We're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.
We're singing in Psalm 34 in the Scottish Psalter, page 246 of the Psalm book.
Psalm 34, the beginning of the Psalm.
We're going to sing down to verse 8.
It's a psalm that reminds us of coming to worship God and knowing the blessing of that.
God, will I bless all times.
His praise my mouth shall still express.
My soul shall boast in God.
The meek shall hear with joyfulness.
We'll sing from verse 1 down to verse 8 to God's praise.
God, will I bless all times.
His praise my mouth shall still express.
My soul shall boast in God.
The meek shall hear with joyfulness.
Exol the Lord with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord.
He heard and did me from all fears deliver.
They looked to him and lightened were.
Not shame it were their faces.
This poor man cry.
God heard and saved him from all his distresses.
The angel of the Lord.
The angel of the Lord encamps.
And run encampasses.
All those of the Lord.
God, will I bless you.
Fear God, his saints, none that impere shall be with one oppressed.
We unite our hearts together now in prayer. Let us pray.
Amen.
We thank you for your day in the week, the Lord's Day. We thank you for the day of rest, a day to worship you, a day to spend in this way.
And we pray that in everything that we do today, that you would refresh us in it.
We thank you for the young ones here today with us. We thank you for all who help over the summer holidays just now with Twinnies and Cresce.
And we do pray, Lord, that as they go through to the hall in a few moments, that you'll be with them there, that they will enjoy learning from your word together.
And help us to be prayerful for one another, remembering to the holiday club as it comes up this week.
Thank you for all the children who have signed up for it.
Lord, we look forward to it. We pray that you will bless it each and every day, that you will bless all that we do, take care of us.
Lord, even as we travel to and from the holiday club and all that we do in the club, Lord, we pray for you to be with us, that you will speak to us, that you will help us to rejoice in your goodness to us.
So, Lord, continue to watch over us and all our loved ones, families and friends, neighbours, all our communities, day after day.
We will know your goodness and mercy following us all the days of our life.
So we ask all these things, looking to you, asking in Jesus' name, the forgiveness of our sins. Amen.
It's good to see you today. Was anybody through in the hall already?
Hands up if you were through in the hall already. A few of you have already been in the hall.
Some others will go through in a moment.
Now, those who are in the hall, just don't say anything for a minute, because I'm going to ask those who haven't been in the hall,
when you were coming up to the church today, did you notice anything that was different?
Possibly not.
Maybe as you were walking up through the gates, coming towards the church, everything just looked the same.
Maybe the fact that the sun shining is maybe a difference that we don't see so often.
But everything kind of looks the same.
You see the church, or maybe you see the hall.
Perhaps you didn't notice anything that was different.
But if you've been into the hall, well, then you'll see that things are different.
Because when you go into the hall, as soon as you open the door, things are very different.
You're entering into what looks like a jungle.
There's banners hanging, and there's things up on the wall.
It's very different to what it normally is.
There's all kinds of things that unless you go into the hall, you won't see them.
So today, I hope that many of you will come into the hall after the service, when there's tea and coffee served.
Go and see for yourselves how the hall has been transformed.
It's been transformed for the holiday club that's taking place this coming week.
So inside is very different to what it normally is.
But outside, it all looks the same.
But it reminded me of how that is the way we are as Christians too.
How can you look at someone today and say that they're a Christian?
If you look around the church, who is a Christian here?
Can you tell just by looking on the outside, a person's a Christian?
No.
Not really.
Sometimes you can think, well, they look very happy, but all kinds of different people can look happy.
Sometimes you think, well, they look very sad.
They can't be Christians, but sometimes Christians can be sad as well.
Maybe on the outside, nothing changes.
But inside, things change.
The Bible tells us again and again that the Lord doesn't look on the things on the outside,
but he looks on what's on the inside, in the heart, which is the very being of the person.
And that's what he changes.
Because inside, he changes us to know that whatever is going on outside of us,
things can look the same.
We go through times of joy and sadness.
But what we know is that he is with us and that we are trusting him.
We have faith in him.
He changes us inside to be maybe people who aren't trusting,
who are not looking to God,
instead to look to him and to trust in him.
People have worked very hard to change the inside of the hall.
And God has done so much to change us inside as well,
so that we can come and trust in him.
We look the same on the outside, but inside we are trusting him.
So if you can, all children and adults,
come through to the hall after the service and see the hall for yourselves.
We're going to say the Lord's Prayer together.
