Sarah (Hebrews 11:11-16 Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

July 6th, there is a continuing Bible study in the book of Jude for Wednesday, July 6th.

00:12

It's a Bible study fellowship. It's in the game for women also.

00:23

There's precious stones. Psalm 133 says,

00:40

Ninei mato o manayim, shevetayim ha 'gavkat. Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to walk together in unity.

00:50

Now if you look at the book of Psalms, it's a collection of 150 psalms. And it's covering laments, it's covering praise, and a lot of us will turn to the psalms when we're in a low point of life, and read the psalms when we're struggling.

01:05

But if you look at the book of Psalms, the overarching theme of psalms is praise. The word praise is found in the psalms 175 times.

01:15

And we can see that when we look at the Hebrew Bible. The name of the book of Psalms is called

01:20

Sefer Tehillim, which means the brightness of praises. And each, it's divided into five different books, and each book has an apsology of praise.

01:31

And the entire psalms, as with Psalm 150, were the praise. Praise the

01:36

Lord, praise God in the sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty hands. Praise Him who has a trumpet sound.

01:47

Praise Him with lute and harp. Praise Him with tambourine and dance. Praise Him with strings and plank.

01:53

Praise Him with sounding cymbals. Praise Him with loud clashing cymbals. Let everything that has breath, let's praise

02:03

Him. Father, we just offer our hearts before you and thank the Lord for your goodness.

02:09

And as we worship and praise you, we want to thank you for your steadfast love, your faithfulness, your goodness and mercy.

02:24

We thank the Lord for your mercy, sir. May the Lord bless this time as we worship you.

02:31

Amen. All right, let's all stand.

02:42

Heavenly Father, we just come before you with anticipated marks. What we're going to hear today, your word being preached in truth and in power.

02:58

Holy, Holy God, we just, we bow our hearts and we bow our knees before you and lift you up in praise for you are worthy.

03:07

All the praise we can give. Who breaks the power of sin and darkness?

03:24

Whose love is mighty and so much stronger? The King of glory, the

03:30

King above all kings. Who shakes the water, repels the thunder?

03:41

Who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder? The King of glory, the

03:48

King above all kings. This is amazing grace.

03:57

This is unfailing love. That you would take my place.

04:05

That you would bear my cross. Oh, you lay down your life.

04:15

And I will be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

04:31

Who brings our chaos back to order? Who brings our chaos back into order?

04:39

Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory, the

04:46

King of glory. Who rules the nations with truth and justice?

04:56

Who shines like the sun in all of his brilliance? The King of glory, the

05:04

King above all kings. Yeah, this is amazing grace.

05:11

This is unfailing love. That you would take my place.

05:20

That you would bear my cross. Oh, you lay down your life.

05:30

And I will be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

05:50

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the

05:55

Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the grave. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

06:03

Worthy is the King who conquered the grave. Worthy is the

06:09

Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the grave.

06:16

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Worthy, worthy, worthy.

06:24

This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love.

06:32

That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross.

06:40

Oh, you lay down your life. And I will be set free.

06:51

Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

07:01

All that you've done, all that you've done for me. All that you've done, lead me to the cross.

07:19

Lead me to the cross. The last day my

07:32

Savior bled. And did my sovereign die.

07:41

Would He devote that sacred head.

07:48

For sinners such as I. Was it for Christ that I have died.

08:00

He crawled upon the tree. Amazing grace,

08:12

I know. And loved me unfeelingly at the cross.

08:19

At the cross, at the cross. Where I first saw the light.

08:26

And the burden of my heart. Rolled away.

08:33

It was there by fear. I received my sight.

08:40

And now I am happy all the day. The smile

08:48

I hide. My blushing face. While boundaries cross appear.

09:00

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness.

09:06

And love my eyes to tears. But drops of tears.

09:12

But drops of tears. Can nary pay.

09:19

The debt of love I owe. Dear Lord, I give myself away.

09:31

To all that I can. At the cross. At the cross.

09:39

At the cross. Where I first saw the light. And the burden of my heart.

