Pre-Review
We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.

Today, I start with a picture, quite a cute little picture and it is as such, and it became a meme, a kind of a joke on the internet, because someone wrote, "I don't know much about birds, but I can easily identify the husband in this picture."

Well, this is an illustration, this is a picture. Uh, if you're still wondering which is the husband, then I think you have a wonderful family. Uh, but if you're already clear, then I can tell you this is what we will call an allegory.

An allegory is basically using an event, a character or a place to represent a meaning. It's a representation because it's not exactly what it is, clearly birds don't get married, clearly there's no such thing as a wife or a husband in a ... in a bird world. And maybe they are not even related to each other, and maybe they're not even quarrelling, but the picture is so so similar to a wife scolding a husband, that we call this an allegory.

Now I start with this, because the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4 is going to give us an allegory. An allegory, as I've said is a story that represents a meaning, it's not exactly that, but there are many similarities that will allow us to convey a meaning very clearly and powerfully.

So Paul says in Galatians 4:24, "Let me tell you something allegorically."

And this allegorically or this word, "allegory" in the Greek is the word, "allegoreo". The word, "allegoreo" is composed of two words, "allo" means another, "agora" is the marketplace where there are conversations and discourse. So allegoreo is simply to speak of another, it means to talk about something here to refer to something else there.

So I'm using an event, a character, a story you're familiar with to teach you something else, the meaning of another. Because this may not be so easy, so I use that to teach you this, you get that, to speak of another.

So, Paul is going to give us an allegory, he's going to talk about two women, their names are Hagar and Sarah. And from these two women, talking about these two women, he's going to teach us something else, he's going to teach us about covenants. Covenants are agreements that God has made with men. So using Hagar and Sarah, these two ladies, he's going to teach us about the two covenants. So, that's the allegory we're going to look at.

Now, I want to let you know from the start what's his main point, what's the intent? Paul is going to use Hagar and Sarah to teach what he has always been saying in Galatians 2, or Galatians, which is kind of summarized in a key statement in 2:16, "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ."

So theoretically, there are two ways man can draw near to God, theoretically: one, works of the law, two, faith in Jesus Christ. And Paul is saying that the first theoretical possibility is really an impossibility. Huh, no man, a person is not justified by the works of the law. Why? Because if you want to be justified by the works of the law, you've got to be perfect. You've got to obey all the laws your whole life, no mistake whatsoever.

So he says, "That's not possible, but a man is justified through faith in Jesus Christ. Because that's the way God has promised Abraham, in your seed, in your offspring shall all nations be blessed."

So let me put it another way — a right standing before God is never going to be achieved by the works of the law, but it's going to be received by faith in Jesus Christ. So, how is Paul going to teach this more clearly? Well, he has a genius plan, and the plan is via an allegory, using Hagar and Sarah.

Now, the title is therefore "The Allegory of Hagar & Sarah". It's going to be a rather technical sermon, not easy, but I am pretty sure at the end of the service, at the end of the sermon, at the end of the exposition of this text, you would walk away saying, "I think I really get the point now, it's never going to be via the works of the law, but it's only going to be by faith in Jesus Christ." That's my goal for you.

[1] THE STORY
So, let's start, Paul begins with a story.

He says in verse 21, "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?"

Now, there are two laws here, and they may seem to be the same thing, but actually they are different. Let me work this out. "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law." [Gal 4:21] He's speaking to the Galatians, who are being bewitched and seduced and misled by false teachers. They've come to them saying, "You know, Jesus alone is not enough, you've ... you've got to add to Jesus circumcision, you've got to add to Jesus festivals, you've got to add to Jesus your own observances of the law. Because Jesus alone is not enough, you need Jesus plus something else."

So, they are being seduced to be under the law in a sense that they have to fulfill the requirements of the law in their own strength in order to be right with God. That's what we would call legalism — obeying the law in our own strength in order to be justified.

So Paul is saying, "Tell me, you guys who want to go under legalism, do you not listen to the law?" [Gal 4:21]

And the law here is different, it's not the same commandments of the law, but it's about the Old Testament, the Scriptures that the Jews and the Church had in the early days. "Do you not listen to the law?" [Gal 4:21].

