We're going to celebrate together the Lord's Table today. Next month, we will not be having the Lord's Table on Sunday morning, the first Sunday in September. We're going to be doing something dramatically different than what we normally do. Many of you were not here the last time we did this because of when it happened which is when a lot of you are away from us in the winter months. And so in September a fellow who's become a great friend of ours named Dr. David Sadaka will be with us. He's with Chosen People's Ministries and he just got back from the Middle East and he'll be bringing several messages to us while he's with us. But on Saturday night, the 8th, so I want you to all write that down in your calendar and thinking on Saturday night, September the 8th, he'll be with us that evening doing Christ in the Passover. So we'll be doing a full celebration of the Passover on that Saturday evening. And then Sunday morning, he'll be teaching the word And then Sunday evening will be a special night. He's going to be talking to us out of a lot of the experiences that he's had over the last six months a year in the Middle East and how a lot of what's going on in the Arab Spring and all these different things that are in great turmoil today are related to the nation of Israel and also in the Scripture. It's going to be a great weekend. So we want to really encourage you to partake in that on the 8th, which is a Saturday night, And we'll probably be starting at about 6. I think not a lot of us are working on Saturdays, and so we can get down here. We'll have about two hours, and we'll be done about at 8. And you'll be able to go home, get some rest, and come right back on Sunday morning. So I want to encourage you. We've got some exciting things coming. It's going to be a great weekend. And then in October, at the end of October, we're going to have a three-day conference with Answers in Genesis. That's going to be with us. And we're looking forward to that as well. Galatians 4, we're looking at verses 4-10 this morning. As we begin, as you're turning there, when the time comes on the 8th, we will need a small team of people to help prepare for that meal on Saturday afternoon. If you would like to help with that preparation, would you talk to my wife? And we're putting together a small team. Now, I have a proposition for somebody. Somebody needs to bring Chick-fil-A to Star Valley. Amen? I like beef, but I'll eat chicken. Amen? Let's pray for them. They're going through some hard times. Let's pray for them. Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer, and then we're going to look in Galatians 4. Father, we come before Your Word. We thank You for the opportunity to have sung truth. Lord, not just fluff, but truth. Truth that ministered deep into our hearts. And Father, I pray that we would Come together now into Your Word and into Your presence in Your Word as a prepared people. Father, may Your Spirit move amongst us as we look in Your Word at who You are, blessed Holy Spirit, and how You minister. And Father, may You send Your Spirit forth to refine us, to relate to us. Father, may You find in us hearts that are willing to yield. Father, may we not be like Your people in the Old Testament who were a stubborn, stiff-necked people who always resisted Your Word and Your Spirit. Father, may You find in us a heart that is moldable like clay in the hand of the potter. Minister in our midst today, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Look with me at the text, Galatians chapter 4. We're going to begin reading in verse 4. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying out, Abba, Father, therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. But then indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not God's. But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and the beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years, and I am afraid for you." The title of the message for the third time is, Don't Go Back to Kindergarten, because this is exactly the idea of what Paul is talking to the churches in Galatia about when he says in verse 9, how is it that you turn again to those weak and those beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage. And we are doing this contrast between a spirit of bondage and a spirit of liberty, a spirit of bondage to fear, as it says in Romans chapter eight, which is characterized by these elemental principles of the law and natural religion that we are talking about versus the spirit of liberty, which, as it says in Romans chapter eight, is a spirit of assurance. and a spirit of confidence in contrast with the spirit of fear. Now, when we looked at bondage, and we've looked at this concept of bondage, and we're going to finish these verses next week when we really delve into verse 8-10. These weak and beggarly elements. These elemental principles on which natural religion are built. And even revealed religion tends to degenerate into. These principles of liturgy versus living relationship. These principles of ritualism, as Paul develops that in Colossians chapter 2. These elemental principles of natural religion. The religion that is natural to the human heart. In our fallen state, there is a default religion that we turn to. And it always turns to idolatry and idolatrous practices. And then as a conjunction of that, there is the principles of ritualism. And that's what he brings out in verse 10. You observe days and months and seasons and years. He's not saying there it's wrong for a Christian to observe Christmas. or Passover. He's not saying it's wrong to do this. He's saying if you are looking at your relationship