Galatians. And this message came
about from talking to several of you about different things
that we've came out of. Different situations we were
in. Galatians 4, starting in verse 22, but our text for
this short message will be Galatians 5.1, but I wanted to read the
context. Galatians 4, verse 22, For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But
he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he
of the free woman was born by promise. Which things are an
allegory? For these are the two covenants,
the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem. which now is and is in bondage
with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not. Break forth and cry, that
travailest not. For the desolate hath many more
children than she hath in husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was
our children of the promise, But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So
then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but children
of the free. And here's our text. Stand fast,
therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. Now there's some of us here,
there's some of you here who've had the privilege of sitting
under a grace preacher. Even though you didn't know Christ
until He revealed Himself to you, but you had the privilege
of sitting under grace preaching. And it is a privilege. It really
is. But there's some of us here who
sat under religion and various forms of that. But we're going
to see tonight in tonight's message that basically all those religions
are the same. Because there really is only
two religions. Grace or works? Grace or works? Here, Paul encourages us, encourages
the believer to stand fast. Stand fast in the freedom that
we have. Now, soldiers, when they're told
I often like to think of the Roman days and the Greek days. These soldiers were told to stand
fast. They stood fast. They held the line. When a comrade
fell, another would take his place within the line. They stood fast. And this is
what we are to do. We are to stand fast for the
Gospel. We are to stand fast in the liberty
that we have in Christ. and not be entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. We have such freedom in Christ.
I don't really think we know how much freedom we have in Christ.
It's incredible. But we are free. We are free
from the bondage that we were once in. And not only do we have
freedom, we also have peace. Peace with God that we didn't
have before. Turn with me, if you would, to
John 8, verse 32. John 8, and also Romans 4. Through the shedding of the blood
of Christ, we have a perfect atonement for
our sins. Perfect. And it's all by what
He's done. Look at what John 8, 32 says,
and ye shall know the truth. Believers shall know the truth.
They'll know it. They can discern the difference.
They won't hear a false shepherd's voice. They'll know. When the great shepherd calls
them, they'll follow him. You shall know the truth. And
the truth shall, there's one of those little hinge words again,
it's not might, it's shall. I'm free, beloved. I'm free in
Christ. And so are you, if you're a believer. The truth shall make you free. The Lord Jesus Christ has provided
and imputed His perfect righteousness to His people. For everyone who believes on
Him, He will clothe every one of His sheep And He does with
His perfect righteousness. Look at Romans 4. Keep in mind
that He will clothe every one of His sheep with His perfect
righteousness. Look at Romans 4, verse 6. And put your finger
in Galatians again, too, if you could. Galatians 3. We're going
to be bouncing around a little bit with some different Scriptures
today. Romans 4. Verse 6, look at this. And this
is only in Christ. Even as David also described
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness,
look at this, without works. See, there's a whole bunch of
people out there trying to work their way to heaven, trying to
gain salvation by their works. And I was one of them. And all
of us who came out of religion, we were there. But look at what
the Scripture declares It declares to us, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works. It's all about His work, but
not about ours. Every believer in Christ has
been set free, beloved. Set free. Free from the curse
of the law. Galatians says this, Galatians
3.13, Every believer in Christ is set
free. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. We've been redeemed. We've been
set free. Oh, that I could live in that
reality. Brother Joe Terrell and I were talking last week,
and I said, Joe, you told me something years ago, and it stuck
with me. The hardest thing for us to do
as believers is to enter into the rest of Christ. And it's
true, isn't it? It's hard for us just to rest.
Now, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't live a life that glorifies
God. That doesn't mean that. I just
mean resting in situations, even. when something comes up, and
knowing that, I am redeemed. I am free in Christ. I'm set
free. When the reality of that sinks
in for us, it's marvelous. It's liberating. And we're also free from spiritual
death. Ephesians 2, 1 says, and you hath he quickened. And you hath he quickened. who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Well, now we're alive. We were
dead spiritually. Now we're alive. We're free from
spiritual death. A death that we couldn't free
ourselves from. We're free from the power of
sin. It doesn't have the hold it once had. But remember, we're
not free from the presence of sin, not until we get to glory,
and then we will be. Then we'll be absolutely free of sin. Can
you imagine how marvelous that's going to be? It's going to be
amazing. We're free from the condemnation
of sin. Romans 8.1, we looked at that a couple of weeks ago
in the Message. There is therefore now no condemnation. No. We're sinners, but Romans 8.1
says, there is therefore now no condemnation, because Christ
died in the womb instead of his people. There's no condemnation
for his people. They're set free. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ has
also freed us from the ceremonial law, and from circumcision, and
sacrifices, and feast days, and rites, and ceremonies. We as
grace believers, though, are told to stand fast. Stand fast. So we're free from all those
things, but we're exhorted here to stand fast. Because it's not
hard for us to slip back into things. Stand fast. Defend this liberty
you have at all costs. Oh, defend the liberty that we
have in the free grace of God in Christ. Stand fast. Stand fast. And God the Holy
Spirit inspired Paul to write this. Look again at Galatians
5.1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. It's not a matter of has
he made us free? has made us free. We're free. And be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. Now the Greek word for entangled
here means to have within, to hold in, to be held, to be entangled,
to be ensnared. We were once ensnared by religion. We were once held captive by
our doings. Now, stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. Free. So Paul, by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit here, tells us not to be entangled with the things
which once entangled us. Not to be ensnared by the things
that we were once ensnared by. Don't be ensnared to having to fulfill the law to find favor
with God because Christ did it in our room instead. And we could
never fulfill the law anyways. But people are telling, there's
millions of folks out there telling people you gotta live by the
law. Now, do any of us want to go
contrary to the law of God? No. And here's a question Brother
Don and I, Bell and I were talking one time and he said, Wayne,
do you sin more than you want to? Yeah. He goes, so do I. We don't want to go out and go
crazy. No. But we are free. We are free. Don't be ensnared to having a
checklist to prove that you're a Christian. I remember that
in religion. And I used that checklist when
I was in religion, not only to prove that I was a Christian,
because I didn't go here, I didn't do this, didn't do that, but
also I used that checklist to think that other people were
Christians. Oh, beloved, don't be entangled. Don't be ensnared
with that again. That's nothing but works, works,
works, works, works. Don't be ensnared to having a
checklist, as I said, to prove someone else is a Christian.
