"Liberty and Love"

Q: What does the Bible say about liberty and love?

The Bible teaches that Christians are called to liberty and should use that freedom to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). In Galatians 5:13, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that believers have been called to liberty, but this freedom should not be misused for selfish desires or to indulge the flesh. Instead, Christians are called to use their liberty as an opportunity to serve one another in love. This reflects a fundamental aspect of the Christian life: that true freedom in Christ transforms our desires and actions into expressions of love and service to others, fulfilling the law through the command to love one's neighbor as oneself.

Q: How do we know that Christian liberty is not lawlessness?

Christian liberty is guided by love and is not a license to sin; it is meant to serve others while following the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:13-14). Christian liberty does not equate to lawlessness or a freedom to engage in sinful behavior. Paul warns in Galatians 5:13 that believers should not use their liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, which implies a call to self-control and moral integrity. Instead, Christians are called to fulfill the law through love, reflecting that true liberty is found not merely in doing as one pleases, but in serving others and being led by the Holy Spirit. In this way, the exercise of liberty is always linked to love and the well-being of the community of believers.

Q: Why is love important for Christians?

Love fulfills the law and is essential for harmonious relationships within the church (Galatians 5:14). Love is crucial for Christians as it is the foundation upon which all commandments are built. In Galatians 5:14, Paul asserts that the entire law is fulfilled in the command to love one's neighbor as oneself. This underscores the importance of love in fostering unity and harmony among believers. When Christians embody love, they reflect the character of Christ and fulfill their calling as children of God. Additionally, love is an essential characteristic of a healthy church community, promoting peace and mutual support among its members.

Good evening. Let's stand together and sing hymn number 232. 232. Christ our Redeemer died on the cross, died for the sinner, paid all his dues. Cover your soul with the blood of the Lamb. When I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus will save, All He has promised that He will do.

Wash in the fountain, open for sin, and I will pass, will pass over you, when I see the blue. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Judgment is coming, all will be there. Each one receiving justly is due. Hide in the savings in quenching blood And I will pass with pass over you When I see the flood see the blood. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.

O great compassion, O boundless love, O loving kindness, faithful and true. find peace and shelter under the book and I will pass will pass over you when I see the book ♪ When I see the blood, when I see the blood ♪ ♪ I will pass, I will pass over you ♪ Be seated. In our course books, we'll sing on page 30, Living by Faith. Page 30 in the course book. you I care not today what the morrow may bring, if shadow or sunshine or rain.

The Lord I know ruleth for everything, and all of my worry is vain. by faith in Jesus above, trusting, confiding in his great love. Safe from all harm in his sheltering arm, ♪ We shall do our part living by faith ♪ ♪ By faith, by faith ♪ ♪ And fear not, we'll go along ♪ ♪ Though tempests may blow and the storm clouds arise ♪ ♪ Obscuring the brightness of light ♪ I'm never alarmed at the overcast skies, When the Master looks on at the strife. Living by faith in Jesus above, Trusting, confiding in His great love Safe from all harm in a sheltering home I'm living by faith in a field of love. I know that He safely will carry me through No matter what evil's betide Why should I then care though the tears may flow If Jesus walks close to my side? Living by faith, in Jesus' support ♪ In Jesus' love ♪ Trusting God ♪ Trusting God ♪ Lying in His grave ♪ Yes, in His grave ♪ Safe from all harm ♪ Safe from all harm ♪ It is sheltering all ♪ It is sheltering all ♪ Unliving by faith Our Lord will return to this earth some sweet day. Our troubles will then all be over. The Master so gently will lead us away beyond that blessed heavenly shore.

Living by faith in Jesus above, trusting, confiding in His grace, safe from all harm, in a sheltering arm. I'm living by faith, you can feel the world Boy, I'm surprised to see so many out on such a rainy, rainy, stormy night. But I'm glad you made it. Glad you made it. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. I'll start reading at verse 13 and go down to verse 21.

For brethren, you have been called unto liberty, only use not your liberty for an occasion of the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, Father, our Father which art in heaven, your name is holy, Hallowed be thy name. And Lord, we won't, I know I won't, and I believe every child of God here won't, your will to be done, your will to be done in this world, your will to be done in us, your will to be done in our hearts, your will to be done. And that's what we find comfort in, your will, not our will, not our abilities, but in your ability. in your will and in your power and in your blessed grace. And Father, we've gathered here again, as we've often said, to worship you and to magnify your holy name. And so, Lord, give us grace that we might understand your word and be able to speak from your word with some understanding, some wisdom.

