The Trial of Faith
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Life is a Journey of Faith
Life is a Journey Filled with Fear
The Goal of the Journey is Jesus
Failing Forward: Hope
Failing Backward: Non Repentance
Through all these messages, we have seen the same thing over and over with Abraham.
Abraham needed to let go of his reins and trust God to fulfill His promises.
As we have watched the life of Abraham, we have noticed the importance of decisions.
Some decisions in your life will determine your physical and spiritual destiny. No matter what decision we make, there will be consequences.
Some consequences will be good, some will be not so good. However, the goal of every result is to bring about the promises and likeness of Jesus Christ our Savior.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
All of us have this same problem. we struggle to trust in the omnipotent - all powerful, omnipresent - all encompassing, omniscient - all knowing God. The Great “I Am”.
As most of us, we have read of Abraham’s good decisions, to leave Ur and follow God, to pitch his tent in Bethel - the House of God, and of the building of altars and sacrifices where Abraham came to God and called upon God.
We have read of his bad choices surrounded around famines and fleeing to Egypt and Gerar, away from God.
Abraham had to live with the delays and consequences of his poor choices on life’s journey.
However, like any believer, He had to learn to walk by faith, to trust God and be willing to Obey God even in difficult circumstances.
I think Lamentations 3:19-26 would be a great scripture to learn. As you look over your life,
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
When our life is filled with misery and affliction and has left a very bitter taste in our mouth,
Remember,
God is a Reliable.
God is a Reliable.
Abraham was called at 75 years of age.
His life journey began with a choice.
Will I follow God or not?
The older he got, the bigger and more challenging the tests that God would allow to stretch and grow his faith.
Decisions in our life become more important while building one upon the other.
Learning from the good and bad decisions is important to help us not repeat the bad decisions and to build our faith our faith in poor decisions that God delivers us from and good decisions to reinforce and build our faith and confidence in God.
At 85, ten long years later of waiting for a child, which we didn’t cover, Abraham and Sarah tried to help God out through Hagar, a handmade he picked up in Egypt. After Ishmael was born, God reminded Abraham and Sarah they would have a child. Not another 14 years go by and still no child.
Isaac was Abrahams Past his Prime son.
Isaac was Abrahams Past his Prime son.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Isaac was Abraham’s Promised Son.
Isaac was Abraham’s Promised Son.
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Isaac was Abraham’s Prophetic Son.
Isaac was Abraham’s Prophetic Son.
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
They have been waiting 25 years now Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90 and finally they have their child named Isaac.
Notice Gen 21:1-5
1 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Despite all the lies because of fear, Despite the attempt to fulfill God’s promise though Hagar.
God is Faithful regarding His promises.
However, Abraham’s greatest test of Faith, Trusting and Obeying God, was still yet to come.
True Faith is Always Rigorously Tested.
True Faith is Always Rigorously Tested.
Faith that is never tested is not a faith at all!
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Wow, can you even imagine.
This is gonna be a hard test for Abraham.
The journey Abraham was to travel was some 45-50 miles and take 3 days to arrive.
Imagine just for a moment, every step, every mile, every hour, every day must have gut wrenching for Abraham.
The thoughts:
How would this work out?
What exactly will happen?
However, Abraham believed and trusted God.
Abraham was fully convinced in his heart that he and Isaac would return together from sacrificing to the Lord.
Notice quickly some things about how his faith has grown.
True Faith Responds Immediately.
True Faith Responds Immediately.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Abraham responded immediately.
Abraham had reverence and dedication to God.
Abraham had come to the point that he actually believed God could do anything.
Notice the phrase, “we will go an worship and come again to you.”
Abraham had already put Isaac to death before he ever left home.
This is the secret to your life journey of faith. You need a mind that is absolutely yielded to the Lord and ready at once to surrender to HIm!
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We will also see the faith of Abraham in the phrase coming up, “God himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering”.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Do you think God knows what He is doing?
Do you think God has a plan?
Do you think God knows the details of the plan?
Do you have faith in the promises of God?
Do you have faith even when you do not know all the details?
This is where Abraham had finally gotten in his life journey and this is the place where we need to get also.
Abraham has now come to a place where not only is Abraham trusting God but Abraham is trusting God with his family, especially his only promised son, Isaac.
They would return.
I believe, this is a test of faith, but I also believe it is a test for his love for God.
A choice between loving his son and loving God.
Notice,
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Notice, in the New Testament the words of Christ.
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Abraham needed to let go and let God be God.
Go back to the promises.
For Abraham and Sarah to be the parents of a great nation, Isaac needed to be alive.
Therefore, one of two things had to happen.
God would need to raise Isaac from the dead, or
God would need to provide a sacrifice.
What did God do?
True Faith is Rewarded by God.
True Faith is Rewarded by God.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
When we respond to God in absolute trust and faith, God gets the Glory and God Blesses.
God honors faith, because true faith honors God!
Faith is the key ingredient that makes all the difference between worry and winning, struggling and succeeding, tragedy and triumph.
Faith is the key to victory in the Christian life.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
True Faith is a Role
True Faith is a Role
Faith, just like love is seen in our actions and is from the heart.
Abraham’s actions spoke for his feelings.
The lad and I will go.
We will worship.
We will return.
Abraham journeyed 3 days to the place of sacrifice.
Abraham bound his son and placed him on the altar.
Abraham raised the knife to complete the sacrifice.
but God stopped him.
God provided a Ram.
Today, we saw Abraham’s Faith Tested and Rewarded but for just a moment, I want us to look at Isaac, because Isaac is portrait of Jesus Christ through and through.
Both were an only Son. John 3:16
Both were a promised Son. Genesis 3:15; Luke 1:31
Both were a prophesied Son. Genesis 3:15; Luke 1:32
Both were obedient to the Father’s will. Luke 22:42
Both carried their own wood. John 19:17
Both prayed to the Father. Luke 22:42
Both willingly surrendered to the appointed sacrifice. John 10:18; Isa 53:7
Both chosen 3 days in advance to be sacrificed. Matt 21:8-9
Both Raised from Death. Heb 11::17-19; Matt 28:1-6
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
Here, we learn a name for God. Jehovah-Jireh, meaning “it shall be seen”, or the Lord will provide.
And boy did He.
He provided a ram, a substitute sacrifice for Isaac.
We come now to Mount Moriah or as known in the New Testament, Golgatha or Mt. Calvary.
Abraham walked up one side of the mountain with pain, heartache, grief, sorrow, dread, death, and brokenness, but once he got to the pinnacle, he came down with provision, healing, glory, salvation, delight, deliverence, and blessing.
God is still on the top of the mountain where He was crucified to provide everything you ever need for this life and the next.
If your faith is real, it will be tested. Everyday you make decisions. But rest assured, that Jesus is and has all you need to have the victory in your life.
You just need to have FAITH!
Have you trusted Jesus for your Salvation?
He climbed Mt. Calvary carrying His cross and your sins. He died, becoming the sacrifice needed to save your soul. and when He cried, “it is finished” he fulfilled everything that was needed to give you life, liberty, and the pursuit of blessings.
The only question is,
Will You Have Faith?
