Don't want to be on the same subject today as I was on last Sunday Galatians chapter 4 verses 9 through 11 And I'll give my title again. This is mainly for Paul's benefit But I'm still on this subject powerless and destitute versus might and abundance And last Sunday, I dealt mostly with powerless and destitute. I wanna try to deal mainly this morning with what versus that. Powerless and destitute versus might and abundance. So this will be part two or whatever the proper thing is, Joe, number two, part two, whatever. Powerless and destitute versus might and abundance.

So let me read this, make a couple statements, then we'll move on. I'm not gonna go back and rehash all I said last Sunday. Galatians 4 9 through 11, but now After that ye have known God or rather are known of God How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements now, that's where I got this Powerless and destitute. That's the two words weak and beggarly powerless and destitute and remember I mentioned that weak is not Very little power, it's the same word translated in the KJV in Romans 5 as without strength. So it's powerless and destitute, but let me move on.

I'll turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements wherein to ye desire to be in bondage. Think about it. Believers set free by Christ, even though maybe they had been hoodwinked. But why would we be hoodwinked? But yet we can be. Okay, wanting to go back into bondage. But now remember, this bondage is the bondage of the law. That's the whole of this letter, from first to end. I mean, Mack, he deals hardly with any other subjects. If he does, he uses them as illustration of this one subject, grace versus the law. God's free grace versus the law. And somebody says, well, you speak against the law. I do in some respects. I do not preach the law for righteousness. I do not preach the law for life. I do not.

But it goes on to say, ye observe days and months and times and years. And remember, they weren't going back to their old idolatrous practices. They were going to legal practices. But Paul equates them equally as what? Weak and beggarly elements. Or that is, powerless and destitute common practices. Religion of all sorts loves its rites and its ceremonies. Now you and I know that's true. And we do too. We like rites and ceremonies. We like to do things certain ways. Now don't we? Whether it's individuals or groups of people or denominations, whatever it is, we like our rites and ceremonies.

I am afraid of you. And this is the scary part. This is frightening. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. And somebody says, since it's all of God, then what does it matter? Because God uses means. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, and that is preaching the gospel, not preaching the law, not preaching ceremonies, not preaching personal righteousness, preaching the gospel. And if men begin to turn their eyes away from that, it is frightening. But anyway, ye observe days, months, times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.

Remember, Paul, before he mentions this, it's a rebuke, if you will. That's what this is. It's a verse nine, 10, and 11 contingent. It's not the only rebuke in this letter, but it is a rebuke, but it's a rebuke based upon the glorious person and work of Jesus Christ he had just described in more than, but specifically in verses one through eight of this chapter we have here. You see, Let me just, as I said, move on. I'm not gonna rehash what I, last week I spoke mainly about the law and it was powerless and destitute, and we looked in God's book where it says that, right? That's what, it's not Walter's opinion, it's not an antinomian's opinion, it's thus saith the Lord. The law is powerless and destitute. Not because it in itself has a fault, but it concerns those of us who are totally corrupted, sinful. It deals with our flesh. I did not say it governs our flesh. Other than in this respect, when the law is preached, yea, when the law is even taught, apart from the truth of the gospel of Christ, the law will turn us into nothing but self-righteous hypocrites. That's what it does. That's what it, if Christ is not the sum and substance and center of any local assembly, and law is preached or taught, it will make a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites that will start pointing fingers at one another. And that's what Paul goes on to say.

He says, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk how? In the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory. What is vain glory? Any glory that goes to anybody other than Jesus Christ. And somebody says it's that simple, it's that simple. Look, provoking one another, envying one another, that's what the law brings. And we'll, God willing, deal with that later.

So move on. Legalism, now listen to me. I know this is not what most people are taught. And I fear, I'm not pointing fingers at individual local assemblies, but I fear that we as preachers are so afraid of being called these offsetting terms, like antinomianism, or they're against the law, that we couch our phrases. We say things to not get that offensive language pointed at us. But remember this, if they hate you, if you're preaching Christ, you're believing Christ, if they hate you, it's not really you that they hate, it's the truth of God, that's what it is.

