Christ Church

Galatians

Hard Law, Hot Gospel: Any Other Gospel (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

Apathy is like wearing concrete boots while swimming. Yet, all too often we are tempted to skate along and ignore complacency and indifference. We say things like, “the honeymoon is over” to justify marital apathy; or “we’ve always done it this way” to justify corporate bloat; or “don’t rock the boat” in order to maintain some status quo. This epistle is Paul being an apostolic burr in the saddle, pebble in the boot, and pain in the neck. In so doing, he kept not only the Galatians, but the early church as a whole from apathetically drifting back into business as usual.

THE TEXT

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. […] Galatians 1:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Before we begin expositing the black and white letters of this epistle, we should take notice of the colorful context of this letter. Other than the synoptic Gospels, this letter from Paul to the Galatians is one of the earliest NT writings (~AD48). As we shall see, this fact proves to be pivotal in locking the door against a dangerous error that was threatening the early church. But this was not only from Paul, it was from Paul “and all the brethren” (v2), to the churches (plural) of Galatia. This helps us decide between two theories regarding the timing of this letter. The Northern Galatian theory argues that this was written to the Gauls located in what is now central Turkey; these were Celtic peoples, who were spread across Europe at the time. Paul eventually visited the northern Galatians (Acts 16:6; 18:5). The Southern Galatian theory is that Paul wrote to the Roman province of Galatia which consisted of four primary cities which we know Paul visited in his early mission trips: Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14), Iconium (Acts 13:51), Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 14:6, 20 – 21). Given the content, not to mention the heat, of Paul’s letter we are left with a strong case for this being written in the lead up to the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts 15) not after.

Paul begins by asserting the nature of his apostleship (v1). He greets them with grace and peace, and briefly states the Gospel: Jesus (whom the Father had raised from the dead) gave Himself for our sins (Cf. Is. 53:6), to deliver us from the “present evil age”, by the Father’s will, and this all leads us to glorify God (vv3-5). Instead of pleasant thanksgiving for the Galatians, Paul begins with a deep grievance. And no wonder! The Galatians have drifted from the Gospel which he had taught them, into a graceless Gospel (v6). This took place because the Galatians were troubled by some who had perverted the Gospel (v7). Paul pronounces a double anathema on angelic or human teachers of this mangled Gospel (vv8-9).

This is very personal, not academic, for Paul. Other than Acts we learn more about Paul’s biography from this section of Galatians than anywhere else. This is important because Paul wants to impress upon the Galatians that Christ’s coming was apocalyptic, and Paul had personally experienced the potency of the revelation of Jesus Christ. None of what Paul has done was by man or for man, because this Gospel was from God and for God’s glory (vv10-12).

Beginning in 1:13, Paul launches into a lengthy personal history which continues through most of chapter 2 as well. Paul had been a zealous hall monitor for the laws of the Pharisees and was infamous for his seething persecution of the disciples of Christ and profiting from his persecutions (vv13-14). Elsewhere he describes himself as a blasphemer (1 Tim. 1:13). Central to Paul’s Gospel is the sovereign will of God to deliver such wicked sinners from their sin. Paul explains that by God’s grace the Son was revealed to him, and this was foreordained by God even when Paul was in his mother’s womb (vv15-16a, Cf. Is. 49:1). God kindly did this so that Paul would bring news of Christ’s deliverance from this present evil age to the heathen (v16). After Paul’s conversion, he didn’t enroll at Jerusalem Apostolic Seminary. This will be important to the argument that Paul concludes in chapter 2. Rather, he went into Arabia, presumably to pray and study (v 17; Cf. 2 Cor. 12:2-4). Three years later, he visited with Peter & James in Jerusalem for 15 days, but didn’t spend time with any of the other apostles (vv18-19).

Paul avows the truth of all this (v20); he didn’t linger in Judea, going instead to Gentile regions. The Judaean Christians knew that their former persecutor was now preaching the Gospel he’d attempted to destroy, though they hadn’t met him personally these Jewish believers glorified God because of him (vv21-24).

