WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.399 Well good morning again. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:08.240 I don't know about you, but I uh could use God's word this morning. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.919 Go ahead and turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Galatians. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.480 Galatians chapter five. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:39.600 I had uh one of those weeks where I could sing it as well for the next hour, and it probably wouldn't be enough. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:03.200 I come before you today as a broken man, and that's a good place to be, because God uses broken vessels. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:21.680 The book of Galatians, the entire message of Galatians can be summarized in Galatians chapter five, verse one. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.359 And I need this sermon today probably more than you do. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:41.120 The title of our sermon today is Christ Alone or Christ No More. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.120 Those are intense words. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.719 They don't immediately speak comfort. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:57.200 So you may wonder why the blubbering idiot up here is excited to preach to you about Christ alone or Christ no more. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:03.599 But I promise if you hold on, that God's word will do the work today. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:07.519 And I trust him in that. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:21.039 Last week we ended this uh very historical sermon of chapter 4, verses 21 through 31 with the word freedom. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.080 That you and I are born of the free woman. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:25.840 We are the children of promise. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:32.639 And today, Paul speaks directly to that freedom. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.560 Please read with me God's holy word. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.759 For freedom, Christ has set us free. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:50.000 Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:57.360 Look, I, Paul, say to you, that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:04.240 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.240 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.120 You have fallen away from grace. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:19.120 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:28.879 For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.240 Our text will break down into the following outline. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.759 Verse 1 will be freedom is a gift to defend. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.560 Verses 2 through 4 will be legalism is a burden that enslaves. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:45.120 Verse 5 will be righteousness is a hope we wait for. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:50.560 And verse 6 will be love is what faith produces. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:53.599 We begin with freedom as a gift to defend. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:58.400 Paul says, For freedom Christ has set us free. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.680 Now, this is a purpose clause. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:07.360 Paul is explaining why Christ has set you free. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.719 What was the purpose? 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.759 Why did Jesus die? 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:16.720 Why did he rise again? 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.120 What is the purpose of the gospel? 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.279 Paul says, for freedom Christ has set us free. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.040 In the Greek, that word actually is a definite article. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.079 It means the freedom. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.240 So he's referring to the freedom we just talked about, the freedom of the promise. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:43.920 The freedom that you and I do not have to believe hard enough in the promise in order for the promise to become true. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:50.079 But rather that the promise simply happens to those who believe. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:57.120 That Isaac wasn't working really hard before he was conceived to be conceived. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.560 But rather that God and God alone is the one who saves mankind. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.120 That human beings are fallible. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:06.160 We are fickle. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.600 We are finite creatures who fail daily. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.240 And so we need a salvation that does not depend on us. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:23.199 Because if any portion of my salvation depends on me, I am hopeless. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.600 Because on a Monday I might feel okay about my life. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:33.600 And then on Wednesday, I might wake up depressed and anxious. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.279 On Thursday, people might say nice things to me. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:41.600 And on Friday, I might be stuck in a dark room with my thoughts. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:50.160 If I allow myself to believe I have any chance of saving myself, I am lost. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.720 For freedom, Christ has set us free. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:03.519 That is a declarative statement has set us free. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:10.560 And it's a freedom that you and I are very bad at walking in and living in. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:24.879 For freedom, so that you and I would have the freedom of the gospel, so that we would have the Spirit living within us, so we would not have to pay the penalty for our sin, so that we could walk in grace and in mercy and in freedom. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.759 That is why Jesus came. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.639 And then there's a command. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.519 Paul is very good about telling you what Jesus has done for you before he tells you what you must do. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.800 He says, stand firm. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.759 Now, this is a unique term to be used. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:00.319 You and I don't think of uh believing in Jesus on Tuesday and think, you know what, I need to stand really strong today. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.519 Otherwise, something will happen. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:10.240 But what will follow through in all of this is uh this military analogy. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:27.439 This idea that standing firm is a lot like what they would call the shield wall back then, where you'd have a phalanx and you'd have these shields that were buckled together man to man side by side, and if one man fell, everything was ruined. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:34.240 The shield wall, if it had one weak link, was useless. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:49.519 In the same way, if you and I do not stand firm in the faith, if we do not protect the truth of the gospel and live from that, we have nothing. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.920 But not only that, it affects our brother and sister next to us. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.199 Do you remember Peter in Galatians 2? 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:01.680 What was he doing? 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:12.720 Eating with the Gentiles, walking in freedom, knowing that there wasn't a lesser or a greater in the kingdom, there is only the kingdom. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.319 There's Jesus, and then there's his children. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.240 But Peter did not stand firm. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.600 He gave in to the fear of man. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:35.840 He was afraid of what the people around him might think or say, how they may act, what they may do. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:49.759 And one of the craziest realizations of this life is when you grow up and realize that the strongest person you've ever seen in your entire life is still scared of someone. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.320 That they will change in a specific room. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:03.279 You might need to get the president of the United States in the room, but somebody causes fear, causes someone to change. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:09.039 Thus, you and I must stand firm. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.320 Notice the action there is not to improve the gospel. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.799 It's not to work really hard to make it better. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:24.639 The command is to stand in the freedom and to not move. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:31.840 And when the world looks at you and says, you're foolish, you have nothing, you say, I will still stand here. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:54.000 When people leave, when they betray you, when they hurt you, when they lie, when they walk away from the faith, you have to be able to stand firm, not because you are strong, but because you're desperately holding on to the God who saves. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.559 Stand firm. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:06.080 And then the negative aspect, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:12.799 You and I, we are in 2026, so we need a yoke explained to us to properly remember what it actually is. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:23.919 It's a giant wooden instrument that was put on the back of an animal that weighed the animal down and controlled the animal and where it went. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:49.360 Paul says, whenever you give in to this legalism, whenever you give in to this idea of there has to be something more than Jesus, whenever you give in to the concept that if I don't do something, I'm not okay, in that moment, you've put the burden back on and you've allowed it to steer the boat of your life. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:57.279 Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:04.240 One of the things we need to understand from the text is that Paul is speaking to Gentiles. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:10.080 And so we say yoke of slavery, and the first thing, if we've been paying attention throughout this, you think of is the law, right? 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.080 Moses, Mount Sinai. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.799 How could he be saying that to pagan Gentiles? 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:21.440 And it's the same connection he made earlier in the book, which is that pagan idolatry is the exact same slavery as legalism. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:31.360 That trying to keep up all the rules to look pretty and proper in church is just as bad as the guy that's gluttonous and living in the world. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.879 It is the same because you are serving the same master. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:51.919 It's the idea that in some counseling earlier this week, I explained that both the person that over-exaggerates and the person that minimizes serves the same master. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.360 You and I have a hard time understanding these concepts. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.120 And yet, it's true. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:08.159 Sin is a wicked task, Master, and it will drive you to your end. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:15.200 Christ did not break your chains just so you could crawl right back into the cell. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:27.440 Jesus on the cross took the weight of the yoke off your shoulders by paying the penalty for your sin. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:44.399 And the coercion, the control that sin and the slavery to sin has on you is taken away by the Spirit, who then lives inside of you and guides and leads you in this life towards things that are good and true and lovely and pure. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:50.960 He changes what our hearts actually want. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:52.480 I love it. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:13:05.600 In my reading this week, John Piper said, true freedom is doing exactly what you want to do and having no regrets a thousand years from now. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.559 That was fascinating to me. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:16.879 Because I don't know about you, but I grew up in the 90s, and Disney movies were like all about some freedom, okay? 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:24.159 It was, I'll go the distance, I'll be set free, I will do it. 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:27.360 And it was all this kind of self-finding. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:37.519 And yet, that is not actual freedom, but rather just a different kind of slavery. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:50.639 My favorite moment of realizing that in my own life was the moment you move out of your parents' house, and you're like, every! And you're like, oh my gosh, there's bills and people and things and work and all this is awful. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.879 No one taught me about taxes. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:58.879 Like, like it's just this terrible moment where you're just like, okay, that's real life, and that's not as fun as I thought. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:13:59.279 Right? 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:04.480 As a kid, you're like looking at your parents and you're like, can we get some ice cream today? 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:05.840 They're like, no. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.879 You're like, you guys are wicked and evil people. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.840 And when I am older, I will eat ice cream every day. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.480 And your parents are gonna be like, Yeah, we're sure you will. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:17.039 Go ahead. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.159 That's that's great. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.720 And then you know what you do when you get older? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.080 You don't eat ice cream every day. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.799 Even if you're like really feeling it. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:33.120 Eventually, five days, seven days in, you're like, I will die if I see ice cream. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:34.879 I don't want to ever see you again. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:37.759 You have betrayed me, my once dear love. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:44.399 We don't understand what freedom actually is. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:51.039 Freedom is not getting everything you've ever wanted in this life. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.440 Having no controls in your life. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:54.799 Because we can look at that the same way. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.399 We're like, oh, a yoke. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:02.799 Okay, so so sin and slavery is this yoke that weighs me down and controls me. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.159 We're like, actually, there is another yoke. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:14.159 Jesus said, My yoke is easy, my burden is light, but it's still a yoke, right? 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.039 The Holy Spirit's still controlling my life. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.559 He's still leading me and guiding me through this life. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:29.279 There is still something on my shoulders, it's just not crushing me anymore because I don't perform to survive. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.399 This world is hysterically broken, my friends. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:36.879 They have no answers. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:45.440 They have only these desperate desires to find something, to find enough, to finally get it. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:53.679 Jesus has all the answers. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.519 And he is the desire of the heart. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:05.600 And that's really hard to convince yourself of when you're starving for that second cheeseburger. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:17.279 It's really hard to convince yourself of when you feel like you have no friends and no family and no one around you to be like, what's really aching inside me is I need Jesus right now. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.639 That's like like the angel on your shoulder doesn't even say that. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.120 He's like, that sounds like that sounds like kale. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.480 I don't like that. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.720 And yet it is true, my friends. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.480 And the reason that you and I don't believe that is because we are weak. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:41.679 And we are the ones that Jesus looks at and says, Oh, ye of little faith. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:51.919 Freedom doesn't mean having zero rules, it means having a different master. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:01.360 So when you look at your life, do you enjoy the yoke of the checklist? 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:09.359 Getting enough things done, feeling the right way, feeling like you've performed appropriately. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.519 I didn't sin today, I don't think. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:23.119 Or do you feel safer simply knowing that the freedom you walk in was already purchased for you? 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:31.680 We have to be a church that guards gospel freedom. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:40.480 In our hearts and in this culture, we have to reject the lie that Jesus starts your Christian life. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:49.039 You need to accept, believe, confess, and then need to look a certain way, or act a certain way, or be a certain way. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.480 And that's what keeps you in, that's what keeps you in good standing. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:59.920 And that leads us into our second heading, verses two through four. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:02.960 Legalism is a burden that enslaves. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:12.559 Paul says, Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:22.000 Paul says, You can choose to rely on the things of this world to be in good standing with God. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:27.359 You can choose to feel safe because you've done enough. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.599 But if you do that, there is no advantage for you in Christ. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:32.559 What are the advantages? 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:33.519 We already went over them. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:38.960 It's the spirit living inside of you, it's the payment of the penalty that's already been given to you. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:46.559 It is the need that no longer constantly aches at you to perform. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:55.039 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.400 Paul says, you can't pick and choose what parts of this you want. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:15.359 You either pick Christ and Him crucified and trusting in Him alone and nothing else, or you choose to keep every single word God's ever spoken and to never fail. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:20.079 And if you do, to accept the punishment. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:23.680 Those are the only two options. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:30.400 And when you interact with people in the world, you will fall into an issue here because people do want to have their cake and eat it too. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:32.000 I am a good person. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.400 Okay, if you ever lied, yes, I've lied. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.240 Okay, you ever taken something that's not yours? 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:37.200 Yes, I have. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:39.680 Okay, have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.960 I said, OMG? 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.000 I have, yeah. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:42.960 It's called blasphemy. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:43.680 It's real bad. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.079 Uh, have you ever looked at a woman with lust? 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.359 I have, yes, I have done that. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.440 Jesus said, that's adultery of the heart. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:49.920 Okay. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.559 And then again, this is the Ray Comfort line, right? 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:53.279 From living waters. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.839 He goes, okay, so you just told me that you're a lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterer of heart. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:03.039 Why would God let you into heaven? 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.359 How does that define a good person? 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:09.200 By what standard are we measuring? 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.160 But the world doesn't want to hear that. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.559 They want to hear how they're naturally good. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:18.079 They want to hear how they're not as bad as that other person over there. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:28.319 And yet, what we realize is the Bible's telling the truth when it says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.880 That we've all turned aside, that we've all gone our own way. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:46.720 Verse 4, Paul says, You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:49.599 You have fallen away from grace. 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:53.279 This is where we get our title. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:59.440 You can have Christ alone, or you can have Christ no more, but you can't have both. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:07.920 If you desire to earn your way to heaven, you are cut off from Christ. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:16.240 His gospel, his freedom, his love, his grace, and his mercy means nothing to you. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:21.279 You are severed from Christ. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.119 You have fallen away from grace. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:29.759 Jesus is the only reason God accepts us. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:36.960 And faith is the only hand that receives that. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:46.799 The false teachers, it's very important for us to understand, the false teachers didn't come in and say, Jesus doesn't matter. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:47.519 Right? 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.920 I'm not sure the gospel's true. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:54.559 Because you and I, we we desperately desire for it to be that clear cut. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.519 We're like, okay, I've this whole discernment thing, it's exhausting. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 Can we just like have people that don't believe in Jesus? 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.799 Just be like, we hate Jesus. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:03.519 Right? 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:10.319 Don't give me church folk that serve and give money and attend every Sunday and look like they are put together. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:11.680 And don't give me those people. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.279 That's harder to see. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.799 Give me the people outside the church that hate Jesus. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:18.000 That's easy. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.240 And we go back to our Spurgeon line yet again. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:29.039 The discernment is not the understanding the difference between right and wrong, but right and almost right. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.480 And that is the gospel in a nutshell. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:39.680 Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.519 There is no other way. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:46.640 He didn't give a peripheral view here of like a little bit over here though. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.799 Like there's some grace in this area, right? 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.759 If you're into Buddha, maybe a little bit over there. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.720 There's one way into heaven, and it's through believing in Jesus Christ. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:57.839 And that is it. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.720 There is no hope for anyone else anywhere at any time in any circumstance. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:06.960 It is Jesus alone or Jesus no more. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.200 And that is the gospel. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:16.559 The gospel is a call to all people to come to the cross. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:21.759 Because the cross is where exclusivity reigns. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:27.680 You are either in Christ or you are outside. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:41.680 If you change the formula at all, you add anything to Jesus, if you take away anything from Jesus, you lose everything. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.839 Paul shows us what is at stake in these verses. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:56.880 If you try to earn your way to God, you lose the spirit, you lose your adoption as God's children, and you lose your right standing before Him. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:02.160 You forfeit every blessing by trying to add your own effort. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:05.599 And when you say that line, it logically lines up. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.680 You're like, yeah, that makes sense. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.200 And yet the question is, do we live like that? 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.599 Because there's a polite version that doesn't count. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:14.160 Right? 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:17.279 We'll say, uh, it's all by grace, right? 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.279 Like they're like, how'd you do that? 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:20.799 It's all by grace. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.200 And we can still quietly fall into this same trap. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.559 How do we do it? 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:34.480 We do it when churches start to measure people's worth by their performance or by how well they fit in. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:42.000 How well behaved their children are, how clean-cut they are when they came in. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:50.480 Those are the beginnings of a legalistic church that has chosen to cut itself off from Christ. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:57.440 My dear friends, you don't have to look far or wide to see that this is rampant. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:59.599 It is everywhere. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:08.319 These expectations that Christ never put on people, we put on just like the Pharisees, and we put these giant burdens on people. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.240 If you're gonna come to church, look this way. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:12.799 If you're gonna come to church, act this way. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.240 The gospel is for all people. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:23.759 But also, dear friends, people shouldn't have to come to church to hear the gospel. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.240 We should be willing and able to share it with them ourselves. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:37.839 And the greatest excuses that any of us can ever come up with is I don't know it well enough to share it. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:40.559 And we have got the answer for you. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.319 There's this little track in the back. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:46.000 You grab one of those and you just read it out loud with the person. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:56.079 We have to become a people that care more about the soul that's next to us than the discomfort of the conversation. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:25:59.680 We have to become that people. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:03.759 Because people die. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.559 People leave. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.960 And we might only have one opportunity to share the truth. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:21.279 You never want to be able to look at someone who's on their deathbed and say, I wish I could share the gospel with you, but I don't know it well enough. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:27.039 Keep the little booklet with you and read it out loud. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:35.279 Be humble enough to open it up and say, I believe this, I just don't know it that well, so we're gonna go through this together. 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:39.119 Because if we can't do that, we've missed the point. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:42.480 The point is not flashy performance. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:47.680 The point is not being able to be as articulate as Dan Ashton or Dan Flanagan. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:55.759 The point is to be a people who actually believe the power is in the word and not the person. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:01.680 And you and I prove which one we believe every time we have an opportunity to share. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:12.240 When we hesitate, when we don't share, we are trusting in our performance and not in the God who saves. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:19.920 Let's move on to our third heading. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:23.839 Verse 5: Righteousness is a hope we wait for. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:36.319 Paul says, For through the spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:39.759 For through the spirit, by faith. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:48.559 So you and I do all of this by faith, not by working hard, not by putting more effort in, but by faith. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:28:04.480 And it's through the spirit, not through hours invested, not through how many hard conversations you've had, not through how much you've overcome in life, but through the spirit by faith. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:09.359 We ourselves wait eagerly. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.240 I don't know the last time you eagerly waited for anything. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:21.680 The only thing I can think of is when Brie makes homemade cookies and you like have the smell coming in, and you're like, oh, like that moment, you're like, I'm eagerly waiting. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.359 That's I think the only time in my life I've ever eagerly waited for anything. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:28.160 Every other time I'm annoyingly waiting. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:34.000 Paul says that you and I, this is our life. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:36.799 We eagerly wait. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:39.279 What do we wait for? 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.079 For the hope of righteousness. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.480 Now that's actually uh for the mental part here. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:48.319 This is backwards in a sense. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:52.240 He's speaking of the righteousness in Christ, right? 00:28:52.400 --> 00:29:02.480 The righteousness that you and I are to experience fully in heaven one day, that perfect righteousness that covers us today, that righteousness we have hope in. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.240 Now, here's the problem. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:10.960 Uh, you and I, we've gotten a lot of our theology from Hallmark. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:14.480 All right, and we see the word hope. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:18.559 And what what does hope mean in the 21st century? 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:21.599 I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.200 What does that mean? 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:26.799 I'm desirous that this thing happens. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.079 It's uh it's like dreaming. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.799 That is not how the Bible defines hope. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:43.920 The Bible defines hope as an absolute certainty about a promise that we haven't seen yet. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.839 It is absolute certainty. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:58.720 So that's why when Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you, we can say, I have hope in that. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:12.880 And it's not me desiring that one day maybe Jesus actually did do that, but rather a settled realization and security in the fact that God has said, thus He will, and I will rest in that. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:20.799 True hope is not anxious, true hope is settled. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:30.400 Legalism stresses out trying to earn what faith patiently waits to receive. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:37.680 And the scary part is that even the waiting is a gift. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:40.799 It doesn't feel like it. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:43.039 And yet it is. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:53.039 God has done more work in my life through suffering and waiting than through any discipline I've had in this life. 00:30:53.519 --> 00:31:01.519 No one would ever look at the story of my life over the last decade and say, that guy became who he was because he just worked really hard. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:08.880 I'm like the guy at the end, you know, the uh, I don't even know what it's called, water skiing or whatever. 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:11.680 You know, when you fall off and you're still skipping on the water? 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:12.319 That's me. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:15.680 I'm off the skis, just skipping on the water, holding on. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:18.960 And when I let go, I realize I'm actually duct taped to it. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:21.519 And so I'm stuck just skipping through it. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.880 Because God's holding me on the ride, not me. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:40.160 And as I have the pain, as I have the discomfort, the humiliation, God, degree by degree, breaks this proud man into a useful vessel. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:48.400 I am not a product of hard work and discipline. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:58.240 I am a product of God's amazing grace and mercy to a very weak man who is very desperately in need of a savior. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:12.400 And that's why it's important that you understand that as a Christian, you will never see your righteousness as well as you see your sin. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:17.119 I'll say it again because I need it. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:24.160 You will never see your righteousness the way you are able to see your sin. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:33.759 And you will rarely feel as righteous as you want to feel. 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:41.519 Because you are still in the presence of sin, and you still have sin living inside you. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:47.440 And the more holy you become, the more aware you are of the contaminant that's within. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.960 There's a moment in my life where I got a piece of glass stuck in my foot. 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:59.039 Uh, but I have real rough feet, you can imagine. 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:03.519 Uh, and so the piece of glass I didn't realize was in my foot. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:11.200 And somewhere deep buried underneath a lot of hard skin was this bubble. 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.599 And it was an annoying little bubble. 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:19.839 And uh I'll have you know that it was annoying, but I walked on it for a while. 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:21.119 It was it was fine. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.039 It was annoying, but it was fine. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:29.119 And uh eventually my mom pulled me aside and said, Uh, what why are you limping? 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:32.079 I said, There's something like wrong with my foot. 00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:38.480 And she was a nurse, so she pulls my foot over and looks at it and says, You have something stuck in your foot. 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:40.640 I was like, it's fine, don't worry about it. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:42.400 And she was worried about it. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:44.960 And so we got this thing called a foot shaver. 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.680 I didn't see it again until I got married. 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:52.960 It's a thing, gentlemen, you can use to shave the hard parts of your foot off. 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.920 It's interesting. 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:58.079 It's like a foot cheese grater. 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:02.319 So my mom grabs one of those and just starts going to town on my heel. 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:05.359 And at first it just kind of like feels funny. 00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:10.239 And the closer she gets to the bubble, all of a sudden the more pain I'm in. 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:13.440 And it's hurting more and more and more. 00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:15.599 And I'm like, you need to stop. 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:17.119 You've made things worse. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:22.800 I think I was 12 at the time, so like I'm a little bit dramatic at that time and not very manly at all. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:33.199 I remember the pain getting worse and worse and worse to the point that like they're having to hold me down because I don't want you touching my foot anymore. 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:34.159 This is awful. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:38.239 And then they had to do the part where they cut the foot open to get the glass out. 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:41.119 And as that's happening, I'm screaming. 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:54.079 And the kid who had no problem walking on glass for weeks is all of a sudden screaming in hysterical panic because I could actually feel the pain. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:58.000 It's similar in the Christian life, my friends. 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:05.519 As God wears down that rough exterior, the raw interior is exposed. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:13.920 And that's why sin can feel so bad 10 years after you're saved, and you're like, how am I a worse person today than I was before? 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:16.000 Like, that doesn't make any sense. 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:24.159 And it's not that you're actually a worse person, it's that you can finally feel a little bit more what's actually wrong with you. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:34.079 You will never in this life be able to see your righteousness in the way you can see your sin. 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.719 Which is why your feelings are a terrible diagnostic. 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:41.920 And yet, you know what we normally do? 00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:47.519 We put, there's a throne in our head and in our heart, and feelings is almost always there. 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:50.719 You wake up one day and you're tired. 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.159 The day's bad, things didn't go well. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:55.519 What do we do? 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:57.760 Do we discipline ourselves and say, you know what? 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.079 I'm gonna think about things that are true and good. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:02.320 I'm gonna trust that God's in control. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:06.239 I'm gonna walk in grace, and if I fail this morning, it's gonna be fine. 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:07.360 God's got this. 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:09.119 And I walk out the door. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.480 And the whole congregation said, no, that's not what we do. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:18.239 You wake up on the dreary day and you just, you mean you want to sit there. 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:19.360 You want a potato. 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:21.760 You just want to like, I'm good. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.360 I have nothing for today. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:24.639 I have nothing for no one. 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:26.719 I don't want to see anybody. 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:29.280