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Amen, Galatians chapter 5, so last week, so first of all, Galatians, what are we learning in Galatians? Paul was writing this letter to the Galatians where somebody has come in, or a group of people have come into the church and have been preaching against a perverted, they've been preaching a perverted version of the gospel, they've been preaching a works-based gospel, and Paul, in the last few chapters, has been refuting that gospel using the Old Testament, using the Word of God, he's been refuting that gospel. And then in Galatians chapter 5, last week, we were in Galatians chapter 5, and I focused in on Paul calling out the person or persons that was causing this trouble, that was bringing this into the church, and we talked about, you know, how to deal with situations like that where somebody would come in and, you know, spread false doctrine or a false gospel or whatever, Paul, you know, teaches us how to deal with that, how to recognize that, and then of course we looked at what the Bible says about why people do that, you know, why people would come in and do something like that. So this evening in Galatians chapter 5, I want to look at mainly the latter half, but you know, we can start out with the first couple of verses, but I want to look at this idea this evening of Christian liberty, and what that means, what that means to us, what that means to other people, Paul talks a lot about Christian liberty, this idea of, you know, liberty in Christ. So let's look at that this evening from both our perspective, and then look at how it could actually be like an issue or a problem with people that we meet that maybe aren't saved. So let's go ahead and start in verse number 1, where the Bible says, 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 ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Now of course he's using circumcision as an example here, you know, an example of something that they were struggling with here, but basically Paul is saying in verse 1, he's like, don't let anyone tell you that you're not free, is what he's saying, and that's what happened in the church at Galatia. These people came in, and they started pushing these works and these ordinances and all these things. So in this case, he calls out circumcision, and he says, look, don't let anybody tell you that you're not free, is what Paul says, because look, he says stand fast, you know, stand fast, hold fast, hold onto this liberty. He's like, you know, you have the liberty. Now let's skip down and continue in verse number 13, where we left off last week, and let's go verse by verse through it, and then I'll give you a few thoughts this evening. But the Bible says in verse 13, for brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Again, we see that word liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. So I'm going to preach through these last few verses in Galatians, and then we'll apply it this evening. But what he says here is he says, you've been called unto liberty. He says, but don't use your freedom, don't use your freedom to just as an occasion to the flesh, to just do what you want to do, do what your flesh wants to do, and he'll explain that as he goes further here. But then he also throws out this other idea here, where he says, but, it's kind of like Proverbs here, right? He's like, don't do this, but do this, is what he's saying. He says, but by love, he doesn't just say follow the law, he says, but by love serve one another, he says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So here, Paul is saying, we're called unto liberty. We are free from the law, and he says, but then he equates, you know, following the law with loving and serving your neighbor, is what he equates here. So don't forget that. He says, but again, an opposite, if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So basically, he says in verse number 16, that walking in the Spirit is the opposite of fulfilling the lust of the flesh. So in verse 13, he says, an occasion to the flesh, the lust of the flesh. It's the same thing. So he's basically saying, we can fulfill the flesh, or we can walk in the Spirit. There's two different things here, okay? They're opposites. Walking in the Spirit is opposite of fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And if you walk in the Spirit, then you're loving your neighbor, the Bible says. Look at verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. So not only are they opposites, but they're fighting against each other. Okay? They're battling each other. And these are contrary to one another, they're opposites. So that ye cannot do the things that ye would. So it's saying, you know, you want to walk in the Spirit, but your flesh is fighting against that Spirit. Then verse 18, he gives us the answer, and he says, but if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. So look, the Bible says here in verse number 14, for all the laws fulfilled in one word even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Living your Christian. Look, the Spirit will lead you in liberty, first of all, is what Paul is saying in these few verses. That the Spirit that is in you will lead you in this liberty. As you say, we're going to talk about Christian liberty tonight. What is Christian liberty? Well, first of all, you know, the Spirit will lead you in it, is the first thing that you need to know. And then, in verse 14, he says, living your Christian liberty, living your life in Christian liberty is not about you personally fulfilling the law, it's about you loving your neighbor, he says here. So you can either be taken, you think about it this way, you can either be taken over and live for the lust of your flesh, which is, you know, it's your flesh, is it not? In that case, you're