I don't want to preach from 1
Peter 5 this morning, but I'll throw his notes away. I always
thought that was funny. The Lord's going to call you
and use you. You start looking into those
things and you find an ordination service. Typically, there's a
message to the pastor, his charge, charge the pastor. And typically
there's a message to the congregation. Now, every congregation of the
Lord's assemblies have one pastor. There's not sub-pastors and associate
pastors, all that nonsense. There's one. And there's a body
of believers. And almost always, go look it
up if you ever get that, the number of downloads are twice
as much for a charge of the pastor as it is to the... I'm glad you
listened to that. Thank you, Bob. It's a good example.
Paul said that, he said, to the elders which are among you I
exhort, whom am also an elder. Paul said, I'm a preacher just
like, he's writing to all the preachers. He said, I'm a preacher just
like you're a preacher. Or Peter said that. Hey, you're an apostle.
Ah, it's just one man and another one. That might be the office
the Lord put me in to do something. I just want to be one sinner
speaking to another sinner and telling you what Lord showed
me. And then at the end of it, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. That's a good way to write a
letter in humility. Well, Genesis 25. The Lord's
going to hopefully be with us today. Lord willing, next weekend
will be the first Sunday we'll have His table. And we'll have
a meal following. And if I can find a turkey between
now and then, I'll smoke us a turkey. And if not, I'll smoke two or
three chickens. That'll be just as good. We won't
tell the difference. We'll observe His table. One
of the brethren back in the 50s was traveling to preach. They
had a man preach for them. I thought that was odd. And they observed
communion after, and they didn't let that man take the communion.
They said, no, this is our communion. He said, oh, okay, no problem.
And afterwards, they said, we hope we didn't offend you. He
said, oh, no, no. He said, I thought it was the Lord's table. I didn't
know it was yours. So we observed his table in remembrance of him. All right, Genesis 26. We begin in verse 1, and there was
a famine in the land. Beside were the same, after the
same manner, the first famine that was in the days of Abraham,
just like the one he went through. And I went unto Abimelech king
of the Philistines unto Gerar." That's a stand-alone sentence,
isn't it? Verse 2, and the Lord appeared unto him, unto Isaac,
and said, Go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the which I shall tell
thee of, sojourned in this land, this land right here. And I'll
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, and will give unto thy seed all these
countries, Thy seed shall nations of the earth be blessed because
that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments,
my statutes, and my laws. There's so much here for our
learning, so much for our benefit, so much to rejoice over. I mean, be happy, happy, happy
about it. So much to rejoice over. But
I want us just to look at a few things this morning. The Lord
sent a trial. It's a trial He sent, and then
He gives a warning to His child. He gives a warning to him, and
then He gives them instruction after that warning that we need
desperately, and we need often. We need it often. Then there's
the promise that He makes. He makes a promise. He sends
a trial, gives a warning, gives instruction. He makes a promise.
And then he tells us the reason we can lean on his promise. That's
a whole lot in five verses, isn't it? First, the trial. It says in verse one, there was
a famine in the land. It was the same as that famine
that was in the days of Abraham. It was the same thing Abraham
lived through. That was the only time that's
ever happened up to this point in recorded history. Did you
know that? Do you think Abraham shared that with his son Isaac?
One didn't go in one room and watch TV, and the other went
in the other room and played video games. They didn't have internet and
stuff. They had time to talk. And he said, yeah, there was
a time, son. And Abraham shared his faults. I made a poor decision.
I went south. I went down to Egypt. It seemed a farewell. It was
bad. It was real bad. Lot, your uncle,
remember him? He went with us, and they got
a taste of that life down in Egypt. When we come back, the
Lord brought us back out of there. They couldn't let that go. They
needed some more of it. They needed to be in Sodom, didn't
they? But there was a famine again to come. In Isaac's day,
here comes a second famine in recorded history. What's a famine?
In the Lord's Word, throughout the Scriptures, it's God's judgment
against sin. Every time He sends a famine,
Well, people don't eat. Ain't enough food to go around.
It's because of sin. It's against rebellion. It's
against that famine is opposing the hatred, and it goes in the
same bucket, hand in hand, the hatred and the indifference towards
the true and living God. That's so. We haven't seen that
in this nation in a long time, have we? Long time. We kind of
seem to be immune to these things. It's like we're sheltered. It's
physical famine. What's physical famine? It's
a lack of rain. Rain don't come. Crops don't
grow. People go hungry. That ain't
complicated, is it? Where's rain come from? Heavens. Who lives there? Our God does. And he sends the rain. He dries
up his water supply. He doesn't let the rain fall.
