Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Galatians chapter 3. We'll read verses 22 all the
way to verse 5 of chapter 4. Our text for today will be in
Galatians chapter 4 verses 1 to 5, but I wanted to read the context
of these verses, and it includes chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, verse But the scripture hath concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that belief. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto 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 as 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 ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, dareth nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all, but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But
when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Let's continue to read to verse
seven. And because ye are sons, God has set forth the spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying what? Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a Son. And if a Son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Our text will be in verses one
to seven of Galatians chapter four here. And we see set before
us in verses 1 to 7 of chapter 4, the children of promise. The
children of promise. The children of the covenant
of grace. Turn, if you would, to Titus
chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. Let's read verses 1 to 4. Paul,
a servant of God. And now remember too, that these
scriptures are written for our learning. These scriptures are
written for the learning of God's children. His promised children. And the Holy Spirit has moved
Paul to pen these words. Paul, a servant of God, and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect,
and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. In hope of eternal life, which
God, that cannot lie, promised before when? The world began. Promised before the world began. but hath in these due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Saviour, to Titus, mine own son,
after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour." Notice there, in the hope of
eternal life in verse 2, which God, that cannot lie, promised
before the world began. And then in verse three, but
hath in due times manifested his word through preaching at
the appointed time of God, we were given ears to hear the word
and eyes to see Christ, beloved. which is committed, Paul says,
which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our
Savior. He's a sent man of God to preach and proclaim Christ
and him crucified. And note in verse two, again,
the promise of eternal life. The promise of eternal life was
made by God before the world began. He didn't go to plan B when Adam
fell. Did he? He didn't go to plan B when Israel
rejected Christ. No. I, to my shame, used to say
that when I was in religion. What an awful thing to think.
But I was, I didn't know anything. No, God has a covenant of grace.
And God made this promise of eternal life before the world
began. Before the world began. Who did
God make this promise to? Well, none of us were there.
No, God, the father, God, the son and God, the Holy Spirit.
Made a covenant and the promise was made by God, the father to
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that promise is revealed
to us, revealed to God's promised children, under the preaching
of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's preachers have the
honor of proclaiming the truth. But God the Holy Spirit is the
only one who can reveal the truth. If you know the truth, It's because
God the Holy Spirit revealed that truth to you. Preachers are just a mouthpiece,
that's all we are. We're sent from God to preach
and proclaim the one true gospel, but God the Holy Spirit must
make those words effectual, and he does. He does. And God's people are also built
up after we're saved, we're built up and we grow in the grace and
knowledge and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching
of the Word. Hence it's so important for us
to be under the preaching of the Gospel. To be under the preaching
of the Gospel. And God's preachers, again, have
the honor of preaching the truth And every hell-deserving sinner
who's delivered from the power of darkness and translated into
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only bought to
Christ by the sovereign, irresistible, drawing power of God the Holy
Spirit, but we are bought to Christ in the fulfillment of
the promise that God gave to the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity.
Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful. If our majestic God allowed one
for whom Christ died to perish, that would make him a liar, wouldn't
it? He will lose none, the scripture says. None. None. We know that God cannot lie. He promised a people to the Lord
Jesus Christ before the world began. We read that. So is it any wonder then Knowing
that God has promised the people to him, is it any wonder then,
it makes these words come alive in John 6, verse 37, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Shall. And he that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Because they were all promised
to him by the Father. Isn't that wonderful? And the
believer in Christ says, I'm part of that number. Wonder of
one. Wonder of wonders. Look at the first two verses
of this chapter, let's go back to Galatians chapter four, look
at the first two verses of this chapter, speaking of the children
of promise, the children of promise. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, different nothing. from a servant, though he be
Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the Father. In verses 23 and 24 of chapter
3, look at this, but before faith came, we were kept under the
law. shut up unto the faith, which
should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
In those two verses there, Paul is illustrating the truth of
what's brought forth in verse one. Now I say that the heir,
as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though
he be Lord of all. You can't tell when a God's lost
sheep from a goat before they're saved. You have no idea, and
neither do I. So we tell folks the great things
that the Lord has done through. I preach the gospel and it goes
out forth from here, doesn't it? We just let the Lord do with
it what he wills. And as Brother John said, we'll
be quick to give God all the glory and all the honor and all
the praise, because it's his work. It's his work, beloved. Salvation's a work of God. It's
a work of God. And our sovereign, all-wise Father
has appointed a time for His sons to receive His inheritance. Until that time, the son will
be under tutors and governors. As they say, you won't know a
goat from a sheep. Until the time that the Holy
Spirit regenerates that lost soul. We are kept under restraint until
the time of love comes. We are kept under restraint until
the time of law comes. As the law was our schoolmaster,
to what? To bring us to Christ. To bring us to Christ. Why? That we might be justified by
faith. By God-given faith. Let's read
verses three to five together now. Even so, we, When we were
children, we're in bondage under the elements of the world. That's
our natural state, dead and trespasses and sins. Look at this marvelous
verse. But when the fullness of time
was come. God sent forth his son made of a woman made under
the law. To redeem them that were under
the law. That we might receive the adoption
of sons. So we see in verse four the words,
the fullness of time. This refers to God's appointed
time to send his son into this world. When the fullness of time was
come, not a second early and not a second later. When the
fullness of time was come, Our Lord Jesus was sent into this
world, the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, made of
a woman. And we clearly see that Christ
came and that he was born of a woman. He's the seed of promise. He's the seed of promise. He
being made of a woman, was not tainted with original sin. His father was not Adam, his
father was God. See, all of us, topside of this
earth, are tainted with sin. Because our father is Adam. But our Lord's father is God.
And he came in the fullness of time, at the very appointed time
by the Father. Why? Well, to fulfill the law,
we know, by his blood redemption on Calvary's cross, by the shedding
of his precious blood. And it's for this particular
purpose that he came, that he was made into the law, to save
his people from their sins. that He might die a propitiatory
death for us in our place before the law and justice of God. Look
over in chapter 3. Again, look at verses 13 and
14. Christ hath, notice the little
hinge word there, hath. Again, big doors swing on little
hinges. Look at that. Hath redeemed us. He hath. He did it. It's accomplished.
There's no question. And it doesn't say Christ in
us, does it? No, it says Christ hath redeemed
us. He did it. He did it all. What did he redeem
us from? The curse of the law. Being made
a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone, hangeth on
a tree. Why? That the blessings of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. Jesus Christ was made under the
law. And as a Jew, Christ the God-man was under the civil and
judicial law. And as a son of Abraham, Jesus
Christ was under the ceremonial law of Moses. And as a living
human being, the Lord Jesus Christ was under the moral law. Why? Why was Christ made of a woman? Why was he made under the law? Well, we see a twofold answer
in this verse. Why was he made under the law?
To redeem them that were under the law. Let's go back to our
verse there. In verse five, look at this.
Let's read 4 too, but when the fullness of time was come, God
sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. So in verse 5, we see a twofold
reason, a twofold answer, not reason, a twofold answer, why
Christ was made of a woman. The first one is to redeem them
that were under the law. Remember, in verse one it says,
now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be lord of all. And then look at
verse two, but is under tutors and governors until the appointed
time of the father. We were under the law, beloved. We were under the law. And Jesus
Christ came into this world and perfectly honored the whole law
of God in the place of his people. He's perfect, He's sinless. And in doing so, in honoring
that law perfectly, He established a perfect righteousness. Everything that God's law demanded,
He established it. And remember, He's sinless, He's
not doing it for Himself, He's God incarnated in the flesh.
