Expect - Leaders' Talks

Sometimes in the middle of the test, God stops talking.

How many of you have had a promise from God or got spoken to you about a situation?

And then suddenly it seemed like God went silent.

And now you've waited.

I had a woman come up to me after the first service disaster got spoken to me about a promise 20 years ago.

It's been 20 years.

Everything you spoke about has been true.

I haven't heard God's issue in a while.

Here's the problem.

When God stops talking, our tendency is to stop walking.

And here's what we say.

Well, I'm not taking another step.

Stop until you tell me what I'm supposed to do.

How many of us have stopped walking because God stopped talking?

At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world.

For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Well, today I want to talk to you a little bit on the theme expect.

Everybody say expect.

Some of you don't know what to expect today, but you know what?

It's going to be exciting because we're going to learn the word.

Now, I like to often start with something funny just to kind of break the ice.

And so I'm going to tell you a story that I heard about, you know, this is a beautiful area.

In fact, we had a chance to go up to Breckenridge for a little bit.

And man, what a beautiful, beautiful landscape.

I mean, the trees, the forests.

And I heard a story about an atheist who was out in the woods.

He was walking along and he's looking at the trees, looking at the river.

Suddenly, a massive bear comes out from the woods and begins chasing him.

He takes off running as fast as he can, and as he's running, um, he turns and the bear's closing in on him and he stumbles and falls to the ground.

He's laying on his back.

The bear comes over top of him, raises its claws into the air, and suddenly, without realizing it, the atheist shouts out, God, save me.

Suddenly everything freezes, and he hears a voice from heaven.

And the voice from heaven says, All these years, you've denied that I even exist.

And now at the moment when you're about to die, you call out to me to save you and make you a Christian.

Well, the atheist thought about it for a minute.

He's like, God, that that's a good point.

You know, um, I tell you what, could you at least make the bear a Christian?

Suddenly, everything unfreezes.

The bear brings its claw down.

He kind of breathes a sigh of relief, and then the bear puts its paws together and says, Dear Lord, bless this food that I'm about to receive in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Now, I know you've got a lot of incredible animals and forests.

It's a beautiful place that you live in.

It really is a beautiful place.

And I believe that God has a message that will encourage all of us today.

Um, you know, I come from a background, uh, Brian and I, we come from a background.

Uh my dad was an old school Pentecostal preacher.

So I'll tell you, every once in a while, that preacher will come out a little bit, and I'll get a little bit fiery.

If you've ever seen the movie Elf, I'm not an angry elf, all right?

I'm just a passionate man who loves Jesus.

And so when I do get a little passionate, don't be afraid to give me an Amen.

Come on, does anybody know what I mean?

Say amen.

Just making sure you're all awake today.

You know, um, pastor had said, uh, Jared, why don't you share with the church a little bit about what's going on?

And you know, we're in California, and it's a tough place to be right now.

Everything's been shut down for a long time.

The church has been shut down.

Praise the Lord, we've adapted.

How many know that the church will always adapt?

And we're now having, I have hundreds of people right now, while you're sitting here, in a parking lot outside with stage and lights and screens, and they're they're worshiping Jesus and calling out upon him, believing for revival.

It's been a tough season that we've been in, um, just with all the challenges.

Obviously, you understand with COVID, uh, people are polarized in the church, not only outside of the church, but even in the church.

Racial reconciliation things taking place and a lot that we've been navigating.

But aren't you thankful that he never leaves us and he never forsakes us?

I want to ask you a question.

What do you expect in this season?

Today I want to talk to you on the theme expect.

What's interesting is that there is a verse in the Bible that literally says, in 1 Peter 1 3, it says, live with great expectation.

And the word in the Greek there literally means confident anticipation.

Are you confidently anticipating that you're gonna see God bring about his plans and his purpose?

You know, the Bible says, Higher vision, our church is named after Ephesians 3, which says this.

God says, I know the thoughts I have.

Well, Jeremiah says, I know the thoughts I have towards you of a hope and of a future to prosper you and not harm you.

