Brethren, if you would, please
be turned into Galatians chapter 4. I pray this morning that every
believer, every blood-bought child of God would pay attention
to me. I hope I can pay attention. Let these words sink into us
and those that are the Lord's and have yet to believe on Him.
Pay attention. These things are important. It's
comforting. But here in Galatians chapter
4, all through Galatians, the Apostle Paul came to Galatia
and he was preaching for a good while. He spent some time with
these folks. He told them about substitution.
He told them about Christ saving a people. what he saved them
from, where he is now. Instructed them in these things.
And the Spirit came to these saints and opened their eyes
and freed them. Gave them liberty in Christ.
Gave them the knowledge of Christ. Set them free. But Paul had to
continue on. He had to keep traveling. He
had to keep preaching in other places. So he left. And it wasn't
too long after that that truth came clouding. That truth these
Galatians were established on got murky. Other things crept
in. They began mixing grace and works
and started adding works back to it. So Paul was led to write
this letter and he gives some stern correction and he faces
these errors head on. But he reminds them and he reminds
us of that good news in Christ. He reminds us of the gospel,
brings us in remembrance of it, and he points us back to our
first love. That's what our Redeemer did.
He reminds us of that first love said in Revelations 2, and has
borne and has patience for my name's sake, has labored and
has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Remember,
therefore, from whence thou art fallen. and repent and do the
first works. I've said this several times.
Christ came on this earth to preach Christ, didn't He? Hear
the Master saying for us to remember where we've fallen from. We've
fallen from that fellowship with the Lord, fallen from that grace
that set us free, that good news. And He says, repent, turn from
our works, turn to His works. Go from something to do to what
Christ has already done. and he says, do the first works.
It was the first thing we did when Christ was revealed in us.
We believed on Christ, didn't we? Believed on the Son. That's
the first works. Believe on the Son. He reminds us of these things. Now in Galatians chapter 4, we'll start reading in verse 1 again,
what we covered last week. 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 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. And because ye are sons,
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou
art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. We are no more slaves. We are
no more servants. But we're sons. What's that mean?
Stop working. We don't have jobs anymore. You
don't have works to do no more. You're a son. You just love your
father. Cry to your father. Verse 8. How be it then, with that said,
when ye knew not God. There was a time when each of
us did not know the true and living God, wasn't there? When
you knew not God, He did serve unto them which by nature are
no gods." We were unregenerate, and we served false gods. That
serve there means both slavery, and the Jews used that word as
a strange service. We had odd service to gods that
could not save, lowercase g, gods, didn't we? Before Christ
was revealed in us, we were truly in bondage. We were slaves to
our nature. Verse 9, After that ye have known God,
or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and
beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? After you've heard this good
gospel, this good news, Christ accomplished everything, he's
finished it all. He's done that for us. Why would you turn back? Turn back to those elements of
the earth, those works. Why would you desire to be back
in bondage? That's what you've been freed from. It says there
in verse 9, but now, now that we're free, we're no more servants,
no more slaves, after ye have known God. The gospel of Christ
came and freed us, and we know God. That's a statement, isn't
it? I say that with fear, with a
humble scent, and with great respect. We know the Lord. We know the God, the true God. That's a great privilege. The
Lord Almighty has revealed Christ to us. What a gift. And there was a time when these
scriptures were closed to us. We couldn't see what they meant.
Couldn't understand them as just words. Might be good parables
and good life lessons, but it was just a book. And then at
a point in time, God opened our eyes. And He showed us who those
prophets proclaimed. He showed us who the types and
pictures of the Old Testament were. He showed us what we were. What Christ did for us. Where
He is now. Seated at the right hand of God.
He showed us those things. We didn't know and then He showed
us. Then we turned away from it.
took these Galatians. They knew those things, how precious
it was. Some people have that pride.
