Isaac

Q: What does the Bible say about the covenant of grace?

The covenant of grace is God's promise to bless His people through faith in Jesus Christ, as exemplified in the birth of Isaac. The covenant of grace is a central theme throughout Scripture, highlighting God's commitment to bless His people not based on their works but purely through grace. In the sermon, it's illustrated through the birth of Isaac, who was a child of promise, representing the blessings that come through faith. The Apostle Paul's reference in Galatians connects Isaac to the promise of salvation through Christ. The promise is not earned; it is freely given to those who believe, affirming that all spiritual blessings in Christ are rooted in this unmerited grace.

Q: How do we know that Isaac's birth represents Christ?

Isaac's birth is a direct fulfillment of God's promise, which ultimately points to Jesus as the promised seed through whom all nations would be blessed. In Galatians 3:16, Paul clarifies that the promises made to Abraham's seed refer specifically to Christ. Isaac's miraculous birth at a set time serves as a foreshadowing of Christ's own miraculous birth, emphasizing that God's plan for salvation was rooted in promise and not in human effort. The sermon highlights that just as Isaac was the child of promise, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that promise, being the one through whom grace is extended to all who believe. This connection underscores the importance of understanding salvation as a work of God, not dependent on our actions but on His divine purpose.

Q: Why is understanding grace versus law important for Christians?

Understanding the distinction between grace and law is crucial for recognizing that salvation is through faith in Christ, not by our works. The sermon contrasts the bondage of the law with the freedom found in grace, as represented by Hagar and Sarah. Hagar, the bondwoman, illustrates the legalistic approach to salvation, which leads to enslavement. In contrast, Sarah represents the covenant of grace through which believers are made free. Paul urges believers to stand firm in their freedom in Christ, reminding them that they are not bound by the works of the law but rather are freed by faith. This understanding is critical, as it assures Christians that salvation is a gift rather than a reward for adherence to the law, fostering a deeper trust in God's grace and mercy.

Q: What does it mean to be a child of promise?

Being a child of promise means being part of God's covenant blessings through faith in Christ, not by works. A child of promise, as outlined in Galatians 4, signifies one who is born of God's promise rather than human effort. This concept is rooted in the understanding that God chose to bless and redeem His people through Christ, fulfilling His promises to Abraham. Believers are seen as spiritual descendants of Abraham, heirs of the promise through faith. This notion emphasizes that one's standing before God is based on grace rather than merit, inviting all to trust in Christ for salvation and partake in the blessings promised to God's elect.