THE GOSPEL IS PERSONAL 

It might seem incongruous to us why Paul stresses his personal history in making his argument against the Judaizers. The work which Paul has been set apart for, from his mother’s womb, is not a merely human venture. We could easily mistake Paul’s concern about establishing his apostolic office as some sort of territorial turf war. This is not why Paul is arguing. His apostleship is tied up with ancient promises which God, through Christ, has now made good.

We see this in Paul’s two allusions to Isaiah. First, consider his allusion to Isaiah 53:6. The sheep had strayed, every last one; so the Lord offers up His anointed servant as the sacrifice. He gave himself for us. Faithful OT saints believed that God would inaugurate the last times and would do so with two clear signs. The first would be the coming of the Messiah, the Lord’s servant and true King of Israel. The second sign would be that of the resurrection (Job 19:25). As Paul makes his argument throughout this epistle, these articles of ancient faith must be kept in mind. Jesus’ coming was the breaking through of God’s new creation work, and this of course was manifestly vindicated by Jesus’ own resurrection.

So then, Paul’s insistence on tracing his apostolic calling is not off topic from his main argument, nor is it a pious flex. If God’s new creation work had really burst into this world, then Paul’s Damascus road conversion is not off topic. The Risen Christ in His ascended glory had revealed himself to this blaspheming murderer to convert him and then task him to go with the glad tidings of the new creation to the Gentiles. This ties in with the second allusion that Paul makes to Isaiah and his description of the Messiah’s mission (Is. 49:1). Isaiah says Messiah would gather Israel’s wandering sheep and then shine with Gospel light upon the Gentiles. So Paul’s Damascus conversion and thus Gentile commission really was on topic.

THE GOSPEL IS POTENT 

This Gospel is also potent. It is potent personally. But the personal potency of the Gospel is in force because of the transformation that took place in the order of things when Christ arose. Christ’s resurrection was the Galatian’s deliverance from the present evil world. The world governed by demons, where hard law was needful to restrain the raving of depraved man. But since Christ had come, the old order was passing away and along with it the dominion of devils. Thus, a return to the Law (which is the primary issue Paul will deal with) is to turn away from the potency of Christ’s life, to the impotency of dead flesh. To return to the law would be to return to business as usual, and with Christ’s coming it was no longer business as usual. All things were being made new.

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A Fortified City (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

John Bunyan, in his book Holy War, once typified our personal battle against sin, the devil, and the world as a warfare against a city. He took the various attributes of both the body and soul and represented them as a city besieged by an array of threats. I want to attempt something similar, but applied to the life and work of the church. As is commonly said, the story of Scripture began in a garden, but it will end in a garden city that fills the whole earth.

THE TEXT

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Psalm 87:3

CITY WALLS

The church is not an amorphous entity with indefinite boundaries. The liberal wants the walls of the city of God to be all-encompassing. The hidebound legalist wants the city walls to be just big enough for the handful of people they agree with…for now. But the Bible defines for us where the city walls are for the Church.

These walls require us to look at them as they are at present and then look in faith to when they will encompass the whole world. Jeremiah describes what will one day be true of the entire globe: “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jer 31:34).” The liberal wants the city walls to be universal right now; the purist wants to hold off on any expansion plans until the final trump shall sound.

City walls are essential. They serve two functions: keeping in and keeping out. That wonderful line from Tolkien comes to mind, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Walls surround the citizens so they know where they belong. Within these walls is your home.

The walls of this city are the Word and Sacraments. Or to put it another way, we dwell in Christ. The Apostle John uses the language of a dwelling place: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (1Jo 4:13).” The walls of this city are Christ. His Word and His signs. Those who have heard His Word and received it by faith dwell in Him, for He places His covenant sign of water upon them, and He feeds them with Himself. We dwell in Him, while He dwells in us.

But the secondary function of a city’s walls reveals something which is offensive to many. The walls keep out. Our culture is drunk on the cheap wine of inclusion. The walls of the Gospel of Christ make it plain that the only salvation to be found is within the walls of this City, which is Christ, and the signs of citizenship. Throughout the story of the Church’s history, these walls of God’s commandments surround God’s people, and expel the enemies of these divine truths (Deu. 6:16-18, Acts 20:29, 1 Co. 5:11). There are only two types of people, and Scripture bears this out in a number of different figures: sheep and goats, wheat and tares, elect and reprobate, sons of God and sons of the devil.

