Galatians chapter 5. Actually,
let's start... I'll have a look at a few things. We'll go to
Galatians chapter 1. We'll work our way up to our text. It'll
take us a minute to get there. But there's a pattern in these
epistles when Paul writes. The Holy Spirit led Paul to write
these letters to these churches. And there's kind of a pattern
that goes with it. He starts out... He greets the
churches. He greets them in love. He's
kind to them. And then he clearly proclaims
the gospel, God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Clearly. Simply. And then he addresses
any errors or heresies that's going on. And he strongly does
that and clearly does it. And then he gives a practical
application. He, as they say, puts it in shoe
leather for us. How does these things that we've
covered, how does this affect me? How does this affect you?
How do we put this to use? We have a walk in this life,
believers do. We're in this race. And it gives
us something for our stride, doesn't it? That's where we're
getting to now in this part of Galatians. We started all together
in chapter 1 and verse 1, and now we're all up to Chapter 5,
halfway through it. And so he starts seeing this
transition tonight. But Paul was bound to these Galatians,
just like a father is to a child. He was the one that preached
to them. He told them the Gospel, and they received it through
Paul. Paul was the instrument used
to preach to these people. And they loved Paul. Paul loved
him. Paul loved them, those Galatians.
They were dear to him, precious to him. He'd watch these people
go from Uncaring and unknowing sinners that hated God. They said, you know what? Christ
is all. He's everything. Paul was privileged to watch
that transition. But he begins, and he puts these
readers in remembrance of the simplicity of the Gospel. Comes to them in love, and he
tells them the Gospel. That's how he starts. Look there
in chapter 1 and verse 3. He writes, Grace be to you and
peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this
present evil world according to the will of God and our Father,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. That's a very simple
and very direct gospel message, isn't it? The cross gave Himself
for our sins, for His people's sins. And He might deliver us
out of this world, give us life, keep us from death, according
to what? My choice? No, according to the
will of God and of the Father. And guess who's going to get
all the glory? He will. That's short and sweet, isn't
it? The Apostle also dealt strongly with any false teachers or false
doctrines, someone that would go against that simple message
that Christ is all, the simplicity of Christ. There in verse 8,
Galatians 1.8, he said, but though we or an angel from heaven preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto
you, let him be accursed. And he repeats himself there
in verse 9. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man
preach any other gospel unto you that you've received, let
him be accursed. He strongly deals with those
false preachers, those that come in and try to sway these believers,
these brethren of ours here in Galatia. Someone's on a street
corner and knocking our door down, it doesn't That fly doesn't
lie on my back. It didn't land on me, did it?
I have no concerns. If somebody comes in this congregation,
I'm going to strongly deal with them. You would too, wouldn't
you? That finishes up chapter 1. Chapter 2, Paul illustrates
these Galatians that it wasn't just Paul picking on them. They
weren't singled out. They hadn't done something wrong
and they were being made an example of. He shows them how he handled
Peter when Peter was an heir. We remember that Peter was sitting
there having with some Galatian brethren or some Gentile brethren. He was having pulled pork barbecue,
wasn't he? Sitting down having a good meal and fellowship, enjoying
his time eating with these people. And some Pharisees walked in,
some Jews walked in, and Paul got up, scraped his plate, and
went over and sat with them. So much so, that was such a statement,
there was other believers there that did the same thing, didn't
they? Every time that one of the Lord's
children is in error, the correction that Christ sends, He sends a
correction, but He also sends comfort. And He's consistent
in both correction and comfort. We get both, don't we? I've been
corrected a whole lot, but I've never been corrected without
a period of time maybe in between, but being comforted after. Why? Because all the Lord's sheep
will be taught of God. He'll be our instructor. He'll
be our teacher. It says there in Galatians 2
verse 11, But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood
him to the face, because he was to be blamed. See, he had an
excuse, didn't he? He had a reason to stand up to
Peter. And then Paul spent some time after that asking some strong
questions. Strong questions. How are we
justified before God? How are we given life? How do
we receive that new birth? He asks these very simple rhetorical
questions. They're in Galatians 3 and verse
2. He said, This only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit
by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. How did
that new Spirit get in you? Did you do something? Or did
the Lord give you faith to believe? Did the Lord give you the faith
to come to Christ? How did it happen? He didn't
wait for an answer, did he? He didn't send that epistle and
then wait for them to send one back. He said, is this how I
want to know of you? He also asked how we sanctified.
