Passing Life’s Tests
Hebrews 11:8-19
Part III - Traveling Beyond the Impossible - The ‘How’ Test
Hebrews 11:11-12
INTRODUCTION
a. Movie - Pearl Harbour. When challenged by the Japanese opposition President Roosevelt stands from his wheel chair and says, “Don’t tell me it can’t be done!”
b. A sign above an office desk said, “We the unwilling, led by the unqualified, have been doing the unbelievable for so long with so little, that we now attempt the impossible with nothing.”
The ‘How’ test. We all experience feelings of inadequacy at times. When I look at our church goals I experience feelings of inadequacy. But in facing up to them, each one of us here that is committed to them, faces up to the how test; the “How is this going to be achieved?” test.
(Share Goals)
The truth is I don’t know how these goals are going to be achieved - and the central thought in the passage set before us today is that we don’t need to know how. You see, a real believer can count on God to overcome the impossible without knowing how he will do it.
1. ENCOURAGING AND BEING ENCOURAGED TO PRACTICE FAITH.
The first element we should note in regard to the ‘how’ test is that a real believer can count on God to overcome the impossible without knowing how he will do it by first encouraging others and being encouraged to practice faith in God.
This point is not immediately evident to us from the English translation of verse 11. We need to look at the varying translations of this verse to see it. V 11 has provided quite some difficulty for translators because, simply put, the original language in which the author wrote can be taken two ways. But it’s important for us to get a handle on it because it will help us understand this first element of the ‘how’ test better.
The New International and the Revised Standard Versions of the bible have each chosen the two varying translations of this verse.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren—
was enabled to become a father …
(v 11a NIV)
By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past age…
(v 11a RSV)
In the translation chosen by the NIV we see that it is Abraham that was “enabled by faith” to become a father; whereas in the RSV it is Sarah that “By faith - received power” (or ‘was enabled’). The question is wether or not it is the faith of Sarah or that of Abraham that the author is talking about here. The truth is that the original language is too vague at this point for us to know with any certainty.
What we can say is that it would seem odd for the author to digress to a statement about Sarah’s faith at this point. This is because this passage that we have been studying over the last few weeks has to this point focussed exclusively on Abraham’s faith. Why the author would make a statement about Sarah’s faith within that context is hard to understand.
In addition to this, when we take the original Genesis (18:12) version into account we see that Sarah is hardly portrayed as a character of faith. In fact when she heard the news that she would become a mother at 90 years of age she laughed with an air of scepticism - hardly an act of faith. So if Sarah is not portrayed as a woman of faith in Genesis why would she be portrayed that way by the author of Hebrews? The bottom line is that we can only make an educated guess as to whom the author is referring at this point.
It would seem to make sense to me, and a number of other more learned people than myself, that both Abraham and Sarah had to have at least some measure of faith for this miraculous birth to take place. After all it takes two to tango!
We know Abraham believed that with God anything is possible, but the fact that Sarah even tried to conceive at such a late stage in life suggests that she too had some measure of faith. Abraham is well known for the strength of his faith. So it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume then, that his great and unshakeable faith inspired Sarah to believe too. If we were to take this interpretation of the text it might read:
“By faith Abraham, together with Sarah herself,
was enabled …..”
The bottom line being that they both had to practice faith for this miracle to work and that the faith of one encouraged the other.
As Sarah was inspired and encouraged by her husband’s faith, so we can be encouraged and inspired by the faith of our Christian brothers and sisters. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul tells him to “Set an example for believers in speech, life, love, FAITH, and in purity.” We are to challenge and encourage each other to live by faith. I am continually challenged, inspired and encouraged by the faith I see among some of our own people.
I remember a friend saying one time that she felt unqualified to lead a small group for some of our mums. I think it would be fair to say that she felt the task was a bit out of her league. She was facing a real life ‘How’ test. “How am I going to do this when I’ve never done it before?” I am inspired when I see that my friend had the faith to believe that God would enable her to face up to that ‘how’ test and then succeed.
Then there’s our youth leaders and the teenage youth group. Faced with the “How are we going to build a youth group and reach these kids with the gospel?” test they instigated a regular prayer meeting faithfully believing God would answer. God’s answer to those faithful prayers is sitting just beyond these walls this morning. Some of those kids are starting "Christianity Explained" this morning. Doesn’t that just inspire you to believe God more?
2. ALLOWING GOD TO ENABLE.
As we look at these examples of faith, and the example of Abraham and Sarah, the one constant we see in all of them is that it is God who does the enabling; it is God who gives the power to overcome the impossible; in each situation it is his work and his alone. This is the second element in the ‘How’ test. You see, a real believer can count on God to overcome the impossible without knowing how he will do it, by also allowing God to enable (11b).
We see it clearly in this account of Abraham and Sarah. The barrenness, or sterility, of Abraham’s wife emphasises the fact that God’s people would not come by natural means. This was to be a super-natural enabling. A miracle no less!
We know that Sarah was about 90 and Abraham about 100 years old when their son Isaac was born. Now, some of these bible stories are just too hard to believe sometimes aren’t they? But that is exactly the point. If you’re a sceptic when it comes to these hard to believe miracles in the bible, then be encouraged because you’re on the right track. You see, the whole point behind these miraculous accounts is that they are humanly impossible.