I could have fixed it. In Galatians chapter 4, we've
been looking at some pictures of salvation, and we want to
begin here, then we'll turn over to the book of Genesis. We're
studying tonight, just a few minutes, and I'll probably wind
up having to quit right in the middle of this, because I know
we'll not be able to finish this. So we'll just go until we get
tired and we'll quit, okay? Pick it up, pick it up, maybe
next time. But we're looking at some pictures of salvation.
Last week we looked at Noah's Ark. And I hope you enjoyed last
week as much as I did. I really enjoyed it. Especially
coming to that part where the Lord shut him in. I enjoyed that
part. And Brother Glenn made the statement
that they couldn't get out. They didn't want out, but they
couldn't get out. But nothing could get in. And that was wonderful. I thought about that this week. Galatians chapter 4. Let's begin
tonight to look at the picture of salvation, of law and grace,
Hagar and Sarah. Verse 19 of Galatians chapter
4. My little children of whom I
travail in birth again, I'm laboring, laboring in my heart until Christ
be formed in you. They left Christ, left His gospel.
I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice. 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. One was by a slave, the other
by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman,
the slave, was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman
was by promise. Which things are an allegory,
they are pictures, they are symbolic of something. For these are the
two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which genereth to bondage,
which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and entereth 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 beareth not, break forth and cry thou
that trevelleth not, for the desolate hath many more children
than she which hath men husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the 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. Nevertheless, what saith the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
slave woman 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. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage." Now, Sarah and Hagar and their
children, Isaac and Ishmael, are a beautiful picture to us
of law and grace. Being saved by works, or attempting
to be saved by works, and being saved by the obedience and the
death of somebody else. Being justified by your religious
efforts and what you do, as opposed to being justified by faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Under a covenant of works, that's
bondage, isn't it? The law brings bondage. But what
does grace do, that grace that's in Christ? It frees us. It makes
us free. So he said, stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free. If we're in Christ,
redeemed in Christ, a new creature, then we're free. If we're under
the law, under works, doing religious activities to be justified with
God, then we're in bondage. We're bound. And that's what
these two women here represent to us. Paul said they were allegories. And that simply means they're
symbolic. They're pictures of something that's real. And that's
what we're going to look at this evening. And we're told here
that Hagar was a slave, and she represents to us the covenant
of works. When she had a son, he was a
slave to. You can't be anything but under
bondage if you're serving the law. The law doesn't beget a
free person. It begets bondage. But we're
told here that Sarah was a free woman, and when she had a son,
he was free. A free woman has a free son. So in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're free. We're free because of Him. We're free because of what He's
done in our place. He came to this earth as our
representative. He came to save His people, did
He not? And He stood in our place, He
obeyed the law on our behalf, and upon the cross of Calvary,
He became our substitute. He took our sins, He suffered
for those sins, He satisfied for those sins, He arose from
the dead, which He would have never done if those sins had
not been satisfied for. He ascended into heaven, and
He's seated on the right hand of God. And when He, by His own
merit, by His own work and grace, makes us free, then we're free
indeed. We're not bound anymore by the
covenant of the law. or the covenant of works. So
that's what the Apostle Paul is teaching us here in this allegory,
in these symbols. I just wanted to read that to
you, but I want you to turn it over now where this story is
given to us in Genesis, in the book of Genesis. And I want us
to begin here in chapter 12, and I want to begin here to show
you when the Lord called Abraham out of the air of the Chaldees.
He told Abraham, He said, Abraham, I'm going to bless you. I'm going
to bless you. I'm going to make you a blessing. I'm going to bless all the nations
of the earth through you. Now, to be honest with you, Abraham
understood very little of this. But I want you to notice as we
read through these chapters, a few verses, notice how the
Lord progressively makes more known to Abraham. When He first
told Abraham to get out of Er of the Chaldees, in chapter 12. Here is all he told. Look in
chapter 12, beginning here in verse 1. Now the Lord had said
unto Abram, that was his name, for the Lord changed it to Abraham,
Get thee out of thy country, and from your kindred, and from
your father's house, unto a land that I will show you. And I will
make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will
make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I will
bless them that bless you, I will curse them that curse you, and
in you, in thee, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord
had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. He had
