Living by Grace Pt 1

Chapter 5.

Galatians chapter 5.

We start into a new series. This morning. Called Living by Grace. We have seen in this book of Galatians that Paul has defended his message. Paul has explained grace. And now he's going to tell us what it looks like to live by grace. As a matter of fact, when we ended chapter 4, he said that we are free. We are the children of the free woman. Therefore, we are free.

That's our position in Christ. Is set free. But now that we know our position in Christ. He's going to tell us how we live. According. To that position. How we live as free people. And so. As we look at our section this morning. The subtitle of the message is. Grace means freedom. Grace means freedom. We pick up in chapter 5. Verse 1. And this is what it says.

It was for freedom. That Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm. And do not be subject again. To a yoke of slavery. Behold, I, Paul, say to you. That if you receive circumcision. Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision. That he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have been severed from Christ.

You are seeking to be justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. For we, through the spirit. By faith. Are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus. Neither circumcision. Nor uncircumcision means anything. But faith. Working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from him who calls you.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you. In the Lord. That you will adopt no other view. But the one who is disturbing you. Will bear his judgment. Whoever he is. But I, brethren. If I still preach circumcision. Why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you.

Would even mutilate themselves. For you were called to freedom. Brethren. Only do not turn your freedom. Into an opportunity for the flesh. But through love. Serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. In the statement. You shall love your neighbor. As yourself. But if you bite and devour one another. Take care. That you do not consume. One another.

Now as he talks to us about freedom. There's three things that he's going to tell us to do. To live. According to grace. To walk in freedom. Number one. We're to stand. Number two. We're to think. Number three. We're to love. So the first one that we'll look at. Is to stand. Notice what it says in verse one. It says. It was for freedom. That Christ has set us free.

Therefore keep standing firm. And do not be subject again. To a yoke of slavery. We have been set free. To be free. It is for the sake of freedom. That Christ. Has set us free. I don't think we can overemphasize the point. That it is Christ who has set us free. We had nothing to do with it. Other than coming to him and crying out. I really need freedom. And him then setting us free.

It was all the work of Jesus Christ. It's what he did for us on the cross. And when he set us free. It was for the purpose of being free. You and I were created to be free. We were never created to be in bondage. To anything. We were never created to be in bondage. To anyone. We were never created to be in bondage. To a government. To a people group. To an ideology.

We were created to be free. Bondage did not enter. Until sin came in. And when sin came in. It put handcuffs on all of us. Jesus took the handcuffs off. Jesus set us free. But he did not set us free. So that we could go back into another kind of bondage. He set us free. So that we could be free. In death. In deed. He said. It is for the sake of freedom. That Christ has set you free.

Therefore. Stand firm. He says. Keep standing firm. Now that phrase. That word. To stand firm. Means to stand strong. Or to persevere. Continually. To stand strong. Or to persevere. Continually. It indicates a continual action. That we are to take every single day. You know why it's a continual action. That we take every single day. Because every day you and I fight a battle.

Actually we fight a battle on two fronts. We either fight a battle against being enslaved again. To the things of the flesh. And he'll address that at the end of the section. Or we fight the battle of being enslaved to the law. Being enslaved to a set of standards. That either we set for ourselves. Or we allow someone else to set for us. By way of full disclosure.

May I be completely honest with you. And completely transparent with you. And let you know that I struggle with legalism. I struggle with setting a standard for myself. That no one can keep. And at the heart of it is pride. I expect things of myself. That nobody else expects from me. I was just having this conversation with my wife yesterday. Because often times.

I can feel like I fail. In just about everything that I do in my life. And I was telling my wife this. I was kind of burying my heart a little bit to her. And she said Ryan. You set standards for yourself. Nobody else sets for you. How many of you can relate with that feeling? How many of you can relate to that thought? That you set standards for yourself. That nobody else requires of you.

That nobody else would ever expect of you. And you walk around feeling like you've constantly failed. Not because you have failed in God's eyes. But because you have failed in your eyes. You know why? Because you and I have to stand firm. We have to stand firm in the freedom that Christ has brought into our lives. That means we can't be moved one way or the other by my own requirements, by my own list,

by my own things that I've set for myself or the things that anybody else has set for me. And my wife is, I love her to death. She's just so wonderful. I love to bounce things off of her because she gives me the best advice ever. I said, you're right. That's something that I need to work on. And she goes, I think you know as well as I do, it's not something you can fix.

