Galatians chapter 4. I have a threefold purpose in
preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I feel that every
true God-sent, God-anointed preacher of the gospel will have this
threefold purpose and objective in view. Number one, it's to
glorify God. Noah preached 120 years with
no success, but he glorified God. Judson preached seven years
in Burma with hardly a move on the part of the natives, but
he preached to glorify God. So whether we eat or drink or
whatever we do, we do it for God's glory, to glorify His majesty. He's God. and he must be preached
to glorify his righteousness, his holiness, his mercy, his
love, his truth, and to magnify and exalt his blessed Son. That's
what the design of redemption is all about, that in the ages
to come he might show forth the riches, the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So we're not here to win souls
primarily. We're not here to reach the world
for Jesus primarily. And notice I said primarily.
But we're here to glorify God. If it's in days of famine, or
if it's in days of feast, if it's in days of plenty, or if
it's in days of poverty, if it's in success or failure, we're
here to glorify God. And that's our first motive,
that's our first objective, to glorify God. But secondly, that
men might come to know the living God. in the face of Christ Jesus
in a true and saving interest. Paul talked about the sufferings
which he endured because of preaching the gospel. And he said, I don't
mind them. I don't count my life dear unto
myself. I endure all things for the elect's
sake. I endure whatever I have to endure.
I go wherever I have to go. I preach to whomever God leads
me to preach for the elect's sake. that they might also obtain
the salvation which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. That's,
he said, the second reason why I preach, that the elect might
come to know the gospel, that they might come to receive Christ.
But thirdly, we have a threefold purpose, I said. We have a threefold
objective. And thirdly, that those who know
Christ, that those who already rest in Christ, that those who
have a saving interest in Christ, that those who have faith in
the Redeemer, whether it's little faith or great faith, whether
it's some faith or not much faith, but those who have faith in Christ,
we preach that they might grow, that they might be comforted,
that they might grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ.
Our Lord said to Peter, feed my sheep. When Paul was bidding
farewell to the elders of the church there at Antioch or Ephesus,
he said, Feed the flock of God. Feed the flock of God. Minister
to them the Word of God, that they might be assured of their
interest in Christ, that they might grow in the fruit of the
Spirit. Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow
thereby. You cannot grow in Christ. You cannot grow in grace. You
may have faith. You may have an interest in Christ.
You may have a saving interest in Christ, but it will not grow
without the Word of God. The Word of God must be preached
that we might grow in grace, in the knowledge of Christ, in
assurance, in the fruit of the Spirit, and that we might enjoy
what is ours to enjoy. And that is the peace that passeth
understanding. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Christ said, you come to
me, I'll give you rest. He said, we have ceased from
our labors and entered into his rest. How many of you can really
say that? Not a whole lot of us, can we?
But we ought to be able to. We have ceased from our labors
and entered into his rest. Our Lord said, I will send you
a comforter. But how many of us really know
what the comfort of the Word of God means, the comfort of
the Holy Spirit, what it means? And I lay the blame on the shoulders
of today's preachers more than on the people themselves. The
Word of God is to be preached to glorify God, yes, to reach
men with the gospel, but we're to feed God's sheep. We're to
give them God's Word. We're to give them those portions
of Scripture that will provide them a place for their feet in
slippery places. a rock to build on, a refuge
in which to hide, a shelter in a dry and weary land, a fountain
in a dry and famine-infested land. They need to hear this
Word. But they're not hearing it. And all of these purposes
are my aim, and I think all will be fulfilled in this message
tonight, but especially the latter. And that is that you might grow
in assurance, that you might grow in the fruit of the Spirit,
that you might find that rest that Christ promised and that
peace that he said, I give. Peace I give unto you, not as
the world give it, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid, that you might really know what it
means to be comforted in Christ. That's my objective. Now, it
may be this message will be preached in many places by Tate, and it
may be that some indifferent, some careless, Professor of religion
will hear this message and lay claim to a false peace and to
idle comfort, but it's not right to hold back the refreshing rain
because it makes the weeds to grow too. You see what I'm saying? The rain from heaven brings forth
the wheat, but it also makes tares grow. The rain from heaven
comes down upon the field, and as a result of that rain, the
wheat will grow and get healthy, but also the weeds do, too. So
it may be that this message will be preached somewhere and some
person who does not really know Christ, but who has a false refuge,
and a person who's indifferent to the claims of Christ, but
yet through an easy believism decision, he lays some kind of
claim to salvation. And he may get some strength
from this, and he may grow in his refuge of lies, but that's
not our fault. We have to preach the truth as
it is in Christ Jesus. And you know, Paul, Paul preached
grace abounding over sin so convincingly. Now watch this. Paul preached
the free grace of God, grace abounding over sin so convincingly,
so powerfully, that some men were made to exclaim, shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound? He must have preached
a mighty strong grace message. Because there were people who
came to him and said, Paul, were you insinuating that the more
we sin, the more God's grace is glorified? Were you saying
that we should go on in sin and that way we'd be partakers of
God's grace? That's how convincingly Paul
preached the grace of God. But I know this, I know this,
and I know it from being a pastor for 31 years almost. I know this from personal experience. I know this from having read
this book. I know that there are some true
believers, people who know God, people who know Christ. People
who are believers in the grace of God and the gospel of Christ,
who know themselves to be sinners without any ability to save themselves,
that salvation wholly and totally and completely is the gift of
God by the grace of God through the work of Christ. They know
that, and yet they don't have this peace. They don't have this
rest and joy and comfort. They keep themselves in bondage. They keep themselves in bondage
to the law. They keep themselves in bondage
to a personal righteousness that they're trying to attain. That's
right. They love Christ. They know Christ.
