in complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord for all needed help this morning. I wish to
direct your very prayerful attention to the epistle of the Apostle
Paul to the Galatians, chapter 3 and by way of text, verse 29. Paul's epistle to the Galatians
in chapter 3, verse 29. and if ye be Christ's then are
ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise and if ye be Christ's
then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise in April 1746 man by the name of David Brainard
travelled to New York to minister among the Native American Indians
the settlements that were made there in the 18th century but
upon contemplating such a venture, before he went he was told that
the Native Americans have no soul and it was no use preaching
to them. Friends, that is gross ignorance
and it is foolishness. Of course, David Brainard went
on to preach to great numbers in those places and the Lord
dealt and worked mightily in amongst those settlements, so
much so that he is known well-known, even today, among the Lord's
dear people. What we have before us, friends,
is the reality, is the truth, that God deals sovereignly, at
will, with His people. And He will have a people for
His praise. And the truth of it all is, we
just do not know where. now before we venture upon our
text and our subject it is of course essential to note the
context of which we are speaking and which we are dealing with
now this epistle to the Galatians I am sure is well known to most
if not all of you but it was written in approximately A.D. 55 we believe in the very early
years of the despot Nero the emperor some of you may know
something of Nero he was a vicious persecutor of Christians a most
feelingless and naturally speaking cruel man he fed those who professed
Christ to the lions and now he's in hell but you know even there the Lord
had a people didn't he? and the church did grow and these
Galatian churches to which Paul is writing he's not writing to
one specific church but a group of churches in that area were well known in their beginnings
how they came to be how many of them were affected and called
by grace under the Apostles preaching when I say the Apostles I am
meaning the early disciples etc. and many would have known by
name and by person many of the characters that are
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. But we can read and
we can see that it was necessary for Paul to write this Epistle. Why? Because the people had fallen
into error. They had fallen into gross error.
And it was needful for the Apostle to write this epistle to be very
direct and very clear in the errors that they had fallen into
and set forth clearly what the truth was. Well what was this
error? Well first of all there were
those in the church the church was made up of believing Jews
and Gentiles that challenged the apostle and his authenticity
and they said that he was much inferior to the other apostles
so we see Paul in the opening chapter states I certify you
brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after
man for I neither received it of man neither was I taught it
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of
my conversation, his way of life, in times past, in the Jews' religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted
it. And he goes on to say in verse 15, but when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among
the heathen immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood neither
went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me
but I went into Arabia and returned again into Damascus he is setting
forth clearly that he is a real apostle and that the preaching which
he preached was that which was ordained of God and that which was the real thing,
it was genuine but here we can see the church
in utter confusion utter confusion because those particularly who
had a tendency to work religion and those of whom were of the
Jewish origin were easily appealed to by these false teachers because
they said we are the Jews the law has come unto us and to be
of Abraham's seed in the flesh it was something to be proud
of but you see God deals with pride of this nature, doesn't
he? because what did he do? where we read very clearly in
Daniel's prophecy that Judah was to be destroyed. In AD 70
the place came down and you know we are never going
to go back to it. Judah is not going to be rebuilt. The sacrifices
are not going to be resurrected. We are not going to go back to any form of carnal Jewish worship. When the Lord came, He fulfilled
all those things. Every single one of them. And
we're never going to go back to them. And people say, well,
you know, what we have, what we saw in 1948, the Jews have
gone back to Israel. Friends, all we have there is
a carnal state for carnal purposes. we read here in our text and
this is absolutely clear that if ye be Christ's then ye are
Abraham's seed and this is the point this is the emphasis that
we have here that 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 so the flesh is nothing to boast of whatsoever
not at all in fact this particular truth of the gospel coming to
the Gentiles and of the Gentiles being equal was no new thing
they should have expected it but they were so proud that they
couldn't accept this they couldn't accept this at all we read, didn't
we? the 60th of Isaiah which makes
it very plain that the gospel was to come to the Gentiles. In fact, in verse 16 it says,
Thou shalt also suck of the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck
the breast of the kings, and thou shalt know that I the Lord
am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. This is the truth. All will be equal in Christ Jesus. That second chapter of Isaiah
sets this plainly. So plainly as well, doesn't it? He says in verse 4, And ye shall
judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up Sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. What
is this saying? What is this saying? That those
who are in harmony in the gospel will come together and will see
things in the truth that transcend national and cultural barriers. And you know, doesn't it prove
to be so? Doesn't it prove to be so? The Lord has a people and sometimes he has them in
the places we least think. The gospel today, the scriptures
are being translated into languages that some of us have never known
some of us have never heard of but the Lord is working sovereignly
by his power you know because we are limited human beings we
are apt to think that the Lord only works in places and with
people that we have contact with but you see we prove the might
of his grace and we prove that God is greater
than all our thoughts because He made from time to time raise
up one and by providence put them into our path of whom has
been dealt with by the Lord in very different circumstances
to ourselves. You know the book of the Revelation
John the Divine emphasizes this truth does he not in his 7th
chapter he is preaching here of the church of whom I represented in that
144,000 now that 144,000 is not a literal 144,000 as the Jehovah's
Witnesses will have us believe That 144,000 comes, does it not,
from that number 12? Twelve 12s. Been 144. There were 12 disciples. We have Abraham's 12 sons. We go through the Scripture and
the number 12 is used again symbolically, time after time, in respect of
what is meant by the Church. And we have in that 7th chapter
of Revelation the various tribes who were sealed 12,000. But in verse 9 we read this,
and this is what he is saying. After this I beheld and lo, a
great multitude which no man could number. You see that is
again John emphasizing that this 144,000 is a symbolic number
of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before
the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and
palms in their hands that palm signals its signs and it is an
example of victory and cried with a loud voice saying salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. What is very plain here is yes
there were some a small number of believing Jews of those of
whom would be called by God's grace but he has an even greater
number among the Gentiles. Each of us this morning I believe
unless I am mistaken, is a Gentile. We are not from the natural Jewish
seed. But friends, circumcision nor
uncircumcision availeth nothing. It availeth nothing. Doesn't
mean anything. What is essential is to be Christ's
and then we are Abraham's seed. You see, these people who think
that there is a future for the natural Jews, I say this to them.