Only Jesus can do that. And I thought, praise God for the wife that he has given me to remind me that it is the work that Jesus has done and listen, is doing in my life. You know why? Because who has set me free? Jesus. Who will keep me free? Jesus. Who am I standing firm in? My freedom in Christ. You see, it's all about the work that he has done, is doing, and will do in my life.

Therefore. He says, do not put on a yoke of slavery. Don't be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Don't trade in one yoke for the other. Every now and then there's this video that sort of floats around social media. And I giggle like a small child every single time that I watch it, right? So the video is like this. There's a trench and there's a sheep stuck in the trench.

And the shepherd, it gets the sheep. This is real life. This happened like over in Scotland or somewhere like that. It was in Europe. I know that. The shepherd reaches down and pulls this sheep out. Finally pops the sheep out of the trench, lets the sheep go. And the sheep takes off bounding, falls right back into the trench. You see, that's what happens when we put ourselves again into another yoke of slavery.

We've been set free from one area of the trench. And then we jump headlong into the next area of the trench. Do not be subject again to a yoke. The yoke of slavery. And do you know what's been going through my head the entire time I've been reading this verse? Throughout this entire week, there's a section that's been going through my head. We can either have the yoke of bondage, either to the world or to legalism,

or we can put on the yoke of Christ. Write something down in the margin of your Bible if you would, if you're into that sort of thing. Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 through 30. Matthew chapter 11, verses 28. Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 through 30. Because this is what it says. It says, It says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.

And listen, you will find rest for your souls. You see, you have a choice. We all have a choice. I'm either going to wear the yoke of slavery. Or I'm going to wear the yoke of Christ. Brothers and sisters, I'm here to tell you right now, come to Jesus. Because his yoke is easy. And his burden is light. He tells them to stand. Stand firm in the freedom with which Christ has set you free.

The second thing he tells them that they need to do is that they need to think. He says, Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, it will be of no benefit to you. I testify again to you, every man who receives circumcision, he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have been severed from Christ. You who are seeking to be justified by the law,

you have fallen from grace. He's going to tell them to think about three things. The first thing he's going to tell them to think about is he's going to tell them to think about the effects of legalism. The effects of legalism. And there's four effects. There's four effects of legalism that we will experience. You can't help it. He tells us these are the four things that will happen to you

if you don't live in freedom and you choose instead to live in legalism. Number one, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Christ will be of no benefit to you. He says, I say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will not benefit you at all. What does he mean by that? Well, he means that no longer will you experience the benefits of knowing Jesus Christ.

See, we all have a choice to make. You'll either hold on to the law or you'll hold on to Christ. But you can't hold on to both at the same time. You see, Jesus and the law are two mutually exclusive things. Remember, all the law could do is bring us to Jesus. But once it had brought us to Jesus, the law was done with its job then. Because the law was going to keep us in bondage.

And it will keep us in bondage until we come to Jesus to truly be set free. So if the law has brought me to Jesus, then I now can't go back to the law because it's mutually exclusive from Jesus. And if I decide that I go back to the law because that's what circumcision was for them, it wasn't just simply a sanitary act performed on a young boy after he was born. It was actually a legalistic act to try to make yourself more holy before God.

He said, Once you have chosen a legalistic act to make you more holy in the eyes of God, Christ doesn't do you any good anymore. Because you can't hold on to legalistic expectations and the freedom of Christ at the same time. Those are two different ends of the spectrum. He says, In other words, Once you decide that one portion of it is what you need to be holy, that means you now need all of it to be holy.

You see, Jesus is an all-or-nothing sort of person. Jesus is an all-or-nothing sort of God. He says, You either want all of the law or you want all of me, but you can't have both. We live in a we-can-have-it-all society, right? You can have it your way. That's what McDonald's tells us, unless it's ice cream, and then you can't have that at all because the machine's broken.

But other than that, you can have it your way. And that's what we're constantly told, right? But Jesus says you can't have it both ways. If you choose the law, you need to understand what the law says. You have to keep it perfectly now. You now have to keep it totally, be perfect, which, of course, we've already said we can't. I prove that every single day of my life.

The moment I get out of bed, boom, failed. I'm angry when I get out of bed, right? He says you now have to keep the whole law. Number three, he says you have been severed from Christ. He says, verse four, You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified, by the law, that word severed means to be estranged or to be separated from Christ and his grace.

