Galatians chapter 4. This is a great chapter, and it's a very relevant chapter to the time in which we live. One thing that I want to point out right away in this passage is verse 9 through 11. Look down there at your Bible. Galatians 4:9-11: "But now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. Ye observe days and months and times and years. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."
Okay, now when he says there at the end, "I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain," he's basically doubting whether a lot of these people are even saved. He thought they were saved. He went and preached the Gospel to them, but now he's hearing things about their doctrine, they're being caught up in all this false teaching, and he's doubting them. Later on, he even says in verse 20, "I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you." Then he says, "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?"
Now, what is he talking about? Well, if we just jump forward into chapter 5 real quick just to make sure we understand what we're talking about, he says in verse number 2 of chapter 5, "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing, for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to the whole law. Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."
So what he's saying here is that people who are seeking to be justified by the law, they think circumcision is something that they have to do to be saved and they're trusting in works. He's saying that these people aren't even saved. In chapter 4, he's expressing doubt about a lot of the people in Galatia whether they're even saved. People that he had preached to and he thought they were saved. Now he's afraid of them. You know, meaning he's afraid for them, that they're not even saved.
When you read the book of Galatians, it is one of the most cohesive books in the Bible, in the sense that when you start in chapter 1 and read through to chapter 6, which I just did again this morning just thinking about the sermon that I was going to preach tonight. I just went through the book of Galatians once again, and it's so cohesive. I mean, it's just one thought that's carried all the way through. There's one thing that he's just driving in, and he's just attacking this false teaching that's coming in of the Judaizers. Trying to bring them back into the Law and bringing them back under the old Covenant and bringing in Old Testament practices. Also teaching work salvation. It's the theme from chapter 1 to chapter 6. Every chapter he's hammering this thing of salvation by faith, and of the fact that in the New Testament, we're not under the same ordinances that they were under in the Old Testament. It's very clear.
Here's what's funny. People will take these verses 10 and 11 of chapter 4, and they'll just basically try to isolate it and say that that's not what it's talking about. It's not talking about the Judaizers. Well, that would be ridiculous, since that's what the whole book is about, and that's what the whole chapter 4 is about. I mean, when we start out chapter 4, he talks about the fact that they started out being like a servant, under tutors and governors. Because remember, he just finished saying at the end of chapter 3 that the law was the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Then it says in verse number 4, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba, Father Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
Then if we go later in the chapter, he says in verse number 20, where he expresses doubt about them, "I stand in doubt of you." Look at verse 21, "Tell me ye that desire to be under the Law. Do you not hear the Law?" He goes to talk about how the Old Covenant is represented by Hagar and the New Testament is represented by Sarah, and how Isaac represents the New Testament Christian, and Ishmael represents the physical seed of Abraham, the Jews that did not believe in Christ. That's what the whole chapter's about. That's what the whole book is about.
Now look at these verses here. Verses 9 through 11. It says, "But now after that you've known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. Ye observe days and months and times and years. I am afraid of you, lest I've bestowed upon you labor in vain."
Notice the language here. He says, "you desire" at the end of verse 9, "again to be in bondage." What did he say at the beginning of chapter 5? Look at it again. He says, verse 1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." So what is the bondage that we're talking about here? The yoke of bondage in chapter 5 is being brought back under the Old Testament law. That's the yoke of bondage.
In chapter 4, he says, "Tell me ye that desire to be under the law." Look at verse 9 again in chapter 4. He says, "But now, after that you've known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage." What do they desire again to be in bondage? He said, "Hey, you that desire to be under the law. You that are not standing fast in the liberty we have in Christ Jesus, but are trying to be under this yoke of bondage," and he says circumcision. The laws of the Old Testament. The old covenant. You're trying to go backwards here, to before Christ. That's what the chapter's about. That's what the book's about.
People will ignore this scripture, and the reason why this is so significant is because today, people are trying to bring us under these same practices and they want us to observe days and months and times and years. Paul said this is so serious, "I wonder if you guys are even saved?"
Church: Right.
Pastor: Is that not what it says?
Church: Yes.
Pastor: He says in verse 10, "You observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor..." Why do you want to be brought back under these things? But yet I've showed this so many times to those who are mixed up in this Hebrew roots movement, where they want to observe the Hebrew calendar, and observe the feast days and observe the Sabbath and all these different things. I show this to them, and they say, "Oh, that's not what that says. Nothing to do with the Jews. That has nothing to do with the Old Testament dates."
Here's what they say. They'll back you up to verse 8, where it says, "How be it then when you knew not God, you did service under them, which by nature are no gods." Now, what's he saying in verse 8? He's saying that before they got saved, they were worshiping idols. Right? So before Paul came in there and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they're worshiping them that are no gods. I mean, they're basically worshiping idols. They're basically just pagans of Asia Minor or whatever, or pagans of Macedonia or whatever. They're basically worshiping false gods, then Paul comes in and brings them salvation through Jesus Christ, and then the Judaizers come in and bring in all the Hebrew roots stuff.
Here's what he's doing. He's comparing the junk that these Jewish false teachers are bringing in, he's comparing it to the junk that they believed in before they were even saved.
Church: Right.
