Epistles of Paul 24

Well, good evening, brethren. Today I want to continue and handle Galatians chapter 4, verse 1 through verse 11. It's a very interesting section, and it is very worthwhile to dig a little bit deep into it. As a very brief introduction, we know that there were people coming in to Galatians and creating certain problems amongst the people, amongst the brethren, which Galatians chapter 2 verse 4 calls it as false brethren, and they were creating certain pressures. It kind of reminds us of people that go through problems in the church, and sometimes the problems get very heavy for them, and at times they may feel like quitting and giving it up. So the other day I was just talking to somebody, and the person was expressing some of the difficulties they're having as they've come into the church and as they've been baptized. This was some people that had been recently baptized, and the person just about started crying because of these pressures, and the person really actually admitted, you know, sometimes feels like giving it up, but obviously it was just an emotional statement. She did not mean that, but it just shows that we can go through pressures, and so the people in Galatians were also going through some pressures. We will see that today as we study, and we'll see that some of them are coming to a point that they were feeling like giving up. Now, when we read the epistle of Paul, quite often it's difficult for us to understand everything, and one of those that has a lot of areas that we need to dig carefully and study carefully is clearly the epistle to the Galatians. Because, as Peter mentioned in the second epistle, he said that, you know, that people twist Paul's writings. Peter says that around about verse 11 through about verse 13. People twist Paul's writings. I think it's about that. No, maybe it's more like verse 16, I think. People twist Paul's writings, and then people get confused. And so, we have to be careful, and we have to look at Paul's writings carefully, because people have taken the book of Galatians and interpreted different things and drawn different conclusions. So, as we think about it, there were certain people that that came into Galatians and came into the Church in Galatians, and they were trying to influence others, and causing people to start saying, well, we want to go back to our old way.

Now, if those people were Jews, we remember that even Christ criticized the Jews about their pharasical approach, because those Jews themselves were not really keeping God's laws. In Mark chapter 7 verse 6 through verse 8, he says, you know, well, the Scripture says that Isaiah prophesied you as a hypocrite, because you honor me with your lips, but your heart is for from me. And then in verse 8, he says, for you lay aside the commandment of God, you are the traditional man. So if people were Jews, that could be one problem. And we know that in Galatians, a lot of it is around that, as we know. But we will see that people could also be having problems, because they were bringing in things from the pagan world, as we'll see today. So as we read, and we're gonna pick up a few points that we have completed before, and we're gonna pick up in Galatians chapter 3, we see that Galatians were being challenged, and that's why it says, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth? You know, so there was this thing of going back, kind of starting to slide backwards. And many of those people in Galatians came from a Gentile world. So if they were sliding backwards to the old system, the old way, they would be sliding back to what they were comfortable with, which would be the pagan world, the pagan world of Gnosticism and those beliefs of that time.

And therefore, Paul then emphasizes them the importance of trusting God, of believing God.

And then, for instance, if you read in verse 6 and 7, just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So he's emphasizing the point that it's very important to trust God, to believe God, and therefore know that only those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. And he is explaining that, just like Abraham believed, we could be Gentiles. We also need to believe, and then we'll be sons of Abraham. And he explains a little bit about that as well. And then in verse 8, he gives an explanation, a bit further explanation, that this Gospel, this Good News, it says in scripture beforehand, or forehand, foreseen that God would justify the Gentiles.

By faith preached the Gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all nations shall be blessed. So he was emphasizing that this blessing would be extended to all nations, not just to the Israelites people. And then we read a little bit further in verse 16, and it says, Not to Abraham, and his seed, where the promise is made. So the seed being, obviously, Jesus Christ. So the promises were made to Abraham and to Jesus Christ, that is, his seed. And then we read a little bit further in verse 18 that through Christ, therefore we're going to receive an inheritance. Because it says, If the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise.

