Let's open our Bibles again to
Romans chapter 7. You'll recall from what we've
been reading, Paul has been teaching us that the believer is dead
to the law. And that's such good news. If
you know anything about what the law says, this is good news.
The believer is dead to the law. In Christ, we're free from all
of the horrible, awful, demands of the law that we can never
keep. What a burden the believer in Christ is set free from. We
don't have to live our lives in fear of the law. We're dead
to the law. We don't have to. We're dead
to everything it says. We're dead to its punishment. The believer
is free to serve Christ in thanksgiving. Out of love, not out of fear,
out of thanksgiving, not out of fear of punishment or threat
of punishment. Not because we have to, but because
we want to. We've been set free in Christ.
Now Paul is like every good preacher. Every good preacher tries to
find an illustration to help us make our point. Our Lord used
parables to help make his point so people could understand what
he was teaching. Now in our text this morning, Paul uses the illustration
of a bad marriage. That bad marriage finally ends
in a funeral. And then there's a marriage.
There's a new, good marriage. And Paul gives us this illustration
to illustrate this point. He's illustrating the believer's
attitude toward the law. We don't want anything to do
with the law, just like that woman from the bad marriage doesn't
want anything to do with that dead husband. And now we're set
free to serve Christ joyfully, thankfully. So I've entitled
the message, A Marriage and a Funeral. Now here's the point that Paul's
making. Death. ends all obligation to
the law. Death ends all relationship with
the law. Verse 1 of Romans 7. Know ye
not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that
the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? Now this
is obvious. You know this. The law has dominion,
rule over every one of us here. It's God's law. God's law has
dominion over us. And there's nothing wrong with
that. God's law is right. It's just, it's good. And this
law is in effect. We're bound to it. We're bound
to obey it. We're bound to be under it. It
has power over us as long as our bodies live. As long as we
live, we're obligated to obey God. That's the law. We're obligated. As long as we live, the law is
going to tell us obey and live, disobey and die. The law has
that power over us because we live. Now, since all we can do
is disobey God, the law is constantly telling us we've got to die.
You've got to die. The law demands death for sin.
But as soon as we die, the law quits saying anything to us.
The law doesn't have anything else to say to us because we're
dead. When we die, our relationship with the law is severed. Now,
we all understand that. We understand the laws of our
land. We're under obligation to those
laws, and they cannot be ignored. Tax day is coming up. We're obligated
to pay our taxes. We're obligated to pay the state
of Kentucky, the state of Ohio, the federal government. We're
obligated to those laws as long as we live. If you think that
you're not, just don't obey it. The IRS will come hunting you.
They'll find you eventually. And they'll punish us because
we're under the law. We're under obligation to that
law. But when someone dies, they don't pay taxes anymore. And
the IRS don't come looking for them. The law doesn't apply to
them anymore. They're dead. They ended their
relationship with the law. Not just the IRS, but every law. A murderer, someone who just,
a cold-blooded murderer being caught red-handed, what do they
do with them? They keep them there on death
row. And that murderer, that convicted, guilty murderer has
to stay on death row. Until when? Until the law is
satisfied. The law says that murderer's
got to die. And as long as he's on death
row, the law's always hanging over his head. And the law's
always whispering, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get
you. One day you're going to die right here. But the moment
that murderer dies, the law quits saying anything to him. The law
doesn't threaten him anymore. The law doesn't whisper to him
anymore. The law doesn't have any more demands for him. The
law is satisfied because he died. The law will not require one
more thing from him. Death is the only way that we
can be set free from the requirements of the law and from the punishment
of the law. That's the only way we can be
set free. Now here's the good news of the gospel. Believers
in Christ have already died in the person of our representative.
Christ took the sins of his people. He took them away from them.
He took their guilt. He took their shame. He took
it all away from them and he made it his. And he went to Calvary's
tree to suffer everything those sins deserve. He suffered until
he died. And when Christ died, All of
his people, everyone he died for, everyone he represented,
everyone who's in him, when Christ died, everyone he died for died
too. So the law is satisfied with
everyone who's in Christ. In Christ, we're dead to the
demands of the law. If you're in Christ, don't you
go looking up the law, see what the law says to you, what the
law demands of you. If you're in Christ, the law
doesn't demand one thing from you because Christ already kept
it for you. In Christ, we're dead to the
guilt of the law. Don't go reading the law and
try to make yourself feel so guilty and awful and, you know,
like you got to do something to make it up. If you're in Christ,
He made you not guilty. He took your sin and guilt away.
