Are You Willing to Give Up Everything?

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning we are going to be going all the way back to the book of Genesis, specifically looking at Genesis 22, this morning.

And we are going to be talking about sacrificing and giving things up this morning.

And, we pick up at the end of a very familiar passage of Scripture that deals with Abraham and his "son of promise" Isaac. 

Now, there have been many, many lessons taught and sermons preached on Abraham and Isaac and Abraham's faith in God. 

We've even heard sermons preached on Isaac and his faith in his father, Abraham.

And, all of those are valid to this sermon and to this account recorded in Genesis, but I want to focus on something different. 

What I would like to focus on this morning is the subject of "willingness".

I want to dig into this story deeper and talk about Abraham's willingness to trust in God for all things.

We often teach and preach about us having to be willing to give up some things to follow God.

We have to be willing to die to self, give up the flesh, walk after Christ, take up our cross daily and follow Him.

We have to be willing to forsake all others and make Him our Lord and Savior.

However, where the rubber meets the road is in the question of "What are we just willing to give up?" 

And, as we go through this, keep that question in the back of your mind, and think of just what you are willing to give up for Christ. 

So, let’s look at Genesis 22:15-17 and get right into it.

Starting in verse 15, the Bible records . . .

Scripture Focus

Genesis 22:15–17 NIV84

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,

The Test of God

Now, what I read here was the end of the story.

This was the end of the account of Abraham taking Isaac up on the mountain in order to sacrifice him to God.

And of course we know that Isaac was spared by God, but there is much more to the story than just the ending.

So, going all the way back to verse 1 of that chapter, we find . . .

Genesis 22:1–2 NIV84

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Now the Scripture starts out here in chapter 22 of Genesis with the words, "Some time later." 

And the things that happened just prior to this chapter was, first, the birth of Isaac, which was in itself a miracle given the age of Sarah.

It was the fulfilling of the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah.

Hagar and Ishmael were sent away and cast out, which distressed Abraham a great deal.

But here's the thing, Abraham really didn't want to do it but God told him to. 

And what did he do?

He listened to God.

Here is how it went . . .

Genesis 21:9–13 NIV84

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

This was the first sign of just how willing Abraham was to follow God, and just what he was willing to give up for God. 

Only on God's Word and promise to take care of Ishmael, Abraham casts them out and turned all of his love an attention of Isaac, the promised child. 

So, now thinking about our passage this morning, imagine the love and affection that Abraham and Sarah have for their son Isaac. 

The realization of God's promise to them, a perfect son to carry on the family name, and the promise of God that He would make a great nation from him! 

Talk about proud parents. 

Then God throws a monkey wrench into things.

He tells Abraham to take his son Isaac, his prized child up to the top of the mountain and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering!

Now, that is absolutely nuts.

But, here’s the real kicker though, Abraham actually did it!

Genesis 22:3 NIV84

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

Now the question begs, would we be able to do this?

Would we trust God to the point that we would be willing to give Him one of our children?

And of course God doesn’t want us to offer human sacrifices, but are we willing to give our children over to God?

To trust God for their salvation and their soul?

To look after their soul rather than just trying to make them “happy” all the time.

Are we willing to tell them “no” sometimes?

To take a stand against all of the things of the world that interfere with God in their lives.

That’s really what we are talking about here regarding our own children.

What would happen if on Sunday’s when all of the ballgames parents kill themselves to get to, if parents said “no, we going to worship the Lord?”

You know what would happen?

They would find another day.

It’s really all about priorities and deciding what comes first, temporary fun or eternal salvation.

But for Abraham, God was literally telling him to give up his only son.

And I wonder, do we really understand just what Abraham did, what he was willing to do?

Abraham was willing to give up the most important thing in the world to him because God told him to.

That's what I want to really get to.

What is the most important thing in the world to us?

Now that you have that in your mind, is it more important to you than God? 

Would you be willing to give it up for Him if He asked?

Luke 14:26–27 NIV84

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

  And . . .

Luke 14:33 NIV84

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

This is the point that God was trying to make with Abraham, and with us today.

God was testing Abraham's faith as well as Abraham's loyalty to Him.

Isaac, as great a gift he was, was a gift and a blessing from God.

And, although Abraham was to love Isaac and appreciate all the gifts from God, Abraham still was obligated to love God first and all other's second. 

The same holds true for us. 

We are to be thankful for all the blessings and gifts that God gives us, but He is to be first in every situation and every circumstance. 

Matthew 6:33 NIV84

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

And . . .

Matthew 22:37–38 NIV84

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

This is where we many times get into trouble. 

Those blessings of God become our object of affection. 

They become more important to us than God does, and we WORSHIP THE CREATED and FORGET ABOUT THE CREATOR. 

The truth about what we are given from God is this . . .

Job 1:21 NIV84

and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

But are we willing to give it up if God asked?

The Lord Will Provide a Lamb

And we could end with that question, but there’s more to Abraham and Isaac here and more to what God has in store for us as well.

Because the thing that we must realize is that in many instances, the Lord may not even want us to give up the things He has blessed us with. 

He is more interested in whether or not we are willing, whether or not we love Him enough to put our total faith and trust in Him for all things. 

Genesis 22:7–8 NIV84

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Notice what Abraham says here.

We are three days into this ordeal, Abraham and Isaac have gone up on the mountain alone and Abraham begins to prepare the altar for the sacrifice.

All the time, Isaac is probably looking around thinking "where's the lamb,"  so he asks his dad about it. 

Abraham's only response was "my son, God himself will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."

Abraham didn't know what God had in mind or really how God was going to accomplish it, but he knew that as long as he was FAITHFUL and OBEDIENT to God, that God would provide all he needed. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d be getting a little worried at this point.

But not Abraham. He trusted God.

And how much did Abraham trust God?  Let’s look a little farther . . . .

Genesis 22:9–10 NIV84

When they reached the place God had told him about, 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. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

He trusted God to the point that he had his son bound up on the altar and the knife drawn back ready to kill him.

Faithfulness Rewarded

Why do you think God let it go that far? 

God knew how faithful Abraham was already, but Abraham and even Isaac had to learn what it takes to be His follower. 

They had to come to the realization that God must be first in all things and His will adhered to. 

Let’s keep going . . .

Genesis 22:11–14 NIV84

But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

And of course we know how it ends, that God stops Abraham from killing Isaac.

God also recognizes and blesses Abraham for his faithfulness.

However, notice that the requirement for the sacrifice was not relieved.

They were still there to offer a sacrifice to God and God still requires a sacrifice.

However, God always offers an alternate route. 

 We have talked about how faithful Abraham was, now look how faithful God is....

Genesis 22:13 NIV84

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

God provided the sacrifice.

Just like he told Abraham he would.

Altar/Challenge

And just like he has done for each and every one of us.

You see, to atone for our sins, there must be a sacrifice.

And God provided the sacrifice in the form of Jesus Christ, who died for us.

Who rose for us.

Who paid the price for us.

And we must never forget that fact.

And also, what about our questions this morning.

What are we willing to give up for God?

Do we even want to be His disciple? 

Do we want to want to do service for Him?

Those are probably the most important questions this morning.

Jesus tells us this in Matthew 19 . . .

Matthew 19:16–22 NIV84

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Sad, because he was unwilling to give up his great possessions for God.

Are we willing to give up our possessions and follow Him or will we too go away sorrowful?

Again, what are you willing to give up for God? 

Let’s pray . . .