So Abraham received it because he believed, he trusted God, he made a commitment, and therefore he received that promise. And that promise is an inheritance, because it's referring to verse 18, an inheritance. And an inheritance obviously goes to one's children. And therefore, therefore, in verse 26, it says, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. So it says, that we are the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And we know that in Acts chapter 2, verse 38, we know, we're going to repent, we're going to believe, we're going to be baptized, and then we'll receive God's Holy Spirit. And so it's part of that process in which believing is part of that. And then he reads in verse 27, and says, For as many of you as we're baptized into Christ. So he's emphasizing this commitment that we make at baptism, but he says into Christ. And we went through that explaining that he's into the body of Christ, into the spiritual body of Christ, but we also have put on Christ, we have to imitate Christ, we're going to become like him to be part of his body. And as that, then in verse 29, he says, And if you are Christ, then you are Abram's seed, here's according to the promise. In other words, God made a promise that he will make children, sons of God, and for us to be sons of God, for us to be really sons of God, he gives us his Holy Spirit. So if we read, for instance, in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14, it says, it says, Inim he also trusted that you heard the word of God, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, every received, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee of our inheritance. So God's Holy Spirit is a guarantee.

So a guarantee of what? That we will be ultimately sons and daughters of God. And that's why, when we read in in Galatians chapter 3 verse 29, it says, And hears according to the promise. We also emphasize how that relates to Romans 8 verse 17, Romans 8 verse 17, in which it's a very beautiful section of Scripture there in Romans 8, and in Romans 8 and in verse 17, it says, And if children then is, is of God, and joint is of Christ, if indeed we suffer with him. So we are to be heirs of God as his children, and we got that guarantee, which is God's Holy Spirit. So now we move on to Galatians chapter 4, verse 1, and it says, Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all. So the heir, ultimately, will be the master, he will be the inheritor, and so it will all belong to him. But when he's a little child, a servant, a slave, that maybe takes care of that child, he's just that sort of person that does not yet have the maturity, and therefore is still going through a maturity process, being trained to be one day an adult, till one day he reaches a certain age of maturity. Like it says in verse 2, but he's under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. So until he reaches a certain age that the father has decided, then he is decreed to be mature, and therefore he is no more just as a child. So, and then he goes on and says, even so we, when we were children.

So, so he was talking about that we're going to be heirs, heirs of God, right? We're going to be heirs according to the promise, as we read in Galatians chapter 3 verse 29. And then he says, well, a heir, when he's a child, he's just, he's just like, he's still under stewardship, he's still under training. And likewise, we, when we were children, what do you mean when we were children?

All right, that's the first place we, basically is we Gentiles, but we could be some Jewish people that we converted. But before conversion, we were children. We were under bondage. And I think this is mostly likely applicable to Gentiles, but not necessarily it applies to both as well. And so we, because basically Paul is writing to the Gentiles, as we know, but there could be a few which are there, which are not Gentiles, of course. And so, that is saying, yeah, we were children, when we were children, we were in bondage. And this is a point that, that it says, under the elements of the world, people get confused with that. And it is good that we look at the word elements. The word elements comes from the Greek word 47 47, stokhayan, which basically means basic principles, basic elements. If you look at the outline of biblical usage in Strong's lexicon, it says, any first thing from which other things belonging to some series of composite hold take their rise. In other words, it's like the first thing that from which others develop, but that is the basic elements. That's the basic starting point, basic elements. Any first thing from which other other things appear. Or it says, and also in Strong's lexicon, the elements from which all things have come, the material causes of the universe. Then it also has another possibility, heavenly bodies, either as parts of the heavens or as other things, because in them, the elements of man, life and destiny, were supposed to reside. So now it's talking about these planets and zodiac and astrology and things like that, heavenly bodies, where some people, some pagan religions, believe that things, life and destiny are supposed to reside. I mean, if people look at the moroscope and say, well, your destiny is this or things like that. So there is those basic elements. Another definition from Strong's lexicon is the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, size or discipline. So again, it's those beginning points. Now, this word, elements, also the same word, is also used, a big pardon, in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. Now, in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10, it has a very specific, narrow meaning, more related to physical elements. So if we look at 2 Peter 3 verse 10, and it says, by the day of the Lord will come, big pardon, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements, it's the same Greek word, the elements, will melt with fervent heat. So in this case, it's those basic components will melt. So those basic components will melt. So there it's specifically talking about physical. But in Galatians chapter 3, a big part of chapter 4 verse 3, when it talks about under the elements of the world, is more talking about a religious type of background, of training. Why do I say that? Well, if we look at certain rules of hermeneutics, one of them is we need to read the context. And in first place, it's talking about when we were children. It was when we were immature. Look at verse 2, it says, the child, which is under guards in St. Stuart's, until the time appointed by the father. So we were children, spiritually speaking, until the time appointed by the father, that we were called. And so from that moment, we know more just children in that context, we are called to start growing this, growing this maturing process in the analogy. Let's put it this way. Okay, so it's talking about before conversion.

