Galatians 4:28-29
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of the 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.
Persecution around the world is real and getting worse. A recent article in Forbes magazine states, “The World Watch List 2020 does not give much hope for the persecuted communities. Indeed, it presents a grim picture of the situation of Christians globally making it very clear that the persecution encountered by them continues to get worse. The report identifies that, ‘in 2020, 260 million Christians live in World Watch List top 50 countries where Christians are at risk of high, very high or extreme levels of persecution. This is up from 245 million in 2019.’” As Christians who live in America, we don’t really count ourselves in this list, although anti-Christian bias is growing rapidly in our country…but based on today’s passage, sadly, we can experience it within the four walls of the church.
Which one are you?
Are you a legalist? Are you quick to use the rules and regulations found within the pages of Scripture to size people up, spiritually speaking? Good Christians don’t do this. Good Christians don’t do that. You know the drill. If that’s you, Paul would call you someone who seems to be “born of the flesh”—a spiritual descendent of Ishmael—and you are held captive by the law. You use it against others, but you also use it against yourself. Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac, and once his little brother was weaned from his mother’s breast, he mocked him mercilessly. Do you know anyone like that? A large portion of their comments are directed at other Christians who are not living the way they think they should. They use the bible as a blunt object rather than a sword.
Perhaps you are walking in the freedom secured by Christ? You know that sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit and that you are already fully accepted—and fully loved—by God. You take holiness seriously and pursue it, but you don’t condemn yourself when you fail (Rom 8:1). You don’t condemn others, either. Yes, you can see sin and failure, but grace and mercy always triumph over judgment. If that is you, then I’m sure you have experienced the same mocking that Isaac got from Ishmael…and you experienced it inside the Body of Christ. What a shame. Pastor John MacArthur notes that:
Throughout history, and still today, the physical and spiritual descendants of Hagar and Ishmael have, respectively, opposed and persecuted the physical and spiritual descendants of Sarah and Isaac. Those who hold to salvation by works, trusting in their own performance of the law hate those who proclaim salvation by grace without works. In their own minds, the Judaizers thought of themselves as the legitimate, God-honored descendants of Abraham through Isaac. But Paul was saying something that would infuriate them more than anything else, namely, that they, and all other unbelievers, are as much the spiritual descendants of Ishmael as the Arabs are his physical descendants…. Whether within Judaism or Christianity, legalists have always been persecutors. Those who trust in God have always been persecuted by those who trust in themselves. True believers have always been more mistreated and oppressed by religionists than by atheists. It is the false religious system of Revelation 17:6 that is “drunk with the blood of the saints.”
Do you get drunk with the blood of the saints…or is it your blood the legalists are drinking? If you are the former, you must REPENT! Christ did not save you to have you walk as Ishmael walked. If you are the latter. STAND STRONG! Christ understands your pain and suffering and will reward you greatly as you walk in Isaacs shoes.
