Brethren, if you will, open to
Galatians chapter 3. I've been looking forward to
getting to this text. We've been looking at the law
quite a bit, Romans and Galatians. We've been looking at depravity,
what that law exposes. With that, the Lord always never
brings us down too low without lifting us up and pointing us
towards Christ. He doesn't normally leave us lifted up too long in
ourselves, does He? Until He brings us back down.
Today, this passage lifted me up greatly, and I'm sure it will
you too. We have three divisions I want to look at today. That's
the promise of God, what that promise was that He made. The
purpose of God's law, what He uses it for. And the people of
God, those people that are His, He gave that promise to and those
people He uses that law for and in. We'll read this whole text
first, then we'll go back through it. Galatians 3 and verse 15.
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's
covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannoyeth or addeth
thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and to 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 God
in Christ, the law, which was four hundred thirty years after,
cannot disannul, and that it should make the promise of none
effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more
of 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, truly,
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 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. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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. And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
That's a pretty large text there. That's why I want to divide it
up into three chunks. But I think as we go through, it's going
to be a good lesson for us. We'll be able to see more clearly
what Paul means here. Paul starts out there in verse
15. He plainly tells us what a covenant is. Covenant is not
a word we use often nowadays, but in this country we understand
what a covenant is It's a contract. It's a promise We enter into
contracts and promises all the time every day we buy homes we
buy cars we have services and that are scheduled. We enter
contracts for that. We buy groceries. You go to Albertsons
and you swap a card, you punch a number in, that's a promise. You've entered into a bonding
contract with that company to pay them for the groceries you
got, didn't you? We do this all the time. It says
there in verse 15, Brethren, I speak after the manner of men,
though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man
disannulleth or addeth thereto. Speaking after this manner of
me and Paul saying I'm gonna put it in the terms that men
and women understand I'm gonna make it plain to you I Can understand
that you can understand that and he says if men just sinners
just a worldly What weighs us going to buy a car we can understand
what a covenant is and it's entered into and it's confirmed No one
can cancel it and no one can add to it We understand that
Kim and I bought this home here in Hamul a month and a half ago. And once all the paperwork's
completed, it's confirmed, it's locked in, and no one can add
anything to it. If I go to the bank and say,
I don't want this anymore, there's going to be some consequences,
aren't there? It won't work out too well. If those people that
sold us the house, they come next week and said, you know
what? We sold that house to you a couple months ago. We want
some more money. And they went to a judge for that. What would
happen? That judge would laugh them out
of the courthouse, wouldn't it? That's completed. Get out of
here. We know these things. Paul's
put in terms that we can understand. And that's what Paul's driving
home. Just between mere mortals, just
between men and women, once there's a binding contract, that covenant,
that promise, it's established, it's final. We understand that. That's in our nation. And people
say, well, it's got to be written or something. In Germany, I lived
there for a few years, if you went into a furniture store and
you said, I like that couch, I'm going to buy that. I'm going
to run home and get my checkbook. And you didn't come back? You
owe, I think it's three quarters, or half anyway. You owe them
half the price of that couch, and you don't get the couch.
And that's common knowledge. That's just understood in that
culture. If we make a promise just between men, between men
and women, we understand that. Verse 16 says, now, once you've
got that understood, if that's the case with men, how much more
so is it final and absolute if God makes a promise, if God enters
a covenant? Verse 16, Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. What was that promise made? Turn
over to Genesis 17. Cass called me yesterday and
said, I told these men, you need to pick the scripture that's
laid on your heart. And I said, you'll be surprised.
I won't pick the text for you to read, but you'll be surprised
how often the spirit uses that to go right with it. And he called
and gave me his text. He's going to read today. I said,
that's perfect. Read that. We're going to be just before Genesis
17. We're going to start in verse
seven. Lord speaking to Abraham, it
says, and I will establish my covenant between me and thee
and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting
covenant." Here's what he's going to do. To be a God unto thee. That's what God does. He makes
things happen. He's not reactive. He is active. Our God is God. Verse 7, and
to thy seed after thee and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the
land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their
God." The Lord God Almighty will be our God. We will be His people.
