Free Grace or Free Will?

Now, if you'll open your Bibles
to Genesis chapter 4, what Paul is saying in verse
19, my little children of whom I travail, speaking of a woman
giving birth to a child, travail. He said, I travail, labor. in birth again until Christ be
formed in you. I want you to know Christ." This
was his desire for himself. He talked about all his religious
heritage and his religious accomplishments and he said, I count these things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord. Salvation is not in tradition, it's in Christ. Salvation
is not in religion, it's in Christ. Salvation is not in our works,
our own merit, it's in Christ Jesus. Christ in you, that's
the hope of glory. Christ in you. A living, personal
union with Christ Jesus. Everything God has for the sinner
is in Christ. And it's ours through a union
with Christ. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. I'm the head, you're the body.
Somebody wrote a song one time, said, where the head is, the
body's not far behind. And this is Paul's prayer for
these people. He said, I want Christ to be
formed in you, in you. I want you to know Christ, whom
to know is life eternal. That's my desire. And he said
in verse 20, I desire to be present with you now. I'm troubled about
you. And I wish I could speak to every one of you. down there
in the churches in Galatia. There were several churches down
there. He said, I wish I could be there and I'd change my voice.
I'd speak a little more strongly, harshly to you because I stand
in doubt about you. And here's a solemn searching
question that he asked in verse 21. He said, tell me, tell me,
I want to know. Tell me, I'd like to know. I'm
really amazed. I marvel. I do not understand
your thinking. I don't understand it. Tell me,
just tell me. You that are bent on being under the law, you that
desire to be under the law, any law, any law, you that desire
to be under some kind of religious law or tradition, For acceptance
with God, this is what he's saying, for righteousness, you that desire
to be under any law, tell me, you that desire to be under the
law, do you not hear the law, any law? I don't care what law
it is. If a man or woman is seeking
acceptance with God, favor with God, righteousness before God. He's seeking acceptance. He's
seeking some kind of fellowship with God, some kind of approval
from God. And he's doing it based on any
law, any rule, any requirement, any regulation of religion or
whatever. Any law. Do you not hear the
law? Do you not hear what's required
in the law? For example, the moral law with
its Ten Commandments. Do you not hear that law? I was
in the hospital one time visiting an individual, and we were talking
about God and the gospel, salvation. Well, this man said, well, I'll
tell you, if we're going to get there,
we're going to get there by keeping the Ten Commandments. And I looked at him, and I said,
well, do you keep them? Well, he says, pretty tough, isn't
it? I said, yeah, it's pretty tough. You didn't answer my question. No, but he said, if we're going
to get there, it's going to be by keeping the Ten Commandments. Now, wait
a minute. The Ten Commandments. And I could stand up here and
recite them for you. Most of you know them. But our
Lord didn't recite them. He interpreted them. He defined
them. And he said, now you've heard
it said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. And we have
all the bleeding hearts today, they're talking about thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not kill. War is wrong, thou shalt not
kill. But our Lord said this, he said, but I say unto you,
you've heard it said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill.
Well, most of us, well, just about all of us here this morning
could say, well, I'm not guilty of that one. I've never killed
anybody. I've never killed anybody. But our Lord said, I say unto
you, to hate, to despise, to wish ill in your heart against
any person is to be guilty already of murder. Yes, you have killed
somebody. Even these little boys and girls.
Yes, you have. Now, I know you little rascals.
You can get awful angry. And if Lutz could kill, there'd
be some dead folks at your feet. And if hearts could kill, it'd
be some dead folks. So we're guilty of that law.
Do you not hear the law? And then he said, thou hast heard
it said by them of old times, thou shalt not commit adultery.
And I look over the congregation, I'm sure about half the people
here real piously would say, well, I've always been true to
my wife or true to my husband. I've never, I've never committed
adultery. And some of the single people
here say, well, I've never committed adultery or fornications either
one. But the Lord Jesus said, I say unto you, but I say unto
you, this is the full interpretation, the spiritual interpretation.
