IT'S NEVER TOO LATE (WITH GOD)
BY FAITH • Sermon • Submitted
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· 32 viewsGOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES, ACCORDING TO HIS TIMING.
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11: BY FAITH EVEN SARAH HERSELF, WHEN SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE OFFSPRING, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS PAST THE AGE, SINCE SHE CONSIDERED THAT THE ONE WHO HAD PROMISED WAS FAITHFUL. 12: THEREFORE, FROM ONE MAN - IN FACT, FROM ONE AS GOOD AS DEAD - CAME OFFSPRING AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS OF THE SKY AND AS INNUMERABLE AS THE GRAINS OF SAND ALONG THE SEASHORE.
11: BY FAITH EVEN SARAH HERSELF, WHEN SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE OFFSPRING, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS PAST THE AGE, SINCE SHE CONSIDERED THAT THE ONE WHO HAD PROMISED WAS FAITHFUL. 12: THEREFORE, FROM ONE MAN - IN FACT, FROM ONE AS GOOD AS DEAD - CAME OFFSPRING AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS OF THE SKY AND AS INNUMERABLE AS THE GRAINS OF SAND ALONG THE SEASHORE.
BIG IDEA: GOD GIVES POWER TO CONCEIVE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!
BIG IDEA: GOD GIVES POWER TO CONCEIVE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!
WE MEET SARAI, ALONG WITH ABRAM IN GENESIS 11. AND AS WITH MOST MENTIONS IN SCRIPTURE, A DESCRIPTION IS AFFIXED…SO, TO SARAI, AS SHE IS INTRODUCED TO THE WORLD, IT IS SAID: VS. 30: SARAI WAS UNABLE TO CONCEIVE; SHE DID NOT HAVE A CHILD.
AWWW BELOVED OUR WEAKNESSES CAN OFTEN SPEAK LOUDER THAN OUR VOICES...
OUR PERCEIVED SHORTCOMINGS CAN ECHO LOUDER THAN OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS...
OUR MISSED MARKS CAN EXPERIENCE MORE EXPOSURE THAN OUR HIT MARKS...
AS SARAI IS INTRODUCED, IT IS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO NOTE THAT SHE WAS UNABLE TO CONCEIVE....
THE BURDEN IS PLACED UPON HER...
THERE WAS NO MALFUNCTION WITH ABRAM’S SEED. THE TROUBLE WAS WITH SARAI’S WOMB....
THAT’S THE SHAME THAT SARAI BORE...
A WIFE UNABLE TO CONTINUE THE LINEAGE...
A WIFE UNABLE TO GIVE HER HUSBAND A NAMESAKE.
AND YET, IN THE VERSES TO FOLLOW, GOD SPEAKS TO ABRAM AND DECLARES: 12:2 - I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION...
HERE IS IT BELOVED: GOD CAN TAKE OUR LACK, AND STILL PROVIDE A PROMISE FOR EXCESS!!!
IS THERE ANYBODY IN THE HOUSE WITH JUST TWO FISH AND FIVE BARLEY LOAVES, AND YET GOD CAN TAKE THAT AND FEED A MULTITUDE...
GOD CAN TAKE OUR LACK, AND STILL PROVIDE A PROMISE FOR EXCESS!!
BACK TO OUR MOTTO TEXT, VS. 11: BY FAITH EVEN SARAH HERSELF, WHEN SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE OFFSPRING, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS PAST THE AGE…IT’S NEVER TOO LATE (WITH GOD)...
NOW, THE REASON I TAKE YOU BACK TO THESE ORIGINAL OCCURRENCES IN SCRIPTURE IS FOR CONTEXT…CONTEXT!
I DON’T WANT YOU TO MISS THE FACT THAT BOTH ABRAHAM AND SARAH STUMBLED INTO THEIR DESTINY!
THEY WEREN’T AS SURE-FOOTED AS SOME OF US.
NAW, THEY STUMBLED - THEY MADE ERRORS IN JUDGMENT - THEY CHOSE THE SHORTCUTS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS!