with God through the lens of ritualism, that is in the keeping of those rituals legalistically, that you can establish a relationship with God. He says you are bound in natural religion, whether you are a Jew living under the Old Testament system, or whether or not you are a barbarian or a pagan living under the mystery religions of Rome. That's irrelevant, because even revealed religion can degenerate into mere ritualism. This is true of the natural religions of the world, isn't it? I was listening to NPR coming in one Sunday morning, one day in the week. And they were talking about the Olympics. And, of course, we're in Ramadan. So, what do the Islamic athletes do and how do they deal with Ramadan during the Olympics? And there's this big struggle going on in the life of these people about how to deal with the month of a fast and not offend Allah. And so we degenerate into principles of religion and ritualism. There's a little phrase I put in on italics. You may not be able to read it. It's the phrase ex operae operata. This sums up well the mindset of ritualism. This is a Latin phrase which basically means out of the operation of the operation. And I like to illustrate this. This is the undergirding philosophy of natural religion in ritualism. It says that out of the doing of the operation The operation operates on you. If I can just get somebody into the waters of baptism, then that ritual will operate from the power of the ritual upon their heart. I like to think of it, I illustrate it this way a lot of times, the power of an aspirin. The power of an aspirin is within an aspirin. You don't have to believe in an aspirin. If you're sick and you're a little child and your mommy comes to you and says, Johnny, I know you're sick, here's an aspirin, take it. It's irrelevant whether or not you have any personal faith in the aspirant. Because the power is within the aspirant. You just take it. Is that the way religion works? Is the power within the ritual? No, my friend. That's getting the cart before the horse. The power of God is in the gospel, and the gospel unleashes the power of God in the human heart. And then we go through the sacraments, the ordinances. We are baptized in obedience. But it is not in order to gain the favor of God. It is because we know we are in the favor of God. And there is a huge contrast between the principles of religion in ritualism and the principles of relationship with Christ. We're talking about the spirit of liberty. In Romans 8, verse 21, there's this phrase, the glorious liberty of the children of God. My friend, if you're a Christian, if you're born again saint, you know the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a tremendous liberty that is yours in Christ. Now to secure this liberty, notice, Verse 4 and 5. We studied these verses last week. To secure this liberty, this glorious liberty of the children of God, God sent His Son into the world to redeem us. And it happened at the fullness of time. At just the right moment. The work of the Son was the work of redemption. But secondly, and subsequently to that, in verse 6 and 7, He uses this very same word, because you are sons, God has sent forth. He not only sent forth His Son, God also sent forth His Spirit. The Spirit of adoption. And it is by Him we cry out, Abba Father. And so God sent His Spirit into our hearts to secure a relationship with us. And this is really the truth you see as he begins to develop this in verse 8 and 9 when he talks about knowing God. In John 17, by the way, if I asked you, what does it mean to know God? What does it mean to have eternal life? Excuse me, I got that one backwards. What does it mean to have eternal life? To have eternal life, it says in John 17, to have eternal life is to know God. to have a relationship with Him. And so God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to secure a relationship with us. This is the Spirit's work. He is sent forth from God. This stresses the initiative of God. God sent the Spirit. God sent His Son. God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son. God so loved the world, He sent His one and only Spirit. to live within our hearts, to have a relationship with us. And so, He has sent forth His Son. Now, in this passage in Galatians 4, the stress is on the initiative of God. It is God who sent the Son. In Romans chapter 8, very same type of quote, but in Romans chapter 8, He says we receive a spirit of adoption. by which we cry out, Abba, Father. God sent forth the Spirit, but we receive it. There, the emphasis is on the reception of the human heart. God sent His Spirit, but we must receive Him, as many as received Him. To them He gave the power to become the children of God. To those who believe in His name. So the Son's work, the work of God the Son, is to redeem us. The work of the Spirit is to have a relationship through us with the Godhead. In John chapter 14, 17 and 18, Jesus is talking with His disciples in the upper room shortly before His death. And He says, it is to your advantage that I go away. Because if I go away, it will send My Spirit. And He says, I will not leave you as orphans. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to abandon you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will send my Spirit. He will live within your hearts. And so, by God's Spirit, we come to know God. We come to have a relationship with God. It is the Spirit of God who takes the work of Christ and applies it to the human heart. Apart from the Spirit of God working in any given situation, nothing happens. The change happens in the human heart in answer to the movement of the Spirit of God. Now, why? Why is this important? Why was it important that God sent His Spirit? This is why. Because left to ourselves, none of us would choose Christ. It tells us in Romans 8, verse 7, the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, that is the mind who does not know God, the carnal mind is enmity against God. In our natural state, we are the enemies of God, and in truth, we hate God. When Martin Luther was struggling with God in the monastery, he came to terms with this reality when he spoke truth to himself and he finally admitted, he says, I do not love God, I hate Him. And when he finally spoke that truth and he confessed what was true about himself, God began the work of redemption. But he had to come to that place where he realized, in myself, I am the enemy of God before I know Christ. He says the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. The natural mind hates the Ten Commandments, doesn't it? That's why a society that is deviating far from what pleases God doesn't want to see it in a courtroom. Because it is not subject to the law of God, it cannot be, and it hates the law of God. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That is why God had to send His Spirit. Because the natural man does not receive the things of God, the things of the Spirit of God. It is foolishness to him. He cannot know them. They are spiritually discerned. And it takes the work of the Spirit in the life of an individual to change the human heart. Now I want us to look at three realities in this verse, briefly this morning, in verse 6. Let's focus our attention on verse 6. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out. The Spirit is crying out within the heart of the believer. Abba, Father. Now let's look at three things. First of all, we're going to talk about the Spirit's designation. How is He designated? Now, in other places in Scripture, He's called the Holy Ghost. Sometimes He's called the Holy Spirit. Here He is the Spirit of the Son. The Spirit of the Son of God. This is His designation in the text. We'll talk about that in a minute. We're also going to talk about the Spirit's destination. Where does He go? He is sent from the Father to the heart. To the heart. Thirdly, we're going to look at the Spirit's demonstration. How is the Spirit demonstrating His work in our life? He is crying out within us, Abba Father. So let's look at those three things briefly this morning. The Spirit's designation. The Spirit's destination and the Spirit's demonstration. We're not going to take a lot of time with the Spirit's designation. He is called the Spirit of the Son. It's interesting, if we took the time and went to John 17, this is one of the things that Jesus prayed specifically for. That was that the believer in Christ would receive that same Spirit of Sonship. That we might be one, not only with each other, but with God. The Spirit's designation is the Spirit of the Son. Now, what is interesting is the Spirit of God always testifies unto Christ. This is the work of the Spirit. He does not draw attention to Himself. He draws attention to the Son. He is always pointing to Jesus Christ. When the Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, pointing unto Christ that the heart might be changed. Secondly, notice the Spirit destination. He is destined to the heart. Now, let's think about the heart for a minute. We talk about heart disease. We talk about heart health. We talk about all these different things in our culture, but these all relate to a physical organ, don't they? When the Scripture uses this word heart, He is not talking about a physical organ within your body. He is talking about the core, the heart of who you are. It is a word which in Scripture combines the thinking of our mind, our will, our emotions, and all of those things are combined into this word, the heart. Now, the Bible says of our heart in Jeremiah 17, the heart is deceitful above all things. It's desperately wicked. Who can know? That's the heart of the man. And that is why God sent His Spirit into our hearts to work upon us, to refine us, to apply redemption to us, to reconcile us unto God. And so the Spirit comes to the heart. There's a contrast in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 between the law, which was written on tablets of stone, and in grace, the Spirit of God writing Himself upon the tablet of the heart, the tablet of flesh. To summarize then, he gets to the end of that in 2 Corinthians 3, and he says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. He sets us at freedom. He sets us free. And so, even in the book of Jeremiah, in the Old Testament, there was a prophecy that when the new covenant came, the new covenant would be written upon the hearts of people. And so the Spirit is destined to the heart. Now let's look at the Spirit's demonstration. And then we'll make some application, and then we'll close. Now, let's look first of all at what the Spirit does. You know, one of the things that's true, whenever someone becomes a Christian, certain things happen. What are those kind of things that happen in the heart of a person who is truly born again? It was interesting, in Sunday School I was listening to Dean. He was talking about a young person that went to camp. And this young person received Christ. And he said, there was immediately, we saw a change. What was one of the things that Dean mentioned that he said was a change? All of a sudden this young person wants to pray. Why? Because prayer is no longer ritual, it is now relationship. It is a conversation with God. And that is immediate from the Spirit, it tells us in the text. You know another thing that happens to someone when