study. So today we're going to
look at the subject of the children of Abraham, the children of Abraham. In turn, if you went to Galatians
chapter 3, we'll continue our study in this wonderful epistle.
And the churches in Galatia, as I mentioned before, they were
young churches. They were made up of Celtic Gauls, and they
were very superstitious people by nature. And that's why Paul talks to
them about being tossed to and fro. A new idea would come along
and they would grasp it. And they would take it and believe
it. And so here the Judaizers had come in after Paul had preached
the gospel, as we see in verse 1 of chapter 3, that Christ crucified
has been evidently set forth before them. And here the Judaizers
come in and they say, well, you've got to be circumcised to be saved,
along with faith in Christ. So this epistle is written to
the churches at Galatia in defense of the one true gospel of salvation
in and through Christ alone. And I believe we're now in the
main theme of the epistle, which is justification through Christ alone. That's
the heart of the gospel, isn't it? That we're justified by Christ
and not by anything that we do. It's all by what He's done. And
Paul's established these churches by the will and purpose of God.
And again, Christ crucified has been evidently set before them,
the one true gospel. And by the power of God, the
Holy Spirit, they believed, didn't they? They believed what Paul
was preaching. They were born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
and they believed, and they'd be given God-given faith to trust
and rest upon Christ. But here comes these Judaizers,
and they're whispering and saying, well, you got to do this to be
saved, and you got to do that to be saved, along with faith
in Christ. So again, Paul writes this wonderful epistle by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God in rebuttal a sharp contrast
to what the Judaizers were teaching, which is the one true gospel.
So let's read verses one to 9 of Galatians chapter 3, our text
will be in verse 7. O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you? This only would I learn of you.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye
suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore
that ministered to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you,
doeth he by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of the faith,
the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scriptures,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, And these shall all nations be
blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham. The last time we met, we looked
at verse six of chapter three, and we saw that Paul the Apostle,
again by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, put forth that
the Galatian believers, to the Galatian believers, that Abraham
believed God. He just believed God. He believed
what God said. And we know that's by God-given faith, right? Because
the only way we believe God and what he says about Christ, about
the Scriptures, is by God-given faith. And it's the same with
Abraham. Remember, he was an idol worshiper. He was stooped
in idol worship. He was dead in trespasses and
sins. And he was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, just like we are. So he's had the same experience
that way. And did you notice? Did you notice? In next week's verse, in the
scripture, verse 8, in the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham.
Abraham believed the same Messiah we do. The same Redeemer we do. Christ Jesus, right? He looked
to the Messiah, didn't he? Right? He believed what God said.
And then notice it was accounted to him for righteousness? We
believe on Christ, don't we? And what happens? His righteousness
is counted to us, right? By nothing we've done. It's absolutely
wonderful. Absolutely. Just turn if you
would to Genesis chapter 15. We're gonna look at the place
where this is actually a quote when Paul writes, even as Abraham
believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. This
is actually a quote from Genesis 15. And in Genesis 15 is the
first mention of the righteousness, of any kind of righteousness.
And look at this, look what it says here, Genesis 15 verses
one to six. Now this is the Lord, I believe
this is the Lord Jesus Christ talking to Abraham. Because anytime
God talks, anytime God talks to man, he talks to man through
Christ. Everything that God has to say
to man, he says through Christ, the word. We know that the one
who was meeting with Adam and Eve in the garden was the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know that the one who was high and lifted up
on the throne and Isaiah saw him was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the angel of the Lord, I believe, is the Lord Jesus Christ, is
Him, through the Old Testament. Now look at this. Genesis 15,
after these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham
in a vision. Well, this is Christ speaking
to him. Look at this, I love this. First two words he says,
fear not. Oh, my. That's the name of my
sermon this morning. Fear not. Fear not. Isn't that beautiful?
Fear not, Abram. Calls him by name. Calls him
by name. I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. You know, so many people in religion,
they're working their way, trying to gain rewards, thinking, oh,
if I do this, I'm going to get a reward. If I do that. If Christ
is our reward, do we have to worry about anything like that?
Why? Nothing's greater than Christ.
Nothing's greater than Christ, beloved. He says to Abraham,
and he says that to all God's people, I'm your exceeding reward. I'm your shield. I'm your great
and exceeding reward. And he is a great reward, isn't
he? sinners saved by the grace of God through Christ Jesus and
his shed precious blood. And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of
my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, behold, to me
thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine
heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir. But he that
shall come forth out of thine own bow shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven
and tell the stars if they'll be able to number them. And they
said unto them, so shall thy seed be. Do you know that's you
and I? That's all the elect of all the ages. Isn't that beautiful? He's the father of the faithful.
