May God be pleased to bless our
souls this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Paul's epistle to the Galatians, chapter 5, and we'll read verse
1. The epistle of Paul to the Galatians
in chapter 5, and reading verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. The word liberty is a very pleasing
word. We know it's a pleasing word
naturally. when perhaps prisoners are freed
from prison and granted liberty, how wonderful that must be for
such characters. But it is much more blessed,
really, for those who are spiritually blessed with spiritual liberty,
who are delivered from the yoke of bondage. The Apostle Paul
knew the truth of such a statement because he had been for many
years under that yoke of bondage. He was satisfied with the Jewish
religion, which was a religion of works, a religion of ceremonies,
a religion which was satisfying to the flesh so far but could
never actually do that which was in accordance with the Word
of God, there was always failure. It could never satisfy the demands
of the holy law of God. And we evidenced that in the
apostles' life before that glorious day on the Damascus road when
God came and shone light from heaven into his dark heart. and
there was that wonderful revelation of the Lord to himself. And therefore,
as he writes here to the Galatians, recognizing their situation,
and he comes and describes really the liberty which is only to
be found in one place, and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's only to be found in
Him, because He has satisfied all the demands of God's righteous
law on our behalf. And so what a blessed truth it
is to realise that we do have a great and glorious Saviour,
who has, as He tells us here, made us free. And yet you see
there is that warning that the Apostle gives, and it's important
that we heed such warnings in the 13th verse of this chapter. He says, For brethren, ye have
been called unto liberty, but only. Use not liberty for an
occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. So we can draw the conclusion
from that that if the Lord's brought us into liberty, We won't
go on satisfying the lusts of our flesh, but we will be concerned
to be those who evidence the fruits of the Spirit, which the
Apostle so ably sets before us later on in this chapter. And therefore, if the Lord has
blessed us with spiritual liberty, and that means the Lord has brought
us from darkness into the glorious light of the Gospel. It means
that the Holy Spirit has shown to us what we are by nature and
how we are lost and ruined because of our sin and then to deliver
us out from that and to direct us to what Christ has done and
to realise that there is our liberty. It's in what Christ
has done and it's through him, it's not in ourselves. And it's
a wonderful word, I think, that the Saviour speaks Himself in
the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John. And He speaks
these words and He tells us, If the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
hath made, if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall
be free. Indeed. What that means is, if
the Lord Jesus Christ has died to atone for our sins, the work
is done. The work is complete. And the
Saviour has not and does not and will not indeed revoke that
which he has done. Because to recognise that the
Lord Jesus Christ died, that sin atoning death, upon that
cross at Calvary and the enormous price that he paid to redeem
our souls. And so may we indeed bless God
for these truths as the Lord says earlier in this same eighth
chapter, he says, and ye shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free. They answered him, we be Abraham's
seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou,
ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the servant
of sin. We stand condemned. And the servant
abideth not in the house forever, But the Son abideth forever. And then he says, therefore,
if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. That means that by the grace
of God, by the love of God, by the mercy of God, we are not
under the condemnation of his law, because Christ has died. Christ rose again. And that's
why the apostle wrote those beautiful words in the 8th of the Romans.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Yes, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Well, they're glorious words,
aren't they? They're Gospel words. How encouraging
they are. And let us not forget that the
Apostle in coming to those words had previously shown us the condition
that he felt himself to be in as he was there under the law
and he recognised the sin that he possessed. He says, I find
in the law, now if I do that I would not, it is no more I
that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. I find in the law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. The Apostle,
by the grace of God, is expanding to us the true situation that
dwells in the believer's heart. And it's a testimony of the work
of God in our heart if we recognise the battle that continues. It's wonderful that the Spirit
of God ordained that the Apostle Paul, that man of God, should
write such a testimony of his own standing of his own condition,
of his own feeling. And so he goes on and he says,
I find in the law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. That's the new creature, the
new nature, the born again spirit delights after the holiness of
the law of God. And yet, you see, he tells us,
but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. And it makes him cry out, O wretched
man that I am. Well, so does the Church of God. We would always be found, I'm
sure, if we are the true children of God, living nearer to God,
living a more holy life, and blessed with continued communion
with our Lord and disdaining all the things of the flesh and
all the things of this vain world. And yet we find the sin that
dwells within. And therefore we should be thankful
