Turn with me to Galatians 5 again. Galatians 5, I have a particular subject matter that has been heavily on my mind in my heart for a little while now. mercy when it comes to delivering messages. I can't always just think of something that I want to say and then say it. I'm at the mercy of how the Lord moves me and what he gives to me. I don't have the gift of gab. Either the Lord gives me something to say or I don't have anything to say that may be strange, but that's just how it is. And this is just.

Been. heavily on my mind, on my heart for quite a while now, and it so pertains to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, I wanted to have the Lord's table with it. I've been thinking specifically about this, and I'm gonna tell you that it's gonna sound familiar because this is the exact same subject matter we just looked at for our Bible study in different wording. I actually had this message prepared first and then at the last minute felt very strongly that I needed to go back and do a summary of last week's Bible study. And it's the same thing. But I can't help it. This is what I'm currently overwhelmed with and I pray it's of the Lord. Let's read these nine verses one more time.

Galatians 5 verse 1 says, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 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. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of 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 Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. but faith which worketh by love. You did run well. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lot.

Now, do we understand what that's saying? The Apostle Paul right here is saying that by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, he set us free. He set us free from the bondage and the curse of the law. That's how we all enter this world, under the bondage and curse of the law. That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. And Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, he set us free from the bondage and curse of the law because of our sin against it. When Christ put away our sin, he put away the cursed bondage that the law had on us and he set us free.

But Paul was, with the whole book of Galatians, the whole church at Galatia, Paul was running into the same thing with the Galatians that I run into all the time, and you run into all the time, whether we run into it in a conversation within our own selves, whether we're talking to ourselves and trying to figure this out within our own selves, or whether we're talking to other people. The issue is this question, but what about the law? That is always going to be the question, but what about the law? But wait a minute, but what about the law? And see if you can enter into this. See if this mindset registers with you.

Yes, I understand that Christ put away my sin. You said he died on the cross. He shed his blood and he put away my sin. I understand that. You say salvation is finished or the scripture says salvation is finished. I understand that. I understand that I am complete in him as the scripture says. I get that.

But what about the law? Read through the epistles, you know, read through, you know, what Paul wrote to the Romans and the Corinthians and the Philippians. That's still the law. Commandments. What am I supposed to do about the law of commandments? What am I supposed to do about it? Well, Paul answered that question right here in verse 1.

He said, What he's saying is Christ did enough to both pay your sin debt and to earn your righteousness. He did enough for both. Just stand still and rest in him. Rest in what he accomplished. You say, well, yeah, but the law says I have to be circumcised. And the law says thousands and thousands of things. I'm gonna say that because that's what's in the text right here, okay? And it did. It literally did. Read it. We did read it in Genesis with Abraham. Yeah, but the law says I have to be circumcised.

Hold your place right here and turn over to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2, speaking of Christ, verse 11 says, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. How? by the circumcision of Christ, by the cutting off of Christ. You are, but the law says I have to be circumcised. You are in him. That has been fulfilled for you by the sacrifice, by the cutting, he was cut off out of the land of the living and he died. And you are by the sacrifice of Christ. All right, go back to Galatians five.

Verse two, Paul said, if you want to be circumcised, that's fine, but it's not going to profit you anything spiritually before God. Verse two, 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's a debtor to do the whole law." We're going to let you know that first covenant said if you do all of this, you'll live. To break the law in one point is to break the whole law. Somebody will say, well, okay, I'm circumcised. I am. Great, that's great.

But if that's what you're holding on to for your hope before God, you have a long line of commandments that need to be fulfilled, a long line. And it's a line that in your flesh you'll never be able to fulfill, never. Verse four says, Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. you are fallen from grace. What he's saying is if you are still looking to the law, you are still missing Christ. That's what I would very much like to say to everybody for eternity's sake, for their soul's sake, just as a check, check, check what's going on in here. If you are still looking to the law for satisfaction before God, somehow, You are still missing Christ.

People think that falling from grace is falling from clinging to the works of the law, that's what they think it is. The exact opposite is true. The exact opposite is true. If we are clinging to the works of the law for our hope and our assurance before God, we have fallen from grace. We've fallen from grace.

The free gift of God's grace. Salvation is a gift. It's a gift. The free gift of God's grace in the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse 5 says, for we through the Spirit. Wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. What does that mean? Anytime that you want to understand. A verse that has the word faith in it. You really want to get ahold of what does it mean? Substitute the word Christ for faith. Faith is of Christ, in Christ, to Christ.

