Galatians chapter three. Look for the word promise in
this passage of scripture. This is about God's promise. Galatians chapter three, beginning
in verse 15. Galatians chapter 3 verse 15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men.
This is what every man understands. Though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto. And what that's a reference to
is if you go into the grocery store and the price is $10 for
an item, you can't come up to the cash register and say, here
it is, and say, no, I've changed it to $15. Or I can't add to
it, I can't take it away from it. That's just everyday life
that we all understand. A man's covenant. It's respected. You can't add to it. You can't
take away from it. We deal with things of that nature
every single day. A man's covenant. Brethren, I
speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, agreed upon, the price is set, no man
disannulls or adds 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 of God in Christ, the law, which
was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise
of none effect for If the inheritance be of the law, it's no more of
promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. God's promise. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. That the gospel of thy son. Is
that promise? We ask in Christ's name that
you will enable us to. Here your gospel. With hearing
ears. We ask that you would enable
us to fear you and have an all of you. And bow down before you
in our hearts. Enable us to worship you. In
believing your gospel. Lord, we confess our sin. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing, and we ask that you would give
us the grace to love you more than we do. Lord, thou art worthy
of all love and adoration. How thankful we are for your
son and that all you require of us is found in him. Bless us for his sake and be
with all your people wherever they meet together. We pray for
your healing hand of mercy on those of our number that you've
caused to be sick according to your will. We pray for your healing
hand upon them according to your will. In Christ's name we pray,
amen. Now four times in these verses,
We read of God's promise. God's promise. God makes a promise, one promise,
and it's seen in many promises, but the promise of God. Look
in verse 16, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He tells us specifically what
that promise was in verse eight and the scriptures foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham saying in these shall all nations be
blessed. That's the promise in Christ
shall all nations be blessed. Now we see from verse 16, the
promise. was made specifically to Christ.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. And notice
he says, he saith not, and to seeds as of many, a multitude,
the many children, but to one seed. Jesus Christ is the seed
of God. To him, the promise was made. This has to do with him having
a bride. I'm going to give you a people.
They're going to be your bride and you're going to agree to
make everything needful to be done for their salvation. Ephesians
chapter five, verse 25, husbands love your wives as Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing. but that it should be holy and
without blemish. And Christ agreed to do that.
And he took full responsibility for the salvation of his seed. He's the seed and all of God's
elect are those who are in him. Now this is the promise of God.
God promised Christ a people. This is We get the benefit of
this, but this is not about us. This is about Christ and his
glory and his bride. Now we get the benefit for this,
but this is about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise
was made to him. Oh, God loves his son. And he
made this promise to him. Now, verse 17, he says in this,
I say that the covenant that was confirmed, that's the promise,
the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law, which was 430 years after cannot disannul that it should
make the covenant of none effect. The promise was made before the
giving of the law. Now, Lord willing, next week,
we're going to consider what the law is for. But he says this
promise, this The promise of God was made before the giving
of the law. Actually, it was made before
the foundation of the world. Verse 18, for if the inheritance,
heavenly glory, be of the law, it's no more promise, but God
gave it to Abraham by promise. Simply because he said, this
is what I am going to do. God's promise. Now, this is a law of grace issue. Understand that this is a law
of grace issue. Look in verse 18. Again, if the
inheritance be of the law, it's no more promise, but God gave
it to Abraham by promise. Now, I touched on this last week,
but the promises of God are not at all like the promises of men. How so? Well, for one thing,
the Lord forbid us to make promises. He said, let your yea be yea
and your nay be nay, and whatsoever more comes out of that is evil.
You see, when I say I promise I'm going to do something, I
admit by that that I don't always tell the truth. I'm telling the
truth this time. Well, that takes away my credibility, even then,
when I make this promise. I promise to tell the truth. I promise I'm not lying. That
just means I'm a liar. As far as that goes, when I promise
something, tomorrow I promise I'm going to do this. Well, I
can intend to, but I might be dead tomorrow. Boast not thyself
of the morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
You may make a promise and intend to keep that promise, but you
don't have the power, I don't have the power to make sure that
promise comes to pass. Remember, James says, don't make
statements about what you're going to do tomorrow. He said,
it's evil. Say, if the Lord will, this will
take place. We can say that, if the Lord
will, I can do this. But other than that, It's wrong
for men to make promises. Somebody says, what about the
marriage vow? Well, that's a good promise. And I
think we ought to say it. I'm not saying we ought not do
that. No, but men's promises, you see what they are. God's
promises are not like that in any way. If God says it, it becomes
promise. All he's got to do is say it. You see, he's omnipotent. He's got the power to make his
promise come to pass. He's eternal. His promises are
not contention upon what takes place in time, when he promises
something internally, it's absolutely sure because of his sovereignty,
he's able to make his promise come to pass. He said, I declare
the end from the beginning. I love to think about that, the
beginning, before time. I declare the end, what's going
to take place from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. I purposed it. I'll bring it
to pass. I've spoken it. I will do it. Now that is God's promise. It's impossible to God, to lie.
