Genesis - Part 49 | Pastor Paul McGee

I need that little midweek fuel station where I can get somehow

top off my tank, so to speak. Amen.

Top off my tank. Hallelujah.

Just a couple of announcements here this evening as we get in

the Bible study here. Tomorrow night is power hour

from 7:00 to 8:00 here at the church.

So you can come and pray, come and go as you desire in that

hour's time. And so we have that opportunity

and then after tonight, the following five services, after

tonight, you're going to have opportunities to hear from

Doctor Jerry Mason, from brother Alex Mason, from brother Zach

McGee and from Bishop while my wife and I are gone.

So you'd have opportunities to hear from all of them.

And so next Wednesday with Zach will be here.

The Wednesday following that when we get back will be our

what was the postponed interview of Everyone leads with Doctor

Jerry Mason. And then the Wednesday after

that will be National Youth Convention in Nashville.

And so there will be no service there on the Wednesday prior to

Thanksgiving. The 5th Sunday then of the month

of November will be the Daniel Taylor family will be here with

us after NYC. And he's going to minister in

that Sunday morning service and we'll try to twist his arm to

play and sing or let somebody sing.

Amen. And so it'll be good, it'll be

good, it'll be good. I know I see tears already in

the eyes because this last time you're going to hear about

Genesis on Wednesday for a little bit.

I see. I, I mean, I've really had to

comfort some people before service ever started as a result

of this. If we turn to Genesis chapter

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

26, Genesis chapter #26 and we're still not going to finish

this chapter purposefully, purposefully.

I'm not going to talk about the last two verses because they fit

well, really with what comes next.

Amen. All right, verse #15 I'm just

going to read a few verses to get us started here tonight.

Verse #15 The Bible says, And this is where we left off, for

all the wells which his father's servants had digged.

Speaking of Isaac's father's servants had digged in the days

of Abraham his father. The Philistines had stopped them

and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac,

Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we.

And Isaac departed fence, and pitched his tent in the valley

of Gerard, and the Welt there. And Isaac digged again the wells

of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham, his

father, for the Philistines that stopped them after the death of

Abraham. And he called their names after

the names by which his father had called them.

They'll get us started tonight. My, my title tonight is kind of

broad because we're going to be hitting several different things

here. So I'm just calling it following

in Abraham steps with with Isaac in view, following in the steps

of his father Abraham Amen. Will ask the Lord to touch us

here tonight. Father, I thank you Lord today,

God for an opportunity, Lord to be in your house.

Center our lives one more time around the word of the Lord God

hear the book of beginnings. God, from which so many things

the Lord Jesus find their place of origin.

I pray, O Lord, anoint our minds and our hearts.

Lord, this evening help us to learn of you and will not fail

to thank you God for what you accomplished.

Lord, in this place, in the lovely name of Jesus Christ that

I pray Hallelujah and Amen and you may be seated tonight in

Jesus name. We stopped off last week talking

about Isaac and the hundredfold harvest that he got during the

time of famine. And that was unlikely even

whenever there wasn't famine, and how his herds and flocks and

even servants had to increase during this most horrific time.

And then how these people who would come to be known as the

enemies of Israel, the Philistines, envied Isaac for

the things that was happening in this soil because they were

sharing the same soil, living in the same land, but not having

the same results as Isaac was having.

And so one of the things that happens as a result of this,

perhaps perhaps some of their envy that's toward Isaac as they

go around, then to all these wells that Isaacs father had dug

for the purpose of water. And they fill these these wells

up with earth then making the water inaccessible to Isaac in

his generation. Because in essence, they wanted

to have what Isaac had, right? They wanted to have what Isaac

had. They wanted that same major of

success from the famished land and the surrounding area that he

had of of the harvest and the flocks and the herds and the

servants. And they no doubt probably

wanted access and to be able to use the same wells that Abraham

had dug as well. But since they couldn't have all

these things, they didn't want Isaac to have access to them

either. You ever find anybody like that

in your life that if they couldn't have it, they didn't

want you to have it either? And so this is the scenario with

the Philistines. And there's a lot of negative

traits that we've looked over the past just couple weeks that

Isaac picked up on of his father.

But from everything negative that he could pick up on and

mirror and mimic. This is 1 positive trait in his

life that he picked up on from his father.

And that was digging wells or even re digging some of the

wells that his father had dug. Because what his dad had done in

his generation and the wells that he had dug in his

generation would be water for generations to come, in essence.