Oh my. Look at this. And he believed,
look, here's the verse six. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted it to him for righteousness. Now let's go back
to our verse and take note there in verse six of Genesis 15. And he, Abraham, believed in
the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Oh, what
a blessing, simple faith. Simple faith. He believed what
God said. Do you know what else says about God's people, about
us? Is that we believe what God said. That's why people, you
know, you wonder why people don't believe what we say? Because
they don't believe what God says. Right? But we were there too,
weren't we? And by the grace and mercy of
God, now we believe. Sister, you said one time, you
know, you didn't believe and then boom, you believed. You
received Christ, the balm of Gilead. Just like that, just
like that. It's incredible, isn't it? Simple
faith. Lord, I need you. Lord, I trust
you. My, it's so wonderful. So what
a blessing to learn the way of simple faith. Saving faith, just
trust and rest on Christ, the one who was sent by the Father,
the one who is eternal life. So the object of true saving
faith is Christ, in Christ alone. You know, I was marveling when
I was sick. I was marveling in the fact that
I believe God. When I was sick, I was sitting
there thinking, Lord, I believe you. There was a time when I
didn't believe you. And now I believe you. And there's
so many in this town who don't believe. There's so many in this
country who don't believe. There's so many in this world
who don't believe. And yet I believe. And it's not because of anything
in me, because all I am is sin, right? But yet I believe. And the question is, do you believe
that Christ is the only Savior? Do you know that's a miracle
of God? Do you know that's a work of God? That's a work of God? In John
6, 29, it says, So this week, marvel, marvel that in the town
you live in, here you believe. In the country you live in, here
you believe. In the world we live in, Here we believe, and so many
others don't. That's God's distinguishing grace.
That's God having mercy upon you and I, beloved. Undeserved,
unmerited, and yet He's so merciful. Isn't He so merciful to us? My,
oh my. And who did God send? Well, He
sent Christ, right? He sent Christ. My, oh, my. So I was struck with
the miracle of the fact that we believe God. We believe what
God says, and that's the work of God. That's not the work of
any man. We can't make ourselves believe, but God can sure make
us believe, can't he? He gives us faith, and then we
just flee to Christ, don't we? And that's why we tell sinners,
sinner friend, flee to Christ, knowing that if they do, it's
God's work, but still the call goes out, doesn't it? You need
Christ like I need Christ. We need Christ, we're sinners.
We desperately need Christ. Do you know even after I'm saved,
I still need to go in that fountain and be dipped and made whole
again? Because I get defiled in this
world. I'm saved, but I still go to
that fountain, do you? Oh Lord, forgive me for my sins.
Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I know I'm forgiven, but I'm
still gonna come to you and confess my sin. Oh Lord, He's so merciful. He's so merciful to us. So it
says there, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him
for righteousness. Let's turn back there and look at that.
Galatians chapter three, verse six. Oh, this work, this work
that we believe is the work of God. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And look at this, it says, even
as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
That was the same statement that we read in Genesis 15, verse
six. So Paul's bringing forth in this
rebuttal, he's bringing forth that Abraham believed by simple
faith. Circumcision didn't happen until
years later. The Lord saved them before circumcision
was even bought in. Right? So he's showing them here
that Abraham believed God and that's what was accounted to
him for righteousness. Not some act. Right? Not some act of man. And then
look what it says here. Now marvel at this. We who are
the people of God marvel at this. Then it says, know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. Oh my goodness. The ones that
God said will be like the stars in the heavens, that's us. That's we, it says right, doesn't
that say right there? It says it so clearly, doesn't
it? Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, well, that's
those who are born again by God's Holy Spirit. The same are the
children of Abraham. Do you know we're spiritual Jews? Isn't that amazing? That's absolutely
amazing. Ephesians, if you get a chance,
read Ephesians 2 this week, and it says that we were far off,
but we're bought nigh now by the blood of Christ. We're no
longer strangers and foreigners to the covenants and the promises.