Well, I heard that. I never turned away. I turned
away this morning. I turned away five breaths ago, and I'll probably
do it again five breaths from now on. How quick I worry about
this world, get consumed in it, things going on and all the things
around us, all the advertisements and news and how quick I look
away from my Lord. Paul writes there in Galatians
4 and verse 9, But now, after that ye have known God, or rather
are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe
days, and months, and times, and years. I'm afraid of you.
They're saying I'm afraid of you preaching this to other people.
And I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid. It hurts hurts me. I fear for you, lest I have bestowed
upon you labor in vain." Paul's scolding these erring believers. And we've seen this a lot lately
through our study in Romans and here in Galatians. There's a
time and a place, there's a need for a good scolding. There's
times I've been an heir and I've needed a good spanking or a good
talking to or a good shaking. Mom didn't hit me as much as
she shook me. Squeeze you a little bit, but
there's a time and a place for that, for a stern message. Look
down at verse 20, Galatians 4.20. Paul writes, I desire to be present
with you now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of
you. Paul said, I want to be face
to face with you right now if I could be, and I'd raise my
voice. I'd point a finger at you. and
grit my teeth and yell a little bit. Because of the doubts that
these believers have raised. The doubts of turning from Christ
to doing something, to work. That needs to happen sometimes.
But today's not that day. Today we have great comfort.
I've been excited to get to verse 8 for some time now. I pray this
will be uplifting for you that believe. And I hope this meal
is savory and I hope it'll carry you through a weary work week. I hope you remember these things.
I hope tomorrow morning I can remember these things. Get us through the week to come.
And we prayed for the Spirit to be with us during these services.
These faithful men stand up and we ask the Lord, Lord, be with
us. Lord, open our eyes. Give us ears to hear, give us
a heart to understand. We want to, we want to glorify
Christ. We want to learn something more
about him. I truly ask that. And I hope we can slightly enter
into this text today. I hope we can slightly understand
how serious this is and how comforting this is. Galatians 4, 9 says,
but now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,
howbeit ye turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto
ye desire again to be in bondage." We know God. What a privilege. But that doesn't come with boastfulness,
and it doesn't come with pride, and it doesn't come with entitlement.
In January, I flew up to rescue, and on that plane, there wasn't
a lot of people, but there was somebody on that plane that Everybody
walked past one to kind of say hi to. And when we got off the
plane, everybody wanted to take a picture with him. And then
something I know a little bit about, he got off that plane,
those men in suits and a little earpiece. They walked four of
them around him and walked him to his next gate. He had personal
security taking him to his next gate. That man was important. Everybody wanted to take pictures.
I had no clue who he was. And I was up there to do a job.
I didn't care who he was. That had no impact on me at all. I did not know him. And a few
weeks later, I saw an ad and I said, that guy looks familiar.
And so I researched and it was the governor of California. And
so I looked him up, didn't take much. And I learned a lot about
his family. I learned about a lot about what
it was for him growing up, what he did for a living. Learned
about how many children he had, where he lived. things he likes. It was easy for me to get that
information. I know something about him. I know him now. If
I saw him again, I'd know him. But he does not know me. I can't call him, ask him how
he's doing. I can't text him, ask him for
a favor. I can't just go up and knock on his door and ask to
come in and visit for a while. I may know him, but he doesn't
know me. If I knew him, but he also knew
me, we'd be friends, wouldn't we? Then we could communicate
freely. We have communion, one with another. When I first arrived here, my
first trip out here to San Diego, Mike picked me up at the airport.
And I know Mike. I know where he lives. I know
his family. I know his children. I know what
he does for a living, but he knows me too. I can call you. I can text him. I can go knock
on his door. And me saying that, that's not
with pride, is it? It's not with great arrogance. It's with humbleness and confidence. That's my friend. He can come
to my house, come knock on the door. He wouldn't be afraid,
would he? No, that's my friend's house. I'll go knock on the door.
I'll call him. Believer, God knows us. The children
that Christ came and died for, He knows them. Paul is reminding these Galatians,
you are so worried about these laws and these rules, but you
know God and He knows you. Why would we worry about these
other things? Don't look to those other things,
look to the one that knows you. We can walk right up to that
throne of grace boldly. The Hebrew writer said, Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For any
of you that sat here for any length of time, if you paid attention
slightly, you know something of God, the true God, the true God of the Bible. But
for those of you who Christ has been revealed in, The spirits
come and give them life to God knows you. It's comforting to know that
we have a true friend. Someone we can call and lean
on. Someone we can cry with. Someone
we can celebrate with, share our lives with. Someone we can
just laugh with. That truly makes us happy. That's
comforting. We run up and hug them. What
we do when we see a friend, we smile. It's been a long time
you squeeze Him and give Him a kiss, don't you? Paul is reminding
us here that Christ is our friend. That is what relationship we
have with God. He's closer than a brother. Turn
over to James chapter 2. James 2 and verse 23. And the Scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto
him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
You know, that was one of the strongest accusations the Pharisees
had against our Lord on this earth. He was friends with undesirable
people. Turn back to Matthew 11 and we'll
look at it. I was going to read it to you, but we'll be in Matthew
here in a second anyway. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11 verse 18. For John came neither eating
nor drinking, and they say he hath the devil. The son of man
came eating and drinking and they say, behold, a man gluttonous
and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. If you're not a publican, an
average lowly person, and you're not a sinner, you don't have
a friend there, do you? You know how low you are, what
you truly are. We have a friend. As our substitute,
Christ came and fulfilled all the laws of God. He fully satisfied
every law, and the whole time, He looked to the Father. He fully
trusted the Father, leaned on Him. What was the common thread through
all those commandments? Turn over to Matthew 22. The
common theme of those commandments was, Love the Lord with everything
in you, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Matthew
22 and verse 36. Master, which is the great commandment
of the law? Jesus said, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets." Our Redeemer followed the Father. He satisfied His law. Do you think He satisfied those
laws? Did He love His neighbor as Himself? He did, didn't He? Imagine the attitude that Christ
had and the demeanor He had. Imagine the look on His face
whenever He went to see His people. when he showed up to marry Martha
and Lazarus. Here he comes, here comes the
Lord of glory into their home. I'd say they were pretty happy
too. But was he somber and staunch and gruff? No, he smiled, didn't he? He
loved them. Gave him a hug, gave him a kiss. Asked him how it was going. How
was your week, Lazarus? Look, the Lord knew. They gave
him that opportunity to talk, didn't he? As a friend, he listened. Turn over to Exodus 33. See another
friend of the Lord here. Exodus 33, Moses was up that
mountain and the people got tired of waiting and they melted some
gold and they made a calf. They were tired of waiting on
God, and they made a calf to worship. God became angry with
them for doing that. He called them a stiff-necked
people, and the people were scared. They didn't know what the Lord
was going to do to them. They needed mercy. They had done something
wrong, and they had a punishment that they deserved, but they
needed mercy. For the Lord said unto Moses,
Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people.
I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume
thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments
from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children
of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount
of Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without
the camp afar off from the camp. and called it the tabernacle
of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone
which sought the Lord went out into the tabernacle of the congregation,
which was without the camp. And it came to pass when Moses
went out unto the tabernacle that all the people rose up and
stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until
he was gone to the tabernacle. All these people wanted to see
what was going to happen to them. They stood at their tent doors,
and they watched Moses like a hawk, didn't they? They wanted to see
him go into that tabernacle and see what the Lord was going to
do to him. Verse 9, Exodus 33, 9, And it came to pass, as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and
stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle
door, and all the people rose up and worshiped every man in
his tent door. They got up to celebrate the
Lord was talking to a man. That mediator that we have, the
Lord's communing with him. Verse 11, And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And
he turned again to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son
of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. This
was the same place that Moses asked in verse 18, Lord, show
me your glory. And God said, I'm going to have
mercy. All these people were anticipating
what would happen. They were standing in the doors
of their tents, begging and waiting. God, please have mercy. Lord,
help us. Have mercy on us. They're begging.
