[0:00] Turn to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. Last week we were talking about standing fast, holding our ground, not going backwards.
[0:24] Well, today we're going to talk about staying in the race. We stand fast. We don't go backwards. We keep going forward. Remember those shoes I talked of the Roman soldiers had?
[0:35] They had the cleats in the bottom of them. So they couldn't be pushed back, but they could step forward and grab hold of ground and move forward always. So we're going to stay in the race today.
[0:46] We're going to be like those who have those cleats that run. Look at me in Galatians chapter 5, beginning at verse 6. Galatians 5, beginning at verse 6.
[0:58] For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well.
[1:09] Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lung. I have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be none otherwise minded, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
[1:30] And I, brethren, if I preach circumcision, why do I suffer persecution? Then on offense of the cross cease. I would they were cut off which trouble you.
[1:44] For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this.
[1:58] Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye are not consumed one of another.
[2:10] Let's have a word of prayer. Father, I pray this morning that you would help us as we look at this passage of scripture, Lord, that you would help us to understand that there are forces out there who want to hinder us, who want to hold us back, who want to keep us from moving forward for the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:31] The devil is at work all the time. And Lord, help us to be aware. Lord, I pray that you would help us this morning to look at your word, to understand what it means to live in Christian liberty, to move forward in Jesus Christ.
[2:46] Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand that in Christ, we have become part of God's family that we've already talked about. With Christ, we have power and strength.
[3:00] With Christ, we have the ability to move forward. With Christ, we have hope of a future. With Christ, we have everything we need. And Lord, I pray that you would just minister to our hearts this morning.
[3:12] Help us to move forward in the love of Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. There was an Olympic runner by the name of Bernard Leggett.
[3:25] He was from Kenya. Have you ever noticed whenever there's marathons and things that take place around the world, who won the marathon? I don't know, but I can tell you he was from Kenya.
[3:35] Kenya. That's just kind of a given thing. And Bernard Leggett, he was from Kenya, and he was being interviewed, and he was asked why so many in his country were world-class runners.
[3:49] And he paused briefly, and he thought about it, and he suggested that maybe it's because of the road signs we have in Africa. The road signs that you have?
[4:00] Yeah, you know, the ones that say, beware of lions. That's kind of what Paul's saying here this morning. He's saying, beware of the Judaizers.
[4:13] He's once again coming after these guys. He says, be careful of them. He says, they're trying to lead you astray. They're trying to lead you down a road where you have to do rules and regulations instead of following Jesus.
[4:27] Keep your eyes on Jesus. Follow him. And he said, even some of those other Galatian believers were getting into this, and they were starting to affect other members of the church.
[4:38] And he's saying, look, be careful. You need to stay in the race in the right way for the right reasons. He says, here's the problem. First of all, you're getting a false persuasion.
[4:51] A false persuasion. What's hindering the Galatians in their spiritual progress? What's keeping them from moving forward the way that they had been originally?
[5:03] He says, well, first of all, it's a people problem. A people problem. And he identifies the people, but right there in verse 6, he says, for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
[5:18] When you bring up that word circumcision, they automatically thought of the Judaizers. Because they were saying, if you want to believe in Jesus, that's good. Jesus is okay. But, you've got to add this.
[5:33] And you know, if you've been here any length of time, it is Jesus and Jesus alone. No adding anything. No, no laws, no rules, no rituals, no, it's all about Jesus.
[5:48] But these guys were teaching, it's Jesus plus. And Paul's writing is saying, no, no, no, no. He says, notice at the end of that verse, he says, but faith which worketh by love.
[6:04] He says, faith which worketh. Worketh has the idea to, you know, be operative, to put forth some power, to put forth some effort. He says, you've got to work, put forth some effort, forget these guys and what they're saying, keep your eyes on Jesus.
[6:25] You've been here any length of time. My favorite verse, looking unto Jesus. Hebrews 12, 2, first part of the verse. Keep your eyes there.
[6:37] He says, the Christian life is lived by faith, motivated by love. You've got to keep your eyes there. And then he says, look, this thing that they're doing, the purpose is to inhibit you, to keep you from going down that path.
[6:58] Verse 7, he says, asks a simple question. He says, ye did run well. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
[7:09] You were running well. You were doing great. You were growing in Christ. You were doing all these things. What hinders you? When he says the word run there, you know, obvious what he means, to run like in a race course or something like that, to strive hard.
[7:24] They were striving hard. They were working at getting to know Christ and to follow him. Their Christian race was going well. But then all of a sudden he says, what's hindering you?
[7:37] And the word hindering there has the idea of beating back and I like this, to check. When I think of to check for the word hinder, I'm a sports guy.
[7:49] I'm not as big a hockey fan as I am other sports, but when you think of checking in hockey, what happens? Oh, they come up and they hit you with their entire body.
[8:03] They slam you up against the boards. They're trying to hinder you from moving forward to getting to the puck, being able to score a goal. He said, oh, checking. Some guys in hockey just live for the checking.
[8:16] Paul's doing it in reference here to a race. Sometimes races. You'll watch people in races and they'll get close heading for the finish line and an elbow might fly. A checking.
[8:27] Try to knock somebody off balance and try to get a little bit of an extra step ahead of them and things. Paul's saying, what has been hindering you? Who has been hindering you from doing what God wants you to do and following him?
[8:41] 1 Corinthians 9, 24 to 27, it says this, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?
[8:53] So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
[9:06] I therefore so run not as uncertainly, so fight I not as one that beat at the air. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means I have preached to others, and I myself should be a castaway.
[9:27] He says, I keep trying to do everything to keep myself under. I want to be exactly what God wants me to be. I want to do exactly what God wants me to do.
[9:38] I keep my body under. I discipline it to follow him. I've used this illustration with you before. Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world.
[9:50] And he told about the fact that four years of training for a nine second race. See, as Christians, he says, you keep your body under.
[10:04] You train yourself. You do whatever needs to be done in order to follow Christ in the way that you should. Bring your body into subjection. And in verse 8, he uses the word persuasion.
[10:17] This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. The word for persuasion there is the idea of something that's deceitful, something that's treacherous. They're trying to persuade you in the wrong way.
[10:30] And he says, and it's not coming from the one who called you. Who called them? The Lord Jesus Christ. He says, it wasn't Jesus Christ who's telling you to do this.
[10:41] It wasn't him who's giving you these instructions. They're coming from somebody else. He says, don't be persuaded by these people. He says, go with the one who gave you salvation.
[10:52] Go with the one who called you. Follow him. Keep your eyes on him. When you're racing, you're looking for the prize. You're looking for the end.
[11:03] You're looking for the goal. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He is what you want. Proverbs 1.10 says, my son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
[11:17] He says, don't let other things get in your way. Don't let other things become the most important thing in your life. You follow Christ and follow him alone.
[11:28] And then he says, not only is there a people problem, but there's a portion problem. There's a portion problem. He says in verse 9, a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lung.
[11:41] Leaven is yeast. You add it to bread dough, you know how it works, it spreads, expand. Excuse me. It expands, spreads throughout the pile of dough.
[11:56] He says the same thing is happening with these false teachings. They're getting into a few people. They're having an effect on a few people, but those few people are having an effect on other people, and it's starting to spread throughout the whole church.
[12:08] He says, be so very careful. When you let a little bit of wrong in, a whole bunch of wrong is going to wind up happening. He says, the portion is the problem, and if it's not stopped, it's going to be a danger to the whole church.
[12:24] He says, be careful about what you let in. I often warn you about listening to people on TV and people on radios. There's some good ones out there, but there's some bad ones, too. Be careful about who you're listening to and what they're saying, and does what they say line up with what the scripture says?
[12:41] These Judaizers were teaching that you can be justified by yourself. See, Christ wasted his time coming to earth and going to the cross and dying for you because you can justify yourself.
[12:55] Just do these things and you'll be good. But that is not what Christ taught. That was not what Christ had in mind when he went to that cross. He went to that cross to pay the price for our sins.
[13:08] We can't do it on our own. And what happens if you say, okay, yeah, you know, the circumcision thing, that's okay, we should do that. That's part of being saved.
