A Hundredfold Life

We're going to go into a thought this afternoon,

if I may share this thought. This thought has

touched my heart. This character that we're going

to be talking about today in Scripture has really

touched my heart over my leadership and my life

in ministry. And I want to talk a little bit,

just touch on some things about this one character

in God's Word. And hopefully it'll be a blessing

to somebody just to know that God can do great

things with small things. And how God uses, you

know, those that seem like they're not important,

but he uses them anyway. And I want to share

this scripture with you. And my topic for today

is a hundredfold life. a hundredfold life. And

we'll touch on that in just a bit. But I want

to take some scripture out of the book of Genesis,

if I may, chapter 26, verse 1 through 3 to open.

And my thought is this. The scripture says this.

There was a famine in the land besides the first

famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac

went to Abimelech. king of the Philistines in

Gerar. Then the Lord appeared to him and said,

Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land of

which I shall tell you. Verse 3, Dwell in this

land, and I will be with you and bless you. For

to you and your descendants I give all these

lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore

to Abraham your father. Why don't we just lift

our hands once again there and go to the Lord

in the heart of thanksgiving and open your heart

to God's counsel of his word today. Father, in

your name, I'm so grateful to you, Lord, for...

First of all, for being able to be here before

your people. Lord, I consider it an honor and

a privilege, Lord. And I, once again, Lord, I

thank you for your protection upon our lives

this entire week. Lord, whatever it may have

become, Lord, we know that you were in it all

week long. From last week, Resurrection Sunday

service to now, Lord, you have been with us.

And I thank you, Father, because you truly, Lord.

hallelujah, are the spirit, Lord, within us.

You are that spirit that is within us. Lord,

we have done great things because of you this

week. We thank you, Lord, for the victories,

for those that we testify to, that the seed will

take plant in their life, Lord. Somehow, someway,

somebody is going to be saved, Lord, through

the foolishness of preaching of the Word of God.

And I pray that your Word today will be of encouragement

to somebody. here today, Lord, that we may walk

out of here encouraged in the faith and knowing,

God, that you can do anything. You can turn things

around for us, Lord, and we look up to you, Lord,

as you are a redeemer in everything, Lord, in

life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Give the

Lord a hand of praise. You may take your places

if you can. Amen. Thank you for... I thought

I was going to preach without a microphone. It

was going to be good for me because it's kind

of hard to hold it up here anyway. But anyway,

this thought that I want to share with you today

has been with me. And I've gone through it many

times and considered this man by the name of

Isaac. On many occasions in the Old Testament,

God identifies himself. as when God speaks to

man and he communicates with man, and even to

us historically and biblically, God identifies

himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob. Thank you, brother. Amen.

Amen. Just in case, right? Is this for a crutch

or for the microphone, brother? Either way, oh,

no, no. Praise God. I'm going to tell you something.

This reminded me of something. When my dad one

time, many, many years ago, he was the pastor,

and I guess he injured himself, and he was walking

around with a cane. You know, and I got inspired,

you know, and I preached the message, and I told

my father, I'm going to rebuke that cane in the

name of Jesus. Come up here, we're going to pray

for you. And I prayed for him, and I really felt

that, you know, God healed him, his body, and

God did something for him. But I should have

never done what I did next. I took the cane from

him, and I said, you ain't never going to use

this cane again. And I went to break it over

my knee. It did not break. I don't know what

kind of wood that was, but it would not break.

And guess who had to use the cane thereafter

for a bit? I said, oh, my knee went bad. You

ain't using my cane. He says, praise God, that

didn't cost you nothing there. Just don't do

that. Amen. But when considering the lives of

these three great men, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

For the sake of today's thought, I would like

to point out that of the three, for me, Isaac

is the most unique and interesting of the three.

Isaac is the son, of course, of Abraham, an extremely

famous father, and we consider him as the father

of our faith. Isn't that right? And he's referred

to as the man that left his country and followed

the lead of the Lord, which he did as a man of

great faith. Amen. And then he became a... Later,

Isaac bore Jacob, later on whose name was changed

to Israel, who was and is a very well -known,

even today, Israel. When you say Israel, amen,

we are referencing back to Jacob. There are 13

chapters in the book of Genesis, 13 chapters

that are dedicated to the life of Abraham. And

it's interesting because it tells a lot about

his life, what happened to him, everything that

he went through. And there are 10 chapters that

are dedicated to Jacob. So Abraham has 13 chapters,

and Jacob has 10 chapters that are dedicated

to him. But there's only one chapter dedicated

to Isaac. And I've wondered, and many people

have considered this theologians, one about Isaac.

I mean, isn't he important? Wasn't he just as

important as his father Abraham and his son Jacob?

