[0:00] All right, good evening. You can open your Bibles to the book of Galatians. We're going to be in Galatians chapter 5 this morning. If you were in Sunday school with us, I'll just repeat the lesson and y'all can learn it again.
[0:13] I'm just kidding. Galatians chapter 5. I know that many probably thought that we were saying really romantic things during that special and just talking to each other about how wonderful, you know, our eyes and noses and all that stuff is.
[0:27] But actually, we were just talking about, you know, what we're going to do to get the kids ready for tomorrow and, you know, what kind of paperwork we have to fill out and what bills need to be paid. And that's the beauty of marriage.
[0:38] Amen. Now, I really do thank God for my wife. I can't believe that we're going on 14 years that we've been married. And I'm really glad that I got married this young.
[0:49] And I had a young girl ask me, because we had a youth group that I was in charge of at Omega in 2009, 2010. And the girl said, why would you want to get married?
[1:01] Why would you want to get married so young? And so the idea in Peru is to enjoy life as much as possible, enjoy everything you can out of life. And then when you run out of things to do, you have studied and done your career and made money and enjoyed traveling and doing everything else.
[1:18] Then you can, you know, get married because basically like your life's over and you just ran out of things to do. And so now it's time to get married. And for me, I told her I would way rather start my life with my wife and enjoy every moment that I can with her.
[1:33] And so that's what I did. So I got married at 20. She was 19. And I don't think she's regretted it more than a couple of times. But right now we're doing really well. So Galatians chapter 5.
[1:44] I'm just kidding, by the way. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 13 through 15. We'll read Galatians 5 verse 13 through 15. And I want to speak to you about your freedom, your liberty that you have in Christ and learning how to use your freedom.
[1:57] Let's read those verses. Galatians 5 verse 13 through 15. It says, for brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
[2:12] For all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And so really, like if we were to take those three verses. I'm sorry, that's two verses.
[2:25] 15. It says, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. So we're going to take those three verses and try to consider those for the Christian life. Honestly, learning how to apply those for the rest of our life would be a very difficult task.
[2:39] And it's something that we should practice on a daily basis. It's the idea of learning how to use our freedom. Because you've got two ends of the spectrum. So you've got the one side that would be the legalism side.
[2:52] That would be the rule-based, rule-following, threat side of a relationship. And people will many times side on that. Because they're afraid of true freedom in Christ.
[3:04] They're afraid of liberty in Christ. They're afraid of being able to be free in Christ. Be free from the law. Be free from sin. And be able to live in freedom. And so they're really afraid of that. So they go way far to the right or left or whatever.
[3:18] Not in the middle. And they continue to live thinking that by rule-following and by following the law, they are going to be able to produce a good moral life.
[3:30] And they will continue to form basically the whole gospel around rule-following. That's what happens in the book of Galatians. Is that Judaizers have come to Galatia and they've started saying that you need Jesus, but you need more.
[3:42] You need Jesus and circumcision. You need Jesus and following the law. You need these things to be able to be truly identified with Christ. A good Christian is a good Jew. That would be one way to put it.
[3:52] Is that a good Christian is a good Jew. And basically that means that you're going to follow all of the law to the best of your abilities. And that's one way of living life. But that's not really what Jesus has called us to. And then you've got the other side of legalism, which would be licentiousness or license.
[4:06] And this is basically the idea that nothing really matters. That nothing is important. And now I have the opportunity to live completely free, completely free of any rules, completely free of any moral standard, completely free to do whatever I want.
[4:19] Since Jesus paid for my sin and my debt has been paid and there is nothing that I can do for Jesus to love me less, then I'm going to do whatever I want. And God has made me free and I'm going to enjoy freedom.
[4:31] But one of the most important things in the Christian life is learning how to use your freedom. I'd like to quote Uncle Ben, something Uncle Ben told one of my heroes, Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man.
[4:42] He said that with great privilege comes... Oh, there we go. I've got the youth group involved. So with great privilege comes great responsibility. With great freedom comes great responsibility.
[4:53] The thing is, is that many times we believe that my freedom is to be enjoyed by me. And that's why I'm free, is that I'm not responsible for anybody. I'm not responsible to anybody. I don't need to be accountable to anybody that I'm just going to do whatever I want.