So he wasn't just digging a well for himself, he was digging a

well that was gonna serve generations to come.

And so those wells then were available to Isaac as a result

of that, and they were available to him because Isaac was

obedient. Remember, the Lord said, I want

you to not go down to Egypt. I want you to stay in Gerard.

And as a result of that, these wells are in that vicinity that

his father had dug. And so he has the availability

of them, partially because his dad dug them, but also partially

because he was obedient to the voice of the Lord and he stayed

in the land of promise during some hard times that the land

was going through. So more than just these wells

being an inheritance, right? He has herds and he has flocks

and he has family. They're very vital just to the

welfare of his family and of his his flocks and his harvest.

It's, it's just wells are important for the watering and

for the sustaining just of life. And so the Philistines

understood without doubt that they could not dry up the wells.

They could only fill the wells with dirt.

They could not dry them out. As a matter of fact, whenever

Abraham's servants dug the wells as any well, that is since then

until now, you dig well, you're tapping into an already existent

water source. You just dig into where it's at.

So it was an already existent water source.

I did a little looking to see about drying up a well, and they

say in order to dry up a well you'd have to disrupt what's

called the aquifer. And the aquifer is a body of

permeable rock. Fancy word permeable, but it

means porous or a rock with hose in it.

You got to you got to that permeable rock that can contain

all the groundwater and transmit it for the well.

You'd have to disrupt that aquifer.

Now in order to do that, they say you're going to have to

alter the geology of the area or the hydrology of the area in

order to dry it up. Meaning this, that you usually

can't make the water underneath the well just disappear.

Now, I said all of that to say this, and we've already seen

this a few times in the book of Genesis when we talk about wells

and anytime you talk about wells and Scripture, really we are

pointing toward a well in the future, a well that sat on a

well in John 4, Jesus Christ. And so I'm reminded of Jesus

Christ even in all this picture, because in John 4, he's the

whale sitting on the well, right?

He's the one that can provide the water to the woman when she

thought she needed the water. That was from the well that he

was sitting at or upon. And you've heard me say this

before, but in the New Testament, first Corinthians 10,

for the Bible says the apostle Paul says that they drank of

that spiritual rock that followed them speaking in the

wilderness journeys, and that rock was Christ.

Everybody say rock. That rock was Christ.

As a matter of fact, that rock is foreshadowed in the Old

Testament as being Christ. Even with Moses, the striking of

the rock, striking of the rock is for shouting, the smiting of

Christ in the New Testament Scripture.

And so with the smiting of Christ, there's the beating that

he had before he was ever taken to the cross.

There's there's the crown that the soldiers planted together

and put on his head, piercing into his body.

There's the nails that they put in his hands and feet put in

places in his hands and his feet, the ones that he had even

to feel that indeed it is in me you have the Pierce side that

the spear going through the side.

Another, let me state it in these words, holes in hands,

holes in feet, holes in head, holes inside.

And he was denoted as the rock, if I can say the permeable rock,

the holy porous rock, due to all the hoes that had been placed in

him, Even so much so that the Bible says when the soldier put

the spirit through the side, out of that came blood.

And the life of the flesh is in the IT was living.

It was living water, the very thing that he told the Samaritan

woman in John 4, You drink this water, you're first again, but

I'll give to you, he said particularly living water.

So whenever we talk about Abraham digging the well for

that, generations after him are going to be coming to and taking

from the same water source. Even so much so that whenever we

read in John four of the host scenario of the Samaritan woman,

the Bible says she was around the city of Sikar and she was at

Jacob's well 19 centuries after Jacob's well, which was Isaac's

son, 19 centuries after Jacob's well had been dug.

There's a woman still frequenting that well for water.

And by doing so meets the source of living water.

And Speaking of mankind, Jesus said in John 4/14, he says the

water that I shall give him shall be in him, a well of water

springing up as everlasting life.

That's the reason why we sing out of your belly when we do

that song. That's the reason.

That's where the whole concept in terminology.

I mean, if you don't have no, if you don't have no connection to

Scripture, you're saying I don't know about those folks they're

talking about. Out of your belly shall flow,

flow, flow. Your mind can go a lot of places

with that if you don't have a scripture precedent for it.

So I put a well of water in you, springing up to everlasting

life. And the the magnificent thing is

of this Christ Jesus, this permeable, holy, porous rock

that we know of. Just as in real nature.

