Now if you're familiar with your
Bible to any degree, you're probably already aware, so I'll just remind
you, that the letter to the Galatians is not a letter to a single church,
but to several congregations in a province in Asia Minor Much
like in our county, we have numerous towns and Lord knows how many
churches, but this letter to the Galatians is unlike many
of the others that were written to a certain congregation. But
in this province, among these churches, found in this province,
they were being told by Judaizers, Jewish people from Jerusalem
primarily, who were telling them they must not only believe and
trust Christ, but they must also follow Moses. They must practice
the law, keep the Ten Commandments, and the specific issue that was
present when Paul wrote this letter, they were being pressured
by these persons from outside these congregations. They were
being pressured to submit themselves, that is the men, to the right
of circumcision. It's fine to trust Christ, but
you must do this, that, or the other. Now, unless I'm terribly
mistaken, that is the present climate in the average church
in America today. You must trust Christ, but you
must add to that something of your own. And Paul declares that
in this letter, not only to be untrue, but to be absolutely
blasphemous. It simply cannot be tolerated
whatsoever. Christ is everything. He is our
all and in all. We are said in Colossians chapter
2 to be complete in Him. Not to be complete in Him plus
being circumcised or plus this or plus that. Adding anything
to Christ, anything whatsoever, no matter how small or insignificant,
is to make of that thing an antichrist. And that's damning to the soul.
Our Savior is Christ alone plus nothing. So here in the fourth
chapter of this letter to the Galatians, we have one of the
most beautiful, precious revelations concerning this glorious gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. and this wonderful and marvelous
covenant of everlasting grace of which the Lord Jesus is said
to be our surety, our guarantor. Now if I don't start reading,
we're not going to get through reading and then when I come
back a little later, I'm going to be up against it like I was
last Sunday. So let's see if we can read this
fourth chapter. Now I say, that the heir, as
long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though
in reality, ultimately, he will be Lord of all. He may be the
heir to the throne, but to look at him playing on the playground,
you can't tell him from one of the other kids. And during this
time, verse 2, he is under tutors, and governors until the time
appointed of the Father. Now watch what Paul does with
that illustration. Verse 3, even so we, when we
were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. Every believer, every believer
starts out in this world as a lost, helpless sinner. We're born sinners. The reason we sin is because
of what we are, not because of what we do. When we were children,
we were in bondage under the elements of the world. The same
thing that governs people who know nothing of Christ in our
own generation is exactly what ran our lives and determined
for us where we'd go and what we'd do. But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman. Say that again, made of a woman. Did you know that this is the
only birth this world has ever witnessed that can be described
as made of a woman? Every other birth is from the
seed of the man. This is the woman's seed that
shall bruise the serpent's head and the serpent shall bruise
his heel, Genesis 3.15. so that the statement is made
that the woman was to be saved in childbearing. But bless your
heart, not just any child. The God-man Christ Jesus, that's
the only way any of us are saved, is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
God sent forth His Son made of a woman, mind you, without the
aid of a man. Let me say it flatly and plainly.
If Christ be not virgin born, He Himself needs saving and He
cannot save anyone. God in infinite wisdom devised
this glorious plan of the gospel that enables Christ to take on
our nature without that nature being polluted with our sin. Oh, He's going to take on our
sin, all right. when he goes to the tree. But
his human nature, that is perfectly in union with his divine nature,
takes nothing from the divine and the divine takes nothing
from the human. He's one person with two natures. He is the God-man, our Lord Jesus
Christ. The last phrase of verse 4 says
that he's made under the law. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
Himself the lawgiver, is made under the law, under obligation
to it. And He keeps it perfectly. And He does so not for Himself,
but for His people, so that His righteousness becomes theirs.
Here in verse 5, we have the reason for that statement in
verse 4. The fullness of the time being
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to do what? To redeem them that were under
the law. Who is under the law? Every son
and daughter of Adam. Every last single one. Whether
we've heard of the Ten Commandments or not, to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now hang on to your seat because
here is a statement that just might surprise you. Verse 6,
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Well, you say,
what is so surprising? It says, because you are sons,
God sends forth His Spirit in regenerating and converting grace.