And He'll give us a land everlasting. On Canaan's heavenly shores we'll
dwell, won't we? Worshiping Christ. And He's given
us that seed, singular, of Abraham. to accomplish that for us. The
Lord didn't make that promise to everyone on earth. Who did
he make it to? Abraham and his seed. Now, whenever
this happened, where was the law? Where was the law of Moses? It hadn't even come about yet,
had it? It didn't exist. God didn't say, if you do this,
I will then fulfill this promise to you. He said, I will do it
for you. I'll make a promise. I'll fulfill
it. The Lord sent that law Moses
430 years after this, when God brought him out of Egypt, out
from underneath Pharaoh. Then he gave the law to Moses
and said, here, tell this to the people. Now in verse nine,
here's what here with Abraham and the Lord, the Lord says,
and God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore."
It's not a maybe or you should. Thou shalt. He's going to make
us keep it. Thou and thy seed after thee
in their generations. This is my covenant which ye
shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every
man child among you shall be circumcised. Now we've seen this
before. If you weren't here go back and
I've never recommended a sermon of mine before, but the Lord
gave it to me. True circumcision. We look at
what circumcision is, and we saw that that's not just outward
circumcision. Circumcision is in the heart.
The Lord takes that worthless flesh of our old nature and cuts
it out, and what's left is that new man. Gives us that new nature.
Abraham's children that exceeded the numbers of the stars are
his spiritual children, and they shall be circumcised. The Lord
will lose none of them. All right, back to our text there
in Galatians chapter 3. Verse 16, Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made, he saith not, and to 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, he's speaking of that covenant in Christ, in
that singular seed, the law which was 430 years after, cannot disannul
that covenant with Christ with the seed, and that it should
make the promise of none effect." The law cannot disannul that
promise that God gave Abraham. If the law was required, it would
cancel that promise, that covenant. God did not make the law part
of his stipulation. That was completely out of it.
And in his infinite wisdom, His grace and His mercy to His people.
He didn't give the Law of Moses until 430 years after this happened.
Isn't that wonderful? He gave such a separation that
we would know that these don't go together. They're not required
together. They don't mesh together. They're separated. Verse 18,
For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. We have something to do. It's
not a promise. He's not giving us something.
It's a reward. It's a wage, isn't it? Once God made that covenant with
Abraham, it was binding, and he does not go back on his word.
He said, I am the Lord. I change not. He proclaimed to
it, I will make this promise. I'll maintain it. I'll be their
God, and I'll keep them secure forever. Man has no part in that,
does he? Let me tell you, the man fell
in Adam. Because of our seminal head,
Adam. He sinned against God. He didn't believe God. He heeded
his wife over God. And because of that, we're his
seed. We're his children. And I fell in the garden. And
people get mad. That's not fair. I want a chance.
I don't want that heritage. What if that rich computer guy,
a couple hundred miles up the road, if he died, then it comes
out that I was his only heir. And all those billions of dollars
have to come to me. I wouldn't be fighting that in courts. And
that's not fair. I don't want it. We'd laugh at that. Of course I'd take it. We'd have
a nice building. But whenever it's that heritage,
we understand those things. That's what Paul's putting in
perspective for us here. Alright, verse 15. We know that if the Lord gave
this law and the law of Moses could not disannul that promise.
The Lord gave the promise. He's the one that promised it
and then the law came. There in verse 15 it says that
no man disannuleth or addeth to. The promise God to his people
cannot be taken away from, nothing can take away from it and nothing
can add to it. Isn't that a good promise? Does
that comfort you? It can't go away. The Lord said,
you're going to be my people, and I'm going to be your God.
And I'm going to give you a place to live, and I'm going to give
you a new heart, and I'm going to take care of you. And He can't
change. That ain't going to go away.
Well, then why do we have the law? The Lord gave that promise. Why do we have the law? What
purpose does God have if it doesn't affect that promise? If the law
has no impact on the promise, why did He give it? I've been
asked this many times in my life. If God didn't want us to be bound
to the law, why did He give it? First off, a quick answer to
that is we don't weigh our thoughts in on determining God's purpose.
We bow to God's purpose. He gave it, we bow to it, and
then if He's pleased to let us know why He did it later, that's
wonderful. Primarily, we bow to the Lord. Secondly, Paul answers
that question here for us in verse 19. Here's the purpose
of the law. Galatians 3.19, Wherefore then
serveth the law? What's the purpose of it? It
was added because of transgression. Till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a meteor. The first purpose of God's law
was to expose transgression and sin. Turn over to Romans chapter
3. Romans 3 verse 19. It says, Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and that the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. The Lord gave that law just so
we knew we had broken it. So we knew what we were. We knew
that we were sinners. I was about 19 years old going
through Grayson, Kentucky as an interstate 64 and I was doing
some road construction. And I drove it every day going
to work. I had a long drive to work. I was on my way home and
tired. And they just had started that part of the road construction.
