WHEN GOD MAKES A PROMISE

Reading:
Gen 17:1-8…
(9-14 – Circumcision established as the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant…)
15-19…
(20-27 – God’s promise of a different nation through Ishmael…)
18:1-14…

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

Introduction: 
God has made some pretty grand promises to Abraham. It was promises that
didn’t even make sense on a lot of levels. I mean, this is BIG! To be a father of
many nations… To have wealth… Kings to come out of him… To be an
everlasting God to him and his seed, with an everlasting covenant… To give him
all the land of Canaan… And that this is all going to come about by giving him,
who is 100 years old, and his wife, Sarah, who is ninety years old, a son. This 100
year old man and 90 year old woman are going to bear a child! This is some
promise…

Can we really count on such promises? Or should we ask, can we really count on
such promises from God???

I want us to consider three things about the promises of God from this account
before us.

When God makes a promise...

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 I. THERE IS AN ESSENTIAL QUESTION
When God makes a promise, there is an essential question that should be asked.

How confident was Abraham in God’s promise? He was so confident in God’s

promise that, ‘he fell on his face and laughed!!!’ 17:17…

How about Sarah? Sarah had overheard the conversation between God and
Abraham from the tent door. Her reaction? Much the same as Abraham’s…
18:11-12…

Abraham and Sarah were reasoning things out from the human viewpoint. This is
much the same as what most people would do today. These are the facts and
therefore this is the result…

 Sarah asked a question? “Aren’t we too old?” Of course, the answer is yes from
the human viewpoint. But when God gets in the equation, the human viewpoint
should go right out the window.

In our text, in 18:14 God asks a question and this is the essential question that we
should be asking today: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

The words “too hard” look at a condition or circumstance too great for God. Sarah
considered her age and this didn’t make sense. She’d undoubtedly never heard of
anyone having a child at that age.

It is unbelief in what God says that causes us to reason from a human viewpoint.
Let’s remember and look at the One who asked the question. It is the LORD.

Mary had much the same feelings when the angel told her that she was going to
bear a son, Who would be called Jesus, and yet she was a virgin. She responded
from a human viewpoint with the words, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a
man?” Part of the angels answer to her was… Luke 1:37 – “For with God
nothing shall be impossible.”

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Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him."
When God makes a promise the essential question that should be asked is: “Is
anything too hard for the LORD?” If you can answer that honestly and believe it,
God’s promises take on a whole new meaning!

When God makes a promise... There is an essential question to be asked and

When God makes a promise...

II. THERE IS AN ESTABLISHED TIMING

“…At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life…”

The words “according to the time of life” is speaking specifically of nine months
from now. He’s saying, “I will return to you at the appointed time next year and
Sarah will have a son.” God’s promise is no longer vague and referring to some
undetermined time in the future. God says, “I will be back next year and you will
have a son.” As we look at this text, let’s look first at—

It was an appointed time. The appointed time here is the ninth months. Sarah did
not almost have a miscarriage. She had no problem carrying this baby to term.
God works according to His predetermined plan.

Genesis 17:21, "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah
shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." 

Genesis 21:2, "For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old
age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him."

Too often we want everything on our timing. With God’s promises, it is His timing
that is important and nothing is left to chance. There is an established timing.

When God makes a promise... There is an essential question to be asked.

When God makes a promise... There is an established timing.

When God makes a promise…

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 III. THERE IS AN EMPHATIC ANSWER
“and Sarah shall have a son”

The words “and Sarah shall have a son” could not be more emphatic. God makes
promises and asks us to believe them.

God’s promises to Abraham in His covenant could not have been more emphatic.
He doesn’t speak in vague terms that are uncertain. When God makes a
promise… There is an emphatic answer. He makes Himself very clear. Every
promise He has ever made are emphatically true. He cannot lie and He cannot
fail!!!

We can take God emphatically at His Word. He doesn’t stutter and He doesn’t
beat around the bush. He says what He means and He means what He says.

CONCLUSION:
When God makes a promise, let’s get rid of those human viewpoints. Note,
concerning our text before us and the promise of God that we could look at it
from a human viewpoint, just as Abraham and Sarah initially did.

Some things about this promise from a human viewpoint:

 It seemed impossible. Luke 18:27 – “And he said, The things which

are impossible with men are possible with God.”
 It was irrational. Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the LORD with all thine
heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."
 There was another way to accomplish this from Abraham’s viewpoint.
Genesis 17:18, "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might
live before thee!"

One of the believer’s biggest challenges is to believe what God says when what
He says contradicts all human reasoning.

 The very first verse in the Bible has been rejected by men of great
intellectual ability. The Scientist and the philosopher just can’t see God

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 being able to do what He says He did. “In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.”  
 Then many of the religious leaders operate on human viewpoint and reject
the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea.
 Then when they come to the resurrection of Christ they say that He was in
a coma or some unconscious state.

Note how God dealt with Sarah. He let her know that He knew about her unbelief.
He then strengthened her in faith. God lists her in Hebrews 11:11 as a woman of
faith.

Heb. 11:11 – “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to

conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

When God makes a promise... There is an essential question to be asked.

When God makes a promise... There is an established timing.

When God makes a promise… There is an emphatic answer.

What do you need in your life right now? Jesus makes a great promise to us in
John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." No one has ever been turned away
who came to Him for salvation. This promise is also still valid after one is saved.
He said, “He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Do you need to come
to Christ, right now?