Let us turn again to God's Word,
and I want to turn once more to the passage that we read this
morning in Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, and I'll read from verse 16 through
to verse 25. down to Abraham and his seed
where the promise is made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, unto thy seed which is Christ. And this
I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul, but it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. Wherefore then serveth the law.
It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, We were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. We are all the children of God
by faith. were considering this morning
and earlier we looked at the opening parts of this portion
of scripture, looked at those words in verses 16 and 17 and
sought to say something with regards to the promise the gospel
or really the antiquity of the gospel because what Paul is saying
in those verses is that the promise of the gospel was given 430 years
before the law was promulgated at Mount Sinai. Remember how
we did read there in Genesis 15 concerning the covenant that
God made with Abraham. And we took account of the, somewhat
of the nature of that covenant. It was the covenant of grace.
It was sacrifices. It was the sovereignty of God.
It was a unilateral covenant. It was God alone who cut commanded to lay out. That was the manner in which
covenants were made in olden times. The covenanting parties
would make the sacrifice, lay out the sacrifice, and then pass
through the midst of those parts of the sacrifice to confirm the
covenant with all Abraham, descend upon those various carcasses
and he witnessed as God himself passed through the midst alone. It was then a covenant by sacrifice. It was a unilateral covenant
made by the sovereign God and then subsequently, of course,
God confirms the whole of that covenant by a solemn promise
and oath in Genesis 22. And all of this 400 odd years
before God gave the law at Mount Sinai. And so those words in
verses 16 and 17 with the promise he's made. He
says, not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed
which is Christ. And this I say that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ the Lord, which
was 430 years after, cannot disannul that he should make the promise
of none effect. Or that covenant then that was
made with Abraham, back in Genesis 15, was confirmed of God in Christ. And as I said this morning, it
is Christ who is that one who is truly the seed of Abraham. Well, having looked at the promise
and the priority of the Gospel this morning, I want tonight
to turn to the end of this passage and to say something with regards
to the prison and the bondage of the law. Taking then for our
text tonight, verses at the end of the portion that we read,
verse 22 and verse 23. But the scripture has concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. And so the theme that I want
to try to address tonight is that of the prison and bondage
of the law. Now, I did remark this morning
that the a couple of weeks, I have again
been refreshing my soul by reading something of Martin Luther and
reading Luther in his commentary on the Romans and also, of course,
his great commentary here on the Epistle to the Galatians. And having found something for
my own soul, I do trust that there might be something for
all of our souls, particularly as we look at these words in
verses 22 and 23. And I want to approach these
verses in a two-fold fashion. First of all, to look at them
historically. And what we have here, really,
is reference to the coming and the revealing of faith. Look at what he said, we were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. And the faith here, particularly
in verse 23, has to do with the coming and the revealing of him
who is the object of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Historically,
we are being directed to Christ's appearance, His birth in the
fullness of the time, as we are told subsequently in the following
chapter at verse 4, when the fullness of the time has come,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. And I want first of all to say
something then with regards to the historical aspects of what
we have in these two verses, and then secondly, I want us
to consider the verses more experimentally, spiritually, as what is being
spoken of here also has to do with the individual's experience,
the believer, when Christ is revealed, when Christ comes and
appears in the souls of his people. that twofold division. First of all, historically. Historically, here we have the
outworking of God's great purpose of salvation. We have the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who as I said this morning, is the
promised seed. Look again at the words that
are being used here at the beginning of verse 23, before faith came,
it says. And then if we go back to verse
19, and there in the middle of that verse we read, till the
seed should come. In a sense these are parallel
statements. Till the seed should come and
then before faith came. As I said, the object of saving
faith is this one who is spoken of as the seed. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ bears this name in scripture. He is the
seed of Abraham. And that is so plain in what
we were considering at verse 16 earlier. To Abraham and his
seed, where the promise is made. He saith not unto seed as of
many, but as of one, unto thy seed which is Christ. It's so
plain, so explicit. We're told clearly here by the
Apostle that Abraham's seed is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, physically,
his seed, as we observed this morning was that son that was
born to Sarah, Isaac. But Isaac is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ is the true seed and not
only the seed of Abraham, he is that one who is also the seed
of the woman. When we go back to the beginning
and the third chapter in the book of genesis and that awful
account that sad record of the entrance of seeing into creation
the fall of adam and eve the activity of satan by means of
the serpent and the dreadful consequence the curse that comes
upon creation the curse also that is spoken against the serpents. Remember Genesis 3.15, and I
said this morning, it is the first gospel promise, what's
called the Proto-Evangelium, the first promise of the gospel. And the words are spoken in a