And blessed Savior, we pray now for those who are sick, tried among us, Lord, we pray for Doc and Janie. Continue to pray for them. Pray for James, Lord. He has a great fight of afflictions. And Lord, please be strength to him, be an encouragement to him. Uphold him. And our Savior, we pray for Rick and Helen again.

Don't want to forget your people. And for others among us who are weak and frail, and their bodies are weak and frail. We ask for your mercies and your grace to be given us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless you, holy name, tonight. Meet with us. Have mercy upon our children and upon our grandchildren. Lord, the only hope we have for them is you, is you. And so we're going to continue to bring them, continue to bring them to you. And we do it for Christ's sake and in his holy name. Amen. Back in our course books on page 34, the love of God. There's only two verses in here, but we will sing three.

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. He goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty bear bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win. His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from His sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure, How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure The saints' and angels' song. When hoary time shall pass away And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall When men who hear refuse to pray On rocks and hills and mountains call. God's love so sure shall still endure All measureless and strong. Redeeming grace to Adam's race, The saints' and angels' song. O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong, it shall forevermore endure, the saints' and angels' song.

Could we with thee the oceans fill, And were the skies of parchment made? Were every stalk on earth the quill, And every man a scribe by trade? To write the love of God above Would drain the oceans dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless! and strong. It shall forevermore endure the saints and angels. I want to talk about liberty and love. Liberty and love. Ain't that what it says in verse 13? For brethren, you have been called unto liberty, only used not for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Liberty and love.

You know, Paul started out in verse 10 and said, I have confidence in you. But the only way he could have confidence was through the Lord. And that's all why we have confidence in one another, through Christ. What Christ has done for us. That's why the apostle says that we have no confidence in the flesh. And there's no good thing in the flesh. There's no good thing in it.

But oh my, But I tell you what we do have confidence in. Paul says, being confident of this one thing, that he which begun a good work in you, his work, he shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. I'm confident in his work, confident that he's going to keep it and perform it unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then he says this, the last part of verse 10, he that troubeth you shall bear his own judgment. You think about God judging a man. Judging a man because he's troubling the Lord's people. Troubling and talking these people away from Christ and troubling them with law and circumcision and feast days and those kind of things. He's going to bear his own judgment. Nobody else is going to bear it for him. He's going to have to bear it himself.

And then he says this, and if I preach circumcision, if I preach circumcision, Why am I persecuted? Why am I persecuted? You know, all it takes to remove the offense of the cross, all it takes to remove the offense of the cross, and you can preach anything, anywhere, anytime, but when you take the cross and you set it forth as the only person on that cross and the blood he shed, and the fountain that was opened there, that's the only hope for any sinner, this side of heaven, this side of the grave, that you preach that the Lord Jesus Christ by Himself put away sin. He, by the sacrifice of Himself, He died to redeem us from sin. He bought us out from under the curse of the law. He did it. He did it. And oh my, if you preach works, You don't have any problem. But boy, when you start dealing with grace and grace and free grace and Christ is the only hope, Christ is all in all, Christ is our only righteousness.

You start preaching that and folks don't take it. They won't like it. They won't like it. I know two or three people over the gym I go to, you know, and used to talk to me all the time and, you know, witnessing to me and talking to me about Jesus all the time. all that, and wore all kinds of t-shirts, you know, with religious slogans on them.

And then, you know, I started talking to them, and I told them, my pastor of the church, they listen to me now, you know what they say to me? Hi, pastor, how are you? That's all they say. Hi, pastor, how are you? They've heard me. They went and found out what I had to say. Hi, pastor, how are you?

They don't mention Christ anymore, don't mention Jesus anymore. Don't do that anymore. And I never done anything to them, I just... If you have to wear a t-shirt letting folks know you're a Christian, you're in trouble. If you have to wear a t-shirt, and if you're a preacher, you gotta put on the back of your car a cross and clergy, you're in trouble. You're in trouble. But oh my, but look what he says here in verse 13. Let's start verse 13.

For brethren, we've been called unto liberty. Oh my, free from the law, oh happy, happy condition. Look what our Lord said, look what it said back up in verse one. This is where this liberty comes from. Stand therefore fast in the liberty, and this is where it comes from, wherein Christ has made us free. That's where our freedom comes from. That's where it comes from. That's how we get it.

