["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Sorry, we're just doing Joy to the World. That's my bad.
I'm getting it. That's the next song, though, so be ready, alright?
Song number 423. See it on that verse.
Joy to the world, the Lord has come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare her King.
Let heaven and nature sing.
Let heaven, heaven, heaven, nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns.
Let mentor songs inform.
While fields and floods, rock hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy.
Heed, repeat the sounding joy.
For Moreland's Inn and Harold's Grove,
He wrapped around his blessings flow.
Fair and true, far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found,
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove.
The glory's on his righteousness,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders of his love.
Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear God, Heavenly Father, I wish to thank you so much, Lord God.
For just allowing us to be here in your house this morning.
We do pray that you would please just bless every aspect of the service.
I pray that we would be singing unto you, Lord Heavenly Father.
And most of all the preaching of your word.
I pray that you would please just be with Pastor as he preaches your word unto us.
I pray that we would also just be all ears, Lord God.
As well to take in your word being preached.
That we might leave here changed today.
For now these things in Jesus' name, Amen.
You may be seated. Song number 424.
Song number 424.
Oh, come all you faithful, that's the next page over.
Song number 424.
Sing it on that verse.
Oh, come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.
Oh, come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, Lord the King of Angels.
Oh, come let us adore Him.
Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation.
Oh, sing, all ye bright hosts of heaven.
Glory to God, glory in the highest.
Oh, come let us adore Him.
Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Yea, Lord, wake with me for this happy morning.
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appeared.
Oh, come let us adore Him.
Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
All right, great singing.
Thank you for being here today.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand
and one of the ushers can get one for you.
Have some important information on there.
And then the next song we're going to sing is actually a sheet,
so the ushers should have passed this out.
If you did not get a song sheet, go ahead and raise your hand
so one of the ushers can get one for you.
And then if we're out, then you're going to have to share,
but I think Brother Jacob has one right here.
Anybody else need a song sheet?
We're going to sing Angels We Have Heard on High.
Our services are as follows.
Sunday morning is at 1030.
Sunday evening is at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
We will be in the book of Acts this coming Thursday,
continuing with our series on the book of Acts.
And just as a reminder, we are a family integrated church,
and so infants and children are always welcomed in the service
with their parents.
We do not have Sunday school classes or nurseries,
but for your convenience, we do have mother baby rooms located in,
one in the hallway, one by the fellowship hall,
should your child need some diversion.
And then there are changing tables, like my son needs one right now.
He's weeping and wailing right now.
Changing tables are available in those infant rooms as well.
There's screens and speakers and all those things there for you.
And so you see the soul winning times and teams there as well.
We are a soul winning church.
What that means is that we have specific times in our church where we go out
and preach the gospel.
We have teams that go out.
And so if you want to learn how to do that,
see me after the service to be placed on a team.
And then you see the list of expecting mothers.
Please continue to pray for them.
And then actually we need to remove Ms. Sara Ortiz.
I don't have my phone on me.
I had the stats with me.
Does anybody know the stats of Sara Ortiz's baby?
Does anybody know the name?
Did anybody know she had a baby?
No, I'm just kidding.
Anybody know?
All right.
We're going to do it tonight.
But congratulations to them.
And then some of the announcements here.
Of course today we're celebrating the December birthday.
So whose birthday is in December?
Brother Maury.
All right.
Brother Jason.
All right.
We've got one back here.
All right.
Zayce.
Brother Ulysses.
Anybody else have a birthday?
Who else?
Oh, the baby right there.
Okay.
I see that hand.
I see that baby.
Okay.
Anybody else?
All right.
Let's sing happy birthday to all of those whose birthdays in December.
Ready?
Sing it together.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, God bless you.
Happy birthday to you.
Round of applause for all those whose birthdays in December.
And then just as a reminder, please no food in the mother baby rooms unless parents you're
feeding your children.
And so just keep that in mind.
We have food in the back.
But just keep those rules in mind that we're not to have food in the mother baby rooms
unless you are feeding your children.
And so next announcement here, couples Christmas lights activity is this coming Saturday, December
12th.
We have a sign up sheet right there in the back.
And so if you're planning to be going – if you plan on going to that, please sign up
so we can get a head count of everyone who's going to show up.
It is a church-sanctioned activity so we're going to have lunch and we'll go out and
have some coffee and fellowship and look at the lights.
It's going to be great.
And then sign up today because we do have to plan around the Christmas play practice.
We potentially might not even have the practice if there's a lot of people who are going
to be going to the activity and so that's kind of up in the air.
And then the children's Christmas program is on, as I mentioned, this – or I'm sorry,
Saturday, December 19th.
The actual program itself is on Saturday, December 19th.
Sign up to bring cookies in the back.
And then let's see here – okay, I have this announcement here.
So there will be a special practice tonight after church.
And not this morning but tonight after church there will be a special practice for the program.
If you have any questions about that, you can see Brother Maury.
He is heading up the Christmas program and leaving the children.
And so please see him afterwards.
And then we have a Christmas Eve service on Tuesday, December 22nd.
Christmas Fellowship at Pastors House on Thursday, December 24th.
And here is the window of time, okay?
It's from 6 to 10 p.m.
We have to put that specifically because one year it was from like 6 to like 3 a.m., okay?
And so, you know, it was pretty crazy.
After a while, I think the last people, the remnants, I think it was Brother John, were
you there?
Yeah.
It was your fault.
And Marcos – I'm just kidding.
Who else?
Who was the third person?
Paul.
And Paul.
And Eric.
Okay, yeah.
And so it was fun but, you know, I want to be in bed on my third dream by 3 a.m., okay?
And so 6 to 10 p.m. is going to be great.
If you have nowhere to be during Christmas Eve, you do now.
And so make sure you let me know.
We'll probably have a sign-up sheet for that.
You're welcome to come over to our house during that time.
And then just as a reminder, please silence your phones during the preaching of God's
Word.
Make sure you put it on airplane mode or turn off your phones so as to not be a distraction
during the preaching, all right?
That's pretty much it for our announcements.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song, Angels We Have Heard on High.
Why don't you pull out your sheets there?
Angels We Have Heard on High.
Sing it together on that first verse.
Angels We Have Heard on High.
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains every time,
Echoing their joyous strains,
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this to believe,
Why your joyous strains prolong,
Sing what may the tidings be,
Which inspire your heavenly song,
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see,
In whose birth the angels sing,
Come, adore on pended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King,
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Nice and strong on that last, sing it together.
See him in a major land,
Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth,
Mary, Joseph, and Uri,
With us sing our Savior's birth,
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Gloria!
In excelsis Deo!
Great singing, at this time the ushers are going to take the offering.
In excelsis Deo!
Be in the book of Genesis this morning.
Chapter number 18.
Genesis chapter number 18.
Genesis chapter 18.
The Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre.
He sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
He lifted up his eyes and looked,
and lo, three men stood by him.
When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door,
and bowed himself toward the ground, and said,
My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight,
pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched,
and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
and I'll fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort you your hearts.
After that you shall pass on,
for therefore are you come to your servant.
And they said, So do as thou hast said.
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said,
Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal,
knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
And Abraham ran under the herd,
and fetched a calf, tender and good,
and gave it unto a young man, and he hasted to dress it.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed,
and set it before them.
And he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee,
according to the time of life.
And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age,
and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying,
After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure,
my lord being old also?
And the lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh,
saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child which am old?
Is anything 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.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not,
for she was afraid.
And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.
And the men rose up from thence, and looked towards Sodom.
And Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
And the lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do,
seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the lord, to do justice and judgment,
that the lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
And the lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great,
and because their sin is very grievous,
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether,
according to the cry of it which is come unto me.
And if not, I will know.
The men turned their faces from thence, and went towards Sodom.
But Abraham stood yet before the lord.
And Abraham drew near, and said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
For adventure there be fifty righteous within the city.
Wilt thou also destroy, and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked,
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee.
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?
And the lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the lord which am but dust and ashes.
For adventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous.
Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?
And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
And he spake on him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there.
And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
He said unto him, O let not the lord be angry, and I will speak.
Peradventure there shall thirty be found there.
And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the lord.
Peradventure there shall be twenty found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
And he said, O let not the lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once.
For adventure ten shall be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
And the lord went his way, and as soon as he had left communing with Abraham,
and Abraham returned unto his place.
Let's pray dear God, just thank you for your word.
Thank you for this church and for our pastor.
Just ask that you would be with him now.
Strengthen him, fill him with your spirit as he preaches your word,
and please just give us ears to hear.
Please open our eyes.
We would behold wondrous things out of your law, God.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Genesis chapter 18 in your Bibles,
and in light of December and the Christmas holiday,
I'm going to preach a mini-series entitled Miraculous Nativities,
a Survey Through Unlikely Births in the Bible.
And we're just going to go through the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas.
Of course, we're going to be highlighting various miraculous births
in the Bible, and really just crescendo into the birth of Christ,
which is the most miraculous birth of all.
And so we're going to talk about that this morning.
Now, before I get into the portion of scripture that we just read,
let me just give you a Bible reading tip, okay?
Or when you're studying the word of God, when you're reading it through,
here's a really good tip for you to learn.
Now, first and foremost, just understand that obviously when we read the Bible,
we need to intake information, you understand?
So it's not just about inspiration, it's also about information.
Yeah, we need to be exhorted, we need to be inspired,
we need to be able to read it and be encouraged and have hope and all those things.
And those things are important, but we also need the information of God's word as well.
We need to grow in grace and in the knowledge, the Bible says, of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But the most important thing that you can do when you read your Bible
is to learn how to identify Jesus Christ.
It's the most important thing.
The most important thing to do is to be able to read the Bible
and locate, identify Jesus Christ and the typologies, the parallels, the symbolism.
Why? Well, because of the fact that the Bible is about Jesus, amen?
And in fact, Jesus Christ said,
Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life,
and they are which testify of me.
He told the Pharisees, if you would have believed Moses, you would have believed me,
for he wrote of me.
The Bible tells us that to him give all the prophets witness
that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
You know, when Jesus Christ is on the road to Emmaus,
he's talking to the two disciples there,
and the Bible tells us that he begins to rebuke his disciples
and tells them, O ye fools and slow of heart to believe,
all that the prophets have spoken.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
he expounded into them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
So we see that the Old Testament is filled with things concerning Jesus Christ.
I'm going to read to you from 1 Peter 1 10 says,
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you,
searching what or manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
So we see that the Bible,
although it's filled with various stories, doctrines, and principles,
is ultimately a collective witness of Jesus Christ, right?
You know, he is the essential fabric that is woven throughout the Bible.
And so in order to enrich your Bible reading, your studies,
you need to make sure in order to get the most out of it,
you have to be able to identify these parallels and draw them.
So when you read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
you go through the historical books, the poetical books,
the minor major prophets.
When you read through those books, look for Jesus in those books, amen?
And it will enrich your Bible reading.
And so we're going to look at some idiosyncrasies in the Bible that parallel Jesus Christ.
And one of the most important, or should we say,
one of the most famous parallels we see in the Bible is Isaac, right?
Because Abraham is Isaac's father.
And we see that Abraham chose to, or was commanded by God to sacrifice his only begotten son.
So we see how that parallel can work there.
Now we see this throughout the Bible that his death, his suffering, his resurrection,
often is parallel with different stories in the Bible.
But today we're going to look at the miraculous birth, okay?
Now just keep in mind that not every shadow is perfect, okay?
Because here's the thing, you draw a parallel and you'll have some individual out there
who just knows everything about the Bible.
It's like, oh, that's not a good picture of Jesus Christ.
He wasn't like Jesus in this area.
Well, obviously, not every individual is going to be able to portray Jesus Christ correctly
because of the fact that they're fallible men and they're going to make mistakes.
In fact, a great example of this is Samson.
Samson, whether you like it or not, is a picture of Jesus Christ.
So here's the thing, Samson sinned, right?
Samson marred his reputation.
He marred that symbolism and that typology,
but there are many parallels that we could draw from Samson's life that parallel Jesus Christ.
Not every shadow and symbol is going to be perfect.
We want to make sure that when we study each character and analyze their works or their deeds
or their actions, that we pull out that which parallels to Jesus Christ, okay?
Now, when we talk about a miraculous birth,
we're talking about a birth that basically necessitates a supernatural occurrence, right?
And obviously, you know, the last one we're going to be talking about is Jesus Christ,
and he was the most miraculous birth, but it's making the impossible possible.
Now, turn with me, if you would, to Genesis.
Go to Genesis, or I'm sorry, go to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hold your place there in Genesis 18.
We're going to go back to that scripture in just a bit.
Now, as I mentioned, there's obviously many parallels to Isaac and Jesus Christ.
The main parallel and the most famous is how he pictures a sacrifice that he would make.
Genesis 22 verse 7, you don't have to turn there, says,
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father.
And he said, Here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
So they went both of them together, and they came to the place which God had told him of,
and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order,
and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And we're not going to, I'm not going to read, expound the whole story here,
but what we see is that God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son.
At the very last minute, when he's raising his hand to strike his son,
the angel come and stops him and recognizes that Abraham was willing to do so.
He was willing to be obedient to the word of the Lord.
But in doing so, what did he do?
He made a beautiful picture of God sending forth his son to sacrifice him for the sins of the world.
And in fact, look at Hebrews 11, verse 17 says, By faith, when he was tried, so what does that tell us?
It tells us that that was a test, right?
When he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises,
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
So this takes a lot of faith. Why?
Because he's promising him this son, he's saying, hey, you're going to have a son,
and then he has him, and he's like, okay, now I want you to give him back, kind of thing.
And so this is the promised child, and he's asking him to sacrifice him.
You know, this is going to take faith on the part of Abraham to believe God, and to trust him.
Look what it says in verse 19, accounting that God was able, look what it says, to raise him up.
And by the way, that shows you that the people in the Old Testament believe in the resurrection, amen.
These dispensations that want to say, oh, you know, no one believed in the resurrection.
They didn't know about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That is a fallacy, because here we see that Abraham understood that even if he were to take his son's life,
because God commanded it, he was able still to raise him up thereafter.
He believed that. Even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure.
So when he raised up, or excuse me, when he was willing to sacrifice his son,
he knew that if he did so, and he raised him up, he would say, okay, well, this is just going to be a perfect picture,
a symbolic representation of Jesus Christ and what he's going to do in the future.
Now, go back to Genesis 18. Genesis 18, and the other parallel that we can draw from Isaac is, of course, his birth.
Now, it wasn't a virgin birth. We understand that.
There's only one virgin birth, you know, of Mary and Jesus Christ, no one else.
But this was still a miraculous birth nonetheless.
Now, why would we consider this to be a miracle?
Why was the birth of Isaac miraculous in our sight?
Well, because of the fact that Sarah was too old to have any children at all.
That's why it was a miracle, because she's too old.
And it's not being disrespectful. She's literally 90 years old.
Okay. And so I'm sure if you were to ask Sarah at 90, are you old? She would say yes.
Okay. Now, look what it says in verse 11.
Now, Abraham and Sarah were old. And if you didn't understand what that meant, well stricken in age.
And it says, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
So let's go through the story here to find out what's happening.
Go to Genesis chapter 15. We're going to backtrack a little bit.
Go to Genesis 15. Let's play the story of Abraham and the promise that God gave to him.
I'm going to read to you from Genesis chapter 12, verse number 1 says,
Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee,
and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great,
and thou shalt be a blessing.
So the obvious implication here is that he's going to bless him through progeny to having children, right?
Because obviously if you're going to have a nation, you got to start somewhere, right?
So in Abraham's mind, he's like, Oh, great, I'm going to be a mighty nation, but I don't even have one child yet.
I don't even have children. So it's like, we got to get the ball rolling here.
Okay. A little bit behind schedule.
So he's a little behind. Now look at Genesis 15. That's the first time he gives him that promise.
Look at Genesis 15, verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me? Seeing, I go childless.
And the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou wast given no seed.
And lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir,
but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars,
number the stars is what that means, if thou be able to number them.
And he said unto them, So shall thy seed be.
Now, folks, this requires a lot of faith.
This is not him looking at the stars from Los Angeles, okay?
He sees every star very plainly. There's no smog.
So God tells him to go out, look at the stars, count them, number them,
and he's saying, Hey, look, this is how your seed shall be.
So in the mind of Abraham, he's thinking to himself,
But I'm still childless, though.
How in the world are you going to produce and give me this many children
if I'm already old and we haven't even gotten started yet?
Okay?
It gives him a pretty grand promise.
And look, aside from the fact that he's old, more importantly,
we see that Sarah is old and therefore she is sterile.
Okay? She's past the time to be able to produce.
She's incapable of producing offspring.
And so obviously that poses a problem.
But we see in verse six, it says, And he believed in the Lord,
and it was counted into him for righteousness.
It's pretty amazing.
So even though, you know, the circumstances seemed impossible,
even though it seemed contrary, even though it seemed like it's just not going to happen,
what did Abraham do? He believed God.
That's a testament to his faith.
And look, folks, sometimes we get on these Old Testament characters who had a lapse of faith,
but just be reminded, they didn't have the canonized Bible like you and I do.
They didn't have the testimonies of the Lord of people who had a relapse in faith or obeyed God.
We do. We have all the testimonies of the Lord.
We're able to read these stories and increase our faith
because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We have all these stories already completed in 66 books known as the word of God.
They didn't have that. So guess what? That required a lot of faith.
And this is one of the reasons why they call Abraham the father of faith.
Abraham has a lot of faith to say, all right, well, I'm just going to believe you then, God.
If this is what you say, if this is going to come to pass and what you say is going to happen,
if you're saying that God is not a man, that he should lie. Amen.
He's believing him and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now, we know that obviously he's going to have a lot of physical children
and even his children are going to have many physical children throughout the generations to follow.
But this isn't what he was referring to.
When he talked about the children being at the sand of the sea or the sea being at the sand of the sea,
what he's actually referring to is spiritual children.
Now, go to Galatians, if you would, hold your place there in Genesis and go to Galatians chapter number three.
You see, one thing we need to understand is that God often is working in the background.
He's working behind the scenes. He has other plans and he has a bigger picture.
We often as Christians often focus on that which is immediate, what is the short-term result,
where is the reward now, where is this now, whereas God sees in the future.
He sees what the plan is going to become, what it's going to be.
And so this is what we see taking place with Abraham.
Yeah, he's telling them, your seed shall be at the sand of the sea or the stars of heaven,
but what he's actually referring to is spiritual children, people who will be saved in the years to come.
Look at Galatians 3 verse 13, it says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree,
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Now what promise is he referring to, the promise that he gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
Brethren, I speak after the manner of man, though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man doest annulth or addeth thereto.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ.
Now there's people out there that want to teach that when Abraham blessed, or when God blessed Abraham
and he said, hey, I'm going to give you seed, they refer to it as physical descendants known as the Jews.
This is obviously a false doctrine, it's not true.
You know the Jews are not God's chosen people and Genesis 12 is not a valid portion of scripture to use
to try to prove that because Galatians 3 defines what Genesis 12 is talking about
and it's referring to those who are of Christ.
The seed is not referring, and look, here's the interesting thing, you go to the modern versions of the Bible,
it doesn't say seed, what does it say? Descendants.
So it twists the meaning and it really fits that dispensational Zionist agenda
that most of these modern versions of the Bible have.
Whereas Galatians 3.16 tells us that he's not talking about seeds as of many physical descendants,
he's talking about as of one and thy seed, which is Jesus Christ.
Go to Galatians chapter 4, Galatians chapter 4 verse 22, it says,
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.
Now who is the bondmaid? This is referring to Hagar.
The free woman is referring to Sarah.
Verse 24, which things are in allegory, for these are the two covenants,
the one from Mount Sinai which generateth the bondage, which is Hagar, also known as Hagar.
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem,
which now is and is in bondage with her children.
So this is telling us that Hagar, Ishmael are a representation of the physical Jews actually.
Now there's a lot of people out there that want to teach this.
They want to say, well no, no, no, Ishmael is actually referring to Muslims.
You know, it's referring to those pesky Muslims, and you know, Isaac is actually, you know, the Jews.
No, wrong. Isaac is actually a representation of believers.
Ishmael is a representation of the Jews according to the flesh.
And the proof of that is the fact that it says in verse 25,
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is.
So Paul's referring to the Jerusalem of his day, which now is,
saying that these are the people that represent Ishmael.
Verse 26, But the Jerusalem which is above is free,
New Jerusalem, amen, which is the mother of us all.
For it is written, Rejoice thou barren, thou barest not,
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not,
for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Now we brethren, look what it says, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
So when he says, hey, look at the stars of heaven, you know,
see if you can tell the stars of heaven, count the number, number them,
see how many there are. That's how your seed shall be.
He's referring to us. He's referring to us.
And in fact, it's interesting, you know, in old IFB churches,
you know, they have like bus ministry and Sunday school classes and whatnot,
and they often sing this song called Father Abraham.
How many know the song? It's a great song.
And the funny thing is, is that most old IFB churches are Zionists,
majorly Zionists. I mean, like, you know, they're God's chosen people,
you know, and the whole shebang, Shabbat, the whole Shabbat.
But here's the thing, they have their kids singing this song,
and it goes like this, it goes, Father Abraham had many sons,
and many sons had Father Abraham.
I am one of them, and so are you.
So let's just praise the Lord.
So they have these kids singing this song,
and then they're teaching that the Jews are God's chosen people.
Well, hello, you just got finished singing.
We're Abraham's seed. We're his children.
It's a very doctrinal song, amen.
We should start singing it in church.
Verse 29 says, But as then he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Now, here's the thing, Fox News Baptist will use verse 29 to say,
yeah, because the Muslims are persecuting the Jews.
He's talking about that time. No Muslims here.
Who are the ones that were persecuting the Christians during this time?
The Jews were.
So it says, But as then he that was born after the flesh,
referring to Ishmael, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
referring to Isaac, because remember, Ishmael would mock Isaac.
OK, he says, even so it is now.
So that is an allegory, a symbol, a symbolic representation of Ishmael.
Ishmael and Isaac are symbolic representation of Christians
and the Jews, according to the flesh.
Nevertheless, verse 30 would say the scripture cast out the bond woman and her son,
for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
If you remember that story, you know, Hagar is despised.
And basically what Sarah does is cast her out. Right.
And that is a representation of the fact that the children of the kingdom
shall be cast down into outer darkness and there shall be weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth, as we see in the gospels. Verse 31.
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.
So when he gives them that promise, it's a wonderful promise.
And yet he is going to give them children, physical descendants.
He is going to give him a progeny.
But that promise extends further and more importantly into the spiritual children
that he will one day have of all nations. OK, now go back to Genesis, if you would.
Genesis.
The principle that we can learn there is, you know, sometimes we need to recognize
that we need to see the bigger picture in life. Right.
God has a bigger picture. We're often so focused.
We can't even see past lunch and can't see past our own problems
and the things that we're experiencing, the trials of our life
and our misery or depression or anxiety.
And we're so focused on our issues that we don't see beyond that.
And we don't recognize that God actually has a bigger picture.
And look, folks, the Bible says that all things work together for good to them that love God.
To them who are the called according to his purpose.
So, yeah, you might be miserable today because some evil befell you.
You're going through the evil day.
But God can work that out together for good to fulfill the bigger picture.
So you can have a part in the bigger picture.
So he gives them these promises. He takes them. He believes them.
But just like anybody else, you know, he had a relapse in faith as Sarah did as well.
Look at Genesis 16 in verse number one.
This is after he gave them the promise that says,
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bear him no children.
So you can see how that can be a little discouraging, right?
Given his promise, hey, you're going to have the stars of heaven.
You're going to have a lot of children.
And it's just like, no children. What does the test say?
You know, no lying or whatever. I don't remember the pregnancy test, how that works.
It's like, any children? Not yet.
So you're not expecting it? No.
Sarah, Abraham's wife, bear him no children.
And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar.
This is what we just read in Galatians 4.
And Sarai said unto Abraham, Behold now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing.
Now, she's saying this in a negative light as though God doesn't want her to have children.
It's not that he's just like restraining you because he doesn't want you to have children.
He's doing something here.
He's working in the background here.
I pray thee, going unto my maid, it may be that I may obtain children by her,
and Abraham hearken to the voice of Sarai.
This is weird.
What in the world were you thinking?
She's like, hey, this is my handmaid Hagar that we got from Egypt.
You can have children by her.
And I'll just kind of vicariously basically like, you know, live through that.
And he could be like my son, though I didn't bear him.
So what is she doing?
She's trying to do the will of God her way.
And Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian,
after Abraham had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan
and gave her to her husband, Abraham, to be his wife.
By the way, Abraham, what's up with your leadership, dude?
He should have been like, no, it's kind of weird.
We're going to have a lot of issues.
You're going to grow jealous.
You're going to be angry.
This is going to upset you later on.
This is not going to be good.
He's like, sure.
And he went into Hagar, and she conceived.
And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Sarai said unto Abraham, my wrong be upon thee.
I have given my maid unto thy bosom.
And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes,
the Lord judge between me and thee, so on and so forth.
So a huge problem arises because of this.
And by the way, another principle that we can learn from this
is that decisions that we make in the past,
because this isn't the first time they had a lapse in faith.
Decisions that we make in the past where we had a lapse of faith
will often affect us later on in the future somehow.
Because where did Hagar come from?
Egypt.
Why were they in Egypt?
Because of the famine in the land.
And in fact, they took Lot there.
And what happened with Lot?
He ended up creating an appetite for the world, so to speak,
which is why he pitched his tent toward Sodom
because it reminded him of those plains.
So we see that those decisions that they made in the past
ended up coming back in the future.
And it ended up causing them to stumble and to fall,
had a lapse in faith, so on and so forth.
So we see that Sarai's trying to do God's will her way.
It's like when God is doing something in our life
and He's allowing us to go through some trial
and we just try to finagle our way through it by compromising.
You're like, well, you know,
I'm just going to have to work on Sundays from now on.
If this is what God wants me to do,
if I'm supposed to get married, if I've got to do this
or if I'm going to provide for my children
and I've just got to work on Sundays,
well, no, that's you trying to do God's will your way.
If God commands us to do something,
He will enable us and equip us to do it.
Don't be like Sarah and get a Hagar.
Well, I just can't find any girl.
I guess I'll just get some worldly girl out there
who's not saved, not a Christian,
and just kind of go that route.
You know, I'll just go grab me a Hagar, an Egyptian.
Yeah, but you might produce an ishmael, okay?
And in fact, it could be worse for you
because what can happen is you can fornicate,
have a bastard child, and then you have a really big issue
because not only do you have a bastard child,
you have come together with an individual
who's not a believer.
Many violations of scripture throughout this entire scenario
that typically happens sometimes, you understand?
Now, people make mistakes, you know,
and look, don't be offended if I use the word bastard either.
Okay, bastard is a biblical term.
You know, obviously it's been demonized by our culture
to mean like a cuss word or something.
It's a biblical term, folks.
And look, in the day and age in which we live,
there are many bastards out there, unfortunately, okay?
So, and it doesn't mean that God can't use them.
It doesn't mean that, you know, they can't get,
obviously they can get saved, God can use them,
they can be great for the Lord.
It's possible, but this is just the result
of someone doing things their own way
and not God's way, you understand?
Don't let some pastor out there,
oh, they cuss for the pulpit because you used bastard.
I'm sorry, I didn't know you were more holy than God.
You know?
Yeah, I know the word says ass,
but you know, I'm not gonna use it
because I have a higher standard than God does.
Go to Genesis 17.
So Abraham, before he was Abraham,
he's Abraham right here in this story,
was 86 years old when he had Ishmael.
Guy's old.
So that means that by the time he had Isaac,
Ishmael was already 14 years old.
So think about that.
You know, often when we read these stories
in the Old Testament, you know,
we go through like 10 years in one page.
We can go through a lifetime in like two verses, right?
So put yourself in their sandals
and realize 14 years have passed
and they still have not had their promised child.
You can see how they can have somewhat of a lapse of faith
and stop believing that maybe something can result,
you know, in their favor that God can fulfill his promise.
14 years have passed.
Ishmael is getting old already.
He's 14 years old, still hasn't happened.
You can see how that can be discouraging.
Look at verse 15 of Genesis 17.
And God said unto Abraham and to Sarah thy wife,
thou shall not call her name Sarai,
but Sarah shall her name be,
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.
God has like a big vision, you know,
and he's casting his big vision to Abraham.
Look at verse 17.
Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed.
Why is he laughing?
He's like, that sounds great and everything,
but we don't even, nations, kings plural,
we don't even have one.
Abraham fell upon his face and laughed
and said in his heart,
shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old
and shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear?
He's thinking to himself, is this really possible?
You know, you can see how he was full of faith years ago
in Genesis chapter 12.
You can see how he was full of faith in Genesis chapter 15.
He's like, all right, you know, we still got a chance.
This could happen logically speaking, you know,
but now they're like pushing 100.
Now it's just like, I don't know.
This seems kind of impossible,
but I want you to notice that he laughs.
And this can seem like somewhat of a disrespectful thing to do,
but really if you think about it,
sometimes Christians do the same exact thing
where you pose a promise of God and it's just like,
yeah, but not for me though, not in my life, not for me.
That can happen for someone else, but not for me.
And what it shows is just the lack of faith.
Verse 18 says, and Abraham said unto God,
oh, the Ishmael might live before thee.
So he's like, hey, don't even worry about me bearing a child.
Let's just give it to Ishmael.
He's already 14.
You know, he's getting up there, you know,
and maybe he can live before thee.
So he's trying to manipulate the will of God now.
He's trying to tell God how to do his job, right?
He's like, you know, just don't worry about the promised child.
Sarah doesn't have to bear children.
She's 90 years old, I'm 100.
Just give it to Ishmael.
And God said, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed.
I like that.
He just completely ignores what he just says.
And now shall call his name Isaac,
and I will establish my covenant with him
for an everlasting covenant with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee.
Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful
and multiply him exceedingly.
Twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation.
So what does this tell us?
Even though Ishmael, the physical person,
was a result of Abraham's lapse of faith,
you know, he can still be blessed by God.
So maybe your parents had a lapse of faith or something,
and, you know, maybe you didn't grow up in a Christian home,
so to speak, and you don't have the best background,
and your dad is this, and your mom fed you with a slingshot
and all this other weird stuff.
You know, my aunt beat me,
and I went through so much abuse and all this.
Yeah, but you know what? God can still bless you, though.
God can still use you.
Don't have this, like, victim mentality,
where you're just blaming everyone around you.
Oh, woe is me because of my mom and my dad and my uncle,
and I was abused and all these things.
Obviously, those things are wicked,
and those things should not have happened,
and you are a victim of someone else's free will,
but that doesn't mean that you can't be used of God.
That doesn't mean that God can't bless you
and do something great with your life.
He says, I'm going to make of him a great nation,
but my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at the set time in the next year.
Now, go to Genesis 18.
I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 9, verse 7.
It says, Neither because they are the seed of Abraham
are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
So just as Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac,
and they were both his sons,
only one of them was a promised child, right?
Well, in like manner, you know, you think of the Jews and believers,
they're both somewhat physically descended from Abraham, right?
Because he's referring to the believers, those who are of Israel,
actually of Israel, like Paul himself, who's a Benjamite,
he's an Israelite indeed, but he's a believer.
Both of them come from Abraham, so to speak,
but the promise is given to Paul because he's saved.
It's not given to the physical Jews.
It says in verse 8, that is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted for the seed,
for this is the word of promise.
At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
Look at Genesis 18, where we started.
Verse 11 says, Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
well-struck in an age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying,
After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?
So she's laughing too.
The Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh?
So what's going on here?
We have three angels coming to Abraham to basically reaffirm
and confirm the promise that he's giving.
Now one of them is Jesus Christ.
The other two are angels, actual angels.
The one of the three is actually referring to what we would call
a pre-incarnate Christ, you understand?
Because he calls him My Lord, capital L.
And so he's the one who's actually giving this promise to Abraham.
And I like what he says in verse 13, he says,
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh?
Why is she laughing?
What's so funny?
Funny how?
Saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child which I am old?
He's like, Well, I don't see anything funny about that.
You think this is funny?
Look at verse 14.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
So why is she laughing?
Because she thinks this is too hard even for God.
Abraham's laughing because he thinks it's just too hard even for God.
But Jesus is not laughing.
In fact, he's asking, What's so funny?
Is anything too hard?
You think I can't do it?
At the time appointed, I will return unto thee,
according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laugh not.
No, I didn't laugh.
For she was afraid.
Yeah, you better be afraid.
This right here is one of my favorite parts of the story.
And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.
And that was it.
So he's like, I didn't laugh.
He's like, You did laugh.
He's like, Don't give me that.
Try to tell me you didn't laugh.
You laugh.
Nay, thou didst laugh.
It's all fun and games until God can read your heart, amen?
Until God can see the inner recesses of your heart,
and then he actually repeats what you laughed about,
and then he's just like, Oh man, maybe this isn't funny then.
Now, another proof that this is Jesus is the fact that he saw what was in her heart.
And the Bible tells us in John 2 24,
And Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
and needed not that any should testify of man,
for he knew what was in man.
So Jesus didn't need for Sarah to testify of herself that she didn't laugh.
He's like, No, you did laugh.
I read your mind.
I read your thoughts.
I read your heart.
I knew what's going on in you.
I know what's in man, and you laughed.
Now, go with me if you would to Romans chapter four, Romans chapter number four.
Now, what does it mean when it states that it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women?
You know, this is the reason why they're thinking this is an impossible task.
This can't be done.
It's because that Sarah, it ceased to be with her after the manner of women.
Well, the manner of women is referring to a season in a woman's life,
when she is basically able to bear children.
There's a window of time when a woman's body is fertile,
or as the Bible puts it, the flower of her age, okay?
And there comes a time in a woman's life when basically that season ends.
And her body is no longer able to produce offspring.
You know, she can no longer have children.
Now, obviously, in those days, that season could have extended a little longer
because people's bodies were different, health was different, food was different in those days.
People were a lot healthier, a lot more vibrant.
You know, they didn't have all of the nonsense that we have today.
But here's the thing.
In either case, by the time she was 90, you know, that season is done.
So even though that season might have extended for, you know, let's say, approximately 50 years,
Sarah's 90, okay, at this point.
So she's passed that season, that manner of life where she can have children, okay?
By the way, the principle we can learn there is, hey, have as many children as you possibly can,
while you can have them children, okay?
Now, we live in a society where it's just completely backwards to what we see in the Bible.
Back in the Bible days, it's just like, I want children.
I want children.
Why am I barren, Lord, why have you shut my womb?
I want children.
You know, and just lamenting over the fact that they were barren.
Today, they lament when they have children.
Parents lament for having children.
There is, you know, you have birth control, abortion.
We live in a society that hates children to the point where they're willing to just brutally murder them
in the womb, which is supposed to be the most safest place in the world for a child.
It's wicked.
It's a complete backwards to the Bible where women today, it's just like, you know, oh, my body, my choice.
Okay, well, I'm going to use that when you try to implement your stupid vaccine then.
You're going to take the vaccine?
No, my body, my choice.
Funny how you want to impose that only when it's more convenient for you,
you know, it's like, well, you know, we're not ready to have children.
Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to fornicate then.
That's a sermon for another day.
But here we see that the Bible teaches that children are a blessing, heritage of the Lord.
And look, folks, there's people out there that can't have children, amen.
Unfortunately, they can't have children.
Maybe a wife's womb is barren.
There's complications.
And so, you know, you need to be grateful for the fact that you can't produce children if you are able.
Okay, and count them a blessing, not a curse, not a burden.
And look, many of these people are like, oh, man, our children are so burdensome.
It's because you're not spanking them.
That's why.
They can be a blessing to you if you just do it the way, you know, they used to do it back in the day.
Again, in the sermon for another day.
Look at Romans chapter four, verse 16.
This is an account of what we read, of what we're reading in Genesis 18 and all the way to 21.
It says in verse 16, 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,
including God, who quickened at the dead, and calleth those things which be not, as though they were.
And this is a testament to the way God views the future, amen.
He talks about them as though they've already happened.
And that's the kind of attitude that we should have as well, amen.
You know, we should speak of our church as something that, as an organization that's going to do something great,
even though we haven't accomplished that great feat yet.
But we will.
Look at verse 18, 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,
but he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,
being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform.
So he's like, I'm not going to consider the fact that I'm an old geezer.
I'm not going to consider the fact that my wife's womb is dead.
If God said that this is going to happen, it's going to come to pass, okay.
He's not going to stagger. He's not going to have unbelief.
He's going to be strong in the faith, still giving glory to God.
Now go to Genesis 21. This is where we're going to finish off here.
So he gives them that last promise.
And by the way, I mean, obviously we see that Abraham is an obedient servant
because the angels, Jesus Christ, they're there telling them this.
And then, you know, Jesus is doing two birds with one stone.
He's coming to tell Abraham that he's going to have seed,
but he's also going to go destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.
Okay. So he tells Abraham this, and they're done fellowshipping,
and they're done talking, and they're about to head out to go destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
And he's like, you know, should we tell Abraham what we're going to do,
seeing that he's going to command his children after him?
That's a powerful statement, folks, because he does tell Abraham what he's going to do.
And the reason why he was able to tell Abraham what he was about to do
is because he knew Abraham was not going to think that what he's doing is just absolutely insane.
Are you going to destroy all those wicked people?
Now, he wanted him to save the righteous, the remnant that were in that city,
but he didn't bat an eye at the fact that he was going to destroy a bunch of homos.
He said, look, I know that Abraham's going to teach his children what I'm doing is right.
What I'm doing is correct. What I'm doing is righteous. What I'm doing is just.
Therefore, I'm going to tell him.
You see, a lot of the times, you know, when Jesus said,
I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Some Christians, they can't learn certain facts of the Bible because it's just too much for them.
They view them like, oh, man, I just don't agree with that.
Well, you just can't bear it.
You know, and that's why you don't learn the Bible.
That's why you don't learn the deep things of God,
because some deep things of God require some thick skin
and some understanding that, you know what, the laws of the Lord are perfect.
He's righteous. He's just. And everything that he does is wonderful.
Everything he does is wonderful. It's beautiful.
And we don't want to stand. We never want to stand in judgment of God's law and say,
well, I don't agree with that.
I just don't think that's right.
And try to excuse it a certain way.
You know, God knew Abraham was not going to do that.
Therefore, he told them. And not only did he know that he wasn't going to do that,
he knew that he was going to command his children thereafter
and tell him what he was going to do was right.
Look at Genesis 21, verse one, it says,
And the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said. Amen.
And the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age,
at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him,
whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him,
and Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
This is why his name is Isaac.
And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck?
For I have borne him a son in his old age.
So previously she was laughing because she had a lapse of faith.
Now she was basically laughing at herself.
Like, man, why didn't I just believe?
You know, who would have known that God can do this, right?
Let me give you three principles, and we're done with the sermon, that we can learn from this.
Number one, a miracle requires crossing the boundaries of laws,
of the laws of nature in order to be a miracle.
Okay?
And look, this is why it took so long for them to have a child.
Because look, if they had a child early on when the promise is given, no faith would be required.
Often, a long amount of time is required in order for you to increase your faith and increase your patience.
In order for it to be a miracle.
Think about the times in the Bible, even in the Gospels, where Lazarus dies and Jesus doesn't go to him right away.
Waits a couple days, right?
Because by the time he gets there, he stinketh.
His body has already gone into decomposition.
It's going through rigor mortis. It smells.
So it's almost as if the hope is lost.
So Jesus comes to resurrect him and do something impossible.
Something that would be considered impossible.
That's why it's a miracle.
And often, in order for us to recognize or to receive an answer to prayer, you know, God waits a while.
Just remember that.
Because if you didn't have to wait a while, then you wouldn't be grateful and recognize that it was the hand of God.
You understand?
So remember that. A miracle requires crossing the boundaries of the laws of nature in order to be a miracle.
But other than that, number two, as I mentioned, God's promises are not bound by time.
And you have to recognize that everything is beautiful in his time, the Bible says.
And often when we are going through a trial or a difficult time, or when we're praying for something,
God makes us wait because patience matures us. It makes us complete.
We live in a microwave society.
A drive-through microwave society where we want everything right now.
Now's the time. Now's the appointed time for this. This is when I want it.
Whereas what God says is like, well, I'm going to use the process to mature you.
And look, we need that process in order to be able to even like get the blessing, to be able to handle the blessing.
You understand what I'm saying?
If God were to give you certain blessings today, you just wouldn't be able to handle it sometimes.
So often, it's not that he says no to the prayer.
He just says wait because that waiting period matures you so that you can handle the blessing.
And then lastly, impossible circumstances are needed to prove that nothing is too hard for God.
Right? I guarantee you at this time when they had Isaac, they're like, man, nothing is too hard for God.
Because we're old.
Stricken in years. I was barren and God still.
I mean, think about a hundred-year-old woman like the great with child.
And she's giving suck thereafter.
God can do that.
And so, you know, impossible circumstances are needed in order to increase our faith.
And help us to realize that nothing is too hard for God.
Psalm 137 says, for with God, nothing shall be impossible.
But here's the question, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
You know, for us, it's like the littlest thing is like just hard.
It's impossible.
You know, and this is why Jesus says, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Shall he find a people that can really say like, hey, nothing's too hard for God.
I don't care how crazy it gets.
I don't care how wild California gets.
I don't care how new something becomes.
I don't care, you know, what happens.
Nothing is too hard for God.
Shall he find faith on the earth at that point?
So a great story here of a miraculous nativity known as Isaac.
You know, he was born and it was a miraculous birth.
Not because he was born of a virgin, but because of the amount of time that it took to have him.
You know, that his parents were already barren.
They were old.
They were stricken in age.
God still made it happen because he's able to perform that which he has said.
Amen.
Spire heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And Lord, I know stories like this increase my faith.
And aside from just increasing my faith, it kind of helps me to be ashamed sometimes where I lack faith in certain areas.
When people in the Bible who didn't have all 66 books, they just believed.
They had that potent faith.
And I pray, God, that you'd help us to follow their example and recognize that nothing's too hard for you, Lord.
Help us never to laugh at the promises of God.
We never mock it and think that you can never fulfill it.
We know that you can.
And I pray that, Lord, you would continue to increase our faith.
And bless this Christmas season.
We love you so much and we thank you.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Song number 426.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
Song number 426.
Sing it on that first.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
Their alpha measures, carols play.
And wildest spades the words with them.
Hail, peace on earth, goodwill to men.
I thought how as the day had come,
The billfries of old Christendom
Can roll along the road in his song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.
And in despair I bowed my head,
There is no peace on earth, I said,
For hate is strong and what's the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.
Then I pealed earth for that of my head,
There is no death on earth, I said,
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
When peace on earth, goodwill to men.
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved at night today,
A voice a tribe a chance abide,
For peace on earth, goodwill to men.
Amen. Wonderful scene. You are dismissed.
Thank you for watching.