"Legalism" vs Being "Free in Christ."

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. This free in Christ movement has been on the rise since the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

And don't get me wrong, again, I believe in Christian liberty. True believers are indeed free in Christ. But the devil, you know what the devil does, he just redefines terms. So in the more extreme cases of inverted doctrine, believing God and obeying God is pharisaical while being worldly is seen as a virtue.

So what they've done is basically this free in Christ movement, not everybody involved in it, but some people, what they've done, they've just redefined licentiousness and now they're calling it Christian liberty.

You're free in Christ to do this, you're free in Christ to do that. And what they're saying, if you really look at it, you're free in Christ to sin. And then when someone comes along and they're kind of bothered by this and that's not what God's word teaches, that's wrong, we need to obey God.

That guy's the bad guy, that guy's the legalist, he's the Pharisee. Okay, so we know who the Pharisees were, right? There's this social, political, religious movement in the time of Christ. The Pharisees were legalists, so I want to define that term legalism.

Basically, again, this is just bottom line, this has become a way of insulting people. Again, sort of like with the political world, if you say something that they don't like, you get smeared as a racist, but now in the Christian world, you get smeared as a Pharisee or a legalist.

Legal, in the Bible, think about this, in the Bible, what does the law refer to? What is the law? The law of Moses. Okay, so when we're talking about the law, legalism, legal, we're referring to law, that's the law of Moses.

So a legalist is somebody who believes that salvation comes through the law of Moses. The Pharisees didn't believe in Jesus, did they? They thought that they were saved because, why? They kept the law.

You know, we're Jews, we keep the law, so that's what legalism is. And there are people today who teach legalism, that you're saved by keeping the law. You know, if you just do this and don't do that and don't do that, that makes you a good person, you're saved because of what you do.

That is a form of legalism. The Apostle Paul in Galatians, he calls legalism a different gospel. So the point is, when you throw these terms around in a cavalier way, when you call your fellow brother and sister in Christ a Pharisee or a legalist, I mean, it's like you're calling them the enemy of God.

You're saying they're not saved. You're saying they have a different gospel. And I don't think we should be doing it, and yet it's become very common. All right, let's turn to 1 Samuel 15, and we'll end with this passage.

See, I got a few extra minutes this morning, so I started preaching a few minutes earlier, so that's good. We're not running over time. We're going to end right on time, okay? It's a lot to take in, and if you've never, let's say you've never encountered this, maybe you kind of keep to yourself, you have your family, and you've never heard someone call someone a Pharisee within the walls of Morse Corner Church.

I mean, that's good. That's good. But let me tell you, this is very common out there. I've seen it a hundred times if I've seen it once. So you're in 1 Samuel 15. This is, so 1 Samuel 15, how is this about the Pharisees?

You know, this is the story of King Saul. There were no Pharisees back in the days of Saul. Well, that's true, but here's why I'm turning to this passage. Saul, in a way, Saul acted like a Pharisee. Let me try to demonstrate that for you.

He was disobedient to God, and yet he acted like he was doing God a favor. Let's read this story, 1 Samuel 15, 1 and 2. Samuel also said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people, over Israel.

Now, therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. So long story short, Saul is given the order by God as the king.

He's given the order to attack the Amalekites and to just wipe them out. The Lord tells Saul, don't leave anybody or anything alive. Verse 3 is very clear about this. So Saul, he gathers the troops, look at verse 7.

And Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

Now, is that what God told him to do? But notice how the king, the other king gets this special treatment. Verse 9, but Saul and the people spared Agag, the king, and they spared the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, and the lambs and all that was good and were unwilling to utterly destroy them.

But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. So, did Saul keep the commandment of the Lord? No, he didn't. He did some of the things that God said, right? And, you know, the Pharisees did do some of the things that God said, but Saul didn't carefully obey the Lord's commandments.

What did he do? He would pick and choose. He would pick and choose. That's what Pharisees do. I don't like this law. I don't like this command. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to get away or get around this, but I will keep these things because that's what I like.

So, Saul did not really keep the commandments. Incidentally, on the pages of the New Testament, there was a man of the Pharisees named, and I think this is not a coincidence, but there is a man of the Pharisees in the New Testament named after King Saul, and who is that?

