1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:07,360 With a knock at the door, Saul began his destruction of the 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:14,680 church because he noticed that the followers of the way had put 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:20,360 so much value in Jesus and they had so much value in their 4 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,600 gatherings of believers. And I imagine the persecution 5 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:30,520 because it says they started going door to door and dragging 6 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:36,840 the followers of way out. It started with a knock at the 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:42,320 door. Barnabas arrived in Antioch to 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,600 hear about some of the Christians who had been 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:50,120 scattered that they had shared the message of Jesus with people 10 00:00:50,120 --> 00:01:02,320 who were not real Jewish people. And so Barnabas came to see. 11 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:10,440 He knocked at the door. And when Barnabas walked into 12 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:16,960 that grand living room of that house, he saw the grace of God. 13 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,560 He saw the grace of God because there he saw Judah and Gentile 14 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,840 together worshipping Jesus, gathered together under the 15 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,440 banner and name of Jesus, where the Spirit of God was doing a 16 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,440 new thing in their midst. And he was amazed. 17 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,040 In the meantime, Paul would become a Christian. 18 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:51,120 And so Saul sent friends to go find, or actually Barnabas sent 19 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:57,720 friends go find. Saul, also called Paul, started 20 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:05,280 with a knock at the door. Hey Paul, it's time for you to 21 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,160 start teaching more people about Jesus. 22 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,680 We've got a Jew and Gentile audience that need to hear you 23 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:19,520 talk about Jesus and the law and how the Scripture has been 24 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,800 fulfilled. And so he travelled back with 25 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:30,880 them to Antioch. I imagine it started with 26 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:39,830 knocking the door in the Galatian churches as the 27 00:02:39,830 --> 00:02:45,710 Judaizers came to see the freedom that was being enjoyed 28 00:02:45,710 --> 00:02:48,390 by Jude and Gentile worshipping Jesus together. 29 00:02:50,270 --> 00:02:52,630 And we want to come to your house church too. 30 00:02:55,430 --> 00:03:01,000 But when they got in, they said you're not doing it right. 31 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,520 And so just in the same way that the church in Galatia had had a 32 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:16,040 crisis because of a knock at the door by the Judaizers, the 33 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:23,320 church in Galatia was experiencing the same thing, the 34 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:29,960 knock at the door. What's your automatic question 35 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,840 when someone knocks on your door, on your door, Who's there? 36 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,560 Who's there, Who's there? Do I open the door ready for an 37 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,640 attack, or do I open the door in freedom? 38 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,360 I hope you actually asked that before shooting. 39 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:55,200 This has become a problem in North America that people are so 40 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:02,360 afraid of the knock at the door. But she first asked questions 41 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:13,280 later instead. But that's how it starts, with a 42 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:19,560 knock at the door. Maybe you've had a knock at the 43 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,160 door and there's there's someone there wanting to talk to you 44 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:29,280 about Jesus in that church, and maybe you're afraid of being 45 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:33,320 that kind of person. He walks down the hallway of 46 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,360 your dormitory and knocks on the door. 47 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,960 I'm so grateful for the person that came and knocked on the 48 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,600 door of my dad when he was an engineer with Lockheed Martin, 49 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,240 knocked on the door and stuck his head in and said, hey, 50 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,160 O'Brien, you ever read the Bible? 51 00:04:53,160 --> 00:05:01,240 And my dad, sort of taken aback, said, no, but I know it. 52 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,600 I was in church every day of my life almost growing up. 53 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,480 And the guy said, I I didn't ask if you knew it. 54 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,000 I asked if you read it and disappeared. 55 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,680 The next day he came back, hey, O'Brien. 56 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,920 And he came in with a great big Bible and he plopped it down on 57 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,600 my dad's desk and said, there you go read it. 58 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,880 And my dad did started with a knock on the door. 59 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:41,040 And it launched my dad on a spiritual journey to change the 60 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:46,800 trajectory of my own life because someone dared to knock 61 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:56,460 at the door. Now he was pointing the way to 62 00:05:56,460 --> 00:06:00,860 Jesus, but he was also inviting my dad into a fellowship of 63 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:04,760 Christians. And my dad began to attend with 64 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:10,360 him and others a fellowship of Christians, a variety of groups, 65 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:15,760 Full Gospel Business, Men's Association, Charismatic Home 66 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:23,680 groups, Baptist Church. And it set my dad on a new 67 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:29,280 spiritual jacket of life under the all in Christ in his word. 68 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,280 My dad really appreciated the church and the churches. 