Beloved, He's doing it for the children of promise. So we see
again the importance of noticing that he not only died in a substitutionary
death, but he lived a substitutionary life. He established that which we
could never ever establish, a perfect righteousness, which we know
from our studies in the past is the only way that we can stand
fit before God, is to be clothed in the perfect righteousness. No wonder the Apostle Paul was
moved by the Holy Spirit of God to say that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. No
wonder, no wonder he was moved to pen that in Romans chapter
10, verse 4. And in Galatians 5.18, we read these
wonderful words which comfort God's people. All of us need
to lay these to our hearts. But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. The second answer in this verse
of why was Christ made of a woman, made under the law, we see the
second answer in the question in verse five as well, that we
might receive the adoption of sons. That we might receive the adoptions
of sons. How did he do this? Well, again,
by his perfect obedience to the whole law of God. by going to the cross and satisfying
everything that God demanded for the redemption of my soul,
and if you're one of God's people, for your souls, and not only
for our souls, but for all the elect of all the ages. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. God's holy justice, God's holy
justice, has been perfectly satisfied for all the children of promise,
for all the children of the promise, everyone. That's why he said,
all that the father giveth me shall come to me. They've all been bought and paid
for, purchased by the blood of the
lamb. Reconciled because God's holy
law has been satisfied because his justice has been appeased
for us by Christ in our place, then we are now reconciled to
God. Reconciled to God. Oh, man, I
love in Colossians, it says, our blessed Redeemer, He blotted
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. In the Greek,
that means He whitewashed it. It's gone. All those ordinances
that were against us, beloved, all our sins that were against
us, they're blotted out. Purchased by the precious blood
of Christ, our souls and our sins are blotted out. Blotted
out. And remember, remember what the
Lord said to Moses, when I see the blood, I'll what? Pass over
you. Oh my, it's wonderful, isn't
it? I'll pass over you. And our blessed Redeemer, He
blotted out that handwriting of ordinance that was against
us, He nailed it to His cross, beloved. And because Christ Jesus our
Lord has met all the conditions of the eternal covenant of grace,
too, remember that, He came to this earth to meet all, all the
conditions of the covenant of grace. We must be redeemed, and
He redeemed us. Our sins must be paid for. He paid for them. We must be
clothed in perfect righteousness to be able to be in God's presence. He established a perfect righteousness
for us. And then he clothes us in what?
I was thinking about this this morning. He clothes us like the
Father, bring forth the best robe. Best robe, the father says
to the prodigal son. Beloved, we're clothed, we're
prodigals, we're prodigal sons, but we're clothed in the best
robe, the righteousness of Christ. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. And look at here in, we'll read
verses six and seven. And remember, though, our Heavenly
Father, He predestinated us unto the adoption of children, right?
He predestinated us unto the adoption of children by the Lord
Jesus Christ. But in order for us to receive
the adoption of sons, Jesus Christ had to pay the ransom price in
full, and He did at Calvary's Cross. Therefore, He had to be
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem the promised children,
to redeem the promised children, so that we might receive the
adoption of sons. And look at here in verses 6
and 7. And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, I have a Father. Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. Now notice in verse 6, let's
look at this. Because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Now, ponder this. Ponder this,
and don't overlook the cause that's brought forth here by
the Holy Spirit of God. When we're regenerated, we understand
this. Before we were regenerated, we don't understand this, but
look at this. And why we cry, Abba, Father, look at this. God
is said here in the text to have sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into the hearts of His people, because ye are sons. Did you notice that? Because
ye are sons. Because ye are sons. God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Note it does not say that God
sends a spirit to make them sons. They're already sons. It says that, doesn't it? It
doesn't say God sent forth his spirit to make you sons. It says
because ye are sons. God has sent forth his spirit.
The spirit of his son into your hearts crying, I have a father.
That's amazing grace, beloved. Marvel at this. They are his
sons because they were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Just like we looked at in Titus,
remember? Hence, because ye are sons. I ask you this. Does that not
take us right out of the equation? We're just receivers of mercy,
aren't we? We just receive it. Because we were sons. It's precious. It's so precious. Because you're sons. And they're already heirs and
they did not even know it. We know that from verse one.