How many are glad that God has good thoughts and plans for you?

But Ephesians 3.20 says that he can not only do those things, but he will go exceedingly abundantly above what you even asked, dream, or imagine, according to his power that's working within you.

We exist as a church, higher vision, to help people discover God's vision for their life.

And when you discover God's vision, not only will he help you exceed that and exceed in that, you will go beyond even what you thought or dreamed according to his power.

God has good plans for you.

The question is, are you expecting to see, as David said, I am confident in this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living?

Are you confident and expecting in faith that God is going to bring about his promises in your life?

Or are you expecting the other shoe to drop?

Are you expecting a second wave of the pandemic in Colorado Springs?

Are you expecting that diagnosis from the doctor?

Are you expecting to hear that your kids have been doing stuff that you were afraid they were doing?

So many times in life we live expecting the wrong things.

And what I want to talk today is how that you and I can develop a life, a mentality of faith that will echo the words of David when he said, I am confident that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

How many want to expect that?

Shout Amen.

Alright.

So here's what we're gonna do today.

I'm gonna tell you a story.

We're gonna read a story in the Bible in Genesis 22.

If you have your Bibles, you can turn there.

I'm gonna be sharing it out of the New Living Translation.

We're gonna kind of go through it quickly, but let me set the stage.

Abraham was a man of faith, the father of faith.

God had spoken to him and said, I want you to leave where you are, and I want you to move to a land that I will show you.

It's kind of like when God spoke to my wife and I to leave Modesto, California, an amazing church, an amazing ministry there that we were a part of, to leave it all, move six hours away to a place we didn't have any friends, we didn't have any enemies, we didn't have any frenemies, we didn't have anything.

We were starting from scratch, and that's what we were called to do.

He says, Abraham, I want you to go to a land I will show you.

And he goes on to tell them, I'm gonna bless you with a child, a son, and through this son the world's gonna be blessed.

And this is the story that we're gonna talk about today.

So he does.

He leaves and he goes on this journey, and God shows him the land of Canaan.

And this is where I want you to read this with me.

I in our church, we do a similar thing.

We have the church read passages together.

So would you stand one more time and read this passage in Genesis chapter 22, verse 1 and 2?

Genesis 22:1

Power in declaration.

Do you know the Bible says that the word of God is a sword, a two-edged sword?

And how many know that we need to speak the word of God, not just read it, not just hear it.

We need to declare it.

And so let's declare the word of God today.

Let's read it out loud.

Sometime later, God tested Abraham's faith.

Abraham, God called, yes, he replied, here I am.

Take your son, your only son, yes, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah.

Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.

Now, if you're a parent, you probably struggle with this passage.

The fact that God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son of promise, on an altar as a sacrifice to God.

Now, I'm just gonna say, if you've struggled with that, because I'll be honest with you, I have too.

We will address a little bit of it later on, but let me just say, would you just set that struggle aside right now?

And when you get to heaven, you can talk to God about it then.

All right?

Right now, we're gonna learn a little bit of what God is trying to teach us through this passage.

So would you close your eyes?

Holy Spirit.

We welcome you.

You've been here because when we gather in the name of Jesus, your presence, God's presence, is in the midst of his people.

You're here now.

But I pray that you would prepare not only the words that I speak, anoint the words I speak, but anoint our hearts and our minds to hear and receive it.

Lord, the word can fall on hard, thorny ground, it can fall on rocky ground, or it can fall on good ground and produce a harvest.

We want a harvest of your word in our lives.

So we just pray this prayer with you.

Put your hand over your heart and say, Holy Spirit.

Prepare me.

And I want you in whatever way it is, if you want to lift a hand and whatever you want to do, lean into the Spirit of God.

Holy Spirit.

We're ready.

In Jesus' name.

And if you're ready when you shout it, come on, say it.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

I want to give you four ways you can live a life of expectation.

Confident anticipation that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

And the first couple things might surprise you if you want to live a life of expectancy and faith.