[5:06] But honestly, freedom is a very important thing. And it's a very... I mean, as Americans, we love freedom. Amen? We want freedom. And so freedom is a very important thing. In the spiritual realm, freedom is really the most important thing.
[5:20] And it's something that we need to fight for. This is what Paul says in the first part of verse 13. Read it with me. It says, just the first part, it says, For brethren, you have been called unto liberty.
[5:31] That's what Jesus has called us to be. Jesus has called us to be free. Jesus has called us to absolute liberty. There is nothing to be afraid of with freedom.
[5:43] There's nothing to be afraid of knowing that Jesus has called me to be free in Him. That is what He's called us for. And look how He says it. It says, for brethren, you have been called unto liberty.
[5:54] So we need to fight for that liberty. And in the book of Galatians, He even says that we need to fight for our liberty. Not let anybody put us under any kind of servitude or slavery in this idea of freedom.
[6:06] And He says, you have been called unto freedom. And we need to be happy about that. Amen? All right. Let's start over. Freedom is a really good thing. Amen? Freedom is a great thing.
[6:17] Freedom in Christ is a wonderful thing. There's nothing to be afraid of by being free. Amen? Amen? Well, all right. Let's continue. We have been made free through Jesus Christ.
[6:32] Man needs to be free from his own nature. Man needs to be free from his own flesh. Man needs to be free from the tyranny of sin. Man needs to be free.
[6:45] And the problem is that if you go to one side, the legalist believes that the only way to resolve man's problems is through extreme rules and extreme threats. But Paul explains that no amount of laws can make you free.
[7:01] No amount of laws placed over a man's heart can truly give him the freedom that he needs. Nothing in this world, no amount of laws can give us what only the Holy Spirit can give us.
[7:16] It isn't the law that changes man. It isn't rule following that changes man. It isn't following this list of expectations that changes man.
[7:27] It is only a work of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 6. Chapter 5 and verse 6, it says the following. It says, Read that word with me. Neither circumcision what?
[7:39] Availeth anything. Or better said, it doesn't really work. There's no use to it. Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. But faith which worketh by love.
[7:52] The only thing that will change man is faith that works by love. What has to change is the heart of a man. And the only thing that can change the heart of a man is the Holy Spirit.
[8:04] What has to change is on the inside. It's not on the outside that we need to change. It's on the inside that God needs to change. We can clean up real pretty on the outside. But what needs to really change is on the inside.
[8:16] And what Jesus came to give us is freedom. And so we should be willing and okay with saying amen to that. Amen to being free. Amen. We should do that.
[8:27] We should be so excited that we've been made free. Paul says that we are free. Jesus says that we're free. We're free from the guilt of sin because Jesus has carried that guilt on him on the cross.
[8:41] And he's forgiven our sins. We're free from the penalty of sin because Jesus has paid for that debt on the cross. We're free from the power of sin because the Holy Spirit now lives in me.
[8:53] So I am free. I'm free from sin. Look at Romans chapter 6. I don't know if you could help me with this. I would read it off of my iPad, but it's in Spanish, and I don't think anybody would appreciate that. Romans chapter 6 and verse 6 says that we are free from sin.
[9:07] Romans 6, 6 says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. It doesn't say it should be. It doesn't say will be. It says it is crucified with him.
[9:20] Our old man is crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, done away with, that henceforth we should not serve sin. We are dead to sin.
[9:32] Amen? We should be excited about that, that Jesus has made us free from sin. In Romans chapter 7, it says that we are free from the law. Look at what 7, 4 says.
[9:42] Romans chapter 7 and verse 4 says, wherefore, my brethren, ye are also become dead to what? To the law. How are we dead to the law?
[9:53] We're dead to the law by the body of Christ. I haven't really heard of any stories of a dead man getting a speeding ticket. I haven't heard of any stories of a dead man getting pulled over.
[10:06] That just doesn't happen because they are dead. They're dead to any laws. And in a spiritual sense, we are dead to the law. Speaking of Old Testament law, it says you're dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, to Jesus, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
[10:26] So on one end, we are free from the judgment, the penalty, the power of sin. We are able to live a life of freedom in Jesus because we are free from the sin that used to rule over our lives.
[10:40] But on the other hand, we are also free from the law. We're free from the demands of the law. We're free because Jesus has been the end of the law. Jesus has done everything.
