let us turn tonight to Galatians
chapter 4 Galatians chapter 4 and beginning
in verse 21 tell me ye that desire To be
under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that
Abraham had two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by free
woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory?
For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai,
which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and
is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou
that travailest not. For the desolate hath many more
children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that
was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what 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. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. I think we all know
that the primary teaching of this letter of Galatians is simply
that the gospel of justification by faith apart from the works
of the law. That is the gospel. That justification
by faith apart from the works of the law. And the verses that
we're looking at tonight show how Paul appealed to the Old
Testament scripture to teach and reinforce this very truth. The Judaizers, and we've defined
what we mean by Judaizers, but they are those teachers who had
come among the Galatian believers and attempted to bring them under
the law of Moses, the law which was given to Moses at Mount Sinai,
teaching them that in order to be justified, they would need
to submit to the law of Sinai and observe the ordinances of
that law, the touch not, taste not, handle not, all of those
ceremonies and things that the law of Moses prescribed. Now
when I say the law of Moses, I know it would be better and
more scriptural if I said the law given through Moses. It was not Moses's law. It was God's law that he gave
through Moses. You remember the scripture in
John, the Gospel of John chapter 1. Let me read this to us. John chapter 1 and verse 21. the law was given by Moses verse 17 for the law was given
by Moses through Moses remember Moses is the one who went up
on mountain and God gave him the tablets and not only the
tablets but all of the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai
the law for the law was given through Moses but grace Now that's
what we're interested in, isn't it? Grace. For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God. But grace, we read here, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now back in Galatians
chapter 4, the examples that Paul uses in these texts make
it clear in my mind, verse 21, he is speaking of two different,
I'm not going to say laws, but he's using the word law to speak
of two different things. You notice the verse, verse 21. Tell me, you that desire to be
under the law. Now the law that they desire
to be under, because of the false teaching of these teachers, these
Judaizers, was the law which was given on Mount Sinai. That is what they were tempted
to do, to go under that law, put themselves under that law. And he asked this question, tell
me you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the
law? Now, I do not believe he's speaking
of that law that was given on Mount Sinai, but he is rather
speaking of the five books of the Old Testament, the first
five books. They were all given by Moses,
or through Moses, and they are referred to as the law. Look with me in Luke chapter
24. This is the way the Jews commonly
divided up the Old Testament scripture into these three parts. In Luke chapter 24 and verse
44, our Lord, after his resurrection, when he appeared to his disciples,
we read, and he said unto them, these are the words which I have
spoken to you while I was yet with you. that all things must
be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the
prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Now there were things written
in the law concerning Christ that is in the book of Genesis. That was part of the law as it
was divided up for the Jews. When our Lord said, think not
that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill
the law and the prophets. He's speaking about those types
and those pictures that were given of him in all of those
five books. Not just the law from Mount Sinai. Now, if you look back in our
text tonight, the reason I'm convinced this is right, when
he says, do you not hear the law? What he is going to teach
and what he teaches now concerns Abraham. which was part of the
law, not part of the law which was given on Mount Sinai, but
part of the law that is in the book of Genesis. And everything
he deals with now comes to us from Genesis. In other words,
you who desire to be under the law, that law that was given
through Moses on Mount Sinai, command certain things, many
different things. In fact, it touched every area
of their life when you stop and think about it. It touched their
clothes, their food, their work. They couldn't plow with a horse
and an ass or an ass and an ox. I forget which it is. They couldn't
plant seed that was not all the same. I mean, it touched every
part of their life. And I've told you before, remember
this, the primary purpose of that law was to keep the nation
of Israel separate from the other nations. Until the seed came. The seed of Abraham in whom all
the nations of the earth would be blessed. And we know that
seed is Christ. So when he asks this question
at the beginning of our text tonight, tell me, You that desire
to be under the law, that mosaic system, do you not hear the law? You're looking at part of the
law, but do you not hear all of the law? And then he begins
to speak about the fact that Abraham had two sons. Now we
know he had more than two sons. After he had Isaac, the scriptures
tell us that he had a concubine by which he had other sons. But for Paul's purpose, he had
two sons. Abraham, he had two sons. And one son was the son of Sarah,
who was the free woman, and the other was the son of Hagar, which
was the bond woman. And one son was born of promise,
and the other son was born of the flesh. Now Paul, inspired
as he was of the Holy Spirit, and who else but the Holy Spirit
could have taught Paul that this would serve as an allegory. These
two women and their sons would serve as an allegory of the two
covenants. But notice that's what he says
in verse 24. Which things? are an allegory, for these are
the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gendered to
bondage, which is Hagar, and the other was from Sarah, the
promised seed. Now I have five things tonight
I want to point out to us. First of all, there's ultimately
only two covenants. Just keep that in mind. Now I
know there's a number of covenants mentioned in the Word of God.
