Galatians chapter 4, and let's
begin there in verse 21. That's where I'm going to begin. We
can begin here in verse 20 if you'd like to. 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. Tell me, tell me, ye that desire
to be under the law, Ye that desire to be under the law, ye
that desire to be saved by your own obedience to religious works
and to religious systems, ye that desire to commend yourself
to God by what you do and what you abstain from doing, You that
desire to build your standing before God based upon your works
and your ability and your wisdom and your understanding. You who
desire to trust your own heart while you mistrust the heart
of Christ. You who build up your own righteousness
and reject the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
who desire to seek life in heaven by the works of your own hands.
You desire that. Tell me something, Paul said.
I've got a question for you. I want to ask something of you. And I want you to know this here
because this is very, very important. The way he asked this question,
he doesn't say, did you not hear the law? He doesn't say, was there not
a time when your heart was open to understand the nature of the
law? But he asks this question in present tense. Do you not
hear the law? Right now, don't you know what
the law says? Right now, don't you know the
nature of the law? And what he's saying is this,
that the nature of the law never changes. The law judged you, he said,
it condemned you. The very first time you found
out that you were under it, the law condemned you. It judged
you. It cursed you. And he says, it condemns you
and curses you still if you're under it. You desire to be under the law?
Don't you hear what it says to you right now, if you're under
it? Have you forgot the nature of the law? Somebody might say, I'm under
the law, but now I've repented. I'm under the law, but I'm a
believer. I'm under the law, but I'm a Christian. The law
knows nothing of these things. The law knows nothing of repentance.
The law don't command repentance. The law don't give repentance.
The law knows nothing about faith. The law knows nothing about professing
Christ in Christianity. The law cares nothing about these
things. I'm a believer. The law doesn't
pay attention to your profession. The law wants to know one thing.
The law wants to know one thing. Has your life upon this earth
been perfect and complete? If not, you stand condemned and
worthy of hell's hate. Has your obedience been perfect? That's what the law is interested
in. Do you not hear the law? You desire to be under the law?
And since you became Christians, you became believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, now you want to go back under that law? Well,
the nature of that law hasn't changed. You've changed. The Lord's given you a new heart
and a new spirit, but are you perfect? Not the hearers of the law, are
just before God, but the doers of the law. This do, and thou shalt live. They that do these things shall
live in them. Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, don't you know what the law requires of you? Have you forgotten the nature
of this law? It has nothing to do what a man
is right now, whether he's lost or saved. It has nothing to do
with that. The law has only to do with this
one thing. Is your obedience perfect? Is
your obedience complete? And if a man's found under that
law, that's what it requires. That's what it requires. You
desire to be under the law? Do you not hear the law? And
tell me this. Let me ask this of you. Do you
not hear what the law says to those who break it? Do you not hear what it requires? What does it require of those
who break it? Death. Death. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die. Who said that? The law said that.
The court of heaven pronounces that sentence upon a man. Cursed
is everyone who continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." All things. What are these
all things? Brothers and sisters, I don't
know. If I was going to keep the law,
I'd always be confessing my ignorance. I don't know what all things
are. You see, if a man's going to be justified, if a man's going
to please the law and satisfy the law, it takes more than just
living. You've got to know. It takes
more than the power of a man's will. It takes wisdom. It takes
understanding. You've got to know what's written
in the books of the law to do it. I don't know it, do you? There's so many things in Exodus
and Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Numbers I don't even know
about. But I'm required to do them.
Cursed is every man that continueth not in everything. And someday,
someday, when this world of humanity, from Adam to the last man that's
born, stands before God in heaven and those books are open, Men's
going to be judged out of the books of that law according to
their works. And every man that has not rendered
perfect obedience to those things which are written in those books,
whether they were ignorant of them or not, they're going to
be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone. That's what
the law requires. That's what it requires. Whatsoever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law. Under the law. You desire to be under the law?
Well, here's what the law says to those who are under the law.
Every mouth is stopped and all the world becomes guilty before
God. That's what it says right now
to you. If you're under it, I don't care who you are or what you
are, if you're under it, that's what it says to you. You who
desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? There's
but one thing that will satisfy the law's legal demands for people
just like you and I. There's one thing that satisfies
the law. There's only way you and I can
satisfy the law and its demands. And you know what satisfies the
law and its demands? For us to be cursed and killed. That's the only thing that's
going to satisfy. Curse that man. Kill that man. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The wages of sin is death. And you and I must be cursed.
