Series: The Great Faith Adventure

Title: A Faith Tested Can Be Trusted

 

Recap: 

 

1^st Week we looked at Hebrews 11 and discovered what it meant to have faith like Abel and like Enoch.  By faith Abel offered up a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother Cain.  By Faith Enoch steadfastly followed God for 365 years before he was taken up to be with God.

 

Last week we talked about: 

            Faith causes us to Believe in Him 

Faith Comes With Rewards 

Faith causes us to Seek Him 

 

Today we want to examine another hero of the faith. We know him as Abraham.  Abraham’s life was marked by obedience towards God.  While there are several things, we can mention which illustrate Abraham’s faith in God there is one event in history that has established him as one of the greats of the faith.  This event involved the testing of His faith.

 

We can be sure as believers our faith will be tested.  Every test is different than the next.  Some tests are more difficult than others. But every test is designed to bring us from one level of faith to the next.  Therefore, we will experience several tests in the course of our life in an effort to bring us from one level of glory to the next. 

 

Abraham was tested in a way that most of us could not handle. 

 

Hebrews 11:17-19

 

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 

 

Abraham’s test seems to contradict the promise that He received from God.  Let’s look at the promise that God had made to Abraham.

 

            Genesis 17:7-8 & 18-19

 

⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

God vows to be their God, to Give Abraham offspring & to give him the land of Canaan.

 

¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”¹⁹ God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 

 

God would bless the offspring of Abraham and Sarah’s covenant marriage.

 

While Ishmael was man’s attempt to bring about God’s promise, Isaac was the one through whom God would fulfill His promise.   

 

Yet we read in the New Testament about a man named Abraham in the Old Testament who was in the act of offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.  This was the son of promise.  This was the very son that he had longed and prayed for.

 

Let’s be honest, how many of us would have said “Take Ishmael instead.” Don’t take Isaac.  Lord you can have anything but don’t take that one.

 

God had asked Abraham to offer up the son of promise as a sacrifice.  Now Let’s look at the originalstory.

 

Genesis 22:1-8

 

¹ After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 

 

Notice the testing occurs because God allowed it.  Here is where many people lose hope. 

• Isn’t He a God of love.
• Didn’t He make Abraham a promise?
• How could God ask such a thing from Abraham?

 

This kind of thinking comes from one who is carnally minded and not spiritually minded.

            Romans 8:5-8

 

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

The carnal thinking mind attempts to rationalize rather than obey God’s voice.

 

We are not God, but He is.  He alone is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent

 

Abraham had come to know the voice of the Lord.  He was able to decipher between the Lord’s voice and his own thoughts.  If it had been his own thoughts, then he was not obligated to it.  But being it was the Lord’s voice; he could not run from it. Neither did he try to run from the Lord as Jonah had done.  Instead, He surrendered to it.

 

When the Lord called out to him Abraham immediately responded, “Here I am.” Meaning do with me as you please, for you are God, my maker and creator of heaven and earth. 

 

Luke 1:38 “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

 

² He said, “Take 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.” 

 

This seems very unusual and uncharacteristic of the God of the bible.  For the Lord does not delight in human sacrifices.  In fact, later in life when the Israelites were defeated and taken captive by the Babylonians it was because such things existed amongst God’s people.

 

            Jeremiah 19:4-5

 

⁴ Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ⁵ and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—

 

So just know that it was never God’s intention for Abraham to go through with sacrificing his son, it was only a test.  But it was also a picture of what God was willing to do for us by sending us His Son Jesus His one and only begotten Son to die in the place of our sins. 

 

If anyone’s faith was tested Abraham’s faith was tested with greater measure.

 

Part of the testing of Abraham’s faith included going to a place which the Lord had chosen.  For he was not given freedom to sacrifice Isaac at the place of his choosing but of God’s choosing.

The place where Abraham was to offer his son was called the land of Moriah. 

 

Moriah – Chosen by Jehovah. 

 

It was on top of a mountain in Jerusalem.  This is the same place where Solomon’s temple would later be built. 

 

Rabbis have various interpretations of the name one is “the teaching place.”  How fitting of an interpretation as God would teach Abraham a very important lesson about faith and obedience.

 

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.

 

It was approximately 45 miles from Beersheba to Mount Moriah.  It was a 3-day journey and Abraham did not delay but rose early in the morning.