In Christ, we're dead to the punishment of the law. If you
believe Christ, don't go through this life always fearing a law
is going to come and, you know, strike you from above or something.
Believers can never be punished for our sin. Christ our substitute
was already punished for us. So we're dead to those things.
We're dead to everything the law ever had to say. We're dead
in Christ. What does the scripture say?
Who is he that condemned you? It's Christ that died. He rather
that is risen again. When Christ rose from the dead,
this was his message to his people. It proved he put their sin away.
He justified them forever. You know, it was just this morning,
or it was yesterday afternoon. I was driving by the mall. I
thought, why is the mall so full of cars? I want to park them
right in that place. I thought, oh, tomorrow's Easter. Everybody's getting Easter dresses
and Easter bonnets. I don't have little kids anymore,
so I don't ever know when Easter's coming. Easter is not a religious
day whatsoever. We don't celebrate Easter. We don't, on Easter Sunday, we
don't. The resurrection is a foundational
truth of the gospel. It's in every message. Here it
is. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again.
When he rose again, he proved his people have no more sin.
His people's relationship with the law is severed forever. Christ satisfied every demand
of the law, and the law can't demand anything else more from
Him, can it? The law can't demand one more
thing from the Savior, can it? Then it can't demand anything
from any of you who are in Christ's ministry. We're free from the
law. In Christ, we're dead to the
requirements of the law, both for justification and for sanctification. You don't have to keep the law
to justify yourself, make yourself not guilty. And you certainly
don't have to keep the law to make yourself holy either. We're
dead to the law. Now, Paul's not talking to everyone. This is not a message of good
news for everyone. Paul says here he's talking to
the brethren. Who are the brethren? They're brothers and sisters
in Christ. They're all part of the same family and they have
family characteristics. They were all chosen in Christ
before time began. They're all put in Christ in
the covenant of grace. Christ came and fulfilled that
covenant for those people. He kept the law for those people.
He went to the cross and he suffered and died for the sins of those
people. Put their sin away forever. He died so they'll never die.
The Holy Spirit comes and gives those people life. All those
people are brothers. Brothers and sisters. And they
have spiritual life because Christ died for them. He gave them his
life. And they've all died to the law
in Christ. And the law is completely satisfied
with them. That message is for believers.
This is what we picture when we confess Christ in believer's
baptism, isn't it? That what He did, I did in Him.
What He did, He did for me. I must be dead to the law because
I died in Christ. He died for my sins. When He
died, I died in Him. When He was buried, I was buried
in Him. And when He arose, I rose in Him to new life, to new life,
not looking to the law anymore, but now looking to Christ because
He is all of my salvation. I'm saved by His doing, by His
dying and His resurrection. He is all my salvation. So I
have arisen to newness of life, looking to Him and Him alone.
He is my life. Now, the death of Christ for
His people, for our sin, That's the only way we can ever be set
free from the law. That's the point that Paul is
teaching here. And when there's a death, we're
going to have a funeral. And Paul illustrates that here.
Here's the believer's funeral to the law. Verse 2, Romans 7. For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if
the husband be dead, she's loosed from the law of her husband.
So then, If while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she should be called an adulteress. But if her husband
be dead, she's free from that law, so that she's no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. Now, the example that Paul
uses, unfortunately, is an example that's all too common. It's an
illustration example of a woman who's in a bad marriage. She's
in a bad marriage. This is an awful situation. But
she doesn't have any scriptural grounds for divorce. The only
scriptural grounds for divorce are adultery or abandonment.
In those cases, the spouse is free to divorce and remarry.
But other than adultery or abandonment, if a spouse divorces and remarries,
they're guilty of adultery. And that sounds harsh, doesn't
it? Doesn't that sound harsh? Do you hear what the law says?
The law is harsh. The law is strict. Oh, it's so
strict. It can't be any other way. This
poor woman, she doesn't have scriptural grounds for divorce.
And she's just, for lack of a better word, stuck in this miserable
marriage. This poor woman is married to
a monster. He's just an utter monster. And that monster represents the
law. Most women, when they see this woman's husband, they think,
ooh, look at him. He's tall, dark, handsome. Boy,
everybody thinks he's something else. Every hair is just right. His clothes are always just so,
you know. This guy's smooth. He never says
a wrong word. He just, you know, he looks handsome
to all the other women, but you get to know him. This guy's a
jerk. He's a jerk. And she's married
to him. And he demands perfection from
his wife. She's bound to be in obedience
to him. And he demands utter perfection. Trying, not good
enough. It's got to be perfect. Every day, when he comes home
from work, he gets out and puts on those white gloves, and he
goes around the house doing a white glove check. See, is there any
dust? Is there any dirt? Is everything being kept just
perfect? There can't be a speck of dust.