There's a covenant with Adam, covenant with Noah, covenant
with Abraham, covenant with David, but ultimately there are only
two covenants. And these two women represent
these two covenants. One covenant we call the covenant
of grace. Though in Scripture, it's never
called the covenant of grace. You never find that in the Scripture,
covenant of grace. But we call it a covenant of
grace. In the Scripture, it's referred to as the everlasting
covenant, as a covenant of life, as a covenant of peace, and the
new covenant. You might say, well preacher,
if the scriptures do not call it a covenant of grace, why do
you refer to it as a covenant of grace? Because everything
about it speaks of grace. It's a covenant that God made,
and God is the God of all grace. That's one of His names. And
everything in this covenant from the appointment of His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, to come into this world and be the surety
of this covenant speaks to us of grace, unmerited favor, that
God the Son would become a man and come into this world as the
surety of this covenant. And everyone who is named as
a beneficiary in this covenant, God's elect, or so because of
God's grace. That's the reason I refer to
it as a covenant of grace because everything about it speaks to
us of unmerited favor of God's wonderful marvelous grace in
saving sinners. The other covenant is a covenant
of works. Sarah In this allegory we see
Sarah represents the covenant of grace and Hagar the covenant
of works. So that's the first thing I want
us to keep in mind that ultimately there's only two covenants. One
is a covenant of grace and one is a covenant of works. Number
two, There are distinguishing marks of the two covenants. The covenant of grace is marked
by not requiring anything of man. That distinguishes the covenant
of grace. Not requiring anything of man. It has two words which are prominent. will and shall. God says I will, thou shalt. Those two words are prominent
in this covenant. Look with me in Hebrews chapter
8 I was reading part of the covenant
earlier and as it's found in Jeremiah chapter 32 and God says
I will not and thou shalt not so it's always I will and thou
shalt whether it's positive or negative it's always God saying
I will and thou shalt if God says I will not thou shalt not
But notice here in Hebrews chapter 8 and verses 10 through 13. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will. Well, what if they won't
let you? What if they won't make a decision? This is God speaking. I will. I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the
greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. In that he saith a new covenant
he hath made the first old Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. And I believe he refers to the
temple there in Jerusalem when he says that. As in our passage
tonight, he says the Jerusalem which is in bondage. He's speaking
of the Jews when Paul wrote this letter who were still under that
old covenant trying to please God in that way. So, there are
two distinguishing marks of the covenants. The covenant of grace,
it is distinguished by requiring nothing of man. Nothing. The promises are absolute, and
yes, we do receive them by faith, but even this faith is included
in the promise. The covenant of works is marked
by requiring man to perfectly fulfill all its conditions to
obtain to righteousness and the blessing of God. We might also
say that they are distinguished by who makes the promises. In the covenant of grace, God
promises. He says, I will. Now in a covenant
of works, many times men promise. Men make the promise. Oh, I'm
going to serve God. Oh, I'm going to honor God. Oh,
I'm going to live for God. Oh, I'm going to be obedient.
Remember the Israelites. When Moses came back down the
mountain and had the covenant and read it, they all agreed.
They all agreed. Every word. I will. They promised. They promised. In a covenant
of works, man promises and you know how good a man's promise
is. A promise is only as good as
the person making it. God's promise is always good. Here's a third thing. There are
two different births produced under the two covenants. Two
different births produced under the two covenants. Hagar, who
is a type of the covenant of works, she had a son by Abraham,
but he was, as the scripture here says, born after the flesh,
verse 29. But as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit. Now who was it that was born
after the flesh? It was Hagar's son Ishmael. Sarah, who is a type of the covenant
of grace, had a son also by Abraham, but he was the son of promise. So we have one son was born after
the flesh, and another son who was the son of promise. And his
birth was special. Isaac's birth was special. He was promised of God. Abraham, his gendering a child
by Hagar was after the flesh. It simply means that that child,
Ishmael, was produced just like you and I were produced. Nothing
special about it. Nothing special about it. Our
father and our mother, natural procreation. The child born after
the flesh, Ishmael. There was nothing special about
his birth. But now this son that was born
of promise, there was something special about his birth. If you
look with me in Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. And remember
in this chapter, the Apostle Paul is using Abraham and then
David as illustrations of how men in the Old Testament were
justified by faith in Christ. Just as he was preaching and
teaching. It wasn't a new doctrine. This
is the only way anyone has ever been saved, ever been justified
before God, and that is through faith in Christ. Yes, they believed,
those Old Testament Patriarchs like Abraham, they believed in
the One who was promised to come, but it was still the Lord Jesus
Christ, even as we are justified by faith in Him. But here in
Romans chapter 4, verse 19, Paul says, concerning Abraham, and
being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead. Well, he wasn't dead, he was
alive, yes, but as to having a son or child, he was dead. His body was dead. When he was about 100 years old,
neither yet the deadness of Sarah's room. So both of these people,
Abraham and Sarah, they were past the age, the childbearing
age. This birth, Isaac, was promised
and was a special birth. And the same thing is true of
those who are named in the covenant of grace. We are born of the Spirit of
God. You remember our Lord said that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. Those who are chosen and named
in this covenant of grace, we all are like Isaac. That is,
we are children of promise and we are born again, born from
above, born of the Spirit. Paul declares that when he says
that we are like Isaac. Now we brethren, in verse 28,
now we brethren as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
The new birth is a special birth, isn't it? It's a miraculous birth. So there's ultimately two covenants. There are things that distinguish
the two covenants. There are two different births
produced under the two covenants. And number four, there are two
very different places of those under the two covenants. The
place of those in the covenant of works is a place of bondage. And that's the point that Paul
is trying to teach these brethren. And yes, he does continue to
refer to them as brethren. But they were being misled by
these false teachers to turn to the law, to submit themselves
to the law from Mount Sinai. And that is a place of bondage. Notice that in verses 24 and
25. When he said, Which things are
an allegory, for these are the two covenants, the one from the
Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage. which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is. And Paul, he certainly
was part of that. He had been a part of that until
the Lord saved him. He had been in bondage to the
law. The law gendereth to bondage
those who are under a covenant of works. And think about it.
