shall still be as we
have been, only in more perfect measure. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still;
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be
righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Let us not imagine that the
principles of moral order will be different in the end from what they were at the
beginning—God is always judging us as He will judge us at the last. The end is not
yet. The harvest still tarries. The cornstalk is not matured, nor the full grain shown
in the ear. But we are making our future every hour, and with many of us the crop
is fast ripening into the eternal day.
Every evil thought or deed has sentence against it speedily executed in the character.
One cannot do a mean thing or think a base thought without becoming like the thing
he thinks or does. The worm takes on the colour of the leaf upon which it feeds.
Every vile thought leaves its trail of slime behind, leaves the mind filthier for even
its momentary presence. Every bad act of a man’s life makes it easier for him
evermore to do the bad. A miser not only scrapes his fingers to the bone in raking
together his money, he hardens his heart to the core. “What is put into the strong
box,” it is truly said, “is taken out of the man.” He who cheats, is cheating himself
worse than all others. The thief steals from himself; the liar turns himself into a
living lie; the profligate is his own victim. The man who attempts to injure his
neighbour, only succeeds in injuring himself. The wrong that he does his own soul is
ten times more severe and lasting than any evil he can inflict on others. “ o man,”
says Burke, “ever had a point of pride that was not injurious to him”; and St.
Bernard wrote: “ othing can work me damage except myself; the harm that I
sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault.”
In this God’s-world, with its wild-whirling eddies, and mad foam-oceans, where
men and nations perish as if without law, and judgment for an unjustly thing is
sternly delayed, dost thou think that there is therefore no justice? It is what the fool
hath said in his heart. It is what the wise, in all times, were wise because they denied,
and knew forever not to be. I tell thee again, there is nothing else but justice. One
strong thing I find here below: the just thing, the true thing. For it is the right and
noble alone that will have victory in this struggle; the rest is wholly an obstruction, a
postponement and fearful imperilment of the victory. Towards an eternal centre of
right and nobleness, and of that only, is all this confusion tending. We already know
whither it is all tending; what will have victory, what will have none!1 [ ote:
Carlyle, Past and Present, bk. i. ch. ii.]
Before commencing his campaign, he called on two ancient intimates, Lord Heddon
and his distant cousin Darley Absworthy, both Members of Parliament, useful men,
though gouty, who had sown in their time a fine crop of wild oats, and advocated the
advantage of doing so seeing that they did not fancy themselves the worse for it. He
found one with an imbecile son, and the other with consumptive daughters. “So
much,” he wrote in his otebook, “for the Wild Oats theory!”2 [ ote: George

168. Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel.]
3. The text has been commonly interpreted as solely a warning to the profligate. Yet
the context shows that the words were intended rather as a solemn encouragement
to the faithful. The Apostle is writing not to terrify evildoers, but to cheer those good
men who else might grow weary of sowing the good seed. And he invokes this
profound and awful truth as an exceeding great and precious promise for all the
dejected and disconsolate people of God. Christians in some respects are peculiarly
apt to be deceived. The illusions of life can dazzle and perplex the wisest children of
this world. But those who strive to walk by faith are doubly vexed by the falsehood
of appearances. From the nature of the case, their goal and their recompense must
lie out of sight. The fair fruit of their labour hardly ripens in our earthly climate,
and even the bravest workers will faint and grow weary because after long
husbandry they can discern hardly a trace of the blade and the ear.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” We may lose heart and hope, but His will
never wavers. We seem vanquished, but His dominion ruleth over all. Though we be
faithless He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Whoever else is cheated and
betrayed, there is no such thing as failure in the counsels of God. Our schemes and
our works miscarry, but “the fabric of God’s holy Kingdom is slowly rising, while
He patiently, but certainly, fulfils His purposes.” The universe shall not disappoint
its Creator and Redeemer at last.