Turn over to Jeremiah chapter 5. Jeremiah chapter 5. Here in Jeremiah 5 verse 19,
it says, And it shall come to pass when ye shall say, Wherefore
doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? and then shalt
thou answer them, like as ye have forsaken me, and served
strange God in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a
land that's not yours. Declare this to the house of
Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish
people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not,
which have ears and hear not." He's telling his prophet what
to speak to him. You got ears, didn't you hear
a word I said? You got eyes, you've read the
word of the Lord. Fear ye not me, saith the Lord,
don't you honor me? Will you not tremble at my presence,
which I have placed the sand of the bounds of the sea by perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it? What holds the sea back is always
sand, isn't it? What keeps tsunamis, why aren't
there more of those? the Lord controls it. The Lord
holds it back. We ought to fear this one, this
God of heaven and earth and creation and the universe and things seen
and things unseen and dominions and principalities and powers.
We ought to fear him and honor him. Second part of verse 22,
And though the waves thereof toss themselves, they cannot
prevail. Though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this
people hath a revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and
gone. They left neither say they in
their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our
God that giveth rain." Where does that rain come from that
causes these famines? When it stops, the Lord gives
the rain. He giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in
His season when it pleases Him. He reserveth unto us the appointed
weeks of harvest. He sets the time of harvest.
He makes things grow. He gives the rain. We're in a
physical drought right now, right where we are. We need nine inches,
which we can measure at. When I grew up, you measured
the rain in inches by how many inches per hour. And here we
measure it by how many inches you get a year. We get nine inches
a year, and we only got six last year. It's all over. Hoover Dam's
getting low. And people are oblivious. Like,
yeah, it's almost a dead pool. Well, what happens then? Well,
you don't have water and ain't no electricity. Hmm? Meh. Meh. So I say to the Lord's
prophet, How many people do you think is crying out to God? Lord,
we've betrayed you. We're nothing but sin. We deserve
to starve to death, but send us rain. Send us rain. Will you make it rain? Somebody
has complained about the drought one time, and I forget in normal
life and speak as I am on the inside, and I said, well, have
you asked the Lord for it to rain? It's a shock. That's so foreign in this day,
as in the days of Lot, as in the days of Noah. If we ask him,
he gives the ring. A famine might be on its way
here in our nation. We've been sheltered from these
types of trials. But I wonder if he was to send one. If he
did send a physical famine and people's little babies were dying
left and right. And precious children we have and neighbors
and they started keeling over dead. Maybe with that trial,
it seems so hoarse, God couldn't have done this. God's the one
that does everything. Maybe people cry out and they'd ask the Lord
to end the famine. to wet our lips. It's your food,
Lord. Give us something to eat physically,
right? You can read on in Jeremiah 14 and many other places speak
of famine, but God's trials and judgments and those famines are
always because of sin and unbelief and rebellion. That needs said
in this day. We're so accepting as a society
and it's pumped into people and every waking breath. Be accepting,
be accepting and we know better. God will punish sin. You got
eyes, don't you see it? You got ears, don't you hear
it? All the things we're told in school that may be accepting
of, if it's against God's word, he's gonna deal with it. I've
told you. So I can go sit and eat a ham
sandwich what time judgment takes place. But this is not just a
physical famine. Lord uses trials in our lives
to make us cry out to him, to bring his children in providence,
to sit underneath the sound of the gospel, jointly framed together
and squeezed, compacted together with his people. He does that
through Providence, but he's talking about spiritual famine. Spiritual famine is what we need
to be worried about. That's what we're in right now, more so than
that. You just starve to death, it quits raining, that ain't
that big a deal. He's a giver of life. We're in a spiritual
famine in this nation. Turn over to Amos chapter eight. There in the minor prophets after
Daniel and Hosea and Joel, we got Amos. Amos chapter 8. Amos 8 verse 11 says, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine
in the land, not a famine of bread. This will be the harvest
that will come through, nor thirst for water. It's not just I'm
going to not send the rains. but of hearing the words of the
Lord. Right up, it's coming. That island
nation that ruled most of this world in England for a long time,
great powerful nation. The word of the Lord was so strong
for a couple hundred years on that island. Oh man, it was prevalent,
it was bountiful. Not now. Not now. How many millions of people live
on that island? There's three men I know of preaching the gospel
and two of them's online, they don't even meet together. Lord's
drying it up. Drying it up. There's a famine
for the word. Verse 12 says, and they shall wander from sea
to sea, from north even to the east, and they shall run to and
fro and seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. There
was a day, seek him while he may be found. Today is the salvation
of the Lord. Well, that day's passed. There
was a day that Noah preached righteousness to his generation,
and there was a day that that door shut. And cry for the rocks
and the mountains to fall on you. Too late then, wasn't it? Verse 13, and that day the fair
virgins and the young men, what's that? Mortal. The moral folks. Clean living folks. And the young
men, the strong. Those are the moral, those are
strong, the rich young rulers, shall faint for thirst. Faint
for the word of the Lord. They that swear by the sin of
Samaria and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth. They agree with the gospel.
