Good to be with the Lord's people.
What a blessing to see God's people gathered. We're here in His name, aren't
we? To worship Him. Verse 15 of chapter 22. This
is the Apostle Paul giving account of his conversion, of the experience
that God gave him when he met him on the road to Damascus in
the person of his dear son. We've seen the first several
verses of this chapter. He gave the account again of
how the Lord met him on that road as he was going to persecute
the people of Christ, stopped him in his tracks and broke his
heart, commissioned him to preach to the very people that he had
killed and despised. And he's talking about Ananias
in verse 15. Ananias, God said, go to a man
named Ananias. Go and this man will come and
tell you what to do, what I have for you to do. And sure enough,
this man Ananias found Paul praying and began to speak to him. And
he said in verse 14, God, our fathers, the God of
our fathers, hath chosen thee. He explains. Ann and I are speaking
to Saul here at the direct instruction of God. He told him why he had
been arrested on the road to Damascus in the extraordinary
way that he was. Because God's chosen you. Well,
what did he choose you to? What three things characterize
the election of God, the choosing Of God, of his servant Saul. Well, he chose that you should
know his will. You're going to know the will
of God. You're going to understand that mystery that had been hidden
from the wise and the prudent. You're going to understand why
God does what he does. Why he has a universe in the
first place. You're going to know the answers
to all the questions that men ask and seek in vain to answer. You're going to understand the
will of God. You're going to know how God can be just and
justify sinners. And then he's going to reveal
himself to you. You're going to see that just
one. You're going to see Christ. You're not going to see the kingdom
of God until you see the king. And he's going to reveal himself
to you. He'll see Christ, and then you'll
hear the voice of Christ. My sheep hear my voice, and they
know me, and they follow me. Notice the word for in verse
15. He says for thou shalt be his
witness unto all men of what you've seen and heard. What did
he just say? He's going to show himself to
you, and you're going to hear his voice. And then he turned
around and said, you're going to be witnesses of what you've
seen and heard. If you're going to witness what you've seen and
heard, you're going to have to see something and hear something.
What did Saul see? Christ. What did he hear? Christ. No wonder he said, we
preach Christ. I'm determined to know nothing
among you, save Jesus Christ. God told me, tell what you've
seen and what you've heard. Well, here it is. Christ. Christ. His person, His work, His glory,
His love, His justice, His holiness. All of the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That was Paul's message. Because
God told him, you're going to tell what you've seen and what
you've heard. I haven't seen or heard anything worth telling
except Him. Now, we've seen this in several
places in the Scripture, but let me stress it again. I cannot
witness to you of something that I have not either seen or heard. According to law, there are three
types of witnesses. There's what is called a lay
witness. A lay witness is an ordinary citizen who saw and
or heard something and quite simply describes truthfully
on the witness stand what he or she saw and or heard. That's
pretty simple, isn't it? Just a common citizen, just happened
to be in the right place at the right time and saw something
and or heard something. And they're called upon to describe
it. Can you do that? Are you that kind of witness?
We see and hear, spiritually speaking, by faith. Faith is
the evidence of things not seen with these eyes, the substance
of things hoped for. And so we see and hear, spiritually
speaking, by faith. Christ said, let him that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. And he didn't mean to suggest
by that that some of those present were deformed in some way. You
have to have the ear of faith to hear spiritually. He told
his disciples, Blessed are your eyes, for they see. Blessed are
your eyes. And blessed are your ears, for
they hear. Can you tell what your eyes have
seen? Have you seen that Christ is
all? Have you seen how God can be
just and justify a vile sinner like you? Can you tell that?
Have you heard his wonderful voice? Have you heard his word
and said, I see that. I understand what God said. Can
you testify to it? Then you're a lay witness. You're
just an ordinary citizen of the kingdom of God that was in the
right place at the right time. God's appointed place at God's
appointed time. And you saw somebody and heard
them and you can tell about it, can't you? You're a lay witness.
All right. How about an expert witness?
An expert witness is somebody that's educated in a specific
area and testifies concerning that. In a murder trial, it might
be a ballistics expert testifying on the way that a bullet appears,
as how it compares with the gun that it shot from, or a doctor,
perhaps, or a psychiatrist, somebody that's skilled in a certain field.