While Zinzendorf was still a lad at school, he united his companions in a guild,
which he called “The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed,” and of which the badge
was a ring with this motto, “ o man liveth unto himself.” It was very little of course
that these boys could do to help others. But they planted a seed, and the seedling
grew into the great Moravian Missionary Brotherhood, with branches extending
throughout the world. And so with all other great efforts. They must have a
beginning; they must have a seed. And if only the seed is there, sown in good
ground, it will, like the seed of our Lord’s parable, bring forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty-fold, for our reaping in the after-days.1
[ ote: G. Milligan, Lamps and Pitchers, 151.]
What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall reap where it has sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.
The waters know their own, and draw
The brook that springs in yonder height,

169. So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delight.
The stars come nightly to the sky:
The tidal wave unto the sea;
or time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.2 [ ote: John Burroughs.]
SIMEO , "THE GROU D OF GOD’S FI AL DECISIO
Gal_6:7-8. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
SI and misery are often found to be nearly connected in this life; yet rewards and
punishments are not always distributed according to man’s actions. The necessity
therefore of a future state of retribution is obvious and undeniable. This was
discoverable in a measure by the light of reason; but revelation establishes the
certainty of such a state. The inspired writers often urge the consideration of it as a
motive to virtue. St. Paul is stating to the Galatians the duty of providing liberally
for their pastors. He is aware that some might offer pleas and excuses for their
neglect of this duty. He knew that some might even pretend a prior and more sacred
obligation [ ote: Mar_7:11.]. He therefore cautions them against self-deception, and
reminds them that God will hereafter pass sentence on us according to the real
quality of our actions.
I. It is in vain to hope for salvation while we live in a neglect of religious duties—
It is common for men to offer pleas and excuses for their disregard of religion:
1. That a life of religion is needless—
[They see the world in a state of wickedness. They cannot believe that so many can
be in danger of perishing. They forget that the course of this world is just such as
Satan would have it [ ote: Eph_2:2.]. They recollect not our Lord’s declaration
respecting the broad and narrow way [ ote: Mat_7:13-14.]. They consider not that
the care of the soul is the “one thing needful.”]

170. 2. That a life of religion is impracticable—
[They hear what holiness of heart and life God requires of us. They feel how unable
they are of themselves to fulfil their duty. They therefore conclude, that it is
impossible to serve God aright. At least they think that a religious life cannot consist
with social duties. But they forget that the grace of Christ is all-sufficient [ ote:
Php_4:13.]: nor are they aware that that grace will stimulate us to every duty,
whether civil or religious, social or personal.]
Besides these, they substitute other things in the place of religion:
1. Their good intentions—
[They purpose to amend their lives at some future period. They expect to find some
“more convenient season” for repentance. They hope that their good designs,
though never executed, will be accepted.]
2. Their moral lives—
[They are guilty of no very enormous crimes. They perform many commendable
actions. They hope that such a life, though they know nothing of contrition, of faith
in Christ, of delight in God, &c. will procure them admission to heaven.]
3. Their profession of certain truths—
[Many receive the doctrines of Christianity as a system of truth. They trust to the
mere profession of these doctrines without experiencing their transforming efficacy.
Thus they substitute “the form of godliness for the power of it.”]
But no pleas or pretences can deceive God—
[To attempt to deceive God is, in fact, to “mock” him. It is to insult him, as though
he were too ignorant to discern, too indifferent to regard, or too weak to punish,
hypocrisy. But God cannot be deceived; nor will he be mocked.]
Let none then deceive themselves with vain expectations.
II. Our final state will be exactly answerable to our present conduct—
Under the metaphor of a sower the text affords a striking discrimination of
character:
Some “sow to the flesh”—
[To sow to the flesh, is to seek in the first place our carnal ease and interests. This
we may do notwithstanding we are free from gross sins. Every one comes under this
description who “sets his affections on things below.”]