Let's say the Lord's Prayer.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Well, we'll again sing to God's praise.
This time we're singing in Psalm 63 in the Sing Psalms.
It's on page 80 of the psalm books.
Psalm 63.
We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 8.
O God, you are my God alone.
I seek your face with eagerness.
My soul and body thirst for you in this dry weary wilderness.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 8 to God's praise.
O God, you are my God alone.
I seek your face with eagerness.
My soul and body thirst for you in this dry weary wilderness.
I've seen you in your holy place.
Your pardon and glory held my gaze.
For better is your love than life.
And so my lips will sing your praise.
I'll bless you, Lord, throughout my life.
And raise my hands to you in prayer.
My joyful lips will sing your praise.
My soul is fed with riches fair.
Upon my bed I lie awake.
And in my thoughts remember you.
I meditate throughout the night.
And keep your constant love in you.
Because you are my help alone.
In shadow of your wings I'll sing.
You hold me up with your right hand.
And to you, O God, my soul will cling.
Amen.
We turn to read in God's word together now in the Old Testament.
Reading in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
Reading in chapter 26.
Genesis chapter 26. We're going to read from the beginning of the chapter down to verse 25.
Here we see a little insight into the life of Isaac. So Genesis chapter 26 at verse 1.
Now there was a famine in the land besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.
And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.
And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell you.
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you.
For to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands.
And I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.
And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge and commandments, my statutes and my laws.
So Isaac settled in Gerar.
When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, She is my sister.
For he feared to say, My wife.
Thinking lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebecca, because she was attractive in appearance.
When he had been there a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebecca, his wife.
So Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, she is your wife.
How then could you say she is my sister?
Isaac said to him, Because I thought lest I die because of her.
Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us?
One of the people might easily have lain with your wife and you would have brought guilt upon us.
So Abimelech warned all the people saying, Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.
The Lord blessed him.
And the man became rich and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.
He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants.
So the Philistines envied him.
Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abram, his father.
And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.
So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the valley of Gerah and settled there.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abram, his father,
which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abram.
And he gave them the names that his father had given them.
But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,
the herdsmen of Gerah quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours.
So he called the name of the well Essek because they contended with him.
Then they dug another well and they quarreled over that also.
So he called its name Sitna.
And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it.
So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, For now the Lord has made room for us,
and we shall be fruitful in the land.
From there he went up to Beersheba.
And the Lord appeared to him that same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father.
Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.
So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there.
And there Isaac's servants dug a well.
And so on.
May God bless that reading from his word.
Let's again just unite our hearts in a word of prayer.
Let us pray.
Amen.
O Lord, our gracious God, we continue in worship of you, thankful for the privilege of prayer,
thankful for the privilege of hearing your word, thankful for the privilege of being able to sing praise to you.
For these are many things that we could so easily take for granted.
They are freedoms that we have enjoyed many, probably all the days of our lives.
But they are freedoms that in so many other parts of the world, that people, your people, they do not have.
And yet we thank you that throughout the world, that your people praise you.
For you are the God who has spoken down through all the generations.
You are the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, as your word tells us so often.
You are the God of promise, of covenant.
And you have promised to your people that you will be their God and they will be your people.
And so we thank you that you have your people here.
You have your people throughout our islands, throughout our nation, and throughout the world.
And that even when we feel few in number, your word reminds us, even as we have read with the promise to Abraham and to Isaac,
that your people will be a great multitude.
So many that, even like the stars, they cannot be numbered, or the grains of sand, they cannot be numbered by us.
But they are known unto you, each one.
And so we thank you that you are a God who knows his people, a God who cares for his people,
a God who sees us in all our different needs, that you saw Isaac in all his need,
and you met him in it, in every way you provided for him,
in every way you told him to not be afraid, but to trust in you.
And so we pray for ourselves as a people today,
that in all our fears, in all our anxieties, in all that goes on in our own personal lives,
in our family lives, in our community life, in our nation, in the world,
when there are so many things that cause us fear, that cause us worry and anxiety,
that we would hear your word to us, not to be afraid, but to trust in you.
Help us, Lord, if that is our situation today, when we have much to maybe tremble about,
that we'll be able to find you as the one who is near, the one who we can call upon,
the one who is there for us in all our different needs.
We do thank you, Lord, that you remember us in every way,
that you are the one who is able to do so much more than we ask or imagine.
And yet, so often we neglect you.
We feel that we can do things in our own strength and in our own ways.
