We are talking about stepping out in faith.

Last week we talked about Abraham. Now, we transition to Sarah.

J.D. Greear writes:

What will you do when you realize that the foundations of your life aren’t as permanent as you thought?

Before D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones became one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century, he had been a promising young medical doctor, trained at the best British medical school and the protégé of the most well-known surgeon at St. Bart’s Hospital in London. Just as he was reaching the apex of his medical career, one of his colleagues, another rising star, was dating a young woman who unexpectedly got sick and died.

A few days later, the man appeared at Lloyd-Jones’ door and asked to sit with him by the fire. They sat there for two hours, in silence, as the man kept his gaze on the fire. Lloyd-Jones’ friend had seen the joy of his life taken from him—and he had no response.

This encounter changed the trajectory of Lloyd-Jones’ life. Seeing the vanity of all human greatness, he left medicine to become a preacher, reasoning that even the best medicine, valuable as it is, cannot stop death.

Our perceptions and best wisdom are always in flux. Everything is crumbling, no matter what it is. Tim Keller once said that many seek the Lord after realizing their “cities” have no foundation. Like Lloyd-Jones’ friend, they encounter some crisis so acute that they aren’t equipped to handle it. It feels like the ground itself is giving way under their feet.

We all need a city with a lasting foundation. Hebrews 11 tells us that’s what Abraham realized (Hebrews 11:10). When God blessed him, he called Abraham away from what was familiar and secure to an unknown place where the only thing Abraham had left was to depend on him. Abraham knew all about the impermanence of this life.^[1]

And… Sarah was with him. Sarah had been by his side. So, let’s talk about Sarah.

Let’s read:

Hebrews 11:11–12 (ESV)

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² 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.

1. Let’s put this passage in context.
   1. In verses 1-8, Abraham receives visitors (Genesis 18:1-8).
   2. The Lord himself and two angels visit Abraham near Hebron (Genesis 18:1-3).^[2]
   3. Then we see Abraham ministering to his heavenly visitors (Gen. 18:4–8): Abraham prepares a meal of veal, cheese curds, milk, and bread for his visitors.^[3]
2. Now, we see the reaction of Sarah (Genesis 18:9-15).
   1. The details (Gen. 18:9–10): In her tent, Sarah overhears the Lord’s promise concerning the birth of Isaac.^[4]
   2. Genesis 18:9-10: ⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
   3. Now the angels and the 3^rd man, likely the preincarnate Christ, ask him where Sarah is.
   4. Sarah was listening at the tent door.
   5. Verse 11 says they were old and advanced in years. Sarah was past childbearing (literally, the manner of women).
   6. Sarah laughs in unbelief (verses 11-12):
   7. Genesis 18:11-12: ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
   8. Her laugh is a laugh in disbelief, a lack of faith.^[5] It says that she laughed to herself.
   9. Keil and Delizsch: Abraham also had laughed at this promise (Gen. 17:17), and without receiving any reproof. For his laughing was the joyous outburst of astonishment; Sarah’s, on the contrary, the result of doubt and unbelief, which had to be broken down by reproof, and, as the result showed, really was broken down, inasmuch as she conceived and bore a son, whom she could only have conceived in faith (Heb. 11:11).^[6]
   10. It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” V^[7]T 24 (1974): 454–73.^[8]
   11. However, Timothy Keller makes the case that she is referring to sexual pleasure. He shares: What does this pleasure mean?” Right away I used to think (and you probably would think too) she is saying, “I am very old. I’m past the age of childbearing. Am I supposed to have the pleasure of a son? That’s not what she thinks. That’s not what she is saying, because the word for pleasure is sexual pleasure. Right away what she thinks about it is the fact is, “Abraham and I aren’t even having sex.”^[9]
   12. NET: Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.^[10]
   13. Is anything too hard for the Lord (verses 13-14):
   14. Genesis 18:13-14:
   15. ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
   16. I love how the Lord questions; this is the Lord.
   17. The Lord asks why she laughs.
   18. The denial: in fear, Sarah denies that she laughed in unbelief.
   19. Genesis 18:15: ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
   20. I love how the Lord responds, “But you did laugh!”
3. Applications of faith:
   1. We all must trust God with our children and grandchildren as Sarah did.
   2. First, notice that the Bible does not gloss over the sins of the people. Sarah had faith issues as far as her being the mother. But she did trust God’s major plan.
   3. If you go back to Genesis 12, we read that Abraham was to be the father of nations. Sarah trusted God but did not know how this was to happen. In Genesis 17:17, we find out that this was to happen through her womb. Sarah, being 90 years old, was to have a child. 
   4. But we can look ahead and see that Sarah’s child was born in Genesis 21:2 and named Isaac, which means “Laughter.”
   5. This was somewhere around 2000 B.C., and then when Hebrews was penned some 2000 years later, Sarah is remembered for her faith.
   6. She trusted God.
   7. Sarah had watched everyone else raise children, and now it was her turn. The Bible says in verse 14: “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”
   8. How are we doing with trusting the Lord? How are we doing with trusting the Lord with our children on a day-to-day basis? How about even after they are grown?
   9. In that manner, we are best to remember that God’s faithfulness is unending and we must trust Him, who can do all things, with our children.
   10. Some Scripture:
   11. Psalm 89:1-2 (and the rest of the Psalm) are about God’s faithfulness.
   12. Psalm 91:1-4 compares God’s faithfulness to an eagle sheltering us under His Wings.
   13. Psalm 100:5 is about God’s faithfulness.
   14. Psalm 108:4: God’s faithfulness reaches to the skies.
   15. Psalm 143:1: O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. (from New International Version)
4. How do we have faith? How do we trust God?
   1. Pray and talk to God. We must live with Jesus.
   2. Have silent time before the Lord. Read Scripture and listen. Meditate/ruminate on passages. Worship the Lord.
   3. Prayer partners are important (Ecc. 4:12; Prov. 27:17).
   4. Lean on your church family for help.
   5. Read testimonies of those who stood strong in faith in difficult times.
   6. Pray for a faith that is head and heart.
   7. Go to the Bible and read the Scripture passages on faithfulness.
   8. Talk with a small group or prayer partner, or me. Talk with a Christian counselor.
   9. For those going through tough times, I would welcome the chance to listen and pray with you.

