in Galatians chapter 4. Let me
read verse 13. You know that through infirmity
of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first. Paul is
recounting the early days when he first preached the gospel
to these churches at Galatia. And this is interesting. He said,
I came to you in weakness of body, in much infirmity of the
flesh. That's what he's talking about,
the condition of his body and his flesh and his appearance. Let me show you some scripture
on that. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter
10. You'll find this interesting
now. Paul talks about his weakness. of the flesh and weakness of
the body when he came to Galatia to preach. In 2 Corinthians 10,
I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness
of Christ, and he's talking about himself now here, who in presence
I embase among you, but being absent and bold toward you in
presence Let me show you what he means there. Turn to verse
10 of this same chapter, what people said about him. Chapter
10, verse 10. For his letters, say they, Paul's
writings, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak,
and his speech contemptible. I don't know whether Paul didn't
have a good speaking voice, but they said his presence, his bodily
presence, is weak. That's what he said, weakness
and arcane infirmities of the flesh. Chapter 11, verse 6, is
another scripture along this same line. He says in verse 5
of chapter 11, I suppose I'm not a whip behind the very cheapest
apostle. and power in God using me, but
though I be rude in speech," contemptible, they said his speech
was, yet I'm not rude in knowledge, but we have been through that
may manifest among you in all things. All right, back to the
text. So you see what he's talking
about there. And it seemed to be agreed upon
by the people to whom he preached, and he wasn't a handsome man.
He had much infirmity of the flesh, afflictions, weaknesses
of the flesh, appearance not very good, speech contemptible. But here is the chief factor. Verse 13, Galatians 4, I preached
the gospel to you. I preached the gospel to you
at the first. We were having a meeting years
and years ago, many, many years ago. And I brought a preacher
here to preach for this congregation who had never been here before.
The people had never met him. I knew him, but no one else had
met him. And he was an outstanding pulpiteer, an outstanding preacher,
an outstanding theologian, an outstanding teacher. And he brought
the first message, and he was down here greeting people, and
a man came by and shook hands with him and said, You're the
best preacher we ever had preach here, and started on, and this
preacher pulled him back. He said, My friend, don't ever
do that again. Don't ever set one of God's preachers
against another. Every one of them are called
of God and have their special place and special calling and
special gift and special work, and don't ever do that again.
That's a good lesson. And Paul says here, I'm not handsome.
I'm base, rude, contemptible in speech. But there's one prominent
thing, I preach the gospel to you. And over here in 1 Corinthians,
he really says the preacher is nothing really. In 1 Corinthians
3, verse 4, these people in Corinth were setting one preacher against
another. He said, one of you, verse 4, says, I'm of Paul, another
said, I'm of Apollos. Is that not carnal? That's carnal. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Apollos was supposed to be the
archer. but ministers by whom ye believe, even as the Lord
gave to every man. I have planted a pious water,
and God gave the increase, so then neither he that planteth
anything, nor he that watereth God's everything, he giveth the
increase." Back to the text. Galatians 4, verse 14. And my temptation, he is saying
there, my appearance, my infirmities, which whim my flesh." You didn't
despise them, not then. You find and thought with me
now, but not then. When I first came and preached
the gospel to these people, he said, you didn't pay any attention
to how I looked or how I sounded or how I preached. You didn't
despise my infirmities, and you didn't reject me. You took me
just like I was, with all my faults and failures, and you
received me as an angel of God. What's an angel? A messenger
of God. A lot of times in the Bible when
you hear the word angel referring to pastors and preachers, it's
a messenger, messengers of God. And you receive me as a messenger
of God, even as an ambassador of Jesus Christ. This refers
to Matthew 10, verse 40, which says, the Lord Jesus said, he
that receiveth you receiveth me. And Paul said that was the
That was what happened the first time I came. You were so glad
to hear the gospel, you were so glad to drink that living
water, you drank it out of a tin cup, out of a gourd, out of anything. You didn't pay any attention
to the box it was in, but you were so delighted with the message.
Now verse 15. And when we become critical,
and when we become picket folks, we must be floundering on the
He's had too much good food. He's had too much good food.
