Sons of Freedom

Good evening everyone and welcome back to Church of the Bible. It is so good to be here again today to see everyone and to be worshipping with you. Our announcements, I'm getting an echo from somewhere. Our announcement this Wednesday at 06:30 p.m.. We'll be meeting right here in Zoom and we'll be doing Exodus chapter 36.

Just about done with Exodus next week. I will let everybody know what book we will be studying next. This way you can all prepare. Hopefully we're going to be doing a book with a little bit more theology and thus narrative. This way we can do a little bit of digging in and study for a little bit.

Then I think that's about it. We're planning for the local church, we're planning a men's ministry event where we can get out and go spend some time up in the mountains or something and in the Word. So we'll have that going on and just know I'll let everyone know for sure when that will be. That was supposed to be tomorrow, but thunderstorms. This way everybody knows I'll be unavailable during that time, but yeah, I think we don't really have any other announcements, so let's go ahead and pray and open up with some worship then I'll see everybody back here in just a few minutes.

Father, we thank you that we could be here today, and thank you Lord, for Your goodness to us, for Your greatness, and Lord, for everything that you have done. Thank you, Lord, for Your scriptures, your word that you have given us to study on our own, but to come together collectively and to hear it from it and to study it out and know what it says, Lord, that we can live by it and that we can glorify you and that by it we can be saved, which also glorifies you. Father, I ask as we go into study now, that you would let our hearts and our minds return toward you, that we can hear Your Word and be doers of it, and that you would be glorified by this. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Of a king close in magistrate all the earth rejoice. All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light and darkness, tries to hide it trembles at his fore, trembles at his forehead.

I got sing with me. How great is I got and all we'll see how great how great I got end beginning at the end god be in one father spirit lion lion and the Lamb have great if I can sing with me. How? Rain is our God and I will see how rain how great is our God you bless the Lord. O my soul.

O my soul. Worship his holy name.

Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship Your holy name.

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawn. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever made pops and whatever lies before me let me be singing when the evening comes let the soul oh, my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh, my soul worship your name your rich in love and you're slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind for all your goodness I will keep on singing 10,000 reasons for my heart to find some bless the Lord, my soul, oh my soul worship his holy name I'll be for my soul I worship your holy name.

And on that day when my strength is failing the end draws me and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise on ending 10,000 years and then forever more. Forever.

Bless my soul. Oh, my soul. Worship name.

I've never before. Oh, my soul. I worship your name. Yes, I worship your name, Lord. Worship your name.

What gift of grace is Jesus? My redeemer. There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom. My step five, my deep and boundless feet.

To this I know my hope is only Jesus for my life is holy bound to oh, how strange and divine. I can see all that but through Christ in me close tonight is I but I am not forsaken for by my side the Savior he will say I labor on weakness and rejoice for in my knee his power is to say to this I hope my shepherd will defend me through the deepest valley. With me overnight has been one and I shall be at my dream. I know I am for me the future. Show the price he has been made for Jesus, for my father.

And he was ready to overthrow the grave. To this I hope my fear has been defeated. Jesus now, whenever it's my oldest. Shame. I can see I am free and I come to Christ in me.

I want to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before the throne I hope is only Jesus all the when the race is complete in my lips shall we be at night when the race is complete still my lips shall we see and not I but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. You're, not I, but through Christ in me.

Amen. Not I but Christ through me. We talked about that two weeks ago. In Galatians, chapter two, verse 20. It is not I who lives, but Christ who lives through me.

And as we allow Christ to live through us, not only will we find our battles and our issues and everything else in life get easier and less severe. Not that they won't be there, but it's just the power of God working in us. We'll also notice that we start to glorify God more as well. And so we're going to continue through Galatians today with Galatians, chapter four. And I know this is a week late, but with everything that happened last week and whatnot I just want to wish all of the mothers who are in our church a happy Mother's Day, even belated.

So we're glad to have all of you. We love you all and just want to thank you all. We're going to begin in Galatians four with verses one through seven.

