Martyn Lawrence – Paradox of Liberty – Class 5 – Proclaiming Liberty

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Brothers and sisters, our first
speaker this morning is our

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brother Martin Lawrence from the
Cleckheaton Ecclesia in the

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United Kingdom.
His theme for his classes this

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week are entitled Paradox of
Liberty.

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Today’s session is entitled
Proclaiming Liberty by the Mark.

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You might remember at the end of
yesterday, we added another

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principle that we choose service
because of the character of

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God’s servant.
And we spent an hour yesterday,

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didn’t we, looking at those
glorious passages in, in

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Isaiah’s servant servant
prophecies, understanding a

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little bit about about what the
servant was doing and the way in

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which he gave all of himself so
that you and I might have our

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own understanding of freedom.
Liberty is hard wired into the

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Bible’s overall narrative.
It’s it’s seen in these these

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key moments in the early book,
in the early chapters of the

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book of Genesis, it’s seen in
those mini exoduses that that

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Abraham and Joseph and Moses
have.

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It’s seen, of course, in the
life of the nation.

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And it’s seen in the later years
as well in the exile and the

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return from exile.
And, and as we begin just to

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move on this morning from some
of the Old Testament passages

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and begin to make our way into
the new, we’re going to see all

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of these things are are pictures
of restoration, pictures of of

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God showing us the way in which
he’s going to put people back or

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put creation back rather to
where it was before.

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Because they are pointing us
forward to a man who was moved

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with compassion when he looked
at his people, when he saw them

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bow down by sickness and disease
and uncleanness, when he saw

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them overwhelmed sometimes by
the weight of their sin.

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And so when he stood up in
Nazareth and called for the

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scroll of Isaiah the prophet to
be brought to him, you could

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have cut the atmosphere with a
knife.

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Come with me to Luke chapter 4.
I’m

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going to try to do 2 things this
morning.

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One is spend a little bit of
time here in Luke 4, and then

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we’re going to move into the
letter to the Galatians.

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I confessed I did not think that
in a 6th class series we would

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run out of time to cover some of
the major parts of this theme.

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But but we are going to do so.
So we’re going to try to do this

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as a little bit of a pace.
Let me bring you into Luke

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chapter 4, verse 16.
Jesus came to Nazareth where

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he’d been brought up and as his
custom was, went into the

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synagogue on the Sabbath day and
stood up to read and there was

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delivered to him the book called
the scroll of the prophet

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Isaiah.
And he opened the book and found

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the place where it was written.
And you know these words,

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they’re out of Isaiah chapter
61.

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The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me.

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It’s anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor, sent me to

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heal the broken hearted, to
preach deliverance or or liberty

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to the captives and the
recovering of sight to the

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blind, to set at liberty those
who are bruised, and to preach

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the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book and he

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gave it again to the minister
and sat down in the eyes of all

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those who were in the synagogue
were fastened upon him.

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Twice in verse 18, we’ve got the
word liberty.

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As I say, 1 is, is just slightly
hidden away.

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If you have a, a King James,
it’s the word deliverance, but

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it’s hiding there twice.
And the Lord is, of course,

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pulling out that quotation from
not the servant prophecies of

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Isaiah, but the section that
comes immediately afterwards

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from Isaiah 61.
But it’s a.

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It’s what you call a blended
quote.

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He’s added a bit in not from
from from any other any other

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prophecy, but he’s just.
Built in a little bit there from

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Isaiah 58 as well.
That’s that’s the section that

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you can see right at the end to
set at liberty those who are

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bruised.
And that’s because, post the

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Servant songs, Isaiah is going
to return his his readers return

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his hearers to this theme of the
Exodus.

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So there at the top of the
screen is Isaiah 61.

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There’s the quotation that the
Lord has, or there’s the reading

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that the Lord has, has, has
shown us in Luke chapter 4.

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But he’s also wanting us just to
notice other parts of that same

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section of the book that talk
about release from bondage.

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So Isaiah 58.
And we’ve just been doing these

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chapters or are about to do them
in our in our afternoon classes.

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So they’re not they’re not
unfamiliar, are they 58 verses 6

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and seven, he’s going to loose
the bonds of wickedness, undo

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the straps of the yoke, let the
oppressed go free.

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There’s the the the bit that
appears in in Luke chapter 4 and

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to break every yoke.
It’s not a surprise if your mind

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is drawn back by the Lord to
Isaiah 61 to begin to ferret

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around in that part of the
prophecy to find out the other

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things which are going on could
almost go back to Isaiah 49 as

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well.
He’s going to establish the

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land, a portion of the desolate
heritage.

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He’ll say to the prisoners come
out and to those who are in

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darkness appear.
He’s using the language of of

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the law of Jubilee, isn’t he?
He’s using the language of of

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that great release that was
promised in the Old Testament in

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the Law of Moses, that divine
agenda to support families and

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communities, that was designed
to avoid excessive accumulation

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of property by anyone
individual, that was designed to

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care for the poor, that was
designed to grant a mechanism to

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escape poverty.
It was another way of looking at

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those servant chapters or the
servant verses that we spent

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some time with in Exodus chapter
21 as well.

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In other words, what the Lord is
alluding to is that there are a

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series of releases which are
shaped by what God has already

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told us in the Old Testament.
So.

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So why does He take his hearers
there in the synagogue?

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Why are they so fascinated?
Why in particular when he stops

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reading and we get this extra
emphasis that he closed the book

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or closed the scroll?
And gave it to the minister and

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sat down.
Well, he’s doing what the

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teachers would do.
Because of course, if you were,

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if you were the audience in
those days, you’d be stood up

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And, and if you were the
teacher, you’d be sat down.

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Which frankly is something I
think we should go back to.

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But there we are.
Give, give my feet.

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A bit of a rest as well, but
he’s deliberately done that,

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given it back to the to the
minister, the ruler of the

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synagogue, and he sat down.
What kind of freedom is the Lord

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going to bring?
Well.

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You would make me a good case
that he would bring a whole

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series of different kinds of
freedom.

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The Jews want him to bring
freedom from Roman oppression,

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particularly in that part of the
country.

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The the town of Sephorus nearby
had been a site of a great Roman

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rebellion a few years ago, and
the consequences of that would

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still have been rolling on.
But the Lord’s not finished the

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quote, has he?
And and those of you that did go

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back to Isaiah 61, and you can
see it on the screen as well,

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may have just noticed that the
Lord sits down at the crucial

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part that that last phrase, the
day of vengeance of our God

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doesn’t actually appear in Luke
chapter 4.

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It’s almost as if he’s left them
hanging.

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And I think that’s why Luke
draws our attention to the fact

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that that’s the point he stops
and that’s the point he sits

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down because it’s almost as if
he’s then going to go on and

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explain it, right?
Does it mean there won’t be a

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day of vengeance?
Does it mean that that part of

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it isn’t going to be fulfilled?
Is it only a message of peace?

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Well, obviously not.
And the Lord is actually going

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to return to this later on.
If you just come over to Luke 22

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very quickly.
I’m sorry, Luke 21 very quickly.

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It’s the Olivet prophecy and
what the Lord has begun in Luke

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chapter 4, he’s going to finish
in Luke 21 and verse 22 when

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he’s spoken of those in Judea
fleeing to the mountains.

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Luke 21 verse 22 these are.
The days of vengeance that all

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things which are written may be
fulfilled.

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He’s picking up Isaiah 61 and
verse 2 is finishing, if you

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like, the quotation which he’s
begun back in the synagogue in

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Luke chapter 4.
So, so in some way that day of

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vengeance will be the fulfilment
of the Olivet prophecy.

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In some way it will be 8070 and
and the other ways in which Luke

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21 and Matthew 24 are going to
unfold because there is also a

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sense that the day of vengeance
of our God is still going to be

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fulfilled in another way.
Septuagint translates it

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slightly differently for us.
It makes us look at it in a

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slightly different way.
It translates it as the word

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payback.
Now you can have payback in

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positive and negative ways.
Samson talks about it in a in a

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negative sense back in Judges 16
verse 28.

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Samson wants to pay back the
Philistines for his two eyes.

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You remember when he stands
between the pillars and brings

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the whole building down on
himself and and everybody else

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there.
But it can also be used in a

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positive sense.
It’s used in the Psalms in that

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way.
Don’t don’t forget all of the

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Lord’s benefits, all of the
things he gives us.