that the Holy Spirit, ordained at the Apostle, should write
such things down to describe the position that we may find
ourselves in, and come like that and say, oh wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now he
was not content to remain in such a condition like that, to
find himself just there. And he says, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? It was a question. It was an
important question. But he answers it and says, I
thank God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Can we tonight thank
God? Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And he says, so then, with a
mind I myself serve the law of God, but with a flesh, the law
of sin. He goes on, therefore, there
is therefore now. no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after
the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death freedom in Christ
what a glorious theme it is how thankful we should be for it
And what a mercy it is if you and I have the realisation that
the Lord has blessed our soul and quickened us into divine
life, and that we come within that category. The Apostle, when
he addressed the Ephesians, he said, A new hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sins, who in time past walked
after according to the course of this world, according to the
prince and the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desire of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. And then he comes and
he says, but God, it's a good, wonderful thing. If you and I have in our lives,
I, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love. Well, when
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, have quicken us
together with Christ. by grace ye are saved." Well,
what a wonderful and clear statement that is, isn't it? And how we
should rejoice in it and bless God for it and thank him tonight
for such words as we read, if the Son therefore hath made you
free, you shall be free indeed. And we find therefore this is
an outworking of the work of the Holy Spirit. What does the Apostle say? Stand
fast, therefore. Stand fast. First of all, if
we're standing up, we're not sleeping, are we? We're not sitting
down. We're not taking it easy. If
we're standing up, you know soldiers on sentry duty, they don't sit
down, do they? They stand up. And so the Apostle says here,
stand fast therefore. And we are to stand fast therefore
in this, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And remember it is all of Christ. The liberty is not something
that you and I have produced ourselves. It's the liberty that
we have in Christ Jesus because of that which he has done for
us. And the apostles had previously
gone through that statement, we read it didn't we, in that
fourth chapter of Galatians about the two covenants, the one from
Mount Sinai which generates the bondage, the covenant of works. You see you and I cannot keep
that covenant of works because we're sinners and all that we
do is marred by sin. Even our best things are marred
by sin. You just ponder, carefully. You
ponder even prayer, which you may think, well it must be pure
and it must be holy. You ponder it carefully and analyse
your prayers. Are the prayers always for God's
honour and glory? You see, we find that pride is
mixed with all we do. We find there is so much sin
within us, And to be able to look out of ourself and to not
therefore be found relying on this covenant of works from the
Mount Sinai, which indeed is bondage. Bondage means to be
bound, doesn't it? You can't free yourself if you're
bound. And if we're a prisoner and we're bound, we're in prison.
And we cannot free ourselves. But that freedom comes through
the liberty in Christ. If the Lord therefore shall make
us free, we shall be free indeed. The devil will not be able to
bind us again. He will try. And that's why we
have an exhortation like this, and be not entangled again with
a yoke of bondage. You see, the Jews in the Apostles'
Day were so concerned and had been so reliant upon that covenant
of works. And they were so concerned that
they might be able to carry everything out so very carefully and very
accurately. But of course there was failure
in all that they did. They didn't want to give it up
and they wanted to return to it. You probably know there was
this discussion about circumcision and it's recorded in Acts of
the Apostles in the 15th chapter where they came together and
Paul rose up and had to speak to them about it and to inform
them that there was this liberty in Christ and there was no necessity
to carry on with those things of the law. That doesn't mean
to say that we dispense with the law with regard to the Ten
Commandments. We don't dispense with that at
all. That's why the Apostle gives us these words here, only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. The Lord's given us
that gracious law to direct us into that which is right. We
know of course in reality that our conscience also dictates
to us those things which are right and those things which
are wrong. We should never therefore think that we can walk contrary
to the law of God. We should never think, therefore,
well, God's given me liberty. You see, God's given us liberty
to keep the law of God, his holy law, to desire to keep it, to
desire to walk uprightly in this evil world, and yet to come in
this liberty and to glorify our great and glorious Saviour for
that which he has done in order to redeem our souls. That's a
real blessing of liberty. to bring honour and glory to
our God." You know the Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Philippians,
it's a wonderful little epistle that he wrote. And he tells us,
this is words of good exhortation, you know, for those who are born
again in the Spirit, who are blessed with liberty. He says,
that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ. for me by my coming to you again.