And then continue reading there in verse 3, even so we, when we were children, were in bondage.

What do we mean in bondage? Bondage to what? Well, some of the people, as I mentioned, would have been Jews, you know, so they went under bondage of the elements of the world.

So some people could say, oh, well, maybe that's applicable to the ceremonial ritual law.

But I don't think so, I stand to be corrected, but I don't think so, because it's elements of the world, not elements of God, even though the ceremonial ritual law was temporary, was given by God. So, yeah, it's talking about elements of the world. So if we're talking about Jews, it could very well be referring to those things that they've added on, traditions of man, the phatocycle addons that they added to the law, which were not according to God's principles.

On the other side, and if they were Jews, and pardon me, if they were Gentiles, and most of them were Gentiles, it would have been their religious pagan ideas. And so this story, Chayon, these religious rudiments, they were putting them in bondage. They were in bondage, and so this says, we were in bondage. So clearly, they're not from God, they're from the world, because that's what he sees, rudiments of the world.

And so these primary and fundamental principles of false religion is what he's really talking about here. And this basically starts from Satan and his deceptions, and then it continues through other pagan ideas that Satan brings, is brought into mankind, all the way from the days of Babylon, Babylon the Great, paganism, which has evolved, and one of the great evolutions of paganism was the time of Gnosticism, when Gnosticism first came about to be through Greek ideas and philosophies, as I mentioned in a previous sermon.

So all these things were affecting the Christians. They were people that, and yeah, it is what Paul says, when we were children, we were in bondage under these elements. And so he's building up to a point to say, hey, why do you want to go back to that? Why are you considering going back to that? So, but let's continue reading here. And he says, but when the fullness of time had come, you know, was when God, according to his master timeline, he had decided, and then Jesus was born, but he says, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law.

You see, so Jesus Christ was born, born under the law. He's a human being. He was born under the Jewish, ceremonial, ritual law. And he obeyed it fully. He was fully compliant. He didn't break it. And he also, he was as a human being, he was subject to the various laws of nature, and basically human nature, even though he was divine, but he was, it's like saying, divinity inside human nature.

So he didn't sin, but he had those human pulls which human beings have. And then, and continue reading in verse five, the first part, you know, Jesus was until the right time Jesus came, verse five, to redeem those who were under the law. So Christ came at the right time to buy us back, to buy us back, because we all have sinned. We all have sinned, and we're all under the penalty of the law. So yeah, we're also under the law, but, you know, we sinned.

Christ never sinned. So we were, we are, and we're under the penalty of the law. So, so Christ came to, to buy us back, because we know, Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death, and we're all under the law of God. We're all under that penalty of the law, because we have sinned.

And continue reading in verse five, the second part of verse five. It says that we might receive the adoption as sons. The word adoption comes from a word which, eotheseia, which could be also translated as sonship. Now, basically, it refers to a very close relationship with our Heavenly Father, our Eternal Father. And, and then in verse six, and because you are sons, because you are sons. It is a very straightforward statement that we are sons.

The word in Greek, which is translated as adoption, is eotheseia, which means placed in the position of being a son. So, yes, it could be translated as adoption, but it really is more that we are indeed sons. And that's why it says, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father.

