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 Turn in your Bibles to Galatians 4. Galatians 4, if you've got a Black Church Bible, it's on page 974.

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! We're looking at verses 21 to 31. Yo mama jokes. Do you know yo mama jokes? A yo mama joke

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 is a form of humour involving a verbal disparaging of one's mother. Used as an insult, yo mama

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 preys on widespread sentiments of parental respect. Suggestions of promiscuity and obesity

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 are common in the yo mama jokes. Compared to other types of insults, yo mama insults are especially

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 likely to incite violence. In non-American areas, the association can be seen with juvenile culture

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 culturally. Wikipedia. Yo mama jokes. I think you've got a yo mama passage in chapter 4 of Galatians

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 verses 21 to 31. That is probably the last bit of lightness you've got for another 25 to 30 minutes.

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 All right? Three points all beginning with I. The inheritance grace gives. Sometimes people will

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 look at someone and they'll say, oh he's just like his mum. Just like his mum. He's his mother's son,

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 all right? And in some ways that is what Paul is saying to the Christians in Galatia. They're their

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 mother's sons. The matriarch was Sarah. What has amazed me this week in studying this is Paul expects

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 the Galatians in the New Testament to know their Old Testament very, very well. He expects you and I

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 to know our Bibles. And so Galatians is full of illusions pointing back. Sarah, who was she? She was

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 Abraham's wife. And so we see that believers in the Lord Jesus are all Sarah's sons and daughters.

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 Now notice how Paul starts his argument in verse 21. It's pretty sharp, isn't it?

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 Verse 21, the false teachers in Galatia, they seem to want to embrace life fully under the kind of

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 complex of the law of Moses. That to be accepted by God, it's necessary to keep all the laws of Moses.

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 And so Paul says to them rather sternly, tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

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 Remember, the Jewish people divide the Hebrew scriptures into three sections. The law, the first

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 five books of the Bible, the prophets, and the writings. The law and the Torah. And it refers not

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 just to the legal code or to case law, but the whole of the first five books of the Old Testament,

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 including the narrative sections, including the story of Adam and Eve and Noah.

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 Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 And then there's the other way of life, which is resting on God's promises and God's supernatural provision of free grace.

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 All of us here, sitting here before me, we are all sons and daughters of one of these two women.

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 We are all either children of the flesh or children of the promise.

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 Children of works, we could say, where you're trying your best, you're doing your hardest, or children of grace.

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 Children of the law and more children of the gospel.

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 That's the pattern.

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 That's his argument in a nutshell.

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 Now let's look a little bit more closely at it.

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 These women, he says in verse 23, represent two covenants.

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 A covenant is God, how God relates to us.

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 That is to say, it reflects two possible ways of approaching God's covenant.

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 The first law, the first approach to God's covenant, represented by those people, those legalists, with whom Paul is kind of locked in this argument, they want you to go to Sinai, to the law of Moses.

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 Now this is a little bit tricky, but hang with me for a moment, alright?

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 We need to see that Paul isn't actually saying that the Mosaic covenant, the law given to Moses, is actually just all about law.

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 That Moses is offering salvation to the people of Israel and us on the basis of our obedience.

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 He's not saying that.

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 He's not saying that.

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 But he is saying, this is how the false teachers in Galatia taught Moses.

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 And they distort Moses.

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 It's a bit like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, when he says about the teachers of his day, he says, you have heard it said, he says to them.

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 He's not kind of sweeping away the law, but he's saying, the teachers in our day, they've changed, they've distorted the law.

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 And that's what Paul is saying here.

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 He's saying these people that have come to Galatia, it's not that there's a problem with Moses, but the way they've taught it, there's a massive problem.

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 They turn it into a covenant of works.

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 They turn it into a way of self-salvation, which it was never intended to be.

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 So in the earlier sermon, we saw from 217 to 21, you remember, we used an illustration, it's not original to me, but that of a railway line on a ladder.

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 So do you remember that?

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 The law of Moses, God's law is meant to be a railway line along the engine of our Christian lives travel.

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 And the engine is powered by God's free grace alone.

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 And the law is the rail tracks, which show us the path of a life which is honouring to the law.

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 God's law is not meant to be a means of salvation.

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 God's law is meant to provide direction in our life and guidance that we gladly take.

