Our world is in trouble. There is need for gentle tongues and wise words. We live in a realm that is from above. We have a sonship, an eternal adoption. We are liberated to fly for God. (Galatians 4:3-7; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Proverbs 15:1; 26:4-5)

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12411
6:30 PM on 11/20/2022

P. Schaller –

Turn with me to– let’s start that over again! Turn with me to Galatians 4. Love you, guys. You are an awesome Body.
I’ll tell you. We had a great afternoon, great morning. If you served in the Thanksgiving dinner
today, you want to stand. If you brought food or I mean the number of people it was amazing
how many helped and served and cleaned up and everything. Do you want to stand? Go ahead
if you want to. Thank you, P. Harold. Many people. Alright. Like a humble group here. Very, very
humble.

Scott told me that 800 meals were served. There were like about 40 people that ate 50 times or
something! How do you divide that? No, 640 people, something like that and some of us went
back a second time, so 800 meals. Isn’t that amazing? I mean we could stop right there and just
say that’s the ministry. We could just cruise in the next year and do nothing! No, the Body. The
Body, the church. The value of a living church is amazing.

Alright, so there will be two parts. This introductory part and then the second part. So, look at
Galatians 4:3. It’s Thanksgiving time and let’s see I have a few quotes here. Helen Keller who had I
think meningitis, went deaf and blind as an infant and so you know her. “So much has been
given to me that I have no time to ponder that which I don’t have.” I read about Fanny Crosby
who wrote all the hymns. She was a very little girl and the doctor, she had a fever, the doctor
wasn’t there so another guy said he was a doctor. And he put hot mustard poultices on her
eyes and come to find out he was not a doctor and she went blind. And lived to be 95 I think.
Always thankful. Always optimistic. Spirit filled. Writing hymns. A poet, song writer. Amazing
human beings.

And how much, how many times we can be in bondage to beggarly elements. That maybe has
many different meanings to it. I want to put here a list. I’ll put here beggarly elements. This is
really regarding Jewish people and Gentile people who had the – the Jews had dietary laws. The
Jewish people were told in Deuteronomy 22:11 you will not wear a garment of different sorts, of wool and
linen together. They were told what they could wear, what they could not wear, what they
could eat, what they could not eat.

They were told about not going into cemeteries, not touching a dead body or human fluids that
come out of our bodies lest they be unclean. They were told all kinds of laws and rules.
Holidays, festivities, priesthood, clothing. I put down a list here of smoke, with the incense,
curtains. Don’t go behind the curtain. The veils. Diet. Many rules for people in life. Many
attitudes that we can have in life. Revenge.

There’s a verse in Proverbs 9:17, “stolen waters are sweet.” Repeat that with me. I don’t want to
lose you. Turn to your neighbor and say when I steal water, it is sweet! Go ahead. I love stolen
water. Stolen waters. Have you ever had maybe what’s called sweet revenge? Is there a phrase
like that? I thought it anyway. Revenge. How sweet it is. To get back at somebody. To hurt somebody that hurt you. Hatred. There are people that love hatred. They hate and they live in
that hatred.

What is this? This is the psychology of the fallen man. This is man in his world and he is subject
to beggarly elements. Let’s read it. vs. 4. Christmas time. The Incarnation. The incredible, the
angels appearing and singing. The high level of revelation. The understanding of the plan of
God, the reality of God. When the fulness of time.

Why didn’t he come earlier? Why didn’t he come when the Jews were in Egypt? Why didn’t he
come when Joshua was in the Promised Land? Why didn’t he come when Solomon was king?
Cause it wasn’t time. It just wasn’t time.

But when the time came – it’s almost I think of it like this. Here’s a jar and here’s water dripping
into the jar and filling the jar and it’s not yet full. But when the fulness of time has come. You
don’t know why. I don’t know why. But it wasn’t yet full until Christ came. Now when he came,
what does it mean?

