Wouldn't it be a reason for gratefulness
if the Lord touched our hearts through the preaching of the
gospel tonight? I pray that that is what takes
place. Verse 13 of Galatians chapter
5, For brethren, You have been called unto liberty. Freedom. That's what the word
means. Freedom. Now, what comes to your
mind when you think of liberty or freedom? Well, the first thing
that comes to my mind is I get to do what I want to do. I'm
not doing what I have to do or what I'm afraid not to do. I'm
getting to do what I want to do. I think that's illustrated
so clearly in the case of Bartimaeus, when after the Lord gave him
sight, he said, go thy way. Set free. Go thy way. You know what he did? He followed
Jesus into way. That is what he wanted to do. So when I think of being at liberty,
I think of getting to do what I want to do. You know, most
people's religion is such an unhappy thing. It's them doing
things that they really don't want to do and not getting to
do the stuff that they want to do. And that comprises their
religion. And it's really not very happy.
I don't want a religion like that. I want to do what I want
to do. And being free or having
true liberty is not owing anything. How liberating it is to have
a debt paid. And you know what that means. Anytime I have paid off a debt,
it feels so good. It feels so liberating. You don't
have that hanging over your head anymore. To be liberated is to
be assured of God's favor. I'm in God's favor. God's not
mad at me. He's pleased with me. Now that's
a, what a liberating thing that is. And this scripture says you're
called. This is what God's called you
to. You're called unto liberty. You're called unto freedom. Now, that being said, There is
not a day that goes by when I personally do not struggle with this. And here is how I struggle with
it. Is it an act of presumption for me to really feel that I'm
at liberty? Would that be presumptuous for
me to feel that way, that I really have the favor of God and that
I'm just going to do what I want to do? Is that an act of presumption? to me to feel that way when I
fall so short of where I ought to be. It's just an act of presumption
because good grief, look at me, look at you. Can you really take
this to yourself? And this is the thought that
thrilled me. The issue is not me falling short. I do all the time. Here's the issue. Has Christ
fallen short? That is the issue. Is there anything
lacking in His person? Did He fall short in any of the
work that the Father gave Him to do? No. Now, there is my liberty that
I don't look to myself for a thing. That's the only liberating thought
I know, that I don't look to myself for anything. I look entirely
to Him, and only when I do that do I feel this liberty and do
I feel this peace. What liberty, what peace there
is in the gospel. I'm not looking for a thing out
of myself. Somebody says, well, you ought
to. Well, I'm not. I'm not. I'm looking to Christ
only. Does that mean you don't care
about your conduct? Doesn't mean that at all. We're
going to get to that in a minute, but I repeat, I'm not looking
to myself for a thing. I'm looking to Christ only as
everything that God requires of me. I love what Simeon said
when he held that baby up in his arms. He said, Lord, I'm
ready to die. Now let us vow thy servant depart
in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." And it didn't
have anything to do with me. It's all in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What peace, what liberty there
is there. Look back up at verse 1 of Galatians
chapter 5. Paul says, stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty. This is the key verse of this
entire epistle. This is the reason this epistle
was written. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Now, what is the yoke of bondage?
He's talking about the law. You put law anywhere in salvation.
You're in bondage, and there is no liberty. You put any aspect
of salvation dependent upon you doing something, and there is
no liberty, there is no freedom, there is only bondage. Don't be entangled with that.
Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. I love
that statement our Lord made in John chapter eight, verse
36. If the Son shall make you free. You're free indeed. Turn with
me for a moment to Romans chapter 8. Verse 21, because the creature
itself also shall be delivered, and that word delivered is set
free, made free, liberated, The creature itself shall also be
liberated, set free from the bondage of corruption into, look
at this next word, the glorious liberty of the children of God. Glorious liberty. Now, where
in is that glorious liberty? Well, look in verse 28 of the
same chapter. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. Now, there isn't anything bad. Is that liberating? There isn't
anything bad. There isn't anything bad that's
happened to me. It's all good. It's all for my good and his glory.
Whatever it may be, no matter how painful it may be, it's all
good. I relax whenever I think that.
It's all good. There's nothing bad. Everything
is working together for my good. God's in control. Look in verse
29. For whom he did foreknow, know
beforehand, love beforehand, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many creatures, or among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called,
then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. Now, you know what I see there?
I see an absolutely completed salvation. so much so that I'm
actually already glorified. That's how complete this is.
God foreknew me. He predestinated that I'd be
just like Christ. He called me. He justified me. He made me so I have no guilt.
