First of all, from Galatians,
we'll cut down our reading a bit today. Let's look at verse 22
and verse 23 of this allegory that Paul is setting forth. Galatians
4, 22, 23. For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid and the other by the free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman by promise. Now we need to get that. He of
the free woman by promise. Flipping back to chapter three,
13 through 18 now. We're going to be all over Galatians
this morning to bring this together. But verse 13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. that a
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner
of men. Though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man disanulleth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He said, not unto seeds as many,
but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say,
that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul,
that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of law, it is no more a promise. but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. Now that word promise is going
to be very prominent in our study of the morning as we contrast
law and promise as to the origin and to the two states of men
and women under any religious dispensation. Now, a little bit
of rehearsal, please. In opening the allegory and applying
it for their and our benefit, Paul makes some very important
and weighty contrasts. We'll notice them once again. There is the bondwoman, and there
is the free woman. There is flesh, and there is
promise. Those born after the flesh, those
born after the promise. There is a covenant of bondage
and there is a covenant of liberty or freedom. There are those that
are the son of the bondwoman and those that are sons of the
free woman. Thus, it kind of says that these
two things are in the column or in a row. So I thought that
we could compose two columns that we might emphasize the great
distinction that Paul is making in order that he might show us
the difference therein between being under law and being under
grace, and the effect of being under each one of them. Now, in the first column, we
shall make this list. We list such things as bondage,
and law, and bondwoman, and flesh, cast out, disinherited, a covenant
that gendereth under bondage. And this is that of Hagar and
Mount Sinai. Then in the other column there
is liberty because there is the free woman by spirit, by promise,
everlasting life, Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother
of us all. All of these things are in this
passage and text of the scripture. Now, the gist of the allegory
revolves around the facts that are stated in verse 22 and verse
23 that we have just read. Because these two sons of Abraham
by two different women, not by the same woman, but by two different
women. The first by the bond woman,
the slave woman, the Egyptian woman who was Hagar, and the
second son, Isaac, by the free woman that is Sarah, and because
of the condition of the woman, the women, bond woman and free
woman, we read in the 23rd verse He of the bondwoman was born
after the flesh. He of the free woman was born
by promise, or in the fulfillment of a promise, or in accordance
with the promise of God. Now, the bondman's son was only
the result of the flesh. We have seen that before. We'll
spend a little time on it today. The bondwoman's son was after
the ability of the flesh, nothing more. It required absolutely
nothing more than the ability of the flesh. There was no need
of any special divine or supernatural intervention that Ishmael might
be born. It was not the fullness of either
a promise or a prophecy. It was a result of a fleshly
union. It was after the common order
of all births. We read in Genesis 16 and verse
4, And he, that is, Abraham, went in unto Hagar at the suggestion
of Sarah, and she conceived. It was after the usual course
of nature, and it differed nothing from the other common children
of men. born after the ordinary course
of nature, as that was with the first couple, Adam and Eve, as
we read in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1. So by the common ability,
capability of the flesh, was Ishmael born into the world. Now on the other hand, He of
the free woman was born, not after the flesh, but in accordance
with a promise. And it goes without saying that
the promiser was God, that God the Lord had made the promise. The promising one was not Sarah,
it was not Abraham, it was not even sent through a prophet or
an angel, for we read this, when God made promise to Abraham,
Hebrews 6 and verse 13, and also in Galatians chapter 3 and verse
18. Paul is clear that the birth
of Isaac from the union of Sarah and of Abraham was the fulfillment
of a promise that had been made by God. It was the virtue of
a promise a promise made in the face of great insurmountable
odds, we might think if we looked at it from fleshly circumstances,
that the birth of Isaac was according to the promise of God. Now this point, we don't see
the actual word promise used in the Old Testament in the history
of Abraham. In fact, I think The first time
the word promise appears in the Old Testament is not until the
book of Numbers and chapter 14 and verse 34. But Paul makes
