Fishkill Baptist Church
Sunday, September 13

      • Isaiah 1:18ESV

      • Psalm 67:1–7ESV

  • Hear Our Praises
  • Before The Throne Of God Above

      • Hosea 1:10ESV

      • 1 Peter 1:3–5ESV

  • Behold Him
  • Doxology
  • Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
    In 44 BC, a nineteen-year-old boy named Gaius Octavius received news that would change his life — and the course of Western civilization.
    Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in the world, had been assassinated. And in his will, Caesar had done something extraordinary: He had adopted Octavius as his son and named him his legal heir.
    Now think about what happened to this young man.
    The day before, he was a relatively obscure teenager from a respectable but unremarkable family. The day after, he was the son of Caesar.
    He received a new name — Augustus. He received a new status — heir to the most powerful dynasty on earth. He received a new inheritance — wealth, authority, an empire.
    And here's what's remarkable: He didn't earn any of it. He didn't climb to it. He didn't campaign for it. One man's decision made him who he was.
    Now I want you to hold that picture in your mind — because what happened to Octavius is a Christ-shaped shadow of what God has done for every believer in this room. —
    But with one crucial difference. Octavius, for all his obscurity, was a free Roman citizen. He was a young man with prospects.
    But what if the person being adopted wasn't just obscure — but was enslaved?
    What if the one being made an heir was, just moments before, someone else's property?
    Because this is exactly where Paul has taken us in Galatians. Remember where we've been.
    Back in chapter 3, Paul told us that before faith came, we were "imprisoned under the law" and "held captive" — locked up like prisoners with no way out.
    And then last week in verses 26 through 29, Paul declared something breathtaking:
    That in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise!
    Last week we explored the question: "Who tells you who you are?" And the answer was clear — Christ tells you who you are. He says you are sons. He says you are heirs.
    Now as we come to chapter 4, Paul puts the problem a different way. He says that:
    The heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave. He's under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. And that's what we were…
    Enslaved to the demands of the law or whatever standard we sought to justify ourselves by.
    So do you see what Paul is doing? He's asking us to marvel at the distance that’s been covered. We were slaves — imprisoned, held captive, in bondage. And now we’re sons and heirs of God himself. That's an infinite gap!
    And it raises an unavoidable question: How did we get here? Who makes you who you are? Who takes a slave and makes him a son?
    Let's read Galatians 4:1–7 and find out.
    Scripture
    Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Galatians 4:1-7. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1156. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
    Galatians 4:1–7 ESV
    I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
    This God’s Word!
    Prayer
    Father, send Your Spirit to delight our hearts in these moments to see the beauty of Christ in Your Word. We ask this in Jesus’ name — AMEN!
    Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
    Our world today tells you to make yourself —
    You are enough… Believe in yourself… Pull yourself up… Reinvent yourself.
    And maybe some of you walked in here this morning carrying that weight.
    The weight of trying to earn your standing before God. The weight of wondering whether you've… done enough, believed enough, changed enough.
    That's the voice of slavery. And what Paul wants you to see in this passage is that you never had the power to free yourself — and you never needed to. Because God has done it all.

    Who makes you who you are?

    Here's the answer from our text this morning:

    God sent His Son to bring you from slavery to sonship.

    And Paul shows us how God does this in three movements.
    First, we see the Father who acts —
    Second, we see the Son who redeems —
    And third, we see the Spirit who assures —
    The Father acts, The Son redeems, The Spirit assures. That's how slaves become sons.
    Let’s focus our attention first on …