[13:21] What happens when they start coming to you and say, oh, by the way, in the Vigilus chapter 11, they have these dietary laws. You should follow those as well. Oh, and you know those feasts that they had?
[13:33] You should keep all of those feasts. Oh, and there's certain things that do about being purified. You should do all those things. Keep adding on and on and on and on. Paul is telling them, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[13:45] Christ did everything that is necessary for salvation. Paul's trying to point out, once you get started down that road, you've got a problem. Because if you allow yourself to go with a little bit, pretty soon they're going to have all kinds of things in there.
[14:02] So he says, look, there's a false persuasion taking place. He says, but I have a firm conviction. A firm conviction. Look at verse 10 and 11 again. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded, but he that troubles you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be.
[14:22] And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is this offense of the cross ceased. He says, look, have a firm conviction.
[14:33] The choice is yours, Galatians. You get to make the choice. How are you going to live your life? But he says, I have confidence from the Lord that you're going to make the right choice.
[14:45] You're going to follow the right path. Notice that word confidence there. You know what confidence means. You have a certain state of feeling about the truth.
[14:56] This is the truth and this is what I'm going to do. And Paul says, I've got confidence from the Lord that you're going to follow what God wants you to do. You're going to follow his teaching.
[15:07] You're going to follow what he has for you. Second Thessalonians 3, 4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
[15:22] Paul told the Thessalonians, we trust that you're going to do the right thing. He's telling the Galatians, I have confidence you're going to do the right thing in following the Lord Jesus Christ. He says the problem here is the offense of the cross.
[15:37] The offense of the cross. Paul gives two examples of the supremacy and the sufficiency of the cross.
[15:50] First he points out if he were still preaching circumcision as he had before, before he was converted, before he gave his life to Christ.
[16:02] Remember Paul went out, was persecuting Christians, bringing them in for judgment, helping them be killed because they were not teaching the Jewish traditions and the Jewish laws. Now he's teaching the opposite.
[16:14] He says, if I was back doing that, why would I still be persecuted? But I was at times. He says, why would I get persecuted for my life and message if I'm doing that?
[16:34] But he's not doing that now. He's gone a different direction. And he says in 1 Corinthians 15 30, why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
[16:46] It's because of the teaching of the cross that we stand in jeopardy. It's because of the teaching of the cross that we are persecuted. It's because of the teaching of the cross that we are facing all of these different things.
[16:59] Because the cross teaches grace. The cross teaches that Jesus did it all. But he wasn't teaching circumcision anymore.
[17:11] He was teaching the fact that Christ did everything. You remember his first missionary journey?
[17:22] His first missionary journey, Paul was stoned for what he was preaching. It was also in his first missionary journey that he came to the churches of Galatia for the first time.
[17:36] They knew all about the things that Paul had faced. They knew all about the things that Paul had gone through. They knew what Paul had taught. And they knew that he was sincere and that he loved the Lord Jesus with all of his heart.
[17:52] and they had seen the evidence of Christ had changed him and made him something completely different. And he says, look, the cross is no longer an offense.
[18:11] If it was no longer an offense, why does it still come under attack? Why is it that people still resent the cross so much? I mean, they're teaching that, you know, Christ is okay, but they don't preach about the cross.
[18:26] They preach about the rules and regulations. He said, okay, if they're doing that, why is it still so offensive to them? If it doesn't mean anything, why do they find it so? You know, you ever find when you're talking with people, they find things about Christianity to be offensive?
[18:44] they don't believe in them, so why do they find it offensive? I don't believe in God. Okay, so why do you get so upset when I talk about him?
[18:58] You don't believe in him, but they do. You know, the offense comes because, as I said before, it's about grace. It's not about the law.
[19:10] It's not about works. I need to be able to do it myself. And for us Americans, that's a particularly hard thing because we like to do everything ourselves.
[19:22] We like to be able to take care of ourselves. We like to be able to come up with solutions ourselves. We like to he says, no, the cross is about grace, not about the law.
[19:32] It's about it's all been done by Jesus Christ, not about I have to do this and do this and do this. See, we like the I do this and I do this. I'm earning my way. I got it.