no idea how the Lord was going to bring this promise to pass.
In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed." So
he waited, and he waited for several years. And look over
here in the 15th chapter, and look in verse 1. Here the Lord
appeared to him again, and He reveals just a little bit more
to him how He is going to bless the nation. Look in chapter 15
in verse 1. This was several years later.
After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in
a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am your shield and your exceeding
great reward." And Abraham said, Lord God, what will you give
me seeing I go childless? He didn't have a child. And the
steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus. He had a servant.
He said, is that the way you're going to bless me? Through my
servant? He's my heir. I don't have any
kids. If you're going to bless me, you must be going to do it
through him. But then the Lord revealed something to Abraham
in verse 3. And Abraham said to him, Abraham
said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born
in my house is my 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, thine own loins,
shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, Now look towards heaven, and tell the stars if you be
able to number them. And he said to him, So shall
thy seed be. Man, that's a bunch of people
there. He looked at the stars. If you can count them, you can
count your children. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted it to him for righteousness. Isn't that amazing?
And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of
Ur of the Chaldees to give this land to you to inherit it. Then, of course, he goes on and
offers the sacrifices. So he reveals something else.
He said, Abraham, I'm going to bless you through your son that's
coming out of your loins. I'm not going to bless you through
Eliezer, your servant. He's going to be your own son.
Well, he went on for a number of more years. And he didn't
have a son. He and Sarah didn't have a son.
So he had told Sarah about this. So Sarah began to think, well,
He ain't going to have a son but me. So what she did, impatiently,
trying to connive with Abraham, she said, what you need to do,
since it's going to be your son and probably not my son, take
Hagar. That's my slave that she brought
down in Egypt. She gave her slave to Abraham. He went in to her and had a son
by Hagar, the slave. I want to read that to you here
in chapter in chapter 16. Look in chapter 16, in verse
1. And Sarai, that was Sarai's name
before the Lord changed it, told Abram's wife. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore
him no children, and she had a handmaid, a slave, an Egyptian
whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold,
now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee,
go in to my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her." And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarai. You know
why he hearkened so quickly? I'll give you one reason. I won't
give you the vulgar reason. I imagine part of that, too.
But he thought himself, well, Sarah's not going to have a child.
I know it's going to be my child, so I'll take her and have a child,
and that'll be my heir. That'll be my heir. And Sarai,
Abram's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram
had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her
husband, Abram, to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and
she conceived. And when she saw that she had
conceived, her mistress was despised in her eye." So she had a son. And we know, we're told here
in the remainder of that chapter, that the Lord told Hagar to name
her son Ishmael. That was His name. He was going
to be a wall man. His hand was going to be against
every man. Every man's hand was going to be against Him. And
you know that's the Arab nations over there now. And they still
dwell over there for the most part in the desert. And they
dwell among themselves. And they fight among themselves.
And they fight with everybody else. They're still wall men.
Just like their daddy was, Ishmael. But go on now in chapter 17 and
the Lord is going to reveal something else. He's going to reveal something
else to Abraham. This is a progressive revelation
to Abraham. Abraham thought, surely Ishmael,
God's going to bless me now through Ishmael, the son of this slave. But let's hear what he says in
verse 1, chapter 17 in verse 1. Let's read here just a little
bit. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, ninety-nine
years old, the Lord appeared to him and said unto him, I am
the Almighty God. Walk before me, and be thou perfect,
and I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply
thee exceedingly. Abraham 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
shall be called Abraham. For a father of many nations
have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding
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 their God, to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee." But now, over here in verse 15
through 19, the Lord is going to reveal something else to Abraham
that is absolutely amazing. And he can't hardly believe it.
And Sarah couldn't believe it. But look what he says here in
verse 15. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt
not call her name Sarai, but Sarah, a princess, 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.
And then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in
his heart, I laughed too every time I read that. I can't help
it. Sarah laughed, didn't she? And we're still laughing. She
said, everybody that hears this is going to laugh. And we're
still laughing. And said in his heart, shall a child be born