They're ours in Christ now. And how do we know that? Look at this. Look at the last
verse. I love this. Look at the last
verse of this chapter. And if ye be Christ, then are
ye Abraham's seed. Look at that. There it is, right? and heirs according to the promises. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Christ, and they're all ours. They're all ours. So if you see a promise in the
Old Testament, Spurgeon, you say, grab ahold of that promise
and plead it to God, because that's ours, beloved, in Christ. That's ours. When he says, fear
not, I'm going to hold on to that. God, you told me not to
fear, because you're my shield. No matter what comes in this
way and this world, you told me not to fear. I'm not going
to fear. Well, I am in my flesh, aren't I? Yeah. I'm not going
to say I'm not going to fear. No, I'm going to stop right there.
Right? But I'm reminded that I can keep going to him, can't
I? Right? He's the rock, man. I'm the shaker. Oh my! Oh my! Yeah, so we can just keep going
to Him. But isn't this wonderful? And
if ye be Christ and you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise, that's absolutely wonderful, beloved. That's absolutely wonderful. So think of this too, the Judaizers
were trying to enforce Jewish practices and customs of the
law onto Gentiles believers saying they must do this along with
faith in Christ to be saved. And Paul sets forth before the
Galatian churches that if they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
they were saved. And they were children of Abraham. They were children of spiritual
Jews. And not by flesh, right? Not
by flesh and blood, but how? By the power of God, the Holy
Spirit. By the power of God, the Holy Spirit. My, we have
a new nature on us now, don't we? By the power of God, the
Holy Spirit. Oh, we were born with our mom
and dad's nature. We were dead, but now we're born again. We
got a new nature on us now. Oh, we praise God now, don't
we? Yeah. We're governed by a new nature
now. And the Holy Spirit, what the Holy Spirit is here, remember
who the true author is, right? So the Holy Spirit's setting
before the Galatian churches. And now we're reading this words,
the simple fact that salvation is all of grace. That's what
he's setting. He's heading by Paul penning
these words. He's setting forth the simple
fact that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for
righteousness. That's wonderful, isn't it? And he's setting it
before us now. Here we are, 2,000 years later,
reading this and being blessed by it. And going, Lord, I believe. By the grace of God, I believe.
I believe. Oh my. Let's read both verses
again, verse 6 and 7 again. So Abraham was a sinner just
like you and I. Again, he came out of idol worship,
out of Ur, the land of Ur. He was a full-on idol worshiper.
He was dead and trespasses his sins in his natural state. But
he was called out of where he was, by God, right? and called out of the land of
Ur and marvel at the simple truth set before us here in verse six. He's an idol worshiper. He doesn't
know the one true living God and all of a sudden, all of a
sudden, right? by the grace and mercy of God,
Abraham believes God. Why? Because he's born again.
He had a bright smile. Amen, brother, amen. He believes
God. He didn't believe him here. He
probably woke up that morning. Uh-oh. Or a couple weeks there
when he was in Ur. Oh, yeah, I'm going to go down
to the local temple there and do whatever and worship a rock
or a stone or a tree. But not thinking that, right?
He thought it was fine, right? And now the one true living God
has come into his life. But God. Right? That happens in every one of
our lives too, eh? But God, who's rich in mercy. There's a time,
there's a but God in every believer's life, isn't there? Oh, amen. It's wonderful. It's wonderful.
It's absolutely wonderful. Abraham believed God, it says
in verse 6, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So
marvel at the truth set forth here. He just believed God. And you know, the heroes of the
faith that Paul mentions in the book of Hebrews, they were just
ordinary men like you and I, too. But God had gifted them,
right, the prophets and stuff, to write the scriptures. But
they were sinners just like us. They looked to the Messiah, though,
didn't they? They looked to the covenant. They believed God.
Because of a work of God, they believed God. It was accounted
to them for righteousness. They were imperfect creatures,
characters, just like we are. They're all sinners saved by
the grace of God, but they believe God. They believe what He said.
At times they had faulty judgment, just like we do, right? Right? Just like us. But yet they were
still children of God. Because that which Christ did
for them at Calvary was counted to them for righteousness. But
they believe God. They look to the Messiah. They
look to the Messiah. Look at verse seven again. Know
ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. So they who have been given God-given
faith, they believe what God says, again, in the scriptures.
They believe what God says about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that He's the only Savior of sinners. We believe that, don't
we? By God's grace, we believe that now. We believe what the
scriptures say. This is our final authority,
isn't it? Not what man says. I told somebody
I love and care about very deeply that this is my final authority,
and they got upset with me. But you know what? This is my
final authority. If God says this, then it's right. No matter what man says. I mean,
no matter what man says. The scriptures are what's right. And we believe it, don't we?
