When we begin our worship, we're going to sing.
We're going to sing to God's praise in Psalm 61.
This is in the Scottish Psalter, page 293.
Psalm 61, page 293.
We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 5.
The tune is Belmont.
O God, give ear unto my cry, and to my prayer attend.
From the utmost corner of the land, my cry to thee I'll send.
We'll sing from verse 1 to 5 to God's praise.
We stand to sing.
O God, give ear unto my cry,
Unto my prayer attend.
From the utmost corner of the land, my cry to thee I'll send.
What time my heart is overwhelmed,
And in perplexity, to thou me lead unto the rock,
That higher is than I,
For thou hast for my refuge been,
A shelter by thy power,
And war depends against my foes,
Thou hast been a strong tower,
Within thy tabernacle I
Forever will abide,
And undercovers all thy wings,
With confidence he hide,
For thou hast for my body to the rest that I did make.
For thou hast given me the Aaron's name,
Thou hast given me the heritage of those thy name that fear.
Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, as we come together to worship you this day,
we do thank you for these words that we've sung.
They remind us from the outset of our worship that as we come to offer praise and worship to you,
that you have given ear unto our cry, that you will attend to our prayer.
And we thank you that as we come today to pray for so much that goes on around us,
that we know that you are God and that you are the one who is able to help.
And that from the youngest to the oldest here, no matter what experiences we may have just now,
you encourage us to come to you in prayer.
There is nothing insignificant to you.
There's nothing that's not important to you.
For we as your people are precious to you and important to you.
So you love to hear us as we come.
You love to hear our very prayers, not with any fancy words or anything like that,
but just to come offering the words that come to our lips.
And so we thank you, Lord, that you are with us,
that you are able to help,
that you are a God who is good to us in so many ways.
You give us food and warmth on a daily basis.
You give us the friendships and families that we enjoy.
You give us this time to come to worship you
and a time to be with your people
and to join in with your people in worship.
And we ask that in all that we do today,
in the church and also in the creche and the tweenies,
that you will be with us, Lord,
that we will hear what you have to say to us,
that we will rejoice in your goodness, Lord,
that we will be thankful for all that you are
and all that you have done.
We know it's a holiday weekend,
and we do pray for any who are away.
Remember them, Lord, and watch over them.
Remember the schools, Lord, at this time too of holiday,
and especially those who are with exams at this time.
Lord, we pray that you will bless them
and help them throughout these days
to know that you are with them,
that they can commit their exams to you in prayer as well.
So we ask, Lord, that you will bless all our young people
and all our families and friends together.
Be with us throughout this day,
and as we go on in this week ahead, Lord,
may you watch over us and protect us.
Pardon us for all our sin,
as we ask it all in Jesus' name and for his sake.
Amen.
It's good to see young folks out today.
A wee minute ago, I was asking everyone to stand to sing.
And did anybody think, oh, it's too dangerous to stand up?
Did anybody feel unsafe standing up?
I hope not, because we're able to stand here on the floor
that's firm, that's secure.
But there's other places we might think,
oh, it might be quite dangerous to stand up.
It might be quite hard to stand up there.
I'm sure in the schools in the coming weeks ahead,
as you come up to the summer holidays,
there'll be sports day.
You'll have sports day usually at some point,
and you'll run races.
And you run races, you're on a field or a track,
and you feel safe enough to run that race.
Well, this morning in our service,
we're looking at one of Paul's letters in the New Testament.
He wrote to a church in Galatia.
And he wrote to the people there,
telling them about where it was safe and secure to stand.
But also he wrote to them about the dangers that there were,
and maybe standing in places where they're liable to fall.
And what he was meaning there was,
we're secure in one place,
and somewhere else is dangerous for us.
So can anybody think of anywhere that might be dangerous or difficult to stand?
Say you were to run a race.
Could you run it on a bouncy castle?
Would that be safe?
Would you feel it's secure,
especially if there's a few of you trying to run?
You start trying to run on a bouncy castle,
and what happens?
You fall over.
Everybody just crashes into each other.
What about if you are on the ferry,
and it's a very rough day,
and the ferry's going from side to side,
and you think it'd be safe to run there?
Oh, because you start getting thrown around as well.
You're liable to fall over.
There's other places, too, that it'll be difficult to run.
Imagine if your races at the sports day were over the Barber's Moor,
across the bogs there.