Now I say that an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be Lord of all, but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the father. I ask
you this, before the Lord saved you, did you know you were children
of promise? I had no clue. Me? Makes it marvelous, doesn't it?
Oh my. It's wondrous. My. My oh my. There already is. And God sends forth his spirit
into his children's hearts. Oh my. And now they have grace
to know it. Now they have grace to know it.
So what do we see here too? We see God's distinguishing grace
on display, doesn't it? We see that very clearly here,
set forth. And marvel if you're one who's
called the sons of God, marvel at this wondrous fact, because
this stretches all the way back to eternity. It stretches all the way back
to eternity. And does it not reveal the foolishness
of people saying, and I've heard people say this, now that you've
made a decision for Christ, now, now you're a son of God. That's
not what the scripture says there, is it? And we know God's people are
made willing. We see right there that God sends the spirit of
his son into his people, into his children. And because we're
sons, God sends forth his spirit. See, it takes any kind of consideration
that man has, that he has anything to do with his salvation, and
it lays it bare, that salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's of the
Lord. Beloved, it's pure mercy. It's
pure mercy. We've obtained mercy, like Paul
wrote. I know I say that a lot, but
I marvel in that. We have obtained mercy. And we
see it so clearly here in this text. We've obtained mercy. Oh my. Because ye are sons, it finds
its source all the way back to eternity. And it finds its source
all the way back into eternity in the grace of God. Because
it's only because of the grace of God that, because ye are sons. God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Because
you are God's promised children, Jesus Christ has redeemed us.
He's redeemed us. And because we are God's promised
children, and He's redeemed us with His precious blood, there's
therefore now no condemnation to God's people. to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Because why? Nothing can be laid to our charge. Nothing can be laid to our charge,
to God's elect. Because ye are sons, God has
sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, and now
we cry, Abba, Father. Abba just means Father. Father. Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you
for having mercy on me. Our Father who art in heaven,
see, our Father. And because we are sons, because
God planned and purposed that in eternity, we cry Abba Father. Did we cry Abba Father before
the Lord saved us? Not at all. Oh my. My, what grace is brought forth
here. And there's absolutely nothing
in our text, nor is there anything in the whole Word of God that
even hints at something man does in order to receive the spirit
of adoption. It's just not there. It's so
clear in these verses that salvation is by the work of God. It's His work. Salvation is of
the Lord. And it's not by man's works of any kind. Not man's will. Not by man's
obedience? Nothing. It's of the Lord. Now
God's people will be obedient to the Lord. We will. We'll grieve
at our sin. We will. We will. We won't use
the grace of God as a license to go and sin, will we? No. We won't do that. We won't do
that. But salvation is of the Lord.
It's so clear here. It's so clear. Never lose sight
of these important truths recorded for our learning here, or actually
over there in Galatians 3, verses 2 and 3. Never lose sight of
what's recorded in the Word of God, because it's recorded for
our learning, beloved. And look what's recorded over
here in Galatians 3, verses 2 and 3. This only would I learn of you,
received ye the spirit by the works of the law. Now that's
the same spirit that's spoken of over there that says God,
because we are children, God has sent forth his spirit. Now
look at this. This only would I learn of you, received ye the
spirit by the works of the law. So that's, did you receive the
Holy Spirit by your works? By your doing? Or by the hearing
of faith? Well we know faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. were born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. It's his work, not our work.
Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made
perfect by the flesh? Oh. See, them Judaizers were
telling them you had to be circumcised in order to be saved, along with
the work of Christ. So he's saying now, you're born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, are you made perfect now by something
you do? And he says, Have ye suffered
so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore
that ministereth to you in 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 faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Look at that. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee all nations shall be
blessed. And then look at the last verse
of chapter three. And if ye be Christ, then ye
are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Oh,
it just gets better and better, doesn't it? It just gets better
and better. It's wonderful. And because we are the God's
promised children, because Christ redeemed us from the cursed law,
because we are the sons of God, God has sent forth his spirit
into our hearts and we cry now, Abba, Father. Abba, Father. And it's not by the hearing of
the law, but by the hearing of the word of God and the Holy
Spirit giving us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that
we're saved. It's the power of God, beloved.