Lip service. You know what that means? Even they shall fall and never
rise up again. You know what that makes me do?
Me, standing here talking to you. Lord, don't let me have
lip service to you. Give me a heart that cries out
to you. Make me yours. Make me follow you. Keep me.
You be my shepherd and I'll be a dumb sheep. Keep me. I don't
want to do with that. You give the rain. You give the
harvest. I will be with you. Just like David, I want to dwell
in your house. Every time I do two messages in a row, they start
to split together. It's a gospel. It's the same.
Ain't nothing changed. God's people is the same way. And God's people experience spiritual
famine. The Lord's people, I ain't talking
about everybody. I've never experienced that.
I ain't talking about you. I'm talking about God's people. The
Lord's people, His sheep, they experience spiritual famine. They go through dry spells. And
they go through lean times. And the Lord's hid His face from
you. And you can't get a word from Him. And you just feel so
dry that you're about to fall over dead. You're about to faint.
He's not giving you a word. You're dry and thirsty. That's
what the Lord's people experience in seasons. They do. Famines
are real, physically and spiritually. This ain't an idea in a book
somewhere. Whether you think so or not,
this is real. Abraham had a famine. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. That's
how he ended up in Egypt, wasn't it? Elijah and that Gentile widow
the Lord chose to save. Naomi and Ruth. That's why they
left the house of bread, because of a famine that went down to
Moab. It's always down, isn't it? Spiritual famines are real,
too. David said, the Lord's hid his face from me. He said, oh
Lord, he said, are your mercies cling gone forever? He's in a
famine. What'd he do in a famine? Cried
out to God. He didn't kick rocks and get mad and be mean to everybody,
did he? And I'll tell you something else
too. The most dangerous time in a drought, the most dangerous
time in a famine is when you think you're not in one. Well, I'm not thirsty. I'm not
hungry." That's like the most dangerous time in hypothermia
is right when you start getting warm. At hypothermia time, I
said, well, I'm getting kind of warm. I ain't shaking no more.
I feel kind of nice. I'm getting kind of hot. I'm
sleepy. I think I'm going to take a nap. I was dying is what
I was doing. As soon as we think we're not
in one, oh boy, that's the most dangerous time. And our text
says, there was a famine in the land beside the first famine
that was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac went into Abimelech,
king of the Philistines, the Gerar. Well, that's odd. Is he just giving us context?
Do we need to know who was present? I think the Lord put that there
on purpose, didn't he? Of course he did. That's a good place to
be during a trial or during a joyous time. It don't make a difference
with brethren. We've been to Abimelech a few
times, ain't we? The Lord spoke to Abimelech.
said, don't you touch Abraham, don't you touch Sarah. And so
he went to him and he reconciled, gave his wife back, and the Lord
didn't say nothing about being generous and giving a whole bunch
of silver and camels and all that stuff to Abraham. Abimelech
had a generous heart because the Lord had been gracious to
him. Here, I'll give as I've been increased. You stay as long
as you want. A couple years later, he saw
all the trials that Abraham went through, day-to-day stuff, not
big stuff, just He don't miss service and that man believes
God and he says so and the things he said. He asked me if I asked
the Lord if it rained. I heard him talk about that.
