But it's good to see all of you here this morning. Would you take your Bibles, please, and open to the book of Galatians? We are in chapter four, Galatians chapter four. We left off last time and we saw that the apostle was expressing his perplexity with the Galatians in verse 20. He wanted to be with them so that he could change the tone of his rebuke, but he confessed, I am perplexed by you. By God's grace, the Galatians had been set free from spiritual slavery, but now they were desiring a return to bondage through the observance of the ceremonial laws of the old covenant. And Paul strongly rebuked them, and he instructed them not to turn back to spiritual slavery, but to press forever forward as sons of God by faith. And in our passage today, which is verses 21 through verse one of chapter five, Paul continues to plead with the Galatians that they would stand firm and not submit again to a yoke of slavery through laws and ceremonies. And he does so by employing an admittedly masterful argument from the life of Abraham. And I'm excited to dive into that with you. But before we read our passage, let us pause and ask God for his blessing and for his help. Pray with me. Father, we need your Holy Spirit. And we pray that you would be pleased to pour him out upon us now, that the preaching of your word might go forth with power, and that the hearing of your word, Lord, would be done with faith and obedience, and that those who are listening to the word preached would not have the words simply settle into their minds, but the words would be planted into their hearts, and that they would be given grace to go and to obey them. We plead for your spirit to do this work amongst us, not because we have earned it from him, because we certainly have not, but because Christ has. And it is in his name that we ask these things. Amen. Read with me Galatians chapter four, Verse 21 through verse one of chapter five. Starting again in Galatians chapter four, verse 21. Hear the word of God. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh while the son of the free woman was born according to promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear! Break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Amen. Well, under the influence of the Judaizers, the Galatians are desiring once again to be under the law. As you will remember, the Judaizers infiltrated the churches in Galatia with a false gospel, as Paul puts it in the first chapter. They were teaching the Galatians that faith in Christ was not enough to be justified before God. You also had to become like a Jew. And most particularly, you needed to follow the ceremony of circumcision to be accepted by God. And the Galatians, unfortunately, had fallen for this lie, and Paul is writing this letter to correct them. And he is addressing here their desire to once again be under the law. And what we see in our passage is that with a twist of irony, Paul uses the law to correct the error that the Galatians committed. had fallen into, and he does so by referencing this story of Abraham and Sarah in Hagar. Contrary to Ishmael's fleshly birth, if you'll remember the story, he was brought about by Abraham and Sarah's own human efforts, if you will, in ignoring the promise of God. And contrary to Ishmael's fleshly birth, which leads only to spiritual slavery, Paul points the Galatians back to the promise of God, the promise that is to be received by faith alone. And that promise is symbolized in his illustration in God's miraculous provision of Isaac through the barren womb of Sarah. As we study Paul's example of Hagar and Sarah, I want you to see and lay hold of his central theological point, which is to show that the children of promise are born not of the flesh, but of the spirit, not by works, but of faith, and not by the law, but by the gospel. And with the Lord's help, we'll examine this passage under three headings. Firstly, in verses 21 through 23, we see the historical situation. Secondly, in verses 24 through 28, we see the apostolic interpretation. And third and finally, in verses 29 through verse one of chapter five, we see the timeless application of these truths. So let us begin firstly with the historical situation. And Paul begins his argument here in one of his favorite ways by asking the Galatians another rhetorical question. Look again to verse 21. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? Last time in verse nine, there are some, perhaps even of the majority of those who were in the Galatian churches who desire to be under the law. This word desire means to wish, to long for. This is what they were pining for in their very being. And by saying under the law, Paul here, of course, is referring to the ceremonies of the old covenant symbolized again, chiefly by circumcision. And as a reminder, we saw last time that some in the churches had already begun to compromise by observing the Jewish calendar. As a reminder, Paul says this to them in a spirit of bewilderment in verses 10 and 11. He says, you observe days and months and seasons and years. I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. And Paul's fear is that their experiment with legalism through the observance of the Jewish calendar will result in a full-blown apostasy from the gospel, a complete falling away from grace. And he makes clear again here in verse 21 that the Galatians are desiring this fall by their own obsession with the ceremonies of the old covenant. And I want us to take note of the wording here, under the law. Remember in verse four, Paul speaks of the fullness of time. That point in history when God sent forth his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself was what? Born under the law for