serving who? You're serving yourself. Or you can be taken by the Spirit, which is also in you, and serve one another. So this is how it works. As I stand here, I am flesh and spirit. I have the Spirit in me, and I have my flesh. My flesh wants to serve myself, but the Spirit wants to lead me in this liberty, and that will serve others. You know, it's kind of like Garrett's sermon on Sunday night. He's talking about, you know, the person who's walking in the Spirit, the person who's just walking in the Spirit is going to go out and serve other people, is going to invest in other people. That's someone who's walking in the Spirit, somebody who's just constantly investing in others. That's a person that's being led by the Spirit in their life. And the Bible says that that is, you know, being led into liberty. That's liberty. You say, liberty is doing what I want to do. Liberty is doing what, no, if you're in the flesh, see, this is where we kind of need to get liberty right, as Christians. Because we think, you know, freedom, you know, as we've been raised this secular idea of freedom, this is not the biblical idea of freedom, okay? This liberty in Christ, you'll be led by the Spirit, which will have you serving other people. If you're led by the flesh, you will serve yourself and you will be in bondage, the Bible says. Okay, so look, I mean, you know, investing in other people is what Garrett talked about on Sunday night, that's another example of this. Look, so I mean, are you starting to understand that as you read the Bible and you study the Bible, how you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ is kind of a really big deal? Are you getting that? Are you getting that? Sometimes I think, sometimes I think, and it's hard for me to even imagine, it's so in your face in the Bible, it's hard for me to imagine how people miss this. And here's another thing, here's another thing, my brothers and sisters in Christ are not my best friends. My brothers and sisters in Christ are the people that are saved. That's your brothers and sisters, the people that are saved. Hello? You're like, whoa, there's a certain brother in church, we just don't get along. Well, you've got a problem. You've got a problem with the Bible. I mean, the Bible has all this advice on how, you know, you can solve this problem, but you're just like, I just don't like that guy. Well, if he's saved and you're saved, you know, that's a problem. And the Bible says here in Galatians chapter five that you're serving the flesh, you're not walking in the Spirit in that case. I mean, it's literally the difference. Paul here is saying that how you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ, loving your neighbor, I mean, your neighbor isn't even necessarily saved people. Paul even goes outside that here. But look, he's saying it's the difference between walking in the Spirit and being in the flesh. Go to verse number 19. Verse number 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest. So he equates the law with loving your neighbor, okay? Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Of the which I tell you before, as I've also told you in time past, that they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, many people will use that to say that you have to do good works to get into heaven, okay? So look, first of all, let's just think about this for a second. We're in Galatians, we've been studying Galatians for seven or eight weeks now. What is Paul preaching against in Galatians? This is the dumbest thing in the world for someone to use this verse. I mean, just think about this for a second. What's the problem in the church here? The problem in the church is someone is teaching works. Paul is coming in, I mean, just look at the big picture. Let's just not take verses, you know, here and there. Let's look at the big picture, the context. Look, homeschool moms, you gotta teach your kids how to read something, and then understand what they just read. They gotta comprehend what they're reading. This is why book reports are so important, because you gotta be able to, look, you gotta be able to read, yes, book reports are important. I saw some eyes going, book reports are important, you have to be able to read, look, you ever read the Bible, let's just go off on a rabbit trail here for a second, you ever read the Bible for like 15 minutes, and you were thinking about something else, and you're like, oh man, the last 10 pages, I have to reread all those pages. I do that all the time. I do that all the time. I'll be reading the Bible, and I'll read, and you know, I'll be thinking about some other part of the Bible, many times, and I'll be reading the Bible, and I'll be reading, I'll read some verse, and I'll be like, oh yeah, yeah, but I just keep reading. And then I just read like page after page after page, and I didn't comprehend anything that I read. You must comprehend what you're reading, otherwise it's a waste of time to read. Reading's great, but you gotta understand how to comprehend. To read, you gotta read a few paragraphs. You gotta read a chapter and just say what's happening, what's the, I mean, you think about some of the great authors and how they can paint such great pictures, I mean, like Charles Dickens is really hard to read, but he can just paint such detailed pictures. If you read, I mean, I mean, he slows me down when I read books that are written by Charles Dickens, because you have to actually think so much about the details that he's talking about, but it's almost like if you do think about it, it's almost like you're there. I mean, you can see everything in the room, on the streets, you can see what the people look like, you can see, you know, probably how they walk, how they act, you know, you can see what they're thinking by just the way he's