He's the object of it. He's the author of it. He's the finisher of it. He's the performer of it. Christ, Christ. If you see faith, put Christ right there. Verse five, for we through the spirit do wait for the hope of righteousness by Christ. That's what faith says. That's by Christ. We're not looking to ourselves, we're looking to Christ. We're waiting for the righteousness that's of Christ, authored by Christ. Righteousness doesn't, and righteousness means good deeds. It means goodness. We're not going to find that here. We're not looking for that right here. We're looking to what he did for our hope of glory. We're not looking to what I'm going to do for my hope of glory.

Verse six, for in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision. But it's faith. What is it? It's Christ which worketh. Faith is the one doing the work. Whose faith? Christ is, which worketh by love. So what he's saying right there is nothing that we do or don't do matters. You telling me it doesn't matter what I do?

No, because everything I do is sin. It's sin. Well, what about that good deed? That was sin too. Everything we do or don't do. I did that sin, you know, in Matthew seven, they said, Lord, we preached in your name. We cast out devils in your name. We did all these wonderful humanitarian efforts. He said, depart from me, you that work sin. I never knew you.

Preaching is sin and casting out devils is sin. Yes. If it's not in Christ, it's in sin. So anything that we do or don't do is just drowning in sin. If I'm circumcised, if I'm circumcised, that self-righteous act is drowning in sin. I'm circumcised. And if I don't get circumcised, that rebellious act, God told me to, if I don't get circumcised, that rebellious act is drowning in sin.

My only hope is in Jesus Christ. My only hope is in myself, in my flesh. And this is how we say it here in the South. I'm danged if I do, danged if I don't. That's where I'm left. My only hope is in Jesus Christ. Verse seven, he said, you did run well.

Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? The truth of God's word, which is Christ. Did he not say, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. That's Christ, the word of truth, the word of Christ. What did Christ say? What did God's word say?

Put down your works and rest. Cease from your works as God did from his. Come to Christ, he'll give you rest. Paul said, what put the thought in your mind that you needed to go back to work? Verse eight, he said, this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. He said, God didn't tell you to do that. God's word didn't tell you to do that.

Where do men get the things they get? They have all these famous sayings, but now you know God loves those, God helps those who help themselves. Where is that in the Bible? Have you ever seen that in the Bible? Get a concordance, it's not in the Bible. All these little sayings, where do men come up with these things? He said God didn't tell you that.

Verse nine, he said a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. Realize this, remember this, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Now I'm a guy and I don't cook and I spent my whole life not knowing what leaven was and I had it in my mind that whatever leaven was it deflated something. You know like It'll, a little bit will ruin the whole thing.

And that's what it's saying. I have it, I had it backwards. Leaven is what puffs bread up. But it's the same thing. If you want to see it as just, it's just deflating the whole, just ruining the whole thing. It's the same thing. Leaven is what puffs up.

And, um, And this is what I've been thinking on for the last few weeks, a little leaven, because I'm telling you as a preacher of the gospel, you are constantly digging and searching. The worst thing we could do is assume. Oh, I'm pretty sure I know what that passage means. No, why don't you study it? Why don't you dig into it and see what the Lord has revealed to some other men on it and look up these words and such on and so forth.

And you really, let me just say that it's very important to me that I tell you the truth. It's extremely important to me at all costs. I recognize the fact that people may leave if I tell them the truth. I don't want anybody to leave. But if anybody does leave, it's not, it can't change the truth. It just can't.

And you know the gospel is very loving and very kind but it's very dogmatic. It's not yay and nay, it's yay and yes. And so this is what has really been just consuming my mind that we don't preach words, we preach grace. Not works, it's grace. Well, come on now, isn't it maybe just a little bit of works? A little leaven will leaven the whole lump. Now let's just take a brief moment here. Let's go through just a few scriptures and let's see what the word says about this.

Go to Exodus 12. Exodus 12, verse 3, it says, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month shall they take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the house be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man, according to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Can we see the picture of Christ in this? This lamb, a male, first year, killed because of the people, by the people, the sin of the people.

Verse seven, they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread. Look at verse 12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I am the Lord.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. Man, this is good news. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.

Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Unleavened bread, verse 17. And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Four. In this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. Our Lord said, eat unleavened bread because I did it. I did it. Eat unleavened bread because I did it. Turn over to Exodus 34. Verse 25 says, Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven. Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left until the morning. Do not offer it with leaven. Don't do it.

