WE finished last week, talking about the Life of Abraham with a PROMISE. God had promised Abraham that from His own flesh and blood, He would build for himself a great nation of people…and would give to them the land of Canaan that He had led Abraham to.
There was one little problem. Abraham’s wife, Sarah was barren and could have no children.
But FAITH is not based on the reality of our circumstances, it’s based on believing that GOD can do anything he wants to do.
Jennifer has a quote hanging on the wall above her desk from Oswald Chambers that says, "God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power & resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them"
That is so true. The times when he can’t do anything with us are the times when we feel we’ve got it all under control. If God’s going to do what He wants to do in our lives, we’ve got to stop trusting ourselves, submit our lives to God’s leadership, and start trusting Him!
This morning’s message is entitled "What’s Your Faith Made Of?" because one of the things we don’t really like to think about when we talk about Faith is that in order for our faith muscles to grow, our faith has to be challenged. James says this in James 1.
James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
God had a great challenge for Abraham, and God knew that in order for Abraham to be able to stand with Him when the heat was really on, he’d have to test him along the way.
ILL - Some of you I know are faithful to the Gym. You exercise faithfully, you work your body, because you understand what the rewards will be. You can’t have a nautilus body if all you ever do is sit on the couch!
Here is a Truth that you need to understand. Just as if you were a bodybuilder and had to stretch and test your muscles, if you want strong faith-muscles, your faith will be challenged to see what it’s made of.
Hebrews 11:11-12 - By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Here’s the Background.
Genesis 15:1-6 - After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, [a] your very great reward. [b] " 2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
But God Gave Him a Son! They named him Isaac, which means laughter.
Genesis 21:1-7 - Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
But God Tested Abraham in the most unusual way…
Genesis 22:1-2 - Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Whoa…wait a minute God!................
WHY Would GOD TEST Someone who is already following Him in faith? Because what Abraham had seen so far was just the tip of the iceberg…everything he’d been asked to do up until now was EASY…what was coming would be much more difficult and require much stronger faith.
ILL - In order to get a degree in a particular field from a university or other school, there are requirements for Proving that you’ve learned the curriculum. Tests are necessary for the institution to know that you can now call yourself a doctor, or an engineer, or a architect.
Personally I want my doctor to have passed all those test! My doctor is a new doctor and I looked at his credentials. I wanted to know where he went to school. I wanted to know where he had done his residency. I wouldn’t be happy to find out that he failed "Heart 101" and the school still gave him a degree!
I hate tests. In school I hated the pressure of exams, but you know what? I felt great when I got my grade and learned that I had passed. Sometimes I came away from the test KNOWING that I nailed it! That’s an even greater feeling. Sometimes I realized that even though I thought I was prepared, I wasn’t ready for the test, and I vowed to do better next time.
Testing of your faith is for the purpose of growing you spiritually.
1 Peter 1:6-7 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
It is different than temptation. Some people will say, when temptation comes along that, "God is testing me. But we need to realize that there are some huge differences between the two.
TESTING is intended to Strengthen Your faith…Temptation is design to wreck your faith.
James 1:13-15 - When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
i. When you are tempted to cheat…that’s not God
ii. When you are tempted to curse…that’s not God
iii. When you are tempted to lust…that’s not God
iv. God will not tempt you to Sin in order to test you. There is no evil in Him and his desire is for YOU to be holy, and pure, and righteous. Temptation gives birth to Sin, but God wants to give you Life.
When temptation comes, it comes from one of three places
• Satan
o Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• The World
o I don’t have to explain that. You see it every day. On billboards, and magazines, in everyday conversation.
o How many times have you found yourself in a bad situation because you were with the wrong people? We even say that, "He started running with the wrong crowd"
o That’s code for "The world laid a trap of temptation for Him and he fell right in!"
• The Flesh
o Galatians 5:17 - For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
o John 3:6 - Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
James 1:12 - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
God never wants us to play it safe. If you don’t feel challenged in your faith…if the Christian life seems too easy for you, WATCH OUT!
Genesis 22:3-8 - Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
This is significant. When God was telling Abraham that he would have a child in his old age…Abraham believed God even though he didn’t see HOW God would work all that out. Remember Faith is the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".
NOW, God is saying To Abraham something that makes no sense at all and Abraham is believing God even though he doesn’t know WHY God is doing what He is.
Here’s what Hebrews says:
Hebrews 11:17-19 - By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Notice that verse that Abraham "Reasoned that God Could…" Do you believe that God can? Do you believe what Paul said in Ephesians 3:20 that God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,"
So much of faith is saying “God I have no idea what you are up to…but I commit myself to doing whatever you tell me to do. It may make no sense to me, but I believe you are ABLE!”
Genesis 22:9-13 - When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
I want to be totally honest with you this morning…and say that I don’t know for sure that I could pass that test. There’s not a person in this room that I wouldn’t take a bullet for…but you ask me to sacrifice my child…you’re asking too much.
If Abraham was going to be GOD’s. And if God was going to be able to bless him and make a nation for himself with Abraham as the Patriarch…There could be NOTHING standing between him and God.
But the entire time, Abraham kept assuring Isaac that GOD would provide the lamb for the sacrifice. It was because of His faith that He KNEW that…and because of that he would pass the test.
I know you’re thinking…What the Heck! God, that was extreme! That was a little unnecessary. But there’s a parallel here.
God was revealing to Abraham his plan for the redemption of the world. Abraham, what I’m asking YOU to do for me…is what I plan to do for you!
-Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice - Jesus carried the cross.
-Isaac went up Mount Moriah – Jesus went up Mount Calvary
-Abraham was the one who drew the knife to slay his only son – God himself sent Jesus to the Cross because he knew it was the only way.
-On Abraham’s mountain, God provided a ram that would be the substitute sacrifice for Isaac. On Calvary, Jesus became the substitute sacrifice for you and me.