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 Having been saved already.

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 So you remember the Ten Commandments?

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 What's the beginning of the Ten Commandments?

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 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, who redeemed you from the house of slavery.

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 And it is the law of God that we use as our paths of obedience, the tracks on which our lives run.

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 But it was never meant to be, and it was never should be, a ladder up to God.

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 But they took the railway line of God's law, and they turned it up.

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 And so they made it something that they were trying to climb up to God.

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 And they sought to use the law in a way that it was never meant to be, or ever really is possible.

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 A means to climb up to God by our own strength.

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 By our good works and by our efforts.

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 One good work at a time.

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 Trying desperately to get to God.

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 And that's how the false teachers were using the law of Moses.

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 And the covenant at Mount Sinai.

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 But as persuasive as the legalists make this appear to the Galatian church, Paul says, what is it?

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 It's life according to the flesh.

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 In fact, verse 25, he says, all this approach can ever do is reduce your life to slavery.

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 You will end up resembling your mother, Hagar.

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 She provides a child for Abraham without regard to the promises of God.

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 She takes things into her own hands.

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 And instead of trusting the Lord, what is the consequence?

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 Slavery.

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 Everyone who uses God's law in this way ends up in bondage.

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 So Hagar, she models the fleshly approach to you and I.

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 That's how the legalists understood Mount Sinai and the Mosaic law.

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 As a way of self-salvation.

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 Do this, do that, do this, do that.

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 By the power of fleshly obedience.

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 You'll notice in verse 25 that in Paul's contemporary situation, that approach relating to God, it's embodied in this earthly city of Jerusalem.

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 He uses another picture.

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 The home, the headquarters of global Judaism.

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 Which though it tried to keep the law for justification in the sight of God, it just resulted in slavery.

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 But Paul says there's another approach.

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 There's a different approach to relating to God.

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 And that is represented by Sarah and her son Isaac.

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 One, a relationship that's not entered by law, by law keeping.

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 But a relationship that's entered into by God's free, undeserving grace.

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 Held out in the promise of the good news of the Lord Jesus.

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 As if Hagar is the symbol of legalism, represented by earthly Jerusalem.

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 Then Paul says in verse 26, Sarah is the mother of all who trust in the promise of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

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 And that's represented by, not the Jerusalem below, but the Jerusalem above.

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 And she is free, she's not in bondage.

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 She's our mother.

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 So verse 27.

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 You'll notice Paul takes that pattern and it's repeated again, much later on in the story, in Israel's own life.

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 And he quotes from Isaiah.

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 Isaiah chapter 54.

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 Can you see that in verse 27?

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 And he speaks to the nation of Israel and he says,

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 Rejoice, O barren one, who does not bear, break forth and cry aloud,

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 you who are not in labour, for the child of the desolate one

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 will be more than those of the one who has a husband.

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 Isaiah, looking back to Isaac and to Ishmael.

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 And Paul highlights, doesn't he, from Isaiah, the same pattern of God's undeserved favour.

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 It's grace, not works.

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 It's promise, not flesh.

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 It's gospel, not law.

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 Just like the barren Sarah.

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 The apparent barren remnant of Israel.

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 That people of God so beleaguered in Israel's time,

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 they'll one day bear more children by the supernatural work of God

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 than the one who has a husband ever could by natural means.

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 The children of promise will multiply as true sons and daughters of Abraham

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 all over the world as they come to trust the promise of the gospel.

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 It's complex, isn't it?

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 And I've given you pretty much raw meat to chew on this morning.

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 But despite the complexity of the argument,

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 it's really densely packed, it takes a bit of untangling,

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 but the point is actually really simple, isn't it?

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 He's asking you,

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 whose child are you?

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 Who is your mother?

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 Who's your mamma?

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 Is your mother this morning Hagar or Sarah?

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 Is it Sinai or Calvary?

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 Is it Moses or Christ?

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 Is it law or is it the gospel?

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 Is it the flesh or is it the promise?

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 And if you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning,

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 on the basis of the promise of grace alone,

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 you are the child of the new Jerusalem.

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 You are born like Isaac.

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 Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,

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 nor of the will of man,

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 but born of God.

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 And you are born from above,

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 as Jesus told Nicodemus, he must be.

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 Do you remember?

