The Danger of Self-Powered Salvation: A Father’s Day Warning

• Father's Day Attendance [00:00:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor observes that Father's Day is one of the least attended weekends in churches because men often prefer not to go, contrasting this with the high attendance of Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day.
• Familiarity with Scripture [00:04:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using an analogy of automobile accidents happening near home, the pastor illustrates the danger of familiarity, suggesting that believers may miss spiritual treasures in well-known Bible stories like Abraham and Isaac.
• Human Impatience and 'Ishmaels' [00:08:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Abraham and Sarah's decision to have Ishmael through Hagar was a mistake born of impatience, illustrating that when humans try to fulfill God's promises in their own way, they create tension and 'Ishmaels'.
• Christianity vs. Paganism [00:11:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the pagan practice of sacrificing children to appease gods with the Christian truth that God provided His own Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice, establishing Jesus as the unique way to salvation.
• Testing vs. Temptation [00:13:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between God testing believers to purify them (like a silversmith refining silver) and tempting them to sin, asserting that God's purpose in testing is to help believers prevail and see His reflection in their purified faith.
• Testing vs. Temptation [00:13:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between God testing (to prove and purify) and tempting (to cause failure), using the analogy of a silversmith removing impurities.
• Sanctification and Reflection [00:14:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Explains that the goal of testing is sanctification, allowing God to see His own face reflected in the believer without distortion.
• Obedience in Testing [00:15:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Contrasts saying 'here I am' during blessings versus during testing, urging believers to trust God's heart even when His hands are not visible.
• Revelation vs. Information [00:15:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Argues that God desires revelation and relationship over mere information, showing His faithfulness through His various names.
• Worship as Surrender [00:20:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > Redefines biblical worship not as musical performance but as obedience and surrender, citing Abraham's statement to his servants.
• Resurrection Faith [00:21:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Interprets Abraham's belief that God would raise Isaac from the dead as a foreshadowing of Jesus' resurrection on the third day.
• Isaac's Age and Agency [00:23:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Uses biblical chronology to argue Isaac was an adult (approx. 37) who willingly submitted to his father, rather than a forced child.
• Parental Faithfulness and Influence [00:27:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that children observe their parents' relationship with God ('front row seat') and are influenced more by what is caught than taught, urging fathers to demonstrate faithfulness rather than perfection.
• Typology of Isaac and Jesus [00:29:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor draws a parallel between Isaac willingly laying on the wood in obedience to his father and Jesus willingly going to the cross ('the wood') in obedience to the Father for salvation.
• Divine Provision (Jehovah Jireh) [00:32:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that while Abraham and Isaac were obedient, the ram was already provided on the other side of the mountain, illustrating that God's provision is 'already in progress' even when not yet visible.
• The Gospel and Atonement [00:34:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that God did not require human sacrifice for appeasement, but rather God provided His own Son on the cross to reconcile enemies to Himself through grace and mercy.

• Sermon Illustration [00:04:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of automobile accidents and personal injuries happening within a five-mile radius of one's home to illustrate how familiarity with a place (or a Bible story) can lead to missing obvious dangers or treasures.
• Sermon Illustration [00:13:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the process of a silversmith refining silver by melting it down and removing impurities (dross) repeatedly until he can see his own face clearly in the metal, illustrating how God tests believers to remove impurities and purify their faith.
• Sermon Illustration [00:13:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a silversmith melting down metal to remove dross (impurities) until he can see his own face clearly in the liquid metal, illustrating how God tests to purify believers.
• Sermon Illustration [00:23:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his past misunderstanding of Isaac's age, thinking he was a small child forced by his father, until he calculated Isaac's age based on Sarah's death at 127 and birth at 90.
• Sermon Illustration [00:17:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a humorous hypothetical about God giving vague directions to Texas to illustrate the absurdity of obedience without explanation, contrasting it with Abraham's immediate readiness.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a family minivan trip where kids complain after three hours to illustrate that Abraham would not have taken a toddler on a three-day walking trip, proving Isaac was old enough to carry wood and understand the situation.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the scene of Isaac looking at the knife, wood, and fire, and inferring that he is the sacrifice, yet trusting his father Abraham completely because he had watched Abraham's faithful relationship with God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:28:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor paints a picture of a father's daily life being observed by children: reading the Bible mid-week, praying on knees, loving his wife, and anointing door frames, which leads children to desire to be like their dad because of his love for God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor illustrates the moment of the ram being caught in the thicket, connecting the thorns to the crown of thorns placed on Jesus, and noting that the provision was already there while the father and son were still obediently climbing the mountain.

• Pastoral Charge [00:12:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to maintain a distinct, uncompromising theological stance that Jesus is unique and superior to all other religious figures or concepts.
• Pastoral Charge [00:15:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > To respond with 'Here I am' to God in both blessings and tests.