they're born again? They won't tell somebody. Why is that? Because the Spirit is witnessing through them. You see, whenever we're changed, whenever that happens, you know, we may not know everything about Christianity when we become a Christian. We don't know all the deep things of the truth of God. But all of a sudden there is this person living within us, the Spirit of God, who is yearning within us, wanting us to relate to God in prayer and to share what He has done in us with others. That is a fruit. of conversion. He demonstrates His presence within us. His action is to cry out. Notice that. He cries out within us. He cries out, Abba Father. We'll look at those words in just a minute. But first of all, let's think about this action of crying out. In Romans chapter 8, He uses a different word. He says the Spirit groans. He groans within us with groans that are too deep for words. These emotions, these realities concerning the experiential understanding of what God has done for us is yearning within us to express our worship and our praise to God. And so, that is the Spirit who is crying out. This is a Word which conveys deep emotion. He cries out. It is a Word which conveys fervency. You know, it's easy to get really apathetic in our Christian walk. The Spirit would shatter that in our life and cause us to cry out in fervency, in deep emotion. You know, in James 5, we're told there that the wages of those who were kept back by fraud cry out to God on behalf of the poor. Cries out. In Genesis chapter 4, we're told that the blood of Abel cried out to God for satisfaction, for vengeance. In Revelation chapter 6, we are told that the martyrs who are under the throne of God cry out to God. How long, O Lord, until you return? They cry out. This is what happens in the heart of a person who is born again when that spirit of adoption takes hold upon them. There is a yearning, a crying out to God. Jesus is a great illustration of this in the garden. When in the garden, in great fervency, He prays and He says, Abba, Father, if there is any way for this cup to depart from Me, let it depart, but not My will be done, Yours. And He prays in great fervency. He cries out to the Father. He sweats, as it were, great drops of blood. Now, what is the Spirit crying out? He is crying out two words. Abba, Father. I'm really behind the times. I googled Abba to look up some things in a great dictionary. I found out it's also a rock group. I didn't know that. Okay. I guess I'm behind the times. Abba. Father. I don't even know when that rock group was. Maybe I'm way behind the times. Is that a 60's group? Or maybe that's why I didn't know of it. 70's and 80's. Abba Father. Why these two words? Why these two words in the text? Let's look at them. This is what the Spirit cries out. He is sent forth into our heart, the Spirit of the Son is crying out, Abba, Father." Now, that word is used in different places in the Scripture, the word Abba. Father, pater, is used routinely. But Abba is used in two other places. It's used in Romans chapter 8, where we receive a spirit of adoption who cries out within us, Abba, Father. It's also used in Mark's gospel, chapter 14, when Christ is praying in the garden. And Christ prays Father, let this cup depart. So, there's three times where this actual word is used in the Scripture. Now, let's just look at two things that are true of these words. The first word, Abba, is an Aramaic term. Aramaic is a language that was spoken in Jesus' day. It has a Semitic root. So, it's very similar to Hebrew. It is also what we would call a transliteration. A transliteration. He doesn't translate the word. He gives us the Aramaic word. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. Same thing. A transliteration of what Christ said on the cross. You know, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Transliteration. That's different than a translation, isn't it? Translation is when you take a word in a mother tongue and you put it into a word that we can understand. He doesn't do that here. He gives us a transliteration. Abba. becomes a new word in our language, the English language. It is an Aramaic term. Now, like I said, it's a Semitic word. In the Hebrew language, the word Ab, A-B, means father. That's why when you sing Father Abraham, A-B at the beginning of Abraham, literally means father. We're literally singing truth. He is our father, Father Abraham, the father of the faithful. The word Ab, A-B in the Hebrew means, or Ab means father. Now, when we look at the Greek, on the other side we have this Greek word pater, you can hear the word papa. Father, you can even hear in that word. This is a translation. Now the question that we ask immediately is, why does it give us the two words, Abba, Father, transliterating one and translating the other? What is the purpose here? What is the Holy Spirit seeking to convey to us? Is Abba giving us an additional meaning to Father? Or is it intensifying it? Or is it acting synonymously with it? What is the purpose that God has in this? Why the two words? Now, first of all, we would say, we've all heard this before, the word Abba is a word of relationship. It is a word that stresses that. It actually is a lot like, in the original language, a childish word that children would use when speaking to their parents. So, maybe we would use I remember when, I probably shouldn't embarrass my kids, their grandmother, when the kids were real little, said, just call us Gaga. Because that was an easy word, right? Gaga. Now, to everybody else in the world, that sounds like gibberish, doesn't it? It sounds like silliness. But if you're the grandma and the little kike uses the word Gaga, that's relationship. Papa, Nana. Same type words in our language today to convey that thought of intimate relationship. Father, on the other hand, is a word that is used a little bit more broadly. But here's another reason I think he does this. Look at the context. Look at Galatians 3, verse 28. Martin Lloyd-Jones, I owe a debt to him in his commentary for this thought. Verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek. You know what? It doesn't matter what language you speak. It doesn't matter if you're a Jew and you speak Aramaic. It doesn't matter if you're a Greek. That's what you speak. It doesn't matter if you come from Indonesia and you have some other word. It doesn't matter what that word is. The same relationship applies. He is the God of all who receive Christ. He is the Father of all who come to Christ. Jew and Greek united in adoption into one family. That's a tremendous truth. That we become one in Christ. And different people may convey that differently, linguistically. That's irrelevant. The Spirit takes groanings that are too deep for words, and He prays within the will of God, and those prayers are sweet to the Father. And it's because of the Spirit who is crying out within us. Now, let's just make some applications, and then we'll close. Three main applications. First thing I would say is this. God is a person, not a force. He is a person. Now, He is greater than us. He made us. But He is a person. It's not, may the force be with you. It is, may the God of eternity, the God who loves you, be with you. Have a relationship with Him. God is a person, not just a force. We can grieve Him. We can quench Him. We can receive Him. We can welcome Him. But you are either developing a relationship with Almighty God, or you are spurning His love. It is one of the two. And He is a person to whom you will give an account. God is a person, not a force. Secondly, I speak to God in prayer in the context of family relationship. It is family. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we could be called the children of God. And such we are. It is a family relationship. You know, many of you are parents and you have your own children. Now you know other kids. Other kids relate to you. But they don't relate to you the same way your kids relate to you. Right? It's different. That's what he's getting at here. God made everybody. Everybody on the planet. But there are certain people who God knows more intimately. Who God has a family relationship with. And those are the people who have come through the gate of redemption to know him through Jesus Christ. And so, I speak to God in the context of family relationship. We pray to Him, and this is the Spirit who cries out within us, and we find this yearning within us to pray to Him and to say to Him, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. We don't just pray to God, we pray to our Father. There was a family relationship. And the third thing there that I would just draw your attention to is this. I can rest in God with the confidence of fatherly protection and provision. He meets my needs. He'll meet your needs. He cares for us. He ministers to us all through life. He does so by his blessed Holy Spirit. The Spirit lives within us. The Spirit produces within us an assurance of sonship salvation. That is the work of the Spirit. Are you resting in God? Are you resting in Christ? When we traveled, I'll close with this little illustration, to South Carolina to do a wedding earlier this summer. I don't like to fly. I'll just be honest, I'm a chicken. I'd rather keep my feet on the ground. I don't like getting up in those big airlines, flying across the country. You know what? Once you're up in an airline, you're out of control, aren't you? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much turmoil is going on in my life. It doesn't matter how much I'm looking out at the wing, trying to make it stay on there. You know, when they change the things, you know, making sure it worked. I can't fly the plane for the pilot. I'm along for the ride. Now I can either rest and relax and enjoy it, or I can fuss and fume and worry inside until I get my feet back on the ground. The choice is mine, but I can't change the outcome. You know the same is true of us. You can either fuss and fret and fume and worry about things and try to carry the burden and try to fly the plane yourself, or you can rest and relax in Christ. But the choice is ours. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, we thank You for the great opportunity that You have given us in Your Spirit to know You. Father, I pray that You would forgive us for many times seeking to manipulate our lives by ourselves and not to rest in Your Spirit. Father, may we learn to walk in Christ and to trust in Him. Father, I pray that if there's someone here today who never has received Christ as Lord and Savior, that your spirit would minister to them in a way that they would trust in Him and Him alone, that that redemption might become theirs. May they believe and trust in Christ. For those of us that know you, may we yield our hearts to you, your spirit, in a way that allows your power to flow through us in a broken and a needy world. As we close with this song, you may know this song. It's a simple song, Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh on Me. You may not know it. But as we sing it, let's sing it contemplatively today. Let's sing it as a prayer, asking that God's Holy Spirit not only would fill us, but He would use us. That He would mold us into what He wants us to be. Would you join with me in singing this as we stand together and as we close?