Okay, open your Bibles if you
would to Galatians chapter 3. We're going to continue our journey
through Galatians chapter 3. We've been going through Galatians
chapter 3. This is the 47th message. I imagine
we're going to be probably almost two years doing this one by the
time we're done. But hasn't it been a wonderful
study? It's just been so rich and so wonderful. We still got
three chapters to go and half of this one. So we're doing good. I like it. The fact that we're
just taking it slow, looking at each verse. And I was telling
you last week that we're going to be doing verse 14 this week,
but we're also still going to be speaking a little bit about
verse 13 as well, just so that we can see the context of our
verse this week. Let's, Let's read from verses 10 to
14. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God
is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And the law is
not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessings of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. And this section we've
been studying is also brought forth, not only that the believers
no longer are under the law, but that the righteous shall
now live by faith. And remember, whenever it says
the righteous, that's only in Christ. Only in Christ are we
righteous. Outside of Christ, we have no
righteousness at all. So whenever you see the righteous,
that's only because of Christ and Him alone. What a marvel that is, that we
are saved by the grace of God alone, through the work of Christ
alone, by absolutely nothing from any of us. It's glorious. We're delighted to see in verse
13 that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's
done it. He's done it. And we live, how
do we live now? Well, we live by faith, don't
we? We live trusting and resting in the crucified one all the
time. hanging our whole souls upon Him, right? He's everything
for us now. He is truly our all in all. And
justification for the believing sinner must be by faith, because
we cannot be justified by anything we do. So it must be by faith,
and it must be in Christ, the one who justified us. And even
that faith we have, we can't brag on that, can we? Because
even that comes from God. You see, everything about our
salvation comes from God. The only thing we bring to the
table is our sin. That's it. That's why people
are so adamant sometimes against the gospel of God's free grace,
because we don't bring anything. We come empty handed, don't we?
simply in my hands of nothing. We don't bring nothing in our
hands, do we? Nothing, except our sin. Oh my. Joe Robert Hawker was
called an antinomian because he, they said he preached Christ
too much. And they said the way he preached
will cause men to sin. But you know what he said? He
said, I found that I long for holiness more now than I ever
have before. More now, just looking to Christ
and casting my soul upon him and him alone for everything
than I ever did before. See, this is what free grace
does, doesn't it? It brings us to the point where we have absolutely
nothing we can do. Nothing we can even offer. What
shall a man offer in exchange for his soul? Nothing. Nothing
that we have. My oh my, we must come to God
through Christ Jesus our Lord and Him alone. And we see justification for
the believing sinner must be by faith because we see in verse
eleven that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
So who's the object of that faith? Christ. He's the only object,
nothing else. Nothing we do, nothing we say,
not A church we belong to, although
we're blessed to be together, aren't we? And you know what?
I read an article today by Joe Terrell, I think it was, and
he said that he finds himself most happy when he's with the
brethren. Most easy to pray when he's with
the brethren. Most joy when he's with the brethren.
You see, when we're alone, we struggle sometimes, don't we?
Let's not say sometimes. Let's just say how it is. We
struggle. My oh my. He says in the article,
he said, you know, when I'm by myself, I don't pray enough.
I don't do this. He says that all those old grave
clothes are coming back. But he says, when I'm with the
brethren, all those things fade away. And we talk about Christ. And my mind gets focused on Christ.
Isn't it true for us too? It's wonderful, isn't it? It's
wonderful. Now, what's one thing that we
know now as the people of God. Well, we know what Romans 10
for. We know what it says, and you're gonna know it as soon
as I say it, but now we know it as a fact. It says this, for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. But there's a clause, to everyone
that believeth. You see, there's a thing out there called
Graveyard righteousness. Somewhere between when a person
dies and they go to the funeral home. Yeah, you know where I'm going.
They could be like the most hell-bent sinner, but all of a sudden the
preacher preaches them, oh, they're in heaven. One preacher I listened to used
to call it justification by death. It's not that way, is it? You
must believe. Listen to this. For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Believeth
on who? On Christ. So for we who believe, He is
the end of the law for our righteousness. Isn't that wonderful? Now that's
comfort for a sinner. Because we can't make ourselves
righteous. But He is the end of the law. He fulfilled it so
perfectly, beloved, that it has no claim on you and I. Oh, what
comfort that can bring us. And again, Romans 10, four, for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Three things are brought forth in that verse.