How we made holy. A lot of people say, you confuse
justification and sanctification. Paul didn't. He distinguishes
the two here. Look here in Galatians 3 verse 3. Are ye so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
He answers the question there out of verse 2. He said, you
know you began in the Spirit. You know that the Lord sent the
Spirit to you and gave you life and quickened you. Now, are you
foolish enough to think you're going to get sanctified another
way? Are you going to be made holy another way? Righteous another
way? The Galatians and all the children
of God begin in the Spirit. Then, now, and in time to come,
until the Lord calls that last sheep home, we begin in the Spirit. Spirit comes to us. And we are
perfected by the Spirit. That's where our righteousness
comes from. Christ's righteousness. That's
the way it's given. He also gives examples there
in chapter four or allegories through the experiences of the
saints of old. The experiences he has had concerning error.
And he shows us that the gracious Lord purchased his children.
He hedges his children about. He teaches them and he preserves
them to the end. He shows how the Lord keeps his
promises for his glory and for our benefit. There in chapter
4 verse 25 is referring to Hagar and Sarah. Galatians 4.25, For
this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
which is now, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem,
speaking of Sarah, which is above, is free. which is the mother
of us all. This is showing the product of
Hagar. That's us trying to fulfill God's promises. The Lord made
a promise to Abraham, I'm going to give you a son. And it didn't
happen fast enough to suit him, did it? So Sarah came up with
an idea, you can have one with my handmaid. You go lay with
Hagar and you'll have a son that way, and he did. He had Ishmael,
didn't he? We didn't wait on the Lord, and
this is the product of it. And it also shows us there, Sarah,
The Lord made a promise, and the Lord fulfilled that promise.
It didn't matter if we were waiting or not. He did it in His time,
didn't He? Galatians 4.30 says, "...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 of the
free." This is setting a tone, isn't it? He keeps showing us
examples and preaches the gospel, comes in love, shows us an example,
gives us this allegory which is preaching the gospel to us.
And begins chapter 5 there with an exhortation. Galatians 5 wants
us to stand fast, therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
We look before at that liberty we have in Christ and what we
were liberated from. We were liberated from the reign
of sin. We were liberated from that curse
of death. We were liberated from the ceremonial
and immoral law. We were freed from those things.
Liberated from them. So also here in chapter 5, God
the Holy Ghost teaches the elect sheep some things. Continues
to instruct us. And this is what we'll be looking
at over the next few messages out of Galatians. But tonight
I want us to look at the Holy Spirit and use Paul to write
these things to the believers there in Galatia, to the saints
between then and now. He was used to write this to
us today and to those children that will be called in the future.
To all of us. That all the graces that's given
by God grow. We grow in grace. We grow in
knowledge. We grow in faith, wisdom. We grow in trust. We
grow in peace, joy, long-suffering, meekness. All these fruits of
the Spirit. All these gifts, we grow in them. But now to grow
in something means that you start out small. It's going to get
bigger means it didn't used to be that big, right? We understand
those things. But I don't like to hear that
I ain't strong. I don't like to hear that I'm
weak. I don't like to hear that I've got some growing to do.
That offends me, doesn't it? We'll see that as we go through
Romans, too, how believers are to treat those that are weaker
in the faith. If you're stronger in the faith,
this is how you deal with your brother that's weaker. And if
you're weaker, this is how you deal with a brother that's stronger.
But nobody likes to hear that, do they? We need to hear it.