the express purpose of what? Redeeming those who were born under the law. So in desiring once again to be under the law, the Galatians are in effect desiring to be unredeemed. They are wishing to be unforgiven. They are longing to be back at enmity with God and under the curse of the law. How insane is this desire that they have? It's no wonder that Paul is astonished and perplexed by them. And we get a sense of that here in verse 21, a sense of Paul's use of sarcasm. Tell me you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? Now, I don't think we need to argue that the apostle was without a doubt a very serious man, but he was also a man who knew how to employ the tool of sarcasm in a godly way. Okay, great. You love the law so much. You want to be under the law so badly. Tell me, do you not listen to the law? Do you not understand the law, the law that you wish to be enslaved to so badly? And of course, the implication is clear. If they did listen to the law, if they did understand the law, then they would know just how insane their desire actually is. And I think it's also interesting here to remember how explicitly the Lord Jesus spoke of the law during his earthly ministry. Not only the law given at Sinai, but the law, the five books of Moses. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the law. Jesus spoke so clearly and so explicitly about what? The law points to him. The law is about him. And if the Galatians really listened to the law, they would understand that law-keeping as a way of justification was never the point. On the contrary, as Paul labored extensively for us in chapter three, the purpose of the law is to be a handmaiden to the gospel. The purpose of the law is to show sinners their great need of a savior and to point them to the only savior of sinners, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul now goes on in verse 22 to lay out a fascinating illustration from the Old Testament that shows the triumph of hearing with faith over and against works of the law. And he does this by not quoting directly from the Old Testament, which was his normal practice, but he does it by summarizing from the law, specifically from the Genesis narrative regarding Abraham and Sarah and God's promise to give them a son. He says in verse 22, for it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. Now you will remember that when God called Abraham out of pagan idolatry in Genesis chapter 12, he promised to make of him a great nation. He promised Abraham that in his seed, in his offspring, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Now, we know that ultimately this seed, this offspring, is Christ. But for Christ to be born, God would have to provide for Abraham a physical descendant. If Abraham's physical lineage died with him, then God's promise would also die with him. Well, years go by after this promise that God makes to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, and still there was no son. And we read this in Genesis chapter 15. Abraham, really, he kind of vents some of his frustration with God. And he says to God in Genesis chapter 15, oh Lord God, what will you give me for I continue childless? In the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. You've given me no offspring and a member of my household will be my heir. And God reaffirmed graciously his promise once again to Abraham saying, Abraham Eleazar shall not be your heir, but your very own son will be your heir. Well, more years go by. And when we arrive in Genesis chapter 16, we read this in verses one through four. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So after Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram for her husband as a wife. And he went into Hagar and she conceived. God was moving too slow for Abraham and Sarah. So they do what all sinful men and women do when they grow tired of waiting on God's timing. They act in unbelief and they act in haste. And the result of this unbelief and hasty action was not the son of promise, not the son of a free woman, as Paul puts it in verse 22, but rather the result is Ishmael, a slave child born of a slave woman. Despite the fact that Abraham took Hagar, the handmaiden, as his wife, Hagar was still nothing more than a handmaiden. And we see something here of the purpose of the law. Again, Paul laboring so extensively to us in chapter three, the fact that the law is not the promise of God. The law is simply a handmaiden to the promise. It is a servant to the promise. He uses the words guardian and schoolmaster to show sinners their need of the promise, which is to be received through faith in Christ alone. One commentator puts it this way. Just as Hagar was not intended to be a wife and ought never to have been anything but a handmaid to Sarah, The law was not meant to supplant grace, but it was only meant to be a handmaid to grace. They got the order twisted up. Well, after the birth of Ishmael, more years went by. And by this time, Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was well past the age of childbearing, yet, In the midst of what seems like the wait for a promise that will never be, God remains faithful. And friends, we need to remember that in our day. God remains faithful to his promises despite our circumstances. And he once again reaffirms his promise to Abraham to give him a son in Genesis chapter 17. But you know Abraham's response. He falls on his face laughing. He can't believe it. It's just not possible. And he says to God that, shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child? Abraham then pleads with God, oh, that Ishmael might live before you. Friends, have you been there before? Have you ever found yourself acting in