And that was interesting. It's interesting to

me in that chapter that is dedicated. He's mentioned

in other places as Abraham and Jacob are as well,

but one that is dedicated to him is Genesis 26.

We only have one chapter then that is dedicated

to tell us who this man Isaac actually was and

is in our lives. And to make things more interesting,

the chapter that is dedicated about Isaac is

a chapter full of problems and challenges. And

he wondered, well, my goodness, you know, just

tell my story, tell the good stuff. But it was

all about the bad stuff. In there, it's interesting

that we draw so much that has helped my own personal

life. And you have heard probably many messages

and teachings and conferences given from the

life of Isaac. But it is interesting because

it's not a chapter that... that just jumps out

at you. Isaac has been considered as the bridge

between two narratives of two great patriarchs

in the Bible. He is like a bridge from one to

the next, from Abraham to Jacob, dwelling in

the shadow of his father's greatness. So Isaac

was basically, you know, following the shadows

of the greatness of his father. great accomplishment

that his father did. And then he was eclipsed

by his son, Jacob, praise God, who manages to

trick his own father. I mean, Isaac turns out

to be tricked into blessing the wrong child.

And he blessed Jacob instead of his older brother,

Esau. And so we see here that he doesn't have

a very good, you know, I guess something to brag

about because he made a big mistake, supposedly,

but it was all in God's plan. Isaac is, in his

own way, is just as important as Abraham, his

father, and his son Jacob, his son. And in some

ways, perhaps... even greater. And this is interesting

to note. However, we know that Isaac is an extremely

important character for the fulfillment of God's

promises. And I want you to know something here

today that if I touch any part of your life and

you're thinking that maybe you're not at the

front of the line or the leader of the pack,

or maybe you don't have the title, or you don't

have the gift. the talent or whatever it is,

but I'm just a member of the body of Christ.

I want you to know that you're just as important

as everybody else in the body of Christ. Nobody

is greater or lesser. We are all equal in the

eyes of God, and that's important for us to understand.

For Isaac, he was extremely important for the

fulfillment of God's promises. He is the link

between two great patriarchs. of our faith, and

in history. The story of Isaac's life serves

as a great example for us today, especially because

of the importance of the legacy from one generation

to the next. He was in the middle, of course,

of two great men of God that we preach about

all the time, but yet he was the link or the

bridge or the person in the middle that brought

two great generations together. If it had not

been for Isaac, you know, I don't know where

we'd be. But the typology of Isaac is so much

different than the typology of Abraham, the father

of faith, you know, or Jacob, the successor in

Israel as we know today. That is great and wonderful.

But Isaac, he played a unique role in the kingdom

of God because of his typology, because of what

he represented. represented as the sacrificial

lamb of God, and I'll connect those in a little

bit, but it's interesting to note that it doesn't

say that about Abraham. It doesn't say that about

Jacob, but it says it about Isaac. Isaac is very

important, especially in our faith and what we

believe in today, because we believe in the great

sacrifice, as we heard last weekend, the sacrificial

lamb, the lamb of God, as John the baptist declared

behold the lamb of god which was jesus praise

god and it's interesting to know that That even

in the life of Isaac, there's so much typology

here. For example, it's not on my notes, but

for example, when Abraham was about to sacrifice

his son Isaac, which is, again, a typology of

Christ, what did he find when he was about to

kill Isaac? Isaac was a man, and I'm going to

talk a little bit about that, of obedience. Because

he was... obedient unto death. Praise God. Who

else was obedient unto death? Jesus Christ was.

And he was obedient unto death because his father

was going to sacrifice him. And when Isaac said,

Dad, we got the wood, we got everything here.

Where's the sacrifice? And little did he know

that he was the sacrifice. And Abraham was going

to sacrifice his only son. It's a typology of

how that God was going to sacrifice and did sacrifice

his only son. And the thicket where they, and

when they were, they were, you know, about to

kill, he was about to get killed by his father

Abraham. The Lord withheld him and, you know,

not to harm the boy. However, he provided a ramp.

in the thicket, and he was caught by the horns

in his head in the thistle, in the thicket, which

is the thicket of thorns. It was thorns. So the

typology is that Christ was also crowned with

the crown of thorns. Praise God. In the same

way that God provided the sacrifice for Abraham

and for us at that time, He provided one in his

son Jesus. It is very interesting there. If you

want to go into that, that's another study. But

Isaac is greatly blessed by God despite some

very difficult circumstances in his life. Isaac

is not remembered for his great faith as his

father Abraham. Who left his home, his family,

and to an unknown destination in his life. Or

his son Jacob who wrestled with an angel. Isaac

didn't wrestle with no angels. Or Isaac did not

see angels ascending and descending on a ladder

as Jacob did from heaven. And known as Jacob's

ladder. He didn't get to know that. He didn't

experience that. And his life was more of sacrificial.

