It's so good to be here. I can't
tell you how much of a joy it is to proclaim God's Word and
to be your pastor. I'm very blessed. Turn, if you
would, to Galatians chapter 5. The name of the message is Stand
Fast. Galatians chapter 5, and we'll read verses 1-6. I had
Brother Tim read the context of the scripture for us today. Paul had been battling Judaizers
and those who are attempting to mix grace and works. And here he pens about the liberty
liberty which the Galatian believers have in Christ. He says, Stand
fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. If you add works to grace, you are lost. Behold I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is
a debtor to do the whole law. You want to say you're going
to live by the law? You've got to do the whole law. I can't do that, but Christ has
done that for me. Christ has become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever you are justified by
the law, you are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith worketh by love. The Holy Spirit here has moved
Paul the Apostle to pen these words. very, very encouraging
words. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. This is what God's preachers
are constantly encouraging, God's enlightened people, God's regenerated
people. This is what we are constantly,
constantly encouraging God's people to do,
stand fast. Stand fast. In the Greek, the
word stand fast here is defined as this, to stand, to stand when
under judgment, to be approved, to stand firm, be constant, persevere. Again, to stand, to stand when
under judgment, so when others assail us or accuse us or come
at us, because of what we believe, to stand when under judgment,
to be approved, to stand firm, be constant, persevere. And this Greek word is translated
seven times in the New Testament Stand. Turn, if you would, to
Mark chapter 11, where the first of it is. Mark chapter 11, verse
25. We'll go look at each place where
this is said. Mark 11, 25. I'll have you turn
a little bit here and then we'll settle down. Mark 11, 25. And when you stand, same Greek
word, praying, forgive if you If you have any ought against
any, that your Father, which also is in heaven, may forgive
you your trespasses. So the words stand there, same
Greek word. And then turn to 1 Corinthians 16, 13. 1 Corinthians
16, 13. Watch ye. stand fast in the faith, quit
you like man, be strong. Watch ye, stand, same, stand
fast, same Greek word, stand fast in the faith, quit you like
man, be strong. And in Galatians 5.1, which we've
looked at, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage. Then turn to Philippians 1.27, Philippians 1.27 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 of your affairs, that you
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for
the faith of the gospel. So we see it's a continuous exhortation
to God's people to stand fast, isn't it? And in Philippians
4.1, Philippians 4.1, Therefore, my brethren, dearly
beloved, and long for my joy and my crown, so stand fast in
the Lord, my dearly beloved. Then 1 Thessalonians 3.8 and
2 Thessalonians 2.15. 1 Thessalonians 3.8 and 2 Thessalonians
2.15. For now we live, 1 Thessalonians
3.8, for now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. For now we
live if ye stand fast in the Lord. And remember, it means
to stand when under judgment, to be approved, to stand firm,
be constant and persevere. And then 2 Thessalonians 2.15,
therefore my brethren, Stand fast and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. And then
it's translated once, and I'll just read this text. It's translated
once, strength, or translated once, standeth, I'm sorry, in
Romans 14, 4, which says, Who art thou that judges another
man's servant to his own master? He standeth or falleth, same
Greek word. Yea, he shall be holden up, for
God is able to make him stand. Now there's a key right there.
God is able to make him stand. So it's God who keeps us, isn't
it? It's God who holds us. We don't keep ourselves. That's
the opposite of religion. It goes against the grain of
what religion teaches. And I don't care, because that's
the truth of the Bible. The Bible says it's God who holds
us. It's God who keeps us. And only Him. We can't keep ourselves. Let's turn back to our text in
Galatians 5.1. There's a little wee phrase here
I want to bring out. It says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Something I want us to notice
right away. Look within this text. The key to this text. Wherewith
Christ hath made us free. Right there. Right there. That's the key. That's the key. We're not born with this freedom.
We're not born with it. In fact, we're born into bondage.
We're born dead in trespasses and sins. We're not born with
this freedom. We're born slaves to sin and in bondage and captivity
to sin and Satan. But let us remember that we who
believe on Christ, we've come to this liberty which Paul is
speaking about in our text as a result of what Christ has done.
As a result of what he has done. Wherewith Christ hath made us
free. Right there. That's the key.
