Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
to you this morning from the book of Galatians chapter 4.
If you would like to be turning with me in your Bible, We're
going to look at Galatians chapter four. And while you're turning,
I want to begin by asking this question. Are we going to be
saved men and women before God? Are we going to be saved by works
or by grace? Which one is it? Are we going to be redeemed? Our hope is being redeemed back
to God. We lost what we had and our only
hope is being redeemed back to Him. Are we going to be redeemed
based on what we do or what Christ has done? Which one is it? Here
in Galatians 4, I have Five questions. The apostle Paul has written
five questions, soul searching questions. These are eye opening
questions. I believe these are very arresting
questions. These are questions that every
man and woman on this earth needs to ask themselves, needs to search
their own heart for the answer. before they settle in on what
they believe concerning salvation and righteousness before God.
Five questions. The first one is in verse 9,
Galatians 4 verse 9. It says, But now, after that
you have known God, or rather are known of God, How turn ye
again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire
again to be in bondage? Why are you looking to the elements
of this law? That's what he's saying. Why
are you looking to the elements of this law to save your soul? That's a wonderful question.
That is a wonderful question. Now, here's the second one. It's
in verse 15. Where is then the blessedness you speak of? Where's the blessing? Where's
the sweetness? This word says God commended his love toward
us. Well, where is it? How did he
commend his love toward us? Here's the third question. Verse
16 says, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you
the truth? Am I your enemy because I tell
you the truth? That's what the apostle Paul
asked. Am I your enemy for telling the truth? This truth that is
able to set men and women free, completely free the truth. What is the truth? What truly
is the truth? How can we know what the truth
is? Don't we believe that's an important
question? Isn't that a vital question that
we need to have answered in our own hearts before we settle in
on what we believe salvation is? This issue of eternal life,
these are vital questions. Here's the fourth one. It's in
verse 21. Tell me ye that desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? Do you
not hear what the law is saying? You who desire to carry the load,
do you not hear how heavy it is? I believe that's a wonderful
question. Here's the fifth one. Verse 30. Nevertheless, what sayeth the
scripture? What sayeth the scripture before
we settle in on anything? anything. I believe we need to
ask this question, what sayeth the scripture? What does the
word of God have to say about it? Now let's look at these five
eternally important questions. Verse nine, we begin with verse
nine, but now after that you have known God or rather are
known of God, How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements,
whereunto you desire again to be in bondage." Now, to desire
again to be in bondage means we started out in bondage. Isn't
that right? If we desire it again, then it
means that that's where we were. We were in bondage before. What
were we in bondage to? The answer is sin. Sin. Have we not noticed that it's
absolutely mixed with everything we do? Everything. Have we not noticed that by nature
we do not have a heart for the things of God? Have we noticed
that? Have you noticed that like I've noticed that by nature,
by this flesh, by the way that this flesh wants to be naturally?
We don't have a heart for the things of God. That's not the
desire of the nature of the flesh. None of us, none of us have that.
The flesh of every soul on this earth is born into this world
under the bondage of sin under the bondage of sin. Well, what
happened? What happened? Verse one here
in chapter four, it says, now I say that the air 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. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. We were all born
into the only thing that this world can produce. We're a product
of the only thing that this world can produce, and that's rebellion
against God. Rebellion towards God, all of
us, we were all cut from the same lump and we can only be
what we are flesh. That which is flesh is flesh. And that's the truth. The elements. that make up this flesh cannot
inherit the kingdom of God. The the elements that make up
what we are by nature, those elements cannot inherit the kingdom
of God. The flesh cannot please God. Cannot. All this flesh can do
is sin against him. That's it. And flesh is all that
we are. If we want to get to the heart
of the truth concerning us, we're just flesh. That's all we are. You know, it sounds to me that
our natural state is a hopeless condition. That's what it sounds
like to me. Our natural state is hopeless. Man is born. It happens all the
time. Mankind. He's born and then he spends
his life sinning against God. That's all he does. Even when
he thinks he's doing right, that's all he does. Sinning against
God. And then he dies. And then he
goes to meet God. And then God puts him in hell.
That's the wages of sin. Eternal death. Verse 4 says,
but Now, this is the gospel. The gospel begins with this little
word right here, but. Verse four says, 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. because the state of man was
so helpless. So completely helpless, God sent
his son to man. It was the only hope man had.
God put himself under the same elements of man, the same elements
that man was under. He made himself to be born of
a woman. He put himself under the law. so he could obey it for his people.
That's why he did that. Every word of every commandment. And then he gave that perfect
obedience to his people to redeem them. They sinned, they fell. And he gave that perfect obedience
he earned to them to redeem them back to God, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. Verse six, and it says, because
you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. I love that. God sent His Son
into the hearts of His people, and Christ in them cries for
them, Abba, Father. Cries on their behalf. Verse
7 says, Wherefore, wherefore, because of Christ, because of
what Christ did, because Christ left His throne and started the
work of redemption and finished the work of redemption. He made
peace with God for His people. Verse 7 says, Wherefore thou
art no more a servant, no more a servant of sin. He said, but
a son, a son of God. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. If Christ has redeemed you from
death, through his blood, then you're going to inherit eternal
life, eternal life with him, eternal life in him. Verse eight
says, how be it then when you knew not God, you did service
unto them, which by nature are no gods, but now after that,
you have known God or rather are known of God. And I love
how he clarifies that God knows us. We know Him because He reveals
Himself to us. He said, How turn ye again to
the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to
be in bondage? Christ redeemed us from that.