He said, where is that blessedness that you speak of? I bear you
record that it had been possible back then, you would have plucked
out your own eyes and given them to me. This is what led people
to believe Paul had real, real severe eye trouble. That statement
right there. Two statements, really. Folks
for years have tried to find out what that thorn in the flesh
is, and some people say it was severe eye trouble. Because Paul
said, when I first came to you, my eyes were so bad, this is
what he's saying, that you would have taken your own eyes and
given them to me if you could have. That's how much you appreciated
my bringing the gospel to you. Where is that blessedness? Another scripture that leads
people to believe that neighbor was the thorn was when he said,
You see how large a letter I've written to you, in bold writings. That might be how long a letter.
I'm not saying that's the problem, but this is where they pick that
up. Then he says this in verse 16, Am I therefore become your
enemy, because I tell you the You know, when our doctor tells
us the truth, and all of us go to a physician, we say, now,
you can give it to me just like it is. Don't color it up. Don't change it. You just give
it to me just like it is. And he'll tell you the bare facts. You don't get mad at him. It's
the truth. You get mad if he doesn't. So you don't become
your enemy. Your lawyer, when you go in business
to a man that's trained, in the law, and you ask for his advice,
and he gives it, and it may go contrary to what you think, but
nobody gets mad at him. Schoolteachers. We go and sit
down before a schoolteacher who teaches us to read and what to
read and to understand what we read, and they're not enemies.
But let a man get in the pulpit. and tell the absolute, unvarnished
truth of who God is in his sovereignty and omnipotence and omniscience,
omnipresence and power, folks get mad at him. When he tells
the truth about sin, the truth about the law, that's what Paul
is talking about here, he's giving them the truth about the law.
The holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the sufficiency of Christ,
God's elective grace, redemption that redeems, salvation that
saves, righteousness that presents us holy, eternal life. He said, Am I your enemy because
I tell you the truth? When we left Pollard Baptist
Church in 1955, in September, the last of September,
1955, I preached over there for four years and taught people
as God taught me. We learned together, we grew
together, we labored together, we sought the truth of God, not
satisfied with anything but the truth. That's all we wanted to
hear was the truth about God, about ourselves, about Christ.
And we studied and studied and studied. Finally, we came to
a place where we couldn't stay in that organization. and in
that program and in those methods and means that were demanded
of us, and we left. Brother Jeff Thornberry ran into
a preacher here in town, a Baptist preacher. No need to call the
name, it's been too long ago. He was pastor of a Baptist church
right here in this town. This man asked Brother Jeff what
took place. We've left Powdered Baptist Church
because of the gospel of God's grace. And he called the man's
name. He said, you know what Brother
Mahan preaches. You know what he preaches. And
the man said this, Brother Mahan preaches the truth. The truth. He said, I believe in election.
I believe in particular redemption. I believe the gospel he preaches.
He was pastor of another Southern Baptist church here in town.
But he said, My church will not receive that message. I can't
preach it there. He said, I've got a wife and
five children that I've got to support. I'm just going to have
to hang on to my job. That man is a betrayer of Christ
and of the people that God has given him to teach. But people
will accept that kind of leadership. And Paul says, now I'll tell
you the truth, don't let me become your enemy. Brother Bill Clark
and I were in a Bible conference together over in Ripon, England,
several years ago. And we were on the same program.
Now, over there, a lot of preachers who claim to be grace preachers
aren't consistently grace preachers. They preach some grace, but not
consistently. and not forcefully and not powerfully,
that's just truth. And I preached and then Brother
Bill preached after I finished my message, I had two messages
in that service. And one of the elders of one
of the Baptist churches came to him, a good friend of mine,
he'd been here to this church to visit, not to preach, to visit.
And a good friend of Brother Clark's. And he said, You can't
preach that way here. It's too strong. And Bill said, well, brother,
maybe I just preached the same thing I did, and you didn't say
anything to him. You know what the man replied? But he's an
American, and he's going back home. You're going to stay, and
you can't preach that. Bill said that, I won't stay
here. Does this go on all the time?
All the time. Compromising the gospel. And
Paul said, I refuse to compromise the gospel. Now, don't let me
become your enemy, because I refuse to compromise the gospel. It's
true. Want proof? I want proof, don't
you? He says in verse 17, these false teachers, listen to this,
they zealously affect you. You want to change that word
to effect to court you. They court you. That's what it
says. Here's what it says. He says,
These false teachers, they are zealous, and they're courting
you and catering to you, and they're pretending a great love
for you, and a great concern for you, and they flatter you. They zealously affect you. I like that picture. He's so friendly, Can he preach? No, but he's friendly. I like
that preacher. He's just one of us. Yeah, but
can he preach? No, but he's just a good fellow,
you know. He's just nice to be around.
