The God Of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob - Message 5 - Ishmael

[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. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a God who wants to be known as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

[0:24] He is not three gods but triune God. He is one God but triune in his economy.

[0:37] I just dropped that one. When you grow you will understand it. He is one God but triune in his economy. In the working of his economy.

[0:49] And he called Abraham and gave Abraham a particular experience in himself. And the work Abraham had with God procured him a placement in the heart of God.

[1:10] And God was able to build a particular experience into Abraham. Which became a standard procedure protocol for the people of God.

[1:21] So anyone who must enjoy God as God's chosen must know God as the God of Abraham. Does it make sense?

[1:33] Anyone who must fall into the category of the specially chosen of God must know God as the God not just of Abraham but the God of Isaac. Other than that they may be Esau's sons of Esau and still think that they fit in.

[2:00] They must know God also as the God of Jacob. And the God of Abraham as I told you is simply an experience Abraham had which everyone in God which every one of us must know God that way.

[2:16] What is the overarching experience Abraham had God? In the God of Abraham we see God as the God of initiation. He initiates. He is the origin.

[2:27] He is the source of anything that must be called of God. Abraham said to God. First of all he said to Abraham leave your home. Leave your country.

[2:39] And cross the river. When he used to live in the area of the child in. He spoke to him told him that leave your father's house to a place where I will show you.

[2:50] And eventually Abraham after wasting a bit of time ended up in Canaan land. And in Genesis chapter 12 verse 7. In Canaan God came to Abraham and said to Abraham.

[3:02] Genesis chapter 12 verse 7. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants I will give this land. Okay. There is a reason why God told him to leave his father's land.

[3:16] And go to cross the river into a new land where he will give him. When he arrived there God told him to your descendants I will give this land. Now actually the word descendants.

[3:30] That's New King James. How does that put the King James on the screen let's see. And said to thy seed you see. To thy what? Seed. Thy what? Seed.

[3:40] Plural or singular? Singular. Singular. But descendants are plural. Actually the original Hebrew word that was translated seed. Also means descendants.

[3:51] Also means offspring. So it depends on the context. All right. Also means offspring. Also means quite a lot of other about seven different other things. All right. So descendants is not inaccurate.

[4:03] But when you are talking about translating with great exactitude you can't really have it so much. But the King James is closer. Seed. Say seed.

[4:13] Seed. The Hebrew word sounds something like I say Zerah. It said to your descendants your seed I will give this land. All right. I want to draw your attention to that because let me see how much time I've got.

[4:25] God came back to him to say that again. And I'm going to draw. That's why I was making a point on the Zerah. And so God told him I'll give you the land. So when he arrived there God came to him and said that this is the land I'll give to you.

[4:36] This land. But Abraham strayed off to Egypt. He went through a few tests regarding the land. He strayed off to Egypt one. Came back. Because he was deported from Egypt. The end of Genesis chapter 13.

[4:50] Even when he was there he was prospering. And it was affecting the economy. Positively. So. And then when they came back. Lot's heads man and his heads man were having problems.

[5:00] And they had to divide the land. Lot chose the best part. That's the second land challenge he had. The God I'm giving you the land. But he was having challenges about the land. So don't worry about the challenges you're having about that promise.

[5:13] When he gives you a promise doesn't mean you don't have a challenge about the promise. But what it means if you can keep your eyes on him. He will sort out the promise for you. God is too faithful to fail. Bible says that after they have.

[5:25] Abraham after he had endured patiently. He obtained the promise. Hebrews. So we should be. Not be slothful but be followers of those. Who through faith and patience have obtained.

[5:37] And then he met. The king of Sodom. And he wanted to bless Abraham. Abraham said I won't take anything from you. So that you don't say that I have made Abraham great. Because he knew who his source was.

[5:49] Before then he had met the king of Salem. Melchizedek. Melchizedek gave him. He gave his tithe to Melchizedek. And Melchizedek gave him.

[6:00] Blessed him. And gave him bread and wine. Alright. So. And. So that's Abraham's story on the land. About the land. But after the land. In Genesis chapter 15. That's where I want us to go.

[6:11] So if you can take your Bibles. And please open to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15. Genesis is just at the beginning of your Bible. And chapter 15 comes after chapter 14. After these things.

[6:22] The word of the Lord came to Abraham verse 1. After these things. The word of the Lord came to Abraham. A vision saying. Do not be afraid. For I am your shield. And your exceeding great reward. That's a word for somebody. Amen. Amen.

[6:33] Amen. But Abraham said. Lord. Lord God. What will you give me? Seeing I go childless. And the heir of my house. Is a lizard of Damascus.