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I
may hear your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with
one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel." Well,
that's a gracious exhortation, isn't it? to be rejoicing in
a right way. And here it is, rejoicing may
be more abundant in Jesus Christ. I suppose in reality it's the
only place we can truly rejoice, isn't it, in what Christ has
done. As we view his great and glorious
work in salvation, to rejoice in it and to praise God for it. And so then our conversation
might be as becoming the Gospel of Christ, how important that
is. And it should be that we therefore
stand fast in this liberty where Christ has made us free with
that desire that our conversation may be as it becometh the Gospel
of Christ. How easy it is to fall into where
the ways of the world, the conversation of the world. But you see, when
we're in the world, which we have to be, and the Lord has
said we are to be in the world, but we are to be not of it. That means we are not to have
the spirit of the world, the spirit of the age. My friends,
it's easy to fall into Such temptation in a worldly crowd. Yes, at school
or university or at work, it's easy to fall into the spirit
of the age. And here we have this gracious
exhortation for us all that our conversation be as it becometh
the gospel of Christ. And that is what you and I are
to stand in, to stand fast in. Stand fast in this great and
glorious blessing. It's our privilege, isn't it,
to be amongst those for whom Christ has died, for those whom
Christ has set at liberty. But you see, we're not to use
it on our lusts. We are to be a true disciple,
a true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we should count it
a privilege and a wonderful favour to suffer for the name of Christ. You see, the Word of God tells
us, the Apostle Paul tells us, if we suffer with Him, we should
also reign with Him. The inference is clear. No suffering,
no reigning. We need do we not. to examine
our lives, to see how we're standing. We're standing fast for the great
and glorious truth of God, the great and glorious liberty that
the Lord has granted to us, but it involves suffering. Suffering
to the flesh. Suffering for a short time in
our little life, but the blessing of eternal glory and all how
we need to Put that in the balances, in God's balances, with the things
of this world and the weight of eternal glory. The Apostle
did that, didn't he? And it's good if you and I can
do the same. It'll give us a right consideration, a right appreciation
of those things which are right and those things which are wrong,
and to continually seek after this grace that we might stand
fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free. And not only the first chapter
but also The fourth chapter of the Philippians, the Apostle
again speaks about standing fast. He tells us, therefore my brethren. And let us note that when the
Apostle, or when anybody uses this word therefore, they are
really referring to that which has gone before. And if you and
I are familiar with the epistle of Paul to the Philippians, we
will know that the third chapter explained something of Paul's
desire to be found more Christ-like in his life. And he tells us
of his life, and he tells us, what things were gained to me,
those I counted lost for Christ. He had a right view of eternal
realities. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And he tells us,
yea, doubtless. And I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. It couldn't be more clearly spoken,
could it? The excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord." You might think many things are excellent,
but nothing exceeds the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. And if the Lord has graciously
blessed us with spiritual liberty, surely it is to observe, at least
in measure, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. And the Apostle says, the loss
of all things. What did he, did he value them?
Was he sorry for it? He says, and do count them but
dung that I might win Christ. Well, that's a wonderful statement,
isn't it? And we here have then such words to encourage us in
our day as we walk on the earth. You know, we are exactly the
same as the apostle Paul. We're no different. We're human
beings with a never-dying soul. And it is our turn now to walk
upon the earth. And we should not think, well,
the Apostle Paul was of course a very exceptional man. Well,
he was. But we should not think that his desires are beyond that
which you and I should be desiring in the day and age in which we
live. Because God is able to do for
us far more exceeding abundantly that we can ask or even think. And so here the apostle exclaims
in these words that he counted all things but done that he might
win Christ. Oh, there was that which he was
looking forward to. to be with Christ. And he says,
and be found in him not having mine own righteousness. There
was a time when he was very fond of his own righteousness and
very satisfied with it, but he had to leave it all behind, which is of the law. You see,
no satisfaction in that. That's why we have here, therefore
in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The Apostle well
knew the problem with that. And therefore he says, that I
might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death. And surely here is. the central
theme of true, God-given, Christ-exalting life, to be found walking and
desiring such union with Christ, because such union gives us a
little taste of eternal glory. And he says that I may know him
and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings,
be made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend, ye might understand, that for
which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count
not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That's a glorious
testimony, isn't it? And may it be our testimony,
may it be our desire As we consider such words as this, stand fast
therefore in the liberty where Christ has made us free. The
blessing will be to be found united with the Apostle Paul
in these desires that Christ might indeed be all and in all. And therefore he comes and says,
therefore my brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for my joy
and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.' Yes,
he desired that the Philippians might be found standing fast
with these desires, these longings, that they might know Christ more
and be found indeed walking together. He says, I entreat thee also
true yoke fellow. You see, to be yoked to Christ
is the great blessing, is the great favour. Not to be yoked
to the law of bondage, the ceremony of law and all those things,
but to be yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read in Matthew,
in the 11th chapter, where the Lord Jesus tells us, come unto
me, glorious gospel invitation, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you." What
a wonderful thing it is to be yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm sure you know that if ox and a yoke together, they're
pretty close and they have to move together. They can't move
separately. And here the Lord Jesus invites
us in this way, take my yoke upon you. to be found living
close to Christ, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in
heart, and what's a blessing? And ye shall find rest unto your
souls." Oh, what a comfort that is, isn't it? In this restless
world, to find rest for our souls. It's only in union with Christ. For my yoke is easy. and my burden
is light." Well, what a favour it is if we've proved the truth
of these words and can concur that they are true. And it is
a wonderful blessing, therefore, to be yoked to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. The devil wants us to be entangled
with the yoke of bondage. He doesn't want us to enjoy this
freedom which has been found in Christ. He'll do what he can
to turn us away. But it is a wonderful and blessed
freedom. And it's an eternal blessing.