I know it's about Scriptures as a whole, more generally, and not specifically the commandments, because Paul went on to say, "For it is written that Abraham had two sons." [Gal 4:22]

So he's talking about the story in Genesis, which actually is earlier than the giving of the 10 Commandments. So, he now refers to this story about Abraham and his two wives and his two sons. And you will ... you will see that actually Paul didn't give a lot of details about this story, assuming that the Galatians already are familiar with it, maybe Paul had taught them before. But I won't assume you know it, even though a good number of you might have been familiar since we've gone through the series on Genesis a few years back, but there are newcomers, and I know people always forget things anyway. So, let me tell you the story in a very quick fashion.

When Abraham was 75 years old, God appeared to Abraham and said to him, "I'll make you a great nation, I'll bless you, I'll make your name great, and you'll be the father of many nations, and in your offspring shall all nations be blessed." 75 ... so Abraham and his wife Sarah expected to have a son. Why? Because, "In your offspring, shall all nations be blessed".

But they wait and wait and wait, not even an egg has popped out. So they waited for 10 over years, there was ... now this is an over-exaggeration of drawing ah, I don't think in 10 years they become so lao kok kok [very old in Hokkien] lah, but, well, to convey a long time has elapsed, 10 over years, and they are still without an heir, without a son.

So at age 85, Sarah, his wife came to him with this plan. Eh, "Lao eh ..." [husband in Hokkien] Okay, maybe not like that, Lord ... I think the Bible says, "Sarah will call Abraham, Lord." "Lord, you're 85, I'm 75, we're getting old, God said we will have a son, but maybe it's not going to be via me. So, let's face it, let's be practical, let's ... let's be realistic about it. We still have a chance to have an offspring, I have a maid, her name is Hagar, she's an Egyptian handmaid, but I allow you to take her as your other wife, so that maybe we will have a son via her."

Now immediately you know that's a bad idea, right? I mean, the Bible does not approve of having two wives. The Bible says it's wrong, it's ... it's impossible. You say, "Where does it say so?" Jesus says, "It ... man shall not have two masters." You shall not serve two masters, alright? Jokes aside, you know this is coming to a disaster. But Abraham did choose to take Hagar to be his wife, and after a year, as Sarah has kind of planned, they had a son, and the son's name is called Ishmael.

So Ishmael is born, and they laid their hopes on this young boy, but another 10, 14 years elapsed and Abraham is now 99, and God said to Abraham, "That offspring that I'm talking about is not going to be Ishmael, because your wife Sarah is going to have a son." Now, Sarah laughed, she was filled with unbelief. "How can it be possible, I'm already so advanced in age. I am ... I am beyond the way of women." Which is, I think to say, "I'm beyond childbearing age, I'm postmenopausal, It's not possible!"

But at age 100, Abraham celebrated the birth of Isaac. Laughter, joy, he's brought into this world. This is an amazing work of God! Now, it was a few years later when Isaac was to be weaned, that they held a feast. And at that feast, Ishmael, the half-brother mocked and laughed at Isaac. And the Bible says, "Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing." [Gen 21:9] And she was not very happy, not sure what the content of that laughing or mocking may be, but she was visibly, clearly very upset.

"And she said to his ... to her husband, "Let Ishmael and Hagar out of our family." "She said to Abraham, cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." [Gen 21:10]

And what does God say? "God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of the boy and because of the slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named."' [Gen 21:12]

So this is the story that Abraham, or Paul was referring to. And now he adds on the details for us, he says, "The son of the slave, so Ishmael, who is the son of the slave woman Hagar was born according to the flesh." [Gal 4:23]

I suppose that means this was born out of normal human relationships, but perhaps in this context, some more negative connotation should be attributed to it, that is to say, it was born out of man's own will. It is not what God has said, it is not what God wants, it is born out of a heart of unbelief, that they did not believe that God could fulfil His promise via Sarah.

And this son, born of the slave woman, is born of man's own work, "But the son of the free woman, and you know this is Isaac, born of Sarah, was born through promise." [Gal 4:23]

This is what God has said He will do, and even if it seems impossible for man to do, God will do it. And that's the contrast! So we begin to draw up a chart, and the course of the sermon, we'll look at this, filling up of this chart, where we contrast Hagar who is a slave woman, with Sarah who is a free woman. Hagar will have a son who is born of the flesh, man's own effort, filled with unbelief, and all it can produce is a slave child, a child of slavery.

And Sarah, who is actually humanly impossible to bear children, would have a child because this is God's promise. God works miraculously, supernaturally, God waited for 25 years. Why? So that Sarah is hopeless in herself, then God comes through. And that's something we will learn about our salvation.

