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The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, cut from the same cloth, a chip off the old

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block.

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These are all expressions in the English language to communicate that what you come from actually

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makes you what you are.

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And this is something that Paul will bring our attention to in our passage this morning.

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In a way he's going to be pointing out to all those who have called upon the name of

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the Lord that the Christian might be thought of by another colloquial expression, like

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mother, like son.

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But before we get into this rather interesting and complex part of scripture, let's have

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a bit of a think about the context.

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We might think of the book of Galatians in sections that have been paired up to make

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things easier for us to remember.

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Chapters one and two, we got a bit of an autobiography of our apostle and how the gospel rescued

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him and how he had to stand for it, even within the church and amongst other Christians.

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And then in chapters three and four, we've seen our apostle dig deeply into the scriptures,

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our Old Testament, to show us the theology behind grace alone, in faith alone, by Christ

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alone.

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And then as we'll see in the coming weeks in chapters five and six, we'll see Paul really

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focus in on the application of the spirit led life.

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Our Christians are to love God and our neighbors as ourselves.

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Now as you may have noticed, we're not quite in chapter five just yet.

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We're still in chapter four and thus in the very last part of Paul's theological section.

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And as expected, Paul is still taking us through the scriptures to warn people of the danger

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of adding the law to the gospel of grace.

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And we know that to be the case because his whole argument starts for us this morning

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there in verse 21.

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He says, tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law

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says?

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It's interesting, right?

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Paul was really drawn on the law throughout this book to really prove his point about

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the grace of the gospel.

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And he's done that particularly by drawing on the life of a man named Abraham.

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First in chapter three, verse six, he showed us how we're justified.

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It's by faith in what God promises.

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Abraham believed.

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He believed God and we're told that it was credited to him as righteousness.

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Second, Paul showed us that what Abraham believed was essentially the gospel, the promise that

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was given to him that what was that all nations would be blessed through him.

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We saw that in chapter three, verse eight.

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And Paul made the case that all nations have indeed been blessed through him, not by a

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people group, but by a person.

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And that person is none other than Jesus Christ himself.

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We saw that in chapter three, verse 16.

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And that's by using the law, the first five books of our Old Testament, Paul has shown

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that Abraham was saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, though in a time

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before the promises were manifested in this world.

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That's always been the way God saves his people by faith in the promises and not by the law.

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And that's been something else that Paul has drawn our attention to the mosaic code, the

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mosaic covenant that was given at Sinai.

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As he's pointed out, that was given 430 years after what God did with Abraham.

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And though the law is good, it was never given to save people.

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Now as we saw just a few weeks ago, the law was like a school teacher, which was given

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to lead and guide people until the promises had come.

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And thus anyone who tries to find their righteousness by the works of the law and not by faith in

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the promises, will only ever find themselves under its curse.

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We saw that in chapter three, verse 10.

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And so as Paul has shown us, because the law has been fulfilled by Christ's coming, we're

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no longer under the mosaic code which teaches circumcision, dietary requirements and special

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festivals among other things.

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As we saw in chapter three, verse 25, the school teacher has done its job.

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It's pointed us to Jesus and now that we have this faith in Christ, we're no longer needing

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the school teacher to give us the ins and outs of what it is to be a child of God.

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All that to say through faith in Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit to which we

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now live our lives out on this earth as children of our heavenly Father.

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This is the case that Paul has laid out for the Galatians and for you and me thus far.

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Jesus revealed to him the gospel that saves, not the law that enslaves.

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Abraham believed and was saved, the law was given and could never save.

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It could only ever point us to the one that could.

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And so after Paul proving over and over and over from the Scriptures that salvation is

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by grace through faith in Christ, he asks us, he asks all of us, anyone who is tempted

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to leave the grace of the gospel for a works-based righteousness.

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He says, you who want to be under the law, are you aware of what the law says?

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Well, this morning we're going to see Paul once again draw upon the life of Abraham.

