laugh. Genesis 18 verse 9, And
they said unto him, that is the three men speaking to Abraham,
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 it in the tent
which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old
and 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 the Lord said unto Abram,
Wherefore doth 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. Let us pray. Now, Father, we
praise you and thank you for great mercy and great grace for
ruined, helpless sinners. We thank You that though we be
dead naturally, spiritually, that You quickened us together
with Jesus Christ and gave us life eternal in Him. Father, we pray for those who
are sick. Pray for this Becky Walker. She's facing what seems to be
the end of her days. We know her days are numbered.
Her months are with Thee. Her boundaries are set and she
cannot pass. But she looks to that day now and we ask Lord
you give her peace and comfort in Jesus Christ, be with her
family, with her mother. She ministers to her. Pray for
the others, Father, who've gone through trials and tribulations.
Remember especially those of our own company, Brother Wayne,
Ethel, Peggy Lambert. We ask Lord your help for them. Us, as we gather here tonight,
may You give us an understanding and appreciation of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, that You
have taught us Your Word. It is what keeps us going. It's the lamp unto our feet and
the light unto our path. That which gives us understanding,
that which rehearses in our heart and mind what the great things
You have done for Your people. Let us ever be thankful and full
of praise in our hearts for what you are and who you are and what
you've done for us. We ask this in Christ's name
and for His glory. Amen. Now after Abraham had prepared
and served that great feast for these three men, they asked where
Sarah, his wife, was. And they are about to repeat
the promise of her bringing forth a son. A son with whom the Lord
will establish His covenant. He said in the previous chapter,
with Isaac will I make my covenant. And what ensues is the declaration
of the promise and Sarah's response to it. The words of the men in
verse 10 are very interesting. They said, 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 it. in the tent
door which was behind him. We saw that in the last chapter
Abram and Sarah were received new names. The letter H was added
to their name signifying the Neshama or breath of life. That is a particular life and
ability given only to humanity. The beasts of the field do not
have Neshama, they have what is called a Ruach, which is also
breath. But it's a different kind of
breath. The breath given to humanity
has to do with the ability to respond to God. It really does. And it is a common thing among
men. It's a common attribute to all
humanity. They have this ability to converse,
to understand, to logically surmise, to use their reason and so forth.
All that has to do with the word neshamah. But with Abraham and
Sarah it has a deeper meaning. than with the rest of humanity.
It being added to their names at this stage in life, which
is addressed here in this passage, the promise of necessary vitality
for the pregnancy that would soon be her lot. For she has
said of her body, now verse 11 says, Abraham and Sarah were
old and were well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women." And she goes on to say that it's
the same thing going on with her husband. In Romans chapter
4 and verse 9 it says, "...their bodies being now dead." That
is, with an incapability of producing children. So when the Lord added
that that breath of life to them with that letter in their names.
What he was saying was that there's going to be vitality when I come
at the appointed time. The promise was the realization
of her womb or the revitalization of a womb to be able to conceive
and support and sustain a child, she being a century old. It will
take divine intervention, a miracle of grace for this to take place
because their is an eternal covenant to be established with this future
child according to the purpose of God who does all things after
the counsel of his own will. Now the men as they speak to
Abraham about this wondrous thing refer to this amazing occurrence
as the appointed time of life. The appointed time of life. Precisely
what this refers to is not expressed and commentators speculate on
many things pertaining to that phrase. But we rely on the context. That's how you understand scripture,
to rely on the context to determine the meaning of the text. The
context suggests that at the appointed time, Sarah's womb
will be enlivened. Her menses will return. An ovum
that will be miraculously awakened or created will attach to the
living wall and grow within her for a nine month gestation period.
The child born will forever speak to the issue of a life eternal.
Life eternal, election, eternal election and secure and covenant
salvation. For the Lord said, in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Differentiating the election
of grace from the election of a nation or natural election
in Romans chapter 9. This child will be Abraham's
seed. Now Abraham has another seed, Ishmael. We know when the
Lord said Isaac was who is going to have the covenant, we know
Abraham wanted Ishmael to be the child of the covenant. But
he was born of the flesh and born of the power of the flesh
and that's not going to happen. The child born of the Spirit
and the power of the Spirit is the one that's going to be the
inheritor of the covenant. But this is Abraham's promised
seed. This is Isaac's seed. In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
This is the Lord's seed. as spoken of in Galatians chapter
3, He being the seed and all who proceed from Him are His
seed. Over in Isaiah chapter 53, when
the Lord spoke of His death on Calvary's tree, of His suffering
there at the hand of God, It says in Isaiah chapter 53 in
verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now that
word please means satisfied. We might use the word propitiated
or appeased God. God didn't get any pleasure out
of pouring out his wrath upon his son. It pleased him, however,
in the sense that it satisfied his laws to man and satisfied
his justice. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grieve. God put him to grieve. We now
shall make His soul an offering for sin. It was His soul that
was made an offering for sin. It says, He shall see His seed.
