Understanding Grace Pt 5

All right, good morning. It's good to see everybody. I want to welcome y'all, welcome everybody online. If you guys want to go ahead and stand with me, stand with us, we'll pray and we'll get started.

Father God, I thank you for the day. I thank you for an opportunity to sit here, God, and just to lift praise to you and to spend some time in your word, God. Let's pray that you'd open our hearts and our minds to your truth today, Lord God, and just change our lives, Father. We love you and we praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and have a seat if you like. We'll continue on.

Father God, that is who you are, God. You are a promise keeper, Lord. You've always kept your promises, and Lord, you are a way maker because you always make a way, Father God. Amen.

You are the same God. You've never changed. You've never walked away. You've always been there. You always will be, Lord. You're the same one, the same one who parted an entire ocean so that your people could walk through it. You're the same one that's still alive today. God, you've never changed. You are the same. yesterday, today, and forever, Lord. My God, I need you.

Oh God, my God, I'm standing on. If there are any here today, God, I don't know you. I don't know who you are and that have never experienced your love. I pray that today would be that day. I pray that they would come to the realization of just truly who you are and who they are in relation, Lord. Lord, God, without you, God, we are broken, filthy sinners, God.

But in you, Lord, we are your children and we are made righteous in you, in your son, Jesus, Lord. God, I pray that today would be that day. Father, God, I pray that as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, I just pray that you would speak through him mightily, Father God. God, speak to our hearts. Help us to open our hearts and our minds to your truth this morning, Father.

In a world that seems to be desperately running short on it, Lord, we need your truth more than ever now. We need you, Father, more than we realize. We love you, Father, and we praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name. All God's people said, amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning.

If you could begin the process of locating your seat,

grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements before we get started here.

As usual, on that left-hand side of your bulletin are the things that go on throughout the week, small groups to get plugged into. If you're not involved already, I would really encourage you to look over those and see what you want to get plugged into. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, just a reminder that today, after second service, we'll be having a potluck and kickball game. So join us, eat some good food with us.

Probably when I pray, we'll have to give them a few minutes to finish getting everything set out. We'll be able to eat after that. There's seating outside, there's seating inside. So stick around and join us. Also, May the 4th, May the 4th is the National Day of Prayer and Ministerial Alliance is putting on a little event at the Wilson Park Rotunda at 12 noon on May the 4th.

So come join us for that if you're able to. Also, one last thing, fellas, I will do my darndest to resend the link for the men's conference that's coming up May 19th through the 21st out at Camp Horizon. Again, if you can't stay for the full weekend, they do have a two-day option where you finish up on Saturday. So take note of that, fellas. I'll try to get that sent out one more time today

just so that as many guys as possible can sign up for it. And those are the things that are going on. If you'd make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 30. Psalm 30. Looking at the New American Standard so we sound the same. If you need a copy of one, there should be one in your row.

And as you're turning to Psalm 30, if you would stand in the audience, in honor of the reading of God's Word,

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 30. A song at the dedication of the house. A Psalm of David. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I cried to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.

You have kept me alive that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you, his godly ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, I will never be moved. O Lord, by your favor,

you have made my mountain to stand strong. You hid your face. I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I called, and to the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me. O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing.

You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. That my soul may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. And Lord, we do give thanks to you that you are the God who hears us and that you are the God who saves us. And so, Lord, I just pray that as we spend time in your word now, that you would continue to reveal yourself to us.

Help us to see you more clearly. And as always, Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit, I pray that you would give us what we need this morning. Lord, convict us where we need convicted. Comfort us where we need comforted. And Lord, more than anything, teach us so that we can know you. We praise you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles

to the book of Galatians, chapter 4.

Galatians, chapter 4. This morning, we'll be looking at verses 21 through 31. And we'll be doing the last in our series of Understanding Grace. Understanding Grace, part 5. And really, for an even more specific theme than that, there's a story that he's going to tell us today. It's a tale of two sons. Paul has been doing, he's doing everything that he can to get us to understand grace,

to get the Galatian people to understand grace, to get them to understand that what makes us right before God is not the things that we do, it's the faith that we have in a Savior, that the law can never save us. The law is like a thermometer. It reveals the issue that we have, but it can do nothing to solve the issue. Only grace can come in where the law has shown us where we are wrong.

Only grace can come in and then make us right. And that's what he's really been trying to encourage them, teach them, bring them to a place of understanding. And so he brings us to one last illustration this week, the illustration that comes from the life of Abraham, a tale of two sons. And so we pick up in verse 21, and this is what it says. Tell me, you who want to be under the law,

do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bond woman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bond woman was born according to the flesh and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai, bearing children who are to be slaves.