SO AS THEIR STORIES DISPLAY THE FAITHFULNESS OF A MAN AND A WOMAN, THEY ALSO DISPLAY THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF A LONG-SUFFERING GOD!
AREN’T YOU GLAD THAT GOD GIVES US CHANCE AFTER CHANCE?
AREN’T YOU GLAD THAT GOD DOESN’T GIVE UP ON US LIKE WE GIVE UP ON OTHERS?
FOLKS TODAY WILL CANCEL YOU LIKE AN OVERDRAWN CREDIT CARD…AND WON’T EVEN LOOK BACK!!!
BUT NOT OUR GOD…HE’S LONG-SUFFERING! HE’S PATIENT! HE’S KIND! HIS FAITHFUL-LOVE GOES BEFORE US AND BEHIND US…IT’S NEVER TOO LATE WITH GOD!
SO, WHILE WE READ IN HEBREWS 11 ABOUT SARAH’S FAITH, IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW SARAH STUMBLED...
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 18
SARAH LAUGHS
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.
10 The LORD said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
13 But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”
TO SARAH, GOD’S FULFILLMENT TOOK TOO LONG...
WHAT SHE SAW SEEMED TOO IMPOSSIBLE (EVEN) FOR GOD...
HAVE YOU EVER “REALLY” WANTED TO BELIEVE GOD COULD OR WOULD DO SOMETHING, BUT THE FACTS WERE JUST TOO OVERBEARING?
THE TUITION WAS JUST TOO HIGH!
THE SICKNESS WAS JUST TOO FAR GONE!
THE MARRIAGE WAS JUST BEYOND REPAIR.
THE CHILD WAS JUST TOO REBELLIOUS...
YOU WANTED TO BELIEVE, BUT THE FACTS WERE JUST TOO OVERBEARING...
A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer."
"That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
WE ALLOW THE FACTS TO OVERRIDE OUR FAITH. RATHER THAN BELIEVING OUR FAITH CAN OVERRIDE OUR FACTS.
GOD NEVER TOLD SARAH HE WOULD MAKE HER YOUNGER...
HE NEVER TOLD HER TO USE THE SLAVE GIRL AS A SURROGATE...
HE NEVER EVEN TOLD HER SHE WOULD EXPERIENCE AN IMMACULATE CONCEPTION...
GOD SAID ABRAM’S SEED WOULD DO IT THROUGH SARAI....
GOD GAVE HER THE PROMISE IN THE FACE OF THE FACTS!!!
OH BELOVED, WHAT PROMISE ARE YOU HOLDING ON TO? WHAT VISION ARE YOU AWAITING TO BE MANIFESTED? WHAT DREAM ARE YOU LONGING TO BE FULFILLED?
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE (WITH GOD)!!!
11: BY FAITH EVEN SARAH HERSELF, WHEN SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE OFFSPRING, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS PAST THE AGE, SINCE SHE CONSIDERED THAT THE ONE WHO HAD PROMISED WAS FAITHFUL.
11: BY FAITH EVEN SARAH HERSELF, WHEN SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE OFFSPRING, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS PAST THE AGE, SINCE SHE CONSIDERED THAT THE ONE WHO HAD PROMISED WAS FAITHFUL.
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
IT WON’T BE ALL PERFECT! I TOLD YOU ABRAHAM AND SARAH STUMBLED INTO THEIR DESTINY...
THEIR ACTIONS DEMONSTRATE A LAPSE IN JUDGMENT, NOT A LACK OF FAITH!
AND THIS IS WHERE WE MUST GUARD OURSELVES BELOVED...
IN ALL THAT SARAH DID, SHE NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING…((EVEN SARAH HERSELF))!
AND ACCORDING TO THE TEXT, HER BELIEF ACCESSED THE POWER TO CONCEIVE!
((THE TEXT SAYS SARAH: RECEIVED POWER TO CONCEIVE))!!
AWW BELOVED, IF WHAT YOU’RE DOING AIN’T ACCESSING NO POWER, THEN YOU NEED TO ADJUST!!!