Not only does it mean that your relationship with him will be different because you've chosen something other than him, but listen, it means this, your knowledge of Jesus will always be limited. The very purpose for which you were created to know God will always be limited because it will be limited by your legalistic ideas. Because you will always have the wrong focus. You see, legalism will always focus you on one thing and one thing only, you.

Therefore, your knowledge of God, your knowledge of Jesus Christ will always be limited because of that. You will be estranged or separated from Christ. And then last of all, number four, he says you have fallen from grace. You have fallen from grace. I believe it was the Weiss translation that translates it like this. He says, you have lost your hold on sanctifying grace.

Now, there's some debate about this scripture. Does this mean that once you've given into the law that you've now lost your salvation? Now, the immediate answer that I always say is no. And listen, if you're in here struggling with legalism this morning, I want you to know you've not lost your salvation. But you do need to be aware of something. You're treading on dangerous ground.

Because it's who we are, right? Hebrews tells us that if we think there's another way, that if you go back to the legalistic acts, there's no other sacrifice that can be made. There's no other sacrifice for sin. So stick with Jesus. And if you've fallen back into legalism, it's time to come back. Because listen, we've fallen from grace because the law says,

stand, walk, fly. But it gives me no legs. It gives me no feet. And it gives me no wings. And if I go back into legalism, I've fallen from the sanctifying grace. It gives me all of my ability to do what God has called me to do. He says, you need to think. Think, first of all, about what the effects of legalism are. The second thing that he tells us that we need to think about

is we need to think about our walk of faith. To think about the walk of faith. Notice what it says in verse 5. For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love. He says, I want you to think about what it really means to walk by faith.

What it really means to be a Christian. We, who through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. The New King James translates it like this. We are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness. I have a quote that I want to put up here for you. It's from Kenneth Weiss' Word Studies. The word speaks of an attitude of intense yearning and an eager waiting for something.

Did I have you guys put that up there? Okay, there it is. Here it refers to the believer's intense desire for an eager expectation of a practical righteousness, which will constantly be produced. It will be produced in his life by the Holy Spirit as he yields himself to him. Let me tell you what that means. You eagerly wait for God to make you who he wants you to be.

And you expect him to do that. You expect that he's going to be the one that produces that holiness in you. You expect that he's the one that's going to do that work in you. It goes back to the story I told you in the beginning about my conversation with my wife and me saying, you're right, I need to work on that. And her saying, it's not your work. It's the work of Jesus.

What is it that you want to see God produce in your life as far as righteousness is concerned? We eagerly wait for him. Now, there's an active waiting that we do. We do what he calls us to do. That's called yielding to the Spirit. Perhaps you're trying to overcome some area of temptation in your life, and the Spirit is going to tell you to avoid certain things that will cause you to fall into that temptation.

Well, as you yield to the Spirit, as the Spirit says, don't go here, do go here. Don't talk to them. Do spend time with them. Don't look at this. Do look at this. As you yield to him, he'll produce that righteousness in you. But we, through the Spirit, are eagerly waiting for that righteousness to be produced in us. Because that's what we do by faith. It's not a work that we try to do.

It's a fruit that the Spirit produces. He'll go on to talk more about this fruit in the second half of Galatians chapter 5 when he talks about the fruits of the Spirit. And then he says, For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything but faith, working through love. In other words, whether you try to live by the law or whether you don't try to live by the law, whether you have a list of rules, whether you don't have a list of rules, none of those things mean anything.

What really matters is faith, working through love. It's faith, working through love in your life. Your faith in Jesus Christ as he produces, is love, not only for him, but love for the people that are around you. He says, I want you to think about your walk of faith. And then the third thing that he tells them to think about is he tells them to think about who has hindered them.

Who has hindered them? Notice what it says. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from him who calls you a little leaven. Leaven is the whole lump. He says, you were running so well. Remember, Paul had started these churches in Galatia. He had seen the work that God had done in delivering them from the heathenism

and delivering them from the idolatry and the lives that were leading them down the wrong path. He had seen them turn to Christ and he had seen fruit produced in their lives. He says, who hindered you? You were running so well. You were doing so good. What happened? What hindrance? What hindrance came along? That word hindrance is kind of an interesting word because the word hinder means to break

up the road. Kind of interesting to think about, isn't it? That if you're running along and all of a sudden the path in front of you is broken up, it's going to slow you down with running, right? It's going to slow you down in anything that you do. It's like it's summertime in Kansas. Well, almost summertime in Kansas. Today feels like summertime in Kansas.

