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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 through 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 wherein to 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. Now when he says there at the end, I'm 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 and he went, he 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. And 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. And then he says, tell me ye that desire to be under the law. Do you not hear the law? Okay, 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 ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is 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. And 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, meaning he's afraid for them, that they're not even saved. Now 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, you know, trying to bring them back into the law and bringing them back into the old covenant and bringing in Old Testament practices and so forth and 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, you know, we're not under the same ordinances that they were under in the Old Testament, I mean it's just, it's very clear. But 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, you know, they started out being like a servant, you know, under tutors and governors because remember he just finished saying at the end of chapter 3 how the law was the school master 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 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, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Okay? And then if we go later in the chapter, he says in verse number 20 where he expresses doubt about them, I stand in doubt about, I stand in doubt of you, look at verse 21, Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? And 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. Look that's what the whole chapter's about, that's what the whole book is about, okay? 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'm afraid of you, lest I bestow upon you labor in vain. Now 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 wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage, behold I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit ye 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, okay? 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 ye 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. You know, 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. But 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. Now look, Paul said this is so serious, I wonder if you guys are even saved. Is that not what it says? He says in verse 10, you observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid of you, lest I bestow 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 is. That has 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, howbeit then when you knew not God, you did service unto 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 I'm sorry, pagans of Macedonia or whatever. So 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. And 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. 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 other 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 times and years, they were observing pagan things. There's 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. Anybody who actually sits down and reads Galatians in one sitting, which I would recommend, and it's only going to take you what, a half hour to sit down and read Galatians in one sitting, it's a very clear thought here what these people's problem was. 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 that was being brought in by the Judaizers. Now, 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. 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 Jonathan Cahn are the two people that have been pushing this. And I mean, these guys wrote books that are like New York Times best sellers. This isn't some obscure doctrine. I mean, this is like something where you go and walk through the airport and it's right there, you know, next to the $7 bottle of water, you know, for your plane ride, you know, The Harbinger, The Mystery of the Shemitah, okay, and John Hagee's Four Blood Moons. I mean, these were best selling books. I mean, 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 teaching all this garbage, okay. And it's junk. And they say, oh, but, you know, 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 in the end times after the tribulation, okay, that's a key point right there. After the tribulation it says, the sun shall be darkened, you know, 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 timeframe of after the tribulation in Luke 21, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24, 29 and, you know, 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, but he's saying, hey, there's going to be signs in the heaven, sign in the sun and moon. So this is what these false teachers like the John Hagee and Rabbi Kahn would use, Rabbi Kahn man, Rabbi Kahn 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. 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 10 years of these eclipses. It'll tell you exactly when they're going to happen. You can find maps that'll show you where you can see the eclipses at different times. When Christ returns after the tribulation and the sun and moon are darkened, 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. That's a miracle. 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 would 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 because it's a miracle. See 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 is 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 6,000 years old. Well look, if you do the math in the Bible, you'll see that the Bible teaches that the earth is at least 6,200 and some years old. They have it in like year 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 and 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'm not afraid of you buddy, because I don't observe this stuff. And you know, 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 there 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. 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 of the writing in your Bible. Go to Colossians. Now here's what's funny about these predictions that didn't come true. These predictions of Rabbi Kahn and these predictions of John Hagee, they're so vague that basically when nothing happened, they're able to just kind of step back and act like, well, we didn't really say specifically what was going to happen anyway. Basically I would compare the predictions of John Hagee and Rabbi Kahn 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. And it's like, it's so vague that it's for sure going to happen. You know, you're going to have a good day later this week or, you know, it's always so vague. Or like, how about a horoscope? You know, the horoscope, it just kind of gives you some vague. So you know, you look at the cover of John Hagee's book and it says, you know, things are about to change. I mean, you know, you can't go wrong with a prediction like that, right? Because things are always changing. And he's just like, you know, we don't know what it is that God is doing on his prophetic timeline with the nation of Israel, but we know that, you know, some big major event is going to happen in the Middle East, you know, that's going to affect the Jewish people because throughout history, you know, whenever there were these, you know, four blood moons of the Tetrad, the Sukkot, and the, you know, Shemitah, and the HaChflem, you