69 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,320 And one of the things he told me when when I became a pastor and 70 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,400 indicated I wanted to go into ministry, we went on a walk and 71 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,920 he sat on the walk. He said, well, I have to ask you 72 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,200 to not become one of those kind of pastors. 73 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:58,000 And I said, OK, what's that? He says one of those kind that's 74 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,400 always criticizing all the other churches. 75 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,920 Instead, appreciate the churches of Jesus. 76 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,960 I wonder how it is with you. Are you appreciating the 77 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,320 churches of Jesus? I sort of accept you're 78 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,160 appreciating this one. You're here. 79 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:25,880 Do you really appreciate the church? 80 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,920 So the situation that Paul was writing to when you wrote the 81 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,360 letter we call Galatians is that there were people who were not 82 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,360 appreciating the church as Jesus was constructing it, Jew and 83 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,360 Gentile together. They were not appreciating it. 84 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,960 And it created a kind of doubt within the congregation where 85 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,960 those who were Jewish were wondering, well, do we really 86 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:55,000 have the right kind of church? And those who were Gentile were 87 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,760 wondering, do I really belong in this church? 88 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,360 And maybe they were running around with a sense of trauma 89 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,960 for being rejected. And so Paul was having to 90 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:08,240 reconstruct the church to rebuild the appreciation of the 91 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,160 church. Do you know when you appreciate 92 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:16,920 something, it means the value of it keeps going up and up and up 93 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:23,720 and up and up. My mom passed away in October 94 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,960 and in preparation of of her on incoming death, she knew it was 95 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,640 coming. She would go around the house 96 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:39,280 and she would put little stories with pictures and little jars 97 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:45,560 and she would put a price tag with them and she said don't 98 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:49,000 throw this away without seeing if it's worth something. 99 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:55,560 It looks like junk but it's not. My mom appreciated it because of 100 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:58,200 the story. So do we. 101 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:03,200 The value kept going up, but for someone else looking at it, they 102 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,880 might think, oh, that's just jump. 103 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:10,440 And so they put it in a garage sale and they miss the true 104 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,160 value of it, She says. I know that picture is sort of 105 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,840 ugly, but it's worth about $13,000. 106 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,680 I'm like, I'll never go in my house. 107 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:30,960 And so I wonder, we live in a day and age where a lot of our 108 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:37,040 friends don't really appreciate the church, and we get nervous 109 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:42,240 about that. We feel anxious about that. 110 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,280 And Paul is riding exactly into that situation. 111 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,320 And he's riding in such a way that he's wanting them to 112 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,720 appreciate now what they have, that they're actually part of a 113 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,280 bigger story. They're part of a story that's 114 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,040 intensely personal. And they're part of the story 115 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:03,000 that's going on and on and on. It's an ongoing story. 116 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,720 So I hope this adds a little bit of life to a text that you might 117 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,640 feel like this seems a little drunk, but here we go. 118 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,040 OK, here's the text from Galatians Chapter 3. 119 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,560 He says this. Listen, brothers and sisters, 120 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,400 let me take an example from everyday life. 121 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,160 Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant, we 122 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,080 might call it a will. You know, people who are getting 123 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,240 ready to die should have a will, and those who are not should 124 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,920 also have a will. But this is what he's describing 125 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,200 here. Just as no one can set aside or 126 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,600 add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is 127 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,640 in this case. The promises were spoken to 128 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,200 Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say unto 129 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:58,880 seeds, meaning many people, but to your seed, meaning one person 130 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,840 who is Christ will come back to that central oral confusion. 131 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:08,360 What I mean is this. The law introduced 430 years 132 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:13,160 later does not set aside the covenant previously established 133 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,080 by God and thus do away with the promise. 