And He glorified me. That's a complete salvation that
I didn't have any part in. Now this was written 2,000 years
ago, but it was ordained before time began in God's foreknowledge.
And I obviously had no part in this thing. And I love it that
way. I find such liberty in that. A complete salvation that doesn't
have anything to do with me doing anything. Liberty. Freedom. Look in verse 31. What shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? The liberty of having God for
me. Not God against me, but God for
me. Not God ready to punish me, but
God for me. Is that a liberating thought
to you? That God is actually for you. The living God is on
your side. The Lord is my keeper. I don't
fear what man should do unto me. And then he says in verse
32, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? There's nothing I can do to mess
this up. How shall He not? What could
possibly prevent Him from freely, no cause in us, giving us all
things? He's already given His Son. There's nothing I can do
to mess this up. Absolutely nothing. Now, if I
thought there's something I could do to mess it up, I would be
trembling in my boots right now wondering what, because if I
can do something to mess it up, I will do something to mess it
up. But here's the promise. There's nothing that can prevent
him from freely giving us all things. Now that's liberating.
That's freeing. Look in verse 33. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Do you know that there's absolutely nothing to be laid to my charge? Now you want to talk about liberating. No sin. I am justified in God's
sight. This is the heritage of every
believer. Now do you find this liberating?
There's nothing to be laid to your charge. The only thing that
scares us is sin. I mean, if you know that you
have no sin, you're not afraid of death, but if you're not sure
that that sin question is settled, you're afraid to die because
you don't know what's gonna happen. But if there's no sin, nothing
to be laid to my charge. Verse 34, who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died. Nothing to condemn me for, I
can't be condemned. Yea, rather that's risen again.
Who's even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession
for us? Who shall separate us? There's no separation. It's not
going to happen. It can't happen. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? It will not happen. 2 Corinthians
3, 17 says, Now the Lord is that spirit. And where the spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is freedom. I don't have
any obligations. It's kind of like when you go
on, I mean, this is a crude illustration, but when I go on vacation, I
don't have any obligations. I want to do whatever I want
to. I don't want to schedule. I want to, no obligations. Completely free at liberty, no
debts. In Romans chapter six, verse
seven, it says, he that is dead is freed from sin. You know,
I remember when I was a young man, I remember reading that
verse of scripture and it absolutely terrified me. He that's dead
is freed from sin? Well, I'm sure not freed from
sin. There's something wrong with me then. He that's dead, sin has
nothing to say to him. Sin has nothing to say. You're
already dead. I've died in Christ. I'm freed from the guilt of sin?
I'm not guilty. I'm freed from the penalty of
sin. I'm freed from the power of sin. What do you mean by being
freed from the power of sin? Let me tell you what I mean.
I don't mean I have the power to not sin, but I have power
that I didn't used to have. There was a time when I couldn't
believe. I didn't even know what it meant. And I would hear exhortations
to believe, and I'd say, well, I would if I knew what it meant.
It was the same thing with repentance. I'd hear repent, and I'd think,
well, what's that mean? I didn't know how. I didn't know
what it meant. I'd hear these terms. I had no understanding
of them. But now I believe. It's not just that I know what
the term means. I believe. I repent. I love God. There was a time when I really
did not love him. I resented him and I hated him. I love him
now. I wouldn't want to change him in any way. I've been delivered
from the power of sin in that sense. According to Romans chapter
8 verse 30, I've been delivered from the presence of sin. Christ
Jesus is in heaven. He doesn't have any sin. I don't
either. In him is no sin because I'm in him. I am free from seeking to serve
God out of fear, of punishment, or hope for reward. I'm free
of that. Do you ever get scared? Of course
I do. Of course I do. Do I ever think, well, God's
going to get me? Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. But I shouldn't. I shouldn't.
I don't have a reason to. Now, we're not merely free from
these things. We have liberty or freedom to
things. the liberty of access. Do you
know I'm always welcome? Every believer, always welcome. Freedom of access into the very
presence of God, into the very holy of holies. We're called
upon to draw nigh through the blood of Christ. I have the liberty
to take all of God's promises to myself. And I think of that
scripture, the Lord is my shepherd. shall not want. You know that's
mine too. David said it and I say it too. The Lord's my shepherd.