171. They whose life is so occupied will “reap corruption”—
[The present enjoyments they will have are both corruptible and defiling. The
future recompence will be everlasting destruction [ ote: This is evidently the import
of corruption in this place; because it is opposed to everlasting life. It implies that
state of soul which most corresponds with the corruption of the body.]. This is
elsewhere affirmed in the plainest terms [ ote: Rom_8:13.].]
Others “sow to the Spirit”—
[The Holy Spirit invariably inclines men to the love of God, and of holiness. The
new nature of the regenerate affects also spiritual objects and employments. To sow
to the Spirit therefore is to seek and delight in spiritual things.]
They who do this will reap everlasting life—
[A life of devotedness to God can never issue in misery. God has promised that it
shall terminate in glory [ ote: Rom_6:22; Rom_8:13.].]
Thus, not our pleas and pretences, but our life and conduct, will determine our
eternal state—
[Our harvest will accord with the seed we sow. These different ends are inseparable
from the different means [ ote: Rom_2:6-10.]. The punishment, however, will be as
wages earned; the reward as a gift bestowed [ ote: Rom_6:23.].]
Infer—
1. What extreme folly is it to live regardless of God and our own souls!
[ o husbandman expects to reap wheat, when he has sown only tares. How absurd
then to hope for heaven while we seek not after it! Let us be convinced of our folly,
and learn wisdom even from the children of this world.]
2. How absurd would it be to be diverted from our duty by any difficulties we
may meet with in the discharge of it!
[The husbandman does not regard inclemencies of weather, much less would he be
deterred from his work by the advice or ridicule of the ignorant and supine. Shall
we then be discouraged, whose seed-time is so precarious, and whose harvest is so
important? Let all go forward, “sowing in tears that they may reap in joy.”]
U K OW A FOOL'S PARADISE

172. " Once again, I express a sincere appreciation to each listener
in the audience this morning for having tuned in. It is good to
have you enter into a study of God's Word with me. I continue to
point out that our only desire on this radio program is to assist
each listener to a better understanding of God's Eternal Truths.
I feel that most individuals feel quite secure regarding their
spiritual condition. They think they are bound for heaven in that
world to come. They have convinced themselves they are doing the
very best they can do. Surely, the ancient proverb is right which
says, "Every way of man is right in his own eyes" (Proverbs 21:2).
And yet, it is my sincere conviction that many are dwelling in "A
FOOL'S PARADISE." What do I mean by, "Fool's Paradise"? Webster
defines, "Fool's Paradise," as, "any state of foolish pleasure or
imaginary security." Is it possible for one who claims to be a
Christian to find himself or herself in such a state?
I now read from Galatians 6:7, 8, "Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For
he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit
reap eternal life." In the first part of this chapter, Paul points
out the responsibility of the faithful member toward the weaker
brother. He then gives the obligation of each one toward himself or
herself. Then, in verse 6, the obligation of the weaker brother or
sister toward the "teacher." Then, in verses 7 and 8, he warns of
the danger of falling into and dwelling in a "FOOL'S PARADISE."
Let us notice what is involved in this. First, Paul gives us a
WAR I G TO HEED. He says, "Do not be deceived" (vs 7). Obviously,
there is a danger of being deceived for the apostle to have so
warned. To deceive is to leave a false impression. In W. E. Vines,
Greek Expository Dictionary, he defines "deceived" as, "primarily
signifies to ensnare; hence to corrupt, especially by mingling
truths of the Word of God with false doctrines or motives."
Deception can come from two sources: (1) It might come from other
men or women, (2) It might come from self. One might be deceived
because someone else brings us a false doctrine, or one might be
deceived by one's own false studies.
