Shut Up to Faith

Now let's open our Bibles again
to Galatians chapter 3. It may be a little difficult
for me to get into this message like I would want to, and it
may be somewhat difficult for you to enter into it, but perhaps
God will enable us to. In Galatians 3.23, the scripture
says, But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. Now, I
know Paul is talking about Israel there, and what he is saying
is this, the moral law of Ten Commandments. Now, when we talk
about the law of God, We may mean by the law of the Ten Commandments,
we may mean the ceremonial law of Moses, which consisted of
the washings and ordinances and feast days and sacrifices, or
we may be talking just about the Word in general. But let
this be established and let it be received by every one of us. The moral law of Ten Commandments,
which was given on Mount Sinai, was never given was never given
with the view that sinners could or would be saved by that law. Now there are several reasons
for this. Look at the condition of the people to which or to
whom it was given. They were murmurous, they were
rebellious, they were resistors of the Holy Spirit. He said you
do resist the Holy Spirit as did your fathers. And at the
very time that God gave Moses the law on tables of stone, the
people were dancing around an idol, a calf which they had made
of gold, and worshipping that calf. So the condition of the
people to whom this law was given at the very time it was being
written would tell us that it had no power at all to save anybody. And then secondly, did you notice
when I was reading back here in verse 15, now listen to this
again, verse 15 of Galatians 3, brethren, I speak after the
manner of men. Though it be but a man's covenant,
yes, if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto.
In other words, if I make a testament, a last will and testament, suppose
I I'm a very wealthy man, and I make a testament, write it
out, have witnesses, and the proper authorities seal it, and
I die. There's nobody going to change
that testament. Nobody's going to add to it. Nothing's going
to dis-annul it. Nothing that happens 400 years
later is going to change that testament. Now watch this. And
he says, verse 16, now, to Abraham, and his seed was the promises
made. This was before the law was given. God Almighty promised
Adam and Eve a Redeemer. In Genesis 3, verse 15, He said
to the serpent, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, between
thy seed and her seed, and he shall bruise thy head. Now, God
made that covenant hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of years before that law was given, and that law had no effect
on that covenant. It had no effect on that Testament.
It had no way of adding anything to it or changing it or disannulling
it. That's what He's saying. And
the promise of life, of redemption and righteousness was made to
Abraham, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before
that law was given. Listen, and this I say, verse
16, Now to Abraham and his seed where the promise is made, he
saith, Not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, to thy seed which
is Christ. This covenant, this eternal covenant,
this covenant of life, of redemption, was made with Abraham's S-double-E-D,
not seed, but seed, which is Christ. And the law is not going
to disannul that or add to that or change that. And this I say,
verse 17, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in
Christ by the law, which was 430 years later, or after the
Jews went down into Egypt 430 years later, they were brought
out. You'll read that in Exodus 12, verse 40 and 41. You cannot
disannul or change or add to that covenant. And the third reason, the moral
law of the Ten Commandments, it never was given with the intention
or the purpose or the thought or hint or anything that it would
add to or contribute to or help to save anybody. Salvation was
eternally placed in Christ. Salvation was prophesied purpose
to be in Christ. Moses wrote the book. Moses wrote
this book, and in this book he wrote the law, but in this book
he also, Christ said, wrote of me. Wrote of me. Now then, secondly,
suppose here we're talking about the ceremonial law. Well, the
ceremonial law, and that constituted or was made up of the sacrifices,
the feast days, the morning sacrifice, the evening sacrifice, the day
of atonement, all of these things. This ceremonial law which was
given to Israel, involving the tabernacle and the priesthood,
it wasn't given with any intention to save their souls or to help
save their souls. Now this is good. Think about
this for a moment. The ceremonial law of Moses was
a map. It was not a road. It was a map. It was not a road.
Christ is the road. Christ is the way. The ceremonial
law is but a map. You sit down in your car and
you reach in your glove compartment and you get out a map. It's a
picture of the road. You don't travel on the map.
