Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 530. The tune is
Celestial, 111. Election is a truth divine, as absolute
as free, works ne'er can make the blessing mine, tis God's
own wise decree. Hymn 530. Action is a drifting line, as
the rest of the world. ? Blessing light ? ? Tis God's
own ? ? Christ decree ? ? He forged a home ? ? He built the
skies ? ? For us all she is for us all ? ? The church of people
? ? All is raised ? ? And made them too ? His song. Eternal was the joys of God,
The soaring and acting King, And Jesus, therefore, in God
a clerk, secures the churts and synagogues. ? We love and trust in God's free
will ? ? No gift is more wise than this ? ? Unshaken love of
God ? No law, no death, no pain, no
sin, ? His degree ? ? The next eternal
? ? Life shall be ? ? Let hope unfold ? His counsels hands will ever
show, Faithful, honest, and love divine. And justice, democracy, truth
and power Unite to make it mine Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the epistle to the Galatians in chapter four. Paul's epistle to the Galatians,
chapter four. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the Father. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them. Thou art under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons,
God hath 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. Albeit then, when ye knew not
God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods,
but now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto
ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days and months and
times and years. I am afraid of you. lest I have bestowed upon you
labour in vain. Brethren, I beseech you, be as
I am, for I am as ye are. Ye have not injured me at all.
Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel
unto you at the first, and my temptation which was in my flesh
ye despised not. nor rejected, but received me
as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness
ye speak of? For I hear I bear you record
that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your
own eyes and have given them to me. Am I therefore becoming
your enemy because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect
you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you,
that you might affect them. But it is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present
with you. My little children, of whom I travel in birth again,
until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you
now. and to change my voice, for I
stand in doubt of you. 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?
For these are the two covenants. The one from Mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar, that of course is Hagar,
the maid of Sarah. For this Agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia. And answereth 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
that thou barren, that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou
that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath an husband. 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, you are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. May the Lord bless that portion
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful, Holy
and eternal God, we bow before thy triune majesty, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, for we desire to worship thee in spirit and
in truth. And as we read in thy word, for
God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Oh, we do pray that that may
be our blessed portion here this afternoon, that they will send
that sacred spirit of adoption into our hearts. We do humbly
beseech them that we may know and feel and experience that
we are the living children of the living God. We are the sons
and daughters of the Lord God Almighty. and that Jesus Christ
is our elder brother, that friend that sticketh closer than a brother,
yea, a brother born for adversity. Oh, to truly feel that as we
gather round thy word this afternoon, that thy truth may reach into
our hearts and the peace of God that passes all understanding
may keep our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We pray to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, whether
he comes as an angel of light to deceive, or whether he comes
as a roaring lion to devour. We have read, O Lord, how there
were those in the church at Galatia that sought to bring thy children
again into bondage and darkness, O most gracious Lord, we pray
to be delivered from the deceptions of Satan. And we pray that when
the enemy does indeed come in like a flood, the spirit of the
Lord will lift up a standard against him. We pray that thou
would graciously come and seal thy word into our souls this
afternoon. We read in thy word whereby ye
are sealed unto the day of redemption. Oh, that we could each know that
sealing of the spirit, that life-giving spirit, that quickening spirit,
that powerful spirit, that almighty spirit of the almighty God. Oh, to know his power and his
influence as we gather around the word. Holy Ghost, we look
to thee. but raise the dead, the captive
free. From the mighty take the prey,
teach the weak to watch and pray. Oh, we do pray that thou wouldst
bless us as a church and as a congregation, and work mightily, powerfully,
and effectually among us to the great glory of thy name. We pray
for the little ones and the children as they're brought into the sanctuary,
that thy blessing may rest upon them We pray for each of the
dear children, have mercy upon them, put their holy fear into
their hearts, an unctuous light to all that's right, a bar to
all that's wrong. O gracious God, we pray for our
young friends, bless them, guide them, direct them, enter their
souls, quicken them, bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ,
that they may become true followers of thee, and of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises, grant that it may be
so. We think of that ancient promise,
instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, who in thou
mayest make princes in all the earth. And O Lord God, we pray
that thou wouldst graciously constrain them to follow thee,
in their day and in their generation, to come and tell to sinners round
what a dear Saviour they have found, and point to thy redeeming
blood, and say, Behold the way to God. O do graciously bless
the young and rising generation. Keep and preserve them from all
evil, from all unrighteousness. Those that have wandered from
wisdom's way stretch out thy almighty arm, cause them to be
in want, cause them to return. Lord, we long to see thy mighty
power in our midst, in returning the prodigals, in gathering precious
souls from this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets,
that thou wouldst bring our sons from far and our daughters from
the ends of the earth, Lord, there is nothing too hard for
thee, nothing beyond thy power. Oh, we do pray, Lord Jesus, that
thou wouldst be exalted among us, and that we may know the
divine drawings of our eternal Father, drawing us unto his best
beloved Son, that Jesus himself may come and stand in our midst
and say, peace be unto you. Lord, grant that it may be so.