When our Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, his eyes were fixed
on the joy set before him. That's what it says in Hebrews
chapter 12. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on the right
hand of the Father. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. And what about that seed? What about that seed? All will
be born alive. It says he shall see of the travail
of his soul. That word of is very important.
It didn't say he shall see the travail, though he would see
it. But he would see of it. He would see the product of it.
What came of that travail. on Calvary's tree, and he shall
be satisfied by his knowledge, that word is skill or expertise,
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant Jesus Christ justify
many. How is he going to justify them?
He shall bear their iniquities. Who? The many. whom he shall
justify, he'll bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered
with the transgressors, he bared the sins of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors. He shall see his seed. This is
that seed's being spoken of here. And Isaac, shall thy seed be
called. Over in Hebrews chapter two in
verse 16, it says, for verily he took not on himself the nature
of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. If you read
the Old Testament, this thing about the seed, the seed of woman,
the seed of Christ, the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac,
all the way through to the New Testament, you find it was highly,
highly protected and highly spoke of in the Word of God. And also the phrase the appointed
time of life is indicative of the regeneration of the new birth,
at the appointed time of life. Which, what is the new birth?
It's life from the dead. Isn't it? It's life from the
dead. This wonder is a work of the
Spirit accomplished through the preached Word. We can't begin
to understand it, but it equates to this. I don't know how this
works. I'm not privy to it, and God
hadn't told me. So I don't know. But I know this. According to
the Word of God, the preaching of the Word of God, when heard
by the children of God, by the sheep of God, comes to them as
the voice of Jesus Christ. Now I don't know how that works.
It's not my voice they hear. Oh, they hear my voice. It goes
in their natural ears. Something happens on the inside
in the heart that word finds purchase in the heart and the
soul of men and women And what they hear is the voice of Christ
calling them come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden
I'll give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me and
you shall find rest unto your soul It equates to hearing the
voice of Christ. That's the language our Lord
used while he walked upon this earth look over John chapter
5 John chapter 5 Verse 24, he says, Verily I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life, hath, that's already possessed,
that's why he hears it, and shall not come to condemnation, but
is passed from what? From death to life. Verily I
say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, it's already here,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. That's the wonder of it. So Abraham's
body's dead. Sarah's body's dead. But they're
going to be given life. Why? Because God has promised
by His Word to give them life. Same thing happens when the Gospel
is preached. Over in Romans chapter 10, we
see that plainly set forth. Romans chapter 10 beginning at
verse 13. It says this whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved and that's true If you call upon the name
of the Lord, he'll save you But how does that work? Why would
anyone call upon the name of the Lord? Well first they got
to hear about him. No and they are going to call
on somebody they have never heard of. So it goes on to say, How
shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? So they are
not going to call unless they believe on Him. What does that
mean? Trust Him. Rely upon Him. Trust His work alone. And how
shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? So before
they can believe, they have got to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And how shall they hear without a preacher? Somebody has got
to be stood up on his hind legs and brought before a congregation
or someone to preach to them. to preach the gospel, to proclaim
the glories of Christ. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? So that's an absolute golden chain here. that's absolute
and necessary for it's written according from Isaiah chapter
52 and verse 7 how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace that bring glad tidings of good things in
Isaiah 52 it says and publishes salvation that publishes faith
saying thy God reigneth Isaiah 52 7 is where that comes from
He's speaking to the Roman church, to those Jews who've refused
the gospel. He says, but they've not all
obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said, who has believed our report,
or who has believed our regarding? Isaiah 53. So then, faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This is how it happens.
It's a wonder, it's a mystery, it's amazing. Paul said it that
way. He called it the seed. He says
we're not born again of corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed. And the word there is semen. Even by the word of God which
liveth and abideth for ever, and this is the word of God which
by the gospel is preached unto you. Ephesians chapter 2 and
verse 1 says you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin that means you were spiritually dead they don't mean you were
physically dead you were dying we all are but you weren't physically
dead but what does that mean he uses the word dead as he uses
many things like birth to teach us to look at these things to
understand what he means by them so when you talk about dead we
think about someone who's dead I've buried many people. It's
part of the job I have. It's preaching funerals. I preached
one last Sunday, I think it was. I preached one at 2 o'clock in
the afternoon, maybe Sunday before last. I can't remember. Anyway,
a person lies in a coffin. We stand there and we look at
that person. He has all the equipment that he was born with, doesn't
he? He's got legs, he's got feet,
he's got hands, he's got eyes, he's got ears, he's got a nose,
he's got a tongue, he's got lips, he's got all that stuff. He's
got a heart. He's got lungs. He's got a liver. He's got an
intestinal system. He's got a circulatory system.
