Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from Galatians chapter
4, beginning at verse 19. And the title of the message
is Christ Formed in You. Christ Formed in You. Galatians
4 and verse 19. And we're going to cover this
chapter. But understand in the book of Galatians what's going
on is as Paul had come into this area of Asia Minor called Galatia
and he had preached the gospel. And God had formed a church there.
Now, some people say there were not just one church, but there
were a few churches there. It doesn't matter. We have the
local congregations, but there is the church universal, which
means all true believers all over the world, that's one church. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which he purchased with his own blood. because he redeemed
his people by his death on the cross. And he justified them
by his righteousness. So, and when I say that the church
universal, I'm not talking about all denominations. You know,
some people say, well, I believe there's saved people in every
denomination. Well, I don't. And the reason I don't is because
that will not hold up biblically. If you're a member of a denomination
that even though you may call yourself Christian, but you don't
believe the true gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ,
my friend, you're not a part of the church universal. The
church universal is, the word church, it comes from the word
ekklesia, it means called out, called out of darkness into the
light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, called
out by the gospel. And so what happens there is
that there's only one gospel wherein the righteousness of
God is revealed. And it sets forth Christ in the
glory of his person as God manifest in the flesh. He is God and man
in one person. Now, for example, there's a denomination
that calls themselves Christian and claims to be following Jesus,
but they don't believe that he's God. Well, my friend, they're
not part of the church of which I'm part of. Because Christ is
God, manifest in the flesh. We read it last week. God sent
forth His Son, that's His deity, made of a woman, that's His sinless
humanity, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is both God and
man in one person. And I asked a member of that
denomination one time, I asked him, I said, do you worship Jesus
Christ? And he said, yes. And I said,
well, you're an idolater then. He looked back, I said, do you
believe that Christ is God? And he said, no. And I said,
that Jesus is God? And he said, no. And I said,
well, if you worship him and he's not God, that's idolatry.
But now there are other denominations that deny the true person of
Christ. And then there are denominations
that call themselves Christian who deny the perfect work of
Christ to save his people from their sins. Those who say that
Christ died for everybody and there'll be a multitudes in hell
for whom he died. My friend, that's not the church
universal. That's a false church. But let
me go on now. In Galatia, there was a church
or churches made up of people to whom Paul preached the gospel,
the true gospel of the glorious person and finished work of Christ,
his blood to cleanse us from all our sins, his righteousness
imputed to us for our justification. And so Paul preached there and
God had formed a church. But later on, when Paul left,
false preachers who were Jews, who claimed to be Christian,
but who denied it by their trying to bring Christians back under
the old covenant law, demanding that the males be circumcised
and that they keep the dietary laws and the ceremonial laws,
taste not, touch not, handle not. All of that. In other words,
they said, well, we believe in Christ, we believe we're saved
by grace, but you have to keep the law in order to really be
saved or to really be righteous. And so they've tried to bring
believers back under the law. Well, Paul said, that's another
gospel, another of a different kind in Galatians 1. He said,
though we are an angel from heaven coming to you and preach another
gospel, let it be anathema. He says that's a denial of Christ. So if you're a believer, if you
claim to be a believer, let's put it that way, but you think
that we should go back under the law in order to be sanctified
or saved or made whole, you're denying Christ, whom you claim
to believe. So that's the issue here. And
so Paul came back with this letter to the Galatian churches And
he's trying to set them straight. He's trying to recover them from
that error. He's trying to do what he said
in Galatians chapter six. He said, when he talks about
those who are spiritual, they're trying to call them back out
of that error and establish them in the grace of God, in the truth,
to where they won't be fooled again. And that's what he means
here in verse 19. Now this is Galatians 4 and verse
19. He says, my little children of
whom I travail in birth again. Paul is pouring out his heart. to these professing believers.