And it's impossible for God to break his promise. Solomon said
in first Kings 8, 56, there has not failed one word of all of
his good promise. Joshua chapter 21, verse 45,
there failed, not what there failed, not ought of any good
thing, which the Lord has spoken. Under the house of Israel, all
came to pass. Now that is God's promise. Now
would you turn with me for a moment to second Corinthians chapter
one, just a few pages back. Verse 17. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Was I fickle
and frivolous about what I intended to do? You know, he did intend
on Coming there, verse 16, and to pass by you into Macedonia,
and to come again out of Macedonia into you, and of you to be brought
on my way toward Judea. That was my purpose. And when I therefore was thus
minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purposed,
do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there should
be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But as God is true, our words
Our preaching toward you was not yea and nay for the son of
God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and
Silvanus and Timotheus was not yea and nay, but in him was yea
for all the promises of God. In him are yay and in him, amen. So be it under the glory of God
by us. Now God's promises. Is salvation all by grace by
his grace. Well, yes, it's all by grace,
but no, if you don't accept it, it won't do you any good. He
can offer you his grace and want to give you his grace, but if
you don't take it, it won't save you. Yes, salvation is all about
grace, but you need to do your part to make it work. That's
yay and nay preaching. It's not true. It's yay nay. It's yes and no to the same thing.
God's promises are not like that. They're all yay and amen to the
glory of God. Is all you need to be saved for
Christ to live for you and die for you and be raised for you?
Answer that question. Is that all you need? If Christ
lived for you, if Christ died for you and put away your sins,
if Christ was raised from the dead for you, is anything else
needed? No, nothing's needed, but But
if you don't do your part, his death won't work for you. If
you don't accept him, if you don't ask him into your heart,
if you don't fill in the blank, what he did will be no good for
you. That's yay and nay preaching. That's not real. That's not according
to God's promise. And look what he says. I love
this in verse 20. For all the promises of God In
him are yea. Yes. And amen. So be it. They're immutable. They are eternal. They're irrevocable. Amen. All the promises of God in him
and in him. according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places where? In Christ Jesus. Every promise of God in Jesus
Christ is yay and amen unto the glory of God. God's not glorified. If any of his promises can fall
to the ground, uh, unrealized the promises of God, you know,
the very first promise in the scripture is my, what do you
think the first promise in the scripture is? Genesis 2, 17, in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. That's the first promise
of God we read of in scripture. And the second promise is found
in Genesis chapter three, about the seed of woman, the virgin
born birth of Christ, the seed of woman, not the seed of man,
not the seed of Adam, but the seed of woman shall crush the
serpent's head. That is a gospel promise. You see, all of these promises
God made were actually made in eternity. Turn to the book of
Titus. Titus chapter one. Paul, verse one. Paul, a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after
godliness in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie
promised before the world began. Turn back to 2nd Timothy chapter
one. Verse nine, who hath saved us
and called us within holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. All of the promises of
God. were made in eternity. I love the way Paul says in that
passage, we just read from second Corinthians. I mean, yeah, second
Corinthians one, the son of God, which was preached among us.
He is the message. The issue always is
who is Jesus Christ? Uh, that's more important even
than what you think of Christ. Who is he? Who is he? Now I want us all to think right
thoughts of him, but he is the message, the son of God, which
was preached among us. That's when he said all the promises
of God in him are yay and amen. I love that passage in second
Peter chapter three, verse nine. God is not slack concerning his
promise. As some men count slackness,
but as long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." I think it's amazing that people
use that scripture. See, God's not willing for anybody to perish.
He's long-suffering to usward. The elect, he's not slack concerning
his promise, the promise of salvation for his elect, he's not slack
concerning his promises. Some men can slackness, but as
long suffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish. He's not willing for you to perish.
If you're one of his, he's not willing for you to perish. He's
going to make sure you come to repentance. The gospel promise
faith itself is believing his promise. Listen to this scripture,
Romans four 20 and 21, Abraham staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief. Remember the promise? You're
going to have a seed. The seed's going to come
through you. Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully
persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform,
believing the promise. Now, I think it's very interesting
that everything Paul says in Galatians chapter 3, he'd already
said in Romans chapter 4. One person I heard say this,
Romans is the defining of the gospel. Galatians is the recovery
of the gospel. They lost it. And this epistle
is given for the, for the recovery of the gospel, but look back
in Romans chapter four, and you'll see pretty much the same thing
is said beginning in verse 13. For the promise Romans four 13.
