Friday 2 weeks ago we had the baptismal service down in
Banbridge and when I was first approached about it and was
informed that, well initially there was well over 30 when I
was informed and then they were splitting it into two nights and
we were very conscious of that. And I was told, well, you'll
only get 30 or 40 seconds to make a few comments and those
that are being baptised won't be able to give public testimony,
but they will be able to give a public declaration that they had
made a profession of faith in Christ.
So basically they were just asked, do you profess faith in
Jesus Christ? And the answer was I do.
And that was the extent of it. And I know that when Brother
David Dobbin approached me about going through the waters of
baptism, I, I was delighted for him and we, we had readily
consented. And I, I felt for him in the
evening, thinking that he no doubt would have wanted to say
something to the many friends that came along.
So I thought it would be good if we invited him some Sunday
evening. And I mentioned this to him on
the Saturday and he very happily agreed.
So we've left it to this evening.
We want to thank you for coming and for those you're visiting
with us. We're really delighted to have
you. So we're going to ask Brother
David to come now and he'll share his testimony with us.
Thank you, David. Well, I kind of privilege to
stand here tonight to have a testimony to give, but I need
the Lord's help here to stand here before you.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank the Lord
for Calvary, Thank the Lord for the great plan of salvation.
Help me here tonight, Lord, to make much of you.
Lord, give us, have us to give you the glory.
Lord, You have said in your word that the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed the hand of his enemy, in
Christ's name. Amen.
Turn where we please to Isaiah chapter 12.
In the day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though
thou wast angry with me. Then anger is turned away, and
thy comfort is me. Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust and not be afraid, for Lord Jehovah is my strength,
my soul. He also has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy shall he draw water out of the wells of
salvation, and then that day shall he say, Praise the Lord,
call upon his name, declares doings among the people, make
mention that his name is exalted.
Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things.
This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout the inhabitant
of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee. My earliest memories of coming
to the schoolhouse next door was for the memorial service of the
Rate Robert Lowe, and then and then in the years later the late
Robert. Late Martin Shanks with a friend
with father and asked to come to the meetings on a Sunday night
then held at 8:30. Then in September 81 Lawrence
and I went to Saint Fred High. There we come, best of friends
and have been ever since. Lawrence invited me and my
brothers to Sunday school where we heard the gospel faithfully
week by week. Like say to young people here
tonight, invite their friends to the meetings.
It's the best thing that you could do for them.
Then in 1984 there was a mission held with the raid, the late
Reverend Whiteside. This ran for two weeks, from the
26th of February to the 11th of March, and in the middle Sunday,
the 4th of March, I came under conviction.
At the close of the meeting, the Reverend Whiteside used in the
words of his benediction will meet them more on earth.
May we all meet in heaven. I knew I wasn't right for
heaven, and I went home to my bedroom and asked the Lord to
save me and forgive me as best I knew how, and He did.
Since then I've found Him to be a friend.
It sticketh closer in the brother.
Although I've let him down many times, he has never left me.
For the Bible says in John 6 and 37 come cometh to me.
I will no wise cast out. As far as I know, I'm the only
person from the church here who has been called to both their
parents death beds from the church, from the schoolhouse.
But praise God even over two different occasions over five
years. But praise God, they are both
saved and ready to go. And I can say when we'll meet no
more on earth, we will meet again in heaven.
Then Fast forward to October 2014.
Joshua was in Orange this Sunday School class and the age of 6.
He asked the Lord to save him. In December 22 I was involved in
a serious car accident so thank the Lord for gracefully
preserving my life and would like to probably thank Lawrence
Nahan for looking after Joshua. When I was in hospital for four
days last year the Lord spoke to me about baptism and I heard
about the baptism service in Bainbridge and put my name
forward and was baptised in the 1st of May and could just finish
with the words of a Psalm. Lord has never failed me.
My Saviour loves me still, keeping every promise, supplying
it endless grace. Thank you on.
Your behalf. We do want to thank your brother
David for sharing that word of personal testimony.
It's not easy giving up in front of people, be easier, maybe
talking 1:00 to 1:00. But we appreciate it all that
he's shared tonight and we rejoice in the knowledge.
