For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."

For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: through Isaac your descendants will be named. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is a word of promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” (ROM 9:6-9)

We have been discussing the advantages and distinct qualities that make Israel unique among the nations and entities of history. That includes the adoption as sons, which places Israel above the other nations, and puts them in a category known as a “client nation.” There are five Jewish client nations in the past, and there is a sixth one yet to come. That one will last for 1000 years in the Millennial period, after the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. We also have the covenants, we have studied those. We have seen that four are unconditional, the fifth, the gift of the divine law, is the only conditional covenant.

Let's note a few things about Sarah.

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; (HEB 11:11)

The first word in this sentence is the instrumental Greek noun “pistei” which should be translated “by means of doctrine resident in the soul.” This word means, what is believed, the body of truth, or doctrine. Then we have the conjunction “kai” which is very interesting because most of the time it is translated “and,” but here it is correctly translated “even Sarah.” That is quite a statement. When you look in this chapter you will not find the phrases “even Abel,” or “even Enoch,” or “even Noah.” This phrase insinuates that even someone like Sarah can reach spiritual maturity and glorify God.

The reason for this is that it is very difficult for a woman to reach spiritual maturity because basically she is a responder. She has more distractions than a man who is not basically a responder, except for those men who are living outside of their true roles. The Bible teaches that the man is to be the aggressor, and the woman is to the responder (1CO 11:3; 1CO 11:7; 1CO 11:9). Being a responder instinctively, the woman is more sensitive to the distractions of life. This is one of the reasons why so many men are mentioned in Heb 11 compared to the women: HEB 11:4, Abel. In HEB 11:5, Enoch. In HEB 11:7, Noah. In HEB 11:8, Abraham. In HEB 11:11, Sarah. In HEB 11:20, Isaac. In HEB 11:21, Jacob. In In HEB 11:22, Joseph. In HEB 11:23, Moses. In HEB 11:31, Rahab. In HEB 11:32, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets. That's it, there are just two women mentioned in this chapter of God's hall of fame.

The Bible teaches that the winner's name is recorded in the permanent historical record section because of their invisible historical impact during the Church-age (REV 3:12). The impact of the winner is anonymous as far as the record of history is concerned, but not as far as God is concerned. The mature believer's historical record will be recorded forever in the heavenly temple. Each pillar will have the record of his life as a winner.

“The winner, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.  Furthermore, he will never again vanish [go outside]from history.  Also I will emblazon on him the title of My God, and the name of the city of My God.” (REV 3:12)

This will be the pass to enter the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, a satellite city suspended above the earth in the atmosphere. The mature believer, as a part of the pivot, is the true impact on history. In fact, in GAL 2:9 the mature believer is called a pillar of the Church.

It's very hard to find a real man today! That's because Bible doctrine has been set aside, and has been replaced by all kinds of religions and emotional nonsense that takes a man and turns him into a female responder in his soul.

Silly women who are loaded down with sins and lead on by their multifarious lusts. (2TI 3:6)

The Greek noun “gunaikaria” translated “silly women” is in the neuter, and it can refer to males or females. There's no bigger insult for a male than to be called a silly female! When I say that the man is the aggressor, and the woman is the responder, this does not mean that the woman is to stand around waiting for the man to be aggressive. The woman in response becomes aggressive.

By means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; (HEB 11:11)

So, it is very difficult for a woman to reach spiritual maturity because she has to overcome a lot more in her soul than a man does. Again, when I say that the man is the aggressor and the woman is the responder this does not mean that the woman is to stand around waiting for the man to be aggressive. The woman in response becomes aggressive. There is response aggression which is a beautiful feminine trait which has almost disappeared because of ignorance of the woman's role according to the scripture!

Women usually look for excuses here because they are responders and being a responder they can get frustrated. When they get frustrated they begin to look for someone to blame! We are going to see this in Sarah. She will get very frustrated and bitter because of some things, however doctrine in the soul will solve her problems. Only a few women seem to correctly apply the word of God, especially when it comes to her role as a responder. By the way, the man being the aggressor does not mean that he has to initiate on every occasion. If you are a true responder ladies, there will be some aggressiveness in your soul. Most women have a problem that they don't even realize and it is dramatized by the phrase by means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah.

Sarah is only mentioned four times in the New Testament. Twice by the apostle Paul in ROM 4:19 and 9:9, once by Peter in 1PE 3:6 (the one most women hate) and once here in HEB 11:11. According to the word of God a woman only advances spiritually when she is under the authority of her right man who is advancing spiritually. This means that she has P.V.T.D. and she is advancing spiritually with her right man. This means that either they are married, or still in the single stage and thinking about marriage in the future. But whichever it is, the woman was made to be a follower! So she follows her right man who is under the authority of a pastor-teacher who is given to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (EPH 4:12). That's the first way the woman advances spiritually!

A woman can also advance spiritually when she does not have her right man, or has lost her right man, or even when her right man has N.V.T.D., therefore, she must recognize the authority of her pastor-teacher. That is very difficult for a woman because a woman likes to be pleased, she likes to be wooed, she likes attention, she likes individual recognition, and she's designed for that! She's designed for recognition, designed for compliments, designed to respond to something, and of course, a pastor-teacher cannot spend his time doing that!