sense to Satan, and yet it's a promise of salvation. I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. But who is the seed of the woman? It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so there in that verse we've already referred to in the following
fourth chapter, verse four, when the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman. He is made of a woman with regards
to his human nature. He has no human father. That holy thing in the womb of
the Virgin Mary, that holy thing was the work of God the Holy
Spirit. He was with child of the Holy
Ghost and that human nature of Christ was derived then from
his His mother, though she was a sinful woman herself, yet the
Holy Ghost so came upon her that what she conceived is referred
to as that holy thing, a human body, a human soul, joined now
to the eternal Son of God. He is the seed of Abraham. But before that, he is the seed
of the woman and subsequent to Abraham, He is also, of course,
the seed of David. He's the seed of David. Romans
1, verse 3, "...made of the seed of David according to the flesh,
and declared to be the Son of God, according to the spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." There we have
the two natures. He is the seed of David according
to the flesh. He's David's greater son. But
he is Mark Gales. He's declared to be the son of
God according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection. In the resurrection we see him
vindicated. The grave is unable to hold him. He breaks through the bars of
the grave. And this is the one that we're
to look to for all of our salvation. Looking to the Lord Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith, believing in Him, all the fullness
of salvation is there, all the fullness and finality of the
revelation of God is there in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
see it in the opening verses of the epistle to the Hebrews,
God who was hundred times, and in diverse manners, spaking time
passed unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high. Here he is, the brightness of
God's glory, the express image of his person. And what does
he come to accomplish? He comes to purge sins, when
he had by himself purged our sins. Well, that's the work that
he comes to do that, right? work of redemption is one who
is the seed of Abraham. He comes and we remark this morning
that even the very opening verse of the New Testament Scriptures,
Matthew 1.1, the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham, And so the New Testament opens, and he comes
in as that one who was Abraham's seed, will do the great work
of redemption, to purge away the sins of his people. And so
again, in the following chapter there of verses four and five,
when the fullness of the time has come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem. to redeem
them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption
of sons. All that great work that Christ
has done. He came to satisfy the law of
God. He has satisfied all the dreadful
penalty that was owed to that law. He came to bear that curse. that was upon those who were
the transgressors. Again, in this chapter, look
at verse 10. As many as are of the works of
the Lord are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the Lord to do them. Or if a man keeps the whole
law of God and yet offends him one point, he's guilty of all,
says James. Curse is everyone that continues
not in all things. What does the law require? Full,
complete, perfect obedience to all its holy precepts. Obedience
in thoughts and in words and in doing. It's a spiritual law. And it's that law which is holy
and just, that commandment which is holy and just and good. And Those who transgress, they're
under the curse. And what has Christ done? Verse
3rd says, In Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Oh, we are satisfied, the law
of God, in all its dreadful penalties. But not only that, not only that,
He has also fulfilled all the precepts. He has obeyed every
commandment. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He was obedient. Obedient in life, obedient in
death. Obedient unto death, we're taught. His work was always to do the
will of Him who had sent Him and to finish His work. And the
Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He has magnified
the law and made it honorable. And so we have now this fullness
and finality of the revelation of God with the coming of Christ
in His person and in His work. The Scripture hath concluded
all under sin that promised by faith of Jesus Christ might be
given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which would afterward
be revealed." The object of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed
of Abraham. And you see those Old Testament
believers were also saved in the Lord Jesus Christ Abraham
was saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't the Lord
himself say to the Jews John 8 56 56 your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and he saw it and was glad how did he see it? well as we said this morning
he saw it there in the mounds And what did he name the man?
Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide, Genesis
22. There the Lord provided a lamb for a sacrifice. Though God was
testing Abraham with regards to his son, his only son, he
was to offer up his son and yet he doesn't offer up the son,
there is that ram. The Lord will provide himself
a sacrifice, he says to Isaac. So the Lord did. That ram called
by thwarting the thicket he sacrificed in the stead of Isaac. And so Abraham receives his son,
as it were, from the dead. Oh, there in Genesis 22, remarkable
chapter in which we have such a rich type of the Lord Jesus
Christ, substitutionary atonement, and also the resurrection from
the dead. and the language of the Apostle
in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, 17, By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received
the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence
also he received him in a figure. Abram saw the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ and he was glad. The object of Abram's faith,
remember, was that promised seed. And again, I just remind you
of what we referred to this morning, the language of Paul in Romans
chapter 4, He says there at verse 3, what
saith the Scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. What was counted to him for righteousness? It was not his faith, it was
the object. It was the object of his faith.