He goes and he checks the closet. Make sure all the clothes are
hung up just so everything's starched and pressed and hanging
there just right, you know. He goes to the bathroom. And
he doesn't just check the obvious places. He checks the nooks and
the crannies behind the places to see is there any dirt? Is
there anything that's been missed? He's got her on a strict budget. Strict 10% budget. And he goes
and checks the checkbook to see if she's done it right. Make
sure she hasn't gone over budget. He demands. Dinner better be
on the table at six o'clock. It better taste good, and it
better be just the right temperature. This jerk sits there at the dinner
table, waiting for her to bring dinner to the table. When she
does, he's got a thermometer. He sticks it in there. It's got
to be the right temperature. I mean, to the degree. He just,
oh, he's a jerk. When he wants a refill of the
water he's drinking, buddy, she better be getting it. He better
not have to ask twice. It better be filled up. And he watches
her. When dinner's done, he sits there
and watches. He never helps her do the dishes, he won't. She
better get them dishes washed and dried and put up quick, just
at the right time, because there's other stuff to do. And bless
her heart, this poor woman, she tries as hard as she can. She
really, she gives everything she's got to please the strict,
austere man. But you know, her husband never
thanks her for trying. Never one time has he ever said
thank you. All he tells her is how she's failed to live up to
his expectations. That's the only thing he ever
tells her. When she's with him, she always
feels ashamed. She feels guilty. She starts
watching the clock by the time he's supposed to come home. She's
just afraid for him to come home. When he gets there, he never
gives her any affection. He never gives her a gentle touch on the
arm. He never gives her a warm embrace. All he does is make
her cry, being so harsh to her. And when he makes her cry, never
one time has he ever said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said
that, I'm sorry. No, he didn't do that. Never does he tell her,
honey, you look so pretty. You look so pretty today. He
never tells her that. The only thing he tells her is you're
ugly. And she really can't deny it. He holds up a mirror to show
her how ugly she is. Just showing her all her faults
all the time. Now, this is a miserable marriage, isn't it? She doesn't
have any scriptural grounds for divorcing. So she stays put. She just stays there. I want
to tell you what, she's not happy about it. Nothing about this
marriage makes her happy. She cooks, she cleans, she irons,
she does everything all day. And all it does is make her mad.
It just makes her mad because she knows nothing she does is
ever going to be good enough. What it makes her want to do
is give him a piece of rotten meat for dinner and just iron
a big old wrinkle in his shirt. That's what she wants to do.
That's what his awful attitude makes her want to do, but she
doesn't dare do it because she's afraid of him. Now, her husband
never beats her, but he tells her this all the time. One day
I'm going to kill you. You just wait. One day I'm going
to kill you. One day you're going to get what you deserve. I'm
going to kill you. He tells her that all the time. I'm going
to kill you. One day I'm going to kill you. So she just continues to
serve him out of a just consuming fear. Then one day, she's dusting
the living room. The phone rings, she picks it
up. She gets news from her husband's work. Your husband's dropped
dead of a heart attack at work. She begins to plan a funeral.
She ain't sad about it. This is one funeral she's not
sad to arrange. That news told her, I'm free. Oh, death has set me free from
this awful, austere, strict man. That's the only way she could
ever be free. Some years ago, I was teaching
this lesson. Use this illustration to a class
of fifth through eighth graders. I got to right there, and one
of the boys started clapping. I mean, I was working him. I could tell
he's getting worked up. And I was just laying it on, how awful
this guy is. He is worked up. And I said he died. He started
clapping. That ought to be our reaction.
Because that husband, this illustration that Paul is using here, this
husband represents the law. The law of God. To the natural
man, the law looks awful good. The law looks tall, dark, and
handsome. That law appeals to our self-righteous
nature because we don't know what the law says. We don't get
to know what the law says. And what we find out is the law
is strict. Oh, it's strict. The law demands perfection. Not just in what we do outwardly,
but what we want to do, what we think, what our motives are.
The law demands perfection. It requires more than we're capable
of producing. We can't come close to satisfying
the law. The law looks at us. It doesn't
bother with the white glove test. We're corrupt through and through.
The law doesn't bother with the white glove test. There's not
a white spot in us, a clean spot, a holy spot, a righteous spot.
