Amen, amen. People of God, let us turn now to the Word of God, Galatians chapter 5. We'll read again verses 1 through 15. Verse 1 is very much a controlling statement for verses 1 through 12, but also still for verses 13 and 15. So even as we'll focus on verses 13 through 15, we remember the Remember what the Apostle has said up to this point, which we might say is summarized in verse 1 especially. So Galatians chapter 5, we read again verses 1 through 15. Our text of focus this morning being 13 to 15. Page 1239 in most of the few Bibles. Galatians chapter five, beginning at verse one, let us hear the word of the Lord, our God. For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a 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 obligated 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 were 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, 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. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, how do we define a freedom? If I ask you, what does freedom look like to you? What kind of definition would you give? Does freedom to you mean that there are no rules? Does it mean that there are no responsibilities? Would freedom from all rules be a good freedom? Be a biblically defined freedom? Now we know that a rule-free freedom is how the world likes to define freedom. We might pull out an older example and think of the hippie motto of free love, which means, of course, free from rules, free from responsibilities. Or we might give a much more recent example. song, which is right now very popular with young people throughout the world, especially children, but not just children, but also those who are a little bit older. What song is that? It's the soaring theme song of the movie Frozen. And how does that theme song define freedom? No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free. This, people of God, is an opportunity to hit the pause button and explain that this is an anti-biblical definition of freedom. The Bible does not define freedom in this way at all. No, people of God, scripture says that Christian freedom, true freedom, is freedom from our guilt of sin, And from our guilty conscience of trying to win our own freedom by our own works, all of freedom that Christ has won, it's a freedom from those things and a freedom into law obeying love out of service to Christ because of what Christ has done. Freedom absolutely, if we have any true definition, if we have any biblical definition of freedom, will include responsibility and obedience to the law. The problem is that the flesh, our sinful nature from hippie mottos to Disney kids movies, wants to have freedom without any responsibilities. And that's a kind of fleshly desire that can seep into any of our hearts. But we must see that freedom in Christ instead is a freedom that drives us to responsibility and love and service. That because of what Christ has done, and he has done everything, he has paid the penalty, he has perfectly fulfilled all of the He has paid the penalty of death by His very blood on the cross because of what Christ has done. We are to be filled with love. Christ's people are to be love-filled people. Love to serve others. That's our first point. And we're really just working one verse at a time here this morning. That's verse 13. love for all others, verse 14, and love especially for the brothers, verse 15. So now a love to serve others. Again, to build off of our introduction, because we want to have a biblically defined freedom, we must not have a fleshly defined freedom. That's the language of our text, the flesh. We must not, knowing that we have freedom in Christ, use that knowledge that we are free, that we're no longer bound by the penalties of the law. that Christ has paid the death penalty for us. We must not use that as an opportunity for the flesh, which is what? The flesh in Galatians 5, as it is so often in the New Testament scripture, stands for our fleshly, worldly desires. It stands for our old self, our sinful self, our natural self apart from the influence of the Spirit. So we must not use the fact that we have freedom to then, through our flesh, say, well, that must mean a responsibility-free freedom. No, we cannot do this. We cannot do this. I am not one called to a freedom with no responsibility as one who is a true Christian. I am called to a freedom with many responsibilities, to have true faith which is working itself out through love, verse six, which includes service. Now our third point says, especially for the brothers, we could really add that to this verse too. We're still in the context of the church. We are to love, through love, serve one another, that one another is also in the context of the church. And there are many ways that we can serve and love one another within the context of the church. This can include many tangible acts of service. Sometimes that means one big, massive project. And I was not here, just as many of us were not here 20 years ago, but when this church was built, that was one big, massive act of service that required many hands and every account I've been given is that many hands were needed on deck and many hands came on deck and they were all working together, serving together, loving together. This is a tangible act of service. Of course, even just keeping a church building going is something that needs not only lots of initial work to turn a building into a church, but it requires continual works of service, doesn't it? Continued opportunities for service. That's even the title on the backside of our bulletin, isn't it? Opportunities for service. And so there are many, many examples for how we can continue in loving