We must die and pay those wages ourselves. Or another must deliver
us from this law and meet those demands by himself. And that's what Jesus Christ
did. Verse 13 of chapter 3, he was
made a curse for us. That's what the law requires.
That's the only thing that's going to satisfy the law on your
behalf, Glenn. Curse Glenn Whitehead. Curse
him. He's not continued. Curse him. Christ said, you curse
me instead. Let Glenn Whitehead suffer for
his sins. Deliver him up for his sins.
Let him die the death. What did Christ do? He gave himself
for our sins. He's cursed for us. He gave Himself
for our sins. The nature of the law hasn't
changed. Its strict demands haven't changed. What changed for the believer
is this. He's been delivered from it by the doing and the
dying of another worthy person. And now, he's no longer under
this law. That's the only way to escape
the condemnation of the law is not be under it. And if a believer has someone
else to bear the punishment in his place and suffer the death
in his stead, then he's not under this law anymore, but he's under
the grace of Him that delivered him from this law. Remember these two things when
you think about the law. and those who are under it. These
two things, when you think about the law and those who are under
it, if those who are under the law expect to be saved at last
and go to heaven, then one of these two things is going to
take place. Somehow or another, they're going
to have to muster up enough wisdom and strength to meet the demands
of that law, or number two, the law is going to have to compromise
its demands. I don't think either one of them
is going to happen. You say, Bruce, why do you say that? I'll
tell you why I say that. Because man in and of himself
has been so weakened by sin, he don't have the ability to
keep the law. And the law is so strict and
it's so holy, it's not about to compromise its demands. So
therefore, those who are under the law aren't about to go to
heaven when they die. The law will see to that. And
you know something? Preachers down through the ages
have often taught this, that God never saves any man apart
from justice. Apart from justice. Until we
find a way to satisfy justice, we'll never go to heaven. And
God's found a way in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here
in verses 22 through verse 24, the Apostle teaches us something.
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by bondmaid,
the other by 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." These are the two covenants. We talked a lot this morning,
some this morning, about the covenant of grace. We often see
that in the Scriptures. It's all through the Scriptures.
You see little bits of it here and there. But you know, we see
the covenant of works throughout the Scriptures too. It's all
over the place, just like grace is. He tells us here in verse
21, I read to 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. And Paul said these two sons
represented the law. But Abraham was 430 years before
the law. Ain't that amazing that he talked
about the law, the covenant of works, before it was ever given
on Mount Sinai? And you know why he can do that?
Because there was a covenant of works before it was given
on Mount Sinai. There's always been a covenant
of works. Notice how emphatic he is about
this. These are the two covenants. There's only two covenants. The
covenant of works and the covenant of grace. And our parents, Adam
and Eve, was under the covenant of works back there in the garden.
God made a covenant with them and He said, this is what you
are to do. You eat all the fruit of these
trees. You enjoy this garden, the beautiful
scenery. But here's what you're not to
do. You're not to eat of that one fruit on that one tree. And
that was the covenant of works. And when Adam and Eve ate of
that fruit, they broke that covenant of works. And they cursed themselves
and all their posterity, all the human race was cursed in
them. And now the human race is under
and it lives under that broken covenant of works. On Mount Zion
at Sinai, the covenant of works was set forth plainly upon these
tables of stone. And it was there that God revealed
more of that covenant of works than any of us knew about it
before. But it wasn't a different covenant.
It was just a covenant of works. We always had it. We always had
this covenant of works. And our parents were put under
it. They broke it. They offended
God. And as I said, they brought upon
themselves and humanity a curse. A curse. There's always been
two covenants. The one of grace and the other
of works. And the covenant of works has
been broken and a fallen humanity at present, they live under it. And the only way to be delivered
from this covenant of works is by another covenant. And that's the covenant of grace.
The covenant of mercy. The covenant that the scripture
calls the covenant of blood and the obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Through one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. That's the covenant of works.
And it's impossible now to be saved by works. Why? Because the covenant has been
broken. You remember Cain? God said you're
cursed. He was under a covenant of works.
If you do well, you'll be accepted. But he didn't do well enough.
