ABBA, FATHER This morning it is my intention to confront you with the reality of what it means to be a Christian. In order to understand, you will be asked to determine whether you are an Isaac or an Ishmael. In order to determine that, you need to look at the way you view your God. How you react to the what you discover will depend on whether you desire to follow the Holy Spirit. It will depend on what you are seeking in your life. It will depend on whether you believe God’s Word or not. At stake is your very trust. Who are you going to trust this morning? Let’s pray. The Distinctiveness of Abba Christians Romans 8:14-15 (ESV) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Vs. Idiots Galatians 3:1 (Phillips NT) O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ the crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you? I will ask you one simple question: did you receive the Spirit of God by trying to keep the Law or by believing the message of the Gospel? Surely you can't be so idiotic as to think that a man begins his spiritual life in the Spirit and then completes it by reverting to outward observances? Has all your painful experience brought you nowhere? I simply cannot believe it of you! Does God, who gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you, do these things because you have obeyed the Law or because you have believed the Gospel? Ask yourselves that. Paul was calling the Galatians ‘idiots’ for a very good reason. They failed to see the significance of the Holy Spirit for their lives. They were having a difficult time with a ‘no rules’ Christianity. They found the legalism of Judaism much more comfortable and ‘religious’. In fact, they were making stupid statements like: God, I would rather be your slave than your child Galatians 4:9 (NASB) “how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?” Jesus did not die on the cross to save us to be His slaves. Sure, in a sense we belong to Him, we owe our lives to Him, but our Christian life is a life of sons and daughters, not the life of slaves. It is a life of freedom, not bondage. We see this presented through the example of Ishmael and Isaac, in Gal 4:21-31: Galatians 4:21-31 (ESV) Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. A. ISHMAEL Ishmael was the child born according to the flesh. The rules were followed, it was perfectly legal. His birth represented the “Old Covenant”. Hagar bore children of slavery, slaves to the flesh, to pleasing God according to the flesh. The Old Covenant was based on the law and flesh. God laid the responsibility on the people-“Thou shalt not…” It was fleshly effort to please God and win His favor. B. ISAAC Isaac was the child of promise. God promised his conception and birth. There was no physical way he could have been conceived and carried to birth. His birth was totally by promise of God. He was born not a slave to the flesh but a free man blessed with all the wealth of his father Abraham. His wife was provided for him, his home, his property, all was provided. The New Covenant is based on the Spirit and promise-I will I will…Jesus Christ fulfilled the demands of the law and gave forth His Spirit of Promise to fulfill God’s demands! Ishmael is a picture of religion in the flesh, what man can accomplish by himself, in his own strength. Isaac is a picture of a God’s grace, and what God accomplishes in His power on our behalf. It is not natural religion, but supernatural way of life. YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD  If you have a relationship with God, you tend to be e