The God Of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob - Message 10 - Don't Separate From Sarah

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another faith-building message by Pastor David Entry. Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the Word of God.

[0:12] May your knowledge of Jesus Christ increase as you listen. Be blessed. I've been teaching on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let's all say that together.

[0:23] God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Praise the Lord. In Genesis chapter 20, very interesting. When you read Genesis chapter 15, God appeared to Abraham and God told Abraham that I am the Lord.

[0:38] I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. And God told Abraham in the later part of the verse, it was a vision. Abraham said, God, I don't have a child.

[0:49] It doesn't matter all the things you have given me. Someone else is going to inherit my wealth. God told Abraham, no, a stranger will not inherit your estate.

[1:00] It's one from your own loins. And so Abraham in verse 6, Bible says in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, And Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

[1:11] So he believed. In the opening verses of chapter 16, Bible says that Abraham's wife called Sarah advised Abraham that I think, let's use Hagar, my maid, because since I am not giving birth and your time is running out, Abraham, and God has promised to give you a child.

[1:28] Why don't you go into my maid and then she will conceive for me and then that will give you the son you have always been looking for. Abraham has always had interest in a son.

[1:38] So when he met God, he said, God, son, son, Abraham and sons. You remember Sarah said, Abraham, just do something. Fix this problem because at least Hagar is there and me is not working.

[1:50] And so maybe as long as you are still working and functioning, why don't you take advantage of your powers so that before your lights get switched off. And Abraham said, I think it's a good idea.

[2:03] Sarah, why didn't you say that a long time ago? You are wonderful. And he said, okay, let's get on quickly. And Abraham got Ishmael from Hagar and God gave him a slap on the wrist.

[2:14] And because of that Ishmaelic detour, God didn't talk to Abraham. It wasn't recorded. God revealed anything to Abraham. He didn't communicate to Abraham for 13 good years.

[2:25] And Abraham did that when he was 85 years or 86 years he had Ishmael. And so God waited. In Genesis chapter 17, Bible says that now when Abraham was 99 years old, God came to him and said, Abraham, walk before me and be perfect.

[2:43] Walk before me and be perfect. So he wasted 13 years because of the detour. Be careful what allows you to detour. It will cost you by the time you come back, a lot have been wasted.

[2:55] It takes character to stay consistent. It takes character, discipline of character to stay consistent. Too many of us like hit and run. We are not consistent with him.

[3:07] We don't study to the end. We don't stay in relationship to the end. We don't stay in jobs to the end. We don't keep the business going to the end. Some of us, if we, if God calls you home, your family will be in disarray because we have not put things together.

[3:20] So, so, so it's very important consistency. Abraham was walking with God, believed in God. But when the rabbi hit the road and things started getting a limit, the reason why people divorce most of the time is because of inconsistency of character.

[3:35] Marriage is not always rosy. Why? It may not have to, you may not have to fight. Okay. You may not have to fight or argue and, you know, Tom and Jerry.

[3:48] You may not have to do that. But there will be disagreements because two individuals with two opinions on certain matters. Two different upbringing, backgrounds. So, definitely there can be differences.

[4:01] All right. The reason why people divorce most of the time is lack of consistency of character. Some people divorce because a little something happened and instead of sitting down resolving it, they escalated it through tantrums.

[4:14] They say, I'm tired, I'm tired. Some of the things we say we are tired of, you can deal with it if you can sit down and think very, very well and deal with it. And you have a better outcome than when you jump out of it.

[4:24] I believe I'm talking to somebody. You have a better outcome. Because you know you said I love, but I don't love him anymore. Who told you?

[4:35] Adults will tell you you don't stay in marriage because you feel like I have feelings of love. That's not why you stay in marriage. You stay in marriage because you are responsible. That's why marriage is not for boys. That's right. That's right.

[4:46] That's right. That's right. Brother, a friend, if you are going out with a lady who every little thing says, I quit, let's end it. You better end it quickly. Quickly. She's not growing.

[4:57] She's not growing. She's not growing. If you're a woman and a man every little thing says, let's end it. I think you will be very, very stupid to stay in that relationship because you are making yourself too cheap and available for that guy.