So, we are really sons. Why? Because God's Holy Spirit begets us. God's Holy Spirit begets us. Turn to 1 John chapter 3 verse 9. 1 John chapter 3 verse 9. It says, Whoever has been born, ganal, begotten of God, does not sin. For his seed, that is, God's seed remains in him. And he cannot sin because he has been begotten, born, the word begotten, ganal, of God. His seed. Now, it's interesting if you look at the Greek word there. It's Greek 4690, which is sperma. So, it shows that God's seed that we receive and uses a word very similar in a spiritual context to the male masculine seed. Also, if we read in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23, it says, Having been born again, which means adding an owl, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible.

You see, you and I were born once of corruptible seed through a human seed, a human sperm that begoteth that through that seed we conceived in our mother's womb. But now we are begotten again through an incorruptible seed through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. In our Church's Born Again paper, on page 10, it says, and I'll read, quote, Peter is describing a past event that relates to the present, the relationship established between God and man by receiving God's Holy Spirit through the preaching of God's Word, which bears fruit.

That is what happens when a person is engendered again. The other word is engendered again. And a ganau, it was begotten again, or engendered again, ana ganau. Ana, again, ganau means begotten or engendered or fathered. So engendered again. With a new life in Christ. Yeah, so we are begotten with God's Holy Spirit when? After baptism, through the laying on of hands and the prayer, God baptizes us through Christ with His Spirit.

And so when we are engendered again, we receive God's Holy Spirit. We now have to put on a new man. And we read that in Ephesians 4.24 and Colossians 3 verse 10. Continue reading from the Born Again paper on page 10. This verse describes how God regenerates a person by His Spirit, opening his mind to understand the Word of Truth. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11. You remember 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11, it says, you know the things of God because of the Spirit of God, like we know the things of man because we have the Spirit of man in man.

Anyway, so then continue reading. Peter then compares this new convert to a new baby meeting the milk of the Word of God in order to grow spiritually. And that's what we read here in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 2. It says, as newborn babies decide pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.

So once again, Peter compares this new convert to a newborn baby meeting the milk of the Word of God in order to grow spiritually. However, he is not yet born again as a spirit being because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 15. So indeed, we are born, or be, pardon, begotten again, but not yet born again. We've been fathered. And so continuing to read in Galatians chapter 4 verse 6, the latter part of verse 6 and verse 7, it says that he sent his Spirit of his Son into our hearts, so we begotten again.

And so the spighetto process, it makes us really children of God. So it's not just adoption, which yes, the word eothese, could be translated as adoption, but it's more than that, is actually sonship. We really are sons. And therefore, in verse 7, it says, therefore, you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. So that being heirs was mentioned in chapter 3 verse 29.

It's now repeated in chapter 4 verse 7. But as I mentioned earlier, it's very similar to in Romans 8 verse 15. Now, I want to read Romans 8 verse 15 again, 15 through 17, because I want to emphasize one extra point here. It says, for you do not receive the Spirit of bondage, again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of adoption, or eothese, or sonship, by whom we cry, ever farther. You can see very similar to what we read in Galatians chapter 4. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. So there is this, we are really children of God. And if children, then heirs is of God. That is Romans 8 17. And in Galatians 4 verse 7 says exactly the same thing, then an heir of God through Christ. And therefore, and therefore he says, and joint is, that's Romans 8 verse 17, and joint is with Christ. Now he adds here, he has one extra condition. If, if indeed we suffer with him, then we might also be glorified together.

If we suffer with him, we'll also be glorified together. And so, this is important when we time the context of the Galatians, where people are going through certain pressures from these people outside. And some people are coming to a point and says, well, maybe I should give up. Maybe I should give up. But Yah, it says, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified together.

You see, these sufferings are nothing to compare, nothing to be compared with what's going to come afterwards. That's why I says in verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. You see, so in Romans 8 verse 16 says, if indeed we suffer with him, we may be glorified. We'll have glory.

And these sufferings, these pains, these extreme pressures that we go through, and some brethren today are going through really fiery trials, really difficult trials.

But it says, if we suffer with him, we will be glorified together with him. And the glory is not even worthy to be compared with the suffering we have. The glory will be so far greater.

