Six. Genesis chapter 26 where we'll spend the majority of our time today that we will turn a couple times here this morning. Started out and we studied few months ago, did a little series in Rome, the first three chapters of Romans. And the importance the importance of putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the righteous one. Who brings salvation and redemption to the souls of mankind.

Our righteousness is not what? Sufficient. It's not good enough. All have sinned and come short, fall short of the glory of God but not who? But not Jesus.

He didn't fall short because he is the righteous son of God come from heaven. He took our place and because he took our place on the cross, he purchased for us that which we could not purchase for ourselves, eternal life in Jesus Christ and he offers it to us but we must receive it by what? By faith. By faith. And so the Paul, the writer of Romans referred back to Abraham in Genesis as an example of faith.

The Bible says of Abraham, he believed God and it counted, he counted it to him for what? For righteousness. Abraham, as we observe from our study, was not an entirely righteous man. He made some pretty big blunders. He was like us.

But God God declared him justified. Guiltless because he put his faith in the God who called him and God saved his soul and forgave his sins and he became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and so are you today. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. If you have received him to as your savior, by faith. Now, we saw last week, the faith of Abraham and of Elijah, his servant in choosing a bride for who?

You may remember? In choosing a bride for Isaac and I love that. That's one of my favorite stories in scripture and of course, I have quite a few of those just like I do favorite songs but it's one of my favorite stories in scripture how that the servant just laid it all out before God and say, God, this is this is too important a choice for me to make. Lord, would would you please show me? Show me the one.

And in his prayer, he laid out the kind of qualities and characteristics that should be true at in every every child of God and certainly were valuable in a bride for Isaac and you know what God did? He answered his prayers and he he immediately answered his prayers in this particular case and he led him to the one that he had for Isaac. So, moving along, we're in Genesis, that was Genesis 24. Today, we're in Genesis 26 and Isaac now has a family of his own and he is making decisions for himself and his family as we move along here and I want to I want to title this like father like son because some of the same things we saw in Abraham were also going to see in Isaac and I don't believe for the most part, those things are hereditary, okay? Those things are learned.

Those things are taught and Isaac was much the man that Isaac was because he learned them from his father. Because he watched his father and learned much from him. So, we'll see that as we go along this morning. I want to begin by reading the first 14 verses. We're going to skip a few in between but of chapter 26.

So, beginning in chapter 26 verse one and there was a famine in the land beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac went out unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines unto Gerar and the Lord appeared unto him and said, go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and will bless thee. For unto thee and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham, thy father. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven.

And I will give unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord. That you are a god who is completely trustworthy.

You never change. You are God of truth and honesty, love, mercy, and grace, holiness, and justice And Lord, though other things in life, even ourselves, let us down. Lord, we thank you that you remain faithful and we can trust in all of your promises. We can trust in your goodness and in your love. In your justice, and in your mercy.

And we thank you for that today and pray that as we spend time in your word, as we spend time with you in prayer, and all that we would more, we might be changed into the likeness of your son, Jesus Christ. So, these things would be more evident in our lives also to point men and women, boys and girls to our wonderful savior and Lord. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. First thing I'd like us to see today is the faithfulness of God.

The faithfulness of God unto Isaac. Before and after Isaac was born, God did promise to Abraham that he would bless him and that he would multiply his son and that by the descendants of his son, he would bless all the nations of the earth, all the peoples. Now, God makes the same promise we just read it to Isaac that he made also to Abraham. Likewise, has God made promises to us, his children, concerning the forgiveness of our sins, concerning eternal life, and a place he is preparing for us. Does God keep his promises?

Yes, he does. Did he keep them to Abraham and Isaac? Yes, he did. Will he keep them to us? Yes, he will.

John ten twenty seven and twenty eight, Jesus said, my sheep, hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. If you are the redeemed in Christ Jesus today, if you know Christ as your personal Lord and savior, you have become a child of God. You are his sheep. You are of his flock.

And he is watching over you and no one will pluck you out of his hand. He has made promises to us who have put our faith in him but he does not wait for heaven for all of his blessings. He does bless us now even here. In this life on Earth. Particularly as we learn to put Christ first and to serve him with our lives.