Do you not hear that law? Christ said to look with lust
or imagination or desire is to be guilty already. You're already
guilty of adultery in God's sight. He said, thou hast heard it said
by them of old time, thou shalt not swear by the temple and so
forth. I say unto you, swear not at all. But let your yea
be what? Yea. In other words, tell the
truth. Absolute, unquestioned truth. Unexaggerated truth. There's nobody here, nobody here
who always speaks the truth. Not anybody here. We wouldn't
have a friend left. How do you like my hair, honey?
It's beautiful. I could, you know, you know how that goes.
We wouldn't have a friend left. There's nobody. So this is what
Paul is saying. Tell me. Come on. I'm interested.
Tell me. You that desire to be under the
law. Don't you hear it? Don't you hear the law? The Word
of God says that if we live by the law, it must be a perfect
obedience. Perfect. The Word of God says
in Deuteronomy, to be accepted it must be what? Perfect. without
flaw, and he that offendeth in one point of the law," just one
little iota, is guilty of the whole law of God. That's true.
Well, the Levitical law. I have people today who are interested
in keeping another Sabbath, the Lord's Day, Sunday, making a
Sabbath out of it. Over in England, I ran into LDOS. It's a new organization, Lord's
Day Observance Society. They're going to shut everything
down and shut everybody up. And we're going to walk so far
on Sunday, we're going to go certain places on Sunday, we're
going to do certain things, we're going to institute us another
Sabbath and call it Sunday. That's exactly what they're doing.
Well, let me tell you this. Christ is my Sabbath. Christ
is my rest. And every day is God's day. Tomorrow
is Monday, but tomorrow is the day the Lord hath made. and I'll
rejoice and be glad therein. And whether I'm in this, I'll
be in the pulpit tomorrow night somewhere down in West Virginia.
And some of you will be hearing the words, but tomorrow's the
Lord's day as far as I'm concerned. Tomorrow's His day, and I'll
glorify Christ, and I'm going to live the same way tomorrow
I'm living today and Tuesday. I was holding a meeting down
in Mississippi, Little Rock, Mississippi. A little
country church down there. Been down there twice. And the
pastor showed me the hymn book, the church hymn book, this one
in the pews, right there like in yours, and he turned a certain
page, he said, look at that song. And the title of the song was,
Ain't It a Shame. Ain't It a Shame. And the words
of the song went like this, Ain't It a Shame to Cuss on Sunday.
Ain't It a Shame. Ain't It a Shame to Cuss on Sunday
when you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. That's a fact. And he went on, ain't it a shame
to gamble on Sunday? Ain't it a shame? When you got
money to do... And this is the attitude of some
of these Sabbatarians. But I'm telling you this, and
the way I feel about it, and God will direct His people in
all their behavior, but some of you this afternoon won't go
see Granny. You go see Granny. She needs your visit. Some of
you won't go see your mother this afternoon. Go see your mother.
Some of you worked six days this week. You got something to do
today, do it. You're here to hear the Word.
You're here to worship God. Worship God tomorrow too. Is
that wrong? It's God's day. Every day is
God's day. And Christ is my Sabbath. I've entered into a rest, a spiritual
rest, a full rest, a heavenly rest in Christ Jesus. And I know,
you see, you can't just turn people loose. You can turn them
loose in the hands of God's Spirit. They're His children. They'll
walk with Him. Right, John? They certainly would,
but do you not hear the law? If you want under the sabbatical
law, if you want under the law of fastings, and you can't pick
up sticks today, or yesterday, yesterday was a day, Saturday,
you've already blown it. Sabbath day, tithing, washings,
that's why, if a person has leprosy or some disease, you're supposed
to burn the couch he sat on yesterday. That's right, burn the couch.
If he drinks from this glass, we're supposed to break it. Isn't
that right? I tell you, this law, Paul says,
tell me, tell me, you that desire to be under the Levitical law,
the Sabbath law, the tithing law, the fasting law, all these
other laws, the washings, the diet, what did you eat this week?
You better go back and check and see if you ate something
unclean. You may have to go through some
ceremonies here today. Do you not hear the law? And
I'll tell you another one. What about the law of faith and
love? I'll just give you the law of faith and love. Church
laws. God says, love God with all your
heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
You want to be under that? That's the fulfillment of the whole
law. That's the law of love. Christ said, this is my commandment.