Christ set us free. He set us free from the bondage of the law, set us free from the righteousness obtained by the law. Everything that is against us and contrary to us, he set us free from it. Free from the bondage of the law, free from its curse, free from sin, free from the world, free from condemnation. We are free from judgment.

We are free. Christ set us free. Set us free. And oh, my. And I tell you, look what he says here. Now, so we're free. I'm a free man. I'm a, you know, I'm a free man in Christ. I'm a son of Adam. I mean, excuse me, a son of Abraham was the son of Adam and both of them, but I'm more of a son of Abraham. And then look what he says here in verse 13.

Only use not your liberty, your freedom in Christ as an occasion to the flesh. Now, what's he talking about? You're free. You're free. There's nothing and no condemnation to them that are in Christ. But what he's telling us is that, yes, we've got liberty. We've got freedom. We do.

But what he's saying, don't use your liberty as an occasion to let your flesh ruin you and rule over you and use your liberty as a covering. Use your grace. You know, Paul says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. But oh my, he's a warning us that we can misuse our liberty in Christ.

And when I first found out that I had a little liberty. I went, I just, I went, you know, I went way, way too far. Way, way too far. So I know what I'm talking about here. But oh my, as a warning in Christ that we misuse our liberty in Christ. Now look over in Jude. Jude's that little bitty book right before the book of Revelation. One chapter. One chapter.

You know, we can, we can indulge our flesh and everything that's All the advertisements in the world and everything about it, it's always, you know, indulge yourself. Treat yourself. Treat yourself to this. Treat yourself to that. Enjoy this and enjoy that. Every advertisement is catered to the flesh. And he says, don't lose your liberty, your freedom that you have in Christ to indulge and overuse your flesh. And look what he said here in Jude, verse 4.

With our certain men crept in unawares. Now you notice how they crept in. They snuck in. And everybody was unaware of them. Who were before of old ordained to this judgment, this condemnation, ungodly men. Now look what they do. Turning the grace of God, our God, into lasciviousness. They turn God's grace into saying, it doesn't matter what I do, where I go, what I say, how I act, and I can do anything I want to. And turn it into lasciviousness, give in to the basest part of your nature. And but look what he says.

And they even deny the Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ. They deny Him Do they just get up and say, no, I don't believe in Jesus. I don't believe in the Lord. I don't know. That's not what they say. They get up and preach one thing, and then they'll tell you that you ain't got any liberty.

You can do anything else that you want to. But they sneak in. And that's why Paul said that's what these fellas did to these men. And oh, we can indulge our flesh. We can indulge our own nature. And liberty does not mean lawlessness. You know, Paul told the Philippians, he said, let your moderation be known unto all men. And that word moderation means forbearance, reasonableness. Moderation, moderate. Not too far this way, not too far that way. Don't go away over here and don't go. Moderate, pretty stable. And you know, forbearance, reasonable.

And you know why he said? Because the Lord's at hand. What did he mean the Lord's at hand? That means that the Lord Jesus Christ is right there at your hand watching what you do. That means He's at your right hand. The Lord is at hand. That means He's right there watching. He's there with you.

And oh my, don't use your liberty. We've got liberty. Now, let me make this as plain as I possibly can. There's a great difference between Christian liberty and the use of Christian liberty. Now, listen to what I'm gonna tell you. Christian liberty, Christian freedom, the freedom we have in Christ, is an internal thing.

It's on your conscience. It's on your heart. It's in your mind. It's an internal thing. And in your mind and conscience, as it relates to God. But the use, this is internal, our own conscience, our own mind. as it relates to God. But our use of our liberty, our use as an external thing, what's in here comes out here. If you're not, if you don't have a restraint in here, it's going to come out. And that's what he said, your Christian liberty, your conscience and mind is internal, but nobody knows what your liberty is until you start using it.

And then people watch you and see what's going on. It has to do with our conduct before men. And I'll tell you something, we should never, listen to me, we should never give up our liberty, but we should never impose it on others or offend somebody with it. I want to show you two things. I want to show you first and foremost Romans chapter 14. In Romans chapter 14. You know, Down in verse 13.

Let us not therefore judge one another anymore. Don't judge a man. Why is he saying that? But judge this rather. Come to this conclusion that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Don't do that. Don't judge a man and say, well, I'm going to, well, he's doing this, I'm going to, but now watch what he says. I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it's unclean. If there's things you can't do, that's up to your conscience, but look what he goes on to say.