There are many scriptures which warn against being deceived by
OTHER ME . I notice a few of them. Paul says, "Let no man beguile
you" (Colossians 2:18). 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, reads, "Or know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God." Can one be deceived? The inspired
apostles seems to think so!! In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, we read, "let
no man beguile you in any wise." John states, "My little children,
let no man lead you astray" (1 John 3:7). Ephesians 5:6, "Let no

173. man deceive you with empty words." These warnings, as well as many
others found in God's Book, surely must impress upon us the danger
of being deceived by others, of being led astray by the teachings
of others. This may be done even by men with good intentions. A
person does not have to be a liar, a rascal, or mean spirited, to
lead others in false doctrines. Paul warned that there would be
those who would fashion themselves as apostles of Christ, yet, they
are false teachers. That is found in 2 Corinthians 11:13. Jesus,
Himself, warned, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15).
How careful each must be to accept only what is found in the Book
of God. Study for yourself. Be sure that you let no one lead you
astray, no matter how good their intentions may be, nor how honest
they may seem to be.
As real as the danger of being led astray by others, there is
another source of deception which is far more potent: and that is
SELF-DECEPTIO . Shakespeare of old said, "To thine own self be
true, and it must follow as the night the day; thou canst not then
be false to any man." Someone has said: "Self preservation is the
first law of nature." Self-justification appears to be the first
law in spiritual matters as far as men are concerned. In Luke 10,
we find one coming to Christ. Jesus answered his question, but, he
sought to "justify himself" (Luke 10:29). Man has always sought to
justify himself; approve of what he or she thinks is right. The
Scriptures constantly warn against this danger. Obediah 3, says,
"The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee." Paul warns, "For if
a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself" (Galatians 6:3). James says, "But be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves" (James
1:22). "Let no man deceive himself" (1 Corinthians 3:18). Jesus
warned also, " ot every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
These verses, as well as many more, warn each one against the
false security of approving that which we do. Surely, we must think
we are right in what we are doing, but, let us be sure that what we
are doing is founded upon the truth of God's Word. To be honest is
not enough, unless we are honestly right. To be sincere is not
enough, unless we are sincerely correct. To be conscientious is not
enough, unless we are conscientiously right. And the only way to be
right or correct is to find authority for what we practice in God's
Word.
Joined with Paul's warning about not being deceived is a
second admonition: "GOD IS OT MOCKED" (Galatians 6:7). The word
"mocked" is defined as, "To turn the nose up at, to sneer at, to
deride." Thus, to mock God would be to turn one's nose up at God.
To sneer at God. This is done when men sin with impunity. Many are

174. living their lives out of harmony with the will of God, yet, they
expect to be saved eternally. If they could do this, they would
have turned their noses up at God.
But, God is not mocked!! Man simply cannot live out of harmony
with the Father and be saved in eternity. There should be no doubt
in the mind of anyone that Jehovah knows all. Proverbs 5:21 says,
"For the ways of men are before the eyes of Jehovah." umbers 32:23
states, "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against
Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out." The Psalmist
said, "Will not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of
the heart" (Psalms 44:21). Jehovah simply will not be deceived. The
Psalmist speaks again, "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee.
Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance" (Psalms 90:8).
Many have tried: Adam, Cain, Achan, Saul, David -- yet, all
failed. o one can successful escape the consequences of their
sins. God just will not be mocked. You nor I can commit sin and
expect the Lord to overlook it. Even though we may be honest and
sincere. Sin will not enter into the presence of Jehovah. David
says, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne:
Lovingkindness and truth go before thy face" (Psalms 89:14).
Remember, God is not mocked.
In the verses we have been discussing, Galatians 6:7, 8, there
is a FACT TO FACE. Paul says, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap." The unrepentant child of God is in danger of
self-deception; God is not mocked, so Paul calls upon each one to
face the fact that what we sow shall also be reaped. In the world
of physics we would say, "The law of cause and effect." Every
effect is produced by an adequate cause. Like causes produce like
effects. In the vegetable realm we call it "SOWI G A D REAPI G." If
you plant corn, you shall reap corn. That is, if you reap anything.
