When the fulness of the time is come (Quality: Very Good)

[0:00] You will find the verse of our text in Galatians chapter 4 and in the fourth verse.

[0:17] I shall read verses 4 and 5 but we principally are thinking of the opening words in the fourth verse. Galatians chapter 4 and at the fourth verse.

[0:29] But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.

[0:48] Now with the Lord's help it's on these opening words that principally I would speak. This evening. But when the fullness of the time was come.

[1:03] And when the fullness of the time was come it was then that the child was born and the Son was given. Of which we were trying to say something this morning.

[1:19] Then it was that God sent forth his Son made of a woman and made under the law. When the fullness of the time was come.

[1:29] Now that expression if you pause to consider it brings to us this great truth that there was a providential ordering of events.

[1:43] There were many circumstances that God brought together so that at the time when all these things were in their place and appropriate in his sight and according to his plan.

[2:00] Then it was and only then that his Son was made of a woman. There was a fixed date for that to take place. It was not left to chance.

[2:13] It was not some haphazard time that was reached. It was that which was appointed before the worlds were made. God operates according to his decree.

[2:27] All things have always been in his mind. Before the foundation of the earth he knew the very time which would be designated.

[2:41] The appropriate time. The fullness of the time. And that when that fullness of the time was come then his Son should be made of a woman.

[2:54] There was a fixed date. There was this coming according to purpose. And all providentially was worked by the God who worketh out his will amongst the inhabitants of heaven.

[3:12] The heavenly host amongst the inhabitants of the earth and none can say unto him why doest thou. None can prevent it. There was that outworking of his will so that we read that when the fullness of the time was come.

[3:28] Then there was the incarnation of the Son of God. Now it is my intention to take this up and to try to show you something of the providential ordering of all things.

[3:46] So that when these things were brought to pass. Then God brought forth the Redeemer.

[3:57] And gave him and caused him to be shown to the people that had waited for him. And all those that in the generations to come would be given to wait.

[4:08] And look for him until he be formed in their hearts. Until they should see the Lord's Christ. Now I believe that there were great influences that God used providentially.

[4:21] And that these things pertain to the Roman world.

[4:35] The Greek world. The Jewish world of the day. And it's in this area of things then that we're going to spend some time. And I want first of all to take up the political contribution to the coming of God's Son.

[4:56] The fullness of time as it bore politically. It was a very special time in the history of the nations.

[5:09] It was that time of the Roman rule and the Roman Empire. And you find that the very names of these Roman figures.

[5:20] The emperor. The various procurators that he had appointed. They are mentioned. They are incorporated in the word of God. Reminding us that this was a fact.

[5:32] This was the time of the Roman domination of the civilized world. And this was a very significant thing. The political contribution to the coming of the Lord was that God had brought that Roman power into being.

[5:50] There had been the putting down of other previous great systems. Babylon fell. The Medo-Persian Empire fell. The Greek Empire fell. It was the day of the Roman power.

[6:04] Rome at its zenith. Now that meant that there were certain things. There was a sense of unity amongst the nations of the civilized world.

[6:15] When the fullness of the time was come. It was a time when there was the sense of political unity as there had not been previously. Through the history of fallen men.

[6:31] Now this is borne out by the facts of history. There was a Roman law that extended through the whole of the Roman Empire.

[6:41] And it gave a measure of coherence to the whole of the world of the day. Roman law extended from the borders of Scotland and England to the Danube and as far as the edges of India.

[6:57] Roman law. The same law. The same system of law obtained through the whole earth. And there was a sense of solidarity amongst men. This was something which gave nations otherwise so contrary a sense of belonging together.

[7:13] Even on a very superficial level. This was something that made for a political stability. Men began to think of other nations.

[7:27] And they had relationship with other nations. When you find that there is that gospel that so quickly is brought through from nation to nation. It all was part of the contributory circumstances that divine providence brought to pass.

[7:43] That constituted this little expression of Paul. The fullness of the time. Moreover this sense of solidarity together would be That which in the preaching of the gospel it would find some response in the hearts.