Would it be easy to run there?
No.
You're liable to fall over.
Or if the ground's very icy or something like that,
or slippy with seaweed,
you're going to fall over.
So there's a number of places that we can think are dangerous for us,
that we can't run, we can't even stand,
because it's so wobbly or boggy or bouncy.
All of these kinds of things.
And that's what Paul is saying to the Galatians.
He's describing our lives as either trying to run away from God,
away from Jesus, apart from Him,
or to run with Him.
And one is being secure, being able to stand,
and one is just finding it so difficult to stand,
we keep falling over and crashing all the time.
So which is which?
Well, Paul says,
the only way to stand firm,
to stand secure,
is to trust in Jesus.
That's the only way to be secure,
and not to fall over.
Because when we try and do things by ourselves,
when we try and go our own way,
when we run away from God,
all we're doing is either running into a bog,
or somewhere that's slippery,
or somewhere we're just going to fall over,
it's not going to end well.
So we want to be able to stand somewhere secure.
And the only place we can do that is with Jesus,
by putting our trust in Him.
Then we are secure.
And that's what we're going to be looking at
as we go through our service today.
We're going to be thinking about how we stand secure,
or if we're falling over.
So may God bless His Word to us throughout this day.
We're going to say the Lord's Prayer together now.
So we'll say the Lord's Prayer.
Amen.
But we sing again to God's praise,
this time in Psalm 92a.
It's in the Sing Psalms version, page 122.
Psalm 92a.
We're going to sing from verse 7
all the way down to the end of the psalm,
verse 15, not verse 11,
as it is on the notice sheet.
Psalm 92a, verse 7 to 15,
the tune is Tracathro.
Although the wicked spring like grass,
the foolish do not see.
That all who flourish in their sin
will die eternally.
But Lord, you are forevermore exalted very high.
All evildoers will be crushed.
Your foes will surely die.
We'll sing from verse 7 to verse 15
to God's praise.
Amen.
Christ, if you will army from there,
In their sin will die eternally.
But, Lord, you are forevermore exalted, very high.
All evildoers will be crushed, your foes will surely die.
You made me strong as any ox, with all anointed me.
I've seen my enemies' defeat, and I have heard them flee.
Like palms and cedars flourishing, the righteous all will be.
And planted in the eyes of God will grow upon me.
So in old age they still bear fruit.
They will stay fresh and strong.
They will proclaim the Lord is just.
Thy rock who does no wrong.
Amen.
Well, we turn together now.
We're going to read in Paul's letter to the Galatians.
We take up our reading in chapter 4 at verse 28.
And then we read on into chapter 5.
Down to verse 15.
So we're taking up our reading in chapter 4.
Paul here is using an example from the Old Testament as he's explaining to the church at Galatia.
The difference there is through the grace that they have through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And those who are trying to lead these people astray and to live a life that's all about the law.
And having to keep the law in all its entirety.
And he's explaining the difference in this way of Abraham having two sons.
One through Sarah, who was his wife.
And one through Hagar, who was a slave for him.
And the difference was that God had promised him a son through Sarah.
But Abraham took things into his own hands.
He felt God couldn't do it.
So he was going to do it himself.
And he had a son with Hagar.
But God showed that he was faithful and gave him a son with Sarah as well.
So there's this difference of being free and being slaves.
This is the way Paul is describing it to the church at Galatia.
And he's saying,
One way, by trusting in God, you are free.
But by trying to do things yourself, you are slaves.
And so as we take up our reading at verse 28, that's the theme of which Paul is speaking of here.
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,
so also it is now.
But what does the Scripture say?
Cast out the slave woman and her son.
For the son of the slain woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.
So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman.
For freedom Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.
I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law.
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law.
You have fallen away from grace.
For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
You are running well.
Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine,
and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?
In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed.
I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves.
For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love serve one another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another,
watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
And so on.
And may God bless that reading from his word.
We'll again join our hearts together in prayer.
Our Father, in heaven, as we continue to praise your name,
we thank you for your word.
We thank you for the truth that it is.
And in a world that is so often being led astray,
down different paths, away from the solid ground of your truth,
we thank you that you call us,
you call your people to return to you,
to return to your word,
to return to the freedom that it offers through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For we see the world in which we live,
a people running free, as it were, in their own eyes,
and yet still in the bondage and slavery of sin.
