There's not much in this life
in which we live in this world that is certain. There's not
much you can rely upon. We live in a world of change,
a world of broken promises, a world of great uncertainty over many
things. But there are a few things about
life which are very certain. and very inescapable. If there is one thing that we
can all be certain of, it is the reality that one day we are
born and one day we shall die. The reality of death, the end
of us all, as the nature takes its course, is inescapable. It's that fact of life, as it
were, which most men try never to look upon, and yet it is that
fact which is more certain than just about anything else in life
that they seek after and work towards. People live and plan
for their future, they plan for their retirement. But with life being so brief,
so fleeting, it is strange that so few plan for what comes after
death. Death is certain, it is inescapable. And yet in one sense it is not
natural. Because it is so common, because
we know that generations are born, generations die, new generations
come, born, live, die, born, live, die, endlessly from the
beginning of time onwards. Because we see it all around.
Just like we see children born, just like we see people living,
like so much which we observe, we think that that is normal. But when God made this earth
and put man on it, in one sense it was not his purpose
for man to die. Of course God is sovereign and
knows the beginning from the end and knew what would come
to pass and has brought all to pass. But death is not really
natural. In fact, it is a puzzle to every
scientist. They know it happens. They know
everything naturally decays, grows old. But like sleep, death
is a great mystery. It's a great mystery. And yet its cause is made plain
in the scriptures. should not be a mystery to us
why we die. There is a very simple reason
and a very simple cause. And it's only a mystery because
we hate that cause and we hate to accept that cause and the
reality of it. Death is the result of sin. It's
the sure and certain consequence of the fact that we, God's creatures,
God's creation, turned and rebelled against him in whom there is
everlasting life. Man made in the garden in the
beginning of time was made in such a way that had he followed
his God had he not rebelled and turned against his maker he would
have continued to live. But he turned as we all have
turned For he sought in pride to be the one upon the throne.
He sought not to do as God would have him do, but to do as he
would do. He sought his own end as we have
all sought our own end. We seek our own things. We seek
our own glory. We live in pride. We live for
self. And we have plunged with Adam
our forefather. We have plunged into sin. Plunged
into rebellion. And as a consequence, death entered
this world. As it says in Romans, sin entered,
and death by sin. And death hath passed upon all
men. We cannot deny the reality of death. We cannot deny this
end. which will come upon us. We may
deny God, we may deny our state before God, we may fight against
this testimony that we are sinners, but we cannot deny that death
is all around and death is our end. And yet the reality is that
it is our sin that brings that fate. and it is a just and a fair fate. Death is simply that point in
time in which we will pass from this world and this existence
into a world which has no end and which we will come to stand
before our maker to give our account before him of those things
we have done in our body in this time in our flesh. whether good
or whether bad. If our life has been perfect
and without sin, then he will judge us fairly accordingly and
send us into everlasting glory. But if he finds one sin, then
justice and righteousness and the purity of his being must
judge that sin. And the consequence of sin is
not simply that death which brings us out of this world into the
next but that death from which there is no escape. Those who
plunge into eternity with sin upon their hands and no answer
to it have an end which is eternal
judgment. The fires of God's wrath which
know no quench. So it is a man's wisdom, as it
says in the scriptures, it is a man's wisdom to seek our maker
in our youth. You young boys, listen. We should
seek our maker in our youth, not leave these things to another
day. For we don't know the hour or
the time when our end shall come. We don't know the hour when we
shall stand before this great God and maker of heaven and earth.
