I invite you to come back with
me now to Galatians chapter 4. Paul's letter to the Galatians
was inspired by God to show believers throughout these last days that
salvation is altogether a work of God's grace and is contingent
upon the work of Christ our Lord and Savior. Paul tells us in Galatians 2.21,
I do not frustrate the grace of God. Whatever I say, whatever
I tell you, whatever I'm reading to you, I refuse to frustrate
the grace of God. For if righteousness come by
the law in any shape, form, or fashion, if righteousness, whose
righteousness? Mine. My righteous standing before
God, if it comes by the law, then Christ is dead and blind. His death was of no reason. It was just a death. We're told over and over throughout
the scriptures that salvation is by the free and sovereign
grace of God in Christ. It's not of works. How many times
does He tell us that? Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord, that being justified
by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. God has saved us. That's what
Paul said. He wrote that to that young minister,
Timothy. God has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own mercy, his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. The church is in Galatia. were suddenly being influenced
by the legalistic Jews, legalizers. They crept in unawares. Nobody noticed them. Most of
what passes as religion of this world is a blatant denial of
the free grace of God. There's Baptist churches. that
on their name, on the outside, on their sign and on their church,
in great big letters, says Free Will Baptist Church. That's a
blatant denial of the sovereign grace of God. And most of what passes as the
religion of this world is a blatant denial of the free grace of God
and God's eternal and sovereign will to bring it to pass. They
declare man as the author and finisher of his own destiny and
his works as the crowning glory of his salvation. Well, I don't
know if I believe that preacher. Then go down there and sit down
and listen to it. See if I'm not telling you the
truth. I grew up in it. I know what they preach. And
as he glories in his works here, so he dreams of glorying in his
works there. Listen to their testimonies. But there's a more subtle enemy
than that. They come under the pretense
of believing grace. They teach salvation by grace
through works. They teach that true faith is
a faith that expresses itself in the observance of the mosaic
law. They keep the law. Not all the
law, but just what suits them. What suits them? Well, holy days. They're Sabbath keepers. We keep
the Sabbath. Oh, we're not under the law. We're going to keep the Sabbath.
And since nobody here has a heart of love, we're going to have
to have tithing. Otherwise, we can't go on. We
can't pay the bills. We're going to have to tithe,
so we're going to have to press that on them. And we're going
to put a few other things in there to get them in the door. Because of their ignorance of
the law and the grace of God, they shortened the law down to
a few commandments in holy days, Sabbath keeping, circumcision,
tithing, and of course the Ten Commandments. And in regard to
all who would pervert the gospel of God's free grace in Christ,
the Apostle Paul said this, though I or an angel from heaven come
to you and preach any other gospel unto you than that which I preach,
let him be accursed." Boy, he was upset, wasn't he? You bet
he was. He was angry. So serious is this breach upon
the free grace of God that the Holy Ghost moved Paul to say,
If you be circumcised, if you so much as be circumcised for
a religious reason, Christ shall profit you nothing. He said, I testify again to every
man that's circumcised, he's a debtor. Now listen, to do the
whole law. If you're gonna get under the
law, you're taking on the whole law. You can't have it in part. You can't have just this and
just that. You can't just do what you think
you can. You can't keep any of it, but
you think you can. These men and their heresy were
being embraced by the churches of Galatia, and the issue was
this. Well, you say the issue there
was circumcision. Oh, no it wasn't. The issue there was the gospel
of God. That's the issue. He starts right
out with that in chapter 1. It's the gospel of God. It's
the glory of God. Man's robbing God of His glory
and the finished work of Christ and the souls of men and women
who were given here to these heritage. The gospel is the declaration
of accomplished redemption. Something already done. It's
finished. Ain't that what Christ said on
the cross? You don't believe me, believe Him. It's finished. What was finished? His suffering,
His death. The reason He came into this
world. He came here as a substitute.
He came here as a representative. And He did all that God required
of Him. All that the law required of
Him. And he said, it's finished. It's finished. The gospel is a declaration of
accomplished redemption. Righteousness brought out. My
righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. A perfect righteousness. A righteousness already accepted
of God. A righteousness that was welcomed
into glory and sits at God's right hand. It's accomplished redemption,
righteousness wrought out, sin put away. We don't have to believe that,
do we? Sin put away. I can't, I said
in my study and thought about that, sin, sin, my sins put away. I can't put them away. I can't
put them away, they keep coming back, but he can, and he did. Once has he appeared in the end
of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And all this God declared accepted and approved when he raised his
son from the dead, and carried him up to glory where he sits,
having obtained eternal redemption forever. The Word of God plainly
teaches that God deals with men and women according to their
covenant relationships to Him. What's that mean? Well, a covenant
is a promise that was given upon the fulfillment of stipulated
conditions. This is what I'm going to do,
and this is what's required of you. And there's two distinct covenants
declared in the scriptures, the covenant of works and the covenant
of grace. The covenant of works was given
to men and women through their federal head and representative,
Adam. God put him in his garden, his
garden. He put him there to serve him
and enjoy the fruits of the garden. And he gave him a beautiful bride.
