 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 had been preaching You know against the 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 you know 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 the 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 one where the Bible says stand fast Therefore in the liberty where with Christ have 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 Then of course he's using circumcision as an example here the one you know an example of something that they were struggling with here But basically Paul is saying in verse one 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 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 we are he says stand fast You know stand fast hold fast hold hold on to this Liberty he's like you 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 you 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 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 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 he bite and devour one another take heed that you be not Consumed one of another this I say then Walk in the spirit and you 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, so they're battling each other and these are contrary to one another they're opposites So that you cannot do the things that she 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 you be led of the spirit you're not under the law So look the Bible says here in verse number 14 For all the laws filled in one word even this I shall 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 Yes, you say we're gonna 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 do 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 Yeah, it's kind of like Garrett 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 He's 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 yeah 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 in 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 well, 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 5 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 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 emulation emulations wrath stripes additions heresies envying envying's murdering murders drunkenness revelings and and such like of the which I tell you Before of the witch 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 got to teach your kids how to read something and then understand what they just read They got to comprehend what they're reading This is why book reports are so important because you got to be able to look you've got to be able to you know 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 it's 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. 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 is great But you got to understand how to comprehend to read you got to read a few paragraphs You got to read a chapter and just say what's happening? What's 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 got to be able to comprehend what he's saying so We'll think about Galatians and let's comprehend what we have in our 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 its works pick one it can't be a mix of the two and he goes into this big You know recital on the in the Old Testament in Abraham and using all these pictures that God You know, 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 it was 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 turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 Yeah, I mean it just shows you how little People understand even of Galatians not even the Bible when they 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 1st Corinthians chapter 5? What are we talking about in even Galatians chapter 5? 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 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 50 The Bible says now this I say brethren that flesh and blood blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God whoa They that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God when you do envies 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 strike. 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 Can't inherit the kingdom of God Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 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 has written death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death Where is thy sting oh 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 Lecivius this murders 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 Verse 22, but now so those are the those are the the works of the flesh or you could say the fruits You know, that's what the flesh produces But now look in verse number 22, but the fruit of the spirit is Love joy peace long suffering 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 and it will produce Fruit and the fruit is these these items love joy peace long suffering 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 gonna go to the few verses. I always find that like really famous verses in the Bible for some reason there's really good stuff Rate before them usually too if you ever notice that look at verse number 26 Likewise the spirit here it is again the spirit also help it 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 I would venture to guess that most of the time things we pray for Are our 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 if you only like pray to god when like 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 Okay, 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, you know 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 they're not even you're so far from god at that point You're not even asking for the right things, but the bible says in roman chapter 8 the spirit will help you The spirit will help you and it because we pray for these things We don't even know what we need but the spirit itself make an 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 searches 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, I mean this is kind of nice This is kind of nice if you're saved and you never pray and you're back slidden 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 for you know to god, 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 have crucified the flesh with the effect with the affections and lusts And if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit Look he's he says if you're saved you have the spirit Walk in it is what he says first number 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory 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 that you know what that means It doesn't mean like all love is action We know this from the bible so you can tell how 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 this 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 a far off made nigh by the blood of christ for he is our piece Who had 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 heber's chapter 9 So he's saying he he abolished He literally abolished that means made go away He literally abolished the law of the commandments. Look if if he said if it just ended there then there's no law But he says the law of the commandments contained in ordinances Look at heber's 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 errors 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 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 he feces 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 these ceremonies and these sacrifices not look the sacrifices didn't cleanse sins Only jesus's blood could 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 you know, it was a controversial cardinal 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 cardinal ordinances, but what about the moral law? People can you know people can take the fact That we're saved and the new testament does away with the jewish customs of meats and drinks and cardinal 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 cardinal ordinances they were abolished by christ because they were 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 glaces chapter 5 With the love of your neighbor Look at matthew chapter 22 And look at verse number 37 I mean 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 great 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 with all thy mind This is the first and great