Patient and Prosperous

Genesis 26:1-12 NKJV  There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.  (2)  Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.  (3)  Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.  (4)  And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;  (5)  because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”  (6)  So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.  (7)  And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.”  (8)  Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.  (9)  Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”  (10)  And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”  (11)  So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”  (12)  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. 

• Well it sure is good to be back in Genesis church! 

• If you have been following along, we have been spending a good deal of time looking into God’s creation of the nation of Israel, a people He set aside for Himself, a people whom the Savior of the World would come through. 

• We saw Abraham’s call, and the promises given to him about becoming a great people. 

• We watched as God blessed Abraham time and time again, with probably the most miraculous blessing being when his wife, who was 90 at the time, gave birth to Isaac. 

• Now Isaac is grown, Abraham and Sarah have died, and Isaac has kids of his own. 

• And in the passage we just read, God reconfirms His promises, God reconfirms His COVENANT with Isaac. 

• The same Covenant God made with Abraham, God here is promises Isaac “This is your covenant too”… and by the way church, if you are born again you get to live in some of these promises too… we are a part of this covenant family, amen? 

Genesis 26:3-4 NKJV  Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.  (4)  And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 

• Just side note, this isn’t the sermon… but anytime I can squeeze missions into a message… “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”. 

• Someone say “all”! How many nations will be blessed? ALL! 

• When we participate in international missions, either by sending or going, we are taking a part in the covenant of Abraham and Isaac… we are walking in those promises. 

• Some of y’all…. There are blessings waiting for you… and God is saying “would you just get on board with my plan for mankind, my plan for the nations… then you too will be blessed like Abraham and Isaac were blessed”. 

• BUT THAT’S NOT THE SERMON THIS MORNING. I just got back from a missions conference, so you know, I am full of that missions anointing and it can’t help but overflow… 

• Back to todays message though… Isaac is now the covenant bearer… he is moving the plan of God forward… and all of the sudden, a famine hits… 

Genesis 26:1 NKJV  There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 

• Just like what happened in Abraham’s time, now in Isaacs time there is a famine… and just like Abraham, Isaac starts heading down to Egypt. 

• But unlike his father Abraham, Isaac is told “STOP! Don’t go down to Egypt, stay in this land, the promised land… be patient… stay here”. 

• So he does… and he stays in the land and we see this thing happening with King Abimelech… 

• Almost exactly the same thing that happened with Abraham in Genesis 20 now happens with Isaac. 

• In a lapse of faith, Isaac lies about Rebekah… saying “She is my sister” instead of “She is my wife”. 

• Because back in these days, if the king wanted your wife, he would kill you and take her… just like David did to Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s husband. 

• Now I preached a whole sermon about the lack of faith in the light of God’s promises all about Abraham telling this very same lie… so I am not going to preach it again… if you are interested that sermon was called Promises over Problems, you can find it on our website CedarRapidsChurch.com or on our YouTube channel. 

• But today, I think God want’s me to preach on patience. 

• Because on either side of this story about Abimelech… by the way, not the same Abimelech, it’s been a hundred years… the name Abimelech was just a name given to kings like Ceaser in Rome… 

• But on either side of this story about Abimelech is this: God tells Isaac to wait… so Isaac waits… and then, in his waiting, in his patience… God blesses and prospers him. 

Genesis 26:1-2 NKJV  There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.  (2)  Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 

Genesis 26:6 NKJV  So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 

Genesis 26:12 NKJV  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. 

• I see here Isaac listening to and hearing God… obeying God. 

• I see Isaac being patient, not trying to rush the hand of God or God’s timing. 

• I see Isaac being planted right where God tells him to be planted. 

• And I see Isaac prospering under the blessings of God, even in the waiting. 

• If you are in a time of waiting… you know God’s promises, you have been listening to God’s commands, you have been obedient… but you just feel like you are in a time of waiting… maybe even in a time of spiritual famine… this message is for you. 

• If you are constantly looking for the next spiritual high, the next revival, the next Firey move of the Holy Spirit… this message is for you. 

• If you have hopped from one place to another… one job to another… one town to another… one church to another… and it’s just not working… this message is for you. 

• Patient and Prosperous. 

• God can prosper you right here, in this place, in your current circumstances… in your current situation… God can prosper you! 

• Now I am already halfway through my time, so I am going to make the rest of this sermon kind of brief… but I just want to encourage some people this morning… would it be alright if I did that church? 
• Alright, point one this morning: It’s Only Patience if God Has Spoken. 

