Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

	Last week, we began to look at the Apostle Paul's exhortation to the Christians at Galatia, and to us, to stand fast in the Liberty of Christ. We considered several aspects that can remove our feet from standing fast in the Lord. We mentioned the elements of our motives, our desires, and our attitudes as determining factors in our relationship with God. If we serve our self-interests rather than God's interests; if we seek our exaltation in opposition to His exaltation; if our attitudes betray the selfishness of our hearts in hostility to His guidance in our lives, so are we fully removed from any desire of steadfastness in our Glorious Jesus Christ. Rather than seeking Him to be manifest in our lives, we find ourselves seeking after any other method, no matter how vile, to get our way in this realm. Our Lord gave expression to this truth in Luke 16:13 No servant 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
	It is that simple! Whether one chooses to accept it or not, does not change the certainty of this truth. If we are in Christ, then our lives will reflect an utter reliance upon Him alone, fully in line with the scripture, in order to live a victorious life filled with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If we are not utterly reliant upon Christ to be our everything, then our lives will be filled with misery and the fruitlessness of seeking here there and anywhere but Christ to find some way out! We will find ourselves characterized by haphazard attempts to alleviate the problems, rather than an earnest satisfaction in the ability of God to overcome the trials and tribulations of this realm. 
	So often, we find ourselves caught in the cyclical downward spiral of selfhood. Whenever we try to do things apart from God, or even worse, use His name in a vain attempt to give some kind of validity to our desires, we find ourselves retreating from His Word and from His presence. The farther we retreat, the more miserable we become. The more miserable we are, the harder we try to make things better. The harder we try, the farther we disengage our heart from seeking after the Lord. We try everything and anything that this world can offer, from psychology to self-destruction in drugs and many other avenues of earthly denial to God. At every step we try to justify and to validate our refusal to seek after God through direct submission to His Word. 
	Yes, we may continue to go to church, but we will seek after a church that uses the same methodology and influences of this world. We may try to find counsel, but only if that counsel reinforces our perverse submission to our selfish desires. We may try to pray, but that prayer continues to reinforce the aims of our selfishness rather than the heart of God. We will desecrate heavenly truths to satisfy our worldly lusts, and not understand why we are so tormented in our hearts. 	One needs but read Chapter 3 of Paul's Second Letter to Timothy in the light of man's ability to pervert the Truth of God to fashion it after earthly desires, to see what perversity each one of us is capable of performing. There is no excuse in the House of the Lord for self-desires based upon self-interests! Yield not to the temptation to use God's name as a veil for our own passions! Stand fast in the Lord, as we are exhorted in our text this evening. Hold fast for our sake, for the sake of each other, but more for God's sake, for His testimony in His Church! 
	The prayer that we need to unwaveringly grasp is that we never lose the desire for God to be manifest in our beings and for His glory alone to be revealed. It is a prayer that will keep us focused upon the true source of our lives, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It is a prayer that will seek after the Holy Spirit to guide our steps into all spiritual truths of what our relationship in Christ fully entails. It is a prayer that will not allow the Scriptures to become the playthings of this earth, to be twisted and deformed into points of conflict with the Holy Spirit.
	Standing fast in the Lord requires a life of complete prayerfulness before God in which constant vigil is given to His desire being accomplished in our hearts and lives. Whenever we are faced with a crisis, where do we go for help and comfort? Is it to ways and means of ourselves, of this world, or is it to the Lord, seeking after what He is going to accomplish in and through the situation? We know when our motives, our attitudes, and our desires are of the Lord, because they will ALWAYS be fully in line with His Word. They will never waiver from the expressed will of God that He has recorded for us in the Bible, always pointing to Christ, and Christ alone.
	To have this steadfastness established in us, requires several elements that we can but mention this evening. We know that the Holy Spirit will make the reality of these elements to correspond to His desire in our hearts. As we seek after Him to establish our hearts more deeply into that living relationship which is opened to us in Christ Jesus, He will faithfully work these principles into us. If, however, we are caught up in self-pity and wallowing in the swamp of self-protection, He will first have to bring us to that frustration of selfdom which will cause our whole beings to utterly despair of existence, and desperately cry out, Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death? Rom. 7:24. He will be faithful, but it would be a far greater glory unto God to seek Him out with willingness after His desires, rather than to require Him to have to deal with us in such extreme manners.
