Monthly Archives: March 2012

Use Your Liberty Wisely

Wednesday Evening Sermons

Galatians 5:13-18
Preached Wednesday Evening March 21, 2012

Introduction:

Like a bird out of prison
That has taken its flight;
Like a blind man that God
Gave back his sight.
Like a poor wretched beggar
That’s found fortune and fame,
I’m so glad that I found out
He could bring me out
And show me the way

Thank God I am free, free, free
From this world of sin.
I’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus,
I’ve been born again.
Hallelujah, I’m saved, saved, saved
By His wonderful grace.
I’m so glad that I found out
He could bring me out
And show me the way.

We sing this great gospel song. Glory to God I am no longer a slave! The Blood of Jesus has loosed the chains of sin, broken the fetters of guilt, and opened the prison of dead works. I am free! The Apostle Paul has been clearly preaching the freedom of anyone who has received the Gospel. Paul has been warning of those who would seek to entangle you again to try to merit favor through works, rules, and ritual. You don’t have to be bound by that, you are free! You do not have to keep the Old Testament dietary laws, you are free! You don’t have to be circumcised or keep the Sabbath, you are free!

Ok, so I am free, what am I supposed to do with this freedom? Last week we learned that Satan is a wrestler who tries to get you off balance. If he cannot push you, he will push you, waiting for you to push back, then he will pull you in a different direction, but off the mark none the less. We started to discuss this strategy last week. Perhaps Satan would try to enslave you into a works mentality, a legalistic approach to your Christian life. If you resist, now he will step aside and let you go into a completely opposite direction, license.

We must be vigilant as believers and keep out attitudes and actions in check. We must steer clear of the slavery of legalism while avoiding the pitfall of license. In our passage this evening Paul gives some very clear instructions about avoiding this latter problem. You see, Satan hates your liberty and wants to move you from it into some kind of slavery. Tonight we are going to see what we are to do with our freedom. We will see how we can use our liberty wisely.

I. Do not squander your liberty on your flesh.
Galatians 5:13 (AV)
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

A. “Brethren” – this message is to fellow believers

B. As a believer you are called to liberty

1. We have been warned to guard that liberty
2. We have been extensively warned about those who would change the gospel, adding something to either obtain or maintain salvation.

C. “Only” – Paul is putting a qualifier on this freedom, a warning about Satan’s push/ pull wrestling style. Freedom from the law should not make you lawless.

D. “Occasion” = military term referring to a base of operations, a springboard or launching pad.

E. Flesh = unchecked affections and passions reflecting a “me first” attitude.

1 John 2:15–16 (AV)
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1. Lust of the flesh – physical desires
2. Lust of the eyes – fantasy, covetousness
3. Pride of life – self promotion

? Liberty + Love = service to others
? Liberty – Love = slavery to sin.

John 8:34 (AV)
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
II. Use your liberty to fulfill the Spirit of the Law
Galatians 5:13–15 (AV)
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
A. “But” alla- strong contrasting connective – the opposite of using your liberty as a launching pad for your fleshly desires it to use it to serve one another selflessly.

B. “Serve” douleo = serve as a slave, no room for self promotion

C. “Love” agape = highest form of selfless, Godly love.

D. To choose to selflessly love is to continue in the freedom you have been given.
Romans 6:1 (AV)
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Romans 6:15 (AV)
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
E. To selflessly love is to fulfill the law.
Romans 13:8–14 (AV)
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

F. Are you here primarily to be ministered to or to minister?

1. “Bite and Devour, Consume” = words used in classical Greek depicting wild animals in a life and death struggle.
2. Consume = spend wastefully, use up

III. Use your Liberty to walk after the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16–18 (AV)
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
A. “This I say then” = concluding connective. Paul is summing it all up by telling us the best way to use our liberty wisely.

B. Walk in the Spirit

1. Walk = day by day decisions to obey the Spirit of the law which is to love others – constantly choosing to serve others above yourself. It is a day to day renewal.

