I'm going to read the first 15 verses. The Lord appeared to him that
is unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre. He sat in the tent
door in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked,
and, lo, three men stood by him. saw them, he ran to meet them
at the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground. He said, My
Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away,
I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you,
be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the
tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your
hearts, After that, you shall pass on. At this point, Abraham
didn't recognize yet that the Lord is the Lord. He didn't recognize
it yet either. Well, therefore, are ye come
to your servant? And they said, do as thou hast
said. And Abraham hastened into the
tent unto Sarah. Said, make ready quickly three
measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cake, sip on the
earth. Ran into the herd, fetched a calf, tender and good, and
gave it unto a young man, haste to dress it. Now remember, runs
to meet them, he runs to the tent. And he's 99 years old. Man's 99 years old and he's hurrying,
running to get And he took butter and milk and
the calf which he had dressed and set it before them, and he
stood by them under the tree. He said unto him, Where is Sarah
thy wife? And he said, Hold in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly. Now he began, the Lord begins
to reveal. But I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life. Sarah, thy wife, shall
have a son. Sarah heard it in the tent door
which was behind him, and now Abraham and Sarah were old and
well stricken in age, ceased to be with Sarah after the manner
of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, or
shall I have a son, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said unto
Abraham, You'll notice in verse 13, the name Lord is capitalized. Lord, capital L-O-R-D. See that? That's Jehovah. And Jehovah said unto Abraham,
wherefore did Sarah laugh? And shall I of a surety bear
a child which am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Time appointed, I will return unto thee according to
the time of life. Sarah shall have a son." Glad
that our unbelief does not hurt. He didn't get upset and say,
well, I forget it. No, he said, no, I'll be back.
promise that I gave you of the seed is going to happen. At the time appointed, I will
return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son. Then Sarah denied. Some render
this, and it's true. And Sarah lied, bold-faced lie, saying, I laugh
not, Nay, this is the Lord speaking,
nay. Diddle-ay, Sarah, you diddle-ay. Our Father, bless your word.
Instruct your children here this morning. Give us an understanding
heart. Give us a hearing ear. Enable us to worship you in spirit
and in truth. Forgive us our sins through the
blood and righteousness of Jesus. Accept our worship through Him,
our praise through Him, our singing. Hear us, Father. Those in this congregation, Father,
whose hearts are heavy, we pray for them. You know who they are,
you know them. The trial that comes our way, you
sent it. said your grace I titled this lesson which verse 14 is anything is there
anything what I want to close with is there anything hard Is there anything too hard for
him to handle? If we have any situation, especially
in this matter of salvation, hard for him to deal with. Now here's the scene. Abraham
is sitting in the tent door in the heat of a day. Three strangers
appear to him. It says that they stood by him.
It says he ran to them, which means that they were just a little
bit dissolved, but they just appeared. He looked up and there
they were, because this is the Lord. Call a pre-incarnate appearance
of Christ, two angels with him, and he sees them, and he runs
to meet them. At 99 years of age, He runs to meet them, and I want
you to notice. And this is a mark of a believer,
I believe. I truly believe this. One of
the marks of a believer is hospitality. One of the marks of a believer
is respect. Abraham shows respect to these
three. And he recognizes there's something
about this one something different about him
between the three that Abraham recognizes him and calls him
Lord. Usually when you see the word
capital L and then ORD in lowercase, it's Sovereign. He recognized this one to be
greater than himself. And he bowed himself to the ground
for And then he offers water for
them to wash their feet, which is an act of kindness and humility. This distinguishes a believer. Kindness. It's called the fruit
of the Spirit. Kindness and humility. Love, joy, and peace. You'll
notice in the scriptures it's not called the fruits. That's where one is present,
they're all present. They all come from the same place, the
same person. So he gives them water to wash
their feet. If you'll remember in the gospel,
remember Simon the Pharisee? He offered him no water, which
was common courtesy of that day. He offered him no water to wash
his feet. You remember that lady that came in, that woman that
came in weeping? Weeping and then washed his feet
with her tears and then dried them with her hands. Simon, when
I came here, you didn't wash me, even the common people. Woman
has not ceased to wash my feet and dry them with her hands.