	As it may be, the principles after God do not change, no matter what our avenue of finally seeking after Him. They consist of prayer, patience, and faithfulness. 
	Throughout His Word, we are enjoined to prayer as a means of seeking after a close relationship with God. I Chron. 16:11 Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually. Notice, once again this is a command issued to the people of God. Seek after God continually, seek after His ways. Do not focus on the situation, look to God. Pray for His will, for His strength to overcome. No emphasis on us, no frustration on our part, only a continual seeking after God's face to be evident. It is in utter submission to prayerful longing after God that this will be manifested in our lives. It is as we are looking to God, the author and finisher of our faith that we will see the salvation of God revealed to His glory. It does not matter what the trial is. It does not matter what the circumstances entail. The true measure of our relationship with Christ becomes evident when we are lost in prayer before Him, no matter what the outward dilemmas entail. This is where God's righteousness, peace, and joy provide sustenance in our lives. Of what value are the keys of the Kingdom of God unless they prove their value in the midst of the most horrific of plights!
	It is as we constantly seek after God's face that we will know, in our innermost being the joy of our relationship in Christ. We will know that there is nothing of this world that has any value when seen in the light of the beauty of our Lord. We will discern the truth that any fear we may have is groundless when seen in the victory of Christ. We will recognize the true essence of a life that is hid in Christ, far above all the onslaughts of this present age. 
	We know that we will be the recipients of the rage of this realm, we were so promised by our very Lord before He ascended on high. But, we are not subject to this world. It may cast its aspersions and fling its arrows of torment at us, but it can never harm us neither can it remove us from the protection of the Love of God in Christ. This is where true peace and joy find their utmost value, as we rely upon God in the realm of our sojourn on this earth. This is where true prayer is confirmed, as we are in constant communion with our very source of life.
	Again, there are two avenues of our prayers which are before us. There is the avenue of the publican, praying for the benefit of elevating himself before the masses. Thanking a god of his own devising that he is not like the others. And, lest we, in our self-righteousness, judge others with such harshness and utter the same blasphemy, we must realize that seeking after anything other than God is a prayer for deliverance by any of the gods of this realm. To whom do we beseech relief when we seek after money to alleviate our financial distresses? Unto whom do we worship when we tell ourselves that if things had somehow been different, we would not have these problems; or, when we try to blame others for the situations that are overwhelming us? Where is the focus of our prayers when we criticize and degrade others because we hold them, in some manner, as inferior to ourselves? What kind of prayer proceeds forth from our hearts, when we refuse to forgive others for their transgressions against us? Or, in an equally vile consideration, where is our prayer centered when we refuse to forgive ourselves, and wallow in our self-pity, demanding that all attention be set upon us in all our misery? These are the prayers to gods of our own devising, which fall headlong into the pit of self, never rising before the throne of the One, True and Living God of our salvation.
	On the other side, set in the heart of the one who desires after God, are the sweet fragrant prayers that have instant access to the throne of the Omnipotent, Omniscience, Omnipresent One. These are the prayers described in Revelations Chapters 5 and 8, as sweet incense rising before the throne of God. These are the issues of the hearts focused upon the glory of God, lifting others before the royal seat of Mercy and Grace, standing before God for the sake of the Beloved and never considering another as unworthy to be loved. These are the prayers of the forgiven, who freely forgive. These are the prayers of the overcomers, who stand for others, encouraging, supporting, exhorting and upholding. These are the prayers of those who desire only after God, and rely upon His Holy Spirit to guide them, even in the very course of their talks with God. Rom. 8:26+27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 
	There is no self-seeking in the prayers of these hearts. They are true to the desire of God because they are focused on the Lord Jesus Christ in all His majesty. Yes, there are communings that beseech His Omnipotence and His Omniscience. Yes, there are petitions for His will to be accomplished in the lives of so many on this earth. The distinction, the central convergence of each of these prayers is that the heart of God will be glorified and satisfied in His work through Jesus Christ, no matter what is involved in our lives for this to be accomplished, no matter what the earthly cost!
	Again the Apostle Paul adds to this glorious reality in his Letter to the Ephesians Chapter 6, verse 18, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (See also Phil. 4:6 and Col. 4:2.) 
	In order to continue in this life of prayer, there must be a steadfastness in the Lord. Such an effort to lift up one another in love and prayer before the Lord, is beyond any earthly capability and is utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Therefore, such prayerful activity can only be accomplished and joyfully maintained as our hearts are staid upon the Lord and not upon ourselves. This is but one of the workings of God in a life that is characterized by steadfastness in the Lord Jesus Christ.