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But surprisingly, he's going to focus more in on his two sons and a person named Hagar

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and his wife, Sarah.

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And I say surprisingly because Paul is going to draw something out of the text, an illustration

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of you will, of what he's been telling us this whole time.

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Like I said before, it's a rather complex part of Scripture.

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It's interesting, but it is complex.

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And so I've broken it into three sections to help us digest it a little easier.

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First in verses 21 to 28, Paul's going to show us what grace has achieved for the Christian.

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Second in verse 29, he'll point out the issues that those who live by grace will face.

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And then third in verses 30 to 31, how the Christian is to respond to some of these things

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that we may face in this world.

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Okay, so if you have your Bibles with you this morning, let's jump into this and first

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look at what grace achieves for the Christian.

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Look with me at verses 22 and 23.

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We read, for it's written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other

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by the free woman.

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His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman

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was born as a result of a divine promise.

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So Paul, he takes us all the way back to this story of the two sons that were born to Abraham.

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One was born to Hagar who was the slave woman here and her son was born according to the

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flesh.

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We'll have a look at what that means in a moment.

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And the other son was born to his wife, the free woman, and was born according to a promise

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that was given.

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Now to understand what's going on here, we need to highlight something from the get-go.

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Paul is showing us a contrast between works and faith.

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One way to live is to be a slave, the other way is to be free.

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Now if you had the privilege of doing Sunday school, you might remember the story.

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If not, let me just give you a quick synopsis of what's happening here, the story that he's

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drawing on.

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See Abraham, he was chosen by God and promised a son.

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But the problem was from his end, at least, here and his wife Sarah were way beyond the

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age of childbearing.

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They were somewhere in their 80s or 90s, something to that effect.

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And so they didn't reject what God had to say per se, but devised a plan to go about

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what was promised by natural means.

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And to Hagar, she was the slave of Sarah, and she was given to Abraham to have a child

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with and a child named Ishmael was conceived by natural means.

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But then after all of this happened, God fulfilled his promise and by no merit of their own.

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Abraham and Sarah supernaturally conceived and Isaac was born to them.

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Okay, we got that?

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It's a bit strange.

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It's a bit strange at first, admittedly, but let's slow down and look at what Paul is doing

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here.

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You see, he's drawing on this historical event to show us that there's two ways to relate

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to God's promises.

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There's a way in which we can take matters into our own hands with the mindset of, well,

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God helps those who help themselves.

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And then there's another way which rests on the promises of God and trusts that he can

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do what he said he would do.

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In a way, Paul is saying we all approach the promises of God with one of these two mindsets.

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You either trust and obey or take matters into your own hands.

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One way is to live as a slave.

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The other is to be free.

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But let's dig a little deeper here because, believe it or not, it gets a little bit more

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complex.

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Paul says there to us in verse 24, these things are to be taken figuratively.

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The women, they represent two covenants.

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They represent two covenants.

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Hear that?

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These women, though very much historical figures to Paul, they represent something to us.

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They represent covenants that God has made with his people.

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Now, before we think about this a bit more, we have to remember what we've been taught

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in Galatians so far.

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When God makes covenants with his people, what he gives doesn't cancel out what's come

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before.

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As in the law given to Israel, didn't cancel the way God saved Abraham by faith.

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We saw that clearly in chapter 3, verse 17.

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But the Judaizers, these legalists that infiltrated the churches there in Galatia, they didn't

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understand that.

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They saw the Mosaic covenant standing on it as its own thing, cancelling out what had

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come before.

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They took the law and turned it into a way of looking for self-salvation, which he was

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never designed to do.

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But as we've seen, that's how these false teachers were using the law and the covenant

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made it signo.

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They didn't see the whole thing as complementary to the covenant given to Abraham, but something

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entirely different in which justification by faith in the promises of God was replaced.

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Replace with the works of the law, which Paul says only enslaves people to a system that

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they needn't be.