Legalism was never, and I think I may have said this last week, legalism was never and is not and shall never be a source of any kind of aid to liberty in Christ Jesus. You don't preach or we don't preach the law. We may teach about the law. Our preaching is about Jesus Christ. Now some say that's just semantics. Okay, maybe it is for them, but it's not for me. Okay, it's not for me. Legalism was never. is not and shall never be a source of any kind of aid to our liberty in Christ Jesus.

If I get up here and preach to you law, law, law, and this, even, well, the moral law. Now, I've said this before. One thing, the falsehood of that statement is this, it would imply, even those who use that phrase, don't mean it this way. When I say moral law as opposed to civil, ceremonial, ritual, whatever, but when I say moral law, it would implicate that there is immoral law. Right? because they're talking about opposites as though the ceremonial and ritual is separate from the moral part of the law. It's all moral. The slaughter of thousands of animals was moral, though I know there are many in this day and age that don't believe that. But it was moral, why? Because God commanded it to picture Christ, to point to him, to say someone's got to suffer in your place or you'll perish.

So again, legalism was never, is not, and shall never be a source of any kind of aid to our liberty in Christ. It is according to two witnesses in the scripture, people that the legalists often use as defenders of their practice, their preaching or whatever. Legalism in the scripture, first of all, Peter calls it, and you can find it, I might go back and read it, but you can read it, read Peter's words in Acts 15 verses five through 11. Peter calls it an unbearable bondage. It's a yoke that neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.

Now if I do teach you about the law, I hope to God you realize when I teach you what the law says, you say, God the spirit in you says, I can't do that. I want to do that, I would love to do that, but I cannot do that. Now our flesh says, well, but give it your best shot. The law don't call for our best shot. It says cursed, cursed, not blessed or blessed. Cursed is the man that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Peter says it's an unbearable bondage. James calls it the same thing. He puts it this way. We walk in the perfect law of liberty. Liberty. Anyone who hears the law taught or preached and feels that liberty is not knowing what the law is saying. The person either preaching it and teaching it is preaching and teaching it wrong, or if they're preaching it right, what the law is really for, the person hearing what they're saying is misinterpreting what's being said.

The law basically says, outside of Christ, you're guilty. And you're under the curse. You're under the curse. The only might in our position in Christ and our perseverance, and Joe, that would include everything else, It would include our position, we could call, say, justification. But I would argue that even our sanctification is our position. Because we're sanctified, both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of how many? One.

So I have sanctification just as completely as Jesus Christ himself. Now how sanctified is he? Well, there's another kind of sanctification. Well, I wouldn't worry about that one. Because it'll make you self-righteous. It'll make you point fingers at somebody else. It'll make you start condemning everybody else. When you think you've conquered this certain thing, and you see them still struggling with it, you'll point your fingers at them, and pride will well up. You say, how do you know that? I know that by experience. When you think you've conquered something, you'll start pointing your fingers at somebody else who hasn't, and the next thing you know, Joe, God will let you see that you really haven't conquered that one either. Or maybe something even worse, you know, that you view worse.

Again, the only might in our position and perseverance before God and men, because there's not a sanctification before God and then a sanctification before men. Anything that the world, the unbelieving world in general, anything that they would look at you and say, well, that's a sanctified person, or any related term, they're looking at who? You. You. But if we're caught up with talking about Jesus Christ, you know what they're gonna say, the unbelieving? That's a weirdo. That person's a fanatic. Am I right? That person's a fanatic.

The only might in our position and our perseverance, our continuance, that's sanctification. Don't stop. We don't, we do. I mean, I can say this over and over. Joe and Paul can say it. Quit trying to improve your flesh. Acknowledge it for what it is. That's why we come up with these other laws or rules, or we half-law God's law, to try to make our flesh fit in with the law of God, and it can't do it. The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these. And you can't make fortification better. Now can you? That murder, you can't make it better. Drunkenness, go on to revelies, that's partying and such, all those things. It's not about the flesh. The flesh is condemned of God. But Jesus Christ suffered for our flesh. In his own flesh.

