Welcome to KJV Cafe. Thanks for taking time out of your day to listen. Each episode of the Cafe is dedicated to studying the Bible verse by verse from Genesis through Revelation. Your host here at the Cafe is Bible teacher, Clark Covington. Looks like the coffee is hot and ready, so let's get started. Amen, glory to God. Welcome to the program. Welcome to Cafe Pastor Clark Covington here with another episode of KJV Cafe. So glad you joined me. If you're new to the program, check us out online, kjvcafe.com. Man, we're just a Bible study here, and we're studying God's Word. And we are going through the first couple of verses here in Genesis 22. And I'll just start here and read this, and we'll just recap a little bit of what we've talked about and move on. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Mariah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell of thee. And so we see here just to recap, I mentioned some of this in the, I think, first part of this series, that God doesn't actually tempt. So I think a better word would be test. And I think that there is a very reasonable explanation for this, you know, the word test, you know, you could say there's a test coming on Monday, right? And then you could have your kid tickle you and you say, son, don't test me, right? There's all different ways to use words, okay? But in the word of life, in the idea or concept of like God is tempting man to fall sin, God doesn't do that. James 1, 13 says, let no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man, okay? So God's not going to tempt with evil. He's not tempted of evil. He's perfect. He can't stand sin and he won't tempt others with evil, okay? Verse 14 says, but every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed, okay? And so the idea is our temptation comes from our lust, right? And, you know, I was in middle school and the coach said something to the extent of if you don't want to, if you don't want to fall, fall into a bad relationship with a bad lady, don't go where the bad ladies hang out. And that is a G-rated version of a very simple principle, right? Like the church spent many years in, the preacher would say, if you're an alcoholic, don't go in the beer aisle, like again, you know, so these, these principles are very relevant, like God's not going to tempt you, but don't flirt with this sin, you know? If you have, if you struggle with gambling, and by the way, I can't imagine, you know, that there aren't people that listen to this that don't because it's everywhere. And I'm a huge sports fan and I just like sports and they've really soiled it with all of this sports gambling stuff everywhere. And of course the casino nearby now where we live. So look, if you struggle with that, obviously don't, you know, go where that stuff is at. Like if you struggle with gambling, don't take your vacation in Vegas, right? Like you get the idea. So that's the general principle that God is testing Abraham. I think that's a better word than tent. And saying go to Mount Mariah, right, which we see clearly in second Chronicles 3 is where Solomon built the temple. So that big, beautiful temple that David designed that Solomon built was on Mount Mariah. But then others believe Mariah could have just meant the land of the Amorites. And so we don't know exactly if what we don't know exactly what Mariah means, number one, and we don't know exactly number two if it's the same exact place or not, though it could be. And then that brings us up to the idea that Abraham is instructed to do something unthinkable by God. I mean, what a surprise, you know, this could be kind of your reaction the first time you read this. And maybe this is the first time you're encountering the scripture. You have Abraham. He's promised the promised child. He has to wait forever to have this promised child. Literally a century, right? Sarah doesn't believe it's going to happen. She can cocks a plan to get the bond woman involved. That didn't work out well. I mean, you know, it's all of this is just hard to fathom. And God says, trust me, trust me, trust me, Abraham did. He was justified by faith. And there we have the promised child. And just about as soon as we have the promised child, all of a sudden comes to this testing. Which begs the question how old was Isaac, which is a very good question. As I've researched that in the past, I believe the consensus is he was not a little baby. So he was a teenager-ish, you know, somewhere in that 12, 13, 15 range, 18, we don't know, but he wasn't a little baby. And so, and that's documented here in, if you look in Genesis 22 and they're going on their way and so forth. They're walking up and Isaac is speaking, right? You know, and saying, hey, you know, I don't see the sacrifice dad, you know, that kind of stuff. I mean, it wasn't like he was a little baby, right? So we have this call by God. We have this response by Abraham that he's agreeable. It's the beginning of verse three. He got up early and went. And again, we've talked about that idea of early in the morning and so forth. And now let's look at, we've looked at last episode, kind of the blessings of obedience. Now let's look at the perils of disobedience right when we come back from this break, so stay tuned. You're listening to KJV Cafe. We encourage you to look us up on your favorite podcast app and subscribe to our channel on YouTube. Now let's get back to some more in-depth Bible study. So you have the blessings of being obedient to God. And then, you know, conversely, you have the stress, punishment, judgment of not, right? And so like, what if Abraham had not done what God called him to do? Then he wouldn't have been proven by God. That would be kind of the Bible phrase proven by God, right? He wouldn't have passed that test, if you will, amen? He wouldn't have had that great faith moment. Amen, that's mentioned in the Hebrews Hall of Fame there in chapter 11 in the New Testament. And God does this, right? I think of Revelation. So Jesus is speaking through John and the Alipat, chapter 2, I'll start at verse 1. Under the angel, the church of Ephesus, right? These things say that he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven gold candlesticks. And he speaks, this is Jesus speaking to the church at Ephesus. I know thy works, thy labor thy patience, how thou canst not bear them which are evil. How thou and thou has tried them which say they are apostles and are not and has found them liars. And as born and as patience for my name's sake has labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love. Verse 5, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except our repent. So the church in Ephesus had done a lot of things right. You know, there was a lot that God complimented. Jesus Christ himself complimented them, right? Their works, their labor, their patience. They couldn't stand evil workers. Those be those living in sin, right? They had separated themselves. They had tried them that were false teachers and found them to be liars. God wants us to do that too. Call that out. They had been patient