Yeah, Saul of Tarsus, also known as the Apostle Paul. And Paul did live for a time as a Pharisee. And here's why I bring it up, because the Apostle Paul, what did he do? He persecuted Christ. He persecuted the church, just like Saul persecuted David, who is a type of Christ.

So I say that because you can almost view King Saul. If David is a type of Christ, Saul is like a prototype for the Pharisees. Look at verse 10, and God rejected both the Pharisees and King Saul. Verse 10, now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as King, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.

And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel saying, call, excuse me, Paul or Saul. All right, let me get this straight.

Saul went to Carmel, and indeed he set up a monument for who? For himself. Okay, so this is a bad sign. Saul sets up a monument exalting himself. Just like the Pharisees were self-righteous. What do they wanna do?

They want to exalt themselves, to look good to all the people. The Pharisees, they liked the lofty titles of master and rabbi and father. Jesus said, don't be called those things. The Pharisees wore elaborate robes and vestments that let everybody know that, hey, look at me, I'm set apart.

I'm a member of the clergy. Why? Because they loved the greetings in the marketplaces. It was all a big show to look holy when Jesus said inside, I know you're disobedient, you're lawless. So Saul, like the Pharisees, by setting up this monument, they were full of themselves.

And people who are full of themselves rarely take correction or admit when they're wrong. So Samuel has a message to deliver to the erring king. Remember part of the sermon is on disobedience. The Pharisees were disobedient.

Saul was disobedient. Look at verse 13. Then Samuel went to Saul and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord. Get this. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. What hypocrisy. Did he do that?

No, we already established he didn't. But Samuel said, well, if that's true, then what is this bleeding of sheep in my ears in the lowing of oxen, which I hear. Saul, you were supposed to kill everybody and everything.

So why do I hear all these barnyard animals everywhere? What's going on? Because God told him not to spare anything. And Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord, your God.

Unbelievable. He disobeys God and then acts like he's doing God a favor. I did it for the Lord, verse 22. So Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. And then here's this jarring statement for rebellion is as the sin of what? Witchcraft. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as the iniquity is as iniquity and idolatry.

Does that give you an idea of how serious disobedience to God is? Freedom, it's not freedom. You're sinking lower and lower and lower. And one act of disobedience leads to another and another and another.

And of course, Saul eventually did seek out a witch. Didn't he? When he went to see the witch at Endor and the next day he died and Saul's throne was given to another. So in conclusion, this same thing happened to the Pharisees.

One act of rebellion led to another, to another. They thought they were God's gift and they disobeyed God yet they acted like they were doing God's work. So in conclusion, and then the kingdom was taken from them and given to who?

To the church. The kingdom was taken from them as the leaders of Israel and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof which was the church. So in conclusion, who are the real Pharisees? Who are the real Pharisees?

It's not those who are obedient. The true Pharisees are the ones who are disobedient. The Pharisees are the ones who think the kingdom belongs to them because they're so wonderful. They're good deeds.

Look at all the things we do for God and yet because they neglect faith and mercy all their deeds are nothing more than filthy rags. You know, there's only one way to be right in the sight of God and you know what it was?

Know what it is? It's accepting Jesus as the Christ. It's accepting Jesus as the Messiah and Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. You're not being a Pharisee by keeping the commandments of God.

You're not being a Pharisee by upholding God's standard and yet in this sin sick world, you're gonna be called all sorts of names. Sometimes even by fellow believers for doing the right thing but don't be fooled.

The Pharisees did not believe in Christ. Therefore, all of their good deeds in God's eyes were nothing. So if you've never placed your faith in Jesus, I mean, I'm not gonna call you a Pharisee because my whole point in the sermon is don't get involved in the name calling but if you've never placed your faith in Jesus, you are no better off than they are.

So let's pray. Heavenly Father, I just asked if there's anybody here this morning, somebody listening later on who has never placed their faith in Jesus. This is who the Pharisees were. They were the enemies of Christ and Lord, whether that qualifies somebody as technically being a Pharisee or not, it doesn't matter.

Whatever they are, they're lost if they don't have Jesus. And Lord, for those of us who believe, increase our faith. Help us through your spirit to obey because that is the real way to be free in Christ, to love him by keeping his commandments.

Help us to do that, Lord, we pray. In his name, amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornet Church. I'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornetChurch .com and we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.