There's not a spot on us, not a speck on us that has ever obeyed
God's law, that's ever been perfect, that's ever been anything but
just corrupt and filthy with sin. There's no need for the
white glove test. The law never tells us, I see you're doing
the best you can do, but I'll accept it. Nope, never says that.
It demands perfection. The law never says, thank you
for trying. The law just points out how we failed. And the result
is, I'm going to put you to death. The law never shows any affection.
The law never shows any mercy. The law knows nothing about grace. The law just knows guilt. The law just holds up a mirror.
The law never tells you how good you're doing. The law just shows
you how ugly you are, how we failed in every way. And the
law doesn't make us want to do better. It doesn't, does it?
The law just agitates us. The law makes us want this thing.
The law makes us want to rebel. The law says, don't do that,
and that's all we want to do. The law says, do this, and you're
going to have to break my fingers to make me do it. The law doesn't
make us want to do better. All the law does is make us want
to sin. The law makes us want to rebel. We go to bed at night,
it's quiet. The law never whispers some sweet
nothings in our ears. Now, in every quiet moment, the
law is there to whisper in our ear to remind us you're guilty,
you're guilty, you're guilty. One day I'm going to put you
to death. One day you're going to suffer eternally because you've
been nothing but sin. One day I'm going to give you
exactly what you deserve. That's what the law whispers
in our ear. What utter misery. Oh, the misery of being under
the bondage to the law. Then one day, one day, God sends
a message to one of his servants preaching the good news of the
gospel. Christ has died. Christ died for his people. Christ
came to save his people from their sin and to set them free
from the law. He didn't do it by force. He
didn't do it by trickery. He didn't do it by setting the
law aside. No, he's not going to set the law aside and marry
an adulteress. Christ set his people free by keeping the law
for them. Christ set his people free by
being the representative of the people that he loved. And he
did what they could never do. He obeyed God's law perfectly.
Thought and word and deed. It's what he wanted to do. And
he freely gave that obedience to his people. to make them not
guilty. Our obedience, if we believe
Christ, our obedience before God Almighty is the perfect obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's our obedience because He
gave it to us. He worked it out. He did it,
but it's ours because He gave it to us. And then Christ took
the sin of His people. He took the guilt. He took the
rebellion of His people. He took it away from them. And
He suffered and He died. He shed His blood to pay for
their sins. Christ died bearing the sin, the guilt of his people.
He died. And the law says, I've got nothing
else to say. The law is satisfied because
there's been death for sin. In Christ, all of his people
died in him because he's our representative. And now we're
free from the law because we died in the person of our representative.
Christ has died. We let's plan a funeral. We're dead to the law. I'm so
happy to get rid of that guy. We're dead to the law. So now
that Christ has died for us, we're free. We're free from that
law that says we can't get out from the dominion of it. We're
free from the law, binding us to that old husband and law.
And we're free to marry another marriage of God's people. is
a happy marriage because of who the bridegroom is. Here in verse
four, here's the happy marriage. And this illustrates how the
believer serves Christ. What is the motive? How is it
that the believer serves Christ? It's in a happy marriage. Verse
four. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who's raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in
the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we're
delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held,
that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter. Brethren, we are free from the
law. Free. We're not married to the
law anymore. We're married to another. This
poor woman who'd been in the bad marriage, now she's free. She's free to marry another.
And it's legal. She's not an adulteress. She's
not breaking or violating the law in any way. She's free to
marry another. And this marriage is different
in every way than that old bad marriage. This marriage is fruitful. Her marriage to that jerk, it
never did produce any children. This marriage produces children.
That's what happens to a believer. when we're set free from the
law and we're married to Christ. Union with Christ produces life. The only reason we have life
is through union with Him. It produces living fruit, not
dead fruit, living fruit. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. This is the fruit of the Spirit,
happy fruit. This produces fruit in the hearts
of God's people. When you're married to the law,
that never produced any fruit, did it? It did produce living
fruit. It produced dead fruit. It produced
death. The law produced fruit in us,
but it wasn't love, was it? No, it was hate. It wasn't joy,
it was sadness. It wasn't freedom, it was a burden.