unto him that isn't a hundred years old, and Sarah that is
nine years old, shall she bear it? And look what Abraham said.
And Abraham said unto God, Oh, that ishmael my lip of faith.
Boy, I tell you, he's the father of the faithful. But I tell you,
sometimes he wondered himself, didn't he? How in the world is
this going to be? But that happened. That happened.
And we'll see that in just a minute. But this is what I want us to
just look at some things quickly now about this birth. And I don't
want to go into this, try to go into this too deeply and lose
you. And you go home and say, what in the world did he just
say? I want to look at this now, here in this passage, in these
two or three chapters, and just see some things concerning this
woman, Hagar, and Sarah, and their birth of these two children. Mainly, Isaac's birth. And the first thing we notice
about the birth of Isaac is this. He was by promise. He was by
promise. Sarah was promised. a son. And that's there in verse 15.
Look how He says it. I love the way He says this.
Verse 16, 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 come out of her. Here's the promise. I
will. I will. It was according to promise. It wasn't by Sarah and Abraham's
conniving and by their impatience, it was by promise. And Isaac
represents, now I want you to take your Bible, I want you to
take your Bible with me and turn some scripture, but you have
to turn real fast to keep up with me. Isaac in his birth,
and him being the promised seed, represents two peoples to us.
I want you to turn, I want to show you this. This is such a
wonderful blessing. He represents two people. I want you to put
your A marker there in the 17th chapter of Genesis. And turn
back over to Galatians chapter 3 with me. The Lord promised
Sarah that she would have a son. And Isaac represents to us, first
of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember what the Lord told
Abraham, In thy seed shall all the nations be blessed. in your
seed shall all the nations be blessed." Now, who was that seed?
Who was that seed? Well, Paul tells us here in Galatians
chapter 3, and look in verse 16. Now, to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. And he saith not unto seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. The promised blessings was to
come through Abraham's seed, and who is that seed? It's Christ. Isaac represents to us the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I want you sometime at your
leisure to read Psalms 89, because that tells us about the covenant
that God made with Christ his Son. Let me read you just three
verses in Psalms 89. And he's speaking of the covenant
God made with His Son. Listen to this. I have made a
covenant with my Chosen. That's Christ. I have sworn unto
David, my servant. I have found David, my servant,
with my holy oil, have I anointed him. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the things that have gone out of my mouth. Once have
I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. God put all the blessings in
Jesus Christ, His Son. And He promised those blessings
to Christ, just as He promised Abraham and Sarah a son and said,
I'll bless you through Him and your seed is going to be as the
stars of heaven, your children. So God made a covenant with His
Son. And in His Son, He has promised
all these blessings. I want to show you that. I don't
want to just quote this to you and you pass over. You hold Galatians. You hold that. And look over
in Titus. Look over in Titus. When we talk
about the covenant of grace that God made with His Son, everything
is according to promise. It's a promise. You don't work
to get it. We don't merit it. We don't earn
it. It's a promise. It comes by promise. Look here
in Titus chapter 1 and look in verse 1 and verse 2. Here's what
I'm talking about. Paul, a servant of God and an
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 did God promise eternal
life? Before the world began. Now, I wasn't before the world
began, and you wasn't, but who was? Jesus Christ was, wasn't
He? And God said, I swore to Him,
I found Him, and once have I sworn by my holiness to my Son. I'm
never going to lie to Him. I'm going to bless the families
of the earth through Him. And that's the promise. That's
the promise. If you're here tonight and the
Lord has saved you, He has washed you, He's forgiven your sins,
He's given you life eternal, you know when He promised you
that? Before you were ever born. He promised you that in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Just as Isaac was a child of
promise, Jesus Christ was promised. The Gospel was promised. All
the blessings was promised in Him. All the blessings of God
are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we don't earn
anything, do we? We don't merit anything. It was
by promise. It was by promise. Are you trying
to figure out how to be saved? Are you trying to figure out
how to be accepted before God? You're in the same place Abraham
and Sarah was, trying to figure out how to have a child. And
you just mess it all up. Do you know how the promises
come? through Christ. He's the promised
Messiah, the promised seed. And all those promises were given
to Him. He is our Isaac, isn't He? Back over in Galatians chapter
3, first of all, Isaac represents Jesus Christ to us. Christ is
that seed. He's the seed. But look in Galatians
3 and verse 29. Every believer Every believer
is the seed of Abraham. Christ is that seed, and through
Him all the families of the earth is blessed. But you know something? If you're here tonight and you're
Christ by electing love, you're Christ by redemption, you're
Christ by faith, you belong to Him by faith, you know you are
the seed of Abraham. That's what Paul told us over