• Pastoral Charge [00:26:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > Fathers are called to emulate Isaac's trust and surrender to God.
• Pastoral Charge [00:35:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hands to indicate a need for God's provision and deliverance.
• Pastoral Charge [00:35:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hands to honestly acknowledge personal struggles and request God's intervention.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] Come on church can we clap together happy father's day to all you men of god we are so grateful that you're here we want to take a moment and an opportunity to recognize the men of the house and i just want to say thank you for being the house of god especially at a two o'clock service we've had five services at this campus multiple campuses multiple services and man real men love jesus and i gotta say this out loud historically through churches all across the country the least
[00:00:30] least attended weekend of the year. Like literally one of the least attended weekends of the year is father's day in churches. And here's the reason why, because most men, when they get the decision, I'm like, Hey, what do you want to do for your father's day? They're like, uh, not go to church.
[00:00:42] That's the last place I'd like to go. Because you need to understand like when it's top three attendance, you're talking about Christmas, Jesus born. You're talking about Jesus coming out of a grave and then mother's day that come on, man, that's for real. Mother's day is right after Jesus
[00:00:59] coming out of a grave. Church is packed. Father's Day, it gets a little thin at the church house.
[00:01:09] However, except for some CBC men. And I just want to tell you, love you, grateful. You are men worthy of honor, grateful for what God is doing in and through your life. We're in a sermon series
[00:01:22] called Hallowed Be Your Name. We've been looking at the names of God. Come on, say Elohim.
[00:01:26] we're talking about the powerful name of God say Yahweh this is the personal name of God we are talking about Adonai come on say Adonai he is the one who rules and reigns over everything then we
[00:01:38] learned about God being healer that he's Jehovah Rapha say Jehovah Rapha and then we learned about Yahweh to soar that God is our rock come on say Yahweh to soar and today we're talking about
[00:01:50] Jehovah Jireh, the Lord that provides. One of the most famous names of God. Had somebody walk up to me. He's like, Pastor Ed, are you preaching all your tattoos? Come on. Can y'all see this? I was
[00:02:01] like, no, I'm not preaching my tattoos. I promise you. But it is good to wake up and be reminded that our Lord is provider. Our Lord is healer. And you can have it tattooed on your skin and you
[00:02:13] can have it on a cup that you drink out of every single morning. You have it on a t-shirt. You can rock it on your favorite playlist. You could hear messages about God being Jehovah Jireh,
[00:02:23] but sometimes if we're not careful, our circumstances can speak so much bigger than the God who owns the whole world. And I need you to know today, I got a message for you today that God's got you. I need you to look at your neighbor right now and say it with some passion,
[00:02:35] God's got you. And I need you to go to your other neighbor that you chose second in this conversation and go, God's got you. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, God's got you.
[00:02:47] Here's the prophetic word for this house.
[00:02:50] Your provision is already in progress.
[00:02:53] I wish I could get five people that would be Pentecostal enough just to clap a little bit, shout a little bit.
[00:02:59] Your provision is already in progress.
[00:03:02] It's already moving to you.
[00:03:05] You just got to keep moving to God and God will come through.
[00:03:10] It's in Genesis chapter 22 that I want to ask that you would join me.
[00:03:13] Genesis chapter 22 is a story about Abraham and Isaac.
[00:03:16] One of the things I love about being a teacher and a preacher of God's word is the significant opportunity to teach people stories in the Bible or teach verses in the Bible they'd never heard of.
[00:03:26] And I want to ask you a question just by honesty and taking survey and a poll in the moment.
[00:03:31] How many of you would say, Pastor Ed, I've heard this story before or read the story before about Abraham being asked to take his son Isaac to sacrifice him?
[00:03:39] How many of you have ever heard that story before?
[00:03:41] Would you raise your hand?
[00:03:42] Which is a lot of people.
[00:03:43] And thank you for participating.
[00:03:44] I want you to put your hands down.
[00:03:45] how many of you would go pastor ed i've never heard that story before and before you raise your hand i need you to know this no shame in this house i was not raised in church one of the
[00:03:55] things i heard for the first time as a high school student was this story and i was like dear god i don't even know that was in the bible how many of you've never heard the story of abraham and isaac
[00:04:03] would you raise your hand can i tell you i have thought about you all week and i've been so excited about telling you i get the privilege of being the first person to tell you how this story
[00:04:14] works according to God's word. And what great joy to be able to do that. But then I thought about all of you that raised your hand and I had this crazy thought and you bear with me because I'm a
[00:04:24] little bit ADD is the fact that most automobile accidents happen in a five mile radius of your house. And most personal injuries happen inside your house. You stub your toe, break your toe, get surgery on your toe, all because you've been living in the same place for 14 years.