09:47

Rolled away. It was there by fear.

09:54

I received my sight. And now I am happy all the day.

10:01

At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. Where I first saw the light.

10:10

And the burden of my heart. Rolled away. It was there by fear.

10:20

I received my sight. And now I am happy all the day.

10:29

Oh, the blood of Jesus.

10:36

Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus.

10:49

He washed his wine and stole the blood. Oh, the blood of Jesus.

11:02

Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus.

11:14

He washed his wine and stole the blood.

11:20

He washed his wine and stole the blood.

11:44

Saving blood. That you pour it out for us. We purchase.

11:52

We purchase it back. And all we can do is thank you.

12:10

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more.

12:23

Stronger than darkness. New and more.

12:28

Our sins they are paid. His mercy is more.

12:45

What love could remember. No wrongs we have done.

12:52

On mission all known. He counts not their song.

12:58

Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore.

13:06

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

13:16

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more.

13:29

Stronger than darkness. New and more.

13:35

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

13:51

What missions would wait as we constantly roam.

13:58

What the Father so tender is calling us home.

14:04

He welcomes the weary, the lifeless and old.

14:12

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

14:19

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more.

14:32

Stronger than darkness. New and more.

14:38

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

14:54

What riches of Christ he lavished on us.

15:01

His blood was the claim. His life was the cost.

15:07

We still need the debt we never owe.

15:16

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

15:24

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more.

15:37

Stronger than darkness. New and more.

15:43

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

15:49

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more.

16:02

Stronger than darkness. New and more.

16:08

Our sins they are met. His mercy is more.

16:51

Now, Lord, as we open your word, we pray that you would speak to us and correct our thinking.

16:59

We pray that we would never approach you as a judge over you.

17:06

That we would read your word and make judgments upon you, but rather that we would sit under you and be judged by you.

17:14

My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. A fearful and terrifying thing it is to be judged by the living

17:22

God, and yet good because you show us the way to be saved. So now,

17:28

Lord, we pray that we would come under your authority, that your word would chastise us and correct us and train us in righteousness.

17:35

In Jesus' name. Amen. It was the late 1950s.

17:42

The place was Guatemala. Now, prior to the 1950s, Guatemala was almost 100 %

17:50

Roman Catholic. They believed in the gospel of sacraments, of maintaining salvation and justifying oneself through the sacraments of the

17:59

Roman Catholic Church. But something changed in the 1950s. In the 1950s,

18:05

Protestant missionaries were welcomed into the country and they really began to make headway. And my grandfather,

18:11

Bill Wagner, was on the forefront of that. And so my mom told me stories growing up, and my grandfather told me stories of the things they saw.

18:20

Now, when the gospel is first penetrating into a new territory, there are often things happening that are beyond the ordinary.

18:29

My grandfather would always tell me the story, and I would ask him to tell me, about the blind boy that he saw healed when his

18:36

Uncle Fred came to town. He said they were at a train station, and there was this little boy who had eyes that were actually completely shut.

18:45

And there were even little gnats around his eyes. And Fred laid hands on him, and his eyes were open right before their eyes.

18:55

They saw the healing of a blind person. Now, that's a long time ago, and it's hard for me as, you know, a 21st century

19:01

American to imagine that such things happen. But my grandfather said he saw it with his own eyes.

19:08

And my mom tells me the story of one time when a demon -possessed person came into their home. My grandfather welcomed him right in, he had long claws, he was on all fours and shrieking, and my grandfather cast the demon out of the sky.

19:22

And he walked out on two feet. These are the stories I grew up hearing from my grandfather and my mom.

19:28

Another one, they were on a mountain. See, back then, they would send the kids to missionary school, like a kind of a boarding school.

19:38

And the parents, the missionary parents, would go from village to village preaching the gospel. And so my mom was in Huehuetenanga, out in the mountains of Guatemala.

19:48

And on one of these journeys, she was in the back seat, and Fred was there again.

19:54

Fred was in the front seat, and my grandfather was driving. And as they started to go down the mountain, the brakes gave out.