The embrace of Christ for salvation means the end of the law is a
method of justification. He is our justification. He is
our justification. He is our righteousness. We abandon
all hope in ourselves and we look to Christ. And then the
goal of the law. What's the goal of the law? Turn
if you went back to Galatians chapter 3. You know what the
goal of the law is? To bring sinners to Christ. To shut us up to Christ. My brother
had some cattle for a little while, and whenever he had to
do some work on them, they put him in this, I don't know what,
it's like a runner. Neil would know what it is. It's
a runner where basically you lead the cow in it, and then
you shut the gate behind him, and he can't move. There's a
fence there and a fence behind him and fences on the side, and
they could do whatever work they have to do on him there. That's
how we're shut into Christ, beloved. We can't go forward, we can't
go backward, we can't go to the sides. All we can do is look
forward up to him, eh? It's wonderful. But look what
it says over here in Galatians chapter 3 verses 24 and 25. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to what? To bring us unto Christ. That
we might be justified by what? Faith. That's faith in Christ,
right? But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under schoolmaster. Look at that. We're not under
the law anymore. It was a schoolmaster to bring
us to Christ. To shut us in, like those cattle are shut in
when they go into that little ramp. They shut them in. That's how we are. The law is
a schoolmaster. It brings us to Christ. Look at what it says
there. But after that faith has come,
we're no longer under schoolmaster. Now remember who Paul's dealing
with. He's dealing with Judaizers who are saying to these folks
in Galatia that you must be circumcised, part of the law, to be saved.
So now we see the context of what he's doing. He's continuing
to talk about justification in Christ alone, through faith alone.
And now he brings forth the law, but he brings it forth. And remember
who the true author of this is. The Holy Spirit of God. If someone
tells you you're under the law, you bring them to these verses.
Say, well, the law was my schoolmaster at one time to bring me to Christ. That we might be justified by
faith. But after that faith has come, we're no longer, look at
that, no longer, no longer under a schoolmaster. Now the law is
still holy, we love it, don't we? It's holy because it reflects
who God is. He's holy and righteous. But beloved, this verse is telling
us that we're no longer under a schoolmaster. Oh, praise be
to God. I'll tell you what, in religion
it was just all bondage, right? That's why a person trying to
live under the law, they've just got chains of bondage on them. It's like being chained up and
you're walking around with all these chains on you. Now, we
still have grave clothes, don't we? And they're still falling
off, aren't they? But we got no more chains, do we? Every once in a while, something
will fall off. Some little piece of religious grave cloth will
fall off. And I'm like, I'm free! I'm free! Oh, it's so wonderful. It's so
wonderful. Oh, my. The law contains the terms of
life. Do this and live. But Christ is the end of those
terms. He said, it's finished. I purchased you out from under
the law with my blood. And we say, hallelujah. It's
wonderful. We're no longer under the law
as a covenant or a curse. It's gone. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And He endured the curse for
us, didn't He? What's the curse of the law?
The wrath of God. Right? He endured that for us, beloved.
In our room in place at Calvary's Cross. And He redeemed us out
from under the law. That's why it says we're no longer
under a schoolmaster. Because we were under the law
at one time. And He's redeemed us out from under the law. Ah,
it's wonderful, isn't it? That's good news for sinners,
isn't it? That's good news for sinners. Let's read verses 13
and 14 again. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of law being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now note in verse 13,
Christ is the one the appointed one, the anointed one, the accepted
redeemer, God's own dear son, who hath, right? He hath. It's not he might. It's not he
did everything he can, now the rest is up to you. Nope. He hath once and for all of God's
elect. With finality, by his one great
sacrifice for sin, what has he done? He's redeemed us. He redeemed us. He effectively
paid the ransom and delivered his people out from under the
law by the shedding of his precious, precious blood. And the legal
payment is his blood. That which satisfies the law
and justice of God is his blood. The sacrifice of Christ Jesus,
our Lord. And then who did he redeem? In
the verse that says us, in verse 13. Paul's writing to believers,
he's not writing to unbelievers. He's not writing to the whole
world. He's writing to the believers in the Galatian churches, who
have now become bewitched by these, some of them have become
bewitched by these false teachers. So he's writing to believers.