See if you can find Amos chapter 4. If your Bible's like mine, it's page 1142 in the Old Testament. Amos chapter 4. The headings at the top of my pages here say the necessity of God's judgment against Israel. It says Israel is reproved and exhorted to repent. The Lord is is mocking them here. He is condemning them for their actions. Look at Amos four, verse four, he said, Come to Bethel. That's the house of God. Come to Bethel and transgress. Sin. And Gilgal, multiply transgression.

You just come and sin and sin and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven. and proclaim and publish the free offerings for this liketh you." My center margin right there says, so ye love. That's what you love to do. What you love to do. That's what man loves to do. Oh, you children of Israel, sayeth the Lord God. He said, if you want to sin against me, here's how you do it. Bring your leaven. You want to sin, bring your leaven. Now, what does all this really mean? I'm just gonna tell you. We'll go to Matthew 16. I've gotta show you this. Matthew 16. Our Lord made clear what this means. Matthew 16, verse six. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It's because we've taken no bread. He said, Beware of this leaven, because we forgot to bring bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because you've brought no bread? Do you not yet understand neither remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up?

How is it that you do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." What is the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?

The deeds of the law. The works of man's flesh. Our Lord said, beware of it. If our Lord says, beware of something, we had best beware of it. We'd best beware of it. Over in, let me see if I need to show you this, over in, don't turn yet, 1 Corinthians 5, our Lord Paul wrote, your glorying is not good.

Know ye that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened, for even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Leaven represents the works of the flesh. And if a lot of leaven leavens the whole lump, if you put a lot of leaven in there and it'll leaven the whole lump, and if you put a tiny little bit of leaven and it will still leaven the whole lump, the best thing to do is get rid of the leaven. That's the best thing to do. Purge it. Throw out the leaven. Just throw out the leaven.

It went on to say, therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ is our unleavened bread. Christ is our sincerity. Christ is our truth. Christ is our Passover sacrificed for us.

And therefore, in honor of his glory, in honor of his accomplishment, in honor of his worthiness, we need to get rid of everything pertaining to our flesh and cling only to him. Cling only to him. Now let me, in closing, let me say this. Seeing Christ to be our complete Passover, When God sees the blood of Christ, he'll pass over us and we'll live and we'll be spared. Seeing Christ to be our complete Passover, seeing us to be totally complete in him, what do I need to do? Nothing, Christ did it. Complete, finished.

Seeing the liberty from the bondage and curse of the law that he secured for us by his sacrifice, That does not promote a heart of rebellion and sin in his people at all. I just want to make this very, very clear. Not at all. Freedom from the law does not produce rebellion to the law at all.

A lot of people worry about that. They don't understand. Well, if you throw the law out, then you'll be a criminal. No, you're already a criminal. Now you're just a criminal who thanks God for Jesus Christ. That's what it will do. That's all that it will do. It will only produce love for Christ. Being set free from the law by Christ will only produce love for Christ. It will produce a love and a respect for God's law because Christ fulfilled it. If he loved it, if he respected it enough to fulfill it, then I do too. By God's grace, I do to all of God's people do. The Galatians with Paul.

And, you know, and people I run into all the time, sometimes we ourselves. wonder, will I become lawless if I am not clinging to the law and only clinging to Christ? And the answer is, absolutely not. Absolutely not. And here's the reason why. Christ is the end of the law. That's the reason why. Christ is the end point You know, the law is the schoolmaster that has one end point. You know what the law does? It says you get to Jesus Christ. You want to see what's coming for you outside of Christ? You get to Jesus Christ as fast as you can.

He is the end of the law for righteousness. He's the fulfillment. To have him is to have a perfectly fulfilled law. perfectly fulfilled law, one that God's satisfied with. Therefore, God's people have no reason to look to the law. My obedience to the law has no bearing on God's satisfaction with me in Christ. If Christ is in me, the work of the law is fulfilled in me. And I don't need to look to the work. I just need to look to the worker. I had this little illustration. I don't even know if it's any good, but I'll tell it to you anyway.

I like to wear gloves when I'm working around my house outside. And as long as my hand is in the glove, the glove will go through the motions of the work. But I don't walk into my garage where I lay my gloves and stand there and look at those gloves to produce any works. Go ahead. That job needs to be done. I'm not looking to the glove. I'm looking to the worker in the glove. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's how it is with Christ. We're just the glove.

He's the workman. We'll leave all the work to him. We give all the glory to him, and this was his work. This was his beautiful, glorious work, and we give all the glory for him for everything that he did, all the way from creation to salvation to glorification. He gets all the glory. We purge everything but his work. Get rid of everything but his work. All right, we're gonna observe this table. Brother Luke, you come and read for us.