But, Lord, you remind us, too, again, so often,
that we're apart from you, that we can do nothing.
And so, Lord, help us. Help us in our faith.
That we come today maybe with little faith.
We come maybe some with maybe no faith.
That we come maybe some who have had faith for a very long time,
but a faith that is now being tested.
And we thank you, Lord, that it is not about the size of our faith,
but the one in whom our faith is placed.
We put our faith in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We thank you for all that you have done for us in and through him.
And so we pray in his name today that you will draw us close to yourself.
That you will draw us even under the shadow of your wings,
as the psalmist so often describes.
We pray that we will know your peace,
a peace that passes all understanding.
We pray that we will know your blessing on us,
so that in all that we do, it will give glory to your name.
And we think of all that goes on even this coming week.
And again, we think of the holiday club as it begins tomorrow.
And we do seek your blessing on it.
We thank you for all the work that has gone into preparing for it.
We thank you for all that has been done,
both in terms of practical ways,
but also in terms of preparing prayerfully
and according to your word,
as well as we seek to bring the message of the gospel,
the good news of Jesus to all who will come in through the doors.
We pray for your help and your blessing in that.
We pray for all the children who will come,
and parents and families associated with them.
We thank you for these opportunities to give the gospel to them,
to send it home with them,
to invite them along, not just to the holiday club,
but to the services of the church as well.
And we pray for your hand to be upon us for good in all of these things.
We pray to, Lord, your blessing on your people near and far.
We thank you for the means of communication that exists in our day.
Communication means that are so often abused in many ways,
but yet that allow us to keep in touch with your people near and far.
And we thank you for opportunities to meet with them.
And we pray for the Zoom meeting on Tuesday with Muriel.
We thank you again for her heart,
for serving you over these last many years.
And we pray that you will continue to bless her,
to watch over her,
to encourage her,
that our prayers for her will be heard by you.
And we thank you for many more, Lord,
who go out in that way as well,
throughout all ends of the earth,
that you send your people far and wide,
some into very difficult places,
some into places where their names cannot even be mentioned
for fear for their lives.
And so we thank you that your gospel is one that goes out with power.
Behind it is your spirit.
And we thank you for the power that is in that,
in your spirit,
in your word,
that your truth will reach out to all ends of the earth,
to change our world,
to transform us away from the paths that we are going,
paths that lead us away from you and your truth,
to once again turn us towards you,
to recognize,
oh Lord,
that you are not one to be,
not one to be put away,
not one to be mocked,
not one to be made into some kind of joke,
or fairy tale,
as so many people would call it,
but one who we are to fear in the right sense,
to know that we can bow before you as Lord and God,
to know forgiveness,
to know your blessing on us.
We pray that, Lord,
throughout the ends of the earth,
that you will shine your light upon us,
that you will turn us again towards you,
that you will make us to walk in your ways.
So Lord,
humble us before you even anew today,
in our prayers,
in our praise,
in all that we do,
may it be for your glory,
may we offer it all up,
as a sacrifice to you,
that we would pour ourselves out before you,
in body,
soul,
mind,
and heart.
Lord,
hear our prayers,
and continue with us throughout this day.
Bless your word to us as we turn to it.
Give us ears to hear what you are saying to us.
And all we ask,
we ask the forgiveness of all our sins,
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We'll again sing to God's praise in Psalm 60,
in the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 60,
page 292.
We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 5.
Psalm 60,
on page 292.
The psalmist speaks here about a people,
his people being,
God's people being rejected,
and scattered,
and scattered abroad,
because the Lord has been displeased with them.
But there is also the plea,
from the psalmist to God,
that God would return,
return to his people.
And in verse 4,
in the midst of all the difficulties
that have come upon the people of God,
there is these words,
And yet a banner thou hast given
to them who thee do fear,
that it by them,
because of truth displayed,
may appear,
that thy beloved people may,
delivered be from thrall,
save with the power of thy right hand,
and hear me when I call.
That we would know his banner over us,
as his people.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 5,
to God's praise.
Amen.
O Lord, thou hast rejected us,
and scattered us abroad,
thou justly hast displeased,
be returned to us, O God.
The earth to tremble,
thou hast made,
where in this preaches make,
do thou thereof the breaches heal,
because the land doth shake.
And to thy people
thou heartthinks hast showed,
and all them said,
and thou hast caused us to drink wine,
O astondish men.
and yet a banner thou hast given,
to them who thee do fear,
that it by them he calls,
for fruitless may he appear,
that thy beloved people may deliver me from thrall,
save with the power of thy fright,
and hear me when I call.
