Let's all stand together and we'll sing hymn number 292.

A pilgrim was I, and of one dream,
In the cold night of sin I did roam,
When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me,
And now I am on my way home.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life.
He restoreth my soul when I'm weary,
He giveth me strength day by day.
He leads me beside the still waters,
He guards me each step of the way.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life.

When I walk through the dark, lonesome valley
My Savior will walk with me there
And safely His great hand will lead me
To the mansion He's gone to prepare

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
And I shall feast at the table spread for me.
Sure the goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life All the days, all the days of my life

Be seated and just a few pages over we'll sing hymn number 298

298 In shady green pastures so rich and so sweet,
God leads his dear children along.
Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,
God leads his dear children along.

Some through the water, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood.

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song

In the night season and all the day long.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leaves his dear children alone.
Sometimes in the valley in darkest of night,
God leaves his dear children alone.

Some through grim water, some through the flood Some through the fire, but all through the blood Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song In the night season and all the day long

Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,
God pleases to children alone.
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes.
God leaves his dear children alone. Some through the water, some through the blood.
Some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song In the night season and all the day long.

Away from the mire and away from the clay,
God leaves His dear children alone.
Away up in glory, eternity's day,
God leaves His dear children alone. Some through the water, some through the flood Some through the fire, but all through the blood Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song In the night season and all the day long

Genesis chapter 3. Not Genesis, Galatians. Galatians chapter 3. Start in verse 16. No, excuse me, start in verse 14.

that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, if it's a man's testament, a man's will, though it be, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulls it, cannot say it won't work, or add anything to it.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.

And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, that's who God made the covenant with, with Christ, Before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul it, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law, was the purpose of the law. It was added because of transgressions. till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid! If there had been a law given which could have given life Verily or truly, righteousness should have been by the law.

But the scripture, all the scriptures, that's what we've got to deal with. The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For y'all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."

Well, we got several folks who sat on account of COVID and weak, real sick in body. So let's remember them. Our Father, in the blessed, glorious name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. His very name, Jesus, means Savior. And we're grateful he's a Savior. Oh, Lord, that he's the only one who can save. You tell us that no man can approach unto you except through your Son, the Lord Jesus. And so, Father, we come the way you ordained for us to come. through the blessings, the blood, the righteousness, the power, and acceptance that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how thankful we are that we can come by faith into the very presence of the holiest of holies. Oh, where that blood was applied, that blood was shed. And Lord, you're satisfied with him. You're satisfied with his life. You're satisfied with the fulfillment of the law. You're satisfied with him in every way. And you've accepted him, and I bless your holy name, that we're accepted in him, accepted in the beloved.

And Lord Jesus, thank you for allowing us to be out this evening. It's so good to be out and open the word of God. And Lord Jesus, bless us as we gather here this evening. Enable me to say the things that need to be said. Enable the saints to hear what needs to be heard. And, Lord, now we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are frail in body, who are weak. We ask, Lord, that you'd restore their health, make them strong, enable them to be well. And, Father, we pray for Rick and Helen Garrett. Oh, God, they're still in a great trial, still in a fight of afflictions. And yet there's no complaints. There's no discouragement. Lord, they just honor you and say, Lord, you do what you will with us in this world. And now, Father, we pray again for other brothers and sisters in Christ who are going through things that you know they're going through. Meet the needs of our hearts and minds tonight. We ask these things in our blessed Savior's name. Amen.

And number two, sorry, 388. 388. 388. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Hold me and make me after thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and still. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Search me and try me, Master, today. Wider than snow, Lord, wash me just now. As in Thy presence, feeble I bow. Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way.

Wounded and weary, help me, I pray. Power, all power, surely is Thine. Touch me and heal me, Savior divine. Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. Hold o'er my being, absolute sway. Filled with Thy Spirit, till all shall see, Christ holy, always living in me.

Back in Galatians 3, we'll talk about the purpose of the law, the purpose of the law. It says down there in verse 19, wherefore then serveth the law? What's the purpose of the law? Why did God give the law? He said it was added. It was added. Why did he add it? Because of transgressions. And it was added, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Now Abraham was justified by faith. He believed God, and God called him a righteous man. And why he called him a righteous man was because God justified him because he believed God. believed the promise. God made a promise that through His seed, through His seed, every nation on the earth would be blessed. And there ain't but one seed that God can be blessed by, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the one seed. And that seed is Christ, and He made Him the Father of many nations.

