Faith Full Surrender

Introduction -Take your Bibles this morning and turn to Hebrews chapter 11. I would like for us to consider this morning one of the most powerful records given to us in the Old Testament.

As we turn there, it is needful that we remember that God has given us in this passage records of those who followed Him by faith.

These who are recorded here, dealt with the difficulties of life, just like we do.

And through those difficulties they demonstrated how God works in our lives.

And I would say further, that these folks are even more remarkable for their faith because of their limited resources.

What I mean by that is this is— When I read Hebrews 11, I realize that these are Old Testament figures did not have:

(1) The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and

(2) They did not have the completed canon of Scripture, and

(3) They did not have had a vibrant local church to be a part of—

And yet, in spite of their limited resources, they demonstrated such wonderful and commendable faith.

I tell you I am challenged by that truth, because God has given me so much.

I am reminded of the cautionary words of the Lord in Luke 12 and verse 48, that “…unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”

And I can testify this morning that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us so much.

As you study this chapter— there are two individuals who are emphasized and also are found in a significant volume of Scripture in the Old Testament.

Now I understand that Joseph—is recorded in a great portion of Genesis (13 chapters, Genesis 37-50)

And I understand that Noah is recorded in a great portion of Scripture (Genesis 5-10).

We could mention Samson and David and Samuel as well — mentioned in verse 32 of this chapter.

But in this chapter we see in verses 8-18, we see Abraham and his family are spoken about and then in verses 23-30, we have Moses and his family mentioned. (That is almost half of the entire chapter — 17 verses).

Can I just make a simple observation about these two men before we read our text?

The Bible mentioned Abraham’s immediate family in verses 9,11, and 20.

And the Bible also mentions Moses’ immediate family in verse 23.

And I just want to encourage you that God has designed our families to serve Him together.

Families are important to God.

And a family that serves the Lord together— will make the family of God stronger.

It is a powerful thing— when Moms and Dads — sons and daughters—- husbands and wives are serving the Lord together—- when they are of the same mind.

I believe this is the way God would have us to be….

But can I say also, if that is not your situation, I would encourage you to do two things.

(1) Pray for your family.

But then also, you must:

(2) Demonstrate a godly vibrant life with Jesus Christ.

If you will live your life with those two things in mind— you will have a great impact on those around you.

Moses’ parents and family prepared Him to walk away from the riches of Egypt (Hebrews 11:23-24).

Abraham’s testimony and life generationally affected Isaac and Jacob (Hebrews 11:17-22).

Today, we are going to look at Abraham and perhaps one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament concerning faith.

Look with me at verse 17.

Hebrews 11:17–19 “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

I would like for us to consider the thought this morning- the Faith Full Surrender To God.

Let’s pray.

I cannot think of a more pointed narrative in the Old Testament that represents the Lord Jesus Christ more than the offering of Issac upon the mountaintop by Abraham.

I do not know if there is any way for you and I to exactly identify with that experience.

I do know this, that Abraham— in obeying the Lord, demonstrated as near as humanely possible, what God the Father did in giving His Son Jesus Christ for us.

And I do know this, that it seems there is nothing more precious in all the world than that of the child-parent relationship.

It is by this relationship, that we can even conceive of what God has revealed to us about His triune nature, God the Father and God the Son.

This message of surrender however, is at the end of many faith steps in the life of Abraham.

I hope you understand this morning that God is leading you somewhere.

Sometimes we forget that this is the case… we belief we are just aimlessly wandering in this life.

And perhaps you are drifting from the path the Lord would you to be on… I pray that is not the case.

But we want to live according to His guidance and His purposes.

The Psalmist declared, which should be the cry of our heart, in Psalm 25:5 “5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: For thou art the God of my salvation; On thee do I wait all the day.”

Equally Psalm 37:5 tells us, “5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Here in this chapter, we see summed up in the life of Abraham, first of all :

I. Faith That Answered

I hope you understand this morning that there are always steps before us to take as a Christian.

