Would open your Bible to Genesis
chapter 26 Genesis chapter 26 Let's begin reading in verse 1 Entitled
the message from a famine to a feast This chapter is about
mainly about Isaac Someone said, I think Isaac lived to be 180
years old. He lived longer than Abraham
or Jacob, but less is recorded about him than the other two.
Someone said he didn't do exploits like Abraham did. You remember
Abraham went down and got a lot. Remember when the kings of Sodom
were captured by the other kings? He went in and he captured them
and delivered a lot. And you know the things that
Jacob did, it seemed like that very little is recorded about
Isaac. But what is recorded is recorded
in this chapter. God used all three. All three,
he says, I'm the God of Abraham, I'm the God of Isaac, and I'm
the God of Jacob. God set those apart and God distinguished
them. Remember, Isaac was Abraham's
only son. He's the heir of all things. In him, all things consist. All
the blessings were in him. So today I want us to look at
this chapter. And I was really surprised how little that I could
find on this chapter. And so maybe God can help us
today as we just look at this chapter to learn some things
from this man, Isaac. Isaac was set apart by God, but
Isaac and his humanity is just like you and me. I think sometimes
we'd read of the great patriarchs, we'd read of Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and David, and Elijah, and all those men, we'd say,
oh, how great they were. Yeah, they were great men, but
they're just sinners. Just like me and you. He was just, he did,
we're gonna find out, did some of the very same things his own
daddy did. You know, I even in my own personal
life, I see some things that my dad did and I thought, well,
man, I'll never do that. And I do the very same thing.
I'm going to just grit my teeth. I'm going, do you ever get yourself
doing that? That's who we are. Isn't it? And God reminds us and he reminds
us that we're still just human beings and we're sinners and
we've were received, it's only by his grace. If we're blessed,
it's by his grace. Through many dangers, toils and
snares, we have already come. His grace hath brought us safe
thus far, and grace is gonna take us on through. Corey, it
doesn't matter what furnace it is. That ain't the last furnace. I read yesterday at the funeral,
Job said, a man that's born of woman is few days and full of
trouble. It didn't say months, it didn't
say years. He said his life's just like
days and full of trouble. Isn't it? Heartache, pain, one
on the heels of another. But our God is in control and
all those things that happen, happen for a reason and for a
purpose. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And God even allows a famine
to happen in Isaac's life. I think there was, someone said
there's 13 different famines recorded in the scriptures. You
remember in the book of Ruth, you remember what it said? There
was a famine. So what does he do? He goes down
to Moab. There was a famine in Abraham's
life. What did Abraham do? He went
down to Egypt. There's a famine we're gonna
see in Isaac's life, and God won't let him go to Egypt. There
was a famine in Jacob's life. And you know what God did? God
said, don't be afraid to go to Egypt. And he went down there for 430
years. He was afraid to go. And you know why he went? Joseph
was there. And all three, there was a famine. God arranged it, God ordered
it, and they all served His purpose. They all do. You remember that. Verse 1, there was a famine in
the land beside the first famine which was in the days of Abraham.
And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, and
to Gerar. This famine Like I said, there
was already a famine in Abraham's day, and he went down to Egypt.
And here's one in Isaac's day. And this is not the same Abimelech
that was in Abraham's day. Abraham met a man named Abimelech.
That is a title, not a man's name. That means he's the king
of the Philistines. It's just like they had Caesars,
Pilates, He's, his name's Abimelech. So he's the king of the Philistines.
So where does he go? Here he goes. He goes to a place
called Gerar when the famine came. He should have stayed right
where he was at, but he didn't. Let's don't be too critical.
When famine and times like this come, we all, by nature, we're
going to look for somewhere for some relief. And we're going
to always, unless God intervenes, we're going to look to the world.
We're going to look to something. That's just who we are, and that's
what Isaac did. But you know what the worst famine
is? We live in a world today, we are living in a famine. You
say, well, we have all we want. We have all we could want to
eat. We say, we're not like those people who live over there somewhere
where they're starving to death. Now listen, here's what it says
in Amos chapter eight, verse 11. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land. What did he say?
