Open our Bibles tonight, if you
will, to Galatians chapter 5, as we continue looking at the
letter of Galatians. Tonight, the first six verses
of chapter 5. Trust God will bless His Word
to all of us here this evening. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he
is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are
fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. In the Gospel of Luke, we read
that when the Lord Jesus Christ began his public ministry, we
know he was approximately 30 years of age. That's the age
that a man could enter into the priesthood. And he was baptized
as John in the River Jordan. He was in the wilderness for
40 days being tempted or tested by Satan. And then he returned
to the town in which he had lived as a boy and as a teenager, a
young man, to the city of Nazareth. And he went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day, as the scripture says, as his custom was. And they handed him the scriptures.
You can read this in Luke chapter 4. And he found the place where
it was written, Isaiah chapter 61, and began to read the prophecy
concerning the Messiah. And then he told them, this day
is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. Now the scripture
he read, we're all familiar with the part as it begins, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed me and
then part of what he came to do is in that prophecy he came
to proclaim liberty to the captives liberty to the captives and the
opening of prison to them that are bound one of the Psalms we
read of him the Lord looseth the prisoners The Lord Jesus
said this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. You notice
in our text tonight in verse 1 these two words liberty and
bondage. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
loose the prisoners. Men are bound. And so, as we
look at this passage tonight, I have three parts to the message.
First, we see an exhortation to stand fast in the freedom
that Christ gives his people. The freedom that Christ gives
unto his people. You know, many people do not
realize that they are in bondage. Of course, a dead person would
never know that. If a person was physically dead,
he would not know that he is in bondage. And yet all men,
as we will see tonight, coming to this world are in bondage. But the Lord Jesus Christ, part
of the work that he came to do is to loose the prisoners, to
give liberty to those who are in bondage. A prisoner has no
liberty. That's part of being a prisoner,
isn't it? Being locked in a cell or something of that nature.
Being in bondage. But you notice it is Christ and
His work that sets men free. Notice that in that text. Stand
fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free. You didn't make yourself free.
Men cannot free themselves. It is Christ and His work of
substitution that sets men free. Now I've mentioned, or I've written
down here, six things that we may think of tonight under this
heading. First of all, he loses, that
is Christ, he loses prisoners from spiritual death. He loses prisoners from spiritual
death. This is what the prophecy said.
that he will proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening
of prison to them that are bound. Men, when we come into this world,
are bound in spiritual death. When Adam sinned, he brought
both physical mortality upon all of his descendants. We all
know that one day we shall die. But he also brought spiritual
death upon all of his descendants, every son of Adam, every one
of us tonight. When we came into this world,
we were dead in trespasses and sins. We were blind to spiritual
truth. We were without God and without
hope. Now that's the condition of every
man, woman, boy, and girl who comes into this world. But when
a person is born again, as we just finished singing, our Lord
told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. When a person
is born again, born from above, born of the Spirit of God, he
receives Christ, and Christ is our life. And so, first of all,
we think that Christ, he loses prisoners from spiritual death.
Nobody has spiritual life apart from Jesus Christ. Really no
one has life period apart from Jesus Christ. Because even lost
men, the physical life that we have, the Bible says we live,
we move, we have our being in Him. Every breath that a man
takes, the Lord Jesus Christ gives him that breath. but spiritual
life, to know God, to have fellowship with God. When a person is born
again and receives Christ, Christ is our life, then Christ, we
say, he loses, first of all, prisoners from spiritual death. Look with me over just a few
pages in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 and beginning
with verse 4. After Paul has said that these
to whom he was writing were originally dead in trespasses and sins,
but notice verse 4, he says, but God. When you see that in the scripture,
listen, when you see that in the scripture, take that in. But God. God did something. These people were spiritually
dead, and they would have continued spiritually dead, like everyone
else, unless God does something. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us. I think I mentioned
that John Bunyan one time wrote that God has bags of mercy that
have never been opened. Bags of mercy that have never
been opened. Rich in mercy. We can't begin
to understand the mercy of God. Just how merciful God is. He's rich in mercy. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us, made us alive, regenerated
us, birthed us, made us alive, quickened us together with Christ,
by grace are you saved. and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So I ask each one of us here
tonight, has Christ loosed you from spiritual death? Do you
know Christ? Do you trust in Him as your Lord
and Savior? Is He real to you? Not just some
doctrine, not just some historical figure, but the person, Jesus
Christ, God's dear Son. First, he loses prisoners from
spiritual death. Second, he loses prisoners from
the curse of the law. The curse of God's law. Now,
God's law curses everyone who does not perfectly obey it. Perfectly obey it. It's not,
well, I try to do the best I can. Well that's good, but God's law
makes no exceptions. It curses everyone that fails
to do all things which are written in the book of the law. To do
those things perfectly, to obey perfectly. By the law is the
knowledge of sin, but the law condemns all men. This is why
it is so sad and yet so common that people speak about, well,
I'm just going to keep the Ten Commandments. That's how I'm
going to get to heaven. That's how I'm planning on going.