[6:45] Then. Then Abraham said. Look. You have given me no offspring. Indeed. One bone in my house. Is my heir. Now that's very interesting. Abraham said.

[6:55] What will you give me? He's got the land already. He's got the land. You see. Brothers and sisters. Your job is not the best thing. That can ever happen to you. Because you will not be doing that job forever. After a while.

[7:07] They will retire you. Because they don't really need you for that job. Because you can't really deliver. A job is just to keep you. Financially sustained. And then give. Give an avenue for you to fulfill your.

[7:19] Assignment. In life. All right. So. Abraham said. I've got the land. I've got all these things. But really. It doesn't matter. After I'm dead and gone. Strangers who. All these things have left.

[7:29] I discovered. The other time. I was having a child. With Pastor. I realized that. Almost everything you have. In life. You'll give it. Someone will get it. So whatever you have. You'll pass it on. Some of you have got a lot of clothes. That you really won't use anymore.

[7:42] The car. Will go. That house. Pretty soon. You'll be so well blessed. You'll move from that address. So.

[7:52] So really. The physical things. And material things. We get. Are not as. As important. As. The life we live. And pass it on. To our children. What sort of children.

[8:02] Are we raising? Because. Sometimes. When people are so. Poor. And so desperate. They only think about. Now. But in the next 20 years. Some of us. Will not really matter.

[8:13] Is the children. We have raised. They'll be making. Seals. Inroads. School alone. Is not enough. because the schools are beginning to teach them things that will keep them away from their destinies.

[8:25] So school alone is not enough. Mom, get involved. Get involved with your children's godliness. I'm not talking about just the education. Education, as I normally say, education without God just gives you a clever devil.

[8:40] A lot of people who are highly educated, they have several certificates, but they didn't amount to anything in their lives. In the later stages of their life, there's nothing to show. But education is very important.

[8:52] Education will drill certain level of discipline into your life. So the more educated you are, the more you have the opportunity to apply yourself to a discipline. And success in life is a function of discipline.

[9:04] So when you lack discipline, that means that you can't be very successful in life. So the quality of a school has a lot to do with the disciplined students they are raising, not just intelligent, because you can be so intelligent, if you lack discipline.

[9:18] You know some people who are very intelligent when we're in school, but no boundaries, no discipline. Before they finish, before they were 17 years, they have four children, and now they have to get a job to take care of the women and the babies.

[9:31] So their educational advantage was cut short. So discipline is necessary. So Abraham said, how, you have given me land, you have given me, but I said, you're not really giving me anything, because I don't have a child.

[9:42] And now a foreigner's child, or foreigners are going to inherit all this that I've got. God said, no, a foreigner will not inherit. And he said that, a child, let's go to verse three, Genesis chapter 15, verse three, look here, okay, verse four, and behold, the word of the Lord came to Abraham.

[10:00] This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. So you have to, you see, when it comes to the things of God, you have to be birthed into God.

[10:14] You can't outsource your calling. You can't get somebody who really is not of, that's why Jesus told Peter, you don't seek the things of God, but the things of men.

[10:25] That's why Peter told, Simon, the sorcerer, in Acts chapter eight, verse 18, your money perish with you. You are an offense to God. How do you think you can buy the work of God or the spirit of God with money?

[10:38] Because he was not born into the thing. He was coming with a foreign mindset about how church is supposed to be. So when he comes and you are praising, he's upset. He says, what, what's this noise about? Yeah, you have foreign to what God, how God does things.

[10:52] All right. You understand what I'm saying? So he said that one that must be born from you is the one that can do the job. Not a stranger who lives in your house. They can hang around you and understand your language and know you very well, but they can continue what I've started in you.

[11:07] God, for someone to continue what I've started in you, they must be born of you. So he said, one born from your own loins is the one who can continue what I've started in you. How I wish every pastor must understand.

[11:20] Someone finished Bible school, he comes and says, I have my certificate. I was ordained five, five years ago. And I'm really, I'm almost, I was almost close to becoming a bishop. I want to, uh, I think God is sending me to come and help you build your church.

[11:32] His, his, his, his recipe for disaster. Oh, check with every pastor. Maybe some pastor is watching me, knows what I'm talking about.

[11:44] So he says that not one born from your own loins. Would take over what I've started in you. And the problem is Abraham was finding it difficult.

[11:54] So he accepted it. God has told him this land. Watch this, watch this, watch this. Oh boy. Chapter, chapter 12 verse seven. He said, this land I'll give to your seed.