Says now I say, for as long a time as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is a master of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the time set by his father. So also we, when we were children, we were enslaved under the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time came, god sent out his son born of a woman, born under the law in order that he might redeem those under the law, in order that we might receive the adoption. And because you are sons, god sent out the spirit of a son into our hearts, crying out, abba Father, so that you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son also an heir through Christ.

Think that's a wonderful passage there, that we just read a few things here. It begins in verses one and two. He says, now, I say, here we'll toss them up here so that people can still see them. As I go, he says, I say, as long as an heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is master of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the time set by his father. Paul is using a legal analogy here that even though everything that the father has belongs to the child, until he has received the inheritance, until he has become of age, he is just the same as a slave.

He has got instructions he has to follow, rules he has to live by, he's got to go to school. In our modern age, we go to school. There's laws that restrict the rights of minors. Paul's using this legal analogy that even though he will inherit everything, he has nothing while still a child. Rather, he's under guardians and managers, whether if his parents are alive, he is under the custodialship of his parents.

If his parents are not alive, it may be a family member, a foster home. In any case, until he reaches the age of majority, he has nothing. And then it's interesting what Paul does here to relate this back to us in terms of salvation and the Gospel, since when we were children, when we were not saved, when we were not believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we were enslaved under the elemental spirits of the world. Our guardian of sorts was our pride, our self will and self desire. The enemy, the devil, the rulers and principalities of darkness was our guardian, we had no inheritance.

But then, verses four through seven when the fullness of time had come, God sent out his son, born of a woman, born under the law in order that he might redeem those under the law in order that we might receive the adoption. And because you are sons, says that God sent out the spirit of a son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father, so that you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, also an heir through God. So we were again enslaved through the spirits of the world, the spirits of darkness, rulers and principalities of evil things. And last week we introduced this topic of the law as necessary to show us our need.

The law is necessary. We talked about it last week in Galatians three and on Wednesday as we studied Exodus 34. Because we as people would not obey the law naturally, because as people we were sinning and we were wicked. We had evil deeds going on. God needed to give us the law as a guide, as a guardian, to show us how to live, to show us what it is he expected of us, but most importantly, to condemn us.

We were already violating the law of God. We were already sinning. And that law came as a guide, but also as condemnation, which ushers us into what we had just read. The Time, verse four says when the fullness of time came and we need to understand something. Why did Christ come 2000 years ago?

Why was it then? Why wasn't it 4000 years ago? Why did he not come and redeem us immediately after Adam and Eve fell? Wouldn't things be so much easier if immediately after Christ came and he died and he took care of all the problem, then why didn't he come during the time of Abraham or during the time of Moses? Why was it 2000 years ago?

Why not today? Well, I can tell you why not today. If God came today and proclaimed his deity, what would we do? We'd film it and we'd put it online and we would make a mockery out of him. We'd just laugh at him.

We wouldn't crucify him or kill him, do anything of the like. So it was done 2000 years ago. He simply would just not be believed. But it was in the fullness of time. There is no premature actions when it comes to God and his timing.

God, sitting above the world, sitting outside of time itself and knowing beginning to end, knew the exact moment in which it was appropriate for Jesus Christ to come to this earth, to preach his message and to die. And when that time had come, he had sent the promised seed. Now, I want to remind everyone this promised seed goes all the way back to the beginning. We're not talking that at some point in history, all of a sudden God decided to do something to fix this path we had gone on. But from the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter three, we had a promise of this divine seed.

Genesis 315 god says, I will put hostility between you and between the woman he's speaking to the serpent here, and between your offspring and between her offspring. He will strike you on the head and you will strike Him on the heel. So we have this promise all the way back from the very foundation of the world that Christ would come. But he came in the fullness of time. And the person that he sent forth, His Son, his only begotten Son, his one and only.

Now, there are things we know about Jesus Christ as well. We know that he is God and that his preexistence is very clearly implied in the Scriptures. John, chapter one, verse one says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. So he sent forth His Son, who is God himself.