And he says, it's like a travail within my soul. You know, when
we see the word travail in scripture, we think about a woman in the
travail, in the suffering, the agony of birthing a child. And the work of Christ on the
cross to save his people from their sin. is described that
way. Isaiah 53, I believe it's in
verse 10, he said, he shall see of the travail of his soul and
be satisfied. Christ suffered unto death to
bring forth a perfect group of children, his people, God's elect
his sheep, and he shall see of the travail of his son and be
satisfied. In other words, he's not going to have any stillborn
children. There'll be no one perish in their sins for whom
Christ died, because their sins cannot be charged to them. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather is risen again, seated
at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for us. God, the ones for whom Christ died will not perish.
And how do you know who they are? This is what Paul's saying,
look at verse 19. Now listen, he said, my little
children of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be
formed in you. Did God choose me before the
foundation of the world? Is my name written in the Lamb's
book of life? Did Christ die for me on that
cross? and put away my sins? And am
I justified before God based upon His righteousness imputed?
How can I know that? How can I be assured of it? Well,
has Christ been formed in you? Now, what does that mean? Well,
that means that you have been brought by God, the power of
God under the preaching of the gospel in the Holy Spirit, You
have been born again by the Spirit, being given a new heart, new
life, spiritual life, raised from the dead. By nature, what
are we? We're spiritually dead, depraved,
darkness, fallen in Adam. You must be born again. And what's
happening in the new birth? The Spirit of God is imparting
forming within us the very life of Christ which He accomplished
by His obedience unto death on behalf of His people and He gives
us faith to believe in Him and to rest in Him and establishes
our heart with grace until we be so ensconced and established
firmly set that our salvation is totally in and by the Lord
Jesus Christ by grace and we cannot be moved off of it. And that's what Paul's talking
about. Has Christ been formed in you? Like that, like concrete. Hebrews 13 says it's a good thing
that the heart be established, fixed, fixed by grace, by looking
to Christ, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. The psalmist said that my heart
is fixed, fixed on Christ. Christ is my fixation. True believers
have a fixation, but it's a good one. It's looking to Christ.
And whenever these false preachers come by and preach their poison, what did Christ call it? Beware
of the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees trying to bring
you under the law in order to be saved or sanctified or holy. No, he says your heart must be
fixed on Christ. Paul wrote about it in 2 Corinthians
11 when he talked about the subtlety of Satan to corrupt their minds
their affections, from the simplicity that's in Christ, the singularity
that all of my salvation was and is conditioned on Christ
and He fulfilled those conditions and He's my only hope. My heart
is fixed. That's Christ formed in you.
And so listen to what Paul says in verse 20 of Galatians 4. He says, I desire to be present
with you now and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of
you." I'm perplexed, Paul said. How in the world, if you know
Christ, if He's been formed in you, fixed in your heart, set
within your heart, how in the world could you even give these
false preachers a minute of your time and attention? How could
you be moved away? Now, let me be careful here. It's possible for true believers
to be swayed for a time, but not permanently. Those to whom
Paul is speaking here, if they left the gospel totally and went
with these false preachers, you know what that's called in the
Bible? That's called apostasy. And what that means is they never,
even though they profess to believe it, even though they heard it
with the physical ear, and even though they profess to believe
it, they never truly were saved. Now, false preachers will tell
you, well, they were saved, but then they lost their salvation.
That's a lie. Salvation is by grace conditioned
on Christ. And Paul said this in 2 Timothy
1, 12, he said, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. And what have I committed unto
him? My whole salvation. He's been formed in me and I
cannot be moved. That's the key. And though in
moments of the flesh, I may turn my eyes off of him like Peter
did when he was walking across the water, he kept his eyes on
Christ, and when he took his eyes away from Christ, he sank,
and Christ came and got him and pulled him up. That's what Christ
does for his children. He doesn't let them apostatize.
That means falling away unto perdition. And the Bible says
if that happens, If you heard the true gospel and you fall
away unto perdition, you never heard, you never believed it.
