Good to see each of you this morning. This is a very pertinent portion of Scripture and a very comforting portion of Scripture to know that God is not going to let devastating circumstances come on the life of a believer. Are those that are chosen the elect of God? He's going to make sure that they are sealed before the winds of judgment are let loose. Chapter seven is one of the parentheses or interludes in the book of Revelation. The symbolic scene sets before us the reason of God delaying judgment on the earth. When God has concluded his work of evangelism and has gathered all of his people into his eternal kingdom, then God will do away with the things that have been and introduce all things new. God is holding back his wrath on the ungodly until his elect people have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and effectually called out of the rain of darkness. Wonderful thing it is that when our Lord Jesus Christ in the 17th chapter of John's Gospel prayed for his own, he said, I pray not for the world, but for those that thou has given me. They were Thine, and Thou gave them to me to keep through the blood of atonement and through the work that I would do in their behalf until they're all gathered in." What a glorious thing. After the dreadful day of wrath spoken of in the sixth chapter, and before the opening of the seventh seal, which includes the seven trumpet judgments, we find we see that needs to take place before the utterly devastating winds of judgment blow on the world. Now, when we think of winds as being in the hand of God and God using them to judge the world. And after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Now, the wind is often used as an emblem of God's judgment on humanity. I want you to look at some of the portions of Scripture where it's used. In Isaiah chapter 66, Isaiah 66 and verse number 15, Sometimes people, when you deal with portions of Scripture, especially from the Old Testament, and they wonder where you're getting your interpretation from, follow along. Learn the Scriptures. Learn to use the Scriptures. It's your guide. It's your handbook. It's your revelation of God. And the only revelation we have is what God gives us. In Isaiah 66 and verse number 15, He says, For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger and fury and his rebuke with the flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. You see, God only has a certain number of the elected or saved. And there are far more on the other side that are lost. And so God's fury is going to be turned upon the world. I feel broken hearted sometimes when I consider the multitude of those that shall be lost and shall be turned into hell. It says hell has enlarged herself. She's never full. She's ever increasing with the souls of them that refuse the word of God. And as I have visited with different men from the church, I find that there are very few that respond favorably to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were weeks on end where we visited one or two days every week throughout the countryside. And there were very few that would respond favorably to the Word of God. Oh, I don't think about that. I don't feel that I need it. But he says everyone who is not Christ is lost and everyone that is lost is facing an eternity where there's no turning back and there's no time limit. You've sinned against an eternal God and you must serve your sentence in the light of that eternal God. In Revelation chapter 6 and verse 13, He says, And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig casteth her untimely figs, when she shaken of a mighty wind. You see, God is shaking mankind, and mankind is not aware of it, doesn't understand that. In the book of Daniel, the seventh chapter, I want you to see how God blew upon the sea of humanity. And out of it, there came four beasts that would rule on the earth. This is how God revealed His judgment or His kingdoms that would come, four of them in succession, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Daniel chapter 7, I want you to look at this. and see the great winds of God. It says, In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. And he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea. The great sea is the company of humanity. Humanity is looked upon as a sea. The wicked are like the troubled sea that wash up mire and filth continually. And he says, the four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings, and I beheld that the wings were plucked. And it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon its feet as a man's heart was given it. Behold, another beast, a second like a bear." And so, we find that Daniel writes about the four kingdoms that should come. The Babylonian Empire, which had its duration. The Medieval Persian Empire, which he replaced the Babylonian Empire. After that, the Assyrian and then finally the Roman Empire. These four empires ruled in the world until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said in the midst of the fourth empire, in the midst of the Roman Empire, there would be a stone cut out without hands. that would be a mountain that would fill the earth. And he was talking about the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's never been an empire that's ruled the world since the Roman Empire. Those four empires were to rule the world until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's just say the four winds of heaven strove upon the sea of humanity and brought forth these wicked kingdoms that ruled in the company of men. and were violent