We may think we will grow old. We may think we will do this,
that and the other. We may say, I'm not really against
God, but I will leave this for another day. I want to live my
life. I want to have my fun. I want
to build up my empire. I want to do these things. Then
when I'm older, then I will seek. But as events in the world show
us every day, we cannot order or count our life such. But yesterday
there's this report from the United States of this massacre
of this politician and her aides and others in this shopping center
where amongst the dead was a nine-year-old girl who probably had little
to do with the reason why the gunman let fire A nine-year-old
planned from this world into eternity. Her end comes sooner than she
thinks. These things cannot be put off. Where we stand before
this maker is vital. There is a judge who judges fairly. As it says in Hebrews 9, 27,
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. We shall all stand in that judgment. And it's a fair judgment. God
is not harsh. God is not unfair. He is a good
and a gracious, a kind and merciful and a loving God. He delights
in showing mercy. His justice and his righteousness
is perfect without question. None can answer and say it is
not fair. Where we stand in that day will
all be according to what we have done. We won't be able to blame
another. We won't be able to say I did
this because of him or I didn't do that because I hadn't had
the opportunity. I didn't seek God because of
this or that. We will have no answer for all
is fair. And yet we have to say when we
consider ourselves and when we consider mankind around us that we are captive to sin. We may know what is right We
may know what we should be before God. We may read the scriptures,
the Bible. We may read the law of God in
the Bible. We may read the Ten Commandments.
Many are familiar with the Ten Commandments, whether they are
religious or not. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not covet. We know these things. Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. We know these things. We know
what we should be. We may strive to be good and
moral, but the terrible truth is that sin in us, in our hearts,
in our nature, binds us. The harder we try to live good,
the worse we are. We're locked under sin and we're
locked under judgment. We're captive. The law that God gave Israel,
these 10 commandments, which morally All men are aware of
whether they know it externally, whether they've read it in the
scriptures or whether they just know as it were the work of the
law written upon the conscience in their hearts. Morally we're
all accountable to this. We know there's a God by nature.
We know it. We may deny it but we know it.
And we know that we should be a certain way before him. We
know that he deserves our thanks and our worship. We know we should
treat others in a certain fashion. We know, and we're accountable
to this. Yet this law just condemns us. Condemns us. And there's nothing
we can do to escape it. Our end, as it were, is judgment. Our end is the wrath to come.
Our end is death. It is inescapable. Inescapable. Yet there is one, there is a
man who was born in this world. There is one who was born to
an end. He came for an end, he came for
a purpose. We're born, we think our end
will be this or that. We seek to do this in our lives
and that in our lives. the reality of death is something
that we seek not to look at we seek to deny it and avoid it. We would wish to be this and
to go there and to do that. We never view ourselves as being
here to die. If you ask any what their ambition
is you won't find any or very few except for the zealous in
certain causes who would seek to be a martyr for a certain
cause but you will find very few who will describe their desired
end as being that death that lies before them. Yet there is
one who came who knew what his end would be before he even came. There is one who lived in this
world who knew what his end would be from the moment he was born. There is one who walked in this
world, who spake to other men, who lived with men, who was a
man just like any other. Except without sin, there was
one who spake of his end before it came. He knew that he would
die. And his death was not like ours. for whereas our death comes because
of our sin his death came despite the fact that he had no sin he
knew he would die and yet there was no sin to bring about his
death he never sinned this one is of course the Lord Jesus Christ
the Son of God He who was born of Mary. born
of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Ghost, conceived without
sin, he who lived his days never saying a sinful thought, always
seeking the will of his father the Lord God, always doing that
which served God, always seeking the good of his neighbor, he
never sought his own ends, he's never sought his own things,
he always walked righteously, he was without sin, and yet he
knew his end was to die. He came to this end. To this
end. I read from Hebrews 9, 27. The
verse concludes, the full verse is this. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. So pointed unto men once to die. Well Christ died, but he did
not die for his own sins. He came for that end, but not
because he deserved it. He was once offered to bear the
sins of many. to bear the sins of others. He
died that they should be spared death. Yes, they would go through
the natural death that takes them from this world into the
next. But because he died, they will have everlasting life in
the next. They with a certainty will be delivered from that wrath
to come. Not because of any good they
have done, They, like all men, are sinners. They, like all men,
have earned that judgment to come. They, like all men, have
earned that wrath that should be upon their heads for their
rebellion. But because He came and because
He died in their place, they should be spared that judgment.
