If you would please turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians. Galatians 4 verses 1-7 is what is in your bulletin. I want to back up one verse and read verse 29 and then go into chapter 4. If you have found that, please stand with me as we open together Not the word of men, but the word of God. Listen carefully. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians, managers until the day set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word this morning to our lives, the reading of it and the preaching of it. You may be seated. Let's pray and ask God's blessing. Our Father and our God, we thank You that You feed us upon Your Holy Word. We have come here this morning to open it and to hear the voice of our Lord and our God. We pray that You would encourage us, that You might admonish us, that You might fill us with Your Word and Your Spirit. May He be our teacher and our guide. May He transform us into the image of your Son. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. For some of us, anyway, we began to see that our children were growing up when they came to us and said, Dad, could you take the training wheels off? I don't need them anymore. That's true. Some didn't even use training wheels. So that illustration kind of falls down a little bit. But I remember we began to see our children were growing up when we would go on vacations. And my parents were in Northern California at the time. And the kids were real little. And so we would drive through the night because we knew they would sleep through the night. And boy, it was it was nice and quiet. two pound bag of peanut M&Ms and about a gallon of coffee and I was good to go and the kids were sleeping. Well, we knew they were growing up when we'd look around and they were no longer in those car seats and they were as wide awake as we were. What are we going to do tonight together? And so we changed everything. We began to leave in the morning and drive during the day. In Roman times, first century sons usually celebrated their transition to adulthood at age 14 in a ceremony during which they exchanged the clothing of childhood for an adult's toga. Now the father did not formally adopt his son as his heir until this point, prior to which the son, though being the heir, was no better than the servant. And in our text this morning, we are talking about the church coming of age, growing up. Here's the proposition statement for you. We live in the age of mature Christianity, or at least we should be. Paul says we were there. We are not slaves. We are sons. and daughters of the living God. And so I ask you this question. Does your life look like it? Does your life reveal that truth? Now, remember the context as we work through the book of Galatians. In a justification context, the law is used. Notice the context. Now, the law is used to reveal sin. It also points to Christ. The law is seen as that which holds people, sinners, captive. It imprisons sinners, all sinners. It is also seen as a guardian, or a manager, taking care of the children until they grow up. When Jesus Christ came, the church entered into greater blessing and maturity because of His finished work upon the cross. the completion of the scriptures. See, we have the completed scriptures before us. Nothing more will be added to them. We can compare all the new covenant scriptures and it's a rich blessing to us. And we also have the outpouring, the fullness of the Spirit of Christ poured forth upon this church. So that's the context that we are in today, both in the text and in the life that we live. in Christ. Point number one, the end of the age of immaturity. That's what we're seeing in our text, the transition from one age to the next. So two questions, and you should have an outline if you like outlines, there should be one in your bulletin there. Who was part of this age? What people were a part of this age? How would you answer that question? Back up to chapter 3 and look at verse 23 and 24. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming of faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. And then skip down to chapter 4 and verse 3. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. Now notice the we in the text. The first group of people that were a part of that immature age was the Jewish people, God's Old Testament Church, and where did it begin? It's interesting to study the Old Testament Church because it began, well, We can look at the description of it, not describing the church, but some of the people who were members of it in Luke 3 there, as we look at the lineage that goes all the way from Adam to Jesus Christ. Now, we're not going to study that, but we see those who were a part of that church. And we think about the history of that church. There are different summaries in the Old and in the New Testament of the history of the Old Testament Church. Remember, just highlighting some of them, Adam is a part of that church, we see him mentioned in Luke 3, in the genealogy there, and Noah, And then the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, were highlights for people who God underscored and said, I'm going to teach you about my covenant and who I am and what my relationship is with you. And you're going to look at these people's lives, as it were, under the microscope for a while. The going into