She is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above, is free. She is our mother. For it is written, rejoice, barren woman who does not bear, break forth and shout you who are not in labor. For more numerous are the children of the desolate than the one who has a husband.

And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit. So it is now also. But what does the scripture say? Cast out the bond woman and her son for the son of the bond woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman. So then brethren, we are not children of the bond woman,

but of the free. Now, as Paul begins this section, he, as he often does, begins with a question because he wants them to think. And the question that he asks them is this, you who want to be under the law, do you listen to the law? He says, you who, desire to be under the law. The Kenneth Weiss translation, as well as the Amplified, both translates this the same way.

You who are bent on being made perfect by the law. Isn't it funny how many of us can find ourselves with a desire to find favor based on law keeping, find favor based on our own efforts. I was listening to David Guzik teach on this mess, on this passage. And he pointed out one other thing that I have not pointed out. And I thought it good to bring it up. Up to this point in time,

I've been telling us that there's two main reasons why many of us find ourselves drawn to the law. The first reason why we can tend to be bent on the law is it appeals to our attitude of a superior knowledge because it makes us feel like we know more than everybody else. The second reason why we often find ourselves drawn to the law is because it appeals to a prideful self-reliance because we're self-made people in the United States of America, gosh darn it. And we will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make ourselves holy.

If it's not, it's the last thing that we do. But there was a third reason that David Guzik pointed out. And I thought, you know what? That's a really good one. I want to add that one on. He said, because it appeals to our need for security. You see, there is something about us that loves to be able to look at a list and say, I checked off one through 10 of the list.

I checked off one through 10 of all of my holiness for today. Therefore, I know I'm right with God. And I know I'm right with God because I can show you my list. I have something tangible to hold on to that says, this is how I know I'm holy. But you know what? That's not living by faith because the problem with lists is when we keep them, we feel great. But when we don't, we feel bad.

When we don't, that security that we thought we had, we no longer have. So he says, tell me, you who are bent on trying to be made perfect through the law, you who are bent on living according to your own efforts, do you even know what the law says? Bob Hoekstra in his commentary on this is so masterful to point out. If Paul asks this question, then perhaps we should answer that question.

What does the law say? What does the law say about us? Well, I'm thinking first of all about what the law actually does. Now, if you were to go back to the book of Exodus, the day when God gave the 10 commandments, what we know of as the law, that then extends into the rites and sacrifices and rituals and everything like that, something fascinating. You see, on the day that God gave the 10 commandments,

something happened. A cloud descended from heaven, fire was in the cloud and then lightnings and thunderings, right? It was the most awe-inspiring scene you can imagine. Charlton Heston had nothing on what was really going on when God gave the law. And then when God first spoke the law, and I don't think I realized this until the last couple of years of studying this,

God didn't just give the law to Moses while he was up on the mountain. God actually spoke it for all of the people to hear. Picture the voice of God. The voice from the Wizard of Oz only behind the camera is actually God himself. That booming voice that declared those 10 commandments while there's lightnings and thunders and fire up on the mountain. And as God declared this,

all of the people went. And they said, Hey, Mo, here's the thing. Why don't you go talk to God next time? We'll hang out here. You come back and let us know what he said, right? Because there was fear. You see, that law brought separation because when they saw the holiness and the righteousness and the awesomeness of God, they said, No, thanks. We'll stay separated.

And so God said, Okay, well, then that's exactly what's going to take place. Set a barrier around the mountain. As a matter of fact, set a barrier so many feet back from the mountain. And if anybody crosses that barrier and touches the mountain, they will die. Any person or any creature. They won't just be fainting goats. They'll actually die because the law brought that separation.

You who want to be under the law, do you understand what the law says? Do you understand that it means separation? No. But Bob Hoekstra, again, so massively points out the two things that the law says. If you were to look at almost any passage in the book of Leviticus, you would find this. I'm going to specifically quote Leviticus chapter 19, verse 2, because the law says this,

Be holy as I am holy. It's God speaking to the nation. Now, if we left off the second part and it just said be holy, I could be like, All right, I can do that because then I can come up with my own standard of holiness and everything is good. But once you throw that second phrase on there, be holy as I am holy, that becomes, that becomes impossible because that means I need to be like God.

I need to be as holy as him. And he says, Now, lest we think that that was only an Old Testament phrase, let's point out what Jesus said when he interpreted the law in the New Testament because in Matthew chapter 5, verse 8, it says this, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. You who are bent on a relationship with God, based on your efforts, do you understand what the law says? Do you understand that the law says that you have to be perfect?