If you plant or sow rice, you shall reap rice. Everyone understands
this principle. If you plant a watermelon seed, you will not gather
pumpkins. You have no trouble understanding that, do you. Yet, man
thinks he can sow to the flesh and reap the spirit. Paul denies
this: "For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the
Spirit reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:8).
This principle applies to every area of life. Parents shall
reap what they are sowing in the lives of their children. If a
father is not faithful to the Lord, then do not be surprised if
your son is not faithful to the Lord. If a mother is unfaithful, do
not be surprised if your daughter is likewise unfaithful. If
parents are slack in leading their children in morals and conduct,
do not be surprised when your children make mistakes in morals and
in conduct and get into trouble. How many times have I been called
by parents to talk with their children because of some trouble they
have fallen into. All the while the parents have not taken the time

175. nor made the effort to be faithful themselves. There is so much
indifference among those who claim to be Christians. They are
sowing the seed of indifference, unconcern; never considering that
they will reap what they are sowing. This does not mean that being
faithful to the Lord will guarantee each child will be faithful to
the Lord. You see, the child must also make the proper decisions
with reference to the Lord. The child of very faithful parents may
chose the wrong path and walk in sin, but this would be the
exception rather than the rule. Remember, we shall reap what we are
sowing. If you, my friend, are living to satisfy every whim of the
flesh, rest assured, you shall reap what you are sowing. If you
wish to reap eternal life in the presence of the Lord, you must be
sowing to the spirit.
Can one dwell in a Fool's Paradise? Most assuredly so!! The
greater portion of the world is so living. There are multitudes
who have no religious thoughts. They are doing whatever comes into
their minds, living in sin and iniquity. They are sowing to the
flesh. If they continue on that same path, they will reap exactly
as they are sowing. There are others who are religious, that is,
they are doing acts of a religious nature. Yet, they are doing
things which have no Bible authority. It is exceedingly important
that we do something toward God, but it must be that which the Lord
has commanded. Yes, one who claims to be a Christian may be living
in a Fool's Paradise.
There is another alternative. You can dwell with God. This is
done by walking in the light. Listen to the apostle John, "but if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all
sin" (1 John 1:7). Revelation 3:20, states, "Behold, I stand at the
door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Only
through obedience to our Lord and Master will suffice. One cannot
walk in his own ways, but we must walk in the ways of the Lord. We
must be obedient unto every command.
8
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from
that nature [20] will reap destruction; the one who

176. sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life.
BAR ES, "For he that soweth to his flesh - That makes provision for the
indulgence of fleshly appetites and passions; see the notes at Gal_5:19-21. He who
makes use of his property to give indulgence to licentiousness, intemperance, and vanity.
Shall of the flesh - From the flesh, or as that which indulgence in fleshly appetites
properly produces. Punishment, under the divine government, is commonly in the line
of offences. The punishment of licentiousness and intemperance in this life is commonly
loathsome and offensive disease; and when long indulged, the sensualist becomes
haggard, and bloated, and corrupted, and sinks into the grave. Such, also, is often the
punishment of luxurious living, of a pampered appetite, of gluttony, as well as of
intemperate drinking. But if the punishment does not follow in this life, it will be sure to
overtake the sensualist in the world to come. There he shall reap ruin, final and
everlasting.
Corruption -
(1) By disease.
(2) In the grave - the home to which the sensualist rapidly travels.
(3) In the world of woe.
There all shall be corrupt. His virtue - even the semblance of virtue, shall all be gone.
His understanding, will, fancy - his whole soul shall be debased and corrupt. No virtue
will linger and live on the plains of ruin, but all shall be depravity and woe. Everything in
hell is debased and corrupt; and the whole harvest of sensuality in this world and the
world to come, is degradation and defilement.
But he that soweth to the Spirit - He who follows the leadings and cultivates the
affections which the Holy Spirit would produce; see the notes at Gal_5:22-23.
Shall of the Spirit - As the result of following the leadings of the Spirit.
Reap life everlasting - See the note at Rom_2:7.
CLARKE, "He that soweth to his flesh - In like manner, he that sows to the flesh
- who indulges his sensual and animal appetites, shall have corruption as the crop: you
cannot expect to lead a bad life and go to heaven at last. According as your present life is,
so will be your eternal life whether your sowing be to the flesh or to the Spirit, so will
your eternal reaping be. To sow, here, means transacting the concerns of a man’s natural
life. To reap, signifies his enjoyment or punishment in another world. Probably by flesh
and Spirit the apostle means Judaism and Christianity. Circumcision of the flesh was the
principal rite of the former; circumcision in the heart, by the Spirit, the chief rite of the
latter; hence the one may have been called flesh, the other, Spirit. He who rejects the
Gospel, and trusts only in the rites and ceremonies of the law for salvation, will reap
endless disappointment and misery. He who trusts in Christ, and receives the gifts and
graces of the Holy Spirit, shall reap life everlasting.

177. GILL, "For he that soweth to his flesh,.... Not that taking due care of a man's body,
seeking the preservation of its health, providing proper food and raiment for himself,
and all necessaries for the good and support of his family, is to be called sowing to his
flesh, nor is he to be called a carnal sower; but he is such an one that pampers his flesh,
gratifies and indulges the lusts of it, who minds the things of the flesh, lives after it, and
does the works of it, who spends his substance in a luxurious way upon himself and
family; or whose whole bent, and study, and employment, is to increase his worldly
riches, to aggrandize himself and posterity, to the neglect of his own soul, the interest of
religion, the poor of the church, and ministers of the Gospel:
shall of the flesh reap corruption; shall by such carnal methods procure for
himself, in this world, nothing but what is corruptible, as silver and gold be, and such
treasure as moth and rust corrupt; such substance as will not endure, but is perishing,
and may be by one providence or another taken from him; so that all his care in sowing
comes to nothing, and is of no advantage to himself, nor to his posterity; see Hag_1:4,
and shall fall into the pit of corruption, and be punished with everlasting destruction,
and die the second death in the world to come.
But he that soweth to the Spirit; not his own, but the Spirit of God; or that soweth
spiritual things, that minds and savours the things of the Spirit, lives in the Spirit, and
walks in the Spirit; that lays out his worldly substance in promoting spiritual things, in
encouraging the spiritual ministers of the word, in supporting the interest of spiritual
religion, in relieving the poor of Christ's churches, in contributing to the spread of the
Gospel, and the administration of the word and ordinances in other places, as well as
where he is more immediately concerned:
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting; in the use of such spiritual means, though
not as meritorious, or as causes, he shall attain to, and enjoy eternal happiness in the
other world; or of, and by the Spirit of God, by whose grace and strength he sows, and
does all the good things he does, by and of him sanctifying him, and making him meet
for it, and not of himself, or any works of righteousness done by him, shall he inherit
eternal life; which is the pure gift of God through Jesus Christ, and bestowed as a reward
of his own grace.
HE RY, "And he further informs us (Gal_6:8) that, as there are two sorts of
seedness, sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit, so accordingly will the reckoning
be hereafter: If we sow to the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption. If we sow the
wind, we shall reap the whirlwind. Those who live a carnal sensual life, who instead of
employing themselves to the honour of God and the good of others, spend all their
thoughts, and care, and time, about the flesh, must expect no other fruit of such a course
than corruption - a mean and short-lived satisfaction at present, and ruin and misery at
the end of it. But, on the other hand, those who sow to the Spirit, who under the
guidance and influence of the Spirit do live a holy and spiritual life, a life of devotedness
to God and of usefulness and serviceableness to others, may depend upon it that of the
Spirit they shall reap life everlasting - they shall have the truest comfort in their present
course, and an eternal life and happiness at the end of it. Note, Those who go about to
mock God do but deceive themselves. Hypocrisy in religion is the greatest folly as well as
wickedness, since the God we have to do with can easily see through all our disguises,

178. and will certainly deal with us hereafter, not according to our professions, but our
practices.
