"Jerusalem- The Mother of Us All" - The Apostolic Connection

Paul says in Galatians chapter 4 and verse number 19. my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you tell me ye that desire to be unto the law did ye not hear the law for it is written that Abraham had two sons the one by Bond made and the other by a free woman but he who was of the Bond woman was born after the flesh but he of the free woman was by spirit which things are an allegory for these are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai with gender witch gendereth to bondage which is Hagar for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all that's what I want to preach and teach on today Jerusalem the mother of us all go back to verse number 19 with me verse number 19. I just like the warm way that Paul begins this he says my little children that's a very warm way he is going to address a tremendous error among the church there and he begins by saying my little children in the book of Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 7. he says making reference to how he dealt with those that had gone astray he said but we were gentle among you even as a nurse cheareth it her children as a nurse now what Paul is addressing is that their respects of of people that were going back under the law and they were seeking to go back and to get a hold of what God had brought them out of and they were going back under the law Paul uses Paul uses an allegory as a matter of fact it's very uh noteworthy to the person that studies their Bible to understand that all the stories in our Bible are there for a reason they're not there just for history history alone they are there for a reason here Paul even spells it out he says these are an allegory he uses that word this is an allegory that I'm that I'm speaking an allegory is a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or a historical situation so going back to Galatians 4 Paul says he says my little children he said I have heard and I have seen how you are going back and he says I am I'm going to change my voice I I need I need for you to understand I'm going to change my my voice and then I'm going to travail again notice he says I'm going to travail again until Christ be formed in you now these are not Sinners Church these are not people that don't know God these are people who have known God and have turned from the ways of God and have embraced something differently and he continues he says I verse 20 he said I stand in doubt of you he said I really in verse 20 he says I I I I don't believe you realize what you're getting into have you ever have you ever wanted to say that to somebody or have you said that to somebody I really don't think you know what you're getting into he was saying he was saying you don't understand you're getting into something that will lead to bondage you're getting into something that will will lead you to bondage I I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit so many times the church is accused of something that it is far from guilty of while the world practices it at its best the church is guilty of being judgmental but yet recently I went into an establishment the first time I went into the establishment and talked to the same individual I was wearing what I not exactly what I've got on today but I was wearing suit oh how my presence into that building um caused people to stand up and uh sir how can we help you I went back in that business yesterday uh we had been down here doing some yard work and um I had an old ragged Polo t-shirt on some old blue jeans and some work boots I had taken a shower that morning but I had done no grooming to my hair my hair was going in whatever Direction it wanted to go in I walked into that same establishment no one stood up and when I told them I was there in need I was treated by the same people that would call me sir I was treated very very rudely there and I couldn't help but think it's not the church it's judgmental the church doesn't judge you by the clothes you have on but the world does see when a lot of people want to leave the church I want to say to them you don't know what you're getting into you you really don't know what you're leaving when you're leaving the church he says you you really don't know what you're getting into he said in verse 21 tell me even desire to be under the law do did you not hear the law for it is written that Abraham had two sons the one by a Bond woman and the other by a free woman now we know the we know the story God promised Abraham and Sarah a child it was I'm going to give you a child but because God did not give that child in Abraham and Sarah's time frame they came up with their own plan all right you see God told anytime God gives a promise God doesn't have to give a time frame with it because God says it's going to happen he doesn't have to put a time frame to it for you to believe it's going to happen if God says this is going to happen then this is going to happen such as his coming again he doesn't have to give us a time frame he simply said he's coming and that's it Abraham and Sarah I'm going to give you a child by promise Abraham said it's going to come out of your loins but a few years went by several years to be exact went by and they got weary and they begin to try to explain away the promise and ladies I'm sorry it is your special day but it was Sarah that came up with the plan Sarah says to her husband Abraham says you know we have this young Egyptian girl servant in our house we bought her she is a Bond woman she is a slave we bought her she is a Bond woman and she is here in the house Sarah said why don't I give her to you in marriage and the children that are born to Slaves Bond people become the property of the owners and so when she has gives birth then I'll have a baby and that's probably the way that God meant for this to be and so Abraham went along with the idea took Hagar had a relationship with Hagar and as soon as Hagar conceived Hagar scripture said begin to despise Sarah she began to let her know in knowing certain terms I'm equal with you and even better than you because I'm carrying what you desire to carry well Sarah goes back to Abraham and tells Abraham the the fault is mine and I should never have done this and and um uh we we've done wrong and she's mocking me and Abraham turns to Sarah and says you deal with it whatever you do you deal with it and she drove the Bond woman out she cast the Bond woman out of the house Hagar and Ishmael went some distance down and the angel of the Lord met them and the angel of the Lord and this is the first time in scripture and I believe this is noteworthy this is the first time to all the people that want to claim they hear from Angels this is the first message an angel ever gave the angel said to Hagar go back to Sarah and submit to her sometimes people hear these angels that are setting them free this angel said go back and submit and she did and for the next 13 years or so Ishmael grew up and with no doubt Abraham loved this boy it was his boy Ishmael was his and he loved him but when the fullness of that promise time had come God visited God visited Sarah and Sarah gave birth to the promised child to the promised child Isaac he was born and when Isaac now now there is in that one home do you see the allegory in that one home is a child by the name of Isaac who is a child of promise and in that one home there is a child that is the work of the flesh and his name is Ishmael in that one home is a child whose name means laughter and in that one home is a child whose name means Ishmael which means he's a wild man he's uncontrollable his hand is against every man's hand he'll be in the midst of his brothers and he'll be he'll be against all of his of his brothers in that one home and so this story is given for an allegory to show us the difference between the law of works and the grace of God a promise that's what Paul is what Paul said you see when Isaac when Isaac was being circumcised and it was a festive time the scripture says that Sarah witnessed Ishmael mocking Isaac it smells quite older than Isaac and she Witnesses and you want to get you want to get a mama stirred up mess with her kids well when Sarah witnessed was Sarah witnessed Ishmael mocking Isaac that was it she went to Abraham and she said now I'm not going to do anything this time I'm not sending her away this time you're going to send her away because I'm not going to live in this house where this flesh is mocking my son all right here's the allegory you see one reason we need to really work on being spiritual driven is because our flesh wants to mock God's spirit and so here is the allegory Isaac represents promise and Ishmael represents the flesh you do realize that not all of Israel scripture says not all of Israel are the children of promise Romans chapter Romans chapter 9 and verse number seven this is how important this is not all of Israel are all the children of Promise Romans 9 and 7 neither because they are they are the Seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is they which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for seed for This Is The Word of Promise look at would you say that word with me promise promise for this is the word of promise at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son so we see this allegory between these two women one woman produces Ishmael which represents Mount Sinai which is the law of ceremony and ritual which can never make people perfect you can never be perfect by The Works of your hands give it up you can't save yourself you can't have good you you can't do enough ritual you can't come to church enough do enough you can't give enough to the church lay it aside you can't do enough to earn the righteousness of God and so that was that was the law but when promise came which the promise is the church the promise is the gospel that creates the church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the death burial and Resurrection The Plan of Salvation faith in God in a relationship in God that is the gospel that creates the church and the church is that body of promise and if there's anything you want to be in today for God's sake be in the church be in the church make sure that you're in the body of Christ make sure that you're in the church and if someone said amen because the church Paul was saying the church he said the law answers to Jerusalem and he was talking about the physical Jerusalem he says the law from from Mount Sinai or Arabia answers to to uh the Jerusalem that now is but then Paul mentions this which blesses my just blesses my soul he says in verse number 26 but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all the law has a physical Jerusalem that's located in the Middle East the law has that City in Jerusalem as a matter of fact as a matter of fact Abraham's seed through both Isaac and Ishmael are still battling in that physical City called Jerusalem they're fighting for space the the the the the the the uh the Arabs they have their place there and and the Jews they have their Wailing Wall there that the Arabs have the the the the the the Dome there and and the Jews have the Wailing Wall and they're waiting to rebuild the Temple so Abraham's seed is still in a natural location on Earth battling over this land but you see God had something greater than just the miracle birth of a son by the name of Isaac it was an allegory that God would have a people of Promise which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Jerusalem is not over in the Middle East but our Jerusalem is above and our Jerusalem doesn't gender bondage but our Jerusalem genders freedom and our Jerusalem is the mother of us all can I quote the distinguished Johnny James he says if the church is not your mother then God is not your father if the church is not your mother then God is not your father I want God to be my father God gave a promise God gave a promise as a matter of fact I'm going to deal with three of those promises that God gave God gave many promises but God I'm gonna I'm gonna narrow them down to three three I Wills of God three there are three things God said I will do now remember whenever God says I will do something it's a promise and it will be fulfilled God said in Joel 2 and 28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon All Flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions promise number one God said I will pour out my spirit upon All Flesh now let me tell you today any of you that's their thought I can't receive the Holy Spirit I can't receive the Holy Ghost I can't receive that that's that's that's not correct God would never say that you could if you could if you couldn't God would have said you can't get it but God said I'm going to pour my spirit out upon how much upon All Flesh that's the first I will now here's the second thing he said I will do in Matthew 16 and 18 Jesus said and I say unto you Matthew 16 18 and I say unto thee that thou art Peter and Upon This Rock I will build my church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it now Peter had just answered Jesus based on a revelation of who do men say that I the son of man am it was Peter who said Thou Art the Christ the son of the Living God Jesus said flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father which is in heaven and thou art Peter and Upon This Rock what does that mean there up on this rock upon the revelation of who I am I will build my church upon the revelation of who I am I'm going to build my church that's why it's important Mama that we maintain who Jesus is because it's on that rock that I will build my third promise I'm going to deal with today is found in the Gospel of John chapter 14 and verse number two I believe these are the three promises that that are really are those that we need to pay special attention to John 14 and 2 Jesus said in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also let's look at this closely the first promise that he made I will pour my spirit out upon All Flesh the second promise that he made I will build my church and the third and final promise that he made I will come again do you know the reason it's important is because it takes God's spirit to get into the church for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body the reason it's important today it takes God's spirit to get in the church that he's building and do you know who Jesus is coming back for he's coming back for the church it's going to happen I'm not going to get tired of sounding the trumpet to you you better get your hide ready for the coming of the Lord I'm not going to stop this ins I'm not going to stop this constant chatter get ready the Lord is coming back the signs of the times are evil idolatry and wickedness is growing worse and worse every day don't look around and don't look around until you have got your heart right with God I plead with you today brothers and sisters if you don't know the gospel find out what the gospel says if you've not obeyed the gospel obey the gospel this morning wake up sleeping sane wake up write your soul wake up good church today because the Lord's coming back he said I'm going to pour my spirit out and I'm going to build a church and then I'm going to come again for that church let's be ready