And perhaps many of us even here know that bondage even today,
where we are trying to appease you and to please you
through our own works and through our own ways.
But your word reminds us that there is nothing that we can do
that will bring us to know that freedom in and of ourselves.
But we thank you that all the provision that we need
has been made for us by your giving of your Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we thank you that for freedom Christ has set us free,
and that this is where we are to stand firm.
We thank you that we have that rock that is secure,
that rock that is our refuge, that is our strength,
and for every circumstances and for every need of this world,
that he is there for us.
He is there for us as we delight in different things.
He is there for us through all the difficulties of our life.
But we thank you that through faith in him,
we know one who stays closer than any brother,
as your word says.
We thank you that he is always with us and always for us.
And so help us today and day after day
not to get swept away by the things of this world,
not to get led astray and to feel that there are things
that we need to do to add to our salvation,
but that we would always have our eyes firmly fixed
on the one who has fulfilled all the law
and all the promises of your word,
the one who is your Son, Jesus Christ.
Help us to look to him,
and in him to know the joy of salvation,
in him to know the freedom that he gives,
the forgiveness of our sins,
and the grace and the strength to go on.
So may you bless your word to us
and remember us as a people.
Remember us, Lord, as a congregation,
as a community here.
We give you thanks, O Lord,
for all the good things that you give us.
We give you thanks for our fellowship in Christ.
We give you thanks for your word
and the freedom that we have to gather together.
We thank you for every opportunity that is set before us
to be around your word.
And even as we think of this coming week,
in many ways it can seem a full and a busy week to us,
but help us to delight and rejoice
in being your servants,
in being your people,
in offering up our service and our praise to you,
not just today,
but throughout all the days of the week.
So that whatever we are doing,
be it in church or at home,
in the workplace, in school or college,
wherever we are,
that we would do all as to the Lord
and that we will delight in doing your will.
So bless all that is ahead of us in this week.
We think of the Zoom prayer meeting
on Tuesday morning with Muriel.
We thank you for her,
for her time at home
over these last number of months
and for her going away again to serve you there.
We pray your protection and your blessing on her
and all who are with her
and all the work that she does
for your glory in that place.
We ask, O Lord,
that you will bless and be with her
and that our prayers for her
will be heard day by day
and week by week.
We thank you too
for the work of the Slavic Gospel Association,
again, an organization who does so much
in very difficult and different circumstances
to what we have here.
but we thank you for their faithful ministry
over many years
and for all who serve them as an organization,
for all who will be speaking
throughout our communities in these coming days.
In our own meeting on Wednesday evening,
may we be encouraged in it
and may we be blessed by it.
We thank you too, Lord,
for opportunities to learn more
about your truth and about your gospel.
And we pray for the Prodigal Son course
starting on Tuesday evening.
We thank you for Roddy and Calla
and for all the work that they have done
over many years of leading these courses.
And pray your hand to be upon them
and upon all who meet on these evenings together
that will be enriched by you
and blessed by you.
Encourage us, if we have a desire, Lord,
to go along.
Encourage us to pray for those
who we may ask to come along as well.
Maybe neighbors or friends or work colleagues.
People who we feel a great burden for, Lord.
So often we can be afraid to ask.
But give us, Lord, courage.
Give us a heart for them
just to invite them along
and to see your goodness
in all that is done for you in these things.
Remember our land as well at this time, Lord.
We do pray for your blessing on us.
We think of the coronation
to take place this week
and we pray for our king.
We pray, Lord, that you will bless him
and be with him and his family too.
Lord, we ask that they would be given your grace,
that they would be given your love
over them as a people,
that they would know it,
that you would melt their hearts to it,
that they would see the history of our land,
a nation that's been blessed by you,
and that they would go forward, Lord,
seeking your goodness over us as a people,
that they would seek to rule according to your truth
and to your ways.
We pray that for our governments too.
when we have experienced so much
over these last number of years
and so much disarray in our land,
so much confusion,
so much hurt,
so much pain and grief
in so many different ways.
We do pray, Lord,
that we will look to you,
that you will help us to turn once again towards you,
that we will call upon your name,
that we would seek your goodness over us
as a people.
We pray for our world as well, Lord,
and the many troubles around us.
We pray, Lord,
that you will bless
the word that goes out today
to all ends of the earth
in the prayers of your people.
We again thank you
that you are the one
who is able to hear
and to answer all of our prayers.
Continue to remember us then
and all our families and our loved ones.
Again, we commit students to you at this time
who are sitting exams in school,
in college, in university,
our own young people here in our congregation.
Lord, we pray for them
that you will encourage them
and strengthen them,
thankful for all that is done for them,
all the guidance that is given to them
and help towards them.
We pray, Lord,
that you will bless them and teachers
and all our schools around us.
Remember Scott
as he is sitting exams just now as well
and all the other students
in the seminary in Edinburgh.
Lord, we ask your strength towards them,
your blessing with them
and your peace over them.
So Lord, continue with us now.
Bless us, we pray,
and pardon all our sin
as we ask it all in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.
We're going to sing again to God's praise.
This time Psalm 123
in the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 123, page 417 of the psalm books.
We can sing the whole of this psalm,
the tune as martyrs.
O thou that dwellest in the heavens,
I lift mine eyes to thee.
Behold, a servant's eyes do look,
their master's hand to see.
We'll sing the whole of this psalm
to God's praise.
O thou that dwellest in the heavens,
I lift mine eyes to thee.
Behold, a servant's eyes do look,
their master's hand to see.
As handmaid's eyes,
her mistress's hand,
so do our eyes attend
upon the Lord our God until
to us he mercy send.
O Lord, be gracious to us,
and to us gracious be,
because replenished with contempt,
exceedingly are we.
Our soul is filled with scorn of those
that are there is a bite,
and with the insolent contempt
of those that dwell in pride.
We can turn back together
to our reading in Galatians chapter 5.
We're going to look at verse 1
to verse 6 in particular together.
As we were thinking about earlier,
the theme this morning is
standing and falling,
and we see that in these verses.
In verse 1, it says,
Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again
to the yoke of slavery.
Stand firm, Paul says there.
But then it says in verse 4,
You are severed from Christ,
you who would be justified by the law.
You have fallen away from grace.
So you have standing firm,
therefore, in faith,
or being severed from Christ,
seeking to be justified by the law,
falling from grace.
That's what we mentioned
to the children earlier on,
how there's places
where we are safe and firm
and secure to stand,
and other places
where we will find it difficult to stand.
It's very hard to stand.
And eventually,
we are going to be in danger
of falling over in these places.
And that's what Paul
is making clear to us here.
There is a place of security
and a place of falling away.
So where are you today?
Where are you when it comes
to your security?
Are you standing in a place
that's firm,
a place that's secure,
or in a place where you're liable
to fall away?
And especially, as it says here,
to fall away from grace.
When you look at Paul's letter
to the Galatians,
it's like many of his letters,
it's divided up
into different sections.
And the first two chapters,
Paul is writing about
his own authority
and being able to proclaim
the gospel.
He has been to Galatia,
which we know as Turkey today,
and established many churches
there before.
And they have come to faith
in the Lord Jesus.
They've come to believe
and find security
in the Lord Jesus,
but now they are being led astray.
You just have to turn back
to chapter 3,
the very opening words
of chapter 3.
It says,
O foolish Galatians,
who has bewitched you?
Who has led you away
from the truth?
Who has added to this burden
that you are feeling already
and leading you away
from the grace that there is
in the Lord Jesus Christ?
So he's writing to them
in chapters 1 and 2,
outlining the authority
that he has as a servant
of the Lord Jesus,
and especially that he is there
to proclaim salvation in Christ.
Then in chapter 3 and 4,
he kind of outlines the problem,
but in a way giving them
a lesson,
teaching much of it
from the Old Testament
to see how they have been
led astray,
how they have begun
to fall away
by looking to a teaching
that is not about faith in Christ,
but that is more about
a false gospel of salvation
by works.
So that's what he has then
in chapter 3 and chapter 4.
Then in chapter 5 and 6,
as he often does,
he applies it to their lives.
He teaches them now
how this is going to affect
their day-to-day lives
and their future,
and maybe more importantly,
their eternity,
their eternal salvation.
So he's preaching
with authority,
he's preaching truth,
and he's applying it
to their lives.
And he begins
with this wonderful statement
as it comes
to applying it to their lives
as to what they have
in Christ in verse 1.
For freedom, Christ has set us free.
But what does this mean?
God wants us to be free,
and in Christ we can be free,
but what is this freedom?
What does freedom mean to you today?
