-Transcript-
00:37 Amen. Thank you for joining me. Good to be here.
00:43 Today we are talking about liberty. Oh blessed liberty. So thankful to have liberty.
00:49 You know if you live in America you should thank God for living in America or putting you here because you have liberty. And yes there’s politicians that will use a lot of big words or sensationalism to say our liberty is either under threat or is taken away and so on. And I know that in some respects it has been.
01:13 And at the same token we have it better than most other countries. We really do. We are very blessed in this country to have liberty.
01:22 I’m a preacher. I’m a small business owner. I’m a family man.
01:26 And God is really blessed in all those areas. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t have these things if I were living in in certain countries.
01:38 I can think of some. I may not say them. I couldn’t have those things.
01:43 The government wouldn’t allow certain things to be said or done. But I have liberty. Amen.
01:49 And guess what? You do too. Now liberty in our country is nice but you know what is far better? Liberty in front of your God. Liberty in front of your God.
01:57 What a thought that you would have liberty. That you’d have freedom in front of an all-powerful God. Now how on earth did that happen? We’re gonna look at a verse of Scripture and then we’re gonna get into it.
02:10 Galatians 5 :13. Galatians 5:13. For brethren you’ve been called unto liberty.
02:17 Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But by love serve one another. Paul writing here in Galatians 5:13.
02:27 For brethren you have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But by love serve one another.
02:41 And so we see here Paul writing to the brethren. That would be to those that are saved. Amen.
02:41 Those are Christian. They have liberty. And now what is Paul writing about? I guess the first thing to approach here is the context of the Scripture.
02:54 It is that Paul is saying they’re not under the law. Right? And so it was a big debate at that time in the church there. Are they under the law? Do they need to continue the circumcision? Continue the law? And Paul is saying you’re not.
03:12 You know and again Paul’s the Apostle to the Gentiles. And so those that had never been under that kind of law, Paul is helping them understand that you’re still not under that law.
03:20 And for those that had been under the law or been told they need to go under the law, Paul was describing that they don’t in fact need to be under the law.
03:28 That they are not under the law. That they now have liberty. And so the first question is how do they have liberty?
03:36 How are they given access to liberty in front of God? That they wouldn’t have to follow certain procedures to merit favor with God or to be approved of God.
03:43 How did they get that? And the way that they got that, and this is Paul’s emphasis here, is by what Christ did on the cross for them and for you and for me. It hasn’t changed at all.
03:53 What Christ did on the cross by willingly give himself on Mount Calvary there and dying and shedding his precious blood for the remission of sin because he’s perfect and we’re sinners and when he shed his blood for our sin then we when we accept that free gift of salvation we’re saved.
04:15 Because we know that he was buried three days in the grave and then risen again miraculously resurrected. Walked the earth 40 days and 40 nights then ascended up to heaven is at the right hand of the Father today and will soon call his church home. Christ is our everything and Christ saw our need and had pity on us.
04:37 He saw us as a people. There’s a scripture there where he wept and as he looked at the marketplace and saw everybody there he realized their need that they wouldn’t ever be able to make it on their own out of this sin debt.
04:54 That everyone there was hell-bound because that’s where sinners go they go to hell amen and the only way to be saved the only way to not have our sin imputed to us or accounted to us is for Christ to have died for us and then when we accept that free gift of salvation we are then forgiven of our sin debt past present and future.
05:16 But you have to accept that free gift. If I knocked on your door and I had a box and that’d be kind of weird if I knocked on your door big old guy and a camo jacket with khakis on and boots and stuff saying hey my name is Clark and I have a gift for you and I’ve wrapped it up and I reached my hand out
05:35 you know if you were like me you may be thinking I don’t know right especially this day and age people really don’t go door-to-door too much certainly not with a free gift right if you’re like me your skepticism might kick in and you may close that door well
05:49 if you close that door you were offered a free gift but you didn’t accept it now if you said okay all right and you just trusting kind of person you say I’ll take your free gift you say thank you very much Clark
06:00 and you take the gift and you close the door you accepted that free gift all you did was accept it you believed me when I said I have a free gift for you now that is I know it’s a silly example
06:10 but in essence Christ is saying and God is saying through Christ if you believe on what he’s done amen and if you truly believe and you accept that free gift if you say fine I’ll accept it you receive it that’s all you can do and now you’re saved
06:22 and that’s it that’s salvation when you accept Christ as your Savior amen and now you want to get into the details yes you have to realize you’re a sinner and you need a Savior
06:33 I believe that’s very important we can’t just say okay well we added Christ to our heart or we welcomed him to our heart well why did we welcome him to our heart do we realize our need our sin nature do we realize our offense it’s very important to understand our need
06:47 and so once we realize our sin nature we realize we can’t do it on our own with as as the book of Romans says all of sin falls short of the glory of God except Christ the Savior we’re now given liberty and now we’re no longer under that law
07:02 and so so Paul is saying rightfully here you’ve been called under Liberty only use not Liberty for an occasion of the flesh Paul saying don’t sin like okay you’re under Liberty you you are free you you are saved and so if you were to sin God forbid if you were to sin you’re not going to be going to hell for that sin because you’re not under the law