[8:03] On the natural level. When there was that preaching of a fall from Adam. And that the whole race is descended from Adam. And all have sinned.

[8:15] All have come short of the glory of God. That would be more meaningful in such a day when there was something of a visible unity amongst the nations. And moreover amongst the Christians.

[8:27] Those called by grace in whom that gospel was an effectual word of truth in their hearts. They would understand what it was to be bound together. To understand concerning the other great federal head.

[8:41] The second Adam. Christ. Christ. And to learn that unity in Christ that breaks down the barriers. That has made both one the Jew and the Gentile.

[8:53] This was all part of God's grace. His providential ordering even of events in the political system. There was something of unity manifest.

[9:06] Also there was something of peace. The Roman peace was a most extraordinary thing. And at the period when Christ was born.

[9:17] And in the period of the ministry. And the sufferings and death and resurrection. And in the days of the apostolic preaching. It was a day of peace.

[9:30] Thanks to the political situation. Roman peace extended through all the territory. There was no war. There may be the skirmishes.

[9:42] And there may be the tumults that come from the exercise of the Roman authority. But there was no war. It was a period of remarkable peace.

[9:54] And those that travelled. The roads were protected by the Roman peace. In all the extensive journeys that they took.

[10:06] There was little threat from robbers and marauders. And there was probably less danger in that day than there is in our day.

[10:18] Because God had ordered that there should be a remarkable peace in these days. There was a political unity that was remarkable.

[10:31] There was this peace that was a fact. There was another factor. There was the provision of Roman roads. Such a small thing as that Roman roads.

[10:43] Had a great contributory effect upon the gospel. And God brought it to pass. God put it into the heart of the Roman. Don't ask how it was so.

[10:55] But from the earliest risings of his power. He was concerned to build roads. Some of the Roman roads are still standing in our land. They're still there. They go for the most as straight as they possibly can.

[11:10] To the places that they connect. And they are all strategic roads. And if you make a study of the way the apostles preached the gospel. You find that they made extensive use of these roads.

[11:22] Paved roads. Roads so that you could go by Roman roads. As I've said from Carlisle to the Danube. And to the edges of India.

[11:32] By Roman roads. These were remarkable things. These were things that God ordained. And God brought to pass. Who has that power and that authority.

[11:45] Over the hearts of men. And gave them this concern for these things. And gave them the ability to bring these things to pass. So that the fullness of the time might come.

[11:56] When God should cause his son to be made of a woman. This vast network of roads. The Roman emperor Trajan was concerned.

[12:09] That the road should be there to encourage Roman imperialism. But the roads were there in the divine providence. That when it was his will that the gospel be preached to the uttermost parts of the earth.

[12:23] There were roads along which these servants of the most high God went with the unsearchable riches of Christ. And it is an interesting study to see how Paul preaches in the strategic cities.

[12:40] That are always linked each to the other by roads. Roman roads. Providence of God is a remarkable thing. And then there was the Roman army itself.

[12:54] That kept the peace. That preserved the empire in that day. The Roman army was a remarkable thing. And the influence of the gospel.

[13:07] Upon those that were soldiers. We believe to have been a considerable influence. And these Roman soldiers. They were not all from Italy.

[13:18] They realized that they would need to conscript those of all their empire into the Roman army. They were those of all backgrounds from every place.

[13:28] And they were those that by the very journeys they took. And the duties that they had to perform. They were brought many of them to hear the word of the truth of the gospel.

[13:39] And many of those soldiers came under gospel influence. So much so that when you read there in the last chapter of Philippians. The fourth chapter of Philippians.

[13:51] You find that Paul in his farewell he says this. All the saints salute you chiefly. They that are of Caesar's household.

[14:01] They were even in Caesar's household. Those that were Christians. And in the first chapter he speaks of the palace. And it is not so much the palace as the Praetorian guard of Caesar.

[14:15] Even amongst the Praetorian guard there was a gospel influence. The cream of the soldiery of Rome were under gospel influence. And even that man to whom the apostle might be chained in his imprisonments.

[14:31] That soldier that felt that he had a prisoner that he was charged to keep. That soldier was a prisoner to hear the very ministry of that apostle.