One temptation we face is to mistake the lesser walls within the cities which mark out the different neighborhoods as the city walls themselves. The city walls are not our confessions of faith, or our books of procedures, or denominational lines. The City walls are the Word of Christ, and those who trust in Him as He is proclaimed in Scripture find refuge within those everlasting bulwarks of His righteousness. This is what Jesus teaches when He said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (Jhn 6:37).”

CITY GATES

After the erection of city walls, the next most important feature of city fortifications is the gate. In the ancient world, the gate functioned as the gathering place, the market place, and most obviously, the access point. A city gate is where it is most vulnerable. It can have impressive walls, but if the gate is compromised the city will be overrun by its enemies.

Continuing our analogy, for those who enter by faith, the gate is baptism. For those who prove to be enemies of the cross of Christ, the gates are church discipline. The WCF describes the stages of church discipline this way: admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for a season; and by excommunication from the Church (WCF XXX.4). This follows the pattern Jesus laid out in Matthew 18. We also see an OT example of this principle acted out by Nehemiah breaking up the Sabbath market which had shown up in Jerusalem’s gates.

Those who come through the gate of baptism are not the exact same group of those who will dwell forever in the City of God when it’s full glory is revealed. This is what we commonly refer to as the visible vs invisible church. Too often believers recognize the significance of the church’s duty to welcome new saints (whether in infancy or in conversion) through the gates of baptism, but neglect that the church is also tasked with expelling false sons and barring the gates to apostates. There will be those who weep outside the city gates for all eternity gnashing their teeth, clawing out their eyes, and despairing. Some of those will have been baptized at one point, and their everlasting despair will be all the worse for having tasted the goodness of the Lord, only to fall away, hearing His words of judgement, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

Nevertheless, these city gates are not feeble cardboard. Baptism is not a gate from Wish or Temu. Baptism is a mighty gate, which really does mark the entrance out of the world and into the church. And if John’s vision is any indication, these gates are not only strong but they are beautiful. Your baptism really is a strong glory; therefore to apostatize, to walk out of those gates in high handed rebellion is a also a shameful horror.

CITY STOREHOUSE

The Word of God makes provision for the propagation and continuation of the Church. It does this in a few ways. First, the life of the Christian family, dwelling within the walls of Christendom fill the Heavenly Jerusalem with the next generation of worshippers. This is the family’s primary task, to raise up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Mal. 2:15).  Godly men, as Solomon teaches, make every effort to provide for future generations: A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children (Pro 13:22a). This should be taken in both the material and spiritual sense.

Additionally, we see numerous instances of generational thinking. The Patriarchs blessing their sons. Moses handing things off to Joshua. David commissioning Solomon to build the temple. Paul telling Timothy to “commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:12).” The city of God has a storehouse which faithful saints are to fill with the treasures of wisdom, the legacy of applying the Bible to all contexts of human life, and David’s burnished shields and spears of joyful Psalm-singing.

Where one generation neglects to fill the storehouse with good things, the following generation is poorly positioned to weather a siege by the enemies of error, sin, and compromise. Judah’s King Asa once plundered the treasury of the temple to pay the pagan Syrian king to go to war with his brethren in Israel; this significantly weakened Judah. Asa’s own health reflects this weakened state, as he ends his days with diseased feet, unable to go forth to plant his feet in conquest. All because he grew fearful of his circumstances, and instead of walking by faith decided to empty the storehouse for a foolish project.

CITY FORTIFICATIONS

One of the besetting follies of conquerers is to think that once peace is established the work is done. Many a victory has turned into a route because the would be victors became drunk on the spoil. The armor of God includes the need to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace. This implies that the peace envisioned by the Gospel is not insular, retreat-ist, or communal.

Rather, once peace has been established the city must begin to think about expanding its footprint. This, like Israel of old, will be done bit by bit. While Christendom largely expanded North and West from Israel, we must not forget that there have been Christian churches found which date back to the 700s as far Northeast as Beijing. Missionaries have shed their bled in far off frontiers, and while their bones have long since turned to dust, the blood they shed for the Gospel is a seed which will, in future centuries turned into a glorious Gospel harvest bringing in once pagan nations into the newly expanded city walls of Christ’s global governance.