We do pray that the gospel light may shine forth and the power
of truth may be made known, not only here but in the little causes
of truth up and down the land. We do humbly beseech of thee. Lord, there are those that recently
in our circles have passed from time into eternity. O we do pray
that thou wouldst raise up preachers more, with voice to raise the
dead. We do humbly beseech thee that
thou wouldst send forth thy servants still and grant the settlement
of pastors among the churches and the building of Zion's walls. O let us see thy goings, let
us see thy power and thy glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy restless end, thou and the ark of thy strength, and
let thy priests be clothed with salvation. And thy saints shall
shout aloud for joy, O abundantly bless the provision of thy house,
and satisfy her poor with bread. O Lord, we do beseech of thee,
send real prosperity. Grant that thy people those in
whom thou dwellest, may grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that we may be well established
upon that eternal rock of ages, that I may know him in the power
of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Gracious God,
that may we be an exercised people and may we indeed grow, that
we may grow each one of us individually in a spiritual way, that we may
be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and that
there may be a spirit of real travail among us. For as soon
as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. We read Or we have read, O Lord,
the dear apostle that he travelled again for the church at Galatia. Oh, we pray that thou wouldst
ever give us that spirit. And that we pray that where there
is darkness, there may be light. And where there is bondage, there
may be liberty. And where there is death, may
there be life. We do humbly beseech of thee
for thy great namesake. Where there are those that are
far off, may they be made nigh by the precious blood of Christ.
We do humbly beseech of thee. We thank thee for the glorious
person, power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of the eternal Father, who was manifest in the flesh. We
thank thee, O Lord, for what he has done when he was made
of a woman made under the law, that he might redeem them that
are under the law. Oh, may he be revealed in all
his glory, in all his power, in all his suitability as a saviour,
as that one that is able to save to the uttermost all that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth. He has the power of an
endless life. We do thank thee that he suffered
and bled and died for our sins, and rose again for our justification,
and has brought light and immortality to light through the gospel.
We thank thee that he fulfilled, honoured and magnified thy holy
law. O most gracious Lord, we do pray
for clear views of the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that he may be revealed to us through the ministry of the word,
through the reading of the word, we do humbly pray thee. All we
do pray, most gracious Lord, that thou in thy precious mercy
would remember parents and give them grace and wisdom to bring
up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and
to walk rightly before them, that it may be down to the honour,
glory and praise of thy great name. We do pray that we may be a fruitful
church and congregation, and do good unto all men, especially
unto the household of faith. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
for those of us in the evening time of life journey, that they
must graciously be with us still, guide us still, direct us still. We do humbly beseech them. Precious
souls may still be gathered, and the strongholds of Satan
pulled down, and thy kingdom set up in the hearts of sinners.
Lord, we wait and we watch and we pray and we plead for thy
appearing. Pray for all in the path of affliction
and sorrow and sadness and bereavement, and pray that thy sustaining,
upholding, and strengthening mercies may be known and felt. We do humbly beseech of thee. that we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst be with us as we turn to thy holy word,
that thou wouldst come and open thy word to our heart and to
our understanding, and that we may delve into the deep that
couches beneath. We pray for all thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine this day, as they stand upon
the walls of Zion. Set them free. Set them at liberty. Oh, we do humbly beseech thee
that we may see the fulfilling of that word, for I am returned
unto Jerusalem with mercies, and that we may see the fulfilling
of another word until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high.
Oh, do grant that it may be so, Lord, that we may feel the divine
drawings of our eternal Father, and the divine leadings of the
Holy Spirit and the sacred presence and example of our Lord Jesus
Christ set before us, who is the way, the truth and the life.
