God Wants it All

God Wants it All

Text: Genesis 22:1–19

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham,

* This word “temp” doesn’t mean “to tempt to do evil,” but it means to “test.”

* In our text this morning God tested Abraham’s love for him. As we follow Christ God will also test our love for him as well.

and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,

* Abraham loved this promised son greatly, but God insisted that Abraham love God more that his son. God wanted all of Abraham’s heart. Nothing held back from God whatsoever.

* As we discuss our text this morning I would like for you to consider “What am I holding back from God?” What is it that I love more than I love God?”

* Most of the times our trials of faith, like this great trail in Abrahams life, center on that which we are in danger of loving more than we love God.

and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass;

* I want you to notice Abraham’s faith this morning:

and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

* I must take the opportunity to show the picture here of how God himself held nothing back in his love for us, and slew his own son on the cross.

* Friends, don’t think it unfair or strange for God to require that we hold nothing back from him this morning.

* God is requiring of you and I no more than what He has already done for us.

* The Holy Spirit brings to mind the verse in Romans chapter twelve:

Romans 12:1 (KJV 1900)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

* God purpose in trying Abraham was to teach him to withhold nothing from God. - To completely trust God, without reservation.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. 15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

I. God requires first place.

Exodus 20:3–5 (KJV 1900)

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…

III. God requires you to love Him with all your heart.

Mark 12:28–34 (KJV 1900)

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. * My friend I want you to see this morning that when a man, woman, boy or girl, comes to the place where they are willing to love God will all their heart, all their mind, all their soul, and all their strength they are at the very door of heaven! * There are those in this church today who thing that they are saved because they simply have acknowledged that Jesus did for them. * My friend don’t be deceived this morning! Believing the fact that Jesus died for you is not this same as placing your faith in Jesus for salvation! * You struggle with understanding the Bible; it’s because you don’t have the Holy Spirit within you to teach you the things of the Spirit of God! * You don’t understand why you have no strength to live the Christian life this morning! * You fight the same battle with sin over and over and never are able to have the victory of that sin. * It may be this morning that you do not have the power of the Holy Spirit living within you! * There are people in this church that are trying to be a Christian, but you have not you came to the place where you are willing to forsake everything and take up your cross and follow Jesus! * In order to be enter into the Kingdom of God, you must come to Christ holding nothing back! not clinging to your own good works! not leaning to your own understanding! * You must come to Jesus, the savior, pitifully, blindly, with no reservation whatsoever! You must come to Jesus holding nothing back!

*Like the old Hymn says “With nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling!” * You must put all of your faith in Jesus trusting that His blood, and nothing else, is sufficient to cleanse your from sin! * You must come to God this morning willing to abandon your life! Willing to loose your life! Willing to die to your self, and the old man that you were, before God can ever create in you that new heart! The heart of a saved man that had been divinely changed and now walks in a newness of life!

Matthew 10:38–39 (KJV 1900)

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

* There will be many on Judgment day that thought they were saved! They thought that they were Christians, but they were not!

Matthew 7:19–23 (KJV 1900)

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

John 12:25–26 (KJV 1900)

25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

* Jesus gives a man a test of faith.

Mark 10:17–22 (KJV 1900)

17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? * Everybody wants to know what to do to go to heaven! 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. * There are plenty of people who are willing to do good works to get to heaven!

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, * My friend, like God tested the love of Abraham, God tests the love of those that He loves!

and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. * This man was so close to being saved! This man was so close to being saved that he could see the gates of Heaven! * This man was at the very gates of Heaven, but he turned away because he was not willing to love God more than his present life! * There are those in this church today, that will like this man, who was seeking the way to heaven, instead will wake up in the eternal flames of Hell, because they loved this life more than they loved God! * Identifying with Christ requires our faith to be tested.

Matthew 10:34–39 (KJV 1900)

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

IV. God requires complete trust.

Hebrews 11:6 (KJV 1900)

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:17–19 (KJV 1900)

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

* Like Abraham, our faith will also be tested by trials of suffering.

1 Peter 4:16–19 (KJV 1900)

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

* Saving faith requires that we trust only in Christ for the saving of our souls. There is no room for trusting in your own goodness.

IV. God requires complete obedience.

John 14:20–24 (KJV 1900)

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

* Our failing to assemble with the church is an indication of our wavering faith and our failing love.

Hebrews 10:23–25 (KJV 1900)

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

* Our failing to bear witness of Jesus is an indicator that our faith is wavering.

* We obey God by teaching and bearing witness of Jesus. A true follower of Jesus will also bear witness of Jesus.

Acts 5:27–32 (KJV 1900)

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins

32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

* When we fail give God complete obedience, it is an indicator that our love for God is slipping away and we need to repent.

Revelation 2:1–5 (KJV 1900)

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.