Everybody will turn to Genesis chapter 22.
Am I on?
Can you hear me?
That's why y'all were so, you couldn't hear me.
I almost did all that again, but I'm not going to.
I picked up the phone recently, and a friend said,
I, cancer.
His voice broke, as he told me.
I knew that tests had been done.
I knew that he was somewhat anticipating it.
I said, you broke up, tell me again.
And he said, I don't have cancer.
I needed to hear it again.
Wednesday morning at 4 a.m., my daughter, oldest daughter,
left, packed like a mule going down the road.
I took a picture as she left.
I told her I loved her and to be careful.
She got to probably about Pickens County Airport,
and we realized she had left something that she needed,
that she had bought for the first days of school,
and she needed it.
And so we called her.
She turned around.
At 4.10, I met her in the road, in front of the house,
put her package in the car, and said,
I love you.
Be careful.
I wanted her to hear it again.
Sometimes you need to hear things again.
Sometimes they need to be repeated.
And Abraham, who we've been studying,
offered up his son Isaac on the altar
as God instructed him.
And an angel comes to Abraham after he does that
and speaks words that he has already heard.
But sometimes we need to hear it again.
Let's hear it again this morning.
Genesis chapter 22, beginning in verse 15,
it says this,
And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham
a second time from heaven and said,
By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord,
because you have done this
and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you,
and I will surely multiply your offspring
as the stars of heaven
and as the sand that is on the seashore.
And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemy.
And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.
So Abraham returned to his young men
and they arose and went together to Beersheba.
And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, I am thankful for the word that you give us
and the words that sometimes you give us a second time.
Those things that we often sometimes,
not only a second time,
but maybe more,
need to hear again.
God, I pray today
that in the things that we face in our lives,
help us, oh God,
to hear what we need to hear
again today.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
I really believe verse 15 through 19
is a reboot for Abraham.
He desired a son to carry on the lineage
that God had promised him.
Having that son and watching him grow
and then God asking him to sacrifice his son.
Willing to trust the Lord,
he followed the command,
trusting that somehow God would intervene.
Somehow, if God took his son,
he'd bring him back.
He told others that both of them would be back.
Right there at the foot of the hill,
when they followed him most of the way,
he told them to wait
and he and the boy would be back.
He had confidence that God was going to do something
to bring them both back safely.
God provided the ram that they noticed
as the knife was raised over Isaac.
That is slightly intense, folks.
Where do we go from here?
Well, you remember what you already know.
You hear what you've heard again.
So I want to be clear this morning.
I may not tell you anything new today,
but there are three truths
that I want you to hear again.
I think they apply to anything
and everything in your life
that you're concerned about.
Three truths.
First one is this.
God gives us his word.
The angel came a second time.
The first time the message
was when the covenant of God was formed
with Abraham.
It's found in Genesis chapter 15
and before Abraham even had Isaac,
he promised him that he would.
With an uncertainty of how it could be done
when his wife was past
the age of bearing children,
Abraham made other arrangements
with Hagar, the lead maidservant,
against the wishes of God.
God promises Isaac again
and then Isaac is born.
Miraculously.
We get to this event in Genesis chapter 22
on Mount Moriah
and God provides a ram
so that there's no need for Isaac to die there.
In the aftermath,
God reiterates, underlines
what he said to start with
because God keeps his promises.
Whether it's his promises
or whether it's the promise,
he keeps it.
And when I say the promise,
I mean
that once you are saved by the grace of God,
your salvation is secure.
That's the promise of God.
The promise of God is
that if you'll surrender your life
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
if you'll admit that you're a sinner
and ask him to come into your life
and to save you,
that he will do it.
It's a promise of God.
Once he does that,
you can rest in that.
That never changes.
You'll change.
God doesn't change.
But the salvation that you receive from him
will never change.
It is secure.
Not only does it secure your eternity,
but it upticks your life here
because you are empowered now
by the Holy Spirit of God
to rise above the temptation
that you face in this life.
That is the promise of salvation.
The promise of God.
But beyond that promise,
there are the promises of God.
And I want you to understand
that God's other promises
are just as secure as your salvation.
Notice the angel says,
because you have done this.
Remember, Abraham has went up the mountain with Isaac,
offered his son to the Lord.
The son did not require him.
Excuse me, the Lord did not require his son.
And now the angel says,
because you have done this.
Abraham was blessed because he was obedient.
But I want you to be clear about something.
God knew Abraham would obey him.
God knew Abraham would obey him
before he ever established the first covenant with him.
God knew Abraham would obey him
before he was even created,
before Abraham was even born.
