we've been doing a Wednesday night series on a back to the basics Bible study and we've touched on a lot of different topics a lot of different things and you know one the area that we're gonna touch on tonight I wanna try to help you with last Tuesday night preach to you about just staying faithful and how to increase your faith and listen our faith needs to be increased and we need to have more faith But Galatians chapter number five and verse number 13 says this, for brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. I'm gonna preach to you on the topic tonight, liberty in Christ. Liberty in Christ. Let's pray, Lord, we love you. Thank you for the day that you've given to us. Thank you for the opportunity we have to be in your word this evening. Lord, I ask you please to be with this message. I pray that you use it to speak to hearts. Thank you for the Brown family and their willingness to go to Turkey. Lord, I pray that you'll bless them and help them in their work. Lord, I pray that you'll just be with this lesson tonight. Lord, would you show us your truth from the Bible. Lord, may we find your truth and cling to it. Lord, we just thank you and praise you for all that you've done in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, since all my sins are forgiven, am I free to do as I please? A lot of people think that once you get saved, that it doesn't matter what actions you do. It doesn't matter what you want to do. You can do whatever you want to do because all of your sins, past, present, and future are under the blood of Christ. Therefore, you're sinless in the eyes of God. And they think that because they have been given liberty, that they can just live life the way they want to live it. Well, the fact of the matter is that the life that you now live, if you're saved, is not your life to live for you. The Bible says you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. which are God's. The New Testament is very clear that we are saved by grace through faith. There's not the law that saved us. The law could not save us. Our deeds don't save us. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. However, many people take this as the opportunity to sin, thinking that they're free to do as they wish. Well, that's not what the Bible teaches. In this lesson tonight that I'm gonna teach to you, I'm gonna try to help you to understand what our responsibilities are in Christ and what we need to do with our lives in relation to the actions as a child of God. So I'm gonna teach you about what liberty in Christ really means. It does not mean you can go out and live life the way you wanna live it, act the way you wanna act, do like you wanna do, and God's okay with that. Unless the way that you're acting and the way that you're doing are God's way, then it's okay. But if it's not God's way, if it's just the way of the world, then it's not okay. And we'll talk about these things here tonight. Firstly, there's a question that's asked, says, when we get saved, are we free from the bondage of sin to live life how we live it? No, when we get saved, we are free from the bondage of sin so that we can serve God. That's why we're free from the bondage of sin. I want you to look at Romans chapter number 8 Romans chapter number 8 just so you don't want to take my word for it I want you to look at the Bible and see what the Bible has to say Romans chapter number 8 Verse number one and two, the Bible says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made us free from the law of sin and death. Now understand something when it says, There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, You understand from the day that we were physically born on this earth, we were condemned to die, to go to a place called hell, just like the missionary who's speaking tonight about these Turkish folks that have never heard anything about the gospel. When they were physically born into this earth, they were born condemned to die. But the Bible says that Christ came not into the world to condemn the world, because they were already condemned because of sin. And when you and I were born, we were born condemned on our way to hell. We were in the bondage of sin. And when by faith in Jesus Christ, we by faith accepted the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood was applied to our account because he conquered death. He offers life and we freely accept that as our accept him as our savior. That condemnation that would send us to hell is forgiven. That's what it's talking about. That bondage that separates us from heaven is then taken away because the blood of Christ has been applied to it. But it is not making us free to live how we want to live and to say there is no condemnation so we can do whatever we want to do. That's a false teaching. We are freed so that we can serve God, not so that we can live life the way we want to live it. Acts 8 verse 21, look there as well. The Bible says this, because the creature itself also be delivered from bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. God listen we have liberty in Christ not so that we can live life how we decide we want to live it But that we can live life for Christ if we were bound in sin guess what we could not serve God The way we're supposed to serve God Because, excuse me, we would be a dirty vessel. We would be a vessel that is tainted at that point. God wants to use a clean vessel. He talks about the washing of the water of the word. And I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'm just trying to explain some things to you tonight about what liberty in Christ means. Look at Romans chapter number six. Romans chapter number six. Verse 16 through verse 18. It says, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God bethanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. So being made free from sin, the Bible says, ye became the servants of righteousness. We are freed so that