Verse 20. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he
was able also to perform. Therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness. What is the it that was imputed
for righteousness? It is the promise, in verse 21,
that Abraham believed God was able to perform. And that promise
centered in the seed. He was justified by faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and all that God performed in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what do we see here? Historically,
we have the coming of Christ, the coming of the promised seed,
and we see so clearly how all of this is previous to the giving
of the law that we were considering this morning, verses 16 and 18,
the antiquity of the gospel promise. It was 430 years before the law
was given at Mount Sinai. And so the question is put, if
the law has such a priority, if the promise of God in the gospel is the only
way of salvation, Wherefore then serveth the law? asks the apostle
in verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law? And he answers the question,
it was added because of transgressions. Till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made. There is a sense in which the
law is there to serve the gospel. And he says again at verse 24,
"...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." Well, so much
for the historical significance of what is being said here in
verses 22 and 23. Let's secondly consider these
words experimentally. What we have applies not only
to the time of Christ's coming, but also to the inward spiritual
experience of the believer. And that's a point that Luther
so emphasizes in his remarks on this passage of Scripture.
And there are two things really with regards to the experience
of the child of God that we see here. First of all, there is
the sinner as it were shut up, the sinner in bondage. And then there is the sinner
delivered out of that bondage. The scripture has concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, We were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which would afterwards
be revealed. First of all then, the sinner,
as we see him, shut up, as we see him in bondage. Now, again,
look at the language. Here in verse 23, he is kept,
it says, under the law, shut up. Previously, in verse 22,
we're told the scripture hath concluded all under sin and it's
those two expressions that really are parallel statements in verse
22 under sin in verse 23 under the law to be under sin is to
be under the law and this of course is why Paul is so adamant
against those Judaizers who wanted to bring Gentile Christian believers
under the law of Moses. These legalizers wanted Gentile
believers to be circumcised and become deserters of the law.
But under the law, one is under sin. Sin is so terrible. Sin is so fatal. where does sin
get its power from? It gets all of its power from
the law. As Paul says in Galatians, sorry, 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians
15 verse 56, the strength of sin is the law. The strength of sin is the law. Again, in that passage that we
read that third chapter of 2nd Corinthians where Paul draws
a contrast between the law and the gospel. He speaks of the
law as the ministry of condemnation. He speaks of it as the ministration
of death. The law worketh wrath, for where
no law is, there is no transgression. is the way Paul writes there
in the fourth chapter of Romans. The law works wrath. It's the
ministration of condemnation. Where the law is, there will
be that sense of sin. That's the ministry of the law.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. For sin is the
transgression of the law. And so what we see in scripture
is that by the law, sin becomes exceedingly sinful. By nature, all men are under
the law of God. Whatever the law said, it said
to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped
nor the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the
deeds of the Lord shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. Men are under the law, but
they're not aware of where they are or what they are by nature.
They're dead in trespasses and in sins. But when God begins
with the sinner, Is he not made in some measure to feel what
he is? Some might have a deeper sense of that need, a deeper
conviction of their sin, but as I've said before, all must
have some awareness of what they are by nature, because Christ
himself has told us that the whole have no need of the physician,
but they do the sick. The person who is well doesn't
go to see the doctor. It's that person who feels unwell,
who is sick, who needs some physician to come and administer some medicine
to him. They that are whole have no need.
They that are sick are the needy ones. And Christ goes on to say,
I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And who are those sinners? Well,
that's the sinner who has known something of the work of God's
Spirit in his heart. The heart calls him is a sacred
thing, the sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made
him so, he goes on new life, from him we must proceed. Before
foreseeing, we rightly grieve. Or that we might be. For those
who know that ministry of the Holy Spirit when he comes to
convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, And what does
he do? He makes us feel what we are
as sinners, as unbelievers. That's the root sin. That is
the root sin. As we see in Genesis chapter
3, what was the sin of Adam and Eve? It was unbelief. It was
embracing the devil's lie and rejecting the truth of God. As
we've said many a time, God made it plain, in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, says God, concerning the
fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. And Eve partakes of
that that God had forbidden, because she believes the devil's
lie when he says thou shalt not surely die. God says in the day
that thou eatest thou shalt surely die. And it is unbelief that
lies at the roots of the sin of Adam and Eve, our first parents. And so, when God begins with
us, does he not make us feel what we are on belief? The sin
which does so easily beset us. How we have to come to that,
we have to believe what God says in his word, believe what God
has recorded here in Holy Scripture concerning the fallen men. Or
no wonder men don't want to accept the opening chapters of the book
of Genesis. How vital those chapters are.
Or they'd sooner believe the lie of the devil, they'd sooner
believe the lie of evolution than the truth of God's special
creation. Than the truth of the garden
of Eden and the paradise where God sent man in that world that
he pronounced very good. Men sooner believe that lie.