And he said, that's the way these fellows are. He said, they zealously
affect you, but not well. Not well. Not for the glory of
God. Not for your good. Not for their
eternal well-being. Their desire, they would exclude
you. Now that word you, look in your
margin, it's me. They would exclude me. They would
exclude you from me, that's what he's saying. They want to lead
you, turn you away from me. Why would they want to turn these
people away from Paul? That you might court them. That you might affect them. that
you might follow them and support them and profit them. They play
up to you, so you'll play up to them. They are people with
itching ears, keep to themselves, teachers with the same kind of
ears. You brag on me and I brag on
you, and we'll all lie on God. Because if you brag on me and
I brag on you, we've got to lie on God. You see what he's saying? These
fellows, they zealously full of zeal. He said, I know them.
He said they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
And they court you, and they flatter you, and they brag on
you, and they come by and have coffee with you and sit and put
their feet up on your desk and just hail fellow well met. And what they are trying to do
is draw you away from the truth, away from the apostles that you
might affect them, that you might follow them, profit them, promote
them. In other words, you are so much
merchandise to them. That's what he says over here.
Let me just read it to you. Peter said, they are false prophets.
They were false prophets among the people, and there shall be
false prophets among you. And they'll bring in damnable
heresies. They'll even deny the Lord that
bought them, deny the blood, deny the sufficiency of Christ,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and follow their
pernicious ways, by whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of, and through covetousness shall they with feigned words,
flattering words, hypocritical words, make merchandise of you."
Con men, making merchandise of you. All right, look at verse 18.
He says here in verse 18, there's nothing wrong with zeal. Now
watch this. It's good to be zealously affected,
always in a good thing. Now listen, what does this mean?
What's he saying here? He just said that these false
teachers have a lot of zeal, a lot of enthusiasm. Turn on
your TV and watch them sometimes. They've got a lot of zeal. A lot of enthusiasm. They court
you and they dazzle you with this zeal for works and feeling
and emotionalism. Now Paul said it's a good thing
to be zealous. It's a good thing to be sought
after. It's a good thing to be enlisted. It's a good thing to
have wonderful, rich and warm and lasting fellowship. It's been a good thing with a
good purpose. We have it here. Jo Ellen Furnish wrote me a little note after
her mother's funeral. And she said, every time I come
back to 13th Street Baptist Church, there's a little feeling of envy
over what the Lord's given you here, you people. She said, I've never been able
to find it anywhere else, anywhere that I've moved, anywhere that
I've gone. And my mother, even in the later years when she was
down with us, she never ceased to talk about the fellowship
of this Church and how she missed it. We're zealous. Zeal over a good thing. for a good purpose, zeal when
it's done in truth, with purity of motive, for the glory of God,
for the eternal good of the congregation. And not only when I'm present
with you, not only when you're in the assembly, not only when
you've got some fellow up leading you in this rah-rah, or zeal,
or affection, But when you're by yourself, when you're alone,
not only when I'm with you, if you've got to have somebody to
keep your fire burning, you're going to need some wood. If you've
got to have somebody to keep your interest raised, you're
going to have to have some understanding. Nyla was out there in San Antonio
and Kansas and other places where her heart never stopped glowing. with the affection and warmth
and fellowship of her home church. That's what he's talking about.
Zeal is all right. Enthusiasm, be zealously affected. Make sure it's a good thing.