[10:51] There's nothing that I need to do for Jesus to love me more. There's nothing that I need to do for Jesus to accept me more. He accepts me not because of what I do or what I've done or what I will do.
[11:02] He accepts me because of the work of Jesus on the cross. And that should make me super happy because I cannot perform.
[11:15] I believe that maybe somebody in here thinks I can live up to that expectation. I can live up to that expectation. But honestly, you break one law, you broke them all. You break one law, you broke them all.
[11:28] You break one law, you broke them all. Covet after a woman, you're a murderer. Because the law never sees what you have accomplished. It only sees what you're lacking.
[11:40] But I did all these things, but you failed in one. But I did all these things, but you failed in one. Thank God that I am free from the burden of having to live up to the expectations of the law.
[11:52] Because Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. So we should be super excited about the fact that we've been made free. Amen? John chapter 8 and verse 32.
[12:07] For the guys in the back, we're going to read 32 and verse 36. But isn't this what Jesus said? You can put it on the screen as soon as possible, please. I'm stalling for you. John 8, 32. Word of God is living.
[12:19] There we go. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you what? Free. So verse 36, what does verse 36 say? You shall know the truth. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
[12:34] You know who makes us free? The Son. Jesus has given us the truth of His Word. We have seen His death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection.
[12:45] And through believing on Him, we are free. Let me stop just a second. And maybe you don't know Jesus. Maybe you don't know Jesus. And on one end, you are a prisoner of sin.
[12:57] And no matter how much you would want to serve or do what's right and stop sinning and living in hatred and bitterness and anger and addiction and whatever else you might be carrying, no matter how much you try to stop sin, you just can't because you are a slave to sin.
[13:15] And maybe you're not that bad of a guy. Maybe you're not that bad of a girl. And you're a moral person. And you try to live up to the expectations. But every morning you wake up and there's something else in which you have failed. And let me just tell you that Jesus brings freedom.
[13:29] And with that freedom comes love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc., etc., etc. So Jesus has called us to be what? To be free.
[13:41] And that's okay. But here's the problem. If somebody says, oh, so I'm free, let's do whatever we want. Look what the verse says. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 13.
[13:52] It says, for brethren, you have been called unto liberty, unto freedom. This is the second part. Only use not liberty for what? For an occasion to the flesh.
[14:05] So if you're taking notes, one, you're called to freedom. Okay? You are free. But two, you're not free to sin. You're not free to sin. And that's the other extreme, right?
[14:16] That's the other extreme is that somebody says, well, if I'm free, I can do whatever I want. It's all been washed under the blood. David, have you not heard of this word, grace? Grace. It's a wonderful word, grace. It's easy to abuse, and we can't run out of it.
[14:28] It is wonderful. Have you not heard of this word, grace? We can just do whatever we want. But God didn't call us to sin. He called us to freedom. He didn't call us to live in sin. He called us to be free from sin.
[14:41] And so it's very easy for somebody to go, well, if I'm free, and if there's this thing called grace, and I can use of grace, and I can live in grace, and I can abuse grace. But Jesus didn't call us to abuse grace.
[14:53] That's not what God has called us to do. These Judaizers think that Paul is just an absolute liberal, that you can do whatever you want. And Paul says, no, that's not the truth.
[15:05] When you have the nature of Jesus Christ, and you have the Holy Spirit in you, you realize that your freedom is not made for sinning. Your freedom is not made for a lack of accountability. Well, I don't care.
[15:17] Nobody gets to tell me anything that I'm doing wrong. Nobody gets to talk to me. No, I'm free in Jesus, and I can do whatever I want. But honestly, that's not true freedom. Because you choose to put those chains back on, and you choose to serve the master that you've been made free from.
[15:34] Isn't that what Romans 6 says? That whoever you serve, that is your master, and that you are a slave to that. And so when you serve sin, you are making yourself a slave to sin. And so Jesus frees you from sin, and then you go back to the same pit that you got dragged out of.
[15:48] You go back to the same prison that you were freed from, and you go back to sinning. And Jesus says, that's not why I saved you. I did not save you to sin. It says, you have been called unto liberty.
[15:59] Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. We're not made free just to sin. That would be counterproductive. That would be counterintuitive to what Jesus has called us to do.
