Let us look tonight to the letter
of Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4 and reading
these 11 verses. Galatians chapter 4 verse 1. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all. but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the Father. Even so, we, when we
were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Howbeit then, when you knew not
God, you did service unto them which by nature are no gods,
but now After that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto
ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months,
and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labour in vain. Now, as we look at these verses
tonight, we must remind ourselves that the Apostle Paul is writing
to the churches of Galatia, which were made up of both Jewish and
Gentile converts. And they had been visited by
Judaizers, these false teachers had come among them, and they
attempted to bring them under the law, to bring them under
the law of Moses and therefore into bondage. Chapter 3, if you
notice, it ended declaring that all of the children of God are
so by faith in Christ. Notice that in verse 26. That
all of the children of God are so by faith in Christ. For you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus." There is no other way for a person
to be a son of God other than by faith in Jesus Christ. Remember the Apostle Peter said,
there's none other name under heaven. And when he says none
other name, he means no other person. There's no other person,
no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved other than the name of Jesus Christ. He is that one
mediator between God and men. And when we are brought by the
Spirit of God to trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, we recognize
that we are the sons of God. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He power or the right or the privilege to be called
the sons of God, which were born Not of blood, nor of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God. So first of all, Paul closes
what we have in our Bibles the way it has been divided up. He
closes chapter 3 of Galatians by stating the fact that all,
all, whether they're Jew or Gentile, makes no difference. All who
are children of God are so by faith in Christ. And then, because
we are baptized into the body of Christ, notice that in verse
27, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ, and saying that we are baptized into Christ. Now he's not talking about water
baptism, that's obvious. Now water baptism is an emblem,
it is a picture of this spiritual baptism, no doubt. But this baptism
is the baptism of the Spirit of God. When we are baptized
into the body of Christ, and he says there's neither Jew nor
Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We're all one. those distinctions that the law
made. And the law did that. It kept
the nation of Israel separate from all the other nations of
the world. But that's all past and gone now. Those of us who
are in Christ, we're one in Christ. There's no longer Jew or Gentile,
bond or free, male or female. We're all one in Christ. And
then in verse 29, he made the statement, are Christ, then are you Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. And we begin this chapter
4 with several statements, several truths about an heir. The first statement in verses
1 and 2, the apostle tells us this is what is true of an heir. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant. And that word
that is translated servant is the word slave. It's the word
slave. And some translations of the
Bible use that English word slave. But almost every time you see
the word servant in the New Testament, in the Apostle Paul's letters,
it's the very same word that is translated slave. And Paul
says that an heir, as long as he's a child, as long as he's
underage, he doesn't differ from a servant, from a slave, though
he be lord of all, but he's under tutors and governors until the
time appointed of the father. As an heir, as a child and an
heir to the father's inheritance, even though all may be his, it
may all be coming to him, but until it does, until the time
comes that the father has fixed, many times a man will believe
in his will that his sons, if he dies before they come of age,
that they do not inherit the inheritance until they reach
a certain age, say 18 or 21, something like that. And that's
what Paul is saying here concerning an heir in this light, that he
is just like a servant until he reaches the age which the
father has appointed. He's an heir and it's all his,
but he doesn't receive it until the time that is appointed by
the Father. Now that's just a statement that
Paul makes concerning an heir, but it has its application as
we will see concerning the nation of Israel especially. Now second,
believers in the old dispensation were like heirs under a tutor. Under that old dispensation,
we call it the dispensation of law. Remember, the word dispensation
means administration. There's only been one gospel,
you know that, from the very beginning. But that gospel was
proclaimed under an administration that was different in the sense
that the nation of Israel, they had the promises, they were separate
from the other nations of the world, and they had the oracles,
they had the word of God. They were believers in that old
dispensation, were like heirs under a tutor. A father sets
the time, as I've already said. He sets the time. Maybe he puts
in his will that when his son reaches the age of 18, then he
gets the inheritance. But once he reaches that age,
let's just say 18, now before that time, Paul said, he differs
nothing from a servant. He's just like a servant in the
house. He's got men over him who are tutoring him, who are
governing him. He doesn't have liberty just
to write checks and start dispensing and spending that inheritance.
