Alright, let's turn together
to Galatians chapter 4. Galatians 4. Now Paul's purpose in Galatians
is to declare to the believer that all who trust Christ Jesus
the Lord are free from the law. Some kind of think that the Mosaic
Covenant was God's first plan, and it didn't work, so He went
to another plan. We're going to try to see that
that's not correct this morning. And we're going to try to see
this morning that the law of God is good if a man uses it
lawfully. It's to shut our mouths, it's
to declare us guilty, and nothing else. It shows us that which
is holy, just, and good, but not to make us think we can do
it. But to shut our mouths, it has
to submit to the everlasting covenant, to the covenant of
grace, to God who is the lawgiver. And there's where we find grace
to help in time of need. There's where we're saved and
kept, effectually. Let's begin here in Galatians
4 verse 21. We're going to read these scriptures beginning here,
just down to verse 23, and then we're going to go and look at
some scriptures in Genesis. We're going to read quite a bit
of scripture this morning, but I want you to follow along with
me. Galatians 4, 21. Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But
he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he
of the free woman was by promise, which things are an allegory.
They are representative of something else. They represent a spiritual
meaning, something God is teaching in His Word. And it says here,
first of all, these are the two covenants, the two testaments. The one from Mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar, and the other covenant
is represented by Sarah. Now, turn with me to Genesis
13, and let's go through this together, and then we'll come
back to Galatians 4. Genesis 13. Abraham was married
to Sarah. That was his wife. That was his
wife. And before God, that was his
true wife. His true wife. And God promised
Abraham a son. before anything else. This is
God promised Abraham a son. Genesis 13 verse 15. He said,
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed forever. That means to your son forever. Now Genesis 15 verse 2. Genesis
15 verse 2. And Abram said, Lord God, what
would thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of
my house is this Eleazar of Damascus? Some time has passed. He hadn't
had his son yet. And Abram said, behold, to me
thou hast given no seed. You've given no child. And lo,
one born in my house is my heir. We talk about a son here, an
heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
This shall not be thine heir. This is what the Lord said. This
shall not be thine heir, not Eleazar of Damascus, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir,
a legitimate, legal heir by the means of his wife. And he brought
him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and the Lord counted it unto him for righteousness. Genesis
16. Ten years passed, and now another
wife is going to enter in. You see, that first promise was
made that Abraham was going to have a son. That promise was
made first. That was coming through Sarah.
But now another wife's gonna enter in, a second wife, Hagar. Genesis 16, one. Now Sarai, this
is Sarah, Abram's wife, bare him no children. Sarah is the
free woman. She's the one that came first.
And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. That's
the one that spelled A-G-A-R in Galatians, Hagar. She's the
bond woman. She came second. And Sarai said
unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing.
God promised to give Abraham a son, but ten years have gone
by. So Sarah says to Abraham, I pray thee, go in unto my maid. She's a handmaid, she's a bondmaid,
she serves Sarah. That's what Hagar, who Hagar
was. And it may be that I may obtain
children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice
of Sarai. And Sarai, Abraham's wife, took
Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abraham had dwelt ten years
in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to
be his wife. So Abraham takes a second wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived. Now, I want you
to see something here in verse 4, and I'm just going to mention
this a little bit later, perhaps. Verse 5 says, Sarai said unto
Abram, My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy
bosom. And when she saw that she had
conceived, I was despised in her eyes. When Hagar conceived,
she despised Sarah. The Lord judged between me and
thee, but Abraham said unto Sarah, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand.
She serves you. She's your servant. You do to
her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with
her, she fled from her. Hagar left. And the angel of
the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by
the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid,
whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And
she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the
angel of the Lord said unto her, return to thy mistress and submit
thyselves unto her hands. And we're gonna see in a minute,
Hagar represents the law. Hagar represents the Mosaic covenant. When Sarah, who came first, when
Hagar bore a few children, she despised Sarah, the real wife,
who came first. And she fled from her, but the
Lord said, you go back to her, but now you submit to her. The
law, the old covenant, is good, it's useful, but it's in submission
to Christ, the King, to the first covenant. All right, now we go
down to verse 15. And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called
his son's name, which Hagar bare Ishmael. And Abraham was four
and six years old, eighty-six, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abraham."
Alright, thirteen more years passed. The Lord said, the promised
seed is coming through Sarah. Look at Genesis 17, 16. Abraham is 90 years old, he's
99 years old, the Lord has appeared to him, and God said unto Abraham,
verse 16, I will bless Sarah, and give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she
shall be a mother of nations. Of nations. Kings of people. Out of all sorts of people shall
come of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face,
and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born
unto him that's a hundred years old? And shall Sarah that is
ninety-nine years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O
that Ishmael might live before thee, count this as the son,
count him, this one who's of Hagar, the bondmaid, this one
who represents the Mosaic covenant, take him. And God said, Sarah
thy wife, the first wife, the first one in whom God made his
promise. Sarah thy wife shall bear thee
a son indeed. The son's coming through him.
And thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after
him. As for Ishmael, I've heard thee.
Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will
multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish
with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee, the first wife,
the one who came first." That's who the son of promise is coming
through. The everlasting covenant is in
her. and I'll come to thee at a set
time in the next year." Now look at Genesis 18 verse 10. The Lord came again and he said,
I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life and lo Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it
in the tent door which was behind him Now Abraham and Sarah were
old, well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after
the manner of women. She couldn't have children. Therefore
Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old,
shall I have pleasure, my Lord being also old, my husband Abraham
being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham,
Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child
which am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee according to
the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Genesis 21. Genesis 21. One more year passed
now. Sarah and the son of promise
Isaac come now. Verse 1. And the Lord visited
Sarah as he had said. And the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken. For Sarah conceived in bare Abraham
a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken
to him. And Abraham called the name of
his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son,
being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham
was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him.
And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that
hear will laugh with me. And she said, who would have
said unto Abraham that Sarah would have given children suck?
For I have borne him a son in his old age. And the child grew
and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that
Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, her handmaid, She saw the son of Hagar, Ishmael,
which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking Isaac. He'd been winged
and he'd been... Wherefore she said unto Abraham,
Cast out this bondwoman and her son. They've got to go. Hagar
and Ishmael got to go. For the son of this bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And
God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight
because of the land and because of thy bondwoman. And all that
Sarah hath said unto thee hearken unto her, for in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Also of the son of the bondwoman
will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water,
and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child,
and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered
in the wilderness of Beersheba." Now, let's turn back to Galatians
4.24, and let's see if Paul puts this all together for us. Galatians
4.24. Now, Paul said these things are
an allegory. It's a story here, true story,
it characterizes where the characters are all used, everything that
took place is used to picture, to typify, to symbolize other
things. Now we saw Abraham had two wives. His first wife was Sarah, a free
woman. The other was Hagar, a bondmaid,
a servant to Sarah. Abraham had two sons by these
women. Hagar had a son named Ishmael,
and Sarah had a son named Isaac. Galatians 424, which things are
an allegory, for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount
Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. Now first of
all, these two wives we're told here represent two covenants.
Now let's answer this question first and foremost. What's a
covenant? What's a covenant? What's that
got to do with us? A covenant is a contract that's
made between two or more parties where there are some blessings
promised upon the condition that certain things are fulfilled. That's what a covenant is. God
only deals with sinners based on a covenant. That's the only
way He'll deal with sinners, is with a covenant. Now, the
only two covenants in Scripture is the everlasting covenant and
the Mosaic Covenant, or the Covenant of Works. These are the two covenants
in which these two women represent. And we're going to begin where
God began. That's where we're going to begin
when we look at these two women. Paul begins with Hagar. That's
not where God began, so we're going to go back here. Before
he made the world, God made an everlasting covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is absolutely
in no way dependent upon man. Not at all. It was made before
the world began between the triune God and put into the hands of
Christ who would come forth in the set time and accomplish all
the conditions of that covenant for the people that were given
to him in that everlasting covenant. The Spirit of God would come
and apply it to the hearts of those that Christ had worked
this far, those for whom God the Father had purposed this,
so that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
in the person of Christ Jesus the Lord, as the center focal
point of this whole fulfillment of this covenant, would get all
the glory, and man gets none. That's how we want it, isn't
it? Because we know what we are, that's how we want it. We want
God to get all the glory. The covenant of grace said this,
it said, Do this, O Christ, and thy people shall live forever.