But Genesis 26 and 13 tells us something that

is very important. It says, and the man waxed

great. Somebody said he was great. And grew more

and more until he became what? Very great. Now

that separates him, in my opinion, from his dad

and his son. It separates him because God said,

this one is very great. And that got the attention

of God, and it should get our attention as well,

knowing that he was very great. If God says you're

great, you're great, man. You don't have no competition

nowhere. And I don't think that God was trying

to say that he was better than Abraham and better

than Jacob, but he did say he, amen, became very

great. Isaac will be remembered as a very great

patriarch that never lost faith. and he never

lost hope in spite of the many, many adversities

that came to him. In this short chapter, you're

going to discover that he was a man of obedience

and he was a man of restoration. These two, they

connect to me. If you're going to be obedient,

God can use you in restoration. And God used

Isaac because... he was obedient to God. We know

that Jesus Christ, he said, nobody taketh my

life, I lay it down. But Isaac also laid down

his life. He laid down on the sacrificial rocks,

the altar, that he could be burnt with fire and

become the sacrifice that Abraham was going to

present. But nonetheless, his obedience was powerful.

Obedience is greater than sacrifice. And this

happened way before Samuel ever came into the

picture, where it said that obedience is greater

than sacrifice. You have to remember, because

this is a principle of God. It was realized in

Isaac before it was mentioned by the prophet

Samuel later concerning Saul, King Saul. But

the obedience was greater than the sacrifice

and restoration. was the fruit of obedience.

This is important for us to understand as a principle

of life. If you want restoration, if you want

the blessing and the goodness and the multiplication

of God upon your life, it is initiated with obedience.

When you are obedient to God, he will restore

whatever has been taken from you. He will bring

it back. He will double it. He will multiply

it. nothing that will be withheld from you just

so long as we are obedient unto God. That exhibited

great trust in God. And this is what it exhibits

even for us today. If we are obedient, that means

that we are exhibiting trust in God. Somebody

say praise the Lord for that. The story then

of Isaac begins with difficult times amid the

drought and the scarcity in his time. He didn't

take over. He didn't come into the scene of biblical

history. When everything was on the top of things,

when he received all this wealth, even though

they say that Abraham was a very wealthy man.

At one point, he was the wealthiest man in the

world. You know, there was nobody that can compete

with him. He was a man of God, a chosen of God.

But when Isaac took over, he took over at a very

difficult time. He entered into the scene of

God's biblical story, amen, of salvation in a

very difficult time. We find that Isaac had decided,

amen, because of the pressures. And I'm sure

that, you know, which one of us, I don't know

if any one of you here was raised in a wealthy

home. where you had everything, and God blessed

your parents, and they had everything. They had

the big house. They had the big Cadillacs, and

they had all of that, but then when you got started,

you basically didn't have nothing, man. You know,

you just have to start off, start from all over,

you know, like, hey, you're on your own, right?

And to each their own. But I can imagine Isaac,

he was brought up. Look how much was paid for

his wife, my God. You know, and I mean, look

at all the riches and everything that he had

and the prosperity. He was brought up in prosperity.

But when he began to, you know, be used of God

and he became the focus of God's plan of salvation,

he was in poverty. Basically, he was in the land

of drought. And back then, in those times, that

is how it's determined. Your wealth is determined

by... your harvest and the land and the harvest

and the productivity of your land and also your

livestock, if you had great livestock. That's

why Jacob later, he was messing around with his

father -in -law's livestock. You remember, he

was painting them, you know, to claim and, you

know, he was out there with the paintbrush trying

to claim his wealth. Well, Isaac, he had nothing,

but he didn't take the paintbrush like Jacob

did because Jacob means just... Deceiver, right?

Don't tell pastor that. But that's, I named him,

okay. Well, I don't know who named him, but not

his fault, right? But that's what it means, deceiver.

Well, praise God. That's how Jacob, Jacob and,

you know, the son of Isaac, that's what he was.

Praise God. And his mom helped him along with

that, right? But nonetheless, Isaac had nothing.

He had nothing. In Scripture, the metaphor for

the world was Egypt. Egypt is a metaphor of the

world. And so Isaac, he set his eyes on Egypt.

He says, you know... I don't know. I can't make

it here. I can't do it with what I got. You know,

I looked at my bank account. I looked at my cattle.

They all look feeble and sick. And, you know,

I can't even get a decent filet mignon out of

them things. Look at the way they look, you know,

and they're probably just all bones. And the

land was barren. It was drought, no water, nothing.