it very clear in the New Testament passages like Romans 9 and verse
9 For this is the word of promise. At the tenth time I will come
and Sarah shall have a son. That's the word of promise. This you find in Genesis. chapter
17 and verse 16, God gave her the name Sarah, and that means
princess. God changed her name from Sarai
unto Sarah Princess. And he said this, I will bless
her and give you a son by her and she shall be the mother of
nations. different people and nation. In Genesis 17 and verse 19, Sarah
thy wife shall bear you a son indeed and you will name him
Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting
covenant with his seed after him. Now this point is for us
to consider, or it may have been a factor in the actions of Abraham
and of Sarah. And that is, from the very first,
God had promised Abraham a son, a great seed. We see that in
Genesis 12 and 2. Stephen refers to it in Acts
chapter 7 and verse 5. But here in Genesis 17 verse
16 and verse 19 is the first time in God's dealing with Abraham
that it is expressly, deliberately stated that Sarah would give
birth to the promised heir. God had promised Abraham a son,
a promised son, an heir who would be the father of many nations. But this is the first time that
it is actually stated that Sarah would be the mother of the promised
Isaac or the promised son. God is increasing his revelation
unto Abraham as he takes him along. In Genesis chapter 12,
And verse 2, God said to Abraham at the beginning, I will make
of thee a great nation. And in the third verse he said,
in thee, in you, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Then, in Genesis chapter 15 and
verse 4, God says plainly unto Abraham that he shall come forth
out of your own inwards. The son shall be begotten by
you. The son shall be your very own
issue, not by a surrogate, not an adoptee, adoptee to be the
promised son, but one out of Abraham's very own body and loins. As Gil said, this refers to a
genuine, a legitimate son of Abraham in every sense of the
word. Meanwhile, Abraham and Sarah
both advance away to bring the plan and the promise of God into
effect. And they did that before they
were more enlightened as to how it should be. And the reason
that God told Abraham, you will beget the promised son, is because
of Genesis chapter 15. Abraham says to God, I'm old,
I'm childish, I'm nearing the way of the end of all flesh. And I have no son. And he proposed
this, that the servant of my house, Elisha, shall be made
my heir. Let Elisha be the heir. And this is Abraham's point. He was born in my house. He had been Abraham's servant.
Now he's the chief servant of the house of Abraham. And Abraham
thinks to himself, well, maybe it be that the seed come by the
overseer, the steward of my house. And God says no. The air shall
come out of your very own body. And then we come to chapter 16
of Genesis, and the suggestion of Sarah is just as bad, or maybe
worse, as she suggests that her faithful and beloved husband
Take the surrogate wife of her bondmaid. From that union came
Ishmael, Genesis chapter 16. But again, he was not the promised
heir or the promised son. He was born only of the flesh
and eventually was cast out of the house and the family of Abraham. So now we know two things in
God's dealing with Abraham. Number one, Abraham himself would
father the promised son. He would begat the promised son
and the promised heir. It would be his true and his
real son, not adopted. but flesh of his own flesh. The second thing that we know
is that Sarah herself would give birth to the son and the promised
heir. Not a surrogate, not an adopted
son, not a borrowed child, but one born by her. The question becomes, How can
this be? Genesis 17 and 17 reads like
this, shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old
and shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear Shall a 100-year-old
man father a child? And shall a 90-year-old woman
bear that child into the world? In Genesis chapter 18, 11 and
12, now Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken in age,
and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore,
in the 18th chapter, Sarah laughed to herself, or under her breath,
saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord,
being old also? But the mighty, eternal, faithful
sovereign God fulfilled his promise and he did it by reinvigorating
the bodies of Abraham and of Sarah and returning to Sarah
the time of life. Genesis 18 verse 10 and 14. Now in Genesis chapter 21 verse
1 and 2, And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the
Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and
bare Abraham a son in his old age at the set time which God
had spoken unto him. Now something becomes clear,
does it not? That is this, it is clear that
God purposely and deliberately delayed the fulfillment of the
promise and the birth of Isaac until it was beyond any hope
any possibility, any capability of the flesh of Abraham and of
Sarah because they were then both beyond the ability to give
birth under the promised son. Both of them were procreatively
dead as one has said. And therefore, to take away all
ground of boasting, that it might stand only in the will and the
