Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the
same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed
him. And the man became rich and continued to
grow richer until he became very wealthy. For
he had possessions of flocks and herds and a
great household, so that the Philistines envied
him. Now all the wells which his father's servants
had dug in the days of Abraham, his father, the
Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth.
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us,
for you are too powerful for us. And Isaac departed
from there and camped in the valley of Gerar
and settled there. Then Isaac dug again the wells
of water. which had been dug in the days of his
father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped
him up after the death of Abraham. And he gave
them the same names which his father had given
them. But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley
and found there a well of flowing water, the
herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen
of Isaac, saying, The water is ours. So he named
the well Essek, because they contended with him.
Then they dug another well, and they quarreled
over it too, so he named it Sitna. He moved away
from there and dug another well, and they did
not quarrel over it, so he named it Rehoboth.
For he said, At last the Lord has made room for
us, and we will be fruitful in the land. Then
he went up from there to Beersheba. The Lord
appeared to him. the same night and said, I am
the God of your father Abraham. Do not fear,
for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply
your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.
So he built an altar there and called upon the
name of the Lord and pitched his tent there.
And there Isaac's servants dug a well. Then Abimelech
came to him from Gerar with his advisor Ahuza
and Thekel, the commander of his army. Isaac
said to them, Why have you come to me since you
hate me and have sent me away from you? They
said, We see plainly that the Lord has been with
you. So we said, Let there now be an oath between
us, even between you and us. And let us make
a covenant with you that you will do us no harm
just as we have not touched you and have done
to you nothing but good and have sent you away
in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.
Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
In the morning they arose early and exchanged
oaths. Then Isaac sent them away. and they departed
with him in peace. Now it came about in the day
that Isaac's servants came. Now it came about
on the same day that Isaac's servants came in
and told him about the well which they had dug,
and said to him, We have found water. So he called
it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba
to this day. When Esau was 40 years old, he married
Judith, the daughter of Bere, the Hittite, and
Basemath, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite.
And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
I mentioned last week, or possibly two weeks
ago, concerning the importance of coming to the
word of God in faith. sitting under the Word
of God by faith. When we hear that, I think at
times we ask ourselves, well, what does that
mean? What does it look like to sit under the
Word of God in faith? What does it mean to come
to corporate worship in faith? What does that
look like in my own life? An old Puritan divine
said these words. He said the promises of God
should be The guide and measure of our desire
and expectations. Meaning the promises of God
ought to guide what we desire for and how we
desire. But it ought to also be the standard
for what we expect of the Lord. And what we expect
for the Lord to do. I want to remind us again
and encourage us again. When we come into corporate
worship, come with an expectant attitude. What
do you expect God to do in your life today as
the Word of God is preached? What are you looking
for? What are you watching for as we pray to
the living God? What do you expect God to do
as a result of our prayers in corporate worship?
What are you looking for God to do in somebody
else's life? Do you expect this time to be the
turning point or the changing point in somebody's
life? Maybe even your own. What do you expect
to change as a result of sitting under the preached
word and praising the living God? In many ways,
I believe this is what it means to come to the
word of God in faith. To come to the word expecting
God and looking for God to do what he has promised
to do in and through his word. So brothers and
sisters, Make your expectations and watch for
great things from the Lord during this time,
this whole hour in which we praise God, this
special time of worship. But especially as you
sit under the preached word and you hear from
the living God. Expect great things of God in
your heart and in the lives of others. So today
we're going to conclude Genesis chapter 26. We're
going to finish this chapter up and then we'll
be done with Genesis for a while. We'll have
an Easter sermon next week. Today we're going
to make our way through verses 12 through 35.