But Abraham here, he gets water and he has him to sit down and
to wash their feet And he feeds them, he feeds them. That's one of the things that
I've noticed when I was growing up. Go to people's house, dad
would take us there. And you'd take seven kids to
somebody's house. Nowadays, they're not gonna offer
to cook and feed you. But when we would go, one of
the first things they wanted to do was feed us. Right now, I can go to my mother's
house and as soon as I hit the door, I don't know, maybe just
the way I look, he wants to cook. Usually, I have to call her before
I get there and say, don't fix anything to eat. Here, it's just common courtesy.
It's respect. We've lost that in our day. We've
lost what it is to respect. Respect your elders. Forgotten
that. Abraham looks at these men and
he recognizes that these men are something about these men
that are above him. And he shows them respect. He shows them hospitality. And he tells Sarah, he says,
drop what you're doing. Drop what you are doing. Start
cooking. And she does so without an argument.
Say a word, Jesus. He doesn't. And he fetched a
calf, he took a tender and good, he took the best that he had.
It didn't trouble him to go and get the best he had and serve
these men whom he considered to be above him. He gave unto the Lord the best
he had. You know, in serving others,
in serving one another, we are serving the Lord. You may think,
how can I serve the Lord? Serving his people. Serving one
another. That's how you serve the Lord.
And Abraham stood by them while they ate. The meal was for them.
He served. Look over in Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. There's two
scriptures I'd like to turn to. I can't turn to many here. Running
out of time. In Romans chapter 12, let me
get there. I said it's a mark of sonship. It's a marked believer. It's evidentible. In verse 10, be kindly affectionate one to
another, brotherly love. in honor preferring one another
and that's exactly what Abraham's doing. He's preferring them before
himself. Not slothful in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in
tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the
necessity of saints. Given. Given to hospitality. It's not
just something you do once in a while. It's given to it. It
is your attitude. given to hospitality now look
over in first peter we're here in first peter first
peter chapter four first peter chapter four and look in verse eight and above
all things have fervent charity that's love white, hot, you ever see metal
when it's really hot? Hot, hot. When I see that word fervent,
I think of white, hot metal. Fervent love among yourselves.
Have fervent, white, hot, burning love among yourselves. For love,
charity, love shall cover the multitude of sins. and use hospitality
one to another without grudging. Without grudging. Hospitality is a mark of a believer.
Well, they asked Abraham, they said, where is Sarah, thy wife?
He lied in the tent. They knew where she was. They
knew that. When they asked, where is Sarah? The Lord was getting, when the
Lord asked, where's Sarah? Getting her attention. Let somebody
mention your name. If I sit here talking and I mention
your name, you're standing back there, I don't care if you're
talking to a bunch of people, you're gonna say, what's he saying
about me? I know who you are. I do, so
I know you're just like me. So they say this on purpose to
get her attention. The Lord wants her to hear this
promise. This is the first time Sarah will hear this promise
from the Lord that she is gonna have a son. He wants her to hear
it. And he says in verse 10, I will
certainly, here's the promise, I will certainly, now brethren,
if God says he will certainly do something, you reckon we can
count on it? You reckon we can? I will, you can count on this,
I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it
in the tent door. The Lord's purpose for saying
this was to get her attention and for her to hear it. And here's
the promise, first of all, I will return. Has not the Lord promised
to return to receive us to himself? Did he not promise that in John
14? If I go away and prepare a place
for you, I will. I will come and receive you to
myself that where I am, there you may be. Is there also not a fixed time
to be born into this life and then a fixed time to be born
of God? If you're a child of God, there
was a fixed time, the day you were born. You know what day
it was on this earth. You got your birthday. Birthday. Time, you know, the hospital
has the time you were born. Every child of God, fixed time,
may be the age of a young child. 20s, you may be in your 50s. Abraham 75, God called him. There is a fixed time by God
Almighty. God has no children by accident. There are no accidents. I know
one couple ago, She became pregnant when she
was older. We didn't plan this. We didn't
plan this. My grandmother had her last one
when she was 45. I guarantee she didn't plan that.
