Galatians 4. 21 – 5.1
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 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.”
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 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. 30 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.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
51 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Sermon Outline
I. Two Sons (vs. 22-23)
Ishmael
- By slave woman (Hagar)
- Born @ flesh
- Trust in human effort
Isaac
- By free woman (Sarah)
- Born thru promise
- Faith in promise of God
II. Two Covenants (vs. 24-27)
A. Do I earn my way?
B. Do I receive what He gives?
III. Three Applications (vs. 28-31)
A. Expect
B. Look ahead to your
C. Stand firm in your
Sermon Quotes:
“O you who are tempted to think you have progressed well enough that you now have a worthy offering to bring before His throne, chew on this at your leisure, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11.6) If you mix law & grace together, you spoil them both. Go home and try to keep in your house a lion & a lamb, and when you report that you have succeeded in doing this, I will tell you that you have told me a lie. For those two are essentially opposite. It cannot be done. The same with keeping law & grace in your spiritual house.
But whoever among you will cast away all his good works, and cling simply to the cross, Christ will give you good works enough, His Spirit will work in you to will & to do of his good pleasure, and He will make you holy & perfect. But if you have worked to get holiness before Christ, you have begun at the wrong end. You have sought the flower before you have the root. O Ishmaels, tremble before him now! And if you be of Isaac, remember: you are a child of the promise. Stand fast. Be not entangled by the yoke of bondage, for you are not under the law, but under grace.”
– Charles Spurgeon, The Allegories of Sarah & Hagar
“Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to say to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”
-John Stott, The Message of Galatians
“This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort in knowing that God is constantly thinking of me in love & watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself & somehow quench His determination to bless me. There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see, and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself. There is, however, far greater incentive to worship & love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His child & friend, and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.”
-J.I. Packer, Knowing God