[0:00] We're going to worship God now singing from Psalm 25. Psalm 25, the first version of the psalm, and we're singing from verse 8 to 14.
[0:21] God good and upright is, the way he'll sinners show, the meek in judgment he will guide and make his path to know. The whole paths of the Lord are truth and mercy sure, to those that do his covenant keep and testimonies pure.
[0:41] Now for thine own name's sake, O Lord, I thee entreat to pardon mine iniquity, for it is very great. What man is he that fears the Lord and does himself?
[0:54] Him shall he teach the way that he shall choose and still observe. His soul shall dwell at ease and his posterity shall flourish still and of the earth inheritors shall be.
[1:09] With those that fear him is the secret of the Lord, the knowledge of his covenant he will to them afford. And so on these verses, Psalm 25, first version of the psalm, from verse 8 to 14, God good and upright is, the way he'll sinners show.
[1:30] The good and upright is, the way he'll sinners show, the way he'll sinners show, the way he'll sinners show, the way he'll sinners show.
[1:48] And he will guide and make his path to know. The whole paths of the Lord are good and good in Him.
[2:11] To those that do His job and keep and test Him on His pure.
[2:24] Now for thine own in sin, O Lord, guide me and bid.
[2:39] The part of my living with Thee, all is it that He brings.
[2:53] What man is He that fears the Lord that does enslave.
[3:07] Then shall He take away the heat, shall choose and still observe.
[3:20] His soul shall dwell on the earth, and His false heaven shall fly in the earth.
[3:40] The earth shall be with those that fear it is.
[3:58] The secret of the Lord, the knowledge of His covenant, He will be there for.
[4:19] Let us join together in praise. Let us pray. The Lord our God, we give thanks for a renewed opportunity to meet in your name.
[4:35] And we pray for your blessing upon our gathering. That it may reflect whose presence we are in.
[4:47] That we would be solemnized by the thoughts of being in the near presence of God. And seeking to worship, even with the knowledge that as sinful fallen creatures, we come short of your glory.
[5:06] We are guilty so often of forgetting that the place whereon we stand is holy ground, sanctified by your own call to worship.
[5:28] And as we wait upon you for the assistance that you have promised to give by means of your spirit, we would ask that you would fill our mouth from on high.
[5:44] And that what we say and what we say and what we sing and what we speak would be the truth of God.
[5:55] Without any embellishment and without any redaction of any endeavor made on our part to hide the truth from sight.
[6:10] We pray, Lord, your blessing upon the proclamation of the truth. Thankful that you are able to give us ears to hear.
[6:22] And that those who do hear the voice of God are assured of the blessedness that you alone are able to confer upon us.
[6:33] We ask that you would remember every gathering of the saints this evening, wherever their lot is cast in this world. You have a church that bears your name.
[6:47] It has one head, but many members. And they are found to the ends of the earth. Even in remote places where some have little knowledge of who are in residence within its boundaries.
[7:08] And yet in the mystery of your providence, you have maybe enabled them to hear your word. And you have blessed the word they have heard.
[7:19] And they are enabled to worship your great name with understanding and appreciation. And they do so directing their prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour.
[7:37] We are conscious that there are many places in the world that have a history of the church within the geographic distance that they occupy.
[7:54] We acknowledge that our own country is historically associated with the church of Christ. The Protestant and Reformed church.
[8:09] The evangelical testimony that calls men and women to close in with Christ, the alone saviour of sinners. And yet in the way in which we see our present generation dealing with the gospel and dealing with what the gospel speaks of.
[8:37] There is so much evidence there of the hardening that takes place when Christ is rejected. And that is what is seen in so many lives.
[8:53] That even that rejection that was so evident in the day that he walked the dirt paths of this world. When it came to the hour of his parting.
[9:10] There were those who delighted in crying out, Away with him, away with him. For we will have no part with him.
[9:22] And we see that in our generation and in so many places. We pray instead that you would break into the darkness of our age.
[9:41] And that you would disseminate the light of your truth through the gospel that is preached. In whatever form it comes to us.
[9:51] Whatever medium you are pleased to open out to us. Whether it is through our pulpits. Through the testimony of the saints. Even on the streets of our land.
[10:03] Through radio or television. To those who seek out deliberately. Who traverse the airwaves through computers.
[10:17] And the various means that are at our disposal. Therein. We pray that all these would be blessed. And that men and women, young and old, would be drawn to Christ.