By God's grace, we believe it. We believe it. Now, we may wiggle on other things,
but we're not going to wiggle about the Word of God, are we?
Right? No. There is no room for movement
when it comes to the Word of God. What God says is the truth,
no matter what man says. Man says, man says, you got to
do this to be saved. God says, salvation's in and
through my son and him alone. In him, I'm well pleased. We
believe God, don't we? By the grace of God, we believe
God. Oh, it's a miracle too. So rejoice this week when you
think about that. I believe God. That's the work of God. I believe
God because he's done a work in me. Well, hallelujah. That's
wonderful. Oh, it's absolutely wonderful.
So the verse says, "'Know ye therefore that they which are
of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.'" We believe what
God says, we believe what the Bible says about God, because
that's how He reveals Himself to us, is through His Word, right?
Through His Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And
we now rest our eternal souls on someone we've never seen.
You ever think of that? Because if—now think of this.
I love how the scriptures brings this forth. If you hope for something
and you see it, you don't hope then, right? But we hope because we haven't
seen him, but yet we trust and believe him. That's the work
of God. But in our natural state, we
wouldn't believe it unless we saw it. You ever think of that? Oh yeah, somebody tell you something,
oh yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. I remember saying that
to my buddies. I totally remember saying that.
Oh, yeah, that's another story. I had a buddy named Wayne. It
was the same name as me. We were great friends. And that guy could
spin a tail a mile and a half long. And I'll tell you what,
his stories just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger
and bigger. And we didn't believe him anymore. But you know what? The Lord saved him. The Lord
saved him. He don't tell tall tales no more.
Isn't that wonderful, though? But oh my, oh my. You guys actually saw him. He
came and visited that one time with my other buddy Bob. And
he had the long hair and everything. Oh, he's just a dear fellow.
But yeah. Have you ever heard someone say
this? Have you ever heard someone say,
I'm too much of a sinner for God to forgive me? You ever heard
that? I've heard it. I've heard it
many times. Many times. And we might have even said it
before ourselves before when we were in our natural state. Do you know that's a person that's
despairing over their sin, right? You know what a trick of Satan
is? He will make people despair over
their sin so they never come to Christ. But the very thing that they're
despairing over is what qualifies them. Right? And this is mine. I heard Bruce Crabtree say this
yesterday, and I got to repeat it. He said, do you ever hear
someone say, well, I despair over my sin. I'm too much of
a sinner to come to Christ. That's what qualifies them to
come to Christ. The fact that they're a sinner.
It doesn't disqualify them. It qualifies them. Isn't it amazing though? When
he said that, I was just, I was rejoicing, eh? Now I have an answer to people
who say, well, I'm too much. I already say, well, you're self-righteous,
but they don't like that very much. But now, that's what qualifies
them. That's what qualified us, right?
The only thing we bring to the table is our sin. But what did
Christ come to do? Save sinners, to seek and to
save that which was lost. He said, I don't come to save
the whole, I come to save the sick. That's the sin sick, beloved. That's you and I. Isn't it wonderful? The very thing that we seek not
to do qualifies us for Christ. to be saved by Christ. And see,
one of the things that we acknowledge now as believers is that we're
sinners, and that we desperately need Christ. I didn't think I
was a sinner before the Lord saved me. I really didn't. I may have said, oh yeah, I do
that. But really, when you get down
to it, I didn't believe I was a sinner, but now. Now we own
it, don't we? I've sinned against God, but
in his mercy and his grace, he forgave me of all my sins in
Christ. And now, now I'm a child of Abraham. I was and I didn't even know
it. My. So Christ came to seek and to
save sinners. So I'm here to tell you, do not
despair, sinner friend. If there's someone who's gonna
listen to this message and is despairing over their sin, don't
despair, flee to Christ. He's the only hope for sinners.
And we're sinners who say, flee to him, we did. See, you know,
we're not gonna hedge it up, are we? We're gonna preach broadly,
come to Christ. Right? We don't know who the
God's people are. So we preach, come to him. The spirit and the
bride say, come. The Lord says, come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavily, and I'll give you rest. Come.
We know that only the Lord's people will, but still we say,
come, right? Come, flee to Christ. Flee to him. My, he came to seek and to save
that which was lost, and he's able to save to the uttermost
those who come to him. We're proof of that. Each one
of us here are proof of that. My. And this is the one who Abraham
believed, the one who came to seek and to save that which was
lost. My, it's so wonderful, beloved.