I mean, it did not look so well for Isaac. So

what's the first thing? Man does when he's in

trouble. They look to Egypt. They look to Egypt,

and Egypt is a type of the world. So you look

to Egypt because you think that it's going to

get better out there. Well, you know, I'm just

going to do that. I know it sounds illegal right

now, but I've got to do it for the sake of myself.

Really? And so we begin to do things, and we

start looking at the world. We start looking

about how people are building homes. on the hillside

and, you know, they're flying around on private

jets and they're doing all these wonderful things

and you're saying, poor little old me, you know,

who am I? I can barely put gas in my car, you

know, especially the way it is nowadays, right?

And, you know, we begin to complain and we begin

to have a pity party on ourselves. Isaac had

a pity party and he says, you know what? I hear

that Egypt is, I mean, it's a powerful nation.

with a wealthy and a strong economy. I'm thinking

I'm probably going to just, you know. Cast my

tent that way. And if you remember somebody else

that did that in the Bible, which was a relative

actually of Isaac, was Lot. Do you remember he

cast his tent towards Sodom? What happened? It

was greener that way, but what happened eventually?

He ended up in Sodom. If you cast your tent towards

Egypt, you will end up in Egypt. Hello, that

didn't cost you nothing there. Amen. Maybe you

thought you were going to be running the aisles

today. I am. Praise God. And here's the thing,

that this is the reality. Somebody said this

is a reality check. Tell your neighbor, this

is a reality check. Praise God. And it's easy,

it's easy to look to the outside. And begin to

envy and want things that the world has. And

you want that career. And there's nothing wrong

with having a house on the hill. Nothing wrong

with having nice material things. That's okay.

But that's not our priority. That's not our purpose

in life. Our purpose in life is to be obedient

to the will of God and submit ourselves to him.

And then he says, if you seek me first, he said,

I will let everything else unto you. So our focus

needs to be on God first. If we focus on God

first, let me tell you something. You will lack

nothing in your life. The world will not have

an advantage over you. Not at all. Who is with

you? Greater is he that is within you than he

that is in the world. Amen. It doesn't matter

what the world has. It doesn't matter what they

portray, what the temptations are in this world.

Greater is he that is in you. Pay attention to

what's great. Pay attention to what is bubbling

inside of you. Pay attention to what's eternal

inside of you, which is the Spirit of God. Say

amen to that. By going to Egypt, then Isaac was

following the natural or logical solution to

a situation, a trial. maybe a setback. And we've

had those setbacks, believe me. We've had those

setbacks. I've had setbacks in my life. I've

made bad decisions, and boy, I had to pay the

price for them. But nonetheless, you know, I

did not give in to what the world offered. I

had a lot of opportunities, believe me. And my

father, especially, he had so many opportunities

that the world was offering him, you know, because...

I don't know, the devil is out to hurt him or

distract him. And I've had many, many opportunities

that have come my way. But when I look at them

now, I realize as I reflect on that, I just thank

God I didn't go that way. I thank God that I

did not pursue that endeavor or whatever it may

have been, that investment or whatever that might

have been in your life as well as in mine. But

if we keep our focus and know that greater is

he that's in me. When you have the greatest thing

ever in your life, you don't need nothing else.

You don't need to be seeking or touching or messing

around with the things of this world to experience

the greatness. In fact, I was just telling my

wife this morning, you know, there's people that

really... Really, they think that if they have

this or after this, their endeavor is to be a

millionaire, wealthy, and have all these things

in life. And I say, you know what? That's not

our desire. That has never been our desire. Our

desire is always just to be content in God. My

wife reminded me that of this morning. We're

just content in the Lord. And that's all that

matters when we're content with what we're doing.

Isn't that right? We were talking about this

morning. It's just to be content. content in

God. That means you're satisfied. That's what

my wife says. That means you're satisfied inside

of your spirit, inside of your life. You're not

looking for things. You don't want that. You

don't desire. You don't envy those kinds of things.

What you have is enough. When we have God in

our life, that's enough. You don't need to be

looking nowhere else. Man, when you've got the

Lord with you and he's greater than anything

in the world, let me tell you something. You

can put in front of me the richest man in the

world, but if he does not have Jesus, I'm greater.

I said, I'm greater than him. I have more than

him. I have all the riches and glory. Bless the

Lord, somebody. There will be times in our Christian

lives that because of our struggles, our challenges,

in the natural sense, in the natural things of

life, it will be tempting to seek answers from

the philosophical or illogical remedies of this

world to resolve spiritual challenges. I have

never, I remember years ago, You know, in fact,

it was here in Mountain View when my father had

that work over on the other side of the freeway.