The map does not afford you any help at all to get to your destination
as far as actually carrying you there. It's just a picture of
the road you will take. And that's what the ceremonial
law was. When the high priest went under the veil and There
was the Ark of the Covenant, and in that Ark was Aaron's rod
that budded, and the manna, and the broken law, and covering
was the mercy seat of gold, and the high priest put the blood
of the Lamb, the sacrifice, on that mercy seat. That contributed
in no way to the salvation of Israel, not in any way. It was
just a picture. It was just a map of the road.
Christ is the road. And then another fellow said
that the ceremonial law is a picture. It's not the person. Now some
of you carry pictures in your billfolds. Wherever you go you
say, that's my wife or that's my children. No, it's not either. It's a picture of your wife.
It's a picture of your children. There's your wife. And there
are your children. And this ceremonial law is not
the Savior, it's not Christ, it's not a person's picture.
And then the ceremonial law is a type. It's not the sacrifice. And it plainly says in the book
of Hebrews, turn over there just a moment, in Hebrews chapter
10, Hebrews 10, look at verse 4. This is a very forceful statement
here. In chapter 10, verse 4, it is
not possible. It is not possible that the blood
of bulls and of goats should take away sin. These are but
types. All right, now then. So what
are we saying here in verse 23 of Galatians 3? Before faith
came, we were kept under the law. Before Christ came, who
is the object of faith. Talking about Israel now. Before
Christ came, who is the object of faith, we were kept under
the law. Before Christ came, Israel was under the the Ten
Commandments and the ceremonial law as a teacher, as an instructor,
to bring them to Christ. Now, what did the moral law teach?
The moral law taught them their duty to God and to man. Somebody
said the first four commandments have to do with our relationship
with God, and the next six, our relationship with man. And the
Ten Commandments taught them, revealed to them, what was their
duty to God and to man. What is righteousness and what
is not righteousness? What is the nature of sin? That's
what the Ten Commandments teach. And when Christ came, he revealed
to those Jewish teachers and Pharisees the spirituality of
that law, that it reached not just to the action but the attitude,
not just the conduct but the character. But the moral law
revealed nothing of a Savior. The moral law revealed nothing
of a Redeemer. Have no other God before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee an engraving image. Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember this
Sabbath day to keep it holy. Tells you nothing of a Savior.
Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. There's
nothing in there about a Redeemer. Nothing at all. So the Ten Commandments
really were not much help in bringing men to Christ, except
as it revealed the nature of sin and the need of Christ. Except
as the Ten Commandments revealed our duty to God, which was imperfect,
and our duty to men, which is imperfect. But now the ceremonial
law, now this is something different. Really, the Ceremonial Law was
a greater help because it pictured a Savior. Now watch this. The
Ceremonial Law gave to the wise man some definite instructions
and some definite hints of the way that God saves men through
Christ. For example, you read in the
Ceremonial Law of Moses about the different washings before
the priest sacrificed, before the priest came into the presence
of God. He was thoroughly washed from the top of his head to the
sole of his feet. His clothes were taken off. He had clean
clothes put on him. And then they went through all
of these different washings, diverse washings, the scripture
says. What does that show? It shows the pollution of human
nature. And how that human nature needs
cleansing, cleansing, cleansing. There you have a picture. There
you have some instructions. We need cleansing. Here's God,
and the high priest is coming into the presence of God. So
he goes through all of this washing, washing, washing, in order that
he might be sanctified and fit for the presence of God. So there's
a picture of Christ. Then the blood sacrifices. You
have the lamb, the first sling of the flock. And he's set up
for a few days to prove his perfection, or his worthiness. And then he's
taken, and his throat cut, and the blood caught in a basin,
and the blood is put on the altar, and all of these things which
you know about. And this shows, this reveals atonement. It reveals
satisfying the justice of God, and the righteousness of God,
who said the wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth,
it must surely die. And there you have a picture
of a redeemer. Abraham saw my day and was glad. I believe Abraham
saw the day of Christ in that lamb, that ram being put on the
altar in the place of his son. And then you have the burning
of the incense. There right in front of the veil in the tabernacle
was that incense that was burned all the time. And the odor of
it filled the tabernacle. And that incense pictures the
intercessory prayers of Christ ascending to the presence of
the Father, always the sweet prayers of Christ, the sweet
incense, the accepted prayers. And then the Passover, judgment
avoided by substitution, the firstborn of the substitute,
the firstborn or the Lamb. And the Lamb was brought and
slain, and the blood on the doorpost, and the firstborn lived. God
said, when I pass over, when I see the blood, I'll pass over
you." So by faith, the sacrifice was slain and the firstborn lived.