I shall not want. Now every believer is called
to this liberty, this freedom. Paul said we're children not
of the bondwoman but of the free. Now believer, I want you to think
about this. All your sins are forgiven sins, including
the one you've not yet committed. You know, they were all forgiven
before you were ever born. And you didn't find that out
until you believed the gospel. But all your sins are forgiven
sins. But better than that, you've
never sinned. Believe that? That's what justification
means. If you're justified, that means
you never sinned. You. That's how God sees you
and how God sees is the way it is. You never sinned if you're
justified. There's nothing to condemn you
for. There's nothing to lay to your charge. We've already seen
that. You have the full favor of God because as John said in
1 John 4, 17, as he is, so are we in this world right now. Now let me ask you, does he have
the full favor of God? Does he have the complete full
favor of God? Yes, he does. And you and I do
too, if we're in him. You can't be more saved, you
can't be more loved, you can't be more accepted than you are
right now, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you measuring
up. Hebrews 1.3 points this out, when he had by himself, purged
our sins. I like the insertion of the word
by himself. That lets me know that the purging,
the putting away, the cleansing of my sins had nothing to do
with me. He did it by himself. How liberating. Doesn't have anything to do with
me measuring up. It's all because he by himself purged our sins. You already have all spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus. Aren't you thankful for the liberty
of the gospel? And God intends for you and I to enjoy this liberty. Now, he gives a warning. Back
to our text in Galatians chapter 5. Verse 13, only, only, use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another. Now what does Paul mean by the
flesh when he says, use not liberty as an occasion for the flesh?
Well, in the context, look at verse 17. He talks about our
experience. For the flesh lusts against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these, the spirit
and the flesh, this is talking about the two separate natures
of the believer. A believer has a spiritual nature,
a believer has a fleshly nature. And these two natures lust against
one another, they're contrary the one to the other, so that
you, what's that next word? Cannot do the things that you
would. Now that is the experience of
every believer that has these two natures, you cannot You lack
the ability to do the things that you would. I would never
sin again. How's that work? Not at all. Not at all. I would Commit sins that if you knew
about it, you wouldn't listen to me preach anymore. I would. I would. But you know what? Lord hadn't let me do them. You have two natures, contrary
one to the other, called the flesh and the spirit. And just
because you've been set at liberty does not mean you do not still
have this thing called the flesh, fallen human nature. Now, Paul
says, only use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh. And that word occasion is a base
of operations. Don't use the liberty you have
as a reason that it's okay to sin. That's what he means by
that. Don't use this liberty as an
excuse for sin. Don't use this precious liberty. Now, if my liberty makes me lawless,
I can sin without worrying about it because I'm under the law.
I'm not under the law, I'm under grace. Now understand this about
liberty. This is very important. Liberty
is not liberty to sin. Amen. You agree with that? So liberty is not liberty to
sin. Sin is just as forbidden in the
gospel as it is in the law. Actually, more so. These things
write I unto you, John said, that you sin not. And I love the next words, when
you do. We have an advocate with the
Father. And I love to think of the Lord's
advocacy right now. You know, he doesn't say to the
father, when I sin again, oh, forgive him again. No, he just
is up there showing the father his hands and feet and nothing
else needs to be said. When we sin, we have an advocate
with the father and we had him before the sin, we had him during
the sin, and we have him as the advocate after the sin. Now, it's one thing to sin, It's a horrible thing. And it's
another thing to think it doesn't matter because you're not under
the law but under grace. And I've known some and know
some now who believe that way. They think their conduct doesn't
matter and they think it's self-righteousness to think anything like that matters. Well, you're dead wrong. That's
a pernicious error. And the very fact that Paul gave
us this warning lets us know that all of us are bad enough
to fall into this. Can you see yourself being that
bad that you'd actually use the grace of God as an excuse to
sin? And he gives us this warning because he knows that he and
everybody else is bad enough to fall into this pernicious
error. He says, don't use your liberty
as an occasion to the flesh, but by love, serve one another. And the greatest thing that you
and I can do is serve one another. That's what love does. Self-love
wants to be served. What can you do for me? This
spiritual love, the fruit of the Spirit is love. It wants
to serve. What can I do for you? Verse 14, Paul makes this brilliant
summary of the law. Verse 14, for all the law is
fulfilled in one word, even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. The whole law is fulfilled by
this one commandment. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Now, here's the point. If I love you, I'm going to honor
and respect you. I'm going to treat you as such
if I love you. If I love you, I'm certainly not going to murder
you, and I'm not going to murder your character. If I love you,
I'm not going to commit sexual sin against you. If I love you,
I'm not going to lie to you. I'm going to tell you the truth.
