The Walk Of Faith (Abraham)

The Walk Of Faith (Abraham) Genesis 22:1-14 I don't know of anybody who comes to church and stands in front of a pew, or a chair, because they're not sure if it'll hold them up. Most people don't examine and study the chairs to evaluate how strong they are. They don't hesitate, they just sit down. They exercise faith. Their faith is not based on their feelings about the chair, but rather on the confident trust that the chairs are strong enough to hold them up. But the reverse is also true. If someone says they believe in the strength of the chairs, but they never sit down, they're not exercising faith because they didn't act upon what they said they believed. Faith is acting like God is telling the truth. When you came to church this morning, you didn't worry about the strength of the chairs. You didn't stay up last night and lose sleep over what to sit in. And the last thing you expected was for me to tell you that I intentionally broke one of the chairs. But as soon as I said something, I placed even a small amount of doubt inside your head. I made you second-guess what I was telling you. Likewise, in today's Scripture, Abraham was doing pretty good. He had his God. He had his family. He had his promised son. All was well until God's test came. In verse 1, when God called Abraham, he was happy and eager to respond to God. After all, even though it took many, many years, Abraham finally got his promised son. God had been good to him and provided what He had promised. It's easy to respond to God when He provides what you want. So why wouldn't Abraham be quick to acknowledge God? Now, God doesn't beat around the bush. God gets straight to the point and tells Abraham in verse 2, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love - Isaac - and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you." What a test! Everything was going good for Abraham until that moment. Like you, everything was going good in your life, or at least I hope it was, until I told you that one of the chairs was broken. And just like Abraham, that doubt crept in and made you think, "What?" And you did that with only a chair! Imagine what Abraham must have felt when he heard those words from God, "Go and sacrifice Isaac, whom you love." When you read Genesis 22, you'll see that God's test was really a multiple-choice test. The test was a choice between God's blessing or God Himself. Likewise, when God tests us, we have multiple choices we can choose; we can either complain, or we can try to see how God is stretching us to develop our character. Would Abraham respond in faith even though this test was baffling and more painful than any other test Abraham had endured? After all, God's command in today's Scripture is filled with apparent contradictions. God's command seems to contradict God's promises. How could God command murder? And how in the world would this be explained to Sarah, Abraham's wife? What would Isaac do? How would Abraham respond? The answer is given in verse 3, "Abraham got up early the next morning." Here we see that God told Abraham to give up the one blessing in his life that he treasured the most - a legitimate son. And what did Abraham do? He obeyed immediately. Abraham may not have known how God would provide, but he knew that God would provide. This is faith acted out in obedience at its finest because Abraham avoided counterfeit obedience. Counterfeit obedience is partial or delayed obedience, which are both disobedience anyway. Think of a commanding officer telling a soldier to do something and that soldier only carrying out part of his orders or delaying to do them. Doubt may creep in, but faith in action is trusting that God is who He says He is. Abraham boldly followed God into the unknown because what was unknown to Abraham was already known by God. Abraham "got up early" and departed with Isaac. But remember, Abraham and Isaac had to travel about 60 miles, on foot, from Beersheba to Mount Moriah. Verse 4 tells us this was a 3-day journey. Abraham had 3 days and 60 long miles to think about what God had said. We all know how a day can seem like an eternity when we're faced with something we don't want to do. When we anticipate something, when we're hesitant about something, or when we feel nervous, or sad, the minutes have a way of turning into hours and the hours turn to days, and those days are filled with thoughts, and maybe even some doubts and anxiety. In verse 4, when "Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, he said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'" Notice how Abraham said, "We." Somehow he knew that he and Isaac would be coming back. The book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 19, helps us understand what Abraham was thinking by saying, "Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead." Abraham knew that God promised that Isaac would continue the line of blessing, but he also knew that God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac. So the only conclusion he could draw was that God would bring him back from death. If you pause and think about it, Abraham's belief in a resurrection seems kinda odd, especially when you realize that there had been no recorded resurrections up until this point. But don't forget that Abraham had already seen God's resurrection power because Sarah's womb had been "dead" for 25 years, and he himself was well past the age for bearing children. In terms of reproduction, Hebrews 11:12 says the couple was "as good as dead." Yet from this death God brought forth new life. Abraham may not have witnessed a literal resurrection, but he knew that God's resurrection power that brought Isaac into the world would, in some way, also keep Isaac in it. But now the journey reaches its climax. Abraham didn't delay in traveling to Mount Moriah, but his obedience to God's command was only partially fulfilled. As hard as the journey could have been, staring into Isaac's young eyes and making small talk as father and son, now comes the real test. Remember, Isaac is not a young child; he's a