20:00

And so he was pumping the brakes and nothing. So he pulled hard on the emergency brake, and it didn't take.

20:08

So as they began to gain speed going down a mountain, Fred turned around in his seat.

20:14

And all the kids were told to get down on the ground, but Fred turned and knelt. And he lifted his hands and he said, in the name of Jesus, restore these brakes.

20:24

And like that, they came back up. And so my mom lived to tell the story, and I grew up with that story as well.

20:32

My mom was in a boarding school for many years in Huehuetenanga. You know, in difficult circumstances, in hard days, the result will be hard men.

20:45

But I heard somebody say that hard men eventually produce a soft society.

20:52

Things become so comfortable. And I think the generation following World War II, the hard men, produced what

21:00

I think was a soft society in America in which we still live. And so the dangers of Guatemala that my mom experienced as a missionary kid paled in comparison to the kind of dangers she faced when she got back to America.

21:16

She went off to college, and there at George Fox University at that time, they were still teaching sound theology.

21:24

Not so today. Her sister, though, went to Ball State University, and there she was deceived by the teachers who taught that there are no differences between men and women.

21:39

And my aunt, she wanted to do great things for God, just like her dad, a missionary in Guatemala.

21:45

She probably imagined things like Lottie Moon going to China, how women can do things too. And so she set her mind to become a pastor.

21:53

But before long, pastoring led to other compromises. See, the

22:00

Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, I forbid a woman to teach or exercise authority over men. They are to remain silent in the churches.

22:07

But compromising at that point, eventually she compromised in other areas and became a gay pastor, which sadly she has continued.

22:17

This, the daughter of a missionary. My mother chose an opposite course, and she sought to serve the

22:24

Lord as a wife and to raise godly offspring. The one sister left her family behind in Indiana and went to plant churches in Florida.

22:35

The other, our family growing up in Florida, invested in her children.

22:41

And so I remember growing up, my mom training us in the Bible and faithfully living out what she taught.

22:48

Now, she was no pushover of a woman. She was strong. When my dad was at the apartment complex building as men do, she was by his side, helping how she could, cleaning apartments.

23:02

She did the books and would be up to 11, 12 o 'clock every night working. And during the day, she was a stay -at -home mom, caring for us.

23:10

I remember how she taught us the Bible. You know how boys, it was three boys. You know how boys have a lot of energy?

23:18

Here's how she harnessed that. She said, you can run in the house, around the kitchen, through the family room, and even jump over the couch, as long as you're quoting

23:27

Bible verses while you run. And so jumping over the couch, we would say,

23:32

A, all have sinned and fall short in the glory of God. Run, run, run, run, run. Come around, jump over the couch. B, believe in the

23:38

Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. C, call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

23:44

D, depart from evil and do good. E, even a child is known for his doings. F, fear not for I am with you.

23:49

B, not afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I know these

23:55

A to Z Bible verses because they're stuck in my head. I used to like to run a lot. And my mom trained me in that.

24:04

She had a faith very similar to Sarah in the

24:09

Bible. She trained us in righteousness. But my question is, was it enough to hold up when

24:17

I went off to college? In Florida, I went there to play basketball. Well, little did

24:23

I know, when I signed up for a religious studies class, that the professor at a secular college wouldn't believe the

24:30

Bible he was teaching. One of the first classes, he said, turn to the resurrection accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

24:37

And he showed me the differences. In one case, there's two angels on a rolled away stone.

24:43

In another case, the angels are in the tomb. So he cast shade on the

24:49

Bible. Contradiction. Which was it? Were the angels up on the stone or were they in the tomb?

24:56

As if angels can't be in two places. Or move from one place to another. Or be more than one angel.

25:03

There was no contradiction, but he undermined the authority of the Bible. One day he was teaching about women preachers because his wife was the chaplain at the school.

25:13

And he undermined the text from 2 Timothy 2. And then he undermined the sexual ethic taught in the scriptures from Romans chapter 1.

25:21

So after class, I went to Tim Beale, the professor, and I said, please help me understand how are you reading

25:27

Romans chapter 1 and teaching what you're saying? And I'll never forget what he said.