[12:06] Chapter 12 verse seven. It is appeared to him. He said that your descendants, when he was telling him, the guy was childless, childless. But God said, this land belongs to your descendants. Then after he has got some conquests, God shows up again in chapter 15.

[12:19] He says that Abraham, I'm your shield and your soothing grace. He was talking, I don't have a child. And God said, no, no, a foreigner is one that will be born from your own. That is God works with people.

[12:32] He has birthed. God has never been in need of help. Did you hear what I just said? Yes. God has never been in need of help and he will never be. Let's quickly rush to chapter 16 because that's where I really want to go to.

[12:44] So take notice of all I've said. Abraham started getting concerned about his. I think, I think, permit me, let me just read the chapter 15. There are a few things that I wanted to draw to your attention. Verse six.

[12:56] And I like this. I want to clap for the Lord. Verse four. And God said that this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.

[13:07] Verse five. Then he brought him outside and said, look now towards heaven and count the stars. If you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall thy seed be.

[13:18] Look at, can I, can I draw attention to something? I prefer the King James because the Zerah is the original one. The King James here. He said, look, look at what? Look now towards the heaven and what?

[13:30] Tell. Tell what? What does that mean? Can you tell the number of stars we have in there? If you are able to number them. Number what? The what? Stars.

[13:41] So he was talking about stars. And he said, so shall thy seed, no seeds, no seeds. Think about it. Think about it. Think about it. He said, your seed shall be like the stars.

[13:54] That's why the translators use descendants, but it's not actually descendants. How can you, how can you say it's not descendants? Because if you are saying Zerah can mean descendants, maybe actually should have been there.

[14:04] No, I'm telling you, it should be seed, not seeds, not descendants. How do I know? Galatians chapter three, Luke chapter 16. When Paul, the apostle making reference to that conversation that went on between Abraham and God, apostle said, now Abraham and his seed, where the promise made, how, uh, uh, he, he does not say to see Paul was so clear that they didn't mean seeds.

[14:30] He said one seed. So his descendants is kind of wrong. Descendants is wrong. That is seed. So he said, so shall die seed. Your seed shall be like the stars.

[14:42] And Paul throws like saying that that seed is referring to Christ. So the promise was made to Abraham and Christ. So that all of us, when we are in Christ, it takes effect on us.

[14:58] Because he said in you, in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham, God showed Abraham in the, and God said, so shall he be.

[15:12] I like that one. It was, it was quoted in Romans chapter four back. When we're talking about Abraham, uh, a belief in hope that he might be the father of many nations. According to what was spoken.

[15:24] So shall that Romans chapter four, verse 17, according to what was spoken. So shall die seed be as it's written. I've made you a father of many nations in the presence of you, uh, who he believed God, who gives life to, to the dead and cause the things that do not have known.

[15:37] Verse 18, as though they believe, uh, who can control him to hope in hope, believe so that he might become the father of many. According to that, what was spoken, what was spoken. So shall die seed.

[15:48] It should be seed. So shall die seed be. This is translation. All right. Yes, the translators, but then the original is the Zerah. So, so shall die seed be. So now, and Abraham believed that statement.

[16:02] What did he believe? He believed, he looked at the stars and believed that so shall my seed be. A childless man at an advanced age believed God. Bible said, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

[16:14] God said, you're right. You're in. As long as you can look up to me, that's it. Forget about the complexities surrounding you. Forget about the difficulties about your situation. If you can look up to me and believe what I'm telling you, you are in.

[16:27] Someone shout, Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe. So shall die seed be. And verse six said, and he believed in the Lord and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Then he said to him, I'm the Lord who brought you out of the, of air of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it.

[16:46] He said, Lord, how shall I know that I will inherit the land? See this. So he said to him, bring me a three year old Haifa, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

[17:00] Then he brought all these to him and cut them into two down the middle and place each piece opposite the other. But he did not cut the, the beds in two.

[17:11] And when the, the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. Now, now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abraham and behold, horror and darkness fell upon him.

[17:24] Then he said to Abraham, no, certainly that your descendants, that's your seed will be strangers in the land that is not this and will serve them. And then this, this, this one is your descendants.

[17:35] Yeah. So they will serve them and they will afflict them 400 years. And also the nation who they serve, I will judge afterwards. They shall come out with great possession.

[17:46] Now, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. Someone say, Amen. You shall be buried at a good old age.

[18:01] Let me repeat it. You see what we have in Christ? You can choose how long you want to live. You know, they were, they beat Stephen. He was about to die. They beat him.

[18:11] They stoned him. And he said, Lord, in your hands I commit my soul and died. The same thing happened to Paul. They beat him. They beat him. He was about to die. He felt and behaved like he was dead. Well, he didn't say I'm committing my soul anyway.