I IMAGINE WE’RE TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT - TRYING TO HELP GOD BE GOD - TRYING TO TAKE MATTERS INTO OUR OWN DESTRUCTIVE HANDS....
BELOVED, LET YOUR BELIEF DO YOUR TALKING!
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
WHEN SARAH LOOKED AT HER CONDITION (INFERTILITY), WHILE ALSO LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR (WELL INTO HER 90’S), IT WAS INCONCEIVABLE THAT SHE COULD STILL CONCEIVE!!! AWWW GOD, BUT BY FAITH, “EVEN SARAH HERSELF...”
NOT ONLY WILL OUR FAITH OVERRIDE THE FACTS, BUT IN DUE SEASON, OUR FAITH WILL INTERPRET THE FACTS.
MEANING, AS TIME PASSES, GOD WILL GIVE YOU GLIMPSES INTO HIS WILL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HIS WAYS...
HAVE YOU EVER COME OUT OF SOMETHING - ON THE OTHER SIDE, AND AS YOU REVIEWED GOD’S ACTIVITY, THEN AND ONLY THEN DID IT BEGIN TO MAKE SENSE?
GOD TOOK ABRAHAM AND SARAH TO THE END OF THEMSELVES...
TO THE END OF THEIR LOGIC AND FACTS...
IN THE FACE OF HER CONDITION AND THE CALENDAR...
AND THEN FULFILLED HIS PROMISE!!!
SO, AS HER WRINKLED HANDS HELD THAT NEW BABY, SHE WOULD KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT THAT GOD DID IT!!!
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE (WITH GOD)!
Author: Michael Duduit6
ILLUSTRATION
Winston Churchill had nearly reached the height of political power in Britain early in his career; by the age of 33 he was a cabinet minister and one of the nation’s most popular speakers. Yet a series of events and unpopular positions caused Churchill to lose his political standing and become a subject of ridicule and rejection. By the early 1930s, he had been excluded from the seats of power. Churchill’s prophetic warnings about Adolf Hitler were ignored by an English public that preferred to hear comforting worlds of peace.
When Britain was plunged into World War II, Churchill was already 65 years of age, eligible to retire on a government pension. Yet that is the moment when the nation turned to him, and Churchill became the prime minister who inspired the British people to remain firm during her darkest day of the war.
Michael Duduit is the founder/editor of Preaching Magazine and the founding dean of the College of Christian Studies at Anderson University.
APPLICATION
Each new day, each new year lies before us like an open book. Regardless of what successes or failures have come and gone, we don't know how God will choose to use us in the future. It could be that the disappointments and rejections of the past were just what you needed to prepare you for what's coming. Rest assured, God will use you, as you yield to His timing and His purposes.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Illustration Exchange
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
BELIEVE GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR CONDITION OR THE CALENDAR!
SECOND AND FINALLY:
BELIEVE THE ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL, AND NEVER GIVE UP!
BELIEVE THE ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL, AND NEVER GIVE UP!
2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.
Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ge 21:2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
SARAH KNEW HOW, AND SHE KNEW WHO, BUT SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHEN...
SO, SHE CONSIDERED THE ONE WHO MADE THE PROMISE, AND KEPT ON DOING WHAT SHE NEEDED TO DO...
NOTICE, DESPITE THEIR AGES, ABRAHAM AND SARAH STILL PERFORMED FAITHFULLY...
THEY WERE FAITHFUL TO DO THEIR PART, BELIEVING THAT GOD WOULD DO HIS PART ((IN HIS OWN TIMING)).
OH BELOVED, NEVER GIVE UP....
Don't Quit Skating
I heard the story of a boy trying to learn how to ice-skate. He had fallen so many times that his face was cut, and the blood and tears ran together. Out of sympathy, a man skated over to the boy, picked him up and said, "Son, why don't you quit before you kill yourself?"
He wiped the tears from his face and told the man, "I didn't buy these skates to learn how to quit; I bought them to learn how to skate."