The covenant was already broken. God destroyed an old world, a
whole world, and they died under this broken covenant. Pharaoh
and all his army was drowned in the Red Sea because of their
idolatry. They died under this covenant
of works. These are the two covenants. And now here in verses 22 and
23, Paul is going to tell us something by way of this allegory,
this story of what it means to be under this covenant of works
as opposed to what it means to be saved by grace, a covenant
of grace. And notice how he says it. He's
going to tell us about these five people. Look at this. Our study here in Galatians overlap
our studying in Hebrews, our studying in Genesis. What we've
been studying in Genesis has been run in parallel with what
we're studying here in Galatians. So we already know quite a bit
about this. But he tells us about these five
people. And in these five people, we're going to see what it means
to be under the covenant of works and under the covenant of grace.
Look here what he says. These five people. First, it's
written that Abraham had two sons. There's three people. Abraham,
we've been studying about him, haven't we? God found him down
in Ur of the Chaldeans, living in idolatry there in Iraq, in
old Babylon. Called him out of that place
and said, you come out. Leave your father's house and
country. I'm going to bless you. And Abraham came out of there
into Palestine. And he dwelt there, believing
God every step of the way. And the Bible says God imputed
to him for righteousness. And Abraham lived and dwelt in
tents. And he died. He died in the faith. And then the scripture here in
verse 22 said that he had two sons. He had two sons. The one was Ishmael. Abraham
was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. Called him Ishmael. God heareth.
God shall heareth. And he said here, He was the
son of the bondmaid. There's the third person. Remember,
Sarah got impatient and said, Abraham, I'm going to give you
my slave and you go into her. You're going to have a child
with her. I want to have a child. I want you to have a child. So
she gave Abraham Hagar, this Jewish slave. She was a bondwoman. And the scripture says she had
a son. Ishmael was born of this slave
woman. And the other, remember Isaac?
Abraham was a hundred years old, and Isaac was born to him. And
the Scripture says she was Sarai, the free woman. She was born
free. She had never been in bondage.
She had never been a slave. She was Abraham's wife. She was
a free woman. And Abraham had a child by her. Now here in verse 23, look at
this. He's going to tell us something of these two sons. Here's these
five people, and here's what He's going to tell us of these
two sons. Verse 23, He who was of the bondwoman was born after
the flesh. Now, here's the amazing thing
about these two sons. It's the way they were born.
It's the way they were born. Here's the vital difference between
them. Ishmael, he was the son of a slave woman. His birth was
a natural birth. Paul says it's after the flesh. Abraham was 86 years old, 85
or 86 years old, when he went into this woman. He's a healthy
man, and she was a young, strong woman. This happens all the time,
doesn't it? A man and a woman gets together
and a baby is conceived. There's nothing miraculous about
that. It happens all the time. And
that's what happened to Abraham and Hagar. She conceived and
she had a son. That happens all the time. No
surprise. That's why Sarah gave her maid, her slave to him, so
they have a baby. But in verse 23, Isaac was born
of this free woman. And that was a miraculous birth. And you know why, don't you?
Sarah was 90 years old. She was past childbearing. Her
womb was dead. She'd never had a child before.
She'd give up even expecting a child. And yet she had a child. She had a child. Ninety years
old. an old woman, and she had a child. And she brought forth this little
baby, and she hung him on her breast, and she looked down at
him, and she laughed. I laugh every time I say this
and think of it. Here I am, a 90-year-old woman, and I've had a child.
It's unbelievable. And she laughed. Why did she have this baby? It
was a miracle. It was a miracle baby. Why did
she have this baby? Well, he says here in verse 23,
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flash, but
he of the free woman was by promise. That's the difference. That's
the difference. One was born just by natural
means. Another was by promise. Now look
at this, and we've looked at this before. If you haven't marked
this, we read here this morning in Genesis 17. Look at this. He was by promise. Genesis 7, three places here
in the book of Genesis. Look in Genesis chapter 17 and
then chapter 18. Genesis chapter 17, look at this. Look in verse 15. Chapter 17,
verse 15 of Genesis. And God said to Abraham, As for
Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah
shall her name be. And I will bless her, and I will
give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she
shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell on his face,
and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born
unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is
ninety years old, bear?" Well, that's God's promise. That's
what He said. I don't know how we get around
here that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, but the
Scripture says he didn't, but boy, it sure sounds like he did,
didn't it? He against hope believed in hope. Look here in chapter
18. Look in chapter 18 and verse 10. Here's where the Lord and the
angels came down and was talking to Abraham again, just a while
later. And he said, I will certainly return. Here's
what the Lord said to Abraham. I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life, and, lo, Sarah thy wife
shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old
and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after
the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my
Lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham,
Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child
which am old? Is there any thing too hard for
the Lord? At the time appointed I will
return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son." That's the problem. Look over in chapter 21. Chapter
21. Look here in verse 1. See, God promises. God promises. He remembers His promises. And
He fulfills His promises. If God gives you a promise, He'll
never forget that promise. And He'll fulfill that promise.