Egypt, remember? And then that great exodus out of Egypt, God redeemed his people from the household of bondage. And then who is the great figure that comes before us? It's Moses in leading literally millions of Israelites through the desert right up to the promised land. Now there's others in there, so many names, but I skip to David, King David. a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as king, and then we come to Solomon, and all of a sudden the kingdom is what? At the end of Solomon's life. The kingdom is divided. And the people of God are falling away from the Lord. And we look at numerous kings, and most of them do not lead the people of God to the Lord, do not listen to the prophets, do not heed the words of the Lord. So we have Israel, the northern tribes, ten northern tribes, Judah, Benjamin in the south, and eventually they are deported by two major powers at that time, Assyria and the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and then, God is faithful though, back to Jerusalem, back to build the temple and the wall And the people of God are back there again waiting for, looking for the Messiah. And the Messiah comes. He came. The Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so we have the lineage of the people of God. We see it in the genealogies. We have the history of the people of God, the Jewish people. And we have their law, which is prominent to the Jews. It was then and it certainly is now. The moral, the civil, the ceremonial aspects of the law. And have you ever wondered, as you read Old Testament law, why God just doesn't give us about five or six really good chapters on the moral aspects of the law, and then a number, grouping of chapters on the civil law, and then over here in a clear-cut package, the ceremonial law. Interesting. God wants us to study, doesn't He? It's all woven together. Because the whole law is moral, you see, ethical standard for the people of God. And I think he wanted the people of God to realize it's all important. We're not going to say that's the important part and we're going to put this as a hierarchy and so on. No, I want you to read it together and I want you to realize that this is unto me. It is moral. It does impact your public life. And these ceremonies are not something you can set aside. They are teaching you about the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And then turn with me, if you care to, to Acts 15. And I want you to notice a statement there. I want you to underline a statement. Because we look at those who were part of that particular age, the Jews, and in one verse we see their plight. Their plight. What's plight? It means their problems, their trouble, their burdens, okay? Acts 15.10, Peter stands up in the Jerusalem council and he says, now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples? Talking about the Gentiles coming into the church now. A yoke, this burden, that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear. We could never bear, we couldn't bear the burden of the details of the law of God. You know it, and we know it. Now, is anybody else present during that time? Remember the question, who was part of this age of immaturity? Well, the Gentiles were. There were Gentiles involved in a secondary sense, and In the New Testament, in Romans chapter 2, the Gentiles did not have the written law given to them, but it doesn't mean that they were in complete darkness. They didn't have the light, the insight that the Jews had, the blessings that the Jews had. But nevertheless, in Romans chapter 2, we read, for when Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. They know right and wrong. Being created in the image of God, though fallen before God and His law, that work is still there. They know right and wrong. They seek after justice, you see. If I've been wronged, I want the other guy to pay back and so on. And notice that there's a tension there for them in verse 15. Their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. They have a conscience, and it certainly is darkened, but nevertheless, there's enough light there that they know right and wrong, and they are accountable to God. In Acts chapter 17, we have a most interesting text. at the Areopagus in Athens, speaking to the philosophers of the day, I will jump right into the middle of that context. Verse 22, he says, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. You see, and it's true. Men are religious creatures created in the image of God. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar here, the inscription, to the unknown God. You worship in ignorance, but you know that there is a God, a God that's probably in your mind greater than all other gods, all the idols that have been made that fill this idolatrous city. And this is the God who made the world and everything in it. And Paul begins to tell them about God as the Creator God and as Lord of heaven and earth. and he doesn't live in temples, etc. But move down. Basically, he's telling these people here, you're without excuse, because in him, you live and you move and you have your being, your very existence is from this God. And so in this age, it was Jew primarily, but also the Gentiles had enough light. We call it general revelation. They had enough light that they were accountable to God. And they were obligated to give