The promise of God came
before he knew beforehand
what he was going to show Abraham
and how Abraham would respond.
He has promised Abraham
that his descendants would be numerous.
Here the angel takes it a step further.
And in that promise of the legacy of Abraham,
he's described for the first time here
in this angelic message,
that that legacy is to be as numerous
as the stars in heaven,
which are too numerous to count.
Now that's hard for us to grasp in Pickens County
because we're blessed with trees
and hills and mountains.
Two weeks ago, I spent some nights in South Dakota
on the backside of nowhere in Big Sky Country.
And when we went out at night,
we saw the stars.
Too numerous to count.
Never before until this angelic message
was his legacy described as numerous
as the sands on the seashore.
If you were to take a cup of sand
and this afternoon,
take that cup of sand
and go to your dining room table
and pour that cup of sand out
and start counting out the grains of sand
as if you were counting coins,
well, one, you are a very boring person.
But number two,
you won't get it done today.
I believe they're probably beyond
what you're at least willing to calculate.
That's the example that he gives.
God's promises are that his blessings
will be too numerous to count.
I want you to notice something else too.
In verse 17, I love this passage.
It says this,
And your offspring shall possess
the gates of his enemies.
Now understand the gate of the city.
We're talking about walled cities.
Okay?
The gate was the main part of the city.
If you came into that city,
if you went out of that city,
you had to go through the gate of the city.
It was the meeting spot.
It was the social spot.
If you want to know what was happening,
that's where you went to see what was happening.
It was literally the gateway into the city.
Now, you can try to tear down the wall.
If you're trying to take over that city,
you can try to build a ramp to go over the wall.
They did such as that.
You can ladder up or try to break through
or tunnel under,
but the real place to get through was the gate.
And even if you did go over or under the wall,
the first thing that an army would do
if it went over the wall or under the wall
was to get to the gate and open it up
so the rest of the army could come in.
You defeat the enemy by possessing the gate.
And God says here,
Your offspring,
because of your obedience,
shall subdue the enemy.
You know what that means to us, Christian?
Well, let me remind you of what Jesus said
at Caesarea Philippi.
Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 15,
he said this,
He said to them,
But who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter replied,
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered him,
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah.
That just means his daddy's name was Jonah.
Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you,
you are Peter,
and on this rock I'll build my church,
and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
That word for Peter there means rock,
like a small stone.
But the reality is,
when he says,
and on this rock,
that's a different word,
more like a boulder.
I had a New Testament professor
that described this passage as meaning this.
He said,
I wasn't there,
but if I was there,
I believe I would have seen this.
And he said,
Peter,
and you are now rock.
His name was Simon
before he changed him to small stone.
You are rock.
And on this rock,
I'll build my church.
And the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
I want to be clear.
No matter what denomination you come from,
the church is not built on Peter.
It's built on Christ.
He is the foundation,
the cornerstone,
and the capstone.
That's where the strength comes from.
But get this point.
The gates of hell
shall not prevail.
In other words,
if you go with God,
we will possess the gate.
If we go with God,
we will subdue the enemy.
If we go with God,
we will win the battle,
triumph over the enemy in the war.
With God, friend,
we win.
And the angel had to say that
a second time to Abraham.
He needed to hear it again
or he wouldn't have repeated it.
Maybe you need to hear it again.
I know I do from time to time.
I need to be reminded
that with God, we win.
That is the blessings of believing.
That is the blessings of obedience.
You will gain things from the Lord
that you do not deserve
because God gives us
his word.
Second truth is this.
You've heard this before.
You need to hear it again.
God challenges us
to believe.
Abraham had to believe
God before Isaac was born.
Abraham had to believe
God when God asked for Isaac.
Abraham had to believe
God in the midst of the journey
when he kept looking at that place,
dreading the top of that mountain
where he was going,
looking up to that place.
He had to trust God in that.
Abraham had to believe God
when he told his servants,
wait here,
we'll be back.
We'll be back,
both of us.
Abraham had to believe God
as he bound his son.
Abraham had to believe God
as he lifted that knife.
Abraham had to believe.
It was a challenge of belief.
And he's not the only one.
Think about David.
When David walked in
to the valley of Elah
and saw that blasphemous
giant of a man, Goliath,
breathing out his
sacrilegious threats,
David had to believe in God.
I mean, they tried to fit him
with Saul's armor.
And another passage said
Saul was a head taller
than every other man.
It didn't fit on David.
He couldn't believe in the armor.
He had to believe in God.
When Saul told him,
you're just a boy,
he had to believe in God.
When David went
and picked up five smooth stones,
praying for accuracy,
he had to believe in God.