If you'll find a promise that pertains to you, you just hang
on to it. And He'll fulfill it. He'll fulfill
it. And the Lord visited Sarah, just
as He had said, And the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age,
at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham
called the name of his son that was born unto him, which Sarah
bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son
Isaac, being eight days old, as God commanded him. And Abraham
was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him,
and Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that
hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have
said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck?
For I have borne him a son in his old age. God's faithful to
His promises, isn't He? Isaac was a child of promise. God promised him and God gave
him to this old I've often thought about this when I think, and
I just imagined this happened, when little Isaac was playing
around with the other kids, and he met their mothers, and their
mothers were so young, and his mother was so old. She was 100
years old when he was 10. And I can almost imagine him
asking his dad, How come my mother's so old? She's beautiful, but
she's old. She's so much older than my friend's
mothers. They're 30 and 40. She's 100. Son, you know how we had you. No other women having any kids
your mother's age. You know how your mother had
you? You're a child, I promise. His
childhood promise. God promised you. Now look back over at our text. Galatians chapter 4 and verse
24. Which things are in an allegory. This is a story given us to teach
us a truth. For these are the two covenants. The first one, Paul said, is
from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. Verse 24. Mount Sinai, where
the law was given, which said, This do, and thou shalt live.
Moses received the law and took it back down and read it to the
children of Israel. And they stood there trembling
in their shoes. And remember what they said?
Everything God has commanded us will do. But they didn't. They didn't. Why didn't they do it? For two
reasons they didn't do it. One, they could not. They could
not. All that God's commanded us will
do. Are we so proud that we might
think that? I think sometimes the reason
God left this remnant of sin in us is to humble us and let
us see our utter inability to do anything God commands us.
A holy God commands us and we fallen sinners raise up and say,
we'll do it. I don't think so, do you? That's why we're embarrassed
in our hearts. That's why we're ashamed in our
hearts. That's why we lift our voices with Jacob and say, Lord,
we're not worthy of the least of your mercies. We see sin mixed
with everything we do. But here was a whole nation with
a unified voice raised up and said, everything He's commanded
us, we'll do. But they didn't. They couldn't. Peter said, it's a yoke that
neither we nor our fathers could bear. It's too strict. It's too just. Well, another
reason they couldn't do it was because of this. They just wouldn't
do it. They were stiff-necked and rebellious people. And notice
what Paul says here. It gendereth to bondage. These
are the two covets. The one from Mount Sinai which
gendereth, it begets bondage. That's all it does. He don't
give liberty. It does not show any mercy. It does not comfort
your heart. Work, work, the law demands,
but gives us neither feet nor hands. After you have done the
best you can do, it curses you. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. The law stirs up sin in us and
wrath in us. The law of Moses, Paul says here,
is a slave woman's son. If you're a slave and you have
a son, what's your son? He's a slave, isn't he? But she's a beautiful woman.
Yeah, but she's a slave. She's a fine woman, yes, but
she's a slave. Look there what a fine little
baby she's got. Yeah, but he's a slave. Look
how healthy he is. Yes, but he's the son of a slave.
And therefore he's a slave too. A slave woman can't beget a free
child. That's what Paul is teaching.
And look here in verse 25. Boy, I've often thought of this
as the Jews read this epistle and these Galatians preached
it to them, taught it to them. Boy, how they gritted their teeth.