You see God ultimately has a destination for each one of us as his children.

And He is calling us forward in steps of faith and so we make note of these beginning steps of Abraham before we arrive in versus 17 through 19.

Look at it with me in verse 8.

Hebrews 11:8 “8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”

Now we have looked at this verse before in the sermon, entitled, Faithful Obedience, but I would like to just give you three points about Abraham’s Faith that answered.

A. God Calls

You can see in this verse - the expression “…when he was called…”

Abraham’s faith that answered was a result of God’s call upon His life.

See God is calling you forward and He's calling me forward into a life of faith toward him.

Every child of God is called.

Romans 8:30 tells us, “30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

You see, if you are a child of God— you have been called by God to walk with Him.

You might ask the Pastor, What am I to do with my life?

I can give you a simple answer this morning— walk with God.

Remember the Bible tells us about faithful Enoch in Genesis 5:24 “24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

Boy what a testimony!

I will tell you that God has something for you to do. There's no doubt about it.

There's a reason why God has you here.

And the greatest pursuit of your life will be the discovery of what God has for you to do.

Can I say further not only does God call us, but God commands us.

B. God Commands

Along with the call upon Abraham's life and His faith that answered, we see that Abraham was given a command.

You see it there and verse number eight it says “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; …”

Listen God did not save you to just wait around until He returns, but rather God saved you to bring glory to Him.

This command is given to every child of God in Matthew 5:16 “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

It's the most marvelous thing in the world the fact that you and I get to serve Almighty God.

We get to take part of what He is doing in this world.

And this was the same for Abraham— He was called to go to a place God had something for him to do.

In Abraham’s answer of faith we see not only does God call us, He command us— but ultimately God is conforming us.

C. God Conforms

If you want to know whether or not you are walking by faith with the Lord, all of these things will be true.

Ultimately God is working in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ.

The goal in the Christian life is not to be like brother so-and-so or sister so and so.

The goal in the Christian life is to be like our Savior.

It is to follow after His lead is to follow after His example.

It is to walk with God as Enoch did.

If you had to say what was going on in Abraham's life?

This is what was taking place: God called Him, God commanded Him, God was conforming Him.

And every one of us are somewhere along the process of conformity to Christ.

Illustration - If we could mark somewhere in the room and say over there is conformity in Christ, Where are we in this process?

So in this matter of the faith full surrender we see faith that answered, but notice, secondly there is:

II. Faith That Abided

Verse number 9 tells us, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

This really is an apt description of you and I if you think about it… This place is not our true home—- we are sojourning in this world.

One of the most convicting things about Abraham’s Faith Full surrender is His record is marked by a-lot of waiting!

How many by raise of hand this morning— would say Pastor I love to wait?

The truth of the matter is sometimes it may seem like you're just waiting.

Sometimes in the Christian life, it may seem like you're waiting upon the Lord.

Did you know this that the Lord is doing a great work in your life even in your waiting upon him?

Now I am not talking about simply sitting around doing nothing, but what I am speaking of is waiting on the Lord to direct your path… to open some door… to guide your life… or even waiting for the Lord to exercise some great victory.

The Bible tells us of the personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8:34–35 one of the waiting verses in the Bible tells us this“34 Blessed is the man that heareth me [speaking about wisdom], Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, And shall obtain favour of the Lord.”

We understand that all the treasures of wisdom are found in the Lord—-

Listen, I don't have to go to Google to find wisdom or ChatGPT. I can look to the Lord because He possesses all wisdom.

In fact I will tell you in those other places you're gonna find a lot of worldly wisdom, but if you want, godly wisdom, you wait upon Christ.

Abraham, waited upon the Lord for the fulfillment of His promise.

Can I encourage you about this matter of waiting…Abraham also struggled with this matter of waiting?

This is what I love so much about the Bible, and the record of these giants of faith, because God shows us that these were men just like you and I they had difficulty and their struggles of faith.