And there was a break -in in our church. And

it took me a lot, a lot. I worked hard to buy

a set of drums for our church. And it was a used

set, but it was drums. We had not had drums before.

And then I was learning how to play them because

nobody else did. And I says, okay, I'm going

to learn how to play them. And then one day.

I got to church because I would get there early

to set up everything, you know, like you do here.

And I do it, bless your heart and for your work

and your sacrifice and your labor. And I used

to do that. And when I got to the church, it

looked kind of strange. And it says that, you

know, things don't look right. You know, and

I opened the door to the little building. And

when I walked in, lo and behold, over there where

my drums were. Well, actually, I used to put

them in the bathroom and lock up the door. Because,

man, they were precious to me, man. Drum set,

you know. We never had drum set. And they were

red. And they glittered with glitter and everything,

you know. I was more attracted to the glitter,

I guess, than the quality. But nonetheless, you

know, we sacrificed and we bought them. But right

where the drum set would be. There was a huge

hole in the wall. I couldn't believe it. Somebody

broke through the wall of the church. Never mind

messing around with the locks or window. They

came through the wall of the church. They made

a big hole. And they came in and they stripped

us of the few things we had. And one of the things

they took was my drums. And they stole them.

And, you know, and I was just so disappointed

and discouraged. And then my father starts calling

people of the church. Hey, does anybody see anything?

You don't know. Nobody saw nothing. And then

he gets a call from somebody. He gets a call

from somebody that, you know, that person's already.

Gone with the Lord. Back then it wasn't converted.

But that person says, I can tell you exactly

who it was. And my father says, you're lying.

She was a witch. And she knew. She says, I can

tell you. And my father says, I don't need the

devil to tell me nothing. I says, I rebuke you

in the name of Jesus. I don't need the devil

to tell me where my stuff is. God knows where

my stuff is. If anything, God's going to show

it to me, not some devil somewhere. And, man,

he rebuked her on the phone, and he told me about

it. I got the shivers. I says, whoa. I said,

because I knew that person. And, yeah, that person

used to mess around with witchcraft. You know

what? We don't need that. When we have God. In

our lives, we don't need to depend on... spirits

from the world or this or that or whatever. Hey,

I got a remedy for you. Really? You know, no,

thank you. I'll trust in God. I'm going to put

all my trust in the Lord. And if you just give

me $100, I can go multiply it. I'm trusting in

the Lord. I'm going to give it to the Lord, not

to you. You know, and God's going to bless me.

And so, I mean, I've been tempted in so many

different ways to go the wrong direction. But

thank be to God. that always remembered, greater

is he that is in me than anything that is in

the world, and everything is going to be all

right. Praise the Lord, somebody. This is an

unfortunate mistake, though, that many people

make in seeking a solution for a spiritual trial

in their lives of natural things and, you know,

from this world. And they pursue those things.

Isaac was trying to deal with his situation in

a worldly way. He was being tempted. You know,

it's not always greener on the other side as

we would perceive. He was following the same

pattern as his relative Lot and following after

Sodom through carnal eyes. The grass will always

be greener on the other side. If we look at things

carnally, we're going to see green over there,

beyond, on the other side, and we're going to

see it dry right here where we're standing. But

if you have spiritual eyes, you're going to see

it green where you're standing and nothing but

dust on the other side. Because you have to see

things through God's eyes. We've got to see things

the way God. How does God see it? God doesn't

see dirt and desert. He sees green right here.

Praise God. We have to look through spiritual

eyes and know that God, the blessing is right

here. We're standing on the blessings of God.

I'm standing on the victory dance right now.

I'm standing in the place where God can bless

me. I don't need to. to look to the world for

anything. I don't need for somebody to counsel

me or to give me some philosophical idea from

the world because greater is he that is still

in me. And God is telling me, you're standing

on green turf right now because I'm going to

bless you. Everywhere your foot is set is blessed.

Everything your hand touches is blessed. That's

how God works in our lives. Whatever Isaac's

motive was, he was warned by a divine appearance

of God not to go to Egypt, but to remain in a

city called Gerar for a season, for a season.

Don't go, Isaac. Don't go to Egypt. Don't go

looking for a solution. Don't go over there thinking,

oh, I'm just going to go over there for a season.

I just got to go over there because they're offering

overtime. I just got to go over there because

this and that. I know I got to work on Sundays,

and I know that, but it's going to be only for

a short while. The lying devil. I'm going to

tell you, in my time and in my experience, I've

seen a lot of people fall for that, and they're

not with us. Why? They listen to those voices.