Not at all. He's under governor, under tutors. But when he reaches the age that
is stipulated by the Father, then he's not treated like a
servant anymore. As a boy, maybe the servant,
the tutor, the schoolmaster, the pedagogue, he kept him in
tow. I mean, he had authority over
him. That was his position, his job. But once the heir reaches
the age, then it's all his now. And he's not treated any longer
like a servant. He's an heir. He's a son. when God fixed the time notice
it says even so when we were children were in bondage under
the elements of the world but when the fullness of the time
was come God sent forth his son God fixed the time just like
the father in our example of a will the father fixes the age
At 18, 21, whatever it is, then he receives inheritance. Well,
God fixed the time, and his time was in the fullness of the time. Now, if you look over in Ephesians
chapter 1, we know when this was. Ephesians 1 and verse 10. Verse 9, having made known unto
us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him,
in whom also we have obtained and inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will that we should be to the praise of
His glory who first trusted in Christ. That old dispensation
lasted until the fullness of the time when Christ, when God
sent His Son into the world. If you notice back in our text,
But when the fullness of the time was come, the fullness of
the time, for those who were treated as underage to receive
the liberty as the sun, as the air. Though all things had been
theirs before, but now in the fullness of the time it was come. And God sent his son into the
world. The scripture says he was made
of a woman. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
of a woman. Now that was the first promise,
wasn't it? After Adam's sin, there in the
garden, God told Satan that the seed of the woman would bruise
his head. Now this may also refer to the
fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. He had
no earthly father. He was born of the Virgin Mary. And from his conception, his
body that was prepared him by the Holy Spirit was joined to
the eternal Son of God. But he was made of a woman. He
had to become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh to be
our kinsman redeemer. To have the right of redemption. And he was made of a woman. He was made under the law. Made
under the law. Now John Gill pointed out that
as a Jew the Lord Jesus Christ, and according to the flesh, he
was a Jew. But as a Jew, he was made under
the civil and the judicial law. He lived under the law. As a son of Abraham, he was made
under the ceremonial law. That's the reason he was circumcised.
That's the reason he kept the feasts that were required in
the law of Moses. And as a man, as a Jew, he was
made under the civil, the judicial law. And as a son of Abraham,
he was made under the ceremonial law, the law that was given through
Moses. As a man, and he is the son of
man, he was made under the moral law. That law that was written
upon Adam's heart. The moral law. Some people refer
to it as the natural law. And he redeemed his people. But
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law. That we might receive the adoption
of sons. He redeemed his people who were
under the law. Now this may especially refer
to the Jews under the law of Moses, but we know that he redeemed
his people from the curse of the broken law, that law that
Adam broke. And remember the curse of that
law, when God placed Adam in the garden, He gave him a law. He told him of every tree he
could eat except that one. And God told him, now here's
the curse. You eat, you die. The curse was death. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law. He suffered death. He had to die in our stead and
in our place. And he did so, as Paul tells
us, that we might receive the power, the privilege of the sons
of God. to redeem them that were under
the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now here's
the third thing I would point out to us. As sons, as sons of
God, as children of God, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in
us. Notice that in verse 6. Because
your sons God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Before I make any comments about
that verse, do you see the Trinity in that verse? I always like
to point this out when we have a verse of Scripture where we
see each person in the Godhead mentioned because This is a very
important truth, very important truth about God. There's one
God, but he exists in a trinity of persons, and we see each person
in that verse of scripture. When it says God, we understand
the Father, His Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, His Son, the
Spirit of His Son, The Holy Spirit, Paul says, is the Spirit of His
Son. And we are sons of God because
Christ is God's Son. That's the only way we have any
relationship with God is through Christ. Remember how many times
Paul says he's the God and Father of Jesus Christ. And he says
that, and Peter says the same thing, the God and Father of
Jesus Christ. There's no way anyone may have
a relationship with Almighty God apart from knowing Him as
the God and Father of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of His Son and we are sons of God because Christ, He is God's
Son and He dwells in us by His Spirit. And every benefit and
every blessing is ours, because we are sons. Just as every benefit
and every blessing is Christ, because He is the Son, He is
the Son of God, so every benefit and blessing is ours, if we are
in Christ, in His Son. And then Paul says, because you
are sons, God sends the Spirit of His Son into your heart. Now,
notice he doesn't say, you might think that he might say it like
this, but he doesn't say you are sons of God because God has
sent you his spirit. That's not what he says. But
rather he says it just the other way around. Because you are sons. Because you are sons. God has
sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. From the point,
think of this, from the point of God's election, the election
of sinners, and we know that was in old eternity, His people,
each and every one, is according to Ephesians 1, 4, and 5, predestinated
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. It's in regeneration when a person
is quickened by the Spirit of God that the Holy Spirit comes
to dwell in us and we cry, Abba, Father. Before regeneration All
of God's elect are children and they are heirs in God's purpose. In God's purpose, which He purposed
in Himself from before the foundation of the world. All of His elect
are His children and His heirs. But it is when we come to know
Christ and trust in Christ, when we are regenerated by His Spirit
of God, we come to cry, Abba, Father. We come to enjoy the
privilege. That word, Abba, you know, it's
an Aramaic word and our Lord used it. He cried unto the Father,
Abba, Father. And from what I've read, it's
a word that is very easy for a baby to say. When a baby is
first learning to speak, you know, they can say, Dada, mama,
something very simple. And the truth of the matter is,
when a person is born of the Spirit of God, immediately we
are able to speak unto our Father. And we have that relationship
with Him, just like a baby has with his father, Abba Father. I've also read that in a large
house where there were a lot of servants and children, that
everyone there called the master of the house father, but the
servants never said Abba. It was only the children, the
children in the family who used that name because of the closeness
of the relationship. Now the fourth thing, we should
recognize our position and privileges. Verse 7, Wherefore thou art no
more a servant, You're no longer a servant, but a son. And if
a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Recognize your position. You're no longer a servant, you
are a son. Now, I recognize that must be
interpreted in light of what he said in verse 1, because all
believers are servants. All believers are servants, but
we are sons who are servants. Notice that in Romans chapter
6. Romans chapter 6, in verse 16,
the apostle said, no you're not. that to whom you yield yourself
servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether
of sin and death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be
thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you."