In fact, look with me in Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:1–3 “1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”

God had promised Abraham a child and He was struggling waiting on the Lord.

It would not be until chapter 17 verse number 21 that Abraham would understand within a year that he would have this promised child.

In Genesis 16, in spite of God’s promise we have the incident of Sarah and Hagar which resulted in the birth of Ishmael…At that time, Abraham was 85.

I'm just simply trying to say that there's periods of waiting along the way in which the Lord is doing a conforming work in our lives.

His design is for us to trust him even more; to walk with him even more and prepare us for what is coming next.

I like the prayer of the Psalmist found in Psalm 62:5 “5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; For my expectation is from him.”

Leading up to this amazing record we see Abraham’s Faith that Answered, we see Abraham’s Faith in Abiding, and now—God has brought Abraham to a place of:

III. Faith That Ascended

Everything we find recorded in Hebrews chapter number 11 concerning Abraham is really a precursor to this moment in Hebrews chapter number 11 verse number 17.

In other words and Genesis chapter number 12 there's absolutely no way that Abraham would be prepared for the trying of his faith that occurs in Genesis chapter number 22.

If you will take time to look back at your life as well, you will discover — that along your life in Christ, God has brought you from one point of growth to another.

Look with me in the first verse of Genesis 22.

Genesis 22:1 “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.”

This is the record of what we find in Hebrews 11:17.

Hebrews 11:17 “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,”

This is the great trial of Abraham’s faith. This is the final examine if you will.

And I believe this, that God is bringing every one of us to a moment like this….

We might call it ‘the great surrender.’

We might call it ‘the great measure of our faith.’

See the question this morning is twofold.

What are you willing to surrender to the Lord?

Perhaps Abraham had gotten to the place where he believed to get surrendered everything he could possibly surrender to the Lord he had stepped out by faith and left his home. Abraham sojourned in the land of promise — He waiting upon the Lord for Isaac— but that leads to the second question.

What are unwilling to surrender to the Lord?

I believe if we are honest with ourselves this morning, there are certain things we are holding onto in our lives… we are afraid to let go of or afraid to give to the Lord.

Now God asked Abraham to give His Son. But what is God asking you to give to Him this morning?

- Maybe it is about your career.

- Maybe it is about your family.

- Maybe it is about your children.

- Maybe it is about your spouse.

- Maybe it is about some infirmity of flesh.

There are some many things in our lives—- that we become possessive of— and we take a hold like a child and say ‘mine…’

Maybe the Lord is bringing you to the test of your life… it is the great trial of your faith.

And the Lord says—- will you give me your health….?

And the Lord says, “Do you trust me with your family?”

The Lord says, Will you allow me to pick your career?

Will you wait on me for a spouse?

And now here Abraham is 25 years after the original promise—- he waited all that time for the promised son Isaac and now God tells him verse number two of chapter number 22:

“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.”

I believe in the following verses you and I can understand the steps of a faith full surrender to the Lord.

Are you ready for them?

In verse 1, we recognize, that Abraham was available to the Lord.

A. Abraham Was Available

Notice the last four words of verse 1.

“Behold, here I am.”

Did you know that you and I will never get to the place God wants us to be without being available to Him?

Let me ask the question, Are you willing to listen to the counsel of Scripture?

Are you willing to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

I have known folks in times past who have made the statement, “We know what the Bible says, but this is the way we want to go.”

The key word in both of those questions is the word ‘listen.’

Availability means not only listening, but responding.

Abraham responded to let the Lord know He was available.

Some are not open to the Word of God, because they are afraid of what God is going to ask them to do.

Some are not open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit because they are afraid of what God may ask them to do.

Abraham, simply said, Behold Here I am.

And perhaps this morning— you and I just need to repeat those words with a heart full of faith toward the Lord—- Behold, here I am.

If we are going to surrender to the Lord we must be available to the Lord.

So step 1— is to be Available to the Lord.