So in Christ you cannot disrupt the source.

You cannot dry up the source. It's there.

Other things can maybe block you from the source, or you can

allow other things in your life to block the source.

All right. But if you're diligent in

digging, as Isaac was, you can dig back through whatever's

blocking it to reach the source that is still there, always

there. Amen.

And rediscovered the flow. And so the Bible tells it that

Isaac dug the wells again. He tapped back into the same

water source his father had had. And so the only solution that

seemed then for Abimelech and those people was to somehow keep

Isaac from this water source was that they were going to tell

Isaac that he was going to have to remove himself from the

location of the well. They're going to tell him you're

just going to have to go and you're going to have to go

somewhere else. And that's all well and fine for

a natural whale somewhere in the desert.

But that is insufficient for the whale that you and I have today,

because the location of the whale is not some little

geographic marking over here. You have a whale in you, Amen.

So anywhere you are, you have the well, Amen, and Christ is

still supplying that well for your life.

And so whatever we took all this into into mine and he's telling

them to go. He's telling Isaac and those

that are with him to go. The the Philistines are going to

eventually in Scripture become adversaries to the children of

Israel and so they are told then by these people that will

eventually become absolute adversaries to them that they

need to leave for this very reason.

The Bible says in verse 16, they said, we want you to go because

you are much mightier than we. And this isn't so much that

Isaac and his ragtag group of a family at this point in time is

so much so that they're they're, they're more powerful as far as

in strength. But they can tell by what they

have and what has happened in this famine and the the harvest

that they have gotten that there's some type of visible

influence, some type of visible growth.

There's some type of favor that is upon their life and a

blessing that God has placed upon their life.

And it's come, no doubt. We know that has come absolutely

from the Lord that the favor of God has placed upon Isaac has

elevated them from the people in the world that is around them.

And this is something that God does over and over in his people

whenever he places his favor upon them.

Because you'll read in the book of Exodus that whenever there

was a king that that arose over Egypt that knew not Joseph king

a new pharaoh. The Bible says that he witnessed

the same thing about these Israelites that have been bound

in Egypt for about 400 years. The Bible tells us in Exodus 19,

the people of Israel, this is what the new king of Egypt said.

He said the people of Israel are more and mightier than we.

It's the same thing that even Rahab the harlot said when the

spies came into Jericho, that first city that's that's going

to be conquered, a man in Israel and some spies come to her.

She tells those spies that are invading.

She says, your terror is falling up on us and we faint because of

you because ever since we heard you crossed over the Red Sea and

the Lord separated and made a path for you, we've been fearful

of you. What is that?

She's. And they noticed the favor and

the blessing of God on the children of Israel, whether it

was from Isaac's time or when they were in Egypt or even now

that they're about ready to go into the promised land.

God's blessing, God's favor makes his people mightier.

Amen. And not in the sense of being

arrogant, All right? Scripture tells us over and over

again, we don't need to think more of ourselves than what we

ought. New Testament Scripture.

No, no, no, no, no. But, my dear, in the sense that

there is a visible influence that God has upon his people,

and it's not human strength or ingenuity.

All right. This sounds just a little bit

loud to me right here. Ingenuity or strength, It's not

about that, but because his hand, God's hand, is upon them.

Amen. And so whatever the tactics were

against such power, Abimelech says, Isaac, you guys, you got

to leave, whether it was Pharaoh, Pharaoh says they look

mightier than us. We're going to afflict them hard

taskmasters. We're going to do what we can to

stop this. Jericho.

They're they're intimidated by them with, with their, you know,

well fortified walls and all these things.

So so if, if that type of thing is happening to you affliction,

if that Ting is happening to you, you know, you need to go,

you need to leave the, the, the indication may be you might pose

a threat. You might be posing a threat to

your adversary If you're feeling some of the heat of those

things. They could clearly see God's

influence on their life. Amen.

But they just didn't know how to respond.

Get out of here affliction, all this stuff.

But Rahab the harlot did The Bible says she took those spies.

She invited them in. She was honest with them.

And whenever destruction hits Jericho, the Bible tells us that

those that were with her were spared in her house because she

responded rightly to the influence of God she's seen on

the life of individuals rather than being critical of it, she

says. I want to know about it, right.

And so the response to God's favor, it's not rejection, it's

not suffering, it's not fear, it's not any of that.

It's accepting it, right? It's accepting it.