And I know folks in Banbridge were delighted to hear that he
was part of the fruit of the ministry of the late at William
Whiteside. And of course he was minister at
Banbridge, but also minister over in Ballygaya for a time.
And it's a great thing to have a testimony to the saving and
keeping power of Christ. And we announced the baptismal
service. I was asked to We had talked
about it as elders and I was delighted then whenever someday
had responded and responded in a very positive way.
And because of that, and this will maybe whet some appetites
and maybe it will not next Sunday morning in the will of
God, I want to preach a message just one sermon on the Christian
and baptism. So just next Sunday morning you
can come and join with us. I'm sure you'll get a pass from
your own church. You want to come and if not, you
can listen on the Internet. But that's for next Sunday
morning. Now my text tonight is Galatians
chapter 5 verse one. It reads as follows.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. And I've entitled this message a
call to stand fast in Gospel freedom.
Now last Thursday was the 8th of May and it marked the 80th
anniversary of VE Day. PE Day for the young people is
Victory in Europe Day and the 8th of March is celebrated every
year to mark the date upon which the Allied forces accepted Nazi
Germany surrender in 1945. So if you do the maths 19452025
you get 80 years. Remember, after six years of
war, that's how long World War 2 lasted, 39 to 45, the war that
was instigated by Adolf Hitler. A global war and war is a
terrible thing, the scourge of any society.
World War 2 resulted in some 80 million deaths and to mark the
occasion, the end of the war, Nazi Germany surrender.
Major events were held across the United Kingdom and we did
that deliberately to rejoice in the tremendous God-given victory
as well as to feel the gravity of the 80th anniversary.
You see, news of Germany's surrender spelled the word
freedom, freedom from fear, freedom from a tyrannical rule.
That news of course caused literally 10s of thousands of
people there'd our province to pour out into the streets and
express their unrestrained joy with a variety of St parties.
Remember as we think about World War, 26 years of war, young
people, no one was unaffected. And the lesson, of course, from
the war is this. The true freedom costs.
It costs men blood, sweat and tears.
We learned that true freedom cannot be achieved without
sacrifice. So I believe on Thursday past,
it was right that with profound sorrow we remembered the
sacrifice of all who contributed to the war effort.
We think of the sacrifice of soldiers at the front, we think
of the emergency services in war-torn lands or emergency
services at home. The doctors, the nurses, the
factory workers, the farmers, many individuals had a
tremendous role to play. And together on Thursday past,
we look back and we thank the Lord for His grace and His
mercies. We also took time to look
forward to remind ourselves this, that there could be no
peace without eternal vigilance. Eternal vigilance is the price
of freedom. There can be no peace or absence
of war without sacrifice. We must never take our peace for
granted. We must always learn to trust in
the eternal living and true God for our deliverances,
deliverances nationally, deliverances personally and
deliverances spiritually. Now it's interesting that in
Galatians chapter 5 verse one, the apostle Paul uses the word
liberty. We could use a colloquial word
and call it freedom. Here is writing to the church at
Galeta. It's an emergency pistol.
He wrote it with his own hand because the gospel, as he had
taught it, was under attack. Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 to
10. And I'll just read a portion.
He says, But though we are an Angel from heaven, verse, he had
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be a curse, as we said before, So say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
ye have received, let him be accursed.
I believe tonight that the key verse of the whole Epistle is
our tax. Galatians 5:00 and 1:00.
Remember, of course, when the Word of God was written, there
was no chapter divisions or no individual verses.
They were added to aid the reader to find the place.
Chapter divisions are an invaluable aid and a great asset
to reading and studying the text of Holy Scripture, but they're
not in the original. You see, there's a call here in
Galatians 5 and one to stand fast, therefore, in the liberty.
For if Christ is made of free and the therefore belongs to the
1st 4 chapters, the teaching and instruction that's found in the
1st 4 chapters is connected to the therefore therefore means in
view of this in in light of this and and Paul here is summing up
and you've got to think of the subject that goes before it and
the subject that comes after it. Now the subject here is an
appeal to God's people that as they live out the gospel,
they're to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ just
made us free and be not entangled again in the yoke of
bondage. The apostle Paul has clearly
stated some wonderful themes. The sole sufficiency and merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ and His personal work has the only true
ground of salvation, the sovereignty of God's will in the
redemption of the Sinner, A full, free and forever
justification through faith in Christ alone.