So we need to realize when we're reading this, when we're reading about what God did in the fullness of time, God Himself came down to Earth. We also know that this being that stepped into creation was none other, not just God in the role the Son, but none other than the Creator. In Colossians 116, we know that it was Jesus who created all things and is before all things. Verse 17 there says he Himself, Jesus Christ is before all things, and in Him are all things held together.

We also know that Jesus could only speak of the glory which he had with the Father before he had come into the world, before the world even was. Jesus came here and he preached a message. He preached of the kingdom of Heaven. He preached of his father. He preached of the forgiveness and remission of sins.

He even foretold of his death. In Jesus, God was manifested in the flesh.

A lot of people, they think that Jesus was simply a product of his age, a product of his time, a time in which the world was so religious. And it was. You had Roman mythology, you had Greek mythology, had Judaism, you had so many religions, and many think he was simply a product of the time, but he wasn't. God so loved the world that he gave His Son that if we would believe in Him, we would not perish. This is not a product of the age.

This is a direct action, a divine will of the Holy One. As we read this also in verse four, it tells us that Jesus was born of a woman. Here in verse four, he came into the world born of a woman. Now, this is regarding his physical nature, his spiritual nature. He is God, he is Deity.

He's the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that there is seen and unseen, but his physical nature is that of man born of a woman. This is interesting as we read all the titles of Jesus. How many times have we ever read of Jesus as being called the Son of Mary or the Son of Joseph?

We don't. Why don't we read of Jesus calling himself the Son of Mary or the Son of Joseph? He calls himself the Son of man.

That term used to confuse me. Why? The son of man, right? You're not the Son of mankind. You are the son of a woman.

You were born in Mary, and it was a miraculous virgin birth. So no human father, but you are the Son of Mary, but he is the Son of humanity. Think of this. He is God. And he came to identify with man, with human.

He came to live among us, to dwell with us, to teach us to live the lives that we live only without sin. And he came to save the human race.

All that which will survive of the human race in the end will be through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus Christ are all people of all nations, of all ages, of all sexes, of all the different ways we can group humanity. He is the child of all of them. This is why Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six, it says unto us, a child is born, and unto us a son is given. Right? Not unto Mary, not unto Israel, not unto unto a specific person or family, but unto us, unto all people.

A child has been born, a son has been given. Jesus was born in the human form as a child, but as a son. He was born in the likeness of His Father, and he was given. He was not born in the likeness of man, but in the likeness of His Father. It also tells us in the Scriptures that he is the exact representation of God the Father in him.

If we have seen Christ, we have seen the Father. He's also born under the Law. This is interesting. The Scriptures tell us that the angels had looked down upon Jesus when he was here, and they had gazed at him in amazement. We know the angels were amazed at what Jesus has done, at what he was doing.

Do you know Jesus is the only spiritual being who has ever become under the Law? Not even the angels know what it's like to live under the Law.

The angels who rebel against God, they're cast out a third of the host of heaven according to revelation, is going to be cast out because they rebelled against God. But they had never lived under the law. They had never lived under that bondage of sin. Those angels who rebelled, they do so full well knowing, but they also fully have the ability to live righteously. But he who is higher than the angels, he who had created the angels humbled himself to become a slave to the Law and to be obedient unto death, even death on the cross.

And out of all of this, John 1430, it says, I will no longer speak much with you. The ruler of the world has come in, and he has no power over me. Satan had no power over Jesus. Even though his obedience led to his death, the Law, nor his accusers, the Law had nothing to say against Jesus. He obeyed it perfectly.

His accusers? Do you know what they got Jesus crucified for? Do they crucify him because he was an adulterer? Because he was a slanderer? Because he was a liar?

Because he was a thief or a murderer? No. They got him crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God. The only thing that his accusers could charge him with was being the Son of God. The crime written on that wooden plaque above his head as he hung upon the cross.