know, whenever it all would align, major things happen in regard to the Jewish people and all this stuff. But it's so vague that when nothing happens, they just stand back and just say, well, yeah, but stuff's going on in the Middle East. Look, pick up the newspaper. I haven't read the newspaper in many, many years. My generation doesn't use newspapers except to stuff packages or to, you know, make things out of papier-mâché. But, you know, 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, help me out, is the Middle East in the news today? It's always in the news. I mean, you know, back when I did look at a newspaper, it's every day is something about Israel or something about the state surrounding Israel, something about that Lebanon or Jordan or Syria or Egypt, I mean, it's every day. People say, 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 Kahn, he made these predictions for like, I think it was like the 13th of September. You know, Hagee's big deal was like the 28th. I heard a lot of buzz about the 23rd. You know, nothing's really happening 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 happening. And it's not hard. You know, when you got a hammer in your hand, everything starts looking like a nail. So, you know, if you pick a special date, you're going to find something that happened on that date. So here's what they said, you know, at the end of the Shemitah, there was a rainbow in New York. Now here's the thing, there are rainbows every day, all over the world. I mean, right now as I speak, there's a rainbow in a lot of places. You know, what do they say? How many lightning bolts are striking the earth per second? You know, because the earth is so, you know how many? How many? Yeah, there are a hundred 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 in New York. And we know that New York is a hub of the special Jews, you know. 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 LA, roughly, if you look at the statistics. So, oh, but there's a rainbow in New York. And 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. I mean, there were literally mainstream news sites that were reporting this as the fulfillment of Rabbi, I think it was like wnd.com or something, you know, World Net Daily or something. They said, like, this is the fulfillment of what Rabbi Kahn has been telling us, the Shemitah. There's a rainbow in New York and a crane fell over in the Middle East, you know. But I mean, you could find stuff like that every day. The people fall for this stuff, you know, because they're not versed in scripture. People, I mean, 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 mean, 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. I mean, look down at your Bible, people, or Colossians, right? We switch 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. And then it says in verse 10, 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, and 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, who hath 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, you are circumcised with the circumcision not made with hands. You have Jesus in your heart, you have faith, you have the Holy Spirit. And 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 an 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, 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 there 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. You 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? 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 coming. And what the Bible is teaching here is the same thing in Colossians 2, because notice it's the same things, meats, drinks, divers washings, carnal ordinances. What did it say in Colossians 2? Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, okay? 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 an 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, our calendar is 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. And the moon's phases are not in perfect sync with the solar year. So you kind of have to pick one or the other. Well 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 months are lunar months, which are only 29.54 days long. Okay? I think I got that number right. And so these months, when you have 12 of them, you don't end up with a 365 day year. You end up with about a 360 day year is what you end up with, okay? And then 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, okay? And they throw in that second month, or 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 and drifting until, you know, springtime isn't springtime anymore and winter's not winter anymore. So that's why they have to throw in that extra month every six years, okay? Now all that to say this, when they celebrated the Old Testament holidays, such as Passover, you know, Feast of Tabernacles, whatever, they would judge the months based on when they see the new moon, okay? So when they see the new moon, they sound the trumpet, and that's a new month. That's the official, it's based on the moon, okay? 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, okay? That's how they judge month to month. So that's why God's saying here, you know, 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? 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 hochflem and, you know, invest in the stock market and everything. But you know what? We don't need this junk, okay? What we need is a King James Bible that says Jesus, not Yeshua, says Jehovah, not Yahweh. 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. 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 this? Yeah, that's because he was wrong because Paul made mistakes in the book of Acts just like a lot of the apostles made mistakes in the book of Acts because the acts of the apostles, it's 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. 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 have a story about a guy with multiple wives. You go with the statement because the story is just about a guy who's doing wrong. And there are many, many examples of that in the Bible. And 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 and 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, there's no excuse except just the fact that you just haven't read the Bible. To be sucked in by the John Hagees and the rabbi cons and so forth. And remember, John Hagees is the guy who says that the Jews are saved even if they reject Jesus, they're still saved. I mean that's a really bad doctrine. I mean 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. But let's get back into the chapter. I want to preach more out of this 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. But you know another meaning that we could draw from this when he says the child differth nothing from a servant is that we need to make our children serve. 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. And a lot of times people frown on this in today's society. You're making your children work, how dare you? But honestly work is good for them. And of course they need to study and do school work and of course they need time to just play and enjoy their childhood. And a lot of times that's how children learn through playing and get exercise. But 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. So we need to look at our children and realize that they are like a servant. And why shouldn't they pull their own weight? They're like 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, you know. And they make a lot of work for their parents. So 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. You know, cleaning up the yard or doing dishes or doing laundry or helping out with the baby. And so don't be shy about making your children work, oh but I just want them to have the funnest perfect childhood. Then they're going to be horrible people. Because suffering is good for you and working hard builds character. And then they don't just grow up playing all the time and 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 and there's a lot of teaching on that in the Bible. But the Bible says in verse two, 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 three, we were in bondage under the elements of the world, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth a 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 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 five. It says, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that over cometh the world, even our faith, who is he that over cometh 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 five. 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. I 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 Hebrews 1-5, unto which 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. And 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. When I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are, you've not injured me at all. Now I like that statement, be as I am. 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. You know that's a lot more powerful than just telling people what to do, right? Then 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. He's saying 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? But let's keep reading. He says, in verse 13, you 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. You know, 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 and that was the emphasis. And that's how it should be. We listen to the word of God preach, 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. You know, it's the truth of what they're saying that should matter, not who the messenger is. And then the Bible says in verse 15, where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear ye record that if it had been possible you 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 from some kind of blindness or who knows what it was. But you know, he's saying look, if it would have been possible you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. And 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 it to him that they turned on him. And this is how life is. People do turn on you. And it's blown me away sometimes how some of the most zealous church members can turn against the church and get backslidden and quit and have a bad attitude. You know, so 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. And you know what, sometimes just by telling people the truth they view you as an enemy. You know, you preach the truth, some people are going to get angry and get upset and hate you for that. He says am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? He says they zealousy affect you but not well. Now who's the they? The they are the people who are bringing them back into bondage, bringing in circumcision, bringing in the feast days, the months, the years, the shmitah, the blood moon. He says they zealousy affect you but not well. Why does he say that? Because some people have this attitude of like oh well at least people are getting excited about studying the Bible. Who cares if it's true? I mean at least, at least the New York Times bestseller list has some biblical books. You know, at least the airport's got something biblical to read. You know? But wait a minute, he says okay they zealousy affect you. And yeah they're getting people excited about lies, about false doctrine. He said you know what does it mean to be zealousy affected? It means to get fired up, get excited. He said look these people are getting you excited but it's not good. It's for false doctrine. You know, you know what it reminds me of is we were, I was talking to a guy about oh man this Harry Potter thing it just seems like it's satanic. You know I didn't really 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. And this guy just said to me yeah but you know what at least it's getting kids to read though. You know because it's so hard to get kids to read these days and kids are reading books now because this Harry Potter is so fun. But I mean that's what you know, yeah they zealousy affect you. They're getting you reading about Satan, witchcraft, the devil, spells and all this stuff. And of course in the book of Acts there's a story where they took all the witchcraft and sorcery books and they burned them. And it was this huge dollar amount that they, 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. And so that's kind of what he's saying here like look they zealousy affect you. I'm glad you guys are all excited. You know I mean it's a break from this boring you know book the Bible. You know white pages, black ink, no pictures, no trendy exciting new thing coming up this month. You know what he says look they zealousy affect you but not well. Yea they would exclude you that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealousy affected always in a good thing and not only when I'm present with you. Saying look why do you guys only get excited about the right stuff when I'm there? As soon as I leave it's like come on in John Hagee, come on in Rabbi Kahn. It's like what in the world? You know what happened? I'm afraid of you. Did I waste my time with you? Have I bestowed upon you labor in vain? I desire or I'm sorry 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 you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman. And remember he keeps associating Christianity with the free woman and rabbinical Judaism with the bondmaid. And he says here which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai. Which one's that, Old Testament or New Testament? Old Testament, Mount Sinai. Which genderth to bondage which is Hagar. Okay it's spelled agar but it's talking about the Old Testament character Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answerth 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 the you know but here's the thing. That place is not Jerusalem, it's Hagar. You know if we could look at a spiritual map, on a spiritual map it wouldn't be called Jerusalem, it would 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, is in bondage with her children and spiritually it is Hagar. It says in verse 26 but Jerusalem 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? 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. And 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 they're not just these pure Ishmaelites like they want to think. But that's what, you know, the deluded religion of Islam teaches. So basically, you know, 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, you know, Hagar, it's not a city that God has chosen in the New Testament, okay? That's why he has to bring down a new one, alright? You know, 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. And 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, and 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? No the Jews are not of Isaac. Who are they? He 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, when Isaac's being weaned, Ishmael was being mean, okay? So he was mocking him. His older brother Ishmael makes fun of him. And Sarah gets real upset and says, cast out the bond woman and her son. Cast out Hagar and Ishmael, for the son of the bond woman, you know, is not going to inherit with my son. Why? Because Ishmael was mocking Israel. Well what's it say here, or I'm sorry, he 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, okay? 