And so that that will save a a damned generation and that will

bring new life into a person if rather than criticizing the

favor, they'll just look into it and investigate the favor.

And so as a result though of those words, here's Isaac, he

leaves the city of Gerard and he settles, the Bible says in the

valley of Jarrar. So it's not like he went a long

ways. But Isaac is is different than

Abraham in this respect, that Isaac doesn't seem to be a very

confrontational person. He doesn't struggle with people

much. He's more passive, more

peaceable, more more intentional about avoiding conflict.

Bishop, I mean the moment of surrender on Mount Moriah when

he was the sacrifice, no fight. Philistines are saying get out

of here, No fight. We're going to see other places

in this story. He's digging wells, there's

strife, He moves from that place, goes on.

No fight. He's just leading somewhat of a

peaceable life as much as lieth within him, He's trying to be

peaceable. And so he's avoiding some of

this confrontation. And that that's that's, you

know, quite different, a little bit different than Abraham and

in many instances of Abraham's life, because although Isaac is

avoiding fighting, it doesn't mean that Isaac's be an idol.

I think that's important. Sometimes we think if people are

avoiding confrontation then they're just no good.

Well, man, I had to sit here and work for a little bit.

Let's put it like this. Sometimes the Abraham fighters

can be critical of the Isaac non confrontational ones.

You should be fighting well, but although Isaac's not fighting,

he's not idle. He's re digging the wells.

That is, father Abraham had dug that the Philistines had filled

up with earth. You'll know that the Bible says

particularly that they did this. They did this after Abraham had

died, after Abraham had passed away, because they know Abraham

to be more of a fighter. They're not going to challenge

him while he's alive. Abraham fought 4 kings in order

to get Lot and his family back and get him back to Sodom.

Abraham was the one that went to interceding for Sodom.

And so he has this personality a little bit more than Isaac of,

of confronting the threats directively and being aggressive

if he needs to be. But here on the other side,

Isaac chooses a different path and a different plan.

He just has a peaceful determination over open

conflict. And I'm not saying one's right

and one's wrong, but I'm saying both is OK in their proper

place. The thing that marvels me about

Isaac re digging these wells, and I think I alluded to this

one other week, is that in order to do so, he had to know where

the whale whale was located. And if he called them by the

names of his father, he had to know what they were called.

The only way that could have happened is if Abraham took him

to where the wells were and told him what the wells were called.

And Isaac must have been attentive enough during those

visits that though Dad's dead, I'm not scratching my head about

where it's at or what it's called.

Someone say Amen. So with that, Isaac just isn't

inheriting the land. He he's inherited to a certain

degree, a knowledge, right? A knowledge of these wells, the

naming of these wells, a strategy, all these things.

And he paid enough attention to put it to heart and put it to

mine. Oh, that's a big one.

That's a big one. There's a lot of things

generations before me have showed me and told me and talk

to me about. Sometimes Sister Abby, I'm going

to be the duck and just let it fly off my back.

Well, that's good that Mom and Dad know that I'll just live my

life with second hand information through them.

I'll never study these things out for myself.

I'm about ready to get the meddling, but I'm the preacher,

I'm the pastor. So I guess it's not meddling.

We, we talk in this sphere right here.

We talk about the oneness of God, we talk about we talk about

lifestyles, we talk about Jesus name baptism.

Here's the thing though, what happens when the generation

before you dies? Let me put it in these terms.

Will you know where to locate it and how to call it?

Apostolic people, you need to know your doctrine, you need to

know where the wells at, and you know you need to know how to

call the well by what it's called, because you don't want

to be carried about with every wind of doctrine that blows.

If you don't know where the well is and you're not confident,

you're not sure whether that's your well or not.

And so things start sneaking in about, well, you know you.

We can give you options about being baptized in Jesus name or

being baptized in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

That's OK. Now it's one thing for you to

sit there and say no, but can you take them here and tell them

why? Got to know where the whale is,

got to know why, what it's called by.

And if necessary, if the world has filled it with Earth, you

got to carve it back out. You can't grow satisfied with

whales that were true and honorable.

That someone is filled up, say, well, I guess just going to have

to go on. Isaac didn't dig new wells, but

not without first undoing the filled up wells that Daddy had.

Well glory, Jesus, Hallelujah, Amen.

So sometimes listen, sometimes you're sometimes you're called

to a ministry of digging wells and maybe not fighting.

