and verses 23 and 24. That's the Epistle of Paul to
the Galatians, chapter 3, and reading verses 23 and 24. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster,
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. As we continue our meditation
in this epistle of Paul to the Galatians, we are reminded of
what Paul is setting before us And that is, of course, justification
by faith, but he tells us here that before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto faith, which should afterward
be revealed. and he is of course referring
to the Old Testament and the Old Testament ceremonial law
and that of course spoke and said do this and live and it
was a command that people had to obey but of course they weren't
able to obey and they were therefore indeed kept under the law shut
up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. And we
know, of course, that the People in the Old Testament did in fact
walk by faith but they did not see things clearly as we can
today through the wonderful revelation in the New Testament. And the
apostle goes on then to speak these important words where he
comes and says, wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring
us unto Christ. that we might be justified by
faith. Now, the law, of course, is the
whole of the ceremonial law. It was not only just confined
to the Ten Commandments. And therefore, we see the significance
of this because what it meant was that the whole of that law
and all that it contained, both in condemnation and deliverance
from sin was, in fact, as it were, a schoolmaster to bring
us unto Christ. And a schoolmaster, of course,
was required and is required for children to learn. And therefore
we have all this recorded in the Old Testament to direct us
to the great and glorious plan of salvation. And we are indeed,
we must be as little children and to be taught by the Holy
Spirit that this is a great truth. The law is our schoolmaster to
bring us to Christ. So therefore it is the law which
convinces us of sin, which it did of course in the Old Testament
days and it does still today. We are convicted of sin. And
therefore we are deserving of eternal punishment because we
cannot keep the law of God. And yet you see the wonderful
scene that was set before God's ancient people in the daily sacrifice
and in the Day of Atonement and in those many sacrifices which
were brought about before by the people unto God to demonstrate
the need there was for forgiveness of sin. And what did it do? Well it of course directed them
to the need for a saviour, for a messiah. And that was really
set forth very beautifully in all the ceremonies which were
carried out in the tabernacle and of course later on in the
temple. And they were very deep in their
significance and very deep in being able to observe what they
really represented. And so to the ancient people,
they would have not realized and come to a very deep knowledge
of the great truths which were demonstrated in the ceremonial
law of which Israel were to keep and to carry out as perfectly
as possible. And of course, how often they
failed. In fact, they always failed.
Because as we know, sin is mixed with all we do. So they were
never able to keep the law in both ways, in the Ten Commandments
and also in the ceremonial law which directs them to Christ
in that correct way at all times. But it nevertheless, it was instructed
to them and it is today instructed to us as we are blessed of course
with the New Testament and to be able to understand the wonderful
plan of redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ, and yet to
recognize how this was gloriously prefigured in that those ceremonies
which were set before the people in the Old Testament which was
given to them of course by Moses, God spoke to Moses and directed
him into all these ways, all these ceremonies, all the sacrifices,
all the shedding of blood, all the need for forgiveness, And
the whole essence of it was, of course, to direct them to
the need of a saviour, and indeed to direct them to none other
than the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, what a blessing it
is for us today, as we may have been also wonderfully favoured
like this, that the law, in all its fullness, was our schoolmaster. and has led us and directed us
to our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring us unto
Christ. We need the Spirit of God to
direct us to the glory of salvation. Just like, of course, in the
Old Testament, as they saw through a glass darkly, and how dark
it must have been, try and imagine those days and not really clearly
seeing how the Messiah was going to come. And yet they'd be wonderfully
blessed with the Passover, the glorious significance of that,
and of course how then the annual Day of Atonement was set before
them and how significant that was. And no entry into the holiest
of holies without blood, all pointing to the glorious death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so today, may we be encouraged
to see this great truth and to realise that we need to have
a schoolmaster, indeed to be childlike and to come before
our God. Let's seek that the Holy Spirit
will lead us into all truth as it is in Jesus and what we need. God-given faith. God-given faith
to believe those things which are set before us, and as the
Apostle says, that we might be justified by faith. And of course, faith is something
not tangible to our natural mind, but it is that which is given
by God to all of his children, to believe the great truths of
the everlasting gospel. And as God gives us that faith
to believe in these wonderful truths, then you see this is
true, that we are justified by faith. And what does it mean?
It means surely this, all the glory must go to our God for
revealing these things as we are blind and dared in trespasses
and sins to realise we have a great almighty Saviour, a great and
glorious High Priest, a great and glorious Holy Spirit that
teaches us these great truths. And so may we come tonight rejoicing
if we have been blessed with true faith, living faith to believe
the wonderful account we have in the Word of God which directs
us from Genesis really to Revelation to the Lord Jesus Christ and
his wonderful plan of salvation. We'll leave it there. May God
bless us and instruct us. May God help our brethren to
lead us in prayer. Frank, will you come please?