I understand all of that. But anyway, this morning, Galatians 5. Thank you for the song, kids. Galatians chapter number 5. I've just been thinking, pondering all week, thinking about liberty, thinking about our nation. You know, we often have conversations with different ones here in the congregation. We are in an interesting place as a nation. Most of it is because we've forgotten where we came from. We have no concept of history anymore. We have no concept most of the time, and I say the younger generation, but it's not the younger generation, because they're being taught by my generation. I don't throw rocks at the kids, because the kids are being taught by who are supposedly the adults. But a complete misunderstanding of who we are as a nation, of what history is, They're taught to define themselves by the color of their skin. I'm like, that's ignorant. That is so anti-biblical and so anti-American. I mean, it's just a false narrative. Really, until you had the dominance of evolution in the educational system, the whole concept of race was unknown as we now view it. People were nations, that's what they were viewed as. You attack nations, you didn't say they're brown or white or black or yellow, so we're gonna attack them. They're different people, live around the woods and we want their land, so let's go attack them. The color of their skin had no bearing on it whatsoever. That's why they fought amongst each other. Whites fought wars amongst themselves and blacks and yellows and browns, it didn't matter. The color of one's skin was irrelevant. It is only in the era of evolution and really the, mis-education or un-education of a generation that thinks, well everything has to do with skin color. It's never had anything to do with skin color until recent times. But our kids have lost that truth, our founding fathers, what they went through, what they came from to establish this nation. The tyranny the design of culture, the design of government. They knew what it was like to be oppressed. They knew what it was like to be put in prison simply because you were not of their social standing. And so they sought to create a government based on freedom and liberty. But that freedom and liberty was founded on the principles of God's word. That was stated over and over and over and over again throughout our early history. And so this morning I want to look at liberty spiritually as a nation. inject a little bit of history, which I love, into the equation just to share with you some things I want you to know and be reminded of. But understand that ultimately liberty is about your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That is true Liberty. And so Galatians chapter 5, let's all stand together. We'll just read a few verses. The message here in Galatians is really going to be like skipping a rock to a degree. We're going to go back to chapter 1. We'll hit chapter 2 and 3. But our focus is going to be to land here in chapter number 5 with our final thought this morning. The Apostle Paul writes here in the book of Galatians, which is his defense of Christian liberty and salvation by grace alone. He says in chapter 5 verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you're fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. You did run well, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you, he makes this statement, That's a good one to memorize, a little leaven, excuse me, leaven of the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord that you'll be not otherwise minded, but he that troubles you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I have yet preached circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Would they even cut off which trouble you? For brethren, you have been called unto liberty. only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you buy and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed with one of another. This I say, then walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Spirit. the law. Father, help us this morning. Speak to our hearts. Give us strength. Give us liberty. Give us that anointing we need to preach thy word. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. You may be seated this morning. Liberty. Paul says in verse number one of chapter five, stand fast. Therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." When you look up the word liberty, of course there are different types. There's political liberty, there's civil liberty, there's all different types, religious liberty. But liberty in its basic form, Webster would define as freedom of the will. Exemption from compulsion or restraint in willing or in volition. It's basically freedom. That's what liberty is. And America was founded again on the principle of liberty, soul liberty, living liberty, that I can own property. Because remember, throughout human history, most of the time, only the lords of the manor, or those with power on the property, most people were nothing more than peasants, peons, or slaves. That was most of humanity's lot in life. It was only those of influence and power that could put fences around their homes. I'm gonna try to avoid them chasing rabbits this morning. The average people were not allowed to do that, you know, because they didn't really care about the common man. So when America was founded, there was this idea of liberty, of freedom, that you could pursue your dreams, your desires, you could advance and grow. With that came responsibility, with that came opportunity. But it was that idea of, in the world, freedom and liberty to pursue your dreams. In religion, the ability to follow the Word of God based on the dictates of your conscience and not on a hierarchy. I spoke to a lady this past week, and she made the comment, I hope she and her husband will visit sometime, they live here in Montana, home in another state, but