[14:44] And to see the way that this man lived. And to hear the prayer that this man uttered to his God. And we believe that through the army there was this early extensive communication of the gospel.

[14:59] All these things belong to this little phrase of the preparation of God. He who works by decree and not by chance. Is such a God that orders all events.

[15:12] All events at his command. The sovereign ruler of the skies. And even these political matters they were attended to. They were in place.

[15:23] It was the appointed time. The fullness of the time. The pleroma of the time. It was when God had brought these things to pass according to his will.

[15:35] That he sent forth his son made of a woman. Now let us think in the second place. It's concerning the intellectual contribution. To the coming of Christ.

[15:47] The intellectual contribution. The first thing I bring before you was this. That there was the development in these days. And there had not been previous to this.

[16:01] Anything like it. And I venture to say that almost after the early centuries. There was nothing like it again. Or is to this present day. There was a common language. There was a universal language.

[16:12] Through the whole Roman world. That was the Greek. Now you say didn't the Romans speak Latin. Well the Romans spoke Latin amongst themselves.

[16:23] No doubt. And formally Latin might be used. But they had learned to use the language. Of the people of the empire. And that was Greek. And whatever was the native dialect.

[16:36] And we heard of different tongues. That were languages. That were spoken on the day of Pentecost. From all these different places. There was a common language. And that was the Greek of the people.

[16:47] Not classical Greek. The Greek of the marketplace. And it pleased almighty God. That when his word should be given. The New Testament scriptures. That this was the language that he chose.

[16:59] Not the classical Greek. Not Latin. Not Hebrew. But the language of the people. The common language. That was understood. Throughout all these territories.

[17:10] And this is a wonderful thing. This was a preparation. This was part of those things. Going toward the fullness of the time. That there was this universal language.

[17:21] The common language. And then there was also the intellectual preparation. Of Greek culture. I don't say that the culture contributed one whit to the gospel.

[17:33] Not a bit of it. But what I say is this. There was a negative preparation. In the absolute bankruptcy. Of Greek philosophy. In the fact that though they had the wisest men.

[17:48] Some of them that have ever walked upon the face of the earth. Their names are familiar names to many. Even in these days. An Aristotle. A Socrates. A Plato. And many and many another.

[18:01] Although these men set their minds to the great questions of being and purpose. They never came up with anything to do with the reality of God.

[18:13] And God's law. And the God indeed of creation. Who had made out of nothing all that is. And who sustains all his creation. They never came to understand salvation.

[18:25] Although they realized that there were those things in life that hold back men and women. From the realization of greater ends. They were all of them.

[18:38] Those that came to the place of sheer agnosticism. They didn't know what to believe. But in all the centuries previous to the coming of Christ.

[18:49] There was this intellectual framework of a desire to know the answer to great questions. That's why the philosophers were listened to. That's why they came to hear Paul and Mars Hill in Athens.

[19:00] When in the province of God he stood there. They came to hear some new thing. They were desirous of answers to the sort of philosophical questions of the day. They didn't bargain for what they had.

[19:13] That God has appointed a day in which we will judge all men. By that man whom he hath raised from the dead. And when they heard this.

[19:24] They didn't want to hear any more of it. But there was that working. There was that preparation. There were negatively being brought. Those that were the intellectual giants of the day.

[19:36] To a place where the great questions were being asked. There was much searching. But there was no discovery of ultimate answers. Then there can be none. Philosophy will not do.

[19:47] Philosophy is man's endeavor to find out God. And the question of the book of Job is answered there. Canst thou by searching find out God.

[20:00] Canst thou know the almighty to perfection. It's only as God takes initiative. And how God took initiative in this. In the fullness of the time he sent his son.

[20:12] The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And God spoke answers to the questions. That in many a heart were being asked.

[20:24] There was an intellectual preparation. And then there was that religious contribution in the third place. A political contribution. An intellectual contribution.

[20:35] But then there was a religious contribution. And again I say that the Christian gospel did not build itself upon previous religions. It's utterly unique. All false religion is a counterfeit of the true religion that God has revealed from heaven.

