This morning I invite you to turn with me in your copy of the New Testament Scripture to Galatians chapter number three, I'm sorry, chapter number four, Galatians chapter four this morning. Many years ago when my kids were young, I remember one of my daughters asking me, Daddy, why do grown-ups get to do whatever they want to do? And my daughter had observed that she was only allowed one cookie after dinner while I could have as many cookies as I wanted. She learned that she had a definite bedtime, but I was allowed to stay up as long as I wanted to stay up. I got to drive the car while she had to sit in the back in the car seat. You see, grownups make all the decisions and grownups have all the fun. And in her little mind, grownups enjoy all of the privileges and the perks of life while children They are oppressed as children. If you're a child here this morning, you can say amen, preacher. Amen, right? You are oppressed. My daughter told me, Daddy, I can't wait until I'm a grown-up. In the ancient world, there was great celebration when a child became a grown-up. In the ancient world, the division between childhood and adulthood was very defined, and it was marked by a special event. Consider the Jews. On the first Sabbath, after a boy's 13th birthday, there was, and there still is, a ceremony called a bar mitzvah. And the Bar Mitzvah celebrates the time when a boy officially becomes a man and passes from childhood to adulthood. And on that occasion, the boy's father prays a prayer, and here's what it is. I quote, the boy's father prays, blessed be thou, O God, who hath taken from me the responsibility of this boy, is what he prays. And then in turn, the boy prays this prayer, and I quote, Bless be thou, O God, 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 and undertake to bear the responsibility of my actions toward thee. That's good. Not only the Jews, consider the ancient Greeks. For the Greeks, it was age 18, and the ceremony was called an apoteria. And that ceremony marked a boy's coming of age, at which point he was no longer under the authority and the control of his father. For the Romans, a child would officially come of age in a ceremony called a toga virilis. And at that time, boys would take their toys and girls would take their dolls and offer them as a sacrifice to the gods as a symbol of putting childhood behind them. It's actually what Paul was alluding to in 1 Corinthians 13, when he said, when I became a man, I put away childish things. For us today, of course, we point to a variety of different milestones that mark the difference between childhood and adulthood. Perhaps age 16, a young person can begin to drive, or at age 18, they can vote. Or at age 21, they can drink and gamble. Of course, I would counsel you to neither drink nor gamble at any age. But for us, perhaps it's the high school graduation ceremony or the college graduation ceremony that commences adulthood. But in any case, it is great to be a grown up. And I am so glad to be an adult. even though I still shop for clothes in the boys department. I am a man. I am an adult man. Maturity is to be desired over immaturity. And in our text this morning, I printed there for you on your notes also there on the screen, Paul pictures one growing from childhood to adulthood. And he compares that from going from servitude, think law, To sonship, think liberty. So from Galatians 4, verses 1 through 11, I've prepared a message titled From Servitude to Sonship. Let me pause briefly for prayer as we go to God's word. Lord, thank you for the opportunity now we have to read and study your holy word. We pray for the aid of your Holy Spirit to illumine the text to us. Lord, seal these truths in our minds and our hearts, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. For the sake of continuity, for the sake of context, we need to begin at the end of Galatians 3 where Paul has made the case that spiritual salvation and sonship is by faith alone apart from the law. Look at Galatians 3 verse 26, for you are all sons of God. through faith in Christ Jesus, Galatians 3 verse 26. I hope that's been made abundantly clear over the last few weeks as our study of Galatians has developed. Galatians 2.16, even working backward further, established that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And so now we come to chapter 3 verse 29, and if you are Christ, or since you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Chapter 4 verse 1, now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the appointed time by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. And although it's not very elegant, and although I risk perhaps being misunderstood, I would like to suggest, number one, that childhood is actually like servanthood. Childhood is like servanthood. Now, not for a moment do I condone the abuses of child labor that have existed in various places around the world. However, there is a sense in which a child is no different than a servant is what Paul is saying. So follow this. Any rightful heir is the owner and master of everything that belongs to his father. But as a child, verse number two explains, that the rightful heir, verse two, is under guardians and stewards until the appointed time when that child would come of age. And so for all practical purposes, the child, the heir, who's a child, would be subservient to his own slaves, making him no different than a slave himself. Imagine with me, imagine being royalty. You are born into the house of Windsor. You are heir to all of the royal riches of England, yet you are under the care of a nanny. And the nanny tells you everything to do. The nanny tells you when to go to bed and when to get up. The nanny tells you when to eat, when to study. The nanny tells you what to wear and how to play and how to behave. But at some point along the way, it's explained to you that you are the heir to the house of Windsor. You are the heir to the throne of England. You are the heir to all the riches of royalty. And you are told that when you come of age, you may fire your nanny. Or as they did back in the day, you could have her beheaded, right? because you are the son of the king, you are the heir of everything, you are promised all of the rights and the privileges of your position, wait, wait, at the appointed time. Bible commentator William Hendrickson, he says this, it's before you on the screen, he is only an heir du jour, not an heir de facto. He is an heir by legal right, but not yet an heir in fact. And so folks, in a similar way, we also, while under the law as unbelieving children, were in bondage. Verse number three, it says here that we were in bondage to the elements of the world. The elements of the world refer to the human religion of self-righteousness. If you look down to Galatians 4 verse 9, the same idea, the weak and beggarly elements identifies the ceremonial rituals of the human religion of self-righteousness. Colossians 2.8, beware lest anyone cheat you or bewitch you as the Galatians were. Remember, they were bewitched in Galatians 3 verse number one. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic elements of the world, and not according to Christ. So whether Jew or Gentile, whether ancient or modern, the elements of human religion, of self-righteousness can only bring bondage, slavery, and servitude. Let me read for you a story from church history, a story about John Wesley. John Wesley we know perhaps most because of his brother Charles Wesley, the prolific hymn writer. But John Wesley was an honor graduate of Oxford University and an ordained clergyman in the Church of England. He was active in practical good works, regularly visiting the inmates of prisons and workhouses in London and helping distribute food and clothing to the slum children and orphans. He studied the Bible diligently and attended numerous Sunday services as well as various other services during the week. He gave generously of offerings to the church and alms to the poor. He prayed and fasted and lived an exemplary moral life. He even spent several years as a missionary to American Indians in what was then the British colony of Georgia. Yet upon returning to England, He confessed this in his journal. This is John Wesley. He said, I who went to America to convert others was never myself converted to God. He later reflected on his pre-conversion condition and he said this, I had even then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son. You see, John Wesley, as a professional clergyman, worked tirelessly, did everything he could for the Lord to live a life acceptable to God. Yet he knew that something vital was missing. And it wasn't until, and again, I'm citing him, he went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street one evening, that he discovered and claimed true Christian life. He wrote this, he said, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone for my salvation. And an assurance was given to me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. So John Wesley left the elemental religion of self-righteousness for a relationship with Jesus Christ by faith. And folks, that may be you this morning. You may be a regular attender of Fourth Baptist Church. You may serve the Lord, worship the Lord, give of your financial increase to the Lord. You may be practicing self-righteousness as a slave to religion, but have never become a son by faith in Jesus Christ. That's what Paul is writing here now to the Galatians in this letter. And he makes it clear in chapter four, verses one through three, that childhood is like servanthood. But then he continues and he says this, number two, adulthood is like sonship. Adulthood is like sonship. Look at verses four and five, Galatians four, verse number four. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. Adulthood is like sonship, letter A. It's commencement or it's occasion. What brought us from servitude to sonship? What brought us from childhood to adulthood? Was it an ancient ceremony like that of the Romans and the Greeks and the Jews? Was it the modern event like a high school graduation or a college graduation? No, it was the incarnation of the second person of the triune Godhead. Jesus Christ was born at the appointed time, marking that time. When God promised means of redemption would come to fruition so that we might experience sonship and be a joint heir with Christ. The redemption there in verse number five, it means to buy out of slavery. We were slaves until Jesus came, and now we are sons. You say, but pastor, what about all the Old Testament saints who were before the cross or before Jesus' birth and the cross? Hebrews 11, 13 says that although they obtained a good testimony through faith, they did not receive the promise. Okay, so now follow the analogy here. During their lifetimes, the Old Testament saints, they were heirs de jure, not heirs de facto. But when the fullness of time came, chapter 4, verse 4, Galatians 4, 4, the time appointed by the Father, verse number 2, God sent forth his Son so that he might redeem us from slavery, purchasing us from slavery to the law and making us a son by adoption. and the fulfillment of God's sovereign promise of redemption began. It commenced, and that occasion was the incarnation of Christ. Look at verses six and seven. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ, letter B, its confirmation and its operation. It's confirmation operation. It's the spirit of God within us that confirms our sonship. He is the seal of our salvation, Ephesians one. Perhaps you've never considered that a human father cannot give his own nature to an adopted child. But God can and God does by sending his spirit to dwell within the hearts of believers. Often in our evangelism, most specifically with children, we speak of asking Jesus to come into our hearts. I don't really like that language. I've used it many times myself. I think we can do better than that. But this is perhaps a text where we get this idea that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes within us to dwell within our hearts, the confirmation and the operation of this sonship. And why don't you do this? Jot in your margin, for the sake of time, we won't turn there, but jot in the margin Romans chapter 8. Romans 8, really verses 1 through verse 17 maybe and further, Romans 8, 1 to 17 describes the spirit of God dwelling within us, assuring us of this sonship as heirs, as sons adopted by God. And wrap your minds around that positional truth that through faith in Christ, we are adopted by God, the creator of the universe, so that we can cry out, Abba, Father, Daddy, Daddy. I've often thought to myself, what if my dad was Bill Gates? What if my dad was Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk? Or what if my dad was a