Our text this morning will come from the book of Galatians and chapter 4 and we'll read verses 1 through 7. Galatians 4 and 1 through 7, this is on page 973 in your pew Bibles. Galatians 4, we'll begin reading at verse 1. And this is where Paul will explain that as believers, we are redeemed sons. And because you are a redeemed son, you have been given his spirit. And his spirit is the earnest. It is the down payment of what is to come. And so beginning with verse 1, And 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 and managers until the date 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 a 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. Here is the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians. He's been defending the truth of the gospel. And chapter 3 has been the very heart of his argument. He has pulled out these texts from the Old Testament to defend his gospel, which he says is not a new gospel. It is an old and ancient gospel. And so when Paul would preach justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, in other words when he says that forgiveness and acceptance is possible only through Christ and specifically through faith in Christ, his preaching was nothing new. His preaching was an old preaching. It's the same message that saved Abraham. How was Abraham saved? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. And so, here's the Apostle Paul. He's been pulling out these Old Testament texts, preaching this one true saving gospel. And so, you might start to wonder if If Abraham was saved in the same way that we are, he's saved by faith and the promise. If the prophets and the apostles are both preaching the same message, well then what's the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament? If the Old Testament believers were truly saved by believing the same message, well then what's the difference? And here's the difference. Here's what Paul says. Look at verse one. He says, I mean that the heir, he's just referred to Christians as heirs. You have an inheritance awaiting you. You are the recipient of all these benefits. You have an inheritance laid up for you in heaven. You have the forgiveness of sins. You have the hope of glory. You are heirs. Notice what he says, though. The heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. So if you have an heir who is still a child, he's under guardians, he's under tutors. He hasn't yet come into full possession of what is rightfully his. children here. You might have heard all the news from the past month. We have the presidential election. If you're in school, you might have had a mock election there in class. Well, that's a very special time in the life of our country where we get to elect our own president and our own leaders. That's a very important time. Did you get to vote in the voting booth on that day? You might have wanted to, but no, that day is coming. There's coming a day when you will get to vote and you get to punch that button. That day's coming, but not yet. It's almost here. In the grand scheme of things, it's almost here, but it's not quite. Here's Paul, and Paul is talking about Old Testament believers. And he says, Old Testament believers, they're kind of like heirs in the house while that heir is still a child. And so look at verse one, the heir as long as he's a child. All right, then verse two, he is under guardians and managers. All right, that heir has to learn. He has to go to school, he has to be trained, he has to be tutored. He's under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. What does he mean by the elementary principles of the world? He's talking about the heirs. He's talking about believers. Old Testament and New Testament. Specifically, under the Old Testament, they were under the principles of ceremonial law. So, you have three types of law in the Old Testament. You have the moral law, which is the Ten Commandments. We're still under the Ten Commandments, all ten. So, you have moral law. You also have ceremonial law. And the ceremonial law would be things like sacrifices, the incense that's offered, the special holy days that were set there in the Old Testament. It's all about sacrifices, all about what they did in the tabernacle and then later the temple. It's how they express their faith. They believe in a Savior to come and they express that faith through offering sacrifices that God required. So you have moral law, you have ceremonial law, you also have civil law where the nation of Israel was to apply the moral law to specific civil cases. What's Paul talking about here? Here he's talking about we were under the teaching of the ceremonial law. until the time set by the Father. How long were believers supposed to offer sacrifices and offer the calves and the goats and put blood on the door and have a Passover lamb? How long were they supposed to do that? Look at verse four, when the fullness of time had come. And so here in this text, what is Paul teaching? Paul is teaching that we have received the adoption as sons. And that adoption was decreed. That's the first thing I want you to hear, is that adoption as sons has been decreed. It's been prophesied. All right, what does Paul mean when he says, when the fullness of time had come? Well, he's talking about the God appointed hour. He's talking about that time, that time the Old Testament points to. All the sacrifices that God required in the Old Testament, they're all pointing ahead to the coming of the Christ. What is the fullness of time? It's that God-appointed clock. It's that time that has now arrived. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, and it's been decreed. You go all the way back to the very beginning. You go back to the book of Genesis. Y'all, the gospel has been decreed and prophesied since the first days of creation. The gospel's not simply a New Testament thing. It's not just for us on the other side of the resurrection. No, we're part of this ancient people. We are the heirs of an ancient promise. The fullness of time has come, a fullness predicted as soon as man had committed the first sin. Man commits the first sin and God utters the promise. He says to the serpent, he says to Satan, I will put enmity, I'll put hostility, warfare between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. You will bruise his heel. And at the cross, Jesus was bruised. You will bruise his heel, but he That offspring, that single descendant of the woman, that single descendant, that captain of his people, he will bruise your head. That's a fatal blow. It's been long prophesied, starting in Genesis and going all the way through the law and the prophets. Now the fullness of time has come. And when that fullness comes, what happens? God sent forth His Son. Y'all, your adoption has been decreed. This is part of one series of predictions after another. Jesus' coming was predicted. Y'all, the prophet Micah spoke of even the place where He would be born. You, O Bethlehem. That's Micah chapter 5 verse 2. Here's Jesus. Look at verse 4. God sent forth His Son. He didn't create His Son. He sent forth His Son. Uncreated. He was already existing. How long has Jesus been the Son? As long as God has been the Father. How long has Jesus been around? As long as the Father. How would you describe the relationship between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? These three, three persons, these three are one God. And as the children could tell you, or anybody who's gone through the catechism, the same in substance, equal in power and glory." There's no hierarchy. The Father is not more important than the Son or more important than the Spirit. No, they're on an equal plane. the same in substance, equal in power and glory. And God sends forth that pre-existing Son. Y'all, why do we worship Jesus? Why do we pray to Jesus? Why can you pray to Jesus today? It's not just that you can... We don't say you can only pray to the Father. No, you can pray to the Father, you can pray to Jesus, you can pray to the Holy Spirit. Why do we say that? Because... They're equal in power and glory, and Jesus has always been the Son. There's never been a time when Jesus was not the Son, and he was sent forth. He's already existing. He was already there. The Father didn't create him. He doesn't have a birthday. Now, he has a point where he takes on human flesh, but Jesus doesn't have a starting point. God sent forth His Son, born of woman. Look at verse 4. This is one of those classic statements of the Incarnation. Y'all, studying and meditating on the Incarnation is not just reserved for one day out of the year. It's for your whole study of the Scriptures. Born of woman, He takes on human flesh. He is God manifest in the flesh. That's who Jesus is. And because he is manifest in the flesh, you have the adoption. Look at verse 4. He's born of woman and he's born under the law. What did Jesus come to do? He submits to his own law. Who was it who thundered the law from Sinai? It was Christ himself. Christ himself spoke the law from Sinai. Delivered in the hand of a mediator. Who's that mediator? It's Jesus. Jesus thundered that law. And now what does he do? He submits to that law. Now he's always, he's always walked in the holiness of that law. But what he's doing now is he submits to the penalty of that law. Made under the curse. Why? Look at verse five, why was Jesus born under the curse? Why did he submit himself to the curse of death? Look at verse five, to redeem, to redeem those who were under the law. So the first thing I want you to hear is that your adoption is decreed long ago, it's an ancient promise. And if you're a believer here today, You are a believer because God the Father has loved you with an everlasting love that never began and it will never end. You were chosen from before the foundation of the world. Despite who you are and despite who God knew that you would be, He's loved you with a decreeing love, and you were adopted. Through a legal act, you were adopted and made His own. It's a decree, and it's made good by the incarnation of the Son. Second thing I want you to hear is that your adoption has been purchased. Your adoption has been decreed And it's also been purchased. Look at verse five, to redeem. Why was Jesus born under the law? Why did he take on human flesh? To redeem. What does redeem mean? It means to purchase. Children, y'all like looking through coupons. You can look through those coupons and what do you