And so, yeah, in Romans 8 verse 18, there is a word of encouragement for us.

It's part of our hope. It's part of our hope into the future. So continue to read now in Galatians chapter 4, but now we'll read verse 8. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. You see, before you were converted, you served by nature, those that by nature are not gods. In other words, demons by nature are not gods. The paganism, so it's referring to particular to Gentiles, and he says, you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. So those gods, those demons, which by nature are not gods. And so there was this polytheism, worshiping various gods, which is part of paganism.

And then let's go on reading verse 8. But now, after you've known God, after you've been converted, or rather unknown by God, yeah, and God knows you, how is it that you turn again? You see, they were going back to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desired again to be in bondage.

You were called out of this world. Now I know, Paul is saying, let's put it this way, I know you're going through a lot of pressures, and a lot of difficulties. And specifically in this part of the epistle, firstly, basically emphasizing pressure from Jewish people, saying, we got to do these things, etc. And some of these people are saying, well, if I've got to do that, I might as well just go back to where I was. You see? So turning back, to paganism, or if some of them were Jews, turning back to just pure Judaism with those added on pharacycal laws. And interesting, let's look at it. To the weak and beggarly elements, weak, it's something that's strengthless, which is morally sick, put it another way. It's weak. It's sick. And beggarly, that have this practice of begging elements, which again is stoichion, which is this fundamental precipice of paganism, demonism. So these demons, these spiritual influences, they are spiritually sick, weak, they are strengthless in moral character, they're weak. And beggarly, they have this practice of begging and bagging people and things like that.

And you want to go back to that? That's what he's saying in verse 9. So we see, uh, due to stresses that they were having, stresses could be from other people, from friends, from family, from the world in general. So let's apply that to our age, to our time.

Are there people in the church today that through stresses and difficulties, they say, oh well, I just want to go back. I just want to go back. Oh, I don't have to keep the law anymore. I don't have to keep the commandments. Oh, the Sabbath is a burden. I just want to go back. I just want to be a Christian. I'll go back to whatever Protestant church. I'll be a nice Christian. That's what it is. I'm really a nice person. And, and you know what? The pressure from Satan to that person stops, because Satan says, well, now he's in the back, quote unquote. And therefore, sometimes those people say, well, things are going well. Things are going good. You see, so, so that, that is, it applies to us today. It's a lesson to us today. So in those days, some desire to go back to the world, either to make it paganism, or to Judaism, or whatever it may be. The principle is, for us, are there some of us that want a desire to go back to the world because of the pressures we're going through? And that's why it says, which of you desire again to be in bondage? You know, back to the bondage of this way of life, which is not really mentally, spiritually free, because God's way, when you obey God, you've got this peace of mind, which is something very special. And then he says, you observe days and months and seasons and years. Now, this is where people say, yeah, you see, you, we don't have to keep God's Sabbath and God's early days, because you are observing days, months, seasons and years. Well, understand that it's not talking about the weekly or the annual Sabbath.

You see, think about the language that Paul was using in the previous verses, that you serve those that are not God's. You want to turn again to these things, to these old, weak and beggarly elements. And now you want to go back to observing days and months and seasons and years. You see, it's clearly not talking about God's laws or God's holy days. It's actually talking about the world religious pagan philosophy, which is based on various pagan ideas, including Gnosticism, which affected seriously the early church from various angles. And it is addressed in a number of New Testament epistles or letters, and also in the letters to the church in Revelation 2 and 3. You see, for instance, Gnosticism existed in many forms, varied forms, and each variant was based on some was based on some element of the pagan mystery religion, which was initially started in Babylon.