multi-billionaire? How great would that be? What would it be like to be born as the son of the president of the United States? Or what would it be like to be born into a royal family? How lucky for me. But folks, we can do better than that. We can call God our father. Daddy, daddy, Abba, Father, some years ago, I remember my wife and I being in Israel and hearing boys and girls call their father Abba. It's a real dear, intimate, familial term. We can call God our father. It's an address of personal relationship. And for that reason, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, our father who is in heaven. And that fatherhood and sonship comes through faith in Christ Jesus. Chapter 3, verse 26. It's where we began this morning. Chapter 3, verse 26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 4, look at verse number 8. But then indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? Galatians. You observe days and months and seasons and years, holidays and festivals and feasts and special observances, I'm afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. And I hesitate to give you this final sub-point because you'll think that we're all done, but really this is just the climax of our understanding of this text. Let me give you letter C, it's commitment or it's obligation. The commitments and the obligations of childhood and adulthood are different. And we must understand the difference here. So follow this. From a child's perspective, imagine yourself in your childhood. Adults can do whatever they want to do. The child is convinced of the great privilege when one is a grown-up. You see, adults don't have to do chores, the child thinks. Adults don't have curfews. Adults don't have to eat their vegetables. Adults can do whatever they want. Childhood is what's tough and oppressive. You have to go to school. You have to obey the rules. You have to ask permission for everything. That's from a child's perspective, right? Okay, now the adult perspective. The majority perhaps this morning are adults. From the adult's perspective, children can do whatever they want, right? Oh, to be a child again. Adults know that children don't have a care in the world. Children can play the day away. Everything is provided for them and everything is prepared for them. It's adulthood that is complex. It's in adulthood that issues are not so clear and decisions are agonizing and relationships are complicated and there's so much responsibility. Now follow me here. Listen carefully. As adults, in the weariness of our adulthood or adultness, if that's a word, in the weariness of our maturity, we long for the good old days when we were children. To be a child again, if only I was in elementary school, or if only I was still in junior high, senior high school. And that's actually foolish. In the same way the Galatians were foolish, chapter 3 verse 1, chapter 3 verse 3, they were foolish. Looking back to their childhood, looking back to their years under the law with envy, they desired again, look at chapter 4 verse 9, chapter 4 verse 9, they desired again to return to the law, to be in bondage, much like Israel did when escaping Egypt and the servitude in Egypt. The difficulties and the disappointments of the wilderness journey made them long for slavery in Egypt. Are you kidding me? Why would you ever want to go back there? So it is with law, childhood, and liberty, adulthood. And the beggarly elements of the world They simplify life. Life is more simple when you live under law. Life is more simple when you're a child. You can just declare categorically what to do or not to do, to be saved, to be sanctified. And in many cases, that's easier or preferable because freedom and liberty also demand other responsibilities. And spiritual grownups have commitments and obligations of adulthood And that's hard as well. So in this larger context of his letter to the Galatians, I trust you're following Paul's arguments here. He's declaring freedom, liberty from the law through faith in Christ. And we now use our liberty not as an opportunity for the flesh. We'll get to that in chapter five. We must now walk in the spirits and we'll examine those responsibilities and details in the weeks to come. Once we were slaves, now we are sons. Why would we want to go back? Let me conclude this morning by reading to you from John Stott's commentary on the book of Galatians, British pastor and author. He recounts the story of John Newton, who we all are familiar with, but this is what John Stott says about John Newton. He was only a child and lost his mother when he was seven years old. He went to sea at the tender age of 11 and later became involved, in the words of one of his biographers, in the unspeakable atrocities of the African slave trade. He plumbed the depths of human sin and degradation. When he was 23 on March 10, 1748, his ship was in imminent peril of foundering in the terrific storm. He cried to God for mercy and found it. He was truly converted, and he never forgot how God had mercy upon him, a former blasphemer. He sought diligently to remember what he had previously been and what God had done for him. In order to imprint it on his memory, he had written in bold letters and fastened across the wall of the mantelpiece of his study the words of Deuteronomy 15, verse 15. This is John Newton. Remember his hymn, Amazing Grace? Here's what he wrote on his mantle. Deuteronomy 15, 15. Thou shalt remember that thou was a bondman, a slave, this is the old King James language, a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee and made thee his son. Folks, I hope this morning that you can remember your bondage, that you can rejoice and celebrate in your freedom from the law. Through faith in Jesus Christ, he has made you free. wish for childhood again. Don't go back to the immaturity of bondage and slavery of childhood, but rather rejoice and celebrate in the freedoms and the blessings we have in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God in heaven, thank you for sending Jesus Christ at the appointed time, when the time was right, so that we might have the adoption by faith in Christ. Thank you for sending the spirit of Christ into our hearts so that we can call you our father. But Lord, we are not just heirs de jure, we are heirs de facto. We are in fact heirs of Christ. I pray Lord that we could celebrate that this morning. I pray in Jesus' name.