Now, Tom Hardy, this is his commandment, that you love me like he loved
me. That's pretty difficult, isn't
it? I don't want under that law for salvation. I want under that
law, you know, a relationship with Christ, but not for acceptance. I don't want under any law, do
you? for acceptance with God. I don't care how good it is,
how pure it is, where it came from, I don't want under any
law for justification, righteousness, sanctification, or acceptance
by God Almighty, because I cannot perfectly keep any rule in God's
sight. I can't do it. I can't do it. Even the disciples, when they
went up, hear our Lord. Hear our Lord struggling. He
remembereth our frame, he knoweth it with us, don't you know that?
He knows it. And the three disciples, Peter,
James, and John, went up to the garden with our Lord when he
was gone. He was being betrayed. He was being deserted. He was
being denied. He was about to be crucified.
And they went with him to pray. And he said, Tarry here while
I go yonder and pray. Here's the greatest moment in
the history of this universe. The Son of God interceding in
a priestly prayer for his people about to die for him. And the
disciples went to sleep. Now you think, they went to sleep? They went to sleep. And he came
over there and he said, oh, he said, couldn't you tarry with
me even an hour? But he said, spirit indeed is
willing, the flesh is willing, so just sleep on and get your
rest. We preachers ought to be that kind, shouldn't we? We ought
to be that tender. Go on, get your rest. Get your
rest. This God of this world, this
Satan, has come and he's found nothing in me. I beat him. I
defeated him alone. But you get your rest. Now then, verse 22. Now watch
this. Far. And this is along the same vein,
you see. Same line. It's a far there.
Tell me. Tell me. You that would be under
the law. Any law. I don't care what law it is.
Well, Brother May, we're talking about Ten Commandments. I don't
care what law you're talking about. Well, we're talking about the law of
the home. I don't care what law you're talking about. We're talking
about good, established laws of this day for the church. I
don't care what law you're talking about. If you would be under
law for acceptance with God, righteousness, approval, do you
not hear the law? Now, here it is. Abraham had
two sons, one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman. He
who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh. And he
of the free woman was born of a promise. Now, what's the picture?
Abraham is way up in years. Ninety or a hundred. Way up in
years. Ninety, about ninety. Sarah's
about ninety. And Abraham, you can go back
and read it, Genesis 15, 16, 17. Abraham went to God in prayer. And he said, God, Lord, I don't
have an heir. I'm childless, childless. Here
I am, I don't have a son. I've got a servant, Eliezer,
in my house, a good faithful servant. Am I going to leave
everything to him? You called me now. You said my
seat would be as the stars in the sky and the sands of the
seashore. That's what you said when I left my father's house.
You said I'd be a blessing to all nations. But I don't have
a son. I don't have a child in my house. I've never had any
children. And I said, Eliezer, is that
who's going to be there through him? God said, no, Abraham. Oh, I wish we'd learned to wait
on God. What's time to God? What's time to God? It doesn't
matter whether Abraham's 90 or 19. God can do what God will
do. But, oh, our impatience. Our
impatience. And God said, Abraham, you'll
have a son by Sarah. By Sarah, your wife. And you'll
call his name Isaac. And you turn your eyes to the
heavens. You see those stars? Count them. I can't count them.
So shall you see me. You turn your eyes to that seashore. Count the sand. I can't count
them. So you... Isaac. Sarah, I promise you."
Well, time went by. Some years passed. Abraham and
Sarah, she's old, withered, gray, 90 years old, so is he. Womb is dead. In fact, when she
heard the promise, she laughed. Sarah laughed. God got on her
about it, too. But she came into Abraham one
day and she said to him, she said, well, just looks like we're
going to have to help God out. That was the essence of it. She
said, we still have no son. We still have no son. And she
said, I'll tell you what, and I'm old and I'm not getting any
younger. I'm older and older. I'll tell you what, I have a
handmaid named Hagar. H-A-G-A-R. Hager, H-A-G-A-R. And she said,
why don't you go into Hager and that'll, see God wants a people,
and God wants to bless you, and God wants you to have an heir,
and God wants you to have a seed, so we'll just, we can do this,
you know, let's take care of God's wants. And so a son was
born. His name was Ishmael. Fine young
man, born to Hager, the handmaid. And he got about 13 to 14 years
of age. And God said, Abraham was now
a hundred, a hundred years old, a little older. And Sarah was
approaching a hundred. And God said, Abraham, I told
you you'd have a son by Sarah. And now the time has come, God's
time. And a son was born. So he had
two sons. One of them was by his will. Isn't that right? He willed it. He willed the birth of Ishmael.