How many want to live a life of expectancy and faith?

All right.

About 90% of you.

The rest of you, we're going to pray for you to get there by the end.

How many are ready to live a life of expectation?

Come on.

Help me out.

Amen.

Alright.

You ready?

Here's the first point.

We just read it a moment ago.

If you're going to live a life of expectation, write this down if you're taking notes.

Expect there will be some tests.

Expect tests are coming your way.

See, the reality is that the Bible says that God sent Abraham on this journey of faith, and then he said, I want to test you.

I'm going to test your faith.

God tested Abraham's faith, and the reality is that Abraham, like every one of us, nobody wants to take the tests.

Come on, do we have any kids in the house?

How many don't like to have to you don't like to take tests?

Come on, any kids?

How many when you're in high school or in junior high or you hated test day?

How many of you showed up to school and you'd forgot that there was a test?

That happens, right?

We don't like to take tests.

But here's the reality.

The same thing's true in life.

We don't want to take the test.

But here's the other side of it.

The other side is you don't want to buy a product that hasn't been tested.

Hello?

Just checking.

Come on, you don't want to buy a car that they haven't tested the brakes, that they haven't tested the airbags, that they haven't tested the transmission.

Because here's the point.

If it hasn't been tested, it might not be able to be trusted.

And the reality is that a lot of times we don't want the test, but on the other side, we don't realize the importance of the test.

You see, there's a blessing that there's an importance to testing.

God wants you to walk through tests and trials.

We learn in Peter that it tells us that the testing is the purifying of our faith like gold, right?

God is doing something in the process.

In fact, let me show you what happens to Abraham because of a test.

In fact, I'm going to go to the end of the story, which is unconventional, and I'm going to show you how that he passed the test by taking his son and placing him on the altar.

We'll get to that in a minute.

Now I want you to see what happened and what God said about the fact that he took the test and he passed it.

Look at what it says in Genesis 22, verse 16.

Genesis 22:16

Because you obeyed me, because you passed the test, because you did what I said, and I have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you.

I will multiply your descendants.

And then I highlighted a part of this.

Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Now, here's what's interesting.

Three of the components of this blessing from God, he'd already told Abraham he was going to give him.

He already told him, I'm going to bless you.

He already said, I'm going to multiply your descendants.

And he had already said, I'm going to bless all the nations of the earth through you.

That had already been something God said he was going to give him.

But now notice when he went through the test and he passed the test, God added a fresh, brand new component that had never been there before, and that is you're going to conquer the cities of your enemies.

There's going to be an expansion of the blessing.

Because here's the point of testing.

Blessing is on the other side of your testing.

The next level, how many know you can't go to grade four if you don't pass the test in grade three?

In other words, there's this process of God taking you to new places.

You see, I love the quote.

God isn't testing you to torture you, God is testing you to teach you how to get to the next level.

Here's the point.

You see, God needed Abraham to be tested because how could Abraham be the father of many nations if he wasn't able to be the father of one boy?

Blessing is on the other side of your testing.

I'll give you a quick story.

There was a family that came to me recently.

They had come before the pandemic.

They'd come up to our house to get some uh to get some furniture that we were giving away to a family that were in need.

So they brought their truck up and they were loading it up, and as we were talking, then they said, Pastor, I don't know if you've ever heard this story, but let me tell you, we started coming to the church a couple years ago, and you, as you were, you you know were teaching, what you didn't know, Pastor Jared, is that we were homeless when we started the church.

We didn't really make it public, but we lived in our car with our kids.

Sometimes we'd live with family, but a lot of times we were in our car.

And um, you happened to start teaching as we were attending the church on this concept of tithing and how that we were to honor the Lord with the first fruits of the tithe, and that how God said, Test me in this, see if I will not open up the windows of heaven and bless you.

And I will rebuke the devour.

So, what you don't know, Pastor, is that we had gone through all these financial challenges, we'd lost our home, we we lost our jobs.