[20:54] We are not those that say that there is truth in all religions. And Christianity has worked together. Some of the best in all these different ways. And this is what we are to follow. We speak.

[21:05] And this is why there are those that don't want to hear what we speak. We speak of the absolute uniqueness. Of the truth of God. That God and that religion which has come down from heaven amongst men is the true religion.

[21:22] Or the only true religion. And there is but one name given amongst men whereby we must be saved. But having said that there was a negative religious preparation.

[21:32] Just as the philosophers were brought into deep matters and could not find answers. The false religions. The false religions. The heathen religions. The departures from the God who had created Adam in his image and likeness.

[21:50] The many departures from the four when men gave themselves to their own ideas. Rather than to submit to the truth of God. It had brought them to a place of utter bankruptcy.

[22:01] The native pagan religions were not believed by very many in the day of Christ. I mean all the deities.

[22:14] All the Roman and Greek deities. They were not really believed by the people anymore. They were perhaps given some attention.

[22:25] There would have been feast days to some of these deities no doubt. But they didn't really believe in them anymore. Why didn't the people in the empire believe in their deities? Because Rome had swept away these deities.

[22:38] When Rome had conquered they saw the impotence of the idols that they worshipped. There was no deliverance in the gods that they had sought to help them. Against the onslaught of Rome.

[22:51] They were like those. Do you remember in the book of Isaiah in the day of Hezekiah. When Sennacherib had sent his troops to besiege Jerusalem. And the letter was sent to Hezekiah to intimidate them.

[23:05] And in the letter there are words to the effect. That what's the use of trusting in your God to deliver you? Many have been the nations that have trusted in their gods to deliver them.

[23:16] But we've overcome every one of them. Where are they today? Have the gods of the nations delivered them? Which my fathers have destroyed? As Gozan and Haran and Resheth and the children of Eden.

[23:28] Which were in Telazah. Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arphod. And the king of the city of Sephirbion. Hena and Ivor. Hezekiah got that letter.

[23:39] Remember what he did with it. He went and he read it. And in the house of the Lord he spread it out before God. And he prayed on the basis that God was the true and the living God.

[23:52] And that God would appear for the defense of his people. And God did. But you see these nations of the world.

[24:02] At the time of which this scripture informs us. When the fullness of the time was come. They realized their deities were non-entities. Powerless. They were but formal names of religion.

[24:16] But they were not able to meet the need of the worshippers when they sought them. And what then happened. There was a turning to the mystery religions of the east.

[24:31] There was a turning to the cults that had come from Persia and from India and such places that proclaimed salvation and deliverance.

[24:42] They were known as chaos cults. They spoke in terms of deliverance from sheer confusions that had arisen.

[24:55] And there were those confusions in the minds of men that were seeking to worship something. Because men had got to worship something. Men are religious beings. Even when they're in defiance of true religion.

[25:09] They must worship something. They worship their atheism. When they want to worship the true and the living God. They worship their systems. They worship almost anything that they put in the place of importance to themselves.

[25:22] Rather than worship the truth. But they must worship. And the anthropologists tell us they've never found any traces of a people. But what they've found with that people traces of their worship.

[25:34] They worship something. Men are going to worship something. And that's a sign you see that man originally was made in the image and likeness of God. He's turned away from the original state in which he was created in Adam.

[25:48] But he's got to worship something. He's not as a beast around him that doesn't worship. Because it hasn't got the capacity. It hasn't got a soul. It isn't worth a conscience.

[25:59] It hasn't got anything that is spiritual or soulish. It's simply an animal. Man is different. Man, although they tell us that he's evolved from the animals.

[26:10] We know that's a lie. That's the evolutionary hypothesis which is utterly repudiated. God made man, made him in his own image and likeness. And there was a glory about that man that he made.

[26:23] There was a man that there in all the possession of his powers. He was no primitive. He was a man that held communion with God. And this man fell.

[26:35] And while they lost the image of God, there were still those things that remained. He still had certain powers as God permitted in order that he might continue and replenish the earth.