providence of God, God delayed it until this time and still
brought it to pass. Romans 4 said, in hope and against
hope, when there didn't appear to be any hope that it should
be possible, yet it was. Now consider, when Sarah was
younger and in her, what we call her child-bearing age, and that
time she was only barren or infertile. She was barren or infertile from
the time of her marriage Now even in that period, God might
have opened her womb as he is able to open and shut the womb
of whomsoever he will. I'll give you some example. He
shut the womb of Hannah. For a time in her life and in
her marriage 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse 5 and verse 6 for the
Lord had shut up her womb in Genesis 20 17 and 18 it says
the Lord had fasted closed up the wounds of the house
of Abimelech. And if you read there, he had
done that as punishment for the king's treatment of Sarah. Now, the removal of the barrenness
of Rebekah is another example, Genesis 25, 21. And she gave
birth to Jacob and Esau, but had been barren yet the Lord
opened her womb. God also opened the womb of Rachel
in Genesis chapter 30 and verse 22 and Elizabeth in Luke chapter
1 who was childless and in old age. and depressed the point
with Sarah and Isaac. She was the most unique of all
these women that we mentioned that God dealt with. We read
in Romans 4 and verse 19 of the deadness of Sarah's wound. One called this generative death,
for she was no longer of child-bearing age. And the same is applied
unto Abraham. Thus the question in Genesis
17 and 17, shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years
old, and shall Sarah that is ninety bear? And yet it was so. Genesis 21, 1 and 2, and verse
7. Sarah, in her 90th year of life in this world, brought forth
a son fathered by her own husband, Abraham. Now, who could deny
this was beyond human possibility? This is not the ability in the
flesh. But as God said, is anything
too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18 and verse 14. Surely this was a work of God
and God only. Both Abraham and Sarah knew it
to be beyond their ability, and yet they were strong in faith,
glorifying God, being persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to bring to pass. Romans 4, 20 and 21. And Isaac
was born the son of promise, the first fruit of the spiritual
seed of Abraham. the very one in whom Abraham's
seed would be called. Genesis 21, 12 and Romans 9 and
verse 7. And in Romans 9, 9, and this
is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. She shall give birth and shall
give suck. That is, she shall nurse her
newborn upon her very own breast. Now, let's shift our focus into
Galatians chapter 3. and verse 15 through verse 18
to see the right relationship of the promise to Abraham and
of the law given at Mount Sinai. Does the law supersede or does
the law abrogate the promise? That's the question that Paul
is discussing. The relation and the connection
of the law and the promise is open better here in Galatians
3 than any other place that I can think of in the scripture. So
which is predominant? Which stands? Is it the promise
made to Abraham or is it the law that was added or that came
at Mount Sinai? Which one is predominant? Now does the law override the
promise that was made unto Abraham? Can the promise then, like Ishmael,
be cast out so that only the law remains? Is that a possibility? Is that what has happened in
this case? First of all, a few remarks and
facts. about Abraham, the man, the individual,
one of the most significant person in all of the Old Testament and
most revered name and person among the Jew in our Lord's time. Stephen said this in his defense
before the council. You'll find it in Acts chapter
7 and verse 2. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham. when he dwelt in Mesopotamia. The God The God of glory appeared
to our father Abraham. Now his calling, that is Abraham's
calling, marked a new age in God's unfolding purpose of mankind
and with regard to the coming of Christ. In that, in Abraham,
God called and separated his people from the other peoples
of the world. put among them his worship and
his law and raised up the nation through whom Christ would eventually
come into the world, Romans 9 and verse 5. Not only was he the
national father of the Jew, Romans 4 and verse 1, but he was also
the son of the father of Isaac and is the father of them that
believe. And that's important in the New
Testament. Romans 4 and verse 11. Paul says in Galatians 3 and
verse 8 that the gospel was preached unto Abraham. Isn't that an amazing
statement? The gospel was preached unto
Abraham. Now, it was in Abraham's time
and life that we meet with two of the most prominent types of
Christ to be found anywhere in the Old Testament. Number one,
Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, Genesis chapter
14, where after Christ was to be a priest after the order of
Melchizedek. And that's highly emphasized
in the book of Hebrews, that he's a priest after the order
of Melchizedek. Melchizedek met Abraham and gave
him wine and bread, and Abraham gave unto him a tenth of all
of the spoils. It's a little passage, but it
has great impact on Christ and the priest in the New Testament.