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, okay? The Bible says it was a miracle. So 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 Abraham, which is Isaac. Verse 30. Nevertheless, what sayeth the scripture? Cast out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, 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. And here's what people accuse us of doing. You know, 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. Well, you know, my saying is that I guess the dispensationalists seek to carnalize things. You know, I'd rather be accused of spiritualizing than carnalizing. The Bible says it's an allegory. What does an allegory mean? It's what? Symbolic, right? Figurative, symbolic. Now, I'm not saying it didn't really happen. Of course it really happened. But it's also an allegory, okay? And 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 tonight? All right. Doesn't it say right there that we as Bible-believing Christians, as Isaac was, are the children of promise? Okay. Who's Ishmael? The children of Abraham according to the flesh, those who are the ones in Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage. The Jews, according to the Bible, the Jews are Ishmael, and the Christians are Isaac. Has everybody got that? 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 sayeth the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. Now what are we talking about inheriting? Because what's an heir? An heir inherits, right? What are we talking about inheriting? Okay. Well, let's go to Matthew 25 for one, we go to a lot of places about this, but you know, this just popped into my head. I wasn't planning on going here. But 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. Okay. 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, okay. And we shall inherit the earth. We shall inherit the kingdom. And you know what else is going to be inherited? The land of Israel. It's going to be inherited. Okay. Now I want to explain this because people get confused on this and 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 rule and reign 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 bond woman shall not inherit with the children of the free. And here's why this is so critical. Because even after people watch, for example, Marching to Zion, the film that we put together, you know, exposing Judaism and exposing the fact that the Jews are not God's chosen people, but 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. And here's what they say. 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 he through, 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 bond woman will not inherit with the, the Jews will not inherit with the Christians. It's going to be only the saved. Only the saved will inherit the kingdom. The unsaved Jews will not inherit. Oh, God's not, 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've preached against it in other sermons. I'm not going to open that can of worms, but this is a clear passage. Now people say this though, well, who's going to inherit Israel? You know, uh, 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? And where'd they go when they, when they got saved? Where'd they go when they died? Heaven. Where are they right now? 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? Cause I, 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. And then there are some that got saved after he came too. But let me just again emphasize thousands of years of history and millions and millions of saved Israelites in heaven from before Jesus. They're in heaven right now. Why is that important? Because people will bring out the fact that, hey, Jesus told the 12 disciples, he said that when the Son of Man comes in his kingdom, you will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Now that's a great promise. He said, look, Peter is going to be judging a tribe. James is 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 there 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 12 tribes, millions and millions of them, come out of the graves. 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? But 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. Let the physical descendants inherit it, the ones that are saved. And there's already millions of them in heaven. There are millions of them from the Old Testament. So it's like people are like, whoa, whoa, 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. And they're like up in heaven like, whoa, you forgot about us. You want to give our land to a bunch of blond-haired, blue-eyed, Christ-rejecting Jews who hate Jesus? Whoa, buddy, we're actually the 12 tribes up here. We're saved. We believed it. 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? Does that sound like a weird, crazy theory? Yeah, you know, I just had this crazy idea that there were a bunch of people saved in Israel in the Old Testament that went to heaven. Imagine that. And 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. And then I just have this crazy idea that if they're going to live somewhere, they might as well be Israel since they're the 12 tribes. Look, he said he's going to judge the... the apostles are going to judge the 12 tribes. He didn't say they're going to judge a bunch of blond-haired people that don't know what tribe they are. Okay? So the point is, and I'm referring to the Polish people that are living in Israel right now, the Jews, the Ashkenazi Jews, okay? But the thing is, okay, think about this. There's a whole world to inherit, right? I'm not just jumping up and down to inherit Israel or something, you know, I'll be glad to just live in Arizona for the millennium, you know, or wherever God puts me, I'm happy with it. I'm not just dead set on, you know, I got to be over there, you know, in the Holy Land or whatever. But 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 bond woman. 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. I mean, 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. Okay. Anyway, I just wanted to really kind of take some time and go through that because that's something people struggle with. And it's very clearly addressed here in Galatians chapter 4, very powerful passage. So I'll just finish up on that when he says in verse 31, so then brethren, we're not the children of the bond woman, 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, you are a child of the free woman, Sarah is your spiritual mother. The Bible even says in 1 Peter 3 that you are the daughters of Sarah, ladies, if you follow the faith of Sarah and live like Sarah. Okay. 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, you know, and you need them to be AKC certified, but you know what, if you're a human being, avoid genealogies. It's meaningless what our nationality is. It's meaningless. You know, taking pride and being white or being black or, you know, I'm so proud to be La Raza or whatever, you know, whatever your pride, you know, your, you know, native American pride and everything. You know what? It's just, it doesn't matter, it's carnal. I'm proud to be a Christian. I'm proud to be a child of the king. God forbid that I should glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, and this carnal, this carnal Jew worship of John Hagee and Rabbi Kahn, it's not biblical and we need to run, look, if Paul was afraid of him, why aren't we afraid of him? We need to run screaming in the other direction from these people. But you're like, oh 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. And you know, 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. And 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, you know, 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.