So let us turn to the book of
Revelation, chapter 21, and reading from verse 1 down to verse 15. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and he their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said
unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that
overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God,
and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death. And there came unto me one of
the seven angels, which had the seven vials, full of the seven
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will
show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away
in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me
that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God, having the glory of God. And her light was like unto a
stone, most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. and had a wall great and high,
and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and
the names written thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes
of the children of Israel. On the east three gates, on the
north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west
three gates. And the wall of the city had
twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles
of the Lamb. We'll leave the reading there
in that chapter in Revelation. And now we'll turn again for
our meditation to the fourth chapter of Galatians and reading
from verse 25 to verse 27. the fourth chapter in the epistle
of Paul to the Galatians chapter 4 from verse 25 to 27. And this agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage
with her children but Jerusalem which is above is free which
is the mother of us all for it is written rejoice thou barren
that bearest not, break forth and cry thou that travailest. For the desolate hath many more
children than she which hath an husband. Well, we know, of
course, the Apostle Paul is drawing our attention here to the allegories
of the situation. And he gives us this figurative
description And we have already seen previously that Hagar and
Sarah relates to the two covenants, the covenant of works, which
was, of course, Hagar, and the covenant of grace, which was
Sarah. And now we need to consider the relationships of the two
Jerusalems. There were two covenants and
there were the two Jerusalems. And the fact that the two covenants
gave birth to two distinct nations is central to Paul's argument. It is impossible, therefore,
to argue the apostle is belonging, you can't belong to both. both
of those situations, both of those nations, at the same time. We cannot simultaneously be under
the law and under the gospel. We are either children of the
earthly Jerusalem, which we are in bondage, and it's a fruitless
religion of works, or we are the children of the heavenly
Jerusalem and enjoy the glorious liberty of the children of God. We are either slaves, like Ishmael,
or otherwise we are like Isaac, heirs like Isaac. Well, it's
good really to have such parts of Scripture to instruct us in
this double situation. and to realise that there are
still those today who are relying upon the law for their salvation
and are therefore really only looking for an earthly Jerusalem,
earthly happiness. to enjoy the things of time. Many today, of course, worship
what we're told is a prosperity gospel. And there's little reverence,
really, and reference to the true state of the spiritual Jerusalem,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to realize that It is through the
heritage of Sarah, who of course was blessed with that child Isaac,
who was not born after the flesh, but he was born after the Spirit,
in exactly the same way as all the Church of God. are not born
after the flesh, they are naturally, as we all are, but they are born
also of the Spirit. They are born again of the Spirit.
And that really is the tremendous difference between those who
worship the law, who think they can bring salvation by their
own works, and satisfy God by those things, And there are those
who acknowledge they are guilty, helpless, undeserving sinners,
and plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's none
other that is sufficient to satisfy the demands of the holy law of
God. And therefore, tonight it will
be a wonderful blessing if you and I have a realization that
we are blessed with the favor that Sarah was in bringing forth
Isaac, he was indeed born free. He was not in bondage as Ishmael
was and Ishmael is. Of course I know there is that
natural bondage until the Lord does come and to bless us with
his grace, but nonetheless there is that time when there is that
freedom, when we are set free. And as we know, the Lord has
told us, if the Lord shall set us free, we shall be free indeed.
And that's not for time. That's not for an earthly Jerusalem.
But that is for a heavenly Jerusalem, for an eternal Jerusalem. We read together that part in
the Revelation, which speaks so very beautifully of the new
Jerusalem. And of course, we only here see
through a glass darkly, we don't see things clearly. But nonetheless,
in the Revelation, we do get a number of times a little view
of what it will be like in glory, when of course there will be
a wonderful blessing of no sin, no sorrow, no crying, as we read
together. And there will be that glorious
time when the Church of God will sit down to the marriage supper
of the Lamb. That will be a glorious blessing
for the Church of God. Whereas, of course, those who
are under the law and are satisfied with the law and are in bondage
never escape from that. They are always under bondage.
They're always trying to justify themselves, satisfy the law.
And of course, we know the Word of God tells us, he that is guilty
of one sin is guilty of all. And of course, everybody has
failed from that perspective. So what a good thing it will
be tonight. If we can understand a little,
therefore, of what the Apostle says here when he speaks of Agar,
which is of course Hagar. For this, Hagar is Mount Sinai,
which means following the law. in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem,
which is natural Jerusalem, which is of the flesh, which now is,
it's that which is present and is in bondage with her children,
all those who emanate from this situation are her children, but
Jerusalem, heavenly Jerusalem, again remember these are figurative
pictures, but Jerusalem which is above is free. which is the
mother of us all, all those who are born again of the Spirit.
For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren. She was barren, but the
Lord blessed her. Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest
not. Break forth and cry, thou that
troubadest not, for the desolate hath many more children. than
she which hath a husband." Well, there's lots to ponder there,
isn't there? It's a wonderful blessing that we have the Word
of God to show to us the great difference between the Law and
the Gospel, which of course was what the Apostle Paul was so
very keen to expound to his brethren, the Jewish nation of which he
was a part. May God bless his word and help
our brethren now to lead us in prayer. Nathaniel, will you pray
please?