And we all know what that means. It's road construction season, right? And what's always going to hinder you? And your journey to wherever you're going. The road being broken up. We all know what it's like to be on the family vacation and you already got off a little later than you intended to get off. But at least it's the interstate and you can bump it up to closer to 80 on the interstate.

Listen, I know some of y'all are going faster than that. Jesus knows too, okay? But y'all bumping it up a little bit on the interstate like, oh, we're going to really make up some time because look, I'm flying. And all of a sudden you see that, the glorious sign. The glorious orange sign that says, road construction ahead. And you're like, oh, I'm going to lose another hour with this.

I was running so well, now I'm being hindered. Listen, that's the same thing that happens to us when legalistic things come into our lives. We were running so well and all of a sudden we get hindered. But notice that he attaches a personality to it. He says, who hindered you? And then he goes on to say something. He goes, this persuasion did not come from God.

This persuasion did not come from him who calls you. Listen, y'all, we need to understand something. You better be careful who you're listening to. Because when I start hearing things come out of people's mouths, you know what the first question I ask is, who'd you hear that from? What makes you think that? Because you didn't read it in the Bible. I feel 99.9% sure I didn't say it to you.

You didn't hear it from God. So who'd you hear it from? I'm always fascinated to hear some of the things that people say. I like to play false teacher bingo and be like, wait, wait, hold on. I want to see if I can figure out who said that. Because I think I recognize that statement. Did it come from so-and-so? And man, when I can nail it, I'm just like, 10 points.

Give me a gold star. Because you know it came from somebody. Listen, you need to pay attention. Pay attention to the things that people are saying to you and hold them up to what God's word has to say. I had a great conversation with my nephew last night. He wants to go into ministry. It's so cool. I love it. And so he's got questions about what college to go to.

Like, hey, help me kind of know what's good and what's bad. And I said, you know what? Ultimately, what you have to do with any Bible college you go to, because listen, especially some of y'all that are parents, you're going to be sending your kids to college. You need to know something. Sometimes Bible colleges are the most dangerous places you can send a kid.

Because if they are spouting liberal theology, if they're spouting false doctrine, if they're having really weird spiritual formation classes that are teaching things like contemplative prayer and meditation and stuff like that, then you need to be aware of those things. But what I told him was this. I said, ultimately, what you need to do is you need to hold up everything that God's word has to say to what you're being told. And if it lines up, keep it.

If it doesn't, don't. Because that's really ultimately what you can do, because it doesn't matter where you can go. You can run into something. And so and so he says, who hindered you? There was somebody behind it. There was somebody telling you those things. You didn't come up with that on your own. God didn't come up with that. Somebody's been the one that's been spouting that to you.

He says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. And may I say, that's the thing about false doctrine. And it can't be overused. It can't be overstated enough that it only takes a little bit of false to ruin the whole thing. It only takes a little bit of false to taint everything else that's going on in what you're hearing. Because listen, false teachers won't tell you 100% false things.

They'll throw a little bit in, and they'll throw it in a deceptive sort of ways. A little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. He does say, though, but I have confidence in you. That the Lord, or that you will, confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view, but that the one who is disturbing you will bear his own judgment, whoever he is.

But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. He says, I have confidence in you. But notice where his confidence comes from. His confidence isn't actually in them. He says, I have confidence in you, in the Lord. He says, I have confidence that God is going to. Bring you through this, because you've heard the truth.

I'm going to be praying for you, and I think that you're going to accept what I'm going to tell you. I have confidence in you, in the Lord. And again, I'm going to speak to us as parents for just a minute. When it comes to our kids, we have confidence in them, in the Lord. I'm confident that the things that I'm teaching my kids are going to sink in, but ultimately

my confidence is in the Lord, that God is going to reinforce all of the things that I've taught them, that God is going to ultimately be the one that will reinforce everything that I put into their little mind. He says, as far as those false teachers go, I have confidence in this, in the Lord as well. They'll face judgment for what they're saying. They'll face judgment for the things that they're saying to you.

And again, brothers and sisters, we need to be aware that all of the false stuff that's going on, God is going to judge. I don't know how many of you have kept up with all of the comments on the Facebook machine about this whole situation coming up on May 27th. I try not to read any of those kinds of things. I try not to read any of those kinds of comments because I get kind of annoyed, but I read some of them.