And then the Lord spoke to him and said, cast out Ishmael after
Isaac came. And Abimelech went to him and
he said, you're God's man. You're God's man. You're one
of the Lord's people. I know it. I've been around you for
years, for years, and I know it. Faithful brother Abimelech,
wasn't it? about to be forgiven and gracious
next week to Isaac too. Sin runs in the family. It's
hereditary. We get it from our father Adam,
don't we? But he went to Abimelech. Abraham went to Egypt during
that famine when it first hit him. And I'm sure he told the
story to Isaac. And so Isaac also heard of this
king Abimelech that God spoke to, that was gracious and abundant
to Abraham, that knew Abraham walked with God and he was the
Lord's man. He hadn't seen him since he was a boy. And he said,
you know what? Abimelech's down there. I'm gonna
go to him. There's a believer down there.
I'm gonna gather with them. So Isaac went to where he knew
believers was. That's good. It's good to talk to faithful
brethren before reacting to a major trial. Do you know that? Before
you move out of the country, talk to your brethren. Be good
for you when the trials come. Well, the famine's a trial. Isaac
wasn't alone by God's mercy. He had a brother there with him.
Now is the warning. Back in our text, Genesis 26. Verse 1 says, And 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. And the Lord appeared unto him
and said, Go not down into Egypt. Go not down into Egypt. dwell in the land which I shall
tell thee of." Egypt's a picture of this present evil world, as
our Lord said. It's always a picture of worldly
lust. And Egypt was advanced in that
time. Oh, they were the culture, and they were advanced ideas
and thinking and accepting of other people and technology,
and they had all kinds of wonderful stuff, didn't they? Business
was booming, just like Moab. They went down to Moab and her
husband went down to Moab because business was booming in Moab.
It wasn't Egypt. And just like this present world.
Boy, there's a lot of stuff going on, ain't there? So much to do. So much to keep our time busy
and occupy us. That's Egypt. Turn over to Isaiah
30. These warnings are hard, I know,
but the Lord gives us lots of warnings and we need them. told Isaac, said, don't go down
to Egypt. Here in Isaiah 30, the heading of my Bible was,
do not go down to Egypt. That's what was written in there.
Same thing in Isaiah 30 verse one. Woe to the rebellious children,
saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me. Y'all made your
confederacies? Did you get together and come
up with a good plan? Or did you go to the Lord and ask him what
he had to say? Ask somebody that says, thus saith the Lord. They
took counsel, but not of me, and that covereth, cover with
a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
They walk to go down into Egypt. It's always down. Leave God's holy Mount Zion,
go down to the world. We leave here, hear Christ's
hymn, Him crucified, the love that He's had for His people,
the blood, the value of it. It's holy blood that was shed
for His people. And then we walk out the door and we're going
down into Egypt. It's like this sin-cursed world. They walked to go down into Egypt
and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the
strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. It's a shadow. That's all they
trust in. It's emptiness. There ain't nothing there. It's
a shadow. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame,
and the trust and the shadow of Egypt be your confusion. For
his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Haines.
They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor
be in help nor profit, but a shame and also a reproach." He's speaking
of Israel, isn't he? Those that went down there. Lots of warnings
in the scriptures, and they're needed. We might not want to
read them, Hosea is hard to read. First few chapters, precious
and wonderful. Oh, it's great. And then you like kind of jump
to the end, don't you? See him heeling our back sliding.
A lot of warning, a lot of Lord's judgment in there, but we need
it. We might not like to read them, and our childlike tendency
is to avoid chastening. Our childlike tendency is to
avoid the warning of our Father, but they're greatly needed. Don't
turn to this world for spiritual rest. Don't turn to the things
of this world and the people of this world, even if they're
in your own house, for spiritual peace, for guidance, for instruction. Ask at the Lord's mouth. Lord,
give us your word. Well, there you go. I may not
like it, but that's what it says, and it's true. It's for my good
and his glory, isn't it? Ask him for a word. Mankind will
end up ashamed in the realm of Egypt. He said, you're going
to be their shame. They were all ashamed people, and they
want no profit. It ain't going to do you no good, and you're
going to be ashamed, and you're going to be confused, is what
he just said. But he's not the author of confusion, is he? The
Lord's not the author of confusion. Man is. And if we trust in Christ,
lean on our Lord, we won't be ashamed. Paul said, for the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. It's
true. Many times I've amened that.
Have you? Amen. And then I'd turn and directly
and immediately disobey God's simple word. I say, His warnings
are true. His instructions perfect and
holy. Amen. And then I walk out the door.