I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst
for water, but of the hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, from north to east, they shall run to and fro, and seek
the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Now that's a famine. We're blessed. We're blessed
to live in the eastern part of the United States. I mean, we
don't have to go far to Ashland or to Fairmont to a Grace Church. Not everybody has that convenience.
You go more out west, it's not that way. You go out to Taylor,
Arkansas, then I don't know anyone out, I know in Missouri, and
there's some, a few in Montana and Oregon and California, but
most places, there's not a Grace Church, why? God sends a famine. That's a famine. A famine. And in time of famine, do not
look to this world. Do not. The most important thing
to your soul is to be fed from God's word. Isn't it? And it says he was there in Gerar. This was on the road to Egypt. In verse 2, and the Lord appeared
to him. As he's going this way, go not down into Egypt. Dwell
in the land which I shall tell thee of. God crossed his path.
Gerar means he that, it means to drag away and to drag down. Boy, that's what the world will
do. They intend to drag you away from fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what it's intended to
do. This world is not your home. Verse three. Our Lord said, Sojourn
in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee. For unto thee and thy seed will
I give these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear
unto Abraham thy father. He reminds him that he's the
covenant-keeping God, no matter what happens. and I will make thy seed to multiply
as the stars of the heavens. Have you ever walked out? Boy,
it was real nice last night. It was kind of cool to walk outside
and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and just look up and see
the stars. You don't see them until it gets
dark. He said, you look up, can you count them stars? He said,
that's your spiritual seed. He done told Abraham, he said,
it'll be like the sands of the seashore. Can you number the
sand on the seashore? That's his physical earthly seed. But he said that spiritual seed,
he said, I'm gonna give you all these countries. Not only just
that land, all these countries, it's all his. Even Philistines,
where the Philistines live. He said, I'm gonna give you that
too. What did it say in Psalms 2? Why do the heathens rage and
people imagine a vain thing? He said, ask of me and I'll give
you the heathen for thine inheritance. It's all his. That's who this
seed is. He's running. He's running as
fast as he can to Egypt. And that's what his daddy did.
His daddy did the same thing. Read it in Genesis chapter 12.
There was a famine came. This is right after God called
Abraham out of the Ur of the Chaldees. And he comes out and
the first thing happens, it says there was a famine in the land.
So here he goes wide open toward Egypt. And you know what Egypt
is? Egypt is the land of ham. It's the land ruled by Satan
and all false gods. That's what that represents.
You mean this man, Isaac, is running to the world? Does that
not sound familiar? You say, boy, I'd never do that. Oh yes, we do. Verse four, I will make thy seed.
to multiply as the stars of the heavens and I will give unto
thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed. In Galatians 3.16 it says, now
to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not
unto seeds and to many but as of one and to thy seed which
is Christ. He's talking about Christ here.
He's the one that all, if you're blessed, you're blessed in Christ.
That's what he's saying. He's the one that owns and rules
over all things. And he reminds him of this, verse
five. Because the Abraham, now watch
these words, he obeyed my voice. He obeyed God's voice in offering
up his own son. He kept my charge. The office
of the patriarchy was the leader of God's people and it said,
he kept my commandments and my statutes and my laws. The statute
of the right of circumcision and the law meant the practice
of righteousness. He walked with God. He said,
this is what Abraham did, thy father. Verse five, and Isaac
dwelt in Gerar. You notice back in verse 3 it
said sojourn in this land. Sojourn is a temporary thing.
It's like you might go on vacation and you're just going to sojourn
there for maybe a week or a few days, but you're not going to
dwell there. But Isaac dwelt in that city. He dwelt there. Verse 6. And the men of the place asked
him of his wife about Rebekah. And he said, she is my sister. You go. What did Abraham say when he
went down to Egypt? He said, before we get down here,
Sarah, he said, I'm going to tell them that you're my sister.