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. He came to this end. To this
end. Now in our readings we refer
to a few passages and I'll turn you back to a couple of those
verses. John 18 and verse 37. Christ speaks of this end. To
this end. Why did I come? What is my end? We know what our end will be.
We know that life has a conclusion. But here's one who knew his end
and could speak of it and never turned from it, never turned
away from it, never shied from it. He knew it and he was born
for it and he went through it. John 18.37 Pilate therefore said
unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth,
heareth my voice. To this end was I born, I should
bear witness unto the truth. Christ came and he came for others,
he came to declare the truth in a world of lies. He came to
declare truth in a world of rebellion and anarchy and darkness. He
came to declare truth in a world of violence. It was violent then. It's violent today. It will be violent tomorrow. Evil is all around us and lies
are all around us. Listen to who you like. Listen
to the media, listen to the celebrities, listen to the politicians, listen
to the scientists, listen to who you like and you tell me
who speaks truth. Who can you trust in this world? It's a world of lies but here
is one who was born this end, for this cause came I into the
world that I should bear witness unto the truth. There is truth. Pilate asked what is truth? I'll
tell you what is truth. The one who stood before him
is truth. Christ is truth embodied. All that he is, all that he said,
all that he does is truth. The reason this world is here
is because of Jesus Christ. The reason this world was created
was because of Jesus Christ. The reason this world will ultimately
be brought to a conclusion is because of Jesus Christ. The
reason we are born and live is because of Jesus Christ. We are
not here for our own ends. We are not here to be rich. We
are not here for our own pleasure and our own glory. We are here
to seek Christ. He made the world, he is God,
made man as the son of God. He is God and he is truth and
he came into this world of lies, this world that turned its back
upon its maker to declare unto all in this world that I am the
truth. I am the way, the life and the
truth. He came not to bring condemnation
though condemnation is what we all deserve. Condemnation is
what we've brought upon ourselves. But He came into this world already
condemned, already under the wrath of God because of its sin,
already suffering the effects of death and sin for generations. He came in the fullness of time
into such a world to declare the truth. And that truth is
that He as God delights in showing mercy. to those that deserve
it not. that He as God is the Saviour
of sinners, that He is Jesus, Thou shalt call His name Jesus
for He shall save His people from their sins. He came perfect
to die for those who are not perfect, to take their sins upon
Himself, to deliver them from their sins, from their condemnation,
from death. and to bring them into everlasting
life. Oh, will you hear his words? Listen to who you will, but listen
to this voice. Everyone that is of the truth,
he says, hear if my voice, my voice. My sheep, hear my voice
and follow me. Have you heard his voice? Have
you followed him? you one of his sheep whom he
loves for whom he died for whom he came to this end was I born again Romans 14 and verse 9 we
read for to this end to this end Christ both died and rose
and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. He came to this end. He came
to die. He knew he would die. Men didn't
put him to death. He allowed man to take him. He
allowed men to deliver him up in a mock trial. He allowed Pilate,
though he found no fault in him, to be turned by the voice of
the people and to give him up to be crucified. He allowed the
soldiers to take him and nail his hands upon the tree. He allowed
them to raise him up above the earth upon that cross. He allowed
men to walk by and spit at him and revile him and mock him. But in the end, no man took his
life from him. He said, I have power to lay
down my life. and I have power to take it up
again. The crucifixion didn't kill him. Crucifixion is a slow
and a lingering death. It takes hours to die upon a
cross. The most awful means of killing
somebody that the world, that man in this world has ever invented. But it takes hours. The soldiers
would go along the men crucified and break their legs to finish
them off. And that's what they did when
Christ was crucified. There were two malefactors with
him. They broke the legs of the one on the right side and he
died. They broke the legs of the man
on the left side and he died. But they came to Christ in the
middle and to their amazement he was dead already. It wasn't
the crucifixion that killed Christ. He laid down his life. To this
end, he came. He died, he rose, and he revived
that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. What killed
him, you ask? What slew him was the rougher
God that poured down upon his head. because of the sins of
that countless multitude that he bore in judgment upon the
cross. What killed him is what will
kill them, is what will kill you and me if we go into eternity
without a savior who has suffered for us. That eternal death which
is our lot, our end if we are without Christ. But Christ died
because God took the sins of a countless multitude and instead
of judging them he laid them upon his own son he laid them
upon his own son that he might judge them in him and that they
might be spared He laid down his life, he died, yet he had
power also to take it up again. He rose, the only man, the only
one who has the ability to rise again himself from the dead.
