Genesis 18. I hope I can be just
as plain as I can be. It's hard to hear anything sometimes. It's impossible to hear anything
unless the Lord speaks to us. But I want to be real plain.
This morning we're going to look at the first few verses of Genesis
18. The first 15 verses. And we're going to look at the
generosity, the hospitality of Abraham. And then we're gonna
look at the Lord calling Sarah. She's an old woman. She was of
age. She was 88 years old and the
Lord called her and she rebelled against it. I prayed the Lord would call
some old woman tonight, this morning. Pray I'm an old woman. He'd speak my name and I was
barren. and I was unable and it was just
foolish for the thought that I'd even be saved, have life
put in me. I prayed to do that. It just
might happen. It just might happen. I'm part
of the child of God. God's people are loving and they are generous.
They believe God. They believe His word. They love
the people of God. And around them may be loved
ones that do not. I could have one of his children
and in his own country and in his own home, they don't know
God. They may be exposed to it, they
may be agreeable to it, they may not fight it all the time,
but they may laugh at God and they fight back in their hearts. We know something of that. But
I can tell you of a truth. If they are His, He will not
lose one. And if they're breathing, there's
hope. The Lord might just save them. He will reveal Himself
to them. That's what I want to show you
this morning, if you'll let me. Genesis 18, verse 1. I'm going to have
you turn one place. I'll try to be short. I know
I was long on the last one. Genesis 18, verse 1. And the Lord appeared
unto him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in
the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and
looked, and, lo, three men stood by him, And when he saw them,
he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself towards
the ground and 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 your hearts. After that, you shall pass on.
For therefore are you come to your servant. And they said,
So do as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened to the tent
unto Sarah and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine
meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the earth. And Abraham ran
to the herd and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it
to a young man, and he hastened to dress it. 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, and they did eat. And
they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said,
Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah
thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard in the tent door
which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
well stricken in age, and it 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, my
Lord, being old also? And Lot said unto Abraham, Wherefore
did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child which
am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? At the time appointed I will
return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I
laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst
laugh. Many people take this first few
verses, these first eight verses, and they preach on how we ought
to be hospitable. how we ought to have hospitality.
Abraham's a great example of hospitality, and he ought to
be. This is a good one. We ought to do these things,
shouldn't we? That's our reasonable service. In Romans 12, Paul wrote
to us, he said, 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 the saints, given to hospitality. Abraham was given to hospitality.
And do you know what? That's a requirement for a bishop,
for someone that holds the office. An elder is the man, a bishop
is the office, and a pastor is the ministry. That's the work
he's going to do. Y'all know that, you've been
told it, I know. But a bishop, it's required of them. Paul told
Timothy that. A bishop then must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given
to hospitality. You're gonna have somebody run
an office of a bishop, oversee a church, they're gonna have
to be given to hospitality. Well, what about the deacons? Those
that wait tables and take the trash out? It says in 1 Timothy
3, 8, likewise also the deacons. They're gonna be given to hospitality.
Well, what about the elders? Those that preach? but a lover
of hospitality. He says they must be a lover
of hospitality. We read here in Genesis 18 verse
2, And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men
stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran
to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself towards the
ground. How did he go up and bow? One
of these was different than the other two. The Lord has appeared
to Abraham several times so far, hasn't he? Melchizedek has come
to him, gave him the Lord's table. He brought unleavened bread and
wine. He knew what he looked like.
This guy looked familiar, something about him. He bowed himself down
and said, my Lord, my Lord, verse three, if now I've found favor
in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.
He said, if I have found grace in the eyes of the Lord, pass
me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. And we sang
these other songs, too. Lord, abide with me. If you're
here now, stay. Stay. Don't leave me. He said,
verse 4, let a little water, I pray, you be fetched and wash
your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. Don't leave.
If I found grace in your sight, stay here with me. Make us last
a little longer. Wash your feet. Wash your feet. That's when you come into a house,
they wash their feet so they can come into the house. The
house didn't get dirty, right? They intended to stay. This wasn't
just a jogging through. Turn over to Luke chapter 7.
