MCLEAN BIBLE CHURCH JANUARY 20, 2013 PASTOR LON SOLOMON

Transcription

1 MCLEAN BIBLE CHURCH JANUARY 20, 2013 PASTOR LON SOLOMON >> PASTOR SOLOMON: Well, waiting in line at the DMV. (laughter). Waiting in line at the grocery store. Waiting in traffic on the beltway. Waiting for your boss to make a decision. Waiting for a representative to finally come on and answer the telephone. I hate waiting. I hate waiting for anything, any time, anywhere. Are any of you like that? (chuckles). Yeah, okay. Well, this is what we are going to talk about today as we return to our study in the Book of Genesis. We are going to talk about waiting. But we are not going to talk about waiting in traffic, and we're not going to talk about waiting at the DMV. We're going to talk about waiting on the Lord in our lives. So are you ready? Okay. We're going to be in Genesis 18. But before we go there, a little bit of review. Remember, last week in Genesis 18, if you were here, we saw the three men came to visit Abraham while he was living in Hebron which is just south of Jerusalem. There is a map up so you can see where it is. Two of these men we learned were angels in human form who then were to continue on from this meeting with Abraham to Sodom and Gomorrah. We will get there in a couple of weeks. The third man was a living God himself in a theophany. It is a fancy theological word of an appearance of God himself in human form. And why did God come to visit Abraham? Well, he came to announce Sarah's impending pregnancy. Watch. Genesis 18, verse 10. And the Lord said to Abraham, I will surely return to you this time next year and behold Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. But if you were here last week, you remember that there was a problem. Verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age. Remember, we saw Abraham was 100 years old. Sarah was 90. And it had ceased, the Bible says, to be with Sarah after the manner of women. In other words, Sarah was no longer ovulating. According to Romans Chapter 4, Verse 19, Sarah's womb was dead, making this pregnancy impossible by every natural law known to man. All right. So that's where we've been. Let's pick up now in Verse 12 of Genesis, Chapter 18. Now, when Sarah heard this, that is that she was going to be pregnant, she laughed, saying after I have become so old, shall I have this pleasure, my Lord, that is Abraham being old also? And then the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh, saying, indeed, shall I have a child when I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? God went on to say at the appointed time next year, Abraham, I will return to you -- and Sarah will have a son. And this is precisely what happened. Genesis 21, verse 1. Now, the Lord remembered Sarah, just as he had said, and he did for Sarah just as he had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the appointed time just as God had said. And Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now, there is a critical phrase that was just used twice in the Bible, in the passage we looked at. And I hope that you picked up on this phrase. It is the phrase "at the appointed time." And this is the phrase that we want to talk about today. Now, let's go back a little bit in the Book of Genesis and remember

2 what's going on here. For 25 years, God has been promising Abraham that his wife Sarah would bear him a son. The first time God ever promised this came when Abraham was 75 years old in Genesis 12, Verse 1. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and your relatives and your father's house to the land I will show you and I will make you a great nation. So Abraham went forth as the Lord had commanded him. And Abraham was 75 years old when he left. And Abraham took Sarah and they came to the land of Canaan. Verse 7. Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. The point, my friends, is that for Abraham to become, Verse 1, a great nation for the Promised Land, to be given, Verse 7, to Abraham's descendants, in order for this to happen, clearly Abraham and Sarah had to have a son, right? (Right) Right? (Yes). >> PASTOR SOLOMON: All right. Now, God repeated this promise to Abraham in the very next chapter, Chapter 13, Verse 14. And the Lord said to Abraham, lift up your eyes and look north, south, east and west. All the land you see, I will give it to you and your what? (Descendants) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: Your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, only then could your descendants be counted. Second time, God said you are going to have descendants so you got to have a son. Third, in Genesis 13, God repeated the promise again, Verse 1, then the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, do not fear, Abraham, for I am your shield and your very great reward. But Abraham said, O, sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless, and the heir of my estate is my servant, Eliezer of Damascus. As you may recall when we were studying in Genesis 15, I told you about archeological excavations at a town called Nuzi. We will show you a map so you will see where it is. It is in northern Mesopotamia. We discovered here in Nuzi a thousand of clay tablets detailing the social customs in the ancient Near East in 2100 B.C. when the Bible says Abraham lived. One of these customs was that if you were childless you could appoint one of your household servants to be your heir which is exactly what Abraham is talking about here in Genesis 15. He had taken his servant, Eliezer, and made him his heir because he didn't have any children, totally in keeping with the customs that were being practiced in the ancient Near East in that day. My friends, once again, we find Abraham's actions as described in the Bible aligning perfectly with the customs of ancient nearest from Abraham's time or as we love to say here at McLean Bible Church, say it with me on three, here we go. One, two, three. The more they dig out of the ground, the more the Bible proves to be right. Verse 4. Then the word of the Lord came to Abraham and said, this man, Eliezer, will not be your heir but a son who will come from your own body, he will be your heir. And the Lord took Abraham and said, look up at the stars and count them if you can, so shall your descendants be! Okay. So far so good, right? Yeah? Abraham has three promises from God that he and Sarah are going to have a son. But, when we get to Genesis 16, it has been 13 years, Abraham, and since Abraham got his first promise about his son, he is 86 years old now, and Abraham and Sarah still don't have a son. Chapter 16, Verse 1. Now, Sarah, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian handmaiden named Hagar. So Lord said