[00:04:38] And you thought you could walk through your house in the middle of the night and be good, but you didn't see that piece of furniture that's been there for 14 years.
[00:04:45] All that to say, it's the danger of familiarity that if we could study scripture, read it and read it and read it and still miss it. And I believe God's got some treasure for us
[00:04:56] in his word today. Can we clap for the teaching of God's word today? Would that be all right?
[00:04:59] Let's receive this message. Genesis chapter 22, the word of God says, after these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, here I am. Verse two, he said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him
[00:05:19] there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. And then here's what we hear. Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men
[00:05:29] with him and his son, Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. And in verse four, on the third day, let me read this with
[00:05:38] a little passion today on the third day. Oh dear God. Can we hear that on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. And then Abraham said to his young men, stay here
[00:05:49] with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship. And this is a word he goes, and we will come back to you. Point of one, write this down. We see the request of God, the request of
[00:06:01] God. No explanation. God tells Abraham at the age of 75, Sarah at the age of 65, that they are going to have descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven. Now, as I stand on the stage here at the
[00:06:20] central campus, and obviously our campuses are in different locations. As I stand on this stage and I look up to the ceiling, you can see what's called soffit lights for those of you at the
[00:06:28] central campus. And I want to just maybe give you my perspective. Sometimes when I stand like this and I look up, they look like stars, but I can stand on the stage and I could count all of these
[00:06:37] soffit lights. But could you imagine God telling Abraham, your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in heaven that you can't count. And here's the statement, Abraham and Sarah hearing this and Sarah is not even able to have children. She was barren. She's 65. Abraham is 75. But then
[00:06:58] we know at 90, check this out at 90 and Abraham at a hundred, they give birth. That is Sarah gives birth to Isaac. Whose name means laughter. Now I don't know about you, all you dads celebrating
[00:07:10] father's day. Could you imagine your first father's day at a hundred? You're like, baby, I need, I need a day. I need a week. I need a year, man. Raising a toddler at a hundred. You imagine Sarah going
[00:07:24] 90. Come on, Abraham, what are we doing? Asked to say, why didn't God give us this child where we were a little bit younger? Asked to say 65 and 75 were younger. Come on. I still think that's
[00:07:37] young, but to have a baby. But here's what's so beautiful about this is that from 65 and 75 to eventually 90 and 100 in between that timeframe of a hundred years old for Abraham, 90 years old,
[00:07:53] going back to 65, 75, literally 25 years of God not keeping his promise according to Abraham and Sarah. And guess what they do? Check this out. Because if you've not studied the Bible, what you're going to find out real quickly is that God doesn't parade perfect people. God parades a
[00:08:11] perfect God that uses imperfect people. And Abraham and Sarah make a massive mistake. They chose not to wait on God's provision as Jehovah Jireh, but instead they took into their own hands a decision to bring a child into the world through a maidservant by the name of Hagar. And let me
[00:08:34] just put this in everyday language, because this feels like a Jerry Springer show, to be honest with you. It's like a moment where Sarah looks at Abraham and goes, hey, listen, it's been a while
[00:08:42] since God told us we're going to have like many, many kids, but ain't nothing happening. So Sarah looks at Abraham and goes, I think you need to hook up with my maidservant. Come on, can we just
[00:08:51] put this in everyday language? And Abraham's like, you want me to be intimate with her?
[00:09:03] God's told us that we're going to have descendants and I can't have kids. So we got to find another way. And I want to say this to you. Ishmael is born from Hagar. And the reason why there is a
[00:09:15] great division between the nation of Islam and Christianity is because we believe through Isaac comes Jesus, from Ishmael comes Muhammad. And this is the tension. And I want to say this out loud.
[00:09:27] Anytime we choose not to trust God and his plan and his purpose, and we do it on our own, we give birth to Ishmaels. And we choose to do things what we think is our way, but it's not
[00:09:41] God's way and then it creates tension. And what we sow, we reap. But aren't you grateful for a God that even in moments where we take it into our own hands, do our own thing, and we make decisions
[00:09:57] that honestly disrespect God? Aren't you grateful for a God that doesn't give up on us and show us grace and mercy and then still chooses to give Abraham and Sarah a child named Isaac? And here
[00:10:10] they are 190 years old. And this is the interesting statement. God tells Abraham, take your only begotten son. Now, if you've been around church and Bible at all, you should be hearing John 3, 16 for God. So love that he gave us only begotten son. There are only two times in the Bible that
[00:10:29] the phrase begotten son is ever used is Genesis 22 verse one and John 3, 16, because God's trying to talk to a CBC that the old Testament helps us understand the new Testament. And that what we're
[00:10:41] going to learn about a story about Abraham and Isaac is really a bigger story about God sending his only son to die for us in our place. So we can have forgiveness, salvation, hope, reconciliation.