And my favorite comment that everybody makes across the board, it's almost like you need a checklist. Okay, love your neighbor. Yep, we've got that one on there. Love covers the multitude of sins. Yep, we got that one on there. This is people twisting God's word, right? To say we should allow evil because after all, we're supposed to love our neighbor, check.

Love covers the multitude of sins, check. Uh, Jesus was always loving, check. Okay, that one's always on there. And then my favorite, the one that, you know, once you've hit bingo, you always get this one. After all, only one person's going to judge. And you want to be like, yeah, he will. You just need to know that there is only one person that can judge. You're absolutely right.

And he will. And we need to know that God judges because that's what he does. He's holy. He's righteous. And he judges these. And listen, we as believers in Jesus Christ are not to be the ultimate judge. I can't tell you whether or not somebody is actually saved. I can't tell you whether or not somebody's heart actually belongs to Jesus. But you know what I can do?

I can inspect their fruit and I can look at their lives and go, that's not right. That's not right because the Bible says it's not right. Remember what Jesus said? He didn't, he says, judge not lest you be judged for the way in which you judge is the same way that we meet it out to you. Right? That's what he tells us. He says, you who have a plank in your eye, first pull the plank out of your own eye.

And then you can see clearly to pull the speck out of your neighbor's eye. He doesn't say, don't mess with the speck in their eye. Just leave it there. No, he says, deal with your own garbage first. Then you can see clearly to deal with someone else's because then you'll go in with the right heart, the heart of restoration, not the heart of condemnation. But when it comes right down to it, only one person can judge.

And he will. Those false teachers, they'll face their judgment. God will deal with them. And we can rest in that. He says, if I still preach circumcision, then why am I being persecuted? Right? Like if that was my message, if legalism was my message, then why do I face all the persecution that I face? After all, if I believe in legalism, then the cross no longer is offensive.

Because listen, the cross is not offensive. The cross is not offensive. The cross is not offensive. The cross is offensive. The cross is an offensive instrument because the cross tells me I'm not good enough. I have to come and die. I have to come and die to myself. I have to be united in death with Jesus because I'm not good enough on my own. And the cross is offensive.

Legalism is in the face of the cross because it says you're good enough on your own. Try harder. He says, if I was still doing that, the cross wouldn't be offensive to anybody. And then Paul makes this great statement in verse 12. I wish that those troubling you would even mutilate themselves. Can I tell you what that says in the most clear way possible? He literally says, I wish they would castrate themselves.

And then in just a minute, he's going to talk about love. Hold on. We'll get to that in just a second. But listen, when it comes to false doctrine, that's how serious we're to take it. Remember what Jesus said? He says, It's inevitable that stumblings are going to come, talking about the little ones. But whoever stumbles one of these little ones, it would actually be better for him.

He would hang a millstone around his neck and he'd be drowned in the bottom of the sea. Listen, that's the better of the two options of what Jesus says is facing those who would hurt one of these little ones. And I think that's a twofold idea. Not only does it speak of little ones, meaning like little kids, like anybody that would hurt little kids. They've got some serious business that they have to deal with.

But it also is speaking of the believers in Jesus Christ who are oftentimes referred to as little children. Those who would lead little children astray. You say, man, that just that seems so harsh that that's what Paul would say to those guys. But listen, if you're leading people away from Jesus Christ and into potential eternal damnation, is there anything too harsh for you at that point in time?

Is there anything too harsh for someone at that point in time? He says, I want you to think. I want you to think, first of all, about the effects of legalism in your life. I want you to think, second of all, about what it really looks like to walk by faith. And then third, I want you to think about who's hindering you. Because I don't want to see you in that place any longer.

And now we come to the last thing that he tells us to do. He's told us to stand. He's told us to think. Number three, he tells us to love. He says in verse 13, for you, we're called to freedom. Brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. In the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. And so he's going to tell them a couple of things. Number one, he tells them, don't. Number two, don't turn freedom into license. Don't turn freedom into license. He starts off the exact same way that he did earlier. He says, for you, we're called to freedom. That's what we're called to.

We're called to live like free people. No longer under the bondage of rules. No longer under the bondage of law. No longer under the bondage of legalism. But with the full freedom of being a child of God. With the full freedom of being one of his kids. However, you who have been called to freedom, don't turn your liberty into an opportunity for the flesh. There's a lot of pastors that don't like to emphasize grace

because they feel like if they emphasize grace, this is exactly what will happen with people. Well, if you start telling them that they're completely free from the law, then people are going to go crazy. As a matter of fact, Chuck Smith and his book, Why Grace Changes Everything, has a chapter entitled, Won't They All Go Crazy? Because that's the idea that a lot of people have behind grace.