The Gospel Word, while we have been comparing it to city walls, is likened in Scripture to leaven expanding a lump of dough, or a mustard seed growing into a glorious tree, or a small stone turning into a global mountain. The City Walls are intended to be expanded to encompass the entire world. The universalist wants to tear down the walls in order to pretend that that somehow fulfills the Great Commission…tada no walls, now everyone is in the city! No, the walls must never be torn down, but they are to be steadily expanded by faithful application to every new hill, each new valley, each river and sea.

CONCLUSION

Walls, gates, storehouse, and fortifications for future expansion. That is the life the Church. The Word begets us and defines where the City is. The gates welcome repentant sinners into the life of the Glorious City of our God. The storehouses must be continually filled with the virtues of grace, the blessings of faithfulness, and the foresight for generational prosperity. The citizens must not rest until every hill and distant island is circumferenced by the strong walls of Christ our Lord. Indeed, glorious things of thee are spoken, oh city of our God.

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State of the Church 2025 (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

Many passages of Scripture require us to have a sort of double vision. The problems of heresies and schisms arise when one group sees the text one way, while another group sees it another way. Meanwhile, when viewed with the right sort of double vision both aspects fit together perfectly with no contradiction or violence to the distinctions between them. Our task is to receive such texts humbly with both hands.

THE TEXT

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. (Psa 144:12-15 KJV)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This Psalm is a prayer for deliverance from enemies (vv1-11). There are echoes of the prayers found in several prior Psalms. The second part, which we are considering, is the reason David gives to God for why the Lord should grant a gracious deliverance. Why should God condescend and consider man (v3)? The reason David gives to the Lord for why God should answer this prayer is so that the sons of Israel might become stately cedars, and the daughters of Israel may become ornate pillars of a stable civilization (v12). Additionally, David reasons with God that this deliverance from “strange children” will allow Israel to enjoy barns full of grain and grapes, innumerable herds (v13), strong oxen for next year’s sowing and harvesting (v14a), and streets that are quiet and undisturbed by warfare (v14b).

David concludes his argument with God by prevailing upon the Most High to consider the happiness of those whose God is Yahweh. David echos Moses’ blessings upon Israel at the end of Deuteronomy: Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places (Deu 33:29 KJV). God delivered His people in order to bestow upon them everlasting happiness by covenant fellowship. David points at the surrounding enemies and then invites God to consider His covenant promises, calling upon God to establish the joy of His people.

SONS, DAUGHTERS, AND WEALTH

We should see this picture with double vision and both are good. Some might take this to be David being too consumed with temporal and earthly blessings of children, crops, and herds. Someone might snark that David seems to have made his family, material comfort, and happiness an idol. Others try to scrub these verses with lysol wipes of etherealism: David means metaphorical flocks and is envisioning the flock of the NT church. Still others see the promise of full barns, and get dollar signs in their eyes and conclude that earthly wealth is the top floor of the joy elevator. But both the prosperity Gospel swindler, and the thinly sliced pietist miss what is going on here.

The promise of sons that are strong as oak trees, daughters ornate as palace pillars, and flocks as numerous as the sand no the seashore is not an automatic blessing. This blessing is downstream from blessing God. David blesses God, David sings a new song to the Lord (vv1, 9-10). The legacy of healthy offspring and earthly prosperity is not automatic. But it is promised by God, and our response should be one of true faith. But here is where the double vision is needed. The reasons David gave God for delivering Israel was so that Israel could have robust sons and daughters and earthly wealth; but if you look at it rightly you can see that everything in David’s list is, in part, what is necessary to maintain the sacrificial worship of the tabernacle.

The prophet Joel portrays the inversion of these covenantal blessings, and explicitly highlights that the devastation of the locust army had consequences when it came to continuing the sacrifices which God had commanded (Joe 1:8-10 KJV). David then sees children and earthly wealth as the means whereby worship of the living God might be carried on to all generations. He is not the short-sighted hedonist, nor is he the severe exegete. David summons us to consider that sons and daughters and material blessings are the means whereby God’s kingdom is continually built up and prospered and advanced.