25:35

He said, when I come to Romans chapter 1, I just read that passage against the grain.

25:46

Against the grain. Which meant, I read it how

25:53

I want it to speak to me. Not how it is actually written.

25:59

By the ordinary use of language. He read the scripture against the grain.

26:04

Lord, protect us from such thinking. Well, I turned in my papers, and he always gave me an

26:14

A+. Always an A+. And he completely disagreed with everything

26:22

I had to say. But he would write little marginal notes. I turned in a paper, and I cited this book that my mom sent me in 1998 when it came out, the revised edition.

26:34

R .C. Sproul, The Holiness of God. I quoted it in one of my

26:40

Bible papers for this religious studies professor. You know what he wrote on it? You're a far better scholar than R .C.

26:50

Sproul, Jeff. Use better sources. A+. Such is the fork -tongue maneuver of the enemy.

27:01

What was he doing there? To flatter me. Oh, Jeff. 20 -year -old Jeff, you're a far better scholar than R .C.

27:07

Sproul. Right? Use better sources. A+. You see, this is the maneuver of the snake in the grass.

27:17

He flatters. He builds you up. But what he teaches is absolutely a lie.

27:24

The Bible teaches very contrary to the ways of the world.

27:30

And the degree to which you believe the Bible is the degree to which you will be a stranger in this world.

27:36

Back in 1990s, I was the minority at Eckerd College. But the majority of people agreed with the

27:44

Scripture. In fact, do you realize that Obergefell didn't take place until 2015?

27:51

The legalization of gay marriage. Things are changing very quickly. But look around now.

27:57

The view taught and believed by those who reject the authority of God's Word as written has now become the mainstream view.

28:07

And we, brothers and sisters who hold to the inerrancy of Scripture and the clarity of Scripture, the perspicuity.

28:14

See, that's a good word to trip over. It means the clarity of Scripture. That when God speaks,

28:19

He speaks clearly. And what He says can be understood. Not a matter of private interpretation, but a matter of God having authority over us.

28:30

We are the remnants. We are the exiles. We hold a view that is contrary to mainstream

28:37

America. That's the reality in which we live. Turn with me to Hebrews 11.

28:43

And today, we're studying Sarah. A woman.

28:49

And it begs the question, what is biblical womanhood versus biblical manhood?

28:58

And how can we look at Sarah in Hebrews 11 and understand what it is to live by faith?

29:05

So, Hebrews 11 will see the equality of men and women before God.

29:12

But also the distinct roles that God has created. Let's read. Hebrews 11, 11 to 16.

29:19

By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

29:32

Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

29:46

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

30:01

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

30:12

But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their

30:21

God, for he has prepared for them a city. So the first thing to notice is the equality of Abraham and Sarah.

30:35

Notice in the text, as we look through Hebrews 11, each hero of the faith is introduced with the same expression, by faith.

30:44

Verse 4, Abel. Verse 5, by faith, Enoch. Verse 7, by faith,

30:50

Noah. Verse 8, by faith, Abraham. And now, by faith, Sarah.

30:58

Sarah, like Abraham, comes to God in the same way as the men listed above her in the text.

31:07

The first thing that needs to be said about God in womanhood is that God made male and female equal in his sight.

31:16

We are men and women created in his image. Genesis 1, verse 27.

31:24

We are all made in the image of God. Secondly, in the fall of Adam and the fall of Eve, men and women who proceed from Adam and Eve, which is all of us, are together fallen in sin.

31:41

All of us together stand in need of saving. Women are not more virtuous than men by nature.

31:48

All of us are corrupt by nature and by choice. Adam and Eve alike,

31:55

Abraham and Sarah alike, in need of saving. But a promise is given way back in the garden that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

32:07

And that promised seed is Jesus the Messiah. In Genesis 12, we were told that that seed would come through Abraham, that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him.

32:23

And just to show how precise God is in his prophetic word, in case you doubt that the things that God says are true, when

32:33

Abraham tried to take Matthew to his own hand, and he went to not Sarah, but to Hagar, his servant girl, and impregnated her, and from her was born

32:46

Ishmael. He asked God that Ishmael would be blessed and that the promise would go through him, but God said no.

32:56

Through Sarah your wife you will give birth to a son, and his name will be

33:02

Isaac. The promise goes to Isaac. And then from Isaac, Esau and Jacob were together in the womb, and God said that Jacob, whom

33:12

I loved, Esau, was rejected. The promise went through Jacob, not

33:18

Esau. And then Jacob had 12 sons, and God specifically said in Genesis 49, 10 that the scepter shall not depart from Judah.

33:27

Of all the 12 sons, it was Judah uniquely that would carry forth this promise. And so we come along to King David, a descendant of Judah, and God again speaks in 2

33:39

Samuel 7 that the throne, the scepter, would always belong to a descendant of David.

33:48

And both Matthew and Luke trace the genealogy of Jesus and sure enough, Jesus is a descendant of Abraham.

33:57

And through Abraham, a descendant of Isaac, not a descendant of Ishmael, a descendant of Jacob, not of Esau, a descendant of Judah, and not one of the other 11 tribes.

34:07

He is a descendant of King David, the son of David. And so the promise was given that the world would be blessed through a descendant of Abraham and specifically down a genealogical line.

34:22

And so it came to be that Jesus was born of a woman, born of a woman, born in no ordinary way, a virgin birth, through Mary, to designate him as that promised seed, the one who crushed the head of the enemy while being struck in the ear.

34:42

And so the promise was fulfilled that Christ was struck. He died the death that he deserved.

34:50

He was hung on a cross, strung up for the world to see, and he bled, and he died, that all who looked to him will be saved.

34:59

And this is the promise, that if you believe that Jesus is

35:05

Lord, confess your mouth and believe in your heart, you will be saved. That promise is the same for men and women, for children, for young, for old, for all people.

35:19

The promise is the same. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So the first thing we need to say is that we are fundamentally equal before God, created in his image, fallen out of it, redeemed by the blood of the

35:32

Lamb. One man has sat out in Galatians 3. Paul will say there is neither slavery, skin or barbarity, male or female, but we are all one in Christ.

35:46

There is not a hierarchy of the value. God created men and God created women and there is not a hierarchy.

35:56

We're all made in the image of God, redeemed by the same blood. But let's see something else in verse 11.

36:03

So first of all, notice that it is by faith that she is saved. She received power to conceive.

36:12

There's a difference. There's no such thing as birthing people.

36:19

There are women who give birth. There are women who conceive.

36:25

And in verse 11 it says she received power to conceive. Even when she was past the age.

36:32

So here's the difference between men and women. Women can give birth. Men can't.

36:39

There are also differences of role in the church and in the home.

36:46

God never called a woman to pastor a church. First Timothy 2, he forbids such things.

36:54

Does that make God a chauvinist? A misogynist? Or is

37:00

God God? Notice there are differences. And when Sarah's faith is held up as an example for women, it is her submissiveness to her husband which is idealized in the text.

37:17

If you don't like that, you need to argue with God. First Peter chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.

37:23

In your notes. For this is how the holy women who spoke to God used to adorn themselves.

37:31

By submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham. Calling him

37:37

Lord. And you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

37:49

Sarah's example of faith in the home is held up as one of submissiveness that there is a headship in the home.

38:00

Now the word kafale in the Greek is used in the New Testament and denotes authority.

38:05

In fact, that's also true in extra -biblical literature from the first century. The word kafale referring to headship always denotes authority.

38:17

That in the home there is authority of a husband or wife.

38:23

Now that is not a domineering authority. It's not a trampling on your foot. It is a leadership.

38:30

Look at the definition of manhood and womanhood as described by John Piper. I think he gets this right as he correlates biblical texts.

38:38

He says at the heart of a mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships.

38:57

And of women, he says, at the heart of a mature femininity is a free disposition to affirm, receive, and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman's differing relationships.

39:20

And I think that's right. Leadership, headship, is not a matter of domineering but of leading which involves protecting, providing for, and making ultimate decisions but with due consideration and counsel one to another.

39:41

Ultimately, though, it is a leadership role. Now does that mean that men and women should submit to all men?

39:49

Absolutely not. The qualifications of that definition said worthy men.

39:54

I remember being in Kensington when we were missionaries. One day I was talking to some teenagers on Orleans Street and on the corner of Jasper and Orleans we looked over and we saw that a man had pinned a woman against the wall.

40:09

It was a pimp with a prostitute. And these 16 -year -old boys and myself saw this and we heard her scream.

40:19

Now in that moment you have a choice to make. If you run over there you probably will end up in a fistfight.

40:29

Or perhaps you'll end up shot to death bleeding on the ground because he's probably equipped to defend himself.

40:42

But the choice you have to make in that moment is really whether life is more valuable than being a man.

40:53

Those teenagers 16 years old and many of them had gotten into quite a bit of trouble themselves.

41:00

There was something instinctive in their young minds that knew they had to do something.

41:07

And as soon as we heard it all of us ran. And when we got there there were precipices thrown.

41:16

And the guy was misled. And the girl went in the opposite direction. She was right not to submit to him.

41:23

He was not a worthy man. But the question is is life worth living if you're no longer a man?

41:35

Our culture has taught men to be offended. And nowadays more men than not would have stood there and watched her being abused by that man.

41:49

That's the product of a feminized culture. I would say

41:55

I would rather die on the street than cease being a man. And that's how we ought to think.

42:05

Manhood means protecting women. Manhood means providing.

42:11

That means get a job. Work. And you provide for your home. And headship means leadership.

42:17

That means you train your children to worship the Lord God. And you make sure they're there on a Sunday morning to learn the

42:24

Word of God. To be feminine is to affirm that strength and to nurture that strength and to drive it.

42:31

Not seek to take authority over them but to strengthen them in who

42:37

God has made them to be. This is the biblical teaching and this is under attack in our culture.

42:43

Now we don't have time to spend in Genesis. But remember Sarah's story when

42:50

God hears to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 verse 1. The Bible says that God says to Abraham.

42:59

It doesn't say God said to Abraham it's Sarah. It says to Abraham. That means in order for her to obey

43:08

God's command to leave her home and her family and everything that she knew and to go to a strange land it required to obey

43:18

God but it required to obey God through Abraham. It required submission to his intention to say yes honey you've heard from God and I'm following you.

43:31

Wherever you go I will. Your God is His and I will. Your people will be my people.

43:38

It requires submission. In chapter 17 the

43:43

Bible says that the Lord appeared to Abraham. And as this story unfolds

43:49

God changes Abram's name to Abraham. And later in the chapter he tells

43:55

Abram Sarah will from now on be called Sarah.

44:01

You're not to call her Sarah anymore. How do you think that would go over in a modern home?

44:07

He comes home visiting God and says honey your name is now officially changed.

44:15

You will be known as Sarah. No longer Sarah. Get hit by a frying pan in a modern modern home.

44:23

But this is what happened. God appeared and said I am El Shaddai the all sufficient one.

44:32

Abraham obeyed. And in the very next chapter chapter 18

44:38

Sarah does hear the Lord speak from the tent and she laughs. But ultimately she believed.

44:46

And her faith is commended. She trusted God with a promise. Abraham himself the two of them in chapter 18 do realize he was already about 75 years old when told to go to a foreign land.

44:59

At this point in time in chapter 17 and 18 he is 99 years old. She is going on 90.

45:08

And yet we are told that she would concede. Which means submitting to death.

45:15

Maybe rather not marry to that she would probably die at that point. In fact let's go back to Hebrews 11.

45:22

If you look at verse 12 it says there were one man and him as good as his dad.

45:30

This is an old guy? And then the book of Hebrews is not full of seriously he says him as good as his dad according to the sentence of the stars.

45:40

Well look the first thing to notice this is the promise that was uniquely given to them. In Genesis 22 verse 17 that very wording was used you will have the sentence like stars in the sky or like the sand on the seashore.

45:54

So this is the fulfillment of the promise. But he is called as good as his dad.

46:01

Things are not looking unearthly like this is impossible any longer. It's not possible biologically any longer.

46:09

And yet God had promised and he will fulfill his promises. As I look at this phrase him as good as his dad

46:17

I'm reminded of a comment my daughter made yesterday. We were talking about this whole egalitarian thing and everything must be equal and she said you know dad you have a group of the littlest ones in the nursery called them the pests.

46:33

That's it. You have the stepping stones for the children. You have the living stones for the middle schoolers and rock.

46:42

You have precious stones for the women. By the way they are more like the olders. We don't have a group yet.

46:49

But she said what about the older people? There's no group for the older people. I propose you start one and call it the bosses.

47:05

We gotta keep everything equal right? That was well played. So notice though him as good as his dad he'd be part of our bosses but our church and yet from him would come the descendants.

47:21

Last let's look at verse 13 to 16. Very often as we wait for the promises to be fulfilled here we are sojourning waiting on Christ's promise to come of the bride and yet we're still waiting.

47:35

We live as strangers awaiting the promise. Verse 13 These all died in confetti not having received the

47:43

King's promise but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

47:54

Remember Abraham's living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob for people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a home.

48:04

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out they would had an opportunity to return.

48:12

But there is Sarah 90 years old still waiting still trusting the promise following her husband under his headship verse 16 but as it is they desire a better future that is a heavenly one.

48:27

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared them for a

55:05

Father we have looked to Sarah as an example to us. An example of femininity we thank you that your word contains this.

55:17

Teaching from 1st Peter 3 from Hebrews 11 from Genesis 12 and following we have the example of Sarah.

55:31

It is the example of a woman who submits to her husband and so to her

55:37

God. We pray that the women of Cornerstone would be like Sarah their desire would not be against their husband but for his strengthening the building up of his headship.

55:59

We pray for the men of this church that they would not be domineering and seek mastery over their lives but rather that they would encourage and lead let the men of this church step up and lead in Jesus name.

56:18

Father we thank you for the example that you yourself provide in the Holy Trinity the Father Son and Holy Spirit where the

56:25

Son prays not my will but yours be done equal to the

56:30

Father and yet submitting these economical roles that we see in the

56:38

Trinity. Let us embrace these things in the church God that we would be like you.

56:48

We thank you for all that you are doing here at Cornerstone. We ask that you would continue to do it and multiply that blessing.

56:57

Father my mind right now goes to women who are barren perhaps never given birth and thinking where are the stars of the sky where is the sand of the seashore.

57:11

I pray that you would encourage them with the thought that every child that they have ever held in the nursery that grew up in the church every stepping stone and living stone whom they poured into and will walk with you for all eternity are part of her heritage.

57:33

That she would be part of the church and build up the children of this church from the pebbles to the rock.

57:41

We pray that you would build up the children and let the women gladly take on that role.

57:50

Father thank you for the way you designed things to be. We do not rebel against these things Lord we delight in your design.

57:59

We thank you for it and we ask that you would help us in Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand and sing.

58:09

It is so sweet to trust in Jesus just to take him at his word just to rest upon his promise just to know the says the

58:32

Lord Jesus Jesus how

58:37

I trust him how I proved him o 'er and o 'er

58:45

Jesus Jesus precious Jesus oh for grace to trust him more oh how sweet to trust in Jesus just to trust his cleansing blood and in simple faith to plunge me in the healing cleansing blood

59:20

Jesus Jesus how I trust him how

59:28

I proved him to and more Jesus Jesus precious

59:37

Jesus oh for grace to trust him more

59:44

I'm so glad I learned to trust him precious

59:53

Jesus Savior friend and I know

01:00:08

Jesus Jesus how I trust him how

01:00:16

I proved him more and more Jesus Jesus precious

01:00:25

Jesus oh for grace to trust him more oh for grace to trust him more amen now may the great the