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Yep. Thank you, lord. Genesis chapter 22, verse number three. We're in a series called name drop. In Genesis 22, verse number 13, I mean, it says, and Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over, took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place, the Lord will provide. And to this day it is said, on the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided. I want to stop the reading of scripture there and talk from this subject today. Now, I've been preaching all weekend. Well, Friday and I was somewhere Wednesday. I feel a little. I've been feeling a little Baptist on me. I don't know where we're going to end up today, but I. I've been feeling a little Baptist on me. So I want to talk from this subject. In our time together, family is really simple. Won't he do it? Won't he do it? I want to start this sermon by introducing to some and reintroducing to others. Some of you heard me talk about this before. A concept I've affectionately entitled A Theology of Limitation. Limitation, Pastor? Yes, a theology of limitation. A theology of limitation suggests that God ordained. God ordained. God ordained. God ordained. God ordained limitations are not design flaws. They're divine features graciously granted to us by a generous God who wants to use our limitations to give us a revelation of Him. We can't get any other way. This idea is anchored in the understanding that there are some self imposed limitations that we create and we should avoid those. But then there are some God ordained limitations that we should embrace because self imposed limitations create barriers. But God ordained limitations lead to breakthroughs. Breakthroughs that prevent breakdowns. Because some breakdowns in our body, some breakdowns in our relationships, some breakdowns in our mind are a result of us not embracing divine limitations lead to breakthroughs that prevent burnout. Because some burnt out is a result of us not embracing divine limitations. They prevent breakthroughs that lead to breakthroughs that prevent bondage to stress and anxiousness and anxiety that comes from carrying weight we were never assigned to carry, and running races we were not assigned to run. At some point, every developing disciple will need a revelation of their limitations. In other words, no matter how smart we are, how strong we are, how savvy we are, or how savage we are, we will eventually run into a wall called reality where we come to the realization, I can't do this by myself. I can't face this by myself. I can't face fix this by Myself I can't finish this by myself I can't stay focused by myself I can't stay focused Faithful by myself I can't stay strong by myself I can't stay consistent by myself I'm happy on Sunday, Moody on Monday, confused on Tuesday. I can't do this by myself. And these types of situations are setups to properly position us, to be introduced to the God that can do for us what we can't do for ourselves. He's the God. He's the God that only shows up when your limitations reveal themselves. And this God is seen here in this text, here in Genesis. This text in Genesis exposes us to an experience in the life of a man in scripture. The named Abraham. And Abraham's life, in my opinion, is the. At least in the Old Testament, is the first and most profound, first and most profound and prolific picture of a Christian concept and a spiritual force called favor. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. Okay. I told y' all I felt a little Baptist. I feel a little Pentecostal now. So we're about to go Baptist. I want somebody right now all over this building and online to shout favor. I'm a. We're gonna do that one more time. And I want you to say it like you want God to send it to your house and send it to your business and send it to your children. Come on here and send it to church. Somebody raise your voice and say favor. That's it. Yes. Yeah, it's. This isn't the first time the word favor is used in scripture. It's used with Noah. Noah found favor with the Lord. But the scriptures don't give us a robust and comprehensive picture of Noah's life. We pretty much know he built the ark. He came out. He had too much Merlot and Cabernet. He ended up outside his tent, he naked. His son's got a cup. Come on. Like, that's. That's kind of what we know. But we got a more robust picture of favor in action. In Abraham's life, Divine favor is unearned, unexplainable, uncommon treatment. It is unearned, unexplainable, uncommon treatment. It is unearned. Unexplainable. Uncommon treatment is unearned. I don't deserve it. It is unexplainable. I can't describe it. It is uncommon. It doesn't happen for most. I'm going to say that one more time. It is unearned. I don't even deserve it. It is unexplainable. I don't know why I got it. It is uncommon. Most people don't get it. So when favor is biblically understood, it doesn't lead to arrogance, it leads to appreciation. Because how can I be arrogant when I got something I didn't earn, when I have something I can't explain, and when I'm experiencing something that's uncommon? And this is why every developing disciple should be intentional and passionate and purposeful about coming into God's week and giving God what I call back pay praise. You know