134 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,400 Now wait a minute. The law. 135 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:22,040 We probably ought to personalize this a little bit and give it a 136 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,440 capital L Is that the right word? 137 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,920 L? There it is an L, the capital L 138 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,880 of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, which are 139 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:38,400 big numbers in your army called the Torah. 140 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,720 And he's saying, look, when the Torah was given, the law was 141 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,240 given. It came 430 years after God had 142 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:52,040 made a promise to Abraham. Now, the if you were to ask 143 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:56,960 people who was more important, Abraham or Moses, to whom the 144 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,520 law was given in their daily life, they were probably more 145 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:09,120 keyed up about Moses. And so Paul's reminding them 146 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,880 there's actually another promise given. 147 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,280 We talked at length about it last week, the promise to 148 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,720 Abraham to create a family and through him to bless all the 149 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,840 nations of the world with a special blessing and 150 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,240 inheritance. And so he says, look, when the 151 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,640 law came, when the Torah came, even though it was 430 years 152 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:36,040 later, it didn't do away with what God promised to Abraham. 153 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:42,720 Here's why verse 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, 154 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,600 then it no longer depends on the promise. 155 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,440 So he's saying God's covenant is like a will. 156 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,200 It's a promise that's been activated. 157 00:12:52,800 --> 00:13:01,640 Appreciate it. Appreciate the will more than 158 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:11,080 you appreciate the law. For if the inheritance depends 159 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,560 on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise, But God 160 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:18,640 in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. 161 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,640 Why then was the law given at all? 162 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,080 It was added because of transgressions until the seed to 163 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,120 whom the promise referred had come. 164 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,160 The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 165 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:37,640 A mediator, however, implies more than one party, but God is 166 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,760 1. Is the law therefore opposed to 167 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,040 the promises of God, particularly the promise given 168 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:49,360 to Abraham? Absolutely not, for if a law had 169 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,960 been given that could impart life, then righteousness would 170 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:58,200 certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up 171 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,800 everything under the control of sin so that what was promised 172 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,680 being given through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to 173 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:08,840 those who believe. We're going to come back to 174 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,160 that. It's like, wow, look at Paul's 175 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,040 dense argument. He's like a lawyer who just has 176 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,960 constructed an argument where every sentence takes you one 177 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,640 more step to his grand conclusion. 178 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,360 So you got to follow along. You got to turn on your coffee 179 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,440 buzz, pay attention. Here we go. 180 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,880 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under 181 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,840 the law. Custody. 182 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,120 Have any of you been in custody? You don't want to tell us. 183 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,320 Maybe, maybe you were, you know you, you got taken up. 184 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,880 But by custody, he doesn't mean you were literally arrested. 185 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,120 But he takes the language. He's Infirmary. 186 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:03,040 He means you're not of age yet. So you are under the custody of 187 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,800 a guardian. A parent is, is there anybody 188 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:13,960 here who's 17, 1819 You're adults. 189 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:20,080 You know, if if you're 17 and, and you sign up to go on a 190 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,320 retreat, some groups are supposed to ask their parents 191 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,240 for permission. And you're like, I'm in 192 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,120 university, I'm 17. Why are you making me go get a 193 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,840 permission slip from my parents? It's because you are in custody. 194 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:35,080 OK. Do you get it? 195 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,480 This is the use. This is the idea of the use of 196 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:38,600 the term. It's difficult. 197 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,720 I told you before the coming of the stage, we were held in 198 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,600 custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come 199 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,000 would be revealed. So the law was our guardian 200 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,200 until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 201 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,560 Now he's talking to the Jewish believers. 