Bring it to the Alter

Welcome to Celebration. If you are joining us via the podcast, our prayer is you are encouraged and if you are in the Orlando area, you will come join us. Today we are closing out our series, From Here to There; an abbreviated examination of Abraham. His life is flows through the entirety of the Bible, with a narrative that goes from . A few things we have established so far:

What is faith?

(NKJV) — 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith has substance, it is something you can feel even if you can’t see it. I am trusting even when I can’t see it, but you can see it when I am trusting.

Guarantees vs promises: Guarantees weaken faith, promises build faith

(ESV) — 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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran

Guarantees vs promises: Guarantees weaken faith, promises build faith

Guarantees weaken faith, promises build faith

By faith, you have everything you need to take your next step

Faith gets us from here to there; Trust gets us from here to there: Trust His Timing, Trust His Ways, Trust His Grace

Worship in faith knowing your worship is the vehicle that drives the enemy away.

Trust gets us from here to there

Trust His Timing, Trust His Ways, Trust His Grace

Trust His Ways

Trust His Grace

The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing

Scripture

Background: After much faith and trust, Abraham and Sarah finally have their promised son. It has been almost 25 years since the promise was spoken, there has been many lessons learned, but here we are, promise fulfilled. Abraham has Isaac, his legacy, his seed of promise. Isaac is the answered prayer but God wasn’t done yet.

(ESV) — 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.”

Message Title: This is a complicated text filled with questions and unresolved questions give birth to frustration. Let’s explore some ideas that I believe will help us. Today I want to talk about sacrifice, because sacrifice gets us from here to there. I have titled todays message, Bring it to the Alter.

Intro-stration

If there has been a character trait that has largely undergirded Abraham’s life, if there was an expression of his faith that seems to be consistent, I would say Abraham lived a sacrificial life. So what do we mean by sacrifice? Simply put, a sacrifice is to give up something of value for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. Practically, it is understanding that saying yes to one thing means saying no to another. My Marvel Avengers people have seen this play out with the Soul Stone…a soul for a soul, in order to gain something, you have to lose something of value. Conceptually speaking, sacrifice is not beyond the realm of understanding. We all do it in some form, everyday. If you are an athlete, you make decisions on how you are going to govern your life. What you will eat, when you will rest, workout, train, practice. Sacrifice is understanding that saying yes also means saying no. To our students, you have said yes to an education so that means you have to sacrifice where you spend your time, energy and focus because when we say yes to something, we are also saying no to a competing and conflicting entity. Parents and families, in order to accomplish your vision and goals, you often have to give up something. You can’t be married but act single. You can’t be an effective parent and be self centered or selfish. You can’t expect healthy friendships but not be friendly. You can’t save and recklessly spend and still meet your financial goals. When we were saving for our first home, we had to make some serious sacrifices. In retrospect, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but in real time is was a struggle. We cut off our cable completely. We used our neighbors wi-fi. We cut off Netflix. We stopped eating at restaurants and had a lot of Ramen. We were a 1 car family, struggling to figure out how I could be everywhere at once.

Transition

What do you do when God requests for you to

I was an uber driver before it was a thing. Why would we endure such struggle? We had the means to change all of this but we had a vision that was bigger than the moment. We understand that, because conceptually speaking, sacrifice fits perfectly in our realm of understanding.

Sacrifice

jhj

Observations

Transition

What do you do when God requests for you to

Sacrifice Requires Resolve

After these things

Sacrifice Requires Surrender

Stay here

Sacrifice Requires Faith and Trust

God will Provide...

God provides for the obedient

God provides where He guides

God provides when it is time

However, how do you respond when you need to sacrifice the thing you sacrificed to get? When you sacrificed to build your dream home just to leave it for someone else? When you sacrificed your time and energy to build business, portfolio, brand, and now you feel this sense that God wants you to give it up? What do you do when God requests for you to give up the thing you had to give up things to get? Abraham was in this exact spot. He was familiar with the idea of child sacrifice, but I am certain he thought God was different. Have you ever entered a new season but faced familiar drama? We often think to ourselves...”I thought it would be different this time”. Its in this space we can get discouraged and want to give up.

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I feel a responsibility to encourage you in this area. For some of us, this is the last straw. You just don’t know if you have anything left to give. Listen to me, don’t give up! You’re on E but don’t give up. Don’t give in! says we will reap in due season if we faint not. Don’t give up. Nothing is wasted when grace is involved. tells the story of a widowed woman and how the man of God instructed her to give him something to eat. She had nothing left. She was prepared to take what little she had and go home and die. However, God interrupted her plan with His but it still required a sacrifice. What if the sacrifice wasn’t to take something from your life, but actually add to it. Don’t give up. Nothing is wasted when grace is involved.

Observations

Abraham is led on a series of life altering situations and it all converges to this moment. There are 3 things that I believe we can learn about sacrifice when looking through the lens of Abraham.

