I'm going to turn to Galatians
for a moment. Galatians chapter 4. I want you
to turn there with me. I need to point out several important
and plain facts from Galatians chapter 4. We look at the Old
Testament through New Testament eyes. We learn the meaning of
these things written in the Old Testament as we have revealed
unto us the New Covenant, the New Testament in Christ. Galatians
4 verse 22, Abraham had two sons. Verse 22 Galatians 4, for it
is written that Abraham had two sons. The one by a bondmaid,
Israel, was born of a servant, and Ishmael was a servant. He wasn't the heir. He never
was the heir. He was born of a bondwoman, and
he himself was a bondman, a servant. The other son, Isaac, was born
of a pre-woman. Isaac was born of Abraham's wife. Isaac was not a servant He was
never a serpent. He was a son. He was the heir. All right, verse 23. But he who
was born of the bondwoman was born after the flesh. These two
sons had two different births. Ishmael was born after the flesh
by ordinary strength from an ordinary man with a young woman. able to bear children. This was
a natural birth. Of course, any birth is of God. I know that. Any birth is marvelous,
miraculous. But what we're saying here is
that his birth was not supernatural. It was natural. He's born of
a young woman. But Isaac, verse 23, was by promise. Isaac's birth was a miracle.
Sarah was past any hope of bearing any child. And the hand of God,
the lone hand of God, using a man, because he's got to be born of
Adam's race, he's got to be born of a man. But it was a supernatural
promise, birth by promise. God promised Abraham that he'd
have a son. And that was a miracle birth.
One by nature, one natural, one of the fleshes of God. All right,
verse 24. These two women represent two
covenants. You'll read this in a moment.
Hagar, the bondwoman, represents the covenant given from Sinai
through Moses, the tabernacle, the holy days, the priesthood,
the sacrifices, all of these things. This is the Old Testament. old covenant of works law. Verse 24 says, Which things are
an allegory, a story, a type? For these are the two covenants,
one from Mount Sinai, with gender to bondage, hacreth. In other
words, the people who didn't see Christ in this Old Testament
covenant were in bondage. Some saw Christ Abraham saw my
day, Christ said. Moses saw Christ. He wrote of
him. These people were in this covenant
trying to find acceptance with God by keeping a day, by sacrificing
an animal, by obeying certain laws, and it gendered to bondage. Bondage. When you try to find
your acceptance in these deeds, it takes you to nothing but bondage.
That's what Hagar represents. Verse 25, this Hagar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and answering, and answering to Jerusalem, which
now is to that city over there, even now. Jerusalem, which now
is, even 2,000 years later, there she is. And they're doing the
same thing. They're against the wailing wall,
and wearing these certain beards and hats, and keeping a Sabbath
day, and reading Moses, and ignoring Christ. They're in bondage. That's
what Hagar, Hagar's a slave, a servant, a bondwoman, never
married to Abraham. That's what they're doing now.
The answer is to Jerusalem, which now is. And in bondage with her
offspring. In other words, this natural
religion is produced, is the product of his works and of that
old covenant. Now, verse 26, but Jerusalem
which is above is free. That's the heaven of Jerusalem.
Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, but
into heaven. Not in Jerusalem's temple, but
in God's holy temple, to offer the sacrifice of himself for
our sins. That's freedom. That's freedom. Freedom. And what's this now? Now, we
brethren, verse 28, as Isaac was our children of promise.
Those folks that follow that old law, that old covenant, and
Sabbath day, they're the product of that thing. And nature, natural,
works in flesh, and which is born of the flesh is flesh. But
people who are born again are born from above, a miracle like
Isaac. You see, the two women, Hagar
represents the Old Testament, Old Covenant. Her son Ishmael
is a product of that Old Covenant. Never a son, never a miracle,
just a natural birth, just following works, following religion. Sarah,
no life in her. God gave her life. God gave her
a son. And that's the way we're born.