[18:22] I'm not going. I'm here. When they, when they, when he got up and walked, he said, I'm not going anywhere. Praise the Lord. So, yeah, so it's very important.

[18:34] God told him you die at a good old age. Now, when he asked him to bring those sacrifices and cut them in half, what it symbolized was the cross. Right there, the cross was there. Cut death. There must be some death.

[18:45] God takes us through some situations of death for some things to give way so that he can fulfill what he has to do in our lives. So it's okay. The Bible says that after the death of Moses, God said that now, Joshua, I can't use you.

[18:56] After the death of Moses, the servant of God. Can you imagine? The servant of God. But God's plan was for Joshua to take them to the promised land. He told them we are going to the promised land. But as long as Moses was there, Joshua can't resume office.

[19:10] So after the death of Moses, after the death of your boyfriend, God said, now I'm going to get you ready to. Shout hallelujah.

[19:20] Hallelujah. God said, now we can start talking marriage. Clap for the Lord. Hallelujah.

[19:35] Listen, when you're working with God and you learn how to praise him, don't complain about things that go wrong. Because all things work together for good. All things. Say all things. All things. That's Romans chapter 8 verse 20.

[19:46] All things work together for good. So it doesn't matter how bad things may seem. You see, Bible says that God said, my ways are not your way. Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8 to 9. My ways, as the heavens are, so are my ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours.

[20:00] So the way we think is not the way God thinks. So if you want to enjoy the blessing that God has got for you, sometimes it may use a different route. You are thinking, and this is the route that God must use.

[20:11] Because that's what everyone is using. But God said, no, I'm not going to take you to the throne through this route. David didn't come to the throne through the same route. Saul came. He came dancing. Saul came to the throne because people were asking for a king.

[20:23] And he went to look for us. That's how he came. But David was sitting somewhere. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. So your ways are not my ways. And your thoughts are not my thoughts.

[20:35] God has a way of fixing you. All he requires from you is, he said, I will do it. Just believe it. Someone say, Lord, I believe. Tap someone and tell the person, only believe, fear not.

[20:50] The cross must come into place for the genuine thing that God wants to birth in your life to be born. The cross is essential. It's central to what? And then when Bible says that I divided them and then deep sea, he fell on Abraham.

[21:02] What does that mean? God will learn how to sedate you. He will knock you out for you to come to the low state of your heart. And now I know it's not about me. Now I know it's not my strength.

[21:14] If it must be of God, he will strip you of you. Because he doesn't want mixture. He wants to do a pure work in your life. But some of us, we accept what God has, and we add ourselves.

[21:26] So it's a mixture. And God doesn't want mixture. Your breakthrough must be pure from God. No wonder Abraham said, I don't take anything from you. So you don't say, I've made Abraham great.

[21:37] If God cannot do, may it not be done. That's Abraham's approach. And we are the sons of Abraham. Say amen. Amen. So, the death, there must be the death.

[21:48] The cross must come, must precede. And the darkness must fall on someone. Someone must be missing out of the equation. You must be missing. Get lost. That's why I said earlier on, it's not about, it's not enough, okay, it's not enough to deal with sin.

[22:03] You must deal with self. It's not enough to deal with sin. When it comes to God's plan, God's purpose, God's agenda for your life, it's not enough to deal with sin. If someone listening to me, it's not enough.

[22:15] Church folks, it's not enough to deal with sin. Yeah, nowadays I've been able to sort the sin issue out. Thank God for that. And it's better you do it though, because sin will stop you. You can't go anywhere with sin, so long as God is concerned.

[22:26] He says that it's not that my hand, my ears are not dulled that I can't hear you. In Isaiah chapter 59 verse 1 and 2. Not that my hands are shut that I can't deliver you, but your sins, your iniquities, have barred my movement.

[22:39] So who told you sin doesn't matter? Sin matters. Sin matters. That's what David said in Psalm 32 verse 1, that blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven. When you receive forgiveness of sin, it's like you are now, you've received your settlement in God.

[22:54] You are free, without restrictions, to do what you want to do in God. So it starts there, but I discovered that it's not enough to deal with sins, because there are too many of us who have too much self inside it.

[23:06] And it's disturbing what God wants to do in your life. It's disturbing it. So it has slowed down the process significantly. There's too much self. You are trying to pastor a church with a lot of self.

[23:19] You are trying to run the business God has called you to do with a lot of self. You are trying to do the church work. That's a church worker with a lot of self. That's why you are so sensitive, they don't clap for you. And God will send you to a pastor who actually has a good heart, but normally sometimes doesn't notice it's your birthday.