Sacrifice Requires Resolve

The text starts with a familiar phrase, AFTER THESE THINGS. Let’s get caught up. Abraham finally has his son Isaac. His promised son. However, there is friction in the house. His older son is bullying his younger son so Sarah is like “that chick and her son got to go”. Abraham is conflicted because even though Ishmael isn’t the promised son, he is still his son. But God tells him to let him go and He will take care of them. It’s fresh off of this drama we enter this text where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son…the one he loves. The one that his hope was hung on. How could Abraham move so quickly? I believe Abraham resolved back in that he was going to follow God no matter where it led him. The quicker we resolve that everything we have is God’s, the easier it is to be obedient. Abraham didn’t have to make a new decision everyday. He made his decision once and simply lived a life to steward the decision he already made.

Circumstantial faith isn’t sustained faith, it is spiritual timeshare. I recall a friend of mine going through medical school. He was a man of profound faith. At his graduation he expressed a concern that griped his heart. He didn’t know what would come of his faith now that he didn’t “need” God anymore. I told him, circumstantial faith, isn’t sustained faith. As he made more money, his commitment wavered. Turns out the thing he depended on God for took the place of God and it cost him his family.

I wonder if God will occasionally bring us to a place of sacrifice to ensure we haven’t created an alter of the thing he has blessed us with. Sacrifice requires resolve. When my account is full, I’m all in. When it’s low, I’m all in. Don’t make a decision daily; make the decision once and manage that decision daily. The most unstable people are the ones that have circumstantial faith. You can’t live for God and the world at the same time. Nothing kills momentum more than indifference and inconsistency. You ever start watching a show, then stop, then when you start again, have no clue of what’s going on? Our walk isn’t meant to have a stop and start. We are to resolve that no matter the circumstance, we are all in. There’s no turning back. God’s will often works through man’s obedience. Not my will, but you will be done.

Abraham made up his mind, God, I am not perfect but I will do what you tell me to do, I will go where to tell me to go, no matter what it costs me. Abraham, with scattered thoughts, gathers everything he needs and begins his 3 day journey. Each day, drawing closer to a fearful conclusion only he was aware of. Imagine the emotions he had with each step.

Sacrifice Requires Surrender/Letting Go

Upon arriving at the destination, Abraham leaves his helpers and the donkey behind so that he and Isaac could climb the mountain and encounter God. Mountain tops were often viewed as the place where God resided. Notice how Abraham recognizes that for him to go to the next level, he had to leave somethings behind. He left behind his helpers, his systems, his support. There are places that God is leading you and everyone won’t be able to make the trip.

When I got radically saved, my friends held an intervention. I eventually knew in order for me to move forward, I had to stop looking backwards. Sacrifice means surrendering the past, relationships, support, etc.

However, that wasn’t the only surrender that took place. Let’s look at Isaac for a moment. He is a bright young man. He has seen this sacrifice done multiple times so he makes an observation. “Where is the sacrifice”? I wonder at what point did Isaac realize that his father was leading him to the alter. As they got closer and closer to the mountain top, I am sure the silence was deafening, echoing with each step. As Abraham set up the alter then walks to his son holding the rope, his greatest fear, is realized. You have to imagine that Isaac knew he was the promised child. You have to imagine that Isaac was excited about what God was going to do with his life only to be at a place where he had to give it up. If it’s me, I’m pushing my dad down the mountain and telling the servants he tripped.

How could Issac stand there and let his father tie him up?

Simple, he was completely submitted to his father knowing that no matter what he faces, he would be ok in his fathers hands.

I wonder if we trust our heavenly father with the same energy that Isaac trusted his father. Or when God is leading us to a place of surrender, we evaluate our exit strategy?

Sacrifice Requires Faith and Trust

Abraham takes out his knife and prepares to kill his son, but God intervenes and says, because you haven’t withheld ANYTHING from me, I will “REALLY” bless you. We see the life of Abraham comes full circle. Faith and trust will lead us to sacrifice and to sacrifice it requires faith and trust. talks about the faith and trust Abraham had throughout their entire faith journey, however, as it relates to this text is says...

(ESV) — 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

(NLT) — 17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

Because Abraham lived a life of faith and trust, sacrifice was reasonable. Our steps are ordered: faith, trust, and sacrifice.

(ESV) — 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Abraham made up in his mind, God I trust you, even when I can’t make sense of it. If you have brought me to the alter, then I believe you are going to alter me, you can alter this. I trust you. Abraham literally brought his family to the alter.

Closing

After being interrupted, Abraham lifts up his eyes and sees a ram caught in the bushes. That is so random. How did they not see that from the beginning? Provision is concealed until sacrifice is revealed.

God will Provide...

God provides for the obedient

God provides where He guides

God provides when it is time

Here I am...

On 3 different occasions, Abraham is called by name and he answers, “here I am”. 2 times by God, 1 time by his son. A quick evaluation will reveal each time Abraham uttered the phrase, here I am, he was exposing where he was physically, mentally, and spiritually. I believe God calls our name similar to Adam in and instead of hiding, He wants us to say “here I am” and meet Him at the alter. Here’s my question for you today, where are you? Is there anything God wants you to bring to the alter?

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