It read behold the King of the Jews. He was crucified for being their king. Not even the ruler of this world could find anything against Jesus. He was born under the law. He was a slave to it, just as you and I were.

But it could not accuse him. And he did this according to verse five, in order that he might redeem those under the law that we might receive the adoption. So this is the purpose, to redeem. So in the fullness of time, just when everything was ready, when the circumstance and conditions were just right, he came here, born of a woman, under the law, to redeem, says those that were under the law. Who is under the law?

We know. All of us were. We read this last week in Galatians 310. For as many are as of the works of the Law or under a curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the Law to do them.

Every single person was under this curse. You, me, our neighbor Jill and Bob down the street. Every person was born under this curse. We were under the Law, and we had a curse that was bound to us because we were violators of the Law. And there was no escape except for divine intervention, right?

Redemption. He came to redeem us. And he was able to redeem us for two reasons. The first is he was God. What is more precious than the life of God himself?

But second, because he was righteous.

Having obeyed that law perfectly, the Law could never demand his death. He was the one person who could live eternally with no consequence, no curse, no fear of the Law coming against him. And instead, he traded that. He swapped places with us. So he came to redeem those who are under the Law through divine intervention and redemption.

Because out of humanity, if I cannot redeem myself, man, I cannot redeem you.

And he redeemed us. To what purpose did he redeem us? What was the purpose, the intent behind redeeming us? It was so that we might receive the adoption of sons or that we might become his son. Every person who enters into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we don't just become servants of God, we become sons of God.

He becomes our Father, whereby our hearts can cry out, abba Father. Right. He gives us the spirit of adoption, and we become his family.

Christ, he did not come just to reveal the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

He didn't just die to make that known, but he died to bring us into that family, into that relationship. He came to seek those who are lost, to save those who are perishing to redeem us.

There's an important distinction here. There are some institutions, religious institutions, they would teach that all people are sons of God. Growing up, one of my favorite songs from Primary was I Am a Child of God. And they teach it to everyone, whether they're younger or old, brand new converts who are in their 40, 50s, they learn the song, I am a child of God.

And there are institutions with that belief that all are children of God, and that is not the case. Jesus says to the Pharisees, and these are Jews. These are the seed of Abraham, physically the seed of Abraham. And he says to them, you are of your father, the devil. So we must make this distinction.

All men are God's creatures. All of creation is gods. But only those who have been reconciled to God by the death of his son or his sons are adopted into his family.

I want to talk about adoption. How do we know that our salvation assure how do we know that God can other than the fact that God says he cannot lie, and we know he cannot lie? How do we know? How do we know that our salvation assure that our inheritance is true and that God won't take it away? The reason Paul uses the language he uses adoption, is to convey a message to us using the law.

How many of you know about ancient adoption laws, how they work? Did you know a father could disown his son? Right. So I could have three sons, and I could disown my eldest. I could disinherit him, I could kick him out of my family.

He could have no legal rights as my child. But did you know if you have adopted somebody, you can never disown them? You can never disinherit them? It was not legal. See, the view was I disagree with the view.

Let me preface this. I disagree with the view, but the view was you didn't choose your own children. You could disinherit them, but if you went through the process to adopt somebody, you intentionally brought them into your household. And could not remove them.

Paul speaks to us using the terminology he does, to specify that God has adopted us. God has intentionally reconciled us to Himself and through a legal means has declared us his sons. And as a result, he could not disinherit us. We are bound to him. Legally.

We are forever his children. And because we are his children, he gave us his spirit that cries out Abba Father so that we are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, an heir through God, think about that. We're an heir. We are heirs with Christ.

Have you ever thought and really considered what that means, to be an heir with Christ? It says an heir. We will inherit everything that God has.

Only one person deserves it, only one person has earned it, and that is Jesus Christ. And through no effort of our own, through no merit, we will inherit everything that God has.

That is a wonderful promise, a great gift.

And it's comforting to know that God thinks of us, of us terrible sinners, in such a way that he will pass on to us all things.