Luke chapter 7. We might see this anew, I pray,
for the first time. I know we've read these things
before. I hope we can see it like, how long has that been
there? Did you see that? How long has that been there?
I hope this is fresh to us. Here in Luke 7, that woman came with
an alabaster box of ointment. to anoint our Lord. And it says
in Luke 7, verse 44, And he turned to the
woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath
washed my feet with tears. Well, she ain't got no water
either. Yeah, she's got some tears in her. That'll work. and wiped
them with the hairs of her head. She didn't have a towel to wipe
his feet. That's excuses. Use what the Lord's gave you,
what he's put in your hand to do. Thou gavest me no kiss, but
this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my
feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. This is the one that Simon was
so mad at. He said, if this was a real prophet, he would know
that was a sinner and he wouldn't let that woman touch him like
this. And he says in verse 47, wherefore I say unto thee, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven. Why, she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. That's who then loves the most,
the ones that's been loved most. Those that forgive, those are
the ones that's been forgiven most. Those that give of themselves
are the one that the Lord gave himself for. I mean, hold hardly,
not play around, talk about it. I mean, get it done, buddy. They
follow him. They lay down their life, give
him all they got. Now back in our text, this great patriarch,
that was a tradition. When you come in somebody's house,
the lowest servant washed feet. We'll see in a minute our Lord
doing that. But this great patriarch, Abraham. Everybody knows Abraham.
He's in a bunch of religions. They know him. That's what a
friend told me one time. He's in a bunch of religions. I said,
that's God's prophet. This great man, our Father Abraham,
in verse four says, let a little water, I pray you be fetched
and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. He humbled himself. He washed the Lord's feet. Those
visitors that came, it says we may entertain angels unawares. I think we've done that before.
I think I know what that is. And because the Lord said that
the angels, they are interested in that. Can you believe that?
Can you imagine an angel coming to where the gospel was preached?
That hits me. I can't enter into that. And
they just hide in the back and listen. I want to hear what they
got to say. We're going to see Christ. Oh
boy, that's wonderful. I tell you what, if you entertain
an angel unawares, they're not going to be upset by hearing
the gospel. They're going to be tickled to death to hear it.
Tickled to death to hear about the Lord. But this great patriarch,
he humbled himself. And to those he was entertaining,
he washed their feet. I want to get to verse 14, but
this chapter is just bursting. with gems. This field is full
of fine jewels. What a picture of our Lord. He
was the Almighty God. Abraham's a mighty fella. He's
a big deal. And he washed their feet. The
Almighty God in human flesh washed his disciples' feet. He said, that ye should do also as I have
done to you. Verily I say unto you, the servant is not greater
than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that
sent him. If you know these things, happy are ye if you do them."
You mean I got to humble myself? We're not literally watching
people's feet. Primitive Baptist did that when
I was growing up. Everybody washed their feet real good before they
went to church. Did you know that? They cleaned themselves
up. I said, well, if you're going to wash my feet, I'm going to
get my feet clean. You don't want to see nasty. I don't want you
seeing the bad side of them. That's not what we're talking about.
If you humble yourself, if you give yourself to serving the
Lord because he loves you, you're happy if you do, you're happy
to love, you're happy to serve, you're happy to wash. What if
the Lord said, hey, I want you to wash their feet. Okay. Yes,
sir. Thank you, Lord. Amen. I will
be glad to. Christ washes the feet of his
children, those he loves, and we're made to rest under a sturdy
shade tree, aren't we? We're made to lie in green pastures
in comfort and in contentment. You who love the Lord, and you
get weary of this world. Abraham didn't want him to go
away. He said, I'll provide anything I can. I want to stay in your
company as long as I can. You that love the Lord, that
he loved first. You that are just weary of this
world. Like, I don't even want to talk
about it. Like, is it going, some bad stuff happened? Of course
it is, yeah, but ugh. Talk about something good. Dwell
on something good. You get weary of it, and you've had an opportunity
to fellowship. And I don't mean sitting around
talking religion. I mean true fellows in the same ship. Truly
have something in common with somebody. I'm just a worthless
sinner. I know nothing. I'm incapable.