Amen.
Now we can turn back to our reading in the book of Genesis,
chapter 26.
I'm going to look at the beginning of this chapter,
from verse 1 down to verse 7 in particular.
But in this chapter we have much told to us of Isaac,
and the different things that he went through in life.
When you pick up your Bible to read it,
what do you think it is about?
I'm sure there's many things that maybe come to mind
as you lift your Bible and think,
well, what is this Bible all about?
It's about theology.
It's about God.
It's about worship.
It's about Jesus.
It's about salvation.
All of these things maybe come to mind
when we think,
what is the Bible all about?
These things are important things.
But there's one thing that we can often miss
when we pick up our Bibles to read them,
and it's something we mustn't forget
that the Bible is about too,
and that is that it is about people.
It is written to people,
and it's written for people.
And it's written not just to the people of that age
when it was written,
it's written to people and for people
down through every generation,
so that we learn all about theology,
we learn all about God,
we learn all about worship,
we learn all about Jesus,
we learn all about salvation,
but we learn it in a way that we recognize
it's not just something away or apart from us,
but it's something that is to us.
It's speaking to us as a people.
God has spoken to his people
down through every generation.
And so we thank God
that he has given his word to us in this way,
so that as a people,
we come to hear a message that is personal.
It's to all of us here today,
to all who hear God's word today,
it's a personal message to us as individuals.
And as you read through your Bible,
there is a phrase that we're seeing
or looking into today,
in part at least,
that appears in both the Old Testament
and the New Testament.
And it's a phrase that speaks of people,
three people in particular.
In the Bible, you read the phrase,
I am the God of Abraham,
of Isaac,
and of Jacob.
It's something that you hear very often
throughout both the Old and the New Testament.
It's got a common occurrence.
And at the heart of that phrase,
as God is saying it,
I am the God of Abraham,
I am the God of Isaac,
I am the God of Jacob.
At the heart of that is covenant,
God's promise to his people.
He made a covenant with Abraham,
he shared it with Isaac,
and he shared it with Jacob,
and it was a covenant,
a promise for all of God's people.
A God who will bless,
and a God who will provide.
So as we hear these three names,
Abraham,
Isaac,
Jacob,
we maybe often think of them on a pedestal.
They weren't ordinary people.
They were people who God blessed in a special way,
and yes,
God did.
But on the same way,
they were ordinary people
that God was speaking to
in an extraordinary way.
In the same way as we are ordinary people
who God is speaking to
in an extraordinary way
through his word,
the word of God
that speaks to us of salvation.
But when you look at these three,
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob,
as you find them in God's word,
what you find is that Abraham,
we learn a lot about him.
A lot has gone into,
into the life of Abraham.
And maybe the same is true with Jacob.
Jacob is spoken about throughout Scripture.
We learn a lot about Jacob.
But what of Isaac?
What do you know of Isaac?
Well,
if you've heard of Isaac before,
I'm sure you've heard a little about his childhood,
perhaps in particular.
He was the son of Abraham.
And he was a child of promise.
Abraham and Sarah,
his wife,
were in old age,
and they felt that they couldn't bear a son.
But God blessed them with a son,
Isaac.
And then Isaac
was taken by Abraham
and was on the point of being sacrificed,
put to death
until the Lord stopped him.
So yes,
there is this
account of Isaac
in that way.
The focus is maybe more so
on Abraham there,
though.
But when you look at Isaac
into his adulthood,
there's not much said.
In fact,
pretty much
all that's said of Isaac
we have here
in chapter 26
of Genesis.
And yet he's used
in that phrase
the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob.
But I want us to look at
Isaac
in this chapter
and what we see
about him.
Commentators
have written about him
and too have described
Isaac
in this way.
Isaac
was an ordinary son
of a famous father
and an ordinary father
of a famous son.
Emphasizing
the
much being said
about Abraham
and Jacob
but little
about Isaac.
Another one said
Isaac was a man
who lived in the shadows.
He lived his life
first under the shadow
of his great father Abraham
and then he lived his life
in the shadow
of his great son Jacob.
But would that be fair
to say
well
in terms of content
and quantity
of content
maybe yes
but not maybe
in the life lived
because
Isaac
was a child
of promise
and he was
a man
who grew
to know
the promises
of God
in a special way.
But as we see
with all three
in their lives
they were ordinary men.
