The Journey of Faith (Sermon 4)

The Test of Faith

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Introduction

May I tell you something that I trust you will never forget? Are you ready for it? A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. If you can’t test it, how do you know it’s real? How do you know it is trustworthy?

I was watching sometime ago on TV a show about the testing of airplanes. And they showed these test pilots and these airplanes. How would you like to fly on an airplane that had not been tested? I mean, they just built it, and they said, “All right, get on it,” but nobody tested the individual parts, and nobody tested the whole thing after it was put together. If you can’t test it, you can’t trust it. We don’t want to be the first to try something, and we don’t want to try something that’s not been tested.

In the King James version— you will see the word tempt- but just simply write in there, where it says, “tempt,” write in the word test, because the word tempt and the word test are the same word; they mean the same thing.

Now God did not tempt Abraham to do something that was wrong. “God tempts no man with evil.”

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

So what does this mean? It simply means that God was putting Abraham to the test. He was testing Abraham’s faith. Now the devil tempts us to do wrong in order to cause us to stumble. God tests us to do right in order to cause us to stand. And what God is doing to Abraham is not trying to get Abraham to stumble, but to get Abraham to stand. And God is putting his faith to the test, all right? So I want to speak to you today on the testing of your faith—okay?—the testing of your faith.

Now I want to give you four tests of faith. Let’s see if you have the real thing. Let’s find out if our faith can be tested.

Our Faith Is Tested by the Seriousness of Our Devotion

Test number one: Faith is tested by the depth of its devotion. Do you have it? Faith is tested by the depth of its devotion. Why did God say to Abraham, “Abraham, take your son—your only son whom you love—and offer him”? I’ll tell you why, my friend: because God had seen that Abraham was in danger of loving Isaac more than he loved God Himself. Abraham was in danger of loving the gift more than the Giver. Abraham was in danger of loving the promise more than the One who had promised.

Learn this about God: God will never willingly let anything take first place in your devotion other than God Himself. God does not want a place in your life. God does not want prominence in your life. God desires, God deserves, and God demands preeminence in your life. Here’s a question for your heart: Does Almighty God have preeminence in your life?

God says,

Exodus 20:3 ESV

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

Does God have preeminence in your life? Some of us will never do other ministry, because we already have a ministry, and we love the ministry more than we love the Master. Some of us will not serve in ministry because of our families, and we love our loved ones more than the Lord. Some of us will not serve in the church because we’re already comfortable, and we love our gifts more than the Giver.

The question comes this morning, no matter what God has given you, and no matter what God has done for you: Do you love what God has given you and what God has done for you more than the God who gave it to you? Is there in your heart a higher love? Do you love anything more than you love the Lord? I thought about that as I prepared this message this morning. And I thought about it last night, and I thought about it the day before yesterday. “Claude, in your life, is there anything that you love more than Jesus Christ?” May I ask you to think about it? You see, it’s not that God doesn’t want us to love our sons. God wants us to love our sons. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to love the promises and the ministry that He’s given us. God wants us to love that. But none of these things can take first place in our lives.

Now, if you think there’s a danger—that there’s something that you love more than the will and the way of God, or more than you love God Himself—I want you to listen very carefully today, because you’re going to hear the voice of God saying to you, “Take that loved one to Mount Moriah, and offer him up there.” You’re going to hear God say, “Take those possessions to Mount Moriah, and offer them up there.” You’re going to hear God say, “That ministry, that ambition, those plans”—or whatever it may be, however good it may seem—“take it to Mount Moriah, and offer it there.” Do you have faith to do that? That’s faith. You see, faith is measured—faith is measured—by the depth of its devotion; by the seriousness of our dedication.

Our Faith Is Tested by the Summit of Our Obedience

Now, let me move on, secondly, and say that, not only is faith measured by the seriousness of our devotion, but faith is also measured by the summit of our obedience—not only how serious is your love for God, but also how quickly will you obey God.

ILLUS:

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary hoisted the British flag on Mount Everest. He had climbed Mount Everest. He had faced danger. He had faced disappointment, and he had faced death. He had faced the raging elements. He had climbed up sheer walls of ice. He had known hunger and pain and fear. But, finally, he arrived at the pinnacle of Mount Everest. It was over 29,000 feet tall as it towered toward the sky. As he planted that British flag there, he stood where no other human being had ever stood. And he climbed as high as a man can climb on this earth.

