Sarah: The Power of Faith, Part 1

Evans talks about what happens when we keep the board waiting too long until you celebrating faithfulness. This is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans speaker senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas Texas and Pres. of the urban for some of us it takes all the faith we can muster to trust God to do something unlikely. So what happens when the answer we need is downright impossible will find out today as Dr. Evans talks to us about the power of faith. Let's join him in the boondocks and they were finally running electricity to the area in which she lived, so that she could get all but a few months that only one unit of electricity have been used by the sleep so they didn't know whether I was a problem or not. So they went out and check knock on the door. The lady answered. She said he said ma'am is your electricity okay yes so because we see you haven't been using it oddly says when you use it every day. What I do is I turn on the light, like my kerosene lamp turn off electricity. I'm sure you would agree she did know how to use the power that had been made available to she had the power because you know how to use the power she kerosene life and electric location is process Christians to live in this life even though we been connected to the power because we don't know how to use it many far too many Christians settling for the time when you were redeemed for the extraordinary settling this settling is the lack of faith. Review faith is like God is telling the truth is acting like it is so even when it's not. So, in order that it might be so simple because God said so and you measure faith by the movement of your feet not your feelings, not your intellect. Many people talk about faith who refused to walk in faith and faith. Discussions will never linking to God's power like talking about electricity will turn the lights on. That has to be movement for faith to be activated today I want to talk about the power of faith. I want you to plug in the cord so that you can see how powerful faith can be Hebrews chapter 11 versus 1112 by faith. Even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life. Since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, there was morning, even one man and him as good as dead at that as many descendents as the stars of heaven and number and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore were introduced to a lady named Sarah, the wife of Abraham made a promise that he repeated five times in the book of Genesis from chapters 12 through chapters 21. That Abraham and Sarah were going to have a baby that would lead to the birth of a nation that's what God said. That was that was the word became out of his mouth. That was the promise. But the promise had a problem. The problem was number one. Sarah was barren is not producing any eggs, and so she couldn't get pregnant. But the promise was to have a baby, but the problem was the ability to have a baby. She did not sell the promise didn't match the problem and the problem didn't match the promise. We told she was barren. We told that she was old 90 years old. She's way past menopause.

I mean, the timing is not right mouse button click the promise. I can't conceive.

I'm too old so the question the promise some folks here barren life not working for you what you should produce what you hope life would produce is not being produced in your barren season of life. And Jesus must have come to give you life and give it to you more abundantly. When a woman is pregnant she has life which has twins is abundant life. That's a lie on top of life. Jesus says I have come to give you like to give you more abundantly. But right now you in the season of barrenness. You do not get pregnant. That is, there is nothing being burned in you passion is gone. Your purpose is gone.

Your knee seems dim. Your call spiritually have gotten up and gone and in your barren people you been waiting for God to do something for a long time and your past the age you been waiting for long time and nothing is dead in your past menopause so to speak, you pass the time this could've happened and should happen at the ladies you should of been married by now I'm getting all your ramps and nobodies inside and and now I should have a me here who say my career is not producing what it should be producing by now, I'm stuck in the same old job and I thought God had something better for me and Bob age at this time be further along, so your career is barren and you are past the age of something working out and we could go on and on and on and on and on. But the reality is there is nothing happening, no life, no perfume should you frustrated your barren and the clock is picked ducted.I was a situation, don't ever let the facts cancel out the faith said again don't have the facts cancel the faith know the facts.

We told the facts are as barren. She did know we'll pretend that the eggs are flowing and that she's a spring chicken that's just not but you got the ability to complete so it will stay with me in your favor. The fact that contradict three to the problem. Looks bigger than the promise. That's the reality.

While not denying the fact the fact cancel the faith. She is caught in a situation your promise I will build a home invasion from this one couple nights God has made a mistake this chapter 16 is obviously God missed this one chapter 16 said.

Now I Abraham's wife, no children and she had an Egyptian baby's name was Hagar's also now behold the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my main obtain children through her and Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah stay with me on that.

I'm coming back that Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan. Sarah took the Egyptian army gave her to Abram as his wife. He waited Hagar and she conceived, and when she's all that she had conceived her mistress was despised, and arrive not sure when you God for something and gotten comfortable is to retreat to the flesh, the flash approach to problem different than the way God wants it done. Sarah was trying to help God, she says, perhaps God must come through me give you two are so should go – to accomplish a work of the spirit should go opinion to bring about a divine result because she says the Lord has not been conceive. Some religions are still going to church and God, but on the next day she said God not doing this through me that because the problems mean it can't come through me, and I'm barren so I can comfortably control our human way of making this happen because there is no way God can make it happen because the problems are too big. Dr. Evans will be back in a moment with more about the dangers of trying to engineer our own deliverance.

Stay with us there so many ways God is demonstrating his faithfulness to me into this ministry over these 40 years, you know, there were times when we just weren't sure we were going to make it. We got down to our last paycheck for our staff.

After that there was no money to pay anyone.

I remember us having a special prayer time and asking God to intervene and then out of nowhere a donors heart was touched they wrote us a note and said God placed it on my heart to send you this gift and was able to sustain us a while longer until we were able to build.

I praise God for 40 years of his favor on us.

One of the goals of this ministry has always been to provide the tools and resources to help listeners like you dig deep into the subject matter that Dr. Evans presents in these daily broadcasts and right now I wanted let you know about Tony's brand-new book that goes hand-in-hand with the message we been hearing today. It's called kingdom heroes.

It's a look at the Bible's faith Hall of Fame full of ordinary people who did extraordinary things by taking God at his word.

This new book from Dr. Evans teaches us that spiritual reality is about much more than we can see or touch, and that by believing God. There's nothing he can't do through us to help you dig deeper into this important subject. We are offering the book its companion Bible study workbook and the complete two volume 13 message audio series as our gift to anyone who comes alongside Tony's ministry and makes a contribution to help continue this important work we completely rely on your support to keep this program on the air and this is one way that we can show our appreciation for your faithfulness. Get all the details and make your request online@tonyevans.org or give us a call at one 800 832, 22 before this special offer runs out.

I'll repeat that information for you later in the program and Dr. Evans will be back with the second part of today's lesson right after this person I went to the holy land made the reality of the Bible jungle and become an experiential Dr. Tony.

Pain experience can be yours to a big-screen event coming to theaters near you journey with Jesus actual places where Bible history far more than just a travel down to get the site surrounded the Scripture surrounded with practical applications like what it does not just to be a sightseeing but to be a spiritual experience. Much the Bible come alive and we never felt before joining Tony on a journey with Jesus coming to you. November 16 and 17 is our prayer and hope in our expectation and seen the movie Tony Evans.org today. Sometimes more info Tony.org is to retreat to show understanding to bring about supernatural results to land that is you go God to bring about something you want from God. You are getting in the way God God Julie what to do based on his word. You have because without it is impossible to please God. If you are not placing God God. You cannot expect the intervention God so God maybe named Ishmael and then two brothers a big fight never since.

Hear me now to barren barren woman have a baby. She's all. Now how can this be, she did what the Bible says don't do that to be double minded double-blind, it means living on God's point of view man's point of view between the two. Sometimes I stay with God. Somehow the human opinion some time ago with spirits on the go with the flesh, so I want to see saw come back and forth, back and forth from, only God in the next holy man.

So when you go back and forth like that you are double minded and James had let a double minded man know they shall receive nothing from you on the seesaw of flesh and spirit, human opinion and divine revelation. If you're going to see saw the spirit seesaw man not think you will receive anything from the Lord God made a promise. This principle of flesh and spirit based on Hagar is brought up in the New Testament.

By the way, the book of Galatians chapter 4 because the Galatians chapter 4 Paul the apostle writes in verse 21 you are under the law, do you not listen to the law is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman for God and one by the free woman Sarah some of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh human approach, the son of the free woman.

Through the she goes on to say verse 27 for it is written, the joys barren woman does not bear break forth and show you who are not in labor for more numerous are the children of the desolate than the one who has and you probably like children of promise at that time he was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit so it now is also what the Scriptures say the bondwoman and her son for the son of the bondwoman shall not be in the son of the free woman told her brother and you're not the children of the bondwoman but of the free woman. I am the gal nation. Christians, you and me and he said don't be a bondwoman's baby, according to the flesh because the flesh and the spirit together one of those kids and their mama had to leave was and he uses that to talk about law and grace use that to talk about how we are to live our Christian life according to the spirit point of view God's promise not.

According to the bondservant the flesh approach. So if you want to experience the promises of God. The decision you have to make an experience that power is to not go to the flesh to help out the spirit when it looks like there's no way to spur approach can never work because guess what the problem is to be but in Genesis 17 God comes back to Sarah and Abraham and says I told you what we gonna do. Verse 15 God said to Abraham.

Genesis 1575% of your life.

You shall not: name Sarah shall be your name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you her that I will bless her, and you shall be a mother of nations, kings of people will come from some good news is they mess. God came back with his word.

So the good news is that God didn't give up on them. He came back and said I told you what the promise was pleasant yesterday and you still hearing God's word today. But the problem is they had not grown up in faith covering God's word says you gotta be kidding me.

She should all pass God's face. 17 B. Born to a man 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old – well, he says, before you just told you that you keep going back to the flesh you started with the flash and now understand what the flesh with the flesh that the problem big to be resolved so here we are today. We started the sermon in verse 11 of the book of Hebrews which says by faith Sarah gained the ability to conceive. We read about think we seen anything we seen the flesh we see not laughing, not believing his work because his word sounds too ridiculous to come true, but it was she gets back. That means something happened between the end from the Hagar has given birth to Ishmael and Vicki was born in chapter 21. Something is happening. These chapters in Sarah that she did not between God's word and his promises and in your life. I to you in faith.

You know the faith will hold until you get the faith that we are still waiting on God to come through the things that I exist waiting for you to take faith seriously and he will not know until he sees faith. Dr. Tony Evans taking a look at Sarah, and the power of faith and there's more to this story I tell you about that in just a moment. In the meantime, today's lesson is just a small part of Tony's current series called heroes of the faith. As I mentioned earlier were offering the full-length version of all 13 lessons in this two-volume series on CD and digital download along with Tony's brand-new book in Bible study guide kingdom heroes, they are yours as our thank you gift when you make a donation to help us continue this ministry to a world desperately in need of the good news of Jesus Christ.

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Tony and.org. It is pretty crazy to think that we can do anything better than God, but Dr. Evan says, many of us act as if we can, especially when were up against a challenge tomorrow he'll explain what we risk and what we miss when we do that as he continues this lesson of faith from the life of Sarah. I hope you will be with us. The alternative is brought by urban alternative celebrating Thanksgiving generous contributions of listeners