Take our Bibles and turn with
me to the book of Genesis chapter 26. Genesis 26. I'd like to preach both messages
today out of Genesis. Lord willing, look at Genesis
1 to 5 in this first message and then 6 to 15 or 16. Genesis 26. There was a famine in the land
beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And
Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines under Gerar.
And the Lord appeared unto him and said, go not down into Egypt.
Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this
land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee, for unto
thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and
I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. And I will make thy seed to multiply
as the stars of heaven. will give unto thy seed all these
countries, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed, because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge,
my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Now, Esau had recently
sold his birthright to Jacob, for a meal of pottage. And now the Spirit of God continues
to relate that which transpired in the life of their dad, Isaac,
after that transaction. Isaac, the father of Jacob and
Esau, was the son of promise that was given unto Abraham and
Sarah A son that the Spirit of God had related, that the Lord
had eternally purposed to bless, not because of anything he saw
in Isaac, you know that, but because he chose to bless Isaac
as he does all of his people, according to the pleasure of
his good will. That's what Ephesians 1.5 says. Now, you think about this. What is the difference between
one sinner and another sinner? Well, in themselves, nothing.
There's none good, not one. The only difference is the grace
of God, the will of God. Ephesians 1.5 says this, having
predestinated us, I've told you before that predestinated, what
it means? It is to determine the destination
beforehand. That's what it means. Having
predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Now, Isaac, Scripture says in Genesis 25
verse 11, Isaac dwelt by the well of Lehiroi, and that well,
Lehiroi means the well of the living one seeing me. And so that well set forth this
glorious truth, the unfailing care of the omnipresent, always
present Lord of glory. This is where the Lord manifested
himself. You know, that was a place for
Isaac, a place of refuge and refreshment, safety, instruction. That's where he dwelt. And so
we find out now with that history, we find out now back in verse
one, there was a famine, Genesis 26, one. There was a famine in
the land beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech,
king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. Now, here's an amazing
thing. It's been about 100 years. Most
everybody I've read said that. Abraham was 75 years old when
the Lord called him out of Ur, of Chaldeas. And he had by his wife Sarah,
they had Isaac when Abraham was about 100, well that's 25 years.
Isaac was 60. when he had Jacob and Esau, well,
there's 85 years and these boys had grown up and before that
deal was made where Jacob told Esau, sell me your birthright.
So most people think that the famine that Abraham went through
was about a hundred years before. So here's another famine that
has, transpired and this famine has caused, moved
Isaac to leave where he was, and the scripture says he went
to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerard. Now, there was an
Abimelech that Abraham dealt with, but most writers, and I'll
go with this, most of them feel as though that it was either
another Abimelech, maybe a son, maybe another one that was either
named Abimelech or that might have been a title or something.
But nonetheless, he went to this place where his dad had also
gone, to this place called Girard. Now there's no indication, no
record that the Lord instructed him to go. We know that the famine
was surely sent by the Lord, because the scripture declares
that the Lord worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. We know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
So according to the scriptures, this whole situation with Isaac
being in a place where there was a famine and him leaving
and going, the Lord rules, the Lord orders, the Lord directs. And so here we're seeing that
Isaac is leaving where he was because of a famine. He's going
to go to a place of Gerar. That's where he went. So he went
to Gerar, left and went to where Abimelech was. But though he
left where he was, surely he never left the safety of God's
presence. Lord has told his people, he
said, I'm not gonna leave you. I'm not gonna forsake you. Well,
it said in verse two, the Lord appeared unto him, unto Isaac. And he said, go not down into
Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall
tell thee of. Now, what mercy was shown unto
Isaac? Abraham, his daddy, was allowed
to go. He was. He went down into Egypt. And the Lord tells Isaac, you
can't go. Don't go to Egypt. When you look
on a map, and I'll show you in a minute, there's a scripture
I'll read here where Gerar was. Gerar was a city, place, right
on the edge of Canaan, the land of Canaan. And he had gone to
that place, that's where he went. But the Lord said, okay, now
don't, don't go, don't go to Egypt. Now you dwell, dwell in
the land that I'm gonna show you. And so here we see the great
shepherd of the sheep directing. Abraham could go, you can't go.