Now listen carefully. Not to make you God's child,
but because you already are. If we are His children, We have
been His children forever, forever. Now a poor preacher like me can't
tell the difference. I don't know which you are and
which you aren't. I couldn't tell about myself. But I know
how to discover you. I know how to bring it to light. And that's simply the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. because the Spirit of God unites
Himself to the message of the Gospel and does exactly what
that statement says. In verse 6, God has sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father! Wherefore, you are no more a
servant, No more a slave of the devil, a servant of sin, but
a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. This is something God has to
do. This is not anything a man can
do. It is wonderful indeed. It is
beyond almost our ability to comprehend. Too good to be true. Wonderful news indeed. All right,
that brings us to verse 8. There are still some unpleasant
matters that must be attended to. How be it then, when you
knew not God, and we all start out in this life not knowing
God. When we knew not God. Let me just change the ye to
we. Might as well talk about ourselves instead of these people
of long ago. How be it then, when we knew
not God, We did service unto them which by nature are no gods. That is to say, we are all idolaters. All of us. We begin this life
in idolatry. And it is only when God issues
the irresistible call of His grace by His Spirit as described
in the previous verse that we are brought out of that condition
to trust, to worship, and to love the true and living God.
Howbeit then, when we knew not God, we did service unto them,
which by nature are no gods. But now, but now, after that
you have known God." And the apostle immediately rephrases
his statement. Or rather, perhaps he could have
said, or better, we are known of God. Because you know this,
I'm absolutely certain you do. The reason we know Him is because
He knew us first. The reason we choose Him is because
He first chose us. It's all rooted in that statement
in 1 John 4 and verse 19. We love Him because He first
loved us. But now, after that you have
known God, or rather are known of God, He says to the Galatians
and to anyone else entertaining the thought of putting Moses
beside of Christ, putting the law beside the Gospel, He says,
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. The gospel is timeless. It's
good all year through. You observe days and months and
times and years. Leading the apostle to make this
statement, I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you
labor in vain. Brethren, I beseech you, be as
I am, for I am as you are, and you have not injured me at all.
You know how through infirmity of the flesh I preach the gospel
unto you at the first, and my temptation, my trial, by difficulty
which was in my flesh, you despised not, nor rejected, but received
me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then this
blessedness you spoke of? I bear you record that if it
had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes
and have given them to me. leading many to conclude that
Paul's difficulty, his trial, has to do with his eyesight.
And perhaps that is true, for it certainly seems here that
the Galatians were willing, if it would have been possible,
to take out one of their eyes and have given it to the apostle.
Am I therefore, in verse 16, become your enemy because I tell
you the truth? They, the Judaizers, 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
travail 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, you that desire to be
under the law. Tell me, you that desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? For
it is written that Abraham had two sons, 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. Now I'm going to finish this
chapter, but I'll stop at this point because we pick up in these
last two verses this allegory in regard to Sarah and Hagar
and Ishmael and Isaac, and I'd like to deal with that in our sermon this morning, so
I'll save the rest of that reading if that would be okay. Let me
pick up at verse 19, though we read that one and a couple of
others. I want you to see how this changes from words of exhortation,
words of caution, even words of warning, turns into one of
the most beautiful stories in all of the Scriptures that we
are taught in this one passage is a spiritual allegory, a story
of real people who lived at a real point in time and the events
and circumstances that happened to them is descriptive to us
of the marvel and wonder that is found in a covenant called
a covenant of grace. Look how this takes place. And
if we were not told this in Ephesians chapter 4, we could read the
book of Genesis until our eyes fall out and we never would have
seen it. Nobody could have ever imagined
that what took place with Abraham and Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael
and Sarah's Isaac, that all of this has meaning and application
to the gospel and to Christ. Here's how it takes place. Verse
19, Galatians chapter 4. My little children, of whom I
travail or labor 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, you that desire to be
under the law, do you 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. Abraham and Saba, years, years
had passed since God had promised them a son. They concluded, which
is natural for human beings to do, if God's going to give us
a son, we're going to have to help him out. And that is the
gist of today's Christianity. God has no hands but your hands,
that's a lie. Has no feet but your feet, that's
a lie. And on and on it goes. That's
exactly what Abraham and Sarah concluded. God means for us to
do something. But alas, the child that was