So we start with the story, and I think you can follow me, right, so far. Can or not? Cannot, the second part, you sure jialat![negative situation in Malay] Because now we come to something a little bit, a little bit more complicated.

[2] THE SYMBOLISM
We come to the symbolism.

This is the story, this is the thing we are talking about, and now we are moving to the other thing we are talking about, the meaning we are coming to. And so, for the first three or four minutes, you can switch off if you don't want to listen, it's a bit technical lah. But for some other people here, you might have questions as to how in the world did Paul come up with this allegory, and I think I should explain it a bit.

Now, I say this is technical and important because many commentators, scholars, teachers are very troubled and find it difficult to explain how Paul can read a story in Genesis about these two women, and say that they are talking about two covenants. I mean, how do you link Hagar and Sarah to the two covenants, because when you read the story of Hagar and Sarah in Genesis, you wouldn't think about the two covenants. It's not the immediate meaning of the text, it may not be even what Moses was thinking about when he wrote Genesis.

So, people are very troubled, and there are books written about this. Sorry, this is the best picture, best resolution I can find on the internet, but there's a whole book that is about a study of the bible interpretative problems of Galatians. Of the basic, I think basic interpretative problems of Galatians. In other words, what we are studying today, one whole book just to tell you how to interpret it, and how difficult it is to interpret. No joke!

And there are some who say, "Tough texts, what we do ... what do we do with Paul's allegory?" They're very troubled, and the concern and fear Christians have is that we may learn, like Paul, to take any passage to mean anything we want. Now, that's dangerous, right? Huh, we should always read the Bible in its context - Why is this story given? What is the story about? What are the details referring to?

We need a loyal, faithful, disciplined approach to understanding the Bible, otherwise if we project our ideas into the text, you can end up with any kind of false teaching. We call a faithful reading of the bible — hermeneutics, right? The hermeneutics is how you read the Bible, and essentially, we say we should read the Bible exegetically.

Exegetically means to read from the text the meaning, we get out, we draw out from within the text. We don't read it eisegetically, which means we don't impose our idea into the text. Whatever we need to learn, we take from the text, we don't take from outside and put it into the text.

But when you read allegorically, there's a danger you take whatever else is outside and force it into the story. You can read about the story of Rahab and you can say it can mean anything. Then, that will be quite dangerous, I think that's precisely why Paul here qualifies it for the only time. The word "allegorically", allegorio, happens only here in the New Testament, Galatians 4.

So, I think this is precisely why Paul uniquely highlights, "I'm talking about an allegory." [Gal 4:24] "It may not be exactly what Moses had in mind, but I'm using this story as an illustration," just like I use the birds for illustration. I'm not saying that the bird is the wife scolding the husband, but it's just an illustration.

So, I think Paul is using this as an illustration without really saying that's what Moses wrote about. And he uses this because there are just some brilliant parallels between Hagar Sarah and the two covenants, as we will soon see.

So, I don't think we take this passage to mean that we can read the Bible allegorically, we shouldn't! We should read the Bible exegetically, But the story is extremely useful, and again, I say this is like the bird illustration. There are some parallels there between a husband and wife, but it's not exactly husband and wife. I'm just using an illustration, and that's what Paul is doing.

Alright, that's the three, four minutes I need. So, let's come to the symbolism itself, the symbols represented in this story. These women are two covenants, Hagar and Sarah represent two ways God has agreed with men.

"The first is from Mount Sinai." [Gal 4:24]

Where is Mount Sinai? That's the place where God gave Israel the Ten Commandments, or the commandments as a whole. Saying, "If you keep all these commandments, I will be your God and you will be My people." So, the first agreement mentioned here at Mount Sinai is like a wedding agreement. It's like a wedding ceremony, God saying, "If you will obey Me, I will be your God." That's the covenant at Mount Sinai, The problem with this, is that,"It only brings forth children for slavery." [GAL 4:24] It only produces people who are forever enslaved to the law. Why? Because they can never keep the law.

"She is Hagar. And Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. And Hagar, the Mount Sinai covenant corresponds to the present Jerusalem," [Gal 4:25]

So, there's a line that Paul is drawing, from Hagar to Sinai to present-day Jerusalem, present-day Jerusalem is Jerusalem in that time, not now lah ah! Let's read the Bible for what it is, right, contextually, it's written about Jerusalem during Paul's days. And Paul's days' Jerusalem is the headquarters for legalism, the religious leaders there all teach, "Obey the laws so that God will be your God." That's legalism, that's how it is connecting - Hagar, work of the flesh, Sinai, obey God in your own strength. That's exactly what the Jerusalem leaders are teaching!