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And Paul uses it in Colossians
as well.

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So it can be instigated in in
more than one way.

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It’s the idea of restoration
again, it’s the idea of

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recompense.
It’s the idea of this latter

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jubilee, the latter day jubilee,
I should say, being something

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where God is restoring his
people to where they were

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before.
It’s a very idea that we picked

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up time and time again that that
what God has done at the

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beginning is give his creation
all of this freedom with these

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very broad guardrails.
And when things have gone wrong,

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things have become smaller,
tighter, more, more more

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compacted.
And the whole aim of, of the

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entire meta narrative, there’s
an ugly phrase of, of the

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scripture is to get us back to
that place where we have all of

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this, all of this liberty once
again.

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And, and one of the ways I think
that the Lord is drawing our

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attention in Isaiah 61 to this
is to say, yes, I, I, I can

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promise you healing.
Yes, I can promise you a picture

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of sin.
Yes, I can lift your burdens and

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relieve you in a day-to-day way.
But, but the exodus was not set

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up to create laws that would
bind consciences.

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It was set up to show you that
the perfect law of liberty was

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about restoring.
It was about grace.

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It was about open handed giving
and open handed generosity and

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it’s something that will appear
later on in the New Testament

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letters.
Can I bring you over to

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Galatians Chapter 3, conscious
that we haven’t really done Luke

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chapter 4 justice, but I just
want to bring you on to

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Galatians chapters 3 and 4.
Or are we going to going to turn

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our attention for a little
while?

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Here in Galatians, Paul is at
pains to protect the gospel from

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attack.
And, and as you know very well,

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he, he’s, he’s trying to point
out to them that righteousness

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does not come through serving
the law of Moses does not come

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through quantifying your
discipleship.

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It does not come through come
through seeing grace as as a

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trade off.
It comes through faith in the

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crucified Messiah.
Something that the Jewish

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converts were clearly struggling
to understand and struggling to

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make sense of.
Have a look at Paul’s language

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in chapter 3.
Let’s go to well verse 23.

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In Galatians 3, before faith
came, we were kept under the

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law, shut up to the faith which
should afterwards be revealed.

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Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us to

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Christ, that we might be
justified by faith.

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But after faith has come, you’re
no longer under a schoolmaster

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for you’re all the children of
God by faith in Jesus Christ.

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Have a look at the language
here.

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It’s it’s it is the language of
anti liberty.

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It’s the language of being
imprisoned.

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Verses 22 and 23, the law was a
jailer.

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It it confined and it restricted
them certainly the way that they

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were misinterpreting it.
But there was something about

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law that was was not helping
them.

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Verses 24 and 25, the law was a
a guardian or a schoolmaster or

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00:12:13,560 –> 00:12:16,160
a disciplinarian, depending on
the version that you’re reading

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00:12:16,160 –> 00:12:19,520
from.
It was designed for for those

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00:12:19,520 –> 00:12:22,880
who had not yet grown up, those
who were still on milk and not

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00:12:22,880 –> 00:12:27,560
meat, those who were not yet old
enough to be free, if you like,

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00:12:27,560 –> 00:12:30,160
and make their own and make
their own choices.

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Chapter 4 and verse one.
Now I say actually we’ve missed

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00:12:36,200 –> 00:12:39,280
the crucial part, haven’t we?
Don’t need to not not forget to

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00:12:39,280 –> 00:12:42,200
read the end of chapter 3 For as
many of you has have been

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00:12:42,200 –> 00:12:44,120
baptised into Christ to put on
Christ.

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00:12:44,120 –> 00:12:47,040
There’s neither Jew nor Greek,
neither bond nor free, neither

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00:12:47,040 –> 00:12:49,760
male nor female.
You’re all one in Christ Jesus,

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00:12:50,080 –> 00:12:53,320
and if you’re Christ’s then
you’re Abraham’s seed and heirs

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00:12:53,320 –> 00:12:56,200
according to the promise.
And the heir, as long as he is a

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00:12:56,200 –> 00:13:00,920
child, differs nothing from a
servant, although he be Lord of

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00:13:00,920 –> 00:13:05,400
all, but he’s under tutors and
governors until the time

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00:13:05,440 –> 00:13:09,800
appointed of the father is the
same transition to freedom, but

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00:13:09,800 –> 00:13:11,200
just in slightly different
language.

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00:13:11,200 –> 00:13:14,320
In fact, that’s why Paul begins
chapter 4 by saying, well, I

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00:13:14,320 –> 00:13:17,600
mean it like this.
Now I say that he’s he’s just

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00:13:17,600 –> 00:13:21,640
saying this is what I really
mean in in other languages and

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00:13:21,640 –> 00:13:23,480
and the expressions that he’s
using are going to take a

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00:13:23,480 –> 00:13:25,720
particular turn.
He’s spoken of people being

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00:13:26,120 –> 00:13:29,120
imprisoned.
It’s even there in verse 22,

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00:13:29,120 –> 00:13:31,400
isn’t it?
The Scripture has imprisoned all

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00:13:31,400 –> 00:13:34,000
under sin.
He’s spoken of people being

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00:13:34,000 –> 00:13:37,520
guarded or or constrained by a
schoolmaster.

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00:13:37,920 –> 00:13:40,800
And now in chapter 4 and verse
three, he tells us that when we

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00:13:40,800 –> 00:13:46,560
were children, we were in
bondage or we were enslaved to

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00:13:46,560 –> 00:13:49,920
the elements of the world.
But when the fullness was time

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00:13:49,920 –> 00:13:51,520
has come and we were here last
night, weren’t we?

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00:13:51,520 –> 00:13:54,280
In the other session, God sent
forth his son.

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00:13:54,680 –> 00:13:57,360
Born of a woman, born under the
law to redeem those who were

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00:13:57,360 –> 00:14:01,560
under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons.

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00:14:01,560 –> 00:14:04,280
Look at the way in which this
language builds through these

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00:14:04,280 –> 00:14:07,160
verses.
You were under a curse. 3 verse

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00:14:07,160 –> 00:14:10,600
10.
You were under sin. 3 verse 22.

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00:14:10,800 –> 00:14:14,320
You were guarded under the law.
You were under a teacher.

255
00:14:14,320 –> 00:14:16,400
You were under guardians and
stewards.

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00:14:16,400 –> 00:14:19,080
I’ve got different translations
on the slide from the one I’ve

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00:14:19,080 –> 00:14:20,520
read, but you can follow it
through.

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00:14:20,880 –> 00:14:23,640
You were under these natural
elements of the world, the

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00:14:23,640 –> 00:14:26,120
entire.
Way in which Paul is building up

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00:14:26,120 –> 00:14:28,480
this point, which we’re going to
understand in just a second is,

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00:14:28,480 –> 00:14:36,080
is by saying as it was, you were
not free in your former way of

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00:14:36,080 –> 00:14:37,840
life.
You were not free If you were

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00:14:37,840 –> 00:14:40,200
still worshipping law, if you
were still living under law,

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00:14:40,400 –> 00:14:42,920
then then you were not, then you
were not free.

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00:14:42,920 –> 00:14:46,480
And now suddenly, when the
fullness of time is come, God

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00:14:46,480 –> 00:14:52,200
sends forth his Son, who in some
sense is himself constrained in

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00:14:52,200 –> 00:14:56,120
this way, because he.
Because he is born of a woman,

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00:14:56,240 –> 00:14:59,240
because he is born under the
law, because he is like you and

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00:14:59,240 –> 00:15:00,600
I, or because you and I are like
him.

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00:15:00,600 –> 00:15:01,720
That’s a better way of putting
it.

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00:15:02,440 –> 00:15:06,920
And yet the coming of the king
completely changes things.