That's what the covenant said, the everlasting covenant. Now
Sarah represents the everlasting covenant of grace made before
the world began. She was Abraham's first wife,
his true wife. The everlasting covenant was
the first covenant. It came first. It's the true
covenant. Sarah is the free woman. This covenant was based absolutely
totally upon the free sovereign grace of God to choose whom he
would. God's promise was of a seed through
Sarah. God promised his son through
the everlasting covenant. Christ is the real seed of promise. Turn back to Galatians 3.16.
I read that very first scripture to you in Genesis where the Lord
said, I'm going to give this land to
you and to thy seed. Listen to the commentary on that.
Galatians 3.16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Now Sarah represents the everlasting
covenant through whom Christ, the promised seed, came. The
Hebrew writer said, by so much more was Jesus made surety of
a better testament. What does that mean? Assurity. Assurity for the children which
were given him before the world began. In that everlasting covenant,
that better testament, Christ became the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. wrote the names of all His elect
in the Book of Life. And because Christ Jesus, the
Son of God, struck hands in that everlasting covenant to fulfill
all things needful to accomplish their salvation according to
God's purpose and grace, that Book of Life is called the Book
of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13a. Now before God's children became
sinners, Christ stood as our surety. All the children of promise,
God's elect, were complete in Christ, the seed, before we ever
fell in Adam. Before we ever fell in Adam.
2 Thessalonians 2.13 says, But we are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. That's why Paul says on
down the page in Galatians 4, Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of the promise. We that have been born of the
Spirit of God are children of that promise. That promise. All
right, now let's go to that other covenant. The other covenant
is that covenant which God gave on Mount Sinai. Hagar represents
the covenant God gave at Sinai. Verse 24, Galatians 4.24. It
says, Which things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants,
the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Hagar. Hagar represents that covenant. Verse 23, It says he, Ishmael,
was of the bond woman. He was born after the flesh.
The law given at Sinai was an earthly, fleshly covenant. It was a covenant given whereupon
God said to man, you fulfill the stipulations of this covenant
and I will. It said this do and live. The covenant from Mount Sinai
is called that covenant which gendereth to bondage. The reason
why is it was given to guilty, depraved sinners. who couldn't
fulfill the stipulations, the conditions of that covenant. All it could do was gender to
bondage. That's all it could do. That's
why it was given. That's the purpose for which
it was given. It was given to show God's true children the
magnitude of their offense in Adam's one transgression in the
garden. God told Adam in the garden,
This do and live. That's where that covenant really
began. It was in the garden. This do
and live. When God gave the Mosaic Covenant, it was to show the
magnitude of that sin. That's what Romans says in 5.20.
Moreover, the law entered that the offense... What offense? All through Romans 5, he's talking
about Adam's one offense. That the offense might abound.
By that one offense, Adam plunged the whole human race into sin,
into spiritual death, separation from God. And God gave the law
to show the magnitude of that offense. It required perfect
obedience, but it gave no strength to perform that obedience. It
accused of sin, it pronounced men guilty, it threatened death,
but the blood of bulls and goats could never put away sin, it
could never purge the conscience, the inner man of anybody. It kept sinners in bondage. But Justice Sarah remained Abraham's
wife, his first wife, even though Hagar entered into the picture. Even so, the everlasting eternal
covenant which came before stood ordered and sure even when that
covenant of works entered in. It never changed. That covenant
of works never changed anything. Look back at Galatians 3 verse
15. Galatians 3 verse 15, Brethren,
I speak after the manner of men. though it be but a man's covenant,
if it's just something you and I say together. Yet if it be
confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto. And he says,
now to Abraham and his seed where the promise made, he sent him
to thy seed which is Christ. Look at verse 17. This I say,
that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, that
everlasting covenant, that he made with Abraham was the covenant
God said, I'm going to do all the work, Abraham. You don't
have to do anything. I'm going to do it and I'm going
to receive all the glory and all you're going to be able to
say is you're a sinner saved by grace. Now the law, the other
covenant, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it
should make the promise of none effect. You see what the point
I'm making to you? Sarah was the first wife and
even though Even though Hagar entered in the picture, Sarah
never ceased being the first wife. Sarah never ceased being
the one through whom the promised seed would come. Sarah never
ceased being the one that God was using as an allegory to say
this is my everlasting covenant in whom is all salvation through
Christ the promised seed wherein all my children of promise shall
be born and saved everlastingly. Though that covenant entered
in, It never changed anything about that first covenant. Why
is that? Verse 18, Galatians 3 says, For
if the inheritance be of the law, if it's of Hagar, the law
is no more of promise, of free grace, of God, of God doing it. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise, by promise. Now Hagar was a bondmaid. That means she served Sarah.