 

And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 

 

On their third day of travelling Abraham had seen Mount Moriah in the distance.  If you have ever travelled through the mountains, you know that you are able to see the mountains for several miles before entering them. 

 

This shows how committed Abraham was to obeying God.  For He knew that he was getting close.   Closer to sacrificing his dearly beloved son.  The mountains were a signal that he was nearing his arrival and the time for his obedience was drawing near.  Much like calvary was for Jesus when He was crucified.  Yet he stayed the course and climbed the mountain.   

 

⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 

 

Against all odds Abraham kept his faith in God.  He knew what God had asked him to do.  He knew that Isaac was to be offered as a burnt offering, yet he declares with his mouth that the two of them would come back after going up the mountain to worship.

 

Abraham was holding on to the promise of God which depended upon Isaac’s survival.  He did not understand how God would do it but knew that He would.  If we go back to our verse in Hebrews, we learn that Abraham thought with certainty that Isaac would die but then God would raise him from the dead. 

 

While we have many examples in the bible of people being raised from the dead Abraham at this point in time had not known of anyone who was raised from the dead.  But He believed that God could indeed bring back Isaac if He had chosen to do so.

 

Abraham was in the middle of his testing season.  He had passed the first part of the test by taking the steps toward the place that God had called him to.  Now it was time for the ultimate test of all test.

 

⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”

 

Imagine the gut-wrenching feeling Abraham must have had at this point.

 And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 

 

Isaac’s knowledge of the elements needed for the sacrifice shows that they had done this together as father and son many times before.  But this was not like all other times. 

 

⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 

 

Amid your testing season it will be necessary to encourage yourself in the faithfulness of God.  The hopethat Abraham had was in his God and that He would provide himself a lamb. 

 

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 

 

Suddenly, Isaac realized that he was going to be the sacrifice.  Could this be God’s way of providing a sacrifice? Though he was young, Isaac’s life was about to come to an end by the hands of his “loving father.”

 

¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. (act of offering) ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 

 

Abraham had passed the test.  You can tell that Abraham had fully committed to the act, for God had to tell him not to lay his hand on the boy. What a sigh of relief for both Abraham who was in the act of offering, and for Isaac who was being offered. 

 

Also, imagine the tears rolling down both of their faces as they embrace each other.  For God had proven to be Abraham’s provider.  What a valuable lesson for both He and his son. 

 

¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

 

Here is the bottom line:

 

Your faith will be tested.  But we have the privilege of reading this story and many more like it to encourage us in our testing.  For we know that He is faithful and will always be faithful. 

 

We can look back and see that God blessed Abraham and his descendants for this one act of obedience.  Because he was willing to lose something that was so dear to him. 

Faith in God is able to sustain us even through the very severe tests that come about.

 

It wasn’t the sacrifice of Isaac God desired; it was Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice. God wasn’t looking for the death of Isaac, God was looking for Abraham to die to every selfish desire so that he could truly say “Lord I am completely yours.

 

This testing of Abraham’s faith teaches us that we must be ready to sacrifice what is dearest to us for the sake of being loyal to God.

 

• Your testing may include parting ways with certain people or things (including social media or tv programs) that either hinder your walk or keep you distracted from fulfilling Gods’ purpose for your life. But like Abraham be willing to do so.

 

            Matthew 19:29

 

²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 

 

• Maybe you’ll be tested with a difficult task. Perhaps God will tell you to do something that seems impossible.

 

• Perhaps He’s trying get you to take a huge step of faith and you don’t know where to begin.

 

• Maybe you’re experiencing a delayed promise, and you are wondering when will God do this or that?

 

• Perhaps you suffer a loss that doesn’t seem to make sense.

 

• Prolonged pain that won’t go away. (spiritually, physically or emotionally)

 

• Picking up your cross and following Jesus

 

It would be impossible to name every test that you may encounter.  But just know that

“A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.”

 

Christianity would never have advanced unless there had been those who counted Christ dearer than all else.

 

Don’t be afraid to trust God with your most prized possession, dreams, or relationships, finances, your children.  Learn from Abraham’s example. Because Abraham was willing to give up everything for God, he received back more than he could have imagined. 

You may not know how God will do it, but can you trust that He will?