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 You are a child of the Jerusalem above.

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 And that's why the citation,

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 that's why the reference from Isaiah 54

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 is so important and so appropriate,

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 because it begins with a summons to joy.

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 If you are born from above,

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 regardless of your earthly circumstances this morning,

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 you have the best reason for joy.

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 And so he says, rejoice.

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 And only the sons of the free woman,

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 the heirs of the Jerusalem above,

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 have grounds for lasting joy.

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 Because we can rejoice this morning,

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 despite our circumstances,

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 because we're not in bondage.

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 And we're not in slavery to sin.

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 And we're no longer under the bondage of the law.

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 And we're no longer under the bondage

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 of the wrath and curse of God.

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 And we're no longer under the bondage

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 of satanic opposition and oppression.

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 No, we are free by his grace.

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 And we've been adopted children of God.

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 And we are born again.

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 And we have been made heirs of God

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 and co-heirs with Christ.

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 And we are bound for glory forever.

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 And so whatever you're going through this morning,

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 we can rejoice, despite all of that.

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 And that is the inheritance that only grace can give.

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 Who is your mother?

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 Is yours a life of slavery?

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 Or do you know the joy of gospel freedom?

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 The irritation, secondly, that grace causes.

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 The inheritance that grace gives.

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 The irritation grace causes.

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 Suppose you are a child of a free woman.

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 And you are this morning an heir of grace.

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 A citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.

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 And you are trust...

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 Anyone own a black Vauxhall Vectra?

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 Anyone own a black Vauxhall Vectra?

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 If somebody owns that, they can...

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 If they can go move that, that would be great.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.

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 That wasn't a planned interruption.

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 It would have been great if it was.

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 So imagine that you are...

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 There's a bit of lightness, isn't it?

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 Imagine you are an heir of the free woman this morning.

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 You are a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.

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 And you're trusting today in the Lord.

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 What's that like?

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 When I said to you just now,

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 I said that you could rejoice.

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 Some of you are in the midst of real pain and agony.

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 Some of you have real difficulties.

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 And so is the Christian life...

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 Is it always joy and gladness from here on in, is it?

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 Is that what you can expect?

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 To bounce through life with a smile on your lips

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 and a skip in your step.

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 Is that how you're going to go?

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 Is that what you should expect from the Christian life?

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 We look down at verse 29.

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 And notice there Paul's great realism with the Galatians.

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 Just...

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 But just as at that time,

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 he who was born according to the flesh

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 persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,

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 so also it is now.

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 Ishmael, do you remember him?

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 Born according to the flesh,

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 persecuted Isaac.

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 Born through the promise.

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 And in the same way,

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 in Paul's day,

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 the legalists in Paul's day

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 were heaping scorn

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 on the free grace people in Galatia.

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 And the reason that they were reacting so badly

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 to Paul's gospel of free grace

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 is because grace,

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 God's undeserved kindness,

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 is an irritant

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 to the soul of the self-righteous.

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 Grace is an irritant.

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 But when you understand that God accepts you

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 not from anything that you've done

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 or anything that you can do,

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 and that despite your sin and rebellion,

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 God in his wonderful mercy

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 will accept you solely because of what Jesus Christ has done,

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 that can be a real irritant

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 to those who are relying on themselves.

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 It's like grit under your eyelid.

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 It's like lemon juice in a paper cut.

00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.740
 It's like a splinter in your toe.

00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:23.160
 It's like a stone that's in your shoe.

00:19:23.820 --> 00:19:24.799
 It provokes.

00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.100
 And grace makes the legalistic heart restless

00:19:30.100 --> 00:19:32.240
 and it stirs it up and it incites it.

00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:35.420
 And you've got to get the grit out,

00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:35.759
 haven't you?

00:19:36.620 --> 00:19:38.299
 You've got to get the stone out of your shoe.

00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:39.259
 It makes you miserable.

00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:44.160
 And it's possible that you may be here this morning

00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.099
 and as you begin to understand about the gospel,

00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.900
 as you begin to understand how sinful that you are

00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:54.500
 and salvation has nothing to do with your self-image

00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:56.140
 and what you achieve and all those things,

00:19:56.740 --> 00:20:01.140
 actually grace becomes like grit in the eye,

00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:03.339
 like stone in your shoe.