what back pay is? It's when you get paid in the present for work you did in the past. There's some favor you experience in the past. So when you walk in God's house on Sunday, you aren't just thanking God for who he was and what he's done on Sunday, you thanking him for what he did last week. You're thanking him for what he did last month. You're thanking him for what? Somebody take seven seconds and give him back pain. This is back pain. I almost forgot you opened that door. I almost forgot you made that way. I almost forgot you touched my body. I almost forgot you resurrected my relationship. I almost forgot that I was sinking deep in sin Far beyond the peaceful shore Very deeply stained within seeking to rise no more. But then the master of the sea he heard my despairing cry and from the waters he lifted me now say am I somebody praise him cuz. Favorite favor. Now here's what I want you to see. Whenever you see favor and we're about to see this in the life of Abraham, this is personified in the life of Abraham. Whenever you see favor in scripture, very often it is presented in a way that's not different than the way it's been taught in church. Cuz the way favor is often taught in second way churches, it it favors about possessions. I got favor. I got a parking spot. Now I'm not saying, you know, maybe God, maybe it works out that way. Somebody say it is at change church, that's a parking spot. Thank you Jesus in park. Thank you Lord. But when you see it in scripture, it's attached to purpose. When you see it with Noah, it's attached to purpose. When you see it with Joseph, it's attached to purpose. The favor was on him, but it wasn't for him. Bonhoeffer has this concept called cheap grace. I'm calling this cheap favor. So we're going to reduce favor to a car. When you see it in scripture, it's not attached to possessions. I'm not saying that God doesn't he gives us everything that pertains to life and godliness. And so some blessing is tangible, some blessing is intangible. So, yes, favor can show up in all sorts of ways, but the primary usage of the concept of favor in Scripture is attached to purpose, not possessions. It means God uses favor not to get us what we want, but he uses favor to get us what he wants. That God. It's not as loud as it was just a second ago. God. God uses favor not to put us where we want to be, but he uses favor to put us where we need to be. And when you sit where you need to be long enough, you see why you need to be there. And you didn't want to be there. But once you realize I needed to be here, you start wanting to be where you need to be. Because you realize God knew what was best for me. Is there anybody that was mad about where you are, what you're doing and what you have, and now you're glad about where you are, what you're doing and what you have? Is there anybody that used to be mad at God about some things? Now you so glad? Because Augustine says he bypasses the prayer of my lips to answer the prayer of my heart. Somebody praise him for the prayer he didn't answer. Lord, I didn't need that. Abraham's life is a picture of it. Pastor, how can you say so passionately that Abraham's life is a picture of it? Look at Genesis 12:1. This is where we're introduced to him. Genesis 12:1 says, the Lord said to Abram, he's not even Abraham yet. Abram, go from your country, your people and your father's house to the land. I'm going to show you. Y' all see that? Okay. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you'll be a blessing. I will make you into a great nation. A great nation is going to come through you. So this is what I'm gonna do through you. Y' all see this? Okay? And he says, I will bless you. This is what I'm gonna put on you. I'm not even gonna bother that, because it's divine empowerment to succeed. It's not things. Can things be a blessing? Yes. But when the Bible says God blesses you, he's talking about what he put on you, not just what he does for you. Did you hear what I just said? Sometimes the things he does for us is evidence of what's on us. And I don't have time to bother this. But Joseph in the Old Testament is an example of this because his father gave him a coat of many colors. And he went through a season where the coat was stripped from him, but the blessing was still on him. Hallelujah. Because when you take my coat, you can't take my favor. The coat didn't give me favor. Favor got me the coat. So the blessing was on him. Divine empowerment to succeed. This is what I'm gonna do on you. And I will make your name great. This is what I'm gonna do for you. Okay, now this, this, this shake up second way a little bit. You make his name. God said. I didn't say it. God said to Abraham, I'm going to make your name great. I'mma elevate your name for the purpose of elevating mind. Did you hear what I just said? He says, I'mma make your name great because. Not because your name needs to be great. I'm going to make your name great. Cuz my name needs to be great. And I'm going use your name you used to use in mine. But I'm also going to use yours because there are going to be some people that I introduce myself to. Come on, we just got through talking about Moses. There are some people I'm going to introduce myself to who don't know me, but I'm going to make your name great. So even