And all was well for a season. But God is God. And man was created
in God's image, and here he is, and he's in God's garden. And to state the fact that God
is God, he's sovereign God, God gave him only one law to keep.
He said, you see all these trees? You can eat. I can't imagine
the variety of fruits and nuts and berries and things that was
in that garden. He said, you can eat it all. He died. But
see this tree here? Don't eat of this tree. This
is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And in the
day you eat of it, you'll die. Now I ain't gonna say it. He
said thou shalt surely die. Why? What could possibly be wrong
about knowing good and evil? Why did God forbid him to eat
of that tree? Because knowing good, he wouldn't
be able to produce it. And knowing evil, he wouldn't
be able to resist it. The day you eat of that tree,
you'll die. You'll die. This covenant was more fully
detailed at the giving of the law at Sinai. But basically it
says this, do this and live. That's the covenant of works.
The covenant is only as good as the one upon whom its conditions
are demanded. Leviticus 26 gives the details
of the covenant of works. It gives both the promise, all
the promises. If you do this, you keep my commandments,
you do this, I'm going to do this. But if you don't do them,
this is what I'm going to do. It gives both the promises and
the curse. The covenant of works was given
to Adam who failed to keep it and by whom it now is hopelessly
broken. You cannot mend the covenant
of works. Once it's broken, it's broken.
It can't be fixed. It can't be reformed. It can't
be patched. It's hopelessly broken. And once
broken, it can't be mended. He said, by one man's sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. You say, but why? Why don't God
play this out over and over with every man? Well, if a perfect
man in a perfect environment, having full communion with God,
cannot keep the conditions of the promise, There's no reason
to continue it on and on and on. Because we're not perfect
and we're not in a perfect environment. And if Adam couldn't do it, you
can't do it. Now that's just so. Now that's
enough about that covenant of works. The covenant of grace
is an agreement made between the sacred trinity. It's a promise
of salvation in Christ by the free and sovereign grace of God.
Everything promised in this covenant rests entirely upon the shoulders
of Christ. Did you hear me? Here's the covenant.
God took the whole covenant and He put it on His Son. He made
Him the surety of that everlasting covenant. Oh, that I could say
with David, although it be not so with my house, yet thou hast
made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and
all my desire. Though he make it not to grow.
It didn't grow to Absalom. Did it? No. But he made it with
David. He made it with David. And so
he did all down through the scriptures. He says in Hebrews 7 verse 19,
For the law made nothing perfect, nothing, but the bringing in of a better
hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God. So what hope is
he talking about? The bringing in of a better hope
did. The law didn't do it. The law
couldn't do it because of the plague. But the bringing in of
a better hope did. And what is this hope? It's the
hope of an eternal priest, promised, an effectual priest, an all-sufficient
priest. And this priest is the Son of
God. Hebrews 7.21, for those priests, those Levitical priesthood,
they were made without an oath. There was no oath. of God involved
in their priesthood. They were priests because they
were born in the tribe of the Levites and God appointed them
as priests. They were made without an oath,
but this, with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord
swear, and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, after the
order of Melchizedek. He didn't have a beginning or
an end, did he? He didn't have mother or father.
By so much was Jesus, now listen to this, made a better surety
of a better testament. What is that word, testament?
Covenant. Covenant. He was made the surety
of a better covenant. How did God do that? Well, He
blessed us, Ephesians 1-3, with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
blessings in Christ. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Why did he do that? Because the covenant demanded
it. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy. Holy. Everything about us is holy.
It's consistent with the full character of God. There's no
compromise anywhere in our salvation. Everything about the believer
is holy. Holiness is talking about the
wholeness of God's character all the time, continual, all
the time. It never compromises, never stops. We're holy in Christ. When did
I get holy? When He put me in Him back yonder
in eternity. He chose me in Christ that I
might be holy. And without blame. I'm going
to be examined. I was examined. Huh? Who's going to examine you? God is. Is He going to find anything? No. Thoughtless in the presence
of His glory. That's what Scripture says. He
chose us in Christ that we might be holy. You can't look yourself
in the mirror and talk about holiness. My soul, as soon as
you look in there, man, you're looking at sin warmed up. Like leftovers that you didn't
like to start with. She puts them back on the table.