The brazen serpent lifted up. Here's the brazen serpent that
was made in the likeness of the fiery serpents that had bitten
the people. And that brazen serpent was lifted up between heaven
and earth, and Christ used that himself. He said, if Moses lifted
up that serpent, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
The Son of Man. Christ was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. Sinful flesh is our whole problem.
And he came down here and was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh just like that brazen serpent was made in the likeness of the
fiery serpent and lifted up on a post. And all Israel did was
look. They didn't work, labor, contribute. They just looked. And all we
do is look. That's all. All we do is look.
And this, you know Spurgeon. He said, I didn't know that.
His grandfather was a preacher. I think his daddy did a little
preaching. He was raised in the church. He was a student of the
doctrines and the scriptures and all of these things, but
he was unconverted. He was 16 years of age and he
went to hear a man preach who was not a theologian, who was
not an intellectual. And he preached on Isaiah 45,
22, looking to me, and he told about how Moses lifted up that
serpent. Just said, look, look, that's all, look to Christ. But
we complicate this thing, we want to make it, we want to make
salvation something we do, or feel, or experience, or contribute,
or add to God. It's just look, that's all. It's
just look, four letters and two of them are just for light. L-double-o-k.
And God's not going to give it for any other reason except by
faith. And that brazen servant, there's
the Savior, there's faith, just look. Look and live. Look to
the Lamb of God. And this is what Paul is saying.
Now before Christ came, we were kept under the law. The Ten Commandments
which taught us our nature, our needs, the ceremonial law which
taught us in type and picture and shadow and example, our Savior
and our Lord. Now, when Christ came, when he
came, while we were there, we would shut up the faith in Christ,
and when he came, it says in verse 25, we're no longer on
the schoolmaster, no longer, but we're in Christ. Now then,
let me bring that by way of application to us today. Can this be applied
to this generation, to you and to me? Yes, sir, it certainly
can. Verse 23, divided into four parts. Number one, before faith
came. Before faith came. And I'm still
saying before Christ came. Because Christ is the object
of faith. It's not faith that saves, it's faith in Christ that
saves. A man is not in true faith who's not in Christ. A person
does not have true faith who does not have Christ. A man is
a stranger to true faith who does not know Christ. And before
Christ comes, and everybody experiences this, before Christ comes, before
Christ comes. Now before Christ comes, we may
be in the pulpit. I see preachers laboring with
their doctrines and their ceremonies and their laws and their standards,
teaching what they've never experienced, demanding what they can't produce,
professing what they don't have. Our Lord says they're blind people
leading blind people. They're teaching the commandments
and doctrines of men. Our Lord spoke this way of the
lost religious leaders in his day, bound up with all of their
doctrines, but still not knowing Christ. Not knowing Christ. A man may be in the pulpit and
not know Christ. What a tragedy to stand before
God at the judgment, and like the many, and he said many, M-A-N-Y,
not few, many, will say unto me, Lord, did we not preach in
your name? Before Christ comes, We may be
in the pulpit before Christ comes, we may be in the pews. We may
be singing the hymns, we may be giving our tithes, we may
be reading our Bibles, we may be listening to sermons, we may
be following the traditions and the doctrines of our fathers,
like Lot's wife following him out of Sodom. She had no heart
to leave, she had no purpose to leave, she had no true reason
to leave, she had no true love, but she was right behind Lot. And I fear, I fear that there
are many people who are, as I've said so many times, in the pulpit
and in the pew playing church, playing church. Christ has not
come, before Christ came, before Christ came, we are prone to
think of people in this condition as being out yonder indifferent
and careless and in the world, but not necessarily so. Before
Christ came, the people of Israel, some of them were teaching the
Scripture. Our Lord said, Nicodemus, are you a master? Are you a master? Are you a master in Israel and
you don't know these things? And before Christ came, now listen,
we may be numbered with a moral multitude. I want to describe
some people here and you think a moment. A. He's a hard worker, raised
his family, paid his debt, served his country, gives to all the
good causes, minds his own business. B. She's a good mother. She's
cooked and washed and sewed and lived a moral life, took care
of her children, now sits on the porch with her husband, rocks.