And he referred back
to what God had done
for him in the past.
He said,
when I was keeping sheep
and a bear came along,
God enabled me
to protect the sheep.
When the lion came along,
God enabled me
to protect the sheep.
David had to believe
that God had prepared him
for this.
He saw all that shepherding
as a training ground
for this valley,
for this time.
David had to believe
that when he went
with boldness
against those that defy
the living God,
that God would come through.
David had to believe.
And when he went
into that valley
and when he took his shot
and when he struck down
the enemy,
David had to believe.
But he's not the only one.
When Peter was in that boat
in the midst of the storm,
he had to believe.
When he saw Jesus
walking on the water,
he had to believe.
When Jesus told him
to walk out on the water,
he had to believe.
And as long as his eyes
stayed on Jesus,
he stayed up.
And when he looked
at the storm,
he began to sink.
I promise you folks,
if you watch the storms
in life,
it'll weaken your faith
every time.
But you keep your eyes
upon the Lord
and he will lead you
to believe.
Because God challenges us
to believe.
He did it in Abraham's life.
He did it in David's life.
He did it in Peter's life.
Oh, I could go on.
We can talk about Joseph.
We can talk about Moses.
Y'all don't want lunch today,
do you?
We can talk about Joshua.
We can talk about Samson.
We can talk about Nehemiah.
We can talk about Esther.
We can talk about Job.
Let's get over to the prophets.
Let's turn over to the apostles.
All the way through,
you will find that
they had to believe.
God challenges us
to believe,
not just for biblical folks,
for folks today.
God challenges us
to believe.
So I want to ask you this morning,
have you ever believed
on the Lord?
1 John 1, 9 says,
if we confess our sins,
he's faithful and just
to forgive us of our sins
and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
Leave that up a minute.
I love this passage.
And what I love about it is,
if God was,
if God was willing to do it
but couldn't do it,
we'd be in a mess.
And if God could do it
but wasn't willing to do it,
oh man,
we'd be in a mess.
But thank God,
he's willing to do it
and he can do it
and not only does he forgive us
of our sins,
but listen,
if you start naming your sins today,
if we all do that,
this place is going to get ugly.
Okay?
If we start confessing our sins
but I'll tell you,
we can make a list
as long as we possibly
can think of
and we'll still not name them all.
We'll miss some out.
And what I am thankful about
is when we bring
our known sin to God,
he is willing and able
to forgive us of our sins
and look at what it says,
and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
He cleans the slate
when we believe.
Have you ever believed
on the Lord?
If not,
that's your challenge today
because he challenges us
to believe.
Third thing is this.
God keeps his promise.
God populated a nation
through Abraham
just like he promised.
He used Abraham
because of his obedience.
Think about another man
that obeyed God.
Noah obeyed God.
He built a boat
in the desert
when it hadn't even rained.
Why did he do it?
Because God told him to do it.
And all the storms
and the floods,
when Noah reached dry land,
the first thing he did
was build an altar
to the Lord
in Genesis chapter 9.
It was after the sacrifice
that God promised
he would never again
destroy the earth
by flood
and then he put his bow
in the sky.
All that fight over the rainbow
if they only knew.
Let me tell you
what literally
the Hebrew mind
would see
when they look at that passage.
is that when the wrath
of God
is coming upon
the people
of the land
that it is
as if God
has a bow and arrow
and he is using
that primitive weapon
to display his wrath
toward folks.
That's what the flood
was doing.
It was God
using his wrath
toward the earth
and when he made
that covenant
with Noah
after he went
to that altar,
God,
thank God,
hung up his bow.
in the sky
he was done.
And every time
you see a rainbow
you can be reminded
thank God
the wrath of God
has been spared
from my life
because God's
hung up his bow.
I didn't make that up.
The Hebrew language
tells us that.
Hagar
was used
by Abraham
and Sarah
to have the baby
that they thought
they could not have.
It was not
in God's will
and it made
for a messy
hairy situation
but God promised
her
before her child
was born
that he would
father descendants
without number.
Job went
through the worst.
I can't imagine
the losses
he took
the accusations
that people made
the hardship
that he suffered
but after he went
through his trial
the scripture says
he received
a double portion
of all that he had lost.
Why?
Because God is faithful.
He keeps
his promise.
Now I want you
to recognize something.
Abraham
when he was
going up that mountain
with his precious
son Isaac
did not know
this was a test
of God.
He didn't know
that till afterwards.
Job
when he went
through all his suffering
didn't know
it was a test
that he was going
through
until he suffered
the losses
that he did.