we were just conversing about another situation, another issue, and she said, yeah, she said, we're really not into organized religion. I'm not what? No, you're invited to come visit us anytime. She said, we may drop in, we love to visit and those types of things. And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, we're not into organized religion. I'm like, no, you're probably just not into a top-down religious system that somebody above you tells you what truth is and tells you everything you've got to do, and you really just don't like tyranny. But biblical Christianity is liberty. Biblical Christianity is the freest life you'll ever live. Because understand this, there are two types of tyrannies. There's tyrannies that come from man. There's a tyranny that comes from man and dictates to you what you must do and you really have no freedom. But as identified in our text this morning, there's also the tyranny of the flesh. There's the tyranny of the flesh that only lives for itself, that seeks to please itself, that seeks to do all that it wants to do apart from God's truth, apart from God's law, apart from God's mandate of what is right and what is wrong. And so the flesh is just as vicious a tyrant as a physical tyrant would be. But in Christ we find liberty. In Christ we find freedom from that tyranny of sin and the flesh. So liberty is defined in its simplest form as freedom. But back up to chapter 1. I'm going to get to chapter 5, but I've got to hit a couple of things on our way there. When Paul says, stand fast, standing fast in the liberty, Stand fast in the liberty. What does he mean? Why do we need to stand fast? Why is that important? And we looked at this a year or so ago when we studied through the book of Galatians, but I want to remind you of it quickly. Number one, there are enemies of liberty. There are enemies of the gospel. We'll put it that way. Look in verse number eight and nine. Paul makes this statement, he says, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. In other words, Paul begins this letter, and again, he's dealing with the gospel, he's dealing with the liberty we have as believers In the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, first of all, you need to know there's some enemies. Now it's interesting, he said in verse number eight, but the we. Now again, we is an individual term, it directs to him, but it also directs to we, as in men, okay? He says, but the we are an angel from heaven. He said, you got to be careful of two things. Number one, you got to be careful of other people because other people can get it wrong. Well, how do you know if it's wrong or not? You go to the word of God. The word of God is the authority. The word of God has power. The word of God is God's word. And he says, but the we, an individual, another man, or an angel from heaven. Now again, that's very ironic in the land that we currently live. An angel from heaven. He said, I don't care if an angel from heaven comes and tells you something different from what's in the scripture, you better watch out. Because that angel from heaven is wrong. That angel from heaven is a false prophet. It is a false messenger, and it will distort, defile, and redefine what the gospel is. Paul writes this in the early days of the church. Why? Because he knew the dangers of liberty in the gospel. He said, though we are an angel from heaven. With that idea, I want to give you a couple of verses on this angel from heaven thing. Go back, if you will, just a few pages to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter number 11. The Bible tells of 2 Corinthians chapter 11 down in verse number 13. He says, for such are false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Let's just call somebody says they're an apostle, does it mean they're an apostle? Say, well, we've got apostles. Are they biblical apostles? Have they seen the risen Christ? Are they true to the word of God? Do they fit the qualifications God gives them? Well, they don't fit those, but our religion says they're apostles. I don't care what your religion says. Okay, the Bible is the authority, and if they don't fit the qualifications, by the way, all the apostles died in the first century, so anybody who says there are apostles today, they're wrong, all right? We'll just keep that one simple, he said. But though they say, all right, that they're apostles, they've been transformed into the apostle of Christ, but notice verse 14, here's what I wanted to get to, and no marvel, don't be shocked at that, don't be amazed at that. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. If you've never done it, and most of you probably have because you've lived here longer than I have, you need to go down into Salt Lake City, go to Temple Square, go to the history of the Mormon Church, go into the museum, and go to the very first stall, alright, when the history starts, and they're going to seat you down in a ring. We've been there a number of times. I've watched it over and over and over again. You're going to sit on a wooden bench. They're going to have a screen all the way around you, not 360, but probably 180, and they're going to give you their story. And in the very beginning of that story, they're going to tell the story of a young man and he's out in the woods and he's out there and all of a sudden, an angel of light. I'm like, hello! I want to stand up and say, has anybody ever read the Bible? Please! Somebody in this room, tell me you've read the Bible! Because Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. That's the danger to the gospel. Watch out! There are enemies of the gospel who will distort, who will redefine it. By the way, they'll have followers who claim they've been transformed into the apostles of Christ. Hello! I mean, the Bible can't be any clearer. What's the deal? They are enemies of liberty. They're