[5:09] He said, let's end it. He said, did you say that? Okay, let's end it. And he has to chase you, beg you that, please, I didn't mean it. And the next time you say this, forget it.

[5:22] It's children who throw time to us. Any little thing. I'm out of it. I'm packing my, leave my house. Leave my house. How did he, if you're not married, how did he end up in your house? Well, let's do that. Leave my house. Leave my house. Leave my house. Leave my house.

[5:33] Leave my house. Leave my house. You, you had, you had your own flat. You gave it away. I went and now they say you should leave. You see. You should have waited to be married. Yes. Yes. And you are bitter.

[5:48] Do me bitter. It's your fault. Don't worry. Get up from the floor. Dust yourself and move forward. Because learn from your mistakes. But the truth I'm saying, I don't, I don't know why I'm saying this.

[5:58] It's somebody. The truth of the matter. The, the, the truth of the matter is people can't stay consistent.

[6:09] People, particularly in this generation, money is wrecking your family. Inconsistency of character. Abraham lost it. And God, see, this is what I like about God.

[6:20] He doesn't give up on you. Men may give up on you, but God will never give up on you. Tell someone, Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me.

[6:32] God will never, it doesn't matter what you went, what you did wrong. It doesn't matter because people have done worse. Worse things. Don't judge people by what they did.

[6:43] Judge people by where you can perceive they are going. Everybody somewhere along the line did something stupid. That's right. Because the older you grow, you learn how not to repeat some things.

[6:57] Am I talking to somebody? Listen, give people the opportunity to grow. Allow, make room for mistakes. And some of us are too eager to please people who don't like us.

[7:08] To explain ourselves to them. A wise man said, don't bother to explain yourself to your loved ones because they love you anyway. Wow. Don't bother to explain yourself to your enemies because they still hate you.

[7:22] They don't like you. Say consistency. Consistency. So Abraham, God came to Abraham and said, you know, let's fix this thing. 99 years. And God waited. When Abraham's body was dead.

[7:34] Now he said, now you can't give a birth to a child. I will show you how to do. So Genesis chapter 17, God came to Abraham and started dealing with Abraham. This is interesting. We are talking about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[7:44] And don't let Sarah go. And do you know what happened? I was shocked when I saw this in the Bible. That in Genesis chapter 20, before then in Genesis chapter 12 verse 12. Look at chapter 12 verse 12. Put you on the screen quickly and let me rush through this thing in a few minutes.

[7:57] Genesis chapter 12 verse 12. Abraham, therefore it will happen. This is Abraham telling his wife. Therefore it will happen when the Egyptian sees you, that they will say, this is his wife.

[8:08] And they will kill me. But they will let you live. Because he didn't want to die. Go to the next verse. Verse 13. Verse 13. Please say you are my sister. That it may be well with me for your sake.

[8:21] And that I will live because of you. He went to Egypt. He shouldn't have gone. He went. Sometimes migration can make you change your age and change your status.

[8:32] Oh Lord! Save us from immigration demons. You are not the first. It happened from Abraham's head. You are not my wife. Okay? Let me go. So when you get to the border, I say, hey, me, I'm not married.

[8:44] We are just sisters. For vis-a-vis purposes, he changed his status. He said, say you are my sister. I went and said, she went and said that. And it brought a few confusion. And then, but they didn't divide them.

[8:55] The only thing that brought trouble between them was when Ishmael came in. But those things, they didn't divide them. They were okay. They patched. They went on. And then, but to my amazement, in Genesis chapter 20, verse 1.

[9:10] Look at Genesis chapter 20, verse 1. Abraham journeyed from there to the south and dwelt between Kadesh and Sher and stayed in Gerah. Okay? He went and stayed in Gerah.

[9:21] And then verse 2. Verse 2 says that. Now, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. Sarah, of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. I thought he said it once.

[9:33] This immigration, he repeated it again. Abraham repeated it. No, no. That was Genesis chapter 12. We just read. Chapter 20.

[9:43] After everything and all, man of faith. Man of faith. He's trying to change his surname. But Abraham said, say you are my wife.