writing, it's brilliant. But you gotta be able to comprehend what he's saying. So let's think about Galatians, and let's comprehend what we're reading. We have a problem in a church here of somebody that came in and is ruining the gospel by adding works to salvation. And Paul has spent chapter after chapter after chapter just refuting that and saying, no, it's nothing to do with works. It's not even a little bit by works. It's either grace or it's works. Pick one. It can't be a mix of the two. And he goes into this big, you know, recital in the Old Testament and Abraham and using all these pictures that God, you know, created over thousands of years to just show that the gospel has always been the same. It's brilliant. And it just shows you the brilliance of the Bible. Now, how many people think that as Paul preached works for the last, you know, five chapters, then we get this one, you know, verse, he just then he just preaches works. I mean, what? It doesn't make any sense at all. Okay, so first of all, we know that it doesn't mean that it we know that we know just even the context of the book itself that we're reading, we know that he's not preaching works. First Corinthians chapter five. I mean, it just shows you how little people understand even of Galatians, not even the Bible when they say things like that. So they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, the Bible says. Well, what are you talking about, Paul? Look at first Corinthians chapter five. What are we talking about in even Galatians chapter five? We're talking about walking in the Spirit or walking in the what? The flesh. We are always going to have this flesh. I mean, look, it's a problem. It's a problem. It's a problem that we're all going to deal with until we're dead physically. We're always going to have this flesh. But look, something's going to happen to us when we do die physically. Look at first Corinthians chapter five and verse number 50. The Bible says, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So, they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. When you do envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, what is that the Spirit in you doing that? Is that the Spirit? No, that's your flesh. You're serving yourself and you're not serving your neighbor by committing adultery, lasciviousness, uncleanness, fornication, look, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife. These are things you're doing against your neighbor. These are things that your flesh is doing against your neighbor to serve yourself. When you rob somebody, you're serving yourself. It's your flesh. But flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God, Paul says in first Corinthians chapter five and verse 50, Behold, I show you a mystery. Here we go. Let's solve it. We should not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Thank God. I need to be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then you should be brought to pass saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Look, these things, the flesh, and it only makes sense because all these things, wrath, strife, lasciviousness, murderers, revelings, drunkenness, all these things, they couldn't be allowed in heaven. Those things could not be allowed in heaven. I mean, that's why we have to be changed and those things have to stay here. Okay, what he's talking about is the flesh, the corruptible that we're in right now that's going to be changed to incorruptible. Thank God. Look down at verse 22. But now, so those are the works of the flesh, or you could say the fruits. That's what the flesh produces. But now look in verse number 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Turn to Romans chapter 8. So look, the Bible says that the Spirit is going to produce fruit in your life. So look, I mean, we'll get to this in a little bit, but the Spirit, the Spirit can actually help you out in your life. I mean, it only makes sense that the Spirit can actually help you out when the Bible says that you're led by the Spirit. But look, here's the thing, you have to let yourself be led by the Spirit. But the Bible says the Spirit will help you out and it will produce fruit. And the fruit is these items, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness. Now it sounds like we're back being a blessing to our neighbor again. Look at Romans chapter 8, look at verse 26. We always go to Romans 8, 28, you know, but we're going to go to the few verses. I always find that like really famous verses in the Bible, for some reason, there's really good stuff right before them usually too, if you ever noticed that. Look at verse number 26, likewise, the Spirit, here it is again, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Look, the Spirit that's in you can help you. Did you know that? It helps our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for, as we ought. Look, I mean, most of the time, I would venture to guess that most of the time things we pray for are stupid things that we probably shouldn't even be praying for. Especially if you're one of these people that prays, that you only pray in, especially if you're one of these types of people. If you only pray in like emergency situations. If you only pray to God when there's a 911 situation, or there's just some disaster has happened in your life, and then you're like, oh, you're getting down on your knees and you're praying now. But every day you don't pray. Every day you don't pray, but when there's a disaster, you haven't talked to God for a year, and you're like, oh God, I got myself in all kinds of trouble, please help me. And then you list all these stupid things that you want God to do for you, and you're so far from God at that point, you're not even asking for the right things, but the Bible says in Romans chapter 8, the