and abusive and devastating to the inhabitants of the world. The Babylonian Empire, you remember, conquered Israel and took captive Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And then after that, we have the other empires that followed. And finally, the Roman Empire, which was violent. It said that they were going to be, as it were, as violent as any that came before them. And you remember that the Caesars and Nero knows how they persecuted the Christians and burned them, poured oil on them and burned them in their gardens and mocked them and abused them. And so God says that he sent these judgments on the world. And then when he was finished with his use of them as whipping boys, he destroyed them. So God is over the kingdoms of this world. And you'll find out that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. And in his dream, he saw this tree. This huge tree that grew up and the fowls of the air came and nested in the branches and the kale lay under the shade of it. And when Nebuchadnezzar was confounded and didn't know what the answer was, we find out that the Lord revealed to Nebuchadnezzar he was the tree. God had given him a great kingdom, and little kingdoms came and joined themselves under his protection and under his domination. And so we find out that the winds brought forth these beasts out of the earth and out of the sea. And they were brought forth by these winds or the power of God. In Isaiah chapter 40, We find out that he talks about the judgment of God on mankind in Isaiah 40. He says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Tell them that their warfare is accomplished, that she has victory in the Lord. And it says in verse 7, The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord shall stand forever." Isn't it amazing that God likens this world to a sea of humanity? A restless sea. I don't know if you've ever been by a lake or a sea and just watched it wash and just watched it. It's ceaseless. It keeps on Washing up and washing up. And we used to rent a cottage in Seneca Lake. And we would go and I used to like to sit and watch this. Very seldom would it ever be calm. It was always in motion. Always in motion. That's the way with the wicked. They're always in mischief of some kind. Thinking how to take advantage of one another. Thinking about how to gain above their fellow man. But we find out that when we look at the kingdom of God and we look at the throne of God, before the throne of God, there's a sea of glass. In other words, that's the tranquility and that's the stillness of God. He doesn't have to invent ideas and invent things to keep himself busy. He's got it all planned out. And it's like a sea of glass, peaceful. Whenever I get before the Lord, and spend time in His Word, it's a very peaceful experience. It's a very comforting experience. It's full of truth and hope. It's wonderful. So we find out that these winds that are to blow, they're given their strength and power from God. And it's to, he said, don't let the winds blow. The angels that held the four winds Four is universality. North, south, east, and west. And so they are going to have the authority over the affairs of men in this world. And he said, don't turn them loose. Don't turn them loose until the seal of God has been put upon all of the elect of God. What a bloated thing this is. The four winds depicted here are not only The final and universal day of wrath for the current judgment of God on an apostate world. We're living in a wicked world, apostate world, and God has got to judge that world. But he said, don't judge it and don't let the winds calm until after the righteous are sealed or the elect are sealed. These powerful and destructive doctrinal winds would be attended with wonders and signs. And that's what Jesus predicted. He said that he would show signs and wonders in the heavens. And this earth would be troubled. They would be confused. And he says he is going to protect his own. If it were possible, they would deceive even the elect of God. Yet this vision is meant to minister wonderful encouragement to the servants of God. The angels of judgment are restraining the winds until all God's elect are separated and sealed. And I saw another angel Ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, the powers of false, damning heresies and all the troubles that can come upon the world. He says, wait until I've sealed my own with the Holy Spirit of God. The seal of the Holy Spirit secures, protects the people of God. We wouldn't know what to believe. We wouldn't have any idea how to believe if it were not for the Spirit of God teaching us. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, look at that in your Bible. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 12 through 14. He says, For as the body is one and hath many members, And all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink of one Spirit, for as the body is not one member but many, one member cannot say, I have no need of thee." Do you know every one of you that are here this morning, that have been born again by the Spirit of God. You are taught the things of God by the Spirit of God. He said, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. You can't know the things that are given to you of God, except it be revealed by the Holy Spirit of God. And He said there's one body and one Spirit, and by one Spirit we're all baptized into that one body. I know lots of people think, well, I can just in human intellect and human knowledge, I can be born again. I can live the Christian life. It's impossible. It's