I'm dead. Christ saved me. I love him. He's loved me first.
He's loved you and I want to be with you. You're my family. You're at a conference or you're
at a cookout. It don't matter. You don't want to leave. When
you truly have fellowship, when you get to sit around and just
not forced and with the Lord's people, when his children are
gathered together, Boy, it's comfortable, and you don't want
to leave. You don't want them to leave. You desire that precious
time with those that Christ dwells in. Is Abraham any different? Ain't no different, is he? Look
at verse five. And I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort
your hearts. After that, you shall pass on.
For therefore, are you come to your servant? And they said,
so do. as thou hast said." Abraham had
a desire in his new heart to serve the Lord and to be in the
presence of the Lord and to be with the Lord's people. He had
a desire for that, to do what was given in his hand to do. He didn't say, I'm going to build
you a helicopter. He didn't have a helicopter. He had morsels
of bread. He had some butter. That's what he did, didn't he?
And he did it, and he did it as unto the Lord. Why did he
do it to them as unto the Lord? Because it was the You get a
job, you go to work. You work that job. If you're
unpacking boxes down at Albertsons, you do it as unto the Lord. Why? Because it's the Lord that put
you there. He gave you that job, he gave you that work, he gave
you that boss. And what do they mean? Well,
love them to Christ. You love, isn't you? Love them. And they'll either say, where
you go to church? What's going on down there? Or
they'll get so mad, they'll quit and go away from you. Love them. Love and work as if you're doing
it to the Lord. And Abraham did. Look here at
verse 6. Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah. Did he lollygag? He didn't. He was diligent. He
wasn't lazy because he was God's man and he hastened. He hastened
unto the tent unto Sarah and said, Make ready quickly three
measures of fine meal. Knead it and make cakes upon
the hearth. It was the heat of the day. That's what it said,
wasn't it? He was sitting in the door of the tent during the heat of
the day. What time of day? About 3, 3.30,
isn't it? That sun starts, it's baked in
there after high noon and that heat starts coming out of the
ground and you're getting hit with the sun. It's hot. It was in the heat
of the day. Breakfast was over. Dinner was
over. Sarah was doing some stuff. It
wasn't time to start fixing supper yet. She was probably busy. Mila
doing chores, mending stuff, something that needed to be done.
And Abraham walks in and says, you drop what you're doing and
get to cooking. That weight hit me. She did it,
didn't she? Somebody's here. We've got guests.
Get after it. She was given hospitality too.
She was trained well. We'll see that next week. She
did it. And he told her, he said, you
do three measures. Why was it three measures? Well, there was
three people, wasn't it? Don't shortchange them. Don't
mix some sand in there and make it go a little farther. He said,
you give them three full measures, a full measure each. Don't shortchange
them of what's going to be a fine meal, fine cornmeal. You get that stuff in a box and
it's just like powder. You know, that's fine because
the machine did it. But if you had a mortar and pestle
and you get that dried corn heads in there and you start trying
to make cornmeal, you're going to get tired. Well, that stuff
in the mill, that good stuff That's what you worked hard for.