Oh my, and this is for, these scriptures are for all of God's
elect, right? Through all the ages. What did he redeem us from? The
curse of the law. Marvel at this. Christ has redeemed
us from all possible judgment. He's redeemed us from all possible
judgment. He's redeemed us from all possible condemnation. It's true. I know it's hard for
us to understand, but it's true. We will never be judged. God's
not going to have a TV screen up there, like I used to believe,
and going to be replaying every one of Wayne Boyd's sins. He
just won't. You know why? Because he says,
I don't remember him anymore. Now that's good news, isn't it? Because I used to believe that,
oh, you know, there was that rapture thing. Now I believe that there
is a coming. When everything's done, the Lord's
going to take us all home. I used to think there was going
to be a rapture, and then we were as believers going to be
judged for our sins. Well, that would go against, there is therefore
now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, because the
Greek word for condemnation in that verse in Romans 8, 1 is
judgment. Beloved, there is absolutely
nothing against us. We will never, ever come under
any possibility of judgment under the blood of Christ. We will
never, ever come under any condemnation in Christ. The penalty for our
sins has been paid in full. And God says, now let us believe
this, I don't remember your sins anymore. Hallelujah! Let's shout it, eh? That's good news, isn't it? Oh,
that's wonderful, but it's true. And also now, death has no sting. You know, our dear Sister Kathy,
she's in glory right now. She's rejoicing with all the
saints. Death has no more sting. It's
just but going through a door, beloved. Where one day we're
living here on this earth, and the next day we're living in
glory. Next millisecond, eh? Since we
breathe our last breath, to be absent from the body, be present
with the Lord. Oh, that's wonderful. So he redeemed us from the curse
of the law. There's no more condemnation, no more judgment, no more penalty.
No more death by the law. Right? Because our sins are forgiven,
so when we die again, we just go to glory. Oh my. How did he do this? Well, scripture
says, being made a curse for us. Being made the object of
God's wrath. For my judgment. For my sins. And every one of
us can say that. But we're not saddened by this,
are we? Now, it makes us know the cost,
but praise God, He redeemed us. This is comforting for God's
people. Oh my, He has made a curse for
us. Our sins were imputed to Him, beloved, every single one.
There's not one left. Past, present, and future, right?
All our sins were future at Calvary, right? Every single one of them. He died 2,000 years ago. Do you
see how people would accuse Hawker? They could accuse Hawker. And
we gospel preachers say, well, then people could do whatever
they want. No, they won't. God's people won't do that. I'm
telling you, they won't. Oh, my. My oh my, our sins were imputed
to him and he's our great substitute, our great redeemer, our great
savior. How did he do it? By dying on the cross. Look at
this. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
tree. That's how he did it. He bled and died in Calvary's
tree for us. Now because Christ died in our
room instead, satisfying all the demands of God's holy laws,
our substitute, For this purpose, we now see the result of that
great sacrifice, which is in verse 14. That the blessings
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Marvel at this. Marvel at this wonderful verse,
beloved. That the blessings of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles. That's you and I. My! How is the Jew saved one
way and a Gentile saved the other way? Nope. Nope. We're all saved the same
way. In and through Christ and Him alone. My oh my. Those sacrificed could never
take away sin, right? But they were pointing to one
who could take away the sins of all His people by the sacrifice
of Himself once for all. Oh, it's amazing. Look at that. What a verse here. Christ died to save us from our
sins. We see in this verse that the blessings of Abraham, the
same blessings that God gave Abraham might come on the Gentiles. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Now, what are some of the blessings
of Abraham? Well, You know them health, wealth, prosperity guys
say, oh he was so rich. No. No. You know what were some of the
blessings of Abraham? Imputed righteousness. Faith. To believe on the Messiah. To believe on Christ. Eternal
life. Sanctification in Christ. They all come to every believer
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to
Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. We'll read
a portion over here, starting in verse 1. We'll read the verse
10. Romans chapter 4, verses 1 to
10. And then we're going to go a little bit further down in
Romans 4 after we read this portion here. Romans chapter four, verse
one. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to flesh, hath found? For if Abraham
were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before
God. Now how many people in religion, and I was there, I did this,
glory before people about what they do. I was there, I did it. Just bragging about the things
I did, which were absolutely nothing in God's sight. See, so people who are like that,
they justify themselves in front of man, but not God. Not God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham what? What did Abraham do? Did he do any kind of works?