OUR GROWING BODY

We have been worshipping together as a distinct service for two and half years. Our aim should be that as this congregation grows, as a microcosm of the broader Moscow growth, we must get the order right. Bless God first and foremost in order for your vineyard to be well-laden with fruit. But don’t stop there. The fruit of children and the fruit of your labors are not ends in themselves, they are the continuation of God’s promise to fill the world, from one side to the other, with worshippers.

We have many young families. Our vision for what God is doing here at CCD must be that these sons will soon be running the institutions the previous generation established, these daughters will soon be raising their own brood, all your wealth will soon be handed down to your heirs. The question is, will they be steadfast in the worship of the living God? Will they love the standard? Will they be more courageous and bold than you? Will they treasure God’s Word as great spoil?

Our prayer for deliverance from enemies of woke policies, globalist tyranny, deluded sexual ethics, and vain fiscal measures must always be aimed at the intention that we and our children might worship God in all peace and quietness. But deliverance from evil is never a permission slip to longer naps, lazier work ethic, gentle parenting, or hazy Bible reading practices.

TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL HAPPINESS

All this demands three things. Do not let off the gas when it comes to teaching your family to walk in the ways of the Lord, and filling your home with joyful songs of praise, the truthful words of sincere confession, and the rejection of mindless worldly entertainment. Secondly, work hard. David’s request to God to spare Israel from the destruction of invading armies is so that next year Israel can get to work again on another season of plowing, sowing, watering and harvesting. Do not avoid hard work, find another gear, and do so for the reasons described in this Psalm: supplying the needs for the mission of God’s covenant promises to a thousand generations.

Lastly, blessing God and being made happy by God are the brackets of this Psalm. This is true living. Bless God. Receive His blessings with true faith and gladness in order to bless Him once more. But don’t fall into the trap of viewing the temporal and eternal as enemies. You are raising children who will either live forever in the bliss of heaven, or forever damned due to unbelief. You are working to bring glorious treasures into the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:24). This is because if the Lord is your God, happiness is both your present and everlasting reality.

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What is Man? (Advent #2) (CC Downtown)

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PSALM 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth,

Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have ordained strength,

Because of Your enemies,

That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

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Break Forth and Sing, O Barren

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INTRODUCTION

There is a perennial temptation for the people of God to go back to slavery. After Israel was delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny, they found that freedom had its costs. They had no food; they ran into giants. So they longed to return to Egypt where there was bread, meat, and at least the semblance of protection—those chariots, pretty fancy.

A similar temptation came upon the Galatian Christians. God had brought them the gospel of Jesus Christ through Paul. But the Judaizers showed up shortly after preaching a different gospel, one that would take the Galatians back to bondage (Galatians 5:1). These Judaizers did not deny that Christ was the Messiah. But they insisted that if a man would be saved, then he must be circumcised, and thus keep all of the laws of Moses.

The Galatian situation maps on to Israel’s situation in Moses’ day. For Israel, there was no going back to slavery in Egypt. Egypt was under the judgment of God. For the Galatians, there was no going back to Jerusalem’s Old Covenant with its sign of circumcision. Jerusalem was under the judgment of God. In our text, Paul develops an allegory to teach the Galatian Christians that through Christ they have been set free and must not turn back to a yoke of slavery.

The message is: You’re children of the free woman so live free.

THE TEXT

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free (Gal. 4:22-31).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Let’s consider a survey of the text. Paul writes to those who desired to be under the law (v. 21), not sweet Christians who wanted to obey God, but those who thought they would really get right with God by circumcision and keeping the laws of Moses.

It is as if Paul questioned these people, “But what about Abraham’s two sons?” Ishmael came by a slave woman, Hagar; and Isaac by a free woman, Sarah (v. 22). These sons were not born in the same way. Ishmael was born after the flesh and Isaac by promise (v. 23). Isaac, of course was a natural or biological son of Abraham just as much as Ishmael. But Isaac’s birth came about by divine promise, not mere flesh or nature.

These things are an allegory; they are two covenants. Hagar corresponds to Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage (v. 24). Hagar also corresponds to the Jerusalem that existed in Paul’s day, a Jerusalem that was in bondage with her children (v. 25). Remember that Jerusalem was the city that killed the prophets and it was the city that killed the Son. It was the city which was soon to be leveled by the Romans in AD 70.