Look at vs. 4. Let’s put on this side, adoption of sons. It’s another realm. It’s a fulness of
satisfaction. Grace satisfying us. Truth entering into the deeper part of man. It’s a satisfaction.
God and man reconciled. It’s the Spirit filling us. The adoption of sons. It’s a status.
I said this morning like in my dad’s butcher shop, I have five siblings and we all worked there. It
was a family business and a big, butcher block table. I was 12 years old and so and my brother.
My dad put an apron on us and gave us a knife and we just stood next to him. I did and my
brother later. We stood next to him and we were doing it and like maybe even pretending that
we were doing it. Don’t cut yourself.

But he was honoring us. He was training us. That we were not just little people but we were in.
We were brought into something. We were called upon. We were growing up. We were
learning. And the same thing happens when you graduate from high school. You know, the day
after. I’m so glad I got to go to class. I don’t have to go to class. I’m so glad I don’t have to go to
class, but where am I going to go? What am I going to do? How am I going to live? Or in the
military or you have a job or some other responsibility.

You are not a child anymore. You are not subject to – in the text here look at vs. 6 with me.
Because we are grown up. We are in the game. We are called upon. Get on the horse and ride
it. Sit down and do your work. Grow up. You have to learn. The Spirit in you is crying out, Abba,
Father. It’s more than that. It’s more. It’s a realm of faith. It’s the Spirit.

You have beggarly elements here and then you have here fulness of sonship and the Spirit in
you. This is we could say Body life. Why do we like being together? Because we all have the spirit of sonship. We have the Spirit in us crying out, Abba, Father. Who are we, Lord? What are
you giving me? You’re putting an apron on me? You’re putting an apron on me? You actually
honor me? You actually are calling me. I’m actually living my life like we have the elements of
life but we have found now something greater. Fanny Crosby did. Helen Keller did.
And then we have the story “George Mueller operated an orphanage and he had 1,000
orphans. In 1800’s, there was no food.

He called on the children and prayed, thanking God for
the food even though no food was on the table. A few moments later, a baker knocked on the
door. He said God had led him to bake bread the night before and give it to the orphanage.
Before the bread was given to the children, a milk man knocked on the door and said his milk
truck had broken down and he wanted to give milk to the orphanage.”

We know about these kinds of stories. We read them in the Bible, don’t we? The pilgrims made
seven times – when they came to this country regardless of what they knew – liberal rewriting
of American history is – these people came looking for religious freedom. And they landed here
and they struggled to survive. “They made seven times more graves than huts. Nevertheless,
they set aside a day of Thanksgiving.”

You know, it’s so easy to be angry or to be upset or to become bitter. It’s so easy to turn inward
like we talked about this morning. It’s so easy to say Elijah promised me a son and I had him
and he died. But the woman didn’t do that. Because we are called to faith. I love the church
because it’s a fellowship on another level. Let’s talk about that and we’ll finish this. On another
level. A fellowship in the Spirit. A fellowship in not beggarly elements.

Oh, the turkey is dry. Who burnt the turkey? Why didn’t Ed come? We invited him. My brother
or my sister. Why is dad so angry? Why is mom frustrated? Why is this holiday such a problem?
It’s so easy because of beggarly elements. Why are they always talking about religion? Why are
they always talking about politics? Why don’t we agree on anything? And so on. This fellowship
that in the adoption of sonship is in the Spirit of love, 1 Corinthians 13 love. It’s when we sit together
and we hear the same thing and we respond in our heart and we say yes. We are called to
something higher, not the beggarly elements, natural world but we are called to faith.

Let’s walk on the water. Yes, we can walk on the water. There’s no food. Let’s go to Jesus and
see if there will be food. Somebody has failed terribly. Let’s go to Jesus and forgive them. Let’s
love them. Let’s restore them. Let’s encourage them. Sometimes families are broken apart by
the beggarly elements. There is unforgiveness in a family sometimes. There are hard words.
There’s arguments. There’s not quietness and patience.