thanks and to grope after Him, to seek after Him, to ask questions of the Jews who had the greater light. All were condemned by God's law and all were pointed to Christ by God's law. Well, why do we call this, or why do I call this the age of immaturity? Well, that brings us to our second question. What did this time consist of? What did it look like? And back in our text, again, we see in 23 and 4, it consisted of the law imprisoning, and the law being a guardian over the people of God. And then in verses 2 and 3 of our text, chapter 4, this child, who is kind of like a slave at that time, is under guardians and managers, and he's enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. So those verses describe or answer the question, What did this time consist of? Well, it consisted of the age of first steps. See? The beginning of revelation, God gave it to man. You see, Adam and Noah and Abraham, they were learning. They were growing. They didn't have what we have today. First words. Yes, it was the age of training wheels. And Paul said, it's time to take the training wheels off. The Messiah has come. You know, when children are young, very young, and if you've been a parent for a number of years, you realize this, their lives are to be micromanaged, you know? When they're little children, you essentially do everything for them, you know? I mean, you just do. You have to. But as they grow up, if you're still doing those things for them when they're entering their teen years and taking driving lessons, then you've got some serious problems. We want to train them and raise them so that they can begin to make godly, informed decisions, and they live by their decisions, and they keep their word, and so on and so forth. That's what was going on here in the Old Testament times, the people of God were under guardians, you notice that, and managers, and the elementary principles of the Word. If you turn in chapter 4, if you look to verse 9, chapter 4 of Galatians, but now that you've come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be once more?" You observe days and months and seasons. Some of this was related to the law of God explicitly. Some of it was customs and traditions and things they added to their religion, binding the people to more things beyond the word of God. He says, I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. And again, in Colossians chapter 2, Verse 16 and 17, therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. That's actually in the plural, it should be Sabbaths. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. The pivot point in history is the coming of Jesus Christ, the Christ event in his life and his crucifixion and death, burial, resurrection and ascension, you see, everything is transformed by His coming. But during that time, the people of God, you talk about a list of do's and don'ts, and human nature is kind of sad because, just tell me what I need to do, you know, we don't need all of this, just give me a book that tells me a dozen things that I need to do to be the successful Christian, and I'm just too busy for all this study. But that's not what it's like, is it? But in the Old Testament, boy, I'll tell you, they were in detail told what to do. One writer says, imagine what it was like being a Jew in the Old Testament times. The Jew had to observe the Passover by killing a lamb and sprinkling its blood on the doorposts of his house. Can you imagine Literally doing that? I mean, we read about it and we go, oh, okay. Getting that lamb and, you know, cutting its throat and catching the blood and then going out in your front yard at your front door and putting blood all over? What would the neighbors say? They'd probably call 911 or something like that. Strange, but that's what the Jew did. The Jew, he had to observe the Day of Atonement. Great details there. Leviticus 16 goes into great length in telling us what that was about. He had to circumcise his young sons, and three times a year he was supposed to go to Jerusalem to observe the great feast. Now, they didn't get in the SUV over here and load it in and drive down the road, and it was an easy thing to do. It was very complicated, very difficult. You think about clothing in those days. You know, I can see you. I don't know, where do you get your clothes? I don't really shop a whole lot for clothes, but you're at the gap, let's say. That's where Dean goes, the gap. And you're looking at the labels because what you're looking for, and he says, Oh, I can't. This has polyester and cotton. I just can't mix the threads. I've got to get something pure. You know, we cannot mix the clothing, the threads in the clothing. And the Jews couldn't do that. You see, they couldn't mix cotton and wool. It had to be pure. They were a pure people. And every one of these things, how they dressed and the kind of cloth they used in all of this was a part of their life. Or, you know, going out to dinner. And boy, I had been really looking forward to that steak. And how do you want your steak done, sir? I want it barely staying on the plate, you see. I want it as rare as you can make it, legally make it. Now for the Jew, could the Jew do that? I mean, they had to have it kosher and all of the blood had to be drained out of it. I guess they You know, would they have eaten it then? No, I don't think so. I