Do you understand that that's the point of the law? And without exception, we have to realize something. Without exception, we have to see that the law of Moses demands perfection. But you know what else? Without exception, the list you have for yourself, it demands perfection. You moms, you moms, I know you've made a list. You've made a list of what it looks like

to be the perfect mother. And you feel like if you can't keep up with that perfect list, that you're a failure as a mother. And I want you to know right now, I guarantee you're failing it. You know why? Because none of us are perfect. You dads that have made the list of what it looks like to be the perfect father, I bet you're failing in it because none of us can be perfect.

You wives that have made the list of what it looks like to be a perfect wife, your husbands that have made a list of what it looks like to be a perfect husband, you, Christian who has made a list of what it looks like to be the perfect Christian. It demands perfection, and you can't keep it. Because I guarantee the minute you start making rules, there's a very moment that you start breaking them. Because that's who we are as human beings. You who desire, you who are bent on a relationship with God that depends on your

actions. Do you understand what the law says? Paul put it best in Romans chapter 3 verse 23 when he said, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let me use that word sin in its truly original text. All have missed the mark of perfection and fallen short of the glory of God. You see, that's what the law can tell us. You failed and you have fallen short of the glory of God. He then goes on to give an illustration.

The illustration that he's going to give us of Abraham's two sons. Notice what it says in verse 22, for it is written that Abraham had two sons. Now Paul does something here. He takes for granted that the Galatian people know about Abraham and his two sons. He assumes that they know exactly what he's talking about. Now I learned a lesson about this a long time ago in ministry.

When I first started into ministry, I was leading a college group and I was dating this cute girl in the college group and she hadn't been saved for very long. And so I'd give a Bible study and I would say things like, and everybody knows the story of fill in the blank here. And I remember one time her after Bible study saying, hey Ryan, do you know that when you say that not everybody knows the story? Some of us didn't grow up in church and you say everybody knows the story of, only there's some of us going, I don't know the story.

I'm never going to take for granted that you know the story of Abraham and his two sons. Now over on the side margin of your Bible, you might write Genesis chapter 12 through 22, because that's the story of Abraham. That'll take you all the way from the call of Abraham through what I would call the final test of Abraham. And at some point in time, you ought to just go read that story because the story of Abraham is the most beautiful story of faith.

You're going to read in the Bible, faith, promise, and grace. But in the meantime, I'm going to give you a little bit of the Reader's Digest, version of the story of Abraham. So Abraham, I think is one of the greatest stories of grace in the Bible because Abraham lived in a land called Ur of the Chaldees, which was known for its idolatry. As a matter of fact, Abraham's father, Terah, history tells us was an idol maker.

So we have every reason to believe that Abraham himself was probably somewhat caught up in idolatry. And then God showed up. Now you should ask yourself a question. Why did God choose Abraham? Why did God show up to call Abraham? Why was God like, hey, I need to use somebody. Let's choose him. Because it was completely a story of grace. Abraham didn't do anything to deserve it. And quite frankly, if you know very much about

Abraham's life, he didn't do much to earn it. And he didn't do much to hold onto it. It was all God's grace. But God calls Abraham out and he says, I want you to go to land that I'm going to show you. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make of you a great nation. Everyone who blesses you will be blessed. Everyone who curses you will be cursed. And all of the generations of the world will be blessed

through you. So Abraham obeys God. Now as he obeys God, the next couple of chapters are what I would call the ups and downs of Abraham's faith. Some moments he is the greatest picture of faith and obedience you've ever seen. Some moments he needs to get pushed into a lake, right? Because he's just not doing things very correctly. But through it all, the same thing happens.

He always comes back to God. Because every time he fails, he does exactly what you and I should do. When we fail, he goes back to the altar. He goes back to Bethel, the house of God. And he rededicates himself to following the Lord. Well, God had made him a promise to make of him a great nation. Only in Genesis chapter 12, we're given one little commentary about Abraham and his wife.