Have you been educated in the things of God? The Lord said
in John 645, it's written in the prophets, and they shall
all be taught of God. All of God's people are educated
by God, not by the preacher, not by denominations, not by
doctrinal statements. By God, they shall all be taught
of God. Every man, therefore, that has
heard and has learned of the Father cometh to me. Have you
learned of the Father? Have you been educated by God
Almighty? In 1 Corinthians 2, 15, we saw
that Paul said, he that is spiritual, he that's natural can't understand,
he can't see the things of the Spirit of God because they're
spiritually discerned. But in verse 15 of 1 Corinthians
2, he said, he that is spiritual, he that is born of the Spirit,
he that is born from above judgeth all things. We saw that word
judgeth means discerneth. He understandeth all things pertaining
to the spiritual kingdom of God. Yet he himself is judged or understood
of no man. Well, we don't consider ourselves
experts. No, of course not. Of course
not. Not in the way that that word is often used. But who is
qualified to speak of the things of Christ? The man or woman who
has been educated, taught of God in the things of Christ.
You're an expert witness. You know some things that most
people don't know. By the grace of Almighty God.
Can you tell about it? He said, you're going to be a
witness now. I don't think he was talking just to Saul when
he said that, do you? He told his disciples in the
first chapter, first or second chapter of the first chapter
of Acts, I believe you shall be my witnesses. Not to be nice
if you would. OK, there's one other kind of
witness. See if this applies to you. You know what it is. A character witness. A character
witness. This is a man or woman who has
knowledge. of a victim, a defendant, or
someone else involved in a case and can testify regarding their
character. Can you do that? Can you tell
who Christ is and what he did and why he did it and where he
is now? Oh, what a privilege to do that. Solomon said in his
song, chapter 5, verse 10, My beloved is white and ruddy, the
chiefest among ten thousand. Have you met him? Can you describe
Him like that? Can you tell of His glories,
of His excellencies? Solomon went on to say in verse
15, His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine
gold. You can't move Him. His countenance
is as leaven and excellent as the cedars. You've never looked
on anybody like Him. His mouth is most sweet. It says
in the Scriptures, when he opens his mouth, grace pours out of
his mouth. Can you describe him? Do you
know him? You can tell about him then, can't you? By his grace
and divine appointment. Solomon said, yea, he is altogether
lovely. Can you be a character witness
of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you know him, you can. This
is my beloved and this is my friend. If he's your beloved
and your friend, You can describe him to those that don't know
him. And so you're a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said unto all men, unto all men, I don't care who you are. You
need to know who Christ is. You do, don't you? We don't sing
that song, but I kind of like it. I've heard it before. Everybody
ought to know who Jesus is. I believe that everybody ought
to know. And they may hate him, they may despise him, they may
reject him, but you need to hear about him. Somebody I was speaking
with recently about the grace of God in Christ pointed to a
man who happened to be walking by and said, can you honestly
look that man in the eye and tell him that he can be saved?
Of course, you know the motive behind that question. I responded to him this way.
I said, I can look that man in the eye and tell him that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And all who believe
on him not only can be saved, but shall be saved. And I can
tell anybody who will listen to me, come to Christ and he
will make thee whole. Come unto me all you that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest." You think that was
an idle commandment? We are the saver of death unto
death unto some, and some to some we're the saver of life
unto life, and which it shall be is between them and their
God. Well, what if you preach to somebody
or witness to somebody and he's not one of the elect? Yeah, but what if he is? Oh my,
what if it's one of God's sheep? There's just as much reason to
suppose that he is as there is to suppose that he's not. So
as Spurgeon said one time, let's do away with supposing and do
what God sent us to do. Let's preach Christ to everybody
that moves. Everybody that'll come within
earshot of us when we're preaching. Everybody that'll give audience.