Spirit will help you. The Spirit will help you. And because we pray for these things, we don't even know what we need, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. The Spirit's going to intercede for God, you know, intercede for you, to God. Thank you. 27, and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So if you're saved, and this is kind of nice, this is kind of nice, if you're saved and you never pray and you're backslidden and you get yourself in a bunch of trouble, the Bible basically here is saying that, you know what, the Spirit's going to kind of help you out and is going to tell God what you actually need. You ever wonder why, you know, maybe a prayer wasn't answered and then three years down the road you look back at what actually happened and you're like, oh, yeah, that's what exactly needed to happen. That was the Spirit interceding for you. Because you didn't know what to pray for because, you know, you weren't wise or you weren't, you know, being, you weren't letting the Spirit, but he made intercession for you. So, I mean, the Spirit will help you out. He'll help you pray, he intercedes, you know, for God, for us, and all this fruit that comes from the Spirit is towards your neighbor. Look at verse 24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. And if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Look, he says if you're saved, you have the Spirit, walk in it, is what he says. Verse number 26. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. So look, we have Christian liberty, we are not under the law, Paul is saying. So you can see if someone is, you know, just to wrap things up here, you can see if somebody's walking, I mean, this is the easiest way to see it. You can see if somebody's walking in the flesh or in the Spirit by how they treat their neighbor, the Bible says. By how much they love their neighbor. And you know what that means? It doesn't mean like, oh, love is action. We know this from the Bible. So you can tell how, you know, you can tell how in the Spirit a Christian is by how much they're loving their neighbor, their brothers and sisters in Christ. Christian liberty, let's look a little bit closer at it. Let me divide up the law. Christian liberty is telling us here, let's look at it from our perspective. What does it mean from our perspective? You know, I don't have to obey the law anymore. The law doesn't apply to me anymore. No, it's talking about, that's not what it's talking about. First of all, let me divide the law up a little bit here, turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Let's look at what the law actually is today. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. Because there's certain things in the law that were during this time when Paul was talking that just literally don't apply anymore because of the fact that Jesus came and fulfilled certain things. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13. Let's just real quickly, we could do a long Bible study on this, but real quickly, let's look at a couple things. But now Christ, now in Christ Jesus, who sometimes were afar off, made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, we're going to talk about this Sunday, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of the commandments, whoa! He says Christ abolished the law of the commandments. Look, there's no rules anymore, folks. There's no rules. No, just keep reading. Contained in ordinances, it says. For to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and he might reconcile both unto God in one body on the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. So the three words you need to underline there are contained in ordinances. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. So he's saying, he abolished, he literally abolished. That means made go away. He literally abolished the law of the commandments. Look, if he said, if it just ended there, then there is no law. But he says the law of the commandments contained in ordinances. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 6. So what does that mean? Now when these things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest, alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost, this signifying that in the way the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. Verse number 9, which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the sacrifice perfect as pertaining to the conscience which stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal, there it is again, ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. Look, they had these carnal ordinances, these meats and these drinks and these diverse washings, these ceremonies, all these carnal ordinances. Circumcision was one of these carnal ordinances. And what was the point of them? They were a figure. They were a picture of what was to come in the time of reformation, in the time of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all this, that's why Ephesians chapter 2 could say that Jesus coming abolished these carnal ordinances. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered into the holy place, once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Everything that they were doing in the Old Testament was just a picture of the real thing that was going to happen when Jesus came. That's what all these ceremonies and these sacrifices and all, look, the sacrifices didn't cleanse sins. Only Jesus' blood could have done that, it was just a picture, it was just a figure of what was to come. So these carnal ordinances are literally done away with, they're abolished, as they were just a figure of Christ to come. Now Christ has come, they're gone. But in Galatians chapter 5, Paul uses the example of circumcision here, which is literally abolished, which was the controversial carnal ordinance that they were pushing at the time. But look, it literally no longer applies, however, now here's another part of the law. Now we see the carnal ordinances, but what about the moral law? People can take the fact that we're saved and the New Testament does away with the Jewish customs of meats and drinks and carnal ordinances, and then say that the moral law no longer applies. You ever heard these people? Oh, that's Old Testament, they just want to justify any type of sin or perversion or whatever, and they're just like, oh, it's Old Testament! Look, God does not change. These carnal ordinances, they were abolished by Christ because they were designed to be abolished, because they were a figure, they were just a picture of Christ until He came. Look, God does not change. The moral law is still in the New Testament, by the way, everywhere. Turn to Matthew chapter 22. You even see it in Galatians chapter 5, with the love of your neighbor. Look at Matthew chapter 22 and look at verse number 37. We could go through every single moral law, but basically, all the moral law is encompassed in Matthew chapter 22 and verse number 37, where the Bible says, Jesus, they said, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It's like every single moral commandment, moral law, falls under those two categories. Talking about loving your neighbor and loving God. Those two things. And that's, you know, Paul's talking about loving your neighbor and walking in the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5. I mean, so the law, look, the law still applies to us. The law still applies to us. John 14, 15 says, you know, if ye love me, keep my commandments. The law still applies to us. But only in the sense of us showing our love and obedience towards God. Only in the sense that, you know, we're going to avoid, you know, chastisement from God by following the law that he wants us to follow. Is nothing, not any way at all to do with salvation. Not a little bit. Getting it or keeping it. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. So I mean, what's the point of the law for us? What's the point of this Christian liberty for us? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 in verse number 17, the Bible says, Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Again showing that if you are saved, you have liberty. Well, look, this is how it works if you're saved. The more you listen to God's rules, the happier you will be. I mean, it seems, and you know what? You may have thoughts in your Christian life, especially if you're getting out of a certain life and getting into the Christian life, especially for people maybe who are babes in Christ or, you know, are new to this whole thing. You know, there might be thoughts in your mind. I remember I thought this of Baptists before I was saved, okay? I mean, I literally, we had neighbors who were Baptists when I was a Lutheran in Texas, and I really liked them. I really liked them. I just told my wife, I said, they're boring. They're boring. And boy, was I wrong, first of all. Because the more, I mean, I wasn't even saved, first of all. You know, I'm speaking of something I don't even know what I'm talking about. But look, even a saved person might get in their Christian life and just be struggling with things and struggling with things of the world and just be like, man, there's all these restrictions and all this stuff. Look, you have liberty. You have liberty in Christ. But here's the thing. The more you listen to God's rules, the happier you will be. Why is that? Think about your kids. Think about your kids. You're going to see this. I'm pretty young, but you're going to see this as you raise kids, and as you see other people raise kids, you are going to see that children raised with no discipline are miserable. They are screaming all the time, they're yelling at their parents, they're punching their parents, they're throwing temper tantrums all the time. Look, these kids with no discipline and no moral law are miserable. It's the same thing with us, with our Heavenly Father. If we just disregard God's rules, we're going to be under the chastisement of God, nothing's going to work out for us. Look, there's always persecution, I get that. But in general, we're not really under any persecution today. In general, the more you follow God's law, the more you walk in the Spirit, the happier you are going to be. I mean, you're saying, what, the more I do for other people, the more I serve my neighbor and not myself, YES! Even stupid secular psychologists know this, that buying gifts makes you happier than receiving gifts. I mean, everybody knows this, but look, why do we discipline these kids? Why do we raise these kids in a certain way? Why are we spanking our kids and drawing these boundaries for kids? Why are we doing it? Yes, I get it, the Bible says do it, so we should do it. But why? God always has a reason. He always tells us we should just do whatever the Bible says, but look, there are rules put in place and we're doing this for our kids to protect them from harm, to protect them from bad things, to protect them from an evil and wicked world that is trying to corrupt them. It's the same thing with us and the law. The more we walk in the Spirit, the more we will be protected from all that evil that's all around us. It's exactly the same thing. Equals follow the law, equals walk in the Spirit, equals happy. Very simple. It's very simple for us. The more we walk in the Spirit, the happier, the more joyful, that's a better way of putting it, the more joyful that we will be. I mean you will just have a life filled with joy the more garbage sin you get out of your life and the more you start walking in the ways that we keep talking about every single week. You will just get more joyful and more