You see, again, the only might in our position and our perseverance, that's our continuing, our staying in the way, our keeping on keeping on, Matt, our believing and never quit believing that we're wrought with unbelief. That's why I have said before, How do I put this? Because I don't mean to, I'm not trying to criticize myself, just trying to state the facts or criticize anybody else. We talk about our faith, we sing a song, my faith is cold and weak. It's not really so. Our faith is the faith, a part of him that he gives to us. And it's not what I don't believe perfectly. Yes, you do. You do believe perfectly. We just have unbelief with it. But we try to make our unbelief just not quite good believing. You see what I'm talking about?

We will take even the walk of grace, Joe, and try to find some pride in it. Find some pride in it. Somebody says, preacher, that don't make me feel good about me. I hope so. I hope so. I hope it makes you say, I need Jesus Christ. And somebody says, that's law. Yeah, that is law. It is. But if you feel pretty good about yourself, then you're missing the truth of all of it.

You see, again, the only might in our position and perseverance before God and men is the might of God's grace in Christ being declared in the preaching of the gospel. The one thing that really motivates if I can use that word, that encourages a true spirit born gospel called believer. The one thing that encourages them to believe correctly and walk correctly is the preaching of the cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I have to preach law to you to get you to run to Christ, you really don't know who Christ is. Because if the preaching of Christ himself and all of his majesty and beauty and glory and grace and mercy and Joe redemption and forgiveness doesn't cause you to flee to him, you don't know him. You don't know him. You might be like those people in Matthew 7 that knew him in the wrong way, but they didn't know him as the foundation.

The only, only, I said that wrong, didn't I, Mac? He's not just the, he's the only foundation. Think about it. We start with that. That is his might.

And then according, and Joe's preaching on it, so I'm not even gonna go back and read it. If you read Ephesians chapter one, and specifically verses seven through 14, it says, we start with God Almighty's power in Christ. Even the election and the predestination dealt with Christ. It was all in him, by him, and unto him.

And then the actual redemption, forgiveness, Joe, was accomplished by him. And then the Spirit does this, I will read this. Ephesians 1, verse 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard what? The word of truth, and now he defines it, the gospel of your salvation. That's what it is. That's what calls God's people out. Not a mixture of law and grace. Grace only. Christ only. Salvation by sovereign work of God only.

After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee. You see it? The earnest, you see it? Of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.

We start with what might? Remember, powerless and destitute versus might and abundance. Whose might am I looking to? Mine? I have none, right? Even the law that concerns me is what? Hebrews, powerless and destitute. I need Christ always.

He said, without me, ye can do very little. Nothing. Without me, ye can do, and you know, it's not even really correct English. You understand that? But Christ was speaking truth. He wasn't trying to be English teacher. Without me, ye can do nothing. Nothing.

So we're sealed for it, but here's the second thing. We continue by that same might. When you look then, Joe, at Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23, Paul said, this is my prayer for you. What? The power of God. There's the might. There's the might. but there's also might and abundance, right? You see, the only abundance in this matter of salvation, in this matter of justification, in this matter of sanctification, in this matter of perseverance before God and men, I've heard some people, we're talking about our position before God, not our position before men. That's that slope, that's that slippery slope. It's like there's two kinds of justification, two kinds of sanctification, two kinds of righteousness. No, sir. No, sir. We want to be like our Lord. Do you remember what it says about him even when he's a little fella? And I almost feel, Jack, like I don't know if I should, but he was one time a little fella, wasn't he? He said he increased in what? Wisdom. Yeah, wisdom and stature before God. and men. There's not two different kinds.