Let's tell of the glories of the Savior. Besides, the disobedience
of men serves God's purpose as surely as the obedience of some. Did you know that? Oh, maybe
you weren't aware of that. Jeremiah 7, 27, God said, Therefore thou shalt
speak all these words unto them. He said, You go to these people
and you tell them who I am. You give them my message. And
you'll speak all these words unto them, but they will not
hearken to thee. Thou shalt also call unto them,
but they won't answer you." Well, that doesn't sound like a very
pleasant job, does it? Go talk to somebody and they're
not going to hear you? And God already told you before you go,
they're not going to hear you? God knows who His own are and
who's not. That's not the issue to be settled.
That has nothing to do with it. Isaiah 6 and verse 9. He said,
Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not. And see ye indeed, but perceive
not. Make the heart of this people
fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart, and convert and be healed. I don't know whether
a certain man or woman will hear or not hear, but I do know this,
that God's good purpose will be served either way. Is that
your God? Does that mean that I don't care
whether people are saved or not? I don't know if I could say with
Paul, let me be accursed for my brethren's sake. But God's
people have a heart for sinners, like our Master did. We're not
indifferent in this matter. Oh, I would that you would bow
to the sovereign Savior and seek his mercy. I desire that for
everybody that I speak to. It doesn't mean that I don't
care. It just means that my God is
God indeed. That's what it means. Now, verse
16, he says, Why do you tarry? Why now? Why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash
away thy sins. calling on the name of the Lord.
Now we know from the word of God that it's not in the ordinance
of baptism that sins are washed away. Simon Magus was baptized
in the book of Acts, and yet Paul said, you are in the gall
of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. The baptism didn't
wash his sins away. The thief on the cross, he couldn't
have entered paradise as our Lord, he said, today you'll be
with me in paradise. If that's true of you, your sins
are going to have to be washed away. But he was never baptized. So we know that baptism, this
water up here, doesn't wash people's sins away. But the sins are washed
away in the blood of Christ. That thief, he had never been
in a pool of baptism, but the blood of Christ, the one that
was hanging next to him, was shedding his precious blood to
wash his sins away. And that's pictured in baptism. It's set forth in baptism. It's
glorified and honored and set forth. And his death is shown
in his ordinances. Isn't that right? When we eat
the table, when we drink that wine and eat that bread that
we did last Sunday, he said, you show forth my death until
I come. And we do that in the baptismal
water too. And it's his righteousness and
sin offering that washes our sins away. John said unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in what? His own precious
blood. That's what washes sins away.
And we understand that. So he's talking about in figure,
in type, in picture. Without the shedding of blood
is no remission of sins. And we don't doubt that or question
that here. The phrase calling on the name
of the Lord is not to be ignored here either. When he's talking
about washing away your sins, baptism alone could be focused
upon here. But he said, wash away your sins
calling on the name of the Lord. The scripture says, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Saved. In order to be saved, your sins
are going to be washed away, aren't they? Your sins have separated
between you and your God. They've got to be dealt with
in order for you to be saved. And so this calling on the name
of the Lord, that's what has to do with salvation. That's
the application of salvation to the sinner. When God brings
you to the place where you've hit rock bottom and you've despaired
of self and you look to the Savior and you call out for his mercy,
that's when he'll wash your sins away in his precious blood. It's
by calling upon the name of Christ, the character of Christ, calling
upon the person of Christ. That's what it is. It's not just
saying a name. But it's His name is His character, who He is.
And this is just another way of saying, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. They that believe on Him,
call on Him. How shall they call on Him in
whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? In God's appointment and order,
sinners come to Christ and call upon him, and they obey him. It was with an encouragement
of haste that Ananias directed Saul to obey God in baptism.
What are you waiting for? Why do you think he put it that
way? Because we're so prone to do that. We know what God would
have us to do, not just in the matter of baptism, but in other
things. We're reluctant to do them, aren't we? For many different
reasons. Obedience to God in anything
should always be without hesitation and without delay. Do you know
the will of God? He's revealed His will regarding
so much. Do we obey Him? That's the question.
Verse 17. And it came to pass that when
I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple,
I was in a trance and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and
get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy
testimony concerning me." You see, the gospel's not just God
shooting into a flock of birds to see who he can hit. He's told
them before, they're not going to hear you. God knows everything. We need to understand that. He's
the God that we preach when we preach the gospel, the sovereign,
all-knowing God. He said, I know the end from
the beginning. So the gospel God, Christ's death and sin offering
is not an offer to men and whoever decides they'll avail themselves.