3 to Sarah, the Lord has kept me from having children. Go sleep with my handmaiden. Perhaps I can build a family through her. Once again, we know from the tablets at Nuzi that this kind of surrogate motherhood that Sarah is talking about here was also legal and it was common in the time of Abraham. And so Abraham did what Sarah asked and he had a son by Hagar and named this son Ishmael. And Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ismail to him. But, friends, this was not the son that God was talking about. No, no. For that son, he made Abraham and Sarah wait 14 more years which brings us right back to where we started today in Genesis 18. God said at the appointed time next year, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son and so Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the appointed time just as God had said. And Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now, that's as far as we're going to go in our passage for today because it is time now for us to ask our most important question and we all know what that is, so all of you guys at Loudon and everybody at Prince William and down in the Edge and over at Bethesda and around the world on the Internet Campus, everybody here at Tysons, are we ready? (Yes!) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: That doesn't fill me with great security. Are we ready? (Yes!) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: All right. Come on now. Here we go. Nice and loud. Make it worth it. One, two, three! (So what!!!???) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: Yeah. You say, Lon, so what? I mean, this is great. Abraham and Sarah and blady, blady, blah, blah, blah, what different does this make in my life today? I don't see any connection. Let's talk about that, shall we? Our question for today is this. Why did God make Abraham and Sarah wait so long, 25 years, before giving them Isaac? And the answer is because God had a what? Say it with me. An appointed time for Sarah's pregnancy and for Isaac's birth. Now, my friends, God has an appointed time for everything. You and I may not be able to understand it. I'm sure Abraham couldn't under it. I'm sure Sarah couldn't understand it. And even today looking back, we can't fully understand all the nuances of why God wanted them to wait 25 years, but it doesn't matter. God said it twice. Abraham had a son and Sarah got pregnant at the appointed time that God had decided. You know, when I think of this, I think of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John, Chapter 11. Mary and Martha, of course, were his sisters. And the Bible says John 11, verse 3, that his sisters, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus saying Lazarus, the sick. Now, the Bible says Jesus did love Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Yet, when we heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where he was for two more days. Finally, upon their arrival in Bethany, that is Jesus and the disciples, they discovered that Lazarus had been in the actual for four days. And had been in the tomb for four days. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Now, what's Martha saying to Jesus? What she's saying to him is: Lord, you were late! You didn't get here on time. When we really needed you here, you weren't here. And you messed everything up because you didn't do what I wanted you to do when I needed you to do it. You were late, late, late. Now, I got to tell you, Martha is not the only person who's had this

4 problem. I have this problem. I don't care what the situation is in life. Doesn't matter. I know what I want God to do, and I always know how I want God to do it, and I always know when I want God to do it, which is right now. But you see, God had an appointed time for showing up and raising Lazarus from the dead. And God had an appointed time for Sarah's pregnancy. And, friend, God has an appointed time for every detail of my life and every detail of your life. Isaiah 55, Verse 8, God says: My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither my ways are your ways, and may I add neither is my timing your timing, says the Lord. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts and my timing higher and better than your timing. Another way to say this is to say that God's perfect plan for our life has a perfect timing that comes with it. And, therefore, if we want to see God's richest blessing on our lives, we must be willing, look here, to wait not only on God's will for our life but also on God's timing for our life. I want to repeat that. If you don't get anything else today, you get this, that God's perfect plan for our lives has a perfect timing that comes with it and, therefore, if we want God's richest blessing, it's not enough just to wait on God's will. We have to also weigh on God's timing. This is why David said, Psalm 27, Verse 14, wait on the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. May I remind you waiting on the Lord is not a position of weakness. It is a position of strength. Yes, wait on the Lord, Psalm 37, Verse 7, rest in the Lord and wait -- what's the next word? (Patiently.) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: Patiently for him. Now, this is not a word we're good at, none of us. You're not good at waiting patiently. I'm not good at waiting patiently. And I will tell you why, because patience is simply not part of our human sinful flesh. It just isn't. But, for those who wait on the Lord, look at the wonderful promise God gives us. Isaiah 49, verse 23, those, he says, who wait on me shall never be put to shame. Wow. You know, I have been a believer in Jesus 42 years. And all of that time I have never to the best of my recollection had a single fellow believer ever walk up to me and accuse God of being early. (laughter). Have you ever had anybody accuse God of being early? No. Now, by the same token, God is never late. Although I have had a lot of believers walk up and accuse him of that. And I have accused him of that myself. Friends, God is never early, God is never late. God is always right on schedule, His schedule. And God is always right on time, uh, His time. When I think of this, I think of Moses and the Israelites trapped at the Red Sea with pharaohs' chariots swooping down on them with their backs to the water. I can't help but think that Moses watching this unfold must have turned and looked up to heaven and said, hey, God, you're late! Ah, but you know what? By the time the Red Sea had opened and the Red Sea had shut and the Israelites were safely on the other side. Moses realized, however, that God wasn't late, God was right on schedule. And then I think of David running from Saul and hiding in caves for seven years even after he had been anointed by Samuel as the king and living like a criminal. And I'm sure there were days in those cold damp caves at night where David would look up and say, God, you're late. What about this king thing? Did you know you're late? Ah, but you know what? When Saul died in battle without David lifting