service for one another. uh... including uh... we have a church that's cleaned on a volunteer basis that's not very common i i think that's a wonderful thing isn't it and uh... don't we all appreciate a clean church that's serving one another these are tangible things uh... now cleaning the toilets is a more menial task There are other tasks that are a little more fun to talk about, like making cookies, and this too is serving one another in love. Don't we all enjoy eating the cookies? I think we pretty much all enjoy eating the cookies. All ages, all of us. These are tangible ways that we can serve one another. There are also relationships. forms of service, relationship forms of service. Not only tangible actions that we can do, but also godly conversations had, prayers offered. As it says in James 5 verse 16, we should pray for one another. As it says in Galatians 6 too, which we'll come to in some time, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So even seeking to get to know one another is an act of loving service. This, of course, goes both ways, right? It's difficult to pray for someone specifically who we're not able to talk to, to get to know. And so even just being present with one another is a way to serve one another within the body of Christ, isn't it? These are all ways that we can show love. This is especially and primarily in the gathering together. So we might think of Hebrews 10 verse 25, do not forsake the gathering together. But if we read just the verse before that, it speaks more generally about being present with one another and seeking to build each other one another in love. Hebrews 10 verse 24 says this, and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. Why is that something we have to consider? Well, it's not just something that comes naturally or easily. Even for those who have been believers for a long, long time, it might not be the easiest to speak about spiritual things. It just doesn't come naturally. Our flesh doesn't always want to talk about those things, doesn't always want to fellowship with one another in those kinds of ways. But this is all ways that we can seek to serve one another, to stir one another up. These are, of course, only some examples. If anyone thinks, I would really love to serve the church, I just don't know how. Well, people of God, if that's your attitude, then approach your parents, approach the council, and I'm sure there are acts of service waiting for you, or if you have an attitude like that, you're probably already serving the church in ways that you don't even know and are probably more valuable than you think. When we would have this kind of attitude, there is much service that we can do to love one another and to stir one another up to love and good works. Now, here is our second point we come to now. Because there are 100 one another commands in the New Testament. It's been said that at least half of those relate specifically to the church. But scripture does not only speak about how believers are to treat each other. Scripture speaks about more broadly how we are to love all people. We are to love our neighbor. And as we read the parable of the Good Samaritan, For our summary of the law this morning, if anyone would ever say that neighbor is a restricted way, no, neighbor is anyone we come across. And of course, Samaritans and Jews were known for not getting along with one another and for not having the same religious views. But yet, that was the parable, that was the example that Jesus gave. We are called to love all others, all whom God puts in our path, no matter how different that person might be from us. Now this love, people of God, will look different for those we have different levels of closeness to. It's been said that a person's spouse is their closest neighbor. Well, that means we have obligations to our spouse that we don't just have to those who we just meet once. And then the general pattern of Scripture would move like this. We have a special responsibility to our spouse, and then for our children, and then for the family of faith, and then for all those whom we know and come in contact with. And then the Lord, notice this, since the apostle is using an example which is called the Summary of the Law, that's fitting, isn't it? We know this is the second of the great two-part Summary of the Law, but by using this example, the Apostle is showing us clearly that being saved by Christ and having freedom doesn't mean we throw out the law. No, remember this summary of the law still stands in our lives. And by referring to this, he is bringing all of that to bear. Christ has won freedom for us. But Christ's perfect obedience does not free us to be away from the law. No, the law still stands. We must show love for all, even as the summary of the law says. And as we think about different ways that we love those whom we come across, how do we love our non-Christian neighbor? Well, we show our non-Christian neighbor We show our non-Christian neighbor love by giving them perfect courtesy. And that's a phrase taken from Titus 3, verse 2, where we read this, that we are to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. And we can think of it this way, people of God, even though we know that we'll have neighbors who are in rebellion against God, who are falling short of the glory of God, they are no different from us in that, first of all, they're still made in the image of God. And we are to respect as persons all of those who are made in the image of God. That's what gives a person value, right? We're not just bags of chance stardust that collected after a long time. We're persons made in the image of God. And also we remember