rebellion to God, creating a sinful mess of your circumstances, and then looking to God and asking him to bless the disaster that you've just created? This is essentially what Abraham is doing. He dismissed what God had clearly said, and in the process, he made a royal mess of his home life. And then he turns to God and he says, Lord, why can't you just work with what I've done? Friends, this isn't how God operates. God's work must be done in God's way. You cannot outmaneuver or bypass God's timing or God's plan. You don't have the liberty to act as your own God and to set your own rules and your own standards, and then to turn to him and say, now it's your turn, God. I know I disregarded your instructions. I know I acted in sinful rebellion to you, but bless this disaster anyway, will you? Friends, we need to learn our actions have consequences. And certainly, when we rest in Christ and trust in him, the guilt, eternal guilt, the eternal consequences of those Actions are taken away, but the temporal consequences remain. Our actions have consequences. And Abraham, living with a jealous wife and a disgruntled concubine, who would have liked to be a fly on the wall in that living room, he has to live with the fallout of his own actions. If you will, he has to sleep in the bed that he's made. And the only proper response though in this situation is repentance. Repentance and renewal of faith in the promises of God and then submission to what God has said to us. The proper response is not an arrogant demand that God would forego his divine plan in favor of the plan that you've created. That is not the right response. But still, In the midst of his people's unfaithfulness, what do we know about the Lord our God? He remains faithful. And a year later, God did as he promised he would do. He gave Sarah a son. And we read this in Genesis chapter 21. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac." And here we see the other son mentioned by Paul in verse 22. This is Isaac, the freeborn son of promise, born to the free woman. And as we move now to verse 23, Paul continues to illustrate the superiority of hearing with faith over and against works of the law by contrasting the manner in which both of these sons were born. Firstly, Ishmael, the son of the slave woman Hagar, was born according to the flesh. Now, in saying according to the flesh here, Paul is not suggesting that the birthing process of Ishmael was natural, whereas the birthing process for Isaac was supernatural. No, both children grew in their mother's wombs. Both children were birthed into the world in the normal and natural way. Instead, the point Paul is making is, what is the driving force behind their births? Ishmael was born according to the flesh. He was born according to the will of men, specifically according to the sinful and unbelieving will of Abraham and Sarah, who refused to wait upon God to do as he said he would do, but instead took matters into their own hands to bring about God's promise. Listen to commentator William Hendrickson explain this in light of redemption. Ishmael was the product of his parents' natural power of procreation. He was born in accordance with that which Abraham and Hagar were able to accomplish in the ordinary course of nature. Accordingly, Ishmael represents all those who base their hope for eternity on what they themselves are able to effectuate, that is, on their own works. Ishmael was born according to the flesh. Well, Paul then contrasts Ishmael with Isaac, the son of the free woman who was born through promise. And contrary to Ishmael, the means or the instrument of Isaac's birth was the promise of God. In God's good time and in his kind providence, he opened the womb of Sarah who conceived and gave birth to Isaac according to his word. Isaac was born according to the will of God. He was born through promise. As Paul will say in verse 29, Isaac was born according to the Spirit. Just as Ishmael is symbolic of all those who pursue a right standing with God through works of the law, Isaac is symbolic of those who hear the promise of God with faith and are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Again, not according to the will of men. Now, Pastor Jerry preached this to us just a few weeks ago from John chapter one. Speaking of Christ, John says this in verses 12 and 13. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born of God. Ishmael. And consequently, all those who seek justification by their own works was born according to the will of man. And Isaac, on the other hand, like all those who seek justification through faith in Christ alone, he was born according to the will and the promise of God. And so we've seen thus far the historical situation surrounding this illustration of Hagar and Sarah. Next, Paul goes on to give us an inspired apostolic interpretation of this history in light of God's redemptive purposes in Christ. Look to verse 24. Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. And this is the only time in the Bible that this word allegorically is used. And it means simply to employ an analogy or to use a likeness in communicating. In other words, it speaks of something that has a separate meaning besides its literal meaning. Now, when we think of allegory, we think of stories like Pilgrim's Progress. perhaps even to a lesser extent, the Chronicles of Narnia. And in these allegories, the characters, the scenes, the events, they each stand for or represent certain spiritual truths. But there's something important that we need to remember about those types of allegories. Namely, they're not true stories. They're made up stories. It's not historical fact. The truth of those stories is contained in the characters, scenes, and events that stand for something that is eternal and abiding in terms of spiritual truth. So as we approach verse 24 and following, we have to be crystal clear that the Apostle Paul does not view the story of Hagar and Sarah as an allegory in this sense. He doesn't view them as fictitious stories that only contain spiritual truths. They were real history to the Apostle Paul. Commentator Joseph Piper says this, Paul means here that there is a clear relationship between an historical event and New Testament spiritual principles. He is drawing an analogy. Note, he does not ignore or explain away the history. Rather, he says the historical incident illustrates and contrasts the consequences of attempting to fulfill God's purposes by human endeavor and by faith. There's the contrast without disregarding the history. So without a doubt, Paul accepted the account of Abraham's life in the book of Genesis as historical fact. So we need not mistake Paul for thinking that this story as given by Moses is an allegory in the same sense that Pilgrim's Progress is or the Chronicles of Narnia. However, with that clearly stated, Paul does, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, draw out for us deeper spiritual meaning in this story, a meaning that speaks to God's plans and purposes in redemption, and a meaning that is consistent with the entire theme of Galatians. Again, I know I'm a broken record. Hearing with faith is superior to works of the law. I think the new King James, captures the meaning of this word allegorically quite well. It translates this word as symbolic. These things are symbolic. In other words, Hagar and Sarah are signs. They are types and shadows, if you will, which point to spiritual truths related to God's work of redemption that transcend their historical truthfulness and significance. And Paul is showing us through this history that the sons of God who are heirs of the inheritance are born not through human effort or according to the will of man, but the heirs of the inheritance are born according to the will of God and by his Spirit. And once again, we must keep Paul's central theological truth in mind as we look at his symbolic interpretation, as he uses this story to draw the contrast, once again, between the flesh and the spirit, between works and faith, between the law and the gospel. In beginning his symbolic interpretation, Paul teaches us that Hagar and Sarah stand for and represent two covenants, the Mosaic Covenant or the Old Covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant, which contained in it the promise of the new covenant in Christ, the promise, once again, that the seed of Abraham would bless the nations. Paul begins firstly with Hagar. Look again to verse 24. Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Hagar is symbolic of the Mosaic covenant, of the old covenant. He's drawing a parallel here between the slave woman whose son was born according to the flesh and the Mosaic covenant. And this Mosaic covenant, this old covenant, full of outward laws and ceremonies, held captive and kept in bondage all who were under it. And in this sense, all who were born under the law, all those who were born under the old covenant, in other words, they were also slaves to the law, just as Ishmael was a slave because he was born of a slave woman. to be born under the law, to be born under the old covenant, is to be a slave. Hagar is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. Now remember that this is what the Galatians, under the influence of the Judaizers, were desiring. Having been redeemed and set free from the bondage and the curse of the law, When Christ came in the fullness of time to redeem those who were under the law, they now desired to be back under the law. We could say that the Galatians wanted to be children of Hagar. They wanted to be children of slavery. Again, Paul is incredulous and we can understand why Paul would say to them in verse nine, how can you turn back again to these weak and worthless elementary principles? How is this possible? Hagar is from Mount Sinai. She is the old covenant and she can only bear children for slavery. Now, if we read the text carefully, we'll notice that Paul does not make an explicit covenant connection with Sarah like he does with Hagar. It's as if this comparison and connection is so obvious that Paul leaves it to us to make the connection implicitly. And looking to verse 24, notice that again, he says, these women are two covenants. He then says that Hagar is the old covenant from Mount Sinai. And if we go to verse 25, it doesn't say anything about Sarah. He just jumps right to saying, Hagar also corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem. So if we're reading carefully, we might be scratching our heads and saying, well, what about Sarah, Paul? He never mentions the covenant, which Sarah symbolizes and represents, but it's obvious, is it not? If Hagar represents the old covenant, then Sarah represents the Abrahamic covenant. And again, more particularly, the new covenant, which was the promise contained in that covenant with Abraham. And what we read about Sarah's children, the free woman's children, is that they're born not according to the will of man, but according to the will of God. And as a result, they are free. Sarah's children are not under the law. Those who are in the new covenant are not under the law. They're not children for slavery because they've been set free from bondage to the law from sin and from the curse of the law through the redeeming work of Christ who came once again in the fullness of time to bless the nations. And when we grasp that, we understand why Paul can be so sarcastic at the beginning of