And that's the primary and fundamental principles of that false religion, starting from Babylon, Babylon the Great, and its architect was none other than Satan, the Great Deceiver, as we read in Revelation 12 verse 9. He deceives the whole world. And so, to make it more deceitful, Satan deliberately mixes truth with lie, and that's what we call syncretism. It kind of injects a little bit of lie with truth, and that doesn't remind you of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so, we basically combined or mixed through Christianity, faithful Christianity, with paganism. And so, you may remember that before I started this series on the book of Galatians, I went through one of the studies on Gnosticism, and that was in my study number 17 of the Epistles of Paul. And you're welcome to go back and listen to that about Gnosticism. But let's go back to the word, to the Greek word stochion, elements, which is in verse 9, turning again to the weak and biggerly elements. And that word is also in verse 3 of Galatians chapter 4. You were in bondage under the elements of the world. So, when we've seen this word elements, yeah, emulation is, as I mentioned, is particularly talking about the primary fundamental principles of false religion. Then I also showed you in second Peter 3 verse 10 that the word elements connect to materials, physical matter, basic elements, of which the universe and the planet earth are composed, and some of those elements will melt, like we read that. So, let's just think briefly about the idea of the origin of this worship of these weak and biggerly elements, because this worship of weak and biggerly elements actually merged to those physical, basic elements, and then brought them up or raised them up to spiritual meanings.

All right, let's look at that. First, we have the story of Numerod, a great grandson of Noah.

He founded Babel, Babylon, and we read that in Genesis chapter 10 verse 8 through 10, and 11 through 4. You see, he's built up this tower, the Tower of Babel, and that's basically where Babylon came from originally. So, his success gave rise to the idea that he was the seed of the woman which would come to save mankind. Now, what do I mean by the seed of the woman? Turn to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. It's talking about when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then starting in verse 14, after God spoke to Adam and God spoke to Eve, then he says, and the Lord God spoke to the serpent, and said, because you've done this, you are cursed. But then look at verse 15, and I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed, right, which is Satan's seed, and the woman's seed, which is Christ, the woman's seed and her seed, and he, that's the woman's seed, Jesus Christ, shall bruise your head, right, and you shall bruise his heel. So, in other words, bruised Christ's seal, basically symbolic of the death of Christ as a physical human being, but he resurrected, but Christ will bruise Satan's head. But it gave that concept that because of numero d'success, that he was that so-called seed of the woman. And so, you know, many of these stories of the mother child and all that stuff that pagan ideas have, and all these pagan ideas that developed into ideas related to Easter and related to Christmas, and mother child, and all that evolved, which all came from this basic root. So, numero d's doctrines basically are called in the Bible, basically the mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of Olives, and abominations over the earth. All those things came back from that initial rudimentary elements. So, numero d and all these priests then taught a false interpretation or false understanding of the history, religious history, of Adam and Eve and the nature of man. And we know how religion has gone completely wrong with those understandings. And because the entire educational system of ancient Babylon was controlled by numero d's priesthood, the educated class, the people that were educated, were soon, you know, it was the ones that could afford to go to their schools and things like that, were soon indoctrinated in the misinterpretation of the first three chapters of Genesis. And we can see that, how it had filtered down to religion today. Numero d basically combined monotheism with, in which with animism, which is basically each object of nature is inhabited by a different spirit or demon. So, you can see how these materials of which the world was made started combining with a spiritual pagan idea.

And that became what it's called pantheism. That alone is it, that God is in all and all is God. And that, and therefore, people say, well, God is nature itself. And people start worshiping nature.

And part of that belief is that nature and what they say, it's God, it's nature, nature is basically composed of four elements. The earth that brought life, the water, which moistens the earth, and air, or the spirit, the air, the spirit that gives life and of life, and the fire, symbolizing the fire of the sun, which gives light and warmth and heat. Thus, creation became to be worshipped as God or as the universal God. And each of these elements then related to an invisible God. In other words, these physical elements that were related to gods like the sun god and the moon god and each stars, different stars that pointed to different gods and planets, etc. And from there you have ideas like the zodiac and horoscopes and things like that.

So in Galatians 4 verse 9, when we go back to Galatians 4 verse 9, what it's talking about that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, is clearly talking about these demonic powers that were no gods. You know, that they were no gods. And we know, we can read in Romans chapter 1 verse 25 and others, that they start worshiping the creation rather than God. And therefore they change the truth into a lie. It's very interesting if you read, for instance, in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9 through 11, when it's talking about the time of the end. Let's just turn to that one. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9 to 11.