Remember God's reference throughout Scripture.

He's the God of thank you soprano, altone tenor and

baritone bass. Appreciate it.

Saddam mentions just one, but the collective of the three,

because in Abraham you have that faithful fighter, in Isaac you

have that diligent digger, and in Jacob we're going to find the

passionate pursuer. Not that 1 is better than the

other, but the collective, the collective, the God of Abraham

and Isaac and Jacob. Let's go on.

Verse #19 We didn't. OK, you started time, I didn't.

God bless you. Amen.

Verse #19 The Bible says. And Isaac's servants digged in

the valley and found there a well of springing water.

Verse #20 And the herdman of Gerard did strive with Isaac's

herdman saying, the water is ours.

And he called the name of the well the SEC.

And because they strove with him, and they digged another

well, and strove for that also. And he called the name of it

Sitna verse 22 and removed from thence, and digged another well,

and for that strove not. And he called the name of it

Reho both and he said, for now the Lord have made room for us

and we shall be fruitful in the Lamb.

There is a there is a changeover in verse 18.

It's talking about how he dig the wells of his father.

And so the 1920, the verses I just read to you is the digging

of the new wells that's taking place in verse 18.

He dug the old wells, the one his father, yes, had originally

dug with and his servants had dug with their own hands.

And and that that's the inheritance of faith.

Yes, that's passed on to his, to his son, their spiritual

investment that his father made in the soil there in one

generation, that's going to benefit even another generation.

All right, water is there. Amen.

As a matter of fact, folks, you know you can dig more than one

well, but they all have the same water source.

It's so powerful to me because Abraham's well source, and

seeing where these things are, more than likely sharing the

same source from the new ones that Isaac had dug.

It's not different water. It's water connected to the same

source. And so there's that blessing.

But in verse 19, Isaac begins to shift.

He's not just going off what he's inherited as a blessing.

Yeah, but now Isaac has a personal breakthrough for

himself. He begins digging some wells,

not the wells of Abraham, but these are what we could call

Isaac's wells. And he digs them not in the time

of peace. He digs them in the time of

contention, a time of strife, time of opposition, and each

wells tell him the story of that in Scripture.

Amen. That there's a struggle going

on. The Bible says that the herdsmen

of Gerard disputed claims over one of the wells that Isaac,

Doug, and he called it by that new name, which means

contention, essec contention. They had this striving between

his herdsmen and Isaac's herdsmen and that should just if

you a Bible reader stuff you should start just connecting

with you. That should make you herald back

to something we already studied of when Abraham's herdsmen had

contention with Lot's herdsmen and they separated and went

there two different ways and Lot chose the well plains of of of

Jordan went down to Sodom, Gomorrah and Abraham had

everything else. We see this played out now again

in Isaac's life. Guess what, you'll see it played

out again in Jacob's life. I told you this is a bunch of

Deja vu. It's just shown us that similar

things happen to similar generation, similar challenges

and you come out, you've even learned or you've been buried by

it. You've either adopted or you you

went on with it. And so here it is.

This is a moment of how blessing sometimes brings tension.

He found a well, Amen. Isaac has instinct right here,

much like Abraham does, Amen, of finding the right place to dig.

The favor of God is upon him. But but whenever contention

comes, he's not putting up his Dukes, he says you can have it.

I'm going to go on and I'm going to dig another well.

And he digs another well. And he calls it sitna, meaning

hostility or opposition. And the Hebrew root here is

related to a verb in Hebrew called Satan.

If you spell it, it's Satan, Satan, which means oppose or act

as an adversary. Now Isaac doesn't give no

confrontation, brother Fred, but the name of of his well, I think

is a jab. I know what I'm dealing here

with in the contention of digging these wells, the

opposer, the opposition, the hostility, I see what's I know

what's behind all of this that's happening right now.

And so even without finding, he discerns the spiritual

resistance that's taking place here.

Amen. And his little jab if the

turning point comes with his third well, the Bible says this

time there's no contention, there's no opposition, no

hostility, no striving. And Isaac names it Riho, both

meaning room or broad place. This is the exact same word in

Genesis 13 that he used to describe the land of Canaan as

being a broad place or the breadth of that place.

It's an expansion. There's endurance.

And so they've had a lot of pressure.

But after the pressure, now Isaac has found some peace.

And so you see then his, well, he has contention here, then he

has the opposition, and then he has room.

