First Baptist Lenoir City

• Paul delights in life after death; II Corinthians 5:8-9

• Psalm 116:15 - “precious”

• Simeon in Luke 2, “I can depart in peace”

• Jesus in John 14:1-3

I. The Finish Line of Faith:

1. Paul speaks of his death - v. 6

2. Paul speaks of his life - v. 7

• Paul fought (soldier, boxer)

• Paul finished (athlete)

• Paul kept (words of a vow)

3. Paul speaks of his afterlife - v . 8a

4. Paul speaks of our afterlife - v. 8b

• There is laid up for me -

• There is laid up for you -

• There is a qualifier - “to all who loved His appearing”

II. The Crowns Promised by God:

• Some crowns are given on earth: God has been good to His children!

• Psalm 8:5 (quoted in Hebrews 2:9) - Humanity has been crowned with incredible sanctity (of life)

• The others have qualifiers like the future crowns.

• Psalm 103:4 (our salvation) - crowned with steadfast love and mercy

• Proverbs 12:4 - An excellent wife is the crown of her husband

• Proverbs 14:18, The prudent are crowned with knowledge

• Proverbs 16:31 - Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.

• Proverbs 17:6 - Grandparents are crowned, Children’s children are a crown to the aged.

I. The 2 Biblical Requirements of True Spirituality: The placement in Galatians is critical - Chapter 6 is the culmination of all that Paul has said. He said a lot!

1. Being Saved because God’s grace - Galatians 1:6-10

2. Being a Servant because of God’s Love - Galatians 2:20

3. Being Impacted by God’s Spirit - Galatians 3:1-3

4. Being Led by/Walk by God’s Holy Spirit - 5:13-26

5. Being Burden Bearers - 6:1-10

II. The “One Another’s of Galatians 5: Setting up ch. 6

1. Galatians 5:13 - Through love serve one another

2. Galatians 5:15a - Don’t bite and devour one another

3. Galatians 5:15b - Or you will be consumed by one another

4. Galatians 5:26 - Don’t become conceited (which leads to) provoking one another, envying one another

5. Galatians 6:1 - Romans 15:1; I Thessalonians 5:14-15; Hebrews 12:12-13; “Watch” - Greek word meaning continual, diligent attentiveness

6. Galatians 6:2 - See 5:14; Matthew 22:34-40!

7. Galatians 6:3-4 -“test” is to approve of something after testing. Is our spiritual life strong enough to assist others?

8. Galatians 6:5 - We can carry someone’s burden; We cannot carry their consequences (we are impacted by the consequences of others, but we cannot take their place)

9. Galatians 6:6 -

10. Galatians 6:7-8

11. Galatians 6:9-10

I. Motivation for Ministry/Ministers 

1. The CHARGE - 4:1

2. His Presence 

3. His Judgment 

4. His Appearing 

5. His Kingdom 

II. The COMMITMENT - 4:2

1. Preach the Word

2. Be Ready 

3. Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort

There are Delights in Good Fellowship & Dangers in Bad Fellowship!

I. The New Testament Model - The “one-anothers”

1. We are competent to counsel - Romans 15:14

• Not written to church leaders

2. We have different levels of competency - Exodus 18:13-27

• The Proverbs (father/mother)

3. *Communicating w/ one another (Words hurt/Words heal - Proverbs 12:18; 15:4; 18:21

• Proverbs 6:16-19; 15:1-2

• Matthew 5:37; 12:33-37

• Ephesians 4:15, 25-33

• Colossians 4:5-6

• James 1:19-20

• James 3:1-12

4. Bearing one another’s burdens - Galatians 6:1-5

• The Context - Gal. 5:13, 15, 26

= Seeing others humbly - vv. 1-2

= Seeing ourselves honestly - vv. 3-5

= Seeing our leaders gratefully - vv. 6-10

= Seeing the cross clearly - vv. 11-18

THE MAN OF GOD CAN ONLY LEAD THE PEOPLE OF GOD WHEN HE RELIES ON THE WORD OF GOD

Paul started strong in chapter 1 in this, his last ever epistle. Paul stays strong in chapters 2 & 3. Paul finishes strong in chapter 4.

I ended the last sermon looking at the general statements from II Timothy 3:16-17. Let’s review those and then get more specific on what the Bible teaches us.

I. The Source of Scripture -

All Scripture is …

God breathed

II. The Strength of Scripture -

Is profitable - useful, beneficial,

It will teach us -

Theology - The Creator God; The Holy God; The Glory of God; The Love of God; The Grace of God; The Mercy of God; The Wrath of God - just to name a few!

Anthropology - The Priority of man (image of God); The Innocence of man; The Sin of man; The Pride of man; The Transformation of man is possible bc of …

Soteriology - Salvation, Conversion, Justification, Sanctification, Glorification (II Tim 4:6-8)

Eschatology (more significant than some think) - Matthew 24; Acts 1:6-11

It will reprove us

It will correct us

It will train us

It will complete us

It will equip us

III. The Specifics of Scripture -

Our Mission - Matthew 28:19-20

The Great Commission is the Grand Finale of the story of Jesus. His story didn’t end in the manger. His story didn’t end at the cross. His story didn’t end in the tomb. His story didn’t end even after the resurrection. His final statement/commitment was a global mission. All 4 Gospels

We must focus on His mission

We must focus on two issues

Our Mandate - Acts 1:3-11

We must focus on the King

We must focus on His Kingdom

We enhance His Kingdom through discipleship

We enlarge His Kingdom through evangelism

Our Message - I Corinthians 15:1-4 (DBR)

We must focus on the death of Jesus Christ

We must focus on the burial of Jesus Christ

We must focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ

I. The New Testament Model - The “one-anothers”

1. We are competent to counsel - Romans 15:14

2. Not written to church leaders

1. We have different levels of competency - Exodus 18:13-27

2. The Proverbs (father / mother)

1. Counseling in Communication

2. Proverbs 6:16-19

3. Proverbs 15:1-2

4. Matthew 5:37

5. Matthew 12:33-37

6. Ephesians 4:15, 25-33

7. Colossians 4:5-6

8. James 1:19-20

9. James 3:1-12

I. Good Fellowship Creates Good Communion -

Acts 2:42-47

1. all were together

2. had all things in common

3. as any had need

4. received their good w/ glad and generous hearts

5. praising God

6. having favor w/ all the people

Acts 4:32-37

1. full number

2. one heart and one soul

3. everything in common

4. great power & great grace

5. not a needy person

6. as any had need

II. Bad Fellowship Negates Good Communion -

1. The First Compromise in the Early Church - Acts 5:1-12

2. great fear upon all who heard

3. great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard

1. The First Church Known for Division - Corinth

2. Division addressed in chap 1

3. Division addressed in chap 3

4. Damage addressed in chap 5 & 6

5. Damage addressed in chap 11

a. Paul cannot commend

b. Paul criticizes their fellowship

c. Paul confronts their ongoing divisiveness

d. Paul affirms God’s sovereignty in the midst of compromise - v. 19

e. Paul calls out their damage to the Lord’s Supper - vv. 20-22

f. Paul corrects the Corinthians but also warns them - vv. 23-34