But they're filled with so many doubts and so many fears. And
this is one of the problems right here. And I'm going to hit it
hard tonight. They're trying to worship God
in the letter of the law instead of in the spirit of the law.
They're trying to hold to the oldness of the law instead of
the newness of the Spirit. And this is what Paul is talking
about over here in Romans. Let me show you something. Turn
to Romans chapter 7. Romans 7, verse 5 and 6, and
listen to Paul. He says in Romans 7, verse 5
and 6, When we, for when we were in the flesh, before we were
saved, before we were born again, before we met Christ, the motions
of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. But now we're delivered from
the law that being dead, wherein we were held, that we should
serve God in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the
letter. That's not how we worship God.
Not in the oldness of the letter, not in rules and regulations
and laws and ordinances and ceremonies and rituals. That's not how you
worship God. It may be you'll keep a day.
It may be you'll be guided by instructions and laws. It may
be that you'll follow an ordinance, as the ordinance of baptism in
the Lord's table. But we don't worship God in the
letter of the law, in the oldness of the letter. We worship God
in newness of spirit. It's spiritual communion. Turn
to 2 Corinthians, if you will, chapter 3. Listen to this verse
over here. 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is again
saying almost the same thing. In 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5,
look at this verse here. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves. Spurgeon said,
Paul is saying there, we are not sufficient to think anything
that has to be revealed. Think anything by ourselves.
Everything I know God taught me. Everything I know God taught
me. I'm not sufficient to think anything
by myself. I'm not sufficient to think anything
from myself. I don't expect anything out of
me. Every good gift and perfect gift cometh from above. I don't
expect, I'm not sufficient to think any good thing will ever
come from me. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. And I'm not sufficient to think any good thing of me.
I'm still a sinner saved by grace, the chief of sinners, less than
the least of all the saints. Let not a man think too highly
of himself. To think himself something when
he's nothing, Paul said. I'm not one whit behind the chief
apostle, but I'm nothing, he said. So I'm not sufficient to
think anything by myself, or from myself, or of myself. But look at the next line. But
our sufficiency is of God. That's where it all comes from.
That's where my righteousness comes from. That's where I please
the Father through the Son. That's where my acceptance comes
from. That's where my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification,
my redemption, my acceptance, my salvation, my perseverance,
my preservation, my ultimate perfection, it's all from God.
Our sufficiency is of God. I am not sufficient to think
anything by myself because I'm dumb, stupid, and ignorant. I
know nothing. I know nothing. And when a man
thinks he knows something, he knows nothing as he ought to
know it, Scripture says. It's all from God. And I'm not
sufficient to think anything from myself. The only product
this old human nature ever produced is evil. If there's any producing
of righteousness, it didn't come from me, it came from Christ.
Now, am I sufficient to think anything by myself, from myself,
or of myself? But my sufficiency is Christ.
All right. Who also hath made us? He made us able ministers
of a new covenant. Not of the letter. That's not
our message. You do this, you do that, you
do the other, and God will accept you. That's not our message. What is our message? It's a message
of the Spirit. For the letter does what? It
destroys, it kills, but the Spirit gives life. I know people whose household
of faith are in constant turmoil. Their households of faith, they
know Christ. It is a house of faith. Too often
ministers are ready to say, well, you're just not saved. That's
not true. That's not true. They know Christ. They love Christ.