That was her job. That's what she did. She served
Sarah. The law at Sinai, which came second, just like Hagar
did, served the everlasting covenant. The first covenant, the true
covenant, which Sarah pictures. Just like Hagar was a bondmaid,
a servant, it served, that law served To shut sinners' mouths,
to shut us up, to declare us guilty, that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Until the Son comes, that was
promised in the everlasting covenant, and revealed. The days start
dawning in our hearts and make us to say, Aha! Salvation is
by grace. And when that One has come, We're
no longer under that bondmaid anymore. We're no longer under
that handmaid served her purpose. We can look to her and learn
some things about her just like we're doing today. Just like
we're doing today. But if Abraham left Sarah and
he went to that handmaid and he stayed with her and he left
that place with her, you know what would happen? Adultery.
Adultery. Putting away. That's the same
thing that happens if you turn from Christ Jesus, the promised
seed, the one in whom salvation is yes and amen for His people,
and go back to the handmaid, go back to the law, go back to
the schoolmaster, go back to the tutor and the governor, and
try to make yourself a servant of God, a servant again in bondage,
rather than rejoicing that Christ has made you free in His Son. He said, Galatians 3.21, let
me show you that. Galatians 3.21, verse 29. I'm sorry, Galatians 3.21 through
29. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But it never could. But the Scriptures
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise, that covenant
that came first, by faith of Jesus Christ, by His fidelity,
by the work that He would perform when He came, might be given,
His righteousness given to them that believe in Jesus Christ. But before faith came, before
Christ came, before He births His people anew, gives them a
heart to believe, just like the Jews were kept under the law,
shut up until the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
That's how Hagar was. She served as a handmaid. She
had that son. She served her purpose until
the true son came. And then when the true son came,
she had to go and that son had to go too. Verse 24, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that
we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we're no longer under schoolmaster. Hagar served her purpose. The
son of the bondmaid's gone. Ye are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in the faith of Christ.
That's who we trust. We've got faith in the fidelity
of Christ Jesus our Lord, whose righteousness we rest in. For
as many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. Now then, there's neither Jew
nor Greek. There's neither Jew nor Greek.
We're not looking at old covenant folks and new covenant folks
anymore. There's just one in Christ. There's neither Jew nor
Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female, for you're all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ's, then
are you Abraham's seed. Then are you really the sons
of promise and heirs according to Hagar they had made according
to the law? No, according to that first wife,
Sarah, promise, the everlasting covenant of God, according to
God's will and His testament before the world began in Christ
Jesus. All right brethren, let me see if I can get through these
other two briefly, very briefly, but let me see if I can just
get through these two things. Back at Galatians 4.25, Now Paul says these two represent
something else. They represent one Jerusalem
and another Jerusalem. One place where folks are worshipping
and another place where folks are worshipping. One place is
of the earth and one place is from above. They represent these
two. Now watch. Two systems of religion. Verse 25. For this Hagar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to, or represents, or is a liken
to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Here's the second thing. Hagar represents works religion. Fleshly dead letter law serving
law hawking dead religion sinners are not justified They are not
sanctified They are not preserved and they are and are not entitled
to heaven on the basis of works not at all Hagar's Mount Sinai
in Arabia. She's outside the land of promise. I Her children are yet serving
earthly Jerusalem, earthly priests, earthly altars, earthly dead
letter religion, who get men to do things so they can glory
in your flesh. Please don't ever think that
because we're not going around, men in our day aren't going around
saying, except you be circumcised, you can't enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Please do not think that the law is not alive and
well in our day, legalism reigning and thriving. because folks everyday
are trying to make sinners do something. Something, except
you learn this catechism, except you take on our system of doctrine,
except you join this church, except you go through some sort
of ceremony in the way we do it, except you, except you, except
you, except you, except you go out and pass out tracks, except
you bring in sinners, except you except you repent because
we've told you you should repent. You can't come back in here.
