Hebrews 11:11 12 THEME WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE. PRINCIPLE #1 FAITH MAKES GOD S PROMISES A REALITY

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Myra Newman
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1 Hebrews 11:11 12 Hebrews 11:11-12, By faith Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. THEME WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE. PRINCIPLE #1 FAITH MAKES GOD S PROMISES A REALITY EXPLANATION The first time God promised Abraham that his offspring would be numerous he said in Genesis 13:16, I will make your off spring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. When God said this, Abraham was 75 years old and Sarah was 65 years old and they had no children. Then about ten years later Abraham and Sarah still had no children but God took Abraham outside and said in Genesis 15:5, 6, Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Even though God is faithful to keep all His promises, sometimes He does not fulfill His promises as fast as we would like. In Abraham and Sarah s case, twenty-four years went by and Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 89 and they still had no children, no offspring, no descendants. At this time, God appeared to Abraham a third time and said in Genesis 17:1-6, I am the God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. God also said to Abraham in Genesis 17:15-16, I will bless Sarah and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her. How did Abraham handle waiting 24 years for God to fulfill His promise? It would have been so easy for Abraham to respond to God by saying, I ve heard that before and you ve never followed through. Abraham could have easily said to Sarah, Look God promised us a son and we have waited 24 years for Him to keep His promise. God said that we would have descendants like the number of grains of sand on the seashore, and we don t even have one. We are too old to have children now. Let s just give up and go back to Ur and return to our former lives. But they did not return to Ur. Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 1

2 Romans 4:17b-19,... he (Abraham) believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, So shall your offspring be. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old and that Sarah s womb was also dead. Abraham did not shut his eyes to the impossibility of their situation. He knew that He and Sarah lacked the physical ability to conceive a child, if a child was conceived and born, they could take no credit, all the glory would go to God. Romans 4:20-21 tells us, Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Abraham knew that God was the almighty. He knew that God cannot lie and that He is faithful to keep His promises. Therefore, no matter how long God waited, no matter how impossible the promise seemed, if God made it, He would keep it. Somehow Abraham s faith activated God s power and caused Sarah to conceive and give birth to the very son that God had promised. They named the boy Isaac. Genesis 21:1-7 says, Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. And she added, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. APPLICATION Abraham s faith in God caused him to be an optimist. He believed that God could make the impossible possible. If we believe that everything in life depends on our own efforts, we are bound to be pessimists However, if we realize God s grace, power and promises are available to us, we will be optimists, because we know that with God nothing is impossible. Do you live as if everything depends on your own efforts? Or do you realize that the only living and true God who is all loving and all powerful has made promises to you? Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Is your life filled with faith, confidence, security, hope and courage? Or is your life filled with worry, anxiety, despair and fear? Do you believe that God can make the impossible possible? God s power is released through God s promises, when you and I exercise faith. Salvation is by faith. Answers to prayer are a result of faith. Peace, contentment and joy in the midst of life are all a result of faith that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) To the sinful woman who anointed Him in Luke 7:50, Jesus said, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 2

3 To the Leper in Luke 17:19, Jesus said, Rise and go; your faith has made you well. To the blind man in Luke 18:41-43, Jesus said, Receive your sight; your faith has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus. (Luke 18:41-43) When the disciples couldn t cast a demon out a young boy they came to Jesus in private and asked, Matt. 17, 19, 20, Why couldn t we drive the demon out? Jesus replied, Because you have so little faith... When Jesus visited His home town of Nazareth, Mark 6:5-6, says, He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their lack of faith. God is not limited by our lack of faith, but He chooses to bless and reward those who trust in Him. Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. THEME WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE. PRINCIPLE #2 UNBELIEF CAUSES BAD DECISIONS When you read the Bible, you wonder what kind of faith Sarah really had! The Genesis account gives no indication that Sarah ever showed much faith in God. Let s look back to the Genesis account. This event occurs ten years after God s first promise. Genesis 16:1-6, Now Sarai, Abram s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. So she said to Abram, the Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her. Abram agreed to what Sarai said, so after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me. Your servant is in your hands, Abram said, Do with her whatever you think best. Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. EXPLANATION Abraham and Sarah waited ten years for God to fulfill his promise to them and still they had no son. So, Sarah doubted God s promise and decided to take matters into her own hands. She persuaded Abraham to try to have a son by her maid Hagar. Sarah s idea and Abraham s willingness to go along with her plan produced a son by the name of Ishmael. Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 3