Daddy went, you came. You stay, you stay there. The
Lord instructs his people, he knows what to do. He appeared
to him, and that word appeared, it means to see, to perceive,
or to regard, and the Lord appeared unto him. Now how he did, whether
he regarded him, these are the words. He regarded him, saw him,
perceived him, and said, And here again, that wording is to
say in heart, to think. Now, you know, we don't know. The Lord said, my sheep hear
my voice. How do they hear? I don't know. I don't know how, but they do,
they hear. We hear him, we're talking about
a person. I'm not sitting here preaching
a doctrine. We all understand the doctrines of grace. But the
preaching of the gospel is concerning a person. We're talking about
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here is the Lord saying,
my sheep hear my voice. Do we hear it in the word? We
hear it in providence, we hear it in the heart, in the conscience,
we hear, but we hear, we hear, we perceive. And we know that
he speaks. And the Lord instructed him,
told him, don't go to Egypt. And Isaac knew it. I want you to dwell in the land
which I will tell thee of. Now, to dwell. To settle, I want
to make sure that we get all this understanding right on these
words, because not only for this message, but especially into
the next one, next message. He told him to dwell, to settle
down, to abide, to hibernacle in the land which he would tell
him of. The Lord had promised. He promised to bless Isaac, And
though he was in a land of famine and he had gone to Girar, I'm
going to bless you. It's promised. It's so comforting
and safe to the saints. When we're in the midst of trials,
perplexity, tribulation, listen, wait, seek the Lord. He's promised. He's promised
to guide. He's promised to keep. He guides
us and directs us. Our paths will, in time, be made
plain. They will. But you say, well,
I've waited so long. Well, wait. Wait. There's nothing else. So
the scripture says, now in verse 3 to 5, he told him in verse
2, I want you to dwell. Here again, settle down, abide,
tabernacle. Now he tells him in verse three,
he said, sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, bless
thee, for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these
countries. I will perform the oath which
I swear unto Abraham my father. Now he's now giving him a word
that's gonna give him a little bit more instruction. I want
you to dwell, he said in verse two. Verse three now, he said,
I want you to sojourn in this land. Sojourn, while the word
does mean abide, dwell in, or dwell with, or remain, it's a
word that also sets forth this truth. Temporarily dwell. To dwell for a time. Be a stranger. Strong's concordance
sets forth, sojourn as a guest. Here's what he tells him. He
went down to Girar, don't go to Egypt. Dwell in the land which
I shall tell thee of, sojourn here. This will be temporary. That's
what he's setting forth. The Lord had promised be with
him, to bless him. And that word of assurance is
comforting. Turn with me to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. That word's comforting. Now you think about it. Here's
a famine. And he takes, he leaves, and
he goes, and he's gonna be in a place that You say, okay, you stop right
here. Don't you go any farther, don't go down. If you look where
he was going, he was heading in that direction. Gerar was
just before you left, and you leave Gerar, you're gonna be
out of Canaan. You stay right here, you sojourn
right here. Isaiah 43, verses one to seven. But now, thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable. I've loved thee. Therefore, will
I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not. for I
am with thee, and will bring thy seed from the east, and will
gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give
up, to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far, my daughters
from the ends of the earth, for everyone that is called by my
name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him,
yea, I have made him. Now you think about the comfort
of those words. Here's a famine. He's in this
town. Sojourn here. Don't go to Egypt. I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna
bless you. I'm gonna take care of you. I will not forsake you. I look and I see this group of
people right here. And I think about the Lord's
promise to Isaac and to all of his people. Promise to be with
them. And we look around and we surmise,
we deduct that things are gonna be a certain way. The Lord's
here. The Lord's here. How many times have we considered
that? For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. But Isaac is instructed of the
Lord, sojourn in this land, and the blessing of God would rest
upon him. All of Isaac's need, all of his
physical need, spiritual need, the Lord gonna supply. The land
of God's promise according to the oath that the Lord had made
with Abraham would be Isaac's too. See, the Lord had established
his covenant with Abraham, his daddy. Turn back to Genesis 17. Genesis 17, verse 19. The Lord was real specific about
not only Abraham, but also Abraham's son, Isaac, the one we're talking
about. Genesis 17, 19. God said, Sarah, thy wife shall
bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. So the Lord's dealing with Isaac,
everything that Isaac is going through right here is going to
be for the proving of that covenant. He's in Gerar. He's in Canaan. Canaan was a piece of property,
it was a piece of land that was a picture of the type of heaven's
everlasting blessings. A token of God's promised blessing. So here's Isaac back in Genesis
26. Isaac was to sojourn in this land. But I want us to look before
we get to that to that end of this first message right here. I want us to look at the promise
of the Lord. Look at His promise. The Lord's
grace is sufficient. You sojourn, verse three, in
this land. I want you to notice how many
times the Lord is emphatic. This is what I'm gonna do. I
will. be with thee, and will bless
thee. For unto thee and unto thy seed,
I will give all these countries. I had to go back and look that
up this morning, going over my notes. I said, I want to understand
all of the surrounding lands that was associated with what
God had purposed to give them. That's what he's talking about.
