Faith For Tough Times

Genesis 26

Sermon Transcript by Rev. Ernest O'Neill

Beloved ones, if you turn to Genesis chapter 26, we'll begin our study this evening, Genesis 26. We're studying the Old Testament really from the point of view of the life of faith, how to exercise faith in our own everyday situations. And so we're beginning now this year in Genesis 26.

I don't know if you remember what we shared maybe about a month ago, that there were two facts of reality that you and I needed to face just bluntly. And one of them was, that the world as it now exists is not the way God meant it to be. That he has in fact subjected the world to futility.

You remember I used the kind of funny illustration, why does the belt of your coat always fall outside the car door when you're getting in? Why doesn't it fall on the inside? In other words, why do so many things go by Murphy's Law? And the fact is, they go by Murphy's Law because God has allowed a kind of futility to come into even the natural world. It's seen in earthquakes, and it's seen in storms, and seen in all kinds of disasters that take place, and all kinds of things that happen in our own lives. It's obvious that God has subjected the world of futility to let us know, look my children, everything is not right in this world.

There is a disaster that has taken place at the beginning here that wasn't my plan. And earthquakes are not my plan, and it's not my plan that your coat belt will always fall outside the car door instead of inside the car door. And so we shared that, as well as what Jesus said to us: "But, I have overcome the world".

The world in Jesus was crucified, and for us who believe that, it is possible to live a charmed life. It's possible for us to see the world going our way, to see even circumstances turned around for us by our faith in Jesus.

Now there's one other thing, loved ones, that has gone wrong in this world, and it's mentioned by Jesus himself in John 14 and verse 30. Somebody brought it up in their prayer earlier on, and it's John chapter 14 and verse 30, page 939 in that Revised Standard Version. Jesus says, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me."

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming." We may not like the idea, but even Jesus calls Satan the ruler of this world. Satan is the present prince of this world, and even Jesus didn't challenge that. You remember when Satan offered to him the kingdoms of this world, Jesus actually didn't challenge Satan's right to give him those kingdoms. He just knew it was wrong to receive them from his hand.

But even Jesus calls Satan "the ruler of this world". And the fact is, loved ones, that Satan is the prince and the ruler of this world at this present time. And he has power to send his demons and his angels throughout this world, and that will continue until Jesus comes again.

So, many of the things that occur in our present lives occur because of Satan's activity. And I don't know if you remember, but Jesus said that Satan has blinded the eyes of men so that they cannot see the truth of the gospel. And so, Satan is able to blind people's minds.

And I don't know how many of you have experienced what I know I experienced over the past weeks and months, but I found that Satan was able, if I simply let him do what he wanted, he was able to fascinate my mind with certain thoughts. And he would have my mind going round and round and round, just like a merry-go-round, around certain thoughts that I knew were absolute lies and absolutely untrue and absolutely unreal. But he was able, if I let him, to get my mind to go round and round and round.

I don't know how many of you have found it in regard to things in the future. But he suddenly begins to fascinate you that this might happen, or that might happen, or the other might happen. And they're utterly idiotic things, and they don't happen that way at all.

But he is able to fascinate your mind with those worries and those anxieties. And it's because he is the prince of this world. He is able to fire fiery darts into our minds, thoughts of evil, thoughts of doubt, thoughts of critical attitudes, thoughts of anxiety about the future.

And if we go with that, he can absolutely turn us upside down. And don't you think that one of the things that has prepared us for this is our education? Don't you think that Satan has got into the educational world, and we've been encouraged to pursue this kind of free association of ideas? You know, like the old inkblot test. Now, what does this inkblot look like? Oh, well, it looks like an elephant.

Yes, but it looks like Satan, doesn't it, with horns? Yeah, but it looks like what's going to happen in your test this coming week. And we've been kind of encouraged to let our thoughts float around, and whatever they light on, let them go on that. Satan jumps in on that.

He fires fiery darts of different things into our minds. And if we have that kind of democratic idea, well, we ought to examine any thought that comes into our mind. I mean, let's not be afraid of any thought at all.

Before we know it, we'll have Satan leading us deeper and deeper and deeper into his lies. And he is the prince of this world, loved ones. He does still have free, absolute liberty to fill the soulish atmosphere around us and the spiritual atmosphere, to some extent, with his own thoughts and his own lies, because he is the prince of this world.

Now, here's the glorious fact. If you look at it there, it's John 14 and verse 30. "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me."

And Jesus says, the ruler of this world is ruling this world, and he therefore causes many things to go wrong in it, and he creates much evil that tries to swamp you in your thought life and in your action life. But he has no power over me.

