Staying on Target (4)

Faith, no matter the cost...

A few weeks ago, Sarah talked about hearing God’s voice. Sometimes God speaks and the cost is great. When our faith is tested, will we stand firm?

2 Peter 1:10–11 NLT

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Often on special occasions, we can focus on Fathers or Mothers, but when God’s word is spoken, there should be value for each and every one of us. 2 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Just to give you a quick synopsis of where we are going today, I’d like to speak about faith and how Abraham trusted God even though God’s ask didn’t make sense.

Faith

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Faith is:

Life Application New Testament Commentary Great Examples of Faith / 11:1–40

the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. Faith starts with believing in God’s character, that he is who he says he is. Faith culminates with believing in God’s promises, that he will do what he says he will do.

We cannot please God without believing that He is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He can do.

This morning, let’s look at a giant of faith who was a lot like you and me.

Abraham

What do we know about Abraham?

We first hear about Abraham when he was seventy-five years-old. He was from a city called Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur was the capital city of Sumer, which is one of the oldest known civilizations from the Mesopotamia.

His name was Abram and He was the son of Terah, who worshipped other gods. (Josh 24:2) He was married to Sarai, who was unable to have children. Terah started the move towards Canaan. He moved to the city of Haran, which is about 600 miles from Ur and Terah died there at the ripe old age of 205.

God calls Abram

So God called Abram to go to a land that God would show Him.

Genesis 12:1–2 NLT

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

Abram, Sarai, and his nephew Lot start the trek to the Promised Land.

God had made a promise to make Abram a great nation. He had no children, so what did God really mean? Sarai was infertile, so would it be through Eleazar Abram’s top servant. or how was it going to work out?

Jumping a head of God’s plan

Let’s be realistic. Abram is 85, and Sarai is 75. They aren’t getting any younger so Sarai devised a plan that Abram would take Hagar, Sarai servant, to be his wife and start this great nation.

Hagar gets pregnant and has a son, but it wasn’t God’s plan. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

It can be tempting that when we don’t see the plan, that we take matters into our own hands. Ishmael wasn’t Abram’s son of promise. He became a great nation, but God’s plan was that Sarai would have a son, and that his name would be Isaac.

At age 99, Abraham had three visitors show up. One of the men made a promise that in about a year’s time, Sarah would have a son. Abraham was 99, and Sarah was 89! Yes, they lived longer, but could you imagine being told that you would have a baby at 89! Sarah laughed silently.

Genesis 18:12–15 NLT

So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.” But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”

I’m not sure that most of us would be laughing. Some of us might cry. Some of us might need a defibrillator. By many standards, Donna and I were older when we had our kids, and they are a great blessing from the Lord, but if we added another 40 plus years and somebody said in a year’s time you will have a child, I would have to agree that there is nothing too hard for the Lord.

We have it pretty cushy compared to all previous generations. One of the perks of parents was that their children would take care of them in their old age.

Isaac

After Isaac was born, this brought great joy and happiness to both Abraham and Sarah. God had done the impossible.

Romans 4:18–22 NLT

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.

Abraham never wavered about the promise. Now let’s get to the story of God testing Abraham, and if Sarah knew what Abraham was going to do, maybe he wouldn’t have had to worry about the test.

I started calling this message, “Faith when it doesn’t make sense.”, but came to

Faith, no matter the cost...

Let’s look at this experience in Abraham and Isaac’s lives and see what we can take home with us.

Genesis 22:1–14 NLT

Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Let’s see what we can learn from Abraham

Knowing God’s voice

Abraham knew God’s voice so well that he just obeyed. Abraham had walked with God for probably at least 40 years by this time. He didn’t have a Bible, but he was a friend of God. He knew what God’s voice sounded like because he had spent a lot of time with God.

Let’s not rush away from God, but as 1 Thessalonians 5:17

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT

Never stop praying.

Do you ever struggle to know God’s voice? If I had been Abraham, this would have been one of those times. Let’s put ourselves into Abraham’s shoes for a minute. If God had asked any of us to sacrifice the son that He had promised, the one that we had waited for all of our lives.

How could Abraham have kept this from Sarah? I’m sure that Sarah would have said, “Over my dead body. Better yet, over your dead body.. Have you lost your mind?”

Yet Abraham knew God’s voice so well, He listened and started making plans for the trip.

Abraham put his faith into action

Faith without works is dead.

Abraham saddled his donkey, got his two servants, chopped the wood, made sure that he had all of his supplies, and started on the trip.

We might have faith to believe that God can do anything, and yet we do nothing. There are times that we need to saddle up the donkey, chop the wood, get the supples ready, and start moving.

Even as a church, we can expect that God is going to do great things. We might expect that our neighbours are going to come to faith in Jesus, and yet we need to get off the chair and do something. We need to never stop praying. We need to give a cup of cold water to somebody that is in need. We need to love the hurting, and we need to be looking to see what God wants us to do.

Abraham didn’t look for the firewood, the knife, and the fire, he took that with him.

The Lord will provide

Isaac is old enough to know what is going on. Maybe he has been with his Dad when he made a sacrifice. He knows that it takes wood. It takes fire. It takes a knife, but it also takes a lamb.

Abraham knew what God was asking. He had heard God voice, and yet

Genesis 22:8 NIV

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Maybe you are going through a test or a trial. You have the wood, the knife and the fire, but you need God to come through and provide.

God provided for Abraham and He will provide for you. He provided Jesus, the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. He has paid the eternal price for your redemption.

Abraham obeyed God

Abraham went through the process of building the altar. He laid the wood on it. He tied up his son, and he raised the knife to kill Isaac.

Romans 5:6 NLT

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

At just the right time Jesus came and died on the cross. At just the right time the angel of the Lord spoke and told Abraham not to kill Isaac. At just the right time, there was a ram caught in the thicket.

At just the right time God provided for Abraham, and at just the right time, God will provide for you! He is S-T-I-L-L Jehovah Jireh our provider.

Leaving a Legacy

I don’t think that Isaac would have ever forgotten that trip. Have you ever gone on a camping trip that you would never remember?

I’m sure Isaac never forgot that trip. Maybe he didn’t trust his Dad around knives anymore, but I’m sure he never forgot the great faith of his father. He probably never forgot the voice of the Angel of the Lord, and the ram that was caught in the thicket.

He saw that Abraham knew and obeyed God. He saw how great of faith Abraham had. He saw how God provided.

Abraham left a legacy for Isaac, and Isaac became a man of God.

Hundreds of years later, God said to Moses, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Let’s leave a legacy, and pass it on to our children but also to our spiritual children.

To close,

2 Peter 1:10–11 NIV

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let’s make every effort, to confirm, to walk out our faith, our calling, our election. If you put your faith into action, you will never stumble. And you will hear Jesus say, “Well done, Good and faithful servant, Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

Psalm 16:11 NIV

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Let’s pray!