Pastor: He's basically saying, you know, you went from being a pagan who's worshiping multiple gods, then you received the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now you're being brought back under this beggarly, weak stuff that's not the power of God through the Holy Spirit. What the Hebrew roots crowd will try to do is say that, "Oh, the days and months and time and years, they were observing pagan things." That has nothing to do with what the chapter's about, has nothing to do with what the book's about. That's the danger of taking things out of context.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: You know, anybody who actually sits down and reads Galatians in one sitting, which I would recommend, and it's only going to take you a half hour to sit down and read Galatians in one sitting. It's a very clear thought here what these people's problem , and these people's problem had nothing to do with going back to pagan gods or worshiping pagan gods. Why would he just throw that in there out of nowhere? No, no, no. The problem was that they were going back to being superstitious about dates and things, and that was being brought in my the Judaizers.
The reason this is so significant is because you know, this month has just been this convergence of Jewish fables and Jewish superstition and all these false prophets of the Hebrew roots movement predicting all manner of doom for the month of September, and here we are, September 30th, last day of the month, and nothing has happened.
Church: Right.
Pastor: The four blood moons and everything was this month, and they said oh, it's amazing because these lunar eclipses are happening on the exact days of these Hebrew feasts, and it's showing us that God's going to ...
John Hagee and Rabbi Jonathon Cahn are the two people that have been pushing this. These guys wrote books that are like New York Times bestsellers. This isn't some obscure doctrine. I mean, this is like something where you go and walk through the airport, and it's write there next to the $7 bottle of water. You know, for your plane ride, "The Harbinger." The Mystery of the Shemitah. Okay, and John Hagee's Four Blood Moons. These were bestselling books. These guys made millions and millions of dollars off this stuff, and they're laughing at you, and they're laughing all the way to the bank.
Church: Right.
Pastor: Teaching all of this garbage.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: It's junk. They say, "Oh, but God is showing us these signs." Now, here's the thing, the Bible does teach that in the End Times, and if you would flip over to Luke 21, let's look at Luke chapter 21, because the Bible does teach that in the End Times, after the Tribulation, that's a key point right there.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: After the Tribulation, it says, "The Sun shall be darkened, the Moon shall not give her light." And it talks about the Moon turning to blood and the Sun being darkened after the Tribulation. Also in that same time frame of after the Tribulation, in Luke 21, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24, look what it says here in Luke 21 verse 25, it says, "And there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars, and upon the Earth, the stress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's heart failing them for fear, and looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken." Of course, the context here is after the Tribulation, if you read the whole chapter, if you read Matthew 24 and Mark 13.
He's saying, "Hey, there's going to be signs in the Heavens, signs in the Sun and Moon." So this is what these false teachers like the John Hagee and Rabbi Cahn would use. Rabbi Conman. Rabbi Con Artist. They'll basically use this and say, "See, God said he'd give us signs in the Heavens." But they don't understand what the word "sign" means. When the Bible talks about a Sign, it's something Supernatural.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: It's not just normal heavenly bodies and their movements. It's not these predictable eclipses that could be predicted years and years in advance. I mean, you could go on a website and you could chart out the next ten years of these eclipses. It'll tell you exactly when they're going to happen. You can find maps that will show you where you can see the eclipses at different times. When Christ returns after the Tribulation and the Sun and Moon are dark, it's not just going to be a normal eclipse. Because first of all, these normal eclipses are seen only in part of the world, not everywhere. This is going to be something where everywhere the Sun and Moon are darkened. It's going to be a sign.
When Hezekiah sought for a sign and it was shown unto him in the sundial of Ahaz, God made the sundial of Ahaz go backward 15 degrees. Okay, that's a miracle.
Church: Yup.
Pastor: You know, when God makes the sun stand still like he did for Joshua, that's a miracle. When they said to Jesus, "What sign showest thou?" They're looking for a miracle. He talked about the sign of the prophet Jonas. He said the sign that's going to be given you is of the prophet Jonas, as he was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth. What's the sign? The resurrection of Christ. I mean, that's a sign.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: Because it's a miracle. A sign is something miraculous, something supernatural. Not just, "Oh, wow, coincidence. These eclipses happen to be happening on these Jewish holidays." First of all, Judaism is a false, Christ-rejecting religion, and their calendar, you can sit there, "Oh, that calendar's Biblical." That calendar was made by Christ-rejecting Rabbis, and it deviates from the truth of the Bible. Shock of all shocks.
If you actually look at the Jewish calendar, it says that the Earth is less than 6000 years old. If you do the math in the Bible, you'll see that the Bible teaches that the Earth is at least 6200-some years old. They have it in year like 58-whatever, because they're just missing hundreds of years because they have a goofed up calendar. But we're supposed to believe that these Jewish Rabbis who reject Jesus Christ, who the Bible says when they read the Old Testament, they're blinded, they have the veil over their eyes, we're supposed to believe that their calendar is God's calendar, and that they're operating on God's timeline. That we as Christians need to get on board with this Jewish calendar.