Because he said, when they see you, you're so beautiful. He
said, they'll kill me to get you. And now we see Isaac doing the
same thing. He said, when we come, I'm going
to tell them that you're my sister. You said, how sad. How sad. For he feared to say, she is
my wife. Lest said he, the men of the
place should kill me for Rebecca because she was fair to look
upon. He's going to save his own hide. Man, that's selfish. And it came to pass, when he
had been a long time, that Abimelech said to... Abimelech, king of
the Philistines, looked out a window, and he saw, behold, Isaac was
sporting with Rebekah. He looks out the window, and
it says they'd been there for a long time, and everybody thinks
that this is his sister, and he finds out this ain't his sister.
It's his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and
said, behold, of a surety, she is thy wife. And how sayest thou
she is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, because
I said, lest I die for her. And Abimelech said, what is this
thou hast done unto us? One of the people might have
lightly lined with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought
guiltiness upon us. And Abimelech charged his people,
saying, he that touches this man or his wife shall surely
be put to death. Sarah and Rebecca both were exposed
to the same danger, the pollution, by the seed of ham. Do you not
see the depravity? This is the depravity of man's
heart. We'll try to do everything, deception,
to save our own skin. And this king asked him, what
have you done? God even used that wicked king
to reprove him. What have you done? What have
you done? Although Isaac's deception was
not intended to injure Abimelech, it was nevertheless a great sin
against him. It made adultery possible, which
even the heathen of that day despised. They said, she is your
wife. The presence of sin, someone
said, is like a burning match, or an unexploded bomb. The match
may not burn down the forest, or the bomb may not explode,
or again, they might. That one match, he said, he just
said, she's my sister. But look what could have happened.
It's a miracle nobody didn't take her, isn't it? They've been there for a long
time. If you read the account of Abraham, it went in here,
it said God afflicted Pharaoh because of Sarah. God brought
a plague upon him. You know why God protected her?
You know why God protected her? That God protected that line.
God set them apart. It was Seth that God set apart. Cain killed Abel and God set
apart Seth. Then it was Noah's three sons,
Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Japheth was, I think, Japheth,
Shem's the one he set apart. And through that line came Abraham. And through that line came Isaac.
And through that line came Jacob. God separated them, and God protected
them. And let me tell you this, God
protects you. God protects you. You're his. You remember what he told Simeon? He said, Simon, you cannot die
till you've seen the Lord's Christ. That man couldn't die. You know
why? He's Christ's seed. We're heirs
according to the promise. We're joint heirs with Christ.
But he watched over Rebecca. He protected her in spite of
Isaac's foolishness. But I want you to see this. God
even used this pagan king. to say that if anybody touches
you or your wife, let them be put to death. Listen, the death penalty was
decreed by Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to protect the
father of the people who would eventually exterminate the Philistines. Now that's amazing. Who exterminated
them? David did. What do we learn from
this? The heart of a king is in the
hands of the Lord, and he turns it whichever way he wants it
to go. Cory, I don't care who it is.
Everybody's heart's in God's hands, and he'll turn it whichever
way he wants it to go. So you picture Isaac here. You
imagine how Isaac feels. Why in the world did I do that?
What made me like and say she's my sister? Now look in verse
12. We had the famine, now we have
the blessing. Isaac's still living here in
Gerard. And Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same
year a hundredfold. Now this is in a time of a famine. And the Lord blessed him. Why did the Lord bless him? Why does God ever bless
anybody? You say, well, he doesn't deserve
it. Well, if he deserved it, it wouldn't be grace. If you
earned it, it wouldn't be grace. He plants, whatever he plants,
he gets back down a hundredfold. That's a lot. And this is not
in Canaan, the land that flows with milk and honey. This is
in Gerar, a cursed land in the time of a famine. God blesses you and God blesses
us in the midst of a famine. That's the blessing. Can't you
see him going in there to Rebekah and says, look what God's done. Why would he do that? Why would
he do this? Let me tell you this, if God
ever blesses you, it's in spite of yourself. Said the Lord blessed him. Every
blessing he has is in Christ. Have you ever come in before
and just felt, come to the house of God and just felt like a dog?