Um so you start teaching on tithing, so we decided to take the tithe test.

We started tithing when we're homeless.

Now that sounds kind of strange.

A lot of people would excuse, say you don't need to take that test, you take that test later.

When you get a job, better job, when you get into a house, then you can do it.

They said, No, no, no, we're gonna do what the Bible says.

If that's what God said, we're gonna trust God.

Pastor, here's what you need to know.

So we started tithing while we were homeless.

And then here's what happened.

My husband got a better job, a job that he'd gotten letting go of, and then he got this you know job just giving us enough to get by.

God blessed him, gave him promotions, he got a great job.

Guess what?

I got a job.

Pastor, here's what you need to know.

Just last week, we closed on a brand new home.

We didn't have to put anything down, we didn't have to pay any closing costs, we didn't even have the enough uh of a of a credit score to qualify.

They qualified us and we moved into a brand new home.

We have better jobs.

Now we're living in the blessing.

Aren't you glad that there's blessing on the other side of testing?

Expect a life of faith.

Expect that there will be some tests.

Let me give you another verse, and we're gonna give you the second point.

And it's uh found in Genesis chapter 22, and let's look what it says.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

God speaks to him and says, Here's what I want you to do.

I want you to take your son, sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.

The next morning Abraham got up early and set out for the place God had told him about.

And on the third day, everybody say the third day.

That was pretty good.

Let's try it again.

The third day.

On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and he saw the place in the distance.

Now, I'm gonna give you the second point.

We know point number one is expect that there will be some tests.

Now, I'm gonna give you the second point.

I want you to write this down, alright?

If you're taking notes, write this down.

If you're not taking notes, you can write this down.

Here we go.

Point number two.

Ready?

Point number two is expect guys, will you help me out?

Expect silence during the test.

So not only do we need to expect that tests are gonna come, but faith, expectation is that there might be silence during the test.

Here's what really struck me about this passage as I was reading through it.

God said, Go to a mountain that I will show you.

Here's basically what he says take off, and when you get there, I'll let you know.

First of all, how many are thankful for GPS now?

Come on, anybody remember back in the day when you had a map?

Come on, anybody remember the map days?

And if you got lost, you had to find a phone booth.

Come on, how many are thankful for GPS?

GPS tells you where to go.

I mean, if you go the wrong way, it tells you.

And the whole time that you're going, it reminds you that you're on the right path.

In 900 feet, veer to the right and turn right.

You have arrived at your location in 500 feet.

You know, it tells well, here's what happens: God says, head off towards Mount Moriah.

Now he doesn't know where Mount Moriah is.

Take off, and when you get there, I'll let you know.

And then three days later, God says, You're here.

In other words, for three days, Abraham is walking, and he doesn't even know if he's going in the right direction.

Why?

Because God hasn't said anything else.

He told him, Go, and when you get there, I'll let you know.

In other words, sometimes in the middle of the test, God stops talking.

How many of you have had a promise from God or God spoke to you about a situation, and then suddenly it seemed like God went silent and now you've waited.

I had a woman come up to me after the first service.

She said, Pastor, God spoke to me about a promise 20 years ago.

It's been 20 years, and everything you spoke about has been true.

I haven't heard God specifically on this issue in a while.

Here's the problem when God stops talking, our tendency is to stop walking.

And here's what we say.

Well, I'm not taking another step, God, until you tell me what I'm supposed to do.

And how many of us have stopped walking because God stopped talking?

Can I just give you a little insight?

It's kind of, I mean, it's it's really heavy duty, heavy duty, heavy revy right here.

You ready for a heavy ready?

Revy?

It's real simple.

The teacher doesn't talk in the middle of the test.

In fact, if the teacher answers your questions, it's not a real test, it's called a practice test.

And the reality is that we want God to do all the talking while we're walking.

But sometimes he goes silent.

Sometimes he says, In three days, I'll tell you when you get there.

Why?

Because he's building our faith, our trust, and our expectation in him.

You see, Abraham knew he'd learned this lesson.