But all that stuff around the edges, the bigger chunks, well, that'll
be all right. We can give that to the chickens
or we can make some cornbread out of it. You'll bust a tooth,
won't you? He said, you give them the best we have. You give
them a full amount. Give them the best we have. Don't
make mediocre cornbread. Verse 7 says, And Abraham ran
unto the herd and fetched a calf tender and good. and gave it
to a young man, and he hasted to dress it. Which one you want
me to kill, Abraham? And he said, take that one. That's
the best one we got. And he said, well, now hold on
now. You got some passers-through,
you got some visitors coming? We got one back here that ain't
real good breeding stock. It'll taste fine. And it's got one
leg a little shorter than the other one. You know, it's coat
ain't coming in right. It's a little different colored
on one side. Maybe I should use that for the guest. Absolutely
not. No, you get the best, a tender
and good calf. And it was a calf too, an old
ruddy steer. You get your, I don't know if y'all ever went deer
hunting, but if there was a big old massive strong ruddy buck
standing there, big 10 point, just brilliant looking. And there's
a little year old doe next to it. Which one would you want
to shoot? I'll tell you what, that doe tastes a whole lot better.
That's the one you want to shoot. He said, you get a good calf,
a tender calf, a good one. And Abraham gave the best he
had. He gave her the first fruits
and the finest fruits. And here's this good instruction.
You want to get something for the Lord's house or for his people?
You do one ply toilet paper at home if you have to, so you can
give two ply to them. I couldn't think of any other
examples. If you want to do something for the Lord's house, if I'm going to
put an air conditioner in my house, I'll get the generic one.
If I'm going to put one in here, it's going to be brand buddy.
This is for the Lord. If you know him, you'll be this.
If you don't shortchange, You won't rob him, and Abraham didn't. Growing up, my pastor, right
before he retired, right before he retired, you think about that.
There's a lot of widows that's given themselves to the gospel
and the furtherance of the gospel, and they're just so easily forgotten
about. I prayed, Lord, make us strong, grow us, make us a young
church that's strong and works hard, and we're able to provide
for them. But my pastor, he's retired, just couldn't do it
anymore. And someone went and bought him a brand new car. And
he said, well, why don't you just give me that other one you
have, and you take this one. And that man said, how about
this? He said, how about whenever you wear it out, then I'll drive
it, not the other way around. Well, he prompted, well, I don't
need that no more. Why don't you just give it to God's servant?
Give him old rutted up stuff, rusted junkie stuff. And that
man said, how about the other way around? That man told his
son about it. He instructed his house well.
That's what he did. That's what we ought to do. And
that's what Abraham did. He took the best. Verse 8 says, and he took
butter. That took a lot of turning, didn't it? Butter and milk and
the calf, which he addressed and set it before them. And he
stood by under the tree and they did eat. We ought to give all we have
to the one that gave his all for us. Is that reasonable? Isn't that reasonable? That's reasonable. All right.
Now we'll change gears. That's what everybody, I want
to touch on that. I couldn't let it go. Couldn't skip over. We'll look at Sarah.
The Lord appeared to Abraham several times since he called
him out of Ur of the Chaldees. And I know for a fact Sarah was
informed of the word of the Lord. I know they had good communication
in that house. Good instruction was between
Abraham to Sarah. I know that. How can I know that?
Look at verse 19. Genesis 18 verse 19. We'll look at this next week,
Lord willing, but he says, Lord, speaking of Abraham, and he said,
for I know him, he will command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. Lord said,
I know him, I love him. And Abraham's gonna command his
house, and he's gonna, those that are after him, and they're
gonna keep the way of the Lord. Well, I just, I couldn't get
over it this morning. I woke up and that was fresh to me.
Ain't that a beautiful picture? in the home, in the local assembly,
and in the body of Christ throughout time? You think about Abraham,
for our benefit. If Abraham didn't stick to the
word of the Lord, no matter who got upset about it in his house,
who was another believer at that time? That's recorded in scriptures. Would you and I know the gospel
if Abraham wasn't faithful to the Lord's word? If the Lord
didn't make him faithful? That was the means the Lord was pleased
to use, wasn't it? I pray I'm diligent in my home to my children
to tell them and to command them in the household after the Lord
and shall keep the way of the Lord. I pray in this building
we have right now, this local assembly, that I'm able to keep
the way of the Lord and command this household after him. Why? Because Christ our high priest.