Make sure the purpose is the glory of God, and make sure that
it's not something that you have when you get with others who
are on fire. that you've got the fire burning. He said there
will be a well of water springing up within you. There will be
a fire burning in your soul. There will be a love for God
shed upon your heart. It's within you, too. Not just
when you meet with somebody that has it. Here is the summary of
what he said. My little children, of whom I
prevail in birth again, unto Christ be formed in you. Paul
compares himself to a woman giving birth to a child. Travail is
pain and suffering. And all of the pain and suffering
and travail of a woman in labor is for what purpose? To bring
forth a living child. She has one objective. She has
one thing in mind. Everything else is blotted out
and forgotten. When she's in that travail of
labor, her one concern is the birth of her child, the well-being
of her child. And true preachers, Paul said,
of whom I travail again and again and again, till Christ be formed
into you, till you are born of God. True preachers are not concerned
with applause. with praise of men or with profit,
God provides what he needs. What they're concerned about
is the life and health of the child, the believer. Till Christ
be born in you, till Christ be formed in you, till Christ lives
in you, that's his purpose, which is one aim. Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Christ in you, and you in Christ. These other fellows are interested
in what you can do for them, or what you can give to them,
or what you can bring to them, or what you can add to them.
I'm interested in one thing, the living Lord being formed
in your soul and heart. Then in verse 20, he says this.
I wish I could be with you face to face. I desire to be present
with you now, face to face. And I'd change my voice. I'd speak forcefully. I'd rebuke
you. I'd change my voice. I'd rebuke
you, for I stand in doubt of you. What does the margin say? I'm perplexed. I'm perplexed. That's what he's
talking about this church here. that are still talking about
the law. You have to be circumcised to
be saved, keep Sabbath days to be saved, pay your tithe to be
saved, do all these things to be saved. He said, I'm troubled,
I'm in doubt, I'm perplexed without you. Tell me, verse 21, tell me, you
that desire to be under the law, you who are trying to restore
the law. Somebody says, well, Christ saves
us, but the law sanctifies us. Hogwash! That's not true. A world truth in that. You don't
go to Calvary for cleansing and to Sinai for sanctification.
You that desire to be under the law, you that desire to restore
the law, you that desire to hear the law preached, tell me, do
you hear the law? Do you really hear the law? Do you hear what the law requires?
The law never promises life. It's called by Paul the law of
sin and death. That's exactly what the law is
called. The Levitical law is the law
of sin and death. The law never speaks of peace
and pardon. The law declares all who are
under it to be guilty and cursed. The law never justifies, it only
condemns. It condemns men to wrath and
judgment. Turn to Romans 3 and listen to Paul here. Romans 3, verse 19. Now, we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
Now, you that want to be under the law, listen to what it says.
Every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. That's what the law says. Do
you not hear what the law says? Here's what the law says. It
says to all who are under the law, let every mouth be stopped,
and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law only is the knowledge of sin. Now he says in verse 22, let
me illustrate this with an allegory. Let me read verse 22, 23, 24. It
is written, Abraham had two sons, one by a bondmaid, a slave, the
other by a free woman, his wife. But he who was of the bondwoman,
Ishmael, was born after the flesh. He of the free woman, born by
promise. which things are an allegory.
For these are the two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth
the bondage, which is ager. The other is the covenant of
grace." Abraham had two sons. Let me go back just a little
bit. God promised Abraham, when he
was 75 years old, he called him out of his father's house to
make a great nation of him. Abraham and Sarah were married
and married for a long time and had no children, no heirs, no
seed. And God said to Abraham out there
under the stars one night, he said, count the stars, that's
how many of your seed will be as the sands of the seashore.