202 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,080 The Jewish believers were under the law. 203 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,520 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 204 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,480 How many of you when you came to university and you're 18, when 205 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,320 you're like, yes, I'm an adult, I'm free. 206 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,000 Not really true. Guess who's paying the bill? 207 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,360 But this is the idea. And so he goes on to say, Look, 208 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,080 so in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 209 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,520 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed 210 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,400 yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor 211 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,120 Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female. 212 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,760 For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 213 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:56,160 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs 214 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:01,840 according to the promise. What I'm saying is this, that as 215 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,079 long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave. 216 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,599 Although he owns the whole state, the heir is subject to 217 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,839 guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 218 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:20,079 So also when we were underage, we were in slavery under the 219 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,160 elemental spiritual forces of the world. 220 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,600 Mind blowing, Yeah, speaking to the Jewish believers in the 221 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:36,200 churches of Galatia. But when the time set had full 222 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:41,600 account, God sent his son, born of a woman born under the law, 223 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:46,680 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption 224 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,960 to sunshine. This would have been mind 225 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:54,160 blowing to the Jewish believers. They're like, wait a minute, we 226 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:56,840 thought we were sons the whole time, he says. 227 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:58,800 You didn't fully have your inheritance yet. 228 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,280 You hadn't realized the full benefits of your sonship yet, so 229 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,480 you might as well have just been a slave in that state because it 230 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,600 wasn't yours yet. But now in Christ, you have been 231 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:21,640 adopted to a full sonship. You get your inheritance because 232 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:26,360 verse 6, you are his sons. God sent the Spirit of His Son 233 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:32,480 into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out the Spirit who calls 234 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:37,520 out haba ha. So you are no longer a slave, 235 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,800 but God's child. And since you are his child, God 236 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:51,040 has also made you an heir. Wow, I think Paul wanted them to 237 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,160 appreciate you're part of a bigger story. 238 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,880 You keep letting the story in with a with Moses, but you need 239 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,560 to go back a little bit further. Let's go back all the way to 240 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:08,040 Abraham because God made a promise to Abraham where the 241 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,640 righteous will live by faith. And he uses a metaphor here to 242 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:18,200 say that the the promise made to Abraham and his seed is now 243 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,680 fully fulfilled in the person of Christ, his seed. 244 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,400 So he's saying there's a long line. 245 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,240 And if you were to read the genealogy in Matthew, you would 246 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,480 see a long line going from father Abraham. 247 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,080 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. 248 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,720 This is a reference to who comes after him. 249 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:49,360 And he says it's not really just a plurality of children. 250 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:55,360 It's actually this main child Jesus who would be born. 251 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,160 And so Paul does some work here to connect the promise of 252 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:09,320 Abraham to the promise of Jesus and then to those who believe in 253 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,040 him. And if you are of Christ, he's 254 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,920 saying you're part of this. You're part of a bigger story. 255 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,760 You know, when you learn the story of your parents, sometimes 256 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:24,720 your appreciation for them goes up. 257 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,840 Maybe you learn the story of a grandparent and your 258 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,680 appreciation goes up because you're like, wow, they have a 259 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:37,280 struggle. Look who they became and maybe 260 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:42,800 you find some hope in it. Paul wants them to understand if 261 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,760 you're part of the church, you're part of a bigger story. 262 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,360 It's a story that goes back to the past. 263 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,200 It's a story that comes from arise in the present for you, 264 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,880 but also has a great future. It's a bigger story. 