Oh, that we could have the mind of Christ, that we could have
the spirit of love, kindness and compassion given unto each
one of us. When is it brethren all agree
and let distinctions fall when nothing in themselves they see,
and Christ is all in all. Lord, grant that that may be
so. We do humbly beseech of thee. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar, that there may be the
spirit of power and the spirit of grace. We ask with the forgiveness
of all our many sins For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 520. The tune is Houghton 808. The law of the Lord is perfect
and good, but cannot afford nor comfort nor food to sinners distressed
or whelmed with fear, but Jesus the blessed can yield them good
cheer. Hymn 520. ? The Lord, the Lord,
is good and kind, ? O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, O come, ? How Jesus, so blessed, can give
them good cheer ? ? Blessed am I, Lord Jesus Christ of last
year ? with care and with pain, shall come to thee free from
sorrow's pain. Stained all nights with sorrow,
and days filled with stress. When I look at the horror the
Lord has infest. ? Anything ? ? Forever will be
? ? Ever still the same ? ? Forever will be ? He feels himself guilty, and
not can he live. His own soul can fill him, and
never can shut. ? Best be to the Lamb ? ? The great
King of kings ? ? Who comes just in time ? ? And when tidings
ring ? ? The Lord is near ? with the Fatherland. And whose broad stripes and bright
stars Christ lives, and may reach the
clouds. The Spirit of His head is true, too. ? The sweet spirit shielding ?
? The sovereign of men ? ? And comforts and cheers giving ?
? And nourishes fear ? ? In the land of the free and the
home of the brave ? ? I look at my home ? ? My friend and
my portion ? ? My land and my home ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the epistle to the Galatians
in chapter four, and we will read verses six and seven for
our text. Galatians chapter four, verses
six and seven. And 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. How beautifully and clearly the
dear apostle writes to the Galatian church. There were those in the
Galatian church that were teaching that the believer was still under
the law They were also teaching that now they were Christian
believers, they could keep the law and live a life that was righteous
according to the law. And of course the dear apostle,
he sees clearly and most emphatically that this was a gross error. He doesn't mince his words at
all as he writes to the Galatians. We read it together, he stood
in jeopardy of them because they would believe in another gospel
that was contrary to the gospel that he preached. The gospel
that the Apostle preached was that Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. false teachers no doubt Jewish
teachers within the Galatian church were teaching them that
they were still under the law indeed in the beginning of chapter
three he says to them as I say very emphatically oh foolish
Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set
forth, crucified among you. This only would I learn of you,
received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. What a question, isn't it? Are
you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made
perfect by the flesh? That was the error that had crept
in from the Jewish teachers. You see, he makes it so clear
that the believer is delivered from the law, from its power,
from its curse. And he says in verse 21 of chapter
2, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. You see, the
error that they had fallen into is to say that the believer can
be perfect, can live according to the law. And the apostle says,
and he labors throughout this epistle to clearly point out
to them that we are delivered from the law and from its power.
He says in verse 19 of chapter two, for I through the law am
dead to the law. that I might live unto God. I
am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. The point he's making is that
when we come into Christ, by faith. When we close with Christ
by faith, then we are delivered from the power and the influence
of the law. Now as the apostle says in the
Romans, the law is holy, just and good. There's nothing wrong
with the law. It's God's holy righteous law. The wrong is in us and in our
complete inability to keep Now the false teachers in the church
at Galatia were saying, oh, now you're a believer, you can keep
the law. You can honor the Lord, you can fulfill the law. And
the apostle says, no, that's an utter impossibility. We have
the old man of sin, we have the new man of grace. The old man
of sin never has and never will keep the holy, righteous law
of God. And we live by faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. and he says here
in this epistle the law is not a faith the law is not a faith
he goes on in chapter 3 and he says verse 19 wherefore then
serveth the law it was added because of transgressions till
the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was
ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator
is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against
the promises of God? That's the promises of grace
in Christ. God forbid! For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
that all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law and shut up unto the faith which would afterward
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ. Notice, to bring us is in italics. which means it was not in the
original. It was added by the translators.