JAMISO , "Translate, “He that soweth unto his own flesh,” with a view to fulfilling
its desires. He does not say, “His spirit,” as he does say, “His flesh.” For in ourselves we
are not spiritual, but carnal. The flesh is devoted to selfishness.
corruption — that is, destruction (Phi_3:19). Compare as to the deliverance of
believers from “corruption” (Rom_8:21). The use of the term “corruption” instead,
implies that destruction is not an arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its
natural fruit; the corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is another word for
destruction: corruption is the fault, and corruption the punishment (see on 1Co_3:17;
2Pe_2:12). Future life only expands the seed sown here. Men cannot mock God because
they can deceive themselves. They who sow tares cannot reap wheat. They alone reap life
eternal who sow to the Spirit (Psa_126:6; Pro_11:18; Pro_22:8; Hos_8:7; Hos_10:12;
Luk_16:25; Rom_8:11; Jam_5:7).
RWP, "Corruption (phthoran). For this old word from phtheirō, see note on 1Co_
15:42. The precise meaning turns on the context, here plainly the physical and moral
decay or rottenness that follows sins of the flesh as all men know. Nature writes in one’s
body the penalty of sin as every doctor knows.
Eternal life (zōēn aiōnion). See note on Mat_25:46 for this interesting phrase so
common in the Johannine writings. Plato used aiōnios for perpetual. See also 2Th_1:9. It
comes as nearly meaning “eternal” as the Greek can express that idea.
CALVI , "8.For he that soweth to his flesh. Having stated the general sentiment, he
now divides it into parts. To sow to the flesh, is to look forward to the wants of the
present life, without any regard to a future life. They who do this will gather fruit
corresponding to the seed which they have sown, — will heap up that which shall
miserably perish. To sow in the flesh, (seminare in carne ,) is supposed by some to
mean indulgence in the lusts of the flesh, and corruption to mean destruction; but
the former exposition agrees better with the context. In departing from the old
translation and from Erasmus, I have not acted rashly. The Greek words , ὁ
σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ literally signify, he that soweth into his flesh. And
what else does this mean, but to be so entirely devoted to the flesh, as to direct all
our thoughts to its interests or convenience?
But he that soweth to the spirit. By the spirit I understand the spiritual life, to which
they are said to sow whose views are directed more to heaven than to earth, and
whose life is regulated by the desire of reaching the kingdom of God. From their
spiritual employments they will reap in heaven incorruptible fruit. Those
employments are denominated spiritual on account of their end, though in some
respects they are external and relate to the body, as in the very case now under
consideration of supporting pastors. If the Papists shall endeavor, in their usual
manner, to build upon these words the righteousness of works, we have already
shewn how easily their absurdities may be exposed. Though eternal life is a reward,

179. it does not follow either that we are justified by works, or that works are
meritorious of salvation. The undeserved kindness of God appears in the very act of
honoring the works which his grace has enabled us to perform, by promising to
them a reward to which they are not entitled.
Is a more complete solution of the question demanded?
1.We have no good works which God rewards but those which we derive from his
grace.
2.The good works which we perform by the guidance and direction of the Holy
Spirit, are the fruits of that adoption which is an act of free grace.
3.They are not only unworthy of the smallest and most inconsiderable reward, but
deserve to be wholly condemned, because they are always stained by many
blemishes; and what have pollutions to do with the presence of God?
4.Though a reward had been a thousand times promised to works, yet it is not due
but by fulfilling the condition of obeying the law perfectly; and how widely distant
are we all from that perfection!
Let Papists now go and attempt to force their way into heaven by the merit of
works. We cheerfully concur with Paul and with the whole Bible in acknowledging,
that we are unable to do anything but by the free grace of God, and yet that the
benefits resulting from our works receive the name of a reward.