in that passage I read to you in Galatians 4. We, brethren,
as Isaac, are the children of Thomas. Look how he says that
here in Galatians chapter 3 and look in verse 29. If you be Christ,
if you belong to Christ by redeeming grace, then are you Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. Isaac was just a picture
of Christ. who is God's real seed. But Isaac
is a picture of all the elect, every believing soul. Isaac is
a picture of them. Because just as he was Abraham's
promised seed, we're his seed too. We're the seed of Abraham. You get that? That's the first
thing. Turn back over again to our text
in Exodus chapter 7 and Genesis chapter 17. First thing then
we see about Isaac, he was a child of promise. Well, Christ was
promised. He was promised. And they kept
waiting on Him all through the Old Testament Scriptures. He's
coming. God promised Him. God promised Him. And all the
promises of God are in Him. And you and I who believe in
Him, we are the seed of Abraham. We're the children of promise.
But here's the second thing about Isaac's birth. And it's found
also here in verse 16. Notice this. The blessings. Notice
the blessings. Notice how sure this blessing
is. Sarah having Isaac was a gracious
blessing. Not just a promise now, but it
was a gracious promise. Look in verse 16. 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. Kings of people. shall be of
her." Not only a promise, but it's a gracious promise. It's
a blessing. I will bless her and give her
a son of thee. So Isaac wasn't a son of Abraham
and Sarah by them earning it. They didn't marry anything. They
weren't worthy of that, were they? It was a blessing. A blessing of God. When we talk
about works and we're talking about grace, we're talking about
something we merit, or we're talking about something that's
freely gifted. Freely. I will bless them. And this is what the grace of
God in Christ is all about. It's not about what we've earned,
what we've married, or what we deserve, but it's about God's
rich, gracious blessings in Christ. And that's difficult for us to
get a hold of when we're lost. Do you know what? It's very difficult
for us just to come to Him and receive His blessings into our
hearts. We want to do something, don't
we? We think we have to work our
way. We have to marriage something.
We have to have certain frames of mind. We just can't come to
Him empty and freely receive His blessings. But that's what
grace is about. That's what this covenant of
grace is about. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's this covenant
of grace. And listen to Galatians chapter
3, 13, 14. You don't have to turn there. I can quote this
to you, but you know it. You're very familiar with this.
When we talk about the blessings, these covenant blessings, these
promised blessings, they're free from the hand of God. You can't
earn them. Nobody can earn them. Nobody
can merit these blessings. They're gracious blessings, heavenly
blessings, rich blessings. But you know, when they come
to us from God, they come through the Savior, and they cost Him
everything. Not that He had to purchase them,
but when He became the channel by which God blesses us, it cost
Him His heart's blood. It cost Him stripes on His back.
It cost Him His death. And listen to Galatians 3.13,
a very familiar passage. He hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every man who hangs on a tree. Now listen to verse
14. He was cursed for this cause,
that the blessing promised to Abraham might come on the Gentiles. What was that blessing? Abraham
may not have known this. But Paul tells us what one of
those blessings was. It was the greatest blessing
of all. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. That was the blessing. Why does
God give us the Spirit? A gracious blessing. But it comes
through the blood-stained cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
it comes not by what we do. It doesn't come by the works
of the law. But it comes by believing on Christ for it. Blessings. Great blessings. So that's the
second thing. First of all, we have a promise. Isaac was a child of promise.
Sarah was blessed to have him. She didn't deserve it, didn't
earn it. It was God's rich blessing. And notice something else here.
I love this in verse 16 also. Notice how sure this promise
blessing was. Notice this. In verse 16, 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. See how he keeps
repeating that? I will bless her, I will bless
her and she shall be a mother of nations. In other words, I'm
going to bless her and she shall be blessed. I love these shalls,
don't you? And this is the way the covenant
always runs. I will and they shall. That makes it sure, doesn't it?
That makes it sure. Isaac said to Esau concerning
Jacob, I have blessed him and he shall be blessed. And when
God says to Abraham, I will bless her, He is saying, she shall
be blessed. God is a covenant God. And as a covenant God, He promises
these wonderful blessings. As a sovereign God, He cannot
fail but to make these promises good. I have blessed you, and
you shall be blessed. See, the law is always conditional
on it. You've got to do, and you've got to do, and you've
got to do. But the gospel of the grace of Christ is altogether
different. It's according to infallible
promises. The law says, this do, and you
shall live. And the gospel says, I will,
and they shall. I will, and they shall. See,
we're blessed for Christ's sake only. Not by our doing, but by
what He's already done. The law says, you do this, and
you'll live. The gospel says, Christ did this,
and you're going to live. I'm going to bless you for Christ's
sake. And Hagar and her son, Hagar
the slave and her slave son, could not obtain these promised
blessings. Why? They were slaves. She was