Point One – It’s Only Patience if God Has Spoken 

Genesis 26:2 NKJV  Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 

Genesis 26:6 NKJV  So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 

• God spoke, and THEN Isaac was patient. 

• God spoke, and THEN Isaac decided to stay in Gerar. 

• It’s only patience if God has spoken. 

• IT’S ONLY PATIENCE IF GOD HAS SPOKEN. 

• Now in a moment I am going to talk about how God blesses us in our patience… I am going to talk about how the blessings come when we stay in the will of God, even if that will is for us to stay put, for us to wait, for us to live even in the land of famine… blessings come when we stay patiently in the will of God. 

• But before I get there I need y’all to understand, because I have seen so many people get this wrong… IT IS ONLY PATIENCE IF GOD HAS SPOKEN. 

• Listen… if God has not told to you stay still, if God has not told you to wait, if God has not told you “Just chill for a minute, I got you”. 

• If God has not TOLD YOU to wait… and you are just sitting on your chair being the butt of Christ… I mean we are all parts of the Body of Christ right… If God has not spoken and you are just sitting on the chair doing nothing… you are not being patient, YOU ARE BEING LAZY! 

• “Well I am just waiting on God to show me what job to take”… 

• Bro,  I don’t know what Job God has for you, but I know it ain’t homelessness! 

• Your not being patient by “Waiting on God for a job” you are being lazy! 

• The Bible says a man who does not desire to work does not deserve to eat, and further it says “A man who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever”. 

• Don’t call it patience when God calls it sin. 

• “Well we are just waiting for God to show us the right church”. 

• You have lived here for 10 years brother… Forsake not the gathering of the brethren… 

• Stop being lazy… if you have tried every church in Cedar Rapids and God is not calling you to any of them, then you better plant one! 

• Because forsaking the gathering of the brethren is not an option. 

• “Well I am just waiting for God to show me my calling” 

• YOU ARE 78 YEARS OLD! 

• I think some people are going to be in heaven for 10,000 years and still not know what there calling is. 

• Serve the LORD! Stop being lazy! Because your calling is not  to sit and do nothing. 

• Biblically, almost always, when we talk about people being patient, it is being patient AFTER hearing from God. 

• Joseph received dreams from God about ruling and saving his family… but he had to endure years and years and years of slavery and imprisonment before that happened… he was patient. 

• David was anointed king by Samual but waited more than a decade to become king. 

• Jesus disciples were told, very specifically, “Wait for the power of the Holy Spirit before going out to all the world”. They waited patiently for 10 days, which would have been very difficult because THEY JUST SAW JESUS RISE FROM THE DEAD. 

• Listen, if you have not specifically heard the call of God… then your focus needs to be hearing Him. 

• “I am waiting for God to show me my calling”. 

• Ok, how much have you fasted? How much console have you sought. How much waring in the spirit have you done? 

• Or are you just being lazy? 

• “Well I am just confused, I don’t know what to do in life right now”. 

• I will tell you what to do… are you listening to your pastor this morning… 

• FAST AND PRAY! FAST AND LISTEN. 

• That’s what Dainel did in Dainel 10… 

Daniel 10:2-3 NKJV  In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.  (3)  I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 

• After the third week of fasting and praying, THEN Daniel heard from God. 

• If you are waiting on the word of the Lord, THAT’S WHAT WAITING LOOKS LIKE. Everything else is just laziness… because it is only patience if God has spoken, it is only patience if you stay in God’s will… 

• That brings me to my final point this morning: Stay in God’s Will and Stay Blessed. 

Point Two – Be Blessed in the Waiting 

Genesis 26:1-3a NKJV  There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.  (2)  Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.  (3)  Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you… 

Genesis 26:6 NKJV  So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 

Genesis 26:12 NKJV  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. 

• Do you see the order of events here? 

• First there is a crisis… there is a famine in the land… Now Isaac is not lazy, if he was lazy he would just stay there and die… but no, he is going to do something about it. 

• So Isaac takes his family south… maybe there will be food in Egypt. 

• But on the way God speaks and says “Stay put” 

• So Isaac hears the word of God, he listens and obeys, he becomes patient in God’s will. 

• Mind you, this is in the middle of a famine, patience here could result in death… but Isaac heard God and is determined to obey. 