The first promise in the Bible concerned the seed of the woman. You know, when God was putting Adam out of the garden, he said, I'm going to put enmity between thy seed, talking about Satan, the evil seed, and the seed of the woman. I'm going to put enmity between them. You're going to bruise his heel, but he's going to crush your head. So he talked about the seed Christ in Genesis 315. And so that's what he is. And God had to do a covenant with Christ. God always deals with his people in covenant. but the covenant was with Christ, and it was confirmed. Ain't that what it says back up here in verse 17? And I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, God confirmed this covenant in Christ.

The law, which was 430 years after, now listen to this, cannot do away with it, and no, that promise and cannot make the promise none effect." The law has nothing to do with the promise. That's what he's saying. And I mean, God made a will, made a covenant with His Son, and that covenant was by promise. And the law can't say, that nullifies it. And the law can't say, but it makes it none effect, because this came 430 years after the law. So the apostles making it clear that the law had nothing to do with the promise of God in Christ.

The covenant of the law or the works of the law was given 430 years after God made promise to Adam and before God made promise to Abraham. So if the Judaizers, if you know, to the Judaizers, if salvation is by faith, and it's by promise, and it's by promise by faith in Christ, and that's what he says, the promise we receive by faith in Christ. Then law nor circumcision can do, make anything that Christ did in the covenant God made with you, cannot make it ineffective, cannot disannul it.

But what purpose did God give us the law? God gave the law on Sinai, Mount Sinai. So what is its purpose? And what for serveth the law? Well, it says there in verse 19, it was added, it was added because of transgression. It wasn't added because of the original revelation of justification by faith. The revelation made to Abraham. The law had nothing to do with that promise that he made to Abraham.

And I tell you to our first parents, he made a promise. So God made promise to Abraham that in his seed would all nations be blessed. And that was 430 years, 430 years before the law ever was given on Mount Sinai. So when that law was given, did that nullify the promise that God made in Christ? No, of course not.

But why was it added? because of sin, because of transgressions. The law was given to show, now listen to me, the law was given to show the true nature of sin, to show the true nature of transgressions. Paul said, we've proved before, both Jew and Gentile, all are under sin. And we became sinners through one man's disobedience. One man by his one sin and his rebellion against God gave us all, made us all sinners by one man in Adam, and then we're all sinners by nature. We sin by nature, and I tell you what, you know when we'll quit having sin in our life and struggling against sin? When we draw our last breath. And oh my, the transgression. Paul said, sin becomes exceeding sinful.

Now it don't become exceeding sinful to people that's under the law. Sin becomes exceeding sinful to those that God brought Christ to in promise and they believe Christ. You don't become sinful then start going to Christ. It's when you see Christ and that law and it all in Christ that you say, oh my goodness, how in the world can God have anything to do with me who's such a sinner? Stand astonished and God would look in your direction. Oh my.

Paul said it like this. Now he said in Philippians, he said, I had a righteousness of the law that was blameless." Well, that's fine, but the law does not give a righteousness. What he was saying was, I was a Pharisee, and I kept all the commandments as much as I could until one time the law, the law came to me, and the law said, thou shalt not covet.

Now, why do you reckon he was coveting? Well, he tells us he wanted to be above many as equals. He wanted to be the most educated Jew there was. He wanted to live a righteous life by the law. And he said, and now everything righteousness that I said was blameless, who was it blameless to? Him. It wasn't blameless to God. He said, I didn't know anything about sin. He was coveted in pride, and ambition, and prosperity, and to be the best Pharisee he could possibly be, and hate Christ as much as he possibly could.

And then he said, but he also said this when he got through saying that. He said, oh, wretched man that I am. Who's going to save me from this body of sin? Oh, my. Sin becomes exceeding sinful. And I tell you what, and you know, God says, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. And you know what man says? I shall, I shall, I shall, I shall. And you don't have to do anything outwardly. All you got to do is just think. That's all you got to do. And oh my, and I tell you the law was given to help, by God's mercy, to restrain men from sin. To keep them from idolatry. To keep them from committing so many outward sins. Outward sins.