If there was any kind of works to be done, it would be right
there, right? Just like when the Philippian jailer said, what
must I do to be saved? Well, Paul said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, look at this. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
He just believed what God said. Is that not what we do? We don't
always understand it, do we? And oftentimes we look back now
and go, now I understand why that happened. I didn't at the
time, but now I do. Now I do. So all Abraham did
was believe God. and it was counted to him for
righteousness. Do you notice something in the epistles? I think he's writing the Romans
here, right? People in Rome. Just like we do today, the biggest
opposition to grace preaching is work salvation by man. Same
thing. Nothing new under the sun, is
there? Nothing new under the sun. And the Holy Spirit's given
us, put this before us, so we can see that there's nothing
that's changed with man. We may have got more technology
now. Some people say, well, we're smarter now. I don't know. Those
folks back then, they built a lot of incredible things, let me
tell you. We're still using concrete that the Romans came up with. They were engineering marvels.
You know that, Jim. You used to be an engineer. You
know. They were marvels at some of the stuff they did. It was
just absolutely incredible. Stunning. Stunning what they
did. My oh my. Now look at this. Now to him
that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, that's Christ. His faith is counted for righteousness. Look at that. Isn't that wonderful? See, there's that absolutely
nothing we bring to the table, right? But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. Christ,
he justifies the ungodly. We're proof of that, aren't we?
We're proof of that, beloved. Praise God. Now look at this. Look at verse six and seven here. But even as David described it,
the blessedness of the man or woman, right, okay, unto whom
God imputed righteousness without works. So clear and easy to understand
now that we've, now that the Holy Spirit of God has given
us an understanding. See, but in our natural state,
we'd have looked at that and just went, what's he talking
about? Oh my, look at this. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. I'm looking at
a bunch of folks who the Lord is not imputing your sins to. If you're trusting Christ right
now, look at these wonderful verses, eh? Let's just sit here
for a little while. Even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. That's what happened to us. were
clothed in the righteousness of Christ, saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessing
then upon the circumcision only, so just upon the Jews, or upon
the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned, when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. God declared him righteous even
before he gave the law at Mount Sinai. Oh my beloved. Oh my. And Abraham was not justified
by his own works or by circumcision, but only by Christ. Let's look
a little further down in Romans chapter 4. verses 20 and 25. He, verse 20, being Abraham,
staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief. See,
the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is we believe
what God says. Unbelievers don't believe the
Word of God. They don't believe what the Word says. My oh my. And the only one to
make us differ from one to another, right, is Christ. Christ in him
alone. It says, but was strong in the
faith and giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that
what he had promised, what God had promised, he was able also
to perform. And therefore, look at this, it was imputed to him
for righteousness. Just for believing God. Look into the Messiah. But for us also, now here we
go, now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed
to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed. Oh, it's
wonderful, eh? Oh, if we believe on him, look,
there's the clause too, if we believe on him that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead. So the question is, do you believe
on Christ for the saving of your soul? Are you trusting him and
him alone? Look at this, who was delivered for our offenses,
he's sinless. That means he's delivered for
Wayne's sins, or Zane's sins, or Brian's sins, or Jim's sins,
or Steve's sins. Isn't that amazing? For our offenses,
our sins. But look at this, and was raised
again for our justification. Because he rose, we're justified,
beloved. So his perfect life, right, was
accounted to us. His substitutionary death was
for us, and when he rose from the grave, it was for us again,
for our justification. And now he's seated at the right
hand of the Father. And I was reading a fellow this week, Thomas
Brooks, and he's an old Puritan guy, but he said, he said, now,
will Christ in heaven, he's the head, right, where the body,
will he be missing a toe or a finger? Nope. be in the body? No. Everyone will be whole up there.
Every single one of us who Christ died for shall be in glory. All because of Him. And all because
of what He's done. Now in this verse we also see
the promise of the Spirit which we receive. And we also through
the Spirit receive the gift of faith. which was symbolized in
circumcision by which all blessings of God are sealed and assured
to us. And it is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, the spirit
of adoption, that enables us to confidently call on God. To
confidently call on him, because we never feel worthy, do we?