enemies of the gospel. They're enemies of the freedom that we have in Christ. They want to place you into a life of bondage. Into a system where you're constantly pressed to do and to do and to do and to do and be conformed. And then at the end, Jesus will just sort of nudge you all over the edge. What is the verse? I don't remember the exact reference to the book of Nephi. We're saved by grace after all we can do. I'm like, no, no, that is the enemy of grace. Grace has no works attached to it. You cannot attach to it. I love these things. You know, come on, we've got a free gift for you. And you show up and they're like, if you buy $10 worth of our product. Listen, that ain't a gift. That ain't a gift. That's a reward for my doing what you want me to do. That's a reward. That's not a gift. That's not grace. In fact, that's bait and switch. That's doing something that's just wrong. But the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of our salvation, the gospel that was preached in Acts chapter 2 and throughout the true church history has always been salvation by grace through faith alone. And Paul says watch out in Galatians because there are enemies. There are enemies of that gospel. There are enemies of your liberty in Christ. He said, whether we or an angel give you that message. Again, the second Corinthians said, Satan, give me, transform that angel of life. I want you to see one more and then we're gonna take off to the next point. Go to James. Go the other way. Go toward the back of your Bible at just a few pages. Go to the book of James, Hebrew, and then James. Hebrews and then James. Go to James chapter number two. James chapter 2 said, but the angel, they said they loved God, they feared God, they knew God. Okay, be careful, why? James chapter 2 and verse number 19, James chapter 2 and verse number 19, James makes this statement, he says, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble. Can I tell you something, Satan and the demons of hell are not atheists. It takes a human being that the Bible defines as a fool to be an atheist. I mean, Satan could never be an atheist. He knows there's a God. I mean, the demons of hell, they're not atheists. They know there's a God. They will acknowledge that there's a God. The issue is, with Satan is, he wants to be God. Man, wouldn't it be an amazing satanic system if you could create a religion that could actually turn man into a God? I mean, that'd just be incredible! I mean, that could take mortal man that was made in the image and likeness of God but has a fallen nature and tell that man that he could become God if he wants to. If he works hard enough. If he jumps through enough hoops and does enough things. He might in the end reach to the point of deity. That's what brought Satan to hell. He said, I will be like the Most High. He said, I will be. And God said, no. There is one God in the world. One God, three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God. And there are no more. And there will be and can be no more. And so we see the enemies of the Gospel. We see the enemies of liberty in Christ. When I think about that, and in fact, hold on, we're back in Galatians. Look over chapter 2. We identify as we are the angels in verse number 89 of chapter 1. Chapter 2. He names another group. I don't want you to miss. He says, and that because, in Galatians 2 verse 4, and that because of false brethren unawares brought in who came in privily despite our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. I'm just saying, who are the enemies of the gospel? Who are the enemies of our liberty? They're we, can be, angels, can be, or false brethren. Jumping to a little American history, the foundation of American liberty, unknown throughout human history, except maybe Israel, because no monarch, no tyrant, no despot, but a leader chosen by the people. This is American liberty. A leader chosen by the people from among the people, answerable to the people. That's unique in American history. Our leaders are chosen from among us, by us. and are accountable two months. But the foundation of that liberty was anchored in a firm faith and belief in God and his word. The Jefferson Memorial makes this statement, God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Don't miss that. Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C. That's where our liberties were founded on as a nation. Our founders believed they were a gift from God, the privilege he had given us to establish a nation of freedom. He said, indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever. The Declaration of Independence says, in part, not the whole, When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which had connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal stations to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitles them. It goes on to say, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He goes on to say, and for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. The whole basis of American liberty was a firm belief that our liberties only came from God. And I know there are the critics who would say, all men are created equal. They weren't equal. Women weren't equal. Slaves weren't equal. Stop. Back up. Put yourself in 1776, not 2023. Stop it. We have this innate ignorant ability in America today to assume everybody's always known and done what we do. Stop. In 1776, all they had ever known was monarchs and tyranny. I mean, think of the Roman Empire. The majority of the people in that empire were slaves. It didn't matter what color you were, when they conquered you, if they didn't destroy you or put you under some type of tribute, you were a slave to the nation. That's the world that they lived in. The first slaves, by the way, just for historical context, did not come out of Africa, they came out of Eastern Europe. They were Slavs, thus the word slaves. And you know who took them slaves? Folks from North Africa. Okay, based on modern historical interpretation, we would simply say that was Turnabout's fair play. I mean, isn't that what they tell us? We're white today, and so we owe all the blacks who somewhere, ancestor, may possibly have been, at some point in time, a slave. We owe them something? Well, why don't we just turn that around? They took our parents slaves first. Bottom line is it was wrong, but what I'm telling you is that is the world they lived in. That was the world they came out of. And our founders in the early American history, they're struggling with their relationship to slavery because they believed the Bible, and they believed that all men were created equal, but the world they lived in, the world they moved forward in, economically, socially, that was part of life. That was a reality. By the way, it was Christians who were exploring internal Africa by the name of David Livington and others who really brought about a massive uproar about the practice of slavery. A white Christian Englishman that brought about the end of slavery. Okay, please mark down. I got to keep moving, but please know it wasn't an uproar in inner heartland Africa that said we're going to stop this trade. Nor was it from the white merchants and bankers of Europe and America. It was a white English missionary who knew God, who knew God's word, who loved people, irregardless of their color, who was burdened for the souls of men who were being slaughtered by the millions. By the way, they were not being slaughtered by American slave traders. It was the Muslim slave traders who were still trading in them today, historical context. But that was the world that America was founded in. And so this idea of liberty that was based on the biblical context of equality, of valuing man, why? Because they've been made in the image and likeness of God. That idea of freedom, it took root spiritually in America, and when it took root spiritually in America, its outgrowth was to impact our culture and our society and our government and everything around us because it was based on God's word. But Paul said there are enemies of the gospel. There are enemies of liberty. Secondly, I want you to see in chapter three quickly. I want you to see the importance, though, of the effectual working of the gospel. We've seen the enemies of the gospel, but the effectual working of the gospel in chapter three. Go down to verse number seven real quickly. There's certain elements I want you to understand about the gospel. He said, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel of Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations, all nations, not races, nations, shall all nations be blessed. The biblical perspective is nations. It's never races. We really, and I know it's just part of our culture, part of our vocabulary now, but it would be good for Christians to erase the race whole word from our vocabulary. It's nations and people. Oh, why not races? Because we're all part of the same one. We're not divided by races. We're all brothers and sisters genealogically from Father Noah. and Miss Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth. By the way, those boys were brothers, all right? With mom and dad on the boat with their wives, all right? They survived the flood. And from those three sons and their wives came all the peoples of the world. So go back far enough, it's not about, well, you're that, no, no, no, we're family, shut up, stop this. That wasn't a nice thing to say, but it felt good, all right? Stomp. Out of those families grew nations. Out of those families grew nations, not races. Some superior, no, out of those families grew nations. And those nations battled. Those nations fought among themselves for power, for supremacy, for gracing rights, for trade, for whatever. But they were nations and Jesus Christ came to save the world of which are made up all of these nations. And by the way, Paul, I love it. Remember I said, Paul learned the gospel for three years on the backside of the wilderness. But what was he studying? He was studying the Old Testament. Paul didn't pop on the scene with a new book and say, hey, I'm going to rewrite history. He pulled out the old book, the Old Testament. He said, listen, God's been telling you Jews and the Hebrew people. He said, God's been reaching the heathen through Abraham for generations. He just made it clear how in Christ. So when we preach faith, Paul would say, I'm not preaching something you haven't heard all your life. Because Abraham was the father of that faith. So what is the effect you're working in the gospel? It's faith. It's faith in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go down to verse 11. But no man is justified by the law on the side of God. It is evident for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, verse 12, but the man that doeth it shall live in him. Verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through what? Through faith. Okay, what is the effects of working in the gospel? Number one is salvation. It's redemption by grace through faith. Second, it's the indwelling Spirit of God. He says here we receive the promise of the Spirit in verse 14. Jump down in chapter 4 in verse number 7. He says, Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. In other words, there's a new birth. We become a son of God. We become. a son of God, upon faith in Christ as our Savior. We're not born, humanly speaking, a son of God. We're born physically a servant of sin and self, condemned. But when we put our faith and trust in Christ, as we see in Father Abraham, we become not only a spirit-filled individual, but we become a son of God, and we're free. We're free. You see, the enemies of the gospel and liberty, the effectual working of the gospel. I love