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, Here's the key to it right here. Now walk us now not charitably. Don't you love them enough that you wouldn't do anything to offend them, do anything that would hurt them, anything that would make them stumble because of love? Destroy not him with your meat for whom Christ died. So then he says, let then not your good be evil spoken of. Now look in First Corinthians chapter 11. Excuse me, chapter eight. First Corinthians, chapter eight. Oh, my, this new Bible is... I'm out of time with it. I've got to go. I'm going to Australia. Here we go. Yeah. Next month, but it's look what he says here now.

I want you to see this He says in verse 8 But me commendeth us not to God he's talking about whether a man eats or don't eat the things offered to idols For neither if we eat are we the better? Neither if we eat not are we the worse, whether ye eat or not. But take heed, lest by any means, any means, this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. If any man see thee which has knowledge set at meet in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak decide said well since he can do it I'll do it too and then he goes and he's offended and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died but when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience listen to this you sin against Christ where if meat and he's talking about things If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to stumble.

And you know the key to all that is, is love. That's the next thing he says. By love, serve one another. By love, listen to what he says. That's what he says, you know. Don't give occasion to your flesh, but by love, serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Oh my. By love, serve one another. Love one another. Care for one another. Watch out for one another.

You know, if you love somebody, you wouldn't do anything to offend them or cause them to stumble. If you can help it at all. I mean, you, you know, you may do it unconscious that what it would do to somebody. You may do it unconsciously. But, you know, it happens sometimes.

I remember one time I was preaching about wine and how we're going to be serving new wine when we get to heaven. Christ is going to serve us. We're going to have the new wine. And it's going to be better than that wine that he turned water into wine.

And then a woman called me later. That night, and she said, oh my, I said, why did you mention that for? She said, you know, I said, well, I was talking about wine in heaven, but it bothered her really bad, because I just mentioned wine. She said, there's people that are really, really reeking the flesh, and they may go out here and start drinking, because you mentioned wine. And she was, it bothered her, and she continued coming. She never, she never quit coming until she died. She loved the gospel, but that right there, just stuck in her mind. stuck in her mind. And you know, and so I never mentioned one. And our Lord Jesus said, love God with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two laws hang all the prophets and the scriptures. And that man, that lawyer said, Lord, you've well said.

Everything is bows down to love. Love. And all love is fulfilled in this one word. And I tell you, law can't prescribe love, but it can't produce love. Well, how do you get this love of God? Where does this come from? We're just saying about it. The love of God, how rich, how pure, how marvelous, how strong. Forever the saints and angels song. Where do we get this love? Where does it come from? It's not natural to us.

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. That's how it comes. God comes and he takes his love and he puts it in our hearts and he takes the Holy Spirit and applies that love and puts it in our hearts and he fills our hearts by the Holy Ghost. The love of God shed abroad, shed out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

And then he says, by love serve one another. You know, if you're influenced by love, you serve one another. You serve one. Now, what that means is promote somebody else's interest over your own. Promote somebody else's interest. Oh, my. Promote another. Promote their interest. Promote what they are. And, oh, that's why.

Look over in 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5. 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5. Look what it said here in verse 5. You know, James talked about the perfect law of liberty and the royal law. Now, this is what he's talking about, 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 5.

Now, the end, the goal of the commandment is charity, charity, love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and a faith without putting it on. That's what it is. The end of it. The goal of it. Charity. Where'd you come from? Out of the heart. Out of the heart. And all back over in our text. Let me show you this. Oh, liberty. We're free. We're free. But it's not continuing sin that grace may abound. Oh, no. No, no. And then let's love one another. Love Christ.

And then look what he says, here's the consequences of the absence of love. This is what happens when love's not present. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. That's the consequences of the absence of love.

He says, do you know when you talk about, that's what dogs do, they bite and devour one another. He said, you bite at one another and you devour somebody's reputation, you devour their hope, you devour them and you're mean, you're ill and hateful and contrary. And that's what he says. And you'll end up consuming one another. You'll destroy one another, consume them. And oh, my. And oh, I tell you what. Strives and debates, arguments, vain jangling. Just yackety, yackety, yackety, yacking, saying nothing. That's the natural consequences of not having love. Oh, my.