[00:10:53] And one day that we die, we go to heaven or Jesus comes back for us and we go to rule and reign with him forever. And here's the message. Come on. Let me, let me just say this to you. Here's the
[00:11:02] message. God tells Abraham, take your only begotten son and go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there. And I got to just make this very clear observation. This sounds a lot like what the pagan gods were doing. Abraham is surrounded by pagan gods. And you may not know
[00:11:22] this, that would offer their kids into the fire as a burnt sacrifice to appease their pagan gods for blessing and for his wrath not to be poured out in judgment. So they would give their children
[00:11:37] to, I would consider demonic gods for the purpose of appeasing their God to not bring affliction or infliction or judgment. And it's interesting. And let me just pause because I could stop the sermon right here and preach this one, but aren't you grateful that we don't have a God that goes
[00:11:56] in order for you to receive forgiveness and blessing, you don't have to put your kid in the fire, but we got a God.
[00:12:03] I wish somebody would hear this sermon today that we got a God that loved us in our sin and gave us Jesus and put him on a cross when we weren't deserving of that kind of love.
[00:12:15] We can have forgiveness and grace not by putting our kids in the fire, but because God would put his son on a cross.
[00:12:22] this is why Christianity is not like every world religion this is why Jesus is the only way the only truth the only life and I'll stand 10 toes down on that statement don't you put Jesus in
[00:12:38] the category of any other God his name's above every name and what we watch Abraham do is not fully understand what's all going on with why God would test him. Because there's something interesting about verse number one is that the Bible says that God tested Abraham. The Bible
[00:13:00] does not say he tempted Abraham. I got to help you understand every time I preach here, this is a disciple making conversation. You need to know that God will never tempt you. That is not who
[00:13:11] God is because temptation is the call, calls you to fail. But I need you to know that God will test you because he wants you to prevail. And I need you to know that sometimes when God tests us,
[00:13:23] the word test in the Hebrew language means he examines, he proves, he brings about what is genuine. And it's just like the silversmith that would melt down the metal to a pure liquid form.
[00:13:36] as he heats it up it melts down the metal and then the impurities would rise to the top and what would happen is the silversmith would remove the dross off the top which is the impurities and
[00:13:49] then he would heat it back up again and it would liquefy the the metal and it would create the impurities to go back to the top and he would repeat this process over and over and over and
[00:13:59] over again. How does he know when it is done? The silversmith looks down into a liquefied form of the metal and he would look to see his face, not blurred, not a little bit sketchy, not like a
[00:14:12] funhouse mirror at a carnival. He could see his face like he's looking into a mirror. Then he would know it's in its purest form. I need you to know that God will never tempt you, but he will
[00:14:24] test you to purify your heart to get the things that don't belong in your life out so when he looks down on you he sees a mirror of himself coming back to him because that's called
[00:14:36] sanctification so when you go to church or excuse me you go to work tomorrow and leave church from today wherever you go whatever you do that when you walk into rooms that people would not see you
[00:14:48] they would see the face of God. They would see God in your life, not blurry, not jacked up, but the full vision of who God is in your life. And listen to me, it's easy because you read this
[00:15:01] in verse one, Abraham says these words, here I am. It's easy to say here I am when God's giving you the blessing, but it's difficult to say here I am when God's giving you the testing.
[00:15:17] what we gotta be CBC is people that give the here I am with the blessing and that we also give God here I am Lord with the testing because he doesn't bring things to us to hurt us he brings things to
[00:15:31] us to make us more like him to purify us and Abraham doesn't know that this isn't just about information of God listen to me many of us come to the house of God because we want more information
[00:15:43] God ain't down with just giving more information God wants to give revelation to you that'll allow you to know who he is and God has all these names but why does he have all these names because he
[00:15:55] shows himself faithful in many different ways and he wants you to know that he's provider but you'll never know that he's provider if you don't think you got any needs you'll never see him as provider
[00:16:08] if you let the world be your supplier but the world can't be your supplier because God's the one that made the world. So understand something. You'll continue to miss out on the provision of God that knows what you need each and every day. And this is the Lord's prayer. And man, I haven't
[00:16:27] said this in any other service. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:16:31] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
[00:16:40] he gives me the bread for today and he satisfies me with the bread of tomorrow and my God knows what I need before I even know what I need and if he's big enough to speak the
[00:16:55] world into existence as Elohim and he's closer to you than your next breath as Yahweh and he rules and reigns and his throne is high and lifted up and the earth is his footstool then we submit to
[00:17:07] him. And if he's Rafa, then he could be Jireh and he could be to soar in your rock and you can lean on him and trust him. But listen to me. The only way you get to know him is you got to walk with
[00:17:19] him. And sometimes when he asks you to do some stuff, it doesn't make sense. You got to trust him. And this is what happens to trust God versus three and four. We've already read. Let me just
[00:17:31] put this in the context. Point number two, you see the readiness of Abraham. Abraham doesn't hesitate. You got no explanation. You got God saying, hey, take your son to the land of Moriah.