that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, we too are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. We are to love all. Now, indeed, as those made in the image of God who have some knowledge of the truth, even as they kick against it, suppress it, Romans 1, some of our neighbors might actually be more friendly than we are, though they're doing so without giving glory to God, doing so without repenting of their sins. When this happens, people of God, it is sad indeed. Because it means that we are staining the name of Christ, doesn't it? Because we are now failing to be Christ-loving people, and we're allowing even the world to outdo us in kindness and courtesy. This is the case at times, but it is always sad when this would happen. It should never be. We know that all persons are made in the image of God and worthy of respect. And because Christ loved us, we are to love all our neighbors. How do we show love for our fellow sheep who are wandering? How do we show love for our fellow sheep who are wandering from the fold? Well, for those persons, we pursue them in love, don't we? We go after the one to bring it back to the fold. We show love to fellow sheep who are wandering by calling them to repentance and giving them every opportunity. to do so. What about false teachers? How do we show love to false teachers? Well, now it's a little bit different, isn't it? In the sense that we are still to love them, but because they've come as wolves in sheep's clothing, they're in a place where they do not belong. And so we show love to false teachers by telling them they have no place within the people of God unless they too repent. Although just like the wandering sheep, the false teacher who repents is also welcomed back to the fold of God. Galatians 5 verse 14 then does not contradict Galatians 5 9 or Galatians 5 12. On the contrary, true love will always be an attitude of courtesy towards all, even as there will always be a stance for purity within God's church. Now, people of God, what about those who are not false teaching leaven, but are part of the body of Christ, the flock, the fold of Jesus Christ, part of the whole loaf together with us? That brings us back to a focus on the people of God, especially the brothers. That brings us to our third point. Because of what Christ has done, We must have love, especially for the brothers. We must not come to civil war with our fellow believers. All dissension, all rivalry must be cut off at the beginning, lest we fall into the full digression described in verse 15, that first we would bite that we would wound one another with our words or our actions, that this would then lead to swallowing or devouring one another, which would finally lead to even consuming one another, all fellowship disappearing, broken, digested. This is never to be. never ought to be within the people of God, though sadly, over the long history of the church, it has happened many times. But when this happens, it's all according to that fleshly way of thinking, that fleshly way that might say things like, I want to be free to be around my kind of people, my friends that I choose, those who think exactly as I do according to these and those doctrines apart from those essential doctrines of looking to Christ, looking to Christ alone for salvation. No, those are fleshly ways of thinking, but the thinking of Christian freedom says this, because we have all been made free from the guilt of sin and we are all united together in Christ, we have freedom in him. Therefore, we have a responsibility to love one another on the positive side by serving one another, and on the negative side by not biting, devouring, or consuming one another, even though we are all different. We are all different people of God. Consider this. Let's not talk about, because we've moved into verse 15, so we're not talking about our non-Christian neighbors. We're not talking about wolves in sheep's clothing. We're not talking even about wandering sheep who might be lost sheep. Let's just talk about true believers. Are there differences within true believers? This is not an exhaustive list, but I'm going to go through a list of different ways that scripture describes true believers. Isaiah 40, verse 11. We'll take the one that's an example from the sheepfold first, because we're talking about, we've talked about wandering sheep and sheep in wolves' clothing, the false teachers. What about true sheep? Some true sheep, Isaiah 411, are nursing mothers with young, or young lambs that need to be picked up and carried. This is not a reference to literal nursing mothers, to literally young lambs, right? It's a reference to those who are spiritually in a place where they need care. spiritually young and immature and in need of being carried along. There might be a young lamb in the faith who's very old. Matthew 13, verse 8. Christians are different because they bear different levels of fruit, some 100-fold, some 60-fold, some 30-fold. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 gives this description of some true Christians. They go through life, and all of their works will be burned up. Now, it's clear reading all 1 Corinthians 3 that that's not what our goals should be as believers. But for some believers, though all their works on earth will be burned up, yet they will still be saved. Isaiah 42 and Matthew 12, and here, This is not an exhaustive list and it can have some overlap because there might be a believer in this category who's bearing much fruit. But what does Isaiah 42 and then quoted in Matthew 12, what does that say about some believers? Some believers are bruised reeds or faintly burning wicks that Jesus will not break or put out. Some believers are suffering and have suffered. Some believers are doubting and the flame is barely there. Christ will not break them. He will not put them out. What about Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8? There, there is a contrast between knowledgeable brothers and weaker brothers. Neither of those chapters says stronger and weaker, which is interesting. Knowledgeable and weaker. And if you're using your knowledge wrongly, you've too become a weaker brother in the sense that you're using your knowledge incorrectly. Knowledgeable and weaker. Now, people of God, having differences with people can lead to divisions, can't it? And so let's put some of these things together and think about some of the ways that we might be tempted to bite, to devour, even to consume one another. We might be tempted to bite and devour one another because we are at different levels of spiritual growth and understanding. You know, the person who only attends church once per Sunday, if that, they're leaving a lot of spiritual food on the plate. Do the well-fed believers make that a cause for devouring them or for patient encouragement to them? If we are those in need of such encouragement, do we despise in a form of jealousy the growth of others, or do we see that as a godly example? We might be tempted to bite and devour one another because we are experiencing different levels of spiritual blessing. Do we look down on those who are suffering and struggling, devouring them? breaking the bruised reed that Christ would never break. If we are suffering, do we despise those who have been given great and spiritual blessings, perhaps even rejecting their aid? We might be tempted to bite and devour one another because we have different views on disputable, non-gospel matters or wisdom matters. That can be two different categories or they can overlap. You know, there's an area where those two things overlap. What's the precise way to handle COVID-19 concerns? Is there only one way to do it? Should it be the same for every family? Is this an area where we might be tempted to devour the weaker brothers? Do we even know who the weaker brothers are? People of God, mature believers, sister congregations within our own Federation have very different views on these things. This is not a reason to bite or devour one another. When our brothers and sisters in Christ come back to be with us bodily, which I hope and am hopeful will happen soon, would we bite and devour them or are we just going to welcome them back and say, it is good to see you? Through all of these things, people of God, remember that despite our differences, It is because of Christ that we have a unity which must drown out all of those differences. Or, I mean, not just drown out, sometimes we love each other for the differences, which is a reminder that not all the differences spoken of are of the same type. Ephesians chapter 4 summarizes this well. Ephesians chapter 4, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. And as we just spoke about, sometimes that measure is different from one believer to another. But we are united. What unites us is much greater than that which divides us. We are united in Christ because of what Christ has done. Let's then put Galatians 5 verse 1 to 15 all together. And let's use verse 9. as the illustration to pull it all together. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Galatians 5 verse 1 is the controlling statement. Because of what Christ has done, which reminds us of all the verses that came before it, doesn't it? Because of what Christ has done, we have freedom. Practical action number 1, verses 2 through 12. Get rid of the leaven. Practical action number two, be sure to specially and servantly and lovingly get along with the whole rest of the lump. That's the image, isn't it? We cut out false teaching. We cut out those who do not look to Christ, but united in Christ. We rejoice to be part of this lump together, together with fellow sinners in need of Christ, together with Christians who we are different from in all different ways. This is what we are a part of. And we rejoice in this. People of God, that easily leads into the language of communion, doesn't it? not just easily, but scripturally, building off of the image of 1 Corinthians 10 verse 17, building off of that image, the first form for the Lord's Supper says this on page 40. Besides, by the same spirit, we are also united as members of one body in true Christian love. As the Apostle Paul says, because there is one bread, we who are many are of one body, for we all partake of the one bread. As many grains are ground to prepare one loaf of bread, and as many grapes are pressed together to produce wine, so we who by true faith are incorporated into Christ shall be one body through Christian love for the sake of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ. He loved us greatly in order that we might show his love toward one another, not only in words, but also in deeds. People of God do not be an individual grain. be part of the whole lump together. The whole loaf rejoicing to come together next Lord's day and partake of that one bread together. The one bread which points us to Christ for it is because of Christ that we have this unity. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, surely as part of your body, we can together share in all the privileges and the privileged responsibilities of being part of that body. Lord God, show us how to love one another and to stir one another up in love. And then may your very spirit stir and shape us for that love, especially for one another, also for the whole world, all because of what Christ has done. Amen.