sonship. Again, think about American history. The sonship for believers. In the house, there's equality. Now, there may be favorites, but that's not very a good thing to do in a house. You have favorites, you read the book of Genesis, that don't do it. But in the house, where your children reside, there's equality. And so in American history, there was equality in this sense. Even if you were a believer, you were part of God's creation. God made every man. Life, life, God made life. And so every life is important. You say, well, oh, I'll show you examples on other examples where man failed to meet that standard. The point is, the standard was there. Not that man always abided by the standard. Man's a fallen creature. What you're giving me is more evidence that the scripture is true. Because man is a sinner by nature, by birth, and by choice. Well, this person didn't do right. Yeah, you know why you know he didn't do right? Because the Bible is true. And it applies to everybody. Amen? It doesn't matter if you're stationed in life. There is an equality before God. We're all going to stand before God and give an account of ourselves. It doesn't matter if you're the president or the brood pusher. We're all gonna stand before God and give an account. And when we do, he don't care what your income was, because that's never in scripture. God's gonna judge your 401k. God's gonna judge your gross domestic product input into the culture. That's not what God looks at. God looks far beyond the outside when he looks to the inside. And he said, what did you do with my son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Did you put your faith and your trust in Him? Big, small, young moment. That's where it all starts. And so there was an equality. There was an equality. There's only three points, so rest easy. I'm into it. I'm into what to read. But there is the effectual working of the gospel in our lives. to bring liberty, to bring equality, no caste, no ruling class. That's why I love it, and I've gotta move on. In the church, in the true church, in other words, when I say the true church, I'm talking about a church that is organized based on scriptural precepts and principles. There is no caste system. I serve as your pastor. But my place is a place of service, not domination. Sure, I have to make decisions as a leader that lead the flock. What I teach, what I preach, how we move forward and those types of things. I get that. But it's not from a point of domination, it's a point of service. Totally different. And that was critical in American history. One of the reasons George Washington wouldn't serve for more than two terms is the politicians, and I know we've lost it. I get it, I get it. We're all about politics now, right? You know what a polly is, right? Many. You know what a tick is? It's a blood sucker. So, you know, I mean, I get it. Today, you know, we're all about politics. You know, multiplying people just want to be blood suckers, you know? You know, whatever. But in early American history, It was statesmanship. It wasn't so much about politics. It's about serving the people. You'll still hear people, and hopefully some are sincere, some are just giving lip service, but we're here to serve you. That was the American idea. We're here to serve for the good of the people. Where'd they get that idea from? That's biblical concept of leadership. That's a Jesus Christ concept of leadership. Yes, leadership has to lead. Okay? Leadership has to lead. Okay? Strong, biblical leadership will always lead. But in leading, it's always serving. And that's different. I want to give you another little tidbit of American history here. This one comes from Benjamin Rush. He was the signer of the Declaration of Independence. He's also considered the father of public education. He makes this statement. Where does this come from, this liberty? We know it's in Christ, we know it's in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but how as a culture can you infuse this concept of biblical liberty? How do you infuse it into a generation of people that they understand liberty and freedom and its responsibilities? He made this statement, again, as a sign of the Declaration of Independence, called the father of public schools. He said the only foundation for a republic is to be laid in religion. When I read that, I was thinking about the dear lady that I spoke to. Without this, there can be no virtue. You remove religion from any culture, you will never find virtue. If you remove religion, In fact, some places, if you have man-made religion, it's worse than anybody. Without this, there can be no virtue. Without virtue, there can be no liberty. And liberty is the object and life of all Republican governments. I know there's an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind because they're liable to be controverted. But let us not be wiser than our maker. If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted, has never been refuted. I mean, the vicarious life and death of the Son of God. Can you imagine a modern-day politician making that statement? This is one of the signs of the Declaration of Independence. The father of modern public education. I think we need to resurrect him and put him in charge again. Can I put it in simple form? He's simply saying, having kids read the Bible will never convert a kid. Teaching them moral laws will not make them a Christian. He said if that was the case, Christ died in vain. You cannot make a set of written rules and laws and everybody's just going to get converted and it's going to change their life. But what it does, it infuses into their minds and their hearts the truth that there is right and wrong. The truth that there is moral accountability and moral responsibility. And when you remove that moral underpinning, that's just part of their basic knowledge. What they do with