Born from above, born of God, born of the Word, born of the
Spirit. Miraculously. We're not born of religion. We're
born of God. See that? That's what these two
sons are. And that's the reason here in
verse 20. And watch this, verse 29. But
as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that
was born after the Spirit, even as is now. You remember reading
what I read while I was on Genesis 21 when Isaac was born and was
weaned? Probably two years old or so. A year or two years old. And
they gave a feast because Isaac was weaned and Ishmael was making
fun of him. That's what caused the problem
here. He was making fun of Isaac. He
didn't like Isaac making fun of him. And as he said, that's
the way it is now. These religionists make fun of
grace people. And this boy, this servant, he
wasn't a son, he wasn't an heir, he was a servant in bondage.
He was jealous of the child of promise. When Cain, when Abel
brought his sacrifice of blood, his brother, What a sacrifice
of works. Which one got mad? Cain. Which one persecuted the other?
Cain. Which one killed the other? Cain. Grace doesn't persecute those
who follow works. We know if it weren't for the
grace of God, we'd be in works. The child of promise born by
miracle doesn't mock and make fun of the child born in the
flesh because he, by nature, is born of the flesh. It's only
by the grace of God he's born of the Spirit. But the man that
doesn't understand the grace of God makes fun of it. The man
who's not a possessor of the grace of God makes fun of it.
The man or woman who does not follow the mercies of God and
been born from above, he makes fun of those who are. That's
the way it is. Now what are you going to do?
There are not two ways to heaven, there's one. There are not two
salvations, there's one. There's not two ways to God,
there's one. Promise. Grace. Miracle. Salvations of the Lord. Not of
works, not of man, not of deeds, not of duties. So what are you
going to do? Let these live together? No,
sir. Can't do it. So what does it say in the next
verse? Nevertheless, what says the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman. Cast out the old covenant. Cast
out the Sabbath days and ceremonies and sacrifices and tithes and
all these things that you've been in bondage to all these
years that make Pharisees, that produce servants and not
sons, that produce slaves and not heirs. Cast it out. Cast out the bondwoman. Cast
out the old covenant. Christ just fulfilled it. With her son. Cast her son out
too. People can't sit on the same
pews and worship God, one praising himself, one praising God. Can't
do it. Can't live together. Can't exist
together. Can't do it. Cast them out. Be
done with it. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. I believe
man will be in heaven just so he's sincere. No, not what this
says. He'll be born from above, born
of God, child of promise, miraculous birth. Not going to be an heir,
not going to be two heirs, going to be Christ and His people.
So then, brethren, we're not children of the bondwoman, but
of the free. And you see, now let's go to my text, Genesis
21. Now you've got some understanding of what's going on here. Got
some understanding. Cast out the bondwoman. That's
what Abraham did. Look at verse 10 of Genesis 21.
Genesis 21.10, wherefore she said to Abraham, cast out this
bondwoman and her son. Both must go. Now listen to me. God teaches us truth in powerful
ways. This is a powerful experience.
This is a heart-rending experience. Life-shaking experience. This
is an experience Abraham will never forget. Saber will never
forget. Hagar will never forget. Isaac
will never forget. Ishmael will never forget. God teaches us things in traumatic,
traumatic ways. It's got to be powerful if it
comes from God. God doesn't slap us on the wrist.
He doesn't switch us with a peach tree limb. He breaks the heart. He crushes
the flesh. That's right. He sets your fields
on fire, all of them. And this is, this is, and verse
11 says, And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because
of his son. Can't you imagine? Seventeen-year-old
son? I know he's born of a slave,
and he's the only son Abraham had up to this time. But we've
got to learn this, and we've got to learn it so we won't forget
it. Now listen. And God said to Abraham,
let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and
because of thy bondwoman, And all that Saviour hath said to
thee, hearken to a voice, and Isaac shalt thy seed be called."