Huh? I mean, really. You say, it seems
like I have no faith. Right? Just come in and just
feel so barren. And God speak to your heart.
You're blessed. Isn't that it? Do you see it? So it's from a famine to a feast. The world thinks you earn it.
Say, well, if you'll do something, then God'll bless shit. And it's
a trade-off. It's not a trade-off. And you recognize who did it.
You know it's nothing that you did. He remains faithful. You know
why? He's a faithful, covenant-keeping God. Look where Isaac's at. Look at him. Look where he's
at. He's living in a place called Gerrard. Lying, saying his wife's his
sister. Say, you're giving a license
to sin? Oh, no, I'm not. I'm just telling you, if God
ever blesses you, if God ever blesses us, it's because of his
grace. Always because of his grace. We're sinners. Sinners. And God blessed him. The blessing
was of grace. What we see here is that God
can and does take care of his people in any land. For all the
land is his. Remember the famines going on.
And God blessed him. God's blessings know no boundaries. No boundaries. Isaac's his. Isaac's his. While others scarcely reaped
anything, he reaped a hundredfold. Remember what our Lord said?
They asked him, but we know he can. They said, can your God
furnish a table in the wilderness? Oh yeah. Did he feed the children of Israel
in the wilderness? You think with him, did he? He sent them
manna every day. He fed them quail. Their clothes
never wore out. Their shoes never wore out. He's
able. Listen to me. David said, I've
never seen the righteous forsaken or ever seen them begging bread.
The colony could go to pot. God take care of his people. The whole world can be perishing
for lack of hunger spiritually. And God provides you a table.
That's the greatest blessing, isn't it? Isn't it? Why you, Linda? Why anybody? Do you see that? They shall not be ashamed, Psalms
37, 19, in the evil time. And in the day of famine, they
shall be satisfied. With Christ, I'm satisfied. He's
all we need. He's all we want. I wrote this down, maybe a little
note. I remember a couple of years ago, Me and Sandy, we tried
to plant a little garden, and it grew more than to just a little
garden. I can't remember how many rows
of corn and tomato and all. We thought we were going to work
this thing. That thing worked us. We didn't work it. But the
garden was kind of laid out like this, and some of my in-laws,
they planted up around the garden. They put up with me and Sandy. They might get this message,
whatever. It doesn't matter. But they kept the upper part
of the garden when we had the lower end, which really was looking
at it, it always growed less. It was always the upper end always
got the fertilizer and everything, and the lower end just never
grew that much. That year, the crows and blackbirds
started at the upper end of the garden, and they would come in,
they'd be three or four on each ear of the corn, and they tore
it all to pieces. and never touched our corn. In
the same field. Hmm. That just happened, didn't
it? Why? Why? We're just centered like
they are. Why? God blessed them a hundredfold. You see what I'm saying? You
see what I'm saying? God will use everything to teach
us. He's in control. And if he blesses
us, it's not because of us. It's because of him. Isaac, you're
blessed because of Abraham. And if you're blessed, you're
blessed because of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only reason.
The only reason. Read on verse 13, and the man
waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very
great. You mean even in Gerar? This
man became great? For he had possessions of flocks
and possessions of herbs and a great store of servants and
the Philistines envied him. They're jealous of him. Why is
he blessed? Look what we do. He ought to
bless us. And they envied him. We tried
to look in the Bible lesson this morning. You know why Saul, he
hated David? He envied him. Listen, it ain't what you have
they want, it's who. It's who? It's him. He's the
blessing. Watch verse 15. For all the whales,
which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham
his father, these Philistines, they stopped them and they filled
them with earth. You said, how mean? Abraham's
servants drilled or dug these wells, and that's no small task
to dig a well. Would you like to go out with
a shovel and a pick and start digging a well? That's what they
did. Why? They had to have a well. You take a man that's got flocks
and a man that's got herbs, he better have some water. Isn't
that right, Danny? Danny had to beg him another pond just
to feed his cows. And they had to have a well.
