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1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
This part 3 of our series on Abraham’s faith.
First we talked about his calling
about how callings come with conditions
and how callings can’t be answered halfway
Then we talked about his covenant
and how it is through a covenant relationship with God
that we go from being called to being chosen
Many are called, but few are chosen — Jesus said.
Lots of people want to be called Christians
but few people want to enter into a lasting covenant with Christ.
For those that do enter into covenant —
God has a promise for them
The promise of the Holy Spirit
A free gift to anyone that wants to be in a relationship with Jesus.
Tonight we will talk more about that promise
For Abraham, the promise was a child
It took 25 years to receive the promise
Abraham was 75 when he left his father’s house
and he was 100 years old when he held Issac in his arms.
Some of us can’t wait one week for God’s promises
but Abraham walked faithfully for 25 years before he laid eyes on his child.
Promises are worth waiting for
Promises are worth waiting for
There are things that God has promised me that I waited 25 years to see.
There are things that God has promised me that I have not seen yet.
God gave Jurlean Johnson a vision of our church building 34 years ago
and Spoke to her about it again 25 years ago
and She passed away before ever seeing a foundation laid.
We’ve got to understand something
God is eternal
and we are not
A day is like 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day to him
That is the actual meaning of the often quoted phrase from the Apostle Peter
He was responding to a church that was tired
A church that was being persecuted
A church that was dealing with all kinds of evil people attacking it
and they asked Peter,
WHEN Will God intervene?
WHEN Will God do something?
When Will God Bless us?
When will God do what he promised us?
And Peter told them to have patience
because God’s promises are on his timeline
And a day is like a 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day to God
What’s he Saying?
Peter was saying, God isn’t bound by time like we are.
When God says something WILL happen
From our perspective
that promise will occur in the future
But from God’s perspective,
that promise has already happened.
God is able to look at you waiting faithfully for a promise
While simultaneously looking at your receiving that promise.
That’s how God is able to make the promise without lying
Because God already sees your future
God already sees your healing
God already sees your blessing
God already sees your son coming to church
God already sees your husband sitting next you at church
God already sees revival in this city
God already sees your victory before he tells you about it.
The Promise is impossible on purpose
The Promise is impossible on purpose
25 Years, they waited for the promise.
And that is faith.
That’s true faith.
Keep walking even when you don’t see it
Even when you don’t feel it
Even when it seems like the world is against you
Even when it seems like all hope should gone
and Even when it seems like the promise is now impossible.
Abraham and Sarah were so old
That when God told them the child was coming
They laughed.
It was a promise that seemed incredible
It was an impossible promise.
But, let me tell you you something profound
Promises from God are impossible on purpose.
Anyone can make a simple promise.
I can promise you lunch tomorrow
I can promise you a ride to church.
I have the means and motive to fulfill those promises.
But when God makes a promise
It is supposed to be impossible.
That’s the whole point.
He promised them that if you killed him
In three days, he would raise himself from the dead.
You want to talk about impossible
That’s the only kind of promises God makes.
God made me a promise when I was 14
and it seemed impossible at that time.
but as time went on
It seemed even more impossible
In fact, the closer I got to seeing the promise come to pass
The more impossible it seemed.
But when God finally came through
I knew it was a miracle
You think it was impossible for God to give Abraham a child at 75
God says, you just wait 25 years
When you are 100
and Sarah is 90
and We will see just how impossible this will be
The Promise was MORE impossible when it happened
that it was when it was given.
I hope you are catching what I’m saying…
Don’t be tricked into thinking
that your promise will look MORE likely to happen as times goes one.
Because the devil will use that to discourage you
He will say, oh well, I guess it isn’t going to happen.
It seemed impossible when God said it
But 25 years later, and it seems even MORE impossible now
You may as well give up on God
Maybe it wasn’t God you heard from
We both knew this would never happen…
but that’s the Devil talking to you
The promise from God is not going to look more possible as you get closer
The closer you get to the promise
The MORE Impossible it will sound.
My pastor in California, Darin Sargent
Told the story of his grandparents coming to Jesus many times.
You think the promise looked more possible as she was driving away?
Or do you think it looked even more impossible than ever?
This is for someone here today
When your promise looks even more impossible
The most impossible it can be
That’s when God will come through
Don’t listen to the enemy.