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00:15:07,000 –> 00:15:09,240
We had been minors.
We had no more rights than

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00:15:09,240 –> 00:15:11,920
slaves.
We were confined, we were

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00:15:11,920 –> 00:15:18,040
guarded, we were restricted.
And yet now you are sons and

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00:15:18,040 –> 00:15:20,840
daughters, verse 6, and God has
sent the spirit of his Son into

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00:15:20,840 –> 00:15:24,960
your hearts crying ABBA Father,
you will know about adoption in

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00:15:24,960 –> 00:15:27,760
the 1st century, the way in
which it was such a drastic and

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00:15:27,760 –> 00:15:32,240
far reaching innovation.
And we touched upon it again,

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00:15:32,240 –> 00:15:34,200
didn’t we, a little bit last
night when we talked about the

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00:15:34,200 –> 00:15:37,560
way in which this even
functioned in the lives of the

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00:15:37,560 –> 00:15:40,840
Caesars.
That when Julius Caesar, who was

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00:15:40,840 –> 00:15:44,400
childless, needed an heir, he
adopted Octavian, who becomes

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00:15:44,400 –> 00:15:47,880
Caesar Augustus, who becomes the
one that we compare the son of

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00:15:47,880 –> 00:15:53,120
the of, of Almighty God with.
So when we get into these verses

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00:15:53,120 –> 00:15:55,360
in chapter 4 and we’re talking
about the adoption of sons, I

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00:15:55,360 –> 00:15:59,880
don’t need you not to miss the
contrast sat under the surface

287
00:15:59,880 –> 00:16:02,720
again, are the the Roman
emperors, the ones who wanted to

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00:16:02,720 –> 00:16:05,800
be associated with their
predecessors, the ones who were

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00:16:05,800 –> 00:16:09,640
descended from, from God, from
gods and and goddesses in the

290
00:16:09,640 –> 00:16:12,160
heavens.
We’re also meant to see the

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00:16:12,160 –> 00:16:15,000
connection to the Egyptian
Pharaohs, the other ones who

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00:16:15,000 –> 00:16:18,840
were sons of gods.
So both in the Old Testament,

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00:16:18,840 –> 00:16:21,000
where Pharaoh is the son of Rah
and he’s going to be made

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00:16:21,000 –> 00:16:24,280
immortal, and both in the New
Testament where where Octavian

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00:16:24,280 –> 00:16:26,440
is going to become Caesar
Augustus and become the son of a

296
00:16:26,440 –> 00:16:28,880
God.
We’re learning about something

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00:16:28,880 –> 00:16:35,720
else because adoption into God’s
family is a meteoric jump in

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00:16:35,720 –> 00:16:40,760
status moves us into a place
that we could never have

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00:16:40,760 –> 00:16:42,960
understood.
I mean, it’s one thing for one

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00:16:42,960 –> 00:16:47,320
thing for the the great ruler of
the Roman Empire to be adopted

301
00:16:47,320 –> 00:16:51,600
into some ancient lineage,
whether it was even vaguely true

302
00:16:51,600 –> 00:16:57,360
or not, but not a Thessalonian
slave girl, not a young man who

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00:16:57,360 –> 00:16:58,760
worked down the docks in
Corinth.

304
00:17:00,920 –> 00:17:03,640
Suddenly these things are moving
the boundaries of our thinking

305
00:17:03,640 –> 00:17:08,079
again, and he’s setting us up to
understand the significance of

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00:17:08,200 –> 00:17:11,040
of adoption in the Lord Jesus
Christ.

307
00:17:11,040 –> 00:17:13,440
But Paul is worried about
something.

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00:17:14,119 –> 00:17:17,680
He’s worried that having been
set free, having been adopted as

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00:17:17,680 –> 00:17:21,640
sons and daughters, we’re going
to be returning to sin again.

310
00:17:22,680 –> 00:17:24,319
You’re no more a servant but a
son, he says.

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00:17:24,319 –> 00:17:26,079
And if a son, then they’re of
God through Christ.

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00:17:26,280 –> 00:17:30,720
But verse 8, when you knew not
God, you did service to those

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00:17:30,720 –> 00:17:32,520
who are not God.
You are restricted.

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00:17:32,520 –> 00:17:36,480
You are in bondage again.
But now verse 9, after that you

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00:17:36,480 –> 00:17:38,800
have known God, or rather are
known of God.

316
00:17:40,560 –> 00:17:42,960
Now turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements whereof

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00:17:42,960 –> 00:17:44,920
you desire to be again in
bondage.

318
00:17:44,920 –> 00:17:47,000
Why would you go back into
lockdown?

319
00:17:47,880 –> 00:17:49,800
Why would you go back into
slavery?

320
00:17:50,960 –> 00:17:53,520
Why would you walk free from
jail and then when you get to

321
00:17:53,520 –> 00:17:55,840
the front doors decide to turn
around and go back in because it

322
00:17:55,840 –> 00:17:59,120
was better there?
Why would you do that?

323
00:18:00,760 –> 00:18:03,400
And yet you remember all those
verses we put up a few days ago

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00:18:03,400 –> 00:18:07,000
about the language that the
Israelites use when they’re

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00:18:07,000 –> 00:18:08,720
coming out of Egypt and they
don’t like the wilderness

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00:18:08,720 –> 00:18:11,280
journey and they want to go back
to Egypt.

327
00:18:11,840 –> 00:18:14,680
We liked being slaves there.
We served in Egypt.

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00:18:15,280 –> 00:18:19,200
You have brought us out to die.
All of those expressions that

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00:18:19,200 –> 00:18:21,560
we’ve built up through those
slides, one after the other was

330
00:18:21,600 –> 00:18:23,880
was saying actually they liked
serving.

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00:18:23,880 –> 00:18:26,920
They liked being in bondage
ultimately because they never

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00:18:26,920 –> 00:18:29,920
thought they had been.
That was the John 8 point that

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00:18:29,920 –> 00:18:32,040
we got to, wasn’t it?
We are Abraham’s seed and we’ve

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00:18:32,040 –> 00:18:34,240
never been in bondage to anyone.
They never understood that they

335
00:18:34,240 –> 00:18:39,880
had been all the time this great
lie that we tell ourselves if we

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00:18:39,880 –> 00:18:43,280
have not yet repented that we
were never in bondage and

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00:18:43,280 –> 00:18:44,520
therefore God can’t even touch
us.

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00:18:44,520 –> 00:18:45,680
There’s nothing that can be
done.

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00:18:46,800 –> 00:18:49,800
And and and we meet again in
these verses, this same

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00:18:50,080 –> 00:18:52,720
challenge.
I’ve always been able to do it

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00:18:52,720 –> 00:18:55,560
myself.
Maybe that’s the phrase to to

342
00:18:55,560 –> 00:18:57,600
hang our hats on on Independence
Day, right?

343
00:18:58,680 –> 00:19:02,920
This idea that actually we we
need yet again to to catch

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00:19:02,920 –> 00:19:06,880
Paul’s concerns.
I am afraid of you verse 11, in

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00:19:06,880 –> 00:19:09,520
case I’ve bestowed my labour
upon you in vain.

346
00:19:10,040 –> 00:19:12,200
So Paul’s going to open this out
for us, and he’s going to show

347
00:19:12,200 –> 00:19:18,560
us in particular with 11
remarkable piece of of inspired

348
00:19:18,560 –> 00:19:22,720
scriptural wizardry.
He’s going to take us in verse

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00:19:22,720 –> 00:19:26,760
22 to a passage that we would
not have read in the way that

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00:19:26,760 –> 00:19:28,520
Paul is going to read it.
I’m not suggesting there’s

351
00:19:28,520 –> 00:19:31,000
anything crazy going on here,
but this is, you know, we would

352
00:19:31,000 –> 00:19:33,160
not have read the account that
he’s going to tell us about in

353
00:19:33,160 –> 00:19:36,480
the way that he reads it.
I don’t think we bring you all

354
00:19:36,480 –> 00:19:38,160
the way down again to to verse
20.

355
00:19:38,200 –> 00:19:41,480
Well, verse 21 in Galatians
chapter 4, just to just to

356
00:19:41,480 –> 00:19:45,160
connect things up.
Tell me, you who desire to be

357
00:19:46,280 –> 00:19:50,320
constrained in bondage,
restricted under the law, do you

358
00:19:50,320 –> 00:19:54,520
not hear the law?
For it’s written that Abraham

359
00:19:54,520 –> 00:20:00,160
had two sons, the one by a bond
made and the other by a free

360
00:20:00,160 –> 00:20:01,480
woman.
Well, actually, Abraham had more

361
00:20:01,480 –> 00:20:03,120
than two sons.
But we’re just drilling down

362
00:20:03,120 –> 00:20:04,640
into it to Isaac and Ishmael,
aren’t we?