2. It is impossible to fulfill the desires of the Spirit and the desires of your flesh at the same time.

3. If you seek to fulfill the desires of the Spirit, the desires of the flesh will be weakened and rendered powerless.

Romans 12:2 (AV)
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
C. It takes constant effort to walk after the Spirit because the Flesh and Spirit are at war with each other.
1. The inner conflict is actually an evidence of your salvation. With no Spirit, there would be no conflict.
2. It is your choice as to which one you will choose to obey at any given moment.
D. This is your freedom. You are no longer enslaved to the law, you are free to choose to follow the Spirit or to voluntarily enslave yourself back to your flesh.
Romans 6:11–14 (AV)
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Conclusion:
Satan is subtle. On the one hand he can get us to think that we need to do something to obtain or maintain salvation. On the other hand he can get us to use the freedom we have selfishly. I am free! I don’t have to quit smoking… so you become a slave of tobacco, no longer free. I am free! I don’t have to do any more ministry in church. Other people have to pick up the slack, and you have ignored the calling of the Holy Spirit only to be a slave to the selfish pursuit of your own leisure.
It is no accident you are here tonight. You needed this message. It is no accident that this message dove tails with Sunday Morning’s message, although I did not know it would when I preached Sunday’s message. God the Holy Spirit wants you to be free, but not to waste your freedom by using it as a launching pad to pamper your flesh. If God has put His finger on an area of your life, get it right before we continue in our prayer service. If you are a Born Again Christian, you are free! Use that liberty wisely.

An Excellent Spirit

Sunday Evening Sermons

Daniel 6:1-28
Preached Sunday March 3, 2012

Introduction:

Every once and a while, a believer emerges onto the scene who has an unusual disposition. This believer is plugged into the power of God and has deep roots of integrity. Because of that excellent spirit, he will be promoted and trusted. Because of that excellent spirit, he will be envied and attacked. This believer will respond to this attack like he has in the past, with unchanging conviction and practice.

Tonight we are going to study an old hero of the faith, Daniel. He is no longer a kid taking a stand over his diet. He is now a servant in the King’s court who has lived through three different monarchs. Tonight we will see why God trusted him with a great amount of revelation regarding future events. As we study this story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, we will find that Daniel had an excellent spirit.

I. An Excellent Spirit Can Be Trusted

Daniel 6:1–3 (AV)
1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
A. Daniel was the top man in the kingdom.

1. 120 over the Kingdom
2. 3 Presidents over the 120
3. 1 over all these – Daniel
B. Trusted with secrets

Proverbs 11:13 (AV)
13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
C. A rare find
Proverbs 20:6 (AV)
6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
D. Trusted with truth
Proverbs 14:5 (AV)
5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
E. Trusted with relationships
Proverbs 6:19 (AV)
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
II. An Excellent Spirit will be Attacked Because of Envy
Daniel 6:4–9 (AV)
4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Proverbs 14:30 (AV)
30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
Proverbs 27:4 (AV)
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

A. Daniel was blameless when it came to any real dirt.
Philippians 2:14–15 (AV)
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
B. The enemy must work to manufacture some kind of dirt.
C. Often the enemy uses flattery to seduce people against the excellent spirit.

Proverbs 20:19 (AV)
19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

D. The enemy will use personal weaknesses to manipulate opinions against the excellent spirit.

1. Pride
2. Lust
3. Greed

III. An Excellent Spirit will be Consistent

A. Unashamed

Daniel 6:10–12 (AV)
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

B. Regular – even when evil appears to win

Daniel 6:13–15 (AV)
13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

Psalm 74:10 (AV)
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
C. There will be some unbelievers who really hope that there is reality behind the excellent spirit.

Daniel 6:16–20 (AV)
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
IV. God’s Power is Manifested Through an Excellent Spirit.

Daniel 6:21–22 (AV)
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
A. He will deliver
B. He will destroy His enemies
Daniel 6:23–24 (AV)
23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
C. He will get the glory.
Daniel 6:25–28 (AV)
25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.