We're in Hebrews 11, if you may
recall. And I brought a short message
from this verse on the day we left for Kentucky. And I want to go back and bring
out some more detail, if you would. Turn to Hebrews 11, verse
11. And I want to read two verses.
We're going to look at 11 and 12. Hebrews 11, verse 11 and
12. through faith." This is the only
time the writer uses this word, through faith. The rest of it,
he says, by faith. By faith, Abraham. By faith,
Abel. By faith, Enoch. By faith, Isaac. By faith, Jacob. By faith, Joseph. Here he uses this word, through
faith. Notice that it says, through
faith also. What they're talking about there
when it says also, remember, let's go back and look at verses
point nine and ten again. By faith, he, speaking of Abraham,
actually let's do eight. By faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place where he should after retreats
for an inheritance, he obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. We've talked about the fruit of faith. We
obey God. But we trust Him. That's the
command of God is, believe on me and thou shalt be saved. That's the command. People take
the command and say, don't kill people. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit fornication.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt love God thy Father
with all thy heart. That's not the only command God
makes. He commands, believe on me and thou shalt be saved. That's
the commandment that fulfills all other commandments. By faith,
by belief. Abraham sojourned, it says in
verse 9. By faith, for he looked for a
city that had foundations of builders, first candidate maker
of God. And then it says, through faith also. So Sarah also had
to have faith. Kathy is not going to go to heaven
on my shoestring. My son and my daughter are not
going to go to heaven on my shoestring. They've got to have their own
faith. She has to have a faith that God must give her to believe
on Him. That's what it's talking about.
Sarah had her own faith. She had faith in God. Isn't it
wonderful that some folks have family members that love God? I can't express in words the
riches it is to have my wife believe in God as I do. I remember
a time when we didn't believe in the same God. Or a brother,
Brother Lee and his wife Shirley over in Colorado who love the
Lord as I do. What riches we have knowing God
as we do the same God who rules over all things. Sarah also herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age. because she judged him faithful
who had promised." Now, that was our subject matter for services
two weeks ago before we left. Look at verse 12. Therefore,
in other words, because she received strength through faith, through
her own faith, spring there even of one, and him as good as dead,
so many are the stars in the sky and multitude as the sand,
which by the sea shore innumerable. Now that's a very confusing verse. So I gotta be honest with you.
I haven't found a lot of commentary on that verse, but I do know
this, that according, and you know what, I'm jumping ahead
of myself, so we'll get to that poem. Let's first off talk about
Sarah through faith in Hebrews 11, 11. Sarah believed God. She believed his promises. That's
what we just sang about. Oh, how wonderful to trust in
Jesus. She trusted that what God said
is going to come about. She trusted. She believed God. She believed His promise. She
trusted His Word without anything to back it up, though. She was
way past the age, wasn't she? Was there any scientific thing
that she could have said, well, I know the Lord is just waiting
for me to get to be a certain age. You know, there are people
who have children at the age of 90 all the time. No. There
was nothing for her to hold on to. There was nothing that she
had other than what? God's Word. Isn't that what we
say? We believe God? Not because of
anything that happens in the world. I love, now don't get
me wrong, I love to fly 30,000 feet over the Grand Canyon and
say, look at there, you can see the flood. You can see the results
of the flood. You can see the results of what
God's saying is true. You can see these things. I love
doing that, but that's not what my faith is. There are so many
things in God's Word we have no proof of in this world at
all. How do you explain the Trinity? You can't. But yet we believe
it, don't we? There was no history for her
to believe in Him. There was no science. She just
believed God because God gave her what? A gift to believe. All things spiritual. are so
far beyond the scope of our reason. The gospel of Christ and all
that is revealed in the gospel is irreconcilable to the human
reason. The things of God are totally
contrary to what the depraved mind and the heart of man consider
common sense. Who can explain the divine trinity,
as I mentioned a moment ago? How can we understand the fall
of our race in Adam? Who can explain eternal election
in Christ? How can we describe in the sense
of man's knowledge the incarnation of God in human flesh? What sense
can we make of substitutionary redemption or free salvation? These are all matters utterly
beyond the reach of our reason. These are things which every
heaven-born soul sees, believes and rejoices in, isn't it? But things which no unregenerate
man can reconcile in his own mind with common sense. Why? Why? Because the Holy Spirit
gives us the answer in 1 Corinthians 2, I want you to turn over there,
that in the wisdom of God is hidden, that which is the wisdom
of God is hidden from the wise, and the prudent of this world,
it can only be known by divine revelation." Markerspot in Hebrews
3 over 1 Corinthians 2. Go to the left, 1 Corinthians
2. In 1 Corinthians 2, we read in
verse 7, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world under our glory,
which none of the princes of this world knew, For had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
But as it is written, I have not seen nor heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things God, for what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him, even
so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God."