4 Abraham and Sarah quickly learned that doing things their way was not the way of happiness. Sarah s unbelief and impatience created big family problems. It caused hard feelings between Hagar and Sarah. It caused friction between Abraham and Sarah. Sarah s unbelief and impatience also created international problems because Ishmael became the father of the Arabs. Isaac became the father of the Jews. And we all know how much they hate each other. Unbelief in God s promises always causes bad decisions. ILLUSTRATION It was unbelief in God s love that led Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. It was unbelief in God s power that kept the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land and sent them wandering in the desert for forty years. It is unbelief in their need for a savior that keeps people from trusting in Jesus Christ as their personal savior and going to heaven when they die. Unbelief in God s promise to provide for us financially might cause us to worry excessively, or be a little dishonest in our business dealings. It may cause us to steal or it may make us unwilling to help others in their time of need or give to the Lord s work. Unbelief in God s love may keep us from giving every area of our lives over to God s control. Unbelief in God s holiness, wrath, justice and discipline may cause us to continue to live in sin. When unbelief tries to solve a problem it always creates a bigger problem, APPLICATION Are you trusting in God and His promises? Or have you taken matters into your own hands? Are you trying to solve your problems in your own way? Or are you making Godly decisions based on God s Word? Or are you doing what is right in your own eyes? THEME WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE. PRINCIPLE #3 UNBELIEF CAUSES PEOPLE TO LAUGH AT THE PROMISES OF GOD. Genesis 18:9-15, Where is your wife Sarah? they asked him. There, in the tent, he said. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent which was behind him, Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure? When Sarah heard that she was going to bear a son, she laughed within her heart, thinking that it was absolutely impossible. Her laugh expressed disbelief in God s power. How could a promise like that be given now that it was physically impossible? How could a woman nearly 90 years old have a son? That sounded ridiculous. This laughter in Sarah was not that of an unbeliever. It was that of a believer who did not trust a promise by God. It is interesting that Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 4

5 when Sarah laughed in her heart and even lied about it, God knew that she had laughed. Genesis 18:13-15, Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child, now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, I did not laugh. But he said, Yes, you did laugh. It is sobering to know that God knows the unspoken thoughts of our hearts. There is no use pretending that we believe His promises if we laugh at them secretly within our hearts. God knows all of our thoughts and actions. Hebrews 4:13, Nothing in all creation is hidden from God s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. ILLUSTRATION Unbelief not only causes people to laugh at the promises of God but also the ideas of men. Glenn Bland - YOU MUST TAKE THE CAN T OUT OF YOUR LIFE: History reveals that there have always been those individuals who spend their lives in a negative world where can t is the most frequently used word in their vocabulary. Had such great men as Thomas Edison listened to the so-called experts of their day, our civilization would probably be regressing instead of progressing. Here s proof. The following statements are taken from official documents, newspapers and magazines widely read during their day. Listen to what the authorities had to say: Anyone traveling at the speed of thirty miles per hour would surely suffocate Electric lights are unworthy of serious attention No possible combination can be united into a practical machine by which men shall fly (from a Scientist), This foolish idea of shooting at the moon is basically impossible. There have always been those who said, It can t be done. Yes, even the experts can be wrong. But the real tragedy is that 99 percent of the people believed them. We can be thankful for the nonconformists, such as the Wright Brothers, and Edison, who did not accept what the so called experts said. APPLICATION If certain men can do the wonderful things that other people thought were impossible, how much more can God do what we think is impossible. Ephesians 3:20, God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Jeremiah 32:17, Ah Lord God behold though hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for thee. Luke 13:27, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 5

6 God has not said, If you have enough faith I will do whatever you wish, What he has said is, If you will put your faith in me I will enable you to do whatever I want. Paul said, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) APPLICATION What are you trusting God to do in your life? Is there an area in your life, which you think is hopeless? Are your finances hopeless? Is your marriage hopeless? Are your children hopeless? Is your health hopeless? Don t give up trust in God s promises and obey God s commands. THEME WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE As we have looked at Abraham and Sarah s lives we have seen: 1) FAITH MAKES GOD S PROMISES A REALITY (Genesis 13:16, 15:6, 21:1-7) 2) UNBELIEF CAUSES BAD DECISIONS (Genesis 16:1-6) 3) UNBELIEF CAUSES US TO LAUGH AT GOD S PROMISES (Genesis 18: 9-15) Too many of us are prone to trust ourselves, or even to trust our faith instead of trusting the Faithful One. We can fail, and our faith can fail, but not one word has failed of all His good promises. (1 Kings 8: 56-60) God will declare us not guilty of all our sins because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God will indwell us with the Holy Spirit. God will never leave us nor forsake us all the days of our lives on earth. God will work in all things for our good and His glory. God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. God will give us the eternal home that he has prepared for us in heaven where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. God will give us a new body that will be like the Lord Jesus Christ s resurrected body. God will give us a reunion with our loved ones who have died in Christ. God will reward us for our faith in Him. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. THEME WITH GOD NOTHNG WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE Sermon 5 June 2016 Hebrews 11:11-12 Page 6

Genesis 12: Now the LORD had said to Abram:

Genesis 12: Now the LORD had said to Abram: Start Presentation Genesis 12:1-4 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation;