I please God to bless his word
as we read it together from the epistle of Paul to the Galatians,
chapter 5, and we'll read the first 16 verses. The epistle
of Paul to the Galatians, chapter 5, reading the first 16 verses. 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. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is
a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, ye 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 which worketh by love. Ye did run well, Who did hinder
you? Ye shall not obey the truth.
This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you, through
the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded. But he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, If I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offence
of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off,
which trouble you. For brethren, you have been called
unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law
is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say, walk in the spirit,
and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Well, this evening, as the Lord
may be pleased to bless us and help us, we'll just speak on
the first verse in this fifth chapter. And the first verse
reads, stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage. It's a very simple statement.
It's a very important statement. And of course, the Apostle was
addressing the Galatians because they had been entangled with
the yoke of bondage, trying to keep the law and to justify themselves. And as most of you know, we've
gone through in some detail the earlier chapters which have dealt
with that. And of course, the Apostle does
continue to deal with it because it's a very important consideration.
And so he says, stand fast. That means we're not to sit down,
we're not to lie down, we are to stand fast and keep fast still
and not be moved from it. And so he tells us to stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Now, it's a great blessing to
enjoy the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And let us
be quite sure that the devil does not want us to be free. He wants us to be entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. He doesn't want us to acknowledge
the freedom there is in Christ. And of course that freedom only
comes about because of what Christ has done. We read in Isaiah 61
and the first verse, which is probably familiar. The Spirit
of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek. He sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. I think it's true that
all of God's people find themselves in prison. They find they are
bound and they can't get out themselves. What a blessing it
is that the Lord Jesus Christ has made a way. Nothing that
you and I can do will bring us into that freedom and liberty
which is to be known in Christ. It's only through his wonderful
and amazing grace. And so it is really liberty through
Christ. And if we truly know the Lord
Jesus Christ as our Saviour, then there really must be that
freedom and that liberty, and that familiarity with our blessed
God, realising that we are those who are called the friend of
Jesus. It's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? And so, we are free from the curse of the law. Free from the curse of the law.
And we've already thought upon this in Galatians 3, verse 13,
where we're told, 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. Wonderful to meditate on that. There's great depths in these
words to meditate upon. Plenty of spiritual food for
us to go home and to think upon and to realise that Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, the soul that sinneth
it shall die. And he was made a curse for us. He bore the punishment instead. That which we deserved, we did
not bear. The Saviour bore it for us. And
it is because of that we are made free. And therefore we enjoy
that great and glorious liberty. And we are free from the curse
of Adam. And again the Apostle Paul tells
us when he wrote to the Romans, he said, therefore as by the
offence of one, because Adam and Eve, they offended God, by
the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. It's the glorious Gospel that
we have to encourage us that we might look to the finished
work of the Saviour and to realise therefore that we have offended
and yet what a blessing that we are free from the curse. And the Apostle tells us then
know that we are. We're also free of course from
spiritual death. You see when Adam and Eve fell,
sinned in the Garden of Eden, they died spiritually, and of
course they also were to die naturally, there was that death. And what a blessing therefore
if we appreciate the wonderful words in Ephesians chapter 2
in the first verse where the apostle says, and you, and may
you and I be in that you. Hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. Yes, we were. What a blessing
if we pass from death to life. And if so, it's because we are
in Christ. And wherewith Christ, therefore,
has made us free. And what a wonderful liberty
there is then in that. How little sometimes we appreciate
the greatness of these words. How often you see the devil would
have us all tied up and looking at ourselves and forgetting the
freedom which is to be found in Christ. What a mercy therefore,
if that is so. And then we're also free from
the fear of death. You may think, well I'm not sure
about that. You may think, well I'm If we
are really in Christ, we have nothing to fear, because it's
well with our soul. The Apostle, when he wrote to
the Hebrews, he said, For as much then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him. And the power of death, that
is the devil. and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. To be delivered then from that
fear is a wonderful favour and a wonderful blessing. And of
course then also we are free from condemnation. The devil
would endeavour to keep on trying to drag us back and to tell us,
well, you're condemned, you've sinned again, you've fallen again,
Sadly, we do. But what does the Apostle say
when he wrote to the Romans? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. You see, you and I, by God's
grace, can tell the devil that. When he tries to condemn us and
say, well, there's no hope for you, we can point to the Word
of God. So there is therefore now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh but after the Spirit. And then also, amazingly,
we are really free from the power of sin. Again that may be difficult
to understand, but again the Apostle when he wrote to the
Romans in chapter 6 and verse 14, he tells us, For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but
under grace. Oh my friends, glory in the grace
of God, the free unmerited favour. We never deserved it. nor gives
that grace freely to all his people. What a mercy it is. And we are free also from the
authority of Satan. He may try and control us. He
may tell us perhaps that we must bow down to him. We have encouraging
words in the Colossians in the first chapter in verse 13. Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness? and has translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son. You see, delivered from
the power of darkness. We haven't created or produced
it ourselves, but this is all through the grace of our Saviour. It's all through his sin atoning
death, and may we therefore bless God indeed for it. And then we
know then that we shall, by God's grace, inherit glory at last. free to inherit glory at last. And again, the Apostle writing
to the Hebrews in 9th chapter, the 15th verse, he says, and
for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. These are wonderful truths, aren't
they? They really are. And you and I need to meditate
upon them and to think upon them so that we have the personal
application that we are free. Free in Christ. Nowhere else
but to be free in Christ. And then the apostle tells us
to watch to stand fast in the faith and quit you like men and
be strong. So there's a number of illustrations
why we are free. And if we are, then we are at
liberty. And then he warns us, as he warned
the Galatians, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. See, it's very easy to fall back
It's very easy to look at ourselves and realise what a failure we
are and forget to look to the finished work of the Saviour.
The Saviour did not die in vain. He did not shed his blood in
vain. He shed it so that you and I
might be set free. Bondage really means enslavement
to the law. Let us not be there. Let us recognise
the law and yet bless God for the freedom. Finally, the Lord speaks about the yoke,
and he speaks about not the yoke of bondage, he speaks about that
yoke which he gives. In Matthew 11, the end of Matthew
11, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. So very different
to the yoke of bondage, to yoke of freedom. Because there we
enjoy fellowship with the Saviour. There we walk with Him. We hear
His voice. How wonderful to think the Almighty
God condescends to give us such a gracious invitation to take
His yoke upon us. And then, as the Lord Jesus spoke
in John 8, 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, Very, very, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin
is the servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house
for ever, but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed. And so stand fast therefore,
wherewith, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.