[26:49] That by these very things, God's people might come into being at the appointed time. And those of his choice that they might be saved. There is a turning.

[27:00] Then in the part of those with a religious desire. Finding nothing in the state religion. Turning to the mysteries of the east. And there were numerous of these.

[27:12] The more celebrated among them was the cult of Mithras. You probably heard of Mithraism. It was very extensive. It lasted longer than any of other of these things that arose in that period of time.

[27:26] It came around about 70 BC from the east to Rome. It held such sway in Rome that by the year 190, the Emperor Commodus made it the imperial religion.

[27:38] Mithras. Soldiers' religion too it was. The very thing that I said concerning the spread of notions by the soldiers and their movements.

[27:52] They probably brought it to Rome. It found a home. It found a place in many hearts. It was a mystery religion. We've got a lot of it today, you know, in different forms. There are all these extreme, bizarre sects and groups.

[28:07] And there is this trafficking in the occult. Often there are those that dabble with drugs to bring on hallucination and all the rest of it. In order that they might be divorced from reality.

[28:20] And that they might be brought into some sense of mystery. And along with all that is repudiated of the Christian gospel. There are many evidences of these things in our nation.

[28:32] The horoscopes that are consulted avidly day after day. Increasing it seems to me in some of the newspapers in the space afforded to them. Such lying rubbish.

[28:43] And yet it sells these papers. There are those that look to this the first thing when they get the paper. To see what's in these stars for them. There is that religious urge in the hearts of men and women.

[28:56] If they hear not the truth or they abandon the truth of the word of God. They will go to any of these things. And in Mithraism they heard of the sun.

[29:09] And the essence of Mithraism was the sun god Mithras. And there was the struggle of light and darkness. And they held that the whole universe was a conflict between light and darkness.

[29:23] And man must be on the side of light. Man must be on the side of Mithras. But then there was this great disadvantage according to this teaching. Let me just go into it a little to you.

[29:36] Not that I want to answer questions afterwards on Mithraism. But it's interesting to go into it. We ought to know a little about this thing. There is this conflict in the universe between light and darkness.

[29:49] And men ought to be on the side of light. But they are unable to be on the side of light. Why? Not because they've got wicked sinful hearts as the Lord taught. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

[30:03] Not for that reason. But because their bodies are sinful. And there's so much of the material about men that this is what prevents them. Being on the side of light.

[30:15] You see, when they were created, they are to come from one creation to another through seven planetary stages. Every planetary descent that mankind took, according to Mithraism, it lost something of its soul qualities.

[30:31] And gained a certain materialistic, bodily connection. So that when it came through the seven stages to earth, it was more material than spiritual.

[30:45] And they had no time for the materials. What's known as dualism. There's this conflict between the matter and that which is spiritual. And so the Mithraism is saying that the problem with men is that they are not as spiritual as they should be.

[31:01] There are many voices that say, well, that's what we need. We want something that will loose us from the body. The body's the drug. Let's get some drug that will take us out of the body. Let's seek some experience that will liberate us.

[31:13] Looking in all these directions. They're saying that the mind, we don't want to think anymore. We want simply to feel things. And they were taught then that they should give themselves to live in such a way that they might not feel the drag of the body.

[31:31] The material things. Now you could do this in two ways. Very contrary ways. You could then live so materialistically that you said it doesn't matter.

[31:42] Because all that matters is the things of the spirit. Let me do whatever I please. Or you could live in such a way that you sought to put under everything that was material. There were many that were a steer.

[31:54] There were many that tried to live very differently from the majority. That took the way of pleasure and indifference. That is, eat, drink and be merry. Let's indulge the body.

[32:05] The body doesn't matter anyway. It's only the soul that matters. Well, this was Mithraism. And then how then do you come into it? You come into it by secret initiations.

[32:15] You've got to be brought into it in secret ways. You've got to go through seven stages of initiation. Each one more secret than the previous one.

[32:25] And then when you come through these, you will be in such a state that the body is utterly put down. And the spirit is now so finely tuned that you're almost ready to enter into the state of light and spirit and be absorbed into the sun.

