SCRIPTURE: Genesis 22: 1-18
Sermon Title: Faith Problems
By: Anthony Perry Jr.
Most of us are familiar with the story of Abraham and Isaac, but for those who are not I will do a quick summary.
Abraham was called by God to a land that God was going to give him with the promise that his descendents would become a blessing to all humanity. Abraham lived a long life and lived day by day with the promise that God would provide that descendent through Sarah his wife. Now Abraham and Sarah got a little impatient with God looking at their age and situation and thinking about the future made some questionable decisions. They kept trying to make God’s promise come true by other means. It caused Abraham’s life to be full of complicated twists and turns and we find him nearly 100 years old without the promise of the child having being fulfilled.
Sarah had remained barren into old age and God’s promise to Abraham seemed as if it would never be fulfilled. Then God visited Abraham and Sarah and at ninety years she becomes pregnant and Abraham’s faith in God was bolstered and solidified.
I believe that this helped Abraham understand that this child of Promise, Isaac, a child born when all manner of human effort and hope could not help, was utterly given as a gift from God. It was utter proof that God would accomplish all that God had promised to Abraham concerning the promise. Abraham believed that his descendents would inherit the land and that they would become a blessing to all nations of the world.
We join the story at the time when Isaac was a young teen and Abraham and Sarah well beyond a hundred years old. Without going into too much more of the background of the story I want to submit to you the faith problem that Abraham had to face as he walked this three day journey to mountain that God would show him.
Abraham had to come to the realization that he faced a situation where His obedience to God was contrary to the promise that God had given him. He was called to surrender that which God had given and promised him. He was called to willingly lose the gift of Isaac and the promise that that God had attached to him. It was the promise that one day, through him; they would possess the land and be a blessing to the nations of the world.
(SLIDE) In order to let this passage speak to us today, I want to begin by asking this question. What do you do when the situations that enter into your life seem to be contrary to the promises of God?
I am keenly aware of the fact that God claims that He will bless who He decides to bless and He will curse who decides to curse, but as Christians we have been given many promises in the scripture that tell us that God’s grace is sufficient for the day.
For example we are told that God will take care of our needs if we will just seek the kingdom and His righteousness. We are told if we will seek, then we will find, if we will ask we will receive, if we will knock the door will be opened. If we call upon the name of Jesus, believing in our heart that we will be saved, that if we will ask for God’s Holy Spirit to enter into our life it will come, that if we are tired and worn out in life that Christ will give us rest if we take his teachings upon us, and if we will follow Him that we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. It is a formula that tells us if we will hold to these promises, the God of the promise will respond as He has promised.
But Abraham who has been following God all of his life, who had finally received the son of the promise is now asked by the God who fulfilled the promise to sacrifice, to surrender, to give up the promise for God’s sake, just because God ordered it.
I want to tell you that there are some things in our life that we know are the right things to do in the will of God. When we do them it will leave us feeling that if we follow God’s will, then the result will seem contrary to the promises of God given for your life. What do you do when the situations in your life seem to be contrary to the promises of God?
How many of you have ever felt that you have sought the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, but your still struggling to get your needs met? Now I am talking about situations like missionaries called to the mission field that can’t seem to raise the money in order for them to go. What I am not talking about is the wishy-washy Christian who parties and spends wastefully, and then wonders why God isn’t providing for their bills and food.
I am talking about those who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. I’m not talking about the half hearted believer who only remembers God when things get a little rough, or when it’s convenient for them.
I am talking about those who are trying their best, seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness, living to love God and love others and yet the situation in their life seems to be contrary to God’s promises for the believer, especially the promise that God will provide.
The apostle Paul fits nicely in this category. Paul tells us that he was called by God to tell people who are not Jewish about Jesus Christ and what God accomplished for the world through Him. It was a great mission and responsibility. But what did Paul encounter? It wasn’t safety on every side. It wasn’t abundance all the time. It wasn’t happy, happy, joy, joy because everything is running so smooth and life is just great. It was shipwrecks, and hunger, and nakedness, and beatings, and cold, and times where he was robbed and left for dead.
If anyone could say, “Hey, I know this is what God wants for me or desires of me, but I’m starting to feel that the results of my situation are contrary to what God has promised in the scriptures and through Jesus Christ,” then it was Paul.
It’s the kind of situation that makes you feel like Isaac must have felt. All tied up. No way to turn, nowhere to run, and nothing to believe in. The only hope you have is that God will provide. That God will have the knife to cut the ropes that have you all tied up.
(SLIDE) You know the scripture never tells us how Isaac reacted to his dad tying him up. Now I figured one of two things happened. I figure that Isaac either fought him, or Isaac fully surrendered to him. Yeah I know Abraham was an old man and Isaac a young man, but something tells me that Abraham still had some health and strength in him. After all he just made a three day journey on foot just to get here.