Look at verse seven again. Know ye therefore that they which
are of the faith the same are the children of Abraham, those
who are of the same faith as Abraham. Not to the same degree,
but the same God-given faith. Do you know you and I have the
same faith as Abraham? Do you know all God's people
have the same faith as Abraham? Might not be to the same degree,
but let's describe it. If you have a grain of mustard,
right? Mustard seed. Faith is a grain of mustard seed,
right? My faith, it's microscopic. But I believe, I believe! I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and He saved my soul. And who do we believe? Jehovah
the Word, the Lord our righteousness. And that's wrought in us by the
same Spirit, beloved. That's what Paul's bringing forth
here, is that this is wrought in us by the same Holy Spirit
of God. So we have the same Savior, we have the same Spirit, we have
the same Father now. We cry Abba Father together,
right, to our King. And in Genesis chapter 15, verse
6, Paul quotes that in verse 6 of Galatians, he's quoting
that. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
He believed the Lord. That's Jehovah there. He believed
Jehovah. Who's Jesus Christ? He's Jehovah
God, the Son, isn't he? And the Father's Jehovah God,
the Father. And the Holy Spirit's Jehovah God, the Holy Spirit,
right? The three are one. The three
are one. My oh my. So Abraham was justified by faith
without works. He just believed God. So if Abraham
is justified by faith, well, that works. We're justified by
faith, well, that works, right? That's good news, isn't it? That
is the most wonderful news for sinners. There's nothing we have
to do to be saved. Christ did it all. He did it
all. He shed his blood to redeem us
and purchase us. He wove out a perfect coat of
righteousness for us. He did it all, beloved. He did it all. So, really what
Paul's doing here, too, is presenting to them that they're heirs. They're
heirs in Christ, too. Because all those promises, right,
of God are theirs now. Gentiles. Dogs! All them promises are theirs.
You know those Jews must have been just doing a dance, eh?
They must have been doing a dance after he sent this letter. Oh
my! My, oh my. Turn if you would
to John chapter 8. I think I'll have to finish here.
I didn't get through it all, but that's okay. But look at
this in John chapter 8. This is worth looking at. We'll read verses 39 to 47. Where
we see that the true children of Abraham are God's born-again
blood-washed people. That's you and I, beloved. That's
you and I. This is a wonderful portion.
John chapter 8 verse 39 to 47. Then answered, or they answered
and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto
them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
What did Abraham do? He just believed, didn't he?
That's what he's saying. He's saying, if you were the
children of Abraham, you'd believe on me. Look at this. But now you seek
to kill me, a man that had told you the truth. Now, think of this. We tell people
we love the truth, don't we? And they don't like it, do they?
And it breaks our hearts, right? It breaks our hearts. But we
keep telling them the truth, don't we? When we get the opportunity,
when the Lord opens, we don't have to break it down ourselves,
but if the Lord opens his heart, we tell him, we tell him the
truth. So the Lord never lied, he just told the truth all the
time. Which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. So Abraham
didn't seek to kill God, what? He believed God, right? He believed
God. Now look at this. Now here we
go. Now this is where the rubber
hits the road with these Pharisees. And this is why they get all
wound up tighter in the clock. You do the deeds of your father.
Then they said unto him, We be not born of fornication. We have
one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your father, he would love me. Look at that. Now think of this, okay? We want evidence. Do you love
Christ? Do you love Christ? If you love Christ, it's because
Father's your Father. Because God's your Father. That's
assurance for us, isn't it? That's comfort. Now, even though
our love is like this, right? But still, we now love Christ,
don't we? We didn't love Him before, but
now we love Him, right? Oh my, it's amazing. If God were your father, you
would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither
came I of myself, but he sent me." There's that sent again,
Brother Dave, we talked about. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. Look at that. Now, there was a time we couldn't
hear his word, wasn't there? There was a time when I couldn't hear
nothing. And I didn't want to hear nothing,
yeah. But now, that's all I want to hear. Tell me about Christ. Tell me about the one I love.
Tell me more about him. Right? Oh my. Now look at this. Here
it is, right here. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinces
me of sin? He's the sinless one. He's God
in the flesh. And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? Now, here we go. He that is of
God, heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. Rejoice and marvel this week.
that you hear his voice, that you hear his voice. My, oh my. Brother Brian, can you close
us in prayer?