But he said, I have no heir. A servant in my house is my only
heir. God said, a servant won't be
your heir but a son. I'll give Sarah a son. Sarah
will conceive and bring forth a son. Isaac, and in Isaac shall
his seed be come." Well, years passed, 10 or 15 years, no son. So Saber and Abraham and Hagar,
the slave girl, got together and decided they would help God
out. Abraham would go in to Hagar
and see if she couldn't have him a son, which she did, and
called him Ishmael. He was born. grew up there, pretty
good size, and boy! All right, let's turn to Genesis
21. Now Abraham is 100 years old, that's 25 years later, Genesis
21. Genesis 21, verse 1, and the
Lord bested Saba, as he said. And the Lord did unto Sabaoth
as he had spoken. He always does, maybe 25 years
later. It may be after we've gotten
discouraged and tried our own way for a while, kicked against his way and his
purpose. But he'll do what he said he was going to do, in the
fullness of time. And Sabaoth conceived, and Barry
became a son in his old age, at the set time of which God
had spoken unto him. And Abraham called the name of
his son that was born unto him, whom the Savior bore unto him,
Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days
old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years
old when Isaac was born. The Savior said, God hath made
me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. She
said, Who would have said unto Abraham that the Savior should
have given children such? I have borne him a son in his
old age. miracle child. She's passed the years, Abraham
too. This is a child of promise, and
they're all miracle children. They're born of God. The child
grew in his weaning. Now, there's three weanings of
a Jewish child. There's a weaning from his mother's
breast, and there's a weaning on another kid, and then when
he's 12 years old, he's weaned from tutors and so forth. But
there's three weanings. I don't know which one this is,
but he wasn't He wasn't an infant on her breast, he was a pretty
good-sized boy. And when he was weaned, Abraham made a great
feast that same day that Isaac was weaned from one of these
weanings. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, Ishmael, who was born unto Abraham, mocking Isaac. He hated Isaac. You see, Hagar
wants to be queen, but she can't ever be. The son of the bondwoman hates
the son of the free woman. The man born of human flesh and
human works hates the man of grace. It's always been that
way. And he's mocking Isaac. The law can serve a purpose if
it'll stay where it's supposed to be, but it won't stay where
it's supposed to be. Hagar's got to rear her ugly
head up into man. Instead of being a servant and
a faithful servant and doing what she's told, she's got to
be the queen. She's got to be jealous of the Savior. This boy,
instead of being a servant and serving where he's supposed to
and where he'll always be, he can't be a son. He can't be in
there, he's going to be a slave son as long as he lives. He's
not willing, and the law is not willing. He can't live with grace. It's an enemy of grace. He can't have both of them. So
Sarah said it first, she said to Abraham, cast off the bondwoman
with her son, for the son of this bondwoman will not be there
with my son, Isaac. Boy, she's speaking for God,
too. I don't know whether she knew it. I imagine she's speaking
for herself. But she's speaking for God, for
listening. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight
because of Ishmael. He loved that boy. That boy was
18 or 19 years old now, maybe 20. He loved him. And God said,
Abraham, let it not be grievous in your sight because of the
lad and because of the bondwoman. And all the Savior hath said
to thee, hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shalt thou see be
called." All right, here's the allegory. Now, an allegory is
a story in which people and things and happenings have a spiritual And that's what we've got here.
He said Abraham, verse 22, had two sons. He's got, verse 22,
one by the bondmaid, one by the free woman. Ishmael was born
of Abraham's will. Isaac was born of God's will.
Ishmael was born of the flesh, a fleshly relationship with a
young woman. Isaac was born by a miracle of
God in a dead womb. Ishmael was born after the flesh.
Isaac was born according to the promise of God at the time God
said he would be born. Ishmael was born of a servant.
He's not an heir. He'll never be the heir. Abraham
said that to God, I don't have an heir. And God said, well,
your servant is not your slave, he's not going to be your heir.
Your heir is going to be born of your wife, a servant. God
told him that. This boy will never be anything but a slave,
but Isaac will never be anything but a free man, born of a free
woman with a husband. Verse 23 says, He that was of
the bondwoman was born after the flesh, he that is free woman
born of promise. These two covenants, verse 24,
says this is an allegory, and these are the two covenants.
What covenant does Savior represent? Well, she was always Abraham's
wife. She didn't have the first son. She had the second son, who represented
the second Adam. The first son was born of the
flesh, Adam. And Saba represents that covenant
of promise, the purpose. God, in love and grace, gives
to Christ a people. Christ engages to be their surety,
their Savior, their sin offering, their Redeemer, to bring a people
to God. That's the covenant. That's what
God made with Abraham to start with. Hagar represents the covenant
of works given to Adam, this do and live, given to Moses from
the mountain. Sarah was the first and only
wife of Abraham. The covenant with Christ is the
first and only covenant that will last, eternal covenant.
Hagar was never a wife, always a servant. The law was never
given to save, always a servant to bring us to him who does save.
