A Seen Faith
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· 13 viewsA tested faith will reveal our true identity and that of God. A well tested faith will attest the authenticity of God. What will our response be in times of trial? Faith or Failure?
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Intro
Intro
I remember seeing a comedy skit on YouTube where a couple sat on the couch watching the news. As they sat and watched the news the lottery drawing came on. The announcer on the television began to name off the winning numbers and the eyes of the woman began to light up. She sat straight up on the couch and pulled her numbers out of her pocket and began to lose it all once the final number was called. When her boyfriend understood what was happening he too began to cheer loudly! He said “WE WON!” The girlfriend looks at him crazy and says “No… I won!” and she began to let him know that they were through and how she has been ready to cut him loose! He then grabs the ticket from the girlfriend to verify the numbers and to her dismay the ticket matched every number on the TV screen except for the last number! In her excitement she had revealed how she truly felt about the boyfriend and ended up losing a relationship. Certain moments in our lives reveal to us exactly who we are! We may not be conscious of the fact but moments of testing will cause us to see ourselves!
We may learn of our cowardice in a challenging moment.
We may learn our bitterness in a moment that presents to us true love.
We may learn our true commitment to God when the blessings disappear.
But through it all we MUST remain faithful to God in all situations and finish the race! No matter what may come!
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
In our sermon series we have been getting great running tips from that great cloud of witnesses! And today is no different. Today we examine man with the big promise, the exalted father, the uncle of Lot, Abraham! He as an old man was promised many things by God in . It took 25 years for him to receive his promised son from God Isaac. Today we see another running tip from Father Abraham “A Seen Faith” Please turn your Bibles to .
17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, 18 of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” 19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
1 After these things God tested Abraham. He 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 that I shall show you.”
gen 22 1-
“Tested”
Both of these texts in Hebrew and Genesis speak of a testing. In the Greek...
Test- To learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing.
Abraham was 75 when Isaac was promised. He waited for 25 years and then God gave him a son and now God was asking Abraham to kill the seed. To end the promise! It looked as though his faithfulness and actions were for nothing!
God’s Instructions
Go to the land of Moriah
root word is Rah-ah “to see”
Offer your blessing (son) as a burnt offering.
He was to be burnt up!
18 of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”
17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, 18 of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”
Are you willing to give up what is yours when God asks?
Pride
Children
Burdens
Comforts
Money
Time
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”
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V3-4 Abraham obeys
Abraham is ready to obey. He rises to do what he asks even though the request of God nullifies the promise.
According to human logic killing the promised son eliminates the numerous seeds and the blessing for the whole world!
V5 Abraham Defined
“…the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”
In the moment Abraham defines himself as a man of faith!
“I’ll be back!”
Arnold wasn’t the first to deliver the iconic line!
6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
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V6 The son carrying the wood to his own death
Jesus!
V7 Isaac wonders where the offering is...
Isaac understands how worship works and understands that something is missing.
V8 A seen faith through a response
Provide- Rah-Ah “To see” IT WILL BE SEEN OR REVEALED
Can you imagine waiting for so long for a promise to come, being an old man, waiting for 25 years, nurturing and aiding in the growth, and now looking him in the eye knowing that you’re going to have to kill him! Well here’s Abraham’s mode of thought...
gen 22 9-
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill 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, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
V9-10 The angel of the Lord stops him as Abraham raises the knife!
“…now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Abraham define who he was by his faith! He was seen by God as having a blind trust
Ho
“He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead...”
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 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 the one who curses 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.
When God’s way no longer makes sense, how will you be seen?
19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Because Abraham had a faith that could be SEEN God was able to show him that He provides!
2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 6 But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind;
jams 2 22
22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete,
jm 1
13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
gen 22 13-
How many are willing to be truly seen by God in order to see His providence?