Look at Ecclesiasties 9:11 with me for a moment. These are tips for Thanksgiving I think. Ecclesiastes 9:11, who is
going to win the race? The fastest guy. I swear. The fastest guy is going to win. This says he
isn’t. It’s not to the swift. That’s the tortoise and the hare, right? That’s like you think but maybe the fastest guy stumbles. Maybe the fastest guy has a heart attack. Maybe the fastest
guy doesn’t ever show up. You think it’s like that.

Look at the next one please. Vs. 11. Who is going to win the battle? The strongest. Not
necessarily. Not necessarily. You don’t know that. The strongest is going to win the battle. Not
necessarily. The wise, intelligent guy might not have bread. The smartest guy in the class might
never be rich. He might die young. The smartest guy in the class might end up an alcoholic
under a bridge somewhere homeless. The smartest guy, richest guy, strongest guy. What does
this mean? Life is a mystery. You cannot figure it out by human reason. You cannot limit your
life to beggarly elements: reason, strength, intelligence.

You might say these things are what build life. Really? Are you sure? Do you know that? You are
living your life without God. But when God comes into your heart and you have the Spirit of
God, now you have the mind of God, the way of God, the fellowship of God. You have
something the world doesn’t have.

The world doesn’t have this but you have it. You got an apron on. You got a little blood on there
just as an insignia of your importance. Little beef blood, pork blood. You’re walking around with
your knife, your butcher’s knife. Oh, yeah. My dad said I belong here. It’s my job. He even pays
me $1.47 an hour. And that’s true. He did. $1.47, minimum wage. I couldn’t push it up to $1.54!
Okay, so. Hey! I hope you are following this with me. I’m having fun tonight. God bless you for
being here. Halleluiah! Let’s say a couple things about it.

Thanksgiving dinner, don’t go to your family – let’s break this down for a second. You have a
couple Thanksgiving type things. You can be alone of course. Don’t be alone. We love ya. Go
somewhere. Be with some people. Celebrate. Have some fellowship if you can. Then you have
all believers. Wow. Not only are they all believers, but they are all in Greater Grace. Oh, my.
You have a church and Thanksgiving at the same time.

Another group. You’re believers. You got some Greater Grace believers and then you got some
other believers and maybe some folks that have been in the church and maybe aren’t anymore.
That’s a mix there. Then you got believers. You got some believers and you got a whole bunch
of liberals. They’re not only not believers but they’re really thinking differently than us and
you’re having Thanksgiving dinner. And you’re praying during the dinner hoping everything will
be okay and trying to figure out how to be and how it goes. And so, there’s a couple things to
say about it.

The first thing I want to say is there are beggarly elements in life. You know, the lower things of
life. Lower things you could call them. The twisted things. You don’t have to try and change
everybody, convince everybody. Do not go there necessarily but you are deciding that the race
is not to the fast. The battle is not to the strong. The food is not for the gifted or the wise or the richest but time and chance happens to everybody. Look at vs. 11. It says but time and chance
happens to them all. Time and chance happens to them all. Do you know what I mean? You
cannot figure it out. There are things that will happen to everybody in that room. There are
things that will happen because we are human beings. Because we are made with mortal
bodies. Because we have sin natures.

And you cannot figure it out. You’re not there to change everybody but you are there to be
there to minister with the love and the wisdom that you learn in church life like we are enjoying
tonight. You’re just enjoying the fellowship together as believers and then you and I are in a
world where we are there just to express and manifest our life of faith. We have faith. We have
the Spirit of God. We have love. We have wisdom.

Sometimes something you say your relative will turn to you and say, what did you say? Say that
again. And you say it again and they say where did you learn that? You say, in my church. Your
church? Cause they don’t know what a church is. They don’t know what it means many times.
So, here’s a couple verses to write down. Proverbs 15:1, “a soft answer turns away wrath, but
grievous words stir up anger.” “A soft answer breaks the bone” is another verse. Kindness.
Encouragement. Words of edification, Ephesians 4:29. James 1:19, Understanding each other.
Remember when Elijah said to Gehazi about the woman. The Lord has hid this from me. Her
soul is vexed. And the Lord did not show that to me but I understand now her soul is vexed.
She’s very troubled inside.