And anybody that is in me, he has no power over them. In fact, he that is within you, the Spirit of Jesus, is greater than he that is in the world. And so, we need to hold that intention.

Jesus said that though Satan is the prince of this world, he has no power over Jesus himself, and he has no power over people who are in Jesus. In fact, the Savior goes further. If you look at John 12 and verse 31 on page 937.

"Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out."

And Jesus was referring to his own resurrection. He was saying, the moment I rise from the dead, the ruler of this world is cast out from his position of domination in this world, and though he will still dwell in it, he has no power any longer when he comes up against me or against any who believe in me.

And then Jesus, you remember, gave this great promise to his disciples. It's in Luke 10:19. It's just a great promise, and it comes right down to us, today.

"Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you." And Jesus said that to the disciples. He said, all power in heaven and on earth is given unto me, and I give that power and that authority to you.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, Satan, and nothing shall hurt you. And loved ones, the truth is, all you have to do to Satan is resist him and he'll flee from you. That's right.

I'll tell you that from my own experience. All you have to do is turn to Satan and say in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I rebuke you and cast you out from me, and Satan will withdraw. That's incredible, but he will.

And it doesn't matter if you waken in the middle of the night and you find your thoughts anxious and worried, or you find your thoughts troubled and twisted, if you simply speak to Satan, and you do have to speak to him. See, Jesus has given the authority to us. He has destroyed Satan. He has put him under his feet in Calvary, but we ourselves have to exercise that authority over him. We have to actually speak to him.

So many of us, you know, have a mistaken idea. We think, oh no, we only have to pray to God and pray and ask him to remove the mountain. No. Jesus said speak to the mountain and say be cast into the middle of the sea. And we actually have to speak to Satan in this situation. So loved ones, when you find your mind absolutely twisted and torn in the middle of the night or early in the morning, you know, in those twilight hours, when your free will is kind of being not exercised as strongly as normal, and you find you're filled with worried thoughts, or anxious thoughts, or troubled thoughts, or thoughts that you know are not normal for you, then in the name of Jesus, rebuke Satan.

Now, if you're like me, you'll probably think, don't be dumb. That's spooky stuff. That's just unnecessary. Yeah, I've just got to think it through in my mind. It won't work, honestly. I thought the same. I thought this is silly. This is that religious fanaticism stuff or that charismania. And all I have to do is think this through in my mind, and I have to bring every thought into captivity of Christ Jesus. No.

I mean, it's unbelievable. But Jesus is the only one who can destroy the power of Satan at any moment that he attacks you. And that's why he requires you to speak in the name of Jesus.

Because you can't do it just by governing your own thoughts. And when you try to do it by governing your own thoughts, you're rejecting Jesus' work on Calvary. That's why Jesus requires you to speak to Satan and rebuke him in the name of Jesus and cast him out.

Now, here's the amazing thing. You can actually do it for other people as well. You can. You can do it while they are in your presence. And often you can do it for a certain length of time just by standing against Satan in Jesus' name in their lives. Now, the tragedy is you can't do it after they get out of your presence.

And they can therefore fall back under his control. And that explains why many of them are healed in healing surfaces while there's a great spirit of faith around them. But then they go home and they cease to exercise faith in Jesus' power over Satan. And so, they fall back into the sickness.

But you can often, while you're present with them in an office situation, for instance, or in your home with relatives, and you know there's a bad spirit coming from them, you can, in the name of Jesus, stand against that spirit. And the spirit of Jesus within you will simply wipe out his power.

Now, maybe it's good to point out to you it is not a struggle game. It's not a struggle. Many of us in the old days here on campus thought, oh, it's a struggle against Satan. It's the way I do it. Be cast out, Satan. No, be cast out, Satan. Be cast out. And that kind of stuff. And it was dumb.

No, we were just playing games. It's not a strength struggle. Jesus has already destroyed Satan. All Jesus requires is for you to speak in faith in Jesus' name. And that's all you have to do. And you'll be amazed.
You will. You'll be utterly. Loved ones, I could not believe it.

I could not believe how my mind cleared, how my thoughts cleared, how I was able to sleep deeply and well at night. And you'll find the same. And I would encourage any of you who have been, I think many of us have been under this attack, you know, during these weeks and months of Satan's lies. Lies about people. Lies about each other. Lies about all kinds of things.

Simply rebuke him. Don't put up with it. And just rebuke him again and again in the name of Jesus. And he will withdraw from you. And there's nothing else to be done. And you can do that.

I'm sorry, we're not going as fast as I thought we would. But it's more important to speak truth than to get the chapter done. But there's a dear guy, Kenneth Hagen Sr. I don't know Kenneth Hagen Jr. at all, though I know he heads up the ministry now.

But Kenneth Hagen Sr. tells of a psychiatrist who worked in one of the hospitals and was faced with a gentleman who had lost the power of speech. And they had been working on him for weeks and months. And nobody could do anything.

And then this psychiatrist began quietly, because there were other doctors around and he didn't want them to start putting him in a psych ward. So, he said quietly, under his breath, in the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the spirit of Satan, whichever spirit of Satan is in this man, or any spirit of Satan that may be in him, and is keeping him from speaking. I rebuke him in Jesus’ name.

And he did that for weeks and weeks. And just did it quietly. If there was no other doctor in the ward or in the room at that moment, he'd do it aloud. But when there were other people present, he'd do it quietly. So you don't need to be a kind of showman, you know. Don't feel you have to do that. But he quietly did that. And the man's speech returned to him after two or three months. And of course, the doctors were bewildered.

Now, it doesn't mean that every sickness is caused by Satan. It doesn't mean that every sickness is caused by spirits of Satan. But Jesus will respect your faith, you know. So don't get all caught up over, well, what if I rebuke Satan, you know, and Satan isn't there to be rebuked. Well, Jesus will work that one out, you know. He can operate on the level of your faith.

But the big thing that you have to do is take a stand in faith. Now, loved ones, this is what we're talking about when we're talking about Genesis 26. We're talking about how to exercise faith in Jesus against the powers of Satan in this present world.

So maybe we could at least just begin Genesis 26 so that you could say, yeah, we started it anyway. So, Genesis 26 and verse 1. Now, there was a famine in the land. Do you remember the piece in the bulletin that I think maybe Liz or someone put in from Oswald Chambers? An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble.

Now, there was a famine in the land. An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. Loved ones, this world is subjected to futility by God, and Satan is the prince of this world, and you are going to face trouble whether you like it or not.

There's going to be trouble. The world does not go as God meant it to go, and only heaven will be like that. And as long as we are in the world, Jesus himself said, in the world you're going to have tribulation.

The servant is not greater than his Lord, and you're going to have the same kind of tribulation and trouble as I had. And so, you are going to have trouble, and you can't get away from it.

Now, I don't know if you're like I was. I thought, well, maybe you come to a certain place in your faith in Jesus when you don't have any troubles. No, the deeper you get into Jesus, the more troubles he lets come to you, and the reason is that God allows that to take place so that the victory of Jesus can be manifested. Every time the victory of Jesus is manifested, God is glorified.

Every time a Stephen is able to kneel down and say, Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit in absolute peace as the stones are raining upon him, God is glorified because Jesus' resurrection is lifted up and is vindicated and manifested to other people, and a Saul who stands by looking after the coats of those who stone Stephen is saved by that act. And so, loved ones, it's going to be like that until the very end, and really God chooses those of us whom he reckons are strong enough in his grace to stand against the trouble and to triumph over it by faith. He uses us to manifest the resurrection of Jesus to others.

So don't be cast down whenever troubles come to you. Really rejoice in them. Rejoice in them and say, Lord, you've allowed this to come to me because Jesus' death on Calvary has already taken the sting out of this trouble and has already brought victory over it, and I've to rest in you that that is true until this thing manifests itself so that others can see it.

And, loved ones, that's what we'll be facing all through life. Thomas Akempas, you know, says the same thing. I don't know if you know the book, and maybe I should begin to recommend some of these books so that you'll build your own library that can strengthen your own spiritual life.

Thomas Akempas wrote The Imitation of Christ, and it's just a famous classic, you know, and many people regarded as next to the Bible in inspiration. So, it is beautiful, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Akempas, and he writes this about the same subject of troubles. “Resolve then, as a good and faithful servant of Christ, manfully to bear the cross of your Lord, who was crucified for love of you. Prepare your veil of tears, for such will be your lot wherever you are, and you will encounter them wherever you conceal yourself. It must needs be so, nor is there any remedy or means of escape from ills and griefs. You must endure them. Drink lovingly the cup of your Lord, if you wish to be his friend and to share all with him.”

 Part of it is, of course, it makes heaven dearer to you. It makes heaven more home to you. This world is not our home. We are just passing through, and this world is not what God meant it to be, and it's all going to be burned up, and God does not want us to get too fond of it. And in a way, the little enjoyments that we have are almost more dangerous than the troubles that are here, because the troubles, well, you know what happens. What have been the sweetest times between you and Jesus? What have been the closest times between you and God?

Well, I know for me, the times that have been most trouble in this world the times where the difficulties have been greatest, where everybody seems to have left you, where you're on your own and you have only God. Those are the dearest times between you and your Maker.