So we see here that the wisdom of God is hidden from the wise
and the prudent of this world, and it can only be revealed by
divine revelation. Not only is it true that the
Gospel itself is beyond the reach of human wisdom contrary to the
defrayed mind's idea of common sense, but faith, true faith,
faith in the Lord Jesus in and by whom alone the Triune God
revealed Himself is totally contrary to human reason, contrary to
it because it's so far above it that reason cannot grasp a
hold of it. True faith, faith in Christ,
faith in the living God is a supernatural thing. the impossible, it sees
the invisible. Remember that back there in Hebrews
11 verse one, now faith is the substance of things, what, hoped
for? The evidence of things not seen.
Isn't that what we read there in verse one of chapter 11? I
wonder if that's the majority of those who profess to have
faith in Christ have nothing more than faith in their faith.
Oh, I believe, therefore I must be saved. That's the wrong reason
to feel you must be saved at all. I believe, folks, the reason
we're saved is that Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Plain
and simple. Salvation is of the Lord and
of the Lord alone. Some, their faith is all talk. It's all theory. It's all emotion.
Not so with true faith. Most religious people have a
faith that has been, in one way or another, and you can talk
to Mike Loveless about this, he's mentioned this more than
once, about how dark is your darkness, how weak is, how dark
is the faith that you had at one time. He was very faithful.
He believed in everything he was doing. He believed the religion
that he was in was salvation, until the Lord showed him the
light. There's nothing at all supernatural about true saving
faith, this supernatural faith, faith that believes God without
evidence, without proof, without foundation, except God Himself
as the gift and the operation of God Himself. Or in other words,
no one can or will believe God until and unless God the Holy
Spirit gives him faith. Now, if you and I believe God,
we truly believe God, and it's because God has brought His of
grace in us by His omnipotent power and grace of His Spirit,
as Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 1, verses 19-20, according to
the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead. This faith is a gift and an operation
of God, as we read in Ephesians 2a, isn't it? We also read that
same thing in Colossians 2.12 and Philippians 1.29. It cannot
be had or explained in any other way than through the gift of
God. Now, it says when she was past
age there in 1111. The Holy Spirit emphasizes the
fact that Sarah received strength to conceive and to bear a son
when she was past age. He hereby heightens or raises
up the sense of a miraculous or supernatural because he would
have us to understand that no difficulty, no obstacle, no hindrance
can cause us to not believe our God, as we belong to Him. Nothing
will get in the way. Isn't that what Paul tells us
over in Romans 8? Isn't that what he says at the
very end there of Romans 8? What does he say here? He says,
I am persuaded. that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Well, what is the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord that we would believe? What does our Lord cry
out? He says, Father, I thank Thee
that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent,
and revealed them unto Babel." What is it He's revealed unto
the Babes? He's revealed His truth. He's
given us a believing faith in Him, just as He did with Sarah
and Abraham and Abel and Enoch. And it strengthens us to get
us through the days when things pop up that seem to be obstacles.
Oh, how can the Lord love me if I'm such a wicked person and
wretched person that I am? When those things pop up before
us, when those moments pop up in our lives, what strengthens
us to get us through it is that I believe the Word of God. Isn't
that what gets you through it? I hope so, because there's nothing
else we can look to to get us through those things. And I know
the only reason I believe God is because He loved me first.
Folks, I preached on the message of the rock not too long ago. I brought the same message to
the dear folks out there in Dando. That rock, remember that followed
the Israelites around the desert? And water gushed out? Was that
not a miracle? Is that something we can't explain?
