Gaining the wells of our fathers

Book of Genesis please in chapter 26. Genesis in chapter 26, I may be on your way there we should just pick up a couple of verses in chapter 21. Genesis 21, I will refer back to these verses but it's good to read them.

Genesis 21 and verse number 29. And Abimelech said unto Abraham what mean these seven ewes which thou hast set by themselves and he said for these seven you lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness or a covenant or an oath unto me that I have dig this well wherefore he called that place Beersheba because there they swear both of them. Now chapter 26 please.

Chapter 26 verse number 1. And there was a famine in the land beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac went out unto Abimelech the king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him and said go not down into Egypt dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of sojourn in the land I will be with thee I will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries and I will perform the oath which I swear to Abraham my father and I will make thy seed to multiply the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries and thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed because that Abraham obeyed my voice kept my charge my commandments my statues and my laws and Isaac dwelt in Gerar and the men of the place asked him of his wife and he said she is my sister for he feared to say she is my wife lest he said lest said he the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca because she was fair to look upon came to pass when he had been there a long time that expression is always a time of testing a long time that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at the window and saw and behold Isaac was sporting with Rebecca his wife and Abimelech called Isaac and said behold of a surety she is my wife how saidst thou she is my sister Isaac said unto him because I said lest I die for her would have been better if you know change one little letter in that word and said I will lie for her but he said lest I die for her Abimelech said what is this that thou has done unto us one of the people might have lightly lying with my wife now shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us all and Abimelech charged the people say he that toucheth this man his wife shall surely be put to death verse 12 then it's a little bit like that word in Judges chapter 7 is it with them again with Jotham it says then God knows there's a change in the chapter verse 12 then Isaac sowed in the land and received in the same year and hundred fold and the Lord blessed them the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great for he had possession of flocks and possessions of herds and great store of servants and the Philistines envied him for all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth and Abimelech said unto Isaac go from us thou are much mightier than we Isaac departed thence and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there notice how he stays around Gerar Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham so while Abraham's alive those wells are in order after his death and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water and the herdman of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdman saying the water is ours and he called the name of the well Esek because they strove with him and they digged another well and strove for that also and he called the name of it Sidna and he removed from fence and digged another well and that he strove not for they called the name of it Rehoboth and he said for now the Lord hath made room and we shall be fruitful in the land and verse 23 is very important to notice and he went up from fence to Beersheba verse 25 and he built it an altar there called on the name of the Lord pitched the tent there and there Isaac's servants digged a well the servants are digging another well this is well number four and verse 27 Isaac said unto them wherefore come you to me seeing you hate me and have sent me away and they said we saw certainly that the Lord was with thee and we said let there be now an oath betwixt us even betwixt us and thee and let us a covenant with thee and that thou will do us no hurt as we have not touched thee as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace thou art now the blessed of the Lord and he made them a feast and did eat and drink and they rose up three times in the morning and swear one to another and Isaac sent them away and he departed from them in peace came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him and concerning the well which they had digged and said unto him we have found water and he called it Sheba therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day well-known passage for a final reading in John chapter 4 John chapter 4 John chapter 4 and verse number 5 then cometh he to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph and Jacob's well was there and Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey sat thus in the well and it was about the sixth hour and of course you come down to verse number nine that said the woman of Samaria how is it that thou being a Jew askest to drink of me a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans and of course he says give me to drink and verse 11 the woman said unto him sir that was nothing to draw with and the well is deep from whence then has thou that living water greater than our father Jacob Jacob which gave us the well and drank thereof three people or three things to notice himself and his children and his cattle you will not tell the