do with those coupons? You take them. I'm all about saving money. You take those coupons and you can redeem them. I like the coupons that you can redeem for ice cream. And so you take those, you redeem them, and when you redeem them, you receive what is advertised on the coupon. Now, what did Jesus redeem? What did Jesus purchase? Jesus purchased souls. Jesus purchased souls that will never die. To redeem those, and how would you describe those people who were redeemed? Look at verse five, to redeem those who were under the law. Jesus is submitting to the curse. Jesus will endure the wrath and curse of his father. Why? To purchase people who deserve nothing but the wrath and curse of God. And so look at this, your adoption is tethered to the cross. What does the cross have to do with your salvation? It has everything to do with your salvation. Without the cross, without the blood, there is no redemption. Without the blood, there is no salvation, and there is no heaven. Without the cross, without Jesus, God manifests in the flesh, without Him submitting to the wrath and curse of His Father, the miseries of this life, death itself, the pains of His Father's wrath, Without that, there is no salvation for you. And apart from the cross, you are still strangers and exiles and you're left out in the cold. To redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. So the first thing you see here is that your adoption has been decreed, and it's very closely tied to the incarnation. Second thing you see is your adoption has been purchased, and that purchase is tethered not only to the incarnation, but also to the cross. Oh, can you see why? You start to see why truth matters? you start to see why theology and doctrine matter. Oh, y'all, this is where the truth, what do we believe about the cross? Y'all, the cross was not simply Jesus as a good example for others to follow. No, the cross was him as a substitute bearing the curse for sinners. He gave himself, that's how Paul started his letter, that Christ gave himself for our sins. to deliver us from this present evil world. That's how Paul started this letter in verse four of chapter one. Your adoption was decreed. Your adoption was purchased. And what you also see is that your adoption is sealed. So it's not only decreed and purchased, it is also sealed. It's guaranteed. How do we know that your adoption is guaranteed? How do we know that God will not simply be random and arbitrary and go back on his word like so many people in this world do? How do you know? Well, look at verse six. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. What has God done to guarantee that his adoption of you will not be revoked? Under Roman law, an heir could be disinherited if he shamed the family. Under God's law, your adoption cannot be revoked. despite the fact that even as believers we shame the family. Your adoption cannot be reversed and you will not be disinherited. How do we know? You've received a down payment. You've received earnest money. And what is the down payment? Look at verse 6, God has sent the Spirit. The Spirit is your earnest money. The Spirit is the down payment. You have an enjoyment of the Spirit now. And y'all, that enjoyment of the Spirit, your delight in communion with God now, your enjoyment of your relationship with Christ now, y'all, that is simply a little taste That is a down payment of a much greater sum that you will receive. It's just a foretaste of your inheritance that's yours. Why do we stress so this personal piety, this personal spirituality, this personal love for Christ? Why do we push that and stress it so? Because there is a delight there. There is a joy in your personal piety, your reverence joined with love for God. And it's just, y'all, your enjoyment of Christ now, it's just a little sip compared to what it will be in heaven. God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, and when this Spirit is sent, and He is the seal, He is the guarantee of your adoption, when that Holy Spirit comes into your heart, what does He do? Just kind of track the sentence with me. What does He do in verse 6? Crying. He is crying. It is an agonizing, It's not just he is saying, no, he's crying. And what does he cry? Abba, Father. Very similar to what Paul says in Romans chapter 8, that you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. You have these two things going on. In Romans 8, we cry, Abba, Father. Here in Galatians 4, it's the Spirit who cries, Abba, Father. What's going on here? You have an earnest, you have a down payment of your adoption. And notice that part of your enjoyment, that part of this down payment, is actually a crying out. What do you do when you cry out to God? What do you call that? That's prayer. Prayer is part of your earnest that you enjoy. And it's not just that you're saying your prayers. Y'all, when Christians pray, it's not just that we are saying our prayers. Now, sometimes we'll use that language You know, say your prayers at night, say your prayers. We might use that language, but when you get right down to it, when Christians pray, it's not just that we are saying our prayers. No, we are crying out in our prayers. We are pouring out our souls unto God. There is a new