impossible. We're baptized by one spirit into one body. And that's what God does in saving his people. He is the one that burst us into the body of Christ. You know, you didn't make your human body. God fashioned you in the womb. You started out with just an egg and an embryo. You weren't as big as the end of my little finger. And you grew. In that seed, there was all the knowledge and all the DNA that was needed to develop you with your personality, with your special traits. So everyone is sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. And that's what he's talking about. He's not going to cause the winds of judgment to blow on the earth, on the world, until all of his elect people are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit places his seal on a dead soul by quickening it Quickening it to newness of life. In Ephesians chapter 2 he says, And you hath he quickened who were dead. Quickening means to make alive. You he has made alive who were dead in trespass and sin. When in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in children of disobedience, among whom we all I started out the same as you did. You started out the same as I did. We had no advantage one of another. It's the Spirit of God that calls you and quickens you, gives you life, gives you understanding. And he said, the sealing involves illumination. Illumination. The sealing involves quickening the dead soul to newness of life by imparting saving faith. The new life is the evidence of the sealing of the Holy Spirit of God. You know how I can tell whether you're a believer or not? What did Jesus say in the Gospel of Matthew? By their fruit you shall know them. You see, if somebody is born again, they're going to talk about it. You let a young fellow meet a young lady that he thinks is something special. He's got her picture. He talks about her. He's excited about being with her. He doesn't make excuses to stay away from her. He makes excuses to his buddies to be with her. You see, by their fruits ye shall know them. The fruit of the Spirit. When God saves somebody, he puts the Spirit of God in them, and that Spirit brings forth fruits of righteousness. A new life is the evidence of the sealing of the Holy Spirit of God. In whom after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." In other words, the down payment of our inheritance. "...until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory." This thing is just going to keep on going. It had its beginning in birth, and then it grows, just like in the human. We can liken it to what happens in human life. We start out, we have to learn to walk and talk and we have to learn the responsibility. And then it's the same thing in our spiritual life. We have to be born again. John chapter 3, except a man be born again, he can't see. He can't see spiritual things. You're not in that realm. You're not in that understanding. You're not in that spirit. He said the seal also indicates ownership. Those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit belong to God. The foundation of God's stand is sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His. 2 Timothy 2.19 God knows if you're His or not. And I know that you're His because of the conduct. By their fruit ye shall know them. And we find out here, there is a guarantee for those who have been sealed that they will be kept safe until the end of the world. He said, Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. They are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1.5 When God gives us faith, it's not a temporary thing. When God gives us faith, it's not an incomplete thing. It's a complete thing. It guides us into all truth. It helps us as we grow in grace and knowledge. Those who are sealed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit have a visible and distinguishing mark that identifies them as belonging to God. Those who are sealed by the Spirit will display the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus said, that's how you're going to know one another. By the fruit you shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. In other words, they'll all be taught of God. They'll all be brought into conformity to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Ephesians tells us that that was God's purpose in salvation was to bring us into conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful that we're being more and more conformed to his image? God works in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure. He wants us to be in fellowship with Himself and in fellowship with other believers. He talks about this oneness in the book of Ephesians, the fourth chapter. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is through all and in you all. And we are being conformed to that. So He said these judgments blowing upon the earth is not going to come The earth is not going to be destroyed. And these terrible judgments that he says are going to come. If you'll remember in Elijah, in 1 Kings chapter 17, God hit him in a cave and God passed by. He wanted to see God's glory. And God hit him in the cleft of the rock. And he says, the winds blew and it broke up the rocks of the mountain. Can you imagine a wind that forceful? Well, that's what He did in your soul. He took you in your lost, dead condition, and He shook you, brought you to life, and put you in a new sphere that you'd never been in before. You saw things you'd never seen. He says, hurt not the earth, neither the sea. That's humanity. Now the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Those