[16:12] It's not a license to sin. It's not liberty to sin. It's liberty from sin. I can't use it as an excuse. I can't use it as a reason that I get to sin.
[16:23] Freedom isn't the right to go back to that thing that Jesus saved us from. If you could put 1 Peter 2 and verse 16 on the screen, please. 1 Peter 2 and verse 16, he warns us about this.
[16:37] Amen. I should have translated my sermon. There we go. As free and not using your liberty for a what?
[16:48] For a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. That's what he warns of is this cloak. It's this fake excuse to sin.
[16:59] You know, a lot of people like to use and throw around the word freedom and grace in a very flippant way. Thinking that if there's grace and there's freedom, then I can just do whatever I want and I can just act however I want.
[17:14] But really what Peter says, what Paul says is, no, no. No, it didn't give you a cloak, a cover for your sin. That's not what we've been called to do.
[17:25] God has called us to be free from sin. And it gives us the opportunity to be guided by the Holy Spirit in every occasion. To be guided by what he wants from us.
[17:36] It gives us the opportunity to be guided by the Holy Spirit in anything that he wants and obey him. We're free from sin. We're free from the law so that we can obey the Holy Spirit. You know what causes, you know what's one of the effects of somebody that lives in the flesh?
[17:50] Look at verse 15. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 15. It says, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. You know what happens when Christians start abusing grace and Christians start living in sin.
[18:03] And in church they use their liberty not to serve others but as an occasion to the flesh. They start biting and gnawing at people. And they start causing problems. And they devour people. And they get devoured by people.
[18:14] And really what happens in church is that a lot of gossip starts to happen. And a lot of lying and a lot of backbiting starts to happen. Because they've not learned to use their freedom properly. They've learned to use their freedom as an occasion to the flesh.
[18:28] I'm free in Jesus, but I'm just going to use this for my own benefit. And that's not what he calls us to do. If you can start getting this verse ready, Romans 13 and verse 14.
[18:43] Jesus doesn't want us to serve him because we've got a list of rules. He wants us to serve him because we love him. He wants us to serve him because in our heart he's made a change. He wants us to serve him to have victory over our sin because something's happened on the inside and he's changed us.
[19:00] Look at what Romans 13 verse 14 says. It says, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
[19:12] It says, Put on Jesus Christ. Do not make provision for the flesh. Jude, verse 4 please. Jude 4. So this is something that we constantly do in the Christian life is that we always seek to jump on one side or the other.
[19:29] And Paul in these verses says, You've been called to liberty. Don't use it for the flesh. You've been called to liberty. Don't use it for the flesh. Look at what Jude 4 says.
[19:40] Jude 4. I've stalled a long time. Help me out with this. Tell me if it gets on the screen. Jude 4 says, That's what happens when somebody uses grace as a way to sin.
[20:10] So, if we go back to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 13, it says, You've been called to liberty. Don't use liberty for an occasion unto the flesh.
[20:23] And the next part, look what it says. It says, But by love, serve one another. So one, you've been called to freedom. You're not free to sin. You're free to serve.
[20:34] You're free to serve. You know, I'll be honest with you. I love my dad and I love my mom. He's not here tonight. My mom is. So she'll go tell him everything I said. But you know, there was a time when I would say to myself, I cannot wait to leave home.
[20:52] I cannot wait to leave home. I cannot wait to get out. And it wasn't because they were bad parents. It was just because I was a bad son. But, you know, I cannot wait to leave home. And I can't wait to be free.
[21:02] I can go to bed whenever I want. I can eat whatever I want. I can do whatever. And then, you know, all of a sudden you start realizing that with that freedom comes responsibility, right?
[21:13] So, yeah, I can eat whatever if I pay for it. You know, I can go to bed whenever I want. But I got to get up the next morning and go to work. And then, you know, I'm going to get married.
[21:24] Having a wife, just, you know, be me and her and the bills, right? And so now I realize that certain responsibilities come along. And I remember when God gave us, you know, Chloe.
[21:34] And I was thinking, man, we're going to have a baby. And I remember a couple of days later thinking, I've got to buy diapers from now until Jesus comes. I have got to buy baby food. And I've got to buy all these things. And honestly, like, the older I get, the more I realize that the more independent you become, the more responsibilities you have.
