This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Will we happily return to the book of Genesis? Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18. This is the reading of God's holy word starting at verse one. Now the Lord, Yahweh, appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he, Abraham, lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself down to the earth and said, my Lord, If now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree and I'll bring a piece of bread that you may refresh yourselves after that you may go on since you have visited your servant and they said so do as You have said So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes. Abraham also ran to the herd and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared and placed it before them and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate. Then they said to him, Where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, there in the tent. He said, I will surely return to you at this time next year and behold, Sarah, your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age. Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, after I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? And the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I indeed bear a child when I am old? Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time, I'll return to you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah denied it, however, saying, I didn't laugh. For she was afraid. And he said, no, but you did laugh. This is the reading of God's word. Amen. Well, we have been traveling along with Abraham, as he has been progressing in the school of faith. Sometimes Abraham could pull an A, other times he flunked. As we come to Genesis chapter 18, we actually see Abraham shining once again. He's gonna do well in this segment of his education in faith, but don't be mistaken, just because he looks good in this chapter doesn't mean that he will continue to look good in a couple of chapters from now. But as we come to this passage, We see one of the fundamental reasons why the Bible calls Abraham the friend of God. What's great about this is there's nobody else in the Bible that's called the friend of God except Abraham. three different occasions the Bible calls Abraham the friend of God and what we're going to see in this passage this week and the week next week is Abraham is going to show forth his righteousness both in this impeccable hospitality which in the Bible is a genuine Virtue, a moral virtue. Hospitality in the Bible is always a moral virtue. It's not just something that some people are good at. Abraham is going to show by his impeccable hospitality, and later in the same chapter, his compassion on the lost. As he intercedes as a prophet and a priest, he's gonna demonstrate why he is called the friend of God. In this passage, we get to this wonderful good news. Not just the announcement of a baby, we've had that good news. We actually get a date set, right? This is God himself as the sovereign OBGYN saying, when I come back at this time next year, you will have A baby. Now, although he does something that no OBGYN does, and that is he gives the date before she gets pregnant. But, I get ahead of myself. But in this passage, we not only have this good news, we also have some really bad news. Some tragic news. For the cities of the plains. known as Sodom and Gomorrah. And in fact, in this chapter, the next chapter as well, 18 and 19, the good news and the bad news are gonna play off of each other. In fact, stop and think about this structure for a moment. 18, one through 15, we have the heavenly visitors who come and make an announcement of Isaac's birth. And then from 1816 through 1929, we see the destruction of Sodom and the deliverance of Lot. And then the section ends, 19, 30 to 38, with the birth of two sons by Lot in a sordid account. Those two sons would end up being the Moabites and the Ammonites, historic enemies of the people of God. And so this passage is one that is a mixture, but that's life, right? I mean, life is always a mixture. You never just have times of nothing but good news. The good news is always mixed with the bad. So today what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at chapter 18, verses one through 15. We're gonna see Abraham's hospitality and God's wonderful promise-keeping power. And I hope that you see the joy and even some of the humor in this text as God designed. In verses one to two, we have the divine visitors. The text opens actually with just a straightforward. So this is right after Genesis 17 and the covenant made with Abraham and all of this household were circumcised. And then 18.1, now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And so the text opens and the text is actually telling us what's happening. It's uncertain at what point Abraham figures out what's happening, but we know what's happening. And so chapter 18 opens with yet another visit, a theophany from God. God had already appeared to Abraham in chapter 12. He had appeared to Abraham in chapter 15. He had appeared to Abraham at the beginning of chapter 17, and now he appears to Abraham for what will be the last time in Abraham's life. And so the Oaks of Mamre, of course, we already know where this is located. This is the place where Abraham had built an altar to the Lord, called upon the name of the Lord, back in chapter 13. It's the place where he begins to settle in and to dwell, chapter 14. And so here's Abraham, and the text tells us that he is sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. Now, Abraham lives in the desert. And in the heat of the day, nobody was out working. In fact, this is what we