363
00:20:05,640 –> 00:20:08,640
He who was.
Born, or his rather, he who was

364
00:20:08,640 –> 00:20:12,880
of the bondwoman was born after
the flesh.

365
00:20:13,640 –> 00:20:15,640
And it’s a little quotation.
You may not see it as a

366
00:20:15,640 –> 00:20:18,200
quotation, but it’s a little
phrase that Paul is is under

367
00:20:18,200 –> 00:20:21,600
inspiration plucking out of.
Of the Gospel of John, although

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00:20:21,600 –> 00:20:23,000
having said that, John’s not
been written yet.

369
00:20:23,000 –> 00:20:25,760
So maybe there is a process of
inspiration working that, that

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00:20:25,760 –> 00:20:28,320
Paul wants us to, to, to
understand later.

371
00:20:29,280 –> 00:20:31,640
He’s he’s taking it from, from
John chapter 1.

372
00:20:31,640 –> 00:20:34,280
You remember that the children
of God are borne not of blood

373
00:20:34,280 –> 00:20:37,520
nor of the will of the flesh,
but of God.

374
00:20:38,160 –> 00:20:40,440
The word is made flesh and dwelt
among us full of grace and

375
00:20:40,440 –> 00:20:42,440
truth.
The one who was of the bondwoman

376
00:20:42,440 –> 00:20:46,320
was born in the same way of the
flesh after the flesh, but he

377
00:20:46,320 –> 00:20:49,520
who was of the free woman was
born of promise.

378
00:20:50,280 –> 00:20:53,320
The promise of chapter 3 and
verse 29 that if you are Abraham

379
00:20:53,320 –> 00:20:55,200
seed, you are heirs according to
the promise.

380
00:20:55,720 –> 00:20:57,760
Pauline is setting up another
contrast.

381
00:20:57,760 –> 00:20:59,600
I feel like all I’ve been doing
this week is talking about

382
00:20:59,600 –> 00:21:01,960
contrasts being set up in
scripture.

383
00:21:01,960 –> 00:21:05,000
Choices that we have to make
between one path and another

384
00:21:05,000 –> 00:21:07,320
path.
Do you want a human solution or

385
00:21:07,320 –> 00:21:09,720
do you want a divine solution?
Do you want to follow rules and

386
00:21:09,720 –> 00:21:12,960
be restricted and constrained or
do you want the law of grace?

387
00:21:13,680 –> 00:21:19,400
So here is Ishmael born when
Sarah says God needs a bit of a

388
00:21:19,400 –> 00:21:22,360
kick start.
I think God’s timetable isn’t

389
00:21:22,360 –> 00:21:23,520
quite what I would like it to
be.

390
00:21:23,520 –> 00:21:25,520
So I’m going to push him along
in the right direction.

391
00:21:27,240 –> 00:21:31,400
And Isaac, who is born when
God’s grace is shown to Abraham

392
00:21:32,640 –> 00:21:37,800
at the most unlikely time when
he’s far too old to have

393
00:21:37,800 –> 00:21:39,520
children.
And so is Sarah.

394
00:21:39,520 –> 00:21:43,200
You know, it’s telling, I think
actually that that Sarah is not

395
00:21:43,200 –> 00:21:46,560
mentioned here in this, in his
allegory, in this, in this

396
00:21:46,560 –> 00:21:48,200
section at the end of Galatians
4.

397
00:21:48,560 –> 00:21:50,440
It’s not the allegory of, of
Sarah and Hagar.

398
00:21:50,440 –> 00:21:52,440
It’s, it’s the allegory of, of
Isaac and Ishmael.

399
00:21:52,440 –> 00:21:55,800
And, and maybe the fact that
Sarah’s name is, is absent tells

400
00:21:55,800 –> 00:21:58,160
us a little bit about God’s
judgement on her from that

401
00:21:58,160 –> 00:21:59,280
moment.
And we’ll, we’ll see a little

402
00:21:59,280 –> 00:22:04,640
bit more of that in a minute.
But the same situation exists in

403
00:22:04,640 –> 00:22:09,080
Galatia, where the issue of the
Gentiles coming to the gospel

404
00:22:09,800 –> 00:22:13,160
has riled up the Jewish
disciples, the Jewish converts,

405
00:22:13,440 –> 00:22:17,680
to manufacture solutions.
And artificially raised the bar

406
00:22:17,680 –> 00:22:21,960
of fellowship.
And Paul is writing this letter

407
00:22:21,960 –> 00:22:24,560
to try to get underneath that
and to try to understand or to

408
00:22:24,560 –> 00:22:26,880
try to help them understand
what’s going on.

409
00:22:27,280 –> 00:22:28,960
These things, he says, are an
allegory.

410
00:22:28,960 –> 00:22:32,320
It’s picture language.
For there are two covenants, one

411
00:22:32,320 –> 00:22:34,920
from Mount Sinai, which genders
to bondage, which is Hagar.

412
00:22:35,160 –> 00:22:39,400
This Hagar is Mount Sinai in
Arabia and answers to Jerusalem,

413
00:22:40,080 –> 00:22:43,400
which now is and is in bondage
with her children.

414
00:22:44,480 –> 00:22:46,040
We’ve got that same language
again that you can see on the

415
00:22:46,040 –> 00:22:47,360
screen.
We’re repeating this idea of

416
00:22:47,360 –> 00:22:50,200
language, of constraint and
restriction and anti liberty.

417
00:22:51,120 –> 00:22:56,200
But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of

418
00:22:56,200 –> 00:22:59,040
us all.
Remember Abraham and Isaac on

419
00:22:59,040 –> 00:23:03,760
Moriah, whose son is Isaac.
Our process of the temptation of

420
00:23:03,760 –> 00:23:07,000
Abraham is for Abraham to
understand whose son Isaac

421
00:23:07,000 –> 00:23:09,960
really is.
Remember Pharaoh in, in Exodus

422
00:23:09,960 –> 00:23:12,920
chapter 4, the great, great
failure that Pharaoh had made

423
00:23:12,920 –> 00:23:15,760
is, is making God’s son work for
him.

424
00:23:16,200 –> 00:23:19,040
This figure is at the very heart
of the paradox of liberty.

425
00:23:19,360 –> 00:23:21,120
Can I bring you back to Genesis
chapter 16?

426
00:23:21,120 –> 00:23:24,840
We’ll come back to Galatians,
come back to Genesis.

427
00:23:25,640 –> 00:23:28,240
And as we were working through
those little shadows of the

428
00:23:28,240 –> 00:23:31,160
Exodus, there was one which we
just left on the side.

429
00:23:31,160 –> 00:23:38,320
Until now.
Remember, we we looked at

430
00:23:38,480 –> 00:23:41,440
Genesis 12, we looked at Genesis
13, we looked at Genesis 14 and

431
00:23:41,440 –> 00:23:44,200
we said Abraham was, or Abraham
was living out an exodus.

432
00:23:44,560 –> 00:23:47,040
He went down into Egypt.
There were plagues.

433
00:23:47,280 –> 00:23:50,520
They came out with great wealth.
They then moved he and Lot to

434
00:23:50,520 –> 00:23:52,640
divide the land together.
There was a conquest of the

435
00:23:52,640 –> 00:24:00,760
kings in Genesis chapter 14, and
then there is a jarring break in

436
00:24:00,760 –> 00:24:05,200
Genesis chapter 16.
Just glance back to chapter 15

437
00:24:05,200 –> 00:24:09,160
verse 13 for a second.
God says to Abraham no over

438
00:24:09,160 –> 00:24:14,480
surety 15, verse 13 that your
seed will be a stranger in a

439
00:24:14,480 –> 00:24:18,880
land that is not theirs and
shall serve them, and they shall

440
00:24:18,880 –> 00:24:24,640
afflict them 400 years.
So three things just to note

441
00:24:24,640 –> 00:24:28,120
from verse 13, they’re going to
be strangers, they’re going to

442
00:24:28,120 –> 00:24:30,520
be servants, and they’re going
to be afflicted.

443
00:24:31,640 –> 00:24:33,320
Well, that’s going to work
itself out later in the nation,

444
00:24:33,320 –> 00:24:38,000
of course, but there is somebody
to whom that will apply 1st and

445
00:24:38,000 –> 00:24:41,040
it’s somebody that we absolutely
do not expect to see.