It's not greener. I told a brother, I said, brother,

don't do it, man. He said, yeah, but I can get

a house and I can get this. I said, brother,

don't do it, man. Don't do it. It's going to

cost you, man. Don't do it. I know. I'm telling

you by experience. Don't do it. He says, well,

you know, I just got to, man, because they showed

us what we can get. I said, the devil is a liar,

brother. The devil is a liar. He says, well,

you know, pastor, we're just going to have to

do it. I says, all right, brother, but you know

where we're at. Man, they went over there. Yeah,

they got this big old house, you know, swimming

pool. Yeah, praise God. They had everything.

But a little short time later, his wife divorces

him. Then his kids got into drugs. And then he

gets sick. He loses his job. Then he loses the

house. He loses everything. And then one day

I seen him driving into the parking lot. I said,

brother, you're back. Yeah. But I lost everything,

including my family. I says, well, I'm not going

to say I told you so. I'm just going to say,

welcome home. Welcome home. It's not green over

there, is it? No, it's not. The devil tricked

me. I lost everything. I says, well, praise God.

And then he didn't live much longer. He was so

sickly. He didn't last too long, but at least

he got right with God, you know, in that short

time that he was with us. But here's the thing.

It's not always what we think. Don't fall for

it. Tell your neighbor, don't fall for that.

Don't fall for that. Whatever Isaac's motive

was then, he said, it's just for a season. But

the Lord told him, stay put. He said, stay put.

Isaac, don't go for it. Stay put. Stay where

you are. Amen. And your place in God. And stay

in the faith. Stay where God has you. And whatever

it is he's having you do for his kingdom work,

stay there. Don't give up. And you're going to

see how God's going to come through for you.

Isaac obeyed. Somebody say, he obeyed. Obedience

was key for him. He obeyed nevertheless at thy

word, Lord. Nevertheless at thy word. And I've

had to use that so many times in my Christian

walk. Nevertheless, by your word I'm going to

do it. At thy word I'm going to do it. I'm not

going to do it. I'm not going to. By your word,

God, I'm going to follow that. And we've learned

to apply that. And I encourage somebody here

today, Isaac obeyed and followed the counsel

of God more than that of man. There is a great

example for us today in obeying God. In the midst

of difficulties and uncertainty. 1 Samuel 15,

22 it says, and that's what I said that Samuel

said. He said, has the Lord as great delight

in the burnt offerings and the sacrifices as

obeying the voice of the Lord? It was nuts. God

wanted... Saul, to obey, that's it. Behold, to

obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than

the fat of rams. Don't look at what's on the

other side of the fence. Don't be looking unto

the world and what the world has and what it

has to offer you today. Because, yes, it looks

good for the moment. It's going to look good.

And I'll tell you what, it might be new and shiny

for a while. but it's going to get worn out.

It's going to decay. And you know, because anything

that we attempt to hold, to accumulate in this

life, the Bible says it's going to decay. But

he says, invest. In heaven where there is no

decay. Invest in the Lord where God's protection

will be upon your investment. If you're going

to invest in anything in this life, invest in

the kingdom of God. Invest in the Lord. And you're

going to see how the payday is coming. Amen.

You know, it might endure for a night. You know,

your trouble might endure for a night or so.

But joy is going to come in the morning. brother,

and that morning is coming to you. Amen. Just

keep trusting the Lord. Amen. Trust him with

all your heart and know that God is going to

bless you. God promised that he would bless Isaac

in the land of Gerar to give him all these lands,

he says, and confirm the covenant he made with

him, his father Abraham. In other words, the

Lord was saying, yeah, you know everything I

promised your dad? You're going to get it. He's

probably saying, well, where is it, man? When

I was a kid, we were wealthy. Look at me now.

No, hang in there, Isaac. Don't get anxious.

Don't be in a hurry. Just wait and see what I

got for you, Isaac. And it took faith and courage

to obey God and not go to Egypt as he had already

determined. His bags were packed and everything

was rounded up. We're going to Egypt. No, stay

put. Don't go where there seemed to be an abundance

to satisfy the fear. physical needs, and your

urgent needs. Yes, that's Egypt. Maybe, maybe

it's a quick fix for somebody today. Maybe you're,

I didn't, I just, this just came to my mind,

amen, because sometimes this happens. You know,

I've, I've seen people that say, well, I'm gonna,

I'm gonna date her anyway, or I'm gonna date

him anyway. God, I'll convert them later. I'm

gonna tell you something. I've seen a lot of

conversions, and it ain't this way. It's usually

the other way. Oh, come on. Tell your neighbor,

don't believe him. Don't believe her. Stay in

the Lord. If you're going to get married, get

married in the Lord, man. Don't get married.

I know this is not a marriage counseling and

all that. But I've seen it too many times, man.

I've seen it too many times. You know, yeah,

but that guy's got a, man, he's got a BMW, man.