When I was in religion, you had to dress a certain way. You couldn't
go to the movies. You couldn't do this. You couldn't
do that. All these rules and regulations. All these ensnarements. And thinking that I was so good,
oh, God must be so happy that I'm doing all this or not doing
this. Meanwhile, I'm making myself two-fold more a child of hell.
But God knew I wasn't one of His, I didn't know that, but
I was ensnared by that, and then I was entangling others in that
too. By holding them to the standard. When the Lord showed me grace,
I said to my daughter, I said, honey, your dad is so different
now than he used to be. Oh. We have such freedom in Christ. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
1, verses 30 and 31. We have such freedom in Christ
and such favor with God all through Christ. And all spiritual blessings
we know are in Christ. So in light of what we're looking
at, look at this, and we've often heard this text, but think of
this in light of the freedom and liberty that we have in Christ
now. But of Him are ye, verse 30 and 31, but of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom. In righteousness, we can't make
ourselves righteous, can we? And redemption. I talked with
some guys this week and they were just going on about sin
and about how people should live and all this. And I looked at
them and I said, can you pay the price for one of your sins?
Just one. Not one of them could answer. Just one. Just one. Can you redeem yourself
from just one? No. But Christ has redeemed his
people from all their sins. All of them. And why do we ascribe everything
to Him? Because He did it all. But look
at this last verse too. That according to His written
He that glorieth, let Him glory in the Lord. We glory in God.
We glory in Christ. We glory in what He's done. Not
what we do. What He's done. What He's done.
He's done it all. And all spiritual blessings are
in Him. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and ye are complete in Him. which is the head of all principality
and power, Colossians 2, verses 9 and 10. Complete in him. Complete. Now there was a time when we
were yoked. Those of us who came out of religion,
we were entangled. We were yoked with duties which
we felt like we had to do. I know from talking to several
of you, it was that way. We thought we were gaining merit
and favor with God by our doings. But in Christ Jesus, our Lord,
we do not wear the yoke of the law. Turn, if you would, to Romans
6, verse 14. We don't wear the yoke of the
law. Sin does not have dominion at once head over us, and we
still struggle with it, though. But look at what this marvelous
verse says. Romans 6, verse 14. And then put your finger in Matthew
11 if you could. Look at Romans 6.14. What a marvelous
verse. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. It doesn't have the power at
once. It once held us in total sway. And it was Henry, Brother
Henry I heard that from, where he said sin doesn't have the
power it once held over us, but we still have the presence of
sin. Let's be real. We still sin. We all do. But
look at this. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. It doesn't rule us like it used to. For you are not under
the law. But under grace, under grace,
we have freedom. Freedom in Christ. And look at
Matthew 11, 25-30. Believers wear the yoke of Christ,
which is easy and light. Easy and light. Let's look at
Matthew 11, 25-30. This is just beautiful. Matthew
11, 25-30. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto
Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. Come unto Me. Are you laid down and weighed
down by sin and works? We were, weren't we? Come unto
Me. All ye that labor. Oh, religion's
hard work. It's hard work. It's tough. Come unto Me, all ye that labor
in our heavy laden. Oh, it just weighs you down.
All these do's and don'ts. And I'll give you Rest. Rest. We're resting now, eh,
brother? Compared to what we were before.
Now we're resting. Oh, it's marvelous. Take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. Remember the yoke of bondage
in Galatians 1? Take the yoke of Christ. The
yoke of Christ. And learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. So rest in everyday life and
rest for your souls. Peace for your souls. Rest. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Believers have been set free.
And we refuse to once again wear that yoke of bondage that we
were in. We don't want nothing to do with it, do we? No. And you know, the yoke of the
law is impossible to bear. Turn if you would to Acts 15.