You don't stop walking if God isn't talking.

A lot of us have stopped walking in our relationship with God.

A lot of us have stopped walking, maybe in a calling that we had because something bad happened.

You see, here's what happened to Abraham.

Abraham's dad, I believe, if you read through Genesis, I believe that God originally called Abraham's dad to go to the land of Canaan.

Because the Bible says that he headed out, he left to go towards Canaan.

But the Bible says that his father, Terah, stopped in a city called Haran.

Haran was on the way to Canaan.

Here's why that's intriguing.

Here's why Abraham learned, I believe, the lesson.

You see, Haran happens to be the same name as Abraham's brother.

Did you know that in the Bible in Genesis it tells us that Abraham had a brother by the name of Haran?

And here's what happened to Haran.

He died at an early age.

Isn't it interesting that Abraham's father, Terah, which by the way, Terah means to delay?

Isn't it interesting that Terah delayed the promise that God had for his life?

Because while he was walking to his destination, while he was walking on his journey, he stopped in a moment of Haran, the place of pain, the place that reminded him that his son had died.

How many of us have stopped in our Haran because we got a diagnosis from the doctor?

How many of us have stopped in our Haran because maybe we lost that dream job?

And now we've given up on the vision, we've given up on the call, we've given up on the faith, the the Thing that God has called us to.

Why?

Because we stopped talking walking, because God stopped talking.

How many are in there haran right now?

And God's saying, don't stop.

Don't stop.

Abraham, learn, don't stop.

Even if you have a trial, don't stop in the middle of your test.

Can I just make a comment?

Just because God isn't talking doesn't mean that God is not working.

See, I believe very much, amen.

I believe that there was a reason why God waited, why it was a three days journey.

Why he this process played out.

Because I believe personally that we know that in the end of the story, God provides a ram in the thicket so that he can have a sacrifice.

Personally, this is what I believe, what the Lord was speaking to me about it, is that I don't think that God just miraculously went poof and there was a ram there.

I believe that there was a ram three days' walk away from Mount Moriah as well.

And he had to guide that lamb, that ram, to the destination so that it was where it needed to be, so that he could provide for Abraham and for Isaac.

You see, the reality is simply this is that just because God isn't talking doesn't mean that God isn't working.

I'm telling you something, God is working.

Maybe you're in a situation right now where you have a wayward child who is gone.

I know what that's like.

I had a wayward son who for two years lived on the street using drugs, got in trouble with the law, put in jail.

And just recently God did a miracle and he came home and now he's in a program called Teen Challenge.

He's been there for two and a half weeks, and God's changing his life.

But just because those two years felt like that God wasn't moving, that God didn't care, that God had forgotten, God was still sending a ram up the other side of the mountain.

And I want you to know today, don't give up on your dreams.

Don't give up on your promises.

Just because you haven't heard his voice, keep walking.

You know why?

Because there's a ram on the other side of that mountain.

There's a promise that God is going to bring to pass for you.

So keep on walking in the midst of your tests.

Expect there will be some tests.

Come on, that was a little preaching coming out that just came out.

Hallelujah.

I flash back to the days, gotta digress, when uh preachers used to have the Pentecostal hiccups.

Anybody know what those were?

If you've ever been to Pentecostal church where the pastor really went into it, he'd get the Pentecostal hiccups, and it'd sound a little bit like this.

When you have a test, aha! God is still working for you.

Aha! Come on, anybody heard of the Pentecostal hiccups?

So I'm a little angry out, but I'm not Pentecostal hiccups.

We'll find the balance, find the middle ground.

God is working, He hasn't forgotten you.

Expect tests.

Expect silence.

And let me read you another verse.

Let's go, if you will, to Genesis 22, verse 5.

Genesis 22:5

Genesis 22, verse 5, let me lay it out for you.

Genesis 22:5

They get to the bottom of the mountain.

Now, when they get to the bottom of the mountain, Abraham had brought his son Isaac, but he had also brought two servants with him: a donkey and all their supplies, the wood, the fire, all the things that were needed.