we can serve God. Also, I want you to understand that Christ, no man can serve two masters, the Bible says. You can't serve both. You can't be a child of God and serve Satan. You can't be a child of God and walk in the ways of the world and think that everything is going to be okay in the eyes of God. He said, love not the world, neither things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. Look at Matthew chapter number six. Matthew chapter number six. And we go through the Bible a lot on Wednesday nights. I want you to write down these scriptures. If you don't get a chance to turn to them, I at least want you to write them down and take note of it. You say, preacher, why do we go through all of these things? Because the Bible tells us to be ready to give an answer to every man according to those things that we believe. Why? Because you're going to come across people, and I'm going to come across people, but you're going to come across people that I may never know. And you're going to come across people that really, they don't know me. They don't know you. If I'm talking to them, they don't know you. Or you're talking to them, they don't know me. And you cannot give them the answer, well, my pastor said so. Because that's really not going to fly. When Brother Brown goes to Turkey, he's not going to be able to say, hey, you need to be saved because my mission board said so. They don't care about that. The Bible has authority. And in the world, even the Bible is respected as the authority for how Christians are supposed to live. And when we have liberty in Christ, look at Matthew 6 and verse number 24. Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 says this, no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Listen, Christ is a better master than sin. It is better to serve Christ than to serve sin. Why? Because no man can serve two masters. You cannot please our master, God the Father, if you're living for Satan, God of the world. You can't do it. So liberty in the Christian life does not allow you freedom from God to live the ways of the world. There's a lot of people, Brother Miller, that I know that go out and they live just like the world. They talk like the world, act like the world, drink like the world, smoke like the world, do all the stuff that the world has to do, dress like them. And then they come to church on Sunday morning and they say, hey, God's blessing me. Man, I'm telling you, life is wonderful. No, it's not. Sin is fun for a season but God whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and we're going to get there for a moment But the liberty that they have God gives us a free will to choose and we're going to talk about these things here in just a moment But I want you to understand it's not where you can go and have a license to sin That's not what liberty in Christ is teaching How does my freedom from sin affect me personally? Well, you are free to make your own choice God gives you that liberty to choose. Even from the day you were born, guess what? God gives you freedom to choose. There's not an elect group of people that God has just said, okay, this group of people is going to be saved and the rest of them are going to die and go to hell. No, he gives every man a free will to choose. And once you are saved and that blood has been applied, you now have the freedom to choose whether you're going to serve God or serve the world. This is how it affects you. You're free to make your own choice, but if you choose sin, you should be aware that there are consequences. There are consequences if you choose sin. Well, we already talked about whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and I'm gonna share that with you in a moment, but the first fruit that I want you to see takes place if you choose sin. Look at John chapter number 15. John chapter number 15. Starting in verse number one, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. Now that's a very powerful statement in verse four. Says abide in me and I in you as a branch see what it says cannot bear fruit of itself. I Can't take a branch off the tree throw it on the ground and expect it to grow Not going to happen. It's got to be attached to to the vine. It's got to be attached to the tree. Verse number 5, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. We heard the missionary say that tonight. Listen, if he goes in his own strength and his own power, God is not going to do a work in Turkey through him. But if he goes in the power of God, and he is just the branch, and he clings to the vine, fruit will be brought forth. Why? Because it says, he that goeth forth weepeth, bearing precious seed, will doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. See, he's going out there following the Lord Jesus Christ. But then, verse six, if he abide in me, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done with you. Herein is the Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so that ye be my disciples." Here's the first thing that happens if you choose sin rather than God is you will not bear fruit. You will not bear fruit. You'll be a dead branch that's withered up and dies and is just good for firewood. That's really all it's for. It says it's cast away. Listen, I don't know about you, but as a child of God, I don't want to be cast away from Him. I don't want to be cast away. Now listen, that doesn't mean you're cast away and lose your salvation, okay? You can't lose something that you don't keep. God keeps you, okay? But understand this, you're good for nothing. You're not doing what God has designed you to do. A branch really doesn't do anything as far as producing anything, unless it's attached to the vine. And he said, I am divine and ye are the branches. So you're free to make your own choices, but if you choose sin, you should be aware of the consequences. One, you'll not bear fruit. Secondly, God will chase in you as his child. God will