The Last Laugh

Genesis 18:10-15

Basic Proposition:  Sarah thought it was humorous that God was going to allow her to have a baby, but God had the last laugh.  It is too easy for us to become so focused on this world and the current events around us that we quickly lose sight of God’s providence.

1)      God’s Phenomenon – God requires the impossible.  He wants us to see that our impossibilities are not just a random phenomenon, but they are promises with a purpose.

a.        The Promise – God’s promise has always been to redeem mankind and that promise is ours today regardless of our circumstances in life.

b.       The Probability – The odds of Abraham and Sarah having a child where seemingly impossible.

c.         The Purpose – The purpose of this phenomenon is to make us realize that God’s grace is sovereign and to keep us humble. (Judges 7:2)

2)      God’s Plan – God wants to remove our self-confidence.  He will take us through the steps we try in order to remove any possibility that we can accomplish anything without His divine intervention.

a.        Remove The Human Improvisation – Here's what usually happens: When we meet a situation like this, we try to think of ways that we can actually make it happen by ordinary human means.  God’s first course of action is always to take this away.

b.       Reach for the Human Improbabilities – If God were a gambler He would always take the long shots.  Look at the way He handled Abraham and Sarah:.

                                                   i.      He saw to it that Sarah was barren from the beginning.  (Genesis 11:30)

                                                  ii.      He refused the human solution of a legal heir named Eliezer.

                                                iii.      He rejected the human solution of having sex with Hagar to beget Ishmael.

                                                iv.      He waited till Abraham and Sarah were old and she was beyond childbearing years before the child of promise was born.

                                                 v.      And he predicted the very time of the child's birth.

c.         Renounce the Human Insecurity – The question through all this is Why Won't He Settle for the Humanly Possible? The outcome of God’s plan is always the same; He wants us to trust Him!

3)      God’s Prerequisite – We must have faith in the abilities of our Great God.     

a.        The Steps ––

                                                   i.      Do not put limitations on God’s abilities (Psalm 50:10-12)

                                                  ii.      Watch in Faith as God works

b.       The Simplicity – Believe!  Why do we make it more than we need to?  There is no formula just belief! 

Personal Application

1. The first is that each of us who is a child of God - a member of his saved covenant people, an heir of God's promise - became what we are by sovereign grace, not human initiative. (Matt. 19:26)  2. Is it possible to fill this church with people without trying all the methods of this contemporary world?  Is it possible to bring revival in this community?  The answer we offer is simply the word of God to Abraham in Genesis 18:14, "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" (Mark 9:23)