[00:17:42] Y'all listen, that'd be the equivalent of God telling you, hey, listen, I need you to go to the state of Texas. You're like, God, where? He's like, just go to Texas. You're like, um, Austin,
[00:17:53] Dallas, Houston, Uvalde, San Antonio, Waco. Where do you want me to go? God, like, honestly, God, I don't know where to go. He's like, you just point your direction in Texas and I'll tell you
[00:18:05] where to go. You're like, praise God. I think a Bucky's is on the way. But all I'm saying to you is how crazy would it be if God was like, go here. And your first response, watch this verse three
[00:18:18] and four is you wake up early and you pack your stuff and you head out. But what if the request is take your son, your only son and go to the land of Moriah, no PO box, no address, no zip code,
[00:18:31] no geo tag, no, no direction of where you're going to be. Just go and bring your son with them.
[00:18:38] because I'm going to tell you, kill them there. I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the snooze button the next morning. Come on. I know y'all a whole lot more spiritual than I am. I'm hitting
[00:18:45] the snooze button. I'm like, no, God, I'm not waking up early for this. And I sure as not packing up all this stuff with all the supplies with great eagerness and expectation. But Abraham wakes up early in the morning. Why? Why does he wake up the next morning? Because he's been
[00:19:02] walking with God for almost 50 years. And he's learned that you can trust God when you can't see his hands, you can trust his heart. He didn't bring you this far to drop you now.
[00:19:16] And if he'll ask you to do something crazy like this, you're like, God, I can't wait for you to show up. You're going to do something. And then we get a little backdrop in verse five. And I read
[00:19:26] it earlier is that when they get to the place on the third day, they get to this place. Abraham he's got two servants and he says, hey, fellas, y'all stay right here. Me and the boy are going
[00:19:37] to go over here and we're going to go worship. Can I just make a small sidebar comment? There's no musical instruments. There's no guitars. There's no bass guitar. There's no percussion.
[00:19:50] There's no drums. We don't have any LED walls. There's no cool lights. We don't have K-Love in the background. We don't have your playlist playing. It's not like Chris Tomlin or like Chandler Moore or whatever it may be, your favorite person that you're listening to.
[00:20:03] There's nothing here. No music, no singing. But Abraham says, we're going to go over here and worship. Do you know, listen to me, it's the first time in the Bible the word worship is actually
[00:20:14] even used and it has nothing to do with music. Now listen, we're a church that loves music.
[00:20:20] We're a church that loves worship. We get down with worship music. But let me tell you what worship is. Worship is not a song. Worship is surrender. Worship is obedience. Our worship on Saturday and Sunday should match our worship of obedience on Monday. That's what it looks like.
[00:20:42] But here's what happens. So then he looks at his servants and goes, hey, we're going to go over here and worship. But then he makes a statement. He goes, and we will come back to you. Come on,
[00:20:52] somebody say we, not I, we, we are coming back to you. Now in moments where you, listen to me, every conversation, as I said, is a disciple making conversation. Hebrews 11 verses 17 through 19 says, Abraham speaks this because he believes in his heart that God is going to raise Isaac
[00:21:13] from the dead. Now, if you've not heard this before, understand that Abraham is fully committed to being obedient to what God told him to do. And he actually believes if I kill Isaac because God
[00:21:29] gave me a promise that my descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in the heaven. And it's not through Ishmael. It's through Isaac, which means I know it's Isaac. And so if he dies, I know God
[00:21:42] is going to do the miraculous and bring him back from the dead because there's a Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the lineage goes on. But if Isaac dies, then God's promises dies. But because the promise
[00:21:58] of God lives, Isaac may die, but it'll come back to life. And I just got to slow down and tell you something. Is it an interesting that Abraham says all of this on the third day? And he's talking
[00:22:11] about a resurrection. Are you with me? Come on, let that cook for a second. Third day in a resurrection. Who is this pointing to my brothers and sisters? This is pointing to Jesus. All of
[00:22:26] this is pointing to Jesus. But then we get to point number three. We see the restraint of Isaac, not just the readiness of Abraham. Come on, y'all. We got to talk about Isaac.
[00:22:36] Isaac in this moment, we see no reservation. We get no explanation. Like God's like, go to the land of Moriah. Don't even really tell you all the details. Abraham's obedient.
[00:22:45] no hesitation, gets to the place, says to his servants, we're going to go over here and worship.