00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:07.779
 And when you understand the wonder of free forgiveness

00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:09.579
 and adoption into God's family,

00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:11.459
 it makes you just a little bit uncomfortable

00:20:11.459 --> 00:20:12.459
 every time you hear it.

00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.220
 And you kick and you struggle.

00:20:15.379 --> 00:20:17.379
 You argue and you push back against the gospel.

00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.079
 And Paul gives you the explanation of this.

00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.359
 He tells you what's going on in your heart.

00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:26.679
 The reason why the gospel rubs you up the wrong way

00:20:26.679 --> 00:20:30.220
 is because the word says that you're wrong.

00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:31.379
 It's not that the word is wrong.

00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:35.660
 And that your heart and my heart is so locked in,

00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:37.740
 it is so wedded to self-righteousness.

00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:43.360
 And you and I are desperate to justify ourselves before God.

00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.740
 And the truth is a gospel of free pardon in Jesus,

00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:53.300
 received only by faith,

00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:57.780
 plus no works at all of yours.

00:20:59.280 --> 00:21:00.980
 Well, let me tell you what that does to your ego.

00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.840
 It takes an axe and it cuts your ego right down.

00:21:06.340 --> 00:21:10.620
 And it strips us of any claim to personal merit

00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:11.820
 before the days of God.

00:21:14.340 --> 00:21:17.000
 We're not saved because of, look what I did.

00:21:18.760 --> 00:21:22.600
 But we are saved only through the blood and obedience,

00:21:22.820 --> 00:21:24.620
 through the death and the obedience of the Lord Jesus.

00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:29.339
 But if you're seeking to assert your own righteousness,

00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.939
 if you're seeking to say, well, this is who I am

00:21:33.939 --> 00:21:34.879
 and this is what I've done,

00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:39.379
 you cannot tolerate a salvation that is free

00:21:39.379 --> 00:21:41.959
 on the obedience of another.

00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:48.019
 And I wonder this morning that as you seek to understand the gospel

00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:50.880
 and you begin to grasp it and you get irritated by it,

00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.519
 it really is a red flag, isn't it?

00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:53.360
 It's a warning light.

00:21:53.359 --> 00:22:01.079
 Alerting you to how far you are from the only safe path.

00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:05.859
 Because all your religion, all your piety,

00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:08.439
 all your morality, if you trust in it,

00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:10.639
 you cannot hope for peace in that.

00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:14.759
 The only thing that you can hope for peace in

00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:17.040
 is in the grace of God in Christ alone.

00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.360
 And there's a word of warning, isn't there?

00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:23.440
 There's a word of warning to the faithful Christians.

00:22:25.360 --> 00:22:28.140
 Paul wants the Galatians and he wants us as a church

00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:32.860
 to understand opposition, pushback,

00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:39.080
 criticism, persecution, shouldn't surprise us.

00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.620
 I think that's interesting, isn't it?

00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.800
 As we begin to think about praying more zealously,

00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.560
 more earnestly for people to become Christians.

00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:56.180
 As we think about the Christians, the non-Christians

00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:58.540
 that come in here week by week by week by week

00:22:58.540 --> 00:22:59.440
 and we begin to pray for them,

00:22:59.540 --> 00:23:01.880
 what must we expect?

00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:03.900
 Well, we must expect people to be converted.

00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:08.600
 But we must expect also pushback and criticism and opposition.

00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:12.859
 And of course, the Christian life is not just full

00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:14.179
 of endlessly happy moments.

00:23:17.459 --> 00:23:20.740
 Just as the rebellious, self-righteous heart

00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:23.099
 is irritated by free grace,

00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:27.980
 so the world is provoked by the witness of the faithful.

00:23:29.939 --> 00:23:32.639
 Grace drives legalists mad.

00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:34.660
 It's an irritant.

00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:38.640
 And so, believer in the Lord Jesus,

00:23:38.780 --> 00:23:40.600
 don't be surprised at the hostility

00:23:40.600 --> 00:23:42.220
 of non-Christian friends and family.

00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.680
 Get ready, that's normal Christian life.

00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:49.680
 Because when we understand the gospel,

00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:53.000
 that the gospel is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:54.300
 and you will be saved,

00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:56.640
 you say to yourself, and I often say to myself,

00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:58.460
 it just can't be that easy.

00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:01.540
 It can't be that free.

00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:04.980
 It can't be that gracious.

00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.080
 There must be something left for me to do.

00:24:10.540 --> 00:24:13.640
 In fact, when you explain the gospel that simply,

00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:15.980
 people say, well, isn't that just a license

00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:17.380
 for me to live as I want?

00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:19.259
 Somebody said to me this week,

00:24:19.320 --> 00:24:21.140
 can't I just go on sinning?

00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:24.920
 If you say that God accepts you for free

00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:26.940
 and only for the sake of the righteousness

00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:29.120
 of Jesus Christ racked into your account

00:24:29.120 --> 00:24:30.200
 once and forever,

00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:32.960
 and you are forgiven once and forever

00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:34.940
 in that moment that you trust the Lord Jesus,

00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:36.380
 if you say that,

00:24:37.500 --> 00:24:38.360
 someone might think, well,

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:40.259
 doesn't it matter how I live?

00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:45.200
 If you need to qualify every statement,

00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.860
 if you feel like you've got to say,

00:24:48.860 --> 00:24:50.259
 well, no, we have to keep the law,

00:24:50.259 --> 00:24:54.680
 remember that grace that is qualified by works

00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:56.700
 is not grace alone.

00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:04.640
 Paul is saying, make your stand on free grace alone.

00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:10.079
 And that lifts a terrible burden from your heart.

00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.879
 It lifts guilt from your shoulders.

00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:18.279
 The burden of trying to be so holy

00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:20.500
 that you will impress God.

00:25:20.579 --> 00:25:22.940
 It's a fool's errand that you'll never accomplish anyway.

00:25:25.399 --> 00:25:26.539
 But you need to beware,

00:25:26.599 --> 00:25:27.399
 and I need to beware,

00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:28.420
 and count the cost

00:25:28.420 --> 00:25:29.720
 as you begin to live your life

00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:30.460
 on the promise

00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:32.220
 and on free grace

00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:33.460
 and on the gift of God.

00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:36.539
 Don't be surprised

00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:37.980
 at just how annoying

00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:40.500
 the world is going to begin to find you.

00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:45.380
 when people really understand the gospel,

00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:48.720
 and when a church preaches the gospel,

00:25:49.099 --> 00:25:51.339
 no matter how kind and warm

00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:53.000
 and loving you may be

00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:54.279
 to someone,

00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:58.119
 if that person hangs their hope

00:25:58.119 --> 00:25:59.039
 before God

00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:00.500
 on their doing

00:26:00.500 --> 00:26:02.960
 and their own self-righteous,

00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:04.940
 you will be obnoxious to them.

00:26:04.940 --> 00:26:08.720
 The glory of the gospel

00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.180
 is that it's free.

00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:15.600
 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:17.660
 and you will be saved,

00:26:17.779 --> 00:26:19.360
 you and your household.

00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:22.240
 That's all the gospel requires.

00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:22.740
 Repent.

00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:25.539
 Turn from your sin

00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:30.759
 and trust in Jesus Christ.

00:26:31.899 --> 00:26:32.339
 Alone.

00:26:32.579 --> 00:26:33.599
 Trust his obedience

00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:34.579
 and his blood.

00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:37.240
 And you will find him

00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:38.000
 to be a perfect

00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:38.759
 and a comprehensive

00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:40.339
 saviour now and forever.

00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:41.240
 There is no hope.

00:26:41.339 --> 00:26:42.480
 There is no hope,

00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:43.659
 none for you

00:26:43.659 --> 00:26:44.859
 apart from that simple message.

00:26:46.379 --> 00:26:48.259
 But as you embrace that message

00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:49.220
 in all its simplicity,

00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:51.139
 count the cost.

00:26:52.639 --> 00:26:53.379
 Get ready

00:26:53.379 --> 00:26:54.379
 because the world

00:26:54.380 --> 00:26:55.360
 is perfectly happy,

00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:55.620
 isn't it,

00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:56.860
 with any form

00:26:56.860 --> 00:26:58.420
 of self-salvation.

00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:02.360
 The world is glad

00:27:02.360 --> 00:27:04.280
 to allow and embrace

00:27:04.280 --> 00:27:05.200
 all manner

00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:06.200
 of works righteousness.

00:27:06.820 --> 00:27:07.640
 But strip people

00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:08.320
 of their own power,

00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:11.260
 tell them all grounds

00:27:11.260 --> 00:27:12.540
 for hope in themselves

00:27:12.540 --> 00:27:14.120
 and in their own efforts

00:27:14.120 --> 00:27:15.320
 is futile

00:27:15.320 --> 00:27:18.860
 and you shatter the illusion.

00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:22.220
 I'm a nice guy.

00:27:22.360 --> 00:27:22.860
 God is bound

00:27:22.860 --> 00:27:23.880
 to accept me

00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:24.840
 because I'm a nice guy.

00:27:26.280 --> 00:27:27.100
 Take that away

00:27:27.100 --> 00:27:27.460
 and say,

00:27:27.560 --> 00:27:27.980
 no, no, no.

00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:29.960
 The only hope for you

00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:30.980
 is Jesus Christ

00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:33.220
 and you will soon

00:27:33.220 --> 00:27:34.180
 find how hostile

00:27:34.180 --> 00:27:35.640
 they will be.

00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:37.860
 The inheritance grace

00:27:37.860 --> 00:27:38.200
 gives

00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.500
 the irritation

00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:40.160
 grace courses

00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:40.800
 and then lastly,

00:27:40.940 --> 00:27:41.680
 the intolerance

00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:43.320
 that grace requires.

00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:44.140
 Look at verses 30

00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:44.500
 and 31.

00:27:47.260 --> 00:27:48.440
 The intolerance

00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:49.340
 grace requires.

00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:49.940
 Verse 30,

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:50.800
 what does the scripture say?

00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:51.279
 He cast out

00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:51.819
 the slave woman

00:27:51.819 --> 00:27:53.559
 and her son

00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:54.079
 for the son

00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:54.859
 of the slave woman

00:27:54.859 --> 00:27:55.659
 shall not inherit

00:27:55.659 --> 00:27:56.480
 with the son

00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:57.000
 of the free woman.

00:27:57.319 --> 00:27:57.859
 And Paul again

00:27:57.859 --> 00:27:58.279
 is quoting

00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.119
 from the same story

00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:01.319
 of God's command

00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:02.559
 to Abraham

00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:04.099
 to set Hagar

00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:05.539
 and her son Ishmael

00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:07.000
 to set them aside,

00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.099
 to send them away

00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:08.779
 in favor

00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:10.579
 of Sarah

00:28:10.579 --> 00:28:11.639
 and her son Isaac

00:28:11.639 --> 00:28:12.980
 because only Isaac

00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:13.519
 is the child

00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:14.059
 of the promise.

00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:15.379
 He alone

00:28:15.379 --> 00:28:15.960
 is to inherit

00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:17.279
 and so Hagar

00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:18.340
 and Ishmael

00:28:18.340 --> 00:28:19.180
 are to be ejected.

00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:20.640
 What's his point?

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:23.240
 Well, it's not very subtle.

00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:25.900
 He's saying to the Galatians,

00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.000
 do not be a tolerant

00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:30.559
 and inclusive church.

00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:35.779
 Do not be a tolerant

00:28:35.779 --> 00:28:36.680
 and inclusive church.

00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:37.380
 What do I mean by that?

00:28:38.860 --> 00:28:40.100
 There must be a limit

00:28:40.100 --> 00:28:40.880
 to our tolerance

00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:42.700
 when it comes to error.

00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:45.220
 There must be a limit

00:28:45.220 --> 00:28:46.100
 to our tolerance

00:28:46.100 --> 00:28:46.940
 when it comes to error.

00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:47.980
 So we live in a time,

00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:48.259
 don't we,

00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:49.120
 where tolerance

00:28:49.120 --> 00:28:50.860
 is virtually

00:28:50.860 --> 00:28:51.539
 the only

00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:53.120
 non-negotiable ethic

00:28:53.120 --> 00:28:54.640
 people have got left.

00:28:54.700 --> 00:28:55.299
 It's the only law.

00:28:55.360 --> 00:28:55.779
 Be tolerant.