And like any
ordinary man
or woman
they had their failings.
They had their weaknesses.
They had things
in their lives
that maybe
if we keep them
on a pedestal
you wouldn't expect
these things
to happen to them
but they did.
God allowed
things in their life
that were difficult.
And so much
of what we learn
in their lives
is about that.
Just the ordinary
things
in their lives
too
but the extraordinary
power
of God.
So we're going
to look at
Isaac just now
and we're going
to think about him
in this way
an ordinary man
but an ordinary man
who was used
by God.
And that's what we see
here for ourselves.
We too
are ordinary men
and women
ordinary boys
and girls
but ones
who God
can use
as we put
our trust
in him.
The first thing
we see about
Isaac
as an ordinary man
is that he had
his trials.
Isaac had trials
like ordinary
people do.
Abraham,
Isaac
and Jacob.
The God of Abraham
and Isaac
and Jacob.
we hear that
phrase
but it doesn't
mean that
they never went
through trials
themselves.
And the very
outset of this
chapter we are
told of one
of the first
trials that
Isaac has
here.
It says
now there was a
famine
in the land.
Isaac
was living
in this place
in this land
of promise
the place
where God
had placed
him
and yet
in the midst
of this
the land
that he was in
a famine
came in the land.
Which land
was it?
Well it was the
land of promise.
The place that God
had promised to
Abraham
to his descendants
a place later on
described as a
place flowing
with milk
and honey.
And yet at this
time
there is famine
in this land
and you notice
too that it's
something that
Abraham experienced
himself as well.
Besides the
former famine
it says
that was in the
days of Abraham.
Abraham had
suffered this
too.
Ordinary people
go through
trials
as well.
God could
easily have
supplied
the needs
of Isaac
here.
He could have
protected him
in the midst
of the famine
and given
to him
the needs
that he
needed for
getting through
this famine
and yet
he didn't.
God's
chosen man
he had to
suffer alongside
the others
in this land
as well.
Many others
in this land
were pagans
who had
turned against
God
but Isaac
was trusting
God along
with others
of God's
people and yet
they suffered
in this famine.
Trials
are the
ordinary
lot of
God's
people.
They
always have
been
and they
always will
be
until the
Lord
returns.
We are
reminded of
that so
often
throughout the
scriptures.
God's
people
going
through
difficult
times.
And yet
here was
Isaac.
He was
in the
place that
God wanted
him to be
and yet
there was
trouble.
That's a
reminder to
ourselves.
We seek
God's
will.
We do
things
prayerfully.
We can
pray for
God to
guide us
into the
place that
we should
work.
We can
pray for
God to
guide us
into the
place that
we should
live.
We can
pray for
God to
lead us
to the
place that
we should
worship.
all of
these
things we
can pray
about and
God can
show us
the way and
open all
the doors
for us
and yet
there can
still be
troubles.
There can
still be
problems.
And
sometimes it
can even
feel like
it's just
one problem
after another.
Because
somehow we've
picked up
this notion,
this idea
that because
God has
called us to
a particular
place or
to a
particular
work or
to a
particular
ministry,
that everything
is going to
go smoothly,
that everything
is going to
go right for
us, that we
won't encounter
any problems
at all, that
everything is
going to be
just milk and
honey all
the time.
So when the
way gets hard
we think,
well maybe I'm
not in God's
will, maybe
I'm not where
God wants me
to be.
And we can
be serving
God in a
position that
we felt led
by him
to.
It could be
a minister,
an elder or
a deacon,
it could be
a missionary,
it could be
serving in
the Sunday
school, as
a teacher,
it can be
serving God
in any
end of
means, in
our community,
in our
workplace, in
all of these
things.
And we think,
yes, this is
where God
wants me to
be to serve
him, and
yet it's
still just one
problem after
another.
And the
danger there
is that we
start to
think, I'll
just take
things into
my own
hands.
Isaac, like
every ordinary
person, he
had ordinary
trials.
Here was a
famine.
Abraham had
suffered famine,
and you see it
throughout the
scriptures, again
and again, God's
people going
through trials,
but it's not
the time to
take things
into our
own hands.
Isaac wanted
to do
that.
He went
to Abimelech,
and he was
going to go
down to
Egypt, we
are told,
here, and
yet God
stopped him.
If you are
in a
trial, if
you feel
that you
are in the
place that
God wants
you to be,
and yet
you're still
feeling that
it's just
one problem
after another,
maybe God
is saying,
stay.