joyful and more profitable and more profitable and you'll invest in more people and you'll see your return on investment and people will come to church that you got saved and then they'll get people to come to church that they got saved. I mean look, this is the fruit of the Spirit. Joy will come from that. The problem is, so it's very simple for us. Walking in the Spirit, following God's law, I mean all these things, I mean think about it, think about it this way. You think about the hand washing in the Old Testament, yeah it was a ceremonial thing, but it was also there to protect us. All the commandments are that way. You know I mean they're going to go around, they're going to touch a bunch of dead stuff and then never wash their hands and never take a bath and then they're going to die of disease and whatever. I mean all these things are put in place to protect us just like we put these rules and boundaries in place to protect our kids. And then a well-disciplined child, you're like man, you know these kids, and you'll see this correlation if you haven't seen it already, you don't have kids over the age of two. But you'll see this correlation too, a well-disciplined child, you're like man, a child that gets spanked all the time, a joyful child, you're going to see that. You want your kids to be happy, you know, you have to teach them to follow the law and they'll be happy. The problem is, it's very simple for us, but the problem is other people, okay? Let's talk about other people and Christian liberty, okay? The problem is it's simple for us, but in the world we're living in with what people have done to the gospel, this idea of Christian liberty has become very complicated. With all the works-based gospels out there, the whole subject of Christian liberty becomes a complete mess. And you will see this out, soul winning, and as a matter of fact, Christian liberty, this great thing that we have, it can actually be a stumbling block for people not to get saved. I'll explain it to you. You know, this is the people that you'll see at the door, I'm going to give you three types of people. People you'll see at the door, they'll be like oh, I can just do whatever I want then? You think you could just, they think we're out there preaching, you know, which doesn't even make sense. If I could do whatever I wanted and all I wanted to do was sin, why would I be walking around preaching the gospel to people? I mean, but people just don't think things through. So look at this, here's the first one, I'm going to give you three people. Three people where Christian liberty is a stumbling block, three people that you will meet. If you're a soul winner, you will meet or have met these people. First of all, it's this person, the person who has overcome some great sin. The person, this is the person that used to have a life that is a mess. They used to be on drugs, they used to be a drunk, they used to be in prison, you know, whatever. Okay, and then they turned their life around, they've turned their life around and they've got into some works-based church that is threatening them with hell on a daily basis. And then you knock on their door and you're like, hey, it has nothing to do with works. They're going to flat out reject that. They're going to flat out reject that because, you know, they're going to flat out reject that you don't have to live right to be saved message. Because that's what they've done in their own mind. Because as soon as you tell them this, they'll immediately visualize the terrible person that they used to be and they'll associate that with you telling them that they can go back to that. Look, they may even get angry, these people, they may even get angry at you with this notion. I mean, they'll flat out reject it. I mean, look, it's great. And I'll tell you how to get around this as soon as we get through these three people. But I mean, that's one person you're going to meet, the person that's overcome some great sin in their life. Here's another one. The person who just thinks they're pretty good. This is your Catholic, especially the older, you know, devout Catholic. You know, they think, you know, turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 25. They think they're pretty good. You're not telling this person, you're not telling somebody who has a lot of works in their own mind, who's put a lot of investment into the works in their life, you're not telling them that it's not of works, because they work pretty hard to get where they are. You know, it's like somebody who's spent a lot of money on a worthless investment and you're trying to convince them that it's worthless. You know, they're just going to be like, no, it's not worthless because I spent so much money on it. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 25. King Amaziah, he hired an army to fight some invaders that were coming against him. And in 2 Chronicles chapter 25, you know, he hired some mercenaries from Israel. He is from Judah and he hired some, you know, he thought that, you know, you needed more soldiers. So he hired some Israelite, you know, of course we've got the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and he hired some Israelite soldiers. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 25 and verse number 6. He hired also, so he's putting this big army together and then it says, also he hired these guys. He hired a hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. He spent a lot of money on these mercenaries. But there came a man of God to him saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit with all the children of Ephraim. But if thou wilt go, do it. He's strong for the battle. God shall make thee fall before the enemy, for God hath power to help and to cast down. So in verse number 8 he says, if you're going to do it anyway, he's like, just do it, but you better be really strong because God's not going to be with you. That's basically what he's saying. In verse number 9, the king says back to the man of God, he's like, he's rationalizing with him. This is the Catholic at the door that's got all the works. They've been building a life full of works in their own mind for years and decades and decades and decades. And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for all the works that I've done my whole life? He says, what should we do for the hundred talents which I've given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered and said, the Lord is able to give me much more than this. There's such a lesson here, first of all. But second of all, he's saying, you just got to let it all go. He's like, what God can give you is nothing, or what this money is is nothing compared to what God can give you. But I've spent all my life thinking that I've had to do all these things. Look, those people are going to lose the battle. They're going to lose the battle if they don't turn away from that thinking. If they don't take those hundred talents of the works they've done for the last 40 years, they're going to go to hell. They're going to lose, because God has power to cast down. Just like the man of God told Amaziah. And they will be cast down. They must let it go. You just have to convince them. You have to persuade them that they've just invested in the wrong thing. Just like the man of God told Amaziah, you just invested in the wrong thing. Just forget about the hundred talents. That's exactly what you have to do with these people that think that it's just too much that they've invested. I've had people literally tell me that. I've had people literally tell me that, you know what, I understand what you're saying. I understand what you're saying. I understand the difference between what you're telling me and what I believe, but I've just done this my whole life, and I'm just not going to let it go. I've had people tell me that. I mean, it's really sad, because they do understand. They're just like, you know what, I understand man of God. I understand man of God, but the hundred talents, I just saved for years for those hundred talents. I saved and I saved and I saved and I decided that I was going to spend it on this army from Israel, and there's just nothing that you can tell me. It's too much for me to realize that I just wasted it all. But that's why it's so hard to get somebody who's older that believes that saved. I'm not saying it's impossible, it happens, but it's hard, because it's hard for them to let go of those talents. Here's the third person. Here's the third person. The third person is this. The person who thinks that work will auto follow true salvation. Now this is an especially foolish concept when you actually think it through, because, I mean, think about this. God clearly gives man free will, clearly. I mean, he helps him, right? I mean, he helps him. He gives him a conscience to start, he gives him this wonderful creation as a witness to himself. You know, I've often said, like many times, you know, I grew up in the country and often told the kids, I was like, you know, it's easier for somebody who grew up in the country to believe in God. Because you're surrounded by the creation. You're surrounded in the country, when you grow up in the country, you're surrounded by things God made. When you grow up in the city, you're just surrounded by things that man made. Everywhere. But look, I mean, God created this creation as a witness to himself. Then, I mean, even further than that, he creates soul winners to go out and help the odds of getting more people saved. I mean, look, but from there, from there, man can really take this thing in whatever direction he wants. I mean, think about it. He designed, first of all, he designed salvation to be by belief alone. Total free will. Total free will. There can never be any forced conversion to Christianity. Ever. It's the only religion that you can say that about. You can never forcefully convert someone to the true gospel. Because it has to be by their belief. And by you forcing violence on someone, you would be driving their belief further from what you're saying. It's the only religion that can actually claim that, by the way. So we have this free will. And here's another one that's obvious that we have free will. It's obvious that we have free will in this world because of, you know, this defies Calvinism too. It's obvious that we have free will in this world because of the, look at the spectrum of results. Look out there. Look out there. You've got all these men placed on the earth. Look at the spectrum of results. I mean, the spectrum is from the saved to the serial killer. I mean that's quite a spectrum. From people who have protected their conscience or had it protected, you know, in a godly home as we talked about with our children, to people who have literally thrown their lives away to become reprobate haters of God. That is the spectrum. Free will is the only thing that can explain it. And look, all that spectrum is right here in Fresno. It's all right here. This free will is pretty obviously demonstrated. So back to these people that think that when you get saved, you have free will and then you get saved and you become like this robot, right, that just like can reach sin with perfection or something. If you are saved, you will have the works because you get saved and it's like walking in the spirit. Like you can perfect yourself or something. You know, you will repent of your sin. What does that even mean? What does that even mean? These are the people that, you know, which sins? Which works? How many of each? For how long? The only problem is, turn to 1 John chapter 5, the only problem is the Bible. I