In other words, you've believed the gospel, the form of doctrine
that was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. So, in our text tonight, when
Paul says, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son,
we recognize in the context here, we are servants, but we are sons
who are servants. And being a son, then we are
heirs. We read that scripture at the
beginning of the service in Romans chapter 8 in verse 17. Paul said, if children, if children,
if you are a child of God tonight, then you are an heir. There's no such thing as being
a child of God and not be an heir. Paul said, if children,
then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. And I believe Paul in effect
is saying here that being an heir, there's nothing to be gained
by submitting to the law of Moses. There's nothing to be gained.
There's no privileges. Why would you think of submitting
yourself to the law of Moses now that you are a son of God,
you have been adopted into the family of God, you are an heir
of God, what possible reason, what privilege could you want?
I mean, you are a son, you're an heir, you're adopted into
the family of God, what more could you want? And all of that
by faith in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be an heir
of God? Now, all of us here tonight who
are saved, we are heirs. Joint heirs with Christ and heirs
of God. What does it mean? Well, one
writer made this comment. It lies beyond our comprehension. Heaven as our possession, yes. Praise as our language, yes. Glory as our dress, indeed. Joy and peace beyond imagination,
of course. The Apostle Paul said, I have
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. And then he says in the next
verse, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. One writer tried to illustrate
this by a brochure, a vacation brochure. And it's beautiful,
printed, and in color, and you want to take the vacation, and
it just looks lovely. Nothing could be better than
where you're going. But when you get there, it's
even better. It's even, when you realize,
when you enter into the enjoyment of the place, it's even better
than you had imagined. That's what one writer said,
when Paul said, I have not seen nor heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love Him, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. But
at the same time, We cannot begin to imagine what heaven is going
to be like. We can't even begin to comprehend
what it's going to be like. And I know one thing about heaven
that is especially precious to all of us is that we will be
like Christ. We will be like Christ. Now, here's the last thing. Why? Why now would we desire
to be in bondage? Verses 8 and 11. And here, Paul
is clearly now writing to Gentiles in these verses. How be it then
when you knew not God? There was a time before they
were saved, before they were regenerated. They didn't know
God. And the things that they thought
were God's were no God's. And he said, you did service
unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that
you have known God, or rather, are known of God. Now that you
know God, and God knows you in a saving relationship, how turn
you again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire
again to be in bondage? And clearly in verse 10 he's
talking about the rudiments or the elements of the law of Moses. You observe days, a Sabbath day. There's people today, you know,
they believe that you have to worship on the seventh day. But
we know in the New Testament the believers came together on
the first day of the week. And some people who teach that,
they say, well, some pope changed the day. That's not true. A long
time before there was a pope in Rome, the scriptures declare
unto us when you come together on the first day of the week.
Actually, in the New Testament, these churches worshipped came
together almost every day of the week. There's no day that
is set apart. Christ, He's our Sabbath. The
Sabbath was a day of rest, and now Christ is our Sabbath. We rest in Him. That's what the
day pictured all along. Our rest. We've entered into
His rest. He's our Sabbath. And then he
mentioned months. On the first day or every month
there's a new moon. And on every new moon and every
month they had a feast day. There were certain requirements
under the law. And then times, there's three
times a year they had to go up to Jerusalem, didn't they? To
worship, to observe the feast. And then he speaks about years. Every seventh year was a year
that the land had to lay dormant. And every 49 years, and the 50th
year, the year of Jubilee, all of that was picturing Christ
coming into this world. But here these Gentiles were
being told, no doubt by the Judaizers, these are things you need to
do. You need to observe these days, and these times, and these
months, and years, if you would be a child of God. Paul asks
the question, why would you desire to be in bondage to those things? And then he makes the statement,
I am afraid of you, lest I have labored, lest I have bestowed
labor upon you in vain. If you mix works with Christ,
Christ said it is finished. And any attempt to mix works
and grace is to frustrate the grace of God. And have you ever
thought about this? The church at Corinth, when you
read through 1 Corinthians, boy, they had problems in that church.
They had problems, didn't they? But Paul never told that church
what he told the churches of Galatia. Their problem was their
lifestyle, their conduct. But the problem here had to do
with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mixing works with grace, or trying
to, because you can't do it. It's either all of grace, or
it's all of works. It cannot be a mixture of both. And I'm thankful tonight that
salvation is by grace, through faith, and
that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. I pray
the Lord would bless this word to each of us here tonight. Let's
sing a verse of a hymn, David.