5 a pinky to be a part of that, thus enabling David to consolidate his kingship over Israel without a nasty Civil War, David learned that God was right on schedule, just like he said. And then I think of Ruth and Naomi coming back to Bethlehem as poor widows. They were so poor that they had to go out and pick up food off the ground in order to eat and survive. And I'm sure there was many a night for them sitting hungry around the fire where they said, God, you're late. Ah, but Boas showed up right on schedule, folks. Oh, yes. He rode into that field and he saw Ruth and he was right on time. What about Daniel getting tossed into the lions' den by King Darius? And they rolled the stone over the door and they left him there all night for dead. So there he is sitting in this lion's den looking at these lions face to face, eyeball to eyeball. Don't you think Daniel might have looked up and said, hey, Lord, you're late? (laughter). But after God had sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel walked out the next morning safe and sound, what did Daniel learn? That God was right on schedule. Now, why don't we stop talking about Daniel and Naomi and Ruth and Moses and talk about you and because as followers of Christ, we all struggle with this very same conflict between God's timing and our timing. Many of us plan to be married at this point in our life but in God's timing, we're not. And many of us plan to have that new job or that new promotion by this point in our life. But in God's timing, we don't. And many of us had planned to be financially secure at this point in our life, but in God's timing, we're not. And many of us had planned to have children running around our home by this point in our lives. But in God's timing, we don't. Many of us had planned to go to a certain college or to go to a certain medical school or go to a certain graduate school or to be farther along in our career than we are, but in God's timing, well, you know... Now, as followers of Jesus, what do we do with this? Well, friends, here's what we do with it. We apply Biblical truth to it. That's what we do. And the Biblical truth we apply is proverbs 16, verse 9. The Bible says: The mind of man plans his way. I'm going to be married. I'm going to have children. I'm going to be here. I'm going to have this job. I'm going to be over here. Fine. The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps. And you see, true men and women of God, they believe this verse. True men and women of God believe that God has better ways of getting us where we need to be when we need to be there, how we need to get there than we could ever dream up or plan for ourselves. And, therefore, true men and women of God have no problem waiting on the Lord, even if it's months, even if it's years because they know -- don't you miss this -- that not only is God's plan for their life perfect but also God's timing for their life is perfect. Just like it was for Abraham and Sarah and Moses and David and Daniel and Ruth and Naomi and Mary and Martha and Lazarus, it will be for you and me. Now, just before we close, there's one last part of this truth. It is a colossal piece of this truth that we need to make sure we don't miss. And that is, listen, when God made all these people in the Bible wait on him, folks, it wasn't because he'd forgotten about it. And it wasn't because he didn't care about him. To the contrary. It was because He was putting everything in place so He could do for them Ephesians 3:20,