They believe Christ. But their households of faith
are in turmoil and trouble. Why? I'll tell you why. And this
will help you tonight. I've been there. They're trying
to raise two boys in the same house who can't be raised together.
Ishmael and Isaac can't live together. Can't live together. That's the reason this scripture
that Charlie read, look at it down here in verse 30, Galatians
4. Nevertheless, what sayeth the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman
and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. He's got to
go. Cast out the bondwoman. Abraham
had to do it. I've got to do it. You've got
to do it. And her son. Brother man, that doesn't mean
a thing to me yet. Well, give me another few minutes. I believe
it will mean something. I'll tell you this, it'll change
your whole thinking if you'll get a hold of it. Your whole
thinking. It'll change your attitude and
everything. Cast out the bondwoman. All right, where did this come
from? Let's look at the household of Abraham. Back in verse 22.
It is written, Galatians 4, 22. Abraham had two sons, one by
a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. Now, you know the story. Now, that God came to Abraham
when he was 85, 86, something like that, and he said,
I'm going to make of you a great nation, a great people. I'm going to bless those that
bless you and curse those that curse you. And through you, all
the nations will be blessed. You'll have a people as the stars
of the sky and as the sands of the seashore. He didn't even
have a child. Never had had a child. He was married to Sarah. They'd
never had a child. But God says to this man, you're
going to have a son, and through that son, you're going to have
a people of faith. God's people. And so Abraham
and Sarah believed God. But Sarah got impatient. And
I guess Abraham did too. And so she said to Abraham, she
said, I have a handmaid by the name of Hagar. She's called A-G-A-R
here, Agar, but it's Hagar. It's evident I'm not going to
have any children. Sarah was 76. So she said, why don't you
go into my handmaid, Hagar, take her to wife and bring forth a
son. So Abraham did just that. He
went into Hagar and she conceived and bare son. They called his
name Ishmael. This wasn't the son of promise.
Hagar was a slave. She was a bondwoman, she was
a mistress, she was not a free woman, she was not Abraham's
wife, she was not the one God designated to bear the child.
It was just a son of flesh, that's all Ishmael was, a son of flesh,
all he ever could be. Born of a slave, born of a bondwoman,
he was a child of the flesh, he was a child that Abraham conceived
or begat, and Hagar conceived and brought forth, and that's
all he'll ever be. But Abraham loved him. Abraham, look, can't
you imagine that man, 86 years old, and that little fella came
into his home, and my, my, the joy and delight. That was his
only son. He didn't have any more children.
That was it. All the attention was focused on Ishmael. Ishmael, he was a good-looking
lad, rugged, strong. Well, when Ishmael was 14 years
old, Ishmael had been in that home, Cecil, 14 years. When Abraham was a hundred, God
doesn't get in a hurry like we do. We want everything done right
now. But God, in his own time, does what he pleases to do. He
works his sovereign will in his own good time. In the fullness
of time, God does what he promises. And when Abraham was a hundred,
the Savior was ninety, and Ishmael, this beloved son, this child
of the flesh, though, was 14. God came and said, all right,
Abraham, I'm ready to send that son I promised you. But Lord,
won't Ishmael do? Oh, Ishmael is your boy. Ishmael
is a product of your flesh. Ishmael is something you did,
not something I did. Ishmael is the son of the bondwoman.
Ishmael is a slave. He never will be anything but
that. Sarah, thy wife, shall conceive and bear a son. And
she did. And she did. She brought forth a son by the
name of Isaac. All right, now watch this. Here
is Ishmael, 15 years old now. And here's this new baby, new
boy. This is the son of promise. This
is not a slave. This is not a child of bondage. This is not a child of flesh.
This is a miracle child. This child was born from a dead
womb. Only God could do this. Abraham didn't have anything
to do with this. Sarah didn't have anything to do with this.
This was the gift of God. This was a miracle child. This
was God's hand and only God's hand. And Abraham knew it, and
Sarah knew it, and everybody else knew it. And Ishmael knew
it. And Abraham was a wealthy man, influential man, a powerful
man. And everything that he had, and
a man a hundred years old, and everything he had was going to
Isaac, and Ishmael knew that. And you can imagine the turmoil
in that home. You can imagine the conflict
in that home. On the part of Hagar, the mother
of Ishmael, she figured Ishmael was going to be the heir, too.