[21:51] And honestly, like, life has gotten to a point where it is not about me. If I knew what I know now, I would have never left the house. If I knew what I know, that's not true. I'm so happy that I love you, Katie, and you love me.
[22:03] All right, let's go. Let's get this thing on track again. But if I knew all the responsibility that came along with the privileges that I have now, I think it might have made me think differently.
[22:15] And what I've realized now in life, what I've realized now with four kids under my roof, and what I've realized now being a husband and a provider for a home, is that, man, there is a whole lot of responsibility and nothing is about me anymore.
[22:28] As a parent, you just realize, ain't nothing about you, man. There ain't no you time. That does not exist. You try to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon and hear demons running around your house.
[22:42] You try to relax for just a minute. Ain't nothing about you. Your whole schedule revolves around your kids when you've got to take them to school, pick them up from school, wake them up in the morning, put them to bed, wipe their rear end. Everything is about your kids, your responsibilities.
[22:55] And for the next 15, 20, 25, I don't know, I'm 34, they're still taking care of me. But for the next long time, you're going to be involved in your kids' lives. Because true freedom isn't about you.
[23:09] True freedom is about serving others. Your freedom isn't, you are free. Your freedom isn't to sin. Your freedom is to love and serve other people.
[23:22] Look what Galatians 5, 13 says. Once again, it says, For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
[23:33] We are called to serve. That's what true freedom is. You want to enjoy your freedom? Serve other people. You want to enjoy your life in Jesus Christ? You want to enjoy your new life?
[23:45] Learn to serve other people. It's not about you. It's not about your comfort. It's not about what the church can do for you. It's not, that's not where you're going to find true joy. True joy is going to use everything that God's given you, the freedom from sin, the freedom from the law, to turn that into service for others.
[24:01] And when you start serving others, man, it is a joyful life. It is a joyful life when life isn't about you anymore, but it's about others. When it's about other young people, when it's about other young men and young women, when it's about other men and other couples and other families that need to hear the gospel.
[24:15] When it's about sending the missionaries all around the world. It's real easy to be like, well, no, that's just too many people going out. That's too much money. We always lose people. Hey, hey, freedom is to serve.
[24:27] True freedom is to be able to serve. And so it might seem sacrificial to send your families and your daughters and your sons to the mission field. And it might seem sacrificial to give them missions. And it might seem sacrificial to show up on a Sunday morning and a Sunday afternoon.
[24:39] And it might seem sacrificial to do the music. It might seem sacrificial to do a Sunday school lesson. It might seem sacrificial to open up your home to a kid. It might seem sacrificial. But true freedom isn't to sin, but to serve.
[24:53] True freedom is to serve others by love. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14 says that the love of Christ constraineth us.
[25:06] It's the love of Jesus. It's service. It's sacrifice. It is complete giving, expecting nothing in return.
[25:18] Look at what Luke chapter 22, verse 24 through 27 says. I'm sorry guys that I'm putting all these verses on you. Luke 22, you're getting good practice though.
[25:29] Luke 22, verse 24 through 27 says. And there was also a strife among them, speaking of the disciples, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
[25:40] Verse 25 says. And he said unto them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. And they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. Verse 26.
[25:51] But ye shall not be so. But he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger. And he that is chief, as he that doth serve. Verse 27. For whether it is greater, he that sitteth at meet, or he that serveth.
[26:04] It is not he that sitteth at meet, but I am among you as he that serveth. Last time I preached here, that's what I preached about is serving. That's what true leadership is.
[26:14] That's what true freedom is, is serving. Paul says it in Philippians chapter 2 and in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2. I'll read this one. Galatians 6, verse 2 says. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
[26:29] And that takes me to my last point. Is that, you know, we're called to fulfill the law. Paul, that's the craziest thing about the book of Galatians. I preached through the whole book when we were in Omega.
[26:41] I'm still at Omega, but I did preach through the whole book. And, man, the whole time Paul was just saying we're free from the law. We're free from the law. We're free from the law. We're free. We're free. We're free.
[26:52] And in verse 14, look what it says. Verse 15. Sorry, verse 14. It says, Hey, you want to fulfill the law?
[27:07] Go for it. You want to fulfill the law? Go for it. But it isn't by keeping rules. It isn't by obeying every little law and going through and seeing every single thing that I have to do and not do and how I'm supposed to keep these rules.