[19:44] I'm taking care of it. He says, no, no, no. The cross is about all been done. Jesus did it all. And then he talks about, look, you have a faithful mission to accomplish.
[19:59] Forget about what these people are saying. Keep going on the road you're going. Keep running the race. Stay in there. Keep moving forward because you have a faithful mission to take care of.
[20:10] He wanted them to stay in the race. He wanted them to fulfill God's given mission and he wanted to do it through the liberty that God had given to them.
[20:22] Look at verse 13. This is one of my favorite verses. I'll tell you why in a minute. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
[20:40] So often you hear that verse used. God has given us liberty. As a Christian, I have liberty. As a Christian, I can go out and do anything I want to do because I have liberty.
[20:56] As a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe he died for me. I believe he saved me. And I believe because of that, I can go do anything I want. Look at the verse.
[21:11] That is not what it says. Look at that verse again, verse 13. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Yes. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
[21:29] See, too many people today are taking it as, I have liberty, liberty. Therefore, I can go out and I can live a lifestyle that is full of lust. I can go out and live a lifestyle where I can fulfill my desires.
[21:43] I can do anything I want to because Christ covered it with his blood and I'm all set. That is not what the verse says. The verse says, yes, you have Christian liberty.
[21:56] Christian liberty for what? He says, you've got Christian liberty not to be used for an occasion of the flesh, but by love serve one another.
[22:09] First Peter chapter two, verse 16 says this, as free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as a service, servants of God.
[22:21] He says, you have liberty, you've been freed from sin, you have liberty to now serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not held by Satan, you're not held by sin, you're not a captive to all of that, you have liberty to serve God.
[22:38] You have liberty to show love and serve one another. You have been free from all that. He continues on there in first Peter chapter two, verse 17, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king, servants be subject unto your masters with all fear, not only in the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
[23:03] For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God and do a grief, suffering wrongfully. He says, look, serve others. And he says, not just those that are nice and kind to you.
[23:17] Serve, even those who don't treat you right. Serve, even those who treat you in such a way that you feel like you're just a little bit above the dirt. He says, serve them.
[23:30] It's thankworthy to serve those people. Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost, Luke 19, 10 says.
[23:42] He came to serve. And he went to the cross for us. He was not treated well, but he did it because of love.
[23:54] He says, but faith which worketh by love, there in verse 6. He came to do things by love. So he comes to do that.
[24:05] That's the calling that these people had. He says, you as Galatians, you're going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to follow him and you're going to serve using your Christian liberty to not for yourself, but to serve one another.
[24:22] And then he goes on the last part of verse 13. And he says, but by love serve one another, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.
[24:41] But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. He says there's a purpose. you have a mission, you have a purpose in life.
[24:56] You have a calling, and that calling is to fulfill this purpose. What is that? The end of verse 13, by love serve one another.
[25:08] You've got a mission, a purpose of serving. Galatians 6, too, just a couple verses over there. He says, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
[25:21] He said, you want to fulfill the law? Here's the law. Christ says, love one another, help one another, serve one another, bear ye one another's burdens. You want to fulfill the law?
[25:32] Take that one and run with it. See, Christian liberty gives us the ability by the Spirit to show our neighbors and help our neighbors with their needs and show them what it means to be a Christian, what it means to have Jesus Christ in your life.
[25:51] He says, you need to be able to serve. And then he says, in verse 14, he says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
[26:07] You're to serve, you're to love your neighbor. John chapter three, first John chapter three, verse 16 says this, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us.
[26:22] We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He laid down his life for us because he loved us. Romans 5, 8, God commended his love toward us and why we were yet sinners.
[26:33] Christ died for us. God loved us by giving himself for us. He says, you need to do the same. If you're going to live like Christ, you need to do the same.
[26:46] Give of your life to others. Verse 17 there in 1 John 3, it says this, but whosoever, whoso hath this world's good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
[27:03] My little children, let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth. he says so many people talk about love but he says real love is shown by deed and truth.
[27:22] So many people, you hear people sometimes, they do all kinds of things, they cause you all kinds of problems, they do all, oh but we love you. He says look, words are good but show it, deed and truth.