[10:32] And able to put their trust in him. We pray Lord for your blessing upon your people. With all their varying needs. Remembering the corner of your vineyard.
[10:43] That we ourselves reside in. Conscious that there are amongst us those who are housebound. Hospitalised. Being cared for by others in care homes.
[10:56] And within the hospice. We pray Lord. That you would sanctify your dealings with them. And with those who love them. We pray for the grieving and the sorrowful.
[11:09] When the voice of death is so often heard within our communities. Reminding us of our own weakness. And the lack of security our tenure has in this world.
[11:22] We acknowledge Lord that you are our God. And yet you have made provision for us. In ways that go beyond our capacity to understand.
[11:32] And yet you have given to us sufficient understanding. To appreciate the provision that Christ is to sinful men and women.
[11:44] That he came to seek and to save the lost. May the blessings that he is able to confer upon us. There will be a portion this evening.
[11:56] Remember the nation that we form part of. We ask for your blessing on our King and his family. Upon the various parliaments. In Westminster and Holyrood.
[12:08] We pray for our own local council. And those who serve within these offices. We give thanks for all who have duties.
[12:20] Concerning our own welfare. Within the communities in which we live. Those who visit the sick. Those who are entrusted with the care of the weak elderly.
[12:35] And the lonely. We pray for those who serve in the capacity of the medical profession. We pray for our firemen.
[12:46] Our policemen. We pray for those who serve in our ambulances. We pray for those who are serving in the armed forces.
[12:59] At sea or on land. There are so many things we take for granted. And seldom consider. Where we would be without these things.
[13:09] That regulate our lives. And we are exposed to knowledge. About other nations. That are in turmoil.
[13:21] The streets are. Full of men and women. Who are crying out for justice. Or who are responsible for creating turmoil.
[13:36] Within their own countries. There are other nations that are in the grip of war. And suffering the consequences of that. When we see the ruins. And the rubble.
[13:48] And the countless graves. That speak of so many. Plucked from life into eternity. In the twinkling. And we pray for the wisdom.
[14:00] To appreciate. The many gifts. That we enjoy from your hand. Even peace itself. So hear our prayers. Enable us to bear one another's burdens.
[14:14] Enable us most. Especially to. To beat upon the doors of heaven. Seeking. The blessing of the most high. And the proclamation of the gospel. And that those who are yet to.
[14:27] See fit. To. Abandon. All the false hopes. That they have in this world. And to trust in the hope. That will not perish. We pray for them.
[14:40] That they may be enabled. So to do. Hear us. And watch over us. Glant mercy for sin. In Jesus name. Amen. We'll sing Psalm 113.
[14:55] Psalm 113. We'll sing the whole psalm. Praise God. Ye servants of the Lord. O praise. The Lord's name. Praise.
[15:06] Yea. Blessed be the name of God. From this time forth always. From rising sun. To where it sets. God's name is to be praised. Above all nations.
[15:18] God is high. Above heavens. His glory raised. And to the Lord. Our God. That dwells on high. Who can compare. Himself. That humbleth things to see.
[15:30] In heaven. And earth. That are. He from the dust. Doth raise the pool. The very low. Doth lie. And from the down hill. Lifts a man oppressed.
[15:41] With poverty. That he may highly. Him advance. And with the princess set. With those. That of his people. Are the chief. Even princess great.
[15:52] The barren woman. House to keep. He maketh. And to be of sons. A mother. Full of joy. Praise. To the Lord. Give ye. Psalm 113.
[16:04] The whole psalm. To God's praise. Praise God. Ye servants of the Lord. O praise. The Lord's name. Praise. Praise. Praise God.
[16:16] Ye servants. Of the Lord. O praise. The Lord's name. Praise. Praise.
[16:27] Praise. Yea. Blessed be the name of God. From this time forth.
[16:39] Always. From rising sun to where it's set.
[16:49] God's name is to be praised. Above all nations.
[17:00] God is high. But hence its glory reigns.
[17:10] Unto the Lord. Our God that dwells. On high youth.
[17:21] And from there. God's name is to be praised.
[17:54] And from the dark hill. And from the dark hill. With the land. For death. With poverty.
[18:09] And he may hide. In the land. And with the princess's hand.
[18:23] with notes. My throne him. The sappiest prince.