younger brethren that I preach with or preach with me or put up with me that I've read this much at a conference because it's usually something I caution them on you know I know we hear it said sometimes you know listen what we have read is more important than what we have to say well that is true brethren I'm not here to read the scriptures to you I'm up here to preach as well as the scriptures very important we're gonna do a little excavating this morning the Bible calls digging digging our Bibles make it very clear that there's three things that we can dig for which are very applicable in Christian experience we can dig for damage that takes me back to Deuteronomy or either Exodus chapter 21 where it is said that a man shall open a pit or a man shall dig a pit and not cover it in his ox or his animal would fall there in the man's held responsible for that trust I'm not to speak into anybody here this morning and you are known and noted for digging for damage this is what I found out about them guess what she said that's enough digging for damage I could take you the teaching of the Lord Jesus in Matthew's gospel again of course in Luke chapter 6 and there it is a digging for doctrine if we're going to dig for doctrine brethren if there's a shortcut to it believe me I'd like to find it but I haven't found it yet just as there's no shortcut in digging these wells there's no shortcut and digging for doctrine but what I want to come in on is Genesis chapter 26 and speak about digging for development development you're going to develop as a believer and I hope there never comes a time and my Christian experience when I cease to develop as a believer I'm gonna have to require to me that I am going to dig going to dig you know I used to just I just I wanted to choke them but maybe that's a little rough but when preachers would get up at a conference and say you know and so where were you reading this morning and that that conference that I was at eyes up at five o'clock making breakfast for people and be honest with you I didn't much reading okay I had a little more to do than just comb my hair if I had it and read the 23rd Psalm and go to the conference and then beat up on the Christians because they didn't read that morning but you know I'm talking about let me ask you brother when it comes your weeknight Bible reading how much digging do you do hope that as you pass through the door something I'll bounce off the wall and you'll grab that the way you'll go with that wing it as we say let's speak a little bit about this man Isaac what I notice for things about a particularly first of all just touch a little on his early life early life is very important it's interesting to notice what we won't take time this morning to cover the early life of Isaac that's the importance of our conferences and the importance of our younger people older people as well that in your early life you develop habits you develop in your life something that will have future blessing following his early life of course there was an earnest love there's you'd have to love well drilling and well digging to do it you'd have to love that I just couldn't imagine really a task that would be more daunting or challenging than digging wells I know what you want to say combining 30 bushel acre corn that's more challenging yeah could be digging well so there not only was an early life there was an earnest love but there was an earned legacy here was a man that had vision I'm going to show you how the vision of this man and digging these wells is gonna pay off and then I want to notice of course there was eager labor you know he just didn't go kick a shovel in the morning say you know hope we find some water here and if we don't it's me out of here it's a lot to be said and a lot to be noticed about this man it's interesting that I just noticed in my thinking about him this week don't read a lot about him building altars maybe there was one altar that was enough to scare him I say it respectfully but wait a minute you didn't live you didn't lay on an altar neither did I with the wood there the fire and things ready to go he did so maybe there was a shyness when it came to the altar but he builds an altar one of the good things that he had done how important to have the altar in our early life but having said that good to remember that Isaac lived longer than any of the patriarchs okay he was born in the land and he died in the land there's things very unique about Isaac Isaac is a very interesting character in this that he was the ordinary son of a great father and it is the ordinary father of a great son Jacob his father being Abraham okay something very ordinary about the person and I believers will say to me well you know I'm just a very ordinary sort of person that's the man we're dealing with that's the man that we're dealing with that's the man that can build into the future and man like Isaac as we are are looking at him but having said that three things that mark this man he's a patient man glad my wife is in the audience today she said what he's talking about you can't imagine me not being patient can you don't smile he was a patient man he learned the value of patience he may be a learn from his father that if you rush it you ruin it I think some of us remember let's blame it on the girls in the family you know maybe I might have been involved a little in it too when we finally announced the mother we were gonna make cookies of all things she said okay here's what you gotta do that here's the cookbook if you don't look at the cookbook after all you're 11 years of age you don't make cookies but what was it even though the oven light work