think they would have cooked it. I think it had to be just right, you see, according to the law of God. Well, I don't think I'll have steak. Or, no, this is my birthday. I think I'll have steak and lobster. Oh, no, you can't do that. You can't have lobster. It's my birthday. I want steak and lobster. No. The law says you can't do that. And every detail of their lives was governed by the law, you see, managed, micromanaged, you might say, during that time. All of the world's religions, interesting thought here, Peter Barnes writes, apart from biblical Christianity, lack a foundation in God's free grace, and so speak first in terms of God's commandments to us. Now, you look at the religions and you see that they always talk about, here's what your God, whoever He is, here's what He demands of you. Here's what you must do. It's a list of do's and don'ts. Muslims religiously go through their ceremonial washings in the hope of purifying themselves before Allah. And they get all excited about Ramadan and going to Mecca. We, when we first moved to San Diego County, we lived in Mir Mesa, and on one side of us was a Muslim family. And they would fast, you know, and then, and it was always on a Saturday night that they would break their fast, and they're out in the backyard, and you know, they're hungry, and so they're doing a big barbecue out there. And we're trying to settle the kids down and get to sleep because the Lord's Day is the next day. I never forget that. They were nice people. We had some very interesting conversations, but that was very important to them. Going to Mecca and all kinds of other things. You see, as this writer puts it, it is a similar kind of slavery, a bondage to the training wheels. It's what I must do to appease or to please my God. And our God has said, there's nothing you can do. There's no way that you can ever live the life and meet the standards of my holy law. You are lost. Unless I do something about it, you are lost. It's interesting, a Jewish boy in coming of age, what age was it? It was until the age of 12. A Jewish boy was under the direct and absolute control of his father, but at the Bar Mitzvah observed on the first Sabbath after his 12th birthday, the boy's father would pray these words, Blessed be thou, O God, who hath taken from me The responsibility of this boy, and the boy would pray, Oh my God and God of my father, on this solemn and sacred day which marks my passage from boyhood to manhood, I humbly raise my eyes unto thee and declare with sincerity and truth that henceforth I will keep thy commandments undertake to bear the responsibility of my actions toward thee." I remember seeing one of these ceremonies over in Israel. I'll never forget it. Here's the wall where they pray, the wailing wall, and there's little bits of paper jammed in the cracks in this huge wall, giant stones. See, and these are little bits of the law, little prayers sent, put in there to God. And, of course, they're all dressed out, and this young boy is carrying this big scroll, and it's a portion of the law, and there's all these men with long, gray beards, you know, and got their hats on, they got the phylacteries, the leather tie around their head, and these little boxes hanging off of it, which contain portions of the law, and they're walking inside, you know, Gentiles, the public couldn't go in there, and it was all part of this ceremony as they came of age. I like the way Calvin summarizes this, moving from the old to the new. He says this, the old covenant saints started out their journey under the very first crack of dawn. And I don't relate to that. Some of you do. Some of you get up at the crack of dawn and you know exactly what it looks like. I don't want to know what it looks like. And I'm glad I'm in this age, you see. Get up when the sun is shining. Another beautiful day in Southern California. But he goes on, he says, we in the New Covenant start out under the bright noonday sun. And we do. We are really blessed as God's people. when you stop and think about what it used to be like. Point number two, and it's a wonderful one. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. In the fullness of time, and only God knew the fullness of time when it was ready. Now, I'm sure you've heard of this before as you look at the religious and the political and the economic. All that was going on during the time of Christ's incarnation, during the time of his birth. There was one empire, pretty much the Roman Empire. Koine Greek was spoken all over the Roman Empire, so there was one language set up perfectly, you see. There were good roads, so the message could travel more readily throughout the empire, the message of the gospel. There were synagogues throughout the Mediterranean world. How important was that? When you read the book of Acts, and you see what Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and others did, they would always go where? From town to town, they would go to the synagogue. That's where they would preach. Now, what's the modern-day equivalent of that? I've not figured that out yet. Maybe some of you know, because it was great for Paul to go there, and they would ask him to open the Scriptures, you see. Where can we go today? It certainly isn't the local bar. They wouldn't want us to open the scriptures there, although they need them. It was a time of relative peace, you see, because of Roman rule and law. The Hebrews were looking for the coming Messiah, and the Old Testament stands on tiptoe, as it were, looking for something for someone greater. Look at verses 4 and five of our text. But notice the contrast. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. He came to redeem. Here he is. God's son sent forth into the world. Now, I want you to see a wonderful picture of that. Turn to Philippians. Chapter two, we normally don't go there to see the incarnation, but we see it there in Philippians chapter two and verse five and following. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Here's the eternal son of God, very God here, but made himself nothing taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. Here's God taking on flesh, and so we have fully God and fully man, right? In one person, the person of the Christ, and our doctrinal statements say at the end of that, forever. He still is God and man at the right hand of God. But notice this. He came here, took on our nature without sin as a servant. That's what he came to do, to serve and to give his life, what? As a ransom, you see, to redeem a people. And that's what we read being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And so he's born of a woman. He's fully human. We call it the incarnation. We celebrate the incarnation the last month of the year. And He is born under the law. It's His law. He is the Lord of all and He comes in human form and willingly submits Himself to every detail of the law. And that is very important. As one writer puts it, indeed, the Son of God became a Jewish man. Born under the law. Jesus was circumcised. Jesus kept the Passover and all the details. Jesus kept all the law. Indeed, he suffered the full tyranny of the law. The Lord and giver of the law, interestingly enough, suffered under the penalty of the law, even though he was what? He was innocent. He was guiltless. But someone else was guilty. And the punishment had to be meted out, because, you see, Jesus, in obedience to the law, was that Lamb of God, without spot, without blemish, without sin, who came and submitted, yes, to the evil will of the Jews and the Gentiles. The one who, for example, is Lord of the Sabbath, and who spoke this kind of language. Remember this? When Jesus would say, the ancients, your leaders, your teachers say this, but I say unto you. And at the end of this discourse, the people just shook their heads and said, no one speaks like this man. He speaks with authority. Well, we know why. God in the flesh. Remember what Peter said at the Jerusalem Council. Remember? He says, we're trying to lay on these people a yoke, this bondage that neither our fathers nor we could bear. Jesus came and he bore that yoke. He took the yoke of the law upon himself and he obeyed it perfectly in every single way, every thought and word indeed. He kept the law He received the curse and punishment due to lawbreakers, and he earned the righteousness of obedience. You see, his obedience imputed to us, his righteousness given to us as a gift. In essence, when we talk about redemption, and that's what Paul is talking about here, he paid our debt, the entire price for our salvation, by his precious blood. I don't know how many of you have read the latest Harvest Herald. It's getting better and better. You ought to read it. And there's a great article in there by Carol Horton. I really, really appreciated it. You see, Carol, at a young age, believed that she was called to teach, to train, to work with young people who had unique handicaps. Remember, if you read the article, people look at those young people and, you know, unless you're that child's father or mother, you know, we take a step back, so to speak. They're handicapped or they're mentally retarded. Down syndrome is another expression, cerebral palsy, autism. And then there are those drug babies with all of their problems, all of their learning problems. And I thought about that. In God's mercies through Carol and others like her who gravitate to these kind of children and love them, see, how does God view us? You know, if God were giving a number of descriptions, well, I guess he has, and we're going to see them in just a couple of minutes, how God views us. But what's amazing to me is God did not look at the fallen human race and go, I don't want anything to do with these people. God reached out and He embraced us through Jesus Christ, you see, with all of our flaws, with all of our sin and arrogance and rebellion, and ignorance, and on the list goes, God, through his Son, has loved us. Jesus came to redeem a people. Secondly, he came to adopt a people, back in our text in verses 5 and 6, to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And then he says, because you're sons, God has done something very special. The Spirit of His Son, He sent Him into our hearts so that we're enabled to cry, Abba, Father. Now, I want to break down a paragraph here. This is the best summary of the doctrine of adoption, and it's right out of our Westminster Confession. Now listen, most of the time we say, I'm adopted, that means I'm God's child. Okay, that's great. But what does it mean? Here's what it means. We're made partakers of the grace of adoption. Adoption is by grace. It's not because God looked at you and said, you