I go down to Egypt. I happen to go up a hill to get to my
house. I'm going down up the hill. I'm falling uphill and
directly disobey it. Just throw it to the side because
I know better. What a fool I am. Back to our
text. The Lord gives us warning. He
sent to trial so we'd heed his warning. He gives the warning
and gives instruction. I just imagine Isaac's passive
in all this. Isaac ain't said a word. You
get that? That's a good place to be. We looked at that last
time. Sit down and shut up. Hear what God has to say. The Lord
came to him. He didn't go to the Lord. The Lord came to him,
met him where he was, and spoke to him. And he said, don't you
go down to Egypt? Why'd he say that? Because what
was in his heart? Egypt. Wasn't it? I know daddy went,
but he did make a lot of money. A lot easier to cry on a Porsche
than a bicycle, isn't it? Maybe I'll go down to Egypt just
for a little bit. Just two or three, because that's how it starts, isn't it?
Well, we'll do it just a little bit. We'll go for a little while.
I'll miss one or two services. A little bit of living, isn't
it? It was in his heart, so the Lord spoke to him and said, don't
go down to Egypt. He believed God. This was Lord's man. What would you think? Well, where
am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do, Lord? Where
am I supposed to go? Where am I supposed to go? Where
do you want me? He says in verse 3, Sojourn in this land. Sojourn in this land. And I will
be with thee and will bless thee. Right here, right where you're
standing. Isaac, where am I supposed to go? Right there. Right where
you're standing. Stay right where you are. Right
where I've put you. Right where I've sent this trial to bring
you to your brother Abimelech. You got a brother with you? Y'all
worship God. I've gathered you two. Maybe
there's 7,000 in that town, I don't know. He gathered him. He put him there. He said, stay
right there where your brethren are, where God's word is heard.
God's speaking to him right then, isn't he? There in verse 2. He said, Go
not down to Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall
tell thee of, sojourning in this land. Well, which is it? He said, You're going to dwell
in a land I'm going to tell you about. You ain't going to be
in it. You're going to have to hear. You have to hear about it until
you get there. That's your eternal home. He said, Don't go down
to Egypt. I'm preaching to you. This is
your eternal life. You're going to dwell with me.
I'm going to tell you about that. sojourn in this land while I
preach to you, while I speak to you, while I teach you, while
I guide you, while I preserve you, while I keep you, show you
Christ, show you what he's went to prepare for you, stay right
where you are. Stay right there while I tell you about this other
land. Where is Isaac? He's staying in Gerar, isn't
he? I ain't much into word studies. I'm more into preaching the gospel.
If the Lord saved my word studies, I'd do a whole bunch of word
studying. but he don't say it that way, but it's good to look
things up sometimes, and I got the time to do it. You know where
Gerar is? Judah. Standing in the promised land.
Right now. Believer, where are you right
now? You're in Christ. You're in the promised land,
in Him, and He in you right now. Well, if I'm one with Him, it
don't matter where I am. If you ask me preaching here,
I gotta learn some foreign language and go somewhere else and preach,
or go learn a foreign language and sit and hear the Word of
God, because there's a famine in this land, so be it. I'm with Him,
and I'm going to be where His people are, because they're with
Him, too. Makes me content, gives me joy and peace. I'm happy with
that. Right there in Gerar, right where
the Lord has Him. And He tells us, don't you leave the assembly
of the saints, as the custom of some is. Where are we right
now? We're on promised ground. This
is the only place This is the only place God promised to meet
His people. The only way He promised... I'm
going to speak real plain to you. The only way God promised to
save His people is through the preaching of the gospel. Now,
you can think it some other way, and it ain't. He said it would
be through the preaching of the gospel. What about John the Baptist
in the womb? Well, the Lord's the preacher.
He can preach to Him if He wants to. It's His business. And Christ
is a man, a God-man. The only way He's going to do
it is the preaching of the gospel. The only way. And he said the place
he's promised to meet with us is where he's gathered us together.
And just like the child for the instruction in our day, it just
ain't the same. It's online stuff. And I tell
you, it's a it's a sore. We're going to put it out there.
But the Lord draws his people together, not can't cast them
out. Sheep need to read an article by Brother Rick. That's outstanding. I put in all the bulletins. Sheep
are afraid to be alone. Sheep are. Goats don't care.