C. He's a good grandpa. He lives
on a pension, he reads the good books. He likes all the good
singing and the good preaching on TV and the good preaching
on the radio. D, he's a good boy, he never
gave us any trouble, he likes the out-of-doors, likes to hunt
and fish, and worked hard for what he has, and got a nice family,
wife and two children, just doesn't have any time for God. Are these
people lost? Well, let's determine where they
are. Is that preacher lost? He's not in Christ before Christ
came. He's in the pulpit. Is he lost?
Those people in the pews, are they lost? That hard worker,
that good mother, that grandpa, that good boy, are they lost?
Well, let's see where they are. Point number two, before Christ
came, we were under the law. Before faith came, we were under
the law, kept under the law. Here's where they are. See Grandpa
sitting on his porch rocking? He doesn't know Christ. Oh, he
knows the Ten Commandments, and he knows religion, and he knows
some scripture, but he doesn't know Christ. There he sits, minding
his own business, rocking. Where is he? Where is he? He's where he's born, under the
law. See that preacher? Now come on,
that preacher, he reads the Bible, and he leads the singing, and
he preaches righteousness, and temperance, and holy walk, and
all these things, but he doesn't know Christ. He doesn't know
Christ in his saving power, in his substitutionary work. He
does not know Jesus Christ. Where is he? The same place Grandpa
is. He's under the law. And take that good man in the
pew, that hard worker, that man that gives to the United Fund
and all the charities and all these things, and he's moral
and righteous and he's clean as a hound's tooth and all that,
but he doesn't have Christ. He's not in Christ. Where is
he? He's under the law. He's under the law. He's where
he's been born. He's been sentenced since Adam's
fall, he's under the law. He's where all the sons of Adam
are born into this world, born under the law. Let's see what
the law says. Verse 10, Galatians 3. 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 that are written
in the book of the law to do them. You want to look at Galatians
4.21? With me, look at it. Galatians
4.21, tell me you that desire to be under the law, do you not
hear the law? Have you not heard that awful
law? The holy, immaculate law of God
doesn't have anywhere in its vocabulary mercy. Nowhere. God's holy, immaculate, unchangeable,
immutable law has one word. Justice. Righteousness. It does not deal in mercy. I
don't care how good Grandpa is. If he offends in one point, he's
guilty of the whole law. I don't care how outstanding
that preacher is, how moral that Pew occupier is, if he offends
in one point, if he thinks foolishness, if he imagines foolishness, if
he comes short of the perfect righteousness of God himself,
he's under the curse of that law. That's where they are. And the law says produce! Center? Produce! Produce a perfect
heart. Produce a submissive will. Produce
a holy soul. Produce a spotless mind. Produce holy works. God will
weigh it. God will try it. God will accept
it. If it's without flaw, God will
receive it. But all our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. And Galatians chapter 3 verse
22 says, But the scripture hath concluded all under sin. And Romans chapter 3, turn over
there and look at it, Romans chapter 3 verse 19 says, Now
we know that whatsoever things, whatsoever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law. That's where we are. Before
Christ comes, I don't care if it's a preacher, I don't care
if it's a deacon, I don't care if it's a Sunday school teacher,
I don't care if it's the most righteous, clean, holy woman
or man in the community, before Christ comes you're under the
law. And the scripture says It saith
to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world become guilty before God." Guilty. Guilty. And that's what the law
says. It says, produce. All right, look at the next line,
though. Galatians 3.23, before Christ came. I don't know where
you are, but wherever you are, If you're not in Christ, you're
under the law. You can't be but in one of two places. You can
either be in Christ or under the law. If you're not in Christ, you're