Have you ever noticed how many things happened at a well in
the scriptures? Jacob met Rachel at a well. The servant going
to get Rebekah met Rebekah at a well. Moses met his wife at
a well. Where did our Lord meet the Samaritan
woman? At Jacob's well. And Sandy was talking, and I
was just kind of going on a little bit, and I said, you know why
they, you know, we know why they made it a well? It was a place
where everybody kindly gathered. They didn't have Walmart. But that's right. Where are you
going? Everybody's going to meet out here at the well. Everybody's
got to have water. And these Philistines, because
they envied Isaac, said, we don't, we don't want the water in the
well. But we don't want you to have the water in the well. So
we're going to put dirt in the well. We're going to stop them
up. And God let him do it, didn't he? The Philistines envied him, stopped
up the wells that Abraham's servants had digged. Someone said, envy
is displeasure with God's ways of dividing his riches. They
didn't have flocks of their own to use the wells, but they did
not want anybody else drinking or using the well. And they said, we're going to
stop them up. Isaiah 12.3, therefore with joy
you shall draw water. out of the wells of salvation.
As I thought about this, these Philistines stopping up the wells,
this verse come to my mind, Matthew 23 verse 13. Our Lord said, woe
unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the
kingdom of God against men. For you neither go in yourself,
neither suffer ye that would entering in to go in. You don't
want to go in. You don't want to drink the water,
and you don't want nobody else to drink the water. So we'll
stop up the well. That's what we'll do. We'll just
stop it up. Verse 16. And Abimelech said
unto Isaac, Go from us, for thou art mightier than we. You know
what God's doing? God's making it so Isaac has
to leave. God will fix it. So you have
to leave, Gerrard, or you'd stay right there. You know how long,
remember when God had Elijah hid, and he just took him up
by the brook, and the ravens came and fed him? You know when
Isaac, you know when he left the brook, when the brook dried
up, God knows how to put us where
we need to be, doesn't he? If he hadn't started stopping
up these wheels, you'd go, why in the world did that whale stop
up? You know why? He don't have any choice but
to leave. Danny, I'm gonna use you again. It'd be just like
Danny going out there and everything on his farm dries up. He don't
have a whale. He don't have a pond. He says,
I've got to do something. I can't raise cows here anymore,
there's no water here, so he has to leave. Verse 17, and Isaac departed
thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar. He went
from dwelling in Gerar to now he's just living in a tent. And
you know what a tent is? It's just a temporary place to
dwell. And he's in the valley. But God
moved him. God moved him. God is able to make us willing. I remember, you've heard me,
some of you have heard me say this, and if you haven't, I'm
going to tell you now. When me and Sandy bought that piece of property
in North Carolina, oh, we were so tickled. The well had dried
up where we were at, and we had to move. That's why we even moved.
The well dried up. I thought, oh boy, we found it
now. Oh, we was tickled to death.
Let me tell you something. By about July, we was ready to
leave. The well was stopped up again.
You know what? God will make you willing. He'll make you want to leave.
Isaac wanted to leave. Because you've got to be where
water's at, or you'll die. You'll die. Water's life. And
he dwelt there, verse 17, and Isaac digged again the wells
of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father.
For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham.
Now if you'll go back and read, we don't have the time to go
back and look, if you'll go back and look in Genesis chapter 21,
where Abraham drilled those wells, Abimelech came to them and they
made a covenant between those people that they would not stop
up those wells. But now that Abraham's dead,
they said, it don't matter, we're going to stop them up. And they
did. And he, Isaac, called the names
after the names by which his father had called them, and Isaac's
servants digged in the valley, and they found a well of springing
water." How many of you have ever heard about the artesian
well? That's when you hit it. It's like hitting an oil well.