It's the power of God. And our great God, by the miracle
of the new birth, sets His children free. Free from the power of
darkness, free from the power of Satan, free from the power
of sin, free from the power of self, and free from the curse of the
law. And this is a miracle performed
by God. Under the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ and him crucified and by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. So having begun in the spirit,
we are not made perfect by the flesh, are we? No, no. We are
reminded daily of our constant need for Christ, aren't we? Daily. Daily. By the minute. Oh my. And God's promised children,
now let this warm your heart. You who are the people of God.
God's promised children were sanctified and perfected forever
by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ our Lord. And God's
promised children have been made perfect by what Christ Jesus
has done for us. We cannot be more perfect than
what we are in Christ. Now, we're sinners still on this
earth. We still are. We're sinners. We are. We are
sinners. But we are bought and paid for
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in God's
eyes, he sees us clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ and their sins and iniquities. I will remember no
more. Makes you want to shout, doesn't
it? Makes you want to shout. Oh. And God's promised children were
sanctified in God's sight by what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done for us. And we cannot become more sanctified
than what we are in Christ. Than what we are in Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? It's wonderful, isn't it? And now God's children do mature
in the faith. We grow in the grace and knowledge
and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ as we're taught under the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we do not become
more holy. We do not become more righteous.
And we do not become more complete. Because we're not made acceptable
by what we do. That's hard for us to grasp. Oh my. Ponder this truth, beloved. Let it just sink deep into your
soul. We are perfectly holy in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. And we are perfectly righteous
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And the scriptures declare, and
oh, if we could only believe it, we are complete in Christ. What rest that gives us. But
oh, the flashing, the flash, the flash, the flash. Peter,
Lord, help my unbelief. We're all plagued with it. We're
all plagued with it. But when those times come, just
rest in the truth of Colossians when it says we're completing
Him. Completing Him. So what a work. What a work of
God. Because it's only God who's made
us acceptable in Christ Jesus. God the Father has made us acceptable
in Christ. It's His work. And absolutely
nothing can be added to what we already are in Christ Jesus
our Savior. Now that goes so against the
grain of religion, doesn't it? Those of us who came out of religion,
we know that goes against the grain of religion. Oh my, it's
all about what you do. And you never feel like you've
done enough, because you never can do enough. Oh, the believer sits and reposes. I love that old word, they used
to say repose. It just means to rest without
even moving. Oh, we just repose in Christ,
don't we? I'm completing Christ, hallelujah. Oh my, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Oh, absolutely wonderful. And ponder this too. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ gives every believer the assurance
that what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for his promised children
is enough. It's enough, isn't it? It's enough. It's enough. He's completely
sufficient. He provides all my needs. All
my needs. And all that a sinner needs is
found in Christ. Let me tell you that. There is
nowhere else that a sinner's needs are found and fulfilled
but in Christ Jesus our Lord. And any effort on our part to
add to the finished work of Christ is an abomination in the eyes
of the Lord. It's an abomination in the eyes
of the Lord to the God of all grace, because he is perfectly
satisfied with the perfect, sin-atoning, redeeming work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Perfectly satisfied. And because
you are children, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts. And now we cry, Abba, Father. My. And note the word Abba in verse
six. It's a most enduring word. It brings forth that God is our
Father. He's our Father. And what sweetness
is brought forth here? Well, we toil through this world.
Our great Heavenly Father watches over us, ever caring for us,
ever providing for us. Why? Because He's loved us from
eternity. We're the children of promise.