[9:55] So, good wife. Sorry, you are my sister. Good wife. She also went to say it. And then Abimelech took her as one of his, Abimelech like him, took her as one of his wives. And he entered into trouble.

[10:07] So, they called Abraham. Why did you lie to us? And then in verse 9. Look at verse 9. Verse 9 talks about how, and Abimelech called Abraham and said, what have you done to us?

[10:18] How have I offended you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.

[10:29] I lie. Go to the next verse. Jesus, this is good. The next verse. Abimelech said to Abraham. What did you have in view that you have done? What were you thinking about? You wanted to open a bank account?

[10:41] Is it a bank account? Why? Driver's license. All right, let me finish this thing. Are you guys doing something? Look, look, this is a very interesting. Brothers and sisters, this is, let me open my own bag because this is serious when I saw it.

[10:56] When I saw this, I said, what? Do you know why Abraham did that? Because he was afraid. And because of that act of Abraham, the whole kingdom was at stake because the hand of God was on Abraham.

[11:11] And anyone who touched Abraham, whether rightly or wrongly, God will react to them. That's what was happening. And so, verse 11. Verse 11. Look at verse 11. And Abraham said, listen to this.

[11:22] This is interesting. Because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place. And they will kill me on the account of my wife.

[11:33] Go to the next verse. Listen to this. Watch this very carefully. Look at this. But indeed, she is truly my sister. No, no, no.

[11:44] No, no. No, no. No, no. You see, there was a family relationship there. But the woman was his wife. No, no. But do you know what he did? When they were in Mesopotamia, she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother.

[12:00] And she became my wife. So what? Look at this. When they married. When they married in Mesopotamia. Go to the next verse. This is interesting. And it came to pass. When God calls me to wander from my father's house.

[12:13] That I said to her. We made an agreement. I said to her. This is your kindness that you should do for me. In every place where we go.

[12:23] Say of me. He's my brother. It was an agreement. That when situations get tough. Let's separate. So the reason why that problem surfaced again.

[12:38] It surfaced in Egypt. And it surfaced again. Was the problem. The root was in Mesopotamia. Before they left home. They had made disagreement. They had made disagreement.

[12:50] But the truth is that Abraham. You can't separate from Sarah. Stay with Sarah. Abraham stands for faith. Sarah stands for grace.

[13:01] Abraham means what man brings on board. That's faith. Sarah means what God brings on board.

[13:13] And you need both faith and grace. To enjoy the fatherhood and the goodness of God. Abraham wanted to okay me just faith. Faith is not.

[13:23] Faith is not just enough. Romans chapter 4 verse 16. He said therefore it's of faith. That it may be by grace. Faith and grace go together. You can't divorce them.

[13:35] You can't separate them. And so if you want to enjoy the blessings of God. You must know in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8. He said for by grace are you saved through faith.

[13:47] You bring faith and God gives you the grace. By grace. Sometimes people. We call people faith, faith, faith. As though everything depends on them. But a lot depends on God. And sometimes people say. Oh by the grace of God.

[13:57] Oh God. Oh God. I said everything depends on God. But a lot depends on your faith as well. Don't separate. Don't divorce the two. Abraham. Don't separate from Sarah.

[14:08] Don't separate from Sarah. And because of that separation. It didn't go well in the whole kingdom. And it affected him. And God appeared to Abimelech. He said you have taken somebody's wife.

[14:18] You are a dead man. That's why God a man. He said why did you do that to him? And you know what? And he said God told Abimelech. Go to Abraham and let him pray for you. The one who lied to you.

[14:29] Go and he will pray for you because he's a prophet. You say he's a liar. God says he's a prophet. His prayer will work for you even though you think he's a liar. Do not trivialize when the hand of God is on somebody.

[14:43] Don't take it for granted. You may know some funny things about him or about her. But if you relate to the person based on the negative things you know. It will be at your own expense.

[14:54] Yes, your brother. So what? He's my wife. And so what? So what? My daughter. So what? He's my mother. So what? No. When you are dealing with him. He said go to Abraham. Let him pray for you. Why? Because he's a prophet. And then watch this.