[27:40] how do we handle those around us? Jesus showed us he loved us by going to that cross. How do we show love to those around us?
[27:54] Amy Carmichael was a missionary and she said you can give without loving but you cannot love without giving. You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.
[28:10] As a Christian that should be part of our life giving to those around us, helping those around us. Third thing, to preserve, to preserve.
[28:22] Verse 15, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. Don't be devoured by one another.
[28:35] We need to be helping each other to survive in this race. Christian life is a hard life to live. Christian life and being what God wants us to be following him can be tough.
[28:47] Especially if we're doing it this way. If we're serving and we're loving and we're giving of ourselves. And we're doing it, we're taking the liberty we have in using it in the right way. It can be tough sometimes.
[28:58] Paul said to the people of Ephesus in Acts chapter 20 verse 29 he says, for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock.
[29:16] He says, look, there's going to be people who come in and try to come after you. And that's what he's talking about here, these Judaizers. They're coming in, they're coming after you. They want you to follow their plan, their work, they're doing it for themselves, and they're not doing it for the Lord.
[29:32] They're not following what he has. Their idea is we can make them follow us by making them follow these rules and regulations. There was an old Peanuts cartoon one time, and Lucy says to Charlie Brown, she says, I would have made a great evangelist.
[29:52] Charlie Brown's like, is that so? She said, oh yeah. She says, I convinced the boy in front of me at school that my religion was better than his religion. Charlie Brown's like, oh, really?
[30:06] How'd you do that? I hit him over the head with my lunchbox. And sometimes that's the way we act. We try to hit people over the head with things. We try to constantly go after them.
[30:18] And no, serve, love, show what God has done for us. But sometimes we try to prove our points by just knocking people upside the head.
[30:32] And I know sometimes it seems like it would be much more effective. But no, we can't do that. 1 Corinthians 3.3, for ye are yet carnal, for as there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?
[30:47] He says, when he's constant envying and strife and divisions and all these different things, he says, that's not God. God says, serve one another. God says, love one another. God says, help one another.
[31:00] God says, watch for one another. The Christian race is difficult. Excuse me.
[31:14] As you're going through life, there are mountain peaks and there are valleys that you go through. nobody I know has gone this way their entire life.
[31:25] Doesn't happen, does it? You know, we need to keep our eyes focused on the finish line.
[31:37] We need to keep looking unto Jesus. What is Jesus going to give us at the end? The Bible tells us he's got crowns waiting for us.
[31:49] The Bible tells us he's got a well done, now good and faithful servant waiting for us. Are we going to earn that well done?
[32:01] Are we going to get that from him? Because we are living life the way he wants us to. Not by rules and regulations, but by loving him for what he has done for us.
[32:14] By loving him for the grace that he has shown to us. For loving him for the way he takes care of us every day. You say, what has he done for me lately?
[32:30] Are you still breathing? Is your heart still pumping? He's done that for you. You're still alive.
[32:42] God loves us and cares for us. And we need to remember that. We need to remember what Christ has done for us. If we're going to love him the way we should, it's because we remember all that he has done for us.
[32:59] When we stop and talk about that, the fact that he loves us and we need to remember it, we have communion. A time to remember what he has done for us.
[33:14] A time to remember that he gave his life for us and that he rose again and he went to heaven and he's preparing a place for us and he's helping us day by day right now in our Christian life.
[33:32] The Bible says, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11, for I received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me after the same manner also he took the cup we need to stop saying this cup is the new testament in my blood this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do show the Lord's death till he come wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup he says if you're doing it unworthily what does that mean if you're not saved let it go by if you're not saved and don't know the Lord Jesus Christ don't do it just stop about what he has done for you contemplate that what Jesus
[34:39] Christ did by going to the cross for you those of you who are saved he says do this in remembrance of me see these people were forgetting what Jesus had done they were forgetting the fact that Jesus had paid the price for everything they were forgetting and thinking they had to work for themselves no Jesus did it all so we're going to take a few moments right now and he says but let a man examine himself take a few moments to pray God is there any sin in my life is there anything that's holding me back from taking this communion today in the way I