That's what you're looking at. But in Christ, Holy, holy, without
blame. And listen to this, He chose
us in Christ that we might be before Him in love. What's that
mean? Being loved all the time. God secured His love in His Son
before the foundation of the world. Oh, here's the surety. Here's
the surety of Christ. perfectly, continually in harmony
with the character of God, and are standing before Him without
blame, justified, examined, and found forever unblameable, unreprovable
in His sight, nothing owed, nothing charged, nothing blocking the
way, and before Him in love. The hymn writer said this, My God,
the covenant of thy love abides forever sure, and in its matchless
grace I feel my happiness secure. It's security. I can't lose it.
I can't lose it. Thy covenant in the darkest gloom
shall heavenly rays impart, and when my eyelids close in death,
sustain my fainting heart. See my covenant head above at
my Father's side, and see His promise made secure, that in
Him I might hide. This is the covenant of grace.
The God of glory, He's the God of grace. And in Him it's boundless,
free, and everlasting. It's as sure as the surety. Now
listen to me. The covenant of works and the
covenant of grace are mutually exclusive. What on earth does
that mean? That means that they will not
and cannot mix. It's like water and oil. You
can stir water and oil. From now on, as soon as you take
a stick at it, they just separate. They won't mix. They won't mix. In Romans chapter 11 verse 6,
Paul defines works and grace. Now he's talking about election
in that chapter. But it wouldn't have mattered
if he's talking about election or faith or what he's talking
about. He's not trying to define doctrines there. He's defining
the grace of God. Now listen. He said, and if by
grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more God. But if it be of works, then is
it no more of grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. It's one or the other. It's one or the other. It's either all of grace or it's
all of works. And we're told here in chapter
4 of Galatians that Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. And that these two sons, one
of the bond woman and one by the free woman, were purposed
of God as an allegory. See it there in verse 24? It's
an allegory. The whole reason for their existence
on this earth and all the circumstances that attended their life was
for an allegory of these two covenants. These two sons, one of the bomb
woman and one of the free woman, were purposed of God as an allegory. For these, he says, are the two
covenants. The one from Mount Sinai which
gendereth bondage, that is, it distinguishes itself in bondage. This is Agar or Hagar, that's
what she represents. Sarah was a free woman. She wasn't
a slave. And she pictures the church of
God in his elect. Verse 23, he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh. What's he talking about there?
Well, they sit around, God promised them these things. Abraham actually
laughed. He laughed in his heart. Sarah
laughed out loud, but he laughed in his heart. And he said, shall
a man 100 years old and a woman 90, they going to bring forth
a son? How impossible was that? How impossible was that? But
that's what God told him. I'm going to come and Sarah is
going to have a child. Sarah's going to have a child. He who was of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh. They sat around for a little
while and they said, God couldn't have meant that. He couldn't
have meant that you and I are going to get together and we're
going to have a child. That can't be. That's an impossibility. And with fleshly reasoning, she
said, well, I'll tell you what, let's do it. I've been thinking
about it. And I'm going to loan you my bondwoman for a night. And we're going to produce this
air. And so they did. And what was
it that they produced? The works of the flesh. The reasoning
involved, the end of it, the whole nine yards. They made up
the whole... They didn't hear what God said.
They didn't listen to what God said. You know how... We know that
when God saves a man, He's going to save him by His sovereign
grace. Who knows why He comes? Who knows what brought Him here?
Who knows what's on His mind? But I tell you, when God takes
His message and burns it into their heart, just like that,
all of a sudden their eyes are open, their hearts open, and
they know what they never knew before. Something absolutely
impossible come to pass. But what's the temptation? It's
to talk you into glory. It's to buttonhole you back by
the door. And I'm going to get this thing
through if it takes all night. No, you ain't. And if you do,
what did you produce? A son according to the flesh. I don't have altercals. I don't
come over to your house and try to convince you of this, that,
and the other. I preach to you. That's what God told me to do.
Preach to you. And submit my preaching to your
conscience in the sight of God. And wait on Him. Because He's
the only one that can do the work. In a way that glorifies
Him. All of grace. All of grace. He who was of the bond woman
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman came about
by promise. And what's being pictured here
is a son and heir of promise. Both were sons of Abraham. One
was of the flesh, that is the result of fleshly reasoning and
fleshly ability, and the other by promise. Just like God said,
at this time I come and Sarah shall have a son. Son by supernatural
intervention of God. One was possible, the other was
not. One was a promised son, the other
was not. And in these two sons, Paul sets
before us the true child of God and the one of our own invention. One by our own contribution.