sealed with the Holy Spirit are spiritually minded. He says, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set your minds on the flesh is death. In other words, to live for time to live for this present world, to live for the gains and the things. What's a man profited if he gained the whole world and loses his own soul? God wants us to be spiritually minded. Put the newspaper down for a while. Turn off the television for a while. Get acquainted with God. Acquaint thyself with the most holy. and learn of him. That was a translation from the English Standard Version. Likewise, in Exodus 13, 9 and 16, God used a seal on the forehead to symbolize the remembrance of God's work in favor and the significance of the Lord's work in a person's life. Remember, he set a mark on Cain. when Cain killed his brother. And he said, am I my brother's keeper? I don't even want to think about it. I'm independent. I'll do my own thing. And God set a mark on Cain. And he said, my punishment is greater than I can bear. And he says unto Cain, I'll put a mark on Cain that whosoever findeth him should not kill him, because he's going to be hated and despised for his deeds. But he said, I'll put a mark on him. And the mark of the beast that we talk about in Revelation chapter 14. He said there'll be a mark in their thinking. Our thinking has changed. Our thinking better change. 144,000. I heard the number of them which were sealed. And they were sealed, 144,000. Isn't it wonderful that God tells us that there is a certain number of those that are sealed? Of the tribes of Judah, the tribes of Reuben, Issachar, all the tribes of Israel. This vision is symbolic. I don't know how many there are. I know there's more than 144,000 Jews that are saved. And they have all been born again of the Spirit of God, and they have the Spirit of God to testify unto them. They're not natural Israel. In fact, in the first chapter, second and third chapter of the book of Revelation, he calls those that are not believers in Christ the synagogue of Satan. They're the synagogue of Satan. They're not the synagogue of God. He said, because they don't have the Spirit of God to seal them, to teach them, to correct them, therefore they are not. So we find out, to use the chosen people, the old covenant, to represent the chosen people, the new covenant, that's scripturally and spiritually consistent. Look in Romans chapter 2. You know, a lot of people hold out a great hope for Israel in the future. But Romans 2, verse 28, says, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Remember when those Jews came to Jesus and they said, We'd be Abraham's seed. If the Son will make you free, you'll be free indeed. And they said, We were never in bondage to any man. We're free people. We're Jewish. Don't you remember when you were in Babylonian captivity? Don't you remember when you were in Chaldean captivity? You've been overcome by nations more than once and been in bondage. He said, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And they said, we'd be Abraham's children. He said, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do the works of Abraham. I'm telling you, if you were born again, you'd have a love for the Word of God. I sometimes used to ask people, when's the last time you read your Bible? Or studied it? Or searched it? To find out answers to some of the questions you had. When's the last time? Be honest. You have no interest in it because you don't love it. You don't love the author and you don't love the Word. And he says that we need to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our mind. Look in Galatians chapter 6. It's not the physical that God is interested in. He doesn't want to inspect you to see if your flesh is circumcised. He wants to hear you to see if your heart is circumcised. Have you had a circumcision of your heart? Or have you put away falsehood? He says here in Galatians chapter 6, verse 16, As many as walk according to this rule, peace beyond them and mercy and upon the Israel of God. See, there's an Israel after the flesh that has no hope and no promises. They were cut off at Calvary. When Jesus Christ died and they rejected him, they were cut off. The natural seed has no inheritance. But those that walk by the rule of the Spirit, He said, they are the true Israel of God. There's only one Israel of God today, and that's the born again ones. You have to be born again to be in the family of God, to be an heir of the things of God. You must be in His blessing. And so we find out that he says here, The chosen people of God. The church is one body. It's not two or three. It's one body. And it's all those that have been born again. They're going to be the heirs of God. Now, these 144,000 were sealed. And the great multitude, which no man can number, as denoted in the two entirely different ethnic groups, they're not, they're one. For he says that the Jews and Gentiles are all one in Christ Jesus. And this here, hurt not the earth, nor the sea, Near the trees, the earth, sea, and trees have special significance of their own. The earth is symbolic of mankind as a whole. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth. John 3.31. The name Adam, he's a progenitor of the human race, means in the Hebrew Red Earth. That's what Adam was. He was formed out of the dust of the ground. God breathed in him the breath of life. He became a living soul. In Jeremiah 22, it says, Earth, Earth, Earth. Hear the word of the Lord. That's what Jeremiah cries. You earthly people, hear the word of the Lord. Don't be satisfied to be a creation. Be one of God's special creatures. The sea, as we've said in Daniel chapter 7, represents the nations, the world, usually of the wicked state. In Isaiah 57, the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose water casts up mire and dirt. The restless sea of the wicked is in contrast to the sea of glass before the throne of God. I could never understand why a sea would be made of glass, but it's because God is showing to us the tranquility of God's sovereign rule over all things. It's at peace with Him. It's at peace with Him. Trees. are symbolical in prophecy of kings and rulers and tyrants. David in the first Psalm likens the righteous unto trees planted by the rivers of living water. If you know the first Psalm, it said, are those that walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. But their delight is in the law of the Lord, and in the law do they meditate day and night. They shall be like the trees planted by the rivers of living water. I used to pedal mail for 23 years and I would come over the hill and as I'd come over the hill, I would see the corn and the cornfields drying up and the leaves curling up and everything was getting brown. And I'd look down towards the river and here these trees would be all green and you could tell wherever, as we drove west, we could tell wherever there was a stream. Everything was green by that stream. And everything away from that stream was dried up and barren. And just dust. So we find out the trees, the psalmist said, those that walk not in the counsel of the ungodly and are standing in the way of sinners, but their delight is in the law of the Lord. And in the law do they meditate day and night. They'll be like trees planted by the rivers of living water. flourishing, yielding fruit. And then we find out that Christ is like a great cedar tree. Ezekiel chapter 17. Ezekiel chapter 17. You remember Nebuchadnezzar was a tree. Ezekiel 17. And verse number 24, he says, start at 22, Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar and will set it. I will crop off from the top of the young twigs a tender one and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent. In the mountain of the heights of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a goodly cedar. And under it shall dwell all the fowls, and every wing in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, have made the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I, the Lord, have done it." Israel was likened unto a fig tree. The church is likened to an olive tree that feeds the lamp that gives light to the world. An olive tree, the olive oil was poured into the lamp, and the lamp was burning continually every morning. The priest went in and filled the bowls on the lamps of the golden candlestick. And it gave light to the world. That's the church. That's the olive tree. And so we find out that when redemption comes, we have a song that says that we're to rejoice that instead of the briar and the thorn have come up the myrtle tree. When God saves people, they're no longer like briars and thorns, but they're like a myrtle tree. In Isaiah 55, verse 13, As you go through your Scriptures and read these portions of Scripture, it makes you to appreciate what God has to say about the trees of the field. How they clap their hands and how they rejoice in seeing the sunshine and seeing the rain and seeing the things of God. Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55 and verse 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. We find out that John the Baptist said to the hearers that the axe is put to the root of the tree. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Why combertheth the earth? What purpose has it? It's good for nothing but to be cut down and cast into the fire. And in the book of Jude, We read about trees that are destroyed because they bear no fruit. You know that would be about 99% of professed Christianity. Did you hear me? That should scare us to death. In Jude verse 12, these are spots in your Feast of Charity. When they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds they are without water, carried about of the winds. Trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Do you know, if you were a man who had an orchard and you depended on it for a livelihood, and it didn't bring forth any fruit, that's what Jesus did to the fig tree. He said, from henceforth, there'll no fruit be found on it. And that's the way it is with most of the people in the church. They have no fruit. of the Spirit in their lives. What's the fruit of the Spirit? Love and joy and peace and long-suffering. Goodness, meekness, temperance. The fruits of the Spirit. And when you look at people and they claim to be spiritually born again, where are those precious fruits that God says are the fruits of the righteous, the fruits of the Spirit? And so we find out that He says, seal all these in their forehead until the sealing is complete. And then let the judgment of God come upon the earth. And that's exactly what's going to happen. And there won't be any hope at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for any second chance of those that are of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other. so that you cannot do the things that you would. So we find out that in the seventh chapter, we have the sealing of all those that are of Israel that are the elect or the true Israel of God. They're sealed. And all of the multitude that no man can number, They're sealed. And then comes the judgment of God on the rest that are not the Lord's, that are not the elect. We find out here that you have to be sealed to be a part of His eternal kingdom. Now, I want you to look with me in the Scriptures as the Apostle Paul tells us that there's no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. In Ephesians chapter 3, this is why I think that both of these groups are one. I think that they're both sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. It indicates nothing different. It indicates that the 144,000 are sealed. And then it indicates that the sealing is a multitude which no man could number. Jesus Christ never intended to have one small group as his inheritance. The Lord's people are His inheritance, and He intended to have out of every nation and kindred and tongue. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. He says, Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. And verse 9, to make all men see what is the fellowship of the ministry, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things in Christ Jesus. The Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body, partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. There's no difference. The Jews have no advantage over me. I am also an Israelite or an heir through faith in Jesus Christ. I want you to notice, I want to go to the book of Galatians and I want you to see it as it's plainly put in the book of Galatians. We find Paul dealing with a great subject of God's or Abraham's seed. Galatians chapter 1. What does he call a gospel that separates these two people? What does he call it? It says that the Jews have an advantage over the Gentiles. Galatians chapter 1. He says, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, 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, from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. In other words, the Judaizers that had come to Galatia were teaching the Galatians, who were Gentiles, that they had to become circumcised and become a Jew before they could be saved. He said, that's another gospel. That's not the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ says, whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. And so he's telling them that that's another gospel. But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have received unto you, let him be accursed. And as we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which you have received, let him be accursed. And so he tells them that they don't have to become an ethnic group They don't have to be circumcised to be saved. I didn't have to be circumcised to be saved, did you? No, you didn't. You believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. You believed that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners. And you believed that you were a sinner. And you came to Christ and, bless God, you're saved without being circumcised. And yet you'll read in some portions of Scripture that except you be circumcised, and keep the law. But that was under the old covenant. That's not under the new. And notice what he says here. He says, first of all, he said that's another gospel. That's not the gospel. Now listen in chapter 2. He says in chapter 1, he calls it another gospel. In chapter 2, he states emphatically that man is not justified before God on the basis of law works. but on the basis of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we find out that we are saved by grace through faith and not of any keeping of the law. He said if you try to keep the law and offend in one point, you're guilty of all. Can you imagine that? If you fail in one point of the law, you've violated the whole law because it's one unit. You can't pick and choose. So we find in chapter 3, Paul said that Abraham's standing with God came by grace. In chapter 3 of Galatians, he says, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? That ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has benevolently set forth, crucified among you. This only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith. I said, you know what? I've never kept the law. But by the hearing of faith, I received the Spirit of God. Are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect for the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He that ministers to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, it was counted unto him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham? Do you know that you're a child of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ? That's what the Scripture tells us. Now to Abraham and his seed, verse 16, were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as to one. which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law of which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, and that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, It's no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Then, wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression. To the seed should come, to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law against the promises of God? God forbid. You know what? The law was our schoolmaster to show us we couldn't do it. The law was our teacher to show us no one has ever been saved by keeping the law. That's why God sent his son. His son came because no one could keep the law. And he says, the law which says thou shalt not covet also says thou shalt not commit adultery. If I fail in one point, I failed in it all. And I sit here this morning resting in peace because Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. And so the book of Galatians teaches us that God has fully atoned for our sin and there's nothing more to be paid. Jesus is our righteousness, our sanctification, our life. Therefore, believers alone are the descendants and offspring of Abraham. So a Jew that doesn't believe, he may as well forget a second chance at the coming of Christ. Except you repent, you'll all what? Likewise perish. You can't be saved without repentance and faith. In Galatians 3 and 26, I like this. He says, for you are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? His kingdom is made up of those that believe in Jesus Christ. He's their King. He's their Savior. He's their sanctification and redemption. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, Then there you Abraham see. You know, I used to get a paper. It was called Israel, My Gloria. It was written by a Jewish writer. And he was always boasting of the things that belong to the Jews. And then one day I found out that I was a Jew, a spiritual Jew. And then I loved that paper. I used to fight against it. Whenever I would go with one of the kids to their piano lessons, The piano teacher was a member of a Lutheran church in Watsontown that believes in the restoration of Israel and the hope of Israel. And he got that paper. It's called Israel My Glory. Somebody ordered it and bought it for me for a couple of years. I wish they'd do it again. I don't know who it was that bought it for me, but I'd read that paper. I'd read all these promises to Israel. You know, Sammy Davis Jr. became a Jew because of all the promises that were made to Israel. He wanted to make sure he was in on the promises. Well, you know how I became in on the promises? If you be Christ, then you're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promises of God. So then I liked that paper. I used to I didn't spit on it, but I didn't like it. Because it gave the Jews a preeminence over the Gentiles in salvation. And it gave them a hope for a golden age of a thousand year millennial reign. And how would they get into millennium if they have never been born again? Except a man be born again, he can't see it. And except a man be born again, he can't enter into it. So they can't enter into a kingdom of God without being born again. So now I wish one of the kids would start taking piano lessons again so I could go with them to their classes and I could read that while they were taking their piano lesson. It's a great paper because it tells you all that God's going to do for the Jews. And I'm a Jew. We're all the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Well, that's what it says. It says that in 316 or 326, for you're all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. So all the children of God have got to be sealed with the Holy Ghost and got to become a believer in all the Word of God, if they're going to be in the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, the winds are not going to blow. The judgments of God are not going to tear things apart until every one of the elect of God are sealed. God is going to make sure that every one of his people. You know, I've never met a Christian that I didn't agree with. Wherever I meet him, if I meet him in his home, if I meet him in a church, if I meet him in a gas station, we start talking and we've got a lot in common. They'll all speak the same things. They'll all be taught of God. What a wonderful thing that is. You know, there's not a Baptist corner in heaven, and there's not a Lion's corner in heaven, and there's not a Methodist corner in heaven. You know, you're either born again or you're not born again. You're either in love with the word of truth and the Lord Jesus Christ, or you're not in love with it. It's one way or the other. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, what does it say to do with him? Let him be anathema maranathan. Let him be committed to judgment at the coming of Christ. If any man love not. See, this is truth. This is what God would have the world to know. This is what God says is important. Nothing else is important in the whole world. than for you to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as being King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And he said he's given him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus, I'll guarantee you, I don't care if it's Hitler. I don't care if it's Mussolini. I don't care if it's the President of the United States. Everybody's going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And you're going to have to either for your salvation or for your damnation. You're going to have to confess that. I'm glad to confess it. I love truth. You know why? If truth could be destroyed, there's no such thing as truth. But truth can't be destroyed. It's going to stand forever. It's going to stand forever. Our Father in heaven, how thankful we are for your mercy to us, your grace to us, that you should let us in on something that we shouldn't be let in on, that we don't deserve. We failed thee a thousand times. We've made promises we never kept and couldn't keep. And yet, Lord, you have laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. You have saved us from our sins by His righteous and holy blood. We thank you. We pray that you would make us conscious of this as we live day by day, that there are others who think there's more than one way to heaven. We pray, O God, that you might help us to be bold. Help us to be convicted of the truth that we might spread it. That we might not be ashamed. We ask these things for the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.