That's my ticket to heaven. I'm going to keep the Ten Commandments. And yet the scripture says that
by the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. It curses. But Christ, his work for us on
the cross, in our place, he kept the law of God perfectly. He
loses prisoners from the curse of the law. So that Paul wrote
in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, there's therefore now, tonight,
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. tonight
some people have the idea well we'll wait to the judgment and
see if we're condemned or saved no tonight there's therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus we're accepted
in the beloved aren't we when the Lord accepted us and he did
in Christ we had nothing to offer He expected nothing on our part. He accepted us based upon the
person and work of Jesus Christ and that alone. He loses prisoners
from the curse of the law. Oh happy day, right? We sang
that just a moment ago. Oh happy day! That curse, that
curse of the law, cursed me because I had disobeyed it. He looses
the prisoners. He's loosed me. Law no longer
curses. Number three, he looses prisoners
from the fear of physical death. If you turn over to Hebrews chapter
2, he looses prisoners from the fear of physical death. Hebrews chapter 2 and verses
14 and 15, the writer said, for as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also, that is the eternal
Son of God, he also himself likewise took part of the same, he was
made flesh, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is the devil, Now notice, "...and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage." He loses prisoners from the fear of death. Someone
wrote, death itself is the ultimate prison. But long before the event Long
before the event, death cast its shadow over life. The bondage of the fear of death
is set forth in two ways. First of all, because man naturally
has the fear of dying, it makes life seem so useless, so futile. You know, in the book of Ecclesiastes,
the wise man Solomon, he mentioned this. In Ecclesiastes 2 and verse
11. The fact that we're going to
die, we know we're going to die, makes life seem so useless, so
futile. What's the point? What's the
purpose of all this? Solomon wrote, then I looked
on all the works that my hands had wrought. Everything I'd done,
I considered that. And he had done a lot, right?
As a king. I mean, he'd constructed beautiful
palaces and gardens and he had a mighty army. But he said, I
looked. I looked on all the works that
my hands had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do
and behold, all All was vanity and vexation of spirit and there
was no profit under the sun. Now that's the way he felt about
his labor. Useless, senseless. Those without
Christ have no purpose. They go through life, there's
no real purpose to life for them. And so many, they turn to the
maxim, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. You only
go around once. You better enjoy it. Life has
no meaning to them. But those who know Christ, we
know that He is our life. He gives us purpose, and to die
is to be with Him. Also, not only does the fear
of death make life seem so useless and so futile, but there's also
the unknown. What's going to happen? What's
going to take place when we close our eyes in death? the unknown, but Christ delivers
us from the fear of death and the grave for he's already conquered
it. Death, death is swallowed up
in victory for the believer for the child of God we have no cause
to fear death for every child of God to live is Christ but
to die is gain. And we know that for us to be
absent from the body, we read it just a few minutes ago, to
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There's
no intermediate state between death and heaven for the believer. To close your eyes here in death
and open them in the presence of God. Number four. So first of all, he loses prisoners
from spiritual death, he loses prisoners from the curse of the
law, he loses prisoners from the fear of physical death. And
number four, he loses prisoners from being under the authority
of the devil. Being lost men are under the
authority of the devil. Turn with me to Colossians, Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 verses 12
and 13 we read, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made
us meet, qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light who hath delivered us from the power the power of darkness
and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. We know this power of darkness
is the prince of darkness. In Ephesians 2, Paul wrote that
before we were quickened and made alive in Christ, we walked
according to the course of this world. According to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. He, Satan, the devil, he has
his house, his goods, he loves to keep them in peace. That's
the way our Lord put it, wasn't it? He loves to keep his goods,
those men and women. who come into this world, apart
from Christ, under his control, under his authority. And the
last thing he wants is for them to ever be stirred up, to give
thought about their soul, about eternity. And he does his best
to keep that from happening. Someone said there's two times
when Satan especially afflicts the people of God. First of all,
when God begins a work of grace in their heart. He realizes that
they're going to escape, that they're going to be delivered.
