Bunbury
Sun am
5/12/10
“The lie of too late”
Intro: *** Friends of George Burns have always kidded him about his singing. Burns, a master of self-deprecating humour, decided to take advantage of this and insure his voice for a million dollars. He thought it would be a wonderful publicity stunt.
“I was so excited,” said Burns, “I couldn’t wait to rush down to the insurance company. I took a cassette and a tape recorder with me so the insurance man could hear my voice. It was one of my best numbers—a syncopated version of Yankee Doodle Blues with a yodelling finish. The insurance man listened patiently to the whole thing, then he just looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.’”
George Burns realised long b/4 this that his voice would never be the focus of his career so it was no shock to him when he was told it’s too late!
But how many times are we confronted w/ dreams that have gone wrong?
Hopes that will never come to pass & aspirations that will never be realised?
Many people give up on living the kind of lives that God wants them to live simply b/c they believe it’s too late.
They give up on b/co something more than they are / marriage / family / fitting into society / relationships / being financially stable / children that have gone wrong – give up on life!
And its all b/c they have believed the lie of ‘too late for me!”
So t/m I want to speak against this lie & we want to find hope from the word of God that it’s not too late for you.
I want to preach a sermon I’ve entitled ‘The lie of too late’.
Text: Genesis 18:1-15 (NKJV) 1Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”
6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. 9Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
# 1. The too late mind.
A. The mind of man is a peculiar thing.
a. Our minds are powerfully conditioned w/ timeframes in life.
i. In other words we believe that there are timeframes where certain things must happen / take place.
ii. We have been conditioned to believe that there are windows of opportunity in life that will only be open for a brief time & then they will close.
iii. And while this may be true in some areas of life it’s not true in every area of life.
iv. But we often live in fear of missing our opportunity & our lives are driven by the concern of missed opportunity.
b. Think about some of the ways in which this works out through our lives..... our minds begin to work this way from a very early age.
i. As teenagers we are all very vulnerable to this kind of thinking ...... it b/co a major motivator.
ii. We see other teenagers who are beginning to date boys / girls & it’s not long b/4 we start worrying about being left on the shelf @ 15 years old!
*** Listen to this confession of one teenager when she said “That’s how you get a boyfriend. No one will go out with me unless they think I will go all the way. I don’t want to be alone. So I have to do it.” – Amanda 14 years old
Think about the insanity that has gripped this young teenagers mind – it could be too late for me!
iii. We b/co perplexed b/c everyone else has is getting married when they are 20 or 21 & we are still single!!!
*** I remember a lady in our church in W’gong at 64 telling me that God spoke to her & told her she was going to get married again. She was a widow & I thought to myself – fat chance! It’s too late for you Jannita. But God really had spoken to her & two years after we left W’gong we received an email telling us that she had met a nice man named Jack who was 70 years old & she was getting married again!!!
iv. Or ..... our friends have been accepted into a university course & they are already doing their degree @ 18 but I’m 19½ & I still haven’t made up my mind.
v. I’m 28 & I haven’t gotten into a career so it looks like I never will get into a career.
*** Ivan Boesky – ‘The bear of Wall St’ was retrenched @ 46 & didn’t make his fortune until he was in his in his late forties.
vi. And it goes on through life ....... I’m 32 & I haven’t bought a house yet!
vii. The trouble we face is that all through life we are being conditioned to believe that there is only a certain timeframe in which we can do things & then it will be too late.
B. Our big mistake is that we set limits on our lives that God never intended.
a. Instead of u/s the limitless possibilities that God plans for us we create boundaries.
i. This is the temptation we are going to have to fight that is alive in all of us.
ii. In the parable of the talents the one talent servant created limits / boundaries that kept him to one talent.
Matthew 25:25 (NKJV) 25And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
iii. God wanted to give king Joash in the O/T breakthrough victory but he limited God .....
2 Kings 13:18 (NKJV) 18Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped.
iv. The disciples seeing the 5 loaves & two fish limited God .....
Matthew 14:16-17 (NKJV) 16But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
v. Sarah hearing the news of a coming son laughed!!! ..... Impossible! I’m too old, it’s too late!!!
Vs 12. 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, .......
b. Let me ask you .... what areas of your life have you put limits on that God never intended?
i. What realms of life have you given up on b/c you say it’s too late.
ii. What dimensions of life haven’t gone right for you ......... so you have allowed hope to perish & given up on them as too late?
iii. B/c the ‘too late’ mind doesn’t come from God – it is born out of a heart that has given up on God!