It's true. But I always want to be the stronger
one. It's just my nature, isn't it? But before I get too big-headed,
or before anybody else gets too big-headed listening to this,
I want us to be humbled to know that there's always a brother
or sister that's stronger than we are, that's been grown more
than we have in some area or another. That's true. But it's something that shouldn't
bring us down. That should lift us up. The Lord's
gave us brethren. He's gave us brethren that are
stronger in some things that we're weaker in. He compliments,
fits us framely together. That's a blessing, isn't it? With that said, each of us are
stronger in one area than the other. I'm thankful for my brethren
that have grown more in a certain grace than I have. They can comfort
me, guide me. I'm thankful for that. But there's
someone out there that I've been grown more than they have. What's
that mean? No matter who you are, if somebody's looking up
to you, in one area or another. That's kind of weighty, isn't
it? They're looking to us as examples. Each brother is. I know that's a fact. If a strong
hurricane comes, or there's bullets flying on the front line of war,
I'm as straight as arrow. Don't bother me one bit. I've
lived through it, I know. My Lord's on the throne. Doesn't
bother me one bit, but there might be a brother next to me
that's scared in either one of those. If I'm on an airplane
or within 15 feet of a snake, I forget that my Lord's on the
throne. And I get scared. I get nervous. I get worried.
But there's a brother or sister that's strong in that area. Those
are silly examples, but it puts it in perspective. We're fit
together. We don't have to start loving
one another here for too long, won't we? But after I'm given
some knowledge, I want to use it. If the Lord grows me in something,
if He teaches me something, I want to know what I'm supposed to
do with it. That's what we'll see tonight. I want to walk in
that light that's given to me. But after the new birth, that
new heart that is in us, it wants to serve the Lord. We want to
honor our Redeemer. Galatians 5 verse 13 says, You have been called unto liberty. We've been called. You have been
called. What is that? We've been called
by His sovereign grace according to His purpose. We see that in
Romans 8, don't we? We're called out of darkness
into light, as Peter wrote. We've been called through the
gospel and by the preaching of the gospel. That's how we're
called. That's the means. We're called to be sons, called
to be children of God. Because of our calling, we have
a liberty in Christ. We have freedom in Christ. We're freed from the power of
death, freed from the bondage and the penalty of sin, freed
from the law. We're free to serve our brethren.
We're free to serve the Lord. We didn't have that freedom before.
We were bound by our nature, weren't we? We've got a new nature,
have a new heart. Because we're free from the law,
we don't break the law for entertainment, and we don't break the law intentionally
for grace to abound, do we? We don't use our liberty for
fleshly desires. So it says there in Galatians
5.13, For brethren, ye have been called under liberty. Only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. Just because we're
free, we don't just run around and do what we want. We don't
go raise cane all over town and rob banks. We get accused of that often.
Oftentimes, there's those that preach free salvation through
Christ, through free grace. Those that preach we're free
from the bondage and the curse of the law. Those that preach
Christ saved the people no matter what. They're His. He'll keep them forever. Those
preachers are often accused of licentiousness, recklessness,
it means a loss into sin, a freedom to sin. We saw Sunday Paul would
face this there in Romans 3 verse 8 and he says, and not rather
as we have been slanderously reported and as some affirm that
we say, let us do evil that good may come. And he's speaking of
those people that say those things, he said, whose damnation is just.
They're touching the Lord's anointed on those things. I've heard many
people say, well, if I believe that salvation is fully of grace
alone, then I would live in a way that dishonored God. First off,
I got two points on that. To think that in your flesh you
live in a way or can live in a way that does honor God is
foolishness. We say it in Genesis chapter
6, don't we? The Lord looked down on the hearts
of men and found they were full of nothing but iniquity. Their
thoughts were only evil continually. Secondly, if the Lord's called
you and given you a new heart, you don't have a desire to sin
anymore. That new man in you doesn't want
to. Let me turn over to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Paul dealt with that in Romans
7 when he said, when I want to do something good, I can't. And
everything I can't do, that's what I want to do, isn't it?
I live backwards. Titus chapter 2 verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, that's all the elect children
of God, teaching us that. See that grace of God, it's a
teaching grace, isn't it? It's how you grow. teaching us
that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. What would
be the reason we need to live that way? Should we live that
way for salvation? No, of course not. Look at verse 13. Titus
2, 13. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Zealous
of good works. I don't want to sin. I want to
serve my Savior. I want to serve the Lord. But I can't keep from it. And
that offends me when people act like they can. Because either
they're lying, or I'm in worse trouble than I thought I was
in. I don't want to do the things that I used to do. I don't want
to feed that old man. You've all heard that analogy,
if you've got two dogs, which one's going to win? You've got
a bad dog and a good dog. Well, the dog that's going to
win is the one you feed the most. But that old dog of mine's been
around longer. It's strong. It snatches that
food away. But I don't want to do those
things. I want to honor the Lord. We've seen often lately that
war in us. What I want to do, I can't. What I can't do, that's
what I want to do. I want to serve the Lord, can't
keep from it. Be turning to 1 John. Look at 1 John chapter 2. And
that war in me, when I'm turned upside down, thanks be to God
that I have a mediator. I have somebody between me and
God the Father. All Christ's sheep have a mediator.