He says in Matthew six thirty three, but seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be what? Added on, shall be given unto you. We be provided you. The things that the world is striving for, the peace and love, happiness, and joy, and also physical provision that they worry about. That they're stressed out about.

You, if you're a child of God, you don't have to worry about those things because your heavenly father is watching over you and if you are choosing to put him first, if you are living not just for the things of Earth but if you're living for the things of heaven and eternity, you can be sure that God is going to take care of the things that you need here. He has promised to. Philippians four nineteen, he says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now, we'll look at that passage actually in the service this evening but why did Paul say that to the Philippians? Well, because they were exhibiting first of all, a testimony that they knew Christ as savior.

In number two, a gracious and generous spirit and love by the gift that they had given to him. Paul said, I thank you for your gift. And I see the love of God in you and I want you to know that as you serve the Lord, that you can count on him to supply your needs. He has no lack of supply, does he not? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

He can take care of us. And as we learn to trust him more, it opens up greater opportunities for him to live through us and to bless us. Indeed, God can provide for all that we need in this life also and does reward us more and more as we learn to trust him. Not always in dollars and cents but in giving us the desires of our heart. Psalm thirty seven four, delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.

Trust him. He won't let you down. Follow him. Do his will. Put Christ first and you will see.

That you will not regret it. As you sacrifice for the Lord, the Lord will see to it. That the things you need most of all. The desires of your heart He will be there to fill. We see this also in the life of Isaac.

As a little side note, I want you to look at verse five again. After after God said all of this to Isaac, all that he was going to do for him, he then gave him the reason he was going to do this for him and I thought this was interesting as I read through and I just couldn't brush it over. Verse five, here is his reason. God says, I'm going to do all this because that who? Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.

Had Isaac earned this right? Had Isaac earned this this privilege? Or did someone earn it for him? Someone earned it for him. It would seem to me.

God said, I'm going to do this for you because of the faithfulness of Abraham. And that just reminded me when I read that. All that God has promised me. All that God has given me. All that God has done and will do for me.

It is all because of the faithfulness, not of me. But of the faithfulness of who? Of Jesus Christ. It is because of the faithfulness and obedience of Christ that God has made this arrangement with me. It's not that I deserve it.

It's not that I've earned it but it is mine because Jesus Christ did the will of his father because Jesus Christ came and died and bled on the cross of Calvary. That I have received the righteousness of who? Jesus Christ and through faith, a relationship with God in heaven. Romans five nineteen says this, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Who was that?

Who was the one man who disobeyed? Adam. Adam. For by one man's disobedience, that's Adam. Many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteousness.

Now, who is the one who obeyed? Jesus. In Adam, all die in Christ shall all be made alive. It is because of Jesus Christ. That I have entered into this wonderful relationship and covenant with my God who is preparing a place for me and who is with me and blesses me particularly as I learn to rely on him.

Not of works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us. Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ and that he obeyed and now, we have this privilege position. Second of all, today, I want us to look at the faith of Isaac and the faithfulness of Abraham. The faith of Isaac and the faithfulness of Abraham. If you look over at verses twenty four and twenty five, look you would at verses twenty four and twenty five.

And the Lord appeared unto him, that's Isaac, the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not. I am with thee and will bless thee and will multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. There there it is again for Abraham's sake. And he that is Isaac building an altar there. And called upon the name of the Lord.

You might could put in there and called upon the name of the Lord by faith. And pitched his tent there and there Isaac's servants digged the well. Now, we'll come back to the well here in just a few minutes but I want us to see not only the faithfulness of God but the faith of Isaac. When God promised to make his seed as the stars of heaven, he believed him. The promises God has made to you.

Do you believe them? Do you claim them by faith? Do you trust in God to fulfill them? You say, yes, pastor. I believe in faith.

I've trust him. I've claimed salvation in Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. That is wonderful. But don't let that be all that you claim.

His his mercies are new what? Every morning, his blessings are there. His goodness is there. His love is there. His promises extend to every day of our life.

Claim them all. Trust them all. Follow him wherever he leads. Worship him as Isaac did here in faith. Second thing here, if you look back in verses one and two, I want you to see this verses one and two.