You just had a profession. And look at, let me show you
that over in 1 John 2. I could show you in a lot of
scriptures on that. But look at what John wrote in
verse 18 of 1 John 2. Now this is one of the many verses
we could go to. John says, little children, it
is the last time. Now that's the last age. Now,
we've been living in the last age ever since Christ ascended
unto the Father, after His resurrection. And we'll live in the last age
until He comes again. And John said, it is the last
time, and as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Well,
what is Antichrist? Well, that's a spirit that claims
to be Christ or to believe in Christ, but denies the truth
of Christ in His person and His work. So antichrist shall come. Even now are there many antichrist
whereby we know that it is the last time. Now look at verse
19. Mark this in your Bible. First John 2, 19. They went out
from us. They apostatized is what he's
talking about. But they were not of us. They
never were really spiritually with us. For if they had been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." And just
like these Galatians who had been swayed for a time, if they
really were of us, united to the people of God, it's truly
safe. They will come back. They will
be brought back out of that deception. because God will not turn loose.
So he says, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they
went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all
of us. So you see that? Now go back
to our text, Galatians four. And Paul said, it's my desire
and I'm so troubled over this that Christ be formed in you
But I stand in doubt of you. Look at verse 21 of Galatians
4. He said, tell me, you that desire
to be under the law, do you not hear the law? Now you desire
to be under the law? You desire to be accepted with
God by your works of the law? You desire to be made righteous
and holy by trying to keep the law? Don't you hear the law?
Remember what the law said in Galatians 3 10, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. It's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. The law does not say try and
God will smile on you. No. The law says do and live,
do perfectly and live, disobey and die. The law says to be guilty
of breaking one law is to be guilty of breaking them all.
The law is strict. And then he goes into an illustration.
Verse 22. He says, for it's written that
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
free woman. Now we know what he's talking
about. Abraham had two sons. He had Isaac, that's the son
of the bondwoman, you remember, Hagar or Agar. the Egyptian slave
that was Sarah's handmaid. And then you remember Isaac,
who was the child of promise. Remember God promised Abraham
and Sarah that they would have a child. Sarah was a free woman. She was Abraham's wife. She wasn't
under bondage. Hagar was under bondage. Hagar
represents the law. Look what he says here in verse
23. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, physical. You see, remember when Abraham
got frustrated, Sarah got frustrated because God didn't fulfill the
promise of a child or a son as soon as they thought he should.
Remember what happened, Sarah brought the handmaid Hagar in
to Abraham and said, you go with her and have a child. So he's
born naturally, just like we're all born of the flesh. But it
says, and he was the child of the bond woman. Now to be a bond
woman represents being under the law, in bondage. Being a free woman represents
being under grace, free to serve God by grace, motivated by grace,
love, and gratitude, not by bondage, not by legalism or mercenary
promises of earned reward. So he says in verse 23, that
he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he
who was of the free woman was by promise. Remember, he talked
about the promise and the promises in Galatians 3. The promise of
salvation is not the result of a law covenant. The promise of
salvation by grace is the promise of the new covenant, which is
the manifestation of the everlasting covenant of grace. And all those
promises of salvation are conditioned on Christ, 2 Corinthians 1.20.