Which I tell you, if you can understand the teaching of grace, or if you hear the teaching of grace and think that that means you can go live however you want to, listen, you didn't really understand the teaching of grace. Because grace starts off with my understanding of my own depth of sinfulness. As a matter of fact, I would tell you that if you don't understand the depth of your sin, you'll never understand. You'll never understand the depth of God's grace.

But if you don't understand the depth of your depravity, you'll never understand the depth of God's grace. The greatest thing that God can ever do, is hurt you deeply with the understanding of your own sin. Let me tell you a story from the Bible that I think kind of illustrates this really well. There was a guy in the book of Genesis, his name was Jacob. Jacob.

Jacob was a guy who, always had a plan. He always had a way that he was going to work things out. He always had a way that he was going to make things happen. It started off when he tricked his dad for the birthright, or for the blessing. Actually, it started off when he tricked Esau for the birthright by selling him a bowl of stew. And then he tricked his dad into giving him the blessing by putting goat skins on his arms.

Man, the older I get, the more they look like goat skins too. Anyway, putting goat skins on his arms, making himself smell like the outside, and bringing his dad some meat and saying, Dad, I know you don't see very well, but it's me, Esau. Man, you sound just like Jacob, but you smell just like Esau. And man, you make really good food. Okay, so he tricks his dad into giving him the blessing.

And then he goes off and lives with Laban for a little while, and tricks Laban into giving him all of his flocks. But when he comes back home, when he comes back to Israel, he meets up with God one day. One night, actually. By the brook Jabbok. And as he meets with God, it says simply that an angel came and wrestled with him that night. We know that that angel was none other than the angel of the Lord

in Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. And he struggled with the angel all night long. Now listen, I've done a lot of wrestling in my day. I can't imagine wrestling for multiple hours at one time. I would die. But Jacob wouldn't because he would not give up. He wouldn't give up. And so the sun was just about to rise, and the angel looks at him and says,

let me go. And Jacob says, I will not let you go until you bless me. He says, your name is Jacob. Dirty, rotten, sneaky thief. That's what that means. From here on, you will be called Israel. He who's governed by God. And then he did something fascinating for Jacob. He says he touched Jacob's hip, and he put it out of socket. From that day forward, Jacob walked with a limp.

And every time Jacob took a step, it reminded him how God broke him. And brothers and sisters, when Jesus does that for us, when he takes you and helps you understand the depth of your depravity, it puts out your hip in a way that nothing ever can. And listen, for the rest of your life, you'll walk with a limp. You'll walk with a limp. You'll walk with a limp.

You'll walk with a limp. But that limp will be the one thing that taught you about grace. It will be the one thing that lets you know, no matter what, I can't just go live how I want to because my life has been saved by God's grace. Paul says, you've been set free. Don't use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. That word opportunity is an interesting word.

It's a military word, actually. It means, it means a base of operation. Basically, what he says is don't use your freedom as a base of operation for your flesh. In other words, don't use it as an excuse. Hey, I've been set free. I can do however much I want to. I can, I can live how I want to now. And if I can live how I want to, then I'm going to live however I want to.

I think I've told you before that I saw a bumper sticker when I lived in California on the back of this car. And the bumper sticker said, Jesus paid it all. I'm going to get my money's worth. And all I could think was, stay away from that car. Feels like something bad's going to happen, right? Like, like that's the car that gets struck by lightning. And not,

not really. That's, that's not how God usually works. But it certainly is how many people, certainly it's how many people think. A friend of mine that I used to go to church with in Johnson County called it, putting some sin on God's charge card. Right? I'll just use, I'll just swipe my grace card and put it on that. And we give ourself an excuse. Listen, we all walk,

a fine line, right? The fine line that we walk is, I don't want to be in bondage to legalism, but I also don't want to be in bondage to the world because you know what? Both of those things do. Both of those things cause me to focus on me. If I'm in league, if I'm living legalistically, all I can do is look at me. How am I doing? How am I living? Am I doing enough?

