Christians Will Rule The World!

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Judeizer, right? Judeizer. So what was their goal? Their goal was to make these Gentile converts to Christ, Christians, they're trying to make these Christians Jewish.

You know, if you're going to come to Christ, if you're going to be saved, you have to first become Jewish, meaning you need to come back under the law of Moses. You know, there's no inheritance there.

The Curse of Returning to the Law

Speaking about the believers inheritance, there's no inheritance under the law. If you want to put yourself back under the law, the only thing you're going to inherit is a curse. Because no man can keep the law.

This is the foolishness of the people. Well, you know, I think I'm going to heaven because I do all these good things. Do you really think that God looks at you and he's so impressed? I mean, really think about that.

There's no inheritance under the law. The inheritance is in Christ because God is going to give Christ everything. And the only way we can be part of that is if we are in Christ, right? So, how did people buy into this?

Why would people want to go back under the law and give up their inheritance and all the rest? Well, it's because the false teachers, they're sort of like Satan. Paul calls them ministers of Satan. They're sort of like Satan.

They're very cunning. They're clever. They're subtle. Here's the thing about people who are deceived. They don't realize they're deceived because they're deceived, right? So, the false teachers crept into the Church.

They said a lot of the right things. They kind of gained the people's trust. And then came the false doctrine. So, they were deceiving people in the body of Christ. This caused great division in the Church.

Nothing causes division more than false teaching. Just to help understand how divisive this Judaizing doctrine was. What were they doing? They were dividing people. Jew and Gentile. Hey, you're not circumcised.

You're not keeping the law of Moses. And they were dividing the Church up into two groups. You know, the circumcised versus the uncircumcised. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Lord, forgive me. But just to help understand how divisive this Judaizing doctrine was.

Dividing the Church into two groups. Pitting one group against another. Imagine if there was a Church where half of the members were white. And half of the members were black. And they're all Christians.

They're worshiping God together. Loving one another in unity. That's great. That's a wonderful thing. That wasn't the case back then. It was Jew and Gentile. But, you know, you can maybe try to make that comparison.

But, then imagine if somebody came in. A preacher came in. And he started preaching that God loves white people more than he loves black people. You'd have a little problem on your hands, wouldn't you?

Or, let's say a preacher came in. And he said that all white people are bad. And they need to repent. That would be a recipe for division, wouldn't it? And by the way, that latter thing is happening. It's called being woke.

It's happening in churches all over America. And that should be rejected just as the first thing. A racist preacher coming in, teaching that. Both are wicked. Both need to be rejected. But you get it.

If somebody came in and started teaching that. It would create division within the body of Christ, wouldn't it? And if people started going along with it. That church would not be able to survive. So, I say all of that to help us understand how serious this was.

How divisive it was. And what was at stake. The unity of the Christian church was at stake. And there was this first century prejudice against the Gentiles. This is why Paul says in verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek.

Now, were there Jewish people and Greek people?

Obviously.

He says there is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. Now, are there male and female?

Yes.

Are there roles for both?

Yes.

So, he's not undoing any of this. But his point is what? We're to be united. We're all one. Don't worry about Jew and Gentile. Men are not better than women. Women are not better.

We're all one.

Love one another. Come together in this. That's a unifying message. That is the Christian message. The world wants to divide. The false teachers want to bring that division into the Christian church. And Paul said, nope, not on my watch.

Not if I can do anything about it. So, when a church experiences unity, that's when the people rejoice. That's when God is most glorified. The false teachers, though, in Galatia were trying to sow the seeds of disunity.

That's how they were trying to devour the flock. And what does Paul call them? What does Jesus call false teachers? They're wolves in sheep's clothing. So, that kind of tells you something. They appear to be sheep.

They appear, at least at first, to be Christians. How does that happen? How are people deceived? You say, well, that could never happen here. I mean, it happens all the time. So, we need to know. We need to be on guard.

If we know that, if we're not ignorant of Satan's devices, we can protect against it. So, that's why this kind of thing needs to be preached consistently. But how do they gain people's trust? They come in.

They say, we believe in Jesus.

That's what the false teachers will say. I know this will sound bad. Just give me an inch here, okay? When somebody tells me they believe in Jesus, to me, that really doesn't mean anything these days.

Oh, that's terrible. Somebody tells me, oh, I believe in God.

That means nothing.

That means nothing.

It means you're not an atheist. So, what? Satan believes in God. Satan knows that God exists. So, if somebody says, well, I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus. Well, amen, on the one hand, praise God. But, you know, there's a lot of people who say they believe in Jesus, the Judaizers.

Paul says they're false teachers, though. So, we can't be gullible, is the point. We need to test all things, hold fast to that which is good. So, the false teachers were coming in, and they were saying, we believe in Jesus.

And they said a lot of the right things. 95 of what they preached may have been true. And they gained people's trust. Then they started in with the false teaching. And then when somebody speaks up, which is going to happen, hey, that's not true.

Then that guy's the troublemaker. What were they saying about Paul? Paul is the troublemaker. Now, we can see it clearly because we're 2 ,000 years later looking back. Yeah, a lot of the people in the churches, yeah.

Yeah, it's this Paul guy who thinks he's an apostle. He's the problem. You'd be surprised about how many people who profess the name of Jesus today think that Paul is the problem. That's pretty, actually, it's pretty common in New England.

So, we need to just reject all of that. We want unity. We have unity in Christ. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. We believe this book.

Okay?

I can say our unity is here because Christ is the word of God made flesh. Our unity is this book. And the Lord of this book. And the Holy Spirit who gave us this book. If somebody comes in and says, well, I don't believe this.

I don't like this. We need to get rid of it. That's going to bring in division, right?

Obviously.

The Believer's Inheritance in Christ

All right.

We'll close by emphasizing this point of the believer's inheritance. What's the sermon title? The believer's inheritance. So, let's talk about this. We're almost done. Galatians 3, 29. And if you are Christ, he says, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

What is an heir? It means one who receives his allotted possession by right of sonship. So, let's turn to Romans chapter 4. And that's where we will end. Romans 4. Because again, if you're a believer in Christ, you have an inheritance.

And we're going to see what that inheritance is. If you're saved, that's part of your inheritance. You have the Holy Spirit. That's part of your inheritance. But there's more to come. There's more to come.

So, last time in Galatians, we saw how God made the promise to Abraham and to his seed, singular. He said that seed is a reference to Christ. Now, there are elements of the Abrahamic covenant that have to do with land promises and the nation of Israel.

That's another sermon for another day. What we're talking about this morning are the spiritual promises regarding the gospel and salvation. Look at what Romans 4, 2 through 4 says. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So, you're saved by what? Faith, not works. Now, to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt.

So, Paul in Romans, we don't have time to look at everything. But in Romans 4, Paul is making a similar argument to what he's saying in Galatians. That not only is the gospel by faith and not works, circumcision doesn't play any part of it.

And this is key. Abraham is not just the father of the Jews. The promises of God extend beyond the borders of Israel. God so loved what? The world, right? So, because, and what do I mean by that? That Abraham is not just the father of the Jews.

We're talking spiritually now. Abraham had faith. And he became known as the father of the faithful. He is the father of all those who have faith. So, if you have faith in the seed, Jesus, you are one of Abraham's spiritual descendants.

Therefore, you inherit the promise. You are an heir according to the promise. In other words, your name is written in the will. You have an inheritance. So, let's just talk about for one minute what this is.

What is this inheritance? Look at Romans 4 .13. This is great. For the promise that he would be the what? The heir of the world. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

We're heirs too. Remember in Galatians, we're heirs according to the promise. Do you realize what's being said here? One day, Christians will rule the world. That's not happening right now. One day, Christians will rule the world.

Christ's kingdom is coming.

Right?

And we will rule and reign with him. Look at verse 16. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according to grace so that the promise might be sure to all the seed. Not only to those who are of the law, that's the Jews, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.

That's us. Who is the father of us all. Two other statements in scripture came to mind. Revelation 21 verse 7. He who overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be his God and he shall be my son. Well, how do we overcome?

First John 5, 4. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world.

What is it?

Our faith.

Let's close. Lord, how thankful we are for this inheritance. That Christ will rule and reign upon the earth and we will rule and reign with him. And Lord, we know this inheritance is in your son. As it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

Lord, if there is anyone listening who has never given their life to you, may they do it today so that they might receive the free gift of salvation. So that they might receive of this inheritance through faith and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.

We pray all these things in his powerful name.

Amen. Amen.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.