And the speed limit went from 65 to 55. It was in the evening,
starting to get dark, I was tired, the heat was on, and I had cruise
control set. And a Kentucky State Trooper
come up behind me, and he informed me that the speed limit had dropped
and I was breaking the law. I had no idea. It just changed
what time I was at work that day. But the knowledge came. I was guilty anyway. But the
knowledge that I was guilty came from that law, didn't it? I was
already guilty, but I didn't know it until that law showed
me it was. Romans 4.15 says, Because the
law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. The law provided it to expose
our transgressions. We were already guilty, it just
showed us. Alright, back to our text. The second purpose for
God's law. The first one is to show sin.
It says there in Galatians 3.19, Tell the seed should come to
whom the promise was made. What's that seed? Verse 16 says,
but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ was that
seed. That law had to stand until he
came. God sent the law to reveal the
Messiah that would come. He gave that law to him. And
he sent the law in pictures and in types and shadows and all
these examples and in the feasts. All these things, all the rules,
all the laws, all the political laws. It was to show us clearly
who that Redeemer was. Show us clearly when he got here
that it was him, that it was Christ, the Son of God, his Son,
the God-man. And it clearly told us who he
would be when he came. Hebrews 10 said, for the law
having a shadow of good things to come. It was just a picture. It was just a shadow. There in
verse 19 of our text, Galatians 3. Wherefore then serveth the
law? It was added because of the transgression,
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. When
God gave the law, Moses was a picture of Christ. Nation of Israel said,
we don't want to talk to God. That dark cloud Bob talked about
this morning, come. It was scary. And they had that
internal guilt that the Lord gave them. They didn't want to
approach God. And they said, Moses, you do it. You go talk to him.
He went up. The Lord gave him that law. And
then Moses came down, and he gave it to the people. He was
a mediator. He went in between. This is a
picture of Christ. We can't approach the Lord. Verse 20 says, now
a mediator is not a mediator of one, But God is one. To mediate something, I can't
hire a lawyer to go against nobody. It takes two people to have a
fight, don't it? To mediate something, to be mad at somebody, you have
to have two people. But this mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. We just saw that with the promise,
didn't we? They have more than one party
to have a mediator, but verse 20 says God is one. He's the
one that made the covenant. We don't have a part in it. We
see that again, don't we? He said, I will. Not we will. I will. When we enter a contract,
there's two parties that agree to it. You agree and I agree.
Then we're in a covenant. We're in a promise. We're in
a contract. He's saying here that this covenant, God made
the promise. He's the one. He's the only one
that said it, and He's the only one that said He would do anything.
Verse 21, Is the law then against the promises of God? He gave
this promise and then He gave the law. Does that cancel it?
God forbid. For if there had been any law
which could give which could have given life, verily, truly,
righteousness should have been by the law, but the scriptures
have concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Had there
been a law that could save, then we could have life that way.
That's what we could go to. We could be saved by doing that
law, but God didn't give a law that saved. The law he gave only
exposes sin, it does not cure sin. The law was made that all
we can do, the only thing we can have confidence in is Christ. That one that showed us the sin,
it showed us who the Messiah was going to be, and then it
turns us to him. He becomes our mediator and says,
look here, look to Christ. It destroys any path that we
can take to heaven other than depending solely on Christ's
merit. Verse 23 says, but before faith
came, before we had that faith, 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. I was excited to tell you, anytime
I learn something new I get tickled and I want to tell somebody else.
I was excited to tell you that the purpose of that law was to
show us our sin. The purpose of that law was to
expose to us who that Messiah was, who Christ was going to
be when He came. We saw that. We have that benefit
now. We can look back. It's recorded. It's already happened.
We're not looking for something that's to come. We have that
empty tomb, that risen Savior, don't we? But the law is our
schoolmaster. My whole life I've read that
and I knew what a schoolmaster was. That's a principal or a
teacher. It taught us something. It did
teach us sin. It shows us sin. That's not what the word means.
Close, but it's not a principal. It's not a head teacher. Schoolmasters
are only used twice in Holy Scriptures. It's here in verse 24 and 25.
That's it. And the word means, it's a Greek
word that means a trusted slave that was in charge of taking
children to and from school. A wealthy father hired a slave
to take his children, his unruly children, to the one that could
teach them and then he had to bring them back to the father.