are one cute baby. I want you in my household. You have great potential. No, he adopted us at the worst time. And it's all by grace. And he says they are taken into the number. We are numbered amongst God's people, God's children. And God has a lot of children. He loves children. We're among that number and we enjoy the liberties and the privileges of the children of God. Now, in each of your households, your children enjoy liberties and privileges that are unique to your home and to your family and to your way of living. And my kids can't come to your front door and say, you know, knock, knock, knock. Have you got any ice cream? We're here to enjoy some of the liberties in your home. You see, it just isn't the way we work together. But we enjoy all the liberties and the privileges of our Heavenly Father, and we have no idea what is before us, you see. His name is put upon them. We have our Father's name. We have our Savior's name. We're called Christians, you see. And that sets us apart from the rest. Now, a lot of people use that word in different ways. They don't know what they're talking about. But we know what it means. You see, we know that we belong to him. And it is that badge that sets us apart from the world. We are the privileged children of the living God. We are Christians. We are those within whom the Lord Jesus dwells by his spirit. We have the spirit of adoption. And our text here brings that out in verse six. And we have access to the throne of grace. I mean, we can come into the presence of our Heavenly Father and our God, and we can talk to Him immediately. I hope you're doing that all the time, because our Heavenly Father is not going to knock you off his knee and say, I'm sorry, I'm busy now. I've got bigger things to do. He will never do that to you. I know my kids come into my office, I hear that knock on the door, and there they are, and they want to show me something or tell me something, and most of the time, I'm very happy to see them. Unless I'm really under the gun, and I say, okay, you've got one minute, literally, I've got to get on with it here. We're unable to cry Abba Father. See? A personal term of endearment. We honestly call Him our Father, our God. And it says here we're pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him. He disciplines us, and He gives us all of our clothing, and our food, and all the good things that we enjoy in life come from the loving hand of our Father, because we're His children. And we might think, well, I would really like more of this and more of that if you're so wealthy. But listen, our Father is perfect in wisdom, so He gives us that which is best for us in this life and in the one to come. His gifts are perfect. And we are also sealed, you see, to the day of redemption by His very Spirit. We inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. We'll talk about that in a minute in our concluding thoughts. William Perkins borrowed some of the language of Athanasius when he wrote these words, Christ is made bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh by his incarnation that we might be made bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh by regeneration. Think about it. The Son of God was made the Son of Man, that we who are the sons of man might be made the sons of God through adoption into His family. You see verse 6, He sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba Father. I mean, you could translate that Daddy or Papa. And our kids call my dad Papa. It is a term of endearment. It is an intimate term. It's special. And because of the Spirit, we are guaranteed sonship. And so I ask you this question. Are you a child of God? Do you sit on His knee? Do you enter in His presence? Do you express your love for Him? You see, not literally, but do you put your arms around his neck as children would come to their father and give him a hug? You see, do you express your affection and your love to your Heavenly Father? Do you have those freedoms in the Spirit? But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. Are you one of His children? A final point here is this, to secure an inheritance. He came to redeem us. He came to bring us into that state of adoption. And he's also secured an inheritance for us. We see it in 29 of the previous text, and then we see it mentioned again in verse one and then in verse seven. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. Notice Paul moves from the we word to the you word. It's singular. It's each and every one of us, you see, have an inheritance in him. Each and every one of us. What were we before he came to us? What were we? Well, in Romans chapter 5, it says there that we were weak, we were ungodly, We were sinners in his eyes and we were his enemies. That's what we were in Colossians chapter one. And. No, in First Corinthians, excuse me, First Corinthians chapter one, notice how he describes us. He says that I chose, verse 27, that which is foolish, that which is weak, that which is low and despised, and the things that are not, those are the things that I chose. Those are the kinds of people that I chose. That's what we were, but now we are sons and daughters of the living God, dwelling in unapproachable light here in the light of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What do we inherit? Well, I can't explain all that