Let's continue with verses eight through eleven. Here says at that time, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not Gods. But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable, elemental spirits? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You carefully observe days and months and seasons and years.

I am afraid for you, lest perhaps I have labored for you in vain. Ouch says, I fear for you at the time, he says, when you did not know God before we were reconciled to God, before we became his sons, before our old self died and we became new, we were enslaved to things which were by nature were not Gods. If it was our pride, we were enslaved to ourself, and we made ourself unnatural Gods. If we were enslaved to money and worship money, we had made money, our God. But money, by nature is not a God.

If we were enslaved to pornography, if we were enslaved to idols, if we were enslaved if we were enslaved to alcohol or to drugs, whatever thing it was, we were all enslaved. Two things which by nature were not Gods. We served ourselves, our own self will, self interest, and not God. But he says, you have come to know God, or rather, he says, God has come to know you. How can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits?

What a great question. We serve things which were not God. We worship them, even if we didn't consciously recognize them as Gods. We were enslaved to sin, to death, to miserable things, whether it was alcohol or drugs or money or religion or whatever other things it was, we know it was miserable. And once we have come to know that freedom that God has offered us, once we have tasted it, once we've experienced it, he says, how can you turn back to weak and miserable elemental spirits when you have experienced the freedom of God, the bondage of those chains have been broke.

You no longer have the threat of death hanging over your head. You're no longer cursed. Why would you want to go back to it? Why do you want to go back to being drunk? Why do you want to go back to being high?

Why do you want to go back to serving money which never gave you hope, which never gave you love, which never was able to do a thing for you? Why? He says, do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? Do you want to trade your freedom for a curse, for threats, for bondage?

Look what he says. How are they doing this? I want to remind you what we read the first week we started Galatians, the book of Galatians. Galatians one, verses seven and eight. Can we toss that up on the screen?

Galatians one, seven and eight. We read what Paul is talking about here.

He says not, I'm going to go back one verse to verse six. It's up here. He says, I am astonished that you are turning away so quickly from the one who called you by the grace of Christ to a different gospel. Not that there is a different gospel, except some except there are some who are disturbing you, who are wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven should proclaim a gospel to you contrary to what we proclaim to you, let him be accursed, as we said before.

And now I say again, if anyone is proclaiming a different gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. What is that gospel? That gospel is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, that he lived and he died, he was buried and he resurrected according to the scriptures. That is the gospel right, that you are saved by grace through faith. And this not of yourself, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest no man may boast.

But what are these people doing? What are the people in Galatia doing? Verse ten, you're carefully observing days and months and seasons and years. Back in chapter one, Paul tells us that they are going back to the law, back to Judaism and traditions. They're going back to religion rather than a relationship with Jesus Christ.

They're adding in all of these restrictions and caveats as Paul put yokes to the gospel. They're saying, you're saved by Jesus. And by doing this and this and this and this.

And Paul says, I'm afraid for you. I fear for you. You're doing all these things and. Let's back up. Is it bad to observe carefully, observe days, months and seasons and years?

Is it bad to observe, say, Christmas or Easter, or even to observe Passover or some other ceremony? Is there something wrong with that? Not at all. Paul has no issue with celebrating those things and observing. His issue is that they are attaching them as requirements for salvation.

Is it wrong for somebody to Sabbath on Saturday? We talked about this Wednesday in Bible study. What is the Sabbath day? According to the Bible, the Sabbath day is Saturday. How many of us use Saturday as our Sabbath day, as our worship day?

We're all meeting today Sunday. We're not meeting on the biblical Sabbath, we're meeting on Sunday, and we've made that our Sabbath. Is it so critical to fight and to hold on to these so tightly that we make them laws and conditions to ourselves for salvation? Paul says, I'm afraid for you if that is the case, I'm afraid for you. Says thus I have vapored in vain.

Thus I've preached in vain. Thus I have spent all this time with you for you to just perish.

The whole book of Galatians has been about the Gospel, has been about the differences between the work based theological system that has you under the bondage of law and what Jesus Christ has done, and not going back from the freedom of Christ into the bondage of the law.

Look at verses twelve through 20 with me. I ask you, brothers, become like me, because I also have become like you. You have done me no wrong, but you know that because of an illness of the flesh I proclaim the Gospel to you the first time. And what you did not despise or disdain what was a trial for you in my flesh, but you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus. So where is your blessing?

For I testify to you that if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. So then I have become your enemy by being truthful to you. He says so then have I become your enemy by being truthful to you. They zealously seek you, not commendably, but they want to exclude you in order that you may seek them zealously. But it is good to be sought zealously and good.

It is good to be sought zealously and good at all times, and not only when I am present with you, my children, for whom I am having birth pains again until Christ is formed in you. But I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.

This is a difficult passage, not just to read, but think of the difficulty Paul must have had writing this. Think of the emotion he's writing with. I am certain that the original parchment that Paul sent to the Church of Galatia after a penance letter was covered in tears.

I am positive that Paul was in absolute anguish over these words. He even says and says he said, I wish that I could change my tone. I wish I was writing to you to tell you about how much I love you, how grateful I am that you're my brothers, how happy I am that you are now in Christ Jesus, in his kingdom. But instead, this is what I'm writing. And I can't believe I'm writing these things.

So, verses twelve through 14, paul says, become like me. I have become like you, and you have done me no wrong. But you know that because of an illness of the flesh. And what's this illness of the flesh he's talking about? His eyesight.

His eyesight was going bad, it was failing him. And some letters he refers to that says, look at how big these letters are. Referring to the fact that most of the letters he had ascribe when he writes his own, he mentions about that, and he mentions to the fact here that if it were possible, they would have given him their own eyes. He says, you welcome me like an angel of God, like Christ.

The church in Galatia, they received the Gospel message from Paul. He went in there and he preached to them, he taught them, he labored with them, lived among them, and they received it as if he were an angel from God. They fed on every word that came out of his mouth. They thrived on it, they want it. They loved Paul, would have given anything to him.

Right? Look, verse 15, it talks about that. I just mentioned it again. Whereas your blessing for I testify that if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. What devotion and love for Paul that these brethren had, that if it were possible, they would have given their eyes to him.

So what's the problem? The problem is verses 16 through 20, he says, I he says, have I become your enemy by being truthful to you? They zealously seek you, not commendably, but they want to exclude you in order that you may seek them. Who's he talking about? Who is they?

Here. This is the judaizers. These are the Jewish converts who have reverted back to the law, who want to attach the strings of circumcision, of ceremonies and feast and the law and the burden that they themselves could not keep. And they are excluding the Gentile Christians based on these so called requirements. And he says, they're excluding you.

They're seeking you to exclude you. They're going out and they're telling you all these things you're not doing about the law, says this, the losses that you're not keeping this feast, not keeping this Sabbath day, and they're doing it with the purpose of excluding you, that you might seek them. They're telling you everything so that they can then shun you in hopes that you'll exchange your freedom for bondage so that you can be included in their inner circle.

He continues, it's good to be sought zealously in good at all times, and not only when I am present with you. So the issue here is that when Paul is present, when Paul is there and he's teaching them person to person, they think of him as an angel. He even says you receive me like I was Jesus Christ himself. But as soon as Paul leaves and goes off to another city, they abandon the teachings of Paul and they listen to false teachers.

These are not strong Christians. These are people. What they're looking for is the hottest and latest thing, what is new, what's current, what's latest right now? And that's what they're looking for. So when it's Paul, they cling to Paul, and when Paul is not there and it's this false teacher, that's who they cling to.

Paul says, I'm having birth pains all over again, and I am worried about you. If Paul could be writing to us today, if Paul could write letters to the American church today, what would Paul write in them? Do you think Paul will be worried about the church in America? The churches in America, the churches in America, they support they're full of false teachings here, right? Support in homosexuality, support in this the whole LGBTQ, however many letter pluses on there, right?

The gay marriage, support in abortion, support in all of these things that God says are an abomination to him.

And that's just on one spectrum. On the other spectrum, you've got churches who are so strict that if you are a woman who even dares to step foot in a pair of jeans, that you must be going to hell. So we got both ends of the spectrum here. Do you think Paul would be worried about that?

How about our own church? Let's close this question a little bit and exclude the American Christianity as a whole, and let's put a microscope on our own church. If Paul were to write a letter to Church of the Bible today and send it to me to read aloud to all of you here today, what would be in that letter?

What would Paul have us address today?

And there's a few things that Paul will have us address, I think one of them, which is the assembly. Paul addressed the assembly in the book of Hebrews. He had to tell the church in the book of Hebrews, do not forsake the assembly. There were people who quit coming to church or who would come when it was convenient. There's people not in church today and haven't been for some time.

And there are people who I used to meet with in person every single week. And about a couple months ago, their reason for not coming to church anymore was it was not convenient. There are people it's like church isn't convenient. The times, not the day's, not or I'm too tired, or this or that, and they don't come, and they're forsaken the assembly. There are people I've talked to here in Milford who say that they're Christians and have a relationship with God, but do not believe they need to go to any church at all.

They say, I can do it on my own, I don't need a relationship with God, sorry, with the church. And they forsake the assembly. If Paul were to write a message to our church today, would he talk about our gathering, our assembly, how often we meet together, if we're dedicated to going to church, dedicated to each other? And that's just one thing. And I could go on.

And we don't have the time to go on about what Paul would write about to our church. But I want to invite all of you to think about that, to ponder that question. If we were to get a letter from Paul today for our church, what would be in it? Would Paul be praising our efforts, our faithfulness to God? Or would he be criticizing what it is that we are doing?

And if so, what would he criticize? And if we can look at that, we don't need that letter, we can address it and we can fix it. Let's hurry up and finish these verses so that I can let everyone go on their evening here. Verses 21 through 27 tell me, you who are wanting to be under the law, do you not understand the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the female slave and one by the free woman, but the one by the female slave was born according to human descent, but the one by the free woman through the promise which things are spoken allegorically.

For these women are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Who is Hagar now? Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is a slave with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother. For it is written rejoice or barren woman who does not give birth to children, burst out and shout, you who do not have birth pains because many are the children of the desolate woman, even more than those are the one has a husband.

So what does Paul say here? Paul says, check the meaning of the law. You who want to be under it, do you not know it? Right? The theological system I come I came out of I come from under Mormonism man.

They love the law, they love being bound to it. They love using it as a requirement for temple service, for citizenship in the Kingdom of God, for all these other things. And Paul says, you who want to be bound to the law, do you understand it? Anyone who understood the law would know it does one and only one thing it condemns we read last week, no man is justified according to the works of the law for those who want to impose the law upon me or upon anyone, do you know it? It is written that Abraham, he had two sons, one by the female slave Hagar and one by the free woman, right through Sarah, who is ishmael born through Hagar.

Did he receive the promise of Abraham? Did he receive the covenant? Did he receive any blessings? No. Who is his family today?

How many of you knew that the Muslims of this world can directly trace their lineage back to Abraham through Ishmael? Are they not slaves to sin and death? Are they not slaves to the world?

And then the free woman, right? So verse 23 tells us, the one born to the slave ishmael born to Hagar, was born according to human descent. Boy, wasn't that true? Who remembers the story? Sarah goes into the tent and talks to Abraham and says, hey, God says it'll be your seed, your flesh.

And I'm just not having kids. Abraham, here's my servant Hagar, take her, enter into her and have your seed. Have your seed through her, right? Was that not human will, human descent, but the one through the free woman, through the promise, was that not through God? A woman barren for 90 years, and all of a sudden, the womb opens up and out comes Isaac.

God kept his promise, the promised son, born to Abraham, keeping the law. Those whether they were through Isaac and then Jacob into Jerusalem, or through Ishmael, those who keep the law, those who prefer to be bound to it are like Ishmael and are his sons. The last verses, 28 through 31. But you, brothers, are children of the promise, just as Isaac, but just as at that time, the child born according to human descent persecuted the child born according to the Spirit, so also now. But what does the scripture say?

Drive out the female slave and her son, for the son of the female slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman. Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the female slave, but of the free woman.

Powerful passage right here. If we are children of the promise, if we are children of Isaac, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob adopted, we will be persecuted. Just as the child of the Spirit was the child born of the Spirit, we will be persecuted. Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so will the world persecute us. But further, just as ishmael the child of the slave persecuted that who is born into freedom, so will the spiritual children of Ishmael.

Those who would tie or put the yoke of the bondage of the law upon your neck, will they persecute those who had the freedom of Christ. All those Christian churches and denominations that would have that bondage, they'll persecute you and reject you because of your freedom. So what did the scripture say. The scripture said to drive out the female slave and her son. That's what God told Abraham, drive out Hagar, send her away.

He will not inherit the kingdom. He will not inherit the promise. Drive her out. And so too, we need to drive out the slaves from among us who will not inherit the kingdom with us and certainly pray for their salvation. Therefore, brothers, says we are not children of the female slave.

We are not children of Hagar, but of the free woman. If you have listened to this today, if you have heard the gospel right, and we preached the gospel today, that Jesus lived. He came just as the time was right, born of a woman and under the law that he could redeem us, those who are under the law, right? So that we can become sons of God, sons of the adoption. If you are not a child of the adoption today, and you want to be, let me briefly tell you how easy it is.

We first have to admit that we are a sinner and cannot save ourselves. We have to admit that our ways are not God's ways and that we have the curse of the law upon us. Next, you must believe what the Scripture said about Jesus, that he did come, that he is God, that he did die having lived a perfect life and resurrected. You must also believe, as the Scriptures say, that through his work will you be saved, not through yours. And third, confess him as your lord and savior.

Romans Ten Nine says, if you would confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou would be saved. But confess and believe. And if you are ready to do those three things and leave the bondage of the law of sin and death and enter into the freedom of Christ. As we enter our closing prayer here, I invite you to repeat the first portion after me, where you can admit to God your sin, where you can believe Jesus and you can confess Him. And then right after, we will be partaking of the Lord's Supper of Communion right here.

So please stick around and join us for communion. Or if you're watching elsewhere, feel free to hop into our zoom meeting and take it with us. With that said, let's pray. And please, if you're ready, leave the bondage of sin today. Father, I admit that I am a sinner.

Father, I know that I'm condemned under the law. I know that I can't keep it, I can't obey it. I know that my works are filthy and that I am helpless without you. And I believe. I believe right now the message that I heard, that Jesus Christ, who is God, manifested in the flesh, that he came here at the right time under the Law so that he could redeem me.

And he redeemed me by living perfectly and by dying on a cross and by resurrecting. And I believe that, father, I oh, I believe that right now. And I confess you, Jesus Christ, as my Lord, as my savior, as my king. I accept you. And I ask you, Lord, enter into my heart now.

Free me from this curse that I have lived under and give me your freedom and your peace that I may follow you and glorify you. And we thank you for that. Father, I ask as we end tonight that you would help us, Lord, that you would allow us to examine or, Lord, protect us from false teachers, from false theologies. Protect us from reverting back to the old ways of the law. And, Father, as I asked everyone to do today, would you help us do it?

Would you help us examine our church? Your church, God, that if Paul were to write a letter to us today, if you were to have him write a letter, what would he put in that letter? Lord, help us examine that honestly and truthfully that we can identify those issues, Lord, that they may be fixed both for our benefit and most important, me to your glory that you would be glorified and that others would be saved. And we love you and thank you. In Jesus beautiful name, we pray.

Amen.