446
00:24:42,080 –> 00:24:44,920
So up to 16 and verse one.
Now, Sir, I, Abraham’s wife,

447
00:24:44,920 –> 00:24:49,080
bear him no children, and she
had a handmaid, an Egyptian

448
00:24:49,640 –> 00:24:52,640
whose name was Hagar, who
probably came out of Egypt at

449
00:24:52,640 –> 00:24:55,720
the end of Genesis 12 when they
came back in that figure we

450
00:24:55,720 –> 00:25:00,880
looked at earlier, three key
things from Genesis 15.

451
00:25:00,960 –> 00:25:04,360
They were to be foreigners.
They were going to be servants.

452
00:25:04,720 –> 00:25:08,400
They were going to be afflicted.
When we get to Hagar in chapter

453
00:25:08,400 –> 00:25:14,320
16, she’s a foreigner, she’s a
servant, and down in verse 6,

454
00:25:14,720 –> 00:25:19,200
she’s going to be afflicted.
It’s the same word as in chapter

455
00:25:19,200 –> 00:25:22,400
15, verse 13.
That’s weird.

456
00:25:24,000 –> 00:25:28,000
We’ve got an Egyptian afflicted
and made to serve in the House

457
00:25:28,000 –> 00:25:32,240
of the Hebrews.
It’s a bit eerie.

458
00:25:33,720 –> 00:25:38,280
It’s like an Exodus gone wrong.
It’s like things have yet again

459
00:25:38,280 –> 00:25:42,920
been turned on their heads.
You might even make the case

460
00:25:42,920 –> 00:25:46,800
that that there is a figure of
Pharaoh present in Abraham’s

461
00:25:46,800 –> 00:25:48,920
house.
You know what what Pharaoh does,

462
00:25:49,080 –> 00:25:51,280
or what he’s.
Planning to do in genesis 12.

463
00:25:52,200 –> 00:25:55,520
Pharaoh likes taking women for
himself that that are not his.

464
00:25:56,680 –> 00:26:01,080
And, and when Abraham takes
Hagar, who is not his wife,

465
00:26:01,840 –> 00:26:05,480
there is a slightly awkward echo
of what Pharaoh is planning to

466
00:26:05,480 –> 00:26:09,080
do in Genesis chapter 12.
Now, Abraham’s going to be

467
00:26:09,080 –> 00:26:11,160
formed in a very different way
because of his relationship with

468
00:26:11,160 –> 00:26:12,240
God.
Don’t misunderstand me.

469
00:26:12,240 –> 00:26:14,000
We’re not trying to paint too
tight a picture here.

470
00:26:14,000 –> 00:26:17,720
But there is just a just a
whisper, just a shadow of what

471
00:26:17,720 –> 00:26:23,160
Pharaoh was like that manifests
itself in in Abraham in these

472
00:26:23,160 –> 00:26:28,120
slightly awkward chapters in
Genesis chapter 16 might be an

473
00:26:28,120 –> 00:26:31,200
echo of of the days of Noah.
You remember when we were

474
00:26:31,200 –> 00:26:33,880
thinking about that, that the
sons of God saw the daughters of

475
00:26:33,880 –> 00:26:37,000
men, that they were fair and
they took them wives of all that

476
00:26:37,000 –> 00:26:40,400
they chose.
Maybe we see a whisper of that

477
00:26:40,400 –> 00:26:43,240
in what Abraham’s doing when
Hagar becomes his woman.

478
00:26:45,040 –> 00:26:47,120
And it’s a full narrative as
well.

479
00:26:47,840 –> 00:26:50,480
It’s not only like Pharaoh.
It’s not only like Noah.

480
00:26:51,320 –> 00:26:53,440
But we’re also going back to the
Garden of Eden, aren’t we?

481
00:26:53,440 –> 00:26:56,600
Chapter 16 and verse 2, Sir, I
said to Abram, Behold, now the

482
00:26:56,600 –> 00:27:00,960
Lord has restrained me from
bearing freedom word, I pray

483
00:27:00,960 –> 00:27:03,200
thee, going to my maid.
It may be that I may obtain

484
00:27:03,200 –> 00:27:07,120
children by her.
And Abram listened to the voice

485
00:27:07,360 –> 00:27:10,320
of his wife.
Where have you heard that

486
00:27:10,320 –> 00:27:13,000
before?
It’s Genesis chapter 3 again,

487
00:27:13,000 –> 00:27:16,240
isn’t it?
Go and take my maid, she says,

488
00:27:16,480 –> 00:27:18,560
and he listens to the voice of
his wife.

489
00:27:18,840 –> 00:27:23,480
And as a result of that, what
happens in Genesis 3 when Adam

490
00:27:23,480 –> 00:27:25,040
listens to the voice of his
wife?

491
00:27:25,040 –> 00:27:29,160
Their eyes are opened.
What happens when Abraham

492
00:27:29,160 –> 00:27:31,040
listens to the voice of his
wife?

493
00:27:31,400 –> 00:27:36,400
Chapter 16 and verse 4.
She saw she had conceived.

494
00:27:36,640 –> 00:27:40,680
And Sarai says, My wrong be upon
thee, I’ve given my maid into

495
00:27:40,680 –> 00:27:43,480
thy bosom.
And when she saw that she had

496
00:27:43,480 –> 00:27:47,040
conceived, I was despised in her
eyes.

497
00:27:47,560 –> 00:27:50,280
She looked with contempt upon
her mistress.

498
00:27:50,720 –> 00:27:54,320
Both Sarah and Hagar actually
just take on a little bit of the

499
00:27:54,320 –> 00:27:57,480
character of Eve.
We wouldn’t expect that.

500
00:27:57,480 –> 00:28:00,040
It’s like the Exodus has been
turned upside down and inside

501
00:28:00,040 –> 00:28:05,280
out.
Now, if that’s that’s

502
00:28:05,320 –> 00:28:08,640
reasonable, again, we’re not
suggesting that that Abraham’s

503
00:28:08,640 –> 00:28:11,520
going to go down some awful path
because we know that he doesn’t.

504
00:28:11,600 –> 00:28:14,320
If that’s reasonable, what’s the
what’s the next thing in the

505
00:28:14,320 –> 00:28:18,480
Genesis 3 account after and then
listened to the voice of his

506
00:28:18,480 –> 00:28:20,240
wife and after their eyes had
been opened.

507
00:28:20,240 –> 00:28:24,280
Well, you remember they hear the
voice of God walking in the

508
00:28:24,280 –> 00:28:30,480
garden in the cool of the day.
And here it is in 16 verse 7,

509
00:28:31,120 –> 00:28:34,640
the Angel of the Lord found her
by a fountain in the wilderness,

510
00:28:35,080 –> 00:28:39,080
by the way, to Shure and said,
Hey, go, hey, Garcia’s maid,

511
00:28:39,080 –> 00:28:41,920
where did you come from and
where will you go?

512
00:28:42,960 –> 00:28:46,800
It’s, it’s not the same words,
but it’s the same idea here is

513
00:28:46,800 –> 00:28:49,840
God talking to somebody after
the process that we’ve been

514
00:28:49,840 –> 00:28:51,600
through.
I mean, even verses 10 and 11

515
00:28:51,600 –> 00:28:53,560
look a little bit like Genesis
3, don’t they?

516
00:28:53,840 –> 00:28:57,080
This idea that I will multiply
your seed and it won’t not be

517
00:28:57,080 –> 00:28:59,840
counted for multitude.
I mean, it’s it’s not the

518
00:28:59,840 –> 00:29:02,800
Genesis 3 promise.
It’s not the go forth and

519
00:29:02,800 –> 00:29:05,600
multiply promise or the have
dominion promise of Genesis 1.

520
00:29:05,600 –> 00:29:07,800
But there were little words
there that you just might say,

521
00:29:07,800 –> 00:29:09,200
think, look a little bit
similar.

522
00:29:10,120 –> 00:29:16,320
It’s a replay of Genesis 3.
What what Abraham does wrongly,

523
00:29:16,320 –> 00:29:21,560
I think, and what Sarai does is
just draw us back to a place

524
00:29:21,560 –> 00:29:23,120
where we probably shouldn’t want
to go.