He will try to discourage you
Logic says this promise is as good as dead
but God’s promises are not based on human logic
God works outside the bounds of time and space
He don’t need science to tell him that tumors can’t disappear
We witnessed one vanish in this very baptistery
And the doctors had nothing to say
Because God is the God of possible
Even when everything says the situation is impossible!
The enemy was hot on their trail
They had an army behind them
and a sea before them
and every bit of human logic said
We’re done
God isn’t going to keep his promise
This look more impossible now
that it ever did before
But then Moses stretched out his staff
and the sea parted
and God made way when it seemed like there was no way.
He made a dry road in the middle of sea
That’s why you need to tell the devil to be quiet
Because no matter how bad it seems
God will always come through if you trust him
No matter how dark it gets
Joy is coming in the morning
You know what makes the devil so mad
When you start praising God for the promise that hasn’t happened yet.
The devil wants you to doubt the word of God
But when we praise God for the promise
We make the devil so mad
You outta get a praise in your spirit for the promises of God
And watch what God will do
I’m almost done
I’m trying to keep it short today.
The True Test comes after the Promise
The True Test comes after the Promise
So, we’ve waited for the promise faithfully
We’ve trusted God even when it seemed more impossible than ever.
And finally the promise comes
But let me tell you my final point in this series
The True Test comes AFTER the Promise.
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
This is one of the most difficult stories in the Bible to comprehend
We have the benefit of hindsight now
We know what happens at he end
God doesn’t really take the promise away from Abraham
But, just for a second
Read Gen 22.2 as if you don’t know the end of the story
Allow yourself to imagine how Abraham felt in that moment.
A man that was faithful for 25 years waiting on the promise
A man that saw the promise come true when it seemed the most impossible
A man that left everything to follow God’s calling
A man that was in a covenant relationship with God
Is now being asked to lay his promise on the altar
Why?
Verse 1 says that God tested Abraham.
What was the test?
Was it faith?
Of course Abraham had faith
That surely didn’t need to be tested.
Did it?
You see, sometimes we imagine that we’ve “Made it”
And we can just coast on into heaven
And that is a dangerous place to be in
When I was in Iraq, we were told all the time “Complacency Kills”.
Don’t ever get to a place where you imagine that you’ve prayed enough
That you’ve been to the altar enough
That you’ve read your Bible enough
That you’ve “done your time”.
Faith is not a single point in time
Faith is a lifetime
Faithfulness is about enduring until the end
And there will be many times when God “Tests you”
Even if you’ve already shown you were faithful in the past
And here’s why…
Because God needs to know if your heart is with him
or with the promise.
And there’s a difference
Do you go to church because you don’t want to go to hell
or do you go to church because you want to worship Jesus
Do you call yourself a Christian because you know it is right
or do you live like a Christian because you love Christ
It all comes down to your heart.
God tested the heart of a faithful man
By asking him to make a choice.
Choose God
or Choose the Promises of God.
If God promised you financial favor
And you got a good job
and your investments starting doing well
and then you focused on the promise
instead of the God of the promise
Don’t be surprised if he asks you to lay that promise on the altar
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
God asked him to lay his promise on the Altar
But then stopped him from making the sacrifice
Why?
Here’s the lesson in all of this.
If we choose the Promises of God
Over the God of the Promises
We will lose both
But if we choose the God of the Promises
Over the Promises
We will keep both.
God isn’t trying to “take away our promises”
God isn’t trying to keep good things from us…
But he is interested in finding people
Who will follow him no matter what
That’s faith.
When a relationship with God is more important to us
than the promises of God.
Take everything from me Lord, but your Holy Spirit.
Job lost everything
but kept his faith.
David, in his repentance of sin
asked God to let him keep one thing…
He didn’t ask to keep his kingdom
He didn’t ask to keep his throne
He didn’t ask to keep his power
or any of his promises.
… he simply requested one thing from God…
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
As we all stand…
I wonder if this could be your prayer tonight.
Lord, take everything from me...
but don’t take your Spirit
Don’t take me out of your presence.
I don’t need money, fortune, or fame.
I don’t need healing, or favor
I don’t need any of those things if I don’t have you Lord.