And all of that took place after all the problems, all the

pressure, all the hitting, if you will, all of the the enemy

looking in and wanting to attack.

After all of that came the enlargement, the place of room,

which I believe illustrates a very good biblical example from

Proverbs or Psalms rather chapter #4 and verse number one

that says, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness, Thou

hast enlarged me when I was distressed.

And it seems we have stories in Scripture like that.

Enlargement comes after your problem.

Enlargement comes after your distress.

Enlargement comes after proving truth through your difficult

time. A lot of people want it without

the difficulty. But the principle in Scripture

many times is let's see how you handle your difficulty.

You know, let's see how you are over a few things and I'll make

you ruler over many. But you don't have to cross the

bridge a difficulty to get to your enlargement.

How you, how you deal with that will determine room for you.

So often times it comes with with some discouragement and it

comes with some distress and it comes with some hard times.

Let's continue on verse #23 we'll never get done.

Amen. The Bible says, and he went up

from fence, from that valley of Gerard, this is Isaac to

Beersheba. He's been there before.

And the Lord appeared into him the same night and said, I am

God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee and

will bless thee, and multiply by seed for my servant Abraham's

sake. And he builded an altar there

and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there.

And there Isaac's servants did well.

So Isaac is returning from the valley of, of Gerard to

Beersheba that that was his hometown, so to speak.

Whenever Abraham died, Isaac had to whelp there in Genesis

chapter #25 And so God was going to do, God was going to do what

he did in Isaac's generation. The Bible says in our, in our

verse of Scripture, he was going to do it for Abraham's sake.

No, he said, I'll bless thee in verse 24.

I'll bless thee multiplied by seed for my servant Abraham's

sake. I'm going to do that for you,

Isaac, because of Abraham. It's good to have.

It's good to have proper upbringing.

He said, Isaac, I'm going to do this for you because of his

sake. The Bible says look at verse 25.

I want to read again and he builded Isaac builded an altar

there and called up on the name of the Lord and pitched his

everybody say tint tint there and there Isaac servants dig

day. Everybody say, well, well, well,

so Isaac's not just inheriting blessing.

He's not just inheriting land and seed.

He's inherited by his choice. We said last week, we have

things shoved our direction. We have a choice whether or not

to adopt them. So he's inherited by choice a

good aspect of his father's faithful lifestyle, and he put

it at his own because Abraham has a pattern in Scripture too.

He builds altars, he pitches his tent, and he digs wells, Isaac

said. That worked pretty good.

I'm going to build altars, I'm going to pitch my tent, I'm

going to dig wells. The order, though, I believe in

scripture, is important. I think I alluded to this a few

weeks ago. The first thing he did wasn't

dig a well. The first thing he did wasn't

pitch a tent. The first thing he did was built

as altar. We get life UN prioritized

sometimes and we're busy pitching our tents when we

should have built our altar. We're busy digging our wells

when we should have built our old altar.

I believe it's a divine order. It's like if we just look at

altar tent and then, well, I see God, I see family, I see work or

Bishop, I see worship and this tent Pilgrim idea, pilgrimage

and, and, and a stranger idea. I see separation because I'm not

putting down my roots anywhere in this earth with permanence.

And I also then see my work. So before Isaac built anything

else, I'm going to build this altar.

See, we start justifying things about the trout.

It'll take too much time to do this.

I need to get my tent up for my family.

You will do nothing any more important for your family and

establishing your altar first. I'll say the flip of this.

You'll do a disservice to your family not getting your altar

first. Altar first.

What's that show? It shows priority.

It shows priority. His worship.

His altar came before his work. I'm going to go home now.

His worship came before his work of digging the well, right?

That altar is the place where the believer has communion with

God, has communion with God. There.

The altar was a place, typically Old Testament Scripture, that

that's where the fire falls. That's where our hearts are

surrendered. And before I can draw from a

well, I need to kneel out an altar.

I want to draw from the well. I understand the blessing of the

source of the water from the well is really founded from the

knees at an altar. Hey, man.

And so after worship comes after I build my altar, now I'm

looking out about where I live or how I live again.

That tent, it's reminded Abraham, it's reminded Isaac for

sure. They are nomadic people at this

stage of life for sure. They're pilgrims, They're

strangers as the book of Hebrews says.

Abraham said he's he's looking for a city whose had

foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

And so the tent for Abraham and Isaac in this point of time of

the nation of Israel is speaking to them that this world, what is

not my home, I came and put it in these terms or a child.

