Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
Abram and Sarai reveal the results of not waiting on the timing of God.
Sunday, November 4, 2001
listen = Qal imperfect – shama` = to obey, and the imperfect tense means to do it over and over again.
“Please go in to my maid” = Qal imperfect – bow’ = to have sex with, a command from Sarai.
When any man starts taking orders from a woman, especially when a woman gives him orders he wants to hear, he’s had it.
GEN 16:1 – continual barrenness of Sarai, lots of sex but no pregnancy.
The barrenness of Sarah, GEN 11:30; GEN 15:2, Gen 16, continues as a test to see if Abram and Sarai will claim the promises of God, apply the appropriate doctrine, and wait upon the Lord.
Specific promises have already been given to Abram that he will have an heir, GEN 13:14-17; GEN 15:45, so Abram needs to wait upon the Lord.
God is perfect; therefore, only God’s timing is perfect.
PSA 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Under the doctrine of election, the sovereignty of God willed the highest and best for every believer, having previously deposited it in escrow for each believer in eternity past.
3JO 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Regardless of the circumstances and events that surround your birth, God gave you life at that moment, so that was the right time for you to be born.
God created soul life and imputed it to your soul at your birth; that was the right time for you to be born.
When you complain about anything related to your birth, environment, parents, or home, you are blaspheming God.
Parents are not held responsible for how the children turn out; only the children are, EZE 18:20.
EZE 18:20 “The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
ROM 14:12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.
GEN 3:12 “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
GEN 3:13 “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Every time you use your environment as an excuse for your bad habits, you are so far out of line that you are disoriented to life.
When you are born and when you die is a matter of God’s judgment.
Only our perception of what’s happening can be wrong.
Excuses are never solutions to problems.
JAM 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will promote you.”
LUK 14:11 “For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled. And he who humbles himself shall be promoted.”
Becoming very pushy and trying desperately to make things happen is a sign of being on your own timing.
“There is a right time to invest, and there is a right time to reap from that investment.”
Knowing when to plant and when to plow is a matter of understanding the soil, the weather, what crops you’re trying to produce.
In the laws of divine establishment, capital punishment is how crime is controlled.
“Time to kill” = capital punishment for criminals, and when you serve your country in the military, you should kill the enemy.
To tear down and to build up is your right of making your own decisions comparable with your own financial status.
Timing is something that belongs to you by the grace of God; other people’s timing does not belong to you.
If your timing is right, you will enjoy the laughter and dance, and you will be calm, filled with peace, and enjoy tranquility while you are weeping and while you are mourning.
“To throw stones” = to weed out stones so that you can clear the land.
2TH 3:6 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you separate from every believer who leads an undisciplined life, that is not according to the doctrine you have received from us.”
Separation is important in social life, JER 15:16-17; 1PE 4:3-4.
To gather stones = to gather natural materials to construct a spiritual shelter for your life.
PSA 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.
Time to refrain from embracing = you give your soul an opportunity for other things that will be wonderful in your life.
Many of the things you possess which you previously placed so high on your scale of values are absolutely meaningless.
Generally in middle life, everyone tries to accumulate things and their scale of values goes wacko.
“Time to tear apart” = it is inevitable, as a believer growing in grace, you will have to forget about some friends who are not compatible with your stand and become a distraction.
“Time to mend” = in your enthusiasm, you will be completely out of line in cutting off some people, but there’s a time to mend with them.
It’s very important to understand the timing of when to speak and when to be silent in social life.
Hating doesn’t mean the Bible is condoning sin; it refers to hating principles that are wrong, such as the evil of Islam.
“There will be wars and rumors of wars until I come.”