That's the key. This is a work that Christ did
for us upon the cross. And what Christ does in us. In
us too. And let us remember that our
continuing liberty, our continuing liberty does not rest upon what
we do. Our continuing liberty rests
in Christ. In Christ alone. Just as surely
as our deliverance from our sins rests upon Christ, our liberty
rests upon Christ. It's all in Him. It's all in
Him. The only reason we have this
liberty is because Christ has made us free. That's the only
reason we have this liberty. He's made us free by His redemptive
work on Calvary's cross and in the work of the Holy Spirit who
regenerates us and teaches us. Who does He teach us about? Christ. Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. We are to stand fast in this
precious truth. Paul is exhorting the Galatians
to stand fast in the liberty that they have in Christ. And
Scripture declares that Jesus Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to all who believe. And we are to stand
fast in that blessed truth. Jesus Christ, by His perfect
obedience to the will of God the Father, hath made us righteous. We who are ungodly by nature
and birth and choice are made righteous. are made righteous
by Christ's perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Nothing that man does can enter
into what Christ our Savior has done for His promised children.
And let us stand fast in that truth. Let us stand fast. By the sacrifice of Himself,
Jesus Christ sanctified and perfected forever all His chosen people. God's promised children contribute
absolutely nothing to the perfect, redeeming work of Jesus Christ
our Lord. And let us stand fast in this
precious truth. Let us stand fast in it. Jesus
Christ is the believer's surety, who is seated in the heavens,
and He makes intercession for all His people, all His promised
children. And it is He who is Lord over
all. I cannot describe to you the
majesty of God. I try. I try as best as I can
what I've been taught, but I'm scratching at the surface. He
is indescribable. He is indescribable. You could
take all the most poetic and beautiful words, and the words
of angels and seraphs, and it doesn't come close to describing
the majesty and the excellency of our great God. Let us stand
firm in that. Oh my, what a God. He's the sovereign ruler over
the whole universe. And He will never allow one for
whom He died to perish. Let us stand firm in that precious
truth. Let us stand firm in the blessed
truth, resting and trusting in Christ alone for our eternal
acceptance. Our eternal acceptance is only
in Christ before God. It's not in anything we do. And
Paul's exhorting the Galatians to stand fast in these precious
truths. Don't mix works with grace. It's
no longer grace. Salvation's of the Lord, beloved.
It's of the Lord. Now we, brethren, as Isaac, are
the children of promise. Our God is immutable. He cannot
change. What He has purposed must be
accomplished for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. in and
through Him, and let us stand fast in this precious truth."
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. They were all shadows. They pointed
to Christ. All the sacrifices, all the promises,
they pointed to Christ and Him alone. And He's the fulfillment
of all of them. Nothing was left undone. Nothing. Let us stand firm. Let us stand
fast in the precious truth of this. Let us stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. God's blood-bought,
promised children are free from the ceremonial law. We are not
under the yoke of bondage. Let us stand fast in this precious
truth. The temple worship, the Aaron
priesthood, Holy days, animal sacrifices,
and all those ceremonial laws under the Mosaic economy typified
the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, He fulfilled them
all. He fulfilled them all. God's enlightened children, God's
children who are born again of the Holy Spirit have been set
free, beloved. We are set free from the power
of Satan, the power of darkness, and the power of sin. Oh, let
us stand fast in this precious truth. Let us just rest. We have liberty, beloved, to
approach the throne of grace. We are washed in the precious
blood of Christ. The God-Man-Meteor, God Himself,
the indescribable One, became a man. Fully God, and yet fully
man, and redeemed. Purchased His people with His
own precious blood upon Calvary's cross. Oh, it's marvelous truth. And we approach, because of what
He's done, we who believe, approach the throne of grace because we
are washed in the blood of Christ and clothed in His perfect righteousness
by undeserving sinners. Christ died for the ungodly,
didn't He? That's me. And if you believe, that's you.
He died for sinners. What a Savior. Let us stand fast
in this precious truth. We have liberty to worship God
in spirit and in truth, because the Spirit of God dwells in our
hearts, making our worship acceptable to God. In our own flesh, our
worship wouldn't even be acceptable. But in Christ it is. It's acceptable. Oh, what a Savior, what a Redeemer. Oh, and we have liberty to rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ and the truths of His precious Gospel
and let us stand fast in these precious truths. We have liberty
to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and to enjoy one another's
fellowship. We have liberty to forgive one
another, to overlook one another's faults. Let us be quick to do
that. It's not hard for us to find,
it's not hard for you to find fault in me, it's not hard for,
right? Let us overlook each other's faults. Let us look at each other
in Christ. Forgiven, redeemed, purchased,
washed in the precious blood of Christ. Let us bear one another's burdens. Let us lift each other up in
prayer. The law of Moses, think of this
too. The law of Moses can give us no liberty, right? None. What does the law do? It condemns. But in Christ, oh what liberty
we have. What freedom we have in Christ.