It wasn't peace, it was fear. It was dead fruit. This marriage
to Christ is a fruitful marriage. And it's a happy marriage. It's
not miserable, it's a happy marriage because everything is different. Now, she still does everything
she used to do. She gets up in the morning, takes
her husband to breakfast. She packs his lunch and sends
him off to work. While he's gone, she cooks, she cleans, she does
the grocery shopping, she does the laundry. She does all those
things she used to do. She irons his shirt, she does
everything. She keeps the household running on a budget. I tell you,
women run a household on a budget. You can be CEO of a great big
company. How that's done is a miracle,
isn't it? She does all that. Same stuff she used to do. There's
one great big difference. Now she does it joyfully. She
does it happily. She sings a song while she's
ironing shirts now. She sings a song while she's
dusting and washing dishes and cooking now. She's watching the
clock. She can't wait for that time
her husband comes home. She's doing it out of now, out of love. Not out of fear of punishment,
but out of love. Out of his love for her and her
love for him. You see, this new husband, he's a kind man. He's
gracious. He's loving. He's forgiving.
There's a wrinkle in his shirt. It don't bother him. He's not
worried about the shirt. He loves her. If the food's not
just right, it's all right. I probably need to lose weight
anyway. He's forgiving. He's kind. He's tender. He's
affectionate. And that makes her just love
to do for him. Just love it. It's not she's
doing what she has to do. It's what else can I do for him?
Because out of a heart of love. You young men, all of us men,
you young men, soon will be married. I tell you what, you be the head
of your home. Be the head of your home. And here's how you be the head
of your home. You do it in a way that your wife loves to see you
come home. You just make her happy to submit
to your authority because you're kind, you're considerate, you're
generous, you're affectionate with her. And you young ladies,
you make it so your husband's happy to come home. He don't
want to go anywhere else but come home. You just give him a warm
home to come home to. That's a happy marriage. That's
what this woman's doing. What's the difference? The difference
is the new husband, isn't it? Everything's better. And she
loves him. She's taken up with him. She doesn't want to go back to
that old husband anymore. Now, there are no pictures of
that jerk on the walls of her house. They ain't there. She
doesn't want to go back and say, you know, That old husband, he
made me, I had to do this, this, and this every day. I think I'll
do that now, because that's what he wanted. No. He's dead. My relationship with him is separate.
I got a new husband. She didn't go back and say, you
know, he used to make me stay on this budget. My new husband,
he's generous. But I better go back and stay
on that old 10% budget, because that's what my old husband said
I had to do. No. He's dead. I don't have any relationship
with him anymore. She don't want to go back there
once in a while and dig that old body up and try to do something
for that body. He's dead. She's freed from him
in every way. This woman is not crazy. She
don't want anything to do with that old jerk anymore. She's
married to a new husband and she's taken up with him. She
loves him. She doesn't ever want to leave
him again. And you know what? She'll never have to. This marriage
will never end. Never. Paul says here, we're
married to him who's raised from the dead. He died for us, died
for his people, but he's raised again. This is the evidence.
He justified his people. There's no reason they would
ever die. There's no reason they would ever be separated from
him. He rose again for them to give them eternal life. Now you
see the illustration. Doesn't this just preach itself?
You already see the illustration. Oh, this is the life of a believer. We're not married to the law
anymore. We're married to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a
bridegroom he is. What a husband he is. We plum
out married ourself, didn't we? Oh, what a husband. Now we're
still under rule. But it's not the rule. It's not
the threat of the law. It's the rule of the love of
Christ. So we still work, we still do
things like we used to do. Not because we have to, not because
I'm required to, but now I want to. The Lord's given me, my new
husband has given me a new want to. His love for me, his generosity
to me, his forgiveness of me, who he is, everything he is to
me gives me a new want to. Now I want to serve him. When
I serve the law, I look for the minimum that I could do. What's
the minimum I could do to scrape by? When I serve Christ, I think,
what else can I do? Oh, what can I do in His honor
to serve Him? See, the believer's motive is
love for Christ. It's out of thanksgiving for
everything that He's done for us and everything that He is
to us. So brothers, sisters, now listen
to me. We're free from the law. Every
way. What do you want anything to
do with that law for? Don't go back and look to that
law as a rule of life. That would be like that wife
going back and looking at her old husband, seeing what he demanded
and still trying to do what he demanded. That's not her rule
of life anymore. She's dead to him and he's dead
to her. The law is dead to us. We're
dead to the law. Christ died for us. So don't
look to the law as your rule of life. We have a rule of life,
but it's not the law. It's love for Christ. It's following
Him because He loves you, because He chose you to be His, because
He made you His, and because you love Him. Love for Christ
is our rule of life. Don't go hang a copy of the Ten
Commandments up on your wall so you check them every day,
see if you're living by them. Every time you check them, you're
just going to find out you're not. That'd be like that wife hanging up
pictures of her old husband. She doesn't hang up pictures
of that jerk no more. She doesn't want anything to do with him.
