Sermon for August 09, 2009:
Sermon Series: It’s Not Too Late:
Sermon # 04: It’s Not Too Late For SARAH:
Scripture Ref: Genesis 11:30
Introduction:
This morning I want us to look at ONE of the GREATEST WOMEN found in the BIBLE, her name is SARAH.
The BIBLE INTRODUCES us to SARAH with this phrase:
Genesis 11:30 ‘But SARI was barren, she had no children.’
For a JEWISH WOMAN to be WITHOUT a CHILD was almost like having a CURSE upon her.
Don’t lose track of the FACT that SARI is 65 years old.
& bear in mind that between chapter 11 & chapter 21 – there has been 25 years that has expired.
Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD has said to ABRAM, Get thee out of thy country & from thy kindred & from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. & I will make of thee a great nation & I will bless thee & make thy name great & thou shall be a blessing & I will bless them that bless thee & curse them him that curses thee & in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. & ABRAM departed as the LORD had spoken to him. & ABRAM was 75 years old when he departed out of HARAN.
In this COVENANT GOD PRONOUNCES a BLESSING upon ABRAM saying, ‘I’m going to give you a son.’
Now ABRAM is 75 years old. His wife, SARI, had NEVER gotten PREGNANT & she is now 65 years old. But in the MIDST of their BARRENESS GOD promises, “I’m going to give you a son.’
Now we all know that such a thing is simply NOT LOGICAL.
ABRAM is 75 years old. SARI is 65 years old.
Is it TOO LATE to EXPECT LIFE to SPRING FORTH from BARRENESS?
This couple had been LIFELESS for so long.
Realizing that even THINKING of such a thing is NOT LOGICAL, SARI decides to HELP GOD out in HIS PLAN.
SARI one day says to ABRAM: ‘My lord, I have a young & pretty HANDMAID named HAGAR & I want you to go into her & she shall give you the SON that I cannot give you. By now I am TOO OLD & my BODY is ALMOST DEAD. It would take a MIRACLE for me to give you a CHILD.’
Such a thing SOUNDED GOOD to ABRAM. We don’t find ANY RECORD where SARI had to BEG HER HUSBAND to go & have SEX with this young HANDMAID.
Genesis 16:3 “& SARI, ABRAM’S wife, took HAGAR her handmaid, the EGYPTIAN, after ABRAM had dwelt 10 years in the land of CANAAN, & gave her to her husband to be his wife. & he went in unto her & she conceived & when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.’
It’s as the old saying: ‘There are too many people in the kitchen.’
NOTICE WHAT SARI DID: {This is important.}
SARI went for a HUMAN SOLUTION to BRING ABOUT a SUPERNATURAL PROMISE.
So they CREATED a MAJOR CONFLICT within their household, to put it MILDLY.
GOD has to RETURN to ABRAM ANOTHER TIME to explain to him in no uncertain terms, “ABRAM, this is NOT going to work.’
Let’s turn to Genesis 17:
Genesis 17:5 Here the LORD CHANGES ABRAM’S NAME to ABRAHAM.
Genesis 17: 15 ‘Then GOD said to ABRAHAM, As for SARI, thy wife, you shall not call her name SARI, but SARAH, shall be her name. 16: & I will bless her & give thee a son also of her, yea, I will bless her & she shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her.’
GOD told ABRAHAM to CALL HER SARAH {MOTHER of NATIONS} BEFORE she had even CONCEIVED her 1st CHILD. That is a FAITH BUILDING EXERCISE! Calling SOMETHING that IS NOT as though it ALREADY IS! AMEN?
Genesis 17:17 ‘Then ABRAHAM fell upon his face & LAUGHED & said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a 100 years old? & shall SARAH, that is 90 years old, bear?’
Now here was SARAH. She COULD NOT CONCEIVE a CHILD when she was 65 years old & NOW it is 25 years later.
SARAH is NOW 90 years old.
It only SOUNDS LOGICAL that IF SARAH COULD NOT have a BABY when she is 65 & she had NEVER GOTEN PREGNANT throughout all of her ADULT YEARS, for as long as she & ABRAHAM had been MARRIED, then WHY WOULD GOD THINK that she COULD GET PREGNANT NOW?
& ABRAHAM FELL on the GROUND & LAUGHED.
‘Call her SARAH –{MOTHER}, yeah, FUNNY LORD!”
& ABRAHAM says to the LORD, ‘SURELY you must be talking about ISMAHAEL my SON by HAGAR?’
& GOD says ‘NO ABRAHAM! FORGET ABOUT HAGAR & get to THINKING about 90 year old SARAH.’
Genesis 17:19 ‘SARAH, your wife, shall bear thee a son indeed & thou shalt call his name ISAAC, & I will establish MY covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, & with his seed after him.’
NOW WHAT THAT MEANS IS THIS:
If GOD still wants us to have the PROMISE --BUT we’re STILL STUCK on the FACTS that are SURROUNDING us --Then GOD has to CREATE SOME SITUATIONS that will TAKE US AWAY from the FACTS – so that HE can CONDITION US to ACCEPT HIS PROMISES.
Most of the time we find GOD DELAYING HIS PROMISES UNTIL we are NO MORE BOUND & TIED to the FACTS.
When GOD 1st spoke to ABRAHAM & PROMISED him & SARAH a CHILD it was 25 long years ago.
But their PROBLEM was they ALLOWED the FLESH to CONTROL the PROMISE of GOD. Because they were too busy LOOKING & CONCENTRATING & JUDGING things by the FACTS.
Isn’t that often times OUR PROBLEM also?
That was ISRAEL’S PROBLEM:
When GOD led them out of EGYPT & they were led into the WILDERNESS toward the PROMISED LAND, a land that FLOWED with MILK & HONEY, it should have taken them about 11 DAYS but because they were LOCKED IN & ZEROED IN on their FACTS, it took them instead 40 long years.
& that was REGARDLESS of the numerous MIRACLES GOD did to TEACH THEM that when it comes to RECEIVING SOMETHING FROM HIM –HIS ABILITY to BRING IT TO PASS is NOT LIMITED & CONFINED to the TRUTHFUL FACTS of OUR SITUATIONS or OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
The LORD OPENED the RED SEA.
That alone should have been ENOUGH!
Then GOD rained down QUAIL & MANNA from HEAVEN.
& YET they were STILL a PEOPLE that were FILLED with DOUBT & UNBELIEF.
So the QUESTION is this:
HOW LONG do we want to DELAY GOD from coming through for us BECAUSE we’re TIED & BOUND to the FACTS SURROUNDING US rather than to the PROMISE of GOD?
Sometimes we say to ourselves:
“Well, I’m NOT TRYING to DOUBT GOD but at the same time I have to be PRACTICAL about the SITUATION.’ In other words, LOOK AT THE FACTS.
We CANNOT CHANGE the FACTS.
GOD doesn’t want us to DISMISS or IGNORE the FACTS.
The FACTS are the FACTS –BUT we NEVER ALLOW the FACTS to take away the PROMISES of GOD or of GOD’S ABILITY to BREAK THROUGH those FACTS & DELIVER the PROMISE.
BECAUSE GOD is FAR GREATER than the OBVIOUS FACTS:
BECAUSE GOD is FAR GREATER than all the SPECIFIC THINGS we look at.
In EACH ONE of the GOSPELS we find the account of JESUS FEEDING the MULTITUDES. Here are the FACTS of that day.
Over 5000 men plus women & children: Perhaps at least 20,000 people?
The FOOD: A boy with 5 loaves of bread & 2 fish:
JESUS fed them all & they GATHERED UP 12 BASKETS of LEFTOVERS.
So GOD says to ABRAHAM: “I WILL make SARAH GREAT.”
& ABRAHAM LAUGHED at the THOUGHT of 90 year old SARAH EXPECTING a CHILD.
& then SARAH joined him in LAUGHING.
Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha ABRAHAM fell on the ground LAUGHING.
One of the REASONS we DO NOT SEE GOD MORE in our lives --- is that we too are TIED & BOUND to the FACTS.
We CANNOT IGNORE the FACTS – BUT we CANNOT be BOUND & LOCKED into them.
For IF we’re LOCKED into them:
Then we’re LOCKED into the NATURAL REALM.
Only FAITH can MOVE US from the NATURAL REALM into the SUPERNATURAL REALM.
& ONLY through the SUPERNATURAL REALM can SOME THINGS come about! Amen?
GOD will let us STAY BARREN & LIFELESS UNTIL FAITH RISES UP.
Hebrews 11:6 ‘For without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE GOD.’
JESUS said: ‘I am come that you may have life & that more abundantly.’
You see CHURCH; the LORD wants to give us ABUNDANT LIFE right in the MIDST of our BARRENESS.
GOD is ASKING each one of us this morning, the same thing HE ASKED ABRAHAM & SARAH.
Genesis 18:14 ‘Is there anything too hard for GOD?’
Each one of us at SOME TIME or ANOTHER are going to FACE FACTS that make it look like GOD is CRAZY with HIS PROMISES to us.
It’s going to make it APPEAR that GOD doesn’t KNOW WHAT HE is doing.
The FACTS are TOO CRAZY for me to ever THINK this thing could EVER BE ANY DIFFERENT.
Now watch this:
Genesis 21:1 ‘Now the LORD visited SARAH as HE had said, & the LORD did unto SARAH as HE had spoken. 2: For SARAH conceived & bore ABRAHAM a son in his old age, at the set time of which GOD had spoken to him.’
We’ve been LOOKING at DOUBT.
We’ve been LOOKING at UNBELIEF.
We’ve been LOOKING at HUMAN ATTEMPTS that DID NOT WORK & THEN the LORD had to DO THINGS to STIR THEIR FAITH so that HE could MOVE into their lives.
& the NEW TESTAMENT picks up on that to TEACH US a very IMPOTRTANT LESSON.
Turn to Romans 4:16
‘Therefore it is of faith; that it might be of grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of ABRAHAM, who is the father of us all.’
The PRINCIPLE of GOD MAKING a PROMISE doesn’t just APPLY to ABRAHAM & SARAH. He says it APPLIES to ALL their CHILDREN & ALL their DESCENDENTS.
So WE can GET IN ON this PRINCIPLE also.
Not only to those of the OLD TESTAMENT LAW but also to those WHO are of the FAITH of ABRAHAM, who is the FATHER of us all.
If we are a BELIEVER in JESUS CHRIST, ABRAHAM is our FATHER, so this PRINCIPLE APPLIES also to us this morning.
What is the PRINCIPLE?
GOD CAN MAKE SOMETHING --- OUT OF NOTHING:
Although it DOES NOT EXIST.
• We may have a SICK & DISEASED BODY with all kinds of MEDICAL RECORDS to SUPPORT the FACTS.
• We may have a FINANCIAL CRISIS. We’re LAID OFF from WORK & there is a STACK of BILLS for us to SWEAT & WORRY ABOUT.
• We may have a TROUBLED & DEAD MARRIAGE. You may have been told, “I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE.’
• We may have CHILDREN who have gotten INVOLVED with a BAD CROWD & they’re in all sorts of TROUBLE & they have NO DESIRE to CHANGE their ways.
& in this MIDST of this BARRENESS – this DEADNESS – GOD PROMISES us LIFE. & RESTORATION.
Romans 4: 18 {speaking of Abraham}
‘Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.’
What a phrase:
‘WHO AGAINST HOPE BELIEVED IN HOPE….’
That means ABRAHAM had SPIRITUAL HOPE when there was NO NATURAL HOPE. To be found.
There may be SOME this morning who SEEM TO BE in a HOPELESS SITUATION:
You see NO HOPE & NO LIGHT at the END of the TUNNEL:
There’s NO POT of GOLD at the END of the RAINBOW:
It says ABRAHAM HOPED AGAINST HOPE:
ABRAHAM BELIEVED:
Romans 4:19 ‘& being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of SARAH’S womb:’
Romans 4:20 ‘He staggered not at the promise of GOD through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to GOD.’
On one hand ABRAHAM is saying: ‘I’m a 100 years old in body.’
BUT GOD SAID:
Then ABRAHAM said: ‘Yeah, but I’m a 100 years old.’
BUT GOD SAID:
Then ABRAHAM said: ‘Yeah, but I’m a 100 years old in body.’
BUT GOD SAID:
So ABRAHAM is THINKING about the SITUATION.
But THEN he is THINKING about the PROMISE of GOD:
& then FINALLY ABRAHAM got to the PLACE where ‘HE STAGGERED NOT AT THE PROMISE OF GOD THROUGH UNBELIEF, BUT GREW STRONG IN FAITH.’
BUT---- WAIT A MINUTE:
IF – I’M OVER HERE --- THINKING ABOUT MY SITUATION & IT DOESN”T MAKE SENSE:
BUT --- THEN – I’M THINKING ABOUT THE PROMISE OF GOD:
HOW – DO I MAKE MY FAITH GROW – WHEN--- I AM CONSTANTLY CONTEMPLATING MY PROBLEM ---- OVER HERE?
He tells us at the end of VERSE #20:
‘GIVING GLORY TO GOD’
SO ABRAHAM THOUGHT ABOUT HIS PROBLEM:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROMISE OF GOD:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT HIS PROBLEM:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROMISE OF GOD:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT HIS PROBLEM:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROMISE OF GOD:
ABRAHAM was probably getting a HEADACHE:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT HIS PROBLEM:
THEN HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROMISE OF GOD:
Isn’t that THE WAY WE DO?
BUT --- WHAT WAS IT --- THAT TOOK ABRAHAM OVER THE HUMP?
ABRAHAM says:
WHEN --- I THOUGT ABOUT MY PROBLEM ---{rather than GET DISCOURAGED & DOWN} I GAVE GLORY TO GOD –WHICH THEN TOOK ME TO HIS PROMISE.
& MY PROMISE FINALLY OUTGREW MY PROBLEM:
When we PUT ON THE GARMENTS OF PRAISE – in SPITE of the DELIMA that we FACE:
We THEN as ABRAHAM in Verse #21:
‘Become FULLY ASSURED that what GOD had PROMISED, HE was ABLE also to PERFORM.’
WHEN ABRAHAM GAVE GOD GLORY --- THE PROMISE OVERCAME HIS PROBLEM!
Hebrews 11:11 ‘By faith SARAH received strength to conceive seed & was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged HIM faithful who had promised.’
Oh I love that scripture. I FEEL the CHILL BUMPS of the HOLY SPIRIT:
Genesis 21:2 says ‘By faith SARAH conceived & bare ABRAHAM a son in his old age, at the set time of which GOD had spoken.’
Now THE PROBLEM IS:
SARAH DIDN’T CONCEIVE UNTIL SHE WAS 90 YEARS OLD.
So there is a NATURAL QUESTION that ARISES:
HOW MUCH TIME does SARAH get to SPEND with her CHILD?
SOMETIMES WE’RE CRITICAL WITH THE LORD:
“LORD, ----IT’S TAKING YOU ------ TOO LONG TO DO WHAT YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD DO:
But the BIBLE says: {Everybody say: THE BIBLE SAYS:}
SARAH DIED WHEN SHE WAS 127 YEARS OLD:
WHY is THAT so IMPORTANT?
SARAH is the ONLY WOMAN in the BIBLE --- whose AGE is GIVEN when she DIED.
There’s NO OTHER WOMAN in the BIBLE who has HER AGE WRITTEN OUT at her DEATH.
It is DONE for MEN --- BUT it’s DONE for NO OTHER WOMAN BUT SARAH:
NOW WHY IS THAT?
It is because GOD WANTS US TO KNOW:
That even though it MAY LOOK LIKE it’s TAKING GOD a LONG TIME to COME THROUGH with HIS PROMISE---
WHEN GOD DOES COME THROUGH --- HE IS GOING TO GIVE US –TIME TO ENJOY IT.
SARAH was 90 YEARS OLD WHEN ISAAC was BORN.
She LIVED to the AGE of 127.
So for 37 YEARS the LORD she got to ENJOY her SON.
Oh the LORD is GOOD!
I said Oh the LORD is GOOD!
This morning I KNOW there are NEEDS AMONG US.
& I also KNOW there are some HINDERING FACTS & some HINDERING CIRUMSTANCES.
But will you come this morning & DO as ABRAHAM & SARAH:
WILL YOU in YOUR FACTS & in YOUR CIRUMSTANCES & in YOUR SITUATIONS
GIVE GOD GLORY
GIVE GOD GLORY that HE IS GREATER THAN YOUR PROBLEMS:
NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU HAVE WAITED ---- IT’S NOT TOO LATE!