To many people,
freedom can mean
a number of different things.
It can be to be free from debt.
It can be to be free from illness.
Freedom has come into our day-to-day lives,
and we talk so often
about freedom of speech,
or freedom from what society
throws our way.
People want to be free
from all kinds of authority.
You see people displaying signs
in America saying,
not my president.
You see, in their own nation already,
even before the coronation,
people are putting up signs,
not my king.
But what we are seeing
when it comes to truth
and the word of God
is another sign that says,
not my king,
but it's a very different king.
We're not going to have Jesus
as king over me.
So they're looking,
many people,
for freedom
in all kinds of ways.
But at the heart of freedom,
as we so often think about it,
there's a desire
just to do our own thing,
to do whatever we want,
whatever we feel is right.
We want to be free
to do whatever we want.
But is that through freedom?
We don't want any man
or any religion
to tell us what we should
or shouldn't do.
Well, often in the Bible,
you see it saying,
there's nothing new
in the world.
And in the Bible,
we see again and again
people wanting
this kind of freedom.
Freedom
just to do
as they please.
And from time to time,
you see the Lord
leaving the people
to do what was right
in their own eyes,
to give them
this freedom
that they are asking for.
But what does it lead to?
It leads to disaster.
They want to be free,
but in this freedom
that they desire,
there is no freedom
at all.
Instead,
we are bound
and in bondage
and slavery
in so many different ways.
And ultimately,
as we see here
when it speaks of
falling away from grace,
it's about falling away
from the freedom
and the salvation
that is on offer
in Christ.
And so the question
for ourselves is,
are we free
in Christ?
Are you free
in this sense
not just to do
your own thing,
but to be free
in Christ,
which is to live
for Him?
And there's three ways
I want to look at this
together today.
I want to see,
first of all,
what it is
standing in Christ.
Then we see
falling from Christ
and then looking
to Christ.
So there's
standing in Christ,
falling from Christ,
and looking
to Christ.
The first thing
we see here
is standing
in Christ.
when Paul says
that it's for freedom
that Christ
has set us free,
we immediately
begin to think,
well,
if He is setting
us free,
what is it from?
Or where is it from?
Where are we being
set free?
Or what are we being
set free from?
And you realize
it's not a freedom
of our own choosing.
It is for freedom
Christ
has set us free.
It was something
we couldn't do
ourselves.
It was something
we couldn't change
ourselves.
But what was it?
For freedom
Christ
has set us free.
What it's saying
here is
that we were slaves.
We were the ones
who were slaves.
But Jesus
came
to set us free.
What do you think
to yourself,
but how
am I a slave?
I don't feel
like I'm a slave.
I don't feel
I'm imprisoned.
I feel
I am free
to do
what I want.
But if you read
through
the Gospels,
if you read
through the Word
of God,
we realize
that we are blind
to what we are
slaves to
until
we know
the grace
and the love
of Christ.
And there are
many ways
we can look
to see
that we are
actually slaves.
we are
bound,
as it were,
we are in chains
to many things
in this world
without even
realizing it.
There are three
things I could say
that we are slaves
to.
We are slaves
to sin.
We are all
born in sin
and we suffer
the consequence
of sin
in this world.
We are under
the condemnation
of sin
in this world.
but we don't
realize it
so often.
We don't
see ourselves
in a bad
sense
as bad
people.
We feel
that we are
maybe good
people
and we are
trying to
do the
right thing
but we are
actually
slaves
to sin.
And so
Jesus had
to come
to set us
free
in that
sense.
But you see,
I don't feel
a sinner
maybe.
I don't
feel a
great weight
of sin
in my life.
Well,
there was a
young man,
a young
teenage man
who had
been listening
to a preacher
preach about
sin and the
great burden
that sin
is.
But the
youth,
the teenage
boy,
was very
dismissive
about it
all.
And after
the ceremony,
he went to
the preacher
and said,
you speak
about unsaved
people carrying
about a
weight of
sin.
But he
said,
I feel
nothing.
So how
heavy is
sin?
Is it
10 kilos?
Is it
80 kilos?
How heavy
is sin?
Because I
don't feel
this burden.
Well,
the preacher
replied to
this teenage
boy and he
said,
well,
look at it
this way.
If I was
to say to
you that I
was going
to lay a
weight of
400 kilos
on top of
a corpse,
someone who's
dead,
would they
feel that
weight on
them?