They couldn't have kids. Matter of fact, we're told that Sarah was barren. She was unable. It was physically impossible for her to have kids. And so God tells Abraham, I'm going to build a nation out of you. Only there's one problem. You won't be able to do it yourself because you have an inability that will keep that from happening. Well, as they go through

the ups and downs, God comes to Abraham and says, behold, Abraham, I am your shield. You're exceedingly great reward. And Abraham says, what are you talking about? What are you going to give me? I'm childless. And God says, Abraham, I want you to go outside. I want you to look at something. I want you to look up at the stars in the sky. If you could number the stars in the sky,

then you can number your descendants. And that's where we get that famous line that we've already talked about in Galatians. Abraham believed God and God accounted it to him for righteousness. You can imagine how excited Abraham was, right? He goes home and tells Sarah, he goes, you're not going to believe this. I'm going to be a father of many nations. I'm not even going to be able to

count my descendants. God made a promise to me. Well, a little bit of time goes by and all of a sudden, God hadn't kept his promise yet. You see, it's really hard to believe that. It's really hard to have your descendants be more numerous than the stars of the sky if you haven't even had one yet. So Sarah says, hey, Abe, here's the deal. We have a problem, okay? I think it's me. I think I'm the one that can't have kids. So I have a plan. Let's help

God out. Listen, I want you to know something. If you ever think to yourself, I'm going to help God out, just stop right there, back away slowly, and just forget whatever you were thinking about, okay? Because it's going to end up really, really bad. It's going to cause you all kinds of problems. A lot of us, I've tried to help God in the past, and we have produced the exact same problem

that Abraham and Sarah are going to produce. She said, but I have a plan. Here's what you're going to do. We have this handmaid. We have this bond servant named Hagar. She will be a surrogate mother for me. She will, as it says in Genesis, bear children on my knees, and then we'll help God out. We'll make sure that you have descendants more numerous than the stars of the sky. Now,

this is not an uncommon practice at that point in time in history. Matter of fact, this is not an uncommon practice at that point. And so Abraham says, okay, sounds like a good idea to me. And so that's exactly what takes place. And Hagar gets pregnant. She has a baby, and his name is Ishmael. Now, Ishmael, will this get me in trouble? Ah, who cares? Ishmael still causes

problems today, right? Ishmael is still part of the problem over in the Middle East today, because there's still a battle between the children of promise and the children of the flesh. So they produce this little Ishmael, this little child of the flesh. And then in the next chapter, God says, Abraham, walk before me and be blameless. And then he goes on to make him a promise. And he says,

I'm going to give you a son. And Abraham says, oh Lord, that Ishmael may live before you. And God looks at him and says, no, you will have a son. You and your wife, Sarah, because God has to get specific sometimes with us with promises. Otherwise we'll come up with our own plan. You and your wife, you're going to have a son. As a matter of fact, you're going to name him Isaac. And it's going to

be about this time next year that you have this son. And so he says, oh my gosh, this is so amazing. And then he shows up and tells Sarah and says, Sarah, you're going to have a son. And Sarah laughs. And God said, why did Sarah laugh? And she goes, I didn't laugh. He goes, yes, you did. And she goes, and lo and behold, a year later, they have a son. They name him Isaac, this beautiful

child, this beautiful son of promise. Now, Sarah still had the same problem, but God kept his promise. Now, as time went on, Isaac came to the place where he was ready to be weaned. And by this point in time, Ishmael's 15, 16 years old-ish. And as they throw a party, because Isaac is getting older, a little birthday party for Isaac, Ishmael starts looking a little

nefarious at Isaac and going and making fun of him, mocking him. Most believe that there's something in the mind of Ishmael at that point in time. And so at that point in time, Sarah says, she's got to go and he's got to go. And Abraham says, what do you mean? And God says, she's right. Cast out the bond woman and her son, because Isaac will live before me. So that's the backdrop of the illustration

that Paul is going to give us here. And so he says, for it is written, Abraham had two sons. Now he's going to give us four comparisons of the, these two sons. So I want you to pay attention to these four comparisons. Number one, he says, one is by the bond woman and one is by the free woman. The first comparison is one is bond and one is free. In other words, one is slave and one is free. He says, Ishmael, she's the, he's the

child of the bond woman. He represents slavery. He represents bondage. Isaac is the son of the free woman. He represents promise. He represents freedom. You're starting to see where he's drawn the comparison between these two. He goes on from there to give a second comparison. He says, the son of the bond woman was born according to the flesh and the son of the free

and the son by the free woman was born through the promise. The second comparison that he gives is the comparison between the flesh and the promise. Ishmael was born according to the flesh, literally translated means by natural means. In other words, he was born just like any other baby was born, but there's something much more spiritual behind what he was saying. It doesn't just mean by natural means. It means by the effort

of man. How many of us can look at our Christian walks, see things that have taken place and we've gone, that's an Ishmael. I did that. I did that. That was me. I made that happen. Now, listen, if you look at anything in your Christian walk and you can look at it, very proudly say, I made that happen. You don't get it yet because everything that you can look at

in your Christian walk and think to yourself, I made that happen ought to be the thing that causes you the most shame. Because if you're still looking at it and saying, I did that, that means you still have pride in your heart because that was man's effort. I guarantee Abraham looked at Ishmael and went, I did that. Sarah looked at Ishmael and went, I did that.