this. Tell me you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? Do you not see that the law only produces children for slavery? Do you not see that the promise of God received by faith is what produces free children? And Paul is saying to the Galatians, you are children of Sarah, you're free children of the new covenant. Do not desire to become children of Hagar enslaved to the outward ceremonies of the old covenant and under its curse. And so we see here that each covenant ties back. to the woman who symbolizes it, and it ties back to the manner in which her son was born. The old covenant, the covenant of law, ties to Hagar, who bore Ishmael according to the flesh, according to the will of man, while the new covenant ties to Sarah, who bore Isaac, not according to the will of man, but according to the will of God. Well, Paul now moves to expand his symbolic interpretation of Hagar and Sarah beyond the covenants. And he says that they also symbolize two different cities, Hagar being a type of the present Jerusalem and Sarah picturing the new heavenly Jerusalem. Look to verse 25. Now, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. Again, Hagar corresponds to, she stands for, she symbolizes the present earthly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of Paul's day, which was enslaved not only to the law, but they were enslaved physically by the Romans. This is the city that Hagar corresponds to. You remember what Jesus said about this city as he entered in his ministry and he wept over Jerusalem. We read this in Luke chapter 19, the Lord Jesus drew near And he saw the city and he wept over it saying, would that you, even you had known this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. The long-promised Messiah was in their midst and they had rejected him. They did not know the things that would make for peace with God. They were enslaved to the law, enslaved to sin and under the curse of the law. And Hagar corresponds to this present Jerusalem, to the city which was the center of the law and the ceremonies that were contained in the Old Covenant. And because of Jerusalem's rejection of grace, because of this rejection of God's promise of salvation through faith in the Messiah, Jerusalem is in slavery with her children. Again, all those who would seek to find peace with God through the earthly Jerusalem, through the law and the ceremonies, through the things that the Galatians were longing after. Anyone who seeks to find peace with God through these things will find instead only continued slavery and bondage. As we move now to verse 26, Paul brings Sarah back into his illustration. Contrary to Hagar, who corresponds to the present earthly Jerusalem, which is in slavery, Sarah corresponds to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free. Verse 26, but the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Paul is reminding the Galatians, you heard the gospel with faith, you received the Spirit of God by hearing with faith, you belong to the Jerusalem that is above, not to the earthly enslaved Jerusalem. Sarah is your mother, Hagar is not your mother. And he drives the point home by quoting once again from the Old Testament, verse 26, for it is written. And he quotes a passage that Many commentators say is one of the more challenging Old Testament quotations in all of the New Testament. He quotes from Isaiah 54 verse one. But before we look at that quotation, I want to remind you of the context of that passage. If you have your Bibles, it will be good for us to see this together. Please turn to Isaiah chapter 53, Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. This is the famous suffering servant passage, which begins in chapter 52, verse 13, and it extends through the end of chapter 53. And as you are well aware, this particular servant passage speaks so clearly and so explicitly of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming the people of God. And notice that this suffering servant passage immediately precedes, it's right before what? Isaiah 54 verse one. It's right before the verse that Paul quotes in Galatians. And I'll submit to you that this is key to helping us understand what Paul means when he compares Hagar and the present Jerusalem with Sarah and the heavenly Jerusalem. Because at first glance, we might read that Isaiah quotation and say, Sarah's the barren woman, and Hagar's the woman with a husband. That doesn't make a lot of sense. And I'm gonna submit to you, that's not what Paul is saying. In fact, he's continuing his illustration of the city comparison. The earthly Jerusalem is the one who had God as her husband, but was unfaithful to him. and was left barren and desolate, represented by Sarah, who will be made fruitful once more. That is what I will submit to you this morning. So again, notice where chapter 54 verse one is placed in the context of the suffering servant passage. Now, I want to call out for you as well that the first chapter of Isaiah The people of God are pictured as the city of God, as Jerusalem. And they're said in chapter 21, or excuse me, in verse 21 of chapter one, Jerusalem is said to have become a whore. The people of God, symbolized by the city of Jerusalem, had become unfaithful to the Lord. Let me read that verse for you. Chapter one, verse 21. How the faithful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her. but now murderers. And Isaiah will go on to prophesy that because of the unfaithfulness and the covenant breaking of God's people symbolized in Jerusalem, the Lord would send them into exile. And if we're gonna use the language of Isaiah 54 verse one, the Lord would render earthly Jerusalem barren. He would make the present Jerusalem desolate