[23:37] And we'll see. They didn't call me for my birthday. I won't sing again. Pastor, I didn't tell anybody it's my birthday. Can you imagine? My whole birthday, pastor, I didn't tell anybody. In our family, birthdays are big, you know. Birthdays are big.

[23:49] All right. See, that's how you know how things are done. And when God wants to use you, he will teach you how to circumcise, remove the foreskin. Sometimes it can be a painful process.

[24:03] But if your heart is in it, if your heart is in God, if your heart is in God, sometimes it's a smoother and easier process. If someone gets to what I'm saying.

[24:15] So please, stop this bread and butter Christianity. You are not as important as you think you are. Outside of your destiny, you are really unimportant.

[24:28] Your significance on earth is tied to your assignment on earth. When you occupy your destiny, where God has called you to be, that is what makes you important in life. And so any relationship, any association, any attitude that will keep you away from that is actually marginalizing your importance in life.

[24:46] I discovered that when you walk in God's call, God's plan for you, even your health is covered. I discovered. Your health is covered.

[24:57] Your peace is covered. I'm telling you. Because that is when the insurance kicks in. Because the comprehensive insurance heaven has got with your life is tied to your fulfillment of your assignment.

[25:09] Anyone fulfilling his assignment cannot die prematurely. You can't die prematurely before your assignment. So be busy looking for your assignment.

[25:21] Stop looking for your importance. Your importance is attached to your assignment. Someone shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Listen, your value in life has not got to do with your age.

[25:32] Drop it. The problems you are able to solve is what determines the value they place on you. Which is better? I discovered that in God, in ministry, it's the same.

[25:43] Titles don't guarantee entitlement. Delivery. Results. Results. Someone say results. Results. Talk with results. We think, oh, as long as your heart is good, it doesn't matter.

[25:55] No. Your heart is good, but your hands might show. Because the way some of us like sleep, there's no way we will break through. Three previous jobs we didn't want to have here. All those three jobs, you were sacked.

[26:06] It's a sign that there's a question of diligence. Oh, but they don't like me. But how come the other people, they are there? It's either you go to work late, you are underperforming, underdelivering, or you are just a menace to the company.

[26:23] And you are saying, I'm praying, they don't know God. I bind the devil. I bind the devil. Bind your sleep. Bind your sleep.

[26:37] Bind your sleep. Amen. Productivity. In chapter 16, verse 1, the wife came to Abraham and said, I know God is not performing. Let's do something about it.

[26:50] Now Sarah Abraham's wife had born him no child. And she had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar. Look at verse 2. Look at verse 2. And Sarah said to Abraham, See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children.

[27:05] Please, go into my maid. Perhaps, I shall obtain child by her. And Abraham did. I've been waiting for you to have just been No, that would go.

[27:20] Abraham's hard working. If you don't know, Abraham's hard working. That's why he had so much success. Because there can never be success without hard work. It can never happen. That may be criminal.

[27:32] I'm Robert's who are doing well. They sit down and can strategize, work hard. Everything of value comes with effort.

[27:43] It's only in the church people want to be specialists without training. He agreed and then went. Thinking that that will fulfill the purpose of God.

[27:54] And God gave him a slap on the wrist. God said, Yourself has gotten involved. If I said I would do it, who told you I can't do it? I said I could do it. Who told you?

[28:04] And he says that, in Galatians, he says that the child of the born woman is of the law. It's similar to Sanai. But the child of the free woman is Isaac.

[28:14] It's similar to grace. Grace comes through the free woman. The promise comes through Sanai. So we, as it were, are the children not of Sanai. Not the children of the law.

[28:25] We, are the children of the free woman. And so, how, if you have to know God as the God of Abraham, you must know him as the God who does not deal with us based on just the law, but deals with us based on grace.

[28:40] And he doesn't want your self-righteousness or he doesn't want yourself. Don't do it with yourself. Pastor, so now, how do I translate this into practical terms?

[28:51] How do I practically? You must learn how to say yes to the Lord at your, at your, at any cost. Learn how to say yes to the Lord. If you are doing something and you have a witness, a check in your spirit that this is not of God, stop it.

[29:05] Redraw. It doesn't matter how lucrative the venture is. If you have a witness in your spirit that this is not of God, redraw. Other than that, you are going solo. But this walk is a partnership walk.

[29:17] God is working with us. Thank you for listening. To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Why don't you subscribe to our YouTube channel at Karis Church and subscribe to our podcast so you are always up to date.

[29:37] Be blessed.