And there was a what? A famine in the land. Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines under Girar and the Lord appeared unto him and said, go not down into where? Into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.

So, Abraham, so Isaac was in the land of Canaan, Philistia, where the Philistines lived, was in that general area on the coastline of the Mediterranean in Canaan and so it was within that area that God had promised. He was there and it may have been that he was tempted to go down to Egypt. Why? Well, Egypt was the the New York City of the Middle East back in those days. If there was anything to be had, it was where?

It was in Egypt. That was the big civilization and there was always food in Egypt and so and it was fertile land too because the Nile River flowed through Egypt. So, when other parts of the world were experiencing famine, Israel was still nice and green and they still grew plenty of food along the Nile River and so it was a place of sustenance. It was a place of civilization. Abraham before had gone down to Egypt when there was a famine in the land.

Isaac God now comes to Isaac and said, I don't want you to go down to Egypt this time. I want you to stay where? I want you to stay right here and trust me. Don't go to Egypt. You know, often the grass does seem greener on the other side.

But if we trust the Lord and prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, Romans twelve two, we will never regret it. Sometimes, it may be a new job a new relationship or a new church or whatever grass looks greener on the other side to you. In regards to pastors and ministry, the average stay of a pastor in ministry in a church is What do you think? Five years? Ten years?

Rick knows. Less than two years. The average stay of a pastor in a church is less than two years. You aren't getting established in the ministry in less than two years. Why is that?

Well, because the grass looks what? The greener somewhere else. The grass looks greener somewhere else. You know, the ministry can be difficult at times and by the way, so can other jobs and life situations. But it can also be very rewarding to those who stay the course and are not looking for greener pastures.

But sadly, most people are looking for greener pastures rather than looking for a closer relationship to who? To God. The best place often is just to stay where you are and persevere. Stay long enough in one place, you will run into trials and hardships but that does not always indicate that God is leading you to move or to switch as the world would tell you. Oftentimes, God is trying your faith to see if you are a fair weather friend, if you are living for him, or if you're simply looking for greener pastures.

If you always run when times get tough, then you are likely missing out on a greater blessing. So, when God told Isaac to stay put, he simply believed God and he obeyed. Thus, verse six, and Isaac dwelt in Giro. What does that mean? It means he simply obeyed God and stayed put and trusted God to take care of him.

From where do you think Isaac learned such faith in God? Well, I think he learned it probably from his mother and his father. His mother and his father, Abraham and Sarah, who left their homeland to follow God to Canaan. His mother and his father who left behind what they knew to go to a place they knew nothing about. Where God had said he would make of them a great what?

Nation. A multitude of people. When as yet they had no children and were beyond childbearing years. But they went. They believed and they obeyed and they taught their son the same.

Not only by their words, but also by their what? Actions. Remember Genesis 22? When God came to Abraham and said, I want you to take Isaac, your only son and go sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. And Abraham did it.

He believed God and who was watching him? Isaac, his son, who was carrying the wood up the mountain saying, father, here's the wood, where's the sacrifice? And Abraham said, God will provide himself the sacrifice son and indeed, God did. He provided a ram in Isaac's stead that day. He provided Jesus in our stead over a thousand years later who died in the same area as that sacrifice was made.

Deuteronomy six Oh, now it doesn't want to work. Alright. I want you to see this. So, I'm going see if I can get this to work again. Alright and voila.

Isn't technology wonderful? Alright. You want to sing Let the Lower Lights Be Burning Again? Okay. Here we go.

Deuteronomy six six through nine. Why did God tell the Israelites when they came into the land? He told them this, he said, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. Thou shalt talk to them when thou sitest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou rises up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. In other words, God said, when you come into the land, you'd better teach your children what I did for you.

You better keep it before them day and night. You better keep the law that I have given you before them day and night. Talk about it. Pray about it. Act it out in your lives.

Teach them because if you don't teach them, they won't what? They won't learn, they won't remember, and they won't know me. What did, what does it tell us in the book of Judges? Few couple hundred years later, this is what it tells us. There arose a generation that knew not the Lord.

Well, how did that happen? Well, evidently, their parents didn't what? Teach them. Why are we in such a mess in The United States Of America? Why is our culture and society in such a wreck today?