The law was given to convince men of sin. Oh, convince us of sin. I tell you what. And here's the thing that the law did, how God convicts us. The law preserved the knowledge of the character of God. You know, the true and living God. God, His holiness, His love of truth, His love of righteousness. But He had also a hater from sin.

Now, here's a misnomer that people say. God loves the sinner but hates the sin. That's not what Scripture says. He hates the workers of iniquity, all the time. He hates the workers of iniquity. God is angry with the wicked every day. Angry with them. That don't sound like, well, God loves the sinner and he hates his sin.

Well, listen, the children wasn't even born, Jacob and Esau, and God said, I hated Esau, but I love Jacob. He's God. And he said that sin to point to us and say, listen, you ain't got no hope in that. You got no hope in it. And oh my, the law is given against transgressions. Look, keep Galatians and look over in first John chapter three. Look over in first John chapter three. Look what it says down verse four. transgressions. First John 3, 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law. For sin is a transgression of the law.

Now if that's all that's said, boy, we'd be in a mess. But look what the next verse says. And you know that He, Christ, was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Well, you know, He was manifested to take away them sins, all them transgressions under the law. Oh, the law shows us. shows us this, and I say, Romans 520, I tell you what, this is one of the most wonderful things in the Bible about what the law does and why it came and then what happens when grace comes.

The law shows us in all the things that we think would make us righteous and make us acceptable to God, that God in grace made provision for the transgressions to be forgiven. Look what he says in Romans 520. Here again it says, moreover the law entered. What service the purpose of the law, Romans 5 20. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. Show you just how sinful you are. But where sin abounded, where sin abounded, grace, grace did much more abound. Aren't you glad it says that?

I was telling Shirley on the way to service tonight, when I was a young man, I was so sinful, so sinful. I didn't care about nothing. I didn't care about nobody. I didn't respect myself or nobody else. Oh, that's awful. Spent months and months and months in mental hospitals. I got to where I did not have any hope to ever, ever be happy, be joyful. I was in misery. I was miserable when I went to, got up a day, I was miserable all day and miserable went to night. I was, it was awful. And then one day I told her this. One day, somebody told me, there's hope in Jesus. That right then and there gave me just, just a little bitty tiny bit of hope. And work with that little seed that was sowed brought me to. But that seed was sowed. Way back yonder. Way back yonder. And I started out wrong. You know, that's what Jeremiah said. He said, I knowed you and ordained you a prophet before you was formed in your mother's womb. I was the same way.

But you got to grow up. You got to grow up spiritually. You got to grow up mentally. You got to grow up physically. Got to grow up from a child to a man. Oh my. And that law, you know, I got hope. And what the law did, God showed us that in grace. Oh, that law comes here. Mm. You know, it just, sin just abounded. Oh my goodness, it abounded in our eyes, in our ears, in our hands, in our feet, in our hearts, in our minds, where we went, what we said, and all that. It just abounded. And then here comes God in grace. He said, I'm gonna abound over that sin, super abound over it. You think sin's bad? I got something to fix it. I got something to put it away. I've got a way to deal with it." Well, how did he deal with it? Through the righteousness of Christ, through the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, to be forgiven, to have sin put away.

He said the law was just a shadow, shadow of good things to come. And it could never, ever make the comers thereunto, the law could never make the comers thereunto perfect. So what happened then? God gave His Son, and by His one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, where? In Christ Jesus.

You want to be under the law? No. You want to be in Christ? Yes. I'll tell you what, sin was put away through the substitutionary death, the blessed death of our Savior, through the bloody sacrifice of Christ. And then in his priesthood, you know, a priest has to have something to offer. Christ offered himself, himself, once and for all, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Look down here in Rome, excuse me, Galatians 3, 24. You're back in Galatians? I hope you're back in Galatians. Oh my. Look what it says. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster, our teacher. It taught us some things. What did it teach us? To bring us unto Christ. It gives you no hope. It gives you no help. It points you to Christ, that we might be justified. How? By faith. Not by doing, but by believing. Oh. All right.