She's got pictures of her new husband. She wants to look at
her new husband. She wants to think about him. Don't go operating
under the budget of that old husband anymore. Don't go operating
under the 10% tie that the law demanded. Just give out of the
abundance of your heart. Whatever the Lord's given you,
whatever He's laid on your heart to give, give. You're free to
give. Don't go back and keep checking.
What did that old husband, what did that law keep requiring me
to do? Don't look at it anymore. You're dead to it. Where should
you look? All look to Christ. That'll answer
every question. If you look to Christ, that will
answer every question. See, the believer's not crazy.
Remember that crazy man the Lord found in the gatherings? That
guy was a nut job, wasn't he? The people came out. They tried
to tame him for years. Couldn't do it. And they came
out after he met the Lord. After the Lord revealed himself
to them. And they found him doing what? He was clothed. He was
sitting at the feet of Christ in his right mind. We're not
crazy. Lord's given us a new mind, a
new heart. We're not crazy. So we don't
want anything to do with the law anymore. I died to it once. I don't want to go back under
its bondage. So how do we serve Christ? Not in the letter of
the law, not checking all these legal documents to see what we're
supposed to do. It's out of newness of heart, out of newness of spirit,
of love and thanksgiving. Look at Galatians chapter two.
This is what the apostle, we read that in chapter four of
Galatians to open the service. Here in Galatians 2 verse 19. For I through the law am dead
to the law. that I might live unto God. I'm
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me, and I refuse to go back to that law.
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Now that's good
news, a funeral and a marriage. And I thought of this, I thought
I'd give this to us men. Maybe it's hard for us to imagine
the example of the wife. So let's think about it men this
way. A good boss and a bad boss. I've had both. I've had some
good bosses and I've had some bad bosses. But you know what? Whether they were good boss or
bad boss, I did the same thing. I still tried to go into work
early and stay late. As long as it wasn't immoral
or illegal, I did everything they wanted me to do. But you
know that bad boss? He made me hate doing it. I mean,
I hated doing it. It just made me miserable all
the time. But that good boss? He made me glad to do it. It
made all the difference in the world. I was so much happier.
And I wanted to do things for Him. I wanted to do a good job
and make His life better. You see, it's the attitude, it's
the heart that makes all the difference. We're not serving
the law out of fear. We're serving Christ out of love
and thanksgiving. That's what we have in Christ.
The difference is Him. It's Him in the heart. It's serving
Him, not the law. And I don't want to go back to
that law for anything. I don't want to go back and look
at pictures of that law anymore. There's nothing for me there.
But there's everything for me in Christ. In Christ, all those,
that awful burden that Peter said none of us could bear. We
couldn't bear it. Our fathers couldn't bear it. Nobody can
bear it. That awful burden that nobody can bear. The demands
and the threat of the law. All that's lifted. The skies
have opened. There's freedom in Christ. There's
joy in serving him. Take his yoke upon you. His burden's easy. His burden's
easy. It's a motive of love. That's how we serve Christ. And
I'll tell you this, love is a whole lot greater motivation than fear. Love will make us much more faithful. Love will make us serve Christ
in joy and thanksgiving. All the law could ever do is
agitate us and make us a rebel. But love makes us want to serve,
want to be faithful. And that's how the believer serves
and worships and follows Christ, out of love. Not because I'm
driven, not driven by the rod of the law, but pulled with cords
of love. Because I love Him. For reasons
I'll never understand, love me first. I believe I'll be faithful
to Him. I believe I'll serve Him. Don't
you? Oh, Lord, bless that to our hearts and to His core. Let's
bow in prayer. Our Father, how we thank You
for this beautiful illustration You've given us in Your Word
of the believers' freedom from the law. Oh, how we thank You
that You've set us free from that bondage, the bondage that
we can never live up to, the threat of the law, the death
by the law. You set your people free in the person of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Father, deliver us from our flesh
and this world and pulling us back into bondage to the law,
pulling us back to take a glance at the law. Father, let us be
taken up. with the Lord Jesus Christ. Make
Him be our all so that we look to Him, that we'd be saved, that
we'd find assurance, that we'd be comforted. Father, let us
be taken up with Him, that we serve Him, that we follow Him
out of love, that we'd be an encouragement to our brothers
and sisters, not because we have to, but out of love for Christ. Father, it's in His precious
that we pray and give thanks. Bring much glory to your name
through the preaching of your gospel, we pray this morning.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and give thanks.