The word, "correspond" is a word to mean to march in line. Yesterday, you have NDP parade, you see people march in line. You march out of line, you sure jialat, kena[suffering of something unpleasant in Malay] extra one, you're supposed to keep in line. So, this is the line that is being kept, from Hagar to Sinai to the religious leaders in Jerusalem at that point of time.

That's why it's an allegory. It's not something you would immediately see when you read Genesis, but Paul is drawing this line for us, "And all it produces are slave, is slave children." [Gal 4:25]

So, let me go back to this chart. We say that Hagar is slave woman, Sarah is free woman. Hagar will produce a son out of the flesh, it's a picture of man's own works without faith in God,
and Isaac is the produce or the product of someone who believes in God, you receive that sonship. Hagar corresponds to the Sinaitic covenant, that agreement made at Mount Sinai, and it can, well, this is what is the verse, and it will only produce slave children as we read in Galatians 4, bearing children for slavery.

He goes on to say that this corresponds to an earthly Jerusalem, present Jerusalem, the headquarters of legalism there. That's what we learned so far. On the other side, we need to fill in the blanks. You ... you ... you play Sudoku or not? Sudoku, you've got to guess the, get the blank and fill in, right? So, let's fill in the other side, we start from the bottom, because it says, "The Jerusalem above is free." [Gal 4:26]

Obviously referring to a heavenly Jerusalem, and the "Heavenly Jerusalem produces not slave children, but free children." [Gal 4:26] Children who are not under the law as a means of justification, but children who rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Now if this was the Sinaitic covenant, what would this Sudoku blank be? Abrahamic covenant, you are right. It's the Abraham, why is it the Abrahamic covenant? Because Paul made reference to it in Galatians chapter 3, verse 16 and 17 for those who have been in the series, it was the covenant promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 15, "That in your offspring shall all nations be blessed."

That's what God agreed! Not what man does, but in the offspring from Abraham's line. That special Offspring we know to be Jesus, will be the source of blessings for all, and that's the work of God in the heavens above.

So, "The Jerusalem above is free, she's our mother." [Gal 4:26] It's God in the heavens who bring about spiritual children, not the works of man on earth, it's God above. And he adds this, if you're not confused already, I say it a bit chim lah, but if you're not confused already, he adds another chim, chim reference.

And that is in Isaiah 54 and verse 1, he says, "For it is written ..." This is a quote from Isaiah 54:1, it says, "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." [Gal 4:27]

The basic idea is very simple, this is telling a woman who is barren. In those days, barrenness is a shame, so, this is Isaiah saying, "The barren woman who is ashamed and sad does not need to stay that way forever, because this barren woman will one day bring forth a lot, a lot of children." So this is the basic idea, right? A barren woman, don't fret, don't be sad, because one day she will have many, many, many children.

And Isaiah is using this picture of a barren woman to refer to Israel, because Israel at that point of time is going to be captured by the Babylonians. They will be very cham [dire situation in Hokkien], they will be very sad, they will be stripped of everything they have, they will lose their nationhood.

But Isaiah is saying beforehand to Israel, "When you are captured in Babylon, don't be so sad, because one day though you are barren, you will be very very prosperous, one day you will be very very blessed." And I think that day has not even come in our history, that day will come when Jesus will come back soon. So that's a day where Israel, I think will be saved in great numbers. So, this prophecy is a long-range prophecy from hundreds of years ago. It has not yet been fulfilled, but it will one day be fulfilled in Christ after the Babylonian exile.

So, this statement originally about the blessings of Israel post-exile is going to be fulfilled in Christ. I think it's Christ who will bring the blessings to Israel. And we know that particularly so, if you understand, Isaiah 54 follows Isaiah 53.
When you read the Bible, we seem to have chapter divisions, it breaks up our thoughts, but actually 54 follows immediately after 53, it's one continuous content.

And so we see Christ and His sufferings on the cross is going to bring about the blessings to Israel. That's the point! And so Paul, reading Isaiah can say that, "Because the blessings are found in Christ, it is actually talking also about Sarah and the children of promise. The children of promise, the children who believe in the promise of God in Abraham are the people who will be blessed."