These wasn't Amen her and wasn't.

And I know the promised land is what God's given us for the

moment, but in the grand scheme of life, there is a promise that

I know I'm not. I'm not even going to see in my

generation. This a world is not my home.

I'm in it, but I am not of it. I'm in it, but it is not my

source. I'm in it, but it is not my

origin, huh? Don't you know you're living for

another world? You living for another country,

huh? Another country, Amen.

And so he's got this tent. Why?

Because it's portable? Because it's temporary, Amen.

And so finally, at at at last, he digs a well.

And you can have a sanctified well, because the altar will

sanctify it. Tint will separate us, make us

different from anybody else. And the whales going to sustain

this. But that, well, yes, it's a

product, man, you dig? There's some labor in there.

There's some patients there. There's some persistence there.

But I'm going to worship 1st and I'm going to walk or have my

family life 2nd and I'm going to work last.

And so when we get the altar right, everything else just sets

us up for a divine flow. As the New Testament scripture

says, all these things shall be added unto you.

Put chief first, the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and

all these things will be. Why?

Because they were worried about what they were going to eat and

what they were going to wear. And about all these things, he

says, no, you're looking at small pebbles.

You need to think about the big rock put she first, the Kingdom

of God and these things that you're worrying about and that's

parsley on the plate. It take care of itself.

But we live our lives often times brother trout worrying

about the things that would come in an alignment.

If we would get into alignment, we become the human fixers.

That's right, that's true. Clove, make them do all the I

got to take care of all this when if we would just take care

of this, he'd take care of everything else.

Amen. Amen.

And so the commanders verse 26. Let's go on.

We're getting there, folks. I'm going to I know at you.

Just a few comments here at the end.

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerard, and Zuzath one of his

friends, and Picole the chief captain of his army.

And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me seen ye

hate me, and have sent me away from you, right.

That just happened a little while ago in Scripture.

And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee.

And we said, Let there be now an oath between betwixt us, and

even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with

thee, that thou wilt do us know her as we have not touched thee,

and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent

thee away in peace. Thou art now the blessed of the

Lord. And he Speaking of Isaac made

them a feast. And they did eat and drink, and

they arose up at beat times in the morning, and swear one to

another. Isaac sent them away, and they

departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day

the Isaac servants came and told him concerning the well which

they did, and said unto him, We have found water.

And he called it Sheba. Therefore, the name of the city

is there, Sheba, unto this day. So Abimelech has basically a

couple of people with him, two witnesses really, to give

witness to the event that's taking place, right?

It's kind of like you want somebody there with so that no

one can say something that wasn't said, that was said or

agreed upon, wasn't agreed upon, want to have a couple of

witnesses. And so Isaac asked a very proper

question. Why are you here talking to me

now? You just pointed me to go.

Not long ago I was with you and you told me to get out of here.

So why are you? Why are you coming here now?

And they say we've recognized the hand of God on your life.

God's with you, Isaac, number one.

This is great because whenever God told him, Isaac don't go

down to Egypt, his thing to him was, I will be with thee and I

will bless thee. And God is so much so with Isaac

that not only does Isaac know it, that anybody that can

observe his life knows it. And so they and what what's

proven some of this, let's think for a moment.

They've been contentious with him.

They have strove with him, but they've seen how he responded.

Let's put in these terms. Any other Joe blow during this

contention and strife scenario wouldn't have acted like you

acted Isaac. God is with you.

Could we be convicted by those that observe our lies that God's

with us? They seem how he responded.

Let's go a step further. They could even observe Sister

Abby how he ordered his life. You know, I was talking to Joe

the other day and the first thing that guy did when he got

down there was build an altar and then he pitched his tent and

then he dug. Folks, it's not just what pastor

observes in your life. It's what people that are not

even in covenant with God, what they're observing in your life.

What's their order? What's their prior?

What's their priority? You shout in a little bit, Amen.

And so they're they're taking in all this as well.

And so from all this, they're like God's hand is with you and

we make we want to make a covenant with you.

These were people that very, I mean, accosting them earlier,

but not now. And I believe there's a

principle in the Scripture, then, Bishop, that bears us out

in Proverbs 16 and seven that says when a man's ways please

the Lord, he'll make even his enemies to be at peace.

He'll even make his enemies be at peace with him.

What's Isaac do? He doesn't say.