And he used the mean. He willed the birth of Ishmael
and he had a son. The other son was born by God's
will. Totally by God's will. Isn't that right? God willed
it. And in God's time, in the fullness of time, that son was
born. One son was born of the flesh. Ishmael, one of strictly
fleshly arrangement, born of the flesh in a normal, natural
way. That son was born of the flesh.
The other boy, oh no, a miracle, a promise. He wasn't born of
the flesh, he was born of a promise, a promise. This son was born
by works. Abraham did it. Abraham and Hagar
made this child. This child over here, no works
entered in because Saber wasn't able to bear a child. Strictly
by the will of God. Isn't that right? So that's what,
you know what it's saying here? Verse 22, it is written, Abraham
had two sons, one by a bondmaid, one by a free woman, and he of
the bondmaid was born after the flesh. The will of man, the will
of the flesh, the work of the flesh, he was born, right, Ronnie,
born of the flesh. The other was born what? By promise,
by power, by the purpose of God. God willed it, God accomplished
it, God did it, contrary to all human help. In fact, actually,
not only was there no human help, but it was contrary to human
possibility. Sarah couldn't help, she couldn't
help God. She didn't help God because she
couldn't. She couldn't. She didn't because
she couldn't. Alright, now hang on to your
seat there. We're going to bring this to 1988. Verse 24. Which things are an allegory? Paul the Apostle reaches back
here to the life of Abraham and talks about Abraham who had two
sons, one of a bondwoman, one of a free woman, one born of
his will, one born of God's will, one born of flesh, one born of
promise, one born by the works of men, one born totally, completely,
absolutely by the work of God. And he said that's a picture.
What's an allegory? Well, an allegory is taking people and
things. real people, real things, and
showing a meaning, a spiritual meaning. These people and things
are symbolic. See, the Lord's Table is an allegory
in a way. The bread and the wine pictures
Christ. And Sarah and Abraham and these
two boys picture everybody here this morning. One of them does. That's right. It's an allegory.
Well, he said these are the two covenants, the two testaments.
One from Mount Sinai which gendered to bondage, that's Hagar. The
son born of the will of man, the works of man, the flesh of
man, so forth. That's Hagar. And this Hagar
in Mount Sinai in Arabia answers to Jerusalem right now, which
is in bondage to her children. In other words, here it is. Watch
this, now listen to me. Ishmael was born of Abraham's
own will. And he represents all of these
denominations and churches and people today who are saved by
their own free will. The will of man. How was Ishmael
born? By Abraham's will. He willed
it. Abraham and Sarah willed it. They said they were cooperating
with God. They said they were helping God,
but they willed it themselves. They willed the birth of Ishmael.
And this is the gospel of man's will. We furnish God an heir
by our will. God wants heirs, we'll give Him
heirs. God wants people, we'll give Him people. God wants sons,
we'll give Him sons. God wants a kingdom, we'll give
Him a kingdom. Come down now. Who will decide? Who will be
a member of God's kingdom? Who will join God's kingdom?
Who will accept Jesus? Who will be a son? Do you want
to be a son? Come be a son. That's man's will. Isaac represents God's will.
God willed the birth of Isaac. Now turn with me to John 1. Now
listen to this. John chapter 1. John chapter
1 verse 12. John 1, 12. But as many, listen to John 1.12,
as many as received him, to receive Christ, to them gave he the power,
the right to become sons of God. Isaacs, sons of God, sons of
promise, sons of airship, even to them that believe on his name,
which were born, not of blood, not of natural genealogy. Let
me tell you something, Ishmael was the son of Abraham just like
Isaac was. Wrong mother. Wrong mother. And this thing's
not of blood. You may be a son of God, but
that doesn't mean Michael Jesse's a son of God. Because he's not
saved by your blood, he's saved by Christ's blood. See what I'm
saying? I hope he is, and I pray he will, but that'd be by God's
will. Not blood. It's not of the blood. Watch
this. Not of the will of the flesh. Not of the will of man. But they're born of God. Isaac
was born of God. Miracle. Miracle, promise, purpose. Ishmael was born by human will.