00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:57.940
 And yet,

00:28:58.039 --> 00:28:58.360
 we know,

00:28:58.420 --> 00:28:58.620
 don't we,

00:28:58.640 --> 00:28:59.340
 that even the most

00:28:59.340 --> 00:29:01.019
 socially progressive

00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:02.539
 voices in our society

00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:05.600
 that constantly preach

00:29:05.600 --> 00:29:06.600
 inclusion

00:29:06.600 --> 00:29:07.940
 and tolerance,

00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:08.880
 actually,

00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:09.620
 when you say something

00:29:09.620 --> 00:29:10.860
 that they disagree with,

00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:12.039
 they become awfully intolerant,

00:29:12.080 --> 00:29:12.299
 don't they?

00:29:13.140 --> 00:29:14.240
 When their own

00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:15.220
 moral vision

00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:15.960
 is challenged,

00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:18.420
 they become very intolerant.

00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:18.920
 So,

00:29:19.080 --> 00:29:19.920
 haven't you found that

00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:20.340
 to be so?

00:29:21.120 --> 00:29:22.259
 When you affirm

00:29:22.259 --> 00:29:23.779
 that homosexuality

00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:24.519
 is a sin,

00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:26.299
 when you maintain

00:29:26.299 --> 00:29:26.960
 that people

00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:28.420
 cannot change

00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:29.660
 their biological sex,

00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:30.420
 how tolerant

00:29:30.420 --> 00:29:30.799
 are people?

00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:34.240
 We all have limits

00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:34.860
 to our tolerance.

00:29:37.340 --> 00:29:38.160
 Tolerance cannot

00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:39.299
 be an absolute ideal.

00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:41.120
 And Paul is

00:29:41.120 --> 00:29:42.480
 urging the church

00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:43.019
 in Galatia

00:29:43.019 --> 00:29:43.940
 to understand

00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:45.620
 the intolerance

00:29:45.620 --> 00:29:47.059
 that grace requires.

00:29:48.740 --> 00:29:49.200
 Cast out

00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:49.799
 the slave woman

00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:50.279
 and her son.

00:29:53.579 --> 00:29:54.019
 And so,

00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:54.640
 we need to be careful

00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:54.799
 here,

00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:55.019
 don't we?

00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:55.799
 But we need to say this,

00:29:55.860 --> 00:29:56.799
 false teaching

00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:58.680
 must have no place

00:29:58.680 --> 00:29:59.240
 in the church

00:29:59.240 --> 00:29:59.940
 of Jesus Christ.

00:29:59.940 --> 00:29:59.980
 Christ.

00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:04.480
 Do not make room

00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:05.160
 for lies.

00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:07.440
 Don't say,

00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:07.539
 well,

00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:08.299
 that's just

00:30:08.299 --> 00:30:09.900
 another strand,

00:30:10.080 --> 00:30:10.779
 another interpretation.

00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:13.059
 Don't accommodate

00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:13.880
 those who peddle

00:30:13.880 --> 00:30:14.600
 a false gospel.

00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:15.599
 grace.

00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:17.740
 You cannot include

00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:18.859
 in the same church

00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:20.279
 both grace

00:30:20.279 --> 00:30:21.919
 and anti-grace.

00:30:22.919 --> 00:30:24.219
 You cannot include

00:30:24.219 --> 00:30:24.939
 in the same church

00:30:24.939 --> 00:30:26.099
 Christ

00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:27.219
 and anti-Christ.

00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:27.259
 Christ.

00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:29.539
 You cannot include

00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:30.299
 in the same church

00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:32.059
 the free gospel

00:30:32.059 --> 00:30:33.079
 and the false gospel.

00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:35.559
 The inheritance

00:30:35.559 --> 00:30:36.339
 grace gives,

00:30:36.460 --> 00:30:37.100
 it gives you,

00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:39.140
 it gives you joy

00:30:39.140 --> 00:30:39.819
 at adoption.

00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:42.140
 It gives you joy

00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:42.980
 at being included

00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:43.640
 in the household

00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:44.200
 of God

00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:44.779
 on the basis

00:30:44.779 --> 00:30:46.059
 of God's rich gift.

00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:47.039
 It's a glorious

00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:47.640
 inheritance.

00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:50.780
 But then there is,

00:30:50.820 --> 00:30:51.120
 isn't there,

00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:51.860
 an irritation

00:30:51.860 --> 00:30:52.940
 that grace provokes.

