Well, may it please God to bless
us together this evening as we continue our meditation in the
epistle of Paul to the Galatians and we'll conclude the fourth
chapter this evening by reading verses 28, 29, 30, and 31. It's Galatians chapter four,
reading from verse 28 to the end. Now, we brethren, as Isaac
was, are the children of promise. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. 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. So then, brethren, We are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. And so the Apostle Paul, as he's
addressing the Galatians, comes to the end, as it were, of one
section here, and how he tells us, now we brethren, as Isaac
was, are the children of promise. It's a great difference between
Isaac and Ishmael. As I've said, last week, Ishmael
was born after the flesh, and Isaac was born after the promise. And it's a wonderful blessing
if we today find that spiritually, we are not just following the
things of the flesh, but by the grace of God are following the
things of the Spirit and therefore are indeed the children of promise. It's a very wonderful thing to
think of this in a spiritual way, how Abraham was told by
God that his seed would be as the sand of the seashore or as
the stars of heaven and of course it has come and is coming it
continues to come to pass and what a wonderful thing it is
to realize that because of the mercy and because of the love
of almighty God if he has come and called us out of nature's
darkness into the glorious light of the gospel, it is because
of the promise. It is because of his great love
for his wonderful grace to such unworthy sinners. And so how
true it is as Paul says in now we brethren, as Isaac was, just
as Isaac was, we are children of the promise. But as then,
he that is born after the flesh persecuted him, that was born
after the Spirit. Even so, it is now. And the Word of God tells us
that it is through much opposition, much persecution, that we shall
enter the kingdom. And often we don't like to acknowledge
that, but there is still today, those who are of the flesh, those
who have a fleshly religion, they persecute those who have
a God-given religion. They don't like to believe in
the sovereign grace of God. They like to believe in the free
will of man, which enables them to choose or to turn away. And it was so in the days of
Sarah, as we read in Genesis 2, 21 rather, verse 9. And Sarah
saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, when she had born unto Abraham. They saw, and there he was, mocking. And that's what the children
of flesh do today. They mock the true Church of
God. They mock their religion. They
mock the simplicity and the glory of it. And therefore we should
not be surprised. Indeed, surely it is a mark of
God's grace toward us. if we do sometimes have to endure
mocking and those things which are spoken against us. And so as this word is very true,
but as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the flesh, even so is it now. And we read about Hagar, the
casting of Hagar and Ishmael out of Abraham's family, was
a type and emblem of the rejection of the carnal and self-righteous
Jews from the gospel, church, state. Nor ought any carnal persons,
any that are after the flesh, unregenerate ones, or that trust
in their own righteousness, to be in a gospel church, as they
will also be excluded and thrust out of the kingdom of heaven,
into which no unregenerate and unrighteous or self-righteous
person shall enter." It's a great truth of God, isn't it? to realise
these things and how we we need to be thankful if the Lord has
looked upon us and caused us to hear his glorious voice and
by hearing that glorious voice to know that we are amongst those
who are in the covenant of grace and we're not in that situation
of the covenant of works there are therefore there's two families
Those called by grace, those who are relying on their works,
those of the flesh. What a mercy if you and I have
the evidence that we are a part of that family called by grace. And those who desire therefore
to not take any glory themselves, but to honour and glorify our
great and glorious God. The Apostle, when he wrote to
the Corinthians, he spoke some very beautiful words. And in
the 2nd chapter and the 3rd... 2nd epistle and the 3rd chapter
and the 3rd verse. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared
to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and this is
it, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God, not in tables of stone, because the Ten Commandments
are written in the tables of stone, that was the law, but
in the fleshy tables of the heart. What a mercy then tonight, if
we have the evidence that God has written his truth, not only
in our head, it will be in our head, but it doesn't stop there. We know our heart is moved, by
the great truths of the Gospel. and to believe, therefore, in
all that it means and all that it contains, so that we come
tonight and bless God for His wonderful favour, indeed for
His unspeakable gift, and to be therefore amongst the Church
of God and gathered with the Church of God. Again, Isaiah
speaks of this in the 27th chapter, the 12th verse, when he says,
And it shall come to pass in that day The Lord shall beat
off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and
ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. You
see, the law was generally to Israel, to the Jewish nation,
but the gospel is to God's people one by one. We're all called
individually. We all have a personal work of
grace in our hearts. They may be similar, they will
not be quite the same. The Lord deals sovereignly with
each one of his people. So what a mercy it is tonight,
if you and I can recognise and count that we are indeed one
of these who have been gathered one by one, personally, by the
Saviour, gathered into the household of faith, gathered into the Church
of God. Oh, what a mercy, what a blessing. Do we not have cause to praise
and thank our God tonight if we have the wonderful evidence
of that great truth within? And then, of course, the Apostle
goes on to say, cast out the bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. They won't
be because they're separated. And there's no union. Because
they are not the recipients of the grace of God. And because
they're not recipients of the grace of God, they do not truly
bow down and worship the Blessed Saviour. They're happy to worship
in an outward form, in a pharisaical way, and to satisfy their own
mind. But those who are born by the
Spirit desire to exalt the sovereign grace of God, and they desire
to praise the Blessed Saviour for coming into this world to
save such unworthy sinners, and in so doing to lay down his life
that they might receive the glorious gift of life. We read that 54th
chapter of Isaiah really because of the first verse which speaks
beautifully. Sing, O barren, thou that didst
not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst
not travel with child, for more are the children of the desolate
and the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Of course,
that was true. Sarah was indeed barren, and
then the Lord came and blessed her. It was His work naturally,
and therefore there are great, great numbers of Jewish people,
but a great blessing is to be a spiritual Israel. To be part
of those that the Lord spoke about in the same way. The children
of Abraham. Those who were born by the Spirit
and not of the flesh. And then lastly, as the Apostle
concludes and he says, As they will also be excluded and thrust
out of the kingdom of heaven, into which no ungenerate and
unrighteous or self-righteous person shall enter, we can bless
God for his thoughts toward us. As Jeremiah tells us, For I know
the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace
and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Now this is
the freedom which is to be enjoyed in Christ. We are therefore not
from the bondwoman. We are by promise. And we can
then, by the grace of God, look forward to that glorious inheritance
in glory and to know something therefore of the peace of God
which comes when the Lord shows to us that all our sins are forever
washed away in the precious blood of the Redeemer. And we are indeed
redeemed. And therefore, we are not of
the flesh, but we are of the Spirit. To the glory of God. Amen. May God help our brethren to
speak to us in prayer. Joseph, will you pray please?