Because look how Paul applies this allegory. For this Agar
is Mount Sinai in Arabia. That's where the law was given,
the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law. And Antareth
is equal with, it means it's Jerusalem, which now is and is
in bondage with her children. Now, Luther said, Martin Luther
said, he said, if I'd have been hammering this allegory, I would
have said this Hagar is the Arab nations. And they're under the curse of
God's law. Because the Arab nations come
out of Agar, that slave woman. But Paul turns this, and he says,
who are these law keepers? They're slaves. And these slaves,
these self-righteous Jews, that's up there in Jerusalem, trying
to keep the law, they're children of Agar. That's Agar as their
mother. Now you can just imagine, when
these Jews read this, they hated the Arabs. You think they hate
them now. They're still fighting with each
other over there now. The Arab nations hate Israel, want to
annihilate them. You know, it's always been that
way. Ishmael hated Isaac and mocked him when he was born. But boy, when they read this,
and Paul said, you fellows aren't Israelites at all. Hagar is your
mother. You're Arabs. You're Arabs. We
were talking about this back in the prayer room. The Lord
Jesus, during John 8, was preaching to these Pharisees one time,
these Jews. And he'd been preaching to them.
Some of them professed to believe him. He said, if you continue
in my word, you're my disciples. And you'll know the truth, and
the truth will make you free. If the Son shall make you free,
you're free indeed. And they said, what do you mean
free? We've never been in bondage to any man. Never been in bondage
to any man. You just don't want to confess
it, do you? That you're in bondage. They
stayed in bondage for so many years. They were in bondage to
other nations. When they made this statement,
they were in bondage to Rome. And the Lord said this about
them. Lord told them who their father was. He said, you're of
your father the devil. And Paul told them who their
mother was. Agar is your mother. You're born of a slave. And boy,
that made those fellas grit their teeth, you know it did. We're
Abraham's seed. Lord said, I know you're Abraham's
natural seed. But your father's the devil.
And Paul said, your mother's Agar the slave. And you're slave
children. You talk about being under the
law and keeping the law, you're slaves. You're slaves. You're
under bondage. And he goes on here in verse
26 and he says this, But, now here, here's what it means to
be under grace. Here's what it means to be under
the covenant of grace. But Jerusalem which is above
is free, which is the mother of us all. Jerusalem that's above. There's two Jerusalem. Paul said
the one that's in bondage. Then there's the one above. The
church of Jesus Christ in heaven and the church of Christ upon
this earth. New Jerusalem. And all of those,
whether they're there or here, they have been born from above. They have the life of Christ
in them. They've been born of the Holy
Spirit. They've been regenerated from above. And Paul said, they're
free. They're free. They're born of
Jerusalem, which is above. And that Jerusalem, he says,
it's free. It's free. What brought about
this birth? What brought it about? Well,
look at verse 27. It didn't come from our own abilities. That's for sure. Verse 27 said
this, It is written, 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 none husband. And don't that describe us pretty
much? That we're barren and desolate
and helpless. How then were we born again? How were we born again? Well,
look in verse 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac were,
are the children of promise. Isaac was a child of promise,
and he was born because of the promise. If you're born again,
it's because of a promise. A promise. Look over in Titus. In Titus chapter 1, a couple
of places. Look in Titus chapter 1. You come back to this covenant
of grace and you find these little things like this all through
here. And you say, well, there's the covenant of grace. There's
the covenant of mercy, the covenant of promise. And look here at
what Titus said about it. Titus chapter 1 and verse 1.
Paul, a servant of God, and then apostle of Jesus Christ according
to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the
truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie promised." When? Before the world began. Who did he promise it to? You
and I weren't around before the world was, were we? And what
this tells us, the covenant of grace goes all the way back before
the world began. Who was there? Before God, the
triune God, ever set His hand to create anything, the triune
God dwelt alone. And it was to the Lord Jesus
Christ He promised. All the promises of God are in
Christ, and they're to Him, and to us through Christ. When the
Lord Jesus said, all the Father has given to me shall come to
me. How could he be certain of that?
That's a promise. That's a promise. You've come
to Christ because God promised you'll come. My son, they're
coming. I'm going to call them. I'm going to teach them. I'm
going to draw them. And they're coming to you. That's a promise.
And this promise was given to Christ and to us through Christ
before the world was. There's a host of people that's
going to be born again. I'm going to beget them through
the gospel. My son, I promise you. I promise
you. And then there comes the times.
And there they are. There's that new birth. There
they are saved. There they are forgiven because
of the promise. He said here, but after in due
times manifested His Word through preaching. He did. He did the
promising before the world was, and now He's manifesting what
He promised. Look over in another scripture. Look here in this
familiar scripture, just back to your left. 2 Timothy chapter
1. Look in verse 8. 2 Timothy chapter
1 verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the affliction of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us. And he called us with that
holy calling, not according to our works, that covenant was
broken when our parents sinned against God, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That's the covenant of grace. And look what he said in verse
10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
who hath abolished death. God came to Abraham and said,
Abraham, Sarah's going to have a wife. She's going to have a
son. Your wife's going to have a son. Abraham didn't know it until
God told him, did he? Until God manifested to him. And God had already promised
life to a whole bunch of you folks here. But you didn't know
it. But He had promised it to somebody.
He promised it to Christ. And you didn't know it until
you come out of that womb crying, Father, Father. And now you look
back and say, I'm a child of promise. I ain't saved because
I beget myself. Wouldn't it be awful? This may
sound half vulgar, but wouldn't it be awful if you went to Abraham
and said, Abraham, here you are a hundred years old. How in the
world did you have a child? Well, I'm a potent man, you know.
I'm a man's man, you know. That's why I had a son. Did you
see him sticking that big chest out and bragging about that?
He said, Bruce, that's sort of vulgar. That's no vulgar than
free will talking about saving themselves. Is it? Talking about decisional regeneration? I made a decision for Christ
and that saved me? Free will is one of the most
vulgar things you and I can talk about, isn't it? Why were we
barned again? Why were we barned from above?
Why are we in the body of Christ this evening? Because of a promise. That's it, ain't it? That's it. And I'd much rather be trusting
the promise of God in Christ than my own power and ability
and works, wouldn't you? Talking about keeping a covenant
that's already been broken. But when we talk about this,
though, here's what happens. Look back over your text again.
In chapter 4. Verse 29, here's what happens
when we talk about this covenant of grace, and it is grace. And
these promises, and we're saved by promise. But as then, he that
was barned after the flesh, Ishmael, mocked and persecuted him that
was barned after the Spirit. You remember that, don't you? Ishmael come mocking. shaking
his head, sticking his tongue out, making fun of this old woman
who had this little kid running around at her feet. And even so, it is now. Can you
tell what Paul said? Things haven't changed, has it?
Legalists, self-righteous people persecute those who talk about
free grace. Israel was persecuted by Pharaoh. The Moabites and all the enemies
of the Jews persecuted them. The Son of God came to this world,
and the Pharisees persecuted Him. Paul began to preach, and
the self-righteous whipped him. And free will today persecutes
those who believe in free grace. It's never changed. Never changed. I'll tell you one of the things
I dread more than anything. I don't want people to dislike
me, and you don't either. But I'm telling you, if you believe
in the free grace of God in Christ, you just might as well set yourself.
You better dig a hole and cement it. Put yourself down in it and
cement yourself in. And determine right there is
where you're going to stand. Because you're going to face some persecution.
You're going to have folks that you work around, that you don't
want to get aggravated, and it's going to be a temptation just
to talk to those folks. Because you know when you're
going to talk to them, you're going to offend somebody. Not
you, but what you say, the gospel you preach. There's members of
your family, your brothers and sisters, even maybe your dads
and mom, you wouldn't offend for this world. But when you
start talking about the grace of God in Christ, there's going
to be this conflict. There is. Church members you
run into when you're out in town eating somewhere, they come up
and shake hands with you until you get in a conversation with
them, they're going to get aggravated at you. It's now just like it
was back there when Ishmael mocked Isaac. And brothers and sisters,
if it's not that way, if you and I aren't being persecuted
by this self-righteous world, and we're not being looked down
upon, then we owe our freedom, probably, from this persecution
to our own unfaithfulness. Because if we're faithful to
this gospel, we're going to be persecuted, even so it is now. But you and I shouldn't be discouraged.
We shouldn't get down about this. We shouldn't say, well, let's
just drop the old gospel and go have unity with everybody.