that you had to constantly open and close the door open and close the door and when cooking time was come you didn't have cookies don't even talk about the cake you something was gooey and running all over the place and mother would look at it she say couldn't you just wait no couldn't wait how about you brother when it comes to patience this was a man that was a patient man but more than that he was a prudent man very prudent he saw something in these wells into the future nobody else saw philistines didn't see it do you understand you will issue it now I'm getting ahead of myself I don't come back it's interesting what do they do with the water this in the wells you know the best thing they could do just simply fill those wells with earth in other words we're the child of God will find their source of refresh refreshment the world never will they don't understand it if you told them today you know I'm going to a conference I say what that's not church is it you say well yeah not me I'm going bird hunting that's the world I hope another brother went bird hunting but they have a problem I got one too but this is a man he's a very prudent man but he could see into the future but more than that it's wonderful to have a patient man it's wonderful to have a prudent man but he was a persistent man I wouldn't be on this platform you wouldn't be in this audience if in the state of Iowa Wisconsin and other states represented here today there weren't persistent believers men and brethren sisters to not that many miles from here I could take you to a little assemblies doing quite well today and the man there that the responsibility fell to as the only man in the assembly he said I would have quit I would have quit but he said I had four sisters that said Chancey we can't quit we can't quit did persistency pay off here did patience pay off here did his prudence pay off absolutely but there were some other things that marked them I think it's three other things you know I know this is kind of wheels within wheels you know these preachers get all these lineups and their wheels within wheels you know you know whatever okay but just stay with me here was a man and he was marked by distress marked by distress I mean if he was to listen to his father if he was to listen or learn something of another man coming along by the name of a limelight you know what they would have said famine time is fleeing time things are dry things are bad out of here so it was an easy time for him but here's a man that will stay let me tell you brethren sisters as you see the company gathers here today aren't you glad you stayed sometimes though I I know I've been called the eternal optimist I've been called some awful names at ties that was not too bad I can live with that but you know I could really I could really become very distressed today if I thought of all the people that could be here that aren't here if I started to think of all the people at once I sat in this very building with him broke bread there are other places today for whatever reason I'm not going there I could really get taken up but you know the miracle of it is you're here and we're here together days of distress and we've been reminded that in the opening part of the meeting this morning from brothers skates because there's believers today under great distress distress because of their family like David and again like Jacob brought distress upon him and there was there ever a day when there wasn't distress now I do realize that we have things today that likely challenges more than they did in a former generation but they are days of distress now if I'm going to live in that distress mode I'm not going to be just distressed I'm going to become depressed but you see a man that's busy a man that's working hard a man that's that's at it he's the man here's a man that's going to get past distress you know circumstances on this one stay with me circumstances would have said conviction says you're not going convictions says you're not going but if he looked around he'd say I can't hack it this is too much for me my speaking to someone today you see but you know that that's what's wrong there's a real famine in our assembly Oh what have you done to help it out are you just sitting the bleachers and criticize what's going on down the ring when did you dig from the Word of God brother that you could feed God's people something on a Sunday morning or week night media when did that last happen here was a man that understood the value of it so he's a man that was marked by distress the next thing he was a man that was marked by regress what's regress well it's when you assume that a conclusion is true and you simply work backward to the evidence in other words it's reverse thinking I mean that just look at it he would have told you about it in Abraham's life later in David's life I shall one day perish by the hand of so Elijah that's regress thinking that's conceiving something that's going to be outcome in my life that I haven't worked toward reminded of a lady I read one time she's on a red-eye flight you ever been on a red-eye flight you know what those are like it's a long night okay she's in the west coast of this country flying to the east preparing for the long trip and I'm not not this journey in the churning of those jet engines she went into a little shop and she bought herself a book and a little package of cookies came out to her gate sat down other people were starting to gather in the gate area gentlemen come down he sat down beside her she had quite taken up with her book that she was gonna save for the reading on the airplane and she got reading into her book and