The teenager
replied,
of course
not.
That person's
dead.
They're not
going to
feel that
weight.
And the
preacher said,
exactly.
And that's
how you are
and everyone
else who
feels that
there's no
weight of
sin on
them.
You are
dead in
the sense
that you
cannot feel
that weight.
You think
there's no
weight of
sin on you
when there
actually is.
But you
need to
realize that
this is a
dangerous place
to be.
If you
feel no
load of
sin,
if you
feel indifferent
to the
whole idea
of sin or
to the
burden that
it is,
then you
too are
dead.
And that's
the danger
that we are
all into.
We feel
maybe we're
not slaves,
we're not
bound in
this way,
but we
are all
slaves to
sin.
And so
Jesus had
to come
to set
us free
from that.
We could
say of the
cross as
Jesus died
that in
my place
condemned
he stood.
He bore
the burden
of our
sin there.
We are
also slaves
to death
because the
wages of
sin is
death.
We all
know the
reality of
that in
our lives,
but we
can maybe
push it
away.
We can
dismiss it
for a
time.
We can
try and
find freedom
in life,
but we
can never
find a
freedom
from death.
It is
with us
all the
time.
And so
the only
way to
be free
from the
burden
of death
is to
be firm
in Christ.
For
freedom,
Christ has
set us
free.
Stand
firm
therefore.
Stand
firm
in
him.
We are
also
slaves
to the
devil.
We are
slaves
to
Satan.
He has
a hold
on us
through
sin
and doubt
and
temptation.
All of
these things
that so
often he
pulls us
back with,
that he's
trying to
take us
away from
standing
firm in
Christ.
And he's
shaking
our faith.
He's shaking
the foundation
of our faith
and making
us doubt
and fear
and be
anxious.
But Paul
is saying,
no,
stand
firm
in your
faith.
And the
devil will
be there
to say,
just like
he's saying
here to
the people,
what have
you done
for your
salvation?
You're
not good
enough.
Look at
the things
that you
have done
that are
wrong or
the things
that you
should have
done that
you didn't.
And he
shakes us.
But Paul
is saying,
no,
stand firm
in Christ.
Jesus came
with a
purpose.
It says in
Hebrews 2,
verse 14
of Jesus,
so that by
his death
he might
destroy him
who holds
the power
of death,
that is,
the devil,
and free
those who
all their
lives were
held in
slavery by
their fear
of death.
He came
to set us
free.
So he
says,
stand firm
in Christ
so that
what he
has done
for us
and through
faith in
him and
the grace
that he
has shown
us,
we can
stand firm
in him.
We must not
slip into
thinking that
it's about
what we
do and
our obedience
that wins
the day or
by keeping
the law
that we
can be
saved.
That's not
what it
is at
all.
We are
to rejoice
that Christ
has come
to set
us free.
But then
he gives
secondly a
warning here.
And that's
the warning
that when
we try
to do
things
by ourselves
that ultimately
we'll fall
away from
grace.
We fall
away from
grace.
If we
continue
under this
being slaves
to the law,
he says
in verse
4,
you are
severed,
separated
from Christ.
You would
be justified
by the
law.
You have
fallen
away
from
grace.
So again
Paul here
is reflecting
on the
teaching that
they have
received from
the false
teachers,
preaching that
unless you're
circumcised
and unless
you keep
the law,
and in
this he's
saying all
the law,
you have
to keep
every part
of it,
then you
are not
going to be
able to
stand.
But
Paul is
saying,
no,
this is
not
right.
This is
foolishness.
This is
foolishness,
and he
shows it
in three
ways.
Look at
what he
says about
trusting in
anything other
than the
finished work
of Christ.
In verse
2 he
says,
look,
I say
to you,
if you
accept
circumcision,
Christ
will be
of no
advantage
to you.
If you
go down
this route
of saying,
well,
we need
circumcision,
or we
need every
aspect of
the law
before we
can be
saved,
well,
then Christ
is nothing
for you.
He's of
no
advantage.
And this
is foolishness.
This is
like coming
to Christ
and saying,
look at
what I've
done,
it's
meaningless.
if you
go or
try to
go to
a football
match or
to a
concert
that's
sold out,
there's
no tickets
available,
they've
all gone,
but you
go there
and you've
got all
the money
in the
world,
but you
don't have
a ticket,
you're still
not going
to get
in.