Oh my. Beloved, stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. We are in
a spiritual war, we really are. Brother John and I have talked
about that many times. We are in a battle. We are, beloved. Don't be deceived. We are in
a battle. And it's not always easy to stand
fast. We have the onslaught that comes
from our enemies. From the enemies of the gospel.
From our old nature. You know what? You know what,
beloved? I'm my own worst enemy. Me. And we have the onslaught
of our enemies. Those who despise and hate the
gospel. And we are constantly plagued
with a fleshy desire to perform some work that will make us more
acceptable in God. Be gone. No, no, no, no. Grave clothes we call them. Brother
Norman and I like to call those things grave clothes. Sometime
here call me up and say, oh, another piece of grave clothes
just fell off, Brother Wayne. Something that we thought we
couldn't do. Oh, what liberty we have in Christ. Oh, my. When our families turn against
us for the sake of the gospel, we are to stand fast. When friends
turn against us for the sake of the gospel, we are to stand
fast. When people tell us we're crazy
because of what we believe, I've heard that before, have you?
Yeah. And they mock us for what we
believe. Stand fast, beloved. Stand fast. The liberty we're
with Christ hath made you free. Stand fast in Christ and in His
gospel. When people leave our lives for
our stand in the gospel, stand fast in the gospel. Stand fast
in Christ. How then do we stand? God's enlightened
children stand fast in the liberty we're with Christ hath made us
free. By turning our eyes away from ourselves. turning our eyes
away from ourselves. and keeping our eyes focused
on the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking at that in Colossians
3 right now. We are to look and focus upon
Christ and Him alone. It's not easy. It's not easy,
because circumstances come up and we get worked up. But, oh,
beloved, we are to stand fast. We must, we absolutely must keep
looking to Christ, who is the author and the finisher of our
faith. He's the author, He begins it all, and He's the finisher.
He's the Alpha, and He's the Omega. We must look to Him, and
we must stand fast, looking to Him. We must rest and trust. And I've talked about reposing.
Reposing is a word the old-time preachers used to say. And it
means just, when you repose in a chair, your trusting that that
chair will hold you up, will keep you. And that's what we
do in Christ, beloved. We repose in Him. We rest in
Him. And I'll tell you this right
now from experience. It's the hardest thing for a
believer to enter into the rest of Christ. It is. Because who's our worst enemy?
Myself. Myself. Oh, I didn't read my
Bible enough. I didn't pray enough. Rest. Rest, beloved, in Christ. Cry out to Him in praise. Cry
out to Him. Be thankful for what He's done
for you. Praying is something we can do. I mentioned this in
Sunday school. You can pray any time you feel like it. Driving
down the road by yourself, you can pray. I used to be on the
job site just talking to the Lord. No one else knew. It doesn't
matter. I'm talking to my king. Just cry out to him. Sometimes
a thought will come into your head of what he's done. Give him glory. Just praise him.
Just give him praise. Oh, but we rest and we trust
in Christ as our all in all. Isn't that what Paul wrote? He's
our all in all. We must rest and trust in Christ
in everything. And it's hard to do. But we must
never forget that God has forgiven us in Christ. And why has He
forgiven us? For Christ's sake. Because of
what He's done. And that we are redeemed by His
precious blood. That we are bought with a price. And we must be
constantly Constantly be reminded that our God is a covenant God.
And that we're his covenant children. And that Jesus Christ, now let
this be honey for your soul, that Jesus Christ has met all
the conditions of the eternal covenant for us. For us. It's finished. Stand fast. Oh, my. He has met all the conditions
of the eternal covenant of grace for us. How? By his substitutionary
life and by his substitutionary death. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free. It's all his work. It's all what
He's done. God's covenant was ratified,
approved and confirmed by the precious blood of Christ. Turn
if you would to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. What do we need as believers?
We need a steady diet of preaching of the glorious gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We need to hear preaching about
what Christ has done in His work. We need to hear proclaimed His
perfect redeeming work, that it's perfect, that it's finished. We need to hear this, don't we?