265 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,280 It behooves you become familiar with it. 266 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:07,800 And so in a sense, Paul is teaching them how to read what 267 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,280 we call the Old Testament. He's teaching them how to read 268 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,920 the Old Testament through the limbs of Christ and to go to 269 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:21,040 Abraham instead of getting just mired down and stuck in the law 270 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,600 that was given, he says, for a season. 271 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:32,000 And so the right reading of the law, the right application and 272 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,840 fulfilment of the law in our lives will be seen when we see 273 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,600 it through Christ. And we go back to Abraham. 274 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:49,280 What was God doing there? How was he showing how to live 275 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,960 in relationship to him? Of Abraham it said he became the 276 00:21:54,960 --> 00:22:02,600 friend of God. Maybe in Christ Jesus now both 277 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:07,000 Jew and Gentile can be the friend of God. 278 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,480 We're part of a bigger story. If you're part of a bigger 279 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:24,500 story, the lessons are infinite. This is the great thing about 280 00:22:24,500 --> 00:22:31,100 the story is that it's been given to Abraham, granted to him 281 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:34,380 by God's favour. It was a gift. 282 00:22:35,300 --> 00:22:46,520 God picked up Abraham by grace. God gave a promise to Abraham, 283 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,160 and Abraham didn't earn it. He just believed it. 284 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:59,960 And so I'm part of a bigger story just by God's choosing and 285 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:06,480 grace is my Lord. Same thing. 286 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,440 Because it's mind blowing. It's really personal and and 287 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,440 Paul's trying to remind them just how personal this story is. 288 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:16,920 And there's a couple parts of it. 289 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,520 It's personal even for the Gentiles because their problem 290 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,440 was that they were locked up under the control of sin. 291 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,120 This was a common belief. Just ask the Jewish person 292 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:36,520 what's the the Gentile problem? They're sinners and we don't 293 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,000 like that. But, you know, if you had a 294 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,120 problem with your neighbor and you're like, look at their life 295 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,120 and how they live, and you were really, really frustrated, you'd 296 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:47,520 be like, wow, they're just sinners. 297 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,880 Maybe your neighbor just does something that they don't even 298 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,400 need to do. Like this week, I reflexively 299 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,880 landed on this. I'm walking across. 300 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,440 I've been trying to park in front of my house, and I 301 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,040 couldn't fit the van into that spot. 302 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,840 And Ellen says to me, oh, she'll move up. 303 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:13,000 But she was being a screenager. She was stuck in her phone and 304 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,960 she didn't move up even though she was parked in two spaces. 305 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:26,600 I was so frustrated. And so I just said to Alan, I 306 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,160 hate when people do that. Actually, I think I said I hate 307 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:37,520 people who do that. I was so frustrated and the 308 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,360 Jewish problem with the Gentiles was that their problem to them 309 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,640 was they're just under sin. But Paul here calls it out and 310 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,960 says, yes, we were all locked up under the control of sin, for 311 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,800 this is what Scripture does. Scripture gives us sort of God's 312 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,560 parameters that says here is the worldwide global problem, 313 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:09,800 www.lockedupunderstand. This is our problem, our common 314 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,920 problem, our common address. But the Jewish problem wasn't 315 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,760 just that they were under sin. They were also under the law, 316 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,160 for they had committed themselves to this set of 317 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,080 covenant issues of either blessings or curses. 318 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,520 You can go back to last week's message and review it. 319 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,960 So they needed to appreciate that they were under the custody 320 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:38,480 of the law and locked up, almost as if they were immature, not 321 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,160 yet fully realizing their inheritance. 322 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,360 For their inheritance was contained in one person. 323 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:51,200 It was contained in Christ Jesus who was coming, who would live, 324 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,960 who would die on a cross, be buried, defeat the powers of sin 325 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:01,240 and death and be raised from the dead as evidence of it, ascend 326 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,720 into heaven and then give an incredible blessing. 327 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,360 The Jewish problem of being under the law and being under 328 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:15,000 sin, they understood in the matter of slavery to say we are 329 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,920 actually enslaved to this. So if you sort of study the 330 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:24,640 psychology of sin, instead we become enslaved to things. 331 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,160 Something that was good started out in our life and became an 332 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,760 addiction to which we couldn't shake free. 333 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,800 Something that was good in our life became something we relied 334 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,080 on our life and they controlled us. 335 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:48,440 We are enslaved by it. Russell Moore recently wrote how 336 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:55,080 AI is sort of like the idols described in the Old Testament, 337 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:02,640 and he says we must be careful that we are not enslaved by it. 338 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,600 And this is what idolatry does. It takes something that's good, 339 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:15,200 then we give ourselves to it, and it has powers over us. 340 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:23,240 Enslaved. So both Jew and Gentile then 341 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,040 have a common testimony. So in Christ Jesus you are 342 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,960 children of God through faith. For you all were baptized into 343 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,320 Christ, have clothed yourself with Christ. 344 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,760 There's neither Jew nor Gentile, nor slave or free, nor is there 345 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,800 male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 346 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,760 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham, see. 347 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,240 And heirs according to the promise. 348 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,280 So I'm part of the bigger story, and it's really personal. 349 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:58,840 I mean, no one got baptized for Diego. 350 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,200 He was baptized. It was intensely personal. 351 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,920 He got in the water, he was put under the water. 352 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,920 He came up above the water. It's just descriptive of his 353 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:22,160 intense personal experience with God, that now he is with Christ, 354 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:29,360 who died his death in sin, was buried in death, common death 355 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:34,200 with us, but raised to life. I'm now denied with Christ. 356 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,400 That same power is at work in US. 357 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,760 The power of the Holy Spirit is at work in us. 358 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:43,560 So we're going to have a personal story. 359 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,240 All of you, I hope, have a personal story of your encounter 360 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:53,400 with God and how He is freeing you, empowered sin and death, 361 00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:00,960 and freeing you to live into the power of His life in Christians 362 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,280 so that you know He loves you. It's personal. 363 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,360 And when you appreciate the personal stories of people in 364 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,480 the church, you'll appreciate the church a little more. 365 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,240 The danger of coming to church for the first time when your own 366 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,200 life is a wreck is that you look around and you're like, the only 367 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,800 thing I see that's problematic here is that everyone is 368 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,080 sleeping. But they all seem to have their 369 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,800 life going pretty well. They clean up good. 370 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,400 They don't smell hungover, and they seem OK. 371 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:45,000 And so the, the misconception is that our lives are all OK, that 372 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,720 we have no struggles, that we never had a struggle, and that's 373 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,680 why we came to church. But that's not the truth. 374 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,480 The truth is we have a very personal story of God freeing us 375 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,560 from condemnation under the law, that we have a personal story of 376 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,440 God freeing us from the shame of our slavery and sin. 377 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,800 And we have a personal story of God continuing to help us grow. 378 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,320 Right. Do you? 379 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,640 Yes. Yes, I heard you all say I do, 380 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,520 right? Yeah, I do. 381 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,880 So then we have our common testimony. 382 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,560 And if you learn the common testimonies of people in small 383 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,960 group life and time over coffee, if you say, hey, I'd like to 384 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,800 meet up with you and hear your story, you'll love your church 385 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:39,440 even more. You'll love the church even more 386 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,080 when you know the story. And then the third thing, it's 387 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,760 an ongoing story and you're part of it. 388 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,080 And Paul wanted them to know you're part of an ongoing story. 389 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,960 So then I think This is why he emphasized the metaphor of the 390 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,920 child. When you look at a child, do you 391 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,760 think, oh, their story's done? No. 392 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,920 When you hold a baby, you think, my goodness, who will they 393 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,560 become? I mean, I watched one of my 394 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,400 children run around the living room and come through that 395 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,040 circle in the kitchen and surprised me. 396 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:14,920 And I looked at them and I thought, where did you come 397 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,280 from? You're amazing. 