That'll be recorded on there.
All right, let's go ahead and turn, if you would, to Galatians
4. Galatians 4, I'd like to read
verses 21 through 31. Galatians 4, starting verse 21,
tell me, ye 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. Which things are an allegory?
For these are the two covenants, the one for Mount Sinai, that
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, an answer to Jerusalem, which now is, and
is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. For 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 a husband. Now we brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuteth him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what sayeth the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir of the son of the free woman. So
then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. Let's bow our heads. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
to your presence in the name of thy son. Lord, we give thee
thanks. We're thankful for this day,
for all the mercies and blessings that you've given us, Lord. We
pray that you'd give us the grace not take these things for granted,
Lord. We're thankful for a place to
worship, Lord. We're thankful for the freedom
to worship, and Lord, we're thankful for a faithful pastor. Lord,
we pray that you'd be with those who would teach and preach in
your name this morning, deliver them from themselves, and enable them to boldly and plainly
preach the gospel of thy grace. Lord, we confess our sins and
ask forgiveness for Christ's sake. Lord, be with us and grant
us a true worship service this day. We pray for our pastor and
we pray for Andy. Lord, be with us. In his name
we pray, amen. So, as many of you may know,
I've had the privilege of being under the gospel most of my life.
I'll be 37 in about a month, so I suppose I've heard the gospel
for over 30 years. If I'm honest when I was a little
boy I was very scared of hell, I still am, but it was a very
mysterious idea to me especially when I was a little boy, this
idea that God sent men to hell. And frankly my sinful nature
even at a young age didn't really like it and what really I had
a problem with was the idea that a sovereign God has the power
to send men to hell eternally. As the Lord seemed fit to reveal
himself to me and reveal myself to me, I've had a change of mind
and a change of heart regarding this matter. Now, the Lord does
have to reveal to men and women that they're totally depraved.
But I do think if we're honest a little bit about this world
and about ourselves, there's some pretty practical examples
of this. So I'll give you one, the news. My wife and I decided
years ago to stop watching the news. It's just kind of depressing. It's mostly crime, injustice, disaster, and we just
didn't want to end our day that way. So we actually just kind
of stopped watching it. But again, I think if you turn on the nightly
news most nights, you get a pretty good glimpse of man's nature
and of just the evil in this world. Three years ago, I had
my first child, and now we have two. Now, I want to say, I do
love my children. I really do. I love them dearly. And I'd do anything for them,
but have you ever really watched a little child? Again, if we
have any honesty, they're little monsters. They're completely
selfish, completely egocentric, and they're essentially completely
unable to grasp a world outside of themselves and whatever they're
doing at the time. Sound like anyone else you know?
I wonder where my kids get it. Some things I didn't have to
teach my kids to do. I never had to teach them how to say
no. I didn't have to teach him how to grab things out of each
other's hands. I mean, there'll be a toy that's been sitting
literally for two years gathering dust, and if Charlie grabs it,
Eleanor will go and say, mine, mine, mine, and grab it out of
his hands. Didn't have to teach her that. Didn't have to teach him
how to push each other. These are just things, it seems
they were pre-programmed to do. And by the way, children act
exactly how we would act if we didn't have the social restraints
of losing our friends, our family, our jobs, and ultimately our
freedom by going to jail. Which leads me back to me. The
Lord has made me more aware every day of my own sin and my inability
to change or do any real good. If I'm really honest, my thoughts,
my motives, my intentions are pretty selfish, pretty egocentric,
and just like my children, I'd prefer really not to consider
a world outside of my own. Sounds a lot like my kids, doesn't
it? Now the best example of man's nature is the cross. When the
restraints were taken off and we could do whatever we wanted
to do with God, we killed him, we crucified him. That's right,
by nature, we are God killers. You and I, God killers. Do you believe that about yourself?