And he is saying, "The spiritual children of Sarah will be so many more than the children of Hagar." Hagar is a picture of religiosity without God, Hagar is a picture of legalism. There will be many people who are legalists, but one day, the children of God who believe in Jesus Christ will far outnumber the children of the legalists.

So coming back to our chart, we have already said that Hagar, a slave woman will only bring about children in their own flesh, and the children will be the children of slavery. This is a picture of the agreement at Mount Sinai, where if you keep all the laws, you will be my people. But it never works, it won't work, sadly, that's what the headquarters of Jerusalem, the leaders there are still teaching.

Paul says, however, this seems to be fruitful in the beginning because there are many legalists, and there will be many people like this, but it will not be the same as that of Sarah's. Where it seems barren at first, very few believe in Jesus at first, but one day, ultimately there will be many many more children of faith than the legalists.

So Paul is brilliantly saying, "Sarah represents Christians who are free from the law. They are brought about, they are saved not because they earned it, but because God has promised Abraham, "In Jesus shall all nations be blessed." And if they believe in Jesus, they will be blessed. So, this is what God has agreed with Abraham and God will fulfill His Word. It produces free children and that is the work of God above, not of man below. And whilst Christians may be very small during Paul's days, don't you worry, there will be a lot, a lot of them when Jesus comes.

[3] THE SIGNIFICANCE
So this is the story, this is the symbolism, and lastly, let's look at the significance.

The significance is where Paul turns the attention now to apply this allegory to the Galatians and really to us. So in the significance, Paul switches to you, "Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise." [Gal 4:28]

Who are the people of God? Not the Ishmaels, but the Isaacs, not the Ishmaels who are legalists, who keep circumcision and the law in order to find justification, but those who believe in Jesus Christ, the children of promise. You are the ones who belong to God, that's a very radical statement, don't you think!
Because all the religious leaders in the Jerusalem HQ would protest, "Hah, you're saying we are not?" Precisely! Because the Ishmaels are not or the Ishmaels are not the people of God, Only the Isaacs are.

"But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh, Ishmael, persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, Isaac, so it is now." [Gal 4:29]

Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so are the religious leaders now persecuting the Galatians, and Paul and those who believe the Gospel. We must take note, "Born according to the Spirit," [Gal 4:29] we are Christians, you become a Christian not because you did it, but because the Holy Spirit moved in your heart. He is the One who did it, that's what Paul is saying here, we'll talk about that in a while.

But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the slave woman and the son, for the slave, son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. Brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman." [Gal 4:30-31]

So, developing this chart further, we have already worked through this. We add a few other points of note:

Number one, we add — the sons of Hagar will persecute the sons of Isaac.

Number two, we say that — the sons of Hagar will be cast out and they will not inherit. Correct? That's what we are saying or seeing, Paul says. So, going on to the other side, we see that - Sarah and her offspring will be persecuted, but Sarah's offspring will be the ones who will inherit.

Interestingly, first service, we have people take out photo, take out phone, take picture, uh, but second service, super memory one, no need one. But okay, I ... I ... I was joking with the first service, there were... some of you take now, but I said, no, now's not the right time because you've got one more dish, one more point.

What is the one more thing we need to highlight? Sons born according to the Spirit. Correct? That's what ... that's what I said I wanted to highlight. So, "sons born of the flesh" is contrasted with "born through promise and born according to the Spirit", I think that's the comparison chart Paul has given to us.

Summary of the Chart:

Hagar: Slave woman/Son born of the flesh/Sinaitic Covenant/Produces Slave children/corresponds earthly Jerusalem/Fruitful at first/Many children/Sons persecute/Sons cast out.

Sarah:
Free woman/Son born through promise/Abrahamic Covenant/Produces Free children/corresponds Heavenly Jerusalem/Barren at first/Many more children/Sons persecuted/Sons inherit/Sons born by the Spirit.

So, this is the allegory of Sarah and Hagar. And what's the main point? The main point is Galatians 2:16, "We know that a man is not justified by the works of the law ..." Yah, yah, yah, correct, but I was hoping to say, "Hagar or Ishmael," alright. Works of the law represented by Hagar or Ishmael, but faith in Jesus Christ represented by Sarah and Isaac.

So, very clear — a right standing before God is not achieved by the works of the law, but received by faith in Jesus Christ.