Have I done enough? Have I kept the list? And you know what I haven't paid attention to? Jesus or any of the other people around me. And if I'm living to please my flesh, because after all, I have the freedom. I'm always looking at me. What can I eat? What can I drink? How can I make myself happy? And you know what I've stopped doing? Looking at anybody else around me.

Sounds a little bit like the world that we live in right now, right? Yesterday, we went up to Wichita. My niece graduated from Cali, so we celebrated by going up to Longhorn Steakhouse. It was amazing. Listen, sidebar, if you're going to the Longhorn Steakhouse, you're going to think to yourself, you know what I should get? Steak. You know what you actually should get?

Herb crusted chicken. I'm just saying it, right there. I'm throwing it down. Don't doubt me on this, okay? I don't give opinions on food a whole lot. Do not doubt me. Anyway, so we're driving up to Wichita, and we come to a stoplight. I'm a people watcher, right? It's my problem in life. And this young man, the light turns green for the people going straight,

but for the people going this way, obviously the light turned red. You all know that, right? This young man didn't know that. The light turns green for us going straight. He had just arrived at the corner, and he thought to himself, everyone's going to stop for me. No one's going to hit a pedestrian. So he starts walking out into the street. No joke. Thought I was going to watch somebody die yesterday

because the cars going straight by him were like, not today, Satan, right? I mean, they were just, they were not stopping for this kid. And this kid goes and walk back to the side. And I'm like, okay, on one hand, I'm like, the cars probably should have paid attention. On the other hand, I'm like that young man needed to learn that lesson because you could see the look on his face that he was very angry

that that car didn't stop for him. As if all of traffic should stop for him. And we look at that and we go, people today, you're the same way. Okay. Don't tell me you're not. We're all the same way. We think traffic should stop for us because that's how we are as human beings. That's why Paul says, you've got this freedom. Don't use it as a base of operations for the flesh.

Why? Because it'll cause you to only be focused on you. Instead, what should you do? He says, but through love, you can stop. Serve one another. Ryan, you said I'm not under law. I don't have to do anything. You're right. You don't have to do anything. You now get to do something. You've actually been set free for the purpose of love. Two forms of love. Number one,

you have been set free to love your creator. You've been set free to love your creator because up to the point in time of Jesus setting you free, you didn't have that ability. You couldn't love your creator because you could only focus on yourself and you were separated from God by your sins. But now that you've been set free, serve one another in love. And that starts off with your creator.

We've talked about this before. It's been a little while, but if you don't serve God first and then serve people, people will drive you nuts. But if you serve God and then serve people and they don't like how you serve, you can just say, talk to my boss, right? He says, you've been set free to serve, to love one another and serve one another. Number one, so that you can love and serve God.

Number two, so that you can love and serve each other. You now get to do that. And I will tell you a really good measuring stick to tell you how much you've grown in grace is how much you want to serve and love God and how much you want to serve and love the people that are around you. Because listen, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men and it teaches us that by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we can live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age.

You see, grace doesn't just set us free from sin. Grace gives us the ability to walk in sanctification. It gives us the ability to walk in love. He says, you've been set free. Don't use the flesh as a base of operations. Don't use liberty as a base of operations for your flesh. Instead, serve one another through love. Why? Verse 14, for the whole law is fulfilled

in one word in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Believe it or not, that quote comes out of the book of Leviticus. I forgot to write down the reference, but it's definitely the book of Leviticus that you should love your neighbor as yourself. It fulfills the law. It fulfills that second table of the law that is man's relationship with man.

You know what? Throw out all the rules and let's just focus on this one thing. I'm going to love you the same way that I would want someone to love me.

When situations come up like this most recent thing that's come up here in Ark City, I think we always have to remind ourselves of something. Those are people. Those are people that need to be shown the truth. Who were you before you came to know Jesus? Well, you were just like me. You were a knucklehead sinner doing everything that your flesh told you to do.

Their flesh just tells them to do something a little bit different. They're not going to do something a little bit different. They're going to do something a little bit different. They're not going to do something a little bit different. than yours did. And you know what I needed? I needed somebody to come alongside me and tell me that there was a Jesus who loved me

and could set me free from that flesh and could set me free from that sin. Could identify the sin for me but could tell me how to be set free from it. And you know what the whole world needs right now? Especially people caught up in homosexual, transgender lifestyles. They need somebody that can come alongside them in love and say, I love you. That's actually sin.