After all, he's 15 years old. This old man was 100 years old.
His wife was 90. Who in the world would ever expect
them to have a child? She was grooming Ishmael to take over.
He was going to be the wealthy, influential, powerful man who
stepped into Abraham's shoes. Ishmael thought that too. But
here comes this child of promise from God. And that left him out. And it all belonged to Isaac,
Sarah's son, because he was the rightful heir. He was the one
God designated. And so turn to Genesis 21. Let's
see what happened. Genesis 21, verse 9. And Sarah, They put on a big feast when
they weaned the child. When he was 8 or 9 months old
or so, they weaned him and they put on a big feast. And verse
9, Genesis 21, And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian,
which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking, laughing. He didn't like Isaac. He didn't
like him. He hated him. And he was laughing
at him. Now read on, verse 10, Genesis
21. Genesis 21, 10. And wherefore she said, Abraham,
cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. It is not possible. Cast out this bondwoman and her
son. It is impossible for these two
to live together. It is impossible for us to have
any peace or rest as long as Ishmael is here. Ishmael has
got to go. Hagar has got to go. Not put
out on the North 40 in a little building just outside the big
house, but out completely. They cannot survive together.
They cannot exist together. They cannot live together. Ishmael,
the son of flesh, and Isaac, the son of promise, cannot live
on the same property. Now then, this is our reason. This is the reason for so many
of our conflicts, and our doubts, and our fears, and our turmoil,
and our lack of peace, and lack of joy, and lack of faith, is
we have not yet cast out the bondwoman and her son. We haven't
done it yet. We've taken Isaac in, that's
Christ. We believe Isaac is the heir,
we believe Isaac is the way, we believe Isaac is the son of
promise, but we still keep that Ishmael, we still keep that son
of the flesh, we still keep that son of the bondwoman hanging
around. And we're having turmoil and conflict between these two
people. Grace and works cannot share
one house. Law and mercy cannot share one
house. My righteousness and his righteousness
cannot exist side by side. The letter of the law and the
spirit of the law cannot walk together. I cannot rest totally
and completely in Christ and try at the same time to please
God in my flesh. I cannot make Isaac Christ the
sole heir give him the sole preeminence, give him all the affection, and
keep Ishmael around to mock him and rob me of my happiness. Ishmael's
got to go. Because as long as Ishmael stays
around, he's going to be around the corner mocking. He's going
to be around the corner laughing. Here they are, Isaac, the son
of promise, the miracle of God has come. Something that Abraham
couldn't do, and Sarah couldn't do, and nobody else could do,
but God did. And here's the heir. Here's the
child of promise. Here's the miracle child, the
child of grace. And everybody's attention is
upon him, and everybody's rejoicing in him, and everybody thanks
God for him, and everybody looks forward to the day when he'll
be full grown and take his father's throne. There stands Ishmael. And he messes up the whole situation. He makes Sarah uncomfortable.
He makes Abraham uncomfortable. He makes the people around uncomfortable.
And there he stands, peeping around the corner, laughing,
laughing, laughing. And that's what's going on inside
of you. Christ has come and given you a new nature. He's coming
by the miracle of his grace. He's given you, born within,
a new person, the Son of God. Christ has come to live and to
give you a blessed hope in Him and He has stepped in to reign
and to rule and to give you peace and joy and rest and happiness
and fulfillment and sanctification and acceptance with God until
one of these days He makes you just like Himself and all the
victories completely won and you rejoice and I rejoice and
everybody rejoices but around the corner is my righteousness
and my pride and all these other things that
go to make up human nature, the flesh, you know, that son of
the flesh, that child of the flesh, that product of the human
heart. He hasn't been cast out. He's still allowed to stay around.
He's still allowed freedom of the place. He's still allowed
to make his own way through the place. And as long as he's there,
I'm not going to have the happiness and joy and peace and tranquility
And Christ Isaac is not going to have the preeminence. He's
going to keep robbing him of the preeminence. People are going
to keep looking to him, you know, and watching him and listening
to him and see what he has to say about it. And as long as
he stays around, as long as my flesh and my works and my efforts
to please God in this flesh and keep laws and follow letters
of laws and rules of law and rules of preachers and rules
of scripture to find acceptance with God, I'm not going to find
it in Christ. So what I've got to do is get
rid of him, throw him off the place, and not have anything else to
do with him. That was hard. That was hard on Abraham, and
it's going to be hard on you. Don't you know Abraham loved
that boy, 15 years old? They were walking in the woods
together. They'd been together for 15 years.