Because that's what man's effort does inside of us as it comes to us. It causes us shame. On the other hand, he who was born of the promise, he was born of the free woman. Isaac was born according to the promise. In other words, was born according to the work of God, something that is impossible with man. Have you ever noticed in scripture, and if you haven't,

you should pay attention to it as you're reading through scripture. Have you ever noticed how often God uses women who can't have babies? So the first one you have, is Sarah. She was barren and God did the work. But do you know, Isaac is going to go on later to take a wife and her name is Rebecca. Do you know that Isaac and Rebecca tried to have kids for 20

years, we're told. And they were unable to have kids until Isaac finally went to the Lord and said, he says he pleaded with the Lord on Rebecca's behalf in order for her to have kids. And then she was able to have Jacob and Esau. If you continue going through scripture, there's a prophet, his name is Samuel. And Samuel's mother's name was Hannah. And Hannah,

wanted to have kids so bad, but she couldn't until God said, now that you've surrendered your kid to me, now I'm going to give you a son. And then of course, we move on into the New Testament and an angel shows up to a young teenage girl named Mary. And he says, you're going to have a son and you're going to name him Jesus. And she says, one problem with your plan. I've never known

a man. I'm a virgin still. How am I supposed to be able to have a son? He says, the Holy Spirit's going to do it. You know why? Because God shows us throughout scripture that what he does is he takes the impossible and through his promise, he makes it possible. Just like the fact that he says, you are going to be righteous. And you look at your life and you go, man, you've got a lot of

work to do. I don't see any way that I can be righteous. And he says, I take the impossible things and I make them possible. Because how many of us can look at our lives and we can see things that God has done. And we say, the only thing that God has done is to make it possible. And that's the only reason that's happened is because of the work of God, is because of his promise.

I'm here to tell you right now, the only reason I can stand up here is because of the work of God, because of his promise. The only reason I can get out of bed in the morning is because of the work of God and his promise. Because with me, all of those things are impossible. Just like with you, all of the areas of struggle that you have are impossible. And when God brings you freedom, you'll be able to say that was God.

Zachariah puts it really well in his book when he says, it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord, because it's a promise of his. He goes on to give a third illustration, the illustration of the two covenants. He says in verse 24, this is allegorically speaking for these women are two covenants. You see, there's the old covenant and there's the new covenant. I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into

the new covenant. I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into I'm going to give you the CliffsNotes version of the old and new covenant. Okay. That if I was to explain old and new covenant, we'd be here for the next 12 Sundays. Okay. But I'm gonna give you the quick version, the old covenant, which is who Ishmael represents. This is what the old covenant

says. Be perfect. That is the most simplified way I can put to you the old covenant, because after all, what does the law say? Be perfect. It's completely dependent upon you. But then there's the new covenant, which is what Isaac, the promise represents. Do you know what the new covenant says? Be free. Be free. Why? Because Jesus has already done it for you. The old covenant says, live and I will bless. The new covenant says, be blessed and now

live. Because as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't live from a place of trying to earn God's approval. We live from a place of already having God's approval. Therefore, we don't live our lives to get God to respond. We live our lives in response to what he's already done for us. Those two covenants. And then the fourth illustration that he gives is two mountains.

Notice what he says. Now this, excuse me, I picked up too late. Verse 24. This is allegorically speaking for these two women are two covenants. One proceeding from Mount Sinai, bearing children who are to be slaves. She's Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children. But the children are not in slavery with

Jerusalem above is free. She is our mother for it is written, rejoice, barren woman who does not bear, break forth and shout you who are not in labor for more numerous are the children of the desolate than the one who has a husband. He tells us of two mountains. The first mountain is Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai or present Jerusalem. Again, Mount Sinai is where the law was given. Remember

the picture that I painted for you of when the law was given, when the law was given, the people said, you go talk to God. You tell us what he said, but do you know what else happened when the law was given? See, when Moses came down the mountain, after him being the one meeting with God, when he came down the mountain in those two tablets in his hand, you remember what the children of Israel were doing? The children of Israel were marching around a golden calf. So Moses broke the commandments

and 3000 people were killed that day. Why? Because the law brings separation. The law pulls us away from God. He says, and that speaks of present day Jerusalem because present day Jerusalem is where the children of Israel were bound at that point in time. Interestingly enough, the children of Israel at the time of Paul writing this letter in Jerusalem were in slavery to two things. You