You find me a Jew who can trace his ancestry back to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. I will tell you now, you will
not find one. You will not find one. Because
God does not deal in nations anymore. He deals by the sovereignty
of His grace. and by His power in the Gospel. And it is the same God who deals
by conviction of sin and the revelation of Christ in the soul,
who deals with the Jew and the Gentile. It is the same Christ. It is the one Christ that is
needed. It is not to be born into a certain
household or into a certain nation. And these things are carried
on today. Some nations think of themselves
as superior to others. Well, in this chapter we have
it said that all are under sin. Verse 22, But the Scripture hath
concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe. Now, now, this
is important isn't it? that we read in our chapter that
the faith of Abraham was accounted unto him for righteousness and
we have those you see this chapter does it not it is the death knell
to dispensationalism and premillennialism because we can see clearly very
clearly that the Old Testament saints had faith. They had faith. Those that will tell you that
there's no such thing, no such thing as the Old Testament Church.
Well we know that that is not true. Again we go back to what
Job said. Before I know that my Redeemer
liveth and they shall stand on the latter day on the earth.
We have that gallery of faith of which Abraham is mentioned
in the 11th to the Hebrews. these men have faith they all believed in the same
Christ and that is what is essential and that is what is being made
known here that is what is being stressed here that if ye be Christ's now that's the solemn application
isn't it? if ye be Christ's You see, these
false teachers were trying to bring the Galatian churches back
to the ceremonial law. In other words, there isn't just
grace that is needed, the law is needed as well. And we can
see that the scripture is as up-to-date today as ever. It
is just the same in professing evangelicalism, isn't it? There
isn't just grace, we need works as well. We need the Law. We need to be doing this. We
need to be doing that. We need to be doing the other.
There's always this spirit of activism with people. This proves to be of non-effect. Mention is also made here of
the Mosaic Law. And it is made very clear. Paul
makes it very clear what the position is. Verse 23, 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. the law was our schoolmaster
here Paul is setting forth very clearly the position of the mosaic
law now the Puritans used to preach of
what would be called and what would be known as a law work
upon the conscience the law is good He is absolutely
righteous. But it can never justify a sinner.
And that's the difference. And what is to take place? Well, this is the difference.
You see, really, the issue of nations is one throughout this
book. and whether one belongs to Jew
or whether one belongs to Gentile, there are only really two nations,
that is the redeemed and the reprobate, the just and the unjust,
the saved and the lost. Now unto those who are justified
by faith and that come to this position by the power of God
in His sovereignty, they will know the reality of the law upon
the conscience this is the law work that the Puritans spoke
of you see before we're found we have to know that we're lost we have to know that we have
breached the law we have broken the law that is
a reality now if you go outside and you spoke to someone on the
street and asked them if they'd broken God's law you would receive
an answer something like no worse than anyone else why do they
say that? because it is not something that
concerns them it is not something that affects them it is not something
that troubles them in here that you see the Kingdom of God
is within you isn't it? and this is where it starts this
is the schoolmaster this is the beginning as it were of real
faith this is the beginning of the new birth this is the beginning
this is the... we cannot emphasise this enough
And this is what is missing in preaching today is the work of
the Spirit. This is the work of the Spirit.