Listen to what he says in Galatians 216.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law.
For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Here's another thing, freedom from the curse of the law.
Galatians 3 and 13 says Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us.
For it is written cursed as everyone that hangeth on a tree.
One of the truly outstanding marks of the Christian life in
living out the gospel is a grasp of the Christians liberty in
Christ. The Christians liberty in Christ
is a central truth and as Paul sums up, intending to deal with
the rest of his letter, having said what he said, he wants the
people of God to stand fast and enjoy the liberty that the power
of Christ brings into their life.
I have 4 little thoughts. One the the sorry, the identity
of the liberty. Now what is this liberty?
There's a simple answer. It's a gospel liberty or a or a
gospel freedom. It is the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free. You see, the message of the
gospel is a message of freedom, a message of liberty.
The message of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is a great
Redeemer, but he's also the great Liberator.
He's also the great deliverer because in him his people are
set free. Remember what we read there in
John's Gospel and John chapter 8?
And he says to them in verse 32, And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We are the
Abraham's seed, and we were never in bondage to any man.
How saest thy ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them. Verse 34 of Johnny.
And verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is
the servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house
forever, but the Son abideth ever.
Verse 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be
free indeed. You see, to whom the Son sets
free is free. Indeed, there is a liberty and a
freedom that belongs to the people of God.
Jesus Christ sets us free from the penalty of sin.
Jesus Christ sets us free from the power of sin.
He breaks the power of counsel. Sin sets the prisoner free.
Jesus Christ sets us free from the curse of the law.
Jesus Christ sets us free from offering a works based
righteousness to God. Remember in Isaiah 61 verse one
and two we read the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because I
thought the Lord had anointed me.
To do what? Listen to this.
To preach good tidings unto the meek 1.
To bind up the broken hearted 2. To proclaim liberty to the
captives 3 and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound, 4-5 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
You see, the gospel is good news.
It's a message of glad tidings. It's a message about the freedom
for the Sinner. And the one that sets you free
is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sole head and only King of
the church. He is not only the great
Redeemer that has purchased our salvation, but He is the great
Liberator that opens the prison House of sin and sets us free.
So when Paul says here in Galatians chapter 5 and verse
one stand fast therefore in the liberty where the Christ just
made us free, he's pinpointing the identity of this liberty.
It is a gospel liberty. It's a message about gospel
freedom. Now you need to understand this.
Why? Well, because a lot of things
are forced into the text that that's not true to the text.
See, I want to tell you tonight, it's not a liberty to go out and
get drunk. Drunkenness is a sin.
This text is absolutely nothing to do with drinking alcohol, but
certainly not a freedom to smoke tobacco.
Or to do drugs. It's not a a liberty to go out
and do as one pleases. Remember the days of the judges.
Every man does that which is right in his own eyes.
Now why do you emphasise that? Because many use this appeal.
They point to the word liberty. Stand fast ever in the liberty
where with Christ has made us free.
And they say in Christ I have a freedom to do these things.
The sad thing is many who use this appeal end up taking the
liberty, the gospel freedom. They turn it into a licence to
sin, a licence to do their own thing.
And they usually end up falling from grace, living again in a
life of licentiousness. And I want to tell you that's
not the identity of this liberty.
That is not liberty. That's a lie.
God's people have no liberty to live and sin.
We have no liberty to lie or to steal or to commit adultery.
Could I just add this? It's not even a freedom to join
with others. And the worship of God is the
true and living God. Now that's included.
That's an opponent part. It's only a small part.
It's not a freedom to take a stand for truth and
righteousness against evil and wickedness.
In our day, though, that's a wider appeal.
Again, that's included. It's not even an appeal to stand
fast against the dog dogmas of Roman Catholicism.
It's not a freedom to go about and aim to establish a workspace
righteousness in order to obtain the favour of God.
It is not that the believer is trying to work up merit with
God. No, Paul is making a summary
here. You've got to feel the force of
the word. Therefore stand fast, therefore,
in light of all that he said in the 1st 4 chapters, and you're
to stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ have
made you free. Paul is saying in light of all
my reasoning, in light of all my arguments, we have a freedom in
Christ, a gospel freedom, and we don't have to go about to
establish a workspace righteousness.