But may I tell you, spiritually, Abraham climbed a higher mountain when he climbed Mount Moriah. It cost him more. He climbed spiritually higher when he climbed up this mountain with his son, Isaac, to obey God.

Let me tell you what faith is. Are you listening? Please listen to this. Faith is not—watch this—it is not believing God in spite of evidence. Faith is not believing anything in spite of evidence. That is not faith; that is superstition. Always, when you believe, you are believing a word from God. Do you understand? That is your evidence. That is your warrant. That is your authority. Faith is not—is not, is not—believing in spite of evidence; faith is obeying in spite of consequence. Do you like that definition of faith? That’s what faith is. Faith is obeying in spite of consequence, or appearance, or anything else.

ILLUS: I grew up a latch key kid. . .Uncle Sebren came by.

“Get up to Mount Moriah. Offer up Isaac. I have told you to do it.” Faith is measured by the seriousness of our dedication, the summit of our compliance. And what kind of compliance is this?

A. Intelligent Compliance/Obedience

First of all, it is intelligent obedience. You cannot obey God until you know God and hear God. God has not promised to bless any endeavor that He has not commanded. Many Christians are endeavoring to do things for God that God doesn’t want done, and they’re calling it faith. It’s not faith; it is mere presumption.

B. Intentional Compliance/Obedience

Now in order for you to obey God, you must hear God. And in order for you to hear God, you must have a quiet time. So not only must it be intelligent obedience—are you listening?—it must be intentional obedience. Do you want to know the will of God? Many of us are really not ready to report for orders. It is not that God is not speaking; it is that we’re not listening. You see, dear friend, you’re not excused from doing the will of God because you don’t know the will of God. If you’ve not sought, do you report in for orders? Are you listening to God? Ignorance of God’s will is no excuse, because the Bible says,

Romans 8:14 ESV

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

C. Immediate Obedience

God will lead you. Your obedience, therefore, needs to be intelligent obedience; It needs to be intentional obedience; and it needs to be immediate. Intelligent, intentional, immediate: that is, when God speaks, then you’re to obey. For Abraham, there’s nothing in between verse 2 and verse 3. God tells him what to do in verse 2, and in verse 3, the next morning, he sets out. (Genesis 22:3) Procrastination, my dear friend, is a form of disobedience. Most of the people who feel called to the ministry and who surrender to ministry never get there. Do you know why? They procrastinate until the vision dies or the opportunity or whatever passes.

Ours is not to reason why

Ours is not to make reply,

And ours is but to do or to die.

—Adaptation of Alfred, Lord Tennyson

It must be immediate obedience.

D. Impassioned Obedience

Let me tell you about obedience. Faith is tested by the height of its obedience. It must be intelligent obedience. You must know the will of God. It must be, dear friend, it must be immediate obedience, and it must be impassioned obedience, desiring to do the will of God.

Our Faith Is Tested by the Dimension of Our Sacrifice

Now, may I tell you a third way that faith is tested? And God will test your faith, not only by the seriousness of your devotion, not only by the summit of your obedience, but it will be tested by the dimension of our sacrifice. Faith will go to any length to obey God. You see, if you have devotion, and have obedience, then the dimension or length of our sacrifice will follow.

Now I want you to put in your margin Hebrews 11:17, and that’s the New Testament commentary on Genesis 22. And listen to what it says here. It says,

Hebrews 11:17 ESV

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,

Now it doesn’t say that he was only willing to offer. It says he “offered up Isaac.” From the time he left home, in Abraham’s mind, Isaac was as good as gone. I mean, in his heart and in his mind, he offered up Isaac. Abraham was not going through the motions. It was in the past tense. And what was he offering when he offered up Isaac? What was he sacrificing?

A. The Sacrifice of Future

Well, first of all, he was sacrificing his future, because God has said, “Abraham, I’m going to give you many descendants—a nation—and nations will come of you. And through you all the nations will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3) And when he offered up Isaac, there went his future.

B. The Sacrifice of Family

Not only his future, but also his family. I mean, you think about it. Can you imagine? What would he tell Sarah, Isaac’s mother? What would he tell Isaac? What would he tell others? But his family could not come first.