under the law. And you're under the law of God. You're under
that holy law of God. And tell me, you that desire
to be there, you that are content to dwell there, you don't really
hear that law. If you heard that law, you'd
be like Israel at Mount Sinai as they backed off and cried,
Oh God, Moses, don't let God speak! Lest his very voice consume
us in holy fire. You're under the law. But, now
watch this next line, shut up to faith. This is what happens
when God really opens the eyes of a sinner to see what a prison
the law is. I know a lot of people dabble
with the law. They're always preaching on the
law, and always talking about the law, and they scare me to
death, and I think to myself, well, under God, don't they read
that law? Don't they know what that law
says? You who would be under the law in any shape, form, or
fashion, don't you hear that law? Why do you want to have
any dealings at all with that law? It's a mystery to me. That law is a prison house. That
law is a bondage. That law is a curse. That's what
Paul said turning to Romans 7. He said the law wasn't sin, but
one thing the law did, it showed him his sin. He says in Romans
7 verse 7, What shall we say then, is the law sin? God forbid,
nay, I wouldn't have known sin, but by the law I had not known
lust, except the law said, O thou shalt not covet. And boy, when
God opened my eyes to see where I was, he said I saw there was
no way out, no way out. Verse 24, listen to him. O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me? Who shall deliver me? Who
shall deliver me from the curse of the law, from the bondage
of the law, from the guilt of the law, from the prison house
before Christ came? I was kept, I was a prisoner
of the law. The law had a claim on me. I
was in jail, and you were too. In jail. The law had a claim
on me. No way. The law had such a claim
on me that there was no way even God could get me out from under
the law. Except by sending his son in the likeness of my flesh
to honor that law. You see what I'm saying? That's
how holy God's law is. That even God could not forgive
sin until that law was honored. that even God could not justify
that prisoner until that debt was paid. Now, I may be the President
of the United States, and my boy Paul may be in prison
for murder. You say, well, surely the President
could get him out of jail. No, sir. No, sir. Not be a righteous
leader, and not be a just leader. There's no way he can get him
out. So that law that holds him in prison, and that justice that
has a claim on him, is satisfying. And even God, sitting on his
holy, almighty, sovereign, powerful throne, having made me an object
of his love, could not get me out from under the bondage of
that law and the claim of his justice till he took from heaven
itself his son and sent him down to take my place. Christ was
born a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. Look at Galatians 3, let me show you that. Oh, that's
the gospel. This is what they're not preaching
today. You say, what's wrong with what they're preaching?
Ain't what they're preaching what they're not preaching. In Galatians 4, listen,
verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. He put his Son
under that law to redeem them that were under the law. And
our Lord came and met that law in every jot and tittle. He said,
I didn't come to destroy it, I came to fulfill it. They did
to him what they did to every little Jewish boy. They put him
through every ceremony. He lived under God's moral law,
under God's ceremonial law, under God's judicial law, under God's
family law, under God's ever law. He was made under that law. Whereas you and I ripped it apart
and tore it apart and violated it and sinned against it, he
never did. He said, I always do those things that please my
Father. And that's how God, sitting on that righteous throne, President,
can free his son because the law has been satisfied. And his
son can walk right out of that jail a free man because his eternal
son is in there suffering. And his son, by choice, by election,
can walk right out of there because his eternal son is hanging on
that cross, dying. Cursed is everyone that hangs
on a tree. Sitting in that prison house, I turned to my parents.