And look what he said back here again in verse 19. He said, The law which serveth the law is added because of transgressions till the seed should come. to whom the promise was made, that's Christ. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Now, let me show you, you keep this and look in Psalm 68. Look in Psalm 68, you keep that now. Psalm 68. And look down verse 17, I believe it is. The chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of thousands, many thousands of angels. The Lord is among them in Sinai in the holy place. God's surrounded by angels when he gave that law.

The law came in the hands of a mediator. Now, what does it come in the hands of a mediator? You know, Moses When God was given that law on Mount Sinai, he said, you tell the people not to come near. Tell them not to come near. He said, you know, and there had to be, there was only one person stood between God and Israel. That man was Moses. And God, they said, don't let us speak to God and don't let him speak to us. Moses, you go talk to him for us. Talk to him for us.

And then, you know, they got near, and then it was darkness. Oh, it's so dark. They went up there, just darkness everywhere. Moses up there in the light. They down here in darkness. But I tell you, there was, God only dealt with Israel through Moses. Moses alone. He speak to Moses, Moses gonna tell the people what God said. And that's what Christ does. He's the only mediator between us and God. the man Christ Jesus.

And that's what he says in the next verse. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one. If there's one person, he don't need a mediator for nothing. And God is one. Does God need somebody to mediate between him and somebody else? Does God need a mediator? No, he don't need a mediator. He does what he will, when he will, and who for whom he will.

Oh, listen, and he asked this question. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. God forbid. Oh, my. If there had been a law given, if God, if there had been a law given, which could have given life, then truly righteousness should have been by the law. Oh, my. But, oh, he says, we're not done yet. The law was added, but the promise was given by angels. And look what he goes on to say. Oh, God speaks with Abraham as a man of friends. Talk about the promise back up there in verse 21. He said the promise. God spake with Abraham as the promise was made by God and by angels, the lawgiver. And the promise was given first. The law was given second. The promises speaks of blessing. The law speaks of cursing. The promise is forever. The law was till sea come, which was Christ.

And a mediator has to do with more than one. No mediator of one person. God is only one. He does not need a mediator. We do. He's the one that was offended. He was the one that we offended. And God said, listen, I cannot speak to you. I can't have anything to do with you. I can't touch you. I can't have any dealings with you whatsoever. Except through a mediator. And you know that's what our Lord said. I was listening to a message by Todd today on the claims of Christ. Christ said this. Now you're talking about a claim, no man, no man can come to my father but by me. You want to go to God? You want a relationship with the Father? You got to come through me. And ain't you grateful that God made a way to come? Oh, my. He don't need a way, we do.

The law revealed our alienation. And oh my, if law had been given that could have produced righteousness then, there would have been one to do it. But oh, look what the scripture says. You know, Paul used that same phrase in verse 8. And he used it all the way through all of his writing. But the scripture hath concluded. God's word hath concluded. all under sin, that the promise, a promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. The promise that through faith in Christ, God would give you Christ and you would believe on Christ. That's what he's telling us to do. Oh my, he's the object of our faith.

And look what he says there in verse 23, but before faith came, and I tell you, faith has to come. Did you know that before faith came? There was a time we was that, but before faith came, look what it says, we were kept under that law. We couldn't get ourselves out from under. All of our righteousness are as a filthy rag. But before faith came, we were kept under the law. Shut up! Shut up! To the faith, and this is what always has to happen with faith, has to be revealed. When it was revealed. When it was revealed, faith, faith in Christ, the promise of Christ, justification by Christ, and faith in Christ, all them promises were given. And you know what? God fulfilled them promises in us. in me, in you. Did he not bring faith? Did he not bring justification? Did he not bring you Christ that you could believe on him? And revealed him and then come around and gives you faith to believe and tells you it's your faith. Oh, bless his name. Just bless his name. Oh, my.