If I love you, I'm not going to steal from you. If I love
you, I'm not going to covet what's yours. I'm going to be glad you
have it if I love you. And that is how love is the fulfilling
of the law. And actually, here's another
way to say the same thing. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
seven. Love is the fulfilling of the
law, and I want us to think about this beautiful statement of our
Lord. Therefore, verse 12, Matthew
chapter 7, verse 12. Therefore, all things whatsoever
you would, that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,
For this is the law and the prophets. Now, that's how significant this
is. He said, this is the law and the prophets, all things
that you would have men do to you, do you to them. Now, I've been thinking about
that. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, thinking about how
the way I like to be treated. Been thinking about it. I think I'm
an expert at knowing about how I like to be treated. How would
I want people to do me? Well, I want you to be kind to
me. And I want you to be patient
with me. I don't want to feel judged by
you. I don't want to feel like I'm
under your microscope. I want you to give me the benefit
of the doubt. I want you to put the best construction
on my motives and my actions. I certainly don't want you to
talk to other people about me in an unkind and critical way,
even if I deserve it. I want you to love me for Christ's
sake. I want you to love me sincerely.
And I want you to see me as I am in Christ, overlooking all the
annoying things about me and see me as God sees me in Christ. I want you to pray for me. I don't want you to put me under
the law. And I don't want you to seek
to pay me back for things I've done. Don't want any of that. That's why I want to be treated.
And you think about that. Isn't that the way you want to
be treated in all those areas? And this is why it's called the
golden rule. And it's so beautiful. It's so perfect. How do you want
to be treated? Now that's how I'm called upon to treat you. I'm called upon to be kind to
you, to be patient with you. I'm called upon to be non-judgmental
of you and give you the benefit of the doubt and not examine
your motives and your actions and put the poorest construction
on them, but I'm called upon to put the best construction
on what you do. I'm called upon to forgive you and certainly
not to talk to other people about you in a negative or critical
way, even if you deserve it. I'm to stay your friend, close
friend, and I'm to love you for Christ's sake, and I'm to see
you as you are in Christ Jesus, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight. I'm certainly not to put you
under the law, and I'm not to pay you back, or try to seek
vengeance in any way. Now, this is how I would love
for you to treat me, and this is the rule of how I am to treat
you. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that
beautiful? Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. Don't even think about how they've
done you, what your response is. Remember this, the Bible
never tells anybody how to treat you. It only tells you how to
treat them. That's it. Now may God enable
us to see the beauty of this and practice it with the new
man. He's back to our text, Galatians
chapter five. For all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now here's what happens when
we're law people, verse 15, but if you bite and devour one another,
and you can bet that was going on because of their legalism,
because of their self-righteousness, because of their going back to
the law, this always accompanies the law. This is the, it's not
love, it's not love, it's law. If you bite and devour one another,
take heed that you be not consumed one another, Now the law causes
people to bite and devour one another. You know, when you're
really into the law, you're always examining how other people are
standing up. I think it's interesting. When
we're under the law, I always make special allowances for myself.
I was having a bad day, or I was having this something happen,
and I can excuse myself, but when you're under the law, you
can bite and devour, judge, criticize, find fault, look for faults. There's no love in that. It's
not the love that comes from the new birth. The fruit of the
Spirit is love. But the fruit of the law is biting and devouring
one another. So remember this, the end of
the law is acting like animals. All it does is stir up sin. That's
it. Doesn't do anything else. Stirs
up sin and makes a man act like an animal, biting and devouring
one another. And he says, if you bite and
devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one
of another. The only way for me to look at
you is as God looks at you in Christ. Holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable. Now here are two things we're
called upon to do. First, you've been called to
liberty. You've been called to freedom,
absolute freedom. The freedom of grace. And we're
called upon by love to serve one another. There's two things,
two things, you and I are called to do. We're called to liberty
and we're called by love to serve one another. Ephesians 4, 32
says, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another. even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
liberty and the freedom that is in Christ Jesus And Lord, we ask that you would
enable us to stand fast in the liberty that's in Christ Jesus,
and don't be entangled with the yoke of bondage. Lord, deliver
us from being lawmongers. Lord, that's the direction we'll
go. If you don't prevent it, and it's so hypocritical on our
part, we pray for deliverance from that. And Lord, we ask that
you would deliver us from using this liberty as an occasion to
the flesh. Oh Lord, prevent us from that. We're ashamed to know that we
will do that if you don't prevent it. So Lord, we ask that we might
be delivered from that and that you'd give us the grace to serve
one another, that you'd give us the grace to do unto others
as we would have them do unto us. And we ask that you would
deliver us from abiding and devouring one another, but that we might
be servants one to another for Christ's sake. Bless this message
for your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.