And he especially throws those fiery darts, sends those fiery
darts towards a person who is first coming to Christ. And then,
when a person is leaving this world and going into that next
world, John Knox, you know John Knox, one of the great reformers,
reformer in Scotland, God mightily used him. I think of Mary Queen
of Scots who said, I fear John Knox more on his knees than the
armies of France. But his testimony was, I've read
it several times, that on his deathbed, they thought he was
semi-unconscious, and he came back conscious and told them,
he said, I've just fought the worst fight of my life. He said, the devil tempted me
to look at the works that I have done. the reformation that God
has used me to accomplish in Scotland. In other words, He's
tempted me to turn away from Christ, to turn my eyes from
Christ and look upon my works. Thank God, God delivered him
and he died victoriously. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
looses the prisoners, looses us from spiritual death from
the curse of the law, from the fear of physical death, and from
the authority of the devil. Number five, he loses prisoners
from the power of sin. The power of sin. Remember in
Matthew, the scripture says, thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. From their sins,
from the power of their sins. In Romans chapter 6, verses 17
and 18, the Apostle Paul wrote, But God be thanked that you were
the servants of sin, and that's the word for slave. You were
the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered unto you, and that form of doctrine
is the gospel. Obeyed from the heart. Believed. That's how they obeyed. They
believed. Not to obey is to not believe. They believed the gospel,
Paul said. You were. God bethanked that
you were the servants of sin. The slaves of sin. But you have
obeyed from the heart. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. You have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made
free from sin, you became the servants, the slaves of righteousness. He delivers, looses prisoners
from the power of sin. And number six, he looses prisoners
to inherit all that he has purchased for us. We saw this back in chapter
4 of Galatians verses 5 through 7. He uses us to inherit all
that he has purchased for us. Verse 5 says to redeem them that
were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons
And because you 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. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. We are free, free to enjoy the
inheritance which God has prepared for those who love him. Thank
God, Jesus Christ, is a deliverer, the Savior. He looses the prisoners. Robert Hawker made this comment
on this portion of Scripture. And I thought after going through
those six things that we see that the Lord Jesus Christ looses
every believer from these things I've just mentioned. Robert Hawker
made this comment. Let no child of God Child of
God, you here tonight, myself, we've heard these things, what
Christ has done. Let no child of God be tempted
to make a mistake in his expectations concerning this liberty. Every child of God, regenerated
by the Holy Ghost, is fully, freely, and completely holy in
Christ before God and everlastingly accepted in Him. Nevertheless, nevertheless, as
he still carries about with him a body of sin, Now, when we read
of a body of sin, we're not talking about this physical body. We're
talking about that nature, that sinful nature that we still have. We have a new heart. We have
a new nature, those of us who have been born of the Spirit
of God. But we still carry about with us that body of sin and death. That's what Paul calls
it, right? A body of sin and death. which
is all together, all together. Our Lord said it like this, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. That new nature is born of the
spirit is spirit, but that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and it will die flesh. It's not going to improve. The
flesh, this body of sin that we all carry about with us, which,
as Hawker said, is altogether unholy and virtually all that
is evil. Now, child of God, he must not
be surprised that he is still the subject of sin in his flesh. He will feel the assaults of
sin. He will groan under them. He will find that often when
he would do good, evil is present with him. Jesus freed him from
all the condemnation of sin, but not all the sorrows of it."
When Paul speaks of the yoke of bondage, look at our text
again, Galatians 5 and verse 1. Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. No doubt in my mind he has reference
to the law that was given on Mount Sinai. He calls it a yoke
of bondage. Keep your place here, but if
you look back in Acts chapter 15, the Apostle Peter made a
similar statement. at that meeting in Jerusalem
at the church when they met to discuss this very issue Gentiles,
believers relationship to the law but in verse 10 when Peter
stood up to speak well let's begin in verse 7 and when there
had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them man
and brethren You know how that a good while ago God made choice
among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us. But no difference between us
and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why
tempt you God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples? These
believers, these Gentile believers, why? Why tempt you God to put
a yoke? That's what it is. It's a yoke.