Christ cannot have a rival. Can't have a rival. Abraham's seed is Christ, and
grace, and redemption. And I know it's hard, it's hard
on Abraham, but this has got to be done. And also, now watch this. We're
going to take a closer look at this scripture concerning the
casting out of Ishmael. It can appear so cruel and so
depressing unless you study it carefully. Look at verse 13.
It'll open new light for you. And God said, also of the son
of the bondwoman, will I make a nation. I'm going to bless
him. I'm going to make him a great
man and a great nation. Because He's your seed. But He's
not going to share the airship with the child of promise. That's
reserved. That glory is Christ. That's His. But I'm going to
make Him a great nation. He's an object of mercy. And
I'm going to use in my message this morning the mercies of our
covenant God to Ishmael. The slave, the serpent, the renegade. And show you how that God shows
those same mercies to me. I was born a slave, a renegade. No count. No count. And I have, I've enjoyed the
mercies of the covenant God. I want to show you us in Ishmael.
I want to show you us. First of all, here's this five
or six points. Here's the first one. God promised
Abraham that he would bless Ishmael and make him a great nation. And that's the reason Abraham
could put that bottle of water on her shoulder and that bread
under her arm and kiss her and that boy goodbye. Because in
here, he knew God was going to make him a great nation. You
know, when he took Isaac up on the mountain, I'm going to preach
on this tonight, so I'm not going to stay on it long this morning,
but when he took Isaac up on that mountain to sacrifice him,
he knew God was going to raise him. I know it was hard, it was
difficult, but I'm saying that what enabled him even to do it
was the promise of God in Isaac, shall your seed be called. Isn't
that right? God promised Abraham that that boy Isaac was going
to live, and through him he was going to have a people as the
stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. So Abraham took
him up, accounting in his heart he was already raised. And when
he took Ishmael and his mother, both of whom he loved, Especially
that boy. And put his arms around him and
kissed him. And heard goodbye. Put a bottle of water in him.
A loaf of bread. He knew in here, I'll see him
again. God said so. And we'll see him
great and powerful and blessed. God's going to bless him. God
said He's going to bless him. God said He's going to bless
him. He sent Ishmael. out from himself into the wilderness
with the same promise that he took Isaac up on that mountain.
That God said, I'll make him a great nation because he's your
seed. You see, God's mercy is a sovereign. If God determines to make him
a great nation, he'll be a great nation. He's not going to make
himself a great nation, I'm going to make him a great nation. Moses
says, show me your glory. God said, I'll show you my glory.
I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. His mercies are sovereign. And
I'll tell you this, Abraham knew this. His mercies were not only
sovereign, but they were sure. When Abraham stood, watched them
leave. And I just know he stood there a long time. But he knew in here, even though
his heart hurt and he was grieved, he knew that boy was going to
be a great nation. God said so. I can hardly wait to see what
God makes of him. Because God's mercies are as
sure as God is on the throne. And I'll tell you, his mercies
are comfort. When David came to die, where
did he find his comfort? God's covenant. That's where
he found his comfort. God's mercies are sovereign. They're certain. And they're
our comfort. I'm going to make him a great
nation. All right. Now watch verse 14. God said,
I'll make him a nation. He says, on farther down, a great
nation. So Abraham rose up early in the
morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it to Hagar. and putting it on her shoulder,
he bade Hagar and the child goodbye. He sent them both away. And she
departed, now underscore this next line, and wandered in the
wilderness of Beersheba. Is not this the way of all of
God's sheep? God put His hand on Ishmael.
I'm going to make him a great nation. But God let him wander. God's going to make him a great
nation, and he's going to know that God preserved him, and God
kept him, and God made his new. So God let him wander. All we
like sheep have gone astray. We've turned our own way, and
we've wandered like a lost sheep. Isn't that where he finds us?
Isn't that where the Lord Jesus finds us in the way he described
us? The lost sheep. And all of you whom he has found,
have wandered. I wandered far away from God. All of you have a different story.
All of us have different stories. But we all end up the same way.
He finds us out there in the wilderness. Out there in the wilderness.
And here old Ishmael is out wandering. He was chosen, but here he is
out wandering in the wilderness. Watch verse 15. Something else
happened. It says, and the water was spent
in the bottle, they gave out of water. Hagar and Ishmael finally
had to stop wandering. They ran out of water, and they
ran out of bread, and they ran out of human strength, and they
were in need, and the water was gone. For a while, they seemed
to get along well. I imagine when they left, right
by Abraham, and she had the bottle of water and the bread, She said,
I'm finally free from sail run, free from housework. She was
feeling pretty good about it. Out there, we'll find us a new
life, me and you. And he was happy too. He said,
I'm rid of that kid Isaac too, you know. I don't have to put
up with him anymore and all these things. And they just went along
getting along good, drinking water and eating bread. That's
the deceitfulness of the things of this world. They don't last.
But they don't last. They soon give out the pleasures
of sin for a season. And it ran out. They were in
need. And it says here that she went
over and put her son under a bush, realizing the water was gone,
the bread was gone, and strength was gone, and hope was gone, And she said, you lie down here
under the shade of the bush. The prodigal son ran out of provisions
too. He came to himself, sitting there
on the hogpen and railing, and said, here I am in need, and
servants in my daddy's house have more than I do, and I'm
his son. The woman with the issue of blood
wasted everything she had, and it was no better. And she said,
well, if I can get to him, I'll be made whole." You see, God
chooses us, determines to show mercy to us, lets us wander until
we run out, just run out. I know a story of a young man
that brought up in a home of believers and rebelled and left. wandered and wandered and finally
ran out. Out of provisions and out of
strength, out of hope, out of help, without help, without hope,
without God at his wit's end. Wit's end. That's where these
people are at their wit's end. Nowhere to look but up. That's
when you look up. That's the next verse. And she
went and sat down over against him a good way off, as it were,
a bow shot. And she said, don't let me see
the death of my child. And she sat over against him
and watched him. Now, here's what I love. And lifted where?
Up her voice. Lifted up her voice. Oh, God. Oh, God. She stopped trying and started
crying. And she reached back to something
that she learned nearly 20 years before. This is one of my hopes for the
young people raised in this church, heard the gospel way back then,
that maybe someday when they get in trouble and run out of
strength and human health and human hope and human provisions, and start thinking about eternity
and God, that they'll recall what they heard 20 years ago.
Let me tell you something. Hager, sitting here, and there's
that boy over there. When that boy was first conceived
in her womb, remember, 20 years before, she ran away from home. She left Sarah and left Abraham
and left the home and wandered in the wilderness, remember,
and sat down by a well of water and cried because they mistreated
her. Turn to Genesis 16. Let me read
it to you. Genesis 16. Verse 7. Genesis 16, 7. An angel of the Lord found her
by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in
the way to shore, And the angel of the Lord, you know who that
is, don't you? Sure you do. He said, Hagar, Sarah's maid,
whence comest thou? Whence camest thou? Whither will
you go? Where are you going? She said,
I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah. And the angel of the Lord
said to her, now you return to your mistress. Submit yourself
under her hands. The angel of the Lord said unto
her, I'll multiply your seed, I promise you. It shall not be
numbered for multitude. I will best Ishmael. The angel
of the Lord said unto her, Behold, I art with child, and I shall
bear a son. Call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard your
affliction. He'll be a wild man. His hand
will be against every man, every man's hand against him, and he'll
dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called
the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me. For she said, Here have I also
here looked after him that seeth me. Twenty years ago, she sat
out there by that well, and God spoke to her, and revealed Himself,
and His sovereign mercy, and His character, and she said,
Thou, God, seest me. You see me. A lot happened in
that time, those years. I don't know. We wander, and
we get displaced, and disoriented, Dis-whatever. But God someday, if you're His,
like this boy Ishmael's His, and this woman's His, Hagar belongs
to Him, He'll bring you the end of yourself. You'll look up. Thou God, seest me. She cried
to God. I don't know whether she cried
for 20 years. Who knows? Maybe so, maybe no. But she did
now. But she reached back to what
she knew. Reached back to that encounter
she had with Him back there when He revealed Himself to her. She
reached back. And that's what God's people
do when they get in their trouble. They cry unto the Lord in their
distresses and He'll deliver them. Cry to Him who sees me. Now God sees me. I'm not going
to run to a preacher and make another decision, rededicate
my life. I'm going to cry to Him. What I learned when He revealed
Himself to me. And I didn't continue in it.