Paul contrasts the Jerusalem which then was with the Jerusalem which is above. That heavenly Jerusalem is free and mother of us all (v. 26). She is Sarah. Isaiah says that this heavenly Sarah-Covenant, though she was barren, will have many more children than Hagar (v. 27).

The Galatians needed to grasp that they were Isaac, children of the promise (v. 28). They were the Spirit-born son being persecuted by the merely flesh-born son (v. 29). But they did not need to fret. For Scripture had already said through the mouth of Sarah that the slave woman and her son would be cast out (v. 30). And we in the new covenant are not slave-born, but freeborn (v. 31). You’re children of the freewoman so live free.

NO MORE SCHOOLMARM

Being a freeborn child of the new covenant means that you are no longer under a schoolmarm (Galatians 3:24-25). Say goodbye to all of the tsk-tsking and wrist-slapping. And if you’re response to this good news is to say, “Great, no more studying for me. Let me prepare my spit balls,” then know all of the freemen around you in this New Covenant classroom are chuckling to themselves saying, “This guy has no idea what the Spirit of holiness is about to do to him. He may not be ready for freedom. But freedom is coming for him and it is about to do a number on him.” If you think it hurt when the schoolmarm grabbed you by the ear, just wait until the Spirit does it.

ENLARGE YOUR TENTS

Sarah’s children have to join their free mother in enlarging their tents. The spirit of the Judaizers was an constricting one. The Galatians Christians couldn’t get into their little tent. They had put a few man-made hurdles in the way. In the face of this, Paul quotes Isaiah, and here it is with context:

“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited” (Isaiah 54:1-3)

Peter got caught up with the Judaizing spirit when he pulled back and away from the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). But the spirit of the new covenant says, “We’re going to need more space.” We both anticipate the Gentiles pouring in and our hearts are enlarged and wide open toward them. We care not what language you speak, what color you are. We care not what mess you have been tangled up in. Come sinners poor and needy, bruised and broken by the fall.

HEIRS, NO MERE SERVANTS

We happily say with Paul that we are servants of Christ (Romans 1:1). Yet this same Paul says that we are no longer a servant, but a son (Galatians 4:7). The slave woman’s son would not be heir, but the children of the freewoman would be (Galatians 4:30). An heir inherits. And what does an heir inherit? All that the Father determines to give. Our Father has not left us without a word on the matter: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?

BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT, NOT JUST THE FLESH

We are members of the new covenant. Like the Galatian Christians, we are born after the Spirit, not merely the flesh (v. 29). The Galatians made the foolish mistake of beginning by the Spirit and then trying to proceed by the flesh, and they heard Paul’s dismay (Galatians 3:3). So let us learn the lesson.

Put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). You can’t get the job done by might or power. You are children of promise. You are children of gift. You are children of a barren woman, and an old one at that. We are supernaturally-wrought sons and daughters and members of a heavenly covenant and kingdom that is now at hand.

We must learn that sacred art of living in our flesh (for there is no other way for us to live) without living by our flesh. Plan by the Spirit. Confess sin by the Spirit. Make your resolutions by the Spirit. Provide for your families by the Spirit. Teach your children by the Spirit. Everything must be done by the work of the angels, by the wind that blows where it wills.

AND THIS THROUGH CHRIST

And you say, “But how do I get access to that power? I really do long for the Spirit to be poured out on my life. Where can I get more of this Living Water?” . . . Through Christ. He is the one in whom this new covenant—this Sarah covenant—is established. It was established in his blood, the blood of the new covenant. That blood-secured covenant is more solid than your fears.

You say, “But sometimes I feel like a slave.” The blood says you are free. “But sometimes I feel like a barren and lonely woman who wants to shrink her home.” The blood says enlarge your tent and enlarge your heart. You say, “I just don’t have the strength.” The blood that speaks a better word than that of Abel says, “Yes, yes, of course you don’t. You are born of the Spirit, and having begun by the Spirit, would you be now perfected by the flesh?” Of course you won’t. You will be perfected the same way all of the saints are, by the Spirit through Christ.

Christ has set you free. Christ will keep you free.

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