though they don't know me and they hadn't heard of me, the exploits I'm going to do through you and the way I'm going to magnify your name, even if they hadn't heard of me, they would have heard of you. So when I introduce myself to some people and they don't know who I am, I'm gonna use your name as a point of reference. I'm gonna tell them I'm the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. And there's one level of discipleship where you use God's name and we need to keep doing that. But I want to know, is there anybody at change that in 2026 wants to go to another level of discipleship where God uses you so greatly and there is such credibility attached to your name that you not only use God's name, but God can use yours. You see what happened with Abraham? I did that. You see what happened through Abraham? I did that. Here's the problem. Here's the problem. The great name, the great nation. Here's the problem. He says, I'm gonna do that for you. But here's the problem. Abraham is 75 years old at this point, and he has no children. So how is a great nation gonna come through me? And I haven't had children, and up to this point, I'm unable to have children. Pastor, how you know it's 75? The Bible. It's in the book, in Genesis, chapter 12, verse 4. So Abraham went. So God told him to get away from the country of kindred. I'm going to go to a land that I'll show you. Did we read that together? So the Bible says, as Abraham went, Abraham went. As the Lord told him, I'm not going to bother this. I don't have time. And lot went with him. That's a lot. Lot went with him. Now, did God tell Abraham to take lot? And some of our challenge is God give you a word? He didn't give lot, but because you love Lot, you try to take lot too, where God's calling you. And Lot's not healthy enough to handle the heat that comes with where you're going anyway. And the text says he's 75 years old when he set out from Haran. Do you see this? Say, do you see this? So he's 75 years old when he sets out from Haran. 75. So he's 75. That's older. And they've been physically unable to have children. And God said, a great nation is going to come through you. Now, you may not be able to naturally or literally relate to being 75 and unable to have children, but you can relate. I can say this in confidence, at least to feel like you're getting a word too late. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. We can relate to what it feels like to be in a season where you say, I wish I heard this earlier. Are y' all gonna talk back to the bishop today? Yeah, I. I would. I wish I had. If I had heard this earlier, I think I could bring this promise to pass. If I. If I had heard this earlier, I would be in a different situation. But God by his grace, God by his sovereignty, God in his providence knows how to assess your readiness for a word. Did you hear what I just said? So there are times when we wish we heard it earlier, but you weren't ready. So God knows how to release it when you're ready to receive it, and when you are healthy and whole enough to act upon it. So he says. He says, I'm gonna make you a great nation. So this is what he's saying to Abraham. He said it's to Sarah. Sarah, laugh. SHE laughs. So this is what's called a prophetic promise. Everybody say prophetic promise. Now, this isn't a promise a prophet make, right? When I say a prophetic promise, I'm saying it is God announcing his intention. That is certain, but is not immediate. It's. It. It's. It's seen in Genesis 17:15. God also said to Abraham, for Sarai, your wife, you're no longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her. And I'll surely give you a son by her. And I will bless her so that she will be a mother of nations. Kings of people will come from her. And Abraham fell face down, and he laughed to himself and said, will a son be born to a man? That was hundred. To a man, that's a hundred. So this means 25 years has passed and it still hadn't happened yet. Y' all are not talking to the bishop today. Watch this. He's 100. Watch the text. Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90? So he's 75 when he get the word. He's 100 when it's performed. So the time of announcement, in the time of fulfillment, The question is, do I have faith that's strong enough and long enough to believe God in the middle? Because what he promised is certain. It's just not immediate. So Abraham and Sarah couldn't handle the middle. They start dealing with doubt in the middle. They start being impatient in the middle. So Sarah had a handmaiden named Hagar that we're going to talk about next week. And Sarah recommended to Abraham that they use Hagar as a surrogate. But the promise was very particular. God said to Abraham, I'm going to give you a son, and I'm going to do it through her. Did you hear what I just said? And so Abraham used Hagar as a surrogate, and they gave birth to a child named Ishmael. Ishmael. Watch this. Every child. I believe, no matter the circumstances, God is sovereign and God has a purpose for every life. So the issue here is not Ishmael, but I want to talk about what Ishmail represents. Ishmael represents the blessing we try to make because we feel like God's taking too long to make the one he promised us. Did you hear what I said? Ishmael is what we produce when we