He commands his household, doesn't he? Does he bend and give? Does
he wishy-washy? Absolutely, he's not. He sticks
to his word, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't
be made just like him. I want to stick to his word, not my
word, his word. If I give you my word, it may
be gone in 30 seconds. If I give you his word, it ain't
gonna fail. It ain't gonna fail. But the Lord appeared to Abraham.
Sarah knew what was going on all these years. In verse 19,
he says, there whenever the Lord visited.
The Lord visited Abraham several times, but she was never there.
And this time, she was an earshot of the man that she'd been hearing
all about. The Lord would meet with him
and appear to Abraham, and Abraham would go home and tell his bride.
And finally, she said, that's the fella for all these years
Abraham's been talking about. So she hid behind the tip door,
and she listened. She said, I'm not going to go
out there, but I'm sure going to peek in and hear what they got to
say. And they said unto Abraham, Where
is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
The Lord was speaking to the head of the house. The bride
heard her name. Christ is the head of the church.
He deals with the Father on our behalf, doesn't he? There's communication
there between them. There's a covenant of grace that
was established between them. But our name's brought up. Our
name's written in the Lamb's blood. And oh, if we could just
hear Him. Oh, if we could just hearken
to His promises that He makes. First time Sarah heard this from
the Lord. This is the first time she's ever heard from Him. Not
just a man speaking to her. Not just her husband talking
to her. God spoke to her. God said her name. Look at verse
10. Here's what He was telling Abraham. He declared, He said,
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 which was behind them. What did Sarah hear?
She heard her name, right? What did she hear? That life
was going to be put in her. That's impossible. Life's going
to be put in her. She heard her name and that life
was going to be put in her. Brethren, life will be put into
us only when the Lord comes to us personally. And there's a time According
to life it will happen. There's an appointed time. I
can scream Live my bones live Them bones ain't gonna bite my
eyelash. They'll just sleep on old slugger,
won't they? But if I say it and God speaks to me God speaks to
your heart. I can't do nothing for you. I'll
cry with you. God speaks to your heart. Life's gonna be there
That's a possible weapon. He comes to us personally He
said in John 14, let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe
in God? Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would not have told you. Now
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again to the Lord to tell Abraham, I'm
going to come back and receive you unto myself that where I
am, there you may be also. God told Abraham his covenant
over and over and over and over again, didn't he? For 23 years. Back then it would have seemed
impossible. How are we going to have life? How's a child going
to be born? But now it's even more impossible, isn't it? They
were old, Luke verse 11. Now Abram and Sarah were old and
well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after
the manner of women. Therefore, because she's looking at carnal
things, physical things, Sarah laughed within herself. Saying,
after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?
Within herself. That means it didn't happen out
loud, did it? It was only a smile. Physically. She said, I've been
in this same thing for 23 years. Lord's gonna put life in me now?
That's crazy. Ha ha ha. Physically, it seems
impossible and hard to imagine. But you think about spiritually.
This is the first time Sarah's ever heard Lord call her by name.
She's heard all about me. This is the first time she's
heard His voice, and God's going to save her. He's going to put
life in her at 80-some years old. She's had a husband walking
with God for 23 years. That's God's prophet on this
earth. And the Lord said, I'm going to put life in me. I'm walking around. Of course
I'm alive. Did she smirk? Does that make you smirk? Does
that make me smirk? What if today the Lord revealed
Himself to me? Lord, if you haven't revealed yourself to me in the
past, do it today. Do it today. Lord, if I don't
know you, let me know you today. What about yesterday, Kevin?
You preach and you travel the country preaching. I don't care
about yesterday. I need Christ right now. Or do
I go, I've been saved for 23 years around the world. There is a heart that God gives
people. It's humble and it needs Christ. all day, every day, like
a little child. They don't get old hat. They
don't get high. I've heard that 15 times. I wonder
what I'll make for dinner. I think the Eagles are playing
next week. No, I need him. Lord, show yourself us today. Verse 12 says, for Sarah lied
for the inner self, saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have
pleasure? My Lord, being old also, what a sin that was. What
unbelief that was. What rebellion? She was just
dealing on the inside. That's horrible, isn't it? How many times have I just...