chase in you as his child. Look at Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Well, a loving God wouldn't do that. I've heard people say that. A loving God would just let us do what we want to do. No, that's a careless God. Just like a careless parent that lets their kid do whatever they want to do instead of having consequences. That was free, a rabbit ran by, I had to shoot that one. Hebrews 12, starting in verse number 5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you He said, as unto children, my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Now, wait a second. You ought not to begrudge God his chastening. You say, why? Because whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Well, let me ask you this, child of God, does God love you? Yes, he does. So when you live contrary to the Father, guess what happens? He chastens his children. He chastens his children. If ye endure chastening, verse 7, God dealeth with you with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we have gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? for they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers of what? His holiness. So why is it important for the chastening of God? Our theme this year has been, we're called the holiness. The fact of the matter is when you get away from God, the chastening hand of the Lord is not because God sits up there and goes, oh, I wonder how much I can hurt this child. You know why he chastens us? Firstly, because he loves us. But secondly, for our profit that we may be a partaker of his holiness. He chastens us and corrects us to get us back on track to where we're supposed to be when we start living for the world. But you will be chastened. My dad's sitting in this room tonight. We have had many chastening moments. Mostly because it was my sister's fault. That's what I try to say. Okay, she's not here tonight, so I can blame it on her. The fact of the matter is, guess what, there was a lot of times I did wrong. And you know what, my dad never came to me and said, son, this is gonna hurt hurt me more than it hurt or hurt you more than it hurts me. It really did hurt him. And I knew it hurt him. I've seen him cry because he had to discipline me. And guess what? The Lord does that too. But he did it because he knew that I had to stay in line. If he left me to myself, I'd bring my mother and father to shame. And that's what God understands. Listen, God created everything. God is the one that instituted it all. But if you, even though you have freedom to make your own choices, if you choose sin, you will not bear fruit and you will be chastened of the Father. Now, listen, I'm not saying go do wrong because you're saying, well, I just want the Lord to chasten me. That's foolish. Okay, that's foolish. I'd rather have him say, well done. Thou good and faithful servant, you know what I knew my dad loved me when he chased me But I didn't try to do wrong because I didn't like those moments Okay, I didn't enjoy them very much In fact, I didn't enjoy them at all There was a very hard moments at those times. I was begging for the rapture to take place in several times, okay? And the fact of the matter is this, though, now that I am a parent, now that I am a father, and I look at how my father disciplined me physically, I think I know why he did what he did, and I'm grateful for it, and we have a great relationship, why? Because whom the father loveth, chastened. And listen, God will chase him, his children. God will also allow you to reap what you have sown. He'll allow you to reap what you've sown. Some people say, well, I can't believe God would let this happen to me. And you're out there sowing your wild oats, living the way you wanna live. Well, God, I thought you loved me. Why are you letting all this bad stuff happen to me? Look at Galatians chapter number six. Galatians chapter number six. Look at verse 7. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Listen, what you sow, you will reap. You sow to the flesh, you have the flesh reap corruption. Listen, God will chase and You're free to make your own choices. But if you choose sin, there will be consequences. And listen, God will get the glory from your life one way or another. Either as a vessel of honor or as a vessel of dishonor, the choice is yours. But God's gonna get the glory. You say, where's that at? 2 Timothy 2, verse 20 and 21. You can look it up for yourself there. But listen, God's gonna get the glory. You're his child. He's gonna get the glory whether he brings you back whether you're a child of honor child of dishonor. Guess what? You're going he's gonna get the glory out of your life Now he won't be glorified in your life because you're living contrary to him But he will get the glory one way or another either you're gonna be home with him Fellowship and with him because he takes you home just because he's had enough Or you're gonna submit to his discipline and guess what? He's gonna get the glory out of it So when we get saved, we're free from the bondage of sin so that we can serve God. Our freedom from sin affects us personally by, we are gonna have consequences for our actions, God's gonna get the glory out of it. But how does my freedom from sin not only affect me, how does it affect those around me? See, because you understand, your sinful actions don't just affect you. They affect others around you. Brother Doug, that's a very interesting principle, isn't it? Reformers unanimous is a Bible based discipleship program that helps people find victory over Addictions and most of the time we sit in church and when we hear about that program, here's what we think Well, I'm not addicted to drugs. I'm not addicted to alcohol. I'm not a drink addicted to this I'm gonna do this. Let me explain this to you. Every sinful habit is addicted Every simple habit is addicted. That means anger That means lust That means laziness. All of that is sinful. And