We don't have to establish a righteousness by our own merit.
We don't have to keep the law as a ground of our salvation.
Why? Because of the work of Christ in
the cross. The sacrifice has been provided,
the sacrifice has been offered, the sacrifice has been accepted.
The sacrifice is satisfying. Hebrews 10 and 12.
But this man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God.
That's why we sang that lovely hymn there this evening.
Once for all, O Sinner, receive it.
Once for all, O brother, believe it.
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall.
Christ has redeemed us once for all.
The Lord Jesus finished the work on the cross.
The work is done. John 19, verse 30.
It is finished in fact in the Greek it's one word, Teralesa.
It means done complete 2nd Corinthians 521 says for he that
is God that made him that is Christ to be sin for us who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and
I believe we need to grasp this. I believe we need to understand
this I I believe we need to try and and ponder this why?
Because remember that it was the truth of this gospel freedom
that captivated the hearts and minds of the Reformers in the
16th century. This gospel freedom got a hold
of their heart and mind, and this gospel freedom led to them
being free. This truth, I believe, enabled
and shaped them to become the man that they became sold out to
the Lord. Men of courage, men of vision,
men of commitment, men who would face any fool, men who would pay
any price. These men were free from the
imposition of men, even religious men, to bind their
conscience. Remember Martin Luther at the
Diet in April 1521? Remember he?
He said, before the Prince and before the Pope, and before all
the prelates. He said, My conscience is
captive to the word of God. Here I stand.
I can do none other, so help me God, Amen.
Do you see all the decrees of the popes, the words of the
priest, even me as a pastor, our confession of faith as the
Westminster Confession of faith, all of them must be brought to
the touchstone of Scripture, as I eat and 20 says, to the law
and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there's no light in there.
And the chief thing for Luther was this, What does the word of
God teach? What saith the Scriptures?
And here's a great message from the Scriptures.
Stand fast, therefore in the liberty, where with Christ has
made us free. Christ has made us free.
We have a gospel freedom in him. And what's the ground?
The ground of his atoning sacrifice.
The ground on the basis of satisfying the law of God.
We are free from the lost penalty.
We are free from the lost power. What?
We are free from the law as a means of earning away and right
to heaven. We are free from perfectly
rendering complete obedience to the law.
We are free from its curse, free from its corruption.
Now that's what he means there whenever he says in Galatians 3
and 13 Christ is redeemed as from the curse of the law be
made a curse for us, for it is written cursed as everyone that
hangeth on a tree. Listen to chapter 2 verse 19.
He says, For I through the law and dead to the law, that I
might live unto God. Do you feel the weight of that?
Can you see the sense of it? Let's listen to that again.
He says, For I through the law and dead to the law, that I
might live unto God. You see, Paul knew, like Luther,
no man could render perfect obedience to the moral law.
The moral law demanded perfect obedience.
The moral law condemned me to eternal judgement.
So on the one hand, the law demanded perfect obedience.
Keep me in your live. And then on the other hand, when
you couldn't render perfect obedience, sinless obedience and
thought were indeed. Then the law rose up to condemn
us for not rendering perfect obedience.
Therein was the dilemma. And what's the answer?
The gospel of Christ is the answer.
Paul says I through the law and dead to the law.
What did he mean? He meant this by a legal
transaction. I am legally dead to the demands
of the law and it's curse upon me.
Notice what he says. He is dead to the law, to it's
demands to it's claims. Hi, because of the perfect
obedience of Jesus Christ. See, Jesus Christ kept the law
of God perfectly for you and me. Jesus Christ paid the law's
penalty for you and me. By His death on the cross, the
law that we had broken, He came in to the world.
Remember Galatians 4:00 and 4:00?
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons. She, the Lord Jesus, came into
the world as our representative. He came in as our prophet,
priest, and king, and He satisfied the law fully,
satisfied His precepts by His sinless life.
He kept the law of God perfectly.
He said, Which of you convinced of me of sin?