And I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. And I will make thy seed to multiply
as the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these
countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed. because that Abraham obeyed my
voice and kept my charge, my covenants, my statutes, and my
laws. Now we know that Abraham's obedience
was not the cause of God's promise, covenant to Abraham, Isaac, or
to any other vessel of God's mercy The Lord did not make his
promise to any of his people based upon their merit, because
we don't have any merit. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Abraham,
by faith, faith that was given him from above, because all men
have not faith. It's given unto you to believe. You know, it's amazing how when
we start to see how the Lord's Word is unveiled to us, we just,
we have because we always heard this. All you gotta do is just
exercise your faith. We don't have any faith to exercise
until God gives it to us. But when He gives it to us, I'm
telling you what we do. We believe. It's given unto you. to believe. So Abraham, by faith,
believed God. And the scripture says it was
counted unto him for righteousness. Where faith is given, faith is
acknowledged by God to be belonging to the recipient to which it
was given. I'm gonna show you that. Turn
over in Luke 8. I'll wrap this up, this first
one. Luke 8. Luke chapter 8, verse 43 to 48. And a woman having an issue of
blood 12 years, which had spent all her living upon physicians,
neither could be healed of any, came behind him and touched the
border of his garment, and immediately her issue of blood staunched.
And Jesus said, who touched me? When all denied Peter and they
which were with him, said, Master, the multitude thronged thee,
and pressed thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus
said, Somebody has touched me, for I perceive that virtue, strength,
power, ability. I perceive that virtue is gone
out of me. And when the woman saw that she
was not healed, she came trembling, falling down before him. She
declared unto him before all the people for what cause she
had touched him and how she was healed immediately. And he said
unto her, daughter, be of good comfort. Now he didn't say the
faith that I gave you is the faith that I've honored, which
is true. That's a true statement. It was
given to her to believe. But here's what he said. Daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith, thy faith hath made
thee whole. Go in peace. That woman, Cana, which besought
the Lord for her daughter. Remember that in Matthew 15?
She came to the Lord. We looked at that last week.
crying unto the Lord. She began to shriek as a raven. She was in trouble. Cyprus said,
send her away. She crieth after us. And the
Lord said, it's not meat, that it should take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs. And this woman that worshiped
the Lord, she said, truth, Lord, let the dogs eat, of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and
said unto her, O woman, this was a woman from a cursed land. She was a woman of Canaan. Woman, great is thy faith. Great is your faith. Be it unto
thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Isaac, because the providential
hand of God to send a famine, went to Gerar. And the Lord met
him and told him, don't go to Egypt. You'll dwell in the land
that I'll tell you of. You sojourned where you are right
now. I'm gonna bless you. And I'm going to bless you. And
I'm going to bless you. I'm going to bless you. Because your father Abraham believed
me. What mercy. What grace. What compassion. Frail creatures
of dust. We don't have sense enough to
get out of the rain. and that God Almighty would pour
out a blessing and give us faith to believe and then count it
as he did Abraham, count it unto us. Righteousness. Brethren, 2 Corinthians 5, 7. We walk by faith and not by sight. Yeah, the land was in a famine.
That's right. But God's promise never fails.
In the midst of adversity, the Lord's glory is going to shine
forth. I pray that the Lord bless this to our heart and prepare
our heart as we, Lord willing, continue in this next portion
of that of that passage, Genesis 26, to behold how the Lord blessed
this vessel of his mercy for his glory and the good of his
people. Amen. All right, let's just take
a few minutes break. We'll come right back.