I need to hear this. And who did He do it for? His promised
children. And this enables us to stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free without wavering. Look at
Colossians 3 verses 1 to 4. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. So, if you didn't be risen with
Christ, if you're born again, if you're justified by Christ,
seek those things which are above. Set your mind. Set your mind
upon things above. And then he talks about, set
your affection, your heart. Set your affection on the things
above. Not on the things on the earth. Your heart and your mind. For ye are dead. And your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. This
is why we need to constantly hear the Gospel preached. This
is why. So we can set our minds and our
hearts upon Christ. I remember, and I don't agree
with this statement, I remember hearing when I was in religion
someone said, you can be too heavenly minded. I don't think
you can ever focus upon Christ too much. They used to say you
can be too heavily minded to be northly good. I don't believe
that. I don't believe that. Because I fight with this flesh
all the time. I wish I had just thought about Christ the whole
time. Do you, beloved? I remember Donnie and I talking
one time, and we were talking about sin. And he said, and I've
mentioned this before, he said, do you sin more than you want
to? I said, oh my gosh, brother. Yeah, it was me too, me too. That's why we need to set our
mind upon Christ. We need to set our mind and our
hearts upon him, upon what he's done for us. We need to hear proclaimed His
perfect redeeming work for His children, for His people. We need to stand fast in that
truth. May God help us to lay these words that were recorded
for our learning. Continue in the faith, grounded
and settled. Continue in the faith, grounded
and settled. And be not moved away from the hope of the gospel
which ye have heard. Colossians 1.23. Stand fast. What are some of the things Christ
has set us free from? Our text says, stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I just can't get
over that statement there, wherewith Christ hath made us free. That's
the key. As I said, that's the key to
the whole text. That's the key to the whole scripture.
Christ. Christ is the key. But what are
some of the things that he set us free from? Well, we're set
free from the curse of the law, aren't we? Friend, if you were
to Galatians 3.13, we are set free from the curse of the law.
The liberty Paul speaks of in our text is a perfect and complete
freedom, a perfect and complete freedom, which Christ hath by
himself attained. He attained this for us. He's
absolutely sinless, perfect, spotless. All we are is sin. Christ has redeemed us. He's
redeemed us. He's attained us by Himself for
His whole church, for all the elect of all the ages, by His
obedience, and by His blood-shedding, and by His death. And we know
that God is satisfied, right? Because we're justified. We're
justified in Christ. He rose, we rose in Him. God's
satisfied with that sacrifice. Christ alone is the great head,
the surety and husband of His people. He redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Suffering in
our place before God's wrath for our sin. Now I want to do
a little illustration here. I heard this this week. is an
illustration, and we talk about the wrath of God all the time,
don't we? And beloved, I'll tell you what, not one of us, not
one of us is able to stand before God's wrath. Not one of us. I heard a guy use an illustration.
Some guy was popping off at him, and he said, well, you're real,
you speak real strongly when you're with a group. But he said,
when you stand before a holy and righteous God, you'll be
like a small wax figure standing before a blast furnace. And that's,
what a picture. And then he gave another illustration.
Imagine a dam. A thousand foot dam. Right? Huge dam. Imagine that. And there's a town below. And
say, we live in that town. And we look up. And the dam's
breaking. Now, this is for God's people.
The dam's breaking. A thousand-foot dam. That's going
to hit us and we'll be consumed like we were nothing, won't we?
And this thousand-foot dam starts to crack and break. And we're standing there. You
can't get away. And it cracks and comes and it's
full fury before us. And it's heading towards us.
And suddenly the ground opens up. And all the water goes in
there. And not a drop hits your sock. Not a drop hits your shoe. That's
what Christ has done in appeasing the wrath and justice of God
for his people. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. What a savior. Christ hath redeemed,
the scripture says, from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. He is the one who took the wrath
and justice of God in our place. The sinless one. The perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. Another point. Another thing
that we're free of is we are free from the curse of Adam.
When Adam fell, we fell with him, didn't we? Dead in trespasses
and sins. Christ has redeemed us from the
bondage of corruption. Turn, if you would, to Romans
8, 21. God has redeemed us in Christ from the bondage of corruption
in and through His redemptive work on Calvary's cross. Look at Romans 8, 21. Oh, my. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. The bondage of corruption. That's
what we were born into. That's what we are by nature.
In Adam we fell. Turn, if you would, three chapters
over. Romans 5.17, look at this. For
by one man's offense, death reigned by one. When Adam fell, we all
fell. Much more they which receive
the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall
reign in life by one Jesus Christ. We are free from the curse of
Adam, beloved. We are free. The third point
is we are free from spiritual death. Turn if you would to 1
Peter 23 and 24. We are free from spiritual death. We're born into this world dead
in trespasses and sins, right? Romans told us there, in the
bondage of corruption. And this will lead to the second
death. This will lead us all to hell if the Lord does not
save us. The natural man is dead in trespasses and sins and blind
to spiritual truths. Without God and without hope
in this world. But those who trust Christ are
made alive. We're made alive. and we've received eternal life
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. We are born
again by the Holy Spirit of God to eternal life. Now we have
freedom and liberty to live spiritually, something we could not do before.