Step 2-

B. Abraham was Accepting

The Bible tells us in verse 3,

Genesis 22:3 “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.”

His acceptance is demonstrated in His obedience. Alot of folks speak much about trusting the Lord, but their obedience will demonstrate the reality of that trust.

Can I tell you that the small steps of obedience will lead to large victory of faith?

Notice in the passage with several things.

Abraham rose up early in the morning.

Abraham clave the wood.

Abraham got together what was needed for the sacrifice, the knife, and the ability to kindle fire…

Abraham had to set aside provision for the trip.

Abraham took his servants—and his son.

Abraham gathered all of these things and Isaac and Him headed up the mountain.

All of these were steps of faith — small steps of faith that would lead to a final moment of surrender unto the Lord.

And can I say, just reading between the lines, there must have been some wrestling inside of Abraham himself those three nights it took them to arrive at Mount Moriah.

Abraham was not only 1-Available, 2-Accepting, but notice thirdly,

C. Abraham was Assured

A crucial step in our forward movement of faith is for you and I to stand up upon what we know about our God.

Some are lacking in victory this morning, because they know very little about the Lord…

Abraham, was already available. He was accepting.

But we read something very interesting in verse number 19 of Hebrews chapter 11.

Abraham was “Accounting that God was able to raise him [Isaac] up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

In other words, Abraham assured Himself, based on what He already believed about God.

In verse 18, God emphasizes the fact that Abraham understood that all of His promises to Him were bound up in Isaac.

We have to admit we do not surrender to the Lord it is because we do not trust the Lord.

We should be challenged by the statement of Job in Job 13:15 “15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: But I will maintain mine own ways before him.”

How could Abraham take His only Son Isaac, and sacrifice Him as God had asked?

I cannot imagine going through a trial of faith.

But in the book of Hebrews, we are given insight to His faith.

He believed, that in spite of what God was asking Him to do— He would still keep His promise.

This is the moment of surrender, when we are assured in our hearts of the goodness and grace and power of our God, when we realize and hold on to the truth that our God is able, then we can by faith say to the Lord — I trust you.

Really it comes down to this,

Have we come to the place where we trust the Lord, not just with some things, but with everything?

Which brings us to the final point, Abraham was available, He was accepting of God’s trial of faith, Abraham was assured by His knowledge of God and finally we see that:

D. Abraham was All-In

Abraham did not just surrender Isaac that day. I believe Abraham surrendered Himself. In verse 17, the Bible tells us not that Abraham was offering Isaac, but rather that Abraham offered— as a completed act.

I know and believe that God was working in the life of Isaac that day as well for Isaac was a grown young man. He could've resisted, but yet he got down on the altar himself, but I believe that God was after Abraham.

You see we find Abraham recorded in Hebrews chapter number 11 the Hall of Faith for this very moment and when he gave his only son.

We do not read about Isaac laying down on the altar although that did take place.

Notice the words of the Lord verse number 11 verse number 12 “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.”

Now looked with me at first number 16 “And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which isupon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

Friend, did you know this that God wants to bless you in such a magnificent way

He wants to use you and such a magnificent way.

But it's going to take you and I come into the place of a faithful surrender.

Abraham was available. Abraham was accepting of what God said. Abraham was assured of what he knew about God and lastly, Abraham came to the place where he was all in.

Can I ask a simple question this morning?

Are you all in?

Is there an area of your life that you have not surrendered to the Lord?Maybe there is something particular that's troubling you this day you need to come to this altar and say Lord I'm tired of trying to figure it out myself I just wanna give it to you?

I don't know what that could be in your life.

Perhaps you are here this morning you need to deal with the first things—- God's call upon your life.

Or maybe you are in a waiting period, I would encourage you to can come and ask the Lord for strength as you wait upon him.

Lastly, maybe you are like Abraham—- you are in the midst of the pinnacle testing of your faith...

This is a major point in your life, and God is calling you to surrender— the most important thing in your life——

Why don’t you come and tell the Lord— you are all-in.