It gushes out. You don't need to drop a pump
in it. You don't have to pump the water
out. You don't have to draw the water out. You have to cap it
over. That's what they found. And look, the herdsmen of Gerard
did strive with Isaac's herdsmen saying, the water's ours. They
hadn't drilled the well. They hadn't dug the well. They
said, and that water's ours. Boy, they want it now, don't
they? They didn't want it before. And he called, let me find it. In verse 20, and the herdsmen
of Gerard did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, the water is
ours. And he called the name of the
well Ezek, because they strove over the water. And they digged
another well, and strove for that also. And he called the
name of it Shetnar, which means opposition. So they, everywhere
he goes, he drills a well, or he digs a well, and there's somebody
striving for it. And he removed from thence. Why
did he remove? He couldn't stay. And it doesn't say he fought for
that well, does it? When he dug that well, it didn't
say, that's my well, you can't have it. When our Lord was revived,
he revived not again. He said, okay, you can just have
it. You just take it. In verse 22, and he removed from
thence and dug another well. And for that they strove not,
and he called it Rehoboth, and said, for now the Lord hath made
room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. But he
didn't stay right there. And he went up from thence to
Beersheba. You know where Beersheba was
at? It's where God brought Abraham. Let me see if I can, I don't remember the scripture,
but it talks about things in Genesis 21 where Abraham came
to Beersheba, and this is where God brings him back to. You see
where the famine came, and you see everything he went through,
but God used all that to bring him back to Beersheba, which
means the well of the oath. Abraham made the covenant with
Abimelech that they would leave those wells alone because Abimelech
came to Abraham and Abraham said, we drilled this well, or we dug
this well, and your men came and took it. Abimelech said,
I didn't know anything about it. And he said, we'll make a
covenant between me and you that this well is my well. And so
it means, Beersheba means the well of the oath. And look when
he come to Beersheba, and he went up from thence. And it's
always going up. It's always coming up. When we
leave Christ, it's always going down. And the Lord appeared unto
him in the same night. And he said, I'm the God of Abraham,
thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee
and will bless thee. and multiply thy seed for my
servant Abraham's sake." God appeared to him, and God
reminded him again that he's the covenant-keeping God. He said, I will multiply thee,
I'll bless thee for Abraham's sake, and look what he did. Nowhere in this chapter before
this you see him with an altar, do you? And he built an altar. the place of the sacrifice. And
this is also a place of memorial. He wanted to remember what God
had brought him from and what God brought him through. And
he built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord and
pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants digged
a well. He called on the name of the
Lord, he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants drilled
a well. Now this word there where it
says pitched his tent, now listen, is the same word it says in Isaiah
chapter 54 verse 2. Enlarge the place of thy tent.
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation.
Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For
thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and
thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities
to be inhabited." Now listen, John Gill said, it says first
of all that he would enlarge, enlarge the place of thy tent
So he pitched his tent right here in Beersheba. The church
is compared to a tent because of its uncertain and movable
condition, being sometimes in one place and sometimes in another. God can have a church in a place
for a long time, and then when God sees fit, he can move it.
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. He said
it's just like a tent. It's here for a little while
and then he moves it. Now listen, it's likened to a
tent because it's movable and because of its outward appearance
it looks like it's something weak. It's just a tent. But it has reference to the gospel
for not being confined to Jerusalem. but it was carried to all the
world. You know what it was? His tent
was being enlarged. It was made bigger. Now, you
think with me. All the way through the Old Testament,
who did God send go out? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
that little nation of Israel. Everybody else was left in the
dark. They were separated from the Commonwealth of Israel. But
you know now what God's doing? He's enlarging His tent. He said, you go into all the
world, start at Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and now you go to the
uttermost parts of the earth, doing what? Preaching the gospel. You know why He's enlarging His
tent? It has to be bigger. Some from all nations. All nations
of the earth shall be what? Blessed. How's Rome going to
be blessed? God sends a man named Paul and
he goes preaching the gospel. How's Corinth going to be blessed?