[18:39] The burn. to thee he may get to thee of sons and other gold of joy praise to the Lord in thee I'm going to hear God's word from the New Testament scripture from Paul's epistle to the Romans I'll be reading from chapter 8 from the beginning of the chapter down to verse 17 Romans chapter 8 verses 1 to 17 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh
[20:02] God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but if the spirit of him that raised up
[21:22] Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live for as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father the spirit himself bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together and so on may the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word and to his name be the praise let us sing now some verses from Psalm 103
[22:45] Psalm 103 we're going to sing from verse 8 to 13 the Lord O God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and slow to wrath and mercy plenteous he will not chide continually nor keep his anger still with us he dealt not as we sinned nor did requite our will for as the heaven in its height the earth surmount of fire so great to those that do him fear his tender mercies are as far as east is distant from the west so far has he from us removed in his love all our iniquity such pity as our father has unto his children dear like pity shows the Lord to such as worship him in fear and so on sing these verses
[23:50] Psalm 103 3 from verse 8 to 13 the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious his his Field Gabriel 21 His Unbuy movie and holy using the Lord VOgo, The Lord bel incredulity Absolutely met us let me bring thee to mypsy And yet still, with us even not as we sin, nor if we fight alone.
[25:00] For as the heavens in its height, the earth's abundant fire.
[25:15] So great to those that do in fear, his tender mercy on.
[25:29] As far as he's existed from the west so far as he.
[25:45] From us we were bedding his love for our iniquity.
[26:00] Such pity as the Father has, a true and pure and dear.
[26:16] Like it he shows us, or to such a world given fear.
[26:35] I'd like us now to turn to Paul's epistle to the Galatians. Galatians chapter 4. We're reading at the beginning of the chapter.
[26:54] Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.
[27:05] But is under tithers and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so, when we were children, we're in bondage. Under the elements of the world.
[27:17] But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth a son, made of a woman, made under the law. To redeem them that were under the law.
[27:28] That we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
[27:41] Wherefore there were no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. And so on.
[27:51] And so on. We'll continue our study in the book of the epistle of Paul to the Galatians. And those of you here last Sunday will maybe remember that we saw some of the positive elements that were highlighted with regard to the law of God as far as the believer is concerned.
[28:24] We saw that the law possesses the potential to shut the believer in to Christ. Or to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[28:36] And secondly, we noticed that the law sometimes functioned as a tutor did in ancient times.
[28:50] It had the power to correct and rebuke. And it functioned in that capacity. But only for a limited time under God.
[29:00] And we also noticed that with faith in Jesus Christ and the experience of those who were believers, the existence of that faith ensured that the relationship that they now enjoyed with God was a relationship that introduced them to the fatherly love of God and the fatherly input of God upon their lives.
[29:48] If you go back, if you remember, to the previous chapter, and Paul there tells us in verse 26, Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
[30:04] And to some that might appear, at that time anyway, that Paul was overextending himself, that he was saying something that was incredible, that it was unbelievable.
[30:19] And I think if you go back to the way the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the disciples about the nature of the relationship of faith and what that experience of faith brought into their lives, that there were various aspects of it.
[30:45] For example, if you go to John chapter 10, Jesus there insisted that it was through faith in Christ, through a relationship with him, that they were able to bear fruit and that they were able to glorify God through the fruit that they bore.
[31:11] And it was essential for them to be in Christ in order for that to be possible. But he also taught the disciples that those who were in him were by faith given access to the father and that God was their father.
[31:40] But I suppose many of the divines always remind us that Jesus spoke of his relationship to God as his father and he spoke of their relationship to God as their father.
[31:58] But he never spoke of that relationship as being a relationship that entitled them to say our father.
[32:10] Christ and the disciples or Christ and the church had a relationship to God that entitled them to speak of him as their father but in different ways.
[32:26] Jesus knew his heavenly father. The church knew God as their heavenly father but it was in Christ that that was made possible.
[32:40] So in John chapter 17, Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing.
[32:57] And that insistence upon the relationship of faith with himself was undergirding any instruction that they were being given concerning that relationship.
[33:14] Now here we find Paul once again coming back to similar teaching that he has already delivered to them in this epistle.
[33:29] He's not repeating himself in the sense that we understand repetition but he is bringing emphasis to bear upon what the law was incapable of doing and what the law was meant for.
[33:54] And at the same time he is reminding them of the place that he has with regard to the fulfillment of the law and imparting to them the blessings that the fulfillment of the law brings through him.