she looked beside her here's this boy beside her reaching out if you could imagine into her cookies he's a cookie she thought the nerve of this character so he took another one shit there's nothing he left for me so she took one and he took another finally they came down to the last cookie he held it up he said you wanna share it she was so provoked she literally left it marched toward the gate was glad the flight was called it was hoping no he didn't they wouldn't be sitting near her yeah plop yourself dummy this one is irate plopped herself up this is regress thinking that boys I've seen it all so made herself comfortable getting ready for the night gets the blank gets the pillow you know it is if you've done red-eye flights takes her book looks in her purse there's her package of cookies you say what's wrong with that she's eating his doesn't that happen you get conceived in your mind you know that brother you know can't they can't they get here like who was mentioned this morning get here on time brother Berks absolutely too much LTP is Peter Orszag used to say love of the pillow can't get her to bed but here was a man that was just different than that but you get conceived you think can't they at least be on time for meeting you feel sorry for the brethren hey not speaking to someone you're not like that are you the brethren sent the back and you know it's time to sit down they look through the lattice of the witnesses you know why Terry the wheels of his chariot sure they go sit down and you come clopping and sit down not just one week every week something's in you that it's in me at least they say brother could I what do you want to just kind of come ten minutes early likely not gonna happen you can try and then you start to think and say it happens every but then something happens in a person's life you understand that and you start to go aboard them now this is gonna nobody's sleeping here this morning but let me tell you this and please sympathize some of us just have a hard time certain time of the meeting keeping awake okay brother Orszag we have a brother down he's an overseer in the assembly a good brother and he went up to him and Peter says Murray I'd at least him I said listen I work my hardest as soon as I get up to you fall asleep so after he drilled into him about two minutes waiting for us to the fence and he said the man filled up with tears he says Peter I've been to see the doctor twice this year to see if there's any help for mr. Orszag said I felt like about yay hi I'd never do that again regress thinking you know what his regress thinking was this that God can't protect my wife I was one thing but what about me John the Baptist was a man that would rather die than lie here's a man that would rather lie than die so he will tell this lie you know or the chapter is such a beautiful chapter somehow you could just scissor out that part of it worry has to tell a lie what a chapter you'd have but you know it does remind us it does remind us well there's a lot of Jacob and me there's lots of Isaac and me too however I don't think there's too much in our home that we were ever allowed to get away with but there's one thing my parents could never tolerate infant less than absolute truth now brethren and sisters it's not without reason that the Apostles who speak every man truth with his neighbor let us be truthful this is a costly business this was just a his life had come to a complete stall a complete stop I mean those wells out there really waiting to be re-dug no wells are being re-dug now no the growth is it the word progress that we read later on that's after this is looked after well I speak to someone here this morning it's not a case that you are speaking with fellow believers but maybe you have just misrepresented somebody to them maybe somebody in just wasn't a good day and you've spoken just like you shouldn't have to them and you're gonna go out and say you know brother I am sorry you see it was just a tone of voice in which has said it wasn't so much which is it it's the way in which you said it that's what stalled on this man this good man's life so there was distress there was regress but you know there was progress that's just what we read the chapter delightful I mean it's you know back earlier it says then Isaac then Isaac sows in the land I think to my knowledge the only man in the Old Testament least yes the old man and the only man in the Old Testament is referred to as a sower imagine sowing and received in the same year and hundredfold doesn't stop there the Lord blessed them why the force of the blessing now basically because he likely opened up a little bit with a Demilac maybe not as much as he should you know we kind of hedge on it a bit rather come out said I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth God never justifies that now I know the story of Rahab is another subject God still didn't justify that I don't think God had to use it but God is not going to take from the reality of a person's experience simply for the sake of filling the pages of Scripture here's a man that made progress how much progress really are you making your life young brother how much what are you today and the things of God that you weren't a year ago when you were here at Heightsville conference or weren't here can the brethren if I was to speak to the brethren and the assembly say you know how so well excellent nice to see the progress nice to see the development because that's really what is taking place in this good man's life so three things distress distress regress and progress it's not only what he reclaimed nobody reclaimed something was already there that's why I went back to chapter 21 that will have been covered up for a long time it was time for that to be re-dug that's a proper word what wells are we interested in progress in Iowa I think you have a farm show if I remember seeing a flyer at one time it's called the progress show the progress report we were to make a progress report today in our own lives progress report is to the testimony how we make it out you know the truth of it is we're slipping the Philistines know where the source of your refreshment is that must have been so delightful to the apostle when he saw those men coming from the most unlikely place Corinth and remembering the first fruits of the work there and baptisms that had take place he doesn't talk about but he said they refreshed me they refreshed me lovely when we have believers come amongst us come to our home nice to come to a conference and go away and say I know in the magazine they're all good conferences but we have some rough ones too let's be honest about it I was refreshed God refreshed my soul and brothers sisters with the ministry that we've already heard to go from this conference say yes yes there's something that has filled what which was once a well a place of refreshment it's interesting like I say that the Philistines they said well waters ours we're gonna do with it they don't know what to do with it but this man Isaac he knew what it was for more than that you remember when they go into the land they will first eat of the corn of the old land the old corn of the land in other words I must enjoy appreciate and love the labors of other men and thank God for them and appreciate them before God will ever give me to see any labors of my own away with this nonsense today that oh well you know those were those days we're in a different day oh yeah I'm not arguing that who's arguing that I'm not arguing that but here's a man that saw value what his father did now let me ask you are you a father today that's leaving a mark on younger ones coming by you are the things of which you put value on not here to talk about toys in our lives idols got enough of them myself it's not all my boys my girls set all my family see me hey listen at the end of the day you don't fool them they know what counts for dad people around him I mean here's the enemies they must have stood back up whoo these wells are very important to this man sure they were they were the source of life you just didn't you know put a well anywhere somebody went some planning somebody did some work good friend of mine back in Ontario mr. George Patterson who's been out here George's in his 80s now I remember the first I was gonna say the first house I lived in really was the first trailer you always tell a man lived in a trailer caravan in your you know watch him closely still walk sideways and we were thinking of putting a house there and mr. Patterson came to see me one day he says you've got a well no I says George we're gonna put one they said we're gonna put it I so somewhere out there excuse me said somewhere out there not only cuz I can blame it on an Irish piece he's got an apple tree around here yeah one over there in the corner what do you want it for right over there and he peeled a stick off of it stick like this and why don't like that and here he is you're laughing he's done it yourself he's out there like this I thought this is it I seen it all sure enough walked along but few steps and then that stick went down you just put that stick right in the ground he says here's where you watch it well when the well driller came said right there didn't have to go far had good water at the best water ever this man had there was some planning in the thing but he would go back more than that not only what he I want you to think of what he renamed you see what I call him by the same names you know what he did he reinforced the name that his father had already given them pardon me pardon me but I'm quite content with the name gospel hall okay you can call it whatever you like but I'm quite happy with that name I labored in the northern part of our province in a building an assembly never ever melt that met in that building but the people that well I said painted the hall fixed it up love me put on it so put on wherever you want to put gospel hall on it there's never Christians that gathered in it why'd I have gospel hall on it because it was a hall in which the gospel was preached and I'm quite happy that we are Christians gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ assembly of Christians that could be anywhere maybe someone will talk to me after meeting but we'll talk you come back to this man here good for him boy there's something about this man Isaac you that you just want to stand there salute the man good for you he understood that but you know as you come along now you come to the the actual well digging in his life without going all the details that let me give them to you very quickly my time is running here it's this first of all there's a well that he digs called that means contention contention as you know brothers sisters if you're going to do something for God there is going to be contention somebody's going to contend it a very obviously and that's what this well and that's where it actually was beginning I mean a peace-loving man but cardinal truths must be defended I mean was there nobody else to help protect these wells here's one man that's going to do it single-handedly I know he had servants and brethren and sisters if we are going to defend cardinal truths things that have refreshed the Saints of God for centuries we're going to have to know what it is to not allow the Philistines