07:28 it’s not a it’s not a workspace salvation you’re already saved and now you might say well then why don’t I just live in sin live like I want well what what Paul is saying here is that and he said this earlier
07:37 I believe in the book of Galatians you don’t want to make what Christ did of no effect I mean he died for our sins he bore the most brutal death ever in mankind he literally bled out on the cross it was bloody Calvary our salvation is all about the blood amen
07:54 it is a it is a gruesome gruesome thing that Christ had to do and endure and he had to drip that drink that bitter cup of sin for all humanity and so now we sit make light of it
08:08 and say well we have a inkling or a desire in the flesh that we want to pursue and we won’t be condemned for it God help us and so Paul is saying don’t do that don’t make an occasion to the flesh right do not do that
08:21 but instead love and serve one another so firstly here before we get to what Paul’s calling us to do through the working of the Holy Spirit in the scriptures but first here let’s understand that Liberty really means Liberty that we don’t have to earn our salvation
08:38 that that there is nothing that we can do you know look I’m a preacher I’m involved in the ministry I think I’m somewhat ambitious I think the Lord kind of wired me up to be ambitious to want to do things and do them big and so forth
08:51 and I have to remind myself all the time God saved me before he even knew me amen I was I was known of God before I was even born amen and and the Lord found me when I was in a very bad time
09:04 I didn’t find God the Lord found me amen he’s sovereign it’s his will he revealed himself to me yes I accepted that free gift yes I have been blessed by that free gift enormously but it’s all God amen
09:17 he gets all the glory and so when I try to work and say well I must do this and I must do that then that undermines what Christ did and instead I need to transfer that energy from trying to just continually serve God when when maybe the things are getting hard and difficult to just thanking him and worshiping him and praising him and then as things calm down and as as I’m in a better state of mind then I can be more productive for him as we should be and I’m using me as an example but you too as you realize that God loves you just as you are that God knew you before you were even born
09:48 that God knows everything that you are going through he knows how many hairs are on your head he knows everything about you he knows you better than your you know yourself and as you realize those things you can rest and be at ease and knowing that you have liberty in Christ
10:02 that you are free that you’re not under the law that you are not condemned that the Lord loves you the Lord is working all things for the good of those that are called according to his purpose amen the Lord is there for you the Lord will guide you by the work unto the Holy Spirit
10:19 and so you have liberty you don’t have to worry you don’t have to feel like if you don’t make you know the church Valentine’s dinner everything falls apart I’ve been there I understand what that’s like and I just want to preach to you today from my heart that Jesus Christ loves you all when I go and petition the Lord what do I tell the congregation this week
10:37 Oh Lord I’ve got this and this in the scripture and this and this and oftentimes what returns to my heart so deeply and so powerfully is God loves them God loves you
10:51 God is powerful he is merciful and so he’s given us Liberty to free us from the bondage of sin and and and really the yoke of the law that we could never fulfill
11:02 and so now what does it mean what is Paul saying we do for brethren you’ve been called into Liberty only use not Liberty for an occasion of the flesh but by love serve one another
11:13 so firstly by love by love we are to serve one another you know it’s love gives I heard this one time love gives lust takes right so love is giving so we should be in a giving mindset
11:27 and then we should serve one another well who modeled that behavior loving and serving one another giving that’d be Christ his whole earthly ministry as we read in the Gospels was full of love
11:41 and service to others obedience to the Father and there’s so much that we can get out of that we can look at what Christ has done and say we need to have this kind of love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ towards those that are that are in the church
11:58 those that are that are struggling those with burdens what what does God bless us with that we can help use whether it’s a talent whether it’s time whether it’s resources what can we do to be a help and a blessing out of pure love out of love for the Father and out of love for the brothers and sisters in Christ
12:15 as Christ was obedient to the Father and as Christ was loving and selfless and by the way that love was so marked was so embodied in meekness and humility
12:29 here’s God in the flesh all-powerful God Almighty in the flesh hard to even comprehend the maker of a billion trillion stars walking this earth and he was just as if from a little town and he was just of no good report nothing nothing’s incredibly special about him rode in on the donkey had a you know had had his disciples mostly fishermen tax collectors everyday folks
13:01 you know was spending time with the sinners was just the most humbled meek person is that how we are using our liberty in love is it meekness or are we proud and are we puffed up
13:13 and are we looking towards our accomplishments or our resume or whatever else it is God help us to serve in meekness and love under Liberty knowing that we’ll mess up knowing we fall short but that love will atone for our sins
13:27 and the fact that we are saved we’re under Liberty and we’ve been called to love and serve and if that’s what we’re doing I believe God is going to bless that effort greatly
13:37 and he’ll bless it and he’ll give you peace and he’ll give you he’ll give you I believe great vision for your life as you serve him with that kind of love knowing that you’re under Liberty
13:47 knowing that you’re not under the law and knowing at the same time that we absolutely do not want to give occasion to the flesh and we do not want to sin because we love what Christ has done
13:58 let’s repent before God today get right with him and let’s serve with great love with abounding love as Jesus loved and one day we will have our heavenly reward and it’ll be a wonderful wonderful day
14:09 thank you so much for listening take care God bless and amen