[34:13] So we're looking this evening at the opening words of chapter 4 and while they may echo, they may bring a sense into your mind of, well we've heard this before, it is with the purpose that we understand the security that is the believers that look to Christ and trust in Christ and are assured of the salvation and redemption that he has secured for them as his people.
[34:52] and that they are not ever to be depending upon their own endeavors in keeping God's law in order to secure salvation.
[35:07] That salvation has been secured for them by somebody else fulfilling the law on their behalf. So he opens this chapter as a continuation of what has gone before.
[35:20] Now I say, he says that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all. Now what he is doing there is he is making reference to the law of the land as it applies to an heir inheriting what has been left to him by a father, for example.
[35:57] And once the father dies and the inheritance becomes the possession of the heir. But if the heir is someone who is still a child, that child, while he is the heir, is not entitled to come into its full possession until he achieves the age of maturity.
[36:29] And, in fact, it is more, it's not just a statement of deprivation, but a statement of the fact that he says, he differeth nothing from a servant.
[36:46] He has the same status as a servant, even though at the same time he is the heir and he is lord.
[36:58] But for the first part of that, he is, as verse 2 says, under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. So when the father, whoever his father is, prepares his last will and testament, he appoints the heir and he appoints the time at which the heir can succeed him and come into possession of monies or lands or whatever it is.
[37:30] And according to the law, according to the law, Roman law, as some of the commendators described it, until the age of 14, they have these tutors who have already seen how they functioned.
[37:48] They were usually slaves or servants whose role it was to teach the children of their masters. And they had the last word with regard to their, to the way that they taught them.
[38:04] they had the right to discipline them and to correct them in the same way that their father normally would. So until the age of 14, they have this relationship within the household where they are being tutored or taught by those appointed by the father's estate.
[38:30] but from the age of 14 and maybe according to some anyway up until the age of 25 somebody else is appointed to take care of them as a guarantor if you like of the estate.
[38:50] They're not free to do what they like. They're under the instruction and direction of someone else. And that's the illustration that the apostle uses.
[39:05] He says he's using this illustration not because it has any relevance as far as the gospel is concerned or as far as the law of God is concerned, but he's using it as an illustration to describe the function of the law before the gospel came into its own.
[39:30] The function of the law before grace came into the experience of the believer and until such time as the father appointed this was the way the law worked, this was the way it functioned.
[39:53] in God's time the role of the law would change and that's the way the argument is developed by him.
[40:07] Even so when we were children we're in bondage under the elements of the world. This was what was ordained, this was how it was planned, this was how it was constructed until such time as God's way of salvation came into fruition and it begins then to develop that thought.
[40:38] Until such time the law was something that kept them in bondage. Until such time the law was something that they were under and that they were constrained by willingly endeavouring to please God by fulfilling the law something that they were not capable of doing.
[41:05] And it didn't just apply to the moral law it applied to every extension offered some of them created by men where the law was something that they turned to for salvation or for the feeling that the law gave to them satisfaction if you like.
[41:33] Made them feel good if they thought that they were fulfilling their obligations under the law that went into the ceremonial law but it went beyond that so that you find in the day of Christ where there were so many additional stipulations additional lists of do's and don'ts and Christ when he corrects the disciples of time and he instructs them and he instructs them in the presence of those who lived as lawmakers and who lived as those who were the judges of others the scribes and the Pharisees Christ sometimes uses the words your laws not God's laws but your laws these laws that are man made these laws that you invented and yet you give them the same amount of credence as the law of
[42:40] God well the time of that has come to an end the role of the law as far as that has come to an end for the Lord's people being condemned for a broken law even though he was innocent of that his humiliation in coming into the world necessitated that he was under it that he was condemned for its breach and that it was by fulfilling the law and being condemned and experiencing the curse of it that redemption came into the experience of
[43:57] God's people so the words we have in the shorter catechism just as an example wherein did Christ's humiliation consist Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born and that in a low condition made under the law made under the law in other words the very one who gave the law who constructed the law who informed Moses about the righteousness of the law he himself willingly is under the law and he undergoes the miseries of this life the wrath of God and the curse of the cross in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time the adoption of sins this is what the apostle is reminding us of how the adequacies of the law are exposed and the inability on the part of those who believe themselves to be capable of satisfying the righteousness of