Well, you know what? I don't observe days, months, years, seasons. I don't observe any of that, and that's why the Apostle Paul's up in heaven looking down on me tonight, saying, "I am not afraid of you, buddy." Because I don't observe this stuff. These people that are getting all caught up in this stuff, they need to read the book of Galatians. Why is Paul rebuking them for observing days, months, times, and years? What else are you doing? When you're sitting here looking at these blood moons and you're looking at the eclipse and you're counting from this Passover to this Feast of Tabernacles, and you're trying to predict the events. You know what? You're observing days, months, times, and years at that point.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: You're in violation of scripture. Don't tell me I need to observe the New Moons and the feast, because God said I don't need to observe days, months, years, etc. Go to Colossians if you would. Just a few pages to the right in your Bible. Go to Colossians. Now, here's what's funny about these predictions that didn't come true. These predictions of Rabbi Cahn and these predictions of John Hagee, they're so vague that basically, when nothing happened, they're able to just step back and say, "Well, we didn't really say specifically what was going to happen anyway." Basically, I would prepare the predictions of John Hagee and Rabbi Cahn about September 2015 to a fortune cookie, because you open a fortune cookie and it's like, "You're going to meet someone interesting in the next week." It's like it's so vague that it's for sure going to happen. "You're going to have a good day later this week." It's always so vague. Or how about a horoscope? You know, the horoscope, it just gives you some vague.
You look at the cover of John Hagee's book, and it says, "Things are about to change." You can't go wrong with a prediction like that, right? Because things are always changing. He's just like, "We don't know what it is that God is doing on his prophetic timeline with the nation of Israel, but we know that some big, major event is going to happen in the Middle East that's going to affect the Jewish people, because throughout history, whenever there were these four blood moons, the tetrad, the Sukkot, and the Shemitah, and the Hockphlegm." You know, whenever it all would align, major things would happen in regard to the Jewish people, but it's so vague that when nothing happens, they just stand back and say, "Well, yeah, but stuff's going on in the Middle East."
Look, pick up a newspaper. I haven't read the newspaper in many, many years. My generation doesn't use newspapers except to stuff packages or to make things out of paper mache, but I guarantee you, I could probably go buy a newspaper, and I bet the Middle East is in the news. I mean, if I picked up today's newspaper, is the Middle East in the news today?
Church: Yes, it's always in the news.
Pastor: It's always in the news. Back when I did look at a newspaper, it's everyday is something about Israel or something about the states surrounding Israel. Something about Lebanon or Jordan or Syria or Egypt. It's everyday, people. So, "Oh, something's going to happen in the Middle East." Millions of people buy the book. "Oh, this is so cool." You know what? It's because they're just carried about with every wind of doctrine. Just strange doctrines.
So these guys make these predictions, and here's what happened, because you know, Rabbi Cahn, he made these predictions for I think it was the 13th of September. You know, Hagee's big deal was the 28th. I heard a lot of buzz about the 23rd. Nothing's really happened on any of these days, but I saw people trying to defend these guys when nothing's happening, so they're just trying to find something that's happened, and it's not hard. You know, when you've got a hammer in your hand, everything starts looking like a nail. If you pick a special date, you're going to find something that happened on that date.
Here's what they said. At the end of the Shemitah, there was a rainbow in New York. Now, here's the thing, there are rainbows everyday, all over the world. Right now, as I speak, there's a rainbow in a lot of places. What do they say? How many lightning bolts are striking the Earth per second? You know how many?
Church: Hundreds.
Pastor: Yeah, there are hundreds of lightning bolts striking the Earth per second. So there's always a storm going on somewhere. There's always a rainbow somewhere. You know, but oh, there's a rainbow of New York, and we know that New York is a hub of the special Jews. That's where all the Jews make all their money is in New York, right? Half the Jews in America are in New York and half of them are in L.A., roughly, if you look at the statistics. Oh, but there's a rainbow in New York. Then here's what they said, also, over in the Middle East somewhere, a crane fell over and fell into a Mosque and put a hole in it, and they had to fix it. That's what they said. There were literally mainstream news sites that were reporting this as the fulfillment of Rabbi ... I think it was WND.com or something, World Net Daily or something. They said like this is the fulfillment of what Rabbi Cahn's been telling us, the Shemitah. There's a rainbow in New York and a crane fell over in the Middle East. You can find stuff like that everyday, but people fall for this stuff because they're not versed in scripture.
If I had a nickel for every email I've gotten asking, "What do you think about the blood moons? What do you think about the Shemitah?" I'd be a very wealthy man, because of the fact that everybody's asking me about this because it's just so pumped up in the media, it's so pumped up in all the bookstores, and I'll tell you what I think about it. I don't think about it. Because I don't observe. Look down at your Bible, people. We're in Colossians. We switched to Colossians. Let's look at Colossians chapter 2. What did the Bible say in verse 9? Here's a great ... or let's go to verse 8. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." And here's a great verse in verse 9 about Jesus, "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Isn't that a powerful verse on the deity of Jesus Christ. In Jesus dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Powerful verse.
Then it says in verse 10, "And ye are complete in Him." What does that mean you're complete in Him. He's all you need. You don't need anything outside of Jesus Christ. He says, "You're complete in Him which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in Baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God whoeth raised Him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath He quickened together with Him having forgiven you all trespasses."
So is this saying, "Hey, go out and get physically circumcised?" He says, "No, no, no, you are circumcised with the circumcision not made with hands." You have Jesus in your heart. You have faith. You have the Holy Spirit. Then he says this, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly triumphing over the minute. Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of in holiday or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ."