that, how they apply that, whether they want to trust Christ as their Savior, whether they want to walk away from religion, quote-unquote, they have a foundational basis that is based on biblical truth. And when all our kids killing each other, we're screaming and crying about guns that have never killed anybody. It's the people who kill them. I love that. It's like a pencil failing a test. A pencil never fails a test. It's the instrument that the person uses. And yet we chafing the idea of putting the Ten Commandments on a wall. Have the Ten Commandments, then why are you complaining about people killing other people? Well, it's wrong. Who said it's wrong? That's forcing your religious view. Maybe their religion's about the way they are, and think killing is very justifiable. So if we're going for religious plurality, why don't we just open the door and just let everybody do what they want to do? That's not what liberty's founded on. American liberty is founded on biblical principles of truth. But remember, we've now had a few generations where that foundation's been removed. My parents' generation would have heard a devotional read over the loudspeaker each morning. Separation of church and state, oh, they need to be sent to Cuba or flogged, or both. That was never what separation of church and state was about, never, never, never, never, never. Separation of church and state was about what they do today. You can't preach that in the pulpit. That's a violation of separation of church. I can preach whatever I want to, whenever I want to, however I want to to my congregation. Well, then it's not right. That's not your business. That's mine. I'm a freedom-loving, God-fearing, Bible-believing American, and so I'm going to preach what thus saith the Word of God. Anybody who wants to stop that is in violation of the First Amendment. To put the Ten Commandments in a school, that's not a violation of the First Amendment. You're not forcing a kid to believe anything. You just put truth in front of it. even to read a devotion over the morning announcements. That was not a violation of separation of church. Kids can believe it or not, they're just giving them a bit of truth and hopefully it will help them in life. But now we've had generations never grew up in that. I stood in the eighth grade classroom before lunch, Mr. Anthony's class, and we'd line up along the wall and the chalkboard and say the Lord's Prayer before we went to eat lunch every day. I can promise you it didn't convert a lot of my classmates. I can vouch for them, Charlie. It didn't convert them. And it didn't hurt them, really. But they heard truth. They heard. But again, now a generation has been stripped of those truths, and we're losing our liberty. Daniel Webster said this, and I'm wrapping up. Eventually. I gotta hurry, man, I keep looking at that clock, Jay, you're gonna have to fix the clock. I mean, it's way, way off. I keep looking at the clock, I gotta look at my watch. Daniel Webster said this, if religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. Daniel Webster is considered one of the greatest orators in American history. He said, as truth be not diffused, error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his words will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every handlet speaking of the Word of God, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end. He went on to say of the founding fathers, the Bible came with them. And it is not to be doubted that to free and universal reading of the Bible in that age, men were much indebted for the right views of civil liberty. The Bible is a book of faith, a book of doctrine, a book of morals, and a book of religion, and special revelation from God. But it is also a book which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man. Finally we come to chapter 5 and verse 1 and I'll give you a couple of thoughts and I'm done. We've seen the enemies of the gospel, we've seen the effectual working of the gospel, but we see here the exhortation regarding the gospel. He said, stand fast therefore in the liberty put with Christ that made us free. Knowing there are enemies of the gospel church, there's got to always be a generation that stands for the gospel, that stands for liberty, that stands for truth. In the church, we stand for the unadulterated gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a nation, we have to stand for the unadulterated liberty that is found in our nation, in our nation's founding. What are we standing fast in? In the liberty, he says, wherewith Christ hath made us free. Why do we do that? Because we want to avoid the bondage. Notice he says at the end of verse one, they want us to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. They want to tell you what car you can drive, how you can drive it, and what kind it must be. They want to tell you what you can eat, when you can eat, where you can eat, and how you can eat. They want to tell you how you can buy and sell. They want to tell you how your children must be educated because they're God and they know. What are they trying to do? They're trying to rob and rape us of our liberty and bring us under the yoke of bondage. Spiritually speaking, that's adding the law to grace. In the terms of the gospel and salvation, it's adding worse to what Christ has already done. You cannot add to God's perfection. You cannot add to Christ's holiness. You cannot add to the sinless blood of Christ for your salvation. It is completely done in Him as a nation. Our liberty is founded in Christ and in the Word of God. Biblical principles of truth. But if you remove those principles of equality before God, accountability to God, responsibility to God and to one another in how we conduct our lives, we become a licentious, loose-living group of individuals who live to gain our own and to fulfill our own