If a person is under a covenant of works, believing that he must
obey in order to obtain the promise, the blessing, he never knows,
she never knows if his work is accepted, if he's done enough
work, if it's perfect. Never knows. And so a person
is all the time kept in bondage. And I believe they're professing
Christians, and surely some of them maybe are saved today, who
are in bondage. Because they have put themselves
under the law from Mount Sinai, and it is impossible to obey
that law as it requires. And so they never have any peace.
They never have any joy. And their service is out of fear,
not out of love. It's not spontaneous service
because the love of Christ constrains them, but it is because they
feel the necessity, the need to do it to please God. Christ
pleased the Lord for us, didn't He? Only the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. And those of us who are in Him,
He is pleased with us because of Christ. In Christ. Not because
of our works. Not because of our obedience.
So there are two very different places under these two covenants. The place of those in the covenant
of works is a place of bondage. But the place of those in a covenant
of grace is liberty. Look at that in verse 26. But
Jerusalem which is above is free. Free! Thank God Almighty we're
free! Who is the mother of us all. We're not free to serve ourselves. We're not free to live a life
in sin. We're not saying that. But we
are free in the sense that we serve Him freely. Where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty. And here's the fifth thing. There
are two very different inheritances in these two covenants. Those
in the covenant of works will be cast out, just like Hagar
and the bondwoman. There came a day when God told
Abram, cast her out. And her and Ishmael, I believe,
was about 17 years old. at this time. About 17 years
old when God told Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her
son. We know that there's a day coming
when all who are under this covenant of works are going to be cast
out. Cast out into eternal damnation. They will not inherit eternal
life. But those in the covenant of
grace are like Isaac. We will inherit everything. Remember
Isaac, the son who was promised, he inherited everything Abraham
had. When Abraham sent his servant
to find a wife for Isaac, you remember that servant told Rachel's
family, my master has given everything to his son. If she becomes his
wife, and she did, she's going to have everything that Isaac
has. And we know the scriptures teach
us that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. Now everything
is his, and because we are joint heirs with him, so everything
is ours. Those in this covenant of grace,
like Isaac, inherit all things because we are joint heirs with
Christ. And how many times in the scripture
is eternal life spoken of as an inheritance? Showing the freeness. You don't pay for an inheritance. You don't work for an inheritance. An inheritance is something that
is given. Given. and eternal life is a
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now let
me say this about verse 27, for it is written, the Apostle Paul
quotes from a prophecy in Isaiah, which I believe foretold of the
increase of the church by the calling of the Gentiles. On the day of Pentecost, we know
there were 120 men and women gathered in that upper room.
When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, the kingdom of
God in this world was few, compared in our text here in this prophecy,
like a barren and desolate woman. But oh, how quickly, how quickly
that all changed when God the Holy Spirit was poured out upon
the apostles and they went forth preaching the gospel everywhere
into all the world, preaching the gospel and the power of the
Holy Spirit. And notice this prophecy goes
on to say, Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the
left hand, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make
the desolate cities to be inhabited." This is a promise of the Gentiles,
of what took place, of the Gentiles being incorporated into the body
of Christ and the gospel spreading with such great success as it
had in the days of the apostles and shortly thereafter. I know
it's difficult for us, maybe possible, to understand or even
to begin to understand what a difference the gospel of Jesus Christ made
in this world. of all the pagan temples and
idol worship that the whole world darkness the whole world was
enveloped in darkness under the power of Satan and yet when the
gospel went forth in power those pagan temples many of them were
turned into meeting houses for God's people and idols were thrown
down And the gospel was successful on the right hand, on the left
hand. Gentiles were called in to the church. Well I pray the
Lord will bless this word to each one of us tonight.