[45:43] God by fulfilling the law that is made known by God and he directs us to his son who is the one who alone is able to do what we cannot so that the words of verse 4 when the fullness of the time was come God's time whatever that is whatever that means God's time the time that he appointed before the world was or the time that we are able to identify as we read the scripture as we go through the gospel when we see the processes under which Christ was willing to place himself in his birth and in his growth and maturity to the day that he came to experience death on the cross when the fullness of time was come
[46:49] God's time he sent forth his son and Christ as you know from your theology as you know from your reading of the scripture he came not to be a son he was already a son he was already the son of God from all eternity was in the bosom of the father from the beginning and he gave that son God gave his son he sent him and yet at the same time he tells us it amazes me how how Paul the apostle in such few words gets to the crux of the matter of what was necessary with regard to the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ that he came from the father that he became a man made of a woman he was here because he needed to save lost souls and the only way he could be a redeemer of lost souls was by becoming one with them in nature he was made of a woman he was made under the law the only way he could satisfy the law was by humbling himself as we read in the shorter catechism and placing himself under obligation to the law of
[48:24] God to fulfill it to satisfy all its requirements but more than that it says to redeem them that were under the law he couldn't just wave a magic wand and say I'm here I'm God's son I can do what I like no he submitted to the will of God and he did so as the apostle says by putting himself under the law and fulfilling the law and then by in order to be a redeemer to them that were under the law in other words the word redemption there we've come across it before he tells us that that redemption was necessary because the law was broken there was a death incurred every sin incurred a death the day that you sin is the day that you die the day that you commit sin is the day that you are under
[49:25] God's wrath and curse so the redemption that it speaks of here is the redemption of those who are under a just condemnation for their sins and that means that not only was Christ obligated to God as somebody who came and placed himself under the law he was also obligated as the redeemer and the saviour of sinners to satisfy all righteousness to pay the debt of a broken law and that needed to be so that we might receive the adoption of sins how brief these words are how short a compass these words occupy and yet it contains all that is necessary for you to appreciate what the gospel is telling you that when you look to christ you look to christ as somebody who has satisfied the law of god you look to christ as somebody who has paid the debt of a broken law you look to christ as somebody who has introduced you into a relationship with god which you had forfeited by reason of sin and there is the wonder of the gospel by submitting to the law as the covenant of worth christ was under contract to obey the law of god perfectly and to bear the curse of any and all lawbreakers and what is the outcome of that well we've already mentioned it before he says that you that we might receive the adoption of sons we read there in the epistle to the
[51:30] Romans the wonder that we find in Romans said of the privilege that belongs to the people of god the children of god who as Paul says writing to the Ephesians we were once the children of wrath as others but now we are adopted into the family of god it is his gift and we could only have it because of what he has done and this is the wonder of the gospel and yet when you think about how often we give way to uncertainty that we yield ourselves to the temptations of Satan and we question the power that exists in Christ to save sinners we question the validity of our faith making us believe that we have privileges that are god given when the fact of the matter is that the greatest privilege of god of all
[52:46] Christ has secured it for us through the cross we are adopted as sons and we could only have it as his gift we have no right to it we have no other way of securing it but by what Christ has done come from it is the spirit of god in you that allows you to call the god of heaven and earth your father who goes on to say see also the words that we read in in
[53:58] Romans 8 there where it speaks of adoption there is more than a simple creative father to it is a redemptive relationship involving justification to put our standing right adoption to put our relationship right regeneration to put our natures right and it's not something you can do it's not something I can do it is something that is done for us by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ because your sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba father is it not something that is truly wonderful when a child of God can actually call his heavenly father by name knowing that that is right that is your right whoever you are if you are a child of
[55:04] God if you have trusted the saving of your soul to the one and only saviour of souls Jesus Christ to possess the spirit of the son you know we're all familiar with the parable the story of the prodigal son as told by Christ and the story itself is so self explanatory in many ways you find a son who demands his inheritance and he's given it even though he's not entitled to it and he goes away and he wastes all that his father gave him and he is guilty of forfeiting the rights that are his as a son and he realises that and yet he remembers his father's house and he remembers the privileges of belonging to that household and he says to himself well if only I could retain or go back to where I was