to fill our wells are standing with their shovel and they're ready to do it right sure you do you know that second well sitna comes from a rude word root word that means an adversary to lies an adversary is really what it means but Isaac understood to be fruitful in the land I've got to have these wells I mean he had flocks he had responsibilities this is the word for contempt contempt in other words they would actually hold him in contempt then we come to another well it is Rehoboth that is the one of the meanings of that word Rehoboth is the word conviction no matter what you put your hand to in brethren and sisters in assembly testimony there's two Titans that are required to march beside you conviction and commitment here we come to this well here at Rehoboth know what he did rather sitna contempt he just saw what for what it was then we come to another one Rehoboth the third one and that is the word conviction he saw in it the Lord and all there's enemies they must flee finally there's a period there's a bit of a break you'll notice in the chapter I try to point that out as we're reading he makes a move going up to Beersheba now if you're gonna get your little maps over the back of your Bible which we should booze more than they are you're gonna come to me when I've done this and say hey listen you're leaving using a proper GPS you your mileage is you're wrong your distances and I don't think it was there I don't think it was the other place well that's fine but at this moment I'm doing the preaching okay so you're gonna live with my measurements stay with me Beersheba and now this is a little period of time and they come back to him and they're thrilled now there's things that happen I just don't want to take time going over that at the moment I said we've got water we've got water what well is this number four now in my sanctified imagination if you want to call it that I come to another well it's interesting you never find if if he did tell me about Africa's I sincerely would like to know I don't think Jacob ever dug wells but Jacob did a lot of business at Wells go to chapter 929 that's where he started got a bride at a well what a place to get her got a bride at a well remember Jacob comes along and they're gathered around the waiting because all to all the flocks be gathered together that means a number enough men to lift the stone off the wall Jacob says no problem I don't think it's working out either brother he stepped over that because of the love of a bride didn't what was obstructing that well they had an order that they didn't drink or they didn't feel all were gathered together Jacob does that's one of them does a number of business deal transactions not too far from a well Isaac because of his background because of Hagar that raised them hardly was ever too far from a water supply either a place of refreshment brethren and sisters make sure you keep your home and your family near the place of refreshment okay so we have another well here now we come over to John chapter 4 here's a man yeah that's what I'm gonna tell you I believe that Isaac re-dug this well now I know it says Syker and some you can read Shechem well you're gonna preach about Shechem you likely say that's where it was but I'm still in the same general there's there's a bit of a distance there's a move here tell me did this man Isaac the plain man the simple man the common man did he ever foresee the day when somebody would be converted at his well did he ever imagine the day when the lofty one of eternity the Son of God himself would sit right on his well didn't see it you know what he was working for a future that maybe he didn't even see and would never realize look we're not talking two or three years later we are talking dispensations later years later now listen to the language if you would just as I close of this unconverted dark soul notice what she says well we were told first of all verse number six no Jacob's well was there Jesus therefore being wearied of his journey sat thus in the well she comes up verse number 12 and she's got a question it's nice when the unconverted of questions here's her question aren't thou greater than our father Jacob which gave us the well Oh Jacob where'd you get that well my father gave it to me see that because I would like to put in there Isaac no he says Jacob in other words Jacob was passing it on but notice what she says about that well notice what it did for Jacob what was first he drank thereof himself what's the Apostle Paul right to Timothy and he says considering myself in other words it had to satisfy him before it could satisfy nothing else listened as to head in the home your place of refreshment the place of which you are digging the place which you drink brother history satisfy you first is it satisfying you did this man that's what she says and which gave us the well and drank thereof himself first shake then she says and his children that's the family and then she says and his cattle I put that in there that's the farm they all go together brethren remember when they're gonna leave Egypt no no no no the animals went to God had a claim upon everyone but I want to just notice this order first himself family and then the farm you reverse that order and you have lost the first two again you reverse that order and I'm not just speaking to farmers in the meeting they've had a tough enough year I'm not here to beat them up you reverse that order in business in college whatever it might be you reverse that order you lose the family you'll be lost to God bless his word may we go from this conference brethren determined ancestors to dig again the wells of our father