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We see that there in the rest of the verses there in 24 and 25.

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All this to say because these Judaizers, they saw two covenants and replaced the first

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with the second, they were like the son of Hagar, Ishmael, a product of taking matters

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into their own hands.

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And thus with that mindset were enslaved to a life of working and walking according to

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the flesh.

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God had promised blessing, but they were working for what God had promised by using the law

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to secure God's favor, which had as Paul notes here had only achieved spiritual slavery.

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Not just for these Judaizers, for these teachers, but for all the Jews there in Jerusalem that

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were living by the same mindset.

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And that's a warning for all of us this morning.

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Anyone who uses religion and tries to work their way up to heaven will only ever find

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themselves in spiritual slavery and bondage.

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So says Paul, Hagar models the fleshly approach that we all must be on guard against as looking

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to the promises of blessing and trying to earn them by our own works, by taking the

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law, well it will only ever result in spiritual slavery and bondage.

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God says Paul, there's another way, there's another way to approach all of this, to approach

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the promises of God.

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And it's like what happened with Sarah.

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You see God promised by his grace that he would give a child.

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That was his promise and by no human effort or works, Isaac was given.

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So if we really think about what Paul is laying down for us here, if Hagar is the symbolic

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mother of the law, of the cyanide covenant and legalism and was represented in Paul's

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day and age by a city full of self-righteous Pharisees there in earthly Jerusalem, then

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Sarah, then Sarah must be symbolic.

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The symbolic mother of all those who receive God's promises by faith.

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And thus as Paul says here in verse 26, belong to the Jerusalem that is above and free.

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That is a contrast that our apostle highlights for us here in just these first couple of

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verses.

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There's a way that leads to bondage and slavery and that is to live under the law and work

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for God's blessing.

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That's to be like Ishmael, the son of Hagar, enslaved to the works of the law or there

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is another way.

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That's to believe and accept the promises of God and rely on him to fulfill what he

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said he would do.

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That's to be like Isaac, to be born free and belong to the city that is above.

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And this is the most incredible thing Paul sees that God had planned this from long ago.

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He planned to fill a heavenly Jerusalem with spiritual children by his grace alone.

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And he draws on Isaiah the prophecy that we heard read out for us this morning in verse

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27.

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He says, be glad barren woman who has never born a child, shout for joy and cry aloud,

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you who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than

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of her who has a husband.

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Now the image of a barren woman is present, no doubt, but Isaiah's not primarily thinking

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of Sarah here, but of the city of Jerusalem.

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In his context, the city of Jerusalem laid in ruins because her children had been taken

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into exile by pagan Babylon.

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But in the midst of it all, in the midst of utter hopelessness, God made a promise to

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his people.

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And that promise was that one day he would work and by his grace, more children of the

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promise would fill a new Jerusalem and the earth than ever before.

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This is the most awesome thing that Paul is saying here.

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He draws on this prophecy of Isaiah because he's saying this promise.

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This promise of God is being fulfilled now by the gospel.

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Spiritual sons and daughters are being born and being added to the new Jerusalem, not

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to an earthly city, but to a spiritual one that spreads across this globe.

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So with all that said, brothers and sisters, he's saying to anyone who believes that God

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has done all that needs to be done to make us totally and utterly right in the eyes of

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God by sending his son, Jesus Christ.

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He says to anyone who believes the good news and trusts Jesus Christ implicitly and quits

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working and striving under the law, he says, you brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are the

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children of the promise, verse 28.

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To put all of this as simply as I can, it's complex, so I thank you for your attention

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so far.

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Paul is essentially asking us to reflect on who is your mother.

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Whom do you belong?

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What cloth are you cut from?

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Do you belong to the covenantal mindset of Hagar or of Sarah?

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Do you look to cyanide or to Calvary?

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Do you look to Moses or to Christ?

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Do you look to the law or to the gospel to define you?

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Because that makes all the difference not just in the world but in eternity.