[00:22:50] We're going to come back to you. Wow. That's amazing to me. But what about Isaac? What's going on with Isaac? What's Isaac thinking? Then we get to verse seven. Come on, y'all. So listen and say, amen. Verse seven, it says, and Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father, he said,
[00:23:06] here I am. And then Isaac says, behold, check this out. Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering. And then verse nine. And when they came to the place of which God
[00:23:21] had told him, Abraham built the altar there, laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Now I got to share something with you. I've heard this
[00:23:32] story since I was in high school. And when I was younger, I used to think not anymore, but I used to think that, that Isaac in the story was a little kid that his dad was able to force his
[00:23:43] will over and tie up Isaac and force him down on the wood of the altar. But then I did something, you know, you know what I did? I read the rest of the Bible and I literally turned the page and saw Genesis 23 verse one. And you can do this for yourself.
[00:24:03] in fact, check this. It says that Sarah dies at the age of 127, 127. You're like, that's a long time, but that's not the point of how long she lived. It's when she died. But when did she give
[00:24:19] birth to Isaac? Oh, pick up what I'm laying down. She gave birth to Isaac at 90 and she in the next chapter dies at 127. So let's just go ahead and draw this on our invisible board. 127 minus 90
[00:24:34] equals 37. You go, Pastor Ed, are you telling me that Isaac is 37? No, I'm not, but I'm telling you he ain't three. Y'all with me? I'm telling you he ain't four. He ain't no pre-K. He's not
[00:24:52] in like La Petite. You know what I'm talking about? I think, listen, you go, Pastor Ed, help me make sense of this. Well, first and foremost, come on, let's just slow our roll and kind of use our everyday logic. Three-day journey to the wilderness, to a mountainside
[00:25:07] called Mount Moriah. Three days. Listen, you and I both know, because we got kids, you can't go three hours driving in a minivan without one of your kids complaining. When are we going to get
[00:25:17] there? I'm so hungry. We drive in three miles. Listen, Abraham ain't taking no toddler on a three-day walking trip to the mountains. Then on top of that, the Bible says this, that Isaac carries the wood up the altar. He carries the wood to the altar. He ain't no
[00:25:41] toddler carrying, listen, this ain't Lincoln logs, y'all. He's carrying wood. And then he asked a very smart question. He's like, dad, I see the knife. I see the wood. I see the fire. Come on,
[00:25:55] let me just dramatic and pause. He's like, and he knows it's him. And I want to show you something.
[00:26:04] And I need to talk to all you daddies because I got to call you to who you are. Isaac looks at Abraham. And the Bible says in verse 9, Abraham bound him up and laid him on the altar. You know
[00:26:21] what it doesn't say? Held him down, forced his will. Isaac, come on, look at me. Everybody look at me. Isaac looks at his daddy and goes, do what you got to do, dad. I trust you. Oh man,
[00:26:41] I trust you as you trust God.
[00:26:45] And I've watched you as long as I've been alive.
[00:26:49] I've had a front row seat to your relationship with God.
[00:26:55] And I've watched God fight our battles.
[00:26:58] And I've watched God faithfully provide and supply.
[00:27:02] And I've watched God lead us as you trust your heavenly father.
[00:27:10] So do what you got to do.
[00:27:13] I know God's going to come through.
[00:27:16] And all I could think about is this.
[00:27:18] Daddies, listen to me.
[00:27:21] The greatest gift you could give your kids is not just you, but the God in you.
[00:27:28] It's the God in you.
[00:27:30] Because they got a front row seat to your life.
[00:27:35] I need you to drop the chains of perfection in your life.
[00:27:42] I don't know if I'm doing it right, Ed.
[00:27:44] I can't talk like you, Ed.
[00:27:46] I don't know the Bible like you, Ed.
[00:27:47] No, listen to me. It's more caught than taught brothers. It's by your faithfulness that you came to the church of God on when many dads chose not to come to the house of God. You did. It shows your
[00:28:01] kid what's important. It's when you come into the house of God and you're not like crossed up bored, but instead your hands are lifted. You're clapping. You're shouting. You're aiming into pastor right now, your kids are like, oh, that's how you do this. You got the word of God. You're taking notes
[00:28:20] and highlighting and your kid all of a sudden goes from doodling to going, I want to do what dad does.
[00:28:26] And then all of a sudden they watch you in moments like this that take that same Bible and you don't put it on a shelf and pick it back up on Saturday and Sunday next week. But you get into word on
[00:28:36] Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday. And then they watch you get down on your knees before God and you pour your heart out and they watch you love your wife like
[00:28:48] Christ loved the church and you speak blessing over your wife and you speak blessing over your kids and you anoint their door frames at night because you believe no weapon formed against them shall prosper. And here's what you're recognizing. It's not your perfection. It's
[00:29:04] your love for God that they all of a sudden go, I want to be like my dad. I want to be like him that loves God. And that we would raise up a generation of young people that would go, if my
[00:29:21] God has been so faithful to my dad, he'll be faithful to me that way. And that's what I'm believing. And Isaac lays down, and I got to make sure you understand, he lays down on the wood
[00:29:37] willingly and graciously. So here's what we got. Third day, God's going to raise Isaac from the dead. Isaac lays down on the wood from the calling of his father, willingly, graciously, wholeheartedly in obedience to his father lays down. Does that not sound like Jesus?