and they had labored for Christ's name's sake, right? They had done all these good things, but guess what? They had left their first love. They had left, it sounds to me almost like a church that had gotten programmed into, I don't know whether it's legalism or rituals, but had gotten to the point of doing all that was commanded of them, but not doing it in love or not loving Christ himself anymore because they were just so caught up on thus, thus, thus we must do, right? And then Jesus says, remember where you're fallen and repent and do the first works. Remember your first love or else I'll come quickly and remove your candlestick out of your place, except you repent. You see, so that is an example from the Lord Jesus Christ directly of being tested by God, got allowed all these things to befall the people in Ephesus, the church in Ephesus, and them not passing, right? Of them acting in disobedience. You know, what is the first commandment to love the Lord thy God with all their heart, mind and soul, with all your heart, mind and soul. No, I say it there. All your heart, mind and soul, right? So the first commandment, they forgot that and they were forgot, you know, quote unquote, and they were disobedient to it and yet they were doing all these other things and probably pretty satisfied in what they were doing, thinking they were doing a good job. It sounds like they were going through a lot and persevering, but yet they didn't do what God called them to do first and foremost. And he says, number one, repent and number two, there's a consequence if you don't, right? Repent and if not, there's a consequence. Okay, that's coming from Christ himself. And so we see this here that the inverse of obedience, the idea of even slight disobedience. Again, I think this speaks to the Christian, the believer who has, you know, done a lot in the right sense of following the scriptures of believing in the Lord and so forth, right? But there's something missing and they're being tested and they're not passing, right? There's a consequence if they don't repent. And I don't know the consequence exactly and, you know, if I'm honest, I don't exactly know what Christ means by removing their candlestick, but I think of something like death, right? And, you know, probably not eternal death, right? Not the second death. Lord knows who's saved and who's not, but the idea of like the death of the ministry, the death of the church, that maybe the death of their mortal lives and the chance to earn their rewards in heaven, right? These are the consequences of those that are disobedient to God. And you'll hear it said casually often and you'll hear anecdotes. If you spend time around preachers or in the ministry, you'll hear it mentioned this idea of God will just take him home early. You know, that's how it's often put. And I heard an anecdote from a pastor one time, not directly. I heard it on, I think it was on the radio who was telling the story of an individual that knew he was living in sin, knew he was being disobedient, not doing what God called him to do. And the preacher had this conviction, a heavy conviction to confront him about it and they had a conversation. I think it was on the guy's front porch. And he told him, he said, look, you've got to settle this out with the Lord and do what God's calling you to do for it's too late. And the man agreed and said, I know, I know I'm not doing what I should do. And I understand there could be consequence for it. And then like two days later, the guy has a heart attack and dies or something. Totally unusual, wasn't expected out of nowhere. Now, I'm not saying that happens to everyone that's disobedient. You can look around the world and see many people being disobedient and they're still quite healthy, it seems. But God's wisdom and ways are beyond our understanding. And his standard for the born again Christian is much different than for the world. You know, for the world, let them have their two minutes of fun and the scope or two seconds in the scope of eternity because they're going to spend eternity in hell, okay? But for the Christian, the standard is higher. And the standard again is, are you obedient to my call? And if you're obedient to my call, then you will be found faithful. You'll be proven, right? As Abraham was proven, okay? God went for the thing that was most precious to him. He mentions the son that thou love, right? That thing that is most precious to you, God may take that until you to put it on the altar. And you have to have faith that God is preeminent in your life and that he is working something in you for the good and do it. And if you don't, then you again are like the church at Ephesus where Jesus is giving that warning saying, "Hey, you need to repent and there's a consequence." And so there is both a blessing in obedience and a consequence for disobedience. And again, this isn't dealing with salvation. To be saved, we're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. To be saved, we simply believe in Jesus Christ. And then I believe if we believe that Christ died for our sins and across the Calvary, took our sin on his shoulders and died for us, it was risen again. If we believe the simple truth, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 4 describes it. If we believe that, we're saved for an eternity. This isn't dealing with salvation. This is dealing with sanctification. It is dealing with the life of a Christian. It is dealing with a Christian walk. And the idea is, are we obedient to God and expecting a blessing? Or are we disobedient to God and expecting God not to act? Because God will deal with us as he is going to deal with us. But again, the Bible speaks to the Lord, chases who he loves. And if you read Revelation, you see just such patience with Christ. I mean, he's loving to these churches that have fallen into idolatry and wickedness. And he's just saying, please change your ways before it's too late. So God's not got people necessarily on a real short leash. If anything, he's very patient. God knows. But he has a standard that he's wishing for us to upkeep. And we shouldn't test that leash to see how long it is. If you say, Lord, I repent, Lord, help me, right? Just pray today and ask God to help you do what he wants you to do and help you to live in obedience. And the obedience could simply be to continue doing what you're doing. Or the obedience could be to just fix this little thing, whatever it is. It could be something huge. But let's turn to God. As Abraham did, he was available. He was agreeable. He was obedient. He was proven faithful. Let us be called the same by God. Let us live for him and learn this deep truth and receive the blessing that comes with. Great faith in him through obedience because obedience is even greater than sacrifice as we see here. Tune in next time. Take care. God bless. Amen. Thanks for spending time with us today at the Cafe. We would love to hear from you. You can email Brother Clark directly at Clark@EnduringPromise.org. See you again tomorrow. Same time. Same place. [BLANK_AUDIO]