May the Lord teach us and show us the difference for Christ's
sake. The covenant of the law and works is death. It's death. The covenant of grace is life
and peace. And this distinction lies at
the very heart of the gospel. I have no doubt that the difficulty
of seeing these distinctions is brought about by the flesh.
I understand that. I understand why they did what
they did. And it seems clear enough when
you and I read it in the scripture. By grace are you saved through
faith. That not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. That clears the veil, isn't it?
There's no reason to misunderstand that. That says exactly what
it means. Well, where does the problem come in? It comes in
when I experience it. It comes in in my everyday walk. It comes in when I try to preach
it. It ain't clear enough when you
read it. But this is exactly the picture set before us in
these two mothers and their two children. Faith sees in the person
of Christ another doing everything in his place for the totality
of his acceptance with God. My acceptance with God is based
100% on Christ. On Christ. Now I'm telling you,
you try to mix something with that, you're going to be in trouble.
You're never going to have any peace. You're never going to
have any rest. You're never going to be able to walk in a way approved
of God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And I see my righteousness wrought
out in that man. That man. Our acceptance with
God is altogether in the person of our covenant head in surety,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Near to God, nearer I cannot
be. For in the person of His Son,
I am as near as He. It is to the praise of the glory
of His grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the blood. Ishmael was a product of the
flesh, attempting to assist God in producing an heir. Sarah,
representing God's church, came up with the idea of loaning her
handmaid for a night to her husband to produce that heir promised
by God. But you say that's adultery.
It sure is. It sure is. You know what this
religious mess that's going on out there that they call worship,
that they call inviting sinners into the kingdom, you know what
that is? It's spiritual adultery. We're going to help God produce
the air. The Holy Spirit gives us these
two pictures to show us how hideous it is. to try to mix works and
grace before God. It's not hideous to us. It is
once you know the truth, but it's not when you... I never
looked at those things we're doing in the church like that
when I was in the church. His mother was a bondwoman, a
slave of her mistress. She had neither partner nor lot
with Sarah's husband. She was a slave under the law
of God. But Sarah was the beloved and
lawful wife of Abraham, partaker of the promise given to her husband.
And God told Abraham that he would bless Sarah, his wife,
and she would give him a son. And Abraham said, as he laughed
in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred
years old by his wife that is ninety? Oh, he said that Ishmael
might live before thee. And God said, Sarah thy wife,
he tells him again, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed
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. Now he's not talking about all
the elect of God there. He's talking about that seed
that was to come, that holy seed which is Christ. He tells you
that earlier in Galatians. My friend, do not look to the
flesh for acceptance with or communion with God. Our acceptance
is by grace through the mediatorial work of Christ. And this work
is a work of an eternal priest This man, because he continueth
ever, Paul wrote, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. And we who believe
are not the products of an unholy union of the flesh, but the heirs
of grace according to the promise of God in Christ. And the church, though barren
and without ability to produce an heir of God, shall and will
bring forth sons and daughters to the Lord. Now read this verse with me in
the context of these verses that I preached to you. Galatians
4.28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are children of the 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? What does the Holy Ghost tell
us to do about these things? Here's a man, he's trying to
produce an heir, and these men are making propitions of faith,
and Paul comes along and he said, Remember what I preached to you? Huh? Do you remember the gospel
I preached to you? Well, what does the Holy Ghost
say to do about that? He said, kick out the bondwoman
and her son. They got to go. Cast out the
bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not
be heir with the son of the free woman. And God will not in the
house of faith allow his fleshly son to share the inheritance
of a false son. Not going to happen. God's children are children of
the promise. The promise is the coming Redeemer,
the covenant surety, the great high priest who entered in once
into heaven itself with his own blood to obtain eternal redemption
for us. Our great surety came. He came
to do the redemptive will of God and he did it to the saving
of our soul. So what do we do? What can I take away from this?
The covenants of grace so clearly illustrated in these two Psalms.
What can I do? What can we take away from this
grand allegory? Chapter 5 verse 1. Stand fast
therefore. in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made you free. Huh? And be not entangled again
in the yoke of bondage. I am to walk daily in the glorious
liberty of Christ. Free from the law. Isn't that
what the hymn writer wrote? Free from the law. Once you understand
that, you won't sing it, don't you? Free from the law, O happy
condition. Jesus has bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and bruised
by the fall, grace hath redeemed us once for all. Now are we free. There's no condemnation. Jesus
provides a perfect salvation. Come unto me. Oh, hear the sweet
call. Come and He saves us once for
all. Whatever I do in this life, let
me do it in gratitude and love to my Savior, not for acceptance
with anyone. We're accepted in the beloved.
Oh, may God teach us that lesson in our hearts. Thank you.