Now a yoke was used on oxen, right? For them to serve. But it brings
trial and pressure upon a person. This yoke of bondage. The law
that God gave to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. But contrast. This Peter calls
a yoke. yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
and Peter, or Paul rather, refers it to a yoke of bondage. Contrast
that with the yoke of Christ. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
you shall find rest unto your souls. So, first of all, we have
this here in our text in Galatians 5 and verse 1, an exhortation
to stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. Second, in verses 2 through 4,
I say a warning to those who would add anything to Christ,
to add anything to Christ, to his person and work. Behold,
I fall saying to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are
fallen from grace. In the case of the Galatians,
it was circumcision that the Judaizers taught was necessary
for their salvation. But this applies to you and I. This applies to anything that
men would join or add to Christ for salvation. In our day, it
might be baptism. Except you are baptized, you
cannot be saved. Some groups teach that. It might
be some special experience, unless you speak in other languages,
you cannot be saved. To add anything, I don't care
what it is, anything to Christ and His finished work as the
sole cause of salvation is to deny Christ. It is to deny the
gospel. It is to deny that salvation
is by grace through faith and not of ourselves. Anything that
men wish to add and tell you that you must experience or do
in order to be saved other than faith in Jesus Christ. The same thing applies to us
today as what Paul said to those of Galatia. I say unto you that
if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing. You add anything to Christ and you deny the truth, you deny
the gospel. To add anything to Christ as
necessary for justification or for practical holiness is to
be estranged, to be severed from Christ. That's what the Apostle
says here. Christ has become of no effect
to you. If you add anything to Christ,
Christ has become of no effect to you. You are estranged or
severed from Christ. A person who would do this, Paul
said, you have fallen from grace. Now you know people who deny
salvation by grace, they believe in salvation by works. They look
everywhere they can to try to find support in the scriptures. And they think they found something
here. But my friends, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Who? Let me ask you. Who would do
this? Who would do this? Christ, I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you are fallen from grace. What person would do this? What person would do such a thing?
Not a person who has experienced God's grace, because God's grace
sustains a true believer. It's only a person who has made
a profession, professed something that was not real, something
that was not true, who would do something like this. Certainly
no one who has tasted of the grace of God would add anything
to Christ. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. That's our testimony, isn't
it? Christ and Christ alone. I remember
one of the English martyrs when he was being burned at the stake.
His last words, none but Christ, none but Christ, until he was
consumed by the flames. None but Christ, none but Christ. Now the last thing, the third
part, true believers through the Spirit wait for the hope
of righteousness. Notice in verse 5 he said, for
we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. The Holy Spirit dwells in every
child of God and he gives us patience. Patience to wait for
the hope of righteousness. Now this hope of righteousness
is that which is unseen. If you look in 1 Peter 1 Peter
1 verses 3-5 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, the hope of righteousness,
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. It is through faith in Christ
that we have this righteousness which qualifies us or gives us
this hope. This hope is this inheritance,
what we would refer to as heaven. One other place. Turn to Romans
8. Turn with me, if you will, to Romans chapter 8. And verses
24 and 25. For we are saved by hope, in
hope, not by hope. We are saved in hope. But hope
that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? You don't hope for something
you already have. And that word hope, expect. You don't expect something to
receive something that you already have. But if we hope for that
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. With patience we
wait for Him. This hope that we wait for, it
includes a number of things, no doubt. Things which are unseen,
such as the resurrection of the dead. Have you ever seen anyone
who died and you maybe went to their funeral and later on you
saw them? You haven't seen anything like
that, have you? Neither have I. Neither have
anyone else here in this world. That's our hope. Unseen things. Yes, the resurrection of the
dead. This body, though sown in dishonor, shall be raised
one day in honor. Eternal glory. We've not seen
eternal glory. We've not seen the golden streets
or the walls of Jasper. The happiness in heaven, we've
not seen that. And the blessed hope. The blessed
hope. The sum of our happiness is being
with Christ and being like him and seeing God and we will see
him in the face of Jesus Christ and then Paul finishes that passage
we looked at he said it's not circumcision or uncircumcision
Neither one. As far as Paul was concerned,
it was a matter completely of indifference. It's not circumcision
or uncircumcision that is important, but this is important. Faith. Faith in Christ that receives
him and his righteousness. That's all important. And this
faith that receives him works by love. works by love to God,
by love to Christ, by love to his people, by love to his word,
by love to his worship. Faith which worketh by love. I pray the Lord will bless this
message to all of us here tonight.