[32:41] Mithraism. Buddhism is full of it. Buddhism is full of it. These things are not gone. These things are there. These things are still in variance, deviant ways.

[32:55] They are still present with us. The religion of the sun. It was the imperial religion. And this is what men were seeking then, that they might be delivered.

[33:08] They wanted a deliverance. Not a deliverance from sin, but a deliverance to a higher state of being. But there was this longing in many hearts. That's why they gave themselves to these things.

[33:22] It's incidentally the case that the great feast of Mithraism coinciding with the rebirth of the sun was the 25th of December. The rebirth of the sun in the midwinter, the midwinter solstice.

[33:36] The saturnalia. Taken over by Roman Catholicism in the centuries, 5th, 6th and 7th century. Taken over and made the central day of the religion of Christ.

[33:55] That's where it comes from. That's the connection. So there were these Roman and Greek religious influences. This desire of many people for something different from the state form of religion.

[34:11] Yet this turning to the mystery religions of the East that were broken cisterns that gave no satisfaction. And then there was one great other religious influence.

[34:22] And this was the influence of Judaism. The influence of Judaism was altogether different. Remember the Lord to the woman of Samaria? She came with her question, which mountain is it?

[34:34] She was a Samaritan. She was amazed that he had even spoken to her. For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And our fathers say that it's in this mountain. And ye say that it's in Jerusalem.

[34:46] And she says, what's the answer to the question? And he says, we speak that which we know. Salvation is of the Jews. For the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor at Jerusalem.

[35:00] And he speaks of that spiritual worship, which is the true worship. Worship in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship. But salvation is of the Jews.

[35:11] The Jewish line of things is the true line of things. The preparatory line of things. And there were great Jewish benefits to be gained. The influence of the Jewish religion was beyond Judaism itself.

[35:24] There were those that were proselytes. Remember that Lydia of Thyatira, who was a God-fearer. She was a proselyte. She was a heathen woman by birth. But she was attracted to the Jewish way of things.

[35:37] What a Judaism to offer. Much in every way. Not the pitiful distortion of the Pharisee and Sadducee. But in those things that were divine.

[35:50] Those things that were revealed. Those things that were the preparation that God had wrought. That comes now to the fullness of the time. There was that sense of the oneness of God.

[36:03] God as one God. The creator God. Genesis. The teaching of Genesis was the Jewish teaching on creation. It's the truth of God. And they believed this.

[36:14] There is one God. Not many gods. But one true God. Jehovah. They had a view of sin also.

[36:26] They had a view of sin. Not as the mystery religion said. That sin is that you can't get a release from the body. That was sin. Metaphysical. It was to be delivered from sin to them.

[36:37] Was to be taken up into light. And to have no more the body. To be as a drag upon us. But the Jewish view of sin was never that. The Jewish view of sin was breach of the law.

[36:50] And that of course is the truth. Sin is metaphysical. It's an ethical thing. It is want of conformity unto the law of God. Sin is transgression of the law of God.

[37:02] And that is taught through the Old Testament. Particularly from the giving of the law at Sinai. But even before it. Sin is seen to be that violation of the law of God.

[37:13] Our fathers have sinned. As our first fathers sinned in the garden. Our first parents sinned. And sin passed upon all men. For that all men have sinned.

[37:24] And come short of the glory of God. And this was that great contribution of Judaism. It taught the oneness of God. God is the true creator. It taught that there is such a thing as sin.

[37:37] And that sin is the breaking of the law of God. And it set the law before men. Has there ever been a better system of law than the commandments? I don't say is there a system that we can keep better.

[37:52] Because we can't keep any system of law unaided. And we certainly can't keep the commandments. And if a person says it's only a question to be saved. Of keeping the commandments.

[38:03] Then we're damned every one of us. Who of us keeps the commandments? And if they are those that say. Well it's just a case of living up to the Sermon on the Mount.

[38:13] Who amongst us lives up to the standard of the Sermon on the Mount? Naturally speaking. To live by the standard of the Sermon on the Mount. You've got to know grace.

[38:24] It's the marks. The distinguishing marks and character of grace. But it's not that which is of the flesh. We can't live up to this. And the law of God is that standard.

[38:34] That the law is holy and just and good. It's a perfect standard. It's given for unrighteous men. It's given to expose men as sinners. Judaism made this great contribution.

[38:47] Judaism taught these things. We thank God for it. Judaism gave the scriptures too. To the world. To those that would read them. And the scriptures of the Old Testament.

[38:59] These 39 books of the Old Testament. Are holy writ. We believe with the same inspiration. Infallibility as we would attribute to the New Testament books.

[39:11] Indeed what we are attributing to the New Testament books. Is that which Paul gives to Timothy 3.16. Concerning the Old Testament books.

[39:21] All scripture is God breathed. Given by inspiration of God. Profitable for doctrine. For reproof. For correction. And for instruction in righteousness. They gave the scriptures.

[39:32] The scriptures of truth. That preparation. That redemptive preparation. That outworking of God's purposes. Until the fullness of the time was come.

[39:43] This is the Jewish contribution. The oneness of God. The true nature of creation. The true view of sin. The law of God. The scripture of truth. They gave another thing also. They gave that synagogue.

[39:57] Worship. To the world. When they went into Babylon. They had left their temple in ruins behind them. It was the lamentation of many a heart.

[40:07] But what did they do there? They began to gather in groups. Wherever they were found. They met in assemblies. And a synagogue is just an assembly.

[40:18] Synagogy. The assembly. The coming together. We're in the Christian synagogue this day. The Christian assembly. And they met in that synagogue form.

[40:28] When they went back. And the temple was rebuilt. There was that worshipping in the temple. But there was no disbanding now of the synagogues. They preserved the synagogues.

[40:39] You think of the gospel record. The synagogue. Presence of Christ. He went into the synagogue. The book was given to him. He sat down as the custom was. And he began to read. And he expounded the things concerning himself.

[40:52] Think of the apostles. And the place of the synagogue. In their early ministry. It was only when there was that rising of opposition. Of opposition to the message.

[41:03] Of the gospel. That there was that. That leaving the synagogue. That forsaking of the synagogue. And the going to the Gentiles. The synagogue was of enormous importance.

[41:16] And in the synagogue. There was the word of God. Read and proclaimed. And expounded. In the synagogue. There were the elders. And the deacons. It's the model of the Christian assemblage.

[41:27] You know. And in the fullness of time. All these things. You say it was by chance. Was a coincidence. No. These things were being shaped. By God.

[41:38] Who is sovereign over the sinful. Acts of men. As much as any of their free acts. Working all things. According to his purposes. Of grace. Towards the people of his choice.

[41:49] When the fullness of the time was come. God sent forth his son. Made of a woman. Made under the law. And I close now.

[42:00] Just on this gospel note. I could not preach. On these preparatory things. And not deal with the great sending forth. Of the son of God.

[42:11] When the fullness of the time was come. Why was he sent forth? He was sent forth. To be made. Of a woman. And there we have the record.

[42:22] The holy. Work. That took place. That was a secret. Supernatural work. So that the. Holy thing. That Mary brought forth. Should be called. The son of God.

[42:34] And that's how the son of God. Given from heaven. Is the. Child that is born. And that's how the. Nature that God. Had promised him. In which nature.

[42:44] He should. Achieve our salvation. That's how it was. Brought to pass. We can't understand it. Almighty God. Sighing human breath. Any more than we can understand.

[42:56] The Lord of life. Experiencing death. How it was done. We can't discuss. We ought to be able to say this. We know it was done. It was done for us. And his son was.

[43:09] Made of a woman. Made to stand. In the sinner's place. Coming to redeem us. Coming to take our. Accountability. Upon his blessed person.

[43:20] Coming to fulfill. All the laws. Demands. That we. Who are sinners. Sinners from the womb. And sinners by deed. And thought. That we might.

[43:31] Not. Be accountable. For these things. For his. Law keeping. His. To our account. And our sad. Transgression.

[43:41] Of the law. Was laid to his. Charge. And he bore our sins. He bore his people's sins. In his own body. In the tree. For whom he. Was given.

[43:52] Unto us. A son is given. Unto us. A child is born. And he. Bore the sins. Of his people. Bore them away. And caused there to be. That just basis.

[44:02] For God. To receive them. No voice to be opened. Against them anymore. Who shall lay anything. To the charge of God's elect. His God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth.

[44:13] It is Christ who died. Yea rather. Who is risen again. Who is even at the right hand of God. Who also maketh intercession for us. God sent forth his son.

[44:25] Made of a woman. Made under the law. To redeem. To pay the price. And he died in the sinner's place. His blood was shed. That had been.

[44:36] Proclaimed. Through all these. Previous centuries. Amongst the Jews. And in some degenerate. And in some inadequate apprehension. In these false religions also.

[44:47] They all had some. Element of blood sacrifice. But without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sin. It is only the blood of one. Not the blood of the bull of Mithras.

[44:58] It is not the. It is not the bloodless sacrifice. Of the mass. It is none of these things. It is the blood of Jesus Christ. That alone cleanseth from all sin. God sent forth his son.

[45:10] Made of a woman. Made. Under the law. To redeem. Them. That were under the law. Under the condemnation of the law. Under his damning.

[45:22] Indictment. That the soul that sinneth it shall die. God sent his son. Under the law. And to redeem. Upon the cross. Those that were under condemnation.

[45:33] There is now no condemnation. To them which are in Christ Jesus. Who walk not after the flesh. But after the spirit. My dear friends.

[45:44] What do we know of this God? Have we known what it is to be brought to this. Savior. And to. Have come from. All the dark paths of sin.

[45:55] To. To him. He himself is the way. The truth and the life. No man cometh. Unto the father. But by him. Have we been drawn to him.

[46:06] That he might present as faultless. Before the presence of his glory. With exceeding great joy. We acknowledge him. As the only savior. Have we come to wonder.

[46:16] That he ever was. Given to man. In this fashion. Have we ever thought of the. Glorious. Providential. Administration of things. Political. And intellectual.

[46:28] And religious. That brought it about. In the fullness of the time. God should send his son. Or that we might know that. Fullness of the time.

[46:40] In our own case. Have we. Have we. Come to it. Have we looked back to it. And say. Then it pleased God. To reveal his son. Not just to me. But in me. The things that were.

[46:53] Formerly. Truths. With the mind. Perceived. Become those truths. Believed on in the heart. And with the mouth. There is confession. Of salvation. We come there.

[47:06] We come to that place. Where our trust. And hope. For time and eternity. Is in the son of God. There is no salvation. Apart from. He's gracious still.

[47:17] His power to save. Has not changed. From when he saved. The poor publican. That came to him. Not so much. Wanting to look up to heaven. Confessing his sin.

[47:27] God be merciful. To me a sinner. This man went down. Justified to his house. For you go down. Justified to your house. Justified by the grace of God.

[47:39] The righteousness of Christ. Made over to you. Is that what you're resting upon? Are you resting upon. The finished work of Christ. And as you rest upon it.

[47:49] You will see how God. Contrived the whole of. The world. So that it. Fitted his schemes of. Salvation for his people. That's the order of things. He chose.

[48:00] A people in eternity. And he made the world. In order that his people. Might be his. And brought to himself. Glory then be to God. Father. Son.

[48:10] And Holy Spirit. And may we be those. That wonder at the. Incarnation. And behold something. As I said earlier this day. And repeat now this evening.

[48:22] We might behold something. Of that glory. As of the only begotten. Of the father. Full of. Grace and truth. May the word.

[48:33] Be made. Profitable to us. And may we have that faith. In believing. And that joy. That comes through. Resting. Upon the finished. Work of Christ.

[48:43] It's not my frames. And my feelings. It's the saviour's. Work. First and last. He is the alpha. And the omega. The author. And the finisher. There's no other.

[48:53] That we need. And if we're in him. We're in him. For time. And for eternity. Or to be in that. Union. That eternal. Union.

[49:04] One with Christ. May it be so. For his name's sake. Amen. Amen.