But I need it now. I really need Him now. I need
Him. She needed it. It's the end. The boy was dying. No water. Alright, what's this next verse,
verse 17? And God heard. That's three of the greatest
words in the scripture. And God heard. And God heard. You know, you want me to give
you a secret of prayer, the most important part of prayer, the
greatest part of prayer? Does God hear? It doesn't matter
what I say or how long I say it or what words I use to say
it. The key to prayer is, does He hear? It doesn't matter if I just say,
Oh God, if he hears. And I could stand up here and
pray for 22 minutes if he doesn't hear, it's wasted breath. She
cried, and he heard. He heard. Does he hear me? That's what David said. I'm not
going to read Psalm 130, but he kept saying, Lord, hear me!
Inclined not here unto me! hear the voice of my supplication.
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark the liquid to who would stand,
but this mercy and forgiveness will be. Amen. And God heard. And God heard. And listen. He
said, and God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of
God called a hager out of heaven and said, What aileth thee, hager?
Fear not. I tell you, you don't need to
fear if he hears. If he hears, I don't need to fear. God hath heard the voice of the
lad where he is. Now you arise and lift him up.
Go over there and lift up his head. God hath heard the voice of the
lad. Lift up his head. I'll make him a great nation.
And here, I love this, God opened her eyes. God opened her eyes. My friends, you go right back
to this covenant God made with Abraham, made with Hagar back
20 years ago. He said, I'm going to bless this
lad. He'll be a wild man. He'll be a powerful man. He'll
be a great nation before he's ever born. Before he's ever born. And God always sees it through.
He promised blessings. He let him wander. He let his
substance waste away. He became in need. He gave up
all hope. He cried to God. And God heard
him. And God opened her eyes. And
what did she see? Listen. And God opened her eyes
and she saw a well of water. Not a cup. Not a cup. A well. Abundance of water. Not a cup! Not a teaspoonful. But God Almighty gave him a well. And our Lord said, to any man
thirsty, let him come to me, and out of his belly shall flow
rivers, rivers of living water, wells of living water, abundant
supply, not a cup, but plenty. Is there all the time? You don't
reckon he dug that well right there. Is there all the time?
She didn't She was so wrapped up in her hunger, and her thirst,
and her need, and her void, and all these other things, in the
diminishing of her supplies. And there was a well of water
running. A well of water. It was there
for her. It was there for Ishmael. But
God brought them that way. They could have gone all other
ways, but God brought them that way. The way of the well, the
way of the cross, the way of Christ. That's the way God brought
you. That's the way God brought you.
He brought you here this morning. You didn't just wander in here
and find this place. He brought you here. Opened her eyes. And you know
something? She saw a well of water and she
went and filled the bottle and gave it to the lad. She didn't
have to drill a well. Nothing was required of them
to supply any need, just drink. Come to the water, come ye sinners,
poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, there's a well. And he stands ready, full of
pity, love, and power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he required is
to feel your need. Is your water run out? Is your
bread plumbed off? Is your hope diminished? Is there
no help? Won't you lift up your eyes and
cry unto Him? Thou, God, seest me. I know that. I know that. And God heard. God opened her eyes. And right
there in front of her was all she needed. That's the mercies
of a covenant God. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son, a great nation. Whom
He predestinated, He called. Whom He called, He justified,
and He'll glorify. Let's sing number 475, redeemed,
redeemed. Number 475.