Can't you help me? No, sir, they're under the law,
too. I turned to my preacher. I said, can't you help me? No,
sir, he's under that law, too. I turned to my friends. Can't
you help me? No, they're under that law, too. I turned to my
works, and I said, what about my work? God says, they violated
the law, too. Even your prayers have violated
the law. I turn to my experiences and my wisdom and they're all
prisoners. Where can I go? Well, let's see,
let's see. Before faith came, before Christ
came, we were kept under the law, shut up to faith. That's where I can go. Which
should afterward be revealed. Where can I go? Listen to what
the songwriter said. Saw one hanging on a tree. in
agony and blood. He fixed his languid eyes on
me as near his cross I stood. Behold the amazing sight, the
Son of God lifted high. Behold the Son of God's delight,
expiring deep agony. For whom, for whom, my heart,
were all these sorrows born? Why did he feel the dreadful
smart and meet such vicious scorn? For thee, For thee, he said,
I freely all forgive, this blood is for thy ransom paid, I died
that thou mightst live. Well, Jesus, the sinner's friend
to thee, lost and undone, for help I flee. Weary of earth,
myself, and sin, open thine arms and take me in." Now here's the
next thing, verse 25, after that faith is come, after Christ is
come, I'm no longer under schoolmaster. I'm no longer under the curse
of sin. I'm no longer of the law. I'm no longer under the
bondage of the law. I'm no longer under the guilt
of the law. I am under the law of Christ's love. That's where
I am. I want to read you a song here
that someday we'll try to sing it, but I think it's beautiful. It goes like this, The law commands
and makes us know what duties to our God we owe, but tis the
gospel that must reveal where lies our strength to do his will.
The law discovers my guilt and sin and shows how vile my hearts
have been. Only the gospel can express forgiving
love and cleansing grace. What curses doth the law denounce
against a man who sins but once? But in the gospel Christ appears
pardoning the guilt of many years. My soul, no more attempt to draw
thy life and comfort from the law. Flee to the hope that Christ
gives. The man who trusts in him shall
eternally live. So near, so very near to God,
I cannot nearer be, for in the person of his Son I am as near
as he. So dear, so very dear to God, I cannot dearer be, the
love wherewith he loves his Son, It's the same love whereby he
loves me. Before Christ comes, kept under
the law. Shut up to faith. That's the
only way out. After Christ comes, no longer
under the law. He opens the door and sets me
free. And that law has no claim on me. That's what Paul means
when he says we're not under the law. We're under grace. We're under a new Lord, a new
King, and He reigns by love. He rules by love. You don't want
back over there, do you? Anybody want back over there?
You're welcome to it. I like this kingdom, don't you?
All mine. All the liberty, the freedom,
the fellowship. Our Father, bless the word, how
deeply grateful we are for the precious promises. How free our
souls are, how happy we are. Knowing that we are the chief
of sinners and yet we are sons of God. Knowing that in ourselves
dwelleth no good thing, but in Christ we are as holy as he. Knowing that in our flesh dwelleth
no good thing, but in the Spirit he hath made us free. Knowing
that in ourselves we're empty, but we're full of his love and
his mercy. Knowing that we're poor, miserable
and blind by nature, but in Christ we're rich and happy and we can
see his glory. In him we have all things, and
we are complete, and we rejoice for his blessed deliverance,
wherewith he hath made us free. We pray that thou would reveal
this gospel of thy redeeming grace to the heart of every person
here, turn our eyes on Christ and away from ourselves. In his
name we pray, amen. Let's sing 226. Let's stand,
please. I am not skilled to understand
what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know that
His right hand is one who is my Savior. I take him at his word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read. For in my heart I find the need
of him to be my Savior.

Shut Up to Faith

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