[00:30:02] oh in the in the garden not my will but thine be done and he goes to the wood Isaac goes to the wood Jesus went to the cross which is the wood and he stayed there when he could have called
[00:30:15] legions of angels to rescue him but why did he stay there because of you because of me for salvation and forgiveness all of this is pointing to a moment that leads us to point number four we
[00:30:28] see the revelation of the ram we've watched no explanation no hesitation no reservation and no limitation to our god all of a sudden here's the moment abraham raises the knife this is verses 10 and 11 raises the knife come on y'all look right here see if i can get a camera could you imagine
[00:30:49] if isaac is like laying here on the altar could you imagine how big dude's eyes are right now he's like he's like oh i'm waiting i'm waiting on the ray i'm waiting on the sacrifice god i feel like
[00:31:01] I'm running out of time. As the knife goes up, could you imagine Isaac is looking at the point of a blade and all of a sudden heaven speaks, Abraham, Abraham, here I am. I now know that you
[00:31:18] fear God because you did not withhold your son from me. And when Abraham, this is verses 13 and 14, when Abraham all of a sudden hears the voice of God he puts the knife down and behind him and I
[00:31:34] want you to pay attention to this behind him was a ram caught in the thicket of thorns did you catch this the sacrifice was in the brush of thorns Jesus the lamb of God crown of thorns placed
[00:31:55] upon his head. The ram was caught in the thicket. And you got it. You got to observe this. God didn't all of a sudden go ram in the thicket. Everybody look right here. While Abraham and
[00:32:07] Isaac were coming up one side of the mountain in obedience. Oh dear God, could we get Pentecostal up in here? That, that Abraham and Isaac was coming up one side of the mountain in obedience.
[00:32:19] The ram was coming up the other side, because I tried to tell you before this sermon, your provision is already in progression. While Abraham and Isaac, come on somebody, were being obedient, God had already given what they needed, but sometimes you won't see it on
[00:32:39] this side of the mountain, but you got to stay faithful to be obedient to what God called you to do because your provision is already in progress. Come on. Can we take five seconds to give God glory. Your provision is already in progress. It's on the way. It's on the way.
[00:33:03] And then he names this place in verse 14, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And then it goes on to say in verse 14, as it is said to this day, you know what that means? Does anybody know what that
[00:33:19] means? As it is said to this day, that means June 21st, 2026, he's still providing. Abraham said, listen, this is not a, Oh God, this ain't a one-time moment of Jehovah Jireh. This is a
[00:33:38] prophetic moment of every day. He's still provider. And do you know that on the mountain range of Mount Moriah is Calvary. And what Abraham, and now I get a better understanding in John chapter eight, verse 58, when Jesus was asked by the religious leaders, oh man, I hadn't said this
[00:34:01] in the other service. John 8, 58, the religious leaders looked at Jesus and said, you think you're greater than Abraham? Jesus said, long to see. What awakened Abraham's heart? Was it not Abraham demonizing, knowing that there would be a human sacrifice that stayed on the wood,
[00:34:25] would die for the sins of the world so that we would know that we got a provider. Yes, he's not just our provider of our everyday needs. He's a provider of our greatest need, which is to be reconciled with God because we're enemies with God. Apart from grace and mercy,
[00:34:43] we are objects of wrath, but because of God loving us, not me putting my kids in the fire to get appeasement from God. It's God putting his son in the fire of the cross for you and for me.
[00:34:59] And we can become sons and daughters of a living God because we call on his name. We accept Jesus as our Lord and savior. Come on church. Can we clap for that today? This is the gospel.
[00:35:11] it's the gospel but between genesis 22 verse 1 and genesis 22 verse 11 is a lot of silence when god is silent do not interpret his silence as absence he's working he's gyra your provision is already in progress with heads bowed eyes closed for just a brief moment i
[00:35:42] believe that God is stewarding a moment amongst us. If you were going, Pastor Ed, I need Jehovah Jireh in a situation that I'm facing. Would you just raise your hand all across our campuses?