    The Father Who Plans

    Look at verses 1 through 3 again with me. Paul says that under the law, we are functionally no different from slaves.
    He's restating what we saw last week — that as minors — children with no rights, the law functions as our guardian, managing our affairs and keeping us out of trouble until the coming-of-age date set by the father.
    And in verse 3, Paul applies this to himself and to all of us saying: "In the same way we also were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world."
    Now what does that mean? This is an umbrella term — and Paul chooses it carefully because he means to include not only Jews but also the non-Jewish Gentiles in the Galatian churches.
    "The elementary principles of the world" captures both the Jewish law and the moral and religious standards that pagans held themselves to apart from the law.
    The point is this: every single one of us — Jew and Gentile alike — shares the same condition.
    Every last one of us, apart from Christ, is a slave.
    And here's what's true about slaves: no slave frees himself.
    So what can be done about our helpless condition? Verse 4 introduces the hope with one word — "But!"
    "But when the fullness of time had come…" God took action!
    You see, what's needed to change your status is for someone from the outside to act on your behalf. And that is exactly what God did. And we see it in two ways in this text.
    First, God took action by making a plan to redeem us.
    Remember, verse 2 says the child remains under guardians until the date set by his father. It's the father who makes the plan and sets the date — not the child.
    Now, this is where Paul's analogy gets stretched — because this isn't really a waiting game where we just need to grow up and watch the calendar. I think that's why Paul introduces the language of slavery. Because it's not the passing of time that moves us from slavery to sonship… It's a decisive act of God.
    Listen to how Luke puts it in Acts 2:23 —
    Acts 2:23 ESV
    this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
    What happened to Jesus on the cross…
    Was not some unfortunate tragedy. It was not a reaction. It was not late.
    It was according to the definite plan of God. History was not adrift — It was being directed toward this very moment!
    Now look again at verse 4. "When the fullness of time had come" — that time, planned and set by the Father — God took action again. This time, by sending his Son.
    And church, let's not rush past this. Savor this.
    We didn't ask for this. We didn't seek it. We didn't do a single thing to deserve it. While we were still slaves — God acted. God sent.
    And this sending was not cheap. It was infinitely costly. Because God sent his Son — the treasure of heaven — to seek and to save the lost.
    Now this truth should move us in at least two ways.
    First — if God's timing was sovereign in the greatest rescue in human history, then church, his timing is sovereign in your life too.
    He is never early. Never late. Never passive. The Father made plans to redeem you before you were born.
    Second — God spared no expense to reach you. Church, marvel at this. God pursued you at the cost of His own Son.
    Some of you need to hear this today… Because I think we can fall into this trap of believing that we're somehow a burden to God — or worse, that our sin repels Him from us in some way.
    I've had people tell me, "Oh, I can't go to church — the building would collapse if I walked in."
    But friends, the opposite is true. In our condition as slaves with nothing to offer God — and worse, as sinners who actively rebel against Him — God made a plan and spared no expense to draw near to you.
    Why? Because he wants you.
    If you hear nothing else this morning, hear this — God wants you.
    So when we were helpless, the Father took initiative. He acted by making a plan and by sending his Son. But what does the Son do once he arrives? That brings us to our second point.

    The Son Who Redeems

    First, notice the flow of Paul's logic here. He tells us who Jesus became before he tells us what Jesus did — because He could not do what He did if He didn't first become who He became.
    Now, as God the Son — the second person of the Trinity — He is eternally divine and never changing.
    Jesus didn't become less than God or something other than God.
    Verse 4 tells us He was "born of woman." This isn't a throwaway detail. It's vitally important.
    What this teaches us is that in addition to being fully God, Jesus became fully human.
    Not half God and half man. Not some hybrid God-man. But fully God and fully man in one person — Jesus Christ.
    Now why is this so important that Paul mentions it here? Why does it matter that Jesus was fully man and born under the law?
    Hebrews 2:17 gives us the answer. Speaking of Jesus, it says:
    Hebrews 2:17 ESV
    Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
    This is massively important. Jesus needed to become just like us in every way — otherwise he would not be qualified to represent us before God.
    Now let me show you the connection between being made like us and becoming a high priest.
    The function of a priest is to stand between God and the people — representing them and offering sacrifices on their behalf.
    Hebrews 5:1 makes this explicit:
    Hebrews 5:1 ESV
    For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
    Don’t miss that phrase: Chosen from among men. This means, Jesus could not be our priest unless He was born of woman and made like us in every way. Only then could He represent us before God.
    And then Paul tells us Jesus was born under the law — meaning He submitted Himself to the full demands of the law.
    Jesus didn't come as an outsider looking in. He came as one of us. He placed himself under the same system that enslaved us.
    Philippians 2 captures this truth beautifully:
    Philippians 2:6–7 ESV
    who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
    Friends, feel the weight of this:
    The eternal and divine Son made Himself a slave — so that He could make slaves into sons.
    He became what we were so that we could become what He is.
    So, that's who the Son became. Now Paul tells us what the Son did.
    Verse 5 tells us — He came to redeem those who were enslaved under the law.
    To truly appreciate what Christ has done for us, you need to enter the scene of a slave market…
    Picture a man standing on the auction block — bound, helpless, owned.
    And someone steps forward and pays the price to set him free.
    That's redemption. And the price for our freedom was not silver or gold. It was the blood of the only one who perfectly satisfied the law's every demand.
    The cost of our freedom was the blood of the perfect Son of God — who, as our great high priest, offered
    Not an animal sacrifice, Not a symbol, But Himself as the full and final payment for our sin.
    He didn't negotiate a partial release or a reduced sentence. He paid the law's demands in full. Every last one of them.
    The debt is settled. The slave is free.
    Church, Jesus was — Sent for us. Born of woman — for us. Born under the law — for us. To bear the curse — for us. And satisfied every demand of the law — for us.
    But here's what I don't want you to miss. Our freedom was not the end goal. It was a means to something far greater.
    Look at the end of verse 5. Jesus did all of this so that we might receive adoption as sons.
    Do you hear that? We were not freed and then left on our own. We were freed into a family.
    Remember Octavius from the beginning of this sermon? In Roman law, adoption was a legal act that gave the adopted child the full rights, name, and inheritance of a natural-born son.
    The adopted son was not a second-class member of the family. He had every right of a firstborn.
    That’s what God has done for you in Christ.
    So let me press two questions on you this morning.
    First — are you a son?
    I'm not asking if you grew up in the church. I'm not asking if you’ve been baptized. I'm not asking if you're a good person.
    I'm asking — have you been delivered from slavery and adopted into the family of God?
    Because some of you are still living as slaves this morning. You are laboring under the weight of performance —
    trying harder, doing more, hoping it's enough. And it is exhausting you.
    You go to bed wondering if you've measured up, and you wake up the next day to try again. That is the life of a slave.
    And Jesus has a word for you. Matthew 11:28
    Matthew 11:28 ESV
    Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
    Notice what verse 5 says. We receive adoption as sons.
    Not achieve — receive. The work has been done for you because you could never have done it for yourself. That's what grace means. It's a gift.
    Will you receive God’s gift of freedom and adoption today? To do this, you only need to admit you need it and trust Jesus as the only one who can give it.
    You could say something like this to God right now: "God, I know I'm a sinner and a slave who cannot free myself. Today I trust Jesus — who died and rose again to forgive my sin, to purchase my freedom, and to adopt me into your family. Amen."
    If you prayed that or something like it just now, I would love to hear about it so I can celebrate with you. I'll be by the front doors after the service. Come tell me how Jesus set you free today, so we can celebrate together!
    Now — second question. For those of you who have already been set free — Are you living like sons?
    Or are you still trying to earn your keep — performing like a second-class member of God's family? If that's you, then you need to hear again who you are this morning.
    You are fully forgiven and set free. Purchased with the perfect blood of Christ. Adopted into the family of God with every right and privilege of a firstborn son.
    And you didn't do a single thing to earn it.
    So lift your head. Live today in the freedom and joy and gratitude of an adopted son.
    Church, the Father has acted. The Son has redeemed. Your adoption is secure.
    But some of you still struggle to know it's true of you — to feel it in your bones.
    So, the question now is: How can you experience the fullness of this joy?
    And that brings us to my third point.