What's the Bible saying? Don't let anybody tell you, "Hey, you need to be observing the New Moons. You need to be observing the Sabbath days. You need to be observing these holy days." These are the ordinances that the Bible says are blotted out.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: That are nailed to the cross with Jesus. That's what the Bible says right here before your eyes in Colossians chapter 2. "These things were a shadow of things to come." In fact, keep your finger here and flip over to Hebrews chapter 9. This is a very important point to make, because this is one of the biggest false doctrines of our time, because it's being pumped up by the media because the books are everywhere. This whole blood moon, Shemitah, Hebrew roots movement is dangerous.
Say, "Well, why is it dangerous?" Well, Paul said he's afraid of it. Sounds dangerous, okay? Look what it says in Hebrews chapter 9. It says in verse 8, "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them forever." Is that what it says?
Church: No.
Pastor: No, it says, "Imposed on them until the time of reformation." What's the time of reformation? Look at verse 11. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building." That's the time of reformation. Christ's coming. What the Bible is teaching here is the same thing in Colossians 2, because notice, it's the same things. Meats, drinks, divers washing, carnal ordinances. What did it say in Colossians 2? Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances. He says, "Let no man therefore judge you," in what things? The same things that we saw over in Hebrews chapter 9. He said judge you in ... let me get there ... "Meat or in drink." Same as Hebrews 9. "Or in respect of in holy day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath days."
Now, you say, well, what's the thing about the New Moon? Well, the way the calendar was in the Old Testament, it was based on the Moon. Now, our calendar today is not based on the Moon. It's based on the Sun. We're on a solar calendar, so our year has 365 and a quarter days in it. That's why every four years, we have a leap year to make a correction, and then every hundred years, we skip leap year to further correct the calendar, but it's all based on the Sun. Well, other civilizations throughout history have had lunar calendars that are not based on the Sun, they're based on the Moon. The Moon's phases are not in sync with the solar year, so you kind of have to pick one or the other. If you look at the calendar used throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, it's kind of a compromise calendar that's based on the Moon, but it's also based on the Sun.
So how it works is that the month's are lunar months, which are only 29.54 days long. I think I got that number right. These months, when you have twelve of them, you don't end up with a 365 day year. You end up with about a 360 year is what you end up with. What happens is they have to add an extra month. Every six years, they have an extra month thrown in, which is known as Adar 2, and they throw in that second December as it were, as our minds would work in America, and basically, that brings them back in sync with the Sun, because otherwise, they'd keep drifting and drifting until spring time isn't spring time anymore, and winter's not winter anymore. So that's why they have to throw in that extra month every six years.
Now all that to say this. When they celebrated the Old Testament holidays, such as Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, whatever, they would judge the months based on when they see the New Moon. So when they see the New Moon, they sound the trumpet, and that's a new month. That's the official new month. It's based on the Moon. So you know, the 14th day of the First month. Okay, but when does the first month start? It has to do with when they see the New Moon. That's how they judge month to month. So that's why God's saying here that we don't need to worry about sounding a trumpet on the New Moon, and then we don't need to worry about counting 14 more days or counting 7 days or 10 days and observing these things. These are not for us in the New Testament. That's what's being taught in the Bible here over and over again.
I don't want to spend the whole night on that, but I did want to spend some time on that, because it's been a big deal in people's minds with this whole Mystery of the Shemitah. But see, people love that which is mysterious. You know, why don't they just love that which is revealed?
Church: Amen.
Pastor: Ooh. 66 books that most of these people have never read cover-to-cover. 1189 chapters. Oh, but no, they're at the airport, "Ooh, Mystery of the Shemitah. Ooh, Blood Moons. Ooh, Jewish. It's so cool. It's so trendy to be Jewish. Let me wrap a scarf around my head and eat a bagel and hock phlegm and invest in the stock market and everything."
You know what? We don't need this junk. What we need is a King James Bible that says, "Jesus," not, "Yeshua."
Church: Amen.
Pastor: Says, "Jehovah," not, "Yahweh."
Church: Amen.
Pastor: We speak English and read the English Bible and we have a calendar with months like January and February and March. Why? Because it doesn't matter.
Church: Right.
Pastor: Because these things have no religious significance in the New Testament. This is what Paul is teaching, and there's no way around it, folks. He says you're going into bondage when you start talking to me about observing days, months, times, and years. Says I'm afraid of you. Okay? And people will say, "Well, but what about in Acts, when Paul was observing?" Yeah, that's because he was wrong.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: Because Paul made mistakes in the Book of Acts, just like a lot of the Apostles made in the Book of Acts, because the Acts of the Apostles is not the Acts of Perfect People. It's the Acts of Sinners. It's the Acts of People Who Make Mistakes. What we have to go by, whenever we study the Bible ... and this is one of the biggest things I wish I could teach people about Bible study, you base what you believe on the statement, not the story. There are a lot of stories in the Bible about a lot of people doing a lot of wrong things. That's not the authority. The statement is. So if we have a clear statement of scripture telling us this is how it is. Marriage is one man and one woman and the twain shall become one flesh. You've got a clear statement. Then you've got a story about a guy with multiple wives. No, you go with the statement.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: Because the story's just about a guy who was doing wrong. There are many, many examples of that in the Bible. Just because Paul got caught up in some of this, Peter got caught up in some of it according to Galatians 2, because it's a dangerous movement. It was dangerous back then and it's dangerous now, but since we have a printed copy of the Book of Galatians in our lap, there's no excuse for us to be duped by this. When we've got Galatians and Colossians and Hebrews to really nail this stuff down for us, you know, there's no excuse except just the fact that you just haven't read the Bible.