And God came down that pillar, came right up to Moses, met him
face to face as a friend, spoke with him. Moses said, show us
your glory. And the Lord said, I'll have
mercy. And I'm going to do it because we're friends. That's
how close we are. Paul's telling these Galatians
here, chapter four, you know God, but much more importantly,
God knows you. You've called God your friend,
but how much more glorious that he's called us his friend. Turn
over to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41, verse 8. But thou, Israel, art my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. Thou
whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee
from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant. I have chosen thee, and not cast
thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed. For I am thy
God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold,
all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be as nothing, and
they shall strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them
and shalt not find them. Even them that contended with
thee They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a
thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, and say unto thee, Fear not, I will help
thee." Verse 13, look at verse 10 again. It says, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And verse 13 says,
I will hold thy right hand. His right hand of righteousness
will touch our hand, and say unto thee, Fear not, I will help
thee. Fear not, thou worm of Jacob,
and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." That's a friend. That's a true friend. Come and
hold your hand. Extinguish your enemies. Look
out for them. We look Wednesday night at the
judgment. Imagine, believer, when that
last day comes and we stand before that throne of judgment and your
very best friend is sitting on the throne. That's not something
to fear, is it? If I was a local magistrate or
judge and you got a speeding ticket and you come to me, Verna,
and you showed up and it was me, you wouldn't be afraid, would
you? There'd be no fear. Turn over to John 15 and we'll
close. John 15, 11. These things have I spoken unto
you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might
be full. This is my commandment that you
love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye
are my friends. If you do whatsoever, I command
you. Henceforth, I call you not servants. For the servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends for
all things that I have heard. of my Father I have made known
unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go forth
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." Paul
is telling our brothers and sisters in Galatia the same thing the
Lord is telling us here. The same thing they're telling
us now. Turn to your friend. Turn to
that one that laid down his life for you. There's no greater love
than that. Don't forget your friend that's
laid down his life for you. He's closer than a brother, as
the Proverbs say. Brother, Paul Mahan wrote an
article I put in the bulletin this morning. Not the golden
rule, but it says there, mercy. Lord, have been merciful to us.
Has he restrained that punishment that we deserve? It says forgiveness.
Oh, imagine all the things the Lord forgave in me. Forbearance. He's long-suffering. He puts
up with us. Patient, tenderly coming to us,
and kind. That's a true friend. But we
have someone to turn to. If you've never looked on Christ,
never believed on Him, never trusted Him, trust in Him now.
We have someone to turn to, not some thing to turn to. We have
a friend that's closer than a brother to turn to, not a rules, and
a rigid law, and things that we can do, or ourselves. I've
failed me, I think more than I've failed other people. I don't
trust me to accomplish anything. Why would I look to myself? Look
to the Lord. Turn to Him. I pray as a comfort
to you. Let's pray together. Our Father, what a privilege
it is to be able to come into this house and gather in Christ's
name. Enable us to worship Him, Lord.
Allow us to lift Him up. Allow us to see how needy we
are. Allow us to know that we need
mercy. And then let us glorify Christ. What a friend. He's laid down his life and gave
us all things. He's patient with us. He's kind
with us. Long-suffering. Keep that thing on our hearts.
Keep that relationship that he's given us in our minds this week,
Lord, as we go to work. deal with people in public and
live in this world and see all this death and destruction and
emptiness around us, Lord. Remind us that Christ saved sinners. He's a
friend to publicans. What a blessing, Lord. Keep us
trusting Him until that day. Be with our brethren everywhere,
Lord. Keep them also. Give us joy to know that Christ
has accomplished everything. It's in His name that we ask
it. Amen.