525
00:29:23,800 –> 00:29:27,440
Sarah’s like Eve, but she’s also
like the serpent because she’s

526
00:29:27,440 –> 00:29:31,160
tempting Abraham.
Abraham’s like Adam because he

527
00:29:31,160 –> 00:29:34,000
listens, but he’s also like
Pharaoh.

528
00:29:34,480 –> 00:29:38,200
There is an oppression of this
servant, this stranger, which

529
00:29:38,240 –> 00:29:41,720
later we’re going to see open
out in the land of Egypt.

530
00:29:43,360 –> 00:29:46,400
And slightly bizarrely, but very
importantly for the point that

531
00:29:46,400 –> 00:29:50,080
Paul’s going to make in
Galatians, Hagar’s the one who

532
00:29:50,080 –> 00:29:54,160
receives blessings and pains as
a consequence of the fall.

533
00:29:54,280 –> 00:29:57,680
Genesis 16 is a replay of
something that we’ve seen

534
00:29:57,680 –> 00:30:02,840
already.
That’s why the allegory that the

535
00:30:02,840 –> 00:30:05,960
apostle Paul draws us to is so
powerful.

536
00:30:06,840 –> 00:30:10,400
This is not how God told his
faithful disciples that

537
00:30:10,400 –> 00:30:11,920
discipleship would be worked
out.

538
00:30:13,280 –> 00:30:16,120
Things have gone astray.
And the experience of Hagar that

539
00:30:16,120 –> 00:30:19,760
the circumstances we see is an
inversion of the Exodus.

540
00:30:19,760 –> 00:30:22,520
It’s like Pharaoh’s persecution
within the House of the Hebrews.

541
00:30:24,240 –> 00:30:28,200
We read Genesis 16 and we go,
well, you know, she’s kind of

542
00:30:28,200 –> 00:30:31,320
just collateral damage, which is
a pretty awful way of looking at

543
00:30:31,320 –> 00:30:32,600
it.
But actually what it does is it

544
00:30:32,600 –> 00:30:36,760
introduces us to Key key freedom
themes, key liberty ideas,

545
00:30:36,760 –> 00:30:38,880
because you’ve got strangers in
the house and you’ve got this

546
00:30:38,880 –> 00:30:41,520
idea of a sojourner and this
idea of being afflicted.

547
00:30:41,520 –> 00:30:45,520
Only here the boots on the other
foot, the sandals on the other

548
00:30:45,520 –> 00:30:48,240
shoe, right?
God’s going to fulfil his

549
00:30:48,240 –> 00:30:52,640
promises, but as he fulfils
them, he will deal with the

550
00:30:52,640 –> 00:30:57,120
serpent like tendencies within
all of us, even the people that

551
00:30:57,120 –> 00:31:02,040
we think are pretty good
examples of faith, even people

552
00:31:02,040 –> 00:31:05,720
like Abraham and Sarai.
And this spiritual formation

553
00:31:05,720 –> 00:31:09,680
that needs to begin within all
of us needs also to begin in the

554
00:31:09,680 –> 00:31:11,920
life of Abraham.
So there are two groups that

555
00:31:11,920 –> 00:31:14,760
Paul is pointing us to in
Galatians chapter 4.

556
00:31:14,760 –> 00:31:16,320
Come, come back there with me,
please.

557
00:31:16,320 –> 00:31:19,560
I’m going to run out of, run out
of time if we’re not careful.

558
00:31:20,160 –> 00:31:25,960
Galatians chapter 4 once again.
And, and, and it’s a chapter

559
00:31:25,960 –> 00:31:29,520
that we’ll deal with two, two
groups, I think.

560
00:31:33,320 –> 00:31:37,120
The Jews who reject the gospel
altogether and yet who are

561
00:31:37,120 –> 00:31:39,640
always dogging his steps
wherever he travels around the

562
00:31:39,640 –> 00:31:43,960
Mediterranean, and the Jewish
converts who don’t want the

563
00:31:43,960 –> 00:31:45,640
Gentiles in fellowship.
And they’re the ones, I think,

564
00:31:45,640 –> 00:31:49,200
that are the focus most of all.
Now Galatians is written.

565
00:31:50,400 –> 00:31:52,120
Did I mention it last night?
I probably did.

566
00:31:52,400 –> 00:31:56,360
It’s written almost certainly
between Acts 14 and 15, after

567
00:31:56,360 –> 00:32:00,280
the first missionary journey.
When the Gentiles are first

568
00:32:00,520 –> 00:32:05,480
publicly and visibly called to
Paul’s ministry, come to

569
00:32:05,480 –> 00:32:09,360
Galatians 4, verse 27, where we
where we finished before.

570
00:32:09,360 –> 00:32:13,640
For it is written, Rejoice, thou
Baron, that bearest not break

571
00:32:13,640 –> 00:32:16,040
forth, and cry thou that
travailest not.

572
00:32:16,360 –> 00:32:20,600
For the desolate hath many more
children than she which hath a

573
00:32:20,600 –> 00:32:23,040
husband.
It’s quote from Isaiah 54 verse

574
00:32:23,040 –> 00:32:25,960
one which she.
It’s significant, not least

575
00:32:25,960 –> 00:32:28,360
because it’s right after the 4th
servant song where we were

576
00:32:28,360 –> 00:32:30,200
yesterday.
So we’re picking up in that

577
00:32:30,200 –> 00:32:32,720
stream of thought that Isaiah
has got.

578
00:32:32,920 –> 00:32:35,600
And actually all of the rest of
Isaiah is about the redemption

579
00:32:35,600 –> 00:32:37,440
of Israel.
It’s about the the the focus

580
00:32:37,840 –> 00:32:41,480
landing firmly on Jerusalem, but
about God’s people coming back

581
00:32:41,720 –> 00:32:44,280
from exile.
And we are comparing Sarah’s joy

582
00:32:44,520 –> 00:32:50,640
in bearing Isaac with, well, in
Isaiah, the restoration or the

583
00:32:50,640 –> 00:32:54,120
freedom of Jerusalem after
captivity, and what that will

584
00:32:54,120 –> 00:32:57,600
mean in a fuller sense later on
when the king comes again in his

585
00:32:57,600 –> 00:32:59,800
glory.
But also the freedom that

586
00:32:59,800 –> 00:33:06,040
Gentile converts have in Christ
that Paul’s Jewish readers,

587
00:33:06,040 –> 00:33:09,000
Jewish hearers, are not
expecting to come across.

588
00:33:09,840 –> 00:33:12,080
And so not everybody’s happy
with it, just like not everybody

589
00:33:12,080 –> 00:33:16,680
was happy that Isaac was born
and changed the circumstances

590
00:33:16,680 –> 00:33:19,160
back in Genesis because Ishmael
doesn’t want Isaac to inherit

591
00:33:19,160 –> 00:33:21,720
without him.
And we see that later in

592
00:33:21,720 –> 00:33:24,200
Genesis.
And the Judaizes don’t want the

593
00:33:24,200 –> 00:33:25,680
Gentiles to inherit without
them.

594
00:33:26,480 –> 00:33:29,080
In fact, they they’d really like
the Gentiles not to inherit at

595
00:33:29,080 –> 00:33:31,000
all.
They’d like to push them right

596
00:33:31,000 –> 00:33:32,720
out of the gospel and push them
away.

597
00:33:32,720 –> 00:33:34,400
And verse 28 goes on to make
that point.

598
00:33:34,400 –> 00:33:37,560
We brethren as Isaac was, are
the children of promise.

599
00:33:38,040 –> 00:33:42,200
But as then he who was born
after the flesh, same phrase as

600
00:33:42,360 –> 00:33:49,440
verse 23 persecuted him, born
after the Spirit, so it is now.

601
00:33:51,080 –> 00:33:55,000
So the context for Galatians is
is in between Acts 14 and 15,

602
00:33:55,000 –> 00:33:56,680
there are four places in those
chapters.