Why is it that morality is non existent in our society? Why is it that people can't figure out whether they're boys or girls in our society today? Why is it that all of this stuff is happening? Because there arose a generation who knew not the Lord. They kicked him out of the schools.

They tried to kick him. They kicked him out of the courtrooms. They kicked him out of public discourse. They tried to kick them or trying to kick him out of people's homes. Today, Hopefully, you've taught your kids and if you have kids, you will continue to teach them and if you have grandkids, you will take every opportunity you are given to help teach them too.

It is vitally important. Not just by the words you say but by the actions that you take. Ephesians six four in the New Testament says this, and you fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Fathers, that's you. You have a responsibility to teach your kids and to demonstrate to them by your actions who God is and what he expects of them.

Train up a child and when in the way should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. That was true of Isaac. That was true of Isaac. So, we see the faith of Isaac and the faithfulness of Abraham. Teach your children the word of God be faithful They're watching you.

They're watching to see if you actually do pray or if you just talk about. They're watching to see if you do pick up your Bible and read it and if you read it to them. They're watching to see if you miss church every time it's the least bit inconvenient. They're watching to see if you tell the truth when it would be easier to lie. They're watching to see if you cheat on your taxes.

Or at other things in life. Or if you abide by the rules. They're watching to see if there is joy in serving Jesus or if it is a drudgery to you. They're watching to see. What are they seeing?

And not only are your children watching but others are watching too. This is why in first Timothy four twelve, Paul said this to Timothy, let no man despise thy youth but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and purity. You let them see. Let your congregation see. Despite the fact that you are still relatively a young man that God can make a difference in their life because he makes a difference in yours.

So, we see the faithfulness of God, the faith of Isaac. I also want us to notice quickly the failure of Isaac. Oh yes, Isaac wasn't perfect either, was he? Look if you would in verse seven. Verse seven of Genesis 26 verse seven.

And the man of the place asked him of his wife, the men of Gerar asked Isaac about his wife and he said, she is my sister. For he feared to say she is my wife, lest said he, the man of the place should kill me for Rebecca because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass when he had been there a long time that Abimelech, king of the Philistines looked out a window and saw and behold Isaac was sporting with Rebecca, his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, behold, of a surety, she is thy wife and how sets thou, she is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, because I said, lest I die for her.

Does that bring up any thought? What is it? Ephesians chapter five, husbands, love your wives even as Christ what? Love the church and gave himself for it. Oh boy, Isaac wasn't doing very good, was he?

Verse 10, Abimelech said, what is this that that thou hast done unto us? One of the people might lightly have lined with laid with thy wife and thou shouldest brought guiltiness upon us and Abimelech charged all his people saying, he that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. We now only see the faith of Isaac but in the faith of Isaac, we even see the failure of Isaac and the humanity of Isaac just like us. Hopefully, we are people growing in our what? In our faith and love and and our knowledge of Jesus Christ.

But growing means we haven't attained that yet and there are times when we're not walking in the spirit and the lust of the flesh gets the what? Gets the best of us. And it got the best of Isaac. And he started thinking not about his God. He started not thinking about his wife.

He started only thinking about who? Himself. Himself. He was afraid, poor fellow, and he lied. Fortunately, he was caught in the lie before anything bad happened.

That's called the grace of God and the mercy of God. Praise God. Oftentimes, God keeps us from suffering the full blow of our stupidity. Where did he learn such a thing? To lie and tell them that his wife was his sister.

Where do you think he learned that? You know, remember? Who did that before Isaac did that? Abraham did that. That's right.

He learned that from his father. His Abraham did it not once but twice with Sarah. And got himself in a pickle. Isaac did the same. Parents, be careful.

The errors that you make, particularly over and over again, you think, well, they're not watching. They're watching and you know, sadly, often it's the bad things they pick up on and not the good things. It's the things you do sparingly or little that sometimes they'll do in great quantity. Well, you say, well, I go to church most every week but you know, when family comes or or when inconvenience comes, you know, I just, well, be careful because having been in the ministry now for twenty some years, I've seen time after time that kids that grow up in homes with parents who go, when it's convenient, when the kids grow up, they don't go at all. Now, God can change that but they're watching and they're learning.

If you lie a little, they might lie a lot. If you cheat a little, they might cheat a lot. They're watching for the good and the bad. And not just your children, but others are watching too. I want to get to this last few verses here in 2615 through 22.

Because it leads into the invitation. Look if you would in verse 15. Now, remember Isaac's in Canaan. He's near Philistia with the Philistines. Says, for all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham, his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth.

So, there was nowhere for him to get water. Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us for thou art much mightier than we and Isaac departed thence and pitched his tent in the Valley Of Gerar dwelt there. Isaac digged again the wells of water which his father digged in the days of Abraham, his father. For the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham and he called their names after the names by which his father called them and Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water and the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdman saying, the water is ours and he called the name of the well Esek because they strove with him. The word name Esek means quarrel.

Verse 21 and they digged another well and strove for that also and he called the name of it Sitnah. That means enmity or animosity. Verse 22 and he removed from thence and digged another well and for that, they strove not. They didn't quarrel and he called the name of it Rehoboth and he said, for now the Lord hath made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land. I want you to see one last thing this morning.

That's this, Isaac was a peacemaker. Isaac was a peacemaker. He didn't go into Girar to the land of the Philistines and say, hey, this is this is my land. God's given it to me. I'm going do what I want.

You can get out of my way or you need to treat me right, you know, because well, you know who I am. I'm Abraham's son. No, he didn't do that. When they said, you know, this isn't going to work. You know, who left willingly and quietly?

Who who left the city? Isaac did. He went into the valley and when he went in the valley, he dug wells because he needed water and when he dug the first well, the herdsmen of the Philistines, they quarreled with him over. They said, well, this is our land. You can't dig a well here.

So, he left that well and he went over here. He dug another well and they said, no, you can't do. It's our water too. You can't have that well. So, he left there and he finally dug a third well and finally, they they left him alone.

Isaac was a peacemaker. Where do you think he learned that? Well, I think he learned that from his earthly father who also lived among the Canaanites and seemed was actually well respected by most of them. And I think he also learned that from his heavenly father. Who is a peacemaker also.

Jesus came to this Earth to do what? To make peace between God and man by his death on the cross and rather than crying foul when wicked men drove nails to his hands and put him on that cross, he cried this, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And Jesus has called us to be peacemakers also. To love our neighbor as ourself. To go the extra mile to turn the other cheek, to not return evil with evil but to return evil with good.

To pray for our enemies. God has called us to be peacemakers. For blessed are the peacemakers. They shall inherit the earth. Isaac did inherit and his descendants, the part of the earth that God gave them because among other things, he was a peacemaker.

Jesus Christ will inherit this world because he came and gave himself to make peace between us and God. My question this morning is twofold. Number one, are you at peace with God this morning? Do you know the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? Do you know him as your Lord and savior?

Have you put your faith and trust in him? And entered into this blessed arrangement that he died to provide you? If you haven't, you can and you must because if you don't, you will not inherit heaven, you will not inherit Earth, you will inherit a place in the lake of fire. But Jesus suffered so you don't have to. He loves you.

And he pleads that you will accept his offer. Would you do that today? And secondly, Christian, what kind of lower light are we being? For our kids, for our grandkids, for our siblings, for our neighbors, for our employees, what kind of light are we today? If they don't learn it from us, who are they going to learn?

Who God is from? Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your goodness and your love toward us. Lord, thank you for those who have faithfully gone before us. Lord, whose steps we follow Most of all, for Jesus Christ, our savior.

Who followed all the way to the cross. The grave, and now is seated at the right hand of the father in heaven. Having risen from the dead. Lord, we pray that you would help us to remember that we are here not only to live for the things of Earth but the things of heaven, to lay up treasures in heaven. To be salt and light on this Earth that others might see Jesus in us.

Particularly our children. And Lord that we would show them. We would be a good testimony, a good teacher as we learn to trust you more. Help us Lord to be peacemakers. And Lord help us to be peacemakers by giving them the gospel and the good news of Jesus that they too through faith in you might have peace with you also.

In Jesus Christ precious name, we do pray. Amen.