would call siesta time. This is the time where people are relaxing. This is the time where people are napping. Nobody's working in the heat of the day. And here's Abraham just sitting at his tent door. And the text in verse two really dramatically tells us, he lifts up his eyes and saw or beheld three men standing opposite of him. Now the very language of lifting up his eyes and saw, that language is used throughout the Old Testament a number of times, and it always signals that something important is about to happen. And so there's Abraham, probably a little drowsy because of the oppressive heat, sitting there at the door of his tent, and he sees three men, and as he lifts up his eyes, he sees them, and they're standing at a distance. New American Standard just says opposite of him, but you have to understand that what that means is they're standing a little bit away from him because in the ancient Near East, this is being polite. In fact, Bruce Waltke, these are his exact words, standing at a distance, this is the Oriental equivalent of knocking at someone's door. So there's Abraham and he sees three men standing off a little ways and of course they're waiting. They're waiting for an invitation. And the text actually is rather astonishing because when he sees them, notice the second part of verse two, it says, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth. Now, do I need to remind you that Abraham is 100 years old? He is, although childless, he is a man who is respected in his region. He is a warrior king. He is one who has a good reputation. And here he is, and the old guy, the old guy, demonstrates his remarkable hospitality and humility. He sees the men, he gets up, he doesn't just wave them on over. He gets up, he runs out to them in the heat of the day, and he bows down to the earth in front of them. Now here's the question. Does he know that it's the Lord? The problem is that it's hard to tell from the text. Don't let the address of Lord in the next verse just automatically conclude it for you because that just may be an honorific title of respect. For sure, Abraham knows that these are special visitors, but you have to understand what's being exhibited here is Abraham's genuine hospitality. He is a man who is humble and hospitable. Now, he makes a request of the visitors. He says, notice, my Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass by your servant. This is remarkable too, because he says, my Lord, which again, he may be recognizing that this is Adonai, God himself, or he may be using this title of respect, but whatever the case, the fact is, is this expression, if I have found favor in your sight, in the Bible is always spoken to someone of higher rank. It's a request that's made by a subordinate to a superior. And so Abraham is again demonstrating this remarkable humility and he uses the word please twice. and he's entreating them. In fact, Robert Canlish, an old Scottish commentator says, he presses upon them his hospitality as if their acceptance would be a personal favor to him. Verse five, you can see the actual offer of hospitality. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree and I'll bring you a piece of bread that you may refresh yourselves. After that, you may go on since you visited your servant. And so here's the offer of hospitality. These are desert travelers, so their feet would have been dirty. Let me bring some water, we can take care of your feet. Rest under the shade of these great oak trees. I'll even bring you an afternoon snack to kind of re-energize you for the rest of your journey. after you've taken some rest, after you've taken some food, then you can be on your way since you will have visited with your servant. You have to love Abraham at this point. It's really just unbelievable kindness. In a sense, here he is. He's the one that's gonna be put out of time and energy and money and all of the rest. And yet it's as if he's saying to these visitors, please, Be a blessing to me as I seek to try to bless you. Dale Ralph Davis makes this great observation. He says, here, he personally accepts, the Lord personally accepts Abraham's hospitality. Notice that phrase, they said, so do as you have said. They accept Abraham's hospitality, they partake of his provisions, they sit under his tree, and they eat a meal. There was the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, eating at the table of his servant. So Abraham really is Yahweh's friend. The Lord is not distant, but he loves to be near his people. He is the sociable God. He's awesome, but not stuffy. He is the Lord who draws near. Some of you are stuffier than God himself. There's a story of a university president back in the 1800s. And he's sitting down at the dinner and his daughter comes and sits down with him and he says, daughter, please, I have a question to ask you. I've been getting a complaint that I'm aloof, distant, and a little stuffy. What do you think? And she said, well, by no means, Mr. President. There's no distance with God. He's sociable, he engages with his servant in this wonderful act of fellowship and then what happens then is really quite remarkable. So they accept the invitation and in verses six through eight, we end up having this flurry of activity right in the heat of the day. You can't miss the words, hurried, quickly, ran, hurried to prepare it. When commentator says the tornado of activity reinforces the picture of Abraham as the extraordinary host. If you just notice what he does, he hurries into the tent and tells Sarah quickly, Do this quickly. Don't do it like you normally do it, in other words. Prepare three measures of fine flour. Knead it, make those really great bread cakes like you can