6 exceedingly, abundantly beyond what they could ask or even imagine. It was because He wanted to put everything in place so He could do for them Jeremiah 33:3, great and mighty things that they knew not. And by the same token, my friends, if God is asking you as a follower ever Jesus here today to wait right now on him for something, for a car, for a house, for a husband, for a wife, for a job, for a deal to come through, for a child to come to Christ, for whatever it is, it doesn't matter, he's asking you to wait. I want you to remember He has not forgotten about you. Even if you have been waiting a long time, He is not insensitive tower needs. Even if you have been waiting a long time, He is making you wait for the very same reason He made all these other people wait; namely, so He can get every detail in perfect alignment to give you His deepest and richest blessing. So don't mess it up! Don't mess it up! (applause). By jumping in in the energy of the flesh and trying to tinker with it yourself. You say, what does that mean? Well, friends, look here. So often what God does is He gets us ready for something great that he's got planned. You sense it in your spirit. You know, you know what he's going to do. You can feel it. And then He says, now, I got you ready. Just standstill. Stay put. Don't do anything because I got to go off over here and I got a bunch of other things I got to line up and get all the clickers in a row. And when I do, I'll bring it all over and match it up with you and, man, I'm telling you, exceedingly, abundantly what you could ask for or imagine, so just sit tight. I'll be back. Just like when Moses went up Mt. Sinai. What did He tell the Israelites? Sit tight. I will be back. But they didn't sit tight, did they? No. And we don't either so often. We get impatient in the flesh. And by the time God comes back with everything ready to go, we built the golden test in the energy of our own test. And we've compromised the blessing that He wants to give us. Folks, don't do that. If God tells you to sit tight He knows where you and I are. He hasn't forgotten where we are. He is coming back. It may be a long time but that's not your call. It is not my call. And the people who enjoy the richest blessing of God are the ones who are willing to sit tight and wait if He says to wait as long as it takes. Look what God did for Abraham and Sarah and Ruth and Naomi and Daniel and David and Mary and Martha, look what He did for them because they were willing to wait. You say, well, Lon, that's wonderful but here's my last question: How will I know when God wants me to wait? And how do I know when God wants me to act? Because sometimes God wants me to act, right? Absolutely. So how do I know the difference? Very simple, folks. You get on your knees, you seek the face of Christ and you ask him. You ask Him. Lord, do I wait? Do I act? I have been waiting a long time. Is it time for me to act? Do you want me to wait some more? He'll tell you. He'll tell you. You say, well, I'm not really sure my relationship with Jesus is quite that intimate that He will. Well, whose fault is that? Not His. Jesus said you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart if you haven't been doing that that's not His problem but you can start now. You get on your face and ask him, Lord, do you want me to wait or do you want me to act? He'll let you know. I will say to you one piece of advice, if in doubt, wait. If in doubt -- I never, ever messed anything up the Lord wanted to do for me by

7 waiting a little longer. But I sure have messed some stuff up by acting too soon. Just wait. Now, let me say in closing, waiting on the Lord I think is the most difficult spiritual discipline of them all. I can read my Bible. That's easy. I can have my quiet time. That's easy. I can pray. That's easy. I can memorize scripture. That's easy. I can even fast. That's not so easy for me. (laughter). I mean, I may miss a meal but I never forget a meal. You understand what I'm saying? If I missed it, I missed it but I didn't forget it went by. But I can do that. The waiting on the Lord is tough, tough, tough because it goes against everything in our flesh. There is not a part of our flesh that this comes natural to. We are impatient. We are impertinent. And we are self-sufficient and that's what we got to fight when we're waiting on the Lord. So if the Lord's asking you to wait on something, I don't care what it is, it takes the Holy Spirit giving us the power and the discipline to just simply say, okay, Lord, self-control. Spiritual self-control, I'm just waiting. But I promise you this, if you wait when the Lord tells you to wait, when He comes back with everything lined up, you are going to be so glad you waited. And then you didn't get out there in the energy of the flesh and build a golden calf. Trust me. That's why David said, wait on the Lord. Be strong. Take courage and wait patiently on the Lord. Why? Because Isaiah 49, those who wait on me shall never be put to shame. Let's pray. Lord, Jesus, thanks for talking to us today about something I certainly needed to hear. Brenda and I have some areas in our life where we are and have been for months and even years asking you to do certain things and you've just said, no, you wait. It's hard. So hard. Not to get impatient, not to act in the energy of the flesh. But, Lord, I thank you for reminding me today, and I hope you've reminded all of us today that the richest blessings of God are bestowed upon those who are willing to wait patiently when you tell us to. And so, Lord, whether it's two months or whether it's 25 years, it doesn't matter, give us that discipline by the power of the Holy Spirit in our life and I pray for many people here today who are also being told by you to wait for a husband, for a wife or a house, for a job, for a child to come to Christ, whatever. Give us that discipline to wait by the power of the spirit and the wisdom to do it. So encourage our hearts today, Lord, because waiting is hard. Remind us it will be worth it. And help us cling to you knowing that you haven't forgotten about us, but that you will be back. And we can live for that. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And what do God's people say? (Amen.) >> PASTOR SOLOMON: Amen. * * * This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication access realtime translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * *