When I Lay My Isaac Down

there's such an anointing in this place right now there's such an anointing in power i'm thankful to be in a spirit a spirit-led church led by the holy ghost god's given me a message to preach for this hour this moment in time hallelujah hallelujah would you just reach your hands up one more time toward the heavens um hmm some of you feel like giving up throwing in the towel some of you wonder what god's doing god forsaken you took everything you could do to get in your car and drive to this church today and i've come with a word from the lord i'm going to preach before you sing if you'll bring my altar up would you give these hand this hand to our praise team for leading us while these men are helping me get set up for what i feel to be the launching pad for where i will preach it it's already been stated we're so honored today to have joining the flaherty family the weisner family today as we're going to dedicate in just a little while little miss [name redacted] in the name of jesus we're going to give her and present her back to the lord and before we do i feel like a i feel a word that's going to settle in on every heart not only to to if you're a guest today this this is this is god speaking to you and to everyone in this house and uh we're so thankful that you're here if you have your bibles turn with me to genesis chapter 22. genesis chapter 22 i have i have had this message or thought into my in my spirit for some time now and god would never release me to preach it but while while on vacation this week it was almost every day i woke up god just depositing a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more genesis chapter 22 verse number one and it came to pass after these things that god did tempt abraham and said unto him and he said behold here i am and he said take now thy son thine only son isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of moriah and offer him there a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which i will tell of thee and abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and isaac his son and claimed the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which god had told him then on the third day abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and abraham said unto his young men abide here with the ass and i and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand and a knife they went

both of them together and isaac spoke unto abraham his father and said my father and he said here in my son and he said behold the fire and behold the wood but where is the lamb or a burnt offering and abraham said my son god will provide himself everybody say a lamb for a burnt offering so they went both of them together they came to the place which god had told him and abraham built an altar abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood and abraham stretched forth his hand took the knife to slay the son and the angel of the lord called unto him out of heaven and said abraham abraham he said here am i he said lay not thy hand upon the lad neither do any thing unto him i want everybody to say these words for now i know for now i know that thou fearest god saying that thou has not withheld thy son thine only son from me skip down with me to verse 16 and he said by myself have i sworn saith the lord for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son thy only son that in blessing i will bless thee and in multiplying i will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemy and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed because why thou hath obeyed my voice i want to minister more than preach today i want to minister to you for the next little bit of time from this subject it's the title of a song you may recognize the title that i will give but this song radically changed my life several years ago and the title of my message will be simply this when i lay my isaac down when i lay my isaac down would you join me right now in prayer as we prepare to enter into a special time of the preaching of the word of god today father in the name of jesus god we can do nothing without you without you we are nothing and i'm asking you anoint the lips of clay anoint your servant this morning as i deliver what i feel today would be the word not just a message not a sermon but a word from you in the name of jesus we pray and would you just give the lord one more hand clap of praise all across this building you may be seated no doubt this is a familiar portion of scripture if you've been in or around church sunday school for very long but just in case you haven't i will venture to give you just a slight background of the text in which we have just read we find abraham being asked of god to take his son isaac to be given

as a sacrifice unto the lord but to understand the magnitude of such a request you must go back in time some 25 plus years the historians approximate some 35 to 40 years after the promise of god for abraham and sarah were given a promise abraham at the age of 75 sarah at the age of approximately 65 that you will have a son you will have a promised son even at that late of age now that was still relatively young for people then to still be childbearing at that age however upon the spoken word of god sarah would laugh at what god has said but it was from that moment that abraham would cling to a word from god that i am going to bless you with a son i am going to bless you with a son not just any son but it's going to be one that will literally cause you to be blessed and your seed will multiply well god did not answer the request or god did not answer the promise exactly the way that abraham and sarah thought so at age 86 some 11 years removed from the spoken promise of god to impatient individuals tried to help god along tried to become what i would they called the circumvent the will of god and help god fulfill his promise sarah couldn't have a child so here comes hagar hagar would become the lady that would bring forth a son for abraham but it wasn't the promised son she would bring forth the sun named ishmael and from that day until now one act of obedience has caused a major disruption in the social climate in the world seen that we are experiencing right now just one act of disobedience per se or one act of selfishness but here we find two individuals that have to live with their mistake in the product of ishmael things were never the same once ishmael was born but i stand before you today with a a confirmation and a a fresh remembrance brought to you that god always keeps his promises it does not matter how far you may have fallen how bad or how poor your choices have been god keeps good records of the promises and the words that he has spoken over your life so abraham would live to see the ripe old age of 100 his wife now some 90 years old and here comes the news you're going to be a dad abraham what are you talking about i thought you couldn't have children but sarah remember don't you remember what god promised you that we would have a child and dare on that day they would celebrate the conception of what would be named isaac isaac would come isaac would be born isaac would be the joy of their life yes late in life yes a promise fulfilled but a special young man a special child but somewhere in the portals of gloria god got this unique uh you know i hate to say a sense of humor

but a sense that you know what i'm gonna test abraham and just see how much he loves me he believed my promise he believed the word that i told him he did not laugh you know what i should be kind to abraham and let him enjoy you know the seed of he and sarah but there was something about god the all-knowing all-sufficient all-powerful god that looked down upon this couple and the word of god said that he that god did tempt abraham it was a temptation that abraham had not yet experienced it was a temptation that was brought under his world and into the home into the family of abraham and sarah but abraham's response to the temptation is what brings his story much glory and much gratification to us even today it was the greatest temptation that abraham would ever face it was the temptation do i love my son or do i love my god more than i do my son so the word would come from god go to the mountain and sacrifice your son unto me i can only imagine that long trail that long trek up that mountain to that place and the bible says that he would see it afar off brother paul he would get a glimpse of where he was going afar off i just wonder if his steps got a little slower i just wonder was his eyes a little more keen where is the sacrifice where is the lamb is god really going to call me to sacrifice the blessing that he is so bestowed upon me the longer and the closer they got up they began to leave that valley floor and begin to walk up the side of that steep tall mountain they would get to a point in the journey where isaac would look at dad and say daddy where is the sacrifice where is the lamb that we're going to use to sacrifice unto this one true living god you've taught me about ever since i was born you've told me about hero israel the lord our god is one ever since i was born we have served the lord every sense that i can remember you've told me about the goodness of god and the faithfulness of god and here we are on this journey mom's not with us it's just you and i we've left our servants at the bottom of the mountain but where is the lamb i love abraham's wordage when asked the question you you got the fire here's the wood where is the lamb where's the lamb for the sacrifice and abraham would utter these words in verse number eight my son my son god will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering so they went both of them together they continued in their journey it got to the place they got to the moment of sacrifice and they got to the place that god had spoken and god had chosen for where he would be sacrificed and he lay the wood he laid

the sun i can only imagine the thoughts that was going through isaac you want me up here dad yeah you i thought you said there would be a lamb that would be given i thought you said god was going to produce the lamb am i the lamb am i the am i what am i what god is going to call a lamb and isaac lay there as isaac lay there wood beneath flesh on top abraham reached a point in the journey with he and the lord that nothing would stand between him and his obedience unto the lord there was nothing the very thing that god had blessed them with this precious child nothing was going to stand between the relationship of abraham and god and as he lay there on that altar as he lay there on that altar i can only imagine i can only imagine with knife in his hand looking down into the eyes of the blessing in the eyes of the promise in the eyes of every dream left unfulfilled in the eyes of a future that he had only hoped and dreamed of and god had asked him will you sacrifice the thing that you love will you sacrifice the thing that i have blessed you with in honor of my covenant with me and on that day abraham would take the knife in hand and he would draw back to do almost be unfathomable and he would go to the limits i'm sure of actually making progress toward the child only to hear the words abraham abraham and a pause here here am i i know that voice it sounds like the same voice that told me to do this i'm here i'm here oh abraham abraham if god could shed tears there's no doubt in my mind that tears would be streaming down his face if god had the capacity in the portals of glory to let tears stream down i'm sure that there would be a tear or two that would fall because a mere mortal was willing to sacrifice a son that they had prayed for they had believed for they had journeyed for and through to receive for over 25 years but here is the setting of a man that refused to let the blessing get between he and the blessor he refused to let anything come between he and the lord it would be pinned and i love the way historians say that moses wrote the book of genesis but here is what i like lay not thy hand upon the lad neither do thou anything unto him for now i know does an all-knowing all-seeing god how does he come to a revelation and say these words now i know now i know now i know you mean business abraham when you're willing to lay the blessing on the altar when you're willing to lay your son on the altar and give him to me and withhold nothing and hold nothing back and surrender i know because he knew that in every human

there's a will there's a desire there's a craving there's something on the inside of man that yes he wants us to choose him yes he wants us to live for him yes he wants us to consecrate and give him our everything but at the end of the day our actions convince god and god comes into an understanding and a revelation that now i know that they mean business with me now i know that they they've got their hearts straight they've got their mind straight they've got everything in order now i can bless them now i can use them now i can do what i've always wanted to do but moments like this are often never experienced because we refuse to lay our isaac down we refuse to lay our isaac on the altar and let our relationship truly be pure and undefiled we live life with the blessings of god we live life with the substances of the blessings of god and all along god saying you're all about stuff you're all about things and i'm reaching beyond the things and i'm trying to get beyond the blessings and i want you to get a relationship with the blessor i'm really i'm wanting you to come to understanding that i'm bigger than your son i'm bigger than your daughter i'm bigger than what what abraham did not understand but he does now it's simply this it wasn't isaac that he wanted he wanted him god wanted isaac yeah let me back that up god wanted abraham he really did want isaac and i come to you with a few visuals this morning i come to you this morning and some of you have got an isaac you need to lay on this altar some of you are holding on to isaacs and you're holding them almost as sacred cows you're holding on to them as though that this is going to fulfill you and it's coming between you and your maker it's coming between you and your relationship with god but today in this service today in the service don't let a career get between you and god there comes a time where you've got to lay your career on the altar and say nothing will come between you and me o god nothing will come between you and me oh god our careers become our isaacs i said our careers become our isaacs and we become married and we become so entangled and entwined that we get a career and we take our eyes off of him and god says are you willing to lay down your isaac on this altar and trust me i'm not saying for everybody to go turn in your resignation please don't do that please go to your jobs tomorrow please don't misread what i'm preaching this morning but what i'm saying is don't let this become a distraction between you and god don't let this become the greatest distraction from your family and you being blessed beyond your wildest imaginations your career must be laid down your education

don't let the pursuit of education grip you to a point that you forget the god who blessed you with that wisdom and understanding that blessed you with that ability to advance and to propel yourself when you lay your isaac down when you lay your isaac on the altar something is birthed and formed in you something shifts and changes and then you begin to step into a realm of reality that this life is bigger than what i see it to be this realm is different than what i've achieved there's something beyond the milky way it's something beyond the galaxies that's greater than where where i'm living what i'm comprehending when i lay my isaac down i mentioned it in sunday school and i'll mention it again when we lay our pride on the altar when we lay our pride and i know this is difficult we all have a measure of pride in our lives just take the take the proverbial mask off and come to a fresh understanding that we all have a niche we all have a prideful nature we all have a carnal nature that sooner or later in our relationship with god we've got to lay down our pride on the altar and say god nothing comes between you and i i don't care how much i achieve in this life i don't care what car i drive what house i live in what i do what i become my pride cannot get in the front it cannot get in the way i've got to remain humble i've got to have a spirit of humility that leads and guides me beyond the spirit of pride and i lay my pride my isaac on the altar i set my isaac on the altar when i lay my pride on the altar god begins to reveal into me things god begins to show me servanthood unlike i've ever experienced i began to step into a realm of servitude when i lay my pride on the altar pride has become one of the greatest adversaries in this last day modern church that we need to lay on the altar and come there's no big eyes and little hues in the kingdom of god there's no color in the kingdom of god there's no races in the ki come on somebody it's still red yellow black and white they're all precious in god's sight racism is evil racism is from the pit of hell and we better lay our pride on the altar and say you know what it's not worth me and my family going to hell over my relationship with god is more important i've got to lay my pride on the altar because if pride don't get you i'll tell you one thing that will jealousy'll get you jealousy'll get you and rob you of so many nights of sleep you'll begin to jealous and covet other things that other people have and it robs you of your relationship with them and your relationship with god jealous he's got to be laid on

the altar this morning jealousy come on isaac go to this altar come on isaac leia i don't know if my jell-o i've been a jealous person all my life i've always want always wanted what everybody else had but i've never been willing to work for it so i just operated in a realm of jealousy you hear your pastor this morning you better lay that spirit of jealousy on this altar and let it die because a spirit of jealousy is going to rob you of a of a destined future where not only you're going to be cursed but your kids are going to be cursed you got to say i'll not let jealousy creep into my heart bleed into my children i'm going to rejoice in the blessings of somebody i'm going to rejoice in the provisions of somebody else i'm going to rejoice when my brother's rejoicing i'm going to weep when they're weeping i'm going to rise and be the biggest cheerleader from my brothers and my sisters i'm not going to let a spirit of jealousy i'm not going to let it it's got to go to the altar when i lay my isaac down oh when i lay my pride down when i lay my jealousy down there's something about when i lay for unforgiveness down oh so what they did betray you they did lie on you so they did to jesus too so they talked about you they did jesus too so they they they posted some things on social media well they didn't have social media then but if they would have they would have done to jesus too but unforgiveness will rob you of precious moments precious memories that god's trying to forge and form in you of a bright future the tragedy of today's society in today's church is if we're not careful if we and i speak to my generation if we hold on to unforgiveness and we hold on to unforgiveness to a point it will get in our children it will get in our children it will get in their children and before long the apostolic church has become the most bitter and vile movement in this world will be no different than the world but i say to you this morning we've got to lay unforgiveness as isaac on the altar and say there's nothing worth holding on to yes i've been done wrong yes they've done me wrong but nothing is worth holding back forgiveness that's right i put it on the altar i'll not be consumed with unforgiveness any longer i'll let it go i'll let it go i'll put it behind me i'll let it be the i'll let it be the isaac i lay on the altar today so many i could so many words i could use that would resemble an eye isaac but my last and final is because one last blow devil i'm fishing to put on your head and god's vision to kill some breakthroughs and some families today the year of 2020 has been