I worded this carefully. All Christ's sheep have a mediator,
and any of Christ's sheep have a mediator. Look here in 1 John
2, verse 1. My little children, these things
I write unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin, Not
if you've sinned. We know we're going to sin, don't
we? Some people comment on that, and the commentator said, well,
you should change that to when you've sinned. That's not what
the Word says. It says if any man sinned. But we read that
swiftly. It doesn't mean if someone were
to sin, but it means any of us. Any man, least or great. If you've known the Lord for
60 seconds, or you've known the Lord for 60 years, Either way,
any man, if any man sin, any one of us. So it says there,
my little children, these things write unto you that you sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sin. That sin that we have, He's our
mercy seat. He's our mediator. He's the one,
that's where the Lord met with us. He said, I'll commune with
you on that mercy seat. Christ is our mediator. when
any of us sin, it'll happen. But that liberty, this liberty
we've been given is not a reason to excuse our sin or to live
in sin. But we are free to finally serve
the Lord with a true heart. That's what he frees us to. God Almighty looks on the heart,
doesn't he? And after being born again, we
don't spew venom out of our mouths anymore from that wicked heart
that we have. We have a new heart. So something new is going to
come out of our mouth. Love will come out of our mouth. Graciousness
will come out of our mouth. That's what's been put in us,
what's been done in us. We're given a new heart, new
motives, new desires, new direction, new goals, new ambition, a new
love, a new want to. We have a new motivation. You
can turn over to 2 Corinthians 5 and hold your place there.
2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, I've got to get there. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, Therefore
if any man be in Christ, if someone's in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things are become new. We are not made to seek our righteousness
anymore, to seek out a righteousness of our own anymore. Something
new has happened. What do we do now? I don't try
to hash out my righteousness, I submit to Christ's righteousness.
That's something new in us, isn't it? All things become new. I haven't told you my first two
points, but I'm on my third point now. Those called use the liberty
we're given to serve and love. We're called to serve in love.
You stay there in 2 Corinthians, but our text there in Galatians
5.13 says, For brethren, you have been called under liberty
only. Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by
love, serve one another. By love, serve one another. We're
motivated to serve by love, aren't we? That's our motivation. Christ
in us. 2 Corinthians 5.14, what's our
motivation? What's our source, our foundation
of the love? Why should we love? For the love
of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.14, for the love of Christ constraineth
us because we thus judge that if one died for all, all those
covenant people he came for, then we're all dead. and that
He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but live unto Him which died for them, and
rose again." We don't live for ourselves, we live for Christ.
We don't live for this world, we live for that heavenly kingdom,
don't we? Look there in verse 16, when
henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we had
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth No we him
no more. We don't truly know ourselves,
much less somebody else, much less another brother, but it'll
all perish won't it? Everything in this world will
go away. Thankfully my sin will go away with it. This old man
will go with it, but the bounds that I have here, there'll come
a time that I'll leave this world and I won't be a father no more.
That bond I have with you children will be gone. There'll come a
time I won't be a husband anymore. I'll be a bride, but I won't
be a husband. These earthly constraints we
have, they go away. Christ was here on this earth.
He was here with these apostles, but he left, didn't he? He wasn't
here forever with them, but that comforter came. We can't know the flesh of our
brethren if we cannot know our own hearts. I don't know my own
heart. How can I judge somebody else?
But we can know the new heart in them. We can truly love and be loved
in that new spirit. That new man can really worship
with our brethren, with our brothers and sisters. We serve one another
in love. Turn to Matthew 22. Galatians 5, Paul is saying there
in verse 14, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even
this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Serve one another
in love and love your neighbor as yourself. Where did he get
that? Did he come up with that? Matthew
22 and verse 37. Jesus said unto him, thou shalt,
one of the men had asked the Lord, what's the greatest of
commandments? Verse 37, Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is lock into it. What's similar about these two?