the fact of the matter is, we all have to find out how to help us and our actions affect us. Guess what? If I'm lazy, it affects my family. If I'm a drunkard, it affects those around me. When I was a police officer, there were several times that I had to go and knock on the door of family members that lost a loved one because somebody else decided to take a drink one night. That person driving home that was sober, that did nothing wrong that evening, they suffered the consequences. Their family suffered the consequences. All of those things, those people suffered. Did they do anything wrong? No. But your sinful habits, your sinful actions do affect those around you. Listen, your life will be a testimony for good or bad, whether you want it to be or not. Look at Romans chapter number 14. Romans chapter number 14. Verse 7 says this, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. You know what that means? You're going to affect at least one person in your life. Everybody is. No man lives to himself, no man dies to himself. Everybody affects somebody. Everybody does, whether you want to or not. You are to avoid things which would cause a weaker Christian to stumble in their faith. Look at Romans 14 where we're at. Look at verse 13. down to verse 15 let us not therefore judge one another anymore but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself but to him that esteem of anything to be unclean to him it is unclean but if thy brother be grieved with thy meat Now walkest thou not charitably? Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died." What that means is, is eating meat bad? No. But if somebody is offended by that, guess what? You probably ought not to do it. Now listen, on the other hand, there's a world out there that is offended by the things of God. That doesn't mean that we don't talk about the things of God because they're offended. What it's saying is a brother. He's talking to the church here as well. And he's saying, listen, if something, if there's something in a brother, one of your, let me give an illustration. Maybe you have somebody in the church that they don't watch certain movies. They don't watch TV. They don't do that. They come to your house and they ask you, hey, would you turn that off? You say, it's my house. I ain't gonna turn that off. That can be a stumbling block to them as a brother in Christ. Is it wrong for you to have a television? No. Could it even be a good program? Yes. But if it's a stumbling block, we ought not do it. Why? Because it affects other people. We affect others. And we shouldn't do something that's going to cause them to stumble. You are to avoid things which appear wrong, even though they may not be wrong. We saw that. And I want you to understand, there may be some things that aren't wrong, but they might appear wrong. You say, what's that mean? I've seen times, and when I was a youth pastor, he was a youth pastor, there was times, brothers and sisters, I know they're close sometimes, things like this, but guess what? I wouldn't let the boys in our youth group put their arm around the girls in our youth group, even if it was their sister. They say, why? Because a visitor doesn't know that's their sister. And you know what it did? Was it wrong for that brother to hug his sister? No. But could it be wrong and teach them a wrong thing? Sure it could. It could teach them not to keep their hands to theirself. And they need to. See, they're saying sometimes that we have, and some people say, well, that's a stupid rule. It's not so stupid when it's your daughter that some guy's putting his arm around. Listen, I was just thinking about that today. I was thinking, man, I've got three girls. God help that young man. I'm telling you that comes by because I'm gonna have to have prayer big time because my dad He loves my daughters. He's gonna be there. I'm gonna be around the fact the matter is some poor soul Gonna come up to me. My cousin Jason's going through this you guys know my cousin Jason his daughter Brooks at college the young man that she's very close with they're friends and now they're a little more than friends and he came to visit talked with my cousin Jason I was talking to Jason Jason said brother Miller he told me this he said I hate the kid I said why do you hate him he said because there's nothing to hate him about I said what do you mean he said he's godly he works hard he's respectful say He's a good young man, but I hate him. I said, why do you hate him? He goes, because I can't say he can't date my daughter because there's no reason for me to tell him no. But see, the fact of the matter is, we have rules that may not make sense sometimes to other people. We're trying not to be stumbling blocks to others. That's liberty. We have to understand some of these things. You're to have a good testimony with saved people and with lost people. Look at Romans 14 verse 18. For he that is in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. Now listen, we ought not to live our life just so we can be men pleasers. Because the Bible says we ought not to serve God so that men are pleased with us. We have to do it so God is pleased with us. But the fact of the matter is I want God to be pleased with my life and I want to have a good testimony amongst those around me. You know, it's sad if you have a false testimony, a testimony, Brother Miller, that others around you may think you've got it all figured out. You're a godly person, but God knows the heart. And you can live contrary to God. The Bible says there's men that honor him with their mouth, but their hearts are far from him. Listen, we have to have a good testimony with God and a good testimony with those that are around us. Well, now that we're free from sin, we should build up walls of separation to keep us free from the bondage of sin. You say, what's that mean? We are free from hell when we got saved. Everybody agrees with that, right? The