know what the two things they were in slavery to us? Number one was the Roman empire. The Roman empire had them enslaved within Jerusalem. And so none of them were living as free, but spiritually, you know what they were enslaved to? They were enslaved to the law because you know what the law said? The law said, you have to go worship at the temple. God told the children of Israel, I will establish a place with my name in it and you shall always go

there to worship me. And so the children of Israel always had in their mind that in order to worship God, I'm bound to Jerusalem because God is bound to location because that's what he told us. That's why when Jesus was meeting with the woman at the well, you remember that story? And she had that question for him. She says, we Samaritans think that we can worship on this mountain. You Jewish

people say it's in Jerusalem. So you tell me, where do we worship him? He says, listen, there's a time coming when the true followers of God will not worship him on any mountain. They will worship him in spirit and in truth. Why? Because they will no longer be bound to a place. The Holy spirit will dwell inside of them. The Jerusalem that the children of Israel were living in that point in time, the temple was only a shadow of the thing

to come, not the substance. He said, but on the other hand, the Jerusalem above is free. What is the Jerusalem above that he speaks of? The Jerusalem above that he speaks of is heaven. Heaven is the substance of the shadow. If you don't believe me, go read the book of Revelation, pick up on our studies in Revelation, because you'll see that in Revelation is presented to us that the shadow that's presented

through the tabernacle and the temple down here on earth is simply a picture of the reality that exists in heaven. Only in heaven, they don't have to be in heaven. They don't have to be in heaven. They don't have the Ark of the covenant in heaven. They have God, the father on his throne. He says, these are two mountains. One represents slavery. One represents freedom. And then he gives

this great quote out of the book of Isaiah chapter 54, verse one. It says, rejoice, barren woman who does not bear break forth and shout you who are not in labor for more numerous are the children of the desolate than the one who has a husband. What does he mean by that? Rejoice you who are fully reliant upon God, because even though as far as the world is concerned, you have nothing. As far as the world is concerned, it's impossible. According to the

promise, it's 100% possible. He then goes on in verse 28 to sort of wrap this whole thing up with one statement. He says, and you brethren, like Isaac are children of the promise. He says, and you, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, those of you who've put your faith in Jesus, you're just like Isaac, your children of the promise. What, what does that mean?

It means that the greatest miracle in the world has taken place in your life. I have to be honest with you and say that apart from anything spiritual that I've seen, the most miraculous thing that I've been a part of is the birth of my children.

The birth of any child is one of the most miraculous things that you'll ever witness to, to know. Okay. So we, we produce a lot of babies around here, right? We know that it's what we do. We have Bible studies. We produce babies. Anyway. And you know, the most fascinating thing in the world is to look at a woman that's just about to have a baby day before she has a baby, right?

She got that baby bump sticking out. Some are, some are a little bumpier than others, but that's okay. You got that baby bump sticking out and you go, man, there's a, there's a human being inside there, right? The, the fact that God grows a human being inside of a mother is truly the most miraculous thing that I've ever seen. And I think that's a really, really, really, really, really, really,

miraculous thing in the world. I think when my wife was pregnant with my first daughter on Pinterest, nope, Pinterest didn't exist then. When she was pregnant with my second daughter on Pinterest, there was this t-shirt and it said, I'm so crafty. I make humans, right? And it's just so true. Like, man, God has blessed you ladies with the ability to do that. It's just the craziest

thing in the world. But to look at a mom and go, Hey, there's a baby in there. But the next day to look and she's holding the baby, you're like, Whoa, that was in there. Whoa, that's just miraculous that God can do that. And it's such a miraculous thing to be a part of. When you get to hold your little baby for the first time, you're like, Oh my gosh, this is the

most miraculous thing I've ever seen in my life. New life I'm holding in my hands. Do you know what's more miraculous than that? Somebody being born again, because when someone's born again, they're dead, they're dead in their sins. They're dead in the things that they've done wrong. They're dead in their guilt. And quite frankly, sometimes when you look at the world,

do you not just look at the world and go, they feel deader than dead, right? It's the coolest thing in the world. When you see somebody that at one point in time was so dead in their sins. And then one day the Holy spirit gets a hold of their heart and they go, Oh man, I need Jesus. And the next day they are a completely different person born again. And brothers and sisters, you that are believers in Jesus Christ, that's exactly what

happened in your life. The day that you accepted Jesus, the day that you put your faith in Jesus, you like Isaac became the biggest miracle anyone's ever seen because a miracle took place in your life. And you became born again, born again, according to the promise. And that's who you are, which is why you should not go back to who you were, which is why you should not go back to slavery. And so he says, you are just like Isaac and you've been born again by the grace of God.