a slave and her son was a slave. These blessings are not for slaves,
brothers and sisters. They're for those who are born
of the free woman. They're for those who are the
children of promise and receive them by faith. And if you're
here and you're working, you're working, you're working to be
saved, these blessings aren't yours. They're just not yours.
They are the children of promise. And those who are trusting their
own works and righteousness can obtain these blessings. That
the children of the promise will. Those who are children of God
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are blessed. And they shall
be blessed. The fourth thing is this about
Isaac's birth. Is this. We find it in chapter
17 and verse 21. Here is the fourth thing about
the birth of Isaac. And it tells us a lot. But my covenant will I establish
with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time
in the next year." There was a set time for Isaac to be born. A set time. There was a set time
for Christ to be born, was there not? He is our heavenly Isaac. He is Abraham's seed to whom
the promises were given. And there was a set time for
him to be born. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman. But also, there is a set time
for all of God's Isaacs to be born again, to be born from above. If you are here tonight and you
are one of His, you may still be in your nature. You may still
be lost. But if you are one of His, you
know something. You don't even know this, but there's a set
time for you to be born again. You know that? Ain't that amazing? Paul talked about himself being
a blasphemer and injurious. He said, but when it pleased
God, when it pleased God, according to His set time, He called me
by His grace and revealed His Son in me. If you're a child
of promise, you've got a set time when you're going to come
out of your spiritual grave and death. And you're going to know
the Lord Jesus Christ. When I passed by you and I saw
you in your blood, I said, live. And then I passed by you and
behold, your time was a time of love. When it's time for God
to reveal the love of Christ to you and in you, He's going
to call you. And it's a set time. It's a set
time. You know, that's why I preach.
That's why you testify. and witness to other people.
And that's why we pray and that's why we remain patient. Because
we've got nothing to do with this new birth. Abraham waited
for 25 years. 25 years. And here the Lord comes
to him now and says, Abraham, now it's time. It's my time. It's the set time. And that's
when you'll be saved. That's when a man will be saved.
It's his time. If you're a child of promise. Fifthly, right quickly,
is this. Isaac's birth was a miracle. It was a miracle. I want you
to look over in the 21st chapter where he was conceived. 21st chapter and look in verse
1 and verse 2. We're still talking here about the children of promise
and salvation by grace and salvation tempted salvation in a way by
works. But look at this miracle brought about and was brought
about by visitation of the Lord Himself. Do you ever wonder why
the Lord waited so long for Sarah and Abraham to have a son? Isn't
that the way it is with us, though? I thought the Lord was never
going to save me. Maybe it wasn't that way. Maybe He saved you
that quick. I thought He was never going to save me. And have
you ever had people that you've prayed years for and you think,
man, He's never going to save me. But what He does sometimes,
He makes us wait and wait and wait until we find out it's of
Him. It's of the Lord. We can't hasten
this and we can't bring it about. It's of Him. Here Sarah was 90
years old, 25 years before this. She could have had a son, but
not now. Not now. Abraham was 100 years
old. Want to have a son? It's going
to be a miracle now. And look here at what he said
in chapter 21, look in verse 1. And the Lord visited Sarah
as He had said. About this time, this set time,
He said, I'm coming. And now, here it is. And He visited
her as He had said. And the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken, and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his
old age at the set time of which God had spoken unto her. The birth of Jesus Christ, our
heavenly Isaac, was a miracle conceived by the Holy Ghost in
the womb of the Virgin. And I tell you, brothers and
sisters, the new birth is a miracle of heaven. You must be born again,
but you have to be born again from heaven. You have to be born
again of the Spirit of God. You are begotten of God. What
a miracle that is. Not of blood. Not of the will
of the flesh, not of man, but you have to be born of God. The new birth is of God and not
of man. You don't get it by going up
front, bound down at an altar, or any place else. It's of God. It's a spiritual birth, a new
birth. You want to know how to become a Christian? You have
to be born again. That's just it, ain't it? And
that birth is of the Lord. Sixthly, and I've got two more,
and we'll close with these. Oh, I'll keep you too long. I
already kept you too long. In chapter 17, in verse 19, looking
back at 17, verse 19. This is something else about
this birth. Isaac's name was given him before he was ever
born. Look in verse 19, chapter 17. And God said, Sarah thy wife
shall bear thee a son, verse 19. He shall bury your 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.
His name was given him before he was ever born, just as the
name of Jesus was given our Savior before he was ever born. His
name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sin." And you know something, brothers and sisters? You heavenly
Isaacs that are here tonight, you seed of Abraham by faith
in Christ, do you know something? Not only was your name given