blood of Jesus Christ paid for it forever, sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. But you're not free from the bondage of sin. You say, what do you mean? You're still made of flesh. You're still going to sin. You're not free from that bondage of sin. There still can be a stranglehold of sin on your life if you're a child of God. So what should we do? We should make some preparation for that. You know what we ought not to do is just walk around like this, like nothing's ever gonna happen. We have to put up guards. The Bible says that we're supposed to be sober, be vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. Listen, we have to walk around being prepared, putting up walls of separation. Look at Psalm 119. Psalm 119. Verse 45 says, and I will walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts. It says, I will walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts. Now listen, you're supposed to avoid those things that are wrong. You have to have a good testimony with the Lord. But now that you're free from the bondage of sin, we have to put up walls. We stay free from sin when we allow God's commandment of separation to be part of our life. when we implement God's plan into how a Christian should live. Not just being a hearer of the Word, but a doer of the Word. A doer of the Word. We have to allow God's commandment, follow God's commandments of separation. The key to staying free from sin is to avoid the circumstances in which we sin. What's that mean? Don't go to the place where you struggle. Put up guards. Psalm 1. I keep referring to R.U., but it makes so much sense. It says, Psalm 1, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. What's that mean? Don't go to the place where bad things are taking place. Don't be around the wrong kind of people. Don't be around the things that cause you to stumble, that cause you to fall. Listen, if you have a problem with pornography, don't get on the internet. If you have a problem with anger, try to get verses that help you to stay calm. Talk about, remember the Bible, soft answer, turn the way, wrath. A grievous word, stir up anger. If you have a problem with drinking, don't go to the bar. Have somebody that you're accountable to. If you have a problem with smoking, try to be accountable to somebody. Do something to build walls in your life to stop you from sinning. Don't think, well, all I got to do is just say, God, I'm sorry, and he'll forgive me, and then that's it. I can go on living how I want to live, and I'll say I'm sorry tomorrow, and I'll say I'm sorry tomorrow. No, that is not true repentance. True repentance is a turning away from building up walls. If you read through the book of Joshua, when the nation of Israel got into the promised land, there were some borders and some boundaries that God placed in their life, said, these are the boundaries that are around you. Why? Because the world's on that side. Egypt's out there. You're not supposed to go out there. You're supposed to stay in these boundaries that I've given to you. So we have to put up some boundaries in our life. We have to have some walls built up so that we can help stay free from the bondage of sin. Scripture tells us that there are standards and walls of separation that help us to stay free from sin. When he tells us, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father's not in him. Then he gives you some educating information. For all that is in the world. He says first off don't go into the world, but you got to be able to identify it For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life What he's saying is here. I'm gonna help you to identify I'm gonna tell you what not to do, but i'm gonna show you what to identify so you can be aware of it You can be aware of it when it's coming around There's some standards and some separation in our life that we need to have in our life. Why? Because it helps us to stay free from the bondage of sin. See, when someone's in bondage, they're not free to do as they wanna do. See, liberty is a freeing thing that God gives us. When you walk in the liberty of Christ, it's free. You're not bound by cords of sin. You have a direct connection with God. But you know, the Bible says, he that refuses to hear my word, even his prayer is an abomination. I don't want to be praying and have God say, I will not hear you because you have iniquity in your heart, because you're trying to live for the world and live for me. No man can serve two masters. God doesn't want a bunch of fence straddlers. God wants you to be all the way in or all the way out. He would that you were cold or hot. Listen, liberty is not where you can just live how you want to live. Now, God gives you the free will to choose, and you can choose to live how you want to live. But if you do, you're not going to bear fruit. There's going to be consequences for your actions. The Lord's going to chase you. The Lord's going to chase you. Your sin will affect those around you. My mind goes to Aitken when I think of that. They were told not to touch anything. When the walls of Jericho fell, just go and destroy them and leave. When Achan goes in he sees that wedge of gold and that Babylonian garment and he coveted those things which were of the world and he took them and he buried them in his tent and the Bible did not say that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Achan. It said the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And then they go up against a little army of Ai and 36 men lost their lives because of Achan's sin. comrades maybe that he sat around the fire with lost their lives because of sin and then God reveals to Joshua what it was and Achan his family everything was brought out burned stoned to try to purify the nation of Israel you say that was a little harsh don't you think Don't you think God was a little hard on the nation of Israel? No, God is a just God. God could have