To be sucked in by the John Hagee's and the Rabbi Cahn's and so forth. Remember, John Hagee's the guy who says that the Jews are saved even if they reject Jesus, they're still saved. I mean, that's really bad doctrine. That's unbelievable. When Jesus is rebuking them saying that they must be saved, he just says, "Nope, free pass. Abraham's your father." Nonsense.
Let's get back into the chapter. I want to preach more out of the chapter. I don't want to spend the whole night on that, but it is important. Look what he says there in chapter 4, verse 1. "Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all." What's this saying? You know, a child who is born into a very wealthy family, maybe even the child of a king, that doesn't mean he gets to do whatever he wants, does it? He differeth nothing from a servant when he's a child, and he doesn't inherit all that power and authority until he gets older. Another meaning that we can draw from this, when he says, "The child differeth nothing from a servant," is that we need to make our children serve.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: You see, so many people today, they coddle their children and they don't make them work, but the Bible says even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. A lot of times, people frown on this in today's society. "You're making your children work. How dare you?" Honestly, work is good for them. Of course, they need to study and do schoolwork. Of course, they need time to just play and enjoy their childhood. A lot of times, that's how children learn through playing and get exercise. Also, they need to be taught to work. Throughout history, fathers have taken their children to work with them, and mothers have put their children to work on chores around the house and everything. We need to look at our children and realize that they are like a servant.
Why shouldn't they pull their own weight? People think oh, it's child abuse, you're making your kids work. But wait a minute. Why shouldn't they pull their weight? They sure cost money. They make a lot of work for their parents. Here's the thing. If we as parents have to cook and clean for that many more people and have to pay and provide for that many more people, it makes sense to put them to work a little bit. Cleaning up the yard or doing dishes or doing laundry or helping out with the baby. Don't be shy about making your children work. "Oh, but I just want them to have the funnest, perfect childhood." Then they'll grow up to be horrible people.
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: Because suffering is good for you, and working hard builds character. Then they don't just grow up playing all the time, and then all of a sudden, they're just thrown into a working world. Whoa, what in the world? Eight hours of work? It's better to teach them that all the way up, so I'd encourage you to do that. There's a lot of teaching on that in the Bible.
The Bible says in verse 2, "But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children," and he's talking about in the Old Testament period if we get the context of chapter 3, "we were in bondage under the elements of the world, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son." Now watch this, "and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
Now this is interesting. If we're a son of God, then we're an heir of God. That's what the Bible says. What does it mean to be an heir? It means that you're going to inherit, and it says that inheritance is through Christ, but the Bible, for example, says in Revelation, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be to Him a Father and He shall be to Me a Son." Now, what does that mean to overcome? Well, the Bible defines it for us in First John, chapter 5. It says, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." So what does it mean to overcome? To believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The faith is the victory that overcomes the world, according to First John chapter 5.
So he says that we will inherit all things. We're joint heirs with Jesus Christ. The meek shall inherit the Earth the Bible says and on and on. It think that's interesting because a lot of people are mixed up in a false doctrine where they think that the Angels are the Sons of God. When the Bible says Sons of God in the Old Testament, they'll say, "Oh, that's the Angels. That's not human beings. Those are angels." Whereas the Bible says in Hebrew 1:5, "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" Here's the thing. The Angels are not going to inherit the Earth. The Bible says if you're a Son, you're an heir. You're a joint heir with Christ.
So if the Angels were Sons, which they're not, that would make them heirs of the kingdom, and they're not. Not only that, but the Bible says he never said unto any Angel at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? Or that he would be to them a Father and they would be to him a Son. That's not a true doctrine.
So anyway, let's jump down. We already talked about the days, months, and years, so let's jump down to verse 12. "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all." Now I like that statement, "Be as I am," okay. What does that mean, be as I am? He's saying, "Be like me." Now, it's a great thing when a preacher or a leader or a father or a mother can stand up and say, "Be like me." That's a lot more powerful than just telling people what to do, right? When you can say, "Be like me," that's a powerful testimony. Because we should be able to tell people, "Follow me. Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. Be as I am. Look, I am as ye are." Say, "Look, I'm human, you're human. I'm your role model." That's what Paul's saying, and it's great to be able to say that. You know, you should ask yourself if you would even want to say that to the people that are following you. Would you want to say, "Be as I am."?
Let's keep reading. It says in verse 13, "Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first." So he was having some kind of a physical ailment it sounds like when he first went there and preached the Gospel. He said, "My temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." What's he saying there? An angel. Angel means messenger. He's saying, "You know, you received me as a messenger of God, even as Christ Jesus." They received the Word that he preached as it was. It was the Word of God. They didn't look at the physical infirmity of the man. See, when Paul came and preached, there wasn't anything impressive about him, because he was suffering physical infirmity he said, but they didn't despise that. They looked past that, and they heard the words that he was preaching.
That's how it should be. When we listen to the Word of God preached, it shouldn't matter how cool the person is that's teaching it to us, how old they are, how young they are, how good looking they are, how eloquent they are. It's the truth of what they're saying that should matter, not who the messenger is. Then the bible says in verse 15, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." So right there, it makes it seem like the problem that he was having could have been something to do with his eyes. Maybe he had some damage to his eyes or he was suffering some kind of blindness or who knows what it was. He's saying, "Look, if it would have been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me."