you, but your name was put down in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the foundation of the world. You were named also. You had
your name before time, before you had your new birth. And when
the Lord Jesus comes to you, when you were lost sheep, what
did He do? He called you by your name. He
identified you. That is, you knew He was talking
to you. Did you not? For the first time
in your life, He made you know, I'm talking to you, Christ. I'm
talking to you. He said, I call My own sheep
by their name, and they follow Me. The name. And lastly is this. Paul tells us this, and we go
back over here, Chapter 21 of Genesis in verse 89, and we see
this. Your Ishmaelites, your slaves,
those who are serving the law, they're self-righteous, they're
legalists, they always mock and persecute Isis. Those who are trying to earn
their way to heaven and do good works to get there, They're so
self-righteous and legalistic, they always mock and persecute
the children of grace. Now, who have you had most of
your trouble with as a Christian? Has it not been self-righteous
people? Legalists? Paul said, as it was then, Ishmael
persecuting Isaac, mocking Isaac. It's that way now. And look what
he says here in Genesis chapter 21, look in verse 8. Isaac grew. He grew and was weaned, probably
two or three years old. And Abraham made a great feast
the same day Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, which she bore unto Abraham, mocking. He was mocking. He was laughing,
poking fun at Isaac. Poking fun at this child of promise
that had received the blessing. Here this young child was, two
or three years old, and through this child, God was going to
bless all the families of the earth, graciously bless them.
And here this wretched Ishmael was, poking fun at him, and mocking
him, and persecuting him. What would you have done if you
saw that and you had been Isaac's mother? Would you have just put
up with that and said, Oh, they're both my children. Bless their
hearts. Well, that wasn't what Sarah
said. Do you know what Sarah said? Look in verse 10. Wherefore she
said unto Abraham, Cast out that slave woman. And you cast her
son out with her. For the son of this wrong woman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. Cast him out. Well, that sounds
harsh and cruel, doesn't it? And I tell you something else,
it may even seem a lot more harsher. Look in verse 14. 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 with
a child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered
in the wilderness of Bathsheba." He put a little skin of water
on his shoulder and a loaf of bread and said, get out of here.
Go out of the wilderness. That sounded harsh, didn't it?
But we've got to look at this as an allegory. What it teaches. The Lord took care of her, and
Abraham knew God was going to take care of her and this child.
But this teaches us something. This teaches us something. While
we do not hate free willers, God forbid, brothers and sisters,
that we hate anybody. We should not hate any false
religious people. But I tell you this, we hate
what they teach. We hate their principles that
they hold to. We hate their free will. Do we
not? And what do we do with them? Same thing Abraham did to this
slave woman, her child. We won't put up with it. We'll
send them out to the wilderness. We'll leave them in the hands
of God. But we won't receive their self-righteous teaching.
We won't put up with it, will we? Stay away from us. That's
what the Lord Jesus told His disciples about the Pharisees.
Let them alone. I'll take care of them. They'll
just grieve you to death. They'll always be mocking you.
Brothers and sisters, us who have come out of free will, we
wouldn't go back there if we had to. I got tired of that. I got tired of people laughing
at you, the cold looks and the weak handshakes and people talking
about you and making fun of you. I got tired of that. There's
no peace there. I want to gather with a group
of God's children that love the free grace of God in Jesus Christ,
and love Him, and love to talk about that grace. And I just
don't like this old works-religion, and mixing works with grace.
If that's what you believe, God bless you, go watch Arnold Wilder's
somewhere. Take your little cruise of water
and bread. It's going to run out pretty soon. It's going to run
out pretty soon. Abraham sent them out in the
wilderness, but he lived here with this big whale. He just
hasn't got him a drink any time. Law and grace. What are you under? If you're under the law, you're
condemned. And I'm telling you anything you can do about it.
You're condemned. You're cursed. You're staring
death in the face. You may not even be religious,
but you're still under the law. And the only way to be delivered
from that law is through faith in the Son of God. The heart,
faith in Him. Quit trying to save yourself.
Come to Him as an office sinner, hell-deserving sinner, and cast
your soul upon Him to be blessed. To be blessed. You ain't coming
to Him to be burdened. You're coming to Him to be blessed.
I will bless her. And I tell you, God's still blessing
people today. And He can bless a man, He can
bless a woman, but He'll bless you for Christ's sake. Any questions?

Isaac

What does the Bible say about the covenant of grace?

How do we know that Isaac's birth represents Christ?

Why is understanding grace versus law important for Christians?

What does it mean to be a child of promise?

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Isaac

What does the Bible say about the covenant of grace?

How do we know that Isaac's birth represents Christ?

Why is understanding grace versus law important for Christians?

What does it mean to be a child of promise?

Sermon Transcript

About Bruce Crabtree

Comments

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