Let me end with a few more statements:

One, Ishmaels in this world will not inherit the kingdom of God. The Ishmaels in this ... in this world will not inherit the kingdom of God. You can come to church, you can read your Bible, you can give money to the poor, you can try to reduce sin, but if you do all this in your own strength, in order to say, "God, am I good enough?"

You will never inherit because you are just following Ishmael, you are born according to the flesh. You are the son of the slave woman, you will be cast out, you will not inherit. Basically Paul, with this allegory is powerfully conveying legalism is futile, it's useless! All the efforts you do in your own strength, in order to prove your worth before God, it is futile, it's the work of man, and it can never be good enough for the good and Holy God.

So, why do you come to church, why do you read your Bible, why do you give to the poor, why do you keep away from sin? The why is very important, if you do that in order to earn salvation, you belong to Ishmael and you will not inherit. You will not inherit righteousness, you will not be forgiven, you will not be justified. You will not receive the Spirit, there will be no power in your life to live true righteousness, you will not inherit eternal life that is to come. You will not inherit, you will be cast out!

Secondly, the Ishmaels will persecute the Isaacs in this world, it has always been so, it will be so. So we read in the Bible how during the times of Jesus, He was persecuted by the legalists, the Scribes and Pharisees of His day. Then we read in the book of Acts, the apostles and the early church, persecuted by the legalists.

Then we read in Galatians chapter 1:7, that "These false teachers are troubling the Galatians and attempting to distort Gospel of Christ." They're being persecuted. And actually, if you read church history, the church of Jesus Christ are ... is being persecuted all the time, because the Ishmaels will persecute the Isaacs.

Thirdly, Ishmael and Isaac cannot live together. That's the point! Legalism and grace cannot coexist. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you believe in Jesus Christ alone, Jesus plus nothing else. The moment you say, "Jesus is not enough, it must be Jesus plus something else," you have shifted away from grace, you have turned away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As Paul said in verse 6 of chapter 1:6, "I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel."

The fact that the Galatians would say, "Oh, I need to be circumcised, Oh, I need to keep the religious festivals," is saying in effect, "I'm deserting God because I'm turning from (sic to) a different gospel." The reason? Grace and legalism cannot coexist together. Ishmael and Isaac cannot be in the same household.

Paul elsewhere said, "If it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." [Rom 11:6]

So let me ask you, huh, what do you stand on today in terms of your salvation before God, in terms of your right standing before God? Is it Jesus plus my works or is it Jesus and Jesus alone?

Finally, I highlight this in bold, in big fonts - Isaac is all grace. How did Isaac come about? Man's work, Man's idea? Nah! 100% God's work. God waited for Sarah to be postmenopausal, for Isaac to be born, so that we all can see very clearly, this is a miraculous, supernatural child. It is 100% God's work, and it is only God alone who can bring about Jesus and bless the world.

You and I, who are Christians, who are believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a miracle. Do you know that? I don't look like a miracle, I know, but I am a miracle! Not because I'm great, because ... but because God has supernaturally sent His Spirit to give me spiritual life, when I repented and believed in Jesus Christ. That's what a Christian is all about - He's a supernatural man, a supernatural woman. God has worked in his heart, God has made him a son of the free woman, the Spirit dwells in him and he can now live in true righteousness and freedom.

And you know, when you know about God's grace, that we are supernatural beings, miraculous beings, that is something we would want to do, isn't it? What is it that we need to do? Well, come back next week, and we'll find out more in Galatians 5 onwards. But I'll end with this high point - We, who belong to Jesus are the Isaacs, we are blessed, we inherit and let us serve Him.

And for all of you who today are still not yet part of the kingdom, I hope you will see very clearly, Isaacs are the only ones who will be saved. Promise, faith, believe in Jesus Christ, that's the only thing!

Let's bow, for a word of prayer together.

Father, we are thankful for this morning we can hear Your Word. Thank you for Paul, who gave just an amazing allegory. I pray today that we will be warned against the Ishmaels of life, but we will all be crystal clear, the only way to salvation is if we are Isaacs, people who believe in the promise.

So, bless all my friends here who are yet to be Christians. We pray they will see the beauty of the Good News of Jesus Christ, they will see that it is Jesus, and Jesus alone who saves.

And would you fill the hearts of Your children, the Christians here, with this deep and profound sense of privilege and love and joy. Because we are the children of the free, we are the children of the heavenly Jerusalem. May we live our lives worthy of this calling. Thank You, we ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.


We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.