Stay.
I have a
purpose.
I have a
plan.
You have
to trust
me in
this.
You need
faith.
We are
not immune
to trials.
Isaac,
this one
who was
so close
to God,
the God
of Isaac,
yet he
was someone
who knew
his trials,
and so
will we.
The second
thing here
is that
Isaac had
fears,
like every
ordinary
person has
fears.
What do
ordinary people
do when
trials hit?
very often
we panic.
We go
into a
fear mode,
and that's
exactly what
Isaac did
as well when
this famine
hit.
There was a
famine in the
land,
and you would
love to read
here,
there was a
famine in the
land,
and Isaac
sought the
Lord.
But it's not
what we read.
There was a
famine in the
land, it says
in verse 1,
and Isaac
went to
Gerar, to
Abimelech,
king of the
Philistines.
He went to
completely the
wrong place.
He wasn't
planning to
stop there
either,
because the
plan was that
he would go
all the way
down to
Egypt, as
verse 2
makes clear
for us.
He was
heading towards
Egypt until
the Lord
intervened.
The Lord
stopped him.
Isaac was
afraid.
It's a
natural reaction
in this
situation.
A famine
has come.
He's afraid.
And you
see it again
in verse
6 and 7
as well,
where there's
a fear
about his
wife,
Rebekah.
He says
she is my
sister.
In verse
6,
for he
feared to
say my
wife,
thinking lest
the men of
the place
should kill
me because
of Rebekah.
He was
afraid.
And that's
our own
natural reaction
too in so
many situations
we find
ourselves.
This reaction
of fear,
there are so
many things
that make
us afraid.
But what
does the
Lord
do here
in the
midst
of Isaac's
fear?
He
intervenes.
It says
there that
the Lord
appeared to
him in
verse 2
and said,
do not
go down
to Egypt.
Dwell
in the
land
for which
I will
tell you.
God
intervenes.
God
speaks.
God
says,
do not
fear
unless a
person is
afraid.
And yet
when you go
through the
scriptures,
you see him
saying it to
so many
people,
to Joshua,
to David.
You can
carry on and
go through the
scriptures and
find so many
people who
are afraid,
and yet the
Lord says,
do not be
afraid,
afraid.
Because he
knows the
fear that his
people have.
And so we
too, we
will have
fears.
And how do
we react
in fear?
We take
things into
our own
hands,
just like
Isaac.
We seek
to do
things our
own way.
We sometimes
maybe even
tell lies,
like Isaac
did about
his wife
Rebecca.
We react
in all
these different
kinds of
ways in
the midst
of our
fear,
instead of
turning to
God.
We ought
to take
our fears
to the
Lord,
take it
to him
in prayer.
Isaac
didn't do
it because
he was an
ordinary
person like
you and
I.
He reacted
in the
same way
we do
so often.
Instead of
turning to
God,
we'll sort
it out
ourselves.
But he
says,
do not
be afraid.
We looked
at the
passage
John 14
a few
weeks ago.
A passage
that speaks
to Jesus
speaking to
his disciples
about their
fears.
He's saying,
let not
your hearts
be troubled.
He tells
them,
do not
be afraid
because
they are.
They're afraid
of what the
future holds.
They're afraid
of everything
that's happening
in their lives
at that point.
But Jesus
says,
do not
be afraid.
We have
to turn
to God
and his
promises.
So often
he says,
do not
be afraid
for I
am with
you.
The
comforter
comes
alongside.
We have
our fears
but how
do we
respond
in them?
Take
them
to God.
That is
what we're
learning here
from Isaac.
Our first
port of call,
even before
God has
to stop
us in
our tracks
should be
to take
everything
to the
Lord
in prayer.
Third thing
we see here
about Isaac
is,
Isaac had
sinned
like ordinary
people.
When you
hear the
phrase
of God
of Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob,
you almost
think,
well they
must have
been a
class above
everybody
else.
They
must have
been without
sin.
But no
one is
without sin.
They are
sinners like
you and
I.
We are
all
sinners
before
God.
And you
see the
sin of
Isaac here,
the sin
of disobedience,
the sin
of doing
things in
his own
way,
the sin
of telling
lies to
those around
him.
You see
it here
again and
again.
And
sometimes
the enemy
gets us
thinking that
God cannot
use us
if this
is the
way we
are.
My
life just
seems to
be full
of sin.
Just one
sin after
another.