He came and he brought others to life, he called forth to Lazarus
and Lazarus came out of the grave. He brought others to life and
in the gospel and in the declaration of this truth, this message,
by the power of the Holy Spirit he brings multitudes to life.
Those who hear his voice and hear him believe and are brought
out of death into everlasting life. But he brought himself
to life. He rose and he revived. Why? That he might be Lord both of
the dead and the living. the dead and the living. Well
who are the dead and the living? Well we've said it is appointed
unto all men to die, once to die and after this the judgment
and after that judgment there's only one of two pronouncements
that can be declared upon us either we will go off into eternal
death or into eternal life. We will find our final end, either
as those who are the living, we will be amongst the living
forevermore, or we will be amongst the dead forevermore. And Christ
came to be the judge, both of the dead and the living. Of which are we? Of which are
we? We will only know if we hear
his voice. We will only know if we hear
now this voice of truth. You may say, well how can I hear
him when I'm not in his age? He came 2,000 years ago. At Christmas I hear of him. I hear of his birth. I hear of
those who went and saw him born. They televised these accounts
of his birth. They televised these tales of
him as a man. If I was at that time like those
people I have seen who saw him, those sick whom he touched and
were healed, those who heard his wisdom, well maybe if I heard
his voice then I'd have believed but I live now two thousand years
later how can I possibly hear his voice? You can hear his voice just as
well today as they heard him then. For countless numbers heard
him then, who never truly heard his voice. They heard the words
from his lips, but they rejected him, like Paul of whom we've
spoken, the writer of this epistle to the Galatians. Like Paul,
they heard his voice, they heard the things about him, and they
rejected him, they persecuted him, they despised him, they
said, away with this man. They said at the end, that crowd,
That mob cried out, crucify him, crucify him. He says he's the
king of the Jews. He's a blasphemer, we will not
have him, we don't own him. He's not our king, get rid of
him. Crucify him. They heard his voice,
but they never heard his voice. They heard the lips from the
man, but they never heard that voice that brings everlasting
life. You can hear that voice just as well now as any that
lived then might have heard it. As many today react just like
they reacted, many react and say crucify him. Perhaps not
with the tongue but in their hearts. In their hearts they
say there is no God. In their hearts they say Christ
who is that? He's someone on the pages of
the Bible and how can I trust the truth of that? In their hearts
they say science has the answer. We've all come from apes my friend. How wise and clever we all are. What fools we all are. In their
hearts they reject just as many today as then. But as there were those few then
that heard a different voice, that heard the voice behind the
voice, as there were those who heard his voice when he came
unto them, when he said, follow me, and they heard that voice
and they followed. When he said, take up thy bed
and walk, and they took up their bed and walked. When he said,
thy faith have made thee whole, and they were healed of all their
sin and all their iniquity and all their illness. when they
heard that voice there was a transformation and should we hear that voice
today there will be a transformation we need to hear this voice and
we hear this voice we hear this voice when it comes with that
truth which it declared then to this end i came to this end
to declare the truth To this end was I born and for this cause
came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth.
Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. That voice
sounds today in that truth just as much today as it did then. For that truth that was declared
then came through the message of the gospel which Christ preached
in the flesh to those who heard him. And that message of the
truth continues today in the message of the gospel which he
preached then which is recorded in the scriptures and which is
declared by preachers sent of God who speak by the Spirit of
God, the living Spirit of God today. Christ on high risen ascended
glorified in heaven speaks he preaches his voice is heard and
the voice of the Son of God comes down into this world by the Spirit
of God and is sent forth into the four corners of this earth
that many might hear and hearing might believe. To this end he
came to declare this truth of that death, of that resurrection
and of that judgment to come. This one was promised from the
beginning. The whole of the scriptures testify
of him from the dawning of creation When Adam and Eve sinned in the
garden, when God found them hiding themselves in the bushes, covering
themselves with leaves, knowing they had eaten of that tree of
which he commanded them not to do. A simple thing but very much
a symbolic thing of their rebellion against his word. It's not the
fruit that killed them, it's their rebellion against what
God commanded. they brought in death but they
hid in the garden and he came and on finding them he slew an
animal and clothed them with the skins of that animal to teach
them that their sin brought in death and the answer to their
sin the way in which they would be delivered would be if someone
if blood was shed And that animal, that blood that was shed was
a pointer from the very beginning of time to the coming of that
one, that appointed son, the son of God who in the fullness
of time would come and would shed his blood to save sinners. Now it's taken us a long time
to get back to the passage in Galatians, or it's Galatians
that we've been preaching through recently. And it's chapter four,
which we have now reached. But what I have said is very
much the background to the message which Paul has here in the first
seven verses. And I only want to touch lightly
on this passage in Galatians here. But this amplifies what
we've been saying. For it says in Galatians chapter
4 verse 1, Now what is this about? It describes our state by nature
as sinners. We have a law above our head
that describes our sin and witnesses to our sin. We're in bondage. We know we're sinners and there's
nothing we can do. And we're under a law that condemns
us with no escape and no means of escape. Nothing we can do
can make us right. The Judaizers at Galatia were
deceiving the Christians here by saying Christ alone won't
save you. Now you're saved, go and keep
the law of God, go and strive to be holy. But the reality is
that that law never made them right and never could make them
right even once they'd come to Christ. It was sent to show them
their sin. It caused sin to flourish up
in their hearts and it slew and condemned them. And that was
the state they found them in still. found themselves in still. So Paul has reminded them of
this fact and he reminds them that that law was only for a
time, it had a purpose to show them their sin and the conclusion
of its use was when they would be brought to Christ, when they
would be brought to see him coming unto them, when he should come,
when he should bring salvation, when their end would be known
unto them. Their end, not of condemnation,
not of death, not to these. Their end was that they would
be adopted by God as sons. Their end would be that they
would know the forgiveness of their sins because of that blood
which Christ shed in their place. Their end would be that they
would be no more servants, no more bound under law, no more
under condemnation, no more striving to make themselves better and
always failing and falling and feeling guilty. But their end
would be that God would say unto them, Thou art my son and my
daughter. You are my child whom I have
loved from the beginning of time from all eternity. You are my
son, my child, my daughter whom I chose in Christ unto everlasting
salvation. You are not a servant but my
son. This is the end of which Paul
reminds these Galatian believers. What are you meddling about with
the law for, he says? What are you going back to that
from which you've been delivered for? That slew you. Under that you were in captivity. But my son has delivered you. Delivered you forever. you were
a servant, you were under the law, you had obligations unto
me, you should have lived this way but you did not and you could
not and the wrath of God burned from heaven against your sins
and you knew it in your hearts and conscience that when your
end came, when the day in which you pass from this world into
eternity came, that left like that you would pass into everlasting
ruin and death, you knew it. And yet I knew from all time
that I had chosen you unto everlasting glory. I knew that you were not
going to be left a servant, but you were going to be my son.