Then he says right after that, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" So he's just blown away by the fact that these people who loved him so much that they would have ripped out their own eyes and given them to him, that they've turned on him. This is how life is. People do turn on you. It's blown me away sometimes how some of the most zealous church goers can turn against the church and get backslidden and quit and have a bad attitude. You just have to be prepared for that, that you will have people in your life that turn on you. Even people who seem like they really love you and care about you. He's warning us that people do turn on you. You know what? Sometimes just by telling people the truth, they view you as an enemy. You preach the truth, some people are going to get angry and get upset and hate you for that. Says, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"
He says, "They zealously affect you, but not well." Now, who's the they? The they are the people who were bringing them back into bondage, bringing in circumcision, bringing in the feast days, the month, the years, the Shemitah, the blood moon. He says, "They zealously affect you, but not well." Why does he say that? Because some people have this attitude of, "Oh, well, at least people are getting excited about studying the Bible. Who cares if it's true? At least the New York times bestseller list has some Biblical books. At least the airport's got something Biblical to read." But wait a minute, he says, "They zealously affect you." Yeah, they're getting people excited about lies. About false doctrine. What does it mean to be zealously affected? It means to get fired up, get excited. He says, "Look, these people are getting you excited, but it's not good. It's for false doctrine."
You know what it reminds me of is I was talking to a guy about this Harry Potter thing just seems like it's Satanic. I didn't know that much about it, but it just seemed like a lot of witchcraft and spells and occultism and glorifying this stuff. And I said, "You know, man, this stuff's Satanic." This guy just said to me, "Yeah, but you know what? At least it's getting kids to read, though. Because it's so hard to get kids to read these days, and kids are reading books now, because this Harry Potter's so popular." You know what I mean? Yeah, they zealously affect you. They're getting you reading. About Satan, witchcraft, the Devil, spells, and all this stuff.
Of course, in the Book of Acts, there's a story where they took all the witchcraft and sorcery books and they burned them. It was this huge dollar amount, it even gives the dollar amount of how many books they burned in the Book of Acts that had to do with sorcery and witchcraft and so forth. But hey, at least they're reading.
That's kind of what he's saying. "Look, they zealously affect you." I'm glad you guys are all excited. It's a break from this boring book, the Bible. White pages, black ink, no pictures, no trendy, exciting new thing coming up this month. He says, "Look, they zealously affect you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you." Saying look, why do you guys only get excited about the right stuff when I'm there? Soon as I leave, it's like come on in, John Hagee. Come on in, Rabbi Cahn. It's like what in the world? What happened? I'm afraid of you. Did I waste my time with you? Have I bestowed upon you labor in vain?
Verse 19, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman." Remember, he keeps associating Christianity with the freewoman and Rabbinical Judaism with the bondmaid.
He says here, "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai." Which one's that? The Old Testament or New Testament?
Church: Old Testament.
Pastor: Old Testament. Mount Sinai. "Which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar." It's spelled, "Agar," but it's talking about the Old Testament character, Hagar. "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." So Jerusalem which now is, right? And I'm sure that John Hagee would love to take you on a tour of it. You could probably spend several thousand dollars and take a tour of the Holy Land and study, you know. Here's the thing. That place is not Jerusalem, it's Hagar. If we could look at a spiritual map, on a spiritual map, it wouldn't be called Jerusalem. It'd be called Hagar. It would be called Sinai. And it would be a place of bondage. What's bondage? Slavery.
So he says, "Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage with her children," and spiritually it is Hagar. It says in verse 26, "But which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Now, Jerusalem which is from above, where is that above? Where are we talking?
Church: Heaven.
Pastor: Heaven. Because someday, there's going to be a new Jerusalem that descends from God out of Heaven. A heavenly Jerusalem that comes down. The Bible says Jerusalem that's above is free, Jerusalem that now is is Hagar. It's in bondage with her children. But yet, people think that that's somehow a spiritual place. A Holy Land. Here's what's funny. Who do these Jews disdain more than anybody else? The Ishmaelites. Isn't that kind of who they would look at as the worst people? The Jews today, their mortal enemy is who they consider the Ishmaelites and who considers themselves the Ishmaelites, which are who? The Arabs, right? Because in Islam, they teach that oh, we're the sons of Ishmael. That's what Islam teaches. That's not even really totally accurate, they're all so intermingled anyway with all kinds of other nations and so forth. They're not just these pure Ishmaelites like they want to think. That's what the deluded religion of Islam teaches.
So basically, probably the worst insult that you could tell these Jews is that they're Ishmaelites, but that's what the Bible says they are spiritually. "Well, yeah, but physically..." Who cares physically? The things which are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen are eternal. Spiritually, they are Ishmael. Okay? Their mother is Hagar. Jerusalem is Hagar. It's not a city that God has chosen in the New Testament. That's why he has to bring down a new one. There's something wrong with the old one if he has to bring down a new one, right?
Okay, let's keep reading. "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Us all who? Us as Christians. Then he says this, "For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we brethren." He's talking to gentiles in Galatia, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." But are they the children of promise? Are they Isaac?
Church: Uh-uh (negative).
