The following is a continuation of the sermon series: Living by Faith.
Hebrews 11: 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. – NKJV
Sermon Title: The Faith of Sarah
The bible addressed Abraham as the father of faith, and Sarah as it’s mother!
Isaiah 51 (NKJV)
1“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, (that is an indirect reference to Sarah which I will explain and the messages end) and she is our mother.
Yet the faith she displayed was at times fluctuating, floundering, (sometimes) fickle, (yet ultimately) fruitful!
PERHAPS OUR looks more like Sarah’s than perhaps anyone we’ve considered together on his journey.
And let us consider it together to see why it was ultimately commended by God!
I. The DESCRIPTION of Sarah:
IMPORTANT BEGINNING POINT: BY THAT I mean, how is she…
Introduced? To us in the bible, remember this? Listen to this…
Genesis 11: 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.- NKJV
Right up front the bible brings up her..
A) Barrenness
1. This is perhaps the biggest insult that could be levied against a woman in jewish antiquity!
2. Seen at the very least as a woman living under God’s disfavor, but more distinctly seen a someone living under a curse in the Old Testament:
a) God said through Moses that when you enter the promised land..
Deuteronomy 7:14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.-NKJV
b) When Michal scorned David for dancing before the Lord:
2 Samuel 6:23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. -NIV
B) Blessedness is equated with bearing children
Psalm 127:3 -5 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
C) Biblical blue-print for woman is:
1 Timothy 2:15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.-NIV
D) Basic role of a woman!
Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
II. The DEVOTION of Sarah
She was willing to sacrifice herself and her dignity for her husband!
Genesis 12:12 (Abraham said) When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” 14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.
A) Point?
1. She went along with it! She agreed!
2. She put herself, her virtue, her sanctity, her life, on the line for her husband!
a) TWICE!
Genesis 20:1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
B) Picture of? (Imperfect in a sense, but never the less a picture of )
1. Marital devotion!
C) Portrait painted by her relationship with Abram:
1. Sarah
a) Her beauty was more than skin deep!
1 Peter 3: 1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
C) Point?
1. The DEVOTION of Sarah was to the institution of Marriage itself!
2. Marriage is at the center of God’s mission!
a) Even in the life of Jesus:
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
President Barak Obama - “The number one problem domestically facing this country is the breakdown of the family— fatherless families .A kid raised without a dad is five times more likely to be poor and commit crimes; nine times more likely to drop out of school; and 20 times more likely to end up in jail.”
3. This is perhaps why God hates divorce!
Malachi 2:13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. 15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Ok so now that we have established that….let’s look at…..
III. The DOUBT of Sarah
THANK GOD JUDE SAYS…
Jude 1:22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
A) Point?
1. Doubt will make you do some destructive things!
2. Delay’s can also!
3. but we will see God’s mercy shinning thru it all!
a) This happens about 10 years after the promise is initially made:
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
IV. The DETERMINANT of Sarah
A) Cause behind it:
1. Sarah’s doubt!
2. Abraham’s carnality (being in the flesh?)
a) Did Abe object? No!
3. Abraham carrying out his faith?
a) Up to this point, God had not directly mentioned Sarai as the mother of the promise.
b) Perhaps he thought – maybe this is the way God wants to do it?
c) Perhaps Sarah thought – after this much time - it must not be me because of…
VI. The DISABILITY of Sarah?
A) Physically?
Romans 4:19b Sarah’s womb was also dead.
1. She is 75 years old at this point in the narrative.
B) Spiritually?
Genesis 16:4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
2. She initiates and then blames her husband!
a) Possibility?
Daniel Whedon— Sarai, stung by feelings of jealousy, and suspected that Abram’s affections were turned from herself to her handmaid, complains to him of the wrong she suffers. She assumes that it is his place to redress the wrong, and in passionate haste implies that he has failed to do so because of his devotion to Hagar.
b) Give her a pass?
i. It has been 25 years since the Lord first appeared to Abraham
ii, There is little physical evidence that God will make good on His promises.
iii. Yet one day…
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
Genesis 17:15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Genesis 17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
C) Point?
1. God never spoke this directly to Sarah.
2. Yet GOD SHOWS UP AGAIN NEXT CHAPTER
Genesis 18: 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.1 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Genesis 18: 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
3. It seems that Sarah needs to hear the news for herself although strangely, she is never told directly. It is while hiding behind the tent flap that she overhears the repeating of the promise of a child.
a) Initial response?
Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
i. The news elicits laughter!
Why? Consider?
VI. The DISCOURAGEMENT of SARAH?
A) Emotional / relational?
1. Twice in the past 20 years Abraham has passed Sarah off as his sister with the result that she had entered other men's harems and come perilously close to being violated while Abraham stood mutely by.
2. Perhaps for the past 15 years Sarah has observed Abraham's affection for Hagar?
3. Her discouragement could have been GREAT!
VII. The DISBELIEF of Sarah?
A) Principles of LBF that need to be pointed out!
1. Faith is always tested!
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son
a) Why tested?
James 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
2. Failure to believe (disbelief) IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER!
a). God confronts it!
b) But mercifully in her case he doesn’t condemn it/but he does confront it,!
Genesis 18:13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
3. What is the perspective/problem that he is trying to address?
Genesis 18:14a Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Hebrew 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being sure of what we do not see.-NIRV
Genesis 18:15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
VIII. The DELIVERANCE of Sarah!
A) From her barrenness and unbelief!
Q: How is she delivered from doubt?
1. She received a Word from God, howbeit indirectly but a Word nevertheless!
Genesis 17: 15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
c) Sarah – A princess, noblewoman, one who rules.
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; ( It won’t stop there) then I will bless her, and (listen) she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.
2. I believe that when God said…
a) She heard it…
Romans 10: 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
b) And faith for a child at the age of 89 came forth!
Luke 8:15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, hold it fast) and by persevering produce a crop.
IX. The DILIGENCE of Sarah (Back to our opening text)
Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, [because] she judged Him faithful who had promised.
A) She received that word
B) She considered, counted, esteemed [judged] Him to be faithful!!
C) She had to come to that conclusion:
1. because if you don’t believe what God has said or promised your calling him a liar!!!
2. But she knew somethings about God
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
2 Corinthians 1:18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
3. And that…NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR THE LORD!
Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
4. I think OF IT THIS STATEMENT IS only 17 chapters removed from…
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. And God said, “Let there be….and there it was!!!
5. When she believed God she experienced this reality:
Ephesians 3: 20 God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by his power that is working in us.- NIRV
X. The DOCTRINE of Sarah! (The teaching/truth we can learn from the life of Sarah).
A) This kind of encapsulates her whole experience!
Isaiah 40: 1 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”? (Why do you say Sarah ha!)
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
(That God ACCOMPLISHED HIS ETERNAL PURPOSES THRU HIS STRENGTH ALONE – IT IS NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER BUT BY MY SPIRIT SAYS THE LORD)
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord (to wait for, to hope for, to look eagerly for; to lie in wait for; linger for, to expect. The basic idea is to wait for or look for with eager expectation.)
31b Shall renew their strength; [there will be an exchange of strength – his for yours}
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
2 Corinthians 12: 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
XI. The DELIGHT of Sarah!
Genesis 21:1a Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah
Genesis 21:1b as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Genesis 21: 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
1. She who Laughs last laughs the best!! LAST LAUGH IS THE BEST LAUGH!
Doubting?
Don't be discouraged -God will accomplish His Good Will in His Good Time - keep on believing!