He redeemed us from the curse of the law. He satisfied all
of that for us. Why would we want to go back?
That's what the Apostle is asking. This flesh could not keep the
elements of the law the first time. What makes us believe the
flesh will keep it now? The flesh is still flesh. There's
no hope for this flesh. Galatians 3 verse 1 says, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you.
He's saying, I'm asking you this question. Received ye the Spirit
by the works of the law? or by the hearing of faith? Are
you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made
perfect by the flesh? Is that how it works? God started
the work and you finish it, the flesh finishes it. Galatians 2 verse 21 says, I
do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. That's one of the most
powerful verses of scripture I've ever seen. If God being
satisfied with us comes by the deeds of this flesh, Christ made
a wasted trip. But Christ didn't make a wasted
trip. Christ did not die in vain. His life and His death, that
was the only thing that could save us. The only thing. So why
would we now go back and try to add our insufficient, filthy
works to His perfect accomplishment? Why would we do that? Let me
give you a little illustration of what the Apostle is saying.
I know you've done chores around the house. You've done things
like fold clothes. And while you're doing it, a
little child comes up and ask, can I help? And you don't want
to crush their spirit. So you say, absolutely. And they'll
grab a shirt and wad it up, little child and think they're folding
it. They'll grab a towel and wad
it up and think they're folding it. What do you do after that
child walks away? Or what do you want to do after
that child walks away? You want to refold it. The reason
is because it's not perfect. It does not meet your standard.
Same thing when you're washing a car. A little child comes up
and says, can I help? And you say, sure, I'll get the
high part. You get the low part. When that little child walks
around to the other side, what do you do? You wash the low part
again. The reason is because it's not
perfect. It's not clean. It's not spotless. It's still filthy. It does not
meet your standard. That's what we're saying to God.
when we try to go back and do again what Christ has already
done. That brings a seriousness to
our works, doesn't it? That brings fear to it. Why on
this earth would we do that? Now, the other four questions
he asked here stem off of this question, that first question.
Here's the second one, verse 15. Where is then the blessedness
you speak of? Where's the blessedness? Where's
the blessing? Where's the love? Where's the
sweetness? That's a, that's a question for religion. If I've ever heard
one, where is the sweetness? Verse 10, he said, you observe
days and months and times and years you're doing, you're working,
you're trying to impress. Verse 11, he said, I'm afraid
of you. The word of means for I'm afraid
for you. That's what he's saying. Lest
I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. Brethren, I beseech
you be as I am. How did the apostle Paul say
he was? What did he say he was? He said, I'm a sinner. He said,
I'm the least I'm a beggar. That's all I am. He said, be
as I am for I'm as you are. You have not injured me at all.
You haven't injured me. I've injured myself. You haven't
offended me. I've offended myself. He said,
where's the blessing? Where's the sweetness? Where's
the relief? Verse 13. You know how that through
infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you. I preached the gospel. The blessing
is in the gospel. The love and the sweetness is
in the gospel. What is the gospel? People talk
about the gospel. And they have no idea what the
gospel is. What is the gospel? Here's the
answer. It is the person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. He is the
gospel. The gospel is a person. The gospel
is not a doctrine. The gospel is not a level of
morality and encouragement to morality and encouragement to
good deeds. The gospel is not a good feeling,
a good religious feeling. The gospel is a person. He is
the answer to a guilty conscience. Do you have a guilty conscience?
The answer is not in the law. Have you done bad? The answer
is not in the law. That freedom from guilt is not
in the law. It's in a person. It's in the
only one who's able to free a sinner from that guilt. He is water
to a thirsty soul. He is warmth to a cold heart. All the blessings of God are
found in Him. If anyone is going to be blessed,
they must be in Christ. The blessings of God are not
in a cold, dead law. They're in Him. All of the love
of God is found in him. If we're going to be loved by
God, we must be in Christ. Jacob was in Christ and God said,
I love him. Jacob have I loved. Esau was
outside of Christ and God said, Esau have I hated. It's all about
Christ. For some reason, this world has
it in their minds that God does not hate. And unfortunately,
I say this with sorrow. I could show you whole nations
of people that God said, I'm against you. I hate you. And
the reason is because they're trying to seek his favor outside
of his son, Jesus Christ, the only one that he said he was
well pleased with. He said he's angry with the wicked
every day. That's that's horrible and sad. And I tell you why it's sad.
It's because The wicked is me and you, everyone, every soul
on this earth by nature, wicked, wicked. Is there any blessing,
any blessedness for a person in our condition? Yes, there
is. The blessing is in Christ, in
Christ, in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's our third question.
Verse 16. He said, am I therefore become
your enemy? Because I tell you the truth.