The rope.

So when he sees that he has to go to the top of the mountain or go up the hill to offer sacrifice, when you would offer sacrifice in the Old Testament, you would find a high place.

So they're going to the high place.

And Abraham looks at his two servants and look what he says.

Says, You stay here with the donkey.

Sorry, a little Shrek reference there.

Stay here with the donkey.

Abraham said to his servants.

Sorry, I'm going to keep flashing back.

We're going to go up to a higher place and we will worship there, and then we will come right back.

When I read this part of the story, it gave me the third principle.

I want to give it to you quickly.

Simply this is that expect tests, expect silence on the tests, and write this down.

Expect that you will leave some behind.

Expect in the journey of faith that there are people.

Now I asked myself the question, why did he leave them behind?

Let me give you the first answer.

I think the first reason was because he was afraid that they were going to try to talk him out of doing what God had called him to do.

Boy, there's some truth right there.

Come on, a little mic drop, right?

How many of us have missed out on doing things God has called us to do because we allowed the wrong voices into our life and they begin to try to talk us out of doing what God had called us to do?

You don't need to join that ministry.

You don't need to take those classes.

You got a lot going on.

In fact, we've got all these things we're supposed to be doing.

You don't have time for that.

And if you're not careful, you'll allow the wrong people on the journey, and what will happen?

They will talk you out of fulfilling the dreams and the plans that God had called you to do.

Because here's the point God hasn't called them to go where He's called you to go.

There are places that God has called you.

Steve, God called you to plant a church, to start something new, to start having revival prayer and believe for a move of God.

He hasn't called everybody to do it.

And if you're not careful, you'll have people that'll come along in the journey, and when they get on the journey, they will divert you, they will slow you down.

They will see, see, Abraham had already learned this principle.

He learned that you don't bring the wrong people because here's what the Bible says God spoke to him and said, I want you to go to the land I've called you to.

And when you go, there's a verse in Genesis, let's bring it up, where he says, You need to do this.

Leave your relatives and father's family and go to the land.

You can't bring them with you, but he the Bible says that he did.

He brought a guy by the name of Lot.

And from that moment on, he had a lot of trouble.

Sorry.

Trying.

It's really true.

In fact, because of Lot, he had conflict between his family and Lot's family.

He had to end up dividing his inheritance, some of it with Lot.

He had to chase down and fight a war to save Lot.

He had to fight for Lot when the angel came about Sodom and Gomorrah.

I mean, in fact, here's what's really crazy.

If you read the story, do you realize that God spoke to him to go to a land that I called you to?

And then we don't have any more record of God speaking to Lot again or to Abraham again until Lot is out of the picture.

Could it be that maybe we're frustrated because God isn't speaking, not because just of a test, but because we have the wrong people in our lives, the wrong influence is speaking to us, and now we can't hear him anymore because his voice has been drowned out because we brought the wrong person along on the journey.

Now I'm not saying, don't take this as I want you to go right now, right after the service and get on Instagram and block a bunch of people and unfriend everybody on Facebook that's been posting stuff that you don't agree with.

And I'm not telling you to do that.

I'm not telling you to go and text that person and say, hey, we can't hang out anymore.

The pastor just told me you're a bad influence.

See ya bye.

Talk to the hand.

I'm not saying doing anything like that.

Well, what I am saying, has you ever have you ever even prayed about Lord, who have I allowed influence and input into the journey, into the process?

That's why you need church family, that's why you need spiritual leadership, that's why you need community, that's why you need to be in the word.

You need the right influences.

What does the Bible say?

Our tongues can speak life or death.

And there's a lot of people that are dying and missing promises and missing blessings and missing breakthroughs.

Why?

Because they didn't leave some behind.

Sound, I kind of might have moved on beyond it, guys, but it's the so it's the Psalm scripture which says this.

It says blessed is the man, and I kind of cut some out for the sake of time, but it says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, stands in the path of sinners, sits in the seat of the scornful.