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The good news is this, if you are trusting in Jesus alone on the basis of the promises

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that have been held out to you by the gospel, if you look to Jesus to define you, then you

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are a child of the kingdom of God.

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A citizen of the New Jerusalem, supernaturally born and reborn like Isaac, not of blood nor

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of the will of the flesh but of God's grace alone.

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That's a fitting passage that our apostle has used there, isn't it?

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It's a fitting passage that is drawing on Isaiah because we no longer belong to this

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world.

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We've been supernaturally born again and citizens of heaven and thus we should rejoice and shout

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for joy and cry aloud like it says there because we are no longer slaves to sin, no longer

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under the curse of the law, no longer a people that is chained to a mindset of trying to

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achieve righteousness in front of a holy God by our own works.

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No, we are free and this freedom has come about by the grace of God.

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And so I might ask you again, who is your mother?

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Are you bound to the law or have you experienced the freedom which the gospel promises all

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those who believe?

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So that's first, that's what the grace of God achieves for the Christian.

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It's a wonderful thing, it's amazing but does that mean we now then go through this life

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skipping and jumping and all of that with no problems, no problems to worry about?

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Well, this is what Paul talks about next.

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And again, he points us to his illustration that is drawing from Abraham and his sons.

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He says there in verse 29, at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted

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the son born by the power of the spirit.

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It's the same now.

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And if you look back on this story you'll quickly see that Ishmael, the son of the flesh,

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was an issue for Isaac, the son of promise.

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And Paul says in the same way these Judaizers that have infiltrated these legalists who

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work by their own strength and fight for merit will be an issue for those who were born through

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the promise.

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We just need to think on Paul's life to see how real that is, right?

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He was a Pharisee of Pharisees studying and living in earthly Jerusalem and he dedicated

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his life to the decimation of the Christian movement.

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We read in Acts that he was there at the first killing of a Christian and as you read through

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his autobiography there in chapter one of this very book, he certainly wanted to be

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there when the last Christian was killed as well.

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There's something about those who live by faith and trust God implicitly that is like

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a spit in the face to those who strive and toil to gain merit before God.

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And so this is another warning for us.

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Don't be surprised by the pushback, the slander, the gossip that you might receive when you

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live your faith out in this world.

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If you take the claims of the gospel seriously, if you take the instructions of our Lord to

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heart, if you live differently in this world, if you tell other people that there is a way

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of salvation and his name is Jesus and he's the only way, if you walk by faith and not

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by sight, you will get opposition pushback.

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You will get criticism and in some places on this earth persecution to the point of

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death.

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But notice what Paul's drawing here.

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His point isn't primarily about those out there in the world, but about those who are

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driven by the legalist mindset, driven by a self-righteous worldview, driven by a works-based

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righteousness within the church.

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And so we mustn't be surprised that when you witness about the faithfulness and the grace

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of our Lord Jesus Christ and how he saved you and how you belong to him and how you're

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secure in his work on your behalf that maybe, maybe, just maybe you'll find resistance,

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slander and persecution coming from places that you never even imagined.

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Church as it's been said in this series previously, we don't become lawless people because of

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the gospel.

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Very much the opposite.

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We live out the spirit of the law and its intention as the very Holy Spirit of God leads

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and guides our new hearts and we'll be looking at the application of that in the coming weeks

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in chapters five and six.

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But with that said, many people, they can't wrap their heads around the gospel how it

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can be so simple, so simple in the fact that God made a promise and gave his only but God

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and Son to fulfill all that he said needed to be done to receive his blessing.

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He achieved that in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The gospel in its simplicity is so offensive to those who hear God's promises but think

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that they need to earn it and hang their hope on their own works.

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If you're believing and trusting the gospel, no matter who you are or what you've done,

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you will meet resistance in this world.

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You'll meet it from people out there in the world and in places a little closer to home.