It's
only those
who have
a ticket
who will
get in.
And those
who have
got a
ticket may
have got
it,
maybe by
buying it,
maybe by
a gift,
but they
have the
ticket.
But the
one with
all the
money but
no ticket
doesn't
get in.
And that's
what Paul
is trying to
illustrate here.
You can
have everything
in the world,
you can
try to do
it all
by yourself,
but without
faith you're
not going
to get in.
And even
with the
ticket you
maybe have
done so
much that's
wrong in
your life,
you may
have come
through so
many experiences
in your
life,
but through
the grace
of the
Lord Jesus
Christ,
he's given
you this
ticket,
you come
in,
you get
in.
So anything
that we do
apart from
Christ is
of no
advantage to
you.
It's not
going to
get you
in.
It is
only faith.
Then in
verse 4,
he expands
on this,
he says
at the start
of verse 4,
you are
severed from
Christ,
you who
would be
justified by
the law,
separated from
him.
If you're
not trusting
in him
alone,
he's saying
severed,
I knew
you not,
is what
Jesus
says.
We're
apart from
him,
and therefore
we're
falling.
We're
falling away
from our
salvation.
And that's
what he
further
says in
verse 4,
you have
fallen away
from grace.
The very
thing that
you need
for your
salvation,
you have
fallen away
from.
This is a
phrase that
we often
hear maybe
in society.
We hear
people talking
about a
fall from
grace.
It's
interesting how
many phrases
in the
Bible we
see used
commonly in
everyday life.
This is
one of them,
a fall
from grace.
We hear it
about people
who maybe
a scandal
has come
into their
lives.
They've
maybe been
in positions
of power
or authority
or wealth,
but they
have this
fall from
grace as
it's called,
and they
end up in
disgrace.
They end
up losing
that position
of authority
or sometimes
they even
lose their
freedom.
They end
up in
prison.
It's seen
as a fall
from grace.
And we
see these
things and
we think,
you know,
how serious
these are.
But what
about ourselves?
What about
our fall
from grace?
It's not
maybe a
scandal that
makes the
front page
headlines,
but it's
even more
serious
because it's
with Christ.
And a fall
from grace
with Christ
is the most
serious thing
of all.
We lose
all the
benefits
that are
ours
in Christ.
we lose
our
freedom.
We lose
our
salvation.
And so
it's
foolish.
It is
foolish to
think that
we can
live this
life by
ourselves
and do
it all
ourselves
because it
is only
through Christ
that we
are free.
Otherwise,
we are
falling
away.
now,
what was
at the
heart
of their
falling
away?
It's
what's so
often at
the heart
of our
own
falling
away as
well.
It's a
fear of
man and
the expectations
that are put
on us
from man
and trying
to please
man
instead of
trying to
please
God.
You can
see here
their fear
was what
others
thought.
If they
were being
told you
need
circumcision,
you need
all the
law,
they were
afraid of
what man
was saying
to them.
And so
they sought
to please
them instead
of pleasing
God.
And so
often that's
the case
for ourselves.
We're doing
things to
please others
and not
to please
God.
A man
called
William
Garnall.
He once
said,
we fear
men so
much because
we fear
God so
little.
We need
to refocus.
We need
to look at
these things
again and
see who
am I
trying to
please?
And what
am I
trying to
do?
That's what
Paul is
saying to
the Galatians.
You're trying
to please
those around
you by doing
everything that
they're asking
of you.
You're trying
to do
everything that
they ask
of you.
But it's
impossible.
As he
says at
the end
of verse
3,
you are
bound to
keep the
whole law,
everything,
and you
just cannot
do it.
And in
this,
you are
severed from
Christ.
You will
be justified
by the law.
You have
fallen from
grace.
And it
is grace
we need.
So,
our focus
is in the
wrong place.
grace.
So,
finally,
we see
Paul is
saying,
look to
the right
place.
Look to
Christ.
What do
we do
when we
know we
are wrong?
What do
we do
when we
are heading
the wrong
way?
We need
to turn
and look
to Christ.
To look
to him
by faith
to know
this grace.
for through
the Spirit
by faith
we
ourselves
eagerly
wait for
the hope
of righteousness.
For in
Christ Jesus
neither
circumcision
nor
uncircumcision
counts for
anything,
but only
faith
working
through
love.