And many times, when people gather together like families in the holiday season, they come
with vexed souls. And they don’t really need to be told – I don’t know how it goes. I’m in the
same – we’re all, I mean I’m just saying a few things about it and that is we pray. We love. And
maybe we are helpful. Maybe we are not. But don’t fight. Don’t get in arguments. You may not
change them overnight.

Be wise. Draw people in love. Minister to people and be patient because time and chance
happens to them all. Meaning a cancer may come. The death of a loved one may happen. They
may lose a job. A depression may happen. Things happen that come from the beggarly
elements of life that people are in bondage to. That’s a tragedy. They don’t have the spirit of
adoption.

You and I have so therefore we come here and worship on a Sunday night because we have a
spirit of adoption so we might not be subject to beggarly things but be liberated to fly. To fly.
Our shoes for climbing ice and our pick axes. Google it sometimes. Climbing a mountain up into
the ice and we throw them away and we fly. It’s a big transformation from struggling in life to
climbing a mountain. Just leaving the mountain and flying. Flying.

The Spirit of God is saying to us you are the children of God. You have a high and holy calling.
You are sacred. Your name is in the book of life. You are free. Worshipping him and obeying and
honoring him and loving him and finding him and knowing him. We throw our ice shoes away,
our pick axes and could care less because we are liberated into another realm.

So, “answer not a fool according to his folly.” Let’s turn there and close with that. Proverbs 26:4.
You see it. I don’t know if I’ve worn you out. Can you hear it? Are you with me? We’re ending
now. We got one more. Vs. 5. Shoot to vs. 5 right now. “Answer a fool according to his folly.” I
thought you said don’t answer a fool according to his folly, vs. 4? Verse 5 says answer a fool
according to his folly. So, there it is. That’s a good Thanksgiving verse. Thanksgiving dinner.
“Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit.” Should I do that?

Should I answer a fool according to his folly? Does he need to be corrected by me? Should I just
let him go in his deception? In his blindness? Should I let the blind man go over the cliff? Should
I let him die and go to hell? Should I let him be lost or should I answer a fool according – should
I answer him? Should I minister to him? Should I? That says I should.

Go to the previous verse, vs. 4. Don’t do it! Don’t do it! Answer not a fool according to his folly.
Because maybe you will become like him. That means if I get into this, I better know what I’m
talking about. I better have love in my heart. If I get into this, I better be able to love, be kind. I
better be persuasive, reasonable. I don’t want to become like him. He might convince me
otherwise. It might be better to stay away from the conversation or it might be very good to be
engaged in it. I’m not advocating any kind of that. It might happen and it’s good without a lot of
heat and arguing but it’s part of our lives.

We are in a world that is in trouble. And our families and our friends need not to be arrogant,
not to be proud, not to be super knowledgeable, not to be like ranting and raving but being just
quiet and wise and look for an opportunity to love our friends and our family members. And
lead them. We would like them one day, not necessarily this week or Christmas time but maybe
in February. Maybe in March. Maybe in August. Maybe this year or in ten years. Maybe one
day. The race is not to the swift. But maybe. We hope and we pray that they will find what we
have found and it’s not bondage but it’s freedom. Okay. Let’s pray. (prayer).

Amen. Let me say another thing. Amen. I don’t want to start preaching to God! Okay. But I want
to say it’s amazing how the world moves God away. But a whole nation could be on our knees
before God and be thankful. That’s how it started with George Washington actually. And he
declared I think 1795. I’m not sure. He declared a Thanksgiving day and then followed up in the
history of it. You can study it out.

The point is our country needs to be on our knees before God with a lot of thanks for
everything. And if the country will not do it, we will do it. We will do it. We will do it at our dinner. We will do it before our dinner, after our dinner. We’ll do it wherever we are. We’ll just
do it in our days as people. And we just have a lot to be thankful for. Okay. Alright. (Prayer).

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.