I have used this story before, but I believe it is worth sharing again.

I love the story of the lumberjack who was preparing to cut down every tree in a certain section of a mountain forest. Just before he began, he noticed a bird building its nest atop one of the trees. Not wanting to harm the bird or its young, the lumberjack took a mallet and pounded on the base of the tree until the bird flew to another tree and began to build its nest there. But since the lumberjack knew that tree was coming down too, he repeated the process with that tree. So the bird moved to a third tree, which the lumberjack knew was coming down also, so he did it again.

He knew that every tree in this part of the forest was coming down, so the lumberjack and the bird repeated this dance a half dozen times, until the bird, highly annoyed, flew away and built its nest on the side of a rock face. The bird probably never understood why the lumberjack attacked each tree he attempted to build his nest in, but the lumberjack’s motive was not cruelty, but compassion. The lumberjack knew that every tree in the forest was about to come down, and he wanted the bird to build its nest in a place axes couldn’t touch it.^[11]

1. What to Do When the World Around You Crumbles. February 3, 2025; By J.D. Greear.

   https://jdgreear.com/what-to-do-when-the-world-around-you-crumbles/ ↑

2. H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ge 18:1–3. ↑

3. Ibid, Ge 18:4–8. ↑

4. Ibid, Ge 18:9–10. ↑

5. Dr. Rydelnik, Open Line on Moody Radio 08.14.2021 ↑

6. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 146. ↑

7. VT Vetus Testamentum (a journal) ↑

8. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ge 18:12. ↑

9. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

10. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ge 18:14. ↑

11. What to Do When the World Around You Crumbles. February 3, 2025; By J.D. Greear.

    https://jdgreear.com/what-to-do-when-the-world-around-you-crumbles/ ↑

I heard a good illustration from Chuck Swindoll:

My older brother, Orville, was never a wealthy man, but he was wonderfully generous with what he had. He never held back from the Lord . . . and that is still true! It was this overabundance of faith that led him to be a missionary for more than thirty years in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Just before that, he had done some short-term mission work in Mexico and had come north to gather his wife, Erma Jean, and the kids for the long trip down into the far reaches of South America.

Before leaving, they stopped off for a quick visit with our parents in Houston. Now, you have to appreciate the kind of man my father was. Look up the word responsible in the dictionary, and his picture is there! To him, risks are for those who fail to plan. Responsible people leave nothing to chance. As far as he was concerned, faith is something you exercise when your three backup plans fall through and you have run out of all other options. My father was a believer, but he never understood the life of faith. Not really.

My brother, on the other hand, was stimulated by faith. He has lived his entire adult life on the raw edge of faith. To him, life doesn’t get exciting until God, and God alone, can get us through some specific challenge. That drove our dad nuts!

Orville pulled up to the house in an old Chevy sedan on four of the slickest tires I had ever seen. My father always inspected tires when we came to visit. I wondered how long it would take for him to say something. I’m sure Orville did too. Not very is the answer.

After a great supper of good ol’ collard greens and corn bread, onions and red beans, my mother and sister went into the kitchen, leaving my father at one end of the table, Orville at the other, and me sitting on one side. Then it started.

“Son, how much money do you have for your long trip?”

“Oh, Dad, don’t worry about it. We’re gonna be fine.”

Before he could change the subject, my father pressed the issue, “Answer me! How much money do you have in your wallet?”

Orville smiled and shrugged as he said, “I don’t have any in my wallet.”

I sat silent, watching this verbal tennis match.

“Nothing in your wallet? How much money do you have? You’re gettin’ ready to go down to South America! How much money you got?”

With that, my brother smiled, dug into his pocket, pulled out a quarter, set it on its edge on his end of the table, then gave it a careful thump. It slowly rolled past me all the way to my father’s end of the table and fell into his hand. Dad said, “A quarter? That is all you’ve got?”

Orville broke into an even bigger smile and said, “Yeah. Isn’t that exciting!”

That was not the word my father had in mind. After a heavy sigh and a very brief pause, Dad shook his head and said, “Orville, I just don’t understand you.”

My brother grew more serious. Looking Dad in the eyes, he answered without blinking, “No, Dad, you never have.”

I don’t know how he actually made the trip to their destination . . . or how he and Erma Jean took care of all their little kids, but they never went hungry. And they served in Buenos Aires and traveled to other parts of the world for more than three decades. My father was a man who emerged through the Great Depression, lived in fear of poverty his whole life, seldom took a risk, and never experienced the joy of trusting God that made my brother smile so big that day.^[1]

That faith, the faith that Swindoll’s brother, Orville, had, is the same faith Abraham had. Abraham is certainly the father of our faith. 

We are here because of Abraham. Our Christian heritage goes back to Abraham.

Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. He followed God in faith, not knowing where he was going, but he was blessed, and he blessed the world.

I want to turn to Hebrews 11:8-10 to talk about Abraham’s faith.

Today’s challenge:

Abraham had faith in following God, not knowing where God was leading him. So let’s follow Abraham’s example and have faith in God about our future. 

Remember that God is in control.

God is in control—repeat after me.

Hebrews 11:8–10 (ESV)

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Now, let’s read Genesis 12:1-3:

Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 

1. First, we see the pilgrimage of faith; this is separation from the world.
   1. This has to do with Abraham’s willingness to follow the Lord. He was willing to follow the Lord in uncharted territory.
   2. Let me set the context.
   3. In Genesis chapters 1-2, God creates everything. Then there is the fall. So, we have chapters 3-11, and these chapters are about degeneration. Things are getting bad. The world is going to hell. God destroys the world with the flood. Now, beginning in chapter 12, we have the regeneration.
   4. God will begin to regenerate the world through Abraham’s line.
   5. Abraham lived in Ur.
   6. He then goes to Haran before getting to the area of the promised land.
   7. Of course, if you read the rest of Genesis, he travels quite a bit.
   8. So, think about it: you are, let’s say, seventy-five years old and you hear from God. I don’t know how God spoke to Abraham, but He did. Imagine that God speaks to you.
   9. God says, I want you to go to Malaysia to serve on the mission field. It may make no sense to you. You are comfortable here. God just tells you to go.
   10. Or suppose that all of your family is close by. Your children and grandchildren live nearby, but God calls your son or daughter to Malaysia. This means they are going overseas, and so are your grandchildren. They are going to be missionaries.
   11. Suppose God calls your family to Iran, Egypt, or Iraq as missionaries. You see, this is what is going on for Abraham.
   12. I bet there are many family and friends that he never, NEVER saw or talked to again.
   13. No letters, no email, no Skype, no phone.

The following were the 12 obstacles that Abraham encountered in his faith journey:

1. Sarai was barren and incapable of producing an heir (11:30).

2. Abram had to leave the Promised Land, which God had told him he would inherit (12:10).

3. Abram’s life was in danger in Egypt (12:11–20).

4. Abram’s nephew (heir?) Lot separated from Abram over a land  dispute (ch. 13).

5. Abram entered a war and could have died (14:1–16).

6. Abram’s life was in danger from retaliation in the Promised Land (15:1).

7. God ruled Eliezer out as Abram’s heir (15:2–3).

8. Hagar, pregnant with Abram’s son (heir?), departed (16:6).

9. Abimelech threatened Sarai’s reputation and child (heir?) in Gerar (ch. 20).

10. Abram had two heirs (21:8–11).

11. God commanded Abram to slay his heir (ch. 22).

12. Abram could not find a proper wife for his heir (24:5).

“… the narrator has skillfully woven this material together in such a way as to involve the reader/listener in a drama of increasing tension between, on the one hand, the promise of Yahweh that Abram would have an heir and, indeed, would become the father of many nations, and, on the other, the threat to the fulfillment of this promise by a series of crises.”^68[2]0,[3]

1. Then we see the patience of faith—the ability to wait and endure without ever entering into possession of the promised land.
   1. Abraham reached the promised land but never owned it. We read in Genesis 23:1-20 that Abraham bought land to bury Sarah. But he did not live to see Israel take possession of it. 
   2. Abraham did not get to see but two sons.
   3. Abraham never saw the nation that his descendants would become.
   4. God’s promise to Abraham, which he waited on:
   5. There are seven elements in this promise—seven—suggesting fullness and completeness (cf. 2:2–3): (1) God promised to create “a great nation” through Abram. (2) God promised to “bless” Abram. (3) Abram’s “name” would live on after his lifetime (“I will make your name great”). (4) Abram was (commanded) to “be a blessing” to others. (5) God would “bless those who bless[ed]” Abram. (6) And God would “curse those who curs[ed]” Abram. (7) “All the families of the earth [would] be blessed” through Abram and his descendants.^[4]
2. Perseverance of faith: the positivity of faith, the focus on heaven that causes us to have a certain indifference to things in this life because we’re looking to that glory to come.
   1. Repeat after me. God is in control. God is in control.
   2. Consider that Abraham was looking towards a city that God would design.
   3. We are looking to the city of God.
   4. We are looking towards the New Jerusalem.
   5. We are looking towards a time when God makes all things new and right (Rev. 21).
   6. Now, some two thousand years after Abraham: The writer of Hebrews referred to “Abraham” 10 times in total; his example is especially helpful for those tempted to abandon faith in God. Only two other books mention him more: Luke (15 times) and John (11 times).
3. How do we apply this?
   • • 1. We must be willing to trust God to lead us to uncharted territory as Abraham was willing.
       2. We must be willing to sacrifice income, time, talent, and location to serve the Lord.
       3. We must be willing to move for the Lord.
       4. We must be willing to change occupations for the Lord.
       5. We must be willing to prayerfully consider mission trips, local or foreign. This may be uncharted territory.
       6. We must be willing to serve somewhere new in the community: hospice, nursing home ministry, etc.
       7. We must be willing to talk to someone about Jesus. This is uncharted territory in many ways.
       8. We must be willing to step out.
       9. We must be willing to trust God with our future. We must trust God with the unknown.  

Close:

The future can be scary, can’t it? I think the future can be very scary.

When I was in high school, I had many friends who were called to the mission field. Several of them are serving overseas now. I did not want to be called to missions. I was trying to be sensitive to the Lord’s will, but I was not interested. But now I realize I am called to missions as well. In like manner, I must trust God as Abraham did. I like comfort zones, but I must trust God. 

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, “Ragged-Edge Faith and Reckless Generosity,” Insights (May 2007): 1-2. Copyright © 2007, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide ↑

2. ⁶⁸⁰ Helyer, p. 80. See Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 90, for a diagram of the chiastic structure of the Abraham narrative. ↑

3. Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ge 11:27. ↑

4. Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ge 12:2. ↑