Abraham willed it. Saul willed it. They had a good
reason. They had a sincere purpose. But
God's children aren't born by human will, they're born by God's
will. You say, are these preachers sincere? Perhaps they are. But
God's children are not born of human will, they're born of God's
will. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Now listen to this, Romans
9. Romans chapter 9, verse 15. Romans 9, 15. I'm asking you
to turn here because I want you to read. He said to Moses, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
This thing of mercy comes by the will of God. Alright, listen
to this. Ishmael represents free will,
Abraham's will, Sabaoth's will. Isaac represents the will of
God. Then Ishmael represents the vast host of fleshly converts. Ishmael was born of the flesh.
And he answers, he's an allegory, he's a picture of all these means
and methods and coercion today in religion to populate heaven.
We're going to do it by our will. We're going to do it by our works.
And God is going to accept. Abraham said, Lord, let Ishmael
live before you. God said, not on any terms. No
way. No way. And we use our methods
and means and coercions and all of this soul winning and things
to get people to decide for God and come into the kingdom of
God. But I'll tell you this, Isaac was born by promise. He
was not only born by the will of God, but he was born according
to the promise of God. God said, I will populate heaven. There will be a people like my
son. Turn to John chapter 6. John the 6th chapter. And listen
to this, John 6, 37. John 6, 37. And I want you to
look carefully at this now and listen to it. John 6, 37. All
that my Father giveth me shall come to me. God said, Abraham,
you'll have a son. Isaac will be his name. And through
him all nations will be blessed, and his seed shall number the
stars of the heaven. Wait! I'll send Isaac, and Isaac
came, and he's the one God gave him. All that my Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh out of no wise cast
out. Verse 38, I came down from heaven not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is my Father's will
which is sent me, that of all which he hath given me I lose
nothing. But I'll raise it up again at
the last day. This is my Father's will. And in John chapter 10,
listen to this. John 10. Our Lord talks about
his sheep, John chapter 10, verse 14. I'm the good shepherd. I
know my sheep. I'm known of mine. As a father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this
particular foal, Jewish foal, disciples foal. Them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one
foal, and they shall be one shepherd. Turn to John 17. John 17. Listen, this is the priestly
prayer of our Lord. John 17, verse 2. As thou hast
given him, that he said, glorify thy son, that thy son may glorify
thee. Verse 1, chapter 17 of John. As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. Verse 9, I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given me,
for they are thine. I pray for them, they are my
people. Ishmael represents the vast host of fleshly converts
that preachers have drawn down the hour with their methods and
means and coercion and human will, and Isaac represents the
sheep of Christ given him from all eternity by the gift of the
Father, and they will come to him in his own time. They will. The miracle birth. This is what
Paul is saying right here in Galatians 4. Ishmael represents
man's works. Have you ever heard this before?
God's done all he can do. God's done all he can do and
that's up to you. You know what they say? God wants to save,
God wants to redeem, God wants a people, God wants children,
but it's up to us. That's what Abraham and Sarah
were trying to do. That's the reasoning that Sarah
used on Abraham. She said, Abraham, God wants
a son. God wants you to have a son.
God wants you to have a people. God wants to have a seed that
ends in heaven. And I'm dead. I can't do anything. So let's... God will like this. And that's the way preachers
do it. God's out somewhere. He has a purpose. He has a will.
He's going to populate heaven. But he can't get the job done.
He's waiting on us. So we go out here and coerce
and pull and beg and plead and draw people into religion. And
we've just given birth to a bunch of Ishmaels. Sons of the flesh. Sons of human will. Yes, God
has a people. He chose them in Christ. Gave
them to Christ. And in time, they'll come. Leave
them. Wait on God. Now wait a minute.