Here, this new child was brand new. He probably never held this
new one. But that boy, he sat him on his
knee and told him stories about the past and told him all the
things that he had learned from God and about his daddy's house
down there in Ur of the Chaldees and all those things. And now
here he stands and he says to Hagar and to Ishmael, here's
your bottle of water and some bread. Get going. No, come back. You can't reign with Isaac. Isaac's
got to have the preeminence. Oh, that's hard. We like to see
our name down in print, you know. That's old Ishmael. We like somebody
to pass on the back and say, it's for the prayer you prayed.
That's Ishmael. We like somebody to come around
and say, I sure appreciate you doing this, that, and the other,
and I appreciate your faithfulness in church, your regularity, and
your loyalty to Christ. Old Ishmael, he peeped around
there last at envy and pride and personal
recognition and ambition and all these things. That's Ishmael. He's not gone yet. He's still
down there in the pasture somewhere and every once in a while he
pokes his head out and calls attention to himself. My sufficiency
is Christ. My hope is Christ. My righteousness
is Christ. It's not me. Tomorrow may be
a bitter day, it may be a disappointing day, it may be a fumbling, stumbling
day, but Ishmael's still gone. Christ is my hope. He's my mercy,
my grace, my wisdom, my righteousness and everything. He's the King.
He's the heir. It's all in Him. Ishmael's gone.
Let me show you the reason for that now, right quick. Turn to
Galatians 4 again. Look at these two women. It says
in verse 23, Ishmael was of the bondwoman. born after the flesh. But he of the free woman was
Bephamus." Now verse 24, "...which things are an allegory. For these
are the two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, which gendered to
bondage," gendered to bondage, which is Hagar. And this Hagar
is Mount Sinai in Arabia, an answer to Jerusalem, which now
is and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which
is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." Now here's
what he's saying simply. Listen to him. The two women,
Hagar, Sarah. Hagar is the covenant of works.
That's who Hagar represents. Hagar represents this command,
this do and live. Did you notice the first verse
Charlie read? Tell me, you that want to be under the law, don't
you hear the law? Don't you know what the law requires? This salvation
by works that you are so anxious to adopt, do you know what it
means? It means perfection. Birth, nature, practice, choice,
conversation, imagination, as holy as God. That's what it requires.
And Hagar represents that law, that covenant of works. Sarah
represents the covenant of grace, gift of God, mercy of God, love
of God, all in Christ. Christ has done it. Christ has
fulfilled it. We live because Christ obeyed
the law for us. We have a righteousness because
He fulfilled it for us. We have forgiveness because He
paid the debt. We have cleansing because His
blood was shed. We have acceptance because He
intercedes for us. It's all of grace. The covenant
of works is all of flesh, all of works. You do this and live.
The covenant of grace has no flesh in it. It has no response
in it. It has no obedience in it on
our part. It's without the law. It's the
gift of God in Christ. That's the covenant of grace.
That's what Sarah represents. She didn't do anything to produce
this child. She was dead. God produced it. She was passive in it. God made
her live. Alright, notice this. Sarah was
the first wife of Abraham. Oh, this is interesting. Sarah
was the first wife of Abraham. She is the covenant of grace.
Are you with me? The covenant of grace was first. She came before Hagar. Hagar
represents the covenant of works. But Sarah came before Hagar.
She was the wife of Abraham before Hagar was ever born. So, in eternity
past, God made a covenant of grace in Christ to redeem you. But now, Hagar gave birth to
the first child. Sarah was the first wife. She
was the wife before Hagar was born. But Hagar brought forth
the first son. The covenant of works brought
forth the first son, too. His name was Adam. And in him
we died. And then along came Sarah and
brought forth the miracle child. Along came the covenant of grace.
After the Son of flesh was born, after the Son of our own efforts
was born, after we'd fallen in sin, God came along through Sarah
and gave the Son of promise. And he came along through Mary
the virgin and gave Christ the Son of promise, the child of
the covenant. The child of the covenant. All right? When the child of
the covenant comes, when the miracle child is born, the other
one's got to go. He can't be an heir with him.
He can't survive with him. He can't live with him. He can't
abide with him. He can't reign with him. He's
got to go. In Adam we died. In Christ we're made alive. As
we're born in the image of the earthy, thank God we put that
aside and we'll bear the image of the heavenly. We tried at
one time to be saved by our own efforts. It didn't work. God
came along, gave us a new nature in Christ, and gave us everything
freely by grace. Now then, turn your back on that
old nature, and that old flesh, and that old man, and tell him
goodbye, and look to Christ. All right, what's the two sons
now? Ishmael was the oldest, wasn't he? Fifteen, fourteen
years older than Isaac. Ishmael was the oldest. My old
man's the oldest, too. My old man is a legalist. Now,
a lot of people seem to think that the old nature, the old
man, is a drunkard and a boozehound and a whoremonger and a gambler
and a profane, not always, not necessarily. Not necessarily. The old nature, the thing that
identifies the old nature is this. It's opposed to God. That's the whole thing. Ishmael
was opposed to Isaac. It's either Ishmael or Isaac,
they both cannot be heirs. And Ishmael is opposed to Isaac.
And the old nature is opposed to God. It may be acclaimed morally,
outwardly, before men, nature, but it's still opposed to God.
You see what I'm saying? That's the reason Christ said,
it's not that which goes into the mouth that defile it, it's
that which comes out of the heart. That's where the root is, that's
where the seed is, that's where the sin is. It's opposed to God. And Ishmael's the oldest, and
my old nature is a legalist. The old nature will try to do
something to save itself. Just like the rich young ruler
said, good master, what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal
life? He'll make an effort. He's a
legalist, he's an Arminian, he's a freewheeler, he's a worshipper
of the flesh, he's a follower of rules and regulations. The
old nature, the old Ishmael, just wants a little glory. It
does not want to give all the glory to Christ. Ishmael would
have been content to take half of the inheritance, half of the
birthright. Christ has to have it all. He'll give Isaac a little bit,
but he wants some of it. And that's our nature. It's opposed
to the sovereign God. It's opposed to the reigning
Christ. It's opposed to the exalted Christ. And he'll take a little
grace with works, or a lot of grace with a little work. He'll
take just a cabin in the corner of glory. But he wants something. But Ishmael's got to go. He can't
even live in the cabin. He's got to go completely. Ishmael
is Isaac's enemy. Because Ishmael vows with Isaac
for the preeminence. He vows with Isaac for the inheritance. He vows with Isaac for the place
of glory. And you'll find this. The most
difficult thing in the world for your flesh to do, and for
you in the flesh, the flesh can't do, but for you in the flesh,
is to trust Christ completely. That's right. I mean to rest in Christ complete.
Job had a hard time. God had to bring him so far down,
he couldn't look up. To bring him to rest in Christ.
We just, Abraham, cast out the bondwoman and her son. Now, Sarah said that, but God
said, Abraham, you do just what she said. It has to be done.
And to die to our self-righteousness and to die to our good works
and to die to our efforts to please God and to say that I
count them but done, that's what Paul said. He said, I was a Hebrew
of Hebrews. I had a Hebrew daddy and a Hebrew
mama. I was circumcised the eighth day of the trial of Benjamin.
Concerning the law, I was blameless. I was a Pharisee. I was above
many my equals. I did this. I preached. I served
God. I did all these things. I count
them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him. Most of us find our assurance
of salvation by the good prayers we pray, or the good doctrines
we know, or the good efforts we put forth, or the faithfulness
we have to religious duties, and not in Christ. And that's
Ishmael behind the bar in Latham. Christ has to have the preeminence. Ishmael has no inheritance. He
has no place. He's a slave. He'll always be
a slave. He's the son of a bondwoman. He'll always be the son of a
bondwoman. He's the son of flesh. He'll
always be the son of flesh. And flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. So Ishmael has to be forcefully,
unceremoniously cast out, thrown out, and never permitted to come
back. What is Hagar? Hagar is the law. Who is Ishmael? Self-righteousness. The law gave birth to self-righteousness. That's what does it. I pick out
a few rules and regulations that I think I can keep, omitting
the ones that are harder, and I build me a self-righteousness.
I pick out a theory of God, or a theory of religion, or a theory
of the way to walk to heaven, and I do these things, and that
gives birth to self-righteousness. And God won't let that live where
Christ is. I'm nothing. I'm dumb. I'm less than nothing. I'm a worm. I'm a wretch. Amazing
Grace has saved a wretch like me. Ishmael, get out of here.