[00:35:54] How many of you would just be honest and go, man, I'm dealing with something. I need God to deliver. With every hand raised right now, for those of you that are just going, I need
[00:36:05] Jehovah Jireh. He sees your hand. Father God, I pray for every single hand all across our campuses meet their needs. Lord, I pray, Father, your grace and your mercy and your truth, that they would not feel as if you are absent, but God, give revelation, give signs and wonders
[00:36:25] and miracles, and let them know that you are working for their greater good. In Jesus' name, you can put your hands down, heads bowed, eyes closed. If you have not put your faith and trust
[00:36:35] in Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is provider. He will always be provider. And he, he alone, not only satisfies our deepest longings on this earth, but satisfies our longing for a
[00:36:50] savior. He is that savior. If you want to put your faith and trust in Jesus, can we say this out loud together as we pray a prayer of salvation? This prayer is not a prayer of rededication. It's a
[00:37:00] prayer of salvation. And all across our campuses, if you want to put your faith and trust in Jesus, let's say this out loud together for somebody that's going to pray this for the first time
[00:37:08] let's say this together lord jesus i'm not perfect for i've sinned but i believe in you save me change me forgive me i give you my life if you prayed that prayer in faith and you're
[00:37:22] like pastor ed it's legit i really did that and it means a lot that i got a chance to do that and i did it would you raise your hand so we could clap and cheer if you gave your life to jesus
[00:37:30] today. Hold up your hand real tall, like real tall. Hold it up. We're clapping together. Welcome to the family of God. And can we stand together? And as we stand all across this campus, I'm going
[00:37:45] to invite Pastor Rory, who was a part of our student conference. I believe I could hear her shouting just a few moments ago. I've gotten word that she's in the house. She was one of our
[00:37:55] prolific, prophetic pastors amongst our student conference. And I ask that Pastor Rory, who by the way, came all the way from South Africa. Grateful for you, woman of God. She has ministered this week at our church for our common ground and young adult gathering. And she has preached
[00:38:18] and taught at our student conference. And I would love for you to close out our services and just the word of blessing anything on your heart that you'd love to share amen hallelujah

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:38:28] i'm the pentecostal side that was a good word can we just give jesus a round of praise in this place what a good god that we serve with just our hands lifted high father we break every level of anxiety
[00:38:48] and every lie that the devil has spoken over our hearts and minds that has made us believe the lie of hell that you're not on the other side working it out for us that's right wherever we've lost
[00:38:58] hope wherever we've gotten exhausted and tired and drained renew us oh God thank you for a word like this Lord God because this is not a word for a blessing but it's a word for you that you are
[00:39:10] the prize that's right having you is the prize knowing that we can trust in you is the prize that we don't need incentives but we need a father yes God so we thank you Lord God that you are able
[00:39:23] to give us the things that we need but you're also able to give us you. Yes God.
[00:39:29] We pray for understanding of this word that we don't just hear it but that we comprehend it but we live in it as our reality.
[00:39:37] That when we wake up tomorrow morning we are children of a Father who provides. Yes God.
[00:39:45] As we go to work, as we drive out Lord God, that we have Jireh on our side. Yes God.
[00:39:52] That we speak to every situation that is speaking contrary to this truth devil we call you out as an accuser that you have no right to speak opposite of what God speaks therefore we shut down your mouth and every lie that comes
[00:40:06] and we open up our ears to heaven to say father if you said go we go if you say stand firm we stand firm if you say you have provided that is our truth it is our reality it is what we live in
[00:40:21] father we speak peace across this room yes god your word says you've given us great peace let us rest in that oh god we bless each and every family that is here we pray for the fathers from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet
[00:40:36] you cover them we speak long life satisfy us with you oh god be lifted up in our lives lord god let them wonder when we come down the mountain that where we took the ram from and we can boldly say
[00:40:53] our father provided yes god we pray this all in your gracious wonderful name god the one who provides in jesus name and everybody said amen amen love your church hey my name is ed newton

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:41:12] pastor at community bible church here in san antonio texas thank you so much for even turning on to our YouTube channel.
[00:41:19] And if you're not subscribing right now at Community Bible Church here in San Antonio, Texas, you got to subscribe.
[00:41:25] Here's the reason why.
[00:41:26] We believe that God's given us a message rooted in his word, empowered by the Holy Spirit that would be an encouragement to you.
[00:41:33] And if you're not subscribing right now, you got to stop what you're doing and hit that button.
[00:41:38] Also, here's what I'd say to you.
[00:41:39] Every time you watch, would you drop some comments?
[00:41:41] Let us know where you're watching from, how the message impacted you, and how we could pray for you.
[00:41:46] And would you do us a favor?
[00:41:48] One of the things that we believe oftentimes is bless people, bless people.
[00:41:51] And if this message blesses you, how about you send it to somebody else and ask them to click the subscribe button as well.
[00:41:57] And if you are planning any trip to the state of Texas, hear me when I say this, you can't come to Texas without coming to see us in San Antonio.
[00:42:05] I'd love to meet you face to face.
[00:42:06] And as always, until we meet again, much love.