5. Sarah’s Faith

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Hymns: RHC 311 Does Jesus Care? 320 ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus 386 Be Thou My Vision

Hebrews 11:11-12 (KJV)

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Sarah’s Faith

OUTLINE

(1) Faith-Rooted In God’s Promise

(2) Faith-Rooted in God’s Faithfulness

(3) Faith-Rooted in God’s Power

 

INTRODUCTION

If God has not promised, let us not be presumptuous to believe but if God has indeed promised, we are to take hold of God’s promise and live by it from beginning to end. We can trust in the faithfulness of God to fulfil His promise because He is God Almighty!

CH Spurgeon on Sarah’s faith – “this holy woman is enrolled among these saintly ones. Her faith was not all it ought to have been, but God saw that it was true faith, and He loved it, and He wrote the record of it.” As we examined Sarah’s faith. We are brought to see not so much the weakness, doubt, unbelief of Sarah but the faithfulness of God to His promises.

Has God said? If He has, then we can rely upon the veracity of it and build our lives in view of His promises. God asked Abraham and Sarah is anything beyond My power to accomplish?

Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

 God told Abraham that he will have a son in his old age when Sarah has passed the age of child bearing, human speaking, and Abraham has passed the state in life where he can father a son – Genesis 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

But God gave the promise of a child to Abraham and Sarah. How should Abraham handle such a promise God gave? But to believe God!

As Jesus said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matt.19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27)

Sarah laughed at the thought. It reflected her unbelief. God asked Abraham why did Sarah laugh? God answered to quell all doubt, “14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Sarah’s faith is praised because she and Abraham did believe and tarried in the land of promise all their lives to see its fulfilment.

The Apostle Paul speaks of Abraham and Sarah’s strong faith that by obedience according to God’s appointed time, came together and Sarah conceived.

Romans 4:16-21 “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

 

(1) Faith-Rooted in God’s Promise

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Sarah judged God faithful. The word “judged” means regard, consider, think. It is a completed action (Aorist) and Sarah herself regarded (Middle Voice) God as faithful! This is important for she did not leave her place of obedience but tarried with God to see the promise of God fulfilled.

God did speak to Abraham and Sarah and with clear actions made the promise to them.

God made a covenant with Abraham by the death of the animals that God Himself shall fulfill His promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:1-15).

It is interesting that impatience and doubt caused Sarah to give Hagar her handmaid to “help” fulfill His promise.

At 90 years old, 15 years after he left Ur, God again assured Abraham. As a seal of the covenant, God instructed Abraham to circumcise all the males in his household.

Genesis 17:1-14 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

 God reiterated His promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah.

Genesis 17:15-21 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

 

(2) Faith-Rooted in God’s Faithfulness

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

 In God’s time, God was faithful to His promise – Genesis 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

 Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born…”

The purpose of God for the chosen seed of Abraham was that Christ, the Saviour of the world may come – Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

God’s timetable is not man’s timetable! His thoughts are not our thoughts. He works out His will in His marvelous way defying our limited capacity to comprehend events by our finite mind.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Matthew 1:1-2, 15-17 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

God is in no hurry. He has His own set time to fulfil His will – “…at the set time of which God had spoken to him.”

Providence is that continuing work of God whereby He controls all things (including time and history) in the universe, thereby certainly bringing about the fulfilment of His wise plan.

His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism)

He speaks and He fulfils! What a great God we follow. He is a faithful God we can rely on. We can trust Him to lead us through life.

Judson’s Six-Year Faith

Dr. Judson laboured diligently for six years in Burma before he baptized a convert. At the end of three years he was asked what evidence he had of ultimate success. He replied, “As much as there is a God who will fulfill all His promises.” A hundred churches and thousands of converts answered his faith.[1]

 The Key Called Promise

In Bunyan’s great allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle.

Eventually he is captured by Giant Despair and kept in a dungeon. He is advised to kill himself. The Giant said there was no use trying to keep on with his journey. For the time, it seemed as if Despair had really conquered Christian. But then, Hope, Christian’s companion, reminds him of previous victories. So, it came about that on Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and continued in prayer until almost morning.