603
00:33:56,680 –> 00:34:01,760
In fact, maybe just look at it
rather than me tell you 4 places

604
00:34:01,760 –> 00:34:07,480
in Acts 13 and 14 where where
the Jews persecute Paul during

605
00:34:07,480 –> 00:34:10,920
his preaching campaign.
So there could be an underground

606
00:34:10,920 –> 00:34:13,600
allusion here to the Jews who
are persecuting the gospel and

607
00:34:13,600 –> 00:34:16,239
persecuting the converts.
But actually it’s more

608
00:34:16,239 –> 00:34:19,639
reasonable, I think, to see it
in the light of the Jerusalem

609
00:34:19,639 –> 00:34:22,159
conference.
In Acts chapter 15, that the

610
00:34:22,159 –> 00:34:25,840
Jews are wanting to put upon the
Gentiles a yoke of bondage that

611
00:34:25,840 –> 00:34:28,320
they were never able to bear.
If you’ve turned back to Acts,

612
00:34:28,320 –> 00:34:31,840
it’s Acts 15 and verse 10.
Why therefore tempt ye God, to

613
00:34:31,840 –> 00:34:35,440
put a yoke upon the next of the
disciples, which neither we nor

614
00:34:35,440 –> 00:34:38,480
our fathers were able to bear?
But we believe that through the

615
00:34:38,480 –> 00:34:42,159
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
we shall be saved, even as they

616
00:34:42,520 –> 00:34:44,120
and Paul says.
Nobody’s been able to do it up

617
00:34:44,120 –> 00:34:46,440
until now, So why are you making
them behave in the way that you

618
00:34:46,440 –> 00:34:49,560
never could?
And it completely flips our

619
00:34:49,560 –> 00:34:54,280
understanding of what the Old
Testament looks like because the

620
00:34:54,280 –> 00:34:57,160
Jews are convinced that they are
not under bondage, that they are

621
00:34:57,160 –> 00:34:59,800
not restrained, they are not
restricted, they are not unfree

622
00:35:00,800 –> 00:35:02,440
because of their heritage from
Moses.

623
00:35:02,440 –> 00:35:05,240
We are Abraham’s children and
we’re never in bondage to

624
00:35:05,280 –> 00:35:08,400
anyone.
And Paul says, you must be

625
00:35:08,400 –> 00:35:11,720
kidding me.
You are the ones in bondage and

626
00:35:11,720 –> 00:35:16,240
the children of the free woman.
That Paul talks to us about in

627
00:35:16,240 –> 00:35:19,160
Galatians 4 are those who can
shake off their allegiance to

628
00:35:19,160 –> 00:35:22,120
law, not those who go back to it
and stick with it every day of

629
00:35:22,120 –> 00:35:24,360
their lives.
Which is why back in Galatians 3

630
00:35:24,360 –> 00:35:28,320
and verse 30, Paul brings us to
another quotation.

631
00:35:28,560 –> 00:35:31,680
What says the Scripture
therefore cast out the bondwoman

632
00:35:31,680 –> 00:35:34,800
and her son, For the son of the
bondwoman shall not be free,

633
00:35:34,840 –> 00:35:37,440
shall not be heir with the son
of the free woman.

634
00:35:37,720 –> 00:35:41,960
Have you noticed what Paul is
doing in Galatians chapter 4?

635
00:35:42,560 –> 00:35:47,280
He’s just called the Jewish.
Christian converts, descendants

636
00:35:47,280 –> 00:35:50,720
of Ishmael.
He’s just called the Jews Arabs.

637
00:35:53,360 –> 00:35:55,480
Can you imagine the reaction
that that would have brought?

638
00:35:56,040 –> 00:35:59,480
He says they stand in the line
of the Abraham who looked a bit

639
00:35:59,480 –> 00:36:02,560
like Pharaoh in that incident in
Genesis chapter 16.

640
00:36:04,240 –> 00:36:08,960
And the core of Galatians
chapter 4 is that both Jewish

641
00:36:09,160 –> 00:36:12,200
and Gentile converts to the
gospel.

642
00:36:12,920 –> 00:36:16,480
They need to focus on being
Isaacs and not putting

643
00:36:16,480 –> 00:36:19,040
themselves at the risk of being
Ishmaels.

644
00:36:19,960 –> 00:36:21,760
You think you were never in
bondage to anyone?

645
00:36:21,760 –> 00:36:26,520
Well, you’re trying to be even
in some sense Abraham was.

646
00:36:27,040 –> 00:36:30,320
And Sarai in Genesis 16, where
they, as it were, put themselves

647
00:36:30,320 –> 00:36:32,480
under bondage by the actions
that they took.

648
00:36:32,480 –> 00:36:38,400
And you remember the next
incident after the Hagar

649
00:36:38,400 –> 00:36:41,040
chapter, after Genesis 16.
What’s the next thing that

650
00:36:41,040 –> 00:36:46,040
happens in Genesis as the story
rolls on chapter 17?

651
00:36:46,680 –> 00:36:49,840
The covenant of circumcision.
It’s about the taming of the

652
00:36:49,840 –> 00:36:52,440
flesh.
It’s about bringing down your

653
00:36:52,440 –> 00:36:54,560
dominance.
Abraham is being told not to

654
00:36:54,560 –> 00:36:56,160
follow in the paths of other
Genesis.

655
00:36:56,160 –> 00:36:57,400
People.
Who?

656
00:36:57,400 –> 00:36:59,680
Who am I allowed to say it like
this?

657
00:36:59,680 –> 00:37:01,360
Who thought with that particular
organ?

658
00:37:01,360 –> 00:37:03,880
People like Nimrod, the empire
builder.

659
00:37:04,040 –> 00:37:06,240
People like the Babel?
Well, those like the Babel

660
00:37:06,240 –> 00:37:07,400
builders.
Who?

661
00:37:07,400 –> 00:37:09,640
Who?
Who brought about that enforced

662
00:37:09,640 –> 00:37:11,600
slavery?
People like Pharaoh of Genesis

663
00:37:11,600 –> 00:37:14,640
chapter 12, Who?
Who took women for themselves?

664
00:37:16,160 –> 00:37:18,880
And God introduces the covenant
of circumcision, so that Abraham

665
00:37:18,880 –> 00:37:20,560
has no confidence in his own
flesh.

666
00:37:20,720 –> 00:37:23,080
What does Paul do in the very
next chapter?

667
00:37:23,960 –> 00:37:27,040
Galatians 5 and verse one.
Stand fast in the liberty,

668
00:37:27,040 –> 00:37:29,120
therefore, where wherewith
Christ has made us free.

669
00:37:29,360 –> 00:37:31,480
Be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.

670
00:37:31,480 –> 00:37:35,920
Behold, I Paul, say to you, that
if you be circumcised, Christ

671
00:37:35,920 –> 00:37:39,560
shall profit you nothing.
I testify again to every man who

672
00:37:39,560 –> 00:37:42,600
is circumcised that he’s a
debtor to do the whole law.

673
00:37:42,880 –> 00:37:46,200
Neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision counts anything,

674
00:37:46,520 –> 00:37:50,520
but only for faith.
Working in love might be my

675
00:37:50,520 –> 00:37:55,040
alarm call, I think.
Come down to chapter 5 and verse

676
00:37:55,040 –> 00:38:00,080
13, Galatians 5 and verse 13.
For, brethren, you have been

677
00:38:00,080 –> 00:38:04,800
called unto liberty only.
Use not liberty for an occasion

678
00:38:05,160 –> 00:38:09,720
for the flesh, but by love.
Serve one another for all.

679
00:38:09,720 –> 00:38:12,600
The law is fulfilled in this one
word, that thou shalt love thy

680
00:38:12,600 –> 00:38:15,320
neighbor as thyself.
If you bite and devour one

681
00:38:15,320 –> 00:38:18,640
another, take heed that you be
not consumed of one another.

682
00:38:19,240 –> 00:38:22,840
Grace is not a trade off, Paul
says to his readers.

683
00:38:23,440 –> 00:38:26,520
It’s done through love.
It’s done through the one who

684
00:38:26,520 –> 00:38:28,720
took upon himself the form of a
servant who was made in the

685
00:38:28,720 –> 00:38:31,640
likeness of men.
It’s done through the one who

686
00:38:31,640 –> 00:38:36,240
was rich, yet for our sakes
became poor, who gave himself

687
00:38:36,280 –> 00:38:40,920
up, who disadvantaged himself,
all this different language of

688
00:38:40,920 –> 00:38:43,760
freedom and liberty that rolls
away through our Scriptures.