But until Christ, we were kept under the law as a tutor and instructor. It shows us our sins, but yet it also reveals the mercy of God in Christ, to teach us the justice of God and the righteousness of God. And the law, what it does, what it should do and what it does, except folks who try to be justified, it empties the center of self-glory. What have we got to glory in? What have we got that we didn't receive? We can't glory in anything we've ever done, any law we've ever kept, any work we've ever done. Oh my. And oh, it takes, takes his merit away and brings him to Christ and Christ alone. Now look what he says in verse 28. Excuse me, verse 25. But after that faith has come, And that's what has to happen, come. Watch what God says. We don't have to be taught anymore. We don't need that law. We don't need to be instructed. We don't need to be taught anymore. We've got Christ. Oh, we're no longer ceremonies and rituals and all that. And look what it says here now.

Verse 26, for you're all the children of God. How do you become the children of God? Oh, to be a child of God by faith, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the whole purpose of everything in this Bible is to keep pointing us to Christ. And that's what he says. Oh, I'm a child of God, child of God. How? By faith in Jesus Christ. And then he says, look what he says in verse 27. For as many of you has been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Now, what does that baptism they're talking about? I don't personally, I don't think it's talking about water baptism. I don't think it is. I think it is that we are so identified with Christ that what he did, we did. Our Lord asked his disciples, I've got a baptism to be baptized with. You know, when I go to the cross and all the baptism of death and God's wrath on me and the fire of God on me and the hatred of men for me, I've got a baptism to be baptized with. Are you able to do it? And they said, yes, Lord. And yes, we were. When Christ was on this earth, we was in Christ. When He lived, we lived. And when He died, we died. When He arose, we arose. When He went to heaven, we went with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. That's what that baptism means. Water ain't gonna justify you. Water ain't gonna put your sins away. But being identified with Christ will and does. Huh? I believe I'm right about that. You all check on me. You all go back home and find out what that baptism means. But I think that's, because that's what he's talking about, us being one in Christ, the children of God in Christ.

And then look what he says. Oh, there is neither Jew nor Greek. He comes to this conclusion. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female. You're all are one in Christ. That's all that matters. Our oneness, our unity is in Christ. Oh my. You're Abraham, look what he says. And if you be Christ, if you belong to Christ, then you're Abraham's seed. And listen, we inherit by what? How do we get our inheritance? By promise. God promised us an inheritance. Oh my.

Let me tell you. I want to show you one verse of scripture in Ephesians 1, verse 6. Look at it. The next book over, right to your right. Look what he says. I love this. This is what we're talking about. What I'm trying to say, Ephesians 1, 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, Oh yes, wherein he hath made us accepted, we're at in the beloved. God did that. God gave us a promise and he's kept it. He's kept every one of them. Caleb Hickman preached down there in Florida last week, the faithfulness of Christ, the faithfulness of Christ. And I tell you what, I'm not faithful, but boy, I bless God that he is.

Our Father, oh, our God, in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing us to meet here tonight. Oh, thank you for opening your precious word. Oh, it's so precious, so delightful, encouraging, so encouraging, so enlightening. feeds my very soul, feeds my heart, feeds my soul, and gives me a blessed hope, a glorious, glorious hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the promise. Thank you for fulfilling the promise. Thank you for giving faith. And thank you for identifying us with Christ and Christ with us. We bless you for it all. In Christ's name, amen.

Amen. Let me tell you this before we go. Now, it's supposed to get really bad again this weekend. It's gonna probably be Sunday morning, probably be below zero. Now, if it gets zero or below, I'm not getting out. If y'all wanna come, if y'all wanna come and sit here, that'll be fine.

But now, if it don't get that bad, but I, you know, And I don't expect you to get out in that kind of weather. I don't expect you to get out in that kind of weather. I don't think it's right. I mean, you know, once one of you got, I remember I was in Iowa a few years ago, and it got down to 30 below, it got down to 12, 13, 14 below zero, and the wind chill was like 35 or 40. Big snow walled. And they told people, don't even get on the road. They had the roads closed. And we met just in a little old bitty room. Joe Terrell and I, the few people, met in a little old bitty room where they had heat in it. And we met that night and went home. And an old couple slid off the road and froze to death that night being out in their car. They found them the next day, car sitting over there.

So I would not want to be responsible for anybody getting hurt in any way in real bad weather. So if it's zero, even four or five, you ain't gonna see me. Okay? The Lord bless you, good night, and hopefully we can meet next Wednesday.