God knows all. And he said to Paul here, they're
not going to hear you. Get away from there. And I said,
Lord, they know that I'm imprisoned and beat in every synagogue,
them that believed on you. And when the blood of your martyr
Stephen was shed, Paul didn't hold back. He said, your martyr,
your man, your preacher, when his blood was shed, I was there.
I was there. I also was standing by and consenting
unto his death. It's as though I picked up the
rocks myself and killed him and kept the raiment of them that
slew him. And he said unto me, depart. For I will send thee
far hence unto the Gentiles." You see the mercy of God there,
the grace of God. First of all, this trance that
Paul was in. It wasn't some kind of weird
magical state. You know, we see this kind of
stuff in the movies. Here's the definition of it.
The state of a man who by some sudden emotion is transported,
as it were, out of himself So that in this rapt condition,
although he is awake, here's the key part. His mind is drawn
off from all surrounding objects and wholly fixed on things divine. What a definition. I wish I would
go into a trance every once in a while, don't you? And my mind,
when I'm in the worship of Christ, what to God that my mind would
be drawn off from all my surroundings and fixed upon him who is divine. Wouldn't you desire that? Well,
God, maybe in some supernatural sense, I don't know what exactly
happened here. I believe God, he did things
like this at this time. There was probably a supernatural
influence upon Paul that to a greater degree than is usual, than is
natural, he was drawn away from things of this earth. and fixed
upon things divine. Now, whether or not that's supernatural
or natural here, here's what I do know. And we've seen this
before in the book of Job. If God has a word for you, if
God has some knowledge for you, if he has a revelation for you,
he's able to see to it that you receive it. You reckon? People
are always talking about, well, if I just knew the will of God.
I'm not sure whether to do this or do that. If God will reveal
his will to you, you won't have to ask whether or not, if or
maybe or whatever. God can reveal his will. He's
not, his hand's not short. He doesn't have limited, you
know, ability to reveal his will to his people. He'll take your
mind off of everything else, and he'll put you on the track.
If he's got something for you to do, or some word or revelation
for you, he does not supernaturally or visibly or audibly appear
to us who have his complete revelation, the Word of God. But he's the
same God who, by his Holy Spirit, guides, instructs, directs, teaches,
and blesses his people, is he not? And because he has changed
the way in which he does that, do you think he's become lax
in some way in impressing upon his people what he would have
them to do? I think not. He's still the shepherd and bishop
of our souls. He has the charge of us. He's
the overseer of us. And he will not let us go, and
he will not be lax in this duty whereunto he has bound himself
to us. as the shepherd and bishop of
our souls. I reckon he can guide the sheep,
don't you? And you're not going to be all wondering about this
or that. If you are, he hasn't revealed
his will to you yet. Wait on him and pray and seek
his will until he makes it clear. He's able to make it clear, I
guarantee you that. And that's what he did here for
Paul. He didn't have to question or wonder. And see here, Before
we move on, the wonderful forgiveness and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
in this. When God told Saul, they're not
going to hear you in Jerusalem, he immediately mentions his great
sinfulness before he met Christ. Oh, I was injurious. I was a
blasphemer, he said in another place. I was a blasphemer. And
yet Christ said, I'll send you. Did you see that? I'm going to
send you to the Gentiles. I'll give you the privilege of
feeding my little lambs. I'll give you the care of those
that are precious to me. I'll let you in on the greatest
miracle of all miracles. The miracle of saving grace through
the preaching of Christ. No wonder Paul said, I'm not
worthy to be called an apostle. I am what I am, he said, by the
grace of God. How about you? How about you? Does it humble you that God would
include you in any way in his kingdom? What a blessing. Verse 22, And they gave him audience
unto this word, And then lifted up their voices and said, Away
with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should
live. They listened to him until this word. What was it about
this word that so enraged the people? They listened to him
until he came to a certain place. And then they lifted up their
voices. They stopped listening and started talking. It was when
he said that God had rejected the Jews as a nation, as he prophesied
that he would, and sent Paul to the Gentiles. You're a stiff-necked
and rebellious people. You won't hear me. Listen to
Matthew 26. Turn over there with me to Matthew
chapter 26. Here's what they could not abide. The sovereignty
of God Almighty. God said, I'll send them to the
Gentiles. I'll send you to the Gentiles.