How many have heard that passage before?

You know, I I hadn't planned to talk about this, but isn't it interesting how that when you get the wrong people in your life, you go from walking to standing to sitting and going nowhere?

But then it goes on to say, but blessed is the man who has the right voices, he's like a tree planted by the waters.

In fact, it talks about blossoming even out of season.

And it says, and whatever he does shall, what's the word?

Come on, how many want to prosper?

Then maybe you need to leave some behind.

Good preacher, Pastor Jared.

Amen.

Alright, I want to give you the last point, and we're gonna land this plane, we're gonna put a bow on it.

I want to read to you the part of the story, which is found, and if you go to Genesis 22 verse 8.

Genesis 22:8

Before I read this, I want to give you the picture now.

Isaac is carrying the wood for this burnt offering, the sacrifice.

So he's walking up the mountain carrying the wood.

His dad is carrying the knife and the fire.

As they begin to make their way up, Isaac, he starts putting two and two together.

You know?

How many of those kids are smart?

Come on, for those of you who don't think they are, then why do you give them your phone and your laptop every time you have a problem?

Come on.

They're smart.

And so he kind of goes, wood, fire, knife, sacrifice.

And so he says, Dad, where's the sacrifice?

And this is what Abraham says.

I want to read the first part.

He says, God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son.

Abraham answered, and they both walked on together.

Now let's pause for a second.

They get to the top of the hill.

They're on the mountain now, Mount Moriah, and there's no sacrifice.

And I think Isaac was pretty smart because he probably was like, okay, Dad, I see where this is going.

And what do we find out?

Well, we find out that he ends up tying Abraham or Isaac up with ropes and laying him on a sacrifice, laying him on the altar.

Let me just stop right there.

Most theologians from my studies suggest that Isaac was not like five years old.

He was somewhere between the ages of 13 and 30.

Imagine trying to tie up a junior hire to be laid on an altar where they're going to start a fire and kill them.

How many know you can't even get kids to go to bed on time or give you their phone?

Come on, junior hires.

If we have any junior hires in the house, wave at me.

Come on, we got some junior hires.

I love junior hires.

And how many know sometimes junior high, they have their own mind, they're gonna think things their own way.

He literally obviously had to have surrendered to do this.

He didn't have the two servants to help make it happen.

It says something about the faith deposit that was in Abraham that somehow was being deposited in the legacy of his children.

And what happens?

Now he's laying on the altar.

Abraham lifts the knife into the air, and this is where we pick up on the scripture.

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram, that lamb, that animal that he was talking about, caught by its horns in a thicket.

So he took the ram quickly and sacrificed it in place of his son.

Now watch what it says.

And Abraham named that place Yahweh or Jehovah Jirah, which means the Lord will provide.

I want to give you the last thought and write this down.

Expect God will provide.

Expect that God will provide.

I asked myself the question, God, why did you wait until he was literally laying on the wood, bound up, and the knife was in the air?

Why did you wait that long?

It's interesting because the Bible says that it was when he raised the knife that he saw the lamb.

It was when he got to the point where he said, I'm God, I'm going all the way.

I'm trusting you all the way.

I'm laying everything down before you.

The thing that's most precious to me, it was in that moment that he saw the Lamb, and God became known for the first time, by the way.

God had never been known in history before by this name, Jehovah Jyrah, which means God is the provider.

In fact, the word gyrah can also mean to see.

You see, when I when I read this passage, the first thing that came to my mind is like, how God could you even ask a parent to do something like this?

But you see, what happened here was powerful because I want you to know something.

The devil plays checkers, but God plays chess.

I played a round of chess with my son Hudson a couple years ago.

And when we were playing, um, he kept, you know, taking my knight and my bishop and all these different things, and he was smiling and laughing like he was, you know, taking me out.

But what was funny is there was a man watching us play, and he saw what I saw.

Because I was just setting him up.