He's got a respiratory system. All of that's still there. What's
missing? Life. What's that? Life. It's missing. So what does that mean? That
means he is now unable, though he has all the equipment, he
is unable to have a relationship with his environment. You can
talk to him and say, hey partner, how you doing? He won't hear
you. You can pinch him. He won't feel it. You can call
on him to stand up and walk around. He won't do it. You can tell
him to walk down an aisle in a church. He won't do it. He
can't. He's dead. He's dead. When our Lord said you're spiritually
dead, that means you have no ability whatsoever to communicate
with the spiritual environment. Now you can communicate all day
with your own environment, but when you're dead you can't. But
when you're spiritually dead, you're like being physically
dead in relationship to your environment. When you're spiritually
dead, you cannot communicate with the Spirit. What's going
to have to happen is God's going to have to communicate with you.
God's going to have to send His preacher to preach the Word of
God, to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
God, in His mighty power, is going to have to take that Word
and plant it in your heart and your mind and awaken you to life. waking you to life. And when
that happens, you'll live. That's called the new birth or
regeneration. It's set forth in beautiful terms
in Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 16. In Ezekiel chapter 16, we had
the child born. Now this is talking about the
pilgrimage of a group of people when they're on a pilgrimage.
If the child born was a girl, most of the time they would cast
her aside. Her umbilical cord would still be attached to her
placenta. Because she couldn't be a firstborn,
because she couldn't be a male and do the work necessary that
they had back then in this nomadic life, they would simply lay her
to silent thrall and keep on going and she would die. That's
what they did. And this is a picture of us.
This is how it's pictured. And it says this, in verse 3
it says, and say, thus saith the Lord, thy birth and thy nativity
is of the land of Canaan, thy father was an Amorite, thy mother
was a Hittite." That means this child is vitally connected to
her parents. And as for the nativity and the
day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, still attached to
the umbilical cord and the placenta. Neither was thou washed with
water, which was the common way, you washed the baby after it
was born. Neither was thou supple, salve, foot-oam, lotion, thou
was not salted at all to cleanse you nor were you swaddled you
were not wrapped in a blanket you were naked attached to your
parents by the placenta that's us attached to Adam by birth
nobody pitied you why? because you really weren't valuable
you really weren't valuable you weren't any help you were no
good that's a picture of us impotent broken ruined none I pitted thee to do any
of these things to thee, to have compassion on thee." Nobody even
had compassion on you, but thou was cast aside in the open field
to the loathing of thy person. And the day that thou was born,
this is a picture of us. Now look what happens, and God
says, and when I passed by thee, I saw thee, how, polluted in
thy own blood, with your own wretched nature. I saw thee when
thou was in thy blood. I said unto thee when thou was
in thy blood, live. Now if we said that, it wouldn't
do no good, would it? But for God to say it, live. Yea, I said unto thee when thou
was in thy blood, live. God says live. And that's how
it happens, friends. It's a miracle and a wonder of
grace. we preach the gospel, we preach
the gospel to every creature, we don't know who's going to
hear it and who's going to not but God will take that which is spoken
as a general call to all men and make it specific to the heart
of His people and they will hear it He'll walk by their bloody
carcass He'll walk by that useless thing that is of no real use
to anybody just cast aside that thing is still attached to its
parents and say live What happens? When God says live, something's
got to live. It's that simple. It's that simple. This is the
record. This is a picture. Abraham and
Sarah were dead. They couldn't do anything. God
said the appointed time, the time of life. The time of life. The record
that is before us is that Sarah heard the conversation between
the Lord and Abraham and she laughed within herself. Her laughter
was probably a snicker attended by the thought that the words
of the Lord were preposterous. I'm an old woman, she said. I'm
a really old woman. I've been through the change.
I've had the odd flashes. I've been through it. I ain't
going to have no baby. Now if it were stated in modern vernacular,
it would probably read that she giggled while saying in her mind,
yeah, right. I'm going to have a baby, sure. She had the same reaction that
Abraham had when he heard the same promise back in chapter
17 in verse 17. It says, then Abraham fell on his face and
laughed. Fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart,
shall a child be born unto him that's a hundred years old and
to Sarah who's 90 years old? Come on, come on, this is crazy. What is this, really? It's unbelief. And though it appears to be a
thing dismissed by the Lord later in this chapter, Well, perhaps
one of those things the Lord spoke of in the New Testament
that ain't dad in the Old Testament. It is nonetheless unbelief and
has a singular element that is expressed in all unbelief. Ultimately,
all unbelief has to do with the declaration of the Word of God.