Jesus loves you anyway. He died for you anyway. And he wants to see you set free. He wants to see you walk in freedom from that sin. You're going to be met with some resistance. Don't lie to yourself. But that's what we're supposed to do. I'm always reminded of the fact that I don't remember who the gentleman is that put this on. I think it's okay for me to call him a gentleman.

I don't know. I'm not really sure who he is. I don't even know who he is. I don't even know who he is. I don't even know who he is. I don't even know who he is. I don't even know who he is. I don't even remember the name right now. But I think it's good for us to remember that he's not our enemy. Dylan Mulvaney, not our enemy. Bud Light might be our enemy.

But all these folks, they're not our enemy. Listen, we have one enemy, and that's Satan. Everybody else that's being used by Satan right now is deceived. And they need to know the truth. And they need to know the love of Jesus. The whole law can be fulfilled in this. Love your neighbor as yourself. And that really ultimately is what grace produces in our life.

That's the freedom that grace produces in our lives. You know how I know? Because hatred and anger are one of the strongest prisons I've ever seen anyone in. They're one of the strongest prisons I've ever seen anybody live in. And it takes a lot to get set free. So brothers and sisters, live in freedom. After all, he says, if you bite and devour one another,

take care that you're not consumed by one another. If you don't love, you'll bite and devour. And if you're not careful, you'll consume each other. So brothers and sisters, walk in freedom. Stand. Stand in the liberty. Think. Think about the effects of legalism and what it really means to walk in faith. And then love. Because love fulfills the law. Amen. So this morning is Communion Sunday.

So I'm going to invite the worship team to come up. I'm going to spend just a couple minutes talking about communion.

So in just a moment, the ushers are going to come in and they're going to bring the elements in with them. The elements are set up like this. There's going to be two cups stacked together. The top cup will have the juice. The bottom cup will have the cracker in it. And as we take part in this, we need to understand what communion actually is. Because it is the greatest celebration of unity

that we take part in as the body of Christ. Because that's what we are. We're the body of Christ. And so on that last great night of the feast, Jesus took the bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body which is broken for you. Take and eat. And then he took the cup and he said, this is my blood in the new covenant that is shed for you. Take and drink.

And as often as we do this, we're told, we proclaim the death of Jesus. We proclaim to the world that my one hope is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. We proclaim to people that the one place of unity that I have with my Savior, is because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. We proclaim to the world that what makes us one body is that one body is what set us free from sin.

The body that was sacrificed on the cross. And so as the ushers come down to hand out the elements, the worship team will be singing. I just invite you to take a minute to let the Lord examine your heart. Confess those things that need to be confessed. Forgive those people that need to be forgiven. And allow God to work with you. Once you've received your elements,

if you would stand with us, and then we'll partake together at the end. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He.

Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven's mercy seat. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Who was and is and is to come. I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything. And I will adore you.

In colors of light. Rows of thunder. Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be. For you the only one. Christ the King. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything. And I will impress on you with wonder. Throughout things I must offer You. My какая is full of majesties and of wisdom

I am living Panis ter happensuntia. Of all things gardens and pressure illusory, all throughout our life as two trillions, At the mention of your Jesus Your name is power Breath and living water The tomorrow's mystery Holy is the Lord God almighty Who was and is and is to come All creation I sing Praise to the King of kings You are my everything And I will adore you Yes I will adore you If you'd bow with me Father we come to you And Lord I want to praise you for your body that was broken for us Lord for the sacrifice that you were willing to make The stripes that you were willing to endure The nails that went through your hands Lord your side being pierced all for us Lord I thank you for that Lord I thank you for that

Lord I thank you for your blood that was shed Lord your blood that is enough to cover all of our sins The blood of Jesus that has never failed us yet Will never fail us Father I pray that as we partake this morning That we would be more aware today than ever Of the sacrifice that you made for us That our hearts would be drawn close to the understanding Of just how much love you have for us Lord the height of the depth The width and the length of your love Lord that we might know the love of Christ That surpasses all knowledge Lord that we might know the love of Christ Father we thank you and we praise you for you In Jesus name Amen Let's partake And if you'd bow with me once more Lord I thank you for the family that we have here at Calvary Chapel

And Lord I thank you for the love of Jesus Christ And Lord I pray that it would be shed abroad in our hearts That we would take the words that only came from you this morning All the stuff of me let it go away Lord the stuff that came from you May it penetrate Our hearts To make us who you want us to be Father we praise you for who you are In Jesus name Amen Be blessed