But brothers and sisters, aren't those the most real times? Because what is going to be the most real time in your life and mine? The last moment.
That's it. You know it. The last moment of our life is going to be the most real time.

Every other moment is kind of partly filled with distractions, but the last moment of our life is the most real moment in our life, and at that moment there'll only be God. There'll be nothing else, and it won't matter whether the sun is shining or whether it's raining outside. All that will matter is God.

So that's why God has planned it this way. The whole world that has fallen away from Him, He has used even that falling away to drive us deeper and deeper into Himself.

And I don't know, maybe it would help you, because I don't, and probably Clyde or some of the other loved ones here who are a bit older have found the same thing, but certainly I have found it, that it seems as the years go on, the world itself becomes less and less attractive.

Indeed, in funny ways, more and more repelling to you, and more repulsive to you, and it becomes very, very unsatisfying. In fact, he's talked about it because he used to be, well, I don't know if he still is, but he used to be one of those guys who's helicoptered to the top of a mountain and skis the whole way down, you know. And I suppose we all kind of enjoy the fast boats, or the fast motorbikes, the fast cars, and you enjoy the nice restaurants, and bit by bit as the years go by, all that stuff kind of gets old, you know.

And it seems less and less interesting, and kind of more and more boring, and it seems as you go on and on in life, those things become less worthwhile, and less valuable, and the whole world becomes more and more an unsatisfying place to be.

And it's interesting that as that happens, trials kind of, I don't know, they're nice things that you look forward to, but you realize that God uses them more powerfully to draw you nearer to himself. You have arrived at that state when trouble seems sweet and acceptable to you, for Christ's sake, then all is well with you, for you have found paradise upon earth.

But so long as suffering is grievous to you, and you seek to escape it, so long will it go well with you, for the trouble you try to escape will pursue you everywhere, and it will. And yet, you know, you don't have to lie under it. It's not a question of, oh, you lie under it, and you're beaten back.

No, you exercise faith against it, and you thank God that he has taken the sting out of this trial, and the sting out of this trouble, and you thank him that he has overcome it, and you live in peace with him at the right hand of God while he deals with that trouble. And as you take a position of faith in Jesus at the right hand of God, far above all rule and authority and dominion and power, and over the prince of this world who is bringing the trouble, so you'll see the trouble driven back and dissolve before your eyes. And that's the way to deal with it.

But never try to escape it. And you'll find that, loved ones, and I find that, I think, to my cost, whenever you try to escape it, Satan sees the fear in your eyes, and he charges after you more and more. So don't, don't, come back from him. Don't retreat from him. Go at him with all your heart. Go at him straight, straight into his face in the name of Jesus. And don't be afraid at all, because Jesus has already destroyed him. And you don't have to fight Satan. You just have to speak and reject him. That's the amazing thing. He knows that he has no power over you because of Jesus. But there will be famine in the land.

Now, there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. You remember, there was a famine that Abraham had to face. There was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.

And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech, king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.

Maybe I should just point out, you remember that Abraham himself also went to this Abimelech, king of the Philistines. And you find that, I think it's in Genesis 20 and verse 1. And it's good just to be realistic about this, that is a historical narrative, and not to treat it as myth. “From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur. And he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah.”

So, Abimelech was the king of Gerar when Abraham went there. Now, that was 80 years before. So, there are two possibilities. Either Abimelech was the name of all the kings of Gerar. As Pharaoh, you remember, was the name for  all the kings of Egypt. Therefore, Abimelech could perhaps be the name of all the kings of Gerar. Or, it’s possible that even 80 years before, it could be the same king. Because it wasn’t outlandish in those years to live until 150. That would have meant that Isaac (Abraham’s son) could have gone to the same king. So, Abimelech was either another king of the same line or that he was the same king at that time.

But you read, “And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.” And then in verse 2, “And the Lord appeared to him, and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.’”

Now you remember that in the same situation, when Abraham was facing a famine, he went down to Egypt and that’s where he got into all the trouble. Now God said to Isaac, “Now don’t go down to Egypt, dwell in this land.”

God will do that with your troubles; there’ll be a famine that will come to you, some trouble will come to you, but God will be by your side to modify it so that you can bear it by his grace. He will. He’ll come to you at times and say, “Now, alright you have to move but don’t go down into Egypt.”

God will not allow a trial to come upon you that you’re not able to bear. And that’s good to remember because you may think tonight, “Well, Pastor I’m game to face these things but they’ll just crush me.” No, God lovingly filters every trial through his fingers and allows to come to you what you’re able to bear.