• While being patient, Isaac still does work, he is patient, but he is not idle… 

• Let me say that again just in case there are any lazybones in here who did not hear the first point… 

• Isaac STILL DOES WORK while he is being patient. He is patient but he is not idle! 

• And through that work, God blesses him abundantly. 

• Someone needs to hear this who feels like they are in a spiritual famine… “If you are where God has called you to be, then be patient”. 

• “Well I am just not getting fed in my church” 

• Yeah, well Isaac wasn’t getting fed in Gerar… it was literal famine, but God told him to stay. 

• If God has called you to be planted in a church or in a ministry, then you need to stay patient there… serve there… do the work of the ministry, and God will bless you! 

• And if you really feel like you are supposed to leave a church, then you should be praying and fasting, you should be talking to mature believers, you should be seeking counsel, and you should be hearing from God. 

• The decision to leave a church that you once proclaimed God called you to be planted at should ONLY come from a word from God, and it should never come from a perceived lack of spiritual food. 

• Now I am not saying God won’t tell you to leave your church. 

• God told Amanda and I to leave ICC to go on missions and to plant this church. 

• But that decision came from prayer, and fasting, and hearing God speak, and talking with many mature believers to get their console on the situation. 

• So I am not saying it doesn’t happen, but I am saying it happens from clear confirmed words from God. 

• The only time I would say you don’t need to pray and fast about leaving a church is if the pastoral leadership is in unrepentant sin or if they are teaching blatant heresy or blasphemy… 

• Yeah, then get out of dodge, you don’t need a Rhema Word of God for that, because the WRITEN word tells you “If anyone preaches a different Gospel they are to be accursed” and it says “Remove the wicked person from among you”. 

• But other than that, man you need to hear from God. 

• Yet I see so many people bouncing from one church to another… finding a spiritual high here and a spiritual high there… 

• And then they crash out and wonder “What happened”… well what happened is you got spiritual food poisoning from eating in other sheep’s pastures… that’s not the food God had for you, you got spiritual traveler’s diarrhea from eating in too many different sheep folds. 

• And would you take a moment to note… in the middle of a famine, Isaac SOWED. 

Genesis 26:12a NKJV  Then Isaac sowed in that land… 

• IN THE MIDDLE OF A FAMINE… ISAAC SOWED. 

• Listen, saints, I know what it is like to be in one moment where God is moving and you are on fire for Him and the miracles are happening and the Gifts are flowing and God is speaking and then in the next moment to be waiting. 

• I know what it is like “I want to go NOW! GOD THE FIRE IS NOW! SEND ME NOW!” and then for God to say “Wait here a little while”. 

• From the time Amanda and I heard God call us to go to Singapore to the time we actually left for Singapore was about six months… and man that time can be deflating. 

• So what did we do? Well we served God. And we got our finances in order. And we did everything we could do be ready for when God called us. 

• I know some of y’alls story and you are going to have to wait YEARS before walking out what God has called you to… Abraham had to wait 25 years between when God said he would have a son and when he had Isaac. 

• In those years of waiting… keep doing the work… keep serving God… stay in His will, and watch God bless you! 

• When Abraham was waiting for Isaac God blessed him with cattle, and wealth, and authority. 

• When Joseph waited as a slave and then a prisoner… God blessed him in BOTH places that we would traditionally think of as accursed. 

• When the faithful Israelites waited in the wilderness Deuteronomy says, “Your garments did not wear out and your feet did not swell”. 

• David had nothing but success in battle, even while fleeing Saul and waiting to be king. 

• Wherever you are this morning… it may not look like what you want it to look like, it may look like famine… but if you have heard from God “Stay put” and you stay put, then God is going to BLESS YOU in the waiting. 

• Be content, listen to God, wait when he says wait and go when he says go… 

• And if you are in a time of waiting right now, and you know it is a time of waiting sent from God… then do the work of the gospel where you are, be blessed in the waiting… be patient and prosperous, AMEN‽ 

• Amen‽ 

• Now listen, I want to close from where we began… this picture from Hokkaido university… if someone can come up and play… 

Conclusion 

• I want to share with you the same scriptures that our team shared with those students in Japan. Because the same Gospel that saves in Japan saves in America. 

John 3:1-8 NKJV  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  (2)  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  (3)  Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (4)  Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  (5)  Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  (7)  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  (8)  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

John 3:16 NKJV  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.

Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com