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Brothers and sisters, grace has achieved something that is an awesome reality for every single

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one of us.

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We're also warned that we will meet resistance from those who are against the gospel.

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And third, Paul tells us how we're to deal with some of these things.

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Look with me at verses 30 and 31.

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What does the scripture say?

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Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in

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the inheritance with the free woman's son.

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Therefore, brothers and sisters, we're not children of the slave woman but of the free

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woman.

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Again, our apostle has our minds squarely focused on this historical event.

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And like he told Pastor Timothy, how the scriptures are given by inspiration and are profitable

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for doctrine and instruction.

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Paul is showing the Galatians from the scriptures what needs to be done in their situation.

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And I don't think you need to be a world-class scholar to figure out what he's saying here.

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It's pretty simple.

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Paul is saying that there came a time where Abraham and Sarah had to eject Hagar and Ishmael

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from their presence because of their resistance to Isaac's rightful status as the heir to

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the promises of God.

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And so in the same way, the Galatians, Paul is saying there must be a limit to your tolerance

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when it comes to these false teachers and their dangerous doctrine of self-righteousness.

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There needs to come a point when they need to be thrown out from among you.

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And let's be blunt here.

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Let me be entirely honest.

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We live in a day and age where there's a lot of tolerance of a lot of things in the church.

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But the Bible is clear to us this morning.

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There must be a limit.

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We can't tolerate people's twisting of the gospel forever.

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We can't ignore those who come into the church whose desire is to scatter and devour the sheep

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with their false doctrines.

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In other words, false teachers need to be seen for who they are.

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And if they won't repent, they need to be ejected.

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They need to leave because they have no place in and among the children of promise.

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And that is a solemn charge that we, your elders, take deadly seriously at this church.

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Brothers and sisters, the gospel ultimately brings joy.

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It brings peace and freedom.

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And that is a promise that God has given to all his children who embrace Jesus Christ

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by faith.

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We may not have an easy life this side of eternity as we struggle and strive against

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those who resist who and what we stand for.

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But know this this morning.

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The world isn't all that we live for.

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No, we've become, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy

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Spirit, citizens of a new city.

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We've become children of the kingdom of God.

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And because of the final and finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of his people, we

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can say amen to Paul's last comment there in verse 31.

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We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

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That is your status.

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That is your status.

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That is your identity.

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It is Christ who defines you.

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He defines you because you're clothed in his perfect righteousness.

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And so let us resist the temptation to go on in our Christian life by grabbing onto something

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to look to, to gloat about, to boast in.

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Let us boast in the Lord.

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Let us tell the world about him.

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And let us be reminded of the gospel ourselves this morning.

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God promises and all those who trust his promises about the Lord Jesus Christ, they are blessed

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along with Abraham, the man of faith.

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We began our time in Holy Scripture this morning by looking at that question in verse 21.

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People asked, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

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Well the law asks of all of us this morning, who's your mother?

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Are you a child of the flesh?

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Are you someone who desires to obey God, but is going about it all in your own strength

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and looking to your own works for God to reward you?

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Well you're not here by any mistake this morning.

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The gospel is being held out and it calls us all to look upon the perfect and final

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work of our Lord Jesus Christ and to turn from the things of this world and embrace

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him by faith.

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Would you please pray with me?

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Father, we began our time this morning by asking you to draw us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And we thank you that we aren't people that clamour around in the dark wondering what

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you're like, but that you have revealed yourself in your word and ultimately revealed yourself

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in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And that we can look upon him and see that our salvation is secure because of the resurrection.

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Lord we ask this morning, we're all struggling with all sorts of different things in this

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room, but Lord we just ask that through the work of your gospel, through the work of preaching

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and singing and praying together that we would be reminded that you are our saviour, that

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you are the one by grace has come to seek us.

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And Lord we ask that we would walk in the light and the truth of the gospel all the

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days of our life and that you would cause us Lord to be a people to share this good

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news with others.

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We ask for this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.