make, Sarah, but be quick about it. And then Abraham, after giving that instruction, then he runs out, there's this old guy running around like crazy, and he runs out to the herd, looks for a choice calf, grabs it, takes it to the servant, says, here, butcher this, but do it fast. And then he goes and he takes curds, or think of, you'll play yogurt or something, and milk, and the calf, and here he is, he's got everything prepared, and he, this takes place so quickly. Don't you think this probably took a few hours of preparation? And Abraham goes and, this turns out not to be just some sort of afternoon snack. This turns out to be a royal banquet. It would have taken a lot of work, it would have taken expense, and all of that in the heat of the day, and you have to appreciate the second part of verse eight, and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate. standing there, attending to them while they ate, like a servant, like a really good waiter. And there's Abraham, demonstrating true biblical piety, demonstrating that he is indeed the friend of God. So you have this wonderful picture, and then you have verses nine through 15, what we might call the after dinner conversation, or if you prefer more formally, the announcement of Isaac's birth. Now, whatever Abraham was aware of at this point, I believe that his awareness of the identity of these visitors now becomes escalated. Because what ends up happening is they end up asking a question. Notice verse nine, they said to him, where is Sarah your wife? That strike you as odd? Where is Sarah your wife? How did he know? How did he know? Now Abraham at this point says, they're in the tent. And you can easily imagine him kind of motioning, they're in the tent. And so here's the picture. Here they are, they're under the shade of the trees. The tent, no doubt, is relatively close, but don't know exactly how far. And there they are. And where is Sarah, your wife? She's back there in the tent, and so the tent's back here, and the tent door, and here's Sarah on the inside. He said, verse 10, I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, Sarah, your wife, will have a son. absolutely remarkable promise but understand this that the seed promise had already been given really all the way back in chapter 12 where Abraham is going to be the father a multitude of nations but you have to understand that the seed promise had been narrowed down with previous encounters that God had with Abraham. And you might remember that sometimes these encounters followed Abraham or Sarah's lame efforts at trying to help God keep his promise. And God narrows the promise. And so, no, it's not gonna be one of your servants that's the promised seed. Abraham, he's gonna come from your own body. And no, it's not gonna be Abraham and Hagar. This child's gonna come from Sarah's womb. And so the promise had narrowed and narrowed. But I would remind you that nearly 25 years had passed since that promise was originally given. 25 years. Let me just remind you also, they were old when they got the promise to begin with. It's not like they were 20 year olds. They were old, Abraham was already 75 years old when the promise comes. And so now, now the covenant had been inaugurated and ratified and the reiteration of the promise of a child was given. But you have to understand that with each passing year and really in a sense with the passing of two and a half decades, the fulfillment of this promise just seems more and more unlikely with every time God says it over again. And now, lo and behold, we not only have the promise of a child reiterated, we have a date! Within a year's time, a child will be born. Now, here's the great part of the story. You have to read Biblical narrative and realize this is this was real life stuff that was happening and and Here are the men talking under the tree And here's Sarah Inside the tent out of sight with her ear up to the tent Listening in on the conversation They might, after all, say something interesting. Oh, where's Sarah, your wife? Hmm, wonder what he's gonna say. Here's Sarah eavesdropping. And now notice what the text says. Now, verse 11, now Abraham and Sarah were old. Just in case you don't understand that, Moses says, advanced in age. Just in case you don't understand what they're getting at, the text then tells us, literally, the manner of woman had ceased. for Sarah. There's a wonderful Hebrew expression, the manner of woman. You might remember Rachel uses this as an excuse not to stand up when Laban comes into the tent and she's actually sitting on the household idols. But you remember what she says, my Lord, I cannot arise for the manner of woman is upon me. You know what she's getting at. And here's Sarah, way past menopause. They're both old. They're both advanced in years. By the way, you understand that if you say you're old, you don't need to add that you're advanced in years, unless, of course, you wanna really underscore how old you are. And there's Sarah. And notice what the text says. There she is, she's eavesdropping, right? Verse 12, Sarah laughed within herself. You know why she laughs? Because this is absurd now. This is absolutely absurd. I mean, here, shall an old, worn-out woman married to an old, worn-out man have some romantic pleasure when they're old and have a baby? You've gotta be kidding me. Dale Davis tells us a great story. Remember Gary Larson, The Far Side? These two little spiders at the bottom of a slide at a kid's playground, and the two little tiny microscopic spiders have spun a web across the bottom of the slide, and the one spider says to the other, you know, if this all works out, we'll eat like kings. Of course you laugh because you know it's not