2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9 to 11 says, The coming of the lawless one is according to the work of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and in all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth. You see, so this all system has gone wrong, does not love the truth, and it's all eigen. And so when it's talking about the weak and beggarly elements in Galatians 4 verse 9, it's not talking about God's law, clearly not. And therefore, in verse 10, it cannot be talking well. You observe days and months and seasons and years talking about God's Sabbath and God's early days because he's not talking about God's principles. You and I know that the law is holy, righteous, and good. Paul said that in Romans, Romans 12, and he said the law is spiritual, Romans 7 verse 14. And therefore, we know that Paul's language about the law, for instance, in Romans, which was written after Galatians, is actually talking very positively about God's principles. In fact, Paul talked positively about the sacrificial law. If you look at Hebrews chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 13, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 13, and he says, For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of Aiphon, sprinkling down clean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh. So, yes, even those sacrifices, they served a good purpose. But they were temporary. They were temporary. You see, the problem with the Old Covenant was not of the law.

The problem of the Old Covenant was with the people. The fault was in the people. We read that in Romans, I'll be part of the Hebrews chapter 8 verse 8 through 10. Because finding fault with them, he says, the older days are coming when I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and I'll put my laws in their hearts and in their minds. You see, the problem was not of the law. The problem was not of the covenant. The problem was with the people. You see, the problem was with the people. And so, in Galatians chapter 4 verse 10, when it's talking about you observe days, months, and seasons, and years, it's not talking about God's early days, but it's talking about these weak and beggarly elements, which is none other than astrology. You know, worshiping these zodiac and these things. And for instance, if you were born at the start of the year or that, you are destined for this, and whatever ever, you got all these the stars, you know, they read the stars and things like that.

So, Paul warned the Galatians not to look at these things, right, which under which they were previously in bondage. You see? So, the problem is these people had come from the sphagnan world.

Now, they came into the church. They're finding problems, difficulties, challenges, stresses.

Oops! I want to go back to the old world, because, hey, it was easier. It was not the stress, not the difficulty. But again, remember what we read in Romans. If we suffer with him, we'll be glorified with him. Yes, no, this way is narrow. It's a narrow road. It's a narrow gate. You see?

But people, when sometimes encounter challenges, they go back. They don't want to follow the way.

And that's why there's so few people in the church compared to other churches in the world, because people don't want to follow the hard way. Many are called, but few are chosen. And so, what happens? People want to go back to their ways, back to keeping Christmas, back to observing New Year, back to keeping Easter, which all these things, if you really look at it, have their roots in some degree, one or another, of paganism. But they've been engraved in our society by syncretizing Christian look and feel, but the actual meaning is wrong. And so, what do we need to do? We need to put those things off. We need to keep fighting those old man, those old things, and we're going to put on the new man, which is putting on the divine nature. And you see, I'm not talking brethren about culture of a country or another, because each every country has got its own culture. But even in different countries' cultures, there are things that are wrong. When we live in a culture, we don't see them. When you outside and look at the other country's culture, oh, that's wrong. But, you know, we also have problems in this country that we have to repent. You see, so we today, we also have to be careful and be repentant. You see, the problem in in in Galatia was that people were encountering difficulties, and they were saying, well, let me just go back to the old way. And Paul says then, in verse 10, you are going back to these things. You observe days, months, you're going back to these things. And then in verse 11, he says, I am afraid for you, lest I've been labored for you in vain. I am concerned for you.

I'm afraid that I've been working, and you're going back to your old ways, because there's not going to be a second Jesus Christ sacrifice. Because if you go back, you're going to lose salvation. And so we got to be very careful not to go back. Some went back, have deviated, have caused the vision in the body of Christ. And no wonder, the Bible says, there'll be a day of judgment. And I don't judge anybody. I don't want to judge anybody, but we need to examine ourselves, particularly as we now are before Passover, and say, are we really changing? And are we committed through whatever comes to just remain faithful and persevere to the end?