because of her unfaithfulness. But Isaiah also prophesies about the restoration of God's people, how the coming redeemer who God calls his servant in this passage in Isaiah, he tells how God would redeem and restore his people through this suffering servant, how he would take the barren and desolate Jerusalem and make her new and make her fruitful and make her faithful to him once more. And so I want us to read some of this servant passage together as we approach the quotation that Paul references back in Galatians. And I know this is long, but it's glorious, is it not? So bear with me as I read this. And think about the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about the suffering servant, the redeemer of God's elect. Think about that as we read this passage and as we reach the climax of this in 54 verse one. I wanna start in verse four of chapter 53. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with the rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. Sing, O barren one, who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. Faithless, earthly Jerusalem, the city which was in bondage to the law, the city which was under the curse of the law. She had become barren and desolate because of her unfaithfulness. but she will be redeemed by the suffering servant. In the fullness of time, the suffering servant will come to redeem those born under the law and she will be set free and made new. She will sing and rejoice for her children will be many. the new Jerusalem, no longer in bondage to the law and under the curse of the law, but free and redeemed in Christ, this heavenly Jerusalem symbolized in Sarah, she is the mother of the Galatians. Looking back to chapter four, verse 28, this is what Paul means when he says, now you brothers like Isaac are children of promise. The new heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of all who, like Isaac, are children of promise, both Jews and Gentiles. That's what Isaiah goes on to tell. And as a result, the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the one who has a husband. In other words, the members of the gospel church, the members of the new covenant will be more numerous than those of physical Israel in the old covenant ever were. There will be no comparison. So do you see the analogy? And I tried this morning to pull together a little printout that maybe will help with this, because there's a lot here. But do you see the analogy? Hagar, the slave woman. Sarah, the free woman. Ishmael, born according to the flesh. Isaac, born according to promise. The old covenant, the new covenant, slavery, freedom. the present Jerusalem in bondage to the law and under the curse of the law, the heavenly Jerusalem free from the law and redeemed from the curse of the law. Brothers and sisters, let us praise God that we are children of promise. And so we've seen Paul's apostolic interpretation of the story of Hagar In Sarah, as Paul closes this section of his letter, he now does the preacher's job for me and makes timeless application of these truths to the Galatians, and I would argue to us as children of promise and members of the heavenly Jerusalem. And Paul begins in verse 29 by making it clear that those who trust in Christ alone for salvation will be persecuted by those who do not. Look with me there, verse 29. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now. Once again, Paul recounts historical fact from the story of Hagar and Sarah, and he does so by referencing the occasion that's recorded for us in Genesis chapter 21, verses eight and nine say this. And the child, that is Isaac, grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, laughing." She saw Ishmael laughing at Isaac. And the sense of the word here is not innocent teasing between brothers, but mocking. Ishmael was mocking Isaac. I think William Hendrickson is so helpful here. He says this. Children often imitate their parents. Is it not possible, indeed rather natural, that the contempt with which Hagar had looked down upon Sarah was copied by Ishmael in his attitude toward Isaac? Paul, accordingly, is entirely correct in interpreting the Old Testament passage in this way. The one who was born in the natural way had persecuted the one who was born in a supernatural way. And Paul says to us that just as it was then, it is now. The children of the flesh persecute the children of promise, the children who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And it's clear here that Paul's view of persecution is not a one-dimensional view. It's not simply when believers are defending ourselves or the subject of physical harm by those who are our enemies. Paul's view of persecution is not that simple, but it includes and maybe even primarily includes the spiritual persecution of God's people. The Judaizers bringing their false gospel into the churches of Galatia is no laughing matter. Paul is saying here that they are persecuting you. The false teaching is not simply a minor irritation, it is harassment, it is abuse of the believing Galatians. And so it is today when false teachers seek to entice you When false teachers seek to draw you away from the gospel of grace and draw you away from faithful ministers and faithful church members and isolate you, they are persecuting you, friends. They are tormenting you. They are exercising a great cruelty towards you. And men who are head of homes here, I don't know anyone here who has a family If there was an intruder at the door trying to kick the door down that would run and hide or ignore it, you would take action and you should take action to defend your family. Do you have that same zeal when it comes to spiritual persecution? There are men kicking in the door, as