All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him, amen. So
Christ is the promise, he's the son of promise. And so Ishmael
was the son of the bond woman created by the fleshly means
that we normally go through to have a child. But Isaac was the
son of the free woman which was born by miraculous power of God. Abraham and Sarah were almost
100 years old and they had that child, that was of God. So he
says in verse 24, which things are an allegory, this is things
that represent spiritual truth, for these are the two covenants,
the one from Mount Sinai, the law covenant, the bondage, which
gendereth the bondage, which is Hagar, For this Agar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and
is in bondage with her children." He says that's the way Jerusalem
is now spiritually under bondage because the Pharisees and the
Sadducees and the scribes and the elders all taught them a
false gospel of work salvation and legalism. You see, that's
what Christ told the Pharisees. You're the blind leading the
blind, and you'll all fall in the ditch together. You appear
outwardly righteous unto men. You're into the taste not, touch
not, handle not. You think you're holier than
everybody else. He said, but you're lost. You go out to make
converts, and you get them in, and you make them twofold more
the child of hell than you are. That was the state of Jerusalem
in national Israel. under the teaching of the scribes
and the Pharisees. It was nothing but legalism,
bondage. There was no freedom there. And
that's the way Jerusalem, which it now is, he says, in verse
25, and is in bondage with her children. Do you understand that
any preacher who tries to inspire or motivate you to keep God's
law or to obey God in order to be saved or in order to be accepted
with God and made righteous in His sight, that preacher is putting
you in bondage if you follow him. Grace is free. And you know, I know people say,
well, you're a preacher, once saved, always saved. Well, if
God saves you, once saved, always saved. And I've even had people
tell me, said, well, you're an antinomian. That means against
law or against obedience is what they mean. And I'm not against
obedience. Obedience is the necessary fruit of salvation by grace. And the motivation for rightful,
acceptable obedience is not legalism or promises of earned reward. It's grace and gratitude and
love, knowing that we have a surety standing for us before God, and
we cannot be condemned, cannot be charged. But you know, I had
a person come to me, he said, well, if I believe what you believe,
I just go out and sin all I want to. Now, let me interpret that
for you. What he's saying is grace is
not enough to motivate me to be obedient. I need legal, law,
threats, promises of reward in order for me to obey. Well, that's
a low motive. That's bondage. But the freeness
of grace, free to serve God. Stand fast, Paul said, therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And don't
be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Well, he says here,
verse 26 of Galatians 4, but Jerusalem, which is above, that's
spiritual Jerusalem, the spiritual kingdom and city of God. Jerusalem
means city of peace. That means having peace with
God, which is the mother of us all, all true believers. Verse
27, for it is written, rejoice thou barren that bearest not,
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for the desolate
hath many more children than she which hath a husband. In
other words, sinners saved by grace. That's what he's talking
about. And verse 29, it says, or verse
28 says, now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of
promise. Grace, that's what that's talking
about, gospel. salvation totally completely
by the grace of God based upon the righteousness of Christ freely
imputed to all of his children and which from which comes their
life Christ being formed in them to where they're fixed on him.
And so, but he says in verse 29, but as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. Just like Isaac and Ishmael couldn't
get along because Ishmael hated Isaac. and taunted him, it says
in verse 30, nevertheless, what sayeth the scripture? Cast out
the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall
not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then brethren,
we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free. Now here's
what he's saying here. The children of the bond woman,
the children of bondage, salvation by works, and the children of
the promise, salvation by God's grace, cannot have fellowship
together. They are not one in the eyes
of God. That's two different opposing
works. Remember Paul wrote about this
in Romans 11. He said, salvation is by grace, not by works. And
he said, if it's by works, it's not of grace. If it's by grace,
it's not of works. There's no spiritual fellowship
between those who are in bondage under the law, trying to be saved
by establishing their own righteousness before God, and those who are
the children of peace and grace, promise, who are resting in the
imputed righteousness of Christ for all of salvation. Because
you see, those children of promise They have to look at the children
of bondage and tell them, you're lost. You're not saved. You need to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The children of the bondage,
they may say, well, we do believe in Christ, but you have to do
this, you have to do that in order to really be saved. Oh
no, you're denying Christ. And that's why Paul follows up
with it when he says, for example, if you be circumcised, Christ
will profit you nothing. Well, what does he mean by that?
That's Galatians 5 and verse 2. Well, he's talking about those
who are circumcised in order to be saved or in order to be
made righteous, like the bondwoman. You may claim that Christ is
your hope and your Savior, but He's not formed in you. He's
not your hope. You're denying Him. My friend,
I travail, as Paul said, that Christ might be formed in you,
that you might be so settled and ensconced in Him, fixed on
Him, that you never take your eyes off of Him in order to be
assured and to be at peace with God. Hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.