    The Spirit Who Assures

    We’ve seen the Father planning and sending the Son… We’ve seen the Son who redeems us… Now in verse 6, we turn to the Spirit who assures us.
    All three persons of the Trinity — acting in concert to bring about your adoption!
    But I want you to appreciate how deeply intimate and personal this becomes…
    The same Father who sent his Son in verse 4 — to Bethlehem to be born of woman, and to Calvary to redeem us — Now sends the Spirit of his Son into your very heart.
    Just feel the weight of that for a moment.
    The Father sends the Spirit of His Son… Not to a temple. Not to a church building. Into you.
    This is not cold, sterile doctrine. This is visceral and relational. The Spirit doesn't just produce a theological conclusion in your mind — He produces a cry.
    And that word for cry in the Greek implies not a polished, rehearsed prayer but an eruption from deep within.
    And that cry is: "Abba! Father!"
    Now why would Paul use an Aramaic word like “Abba” with Greek-speaking Christians in Galatia?
    He's not teaching them a fun foreign vocabulary word like Duo Lingo. He's giving them Jesus' own word…
    In Mark 14:36, in the garden of Gethsemane — in his darkest and most desperate hour — Jesus prayed these words: "Abba, Father."
    That's the Son's own intimate address to His Father. And now the Spirit in your heart places that same word on your lips.
    The implication is breathtaking. Just consider this…
    As Jesus relates to God the Father as a Son — so now do you. The Son's own intimacy with the Father is now yours. How the Father sees Christ is how He sees you.
    And this is yet another one of God's good gifts to us — given to assure us at the deepest level. Listen to how Paul puts it in Romans 8:15-16
    Romans 8:15–16 ESV
    For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
    Do you see it?
    One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness — to testify to your very soul — that you are in fact a child of God.
    The Spirit's work is to confirm and assure you that what God has done to bring you from slavery to sonship is actually, truly, irreversibly yours.
    And God intends for you not only to know this but to feel it in your heart.
    Now if I had to guess, I would say that many of you know the theology of adoption but you don't often feel it.
    You could pass an exam on the doctrine of redemption — but you pray like strangers.
    You know the right answers — but your heart doesn't sing them.
    And this is exactly the work of the Holy Spirit — to close that gap. To take what is objectively true and make it experientially real. The Spirit is the difference between knowing about God and crying out to God as Father.
    Now look at verse 7. Paul makes all of this unavoidably personal by shifting to the singular — "you." Saying…
    So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God.
    The transformation that began with the Father's plan, was accomplished by the Son's redemption, and is now confirmed by the Spirit's assurance — And is declared as a settled fact over your life.
    And it's worth noting that Paul is drawing on Roman adoption law here — because in Roman law, a natural-born son could be disinherited. But an adopted son could not. The adoption was legally permanent and irrevocable.
    Church, God did not go through all of this…
    planning, sending, redeeming, adopting, and sealing you with his Spirit — only to leave the back door open.
    The adoption is final.
    Now let me speak briefly to those of you who know all of this but genuinely struggle to feel it. I want to give you two things to hold onto.
    First — know that genuine faith can exist without a constant feeling of assurance.
    Sometimes we walk through seasons of spiritual dryness, and that does not mean you are not a child of God. It means you are a child of God in a dry season.
    So what do you do in a season like that? Start here: Stop looking inward at yourself and you look outward — to what God has said about you in his Word.
    Your responsibility is not to manufacture a feeling. It is to know God's promises and to rest in them.
    And here's the thing. When you meditate long enough on the objective promises of God in his Word, the Spirit often uses that to stir up the experience of assurance in your heart.
    This is always the direction it flows — from objective truth to subjective assurance. Never the reverse.
    Listen to how John puts it in 1 John 5:13
    1 John 5:13 ESV
    I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
    Do you see it? John wrote down objective truth — so that you might know.
    Church, the written promises of God are the kindling. The Spirit is the spark that ignites it. And together they produce the flame of assurance in your heart.
    So if you're in a dry season this morning, don't despair and don't try to manufacture some experience on your own.
    Instead, go to the Word. Remember what God has done. And ask the Spirit to do what He was sent to do — to help you cry out, "Abba! Father!"
    Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
    We started this morning with a nineteen-year-old boy named Octavius.
    One day he was obscure and unremarkable. The next day he was the son of Caesar — new name, new status, new inheritance. All because one man decided to adopt him.
    But Octavius was a free citizen who received a promotion. What God has done for you is immeasurably greater! You were a helpless slave. With no power to change your life and nothing in you that deserved a second look.
    And yet God looked at you — and wanted you.

    Who makes you who you are?

    It’s the Father who set the time and sent his Son. And it’s the Son who entered your slavery and paid your ransom with his own blood. And it’s the Spirit who was sent into your heart so that you would know — deep in your bones — that you belong to God.

    God sent his Son to bring you from slavery to sonship.

    That is the gospel. And if it's true — and it is — then you are no longer a slave. You’re a son. You’re an heir. And no one and nothing in this world can undo what God has done.
    So lift your head. Open your mouth. And cry out with the confidence of a beloved child — Abba! Father!
    Prayer
    Abba, Father, we thank You that You have done everything to bring us from slavery to sonship.
    What we could never do for ourselves, You did — at the cost of Your own Son.
    By your Spirit, help us to know it, to feel it, and to live like the adopted sons You’ve made us.
    Revive in us the joy and affection to cry out to you — Abba! Father! We ask all this In Jesus' name, Amen!
    Closing Song: We Are Called to be God’s People
    Closing Words:
    Church, we just sang that we are called to be God’s people. And today we’ve seen the breathtaking reality of how God made this possible — by sending His Son to bring us from slavery to sonship!
    Final Gospel Appeal:
    And if you're here today and you've never trusted Christ to free you and adopt you — and maybe you sense the Spirit stirring something in your heart — I want you to know that the invitation is still open.
    Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
    Don't leave today still carrying the burden of slavery when the Father is offering you a place in His family. There will be some people up front here after the service who would love to help you take this first step of faith and pray with you.
    Next Steps:
    And for those of you who are already adopted sons of God — Live like it! Take a next step this week.
    If you’ve trusted in Christ to save you but have never been baptized — that’s your next step.
    If you’ve been attending for some time but have yet to become members — Membership is how we commit to one another as the family of God.
    And for all of you — if you want to deepen your joy in these truths, bring your whole family back next week when we kick off Sunday School. This is a worthy investment in the spiritual health of your family.
    Missional Charge:
    Now church, as you go out from here today, go as sons who have been set free and adopted — And take this good news with you into your workplace, your schools, and your neighborhoods. There are so many people still living as slaves — May you be the one to tell someone about our Abba, Father, who wants them?
    Benediction: 2 Corinthians 13:14
    “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
    Amen — Church you are sent!

      • Galatians 4:1–7ESV

      • Acts 2:23ESV

      • Hebrews 2:17ESV

      • Hebrews 5:1ESV

      • Philippians 2:6–7ESV

      • Matthew 11:28ESV

      • Romans 8:15–16ESV

      • 1 John 5:13ESV

  • We Are Called To Be God's People
Fishkill Baptist Church
lori@fishkillbaptist.org
845-896-9386
http://fishkillbaptist.net
15 members