Well, there's our righteousness before God and that's Christ. There's our righteousness before one another. No, no. The only abundance again in this matter of salvation, justification, sanctification, perseverance before God and men is the work of Christ Jesus alone. Turn to John chapter 10. I wanna read a verse. A verse is which, pardon me. A verse or at least a phrase in which, a phrase that's in this verse is very abused by some people today. John chapter 10, let me find my spot, verse 10, yes, verse 10. I'm not gonna take time. I'm gonna read this whole chapter and make some comments, but this'll get us right down. Remember, we're talking about powerless and destitute versus might and abundance. Our only might is found in Jesus Christ himself. Our abundance is him. And it comes from him, Joe. Remember he said, I am. the way, the truth, the life. You mentioned it, Joe, I am the resurrection and the life. I am, but he does give that as well, Jack. But what's he do when he gives it? He gives us a part of him. Because he is it.

Okay, look at verse 10. The thief, as opposed to Jesus Christ himself, the Messiah, that's the whole part of this chapter 10, thieves, or the good shepherd, okay? There's the good shepherd, and this don't even include this under-shepherd as we sometimes, or that under-shepherd, or Paul, this is talking about the good shepherd versus thieves. Look, the thief cometh not, but for to steal. How does these thieves steal? By their own self-righteousness. They try to steal the very righteousness of God. They're trying to steal his righteousness. Some of them will even claim righteousness before God by their own righteousness. Now if that ain't a thief, I don't know what is, right? The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill. What kills? What does the book say kills? The law. They're law preachers, you see it? That's their message. And say, but we have Christ too. So did these false people that was preaching to the Galatians. They weren't denying Christ altogether. They were mixing a little bit of law with Jesus. But a little leaven always leavens the whole lump.

Look, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. What destroys? A false gospel. That's what destroys. Paul said if you're believing another one, preaching another one, let them be accursed, right? So that's what thieves do. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I, there's where it's at, you see? I am come. Now let me make a few statements after reading it.

I am come that they, who's the they? Look at the context, the sheep. I am come that they might have life. Did he do it or not? I didn't ask if he made it possible. I didn't ask if he made it available. Do you believe that he did what he came to do or not? Okay, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Do you see that? Now you know how some people interpret that. Abundance, right? money, health, right? Respect amongst other people, right? I'm not building a straw man, Jack, that's what these people are on TV and radio, on the internet, that's what they're doing, that's their abundant life.

Turn with me to, I'm gonna give you an example of abundant life. Remember, Christ, yes, Christ said, I have come that they might have life and that they might have it. What's it? That life. Same, not another life, not a different life, not a separate life, but that life abundantly. Now we know what many in the world say about that, right? Now turn, I'll give you an example of it. First Peter, and I will show you abundance. I'll give you an example of it, then I'll show it illustrated, and both of these I wanna give you from the scripture, not from any illustration I've come up with, okay? I may could have come, I thought about a few, Joe, and I thought, boy, those really failed the test, if you will.

You wanna talk about abundant life? Look, here's abundant life. I'll read one verse to you first, then I'll look, we'll look at why this was said. What I'm about to read, we'll learn why I said after I read it. Verse 10, 1 Peter 2, which in time past were not a people, you see that? But are now the people of God. Isn't that like a total reversal? Now do you see that? You were not a people, not even a people. It didn't say you weren't the people of God, you weren't even a people. We weren't worthy if all of us put us all together, we still ain't worth this. Old Scott Richardson, he was pretty blunt, he said, we ain't worth a warm bucket of spit. Y'all remember, if y'all remember him saying that. I mean, when I heard, I didn't even hear it in person, I heard it on a, I think a cassette tape, and I think my mouth dropped open when he said that.

Which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God. Now bless God if that ain't some abundance, but it's more than that. I wouldn't know what abundance is, Joe. And look, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Now, you know, just about everybody would say amen to that, right? But I want you to notice that the word which looked right before it up in the next verse, there is a colon. That lets me know that what was said just before this must be taken with it. Do you see it? This is one whole verse. Now let's read the whole verse. But ye are a chosen generation. You see that? A royal priesthood. This is said to these people that were not a people. They did not obtain mercy. Now you talking about abundance. Huh? You're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy, a sanctified nation.