And the second thing is that the promised son, the unique
son, the one in whom the seed was to be called, The uniquely
born son, Isaac, was a very close type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that many ways. A promised
son, a beloved son, put upon the altar, crucified, raised
up, many things. He is a type of Christ. But let's
go back to Galatians and Paul's writing now. focusing upon the
promise, the promise Isaac borne in relation unto a promise made
to Abraham. I thought about it, so I counted
in the concordance. And in the two books, Romans
and the book of Galatians, both of them authored by Paul, he
uses the word promise in the singular, times in those two
books. He uses the word promise and
he uses the plural promises four times in those two books, Roman
and Galatian, in connection with Abraham and God's dealing unto
him. Now the word promise, it means
to make an announcement, to make an announcement, to sound it
forth. to make assurance, to do a thing. It is a pledge. It is a promise. And God made promise unto Abraham. Hebrews 6 and 13. Galatians 3
and 16, to Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made. And notice this in Galatians
3, Paul makes a promise to Abraham to be in the form of a covenant. The promise is the same synonymous
with a covenant or a testament. And you have that in chapter
3 of Galatians, verse 15 and verse 17. Now, in the 15th verse,
Paul makes a preliminary statement to enter into the discussion. He says this, even in civil covenants,
even in civil testament or agreement, even when it is among men, when
it is finalized, when it is accepted, when it is confirmed, then two
things are true even of a man's covenant. Number one, even if
it is a human covenant only, only about worldly or about human
matters. Number two, then he said, no
man disanulleth or adds to it. It cannot be voided and it cannot
be changed when once it has been made, once it has been validated. Now, the inference to be drawn
from this is this. If this be true of human covenants,
how much more is it true of divine covenants? So, in chapter 3 of
Galatians, let's do some reading. Look at verse 17 again. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which
was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise
of none effect. Now, let's see a parallel here
between parts of verse 15 parts of verse 17 in verse 15 if or
when Confirmed if it be confirmed look at verse 17 the covenant
confirmed before of God Let's do it again in verse 15. No man disannulls or adds to
it verse 17 the law cannot disannull though that it should make the
promise of none effect The law cannot do that. Now, let's compare
what Paul has written to the churches in Galatia with the
epistle to the saints at Rome in chapter 4 regarding the same
subject. That is, that Abraham, the promised
law and spiritual seed of him. So, in Galatians 3, 17, now let's
add verse 18. For if the inheritance be of
law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it unto Abraham
by law. Now, turning to Romans chapter
4 and verse 13 and 14, and I shall read. For the promise that he should be heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are
of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect." So the fact As to their order of appearance,
the promise, and the law, there is no question that the promise
given to Abraham of a special son to be an heir of God, to
be the father of many nations, and the making of a covenant
with him was prior to the giving of the law. In fact, Paul sets
a gap at 400 and 30 years. Perhaps Paul measures from the
confirmation of the covenant, meaning over four centuries had
passed before the law entered or was given. And Abraham, the
man, the person, had long passed off of the scene and out of this
world. Now, this means that the law
had, to paraphrase the apostle Peter, neither lot nor part in
this matter. The law played no part in the
covenant with Abraham. It neither aided nor it hindered
the promise with Abraham. Abraham believed and was justified
by faith in Genesis 15 and verse 6. He looked for a city that
had foundation, Hebrews 11 and verse 10. By faith he saw Christ's
day and was glad, John 8 and 56. And he died and was gathered
unto his people, In Genesis 25 and verse 8, long before the
law was ever given. Now Romans chapter 4, keep running
back and forth, makes three points regarding the justification of
Abraham, and I say, who doubts? that Abraham was a justified
man. No Jew would ever doubt that,
that Abraham, the friend of God, was a justified man in the favor
of God. So Paul makes three points with
regard to Abraham's justification in Romans chapter 4. Number one,
he was justified not by works, for it is written, Abraham believed
in the Lord, He counted that is he reckoned or he imputed
it to him for righteousness the same is said in Romans 4 3 verse
9 verse 22 and again in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6 Abraham
believed Abraham was justified by faith not by the law number
2 in Romans 4 9 through 12 Abraham was justified by before he was
circumcised in the flesh. And that's the Jews' great boast
is they bear in their flesh circumcision. But he received it in Genesis
chapter 17 before the law was ever given. And then number three. He received it before the law
was given. Before the law came, Abraham
had received the righteousness of faith and believed God and
was justified in the sight of God. So the conclusion is this. The promise and its fulfillment
is not dependent upon the law for its reality and fulfill it. Now, going back to Galatians
chapter 4, I want to read you, I hope you caught it, one of
the most amazing statements that we have anywhere in the scriptures. Excuse me, it is chapter 3 and
verse 16 of Galatians. Let's hear it again. Look what
Paul writes here and see if we can understand it and get a right
meaning of what he has said unto us. Now to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. Now watch this. And he said,
not to seeds, see with an S, not to seeds as of many, but
as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ. And we'll read that
last time again. And he said, to see as to seeds
as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ."