We had goats. They'd go any which way. Sheep
are afraid to be alone, and just like the little children. How
did the Lord save young people before they had crayons? They
couldn't cope. Well, how in the world are they
going to learn? He said, you're going to do the Passover as a
token. The Passover ain't going to do nothing. It doesn't give
grace. It's not the, you do this and
something happens. He said, it's a token. And your
kids said, Dad, why are you doing that? I'll tell you, son, we
deserve to die. God gave his firstborn, and when
he sees the blood, he'll pass over us. Gives us that. Has purpose, isn't it? Isaac's hearing the word of the
Lord right then. God promised to meet him where
he gathered three. He didn't promise to meet us
where Great Brother was, or a good job, or a good economy, or Wi-Fi,
or something like that. He said, I'll meet with you where
I gather two or three. And Isaac's hearing the word
of the Lord. and we're just like little children.
As the Lord speaks to us, as he warns us, as he instructs
us, as he gives us his precious promises, we murmur and fret
and say, well, I just don't feel like the Lord's speaking to me.
I do that. I do that. And he says, keep
doing what I put in your hand to do. Wait. That's what David's
in Psalm 27 with, wait, be of good courage. Wait on the Lord. Just wait on him. Well, what
am I going to do while I'm waiting? Well, you're going to wait with
your brethren who's waiting. We're going to wait while we're waiting.
That's a good place to be, you know. We're waiting on him, and
we have his word with him. How will I know when it's time
to go somewhere else, Lord? Well, the Lord sent a famine
to bring Isaac there to Gerar, to Judah. And he sent a drought
to move Elijah to that widow. And he parted the seas to allow
Israel to walk through to the other side. on dry ground. I
think this great shepherd can move sheep in this day. You think
he can? He'll put you right where he
wants you. That's the trial and the warning. We need those things.
Here's the promise. Verse 3, Sojourn in this land,
and I will be with thee, and will bless thee. How do we know
we're going to be blessed? Well, if he's with us, He's with
us. Soldier, where I brought you,
where I gave you brethren, and I'll be there with you, and I'll
bless you. Stay right there, Isaac. Our Lord said in Matthew
18, Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on this earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on
this earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you,
that if two of you shall agree on this earth as touching anything
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father
which is in heaven. I can two walk together if they're
not in agreement. For where two or three are gathered
in my name, there I am in the midst of them. There I am. What are those two, Isaac and
Abimelech, what are they going to do during this famine? They're
in agreement, aren't they? During this famine that comes, are they
going to discuss global events? Are they going to sit around
and talk about home remedies? Good cures and stuff. They're
going to talk about sports and politics. Is that going to be
the main point of discussion that they're in agreement with?
Well, yeah, some. We live in this world. And that's a beautiful
thing to have believers, brethren in this world. We're human. We
have old natures. We have new ones, too. And so
you talk about, man, look what the Lord's done to us. I'm a
wretch. He's so gracious and plentiful, and he gave me this
job. Oh, did I ever tell you that story about this guy, that
job? And you talk about that for a while, and then it kind
of just bleeds back in. It's just fluid. It's not rigid
and cold and legal, and ugh. I hate that. It gives me goosebumps.
It's smooth and fluid, isn't it? There's things in this world
we talk about. We're in this world. What brand of truck you drive
or whatever. We talk about those things, but our thoughts and
our hearts are stirred up. We don't seek counsel from this
world, we seek counsel from the Lord's word. And we seek things
above, don't we? That's the intent. That's the
intent. The Lord said, all power is given
unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, until the
end of the world." How long is He with us? Always. How long
is that? Until this world's over, we'll
be with Him. Pretty good, isn't it? Pretty good. He says, sojourn
in this land, I will be with thee, and I will bless thee.
What better promise could we have? The Lord's going to be
with us and we ain't gonna come into judgment, we ain't gonna
come into condemnation, He's gonna bless us. He's gonna be
with us and He's gonna bless us. Now, you go take five years,
meet me back here in five years, and you come up, the hardest
you come up with one thing that's better than that. You ain't gonna
find nothing. His presence and His blessing,
and where He is, He is there in totality. What bad thing could happen to
me right now? Nothing. If the Lord's with us, it may
look bad, it may feel bad, it may be uncomfortable and unpleasant,
and I just don't like that. Well, you don't have to like
it. It's for your good, and he's gonna be glorified in it. Amen. Somebody says, you won
the lottery. I'll say, amen. Praise the Lord.