This is not something that is conjured up by man's or preacher's
efforts. I'm preaching to you today, this
morning, at Salem Chapel. But you know, we're dependent
upon the work of the Spirit. And it is only the work of the
Spirit that will change a man's heart. I can't change your heart no
other preacher can change your heart but the Lord can and this
is the wonder of free grace the Lord does change hearts through
the preaching of his word he does so here we have a schoolmaster
now this word schoolmaster is used
here intentionally intentionally and the reason is because when
we naturally speaking Paul often uses natural illustrations to
press home a point when we are young, we are children,
we go to school we have to learn the essential things of life
note that, the essential things of life well there is a book,
I would warmly recommend it to you in the Puritan paperback
series known as Learning in Christ's School and we have to learn through
the schoolmaster and the first schoolmaster we learn is that
of the law upon the conscience the reality of a broken law. But what does it do? In other
words, to bring us are in italics because they were not necessary
in the original Greek but they are put in and rightly so by
our authorised version to emphasise what is being meant here. I love
the authorised version, it's so honest. To bring us Nod is here to bring us. Not to come there ourselves,
but to be brought there. This is all free grace, isn't
it? It's all the work of God's sovereignty. To bring us unto
Christ. You see, this is the experience
that the Apostle is speaking of, and if ye be in Christ. It is this necessary work of
the law upon the conscience and upon the heart. But it brings
us unto Christ. It brings us unto liberty. Have we known real liberty of
soul? real liberty of soul has Christ
revealed Himself unto you? I don't mean making a decision
or saying I believe in Jesus I mean has He made Himself known
to you? because if He has, He's changed your heart He will change
your heart He'll change your desires and then i.e. Abraham's seed
you see the Jews Israel was a type a
blessed type of the elect they were a remnant they were a small
number of people they always were their enemies were always
greater than they were in almost every circumstance and for a time they were brought
into captivity weren't they? for a time they were in the wilderness
but the Lord delivered them and ultimately they gained a victory
over their enemies why? because God was with them they
were a remnant and all these distinctions are to be found
in the church Yes, Israel is the Church today. And don't let
anybody tell you any different. All the blessings, all of them,
are in Christ and are Yea and Amen. All of them. And this that
we are living in today is the Day of Grace. There is not going
to be any future tribulation period, where people are going
to get a second chance through Jewish worship to come to God.
There is not going to be, as people talk of, the Christianization
of nations. Yes, the Gospel is to go to the
nations as the waters cover the sea, but that simply means what
we have been speaking of this morning. That the Lord has a
people in all places. But they are always a remnant.
They are always a remnant. And that He will have His people
And He will have them for His praise in sometimes in the most
unlikely and the most adverse conditions and places. We think
of China, Saudi Arabia, many others. And the church, a real church
is more prosperous there than it is here. The Lord is dealing
with people. Souls are being dealt with. You see, and this is what it
means to be Abraham's seed. This is the reality. It is to
be a Christian. We're living in the day of grace. But you know, for the Christian,
and only for the Christian, there is a better day. Because what
do we read? And if ye be Christ's, Then ye
are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. What does it mean to be an heir?
Well, we read further into chapter 4 because really the division
between these chapters is somewhat artificial indeed. John Calvin
it becomes quite annoyed about it, it seems we have to remember that the
divisions and the chapters that we have before us were put in
by our translators for our benefit but the original was one whole
scroll it's a good job that the translators
have made of our chapters and divisions, they're very useful that they're not infallible and
here we can see that we see, now I say that the heir as long
as he is a child differeth nothing from a servant though he be lord
of all but he's under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father an heir, what it is to
be an heir An heir is someone, are they not, who are in training? So yes, God's people, they're
learning under the schoolmaster, they learn under the law. But
you see, when they're called by grace, they are still learning.
They are still learning. And that is where we are today,
if the Lord has dealt with us. you meet with some people I do
I'm sure you do and they speak to you in a condescending
manner and they expect and they think they know everything friends we are only ever scratching
the surface of God's truth I may have mentioned to you before
there was a man at Garstang, where Cliff is preaching today,
was a preacher of the gospel by the name of John McNee. He was in his 80s. He was preaching
at Garstang on one occasion and I knew a man who was a visitor
there. And he said, here was this old man in his 80s preaching
to us. And he said that he was only
just beginning to learn. the experiential truths of the
gospel and something of their depth now doesn't that put these
things into perspective? and he said that this man that
came in he said I was a visitor at the chapel I'd never met him
before he said and the Lord had just called me by his grace and
I thought I knew a lot he said but I'll never forget
that and we are forever learning we are under tutors even so we
when we were children were under bondage of the elements of the
world but when the fullness of the 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 as according to the promise you see we have an heir today don't we
a natural heir in respect of the monarchy he's 60 odd years old and he's
still not become king he's still the heir to the throne but he's
still in preparation for that and in all things the Lord deals differently, doesn't
he? we think of the late Mr. Murry Macshane he was 29, my
age when he died but the Lord dealt with him particularly
powerfully because he used to come along and he used to preach. Then he would weep. And he would
preach a bit more. And then he would weep. But the
Spirit worked within the congregation. He was an heir according to the
promise. And the Lord took him to himself at that relatively
young age of 29. But that word if is the word
isn't it? and if ye be Christ's then are
ye Abraham's seed you see there were those that trusted in the
fact that they were Jewish there were those who trusted in the
fact that they had heard the apostles preaching but they were
unmoved and you know we can be the same we can hear preaching
week after week we can hear it for years and remain completely
unmoved where are our souls? have we been taught by the schoolmaster? have we been brought to Christ?
and have we been made heirs unto glory? these are the things that should try us but oh if
we have if we've known something of his grace if we've known something
of his power then we can say this and if ye be Christ's then
are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise well
we'll leave it there for this morning may the Lord have his
blessing Amen