And in our natural state, we didn't even have a clue. And
now that we know, we're in awe, and we just praise Him, don't
we? Look at verse 6 again. Because
ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And note, all three of the persons
of the Trinity are brought forth. The Father sent forth the Holy
Spirit, who is the Spirit of who? His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at that. Because ye are
sons, God the Father has sent forth the Spirit, that's the
Holy Spirit, and who is he the Spirit of? The Spirit of his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Into your hearts cry an Abba
Father. There's so much packed into these
verses, isn't there? It's wonderful. It's wonderful. And we see that the Spirit of
the Son is sent to those who are the children of promise. This is the same Spirit who is
said to have moved upon the face of the waters in Genesis 1. This is the same Spirit who moved
holy men of God to write the Scripture. This is the same Spirit
who descended on Christ as a dove. The same Spirit by whom the apostles
wrought miracles. And we see here that He is called
the Spirit of His Son. And we know His name. The Holy
Spirit of God. And we see here that He is sent
to the children of promise because He are sons. He's sent to, isn't
He? He's sent to the children of
Palmas. He who is one with the Father and one with the Son.
It is He who regenerates us. Which means to be born again.
It's He who leads us also into all truth, isn't it? It's Him. And as I said before, the whole
Trinity is involved in the salvation of a sinner. The Father predestined
the believer in Christ in eternity. Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Son
of God, we saw when the fullness of time was come, came into this
world, to what? To redeem us. To redeem our eternal
souls. Redeem the promised children.
The promised children of God. And the Holy Spirit then comes,
is sent to us by the Father, and we know by the Son, because
He said, I'll send you a comforter. Sent to the children of promise,
beloved. He regenerates us, He gives us
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He teaches
us the wondrous things of Christ. And he gives us repentance before
God. So I ask you, in light of all
that, is that not a wondrous, a wondrous instance of the grace
of God in your life? And not only in your life, in
my life, but in the life of all the elect of all the ages. It's
wonderful. And truly, truly those who are
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, those who were given
by the Father, the Christ, are truly sons of God because they're
accepted in the Beloved. Which means they're accepted
in Christ. And they're redeemed from all our sins. And again,
there's no condemnation. God has put the spirit of adoption
in us. And we have the assurance and
the comfort whereby we can actually call
God our Father. All by the work of God. We can't
lay claim to nothing. And we don't want to. We don't want to. And the word Abba is a Hebrew
word meaning Father. It may be that the word is, Brother
Henry said, it may be that the word is both Hebrew and Greek
to show us that God is the father of both the Jew and the Gentile.
Both the Jew and the Gentile. Let's look at verse 7 quickly.
It says here, wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son. And if a son and an heir of God
through Christ. When Christ came, the job of
the schoolmaster was ended. That we might be justified by
faith. by God-given faith. And the things that were taught
under the law were fulfilled by Christ. Were fulfilled by
Christ. And Jesus Christ is our High
Priest, and He's entered into the holiest of holies. He's in
heaven itself to appear in the presence of God for us. And that's
where He is right now, beloved. That's where He is right now.
He's God's sacrificial lamb, isn't He? He's God's sacrificial
lamb, and He's made atonement for all our sins. All our sins. And therefore God will remember
our sins and iniquities no more. Christ having made atonement
for all our sins, for all the sins of His promised children,
remember that too. For all the sins of His promised
children, there is therefore no more offering of sin for them. No more. Because Christ is our
mercy seat. He's our mercy seat. Therefore,
God has mercy on his promised children for Christ's sake. For
Christ's sake. And when God sees the blood of
his darling son, he passes over them. When I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. Wonderful words, isn't it? Wonderful
words. Because Christ is our Passover,
beloved. It's our Passover. And God ceased from his own works
on the seventh day. Well, we've ceased from our works,
haven't we? We've ceased from our works because we rest in
Christ, who is our Sabbath. Who is our Sabbath? We rest in
him. Therefore, Christ is our Sabbath. He's the fulfillment
of the whole law for us. And we're no longer under a schoolmaster,
beloved. Verse seven again, wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. Beloved of God, let this warm
your heart this week. We're the children of the most
high God. We're the children, we who are God's people, we are
purchased by his blood, are the children of the most high God.
