Give it Up, Watch Him Show
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· 26 viewsThe ultimate test of faith is giving up one's life at God's call. Well, he's called for yours; will you trust Him?
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He Wants it Back… Will You Trust Him?
He Wants it Back… Will You Trust Him?
Good evening! We’re going to read from the book of . For those of unsure where that is, it’s the first book of the Bible, after chapter 21 and before chapter 23.
I’m geeked to be up here sharing what God’s placed on my heart, once again. I’m thankful for the continued leadership and opportunity presented by & from the shepherd of this house, Pastor Hughes. And there’s no way, outside of God, I’d be able to do all that I do without the support, love, and patience of my queen, my Butterfly, my partner in Christ, my sister from the most high Mister, Sarah! Min sumo bo!
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get down to business! We’re going to read out of .
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. 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. 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.” 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!” 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?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
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. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 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.” 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.”
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. 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. 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.” 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!” 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?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
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. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
Genesis 22:1-14
We’ll stop here. Let’s pray.
Prayer
If this were a miniseries, the “to be continued...” caption would printed across the screen right now. Tomorrow, find out what happened....
If you haven’t figured by now, I really enjoy these old testament stories. Also, how fitting is it that we’re covering the story of Abraham today, pro football Hall of Fame induction day? After all, to simply do what Abraham did is more than just some all-american faith. That’s deeper than first-round pick faith. Man, that’s triller than all-pro faith! To be asked to sacrifice your ONLY son, and simply get up to do it the next morning without negotiation or complaint, takes some Hall-of-Fame faith!
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
A lot of us walk around thinking we have faith because we trust God to “bless this food we’re about to receive...” That’s youth league faith. Don’t get me wrong, you gotta start somewhere. But we know how strong Abraham’s was because just like you can go to Canton, Ohio to see the busts of all the NFL hall-of-famers, all you need to do to see the faith hall-of-fame is turn to .
“So Abraham rose early in the morning
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
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.
Hebrews 11:17
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,
WOW!!! That’s serious! These faith hall-of-famers are out of this world! Well, not quite. Here’s what you need to know. These great people of faith are just that — people. They are flawed folks just like we are, and the only greatness in them is that of God.
Well, here’s what you need to know. These great people of faith are just that — people. They are flawed folks just like we are, and the only greatness in them is that of God.
Here’s the difference, they don’t get amnesia. So when that moment of truth arrives, and invariably it will, they’re prepared to draw on previous experiences to exercise a strengthened faith.
So, let’s examine Abraham’s (formerly Abram) life to see how a man of hall-of-fame faith acts, and gets to a place where he trusts God enough to raise his hands to slaughter his son, his only son who he loves.
Along the way there will be three overarching themes:
Our faith will be tested
God will provide
God is sovereign (He’ll provide at the right time)
Picking back up at the beginning of chapter 22,
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
“So Abraham rose early in the morning...”
As I stated in our first point, “our faith will be tested.”
I don’t know of a greater test than this one. What was Abraham’s response? “Say what?!!!” or “Whatchu talking about...”? No.
Was he out there trying to negotiate something? “God, you know I have that other son, right? His mom be tripping anyway...” No.
The very next verse tells us his response:
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
How do you just get up EARLY the next morning and not even ask a question? Was he always like that.
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Well, when our faith is tested, how we respond in part depends on what we can draw from. Now this may be confusing to some. You’re saying, “I though faith is supposed to be blind.”
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Pastor Tony Evans, when explaining faith, states that it’s “...acting like something is so even when it is not so in order that it might be so simply because God said so.”
Yes, you can believe that what you haven’t seen can/will in fact occur, but it’s likely because your trust is in the nature of that which you’re putting the faith in to begin with. Like, if hustleman promised that he’ll turn your $20 into $100 after 5 days. Are you giving him your money? NO! Not because it can’t happen, but because you don’t trust in his character.
Abraham got to understand the character of God throughout his life. These served as building blocks to what would give him the faith to get up early the next morning.
Back in chapter 12, God tells Abram:
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 12:1-
and “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Here Abram is, 75 years old, father’s dead, 10 generations since God last spoke to anyone after the flood, and he’s now making a promise to Abram to leave all that he’s ever known for a place he hasn’t seen from a God no one’s heard from in 10 generations. But he goes… and so it begins...
So even though Abram exhibited some faith here, he wasn’t all aboard the faith train throughout his journey. You don’t even reach chapter 13 before Abram is acting in fear, and tries passing his wife off as his sister to avoid getting killed. So, in chapter 12 alone, God’s already made two promises to Abram, and he responds by acting in fear and deceit.
Two side lessons:
God stays true to His covenant, even if we don’t.
there are nearly a dozen promises from God to Abram that he’d be the father of nations
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
Genesis
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Genesis 15:
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Genesis 15:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 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.”
