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Sarah And The Three R’s Trinity Bible Church 5/8/05
*Mother’s Day joke- A pregnant woman from Washington, D.C., (whose husband was out of the country) got in a car accident and is knocked unconscious. When she woke up 3 days later she sees that she is no longer pregnant and frantically asks the doctor about her baby. The doctor replies, "Ma'am you had twins! - a boy and a girl. We couldn't reach your husband and since your brother was the first one here the day they were born we let him name them for you." The woman thinks to herself, "No, not my brother ... he's not very bright!" She asks the doctor, "Well, what's the girl's name?" "Denise." "Wow, that's not a bad name, I like it! What's the boy's name?" "Denephew." *Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh Introduction: Gen 17:15-20 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 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." 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?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!" 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. Gen 18:9-15 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent." 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.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' 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." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!" Gen 21:1-12 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him — whom Sarah bore to him — Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me." She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age." So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac." And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Behind every good man there stands a woman?” Is it true? Abraham was not only a good man, he was God’s man! He is the father of faith, a friend of God, was separated from the pagan world, left family and friends, refused to be prospered by the sodomites, etc… But he needed something else to become the “Father of many nations”. What was that? He needed a wife w/some promises too! He had found one in Sarah. Prov. 31:10-12 TLB If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems! Her husband can trust her, and she will richly satisfy his needs. She will not hinder him but help him all her life. Title- Sarah And The Three R’s; as we take our journey through the book of Genesis, we’re going to look at a character sketch of Sarah today. Being a mom can be a very tough and demanding job, maybe you know of a mom who could use a little encouragement today, maybe you are one of those moms! As we look at Sarah, may God open your heart to have the same experience of faith she had.
I. Revealed Submission. 1 Peter 3:1-6 AMP IN LIKE manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives, When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him — to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband]. Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God. For it was thus that the pious women of old who hoped in God were [accustomed] to beautify themselves and were submissive to their husbands [adapting themselves to them as themselves secondary and dependent upon them]. It was thus that Sarah obeyed Abraham [following his guidance and acknowledging his headship over her by] calling him lord (master, leader, authority). And you are now her true daughters if you do right and let nothing terrify you [not giving way to hysterical fears or letting anxieties unnerve you]. A. What she did. Ladies, isn’t this one of the most quoted verses for your behavior as Christian wives? (Maybe not in the AMP translation!) Why is that? Have you ever read the plaque? “Pa’s boss as everyone knows, but what ma says always goes”. Sarah wouldn’t agree w/that saying, do you? Sarah called her husband lord, (with a small l), what does that mean? It means as the Amplified Bible says, “Master, leader, authority”, or in other words, “Boss”. (Turn to your husband and say, “You’re the Boss”)
B. Order and blessing. *A woman relayed the following story: The other day I needed to call home, but the only pay phone I could find was in use. So I stood to the side and politely waited until it was free, thinking it would only be a couple of minutes. Five minutes went by, and still the man was on the phone. He was just standing there, not saying a word. Two more minutes went by, and he still wasn't talking. Finally, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked if I could use the phone. I really wouldn't be long, but needed to make an important call. "Hold your horses," he responded, covering the receiver. "I'm talking to my wife."
What does every Christian wife want? A godly husband! How does the 1 Peter 3 verse teach that will happen? By nagging him to pray, read his Bible, go to church? The husband that is unresponsive to God’s word can be won to it, how? According to this verse, one way is not by your words but through your behavior! We have men in our church who will testify at any time to the truthfulness of this principal. Now, it needs to be said, just because your husband is yet unsaved or maybe he is lukewarm to the things of God that does not mean you have not been the ideal wife. No one here should assume that of you. But what I want to stress upon you is what the Bible says and because we’re doing a character sketch of Sarah in our journey through Genesis, this point is so strongly stated in the New Testament, it bears making comment on.
Because of her submissive attitude Sarah is to be admired, and I believe we have a few Sarah types in this church. (Look over at that woman next to you and say, “You look like a Sarah type to me”.)
II. Recorded Promise Rom 9:6-9 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." A. What she did. Did you know that because of Sarah a promise of God to Abraham, and to the rest of the world, was fulfilled? God promised that Abraham would have a son and that the entire world would be blessed in him. The initial fulfillment was in Isaac, but the deeper meaning was in the child born centuries later of Sarah’s descendents, Jesus of Nazareth Abraham had another child in a natural way through Hagar and later, others by Keturah, but he had only one child of promise.
B. Something Wonderful at your
church? A guy was lonely and so he decided life would be more fun if he
had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy
an unusual pet. Every detail and every task done between services is meant by God to reveal His purposes in Christ. God has a plan for each church service that requires He use one of us. Who will be available as Sarah was? Who will be the one God will chose to see His promises fulfilled in us? (Turn you eyes upward and say, “Here am I Lord, use me”)!
III. Received Ability Heb 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. A. What she did. How did Sarah do it? Her natural ability wasn’t much different than any of us. She probably could cook, sew, sing, play an instrument, ride a camel, etc.. But to have a child, that wasn’t natural for her, how did she do it? Does God ever ask you to do something you can’t naturally do? How about pray for a long period of time? Have courage to witness to that classmate or coworker? How about having to stay up most nights with a sick child, would God ever ask someone to do that? How about put calamine lotion on poison ivy rash or measles scabs? How about clean up after a family member throws up, would God ever ask a person to do any of these things? How could Sarah do something she had no natural ability to do? Maybe if I tell you how she didn’t do it, you could understand better.
B. How she did it. First 3 ways she didn’t use; 1) She didn’t have a baby by being the most spiritual woman around, constantly praying and reading her Bible so she could feel God was obligated to reward her! 2) She didn’t conceive by having faith in her faith. *I heard a radio preacher promoting his book or tape series and the title was, “How to have faith in your faith”. Now I’m sure he meant well, but Sarah laughed in unbelief, not confessed her faith! 3) She didn’t bear a child by going to the doctor and getting fertilization treatments, i.e. she had no natural help to solve her dilemma.
How did she conceive and bear a child when she was 90 years old, well past the age of bearing children and never was able to when she was young? What does Heb 11:11 say? (Read again). She didn’t have faith in her faith, she had faith in God! She was brought to the place of trusting His character, His power, His ability to fulfill His word. Do you see it? Can you do the same? I’m here today to tell you – yes! *My wife illustration.
Conclusion: Heb 11:11 AMP Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.
As we have journeyed through the book of Genesis, we have looked closely at the man Abraham, the father of our faith. As incredible a person as he is and deserving of our study, yet Sarah is also mentioned in many places as a woman of character and faith.
Are you facing impossibilities as a mother today? Does the future look bleak to you with no chance of anything changing it. Are you ready to look up to the only one that can change things? Sarah is our example today - because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.
With God’s help, you are able to be the same way! |