mean it's a nice thought that we'd all turn into these spirit led robots. Kind of kicks out Christian liberty out the window too. But 1 John chapter 5 verse number 13, you know that you're just going to repent from all your sins and all this. You know, the only problem is this. Number 1, you'll never repent from all your sins. You're never going to be, you're never going to reach sinless perfection. The Bible, you will not find that anywhere. Look, I mean if somebody in the Bible reached sinless perfection after they got saved, we might have a problem. But look, the Bible, I mean you're never going to reach sinless perfection until that moment where that mystery happens, where that corruptible is turned into incorruptible. We just read it. That's when it happens. That's when it happens. And look, if you're never going to reach sinless perfection, then you have a problem with 1 John chapter 5 and verse number 13. Because the Bible says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. The Bible says you can know. And if I would get saved and turn into this robot that would have to repent from all my sins and just all this, I mean look, and I was a robot, I believed that I would become a spirit-led robot, but I could never repent of all of them. And I knew that I was still a sinner. And I knew that I kept sinning. I could never know that I was saved. I could never know for sure. I could hope, but I could never know. And the problem is that those people are relying on repenting of their sins and they're relying on their works. This is the truth of it. And the reason that they don't know is because they're not. They're not saved. Because they're trusting in themselves. Look, you could and should and hopefully will repent of sin in your life. Hopefully you turn from sins in your life, but you'll never reach that perfect state in this corruptible body. That's what Paul is saying in Galatians chapter 5. And there's no measuring stick in the Bible on works getting you saved. So you could never know. So look, to these people, to these people, to these three people, you just have to try to persuade them and you just have to say, look, these things that you do, listen good person, it's been a good person for 40 years. They haven't been a good person. But you have to persuade them. And you just have to, look, these are all good things to do. But it has nothing to do with your salvation. Because look, you could really come up to these people and you could really be like, no, no, no, you don't have to be a good person. I could go out and murder everybody over there right now. I mean, I could go and I could just, you know, go and shoot up a place or whatever and I'd still go to heaven. That's the wrong approach to take. That's the wrong approach to take. First of all, it would be a silly thing to say. But I mean, the point is, you have to, you know, the good works are good. But you know, you have to teach these people and tell these people and persuade people like this, that it's just not tied to your salvation. It has nothing to do with your salvation. And that's how you can know that you're saved. So we have this freedom. We have this liberty in Christ. In conclusion, I've got to wrap it up here. And the more we walk in the Spirit, the freer we will be. It's the opposite of what you think. If you ever start thinking in your life, boy, this Christian life is awful restrictive with what the Bible says I should wear and what the Bible says I should do and shouldn't do. Look, the more you listen to what the Bible says, it's not what you think. When you're thinking that way, that's your flesh thinking. That's the lust of your flesh. Just remember, the more you walk in the Spirit, the freer you will be. Because the Spirit of the Lord is our liberty. Now look, look back at the first verse, actually, of Galatians chapter one. Let me turn there real quick. Let me just end here. Look back at the first verse of Galatians chapter five. The Bible says this, it says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The funny thing is, you can even see this with nations. This works on a national level too. Not to go off too much on this, but a nation that promotes freedom will be a godly nation. That is a godly philosophy. You say, what do you mean? Well, okay, let's think about the most oppressive nations you can ever think of. Think about the Soviet Union of the 1900s or the 20th century. Think of the 20th century Soviet Union. Think of Communist China. Think of all these dictators that were pushing this oppressive philosophy, this oppressive political philosophy in their countries. They were anti-god. Religion equals against God. It works on a national level as well. You think about Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot. You know what they did? They killed anybody that had anything to do with religion. A free nation is the only nation that has a chance to be a godly nation. The more you move away from being godly as a nation, the more you will head into slavery. It's personally true, and it's true as a nation as well, and we're seeing it today. It's going to get worse and worse and worse as we head away from God. We're going to head into oppression. Why is that? I don't know because the Bible is true. That's my answer. I don't know because the Bible says it. That means it's going to work like that forever until the world ends. That's just it. Why can't we figure this stuff out? You think about this. This isn't rocket surgery, Galatians chapter 5. The gospel is simple. Galatians chapter 5 is simple, and just look what we're doing. We're just heading towards slavery. Personally people head towards slavery. As a nation, we're heading in the same place. Galatians chapter 5. Christian liberty. I'm glad I have it. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.