[15:05] Let me finish this. And Abraham. Abimelech went to Abraham. Do you know what? And Abraham. Do you know the problem that came on Abimelech? This is interesting. This way you don't have to miss it. Because of Sarah.

[15:18] Verse 18. Every woman in the kingdom. Or every woman around Abimelech became buried. For the Lord had closed up all the wounds of the house of Abimelech.

[15:30] The wounds of. Because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. God has closed up their wounds. He said no one is going to have a child. Because of this woman. This man has gone. Because of Sarah. What was the solution?

[15:41] God said go to him. He'll pray for you. Return his wife to him. Go to him. He'll pray for you. Look at verse 17. And look at verse 17. This is where the thing. So Abraham got his wife back. God was trying to show him that.

[15:52] Don't separate from Sarah again. The problem is not where you are. The problem is what the agreement you made in Mesopotamia. Some of us. When it comes. When the things become very. Rather become very hard.

[16:04] You stop paying your tight. You stop being faithful to God. You stop being consistent to God. Because a little trouble has showed up. He said. Right up. He said. I'm not going to judge anymore. I'm not going to judge anymore. I'm not. No. So Abraham.

[16:15] God said that. Don't separate from Sarah. Because I need Sarah by you. For me to. This is interesting. I know where I'm going. Listen to this. You don't have to miss this. Now. So he says that. Verse 17.

[16:26] Was when Abraham prayed for Abimelech. Look at verse 17. Of Genesis chapter 20. Verse 17. See. So. Abraham prayed to God. And God healed Abimelech. His wife.

[16:37] And his female servant. Then. They bore children. When he was praying. For God to heal them. To bear children. His wife was buried. What.

[16:48] What prayer. I need that for myself. How can I pray. God was teaching Abraham. That. You must know first. It's not from you. It's from me. You must begin to trust me.

[16:59] That God can provide. Even though you don't have it. You must learn. How to trust. So by praying for some people. For God to give them children. Even though. He didn't have a child. He knew. That God. Is the one.

[17:10] Who has the final say. He. The one who determines. Where children come from. God being the father. It has to do. A relationship with him. God. Father in two ways. A relationship. He loves. It's a wonderful. Father son relationship.

[17:21] But not just that. He's the father. In the Godhead. The father. The son. And the Holy Spirit. Which means. I is the father of everything. Everything comes from him. Abraham. You got to know this. I am the supplier. I am the provider.

[17:32] Mary said. I don't know a man. He said. You don't have to know a man. Once I say. I'm going to give you a child. I'll give you a child. Yeah. And the beautiful thing is. Verse 18. Talks about how. Abimelech.

[17:42] Listen to this. This one about to end. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. The problem. That go. Was. What was delaying. The childbirth. Of Sarah. Was because of. Their agreement.

[17:53] It had not been fixed yet. That's why Sarah was not having a child. Because they didn't have a child. And they had made some agreement. That we have to go our separation. When things get tough. That is why when things got tough.

[18:04] Sarah said. Go with. Ishmael's mom. Her guy. It was an agreement. And God had to fix that thing. It got Abraham to know that. It is God who provides. So if you can stick to your wife.

[18:14] You can stick to what I've given you. From the beginning. It will work. Just to prove to you. Look at this. Interesting. Genesis chapter 1. 20 verse 18. Look at verse 18. Again. Let's all look at verse 18.

[18:25] Now. The system goes for it by itself. Is it it? On the screen. Goes for it by itself. So when Abraham prayed for her. The Lord. For the Lord has closed up the womb of the women. Okay. So they were healed.

[18:36] From verse 17. They were healed. Because verse 18 was explaining. Why they were. What they were healed from. Alright. Is it okay to move to the next verse? Ah. 21. Let's read it. What did he do?

[18:53] Verse 20. Verse 2. For Sarah. Sarah conceived and for Abraham. Shh. Until that Mesopotamia problem was fixed. Sarah was not going to have a child.

[19:03] Wow. As soon as that was fixed. God said now. Ready to flow. Sometimes what we think is the problem is not a problem. Don't separate from Sarah.

[19:15] You know what God has told you. You know what is true. Don't let circumstances change your allegiance. Thank you for listening. To hear more from David Entry.

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