get impatient. Ishmael. Did you hear what I. Ishmael is what we give birth to when we get impatient. But God is so gracious that Ishmael doesn't cancel the promise. Ishmael just makes the process more complicated. So eventually, through a series of events, Abraham and Sarah end up giving birth to a child named Isaac. And they name him Isaac. It means laughter. Because they said, the Lord has made me laugh. I'm going to see if you can discern when I just shifted from a teaching from the Bible expounding on the graphe to releasing a rhema. So I'm going to say this one more time. They named him Isaac because she said, the Lord has made me laugh. This is so unbelievable. The only thing I can do is laugh. This is so amazing. The only thing I can do is just laugh. This is so magnificent. The only thing I can do is just chuckle underneath my breath and say, you did just what you said. I pray in 2026, God does something that make you laugh. All right, that's fine. Here it is. They finally give birth to Isaac. And here's what happens, y', all, okay? All this time, all of this prayer, all of this processing, they finally give birth to Isaac. And one day God speaks to Abraham, the same one that he spoke to in Genesis 12. When he had nothing, he spoke back to him again. And the Bible says in Genesis 22, it came to pass that God tested Abraham and said, abraham, he said, here am I. He said, take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I'm gonna tell you now, I went all through all of this to get this. I'm not even going to bother this, because this we really need to talk about. We need to talk about how God's testing feel like teasing? Because I didn't ask you for a son. I was content not to have one. You come speaking to me, putting this desire in my heart. I'm 75. I'm thinking I'm living the rest of my life. I'm thinking, I'm good. Now you start coming, giving me these dreams and visions and speaking this word. And now I got stuff in my heart that I want to do that I didn't want to do before. You put the want to in me. Because you giving me desires of my heart doesn't mean you give me what I want. It means you give me what to want. It is him who works in us to will and to do his good pleasure. So I ain't even want this until you put the want to in me. And now you're making me wait on what I want. And I Didn't even want it until you made me want it. And now I'm waiting on what I want it. And when I finally give it, you want it back. It's easier to obey in Genesis 12 when I got nothing. But it's harder to obey in 22 when I got everything. But here's what the text says. Text says, and Abraham, verse 3. Early the next morning. Early the next morning, early the next morning, early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. Early the next morning, the Bible told him to go. It didn't tell him when to go. But Abraham say, we got to go tomorrow because I got. I got to obey while I got a yes in me. And the reason some of us don't give God what he want is because by the time you obey, your won't to and your will has worn off. So you got to give God a yes when you strong enough to give it to him. Early the next morning, the text says he loaded his donkey. King James says he saddled his donkey. He put a saddle on the donkey and loaded the donkey with supplies. Now, a donkey's a donkey now, but in Jewish nomenclature, a donkey's a metaphor. It's a metaphor for what's called the flesh. My next series is on that, the difference between humanity and flesh, because some of us suffer from flesh wounds. Anyway, the text says he saddled the donkey. Flesh, not flesh, but this nature on the inside of us that rebels against divine design. He saddled the donkey because the only way you offer Isaac is saddling the donkey. See, this whole biblical concept of being unequally yoked is an agricultural metaphor. It's when you know you got a field's about to be plowed when it says, don't be unequally yoked. It's don't put a donkey on one side and an ox on another, because the donkey represents the fleshly nature. The ox represents the spiritual nature. They got two different natures. So when the master tell you it's time to plow, the ox is submitted. So the ox is going to want to come. But the donkey's temperamental. So putting a saddle on the donkey is a metaphor for saddling the flesh. And when I want to go this way and when I want to say that I just. And when the flesh want to post that I just. And when the flesh want to text that I just. And when the. He saddled the donkey and watch what the text says, it says in verse five, he said to his servants, stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there. I'm going to see if I got my Baptist and Pentecostal members here. We will worship. Then we will will come back to you. Now, I'm not an expert in English, but I know what we mean. So if he told the servants to stay there and he said we coming back, he's saying, me and Isaac going up the mountain and me and Isaac are coming down the mountain. I don't know how, but I'm coming back. And I don't know when, but I'm coming back. And I don't know how God's gonna work it out, but I'm coming back. And watch what happens. Text says they go up to the mountain and Abraham's getting ready to sacrifice Isaac. And God speaks to him and says, stay your hand. Now that I know you love him, that you love me more than you love him. Now that I know that you love the giver more than the gift. Now that I know that you don't love what I gave you more than the reason I gave it to you, because I didn't give them to you for you. I had a promise and a purpose to make a great nation. And I chose you to do it by favor. And your favor becomes. You become the beneficiary of your favor. So you get to keep what's not yours. You get blessed by what's not for you. Because Isaac isn't about you. Isaac is about the great nation. And so I need to know you love why I gave you something more than what I gave you. You. So stay your hand. And the Bible says Abraham looked up and saw a ram whose horns had got caught in some bushes here. Dr. E.V. hill says while Abraham was walking up one side of the mountain, God had a ram walking up the other side of the mountain and had the ram get stuck so that it would stay there long enough for Abraham to see it. Here's the way we said at the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Killmichael, Mississippi. What God has for me, it is for me. He'll make my ram get stuck. And Abraham named that place Yahweh. Jireh. Yahweh, Jireh, Yahweh, Jireh, Yahweh, Jehovah, Jireh. The Lord will He covenants to provide the covenant keeping. God will provide. He's not deciding if he's going to provide. He's covenant. It's in his. He will put. He will perform in a way that's consistent with his nature. He will. He will provide. Did you hear what I just said? Now watch this. The root word here for gyra primarily means to see. That's what the root word actually means. But in Hebrew, thought, seeing and providing are connected. God sees the need, foresees what will be required, and then provides what he sees is needed. So Jehovah, Jireh is the Lord. I almost. Listen to me. I almost had a little Pentecostal run in me because I know what I'm getting ready to say here. He is the Lord who will see to it that you are provided for good God from Zion. I don't know what you see. I don't know what you're facing, but I want to remind you that Jireh will see to it that we. What you need is provided for. J. I'm done. He covenants to provide. This is why. This is why. And I talked about this Friday. We're going to put up on YouTube later. At Friday in New Jersey, I talked about the Lord, who is my shepherd. He's saying, yahweh is my shepherd. So now, once you get a revelation of. Come on now. Yahweh is all of these things. Yahweh is Nisi. Come on. Right? Niece is not. Yahweh is Nisi. Niece not Yahweh. Yahweh's Niecy. So when you say Yahweh, you're saying Nisi, you're saying Elohim. When you say Yahweh, you're saying Jireh. David says Yahweh, all of these things, that's my shepherd. So I lack nothing. Jireh's my shepherd. I lack nothing. So if I don't have what I need, I'm in between my 12 and my 22. Y' all missed it. If I don't have what I need yet, I'm just not in chapter 22. I'm just in my chapter 12. He will see to it. So therefore, if I don't have what I think I need, my testimony is, jireh, you are enough. Because you will see to it that I'm provided for. Jireh will provide. What will he provide, Pastor? He'll provide everything you need, not everything you think you need. He'll provide everything. He'll provide everything when you need it, not when you think you need it. And he will provide everything you need in the way you need it. It, not the way you think you need it. And I just came to remind you that God doesn't just provide. The God of the Bible has a nature that Provides and he covenants. He promises to do everything in a way that's consistent with his nature. So let me give you my sanctified imagination here. Abraham probably walked up the mountain one way, but when he walked back down, he probably walked down differently. Looked the two servants in the eyes that he told to stay there because we coming back. Just my sanctified imagination probably looked at him in the eyes putting Isaac on the donkey and told him, won't he do it? And I need to. I got to go, but I need to ask somebody in the room today, won't he do it? Do you have a testimony? Does he have a track record? Won't he do it? But Abraham. Abraham's story is a picture of the gospel. Low I come. Jesus says in the volume of the book, everything is about Jesus. Abraham represents our heavenly father. Jesus represents our son. God's son who was sacrificed for you and me. Who wouldn't. Who wouldn't submit their life to a God? To the leadership of a God who commits to provide for his people. God is so gracious. Even. Even when we aren't faithful to our part of the covenant. There are some parts of the covenant that are without condition. He take care of his people. You know he does. This week, may your testimony be jireh. Wherever there's lack in your life, peace, healing. Wherever there's lack, Gyra, you are enough. May the Lord bless and keep you. Cause his face of favor to shine upon you. Be gracious to you, protect you, provide for you, and grant you peace now unto him that is able to keep us from falling to present us faultless before the presence of his. Glory to the only wise God be glory, honor, majesty, dominion and power, both now and and forever. In Jesus name, Amen. God bless you. We'll see you next week. Jaira, you are enough.