Pastor: No, the Jews are not of Isaac. Who are they? The Bible says, "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." What happened? Back in Genesis, there's a story where Isaac is being weaned, and when Isaac is being weaned, Ishmael was being mean. He was mocking him. His older brother, Ishmael, makes fun of him, and Sarah gets real upset and says, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son." Cast out Hagar and Ishmael, for the son of the bondwoman is not going to inherit with my son. Why? Because Ishmael was mocking Isaac. Here it says, verse 29, "But as then he that was born after the flesh." Who was born after the flesh? Ishmael. What does that mean born after the flesh? It means that Abraham conceived him naturally with a younger woman, Hagar. He violated the will of God by instead of having a child with his wife, having a child with the handmaid. Using his own physical means of just naturally conceiving a child.
Sarah, on the other hand, when she gave birth to Isaac, that wasn't the flesh there. That was a miracle. Because God did a miracle where a 90-year-old woman could give birth, and the Bible says it was a miracle. The child that was born after the flesh, Ishmael, persecuted the one that was born after the Spirit, the child of promise, the one that was promised to Abraham, which is Isaac.
Verse 30, "Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Now this is really important. Okay? Pay close attention to this. According to the Bible, in Genesis, the story with Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, it says is an allegory. Here's what people accuse of us of doing. "Those who believe in replacement theology tend to spiritualize things." Well, here's the thing, it says it's an allegory. It sounds like it's being spiritualized here. My saying is that I guess the dispensationalists seek to carnalize things. I'd rather be accused of spiritualizing then carnalizing.
The Bible says it's an allegory. What does an allegory mean? It's what?
Church: Symbolic.
Pastor: Symbolic, right? Figurative. Symbolic. Now, I'm not saying it didn't happen. Of course it really happened, but it's also an allegory. What the Bible is teaching here is that Bible-believing Christians are Isaac. I mean, is there any dispute here? Is everybody reading the same book I'm reading here? Galatians 4? Everybody have a King James Bible?
Church: Amen.
Pastor: Tonight? All right. Doesn't it say right there that we, as Bible-believing Christians, as Isaac was, are the children of promise?
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: Okay, who's Ishmael? The children of Abraham according to the flesh, those who are in Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage. The Jews, according to the Bible, the Jews are Ishmael and the Christians are Isaac. Does everybody got that?
Church: Yeah.
Pastor: I mean, I don't see how you could get anything else out of this passage. Very simple.
Okay, what's the Bible say? Very important. Verse 30, "Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." Now what are we talking about inheriting? Because what's an heir? An heir inherits, right? What are we talking about inheriting? Let's go to Matthew 25 for one. We can go to a lot of places about this, but you know, this just popped into my head. I wasn't planning on going here. This just kind of popped into my mind in Matthew 25, look what it says in verse 34. "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
So what are we talking about inheriting? Inheriting the Kingdom of God. Inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven. Inheriting the Kingdom. What's that Kingdom? What are we talking about? Who's going to set up a Kingdom on this Earth? Who's going to rule and reign from Jerusalem? Jesus Christ. We shall inherit the Earth. We shall inherit the Kingdom. You know what else is going to be inherited? The land of Israel. It's going to be inherited. I want to explain this, because people get confused on this. It's not confusing, it's just that people have a preconceived idea going in. It's not confusing at all. When it comes to inheriting the Promised Land, when it comes to inheriting the Kingdom that God has prepared from the foundation of the world, what are we talking about? The Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ shall sit on the throne of David, his Father, and physically reign and rule this Earth from Jerusalem.
When it comes to inheriting that Kingdom? Who's going to inherit that Kingdom? Well, it's going to be Christians and it's going to be Israel, the Jews, right? What does the Bible say? No, no, no. The children of the bondwoman shall not inherit with the children of the free. Here's why this is so critical. Because even after people watch, for example, Marching to Zion, the film that we put together exposing Judaism and exposing the fact that the Jews are not God's chosen people. That we as Christians are God's chosen people.
Even after people watch Marching to Zion, it's like they still have this doubt in their mind. Here's what they say, "You know, I agree with 99% of it, but I still think in the last days that Israel's coming back. I just still think that God's not done with them. I just still think they're coming back." Well, did Ishmael ever come back and inherit the inheritance with Abraham? Did he inherit with Isaac? No, he didn't. "Oh, but I still think, I still think that God's not through with Israel." Well, was Abraham through with Ishmael? Yeah, he was. He was thrown out. He's gone. He went and did his own thing. God also made him his own great nation and so forth, but in this allegory here, it says that the children of the bondwoman will not inherit with the children. The Jews will not inherit with the Christians.
Church: Right.
Pastor: It's going to be only the saved. Only the saved will inherit the Kingdom. The unsaved Jews will not inherit. "Oh, God's going to bring them all around. God's going to give them a new heart." It's all misinterpreted, it's all twisted, and I have preached against it in other sermons, I'm not going to open that can of worms. This is a clear passage.
People say this, though. "Well, who's going to inherit Israel? What about all these promises that God made in the Old Testament? Here's what they're not understanding. There are Israelites that are saved, and even more so than today, in the Old Testament, there were a lot of saved Israelites, right? I mean, God was dealing with Israel for thousands of years and many people got saved, right? Where'd they go when they got saved? Where'd they go when they died?
Church: Heaven.
Pastor: Heaven. Where are they right now?
Church: Heaven.