Matthew 10:37 ESV

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

C. The Sacrifice of Fellowship

But not only his future, not only his family, but also his fellowship. There were others who wouldn’t understand. There were others who would say, “Abraham, you’ve done wrong. You ought not to do that. God doesn’t ask that of you. That’s too great a sacrifice.”

And anybody who’s called to serve and to minister will go to any length to get there. His future, his family, and his fellowship—he’ll face all three. But if God says, “Go,” he’ll go. Isn’t that right? He or she will go. There will be people who don’t understand. There will be people who will hurt, and there will be tears. But, you see, faith is measured by the seriousness of our devotion. It is measured by the summit of our obedience. It is measured by the dimension of the sacrifice. It will pay any price.

Our Faith Is Tested by the Width of Our Conviction

Now the fourth and final thing. Remember the Bible says that God is testing Abraham. He’s testing him to see if the faith is real. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. So here’s the fourth test. Faith is tested by the width of our conviction.

Now I gave you Hebrews 11:17, and I only read a part of verse 17. Let me read the rest of verse 17.

Hebrews 11:17 ESV

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,

Now, how was he able to do that? Well, the writer of Hebrews tells us what was in Abraham’s mind, and it says Abraham "considered” The word that this is translated from is a mathematical term that means to calculate, meaning that Abraham was banking on it—

Hebrews 11:18–19 ESV

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.

Abraham has this wide conviction in God. And this conviction is that, “If I do offer him up, God will still keep His promise if He has to raise him from the dead.” See, you too busy trying to outthink God. Abraham says, “If God says do it I’m going to do it because God can undo it.” See you cannot have limited view in the possibilities of God.

Abraham was thinking this: “Anything that God has given me, I can trust Him with.” You see, God had already given Abraham Isaac: “Anything that God has given, I can trust Him with. Anything He has not given, I don’t need.” Does that make sense to you? You see, God had already given. I mean, Isaac was a miracle child to begin with, so the reason he could offer him up is that God had given him.

Job 1:21 ESV

21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“If God gave it, I can trust God with it. Anything God has given me; I can trust Him with. Anything He has not given me, anyway, why not do what God says?”

And Isaac seems to understand that he is a covenant child, because now Abraham is an old man. Isaac is a virile young man. He could have outrun and outwrestled his dad. But as the Lord Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified, Isaac allows himself to be bound. He’s there on the altar, and Abraham has the knife in his hand, ready to plunge it into the quivering bosom of Isaac.

Genesis 22:10–12 ESV

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.”

Abraham did past the test, and verse 13 says,

Genesis 22:13 ESV

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.

Are you listening? Here’s something else I don’t want you to miss. What God was saying to Abraham was this: “Abraham, you’ve not withheld anything from me, and therefore I will not withhold anything from you.” Now, here’s the point.

It was not Isaac God wanted; it was Abraham. He wanted all that Abraham was, and He got it. Bottom line and heart of the message—listen if you don’t hear anything else: If you love it, let it go. If it is really yours, God will give it back to you. But if He doesn’t give it back to you, thank Him, because you’ll be saved from a fate worse than death, and that is having something in your life that would impede your usefulness for God and your fellowship with God.

Conclusion

A man told a missionary, “I would give anything—I would give the world—to have the joy that you have.” And the missionary said, “That’s just what it cost me.” I would give the world. Would you? Would you give the world?

Abraham said, “Lord, if you want it, you can have it.” And God says, “It’s really you that I want, Abraham.”

And God revealed Himself, in verse 14, and I’m finished—

Genesis 22:14 ESV

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.”

Do you know what Jehovah Jireh means?

“God our provider.” Let’s say it together.

Say after me, “Jehovah Jireh: God our provider.”

Say it again: “Jehovah Jireh: God our provider.”

Sometimes we say Jehovah Jireh means “the Lord will provide.” Do you know what provide means? Do you know what provision is? It’s to see ahead of time: pro-vision.

You see, when Abraham started up one side of that mountain, a ram started up the other side. Abraham couldn’t see the ram, but God saw the ram. God saw the need, and God provided. God saw ahead of time. Jehovah Jireh knows things you don’t know. Yours is not to reason why. Yours is but to do or die. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who sees ahead. Hallelujah!