And this part strikes a chord upon our ear. Paul referring
to Christ. as the seed of Abraham and his
premise that it was under Abraham and his seed to who the promises
plural were made and seed is a word in the Bible and in our
vocabulary that can either refer to one individual as it did in
Genesis 4.25 of Seth, when Eve said, I have received seed of
the Lord. She's talking about one son.
Or it can refer to a multitude as it does in Genesis 13 and
Genesis 17 of Abraham being the father of many and of many nations. But Paul takes special care here
to identify a special particular seed of Abraham and it is neither
Isaac or the Jewish nation. Paul says the promise was made
to Abraham and to his seed, not to seeds with an S, but as of
one and to thy seed, which is Christ. You see this in verse
17. Again, I think. The covenant
that was before confirmed of God in Christ. Then look again
down at verse 19. The law was added till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made. And that's not Isaac
or the Jewish nation, but Christ our blessed Lord. Who can it
mean? Who can it be? But the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Sure, it was that Isaac, as opposed
to Ishmael, would Abraham's seed be called. That's clear. However,
the death of Christ was necessary for both Jew or Gentile to become
a literal spiritual partaker of the promise made to Abraham. For mere fleshly descendancy
from Abraham saved no one. Mere fleshly progeny from Abraham
saved no one. Made no one a child of God simply
by being a fleshly descendant of Abraham. And if it did, then
what of the Gentile had no remedy, for they were not of the seed
of Abraham. The same thing with regard to
the Gentile and justification, if it come by the law, since
the Gentile had not the law in that period of time. So the giving
of the law, Paul is saying, did neither cancel the promise or
take its place, neither one of them or so. For if the law did
replace the promise, then the law would have to be able to
give life and to bestow righteousness and justify sinners. And this
it could never do, nor was it designed, nor was it intended
to do this, for Paul says it was added because of transgression
till the seed should come. Now, in this light, compare Romans
chapter 5 and verse 20, where Paul writes an amazing thing. The law entered, that is, it
came in alongside. The law came in alongside of
the transgression of Adam that the offense might abound. Now, listen to some statements
by the apostle that are pertinent to this question and this matter. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, Romans 3 and verse 20. Paul experienced that in Romans
7, 7 through 13, and he's very clear about it. By the law, is
the knowledge of sin. He said, I had not known sin
except by the law, or the law had said. The law works wrath,
Romans 4.15. Not justification, but wrath. It does not destroy sin as it
is actually the strength of sin, 1 Corinthians 15 and 56. By it, sin reigns unto death. And that is the fact from Paul.
So, if you chain yourself to the law and Mount Sinai, what
is there for you? But dread, terror, a curse. That's what you might expect
from the law. However, let's close this study
using Paul's conclusion in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 28. Now we, brethren, as was Isaac,
are the children of promise." Let's get that. That's his conclusion
and application. Now, we, brethren, as was Isaac,
are the children of promise. Now, the we are the saved, the
saints, the believers in Christ. In fact, eternal life is itself
by promise, Titus 1 and verse 2, the promise of eternal life. We're not children by the flesh,
nor by the law, nor birth, but children like Isaac was by promise,
Romans 9, 8 and 4, 16, as was Isaac. Born according to promise, a
supernatural work of God was necessary for the birth of Isaac. So we, like him, are the children
of the free woman, Galatians 4 and 31. We are the children
of that mother, Jerusalem, which is above, not of the bondwoman. And while in Galatians 4 and
23, Paul contrasts flesh and promise of Ishmael and of Isaac. In 429, the contrast is flesh
and spirit, born of the spirit, which brings to mind the words
of our Lord in John chapter 3 to Nicodemus, that born of the flesh
is flesh, that born of the spirit is spirit.