689
00:38:43,760 –> 00:38:47,280
It’s freedom from the mindset
that says I can continue in sin,

690
00:38:47,280 –> 00:38:52,120
that grace may abound.
That says God, if I do it like

691
00:38:52,120 –> 00:38:55,920
this, then I’ve earned something
and I can take a day off

692
00:38:55,920 –> 00:38:58,480
tomorrow from worrying about
discipleship.

693
00:38:59,760 –> 00:39:02,040
It’s freedom from the mindset
that says, brother, you can have

694
00:39:02,040 –> 00:39:04,600
that today.
Next AGM, we’re doing things my

695
00:39:04,600 –> 00:39:09,560
way.
It’s a quid pro quo, been there,

696
00:39:09,560 –> 00:39:11,560
done that.
I’ve had those thoughts in Agms.

697
00:39:11,920 –> 00:39:14,680
I will trade out today in order
to win something back next time

698
00:39:14,680 –> 00:39:16,440
around.
It’s the difference between

699
00:39:16,720 –> 00:39:19,760
between being under something
and not being under something.

700
00:39:20,440 –> 00:39:22,680
Those who are led by the Spirit,
where am I looking?

701
00:39:22,680 –> 00:39:25,320
Verse 18 in chapter 5 if you are
led by the Spirit.

702
00:39:25,600 –> 00:39:31,120
You are not under the law.
It’s can I say it freedom

703
00:39:31,120 –> 00:39:35,320
principle #9 service is not a
transaction.

704
00:39:36,800 –> 00:39:40,840
It’s not a quid pro quo, it’s
not a contract, it’s something

705
00:39:40,840 –> 00:39:45,720
that we do in love. 6 chapter 6
and verse one.

706
00:39:45,720 –> 00:39:50,200
Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are

707
00:39:50,200 –> 00:39:54,360
spiritual, restore such a one in
the spirit of meekness,

708
00:39:54,920 –> 00:40:00,360
considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted, bear one

709
00:40:00,360 –> 00:40:04,400
another’s burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ.

710
00:40:05,240 –> 00:40:08,240
That brother taken in sin, that
sister taken in sin, you don’t

711
00:40:08,240 –> 00:40:11,320
forgive them because you’re
buying goodwill in case you fall

712
00:40:11,320 –> 00:40:13,720
into the same temptation and you
want to make sure you’re safe

713
00:40:13,720 –> 00:40:17,120
later on.
Forgive them because, well, you

714
00:40:17,120 –> 00:40:21,800
know what it’s like to be sinful
too, and still loved.

715
00:40:22,800 –> 00:40:25,000
And you say to that brother or
that sister in those

716
00:40:25,000 –> 00:40:27,920
circumstances, I will stand
beside you as you face the

717
00:40:27,920 –> 00:40:30,080
consequences for what you’ve
done because that’s what the

718
00:40:30,080 –> 00:40:34,520
Lord did for me.
That’s grace.

719
00:40:36,040 –> 00:40:37,720
These are wisdom issues,
brothers and sisters.

720
00:40:37,720 –> 00:40:40,920
We need to, we need to live as
if we are members one of

721
00:40:40,920 –> 00:40:44,080
another.
We need to live as if what the

722
00:40:44,080 –> 00:40:50,320
Lord said about his body is
actually true, that grace is not

723
00:40:50,320 –> 00:40:53,080
a transaction, that acts of
freedom are unquantifiable, That

724
00:40:53,080 –> 00:40:56,480
it’s easier to say no than yes,
and a lot harder to say.

725
00:40:56,840 –> 00:41:00,200
Here’s my open hand.
How much do you need that

726
00:41:00,200 –> 00:41:02,800
Deuteronomy 15 language from
from a little while ago?

727
00:41:04,840 –> 00:41:06,840
Liberty is not the liberty of
the 1960s.

728
00:41:07,560 –> 00:41:11,280
OK, That’s the idea that you had
when we came here this week.

729
00:41:11,360 –> 00:41:12,960
Then, then, then we’ve hopefully
changed that.

730
00:41:12,960 –> 00:41:14,800
It’s not the liberty where God
owes me something.

731
00:41:15,000 –> 00:41:18,040
It’s not the liberty where I can
earn or trade or argue my way to

732
00:41:18,040 –> 00:41:21,600
a better place.
It’s the liberty where we do

733
00:41:21,600 –> 00:41:25,880
things out of grace and love.
There was a preacher who once

734
00:41:26,000 –> 00:41:31,680
said, Lord, help us to be
prepared to lose and lose and

735
00:41:31,680 –> 00:41:37,880
lose until we die and then wake
up to eternal glory.

736
00:41:39,240 –> 00:41:41,720
Now we didn’t mean we should
suffer abuse.

737
00:41:42,640 –> 00:41:47,640
He didn’t mean that we should
that we should die for others in

738
00:41:47,640 –> 00:41:53,040
in odd non gospel senses.
He said, and I think he meant

739
00:41:53,400 –> 00:41:55,720
this is the the slave of Exodus
21.

740
00:41:56,560 –> 00:41:58,880
This is the man who says I love
my master, my wife and my

741
00:41:58,880 –> 00:42:00,800
children and I will not go out
free.

742
00:42:01,440 –> 00:42:05,840
This is the person who gives for
others, and you get to choose

743
00:42:05,840 –> 00:42:08,280
your redemption story just like
I get to choose mine.

744
00:42:08,280 –> 00:42:10,400
And it can be the one where we
are in bondage to everything

745
00:42:10,400 –> 00:42:13,440
that we’ve ever been tied down
by, or it’s the one where we see

746
00:42:13,440 –> 00:42:18,200
grace and freedom and liberty.
So how about you brothers and

747
00:42:18,200 –> 00:42:23,760
sisters on Independence Day?
Have you, have you struck your

748
00:42:23,760 –> 00:42:26,840
own little deal with God?
Is there a little secret place

749
00:42:26,840 –> 00:42:28,840
in your heart that you’re not
prepared to let Him go?

750
00:42:30,000 –> 00:42:32,720
Are you telling Him that you are
a disciple and yet there is a

751
00:42:32,720 –> 00:42:35,200
little hole there that you
aren’t letting anybody go and

752
00:42:35,200 –> 00:42:38,960
look at where you’re prepared to
give just a little less of

753
00:42:38,960 –> 00:42:42,280
yourself to Him and still think
that you are a disciple?

754
00:42:43,560 –> 00:42:45,760
Have you forgotten?
Have I forgotten that redemption

755
00:42:45,760 –> 00:42:49,920
is not for my restriction, but
for my glory or sorry for His

756
00:42:49,920 –> 00:42:54,880
glory and for my joy in that?
Have I understood that freedom

757
00:42:54,880 –> 00:42:57,840
is not an unfettered pursuit of
my desires?

758
00:42:57,840 –> 00:43:00,560
It’s not a restriction of my
brothers and sisters.

759
00:43:00,800 –> 00:43:04,400
It’s the joy of bringing God’s
pleasure to Him because He has

760
00:43:04,400 –> 00:43:09,680
liberated me and set me free,
but not free to go and do what I

761
00:43:09,680 –> 00:43:12,480
choose, free to go and be a
servant again.

762
00:43:13,520 –> 00:43:15,800
They’re massive challenges.
Freedom is not easy.

763
00:43:16,840 –> 00:43:19,120
And one of the things that we’ve
been working our way towards is

764
00:43:19,120 –> 00:43:21,480
understanding this week that
that as we live out our

765
00:43:21,480 –> 00:43:25,040
discipleship, as we begin to
think about going back to our

766
00:43:25,040 –> 00:43:28,760
ecclesias and thinking about
family life and ecclesial life,

767
00:43:28,760 –> 00:43:31,600
and the way we react when we
walk into the office or the

768
00:43:31,600 –> 00:43:35,360
workplace in in however many
weeks it is you go back to work.

769
00:43:37,000 –> 00:43:40,320
The the The paradox of Liberty
asks us to change our thinking,

770
00:43:40,680 –> 00:43:44,400
to rebuild our mindset, not to
think about things as a quid pro

771
00:43:44,400 –> 00:43:48,720
quo, as a trade off, but to pour
ourselves out for each other as

772
00:43:48,720 –> 00:43:50,640
the Lord poured himself out for
us.

773
00:43:51,480 –> 00:43:54,080
Everybody serves.
The only thing that we get to

774
00:43:54,080 –> 00:43:55,280
decide is what we serve.