commandment and the second is like undo it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets He'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 glacian chapter 5 I mean so the law look the law still applies to us The law still applies to us john 1415 says you know if he loved 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 gonna 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 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 So I mean what's the point Of the law for us. What's the point of this this christian liberty for us The bible says in 2nd chriny is chapter 3 and 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 or 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 who are babes and 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 baptist before I was saved Okay I mean I literally we had neighbors who were baptist when I was a luther in 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 They just be like man, you know, there's all these restrictions and all this stuff. Look there's you 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 gonna see this you all are pretty young, but you're gonna see this as you you raise kids And as you see other people raise kids you are gonna 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 don't 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 And 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 that buying gifts makes you happier than receiving gifts I mean, it's everybody knows this but look, why do we why do we discipline these kids? Why do we raise these kids in a certain way? Why are we you know, why are we spanking our kids and 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 I mean god god always has a reason You know, he always tells us we should just do whatever the bible says but look Their 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 Saved 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 invest, you know return on investment And you know 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 just you have to teach them to follow the law And they'll be happy The problem is so 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 it's 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 workspace gospels out there the whole subject of christian liberty becomes a complete mess And you will see this out Solving and it is 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 know, 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 the god, 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 the 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 turn their life around They've turned their life around and they've gotten 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, there's 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 they'll immediately 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 it's go 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 You know, this is your this is your catholic, especially the older, you know devout catholic You know, they think you know turn to second 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've spent so much money on it We'll get second chronicles chapter 25 Amaziah king amaziah he hired an army to fight Some invaders that were coming against him and then second chronicles chapter 25, you know, he hired some mercenaries from israel He is from juda and he hired some some, you know, he thought that you know, you needed more soldiers So he hired some israelite You know, of course, we got the northern kingdom of israel and the southern kingdom of juda And he hired some israelite soldiers. Look at second chronicles chapter 25 and verse number six 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 these mercenaries But there came a man of God to him saying oh 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 be strong for the battle God shall make thee fall before the enemy for god have power to help and to cast down So in verse number eight he says But look if you're gonna do it anyway, he's like just do it But you better be really strong because god's not going to be with you It's basically what he's saying in verse number nine The king 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 have 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 it what 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, you know told amaziah you just 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 You know 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 i've just done this my whole life and i'm just not going to let it go I've had people telling 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 i 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 i just it's too much for me to realize that i just wasted it all But that's what you have that 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 isn't a specially 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 i've often said like many times you know i grew up in the country and i 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 And 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 could say that about You could 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 just be 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 capitalism 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 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 it 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 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? Look these are the people that you know Which which sins Which works How many of each for how long the only problem is turn to first john chapter five 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 first john chapter five 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 one. You'll never repent from all your sins You're never going to be you know, you're never going to reach sinless perfection the bible you will not find that anywhere Look, I mean if somebody in the bible reach 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 first john chapter five 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 you may know That you have eternal life the bible says you can know And if if I would get saved And turn into this robot that would have to repent from all my sins and just all this I I mean look and I could 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 glaceous chapter five 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 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 I'd still go to have Look, 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 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 this christian life is is awful restrictive With you know 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 gallations chapter one. Let me turn there real quick. Let me just end here Look back at the first verse verse of gallations chapter five And the bible says this it says stand fast therefore in the liberty Where with 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 and not to go off too much on this but a nation A nation that is that is a a nation that promotes freedom Will be a godly nation That's that's a godly look 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 you know like the soviet union Of you know the 1900s or the the 20th century Think of the 20th century soviet union think of communist china think of all these, you know Dictators that were pushing, you know this oppressive You know philosophy this oppressive, you know political philosophy in their countries They were anti god Oppression equals against god It works on a national level as well. I mean you think about Stalin and Mao and polpot. You know what they did they killed anybody that was any anybody That had anything to do with religion A free nation Is the only nation that has a chance to be a godly nation And 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 And it's going to get worse and worse and worse as we head away from god. We're going to head into oppression Why 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 the bible says. I mean, why can't we figure this stuff out? You think about this This isn't rocket surgery galatians chapter 5 I mean the gospel is simple galatians chapter 5 is simple and and just look what we're doing We're just heading towards slavery You know 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