16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Genesis 17:
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.
21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Genesis 17:2
10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
Genesis
all these promises, even though Abram was messing up.
Even within the favor of God, there’s still consequences for sin.
11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
,
consequence:
17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Genesis
when Abram was still unsure as to God’s promises, God gave him instructions to seal a covenant:
8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
consequence:
consequence:
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
Genesis 15:
After no children had come to pass, they decide to take matter into their own hands:
2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
consequence:
4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”
Abraham, even after his name has been changed, he still had an issue with fear and lying:
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
consequence:
Genesis 20
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
After all this, at the young age of 100, occurs.
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
and then to commemorate this:
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
This is all that transpired
These are all the things that transpired prior to the beginning of chapter 22. Abraham can’t see the future, but he’s keenly aware of the nature of God, because he’s able to remember his past.
So, when our faith is tested:
Draw on God’s faithfulness in the past to trust in His promise for the future.
Back in 22. They’ve gotten up early in the morning and are now on their way. Watch this newly strengthened man of faith on their journey.
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.”
Genesis 22:
then again in 7-8
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” 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?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
How was Abraham so sure? Where was the lamb? Last we saw, Abraham was about to kill his son, his only son, his son whom he loved.
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
See, when Abraham’s faith was tested, he was able to draw upon God’s goodness in his past to know that - point 2:
2. God will provide
He didn’t know how, where, or when. He just knew that if God could bring he and his wife to concieve and give birth to their long-awaited child at the ages of 100 and 90 respectively, then there wasn’t anything He couldn’t do. He could probably even split an ocean… lol
No, let watch the final episode of this min-series.
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.” 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.”
Genesis 22:11-
This brings us to our final point:
God is Sovereign: He Provides What We Need, When We Need It
So many of us are like Abram, exhibiting little league faith, but more consistently acting in fear, and disobedience. We’re afraid to give to God what was His to begin with, and that He’s asked for back, but praying that He’ll still come through.
Every Sunday, we’re up here trying to rationalize for you why you trust Him with your finances. The reality is, we have way more than Abram to lean on to build our faith muscles up. We have our own experiences, and countless other biblical one to reference. Some of us don’t want to give God our relationships...
“But God, I’ve invested so much time with the man. What do you mean give it to you?” He’s saying focus more on your growth as a man or woman of God, and He’ll deliver to you the one that He has planned for you… at the right time.
The moment I finally relented, and said I’m not going to press the issue of finding the one, and began focusing on my walk, I “accidentally” met my wife. I’m not even joking. It’s why I call her my butterfly.
Have you ever tried to chase and catch one? it’s impossible. But if you sit still, it’ll land right on your shoulder.
Give it to Him. Trust Him. He provides!!!
In this FCA ministry, my heart wanted so bad to fill every school in Broward county with the Word of God, that I was out here juggling 31 schools at some point. But my heart was burdened by the thought that lives weren’t being changed the way I envisioned it. Then God place on my heart, and those of my board, to give the ministry back to Him. It was so difficult… the thought of now having to choose just a handfull of schools to minister to, leaving the rest out in the cold. But, the new edict was “shrink to grow.” God said, “do you trust me?” And the moment we decided that was the direction we were going to go, within that same month, we had three people come on staff, and four volunteers from around the county. God is saying give it to me. You don’t need to know why or how. You just need to know that I got you. I’m your Jehovah Jirah - your provider.
Each of us has different things that we’re in need/want of, and God is asking you to trust Him for it. But you have to give it back to Him. You’ll have to figure out what that is for yourselves. What I do know is EVERYBODY is in need of salvation!
Our provider is telling us there’s only one way to get that. It’s no accident that Isaac was carrying the wood up that mountain…
We’re told that if we want to follow Jesus, we’ll have to
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We must be willing to die to ourselves and fully submit to Christ’s authority as our Lord and Savior.
It’s no accident that within that three-days journey, Isaac metaphorically defeated death. Well Jesus literally defeated it, on a hill not too far from this one, so that all who believe in Him would not parish, but have everlasting life!
So whatever it is that you’re still holding back, be willing to trust in the one that loved you enough that He was willing and did sacrifice His son, His only son, the son He loved, so that everyone one of us could not just spend eternity with Him (and that’s plenty enough), but could also experience life more abundantly.
Our Faith will be tested. Draw on your past and His faithfulness in it, to know that our God is our provider, and He’ll provide what we need, when we need it most.
The doors of the church are open. The church will be in an attitude of prayer. And if you’re still worried about giving your life to God, step out on faith. Know that He loves you, and His promises are unfailing. Give Him your life and watch Him step in provide all you’ll need.
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.