Now if you carefully look at that, you take out to bring us,
wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female, for you're all one in Christ. And if you be in Christ,
you be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. The Christian believer is the
spiritual seed of Abraham. And then he enters into chapter
four. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all. He's speaking here of the child
of God. Before they are called by divine
grace, they are heirs because they were chosen by the Father.
beginning of our text and because ye are sons the very fact the
evidence that we are the sons of God because we're called by
divine grace because you are sons you don't become a son by suddenly
believing a son has been there eternally and this is what the
point the apostle is making chosen by the father before the foundation
of the world and then he speaks of um by the but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the father he's
speaking now of the old testament and being under the law tutors
and governors even so we when we were children
were in bondage under the elements of the world But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them. They were under the law that
we might receive the adoption of sons. You see, in and through,
the finished work, the glorious person of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, We become sons of God in him. As the apostle
puts it in the Galatians, we become the sons and daughters
of the Lord God Almighty. What a sacred privilege. What a high privilege. What a
tremendous favor beyond all that we can really comprehend. that
a poor, wretched, ruined sinner becomes a spiritual son or daughter
of the Lord God Almighty. And because ye are sons, not
because of anything in yourself, not because of how good you've
been, not because of how obedient you have been, Nothing to do
with what you have done or what I have done, what you can do
or what you will do. It's nothing to do with that
at all. And because, ya sons, it's an eternal choice that we
just sung together in our hymn. A sovereign choice of the eternal
God from before the foundation of the world. And if indeed the
Lord has quickened your soul, If indeed the Spirit does dwell
in your heart, it's because you're one of the sons and daughters
of the Lord God Almighty. And because ye are sons. It's a precious truth, isn't
it? It's the sovereign grace of the
Eternal God. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit. You notice the Spirit is in capital
letter because it's referring to the Holy Ghost. He sent forth
the Spirit of his Son. In Romans 8, the Apostle, he
calls it the Spirit of Christ. These three are one, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. And here, in this verse 6, we
have the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And because ye are sons,
God, has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. Abba is Hebrew for Father. Father is the Greek. As you know,
the New Testament was written in Greek. John Gill, I'm speaking
on this because the Apostle uses this expression on a number of
occasions, certainly in the Romans and here. And he says it's written
in Hebrew and Greek to show that it's Jew and Greek that is called
by divine grace. There's no distinction. They're
all the same as before God. So he becomes our father. He sent forth the spirit of his
son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. You see, in the
Romans, chapter eight, the same truth is set before us. I actually
often quote it in prayer. And how beautifully does the
dear apostle set it before us there. Verses 14, from verse
14 in Romans 8, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
And if children and heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together. You see that beautiful word,
but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. You see, precious truth. Now the reason that the Spirit
has entered your heart, has quickened your soul, is because your Heavenly
Father chose you before the foundation of the world. No other reason. It's an absolute choice of God. That's the only reason. And don't
we have to say with the hymn writer, These things are made
a living reality in our hearts. Why me? Oh, blessed God, why
me? Who must forever lie in hell.
We're not salvation free. And salvation is absolutely free. It's completely free. It's the electing love of the
Father, the redeeming love of the Son, and the sanctifying
love of the Holy Ghost that makes a child of God, it does. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. You see, heirs of God, an heir
of promise, Now what happened here in the
church at Galatia and they were turning again to the law, the
bondage of the law. They were keeping days and circumcising
and the various holy days in the Jewish calendar they were
keeping and the apostle he said, I stand in doubt of you. How
can you be truly the children of God if you've turned again?