You consume one another. You know how many congregations have ceased to exist because of this right here? People get to fussing and fighting. As an old preacher used to say, when they have business meetings, you have to call out the high sheriff or a deputy sheriff to have a business meeting to keep them from killing one another, fighting over how much toilet paper to buy, what color we're going to do it in. That's what happens, you know. But I tell you, you consume one another. Congregations exist because of this. Arguing, debating, fighting. And I'll tell you something, it's never, ever over the gospel. It's never over the gospel.

There's some folks left here one time and been here for a long, long time, and they left, and they went and started telling everybody that I wasn't preaching the gospel, that I wasn't preaching the righteousness of Christ. They'd sat and listened to me preach for years, but they got upset with me, because I dealt with them about a thing or two, and they went off and started telling that, and you know what? Everybody that knew me said, they said, their folks are lying on you. They said, that's not possible. That's what love does for you. They all covered, they all stood up for me.

Every preacher, everybody that heard that said, that's not true. That's not true. But arguing and debating, but it's never over the gospel. It's always over some point of law, some point of liberty. Some would want to be right at the expense of everybody else. I got up, you know, I'm right and I don't care who believes it, who agrees with me. I'm right and everybody else is wrong. And oh my, I tell you what, I've been in some situations like that and I don't never want to be with them again. Never want to be in nothing like that again. Never, never, never.

But oh my, the greatest security, the greatest security against this is to understand the grace of God in Christ. Look in Isaiah 33. Look over here in Isaiah 33. If I can find it myself. In verse 20. Oh, the greatest security against this is to understand the grace of God in Christ. And love, love, love covers a multitude of sins. But look what he says, now let this be us.

God said, look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, nor shall any of the course thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, where shall go no galley with oars, nor shall gallant ship pass therein.

Now listen to this. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King. He will save us. pitched camp right there, said, the Lord's done this. The Lord done this. He's our judge. He's our lawgiver. And if God gives you a law, and you know the law he gives you is the law of liberty and the law of love, he puts those in your heart. He puts those in your heart. And oh my, let this be us, the Lord, our lawgiver. And then look right back over in our text. Let me hurry.

Says, you're biting and devouring, started out with love, started out with liberty, started out with love, and then what consequence not having love? I say then, I say then, to keep this biting and devouring, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. What does he mean? Called to liberty, called to love, but if you How are you going to keep from that?

Walk in the Spirit. And you see how that's capitalized? That's the Holy Spirit of God. Walk in the Spirit. Conduct yourselves in the Holy Spirit, in the Spirit of our Master. In the Spirit, walk as a spiritual people. Oh, and then look, he says, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh yet. If you're in the spirit, walk in the spirit, and the Holy Spirit's in you, and you walk in that spirit, and you trust Christ, and Christ is everything to you, you walk in the Holy Spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

But then look what he says, this produces a war. There's a war inside. There's a war inside. When he talks about fulfill the lust of the flesh, that's desires of the flesh. For the flesh fights against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are opposites, and you cannot do the things you would. Oh my. You know the flesh, when he talks about the flesh, that's our old corrupt nature, and it's still in every believer. The Spirit is internal, the power of grace, of life, and born of the Spirit of God, born of the Holy Spirit of God. That's what he's talking about, the Spirit.

And these are opposed, enemies, as light and darkness. And then he says, you know, they're contrary ones to the flesh and the Spirit. They can't get along. They can't get along. They can't. And that's why he says you cannot do the things that you would. And I've used this so many times, you can't be as spiritual as you want to be, and you can't be as mean as you would. Why? Because the spirit of God in you, he won't let you.

You know, when you get to, I listened to a message I preached, and it even made me cry, and I listened to it from a long, long time ago, and I asked the question, am I a child of God? Am I a child of God? How could I be a child of God and say the things I do, think the things I do, treat people the way I do? How could I be a child of God and do those things? How could I? How could I?

But we won't go into that. But oh, my, look what he says. The old nature, that's why Paul said, in me dwells, in my flesh dwells no good thing. And he said this, he said, what I would do, I do not. And what I wouldn't do, I do. So I see a war in my members. I see a war in my flesh. And oh, listen, these are opposite enemies of light and darkness. You can't do the things you would.

You can't be as good as you'd like to be, you know, and you can't be as evil as you would. All of us, by God's grace, we would do perfectly good. We would always say the right thing, do the right thing, treat people the right way. Always do it. Always do it. That's our desire. But we can't do that. Why can't we do that? Because of our sinful nature. Our sinful nature. Huh? Oh my. And I tell you, the old nature would do nothing but evil, and we came because of divine nature in us.