He did no sin. You no sin in him was no sin,
and he satisfied the law's penalty by his death and blood
shedding on the cross. And I want to say tonight that's
an integral truth to the Gospel. The cross of Christ is not to be
viewed in isolation. Jesus just didn't do a general
work on the cross. He was doing a specific work.
He, he was doing a special work because when he died, he died as
our prophet, priest and king. He died as our representative
and in him, as your representative, you and I have
kept the law. In him.
You and I have obeyed it fully. In him, you and I have died to
the law. He died as your representative,
He suffered in the cross and shed His blood as your
representative. He rose again from the dead as
your representative. And that's the true basis of the
gospel. The Lord Jesus died in a legal
sense, and therefore, by being in Him and in union with all
that he is, Paul could say I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the
life which I now live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me, gave himself for me. I am crucified with Christ.
I have been, I am being. There's an ongoing benefit.
Christ died, his people died in him.
When Christ arose, we arise in him, not liberties under attack
and sadly to this day from the counter Reformation, the Church
of Rome was used every weapon at their disposal to crush and
destroy the preaching of the Gospel.
The identity of this liberty. I'd have to be quick, very
quick. Think of the victory of this
liberty. Remember what we read there in
the book of Galatians chapter 2, knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ
and not by the works of the law, but by the works of the law.
So no flesh be justified. Remember what Paul wrote in
Romans chapter 3 and verse 24. He says being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. See justification as being
legally declared righteous. Legally declared righteous
before the judgement bar of a holy God, legally declared
righteous and not subject to divine wrath or to the divine
curse. The wrath has been extinguished
by Christ's death on the cross. There's no more wrath to be
poured out against Him or upon Him.
Justified freely means without a meritorious cause.
Justified by His greens. There's the spring of our
justification. That's the way God treats us and
justified through the righteousness of Christ that's
put to our account by faith. That's the heart of the gospel.
And the Reformers got a hold of that truth and that caused them
to be full of joy and full of delight.
And to them it was a precious doctrine and it must be
rediscovered in our day and generation.
I wonder if we went round into Belfast and started talking to
people on their doorstep and ask them, do you know anything of a
full free justification by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ?
For by the righteousness of Christ life and death is put to
your account. They'll probably look at you
think you're an Egypt, but that's the heart of the gospel.
And many preachers don't understand the gospel.
They look upon the righteousness of God and they define it as one
of God's attributes, and it is an attribute of God.
But that's not the gospel. It's not God's essential and
eternal attribute of righteousness that's put to our
account. It's the righteousness of God
that's imputed to us. It's the righteousness of Christ
because of his sinless life and atoning death.
The righteousness of God is put to us by faith in Jesus Christ
because of the righteousness of God in the personal work of
Christ. And that's what Paul meant
whenever he said this in Romans chapter 5 and verse 19.
For us, by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners. So by the abedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Very quickly, I want you to
think of thirdly, of the spirituality of this liberty.
See, we're thinking tonight past Thursday there, the 80th
anniversary of VE Day. We're thinking of the principles
of liberty. We're thinking of freedom.
Freedom of conscience, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech,
freedom to worship and practise one's religion according to the
dictates of conscience, freedom to work.
These are great freedoms. But the greatest freedom is the
gospel, Freedom to whom the sun sets.
Free is free indeed, and the real freedom first and foremost
is a spiritual concept. And it's a spiritual concept
that can be enjoyed. Christians don't have to be
slaves to the world to squeeze it into its mould.
Christians don't have to be slaves to sin and on
righteousness. We are free from sins, dominion
and power. Why?
Because crisis broke the power of sin in our life.
We don't have to be slaves to the devil.
He's a hard taskmaster. You see, we are greatly
privileged. All we enjoy tonight in the
United Kingdom, the values that we have, we hold dear.
The values of all our liberty and freedom, they were one for
us, a tremendous cost. We don't take it for granted.
We don't treat it lightly, but the greatest freedom of all was
the freedom that Christ brings. Think of this.
The apostle Paul is standing before Festus and Agrippa in
Acts 2624. He's in chains.
He's there because of a corrupt political, governmental system
and power. He's there because it pleased
the Jews. Festus remember under Paul's
preaching came under conviction. He was trembling.