Those who believe that God works through all things for the good of those who love him respond in the same two ways. When things are happening that seem contrary to the promises of God, then we respond in one of two ways. We will either try to fight with God, or we will just surrender in faith to the situation. Whether we are a wishy-washy half hearted Christian, or sincerely seeking God in mind, soul, heart, and strength we will respond in one of two ways.
Now let’s look at Abraham. From the scriptures perspective all we see is that Abraham surrendered to God’s command, despite the fact that it was contrary to the promise God had given him that through Isaac the nations of the world would be blessed. God had told Abraham that through Isaac and no other would this promise be fulfilled. We are not told that Abraham struggled with this. We don’t get to hear his thought process. All we hear is his words to Isaac that says, “God will provide the sacrifice.”
One of the main points the scripture teaches us is to walk by faith and not by sight. We are to trust in the character and faithfulness of God. We are to depend upon the promise that God. Now we can just trust God to fulfill His word just as God has promised, despite what we see, experience, and encounter, or we can fight with God.
In all of the church’s history it has always been those stories of faith when the servant of God surrendered whole heartedly despite the circumstances that are some of the most loved and treasured.
One of those stories is about a young Roman by the name of Adrian. Adrian was a Praetorian Guard under Emperor Galerius Maximian and had been a fanatic persecutor of the Christians. But the calmness and courage of those he put to the torture impressed him. Adrian, brave himself, admired bravery. In these Christians he saw heroism greater than any he had seen in battle.
It was the year 280 and Adrian was twenty-eight years old. His skill and daring had led to one promotion after another. Yet, he couldn’t get over his admiration for these followers of Christ.
One day he asked one of the Christians being tortured:
“What gives you such strength and joy in the midst of your sufferings?”
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we believe,” the martyr replied.
Adrian soon made an important decision. One day he stepped up to the heathen judge and declared: “Put down my name among those to be tortured. I also shall become a Christian.”
For twenty-three years after his conversion Adrian suffered much, but he never flinched from his loyalty to Christ. In 303 he was finally killed at Nicomedia. For seventeen centuries he has been recognized by the Catholic Church as the patron-saint of soldiers.
“Put down my name,” was said with true Christian courage.
I believe that one day when we stand on heavenly shores and we ask Adrian, “How in the world did you keep believing in Christ when everything that happened to you seemed contrary to the promises of God?” He’ll say like Abraham. It was easy, because I had faith that God would provide the sacrifice. I had faith that God would provide. It may not be what we think God should provide, but if we believe that God uses all things for the good of those who love him, then we will believe in any situation that God has provided, God is providing, and God will provide all that we have and will ever need for eternity.
What about those of us who come to that place when the situation is contrary to the promises that we have faith in and we want to fight with God about it?
We get to this place and we say, “Lord, you said that you would never put more on us than we could handle, but man, are you getting close.” We may even yell out to God, “Why are you doing this to me?” We try to struggle out of our ropes, we get all worked up, and all stressed out and if we could listen hard enough we might be able to hear God say the same thing to us that he said to Elijah.
Do you remember the story of Elijah? He has just had a great victory over the prophets of Baal and Queen Jezebel has threatened his life, so he gets all stressed out, all worked up, all bent out shape and starts telling God, “I’m the only one left who has any good in him, boo hoo, hoo, hoo.” And God says, “What are you doing here Elijah? I know what’s going on. I’m in control. Now get back in there and do what I have called and enabled you to do.”
Now the greatest lesson that people have to learn is that whether you are fighting with God or submitting freely to God (SLIDE) the result will always be the same. God who is faithful will provide all you need in that situation. You may not see it when you are knee deep in the muck, but God’s in control.
The real question many of us may ask is why?
Let’s look back to Abraham. Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice the promised son Isaac? I will tell you one thing. It is not because God wanted Isaac’s life. It is because God wanted Abraham’s heart. At the center of this is an amazing truth. God does not want his blessings to become an Idol for his people. His promises must not become more important than Him. We must love God for who God is and not for what we can get out of God.
To truly love someone means you are willing to give up everything for that person. To truly love God means that you must be willing to put God above all possessions, all people including family, all status and all things, even when we count them as gifts of God’s blessings for us.
To truly understand God’s love is to come face to face with the fact that despite what may be seen with our own two eyes and experienced in this flesh, we must have a tried and tested faith that knows God is making a way, and providing for the day. We are called to not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow is in God’s hand, but his provision is for this hour, and this day and there is where our thoughts need to rest.
You see our faith is in someone. It is in the living God and Savior of the world. It is a faith that loves and believes God’s love for you is higher, and greater, and wider, than you can ever imagine.
God will show us over and over again that despite the fact that the situation seems contrary to the promises of God, that God is faithful and God does indeed provide.
Tan, Paul Lee: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers. Garland TX : Bible Communications, 1996, c1979