Because after about three or four moves of him taking what he thought was the things that were destroying the game, I positioned myself to say, checkmate.

What happened on that mountain, in my feeling, and I believe Jesus confirms this in John chapter 8, verse 39, I believe it is, is that you see, the devil was playing checkers, God was playing chess.

John 8:39

And when you're in the middle of your test and you feel like things are falling apart, you feel like COVID is destroying your business, you feel like COVID is destroying your marriage or relationships, or you're going through trials or that physical condition or that depression that you've been under, or whatever it is, we think the devil's wreaking havoc in my life.

I'm never gonna recover.

You see, when you stay faithful to God, when you trust in him, when you put your hopes in him, guess what?

He's playing chess.

The devil's just playing checkers.

You see, the reality is that when he looked up and he saw that God is the provider, what he really saw, according to Jesus, most theologians, or at least uh in my studies, the ones that I looked at, they believed that this place, Mount Moriah, where they had the sacrifice of Abraham's son, was the same mountain that thousands of years later, there was another son who walked up the mountain carrying some wood, and it was called the cross.

And that same son carried the cross, the wood, up the mountain, and then got up voluntarily on top of the wood, being bound to the wood to say, if necessary, I'll be the sacrifice.

And that same child, his name Jesus, thousands of years later, sacrificed himself on that cross so that he could provide not just for one family's sins, for one day and for one moment.

God says, I want to show you that I'm playing chess.

I want to show you that when I say I provide, that I'm not just gonna provide for this little moment, I'm not just gonna provide for this situation, I'm not just gonna provide for this circumstance.

No, I'm gonna provide for every family, every person who has ever sinned, who has ever fallen short.

I'm gonna provide for you, and I'm gonna provide for you, and I'm gonna provide for you and for your kids and for your grandkids and for your great-grandkids.

Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be safe because, and listen, here's the cool part.

What I ask you to do, sacrifice your son.

I did it to challenge your expectation.

But the thing that you struggle with doing, you won't have to.

Because I'm gonna do it for you.

You don't have to sacrifice your son.

I'm gonna do it for you.

And Jesus says in John chapter 8 that when Abraham lifted the knife, Jesus says this, and he saw me.

John 8 · chapter mention

Here's a cool thought.

What is what revelation, what insight, what promise, what blessing, what breakthrough is waiting on the other side of your willingness to stay faithful in the middle of your death.

What could God be waiting to show you?

Because God said to the devil He thought you were gonna kill Abraham's promise.

No, no, no, no.

Because through all of the generations, through his seed, all of the world will be blessed.

And by the way, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

You will conquer the gates of the cities of your enemies.

You are more than a conqueror through him who loves you.

With God, all things are possible.

You see, on that day, the miracle came and it provided not only for your salvation, it provided because God is Jehovah Raphae, the God who heals us.

It provided for your healing, it provided for you when you needed victory over the enemy.

Jehovah Nisi, my banner.

It provided provided that what does the Bible say?

That with God all things are possible.

Everything you could ever need, from salvation from sin, to deliverance from bondage, to healing from your body, from breakthrough from the enemy, everything you could ever need.

That's why he said, I am that I am.

Whatever it is you need, I will provide for you.

God is playing chess with your life.

And if you'll stay faithful in the midst of your test, there's gonna come a day where he's gonna look at you and he's not gonna stick a fork in you and say, Ah, medium rare.

No, he's gonna say, Well done, good and faithful servant.

Come into the blessing, the inheritance of the Lord.

Aha.

God has good promises and plans for you.

Problem is we've forgotten in the middle of our three-day journey or our 20-year journey, we've forgotten the promise.

You know, there's a scripture in Hebrews that says that Abraham believed God so much that he believed that God would raise his son back to life if necessary.

And that's what God did thousands of years later.

I know the enemy's working overtime right now.

I know that there's struggles, I know there are challenges, but God has sent me here this weekend to remind you of this promise.

In fact, would you just say it after me?

Say, I am confident.

Say it this week, I expect, with confident anticipation, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

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