The Jews have proven themselves. They've considered themselves
unworthy of eternal life. They've rejected the gospel.
He said, all right, I'll send you to the Gentiles. And God
prophesied that beforehand. It's not a reaction on God's
part. Oh, well, you don't want to hear my message? Oh, what
a surprise. You know, I'll go on and preach
to somebody else. No, he's told beforehand that's what was going
to happen. Men hate the sovereignty of God. God will have his gospel
go where he pleases. He said, I'm going to take it
away from you Jews. I'm going to send my gospel to
the Gentiles. They heard him. They tolerated
what he was saying until he said that. And then they'd had enough.
The sovereignty of God infuriates his enemies. Look at it in Matthew
26, 63. Jesus held his peace, and the
high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the
living God, that thou..." What did he know about the living
God? He's fixing to kill the living God. And here he is blaspheming. "...that thou," a lot like us,
isn't he, by nature, "...that thou tell us whether thou be
the Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast said, Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of I'm despised
and rejected now. And you've been given the upper
hand over me. You've been given liberty to
do what you want to do with me now. But you're going to see
me sitting on the throne before long. You see that? Look at verse
67. Then did they spit in his face. Then. There's that word, then.
then lifted up their voices, then they spit in his face. When
Christ reveals himself as the sovereign king, sinners who know
him not will revile him, spit in his face, and those who preach
him will be infuriated. They'll say, away with such a
fellow. He's not even fit to live. You see that? God's sovereignty,
the sovereignty of the Son of God, infuriates. As long as Christ is blessing
people, you know, and making a place for them in heaven and
all that, they'll sing, oh, how I love Jesus. But when he claims
rightfully the throne of glory and reveals himself as the King
who does what he will, with whom he will, when he will, they stop
singing that, don't they? That doesn't sit very well with
the natural man. And as long as we would preach
a Jesus that wants to save you and has a wonderful plan for
your life, men will love that, and they will flock to hear about
that Jesus. But preach the sovereign Christ,
and they'll say in their hearts, it's not fit that he should live. Verse 23, And as they cried out,
and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the
chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and
bade that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know
wherefore they cried so against him. They said, Bring him in
here and we'll torture him until he tells us what this is all
about, until he confesses to some crime or other. And as they
bound him with thongs, they're getting ready to scourge him.
Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for
you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned, hadn't
even had a trial, been formally accused of anything? When the
centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying,
Take heed what thou doest. This man's a Roman. It scared
him to death. To treat a Roman citizen like that had consequences. And this was all fine and well.
It's all fun and games until it comes back on them, isn't
it? Until there's consequences for their deeds. Men will do
anything that they can get away with, including us. But when there's consequences,
oh my, then we better think about this. Then the chief captain
came and said unto him, Tell me, are you a Roman? He said,
Yea. And the chief captain answered with a great sum, Obtain thou
this freedom. Do you hear the pride in that?
You're a Roman? He obviously objected to Paul
Having this freedom, he said, it cost me a lot of money to
gain the status that I have as a Roman citizen. He evidently
was not born a Roman, but Paul was. He said, I was freeborn. What a beautiful picture here
of the spiritual freedom the believer has in Christ. It didn't
cost us anything. We was born that way. We were born that way. All men
are born under bondage. That's the teaching here. Free? Turn to John 8 quickly. I'm going
to run short on time tonight, but I want us to see this. Maybe
not. John chapter 8. What do you mean free, Chris?
Well, that's what the Pharisees said. John 8, 32, Christ preached
to them, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. You thought they might have rejoiced a little bit about
that. No, that offended them. They said they answered him.