So as I said, by the Lord's grace, I've had a change of heart and
a change of mind about myself and this has led to a change
of mind and a change of heart about God. You see, I'm no longer
all that surprised that God would send men and women to hell. If
we have any honesty with ourselves, that's what we all deserve. The
mystery to me now is why and how God could choose to save
any of us. How can a just God justify the ungodly? How can
a holy God save sinners and remain holy? Isn't that mysterious?
Isn't that wonderful? This is the mystery to me now.
So this morning, I'd like to consider a familiar story, the
story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. I'm just going to read
this passage, make a few comments about the two covenants that
we heard about in Galatians. And I'd also like to consider,
at the end, the Old Testament account of these people in contrast
with the New Testament account. And I think, I hope we can answer
the question of how a holy God can save sinners. So let's turn
to Genesis 15. Genesis 15, we'll read verses
one through six. After these things, Genesis 15,
one. After these things, the word
of the Lord came into Abram in a vision, saying, fear not, Abram,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said,
Lord God, what will thou give me, seeing I go childless, and
the steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus? And Abram
said, behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born
in my house is mine heir, and behold, The word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted it to him for righteousness. So we see here,
Abraham asks God for an heir, and God promises him an heir.
He tells Abraham that his seed will be as the stars in the heaven,
uncountable, innumerable. And in that moment, Abraham believes.
And I can relate to this. How many times have I come here
and heard a message that I feel so blessed by, I feel so full
of spirit, and the next day I can't even remember the text it's from.
We'll see in the next chapter that Abraham is no different.
Well, it took him a little longer. Genesis 16, we'll read verses
1 through 6, and then a couple of verses at the end of the chapter.
Now Sarah, Abram's wife, bare him no children, and she had
a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said
unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing.
I pray thee, go unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarah. And Sarah,
Abram's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abraham
had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her
husband, Abram, to be his wife. And he went into Hagar, and she
conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress
was despised in her eyes. And Sarah said unto Abram, My
wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy
bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised
in her eyes, and the Lord judge between me and thee. And Abram
said unto Sarah, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her
as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarah dealt hardly with
her, she fled from her face. And then, skipping down to verse
15, And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called his son's name,
which Hagar bare Ishmael. And Abram was fourscore and six
years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram." So 11 years have passed
between chapter 15 in the original promise and chapter 16, and that's
a long time. Abraham's now 86 years old, and
Sarah is 76 years old, and they got a little impatient. Does
this remind you of anyone else? Can you relate to this? What
an impatient people we are. Oh that we'd be given the grace
to pray that the Lord's will be done and just wait. He tells
us in his word that for his people all things work together for
our good and his glory so let's just wait on him. But like me,
like you, Abraham and Sarah couldn't wait. So what did they do? They
tried to do their part. They thought they could help
God along a little bit and what a mess this caused and what a
mess this causes for us in our lives. In verse 2, Sarah tells
Abraham of her master plan. I'm going to give you a new,
younger wife, and what do you know, Abram hearkened to her
voice. He hearkened pretty quickly, actually, if you read verse 2
again here. Before the end of the verse,
he agrees to this plan. And Sarah said unto Abram, Behold
now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee,
go in unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarah. So he hearkens,
this happens, and Hagar conceives, and by the end of verse four,
we see that Sarah quickly realizes the folly of this plan. And Hagar
despises Sarah, and then nine months later, Ishmael is born.
So what can we glean from this? In Galatians, Paul calls his
story an allegory. An allegory is a story in which
the characters are used to picture other real characters and real
actions. In this allegory, Hagar, the servant or bondwoman, represents
the covenant of law and works. In the covenant of law and works,
God says, do this and live. Now, the Ten Commandments strictly
lay out the law. And remember, it's important, to keep the law,
you and I must keep the whole law all the time, both outwardly
and inwardly. God's holy law requires 100%
perfection. So can anyone keep this law?
Of course not. If the Lord gives us any real insight, any real
truth about ourselves and we have any honesty, it's delusional
to think we can keep the law outwardly or especially inwardly.