Both my grandmothers, both my grandmothers had their last child
when they was 45 years old. Neither one of them planned it. No one comes into this world.
One soul comes into this world. There are over seven billion
people living on this earth right now. Not one of them was accidentally
born. God said at the time of life, God has, as I said, no children
by accident. And I thought about this when
it comes to Spiritual birth. Let's be careful. Now I'm speaking
more to myself than anybody here. Be careful that you don't try
to put pressure and get a confession out of someone. Leave it in his hands. I tell
myself this all the time. The new birth is the work of
the Holy Spirit. It's not my work. My business
is to just preach the gospel. Giving life is God's business. Now Sarah heard this promise
for the first time that she would have a son. Her response was totally different
than that of Abraham. It says in verse 11 and 12 there
that she was not a laugh of joy. This
was not a laugh of joy. This was a laugh of unbelief.
It's like, are you serious? She thought, I am an old woman. How can this be? You think of Nicodemus. The Lord
said, you must be born again. Nicodemus said, how can a man
be born? He entered the second time into
his mother's womb and be born. How can this be? The Lord said
one time to the disciples, He said, it is hard How hard is
it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? He said, it's
easier to put a camel through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were
just stunned. They were stunned. They said,
well, then it's just not possible. How is it even possible for anybody
to be saved if a rich man can't be saved? Men, it is impossible. Salvation is absolutely impossible
with you and me. We cannot, we cannot make it
happen. Cannot effect it. Our Lord said, but with God,
all things are possible. The gospel's where he said that
at. You know what he did? The next page over, the next
chapter over, next page over. You know what he did? The rich
man. Zacchaeus. He saved a rich man. The very
thing he said was impossible with men is possible with God.
And the disciples said, how can this be? And the very thing he
did was save a rich man. Well, she laughed, she laughed. Laughed, that's the same attitude
that caused her to give Hagar to Abraham to produce a child.
Same unbelief. And in verse 13, the Lord reveals
himself, and the Lord, Jehovah, said to Abraham, why did Sarah
laugh? Why did he laugh? This shows
he's God. No one heard her laugh. Abraham
didn't hear her laugh. I do not believe she laughed
out loud at all. I don't think she just went,
oh, you know, carried on like. When she laughed, it was in her
heart. Why did Sarah laugh? It's evident.
One of those three was a son of God. He knew Sarah laughed at the
promise in her heart. He knows the thoughts and intents
of the heart. Scripture says, no thought can
be withholden from him. You know, in judgment, one of
the very things that's gonna come out of us Secret things going on in the
heart. What did Sarah do when she was
exposed? Lied. And I probably would have too.
Would have too. You said I didn't laugh out loud? No. In the heart? Yeah. You know, all our sins start
in the heart. Every one of them. Every sin
I've ever committed started in my heart. Problems. It's our problem. By nature,
it's a heart problem. Knows the heart. And her sin
was exposed. Lied, she tried. You know what
lying is? You know what lying is? Lying, no matter what form
it comes in, That's what lying is. That's
the shortest definition I can give you of lying. It's a cover-up. You'll be exposed. And then notice, she was afraid.
Sin gives a wrong fear of God. Faith, genuine faith gives the
right fear of God. It gives reverent respect. Because
I tell you, Faith, first of all, wouldn't laugh at it. Unbelief
laughs. Faith would not laugh. And faith
gives us a correct fear of God. Sin gives us a wrong fear of
God. It causes us to sin even more. Sin gives a wrong understanding
of God and His glorious act. believed time said this possible
possible for me to have a child I'm too old but we know this Hebrews 11 says
by faith Sarah received strength Sarah did believe God. But at
this point, when she heard it, she's like... She did believe. Tells us that
he did. True faith believes God. Listen. Or the impossible. See how it
can happen. No idea, you don't see any way
out. any way out of your situation. You don't see how God would have
anything to do with you, save you or me. Faith believes the impossible. God, all things are possible.