book on the book table. There are several new books out there, but one of the new books is about Hannah. And it's about, it's a children's book, and so I need to read it. It's called Hannah. It's Hannah, and the subtitle is The Mother Who Prayed. You know, when Hannah prayed, her lips were moving, but no words were coming out. You ever prayed like that before? Her lips are moving, no sound is coming out. She is pouring out her soul unto God. Now how do you do that? I think prayers, it's one of the pillars of the Christian life, isn't it? It's one of our spiritual disciplines. If you're a Christian, then you pray. But it's not an easy thing to do. It's kind of like human relationships. Human relationships are not easy either. So how do you learn how to pray? Paul admits in Romans 8, we know not how to pray as we ought. That's Romans 8, 26. And so, how do you learn how to pray? Where do you learn how to pray? You learn how to pray under the teaching, under the ministry, under the tutelage of the Spirit. Y'all, you've been given an earnest, you've been given a down payment. Where do you learn how to pray? You learn to pray as you're filled with the Spirit. You know, being filled with the Spirit, that's a Bible thing. That's a Presbyterian thing. It's a Christian thing. We are filled with the Spirit. Look at this. Where do you learn how to pray? God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Oh, and He teaches you even the words to say. You know, the Holy Spirit, He trains you in what to say at the throne of grace. I cannot tell you how many times I have not known what to say when I've opened my mouth to pray. But what do you do? You yield yourself to the Spirit. You give yourself to those winds of the Spirit, and what does He do? He gives you the unction. He gives you the anointing. He gives you the words. Where do those words come from? The words come from what He's already said. What has He already said? He's given you the scriptures. Oh, the Holy Spirit, how does He teach you to pray? He teaches you the Bible. He teaches you the commandments. He teaches you the promises. He teaches you the prophecies. He teaches you about Christ. Oh, that is where you learn to pray. And you learn about yourself. Under the Holy Spirit's ministry, you learn about yourself and what you desperately need. What do you need? You need mercy. You need grace. Why do you need mercy and grace? Because you're a sinner. What types of sins? Well, just read them in the Bible. And so, what do you do? You take that knowledge of yourself, and you take that knowledge that you've gained from the scriptures, and you start to pray it back to God. Lord, I admit, I confess to you that I continue to be a rebel against your will. Lord, that I have violated your commands as a father, as a husband, as a friend, as your servant. You pray this right back to God, and then what do you do? You pray the gospel. Lord, I give you thanks that despite the fact that I am a rebel, you have sent forth your Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem sinners like me under the law's curse, that even I might receive the adoption as sons. What should you do if you want to learn how to pray? What do you do? You've got to study the Bible. You've got to study yourself. And you gotta plead with Christ for the anointing. And we shouldn't shy away from that language. You need the anointing. Anointing is a biblical term. In 1 John 2, you need the anointing. Because only under the anointing of the Spirit, only there will you truly learn about yourself, truly learn about God, truly learn the scriptures. Y'all, praying in the Spirit is not about volume. It is not about length. It's not about sounding eloquent. It is about intensity. It is about desire. It's about praying with your understanding, understanding of yourself, understanding of the scriptures, understanding of what you need. And tie this back, what are we talking about? We're talking about your adoption. How does an adopted son or daughter pray? They pray with intensity. And again, not necessarily volume or length, but they pray with fire. They pray with a knowledge of the scriptures, a knowledge of the gospel, a knowledge of themselves. Their adoption has been decreed. Their adoption has been purchased at the cross, and that work at the cross will be part of your regular thanksgivings when you pray. And that adoption has been sealed. It's been guaranteed. Has it been sealed and guaranteed? It's sealed by the Holy Spirit. Where do you enjoy that sealing and that guarantee? You enjoy that sealing every time you fall on your knees and cry out to the living God. This is what is yours. This is your adoption. decreed from the foundation of the world, tethered to the incarnation, and purchased at the cross, so it's tied there to the blood of Christ, and it is sealed by the Holy Spirit, and you enjoy that every time you fall on your knees. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman and born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And you let these words sink into your ears, because you are sons. Where do you learn how to pray? You learn as a son anointed by the Spirit. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Would you pray with me?