So Hagar, the bond woman, represents the covenant of law and works.
Now Sarah, the true wife of Abraham, represents God's eternal covenant
of grace in Christ Jesus. This covenant was first from
all eternity before the foundation of the world and will continue
through all eternity. It was not originally made between
God and men, but between the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Hebrews 13.20 reads, 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.
And this really is the crux of the matter. There are only two
covenants, only two paths to God. The covenant of eternal
promise, where Christ does all, and the covenant of works, where
man must do all in perfectly keeping the law. and we'll see
later, these can't be mixed in any way. Which covenant do you
want to be found under? The law of grace, the law of
works. The Lord will meet you on the grounds that you come.
Where the covenant of law says do this and live, the covenant
of grace says Christ does all and all his people shall live,
they must live. You see, God gives eternal life through his
grace and mercy without any works or help from any of us. As Sarah
is the first wife of Abraham, the covenant of grace was the
first covenant. Before there was ever a sinner, there was
a covenant of grace and a surety, a guarantee, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. He was a lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. His sheep were chosen in Christ
before the world ever began. So let's continue the story in
Genesis 17. Genesis 17, we'll read verses one through seven
and then pick up again in 15. And when Abram was ninety-nine years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I
am the Almighty God, walk before me, be thou perfect. And I will
make my covenant between me and thee, and I will multiply thee
exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with
him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and
thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name
any more be called Abram, but thy name be Abraham, for a father
of many nations have I made in thee, and I will make thee exceedingly
fruitful. And I will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, and their generations,
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee." Picking up in verse 15, we'll read 15
through 21. And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarah thy wife,
thou shalt not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall her name
be. And I will bless her. and 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? And Abraham said unto God, O
that Ishmael might live before thee. And God said, Sarah thy
wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and I shall call his name Isaac,
and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard
thee, Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful,
and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish
with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time
next year." So now, Abraham is 99 years old. 13 more years have
passed between the last, between chapter 16 and 17. And the Lord
reminds Abraham of this covenant a second time. Why do we have
to be reminded? Because we're a forgetful people.
Why do we come to church multiple times a week? Because we need
to be reminded of the truth and we need to be saved continually.
In verse 15, the Lord reminds Abraham that he will bless his
wife and that she will be the mother of nations, that kings
will come from her. And what does Abraham do? He
laughs, maybe not out loud, but he laughs within himself and
says in his heart, I'm 100 years old, my wife's 90 years old,
are we really going to have a child? He doubts. Abraham even petitions
the Lord for Ishmael to be the promised seed. Again going back
to his works and the Lord says, Nay, Sarah thy wife shall bear
thee a son and I shall call his name Isaac and I will establish
my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.
So let's continue in Genesis 18, we'll read verses 9 through
15. Here he repeats the promise a third time and we'll see how
Sarah reacts. Genesis 18 verse 9, And they said unto him, Where
is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, 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 my I'm 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 anything too
hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will
return to thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I
laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, nay, but thou didst
laugh. So here the Lord repeats his promise again, tells him,
Sarah thy wife shall have a son, and at this point, In Genesis
it tells us that they were well stricken in age, we know they're
190 at this point and it says that it ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. This means Sarah had gone through
menopause and it was biologically impossible for her to have children.
