Ridiculous Faith: Sarah – Faith Strengthens and Faith Brings New Life
So one of the first things we said in this series is that we want to be more like the people that are described in Hebrews 11
Hebrews 10 verse 34 says, “they knew that they had a better possession and an enduring one.”
Hebrews 11:1
Now, Faith is, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen……
- And so through our first 4 examples this is what we have seen:
- In Able we see that faith does things God’s way
- In Enoch we see that faith walks
- In Noah we see that faith works
- In Abraham we see that faith obeys and faith moves
- So Faith raises the B.A.R. It Believes. It Acts. It Receives.
Hebrews 11:8
8 By faith Abraham Obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going
In Sarah we see that Faith Strengthens and Faith Brings New Life
Hebrews 11:11-12
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
- With these 2 things: Our Availability to Him and Our Affection for Him, He can do all He wants through us.
Genesis 14:14-16
14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants(the KJV says seed. Your seed) forever. 16 And I will make your descendants (Seed) as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
Genesis 15:1-6
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
#1 When we are appointed to Wait, we can be tempted to Waver
Genesis 16:1-3
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. (Notice this: The Lord had actually said the opposite of that. That He would enable her to have children. In her waiting the enemy has convinced her to believe this lie) Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
- Abraham and Sarah both, went from Believing and Trusting in the Promises of God, to trusting in the work of their own hands.
- Trusting in the timing and the works of God’s Hands is called Faith
- Hurrying the assignment, and manufacturing a Promise outside of what He has already said is called Works
- Do not Waver while you Wait, but continue to Trust and Believe in the Promises of God!!
Genesis 16:4-5
4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
#2 Even in our Mess Ups, God is still Merciful
Genesis 16:6-7
6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. 7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
Micah 7: 18-19
18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. 19 He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- The Lord met Hagar right where she was in the middle of her mess, and He showed her great Grace and Mercy
Genesis 16:9-16
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, (Ishmael means: God Hears) because the Lord has heard your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” 13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me? 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; (which means: Well of the Living-Seeing God) observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
- El Roi means the God Who Sees
#3 God’s Words are True. Regardless of our Timing or Understanding. So Trust Him
Genesis 17:15-22
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this Set Time next year.” 22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Romans 4:16-22
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who (Abraham), contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Genesis 18:1-4
1 Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree
Genesis 18:9-15
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the Appointed Time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
- Earlier, Abraham laughed out of Joy. Here, Sarah laughs out of unbelief
Hebrews 11:11
11 By faith Sarah herself also Received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Genesis 21:1-3
1 And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the Set Time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
- Isaac’s name means laughter and that was a constant reminder of the Promises of God to them, a reminder to Abraham and Sarah of their Belief and Unbelief.