GOD KEEPS PROMISES IN HIS TIME
Genesis 17:15-18,
18:9-15, 21:1-7
V:15 "Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your
wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name."
A. When God calls us
to service, we have a name change.
1. There is a
change in devotion and purpose.
2. Abram's name
was changed to Abraham.
a. The name
Abram means high father.
b. The name
Abraham means father of multitude.
c. God made
an everlasting covenant with Abraham that he would be the father
of many nations.
3. The Hebrew name Sarai means princess or
woman of nobility.
a. Her
original name; Sarai was also compared to an Arabic word
which
meant barren mountain.
b. Before
God's divine intervention, Sarah was unable to conceive and have a
child.
c. God
changed her name to Sarah which means princess of multitude.
d. Because
of the covenant God made with Abraham, Sarah became the princess
of many nations.
B. The life of Sarah
and Abraham took on a new divine purpose.
1. They became the parents of the nation of Israel
2. Through
Abraham and Sarah came the genealogy of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
2. Only a life with God has a divine
purpose.
3. A successful
life with God requires obedience to his Word.
V:16. "I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a
son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings
of peoples will come from her."
A. To those who are
obedient and faithful, God gives the desires of their
heart.
1. Abraham and
Sarah were well past the child bearing age.
2. God had blessed
them with every thing they needed but a child.
3. Their life long desire would have been to
have a male child.
4. It would be a
son that would extend the family name.
B. God had promised
Abram at the age of 75 that He would be the father of many
nations.
C Why did God wait
25 years to fulfill His promise?
1. When God
selects us for a position we are not always ready to assume the
position.
2. God has to
mold and reshape us to be what He wants.
3. Abraham had
some kinfolk problem.
a. He
brought Lot his nephew out of Ur
b. Lot
had no part in the promise.
4. Abram had a
what I can see problem.
a. Since
Sarah was barren; He and Sarah thought the promised child would
have to
come by other means; through Hagar, Sarah maid.
5. He had a
patience problem; a need to help God keep His promise of a son.
b. God had
to bring him to the point of absolute faith.
Gen 15:6
C. God promised Abram
that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by him.
1. God does not
need our help to keep His promises.
2. God does not
work on our time schedule.
3. God is
unlimited in His ability to accomplish His will.
4. We may not
live long enough to see the fulfillment of God's promises.
a. Abraham
did not live long enough to see the fulfillment of God's promise.
but he
believed it to be true.
b. God's
promise to us affects our children.
V:17. " Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and
said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old?
And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
A. Don't limit the
blessings of God by what you can see.
1. God is not
limited by time, place or circumstance.
2. What Abraham
failed to consider is that God made man from the dust of the
earth.
3. If God made
man from nothing, surely He can regenerate that which He made.
4. All the organs
of the body are under God's control.
B. The Lord appeared
to Abraham again and reconfirmed His promise that he
and Sarah would have a child.
1. Abraham was
stuck on what he knew about child bearing.
a. He laughed
at God's promise.
b. The word
laugh is a translation from the Hebrew "tsachag" which means
merriment,
scorn or make sport of.
c. God's
promise didn't seem possible to Abraham.
2. God is not
limited by history or physical circumstances.
a. You can be
sure that God can accomplish what He promises.
Genesis 18:9-15
V:9. " Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your
wife?" And he said, "There, in the tent."
A. God appeared to
Abraham in the form of three men. Gen 18:2
1. No man has
seen God at any time.
2. God shows up
in our lives all the time.
3. God
may use the voice of others to deliver a message to us.
4. Be careful
how you entertain strangers. They may be angels of the Lord.
B. We have to learn
to discern the voice of God when we hear it.
1. We have to be
ready to respond to the voice of God when He speaks.
2. We must take
comfort that the word of God is for our good.
V:10. " He said, "I will surely return to you at
this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And
Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him."
A. It takes faith to
believe the Word of God.
1. When it is an
issue concerning the family, God speaks to the man and His wife.
2. There are
times when God gives us a specific time when He will fulfill a
promise.
3. God knows the
doubts that are in our hearts, so He comforts us with a reassuring
Word.
B. Both Sarah and
Abraham were participants in God's plan for the nations of the
earth, so He spoke to
both of them at the same time.
V:11. " Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in
age; Sarah was past childbearing."
A. The glory of God
is shown through impossible situations.
1. What is
impossible for man is possible for God.
2. God leaves no
doubt in your mind when He does the impossible.
B. With age, the body
functions declines. But the God we serve can restore functions
in the body to
working conditions.
V:12. " Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I
have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
A. From time to time,
God has to deal with our unbelief.
1. When we have
tried to accomplish something and prayed about it and found no
success, we
tend to give up on the dream.
2. It is obvious
that Abraham and Sarah had tried to have a child during the
normal child
bearing years, but were not successful.
3. Because
Abraham was a man who listen to God, he probably had expressed his
desire for a son
to God. But He got no answer that agreed with his thinking.
4. Abraham and
Sarah had given up hope for a child.
5. The thought of
having a child at their age was humorous.
B. God keeps
promises, but in His time and according to His will.
V:13. " And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did
Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'
A. To grow our faith,
God tests our faith.
1. Doubts and
fears originate in the heart.
2. Sarah laughed
to herself.
3. God searches
the heart and knows all our doubts and fears.
B. Sarah like Abraham laughed at the thought of
having a baby in their old age.
1. With His
questions, God causes us to examine our faith.
2. We can have
what we believe, if we can imagine in faith.
3. Our faith
pleases God, and causes Him to act in our favor.
V:14. "Is
anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to
you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."
A. There is no
problem that God can't handle.
1 We have to ask,
is our faith bigger than our problem?
2. There is a
season for everything that God has promised us.
3. Sometimes God
waits until our time frame has expired before He acts so that
we will know
it was Him and Him alone that blessed us.
15 Sarah denied it however, saying, "I did not
laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did
laugh."
A. We ought to fear
the Lord when we have trouble believing His Word.
1. The Word of
the Lord never fails.
2. We have the
testimony of theWord to the truth of Word of God.
a. Scripture
interprets and confirms other scriptures.
3. History
confirms the fulfillment of the promises of the Lord.
Genesis 21:1-7
V:21:7. " And
the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had
spoken."
A. God keeps His
promises.
1. God loves
family.
2. When God is
the author of your plans, you are assured of success.
3. God put men
and women together to populate the earth.
B. It is because of
God love of families that babies are born.
1. Every family is important to God.
V:2, " For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in
his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him."
A. The promised son
of Abraham and Sarah was the start of the descendants of the
blessed nations
promised to Abraham.
1. What forms in
the body of a woman when a man and a woman come together is a
product
controlled by God.
2. The process of
conception is a miracle designed by God to produce another
human being.
a. God takes something produced in a man
then put it with something
produced in
a woman to form another living being.
b. Only God can
produce and sustain life.
B. God determines
when life begins and continues the product of life to form nations.
1. Jesus the
creator of all things brought Himself low to be born in
a line of descendants of Abraham and Sarah.
V:3. " And Abraham called the name of his son that was
born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac."
A. The name Isaac is
from the Hebrew word
"Yitschaq" which means laughter.
1. Both Abraham
and Sarah laughed when God told them they would have a child
in their old
age.
2. You never get to old for God to bless you
with the desires of your heart.
3. You never get
to old for God to use you.
4. You never get
to old to be a blessing to another generation.
B. The faithful man
and woman of God will be a blessing to others.
1. Like Sarah and
Abraham, we should always find joy in life.
V:4, " And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being
eight days old, as God had commanded him."
A. The circumcision
was a token of the covenant God made with Abraham that
he and his wife
would be Mother and Father of many descendants.
1. We should begin
the lives of our children in obedience to God.
2. We should train
up our children to honor the Father with their lives.
B. God is the reason
we have what we have.
1. A life that begins
and continues in obedience to God's commands will be
successful.
V:5 " And
Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him."
A. Abraham lived a
blessed life throughout his old age.
1. As long as we
have breath, we are blessed.
2. We owe praise
and honor to God everyday of our lives.
3. We never know
at what age God will perform a special miracle in our lives.
B. Some of God's
blessing come at unexpected times.
1. We should live
our lives in continued adoration of the Father because His mercy
endures forever.
2. We were called
out of the world of darkness into the marvelous light to be blessed
by God.
V:6. " And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so
that all that hear will laugh with me."
A. Because God has
given us joy, we should be the source of joy to others.
1. Joy is
contagious.
2. The praise of
God is contagious,
B. We should live our
lives as a light to the joy of the Lord.
1. We should be
the source of encouragement to others.
V:7. " And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham,
that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his
old age."
A. We should
recognize that God is the source of our blessings and give Him thanks.
1. Out of our
mouths should flow praise and honor so all those around us will know
our
gratefulness to God our Father,
2. We must be
careful to give God the credit for our joy.
B. What the world
can't conceive, God can make happen.
1. God is able to
bless us with more than we can think or imagine.
2. God may not come when we want Him, but He
is always on time.
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