Now a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half-amazed, broke out in a passionate speech, “What a fool am I thus to lie in a stinking Dungeon, when I may as well be at liberty. I have a Key in my bosom called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” Then said Hopeful, “That’s good news. Good Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.” And the prison gates flew open.[2]

God Never Forgets Promises

An elderly Christian was in much distress as he lay dying. “Oh, Pastor,” he said, “for years I have relied upon the promises of God, but now in the hour of death I can’t remember a single one to comfort me.” Knowing that Satan was disturbing him, the preacher said, “My brother, do you think that GOD will forget any of His promises?” A smile came over the face of the dying believer as he exclaimed joyfully. “No, no! He won’t! Praise the Lord, now I can fall asleep in Jesus and trust Him to remember them all and bring me safely to Heaven.” Peace flooded his soul, and a short time later he was ushered by the angels into the light of God’s eternal day.[3]

 

(3) Faith-Rooted in God’s Power

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength (power) to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

This word “strength” “dumamis” speaks of God’s power unleashed and clearly manifested to bring life to a barren womb.

CH Spurgeon rightly observed the phrase “him as good as dead” when he said, “Perhaps the reference is to Abraham, who was as good as dead, being so old; or to Isaac, who was as good as dead, for he was laid upon the altar, and was practically “offered up” as a sacrifice unto the Lord. There were many deaths to work against the life of faith, yet life triumphed over death after all.”

Here is recorded the fulfilment that can only be attributed to God’s power and He receive all the glory! – Genesis 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

Here we observe the power of God to bring His purpose to pass. He indeed is the Almighty God. By His word, the universe has its existence. By His word, the universe has its sustenance. We are created and sustained by the Almighty power of God. Therefore, it is such great privilege to be His children and to walk with Him through life.

Abraham and Sarah experienced in a quiet way the miracle of barren womb turning fruitful. We are humbled before God to see that He is the determinator of life and its prosperity.

Psalm 127:1-3 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Abraham and Sarah received the reward of faith at the birth of Isaac. It is a long time to wait for God to fulfill His promise and faithful is He. We can trust our God because He is the same God Abraham worshipped.

 Unsinkable Ship

At the time of the sinking of the Titanic, one of our great American preachers was in Belfast, Ireland. The Titanic had been built in Belfast, and there was a great local pride over the mighty ship. She had been heralded far and wide as “the unsinkable ship.” Sixteen members of the church in Belfast, all skilled mechanics, went down with her. The mayor said that Belfast had never been in such grief as that which came over this terrible tragedy. When the news finally was verified that the gallant ship was certainly lost, so deep was the grief that it is said strong men met upon the streets, grasped each other’s hands, burst into tears, and parted without a word.

The visiting American preached the Sunday after the tragedy in the church to which the sixteen members who had been lost belonged. Not only was the building packed with peoples but on the platform were lords, bishops, and ministers of all denominations. In the audience, many newly-made widows were sitting and orphans were sobbing on every side. The great preacher took as his subject “The Unsinkable Ship.” But he did not apply that term to the Titanic which on her first voyage had gone out into the Atlantic and crashed into an iceberg, carrying her precious cargo of human lives down to watery death.

No, the preacher’s message was about that other “unsinkable ship”—the frail boat on the sea of Galilee, unsinkable because the Master of land and sea was asleep on a pillow in the afterpart of the vessel. Thank God He still lives and rides the billows and controls the storms, and when the children of men take their only true Pilot back on board, we will ride out the present storms and He will bring the vessel through to the fair harbour of our hopes.

 —American Fundamentalist[4]

 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

Abraham and Sarah were fulfilling God’s mission for their lives and they beheld the glory of God at the birth of Isaac. If the promised child had come earlier, Abraham and Isaac would not give all glory to God but because Isaac came in this late hour, they were convinced that it is of God. They could only traced the birth of Isaac to the power of God. Indeed, we worship an Almighty God.

 Genesis 17:1-6 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

Sarah and Abraham’s life was indeed complete because he had the Almighty God to walk with him. What great privilege we have as God’s children for Abraham’s God is our God.

CONCLUSION

  • Faith Rooted In God’s Promise
  • Faith Rooted in God’s Faithfulness
  • Faith Rooted in God’s Power

 

Amen.

[1] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (508). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (502). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.