Latest / More Than Medicine / DWDP-Gen 18: 1-15 Is Anything Too Hard for God?

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DWDP-Gen 18: 1-15 Is Anything Too Hard for God? · More Than Medicine

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to More Than Medic, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hosted by author and physician, Dr.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Robert Jackson.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Papa, can you tell me a story?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Do you really want me to tell you a story?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you go get your brother and your sisters, and I will tell you a story.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Devotions with Dr.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Papa.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: Gather round, grab your Bibles, and let's look into the written word which reveals to us the living word who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're at Genesis chapter eighteen verses one through fifteen.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now the Lord appeared to him, talking about Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, which is near modern day Hebron or Hebron, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: When he 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 to the earth and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour 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 will bring a piece of bread that you may refresh yourselves.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: After that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: And they said, So do as you have said.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll stop there a moment.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: God appears to Abraham again at Hebron.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Scripture treats God's appearance to a man as if it's no big deal once again.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: To me, it's a truly remarkable event that holy God, maker of heaven and earth, would speak to a mortal man.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Don't you find that surprising?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Now this is about the fifth time that God has appeared to Abraham and spoken to him.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was the heat of the day, and as most Middle Eastern men do, Abraham was taking a siesta.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: He was probably dead asleep.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Or maybe he was still pondering the conversation with God from the previous chapter, or maybe just daydreaming.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe he was still chuckling about the idea of him and Sarah having a baby boy named Isaac Who knows?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: In verse two, suddenly three men are standing right in front of Abraham.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: How did they get there?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Don't you think with a household of probably eight hundred to nine hundred men with another two thousand women and children, Abraham would have guards on the perimeter just to prevent strangers and hostiles from showing up at his tent in the center of the community?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Sure he did.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Nevertheless, here's three men at his door without an armed guard to present them.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: In verse three, Abraham immediately recognized the Lord from his previous encounters.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: He runs to him and addresses him as Adonai.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: He bowed down to him, and some have proposed that these three were Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but not so.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: The next chapter plainly tells us in verse one that the other two were angels.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Chapter nineteen verse one the two angels came to Sodom in the gate of Sodom.
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  SPEAKER_02: So it's obvious that these other two that were with the Father were angels.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: So here's a question.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: How do angels get clothed in human flesh?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Here's a better question.
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  SPEAKER_02: How does the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, get clothed in human flesh?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: In John chapter one verse fourteen the Bible tells us the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the short answer is nothing is too difficult for God.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: He who created the heavens and the earth with merely a spoken word.
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  SPEAKER_02: Why could he not clothe angels with human flesh?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: He who bedecked the heavens with stars and planets, filled the oceans with fish and sea monsters, and filled the skies with an infinite variety of birds, and the woodlands with mammals and reptiles beyond imagination.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Is it too difficult for him to clothe angels with human flesh or his only son with mortal coils?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: He who opened the windows of the heavens and the fountains of the deep and flooded the entire earth because it was filled with violence and corruption, killing every man and beast, save those in Noah's Ark.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Can he not easily put human flesh on his heavenly messengers and his only begotten son?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: We human folk should sit back silently and ponder these things, meditating on the majesty, the might and the marvel that is our God, who has no equal, who alone is God almighty, who alone sits upon the throne of the universe, unequaled, unparalleled, unchallenged sovereign, the one true God.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: To him, putting clothes on angels is child's play.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Now look at verses three through eight.
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  SPEAKER_02: We'll start with verse four.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will 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.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.
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  SPEAKER_02: 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.
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  SPEAKER_02: 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.
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  SPEAKER_02: Then they said to him, Where is Sarah, your wife?
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  SPEAKER_02: And he said there in the tent.
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  SPEAKER_02: Now let's stop there for a moment.
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  SPEAKER_02: In verses three through eight, Abraham played the role of host to his heavenly visitors, washing their feet, feeding them milk and curds, making bread, and preparing a fatted calf.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: In verse eight, as a true Middle Eastern host, he stands beside the table, watching to see their every need is met.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Now I lived in the Middle East for three and a half months when I was in medical school working in the Gaza Baptist Hospital El Mastashfil Modimadani Fi Gaza, the very same hospital that was bombed after the October seventh massacre in Israel.
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  SPEAKER_02: I knew the surgeon there, doctor Maher, I knew the hospital administrator, Samiah, I knew the missionaries that had worked there for many, many years.
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  SPEAKER_02: And while I was there I visited in the homes of the Arabs who lived in Gaza City, Gaza town.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: I visited some of the Arabs who lived in Conunus or in other refugee camps, and true to form, the host would always stand beside us as we ate, repeating Atlan Wasatlan.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, welcome, Atlan Was over and over, just as Abraham did thousands of years before.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then in verse nine he asked where is Sarah?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: And Abram says there in the tent.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: And in verse ten there's a reminder.