And let me tell you, I'm glad he didn't say a person. Though that's true of us, we must never forget we're all equally that. No matter how much we excel, succeed, or fail. Now you hear me? But you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people. And you know, that's one where the world probably would say, yeah, amen to that one, but you know what that means? We're bought back, we're redeemed. A purchased people, a peculiar people.

That ye, now here is abundance. That ye, us? The people of verse 10? You see it? That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now if that's not abundant life, I don't know what is. And I tell you what, I would rather have this than all of that so-called abundant life these so-called Christian preachers are out here talking about of money, wealth, and health. Because you can have this even when your health goes to pot. Right? You can have this even if you're destitute in dollar bills. Right? You can have this even if you have no money and have to go to court. They used to put you in jail for stuff like that. I don't guess they do that a lot anymore unless you're embezzling it. We used to be able to put you in jail for not paying your bills. Anyway, that's a different message.

Out of darkness into light. Now here's the illustration. Do you remember a man named Lazarus? He died. Now I'm gonna put it this way. He was so dead that his sister said, by now he stinks. Huh? He stinks. She knew it. We had no indication, Joe, that they ever rolled away that stone, walked in and said, who? They just knew by experience. What? He'd been dead four days. He stinks. And what did Christ say? Roll away the stone. I'm thinking, why? He stinks. Why? He was dead. Now this is a physical example of Christ raising somebody from physical death. So dead, he was stinking by then. That's pretty dead, right? That's not really close to it. That's not a CPR to get him back. He dead, stinking dead. Roll away the stone. Why? Christ could have brought him out of that tomb without that stone being, huh? Because God ordained to use means. Roll away the stone. Lazarus! I believe, right then, his eyes opened up. His eyes opened up. Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead, came forth. He had what? Life. Life.

But you remember one thing it said about Lazarus, still yet, though he had what? I mean, you couldn't get more alive, Joe. Jack, it was the opposite of where he was, stinking dead, now alive, alive. Right? Alive. But he needed that life abundantly. You know why? Because he was wrapped in grave clothes. What did our Lord say about their graves? Loose him, let him go. That's abundant life. Now as Henry Mahan used to say, if that don't ring your bell, your clapper's broke. Go back and look, I don't have time. Colossians 2 verses 1 through 17. In Christ are hid all the mysteries of the wisdom of God. In Christ we're complete. Huh? And I've got to read this part to you, this, pardon me, just give me a couple more minutes here. Listen to one thing Paul says about this. Verse six of Colossians 2, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so what? Walk ye in him. He's your encouragement, he's your motivation, he's everything. rooted and built up in him, established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therein with what? Thanksgiving.

Beware lest any men spoil you through philosophy and empty or vain deceit. What? And now he's gonna talk about the same things he's talking about to us in our text, Galatians chapter four. After the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete. So then what more do I need? Or do we really believe it really don't really mean complete? It's another kind of completion. It's a different, right? No. We are what? Complete where? Not even in us. in him.

You see, Christ himself, according to this chapter, Colossians 2, 1, all the way through it, of course. But at least through verse 17, Christ is our abundance. He is the abundant life. So I go back to what I mentioned before. Christ is our reward. He don't just give us rewards. Ellen, he is our reward.

Those who demand their law deeds in any way, or their law preaching in any way, they're welcome to it. They're welcome to it. I'm not trying to tell you, well, you need to just, you need to do this, you need to do that. No, I'm telling you, you can't until God Almighty shows you mercy and grace through the preaching of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you'll be like Paul.

No matter what the accolades of your past is, No matter what they, the accolades, not the bad parts. But that which is highly esteemed among men is what? In God's sight, an abomination. And that's why Paul says, and be found in Christ. Not having mine own righteousness, I'm going to ad lib now, even legal righteousness. You hear it? which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we are so prone to forget these things. Lord, we know them doctrinally. When asked, we could give the correct answers, Lord, that correlation between how we believe and how we walk, we struggle with that, Lord. But oh God, we know it's up to you. And it's all in your hands. Help us just to give up. Help us just to give up and lean hard upon your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we thank you, amen.