Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Get Attention:
Illustration - Final Exams
Raise Need:
We need to understand how the tests that God bring into our lives help us pass the faith once delivered down to following generations
Orient Theme:
God tested Abraham by commanding him to offer the son of promise as a human sacrifice
Because Abraham feared God above all, he brought salvation not only to his son but also to the whole world through his son
Through your own fear of God, and obedient full worship of Him, others too my find salvation through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world.
State Purpose:
Understand - the importance of your walk in the Fear of the Lord
Obey - be willing to lay down anything for God, no matter how irrational or impossible it may appear
Be willing to carry the cross for Christ, that others may Him in your life
Main Thought:
Carrying our cross for Christ helps others see Jesus in our lives, and prayerfully leads them to receive Him as the sacrifice for sins in their own life.
Sub-Introduction:
Connecting Context:
Abraham’s faith journey began well.
He (as Abram) obeyed God’s call to pack his bags and head into the unknown.
Though he and his wife were well advanced in years, Abraham trusted that God would somehow make them into a great nation—a nation through which all nations would be blessed.
But Abraham’s journey was not easy, and his faith showed fault lines at multiple points.
Twice Abraham tried to save his own skin by passing his wife off as his sister—once to the Pharaoh of Egypt (Genesis 12) and once to the king of Gerar (Genesis 20).
Abraham tried to engineer the fulfillment of God’s promise of offspring by fathering a child through his wife’s handmaid, Hagar (Genesis 16).
Some students think that the decision to bring along Lot, the son of Abraham’s deceased brother, was Abraham’s attempt to ensure offspring in a legal sense.
These mistakes blew up in Abraham’s face.
Even so, God did not forsake him.
Instead, God gently taught Abraham the lessons he needed to learn along the way.
But did Abraham truly learn from these lessons, or did Abraham merely harden his heart?
Since God had kept His promise of providing Abraham with a son through his aged wife, Sarah (Genesis 21:1–7), would Abraham trust God in an ultimate test?
[Ronald L. Nickelson and Jonathan Underwood, eds., The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2011–2012 (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 2011), 138–139.]
I. God Sometimes Gives Tests (Gen.
22:1-2)
A. The Test Announced (Gen.
22:1).
State Point -
Moses announces that God would now tempt Abraham
Explain Point -
[Apply Point] -
When we use the word tempt today, we often associate it with leading someone astray or enticing him or her to do something sinful.
This is clearly not what God is doing with Abraham.
James 1:13 makes clear that God does not tempt anyone to sin.
The Hebrew underneath the translation tempt is also translated “prove” in numerous instances (examples Exodus 16:4; 20:20), and that is the sense here.
The idea is that of proving the worth of something by testing.
Hebrews 11:17 supports this in saying that Abraham “was tried.”
We can be sure that God is testing Abraham for the man’s own good.
This verse also introduces a phrase found three times in this chapter: Here I am (or “Here am I”).
Though the phrase itself is not extraordinary, its repetition draws special attention to three crucial moments when Abraham responds to being addressed.
The other two references are in Genesis 22:7, 11. [John C. Nugent et al., “The Lord Will Provide,” in The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2017–2018, ed.
Jim Eichenberger et al., vol.
65 (Colorado Springs, CO: Standard Publishing, 2018), 235.]
B. The Test Administered (Gen.
22:2).
State Point -
God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
Explain Point -
God makes clear throughout the Old Testament that He vehemently opposes this practice (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2–5; 2 Kings 16:2, 3; Jeremiah 32:35).
[John C. Nugent et al., “The Lord Will Provide,” in The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2017–2018, ed.
Jim Eichenberger et al., vol.
65 (Colorado Springs, CO: Standard Publishing, 2018), 235–236.]
Note - Three Views:
Some play it down by emphasizing that human sacrifice was a common custom.
Some say God only expected him to dedicate Isaac completely, not literally sacrifice him.
The truth is God commanded an actual human sacrifice, and Abraham fully intended to obey Him.
[Apply Point] -
The Value of Testing
In 1921, traffic fatalities in the United States occurred at the rate of 24.09 deaths per million miles traveled.
In 2014, the rate had dropped to 1.08 fatalities per million miles traveled.
What made the difference?
Stated simply: better cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began doing crash tests in 1979.
We’ve all seen those tests on TV or the Internet, with the cars crumpling under various types of impacts and the crash-test dummies flailing about.
As car makers began responding to government regulations based on these tests, seat belts, air bags, and better car construction have resulted in drastic reductions in fatalities and serious injuries.
Abraham didn’t know whether he had enough faith to follow God’s leading until he was tested.
That’s the purpose of testing: to discover strengths and weaknesses.
Trust in God helps us build on the former and minimize the effects of the latter, even if we don’t understand at the moment why we are being tested.
Should we look forward to testing or dread it?
—C.
R. B. [John C. Nugent et al., “The Lord Will Provide,” in The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2017–2018, ed.
Jim Eichenberger et al., vol.
65 (Colorado Springs, CO: Standard Publishing, 2018), 236.]
Application:
Abraham discovered that God’s tests are not always predictable: we must face life’s tests as they come.
Abraham failed in some of his earlier tests, but his faith grew.
When the test in today’s lesson came, the depth of his faith was clear.
Each moral test we pass makes us stronger and prepares us to pass whatever tests still lie ahead.
[Ronald L. Nickelson and Jonathan Underwood, eds., The KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2011–2012 (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 2011), 140.]
Transition: Having considered how God sometimes allows tests to come into the lives of those that follow Him, let us now consider how-
II.
His Followers Must Be Good Test-takers (Gen.
22:3-10).
Abraham responds with obedience
A. Journey in the Adoration of God (Gen.
22:3-6).
State Point -
Abraham Journeys to the Mount of Sacrifice to Worship
Explain Point -
1.
He Goes Immediately and Prepared (Gen.
22:3).
2.
He Goes Precisely (Gen.
22:4).
3.
He Goes Expectantly (Gen.
22:5).
4.
He Goes Unhesitatingly (Gen.
22:6).
B. Faith in the Provision of God (Gen.
22:7-8).
State Point -
Abraham Assures Isaac of Jehovah's Provision
Explain Point -
1. Isaac's Observant Inquiry (Gen.
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