So what do we do? Well, now it's time to live like you're free. Notice what he says in verse 29. He says, but as at that time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit. So it is now also. Remember we told this at the very end of the story when Isaac got to the place where he was ready to be weaned. That was a very big thing to take

place in the life of a young man. Hey, he's, he's, he's growing up. He's growing up. He's growing up. Little three, four year old kid. Let's have a, let's have a little party to celebrate the fact that he's growing up. And when they had this party to celebrate the joy of their son, who was growing up Ishmael, the flesh, the works of the law started looking at this child of promise and going,

I don't like him. I don't like anything he stands for because he's going to take my place. He's going to take my place because he's the child of promise. I'm the child of works. And Ishmael starts, if you will, persecuting Isaac. And so what do they do? Well, it's time to cast him out, but I want to draw a little bit of a, uh, draw a little bit of a point here. Those who are

in bondage always persecute those who are free. Those who are in bondage will always persecute those who are free. Those who live according to the law will always try to push their law on you. Those who live according to the law, whether it's the mosaic, law, or the list of rules they've created for themselves, they will make it their personal mission in life to push it on everybody else and make sure everybody else does what they want to do because the, those in bondage will always persecute those who are free. You know why?

Because number one, they feel ashamed themselves because number two, they want to judge you. And they'll always push that law on you. They'll always push those works on you. I am so fascinated at what we do to each other as Christians. Well, you know, you got to make sure you read the right Bible translation. You got to make sure that you dress properly for church. You got to make sure that you use all of the right words. You got to make

sure that you pray in the correct way. You have to do this. You have to do that. You have to do the other thing. And my gosh, doesn't it get exhausting sometimes? Doesn't it get exhausting what we do to each other? Doesn't it get exhausting the kind of laws we lay upon each other? Listen, brothers and sisters, within the bounds of biblical truth, you are free.

You're free. You don't have to keep living according to these things, but those who are in bondage will, always push this on you. Legalistic things have always cracked me up. Well, you know, if you're going to attend church, you have to wear a suit. No, you don't. If you're, if you're going to attend church, you have to make sure that you look this way. You have to make sure that you use these kinds of words. No, you don't.

When I worked at Prairie View Christian Camp, there was a, yeah, I'll tell it. There was a group that came out. They weren't a part of the, of the Christian churches. They were, they were part of the Free Will Baptists. And, you know, I never knew, logically, what that meant until I got a little bit older and got in Bible college. I'm like, why do they call themselves Free Will Baptists? Everybody else just calls themselves First

Baptists. And then I realized, oh, it's because they have a major theological difference with the Baptist church. They were like, we disagree with you on this. We'll call ourselves Free Will Baptists. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. But they had some serious rules. One of the rules was that the men could not wear shorts. They always had to wear long pants. Dude, we're talking

late July in Kansas, right? You don't need to go to hell anymore. You wear jeans and late July, Kansas, right? But also, boys and girls could not swim together. As a matter of fact, they put a tarp up on the chain link fence so the boys and girls wouldn't, wouldn't swim together. And so the men, when they'd head down to the pool, it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. They'd wrap their

legs in a towel so that from the pool or from, so that from their room to the pool, no one could see their legs. And I'm going, dude, if any girls are turned on by some nasty white hairy legs of some dude, we have bigger problems. Our hands, right? Because that's just weird and creepy. Anyway, so they get down to the pool and they can't be together. Well, I can sometimes be a little rebellious, especially when I was a

teenager. And it's all out of me now. I'm perfect now. But back then, I could kind of be a little rebellious at times. Well, me and my buddy, Justin Brewster, who I've told you some stories about before, we were a little frustrated about the whole thing and didn't like the legalistic aspect of the whole thing. And so we had to go to the pool. And we had to go to the pool. And we had to go to

the pool. And we had to go to the pool. And we had to go to the pool. And we had to go to the pool. Well, one of our friends, matter of fact, you all know her, Amy Richardson, she was Amy Brooke at the time, was a lifeguard down at the camp. Well, she'd been gone at camp, at Kanaka camp for like two weeks. And so we're like, dude, we haven't seen our friend Amy for two weeks. She's back

lifeguarding now. Let's go down and see her. Guess who she was lifeguarding for? The girls. So we go down to the pool. And I mean, the guy that ran the camp who we affectionately referred to as deputy dog, he came running. as fast as I've ever seen anyone half my size run in my entire life. And he came down and grabbed the guy that ran the camp, and he says, you tell him to get out of here,

or I'm kicking him out of the camp. And we were like, but legalism, right? That's what we do to each other. We lay these laws. We lay these rules on each other. Because those who are in bondage tend to persecute those who are free. So what does he say to do with it? He says, but what does Scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.