It's a blessing which will not be removed from the Church of
God, but that which the Church of God will enjoy. and be favoured
to walk in. Again, the Apostle speaks often
of this standing fast, and he obviously was moved by the Spirit
to write this way because there's every temptation to not stand
fast, to be moved, and perhaps sit down and perhaps lay down.
No, we are to stand fast for the great and glorious truth
of the Gospel, and in the first epistle of Thessalonians and
the third chapter, he tells us this, therefore brethren, again
bringing this word before us, therefore brethren, and he says
this, we are comforted over you in all your afflictions and distress
by your faith. The faith that they had and what
a favor it is when we're blessed with living faith, it doesn't
mean saying we won't have afflictions and distresses, we will, For
now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. If ye stand fast
in the Lord. It's only, of course, as God
gives us grace to stand fast. But do we desire it? Sometimes
we're very lukewarm, aren't we? And we're not very fussed about
our spiritual standing. We're not very concerned about
how we stand. But we're happy just to jog along
in this life. We're perhaps just a vague profession,
but what a wonderful faith when the Lord the Spirit moves our
hearts to such a degree that we are lively, we're healthy
in the things of God, and we really desire these spiritual
blessings. And we really desire, therefore,
to stand fast in the Lord. It's the only place you know.
You won't stand fast by yourself, but you can stand fast and the
Lord gives us grace to stand fast in the Lord. And what a
wonderful place that is. Just think of it. Standing with
God in the Lord. He says, for what thanks can
we render to God again for you for all the joy with rejoy for
your sakes before our God night and day praying exceedingly that
we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking
in your faith. Now God himself and our father
and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. And it's important
here to recognize that here he confesses his great truth night
and day praying exceedingly. What a lack there is today. Surely
in praying exceedingly, how often do we pray exceedingly? Perhaps
very, very seldom are we blessed like that. And perhaps very,
very seldom blessed with what Jacob was favoured with, that
wrestling prayer with his God. Prayer can be something very
superficial. And you see, when it is so, we're
not really standing fast in the liberty with which Christ has
made us free. The devil will encourage us just to rush through
prayers and to just satisfy our flesh that we've carried out
some work and we've done that and we can now carry on. Well,
bless God if the Spirit moves us to such an extent that we're
blessed with praying exceedingly there might be the blessing of
the Lord. What a favor then to think of
that. And then the apostle also speaks
in the second epistle to the Thessalonians about standing
fast. He says, where unto he called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the tradition which ye have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope, through grace comfort
your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work. Well, that may be, may that be
indeed the true concern that our souls may be found in such
a condition, standing fast, holding the traditions which you have
been taught, those truths contained in the Word of God, and not moved
about by every slight of doctrine, all those many temptations today
in which we live, where we're told, well, you can just do that
and there's no harm in that. My friends, let us stand fast.
Let us hold fast the great and glorious truth of God and the
great and glorious truth of God is to bring honor and glory to
the Lord. Oh, what a favor it is then that
we may know and have that desire that his name may be honored
and glorified as the Lord grants us this wonderful favor and blessing
of liberty and to be found then standing. Let us be concerned
that we're standing fast. We're not moved away. Because
we're standing fast on that rock. And that rock is Christ Jesus.
There will be storms, of course there will be. But you see as
those storms come, we're not moved because we're standing
fast. And we're standing fast in the
liberty and the freedom which Christ has given to us. So that
when we're tempted by the devil because of our failures, what
do we do? We look to Calvary. Yes, and
we tell the devil, Christ has died to atone for my sins. He shed his precious blood for
all my sins are washed away. And I am by his grace complete
in him. And one day I shall be with him
in glory. Oh, the devil hates such words. You know, we are advised that
we might resist the devil, and you won't resist him in any other
way, but point him to Christ, and he's a vanquished foe, because
Christ has conquered. What a wonderful thing it is
to think of that tonight, that we have such a great and glorious
God, a wonderful Saviour, who did not fail, in that great and
glorious work his father gave him to do. And what a work it
was. And what a position it was. But
he did not fail. No, he continued until the end. Against all the opposition, all
the persecution, the hiding of his father's face, and yet brought
to that great and glorious declaration, it is finished. the veil of the
temple, rent entwined from the top to the bottom, access now
to the Father through the finished work of the Saviour. What a wonderful
blessing it is to contemplate such a great and glorious victory
that the Saviour gained and therefore to heed and to acknowledge and
to bless God for the truth of these things and to pray that
each one of us may have that faith to be able to come and
to stand fast. therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. Amen.