Verse 33, we'd be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to
any man. How sayest thou you shall be made free? Oh, that's
offensive. You need to be made free. You're
in bondage. Did you know that? If you know
not the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a slave. 34, Jesus answered them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin, the slave." We're all under bondage to sin. We talk
about free will. What a bunch of fools. Our will
is just as free as it can be to sin. And that's all we're
able to do, everything we do. The imagination of their hearts
was only evil continuous. And we're all under bondage to
Satan. That's not very popular. Second Timothy two twenty four
and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto
all men, apt to teach patient in meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves. If God perventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, God just might
give them repentance. He didn't say that you might
get them saved. He said preach to them. Peradventure,
God might give them repentance. That's why I preach. Not to get
you to do something, but praying that God will do something for
you. If He does, I know how He'll do it. He said it pleased Him
by the foolishness of preaching to do it. So that's why we preach. Peradventure, God will give them
repentance. He can, if He will. to the acknowledging
of the truth. You're not going to acknowledge
the truth until he does. And, peradventure, God will give
them this, that God's gift might come to them so that they might
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will. Free will? You're taken captive
by Satan at his will. He'll do everything with you
and to you that God allows him to do. God gave him some freedom
with Job, and he turned Job inside out. Free will. We're all under bondage to the
law of God. Galatians 5, 1. Turn there with
me. Galatians 5, 1. Paul said to
the Galatians, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. and be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage." You take the yoke of bondage off. Stand
fast in the liberty of Christ. Christ has made you free from
what bondage, Paul? Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, that was the law imposed at. That was
the one thing that represented all of the law of God to the
Jews, circumcision. That was the seal of the covenant.
Christ shall profit you nothing if you be circumcised. If you
keep God's law in order to please God, and that's your hope before
God for righteousness, Christ will profit you nothing. And
he said, that's a bondage. Don't get back under that yoke
of bondage, the law. I've got to obey the law. I'm
keeping the Ten Commandments. Is that right? You'd be the first
one since Christ that did it. That's a bondage, you see. We're
free from that in Christ. My righteousness is Christ alone. What He did, not what I do. It
is the law that we labor under and are heavy laden. That's what
Christ meant. Are you laboring? Are you heavy
laden? I'll give you rest. Come to Me. And He has, hasn't He? Only Christ
can give freedom from bondage. and rest from the burden of this
yoke. He said in John 8, 36, if the
Son, therefore, shall make you free, you'll be free indeed. If you ever see Him as your righteousness,
Christ alone is my righteousness and sin offering before God.
You talk about freedom. God doesn't look at me and require
me to please Him. Thank God. Free from the law,
happy condition. Jesus hath bled, and there is
remission. Oh, remission of my sins. My
sins are gone. Not because I measured up, but
because He did in my behalf. This freedom is ours by birth.
Turn to Galatians 4. We'll spend about just a few
more minutes here. I want you to see this. Paul said, I was freeborn. This
is a beautiful picture now of our circumstance in Christ, our
position. In the Lord Jesus Christ, this
freedom is ours by birth, Galatians 4.1. Now I say that the heir,
as long as he is a child, as long as he is a young boy, a
young girl, a young child, differeth nothing from a servant, though
he be Lord of all. He's not a servant. He's the
son or the daughter. He's the heir, but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the Father. You
might think he's a servant because he's, you know, under these things.
But even so, we, when we were children, we were in bondage
under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. You
see, we're talking about freedom from the law. That we might receive
the adoption of son. And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a
son." You're not a slave. You're not under these things.
You're not under the elements of the world. You're not under
the bondage of the law. You're a son of God, and if a
son, then an heir of God through Christ. Not of your own standing,
but in Christ. You're standing in Christ. How
be it then, when you knew not God, you did service unto them
which by nature are no gods? But now, after that ye have known
God, or rather, are known of God, rather, why? Because you didn't know Him till
He knew you. He knew you first. Because He has known you from
eternity. you know him. How turn ye again
to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to
be in bondage?" By birth as a son, you're free from that bondage. You see that there? And then
Romans 8, 14. Turn over there. This is so important. In the new We're freeborn in
Christ, free from the law, free from sin, free from the bondage
of Satan. And we're going to see all three
of those from the Word in a moment here. Romans 8, 14, for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God. That's
why they follow the Spirit. That's why they're led of the
Spirit, because they're the sons of God Almighty. For ye have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, Am I doing enough? Am I pleasing God? Am I keeping
the law enough? Am I holy enough to be with Him? Will He accept me? No! No! And gender is nothing but fear,
because it's never enough. But we've received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.