it were, of the hearts of your family members through YouTube videos, through podcasts, through books, through conferences, through all sorts of things that look and sound orthodox on the outside, but are rotten on the inside. Men, defend your house. Defend your house, defend your wife, your children from these persecutors. Let them not near you. Do not tolerate it. We can make application to the church at large. You all know we've had discipline cases around this same false teaching that the Judaizers had brought into Galatia. Friends, it is not fun to exercise church discipline. I know that you don't take joy in that, Pastor Jerry, and I don't take joy in leading you in that. But when someone comes into the camp with grievous sin or with false doctrine, we have no other choice. The Lord Jesus has commanded us to defend his church, and we have to do it. So let us be bold in standing for the truth of the gospel and the purity of the gospel as it accounts to godly living. Well, Paul tells us here not only that we should expect persecution, but he tells us how we're to act when persecution comes. And he draws once again from Genesis chapter 21. I'm going to read from Paul's quotation here, verse 30 of Galatians chapter 4. response to persecution. But what does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. The Galatians are to cast out the Judaizers, make no mistake about it. They are not to tolerate them. And Paul, he's simply repeating what he's already said. You remember, he comes out of the gate in this letter I mean, this is a man on fire as he's writing this letter. Chapter one, verse nine, as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. He'll say elsewhere in Romans chapter 16, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you were taught. Avoid them. Brothers and sisters, at the Church of God, we cannot tolerate the persecution of false teaching. We are to identify those who would peddle false doctrine amongst us and to cast them out. They do not belong in the Church of God. Why? because the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. As Paul goes on to say in verse 31, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. The rich spiritual inheritance that God has reserved for those who are in union with Christ is not for mockers of the church. It's not for persecutors of the church. It's not for those who are born according to the flesh, but it is reserved exclusively for those born according to the spirit, for those who hear with faith, for those who receive the grace of God in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and for no other. The son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. As we close here, I want to make a comment. As helpful as the chapter and verse divisions are in our Bibles, it's my opinion we have an unfortunate one here at chapter five, verse one. To me, this clearly reads as Paul's concluding thoughts in this lengthy section on the law and the gospel that started way back in chapter three. Paul concludes his thoughts by exclaiming in no uncertain terms, verse one of chapter five, for freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. If Christ has set you free from bondage to the law, if he has redeemed you from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for you, why then would you seek to undo his work of liberation and to submit again to a yoke of slavery? For Paul, this is unthinkable. And he passionately urges the Galatians, stand firm, therefore. Stay the course. Persevere in the grace of God. I know things are tough, stand firm. Do not sell free forgiveness in Christ for the allure of the false gospel you've been taught. Do not give up your spiritual freedom for these men who want to come in and flatter you. Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. The final word of application for those who are here and children of the promise. Having been born again according to the spirit of God, hear and obey Paul's words of application. For freedom Christ has set you free, stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. If you are here and you are outside of Christ, I want you to understand that you remain as you were born. You sit here this morning as a child of the slave woman and know that the children of the slave will not inherit with the children of the free woman. To become a child of the free woman, to become a child of the promise, you must receive the promise by faith. You cannot work for it, you cannot earn it, You cannot pay God for what he has promised to freely give. You cannot be like Abraham and Sarah, trying to bring about the promise of God by your own efforts. It just will not work. As Paul said earlier in chapter two, verse 21, if righteousness comes through the law, if righteousness comes through your own obedience, through what you do, then what does that mean? Christ died for no purpose. If there were any other way for you to be made right with God, trust me, he wouldn't have sent his only begotten son to die for sinners like you. You would have no need for the work of the suffering servant if there was any other way, but friends, there is no other way. Turn to him in repentance and faith. Trust in this eternal preexistent son who humbled himself who in the fullness of time became man. Believe in the one who obeyed where you disobeyed. Turn to the one who took upon himself the curse of the law, the curse of God for disobedient sinners just like you. Believe in the one who died and rose again on the third day. This is the only savior of sinners. Turn to Christ by faith, receive the promise by faith, and become a child of promise. Let us pray. Father, bless your word to us now, we pray. In Jesus' holy name, amen.