And yet
here and
so often
through
scripture you
see God
using people,
ordinary
people,
whose lives
have so many
sins and
yet God
can use
them.
One minute
you can be
sitting in
church,
you're
listening to
God's
word and
you're
singing
God's
praise.
And the
next minute
some kind
of horrible
thought comes
into your
mind.
And you're
thinking to
yourself,
I can't
be holy.
There's just
so much
sin in my
life,
in my
heart.
God
can't use
me to
do anything
for him.
I have
to purify
myself,
I have to
be perfect
before God
before I
can possibly
be used
by him.
Perfect
just like
Abraham,
Isaac and
Jacob were.
But they
weren't.
And neither
will you
or I
be perfect,
but it
doesn't mean
God can't
use us.
It doesn't
mean God
can't bless
us.
Isaac
was an
ordinary man
who had
sin in
his life.
You and
I are
ordinary
people who
have sin
in our
lives too.
God
is
perfect.
And you
look through
Scripture and
that's what
you see
again and
again.
Remember the
Bible is
about people.
It's showing
us people
in all the
realities of
life,
in all the
different
experiences of
life.
There is no
one perfect
because
Christ alone
is perfect.
perfect.
And we
all need
Christ for
our sin.
And that's
what we
are learning.
Isaac had
to depend
on God.
In the
midst of his
disobedience,
in the
midst of his
sin, he
is called
back to
God.
The Lord
appeared to
him and
says in
verse 2,
Do not
go down
to Egypt.
Dwell in
the land
which I
shall tell
you.
Listen to
the Lord,
he is
saying.
And that's
what God
says to
us as
well.
Let us
listen to
what God
is saying.
Let us
stop what
we are
doing and
trying to
do things
ourselves to
sort our
own sin
out because
we cannot.
Instead,
we have to
listen to
God.
we all
have sin
in our
lives.
That leads
us to the
fourth thing
and the
final thing
here.
Everyone
can have
hope.
Isaac
had hope
like ordinary
people too.
And that's
the wonder
of God's
word.
It reminds
us of
the fact
that we're
sinners,
the fact
that we
will have
trials,
the fact
that we
are
disobedient.
It reminds
us of
all of
these
things.
But it
speaks to
us as
an ordinary
people who
need an
extraordinary
God.
We need
him in
our lives.
Claire Booth,
an author
in America,
she once
said,
there are
no hopeless
situations.
There are
only people
who have
grown hopeless
about
them.
But we
can say
to ourselves,
but how
can anybody
say that
there is
no hopeless
situation?
Because so
many of our
situations in
life,
they seem
hopeless.
They seem
like nothing
is going to
change our
situation.
but no
situation is
hopeless
with God.
Because as
we look to
God's word,
to the
gospel,
it gives
us hope.
And it's
not just a
hope for
now.
Because we
need a
greater
perspective
of who
God is
and what
the plans
are for
his people.
We need
to look
at things
in an
eternal
perspective.
that all
of God's
people have
hope.
Our
situation
today may
not change.
It may
not go
the way
that we
want it
to go.
And the
greatest
fear we
have in
life,
the greatest
pain that
we have
in life,
is a fear
and the
pain of
death.
But God's
people have
hope in
that.
And that
is what we
have to
look to.
hope in
God.
We have
ordinary
fears in
life.
We have
ordinary
sins in
our life.
All ordinary
people have
all of
these things.
But as we
look to
God's
word, we
have hope.
And that
is what
God offered
to Isaac.
And it's
what God
offers to
all of
his people.
hope.
Because he
says that
he will
give him
a land
to dwell
in.
He says
he will
give him
a place
of promise.
He will
promise him
that he
will be
with him
in all
of these
things.
But above
all, he
promises him
this,
life
eternal.
will
be
a
gospel.
It's
a word
of hope.
A word
that we
find so
often
throughout
the
scriptures.
Psalm
130
verse 5
says,
I wait
for the
Lord,
my soul
waits,
and in
his
word,
I
hope
that
all
his
word
will
be
fulfilled.
Jeremiah
29
verse 11,
I know
the plans
I have
for you,
declares
the Lord.
Plans
for welfare
and not
for evil,
to give
you a
future
and a
hope.
Paul,
in 1
Corinthians
chapter 2,
speaks about
the hope
that we
look to.
He says,
but as it
is written,
what no eye
has seen,
nor ear
heard,
nor the
heart of
man
imagined,
what God
has prepared
for those
who love
him.
What we
have to
hope for
in
eternity.