But we know it was so noble. I can't explain to you why God
would save me, but I know He has. I know He has, because I
believe Him. When all the streams of nature
are dry, then we should most reasonably expect the waters
of God's grace and the goodness of our Savior to pour out in
a flood of mercy. Whatever difficulties are before
us, whatever obstacles may be that are in our way, let us be
strong in faith. fully persuaded that what He
has promised, He is able to perform. We spoke about this a little
bit, so I'm just going to cover this once again. God's faithfulness. Sarah believed God because she
judged Him faithful who had promised. I'm just going to cover this
a little bit. Faith looks to God, not self. Faith looks to
God, not circumstances. If we would trust God, we must
crucify the question of how. That's what Martin Luther puts
forth, and I agree with that. If we're gonna trust God, we
must put away. We must put away that question
of, well, how can I trust God? I'll tell you how. It's as simple
as this, by the gift of God. That's how. The gift that he
gives me to believe. Let it never be forgotten that
Sarah had the word of God for what she believed. It was not
a whim. It was not a figment of her imagination
or something that she desired, which gave her faith. God made
a promise, and she believed the Word of God itself. Let us take
heed to that. It is God's Word and God's testimony
that we stand strong in. I don't stand strong in my faith.
I stand strong in what God says in His Word. I don't stand strong
in my feelings. I stand strong in what God has
said in His Word. Don't look to what you see in
this body of flesh, in your own, in the mirror. Look to a God's
Word. That's where truth and surety
is. So now I'm going to bring out
one more quick thing here in these two verses. It says there
in verse 12, Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as
good as dead, so many as the stars in the sky in multitude,
and the sand which is by the sea short and innumerable. Because
Sarah believed God, and that's what this word, therefore, points
us to. Because she believed God, God's
promise to Abraham was fulfilled. Now, I know there's a lot there,
and it's really hard to understand that. I don't know if we're going
to take the time to go into all of that, but I can simply tell
you this, that because she believed God, Abraham's promise was fulfilled. Now, you think, Okay, that means
if I will just believe God, all the promises are going to come
true. That's true. But you're not going to believe
God unless He gives you the gift of faith, are you? So I don't
want you to get the cart before the horse. The horse is that
Jesus Christ gives us the faith. And the cart is that because
we believe Him, His promises come true. Sarah's faith was
as essential as Abraham would. Yet it is God who fulfills the
promise. Yes, it is God who gives us faith,
but still faith, personal faith, exercise toward God, is essential
to receiving the blessing that He has promised. Our Lord says
this over in Luke 7, verse 50, Thy faith hath saved thee, is
what He told that man. Remember that? Thy faith is what
saved you. Christ saved you. But if he hadn't
had faith, salvation wasn't here. Because she believed God, Sarah
became the mother of a great nation. The church of God, you
and I, like Isaac, are the children of our mother in faith, Sarah.
Because Sarah believed God, the Lord Jesus Christ came into this
world in the fullness of time to redeem us. Commenting on Hebrews
11 verse 12, A.W. Pink wrote these words, The opening,
therefore, of Hebrews 12 points The blessed consequence of her
relying upon the faithfulness of God is the fate of the utmost
natural discouragement." She was old, remember that? What
a natural discouragement that was. "...from her faith there
issued Isaac, and from him, ultimately, Christ himself. And this is recorded
for our instruction. Who can estimate the fruits of
faith?" Who can estimate? She had faith. And because of
her faith, the whole line of all of those for whom Christ
would come from came about. You catch what it's saying there
about that? I know it's a little difficult
and we can get lost in that, but who can tell how many lives
may be affected for what you have done in faith? Folks, I
believe God. Would you have guessed that because
John Reeves believed God, that James Luper would come to church
someday and hear the truth, and all of a sudden, God has opened
his heart just as he did Kathy's and mine, just as he did yours?
Would you have ever guessed that? I wouldn't have. It's an amazing
miracle. We just never know what God is
going to use our belief in Him for. We never know. Through our
faith and my faith today, oh, how the thought of this should
stir us up. To cry more earnestly, Lord,
increase our faith for the praise of the glory of thy grace. O gifts of gifts, O grace of
grace, my God, how can it be that you in free and sovereign
love should give that gift to me? Sweep grace into the vilest
heart It is God's boast to come, the glory of His grace to set
in darkest souls His throne. Your choice, Father, great God
of grace, I lovingly adore, thanking for this great gift of faith
and grace to long for more.