They don't want to believe what God has said. But we have to
come to them. We have to believe what God says
of the fall. And so looking to ourselves,
we have to believe what we are. We're sinners, we have to believe
in our own unbelief. And why do we believe it? Because
we feel it. If the Spirit has begun in us,
we will feel what we are. Certainly John Newton knew something,
God. He told, could I but believe.
then all would easily, I would, but cannot, Lord, relieve my
help must come from Thee. And I thank God that I can say
I have known in some measure what it is to be in that place,
to want to believe, and yet to feel the utter impossibility
of faith, to learn what it is, to understand that we are those
who are totally deprived, it means that we are spiritually
impotent? Is it not the experience of the
people of God as we see it here in Holy Scripture? I remember
some years ago reading a sermon of James Wells on that verse
in Psalm 88, verse 8, the end of the verse where Heman says,
I am shut up and I cannot come forth. And the sermon bore that
title, Prisoners of Hope. Prisoners of hope, I am shut
up, and I cannot come forth. Why a prisoner of hope? Because
a man has to be brought to the end of himself. Again, doesn't
Moses say much the same in Psalm 19? Thou turnest man to destruction,
and sayest, Return, ye children of men. Oh, when God turns us
to destruction, he brings us to the end of ourselves. We cannot save ourselves, we
cannot deliver ourselves. Again, the language of Job, Job
12, 14, He shutteth up a man and there can be no coming forth.
God shuts us up to what we are. The sinner shut up. The sinner
in bondage, kept under the law, shut up. Why the scripture has
concluded all under sea. That's only one part of the experience
that is being spoken of in the text. The scripture has concluded
all under sin. Ah, here it is. That, or in order
that, the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. There is one, you see, who is
able to deliver the sinner, and only one, and that is the Lord
Jesus Christ. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all through
our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way of deliverance. Till God in human flesh I see
my thoughts no comfort find. The sacred, holy, just the three
are terrors to my mind, says Isaac once. God is a terror to
us until we see God in human flesh, in the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there must be this revealing
of Christ. And certainly Paul knew that.
Paul knew that. He experienced that. Does he
not say as much in the opening chapter of verse 15, when he
pleads, God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called
me by his grace to reveal his Son, in me. That's God's work
in the soul ultimately, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Yes, when the
Spirit comes, he comes to convince, he comes to reprove of sin, of
righteousness, of judgment, but he also comes to reveal the things
of Christ, to bear testimony to Christ. That's his peculiar
ministry. The Lord must go away or the
Spirit will not come, but when he comes, he comes as the Spirit
of Christ. It's God's work in the soul of the sinner that is
so vital. You remember when Peter makes
his great confession there at Caesarea Philippi? Now what?
The Christ, the Son of the living God, he says to Jesus of Nazareth. And how does the Lord respond?
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Oh, what a revelation! And it
comes from God. The kingdom of God is within
you, says Christ, in the course of His ministry. It's an inward
revealing. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory, that one in whom all the promises of God are gave,
and in Him are meant to the glory of God by us. And so we have the exhortation
of Zechariah 9.12, turn you to the stronghold you prisoners
of hope. Oh there's hope you see for those
who have been turned to destruction. If the Son therefore shall make
you free you shall be free indeed. And this is what we should desire
surely that God would grant such a an inward revealing of Christ,
the light shining in the darkness. Those words that we read in 2
Corinthians 4-6, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face. Or the margin says in the person
of Jesus Christ. That revelation of Christ, that's
deliverance for the sinner. And what is there in this faith?
This faith is that is ever looking to Christ, the seed of Abraham,
the only object of faith. What is this faith? It's justifying
faith. It's justifying faith. Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. And this was the great message
that the apostles preached. And we have the record of apostolic
ministry, we have the record of sermons in the Acts, we have
Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost there in the second
chapter. And then in chapter 13 we have
quite a detailed account of a sermon preached by Paul at Antioch in
Pisidia. And what is the message that
we have there that is preached by the Apostle? Well, he declares
concerning Christ by him, all that believe are justified from
all things that they could not be justified from by the deeds
of the Lord." That's the great message. All that believe in
him are justified from all things that they could not be justified
from by the deeds of the Lord. This is the faith of Abraham.
This is the faith of Abraham. And Abraham is that one who is
the father of all them that believe. This is the mark of those who
are on Abraham's seed. The last verse of the chapter,
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise. And what is the faith of Abraham?
Verse 6, Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness. or being convicted under the
Lord of God. The sinner sees that there is
no hope at all in himself. He finds all his consolation,
all his salvation, in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe, but Before faith
came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. Oh God grant that we might know
what it is for that faith to come. And that faith to be revealed,
even that blessed object of faith that was revealed to the apostle.
Please God to reveal his son in me, says Paul. O God, grant that each of us
might know then that blessed inward revealing of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the only Saviour of sinners. The Lord
be pleased to bless his word to us. Now I see that our brother
Peter Wilkins has joined us. I'm going to ask him if he could
maybe sort out a tune so we can sing our last praise, which is
989. Maybe Peter can tell us what the tune
is once he's managed to sort one out. The hymn is 989. Ye captive souls, in fetters bound,
who fear your Miserous, the way to liberty is found, the sun
shall make you free.