born to Sarah's handmaiden could not stay in the same house once
the promised son was born. we're reaping in the very world
that exists on this globe today the awful tragedy of that event. 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, after the flesh. But he of the free woman was
by promise, by promise, which things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants. What two covenants? The covenant
of law and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works and the
covenant of grace. These are two separate, distinct
covenants. Though the Judaizers who were
bothering the Galatian believers were trying to get them to add
Moses to Christ. And that is for the most part
what religion is doing in our generation in America. It's telling
people to merge the two. Yes, Christ has done all that
He can do. Now the rest is up to you. If
the rest is up to us, it ain't going to happen. We'll perish. And it's not up to us. Strange
to me, the Lord Jesus used language such as, it is finished, talking
about redemption, his substitutionary death on Calvary's tree. These
things, verse 24, Paul declares are an allegory, for these are
the two covenants. The one from Mount Sinai, which
genders, produces, bondage, represented by Hagar, For this Hagar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia and answers to Jerusalem which now is." That
is the Jewish religion headquartered in Jerusalem of which Paul was
one of the main cogs until Christ conquered him on the road to
Damascus. He says, Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage
with her children. is the present-day example of
exactly what is before us in Sarah and Abraham and Hagar. The very same thing. Jerusalem, which now is, and
if I could I would say the Baptist religion that now is, is a concoction
between the two, for it is not except in rare instances it is
not all Christ. It is partly Christ and partly
what people bring on their own. Verse 26, But Jerusalem, which
is above, Mount Zion, which is above, is free, which is the
mother of us all. of all believers. For it is written,
you can find this statement in Isaiah 54, Rejoice, you barren
that bear not, speaking of a childless woman. Break forth and cry, you
that prevail not. For the desolate, the haggars
of this world, have many more children than she which has a
husband. Reconcile yourselves, dear friends. If you don't employ the methods
of modern religion to get people to come to church, don't expect
this building to ever be full. And if we're dependent on God
to save people and not ourselves to save them, He saves whom He
pleases. And He does it when He pleases. And He is not ever in a hurry. Never. He does everything on
time. But he's never in a hurry. Verse 28, Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of promise. Children of promise. Who is we? This is Paul and the
Galatian believers. He's telling them that he as
well as them, just like Isaac was in the allegory, He as well
as them are the children of promise. 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 and things have not changed. Nevertheless, what does the Scripture
say? What does it say? Can you believe
this is in the New Testament? Cast out the bondwoman with her
son? You mean tell somebody they've
got to go? Leave? Well, it may come to that. I
don't think it will take that in most instances. You just preach
Christ and nothing but Christ, and these people after a while
will say, I've got to go somewhere else. I can't stand this. I want
a preacher to tell me what I can do for God instead of what God's
done for me. Nevertheless, what says the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. We'll do this in our preaching,
in our teaching, and in our reading. That will take care of things.
For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son
of the free woman. So then, brethren, We are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Now let's pause just a moment
here and ask the Lord to help us understand this divine allegory. O Lord God of heaven and earth,
the God of the Bible, Lord, the more blessed the subject the
more difficult for us to conceive. Somehow, the more plain you make
it, the harder it becomes. We cast ourselves before your
blessed throne of grace, pleading nothing except the merit and
blood of the Lord Jesus. And we pray that according to
your blessed will, you would open our eyes, the eyes of our
understanding, the eyes of our heart, Understand this precious
story, this allegory. Lord, show us the grandeur and
the splendor of Your grace and mercy as it is in Christ. Show
us that in Him You have all things. You've given us in Your blessed
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, all there is, all of Your mercy and
all of Your grace. But Lord, we're so backward.
We have so much trouble understanding the simplest of things. Oh, but
you can make them plain. You can speak them to our souls
in such a way that we cannot escape the true meaning of those
words. We beg this of you, that you'd
bring honor and glory to yourself in the lifting up and exalting
of your Son and our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus, in this
place this day. We beg in His name. Amen. Now perhaps if you would indulge
me, let's turn to a few scriptures to understand just a little bit
better what we have read in this chapter. I'm turning to Hebrews
chapter 7 and then also in chapter 13. But if you'll turn to chapter
7 in the book of Hebrews. Now this covenant allegory that
is in front of us in Galatians chapter 4 is a revealed mystery. It was for many, many, many generations
a complete mystery. And God revealed to the Apostle
Paul and through his pen to us this wonderful story, this allegory
that is precious in regard to God and His grace in Christ.