And our great majestic God who rules over heaven and earth is
also our heavenly Father. And these are endearing terms
for the believer. Heavenly Father and His children. Doesn't that warm your heart?
That He's our Father and that we're His children? That we're
the children of promise? And the Apostle John put it this
way. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God. His love is
manifested just in the fact that we're called the sons of God,
beloved. Therefore the world knoweth us
not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. John said that, now are we the
sons of God. We've been his sons from eternity,
haven't we? But now it's manifested that
we're his son. Because the spirit of his son
is in us and we cry Abba Father. Right now, right now. Right now,
at this present time, God's people are the sons of God. Right now.
Not when we get into glory. Right now. Right now. Oh, if we've received the spirit
of adoption, right now we're the sons of God. And we no longer
fear the wrath of God. Jesus Christ, our Savior, has
delivered us from the wrath to come by enduring the wrath of
God in our place. And there is no fear in love,
Perfect love passes without fear. Remember what David said to Mephibosheth?
We looked at that in Sunday School. When Mephibosheth was bought
before David, he said, fear not. Fear not. So we can approach
God. We who are his blood-bought people,
we can approach God without fear. Now we have a reverence for him,
don't we? Oh, we have a reverence for who he is. But we can boldly
approach his throne in Christ. And we don't approach our God
with a flippant or disrespectful attitude, never, no. We have
a deep reverence for who our great God is. Deep reverence.
Because of his awesome majesty. He's King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. But we do approach God in recognition of this profound
and wonderful living union that we have with him in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. And he, never forget, beloved
of God, that he's our loving father. He's our loving father. And all the promised children
of God, he loves us all with the same eternal love. Because he loves us in Christ. An eternal, immutable, undying
love. And that love was manifest in
the most undeniable way, wasn't it? When he sent his son to be our
synatonine sacrifice at Calvary's Cross. As I've said many times,
that was the greatest manifestation of love this world has ever seen. But the world doesn't see it,
but God's people do. By the eyes of faith, we see
it. And if we're God's children, then we're heirs of God through
Christ. We've been made heirs and joint
heirs with Christ and all who are the children of God are heirs
of God for the same reason. For the same reason, you know
what that is? By God's grace. By God's grace and his mercy,
according to the promise. According to the promise that
we looked at there in Titus. Chapter 1, verse 4. And we're
heirs to the same fullness in Christ. There's no degrees in
heaven, beloved. We're heirs, and Christ is our
reward. Christ is our reward. And also
our inheritance is not conditioned upon our works, be they good
or bad, but upon our relationship to God. And we have that only
through Christ. If children, then heirs, the
scripture says. So let us close thinking upon
these things. If we are the sons of God. And
I pray this will warm your heart this week. If we are the sons
of God, then we are children of the same father. Children,
we're family. We're children of the same father.
If we are the sons of God, then we are all loved with the same
love to the same degree. To the same degree. Again, there's
no degrees in the Father's love. It's set upon us in Christ. And we are all blessed with the
same blessings from eternity. That's something we can marvel
at as we look at this scripture today. Because ye are sons. We're
all blessed with the same blessings from eternity. And all the blessings
that we have are in Christ. And our Father will not take
away what He's already given us. And He's already given us
all things in Christ. It's wonderful. And we are all accepted upon
the same grounds. Like Brother Scott Richardson
used to say, the ground at the foot of the cross is level. We
are all accepted on the same grounds as in Christ. And for the same reasons, to
give God all the glory and honor and praise and to manifest His
grace and mercy and to all the same degree. And we are all equally related
to our elder brother, the firstborn son, through whom the inheritance
come, and he is the head and we are the body. And think of this, we have already
obtained the inheritance of Christ representatively. We're seated in the heavenly
zone. In God's eyes, it's all finished. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, the scripture says, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him, not being the father who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the
praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. May we give
God all the glory when we ponder these wondrous things.