There's no place for you. Christ is here now and He's my
righteousness and wisdom and sanctification and acceptance
with God. Ishmael, you don't even have a toe hole. You don't
have a place to stand. Get out and don't come back. You see what I'm saying? This
is the turmoil. And Abraham's home was constantly
in turmoil as long as that boy was there. And he was hard to
part with. He'd been awful close a long
time. And he just held to the heart
strings of that dear old man. But that man believed God. And
it was counted to him for righteousness. And God said, the bondwoman,
the law, and Ishmael, her self-righteous son, has to go. And Abraham said
goodbye. I believe God. I believe God. Application. That old man, that old legalist,
that old self-righteous proud self, is going to be somewhere
in the vicinity as long as I live. Turn to Genesis 25.9. He'll even come to my funeral.
Genesis 25.9. I want you to look at this. You
know, I don't know why I haven't caught this before, but in Genesis
25.9 it says, you with me? Genesis 25.9. And his sons, Isaac
and Ishmael, buried him. Old Ishmael came to the funeral.
He sure did. And I'm telling you this, that
old You'll never, you'll never be done with Ishmael till you're
buried. But he has to be put out. He might sneak around day after
tomorrow and you have to put him out again. But he has to
be cast out. The son of the bondwoman and
the bondwoman have to be cast out. And he'll be somewhere in
the vicinity until you die and are buried and he'll come to
your funeral and then that's the last you'll have any dealing
with him because in glory it's unto him who loved us. and washed
us from our sins in his own precious blood. I have a new man in Christ Jesus,
a son of God, a child of promise, a miracle birth, the heir of
glory in God. I will cast out the bondwoman,
law, and her son, my righteousness, and I will cling to Christ. Now
then, you won't rest, you rest in Christ. I don't care if you're
a baby in Christ or a young man in Christ or an elder in Christ.
Apart from Christ, you're nothing. You're nothing. You have nothing.
Without me, he said, you can do nothing. The branch severed
from the vine is only fit for the burning, withered and dead.
So Christ is my everything. He's my source of life. Why should
I allow Ishmael to pull me down in despair, allow Ishmael to
rob me of my happiness and rob me of my rest in Christ? He's
going to be around. The old nature is going to be
with me until I die, until I'm buried. But why should I allow
him to disturb the household? Cast him out, kick him out, be
done with him, and rest in Christ. And when Satan comes calling
and says, you don't deserve to be called a child of God, just
tell him I know it. But it's a child of grace. It's
a gift of God. You're a great sinner, I know
it. And the older I get and the longer
I live, the more I know it. Well, God expects this, that,
and the other. Well, Christ has already fulfilled everything
God expects, everything God requires. That's the reason I love Christ
more all the time. I think more of Him and less
of myself, don't you? I'm more sure of Him and less
sure of myself all the time. I'm no better fleshly than I
was the day God called me. But I've grown spiritually, haven't
you? You see what I'm saying? Ishmael's got to go. The motions
of sin and the presence of sin, and you'll find out. You let
that kid live on the place very much longer, and God lets you
know just how strong he is. He lets you know something about
his presence. But the thing for you to do is cast him out. And
watch this. Abraham had to do it, Ed. God didn't do it for
him. Abraham had to do it. God could have killed Ishmael,
but he didn't. And God could take away all my
trust in self and rest in self. He can take away my pride, Jack,
right now if he wanted to, but he wants me to do it for his
glory. And that'll reveal my faith in
Christ. That'll bring Christ more glory. You get busy now
and you kick old Ishmael out. You tell him he doesn't belong.
He's a product of your flesh. He's a product of your efforts
and your merit. He can't live with God's Son.
I find rest in Christ. The son of promise is here. Our
father blessed this message. We're thankful for this scripture.
It gives us so much encouragement and assurance and hope. How evil
must be our best prayers in thy eyes. How evil must be our best
thoughts for they're full of self and sin. But how pure and
perfect is that son of promise. No flesh, a miracle of grace. No sin, no rebellion. the Son
of the Living God. He hath all preeminence and all
power, and our hope is in Him, and our rest is in Him, and our
acceptance is Christ, and our salvation is Christ. Make this
real to every one of us, that we might cease from our labors
and enter into His rest, that we might find peace of conscience
and heart and spirit, not because of what we've done, because of
what we are, we're nothing, but because of what He did. In his
name we pray, amen.