They say, you lost everything you own, all your children's
dead, all your crops failed, you're covered in boils just
like Job, and your wife looked at you and said, why don't you
curse God and die? Amen. Though he slay me, I'll trust
him." I should, shouldn't I? Oh, that I could. For my sake,
me being selfish, for my sake that I could be that way, and
for your sakes, for my brethren's sake. That's why I knit us together. When one's strong, the other
one's weak, and I say, I ain't gonna make it. They say, what's
wrong with you? The Lord said this. Was he lying? Well, no,
he ain't lying. And I start getting strong again,
don't I? And my weakness, and then that one starts falling.
And I say, oh, what am I going to do? I can't get out of bed
today. Why? It's his day. Lord gave us a day. What's wrong
with you? Get out of bed. You'll be fine. Oh, you're right. We just teeter-tottered
on. Ebbs and flows. He said, Lord, I'm with you all
the way to the end of the world. Tells Isaac here, sojourn in this land.
I'll be with you and I'll bless you. Why is this promise sure? I don't want to be ashamed. You
want to be ashamed? You like being publicly shamed. Lord talked
about them people he was gonna laugh at. You like being laughed
at? I don't like being laughed at. I don't like being ashamed. Well,
how do I know I can put all my eggs in this one basket? Man
told me one time, he said, you're putting all your eggs in one
basket. I said, it's a good basket. Best basket there is. How can
I know for sure? How can you know for sure? Sojourn
this land and I will be with thee. I will bless thee for unto
thee. unto thy seed." Is that seed
as of many or seed as of one? Under one seed, under Christ.
Under you and under Christ. I will give all these countries
and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. I made a promise to God. Your
promise don't mean squat. You can't promise nothing. You'd
sell your soul for a bowl of lentils if you had a chance.
He said, I swear an oath. I promise this to your father
Abraham, I will make thy seed singular to multiply as the stars
of the heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." It says he spoke to him. He was
there with the Bimelech. Was the Lord speaking to Isaac
or Bimelech? Christ is going to come through
Isaac. The physical seed is going to
come through Isaac. But if he said all these things
to Isaac, ain't this true to Abimelech if Abimelech's the
Lord? Ain't he blessed with him? Ain't he there with him? What
about you? What about me? It's true to us too, isn't it?
Those that are one with Christ, it's true to us. Why? Why is
it true to all of us? Verse 5, because that Abraham,
the one that gave you life, the one that you're from, Abraham
obeyed my voice. and kept my charge, and my commandments,
and my statutes, and my laws." What laws were they? I ain't
come around yet. Four or five hundred years before
that happens, don't we? You think he's talking about Abraham? I'm
gonna do all this because Christ, the everlasting Father, has kept
everything for you. And I'm gonna be there. And I
ain't gonna leave you. And I'm gonna bless you. Cause
you're mine. I bought you with price and I
loved you. At one point in that, if the
Lord would give us, I mean, if he'd give somebody life, he'd
give them new life and let them see that. And we see, Oh man,
I'm in the graciousness of our God. And heed his warnings. Don't
go to, I will, but I don't want to. There's a war inside of me.
If we could see all that at one time, during any of that, did
you think about crops failing? Did you think about it ain't
rained and how many days has it been since it rained? I don't know. God's on his throne. It'll rain
when he sees fit. And if I'm thirsty, I'll just
be thirsty. I'll get over it. Ain't gonna hurt me too bad.
Might shut me up. Make me listen more. I'll praise
with this. Father, thank you for this hour.
Lord, thank you for your word and your faithfulness. The faithfulness of Christ. the author and finisher of our
faith. Lord, we believe, but help our unbelief. Make it rain here, Lord, as you
see fit, as it glorifies your name, as it's good for your people,
Lord, as you're pleased, send the rain. Keep us fed physically
in these bodies, but more important, Lord, in our hearts and souls,
don't drive your brook. We're a thirsty people. We desire
the sensual milk of the word. Christ in him crucified. He's
revealed to us and we desire him. One thing we desire is to
dwell with him and be with him. And he's promised to be with
us. Allow us to rest in the promises of our covenant God and be thankful. Be with those that you've sent
famine to, Lord. In long spells of dryness, Make
them cry out to you. Beg for a word from your mouth.
Thank you for this day. Forgive us for our trespasses,
our sins, our iniquities, and our eyes that are set on this Egypt. Turn us to Christ. It's in his
name that we ask. Amen. I get really eager to go sit
down. I can't hear.