The Lord's gonna use us mightily
here to call out His people in this county that He's put us
and what He's put in our hands to do. I don't see how that's
gonna happen. Me? What unbelief I've had. Christ
bore all of our sin in His body on a tree, and He did it for
His bride. All sin and guilt was dealt with by the Father
in him. All of my unbelief, all of my
smirks, all of my laughing on the inside was laid on him. And he addressed that with the
head of the house, not with Sarah. Abraham was dealt with here.
He didn't speak to Sarah. Aren't you thankful that the
Lord dealt with his son and not you? I'm thankful it was laid
on him. I can't bear it. He could. Verse
13 says, The Lord said to Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying,
Shall I of a surety bear a child when I am old? He said, Sarah,
why did you laugh? He said, Abraham, why did Sarah laugh? Here's the answer as a rhetorical
question. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? is anything. What does that encompass? Anything. Is it impossible for
the Lord to save a woman that's well up in her 80s and been going
to church for 25 years to save her that day? Is that too hard? Is it hard for the one that created
the heavens and the earth and the oxygen molecules that's going
in and out of our lungs right now? Is it impossible for Him
to physically put a child in her? Is it impossible Is it possible
with the Lord for me to take my next breath? Is it possible
for Him to keep all His promises and Him to bring me to Himself
and preserve me and keep me forever and make me just like His Son?
Is there anything that's too hard for the Lord? And when we
take our burdens to the Lord, why wouldn't we take them to
Him? Is this burden too hard for Him? That's one of those pieces of
Hard candy you just wallow around and enjoy for a long time. Dwell
on it. You don't speed read the scriptures.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? He repeats himself. Tells that promise once again
because the promise ain't changed. At the appointed time I'll return
unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have
a son. Did Sarah cry out? She heard
her name. She heard the power. of the Lord,
the truth of God. Did she cry out and say, let
God be true and ever remain a liar? Her appointed time of belief
was not yet come. She was obedient to her husband. She followed
him all over the modern world, didn't she? She's a good little
one. She made cakes when he said make
them. She made them out of the type of cornmeal he told her
to make them out of. Fixed good biscuits at 3 p.m. But look at
verse 15. Sarah denied. Now, she hadn't
been spoken to yet. She denied, saying, I laughed
not. Which is true, she didn't laugh
out loud, did she? But she laughed in herself. God looks on the
heart. Why did she do that? Why would someone in open rebellion
cry out and deny God when He's speaking to them? For she was
afraid. She was afraid. She didn't fear
the Lord. You get that? It doesn't say
she feared Him. She didn't honor Him. She didn't
respect Him. She was afraid, she was scared.
I'm gonna be caught underneath the law. I'm gonna face judgment. I gotta find a eject button,
buddy. I gotta get out of this aircraft. She was afraid of punishment. She didn't bow, she bucked. But
quickly, this Lord that called her by name, this Lord that is
holy, he speaks to her. And he said, nay, but thou didst
laugh. I didn't laugh. She denied. She was afraid and feared. What
did the Lord say that holy comforter was going to do? Holy Spirit's
going to come to us and convict us of sin, isn't it? He said,
no, no, no. Nay, you did laugh. You laughed
within yourself, convicted of sin. How does this end up? The Lord called her name, got her attention, removed that
dressings of things, that dressing of flesh that hid her unbelief,
called her out, showed her what she was, spoke to her, saying,
too hard for the Lord. I'm going to put life in you,
Sarah. I'm going to put life in you.
And he said he's going to do it. Well, she refused him. She didn't accept him. Didn't
matter what we look at earlier. I got one right there I grabbed
a hold of. He loved her. He didn't care if she wanted
to accept it or not. He gave his word. He promised.
Turn over Genesis 21. Here's the end state of this.
The Lord rebuked her sharply. He said, oh no, you lied. He
sure did laugh. Here's the end state of all this.