So the Lord reminds them of this promise again and what does Sarah
do? She laughs within herself just like Abraham did. They murmured,
they doubted, they didn't believe just like we do so often. when
we don't think something has happened in the way we would
like it, or maybe something's not happening as quickly as we
would like, or as quickly as it would suit us. So I think
it's interesting, one thing I hadn't noticed before, I think it's
interesting that the scripture said that they both laughed within
themselves, because I think we all do a pretty good job of putting
on shows for each other and for the world. They probably weren't
quite bold enough to laugh at the Lord out loud, but they laughed
within themselves. I think this reminds us, and this is important,
God sees everything. He sees our thoughts, our hearts,
our motives, and our intentions. And again, this brings me back
to how impossible it is, and really just how impossible it
is for a man or woman to think that they can keep God's holy
law. So Sarah laughs inside herself at the repeated promise, this
covenant that the Lord's promised. And she denies laughing. She
lies to the Lord. She says, you know, nay, I didn't laugh. And
the Lord just reminds her that he sees all and says, You did
laugh. So let's finish the story here
in Genesis 21. Genesis 21, we'll read verses 1 through 14. Genesis
21, 1, 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 of which God
had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that
was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham
circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded
him. And Abraham was 100 years old
when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath
made me 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 born him a son in his old
age. And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great
feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the
son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking.
Wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her
son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son,
even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous
in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham,
let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and
because of thy bondwoman. And all that Sarah had said unto
thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation,
because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose up early in
the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it
unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder and the child, and sent
her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of
Beersheba." So I personally, I love this first verse in chapter
20. I want to read it again. And
the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto
Sarah as he had spoken. Doesn't the Lord always do as
he says? Doesn't he always do as he's spoken in his word? And
yet we're so prone to fret, so prone to worry, so prone to unbelief,
so prone not to trust that the Lord's will is best. We read
here, the Lord fulfilled his promise, as he always does, and
when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, physically
unable to have children, Miraculously they had a son just as the Lord
had promised in the covenant he made 25 years earlier. Now
it might not have happened on their timeline, it might not
have happened exactly how they would have had it happen but
I can tell you this, it happened exactly when it was supposed
to and ultimately it was for their good and his glory. And
at the end we see when God's promise was fulfilled that the
bondwoman and her son were cast out. I'm going to read Galatians
4, 30 and 31, I'll just read it, you don't have to turn there,
What saith the scripture, cast out the bondwoman and her son
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son
of the free woman so them brethren we are not children of the bondwoman
but of the free. And this may seem a little harsh
to us but Hagar and her son had to be cast out because in this
allegory remember they represent the law of works. The covenant
of works was done away with when the covenant of grace was fulfilled
by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. It cannot have
any place in the redemption and reign of our Lord. The only true
son of Abraham is Isaac and in this allegory he represents the
covenant of grace by faith in Jesus Christ. In this thing of
salvation there can be no mixing of works and grace, it's either
all works or all grace. Let's turn to Romans 3. Romans 3, pick up in verse 19.
Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, is saith to them
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. And now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there's
no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. So just to summarize this Old
Testament account, Abraham and Sarah were promised a son. They
had so little faith in the promise of the Lord that Sarah sent her
husband into her handmaid to do their part, to help fulfill
this promise. Years later, the Lord reminded
them of this promise and they both laughed at the Lord. Sarah
then lied to the Lord when he asked her about it. So what would
we say about these people? Do these seem like the actions
of people who have great faith? Would we say these people had
great faith? Let's turn to Hebrews 11. I want to read the New Testament
account of Abraham and Sarah. Hebrews 11, verse 8, By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place where he should after receipt
for inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive
seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past her age, because
she had judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang
there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the
stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the
seashore innumerable. So how can this be? After all
their doubt, all their unbelief, All are sin in the Old Testament
account, how can these people be called faithful in the New
Testament? Last scripture we'll turn to, 2 Corinthians 5.21.
2 Corinthians 5.21. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." The difference here is actually simple, and
it's glorious. The difference here is the perfect
life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. The difference is his infinite mercy and his infinite
grace. You see, when God the Father
looks at the deeds of all the lives of all his people, he actually
sees the deeds and perfect life of his son. our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. This is how real union with Christ
is for his people, when he looks on his people he actually sees
his son and the truth is the way God sees things is the way
they really are. Isn't that mysterious, isn't
that wonderful? This is how God justifies the ungodly, this is
how a holy God can save sinners, this is my hope and I pray that
it would be your hope as well, amen.