We couldn't serve God before. I had no desire to serve God
when I was lost. Look at this, 1 Peter 23-25. being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of men as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which, by
the gospel, is preached unto you." God's preachers get up every
weekend and we proclaim the wonderful truth of the free grace of God in Christ
Jesus and Him alone. And we as believers, we stand
fast in that, don't we? That's all we want to hear. Do
you want to hear anything else but about Christ? That's all I want to hear. I remember hearing one preacher,
or I was reading a book from the 1800s about sermons, making
sermons from an old-time Baptist, and he said something. He said,
you know, some folks are always looking for new things, new things. And he said, you know what, if
you find something new that you think, yeah, you're getting originality
from that. He said, but the preacher, what
the preacher's supposed to do is we're supposed to take precious
truths, old precious truths, and bring light to them. And
think of that. Think about what grace preachers
preach. We preach Christ, don't we? Every time we get in the
pulpit, we preach and proclaim Christ. We come at it from different
texts. As the Lord gives us light, as he gives us understanding,
we proclaim it. The same truth. The same truth
that's preached here is preached down at 13th Street, it's preached
where Tim James is, it's preached where Gary is, it's preached
where Donny is. It's the same truth. Where Norm is, the same
truth being proclaimed. And it's marvelous. And we as
believers are to stand fast. Here's a question. Here's something for us to think
of. When we're thinking of, oh, I want to listen to a preacher.
You know what I look for when I want to listen to a preacher?
Is he preaching Christ. I don't care who he's affiliated
with or friends wise that way. Now, you know what I mean when
I say that because we are in a, we are in a, I listen to mostly
sovereign grace preachers, but the thing I listen for, is he
preaching Christ? That's the key. That's the key
right there. Is He preaching Christ? Is the
man preaching Christ? Because that's what we're supposed
to do. We are to get up in front of a pulpit, in front of God's
people, and proclaim Christ in Him alone. Not anything else.
And it's wonderful. And God's people love it. They
absolutely love it. That's all they want to hear.
That's all they want to hear. Oh, my. Another thing we're freed from
is the fear of death. Christ has freed us from that which
is the ultimate prison. What's the ultimate prison? Death. And how the fear of death can
bring and put people into bondage. Death is indiscriminate. And
no one will escape. And man is terrified. Because
every one of us will have to face it. But for the believer
in Christ, he delivers us from the fear of death. For he has
passed through death and returned triumphant over it. Death is
swallowed up in victory, beloved. For the believer to live is Christ
and to die is gain. To be absent from the body is
to be what? Present with the Lord. Do you know that for the
believer, death is the gateway to glory? Death is the gateway to glory.
We are free from the fear of death. Number five, we are free
from condemnation. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. We are free from condemnation. Romans chapter 8. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, What does that mean? That means there's no condemnation
to those in Christ Jesus. None. That means that all my sins are
forgiven to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after
the flesh but after the spirit. Why? How can that be true? Why? Because Christ has borne
our condemnation when He died as our substitute. For He hath
made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. All our sins were imputed
to Christ. That which, that wrath that I
spoke of, like that dam breaking, that was supposed to fall upon
me, fell upon Christ. And now, I am made the righteousness of
God in Him. What a salvation. The elect of God through the
mystery of the atonement escape eternal condemnation even though
we deserve condemnation, don't we? We escape it. We deserve it along with all
men. But the elect of God escape it through the atonement of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are they. Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven. Forgiven. And whose sins are
covered. How are they covered? By the
precious blood of Christ. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will what? Not impute sin. Clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. The believers clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. The ungodly are clothed in self-righteousness. But the believer is clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. And can never, ever be brought
into condemnation. Never. And I say to that, what
a redemption. What a Savior. What a God. It's Jesus Christ, my Lord. Another thing we are free from
is the power of sin. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. The Apostle Paul thanks God for
the believer's freedom from the power of sin in Christ. He attributed
it all to Christ and Him alone. Look at this, Romans 6, verses
17 and 18. But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from
sin, ye become the servants of righteousness. What? The believer is free from the
power of sin. Look at verse 11. Likewise, reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin doesn't have dominion
like it used to over us. We grieve sin, don't we? We hate
sin more in ourselves than anyone else. You can always tell religious
folks because they're always pointing out other people's sins.