He works for this and he does this and that.

Stop it already. The devil is painting it all

nice and green for you. Fast remedy, right? He

probably owns a home. You're just going to have

to move in. Move your stuff in. Really? Listen.

Don't go for it. Don't fall for that. Tell your

neighbor, don't fall for that. Come on. Don't

fall for it. It took faith and courage then to

obey God. And this is what it's going to take.

Faith and it's going to take courage. Be courageous

in your faith. And don't... Cast your tent towards

Egypt. How many times have we gone through these

kinds of things and situations, amen, and realized

that it didn't go so well? And I can sit down

and I can write a book, man, without mentioning

names. And, you know, all John Doe's and whatnot

and Jane Doe's about what they thought was on

the other side of the fence. And it didn't work

out for them. Praise the Lord. Amen. Don't take

the easy way out. Or satisfy personal desires

or needs for right now. It's not an instant payback

check. It's not. It's going to cost you a lot

more. Isaiah 55, 8 and 9, it says, For my thoughts

are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways,

says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher.

than the earth, so are my ways higher than your

ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. In other

words, don't pay attention to your ideas and

what you think. No, don't. Close your carnal

eyes. and open your spiritual eyes and see that

the ways of God are higher. The ways of God are

better. It may be a little uncomfortable for

a season, but I'm telling you, it has a great

reward for you. You're going to be all right.

You're going to get through this thing. You're

going to be victorious at the end. Your children

are going to serve the Lord. Your grandchildren

are going to serve the Lord. Your family is going

to come to Christ. got to stay faithful. Praise

the Lord, somebody. Isaac obeyed God and settled

in Gerar. Praise God. I'm almost done. Don't

think, you know, it's going to, well, maybe it

will. I don't know. I'm starting to feel pretty

good. And I didn't even bring the sling to hold

up my arm here. But there is a deeper lesson

that we can learn from the decision Isaac made

in obeying God's voice in spite of this desperate

situation, Isaac's faith was tested and it was

proven so that the will and the plan of God would

be fulfilled in his life. And it's the same way

for us. Your faith is going to be tested. You

will be tested. You're going to go through some

things in life and maybe you're on the mountaintop

right now. But let me tell you, there's valleys

in life. And you may find yourself in a valley

for some reason or another. And it's not easy.

There's death in the valley. That's why the psalmist

said in 23, you know, though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death. It didn't say

he was a sinner and all of that. No, we walk

through there sometimes. And you can smell the

stint of death. And it's unfortunate, but there

it is, you know. And you don't get to smell it

until you're there, you know. You don't smell

it from the mountaintop. Hey, it looks good down

there. Well, when you get down there, it stinks

like death, let me tell you. And it's not a place

where you want to plant yourself. Yes, you've

got to walk. Through it, the Bible says, through,

I walk through the valley of the shadow. It doesn't

say, though I live in the valley of the shadow.

No, you got to walk through it sometimes, amen,

but don't, like my grandfather used to tell us,

no más mirando y no agarrando. He would take

all his grandsons to the store with him, and

he knew that we, you know, we wanted to be getting,

no más mirando y no agarrando. Like that, and

then we were walking like this, you know, in

the store with him. Yeah, there's a lot of temptation.

There's a lot of things that are tasty and good

and they're bright and they're shiny. But don't

go for it. Don't fall for it. Stay faithful in

the Lord and know that God is going to do something

for me. God promised me something and I'm sticking

with it, man. I'm not going to change. I'm not

going to look to the left or the right. I'm looking

forward because greater is he. Greater is he,

the spirit that's in me, and I'm going to be

all right. Praise the Lord. He put all his trust

in God, Isaac did, and began to sow seeds in

dry land where there was a severe drought and

barren land. You know, sometimes people will

ridicule you and mock you and say things about

you because you're investing in something that

they don't see. They don't see the harvest behind.

They don't see the benefit. And there's people,

I mean, I've been attacked by people all over

the place. And, you know, in my serving of the

Lord and attempting to spread the gospel, and

they've told me that. You know, you can do this.

And I had an individual that he knew that I was

a Christian, and he liked to invest in the stock

market and all of that. And, boy, he was a big

-time investor. He was a Japanese man. And he

had a big corner office there where I worked

at my company at IBM. And he had a bigger office

than mine for sure. And he was always investing.

But I went through hard times. But I would always

give to the Lord. I said, no, no, no. I'm not

going to stop giving of the first fruits and

the tithings and the offerings to missions and

all. I'm going to keep giving. I'm going to keep

giving. And I always did. But he tried to make

a fool out of me and say that, you know, I'm

putting my money in the wrong place. I said,

no, I'm okay, man. I'm okay. You do what you

do and I'll do what I do. He says, oh, man, look

at this market. He always had the stock market,

you know, Wall Street. this desk, journal, and

going, oh, he's on the phone, you know, making

calls. And one morning, they called it Black

Monday. Way back in the late 80s, I think it

was, or somewhere out there. I don't remember

the exact date, but they called it Black Monday.