Now the first thing we read about in Galatians 4 is that there
were two covenants. Now I'm sure there were many
other covenants of one kind or another, but in the main we have
two major covenants. All the others compared to these
two are incidental. They are not very important compared
to these two. We have a covenant of grace and
a covenant of works. Adam in the garden is under a
covenant of works. Adam, there is a forbidden tree
that you must not eat of. In the day that you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. And since Adam is our federal
head and representative, all the human race fell when Adam
fell. Now get hold of this. Eve ate
the forbidden fruit first, but Adam did not fall when Eve fell. The race did not fall through
Eve, but through Adam, which is why the Lord Jesus can be
born of the seed of the woman and not share in the contamination
of sin in human nature. This is a wonderful, wonderful
covenant that is illustrated here in Galatians chapter 4. In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 22,
By so much was Jesus made a surety, a guarantor of a better testament. That word is covenant. A better
covenant. You don't need to look, but in
Hebrews chapter 8 it says, a better covenant with better promises. What glorious promises indeed. One more reference here in Hebrews
chapter 13. Chapter 13. I remember to this
day the first time I ever heard anybody anywhere preach on Hebrews
13 verse 20. I thought I'd come unglued. I've
never heard such things in all my life. Here it is. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Christ's blood is the blood of
the everlasting covenant. Now don't sell this covenant
short. The word everlasting means from
everlasting to everlasting. There is no space on either end. You can't get there but from
the beginning to the end and there is no beginning and no
end. It's an everlasting covenant. And Christ's blood is the blood
of the everlasting covenant. And look what it does. Verse
21. Make you perfect. Is that enough? God's grace in
Christ in covenant mercy and grace makes us just like Christ. Perfect. Holy. Righteous. Sanctified. And listen to me,
if He gives this to one of His children, He gives it to them
all. This is not based on our deserving. It is based on the deservings
of Christ. Make you perfect in every good
work to do His will. Working in you, that which is
well-pleasing in His sight. through Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory forever and ever. Amen. I'll tell you one thing. That is so far above walking
a church aisle and making some profession of faith. Taking a
preacher's hand, him telling you you're saved, which he does
not know it and cannot communicate that, not even to himself. God alone can give us the assurance. that we are resting and trusting
in His Son. But this is what God does. This
is what grace does. This is what it means to be in
Christ. Let me read that to you again.
This everlasting covenant of grace through the blood of Christ
make you perfect in every good work to do His will. working in you that which is
well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. My soul, that's a covenant
now. I want you to look that thing
over while you've got it in front of you. How many ifs are in there?
Not nary a one. How many buts? None. This is not conditioned. on anything in us, about us,
of us, or anything. It all rests on the almighty
shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the prophet Isaiah says
the government shall be upon His shoulders. In God's name,
in verse 20, because of the nature of this covenant, God's name
is the God of peace. the God of peace. Let me show
you that in the Scriptures. I think we have trouble believing
what is right before our eyes. If I can find this, and I think
I can, Isaiah chapter 40. If I can't find it where I think
it is, I'll blame one of you for moving it. Isaiah chapter
40, verse 1, Comfort you, comfort you my people, saith your God.
speak you comfortably unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Jump over to verse
6. The voice, the prophet said,
the voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?
Watch this, all flesh is grass. And then the next thing in verse
9, let me just read it straight through. All flesh is grass. The grass withers, verse 8, the
flower fades, but the Word of our God shall stand forever.
O Zion that brings good tidings, get you up into the high mountain
of Jerusalem that brings good tidings. Lift up your voice with
strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God. Behold your God. Your warfare
is over. God's no longer angry with you.
You know why? His wrath and His justice exhausted
themselves in the death of God's Son on Calvary's tree, and the
debt was paid, paid in full, never to be charged to our account
again. Payment God cannot twice demand. first at my bleeding surety's
hand and then again at mine." God is just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Glorious thought
indeed! This everlasting covenant of
God's grace. Now in the time that remains,
which is not any, if you'll turn back to Galatians 4 just a second,
I'll ask you to do something. In the two offspring, to Sarah
and Hagar respectively, we have in their sons a picture of every
member of the human race who is looking for salvation. Those
that look for it either in whole or in part to themselves are
represented by Ishmael and those who look for salvation in Christ
and in Christ alone are the Isaacs. Ishmael came before Isaac just
like nature comes before grace. So believers are a people who
are said to have been born again. Let me close by reading verses
23 and 24 in Galatians chapter 4. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, after the flesh. But he of the free
one was by promise, by promise, which things are an allegory,
for there are two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, the
other is Jerusalem, which is above, Mount Zion, if you will,
the goodness and glory of God in Christ in this precious covenant
of grace. I might have to come back to
that chapter because we didn't finish.