but never ever pointing their own out. I was a master at that
when I was in religion. I was a Pharisee, just like Paul
said. I know what Paul was talking
about with that. Now I'm like that publican, oh God be merciful
to me, the sinner. The sinner. Oh. Number 7, we are free to inherit
all that Christ has purchased for us. Turn, if you would, to
Galatians 4, verses 5-7. Galatians 4, verses 5-7. In Galatians 4, verses 5-7, it
tells us that Christ has redeemed us, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. It also proclaims that we are
heirs of God through Christ. Look at this. Actually, let's look a little
bit further up. Let's start in verse 1. Now I say that the heir,
as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though
he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the
time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law. Why? Why did Christ come into
this world? To redeem them that were under
the law. That's us. That's us, boy. That we might
receive the adoption of sons, and because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. We are made heirs through Christ. Let us ponder this marvelous
truth that we've been purchased, we who believe, God's elect,
have been purchased, purchased, bought with a price. And what
is that price? Precious blood of Christ. That
which God's law demanded. We've been cleansed from sin
and delivered from the power of sin and Satan. free at last
to enjoy the inheritance that God has prepared for those that
love Him. So let us, beloved, stand fast in the fact that Jesus
Christ, our Lord, has come, and that God has sent His Son into
this world, and that Christ, representing us as our substitute,
came into this world representing in perfect obedience every single
believer, every single one of His elect before God. that the
Lord Jesus Christ, made of a woman, made under the law, walked this
earth in the flesh, God Himself incarnated in the flesh. He was
tested, tempted, and tried in all points, and yet, without
sin, perfect, spotless, sinless, that He went to the cross of
Calvary, and that He bore our sins, and died for our transgressions,
and was wounded for our transgressions, and by His obedience, He has
imputed to us a perfect holiness. A perfect holiness. A perfect
righteousness. A perfect sanctification. Without the deeds of the law. Without our obedience to it.
By his obedience. By what he's done. Let us stand fast in these precious
truths. He's our rest. He's our Sabbath. He's our sanctification. He's
our holiness. He's our acceptance before God.
Let us stand fast in these precious truths. Now Paul says, Christ
has set you free. Free from the law, free from
its curse, free from its penalty, free from its power. Christ has
delivered you from the curse of the law. And we are not to be entangled
again by the yoke of bondage. We're not to be entangled again
under the doings and denials and deeds and keeping days and
works that you must do. Beloved of God, don't become
entangled again in the duties and the laws of religion. It's only in Christ. Because if you get entangled
with those things again, Christ profits you nothing. We are to stand fast in the wonderful
liberty in Christ who made us free. And think on this, beloved. We need no other. We are complete in Christ. This
wonderful book, this wonderful book here is all we need. Because it tells us of our wonderful
Savior. It tells us of what Christ has
done for us. For us. And it is able to make
us wise unto salvation. As the Holy Spirit uses the preaching
of the Gospel of Christ to regenerate his lost sheep. Turn, if you
would, to 2 Timothy, and we're closed with this. 2 Timothy chapter
3. We are to stand fast, beloved,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. 2 Timothy 3, 14-17, But continue
thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured
of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a
child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. They point you to Christ. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. He's the author. and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. Beloved, stand fast. Stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Our hope is
in Christ. It's not in our works. It's not
in our feelings. It's not in our experiences.
Our hope before God is His grace, not our graces. We don't have
any. Oh my, our hope before God is Christ's obedience, not our
obedience. No, because we can't obey perfectly,
can we? Not at all. Our hope before God
is in Christ's blood, in what He's done. Our hope before God
is in Christ's righteousness, not our own filthy self-righteousness,
but in His righteousness. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we come before Thy throne. Oh, Lord, give us grace and strength
to stand fast. Oh, stand fast in Thee. Give us a heart that yearns to
hear You preach, to hear You proclaim, to constantly keep you in our
minds. And, oh Lord, I know my worst
enemy is me, my flesh. And I pray that you give me strength
and grace to keep looking to Thee and all of us here who are
believers. And we pray that if it's your will, Lord, oh, if
it's your will, that you draw on one of your lost sheep, oh,
that you'd bring them to Thee, we pray. There's no hope outside
of Christ, no hope at all. We love you and praise you in
Jesus' name. Amen.