And here, let me get to this. She laughed. She said, you know, she's old.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying in verse 12, after
I'm waxed old, you know, it'd been better if this promise would
have been given when I was 20. God's going to prove that this
son is his gift. After I'm waxed old, shall I
have pleasure? She's talking about having a
son. My Lord, being old, we're just a couple of old people. He says here, the Lord says,
Jehovah says, is anything too hard for the Lord? Before the
Lord repeats the promise, He asks this question. Question. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? This question has to be settled. The promises of God are not for
those who believe not. Now this question is a very searching
question. He says, is, right now, is there anything Anything going on with you? Anything too hard for the Lord? Consider first of all who's asking
the question. The one who spoke all of this
into existence. Not some creative spirit. but
the creator of all spirits, all things were created by him and
for him. He's the one asking the question, is there anything
too hard for the Lord? Is there anything too hard for
me to do? Our Lord said this, Matthew 28,
18, all power is given to me in heaven and earth. Now, is
there anything too hard for me to do? Did Christ ever meet a situation
We're going to see this in a little bit in the next message. But
did he ever meet a situation that was too much for him? All power is given to me in heaven
and earth. You look at creation, is there
anything too hard? What's going on now in the world? Anything going on right now?
Tell you what, this may not mean a whole lot to you right now.
Today when a hard trial comes along, nobody to turn to but
Him. The answer to this question,
and everything, nothing too hard. What about salvation? Is there
anything too hard for the Lord in salvation? Are you too hard
for the Lord? Someone in your family that is
too hard for him to crack? No, no, no. He's able to say to the uttermost,
they may come unto God by him. He ever lives to make intercession
for them. About God's holy law, you
go to read in the Old Testament, like I said to you Thursday,
I've been reading, I read through Leviticus, now I'm reading through
Deuteronomy, whoo. You wanna read some strict laws?
I mean some strict laws. Is our Lord able to satisfy such
a spirit? The Word of God says He magnified
the law and made it honorable. Is the law too hard for Him to
keep on my behalf? Is His blood sufficient to cleanse
from all our sins, all our sins? You know, some people are God
restrains, and there's some people, some of his children, he lets them go into some. Some of you, he's kept, and you've
not outwardly done much. Some of you, he's let reins loose
a little bit. Saul of Tarsus killing. the life of Vanessa. Is His blood
able to cleanse me from all? Is He able to give this sinner,
this sinner, life? Is He able to do that? Is He able to create in me a
clean heart and a right spirit? Is He able to keep me saved? Is He able to present me? Is He able to present you faultless
before His throne? Is He able to do that? I fall a thousand times a day. The things that go through my
mind and heart, and I know the same for you, is like, you don't
want those thoughts, but they're there. Sometimes you entertain
them. Too many times we entertain them. Lord, are you able to keep me
safe? Here's one that Here's one I, very important. Is he able to
do, able, any sin? Is he able to deliver me? Whatever,
I think, I believe everybody has a choice sin that troubles
them. Is he able to enable me to overcome sin? Is he able to keep, as David
said, presumptuous sins, let no sin, presumptuous sins have
dominion over me? Is Christ able to kill the power
of reigning sin? Look over in Philippians chapter
three. I wasn't gonna turn, but turn to Philippians chapter three. In verse... Let me make sure I got the right
one. Philippians 3, 21. Let's go to 20. For our conversation
is in heaven. Isn't that amazing? Right now,
listen, right now, our conversation, our life, though I live on this earth,
set your heart, your minds on things above. From whence also
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change
our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body according to the work whereby he is able even to subdue all
things. Is he able to subdue me? Subdue
the reigning power of sin? Is he able to deliver me from
the grave? You know in a little while we're
going to die. We're going to die. and die. I don't want to live again. Job
said, if a man die, shall he live again? Is Jesus Christ able
to bring me out of the grave, bring my body out of the grave,
give me a new body, present me before God, the Father, the Spirit,
enable me to walk on that new earth? Is he? Absolutely. Absolutely. Is anything, that covers everything, doesn't
it? Anything covers everything. Anything. Absolutely not.