Stand Your Ground!
Miles J. Stanford's sermon 'Stand Your Ground!' calls believers to live by grace through faith, emphasizing the importance of the Holy Spirit over the law.
Miles J. Stanford preaches about the contrast between the law and grace, emphasizing how the law can break a person while grace can make them whole. He discusses the complexity of walking in separation from religious systems of the past and future, highlighting the importance of being guided by the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Stanford challenges the misconception that Jesus was merely an introduction to Moses and that believers must keep the law to maintain their position, instead emphasizing that true faith leads to a natural walk of privilege and relationship with Christ.
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"The law is not of faith" (Galatians 3:12).
The law will break you; grace will make you.
"Nothing can be more sure than the steps of one guided by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, and yet nothing more complicated than to have to walk in 'separation' from all that exists around. It is indeed difficult to have to wind one's way through things so perplexing and so complex as the religious systems of our own day. We have to avoid on the one hand organizations formed in imitation of things past (Israel-law), and on the other systems more characterized by anticipation of things future (Kingdom-law). We have to allow that such things were once given by God, and that they will yet again be introduced by Him; while invariably contending that they are positively opposed to His present working by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven." -J.L.H.
"With many Christians, it may be almost thought that the Lord Jesus was but the introduction to Moses. That His death procured the payment of sin's debt, so that the debt being paid, the believer might be in a position to keep the law, and that, accordingly, the law, and not the 'Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,' might be the believer's rule of life." -H.F.W.
"The walk of the believer should ever be the natural result of realized privilege, and not the constrained result of legal vows and resolutions-the proper fruit of a position known and enjoyed by faith, and not the result of one's own efforts to reach a position 'by works of law.' All true believers are a part of the Bride of Christ; hence, they owe Him those affections which become that relation. The relationship is not obtained because of the affections, but the affections flow out of the relationship." -C.H.M.
"For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Galatians 2:19).
Sermon Outline
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I
- Understanding the Law and Grace
- The Role of the Holy Spirit
- Separation from Religious Systems
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II
- The Misconception of Law as a Guide
- The True Rule of Life
- The Relationship with Christ
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III
- Living in Freedom from the Law
- The Natural Result of Faith
- Affections Flowing from Relationship
Key Quotes
“The law will break you; grace will make you.” — Miles J. Stanford
“The walk of the believer should ever be the natural result of realized privilege, and not the constrained result of legal vows and resolutions.” — Miles J. Stanford
“For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” — Miles J. Stanford
Application Points
- Reflect on how grace influences your daily decisions and actions.
- Seek to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in your life and faith journey.
- Cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ that flows from understanding your position in Him.