Now is the time, if there ever was a time, to look at this verse
and practice what it tells us in verse 30. Nevertheless, what
saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. Turn the Pope out doors. If he tries to get in here, turn
him out the side door. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." It ain't
going to happen, is it? It ain't going to happen. And
God help us if we get down to this right here. Right here. We're still not going to compromise
the grace of God, are we? I'm not about to go back where
I left. I just ain't going to do it. I'm not going to sit and
listen to people make fun of God's electing grace. I can't
sit under that anymore. There's a lot of things I think
that you and I have grown enough in God's grace and in love and
respect and being ladies and gentlemen that we can sit and
be quiet and not say anything about it. But there are some
things that we cannot sit under. We cannot. If a man starts telling
us that imputed righteousness is imputed nonsense, then I can't
sit and be quiet, can you? If a man says and tries to convince
me, and he's going to be so dogmatic about it, he won't leave me alone,
that Jesus Christ obtained redemption for those who are suffering in
hell, then I can't sit under him, can
you? Cast out! Cast out! Why don't you love
the Pope? What are you talking so mean
about him for? What are you trying to cast him
out for? Cast him out! Throw him out! That sounds so harsh, doesn't
it? Because he's a devil. He's an
incarnated devil. Wear a woman's clothes and have
somebody come up and kiss his feet and suck on his ring. and
then say God has sent Him? And set up men that they call
cardinals and fathers and priests? Did you see the other day? Did
you see the other day where, well, this has been going on
all the time, but there's some reason about it this time that
everybody is addressing Him as Holy Father. Everybody, the news
just went crazy over it. Holy Father, Holy Father. and
set up these cardinals and these priests and got their little
toilets around in their buildings for them to go through and confess
their sins and say, God has sent me to tell you that you're resolved
of all your sins. Why don't God tell a man that?
He's the Almighty, ain't He? I hate them. I hate them. I wish they were cut off, Paul
said, that trouble you. I hate them, David said, with
a perfect hatred. Do I wish God would save them?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Do I love their souls? You better bet I do. If God saved
the Pope, I'd go sit at his feet myself if he loved Christ. But
I tell you, I cannot, brothers and sisters, endure that. And
you can't either, can you? You can't either. And one thing you'd
love more than anything, to sit down with the Pope for about
30 minutes. And you wouldn't be a bit intimidated, would you?
Because a babe in Christ knows more than that man will ever
know if God don't save him. And a babe in Christ could twist
him up. I was reading a little book that
Larry gave me about the glories of Mary. And they blasphemed
that holy woman in heaven. And they quoted him there, and
this is one of their books that they go by. Catholics love that
little book. And they quoted a scripture,
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. And here's what he said.
He quoted that scripture and he said, in spite of that, we
still trust in man. And all you'd have to do is say,
how many mediators is between God and man? Is there one or
two? And that was seven. Cast them
out! Cast them out! If the law of God brings a man
under bondage and that covenant is being broken, what's their
lighting of candles? And setting up their altars?
And their confessional booths? Is that going to help them? Praying
to the dead saints and praying for the dead. No, they're devils. They've got
doctrines of devils. Forbidding to marry and commanding
to abstain from meat. They're devils. They're a cage
and a stronghold for every unclean and hateful bird. Catholicism
is an abomination to God and I wish it was to this world.
And shame them out of that. And maybe shame some of them
into repentance. But it seems like the more ungodly
that she lives and acts, the more this world loves her and
don't want you to talk about her. But God's going to deal
with her. The church has never been able
to do anything with her. The church has preached to that harlot
for years and done nothing much good at all. But God's going
to deal with her. God told John, He said, you pick
up a big stone. A big old heavy stone, you cast
it out in the water and see how quickly it goes to the bottom.
That's the way I'm going to deal with her, he said. That's the
way I'm going to deal with her. God will bring her down. He'll
bring her down. I was reading Martin Luther the
other day, and I thought of this, all the accusations being brought
against that harlot in our day, molesting of children, raping
little boys and girls. And I was reading Martin Luther,
and he said, look at all the abomination that goes on in the
monasteries in our day. And he listed several abominations,
and one of them was raping of children. They've always did
that. They've always did. And we cast
them out, don't we? We're not going out of fellowship
with them. Them or no other free will. What
saith the Scripture? Cast them out. They shall not
be heirs with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren,
we are not children of the bondwoman. We're free. And therefore, stand
fast in the liberty. Stand fast there. You've been
born by promise. You're Christ by promise. You
have life because of a promise. You're a new creature because
of a promise. You're free. Stand fast in that liberty. That's
difficult, ain't it? It's difficult. It's easy to
quote that scripture, and we do all the time. But I'm telling
you, I'm telling you, sin stares us in the face. It's hard to
hold the liberty then, ain't it? Hard to feel the freedom
of conscience then. You run off and try to do something
to commend yourself to God. Do something to put the sin away,
put it off, instead of looking to Christ. Stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and don't be entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Let's pray.