But beloved, we have access to the Father through Christ. My. through faith in Christ. And
remember, we're born again by the operation of God, and then
we're given faith to believe. What comes first? Faith or regeneration? Regeneration, every time. You
must be born again. If you're not born again, you
don't have faith to believe, no matter what a person believes
or says they believe. My, oh, my. You must be born
again. You must be. And that's the spiritual
rebirth. My oh my. And when we are regenerated
by the operation of the Holy Spirit of God, then we're given
faith to believe and to trust on Christ and Him alone as our
Savior and our Redeemer. And it is God who gives us that
faith. Again, I'm going to read verses
8 and 9 of Romans chapter 4. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision? For
we say, faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. He
believed. He just believed what God said. So the blessings of Abraham comes
to God's people through Christ Jesus our Lord. As a result,
of Christ's redeeming blood, shed to purchase our eternal
souls at Calvary's cross. And the blessings of Abraham
can only be found in Christ, they're nowhere else. You know,
the storehouse of God's blessings are in Christ and Him alone.
They're nowhere else. Right? My, oh my. Scripture declares,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4, or 3, I mean. They're
all in Him. He is the storehouse of God's
blessings, Christ Jesus our Lord. You know, and think of this,
just as Joseph was a dispenser of all the corn that was stored
up, right, during the famine, Christ is a dispenser of the
blessings of God. It all comes through Him. He's
the only one. There's no other name under heaven
whereby we shall be saved. Only Christ. In Christ alone
He's the only Savior of sinners. And it's through Christ and Christ
alone who all who believe receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Why did Christ send his Holy
Spirit to us? Well, number one for regeneration,
right? He said you must be born again
to enter the kingdom of heaven. We can't regenerate ourselves.
So the Holy Spirit must be sent to regenerate us. Must be born
again, this is second birth, being born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, being brought forth from darkness, the darkness
of our sins to the blessed light of the sun. Also for illumination. For illumination. We would not know God if the
Holy Spirit had not revealed Him. We saw that on Wednesday
night. If the Holy Spirit doesn't reveal the Father, we don't know
who He is. And Christ sent the Spirit, right,
to reveal the Father to us. My oh my. Also for union with
Christ. Scripture declares, but he that
is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. He's the head and we're
the body, beloved. My. And he who is united with Christ
by grace and faith is one spirit with him. This union is a spiritual
one, complete and perfect as he is the head and we are the
body. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 8. We're going to close with this. You know what else
the Lord sent the Holy Spirit for? Comfort. Comfort. You ever be reading a portion
of scripture that you've read many times and all of a sudden
it just lights up for you and you're like, that's just what
I needed to hear. Or a preacher will say something, he's just
preaching the gospel, and something he says just touch your heart.
I start welling up. I'll never forget when Drew was
preaching that message afterward when he was here. He was preaching
that, my eyes were just, I was dripping, my eyes were leaking. And the reason it was was because
he was mentioning a young man who his dad had told him, you
know, get out of here after the Lord saved him. And what had
happened was that I was brought to memory what my dad had said
to me. He said, I'd rather have you back in the bars than in
church. It just broke my heart. Just broke my heart. He'd rather have me back where
I was. My, oh my, how the world hates
God, but how we love Him. And the
only one who's made us to differ is Him. Look at this in Romans
chapter 8. Look at this. We're sent the
Spirit for comfort. Romans chapter 8, verses 14 to
17. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear, but ye have received the spirits of adoption whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself bear witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. What comfort
that can bring us. Look at the even more comforting.
And if children and heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified
together. Praise the name of Jesus. Praise
his mighty name. He's so good, isn't he? He's
so glorious. Heavenly Father, all we thank thee so much. Thank
you for the mercy which you show on we who are your people. Choosing us before the foundation
of the world in Christ and sending our Lord Jesus Christ here to
live a life without sin, perfect before you for us. And Lord,
it was my sins and the sins of your people that Christ had to
go to Calvary for to redeem us out from under them. And we praise
your name that you sent him. And oh, Lord Jesus, we thank
thee. Even though you were forsaken by the Father on the cross, you
did that so we'd never be forsaken ever. And we thank Thee and praise
Thee for Your great sacrifice. In Holy Spirit, we thank Thee
for regenerating us. Oh, coming to us when we were
dead, walking around in the dark and regenerating us and giving
us life. and given us faith to believe
and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we praise Thee, Father. We
praise Thee, Lord Jesus. And we praise Thee, Holy Spirit,
for Thy great salvation. And we cry out with Jonah, Salvation
is of the Lord. It's all for all of you. Glory
to Your name. In Jesus' name. Amen.