1 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:12,640 Hello, a big welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast. 2 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:15,560 We are a church based out of Chennai, India. 3 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,400 We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,040 be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear. 5 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,360 Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,920 purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus. 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,720 The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,320 our promise. Today's sermon encourages us to 9 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,040 believe that every promise God has given us is yes and Amen in 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,360 Christ. If God said it, he will do it. 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,360 We pray that you will position yourself intentionally to 12 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,040 receive the fulfillment of God's promises over your life. 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,040 We continue our series on Abraham, and last week we looked 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,959 at how the fear of man needs to be less than the fear of God. 15 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,520 And this week we're moving into Genesis chapter 21 where the 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,760 promise is delivered. Baby Isaac is born to Abraham 17 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,720 and Sarah. Their lives are completely 18 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,000 transformed. And it's a beautiful chapter, a 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,320 chapter replete with joy and laughter and justice, new 20 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,680 beginnings. And even as we get into this 21 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,840 passage today, I just titled my sermon as a Promise delivered 22 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,600 because I believe that all of us this year are going to 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,080 experience the delivery of a promise to us, something we may 24 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,920 have been waiting on for years on end. 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,680 God is doing a rich work within us and around us, and He is 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,800 going to bring it to fruition. We're going to see it with our 27 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:45,520 own eyes. We're going to experience it in 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,560 our lives. And even as I begin to read, I 29 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,920 just want to ask that you would really quieten yourself down to 30 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,160 ask God. Lord, show me how it's going to 31 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,720 come to pass. Give me the faith to wait for it 32 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,160 to be delivered to me. That's the desire I have for 33 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,160 each of us. Reading from Genesis chapter 21 34 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,200 verses one to seven, this is what it says. 35 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,840 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the 36 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,320 Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. 37 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,440 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age. 38 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,760 At the very time God had promised him, Abraham gave the 39 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,040 name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 40 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,840 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised 41 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,920 him as God commanded him. Abraham was 100 years old when 42 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:35,400 his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said God has brought me 43 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,800 laughter and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. 44 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,960 And she added, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would 45 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,400 nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in 46 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,600 his old age. It's so beautiful. 47 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,520 These 1st 7 verses are just so full of joy. 48 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,880 That's the predominant theme of those first 7 verses. 49 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,960 But interestingly, it keeps talking about how the Lord was 50 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:03,400 gracious to Sarah. The Lord did for Sarah what He 51 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,240 had promised. It just shows what a small role 52 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,920 we humans play in the fulfillment of the promises that 53 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,480 God gives us to begin with. And is beautiful because when 54 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,520 God comes through on his word, which he always does, he never 55 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,840 goes back on his word. When he comes through, the kind 56 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:24,240 of things that he enables us to do is is beyond our imagination 57 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,240 because it says over here that she is old. 58 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,640 She's 90 years old. No one would have dreamt she 59 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,880 could nurse her baby, let alone deliver one, look after one. 60 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,040 And yet God did it. The things you can do, the 61 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,960 things you and I can do when God's hand is upon us, the 62 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,360 things you and I can do when God brings His word to pass in our 63 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,040 lives is amazing. You can finish a college degree 64 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:48,520 when you're old. You could. 65 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,520 Find restoration in a marriage that you thought was in ashes. 66 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:54,880 You could break free of an addiction. 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,760 You could come clean. You could find healing. 68 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,600 You might make a miraculous bounce back after a long winded 69 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,800 ailment. You may discover the root cause 70 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,280 for a certain issue that has been recurrent in your life. 71 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,680 The things that can happen when God's hand is upon you and when 72 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:15,480 He is gracious to you is amazing, just like it was in 73 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,240 Sarah's life. And I want to just encourage you 74 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,959 before we go further. If you are someone like Sarah, 75 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:22,440 you've been in the weight for a long time for that spouse, for 76 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,040 that child, for the return of a spouse or the return of a child, 77 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,960 or for justice, a reconciliation or restoration of things you 78 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:31,920 have lost. Maybe you've had huge losses in 79 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,040 your life and maybe you've been waiting for something to change, 80 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,600 the tide to change, for the emotions that you've been 81 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,640 longing for. You want joy to be restored. 82 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:41,800 I want to encourage you from the book of Job. 83 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,880 Job chapter 8 verse 21 says He will yet fill your mouth with 84 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,120 laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 85 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,320 That is our God. He is just, He is faithful, He 86 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,200 is good. He will bring back joy and 87 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:56,840 laughter when the promise is fulfilled. 88 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:58,680 Happiness. Will. 89 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,400 Come back, you will be restored. As we continue to read, we're 90 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,240 reading from verse 8 onwards. It says the child grew and was 91 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,920 weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great 92 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,760 feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom 93 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,720 Haga the Egyptian had born to Abraham was mocking. 94 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,480 And she said to Abraham, Get rid of that slave woman and her son, 95 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,200 for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my 96 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,200 son Isaac. The matter distressed Abraham 97 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,280 greatly because it concerned his son. 98 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,160 But God said to him, Do not be so distressed about the boy and 99 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,480 your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells 100 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,600 you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be 101 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:41,960 reckoned. I will make the son of the slave 102 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,480 into a nation also, because he is your offspring. 103 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,440 Early the next day Abraham took some food and a skin of water 104 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,040 and gave them to Haga. He sent them on her. 105 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,240 He set them on her shoulders and sent her off with the boy. 106 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,040 She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. 107 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,520 When the water and the skin was gone, she put the boy under one 108 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,040 of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down 109 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,560 about a bow shot away, for she thought, I cannot watch the boy 110 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,240 die. And as she sat there, she began 111 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,560 to sob. God heard the boy crying. 112 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,560 And the Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to 113 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,440 her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. 114 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,720 God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 115 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,040 Lift the boy up, take him by the hand, for I will. 116 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,960 Make him into a great nation. Then God opened her eyes and she 117 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,320 saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin 118 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,800 with water and gave the boy a drink. 119 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,320 God was with the boy as he grew up. 120 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,240 He lived in the desert and became an while he was living in 121 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:46,520 the desert of Paran, his mother got him a wife from Egypt. 122 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,360 So you see that as the promised child has come through for 123 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,000 Abraham and said Isaac has been born, but on the day that he is 124 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,440 weaned, he was probably two or three years old, is the day that 125 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,280 Ishmael's life's trajectory completely shifts. 126 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,560 There's a pivotal moment where everything turns and it turns 127 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,920 out that Ishmael, like any old 13 or 14 year old, was taunting 128 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,600 his baby brother. He was mocking him. 129 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,640 I guess that's what the scripture says. 130 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,080 And that was the straw that broke the back of the camel, so 131 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:17,960 to speak. There must have already been a 132 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,360 lot of tension between Hagar, Ishmael and Sarah with her 133 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,360 newborn baby. There must have been this 134 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,800 tension in the camp. And finally, this was the straw 135 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,880 that broke the camel's back. Sarah tells Abraham. 136 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:31,600 Enough is enough, get rid of them. 137 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,040 Now the sentiment, the sentiment, the root of the 138 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,440 sentiment was an insecurity, but it was also the pre knowledge 139 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,920 that if Ishmael lingered he would ask he would be heir 140 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,920 apparent because he was the first born son and Sarah just 141 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,960 said he will not share the inheritance. 142 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,080 It was it was almost like reminiscent of the voice of God. 143 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,640 God had a plan for Isaac's life. Isaac would be the one through 144 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,360 whom the inheritance would be reckoned. 145 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:58,800 Ishmael would be a veteran to that. 146 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,640 And so she initiates again, like she initiated back in the day. 147 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:04,240 She engineered one kind of a miracle. 148 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,720 She decides to send him away. And of course, Abraham is 149 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,520 heartbroken like any father. Would be this is his first born 150 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,920 son. This child didn't deserve this 151 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,240 treatment. The slave woman was actually at 152 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,320 the beck and call of Abraham and Sarah. 153 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,360 She didn't deserve it either. But look at the graciousness of 154 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,720 God. Look at the kindness of God 155 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,480 towards this Egyptian slave girl that he sees her, he sees the 156 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,240 Son that is born to her and his eyes are on them. 157 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,840 Now as I was reading this, I've read this so many times the past 158 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:39,960 few days and it it just warmed my heart to know that God sees 159 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,799 the ones who are discarded. God sees the ones who no one 160 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:45,600 wants. God sees you when when people 161 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,480 cut ties with you. God sees you when people said no 162 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,560 more enough, a season has ended. God sees you. 163 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,680 God doesn't let go of you. And the beautiful thing is, I 164 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:58,920 was reading a few chapters before how God assures Hagar 165 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,320 when when Sarah mistreats her and sends her away. 166 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,440 Hagar is in a similar situation. She's again in her wilderness, 167 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,080 lost, bewildered because she'd been mistreated and abused and 168 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,960 sent away. And God tells her, go back, 169 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,960 submit, because He knew Ishmael needed to be born in that camp 170 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,240 first. He sends her back, she comes 171 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,640 back, she coexists with Sarah and births that baby. 172 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,440 But now this is a different season completely. 173 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,160 Just as Isaac has been born as the promised son has been 174 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,200 delivered, there's a new season waiting for Hagar and Ishmael. 175 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,600 It doesn't belong with Abraham and his camp anymore. 176 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:40,200 It doesn't belong with them in the land of the Philistines 177 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,240 where they were living. Instead, God was pivoting them 178 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,240 around and showing them a new direction. 179 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:50,800 And as hard as that is, as hard as it is to to be moved out of a 180 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,000 place you're comfortable with, the place you've only known God 181 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,640 is with them. I love that. 182 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,240 I love that God is with them. It says God was with the boy as 183 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,760 he grew up, as much as God was in Abraham's camp, God was with 184 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,440 Ishmael. God was with his mother Hagar. 185 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,120 And it's beautiful because it says in later chapters they'll 186 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,000 tell you about Ishmael's sons, and he had twelve sons. 187 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:13,920 Right. And he had twelve sons. 188 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,920 These guys became 12 tribal heads, they were chieftains, 189 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,360 they were sheikhs, and they became a mighty nation. 190 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,760 God. Didn't overlook Ishmael. 191 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,280 If you ever thought that, you ever thought, well, you know 192 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,440 what bad treatment. In the midst of the bad 193 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,560 treatment, God was faithful God, a Redeemer, even redeemed. 194 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:34,280 That. But interestingly, you know, 195 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,840 when I think about it, when I think about these chain of 196 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,960 events in the ESV, the subtitle for this part of the story, it 197 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,800 says God protects Hagar and Ishmael. 198 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:45,760 Isn't that an interesting perspective? 199 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,440 Because in moving Hagar and Ishmael out of Abraham's camp, 200 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,360 God overnight got them freedom. Hagar was no longer going to be 201 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,880 considered a slave girl. She was now the mother of 202 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,720 Ishmael, the mother of a mighty Chieftain, and he was going to 203 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,760 grow into this huge nation. So it was liberation on all 204 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,440 levels. And sometimes when a season 205 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,680 ends, when, when, when, you know, there is a shift that 206 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:16,680 happens and we find ourselves isolated or solitary, it's not 207 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,680 all bad because it's in those moments that God establishes the 208 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:24,520 new trajectory, the new path, the new direction for our lives. 209 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,840 I love that God opened Hega's eyes to a well. 210 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,600 And he says, stop crying, get up, lead the boy, give him a 211 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,720 drink and go in the opposite direction. 212 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,280 There is no more a call to surrender and submit to Sarah. 213 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,000 But he's saying, I'm going to do something new in your life. 214 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,640 And I believe that for any of us who have been wandering in a 215 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:51,000 desert, you've been disappointed by people, you've been let down. 216 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,400 I want to encourage you, ask God to open your eyes to see that 217 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,960 well of sustenance, because our living water is Jesus. 218 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,040 He is available wherever you are. 219 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,680 You may be in the midst of the biggest, widest, starkest desert 220 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,320 you've ever been in. He is there with you, as He was 221 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:10,400 with Ishmael, as He was with Hagar. 222 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,800 He is with you and me. And his promises to Hagar didn't 223 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,360 fail because a couple of chapters back when he talks to 224 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,320 Hagar in that wilderness season when she was pregnant with 225 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,640 child, he says, I'm going to make you the mother of a nation 226 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,280 because your son, this boy who you're going to birth, he's 227 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,080 going to be a wild donkey of a man. 228 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:31,560 Everyone's hand is going to be against him. 229 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,360 He's going to be up in arms, but he will be a mighty nation. 230 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:36,920 And God didn't fail. Hagar. 231 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,440 Isn't that amazing? So when you think about it, as 232 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,160 much as this was a promise delivered for Abraham and Sarah, 233 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,000 this was also a promise delivered for Hagar. 234 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,960 Isn't that amazing? As we continue to read, we're 235 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,840 going to continue reading from verse 22 onwards. 236 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,080 This is what it says at the time, Abimelech and Ficol, the 237 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,280 commander of his forces, said to Abraham. 238 00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,520 God is with you in everything you do. 239 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,320 Now swear to me here before God. That you will not deal falsely 240 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,520 with me or my children or my descendants. 241 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,040 Show to me in the country where you now reside as a foreigner, 242 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,840 the same kindness I have shown to you, Abraham said. 243 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,960 I swear it. And then Abraham complained to 244 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,280 ABI Malik about a well of water. The ABI Malik servants had 245 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,040 ceased. But ABI Malik said I don't know 246 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,200 who has done this. You did not tell me and I heard 247 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,440 about it only today. So Abraham brought sheep and 248 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,920 cattle and gave them to ABI Malik, and the two men made a 249 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,480 treaty. Abraham set apart 7 ewe lambs 250 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,520 from the flock, and Abimelech asked Abraham, what is the 251 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,560 meaning of these 7 ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves? 252 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,760 He replied, Except these seven lambs from my hand as a witness 253 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,640 that I dug this well. So that place was called 254 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,880 Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there after. 255 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,040 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and 256 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,240 Ficol, the commander of his forces returned to the land of 257 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,720 the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree 258 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,680 in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, 259 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,800 the eternal God, and Abraham. Stayed in the land of the 260 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,960 Philistines for a long time. This is the. 261 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,800 End of the chapter and it's talking about a treaty that is 262 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,560 being signed between the king of the Philistines, ABI Malik. 263 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:21,720 We just looked at him last last week with Geshom as he was 264 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,200 teaching us about how Abraham, in a moment of fear, a fear of a 265 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,040 human king, made an unwise call of sending his wife in there 266 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,120 into that palace. And today we're looking again at 267 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,080 the same abimelech. With the head of his forces, 268 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,600 knowing that Abraham was more blessed, knowing that he was a 269 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,360 man of God, knowing that he had the living God back him up. 270 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,240 And they come to him and say, you know what? 271 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,200 Swear that you and I will live at peace, and our ancestors and 272 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,760 our descendants too. And that's what's happening. 273 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,680 And as they're doing that, Abraham clears, you know, a bit 274 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,280 of misunderstanding and says, you know what? 275 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,160 You guys are fighting for a well that I dug. 276 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,440 We need to make understand that this was something I dug, right? 277 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,080 And so they named the well. Abraham named that well 278 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,480 Beersheba. It was the well of the oath. 279 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,320 And why after they depart, it's interesting. 280 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,200 Abraham plants a tree there and calls on the name of God. 281 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,160 It's an act of worship. It's an act of Thanksgiving. 282 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,320 Think about it. He's found water, He's had his 283 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:25,160 promised child. He he's, he's understanding 284 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,960 God's plans, probably to a greater extent. 285 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,800 He has so much to be grateful for. 286 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,600 And therefore he plants this tree and worships God. 287 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,920 And as I was reading it, I was just realizing that, you know, a 288 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:41,000 season of the fulfillment when a promise comes full circle, when 289 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,400 you see it's fulfillment evolve in front of your eyes, it's 290 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,760 never just a stationary season. It's never a season where you 291 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,240 just sit in an easy chair, receive all those promises and 292 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,480 just kind of vegetate. It isn't that. 293 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:54,960 In fact, it's quite the opposite. 294 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,600 If you look at the season in Abraham and Sarah's life, 295 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,520 there's so much of activity, there's so many things that are 296 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,960 happening simultaneously, which required them to to have a 297 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,000 constant and a steady movement. And it's something called 298 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,680 dynamic equilibrium. I was asking my son about this. 299 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,720 So basically, if an object is in movement, this dynamic 300 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,960 equilibrium keeps it in constant steady movement, right? 301 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,880 And the season. Of the fulfillment is like that, 302 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,440 you can't just say I'm going to check out for a bit. 303 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,040 I'm going to just languish here, relax, do nothing and enjoy my 304 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,120 promise. The beauty of the season is 305 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,200 while you are enjoying this promise, while you have so much 306 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,560 of joy being restored, there's so much to be done. 307 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,480 There are relationships to be built. 308 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,560 There are networks to be to be, you know, built. 309 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:41,760 There are so many decisions that have to be taken. 310 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,000 There are processes that have to be set in place. 311 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,040 There may be the cutting away of certain things that need to be 312 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,680 done. And so it's so important to be 313 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,480 very mindful of the season. It's not a season where you 314 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,440 completely do nothing. It's a season where you actually 315 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,400 have to be so avid about doing the things God is leading you to 316 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,920 do. This treaty between Abraham and 317 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:06,560 Abimelech was so important. To establish relationship for 318 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:08,640 the next generation because you'll see in a couple of 319 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,240 chapters later, Isaac has the has a similar encounter with ABI 320 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,440 Malik of that time. So it's so important that these 321 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,480 that the season is very well thought through and executed the 322 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,920 way God asks you to. But as we look at this, there 323 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,760 was this one word that stood out to me. 324 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,720 It says Abraham called on the name of the Lord. 325 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,920 And this is the third time Abraham is doing that. 326 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,520 He's done it two times before already. 327 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,200 He built an altar and called on the name of the Lord, it says. 328 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,200 But here it says he built an altar and called on the name of 329 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:45,560 the Lord, the eternal God El olam, eternal God, a God of 330 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,200 generations, because eventually they'll start calling him the 331 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,720 God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was this. 332 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,880 God, who would outlast him? Who would outlive him? 333 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,400 And Abraham was seeing that. He may have felt he was 100 334 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,360 years old, too old to receive this promise. 335 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,840 And yet this eternal God was ageless, the uncreated one, the 336 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:09,360 one who existed outside of time. And yet he was right on time. 337 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,840 It says he gave Sarah the child at the time he had told Abraham 338 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,000 about. That is our God. 339 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,440 And so he was honouring this eternal God. 340 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,200 But how did he honor the word call? 341 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,440 The word call is very pivotal here. 342 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:30,240 The word is Kara QARA and it basically means to proclaim or 343 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,800 to. Call or to read aloud or to name 344 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:37,120 something or someone and it basically conveys the the act of 345 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,680 vocalizing or declaring something with intention and 346 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,600 purpose. And from a cultural and 347 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,680 historical perspective, basically proclamations were so 348 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,160 important in cultural settings in in communal settings, because 349 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,440 you were basically teaching and preserving oral traditions. 350 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,080 And you remember that verse that I gave us right at the beginning 351 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,120 of the series, Genesis chapter 18, verses 18 to 19, just before 352 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,240 God is contemplating whether to tell him about Sodom and 353 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,040 Gomorrah. He's talking to himself. 354 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,320 And he says Abraham will surely become a great and powerful 355 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,280 nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 356 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,000 For I have chosen him. So that he will direct his 357 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,200 children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord 358 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,800 by doing what is right and just. So that the Lord will bring 359 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,800 about for Abraham what he has promised him. 360 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,080 The line there is I have chosen him so that he will direct his 361 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:37,560 children and his household. What Abraham was essentially 362 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,320 doing at Beersheba when he planted that tamarisk tree was 363 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,800 he was declaring to his entire community, his household, the 364 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,320 the many men of war he had trained, the skilled men, the 365 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,160 the maidservants, the shepherds, the the, the ones who ran his, 366 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,920 you know, all the business and endeavours that he probably had 367 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,360 all these guys called that called him their Chieftain. 368 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,400 And when he called on the name of the Lord at Beersheba, he was 369 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:07,240 essentially saying, guys, this is my God and I want him to be 370 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,640 your God. And it's so vital because for 371 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,480 all of us, we have people we're doing life with. 372 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,920 For me as a as a wife and a mother, I have my children, I 373 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,720 have my extended family. For you, I don't know who that 374 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,120 looks like. Could be your friends, it could 375 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:24,760 be your neighbors, it could be your parents, it could be your 376 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,960 spouse, it could be kids. But my question is, do you call 377 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,040 upon the name of the Lord with the intent to proclaim who He 378 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:36,040 has been thus far to you? Because when we do that, it 379 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,360 changes everything. It's no longer about me just 380 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:41,560 knowing this God. It's about me telling others, 381 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,520 hey, this is who He has been to me. 382 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,760 It's a very powerful moment. And I want to ask you, how 383 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,640 intentional are you about calling aloud on this God? 384 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:58,080 How intentional are you? On talking about your God to 385 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:03,480 others, even as we look at this chapter, you know it's a 386 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,160 delivery of a promise. The promised child is brought 387 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,000 forth. I just want to leave two things 388 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,400 for you. Basically, if you are saying, 389 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,480 well, I'm waiting for my promise to be delivered to me. 390 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,960 Maybe it's a promise that God has given you of restoration. 391 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,720 Maybe it's a promise for healing, maybe it's a promise 392 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,640 for increase, maybe it's a promise of some sort which which 393 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:25,720 you don't even understand, but you've just been claiming it for 394 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,880 yourself. I want to just leave two things 395 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,480 with you. How do you prepare for the 396 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,280 fulfillment of your promises? Are your promises going to be 397 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,360 fulfilled? Absolutely, absolutely. 398 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,960 Because God is faithful to His Word, because He's the guarantor 399 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,560 of every promise. He will bring it to pass. 400 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,600 How he does it, I won't know. You may not know till it 401 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,240 happens. When again, he does it at the 402 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,080 perfect time. He's not arbitrary. 403 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,600 He's right on time. But the beautiful thing is that 404 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,880 we can prepare ourselves as we wait for the fulfillment. 405 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:00,680 And there's two things, I believe two ways in which we can 406 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,160 prepare ourselves for the delivery of these promises. 407 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,760 The first thing is that we watch who we believe. 408 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,680 It's so important that we know who we are believing in and on. 409 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,880 When God gives us a word, it is His word. 410 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,040 So I have to choose to believe him. 411 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,920 But the problem is so often we are living in a world of noise 412 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,080 that if God has told you I will restore your health and heal all 413 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,160 your wounds. But your counsellor is telling 414 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,280 you differently, your doctor is telling you differently, your 415 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,360 friends are telling you differently, your parents are 416 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:35,160 speaking differently over you. You start to doubt if God really 417 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,800 told you that. If God said I will repay to you 418 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,480 the years the locusts have eaten, but people from your past 419 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,720 are saying no way, there's no way that God can repay this, You 420 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,400 are too far gone. You start to believe them and 421 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,040 it's so important that you watch who you believe and I love. 422 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,320 This verse 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 20 to 22 says for no 423 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,080 matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ, 424 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,000 and so through him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of 425 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,560 God. Now it is God who makes both us 426 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,760 and you. Stand firm in Christ. 427 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,360 He anointed us, set a seal of ownership on us, and put His 428 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:19,440 Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to 429 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,680 come. It's beautiful because every 430 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,240 promise that is in the Word of God, every promise, any problem, 431 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:28,480 you take, any promise from there. 432 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,520 If He said He will set you free, you are set free. 433 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,520 It is true. You start believing it, you 434 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,400 start standing on that promise, He will come through on it. 435 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,520 But the problem is that most often we are not believing that 436 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,640 it's God's word to us. So as hard as the process of 437 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,200 being set free is somewhere midway, we believe, you know, 438 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,360 maybe I'm just meant to be in bondage forever. 439 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,680 Maybe I'm just meant to live in this deception forever. 440 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,800 Maybe I'm always meant to have this lack of clarity. 441 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,360 But God is saying, no, I'm going to give you a new mind. 442 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:00,800 I'm going to give you a new heart. 443 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,120 That is God's Word. If God has said it, God will do 444 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,200 it. And the way we know it is when 445 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,840 the Spirit within us reverberates with the 446 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,280 fulfillment of that promise. And it's up to us whether we 447 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,520 listen to the Spirit's voice. It's up to us whether we will 448 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,240 allow the Holy Spirit to give us confidence and confirmation that 449 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,120 God's Word is true. Imagine if Sarah had listened to 450 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,000 the many midwives and and gynecologists of that time. 451 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,160 She lived in different towns. There must have been different 452 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,200 medicine men who visited. Imagine if she believed the word 453 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,280 that they spoke over how there's no way in the New Testament says 454 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,840 she didn't even have the way of women. 455 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,920 There was no monthly indicator that she could get pregnant. 456 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,600 And yet God did it against every medical Lord. 457 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,880 If Sarah had listened to her doctors. 458 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:51,320 Can you picture where her faith would have been? 459 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,880 Imagine for Abraham, God's telling him, every place that 460 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,160 your foot touches is yours. Walk up and down this land, the 461 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,640 land of Canaan, it's all yours. If he had a wealth manager, he 462 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,080 was probably going to say, how is that going to happen? 463 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,120 You're just a guy with flocks and herds. 464 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:09,200 What are you going to do? How are you going to afford it? 465 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:11,760 There are foreign kings in these places. 466 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,440 How are you going to do it? If he had a location manager, 467 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,160 he's probably going to look at the length and breadth of the 468 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:21,080 land and say no way. As you wait for your promise, 469 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,360 watch out for who you listen to, who you believe. 470 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:29,520 If you believe the voices around you, it's very possible that you 471 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,720 will stop. Believing in the God who 472 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,200 actually called you, the God who gave you the promise. 473 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,080 I was reading about World War 2 and worldwide love reading 474 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,640 about, you know, these World War reports and things that happened 475 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:42,720 then. And one of the interesting 476 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,440 inventions during that time was the radio and all sides in the 477 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,280 world was that happened. World War One and World War 2. 478 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,800 All of them used radio to use it As for their propaganda, both 479 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,000 the good side, the not so good side, all of them used it for 480 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,840 propaganda. And the interesting thing was 481 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,080 once they started broadcasting on radio, this was all people 482 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,240 had at home. And I, I was reading that a 483 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,400 couple of countries even sold radios at very low budgets just 484 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,360 so that the people all had access to it. 485 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,680 And what would happen is there was hardly any work for people 486 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,040 to do. A lot of them are just hiding in 487 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,080 homes, bracing themselves for the impact of war. 488 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,240 So all their radios were tuned in through the day and every day 489 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,680 at certain times there would be these broadcast shows which 490 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,840 which would, you know, come over the Airways. 491 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,520 Messages were sent to nations. I remember reading about how in 492 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,080 Britain, Winston Churchill's famous radio broadcasts were 493 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,720 sent to the country and, and so many people were motivated by 494 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,040 what they heard. They were encouraged. 495 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:42,960 They were they were moved to not give up. 496 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:45,760 So many young men enrolled in the war because of what they 497 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:50,960 heard around the globe during the world was these propagandas 498 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,200 were released. These messages were released 499 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,280 messages of hope, messages to to, you know, polarized people. 500 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,560 Everything was sent on the Airways and it was what they 501 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,640 heard that they believed. We're no different. 502 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,880 We may not have radio today, but we are in a in a time of noise. 503 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,360 We don't actually have radio silence. 504 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,680 We have podcasts, we have Netflix shows, we have we tend 505 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,560 to binge watch. We are receiving things on our 506 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,400 WhatsApp. We have the the the voices of 507 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:25,760 our family ringing in our ears. But my question to you is the 508 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:30,040 Holy Spirit is in your heart as a deposit guaranteeing what is 509 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,520 to come. If God said this is going to 510 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,280 happen, He is in your heart vibrating with with you know 511 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,560 this and pulsating with this feeling of saying it's going to 512 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,880 happen. Hold on, don't give up. 513 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,080 And that's the voice of the Holy Spirit. 514 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,520 How tuned are you to the voice of the Holy Spirit? 515 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,320 That's the first thing. Watch out for who you believe. 516 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,240 The second thing I want to leave with you is watch how you live. 517 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,320 And you probably think, well. All of you pastors say the same 518 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,280 thing. You all tell us to watch how we 519 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,560 live. Well, let me just say this that 520 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,080 there's a certain change that has to happen when we start 521 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,560 positioning ourself for the promise. 522 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,680 You remember last week Sarah and Abraham had heard just before 523 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,440 Sodom and Gomorrah went down. God says by this time next year 524 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,520 you're going to have a child, correct? 525 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,400 So they knew there's a timeline one year. 526 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,160 So basically. In another 2-3 months, she would 527 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,440 probably get pregnant and then the baby would be born at the 528 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,720 end of the year. So they had a timeline and place 529 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,280 God had spoken. But what happens is in the 530 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,400 middle of that, they're entering the area of the Philistines, 531 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,280 right? And they meet Abimelech and 532 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,160 Abraham gets afraid. Tell Sarah that, you know, tell 533 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,840 them you're my wife. She's taken into the harem of 534 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:51,200 the king. Wrong place, wrong time, and she 535 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,160 was never meant to enter that palace. 536 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,040 She was not meant to be queen consort to a Pagan king. 537 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,640 She was meant to be the mother of the promised child. 538 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,400 What was she doing in such a foreign place? 539 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,880 What was she doing out of the place where God had actually 540 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,080 wanted her to be? Why did Abraham get afraid at 541 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,160 such a pivotal moment? He could have potentially 542 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,200 corrupted the bloodline if Abim Alaik or any of his guys had 543 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:20,000 touched her, had defiled her. It's so important that we watch 544 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,440 how we live when there's a promise in the wake. 545 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,720 It's so important when God has given a promise for you to birth 546 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,720 that we don't defile ourselves when we wait for the promise. 2 547 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,320 Corinthians 7 verse one I'm reading from the Amplified. 548 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,080 It says Therefore, since we have these great and wonderful 549 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,800 promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from 550 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,440 everything that contaminates body and spirit completely 551 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,520 completing holiness, living a consecrated life, a life set 552 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,440 apart for God's purpose in the fear of God. 553 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,560 Let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates 554 00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:00,400 body and spirit completing holiness in the fear of God. 555 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,280 God is calling us to holiness. God is calling us to a place of 556 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,480 deep consecration and and the things that contaminate body and 557 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:11,560 spirit. What are the things that 558 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,040 contaminate you and me in our body and in our spirit? 559 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:17,120 Is it anger? Is it hate? 560 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,040 Is it the thoughts of revenge? Is it the thoughts of paying 561 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,160 someone back? Is it the thought of wiping 562 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,200 someone out? Is it the thought of slandering 563 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,960 and pulling them down? Is it the thought of passing 564 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,840 hateful gossip around so that their reputation is spoiled? 565 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,000 Is it you engaging in lewd acts with people under the covers of 566 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,200 darkness when no one knows? Is it you hiding behind the 567 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:44,800 facade of a Instagram handle and perpetuating hate or violence? 568 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,640 What is it that you've been engaging in that now that you 569 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,600 have a promise on the horizon, need to change how you live? 570 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,160 Because you're going to be carrying a weighty promise. 571 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,120 It's going to be so pivotal. It's going to be life changing. 572 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,520 Remember, the promises of God are yes and Amen. 573 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,000 And if the Holy Spirit is the one within you guaranteeing it's 574 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,480 completion, it means it has eternal ramifications. 575 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,480 There are eternal things that are going. 576 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,400 To come out of that promises fulfillment. 577 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:17,000 How can we corrupt ourselves as we wait for that promise? 578 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,680 It's so beautiful because he says he's calling us to cleanse 579 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,800 ourselves in complete holiness, a life that is set apart. 580 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,160 Last year our theme at church was being set apart. 581 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,280 And I know a lot of us went through a season of refining 582 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,400 where God removed certain people, God removed certain 583 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,760 habits, God removed certain traits in our life that was 584 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,840 contaminating his presence, that was contaminating his anointing 585 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,080 in our lives. But the interesting thing is 586 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,000 that God is calling us to consecration. 587 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,000 You remember we looked at circumcision, a surgery of the 588 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,240 heart. When God actually cuts away the 589 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:58,560 parts of our heart that is corrupt, that is vile, that is 590 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:04,120 wicked, that is broken, and He's giving us a new heart, it's so 591 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,080 important that we begin to live in a way that honours God, but 592 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:09,960 that we live in a place that fears Him. 593 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,880 The way that we conduct our business becomes different. 594 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,400 The way that we treat people changes. 595 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,080 The way we speak to ourselves in the hiddenness of our lives 596 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,120 changes. The things we engage in, the 597 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:26,240 language we use, the demeanor we have, the ethics we possess, the 598 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:32,000 integrity we display, all of it changes because of the promise 599 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,760 that needs to be fulfilled. We don't do it just so that the 600 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,000 promise is fulfilled and then revert to old ways. 601 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,640 No, it's because the promise, when it comes, it's going to 602 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,200 change our lives, it's going to change our destiny. 603 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,560 And therefore I need to prepare myself for that. 604 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:51,200 I was recently reading the story of a town in northern Australia. 605 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,840 It's called Orokun and it's an Aboriginal town. 606 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,680 It's got about 7 clans that have come together to form this 607 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:02,560 little town. And in the 1800's the gospel of 608 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,360 Jesus reached this town and, and most of the people heard about 609 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,400 Jesus changed their lives. But interestingly, these clans 610 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,760 still had differences. And so this nature of wanting an 611 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,640 eye for an eye, tooth for tooth still existed. 612 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,960 So in 2015 there was a murder that happened in one clan. 613 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,080 It was committed by a member of another clan. 614 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,000 And so the clan which had lost its loved one was out for 615 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,200 retribution. And they had put this word out 616 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:34,680 saying that clan which committed the murder, we want one person 617 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,040 dead. From there, then we're equal, 618 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,600 fair and square. The spirit of revenge was 619 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,720 strong. But then this amazing thing 620 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,960 happened in 2016 when a group of these people in this town began 621 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:49,560 to see God. They started praying. 622 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,680 They've gathered together. They began to pray and say God 623 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,160 bring a revival here. You will not believe over the 624 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,480 next few months. There was such a. 625 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,040 Revival that broke out in this small community. 626 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,840 This town just about about had about 1300 people, but by the 627 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,760 end of that year, 1000 people had come to the Lord. 628 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,159 They were worshipping together in that community hall. 629 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,880 There was no talk of revenge. In fact, the community that had 630 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,080 lost its loved 1 extended forgiveness to the other clan 631 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,600 and said we don't want anything in exchange. 632 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:30,239 Joy, peace, oneness was what was celebrated. 633 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,080 And the thing that I want to ask you is when God moves in, when 634 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,760 the gospel takes its work and shapes our lives, we don't 635 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,679 behave and think and act the way we did. 636 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,239 We ideally behave differently. We begin to behave more like 637 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,840 Jesus. And when that happens, it 638 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,440 changes how we live. It changes how we react. 639 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:58,120 And so how do you and I live as we wait for the fulfillment of 640 00:34:58,120 --> 00:34:59,720 the promise? It is inevitable. 641 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:01,160 Promise is going to be fulfilled. 642 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,040 But how do we live as we wait? How do we live as we live in 643 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,560 anticipation of that promise? It matters. 644 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:13,840 It really matters as we conclude, as we close up today, 645 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:16,760 I want to just encourage you about one thing. 646 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,120 This has been on my head a lot. But you know, sometimes we think 647 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,200 that, you know, if God gives me this promise fulfilled, if I see 648 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,840 the fruition of it, my life is sorted, I'm done. 649 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,800 But I believe that every promise that he gives us has such far 650 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,880 reaching impact and consequences. 651 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:38,560 It it outlives us many times, but the promise is really never 652 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,680 about us. When you look at Abraham and 653 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:46,160 Sarah, they moved from Abraham to Sarai to Abraham and Sarah 654 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,680 because God now breathed life into them and gives them this 655 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:53,680 far reaching impact. They're no longer just confined 656 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,000 to the small portion of Canaan. But he's saying the he was 657 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:58,720 literally saying the world is your oyster. 658 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,480 Go out the ends of the earth, they belong to you. 659 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,680 That was what God was saying, because through Abraham and 660 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,400 Sarah and their child Isaac would come Jacob, and through 661 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:14,040 Jacob would come 12 patriarchs, 12 tribes, and out of these 12 662 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:18,240 tribes the nation of Israel would form and. 663 00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:22,480 Through them, through the tribe of Judah, Jesus would come 664 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,120 forth, and Jesus was the seed of Abraham that would save the 665 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,080 whole world. You know how salvation would 666 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,600 reach the ends of the world through Jesus. 667 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,200 And so it was so important for Isaac to happen. 668 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,240 It was so important that that fulfilment would happen. 669 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,880 Sometimes we look at the promises of God in our lives and 670 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,080 think, wow, this is for me, this is for my enlargement, this is 671 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,360 for my blessing, this is for my restoration. 672 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,160 And I was remembering one of my son's toys. 673 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,240 So he's been playing with this over the weekend. 674 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:55,520 As I was watching him, I asked him to explain to me how this 675 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,840 toy works. So this is basically the front 676 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,640 of this tractor. And when we look at our lives as 677 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,640 we wait for the promise, we're like this tractor. 678 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,960 We're waiting. We're saying, God, use me, do 679 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,240 these things. I want these promises, you know, 680 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:12,520 to be fulfilled in my life. And the beautiful thing is that 681 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:16,480 God in his graciousness, God in his goodness, God in his 682 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:20,280 faithfulness does bring the promise in. 683 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:25,640 And that's much like this huge trailer, the promise in our 684 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:27,680 lives. This Is Us and this is the 685 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,440 promise being added in our lives. 686 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,160 And I was asking my son to explain this to me. 687 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,560 So this apparently this truck has this very interesting 688 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,040 feature. I'm going to probably going to 689 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,040 demonstrate it in the in person service. 690 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:48,320 But this trailer basically has this ability to house 30 cars. 691 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:51,800 And apparently he asked us for this a couple of years back. 692 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:54,720 I don't remember. So this this house is all of 693 00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:58,600 these cars and he said, Mama, this has got this beautiful 694 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:02,160 feature where you can put the cars in here and then you can 695 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:05,800 launch it out through the front. And I felt like that was a 696 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,640 prophetic demonstration of what a fulfilled promise for you and 697 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,120 me looks like. You see, when we are waiting on 698 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:16,320 God for the promise and we're waiting, we're watching how 699 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:17,720 we're living. We're watching who we are 700 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:20,160 believing, and then the promise happens. 701 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:22,960 The fulfillment happens. It's never only about us, 702 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,160 because as much as we're living in the joy of that fulfillment, 703 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:31,040 God uses it to bless others. Just like Abraham and Sarah were 704 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,200 necessary for Jesus to happen so that the world would know of 705 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,560 him, the world would be reconciled to God. 706 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,960 The world would have the privilege of knowing God as 707 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,440 their Father, and each person who believed would be called a 708 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:46,520 child of God. Similarly, each of us, when our 709 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,880 promise is fulfilled, because of its eternal ramifications, we 710 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:52,800 are a channel of blessing to someone else. 711 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,880 Your promise may help you launch someone else. 712 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,720 Into their destiny. Isn't that amazing? 713 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:04,120 It's never only about us. It's never about you alone. 714 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,080 It's never about me alone. So I want you to ask God, Lord, 715 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:11,080 even as I wait for that fulfillment of the promise, show 716 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,600 me where I've made it about myself so my son has his other 717 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,240 toy. Interestingly, he had a lot of 718 00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:20,840 demonstratable toys for me this week. 719 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,200 So he had this other toy and he was explaining this to me. 720 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:28,160 So he said it's very similar trailer Mama, but this has this 721 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,480 one thing which can use be used to pick up. 722 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:35,600 It can pick up cars or whatever. And he said, you turn it and you 723 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:39,160 drop this back on it. And I realized that many times 724 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,600 when I look at my promises, you know, the things that I've asked 725 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:45,200 God for and I'm believing God for, I want it solely for 726 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:47,240 myself. I want it solely for my family. 727 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:48,600 I want it solely for my marriage. 728 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,200 I want it solely for the inheritance of the legacy I'm 729 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,920 leaving for my children. And that's it, end of story. 730 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,560 But the truth is God is calling me to be a conduit of blessing. 731 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:02,200 God is calling me to be someone who launches others. 732 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:05,440 To their blessing launches others to their God-given 733 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,800 destiny. It's never going to be about 734 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,880 myself. And so I want to encourage you 735 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,520 that you would be so mindful that this promise God has given 736 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,840 you won't end with you that you will ask God, Lord, what is this 737 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,840 really about? What is it really about God? 738 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,160 What is this promise going to do for me? 739 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:27,320 But more than that, what is it going to do for you? 740 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:28,960 What is it going to do for your people? 741 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:30,880 What is it going to do for the church? 742 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:32,880 What is it going to do for the communities around me? 743 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:34,720 What is it going to do for the world? 744 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,840 Because it never really is about us. 745 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:43,640 Even as we close, I want to reiterate that Abraham called on 746 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:47,640 the eternal God Al Olam, the God of generations. 747 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:52,520 It was not something that he had fully understood, but he 748 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:56,080 realized that this God would outlive him. 749 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,000 His promises would outlive him. If you read Hebrews 11 it talks 750 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,200 about. The Hall of Faith. 751 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,480 And all these men and women who by faith had had just done the 752 00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:08,040 things God had called them to do. 753 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,080 But it's said at the end of it, many of them didn't see in their 754 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,000 lifetime the thing that God had promised them. 755 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:17,240 And that always scares me. It actually bums me out a bit 756 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,840 because I'm thinking, God, I do want to see it in my lifetime. 757 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,800 But a picture of that is in that tamarisk tree that Abraham 758 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,480 planted at Beersheba. So I was reading up on the 759 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,000 tamarisk tree. Tamarisk tree is basically a 760 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,000 desert loving tree. It lives in the desert. 761 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,040 It's a beautiful tall tree. But the interesting thing is 762 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:39,160 it's a very slow growing tree. So I'm guessing he didn't go and 763 00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:42,000 plant a tree. He probably planted a a, a seed 764 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,800 or a sapling. But in planting it there, I 765 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:51,000 think it was an image of the fact that Abraham may not live 766 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:55,000 to see it grow or to see its fruit or to eat of its fruit, 767 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,960 but that God would, that God would outlive him. 768 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:01,200 God would see it to pass. God would see it to fruition. 769 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,600 God would see it to its end, much like our lives. 770 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:07,920 And yet Abraham took the first step of planting it. 771 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:13,120 Many of us are unwilling to plant that seed, to take that 772 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,840 first step of faithfulness because you're like, I won't, 773 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,600 you know, reap anything from this. 774 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:22,240 I won't get anything from it. If I get something in it, then 775 00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:25,560 I'll probably do it. If I can serve and get something 776 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:29,560 out of it, I'll do it. But the truth is that God is 777 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:34,000 calling us to sow Someone else may reap, someone else may eat 778 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,640 the fruit, but God is still calling me to be faithful in the 779 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:40,600 sowing. Abraham was faithful because he 780 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,840 knew his God was eternal. You may think no one saw the 781 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:48,080 years of your hiddenness. God was with you in the hidden 782 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,120 hiddenness. God was watching you in those 783 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,640 obscure moments when you were doing that which was right. 784 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:57,200 God may has seen your days of tithing and giving your 785 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,120 offerings even when you had so little. 786 00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:02,760 He watched that. He saw your faithfulness. 787 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,520 God saw your faithfulness in that marriage even when no one 788 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,360 else appreciated it. Even when your own spouse didn't 789 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,640 respect it. God watched it. 790 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,360 God sees your faithfulness when you bring those children up. 791 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:21,200 No accolades, no applause. He watches every decision you 792 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,680 make. He sees you, He's in it. 793 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,320 God watches you as you work those hard shifts at work. 794 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:33,720 You're not getting any praise from your boss, but he sees it. 795 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:38,320 If you stay faithful in that, He's an eternal God. 796 00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:43,400 The rewards are eternal because remember, our life on earth is 797 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:47,920 just a very short span, but eternity is forever. 798 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,960 So what I do now, outlive, outlives me because God is a God 799 00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:57,880 of eternity. He's the eternal God and you can 800 00:43:57,880 --> 00:43:59,240 trust Him. Maybe you're saying, God, my 801 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:02,040 time is running up. You promised me this. 802 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:04,880 But Lord, I'm getting older. My biological clock is ticking. 803 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:08,520 My family is giving me hell. That this hasn't happened in 804 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,600 this time frame. I want to encourage you. 805 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:15,920 He holds time in his hands. He's outside of time and yet 806 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:21,120 he's right on time always. He's right on time, never 807 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,120 arbitrary. I love that verse at the 808 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:28,240 beginning of this chapter which says at the very time God had 809 00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:31,640 promised him, she bore him a son at the very time. 810 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:35,200 He's never late, He's always on time. 811 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:39,160 So even as we close, I want to ask you, will you call upon God 812 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:41,960 like he did? So that everyone around you, 813 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:44,560 your family, your loved ones, your neighbors, the ones that 814 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,680 love you, the ones that are dependent on you, would hear you 815 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:52,520 call on him, would hear you call on him and say, I want that God. 816 00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:54,840 I want that dependence they have. 817 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,240 I want that love relationship that they have. 818 00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:01,960 Will you believe that every promise God has given you is yes 819 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,840 and Amen in Christ Jesus? It's not just rattled off off 820 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:09,240 the top of someone's head. It was made by God. 821 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:13,520 It is ratified by Him. Will you live consecrated for 822 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:15,280 Him? Will you choose who you believe? 823 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:17,880 Don't believe every voice you hear. 824 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,440 Let the Holy Spirit be the voice that is loudest. 825 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,440 Will you live in a way that is consecrated to Him? 826 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:27,520 Ask Him. Lord, consecrate my life. 827 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,720 Consecrate my body, consecrate my spirit. 828 00:45:30,720 --> 00:45:33,320 Even if you've lived a life that has been less than consecrated, 829 00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:36,560 it's never too late. Just a prayer of me saying, 830 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:42,120 Jesus, forgive me, I repent and he's waiting there with his arms 831 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,240 open wide. It's never too late because 832 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:49,040 remember, every promise will be delivered, every single one. 833 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:52,320 Can we pray together? Father, I just thank you for 834 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:54,280 this time. I thank you for you. 835 00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:59,520 How faithful in every way for everything you have said is yes 836 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:02,640 and Amen in Christ Jesus. And we thank you that God, you 837 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:06,520 are an eternal God, Abraham, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 838 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:11,360 I thank you that Lord, your word is true, and I pray for anyone 839 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,360 who's doubting it today that Lord, they will go back to your 840 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,640 word. They will sit with you in spirit 841 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,280 of God. Will you bring enlightenment? 842 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:20,640 Will you bring revelation from Your word? 843 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:23,520 Explain to them the heart of the Father for them. 844 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,280 I pray for those who are not able to see the eternal 845 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,440 consequences of that promise, the eternal ramifications. 846 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,840 I pray this week they would have fresh understanding on why you 847 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,120 promised them that and how it's going to impact lives beyond 848 00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:39,440 them. I pray for those who have been 849 00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:44,520 faithfully sowing those seeds who haven't yet eaten the fruit 850 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,040 of the. Plant that has grown, I pray God 851 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:50,760 it'll be a season of harvest. It'll be a season of resting in 852 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,280 what you have done, in the fruit you have grown, in the growth 853 00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:59,160 you have brought. I pray that God territories will 854 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:03,280 be enlarged, restoration would happen, recompense will be felt. 855 00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,040 I pray, O God, healing would touch their lives. 856 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:11,480 I pray that Lord, those who have felt unloved will experience the 857 00:47:11,480 --> 00:47:16,440 love of God like never before. Help us, be with us. 858 00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:21,920 We honor you, El Olam, eternal God, we bless your holy name. 859 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:27,000 In Jesus mighty name I pray, Amen, Amen. 860 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:30,560 Even as you head into this week, I pray that you will experience 861 00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:34,440 God like never before, that you will invite him in and say, 862 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:36,640 Lord, here I am, I'm waiting with you. 863 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:38,840 You're not waiting alone for the fulfillment of the promise. 864 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,440 You wait with the one who gave you the promise. 865 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:45,920 So hold his hand, wait on him, see how he brings it to pass. 866 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:48,960 Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life. 867 00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:51,040 Have an amazing week. God bless you. 868 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:54,680 Thanks for listening to this message. 869 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,520 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 870 00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:02,880 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 871 00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:05,200 episodes. If you like what you are 872 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:09,760 hearing, consider rating us subscribing and even sharing it 873 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,360 with friends. That would really help us. 874 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:17,640 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 875 00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:22,800 Via Zion dot in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 876 00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:23,920 finds life.