[27:21] No, that's not how you keep the law. See, the person that tries to keep all the rules is inward focused because he only sees what he needs to do and all the things that he, and nobody can get in the way of me keeping my rules. But the true way of fulfilling the law is to love your neighbor as yourself because the law is fulfilled in this way.
[27:39] Isn't this what Jesus says when he says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart? And the second is like unto it. It says that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. He says, and all the law hangs on these things.
[27:51] It's like a hinge. It hangs on these things. It's that the law hangs on this. And without that, you cannot fulfill the law. Romans chapter 13 and verse 8. Romans chapter 13 and verse 8 through 10 says the following.
[28:08] It says, Owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath, what does it say? Fulfilled the law. You know how you fulfill the law?
[28:18] Love people. Just love people. Love God. Love people. You'll fulfill the law. That's the true way to service. It's by love, serve one another. By love, serve one another.
[28:30] The way you fulfill the law, the way you live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord is to live a life of love. A love unto God and love unto others. It says, O no man anything but to love one another.
[28:42] For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law of God. For this, thou shalt not commit adultery. That's against somebody else. Thou shalt not kill. That's against somebody else. Thou shalt not steal.
[28:53] Against somebody else. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Against somebody else. Thou shalt not covet. Somebody else's things. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying. Namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
[29:06] Because love will never do anything against someone else. Did you hear that? True love never acts against someone.
[29:21] True love only serves others. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
[29:34] So, you know, Jesus does call us to fulfill the law. I'll agree with you. I'll agree that Jesus does call us to fulfill the law. But it's not by circumcision.
[29:46] It's not by rule keeping. It's not by not eating bacon. Thank God for that. It's not by those things. It's love.
[29:59] Serve one another. See, the problem is this, is that we're free. We have been called to freedom. And you need to fight for that freedom. Because people will try to put you in bondage. But hey, wait a minute.
[30:10] Don't use that freedom to sin. Don't use that excuse. That's a cheap excuse. To say, well, I can do this because it's under grace. Well, in that Old Testament anyway? Uh-uh. That's not, that's not, first of all, that's not a true interpretation of Scripture.
[30:23] And secondly, that's a cheap interpretation of God's grace. So, we're called to freedom. But don't use it to sin. What's your other option?
[30:35] Use it to serve people. By love. By love. Use it to serve people. By love. And in that way, you'll fulfill the law. Look at what verse 14 says to finish. It says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word.
[30:48] Just one word. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. You are a very privileged church.
[31:01] You are an incredibly privileged church. I don't say that because my dad's the pastor. Or better said, I don't say that because my pastor is my dad.
[31:12] Or the pastor is my dad. But I say that because in this pulpit, people stand to preach the word of God. And grace is preached. And the Bible is preached.
[31:24] In context. Verse by verse. Chapter by chapter. Book by book. And it is a wonderful thing. And honestly, it is a rare sight to behold on many occasions. But we can think that we have been filled with all of this knowledge.
[31:39] And we can think that we've been filled with the word of God. And so we know better. And in our knowledge, we don't have feet to our knowledge. We've got big heads and small feet.
[31:50] And we don't serve. We don't love. We are constantly critical. Might be judging. Thinking of what was done wrong.
[32:02] Might be devouring. And biting. And backbiting. And if I was in charge of that ministry, I'd do this. And if I was in charge of that ministry, I'd do this. And I just don't agree with brother so and so and what he said.
[32:14] And I know my songs would be better. And I know that. That's not. That's not true freedom. That's not true freedom. That's not true. That's not. That's not truly living out what God's called you to do.
[32:27] Don't use your freedom for an occasion to the flesh. You can hear a lot of grace. And you can say, well, we might be different because we've heard all about this grace. And I can just sin. And nobody really cares.
[32:37] Ain't nobody going to call me out on my sin. It's great. I love grace. No, you don't understand grace. Don't use it for an occasion to the flesh. Use it to serve people by love.
[32:49] And by doing that, you will fulfill the law. All the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rules and laws can be kept by one thing. Love thy neighbor as thyself.
[33:00] So let's learn to use our freedom responsibly. Learn to use our freedom correctly for the honor and glory of God and for the service and uplifting of others.