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  SPEAKER_02: Watch what he says.
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  SPEAKER_02: He says, I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, Sarah, your wife, will have a son.
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  SPEAKER_02: This is the same promise that God has made to him previously.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Sarah was listening at the tent door which was behind him.
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  SPEAKER_02: Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age.
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  SPEAKER_02: Sarah was past childbearing.
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  SPEAKER_02: So you see, there's the reminder that both of them were beyond childbearing years.
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  SPEAKER_02: And there's the content context so that all of us understand the situation.
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  SPEAKER_02: Sarah was listening behind the tent.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: The scripture reminds us that Sarah and Abram were both very old and past childbearing age.
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  SPEAKER_02: Now watch in verse twelve what happens.
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  SPEAKER_02: Sarah laughed not out loud to herself, saying, After I have become old, shall I have pleasure?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: My Lord being old also?
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  SPEAKER_02: So Sarah laughs, but she's laughing to herself in the tent, not outside, and says to herself, Shall I have pleasure?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: My Lord also being old?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then in verse thirteen, and the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I indeed bear a child when I am old?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now God knows everything, brothers and sisters.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing is hidden from him with whom we have to do.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing is hidden from him to whom we must give account.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: All things are open and laid bare before his eyes, even the innermost thoughts of your heart and my heart, even the innermost thought of Sarah's heart.
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  SPEAKER_02: And God knew even though she was in the tent behind the flap, he knew that Sarah had laughed.
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  SPEAKER_02: And so in verse fourteen, Sarah denies it.
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  SPEAKER_02: Sarah denied it, however, saying, I did not laugh.
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  SPEAKER_02: Now did she say that to herself?
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  SPEAKER_02: Or did she step from behind the tent flap and adamantly deny it out loud?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Well we don't know.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: The scripture doesn't say.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: But nevertheless, Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: And he said, No, but you did laugh.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: God knew, didn't he?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: God knew.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: And said, Why did Sarah laugh?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Here is one of the great rhetorical questions in Scripture.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: And in verse fourteen the Bible says, Is anything too difficult for God?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: At the appointed time I will return to you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Verse fourteen.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: Here's one of the mountain peak verses in all of Scriptures.
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  SPEAKER_02: Is anything too difficult for God?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Now we've clu we've already asked that question in today's lesson, haven't we?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: Now God Himself poses that question to Abraham and Sarah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: And here's the interesting thing.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: The Hebrew word for difficult, the Hebrew word for hard is anything too hard for God, it's the same word for wonderful, which is the same word Scripture uses in Isaiah chapter nine and verse six to describe the coming Messiah.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: Remember Isaiah chapter nine and verse six, which describes the coming Messiah as wonderful, counselor, mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: This verse might as well ask is anything too wonderful for the Lord?
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  SPEAKER_02: And of course the resounding answer down through the ages is no a thousand times no.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: God specializes in that which man thinks is impossible.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: And God speaks to Abraham and Sarah and asks them, is anything too wonderful for God?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is anything too difficult for God?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is anything too hard for God?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: While the both of them are standing there listening to God promise them a baby boy a year hence?
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  SPEAKER_02: And they're both thinking to themselves this is not possible.
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  SPEAKER_02: And yet God is saying, Is there anything too difficult for me?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Too wonderful, too hard for me?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then in verse fifteen Sarah denied that she laughed.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: She laughed and then she lied.
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  SPEAKER_02: Put that in your little brains, brothers and sisters.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: She laughed and then she lied.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: How many times have we done that?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: When confronted by the conviction of Holy Spirit, maybe not out loud, just in our heart like Sarah did.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: We lust and then we lie when Holy Spirit convicts us.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: We gossip and then we lie.
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  SPEAKER_02: We brag and then we lie.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: We will not forgive someone and then we lie about it to Holy Spirit when he convicts.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: God said to Sarah, No, but you did laugh.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: You and I cannot lie to Holy Spirit any more than Sarah could deceive God who stood right outside the tent.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: Don't be foolish or hard hearted.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Brothers and sisters, be humble and honest and transparent.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: He who hides his sin will not prosper.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: The psalmist said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: If we confess our sin, He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Blessed, blessed be the name of the Lord.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: You're listening to devotions with Dr.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: Papa.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: If you like what you hear, I pray that you would follow, like, or share.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Share it with one of your friends, and we'll be back again next week.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Until then, I pray that the Lord will bless you real good.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: And remember, Jesus loves you, and your doctor loves you.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, Instagram, or webpage at Jackson Family Ministry dot com.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Also, don't forget to check out Doctor Jackson.