00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:55.940
 If you embrace

00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:56.700
 free grace

00:30:56.700 --> 00:30:57.240
 this morning,

00:30:58.360 --> 00:30:59.160
 you strip away

00:30:59.160 --> 00:30:59.900
 all grounds

00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:00.400
 for boasting

00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:00.860
 in yourself,

00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:01.600
 but watch out

00:31:01.600 --> 00:31:04.440
 because grace

00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:05.520
 will always be

00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:06.300
 an irritant

00:31:06.300 --> 00:31:07.000
 in the heart

00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:08.300
 of the self-righteous

00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:08.940
 and the religious.

00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:13.100
 And then the intolerance

00:31:13.100 --> 00:31:14.220
 that grace requires.

00:31:16.300 --> 00:31:17.540
 We cannot live

00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:18.159
 with lies.

00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:20.960
 We must,

00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:21.779
 we must,

00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:23.119
 we must be kind.

00:31:25.139 --> 00:31:26.079
 And yet we must

00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:26.879
 be firm.

00:31:28.119 --> 00:31:29.279
 And we must stand

00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.059
 for the truth.

00:31:31.420 --> 00:31:32.799
 Because it is

00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:34.339
 terribly unkind,

00:31:34.460 --> 00:31:34.899
 isn't it,

00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:37.299
 to not stand

00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:37.839
 for the truth.

00:31:40.460 --> 00:31:41.559
 And so Paul concludes

00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:42.119
 in verse 31,

00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:42.599
 can you see it?

00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:43.079
 Brothers,

00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:44.799
 and there he does mean

00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:45.559
 brothers and sisters,

00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:46.759
 he says we are not

00:31:46.759 --> 00:31:47.519
 children of the

00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:48.059
 slave women,

00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:48.859
 but the free.

00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:52.740
 Stop flirting

00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:53.819
 with legalism.

00:31:57.579 --> 00:31:59.480
 Stop accommodating

00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:00.539
 yourself to keep

00:32:00.539 --> 00:32:02.220
 in with the

00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:03.139
 accepted group.

00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:05.420
 Keep the world

00:32:05.420 --> 00:32:05.799
 off your back

00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:06.240
 for a moment.

00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:09.900
 But you cannot

00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:10.799
 save yourself.

00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:12.960
 And so don't

00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:14.299
 embrace that peculiar

00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:15.960
 religious brand of it,

00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:17.079
 of self-salvation.

00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:20.299
 In the end,

00:32:20.340 --> 00:32:20.960
 you cannot have it

00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:21.600
 both ways.

00:32:24.779 --> 00:32:25.559
 So can you see

00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:26.559
 you're either Sarah's

00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:27.360
 or you're Hagar's

00:32:27.360 --> 00:32:27.759
 this morning,

00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:28.340
 two mothers,

00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:29.460
 who's your man?

00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:32.019
 And if you're a child

00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:32.600
 of the free woman,

00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:33.500
 a child of grace,

00:32:33.840 --> 00:32:34.720
 then it's time to

00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:36.299
 embrace the gospel.

00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:38.759
 Chapter 5,

00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:39.100
 verse 1,

00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:39.480
 can you see it?

00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:41.860
 For freedom,

00:32:42.120 --> 00:32:43.420
 Christ has set us

00:32:43.420 --> 00:32:43.960
 free.

00:32:46.420 --> 00:32:47.380
 And so put away,

00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:48.380
 cast out,

00:32:48.840 --> 00:32:49.980
 get rid of the

00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:50.420
 legalism.

00:32:52.100 --> 00:32:52.799
 Because what will

00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:53.180
 that do?

00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:55.700
 it will rob you

00:32:55.700 --> 00:32:56.340
 of your joy.

00:32:58.140 --> 00:32:58.799
 And that's Paul's

00:32:58.799 --> 00:32:59.299
 message to the

00:32:59.299 --> 00:33:00.060
 Galatians and to us.

00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:02.460
 May God give us

00:33:02.460 --> 00:33:03.420
 grace to understand

00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:04.080
 it and to embrace

00:33:04.080 --> 00:33:04.200
 it.

00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:04.600
 Let's pray.

00:33:04.600 --> 00:33:04.680
 Amen.

00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:04.680


00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:06.680
 Amen.

00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680


00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:06.680