# 2. Let God show you the possibilities.
A. Firstly – the unexplored possibilities that exist in Him.
a. Can any of us say that we have fully explored the possibilities of God yet?
i. Sarah had no clue of the possibilities that existed in God ..... she had never allowed her mind to search for the possibility of all God could do.
ii. And this is certainly a spiritual gene we’ve inherited from our grandmother of the faith.
iii. She was ignorant of the fact that although she lived in a world full of limitations – but God does not!
Jeremiah 32:17 (NKJV) 17‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
Vs 14. 14Is anything too hard for the LORD?
b. Is anything too hard for God?
i. No, don’t believe so!
ii. In many senses I believe that God is the God Who works & does things out of season...... listen to the words of Jesus here .....
John 4:35 (NKJV) 35Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
iii. What Jesus is saying here is that when He is involved in our lives & at work in our environment He works in His own timeframe.
iv. The window of opportunity remains open as long as He wants it to be open!
c. The prophet Ezekiel finds himself in a valley full of dry bones – the valley of ‘too late’.
i. As he looks around what he sees is a scene where it’s just ‘too late’ ..... no more chances / opportunity / hope / no more life – it’s over.
ii. But Ezekiel realises that God is ultimately the one Who decides when it’s too late & this same God asks him a strange question ......
Ezekiel 37:3 (NKJV) 3And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”
iii. And then he watches as God reveals a powerful truth to him .... the truth that w/ God its only too late when we give up on God’s ability to change things in our lives.
Ezekiel 37:7-8 (NKJV) 7So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over;
B. Secondly – let God show you the possibilities of y/s.
a. Many Christians fail to u/s latent potential God has placed w/i them.
Psalms 139:14 (NKJV) 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ....
i. Do you realise that your life has been loaded up w/ Godly possibility?
ii. What do you think the psalmist was talking about when he speaking about the exquisiteness of a human life?
iii. I don’t want to promote humanistic thinking here but the biblical principle of the power of a life surrendered to God.
iv. Sarah could have rejected the plan of God in her life & so can you simply by not seeing y/s as God sees you!
v. Get away from me Abraham – our family planning is over!
b. God could see w/i her a womb that could still nurture what He wanted to do through her life.
i. He could still see a body that could give birth to His plans.
ii. He could see fruitfulness while Sarah could only see bareness.
iii. He could see a life that would give birth to a nation when she could only see a childless old couple.
iv. I wonder what possibilities / realities that God can still see in your life that you have already given up on?
# 3. Laughing at the lie.
Think about something we see in relation to this story of Sarah’s life – the two laughs of Sarah.
A. Firstly there was the laugh at the possibility of what God could do.
a. In reality it was the laugh of ‘too late!’
*** The UK Telegraph carried a story of an Indian woman is thought to have become the world's oldest mother at the age of 70 following fertility treatment.
Rajo Devi gave birth to a baby girl on November 28, taking over the title of world's oldest mother from a 67-year-old Spanish woman who had twins in 2006.
Recently The Sunday Times carried a front page story of a 57-year-old woman is believed to have become Australia’s oldest mother after giving birth to twins in a Perth hospital last week.
The woman, who is reportedly from India, delivered the babies by caesarean at the King Edward Memorial Hospital after receiving IVF treatment with donated eggs in India.
i. Sarah who is now 90 years old when she hears the news of a baby laughs!
ii. It was the laugh that said – I’m not able, it’s too late, we’ve missed the starter’s gun by about 40 years – it’s all over!
iii. That’s what Sarah was thinking when she was listening to the conversation being spoken between God & Abraham.
Vs 12. 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
iv. It was the laugh that said ..... it’s even too late for Him! Not even God’s power can change this ......it’s sealed / over / finished / a done deal.
v. That was the laugh that said this is so overdue that it is hilarious! But its never too late for God to work a miracle!
b. It’s also the laugh of unbelief, the laugh of abandoned hope.
i. The laugh that says ........ “I gave up on that hope a long time ago”........ & I’m sure that many of us here today have laughed the laugh of unbelief b/4.
ii. But it’s also the laugh that mocks God & all He wants to bring about in our lives.
iii. And we need to recognise that it is a laugh that is inspired by hell & has a demonic power behind it that wants to rob you of divine destiny.
iv. And more imptly ...... it is a laugh that can cause ‘too late’ to b/co a reality in your life.
B. But there was another laugh Sarah laughed – the laugh of impossibility.
a. It was the laugh that she laughed as she held a new baby boy in her arms.
Genesis 21:1-7 ( NKJV ) 1And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 7She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
i. It was the laugh that said that w/ God there are no limits / impossibilities / it’s never too late!
ii. It was the laugh at the impossible – that its totally impossible for God to not honour His word.
iii. God wants you to embrace the promise of destiny .... He wants you to hold onto the promise of hope.
iv. He wants to make you laugh at the lie of ‘too late’ & begin believing that what God does in our lives is always on time!