	The next element, that we will mention this evening is that of our patience before God. Romans Chapter 12 is an excellent benchmark for those who are desirous after the full relationship of steadfastness in the Lord, specifically verse 12, Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;. Patient in tribulation. Oh, how many of us are so desirous to get ourselves out of tribulation that we seek any means and spare no effort to extricate ourselves from God's dealings in our lives? We feel that we have to do something, so we do anything except rest in the Lord in the midst of the problem. I am not stating a resignation that some people hold, that since nothing is ever going to change, why bother. Heaven forbid! 
	What the scriptures state is a rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, and continuing constant in prayer. This means a drawing of our hearts closer and closer to the Lord, to count on Him in the midst of all the adversities of our lives. This is not a masochistic view of times of trial, but a developing reliance and relationship with the Lord that rejoices to see how He will deal with the situations of this realm.
	It requires an immense amount of faith in God to hold fast to Him as the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", to quote the Bard, buffet and bash against our feeble earthly beings. Yet, in the midst of the maelstrom, to be so anchored in Christ, that nothing removes our reliance, our complete reliance upon Him, is to know the full glory of God that too few Christians give themselves to fathom. 
	Patience, when all the powers of this earth seem to batter our emotions and sensibilities. Patience, when every fiber of our souls cry out for relief from the anguish of this defiled and perverse domain. Patience when all those around us are clamoring for some kind of action, any kind of action in order to try to assail our problems with an agent of relief because our selves just can not bear it any longer. Patience to see God in all the magnificence of His salvation. Isaiah saw the glory of God in patience. Isaiah 25:9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 
	This is where so many of us seem to have great difficulty. We can not bear the pressure of being reproved by God. It requires a continual death of our self-lives as God has ordained in each situation. Rather than to patiently rely upon God to have His way in our lives, to establish us in Christ, we seek to help Him out, and to save ourselves. We try to get out of the situation; or, we become embarrassed as friends decry our seeming lack of effort. We entangle ourselves in any manner of filth that this world puts forth as a means of dealing with our problem, because we are not willing to admit that the problem is us, our self-lives that must be put to the cross.
	Self-preservation dictates that we find a release in any manner from the pressure which is serving to loosen its grip on our hearts. In that desperate plight of struggle, the test is before us. Do we count on the Lord, and desire an utter end to our self-lives, or do we give into self-maintenance and turn our hearts from God?
	Jonah is a prime example of the working of God toward His Glory in the life of one of His own. Despite the fact that Jonah stubbornly refused to do the will of God, there was no letup on God's part in Jonah's life. Even to the point of a seeming imperilment of all that were on the ship, God worked to have His way in Jonah's life. The sailors were in the position to lay down their lives, every life on that vessel to shield the disobedient one from God. Such benevolent, but useless forfeiture was avoided because Jonah chose to sacrifice his self, rather than continue an imperilment to the others.
	Can the same be said for any of us, when God is dealing in us? Are we willing to throw ourselves utterly into His hands before we carry others into the abyss of disobedience with us? I fear to answer this issue, because too many today are so seeking after self, rather than after God, that we desire to take as many others with us as possible. 
	Where is the patient seeking after God that characterizes the true worshippers of God, especially in the midst of trouble? Where are those remnants of a people who desire to serve God alone, no matter what the cost, no matter what the earthly anguish? Where are those to whom James writes in several scriptures But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (1:4) Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. (5:7)
	   There is a spiritual virtue inherent in patience that serves to draw us closer and closer to the very heart of God. Without patience, there can be no standing fast in the Lord. Our earthly desires can not bear up under the spiritual pressures that God ordains for those whom He so loves. But Christ can and will remain faithful to the utmost to deliver those who put their complete trust in Him. That is a trust borne of patient confidence in the surety of His work of deliverance and salvation. It is never, and can never be based in any effort of man to analyze and to psychoanalyze any situation. Man's methods and mediums of deliverance only serve to the end of misery and disappointment. It is in Christ alone that our salvation rests, with the emphasis on Christ. To this we are called as God works His perfect patience in us, His Beloved Church.
	When next we meet, Lord willing, we will consider another element which serves to develop our steadfastness in the Liberty of Christ, that of faithfulness.
	Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.