[56:17] I would be happy to be a servant there but when the father meets him the father demonstrates how complete the restoration of grace is I think the most marvelous words that you find in that parable given by the lord himself where the lost son was found where the father sees him he says give him or clothe him with a rope give him a rope give him shoes for his feet give him a ring for his finger and the father says this my son who was lost is found again the son had forfeited his right to sonship but the lord had introduced him back into that fellowship of father and son the FF Bruce who has written many commentaries he says the purpose of the son's mission was to give the right of sonship the purpose of the spirit's mission was to give the sinners the one who is a believer in the word of god the to give them an awareness to give you an awareness of the power of using the what god has secured in christ for you we are reminded again and again of the wonder of this he has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts it's not to to be an empty vessel where there is an echo running around in your heart just to make you feel comfortable with what you are it is something that comes from you where you cry to your heavenly father by reason of your relationship with and restored by grace to share with others who who have the same identity as you in the family of god abba father wherefore he says thou art no more a servant but a son and if a son then an heir of god through christ this is what grace does this is what the word of the lord teaches us about the change wrought in us by by christ making himself known to us and making himself available to us and through the gospel encouraging us to trust in his finished work the scotch divine thomas boston he was preaching on a text i think from hosea boston preached a lot on the covenant and he says the following that mankind was by the first covenant constituted god's hired servants by the breach of that covenant born servants under curse christ transferred the state of servitude of his spiritual seed on himself upon consideration of his taking on him the form of a born servant for them and the promise of adoption into the family was made god's family making them sons and heirs is that
[60:17] not what paul says wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son and if you are a son then you're an heir of god through christ not a slave but a son by faith in christ and is it any wonder that paul is wanting to emphasize this and to reemphasize it when he looks at the people there who are who are abandoning the gospel blessings and seeking to to recover some other way of of pleasing god or becoming god's sons other than the way appointed by god in the fullness of time the way that god had provided the way that god had ring fenced the way that god had insisted upon by which slaves were made sons by which those who were estranged were brought into the relationship of the family household god's family an heir of god through christ and sometimes you see the church of god are very very remiss in outlining and describing the things that are most important what's most important to a christian oh you say the forgiveness of sins or you say oh when i when i'm finished in this world it's important that i know that i'm going to heaven and there's no doubt these things are important you can't be a son without believing that there is a heavenly home waiting for you but surely the most important thing is the the relationship that you enjoy now with your heavenly father that inspires confidence in you when you come to pray for yourself as you must when you pray for others as you should the confidence that you have that you're asking your heavenly father for what he is well able to give and that there is an open door to you to do that that there is a pathway that he has provided that you come pleading the promises that you come laying hold of of your brotherly relationship with the son of the most high god and saying in his name i ask for these things are we bold in that sense are we not encouraged to come boldly to a throne of grace and to seek the blessings that god is able to confer upon us and what should give us that boldness well knowing that we have the father's ear knowing that we have a father's heart open to us and that the child that we are as his children that he has given us the confidence to cry abba father not a servant but a son an heir of the good things that he has provided for his people oh paul you do well to remind us of these things paul you do well to bring them again and again and again to our attention because we lose sight
[64:17] of them so easily how privileged the children of god are in this world how privileged and are you one of them are you one of them or are you still hoping that one day you might be adopted into this family and your hope is a very flimsy one a very very weak one because it looks beyond the provision that god has made in christ well may god encourage us to think of these things and bless this world to us let us pray oh lord oh god we give thanks that you are the god who has ordained salvation by means of your son jesus christ and he is your son he is your eternal son he is the son of your bosom he is the son that you declared concerning him that in him you were well pleased and those who have by faith put their trust in him have that same relationship to the heavenly father that is his heavenly father because by right the rights that you have created for them they are able to enter into your presence we bless you and thank you for the boldness that is ours by faith help us to look unto jesus the author and finisher of it pardon sin in jesus amen that might to god to god sing to his name sing praise extol him with your voice that rides on heaven by his name before his face rejoice because the lord the father is to the fatherless god is the widow's judge within his place of holiness god doth a solitary set in families and from bands the chain doth free but rebels do inhabit perched lands these verses psalm 68 from verse 3 but let the righteous be glad let them before god's side but let the right righteous be glad let them before god's side be very joy on ye let them rejoice with all their might to god's name sing praise his name sing praise extol him with your voice that rides on heaven by his name yah before his face rejoins because the lord the father is unto the heart
[68:18] the land god is the wind who shall wait his place of holiness god are the solid car he said in families and from man the chamber free but rebels do in habit hearts and lands may grace mercy and peace in god the father the son and the holy spirit rest and abide with you all and always amen no