I have set my grace and my love upon you. This is your end. So Paul reminds them they were
in bondage. But when the fullness of the
time was come, this is historically in one sense, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, made of a woman, Mary, a virgin, conceived of the Holy
Ghost, made under the law, born a Jew, made under the law that
he should suffer under the law, that law that condemned them.
was made under it, that its sentence should sound out not upon them,
but upon him. Made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. That was his end, that's why
he came, for this end for them. that they might receive the adoption
of sons. And because ye, my Galatian believers,
my brethren, my friends, you who have known your sin, you
who have heard the gospel, you who by the Spirit of God have
been awakened to what you are before God, your state by nature,
you who have heard, you who have been convicted of your sin and
of judgment and of wrath to come, you who have fled from this,
you who have fled to the cross, you who have heard the message
of the gospel and of God's salvation through Jesus Christ, you who
hearing have believed and believed unto everlasting life, you Because
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Abba, Father. This is your end. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son, And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. An heir of God through Christ. What an end this is. What an
end this is for those who heard the voice of the Son of God,
for those who heard this voice of truth, for those who received
this one who came in the fullness of time. He came in the fullness
of time in history 2,000 years ago. There was a point, a centerpiece
of history. All history as it were like a
book, like a book folds in on that point at which Christ came
and at which he died. all before it led up to it, all
before it pointed to it and all after it is in relation to it,
the fullness of time. But there is also that fullness
of time in the lives of everyone who comes to believe on Christ,
there is that appointed hour, that day when they hear his gospel,
that day when they hear the voice of the Son of God, that day when
they come to know that they're no longer under bondage, They're
no longer under condemnation, their end is no longer death
everlasting. But now they hear that he chose
them from everlasting. Now they hear that they're no
more a servant, no more under condemnation and bondage, but
they are a son. A son of the highest, a son of
the everlasting, a son of God. Not the Son of God Christ, but
chosen in Him, believing in Him, having His life in their hearts,
having His faith put in their hearts to believe on Him. Chosen
in Him, having the life of God put in their hearts to bring
them from death into everlasting life. They are sons, sons of
God. and God has put the spirit of
his son in their hearts that cries out unto him in tenderness
with this wonderful union and communion with their father,
Abba Father. What a state to come to. How
amazing that any in this world, all sinners alike, that any in
this world should be able to come to this end. have this union
with that God which they have only hated from their youth.
We all have, we've all been born hating him, I hated him. I heard
of him. I heard others speak of him.
But I sought my own end. I sought my own ways and my own
glory. I laughed and I mocked at these
things. I heard the Bible tales and they
were amusing to me. They meant nothing to me. They
were just tales. I heard people speak of my sin
and I was indignant at it. Don't call me a sinner, I'm better
than the next man. But there came that time, the
fullness of time, when God taught me that I am a sinner and death
reigned in my heart and I had no strength or ability to make
myself better and condemnation awaited. But he led me forth
to that cross where he said, here is my son who loved you
and gave himself for you. And suddenly all the wisdom of
man, all the wisdom of this world, all the intellect, all the thinking
and conniving that said no, crucify him, fell away. And faith came
in the heart and I looked and I knew that I too am the Son
of God. Is this you? Has he put the Spirit
of the Son of God in your heart to cry Abba Father? Have you
heard his voice? If you haven't, I implore you
to seek Him. He came for His own, He died
for His own, He accomplished their salvation, not in part,
but entirely. He did all that was necessary
to save them. He leaves nothing to them, nothing
to them but to look and to believe. And even that believing, He puts
faith in their heart to believe. He opens our eyes. We're blind
by nature, but He opens the eyes. He came for His own. He came
for all his people, taken from every age, every generation,
every tribe and kindred, every nationality, Jews, Gentiles,
religious, irreligious. He saved the multitude, he saved
them, not them. They didn't do it, he did and
he must, for they can do nothing. But he did and he did and he
brought them to this end. that they should no more be servants,
but sons, and if sons, then heirs of God through Christ. Is this your end? Is this your
end? Have you heard this voice? Have
you heard this voice? Have you heard this voice of
truth? To this end, he says, was I born, and for this cause
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. everyone, everyone that is of
the truth, heareth my voice. Oh hear his voice today. Amen.