Cast out the bondwoman. Now listen, it doesn't mean that we need to start finding legalistic people and kick them out of our church, right? I don't think that's what it means. I think it means we need to teach them about grace. But I think this speaks to our own life. Law and grace, they're mutually exclusive. They can't dwell together. The law can lead us to grace.

But once it's brought us to grace, the law steps back because we don't need it any longer. If you step out of grace and start living in sin, the law needs to do its work in you again. But law and grace can't dwell together. We have to cast that out. What do I mean by that? Brothers and sisters, it's time to throw the list away. It's time to throw your list away.

Matter of fact, in the book of 1 Peter, we're told that the handwriting of requirement was nailed to the cross with Jesus. It's time to nail your list to the cross. What is it that you think makes you more holy? What work are you doing that you think makes you better than everybody else? It's time to nail it to the cross. What list of rules are you unable to keep?

And because of it, you're living in bondage. Because of it, you're living in slavery. Because of it, you live an insecure life, feeling like you can never measure up. You can never be enough. It's time to nail it to the cross. What list of rules are you lording over your family? Are you lording over your friends? Are you lording over other Christians? Whether outwardly so that they know it or inwardly so that you're judging them,

it's time to throw it away. It's time to throw the list away. Cast out the bond woman because there's not room for law and grace. Brothers and sisters, there's a world of people out there that need the truth. And the most disheartening thing is to bring them so close to the truth and then put them in bondage to something else. Paul says, you were so close to the truth.

Don't put yourself in bondage to something else. Notice what he says. So then, brethren, verse 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of a bond woman, but of the free woman. What does he mean? Well, the same way I've closed the last two or three weeks, I'm going to close that way this time too. Stop living like a slave. Stop living like a slave. Stop living enslaved to the sins of your family.

Stop living enslaved to the sins of your family. Stop living enslaved to the sins of your family. Stop living enslaved to the sins of your flesh. Stop living enslaved to a list of rules. Stop living enslaved to fear. Stop living enslaved to your insecurity. And start walking in the freedom that there is in Christ because that's what he wants you to do. Now, listen, those of you that have been living in bondage for a lot of years,

those of you that have been living in slavery for a lot of years, this is a process that you've started. Somebody pointed this out to me after church. They said, man, it takes a long time to break the bondage of that slavery. So I want to remind you of that. You've entered a process, and it's going to take you a while to be set free. Every little step that you take in grace is another step of you moving towards freedom.

But I want to promise you something. Jesus brings freedom because he whom the Son has set free is absolutely free indeed. And so walk in that freedom and allow God to do that work of grace in your heart. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come to you now.

And Lord, I thank you for the freedom that there is in you. Lord, I thank you for the grace that you show to us. And I thank you that you are so good to point out the areas in our life where we need more of your grace. And Lord, I want to lift up everybody that's here this morning. And I just want to ask that you would do your work of freedom in their hearts and in their lives.

Father, those that are being held in bondage right now. And again, I'm in a place where I'm feeling like somebody here is in bondage to the law, you're in bondage to your rules. You're in bondage to a standard that you've set for yourself, a standard that you can't keep up with and a standard that no one around you can keep up with. And it's causing you shame and it's causing you to judge others and it's causing you to live insecurely in your life and you're so tired you're worn out.

Lord, I want to lift them up to you. You know who they are. And I want to pray that you set them free Lord that it would begin today by saying I'm a child of God I'm one of yours and nothing can ever change that Lord may that first little chink of the armor may that first little page of the list be torn off today Father we praise you and we thank you for who you are and just ask that you would continue the good work in our hearts in Jesus name Amen. Let's pray for one thing.

And Lord bless the meal to our bodies Lord may we have a great time of fellowshipping together and Lord help us to continue to grow together as a family Jesus name Amen give them about 10 minutes back there to finish getting everything ready she said when she's ready the door will be open so hang out visit when you see the door open head back get some food stick around a fellowship with us for a while love you guys.

I just pray that as we leave here today. That we could just continue to build our life around you and around your truth around your word God over truth seems to be lacking or we need your word we need you Lord we need your truth in our lives more and more each day. Father just ask that your hand of blessing be upon us as we leave here today God. Just bless our fellowship this afternoon bless the food we love you we praise you in Jesus name Amen.