Titus
1
verse 2,
in hope
of eternal
life,
which God
who never
lies,
promised
before
the
ages
began.
There
is hope
found
in the
gospel.
Hope
not just
for today,
but for
all
eternity.
Isaac
was stopped
by God.
He remained
in Gerard.
He was
faithful to
God,
even in
his ongoing
faults.
But this
ordinary man
knew the
blessings of
an
extraordinary
God.
And when
you read
of him
in the
New
Testament,
when you
read that
phrase in
the New
Testament,
the Lord,
the God
of Abraham,
the God
of Isaac,
and the
God of
Jacob,
listen to
this as
it says
in Luke
20 verse
37,
where it
is speaking
about the
resurrection.
but that
the dead
are raised,
even Moses
showed in
the passage
about the
bush,
where he
calls the
Lord,
the God
of Abraham,
the God
of Isaac,
and the
God of
Jacob.
Now he
is not
the God
of the
dead,
but of
the living,
and for
all to
live to
him.
Isaac
had died,
and yet
he is
described
there as
the son
of the
living God,
but also
alive in
him.
And that
is the
hope that
the Christian
has.
Hope not
just for
now,
when everything
seems hopeless
in our eyes,
but hope
for all
eternity.
In God's
wisdom,
sometimes he
doesn't change
the situation
that we're
in,
but he
gives us
a different
perspective.
And that's
what we
find as
we look
to God's
word,
as we
look to
Abraham
and Isaac
and Jacob,
as we
look to
Isaac here
in this
passage,
one who
had his
faults,
who had
his fears,
who had
his sins,
and yet
had hope.
Isaac
Watts
says in
the hymn,
O God,
our help
of ages
past.
He
says,
O God,
our help
of ages
past,
our hope
for years
to come.
Be thou
our guide
while life
shall last
and our
eternal
home.
The hope
of the
Christian
that despite
our fears,
despite
our sins,
that in
Christ we
are one
who has
promised
eternal
life,
who gives
us hope,
but we
have to
heed his
word.
God's
word is
before us
today.
It's a
book of
theology.
It's a
book all
about God,
all about
Jesus,
all about
salvation,
about all
of these
things.
But it's a
book about
ordinary
people.
It's a
book for
ordinary
people,
like you
and me,
to hear
what God
is saying
to us,
that we
have all
of these
ordinary
things in
our
experience.
Ordinary
trials,
ordinary
fears,
sins of
ordinary
people.
But it
reminds us
that as
ordinary
people,
we have
hope,
and that
that hope
is in
God and
in Christ
Jesus.
May we
know that
hope
ourselves,
and come,
and in all
our circumstances,
lean on
God's word
for us.
He knows
every one
of us.
He speaks
to us
individually
about a
Saviour
for us
all.
Let us
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we bless
you for
your word.
It speaks
to us,
and we
pray today,
Lord,
that we
will hear
what you
say to
us,
that we
will
experience
the
goodness
of God,
that we
will
experience
that
blessing
of knowing
Christ
Jesus
as our
Lord,
that you
will
still
our
fears
and help
us to
bring them
to you,
and that we
would know
your peace
upon us,
as we ask
it all in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
We'll
conclude by
singing to
God's praise
in Psalm
10,
in the
Sing
Psalms
version.
Psalm
10,
on page
12 of
the
Psalm
books.
We're
going to
sing from
verse 16
down to
the end
of the
Psalm.
Psalm
10 at
verse 16,
The Lord
will ever
reign as
king,
his throne
will always
stand,
for he,
the nations
of the
world,
will perish
from his
hand.
O Lord,
the needy
ones desire,
you answer
from on
high,
you give
encouragement
to them
and listen
to their
cry.
We'll
sing from
verse 16
to the
end of
the
psalm,
to God's
praise.
The
Lord
will
ever
reign
as
king,
his
throne
will
always
stand,
the
he,
the
nations
of
the
world,
will
perish
from
his
land.
O
Lord,
the
needy
ones
desire,
you
answer
from
on
high,
you
give
encouragement
to
them
and
listen
to
their
cry.
For
you
defend
the
fatherless
and
those
who
are
oppressed,
so
that
from
fear
of
mortal
man
help
and
sing
the
rest.
After the
benediction,
I'll go to the door to my left.
We'll close with the benediction.
Now may grace,
mercy,
and peace from God,
Father,
Son,
and Holy Spirit
rest upon and abide with you all,
now and forevermore.
Amen.