says here in the verse 9 but now after that you have known
god or rather are known of god how turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements whereunto you desire again to be in bondage
you observe days and months and times and years i'm afraid of
you lest i have bestowed upon you labor in vain you see see
how he's He says it here, he travailed in birth again for
them. He begged of the Lord to put
his hand again to the work, because they were going astray. Now, we all go astray by nature. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way. It's a solemn thought,
isn't it? We go astray. We turn to our
own way. Now these, it was a, what was
covered over in a religious way, they turned to another way that
was not the way of God. It was religious. It spoke of
the service of God and of doing this and of doing that and of
doing something else. You see, but it wasn't the right
way. He said you've been made free
in Christ. You've been brought to faith
in Christ. You've become followers of Christ. Why are you now turning
away from Christ? For you're all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You see, where there
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female. for you're all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. I think we mentioned this morning
the promise that was given to Abraham, in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed. Now, my beloved friends, are
you, am I, a child of God, of the seed of Abraham through Christ? All those that are brought to
living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, they are of the seed
of Abraham. They are the children of promise,
the promise of eternal life. They were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world and because ye are sons. God has
sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts. I've often said to you, remind
you, and no doubt will if the Lord spares, you must be born
again. Except a man be born of water
and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
Have you been born again? Have you been given spiritual
life? You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins, quickened, given life. What a mercy if you have been
given life. What a mercy if the Lord has
stopped you in your mad career. What a mercy if the Lord has
opened your eyes sometimes that we, just like the Galatians,
we can get turned aside into this or that or the other and
we can become very legal in the way that we think, in the things
that we do, so that we become very legal and it's all a very
legal thing rather than a gracious gospel thing. And we get bound down under a
legal bondage. And this is what was happening
in the church at Galatia. He says to them, verse 15, where
is then the blessedness you spake of? For I bear you record that
if it had been possible that you would have plucked out your
eyes and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy
because I tell you the truth? They, and he's speaking of the
false teachers in the church at Galatia, they zealously affect
you. but not well, yea, that they
would exclude you, that you might affect them. You see, my beloved
friends, they got turned aside. He says in verse 19, my little
children of whom I travel in birth again until Christ be formed
in you. I desire to be present with you
now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you. Oh,
my beloved friends, you know, even from a pastor's point of
view, if one that has been blessed of the Lord and they begin to
turn aside and they become worldly and carnal, it causes much aching
of heart, much sleepless nights to the pastor when he thinks
on these things. And, you know, just as the apostle
here, And he says here, tell me, ye that desire to be under
the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, and then he
uses an allegory here, for it is written that Abraham had two
sons. The one by a bondmaid, that is
of course Hagar, and it was Sarah that persuaded him to go in to
her maid, Hagar, because Sarah was not with child. Therefore,
she persuaded Abraham to go in with her maid. And it's called
the bondmaid. But the other, by a free woman,
that was Sarah herself. But he who was of the bondwoman,
that's Isaac, was born after the flesh. But he of the free
woman was by promise. So that was the child of promise.
And Sarah tried to fulfill the promise herself, by the flesh. Abraham succumbed to her desires,
and he went in unto Hagar, and she had a son, Ishmael. And a
later date, when the Lord was speaking to
Abraham concerning the child of promise, and Abraham said,
let Ishmael live before thee. But no! He was the child of the
flesh, of them trying to fulfill the promise themselves. And he
couldn't be the heir. The child of promise was Isaac
and was to be born of Sarah. That was to whom the promise
was made. But that promise was not fulfilled until, as we read
in the Hebrews, that Sarah was beyond the age of childbearing.
and it says Abraham was as good as dead and then the promise
was fulfilled when it looked utterly completely impossible
the promise was fulfilled but he who was of the bond woman
was born after the flesh but he of the free woman was by promise
Christ is the child of promise and we're all the children of
Abraham in Christ which things are an allegory for these are
the two covenants and by this she's saying the covenant of
the law and the covenant of grace we spoke i think it was on thursday
evening from hebrew chapter eight on the two covenants or or the
two testaments covenant and testament are almost identical in in their
meaning so he's speaking of the old testament and the new testament
The Old Testament under the law and the New Testament of the
grace of God in Jesus Christ, which things are an allegory.
That means an illustration of the Hagar having Ishmael and
Sarah having Isaac. Isaac being the seed of promise. Which things are an allegory
for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage. That's the law, you see, which
is Agar. It's the Greek translation of
Hagar, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai, of course, where
the law was given, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is. That
is, the Jews that now were. It 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. You
see, what a wonderful illustration, the mother of us all. For it
is written, and here of course is a quotation from the Old Testament,
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 an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. The children of promise. What
a wonderful illustration it is, isn't it? But as then he that
was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. You see, friends, right from
the beginning of time that has been said. Cain slew his brother