a year of pure hell and fighting spiritually not individually spiritually we have took we we have fought spirits it almost seemed happy new year i wonder what we were saying on january 1. i don't know what that was supposed to mean it's been far from a happy new year but i can tell you in the holy ghost what i felt in that prayer room when i prayed this morning and as i prayed this morning at my home i feel one last blow upon the head of satan in some of your homes and in some of your lives and it's for whosoever will that will lay it upon this altar but this one word right now this one word has gripped the heart and the minds of so many people it may seem like it's a word that is so generic but the word addiction has gripped so many and taken so many by force what do you mean pastor an addiction to all manner of things an addiction to substances an addiction i feel like being plain this morning because i want to help somebody and if you're an addiction to perversion an addiction to alcohol an addiction to nicotine an addiction to illicit relationships and immorality and addiction to sexting and texting and addiction to all manner of things that god would not be pleased with it's become an addiction and until the day you admit it it will forever have its claws into your spirit and into your mind but there's power in confession there is power in the liberating word of confession and i've come in the holy ghost one more time to stand as a voice against the powers of iniquity the powers of hell and tell you when you lay once and for all isaac on the altar the isaac of addiction there's going to be something that's liberated in your mind there's going to be something liberated in your heart there's no nicotine there's no spirit there's no wickedness in high places there's no jezebel spirit there's nothing that's going to separate you from the love of christ when you lay your isaac down when you lay your isaac down there's something when you lay it down what you're saying is god i'm willing to give you my everything i'm not into just coming to an altar feeling better i'm talking about killing something at the altar i'm talking about slaying something at the altar that god is providing to be the sacrifice unto him we have come this far we have come to this moment you see the altar you see the place of death you see the place that god desires for addiction unforgiveness jealousy pride education career it may be something totally different to you but something has come in between you and him god's not wanting you he's providing the lamb today what i'm saying he's not wanting you to pay the price he's already paid the price but he is wanting you to bring whatever it is to the altar to the altar to

be sacrificed is there anything that would cause god cause god to hesitate and say these words now i know they mean business is there anything still laying in the lane in your life that i need a microphone is there anything laying in the lane preaching is there anything laying in the lane that would keep you from holding a a microphone standing on this stage leading people to the call of christ is there anything laying in the lane standing between you and the lord that would keep you off of an instrument that would keep you from a pulpit that would keep you from leading in ministry whatever it is whatever it might be there's nothing worth holding on to that god cannot take at an altar and redeem it and be the sacrifice that he's looking for i wonder how many voices today are silent because of secret sin how many voices are silent today because i just can't lay my isaac down i just can't surrender i just can't let go our best sermons have never been preached our greatest evangelists have never preached our greatest singers have never sung our greatest bus route drivers have never drove a bus our greatest outreach directors have never even begun to operate in their calling because they've not been willing to lay their isaac down please come i've carried this sermon message i should say it's not even i told somebody this morning what i was going to preach they said oh i'd like to see your notes on that i said i ain't got a note 1. i said all i know is what i've got in the holy ghost god there's nothing that i withhold from you there's nothing that i won't lay on the altar for you there's nothing that's going to get between you and me i'm laying it all on the line god was simply saying it's not isaac i really want it's you i really want i want you abraham when i get you i've got isaac when i get you i've got it but i just got to get you to get transparent with me i just got to get you to trust me enough that you're willing to lay it down so i can raise you up baby dedications are always a special time here at this church because these are promises that we make unto god and i've said this before and i'll say it again we're going to for the garrett sister ashley we're going to dedicate [name redacted] in just a few minutes but really what we're doing is we're dedicating ourselves unto the lord i said we're dedicating ourselves unto the lord and if i could have right now and then as a corporate we're going to come in social distance but if we could just find a place stretch our hands toward this great family in just a few moments of time we're going to dedicate this precious child into the lord but while in the meantime there are several of you that are going

to find their way to an altar on this side or an altar on that side we're going to leave this front available for family for their family but to my left and to my right i want you to find a place to lay your isaac down if i could have the flaherty and the wisener family and those that have joined with them today for this special day we're going to lay this precious child into the hands of the lord as they're coming right now and they're going to stand in front there's a special presence of the almighty god that's in this place they're coming and there's a special song going to be saying to this precious child