Sarah’s faith was not placed in the promise, but in THE ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL; GOD HIMSELF. Abraham and Sarah made some mistakes, they had some occasional failures in trusting God all the way. However, both of them endured to the end BECAUSE THE BELIEVED GOD. When Isaac finally arrived as promised, ABRAHAM AND SARAH SAW GOD’S POWER AT WORK. Ishmael was an obedient son, UNTIL ISAAC entered the family. It was then when the “flesh” began to oppose “the Spirit”. God gave them the fleshly blessings, the black oil which lubricates the world’s economy.
Isaac, however, received the spiritual blessing, the Holy Spirit, which is symbolized in the Bible with OIL. According to Galatians 4:21-31 Sarah represents grace, (the heavenly Jerusalem) and Hagar represents Law (the earthly Jerusalem under bondage). In other words, law and grace cannot live peacefully together. God’s children, born of the Spirit are to live under the blessings of grace and not the bondage of the law. Hagar gave birth to a slave. Ishmael was a slave. If you decide to live under the law, then you become a child of Hagar, a slave; for the law produces bondage and not freedom.
Jewell, Iowa
COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.
"Ishmael" Tagged Sermons
Revelation always brings responsibility. What does it mean to walk blameless before the Lord? It is a call for integrity. Abram is to walk before God and to live in the knowledge that the eyes of God are always upon Him. The word translated blameless simply means to be
“single-hearted, sincere, fully devoted to the Lord.”
This is the secret of blameless walk before God: WORSHIP GOD LIKE ABRAM DID. FALL ON YOUR FACE BEFORE HIM AND YIELD TO HIM IN EVERYTHING. Circumcision was not an option, it was an OBLIGATION. Circumcision is the sign, the mark of a person’s relationship to God. Ishmael represents the fleshly things we do for God and it pains us to give up our cherished dreams. Our responsibility is to give up our Ishmael. Ishmael did not get a new name, because he represents the flesh, and the flesh cannot be changed.