All of those things James has been warning us against, that
is turning from the perfect law of liberty, that's unbridling
a tongue, that makes a man's religion just obvious to a believer
to be vain religion, those are the things that Hagar represents.
Bondage. Bondage. Paul says right now,
those who are yet attempting to come to God by the works of
the law, are like the bondwoman, serving in bondage with her children. Now, Sarah represents the true
church of God. Look at verse 26. But Jerusalem,
which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. There's
two different places here, two different ones of the earth,
one's heavenly. She's from above. This is the
heavenly Jerusalem. If you read Hebrews 12, that's
what our Lord says. You come to the city of the living
God, to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the spirits of
just men made perfect, to the blood that speaks better things
than that earthly blood of Abel, to Jesus Christ, the mediator
of the New Testament, this new covenant. That's where we are.
We're not here by ourselves. This is a spiritual union, a
mystic union between heaven and earth, between God's people.
free, saved by free grace, the mother of all who believe, who
are full of rejoicing in her Redeemer and shall never be forsaken. Look at verse 27. For it is written,
Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry thou
that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath a husband. You remember how Sarah said,
God has made me to laugh. He has made me to rejoice. Everybody
is going to laugh with me when they hear this. And she said,
Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given
children suck? For I have borne him a son in
my old age. If you'll sometime read Isaiah 54.1, I won't read
it now for sake of time, but when it looks like that like
the church is like Sarah, and like she's desolate, and like
Hagar's reigning and thriving, and everybody's flocking to earthly
Jerusalem, and all the children are delighting to be in bondage,
and to jump through all the hoops like little trick dogs in a circus,
and everybody's rejoicing in that. Don't dare think that Sarah's
not thriving. The church is thriving, brethren. It's reaping. It's in abundance
just as God has purposed. He adds to the church daily such
as should be said. He said, enlarge the place of
your tent. Open up your curtains. Let the
people come in. And He says, Fear not, thou shalt
not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not
be put to shame. For thou shalt forget the shame
of thy youth, shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood
any more, for thou makest thy husband. The Lord of hosts is
His name, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the
whole earth shall He be called. That's who we're serving. That's
who made this church. That's who planted this church.
That's the foundation of this church. That's the grower of
this church. That's the one who adds to this
church. That's the one who puts every joint together and fitly
provides for what every other joint needs. This is the one
who gives all the nourishment into the bands whereby we can
minister and nourish one another. This is God we serve. This is the church of the living
God. Think about that. Well, here's
the third thing they represent. This is more personal now. They
represent the two suns. These two suns that came through
these two different ones represent the two kinds of people in religion. Now those two systems of religion
we just looked at are the only two kinds there are in the earth.
I don't care if it goes by Christian Protestantism or Christian Catholicism
or if it goes by Buddhist or Hindu or whatever or stump jumping
or whatever you want to call it. It's all one thing. Works. works, works, works. And on the
other side is Abel, coming to God in a lamb, trusting God to
accept us in the blood of the lamb alone. There is no middle
ground. That's the two systems. And therefore,
their sons, there's only two kinds of sons they produce. There's
only two kinds of sinners in this world. Verse 22, For it
is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.
Israel was born by a bondmaid, and he was born after the flesh.
That's how all sinners are born into this world the first time.
Of the flesh, servants of sin, in bondage, born of unbelief. That's how Ishmael was born because
Abraham just didn't believe God. So unbelief was how this was
born. You notice that 10 years passed from God making that promise
and Sarah said, well, the Lord shut my womb up. You go in. And
all that other time, all that other time passed and it's scripture
said, and at the time that God said he would come forth, he
came forth, the child came forth. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law when the set time
was come. You know how Just physically speaking, it was all in God's
providence that it happened the way it did. But physically speaking,
you know what would have saved a lot of trouble? What we look
at this morning? Patiently waiting on the Lord.
Who said it? Who said, I'll do it? Wait on
it. That's the problem with the law.