That’s spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted,” and the Greek word for temptation used there can be translated “trial” and at times is translated as trial. “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted,” (or be brought into a trial), “beyond your strength, but with the temptation,” or the trial, “will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

And so brothers and sisters, your God is still in charge. That is why it’s good to pray that way about Susan and cancer. Our Father sees the four little children, and he sees Serge (Susan’s husband), and he sees Susan, and he allows only so much of Satan’s work to come through that she will be able to bear by his grace. So, with each one of us here; God will not allow anything to crush you into the ground. And so you may come into situations where you feel, “This is wearing me down. This is overwhelming me.”

No, you are still able to exercise faith in Jesus and to stay up on your feet because God has promised that he will not allow anything to come that is too heavy for you. So even at the moment when you feel, “No, no, I cannot take anymore.” You can know that you can take more because God will not allow anything to come to you that you cannot take. And why I put it so strongly is, I’ve been in that situation where I’ve felt, “I can’t bear anymore Lord, it is impossible.”

But then there’s a little voice of Jesus that comes within me and says, “Yes, you can bear whatever God allows to come because he knows your strength and he knows the grace he is giving you and he will not give you more than that to bear.” So, you can loved ones, you can stand, and having done all, stand in Jesus’ name against the power of the enemy. You’ll be amazed at what trials you’re able to bear and what amazing trials you’re able to overcome. There is never, never a place for defeat in the lives of those who are God’s children, never; there is never a place for defeat.

It is always what [Winston] Churchill said just with his own human natural sense, “In any circumstances, whatever the difficulties, whatever the problems, whatever forces are against you, however many people have been destroyed by those things before, never, never, never, never give up.” And that spirit that came from an ordinary man like Churchill who had not Jesus in his heart the way he has come into our hearts. That’s the spirit for those of us who are God’s children because the Father never allows anything to come to us above what we’re able to bear and he always does this.

There may be a famine come into the land, but he’ll speak to us, “No, don’t go down into Egypt.” In other words, “I’ll show you the way through this.” So loved ones, you’re never on your own; God is always speaking to you and beginning to show you the way through. And the way through is always through faith in the fact that Jesus our Savior has already destroyed the powers that are coming against you.

Maybe it’s good for us to remember that and see it is always those principalities and powers, it is. It’s not men or women, it’s not events or circumstances, it’s the principalities and powers. It’s those things that are coming against us and it’s those things that Jesus has overcome on Calvary and that we can simply destroy in one word and that word is Jesus.

We haven’t got too far and it would take us till 10 o’clock to finish the chapter, so I think I should go on next time. Let us pray.

Dear Father, we thank you for all the truths of this dear word of yours. And Lord, we think of the many times when we’ve struggled, we fought valiantly, struggled against all kinds of evil thoughts and all kinds of worried and anxious thoughts that have worn us down and we have felt very small against them, we’ve felt at times our brains were almost going insane. We’ve felt Lord that we had no control over anything and we see now why we haven’t; that these things come from powers that are greater than we are on our own and no wonder we couldn’t control these things.

 But we do thank you Lord Jesus that you have on Calvary destroyed death itself, destroyed the worst enemy that we knew in the physical world. But with death you destroyed the power of Satan and you trampled him under your feet and we thank you Lord that you have said to us, “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.”

Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you that all we have to do is resist Satan and he will flee from us. All we have to do is rebuke him in your name and your name he knows. Our name he doesn’t know, our name he doesn’t respect, but your name he respects because you have crushed him and you have cast him out of his position of authority.

So, Lord Jesus, we thank you that there is not a thing we need fear this coming week. There is no enemy, no evil, no sickness, no disease, no trial, and no conflict that we have to fear. You have already foreseen them. You have taken the sting out of them because you’ve destroyed the spiritual powers that lie behind them, and all we have to do is rebuke those powers in your name and we will begin to see the trouble dissolving and retreating. Lord, we thank you for that. We pray for each other tonight. Pray for good deep sleep for each of us, Lord Jesus. For any dear one here who is troubled with their body at all, any pain in it, or any sickness, we now would rebuke that in Jesus’ name and in Jesus’ name we would say be healed.

And we would thank you Lord that you removed every evil that troubles mankind and that we can be free from those at this moment by faith. So we pray for each other that we may have good deep sleep tonight and that in the morning we may rise up refreshed and looking forward to the week. A week of victory in our jobs and our business, and in our own homes through the name of Jesus who makes every evil flee. We thank you Lord. We give ourselves to you and pray that somebody else may see your victory in our lives during these next six or seven days.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each one of us now and ever more. Amen.