A Few Good Men &Women
Genesis 22:1-18 (NLT)
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.Three military recruiters were on hand to address a gathering of high school seniors. The recruiters represented different branches of the military: Army, Navy, and Marines and each of was given fifteen minutes to speak.
.The Army and Navy recruiters got a little carried away with their presentations, so when it came time for the Marine to speak, he had just two minutes.
.He walked up and stood utterly silent for a full sixty seconds, half of his time, staring out at the students. Then he said this:
."I doubt whether there are two or three of you in this room who could even cut it in the Marine Corps. But I want to see those two or three immediately in the dining hall when we are dismissed."
.He turned smartly around and sat down. When the students were dismissed, they literally mobbed the Marine requesting applications.
.The recruiting motto of the US Marine Corp’s is: “We’re looking for a few good men”
. In today's society, it should be We're looking for a few good men and women or a few good people.
. Guess what, God is also looking for a few good men and women.
.2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us this:
. 9The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...
. God is looking for a few good people that He can depend on.
. We are back in Genesis this morning and if you remember over these last few months, there have only been a few people that God could depend on.
.Two really stand out up to this point.
. One was Enoch, who the Bible says in Gen. 5:24 that:
Enoch lived 365 years,24walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.
. Enoch walked with God. This wasn’t just a casual walk in the park, but rather an intimate continual relationship with God that ultimately led to his being one of only two people mentioned in Scripture who never died (Elijah was the other one), but instead went immediately into God’s presence.
. The other was Noah. God tells us this in Gen 6:8:
. 8But Noah found favor with the LORD.
. Wickedness was everywhere in the world. It was so bad that God saw fit to destroy mankind, all except Noah and his family. That's because Noah believed God and had faith in Him.
. Then along comes Abraham and he stands head and shoulders above the rest so far.
. Aside from Jesus and Moses, Abraham is probably the most important man in all of scripture.
. Abraham was going to be so significant in God's plan that God sought him out. He gave him promises of land and descendants that would be a blessing to the whole world.
. God promised he was going to make Abraham the father of a great nation and make his name would become great. Abraham would receive a special protection of God and not only was he to be blessed by God, but everybody on earth who would ever be blessed by God, was to blessed because of Abraham.
.How did Abraham rate such an honor?
.Because the eyes of the Lord had run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those who were loyal to Him.
. God saw something in Abraham, He saw his faith.
. Our scripture this morning has been used since it happened as an example of the faith that God is looking for.
. Lets read our scripture. The example of Abrahams faith.
. Genesis 22:1-18
1Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.
2“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.
4On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will jworship there, and then we will come right back.”
6So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together,
7Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together
9When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
10And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.
11At that moment the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.
13Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
14Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.
15Then the angel of the LORD called again to Abraham from heaven.
16“This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that
17I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.
18And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
. We are blessed here today because of Abraham's faith.
. Folks God is still looking for a few good people who will give everything to serve Him.
. In this story we see what God is looking for.
. First and foremost, God is looking for those with:
.FAITH
. Abraham is the model of faith that we have used since Christianity began.
. Romans 4:9 tells us that:
. 9Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.
. Three verses further in here in Romans 4:12 Paul writes this:
12And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had ...
. Faith is what makes us right with God.
. Faith is what makes us Righteous in God's eyes and we exercise that faith through our belief in what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us.
. In the story, Isaac was going to be the sacrifice but God said no, I will provide the sacrifice and He provided the lamb.
. For us, Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all who believe in Him.
. He takes away the sins of the world if they will only accept that sacrifice.
. First and foremost, Abraham had Faith
. The people that God is looking for not only have faith, they:
LISTEN
. They allow God to guide them.
. The story starts out with God calling Abraham and he says yes, here I am Lord.
. What do you want me to do Lord.
. Then God told him what He wanted him to do.
. He said Abraham, remember that son I promised you, I want him.
. I want you to bring him to me and make a sacrifice of him to me.
. Do you remember the TV show called different strokes? It was about a white family that adopted two black males after their mother had passed away
. The two young men were named Willis and Arnold. Arnold was the youngest and when Willis would tell him to do something he didn't want to do, Arnold would look at him and say these memorable words.
. "What you talking about Willis"
. Abraham could have looked at God and said;
. What you talking about God?
. You want me to do what? Don't you remember how long you made Sarah and I wait for this boy and now you want me to kill him?
. I cannot believe what you just told me.
. Most of us today react to God that way. We really don't listen to what He is telling us to do.
. God we don't want to hear that. Don't you know that we have lives to live here. I" m busy Lord.
. I am sure that Abraham was busy. I you read back through Genesis you will find that Abraham was a very rich man with many responsibilities.
. He certainly didn't want to do what God wanted him nor did he have time for it.
. He listened to God though and responded to his call because of his faith.
. Folks, God is looking for those that will listen to his call.
. Abraham not only listened to Gods call, He was;
.Obedient
. You see God is looking for those that will not only listen but those that will also be obedient to his call.
. God told Abraham what He wanted , He told him to sacrifice his son.
. Look at verse 3 again:
3The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.
. Abraham immediately went about doing what God asked him to do.
. He could have said you know Lord, that's not really a priority in my life right now.
. I have all kinds of things I need to do first Lord. If I can squeeze it into my schedule I will work on that sacrifice thing you want me to do.
. No Abraham was obedient to what God had called him to do.
. That's the kind of people God is looking for to grow his kingdom
. Those that have faith in him and will listen to him and will be obedient to what He wants them to do.
. He didn't use Abraham immediately after his call, He molded and shaped Abraham into the person of faith He wanted him to be.
. The first verse tells us that God tested Abraham. He tested Abraham to make sure that his faith was solid and that he would listen and be obedient to his call and then He used him to build a nation. He allowed his son to live and propagate the family whose ancestors helped bring forth the savior of the world Jesus Christ.
. I don't know if you have noticed but all churches say they want to grow. I have never talked with a church that does not say they want to grow the kingdom of God.
. The problems that come up are either many do not have faith in God or they refuse to listen to God and are not obedient to what God tells them to do.
. You see, in order for God to grow the nation of Israel, the Hebrew people, the Jewish people as we call them today, He first had to have a good man to get it started.
. Folks the eyes of the Lord are running to and fro even in our small congregation. Looking for those who will listen and be obedient to his call.
. Will you listen to the call of the Lord today.
.Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
much of the Introduction taken from: Jeff Strite; Abraham-The Hero Of The Faith, sermon central
