“Living by Faith”
Scripture Reading: Genesis 21:1-7
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
Two months ago, I preached the first in a series of lessons called “Mountain Top Experiences” with a sermon on “Noah’s New Beginning” on the mountains of Ararat after the flood. This morning I want to continue this series with one from Mount Moriah. This mount is mentioned once in the Bible – in 2 Chronicles 3:1 – Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. The Hebrew word “Moriah” literally means “chosen by Jehovah” and appears one other time in scripture in conjunction with our lesson this morning. Our sermon is entitled “Living by Faith” and I hope you’ll open your Bibles as we look at one of the most interesting challenges a man ever faced – on Mount Moriah. We are going to use his example to demonstrate how we can live by faith with four components. Please be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search your Bibles daily to make sure I’ve preached the truth.
III. Lesson
A few moments ago, our text was read from Genesis 21:1-7 where we learn that 90-year old Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old when his son was born but our story really begins much earlier – in Genesis 12:1-3 –Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This last phrase was fulfilled in Christ as a descendant of Abraham – Acts 3:25-26. But that’s a lesson for another day. This morning we want to turn over to Genesis 22:1-2 and read of the challenge Abraham faced: Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” The first component of living by faith is a command. In order to test Abraham, God commanded him to offer his son as a burnt offering – a human sacrifice. He commands him to do this on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah which many scholars interpret to be the same Mount Moriah upon which Solomon built the temple. Isaac was the son of promise – through whom Abraham would become a great nation. You may recall Abraham and Sarah tried to help God out with a child by Hagar – but Ishmael was cast out because he was not the legitimate heir. Can you imagine God commanding you to sacrifice your son? Thankfully, we are not commanded to make such an offering! However, can you think of some of the other things God has commanded us to do? To follow the golden rule? To love our enemies? To be kind to one another? To meet on the first day of the week to worship God and remember His Son’s death? We obey these commands by faith because this is what God has told us to do. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. A good example of this is found in the first offerings by Cain and Abel. God did not respect Cain and his offering of the fruit of the ground but He respected Abel and his offering of the firstborn of his flock and their fat (Genesis 4:3-5). The big question is “Why?” until we read Hebrews 11:4 – By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. God had surely told these brothers what kind of offering He desired because Abel made his offering by faith. Lest there be any doubt about my conclusion, notice also 1 John 3:12 – not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. God has commanded us to do many things as a way of living and we do them by faith. The next component of living by faith is found in verses 3-8 of Genesis 22: So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. When you and I have an unpleasant task to do, what do we tend to do? Procrastinate – put it off as long as we can. Notice Abraham rose early and made all the preparations for what he was commanded to do. I believe it was because he had the courage to obey God – no matter what the command or the consequences. The journey from Beersheba to what is now Jerusalem would take about 20 hours to walk and Abraham wasted no time beginning this journey. With Isaac and two servants, Abraham arrived in the land of Moriah on the third day. As he leaves his two young men behind, Abraham gives these instructions: “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” He classifies the sacrifice of his son as worship but indicates both he and Isaac will return. It took a lot of courage to make that final climb up the slopes of Mount Moriah – a trip to end with the slaying of his son. Abraham had to have courage when he left Ur of the Chaldees not knowing where he was going. But that was nothing compared to that needed to sacrifice his son. I can only think of Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. We now come to the third component of living by faith found in verses 9-14: Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” With a command from the Lord and courage to make the journey to Mount Moriah, it took confidence for Abraham to actually stretch out his hand and take the knife to slay his son Isaac. While the 11th chapter of Hebrews defines faith with multiple examples, notice verses 17-19 in particular: By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Knowing the promises God had made to him concerning Isaac, Abraham had confidence that God could somehow keep those promises – even if Isaac was dead. When we live by faith, we will have confidence in God’s promises just like the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12 – For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. Finally, we come to the fourth component of living by faith in verses 15-19: Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son – blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. When we are living by faith, we will receive a commendation for obeying our Lord’s commands. I am reminded of the parable of the talents – of the five and two talent servants who doubled their lord’s investments. When it was time to settle accounts with them, he had these words of commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
For the past few minutes, we have looked at Abraham’s mountain top experience on Mount Moriah. Hopefully, we have seen four components of living by faith in his example. While God will not test us by requiring us to make a burnt offering of one of our children, our faith is constantly being tested in a variety of ways. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:6-9 and let’s read about our faith being tested: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls. There’s a lot at stake in living by faith – our salvation. I’m going to quickly give you the four components again with a New Testament passage to go along with each one. To live by faith, we must first heed our Lord’s commands. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). We can have courage because we are not alone. You’ll remember the words about making disciples in Matthew 28:20 – “teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And, one more to go along with that from Romans 8:31 – “If God is for us, who can be against us?” When we live by faith, we can have confidence. Listen to the familiar words of Romans 8:35-39 – Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Finally, there is a commendation for the faithful – Revelation 2:10 – “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The question for us this morning is “Are we living by faith?” Before we offer the Lord’s invitation, I’d like to read Galatians 3:26-29 to tie it in a little more closely with the life of Abraham: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
It begins with our belief in Jesus as God’s only begotten Son – John 3:16. But faith alone will not get us to heaven. It must be accompanied by obedience as Abraham demonstrated – “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (James 2:20-21) So what must we do? Those Jewish believers on the Day of Pentecost were told in Acts 2:38 to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. I can’t tell you anything different this morning. If you need to put on Christ in baptism or if you’ve failed to remain faithful to your Lord and Savior, won’t you come as together we stand and sing?