This was the promise that God gave. This is the L-O-R-D, capital
all the way across, that spoke to Abraham and to Sarah. This is the Word of the Lord.
She didn't believe. She didn't believe. It is the
gospel. What is the gospel? It's the
good news, the glad tidings, the publishing of salvation accomplished,
the record of God successfully saving His elect by the substitutionary
propitiatory death in Jesus Christ alone. Abraham and his share
will be vessels employed in the birth of Isaac. They will be
vessels. His actual existence can only
be attributed to this. to the sovereign word and work
of God. So it is with the spiritual birth
of every believer. Men are used to preach the gospel,
but no aspect of the new birth can be attributed to the preacher.
None. None. I can't save you. I can't make
you alive. I can't do anything for you except
tell you something over and over and over again. We preach to
every creature and some believe and some don't. That was Paul's
estimation of his ministry after thirty-some years of preaching.
Some believe, some don't. Those who believe do so only
because God has, by grace, given them faith to believe the reports
that they have been given ears to hear. Where then and how is
unbelief manifest? It is ever the practice of unbelief
to look at what God has promised to perform and decide that it
cannot be performed because we are not able to accomplish it. That's what unbelief is. Let
me say that again. Say that again. Unbelief is to look at what God
has promised, promised to perform, and decide that it cannot be
performed because we are unable to accomplish it. We look around
at surrounding circumstance, and in the case of Abraham and
Sarah, the inability of their aged bodies to perform and decide
that the promise is not possible because they can't do it. It's
not up to them to do it. The promise never involved their
ability, did it? On what level? Or even address
their ability. It simply wasn't there. It was a work to be done by Almighty
God and it was His work and not theirs. And lying at the heart
of unbelief is that God cannot do what He promised without our
help. That's what it really boils down to. They thought the promise
could only be fulfilled if they had part in the accomplishment
of it. This is the blatant falsehood
of all carnal belief, which is unbelief. Unbelief is not lack
of belief, it's belief in the wrong thing, or not believing
God. All people believe something, All people do. God cannot do
anything without our consent or help. That's what people think.
How often do men speak of putting feet to their prayers? Why do
they say that? Why do they say that? Because
they don't believe God will answer their prayers. They believe they
have to put their part in it. How often have puppeteers proclaimed
that the only hands God has, the only feet God has, the only
mouth God has, the only eyes God has is theirs. Why do they
say that? What prompts them to say that? They say it because they believe
that God can't speak unless they speak. That God can't move unless
they move. That's why they say it. There's
no other reason than that. How often do men regurgitate
for the vaulted halls of various vomitoriums? God's hands are
tied. God can't do anything unless
you let Him. God wants this, but it's up to you to make sure
it happens. This is the language of Abraham
and Sarah. It's preposterous. This can't
happen. I can't do this. I can't have a child. I'm way
past the age. God said you're going to have
a child. What does that mean? You're going to have a child.
That simple. Without our, without your help,
you're going to have a child. That's unbelief. Plain and simple. Manifest in our text with laughing
doubt. Mark well that the laughter exudes
from who? Not some derelict drunk down
in a gutter. No. Not from some whore on 52nd
Street or 42nd Street in New York City. Who does this laughter
exude from? The father of the faithful. The
first man of whom it is said he believed the Lord and was
accounted to him for righteousness. spoken to Sarah, the mother of
many nations, called in Galatians the mother of all believers think not that the nature of
unbelief has left your bosom it has not to only believe to believe only
is impossible saved by the work of Almighty
God He got to create it So the answer to unbelief is always
the same. Anything too hard for God? That's what the Lord said
to Sarah. Anything too hard for God? Note
also the manner in which this unbelief was handled by the Lord.
It was at best a mild rebuke, not taking the pear to the woodshed
for a sound lashing. Simply this, Sarah denied that
she laughed. I didn't laugh, and all he said
to me was, yeah, you did. Yeah, you laughed. As I read
that last phrase and the mildness of that rebuke, I thought of
the words of Psalm 103, when the Lord said, He hath not dealt
with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Whereas the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy
toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the
west, so farth He removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him. Why? For He knoweth our frame,
and He remembers. that we are dust. Father, bless us to understand
and we pray in Christ's name. Amen.