I came into work, and I heard a crying, like

somebody died. This man was screaming like a

baby. Screaming and just pounding his desk. And

I says, what happened to him? He says, he lost

everything. Everything. He's in debt. He owes.

He's lost everything and he owes a lot. I says,

you're kidding. What happened? Oh, the market

crashed. You didn't hear? I said, no. What do

I know about the market? 7 -Eleven? Yeah, I know

that. But the stock market, what do I know about

that? But I know where I put my investment. I

put my investment in the Lord. And when you invest

in the Lord, let me tell you something, he pays

with interest. Yes, he does. I'm telling you,

I know this. I've been through this. I've experienced

it. I've got so many. I should write another

book. on the experiences that I've had by just

trusting in God. What, you know, what appears

to be good for the world, I'm not saying don't

invest. That's up to you, you know, whatever

you want to do. But don't invest what belongs

to God. God, if I win the lotto, I'm going to

pay my tithes. Really, why don't you pay your

tithes first? Because if you win the lotto, there

was an hermana that won the lotto one time. In

Texas. I won't say what happened. Sometimes it's

not good. But Isaac sowed in the middle of a

drought. But what does the scripture say? It

tells us that the first year he reaped a hundredfold.

One hundredfold. Wow. The promise of God was

being fulfilled. for Isaac. The Lord said, plant,

Isaac, plant. Put the seed out there. But Lord,

no, put the seed out there. Just plant the seed.

Don't worry about it. What does that mean? A

hundred -fold harvest in the Bible represents

an exceptional, supernatural return on spiritual,

financial, Or personal investments. One hundred

fold. It symbolizes the maximum productivity.

A hundred times the seed you sow. Resulting in

an immense spiritual fruitfulness. A blessing

and a reward. Wow. How many want that upon your

life? Amen. I want that. Praise God. But I'm

not talking about just material things. I'm talking

about God's blessings upon my life. My spiritual

walk with him. I want to feel strong. I want

to be able to tell that blind man, amen, in the

name of Jesus, you're going to see. Amen. I like

to tell somebody, silver and gold I have not,

but such as I have. Get up in the name of Jesus.

We don't have. all the monetary things in the

bank. But what we got, we can give. And the more

we get from God, the more we can give. The secret

to spiritual wealth is to learn the principle

of planting and sowing. Galatians 6 -7 tells

us, for whatever a man sows, that... he will

also reap. And I know I had a previous to that

talking about, you know, not to mock God, but

this is a principle. This is a principle. God's

principle is stable and true and it's effective

today. Whatever we sow, we reap. If you sow your

time, your resources, or your finances, you are

sowing into God's kingdom that will give you

a return. that cannot be compared to anything

Egypt can provide. You cannot compare it with

what the world has. 2 Corinthians 9, 6, But this

I say, he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly,

but he who sows bountifully, thank you, Isaac,

for this example, will also reap. bountifully.

One seed brought back a hundredfold. I don't

know if the stock market can do that. Maybe it

has from time to time, but in God's kingdom,

it's not a risk. It's not a chance. Let's see.

No, it's a reality. God blesses. If anybody is

an expert in multiplying, it's God. God multiplies.

You know, it's just like the space. The astronauts

that went up the other day, they made some comments.

And one of them made a comment and says, you

know, we should just be so grateful that God

gave us earth to live. He says, let us live in

harmony on earth. What God gave us to live in.

He says, out here, it's immense. It's so big.

They couldn't captivate it in their limited mind

how big it is. And that's our God. Our God is

so enormous. To him, that's nothing. He knows

the names of all the stars, you know. He's been

to Mars. Hello. He put Mars there, you know.

He did all of that. I mean, he knows exactly

what's out there. And when the rapture takes

place, we're going to go right through that.

Boom. opening of an eye. Not only did God prosper

Isaac's seed, he prospered his livestock. Here

comes the steak. Man, I think I'm getting hungry

here. I don't know. But livestock during the

time of famine and drought. Wow, what an amazing

thing. And so when God prospers livestock in

the Bible, listen to this, it serves as a prophetic

picture or a symbol. When God prospers livestock,

it's prophetical. And it's also a symbol, a prophetical

symbol of his divine favor and the ultimate spiritual

blessing that he can provide to mankind. That

is so powerful to me that prophetical means it's

going to come to pass. His favor is upon your

life.