He cried out that you're mad. What did Paul say in Acts
chapter 26 and verse 24? He said this, and as he thus
speak for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou
art beside thyself. Much learning does make me mad.
But he said, I am not mad. Most noble Festus, but speak
forth the words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things before whom also I speak
freely. For I am persuaded that none of
these things are hidden from him.
For this thing was not done in a corner.
King Agrippa, believe us. Thou the prophets, I know that
thou believe us. Then Agrippa said unto Paul,
Almost Thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
And Paul said I would to God, that not only thou, but also
that hear me this day we're both almost and all together such as
I am, except these bones. You see, for Paul there was a
day that freedom commenced when he knelt as a Sinner in the
Damascus Rd and there was a day when that gospel freedom took
hold of his heart and continued to propel him.
He says I continue to stand to this day.
And he knew that that gospel freedom had to be contended for
every calls and God's people stand fast.
Therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ is made of
three stand fast because of warfare, we stand fast putting
on the armour of God. Oftentimes this gospel freedom
is misunderstood, is misapplied. Oftentimes people think in
Christ, how much of the world can I have?
How close can I live to the world?
But that's not the gospel freedom.
The gospel freedom is being free from sins, penalty and power,
free from the curse of the law or free from a workspace
righteousness, free in Christ to stand before God with the
perfect righteousness of Christ. That's the freedom and I
finished tonight with this. I've rushed through this, the
vulnerability of this liberty. Notice the end of the text and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
The positive call is to stand fast, hold your ground and we
need to do that in our day. Hold fast for gospel freedom.
Here's a negative be not entangled again in the yoke of
bondage. You see with all the propensity
to be brought again into bondage.
Even the psalmist found us in Psalm 126.
The psalmist cried out in Psalm 126 and the verse four he said
turn again our captivity. Oh Lord, he had said in verse
one when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion.
We were like them that dreamed but after a time don't know
season generation had passed. Then they fell back into
captivity once again. That's human nature.
And today we see we're going back and we're going back to
become entangled again in the yoke of bondage.
And that yoke of bondage is connected to a works base
righteousness in order to satisfy and merit favour with
God. Benjamin Franklin was once asked
are we free? And here was his response, yes
we are. We're free now if we can keep
it. You see that is the danger we
all face being entangled again in the UK of bondage.
It's serious stuff and Paul is making the argument and saying
to them, for I testify again to everyone that has circumcised
that he's deader to the whole law.
Christ has become of no effect to you whosoever.
If you're justified by the law, you're fallen from grace.
Christ won't profit. Christ will be no effect despite
your profession. If you become entangled again
and you go bondage and and and and live to justify yourself
through keeping the law, then Christ will be of no profit and
no effect to you. See, that's what happened in the
mediaeval church. The church fell into a state of
decline in bondage. And hasn't there been a
resurgence of that in our day? A bondage to a workspace system,
people living in bondage to sin, bondage to guilt, bondage to all
the allurements of this world. And that bondage must be sensed
and felt. And in that bondage there has to
be a desire where you say I want to break free and you're not
break free by yourself. You need a Liberator.
And that liberator's Christ to whom the sunsets free is free
indeed. And if you want to be set free
from a works based system, you want to be set free from sin and
its power, set free from guilt, set free from a love and the
allurement of the world, then you must sense your bondage and
you must go to Christ and kneel before him and cry.
Lord set me free. Remember what we read in
Galatians 5 and 6. And with us we finish.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything
to run the circumcision, but faith, that's faith in Christ
which worketh. It's evidence by love.
Love to God, love to Christ, love to the gospel, love to
truth. Christians are not under the
curse of the law, they may be under it's code, and that's a
different subject. The law of love to God, the law
of love to Christ. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let them be anathem.
The word anathema means let them go to the lowest hell.
I say to you tonight on this year when we've just celebrated
the 80th anniversary of VE Day, let's think about our freedom.
But primarily think of our gospel freedom.
Think of it's identity, rejoice in its victory, feel the weight
of its spirituality. It's a spiritual concept.
And be aware of the vulnerability of this liberty.
It's easy to become entangled again in the yoga bondage.
We need to point people to. Christ the Lord bless you
tonight. Thank you for coming.
Thank you for listening.