And I tell you what, I'll be glad when this war's done. It's going to be done one of these days. One of these days, we'll never have to fight it again. Never have to fight it again. Never have to worry about it again. I never have to say, Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, please forgive me for thinking that. How could that go through my brain? But oh my, but look what he says now in verse 18.

But if you be led of the Spirit, I love this right here, you're not under the law. The Holy Spirit leads you away from the law. The Holy Spirit leads you away from these things. And oh, if you're not under the law, if you're led by the Spirit of God, you know where he leads you to?

To the Word of God. And the Word of God leads you to the Lord, the Spirit leads you to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God will lead us to the throne of grace. The Spirit of God in us will cause us to love Christ, love our brothers and sisters, and love grace. And the Holy Spirit gives us a new life and a fellowship with God Himself. Now, the law can't do that for us. The law can't produce love. The law can't produce grace. The law can't motivate us or inspire us. Only the Holy Spirit can lead us away from the law and lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look what he says in verse 19. And now he shows the difference between the work of the flesh. The spirit and the flesh, where the spirit takes us and where the flesh takes us. Now the works of the flesh are clearly seen.

Which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness. I could name all these things and tell you what they mean, but idolatry, witchcraft. When we turn on our road going to our house, there's the first house on the right, got a big old sign up there, palm reader. Palm reader. That's witchcraft. What's my palm gonna tell them? That I got one. Oh, listen, you got a long life. Witchcraft. And I'm gonna tell you something else. Horoscopes is witchcraft. Horoscopes is witchcraft. Well, you know, you read your horoscopes, see what's gonna happen today. But people do it. But oh my, then look what he says. Witchcraft hatred. Oh, my hatred. Variants. You vary all the time.

Emulations. wrath, strife, seditions, lies, heresies, in-beings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, means partying, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. You live like that, you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. It's just not going to happen. And that's why Paul said, in the flesh, there's no good thing.

And there's people that live that way. There's people who live that way. Oh, we have all of us is all of us has had hatred. All of us had parents is all of us is that in this. All of us has had pride. All these things. And all God keep us from and we've done these things. And the potential, if God don't keep us, is still in us and in our flesh. And let me give you some illustrations, and I'll be done.

Abraham lied twice because his wife was such a good-looking woman. He thought, if I tell them that she's my wife, they'll take her away from me and kill me. He was more interested in himself than his wife. But you've mentioned him in the New Testament. Perfect. And then there's David. He committed adultery, took another man's wife, and then he had her husband killed. Had her husband killed.

Lot, they had to drag him out of Sodom and Gomorrah. Had to drag him out. And he told his sons and daughter-in-laws, come with me, come with me. He seemed as one that mocked. And then, of course, Peter. Lord, I'll go with you to death. I'll go with you to prison. I'll go with you when nobody else wills. And our Lord told him, says, oh, Peter, Peter, Peter, before the rooster crows in the morning, you're going to deny me three times.

You think a believer can't make a mess out of things? But here's the thing about it. God, God has took care of everything we've ever done and everything we're ever gonna do. He knows every thought we think and He knows what we're gonna think before we think it. And I'm grateful for that. I am so grateful for that. I am so grateful. We're just open books to the Lord, open books to Him.

But I'll tell you what, this flesh, this is not our pattern of life. This is not the practice of a believer. But these kind of people that live like this, there's no way they can inherit the kingdom of God. They can't do it. They can't do it. Our Father, in the blessed name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for meeting with us tonight. Thank you for your precious word. Lord, when we deal with it verse by verse, we deal with so many things, so many things. But I know that every heart of every child of God here, as they hear these things, they say, oh, Lord, I need you.

I want you. Keep me. Preserve me. Don't let my flesh control me. Don't let me have my way. Don't let me have my will. Please, oh Lord, don't let me have my way or my will. Don't leave me to myself. Keep me, keep me as I ask you so often. Keep me cleaving and believing to our blessed Savior who asked these things in his holy name. Amen, amen. All right, see you Sunday morning, God willing.

"Liberty and Love"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about liberty and love?

How do we know that Christian liberty is not lawlessness?

Why is love important for Christians?

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"Liberty and Love"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about liberty and love?

How do we know that Christian liberty is not lawlessness?

Why is love important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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