Verse 25. This Hagar is Mount Sinai in
Arabia, and Amsareth is the same rank with Jerusalem which now
is, and is in bondage with her children. You want to see the
law? You want to see what the law does? You want to see the
bondage the law keeps you under? Go to the Holy Land, the so-called
Holy Land. go to Jerusalem. There the law
is pictured in all of its deadness, tradition, bondage, slavery,
no joy, no peace, bickering, fighting, always. That's Jerusalem. You want to see the covenant
of grace? Verse 26, Jerusalem above, where Christ our great
high priest, where Christ our Isaac reigns, the God-man. Let me read you about it in Hebrews
11. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 12, verse 22, listen to this. Hebrews 12, verse 18. You are not come to the mouth
that might be touched It burns with fire and blackness and darkness
and tempest. Verse 22, you come to Mount Zion,
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable
company of angels, to the General Ascender, church of the firstborn,
which is written in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the
spirits of just men made perfect. Listen, Jerusalem over yonder
answers to the Lord. Jerusalem up yonder answers to
grace. answers to grace. The heavenly
Jerusalem which is above, where Christ the man has entered within
and blessed us with all spiritual blessings. We are free-born,
delivered from bondage, sin and death. And verse 26 says, Jerusalem
which is above is the mother of us all. Every nation, tongue,
people on the earth, under heaven. That's the mother of every believer,
Sarah. Hagar is the mother of the bondage,
the slavery, the works, the law. Never give peace, joy, or happiness. That's all the law can do, just
like you see in Jerusalem right now. Arabs and the Jews fighting,
fighting, fighting, fighting. The law can't give any peace.
Christ is our peace. Now, what's this next verse?
It is written in Isaiah 54, "...rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not. Break forth and cry, thou that
travailest not." This is a woman that has no husband, never had
any children, is barren, never has anything. Thou that travailest not in pain,
bringing forth a child for the desolate, you hath many more
children than she which hath a husband." What's he talking
about? I'll tell you. There's a lot of controversy,
I believe I've got some light on it. He's talking about these
Gentiles. You're joyous, you're barren.
The Jews claimed God was their husband. They said, We're the
people of God, we're the family of God, God's our husband. They
had the law, they had all these things. They claimed to be God's
people and all that. The Gentiles didn't claim any husband relationship
with God. Consequently, they had no hope.
But he says, you rejoice, for she that is barren and never
does prevail is going to have more children out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven than the Red That will
be saved out of Israel. That's what he said. Isaiah predicted
that in Isaiah 54 verse 1. That's got to be it, because
the preceding verse says, Jerusalem, which is above all, is free,
and the mother of us all. Not the mother of the Jew only,
but the mother of all of us. And this is a mother that was
barren, had no husband. She had one, she didn't know
him. from the foundation of the world. He said, I loved you with
everlasting love. And he calls them out when he
pleases. All the way through from Abraham
to Christ came, the salvations of the Jews. All that time. There were a few stragglers and
a few what we call apostolites, but it was the Jews, the salvations
of the Jews. And then Paul went to the Gentiles
and he said, I'm going to tell you this, rejoice. You'll have
more in glory than she that has the articles and all of these
things. Now, brethren, we, as Isaac was,
are children of promise. Every believer is a child of
promise. We were promised and given to Christ, all that my
Father giveth me will come to me. We are conceived and born,
not of the flesh, but born, we are miracle children. Every one
of us are miracle children. Do you know that? That's true.
You know that. You are born of God. Mysterious like the wind. Can't tell whence it cometh or
where it goeth. Born of God. And we are heirs. Heirs of God. Only a son can be an heir. Only
a son can be an heir. Ishmael was never an heir. And we are miracle children born
of God, and we are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Now verse 29, But as then, he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him, is born after the Spirit. That's the way it
is now, Paul says. Isaac was born of the Spirit,
a miracle child. Ishmael was born of the flesh.
And Ishmael, with all his works and traditions, he hated grace. And we've just got put up with
that. It's just that way now. They hate grace. They hate the
miracle of the new birth. They hate God being on the throne.
They hate God choosing his children. They hate God saying, in Isaac
shall your seed be called. They want a law. They want to
do something and merit some glory or reward. Nevertheless, what
sayeth the scripture? Well, cast out the bondwoman
and her son. Get rid of this law now. Don't
you get back under this law. Get rid of it. The son and the
woman. For the son of the born woman
shall not be heir to the son of the free woman. It's impossible,
you can't mix it, don't you try, it can't be done. It can't be
done. So then, brethren, we're not
children of the born woman. We have no obligation to her,
to that law. We're not born of the law, and
no obligation to her, and no reason to be under it. sunday morning we won't talk
about that freedom well that's that's that's fine