Abraham and Sarah still had a son. And that son wasn't virgin born,
he was born of Abraham. And they used the means. They
used the methods. But they used the means and the
methods and God gave the life. And I'm telling you, I use the
means. I preach the gospel. There isn't a preacher in Ashland
that preaches to more people than I do on Sunday morning by
television, radio, That's right, I preach to people, we got missionaries
all over the world preaching today in England, in Mexico,
in St. Lucia, in Ireland, we support
them, in Africa, preaching, preaching, preaching, planting seed. Abraham
planted seed and God gave it life in a dead womb, huh? And I preach the seed, the word
of God is the seed, and I preach the word of God, the seed to
dead ears, and God gives them life. God gives them life. God makes that seed to live in
that dead heart. You say, but if you don't put
some pressure on him, he'll never come. Then he'll never come,
because I'm not going to put any pressure on him. That's what
the Savior said, Abraham, if you don't do something, you ain't
going to have a son. If you don't, you just got to do something
Abraham, you got to, you got to, you know, God can't do it
by himself. Oh yes he can. God will, the seed is the word
of God. We're born again not of corruptible
semen but of incorruptible seed by the word of God. That's, I
used the word I wanted to use. That's what that word means.
And Abraham did go in to save her, and there was a seed, but
that seed could not live without God's supernatural power giving
it life in that dead heart. And I'm preaching the seed of
the Word of God right here on television this morning, on the
radio in Cincinnati, and wherever they let me preach, and I'll
tell you this, I sow the seed, and see, so God Almighty's got
to give it life. And I'm not going to try to coerce
anybody into the Kingdom of God. That's where Ishmael came from.
He said that right here. He said it right here. And here's
the results. Look at verse 25. And this Agur,
this Mount Sinai, this works, this Ishmael answered to Jerusalem
right now, which is in bondage with her children. Paul said,
listen to me now. Take a look down there. You see all those
Jews? They're trying to keep the law. All those Jews, they're
going about their Sabbath days. There they are. I fast, I tithe,
I give alms, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not an extortioner, I'm not
this, I'm not that. They're trying to find acceptance
with God by their works. There they are. There they are. And he said, that's Ishmael.
That's Abraham and Saba going to use the means at their disposal,
use the methods at their hand. They're going to get God a son.
And they said, look here God, here we got you an heir. He said,
I won't have him. My heirs are supernaturally born.
My heirs are my sons, not yours. My heirs are born by my will,
not yours, by my power, not your flesh, by my works, and not your
deeds, and by my miracle, not your judgment. My sons. I choose my sons and my daughters. I choose them. And he said, look
at verse 20, 26. And Jerusalem, which is above,
this is not an earthly, we got all our denominations, you know.
Oh, sickening, isn't it? Headquarters for Catholics in
Rome. Headquarters Church of God in
Anderson, Indiana. Headquarters for the Baptist
in Nashville, Tennessee. Headquarters for somebody somewhere.
Our headquarters are in a glory. That's headquarters. Somebody
said to me, who do you answer to? Who do I answer to? Well,
don't you have a denomination? Don't you have some fellas that
you answer to? Boy, I got one I answer to all
right. He's the king of kings and lord
of lords. He's the king of kings. And I
go forth preaching his message, sowing his seed, and his sons
will hear me. His sons will live. There'll
be life given. Jerusalem, which is above, is
free! And the mother of us all, free
from the law, free from the curse of the law, free from the bondage
of the law, free from do's and don'ts and touch not, taste not,
handle not. Well, if you go here, you can't be saved. If you do
this, you can't be saved. If you don't do this, you can't
be saved. I'm not in that kind of bondage. I'm not an Ishmael. I didn't
get into the kingdom of God by my will, and I don't stay there
by my will. I didn't get in there by fleshly
works, I don't stay there by works. I wasn't justified by
works, and I'm not sanctified by works. He's my father. He's my father. I got a son here, and he's got
a son. He's my son, and nothing can change that. He's my son. And I'm God's son, and nothing
can change that. Nothing. And I don't have to
work to stay a son. He doesn't have to work to stay
a son. He's a son of love. And I'm a son of love. You say,
nothing I do is going to change that. That's right. Good or bad. Oh, but you give people license
to sin. No, I disagree with you. I believe love is a stronger
motive than love. I believe if you love somebody,
it dictates what you do a whole lot more than what you ought
to do or your duty to do. I really do. I really do. And verse, I want to, verse 27,
just briefly let me look at verse 27. He says, But now it's written,
Rejoice, you barren that beareth not. Break forth and cry, you
that travaileth not. Wait a minute, preacher, how
are we going to get people saved? Well, I say we're going to have
a son. Yeah, but preacher of the world is barren. Hers was
too. But she never had a child. You never did either. But she
didn't have the power. We don't either. But you rejoice,
we're going to have them. That's what God said. We're going
to have them. Yes, sir. Well, we need to compromise.