sent every one of us to hell. God could have never sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to die on the cross. God could have never made a way of salvation for those even before the cross. They still had to get saved the same way you and I do, by faith in Jesus and what he was going to do on the cross. That's what the sacrifice of the Lamb was showing, that they were Making a sacrifice as atonement for their sin But when the Lamb of God was taken away the sin of the world died on the cross We don't have to do that anymore. God was would have been just just to send us all to hell So don't say well God's too hard on me The fact the matter is you could be burning in hell right now But God is good we need to put up some walls around us to help us to stay in that communication with God But how do I know where to exercise standards of separation? There are some gray areas in dealing with certain areas in Christian living. What we need to remember is that there's no gray area with God. God doesn't have gray areas. It is our responsibility to make sure that what we do is in accordance with this book. We have to make sure that how we live is black and white in scripture. You say, well, I don't agree with everything that other people agree with. Here's what you need to agree on. This. This is the standard of everything. We're an independent Baptist church. What's that mean? Our sole authority of everything that we do is based upon this book. It's not based upon a committee. It's not based upon a deacon board. It's not based upon a Sunday school teacher or even a pastor. It's based upon scripture. This is the foundation of everything. The foundation of everything. We need to have the word of God. There's no gray areas. So there's some things that we need to ask ourselves. Am I being brought under the power of something that should not be controlling my life? How do I know? Here's a good litmus test, and I'll give you these questions quickly. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number six. 1 Corinthians chapter number six. If you want to know, there's people say, well, preacher, how do I know if the music that I'm listening to is good? How do I know if the people I'm hanging around is good? How do I know if the things that I'm being influenced by are right? Here's some questions that you can ask. Am I being brought under the power of something that should not be controlling my life? 1 Corinthians chapter number six. And verse number 12 says this, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. What he's saying is if the music is affecting my spirit and it's honoring God, then praise the Lord. But if it's honoring my flesh and just motivating me, guess what? It's wrong. It's wrong. Am I being brought under the power of something that I should not be allowing to control my life? Secondly, am I edifying myself or others? Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 10. 1 Corinthians chapter number 10. Verse 23, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. all things edify not listen am I edifying myself or am I edifying others guess what you're not supposed to try to edify yourself and lift yourself up if the things that you're doing are there to edify you listen you're not supposed to do that you're supposed to edify others try to build others up but we're very good at looking inwardly at us I I I I I but it's not about us Thirdly, can I ask God to bless what I'm doing with a clear conscience? Can I ask God to bless what I'm doing with a clear conscience? Look at Colossians. Colossians chapter three. Verse 17, and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of yourself. Is that what the Bible says? Do all that makes you feel good. No, and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Can I ask God to bless what I'm doing with a clear conscience? If you're going out there and your lifestyle, the thing that you're watching, the thing that you're listening to, the thing that you're saying, the place that you're going, the people you're around, can you ask God to bless that with a clear conscience? Because guess what? If you're saved, his spirit's going to bear witness and you're not going to be able to ask with a clear conscience for God to bless it when you're guzzling down them booze. You're not going to be asked God to bless it with a clear conscience when you're clicking on the internet something that you shouldn't be watching. You're not going to be able to yell at somebody on Facebook and ask God to bless it. You're not going to be able to do it. You're not going to be able to gossip about somebody in the church and then say, God, please bless that gossip. Guess what? The Holy Spirit's going to smite you right away. You can't ask God to bless it with a clear conscience. You shouldn't do it. If the Lord returned at this moment, would I be ashamed? If the Lord, by the way, He could come at any moment. No man knoweth the day or the hour when the Son of Man cometh. He could come at any moment. If He came right in the middle of what you're doing, could you say, I'm not ashamed? Or would you have to hang your head in shame? Verses for that, 1 Corinthians 1.8, 1 Thessalonians 5.23, you can look at those. Next question, I could ask myself, would it cause my brother in Christ to stumble? Would it cause my brother in Christ to stumble? Romans 14, we already talked about that a little bit. Would my actions cause an unsaved person to reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior? Would my actions cause an unsaved person to reject the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior? Brother Miller, there's been times I've knocked on people's door and I've tried to give them the gospel. You know what they've said to me? I want none of that. I'll say, man, aren't you concerned about your eternity? Say, yeah, but I don't believe in that stuff. The guy lives right next door to me. He said he goes to church every