Am I your enemy? Because I tell you the truth,
the truth that sets men free. Our Lord said, you'll be hated
for the truth sake. That's what he told his disciples.
Didn't he hate him? What is the truth? How do we
know what the truth is truly? It is all plainly declared for
us in this word, the word that tells us the truth about man,
his sin. The condemnation for his sin,
the truth that tells us about God and his holiness, what he
will accept, what he will not accept. This word puts man in
the dust where he belongs, and it puts God on the throne where
he belongs. And you stand up and you declare
that to men and women, and they'll say, well, I don't really like
that preacher. I just don't like him, I don't like what he has
to say. Well, the apostle Paul is asking, why not? Isn't that
what the word says right there in black and white? Well, yeah,
it is. But I just don't like it. I don't like it. Verse 14,
he said, my temptation, which was in my flesh, you despise
not nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as
Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness
you speak of? For I bear you record that if
it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes
and given them to me. That's what you would have done,
he said. What happened? That's what he's getting at.
What happened? Verse 16. Am I therefore become your enemy
because I tell you the truth? You know, the lies of religion
will only send a man further into bondage. Further into destruction. And I'll give you an example
of that. Man is not feeling right. He's feeling sick. So he goes
to a doctor. And the doctor does blood work
and he says, when the results come back, we'll call you. And
the man starts to think, well, maybe I ought to get a second
opinion. So he goes to another doctor and the doctor says, I'm
going to do some blood work. And when the results come back,
we'll call you. Well, both doctors get the same results. What's
in the blood is in the blood. And it's clear this man is dying
of a disease, dying of cancer. He goes back to the first doctor
and he says, I hate to tell you this, but you have cancer. And
if you don't act right now, if you don't take this seriously
right now, you're going to die. You need chemo. You need radiation
now. He goes to the other doctor and
the doctor says, well, yeah, we do see a little cancer, but
I don't really like talking about that. Those are, those are things
that are not uplifting. Surely there's, there's a more
positive thing we can talk about. Why don't we talk about something
else? You'll be fine. I'm sure you'll be fine. Which
one is that man's friend and which one is that man's enemy?
Truly. Truly. The one who tells the
truth. The one who tells the truth.
With that being said, here's the fourth question. Verse 21.
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law. He said, do you
not hear the law? Do you not hear the law? You
who desire to bear the burden of the law. Carry the load of
the law yourself. Do you not hear how weighty this
is? Like a crane carrying a big 20-pound
boulder, and the guy gets under it and says, let it down, I'll
carry it, I'll take it. Do you not see how heavy this
is? Do you not see that this is immediately going to crush
you if you try to bear this yourself? He said down through here in
verse 17, He said, they zealously affect
you, but not well, not well. They're telling you, you can
do this, you can do this, but they're not telling you the truth
of the matter. They're trying to steal you away from the truth.
And he said, you who desire to be under the law, you need to
know what the truth is. If you try to carry it, you're
going to be crushed. You're going to be absolutely
crushed. This law says don't murder. People say, well, I've
never murdered. He said, you got to realize that
means murder from the heart. Don't hate in the heart. It says,
don't commit adultery. A person says, well, I've never
committed adultery. Well, have you never committed
it in your mind? Because that's what the law requires. It's so
strict. This flesh cannot keep it. This
flesh cannot accomplish it. He said, we must know the truth
of this. Verse 30 is the last question
he asked. He said, What saith the scripture? He goes down through an allegory
of Hagar and Sarah. Abraham's wife, the free woman,
had a son by promise. Hagar had a son through works,
Abraham's works. He tried to take the responsibility
of God on himself. In verse 30 says, What happened
to Abraham's works? Nevertheless, what saith the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. Take all of those works and cast
them out for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with
the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bond woman, but of the free. Ishmael and Isaac,
Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, they all are an illustration, he said
here, they're an allegory of man's works and God's free and
sovereign grace. And we will only be saved through
God's free and sovereign grace. If we try to approach Him on
our works, we will be cast out. We will be cast out. So He's
saying there is only one thing, one thing that needs to be done
with all our works. We need to personally cast them
out. or God will cast us out. We need
to cling to the blood of Jesus Christ alone. That is our only
hope for salvation. Clinging to the promise of Jesus
Christ crucified is the one and only hope for eternal life. And he said, I must tell you
the truth and I must this morning tell the truth. While these lies
are being told, Paul said, do not fall for them. Do not listen
to them. Know what God has written in
the word. Know what sayeth the scripture. Heed it, cling to it, and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the gospel. His blood is
the only hope of life. Cling to it. Plead it before
God Almighty. When you stand before Him, don't
stand pleading one work. Plead the blood of Jesus Christ
alone. And He said, if you do that,
you will be saved. And He said, if you do that,
that's your hope of eternal glory because that's Christ in your
heart crying for you, Abba, Father. If we cry out for mercy and help,
not pleading our own works, then it means we've already received
mercy and help. Christ has been merciful to us
in his own blood, by his own work, without our doing, and
we plead him. Till next week, may the Lord
bless his word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.