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. Love the Lord with all of your
heart and love your neighbor with all of your heart. And it
said the second is like unto it. What's the common thread?
Love. If God is love, that's one of
his attributes, where do we get love from? We get it from Him,
don't we? Proof that we establish the law
and fulfill it through Christ is the love that the new man
has in us. That's our evidence. We love
our brethren. We love one another. Thomas,
I'd die for you, brother. I may not want to, but I would. But where does that come from?
That's a proof, isn't it? That's an evidence. John 13 says,
Christ told us, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. You can
fake love for a little while. You can be nice to somebody.
You can smile with your eyes and practice in a mirror and
say the right thing. You can put on a show for a while,
but over time you can't, can you? Either you love somebody
or you don't. And on the other side of that,
we don't have to have a law tell us to love somebody. You men
with your wives, I don't need a piece of paper for me to love
that woman. If she's sick and she stubs her
toe or has a fever, I don't have to go look in my safe and find
my marriage license and say, ah, I gotta love her. Honey,
you need an ice pack? No, I love her. Can't keep from
it, can I? We just love them because it
comes natural, Donna. That new heart in us naturally serves
one another in love. That's what comes with it. We
serve one another by worshiping together. Turn over to 1 Peter
chapter 2. Here's what I'm looking forward
to this weekend. I'm thankful for the means the
Lord's given us to still meet together and spread
the gospel electronically and video or however form we can. But I look forward to seeing
my brethren, worshipping with my brethren in person. 1 Peter
2 verse 9 says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into this marvellous
light. My new heart and your new heart gives praises to Him. It gives praises to Christ, doesn't
it? Our love towards one another
is showing each other Christ. He's the one worthy of the praise.
That's the best thing you can do to lift a brother up or a
sister up. If somebody's down and out and sad over anything,
what do we do? Well, my Lord, the Lord of Providence,
He sent this trial to you. Well, you know what? If they're happy, say, look what
the Lord did for you. If they're really down and out,
the Lord saved you. This whole earth, this whole
world, everything in and around you, He did for you to bring
you to Him. That makes everything a little
sweeter, doesn't it? We just keep pointing one another to
Christ. That's truly loving somebody. That's the requirements of the
scriptures for that woman and them children out there. My first
priority is having them under the sound of the gospel. That's
my responsibility. That's true love. That's love,
and I'm like, Christ loved the church. What would Christ do
to His church? Every one of them would cut underneath
the sound of the gospel. But He can do it effectually.
I wish I could sometimes. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
10, while we're on this side. Hebrews chapter 10 to the left,
a few pages. Verse 24. and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works." Consider one another.
Encourage each other to love, good works. Verse 25, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another and so much the more as you see that
day approaching. We assemble together. We remind
one another what Christ has done in us and for us. And in verse
24 there, that provokes us to love, doesn't it? We come hear
this message, and after this message, we sit around and talk
for a little bit. And we say, yeah, I was down this week, but
man, I was reading this text over here. I hear you men speaking. That encourages me. Oh, it thrills
my heart. I was so happy the other day.
I read this the other day. Man, that really helped me out.
What do we do? That's provoking to love. All right, finally, we serve
one another in love by forgiving one another. Love forgives, doesn't
it? We're going to see the fruits
of the Spirit a little bit on this weekend, but Ephesians 4, it says, let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you." That's a good reason to forgive
a brother, isn't it? When our master, I was thinking
about this this morning, when our master taught us to pray, what
did he say? Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors. What's that mean? Luke records
it differently. It says forgive our sins for we also forgive
everyone that's indebted to us, everyone that sins against us.
The Lord's forgiven us. How can I not forgive a brother?
That new heart given to us that we should serve one another with
love, it forgives as we have been forgiven. The sure sign
that someone has not received the Spirit of God in them, the
sure sign that they don't have a new heart in them, they haven't
been saved, they haven't been regenerated yet, is they don't
forgive. How can I? He's forgiven so much in me.
How can I not forgive somebody else? They've done less to me
than I've done to the Lord. That's what David said, Lord,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. Now we start learning
something. That's some meaty stuff. I didn't
just make my brother mad, I made the Lord mad. And if someone
had done something to upset me, and they had a penitent heart,
but to the Lord. Brother, I hurt your feelings,
but I offended God by doing that, because that's Christ in you.