Pastor: So how many Israelites are in Heaven right now from the Old Testament period? Millions, right? We don't know how many, but millions of saved Israelites from the Old Testament. They're in Heaven, right? Everybody get this? Because it just seems like this is one thing that people struggle to comprehend, so I want to make it real clear. There are millions of saved Israelites in Heaven right now from before Jesus ever even came. Then there are some who got saved after he came, too. But let me just again emphasize, thousands of years of history and millions of millions of saved Israelites in Heaven from before Jesus that are in Heaven right now. Why is that important? Because people will bring out the fact that hey, Jesus told the twelve disciples, he said that when the Son of Man comes in His Kingdom, you will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, that's a great promise. He said look, Peter is going to be judging a tribe. James's going to be judging a tribe. John's going to be judging a tribe.
So people think ... they have this weird idea that all the fake Jews in Israel right now, the unsaved Christ rejecters that are over their right now, that they all have to get saved in order for that to be fulfilled. No, not at all, because there's going to be this little thing called the Resurrection that happens before the Millennium, where millions of Israelites of the twelve tribes, millions and millions of them come out of the graves.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: And guess what they're going to inherit. The Promised Land. Israel. And guess who's going to judge them. Simon the Canaanite. That's who's going to judge one of the tribes. Right? Look, who's going to judge them? Peter, James, John, Andrew, and you know what? They're all going to be over there inheriting the land. So it's like oh, but the physical descendants have to inherit it. Okay, let the physical descendants inherit it. The ones that are saved.
Church: Right. Amen.
Pastor: There's already millions of them in Heaven. There are millions of them from the Old Testament. So it's like people are like well, who's going to inherit it? Millions and millions and millions of people. It's like they just forget about these people. It's like they just completely forgot about all the Israelites in the Old Testament. They're up in Heaven, like why'd you, whoa, you forgot about us. You want to give our land to a bunch of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Christ rejecting Jews who hate Jesus? Whoa, buddy. We're actually the twelve tribes up here. We're saved. We believed. We called upon the name of the Lord. They're going to inherit it.
Look, is there anything confusing or complicated about what I just explained?
Church: No.
Pastor: Does that sound like a weird, crazy theory? Yeah, you know, I just have this crazy idea that there were a bunch of people in Israel in the Old Testament that went to Heaven. Imagine that. Then I have this crazy idea that they're all going to be resurrected when everybody who's saved is resurrected. That they're going to be resurrected, too. Then I just have this crazy idea that if they're going to live somewhere, it might as well be Israel, since they're the twelve tribes. Look, he said the Apostles are going to judge the twelve tribes. He didn't say they're going to judge a bunch of blonde-haired people that don't know what tribe they are.
The point is, and I'm referring to the Polish people that are living in Israel right now. The Jews. The Ashkenazi Jews. The thing is, think about this. There's a whole world to inherit, right? I'm not just jumping up and down to inherit Israel or something. I'll be glad to just live in Arizona for the Millennium. Wherever God puts me, I'm happy with it. I'm not just dead set on I've got to be over there in the Holy Land.
Here's the thing, the bottom line is, though, that it does not necessitate Christ-rejecting physical Israel to be restored. They don't have to be restored for Jesus to set up His Kingdom. He doesn't need them. He doesn't need the bondwoman. He doesn't need Ishmael. He's going to do it with believers. He's going to come down on this Earth. He's going to rule and reign from Jerusalem with the resurrected saints. The saints shall reign. Look, all those that are beheaded. They're coming back to life. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. They're resurrected first.
Anyway, I just wanted to really kind of take some time and go through that, because that's something people struggle with. It's very clearly addressed here in Galatians chapter 4. Very powerful passage. I'll just finish up on that when he says in verse 31, "So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Who cares what your nationality is. Who cares whether you're red, yellow, black, and white, you're free in Christ.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: You are a child of the freewoman. Sarah is your spiritual mother. The Bible even says in First Peter 3 that you are the daughters of Sarah, ladies, if you follow the faith of Sarah, and live like Sarah. Why? Because it's the spiritual that matters, not some physical pedigree. The only time a physical pedigree matters in the New Testament is if you're breeding dogs or something, and you need them to be AKC certified. If you're a human being, avoid genealogies.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: It's meaningless what our nationality is. It's meaningless. Taking pride in being white or in being black or I'm so proud to be La Raza or whatever. Whatever your pri- ... you're Native American pride and everything. You know what, it doesn't matter. It's carnal. I'm proud to be a Christian.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: I'm proud to be a child of the King.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: God forbid that I should glory saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Church: Amen.
Pastor: This carnal, carnal Jew worship of John Hagee and Rabbi Cahn, it's not Biblical, and we need to run scr- ... look, if Paul was afraid of them, why aren't we afraid of them. We need to run screaming in the other direction from these people. But you're like, no, I can handle it. Well, Paul's like I'm afraid of you. He hated this stuff. It made him angry. It made him upset. He said if they're preaching another Gospel, let them be accursed. This Gospel of hey, Jews are saved without Jesus, that's another Gospel.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for Jesus in our hearts, and we thank you so much that we are complete in Him. In Him in whom all the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells. Lord, help us to glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. Help us to observe church and observe reading our Bible and observe preaching and soul winning, and not to stare at the sky just looking at the Moon and the Sun and thinking that it's a miracle when they do the normal same thing that they do every day and every year and every century, Lord. Help us not to be carried about with every wind of doctrine, every trendy book that the world publishes, Lord. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