398 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,360 But I always wonder, what will they look? 399 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,160 And so whenever we use and accept the moniker of I'm a 400 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:33,880 Child of God, it immediately says, hey, my story is not done. 401 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,200 I'm a child of God. My story's not done. 402 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,240 There's still a story to be written, and I'm going to get to 403 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:45,560 be a part of it. And indeed, we are in 404 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,400 relationship with the God who rejoices to call us children and 405 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:53,480 not robots, children and not Ottomans. 406 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:58,520 We're children because now we're participating in writing the 407 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,800 story of the Kingdom of God. Look how Paul says it. 408 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,360 Look, he says, when the time set had fully come, God sent his 409 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,960 son. A son means there's some kind of 410 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:16,840 story coming, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem 411 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,480 those under the law, that we might receive adoption to the 412 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,880 sonship. There's a story coming. 413 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:28,560 Your story's not finished even if you fail an exam. 414 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:33,800 Your son's not finished even if you really mess up in a 415 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,680 relationship. Your story is not finished even 416 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:43,640 if you lose a game. Your story is not finished as 417 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:50,520 your son and daughter now of God because you are his sons and 418 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,120 daughters. God sent the Spirit of his Son 419 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:57,800 into our hearts that the Spirit who calls out ABBA father so 420 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,040 that you're no longer a slave, but God's child. 421 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,320 And since you are his child, God has made you and care. 422 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,280 And what are you an heir of? What is your inheritance? 423 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,600 Paul had already said your inheritance is the Holy Spirit. 424 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,080 Your inheritance is the Holy Spirit. 425 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:24,560 He now has you calling out in prayer, ABBA Father, say 426 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:29,360 anything ABBA Father. And if you call out ABBA Father, 427 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:31,520 it means the story is not finished. 428 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,040 There's still a story to be written. 429 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,840 There's still something coming. And when you see a church that 430 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,360 calls out, ah, the Father, you know the story's not over for 431 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:45,040 that church. They are still praying. 432 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,280 They are still calling on God. If you find a church that's 433 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,840 committed to the life of prayer for a people, you know that 434 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,760 story's not finished because they're still calling out to the 435 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:03,040 God and raises the dead. They're still calling out to the 436 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,680 God who changes things. They're still calling out to the 437 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:11,480 God who draws people to himself. They're still calling out to the 438 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,560 God who sets people free. Their story's not done. 439 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,960 It started with the Malik. I wish I could tell you the full 440 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,600 story of the Moravians and Count Zeisendorf. 441 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,920 It looks like a very pleasant guy, doesn't he? 442 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:34,239 Count Zeisendorf, Ludwig Zizendorf. 443 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,360 He grew up in a in a home that was committed to Jesus, but a 444 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:45,239 home that had power, had position, and had land. 445 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,679 But after youth, Zizendorf believed that his vocation in 446 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:56,199 life was to win souls for the Lamb, the Lamb of God. 447 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:09,680 And one day there was a knock at the door, and a man named 448 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,440 Christian David showed up and said, hey, we need help. 449 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,560 We're running for our life and we need a place to live. 450 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,000 We've become refugees in our own land. 451 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,880 That's actually Germany. I don't know if any of you 452 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,720 recognize anybody know that was Germany. 453 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:27,240 Yeah. There we go. 454 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,840 And he was, that's modern day Germany, but he grew up in an 455 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,680 area called Saxony. And that area had now 456 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,120 experienced over 200 years of oppression of people who are not 457 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,000 a part of the official state church. 458 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,840 They were followers of Jesus and there were lots of different 459 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:53,920 groups, but over 200 years of persecution and they were almost 460 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,920 wiped out. And so they came, right? 