It's not the spirit of bondage. It's the spirit of freedom in
the Lord Jesus Christ. As the sons of God, we're free. What did we say we were under
bondage to? Sin. We're free from sin's bondage.
Romans 6.17, for the sake of time, let me read you these.
Romans 6.17, but God be thanked that you were the servants of
sin. I'm not the servant of sin now?
No, not as a child of God. Absolutely not. But ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being
then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
You see that? Oh, my. I thought I was still
the servant of sin. No. Sin is ever before me. Everything that I do is mixed
with sin, but I don't serve sin. I serve Christ. And that's by
His doing, not mine. You see that we're born into
that by His grace. Romans 520, moreover, the law
entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, sin ruled me, and I was the servant of sin. I obeyed
it, drank iniquity like water. But that as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life." Because you turned over a new leaf, no? By Jesus
Christ our Lord. Isn't that right? It's got nothing
to do with you. I'm not going to sin anymore.
Well, we'll see about that. You better seek the Savior who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. And he did
that on behalf of his people. And we're free from Satan's bondage.
Look back again at 2 Timothy 2. We just quoted it, but look
at it where he's talking about what the servant of the Lord
must not strive. And then he says in verse 25
of 2 Timothy 2, "...in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil." By the grace of God, through
the preaching of Christ, through faith in Christ, through believing
on Christ, through being born into the family of God, born
as sons of God, free-born, we're delivered out of the snare of
the devil. He's not my Lord anymore. He's not my king. He's not my
teacher and all of the things that he was to me by nature.
Children of wrath even as others. But not, not now. It's given
by God that they may recover themselves out of the snare of
the devil by God's grace. And then we're free from the
law. Well, does that mean we despise God's law? We've talked
about that before. We don't despise the law of God.
The law is just an expression of God's character, His holiness.
And Paul said, I love the law of God. We admire the law. We're
in awe of the holiness of God and the expression of it. But
I don't want to be under it, do you? I don't want to have
to keep it to gain favor with God. I need access to God another
way. I sure do. And I'm free from
the law, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to all them that believe. He's the end of it. And then
Romans 6, 14. Paul said, for sin shall not
have dominion over you. There's sin again. We were under
the dominion of our own sinful, wicked hearts. Not anymore. Why
not? For you're not under the law,
but under grace. You see, I don't want to be under
God's law. I cannot measure up. I can't
even begin to commence to get started to measuring up to God's
law, and neither can you. And so we admire and we love
truth and law and holiness. But I find my hope for holiness
and righteousness before God in another, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And by His grace, by birth, I'm
free in Him. You see that? This proud Roman,
he clearly objected to Paul being free. This despised man, he's
not worthy to even live, and he's a Roman. How did that happen? He boasted of all that he had
paid in order to gain his freedom. Natural man, likewise, strives
and gives himself to attain that which he can never attain. Well,
I go, I'm faithful to church. I go to church every Sunday,
and I'm good to my mama, and I tithe, and I bring visitors. I bring my Bible everywhere.
I read my Bible through every year. Is that right? You're not
going to get freedom that way. It doesn't come that way. He strives for that which he
can never attain, while God's people are by birth by birthright,
given this privilege outright, just given, given to us by the
grace of God Almighty. I was free born by God's grace. Let's bow in prayer. Lord, how can we ever praise
you and thank you enough for this glorious truth? We didn't have anything to do
with our birth, either one of them, but we praise you for all
of the benefits and blessings of it. We were born from above
by your grace, and we do cry out, Abba, Father. Thank you,
Lord, for this glorious privilege. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Help us to glory in this always and be so grateful
in our hearts. We're so prone to ingratitude,
Lord, and to taking your grace for granted. Keep us from that.
Keep us at the feet of Christ and worshiping him and exalting
him in every way that you give us to do. Bless this church,
Lord. Use us for his glory. Thank you
for all that you've done for us. All that you are to us. Don't leave us to ourselves.
Don't let us go. Bless us in Christ, in His precious
name. Amen.