We're going to see the conflicts that Isaac experiences
in his... Pilgrim journeys through the promised
land. We're going to see the comforts that he
enjoys along the way as well. So we don't just
see that he has conflict, but we also see in
this text that he experiences and he enjoys great
comfort as a result of the Lord's faithfulness
in his life. But we'll also consider the evident
blessings on him. as a result of the Lord's covenant
faithfulness to him. And then lastly, we're going
to consider Isaac's faith throughout the times
of conflict and in the times of comfort and while
he is blessed of the Lord. Now, those four points
are primarily going to be explanatory, so we
won't do much application. We'll make some applications
following the last. And those Lord willing will
be in the same manner as the explanatory points.
So first, let's consider the conflict that Isaac
experienced while he sojourned in the land of
promise. It begins, really, we see in verses
15 and 16. If you notice in this text that the
Philistines actually were hostile toward Isaac
before any hostility actually manifested itself.
So if you recall, Abraham, Isaac's father, made
a pact or a covenant with Abimelech. We don't
know exactly how many years before, but... The
Philistines obviously had negated or abolished
or conveniently forgotten that oath or that pact.
Because the wells, which they agreed were Abraham's,
are now stuffed up and filled with dirt and rubble.
And so we see this animosity building. We're
actually told that they envied him. Because,
in verse 14, because of his great power and his
great influence and the wealth and the riches
that the Lord had bestowed on him. So what we
see is this envy of the Philistines bubble and
grow in such a way that it turns into animosity
and hatred toward the patriarch and his household.
So we see it starts with them filling up the
wells of his father. But then we see that it
continues and it shows itself and that he experiences
expulsion from Gerar. We notice in verse 16 that
Abimelech says, Go away from us, for you are
too powerful for us. We don't want you around
here anymore. You threaten us too much because
the Lord has blessed you. to too great of an
extent. Most likely, it also meant that there
was a strain on the local agricultural and economy
in that area. Because of the Lord's great blessing
and the Lord's great favor on him, they wanted
him to go away. They didn't want anything to
do with him. They wanted separation. We see this
conflict starting to manifest itself. But then
we see after Isaac moves, what's he do? He starts
to subtly, it seems as though he subtly begins
to dig up the wells that his father had previously
dug. And immediately, as soon as they hit flowing
water, not just a well with water, but a great
well with lots of water that's flowing, a plentiful
well, as soon as that takes place, we see the
herdsmen of that area. They say, that's ours.
That's mine. You can't have that. So now we see
this conflict growing. Then we see the same thing
happen again. And to such a degree, and this
is such a defining characteristic of this part
of Isaac's life, what does he do with those last
two wells? He names them. He names one because
of the contention. and he names the other because
of the quarreling that was so present in his
life. It means, listen, this part of his life
was marked by contention, and this part of his
life was marked by quarreling, by opposition,
by hardship. And it's even seen, and it's continued
later on in verses 34 and... 35, when we see
that there's animosity between Isaac and Rebecca
and Esau and his wives. So this is something
that continues throughout his life. It persists.
It doesn't just die out once the Lord provides
a good place for them. It continues. Surely there
was ups and there was downs in this time of conflict.
But here's something we need to understand and
we need to remember about this. There's one man
in the world at that time. One man in the world
at that time that God had given these promises
to. There's one man on planet Earth that the
Messiah would come through, brothers and sisters.
And was this man spared of hardship? No. The
church in the world in that day and in that age.
suffered at the hands of unbelieving men. There
was contention, there was opposition, and there
was struggle. Not to mention the constant labor
that was involved in this work. Yes, it was his
servants doing these things, but brothers and
sisters, digging wells in those days That was
an undertaking. That was a task in and of itself.
It was hard work. There was general difficulty
involved surrounding and as a part of Isaac's
life. He was not spared trial, hardship, and
suffering. Not to mention, it's famine time.
Even though the Lord has blessed him extensively,
he still has to deal with the famine. The primary
reason that we see that he is so constantly seeking
to dig a well is why, brothers and sisters? Because
he desperately needs water. Because his household,
which has grown and expanded so extensively,
needs water, life -giving resource from the earth
so that they can persist and so they can continue
and persevere as a family, literally, bodily,
and physically. He had to keep digging wells.
So we see that he's not spared conflict in this
world, but it's not just conflict that Isaac
experiences in his life. It's not just hardship.
We also see that he enjoys and he comes to experience
great comforts in his life as well. So we see
this, really, starting in verse 22. This is the
second thing we have to consider. The comforts
he came to enjoy. We see immediately in verse
22 that he moves away. most likely to southeastern
Beersheba. We don't know the exact location he
moves to. But he moves again, and immediately
he dug another well, and there was no quarreling
over it. So he moves, they dig a well, and all
of a sudden, he has peace. His family has peace.
It's pleasant for them to live and dwell in that
area. And what does he do as soon as he enjoys
this peace? He attributes that to God. He attributes
it to the providential hand of God. What does
he say? At last the Lord has made room for us.
And we see. that he commits himself to being
fruitful in that place. The Lord gives him comfort,
peace, and rest for a season in his life. He
praises God, he thanks God, and he gets back
to work, and he says, we're going to be faithful,
we're going to be fruitful in this place. Now,
isn't it interesting that the comfort in this
situation, in this scenario, is not... directly
in the period of conflict. But the comfort that
he receives during this time comes following
conflict or on the heels of conflict during the
time of peace and rest and comfort in his life.
Now, we certainly know that there's other times
throughout Scripture, and we see it time and
time again. We saw it earlier. chapter 26, where
the Lord comes to him and gives him the promise.
But here we see that the comfort he receives,
the providential comfort and kindness, is in
the time of comfort following conflict. Now,
we see another comfort that he enjoys, and that
is the fact that the Lord appears to him again.
The Lord comes to him again and reiterates and
reaffirms the promise to him. We see this in
verse 24. The Lord appeared to him the same night
and said, I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless
you and multiply your descendants for the sake
of my servant Abraham. Brothers and sisters,
this is an extreme kindness of God. We see the
generosity. And we see the kindness of God in
display. Here's this man who's been in the midst
of contention all these, we don't know how long,
most likely for years and years. He's been struggling
to keep his family going. Because of water, not
necessarily because of resources, because the
Lord has blessed him. But we see this man who's
persevering in faith while still struggling in
faith. He's wrestling along and then all of a
sudden the Lord comes in and reaffirms the promise
to him again. That's kindness. That's the gracious
person of God coming to a servant. and saying,
I am with you. I am your God, I'm the God of
your Father, and I am with you, and I will bless
you. That's one of the unique things about this.
Notice that he says, do not fear, for I am with
you. Do you remember earlier in chapter 26 when
God gave him the promise? Starting in verse 3
of chapter 26. He says, Sojourn in this land,
and I will be with you. And I will be with you
and bless you. And here, when God comes to him,
brothers and sisters, what does God say? He says,
I am with you. He's reminding Isaac that even
though it's been difficult and trying, that God
has been with him in the midst. Of those hardships
and those difficulties. And those trials. It's
a great kindness of him. And then he reassures
him. Of the blessing in the future. Of the blessing.
With regards to his descendants. And the offspring.
He says don't forget. I am going to bring about
my promises in your life. Don't forget, I am
going to multiply your descendants, and you are
going to be a blessing to the nations. He's reassuring
him of his word that he has given to him previously.
And what is Isaac's response to this? Much like
his enjoyment of that initial comfort and finding
a well where there was no quarreling, what do
we find here? He responds with worship. He sets
up... He builds an altar. And he calls on the
name of God. This is the Old Testament's way
of saying he worshipped God. He praised God.
He called on the name of the Lord. We see in
this text something that separates and distinguishes
the Christian religion from every single other
religion that's ever existed. Whether it be Old
Testament or New Testament, brothers and sisters,
there's something here that distinguishes Christianity.
And what is that? We see that God, in His kindness,
comes down, condescends, comes to a servant,
and declares blessing, declares His grace, and
then the servant worships Him. Every other religion,
what do they do? They worship God to twist His
arm to get blessing or to get in good standing.
Christianity worships the living God because
we know that everything's of grace and we know,
brothers and sisters, that He has been gracious
to us. It's because He has made known, He has
declared, He has announced His blessing upon
His people. because of the work that he has done.
We don't worship God to get from God. We don't
worship God, brothers and sisters, to twist his
hand or to twist his arm to make him do something
in our lives that we want. That's pagan religion.
They offer sacrifices of worship and praise to
God to change their lives. To get blessing in
their lives. That's not what we do as Christians,
as the Christian church. We worship because God
has done something in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So our worship is responsive at its core. Because
of the work that God has done in Christ. We always
need to ask ourselves. Why am I worshiping God?
Why am I praising God? Why am I coming to his
throne? Why am I sitting under the preaching?
Why am I going to church? Why am I a member of
the church? Is it because I want to get something
out of it for my life to make it better and to
improve something? Or to change something? Is
it because I want God to love me? Is it because
I want God's favor in my life? If that's the
case, listen, young people or old people or middle
-aged people, you're approaching it all wrong.
All wrong. We do these things because of what
God has done in Christ. We do these things because
God has come to us and announced the blessings
and the promises that he has brought about and
he has accomplished and he will bring about and
he will accomplish in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. We come here because God has been gracious,
brothers and sisters. We sing to God because
he has. Loved us first. We sit under the preaching
because God has worked in our hearts and we want
to hear from his voice. We want to hear from
him. We don't come to get. We come to give blessing
and praise and honor to him because of what he
has done in our lives. Isaac gives us a shining
example. of what it means to worship the living
and true God in a distinct way apart from and
different from the pagan religions of the world.
Now, we can't be deceived in thinking those things
don't take place in the United States of America.
Brothers and sisters, there is much of evangelical
Christianity that mirrors and reflects pagan
Christianity to the core. The Christian church
must come because of grace, not to get grace.
The Christian church must worship God and give
themselves and consecrate themselves to God and
the worship of God and to His church because
of His divine redemptive blessings, not To get
redemptive blessings from him. So we see that
he experiences great comfort in his life. And
this comfort brings about this worship in his
life. It causes him to praise God. Now consider
the evident blessing upon Isaac. Now it's important
that we understand. the source of these blessings.
We read earlier in verses 12 through 14, and
listen to these words. Now Isaac sowed in that
land and reaped the same year a hundredfold.
That's a massive increase in multiplication in
a famine year. Almost miraculous. And it says
at the end of verse 12, And the Lord blessed
him. And the man became rich and continued to
grow richer, and he became very wealthy, for
he had possessions of flocks and herds and a
great household, so that the Philistines envied
him. Notice the threefold repetition of his wealth
and his riches. The threefold repetition. Why
does the author do that? Because he's emphasizing
that his wealth was expansive. His wealth and
his riches were great. And where does the text
explicitly tell us these riches and this wealth
came from? The Lord. God himself had his hand
upon Isaac in the world. God himself was favorably
disposed toward him, was blessing him. But it's
interesting that these blessings were actually
the cause of much of the difficulty and the hardship
that Isaac experiences. Because God was with
him, because God had blessed him, he's driven
out. He's forced to move. He's forced to travel
and wander. He's forced to be a pilgrim and to
sojourn. Because of God's providential blessing,
these quarrels are brought about because he keeps
finding water, it seems. The Lord keeps giving
him success, but people don't like it. So these
blessings bring about hardships and difficulties.
They make him distinct from the rest of the world.
The Philistines, we could say. They make him
different than the Philistines. And they don't
care for it one bit. Now, this leads us to consider
this covenant that Abimelech seeks to get with
Isaac. Abimelech comes to Isaac. We don't know
how long it's been since he's been driven out
of Gerar. But Abimelech seeks him out. He brings
his... His advisor and his military commander,
very similar to what happened with Abraham when
they made a covenant with a former Abimelech
and a formal fecal commander of his army. These
are not the same individuals most likely. Probably
it's a title that was reserved or held for those
individuals in that monarchy at that time. So
probably... the king was always called Abimelech.
Probably there was always the commander of the
army named Fecal. We don't know for certain.
There is the slight possibility that this is
the same Abimelech and the same Fecal. Doubtful,
but there does seem to be the possibility that
this man dealt with his father. Now he's dealing
with the son. I don't think that's the case.
This man, Abimelech, comes and he initiates and
he proactively is seeking out a covenant with
the patriarch of God's people. We see this in
26 through 31. Now, why does Abimelech come to
Isaac? What's his reasoning? What's his rationale
according to the text? Listen to verse 28. We
see plainly that the Lord has been with you.
And then look at the end of verse 29. You are
now the blessed of the Lord. So why do we speak
of this covenant under the heading? Of God's
evident blessings in Isaac's life. Because here
we have a pagan king. We have a pagan monarch.
One who does not have the promises of God. One
who has not been given these glorious promises.
But here we have a pagan king. That recognizes
the divine hand of God. On this man. This pagan
king sees. That God is, in fact, with Isaac,
the man of God. He confirms it. He knows it.
And he knows that it is futile and vain to oppose
this man because he knows that he cannot succeed.
Because God is with him. It's clear. Now, these
blessings... that Abimelech recognizes? What
is their nature? Some might come to this text
and they might say, well, here you go. If you're
a part of the church, God's will is to bless
you abundantly with monetary and financial blessing
to grow your household. Is that what's taking
place here, brothers and sisters? Absolutely
not. These are tokens and signs of God's favor
in the life of the patriarch of God's people
who was the sole man on the earth who had the
promises of God. They are tokens of the blessings
which he would give and he would bring in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They display the fact that
God's presence and God's favor is with This one
man. This one man's household. Nobody else. Nobody
else in the world except for Isaac because he
had been given the promises of God. There's something
exceptional about this man and his household.
And what is it? It's the blessings and the presence
of God. It's not so much Isaac. It's the fact
that God has determined to be with him. and that
God has given him the blessings. So we see that
these are tokens of what God had promised. If
you remember back again to chapter 26 earlier
on, the Lord says, Sojourn in this land, and
I will be with you and bless you. For to your
descendants I will give you all these lands.
It's as if he's saying, I'm going to give you
a taste materially and physically as the patriarch
of the grand blessings which are to come in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Of the grand redemptive blessings
which are more supreme, more preeminent, and
greater than even this hundred -fold blessing
that I bestow on you. So he's evidently blessed
of the Lord. Now what about Isaac's faith? During
the conflict, the comfort, and while he was blessed.
This is the last thing we have to consider. It's
important for us to recognize the movements throughout
this text. Notice how often Isaac is moving.
He's going from one place to another place to
another place and another place. And there's
a common theme. He's constantly digging wells.
He's constantly digging into the ground looking
for water. So if we want to consider the faith
of Isaac during this period of his life, throughout
this overview, we could say. we have to recognize
that there's an unwillingness in him to leave
the land. And present within him is a settled
determination to remain or stay in the land.
In all of his movements, he never departs the
promised land. Consider that. He moves, he moves,
he moves, he moves. He digs, he digs, he digs,
he digs. He stays in the land that God promised
him. It's faith, brothers and sisters. He doesn't
leave it. He's unwilling to leave the land. He
might move a little bit here and he might move
a little bit there, but he's going to remain
in the land that God himself said, I will be
with you here. I will bless you here. He's believing
God. And he's unwilling to leave that area. He's
unwilling to give it up. Because God has promised
him that land. Because God has said, it's here
in this land that my blessing will be upon you.
And that I myself will be with you in your time,
in your travels. So he stays, and in spite of
great hardship. It wasn't just a simple task
or a simple thing to stay in the land during
famine, especially with this massive caravan
that existed in his household. Think about...
how hard it would have been for him just to pick
up and leave. Now, they were trained and they
practiced and that was their way of life. But
listen, that's a lot of people. That's a lot
of time. He'd up and move. But he'd never leave
the land. And he was always in the face of hardship.
It didn't deter him. It would have been easier
to leave the land. and to go find somewhere where
there was no famine, like Egypt, when he originally
wanted to go to Egypt. But he stays put where
God tells him, even though it necessitated dealing
with quarrels, contention, hardship, trials,
and struggles. The faith of the patriarch, I
believe, is most clearly seen in the fact that
he was... The fact of his constant pursuit of
water to live in that place. Why was he constantly
digging wells? We've touched on this briefly.
Why was he constantly digging wells in those
places? Why does he dig up the wells of his father?
Why does he dig up... Why does he find water
in Beersheba, the very place that Abraham settled,
and Abraham dug a well and made a path with Abimelech?
Because that was the place, the site of the promise,
brothers and sisters. That was the place that
God had promised to his father, and that was
the place that he knew God would give him as
well. The fact that he's constantly digging up
wells to drink the water of that place, to live
in that place, is clear evidence that he is believing
God, that he's trusting the Lord. This is epitomized,
I think, in verse 25. After the Lord gives him
the promise, listen to these three things he
does. One, so he built an altar there. He built
an altar to stay and worship. That was going
to be home. I'm going to worship God here. and
Beersheba. Two, he pitched his tent there. This
is my pilgrim home, I could say. And three, Isaac's
servants dug a well. God's promised him the land.
And he believed that God would give him the land.
So what does he do? He stays in the land. This
is a demonstration of the faith of the patriarch.
There's many things that we could come to this
text and we can say this is applicable to our
lives. There's so many other sermons and messages
bound up in this narrative. But there's a few
things, I think, that are in keeping with the
text. most clearly. Brothers and sisters, the
Christian life is always going to involve conflict.
Always. Will there be seasons and times and periods
where we go up and we go down, where we enjoy
peace more than others? Yes. In God's grace,
in God's kindness, That is the case. But we can't
escape hardship in this life. I don't remind
you of this because I want to be cruel, but I
remind you of this, brothers and sisters, because
the Bible constantly reminds us of this. It is
a common and universal experience among the people
of God that hardship and trials and conflict
will be a part of your life. Now there's positive
things to this, isn't there? There's beneficial
things to hardship. One is that it puts us in
a place where we enjoy and we experience the
comforting hand of God. But what if we were to
say as a church or as individual Christians,
I have no conflict with the Philistines. What
if you as a believer said, I have no conflict
with the world around me. I don't mind the morality
of the world. It doesn't bother me, the ethics
and the ideology of the culture that's anti -God,
anti -Christ. That doesn't affect me. There's
no conflict there. That would be an issue, wouldn't
it, brothers and sisters? By nature of who you
are in Christ and what you've been made into
as a new creature in Christ, being born again
to a living hope in Christ, by the nature of
that, you must have conflict with the world.
If there is no conflict in your soul with the
world around you, then I am concerned for your
very soul. The Holy Spirit of God, dwells within
you. You have been given a new nature. You are
a new creature in Christ. All things have passed
away. All things have been made new. How can
you not have conflict with the world around you
that is fallen and sinful and ruled by the devil?
You have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness
and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved
Son, the kingdom of light. There must be conflict
within you. There are positives to this, brothers
and sisters. One, it brings us into a place where
we enjoy the comforting hand of God. But also,
we have to remember that when there is conflict
between our souls and the world, oftentimes it
is a sign. of God's divine favor and God's divine
work in our own lives. Paul talks about this
several times, where he talks about the suffering,
persecution, and trials of the New Testament
church being a clear indication of the destruction
of the enemies of the cross and a sign of salvation
for you. So when you have conflict and hardship
and trial in your life, when you're like Isaac,
remember what Jesus said in the Beatitudes. Blessed
are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
It is a common mark of kingdom members in the
New Covenant to have a great need to be comforted.
Because they mourn in this life over the brokenness
of the world, over the brokenness in their souls,
over the brokenness around them. But they have
the promise of comfort in their souls. They have
the promise of comfort following their death.
And they have the ultimate consolation that one
day their bodies will be raised and united to
their souls and they will have no more pain and
no more suffering. You shall be comforted is
what the Lord Jesus Christ has said. So there's
always going to be a conflict involved in the
Christian life. But the Christian life will always
involve the experience of comfort as well. Just
like Isaac experienced he also experienced comfort.
And what is the greatest comfort for the believer
in Jesus Christ? The greatest comfort for the
believer in Jesus Christ is God's faithfulness
to his own promises. It is God's faithfulness
to what he has promised he will do. regarding
His promises and His work. We have to work in
our lives and discipline ourselves, brothers
and sisters, where that consolation overshadows
and overwhelms every other little comfort we
might have in this life. Now why is that the
greatest consolation of the believer? That is
the greatest consolation and comfort of the believer
because this means God's faithfulness to his
own promises, because this means that God's divine
favor, his preservation, and his work in your
life is anchored to something holy and completely
outside of you. And the finished, completed,
and... perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We could say in Isaac's life that God was very,
very faithful to Isaac. But remember, God's faithfulness
was bound first to his promise. And out of that
came his faithfulness to Isaac. The same is true
for us, brothers and sisters. God will always
be faithful to you as a believer in Jesus Christ.
He will always love you and care for you. He
will always watch over you. He will always preserve
you. He will always sanctify you. He will bring
about every single promise in your life as those
in Christ. And why? Because of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because of Calvary. Because of the completed
work of the cross. Because of his life, his death,
and his resurrection. Because those things are
done. He is now faithful to you as a believer.
This means that God's faithfulness to his promises
is not dependent upon you or your subjective
life and your subjective experiences. Praise
be to God. Some of you might say, well, I kind
of thought they were. I kind of thought that
God was faithful to me and that God loves me
because I'm good and I'm faithful to Him. The
only way that you will know the goodness and
grace of God. Is because Jesus Christ died in
the place of sinners. You must believe in him.
So that his work is vicariously given to you.
He is a substitute in your place. Your righteousness
which is so called righteousness. And your faithfulness
cannot gain. The favor of God. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ secures God's faithful hand in the
life of his people. This is why God's faithfulness
to his own promises must be the highest consolation
of comfort and hope in the believer's life. Brothers
and sisters, listen. That means when you start
condemning yourself, when you start beating yourself
up because of your own sin and your transgression
or because of the hopelessness in your own life,
look to the righteousness of Christ. There is
therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ.
That means, believer, when you start thinking
too much of your good works or your... The good
works that proceed from your sanctification.
As a result of God's work in your life. Look
to Christ and his righteousness. And it will
humble you. It's only the gospel which delivers
us from the power of sin as believers. There's
so many implications to this reality. We must...
discipline ourselves to make this our highest
consolation, our highest comfort in life. Now,
we hear that, and some of us might say, well,
that means I don't do anything. That means I
don't have anything to do because God is faithful
to me based on Christ. Now, we have to be careful
about this, don't we, brothers and sisters? Because
we also see in this text that Isaac went around
digging wells. That he went around seeking to
be fruitful and faithful in the land, believing
what God has said. God gave this man faith. And
true, saving, justifying faith is a faith which
works in love. It produces good works, and it
produces fruitfulness in the life of believers.
It's a faith that is resilient, patient, we could
even say, and perseveres in the life of the believer.
J .I. Packer made a quote, and he made this quote
in contrast to another ideology that was going
around at the time. The ideology was this. Let
go and let God. That's what a certain movement
taught for years. I just need to let go of everything
and let God do everything. J .I. Packer, in response
to that, said this. The Christian's motto ought
to be, trust God and get going. And that's exactly
what we see in the life of Isaac. He trusted
God. He trusted the promises. But brothers and
sisters, he dug one well after another. He moved
and he stayed. He moved and he stayed. Dig another
well, brothers and sisters.