I say that
because
we usually
do not recognize
the test
that we face
when we're walking
in the midst
of it.
It's not until
after the fact
when we look back
and see God's hand
lead us through it
that we understand
what was going on.
It's just too real
to us.
It's right there
before us.
The test
of God
are not
pre-scheduled
on some syllabus
that God gives us
when we give
our heart and life
to him
so we can know
when it's going to come
and when the deadline
is.
They come
unexpected.
But God's promises
God promises
that he will not
leave us alone
in the midst
of our difficulty
and God
keeps his promise.
Not only that
but he blesses
those who trust
him
and turn
their way
to his way.
I like the way
Kent Hughes
put it.
He said this
it's all so simple
we grow
in faith
as we believe
the bare word
of God.
The process
is this
God comes
to us
with his word
and we're challenged
to believe.
When we believe
his word
he tests us
by stretching
our faith
so that it can
grow to greater
dimensions than before.
There are always
valleys next
to the hilltops
of faith.
There are ups
and downs
but God grows
our faith
incrementally
so that we are
enabled
to give our
Isaacs
to God.
so
so what
changes
does God
want you
to make
in his life?
What changes
does God
want you
to make
in your life?
Resting
upon the
promises
of God
being reminded
of those things
that most of you
when you walked
in this place
already knew
how does that
apply to your
life today?
What does
his word
and the conviction
of his spirit
speak to you
about in regards
to a change
that needs to come
in your life?
You may be in that
spot where you say
well pastor
listen I'm not
hearing anything
from God.
I'm just not
hearing it.
and my first
question would be
it's not
accusative
it's a question
are you
listening?
Are you
attentive?
Are you
taking personal
time in his
word?
Because my
friend the
word of God
is God
breathes.
It is a
living
active
declaration
of what
he'll work
and move
not only in
the people's
lives that
are listed
in this
book
but what
he'll do
in our
lives as
well.
And when
you ask
the Lord
Jesus
God as I
read this
will you
show me
how it
applies to
my life?
God will
you interact
with what
I'm dealing
with in my
life today
as I read
this passage
God?
Will you
give me
direction
I ask?
I promise
you
the Holy
Spirit will
work and
move in
your life
as you
trust him
in his
word.
The other
question is
this have
you answered
what he's
already told
you to
do?
God
convicted
you in
an area
of your
life that
you're just
letting lay
and ignoring?
Have you
responded to
what he's
already told
you to do?
I want
you to hear
it again.
God gives
you his
word.
God will
always challenge
us to
believe and
God will
always keep
his promises.
You can rest
in it.
As my friend
says often
that's what the
book says and
the book never
lies.
every head
bowed and
every eye
closed.
I want to
ask you this
morning has
there ever
been a time
in your
life when
you've asked
the Lord
Jesus to
come into
your life
and save
you?
Have you
ever
acknowledged
the fact
that you're
a sinner
and need
the Lord
Jesus and
ask him to
save you?
If that's
never happened
to you I
want you to
know in a few
minutes we're
going to stand
we're going to
give the
invitation.
You can
come for
various reasons
but the
most important
one of any
of that is
that if you
don't know
the Lord
Jesus you
come I'd
love to
guide you
in that
process of
what it
means to
give your
heart and
life to
the Lord.
If you've
done that
privately but
you've never
done that
publicly you
need to
acknowledge him
through baptism.
It's the
first step of
obedience.
Christ did
it as an
example for
us to
follow and
it's the way
to proclaim
that faith.
So maybe
you're coming
today and
say listen I
know I've
given my
heart and
life to the
Lord but I've
never made
that publicly
acknowledged and
I need to do
that today.
Maybe God's
drawing you
into this
fellowship.
You know that
this is where
God would have
you to serve.
Sometimes we
just put those
things off.
Listen if you're
putting that off
for no reason
except for
stubbornness don't
do that anymore.
Just obey God
and come.
I don't ever want
you to do anything
that God's not
leading you to do.
Never want you to
sit on anything
God is telling you
to do.
Maybe you're
here this
morning and the
reality is there's
just stuff in your
life that you need
to believe God
for and you need
to lay those
things at the
altar and give
them over to God.
Not pick them up
and take them back
to your seat with
you.
Leave them here
at his feet
trusting him with
it.
I don't know how
God's speaking to
you but I promise
you that if you
obey him he'll keep
his promises.
You can rest in it.
Heavenly Father I love
you and I thank you
dear God for your
love for us and I
ask today that you'll
move and you'll work
in our midst.
Help us to respond
in obedience as you
speak to our hearts
and lives.
Oh God I pray in
Jesus precious name.
Amen.