Okay, you're coming for it now. Yeah, I know I was.

I was on the opposite end of this stick earlier and I had to

be on the defensive side. But now you're in my territory.

Where my 10s at. Hallelujah.

You know, where I built my altar and all of that.

So it's going down off with your head.

No, the Bible says he was hospitable to them.

He threw them a feast, He fixed them food.

He was kind of compassionate to them.

Amen. You got to think what what's

going on here? It's kind of like the whole

prodigal son thing, right? Because whenever the prodigal

son comes back, there's dancing, there's merriment, there's the

killing of the fatty calf. Why?

Because all of those are signs of the mending of a

relationship. And that's what Isaac is

contended with right here. I'm not going to go off with

your head. I'm going to consider this a

reconciliation moment and we're going to celebrate and have food

because of amended. Pray for those that despitefully

use you, your enemies. That's that's that's a wishbone

trying to swallow go down your throat.

Amen. Isaac has disciplined that this

year. So Abraham had made earlier on

in Scripture, Abraham had made a covenant with an abimelech,

which an abimelech is more so a title than it is a personal

name. And now here is Isaac making an

oath with an abimelech here at the same place, Bearsheba, and

he calls the well that's dug there Sheba or oath.

You'll stand with me tonight. Isaac is folks just tracking the

footsteps of his father. New Testament scripture urges us

to follow the footsteps of his faith.

Speaking of Abraham's footsteps, So I think Genesis 26, the

overarching thing is that he is following these the same the

same experiences, the same pattern of life.

Look at it. Abraham left during the famine.

Isaac attempted to leave during the famine.

Huh. Due to fear, Abraham said that

woman is my sister. Isaac said this woman is my

sister. Abraham dug wells.

Isaac readigs the wills of his father and digs some wells.

God makes his covenant with Abraham.

God reassures his covenant with Isaac.

Both at Bare Sheba, they received the same divine

promises. Land and descendants, both of

them do. Isaac is really reflecting the

image of his father in faithfulness and obedience and

all of these things. And yes, also in some of his

flaws, but also in some of his repented moments.

They continue in Isaac just as they continued in Abraham.

That just affirms really a final verdict of everything.

Isaac's life is going to try to be in as close as possible

alignment as the legacy that his father has left him.

And that sets us up for a promise that is preserved right

from generation to generation that keeps everything intact for

God's special people, His peculiar people by following in

the footsteps of Father Abram and Jacob and Esau will come

sometime next year. I know if anybody needs to call

me a hotline tonight due to you sobbing over Genesis.

What's The funny thing going to be this problem between now and

then it's going to come back up and it might not even be me.

It might not even be me. I'm praying God let brother

Daniel Taylor, you say everybody turned to you know that's

already happened a few times. Folks, let's raise our hands to

the Lord right now. We need to be purposeful about

re digging some wells. We need to be purposeful about

learning where they are and knowing their names.

We need to be purposeful Oh Lord Jesus today, God, it's it's not

just always about fighting. Sometimes it's about Lord Jesus

just going on and you'll bring the proper moment God when all

things can come to a head Lord of reconciliation.

Lord Jesus, God, if we'll just trust your timing.

I pray, O Father today that you have to help us tonight.

God as we go from this place. Lord that those that know us and

those that don't even know us, we'll be able to pick up on.

Lord that God is with individuals, Lord Jesus that

leave this because of the way that they order their lives,

because of the way that they respond and react to things in

their lives. God that they would for sure

guess would be a different reaction.

Lord God be with us. We need the Lord that promise.

We need that stamp, Lord Jesus upon our life.

Help us, O God today, God, to live the way.

Lord that you would have us to live.

Lord, give us an open mind and understanding.

Our hearts will be easily impressed by your spirit and

will not fail to thank you for it in the lovely name of Jesus

Jesus Christ that I pray Hallelujah the church say Amen,

Amen. What's tomorrow night prayer

from 7:00 to 8:00 Amen. Come and be a part of this Sir

that that prayer time and services on the weekend.

Amen. If you this is my last service,

it's going to actually be here for five services.

And so if you have anything that's like emergency situation,

you can get a hold of Bishop and he'll he'll do something for

you. He'll do something, Amen.

You can get a hold of Bishop. If you happen to forget and get

a hold of me, I'll get back with you as soon as I can, Amen.

But if it's dire, please get a hold of Bishop, Amen.

God bless you tonight in Jesus name.