How could you be mad at Him? It just takes all your thunder,
doesn't it? But a child of God will get mad. We will hold grudges. We will be spiteful, but only
for a time. That time will pass. There's
occasions that time's a long time. It might be years or decades,
but the Lord will turn us. He'll break our hearts. He'll
soften us. Make us tender-hearted, because He'll do it by showing
us how much Christ has forgiven in me. How much more so should
I forgive that slight offense of my brother? When it says,
take that plank out of your eye before you worry about the splinter
in your brother's, that's kind of a sarcastic thing. If you
had a beam coming out of your eyes, you've got something over
there. That's the reality of it. We start seeing that, understanding
how much offense I've made. Makes it easy to serve and love.
There in Galatians 5 verse 15, back at our text, it says, But
if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed
with one another. What is this devour and biting?
he's speaking of. The source of that is legalism,
us living under the law. Because if I'm only looking to
myself because of a law that's out there, the first thing I'll
start doing is looking next to me. I don't want to see evil
in me. I say, well, you can't drink no more. Well, I quit drinking
liquor, but I still drink wine. But he drinks liquor. or she
drinks beer, you know, you start pointing the finger as quick
as you can. Start biting and devouring one another. But Paul
did this. When he was still Saul, in Acts
9 it says, "... yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, he went to the higher
priest and desired letters to Damascus and the synagogues that
he found any in this way, whether they were men or women, he might
bring them bound to Jerusalem." He was devouring and biting at
the church, wasn't he? Physically. That's not a loving
heart. That's not serving in love. That's
a surefire way to split up a congregation and destroy a local church. When
it starts being infighting. People start getting mad at one
another. It's easy not to fight when we ain't around each other.
It's hard to fight over the internet, I think. I don't get on there
much. That's a surefire way. And Paul warns us, if you bite
and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed
one to another. Turn over Matthew 8 and we'll
end. Where does this heart come from?
What heart do we have? What heart do I have? Do I have
a loving heart? A forgiving heart? A joyful heart?
Or do I have one that points a finger at somebody else? I said Matthew 8. Matthew 18. Matthew 18 verse 21, Then came
Peter unto him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until
seventy times seven. That means infinitely, not 144,
infinitely. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven
like unto a certain king which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which
owed him ten thousand talents. For as much as he had not to
pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children,
and all that he had in payment to be made." He was in so much
debt that he was going to sell his children, and sell his wife,
and sell him. Verse 26, The servant fell down
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all. And the Lord of that servant
was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the
debt. But the same servant went out
and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence."
That's a thousandth. And he laid hands on him and
took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou ow'st." That
king, that lord, was so gracious to that servant. Ten thousand
talents. And as soon as he was freed,
he goes out and somebody owed him a hundred. And he takes him
by the throat. That's biting and devouring,
isn't it? And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought
him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he
should pay the debt. So when his fellow servant saw
what he had done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto
their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord after that he had
called him, and said unto him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave
thee all that debt, because thou desirest of me. Shouldest not
thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as
I have had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered
him unto the tormentors, till he should pay all that he was
due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto
thee, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses." That's serious. You know what that makes me?
As soon as I read that, you know what I ask for? Lord, give me
a new heart. Give me a heart that loves. He
has to give it. Back to our text, we'll close.
Galatians 5 verse 16. With all those things being said,
seeing that we were called, we were given liberty, walking that
liberty. Don't use it to an offense. Don't
use it as an excuse. Called to serve one another in
love. Why do we love? Where does our love come from?
What purpose do we love? Paul says there in Galatians
5 verse 16, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we're given that new heart,
that heart will walk with us. It'll lead us, won't it? Christ
will lead us. Christ in us. And loving our
brethren, Christ in them, will help guide us, help us get us
through this world, won't it? He encourages us. Walk in the
Spirit. I pray we can walk in the Spirit.
I pray the Lord gives us a heart to love our brethren and serve
Him as we truly can. Now we can. We have opportunities.
Couldn't before. I thought I was before. That didn't happen. He's given
me a new heart, given me that liberty. Now I can. I want to. I desire to. I pray you do as
well.