Sunday, and I heard him cuss the mailman out the other day. Listen, you think your actions, people aren't watching you? You need to ask, if you can ask this question, is what I'm doing now, would it cause a lost person? to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to stand with their blood on my hands because the actions that I'm doing are causing them to reject the Lord. I want to live in such a way, let my light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. You understand, we are examples to the world. I used to, Brother Brown, I used to get upset when people would say something, their statement used to just gaw at me. They say, I don't come to church because there's hypocrites at church. And man, I used to go, There's hypocrites at Walmart, but you still go there. But God showed me something. The world expects hypocrites at Walmart. That's the world. They expect hypocrites out there. But when they think of the church, Brother Doug, they expect you to live differently. Oh, they may criticize what you do. They may not like how you do it, but they do expect you to live your belief. They expect it. If you don't, go to your neighbor and ask your neighbor who's lost or find a lost person, go to them and say, how should a Christian act? Guess what? They have more sense about how a Christian should act sometimes than Christians do. They'll tell you, well, they're supposed to go to church and they're supposed to not say bad things and go to bad places. And listen, they know that. But are your actions causing lost people to not want what you have? not want Jesus Christ as their Savior. You say, how do I know if what I'm doing is right? Is it going to cause a lost person to reject the Lord Jesus? Does my conscience condemn me for it? You say, what do you mean? If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you. You do something wrong, guess what? He's going to let you know that you did something wrong. He's going to let you know about it. And that conscience inside of you that God made, guess what? It'll gall at you. and go at you and go at you. Does my conscience condemn me for it? Listen, we need to make sure that we're doing what God says to do, not for our glory, but to draw men unto God. That's the purpose. Liberty in Christ is for this reason, that we can serve him with a clear conscience. We can serve him to draw others to him. That's what the liberty from the bondage of sin is all about. There's some questions that people have asked. Am I a legalist for having standards and exercising separation? I've had people label me as a legalist because of some standards and separation that I have. A legalist is someone who adds works to salvation. It has nothing to do with the issues of standards of separation even though some would like to think so, a legalist or legalism saying you have to do this and add this to salvation. There's a legal way for you to do this. Listen, we're not legalist or guilty of violating scripture when you have standards, because the Bible says that we're supposed to come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, he says, and I will receive you. God expects his children to live wholly and righteously and godly in this present world. He says this, be ye holy, for I am holy. God is not gonna tell you to do something that will make you a legalist or make you into something that you should not be. God is right, God is just, God is wholesome, and liberty in Christ is not for you to have a license to live life the way you think it ought to be lived. It's a license for you to live this book. That's what liberty in Christ is all about. So next time somebody says, well, hey, I'm in Christ. That means I'm a new creature. Old things are passed away. I can live life how I want to live it, do what I want to do. Remind them they're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in their body and in their spirit, which are God's. And understand this, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, that you're not going to bear fruit. And you're no more than a dead tree or a dead branch. And what do most of us do with dead branches? We burn them, grind them up. Get rid of them. They're really not good for anything. In an apple orchard, if an apple tree's not bearing fruit, guess what they do with it? They cut it down. They get rid of it. Why? Because bad apples spoil good apples. Listen, you need to be careful how you live as a child of God. Why? Because your actions affect others. They affect others. Mom, Dad, guess what? It's very important for you not just to live godly in church, Do you want to live godly at home? Why? Because your kids see how you live at home and they see how you live at church. And there's people, Brother Jason, that aren't in church right now because they watch their mom and dad live double lives growing up. The Bible says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Listen, we need to just let God be true and every man alive. Take the word of God, apply it to your life. Don't be one of those people that say, don't do as I do, do as I say. That wouldn't fly. As a pastor, it wouldn't fly to the church if I said, oh, don't do as I do, do as I say. Wouldn't fly. You know what leadership is? It's hey, come where I'm going. Come with me. Work with me in doing this. Not you go do this, I'm gonna sit here and do something contrary. Mom, dad, you can't tell your kids, listen to the right music, and you're listening to the wrong music. You can't tell them, don't smoke, and you're smoking. You can't tell them, don't drink, and you're drinking. You can't watch bad movies, but when you go to bed, I'm going to. They know. They know. Liberty does not give you liberty to do what you want to do and live how you want to live. Liberty gives you freedom to serve God with a clear conscience and be free from the bondage of sin in your life. Head about eyes closed, nobody looking around this evening. Just us.