It is
looking
to Christ
and following
him.
Our works
are nothing
without faith.
We are not
saved by
our works
but we are
saved to
works.
And so
all the
time we
are trusting
in ourselves
and our
own works
of salvation
we are
slaves.
There is
no joy
in it
because it's
impossible.
But when
we look
to Christ
and when
we follow
him
there we
find the
way prepared.
and the
way that
is free.
The way
we are
free to
enjoy
him.
Look at
it this
way.
I was
watching a
program
this week
about
people who
go to
clear
minefields.
Anyway
there's been a
conflict in
the past.
So often
there's mines
left behind
and they're
so dangerous.
People who
don't know
that they're
adults or
children
they find
themselves in
a place
that's so
dangerous
and they
don't even
realize it.
And so
they send
people in
to clear
these places.
Now they
don't send
people in
there by
themselves to
go in with
their own
hands trying
to find
their way
around.
It's far
too dangerous.
And yet
as Paul is
saying here
that's almost
the way
we try and
find our
way through
life.
Trying to
do it all
ourselves.
We're
going to
end up
falling
away.
So what
they do
in the
minefields
is they
have this
machine.
It's like
a tank
with a
bulldozer
blade on
the front.
And it
goes through
these fields
and the
blade on
the front
you can
see it
going
through
just very
slowly.
Almost
every few
seconds you
see an
explosion
under
this shield
at the
front.
It's
detonating
all the
mines.
It's
clearing
the way
for them.
Everyone
is safe
behind it
and the
way
is
cleared.
And that's
what we
have
in Christ.
That's
what we
have
in him.
The one
who has
gone ahead
of us.
The one
who has
prepared
the way
for us.
The one
who has
set us
free.
So we
know when
we are
following
Christ
we are
on the
right way
and we
can stand
firm.
Imagine
yourself
walking
through
a
minefield.
Where
would you
want to
be?
Going
it alone?
Going
your own
way?
Finding
your own
way?
Feeling
I'm
safe
enough
doing
this
only to
fall
away
when you
least
expect it.
Or
to be
following
Christ.
The one
who has
prepared
the way.
Knowing
you are
secure
in him.
It
makes no
sense,
does it,
to walk
through the
minefield
yourself.
So why
then in
life
would you
seek to
please God
on your
own terms,
with your
own
freedom,
with your
own works
of salvation
trying to
please him
when it's
impossible.
What Paul
is saying
is forget
about that.
You will
fall.
You will
fall from
grace.
But he's
saying the
way is
there for
you.
Follow
Christ.
Trust
him.
Stand
firm
therefore.
And do
not again
go back
to the
yoke of
slavery.
There
you are
slaves
and there's
no joy.
But in
Christ
you are
free.
Stand
firm
in him
and rejoice.
Let us
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we thank
you for
the one
who has
prepared
the way
for us,
the one
who has
conquered
sin and
death and
the devil,
and the
one who
is able
to set
us free
from the
yoke of
slavery as
your word
says.
Help us,
Lord,
to look
to him,
to find
our freedom,
our salvation
through his
grace towards
us,
that we
might be
enabled to
stand firm
in him.
We ask
it in his
precious name.
Amen.
We're
going to
conclude by
singing to
God's
praise in
Psalm 33.
This is the
Scottish
Psalter
version.
Psalm 33,
page 246,
and the
last three
stanzas,
verse 18
to the end.
Behold,
on those
that do
in fear,
the Lord
doth set
his eye,
even those
who on
his mercy
do with
confidence
rely.
The tune
is Kilmarnock
and we'll
stand to
sing these
verses to
God's
praise.
Amen.
Behold,
on those
that do
him
fear,
the Lord
doth
set
his
eye,
in
those
who on
his mercy
do with
confidence
rely.
From
death to
flee their
soul in
death,
I've
gone to
them
to
yield,
our
soul doth
wait
upon
the
Lord,
he is
our
help
and
shield.
Sif
in
his
holy
name
we
trust,
our
heart
shall
joy
shall
be.
Lord,
let
thy
mercy
be
on
us,
as
we
do
hope
in
thee.
after
the
benediction,
I'll go
to the
door to
my left.
We'll
close the
benediction.
Now may
grace,
mercy,
and peace
from God,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit,
rest upon
and abide
with us
all,
now and
forevermore.
Amen.
Happen.