The title of my message tonight is Sarah Your Mother. Without question, the life of Sarah was in great measure eclipsed by the life of her great husband Abraham. In fact, her name is only mentioned four times in the Bible, once you get past the primarily biographical and historical passages in Genesis and Numbers. But those four passages are very instructive.
In I Peter 3:6 Sarah is set before us as an example of a good, godly wife. She is a woman whose conduct is to be imitated by all women who profess faith in Christ. (Read I Peter 3:1-6).
In Hebrews 11:11 Sarah is set before us as an object of God's sovereign election, a vessel of mercy "afore prepared unto glory."
In our text, Isaiah 51:2, Sarah is held out, along with her husband Abraham, as an example of grace and faith from whom we should receive much encouragement and instruction as we endeavor to live by faith in this world, for the honor of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Proposition: As Abraham was the father of all believers symbolically, so Sarah was the mother of all who follow Christ. All the chosen trace their roots to Abraham and Sarah. In our text the Lord God calls for us to remember Sarah.
In this message, I am particularly addressing you ladies. There will be much in the sermon for the men. But my subject is a woman, a woman who walked with God by faith and obtained a name of preeminence in the Book of God. As such, Sarah stands before you of what every believing woman should be.
I. Sarah was God's chosen Help meet for Abraham.That is what a woman is. God created woman to be a help meet for man. And no woman is obedient to God who does not willingly subject herself to that delightful occupation. (Gen. 2:18) (Eph. 5:12-24).
A. Blessed of God and happy is the home in which a man and his wife are united in their commitment to the Lord God.
1. Marry in the Faith (II Cor. 6:14).
2. Prepare your lives to be wives and mothers – Homemakers! (Pro. 31:10-31) (Tit. 2:3-5).
II. When you remember Sarah, remember this too – God will not Forget your work of Faith and Labor of Love, No Matter How Insignificant It Appears to be to Others or to Yourself (Heb. 6:2-10; I Sam. 2:30).
Our eyes see great things. God's eyes see all things. We are impressed with what people do. God looks on the heart. Abraham was a great man, a man made great by God's great grace. But Sarah was equally a great woman. Grace made her every bit as true and faithful as Abraham. But, being a woman, she was overshadowed by her husband. And, being a godly woman, a modest woman, a real woman, she was happy to have it that way. In life Sarah was sheltered under the wings of the Almighty as well as Abraham. In death she rested in the same tomb. In heaven she wears the same crown!
Mr. Spurgeon made two observations from this text that are worthy of repetition.
A. "God does not forget the lesser lights." "God is no respecter of persons." B. "It would be well for us to imitate God in this."
1. We should take care to notice and encourage these who are the least noticed.
2. We should make godliness, not greatness the standard for a "role model."
III. Do not fail to remember this when you remember Sarah – Our God Forgives The Sins of His People Completely.
A. When God promised Abraham a son, Sarah laughed in unbelief (Gen. 18:11-15).
B. Though the Lord rebuked and corrected her sin, he never dealt with her any the less graciously because of her sin.
C. The Lord graciously made Sarah faithful in the very point where she had been unbelieving. (Heb. 11:11). (Psalm 130:4).
IV. Certainly, Sarah demonstrates clearly the fact that True Faith Manifests Itself In Different Ways In Different People.
Granted, there are some aspects of faith that are always the same in all believers. True faith always…
But true faith manifests and reveals itself differently in different people. It makes Noah a shipbuilder and makes Abraham a pilgrim. It makes Moses plague Egypt and feed Israel. It makes David a grant slayer and Samson a mighty warrior. Faith made Joshua and Caleb faithful spies and made Rahab the harlot a faithful protector of spies.
This is what I am saying – The grace of God does not take a person out of his natural sphere. Though they both believed God Abraham was still Abraham and Sarah was still Sarah. (I Cor. 7:21).
V. The Apostle Peter picks up on this call to remember Sarah and urges us particularly to Remember the Fruit of Her Faith (I Pet. 3:6).
He tells us that Sarah did two things because she believed God. And if you ladies are the daughters of Sarah, if you believe God, you will do the same things.
A. First, Peter says, She Did Well. 1. As an obedient Wife.That is amazing! Here is a woman who so believed God that she was not afraid. That is to say, Nothing alarmed her. Stop and think about that statement. Nothing alarmed her because she believed God!
VI. May God the Holy Spirit who Gave Such Faith to Sarah Our Mother Give Us Such Faith And Grace To Exercise It.
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