That's what legalism's all about. Men get impatient from waiting
on God to do the work, waiting on God to have the glory, and
they say, I'll put my hand to it. I'll apply some artificial
growth and some artificial pesticides and I'll fix it." God said, no,
no. Isaac, on the other hand, was
born of the free woman. He was born by promise. That's
the way God's sons of promise are born a second time, of the
Spirit, into freedom. He says there in verse 28, Now
we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. The
children of promise. He says in chapter 4, verse 6,
because ye are sons, because ye are sons, don't get that cart
in front of the horse. Don't rearrange that. Because
ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. You've been brought out from
the way you thought it was. You've been brought out from
that servitude. Now you've beheld, I'm a son. I'm an heir. Born of Him. I'm joined heirs with Christ.
Ishmael mocked and persecuted Isaac. Look at verse 29. Galatians
4.29. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit.
Even so it is now. Legalists in our day mock They
persecute the children of God, with the tongue at least, and
other nations with worse methods than that. But that's how it
was then, that's how it is now. Down in verse 17, the reason
Paul was addressing this, he says, they zealously affect you,
But not well. Everything that vain religionists
do, everything that legalists do, appeals to our flesh. It really does. Everything about
it. And that's what it's meant to
do, is to appeal to your flesh. And it will make you zealous.
But Paul says, but not well. They would exclude you. or us,
that you might affect them. But it's good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, not only when I'm present with
you, but find out what that good thing is. It's what James has
been dealing with. It's what we've been seeing.
It's what Ezekiel was taught. The good thing is Christ, the
preaching of the Word of Christ, praying for our Advocate to intercede
for us, to make the Word effectual, and to wait on Him to do this
work. He says there in chapter 6, look
there with me, verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. Or constrain
you to go over here and preach for us because of this or that. Appeal to your flesh. Appeal
to that which appeals to you the most. To get you to join
in with them. You remember when the children
of Israel were freed out of captivity and they went to build in the
house of the Lord and some others came up and said, we want to
build with you. The Lord sent them back and said, we don't
have anything to do with you. We've got no communion to build with
each other. But they constrained you to be
circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross
of Christ. You know when you're wrong about
something? The best way to make it seem like you're not wrong
about it is to get others to join in with you to do it. Isn't that right? They won't constrain you to do
something so they don't suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. Now look, for neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid, that we should
glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world's crucified unto me and I unto the world," Paul said.
He said, circumcision's nothing, uncircumcision's nothing, this
new creation. That's what we're talking about,
being a new creation, being born of the Spirit of God, being made
new, all things new. Well, Ishmael was cast out, but
Isaac was blessed. Look at verse 30 back in our
text, and we're done. Nevertheless, what saith the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. Brethren,
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. He's the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believes. The law is good if a man use it lawfully,
but the law was not made for a righteous man. And those for
whom Christ died, those who have been given faith to trust him
and him alone, are righteous. righteous in Christ Jesus the
righteous. The law can be used lawfully
to show us what we are and to show us our sin and to show us
how far short we come of glorifying God when we get to thinking we're
something and get too much starch in our britches. But it has to
submit. That law has to stop where, like
Hagar had to do, and submit to Sarah, the first wife. And Christ
the Lord reigns in the hearts of His people by grace. He says,
now, you've seen what you are now. I'm going to lead you of
My Spirit, in the heart, in the inner man. Christ can't receive
all the glory if you and I have room to boast. There wasn't any
room for Hagar and Ishmael in the house with Sarah and Isaac.
There's no room for that with us. Those who think that they're
justified by the law, who imagine that they're sanctified by their
works rather than Christ our sanctification, Christ our righteousness
who justified us, those who are constrained by the law and have
to be constrained by the law by doing, who think they're going
to be glorified because of their doing, or yet under the curse. There's just no other way to
put it. Believers are not motivated by the law, but by the grace
of God, by the love of Christ for the foul sinners that we
are. the love of Christ for vile sinners
like we are. That's what that law makes us
say, how vile we are. And it changes our motivation.
When the grace enters in, it changes our whole motivation.
Now we are thinking ourselves righteous in doing. Now our motivation
is, look what God did for me in spite of me. Look at the love
he's shown me in spite of me. And that's the motivation. And
the motivation makes all the difference. The motivation makes
all the difference. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. So Paul ends it here in chapter
5 verse 1, and he says this, Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Amen.