The yoke of the law is impossible to bear. It just crushes men. Acts 15. I've been reading this and wanting
to preach on it, so here it is, but it just fit right in with
what we're looking at. And certain men which came down
from Judea taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. What? They're adding works to grace. And what do we know from our
studies with that? If you add a pinprick of works, it's no
longer grace. So these men are preaching a
false gospel. When therefore Paul and Barnabas..."
Look at Paul and Barnabas. "...had no small dissension and
dispution with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain
others of them should go up to Jerusalem and to the apostles
and elders about this question." They didn't just sit idly by.
They got upset. Righteous anger. And being bought
on their way by the church, they passed through Phineas and Samaria,
declaring the conversions of the Gentiles, and they caused
great joy unto all the brethren." Remember how Paul rejoiced in
our Colossians study? About the Colossians, even though
he's never met them, he's rejoicing. Well, we rejoice when we hear
the Lord moving and saving His sheep. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders,
and they declared all things that God had done with them.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and
to command them to keep the law of Moses." There we go. They're
there too. And the apostles and elders came
together for it to consider this matter. And when there had been
much disputing, because this is a huge point, They're trying to add to free
grace. And Paul and Barnabas will have
nothing of this. And we will have nothing of this. And the apostles and the elders
came together for to consider of this matter. And when there
had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men
and brethren, you know that a good while ago God made choice among
us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel
and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts..."
See, only God knows the hearts of men. "...bear them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us." And look
at this. "...and put no difference between
us and them." We're one in Christ. There's
no difference between Jews and Gentiles and Christ, is there?
We're all saved by the same God, same Gospel, same Redeemer. We have the same Spirit. Giving
them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us. And put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore,
why tempt ye God to put a yoke..." Remember the yoke we looked at
in Galatians, right? "...upon the neck of the disciples, which
neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." Oh, the yoke of
the law. It can't bear it. Look at verse 11, though. But
we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved, even as they. Oh, it's marvelous. It's marvelous. So the yoke we
looked at in Matthew is easy, but the yoke in Acts 15.10 is
a yoke which the disciples said which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear. But oh, the yoke of Christ is
easy. I'm going to give us 15 quick points if you want to write
down these Scriptures. I'm running out of time here.
What it is for the believer to be yoked and joined to Christ. The first one is to be yoked
to Christ is to be at rest in Him. Hebrews 4, verses 10 and
11, which says, for he that has entered into his rest, Christ's
rest, he also has ceased from his own works. It's not based upon my works.
It's based upon what He's done. As God did from His, let us therefore
labor to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. To be yoked with Christ, number
two, is to be one with Him. John 6.57 says this, As the living
Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, so He that eateth
me, even He shall live by me. He's the head and we're the body.
And then John 17, 23, under the same heading, I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me. The third point, to be yoked
with Christ, is to be found in Him. To be found in Christ. Philippians 3, verses 7-9, But
what things were gained in me, those I counted lost for Christ.
Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may
win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness."
We tried to have our own righteousness, didn't we, in religion? Not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Number four, to be yoked with
Christ. is to be justified by His blood, Romans 5.9. Much more
than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him. Number five, to be yoked with Christ is to
be led by His Spirit, Romans 8.14. For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. To be yoked
with Christ is to be taught by His Word, John 6.44-45. No man can come unto Me except
the Father which has sent Me. Draw him, and I'll raise him
up to the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall
be all taught of God. All taught of God. Number seven, to be yoked with
Christ is to be translated into His kingdom. Colossians 1.13,
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son. And these are all things
that we are in Christ. To be yoked with Christ is to
be filled with His love. 1 John 3.14 We know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. We all
looked at that earlier. If a person doesn't love the
brethren, there's something wrong. There's something wrong. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Number nine, to be yoked with
Christ is to be called by His Gospel. 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1, verses 21 to 24. To be yoked with Christ is to
be saved by His grace. 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 and 10,
which says, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. To be yoked with Christ is to
be adopted into His family. Romans 8. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified
together. Romans 8, 16 and 17. To be yoked
with Christ is to be forgiven of all your sins. All of them. 1 John 1.7, but if we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
In the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all
sin. To be yoked with Christ is to be regenerated by the Holy
Spirit. To be yoked with Christ is to be counted righteous in
Him. Romans 4, verses 1-2. Let's turn to that one. Let's
turn to that one. That's the last one. Actually, the last
one is to be yoked with Christ is to be accepted in the Beloved.
Accepted in the Beloved. But let's look at this wonderful
one. Romans 4, verses 1-8. To be yoked with Christ is to
be counted righteous in Him. What shall we then say? Verse
1, that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath work of the
glory, but not before God. Man likes to boast in what he
does. I know because I used to. For what saith the Scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness, even as David described the blessedness of
the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. Blessed.
Blessed. Whose sins are covered, covered
by the blood of Christ. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. What freedom we have, beloved.
What freedom we have in Christ. And we do not desire to ever
be yoked again with the bondage of religion, do we? That's why
we just recoil when folks say we have to do certain things.
Stand fast, beloved. Stand fast. Stand fast. Therefore, in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, stand fast. Be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.