Genesis 21 verse 6. Sarah gave birth to a son. One more every day. The word
of the Lord is true, and what he says is going to come to pass.
That seems so simple. Don't know, Kevin, we know those
things. No, it's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing
to have it just laid down, foundation in your heart. What he says is
going to come to pass. The Lord said, you're going to have a
son. You know what happened? Sarah had a son. She had a son. Verse six, and Sarah said, God
hath made me to laugh, so that all here will laugh with me. What's that mean? Didn't you
laugh? She denied it. She's laughing now. She said,
I'm a fool. I was an absolute fool. I was
just playing and doing what I thought was right, and what I saw fit,
and what I judged my whole life. I thought having life for me
was too hard, or it was already done, or it was too late, or
this had already been dealt with determined years ago. And she
said, verse 7, who would have said Abraham? that Sarah should
have given children suck. Natural man wouldn't say that.
God did. Natural man wouldn't look grownups
in the eye that's old and say, I hope God saves you. Natural man wouldn't say, Lord,
I've been in your presence. I've heard your word for 23 years.
God saved me. There's no way. What'd David
say? Lord, save. Well, wasn't that his king? Yeah,
ain't nothing changed. He needed a savior, didn't he?
Man can dissect Sarah's times of believing and unbelieving
and all that. Like, well, she should have done
this, she should have done that. Well, she'd been doing this, doing that.
But what does God say? That's what's important in it.
Hebrews 11, it says, Through faith also Sarah herself received
strength to conceive seed and was delivered of child when she
was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised." That's unbelievable to me. That
crushes me. To think a wretched worm like
me that's so wavering and my faith so little and I laugh and
smirk when I ought not laugh and smirk and I'm serious when
I ought to be gentle. I'm just all kinds of backwards.
I'm just a hot mess. And that final day, the Lord's
going to look upon me and all those that he died for and said,
look at that strong faith. He trusted me. He was great,
good and faithful servant. Look how wonderful he did. Why? The Lord put life in me. How
can a sinner stand before a holy God? God's going to put life
in them. They must be born again. It's his workmanship. You see
that? Oh, that God would make us old,
laughing women. because nothing's too hard for
the Lord. Nothing's too hard for the Lord.
I always think of songs. I like music. A man wrote a song
one time. He said, I am an old woman named
after my mother. And I thought, man, that's so
weird. He wrote, he had women sing it, you know. He sang it
too. And I thought, that's just weird. I don't like his version
of it. You know what? I'm gonna be a
bride one day. I'm gonna be like, I don't know if they're gonna
be male or female, but the Lord's our husband. He's our redeemer,
our kinsman redeemer. And there's going to be a wedding
feast. Well, Kevin, you're a man. You've got a beard. Well, you're
going to give that up, too. You're going to bow to him if
you want to be in his presence, ain't you? What's it going to be like?
I don't know, but it's going to be wonderful. It's going to
be right, because he's going to be there. That life that was
put in me is going to be life standing right in front of me.
And I want to be with him. So I hope that was a break. In
my head, that was the same thing as the last hour. It just all
was shifting gears. It was a run and go. I hope that
was good, too. Father, thank you for this hour. Lord, so many
times we hear your word, we hear your promises, Lord, and on our
inside, we smirk and laugh and hope we believe, help our unbelief.
Prove your word to us. Prove yourself to us, Lord. Allow
us to see your power. Work mightily as you promised
you will. Lord, if you have a people in
this area, save them. Knit us together with them. Sew us together,
Lord. Make us one body. Lord, if you
haven't saved us, save us now. Allow us to see Christ high and
lifted up one more time. Forgive us for what we are, Lord.
Be with those that you sent trial to. Be with our brother D and
his family, those children, Moose and Sandy. What a great opportunity you've
given them and that congregation to see Christ working on the
center. Allow us to weep with them also, Lord. Thank you for
this day. Be with us as you promised you
will be. It's in Christ's name that we ask it. Amen.