Abel, right at the beginning. Those two sons of Adam and Eve,
Cain and Abel. Abel was given faith. He offered
a lamb, no doubt in faith, with an eye to the Lord Jesus Christ. Abel was in Christ. Cain was not and Abel was accepted
of God and his sacrifice because he had an eye to Christ. Cain
did not, he brought the work of his own hands and he was rejected
of God and he hated his brother Abel because he was rejected
of God and he slew his own brother. You see and it goes on here 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, ye are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. And then he exhorts
them so clearly, so emphatically, stand fast therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is
a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, Whosoever you are justified by the law, you are fallen from
grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. That's the glorious
righteousness of Christ. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Oh, my beloved friends, do you
and I have this faith that worketh by love? And principally that
love is to Christ. The love of Christ constraineth
us. David, he could say, I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice, the voice of my supplications. Child of promise in Christ, not
through the law. And he warns them here, he said,
you did run well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? This persuasion, this persuasion
of being under the law, and being able to fulfill it, now they're
a child of God. This persuasion cometh not of
him that calleth you. A little leaven, that's the yeast
that you put into bread to make it rise. Leaven is a type of sin. It's what sin is. What the apostle
here, he says, this error that had crept into the church at
Galatia, It's like leaven, it's like yeast. It'll permeate through
the whole lump. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump. In the book of the Revelation
knows seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. How Christ
there very searchingly speaks to the pastor of each church. And there were two or three churches
where he reproved them. He said because they received
people that had false doctrine, that did not believe the truth,
that held to some other truth in some fundamental way. And
he said to the pastor, I think one of them was the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, it was obviously some error that had crept into
the Christian church, and he said to them, it's not right,
you shouldn't have people in your church that do not follow
the truth and do not hold to the truth. Because a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump. You see, my beloved friends,
may we lay these things to heart. And because ye are sons, God
hath 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 Jesus Christ. An heir of God through Jesus
Christ. Heirs of promise. What a wonderful
thing to be an heir of promise. To be adopted into the family
of God. To know, to feel in some little
measure that you have a heavenly father. that he has loved you
with an everlasting love, and that he sent his son to suffer,
bleed, and die for your sins. He sent his son to fulfill the
law on your behalf because you're sons. That's why he sent him
on this earth, because he loves you. Sometimes, friends, I don't
think we dwell sufficiently on the love of the Father. The infinite
love of our eternal Father who gave his only begotten son. You
know friends, I believe one of the reasons why Satan puts wrong
thoughts into our mind concerning the Father and concerning his
love, his kindness, his compassion, Satan will introduce those things
into your mind so that you don't have this sacred comfort and
consolation And it is one of the most sacred consolations
you can know, that God is my father. God is my father. And that the Lord has sent his
spirit into the heart. I've often told you of that time,
that when I had such a sacred revelation of the Trinity, and
that was when I was brought into gospel liberty. It would have
been about 1979, 1980. And oh, the sacredness as I knelt
before the Lord under such a sense of His blessing in my soul. My
heart overflowed. I was like naphtali, satisfied
with favour, full of the blessing of the Lord. Oh, I felt such
a love to my Eternal Father. It was He that had chosen me
from before the foundation of the world. It was He that gave
me to His Son in eternity past. It was He that sent His Son to
suffer, bleed and die for my sake, to fulfil and honour the
law of God. Oh, what a love I felt to my
Heavenly Father. And what a love I felt to His
Son, Jesus Christ, who left heaven, who came here upon earth, lived
as a man here upon earth. For me, suffered and bled and
died for me. Friends, it's such a sacred,
precious thing when you feel that. And then I felt such a
love to the Holy Ghost, who proceeded forth from the Father and the
Son. And He enters into the heart of each one of these chosen vessels
of mercy. He calls them by divine grace. He quickens their soul into life.
He dwells in their hearts. He does. all the sacred matchless
condescension of the Holy Ghost to the end to the heart of a
poor wretched sinner and to give them life and light and liberty
and to lead them to Jesus Christ the only Savior of sinners and
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. It's all in Christ. Everything
is in Christ. And you know, in heaven, everything
that will be attractive is in Christ. The lamb in the midst
of the throne is all in Christ. Emmanuel is all the glory. in
Emmanuel's land. I will not gaze on glory, but
on my King of grace, not on the crown he giveth, but on those
pierced hands. Precious words, aren't they?
Precious words of truth. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, Crying,
Abba, Father. You know, when I had that sacred
revelation of the Trinity, the overriding sense that I had was
these three are one. One blessed, infinite, almighty,
and eternal Lord Jehovah. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 79. The tune is Adoption, number
one. Behold what wondrous grace the
Father has bestowed on sinners of a mortal race to call them
sons of God. Hymn number 79. O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, to Bethlehem. That your marriage could unify
the King of heaven a thousand times. O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave then we shall be like a head. The Lord so much divine, great
from and pure. The way of Son, King, Christ, Almighty,
as pure as His feet is pure. ? If in my Father's love ? ? I
share the filial part ? ? Send down thy spirit now ? ? To rest upon my throne ? ? Remember, Lord, the night ? ?
Thy strength before thy throne ? ? O praise shall I evermore ? ? Hark, the herald
angels sing ? Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and for evermore. Amen.