teenager. Abraham had watched him grow, mature, and learn over the years. But now, standing in view of where the sacrifice will take place, the situation becomes awkward because Isaac notices there is no lamb for the sacrifice. Verses 6 and 7 reveal that Abraham and Isaac are walking up the mountain, carrying the wood, the fire, and the knife, but no sacrifice. I couldn't imagine what Isaac must have been thinking, but verse 8 records what Abraham was thinking when he answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering." Abraham reassured Isaac with those words, but he also knew he was in a situation that he couldn't fix. What Abraham was asked to do felt like a contradiction, but instead of trying to figure everything out himself, he decided to wait on God. Let this be a lesson that when God puts you in a contradiction that has no apparent solution, or when you're traveling on that road of faith and you can't see the destination, don't try to fix everything yourself. Don't try to re-write the road map. Respond to God by trusting that God alone will resolve it. When they reached the place, verse 9 says that "Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood." The moment of truth had finally come, and Abraham "reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham, Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied." Now remember, God will never contradict Himself or do anything opposite of His Word. God said in Leviticus 20:1-5 not to practice human sacrifice like the pagan nations. God didn't want Isaac to die, but He did want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in his heart, so it would be clear that Abraham loved God more than God's promises. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights." The gift is a blessing, but we must love the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts. When the angel of the LORD cried out to Abraham and Abraham responded, "Here I am," he froze. At that moment, the seconds must have felt like hours as he stood there trembling, holding the knife in his sweaty hands. Thankfully, the angel said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy." Whew! Test over! But now something strange is said in verse 12, "Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son." Many people have scratched their heads at this because it sounds like God legitimately didn't know how Abraham would act. But I thought that God knows everything? Is the question. So how do we answer? Be assured that God's Word is forever true and that yes, He does know everything. He is "the Alpha and the Omega," and God knows everything factual and potential. But God hasn't, however, personally experienced everything He knows. Let me give you an example. God knows all about sin, but He has never personally experienced committing a sin, and He never will. In the same manner, God had not yet experienced Abraham's obedience. God delights in experiencing what He already knows to be the case, just as a husband delights in experiencing the love that his wife proclaims. God wants to feel our commitment, which is why He became a man - so "He could sympathize with our weaknesses," as Hebrews 4:15 says. Let today's Scripture also be a lesson about God's timing. At the same time God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, verse 13 says, "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns." God's timing is funny like that. The ram must have been there the whole time, but Abraham didn't notice it until God wanted to reveal it. The answer to Abraham's problem was already supplied, but it was only revealed after Abraham stepped out in obedience and faith. When Abraham and Isaac were walking up one side of the mountain with a problem, their answer was walking up the other side. God revealed the answer after Abraham obeyed faithfully. Deep breath, test over, he had passed. Verse 14 says, "So Abraham called that place Yahweh-yireh, which means, 'The LORD Will Provide.'" Abraham knew that God was a Provider before, but after this event, that head knowledge turned into heart knowledge. Abraham saw and experienced God's provision because God is "Yahweh-yireh, The LORD Who Provides." In life, there are things we all try to withhold from God. But rest assured that the spiritual benefits and blessings far outweigh the sacrifice. God stopped Abraham from sacrificing His own son, but God didn't spare His own Son, Jesus, from dying on the cross. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). A young girl was taking a long journey, and in the course of her travels, her train had to cross several rivers. She was afraid of the water, and each time the train approached water, her doubts were awakened. She didn't understand how such raging waters could safely be crossed. As they came near the river, however, a bridge appeared, providing The Way over. Finally, the little girl leaned back with a sigh of relief and said with confidence, "Somebody has put bridges for us all The Way!" Abraham showed the same confidence as he faced the possibility of sacrificing his only son. Never had his faith been more severely tested, yet he could confidently reply to Isaac, "God will supply the lamb." Abraham didn't know how God was going to do it, but he believed without reservation that God would. That same confidence can be yours. We often don't know how God will provide. He may supply in a way that we would not have chosen. That's not for us to say, but our assurance is that God will meet our needs, however He chooses. The apostle Paul reminds us, "God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). God may meet your need for healing by miraculously restoring your body. Or, He may choose to give you the strength to endure an illness or the courage to continue. God may even relieve your financial situation through a generous gift. How He meets your need is evidence of His sovereignty. That He meets your need is evidence of His grace. It's not necessary that we know how, just as long as we know Him. Come and know Him today. Yahweh-yireh, "The LORD Will Provide." AMEN 2