God sends Paul to Corinth and preaches the gospel. The Galatian,
Ephesus, Thessalonica, and all those places are blessed. All the nations of the earth
shall be blessed. And also in Isaiah, it says,
stretch forth the curtains of thine inhabitation. At that funeral
yesterday, you know, most of the time over the grave itself,
they just have a small tent. But it was so hot, they had to
enlarge that tent. They had actually pulled off
from the side about two other canopies where they could put
chairs under so it was so hot people didn't have to sit out
in the sun. That's what they're doing. It says, stretch out the
curtains of thy habitation. And that's what he's done. Now
watch this. Let me read the verse again.
Isaiah 54 to enlarge the place of thy tent. Let them stretch
forth the curtain of thine habitation." And then he says, spare not. Now listen. Spare not any cost
or pain to spread the gospel. Enlarge the interest of Christ
and enlarge his church and his people. Do you love this gospel? then
we should do everything, spare nothing, that everybody hear
this gospel. That the tent, his church, may
be spread. And then he doesn't stop there.
He said, lengthen thy cords, strengthen thy stakes. The curtains
being stretched out, it was necessary that the cords to which they
were fastened should be lengthened. that they might reach further,
that it take greater compass, and the wider the tent is made,
the stronger had to be the stakes to support it. Do you get the
picture? That's why it says, Isaac, he
came, called on the name of the Lord, he worshiped God, he looked
to Christ and gave him thanks for all of his mercy, and he
pitched his tent. pitched his tent. I'd say when
he first left, if he had a tent, the tent he's got now is probably
a lot bigger. Why? God blessed him. Look back in verse 14, for he
had possessions of flocks and possessions of herbs and a great
store of servants. When Jacob come back from Laban's
house, didn't he need a bigger tent? Oh, yes. Now, Jacob is in Laban's house. Laban's house. Laban changes
his wages 10 different times. But the whole time he's there,
God blesses him. Do you see the picture? Even in the midst of a famine,
God spreads his tent, and God makes it bigger. I'm just glad
to be under his tent. Okay, so he built him an altar.
First thing, he worshipped God. He thanked God. He said, I'm
putting down my tent right here. But there's something else I
need. We've got to have some water. So they begin to dig a
well. Now look down at verse 32. It
came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told
him concerning the well which they had digged. And they said
unto him, we found water. Can you imagine, Jim, what it
would be like in a desert to find water? To make this personal, we live
in a world that's a desert. A dry, barren desert. And I found water. I found life. You see what I'm saying? That's
Christ. He's the water of life. Remember
what he told the woman at the well? Our Lord said, whosoever drinketh
of this water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. It's life. A well is something that's deep.
Remember what she said? She said, this well, Jacob's
well's deep and you have nothing to draw with. This well that
we draw from is as deep as eternity. And it will never go dry. That
Samaritan woman had been going to that well, how long has this
been since Jacob lived? That'd be a pretty good while,
wouldn't it? And they're still getting water
from that well. I remember back when we built
our first home back in North Carolina in 1984, one of the
first things we had to do was drill a well. I think we drilled
a well before we did anything else, because there wasn't no
use to build a house there if you ain't got no water. And my daughter's still drawing
water from that well. You know we still draw water
from some well that somebody dug? You see the picture? It said
Abraham's servants dug those wells. But he just didn't live
on the wells that Abraham's servants dug. He said, we're going to
drill new wells. And we're going to drill, we're
going to dig. And you know when you quit digging? When you find
water. Connie, I'm glad we found water.
And that water's Christ. And this is where we dwell. You
know where I'm gonna put my tent down? Where there's water. God will use everything to bring
you to Beersheba, where he's at. And that's where you worship,
where that altar's at. And you call on God, and that's
where you put your tent. This is where I'm staying. You know how long I'm here? Forever. Because we found water. God made me willing to pull up
my tent and bring it here where there's water. You see what I'm
saying? And God will do everything. He'll
dry up that well, and he'll dry it up, and he'll dry it up, and
you'll move. Our family still thinks we're
crazy.