Untitled Sermon
I heard of a lady who was getting ready for surgery, and the doctor came in to visit her. The doctor said, “You look nervous.” She said, “I am nervous. It’s my first operation.” “Well,” he said, “I know how you feel: it’s mine, too!” Many of us would like the comfort of something that has already been tested.
how do you know that your faith is real unless it can stand the test? Look, if you will, in Genesis 22, beginning in verse 1: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham …”—now, if you’re reading, like I’m reading, from the King James Version of the Holy Scripture—and I love the King James—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. Read it this way—“And it came to pass after these things … God did [test] Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said,”—that is, God said—“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him”—that is, Isaac—“there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Genesis 22:1–2)
Now God did not tempt Abraham to do something that was wrong. “God tempts no man with evil.” (James 1:13) And, thank God, He doesn’t, because if God were to tempt us, none of us would be able to withstand the temptation. “God tests or tempts no man with evil, and neither can God be tempted with evil.” 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
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, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Does God have preeminence in your life?
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?
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
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,
faith is measured—by the depth of its devotion.
not only is faith measured by the depth of its devotion, but faith is also measured by the height of its obedience—not only how deep do you love God, but also how quickly will you obey God.
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.