That's what that schoolmaster did. This trusted slave, it was
given some severity to it. Physically and morally, he was
over those children. So if they physically strayed
off the path or they started getting in trouble on the way
to school, instead of making it to that teacher, it would
whip them. Has this law whipped you? It's whipped me. It spanked me good and showed
me I couldn't do it. And then what did that law do?
It whipped me and it took me to the teacher. It took me to
the one that could open my heart I could fulfill that law for
me. There in verse 24, Wherefore,
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, to bring
us to that teacher, that we might be justified by faith. But after
that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
That law takes us to Christ. We're given His faith, the faith
of Christ. Then we're dead to that law.
It doesn't have to take us anywhere else. We've met the teacher,
haven't we? It no longer needs to take us to the teacher because
we've been taught. Christ is our teacher. And us coming to
him, us being taught of Christ, that takes priority over us playing
on the road, doesn't it? The Lord puts that in us. That
new man looks to him. So we've seen the promise to
God's elect. We've seen the purpose of God's
law. Now here's the people, the promises
to, and the people that the law brings to Christ. Turn over to
Romans chapter 9 real quick. Romans 9, verse 6. It says, Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Neither, because they are the
seed of Abraham, the physical seed, are they all children.
But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.
But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. What
that is saying is just because someone is a physical Jew, that
doesn't mean that they're a seed of Abraham. And because someone's
not a physical Jew, that doesn't mean that they're not child Abraham,
that seed of Abraham. Physical genealogies do not matter
in the Lord's electing of people. There's no Christian family covenant.
If I work hard enough, my children aren't going to grow up and definitely
know the Lord. Now, he's put them in my care. You young people, your parents
have been brought to know the Lord. He gave you them parents. He brought you underneath the
Lord to hear them. That can be the means that he uses, but it
doesn't guarantee anything. Turn over to Romans chapter 2.
Just back a couple pages. Verse 28. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit and not the letter. Not the letter of the
law. Not the law of circumcision. The heart of circumcision. Whose
praise is not of men, but of God. What does that mean? Stay in Romans chapter 8, verse
14. Romans 8, verse 14. For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. God's people are the ones that
the Spirit lays a hold of. That Spirit uses the law as a
schoolmaster to lead them to Christ. Those are the seed of
Abraham. Those are the ones that that
promise was made to. Those are the sons of God. Romans
10-12 says, For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
Him. That same one that we're brought
to, He's rich beyond means for us when we call on Him. He doesn't
run out. And God's the one that makes
us call on Him. 1 Corinthians 12 says, For by one Spirit we
are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free, we have all been made to drink into
one Spirit. That's that people. Have you
been made to drink? Have you been brought to that
law? Showed that you couldn't keep it? That law has been used
to show you who that Messiah was that was coming? Alright,
back to our text, verse 16. I'm sorry, not verse 26. Galatians 3.26, For ye are all
the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
If the Spirit has laid a hold of you, then you are in Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female. For ye are all are one in Christ. If you believe on Christ, in
Christ, and because of Christ, if Christ is everything, if He's
all your hope, all your desire, then you are the people that
this promise is to. He'll be your God and He'll keep you forever.
Verse 29, and if ye be Christ, then, after that, after your
Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. The Lord will be our God. He'll
keep us. He'll provide everything for
us. He'll give us the right heart to approach Him. He'll bring
us down when we need brought down. He'll lift us up when we've
been down too long on Him. And He'll bring us to glory.
And He'll make us perfect. I can't imagine that. I'll be
without sin one day. Perfect. And I can worship that
One that redeemed me. Truly, as He deserves to be.
I can't imagine. Someday, I'll probably sleep
until the end like them of Peter, James, and John, won't I? But
someday I'll be awakened, and I'll see Him as He is, and I'll
be made like Him, and then I can worship Him as He's fit to be
worshipped. And if you believe that, you'll
be there. We'll wake up together, won't
we? We'll sing praises to Him together. Alright, let's pray
together. Father, how merciful You are
to us that we don't have to rely on ourselves to come to You.
Lord, thank You for promising Christ to the people. Thank You
for sending Him to redeem us. Thank You for raising Him to
Your right hand to rule over us How sweet the day will be,
Lord, when we get to be in His presence. Make us yearn for that
day. Give us a heart that desires
to be made like Christ. Shed this wicked man that I live
in. Keep us until then, Lord, as
you promised you will. Be with our brethren everywhere,
those that are suffering, those that are in joy. No matter our lot in life, Lord,
we need Christ. Keep us looking to Him. It's
in His name that we ask it. Amen.