For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was
not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none
effect, because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there's
no transgression. Therefore it is a faith that
it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed. The only way it sure is if it's
all grace, not to that only, which is of the law, but that
also, which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all. You know, when Peter's preaching
on the day of Pentecost and we considered that last week, The
very last thing he says is he calls the gospel a promise. The
promise is to you and to your children and all that are far
off, even as many as the Lord, our God shall call the promise
of God. Now let's go back to our text
in Galatians chapter three. Verse 15, now let's read it again
with some understanding of what God's promise means. It's his
eternal decree of what's going to take place. If he promised
it, it's already past tense before it takes place because he promised
it. That's how sure his word is. Brethren, verse 15, I speak
after the manner of men. This is everyday life. Though
it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulls
it or adds to it. And you experience that every
time you purchase an item. Uh, if you would purchase something
and say, no, uh, I've decided the price is going to be higher
today. Well, you can't do that. Even in men's covenants, if it's,
if it's confirmed, it's got to be honored. People can't just
up and change things, even in men's covenants or 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. Now this shows how important
and exact the word of God is. He saith not and to seeds, plural, as of many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ is the one this promise
was made to. God promised to give him a people,
a bride, if he would take full responsibility for their salvation. And that's exactly what he did.
And the scripture that I think of when I think of this is, is
Judah. And we know Christ came out of
Judah. You remember Judah's promise to Jacob. He said, send the lad
with me. I'll bear full responsibility
for him. Of my hand shall you require
him. If I bring him not back before
thee and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever."
Now that's the Lord Jesus Christ taking full responsibility for
the salvation of God's elect before time began. The promise, the eternal promise
of God. It was made with Christ and those
in Christ. Now verse 17, and this, I say
that the covenant, this is talking about the promise that he made
to Abraham that was confirmed before of God in Christ, before
time began and before the giving of the law, the law which was
430 years after. Now that's 430 years after God
made that promise to Abraham. You're going to have a seed,
that's the stars of the sky, it's the sand of the seashore,
this is God's promise to him, the Christ is going to come through
him, all the blessings of the gospel. The promise that was
430 years afterward cannot disannul that it should make the promise
of none effect. Abraham and his seed, as far
as us, the law was given and we broke
the law. You've broken the law. You're
a lawbreaker. Would that be a good definition of you and description
of you, a lawbreaker? You and I have broken God's law. The promise was made before we
ever broke it. That's the point. I remember
reading a Spurgeon sermon one time and he made the statement.
He was trying to illustrate this. And he said there was a man who
made a vow to the devil. And I'm almost scared speaking
that way. But he said, I'm going to serve
you forever. I promise I'm going to be your
servant. And God saved that man. And the
devil came up with this accusation. You can't do that because he
made a vow to me that he would serve me. And God said he never
was his in the first place to make a vow like that. This and
old, it doesn't even count. He's always been mine. Now that's
what is being said in this verse of scripture, verse 17. I say
that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, that
covenant that David spoke of when he said, although my house
be not so with God, yet have he made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things and sure. If you're in Christ, he made
that covenant with you. That's the covenant he made with you.
David said, this is all my salvation. Me too, David. I'm right there
with you. This is all my desire. Me too, David. I'm right there
with you. This I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which
was 430 years afterward, cannot disannul that it should make
the promise of none effect. Now let me give another illustration. This is just an illustration,
but it shows, and it's a scriptural illustration. Let's say God made
a promise. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. That's God's promise. Now, let's
say on that very day, you know, he came through around midnight. What if somebody that very day
that was a Israelite committed cold blooded murder? Now, if they were in the house
with the blood over the door, did God pass them by? I know people will say, well,
you're saying we can sin and as long as we're under the blood,
we're okay. That's not what I'm saying at all. But I'm asking
this question. If someone committed a vile sin that bad, and they
were still in a house with the blood over the door, did God
pass them by? Absolutely. He didn't say, when
I see how you have refrained from this sin or started to do
that, or he said, when I see the blood, that's all he had
to see. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Isn't that your only hope? Right
now, when I see the blood, God said, I will pass over you. You know, it could be somebody
actually did commit a murder that day. I mean, there were
a couple of million people. Who knows what happened? But
the promise of the gospel is when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. The breaking of the law cannot
make the promise of none effect. Verse 18, for if the inheritance
be of the law, If you getting in heaven has
anything to do with anything you do or do not do, that's what
he means. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it's no more promise, but God gave it. You didn't earn it. God gave
it to Abraham by promise. the promise of God. All the promises of God in him
are yea and amen to the glory of God by us.