That's what Savior Abraham did. But he said, Rejoice, the desolate,
the barren, the dead shall have more children than the woman
who has a husband. What's he talking about there?
These Jews? had the law, the prophets, the tradition, they
had a human husband, but they had no children. The Gentiles
had not the law, had not the prophets, had not the tabernacle,
and they have a lot of them. That's right, that's what that's
talking about. I tell you this, the barren, they that travail
not, when God, in his mercy, sets his affections on them,
oh my, That's when sons are born. But, and now verse 28, we brethren,
as Isaac was, we're the children of promise. That's what we are.
Brethren, every believer is a child of promise. Born of the will
of God, born by the power of God, born according to the purpose
of God, and born according to the promise of God. Now wait
a minute, listen. God made this promise to Abraham. You'll have a son. What promise? By what promise are we born?
He made a promise to Christ from all eternity and gave him a people.
That's a promise. God knoweth them that are his.
And here's the foundation of God standing sure, having this
seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and he has this foundation,
his oath and his promise. That's one you think about, isn't
it? His oath and his promise. He made an oath. All that the
Father giveth will come to me. Abraham, be faithful and wait,
and God will give you a seed. But that seed is Christ. Now
watch verse 29. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit.
Ishmael was jealous of Isaac. Ishmael was about 13 or 14, and
Isaac had been weaned, and they had a party for Isaac. You can
read about it over there in Genesis 21. They had a party, and Ishmael
was behind the door laughing, pointing at Isaac and laughing.
And Saber said, Get rid of that boy. And Abraham went to God,
and he said, Father, Saber says, Get rid of Ishmael. And the father
said, She's right. She's right. Get rid of him.
The son of the bondwoman cannot live with the son of the free
woman. The son of where your works can't inherit with my son
of will and purpose. Cast him out. That's what it
said. Verse 430. Nevertheless, What sayeth the
scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son, all of your laws and rules and regulations by which you
seek acceptance with God. You better shuck them. Is that
a good Kentucky word? Shuck them. Get rid of them.
Peel the shucks off. And the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the promise. Can't do it. Just can't do it. And they'll
never get along. They'll never get along. They'll
never walk together. They're not in agreement. Two
can't walk against that, they'd be in agreement. Ishmael and
Isaac could not inherit together. They couldn't both be Abraham's
sons and heirs in this spiritual family. Verse 31, I'll quit. So then brethren, thank God,
we're not children of the law, the regulations, the rules, our
decisions. We're children of the free. We're
miracle children born of God. Now, and tonight I'm going to
preach on Galatians 5. I'm going to pick this up verse
1 through 6. The liberty of grace and the liberty of Christ. But
here's what that's saying. Salvation's a miracle. Redemption's
a miracle. The sons of God are born by God's
will, God's purpose, and God's power. And so a vital point I
brought out. Abraham and Saba did have a son. a miracle son, a son of power
and promise. But there was seed planted. That's
exactly right. There was seed planted. She didn't
find Isaac in the cabbage patch. She travailed. She bore that
child. She carried that child. She travailed
with that child. She gave birth to that child.
And that child, he was a miracle. And I say this, we're not going
to shut down the church and close the Bible and go home and say,
well, if God has people, he'll save them. That's ignorance. Abraham made a mistake the first
time. He went in because he thought
because Hagar was young and all this, they'd have a son. Human
will and flesh and effort, cooperation with God. But God blesses where you don't
expect. God will call whom he will, and
it'll be a miraculous call. But seed has to be sown. That's
why I preach. That's why you're here.

Free Grace or Free Will?

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