gonna work out. Hey, here's Sarah behind the tent door. She is laughing within herself. You've got to be kidding me. That the ESV actually captures, the NAS just says, I'm old or after I'm old. It's worn out, worn out. Physically not in the condition necessary to bring forth child and you know you have to understand she's laughing at two things one she's laughing at the highly unlikely prospect of a romantic intimate evening with her husband When she says, shall I have pleasure, she's talking about the sexual delight or enjoyment. Now that I'm withered, am I to have enjoyment, says the Tanakh, with my husband so old? But the second part that's laughably unbelievable is that even if that could possibly happen, on even the best of nights. Who in the world could possibly imagine us bringing forth a child? Just simply too hard to believe. What happens next in the text is really wonderful. Sarah's out of sight. She hasn't made a peep. And the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh? Abraham doesn't answer. Maybe one of those rare moments when a husband knows just shut up. You don't need to say anything. This will take care of itself. Why did Sarah laugh? Now, actually the text is a little more emphatic than that. We could say something like, why in the world did Sarah laugh? And Abraham probably sitting there thinking, I didn't hear anything. but he's special, and I know her. So he knows her thoughts. He not only knows her name, where is Saria? He knows her thoughts, and then the heavenly visitor says this, is anything too difficult for Yahweh. I love this, I love this. In fact, if you have a New American Standard, you know that the marginal reading is wonderful. Here's Sarah laughing inside with unbelief. And why is she laughing saying, are two old people really gonna have a baby? God then says, is anything too wonderful for Yahweh? This word wonderful could mean unusual or supernatural or extraordinary or marvelous. One Bible translation says, is anything too wondrous for the Lord? This is the same word that's used, for instance, in Jeremiah 32, 17 and 27. Oh Lord God, thou has made the heavens and the earth by thine outstretched arm and nothing is too wonderful for thee. It's the same word that's used in Psalm 18 and 23, where the psalmist says, the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. And here it is, it's marvelous in our eyes. It's the same word that's used in Psalm 139 in verse 14. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. And so God asks Abraham, is there anything too wonderful for the Lord? Can you think of anything that's too marvelous that he cannot do. After this magnificent declaration, the promise is reiterated. Notice, is anything too difficult? Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. You have to understand that at this point, remember Abraham has been progressing along in the school of faith. And I would also remind you that in chapter 17, Abraham laughed. But this divine declaration, I'm gonna come back next year, you will have a son, has been spoken by the one who, first of all, knew Sarah, and second of all, just read her heart and mind, and the fact is, is that this God, who has just done those things, has now confirmed the promise to Abraham, in a sense underscoring the reality, Abraham and Sarah, you can trust me to keep my promise. word. The promise is marvelous. The promise is wonderful, and it's not too hard for me to keep. True faith is believing in the God who can do all things. True faith is believing in the God who will keep his word just as he has said. That's what it is to trust him. That's what it is to bank your hope on him, is to take his promises at face value and to believe them, not because of their believability, but because of his trustworthiness. You have to understand this promise that God is giving is an absolutely incredulous promise. It is an unbelievable promise. It is a scientifically impossible promise. Her womb is withered. It is worn out. She is in no shape. He is old. On the face of it, if they were walking by sight, they would both laugh hysterically at themselves into oblivion. But to walk by faith is to take God at his word, no matter what the circumstances are, and no matter how strongly the circumstances dictate against the possibility of the promise. Sarah. Again, standing behind the tent door. Here's all of this and she's so human, isn't she? She doesn't go. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. God is a God of faithful promise keeping. Blessed be His holy name. Abraham, let's have a good old fashioned hallelujah hoedown right here under the oaks of Mamre. Praise God. What she says is, this is how I picture it. I didn't laugh. I didn't laugh. You know, sometimes we miss the best part of what God has to say because we get hung up on the lesser things, right? I didn't laugh. Honestly, I didn't laugh. And the Lord says, oh yes, you did. Yes, you did laugh. This is the God who actually just knows our heart and you did laugh. I know you laughed, but it's okay. The fulfillment of my promise to give you a son doesn't ultimately rest on whether you laugh in unbelief. It rests on who I am. And I'm the God with whom there is nothing too wonderful. What a wonderful passage. As we look at this passage and think about the very human dynamics of this text, first of all, we see Abraham's hospitality. which by the way will be in stark contrast with the utter lack of hospitality demonstrated in Sodom. In fact, there will be multiple parallels between what happens with the three here at Abraham's tent and what will happen with the two that will proceed to Lot. But Abraham's hospitality is a mark of his true piety. And you really can't help but to think that when the writer to the Hebrews tells us, do not neglect hospitality. For some have demonstrated hospitality to angels without knowing it. And although Abraham is the one who's waiting on them, there's no doubt. He puts himself into the role of the servant. There is this wonderful sense that they are the three heavenly visitors and Abraham himself are actually communing together around a meal. And that really shouldn't surprise us because in the Bible, the ratification of covenants was often signified by eating a meal together. God himself eats a meal with the elders of Israel in Exodus chapter 24. And I would remind you that it is our Lord Jesus who after ratifying the covenant, the new covenant in his blood, has a meal with his disciples that we now call the Lord's Supper. And although Abraham is the Lord's servant, he is also the Lord's covenant partner. He is also the Lord's friend. And what we see is, is we see Abraham eagerly inviting these three visitors, not just to an afternoon snack, but to a banquet and they sit and they eat and they fellowship and they express a friendship one with another. You can't help but to think about this. How inviting are our hearts? Not just towards one another, but towards the Lord himself. How inviting are our hearts when we have the opportunity to break bread that symbolizes our Lord's broken body, and to drink the cup which symbolizes His shed blood. I wonder if we really look and examine ourselves, if we have the same kind of hunger that Abraham had. And you have to remember, Abraham's encounter and experience with the living God is pre-John 1 encounter. We have a post John one encounter. That is we have the glorious benefit of knowing that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. In fact, Jesus himself will say in John chapter eight, that Abraham longed to see my day. He saw it and he rejoiced. And I just wonder if we, the children of Abraham, of far greater privilege than even Father Abraham himself, if we ourselves actually have the kind of hunger that says, Lord, please do not pass your servant by. I want to commune with you in obedience and in memory. I want to eat the bread and drink the cup and commune with the God I love. There is something wonderful about the Lord's Supper as a covenant meal in which we commune with the living God. But you know, the great thing about this invitation of hospitality, you know what makes this really so amazingly marvelous is not ultimately Abraham's hospitality, but that the one who's invited says, is anything too marvelous for the Lord? Is anything too marvelous for Yahweh? This, by the way, is the very same God who would send an angel, not to a worn out old woman, but to a virgin who had never known a man, and that angel would proclaim words that echo from Genesis 18, and the declaration was, nothing is impossible with God. And the fulfillment of promise for laughing Sarah would be a baby in her old age who would become the father of the ancient people of Israel. But the fulfillment for believing Mary would be a baby in her virginity who would become the savior of the world. Is anything too marvelous for the Lord? You know, as we sit here today, It would be really easy for me just to say. you have a tough marriage, nothing's too difficult for God. You've got bratty kids, nothing is too difficult for God. You're a Lakers fan, okay, well, forget that. I mean, we could just kind of like just take this, nothing's too difficult for God, nothing's impossible with God, and just sort of like put it over all of the little things of life that are inconvenient and sorrowing to us. And the reality is, is that God's declaration is so much greater than any of that. You have to understand this is not just simply that your marriage isn't too difficult for God, of course that's true. This is something much bigger and that is all of God's magnificent, glorious, transcendent promises in Christ Jesus are yes and amen because nothing is too wonderful for him. It means that he can save the foulest of sinners. It means that one of these days his son will return in power and glory and judge both the living and the dead. It means that he will keep his promises for a new heaven and a new earth and where there will be no more tears, no more sin, no more sadness because the former things have passed away, it means that all of God's magnificent promises that transcend the sorrows and the veil of tears in this life, one of these days will be ultimately fulfilled because there is nothing too wonderful for the Lord. And therefore He is to be trusted, and He's to be trusted in our grief, and He's to be trusted in our mourning, and He's to be trusted in our joy, and in our gladness. He is to be trusted in the morning, and He's to be trusted at night, He's to be trusted during the watches of the night. He's to be trusted at all times because nothing is too wonderful for him. Glory be to God. Oh, he cares about the details of your life for sure. But there is a fulfillment of his promises. that is coming to those who trust Him. And it will exceed anything that eye has seen or ear has heard. Trust Him. Trust Him now, trust Him always, trust Him fully. Trust not the Lord with feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace, for behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Let's pray. So God, we trust in You. Your word is true because you are true. Your promises are trustworthy because you are the God who is reliable and faithful. Father, we give you praise that you brought forth little Isaac just as you promised. And you brought forth the son of David just as you promised. And one of these days, he will come again. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.