Now the point is that no matter which way you cut it, the woman is designed to be under the authority of a man! She designed to be under a man's authority in the natural realm (GEN 3:16, EST 1:20, EPH 5:24, COL 3:18, 1TI 2:12, TIT 2:5, 1CO 11:3, EPH 5:33). She is designed to be under a man's authority in the spiritual realm (HEB 13:7,17: 1TH 5:12-13; 1TI 5:17; 1CO 16:16;ACT 12:28; 1CO 12:28). So no matter which way you cut it, a woman must be under authority! The pastor is a product of grace, however, this does not mean he has no authority and should be kicked around by others.

“Remember those who rule over you, who communicate the Word from God to you; carefully consider the issue of their way of life; imitate their doctrine.” (HEB 13:7)

You remember pastors by attending Bible class, by praying for them, and by understanding that they have an abnormal life. The important issue regarding a pastor is their Bible doctrine, not their way of life. Are they faithful in studying and teaching the Word?

Keep obeying those [pastors] who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will render an account.  Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this [accounting]with happiness and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you. (HEB 13:17)

Pastors don't rule over you in the sense of telling you what to do, but in the sense of teaching you what God expects from you, and how to execute His plan. You submit to the pastors' authority by listening to their communication of doctrine. The pastor's authority is established on the basis of the teaching of Bible doctrine. Hence, the issue is not the man but the message. Many women have problems with this especially if they're under the authority of a man who has N.V.T.D.

Women are much more personality conscious then men are. They're more sensitive to disagreeable personalities, and therefore, there's a tendency for them to reject authority because they don't like the sound of the voice, or the verbal expressions that the one in authority uses! Being sensitive to this, they get the personality and the message all mixed up! Sometimes you'll find women who make the terrible mistake of falling in love with their pastor-teacher. The point is that women can have a problem in learning doctrine.

So women learn doctrine better under two conditions: 1) Where they recognize the authority of their pastor-teacher, and they recognize that it is a spiritual authority that relates to the communication of Bible doctrine and the teaching of doctrine. 2) Where they recognize the authority of their right man and follow him in his P.V.T.D. When they do, they will often advance beyond him spiritually in their enthusiasm for the word of God. Since they recognize the authority of their right man, and since they are very happy with their right man, it is easy for them to objectively recognize the authority of their pastor-teacher.

So the phrase by means of doctrine resident in the soul even Sarah herself, indicates the principle! She did reach spiritual maturity, and it took her a much longer time than it did Abraham. Abraham was there first! For a while she was simply under the principle of blessing by association. When Sarah became pregnant at age 89 and when she gave birth at age 90, that was blessing by association, not blessing because of spiritual maturity! It took Sarah a longer time to get there, and she finally managed, but you have understand something about Sarah; Sarah was a rebel type woman. She was the type of woman who had been very frustrated over the years because she had been barren. She was very frustrated for a number of reasons which we will study!

Sarai was a very beautiful woman, but she was very frustrated for two reasons: 1) She grew up in a society where having male children and perpetuating the line was extremely important, and she was barren. Now, in our day it's a little difficult to catch a glimpse of the importance of having children because in our day this is not an issue as it was then. We do not live in a society that demands the birth of male children, and therefore we perhaps cannot understand in full her frustration. 2) A second problem she had was that she was brilliant and beautiful, and therefore she was the target of a lot of female jealousy. This caused her to become a very frustrated female!

There is probably nothing that de-feminizes a woman more than jealousy and bitterness. Jealousy is older than the human race because jealousy existed in eternity past when Lucifer, the son of the morning, became jealous of God. The first case of jealousy in the human race surfaced when Cain became jealous of his brother Abel. Of course jealousy motivated Cain to murder his brother Abel. Just like today, many Christians commit murder because they are jealous of other believers.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1JO 3:15)

The same principle is true today, jealousy motivates murder except the murder is now mental. Scripture describes jealousy as cruel; (SOS 8:6. anger, PRO 6:34, frustrating, PRO 27:4).

Let=s note some principles regarding jealousy:

1.Jealousy is a mental attitude sin which demands exclusive devotion and is intolerant of competition. It is total preoccupation with self.

2. It is discontent with the blessings, successes, or status symbols of other people.

3. It is resentment of the attractiveness or approbation that a person receives.

4. It is also total selfishness and is incapable of love.

5. Jealousy is a possessiveness which suppresses the volition of another person; hence, jealousy is tyranny. In other words, you seek to control the object of your jealousy and run their lives. Therefore they do not have the free function of their volition. In that way jealousy becomes tyranny.

6. Jealousy is also fear. It usually is the fear of losing the affection of someone that you love.

7. Jealousy is also anti-freedom, and does not permit people to love you from their own volition. You see, the only love that is worth while is when someone gives it to you freely. However, jealousy wants to be loved based on it's own standards and it=s own motivation. The jealous person wants you to love them on the basis of their own volition. Jealousy is a violation of the royal family honor code. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in strife or jealousy (ROM 13:13).

8. Jealousy is an emotional sin, as well as a part of arrogance, therefore, jealousy is irrational in its resentment of others. Many born again believers have become psychotic and neurotic through the cultivating of jealousy.

9. Jealousy is also an emotional sin and remember that emotion has no ability to think or to reason, emotion is total irrationality.

10. Jealousy is mood arrogance troubled by suspicion that a person's love has been diverted to a rival.

11. Jealousy is inordinate competition in love, in business, and jealousy, as an emotional sin, has two directions. a. Arrogance toward self, which is subjective arrogance. b. Possessiveness of others, which is objective arrogance.