461 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,040 Christian David said, Would you give us a place to live? 462 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:05,920 And the count says the north, moved by the story, offered land 463 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,720 on the estate's hilltop. And there they established a 464 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:15,480 place called Hermit, the Lord's watch. 465 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,320 The Lord's watch, like guardians on a wall. 466 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,840 And before you knew it, multiple families came, and these 467 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,720 families came from all types of different groups. 468 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:31,840 It's not going to mean anything to you, but I'm going to read it 469 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,160 to you. Pietists, Lutherans, 470 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:42,720 Separatists, Schwinn King Felders, spiritual refugees of 471 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:46,960 every kind, they all came. And before you know it, this 472 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,680 group of people who came from all kinds of different 473 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,400 backgrounds, trying to live together in the same place. 474 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:54,600 Do you know what they started doing? 475 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,200 Fussing. They started fussing. 476 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:01,920 There was a crisis in the church. 477 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,520 They started fussing together about who was doing it right, 478 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,120 who had the right way. Sounds familiar. 479 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:14,040 Sounds like Antioch. Sounds like Galatian. 480 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,360 Sounds like made in the place they started fussing. 481 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:25,800 Ziesendorf really showed himself as a leader. 482 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:34,560 He moved out of his estate and had a small Hut built in the 483 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:39,600 village of Hernhut, and there he began to visit people daily. 484 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:42,520 He began to pray with people daily. 485 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,360 He began to teach the word of God daily. 486 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:51,200 He called them into a covenant of how to live together. 487 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:58,840 It was called the Brotherly agreement. 488 00:38:07,030 --> 00:38:12,070 Nothing seemed to really be changing though until August 489 00:38:12,070 --> 00:38:17,950 13th, 1727 and they were in a worship night together. 490 00:38:18,150 --> 00:38:20,350 And they were. They liked worship nights too. 491 00:38:21,910 --> 00:38:24,790 They were in a worship night together and the Spirit of God 492 00:38:24,790 --> 00:38:29,630 moved among them and they began to weep and repent of their 493 00:38:29,630 --> 00:38:33,800 heart heartedness and there was a fresh move of the Spirit of 494 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,400 God among them. They got so excited about it 495 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,760 that they began to organize themselves differently as a 496 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,560 community. There's lots to tell you about 497 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,800 it, but not for today. Here's the main thing I want you 498 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,160 to know is that they knew they were part of an ongoing story, 499 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:59,400 and so they organized themselves into prayer 24 hours of the day. 500 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:05,680 They organize themselves into 24 groups of prayer for every day 501 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:15,840 for 100 years. And out of that was born the 502 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:20,600 modern missionary movement among Protestant churches. 503 00:39:27,130 --> 00:39:34,840 We're part of an ongoing story. Appreciate your church, 504 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:41,800 appreciate the churches. Beware the move to just 505 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,720 criticize, to disassociate, to feel embarrassed, to feel like 506 00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:51,680 you always have to defend. Just admit the truth and then 507 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:56,440 say, our Father, there's an ongoing story. 508 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,080 That's great. Heavenly Father, I really thank 509 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:03,800 you. For the patience of my brothers 510 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,960 and sisters here today as we made our way through what feels 511 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:13,800 like a really difficult text, but it gives us glimmers into 512 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,640 how Paul wanted them to appreciate the church again. 513 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:21,520 And maybe we need a fresh touch. We need a fresh move of your 514 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:27,400 spirit to really appreciate each other and the church and what 515 00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:32,800 you're doing that together we're part of an ongoing story. 516 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:41,560 So Lord, even now, we, we thank you for Jesus and we're we've 517 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:45,520 been baptized into Jesus and we're now clothed with Jesus. 518 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,000 We're clothed with the righteousness that Jesus 519 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:59,040 delivers to all. And we thank you as we come to 520 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:08,560 this table as a church where status doesn't play, where 521 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:15,120 degrees and pedigrees don't play, where being male or female 522 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,720 doesn't really play out in the standing before Jesus in the 523 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:24,240 cross, whether we were slave or free, where we're an 524 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:32,920 entrepreneur, we an employee, we know we stand a level ground of 525 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:41,120 the cross. And we say thank you for this 526 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:45,080 grace. Let's stand here.