to you. It's too wonderful. It's beyond our comprehension. But I read in 1 Corinthians 2.9, as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. At the other end of that is the inheritance waiting for us. Remember, Jesus says, I'm going to go and prepare a place for you. So it's a definite place. We have a definite position in God's eternal kingdom. We are on the roll. Our name is written there, you see. And the greatest aspect of our inheritance is what? It really isn't the real estate. It's not the things, you see, it's God Himself. I will be your God, you will be my people is the theme throughout the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. And when we get there, you see, to be with Almighty God and to worship Him and what is by faith now will be sight then. Paul says you can't imagine it. You cannot imagine it. And if you think you're going to like the real estate and everything, that's great. It's going to be better than this place. But that's not what we'll be focused on. Our thoughts won't be there. I'm convinced that they will be on him. See, we have no concept as to how great he is. Someday we will be with him and we will see him. It's interesting. C.S. Lewis, in his Chronicles of Narnia, one of those seven books is entitled And I wrote this wrong. At first I put the boy and his horse, because you normally think that way, but that's not the title. The title is The Horse and His Boy. And remember, it's one of these special Narnia talking horses, you see, intelligent creature. But anyway, this boy is a castaway. He's an almost adopted slave boy. He's never really adopted, but he's living with this guy who he doesn't fully know who he is. And the story takes him from this lowly place of being trained by this talking horse to the son of the king of Narnia. And it's a great story, adventure story. Now, I think our story is even better, he said. We were lost and blind and helpless sinners before the Holy God And he condescended to show grace and mercy to us and his love to us through his son so that we might be adopted children into his household and joint heirs with his son, entering into not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom that is eternal. In fact, it's so great we can't even imagine what it's like. to secure an inheritance. It's there. It's in heaven. It's waiting for you there and it's protected there. You can't hang on to anything in this life. Nothing. The only thing that you and I have in this life that will not be taken from us is our faith in and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Application. Final thoughts. We are not slaves. We are sons and daughters. We are redeemed. He paid the price in full. You can't add anything to your salvation. You cannot. We are His adopted children. And He loves you. And everything He brings into your life is for your good. And I know that you're not going to answer all the whys you have in your head. Well, why did this take place? And why did I do that? And ups and downs? But our Heavenly Father is the sovereign Lord of all. He's adopted you and He's ordained your life. And we have an inheritance that is secured. And so I ask you the question again, as we began this morning, are you living a life that shows that you are a child of the King? Is there a quality to your life that shows that you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? It's a life of holiness. It's not so much the outward, it's the spirit of the man, of the woman, of the boy, of the girl. It's a life of discipline, a life of faith and obedience, loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that characterize your life? Loving His children. your brothers and sisters. Really loving one another fervently from the heart, says Peter. And loving and being compassionate toward the lost. You know, this is comfortable. You know, we've got the day all set out, and we're going to enjoy Sunday school. Well, fellowship first, and then Sunday school. And then we're going to have a wonderful meal. And it's just a very comfortable setting. And we praise God for that. Are we concerned about those outside of these four walls? Do we have a compassion for them? A life that is summarized by Paul's statement, you see, in Colossians. Christ in you, the hope of glory. If Christ is in you, you cannot hide Him, beloved. He will change you. and He will make you more and more like Himself. Are you a child of the living God? Is your faith in Him and in Him alone? Let's pray together. O Lord and our God, we come to You as our Father. Your Son has paid that infinite price. price we never in a million years could ever have paid. We have become your children and that is by grace and we look forward to an inheritance that cannot even be described. We could not even comprehend how great and how wonderful it is and Lord all we know is we don't deserve any of it. started out in rebellion against you under your wrath and here we are talking about an inheritance as members of your family. How can this be? And yet we look to that cross and we receive the answer that Calvary loved. Father, we thank you for it. And we do pray that you would make even the Lord's Supper today as we've already heard it explained so well. that you would make it a means of grace to us, along with your word preached. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.