lust. You heard the quote this week. You heard the chant in New York City. We're here. We're queer. We're coming for your kids. There was a generation of Americans who understood liberty and understood the price and importance of liberty that would have put a real quick stop to that parade. And whatever means it took to stop the parade. Because they'd have said, they're not your kids, they're my kids, and you touch my kids, you would have a bad, bad day. In fact, you're gonna have a long, long eternity in a really bad, bad place. Because if you come after my kids, you're going there as fast as I get there. But now as a nation, we celebrate a month of that madness. We have an Independence Day. We have a Memorial Day. We have a Veterans Day. We have a pride. It is the deaths of depravity. Any decent human being anywhere on the planet who can watch that and not be stirred in some way in repulsion is messed up. But liberty is something we must defend. Spiritually, dogmatically, from the word of God. As an American, standing fast and not fearing. You say, but preacher, what if they come? Listen, tyrants always come. Tyrants always seek to destroy. Tyrants have always sought to intimidate. That's how tyrants work. Tyrants would march around this building. Tyrants would flood the internet with vile, wicked things about this little bitty congregation if they thought we were in the least bit in opposition to them were a problem. That's the activity of a tyrant. I'm not gonna go boycott them. I'm just gonna stand and tell the truth and let them deal with it. And if it's not the truth, show me. But there has to be a generation that will stand fast for the liberty. I told you it's gonna be done. This is number two I'm gonna be done. We stand fast in the liberty. We've got to avoid the bondage of the law. He calls it a yoke in verse 1. He says in verse 3, we're a debtor if we fall under that bondage again. And then in verse 4, if we fall spiritually, speaking of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we fall back under that law, then we've fallen from grace. He says, avoid the bondage of the law, avoid the bondage of licentiousness, verse 13 through 18. Licentiousness is just a really big, long word that means loose, unbridled living, wicked living. He said, licentiousness deals with fulfilling the lust of the flesh that can only be overcome by the Spirit, verse 16, but will always be brought about through conflict, in verse 17. What is your goal? Look at verse 18. But if you be led in the Spirit, you're not under the law. Human history was marked by bondage, oppression, tyranny, conquering and to be conquered. That still goes on today. Yet in the American experiment, there was a passion to take the biblical principles of liberty, freedom of conscience, freedom to live and pursue life from a biblical foundation, accountability to God, personal responsibility to oneself and those around you, personal ownership of property, decisions, and the rewards and losses that go on with all of that. That was American liberty. Just as there were and are enemies to our liberty in Christ, there are enemies to our liberty as a nation. Sometimes they sneak in to spy out our liberty, as we see in chapter two and verse four. Sometimes they're false brethren who want to ultimately bring us into bondage, which simply means their authority. If there's any hope, it will be found in one of the cries, one of the many cries attributed to our founding fathers. That was the cry, no king, but King Jesus. In American liberty, until we get back to that foundation, no man's a king. No man's gonna be a king. Not in this country. We appoint our leaders. If you don't do what we ask, we don't bless you. You don't rule us, you serve us. If there's any hope, we'll have to get back to that cry. But the reality is this as a church, that must be our cry as well. Not politically, spiritually, no king, but King Jesus. Why? Because he's the only sustainer, the only savior, the only satisfier of men's souls. I was talking with Brent right before the service this morning. I said, man, I'd love to meet a certain individual we were talking. And he said, well, I don't know about that. And a gentleman. And I said, well, that's the kind of people I love to talk to. When they're not church goers. I wonder if they'd be interested in going to church. I said, but that's who I love to talk to. Because that's who Jesus died for. He not only died for us big, shining, polished, who think they've got it all together, but he died for those who were hurting, who were lonely, who were trying to fill the void of spiritual emptiness with everything in life other than Christ. I love to talk to those people. Why? Because I have the answer. And it's found in Christ and the liberty we have in Him. Paul said, and I exhort us all this morning, stand fast in the liberty wherein we stand. Let's pray. Father, we love You. We thank You and praise You for this day. We thank You for Your truth in this Word. We thank You for its power. God, how I need You. I need Your strength. I need Your wisdom. I need Your grace each day. Father, because there is a warfare between the flesh and the spirit, between the carnal and the spiritual. There is a warfare in the world that we live in. Even beyond the spiritual liberty that we have in Christ to our national liberty we have as a nation. Father, we've robbed a generation of truth. We've robbed a generation of scripture. We've robbed a generation of the very principles that undergird our republic. Father, we're finding a generation that is wandering aimlessly, grasping onto the bondage and the tyranny that this nation was founded to avoid and to prevent. And Lord, there must be a generation that knows and stands for the foundational principles of our liberty as a nation. And so, Father, help us. Give us wisdom, give us boldness, give us courage.