The ‘real life’ human situation was that at 90 Sarah was well past child bearing age. She’d experienced menopause a long time ago. Likewise Abraham at 100, we’re told, was “as good as dead.” Some commentators go as far as to say he was impotent. It was obviously a human impossibility for them to conceive.
And you can imagine Abraham’s embarrassment at his situation can’t you. For example, he’s at a party and meets someone new. “What do you do?” they ask. “Oh I’m the father of a great nation,” replies Abraham, “God has promised me that my descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” The thought of this 100 year old man and his 90 year old wife becoming first time parents is laughable isn’t it. At least it would be from a human perspective.
But we’re not talking about human ability. We’re told that Abraham and Sarah were enabled to conceive. God gave them the power to conceive. This was no ordinary human conception. Without God’s divine intervention it would not have happened. When God sets out to achieve his purpose he will provide the power required to achieve it. That’s why when the believer is faced with the ‘how’ test they can approach it with confidence, because it’s not their own fallible human power that will achieve it but the infinite power of God.
The way God enables his people to overcome the impossible is like the blind man and the blue heeler in the TV ad for Daiwoo. Are you familiar with that ad? The blind man gets in the driver’s seat of this brand new Daiwoo with the dog beside him. He instructs the dog to give two barks if they are to turn right and one to turn left. And so they set off at high speed in and around a storage shed on a shipping dock - with the dog barking instructions all the way. The blind man in the driver’s seat has no choice but to do exactly what the dog commands or risk severe injury and damage to the car. He places all his faith in the dog. For a few hair raising seconds everything goes well. (That is until there is a breakdown in communication and they both end up in the harbour, but that’s whole new sermon!).
In the same way a real believer is able to count on God to overcome the impossible without knowing how he will do it by allowing God to enable them. The blind man in the ad approaches his task with complete confidence in the Blue Heeler at his side, likewise the Christian is able to approach the seemingly impossible task with complete confidence in Gods enabling.
For Abraham the situation looked hopeless. How was God going to make this 100 year old impotent man, the father of a great nation? Fortunately Abraham at least, had the sense to believe that with God all things are possible. Indeed this is exactly what the Lord himself confirmed for Abraham when he visited him with the promise of son.
GE 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?’ 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."
Like it was in the case of Abraham and Sarah, if God wants us to do something he will give us the whatever it takes to carry it out.
3. EXPECTING GOD TO BLESS US WHEN WE PLEASE HIM.
You know, the ‘how’ test is something we ought to get used to because God routinely leads people to face the impossible. In fact leading us through the ‘how’ test is a common routine for God because it is one of his primary ways of blessing his people, and God loves to bless his people. This carries us to the third element of the how test which is that a real believer can count on God to overcome the impossible, without knowing how he will do it, by expecting God to bless us when we please him.
Let me explain further.
I don’t have to outline the situation in which Abraham and Sarah found themselves any further than I already have, for us to know that it was nothing short of hopeless. But at their darkest hour when everything looked hopeless and it seemed like they would never have a family, God had them right where he wanted them. God wanted Abraham and Sarah, and everyone else around them, to know that he was God. Not until the situation was completely and utterly beyond human competence, could God prove that he was the only one who could overcome this impossible situation.
Listen to the joy in the words of Sarah as she acknowledges that God alone has enabled her to give birth to a son; ie. to overcome the impossible:
GE 21:6 [She] said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
You see once, Sarah was hopeless, forlorn, desolate, downcast and in despair. But can you now hear the joy and elation in the words of this woman. Sarah has realised that in facing the ‘how’ test and succeeding she has received blessing beyond human comprehension. This is brought out with even more force in Hebrews 11:12:
…from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
God’s blessing is beyond human calculation.
In fact Sarah’s blessing was so immense that it could not be contained to herself alone. Her joy was not confined to her own personal experience. She tells us that, “everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." The blessing of her faithful success was also to be shared by those around her. Not only was the blessing incalculable, but it was also transferable.
You know this is exactly why the church exists. Because blessings are transferable. God wants his people to live lives that can only be explained by his existence and his power. When God’s people overcome the impossible ‘how’ tests in life everyone around, believers and unbelievers alike, receive a blessing. They see a glimpse of God at work in our world.
When you think about God’s blessings, remember one child’s description of an elevator: “I got into this little room and the upstairs came down!”
When God’s people overcome the humanly impossible it says to the world around them that God exists and that, like the upstairs coming down, he breaks into our world and proves that he alone is Almighty God.
CONCLUSION
Let’s revisit the ‘how’ test we are facing as a church, our 2004 goals. The only way we are going to see our goals achieved, is if we face up to the ‘how’ test, encourage each other to have faith, allow God to enable us and expect God to bless us when we are faithful, no matter how impossible the situation seems. If we want to attract people to our church, they need to continue seeing “the upstairs coming down” on a regular basis. People need to continue to see God at work in each of our lives. By becoming conscious of the humanly impossible being made possible by our faith in God, people will begin to say to themselves, “There must be something in this because what I’ve just seen is humanly impossible.”
The blessing we seek as a church is to see people making real and serious life long commitments to the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Abraham and Sarah we can expect to see this blessing come our way if we are faithful and face up to the humanly impossible ‘how’ test and endure it successfully even when we don’t know ‘how’ God will answer.
